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2019/03/16	480	1,952	<issue_start>username_0: I've been invited to review manuscripts for two journals in my field frequently. I noticed in the first couple of cases my supervisor was the associate editor which has selected me in the process, but for rest of them, I was assigned to the papers by other editors (not from our network). So, I assumed that my name should be there somewhere in a list, such that the editors may choose me when they see a paper matches my keywords or my previous review results, etc. Now, I want to state that in my CV and in a list separate from my ad-hoc review experiences, but I do not know what suitable key phrase I should use. For instance, can I use the following? > > Member of the review board for Journals X and Y > > > By the way, I work in the field of computer science.<issue_comment>username_1: This is the sort of thing which will vary more from field to field, and you may want to talk to other people in your field, but my general inclination is not to do so. Unless you have been specifically told that there is some review board you are on, or been invited to be on, this may not even exist. Aside from the ethics, if this is a prominent journal, and one of the editors sees your CV, they could react extremely negatively. A better solution might be that if you are going to list what journals you have reviewed for is to list how many articles you have reviewed for a journal if you have reviewed more than one. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: > > Can I use for instance, "member of the review board" for journals X and Y? > > > I agree with Joshua, it's a bit risky to present it this way unless you are sure that this journal has something that they call "review board" and that you are on it (it might not exist or have a different name). Personally I just have a section called "Reviewing activities" with a list of journals/conferences I reviewed for ordered by year. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/17	694	2,939	<issue_start>username_0: My advisor is very young full professor who has been an advisor for only less than 10 years. She has many diverse projects. The project which I've started is 1 year old and this field is quite New to her and she is not so good at it. However, the main problem is that she does not have enough time to help me. She is chair of academic courses and has lot of industry projects. So currently she is more like manager managing money and resources for projects. So my problem is: 1. Whom should i approach when I'm stuck ? 2. I have many ideas, but i find very little utility in discussing with her as she understands nothing. What should i do ? Thanks in advance<issue_comment>username_1: > > Whom should i approach when I'm stuck ? > > > How would we know? We have no idea who the candidates are. I would suggest identifying someone locally to help you navigate this. * Ideally, the professor herself, if she is reasonable. Obviously you'll need to raise this very carefully, to avoid antagonizing her or suggesting that you cannot meet her expectations without "extra" supervision * Her past or more senior students may be wiling to give advice if they have had similar problems with her * The graduate advisor, or another trusted professor Some possible solutions to explore: * Is there a post-doc, senior student, or collaborator in industry who could be formally assigned as your day-to-day supervisor or mentor? * Could a co-advisor be named? * Could she promise you a weekly or bi-weekly appointment? (though this may not help you, if she is not helpful) * Could you change your thesis topic? (not sure if you are willing to do this) Failing that, it may be a matter of looking for a better advisor. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Ten years sounds like plenty of time for your supervisor to become an experienced researcher. If they are young, don't discredit their abilities as a supervisor. If they are busy — well, all professors are busy. It's unlikely a replacement supervisor would help, there. Most PhD projects stray sooner or later from the comfort zone of their supervisor — the very nature of a PhD research project implies that there will be novel work completed. It's also not the role of the supervisor to solve technical problems on behalf of the student (in my institution I receive less than 2 hours per week ‘workload allocation’ for my PhD students). Trust that your PhD supervisor can guide you through the process of completing and writing up the project, and bring additional people into the project that can assist from a technical perspective. One of the best ways to do this is to contact active researchers in your field and invite them to be co-authors on your papers in exchange for technical input. They might not be able to put in any more time than your actual supervisor, but their different perspective might be enough to see you through. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/17	2,277	9,631	<issue_start>username_0: I was reading an interview with MIT Professor and physics Nobel laureate <NAME> in which he explained that he gets no budget, has to acquire funding even for his secretary, and this is one major difference to Germany (where he was offered to be director of a Max Planck institute). In Germany, a professor has a budget depending on negotiations before he was hired and negotiations when other universities try to entice him. A small average group has around 500k €, a professor around 100k €, employees around 200k €, investments around 200k €. This can vary, but roughly the right order of magnitude for experimental sciences. Now I also heard professors at Ivy League universities often get a multiple times the salary of German professors, even in top universities like TU Munich. I expect they see this also only as their salary. Is the case of Prof. Ketterle at MIT representative, and what does this mean when comparing PhD or postdocs in both countries? Are PhD students in graduate schools rather financed by the institute? Or does the number of PhD students in group already depend on the funding success of the professor? It’s interesting to me to know, because it implies in my opinion a very different necessity of activity and career planning when being a PhD student or postdoc in Germany vs. the US to keep yourself financed. The brain drain and comeback of German academics from the US is a neverending story in German academia.<issue_comment>username_1: Certainly the US and German systems are very different. For starters, there is no US national system for higher education (or for lower education, either). The individual states here all have individual systems of higher education, but funding can be problematic there and can vary with the political climate. Also, many of the top institutions, including MIT, are private institutions, without regular government funding. It is too broad to say that no US professor gets a budget, but generally speaking, in most fields, it would be rare to get a budget beyond salary that comes from general university funds. Instead, those fields that require such things as laboratories rely heavily on grant funding from NSF and other, similar, agencies as well as private funding. Grant writing becomes a treadmill. In some places your tenure decision may be heavily influenced by your success in getting grant funds for yourself, your lab, and for student support. It is true, however, that some departments in scientific disciplines do maintain general laboratories. Chemistry and physics labs, for example. I know of one cyclotron run by a physics department, but I assume they require lots of grant funding to keep the particles going round and round. Many, probably most, graduate students are funded as teaching assistants, paid, modestly, by the university for the services they provide. Research assistants might also be paid that way, but, more likely, are paid by grants of the PI of a lab. There is very little secretarial and staff support in most fields in the US unless it is grant funded. The once exception, I think, is that universities have offices that manage grants awarded to faculty as assurance to the funders that funds are properly spent. This office may even be responsible for managing private grants, as has been my experience. It is also likely to offer help in obtaining grants and for seeking out grant opportunities. Postdocs and other limited-term positions might be paid out of grant funds or out of general departmental funds for faculty. This would depend on the field. But, I would guess that it leaves an individual some room for negotiation, being less regulated. I'll make a guess that Germany, as a society, puts a higher value on education generally than is true in the US. Certainly relatively few tax dollars go to education at any level. This wasn't always the case, but seems to be a continuing and increasing trend. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Maybe it would be helpful to trace the path of an academic in the US through their education and career, noting how they might be funded along the way. Differences with those coming up in other systems will have to be left to those familiar with those systems. We'll skip through so-called "K-12" education and undergraduate education and start with graduate school. Students are admitted to Ph.D. programs usually with a tuition waiver and a stipend. Tuition and the stiped are guaranteed by the admitting institution at some level, but where the money comes from varies. One source is teaching. Having graduate students help with teaching (serving as recitation leaders, graders, teaching assistants, sometimes even as lecturers) is seen to serve a dual role: Helping deepen the graduate student's education in the subject but also to help fund the graduate student. The tuition paid by the students in the courses the graduate student helps teach often will not flow to the graduate student directly, but through the department in which the graduate student is studying to offset the stipend. Graduate students will teach in their first year or two. Another source is grant funding. This pays for the student as they join a research group and begin to work on funded (or fundable) projects. Some external funding may be awarded in the name of the student directly, but often the funding is to the principle investigator that oversees the research group the student has joined. A student in a well-funded lab may only have to teach the minimum amount, getting most support from the lab's grants. A student in a poorly-funded lab may have to pick up teaching even several years into their studies. Generally though the view is that the student is working for their stipend in parallel to doing their thesis work. When things are going well, this is the same work. A graduate student might also pursue a master's degree only. Very often this is more of a professional degree (even if taken in a program alongside those pursuing Ph.D.s) and the student will pay graduate tuition themselves and not be awarded a stipend, similar to students pursuing those more widely recognized as professional degrees (MBA, law, medicine). Sometimes, a student admitted to a program in pursuit of a Ph.D. does not succeed towards candidacy to pursue a Ph.D. (doing poorly in classes or candidacy exams, or choosing not to move forward). In this case, they might be awarded a master's degree for their work to that point, or with a little more work. Those getting their Ph.D.'s then typical do post-doctoral work. This is even more of a hybrid between further education and a straight-up job. Here, there are few options for funding: Either the PI has grant funding out of which they can pay the post-doc, or the post-doc has applied and been awarded their own funding. Finally, a post-doc that pursues a tenure track faculty position at a research university will apply for jobs. If they get interviews, and offers, and accept an offer, typically they will negotiate a "start up" package which includes some combination of money and equipment with which to equip and stock their lab, and to hire people (students, technicians, or post-docs) to help them begin their work. Depending on the discipline, the department, and the new hire, this can be quite a lot of money (hundreds of thousands of dollars, easily, into the low millions). The idea here is that this is "seed" money after a fashion. The new hire is expected then to write for grant funding, eventually bringing in enough grant money to pay some fraction of their own salary, to pay for further equipment and supplies, and to pay salaries or stipends for lab personnel. Start up money is usually the only money that universities pay to support research. Everything else (and, to be honest, even probably some of that) comes from grants. What fraction of the lab head's salary comes from grants depends. Nine-month appointments are typical, and the faculty needs only draw "summer salary" to cover at most 3 months of salary. At academic medical centers where there is no undergraduate program, faculty teach much less, salaries are higher, and more of the salary is meant to come from grants or other external funding (eg, government contracts). Now, about the start up money that comes from grants--here's the kicker that seems to not be well known despite its prevalence. How does the university pay for the start up? Well, it has some money from endowment. This is significant at the old, large, prestigious private universities, like the Ivy League. It might also cross-subsidize from tuition. But also, a lot of money flows through the university via overhead. Overhead is money the university takes off the top of individual grants for administering the grant, providing space, support staff, utiltity service, and the like. What percentage this is, and what it covers, is negotiated periodically between the university and the granting agencies, but in general it isn't unusual for it to be over 50%. Overhead is also referred to as indirect costs, or simply indirects. (I see this is briefly mentioned in some of the comments to another answer). What mix of endowment income, gifts, direct grant funding, indirect charges, and tuition goes into paying for any given thing at a university is deep, dark, magic. Someone might be able to give an answer, they might even be willing to give an answer, but I'm not sure how much credence I'd give any set of numbers passing through such a tangled skein. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/17	1,457	6,112	<issue_start>username_0: Suppose that an applicant got scooped on a research paper and is applying for jobs. This is reflected in a lack of publications. Is that taken into consideration? Or will it be a huge blow to an applicant's chances to highly competitive jobs?<issue_comment>username_1: They might empathize if you somehow decide to mention it somewhere in your CV/cover letter/research statement/whatever. But in the end, you will be judged based on what you have actually produced. "Getting scooped" is difficult to verify if you have no publications. It's easy to say "I was totally going to say that!" when someone else says something clever. It's another thing to do the research well, write it down, iron out the inevitable kinks, fight with editors and peer reviewers to get your research publish... and to do all that faster than your competitors. Unless you can prove that you have great potential, then it is likely that committee will prefer someone who has published papers over someone who has almost published papers. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I am afraid that "I've been scooped" during the job interview in academia will be perceived as an upscale version of "a dog ate my coursework" excuse, particularly if a candidate has no publications at all. * Academic jobs usually require PhD, and PhD students are usually expected to publish a few papers during their PhD. At a very least one would expect papers based on PhD thesis. * Scooping is possible if the candidate presented their result publicly but was too slow to publish it. In academia "publish or perish" is an important motto, particularly for early and mid-career academics. A proven inability to publish results in time is not something hiring committees will particularly like. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm a little surprised by the implicit assumption that "scooped" ==> "no paper whatsoever." It's often possible--and desirable--to publish the scooped work anyway. It might have less impact than it otherwise would have, but it's miles better than nothing. Furthermore, it's unlikely that both papers tackle the problem exactly the same way; highlight those differences in your revised version. If nothing else, replications are increasingly appreciated. This is especially true in trendy areas, where both scooping and dubious, non-replicable results are most likely. It would be gauche for you to complain about this directly on your cover letter or CV (how would this even work?!). With a publication, however, your references can write: > > "Grad Student's main project, characterizing the properties of > l-Phlebotinum and d-Phlebotinum, was just accepted at the Journal of > Decent Results. Although his thesis committee praised the work as a > technical tour de force, it unfortunately attracted less attention > than it might have after Evil et al. (2018) published similar > results last December in Science." > > > Obviously, you'd prefer not to get scooped, but this does demonstrate that you're working on 'hot' problems that people do find interesting, which is better than nothing. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: My experience is that "scooping" doesn't actually happen. The way one would define it is that you had an idea that you talked about at some conference or similar, and someone else published it before you. But how do you prove that you really were the first to think of this? Oftentimes, ideas are "out there": they follow from the review others have done, and everyone has the same idea. As a committee, I would call bull shit. (Excuse my language.) If you had the idea first, and just took six months longer than someone else to get it submitted, it seems quite unlikely that an editor or reviewer would know about the competing paper. Both would likely have gotten published. So I agree with the other answer that says that a committee would like call this excuse the equivalent of "dog ate my homework". It just sounds like an excuse. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Getting scooped will only really reflect badly on you if you could have avoided it, e.g. by working harder. If it happens, and you publish your paper anyway, just a bit later than someone else's, it might be a minor negative when applying for jobs (this one paper of yours had less impact than it might have done), but it's unlikely to be a huge blow, particularly if you've published other good papers. After all, at least you independently had the good idea in question. By contrast, moaning about getting scooped, and using it as an excuse for why you don't have many papers, will reflect badly on you. It will come across as an unwillingness to take personal responsibility when things go wrong for you, which is not a desirable quality in a candidate. TL;DR: One scooped paper won't kill your chances. A lack of publications overall might well, depending on the job. Having few publications and making weak excuses for why will almost certainly kill off your chances. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Don't think of this along the lines of "getting scooped". A department works very hard to identify and recruit faculty that will be competitive in the academic domain. Anything in your portfolio that might suggest there may be an issue with staying competitive will reflect negatively on a candidate. These days, developing faculty work very hard to make their portfolio look "right". They publish like crazy, apply for and get travel awards, compete like mad for "best abstract" recognitions, make sure they're nominated for and lobby aggressively for young investigator awards.... If your portfolio doesn't look like that, the next applicant's might. Given a choice between the two extreme portfolios, a hot department will opt for the nice-looking one every time. A not-so-hot department might take what they can get. If there is something wrong with your portfolio, get introspective, and go to interviews prepared to discuss how you're going to improve it, instead of offering excuses about why it's not so hot. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/17	1,739	7,476	<issue_start>username_0: If I am using a test bank to formulate a test based on a textbook, should I be concerned about students getting access to the test bank? I have read that [student use of a test bank is cheating](https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/extra-credit/prevent-test-bank-cheating.html), but I guess I don't agree with that 100%. If I am drawing test questions out of exercise sets, how is that any different? The test banks usually have hundreds of questions to choose from, so if the students are learning the test bank well enough that they can answer some fractional selection from that test bank, it seems like a win to me. If they are studying questions, at the end of the day they are learning. Or is that the wrong way to look at it?<issue_comment>username_1: If the test bank is generally available then assume they have all seen it. But better yet, IMO, is to point it out to them and recommend it as a resource for studying. Tell them that they shouldn't expect any of those exact questions on any test, but that it will give them insight into the kinds of things that the author (and maybe you) think are worth asking. For your part, you can then use the bank as a source of ideas for questions, though probably less for the questions themselves. If that is your general practice, you can even salt exams with a few of the questions themselves, just to ease the burden. Directed study guided by a test bank is good. It isn't the only thing that is important, but it gives them a start. Since this is most likely an entry level course for which such things exist it can mean that those that work the hardest get good marks. In other words, I think your view of it is good and if you don't treat it as cheating then it won't be. But you might also warn them that not every professor will see it the same way, so they should use caution in extrapolating. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: As long as the test bank has enough questions to cover the material I'd not be concerned. Those who work at it will learn. I've given my own students "sample exams" for years, then put some of the sample questions on the real exam. The students who were going to earn grades of A anyway got them right. The students who were going to earn unsatisfactory grades anyway did not. A colleague performed the experiment of handing out the course final exam a week before the exam date. Students were encouraged to get help studying, but then had to take the exam again in class. He says it did not change the grade distribution at all. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: I use the test bank to feed a quiz of 10 questions, each question comes from a category that has between 15 to 80 questions. The students get access through a review quiz that has 10 questions with the same time limit as the real graded quiz of 10 questions. So, more practice = better grade... Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: > > If I am using a test bank to formulate a test based on a textbook, should I be concerned about students getting access to the test bank? > > > No more than you should be concerned about students getting copies of old test, which happens in (almost) every class. Fraternities and Sororities keep copies of old test, and students post them on the internet. Trying to keep all your test questions out of students hands is an already lost battle. Ask students to show their work or explain their reasoning. That makes it a harder to memorize, and makes it more likely the student has to understand the question to answer it. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: The main concern as stated in some comments is that, depending on the subject, the students can memorize the answers without understanding them. One should not underestimate the ability of some people in memorizing! Even for a large data bank. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: (Expanding my comment to username_2's question into an answer.) From personal experience, I would say that knowing the questions is not a problem, and may even be helpful. It depends on the test bank, which needs to comprehensive. As a student, a took a number of courses where the full set of questions was made available. In most cases, this meant a large number of questions covering all of the material and asking very detailed things. Having these questions had a number of advantages for me as a student: * Clarity in terms of what is relevant for the exam. Sometimes topics that I considered unimportant were covered by multiple questions, indicating that my assumption was wrong. * Providing feedback. Having access to an actual question helps me check whether I really understood a topic as well as I thought. * Providing a "study progress meter". Working through all the questions gives me a good idea how much studying I still have left. * Motivation for studying more. Having 100+ questions to work through actually motivates me to study more. Without them, I would potentially skim over some topics. (But maybe I'm just lazy.) Some may argue that students only memorize the answers without understanding them. To counter this (supposed?) problem, in some exams the questions were slightly altered in the actual test. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Drawing from personal experience, this depends on a few things: 1. Are the answers to your questions easily memorized? For example, if your exam is multiple-choice, then making the test bank freely available means it's likely that students will start doing well. On the other hand, making the prompts of an essay-based exam available means the students must still do real preparation. 2. How many questions are in your test bank? If there are a lot more questions than can realistically be studied (of course, this depends on the difficulty of the questions), you should be fine. I know of one major exam that makes its test bank available: [the GRE](https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool). Having the test bank available helps students prepare, since they gain some idea of what will be asked. There're also enough questions that it's not realistic for students to memorize answers for all of them (besides, they're essay questions). For the other end, I once had an instructor say before the exam that there will be two questions each worth 50%, and one of which will be drawn from the homework assignments. As you might expect, most (although not all) of the class scored >50%. This happened even though the questions were complicated, calculation-intensive physics problems. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: If this is for an online class, there is little to nothing you can do to stop such cheating. At one point, someone showed me how easy it is to get test bank answers online. There are places where students literally provide the questions and answers online to many test banks. I once watched someone take a test for an online class where they copy/paste the questions into Google and would, in only a few seconds, easily find the exact same question online with the answer provided. Some people can finish such tests very rapidly and achieve perfect scores on everything in such test-bank-using online classes. So, "Should I be concerned?" Yes, if it is an online class then you should be very concerned. Try Googling the test bank questions verbatim before using those questions to see how badly that test bank is compromised. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/18	783	3,255	<issue_start>username_0: I am an MS student in medical immunology. I am looking for my research proposal, and would like to get a nice publication (i.e., publish in a journal with a high impact factor). Given this, is it better to do something totally new, or is there value in repeating old work? I ask because my supervisor is busy and gives me considerable freedom. I have the idea of experimenting with the role of some gene in an autoimmune disease but no one has done that work before. Is it good to pursue this? When I write it up, how will I do citations?<issue_comment>username_1: Note, I have a physical/computer sciences background; things may be different in life sciences. > > I have the idea of experimenting with the role of some gene in an autoimmune disease but no one has done that work before. Is it good to pursue this? > > > Yes! Doing novel things will get more attention than revisiting old things (though both have value). My concern here would be whether you, as a lone, beginning student, have the background and resources to do something completely novel. Normally, one's first study is done under the close supervision of a mentor. I'm a little surprised your supervisor is "turning you loose" like this. > > When I write it up, how will I do citations? > > > Presumably parts of the methods you used have been used before (perhaps for other diseases), and someone has studied this disease before. So, you should cite any past work, even if it's not a direct hit to what you're doing. But, this is sort of what I meant above -- it's good to have a mentor to help walk you through this process for the first time (or first several times) -- getting novel, publishable results with no supervision and little experience seems like a very tall order. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: From a research standpoint, if you repeat old work and get the same result, then you haven't advanced the state of knowledge and so probably won't be able to publish anything more than a note. One exception would be confirming an older result but with a completely different methodology. Then it is the new methodology that is the "new and exciting" part that might merit publication. But, especially in the medical field, if you repeat old work and show that the original work was wrong, or even dangerous, then you have something worth publishing and can become famous (or infamous if you are wrong). But I think that as a student, you should undertake such work only if you have a strong suspicion and some evidence that the original is in error. Otherwise you won't gain much from just following other's footsteps. So, in general, it is probably better to work on untrod ground, on something new, as hard as that can be. The fact that your advisor gives you a lot of freedom is good, but only provided that they also give you guidance on your ideas and also provide some worthwhile ideas for you to follow. I'm not sure what you mean by your question on citations, but it is typical to do a "literature survey" before you start on a new research direction to make sure you know what is known about the topic. If things are already known (likely), you will cite them if you build on them in any way. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/18	1,034	4,492	<issue_start>username_0: This question is based off the following chain of reasoning: * Universities employ professors, who write funding applications and win grants. The university then takes some fraction of the grant as "overheads" which counts as part of its "income". * Therefore universities prefer professors who win big grants (the number of grants matter less than the total amount of money won). * Experimentalists need more money than theoreticians. I would expect that theoreticians only need some software & computers, but experimentalists would need the equipment itself (MRI machines, vacuum chambers, etc) which are orders of magnitude more expensive than mere desktop computers. * Therefore experimentalists win bigger grants. * Therefore universities prefer experimentalists. I'm wondering if this chain of reasoning is robust. It looks pretty convincing to me. Conceivably the university could have separate grant targets for theoreticians and experimentalists, but presumably some professors aren't easily classified into either theoretician or experimentalist, which would make this an easily-gamed metric.<issue_comment>username_1: Potential for grants is surely something that universities consider, but I think your analysis is too simplistic to lead to the conclusion "universities prefer experimentalists". For one thing, a department typically needs to offer a range of courses involving both theory and experiment, so they need faculty who are qualified to teach them. The decision to hire in a particular field is more likely to be driven by academic needs, and so the question of whether to hire a theoretician or an experimentalist probably doesn't often arise as such. Another point is one you raised yourself: Experimentalists need more money than theoreticians. This cuts both ways. Suppose they hire an experimentalist. First of all, she is going to need a big start-up package from the university in order to get her research to the point where she can get grants. There's a risk that she won't ever get to that point, in which case the university's investment doesn't pay off. And maybe she does bring in some big grant money for a while, but years down the road, maybe her funding dries up. Maybe her research area just isn't as hot anymore, or funding agencies are preferring to go in a different direction. Without major funding, she can't do her research at all, and now the university is stuck with an unproductive faculty member. So hiring an experimentalist may be high reward, but also high risk. By contrast, a theoretician doesn't need a large short-term injection of funds, and they know that she will be able to be productive regardless of what happens to her funding. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Sorry, but the question seems to imply some misconceptions about the nature of (most) universities. The use of the word [income, rather than revenue](https://www.diffen.com/difference/Income_vs_Revenue) suggests that you think of them as businesses generating profits and that overhead represents profit. This is mistaken. Overhead is charged to cover costs, not to provide "profit". Universities have no owners or shareholders. Every bit of revenue generated by university activities gos back into current and future university activities, though there is some redistribution of funds between those activities. There is no financial reason to prefer one activity over another. Universities like grants so that the kinds of things they want to actually do can be adequately funded. You can't run a cyclotron on no funds and those funds need to come from somewhere. If you can't find the funds, you can't do the research in those fields. And that cyclotron has to be in a building that has to be heated and maintained and it sits on valuable real estate. That is what "overhead" is about: covering costs, not generating profit. If that didn't happen, and grants had to cover all their costs, they would need to be hugely larger. Ok, you have three million Euro for your new chem lab. Now, where do you want to put it? A university is a public service organization, not a business. It exists to provide an educated populace and to do research that, hopefully, will benefit society as we move toward the future. --- For a (slightly) more direct answer to your question, note that theory drives experimentation, just as experimentation drives theory. Balance is needed, and, I think, recognized. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/18	3,215	12,941	<issue_start>username_0: I wonder how a researcher send an unsolicited email to another one asking for feedback to their work. I guess it will be something like this? > > Hello Dr. X > > > To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z. I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too. If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think? Here is the link: [Human interaction with cats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_interaction_with_cats) > > > Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it. > > > I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for [asking good question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask) is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm. I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet. I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if they finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting. Related:<issue_comment>username_1: > > Hello Dr. X > To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z. > > > Looks good so far. > > I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too. > > > Why are you “sorry”? I think it’s a mistake to apologize or use words that suggest you feel you are doing something wrong for sending the email. Sending the email is fine, and conversely, if you really were doing something wrong, then you shouldn’t send it. > > If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think? > > > This seems rude to me and decreases the chance (which admittedly is in any case quite small) that you will receive meaningful feedback. This person doesn’t owe you anything, so don’t ask them to do something: they will either do it because they are naturally inclined to do it, or they won’t. I would say instead “I welcome any comments or feedback you might have.” Also, if you must ask a question, “what do you think?” is a bad question to ask since it is completely open-ended. Make the question precise and specific. > > Here is the link: Human interaction with cats > Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it. > > > This part looks good. > > I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm. > > > Keep it as short as possible. You already said the work is about A and is related to the recipient’s work on B. I don’t think any more information is necessary. If you really think anything more should be added, write something that’s tailored specifically to the person you’re sending the email to and to their interests instead of a pasted summary. > > I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet. > > > This shouldn’t matter. Blogs can be just as interesting as finished papers, just include the link and a description of your affiliation if you have one. > > I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if X finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting. > > > If I noticed a tracking mechanism in the link, I would delete the email immediately, so I would never get to find out if the content was interesting. (There’s also a chance the email would be filtered by various spam filters, and some mail software might preload the link contents so you would think that it was viewed even when it wasn’t. So it’s a bad idea on multiple levels.) Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail: 1. You need to avoid your mail to appear like academic spam. Your email draft is rather good in that sense because it is short, nicely written, and free of the usual keywords that trigger people's mental spam filter ("submit your article", "endorse this and that", and so on). However, adding a tracking mechanism is certainly not a good idea for this reason alone. 2. You need to avoid appearing like a quack. Both, not pointing to an actual paper and not currently working at a university work against you in that regard. While I agree with Dan that it "should" not matter in principle, I am afraid in practice it will. I assume most recipients are considerably more likely to open an email sent from a person working at a reputable university pointing at an arxiv link or journal paper than a mail from a person without affiliation sending them a link to their personal blog. 3. It needs to be clear enough why it should be a priority for the recipient to read what you sent them. Quite frankly, something being interesting to my work is not enough - my to-read list currently contains some 50 or so papers, all of which are presumably interesting to my work (and some of which I need to review). There just never is enough time to actually read all of them. I think your chances of moving to the top of this list are higher if (a) there is a clear question (that is interesting to me) in the email, and (b) the material is short enough that I can read and comment within half an hour or less. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: The real answer is that they don't. I'm sorry, but I can't slice it any other way. You would need all the planets to align in order to receive an answer after such an email. You are asking someone who doesn't know you and who is probably very busy (like all academics) to provide you a big favor for nothing in return. Because let's be honest, giving feedback on someone else's work is taxing. The best case scenario is that you get very vague and superficial feedback about the first page of your paper. Instead, ask your colleagues, or people you have already built a rapport with (an advisor or former advisor, a collaborator...). Or do it the hard way and submit it for publication. You will get (anonymous) feedback. But make sure first that your paper is close to being ready for publication, because you don't want a desk rejection, and you don't want to be known as that person who wastes referees' time by submitting drafts. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I wouldn’t care much for such an email from a stranger suggesting that I will find his/her work relevant or interesting: I can decide that for myself. My version would be > > Dear Prof. X, > > > I’m taking the liberty of sending a sample of recent work of mine which overlaps with your own. Please be so kind as to keep me informed of your own progress on this topic. > > > Regards, > Y. > > > Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: There are good answers here already, let me just share one strategy that has not been mentioned yet and that I frequently had success with in the past. It may not apply to every such email one might want to send, but if it does I believe it is the strategy that has the most success probability. It is based on the observation that people will usually enjoy talking about their own work more than about some random paper you send them. Your paper may or may not be interesting to them, but their own work certainly is. A good strategy can therefore be to establish a direct connection with the recipients work or expertise. This may not always be possible, in which case I refer you to the other answers. Also in formulating such an email one has to watch out it does not come across as an obvious attempt at flattery. So essentially my suggestion is to actually show the reader why you think that > > [...] my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too. > > > Maybe you are challenging their work? Maybe you have some new ideas or suggestions for improvement? Maybe you provide an alternative method? Maybe you have done an interesting experiment that connects to their theory or vice versa? Maybe you build entirely on their work and want to praise how important their work was for you? Or a combination thereof? My trust in this strategy is based entirely on experience. I personally would at least look at the paper in case of such an email, since missing a directly related work is potentially risky. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: > > Hello Dr. X > > > To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z. > > > I have recently published some work on A [this should be a short > description, not just a title. do keep it short though (1-2 short sentences)]. > > > I enjoyed reading your work on B. [now 1-3 short feedback sentences. don't go too much into detail, but make sure it shows you read the work] > > > I think my work might be of > interest to you, too. If you do find time to read it, any feedback > would be greatly appreciated. > > > My work is less than f pages/g characters (one of those two. don't use exact numbers for characters but round up to the next good looking number. don't use a font size of 8 and a big textblob without any line breaks and say it's only two pages long though ;)) long and really shouldn't take a lot of time to read through. > > > Link: Human interaction with cats [also as attachment in pdf form] > > > This would be a mail that might make me read what you wrote. (strongly depending on how relevant/interesting your description actually was) There are several differences to your initial draft: * No apologizing: You apologize when you did something wrong. Apologizing while you do it is an odd thing to consider polite, especially when you're apologizing for bothering someone as that person having to read through your apology is actually wasting more of his time ;) Also, it makes me feel like you're asking something unreasonable. If it wasn't, why would you have to apologize? * Don't mention it's highly relevant to his work: When he reads your short description, he will know if it's relevant to his work or not. You should never tell someone what is or isn't relevant to him, especially when you're trying to get them to do something for you. * Return the favor: I'm assuming that you did read his work. Otherwise how would you know it was 'highly relevant'? Also, if you're asking him to read your work and give you feedback, it's nice if you do the same for him. If you are coming from a... let's call it lower position though, just mention what you found interesting about it and don't give actual criticism. Bonus points if you mention parts that overlap with your work. * Attachment: Now this point is debatable, as some people are more careful with attachments than with links, but for me it's the other way around. If someone sends me a link it might very well decrease the chance of me reading it. But like I said, different people are different. You also need to make sure that your attachment has a sensible name and is of course virus free if you do choose to go this route. * Needed time: This part is based on some info in one of your comments. Since your work doesn't appear to be very long, you should definitely mention that. If someone wrote me a mail asking for feedback on work they did on something (in academia) I would expect it to be a full paper with complicated calculations I'd have to understand. Meaning a huge commitment of time. So that one sentence really makes a lot of difference. That being said, I feel like page/character count is sligthly better than telling me how much time I will need to read it. You have no idea how fast I read or how much I have to look up. I do. > > I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a > tracking method in there is fine too? > > > No! Apart from spam filters, if I find out, I will never follow any link you send me in the future again, no matter how interesting your link was. If you really feel the need to do this, at the very least tell me so upfront, before I follow your link. It's also very difficult to measure interesting enough. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2019/03/18	637	2,751	<issue_start>username_0: I'm looking to pursue my Ph.D. degree in a different country. Currently, I'm working on my Master's thesis. The major challenge for me would be to receive a tuition fee waiver from the University I'm applying to. Moreover, I know that some PostDoc students are sometimes able to receive a scholarship in their home country for the duration of their postdoc. Has anyone heard about similar cases with Ph.D.? is it common? In my case, my home country is Israel, and the one I'm applying to is Australia.<issue_comment>username_1: Some countries (most notably developing countries, such as Vietnam or Pakistan\) have such grants available. I am not convinced that the same will be true for Israel, but it can't hurt to ask. Your best contact point may be the grant office of the university in your home country. They should be able to point you in the right direction. Note that such grants often have stringent rules about returning back to your home country after finishing your PhD (i.e., they are sometimes constructed as a "loan", which is only forgiven after you have worked back home for a certain number of years). This may not be what you want. --- \These countries offer such grants mainly because they themselves lack internationally well-established research universities to train their own scientific next generation (it's essentially a bootstrap problem). The reason why we don't typically see similar grants in developed countries is because they don't need for their young scientists to be trained elsewhere - they can also just study in their home country to similar effect. Given that Israel has a number of strong universities of its own, I doubt that they provide such a mechanism. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You have to be careful and more specific when you ask and answer this sort of questions, to avoid the so-called [survivorship bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias). Basically, there are two ways of measuring it: 1. Of those who are currently students at the HE, which fraction is supported by a studentship from their own country? 2. Of those who wanted / applied for such a studentship, which fraction is supported? These fractions are not the same. University data may provide answer to (1). However, the answer to (2), which is more relevant to you, can only be obtained from organisations providing the support. It is recognised that funding mechanisms in some countries may be not very transparent and/or not equally fair to all applicants, which makes statistical based approach less effective. In case of Israel this is probably less of a concern, but you may confirm it with your local network to get more reliable information. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/18	659	2,913	<issue_start>username_0: I am aware of a professor, who wrote two published books that had to be corrected. On the publisher's website it states that these two books had been corrected due to "inadequate referencing". Is inadequate referencing essentially a euphemism for plagiarism? Or is it possible that inadequate referencing can really be a lesser sort of offence?<issue_comment>username_1: Perhaps the professor had included an incomplete bibliography in the first submitted version, so inline text references were there but not in the biblio... Annoying for the professor, embarrassing possibly, but easily corrected, however, what it was I don't know. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think that's a rather unkind interpretation of what happened here. Books aren't the same as research articles - especially for text books, it is par for the course that large swaths (most?) of the book are not actually about the author's own ideas. Further, extremely detailed referencing can easily reduce the readability of the book, so oftentimes book authors are given a bit more leeway than what would be acceptable in a research article. What I assumed happened here is that either some references are simply missing (as username_1 said), or that it has been later on determined that some parts of the book should really reference more explicitly where the respective content came from (either because the original author complained or because the book author decided that some more references would help a reader find additional information). I would not assume this to mean that the book author blatantly copied material from somewhere (this, presumably, would not lead to a correction but to withdrawing the entire book, because it also sounds like a copyright nightmare for the publisher). Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm guessing it's a euphemism for dubious content, rather than plagiarism. While books should cite their sources, it is not necessary to cite every single fact. The book's author (who is an expert on the topic) will justify or prove most facts in the course of the discussion. It's good practice to include a bibliography showing relevant primary sources (e.g., for further reading); however, merely summarizing a published paper in a textbook does not necessarily require a citation (e.g., we do not cite Newton's papers in introductory physics books). Citations are really only needed when facts are asserted without being proven or justified through the narrative. In this case, the word "inadequate" does make it seem that there was a problem. This could be a euphemism for plagiarism: word-for-word copying, or not meeting the publisher's standards in terms of referencing relevant work. Or, it could be that the author stated a lot of facts without justification or citation, and some of them turned out to be dubious or even wrong. That's my guess. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/18	1,450	5,732	<issue_start>username_0: Some of the answers to my question [Are academic ethics global or local?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/125614/58912) indicate the possibility that academic ethics themselves (rather than just laws and policies affecting academics) may change over time. What is the actual process by which academic ethics may be altered? More specifically, is the process: * Top-down, in which regulatory agencies, funding sources, legislatures, etc. push down new rules onto academics, who are expected to internalize them as normative? (e.g. "Please take note that fooing the bar is now against our Code of Ethics. If you do not cease all bar fooing activity by the end of the fiscal year, your grant will not be renewed.") * Bottom-up, in which written codes of ethics, laws, funding guidelines, etc. are modified as time goes on to match popular consensus? (e.g. "According to our recent surveys, 95% of academics and 82% of the general public Agree with the statement 'It should be considered unethical when academics foo the bar.'. For the 2020 fiscal year, we should make not fooing the bar a requirement for funding.") The question can alternately be phrased as asking about the nature of academic ethics themselves - whether the "true state" of what is ethical and what is not is part of written rules of academia (and thus reflected in applicable policies, laws, procedures, etc.), or part of the unwritten rules.<issue_comment>username_1: Top down makes little sense. Regulations are independent, generally, of ethics. Some regulations embody ethical principles and some don't. On the other hand, behaving ethically shouldn't require regulation. Bottom up, as you state it, makes little sense. I isn't "consensus" that makes a thing ethical or not. At one time, in the US, there was (somewhat less than universal) consensus that slavery was appropriate and necessary to the well being of the country. Ethics itself derives from principles and from theoretical concepts of the nature of humanity and our world. These principles are debated by philosophers and others and only evolve slowly. Very slowly. Most of the ethical principles at play today are very old. Applied ethics, however, is a bit different. Applied ethics needs to apply the ethical principles to changes as they evolve. The rise of automation, for example, has caused rethinking of some of the economic principles used to organize modern society. What is right in this context, derives from fundamental principles of what is right. But new thinking about applications of ethics only permeates through a society slowly as there are vested interests at play that may be (relatively) disadvantaged by new thinking. I don't know my history well enough to know when plagiarism, for example, became an issue. But far enough back, I doubt that anyone thought much about it. But when new knowledge started to be associated with individuals, and those individuals depended on it for their livelihood, it became more and more of an issue. I doubt that Aristotle, for example, gave a thought to it. That implies a sometimes bottom up (permeate) and sometimes top down (recognize and codify) process. Not a dichotomy, but also, only applicable to applied ethics not ethical principles. --- To give an example, the [Tuskegee Experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment) was unethical, though there were, apparently, no laws or regulations at the time to prevent it's being carried out. Afterwards, laws and regulations were created to make it obvious to everyone that it was wrong. But it was still unethical and immoral in the absence of any such regulations. It isn't the laws and regulations, later passed, that made it unethical. What the laws and regulations did, however, was to make it easier for others to make proper judgements without actually considering the ethics and making their own determination. "Do this, and you will avoid an ethical trap." Had those who carried out the experiment done a proper ethical analysis they would (or at least should) have realized that it was unethical. But, again, those rules and laws are just already existing ethical principles being applied. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm sure both processes happen. The latest Common Rule for human subjects is a great top-down example. <https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2019/01/07/nih-implementation-of-the-final-rule-on-the-federal-policy-for-the-protection-of-human-subjects-common-rule/> This process reinvestigated human subject ethics in the context of modern-day genetics. It almost required specific informed consent for the collection of deidentified tissue, with periodic renewals of consent and the ability to yank consent. Picture what that would do to say, developed perpetual cell lines used for research! MANY universities were waiting anxiously to see what would come out of that process and there were very large discussions on how such requirements would be met. We even modified our CLINICAL operations to accommodate anticipated changes that never happened!! I say this is a great top-down example because the ethics are, and still remain, hard to figure out. Stakeholders had to get together and form consensus. Nobody knew what the outcome would be when the process started. As an example of bottom up, there is the example of neurosurgeons that now require sham surgeries before adopting a new procedure. This fell out of human fetal tissue transplant attempts. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1733639](http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1733639) There is no relevant reg, but I'm sure this is now incorporated into RSRB discussion. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/18	1,268	5,225	<issue_start>username_0: Some people say that you should take for granted for opinions on Reddit, because comparing it to academic journals is like comparing kindergarten to university. But I don't understand. Well, it's true that it is incomplete from a scientific point of view, but most active users in a specialized subreddit likely know what they are talking about. It also has the same peer review mechanism like Stack Exchange, and you can always visit users' profiles to evaluate their expertise. Saying a frequent redditor is not necessarily an expert is like saying [top users](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users?tab=Reputation&filter=all) in Academia Stack Exchange are not necessarily academics I think. So if you can trust (to a certain degree) ideas from TED talks, Wikipedia, or Stack Exchange, then why should Reddit be an exception? PS: I think the keyword specialized subreddit hasn't been implemented enough in the answers. Yes, all of the points are applicable in a generic subreddit, but I'm talking about subs that the fact one is in there means that they must have a certain level of knowledge, or else they can't never find out the sub. Any random person can create accounts, upvote, and write hilarious comments, but only those who actually have the knowledge can write serious ones and show the holes in my knowledge. Related: • [Are TED presentations academically credible?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/26277/14341) • [Are there instances where citing Wikipedia is allowed?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/19083/14341) • [When should we ask questions on Reddit?](https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1557/14341) (quite a misleading title in this context, but anyway)<issue_comment>username_1: > > Well, it's true that it is incomplete from a scientific point of view > > > Why did you write anything after this sentence? --- This is probably a bit flippant. But seriously. It's "incomplete from a scientific point of view", according to your own words. Why do you need anything further to justify the fact that reddit is on a completely different level than academic journals? You are focusing too much on the identity of the writer, when you should have been focusing on the actual content. Science isn't about who wrote what; it's about the research. People can publish anonymously in top journals, if they are so inclined and the editors agree. Not to mention that reddit (and this website) is a popularity contest. Any random person can create an account and upvote everything. Does writing a hilarious answer filled with private jokes make you a great scientist? No. Does it garner a lot of upvotes on reddit? Yes. Do you not see the conflict here? Calling this "peer review" is laughably naive. Reddit users don't go through the painful process of checking all the details of a comment before deciding to click on that arrow button. > > So if you can trust (to a certain degree) ideas from TED talks, Wikipedia, or Stack Exchange, then why should Reddit be an exception? > > > Just like with TED talks, Wikipedia, StackExchange, and journal articles, you should use your own judgment when determining what to trust and not believe blindly anything that is told to you. It's also true that if something is presented in the form of a funny anecdote on an anonymous website, you should proceed with extreme caution. I don't even understand why it's up for discussion. PS: I certainly hope that you don't trust blindly anything written by top users here. StackExchange "reputation" is simply a measure of how much time one has wasted on this website. People who have never done any kind of research or teaching have garnered thousands and thousands of points asking braindead questions and parroting well-known talking points without really understanding what they are talking about. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Activity is a poor metric of expertise. Great experts can be very shy, and a person with the biggest mouth can be over-confident about their knowledge and abilities. Personal factors are diverse and individuals on the internet are often unreliable. What matters is whether there is a system in place to recognise, support and promote best practices. In academia, such system is called peer review. Academic papers are verified by peer academic before they are published. TED talks are peer-reviewed before they are shown to the audience. Peers are responsible for the quality of peer review because the failure can be traced back to them, and because they deeply value the integrity of their field. SE has a very good peer review system. There is no pre-moderation, but wrong or unhelpful answers tend to be voted down very quickly. For controversial topics, the system ensures that important opinions are heard, but not drown in the infinite stream of small less relevant comments. Reddit has similar vote system, but it does not work similarly well. Perhaps, it is because the average smaller size of a comment is much smaller on Reddit and it encourages people to be more impulsive and less pedantic. Redditors often reward fun and humorous comments, but not necessarily helpful and detailed. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/18	730	3,005	<issue_start>username_0: I successfully defended my master's thesis last December. I had 18/20 and it went well. However, my adviser invited me to carry out research in the area, which I accepted. When I was writing the first paper, I noticed a big error in the data analysis. This does not affect the conclusions and the values of the estimates are very similar (with and without the error) the question is what do I do now? I'm afraid to tell my advisor and they cancel my master's degree. What do you think? My ethics does not allow me to write the paper again with the error, but if correct my advisor will find .. Any suggestions? I'm sure no one will notice the error, but I do not know. I´m very afraid of this Thank You<issue_comment>username_1: Revoking an earned degree is exceedingly rare and would probably be appropriate only for serious and intentional errors such as fraud. I think you can rest easy on that. Talk to your advisor and lay it all out. It is better that you find and reveal the errors than if someone else does. Going forward you can still publish, but it will need to be based on correct data, analysis, and interpretations. It is common in research for errors to appear in old work. It is certainly not a unique occurrence. Attempting to conceal it would be the worst path of all. Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: You already stated that you do not plan to continue using the erroneous solution. I think this is the right decision, since using a wrong method knowingly is worse than using it by mistake. Additionally, a Master's thesis has less impact than a paper. Can it have consequences? If the thesis already has been defended and graded, I cannot see any coming. We all make mistakes, that is no academic misconduct. Oops I was too slow. username_1s answer says it all. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Even if your error invalidated your thesis (not the case as you stated), you still worked and researched, so nonetheless you reached some results, either false or true. This is an accomplishment by itself, even if you found your thesis to be wrong and it is still assumed that you learned valuable experience from your master's thesis. Moreover the fact that you found and corrected a calculation error is a good sign you learned to review your work, even if it slipped out at first (and it slipped out from the people supposed to read and review it too, so don't be hard on yourself). Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: It is not all on you. You defended your thesis -- presumably in front of experts who know the subject matter and an advisor who read the thesis. It is unlikely that the mistake is as egregious as you fear. Otherwise, those in charge would likely have noticed. They gave an endorsement of the fundamental quality of your research efforts, and no subsequent rethinking of that research can negate that endorsement (unless you are guilty of some blatant dishonesty, which doesn't seem to be the case). Upvotes: 3
2019/03/18	1,449	5,847	<issue_start>username_0: Are hand assembled posters acceptable in Academia? When I say academia, I mean formal presentation settings such as conferences and symposia. I ask because I am preparing for a symposium and came across <NAME>'s guide to conference posters found [here](https://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design). On his site, Purrington writes: > > If you’re crafty, a handmade poster is far superior to anything that you could make with a poster printer. Plus you’d be the highlight of a meeting. > > > My field is engineering by the way. I couldn't find this anywhere else and every academic research poster that I have seen is printed. I can print my poster, I am just wondering, would there be any issues with presenting a professional looking hand made one? On my hand made poster, all text would be printed, it would just be assembled on the board without a template. Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, of course, it is permitted. As you cited, it may even be the best way to get your ideas across. That is what is valued, not just "production values". You are a scholar, not an advertising guru. At CS conferences, student posters are fairly often hand constructed, rather than professionally printed. Just Do It, if it is the best way in your opinion. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It really doesn't matter as long as it's readable. The content is far more important than the presentation. You are overthinking this. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I have seen "handmade" posters from time-to-time in the past few years. It is a little surprising whenever I see them and reminds me of my younger days. Usually they are A4, sometimes A3, (8.5"x11" or 11"x17") sheets of white paper glued/taped to a slightly larger piece of colored cardboard. Sometimes the title is printed on a large format poster printer, other times the papers are taped together carefully. It is most definitely easier to travel with a poster like this. I have never seen anyone make a really nice poster like this or do things that you cannot do in LaTeX, PowerPoint, or Illustrator. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: An academic poster should just tell the story of a study. It should be clearly and briefly presented. In principle, it does not matter if it is printed on paper or canvas, displayed on an electronic screen, printed on multiple A4 papers, drawn by hand, or sculptured, etc. Non-traditional, creative presentation of a poster (may) attracts more attention (my own experience). Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I am two days away from a poster presentation. I opted to write mine in Latex because a poster in Latex looks professional. If you are totally confident that your content is so striking that no-one will pay attention to the graphic art, then write your poster however you want. The risk in a hand-made home-crafted poster is that it will stand out for the wrong reasons: the medium will swamp the message. The answer to your question is that such posters are acceptable in academia, but if you want to take that route make sure that your content is really, really good. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: You should present the best poster you can make =============================================== It is far easier to make a professionally looking, high quality poster using LaTeX or any other software than by hand-drawing it. However, there are some really good artists out there who can manage to do a hand-drawn poster that looks better than a printed one could. So don't use hand-drawing as a way to save time or money. A good hand-drawn poster is more work than any printed one. If you are 100% certain that you can get your message across better with a hand-drawn poster, then go for it, otherwise use a printed one. Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_7: I have seen a lot of creativity in poster sessions. For instance, I saw someone bring a sheet of plastic that allowed them to use dry-erase markers, and then they basically gave a chalk talk to anyone who came up. I've also seen people just print out slides of a talk and staple them to the poster area. The former was good, the latter was not. Personally, the most I ever did was use velcro strips to mount a small Android tablet where I showed an animated figure. I think doing something "non-standard" can be a great way to attract attention and even present things that a traditional beamer/Powerpoint/Illustrator poster can't (my motivation for doing an animation). However, you have to know what you're doing first, in my opinion. Don't do it because it seems more straightforward or allows you to avoid learning the software tools you're expected to be able to use. Like in a lot of places, the key thing is that you should know the standards very well before you break them, and that if you do so, you have to do it very well. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: I've seen probably 8000 conference posters in at quantum information theory conferences, and I can't even remember which ones were hand-printed, so I'd say the content is much more important than the presentation. (The hand-printed ones are in the minority, but maybe 1 of 20 are that way.) I do remember one funny poster some years back that was just a big pad of paper, with a little sign saying "Ask me anything you want". The presenter went on to be a very successful professor. In other fields the presentation may matter more. I remember a math professor telling me a funny story of philosophy conferences, where the presenters stand up at a podium and read carefully-prepared speeches word-for-word. We both sniggered at this, and he said that a philosopher had explained to him that this was because the phrasing and word-choice was very important, which made us both laugh. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/19	619	2,564	<issue_start>username_0: One year ago I withdrew from one job application. I met the committee, the interview lasted nearly 2 hours, they showed me the institution, I had lunch with one of the senior team member. Then I suddenly withdrew before results were announced. The job was in a different country and I haven't got an opportunity to meet anybody again. After some time I see that it was a mistake. Is it a good idea to send them an email that I regard my actions as a mistake or as unprofessional? Let say to the senior member with whom I had lunch, or to the head of the project. I have a feeling that I have made a mistake and it was maybe too harsh to withdraw. Maybe in the future they will seek another sort of collaboration or there will be another job available at the institution.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see any strong reasons not to do this, but I would turn it around a bit. Rather than emphasizing the apology over the "seeking collaboration", you might consider doing the opposite. If it makes sense to seek some collaboration with them, then you could do that, and then, maybe later, mention that you made a mistake in withdrawing. I don't know why you use the word "harsh", however. If the words of your withdrawal could be interpreted as insulting in any way then the situation is different and requires a different, fence mending, approach. But otherwise, withdrawal is really just a normal thing, especially if the job was in a different country. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Dropping out of a search isn't really unprofessional (unless you told them to go to hell I guess - but then it will be way too late to apologize). In that light, and under the assumption that you just dropped out suddenly and politely (as most people do), mailing them is not so much unprofessional as much as it is pointless. As Henning says in a comment: "What are you trying to achieve?" * Get a job with them? Way too late for this - the previous position is either filled or allocated differently. If a new position opens up, you can always apply again. * Apologize? No need for that - people drop out of a job search for all kinds of reasons all the time. They have almost certainly moved on, and so should you. * Just let them know that you now regret your decision? Why would they need to know this, or even care? * Start a collaboration? "Hey, I dropped out of your search a while ago" is hardly the best ice breaker. We all make mistakes. It's best to learn to let things go. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
2019/03/19	750	3,051	<issue_start>username_0: So I work in a project where the consortium is planning to write an open-access book with Springer publications. There might be a chapter regarding the work I have done in the project. The editors of the book will be some other people, but every chapter will have the authors of the dedicated work. Doesn't this mean that irrespective of the chapter's content, at the end if one cites the book, only the editors of the book are cited and not me? I am just not sure how does it help when one considers writing chapter(s) in a book helpful in academia?<issue_comment>username_1: For the kind of book you seem to describe, I think citations would be to chapters of the book, hence to the authors. But pretty much any reviewed and edited publication you have helps you, though some more than others. Since you have done the work, consider the relative merits of having this vs not having it, or someone else having a chapter in your place. If you still had the work to do, you might consider where your time and efforts would be better spent, but with the work behind you, the writing effort should pay off over time. If no one else cites it, you certainly can in work that builds on what you did. It gives you visibility with the other authors as well, and can lead to future opportunities. I don't see any negatives other than the time spent in writing. And, saying no to the editors might not be the wisest move. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Note: I'm assuming that OP meant an [open-access](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access) book (the term "open source" applies to software). > > Doesn't this mean that irrespective of the chapter's content, at the end if one cites the book, only the editors of the book are cited and not me? > > > No it doesn't: it's very likely that your independent chapter can be cited with you as author, that's not an issue ([example of an open-access book with chapters by different authors](http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/22)). > > I am just not sure how does it help when one considers writing chapter(s) in a book helpful in academia? > > > In this case the open-access book is paid by your consortium, so it's not as prestigious as having a paper accepted in a competitive peer-reviewed journal for instance. But it's still a valuable publication, the editors are supposed to make sure that the chapters satisfy academic standards. This kind of publication is more and more common due to open-access requirements by some funding bodies, for instance the EU. The advantages of this kind of publication are: * the thematic unity of the book. Among the other chapters, your work is put in context in a way which is supposed to show its relevance. * the freedom you have about the content. You have room to give details and, unless the editors impose specific constraints, you can present any aspect of your work. This can be an opportunity to offer a perspective that wouldn't be easily accepted in a different context. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2019/03/19	1,026	4,477	<issue_start>username_0: There are three differents cases when the research level of a paper must be evaluated before any publication: * for author: to choose the most appropriate journal, * for referee: to recommend acceptance or rejection for a given journal, * for editor: to take the final decision. If we compare this process to justice, a referee is like a lawyer, and an editor is like a judge. Question: How an author, a referee and an editor can (respectively) evaluate the research level of a paper? We here ask about the purely research level of a paper, so we assume that the paper is original, correct and well-written. We also assume that the paper is not too specialized if it is a general-audience journal, and is on-topic if it is a specialized journal (idem for any other specificity). Finally, if specific, I am mainly interested in mathematical papers. An utilitarianism way could be to estimate how many papers should cite this paper in the next five years (self-citations excepted). Then the author can choose a journal having this number as [Article Influence score](http://www.eigenfactor.org/projects/journalRank/rankings.php?search=PQ&year=2015&searchby=isicat&orderby=articleinfluence) (after renormalization), and the referee can check if it matches with the chosen journal. But then it would be necessary to know how to make such an estimate... Of course, an author/referee/editor can evaluate the paper subjectively, but subjectivity varies with emotions, it can be manipulated and the process can become political. I wonder whether there is an objective way to proceed, or at least, if we can add a bit of rationality in this process. Consider the process of justice, it contains undeniably a part of subjectivity, but also rationality, called the law.<issue_comment>username_1: While I think your "justice" metaphor is wrong, the answer in all cases is experience. You need experience in the field as a reviewer. You need to know what has been done and what is important yet to do. As an editor you need either that field experience or experience with your reviewers - who is trustworthy and who is not. As an author in the early career you don't have any experience other than some within the field, but it will grow. For everyone here, the way you get experience is to make best effort attempts at whatever job you have and evaluate the response. As they say in engineering and computer science, "Good design comes from experience. Experience comes from bad design." If you are looking for an algorithm, then I would say it doesn't exist. It might be possible in theory to construct one with an AI looking at tens of thousands of interactions, but it might show bias, as many such things have been shown to do. But the system as a whole just depends on (nearly) everyone trying to do their best with what they have in front of them in world of imperfect information. --- In theory, theory is the same as practice. But not in practice. - <NAME> Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you have a misconception here about the point of the peer-review. The review process is not meant to be a future prediction of how many citations a paper might get. Yet, I have experienced in the past that some journals ask the reviewers, after the review is finished, if a paper should be highlighted in the current issue of the journal or on the journal website. As a reviewer, I can make a personal judgement if a paper should be highlighted, but as broad, interdisciplinary and diversified as science has become, I often vote to not highlight a paper, because it would be a subjective judgement. I also leave the decision, if a script fits the scope of a journal often to the editor (and care only about the quality of the reported research), this is literally not my business as an unpaid reviewer and is based on my view, to select a paper for reading by myself by factors not biasing me too much like journal impact factor etc... It just follows from scientific history that we often cannot predict the impact of fundamental research. I also think, there is no need to do what you ask or suggest for submitted scripts before publication, because the temporal highlighting of important research is done on conferences and later by the peers and readers in the community via review articles or even blogs, where you have much more, more experienced and objective "judges", than before publication. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/19	657	2,779	<issue_start>username_0: What are the ethical considerations of using a victim of a violent crime's name in my research? I understand confidentiality is not an issue as the individual is deceased. Moreover, their death was a high-profile legal case, so it's already a public issue. So while I may be "allowed" to use their name - I am more concerned about what is most respectful of their family/friends. (I think contacting them to ask would be inappropriate). Would it be better to simply say "the deceased" or "the victim"? What if the details of the case study make it abundantly clear to whom I am referring? EDIT 1: To clarify, the case is high profile enough to have a Wikipedia page and have been reported in all major news outlets. None of my data is not already in the public domain.<issue_comment>username_1: Actually, confidentially is still an issue, in general, for someone who is deceased. Their family needs consideration as does their general reputation. I would guess that your IRB won't permit you to name names. Different rules apply for public figures generally, however. You can name <NAME>, for example. The rules might also be a bit more relaxed for victims of extremely public crimes (your example), such as the victims of the unabomber, since some of those names are already clearly part of the public record. In other cases, it might actually be necessary to obscure some details in the service of confidentiality. But just because the crime is known widely, don't assume that the names of victims are. But you would not be wise to do this without explicit permission from your IRB or equivalent research ethics office. If you conclude from this answer that the situation can be murky, I think it is. Check before you jump and be a bit more conservative than you think is absolutely required. Make sure that the name is, in some way, essential to include. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Journalists I have spoken to have emphasized the importance of communicating in private, with ample lead time prior to publication, with multiple people with relevant personal and professional experience. For instance, if it was a suicide, you might want to run a question like this by both professionals in areas related to suicide, and families of people who have committed suicide. Maybe this is an approach your IRB is already taking, but I see no harm in doing some investigation of your own. If nothing else, it might inform your communication with your IRB. No "rule of thumb" will cover all situations, and the number of overlapping considerations can make it pretty complex. Communicate with people who have experience and expertise that will make them likely to think of things you might miss. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/19	632	2,652	<issue_start>username_0: I'm doing a (paid, contractual) remote research internship with a research institute in Germany. My job is to come up with novel ideas, write papers for technical conferences and try to publish them. My supervisor here is `A`. There is another individual `B` from a different institute in the USA, who has expressed interest in a research collaboration with me. However, this arrangement is informal, wherein he would provide his comments on my ideas and help me publish them. He would also be one of the authors of the resulting paper. Now during my regular work with `A`, I had proposed a couple of ideas to him: he liked one but said the other was not promising. It so happens that I do think that the second idea is promising, perhaps even more so than the first idea that he liked. So my question is, is it legal and ethical for me to take my second idea to `B` and ask him for help in getting it published? Before I start this endeavour, should I perhaps ask `A` in unequivocal terms whether I can take my idea elsewhere? If `A` has no use for the idea he shouldn't have a problem in allowing me to do so (I hope, but I'm not sure). Is this a reasonable question to ask a supervisor? I feel like this is a grey area but I also think that the idea I have is a good one, and I don't want to waste it (by getting it published before someone else comes up with a similar idea).<issue_comment>username_1: If the idea is valuable you should talk to an attorney. You want to avoid encumbrances. If there is some small chance that if the idea hits it big, A can claim some ownership, the thing to do is to get a letter stating that A waives all claims around this idea. There are also time-sensitive issues surrounding your situation from the perspective of protecting IP. In your conversations with A and B, you might have "disclosed", starting a clock starting for patent procedures. Again, if it's important, this is what lawyers are for. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Legal questions need to be answered locally by qualified lawyers. You may have contractual obligations that make this impossible. Many such people do have such constraints. But if you have constraints you can ask for a release to take the idea elsewhere. Apple computer got started partly because HP didn't object to the [Woz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak) taking his ideas outside the company, thinking that personal computers had no value. He was explicitly constrained in general, but got a formal release. (Later he was asked what he thought of HP, a company so short sighted. His reply: I love that company.) Upvotes: 2
2019/03/19	3,243	13,500	<issue_start>username_0: My supervisor got some funding and is hiring new PhD students. Today one of them came to an interview and we told him about the things that we do. The main problem is that my supervisor is a terrible supervisor. He wants to lead the research project but has no idea on how to work on real implementations. He does not help or even provide feedback although he still is the leading author of all the publications we do. He does not want to spend money on us or on equipment, but expects results as if we were using high-end equipment. He treats us plainly wrong, taking credit for our accomplishments, humiliating us when possible, not helping or leading in any way and not allowing as to grow as researchers. I know that I could be biased for some personal bad experience but 100% of the students at my research center (both his students and other students) agree with me that he is, by far, the worst possible advisor that there is in our research center. My question is: should I warn a new coming PhD student about this so that he can take his decision taking this into account, or am I supposed to say nothing because it is not my business? On one hand, when I was where he is now I would have LOVED if someone told me about this situation, but on the other hand as a PhD student I'm risking a lot by saying this and I don't know if I should get involved. EDIT: At the end I did it. I called him as it was impossible for me to see him face to face. I basically explained him several facts (not opinions) and my personal view of the situation, trying to be as much understanding and empathic as possible. Luckily he has done research before and understand me very well. He thanked me for the honesty. On one hand I feel that I did the correct thing, but on the other one I think that this situation is a time bomb that could explode at any time... But today I slept like a baby, which I think is a good sign. Thank you all for your answers, they helped me a lot.<issue_comment>username_1: First, to disqualify my opinion, I did not go through a Ph.D. program. I am far from being an Academic. I have helped friends with their Ph.D. research and had things been different I would have loved to spend years in the Academic lab. Instead, I've spent my time in corporate offices doing commercial product development. Second, warning someone off is a bad thing -- especially for you. There are very few circumstances under which you can save someone else trouble, and avoid trouble yourself. The candidates you are talking to are anxious to have a slot -- almost any slot. Your warning won't put them off if they are otherwise interested, or desperate, and you will have marked yourself as someone they have material to use against later. Third, don't start a palace revolt and rebel against the person in charge unless you are certain that you can bring them down, and that you benefit from the change. The new person can be worse, or the lab can be disbanded, or someone new can be appointed who just doesn't understand your work. No problem, right? Just start over. Big setback. Or, worse, you don't depose the leader. Be ready for the purge. If you have unassailable evidence of sexual exploitation or severe financial malfeasance you might stand a chance. Micromanagement, gruff temper, credit-stealing, incompetence, surly disposition, bad advice, or absentee guidance -- you don't stand a chance. The institution probably already knows and yet he remains in place. You are unlikely to be the agent of change you would like to be and still preserve the work you are doing and the progress you have made. Your best bet is to get out. Ideally, you get out by finishing, accepting the degree, and finding a wonderful postdoc situation. If the PI's reputation is so negative, they may drag you down even after you are finished with them. Not ideal, but perhaps better, is you find a lab where you can thrive and move there. Network with others. Reach out where other's have shown interest. You will be better losing some time and having the right, enriching experience. Summarizing, I suggest that you do not attempt to dissuade the candidate from joining the lab. Not in a selfish sense, but with a sense of self-preservation, watch out for yourself and your best interests. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: You should. As you mentioned yourself, you would have loved it if someone had warned you about things before you went, and "do unto others as you would they do unto you" is a good maxim to live by. Having said that, you should also take steps to protect yourself. Talk to the student in private, and ask for confidentiality. Do it face-to-face or via telephone/Skype if you can; if you must use email, avoid using your institutional email address. You've already acknowledged you might be biased, so tell the student the facts only and don't add anything that you inferred from the facts. For example, instead of "He does not help or even provide feedback", say how many times you meet him or attempt to contact him a week. Describe how those meetings went - what did you say, what did he say, what did you do next? Try not to say "he does not help" as though it's a bad thing: it's actually possible he is expecting you to [work independently for various reasons](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/107586/84834) (e.g. you were so good he doesn't think you need close supervision). Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: You should have to warn any prospective student, if you think you could. Me too, I wished if some one warned me before joining the toxic lab where I have been forced to leave an another student was not allowed to defend after four years, so you are saving their life and wasting years. Later, after looking for other labs, I found that students are afraid to tell the truth because of the sensitivity of their position, they forwarded me to alumni and others dare to speak up with me and warned me and I am so grateful for them because they saved me from the trap. Of course, sometimes the student is desperate and need any position as long as it is competitive and hard sometimes to find a slot. I did that although the bad feedback because I was in a desperate need for money and I took decision this is would be a temporary place. To sum up, there is no ideal place, however, based on the OP’s description this is a terrible supervisor, I cannot find any positive lights for any prospective student to work under him/her. So, I you think you are capable you can say this information is confidential and tell the truth, or if you feel that you embarrassed to say forward the student to alumni that had witnessed the experience. I stress this telling the truth is important, it is like marrying the wrong man or woman. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I don't have PhD, because I bailed out after completing requirements for MS. If I go back to school, I would definitely want to know who is helpful and who is not. So I would say it is the right thing to do to warn the student. However, be careful, because some professors can be very vindictive, and can cause serious damage to your academic career, so: * talk to that student face to face * no electronic communication of any kind * no written communication either * try to find an opportunity where nobody can see you talking to this student * keep it short and factual - absolutely no venting * think in advance what to say, so you can be as brief as possible Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As others say, state the facts not conclusions. However, this is easier said than done, because every time you think about the fact your emotions will show up and cloud your mind, so what's left is only the conclusions, and all the facts are unable to be recalled. This is indicated right from this question. Instead of providing the facts the main impression left in my mind after reading your question is "he is terrible". There is a paragraph describing how terrible he is, but then again it is all conclusions, not facts. I find the [Socratic questioning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning) useful for this. By assuming that you have an ignorant mindset, you can take the perspective of a naïve person, who is curious and opened to everything about him, and can ask non-judgmental questions. By answering those questions, you can now provide the prospective students with facts, not conclusions. For example, here are some of my questions to you: * > > He wants to lead the research project but has no idea on how to work on real implementations. > > > → What do you mean by "have no idea"? What are the implementations you talking about? * > > He does not help or even provide feedback although he still is the leading author of all the publications we do. > > > → What kind of help that you expect him to do? How many papers is he the leading author? * > > He does not want to spend money on us or on equipment, but expects results as if we were using high-end equipment. > > > → Can you compare the results you have and the results of the high-end equipment? * > > He treats us plainly wrong, taking credit for our accomplishments, humiliating us when possible, not helping or leading in any way and not allowing as to grow as researchers. > > > → What are some examples of this? Write the answer to a note, but don't send it yet. Leave it there for a couple days, until you have finally remove all your conclusions. After that, you may even send it to your department if needed. Or if you want to change his behavior, you can wait for the right moment and mention one of these points *fleetingly, as if it's not a big important point. Hopefully he will be embarrassed. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Actually, you probably don't have that much* to lose. ------------------------------------------------------ You are probably thinking that if your supervisor was to ever hear or read about your warning the candidates, s/he would prevent you to finish your PhD and/or to get a job. In most cases, this is attributing him/her much more power that s/he actually has. You may not be well aware of that yet, but your statement that > > 100% of the students at my research center (both his students and other students) agree with me that he is, by far, the worst possible advisor that there is in our research center > > > holds true for researchers of your research center, your university and most researchers who have worked with him/her. Need proof ? The students you are mentioning will likely become researchers, and so have the ones before… So s/he can't get in your way to get a job (unless you really want a job in this very research center, in which case politics will interfere…). As for preventing you to finish your PhD, if things go that bad you should be able to seek conciliation into your university or school, which may eventually find you another supervisor. Really, the worst that can happen is that s/he makes your life at the lab a nightmare — but then the previous sentence still applies. And remember that all of this assumes that your supervisor finds out your warning, which is not very likely. Still, is warning the candidates useful ? ----------------------------------------- Some first-hand experience : before I started my PhD, my Master internship advisor advised me to inquire about the PhD advisor before accepting any offer. However people were very reluctant to say anything about them, or were being quite suspicious about such an inquiry. Fortunately, by insisting I finally managed to get a few facts about how bad the advisor of the PhD I was about to choose was. I eventually decided to go for it anyway, because the quality of the supervisor is not the single criteria a candidate has to take into account (actually I barely worked with her, exactly as someone told me). But all in all, I was able to make my choice fully informed. On the other hand, nobody warned my wife about the terrible environment she was about to join. She ended up leaving her PhD unfinished, having lost 6 years of her professional life and tearing down her self-esteem, and eventually going into depression. I'm not sure if she encountered anyone who could have warned her about this very toxic environment before signing, but I would find it criminal to not having done so. Such labs and/or advisors feed upon unwarned students. Don't let them live. Delegate – advice for prospective students ------------------------------------------ If you don't feel like giving your own opinion, you can still give them useful advice to find it by themselves before signing anything. Actually, I think prospective students should inquire not only with the prospective supervisor's entourage, but also with students of other departments in the same lab, who will be more free to speak – not necessarily asking directly about the prospective supervisor, but e.g. asking for "supervisors to avoid", and preferably in a informal situation with several students (keeping in mind that such a situation is also more prone to gossip). So you could get along with something like > > I don't feel at ease speaking about my team or my direct supervisor, but it might be a good idea to ask students from other teams, their external look may be very insightful for you. > > > And you can even recommend a friend of yours who knows your opinion very well… Upvotes: 0
2019/03/20	2,840	11,728	<issue_start>username_0: I have two questions in this regard: 1. If someone completes a PhD in Poland, would it be considered on par with a German or British PhD? 2. Can a Polish-PhD holder enter academia in Germany or UK?<issue_comment>username_1: First, to disqualify my opinion, I did not go through a Ph.D. program. I am far from being an Academic. I have helped friends with their Ph.D. research and had things been different I would have loved to spend years in the Academic lab. Instead, I've spent my time in corporate offices doing commercial product development. Second, warning someone off is a bad thing -- especially for you. There are very few circumstances under which you can save someone else trouble, and avoid trouble yourself. The candidates you are talking to are anxious to have a slot -- almost any slot. Your warning won't put them off if they are otherwise interested, or desperate, and you will have marked yourself as someone they have material to use against later. Third, don't start a palace revolt and rebel against the person in charge unless you are certain that you can bring them down, and that you benefit from the change. The new person can be worse, or the lab can be disbanded, or someone new can be appointed who just doesn't understand your work. No problem, right? Just start over. Big setback. Or, worse, you don't depose the leader. Be ready for the purge. If you have unassailable evidence of sexual exploitation or severe financial malfeasance you might stand a chance. Micromanagement, gruff temper, credit-stealing, incompetence, surly disposition, bad advice, or absentee guidance -- you don't stand a chance. The institution probably already knows and yet he remains in place. You are unlikely to be the agent of change you would like to be and still preserve the work you are doing and the progress you have made. Your best bet is to get out. Ideally, you get out by finishing, accepting the degree, and finding a wonderful postdoc situation. If the PI's reputation is so negative, they may drag you down even after you are finished with them. Not ideal, but perhaps better, is you find a lab where you can thrive and move there. Network with others. Reach out where other's have shown interest. You will be better losing some time and having the right, enriching experience. Summarizing, I suggest that you do not attempt to dissuade the candidate from joining the lab. Not in a selfish sense, but with a sense of self-preservation, watch out for yourself and your best interests. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: You should. As you mentioned yourself, you would have loved it if someone had warned you about things before you went, and "do unto others as you would they do unto you" is a good maxim to live by. Having said that, you should also take steps to protect yourself. Talk to the student in private, and ask for confidentiality. Do it face-to-face or via telephone/Skype if you can; if you must use email, avoid using your institutional email address. You've already acknowledged you might be biased, so tell the student the facts only and don't add anything that you inferred from the facts. For example, instead of "He does not help or even provide feedback", say how many times you meet him or attempt to contact him a week. Describe how those meetings went - what did you say, what did he say, what did you do next? Try not to say "he does not help" as though it's a bad thing: it's actually possible he is expecting you to [work independently for various reasons](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/107586/84834) (e.g. you were so good he doesn't think you need close supervision). Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: You should have to warn any prospective student, if you think you could. Me too, I wished if some one warned me before joining the toxic lab where I have been forced to leave an another student was not allowed to defend after four years, so you are saving their life and wasting years. Later, after looking for other labs, I found that students are afraid to tell the truth because of the sensitivity of their position, they forwarded me to alumni and others dare to speak up with me and warned me and I am so grateful for them because they saved me from the trap. Of course, sometimes the student is desperate and need any position as long as it is competitive and hard sometimes to find a slot. I did that although the bad feedback because I was in a desperate need for money and I took decision this is would be a temporary place. To sum up, there is no ideal place, however, based on the OP’s description this is a terrible supervisor, I cannot find any positive lights for any prospective student to work under him/her. So, I you think you are capable you can say this information is confidential and tell the truth, or if you feel that you embarrassed to say forward the student to alumni that had witnessed the experience. I stress this telling the truth is important, it is like marrying the wrong man or woman. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I don't have PhD, because I bailed out after completing requirements for MS. If I go back to school, I would definitely want to know who is helpful and who is not. So I would say it is the right thing to do to warn the student. However, be careful, because some professors can be very vindictive, and can cause serious damage to your academic career, so: * talk to that student face to face * no electronic communication of any kind * no written communication either * try to find an opportunity where nobody can see you talking to this student * keep it short and factual - absolutely no venting * think in advance what to say, so you can be as brief as possible Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As others say, state the facts not conclusions. However, this is easier said than done, because every time you think about the fact your emotions will show up and cloud your mind, so what's left is only the conclusions, and all the facts are unable to be recalled. This is indicated right from this question. Instead of providing the facts the main impression left in my mind after reading your question is "he is terrible". There is a paragraph describing how terrible he is, but then again it is all conclusions, not facts. I find the [Socratic questioning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning) useful for this. By assuming that you have an ignorant mindset, you can take the perspective of a naïve person, who is curious and opened to everything about him, and can ask non-judgmental questions. By answering those questions, you can now provide the prospective students with facts, not conclusions. For example, here are some of my questions to you: * > > He wants to lead the research project but has no idea on how to work on real implementations. > > > → What do you mean by "have no idea"? What are the implementations you talking about? * > > He does not help or even provide feedback although he still is the leading author of all the publications we do. > > > → What kind of help that you expect him to do? How many papers is he the leading author? * > > He does not want to spend money on us or on equipment, but expects results as if we were using high-end equipment. > > > → Can you compare the results you have and the results of the high-end equipment? * > > He treats us plainly wrong, taking credit for our accomplishments, humiliating us when possible, not helping or leading in any way and not allowing as to grow as researchers. > > > → What are some examples of this? Write the answer to a note, but don't send it yet. Leave it there for a couple days, until you have finally remove all your conclusions. After that, you may even send it to your department if needed. Or if you want to change his behavior, you can wait for the right moment and mention one of these points *fleetingly, as if it's not a big important point. Hopefully he will be embarrassed. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Actually, you probably don't have that much* to lose. ------------------------------------------------------ You are probably thinking that if your supervisor was to ever hear or read about your warning the candidates, s/he would prevent you to finish your PhD and/or to get a job. In most cases, this is attributing him/her much more power that s/he actually has. You may not be well aware of that yet, but your statement that > > 100% of the students at my research center (both his students and other students) agree with me that he is, by far, the worst possible advisor that there is in our research center > > > holds true for researchers of your research center, your university and most researchers who have worked with him/her. Need proof ? The students you are mentioning will likely become researchers, and so have the ones before… So s/he can't get in your way to get a job (unless you really want a job in this very research center, in which case politics will interfere…). As for preventing you to finish your PhD, if things go that bad you should be able to seek conciliation into your university or school, which may eventually find you another supervisor. Really, the worst that can happen is that s/he makes your life at the lab a nightmare — but then the previous sentence still applies. And remember that all of this assumes that your supervisor finds out your warning, which is not very likely. Still, is warning the candidates useful ? ----------------------------------------- Some first-hand experience : before I started my PhD, my Master internship advisor advised me to inquire about the PhD advisor before accepting any offer. However people were very reluctant to say anything about them, or were being quite suspicious about such an inquiry. Fortunately, by insisting I finally managed to get a few facts about how bad the advisor of the PhD I was about to choose was. I eventually decided to go for it anyway, because the quality of the supervisor is not the single criteria a candidate has to take into account (actually I barely worked with her, exactly as someone told me). But all in all, I was able to make my choice fully informed. On the other hand, nobody warned my wife about the terrible environment she was about to join. She ended up leaving her PhD unfinished, having lost 6 years of her professional life and tearing down her self-esteem, and eventually going into depression. I'm not sure if she encountered anyone who could have warned her about this very toxic environment before signing, but I would find it criminal to not having done so. Such labs and/or advisors feed upon unwarned students. Don't let them live. Delegate – advice for prospective students ------------------------------------------ If you don't feel like giving your own opinion, you can still give them useful advice to find it by themselves before signing anything. Actually, I think prospective students should inquire not only with the prospective supervisor's entourage, but also with students of other departments in the same lab, who will be more free to speak – not necessarily asking directly about the prospective supervisor, but e.g. asking for "supervisors to avoid", and preferably in a informal situation with several students (keeping in mind that such a situation is also more prone to gossip). So you could get along with something like > > I don't feel at ease speaking about my team or my direct supervisor, but it might be a good idea to ask students from other teams, their external look may be very insightful for you. > > > And you can even recommend a friend of yours who knows your opinion very well… Upvotes: 0
2019/03/20	3,126	13,534	<issue_start>username_0: I teach mathematics at MSc and PhD levels. My preferred method of teaching is old-fashioned: talking and writing on the blackboard at the same time. Why? Because it has many advantages: 1. Handwriting: imposes few restrictions on notation and illustration. (Complicated figures I could project from my laptop, but I have no need for this in my courses.) 2. Flexibility: whenever this is useful, it is easy to 'deviate from the script'. 3. Natural speed: it imposes a natural speed on the speaker. Preparing slides using LaTeX or PowerPoint and just clicking through them, I find myself proceeding way too fast. 4. Parallel displays: having several boards available for writing makes it easy to keep some text/examples on display on one board, while writing on another. 5. Dynamics: referring to information on the different boards allows me to move through the room, adding a more dynamic aspect to the lecture. 6. Ease: it is a low-tech way of achieving all these things simultaneously with easily available means. The main disadvantage of this method is that I spend a significant amount of time of each lecture with my back to the audience. Question: What would you recommend as a means of communication that combines the six features above (most importantly, the handwriting and parallel displays), but facing the audience? Obviously, a low-budget solution would be appreciated, but my institute is usually pretty generous in investing in technology that improves teaching, so don't let that restrict you! What I tried: Many things, including writing by hand on tablets (iPads, Digital Paper, reMarkable, etc.) and projecting this in the classroom. Perhaps I haven't found the optimal device for this yet, but it often comes out pixellated, delayed, and less readable than my usual handwriting on paper or the blackboard. Using a document camera to project my handwriting on paper works well, but can project only about half an A4 paper at a time to keep it readable for people in the back of the room and, like other approaches, has the disadvantage of not having parallel displays: it's hugely important to be able to keep definitions, examples, theorems from earlier on for easy reference.<issue_comment>username_1: The retro-projectors where one wrote on the plastic film allowed one to go "back in time" as it were... rewind... Of course one could lay a diagram on top then remove it etc So, you can have a single slide with a particular expression or theorem that you need often and drop it on as necessary. One comment mentions a "camera" to project a document - one that was used to do this is called an epidiascope... Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. Do not assume that facing the audience is actually better. It depends on the type of content. For example, if you are explaining a diagram (detailed hydraulic system for instance), you want the audience to concentrate on that, not the presenter. The audience is still getting plenty of stimulation by having a live human voice along with visual content. You actually don't want the presenter to distract the eyeballs from the intricate content. (I see this wrong often with recorded talks where the video operator concentrates on the podium versus the charts, or shows both but with inadequate scale to see the slide charts.) If you are doing math (as opposed to history or literature), the content is more intricate and you should have the audience concentrating on the formulas, not the speaker. 2. Take some occasional time to address the class when that is appropriate. Examples are a "sea story" about test performance or industrial application of the math. But these will be a minor amount of time within a math lecture. 3. I mean, if you really wanted to, you could write backwards in grease pencil on plexiglass like in an old Navy combat information center. But really what is the point. People concentrate on the status (content), not the writer anyways. The one advantage is that you don't have a body blocking part of the board. I believe there are now electronic versions that would flip this around for you (or you can use an OHP). But still I think you lose a lot from having a lot less screen space than board space (especially with sliding boards). So, the small advantage of facing is at the loss of huge amounts of content physical space. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: If the space in which you lecture permits, you could simply put some big mirrors next to or between your blackboards. That would let you continue to write with your back to the audience as you do now while also being able to casually glance at them (or at least some of them) without turning around. Less unusually, if you're in a small classroom setting you could angle your blackboard a bit away from the class. I've seen plenty of rooms that had a portable blackboard positioned like this before, and it allows the teacher to stand to one side of the blackboard and glance sideways at the class while writing. (I suspect that this is not what usually motivates such setups, and that they're typically done due to a lack of space for the extra blackboard at the front of the room, but there's no reason you can't deliberately use this approach for the visibility benefit.) Of course, in the context of a big lecture hall this would be annoying to the class. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There is an extremely simple solution to this, which is that you stand sideways, with the students on your left and the board on the right. When you turn your head to the left, you're looking at your students. When you write, your body isn't blocking the board, or is at most only temporarily and partially blocking it. When you pause to explain something or ask for questions, you can turn your whole body toward the class and step a little to the side so that everyone has a clear view. It's not particularly difficult to write in the sideways stance, and it doesn't even really take any practice. When I call students to the board to present their work, I just briefly demonstrate it to them, and they generally can do it immediately. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: This answer is going to broaden the question asked to instead be, "How can I give the students a better experience, while still delivering content through speaking and hand-writing?" I would suggest spending dramatically less time lecturing in class. Instead, record the (majority of your) lectures electronically, and share them with your students online. You can use whatever setup you like -- writing on the board(s), writing on paper, writing on a tablet, writing on glass and having the image left-right reversed -- with one or more cameras recording your lectures. You can edit the footage as you like, to allow the parallel displays you enjoy for example. This has several important benefits: 1. Students can view your lectures at their own pace, at their own convenience, with the ability to pause, rewind, replay, and fast-forward. 2. You can use class-time more effectively, by taking advantage of the circumstance of all these people in the same room. Have them talk to each other! They can work on exercises, or go through details of proofs, or work on more ambitious projects. Small groups are most effective, size 3 or 4. Both of the above benefits are much more important than the ability to see your face during lectures. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The document camera is, in my experience, the best approach by far. It has a couple of unique advantages, including producing permanent copies of the lecture notes, both for your benefit when preparing exams and (possibly) for the students' benefit (if you decide to make these notes available, whether to everyone or only in special circumstances). Another advantage is that it's more natural to use than a vertically-mounted chalk- or dry erase-board, so your handwriting comes out more much readable and requires less effort. Finally, it is more accessible to students sitting in the back of the room, where blackboards are generally unreadable due to size, shadows, etc. The only significant drawback is the need for specialized equipment. But if your institution is able to provide that, you should take advantage of it. The limited display capability is not a real drawback. It is quite rare that you need to project more than half or two-thirds of a sheet of paper at a time. It simply isn't feasible to talk about that many different things at once. If nothing else, it forces you to keep in mind the audience's human limitations. If you really need to give a "big picture" view, you can always zoom out on the document camera. While it isn't strictly necessary to make eye contact with your audience, especially since many students will be looking down to take notes anyway, don't underestimate the advantage of being able to actually connect with your students in appropriate contexts. If you are looking out at the class, it's much easier to judge understanding, see those with questions, and just make yourself seem friendly and approachable. Document cameras allow you to face forward and give a natural lecture, while maintaining all of the advantages of a "chalk talk". Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I don't have a lot to add to these contributors in terms of nitty-gritty details, but I think that if you can get it having a good setup with both document camera AND chalkboard is best. (Or possibly multiple doc cams.) At least, that is my experience with mathematics in a number of different settings. When I am in a room that allows for it, I will have certain definitions just continuously on the board, and then dynamic examples (whether computer-generated or paper) on the camera screen. Or you can use the chalkboard for stuff that has to stay up a long time, for which you know people will be copying down anyway - and then you can stand aside as they (hopefully) internalize. Or, if you have time ahead of time, put needed definitions on some side boards (we have side whiteboards in some classrooms) that you can point to, while keeping attention up front. In any case, you can think dynamic versus static content for the two 'devices' (if a chalkboard is a device). It does depend upon the type of course. Honestly, for graduate coursework you'll probably be flying so fast it won't matter what technique you use. Given the setup of many rooms in many universities in many countries (but not all of any of the above, of course), I would recommend the doc cam + chalkboard combination as an easily attainable via media that gets at most of what you want in a lecture-based course. (Whether you want to do a lecture-based course is a different question, but I won't wade into that here.) Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I had such a math teacher in college. He would walk in, start writing on the board, and not stop until the end of class, then walk out. It was horrible. Everyone in the class hated it. A few complaints later, and he started turning around periodically to see if there were questions, and if the class was keeping up. Spending a significant amount of your time with your back to the audience isn't a problem, as long as it's not all of the time. Just check in with the students, and make sure that they know it's ok to interrupt you when your back is turned (assuming you're ok with that). Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: I think one possible solution could be the use of a camera-projector system also often known as a document camera. A common example I've seen in universities around Canada is [ELMO](https://www.elmousa.com/product-category/document-cameras/) your university may consider investing in these and placing them in classrooms around campus. This system also allows for you to switch to any detailed diagrams or animations you may want to present to your class through your laptop hooked up to the same projector. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_10: In my opinion complex concepts which involve a lot of mathematical equations are best taught by interacting with the audience and allowing students to write along with the instructor. Many people have suggested here the use of a document camera. How about a transparent-board camera? I like what <NAME> from SDSU uses for his courses on YouTube. For example check out [this one](https://youtu.be/IgeJmTKQlKs). Here is a screenshot: [![RobEdwardsSDSU](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qPI2f.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qPI2f.png) He uses dark clothing, dark background and a transparent board to write on facing the audience. A camera captures the board content from the front and then inverts the video to project on a display, so that it is in the correct readable orientation. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: You could write up the main points one butcher paper, then roll them up and put them on the walls. Then you can write out the detailed steps and project them onto the board, then as you finish a section, unroll the summary. This will also provide a stopping point for people to ask questions. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_12: Write with chalk pen/white board marker on plexiglass, video this, then flip the video stream horizontally (in real time) for projection. You'll get 1:1 eye contact, with the students who appreciate that, and whenever they need to clearly see your content they can watch the video. Even better if this is saved for later viewing... Upvotes: 0
2019/03/20	2,165	8,727	<issue_start>username_0: I am completing my PhD and I was wondering how much does the PhD coursework grades affect future academia applications? My undergraduate and master's was somewhat decent grade wise (3.8/4) in both. However, I had taken two mandatory courses during my PhD and I got B+ and A- in them. It was not because of the difficulty in the coursework, but I was burned out with courseworks from master's and did not put any effort. My GPA turned out to be 3.56. I did not take any other coursework as my qualifiers committee found my theoretical knowledge adequate for continuing with my PhD. Back of my mind, I am concerned that this will affect my postdoc and subsequent professorship applications. Is there any academic out there in same boat as me but have made it successfully in the professional world?<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, at least, and in most fields, no one will look at your grades or care much about them. If they were good enough for your institution to give you a doctorate, they will be good enough for everyone. I'm not sure this is universal, and would love to hear of exceptions. Such exceptions might occur in situations that have rigid regulations. Of course, if you are specifically hired to do X and you got terrible grades in X as a student, people might have some problems that need answers. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Having applied to a number of postdoc positions and some assistant professor positions (in Northern Europe and Germany), nobody has ever asked about my grades and they are not visible on my CV. Once someone asked about how quickly I finished my master's thesis. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The competition for faculty/postdoc positions is very stiff on: * Papers * Research interests/project proposal * References * Funding/grants/fellowships of candidate, if any * Prestige of alma mater * Prestige of advisor If grades mattered to a search committee, they would be overshadowed by these. So they would come into play in two situations: * If you somehow get candidates that are so close that you need to resort to looking at their grades to distinguish them. * If the best candidates are seriously deficient in all the above points and grades are their biggest plus. Due to extreme competition for academic positions, you are very unlikely to encounter either. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I have never been asked for my GPA, nor has anyone else I know in Academia. I'm most familiar with the U.S. system, but I know people with postdocs and professorships across the world and I'm pretty sure asking GPA would raise eyebrows world-wide. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Various people have described the norms for research jobs in academia, which is that nobody cares about your grades. But I teach physics at a community college in California, and we routinely ask for undergraduate and graduate transcripts when we hire. I thought that asking for undergraduate transcripts was bizarre and offensive when I applied for this job myself, and even considered it as a red flag that should influence me not to apply, but now that I've been on a bunch of hiring committees for my department, it totally makes sense to me. We routinely get applicants who have a PhD, often even from a fancy school, but show up to an interview and don't know basic physics. An example recounted to me by a colleague in math was that they asked candidates to differentiate sin(cos(tan x)), and about 2/3 couldn't do it. Some of them tried to use the product rule. Seeing applicants' transcripts helps a lot in avoiding interviewing these people. Usually their graduate transcripts don't tell us anything, but we'll see people whose undergraduate transcripts are full of C's and D's in physics. You might think that if these people didn't understand basic physics, and this was demonstrated by their poor undergraduate GPA, that they never should have gotten in to grad school. Well, that's correct for top-30 programs, but not, e.g., for a grad school like Kansas State or Kuwait University. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Just a short note from personal experience: I am finishing up a PhD in a science field. I will be "leaving my field" as it were and getting a job in industry not necessarily related to my field. In applying to jobs, most places did not care about my graduate GPA, but some of them (to my surprise) did, maybe about a quarter of the places I applied. There was even one place that commented on my GPA and essentially asked why it was so mediocre (it's 3.7), and I told them (truthfully) that my department put much more emphasis on early research than on course performance. That appeased the person asking the question. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I struggled in my first year of my phd and got a C in a course. I made a few B's as well. The transition to being a phd student and scholar was far from a smooth one for me. That said, when things were all said and done, I graduated with multiple published papers and had a post doc offer at a prestigious school. Afterwards I accepted an offer at an R1 university for a tenure position. In the job interviewing process for tenure track positions, I was not asked one time about the C I got in a seminar course. I was asked about- 1. my research 2. my teaching philosophy 3. my thoughts on the open science movement The only time that C comes up in academia is when I share grad school stories with colleagues. And I have found it useful to mention to those who are getting down about their grades in graduate school. If someone can go from academic probation after their first semester as a phd student to a tenure track faculty member at an R1, then getting a B in a course isnt the end of the world. One other little tidbit. My adviser's thoughts on grades was that if you were only making A's, then you were not really challenging yourself or getting out of your comfort zone in grad school. She told our lab that she would rather you get a B in an advanced course in another department than coast through an in department course. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Certainly research is what distinguishes you, and you need to be or become an independent researcher during a Ph.D., but I would not totally discount your grades. Helped me get industry job offers and has helped me for decades post Ph.D. to have gotten a 4.0 in grad school. I had heard the exact same "nobody cares about grades" as a student but was warned by a buddy not to believe it. He ended up being right. Note, I still did good research also. Wasn't hard, especially as most classes were early in the program and I picked an appropriate research problem. Of course, what is done is done, so don't cry about spilled milk and concentrate on things going forward. For instance, I can't go back in time and get better undergrad GPA. But I would feel a little amiss to have every new Ph.D. reading this Q&A to think grades don't matter. Especially because many will eventually have jobs outside academia. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: Another data point: for the U.S., in math, in my R1 big state univ I don't recall seeing transcripts or every talking about GPA for any postdoc applicants or tenure-track applicants. Yes, I think there is some very formal business where transcripts may have to be supplied at some point to prove to Central Administration that the person really has the degree the math dept knows they have... :) The actual work the person has done, and letters of recommendation/expert opinion on that work, is essentially the only thing considered. EDIT: insertion: as in the comment, "what about teaching, diversity?" Currently, these play very little role, operationally, though I myself would like them to play a much more substantial role, because they really-really matter "on the ground". But the shift in the 1950s from "math dept" as a completely service-teaching department to "doing important research" (maybe saving us from The Commies, who knows?) is still in the throes of that exaggeration. So, many empty pretenses about the actual function of a math dept. (end-of-edit) For that matter, for our grad admissions, already undergrad GPA is not at all decisive. For one thing, there are wildly varying "standards", so that it's hard to know what a GPA out of context means. Sure, a high GPA from a known-to-be-harsh place is some sort of positive... but, even then, it's not clear what sort of positive it really is. :) Rather, it's letters of recommendation, and the general shape of a student's background (given their opportunities, which strongly vary). For industry, I have no idea... Upvotes: 0
2019/03/20	843	3,383	<issue_start>username_0: I am teaching mathematical statistics and part of this is large sample theory. I would like to discuss some methods that do not focus on asymptotics and refer to J. M. Keynes quote > > In the long run, we are all dead. > > > I am a bit afraid some students might find this quote a bit too strong. Could this quote be considered a bit too strong to be presented to 3rd year undergraduate students in the UK?<issue_comment>username_1: Opinion, of course, but I think it is fine. It is often quoted in fact. While your students probably still think of themselves as immortal, they almost certainly aren't. No one should really take offense at basic biological certainties. It is, in fact, a corrective on much illogical thinking, which is why it has lasted. Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Writers often talk about the need to "[kill your darlings](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kill_one%27s_darlings)". This refers to the fact that it's often easy to become enamored with one's own clever ideas and turns of phrase, whether or not they actually accomplish what is needed in the larger context. Following this advice, I would suggest preparing the lecture without the phrase, simply to see how useful it really is. Come back to it a couple of days later, when you've had time enough to detach a bit, and see how well the lecture works. If the phrase is actually helpful and meaningful (as opposed to merely attention-grabbing), you can always add it back in then. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: As a British person, I don't understand why you'd even consider that this quote might be inappropriate. If you feel that it's a good way to get your message across, there's no reason not to use it. However, if you're uncomfortable with it, for whatever reason, don't use it. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: Not in the UK, but I was in my 3rd year of college when I took an economics course that used that quote and that was the least of my concerns about that particular course. Of course, I feel like you'd be doing your students a bit of disservice if you don't provide a least a little of the context (which since you mention statistic / asymptotics I'm assuming you're aware of). What I remember is that the context was someone pointing out that following Keynesian economics, in the long run, you'll just have inflation and that was Keynes' reply to that critique. (To which I can envision another professor pointing out "and that's why Keynes was so often invited to all the parties") Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I have previously taught a similar course in the UK and would use a quote like this without concern. In my experience UG students are totally unconcerned about their eventual demise. However, the point of including such aphorisms is that they allow you, the lecturer, to convey something with a bit more interest/ passion / excitement, your students probably won’t get much out of them directly. Thus, if you are uncomfortable about this quote then it isn’t going to serve its purpose and you should drop it. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Your students are not children. They are about twenty years old. If they have not yet accepted the idea of death, it's their problem, not yours. You are being paternalistic from trying to shield them from something so mundane. Upvotes: 4
2019/03/20	877	3,679	<issue_start>username_0: I sent a paper to a good journal with other coauthors. Some days ago, one of my coauthors was sent an invitation to review this paper. Is this logical? I mean, has anybody of you ever received an invitation to review your own paper? Some months ago, the same occurred with another paper in another good journal. I declined the invitation explaining that I was an author and I suggested other reviewers. But, as I got a similar invitation now, I ask whether this is a usual practice...<issue_comment>username_1: Obviously, one should never, ever receive an invitation to review one's own paper, since that would make a mockery of peer review. [Indeed, reviewing one's own paper is a good reason for retraction.](https://retractionwatch.com/2012/08/24/korean-plant-compound-researcher-faked-email-addresses-so-he-could-review-his-own-studies/) On a paper with a vast number of middle authors (e.g., [one of those 1000+ author papers](https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/paper-authorship-goes-hyper)), I can certainly imagine this happening by mistake. In a typical mathematics paper, however, the number of authors is never more than a handful, and so it would be difficult to make such a mistake without either a) a spectacular degree of inattention, or b) a terrible review system interface. With a sufficiently lazy or inept editor or with sufficiently terrible software, however, any degree of mistake is possible. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It's absolutely not usual practice and a clear case of the editor in charge being asleep at the wheel. This should not be happening: An editor's job is to find impartial reviewers and asking an author (or even someone close to the author) is definitely failing at this job. Just the same, it is unethical for you to accept such invitations. Politely point out that you are an author of the paper and that, therefore, it would clearly be a conflict of interest for you to review the paper. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: I've had this happen before to a coauthor (they were neither the first nor last author in a list of ~6), who contacted the editor replying that obviously they couldn't review the paper. We had a little chuckle over it and moved on. Probably the editor was a bit embarrassed by their error, otherwise no harm done. I presume they used a list of previous reviewers the journal had contacted on the topic of our paper and missed that they were actually an author on the submitted work, or maybe they made a cognitive switch and started typing a name they just read was an author instead of the reviewer they intended to type. I think the other answers are being a bit harsh towards the editor: they clearly made a mistake, but no reasonable author would ever review their own paper and this shouldn't cause any real problem. No, this is not a usual practice, but it happens at low frequency when people are busy. It's good you are producing enough work to have it happen to you or your colleagues twice. As mentioned in comments, if your subfield practices triple-blind review where the editor is blinded to the identity of the authors then it is even more likely such errors could occur (and be less the fault of the editor) if imprecise software is used to exclude possible reviewers. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: You should state a conflict of interest to the editor. I am sure they will realize that it is unrealistic to expect you to be neutral while reviewing the paper. Seriously: They did not pay enough attention. Such things happen sometimes, but you cannot take advantage from it without facing consequences sooner or later. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/20	369	1,708	<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a manuscript to a journal in the social sciences. The response to the initial submission was "accepted with conditions". The only feedback I received related to a few typos and grammatical errors. I reviewed the entire paper for additional typos, made some minor edits to improve overall flow, and resubmitted the manuscript. Four months later, I received a letter indicating that the manuscript "can be publishable with major revisions". To me, this decision sounds like the manuscript is farther from being accepted for publication than it was after the initial "accepted with conditions". Am I interpreting the journal's decision correctly?<issue_comment>username_1: It is likely that your paper got sent to a different reviewer (or several) who had different ideas bout the paper. I don't think your changes are to blame here, but I hope you are getting guidance as to the nature of the requested revisions. I don't think this is entirely uncommon. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The solution -- as in so many cases in life -- is to communicate. In this case, write to the editor in charge and ask what happened here and how they intend you to proceed. Like @username_1 mentions, it is likely that the second round of the paper went to different reviewers. This is not entirely uncommon, but awkward anyway -- the editor should have looked for substantive reviews the first time around already, rather than just go with the typo fixes. But it happens, among other reasons because a reviewer who promised a review just doesn't get it done, and the editor feels the need to go with what they have -- just to receive the missing review a week later. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/20	292	1,260	<issue_start>username_0: Like it has been mentioned, I wanted to know if it is possible to add an acknowledgment after the paper has been accepted We even attended the conferences a few days back<issue_comment>username_1: That would depend on the publisher. If it is a conference paper it may be that the editors of the proceedings will permit revisions (soon) after the conference if the proceedings are published later. But that is completely up to them, and you have to ask them to get a valid answer. The same is true in general, though for print publications, the most you can hope for is a note in a future issue, I suspect. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: What stage is your paper at? If your paper has been published: no, you cannot. It's too late. The electronic files have already been distributed and it's possible the hardcopy versions have been printed as well. If your paper has been accepted but not published: you can, but hurry. Tell the editor/publisher you want to add an acknowledgements, and give them the exact text. Chances are they won't object. The earlier you do this the more convenient it'll be for the publisher. If you wait till after you've sent in author corrections, they might say it's too late. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/20	1,757	7,517	<issue_start>username_0: My advisor has asked me to write my thesis in parts. So, basically, my thesis will have three major parts, each of which explains a different piece of work. However, he is asking me to also add a part called "Introduction" and a part called "Conclusions" I know he is not quite experienced with this type of thesis writing (i.e., writing in parts), so I am not sure if this is the right thing to do. Moreover, he is asking me to add "Introduction" and "Conclusions" chapter to each part (except for the parts with the same names). This is also a little bit strange to me! So, could someone help on structuring my thesis? This is the overall structure: * Part 1: It consists of three main chapters on topic A. * Part 2: It consists of two main chapters on topic B. * Part 3: It consists of one main chapter on topic C. I am definitely going to need an introduction somewhere to justify the three parts and how they are relevant to each other and can be placed in the same thesis, however, I do not know where this introduction should be (should it be a chapter somewhere or part?) EDIT: Here I also mention my advisor's suggested structure for clarity: * Part 1: Introduction (with one chapter called Introduction) * Part 2: topic A (with one chapter called Introduction and another called Conclusions) * Part 3: topic B (with one chapter called Introduction and another called Conclusions) * Part 4: topic C (with one chapter called Introduction and another called Conclusions) * Part 5: Conclusions (with one chapter called Conclusions and another called Future Work)<issue_comment>username_1: Run, don't walk, towards the advice of your advisor. I'm not sure why you are questioning their "experience writing a thesis in parts." You should add a broad introduction and broad conclusion that service your entire thesis; these will be before and after your Part 1 and Part 3, respectively. You should add individual introductions and conclusions to each Part. Therefore you will have a total of 4 introductions and 4 conclusions, with 3 of each that have a narrower scope and 1 of each that have a broad scope. You will probably additionally have introductions and conclusions within each chapter in each part, though you may not label them as such and they could simply be paragraphs. This is simply good writing and is not at all related to thesis writing specifically. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Your adviser's suggestion is a tad unconventional based on my individual experience (which may be institute and field-specific), but is not untenable. It may actually be very good advice. As goes [the common joke](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive_print.php?comicid=1678), while there would be a common theme which ties up your entire thesis in unison, perhaps the three parts you describe might pertain to a common methodology/approach being utilized in three altogether different contexts. If this is true, this is not at all an unusual, and under these circumstances, you have been given very good advice. Three different contexts each deserve their own respective introduction and conclusion sections. In this case, I would offer you the following advice: * If you are uncomfortable having 4 different "Introduction" sections in your thesis, you can perhaps try this. Call the first introduction section "Introduction" itself, and make it a general introduction to the common theme, i.e. the approach you pursue in this work. While you tease the contexts A, B and C, do not go full throttle describing them here in this section. Just mention them, and say, they will be elaborated on later in the thesis. * The individual introductions to the three parts need not be named "Introduction". (Though if you want to call it by that name, your wish.) You can give it some other alternative title, such as "Prelude", or nothing at all. Latter is also a very reasonable choice, an untitled 2-3 page monograph at the beginning of a new section will be automatically understood as an introduction only. What else can it possibly mean? * Likewise, for the three individual conclusions sections, and the final overall conclusion - they will have different composition, even if you choose to give them the same name. The individual conclusion sections should conclude the findings of the individual parts, while the final conclusion section would basically describe how magnificently the common theme/approach worked in altogether different contexts to elucidate how nature works as per the same laws etc. etc. This final conclusion section should only reflect over the detailed individual parts' conclusions, not go through them comprehensively again (since that would be a repetition), and point out some general observations and comparison between the three sections/parts. * You can also add a summary and outlook subsection to the final conclusion chapter, which will make the last conclusion stand out from the earlier ones, while conveying that this is where it all draws to a close in this work, but is hardly the end as far as the spirit of this investigation goes and that there are future directions which you would ardently pursue. Of course, my answer assumes that at your university, scholars have the flexibility to organize their thesis the way they want. Please check first that there is no rigid organizational paradigm that everyone is supposed to conform to. Hope that helps :) Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In the field of Mathematics the standard is to start with maybe a chapter of Introduction, and include some introductory material for each chapter. Conclusions are often limited to the end-of-proof symbol. However it is common to end with a section called something like Future work or Open questions. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I think there are two parts to your question: 1) how to structure your thesis, and 2) what to call the different sections of your thesis. Your advisor's suggestion for the structure seems quite reasonable to me, and it's how my thesis was structured. As for the names of the sections, I too would prefer not to repeat the names "Introduction" and "Conclusion" for each chapter. But there are ways around it. Here's an example of how I structured one of the middle chapters of my thesis. ``` Chapter 5 The introductory material for the chapter goes here. I didn't give this section a name. It's just text that goes before the first topic in the chapter. 5.1 Some Topic ... 5.2 Another Topic ...and so on... 5.9 Summary The "conclusion" for this chapter goes here. ``` I suspect that what your advisor cares about is the structure, rather than the names of the sections, so you might give him something like this for your next draft. If it turns out he does care about the names, then I'd follow his advice. This might be a convention in your field, and presumably your advisor knows what the external examiners expect in a thesis. As your thesis begins to take shape, you might find that the best way to present your research is to modify this structure somewhat. You are the expert on your own research, and your advisor is the expert on what is expected for a thesis in your field, so the two of you will probably need to compromise on some things. I had some lively (but friendly) debates with my advisors about the structure of my thesis, and I think the result was all the better for it. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/20	449	1,948	<issue_start>username_0: I received a funding offer from a conference overseas (as a PhD student), which includes accommodation and travel. I was wondering whether it is ethical to combine this business trip with a personal vacation? That is, to arrive e.g. a week or two before the conference (and of course pay for lodging in this "personal segment" from my own funds) and just get to know the country where the conference is held? Is it acceptable to email the organizers asking whether I'm permitted to come early? (This is needed to make sure that the airfare for such an early arrival is still reimbursable.) I understand that this can be treated as an abuse of the conference's money, but on the other hand, it does not make any financial difference if I come earlier (however, see the remark below). And I'm still going to keep attending the conference as my main purpose. Moreover, coming earlier may result in purchasing a cheaper plane ticket (around 200 USD cheaper), in which case the conference's funds will only benefit.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it is typical to take personal time before or after a conference. Funding from your university would not usually mind. Conference funds may be a little less flexible, so you should certainly check with them. With evidence in hand it will be cheaper for them, I find it unlikely they would decline. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is generally acceptable, but might be forbidden in a few places. It isn't an ethical concern, however. As long as you are clear in how you use the funds, properly separating expenses and as long as you fulfill the obligations of conference attendance you should be fine (ethically). But if there is someone appropriate that you could check with, it might be wise to avoid questions later. It would, of course, be unethical (and possibly illegal) to use the funds and not attend the conference as expected. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/20	2,219	8,296	<issue_start>username_0: Why do some people get STEM PhDs, want a professorship, and end up not getting it? Is it only about opportunity and competition, or are there PhD candidates that are just not qualified to be professors (why?)?<issue_comment>username_1: The requirements and skills needed to get a PhD are different than the requirements and skills needed to get a job offer. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: [Thanks for the clarification, it turns out to be an easy question] > > What the reasons are that some people get STEM PhDs, want a research job in academia, but end up not getting it. > > > Because the ratio [between the number of candidates and the number of available jobs](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17431/what-ratio-of-phd-graduates-in-stem-fields-ultimately-end-up-as-tenured-profes/17462#17462) in academia makes it mathematically impossible for every candidate to get a job. Many candidates don't even lack anything to be a good academic, it's just a very competitive job market. --- [Edit to answer comments (and the last version of the question)] > > are there PhD candidates that are just not qualified to be professors (why?)? > > > Of course there are: * a PhD is not a diploma which makes you qualified to be an academic professor anymore, it only validates the fact that you are capable of doing research. Basically you received the training, but it doesn't automatically mean that you're good at it, let alone in the top N%\* best where you get a real chance to become a professor. * even being good at doing research is by far not the only skill required to be a professor. Of course there are teaching requirements (not everybody with a PhD is interested in teaching), but there's also a range of soft skills which are recommended: social skills, public engagement, performing administrative duties, and maybe more importantly nowadays being able to attract funding. It's also worth noticing that very few people become professors just after the PhD, postdocs are part of the career process because that's where one can demonstrate the other skills I just mentioned. But the same applies to postdocs: even somebody who has all the skills might not be good enough, it's a tough competition. \* "N" varies depending on many factors: discipline, country, etc. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: For the united states, the number of PhD graduates per year is [steadily increasing for many years](https://www.statista.com/statistics/185167/number-of-doctoral-degrees-by-gender-since-1950/). [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/40cqL.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/40cqL.png) However, the federal budget for funding is stagnating and even [decreasing](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50): [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FdpYw.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FdpYw.jpg) [source](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50) [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DWcCw.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DWcCw.png) [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_policy_of_the_United_States) This does not have to be the situation in other countries: [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PMhFn.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PMhFn.jpg) To better estimate your chances of getting tenure, I would suggest taking a look at the demographic trend in a specific country and how the number of PhD graduates develops. So the road after PhD towards professorship can be very different in, e.g., Germany vs. US. A rough estimate is always to take a look how many PhD's are graduating during lifetime of a professorship, average over faculty, universities... For physics this will be around ~20-40 in Germany, so your chances are 1/(20-40). In mathematics your chances are much better. But even solid state physics vs. astrophysics this number can vary strongly. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I want to add that many PhDs do not want to become professors. A lot of people do a PhD as the final part of their studies without the intention to work as a professor (or see during the PhD that they do not want to stay in Academia). Some do the PhD studies because of the belief that the title helps in their career. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: It's basic supply and demand. Too many Ph.D.'s running after too few professorships. You also need to keep in mind that many grants and PIs have incentives to hire lots of grad students (as cheap, smart, lab techs). That the kids don't have good career prospects is not the concern of the PIs or grants. (Sure, everyone prefers if their people get nice placements. But they aren't going to cut their group size. And the main criteria for taking a grad student is what he will do as a grad student, not his employment prospects.) That a STEM grad student finds this hard to comprehend (even to anticipate before starting a Ph.D.) baffles me. If someone lacks the curiosity and analytical ability to figure this basic phenomenon out for themselves, how can we be confident they will be shrewd, curious, independent, and creative researchers to recognize new physical phenomena? See also: <https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2013/11/academic-cartel> Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: There are far, far more PhD holders than academic positions. In my field, pure math, just about everyone in it is there because they want to be a math professor. (Even if you want the payout of, say, quantative finance, it's probably better to go into physics.) Every point of the process involves a lot of factors outside your control and sheer random chance: how useful your adviser is; whether the research you started on pans out (you only have a few years to produce substantial results, and yet you have to aim high enough for those results to be useful to you); how well you manage to network; your own physical and mental and financial security; and so forth. Just wanting it isn't enough, and there's no way to conjure up a professorship just by putting in enough effort, even if you're quite talented and have a PhD from a prestigious grad school. There's an anecdote in one of <NAME>' books (I think) where he describes talking with his advisor around the time he was leaving grad school, saying he wanted to continue in academia, and his advisor making a phone call to summarily arrange a position for him. That's not a thing anymore. Being good in your field isn't enough; you have to be good at the business of academia, and you have to be extraordinarily lucky. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I'll point out that some PhD holders don't hold full-time academic jobs because they don't want the kind of jobs that are available, even though they in principle would like to stay in the academy. This is not quite the same thing as saying there aren't enough jobs (though I don't disagree with that). For example, in the United States, while in English literature it is now not unusual (I don't know how common) for someone with a terminal doctorate to have a full-time tenure-track-like position at a community college, most scientists would not consider such a position. Similarly, many graduates from more elite programs would rather change careers than assume the responsibilities of a "heavy" teaching load. Some people are very happy to move to another country if they are more interested in a research career, but perhaps many will not be. My point is that although supply/demand is the overall picture, the OP's question sort of implies there is a monolithic "professor" position, while the reality can be quite different. So perhaps some want a professorship, might even get a job offer, but don't want that one bad enough to take it. --- (Personal aside: I'm not sure that this assessment reflects very well on the motivations of people to get a PhD in STEM. If you compare the teaching load of few generations back in mathematics (my field) it looks quite different even at PhD-granting institutions - [this paper](http://www.ams.sunysb.edu/~tucker/MathHistory.pdf) has some interesting details.) Upvotes: 1
2019/03/21	3,480	15,412	<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently working as a PhD student. I am not working on a tech-oriented PhD. However, my project requires a lot of programming. This involves both working on a computation cluster, servers, and working with a variety of software. These are provided and maintained by our faculty IT support. Now on the reason why I post: the first problems started when working on our server, maintained by our IT staff. I required some software essential to do my work, but because I have no administrator rights, I cannot install what I need. I asked IT very politely (I'm the new one after all), and they let me know that they would handle it as soon as possible. Two weeks later, I still did not have access to the software I desperately needed to do my work. I had to ask my promotor (luckily a huge help in this matter) to ask IT, and finally the software was installed. The following cycle continued until now: 1. I notice that software is missing / outdated / not working properly 2. I ask IT to fix the issue, because no other options are available 3. IT ignores my requests, leading to me having difficulties to meet deadlines 4. Someone with better credentials has to pressure IT into fixing the issue Like I mentioned earlier, I absolutely love programming and computers in general, so I can fix almost all issues myself. However, my hands are tied because I have no administrator rights, and IT goes to great lengths to avoid that a non-IT person does something / installs something on one of the computers... Does some here have similar experiences, and do you know how to smoothen this out? I obviously don't want to cause a ruckus in our department, but I also believe it to be unfair that we are blocked from doing our job. I'm not the only employee who was bottlenecked by IT, so I guess all suggestions are welcome!<issue_comment>username_1: We had this issue with some Silicon Graphics machines - we removed them from the IT department's control, with the support of the supervisors whose budgets had paid for them, and then controlled everything ourselves. It went much better; we had more uptime and fewer issues than any other group / team on campus. We learnt a lot about compiling & installing etc. Not sure if you can go that route. Note, the software we were using was CFD and the IT dept had no experience of what was needed. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I think this is a fairly common occurrence in many companies. There is a big disconnect between the researchers trying to do their work and the IT staff who may be under-resourced, under-trained or limited by administrative policy. In my experience there is often lots of worry about researchers installing software without fully understanding the security implications. In short, I would not expect you to be able to change this policy and it may well be in place for sound reasons. One solution that has been suggested to me is that academics can apply for time using different cloud compute solutions (e.g. Google compute <https://cloud.google.com/edu/>, Microsoft Azure <https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/education/>, any many more). If successful you will be given compute time in a virtual machine where you will have appropriate administrative rights to install any software you want. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: This is a partial solution I've used myself, and it assumes a few things: * You access your clusters remotely through a connection (like other answers pointed, cloud servers or remote), so where you work isn't exactly the bottleneck. * The software you use isn't OS dependent or has any special licenses * You do not have a ton of things hooked up from serial ports to measuring equipment and whatnot. --- One thing I've done in this situation is, when you finally grab a ticket from IT, ask them to install a virtual machine like VirtualBox and have them enable virtualization in the BIOS. Most processors allow this nowadays. Make sure they install it properly or they will ghost again. This basically allows you to install any Linux distribution you want (you need Licenses for Windows images), so it is an operating system where you have all admin rights. This completely removes the IT middleman if your case is just coding and clustering the data crunching since you don't need their permission to do things in the VM, and also shouldn't impact performance significantly. If IT is worth half a dime, they will appreciate the solution, since: * It takes gargantuan effort to compromise the Host Machine through a VM if you are not malicious * Resulting lack of tickets from you needing something updated/installed. Worst case scenario you can still alternate between both Operating Systems, and do small things in the VM with your admin rights. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: Whilst others have focused on giving you some technical advice on alternatives to using your institution's infrastructure, I want to note that your problems are not uncommon. In my practice I opted to installing the software myself (a lot of software packets I used do not need root privileges for installation, make sure that admin access for yours is really a must) or asked supervisor for help. If you are on good terms with your supervisor, you can always ask him for help, going from as little as cc-ing him in software installation emails that you send to your IT department to directly asking him for help when those request emails are ignored. In many organizations it's not easy for junior members to be listened to and that's just something you have to get over with. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Since you're not in a "tech-oriented PhD", I'm guessing the cluster is 10 machines or less? If so, consider setting up your own cluster on any of the big cloud providers. AWS and Azure come to mind, but Google and IBM are still trying to hang on in those markets. Thoughts on pricing: * You don't have to have the cluster up all the time, so you don't have to pay for 24hrs/day for a full month. You would have to figure out how to save/load the data and install some programs quickly (docker?), if you opt for shutting down some or all servers. * If you have fellow students or professors who are in the same boat, consider sharing your cluster and its expenses. * Depending on your research, you might (eventually) be able to get special pricing from some vendors. * On AWS, reserved instances are cheaper than spot instances. Look at how much your time is worth, and how much these delays are impacting your research. If IT delays cost you 1 week of delays every month, then it's probably worth setting up things yourself. (Remember to back things up, and test your backup strategy. Put your code and data in github) And lastly, are you using their ticketing system for your requests, or just asking them verbally? If there's no ticket, it'll surely be forgotten 5 minutes after you spoke to them. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: At many universities, you can actually go through a (rather secret) bureaucratic process that allows you to install your own software on the university computer, even though this is not the default option. If this option exists, it will likely include signing forms that may limit (or even eliminate) future IT support for that computer. Basically, you are agreeing to be your own IT in exchange for flexibility. However, if you are constantly downloading software it is often worth it. The University doesn't want to encourage this option, because it can be a perceived security risk, so you will have to directly ask administrators in your department and IT, if this option is available, as it likely won't be published online anywhere. And you may have to assertively push for it. This process was available to me at two of the three universities I've been based at over the years (in the USA and Australia). The one that didn't allow it actually theoretically did, but the form also said that you would no longer be able to connect to the Universities wired internet network, which wasn't worth giving up for me. Read the forms very carefully before you go down this route to make sure you are comfortable with the tradeoff you are making. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Talk to your supervisor ("promotor"?) about the issue, and suggest that you should get a server that you manage. Depending on circumstances, you can agree on a physical server, an upgrade to you workstation / laptop to make it usable as a server, or even a server instance which is completely external to your institution, like Amazon AWS. If your supervisor insists that you must use the existing IT infrastructure, send your support requests to them the next day after contacting IT. Don't wait for two weeks. Either helping you with these requests is not much of a burden, or your supervisor will grow tired of this and do something about it. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: You should also be managing your requests. I mean: track when you raised the request, ask for news after a reasonable period of time (two working days), repeat that max three times. In the first follow-up you can make it clear why this is important to you. For IT staff it might sound like 'I want this tool installed', but if you detail the deadline you have and why this ticket is crucial for your work, they might understand. After the third time, get your supervisor involved. Ask him/her to escalate the request in a conversation with an IT service manager. Don't be happy with simply solving the ticket, try to see if IT can communicate what time of service level agreement they aim to respect. Maybe installing something requires internal permissions (release management) which, for instance, makes it impossible to install stuff on a Friday, or an afternoon, or if you don't have a rollback (meaning you have to backup the entire server setup before touching anything), etc. Managing the request also means making sure your requirements are superclear. If you think you might need a package ask them to install it. Run these installations yourself in a VM that is identical to the production setup and provide them with the commands to actually install the tools. All these things you can manage. At all times, and I must stress that, be nice. Just be nice. Unless you have reasons to suspect someone is trolling you, you have to give them the full credit for having to tackle many such requests at the same time. Being nice will get you further on the long run. It will also show to your supervisor that you are capable of creatively handling difficult situations. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: Adding this since nobody's mentioned it yet: You could ask your supervisor about having a meeting between you, your supervisor and someone from IT. Maybe even invite them to lunch if it's appropriate to your institution and situation. In case they're overwhelmed by tickets and/or they feel like your tickets come in from a faceless ticket-generator, it could help to meet the real researcher behind them. And you can meet the real person handling the tickets, and see if there's any way you can make your tickets more straightforward for them. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: [username_8 had a good answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/126899/17534), and it sounds like this may be the way to go when working through a bureaucracy where some of the solutions which involve some variation of "use your own hardware" just aren't practical. To add to this, I've found the following technique useful when dealing with a department or person who is willing to help, but does things on their own time. 1. CC your supervisor on every request. This gives your supervisor a chance to give you feedback if you request something that you might not have realized was not necessarily what you need, or should be asking, but also lacking a response from your supervisor, it let's the person doing the thing that needs to be done know that your supervisor is aware of the request. (make sure you follow the advice given by username_8 when making this initial request as far as why you need it, and when you need it) 2. When you don't get a response within a reasonable amount of time, send the request again, but make sure you that you put in the request itself "Second Request", making sure to again cc your supervisor on the request. This lets them know that you still do need this thing to be done, it tends to have an effect of increasing the urgency of the IT professional for your task. Repeat as necessary, making sure to put your request number in the request each time. In my experience a second request is generally all that is needed when using this technique unless the department is just completely swamped. The tricky part is to figure out what time frame is reasonable to complete such a request, and since organizations differ, it's not one that can be answered here. I would suggest getting to know the folks who are completing your task, so that you can get an idea of what they go through, and so they can see you aren't just asking for ridiculous things and just being demanding all the time, because sometimes it's hard to see the world through other people's eyes without some context. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: A simple solution, just always make the requests through your promotor. Maybe explain to them the pattern you have noticed if they ask why you are going through them consistently. Alternatively maybe they are doing something different, ask them how they get the IT department to resolve the issues quickly. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_12: Was this a phone call or an email? I find things usually get done faster if you call rather than email. If the communication is time-sensitive you should especially always call instead of email. An email can easily be missed or ignored until after the deadline. When it comes to technology most people expect instant gratification. Technology is supposed to speed things up and make our lives easier, isn't it? Perhaps it does for the end-user but from an IT perspective it's a much different story. Life is much more complicated for the developer or IT professional who has to set it all up and maintain the systems. It takes time. Technology is never a 100% perfect solution and there's a lot of complicated and time-consuming stuff going on behind the scenes that most end-users aren't aware of. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_13: As a 2022 answer, I suggest using a controlled environment for your software. For example, you might be able to lock down all of the programs you need with Conda (which, does not require admin install rights on many machines). Or, ask IT to install and setup a container program like [Singularity](https://docs.sylabs.io/guides/3.5/user-guide/introduction.html) or [Docker](https://www.docker.com/). Also, consider looking elsewhere. You might be able to use [Open Science Grid](https://opensciencegrid.org/) or similar program depending upon your country and university. Lastly, look for advanced computing centers or similar programs at your university such as Wisconsin's [Center for High Throughput Computing](https://chtc.cs.wisc.edu/) or the [High Performance Computing Center at Texas Tech](https://www.depts.ttu.edu/hpcc/). Upvotes: 0
2019/03/21	271	1,203	<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing my master's thesis in English in Germany. One of the sources I found has a relevant figure that I would like to show and properly cite in my thesis, however this figure is in German. Is it okay to show the same figure in German in my English-written thesis? Or should I adapt the figure (if possible) to English while still citing the source?<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest you reference the source and add a note that you did the translation for the figure you show in your thesis. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A common approach is to show the figure in its original form, in much the same way as you would quote someone verbatim. Then, you would provide a translation of the important pieces in the caption. My recommendation would be to leave the figure itself unaltered since that allows you to preserve its authenticity and historical context. In the end, this is the wrong forum to ask the question. The only person who can give you definitive advice on how to deal with the situation are the people who will need to approve your thesis. The first person to ask, therefore, would be your thesis adviser. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/21	992	4,303	<issue_start>username_0: In my institute, it is necessary for a Ph.D student to publish two research papers in SCI or SCIE journals to become eligible for Ph.D. Although it is not a sufficient condition, but it is the only key task and the remaining tasks need only the presence of student. I observed some students (infact very few) completing the process of publishing papers in first 2-3 semesters and does his/her own work independent of Ph.D , such as preparing for competitions, jobs etc., in remaining 3-8 semesters. Is it ethical to take stipend without doing any actual work?<issue_comment>username_1: In general it is ethical to take something that is offered in such a situation. The people paying the stipend have a say in where the money goes. I assume that they are aware of the situation and that no one is defrauding the institutions. In fact, this is probably viewed as a positive situation; an encouragement to work hard from the very beginning. Working on his/her own work is a positive, not a negative thing. It benefits the institution if such students produce more work, making them more desirable in the job market later. The willingness to keep paying students may also recognize the difficulty of obtaining permanent positions in some fields and wanting to give their students an advantage in finding the right employment. Since the flow of money is controlled by others, who have their own incentives, and since it is carried out in the open, I see no ethical conflict on the part of the students. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Whether this is appropriate ("ethical") or not depends on the applicable rules. As per your comment, the funding agency's guidelines don't make the stipend conditional on any performance criteria beyond the two published papers. They also provide for a maximum duration of five years within which the stipend can be consumed. Producing the papers during the first two or so years and consuming the stipend for the remaining time while advancing one's career in other ways (publishing more, writing grant proposals and applications...) doesn't contradict the applicables rules. It's perfectly appropriate, and perhaps even expected behavior. If it were not, the agency could have attached further conditions to the continued payment of the stipend, it could have limited the payment to the time that is actually needed to publish the two papers and graduate, or it could have introduced regular performance reviews. Aside: Most likely, if you graduate early, you will not consume the entire stipend but rather prepare for the job market and move on. Living on a stipend is not terribly attractive, and climbing to a more prestigious position, or one with better research opportunities, is a good career move. The agency will probably also have an interest in their alumni succeeding, "even" if this means paying out the full stipend they promised and budgeted for. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: My point of departure is that (as you also seem to be implying) your stipend is a salary that you're paid to conduct research work at your university - in a position of a junior researcher, who needs supervision and whose employment has an aspect of study and training. For political reasons, graduate student-researchers are not recognized as employees in some countries and some universities around the world, while in others - they are. So, to rephrase your question: Is it ethical for you to continue taking your salary for a longer period of time even though you're finished with your duties, for which you were getting that salary? I would have liked to say: Take the salary while you're continuing to do work. It doesn't matter if it's useful for your dissertation; if you're doing research, or research-peripheral activity that promotes science - you've earned your salary. But I could also say this: You're underpaid anyway; and - if it would have taken you longer than the expected time, your funding would have ended and you would still have needed to finish up. So, you're taking less time - it's difficult to fault you for waiting our your funding period. Which of these is the valid moral judgement? A tough call. I'll say take the high road: Do meaningful work and keep your salary/stipend. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/21	932	4,041	<issue_start>username_0: I'm sending my CV for postdoc positions in computer science in Europe (esp. Germany). My special focus is academia rather than the industry. I was wondering what is the preferred order of information to bring there? For instance, is the following order acceptable/preferred? 1. Personal information 2. Education 3. Work experience 4. Research Interests 5. Teaching experiences (TA) 6. Computer skills 7. Publications<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, this is acceptable as are many other formats. It is not worth obsession about the exact format you use (though it should make it easy to find relevant information -- so use a good page layout). What does matter is the content of the CV. But if you're unsure, look at the CVs a lot of people post on their websites when they are on the market for jobs. So look at the CVs of other postdocs you know and see how they structured theirs. Clearly, what they did might not have been the best possible format, but it was good enough to get a job! Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Mine CV (in CS) is structured as follows: * Personal * Work experience * Education * Publications * Lectures hold * Teaching & supervision experience * Grants and fellowships * Position offers * Talks * Peer review & further community services * Languages spoken * References. It depends on a position, but I think that contrary to what one might imagine, no one cares what programming languages and frameworks a later-term postdoc or a professor is fluent it. You obviously are able to get things done if you are this far. They'd be more interested in your funding experience and publication track. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: As a general rule, your CV should reflect both your strengths, in decreasing order, and the strengths that your target audience is looking for, in decreasing order. If those two priorities don't coincide, you may not be a good fit for the position. From the list in your question, I would guess that you have more teaching experience than research experience, and that you value your research record (= publications) less than your teaching record or your "computer skills". This may be appropriate for a teaching-oriented position (in particular, one where you are teaching "computer skills"), but it's exactly backwards if you are aiming for a research-oriented position. Assuming you're applying for a research-oriented postdoc position: * Personal information, including your work and education history, must come first, because that's standard, and you don't want to give anyone an excuse to think before they read the content. * Awards next (if you have any), because you want to convince people that you're good at what you do (or at least that other people think so), even before they read the actual content. * Publications next, because that's all that a majority of the hiring committee cares about. Be sure to distinguish invited papers that carry extra prestige, because you want to convince people that you're good at what you do, even before they read the actual content. * Then grants (if you have any), because the people hiring you want to know that you can get money on your own. This is less important than your ability to publish good research, but more important than.... * Everything else, with whatever is more impressive and/or relevant for your desired position first: Presentations, teaching experience, advising/mentoring experience, community service (conference committees, refereeing, ...), university service (serving on an admission committee, organizing a seminar, ...) * References at the end, if and only if the position requires references in the CV itself. I would omit "computer skills" entirely, unless those are actually the skills you want to be hired for. (Then again, I'm coming from computer science, where "computer skills" are so necessary (and therefore boring) that actually mentioning them is weird. Your community may have different expectations than mine.) Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2019/03/21	3,042	12,929	<issue_start>username_0: I know what imposter syndrome is. But, believe me that's not the case with me. I have worked hard for the 4.5 years of my PhD, but I feel that my research is absolutely mediocre and as a result my self-confidence has taken a toll. Now, my advisor is a brilliant person. She is well known in her field (computational mechanics) and has many high-impact publications (IF>10). I had my undergrad in materials science and was exposed to computational mechanics in my masters. I was fascinated by it and wanted to study and work on it. However, when I joined my PhD, I was asked to learn and use a different modeling technique and a different length scale which was not in the realm of my advisor's expertise. I work in continuum while she works in nano scale. Yes, the impact-factors vary in the journals for nano and continuum. But, all I am concerned with is the quality of my research work. Post qualifiers and research proposal (my committee seemed happy with my theoretical knowledge, preliminary work and plans), I published one paper in a decent journal. But, my work was nowhere near that being done by my colleagues. I kept on working and completed three more manuscripts which are to be submitted soon. But still, my work is just mediocre and most likely will end up in average journals (IF <2). I feel that I should not have pursued PhD and I was not fit for producing good research. I also feel that I have screwed my chance of doing anything significant in academia. I also feel that I am still being funded and not fired because my advisor is a good person and is allowing me to stay regardless of my average performance out of pity. Does my advisor owe me anything? Could it be that she keeps me only out of pity?<issue_comment>username_1: Having 4 papers published or submitted during a PhD period is actually quite substantial. Which journal they go to may be secondary, and there are many considerations. For example, at your stage of your career, getting anything accepted and published is more important than trying really hard to get that one paper into Science or Nature -- which entails a far greater risk of rejection and consequent delay, something one might be willing to accept as a well-known researcher in a field for whom one publication more or less makes no difference, but that you can ill afford. But that's maybe not the question you're asking, so let me address that as well in the form of a story about myself: When I was a graduate student, I had always wanted to work at MIT or Stanford or a similar place, and to make breakthrough discoveries. Indeed, I know this to be true for many of my academic friends. But the longer I've been in academia (I've been a professor for 13 years now), the more I've come to realize two things: * By and large, science progresses not through discrete breakthroughs, but by continuously grinding problems down through the work of hundreds of people until the rare new ideas have been put into forms that can be used widely. Think about gravitational waves: yes, the follow from Einsteins equations and were theoretically well understood not long after, but then it took a hundred years until a whole community of hundreds or thousands of people had made the materials, detectors, and computational tools to actually use gravitational waves observable. All of these people made valuable contributions without which this would not have been possible, even though few of these contributions were published in the highest impact factor journals. What I'm trying to say here is that there is honor and value in doing good science, even if it never rises to the level of breakthroughs. * About breakthroughs to begin with: Of course, every grad student also wants to be the next Einstein. But few of us actually get to be. In fact, if you stay in a community, even if you're really really good, you will come to realize that there are people that are just so much better than you are. So not only do we not get to be the next Einstein, but almost all of us will actually never be at the top of our small sub-disciplines. But that doesn't mean that we're worthless -- there is honor in doing the everyday work moving science along and contributing to the scientific enterprise as a whole. Academia is composed of the high end of the ability scale, which is quite rarefied, and one has to learn to live with the fact that there are always people better than oneself. Take solace in the fact that the proportion of the general population who gets a PhD is already quite small, and you're in that fraction. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. There is something called "diminishing returns". And there can be a good argument that the amount of bodies and money being thrown at science experiences this. In other words, 10 times the Ph.D. students does not give 10 times the results. Because the last tenth (or half, or even 9/10th) of researchers are not as strong. In addition the later slew of problems may not be as tractable (less "sweet spot"). So it is completely rational to consider that half of the Ph.D's are below average (this is not Lake Woebegone.) And this is definitely something that hits students as they experience difficulty or as they near finishing up. They ain't gonna be <NAME>. They may not even end up being <NAME> Professor. 2. This doesn't mean anything miserable. Life goes on. Do good work and look out for your own interests. Right now, you are almost done. Get it finished and collect the sheepskin. Even if you are a subpar Ph.D., it is still much better on the resume to have one, than not to have one. Especially as you move away from the hothouse of academia, into industry, into flyover country, into the long decades of your productive life. Just get it done, grab the "union card", move on. 3. Maybe you will never be the end all be all of next gen computational mechanics. But that doesn't mean you aren't a smart guy/girl/thing in certain domains. Consider applying your skills in applied mat sci (yes, even experimental work...you don't have to be Hermione Granger in Potions class...deciding what experiments to do is way more important than technique). There are also huge opportunities, cool problems, and a willingness to try things in the US shale oil/gas industry. Get a gig with Halliburton. Yes, it's boom bust, but live for the moment, have fun for a few years and keep your resume updated. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The decision of your advisor/professor on which PhD student to keep and finance further not only depends on (# of papers) x (impact factor). Towards the end of my PhD I wrote 4 funding proposals for internal university funding and national foundation funding, although my advisor pushed me to bring further mediocre results to paper format after one top-tier publication. 2 have been granted luckily. Even if not funded finally, my advisor was impressed I made contacts to postdocs in other groups, developed ideas and managed common funding projects. This impressed my advisor more than writing another low/medium-impact research paper which is the current "sport competition" among PhD students in the light of publish or perish, who gets the higher # x IF product on researchgate. And while there are always smarter people in academia as Wolfgang wrote, academia also needs managers, organizers and idea-givers with broad interdisciplinary knowledge apart from savants and specialists. A scientific community only consisting of Einstein alikes would be a very inefficient one. So don't make yourself smaller than you are and don't think your scientific career is already over. But also be aware it is a poker game and you have to play your cards as long as they are uncovered, it even was for Einstein, also with a smaller luck factor because the truth always wins in science in the end :-) Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Researchers which regularly publish IF>10 are in my experience not keeping any student just for pity. Usually they are also extremely clear in the communication about missed expectations if you ask directly, which is what you could do in a meeting discussing if your PHD work is ready to be written down or not and how to proceed later. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: As a journal associate editor, I can tell you that mediocre work does not get published. I agree with many of the previous contributors that having a paper already published and another 3 in the pipeline is great for a PhD candidate. No one will ever think less of you for working on something different and/or difficult - quite the contrary! Remember that this is a time for you to learn: learn techniques, yes, but also (and maybe more importantly) analytical skills, writing skills, organizational skills, maybe some teaching skills too. These do not depend at all on how "hot" your research topic might be. Remember too that for many Faculty positions, the search committee will look for interpersonal skills that show you would be willing to collaborate with colleagues. Even if (and that's a big if) your research is indeed only "average", this is only a tiny piece of what makes a successful scientist. I would like to suggest that maybe the work you are doing now might not be your true passion? In which case, I would strongly recommend that you spend some time thinking about what questions you find really interesting, and see if you can't pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in this area. Maybe also, have a heart-to-heart conversation about your feelings with your advisor, and ask her to be brutally honest, if you don't think she would naturally be. As an advisor myself, I have been blind-sided by issues I didn't know existed, thinking that everything was good because the student was always upbeat, and didn't want to "bother" me with problems. If I had known earlier, I could have done something about it. Personally, I think it is part of our role as advisors to address some of the emotional and/or life balance reality of graduate work and work in academia in general. I hope this helps, Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Don't give up, reinvent My father got a PhD in economics--he was somewhat pressured into this, I think. He wanted to do math, but someone showed him how much math there was in econ, he was convinced or gave in or whatever. He ended up really bored with economics, but he got really into production management (statistical quality control, queuing, inventory control, etc in factory production). So, he basically reinvented his career by doing good research in that area, and taught that all his career. He couldn't get tenure since his PhD was in another field, but his articles were hot (he's really smart) and he was able to get good jobs because colleges with production management programs wanted the guy that wrote that stuff. I think you are in at least as good of a position. You got pushed into working in another modeling scale (I have no idea what those words mean, just going by your question) that isn't what you were really interested in. If your advisor is keeping you funded after pushing you into doing work you weren't interested in, it could be guilt, or a sense of responsibility, instead of pity [I'm being somewhat harsh here, I don't know you or the advisor, but I think you should consider that you were not wanting to go in the direction you were pushed in, and, if anything, the advisor owes you]. This is the beginning of your career, not the end Finish your PhD, and then figure out how to do the research you really want to do. If my dad could have a career in an entirely different field, you can definitely have one in the exact same field, working with a different scale. You are not tied to what you are doing now for the rest of your life, and you will not have the disadvantage my father had in that he was really working completely outside his PhD. My advice is that feeling guilty or inadequate is using up your emotional energy in a completely useless way. You don't know yet what you would be capable of, working in the field you really wanted to work in. Learn from this experience for your future decisions--don't let people in power push you in a direction you don't want to go. Take the negative aspects of what is going on now and use them as your rock in future negotiations. "I'm not going to get into that situation again, because I know how badly it turns out." Don't compare yourself to others when the playing field is not level Your colleagues are working in the field of your advisor, for an advisor with a lot of expertise in that field. You are working in a field outside of your advisor's expertise and outside of what you were personally interested in (if I'm interpreting correctly). It's unfair to yourself to compare the impact of your publications, when they had a huge advantage over you. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/21	693	2,937	<issue_start>username_0: I do not understand what exactly I should bring in the presentations section of my CV? In fact, during my Ph.D., I presented my papers at the conferences/workshops and internal presentations in my graduate-school colloquiums. Do I have to mention them in the presentations section or it is mainly about other sorts of presentations? BTW, I study CS.<issue_comment>username_1: In mathematics I have certainly seen CV:s with presentations and I have included them when applying for a position. I have them divided as plenary talks (if I had given any), invited talks at conferences, contributed conference talks and talks at other universities, and finally talks at my own university (which I often leave off). I might also add non-academic talks, if I had given such. I have even seen a list of attended conferences included, which seemed even less meaningful. Plenary talks and invited talks clearly signal that you are seen as having something worthwhile to say, while contributed and institution talks do not require so much, but indicate that you are communicating your results to the wider community. As a junior researcher, you might want to add these types of merits to the CV. You will want to leave out the less significant things off as your seniority increases. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The list of presentations in your CV is an indication of your direct, face-to-face engagement with your research community. All else being equal, researchers who give more talks are more visible/known/familiar to the community, which means their research has more impact. Further, a list of invited talks gives an indication of your reputation within the research community. Again, all else being equal, researchers who are invited to give more talks are generally held in higher esteem, which means their research has (and will continue to have) more impact. Giving lots of talks—especially invited talks—suggests strong communication skills, which correlate with well-written papers (which, all else being equal, have more impact), good teaching, successful grant applications, and effective public advocacy. Finally, especially for younger researchers, a long list of presentations indicates that you know how "the game is played". Departments only want to hire junior faculty who show strong potential for earning tenure, which requires not only high-quality research but highly visible research. A list of talks in your CV signals that you know that your job is not just to sit in a cave and emit papers, but to sell your research and to make yourself a face in your research community. Of course, these are all merely correlations and grace notes, and all else is never equal. A stronger publication record almost always trumps a stronger presentation record, so your CV should include your publications first. [I'm also in computer science.] Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2019/03/21	938	3,998	<issue_start>username_0: For the last 5 years (delayed partly by teaching, a parent's death and caregiving for another parent), I've been writing a textbook that examines a famous 18th-century political work. The proposal was accepted and a year later, I got very positive feedback on the first half of the manuscript. I finally submitted the entire manuscript in early December 2018 and felt quite confident about it--despite the fact that my Ph.D. is in English literature and not history or poli sci. I wrote to the editor back in late January to see if he'd gotten any word; he replied that he hadn't heard anything and to wait until late February. I've been writing to him once a week since then--and twice last week, but with no luck. It's strange because when I was corresponding with him back in August-December, he always answered very promptly. I've tried writing to the editor who approved the book proposal (he's since moved onto another department) and another who was a supervising editor. No response. I am really stumped: what can I do since I cannot seem to reach anyone at all? I realize there's not much action I can take and that there are any number of scenarios (maybe none of the reviewers liked it and they are sending to others?), but it is really driving me up a wall. I've looked up the "Contact us" section in the publisher's website, but there is no information on the editor of the textbook for the series that I am editing. There are no phone numbers either. Any advice?<issue_comment>username_1: Obviously I don't know how this particular editor works (and I'm not familiar with textbook edition), but it's quite common for an academic review process to take several months or even more than a year. Another general fact about reviewing: if reviewers don't like it they don't send it to another reviewer, they write a bad review and you will be informed about it. Unless this editor promised you a fast review process, from the information you provide it looks to me like there's nothing to worry about. At this stage the reviewers have your book but it's possible that some of them haven't even started reading it yet. > > I've been writing to him once a week since then--and twice last week, but with no luck. > > > Are you sure this editor was happy about you emailing him every week? Unless you are in very friendly terms with him, your frequent emails might be a bit annoying to him! And that might explain why he stopped answering. Obviously I don't know any specifics, but it seems to me that there's absolutely no reason to panic: as you said, the first half was well received and you were feeling confident about it when you submitted. Try to go back to this original state of mind instead of imagining the worst. Delays are frequent in a review process and they are not a sign of negative outcome... just a sign that everybody is busy. Patience and good luck! Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your question is vague about what stage the manuscript is in. I can see two main possibilities: 1. If your manuscript is currently being peer reviewed, then writing in every week is way too often. The time needed for book reviews varies by discipline, but they're on the order of magnitude as the time taken for journal article reviews, i.e. months. The review will be done when it's done; don't pester the editor. 2. The other possibility is your manuscript is currently in production. In this case the timeline is more secure (everything is in the publisher's control), but the time taken to get from raw manuscript to first proofs can be quite substantial. First the manuscript has to be copyedited, and then it has to be typeset. Depending on how many pages it is, these two processes combined can easily take 4-6 weeks or even more if the publisher is short on resources. I suggest waiting for longer before writing in again. The publisher will eventually contact you - they'll need your input e.g. on the book cover. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/22	2,023	8,614	<issue_start>username_0: Summary: Yesterday, my advisor told me that he wants me to change labs through because I said something "inappropriate" that made the lab unstable. He is a really famous professor and his citation is within world top 100 in our field. I don't want to lose the opportunity to cooperate with him. I have enrolled. He has no right to make me leave. But if he is unhappy, he could make me not able to graduate three years later. Question: What should I do? Should I leave as he asked? Details: At first, I was unsure what he meant by "inappropriate". He didn't specify, and I have only been here for like two months and only know 3 or 4 people. Maybe I said some gossip, but I mean no harm and I never offended him. I don't even remember what I said. My guess is that since my grade is not good enough, the university didn't give me the scholarship that it had promised when I was admitted. I had used my own money for enrollment and then waited to be refunded when the scholarship came through. I am not the only one, and apparently everyone is afraid that their scholarship will also be canceled. The lab is expanding so fast but the funding is not catching up. And the professors in the scholarship committee are unhappy since he recruited like a dozen PhDs at once. It seems that the professor blames me for telling the others that my scholarship was canceled, which caused the panic. My family is wealthy enough that I can self-fund, but that doesn't help if I am being forced out of the lab. This seems very unfair.<issue_comment>username_1: There are many plausible reasons why the professor may not want to reveal what exactly you said was inappropriate; most likely the professor doesn't want to inadvertently reveal the identity of the person who accused you of inappropriate behavior in order to avoid retaliation or further confrontations. As a grad student, you are considered an adult and a professional. What matters here is not whether you intended to cause harm, but whether your behavior caused harm. As we grow up the world tends to become less forgiving of our mistakes, and the professor has every right to remove someone from their group to maintain a healthy working environment. Although it is also possible that whatever offensive thing you said was simply the last straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. Either way, you should reflect on your behavior and tendencies and learn from the mistake. If there are mitigating factors (e.g., being a foreign student, mental health problems, etc.), ask the professor nicely to reconsider... but don't expect anything. Ultimately a successful grad school career depends to a large degree your relationship with your advisor. If the relationship is so broken that your professor is trying to kick you out without any prior warnings (I assume), then there is no point in forcing the matter, no matter how famous the professor is. Also some assumptions in your question is unwarranted... Why do you think the professor has planted "spies" among the students? More likely the professor learned of the matter because someone reported you. I think you over-estimate how much the professors care about the everyday activity of their students. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: They say that "loose tongues sink ships". That the situation on the whole is ticklish is not your fault. But talking in a sensitive situation is like smoking in a powder keg factory and throwing the match into a corner. You may - inadvertently, I am sure - have created a situation where the whole lab of your prof, which is already in a precarious situation, is in even more serious threat to "blow up" and taking parts of the whole department with it. What's more worrying in your attempts to fix it is that you "don't think it's [your] fault" and say that "[you] just told other people the truth". In sensitive situations, there is rarely the truth, but only approximations thereof. By talking or gossiping, you create the truth, and probably one that neither the prof (and no one else, possibly not even you) wanted. Your best bet is to go to the prof, ask for forgiveness and explain that you were too inexperienced to understand that your indiscreet talk was totally inappropriate, without ifs and buts. Do not find excuses, do not try to give reasons. Ask to be given one second chance, promising not to gossip in the future. Do not try to rationalise, do not try to state that you still do not see your mistake. If you still believe it was not a mistake to spread around what you call "the truth", better leave the group right away and start afresh. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It sounds like a lost cause- get out of that situation ASAP. Even if you manage to stay in his lab and also to graduate (and he might graduate you early just to be rid of you), the real worry is that he'd write you a bad letter of recommendation when you apply for a job after your degree. Upvotes: -1 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The revelations arising from your colleague's discoveries raise several causes for concern, which may lead your supervisor to believe that your application was misleading, made in bad faith, or even fraudulent. The issues as I see them (writing from a UK perspective) are as follows. Not one, but two references from "friends" ============================================== It is possible that a reference/recommendation from a "friend" may be deemed inappropriate, especially a family friend. Having two references/recommendations from friends is even more problematic, even if it were permissible (because it would make me wonder why you are struggling to find anyone else to vouch for you professionally). If permissible, you should declare that the referee is a "friend" (and the reference/recommendation should also declare this). If the referee is a close friend, failure to declare the fact might be deemed fraudulent. Might the reference/recommendation have exaggerated the extent to which the referee knew the subject? ===================================================================================================== > > "we reached out to my parents' friend and also got a strong recommendation" > > > "reached out" implies (to my British-English ears) that your "parents' friend" was not very familiar with your work, but wrote a strong reference/recommendation as a personal favour. To be honest, he/she should not have written the reference/recommendation in such circumstances, or he/she should have made it clear that he/she had never worked with you professionally. A reference/recommendation should make clear the capacity in which the subject is known to the referee, and not mislead by omission. Although it is the referee's responsibility to get this right, a lapse will, rightly or wrongly, still undermine the subject's credibility. Irresponsible attitude that may perpetuate nepotism (or perceptions thereof, and thus incite self-fulfilling prophecies) ======================================================================================================================== > > "My friend and my parents' friend both gave me a strong recommendation to my advisor. And of course, I excelled in the interview. So the connection is very important." > > > ...And of course, people who go into academia with this attitude that "the connection is very important" will only perpetuate nepotism in the future (especially if/when the time comes for them to make hiring/admissions decisions). This comment is irresponsible not only because it impugns your supervisor's capacity to select candidates on merit, but, more generally, because it might discourage people without friends well established in the same academic discipline from applying. In case anybody reading this is thinking of applying for a PhD studentship, I would like to reiterate that you do NOT need to already have friends or family connections in the same academic discipline. Having said all this, your supervisor is acting irresponsibly in asking you to leave in the manner you describe. If your conduct is deemed so inappropriate as to make your position untenable, he/she should initiate formal disciplinary action. It is possible that your supervisor does engage in nepotism (the fact that he/she had dinner with your parents is slightly incriminating… then again, that happened after you were admitted), and, now that the rumour is abroad, is hoping to get rid of you quietly to avoid getting into trouble himself/herself. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/22	1,213	5,234	<issue_start>username_0: I am co-author of a submitted manuscript. I think I found a mistake in a methodological approach in our paper. But I am not sure if I am right. But if that mistake is really there, then some conclusions in this paper could be changed. It will not invalidate the whole paper, but some parts would have different meaning. I already had some arguments on this paper, so I do not want to point some mistakes to my colleagues. I fear that if I will point to this possible mistake, my co-authors will get angry. I don't even know when and how should I discuss this issue with co-authors? Some authors are reachable only by email and I don't know if I should ask about this mistake only the main author, or send the email to everybody. Or should I just briefly explain what I mean or send a proper document with explanation why I think I am right? I am thinking of waiting until review; if reviewers do not point to that mistake I will raise it. Edit: By mistake, I do not mean that we carried out our method of choice incorrectly; instead, I think we should have chosen a different (potentially more correct) method of analysis.<issue_comment>username_1: If you believe there is an issue with a paper you are a co-author of, then you absolutely should discuss it with your co-authors. In most (all?) fields, having read and approved the final manuscript is a necessary condition for authorship of a publication. I assume that you cannot really approve of a manuscript that you suspect has methodological flaws, so you should speak up now. Whether that is best done by emailing everyone or just contacting the lead author depends on a lot of external and contextual factors, so I cannot offer advice there. Waiting for reviewers to spot the mistake seems like a very bad strategy. After all, what will happen if they don't spot the mistake? Either you bring up the issue after receiving the reviews (which is surely not better than bringing it up now) or you remain silent and become co-author to a paper that may have serious methodological problems. In the end, if you bring up the issue now, there are three possible outcomes (presumably after some arguments and back-and-forth): * You convince your co-authors that there is an error. Since the paper is already submitted, all authors will have to discuss how they want to handle the issue in that case. This may range from updating the paper with the necessary corrections after receiving the reviews (regardless of whether or not the reviewers found the same issue) to retracting the paper. * Your co-authors convince you that the issue is in fact not important or not an issue at all, which may also help to improve the paper (clarify why x is not an issue in this particular context). * Neither you nor your co-authors are convinced by the others. In that case, you may have to withdraw as an author, painful as that may be. I would argue that each of these results (even the last one) is preferable to just hoping for peer review to catch the issue you already know is there. Edit: I missed that the manuscript was already submitted. However, I don't thnk this fundamentally changes things. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think you have only one course of action that is both proper and safe. You should immediately contact your co-authors pointing out your reservations in detail. It is but a momentary embarrassment if you are wrong. Then, if your colleagues agree that there might be a serious methodological error, especially one that might change the conclusions, then you need to immediately contact the editor, asking for advice and suggesting withdrawal while you fix the issue. The down sides of other actions (or inaction) seem to me to be too severe to contemplate. If the paper is sent to review and the reviewers find the errors, complex as you suggest, they will most likely suggest rejection, rather than trying to work how it should be fixed. Some journals won't accept a future version of a rejected paper, so you would be back to the start in finding a publisher, and you would need to spend the time to fix the paper in any case. But the consequences of the reviewers not finding the error are equally bad or worse. If, they don't find it and you, then report it, then you still need to fix it and the editor may not have the patience you require. The paper will need, then, to be sent out once more for review, delaying the publication, at best. Of course, you have no guarantee what that review will suggest. Finally, if the reviewers don't find find the error and you don't report it, then the paper will likely be published. If it doesn't have an error then all is well, but you are probably one of the best people to know if there is really an error, and if you suspect it, then there is an issue whether you have an error or not. But if the paper is published with an error, then it will probably be found eventually, damaging everyone's reputation, yours as well as the journal's. Editors won't be very happy to work with you in the future, feeling that they have been misled. Swallow your pride. Start the wheels in motion. Your reputation is at stake. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/22	116	486	<issue_start>username_0: So I have come across a paper that will highly beneficial to me and my research group ,but the problem its in chinese and it heavily involves chemical formulas and mathematical data,so its hard to translate using google translate.Is there any site that translates academia papers?<issue_comment>username_1: Please pay a mathematical freelancer on Upworks. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: a good tranlate software is DEEPL. Just google for it. Upvotes: -1
2019/03/22	1,144	4,887	<issue_start>username_0: > > How are journals evaluated? > > > A researcher is evaluated on the basis of his/her publications. If a researcher has good publications in his/her PhD he/she is offered a Post-Doc position and eventually a faculty position. My question is: How is a journal judged?How does a faculty search committee evaluate a person's publications based on the journals where one has published?Is it done on the basis of impact factors of journals?<issue_comment>username_1: Let me start by saying that publications are usually evaluated not only according to their journal, but also according to the times they have been cited and to the impact they have had, which is a bit harder to gauge and a less objective metric. There are some cases where (at least where I work) the committee requires candidates to select a small-ish number of publications that they deem as the most important (5-12), and these are then read and carefully evaluated individually. Regarding journals, the answer, as often happens, pretty much depends on the field. In many communities, the impact factor (IF) is surely important, but there are also other (often intangible) factors that come into play. If many fields, the journals at the very top are few and well known (often Science, Nature and a few others). Papers published in these journals are usually considered to be the top of the cream. For all the other journals, the way they are considered by single scientists or committees is a combination of IF and of these people's own background. For instance, I work in a pretty multidisciplinary field (in between physics, chemistry and materials science). Some journals are more chemistry- and materials-science-related, and these tend to have higher impact factors than their physics counterparts. As a result, I often find myself publishing in journals that, according to their IF, would be very good from a physicist perspective (>10). However, in the physics community these are regarded way lower than other physics-only journals that have a long history of publishing exceptionally important papers. A notable example is Physical Review Letters, which has published many famous papers like the [original papers on the Higgs' Boson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_PRL_symmetry_breaking_papers) or the [first detection of gravitational waves](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102) and has an IF of ~ 8.8 or PNAS, which is widely known and has an IF of ~ 9.5. I can tell you that, for many physicists, a paper published in PRL is valued higher than a paper published in a materials science journal with an IF of, say, 15 (everything else, such as the number of citations, being the same). I believe that in other communities the attitude is probably very similar: journals that are well known and have a long history will be ranked high, regardless of their IF. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I feel it may differ from country to country, or even from institution to institution. It may also differ across disciplines. Where I am working, there is what is called journal reputability assessment guideline, which outlines several criteria in assessing journals in which a faculty has published articles. These include the following. 1. Journal impact factor (JIF) - journals with higher JIF are given higher weights. 2. The current volume of the journal - as in JIF, journals with higher volumes currently are assigned higher weights. 3. Indexing - journals indexed in known indexing services are considered more trustworthy and hence are given more weight than journals not indexed in known indexing services. 4. Publisher - though assessment of this criterion is more subjective, journals considered as being published by popular publishers get more weight while those considered as being published by less known publishers are given lesser weights. 5. DOI number - journals assigning digital object identifier (DOI) to their articles are given more weights. 6. ISSN number - if the journal has an ISSN number (though it is less likely that a journal will not have one), it is rated more positively (i.e., it gets higher weight). 7. The composition of the editorial team and editorial policy - this is also subjective; journals considered to have a high profile editorial team/board and standard editorial policy are assigned higher weights than those otherwise. 8. Regularity and continuity of publications - Journals that publish regularly and without interruption between volumes or issues are assessed more positively (i.e., get higher weights) than those with irregularity and discontinuity in publishing. So, the bottom line is, the criteria may differ and the way the evaluation is accomplished could also be different, but universities have such set of criteria for assessing journals. Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
2019/03/22	797	3,372	<issue_start>username_0: My PhD advisor has offered me a postdoc position in her group with specific projects and duties post graduation. However, she has time and again advised me to do a postdoc from somewhere else as according to her, doing postdoc from PhD university is not seen in a positive sense in academia. I on the other hand want to stay for 6 to 12 months in the same group as I have lot of additional projects to complete which would be impossible to attend to in a new environment. Also, my PhD research was in a modeling technique which was far away from my advisors expertise. And, I want to learn the new modeling technique and work in a project for which my advisor is known for. So, that way I can get the direct expertise of my advisor. Also, I love the city I am currently in. I am not ready to leave it for someplace else. What do you think I should do? (Here, I have made an assumption that I will surely be getting a good postdoc position somewhere soon).<issue_comment>username_1: In mathematics and in Northern Europe I have seen more than a few people do this. A grace period after graduation is not rare. But it is expected that you spend time elsewhere, preferably abroad, either employed or on long and frequent visits, or that you are very good. (Even if you are very good, there are probably other very good people seeking employment, so travelling is still a good idea.) More importantly, going elsewhere gives you perspective: * New ways of teaching. * New fields and problems to solve and methods for solving them. * New contacts and collaborators. * If going abroad, usually a new language and a more-or-less new culture, depending on how far you go. In most life situations, it is easier to travel now then later, even if you intend to come back. So if your situation allows, consider seeking for positions elsewhere. Current co-operators of your current research group would be especially useful, since that would probably allow you to contribute to the ongoing projects in some way, too. Also, unless you specifically aim for it, you will never not have unfinished projects going on, though this is probably field- and personality-specific. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no hard and fast rule or good answer to this. Generally speaking, changes early on in your career prepare you for similar changes later on, when making adjustments can in some ways be harder. There is also the general perception of "so-and-so's little helper" that you need to shake off. Still, opportunities to get good papers out and good grant applications in are not to be dismissed lightly. So just follow your heart on this and ignore what everyone else (including myself) says, as it is you in the end who has to live your life. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I have been told that it is important to show you aren't ONLY able to do good science/publish with your advisor. When applying for a faculty job, if you've only ever published with your advisor, some may question if you are capable of publishing when not under their wing. If you have had additional collaborations during your PhD (ideally outside your advisors lab group) then it shouldn't hurt at all! If not, as long as you plan to do that with another postdoc after this short one, then I don't think it would hinder your future job prospects. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/22	283	1,293	<issue_start>username_0: What is the difference between a research paper and a research article? Frequently these two terms are considered in the same category. So, what features distinguish these two terms?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think you will find a general definition that is universally applicable. But a research article could, in some cases, be a work that covers a number of papers, or the work of many people, and that attempts to bring ideas together, rather than to present fresh research itself. A research paper, probably is more specific, presenting the work of some particular author(s) on a particular project. Thus a research paper, presents an advancement in a field, whereas an article can be more general, not tied to a specific project, but generalizing a bit to give context to other work and bring it together. But others can have different definitions, and this is just a personal observation. Your usage may vary. And I notice from other comments made here, that there are other views. Some will use the terms interchangeably, of course. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Research article refers mainly to research published in a journal, whereas research paper refers to a research report whether it is a published one or not. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/22	463	1,971	<issue_start>username_0: I have recently been a TA and I realised I have a large collection of comprehensive notes from my alma mater dating back to my Bachelor degree courses. I wonder if this is an acceptable practice to share them without my professor's consent (since this is purely for education purpose)? My student is asking for these notes, and I told them I should ask my professor first.<issue_comment>username_1: If these were my notes, and you asked if you could share them with your students you would get permission in a heartbeat. In fact, if I had continued teaching the course, and thus continued to develop them, I would probably sent you the most up to date version of those notes. I am not alone in that, I remember that several associations have been trying to set up a repository of such teaching notes, which struck me as a good idea, but I don't know what came of that. However, I have come across people who take a more restrictive view on their notes. So, I think the best thing you can do is ask. Best case is you get the most up to date notes and a potential reference writer gets reminded of you in a positive way. Worst case (s)he says "thank you for asking, but I don't want you to release those notes". If you don't ask, release the notes, and (s)he finds out, things could get a lot more ugly. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would share my own course notes from when I was a student. It is common to exchange them with other students while you're still a student, why shouldn't you share them when you have graduated? Often student bodies collect notes from previous years and username_2w students to copy them. Give them the notes and be happy that other students can learn from your notes. You may or may not have a different stance on solutions for exercises, as they are often (almost) the same in the same course. This is up to you, but in the end everyone is an adult and needs to learn responsibly himself. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/22	755	3,106	<issue_start>username_0: > > How do faculty search committees evaluate candidates for faculty or post-doc positions? > > > I am a PhD student I found that there is no fixed algorithm to judge a journal. But candidates publish in various journals in their PhD. How will a researcher know where to publish his PhD so that he can get a Post-Doc or faculty position? If a candidate does not understand which journal is good/average/bad,how will one decide where to publish? This question is somewhat related to [How are journals evaluated?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/126883/64442) NOTE:I am in search of a journal for my first ever manuscript.So I am asking a lot of questions,sorry for that<issue_comment>username_1: Belive it or not, search committees actually read/skim your articles (not all of them, but some of them) and judge the work and not where it was published. I try and look at least one publication in a specialist journal from each position the candidate had and one or two articles from journals with a broader readership (aka high impact) if there are any. I never, and do not know anyone that does, try and rank papers/journals and pit one candidate's publication history against another. It is a much more holistic process than that. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As you say, there is no algorithm. It is largely a judgement call, made individually and then collectively by a group of people. But they will look at a lot of things, not just your publication record. Don't neglect that. The "standards" will be different for a post-doc and for a regular position. A post-doc will only be around, perhaps, for a couple of years but a regular faculty member likely much longer. So for a post-doc the actual research activity and potential isn't balanced by other considerations and becomes more important (paradoxically, perhaps). Some post-docs are later awarded regular positions, but that is because people have had a longer and better chance to evaluate you. But if you are in the running for a regular position the evaluators will want to know a number of other things about you, beyond your research and research potential. What is your fitness/match for the particular position. How will you "fit" into the department? Can you be a future collaborator? Are you too arrogant? Too humble? Can you teach? Can you advise students? Do you seem to have more ideas than one person could reasonably develop themselves? Lots of things, depending on the position. I've seen one case of a brilliant researcher not get a bid because she just wouldn't fit into the department or be accessible to its students. She was judged too good for us, even though it was a (very) top US program. On the other hand, another person got a bid, precisely because it was felt she would be a good collaborator for one of the junior faculty, enhancing both people as well as the department. Don't ignore your research and publication venues, of course, but be aware that you need more and should do some things to develop in multiple dimensions. Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
2019/03/22	596	2,266	<issue_start>username_0: I am in a process of making a paper camera-ready for publication. In the reference section, I have listed some works, which are not referenced in the text. For example, can I write in the main text: > > This result1 is cited from [1]. > > This result2 is cited from [4]. > > > … and in the reference section: > > [1] cited from here > > [2] cited from here > > [3] cited from here > > [4] cited from here > > > I have not referenced [2] and [3] anywhere in the paper. Is this paper is valid for publication? Or does it not affect the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: You have three options. I would consider any of them valid, but an editor might disagree. 1. Remove the extra references and renumber if necessary. 2. Put a note somewhere, say with the bibliography, that some references here are just background. 3. Ignore the problem, assuming that readers will assume 2. I think these are in order of decreasing preference, but I wouldn't object to any of them. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This depends on the journal's style sheet, but usually you only list the references that are cited in the text. Thus, I would delete the superfluous ones (and renumber the notes). Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It depends on why those "references" were present in the first place. If they're mistakes, get rid of them. If you want to point your readers to additional information, put them in a section called "Further Reading" following the References section. The style of the publication may dictate whether and exactly how you do that, but those dangling references do not belong in the References section. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Calling the paper "invalid for publication" is a strong term, but this is not considered good practice[^1]; it is explicitly forbidden in the style guides of some journals[^2], and probably a good copy-editor would catch that issue and ask you to fix it before publication. (Not all journals have good copy-editors.) [^1]: First of all, because it doesn't make your intent clear: what do you want to say by citing those papers? They are a reference for what exactly? [^2]: I suspect many journals, but I can't check Upvotes: 2
2019/03/22	1,300	4,652	<issue_start>username_0: What is the standard way for citation in research paper and journals? 1. In the paper: > > This result3 is cited from [3]. > > This result1 is cited from [1]. > > This result4 is cited from [4]. > > This result2 is cited from [2]. > > > In the reference section: > > [1] cited from here > > [2] cited from here > > [3] cited from here > > [4] cited from here > > > 2. In the paper: > > This result1 is cited from [1]. > > This result2 is cited from [2]. > > This result3 is cited from [3]. > > This result4 is cited from [4]. > > > In the reference section > > [1] cited from here > > [2] cited from here > > [3] cited from here > > [4] cited from here > > > Is approach 1 also valid for a research paper?<issue_comment>username_1: A bibliography is usually listed in alphabetical order by author, with the references pointing accordingly. Some papers will list the bibliography in order of the reference in the paper, but I think that is less useful to readers. If you just look at the bibliography it makes no sense. A third possibility, that would be possible for some work, is to list the bibliography in order of publication. This can, then, indicate which works possibly contributed to the development of which others, or to show an historical continuum. It might also be used if the paper discusses the past work of a single author. I'll suspect that most editors/journals will want alphabetical listing. --- There is a chance, of course, that this is field dependent or journal dependent. Advisors are a good source of information on this, as is looking at what other papers do in your field and in the journal you want to submit to. (H/T <NAME>). Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Most venues that I have experience with (in artificial-intelligence research) provide style files and examples etc. that you will have to follow, and that would also automatically determine in which order the references appear (both are possible). In my experience, it is most common that references occur in the list of references ordered alphabetically by surname of first author in cases where, in-text, they are cited like “(author names, year)”, whereas it is most common that they occur simply in order of first in-text citation if they appear like [1], [2], etc. That's just my experience in AI conferences/journals though, I am not really familiar with other fields of science. So, I guess the conclusion is, follow whichever guidelines the conference/journal you're targeting provide, or your own / your supervisor's / your colleagues' preferences if you're not targeting any specific venue with fixed guidelines. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As already noted [by <NAME>](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/126926/7734), in most cases, the citation style will be dictated by the journal and the best way is to let a software deal with this for you, so you can switch to whatever the journal wants, once you choose or switch journals. With that being said, your first choice is not very popular for the following reason: A numeric citation style (as opposed to citation by author name) has the advantage that you do not clutter the paper with citations. If you additionally order numeric references by appearance, you gain that when citing many references at once, they are usually together in the reference section (so the reader does not have to go back and forth or somehow memorise them when looking them up). Compare the following: * Typical author–name style: > > Blockchain is important (Aaronson 2011, Smith 2017, Doe 2015, Numberwrangler 2014, Zytschinsky 2013). > > > * Typical numerical style: > > Blockchain is important [1–5]. > > > * Your first style: > > Blockchain is important [1, 18, 5, 13, 27]. > > > Your first style combines the disadvantages of both other styles: You do not know who is cited, more space than necessary is occupied by citations, and when you actually want to look up those citations in the reference list, they are scattered all over the place. If you impose alphabetical order on your numeric citations, the only advantage that you gain is that it is easier to see whether a certain paper is cited at all – if you know the name of the first author. This is something I would not consider so important, and also if I want to know something like this, I usually have the paper on a computer, where I can do a full-text search – which has the great advantage of also finding cases where the author in question is not the first one. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2019/03/22	1,301	4,047	<issue_start>username_0: I get conflicting information about APA website citations from different sources. What is the best way to cite website documentation in APA style? For example, if I want to cite an announcement website about Apache Struts project releases (with no author given), do I cite it as: Apache Struts Team. (2018). Announcements 2018. Retrieved from <https://struts.apache.org/announce-2018.html> And in-text citation would be given like this? Struts 2.3.36 was released as a "General Availability" release on October 15, 2018 (Apache Struts Team, 2018).<issue_comment>username_1: DISCLOSURE: I work for Mendeley as a software engineer. The reason I have used Mendeley is to show how it would cite this particular reference with this particular citation style using a tool familiar with academics and scholars. --- Based on my findings, the citation would look like: > > Apache Struts Team. (2018). Announcements 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from <https://struts.apache.org/announce-2018.html> > > > And the in-text citation would look like: > > (Apache Struts Team, 2018) > > > --- Please find below the steps I took to produce this answer: 1. I imported <https://struts.apache.org/announce-2018.html> using a Mendeley tool; I manually entered missing information in an attempt to construct a reference similar to yours: [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/reiwo.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/reiwo.png) 2. And this how the reference looks like in Mendeley: [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UFwxI.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UFwxI.png) 3. I can select this reference a copy/paste it using a citation style: [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gRx44.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/gRx44.png) 4. The formatted citation will use this citation style: [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PTj0w.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PTj0w.png) 5. This is what you get when you paste it: > > Apache Struts Team. (2018). Announcements 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from <https://struts.apache.org/announce-2018.html> > > > 6. Then I can use another Mendeley tool to produce an "in-text" citation: (using the same citation style as in step 3) [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gud0n.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gud0n.png) 7. Which gives me this in-text citation: > > (Apache Struts Team, 2018) > > > Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The title of your question indicates that there is no author mentioned, but in the body of the question, you imply that the author is a corporate body, i.e. the Apache Struts Team. This certainly counts as an author. In their [blog about style](https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/11/how-to-cite-something-you-found-on-a-website-in-apa-style.html), the APA say that you should cite information found on the web in the same format as you cite information found in a physical print form for the same kind of content. They provide a template that uses author, date, title, and source: > > Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from https://URL > > > In text: (Author, year) > > > They also provide alternate templates for citations when you are missing one of the four pieces of information. Regarding a website with no author mentioned, the APA say in their [FAQs](https://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/web-page-no-author): > > ### How do you reference a web page that lists no author? > > > When there is no author for a web page, the title moves to the first position of the reference entry: > > > Example: > > All 33 Chile miners freed in flawless rescue. (2010, October 13). Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39625809/ns/world\_news-americas/ > > > Cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title or abbreviated title.: ("All 33 Chile Miners," 2010). > > > Upvotes: 0
2019/03/22	973	4,291	<issue_start>username_0: On Saturday I had a Computer Science final exam. When I finished it and turned it in my teacher told me that she saw online that I had accessed some file from our course (We have notes and our syllabus/grades posted online on a website) during the beginning of the final. I told her no, and that I was in class the entire time and didn’t touch my phone. What could’ve happened was that my phones browser refreshed the page after a change in connectivity or something and it appeared as if I had accessed that random file(since I had a lot of our notes open on my phone beforehand for studying). She wasn’t hearing any of it and filed a case to my college dean. After meeting with the dean, he said that unless I have evidence to refute the online access log they have, there is nothing I can do. My question is, what do I do in this situation? I’ve never felt this helpless since I have no clue how to go about proving against the log, which they count as “hard evidence”. Because of this incident, I’ve failed this class and it was a pre-req for all my classes next quarter. Does anyone have an idea on what I could possibly do? EDIT FROM A COMMENT: OP reports "Unfortunately I failed that class but nothing besides that happened." Happy ending, sort of.<issue_comment>username_1: Most universities will have some sort of quasi-judicial appeal process. You can try to navigate it yourself, but I would strongly suggest that you find an expert to help you. Some universities may have an ombudsman or some sort of "public defender" service that provides trained students you can work with. You could also talk to students or faculty who have experience with the process, or even consider hiring a lawyer. Part of what you'll want to know is who will judge such a case, what sort of evidence you can present, and what "standard of proof" is expected. Some evidence that you could consider trying to present, if possible: * Expert testimony from an impartial person familiar with the online system, to explain that a logged access does not necessarily prove that you actually looked at the information, and to explain how it could happen without your knowledge. For instance, you might be able to get someone from the university's IT office to testify, or a computer science professor. (People who work in technical fields are often pretty sensitive to cases where a poor understanding of technology by those in authority results in an injustice, so I think you might not have too hard a time recruiting someone.) * Testimony from other students that they did not see you look at your phone or any other device during the exam * Testimony from the professor as to whether she saw you look at your phone, etc As for your classes for next quarter, it would be worth it to talk to the instructors of those classes. You can tell them that you were charged with dishonesty and you are appealing, but that in any case you have learned the course material. They will typically have the authority to waive the prerequisite requirement, so that you can take their course despite not having passed the previous course, and they might be willing to agree that it serves no purpose to delay your progress through the program by making you retake a course whose material you already learned. This way you can continue to move through your courses even if your appeal is not resolved before the next term starts. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I am mystified (but not all that mystified) that these academics are computer scientists who cannot decipher or understand what should by rights be a fairly common occurrence in network operations. You apparently consulted something exam-sensitive just prior to the exam, which I guess a lot of students do, and the subsequent glitch apparently affected only yourself, which seems odd. Can someone from your IT shed any light? In the days when I invigilated exams, phones went into bags and bags had to be left at the front of the room, and I continually made sure there were no devices on the desks and no students were fiddling with something in their laps. Your institution's apparent failure to instate such bread and butter measures is appalling and something you might want to bring up. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/22	1,977	8,599	<issue_start>username_0: I am a postdoc and I have been applying for jobs in both industry and academia. My h-index is good enough for junior faculty (~7). Along my academic CV I have an industry-oriented CV and send both of them out accordingly. I have had a handful of final stage interviews (faculty/scientist) for academia but none in the industry so far. I suspect I am being interviewed as the "token diverse female" (I'm asian) as my area of science is white male dominated. The whole experience, along with prior job hunts, has led me to suspect that my gender and race may be hindering my earning potential. I believe I have the required qualifications and skills. I am thinking of reapplying as a white male to these same industry jobs I got rejected for (especially the rejections without interview) just to see if how far along I would get. Only for industry jobs because those CVs don't make it to the chief scientist's table. Maybe make a documentary or blog about this if there are significant findings. Now put your imagination to the test: what is the worst that can happen?<issue_comment>username_1: I like to think I have a pretty vivid imagination, so the worst thing I can reasonably imagine happening is that you would be seen as trying to perform an experiment with human participants without proper controls, questionable experimental design, possibly a lack of appropriately rigorous analysis (if this isn't your specialty), and lack of ethical review and oversight. From an ethics perspective, you propose to use deception on uninformed participants while possibly obtaining personally identifiable information on them which could lead to them facing serious social consequences if they were identified. With the mob mentality of the viral internet as it is, the consequences could be pretty darn severe - up to loss of job, death threats, actual violence, and more. Sensitive topics require sensitive handling, which is what any functioning IRB and responsible researcher would insist on. In reporting on the results, even if informally on a blog, you could be seen as offering a pseudo-scientific view (or worse) on a controversial and important topic. If your experiment was performed poorly or your analysis done improperly, you could lend weight to an incorrect view - either providing what could be cited as evidence that discrimination does not exist where it does (thus making it harder for people discriminated against to make changes or be taken seriously), or supporting the view that discrimination does exist where it doesn't (leading to negative consequences for people who are doing nothing wrong and deflecting attention away from more pressing, extant issues). Bad science, even done with good intention, can easily make the world worse. If some random blogger or journalist did this, most of us can gratingly dismiss it as "they don't know any better", or just the world of click-bait, etc. But if you were a qualified scientist who should know better, people might not be so willing to dismiss such activity just because it wasn't intended to be scientific and it wasn't intended for publication. Most people won't even know the difference in what is and isn't intended to be scientific when done by a scientist, and many that do know the difference might not consider it an excuse. As Dawn pointed out in a comment, one version of this is called an [audit study](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audit_study), and there is a pretty large body of literature that tries to do basically what you are suggesting in a systematic way. I cannot even try to count how many studies of this sort are published, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't already in the thousands, looking at everything from gender to race to the impact of varying lengths of time gaps on a resume. Finally, the nature of this sort of field study is that even with everything going your way they are hard to do correctly. No simple analysis method works even if you did everything right and collected all the data appropriately. There is too much randomness, too much heterogeneity, too much structure, to allow any simple bit of statistics to give the correct interpretation. In short, unless this is your specialty, it would be trivially easy to get everything else right and still come to exactly the wrong conclusion. For those who are not familiar with this kind of statistics, a classic example of how a simple analysis can go wrong is [Sex Bias in Graduate Admissions: Data from Berkeley](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/187/4175/398). In a simple aggregate analysis, it looked quite clearly that women were being admitted at lower rates than men, and thus bias was quite obvious to the point that the deans of the school were concerned this could be the basis for a lawsuit. It turned out it was a nice example of [Simpson's Paradox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson%27s_paradox), as it turned out the cause for the difference was that women were more likely to apply to departments that were crowded and competitive and thus harder to get into for everyone, while men were more likely to apply to departments that were less competitive. If a similar condition existed in the employment sector, where you were applying to jobs in industry that turned out to vary in their selectivity in a way that you were not considering, this would mess up your analysis, and you cannot easily collect more information that would allow you to fix it. After all, I'm sure you weren't inclined to use random selection in your own employment search! So, in summation, the worst that I could imagine happening is: you end up doing bad science that would reflect badly on you and would not be easily excused just because it wasn't intended for publication; you come to the wrong conclusions and in a way which could hurt innocent people; you casually report information that could be used in dangerous and damaging way; you end up being identified as the person responsible and it goes viral, so now the most famous thing you'll ever be known for was this thing you didn't intend as a serious study (and which could have gone horribly wrong); and, as a bonus, you could just end up wasting your time and the time of others for no benefit. And since its the worst thing that can happen, I suppose you could also end up with a headache. Things can always be worse by adding a headache. Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: The worst thing which can happen is that you get the study setup or the statistics wrong, and the interpretation in the blog. The world is too full of oversimplified blogs and video documentaries on perceived gender biases. There is a lot of research by people who devote their scientific career to this, and the statistics of "who studies what" is quite influential. For example I (as a technical team lead doing a lot of technical interviews) observe that most women who started to study engineering 10 years ago (Central Europe) did think about the study choice well before studying, while for many men it was "the default option". This alone makes it reasonable to select them for the interviews with a higher percentage. I cant quantify this -> read research on it. In the worst case (i assume that you are in a STEM field) it could cost you job opportunities to present a flawed analysis without peer-review. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: ### You're asking the wrong question. > > ... what is the worst that can happen? > > > Others have answered this. But it's the wrong question. What you should really ask is: > > What's likely to happen? > > > You are likely to not get any statistically significant information, and probably not even a sound hunch about the reason you got more offers than your friend. You are likely to get into a mild amount of trouble at least with some of the potential workplaces when you retract your application or when they call up your references/former universities/etc. IMHO it is likely you will not have contributed even marginally with your experiment. If you believe "affirmative-action"-type hiring is nothing but Tokenism and is inappropriate / discriminatory against people like your friend - act against it where you actually are present and have access to information, such as your next workplace; and in wider social contexts (e.g. participate in public awareness-raising campaigns, lobbying elected officials, organizing petitions, demonstrations etc.) PS - Please do not construe this answer as an endorsement or criticism of "affirmative-action"-type hiring practices. Upvotes: 5
2019/03/23	928	3,818	<issue_start>username_0: I'm considering moving back in with my parents over the summer to save money on rent. I would still be able to commute to campus at least once a week (4 hours each way, but I can nap on the ferry ride) to meet with my advisor. I'm working on my masters in math and I don't have any obligations in the summer that would require me to be on campus physically. I asked my advisor and he said he is fine with this, but I am hesitant. On one hand, I would be able to save a good amount of money; on the other hand, I am unsure if this is a wise idea. I'm curious to know your insights are on this. Thank you for any input! Edit: I hadn't thought about some of the things you guys brought up and I really appreciate all the input! I have made up my mind and decided to move for the summer.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't understand why this is an issue. You can do mathematics anywhere. The same is true of other fields as well, though maybe not all. All you need is your mind and possibly a bit of paper to write on. You can use a commute to develop ideas, or to rest your mind. There is nothing, really, in the air near a university that makes thinking easier, though interaction with other people usually helps. But, as a newcomer, assuming that is your position, you need feedback on your ideas. That can be done remotely, nowadays, though your proposed occasional meet ups will also be beneficial, provided you use them for that feedback. Being seen has little value in mathematical development. Producing something worth reading will be more valuable in your career than just "being seen". If your advisor agrees, you can share your work at any time via the internet or email. Note that some researchers carry on collaboration remotely for years, not just a few months. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You might consider these two parts of it separately: 1. How will working from your parents' house impact your productivity? 2. How will working from off-campus impact the relationships with, or perceptions of, your colleagues? You mention #2 in the comments. Personally, I'm more inclined to consider #1. I have worked from home for most of the last 15 years or so. For me and the way my mind works, this is not ideal. I have found that I value spending time with a team, for the difficult-to-quantify dynamics that can lead to group brainstorming, bonding, etc. I can work on my own, but it can be isolating, and if I get "stuck" it can be difficult to get back to a healthier mental state. Of course, you're not talking about living and working alone, you'd be with your parents. Everyone's family is different. For me, that would be a very difficult combination. I once stayed with my parents when traveling on business, but after the first time, I decided I need a hotel room when working in my parents' home town. They often would not fully understand my need to focus, and would have demands of their own on my time. Much better for me to spend a few days working and staying in a hotel, and then spend a few days visiting and staying with them once the work is done. As for your colleagues, you have already gained the approval of your adviser, which seems like the most important part. Do you need the input and engagement of your peers to complete your work, or can you be fairly independent? If you will need their input, it might be best to talk with a few of them about it, and see what they think about collaborating virtually and/or occasionally. If you won't, you might not need to worry too much about what they think. Ultimately, you are responsible for establishing the conditions that help you do your own work, and you might do well to avoid letting others' perceptions influence your decisions too much. Good luck! Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
2019/03/23	579	2,246	<issue_start>username_0: I wanted to ask what is the path of academic person that finished his Ph.D. in math or in Computer science what is the academic path that he can take? Not everyone can continue with Academia or be part of the universities faculty, so does this mean the end of an academic career or can he continue learning post Ph.D. degrees? What is the usual path of post Ph.D. in these fields?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no reason to stop learning, or studying. But the way you go about it will probably change. Prior to earning a doctorate, you are under the direction of others and guided by them. Most people are, in any case. But, having earned a doctorate, you become one of the guiders, not the guided. You can learn by developing ideas and sharing them with others. This is research. It is also fundamental to advising. But, you also gain the opportunity for collaborative learning if you expand your circle of professional relationships. Thus, a group of people, whether co-located or not, can collectively study deep problems and learn from one another. And, of course, in many fields, you can study on your own, once you get the experience to be your own guide. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: > > What is the usual path of post Ph.D. in these fields? > > > There are two main options: * Pursue in academia as a postdoc, usually in the hope of eventually reaching a tenured academic position. * Apply for industry positions, either for research-oriented jobs (often found in big companies R&D departments or innovative start-ups) or non-research jobs for which PhD skills are required or recommended. So if by "continue learning" OP means "keep doing research", there are options outside academia. Personally I often encourage PhD students who are close to graduating and haven't made their mind up to consider applying for a postdoc: it's a short contract which gives you a taste of the academic career path while also giving you a job experience, thus leaving all the doors open. [This question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17431/what-ratio-of-phd-graduates-in-stem-fields-ultimately-end-up-as-tenured-profes/) might help clarify the landscape of post-PhD options. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/23	830	3,505	<issue_start>username_0: I am a post-doc in economics. I know that rejections are quite usual but I feel very sad (I think more than necessary) because of rejections. For a paper on which I worked for four years, I got two rejections since last year. I already have two accepted papers but I am overwhelmed with a rejection that I received this morning and I am wondering whether academia is really a good choice to me. I know this is an unnecessary feeling. What to do in order to deal with these situations?<issue_comment>username_1: Any sort of rejection in life is hard to take. But note that there are several reasons for a paper being rejected other than the quality of the paper, and, certainly, other than your own ability/worth as a researcher. Poor fit for the journal, and poor timing come to mind. Some reviewers are just nearly impossible to get anything through, for a variety of reasons. I'd suggest that you get some additional feedback on your paper as well as some advice on your career before you toss in the towel. But the pain will still be there for a while. It's just a natural human reaction. Find joy elsewhere for a bit until it subsides. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I read recently in economics a single publication in a distinct top-tier journal earns you professorship. Hard to understand for me as a physicist, but if it is really like this and I know the ratio PhD students/professors in economics is much much smaller than in experimental sciences (at least in Germany), then you have to live with the fact that the acception/rejection is more difficult/sophisticated and more lottery-like than in other scientific branches. On the other hand, your chances to get tenure are likely also much higher than in those. I hope this solaces you a bit :-) And if you got 2 papers published already, you know there is nothing wrong with the way you write your papers in general. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Rejection is hard. But rejection happens, even to great writers, in and out of academia. My favorite rejection letter is this one: "We're sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you don't know how to use the English language." Did they give any reasons for rejection? Was it an outright rejection or a "revise and resubmit"? In addition to the reasons listed by username_1, I will suggest that you might have aimed too high - perhaps the journal is so high prestige that they reject almost everything and perhaps a less established journal would be better. I work as a statistical reviewer (not in economics, though) and, while I almost never reject, sometimes my problems with the methods are a reason that the editors reject. Another thing to note is that you got two acceptance already (congratulations!) In any case, I think that getting one paper rejected is not a good reason to change careers. Perhaps there is someone you can talk to about dealing with rejection? Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: My first paper got rejected twice. I was feeling very low and doubtful about it. I made up my mind to ask my advisor about my performance and tell him that I had considered leaving my PhD. He told me to stick with the project and that he was happy with the job I did. The next two years I clung on to this. It was still difficult but I didn't leave the project and got my PhD. I however decided afterwards to leave academia because of the lack of appreciation/encouragement and the hard competition for a permanent job in academia. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/24	1,590	6,633	<issue_start>username_0: I am third year undergraduate and I am not studying in Europe. I plan to apply for a master at a German institute by the end of this year which is the time for application. This institute advertised a ‘Hiwi’ (student assistant) position on their website. They link to a PDF file which provides more detail, and in this file they refer to the job as ‘student assistant position’. I wrote them an email asking about this position. But the group leader replied to me: ‘I could not offer you a position at this point’. This makes me a little confused. I know group leaders face many quite complex situations, but I don’t know how to interpret this. Is it just because he think I am not good enough at the first read of my email and make a polite refusal? I did not mention that I intend to apply at this university and also that my main motivation is to get research experience (i.e., I am okay with not being paid). Should I mention these two points?<issue_comment>username_1: > > Is it just because he think I am not good enough at the first read of my email and make a polite refusal? > > > Most likely, yes. Note he didn't say the position has been filled; he's only saying he can't offer you a position (perhaps because you don't meet the minimum requirements, or he doesn't think you're suited to the role, there are better candidates who've applied, etc). Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: This group may have a candidate in mind but forced to put an ad out for compliance. For many temporary or contract positions, full HR process is not required and a full hiring committee is not struck: the head of the unit is the sole decider. Moreover, there might be seniority issues which guarantee the position to someone who was previously employed in this position - v.g. sessional instructor for a specific course. One is still legally obligated to advertise the position, but the playing field is tilted to favour a particular candidate. Basically, the person previously holding the position has to reapply. This happens all the time because a contract might run over a set period, but the contract is open yearly. Maybe one needs a lab technician for the academic year but not over the summer recess. Alternatively, the lab technician who’s contract ends in April is asked to apply for a research assistant position to cover the summer months. Contract are structured this way because part-time or contract employees gets fewer benefits than full-time ones. There are all kinds of combination possible where an internal candidate has the inside track for a position still legally required to be posted. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It may be that the job is subject to visa regulations and the group leader recognised/assumed that it would take extra steps to secure a right visa for you. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Student assistant positions in Germany are usually open only to students enrolled at a local university (often where the position is offered, but always in Germany). This is for reasons of social insurance and labour regulation. You are not enrolled at a local university. In fact, you are studying outside Europe. Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: Another possibility is that the respective research group leader simply ran out for funds for "Hiwi" positions. Getting good student assistants is hard, and they may have the advertisement on their web site continuously. This could be the case if they are willing to use precious grant overhead money for very exceptional candidates. If the research group leader felt that this does not apply to you and the regular funds have been used up, he/she...may be unable to offer you a "Hiwi" position at this point. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: One more possibility: I used to get tons of e-mail from random parts of the world and random departments not my own, asking to be my TA or RA. I'm in Texas. I get an e-mail from Sri Lanka from some guy I never heard of, which includes his vita and copies of publications, and what am I to think? I think that he has probably e-mailed every math/science/engineering professor in world. I wasn't even advertising nor was I in the market for grad students. So these just got deleted. I would get similar bombardments from grad students in engineering (I was in the Math Dept.) mostly foreign students, wanting the same thing. They were also ignored. If a student can't get support in his own country/department, then that's "strike one" for sure. Sending spam to a country/department that shows that you don't know "how things work" in that country/department, is "strike two." Our department admits and hires our TA's and RA's. The faculty have little to do with who gets to occupy those 3-or-4 person offices. So when I open such an e-mail, my first thought is "Dude, you're asking the wrong guy." It's especially telling if the grad student is in the engineering building across the street and, having been here for at least a year, doesn't have any friends or mentors who can tell him good ways to find support. Specifically, it seems that the grad advisor in Electrical Engineering would know who the student should e-mail in the Math Dept. Yet he e-mailed me. So my suggestion here is that, perhaps, your application came in with a few hundred other fishing attempts and you got the form response back. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Besides what everyone else already mentioned, it may also be that the job posting on the website is simply out of date. Thesis and Studentische Hilfskraft (informally, HiWi) openings are often either "privately" advertised in lectures, labs, or seminars (with the lecturer telling stuff like "By the way, we need a HiWi for \\\, send me an e-mail with your CV or come to me after class if you're interested") or reserved for students proactively applying for them - in a "if we find the right person, we'll find the right project for them" fashion. In most university chairs in Germany, openings landing onto the chair's website are either outdated, the ones no one wanted to fill or both - just take them with a grain of salt, as an indicator of which kind of projects may* be offered to applicants. And weeks/months may pass until an outdated job opening is taken off. Yet, since you aren't currently studying in Germany, [Henning's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/126970/103112) most probably covers your case. The best advice would be to wait until you're enrolled at your new university and only then proactively search for HiWi openings. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/24	1,377	4,255	<issue_start>username_0: We always hear about the increasing number of publications published every year and the resulting information overload in science. I wanted to show this trend to students to highlight why they should care about information literacy and search strategies. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a reliable source that highlights this trend, e.g. in an easy understandable figure. I searched for publications including this information and even hoped for Web of Science or Google Scholar to publish this information but couldn't find anything useful. It is not that important what kinds of publication types are included, e.g. only journal articles or all kinds of publications. Has anyone a reliable and relatively easy to understand source highlighting the trend of increasing global number of publications over time?<issue_comment>username_1: I found an [archived version](https://web.archive.org/web/20200624022321/https://www.stm-assoc.org/2018_10_04_STM_Report_2018.pdf) of the [2018 STM Report](https://www.stm-assoc.org/2018_10_04_STM_Report_2018.pdf), which is now available directly from STM again. Among other statistics, it has this plot of the scientific output from 1975-2018 and four different databases: [![2018 MTS Report](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zT2QY.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zT2QY.png) The Web of Science (WoS) line looks rather similar to the earlier results of [<NAME> (2014)](https://arxiv.org/abs/1402.4578), who produced this figure for 1980-2012 using a copy of WoS' database: [![Exponential growth](https://i.stack.imgur.com/C2sld.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/C2sld.png) Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: arxiv.org presents his own statistics, but be aware that a lot of publications from humanities and biomedical sciences are missing in this statistics: [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SVzEU.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SVzEU.png) [This chart](https://arxiv.org/stats/monthly_submissions) also shows the exponential trend on arxiv. [Long-term chart:](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319467172_Introduction_The_Worldwide_Triumph_of_the_Research_University_and_Globalizing_Science_The_Global_Triumph_of_the_Research_University) [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/LG05j.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/LG05j.png) [Very long-term chart:](http://blogs.nature.com/news/2014/05/global-scientific-output-doubles-every-nine-years.html) [![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/CA3Ex.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/CA3Ex.jpg) There is also [biorxiv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioRxiv) covering the missing biomedical scientific branches, much younger than arxiv but there is a quite detailed [statistical report](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2019/01/13/515643.full.pdf) on its growth. Publication: [Attention decay in science](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1503.01881.pdf) (due to exponential growth) (To me it's also interesting how this correlates with the number of PhD students in [another answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/126815/41661) and how this can be explained... did internet boost scientific productivity and/or number of PhD students?!) Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: For the field of mathematics, another source of data is the AMS Math Reviews (MathSciNet), where this type of information is readily available (just search for the year you want). Virtually every reputable math publication gets indexed there nowadays. Also, unlike something like Google Scholar, only reputable journals get indexed and each publication appears only once. Math Reviews is a paid service, so you'd need to be affiliated with a university with a subscription. (I don't know how complete this data is as you go further back in time. Maybe someone else has a better sense of this.) For example, here are the total number of mathematics publications for various years at 10-year intervals. 2018: 111,018; 2008: 99,268; 1998: 67,807; 1988: 55,420; 1978: 36,637; 1968: 19,615; 1958: 10,249; 1948: 5,456; 1938: 1,417; 1928: 1,439; 1918: 632; 1908: 729; 1898: 710; 1888: 266; 1878: 181 Upvotes: 3
2019/03/24	568	2,238	<issue_start>username_0: I'm a first-year medical student within the United States considering a move to Australia. I am not looking at a "study abroad" or "foreign exchange student" type program. A direct move and goal to be a citizen, living there indefinitely. As of now, my academic marks (GPA) aren't the best they can be and I am concerned that they will follow me towards Australia if I decide to move there. If I transfer between the two countries is my United States GPA considered or used by an Australian university? If so, how?<issue_comment>username_1: My undergraduate university (in Australia, part of the Group of 8) considers two marks; a GPA (out of 4.0) and a Weighted Average Mark (out of 100%). At my school it is very likely your GPA will be simply be converted 1:1 and considered. All of the schools I know of consider both the GPA and WAM, but sometimes the GPA is out of 5 or 7 depending on the school. This may not be the case for the university you are applying for. I should mention that I am assuming you are applying as a transfer student or for a postgraduate programme; I do not know how high school grades are considered in Australia. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: While every university is different, it might play a part of the admissions process, but after that, probably not, no. It’s likely that you won’t even receive credit for the units that you’ve done directly; instead, you’d ask for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and they’ll look at the units you’ve done and compare them to the units you’d need to do for your new degree, then give you non-graded passes for the units in your degree that they felt were roughly equivalent in content and teaching level. Additionally, most Australian universities mark on a seven-point grade scale, ranging from 1 (Low Fail) to 4 (Pass) to 7 (High Distinction), which wouldn’t be directly comparable to the American 4-point system. Source: I’m an Australian who transferred between two different universities and degrees during his undergraduate, and is currently doing postgraduate study. This is just my personal experience; I’m open to being corrected by someone with experience working in a university’s admissions office. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/25	1,650	6,861	<issue_start>username_0: I married during my PhD and changed my legal surname however (for many reasons) I will continue to publish under my maiden name. My (UK) university says that a thesis has to be submitted under the name held in registration records. They seem happy for me to revert my registration to my maiden name so I can submit my thesis as "maiden name" and this means my degree certificate will also have "maiden name". I think it would make more sense to have the name on the thesis the same as on the published papers that it contains (i.e. maiden name) but would there be any issues with graduating with an old name? I do have birth & marriage certificates that show my maiden name. Note: As others mentioned in the comments, technically the concept of a "legal name" does not exist in the UK. However, in practice employers, banks, airports etc. ask for evidence of your name and to change a name on a passport, for example, requires a marriage/divorce certificate or deed poll.<issue_comment>username_1: It probably doesn't matter much as few people will look into your thesis at all (at least those people interested in your research). They will rather look at your papers. My feeling is that it is better to have all/most of your legal documents under the same name. That is, if you plan to use your new name as your legal name (not for your publications) then it would make sense to have your PhD. diploma also under this name. But I guess most people will manage with diplomas with two names if you explain it to them. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You need to pick a name that you'll use in your professional life. Changing that name has a cost. At this early stage, the cost is low. So, if you want to use your married name professionally, then change to it now. Otherwise, use your maiden name for the duration of your career. (This isn't to say you can't switch later, just that the cost increases over time.) > > would there be any issues with graduating with an old name? > > > It may create a slight administrative burden, in that you may have to prove that your degree certificate is yours (given that it won't match your legal name). Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: For your thesis it will not really matter at all as the thesis itself will not be read by many people (sad truth!) (and if you have to proof somewhere that you are the person who holds this degree you can always provide the marriage certificate in addition). It is however very important that you choose one name for all of you publications that arise from your thesis and further career as a later scientific life will build on many numerical descriptors (e.g. H-index) and this will be very difficult if you publish under 2 different names. If this is your maiden name or your current one is up to you. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Your thesis is a publication, and unless you have strong reasons to do so otherwise, I would recommend that you use the same name in all your publications ─ be they theses or papers. I would particularly recommend that you do not pay attention to the oft-propagated myth that "nobody reads PhD theses". For one, it's simply not true (at best, it is field-dependent), but more importantly, it is irrelevant. Regardless of whether people read your thesis or not, it will appear in both your CV and other publication lists (Google Scholar, ReseracherId and ORCID, at the very least). I think the core question there is: what name will you use at the head of your CV? * If you'll use your maiden name, with only an incidental mention of your legal name when required, then it makes no sense to have any publications under your legal name. * If the header will be your legal name, then it still doesn't make sense to have some publications with a different, maiden name (the papers) and some with the legal name. You still have to design around the use of two different names, and using the legal name for the thesis only complicates that design even more. I was under a roughly similar situation, where my UK university required a legal name for the PhD thesis that differed from the name I use for papers (specifically, I left out the maternal surname), and I can tell you that the legal name did propagate to places where I would rather have one single unified front. More importantly, though, I think that the key distinction is that the PhD diploma and the PhD thesis will be seen by two drastically different audiences. * The PhD diploma will probably only be seen by Human Resources staff, or their equivalents, who are trained to deal with this, and for whom person-changed-their-name-through-marriage is a run-of-the-mill type of feature. Having a legal name that differs from that on your PhD diploma, with a marriage certificate to match, won't even raise an eyebrow. * The PhD thesis, and particularly its bibliographic details, will be seen by a lot more people, and they will have a lot less incentive to care about the details - it's more likely to confuse them and they're much less likely to chase it up to figure it out. --- After having said all of which, though: It's your name. It's your choice. Consider all the points that everyone has mentioned here, but do what feels right to you. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: There is one more point for using your maiden name. Maiden name is yours forever. Your married name may change. If you publish under your married name now, and re-marry later, you will be stuck with your ex's last name. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The legal position in the UK is quite different to that in many other jurisdictions. In English common law your name is that by which you are generally known. It follows that, if you wish, you can change your name as often as you change your hat. Now, you might be asked to provide evidence that your name is what you say it is: as the UK government website puts it:" You do not have to follow a legal process to start using a new name. But you might need a ‘deed poll’ to apply for or to change official documents like your passport or driving licence." So, from a legal point of view in the UK there is no such thing as your "legal" name. In the academic world just use the name by which you wish to be known in that world. It might be very convenient to continue to use the name that is used on your various degree certificates, but if you don't want to do that just drop a line to the awarding institution to say that your name has changed. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: It is more important (for you!) that the name on your thesis is the same that appears on your papers. If there is an obvious explanation for any discrepancies with your passport, which a uni must ask for when they hire you, there should not normally be any trouble. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/25	1,399	5,881	<issue_start>username_0: I am a Masters student applying for PhD in computer science to various universities in the US/Europe/Canada. I wanted to know about the workload in general which we will have while pursuing it in these countries. I did a bit of research here, and found that the teaching workload is highest in the US, followed by Canada and then Europe. In the US for the first two years we will be doing coursework majorly and working in different labs to find out what we want to work on, this time is lesser in Canada and Singapore, while in Europe we straightaway start working on the problem. Any information would be very useful, specifically in teaching and in general. Thank you In Singapore, NUS and NTU, in Canada the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta and McGill. In the US, CMU, University of Chicago and UNiversity of Minnesota In Europe I'm specifically looking at colleges in the UK ( like the Imperial College of London, Oxford and UCL) and Switzerland (EPFL and ETH Zurich). Answers on any other university are welcome as well.<issue_comment>username_1: I can provide some information about the US, and maybe a bit of perspective. First note that the process of doctoral education is quite different in the US and parts (at least) of Europe. I'll focus mostly on things such as CS and mathematics. It may be different in other fields. In the US, there is a relatively low bar for acceptance into a doctoral program. An undergraduate degree is all that is normally required, though some institutions may expect more. Not only that, but a four year undergrad program in the US is a generalist degree, not a specialist one. The "major" subject is between 1/3 and 1/2 of the total coursework and not every student is much exposed to research. Moreover, most doctoral students in the US in these fields are, in a sense, self funded, as they are employed by the university mostly as TAs (sometimes RAs). Universities with doctoral programs in math and CS, also normally teach a lot of undergrad students, which means either lots of small classes or larger classes with lots of TAs. There aren't normally enough regular faculty to teach all of the courses, so they depend on doctoral students to help. In Europe, I suspect that the bar is higher for entry, with more courses and research experience expected. I also suspect that doctoral education there is somewhat less dependent on student teachers and assistants. In some places, doctoral students are regular employees, and may, therefore, also be teachers. But, I think you need to expect that no matter where you are, that doctoral education is a full time endeavor. You can "have a life" with outside interests, but your full time "job" is directed toward your degree. The exception would be for someone who can do a degree part time on their own funding. These are rare. And, I think that "full time" normally means more than 40 hours per week. Most people make sacrifices in that way and require that other family members are willing to accept that. It isn't so much that it is demanded of you, though it might be, but that research isn't a regularized process. There is no way to say that in X course I will achieve Y results. Insight is precious. Whether the "time to degree" differs depends on how you measure it. From the end of a secondary education to a doctorate is likely about the same anywhere. There are things that need to be learned and research that needs to be done and reported. Whether you count that as part of a specialized undergraduate degree, or an MS degree, or doctoral education, matters little. Since the starting point is about the same, and the end point is about the same, there are few shortcuts. So, what is best for you, depends on where you currently are. If you have the prerequisites done for specialized research, then you want a program that will let you get to it. Otherwise you want something that will help you reach that point. I'll note, however, that, even in the US, if you are well prepared on entry, many doctoral programs will expedite your entry into research without a lot of course preliminaries. You need to pass exams and write a dissertation. You won't, most likely, be expected to repeat courses for which you are already well prepared, though you may need a way to demonstrate your competence. You will need funding, and, as an international student, few fellowships will be open to you. So you will probably be expected to teach or TA. If you are already an experienced teacher, you may have more advanced duties than most, but (student) visa restrictions can still get in the way. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I can provide an answer for the UK (Cambridge, Oxford - Doctoral Training Centres): * It is very competitive to get in (a degree with top marks from a well known university + a flaming recommendation letters + a paper from your BSc/MSc thesis (or thesis in a top lab) would usually get you an interview). * Once you are in you should be aware that doing a PhD (DPhil) in such places is way beyond a "normal" job. It is more a philosophy and you are basically married to your thesis project. And people do not mind putting insane working hours in as work and life merges. You will not hear a phrase like "Its 5 pm - time to go home". This is not because you can not go home (if you want to for some reason no one is going to stop you) but because you do not want to go home because you want to make the best out of the chance given to you. * This does however not mean that you will not have any free time. Top places usually make sure that you have time to relax your mind and social activities are a big deal ("rowing teams" is a keyword here). * Teaching: It depends very much on your funding - between zero and few hours per week (definitly not suffocating). Upvotes: 2
2019/03/25	672	2,942	<issue_start>username_0: My professor is a bully and the university will not challenge his behaviour despite numerous complaints from both staff and students. I am 9 months into the first year of my PhD. I love my work and all of my other colleagues but the professor's behaviour is unbearable and affecting my mental health. I have made the decision to apply for positions elsewhere. How can I do so without appearing as a troublemaker? I am terrified that other lab groups will read my application and just see me as weak, lazy, or disruptive for leaving my current position. How can I mention the experience of my current position on my CV, and explain politely in cover letters etc. the circumstances without sounding like a brat? Thanks in advance, A very stressed PhD student<issue_comment>username_1: If you are moving to a new university, I think you can ignore most of your fears. You need to get accepted, of course, and may require letters of recommendation to do so, but I don't think you need to be very explicit about disagreements with your supervisor or your assessment of his flaws. It is enough, for most purposes, to simply indicate that you had an incompatible position and are seeking a better one. Keep any disagreements out of your written materials for application. If you are asked, don't emphasize the disagreements or the treatment. The old advisor probably isn't going to change and you are interested in finding a better situation rather than correcting the old one. Write your materials, initially, as if you were starting fresh. Then add just enough to show that you are in an unhappy situation and want a better one. Don't try to hide it, but emphasize the positive. I suspect that, except in a few narrow fields, what people think of you at the old place won't matter much if at all. The old professor may be known and can have some impact (hence being cautious), but other people in the lab are pretty invisible from the viewpoint of another institution. On your CV, mention your current position, of course but without comment. In your SOP stress that you find your current situation "unsatisfying" and "not sufficiently productive". While it may be unsatisfying not to complain about bad behavior, doing so from a position of little power can hurt only you. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Note: this is only a suggestion, take it only if you think it applies well to your situation. As a subtle way to address the issue with your advisor without offending anyone, you could present it as a divergence of views with them about work methods or objectives. For example you could maybe say that you would like to work in close collaboration with a supervisor, but the previous one was too busy to spend time with you. This idea involves a bit of "facts massaging" to present a professionally acceptable explanation and avoid potentially negative perception. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/25	1,272	5,029	<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing some report, and at a certain point I give an example by citation. The citation format is such that you don't see any names (e.g. "[123]") without visiting the bibliography; or maybe it's just initials. And I wasn't the only author. I would like to "warn" my readers to take the citation with a grain of salt, as I am relying on what is at least partly, if not mostly, my own perspective or my own arguments elsewhere. At the same time, I don't want it to sound like I'm boasting about being an author; nor that I'm making a stronger pitch of the cited paper; nor that I'm disparaging it somehow. What's a good way to phrase this limite-caveat/weak-warning? Note: * I'm currently writing alone, am not using the first-person voice at all, and have just a handful third-person "it is the author's opinion that" and similar expressions. * I can't presume to individually take the credit for the work in [123] which was a group effort.<issue_comment>username_1: "In previous work [1-3] the author showed that ..." or "We have recently shown that ... [1-3]" With phrases like that I never had a complaint from a peer-reviewer. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I doubt that you need to do anything at all that you wouldn't do for any other paper or author. I think self-citation is really only an issue when it is overdone and/or no one else agrees with you. But if they (hopefully) believe what you are writing at present, they don't need to be "warned" that you also wrote something similar or supporting in the past. If you normally say "Smith in [3] says,..." and you are Jones, then you can say "Jones in [5] implies..." or similar. There are other answer/comments here that give other suggestions if you really think you need to be more specific. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: * One of the authors, together with others, has done something of note in [123]. * A, B and C also claim this and that [123]. That said, you can probably leave the warning off the paper. Anyone interested in the claim will check the supporting source for credibility, or at least they ought to. If you do not believe in the claim, qualify the claim as is relevant for how credible you think it is: Call it a conjecture or guess, write that the claim has been suggested or is worth investigating, or whatever you feel is true. Then write that the other paper (also) supports the claim. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: > > I would like to "warn" my readers to take the citation with a grain of salt, as I am relying on what is at least partly, if not mostly, my own perspective or my own arguments elsewhere. > > > Unless there’s something specific about the context that you’re not telling us that makes this a good idea, in general I see no need for such a warning. Your readers are capable of thinking for themselves. They will look at the citation, see what it says, think about it (taking various pieces of information into account, including the knowledge of who wrote it), and decide if they agree with it. The fact that it’s a self-citation is basically irrelevant from the point of view of the way you should be presenting things. Treat it as a citation to any other work by any other person. > > At the same time, I don't want it to sound like I'm boasting about being an author; nor that I'm making a stronger pitch of the cited paper; nor that I'm disparaging it somehow. > > > Those are somewhat valid concerns, but at the end of the day again my recommendation is to write whatever you would write if the cited paper was written by anyone else: if it deserves to be praised, praise it, if it deserves to be disparaged, disparage it, and if you think it should be referred to using a neutral tone, then mention it in a neutral tone. If you are acting in good faith and aren’t saying something that’s obviously over the top and ego-driven, reasonable people will not find fault with what you wrote. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: My first thought would be to cite in the style "Smith et al. [123] discovered" or similar as mentioned in the comments above, so that it is clear who wrote the paper if the work is significant. But realistically if the paper you are concerned about citing was published in a peer reviewed journal you don't need anyone to take it with a grain of salt because a group of your professional peers reviewed it and said it was acceptable. If you really want to acknowledge that you are building off the reasoning in that paper say something along the lines of "as suggested by Smith et al. [123]" or "this is similar to what the author reasoned when working with Smith et al. [123]". Bottom line is that if the source you are citing is peer reviewed, that means that it is accepted in the body of work for your field and you should be able to cite it without caveats, barring obviously the case where you blast a paper for some fallacy (in that case you should acknowledge your part, and why you changed your mind). Upvotes: 0
2019/03/25	373	1,262	<issue_start>username_0: Without dating myself too badly, I have enjoyed [PhD comics](http://phdcomics.com/comics.php) since the beginning. For the past few years, there have been about 2 or 3 new comics a week, but there has not been a new comic in months. I don't really follow all their social media contacts, but it does not look like there has been a tweet or a facebook update in a while. Was there any announcement about a break (or the end)?<issue_comment>username_1: Not sure what happened with PhD comics, but <NAME> seems to be actively involved in this other project: <https://www.danielandjorge.com/> It looks like the last comics were around the time of his Kickstarted book celebrating 20 years of PhD comics. Maybe he got burned out by that endeavour? Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: According to [the latest comic](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=2032), the series is on hiatus until November 2019. The unsubtle message behind the comic is that the author doesn't owe an explanation to anyone. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: He took a [break](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=2032), but the comics are [back now](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=2034). Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2019/03/25	1,038	4,283	<issue_start>username_0: I am a student of science preparing for the JEE (India). When I normally practice problems, I find no difficulty in thinking straight. Solutions occur to me when I look at a problem, because for the most part, my fundamentals in Physics, Chemistry and Math are clear. But each time I sit down to take a test, I experience some sort of blockage in the mind, as if I'm not paying attention to the question (when actually I am paying attention). I find it harder to work my way around a problem during the exam than I would during practice. Had this difference between practice and exam been little, I probably would have ignored it. But it is so huge that I can feel how drastically it is affecting my score. It just feels like somebody has switched off a valve in my mind, drastically reducing my brainpower. And it's so frustrating to come home from a test and find easy questions that I could have solved, but didn't because their simple solutions didn't occur to me. Is it because of the pressure that comes with a timer going on or could it be something else? And how do I deal with it?<issue_comment>username_1: I find that doing strenuous exercise, like an hour-long swim, before an exam relaxes me and calms the nerves. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are cramming for the exam, or studying up to the last minute, stop doing that. Let your mind have a chance to settle and integrate your knowledge. Otherwise you are liable to remember only the last thing you looked at. Also, if you are "studying" by trying to memorize facts, find a different method. You speak of doing "practice problems". That is usually better than reading the book or memorizing. But longer term, if you take good notes, you can also "study" by going through them and summarizing them in a smaller space, reducing 10 pages to 1, or to a few note cards. You are more likely to recall what you wrote than what you read. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Along with the previous good advice: 1. I would try "easing into problems" by rewriting the question within your answer space. Often doing this gets your subconscious engaged a bit in the problem and it decreases the anxiety versus having to immediately spit out an algorithm. 2. Do more practice. I know this sounds counterintuitive since you say 'I'm fine on practice, but not performance', but (a) even if this is true, "overdoing" the practice may compensate for your blanking and (b) it is INCREDIBLY common for students to say they do enough practice, but really...THEY DON'T. An easy thing to do is to work 100% of the text's drill problems versus just the assigned ones. [One sneaky benefit is that teachers often use unassigned problems or at least the methods or tricks in unassigned problems on test questions.] 3. Use your practice/homework to somewhat mimic exam conditions. Work the problems expeditiously (not frantic, but also not slow). Be very strict about working all the sections problems, then checking the answers (not one by one, but whole section.) If you do not have access to full answers, then try to purchase an answer book or at least go to office hours to use the instructors solution guide. Try NOT to look back for formulas or methods but after reading the section, write down a small "cheat sheet" of formulas/methods, memorize that and then set it aside, and then work the problems, closed book. If you miss ANY problem for a conceptual reason OR a "dumb mistake", force yourself to work the entire problem over again, closed book. That is the "punishment" for getting it wrong. P.s. Other study habits: read the section and work the drill problems BEFORE the lecture. The lecture then becomes review. Make sure you work every example problem as you read the text. You may think this is inefficient time-wise, but I find that you end up saving time "on the back end". In addition, you will master the subject much more strongly than if you rely on lecture as your initial learning tool and use the text as a reference. In any case, you are not doing well and need to compensate. So going a little overboard is worth it. (But I actually still, paradoxically, don't think it is time inefficent...mastery learning ends up being way better use of your time.) Upvotes: 0
2019/03/25	1,084	4,799	<issue_start>username_0: A complicated story so I’ll try to keep it short. Basically, I was fairly young applying to PhD programs (in psychology) and got into a program where I thought I’d be a great fit. My advisor’s research interests seemed to match up with mine, but the more I started working in the lab I realized how much they....don’t. I’m realizing that we have really conflicting theoretical orientations, and I’m not in any way shape or form thrilled about the current research being conducted in the lab. I’ve been skirting by on the outer rim of their research interests, but I ultimately know for the sake of my future I should be working with someone who has more expertise in what I specifically want to work in. All that said, I can tell my advisor wants me to pursue my own interests and is trying to support my ideas (but it’s clear they are working outside their expertise). I actually have a great relationship with my current advisor and interpersonally get along fantastically with my lab. I feel lost as to what to do (switch labs and work with someone more related to what I want to do-not sure if that would damage any current relationships with my present lab, continue with someone who is very supportive but not in the area I want to be in, something else....). I would feel more comfortable working outside said advisors expertise; however, they are new faculty and I’m not confident they can support me very well in that domain. Honestly just looking for advice/thoughts.... I’ve subtly brought this up in our individual meetings but haven’t done anything drastic.<issue_comment>username_1: I am in the exact same situation. I unfortunately had to stay with my advisor and am seeking help from other people but it is not easy. If you can, I would recommend switching to someone else. Your future success matters the most. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: One statement in your question stands out: "I can tell my advisor wants me to pursue my own interests and is trying to support my ideas". That alone would suggest that, under certain conditions, it might be wise to stay. You have other supporting statements as well. Some students can carry on their research with only minimal advice from advisors. Others need more continuing support, and even the ideas about what to study. You seem to be more in the former group than the latter, but you need to judge that. If your advisor were hostile, or even indifferent, to your research goals, it would be better to leave, but in this case, perhaps staying is the best option. But an advisor can be helpful to you in many ways other than just basic support. S/he can help with process and with keeping you within ethical norms of the field. They can probably also make a fair judgement about when you are done and ready to write up your findings. The general support also implies that they will sign off on the work and write good letters. That alone is enough, provided that you are self driven enough, and with enough ideas, to carry through the research relatively unguided. You need to judge this, of course, but I would be hesitant to make a quick decision to go elsewhere, either at the same university or at a different one. Imagine what your situation would be if it were completely reversed: a hostile advisor who was very knowledgeable in your specialization. Think before you jump. However, there is also an opportunity to get the specific guidance you may want outside your institution. It is harder, but not impossible, to keep close contact. In the long term, you do want external collaborative relationships to support your future career and it isn't unreasonable to begin to develop them now. Your current advisor may even be able to put you in contact with a few people. Conferences are also good for making contacts in some fields. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Anyone where you are with the right interests that you could add to the team? It's not clear how far along you are, but switching is always disruptive. Furthermore, you already have good support and engagement and that should not be undervalued. A supervisor does not only provide technical guidance, but also assistance with helping you think through your research question, structuring your thesis, contacts, planning and managing a research program, and many other aspects of being a researcher. To me it sounds like you need to have a clear talk with your advisor about your desired approach and ask for assistance about how to achieve that. Also, can you do some research contrasting your approach and your advisor's - what does each bring to the table? Can they be combined or parts dealt with one way and other parts the other way? People with different views can make fabulous collaborators. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/26	337	1,279	<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a thesis for the master degree. I'm going to include one of my conference paper in my thesis and I understand that it is common and acceptable for school regulations to include already published papers of my own work in my thesis. But there is one problem. The defense of my thesis will be held in mid-April and this thesis will be submitted by the end of April. But a paper I'm going to include in the thesis has been accepted by a conference and will be published sometime in June. So, how can I cite my conference paper in the process of publication in my thesis?<issue_comment>username_1: 1) Check with your supervisor. 2) <NAME> & A. Supervisor (2019) "Awesome Conference Paper", in Very Good Conference Proceedings, accepted. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: > > How can I cite a conference paper that has been accepted but not published? > > > Cite the paper as if it were published (albeit without page numbers, etc.) and add *to appear* at the end of the citation. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The way I know it, you'd do: <NAME> & A. Supervisor (t.a.) "Awesome Conference Paper", to appear in Very Good Conference Proceedings. (Shamelessly stealing all the words from username_1's answer.) Upvotes: -1
2019/03/26	970	4,086	<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently preparing a paper for a conference and I'm struggling a bit to stay within the page limit imposed by the Latex layout of this conference. I'm trying to make some extra space for my content without having to use any Latex related tricks (like reducing margin sizes, font sizes, etc...) as this would probably just annoy the reviewers. Instead, I'm trying to reduce the size of the references by removing unnecessary contents. However, the question is: What is actually unnecessary? I consider the following to be essential: * Name(s) of the author(s) * Title of publication * Date of publication * Journal or conference of the publication * Page number if the publication was published in a book or proceedings volumes But what about additional information like DOIs, keywords, abstracts, etc...? Could I safely remove those items to save space? Thank you very much for your input.<issue_comment>username_1: Does the venue impose a particular bibliography format? If not: I'd consider DOIs useful but not obligatory, and I've never seen a plain bibliography with abstracts and keywords (that would be an annotated bibliography). Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: What information is mandatory depends on the applied reference style, e.g. APA6 oder Chicago Style. The reference style even sets the number of authors listed maximum in the reference. Most of the times, the journal/conference sets the reference style you have to apply. Usually, the mandatory information for journal/conference papers includes: * Author(s) name(s) * Title * Year * Journal/Conference name * Page number * DOI The only real option to shorten anything is to use the abbreviations of journals/conferences. But the applied reference style might even prevent this trick. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Many journals/conferences impose style requirements on in-text citations and reference lists. If left to your own style, the standard goal is for the in-text citations to uniquely refer to a single item in the reference list. You might be able to save a couple of characters if the in-text citation refers to a group of items, but don't do this. Numeric in-text citations tend to take up less space than author-year and label based styles. For the reference list, the goal is for each reference to refer uniquely to a single published item. The DOI alone would accomplish this, but might be more characters than the journal, volume, and page number. The authors, title and year, are almost always redundant and require more characters than the journal, volume and page number. It is important to realize that most people want a little more than the minimum and like to see the author and title. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: 1. Use a smaller font for the references (if not already doing that). But I appreciate your not lowering the font of the main text. 2. Use ISI journal title abbreviations. See here: <https://www.library.caltech.edu/journal-title-abbreviations> 3. Omit the title of journal articles. 4. Use "et al." if more than 2 authors. 5. Deh-fuh-nitely avoid DOI or other reference cruft. 6. I don't understand why you would EVER list keywords or abstracts of CITED articles. However, if you are talking about your own keywords and abstract...no keep them, they are huge information content. But just be very efficient in how much you write. Note: for 2 and 3, my preference if you are unlimited in space is to include them as they are a significant aid to readers, especially 3. However, they are not really needed to find the content. AND it is normal in ACS, APS, etc. journals to go with the terser format. (This was normal when journals were printed because of the need for higher information density. You are in a somewhat similar situation here. Another context would be if you have a 2 page memo to submit for a grant.) As for 5, I actually dislike the modern emphasis on various computer databases ISBN, etc. In any case, if you are pressed for space, it is one more reason to cut them. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/26	1,530	6,517	<issue_start>username_0: This might be a bit of an abstract question, but what defines a dissertation? Some colleagues and myself have been debating this and some are arguing that three peer-reviewed publications or a long monograph make a dissertation. However, others are arguing that the dissertation is defined not by the length or number of publications, but the significance of the contribution. Is there any scholarly consensus on this, or is this a continuing discussion in academia?<issue_comment>username_1: This depends on field and on location. In mathematics, generally, if not universally, a dissertation is a significant contribution advancing mathematics in a subfield, where significance is judged by an advisor and a committee. It doesn't need to be published at all, though the candidate may have one or more papers based on it. In other fields, a "dissertation" is, as you suggest, just a collection of published papers, where the quality is left, perhaps, to the editors and reviewers. It might even be a single publication. A dissertation could be long or short, but its length has nothing to do with its quality. A three line proof that P = NP would, in CS, if correct, be a monumental contribution. There isn't really a discussion "in Academia" though there might be within some fields or at some universities. A new field, in particular, might go through a period of uncertainty as to what should be generally accepted within that field. Most likely it would settle out somehow within a few years. In those fields in which advisors/supervisors play an important part, it is the definition of the supervisor that weighs the most. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Don't have a source, and things may be different in different parts of the world, but I've always considered a dissertation to be: > > A long monograph submitted in partial completion of the requirements for a PhD > > > * Dissertations are generally submitted by grad students as they complete their PhDs -- other academics might publish long monographs, but that wouldn't be considered a dissertation. * Certainly I don't think there is a well-defined standard for how significant a contribution has to be to merit a dissertation -- it's whatever the committee will accept (though in principle, it should have some new advance, not merely a survey or report). * Some institutions may allow you to staple together your papers to produce a dissertation; most require a separate document that re-hashes work that may (or may not) have been published elsewhere. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It would be more interesting to talk about what a dissertation ought to be. I have always been against the (rather modern) convention of a candidate stapling together 5 published papers and calling it a dissertation. If one is to really be a Doctor of Philosophy, then he should really understand the philosophy of his field and his dissertation should show it. You published 5 papers, two of which were "monumental" and all in highly respected journals? Swell. That shows that your advisor can hand you problems and you can solve them (or hand you topics and you can research and write interesting things about them.) But is doesn't show that you know what an interesting problem or topic is. Sure, you can get an assistant professorship and then work in a research group at a flagship university, but still, it's the PI handing you problems which you solve. But how to your papers fit into the larger body of knowledge? What makes them useful and interesting? Where are these topics going to lead? Those are higher-level questions, and I think the dissertation should not only be a publishable result, but also should show the world why the result should be published (and funded and pursued further.) I speculate that the pressure (which I believe began with the Viet Nam war college deferment) to produce a lot more Ph.D.'s has caused academia to loosen the standards for who gets to be a Doctor of Philosophy. We now have about 3 times the number of Ph.D.'s that society really needs and most of them are just grinding out papers that no one really cares about. So my opinion is that a dissertation is a publishable result wrapped in a good thick layer of why it's a publishable result. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Obviously there is not a consensus, given the differences in practice. Even if debating this, I don't think there is an easy answer and you will get different points of view (different pluses and minuses and tradeoffs). I tend to the view (in the sciences) that the dissertation is just a hurdle to get out of the way, but much less important in learning or in contribution than what you did in publications. I think a gentle stitching together of previously done papers along with a perfunctory intro and background is fine. (Perfunctory because I think a thorough review makes more sense when a senior scientist.) The main disadvantage to spending too much time or effort on the thesis is that it either keeps you longer or it takes away from lab work and real papers. Time is not infinite. In general, I think most students would be better advised to try to get through the thesis fast AND to look at it somewhat cynically as a pass/fail school exercise. In other words, NOT like writing the King James Bible. On the other hand, your papers ought to be very well honed little gemstones. They are going into the archived literature (so is the thesis, but nobody looks at it.) This might be very different for someone in the humanities where writing a monograph is an important skill. But we need to be realistic that somebody working on helium-3 is getting a doctorate in condensed matter physics, not "philosophy" (despite the confusing term "Ph.D.") I do like the use of the dissertation to be able to include results not yet published (but then please try to get the chapters converted later...nobody reads dissertations like they read papers). In addition, you can include a little more work that does not fit well into regular papers (failed experiments, etc.) The rationale is that at least you are getting it published somewhere. But still better in articles if possible. In addition, you can go more into details on future work ideas, innovations in lab technique or tools, or practical advice on benefits of different methods. Follow-on students in the lab group can benefit from this and are a likely audience to read the dissertation. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/26	2,071	8,731	<issue_start>username_0: I have sent emails to a few (about 10) professors in different Computer Science research labs (related to my research interests) to see if they have any postdoc position available. However, I received no response at all. Of course, one assumption is that there wasn't any open position in those labs matching my CV. However, I was wondering if the structure of my emails is good/proper enough to motivate them to look into my CV? Generally, I use the following structure with proper modifications according to the research theme of the person: > > Dear Prof. X > > I am XX, a Ph.D. candidate in the XX group of YY > University, which is under the supervision of Prof. ZZ. > > > I am about to finish my Ph.D. study (in the submission phase) which is > about using different XX methods (X, Y, Z) for the problem of XX, and > currently, I am looking for postdoc opportunities relevant to my > skills and interests. > > > I studied your recent research and projects and I noticed you have a > strong research theme in XX and YY. I am really interested in your > ongoing topics of ZZ and XYX, and I liked your publications which > focus on DD and FF. > > > Therefore, I am really interested to know if you have any open postdoc > position at your lab regarding similar topics in XX and YY. I have > attached my CV for your view, but I also welcome any opportunity to > discuss the possibilities with you in any formal/informal meeting. > > > Thank you very much for your time. > > > I write the third paragraph based on the research themes or topics in the research lab that I find interesting and relevant to my current skills. I'm not sure if the length is good enough, and should I mention which specific topics from their ongoing/past research I am interested in? or I should let it be open to any possible discussion? Also, I have not met them before, so I introduce myself at the beginning.<issue_comment>username_1: Generally such positions are advertised and often must be. Adverts are placed in such places as professional journals/newsletters and in newsgroups related to the field in question. Given this practice, blind letters may not even be answered and you can assume that there are no positions available. Alternatively, if your relationship to your advisor is good enough s/he can ask around among acquaintances about the possible availability or future availability of such jobs. The advisor probably won't be ignored. A third possibility is to attend a suitable conference or other meeting and get to know people and explore the possibilities in person, making yourself known, but also trying to build a network of future collaborators. Your letter is probably fine, but it will probably be trashed. There are too many blind appeals for people to spend any time on them. In the old days of departmental secretaries it was different, but no more. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Response to your technique -------------------------- I would not expect any sort of response to an unsolicited email like yours when there is no formal application or position. I have worked at undergraduate only institutions (i.e., no graduate program and no postdocs) and received a half-dozen or more of these solicitations each year, many of them tailored to match my research interests as you describe. I would imagine that faculty at a research focused school would get many dozen email requests like yours. Much like other forms of spam, there is a similar format and emails like this are often quickly pattern matched and discarded. You may also be doing yourself a disservice. If there is a postdoc position that you end up applying for, you may have created a negative impression with your initial email because you did not apply through the normal means ("Rules don't apply to me!" and/or "I can't be bothered to look at the website!"). I do appreciate your go-getter attitude, but I suspect that you'll have a very low success rate. Maybe 1 in 100 (or 1000) professors will reply. Feedback on your email ---------------------- The format of your email seems fine. I might change "view" to "review" and consider changing the immediately subsequent "but" to an "and". Suggestion of alternate approaches ---------------------------------- As others have stated, many (probably most) of the postdoc positions will be advertised via the web. This is probably your best route. However, if you do prefer emailing inquiries, rather than spamming faculty directly, I would suggest contacting the hiring, graduate admissions, or departmental administrative assistant to inquire about positions. These are people who have a job that is about communicating with people like you. You will likely get a much better response rate. Edited to add: My comments are from a US perspective. I can't speak to norms and expectations in other countries. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: As with many things related to hiring, it is not what you know but who you know. The form-letter approach is very obvious (as other answers have mentioned) and professors who aren't actively looking are not likely to give your mail a serious look. Therefore, you should focus on working your advisor's network and your personal network. Then, even if there is a requirement by the country or university to have an "open" application, the job posting will be tailored to fit you and your experience. If you don't have a network or nobody in your advisor's network is hiring (or you and they don't have a great relationship), then it's time to attend a conference or two and give some talks or posters based on your work. Then through coffee breaks or Q&A sessions you can get some personal interaction with some folks you're interested in working with and briefly inquire: "Hey, Prof. X, I really loved your (student's) talk! I'm actually getting my PhD on a related topic, working with Prof. Y in a couple months and I'm thinking about my next steps. Would you happen to have any positions open?" Failing that, then it's time to hit the job postings, which are for faculty and projects where their internal network didn't have anybody suitable graduating soon and they have to start an actual blind search process. The hit rate here will probably be low, but at the very least you are explicitly applying for open positions and not risking sending an unwanted spam e-mail. A final point to consider is that in your form-email you phrase something like "I noticed you have a strong research theme in XX." This screams out to me that what you really mean is "I did a cursory Google search and your name came up." If you do write an e-mail like this in the future (possibly as a cover letter or cover e-mail to an official application), you should never use verbs like "noticed" or "happened" or some other word that indicates some element of chance in your discovery. "oh i was just thumbing through Journal X and I noticed your name." The e-mail should seem more purposeful than this, that you are e-mailing them because of their eminence in the field and this is a carefully considered decision that you know will help you reach the next phase in your career path! In other words a little flattery will help you a little, but a little anti-flattery will kill you! Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Lots of negative responses here, but it is possible that you will find something via cold emailing. When I got my first postdoc (in the US), I did it this way. In fact three profs offered me an interview, one turned me down after interview, one offered to support me to write a fellowship, and a final prof gave me a 2 year position on the understanding I used that time to apply for fellowships. This was 12 years ago, so perhaps things have tighten up since then, but its not so long ago. As for your email.... I might be tempted to switch the second and third paragraphs around. The most eye catching thing for a prof is to see someone who really understands what it is they do. Also, I wouldn't expect an answer from people that arn't interested - it would be polite, I know, but thats just how it is. Also, I'm not sure 0 out of 10 is such a terrible hit rate. Finally, you might like to think about your targeting. You want to target profs that are going to a) have spare money b) are not so famous they get a million such emails every day. One place you might try is newish faculty at Ivy league or top level state universities. New faculty might well have start up money left that isn't preallocated to particular purposes. Also, being new, they are likely not to get so many such emails, particularly ones that really get what it is they do. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/26	1,574	6,691	<issue_start>username_0: Suppose one is giving a talk about one's work (in pure mathematics), and another researcher(s) in one's field has published a paper claiming to be an improvement or generalisation of one's result, but one either believe this other paper is wrong, or that it is a trivial consequence of one's own result. Should one: 1. state this other result in one's talk with no comment 2. mention the other result with mild doubts (e.g. say 'so-and-so claims this, but I haven't had time to look at the paper properly') 3. mention the other result and state clearly that one thinks it's wrong/trivial 4. don't mention it at all / ignore it. One doesn't know whether the author(s) of the other paper will be at this conference. Edit: Assume a list of speakers is available but not of participants, so one knows the other researcher is not speaking, but doesn't know if they will be in the audience of one's talk.<issue_comment>username_1: > > I either believe this other paper is wrong, or that it is a trivial consequence of my own result > > > Let me be blunt, if it's wrong and a trivial consequence of your own result, then your result is wrong too. Make up your mind: which is it? Wrong and trivial are not synonymous. The answer differs depending on which applies. If you believe that the result is wrong. * If you want to publicly humiliate the other researcher, then you can say during your talk that the other researcher's result is wrong. You will not make any friends and will not impress anyone by doing this. * Otherwise, your first course of action is to talk about it with the other researcher in private. Have you even considered that you misunderstood something? Most people are reasonable, and if the result is truly wrong, then you will know how to act based on your discussion. Otherwise, this is a whole can of worms, and the answer depends on a ton of factors. * If for some reason you have not had time to talk with the other researcher, then I would not mention the result at all, and elude the question if asked about it during the talk. If you really don't want to elude it, say that you are aware of a possible contradiction between your paper and the other one and that you are looking into it. (See, that's called tact.) I would also take the opportunity of having the other researcher in the same room to talk about it after the talk, in private. If you believe the result is a "trivial" consequence of your work. * If you want to insult the other researcher in public, then say that the other word is a "trivial consequence" of your own work during your talk. You will not make any friends and will not impress anyone by doing this. * Or you can simply not mention it at all. If asked, you can say that it's nice to see other people being interested in your own work and finding applications. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: First, you should know that since your results appeared first (as you stated in a comment), you don’t actually have a strong self-interest to try to make the follow-up results of the other researcher look bad. In a typical scenario, their publishing something that improves or generalizes your result will actually make your own work look better, not worse, including possibly if their improvement is not trivial (actually a trivial improvement may be slightly more embarrassing to you, for example if they discover that a trivial modification to one of your proofs ends up proving a much stronger result. But even then you’ll get the credit of being the first person who published an innovative new proof technique that was used to prove that strong result). So all things considered, it’s pretty likely that your incentives are actually aligned with those of the other researcher, and being as kind and charitable to them as possible (without compromising your integrity, of course) will be beneficial not only to them but also to you. And remember you don’t have to discuss every private thought you have: you may think the improvement is trivial, but at the end of the day, who are you to say? That’s just an opinion anyway. Consider not mentioning it and letting people draw their own conclusions. What I wrote above pertained to the scenario of a correct improvement. Coming to the other possibility you mentioned, if you believe the work of the other researcher is wrong, then it’s wrong and you shouldn’t pretend otherwise or feign ignorance but simply be matter-of-fact about it - if you discuss the result, state that you believe it’s wrong along with your level of certainty that that’s the case, without gloating or schadenfreude. Don’t say you haven’t had the time to look at it if that’s not true. But you may consider simply not mentioning the result at all if its relevance to what you are discussing is not high. Incidentally, not mentioning the result may also end up offending the author if they are attending your talk... it’s a tricky business, academia! ;-) Anyway, good luck. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I lean towards "ignore it". In addition to the issues of academic politics, there is the much bigger issue of confusing the audience. They have limited ability to process information (and math is particularly hard, even for mathematicians). If you mix in a "he said, she said" into your topic along with new results, you end up overloading the presentation. They will have a hard enough time learning from and following the talk, let alone doing justice to an issue of controversy. You just don't have time enough for a good exposition of the rival's arguments and your replies. If someone brings it up in Q&A, deal with it then. Of course in a paper, you can/should be more all encompassing. But the goals of a paper are different than the goals of a talk. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: This happens a lot in other fields where experiments are fast, like Machine Learning, and there are often several iterations of the same research between the submission date and the actual conference. If you have spare time at the end of your talk you can mention it briefly, stating that there has been new development in the field since you published the paper but you haven't had the time to focus on it yet, and very briefly talk about the implications of that work w.r.t your own research. It's important to do both, as just mentioning "X also published a paper on this" is not really useful enough to be worth mentioning. Most likely you won't have the time to talk about it though, and it's fine to just not mention it during the talk itself, and only bring it up if someone strikes a conversation after your talk. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/26	586	2,557	<issue_start>username_0: This is probably really silly to ask, but I'd rather look silly anonymously here than look silly to my possible future department chair. I received my first offer for a position at a public university today. This is a teaching-focused position in mathematics at a public university. To be clear, it is an "instructor" position, but they want instructors with PhDs to teach upper level undergrad courses. There is a line in the offer letter that states "You will be provided with $3,000 start-up funds during the academic year 2019-20." I have no idea what this is. I've tried searching specifically on the university website and also general google searches, but found nothing on the university site and most searches just turn up info about start-up funds of high amounts for research focused positions. What is this money typically used for? My main question is can this be used for moving costs? Just hoping from insight from people in public institutions who may know what this is intended for in a mathematics instructor position.<issue_comment>username_1: There is probably a long term expectation that you will apply for grant funding for various things, including (some or all of) research, travel, publication fees, etc. The startup is to get you started so that you aren't delayed by having to wait for your first successful grant. In some fields, for some positions, these can be quite hefty amounts, but with, also, quite hefty expectations. I would guess that it is a bit more modest for your position. Especially if it isn't a tenure track position. You might ask, separately, for moving costs, or at least part of that. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally, startup funds cannot be used for moving costs unless you are moving an existing lab. Even then, mixing personal belongings into your lab equipment is pushing the envelope. It might be for buying a computer or a tablet or some teaching technology. If it is a one year position, you should expect the university to keep the technology at the end of the year. It might be for buying teaching materials and/or office supplies. Some school offices have a supply closet, others do not. They may also realize that while your job does not include research, that you may still want to travel to a conference. They might allow travel, but they may not. It is not unreasonable to ask what the constraints are on the money, but if the answer does not affect if you are going to take the job, you could wait until you start. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2019/03/26	394	1,678	<issue_start>username_0: A US/Canadian STEM PhD 'almost' always comes with monetary assistance from the supervisor. In some universities/programs, supervisors are able to individually recruit students along with monthly allowances. In most cases, students don't even need to submit a separate application for money. Even PhDs in Hong Kong and Singapore come with full funding. Students don't even need to submit a separate application for money. Why doesn't that happen in UK?<issue_comment>username_1: It does, supervisors in the UK can support PhD candidates with funding - based on the research projects they are recruited to... Some PhD's have funding through external companies especially those in some engineering disciplines - usually found in universities that have strong links with industry such as research involving stress & structures (I remember some funded by Westland...) Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I can't comment on Canada (or UK), but most US Ph.D.funding ends up coming from Federal funding. The US has traditionally had a massive post WW2 investment in basic science at universities because of the Cold War (they also spent more on their military). In addition, there is very large funding of biology because "curing cancer" is a pretty easy sell politically. A few other areas (e.g. climatology) have benefited from recent interest and willingness to fund. There could also be an issue of the US being more willing to fund university research than established researchers, but I doubt that (as there is a huge national lab system, NASA, NIH, etc.). Probably, it just comes down to the US government spending more on R&D overall. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/26	1,080	4,659	<issue_start>username_0: Are student evaluations of teaching assistants read by faculty who assigns teaching duties to TAs or by the primary instructor of the course for which the TA is assisting? I recently met the professor whom I was assisting and he said: "...and you got good evaluations last semester...". I was not expecting that.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, in the US context, it's completely normal for your supervisor to read these evaluations. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You should expect that your teaching evaluations will be available to any faculty members in the department. The lecturer for the class will certainly have access (and this is important for you, if you subsequently look for an academic position; your evaluations will help them to write you a letter of recommendation addressing your teaching). Other faculty members may also see the evaluations. In my department, any professor who wanted to see a grad student's teaching evaluations could get them. Most faculty members are not going to be interested, but whoever makes the teaching assignments may well review your scores. Other people may also look at your scores, for various reasons; for many years I reviewed all the grad students' teaching evaluations in my department, to look for evidence of any systematic problems. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I have to disagree with the older answers from username_2 and username_1. Access to teaching evaluations is a matter of individual university policy. At my (flagship public American) university, teaching evaluations are (by default) strictly confidential to the person being evaluated; whether that person is an instructor or a teaching assistant makes no difference. There are only three exceptions to this default, all of which formally require the permission of the person X being evaluated: * X can give permission to be considered for a [teaching commendation](https://citl.illinois.edu/citl-101/measurement-evaluation/teaching-evaluation/teaching-evaluations-(ices)/teachers-ranked-as-excellent). * X can give permission to share their evaluations with their department chair/head. * X can agree to a request for a summary report from the department, as part of an application for tenure/promotion or an award. For all three of these options, only a summary of numerical scores is actually shared; narrative comments are not. In particular, I have no official access to the teaching evaluations of either the teaching assistants for the classes I teach or my graduate advisees who are funded by TAships. Even the faculty and staff who assign TAships cannot see the previous student evaluations of prospective TAs. (Of course, in principle, anyone can share their teaching evaluations with anyone else, but in practice, because the campus treats the evaluations confidentially, nobody does.) I don't think this is good policy, but it is long-established and well-defended policy on my campus. --- On the other hand, at my undergraduate institution, teaching evaluations of all faculty were effectively public, including narrative comments. There was a large printed book on the desk at the registrar's office that contained complete evaluations of every class from the previous semester, with numerical scores summarized and narrative comments transcribed (and presumably edited to remove personal information) from the paper evaluation forms. Every semester, the student newspaper would publish a list on the front page of the ten highest-rated and ten lowest-rated classes from the previous semester. Apropos to this question: Teaching assistants did not get individual student evaluations; they were evaluated only indirectly through their effect on their class. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Here in the UK most GTAs (tutorials leaders) don't get directly evaluated. However, parts of the student evaluation do ask about the tutorials. Students also often complain to members of academic staff ("faculty") directly about the GTAs (and sometimes say good things also, but that is usually harder to elicit). Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: At my alma mater - Technion IIT in Israel/Palestine, student evaluations had two parts: Numeric scores and freeform comments. The numeric scores were publicly visible, i.e. all faculty and students could see your scores. The freeform comments were either private (only you got them) or were perhaps accessible to senior faculty upon request. I don't know for sure because my faculty's access policy was secret (or at least, was never publicized in writing and I didn't ask). Upvotes: 0
2019/03/26	2,250	9,891	<issue_start>username_0: I have the opportunity of doing a PhD under the supervision of an expert in medical imaging at a top institution. Currently their group does not conduct research into the application of machine learning to medical image acquisition and processing. The purpose of the PhD studentship would be to pursue research into this. The department has significant machine learning and signal processing research groups whose seminars I will be able to attend and academics I can have contact with. The supervisor has not for some time (before deep learning) pursued research in machine learning. The PhD itself is as yet not strongly structured and will initially require a deal of exploration and prospecting before its final form is decided. Given that there is a safe fallback of medical imaging I do not foresee a risk to completing the PhD. However, as the only member of the group pursuing machine learning would this be a very risky PhD to embark on, particularly considering that afterwards I intend to pursue a career in academia? Are there any benefits?<issue_comment>username_1: Sounds like a great fit, with some options for different paths post-Ph.D. along with some fallback if things don't work out perfectly. I wouldn't be super concerned about having all kinds of supervision by a deep expert. It is common for grad students to do their own work without significant apprenticeship by the "advisor" (grant writer). As long as you are careful to look out for yourself by sticking to tractable problem(s), it should be fine. In addition, you seem to have thought things out and expressed them well. And some of your comments (like department work in signal processing) show enough awareness that you seem to be able to look out for yourself and drive your own research. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would ask about having a co-supervisor. Having access to esteemed DL researchers is great -- but they will have limited time/interest in helping you if you are not "formally" their student. If you manage to find someone in this role, I think your position is just about perfect. If you don't manage to find someone in this role, I have three main concerns: * You will spend a ton of time re-inventing the wheel. For example, can you train a CNN on ImageNet from scratch? There are a lot of caveats needed to obtain state-of-the-art results (e.g., dataset augmentation, regularization loss, etc.), and you will likely rediscover them one-by-one (or, use a black-box model you don't really understand). A DL expert would likely already have working code and could explain it to you, allowing you to jump right to the research. (Yes, there are open source codes...but in my experience, they all require a lot of work to be both transparent and accurate. * Mathematical rigor. It's easy to just learn ML/DL at a "technician level" -- but as a PhD in it, you should really understand it a mathematical level if not a theorem/proof level. It can be difficult to do this on your own. * Problem selection. Your medical advisor will likely find it super novel to run existing techniques on medical images. There may even be a novel application here, on the medical side -- but on the ML side, this is not really interesting, it's just a straightforward application of one technique to a straightforward problem. This is maybe OK if your interest is entirely on the medical side -- but if you want to do something also interesting on the ML side, you would essentially be on your own to come up with something. That will be difficult to do (for the first time) without advisors on both sides. Those are the main blind alleys I see. Of course, there is also a ton of upside -- this sounds like a very interesting, prestigious position that would position you well for an academic career. Only you can judge this tradeoff. Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Do you want to design a tool that can build many things, or learn how best to use the available tools to build a house? Do you want to do a PhD in machine learning or are you trying to use machine learning to solve problems in medical imaging? In the first case I would agree with @username_2. Without a Deep Learning supervisor, it would be challenging and also unlikely your PhD would reach its full potential. However, if you are more interested in finding novel and practical uses for existing machine learning techniques in order to improve the field of medical imaging then the lack of specialist supervisor is less important. There is a startling amount of low hanging fruit which requires only a broad conceptual understanding of machine learning combined with domain-specific expertise (e.g medical imaging). After your first paper/project you will no doubt discover a host of problems that are specific to your domain area which require further research and in-depth knowledge of the domain area which can be provided by your primary supervisor. It could be a great opportunity to help the field take advantage of benefits provided by machine learning in a very applied and practical way as well as carve out your own niche in academia. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I agree with username_3's answer, but I don't have enough reputation to comment. I just want to add that I was in this same situation during my PhD. Specifically, I was in the second scenario, so if this is what you pursue, I can say from my experience that it is perfectly viable. You will just have to learn a lot of stuff on your own, but this is the cool part of a PhD, isn't it? If instead you want to do a PhD on machine learning, as opposed as using machine learning, then I would too consider looking for a (co-)supervisor with ML expertise. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Yes, this can be possible to do. I would not consider it particularly risky. One of my professors when I was a MSc student did almost exactly this when he did his PhD once upon a time. He specialized in one learning method and built applications for it in his main supervisors field. But it was long time before "deep learning" existed and subsequent ML-trends appeared. So I imagine it should hardly be more difficult now to motivate than it was then. The idea of trying to get a co-supervisor with good skills in learning seems like very good advice. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I recently graduated with a PhD in Plant Breeding. At my university, an increasing number of students are working with building predictive machines that their major advisers have no experience with. Most of us (myself included) were first students in plant breeding that applied predictive machines in largely technical manner, producing fairly derivative research from a predictive perspective, but was novel based on the crop is was applied to. The students that excelled in this situation the best were those with significant modelling experience to begin with, and almost all had completed Masters. If you go this route, you'll need to be more self-directed than average, and prepare to teach your major advisor as much as they teach you. I struggled a lot with the lack of clear direction from my major advisor, but it was ultimately worth it, as it opened up more options than would have been available if I took a more traditional path. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Important questions to answer for yourself: 1. username_3's question of what area do you want to focus on is important. In other words start with the end in mind. 2. Most of what you learn will not be from your prospective supervisor and his recent experience with ML is not very important. Are you someone comfortable defining your own path? 3. What do other graduate students working with your prospective supervisor think of him? This is important. He may want a particular outcome and will limit your investigations or he may encourage creativity and let you decide how you can contribute. Funding for my RA was very important and it gave me peace of mind. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: By undertaking a PhD in a field you are pursuing an interest in a field you just don't want to know more about, but you want to become an expert in. Your supervisor should be someone who can effectively guide you through this field and, when needed, teach you. PhDs are difficult and to give yourself the chance of learning the most possible I would embed yourself within a ML research group so you can learn from the best, rather than stumbling through the field yourself. While co-supervision is an option, my experience of it is it often does not work, with the student feeling stranded between two supervisors who each mutually see the student as the others problem. Great supervisors could work in synergy, but unless you have a way of evaluating this before you start you would be taking a gamble. From the supervisors perspective, what they need is to collaborate with an already established ML research group or bring in a Postdoctoral researcher with a PhD in a relevant ML sub-field. I think this is more likely to be a success and less risky for everyone involved. On the matter of funding: Unless you are extremely wealthy don't consider doing a PhD without funding. There are many PhDs out there with funding and not enough good people to do them... Closing statement: If you consider yourself an ML expert and want to learn more about medical imaging, do the PhD with the mentioned supervisor. If you want to become an expert in ML and maximise your chances of success in an academic career then undertake a PhD with the best ML research group you can get a funded PhD with. Save the cross-field collaboration for your post-doc or latter end of your PhD. No matter what decision you make, doing a PhD is a great privilege, so make the most of it and don't look back! Upvotes: 2
2019/03/27	533	2,234	<issue_start>username_0: I am a physics major and had declared a 'Minor in Computer Science (Expected)' on my US graduate school (PhD) applications. I have been accepted by a couple of programs but I am currently still one course short of completing the number of required courses for the minor. I am currently enrolled in this last course (a theoretical Computer Science course) in my current (last) semester. The course is not very relevant to the programs I have applied to (Physics and Data Science) -- more 'relevant'/applied courses that I have an interest in were unavailable. The course is quite time consuming and is affecting my performance in other courses I am enrolled in (physics graduate electives and statistics). I would very much like to withdraw the course, however, if I do so, I would only have completed 4 of the 5 required CSE courses counting toward a minor and will not get a minor. I am concerned about how the graduate program I decide to attend will view this. My ultimate worry, of course, is whether my acceptance could actually be rescinded for not having completed the minor. (I have still completed 16 of the 20 required credits, so I still have courses in Computer Science, I would just not receive this tag of a 'Minor in CSE'.)<issue_comment>username_1: They "can" do whatever they want but it is unlikely they would. For what it's worth, I had similar issue arise with job offers and I asked them. All were fine with dropping the extra degree as long as primary one completed. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: > > I...declared a 'Minor in Computer Science (Expected)' on my US graduate school (PhD) applications. I have been accepted by a couple of programs...[C]ould [acceptance] be rescinded for not [achieving that qualification]. > > > It depends on the offer. If an offer is conditional on the basis of you achieving a minor, then, yes, that offer can be rescinded. Otherwise (the offer is unconditional), it cannot. (Conditionality of an offer may be buried in the fine print.) Albeit, we're in legal territory and INAL. For practical purposes, I suggest that you contact the universities that have made offers and discuss your situation with them. Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
2019/03/27	861	3,466	<issue_start>username_0: I got a tenure-track academic offer in the US. I am wondering how common/likely is to get the University to do a non-academic spousal hire for my girlfriend. All the documents provided by my institution use the word "partner" which seems to suggest that it is not needed to be married. Do you think that being married is typically an (unwritten) necessary condition? Do you think that asking for help for finding a job for my girlfriend is only possible during negotiation, or I could potentially ask for this later? Do you think it is possible, instead of getting a position for my girlfriend, getting a graduate school position for her? If in the future we will break up, could this potentially affect my reputation with the department? I guess most of these questions have an "official" answer and a "in reality" answer, but I would like to hear other people's opinion.<issue_comment>username_1: > > I am wondering how common/likely is to get the University to do a non-academic spousal hire for my girlfriend. All the documents provided by my institution use the word "partner" which seems to suggest that it is not needed to be married. > Do you think that being married is typically an (unwritten) necessary condition? > > > Only your institution will know for sure, but it certainly does not seem unreasonable to ask. Given the wording I would be cautiously optimistic. However, visa might be a problem (as Herman mentions in a comment). The university maybe does not care much about your relationship status when finding a position for your partner, but they may care about having to sponsor a visa (this costs additional money). > > Do you think that asking for help for finding a job for my girlfriend is only possible during negotiation, or I could potentially ask for this later? > > > You should get all discussions about benefits (and spousal hire is a pretty major one) out of the way during negotiation. > > Do you think it is possible, instead of getting a position for my girlfriend, getting a graduate school position for her? > > > Assuming your girlfriend is reasonably qualified finding a graduate school position is probably easier than a regular job. However, an additional challenge may be if she would like to attend graduate school in your own department - then conflict of interest rules may kick in. > > If in the future we will break up, could this potentially affect my reputation with the department? > > > Unless "in the future" is like one month after coming to the US, I doubt that the department will care very much. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: > > Do you think that being married is typically an (unwritten) necessary > condition? > > > Only at universities with a religious affiliation. Secular universities will not care. > > Do you think that asking for help for finding a job for my girlfriend > is only possible during negotiation, or I could potentially ask for > this later? > > > There are only two situations where you can request something expensive (like a job for your girlfriend) and have a chance to get it: 1. Before you agree to take the job. 2. When you have been offered a job by another employer which is better than your current job. The chance of success is not so great because your girlfriend's salary will be very expensive. It depends on the institution's needs and the number of other credible job applicants. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/27	1,732	7,724	<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student from China. I can read papers relatively fast and get the main point. The problem is that I cannot write efficiently. I don't know how to express myself or I forget the appropriate phrases when writing. Can any other researcher help me solve this problem?<issue_comment>username_1: The art of academic writing is essentially the practice of re-writing the same story many times, until the result is "good enough". It takes a lot of persistence and a lot of time to prepare a single paper for publication. If English is not your first language and you struggle with the correct phrasing, consider using an [academic phrasebank](http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/) to help you. I can also recommend a brief summary of [academic grammar](https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/~west/grammar.html). Finally, use English-English dictionaries as much as possible, e.g. the [free dictionary](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/), and refrain from using English-YourMotherTongue dictionaries if you can. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I would recommend to polish you English in general a little bit - language exchanges or language tandems with native speakers can help you a lot here. Maybe there are native speakers who would like to learn Chinese in your city? Check if you find platforms for such exchanges in social media or websites like meetup. I found this tremendously helpful for myself. In a second step I would then go ahead an extract specific phrasing from existing research papers of your field. You will see that researchers use specific phrases in specific situations/sections of a paper. But in order to really do this and use the phrases appropriately I think it might be beneficial to work on your general English fluency a little bit. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A concrete thing to do when writing is to first express yourself in any way you can, no matter how clumsy or awkward it feels, to get something on paper. After you have written a longer text, you can take the time to fix mistakes, find better phrases, reduce unnecessary passive voice and cut up overtly long sentences, or whatever are good and useful practices for you. If you have collaborators, do this together with them, at least a page or so worth, and discuss the changes you make. This can help you identify things to work on. Even non-native collaborators are helpful, especially if they have a different native language than you do; they tend to notice and be blind to different issues. A good habit is that when you are checking your writing and you feel uncertainty about an issue, find out how the grammar works or how the word is spelled. You might want to use the stack exchange sites <https://ell.stackexchange.com/> and <https://english.stackexchange.com/> , where appropriate. For strategies and tools for improving your English, you might also ask at <http://languagelearning.stackexchange.com/> . Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Writing is a complex topic that cannot be explained fully in a short StackExchange post. Just like it took you years to learn your own discipline, it takes years to learn how to write well. Academic writing is also its own specialized skill. We could recommend you some books and rules of thumb. But the more logical thing to do would be to go to your university's writing center and ask them for help. You could also ask your advisor or colleagues who are good at writing. They would recommend the same books we would, but you would get much more detailed advice. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Every one of the answers here has good ideas that may work for you. Here is another. My wife used to coach academic writers. She suggested that one of her clients write his first few drafts in his native language (Japanese), That way he could make sure his ideas were well organized without having to worry about finding just the right foreign words, When he felt well enough organized he would translate his own work into English and polish it with the help of friends and fellow professionals, including those at the writing center at his university. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: Native English speaker here. I used to work in research with researchers whose English was not a first language. I would suggest focusing on the structure of your writing like Ethan mentioned (I have found <NAME>'s book The Pyramid Principle quite useful) and if possible get a native speaker to review your English (e.g. you can pay for technical editors or work with English-speaking collaborators). As someone who has reviewed many writers I have found well structured work much easier to edit than poorly structured writing. This is irrespective if the writer is a native speaker or not (assuming a passable level of English, which I'd say you have). You may also be suffering writers block, I think processing ideas and expressing ideas (and translating ideas into another language) are seperate exercises best tackled at different stages. When I get writer's block I don't think about how to best express an idea, I simply write "I will write about X now, which proves..." You may write key words in your native language or any ugly, dirty writing trick that helps you stay in the flow of getting your ideas on the page. Then once your ideas are on paper, you can focus on expressing things in readable English. Please be aware that English is just a pain in the butt, I have worked with many clever people who always get stuck on "an/a" and "he/she/they" and stuff like this. I would in the final stage of writing review these kinds of words. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Writing an academic paper is a complex task. You are dealing with multiple distinct cognitive demands. If you are struggling, you may benefit from breaking down the process into its component parts: 1) Research and learn the information 2) Convey the information in a sequence of words 3) Ensure that the words are clear to the reader Many second language learners benefit from doing the first two tasks in their native language. As they perform research, they take notes in their native language or some combination of their native language and English. Then they write out at least the outline, but often the whole paper, in their native language. At that point many find it none too difficult to translate their work into English. Afterwards, of course, they will proofread it and fix any problematic expressions using the resources they have in-person or online. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: Because you are comfortable reading newspapers and extracting what is called the 'controlling idea' from your reading, here is a method for using the controlling idea method to learn how to produce outlines of already written documents. Once you master this re-producing process you will be better prepared to develop outlines for your own writing. Method- select a scientific article which you understand well. Beginning with the first paragraph, select what you think to be the controlling idea of that paragraph. The controlling idea is the primary idea that the author is trying to make in that paragraph. Then, select in order of importance in supporting the controlling idea, the other ideas [sentences] in the text of the document. When your finished your outline should look like this: Controlling idea- -supporting idea 1 -supporting idea 2 -supporting idea 3 concluding idea Follow this model for each paragraph in the paper. Repeat this process until you can perform the process easily. Then begin to use the same process to prepare to write your own papers. Best of Luck! <NAME> Upvotes: 2
2019/03/27	1,873	7,970	<issue_start>username_0: When applying for my postgraduate position, I browsed my future advisor’s web page in detail and surprisingly found that one of my relatives’ friend co-authored a paper with him. Then we reached out to the friend and asked whether he could give me a recommendation. He agreed and gave me a recommendation. Since I used to intern at his lab, the process went quite smoothly. And I got and took the offer. However, I stupidly posted this process online and omitted some important details myself. Under the question, “how did you get your admission?” I answered using my alias: > > My friend and my relatives’ friend both gave me a strong recommendation to my advisor. And of course, I excelled in the interview. So the connection is very important. > > > This alias was recognized by someone in the lab and accused me of being “cheating” during the admission. The professor punished me for damaging his reputation and making the lab unstable by spreading the rumor. I want to figure out whether I was acting inappropriately or not.<issue_comment>username_1: No, you didn't act inappropriately in seeking a recommendation, assuming all the facts are stated accurately. Why? The fact that R, the recommender, is a friend of your parents is irrelevant. You are known to R who is in a position to make an honest evaluation of your potential for success. Had you, somehow, induced R to make an unfair evaluation then there would be an ethical issue, but that isn't what you suggest here. The fact that R is a co-author with P, the professor, is meaningful, but that sort of thing is perfectly allowable. In fact, as long as R is honest (not under your control), P gets a recommendation from someone s/he is likely to trust. In fact, the whole recommendation letter process depends on trust. You trust that R (whoever it is) knows about you and will report honest - hopefully good - things. P trusts R by reputation or otherwise and you chose R partly because you have a sense that P can trust R, whether they are colleagues or not. Nothing in the current situation changes any of that except that, assuming R is honest, trust is actually enhanced. What went wrong, however, is that P was embarrassed. That is unfortunate and it came back to haunt you. But, in the best of all worlds (not this one, I know), P should have been prepared for the possibility. But that is on R, not on you. R should have stated to P, and maybe did, that you were the child of a friend as well as your obviously great future potential. There is no reason for R to lie, as it will lessen the relationship to P. There is no reason for P to accept you if you are actually not qualified unless the situation is that R is somehow forcing P to act against P's best interest. (Yes, this might be the case if R is especially powerful - but that is a different scenario). I guess the lesson here isn't that you can't use friendship or other contacts in the admissions process, but that you shouldn't embarrass important people. Every candidate will use whatever relationships they have access to and it isn't a problem if people are honest. In fact, if the child of a prominent academic wanted to follow in a parent's footsteps it would be impossible to gain entry if no friends of the parent could be recommenders, even if those friends were mentors of the child. S/he would have to rely on less informed advocates. If you are, in fact, competent, then other students in your (previous) lab have no complaint since they, too, were accepted. They weren't disadvantaged in any way. They might look down on you, but that is their issue, and you might need to work to prove yourself. --- Note that this answer depends on and assumes both honesty and on the lack of a severe power imbalance. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As a rule, where a significant personal connection exists between a referee and the subject, there is a potential conflict of interest. Definitions of "significant personal connection" are not universal. Policies on the acceptability and handling of potential conflicts of interest are also not universal. Where a potential or actual conflict of interest exists, it is imperative that it be declared. A referee who has a significant personal connection to the subject may still be acceptable, if he/she has experience of working with the subject in a professional capacity, and the personal connection is declared. However, it should be understood that such a referee's comments would carry less weight than an equivalent referee (in terms of stature and experience of working with the subject in a professional capacity) without a significant personal connection. In some cases, it may be that such an "equivalent referee" may not exist, and so the referee with a significant personal connection is the only feasible choice (although, as I said in [my answer to the related question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/127037/106223), if more than one of the referees had a significant personal connection, that would be a red flag, since it would imply that the subject relied on friends to compensate for lack of merit or initiative). Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Asking someone for a recommendation to whom you have a personal connection (like "parents' friend") is fine, provided the letter discloses the personal relationship and focuses on strictly factual professional matters. Such a disclosure will invoke suspicion in some readers, so this may not be the most useful letter, but submitting useless reference letters isn't unethical. (On the other hand, failing to disclose the personal relationship would be clearly unethical; even though it would be the writer's omission, it would still reflect badly on you.) Where I think you slipped is in your public description of your references: > > My friend and my parents’ friend both gave me a strong recommendation to my advisor. > > > Characterizing your letter-writers as "your friend" and "your parent's friend" strongly suggests that the recommendations could have been based on personal connections, rather than professional accomplishments, or at least that you thought the recommendations would be useful because of their personal connections to you. Compare your statement to the following, which describes exactly the same people in strictly professional terms: > > My colleague and my undergraduate lab supervisor both gave me a strong recommendation to my advisor. > > > Even now in your StackExchange questions, you continue to describe your references primarily in personal rather than professional terms. For example, you "reached out to the friend" for a letter, not "asked your lab supervisor". That language raises suspicion. So stop doing that. And because your public description potentially raises suspicion about your recommendations, it also potentially raises suspicion about the people who judged your recommendation letters, which in this case means your advisor. If your letters are indeed suspect, then either your advisor is complicit in this unethical behavior, or your advisor was fooled by the suspect letters. The situation is further complicated by the fact that your "parent's friend" is a coauthor of your advisor. That relationship creates yet another potential conflict of interest, albeit a mild one. (This is one of many reasons that PhD admissions decisions should not be made by a single person.) As username_1's answer says, this is all about trust and reputation, which require not only ethical behavior, but the appearance of ethical behavior. You are using language that suggests that you may have acted unethically; if so, then your advisor was either complicit or a victim. That suggestion—justified or not!—has the potential to undermine your advisor's reputation, or as username_1 put it, embarrassing him. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/27	1,182	5,153	<issue_start>username_0: Using expressions from Latin is a common theme in academia. Expressions like in/ex vivo, in vitro or in situ are very common in biomedical articles, since they are very concise way of expressing some concept. There are however other expressions which have pretty much direct translations in English, and in some cases not even much longer in number of words/characters. I have heard conflicting opinions on the use of the phrase per se and wanted to get more thoughts and ideally a generally applicable guideline for authors? Edit: just wanted to mention that this is not necessarily for my own writing, the inspiration for the question came from a manuscript written by collaborators.<issue_comment>username_1: I guess my advice would be to write in the way that seems most natural to you and gets your ideas across efficiently rather than worrying about the "word police." If a reviewer objects then you can make a change, or not, as you see fit. Clearly objectionable terms would be an exception, of course, but reviewers will point those out pretty regularly. I think it is a fair statement to say that [language rules](http://englishplus.com/news/news0100.htm) evolved from language usage and not the other way around. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As with all writing, it is critical that the audience for the work be considered. A very challenging situation that is somewhat unusual to academia is that in many areas, the field in question is fundamentally international and does not necessarily read/speak English at an extremely advanced level. At the same time, the audience is expected to otherwise be highly educated in some specific area of expertise. If this were something like journalism, the advice would along the lines of writing such that someone who reads at an 8th grade English reading level would be able to understand close to everything in the article. This sort of advice is insufficient to an international audience. For example, I used the term "8th grade" as if everyone outside the US would or should have any idea that I mean the level of formal education expected of 13-14 year olds who have been raised as primarily native speakers of English. The result is that the best advice I've ever heard is that terms of art which should be familiar to people in the field you are writing to are OK generally, but should be rethought if you experience problems being understood among your peers. This means that terms like "in vivo" and "in vitro" in biological science is fine, as would "a priori" and "a posteriori" in fields where logic and statistics are the norm. On flip side, as a writer this means that if you have experience in multiple areas it can feel like you need to write with one hand tied behind your back. You might want to say "ipse dixit", but unless your field is philosophy you are probably going to lose people. You might want to passingly refer to "sublimation", but unless you are writing in psychology you need to at least define the term if you can't avoid it, especially if you are writing to a field where there are both physicists and psychologists because they both use the same term to refer to completely different concepts. The other thing to be aware of is that historically Latin, Greek, and French terms were used heavily, especially in Europe up through at least a good portion of the 1900s, because classically educated people were expected to have been taught these languages as part of their upper-class - often aristocratic - upbringing. To not know these languages was to be rather woefully ignorant, and conveniently also an indicator of being from the inferior lower classes who generally weren't seen as fit to be scholars anyway. It happened to be also during this time that much of what we now know as academic fields were delineated, and so whatever terms and culture was common at the time ended up being adopted into the permanent history of that field, for better or worse. Now academia is not strictly a European affair, and many of us are no longer particularly enamored of the strict class systems of snobbishness and birth-right aristocracy that was previously accepted as the natural order of things. Since academic disciplines have spread throughout the world English has become the "lingua franca", but learning English, Latin, Greek, and French is now the rarity among academics worldwide outside of a very small set of fields. So if you want to be well understood, this can mean having to force yourself to write - or at least rewrite - in a way that isn't actually very natural or even pleasing to you as the writer. I have found no solution to this, save to remind myself that it is more important that readers focus their energies on understanding the important technical aspect of my work - even if it means I do not get the visceral pleasure derived from crafting an eloquent turn of phrase that deliciously references both Rick and Morty and the cult of Pythagoras all at once. [Kill your darlings](https://thewritepractice.com/kill-your-darlings/), even if they are Latin masterpieces. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/27	240	843	<issue_start>username_0: I'm doing a CV for PhD application but still I'm not graduated. How can I say that My starting mark before final dissertation are full marks?<issue_comment>username_1: Give your current grade, clearly labelled as such. For example: > > Current marks: 30/30 > > > Or if the thesis grade can significantly alter your score, you could write: > > Current marks (pending thesis grade): 30/30 > > > Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd put the number of credit points you already have as well as your current weighted GPA (in /30, of course. The conversion in /110 may be misleading, especially for potential employers outside Italy, who may be unaware of the fact that, in the Italian system, the thesis mark is added to the weighted GPA, and thus read the grade as "final".) Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
2019/03/27	489	1,996	<issue_start>username_0: Just now i found few short form typos in my published articles few years ago.The mistakes is almost like this: If I declare my first sentences Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is one of the most important topics in high energy physics, but i state in same paragraph in second sentences and i type the short form QDC (wrongly) is a is the theory of the strong interaction between quarks and gluons......, i wonder is it consider serious typo? Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: If readers or the editor have not complained to you - they probably smiled to themselves and continued reading - likely thinking "ha, done that typo myself"... So, unless you have been contacted don't worry. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Do I understand correctly that you're worried because you wrote QDC instead of QCD in one sentence? Well, if this is the case, let me tell you clearly that no one, I mean, really, no one in their right mind would care about such a typo in a published paper, at all. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Relax, you wouldn't be the first to make that typo. [Here's](https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5606) an example of a paper where that typo is made already in the first line of the abstract. Unless you've defined both QCD and QDC abbreviations for closely related concepts, writing one instead of the other wouldn't be confusing for your readers. In general, clear typos do not pose any real issues. It's the subtle ones that change meanings or introduce errors that can be problematic. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It says more about the proofreaders than you: if I see a typo in a published paper that's who I normally think of. Typographical errors in drafts can be exceptionally common, in final versions, a lot less so, and in submissions ideally non-existent. It is one of the proofreaders' jobs to make sure they don't exist at all and to make the paper as good as it can be to represent the journal and its cause. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/27	828	3,548	<issue_start>username_0: I'm interested in applying to a Ph.D. position and the guidelines indicate that a given number of different projects (of a range of open positions) should be indicated. I'm interested in one in specific and the other options fall completely outside of my interest or even my specialty. This is required because a potential interview will include members of all the chosen projects, what approach is recommended for completing the list?<issue_comment>username_1: You will always have to work with more than one faculty member as a PhD student. Certainly during your class work, you must be prepared to interact with other faculty. During your research, you will figuratively (and perhaps literally) have to "go down the hall" and talk with another faculty on a topic that impacts your research because your advisor is not the expert on that part of the work. Finally, your dissertation committee will contain more than one faculty member. The reason you are asked to select more than one faculty at this point is to give you the opportunity to prepare for the above situations well enough in advance. We have another reason too. Suppose that I am a faculty member who is to interview a potential PhD student for my research group. I would be far more impressed to hear the student tell me that he/she already knows about my colleagues that have potentially useful contributions to make than I will be to hear the student say "No, I had no idea that person was here". Take the time now to get to know the place where you plan to start your life-long career. Learn to network by learning how to get to know who to contact to start your networks. This exercise in discovery carries over ten times or more when you are later going to interview for a faculty position at a university. Do you believe the department where you will apply will be impressed when you know only about that one person in the department who has the research equipment that you need for your studies? Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. Follow the directions. If they ask for 4, give them 4. Not 1. Not 3. Not 5. 4. I don't want to hear about why you don't like the other ones. Pick the lesser of evils. The reason is that selection committees have a mass of paperwork to do and then get on to their "real job". Do not give them a simple reason for filtering you out. Not following directions shows a stubbornness or stup...err...ignorance or tactlessness or something. NOTE: I'm actually a big rogue who believes in not following rules. BUT. Not when you are submitting an application, writing a grant report, doing references for a journal publication, or submitting an EIS to EPA. You need to be gnat's ass perfect on the format and the direction following in that case. 2. Once you HAVE the acceptance. AND acceptances at other schools. Then (perhaps) you can negotiate, discuss, etc. But don't screw up and not get the offer first. 3. You need to have options. Advisors can be SOBs. Can die. Can leave and go to another school. Don't go to a school where there is only one option. There are a few cases where a big fish is at a lesser program (often money related). But you don't want to be in that pickle. Don't go to Ag State U with perfesser Fancy and nobody else when you could go to Ivy with several fancies. In fact your whole approach in the question here shows too much focus on one school. Apply to several. And this one with only one acceptable program needs to be towards the bottom of the barrel. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2019/03/27	1,399	5,467	<issue_start>username_0: Normally a professor is paid for eight to nine months each academic year for teaching several courses in the period. However, if a professor gets a research grant, he can support himself by the grant in the summer months, or teach fewer courses. I'd like to know how it works exactly. Let's say, if a professor only teaches half of the normal load of courses, then he will receive half of his normal salary from the department and the rest is covered by the grant, right? If the grant is large enough, can he choose not to teach any course without loss of pay?<issue_comment>username_1: It is complicated. The amount a grant is charged when a professor "buys out" from a course generally factors in the professor's salary and benefits as well as the replacement teaching costs (salary, benefits, office etc). The number of courses a professor can buy out of varies. Some departments will let you buy out of all courses, others will require you to teach 1 course a year and some will not let you buy out at all. The exact number can vary year to year depending on the teaching needs of the department, past buy outs, total grant/overhead income, and other factors. You should not take a TT job expecting to buy out of all teaching and it is not unreasonable to ask during the hiring process what the buy "rules" are. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Nearly every school will have a different policy on buying out of teaching. In the US, many universities have a breakdown of the position's time. For example, you may be hired to do 60% research, 20% teaching, 20% service. At some universities, this means the grants must cover the percentage of your salary that you are buying out of. At others, there is a flat buyout price (presumably the amount it costs to pay an instructor). Although, some also have requirements for a minimum number of courses you must teach per year (can't buy out). You can also get a reduced teaching load through additional service (e.g, serving as graduate coordinator or department chair). Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: > > Normally a professor is paid for eight to nine months each academic year for teaching several courses in the period. > > > No, professors are paid for doing many things, including teaching. See [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/49504/40589). > > However, if a professor gets research grant, he can support himself by the grant in the summer months, or teach less courses. > > > That’s a misleading statement that’s only approximately correct. Many professors don’t receive summer salary but that doesn’t mean they can’t “support themselves in the summer months” - the base salary is usually adequate for supporting oneself. And it’s not always an option to teach fewer courses - that depends on the nature of the grant and on the department agreeing to a course buyout. > > if a professor only teach the half of the normal load of courses, then he will receive half of his normal salary from the department and the rest is covered by the grant, right? > > > No, again your math shows that you are assuming the incorrect premise that professors are only paid to teach. Even if there is a well-defined percentage X such that X percent of the professor’s salary is given for teaching (there isn’t always such a number), the amount that will be charged to the grant for a course buyout may not directly correspond to a simple arithmetical calculation of the sort you suggested. As others have noted, every institution will have its own policies about such things. > > If the grant is large enough, can he choose not teaching any course without loss of pay? > > > Professors never “choose” how much they teach. They get assigned teaching by their department, and are required to teach the number of courses that they are assigned. But given appropriate grant funding, they can request permission from the department for a course buyout, and if that permission is granted then they can teach less than the normal load. In some places this is a routine matter and effectively professors can assume that permission will always be granted; in others it may not be. Also note that it’s not just the size of the grant that matters. The grant budget and policies of the funding body have to be compatible with using the money for a course buyout. That won’t always be the case even when the grant is “large enough”. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The answer to this question is always the same: contact your office of the Vice Provost or equivalent office. Ask the chair of your department if you don't know which office to ask. A Google search works wonders. It doesn't matter how other schools work, you need to know how your school works. Here are examples: [University of Michigan](https://lsa.umich.edu/content/dam/lsa-site-assets/documents/budget-finance/Move-Gateway-Assets/policies-procedures/Guidelines-for-TT-Faculty-Requesting-Salary-on-Sponsored-Funds.pdf) [Texas A&M](http://mycehd.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CEHD-FA-Salary-Savings-Course-Buyout-_Revised-FINAL_9-Oct-2017.pdf) [University of Illinois Springfield](https://www.uis.edu/research/sponsored-programs-pre-award/proposals/course-buyout/) With questions about policy, it's always best to start with what's posted publicly, as the institution is liable for this information in an audit. This makes it pretty rock solid. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/27	624	2,708	<issue_start>username_0: I am part of a faculty search committee. One round of our process is Skype interviews of top candidates. Not all of our committee will be able to attend each interview (even remotely). Would it be appropriate to ask candidates if we can record their Skype interview to share among the committee? My concern is that candidates might not feel free to say no if they're uncomfortable being recorded. In case it matters, this is in the United States.<issue_comment>username_1: There may be more issues than you raise here. Some people will say yes and feel intimidated. Some people will say no out of general principles. Some people will say yes and regret it later. Some people will say yes initially but decide otherwise in the middle of the interview. I suggest that before you implement such a process you game it out thoroughly, developing a lot of what-if scenarios and how you will respond to them. I think an essential element, possibly with legal ramifications (though I don't know), is that you don't disadvantage anyone for giving either answer or for declining to give a reason. Another possible issue is that some candidates may not be as candid as they would otherwise if they are being recorded. It isn't a case of being devious or calculating, just being cautious. Can my words come back to haunt me? You will also need to decide what to do with the tapes and when to delete them and how to assure the candidate that you will do so, especially if requested. In particular, who will have access to the tapes and for how long? Finally, if you develop a policy with a lot of nuances, you should publish it, probably online, and let the candidate have access to it prior to an interview. But, overall, I'd suggest that in the case you mention of not everyone being available, that you make it possible for a follow up interview rather than taping. There are probably other issues here that I haven't considered. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: username_1 gives an excellent, and pretty comprehensive answer. I have one consideration to add: What message does it send to the candidate about your institution, that your entire committee is not available (even remotely) to attend the interview? Perhaps it tells the candidate that the position is not terribly important to you. Or that your institution is not organized enough to interview the right number of candidates, or include the right people on the committee. If I'm a candidate for a job, there are rituals I'm used to encountering. If you disrupt the rituals, even with what seems like "good reason" on your end, it's possible you will inadvertently discourage the better candidates. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/28	1,710	7,615	<issue_start>username_0: 1. A journal article I submitted to a highly reputable journal has been returned with a number of revisions requested, most of which are useful and helpful and will improve the quality of the article. However, two of the three reviewers have also suggested articles that should be added as references to my paper. These articles are not appropriate to reference in the paper; I have tried at length to find relevance but cannot. I assume that the reviewers are authors of these papers and wish to increase their citations. 2. The email from the (unnamed) journal editor asking for revisions is pro forma and includes a line asking for any inappropriate requests for citations to be referred to the editor. 3. Analysis of the authorship of the requested articles suggests that the two reviewers in question are affiliated with the same institution. Two members of the editorial board of the journal are at the same institution, so it is at least possible and perhaps likely that the editor shares an affiliation with the 2 reviewers. My supervisor (and co-author) suggests I try and find the suggested paper that is least inappropriate and reference it in our article ‒ "throw them a bone." I feel that we should address the other revision requests comprehensively but decline to reference the articles, giving our reasons. Ethics vs Pragmatism, yes, but I also want to get the article published and this may not be the hill to die on. Will my approach mean rejection? Do I have any recourse if it does? Should I call this out to the Editor in Chief? I'm interested in other people's experiences.<issue_comment>username_1: Unfortunately, I also made the experience that reviewers often try to recommend their articles for citation. Often this allows me actually to identify who the reviewers are based on the suggestions for reviewers I made when submitting the manuscript. Therefore, I think this is no good practice at all, as it undermines the actual review process (but also promotes citation cartels). The question is then rather to me, would a non-citation of their articles be a reason for a major revision. To my experience, suggested editing of the references is normally not more than a minor revision, so the reviewers are not asked anymore for their agreement and it is up to the editor to publish your article based on the minor revisions you made. If you explain to him/her the suggested references are not related to your article, after checking it thoroughly and you don't know where to cite and how to explain them in the manuscript, it is up to him/her to leave them out. Ethics vs. pragmatism, well, throw a coin or think about how much harm citing their articles implicates (if you don't have to highlight them with another sentence in the manuscript and can add them to a group citation [1,...,4]) for your article and the scientific community. If they are not linked by any interdiscplinary, theoretical or experimental distant context, then the reviewers will also have a difficult argument to explain, why they should be cited. But don't start to poker with all of them in the review process. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you think you see this often, imagine how much more often journal editors see it. So sticking to ethics is fine. Journal editors see this often enough to know when to reject a review because of it. You are not generally under threat of rejection if you decline to cite a reference. The worst that can happen is that the reviewer rejects your article, but since they've already recommended revision the first time, the editor is more equipped to discern if the rejection is unfair. Remember that if the reviewer says "reject because they didn't cite XYZ", the editor (who is able to see the reviewer's identity) is very much able to see if XYZ is also written by the reviewer. In your case you even have an editor who said to refer any inappropriate citation requests to them. A word of caution: there's no guarantee that the requested citations are articles by the reviewers. There's a lot of diversity in what reviews look like, and it's possible the reviewer did not write those articles. Don't leap to conclusions. Stick to the facts ("we do not think these articles are relevant") and don't allege collusion (such as how the reviewers & editors are from the same institution - you simply don't know). Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: *(1)* Your co-authors are correct in that you should strive to minimise friction in the review process. *(2)* Commenters here are correct that you should stick to the facts of the situation and not risk attempting to attribute speculative motivations, or identities, to the reviewers. *(3)* You are correct that you shouldn't reference papers that have no apparent relevance to your work. So consequences that arise from the points above are: *(1)* Don't even consider referring the issue to the editor. Firstly, you can deal with this solely within the bounds of the normal response to the reviews. Secondly, is it remotely possible that there is actually some relevance to the papers that the reviewers see but you don't? Imagine the small possibility that they are right and you are wrong, and the damage to your reputation and theirs by escalating this. *(2)* Make no statements and take no actions other than to respond to the issue that you believe that the papers aren't relevant. Don't get clouded by things that you can't absolutely know, like intentions and identities. *(3)* In your response, simply state that you haven't added the references, and DO NOT add any other claims about the reviewers' motivations. You just want this to be as friction-free as possible. To avoid conflict in a subsequent round of review, you can gently put the ball back in the reviewers' court. e.g. state something like this: > > We thank the reviewer for the suggested reference. Unfortunately, on close reading we could not determine exactly which part of our argument it supported. Therefore, we have not added it to the manuscript at this stage, but would welcome any specific guidance as to how it could be incorporated. > > > This avoids you being confrontational, yet without "giving them a bone". If they want to push things, then they now have to jump through a hoop to make the link for you. I suspect the issue will just get dropped. But it also leaves the door open for you in the small chance that the reviewers have actually made an insight or connection that you have failed to see. Finally, as there are major revisions requested, deal with those fully and constructively and in detail. The couple of sentences devoted to this issue will not seem important to the editor in that context. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: There is no true motivations to insert inappropriate references in the paper, moreover being the reference system the only mechanism able to make the better works emerge. Do not do that. If you have a lot of time before the deadline, write to the reviewers cited asking some help in order to have evidence of the relevance, because you are not able to find it. You should write this in some plain manner, nothing alarmed or worried or whatever. And watch what answer returns to you. If the deadline is too close, simply omit the references not truly relevant, writing to the reviewer something about that, argumenting that properly and having the organizer in CC. Do not abandon ethics, because without it the Academia is something unuseful and very similar to mafia or similar organizations. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/28	1,925	7,485	<issue_start>username_0: I emailed Professor X regarding typos in, and questions on, his book. I've never met and contacted him. My email commenced with this salutation: > > Dear Prof. X > > > He replied > > It is customary to address professors by their title in full, just as most people would not abbreviate the full names of people whom they do not know well. > > > His unpleasantness startled me. Is he correct though? If he is, wouldn't we have to write Mr. in full as Mister or even [Master](https://www.etymonline.com/word/mister#etymonline_v_16317)? My response to comments: I'd rather not impart more particulars on Prof. X, in case he persecutes me! I'll just say that he's Caucasian, and in Australasia, North America or UK. English is definitely his native language.<issue_comment>username_1: What a jerk! No, writing "Prof." is perfectly fine; his reaction is both incorrect and completely inappropriate. I cannot imagine any professor I know (even the ones I don't like) writing such a thing. What country is this guy in? Some countries (e.g., Germany) have stricter rules for such things, but I'm still shocked he would respond like this. > > regarding typos in ... his book > > > Ah. Is it possible he's being snarky about your abbreviation since you criticized his typos? If your e-mail had a condescending tone, maybe he is trying to "bite back." That's the only thing I can think of. Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: Surely 'Prof.' is as valid as 'Mr.' or 'Dr.'? Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Are you sure they meant professor instead of Prof. It could be that this person is a "Mr. Prof. Dr. Eng. " and they expected you to use all, you can look at how they have signed the book. Even in the latter case, Prof. is absolutely fine. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Looks like he's trying to pick you up on your grammar in retaliation. To me his response seems half serious, half ironic; so I would take it as such. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: I disagree with the vehemence of other answers. My experience has been that some students understand very little of the very tiny amounts of protocol we tend to follow in academia. As a result, the way that they address faculty, both in writing and in person, varies between rather informal and somewhat insulting. I think it is perfectly reasonable to try to address this problem right from the start, to avoid future issues. It is nice that some professors are perfectly fine with informality. But that does not mean that their view is the correct one and if some colleagues disagree they are then jerks or anything of the sort. You sort of have to learn to navigate between different levels of comfort. My advice would be to address faculty in a formal way in general. Many will quickly request that you 'relax' and address them differently. Others may not tell you directly but it will be clear from their interactions. Still others may appreciate the formality and welcome it. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: As others have mentioned, this of course depends on context, some societies may be more righteous than others about this issue. Also, I'll be assuming that the issue was about "Prof." and not about including degrees/other titles. If the issue is the latter, I assume it is really standard and that the prof has them clearly displayed somewhere for you to see? Regarding "Prof.", I did a search over my emails looking for the exact string "Prof.". What I found: I have been addressed as "Prof. Argerami" in emails a bit more than a thousand times. There were emails from (many of each) * Scientific Organizations (including the International Mathematical Union and the American Mathematical Society, for instance) * Conference Organizers * Journal Editors/Editorial Systems * Students * Other professors and researchers * University staff In summary, in my experience "Prof." seems to be extremely common. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: One possibility is that <NAME> is attempting make a general point to you about communication. Perhaps he found your message trivial, petty, or condescending. (Whether or not that is justified, I have no idea, since you don't include your message; but regardless, it's possible he took it that way.) He may have felt that "showing" you how that comes across was the best way to respond. (Again, I don't endorse that, but I think it's a possibility.) So, he may have just taken the first "petty" response that came to mind, and settled on that, intending to demonstrate to you that your own tone was not particularly effective at gaining a sympathetic response. I agree with the (downvoted) answer from @Artoo. Unless you have reason to cultivate a relationship with this person, I think you'd do well to avoid worrying too much about what he thinks of you. If you do have an interest in cultivating a relationship, you'd do well to develop a full understanding of why he said what he did, rather than trying to evaluate its accuracy. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_8: 1. His reply is a little pompous, but he is correct that you should not abbreviate professor (within a salutation). Don't abbreviate senator either when writing to one. 2. I'm not sure that "chastise" is completely accurate. Maybe "correcting you" is kinder wording. Also, not sure why this is so important to you to come to Q&A site with wounds to show. It's not a big deal. 3. Since you are trying to get some help from the person, I suggest to drop YOUR woundedness AND ignore HIS pompousness and just soldier on and discuss the content. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: The ONLY way I can see someone getting ticked at this is if you said "Prof" without a period showing an abbreviation, and that wouldn't be justified. "Dr. Octopus" is a perfectly formal address line. You would rarely see "Doctor Octopus". I think it borders on archaic use. "Dr Octopus" is just about the same as "Dr. Octopus", but someone has gotten just a tad casual about the period. "Doc Octopus", however, is very informal, probably too informal for some situations. Now, lets move to "Professor". "Prof." is a fine abbreviation, and maintains a level of formality. I'd say "Prof" is the same, with a slightly casual drop of a period, but suggest the person you're interacting with might be placing it in the "Doc" category. Of course, such things will differ by background. Take a peek at <https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/71086/20457> regarding the use of "<NAME>" and the lack of formality of dropping "Herr" All that said, perhaps this was just displaced annoyance, and the real issue was the letter pointing out typos in a book. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Although I find it very unusual the professor doesn't approve of you using the Prof. abbreviation, he is able to state his preference for how you address him. Some people are VERY particular and some people are highly functional despite having psychological problems. I think the key takeaway is that the professor clearly has a preference for how to be addressed and directly communicated that desire. I would advise you not to use the Prof. abbreviation with this professor, but feel free to use it for others, since it is generally accepted. As far as the reasoning the professor provided, it's complete BS. We abbreviate Mrs., Dr., Mr., PhD, etc. It's not customary to provide the full title. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/28	1,175	5,292	<issue_start>username_0: I am planning a course on game development. Currently my main problem is how to design the assignments and grade them in a fair and objective manner. In previous courses I taught (like basic programming or algorithms), I could always design homework assignments that had objectively correct solutions. However, in game development it is important to encourage creativity and imagination. Ideally, I would like to have each team of students work on their own game. But how can I assign grades to such assignments? There is no objectively "good" solution: each game can be fun for some gamers and boring for others. I could try to assign grades by "effort" or "creativity", but I do not have an objective way to measure them. And if I assign grades by my subjective perception of effort/creativity, this will inevitably lead to complaints by students who believe they made a lot of effort. For background, the course is intended for third-year undergrads in a computer science department, and it will probably involve programming in Unreal engine and C++. But, I think the question is relevant to any course in which the main goal is to encourage creativity. What is an objective and meaningful way to assign grades in such courses? NOTE: The question is related to <https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/q/3656/1873>. However, there the problem is that the students lack motivation or ability. In my case they will (hopefully) have motivation and ability, since it is a choice course taken by advanced students. Still, I will have to assign different grades to different students since I cannot give 100 to everyone..<issue_comment>username_1: If you want a grade as objective as possible you will need multiple sources for rating. For example : * quality of product * understanding of their (students) own code * documentation --- Quality of product It is possible to objectively grade the quality of written code by comparing it to standard guidelines or relative to other average quality of code delivered by all students. --- Understanding of their own code Grading actual written code can be tricky because one student can copy a good solution from the internet while not understanding it and another student puts hundreds of hours of work into developing his own code which is, because of the lack of experience, not that impressive. So I would let the students present their own product and let them explain certain parts of code. --- Documentation Any work being done needs some kind of documentation and myself as a student hate that. Nevertheless a written documentation of the assignment explaining the goals, challenges, solution, outcome and possible improvements does give a good look into the work a student put into his work. --- Personal experience In my ongoing educational path I had several courses in which the assignment enabled creativity and still I never had the feeling I was graded in an unfair manner. One of those assignment were the development of a card game in C and another one was to simply do something interesting with a microcontroller (I designed, build and programmed a Joystick. In both of them the grading were done by the professor reviewing the code by himself and the students giving a presentation about the end product. The presentation gave the professor the opportunity to ask specific and complicated question to test whether or not the work was done by the students themselves and how good they actually understand what they've done. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I would think that one technique you might choose to use in this case would be to establish what your learning objectives are for the assignment and then construct a simple rubric for evaluating each project. You will likely have some areas that will be present for each assignment (e.g., documentation, code clarity, compiler warnings, possibly even a baseline score for a runable attempt, etc.). However, you will probably have a few aspects that are required to be present for each assignment (e.g., sprite usage, pathfinding, narrative) which you can then assign points for. For example you could use something like the following: Narrative * 5 points - had a clear and easily understood narrative * 3 points - had a narrative, but some portions were confusing or difficult to pick up on * 1 point - an attempt was made at a narrative, but it was generally insufficient * 0 points - no attempt at a narrative Pathfinding * 5 points - no (or almost no) issues with pathfinding * 3 points - pathfinding mostly working, sometimes units get blocked behind obstacles/jump through obstacles/etc. * 1 point - pathfinding is clearly deficient For project based courses or assignments, I find that a rubric like this will greatly simplify my life when grading and lets me focus on giving constructive feedback over trying to decide if this is an 82% vs 85%. Alternate approach ------------------ I have also had project based courses where the grading was not based on the artifact, but on a report and presentation/demo that the student teams had to submit. I also used rubrics for scoring those, again greatly simplifying the process and letting me focus on feedback over points. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/28	1,537	6,155	<issue_start>username_0: I'm a first year student undergraduate at a top US university, and I'm going to major in math. Of course, I still don't really know what I want to do with my life, but I'm really excited about going on to a PhD in math. What does one have to do to get into a top PhD program in mathematics? When I say top, I mean absolute top - like Princeton or MIT. Please understand that I'm not being presumptuous in asking this: I don't know whether I'll ever be good enough to do a PhD at an institution such as these, but I'm just asking for reference - and out of curiosity. I've read a lot of threads about similar topics, but answers there are fairly vague ("good letters of recommendation", "advanced coursework", etc). What exactly do these terms mean, and what should I - as a first year student - already start doing to at least stand a chance sometime in the future to even dream of being in a program such as the ones I mentioned?<issue_comment>username_1: Roughly: good grades (3.8+ GPA) in difficult courses, good test scores (80+ percentile on math GRE subject test [not the regular GRE math, which you should get a ~perfect score on without studying]), strong research background and good letters corresponding to it. That will get you into schools in the top ~30. To get into the very top programs, you will need to meet this standard and also have either (1) a very nice research background / letters, or (2) something "interesting", such as impressive accomplishments outside of math Disclaimer: not a mathematician Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: First off, I have a PhD in a top 20 - not top 3. I believe my school was 16 or 17 when I was doing my PhD. So I'm below what you are aiming for. So feel free not to read this post. First of all, I'm puzzled by your comment: > > fairly vague ("good letters of recommendation", "advanced coursework", > etc). What exactly do these terms mean, and what should I - as a first > year student - already start doing to at least stand a chance sometime > > > Good letters of recommendation: You will need to get about 3 profs to write good letters of recommendation when you apply to grad school. That means you need them to say you are smart as in PhD-smart. Advanced coursework: Take ALL the higher level courses if possible. Take some graduate level courses if possible. Now about grad school: don't think about the top 1 or 2 or even 3 for now. If your goal is math, then your goal is math, not the school. Just focus on math for now. I do not know you, so whatever I said below might be useless and meaningless. What can you do as a first year student? Get a good GPA, as close to 4.0 as you can. You want to take as many math courses as you can right? So do some self-study and test out of your gen ed courses. I had a student who tested out about 8 so that he can have time to take ALL the higher level courses. Are you taking any math courses now? Then focus on them and do well. Doing well does not mean just getting an A. It means being near the top of the class. Your prof knows. Not all profs will take note. But some do. You have to figure out which profs are interested in growing PhD students. Profs who care will be open to chat with you and guide you. The only way you can catch their attention and learn from them is to be at the top of your class. Ask questions in class (if possible, when appropriate). Do you study ahead? Talk to them during office hours and ask questions so that they know you are interested and are studying your textbook ahead of the class. When I was an undergraduate I always study ahead. While studying all the courses, I will pick one book and study ahead until I'm done with the book for that course. Then I'll pick another one and study ahead. Etc. Don't just read the book. Do the problems. It's also a good idea to think about your favorite area in math and study it on your own. Unfortunately if you are not very deep into math, you might not know where to go with this. That's why knowing a prof well will help. He can guide you. If you have time and if you have not done so, I suggest you look at the textbooks for math olympiads. Study them and do all the problems. Try to finish as much as you can so that you have some time to try some putnam competition books. Math problems in the math olympiad and the putnam are very different from the type of problems you will solve in your regular math classes. In many ways they are closer to research-type math problems. Again, I do not know you. Maybe you have already done lots of math olympiad training. Another very important thing to note is that it is your responsibility to keep your level of interest in your area (i.e. math) as high as possible. That means spending some time reading up on the biographies of famous mathematicians. Don't do too much of that since you do have to study math. Books are the most important resource for you right now. Ask your profs for good recommendations. Do not be surprised that your class textbook might not be the best textbook on that subject. It's just one that's convenient and easy to use. I have no idea where you are in your math education. But if you are in Calculus, then you can for instance study "Calculus" by <NAME>. If you are very strong in math and have already studied that, you can go on to other books. Check your math library and see if you can find magazines you can understand. Try the American Mathematical Monthly and the Mathematical Intelligencer. See if there's a math club you can join. Make sure it's a math club and not just a social gathering for math majors. Nothing wrong with socializing, but if the club does not have math related activities, then it won't help your goal. If you work very hard in the first 2 years, you might know what area you want to go into. (But it might change.) And if you take some grad level course(s) in that area in your third year, you might be able to attend the research seminar in that area, which might be a weekly meeting. You might be able to start doing some research during your senior year. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/28	1,424	4,506	<issue_start>username_0: We are thinking about a joint submission to Physical Review Letters, and PRA per [these guidelines](https://journals.aps.org/prl/edannounce/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.240001). I'm however not entirely sure how the two submissions should be exactly related, e.g. how much overlap the works may have. Does anybody have some insights here? Or just a few example papers that have been jointly published like this.<issue_comment>username_1: Recently, I've been considering a PRL-PRB joint submission, and was looking for recent examples. It appears there is no external marker for them, so they can indeed be hard to find. My initial web searches led me to this question, and to a [Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/RobertGaristo/status/1141436299313856513) by a PRL editor actually providing some examples. One way I came up with, that finds at least some examples, is to search Google for ``` "companion paper Phys. Rev. A" site:journals.aps.org/prl ``` replace "A" as needed. (This search matches how the reference tends to be formatted.) For reference, some examples of joint submissions are: * PRLs with companion PRAs: [1](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.110403), [2](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.063001), [3](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.183001) * PRLs with companion PRBs: [1](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.246403), [2](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.157403) * PRLs with companion PRCs: [1](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.202702), [2](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.102501) * PRLs with companion PRDs: [1](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.242001), [2](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.231601) * PRLs with companion PREs: [1](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.100602), [2](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.268001) These examples demonstrate that the overlap between letter and full-length article is somewhat variable, reflecting the nature of the results and how well they "split up". Nevertheless, a fairly representative case that I think handled the splitting well in a [PRL](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.110403)-[PRA](https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.103.032424) joint submission wrote: > > LETTER: We present a self-contained discussion of our methods and results below. The full technical details and additional developments are deferred to the companion paper [52], where we consider the problem of quantifying infinite-dimensional resources from a broader perspective of general probabilistic theories, extending the concepts discussed herein. > > > > > PAPER Intro: This work also serves as the companion to the paper [39] which deals with resource quantification in continuous-variable quantum mechanics. Here we provide a derivation and extended discussion of the results stated in [39], along with several additional developments specific to quantum theory. The general framework in GPTs can be thought of as a generalization of the concepts introduced in [39]. > > > > > PAPER Sec. VI: > This section complements the dedicated paper [39] in which we focus on the case of continuous-variable quantum resources. In particular, the discussion below constitutes a > technical companion to Ref. [39], providing a detailed derivation and several extensions of the results mentioned there. Since all of our results for general GTPs immediately apply to quantum mechanics as a special case, the results of previous sections already serve as proofs of some of the results of [39]. Specifically, Theorem 1 in [39] is Theorem 10 here; Theorem 2 in [39] is Theorem 9 here; Theorem 3 in [39] is a consequence of our characterization in Sec. III and in particular the duality result in Prop. 2. The other results will be established below. > > > Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Even if the journal permits it, publishing one work as two papers is viewed as dubiously ethical in the scientific community. I recommend doing a joint submission only if the scope of the two papers is obviously different. Also, it's a lot of trouble considering 75% of PRLs get rejected, and you can't take your joint submission to another publisher. Upvotes: -1
2019/03/28	626	2,635	<issue_start>username_0: I am currently an undergraduate, wanting to apply to PhD programs this upcoming fall. So I started talked to a CS professor doing research in deep learning and he set me up to work with one of his graduate students, so I started to work with the grad student and only communicated with him, not the professor. I recently came up with a new idea for a model to be published that the grad student thinks is a good idea, but he told me he has left working with the professor and no longer is working on this research. So I am at a crossroads on what to do. I have an idea that was told could be good, but I have no idea what the process looks like for self-publishing and expected that the grad student would be there to help me. I thought about reaching out the professor, but I am not sure what to say, since the grad student left, the project is essentially dead I think so it is more of just me having a new idea and not sure how the professor could help with it. Any advice on whether I should reach out to the professor or just try to work on it on my own would be greatly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: Speak to the professor again. There're a lot of reasons for this: * He set you up with the graduate student, so he can set you up with another graduate student if necessary. * If he set you up with his graduate student, then in some way he's also responsible for you. He won't leave you to your own devices now. * He's still working in the field, so he will know what to do with your idea. He'll probably know what to do with your idea better than the graduate student. * It sounds like you only have an idea. Ideas aren't usually publishable; you need results. Because you're an undergraduate, chances are you won't be able to get those results easily without guidance. The professor can provide that guidance. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think the professor is the best place to get advice on this. You might even be able to find a way to continue the work under their direction. Possibly the project can be continued. As to the question of publishing, the prof may also have some ideas, as well as some caveats. Since some of the work was joint work, the grad student might need to be co-author, depending on various things, including the field. But, in general, there is no reason an undergraduate can't publish research papers. The prof may be able to help with that if it seems to be the best course of action. --- I've assumed, from what you say, that the grad student is no longer interested. Otherwise it would be good to include them. Upvotes: 0
2019/03/28	949	3,841	<issue_start>username_0: We are currently finishing the implementation of a scientific software library. It's the first project of this type for me and I'm curious, how to make the software citable in a similar way to [Molpro](https://www.molpro.net/info/authors) or [R](http://astrostatistics.psu.edu/su07/R/html/utils/html/citation.html)? I was thinking about writing a short paper introducing the library, which could be subsequently cited. But I'm not sure, how to deal with the different versions? I don't think it's possible to write just some "changelog" paper once a year to summarize new released version.<issue_comment>username_1: There are about as many approaches to citing software (and making software citable) as there are software packages. One way is to create a DOI for your software via Zenodo. This DOI can then be updated for each version of the software. Another way is to write a paper about the design and features of your software and see that it gets published somewhere. There are numerous journals for this -- for example, SoftwareX or, for mathematical software, the ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software. (Disclaimer: I'm a co-Editor-in-Chief of the latter.) There are numerous other projects that have guidelines of how to best do this. You may want to take a look at the Force11 project, for example, as well as the outcomes of the WSSSPE series of workshops. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Write a manual and release it as a technical report. > > how to deal with the different versions? > > > Put the version number in the manual's title and have a different version of the manual for every release. (Alternatively, revise the manual every major release or ...) > > I don't think it's possible to write just some "changelog" > > > You could have a `CHANGELOG` in the manual, which summarises what's new in the current version. Alternatively, a `CHANGELOG` could be distributed with the software. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In addition to the above answers, you can publish a short article about the software at the [Journal of open Source Software (JOSS)](https://joss.theoj.org/). How this journal differs from other journals is described in its [announcement post](https://www.arfon.org/announcing-the-journal-of-open-source-software). Your submitted article and the associated software are thoroughly peer reviewed. If the article is accepted, it will be assigned a volume number, official DOI, etc. In effect, you have a "real" article that can be cited just like a "regular" journal article. This is separate from obtaining a DOI just for your software through services such as Zenodo and figshare, which are mainly intended for archival storage of software and datasets. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Concerning the DOI / citable discussion, see [DOI != citable](https://www.carlboettiger.info/2013/06/03/DOI-citable.html) And if your using Zenodo to create a DOI, as @username_1 mentioned, see [Making Your Code Citable](https://guides.github.com/activities/citable-code/). Basically here you have to decide how you will make your library publicly available. There are different ways to do it but the links describes how to connect Zenodo with GitHub. This may also depend on whether you want to allow citing different versions of your library or just "link to releases" on you institute's webpage. Here you will find more input for the discussion [How to cite and describe software](https://www.software.ac.uk/how-cite-software). They're showing recommendations from software providers, which is as simple as creating your own BibTeX entry with an url. However, the next section shows different positions of "Software is not a citable output". Keep that in mind when providing a special way to cite your library. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/28	1,526	6,399	<issue_start>username_0: I am a Ph.D. student and I do private tutoring on the side for extra income. Recently a new student contacted me for help with a class, and I met them for one session, which went well overall. They told me they liked my tutoring and want to meet again. This student admitted that they are behind on the course material and are trying to catch up before the final (which is just about two weeks away). However, I recently realized that this same student is in another class which I am TA'ing, and I was grading the homework today and realized they copied the solutions for the last assignment. I had suspected they may have copied solutions to the previous assignment as well but was unsure. This time the copying is blatant, word for word from the solutions from a past year. At this point I have no choice but to bring this to the course instructor (who is also my advisor), who I know will report this student for plagiarism. My question is, should I still meet this student and tutor them in other classes? A few thoughts that come to mind: * I now know this student is in the course I am TA'ing. I feel tutoring them for this course would be a conflict of interest, and I would have to clear it with my advisor. Is it also a conflict of interest to tutor them for a different course, knowing I will be grading their exam/homework for this one? * I enjoy tutoring because I enjoy helping students learn, and I do like to help people succeed. In our previous session this student seemed interested in actually learning, but clearly has shown that they are willing to blatantly plagiarise homework solutions. While I do rely on my extra tutoring income, it feels unethical to tutor someone who cheats. At the same time, I would like them to be able to understand what they are doing so they don't feel any need to cheat. But this student also said they have not attended class in recent weeks (for what reason I do not know). * If I meet this student again, I will have to tell them that I have reported them for academic dishonesty. This isn't exactly an issue though, they can decide what they want to do from there.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't believe you have an ethical issue in tutoring them. In fact, there may be issues if you don't (because you may need to accuse them to justify it). But otherwise, you seem to be doing the correct thing in communicating with the professor and telling the student about what you have done. It won't make you popular, of course since no one likes being "ratted out". But, if you can help them learn and, more important, learn how to learn, maybe they won't be as inclined to cut corners. I also doubt that tutoring them in one course is in conflict with TA-ing them in another. Your professor, again, might have a different opinion, so you should ask. I don't think it is an especially difficult matter to keep the two relationships separate in a case like this. In fact, while some commenters to this answer seem to think that accepting money to teach someone while also evaluating/grading them is a "clear conflict of interest" it is exactly what every professor does every day. If you can't handle that you are in the wrong profession. --- Note that you haven't given the evidence that they copied in the other course. I hope you have considered other explanations as well. Two identical papers is cause for an investigation, but not necessarily charges. Publishing answers to questions and later claiming that "using the published answer, when the question is given again, is dishonesty" is malfeasance. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Whether their cheating should impact your role as a tutor is not the primary issue here, so I'll set it aside. You should not be tutoring a student for additional money when you are also grading that student as a TA, even if the grading and tutoring are for separate courses. That sets up a financial relationship between a grader and a student. That's a big problem. I certainly don't believe you've done anything unethical here, but you should most likely report the inadvertent conflict and stop tutoring this student immediately (I'd also offer to your superiors that you return any payment for the one session, or just do it yourself anyways). It's not a big deal that you did this accidentally not realizing the connection. It could be a problem if you continued with it now that you know. Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: Stop tutoring him. He's already shown he doesn't play by the rules. And this situation may "go sideways". Disengage ASAP. You don't want to get more enmeshed in this than you already unfortunately are. Things can rebound and hurt you. (Danger, <NAME>, danger.) Tutoring is very much a side gig and completely optional for both parties. Disagree with the username_1 advice that you are obligated to continue. I also agree with Bryan's comment about the conflict of interest even without cheating. But I think the cheating situation raises the conflict of interest front and center. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I mostly agree with [@BryanKrauze](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/127216/7319)'s answer, but I'll strengthen the point further: * It is unethical to be the tutor a student whom you are also grading or otherwise evaluating as his/her TA. * It is doubly unethical if the student (or his family etc.) are paying you for this tutoring. In both cases you are in a conflict of interests, being committed to the success of "your student"; in the latter case your commitment is more significant, since in a sense the payment is intended to ensure their success. But since you're already conflicted, it's possible that it makes more sense for you to stop grading his HW (while continuing as a TA) rather than to stop tutoring him. I'd consult with the principal teacher for the course, or whoever is in charge of teaching in your department etc. - perhaps mention both options (not tutor him, not grade him). You might also need to have your previous gradings of his assignments reviewed. Finally, if you stop tutoring him, be kind - despite his cheating - and try to find an alternative tutor to take over for you, if you can, so that he can make a smooth transition. This is regardless of whether he is treated harshly or not for his cheating on a HW assignment in another course! Upvotes: 3
2019/03/28	418	1,814	<issue_start>username_0: I am finishing my Ph.D. and now I am looking for faculty positions globally. If I contact the head of the relevant departments (HoD), will it be ok or will it leave a good impression that I am too eager for the position? Note that I am talking about any unadvertised positions. Thanks<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that it would be appropriate and would be considered a bit odd. Most places, anyway. If there are no advertised positions, there are likely no positions at all. If there are advertised positions they will come with stated application procedures. The department head normally isn't responsible directly for hiring faculty. It is a faculty committee decision and in some places the laws of the land require advertisements and fair consideration of candidates using published criteria. I think it would be a waste of time to request a job. You don't say where you are, but I think that most in most places it would be improper to hire without advertising. However, you might ask if the department contemplates hiring in the near future and where to look for announcements. But I wouldn't go beyond that. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is an almost zero chance that you get a job by emailing department heads about unadvertised positions. These just don't exist for regular people -- Nobel prize winners and other exceptional cases excluded. There is a chance of almost 100% that your email will get deleted without an answer, and a nearly equal chance that the person you send it to is going to be rather annoyed at your boldness. Use the usual avenues for getting a job: Look for announcements, apply for them, and most of all spend your energy building a resume that allows you to be competitive for these positions. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/29	1,269	5,412	<issue_start>username_0: I am new to this community. The discussions here are interesting so I thought may be I can solve one of my queries regarding PhD admissions. I am in India and I have completed my post-graduation last year from IIT (one of the top engineering institute in India) in research. I have submitted 2 journal papers and 3 conference papers (as co-author) in my post-grad course. Now I am looking for PhD admission in Australia. There is some personal reason for choosing Australia and I don't want to go to other country as of now. meanwhile I am working as a software engineer in an IT organisation. I have emailed my resume and thesis to professors in Australian universities regarding the PhD vacancies under them. I have not received any reply (positive or negative). I have started wondering whether I am doing something wrong! Is there some other way to get this information and applying for it? Or am I suppose to send more information than resume and thesis, something that I am missing out. PS: I have not added any sort of recommendation letter yet. I personally feel that my achievements should speak for me. Thanks for any help in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: The short answer is yes. You're not going to get PhD admission virtually anywhere in the world without letters of recommendation. But there's something more important: your approach is wrong. You should not start by contacting professors directly. First, find out if the university has a centralized PhD program (these centralized programs are very common in the US, for example). As far as I'm aware, Australian unviersities do not, but if they do then contacting professors individually is just inappropriate and a waste of time; you should apply to join those. If they don't then you should find out if they're recruiting PhD students. They might have a webpage with a list of possible projects for example. If they do then you want to check those projects out and make sure you're interested before contacting them. Here's an example of how to get a PhD position in astronomy at the Australian National University. After Googling for this, you should land at [this webpage](https://rsaa.anu.edu.au/study/phd) for the RSAA. You can see what topics are being studied there. You can also find a link to a [list of potential projects](https://rsaa.anu.edu.au/study/potential-projects), sortable by the level of study. Restricting the search to only PhD-level projects, the first result as of time of writing is this one on [3D modelling of nearby galaxies](https://rsaa.anu.edu.au/study/potential-projects/3d-modelling-nearby-galaxies) by Dr. <NAME>, with a short description of what is involved. If you like the project, then you can email Dr. <NAME> with your CV, motivation statements, thoughtful questions about the project (if any), and ask him if he's willing to supervise you. If you've read Dr. <NAME>'s work and have a suggestion for a potential project, you could write that too. If you just send your CV and "thesis" (what's this?) without any apparent knowledge on what Dr. <NAME> is doing, he's likely to just ignore you. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: All of the universities (that have postgraduate programmes) will have an administration office that handles PhD applications and admissions. *You will need to find out what these are for each university that you wish to apply to*, as these are usually centralised within some area of the university administration and not at the faculty or department level. Sending your application/resume/thesis directly to professors is the wrong approach. They all receive many such emails and letters and usually have neither time nor interest and will neither read nor forward your application. It is parallel to sending your job application to the CEO or a board member instead of to a company's personnel department. I myself receive numerous such emails, with e.g. "Dear Professor, I am a student in < country > and would like to study/work/research in your research group", and I am not even a professor. I read that far (at most) in an email and take the next step of simply deleting it as it seems to me that my email has simply been gleaned from a journal site, research site, or other such location. You need to select the university(s), find the appropriate contact point and approach them. You need to find out what you need to send, and when the deadlines are. A stochastic approach will not help you here, not even were you wanting to do a PhD in statistics. Edit: It is, however, appropriate to reach out to a potential supervisor to enquire about research projects that they are offering. This may or may not be published openly. This can open a line of dialogue which may then proceed to a formal application or submission. This is quite different to a blind application by sending a resume with a generic "I would like to do a PhD in your group" message. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: To answer the question "Should I include a recommendation letter when emailing a potential supervisor for the first time?" No, you should not. In your CV, list previous supervisors or other people familiar with your work. If the potential supervisor wants recommendation letters, they will request them. Recommendation letters should be sent by the author of the letter, not the applicant. Upvotes: 1
2019/03/29	3,554	14,331	<issue_start>username_0: I am in my fifth year and I am about to submit my Applied Mechanics PhD thesis in. However, I always felt absolutely incompetent in the field. I tried improving my weak areas by self study, taking up challenging projects, but always ended up with either abandoning the idea or settling with a less rigorous work. When I used to talk to my advisor, he used to say that I am doing fine and I shouldn't worry about impact factors and rigour of a work at PhD level as I will eventually learn more and get more opportunities as I advance in my career. However, I feel that I wasted my PhD. I am searching for postdoc positions, but I feel incompetent for the openings. I feel that even if I do get response back, I will get rejected due to my poor knowledge. I also feel that I should have worked harder and not have wasted time in my past. I also tried making connections during my conferences, but that did not anywhere. I screwed up big time. I am 30 years old. No work experience. And a mediocre PhD. I messed up really badly. Is there a way to redeem my career?<issue_comment>username_1: I think your situation is not unique. If you look around academia.SE (as user2768 suggested, search for "impostor syndrome"), you will find that many PhD students have the same feeling about their work or their career path. See [How should I deal with discouragement as a graduate student?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/2219/103542) for example. I hope this gives you some comfort -- sometimes it helps to know that other people are in similar situations -- and you will find some advice in the answers which works out for you. The advice of your advisor seems reasonable in the sense that often one looks for the perfect solution from scratch, which is a path that rarely brings the desired results. I found that research is done in an iterative way, where you steadily improve and refine the methods and thereby the results. Of course, academic rigor must not be neglected. The impact factor is in my opinion indeed overrated, but this may depend on your field. Don't let that stop you from applying and attending job/PostDoc position interviews. If you do nothing, you may end up in a spiral downwards since naturally there will be no progress in your career. And even if you fail at an interview, at least you gain experience what is required to succeed. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: See it the other way around: In the meantime you know at least that you do not know everything about the field. This is an interesting insight and more than many people know (also: "[I know that I know nothing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_that_I_know_nothing)"). Your feeling is normal (see also above posts about "impostor syndrome"). A good example is the new group of fresh PhD students every year that think that they know everything and can conquer the world but the deeper they get into academia the more they realise how little they know. This is illustrated (in an ironic way) for example in the well known PhD comics [here](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DEI0DxfVoAA1uDW.jpg). Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Focus on what you can do going forward rather than on mistakes of the past. Let me tell you about my own situation, which is quite a bit worse than yours and which I am happy with. I was a top math student in a large school (yeargroup ~1000). I found maths easy and was looking forwards to study it at university. Unfortunately I did very little work at university. Not nothing but little enough to fall behind and drop out of the course. After this I found work as a home carer which I enjoyed and worked hard at but which offered very poor wages and working conditions. I sat in this job for four years before I managed to put enough effort into finding a better job and moved into hospital admin. After landing a temporary admin role it has been up and up for years now. The turnaround in fortune has been slow but tangible. I started to feel good about myself and my prospects around six months after starting to put some effort into my future. I excelled and found a better role. I saved money, own a home, started a degree, found a wife and have a child on the way. I will graduate in June, aged 30. Job prospects look pretty good thanks to some AI research I've done. ### How does this relate to you? Well, you haven't screwed up. In the grand scheme of things you've done a lot of things right and you will soon have a PhD in mechanics to prove it! Lets examine the idea that you "wasted" the last five years. Even if this is true (and the academics here are suggesting that it is not) then it kind of doesn't matter because: * you've identified some of the problems and how to do better * you have 35+ years in which to do better. So what if you didn't produce an earth shattering result within your PhD. If you start producing high quality work then people will notice. ### Where can you go from here? Set aside some time (a day?) to think about what you want to do in life and how you might get there. You could spend some of this time talking to friends and family. Draw up a list of options and decide which appeals to you the most. Vigorously pursue this option. Your actual career might go off on a complete tangent to the plan but having a plan is a good way to get things started. Something you might want to consider is doing a non-academic job for a year or two. Hopefully some of the academics on the site will be able to comment on whether or not this will be good for your academic career but from a non-academic perspective it would make you much more well rounded and hopefully expand your horizons. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: You mentioned two key words in your question, "..work experience..." Just block out the noise, finish up your degree, go out there and work; this will provide the experience and build your confidence and competence. Be honest with your prospective employer where you stand in terms of experience but express your willingness to learn. You'll likely start off lower in salary than your peers but take the offer and get your foot in the door. Moreover, never take the path of least resistance in terms of work challenges, it'll bite you later on when you finally get tasked with a huge project. I like that you do self study. Good luck with your career journey, congratulations on your prospective degree and may God bless you. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: The nice thing about academia is, you most often have a fallback: You can go to industry. They love high trained, clever people. They don't care about papers, impact factors, rigorous PhD theses and so on. I don't think you should leave academia. But relax, if everything goes wrong, you still have the chance to make a successful career outside of academia. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: ### The main problem is not with your career, but with your psyche I was in a position somewhat similar to yours: In a late year in my Ph.D., stuck on some dead-ends, exasperated and thinking I've essentially failed. Wasn't even sure I was going to finish. I'm not going to tell you that things will pick up and it'll all be Ok, etc. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, or at least not as much as you would like. The point I want to make is that I remember people telling me: "Oh, but you're not doing so bad, you're smarter and more accomplished than 99% of people, and lots of grad students have trouble with their PhD's etc." - this is all true but it wasn't helping me. It wasn't helping, because I had pinned my sense of self-worth in life on having a certain experience or certain achievements with the PhD. When this did not occur, I felt like a failure - like my life, my identity as a person, was sort of falling apart. There was no me without stellar academic success - and I wasn't really prepared to think about my life otherwise. So whenever I thought about my situation I was subconsciously terrified, mortified. The disaster - with our without quotes - you are facing is not in your career. I mean, sure, your PhD could have gone better, but it's certainly not a disaster. You need to be able to: * Emotionally recognize and accept what you've done and what has happened to you * Be able to set goals for yourself given your situation, rather than semi-consciously obsessing over not being in the situation you would rather have been. * Have these goals be potentially attainable in terms of the world, and likely satisfying for you personally. * Have other aspects of your life on which you can "bank" emotionally, regardless of whether your career/academic pursuits fare better or worse. Consider reading my answer regarding a situation worse than yours, with more concrete advice: [How to deal with anxiety and depression after being kicked out of PhD program?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/120775/7319) --- Now for a few concrete words about where to go from here. Well, what is that you want(ed) to do, as a researcher? You talk about it as though it's some sort of game where you need to improve your points in weak areas, overcome challenges for some sort of metaphysical score of accomplishment... why did you enter a PhD program? What did you want to discover, or get to the bottom of, as a researcher? * If the answer is "nothing in particular", then it might have been a mistake to enter the PhD program to begin with, and the outcome you ended up with is reasonable, though lackluster, given your motivation. * If the answer is "I wanted to explore XYZ" - then who cares about the PhD's quality? Are you still interested in XYZ? If so, think of how to utilize what you've learned and accomplished, and what you know about other people's work, for different avenues into XYZ, in academia or in industry. If not, then think about how to get inspired again about something else. (Yes, I know that is a vague point.) Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Is there a way to redeem your career? Of course there is, but it depends on what you really want out of your career. The most important questions to answer are, "What do I enjoy doing?" and "What am I good at". You seem to have questions about that latter (at least relative to other PhD candidates in the same field), but it is not clear to most responders here that your feelings are completely based in reality. Many people are unsure of themselves. It can be a very good thing if humility and a rational comprehension of your weaknesses drives you to learn more and work harder. It can be very harmful to your success if a lack of confidence keeps you from attempting hard or unsure things. What do faculty at research universities actually do? Teach, guide students at various levels, write proposals, creatively think of problems to solve and how to solve them, exercise technical expertise, write and publish papers, travel and speak, serve on department committees, self-promote, and compete against one another. How many of those things do you enjoy doing, or are you good at, or preferably, both? If "not many" is the answer, then whether you are better than 99.9999% or just 99.9% of people in the world at Applied Mechanics is irrelevant: find something else to do. You are smart and quantitative and can compete quite effectively in many many valued roles in society. What elements of your own work or work you've seen around you actually excite you; do you find inherently interesting just because of who you are and what they are? Find a career that overlaps as much as possible and then pick a post-doc or industrial job or peace corps stint or MBA or whatever that gets you closer to doing those things. It is actually not all that rare for a smart person to go quite far in their education before they found out that they are not all that interested in their field (or in an academic approach to it). Starting out, the challenges of just going through the process can be interesting enough and obscure an underlying apathy. If, after reflection, you really do want an academic career in a particlar field, then do whatever honorable things it takes to succeed there. If you are not all that happy with your thesis, then work hard to get a post-doc with the most famous person you can in an area most of interest to you. Who will help you get several really sexy publications? If you really don't want an academic career, get out asap (after getting the degree...) Write code, design or build machines, solve problems, teach at a different level. Get an industrial job that both overlaps with your applied mechanics background and will expose you as much as possible to other roles in R&D, product development, business, management,and human society in general. "Do what you love" beats "Follow down the path I'm on because I'll feel like a failure if I don't" by a thousand miles. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Cheer up, seek out a counselor working on your fears. "It is not fun, if it's not fun" We all have ups & down's. I was properly educated in Industrial Technology, I eventually had a carrier of 27+ years in Information Technology as a Systems & Network Engineer Level 3. Both required advanced problem solving and attention to details! I'm the guy that walks into a machine room. Finds the ORANGE light, and turn's it GREEN. The device doesn't matter. Green was my job! Or is was the guy that could machine, forge, identify, weld, bond, measure, compose, print. Any project using metal, wood, ink, emulsion, and complete a project manipulating those media with appropriate tools, to 1/1000 of an inch tolerance. Cutting a 2x6 with only a hand saw, perfectly plum & square (I can still do that). Seek out happy folks, not in the basement of a Victorian building. I'm 2x your age, have the life equivalent of 5+ Ph.D.'s. I am able to keep a conversation with a PD-EE (power distribution, electrical engineer) to a Major MD/Ph.D. researcher in Virology. From Educators clueless about a specific Learning Disability to teaching a son "the best coping skills" an MD/Ph.D. specializing in Learning Disabilities has ever seen! Another phrase "don't worry be happy" that is even a song, folks of my age were tortured with on the radio, in college. I know stuff, you do too! Upvotes: 0
2019/03/27	881	4,172	<issue_start>username_0: Please let me know if I should migrate this question elsewhere if it is inappropriate for this site. This fall, I will begin my PhD program in physics at Johns Hopkins, and I would like to continue my education in theoretical condensed matter physics with a strong emphasis on computational methods. As an undergraduate, I took Computational Physics I and II (grad level courses) and I absolutely loved them. In particular, I enjoyed the process of doing pen-and-paper theoretical calculations and turning those results into code from scratch. Note the latter part: many computational physics groups utilize packages like LAPACK in their work, but I'm not a fan of that; I'm a fan of writing my own code. I guess you could say I enjoy coding, just as much as I enjoy doing theoretical calculations. Additionally, I have been doing research in computational condensed matter physics for two years now. The conclusion has been a robust, multi-layered MD code for correlated systems that is super fast. The process of developing the code and seeing how physical calculations can turn into simulated observables was amazing. Having enjoyed the field of computational physics, I'd like to pursue it professionally and end up with a career in industry regarding this field. As such, I would like to master it! My problem is that I don't know how. First, there aren't that many classes focusing on computational methods at my university. Second, there aren't many condensed matter physicists at my school who actively write their own code (if they are computational people, they use already-built packages for massive simulations). To me, it seems like becoming an expert in computational physics would be more of a self-taught situation. If so, how can I ensure I get a comprehensive overview of the subject and adequately educate myself? In general, I'd like your expert recommendations as to what I can do to professionally develop myself in the field of computational physics.<issue_comment>username_1: So for starters, I want to comment on your interest in writing everything from scratch. I feel for you with that, I felt similarly when I was starting out. While writing codes for some things that exist in great software packages already can definitely make sense, I will specifically say that writing code to do numerical linear algebra work is a terrible use of time. These numerical linear algebra packages are optimized to the extreme both with respect to algorithm approaches and with their software implementations. Now implementing some of these things yourself is a great learning experience but don’t expect your code will perform nearly as well as the popular and proven packages. Also note that when it comes to being a productive researcher, you will have to be smart about optimizing your use of time. Building up your own numerical linear algebra package is likely not going to be a very productive use of your time. Feel free to comment. As for how to learn, you should see if you can find more specific courses in other departments in things like computational mechanics so you can develop some general computational science skills, if you cannot find computational courses with your desired niche. From there, you’ll want to find some good textbooks to supplement your learning, depending on what things you need to learn more deeply or that fit your domain of interest better. You’ll obviously want to also develop some of your own solvers after you’ve covered the theoretical side of things to validate your understanding. Outside of the straight up computational physics learning, you should try learning about some topics that could be useful, such as High Performance Computing, numerical optimization, and perhaps some minimal computational geometry. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I guess for starters you could look at what is there at JHU in terms of advisors. Consider to look at theoretical chemistry, matsci or even applied math or engineering as well for co-advisor. (Just since you are looking for something very specific, you may need to expand the net, within your school.) Upvotes: 1
2019/03/29	5,804	23,902	<issue_start>username_0: There seem to be professors who hold beliefs such as: * Women students pose a special risk to male supervisors * Certain ethnic groups are smarter/lazier/harder-working than others * Older students are worse investments than younger students * Students with disabilities are less capable/more trouble than nondisabled students No student should be saddled with negative prejudices from their supervisor. But how can this be prevented? The big problem is that bigots are often hard to identify early on. They think of themselves as just being honest and realistic. Asking their current students might not help, because if they don't belong to a marginalized group, they will often only notice other characteristics, such as that the supervisor is nice and explains things well. Unfortunately, it's possible to be a very nice guy and also a horrible bigot. There's also a corrosive secondary bigotry where the bigot insists that they themselves aren't bigots, but other people are, so good opportunities would be wasted on the marginalized student. How can a prospective student identify these people and avoid them? Note: There are very strange answers and comments here. I just want to know how a student can find out if supervisor might hurt a student because of hidden bigoted beliefs. Especially if the student does not have a lot of time to get to know the supervisor, for example when choosing a graduate program. I hope this is clearer.<issue_comment>username_1: I will sound snarky with this answer, but have you tried talking to them? Your question may ask well be asked as "How do I determine the values of another human being before I meet them?" And I would say that is not something you can truly learn and understand until you talk with them. You may respond with, 'What if they lie?' And that's a very valid point. But I would tell you that all of human social interaction is this very problem, and that you will not gain the wisdom of how to interact with humans without interacting with them! Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I think that in all but the most blatant cases it is very hard to do. But there are a few suggestions that might get you started. First, note that some of the offenders don't leave tracks that can be followed. A person could, for example, be anti-Semitic and not advertise it, but just find subtle ways to disadvantage Jewish students. There is probably much more of that sort of under the radar sort of bigotry than the more open kind in academia, since it is generally sanctioned when found out. But, students know, or suspect, at least, that they aren't being treated fairly, even if they have no effective way to complain about it or correct it. So, talking to other students in an informal setting is a good way to learn the scuttlebutt. "What do you think about Prof username_2? Is he just goofy or a real problem?" If you have a specific concern talk to students who might share that concern. But, there may also be some record of past misbehavior, either official or otherwise. Disciplinary action may be in the public record (or not). Even a web site like RateMyProfessor is a source of (not well vetted) information that might make you think again about an individual. It is very difficult, of course, to expel bigots from the profession. Often the actions don't rise to the level that permits a tenured person to be fired. While the difficulty of forcing expulsion is intended, it has some bad side effects. The blatant cases, such as [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lee_Moore) and [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shockley) are well known and instructive. Brilliant in their fields, castigated for their social views, but never expelled from their professions. These are the easy cases, since they are very public. But most bigotry thrives in darkness. --- I just came across a book on implicit bias that might give background: [Uncovering Hidden Prejudice](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0735224935) Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I recently heard that a good question to ask is “What do you think that others [perhaps other scientists] think about ...” The idea is that most bigots think their bigotry is pretty normal and their beliefs are widely held in secret. So they might tell you that “other people” think X and you can update your beliefs accordingly, unless they follow this up with a convincing argument about why they think most people are wrong. This method is certainly not conclusive, but it can provide a way to start a conversation or a give a bit of extra evidence one way or the other. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: > > How can a prospective student identify these people and avoid them? > > > You are playing a very dangerous game here. Are you going to make your little test public? If yes, won't the bigots quickly learn how to game it and intentionally avoid detection (as they apparently are doing now according to the premise of your question)? But I am actually more concerned about the opposite option, that you will apply a secret purity test and brand people as bigots or not according to your own private criteria. This can lead to two sorts of problems: * False negatives. Some people (maybe the more clever or sophisticated among the bigots) will still figure out what your game is and manage to avoid being detected. You're back to where you are now, except with more of an (incorrect) expectation that you know who's a bigot and who's not. Not so good. ... and then there's the much worse: * False positives: your private test (that I assume you intend to share with a select group of people who will be the "users" of the test's results) will invariably "flag" some people as bigots who are just... normal people.\* Of course, those people will not know that they have been flagged or why, and will have no means to defend themselves. You will damage their careers, probably their reputations, and at the end of the day, what will you achieve? You have denied someone who is likely a perfectly good advisor and mentor to the students who need one, who are exactly the people you are trying to benefit. \* I personally know two well-respected male academics who were recently accused of sexist behavior by women at their universities, leading to both men suffering a great amount of anxiety and fear of career damage before having their name cleared after pointless (and very stupidly handled) investigations by their university administrations. I have heard first-hand descriptions of both incidents (which occurred independently to two people who don't even know each other) and am 99% confident that they were blown completely out of proportion. So if you think these sorts of mistakes don't happen, think again. To summarize: the idea that you can somehow figure out a way to look deep into people's hearts and decide if they are good or bad according to some value system is appealing in its simplicity. But [we've been there before](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism). For your own and others' sake, my suggestion is: don't. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: See if you have good rapport with them I suggest talking -- especially about the field's subject matter -- and seeing how the discussions go. If you come out of the discussion feeling like you can work with the person, it's probably OK. If you don't, you may not know why, but you will suspect that this person isn't a good fit for you. And one discussion isn't enough -- this is a big decisions and it's appropriate to spend some time makeing it. If you can, take a class that the professor teaches and make use of office hours. (I was in my graduate department for well over a year before I chose my advisor. I understand that in some fields, and some departments, students are expected to choose earlier. So this may not apply.) For example, with one professor I remember talking to, I always came out of our discussions feeling stupid. It wasn't, as far as I'm aware, any form of prejudice. I think it was just a matter of his style of explaining and my response to it. He would have been a poor fit for me. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: All the other answers offer good advice, I only have one little contribution. Currently, many departments and grants, require PI's to make or sign statements on inclusivity, or even have a plan for how to ensure equal opportunities. This might be posted on departmental or lab websites, and either way, when approaching a PI, framing it as "how do you ensure equal opportunities for X, Y & Z" should be a familiar question to the PI, so they know how to answer. You can then gauge their answer to determine how you feel about working in their lab. For example, they might reply that they never needed it, which good be either good or bad (depends on the field, their own background and who you see in their lab). Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Q: How to avoid supervisors with prejudiced views? A: You can't. However, you can get to know a potential supervisor, find out if he/she hates Jews/Blacks/Irishmen/Arabs/etc. and then evaluate the likelihood that those prejudices will affect the relationship between you and your potential supervisor. People usually don't come out and show how bigoted they are at first. There are exceptions, of course. I went on a coffee date with a woman who within the first five minutes had made the following unsolicited remarks:- * She's very pro-Palestinian (because I'm Jewish, you see, which means she feels the need to talk about Israel) * I look like a middle-aged Jew with Down Syndrome (spoiler alert: she was two-thirds correct) * I wear my yarmulke for attention, not to show humility before God (actually, I wear it to show solidarity for the Jews who daren't wear it in public) Oh, and she was a college professor. Yeah. So, to answer your question: (1) get to know the person; (2) evaluate their bigotry or lack thereof; (3) figure out if it'll affect your ability to work together. ...And no, this isn't a 'purity test'. There's right, wrong, and a continuum in between. Bigotry, like personal hygiene, varies from person to person and from day to day. We all stink sometimes, but some of us are worse than others and some definitely aren't cut out to supervise anyone. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: One thing you can do is talk to their current or former students and look at their record with former students. If someone has a strong track record successfully advising students from underrepresented groups that's a very important piece of information. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: In addition to interpersonal interactions, for an established person you can also make a reasonable guess based on looking up their prior advisees. * Are the advisees at least as diverse (or more) than the field as a whole? Professors with explicit or implicit prejudice are likely to embrace either majority/privileged students or students who belong to the same groups as themselves. * Do the post-graduation careers of some classes of advisees show significant disadvantage compared to others? A professor who is prejudices towards some of their students may still effectively graduate them, but nonetheless still damage their careers. This type of analysis won't necessarily find people with specific prejudices, since the sample size will often be too low, but it can give a good hint as to whether you're dealing with somebody who is able to be respectful of diverse backgrounds and needs ... or not. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: I'm an old white man, non-neurotypical, raised in a poverty that is unimaginable to the average person. I have worked since I was 16, and I have had many different kinds of jobs. I might be reasonably qualified to answer this question. The question should be defined. I've been on the receiving end of .. badness. The world is full of it. I think it could be said that there is no person alive such that if they were made absolute rule of planet earthy, they would not turn into a tyrant and make hell of earth. This means that I'm not going to answer "how to detect and avoid only anti-woman bigotry". I would call it abuse, not bigotry. I don't think perfectly hidden bigotry is the problem, if they keep their demons 100% in check then who cares? I think when that bigotry works its way out into words and actions, at which point it isn't a statement about the kind of person they are on the inside, but what they act on the outside. Every court of law says something to the effect "you can't measure the inner workings of the mind". It is an imperfect information problem. You can't know everything. There is always risk, you can't set it to zero, but you can find the lowest place it can go and set it there. The question that I am going to answer, the one I think is "the question behind your question" is what are the indicators of mistreatment, and how can I minimize my risk of being mistreated. This has already been answered, and many people know the answer: the best indicator of future performance is past performance. As I tell my daughters: A boy can lie to you and pretend to be anything for about 3 months; and you can give your heart away but you can't take it back. Do not trust his words alone. Instead look at his words, and actions, over time. Make it at least 6 months of time, and more like 15 months before you put yourself in a place where your heart will start to give itself away. Watch carefully how he treats those that he has no onus to take care of, those who are worth nearly nothing to him. If he treats them poorly, then he is a tyrant, petty at best, but not one worthy of your you. One reprobate of a (male) professor that I once knew, created a fake online profile of a woman, with whom he "pursued" a competitor, and won the other guys heart, then broke it. That was the work of a pile of crap, not an honorable man competing fairly on the basis of competence. Anyone who ever wants to know that professors integrity just has to look into his past to find this. It shows how petty, back-stabbing, and unprofessional that person is willing to be. While I was considering who to have as an advisor in college, I asked those who were under the various professors what it was like. I asked the secretaries and admins, folks who had been there for years, who "knew the dirt" if it was a bad match for me to work under professor x. I didn't say "find me an advisor" which would be stupid, and I didn't ask about everyone. I pre-selected perhaps five, and asked them what they thought of "x as an advisor for my graduate program, should I try knocking on that door". One guy wouldn't let his overseas national students out of work-hours to go to their own fathers funeral. One guy didn't really do any work, and the other faculty knew it so they wouldn't support him - he was on his way out. There are places like "rate your professor". There are current grad students who can tell you what their experience was like. The rule is "if someone is known as being bad to some of their students and you become their student, they are more likely to be bad to you". Contact their former students, ones that have moved on into other greater pastures. They tend to tell it like it is and not put theory over reality. These are places and methods you can use, to reduce (but not to zero) the risk of having a bad personality match, or getting yourself of being under someone who treats people badly. I think that you need to use this and only this. I think people might look scary, but if this method says they are great then be open to it. Don't judge a book by its cover. I know some folks who are scared of professors who belong to a religion, but 80% of engineers are religious. If they take 80% of people off the table because of a label, without taking a little time to evaluate the merit of their deeds, and their consistent treatment of others, then perhaps they might miss out on having a very great, very valuable experience. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: > > "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." --- Aristotle. > > > --- > > There seem to be professors who hold beliefs such as [...list of beliefs I don't like]. No student should be saddled with negative prejudices from their supervisor. But how can this be prevented? > > > One of the things you should be very careful of, especially when you are beginning your tertiary education, is to avoid coming into that educational environment with views that are so rigid that they leave no room for consideration of theories and evidence pertaining to those ideas. In your question you set out a list of beliefs you don't like (many of which are empirical claims, and some of which are almost certainly true) and you then blithely declare that all these claims are mere "negative prejudices" held by "bigots". At a holistic level, your question is essentially asking how you can go through your higher-education without having to encounter beliefs that you don't like (on the purported basis that people holding those beliefs might harm you or others in some way). This is going to cause problems for you in terms of seeking an education to train you to think more clearly, and to be able to entertain ideas with which you disagree. In each of the cases you list, there is a claim made, which can be analysed by applicable theory and empirical evidence. Unfortunately, you don't seem to be at all interested in doing that, and you are instead seeking advice on how to prevent these ideas being believed at all. At best, this attitude is likely to hinder your ability to learn how to analyse a claim for something you disagree with, and you will need to work hard to be able to approach these claims with an analytical mindset. At worst, it will make you uneducable --- you will attend an institution of higher learning, but your rigid attitude will prevent you from engaging with contrary ideas in an analytical way. --- > > * Women students pose a special risk to male supervisors > > > Whether or not this claim is true really depends on what you mean by a "special risk". It is unlikely that there is a distinct category of risk that applies only in this particular case, but it is at least arguable that there are some risks that are magnified when a male supervisor supervises a female student. As you are no doubt aware, most people in society are heterosexual, and male heterosexuals are empirically more likely than female heterosexuals to engage in sexual harassment of subordinates, and their behaviours are probably also more likely to be perceived as harassment under similar circumstances. (I could be wrong about this, but it is at least arguable on good faith.) Thus, it is certainly arguable that, ceteris paribus, the risk of sexual harassment increases when a male supervisor supervises a female student, as does the corresponding risk of a false claim. Ultimately, a claim of higher/special risk needs to be assessed against empirical evidence of outcomes in different supervisory relationships. It is foolish to rule this out as a mere "prejudice" in the absence of some attempt to engage the claim. > > * Older students are worse investments than younger students > > > There is a very strong argument that this claim is true. If students are to be considered as an "investment" at all, then that must presumably mean that they will generate some future benefits (e.g., for society) and their "value" as an "investment" depends on the frequency and magnitude of those future benefits. In economic theory, the value of an investment is determined by some calculation of the "expected net present-value" of the stream of future benefits from the investment. Ceteris paribus, a student with more remaining life is likely to give a longer stream of future benefits, and is thus a higher-value "investment" than a student who has less remaining life. It follows that, ceteris paribus, a younger student is a more valuable "investment" than an older student operating at the same level. I'm sure there are probably some reasonable arguments against this view, but the point is that you would need to actually listen to these competing arguments and evaluate their merits to decide on the truth of the claim. In view of the strength of the supporting argument for this claim (it is virtually a logical consequence of the economic definition of expected present-value, plus the fact that younger people have higher remaining life-expectancy), it is hard to see how this claim can reasonably be characterised as a "prejudice" held only by "bigots". > > * Certain ethnic groups are smarter/lazier/harder-working than others > > > This is an empirical claim, and the only way to resolve it in a robust way would be to look at data on those characteristics (measured somehow) for a range of people in different ethnic groups. There is a mountain of empirical literature on IQ, etc., and this literature consistently shows differences among race/ethnic groups. Studies on levels of leisure-time and physical inactivity give more mixed evidence, but there are usually differences among race groups found in individual studies. Whether or not those various differences are "nature or nurture", and whether or not they are likely to remain over time, etc., are controversial topics on which much academic literature has been written. There are probably all sorts of nuanced and reasonable scientific views one could hold on this topic. Many academics argue either that the measures of intelligence, etc., are flawed, or that the empirical results of difference groups are likely to converge over time, or make other claims. Others do indeed hold that there are differences in these characteristics rooted in genetic causes. The particular claim you mention is a pure empirical claim (i.e., a descriptive non-causal claim) and can be assessed directly by data on the present population. In view of the fact that this is an empirical claim, beliefs about the claim by academics are likely to be influenced by empirical data, or at least anecdotal observation, and it is thus unlikely that the claim would mere be a "prejudice". If you have a look at the academic literature on race/ethnic differences in various positive characteristics like intelligence, diligence, etc., you will see that there are a range of views and a lot of study and data that can be used to elucidate the topic. > > * Students with disabilities are less capable/more trouble than nondisabled students > > > A dis-ability is literally an incapacity --- i.e., something that makes someone less capable of doing something. Thus, the claim that a person with a disability is less capable (somehow) is a tautology, taking the concept of "disability" and replacing it with its synonym "incapacity". Now, obviously any given disability gives a particular set of incapacities, and those limited incapacities do not necessarily imply any broader lack of capability beyond the specifics of the disability. As to what particular incapacities or "trouble" that would imply, it would depend on the nature of the disability. It should go without saying that a university should try its best to accommodate student disabilities, and supervisors should be willing to go to some "trouble" to assist people with disabilities to the extent that this is reasonably required. Nevertheless, with respect, treating the above claim as a "prejudice" held only by "bigots" is really quite idiotic. It is a claim that is virtually a tautology, and any denial of the claim would render the concept of "disability" meaningless. Upvotes: 3
2019/03/29	2,425	9,890	<issue_start>username_0: I am a postdoc and I prepared a paper that is now ready for submission. I did this work by myself. I know that [adding my advisor as an author would violate authorship standards](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/19362), but it is a widespread practice and therefore my supervisor may still expect it, which I have to take into account when making a decision. How can I tactfully find out, whether she would like me to put her name on it or not?<issue_comment>username_1: For almost every paper (and particularly if you are the sole author), it’s a good idea to have an “internal peer-review”, i.e., have a colleague who is not an author read the manuscript and give feedback before actually submitting it to a journal. (The main reason for this is that it is much faster and interactive than peer review.) Usually this internal review is done by other advisees of the professor, other professors within a collaborative project, or close colleagues. Now, if you are authoring a paper on your own, your advisor is the most obvious choice to perform the initial peer review¹. Moreover, in many cases you also have to report to your advisor about your research not due to authorship reasons, but due to her being your superior (in the employment sense), because the rules of your PhD programme say so, or similar. This gives you enough reason to talk intensively about your work, without delving into the issue of authorship first. Now, the details depend on how much you already communicated about this piece of work and how you generally communicate within your group, but here are a few suggestions: * Ask your supervisor to internally review your paper, but leave the author field blank. This may prompt your supervisor address the topic herself, telling you what she wants. There are some variations of this, which differ in risk and effectiveness, such as to giving her a paper which only lists you or both of you as the author or thanking her for constructive feedback in the acknowledgements. * If your target journal requires a list of explicit author contributions (“X and Y designed the experiments; Z held the Giraffe, …”), you may be able to elicit a response by having a title for this segment, but leaving a big and fat “TODO” below it. * If this did not yield any feedback, you can now bring up the issue of authorship mostly neutrally, saying something like: > > It seems that the paper is ready for submission now. Now, we only need to talk about authorship. > > > * Maybe the internal review prompts creative contributions from your supervisor that would justify authorship and you avoid the dilemma altogether (but lose your sole authorship). Be aware that if you really want to be the single author of this paper, giving the paper to your boss for review may be a slight risk, as it may give her a reason to think that she should be a co-author in the first place. Finally, do not forget that authorship is not only about writing the paper. So, if your supervisor gave constructive input to your work, this may qualify her for authorship even though you did all the work and writing. --- ¹ unless this is a “hobby” paper in a completely different field Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The most tactful way to ask is possibly to ask your supervisor what he thinks about the paper and if he would be willing to "critically revise" the paper. The "critically revise" is under quotation marks as many journals accept this as a "significant" contribution to a paper which justifies authorship. Above was the formal part. When we talk about your paper itself now then you can see the cirtical revision also as something to benefit from. If you are not a (very) experienced senior postdoc that knows the literature and each wording of each method etc exactly then your paper might actually benefit greatly if someone more experienced (or even just someone with a slightly different view) works over it as many things that seem logical to you might not be logical to someone else. I do not know your exact field but in most fields papers of single authors are rather uncommon for this reason. Please note that this post does not answer if your supervisor should be author but rather how to tactfully ask (as this is the question here). Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: In the real world, what is necessary and what is right are sometimes at odds. This seems to be the case in all such questions of including advisors/supervisors as co-authors on papers. In mathematics, which I consider to have a sensible approach, advisors are never included (well almost never) unless they make a direct contribution to the paper. They are actually often omitted even when they do and are happy for just an acknowledgement. I think that Philosophy is like this also. Neither myself (mathematics) nor my daughter (philosophy) included advisors as co-authors. Never. Even. Considered. It. In some lab sciences, especially, a supervisor has created the conditions under which the work can proceed and even funds lab assistants, etc, that make all work possible. In those fields it is normally considered necessary to include the supervisor as a co-author, and even as first author in some cases. I think of that as less sensible, but it is the norm. The other answers so far given here seem to be suggesting ways to make the supervisor a real contributor to the work so that they can be rightly considered a co-author. But that isn't how the world works in those fields that traditionally include supervisors in the author list. No one, for example, caries out completely independent work at CERN on the Large Hadron Collider, for example. Lots of people participate in some way, including those who built the thing in the first place. The solution to the dilemma here, is just to ask. But ask in person. Provide the supervisor with a near-final draft and ask "Should you be co-author of this or not". Simple and clean. There are three possible responses: (1) of course not, (2) of course, and (3) let's see.... Only 3 requires any real thought and you can work it out, depending. I'll note that, depending on your field, it may also be either an advantage or a disadvantage to have the advisor (or anyone else) as co-author. In some fields, co-authoring a paper with a prominent researcher can boost your career, as you are seen to move in the halls of power. In other fields, where they count "chits" and "split hairs", only sole authorship (or at least "first" authorship) is valued, including the supervisor can hurt. I don't know what is the case in your field and assume you don't either or you wouldn't be asking. But your advisor certainly knows, leading to responses (1) or (2) in most cases. But if the response is (1) you need to ack the advisor. If it is (2) it could be a career killer to refuse, since you need letters to advance. If it is (3) then the other answers here from [username_2](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/127320/75368) and [Wrzlpmft](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/127319/75368) give a way to work out a way forward. But it is the traditions of your field that dominate here - whether sensible or not. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Unless you have evidence to the contrary, you should assume that your advisor is ethical, and would not demand co-authorship of a paper to which he/she has manifestly not made a contribution commensurate with authorship. If you were to ask him/her, you would appear to be either naïve (that is, you do not realise that 'honorary' authorship is unethical) or insinuating that you think he/she may not be ethical. If, having submitted your paper, your advisor complains about your not having added him/her as co-author, you should explain politely that, since he/she had not made a contribution commensurate with authorship, you did not add his/her name, but that if you had misunderstood what constitutes authorship, perhaps the advisor would be so obliging as to enumerate the contributions you had neglected to notice, and help you draft a joint letter to the editor to explain why the name should be added. That way, the onus on your advisor to explain why he/she should be included. If your advisor is unethical, he/she will find it quite awkward. One solution is to invite your advisor to review the paper before submission. Mark it as a sole-authored paper, and do not suggest co-authorship on your initiative. There are several possible outcomes: 1. If your advisor does not answer the invitation, submit as a sole-authored paper. 2. If your advisor gives feedback but does not comment on the matter of authorship, act on the feedback and submit as a sole-authored paper. 3. If your advisor gives feedback and requests co-authorship, make sure that he/she pulls his/her weight in helping you revise the paper to an extent that would actually warrant it (this is what an ethical advisor would do). 4. If your advisor acts as per §3, but fails to make sufficient contribution, you should make the point, politely but firmly, that he/she has not yet contributed enough, and ask whether you should: * delay submitting (until he/she has contributed more); or * submit as a sole-authored paper. Do not take the initiative of suggesting anything unethical yourself; if your advisor wants to act unethically, the initiative must come from him/her, not from you. As scholars, we have a responsibility not to make it easy for unethical behaviour to happen. Of course, we may often be powerless to stop unethical behaviour we see (or suspect), but the least we can do is make it awkward for the perpetrators to hide what they are doing. Offering co-authorship to your advisor will either facilitate unethical behaviour (if he/she is unethical) or offend him/her (if he/she is ethical). Upvotes: 2
2019/03/29	842	3,552	<issue_start>username_0: I was awarded a rather prestigious postdoctoral fellowship that guarantees a generous salary, research expenses etc. for 2 years. It is in the same institution where I am working as a postdoc now, but would increase my salary by quite a bit and of course give me complete freedom over my research. I have not yet accepted the offer because I am struggling with a particular problem. It is likely that in a year's time I will need to relocate to another country (for personal reasons). How bad is it to take the fellowship, knowing that there is a chance I will have to quit early? How frowned upon is quitting in the middle of a fellowship that explicitly specifies a 2-year tenure? Of course quitting a regular contracted postdoc job is straightforward, but I am not sure how it works with a personal fellowship—are there any additional consequences I haven't considered? Edit: Just to provide some additional context, this is an individual fellowship (i.e. awarded directly to me) and the funding is internal (i.e. comes from the university itself).<issue_comment>username_1: Obviously, you need to see the contract, and preferably go over it with an attorney. There may be a repayment agreement. You don't know until you look. As to whether you can leave this postdoc early, I recommend thinking about how public the info would be, and how your colleagues in your field would look at it if they knew about it. Personally, I could never hold it against a postdoc if they left to grab a dream faculty position. I imagine this happens with some regularity. That said, I would personally think less of a person that accepted a two-year position with the secret intent of leaving after a year. An institution is making an investment in you, and you would be letting them down. I would think of it as you entering an agreement in poor faith. Needing to relocate for personal reasons after a year is a decision that only you can make. If it's important to you, you might consider honestly discussing your situation with the manager of whatever program you're involved with before you sign on the bottom line. It may be fine with them. They might even be amenable to some form of telecommuting! If you choose to do this, you should do it knowing that a revocation of the offer is a real possibility. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Quitting a fellowship is the same as quitting any other job. Your colleagues should congratulate you on finding a new opportunity which will let you move on to something better. The ethical issue here is not quitting. It is applying for a fellowship you do not intend to use. Do not do that. It wastes the funding agency's time. Since you intend to use a major portion of the fellowship, your conduct is fine. Since the funding agency has put effort into determining that you are the best person to take their money, you should view it as your responsibility to make maximum use of the fellowship between now and when you need to move on. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I left a very prestigious fellowship for a job, it was fine and they congratulated me. However, the research budget was pro-rated, (i.e. divided by number of days of my tenure). If I had spent more of the budget than allotted for based on the actual length of my time as a fellow, my host would have been responsible for reimbursing the over-spent amount. Just check to be clear how it works. Postdocs are pretty much always on the job market, so leaving before the end is super common. Good luck! Upvotes: 2
2019/03/30	654	2,903	<issue_start>username_0: A lot of the time when looking for information about a topic online I come across another university's resources that are publicly available. Some have a full listing of all the resources available for that course and others just have a PDF for one topic of the course. Can I read them or download them?<issue_comment>username_1: You can read and download them. They made them publicaly available so that students from their institute and other can read and download them.You may be worrying about the copyright crap. Don't worry about it, Just do what ever you want. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: It is fair to say that if someone publishes something on the net then you can download and use it freely for personal use just as if you check it out from the library. At least, I've never heard any opinion that would challenge that. Beyond that, you have to consider a few things. In the US, at least, authors gain copyright (all rights) to anything they create. If you don't find another statement to the contrary, then you have to assume that "all rights are reserved." To use something for other than personal use, for example republishing it in any form, you need permission: a license. Some web resources are explicitly licensed with the terms carefully stated, such as through [Creative Commons](https://creativecommons.org). Some are explicitly stated to be "Public Domain". But in the absence of such statements, assume that all rights are reserved. It is easy enough to ask educators for permission to use their materials and most will give you some sort of license to do so. But you can still plagiarize people even when you have a license. But for academic resources there is another consideration. If you found it, so can your students. So, reusing found exams and homework questions can be a bit risky. You can safely mine the resources for "ideas" of course, as ideas are always free to use. I would like to say that you can freely link to found resources, as that seems sensible to me, but there are laws, especially in EU, that are bringing that idea into question. It is unlikely that you would be challenged for linking to an academic site, though you could possibly be for linking to a news site. The world of copyright is a bit weird and getting worse. In the not too recent past, "fair use" permitted some limited reuse of the work of others, but only for specific purposes (and with attribution). One of the fair uses was scholarship, but that has been going away ever since the Xerox machine was invented, with "content owners" working through governments to limit use more and more. The bigger problem is that the rules of "fair use" are too variable to make general statements about them. What is allowed in EU may be forbidden in US, for example. Personal use: fine. Beyond that, look for a license, ask, or beware. Upvotes: 2
2019/03/30	1,284	4,736	<issue_start>username_0: From [Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/89109/14341), I get that generally you will get answer if you ask question on their work. But what if your question is tangent to their work, and requires some space to elaborate? The draft is below: > > Dear Prof X > > > To introduce myself, my name is Y, from country Z. I have read some pages in your book about the connection between [concept A in field 1] and [concept B in field 2]. I wonder what do you think about the connection between [concept C in field 1] and [concept D in field 2]? > > > [16 lines and 184 words to elaborate the connection. I don't consider this as a wall of text] > > > I also have a blog article explaining all my observations about the connection between field 1 and field 2. It may take only 5 minutes to read. > > > Thank you for your reading. Hope you enjoy it. > > > Some notes: * I haven't read his book enough to say that I know a large portion of it (just skimming it), but I can say that I understand A, B, C, D at least in introductory level. * I don't have any institute, but I think my culture is relevant to field 1, so perhaps it can be a kind of expertise/institute? * I may apply to his school in the future Related: [How do researchers send unsolicited emails asking for feedback on their works?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/126623/14341)<issue_comment>username_1: If you write to a senior person the chances to get an answer are low. In order to improve your chances I can recommend: 1. Keep it as short as possible. You need to catch interest within the first 3-5 seconds in your email. The chances for an answer decrease with the length of your email. In connection with this: 2. Don't waste their time ("To introduce myself, my name is Y, from country Z") 3. Start with something very positive e.g. "I was very excited to read your XYZ - especially how you described the connection between A and B" (researcher really like to hear this - but again: keep it short and do not overdo it with the honey here) 4. Quote a mutual connection e.g. "Prof X (whom he knows personally) suggested to get in contact with you" (but only write this if it is true!) 5. If the professor needs to open a link or can not answer the email within 2-3 min (sometimes on his phone during a boring meeting) then your chances are pretty slim if your cause for contacting him is not groundbreaking. 6. Give him an easy way to answer. Instead of asking him to explain give a yes/no option. For example instead of "I wonder what do you think about the connection between [concept C in field 1] and [concept D in field 2]" write "I was wondering if the connection between [concept C in field 1] and [concept D in field 2] could be interpretedin way A or do you think B might be more appropriate? The PhD comics nicely summarize this [here](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd072508s.gif). Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As a busy person who receives these sorts of emails, my response to email tends to fall into two categories: 1. I can respond to this right now, and get it out of my queue. 2. I'm going to need to think about this some, I guess I'll put it off for later... and later turns out to be days, weeks, or months before it surfaces again, if ever. Unfortunately, your draft email above will most definitely fall into category #2. * "What do you think about..." is an open-ended request for an essay. Is one sentence enough, or a page, or a full scientific paper? * You want the reader to digest 16 lines of technical discussion with an unclear goal of evaluation. * You also want the reader to go read your blog post, which makes me wonder if that's the real point of this. You've thus got 3 different things you're asking of the reader, none of which actually says what you really want to get out of the interaction. And that's the real problem: why are you writing to this person? * Do you have an answerable question they can help you with? (i.e., not "what do you think..." but "Does Concept A actually mean that [Red Ones Go Faster?](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedOnesGoFaster)") * Do you want to show them your work and see if they think it makes sense? * Do you just want them to be aware that you exist? * Something else? When you figure out what you most want, focus the email on precisely one thing that can be addressed quickly, and try to keep the whole thing to only 3-4 sentences. If you can do that, you also will have forced yourself to be clear enough about what you want that a useful answer is much more likely. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2019/03/30	598	2,396	<issue_start>username_0: I am assigned as a reviewer of an article for IEEE TNNLS (computer science), but unfortunately, I would be super busy during the week of the deadline. In fact, I need to submit a paper and also two postdoc applications during the same week. I'm already trying to do as much as I can before that week, but it'd make things much easier (with better quality) if I can postpone the review at least for two more days. So, I like to know if it looks unprofessional to ask the editor for that extension and whether it'd damage my review performance/reputation in that journal?<issue_comment>username_1: Getting a review in two days late for a journal article is pretty common. I wouldn't worry about anything less than being a week late. For conferences, deadlines can be tighter, but 2 days is nothing. Ideally you would let the editor know your review will be a couple of days late, but even if you didn't, it is not the end of the world. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I wouldn't even ask. Just "tell". Send a short email saying you will send the review a week later (more time than needed, don't want to come back in 2 days again). Don't phrase the email in a manner that requires a response from the editor--tell, don't ask (cut the back and forth chatter). If the editor wants/needs to pull the paper, he will do so. But it's very unlikely he will. But just let him do what he does. In addition, I would be practical and do a simple review. I love doing extensive murder board reviews. But you need to concentrate on your own stuff. There is probably an 80-20 rule where you can give 80% of the key improvements with 20% of the text and parsing time. In particular, if you are recommending rejection, I would be economical with your time and not investment much in improvement recommendations. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: When I ask for an extension, I usually ask for a substantial one, i.e. one week not just 2 days. This way, if I need more than 2 days for some unforeseen reason I don’t have to ask for another extension. Moreover if the editor is really tight she/he can negotiate down to 2 days and everybody is happy. > > Dear editor, > Due to unforeseen circumstances I can only guarantee submission of my report by[deadline+1 week]. I trust this firm new submission date is acceptable to the Journal. > > > Upvotes: 2