date
stringlengths 10
10
| nb_tokens
int64 60
629k
| text_size
int64 234
1.02M
| content
stringlengths 234
1.02M
|
|---|---|---|---|
2019/05/16
| 144
| 464
|
<issue_start>username_0: What is the correct format to fill out this field in a form? What if the author has no affiliations? Could you please give some examples?
>
> Author title(s) and affiliation(s):
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: Author: *Ninja Cat*
Title(s): *Dr*
Affiliation(s): *None*, *unaffiliated*, or <https://academia.stackexchange.com/search?q=no+affiliation>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Affiliation: independent scholar
Upvotes: -1
|
2019/05/16
| 961
| 3,587
|
<issue_start>username_0: From what I know, one cannot use a mathematical symbol for two different notations in a thesis. Is this right? The thing is that I am trying to cite a book in my thesis, but this book uses (tau) for both viscous stresses and reynolds stresses. Can I do the same in my thesis or do I have to choose another notation?
Bear in mind that I am new to academic writing, thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: >
> From what I know, one cannot use a mathematical symbol for two different notations in a thesis. Is this right?
>
>
>
That's certainly good advice, since it avoids unnecessary confusion.
>
> The thing is that I am trying to cite a book in my thesis, but this
> book uses (tau) for both viscous stresses and reynolds stresses. Can I
> do the same in my thesis or do I have to choose another notation?
>
>
>
Presumably you don't intended to use τ to mean viscous stresses and reynolds stresses in the same context, because usage of τ would then be ambigious. So, I presume you'll be using τ to mean viscous stress in one context, perhaps an entire chapter, and to mean reynolds stress in another context, perhaps a different chapter. This seems reasonable. However, you needn't use the book's notation, especially if there is a risk of ambiguity.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: So why not just define a tau with a subscript v and a tau with a subscript r - make it clear in your nomenclature and you're sorted.
See:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l97Qa.gif)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: >
> From what I know, one cannot use a mathematical symbol for two different notations in a thesis. Is this right?
>
>
>
Such things are not governed by hard-and-fast rules. Your institution might have specific style guidelines for a thesis, but notational choices are usually at the discretion of the author. Of course, it's ultimately your advisor and/or committee who decides whether your thesis is acceptable, though it's unlikely that notation alone would be the cause for rejection.
>
> The thing is that I am trying to cite a book in my thesis, but this book uses (tau) for both viscous stresses and reynolds stresses. Can I do the same in my thesis or do I have to choose another notation?
>
>
>
It's up to you. Make your own decision as to which way will be the most clear. You can ask your advisor if you are unsure.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Perhaps for some perspective: the *scope* of a "name" can be limited, that is, "local", or it can be "global". Even fairly basic programming principles nowadays (with virtually unlimited namespace, as opposed to 1960's Fortran) recommend keeping namespaces as local as possible...
... and this advice applies to most mathematical notation, as well. That is, there are really very few symbols/notations that are understood globally and unambiguously. That's fine. I think one should be reconciled to (re-) setting the "names" in a given "scope", and not at all depend on document-dependent notation/names as though they'd be something the reader would have assimilated. (Excepting perhaps a very small number...)
Even then, if "tau" has two different and conflicting senses in the literature, there is no genuine intellectual/scientific purpose served in being mute on the point, and trying to find a way to dodge the operational ambiguity. That is, in each of your sections or subsections, tell what "tau" is. Done.
That is, do try to find a viewpoint from which this is a non-issue.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/16
| 1,887
| 6,516
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have been asked to provide feedback regarding a paper a friend of mine has written. I sometimes read scientific research in my free time and I am yet to come across anything similar to what that friend has produced. I don't think I can provide any meaningful feedback as I am not sure how to approach this thesis.
This thesis has no defining research question that it is trying to answer. The aforementioned friend of mine wrote his bachelors thesis to merely inform the reader about the subject. As such, no meaningful conclusions were made. The conclusion section of the paper only contains a short summary of previous chapters. That friend of mine studies in Finland. The subject of this paper is Cyber Security.
Is that friend of mine doing something wrong? If not, could you perhaps point me into the direction of similar research so that I can use that as a baseline to provide feedback?<issue_comment>username_1: I can't be sure, but from your description it seems like this thesis does not include original research, and that is what troubles you. Instead of original research, it sounds like your friend may have produced a survey or review of a particular area, which informs the reader about the body of work in that area. (See this answer to [Difference between research paper and scientific paper](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/37180/11365)).
A bachelors thesis may or may not be expected to include original research. Your friend should ask his or her thesis advisor to clarify the expectations in their department.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Original research is *not required* for bachelors or masters courses, only doctorates. A replication study is acceptable. However the research question, hypothesis, or aims/objectives should still be clearly stated. Many courses still require a dissertation to have original data, even if the conclusions are negative or not novel themselves. What you appear to be describing is a literature review, not a thesis. Please check the requirements of the specific programme to ensure that this is acceptable instead of a thesis. Submitting it as original research would be inappropriate but it should be possible to add sufficient results (including modelling or simulations) in the context of the literature to meet these requirements. If this is the case, then this is a matter which should be taken up with the supervisor as it appears that the candidate has misunderstood what a thesis entails.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: What you can is compare to other bachelor's theses on the same area at the same university. Most or all Finnish universities have an electronic depository of published articles and theses (these might be different or the same one).
I checked that the repository for University of Jyväskylä does not contain bachelor's theses on this subject.
Aalto's repository has several; but they do not seem to be openly accessible to everyone, see <https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/bachelor_info/?la=en>. But maybe your friend can access them with their university account.
On cybersecurity:
[1](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/32245)
[2](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/36558)
[3](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/15043)
[4](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/16615)
[5](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/16790)
[6](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/19336)
[7](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/15043)
[8](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/32046)
[9](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/10578)
[10](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/17956)
[11](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/17941)
[12](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/10572)
[13](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/15041)
[14](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/19454)
[15](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/26258)
[16](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/32046)
[17](https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/17941)
In a similar spirit, I would suggest asking your friend to find the institutional repository of their university, or alternatively visiting the university library, and checking out some of the theses, if they are accessible. Or maybe you can find some publicly accessible ones. You can use them to get an idea of what such a thesis might look like.
In math
=======
In (fairly pure) mathematics, most bachelor's theses do not contain original research. They likely contain a proof and maybe some context on the problem. This might or might not be different in cybersecurity.
In general
==========
A bachelor's thesis should be a significant contribution to or sign of the writer's understanding, in any case. It is also practice for scientific writing. If it looks like a literature review, then it should definitely have references.
Ask the advisor for more details.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: There is probably no requirement for original research. Check but I bet this is the case. However, based on your statements, including comments, I get the impression the paper is not very good. While you are not an expert in their requirements, your common sense gut reaction seems to lean this way.
Give this advice:
1. Add citations and comments on the literature.
2. Also advise the author/instructor to try to come up with some better slant/theme/question or some interesting categorization/structure (importance, front to back end, historical evolution, etc.). Obviously the facts, ideas have a value on their own. But any written work functions better for the reader if there is some narrative or story. It's not an exact problem like an equation to know how to assign a theme, and multiple decent options exist. But the effort to assign one will likely pay off.
---
The paper will still probably be lacking (I am reading between the lines), but you will have discharged your duty to give a few words of decent advice. At that point, que sera sera. Heck, even if all the kid does is a half-hearted attempt at 1 (writing endnotes but not really evaluating the literature for importance), at least he will have practiced the clerical mechanics of doing citations.
The scope sounds too large. He would have been better off picking something more granular. But at this point, it is likely too far down the pike to worry about. It's really just a school project...let the kid get his gentleman's C and be on his way.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/16
| 829
| 3,175
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm a just-graduated undergraduate in Biology/Bioinformatics.
In a month or so, I'll get to give a short (10-minute) talk at a major conference during one of a handful (5?) 50-minute workshops (I'm so excited!).
The other 4 speakers were invited to talk by my principal investigator. He also invited me to give a talk. My PI applied to give the workshop—it’s a competitive proposal-based thing, I think.
I'll be applying to graduate school in a couple of months and plan to list the talk on my CV.
I guess it's officially an invited talk (by the criteria [here](https://mathoverflow.net/questions/42225/what-counts-as-an-invited-talk) and [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/63034/does-a-conference-talk-in-an-invited-session-count-as-an-invited-talk), at least), but that feels somewhat contrived since it's my PI who invited me.
Should I go ahead and list it as an "invited talk" on my CV, or would "contributing talk" be more honest?
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: In principle, an invited speaker at a conference or workshop is a researcher who has significant experience in the field: it is assumed that their talk is valuable for the participants, that's why they are "invited".
Although you are technically "invited", I would recommend not listing this as an "invited talk" because academics are likely to think that it's an abuse of the term in this case or worse, that it's a lie. To be safe I would just list it as a regular talk.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Since you have graduated already I would say that it is perfectly fine to list it as "invited". If the other speakers are able to do so, then you should also. This is especially the case since your use of the CV is for graduate school admission, not some later career stage purpose.
It might be a bit presumptuous to list a ten minute talk as an invited talk if you had just earned a doctorate with this professor, but for someone in your position it is an honor to be asked, even for such a short talk. I'll guess that few such BA/BS students are in a similar position.
However, while the "invited" part seems fine to me, you might want to take care about how you state the rest of the description. "Invited talk" might imply more than you intend. "Invited short talk" or "Invited workshop presentation" might be more accurate. I assume you don't have a lot of these requiring a general description for a section of your CV.
Your advisor had options about who to invite. He wasn't obligated to invite you and trusts that you have something to offer.
However, since he will be writing you letters of recommendation for grad school, I assume, you can ask him what is best here.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: First off, congrats on your upcoming talk!
I would not consider this an invited talk unless you were invited by the conference organizers. It is common for PI's to encourage their mentees to give talks and this does not quite fit into the definition of an invited talk.
ETA: I missed the part about the PI being the workshop organizer. I would still be hesitant about listing this as such.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/16
| 719
| 3,383
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a 5th year PhD student in mechanical engineering. My research has been about utilising a commercial Finite Element software to model a complex phenomenon.
For my research, I had to write small python scripts for post processing, many matlab codes to implement topology optimization algorithms (available as ready-made functions). I also wrote few Fortran subroutines to implement two constitutive equations to my simulations which involved working around the syntax provided by the software guidebook.
My concern is that, none of the programming aspects of my research required any implementation of numerical methods or any high level of programming. It was just using an available inbuilt function and wrapping a program around it to serve my purpose. So, the only skill set required here was a knowledge of basic syntax, a bit of logic and an idea of the big picture.
The numerical bit of the simulation is done by the commercially available finite element (FE) code. It's not a black box to me as I know the fundamental theory behind it. But its actually just knowing which buttons to press.
However, while I was searching for some good and relevant postdoc positions, they all mentioned one thing; "Must be an expert in some high level programming language."
My question is, what is the expectation of programming knowledge in an applied work as my research area? And what should my strategy be for the next half a year to make myself suitable for those positions?<issue_comment>username_1: Your description of your programming background doesn't seem like it makes you a good fit as an "expert" in any programming language. Those positions sound like they want some one who can do serious, perhaps large scale, implementation.
But it may be that the other parts of your skill set will seem more attractive for some positions. Sometimes an employer might be willing to give up A to get more B, but that is up to them.
Other than just focusing on what you do best and hoping, you can try to get that expertise in one of the languages you already know to some extent. You can probably do that by building something substantial and becoming thoroughly familiar with the arcane libraries of some language. Like any learning task, use practice and try to get feedback on your programs. Working with a team can help so long as the others can help you expand.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> It was just using an available inbuilt function and wrapping a program around it to serve my purpose.
>
>
>
To be honest, this sounds like the majority of programming that takes place in academia.
Obviously the exact skill requirements will be different for every position, so I can't give you any specific advice, but knowing how to link together existing functions in order to create a program that you want is a useful skill that not everyone has. Don't let your impostor syndrome get the better of you.
Your advisor or someone else in your particular field might be able to offer advice on what skills you should focus on developing.
Background: I recently finished an MA in a field where many researchers are using programming, but also many are not. I have a programming background, but many students with much less programming experience than I have were able to be successful in writing programs for their research.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/16
| 981
| 4,178
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a final year Ph.D. student and will graduate soon. My advisor is still asking me to run problems instead of publishing any paper on the work that I have already done over the last few years. I will be joining a postdoc after I graduate and he says I should keep working on these problems on the side after I graduate. Can someone please suggest me how to stay motivated.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't know what sort of hold the advisor has over you. Perhaps you are in a field that "requires" that he be a co-author on your work.
After you graduate, assuming that your postdoc is elsewhere he would seem to have little control over your actions.
But, if it is really just motivation that you want to maintain, you can always *write* the papers and see what you have. Even if custom prevents you from publishing now, it won't always and it might also serve to bring your thoughts together.
After you graduate and move on, your relationship to the advisor will also change and you should have more authority over your own actions.
I realize that this advice is somewhat optimistic and my field may be different enough from yours that it is inadvisable. But, my view, is that you should be treated with more respect.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Have you written the papers and the advisor stops them from going out? Or are you arguing about this before writing them? In general, in any situation like this, you are better off to write the thing up and then have the argument. (Not just academia, but requests for money, etc. I learned in the military that it's easy for your superior to say nobody gets leave...but it's harder on him to have to disapprove the leave chit.)
For one thing, maybe his opinion changes when the paper is all wrapped up in a neat little bow, and all he has to do is sigh off. For another thing, maybe you decide to send it in without his OK. (Not saying to do this immediately...just it is an OBVIOUS option down the road. And heck, having it written, puts that option in the back of his head even without you mentioning it.) \
In any case, don't have theoretical arguments about publishing, when you haven't even written what would be published!
Note that the work of writing things up is not lost even if the holdup remains. You need to clarify your thoughts. Also it is good practice for you. Based on your question, I think you need to work on your written communications in English. (Just a guess...and my grammar sucks...but you were missing a preposition in last sentence.) No offense if you are a non-native speaker...your English is likely much better than my whatever. Just that's the game you are in now...good writing of English language papers is a key attribute of a scientist. This is a perfect chance to work on fixing that. Helps remove a potential blocking factor (dependence on others for clear writing) and positions you to be an independent researcher.
In addition to writing technical English, it is good for you to get some practice being the moving force and positioning things for the literature. You should decide what journals to go to and how to carve your work up into different publishable parts. I recommend decent journals (1-2 ranks below Science/Nature, but NOT 3, nothing that requires page charges or is flybynight crap. Professional societies ACS, APS, are usually good.) For division, I recommend LPUs. (Look it up.) Make sure you get a copy of the notice to authors and follow it religiously. Write the thing so that it is perfect and needs no editing by an advisor or editor...just typesetting into the journal. Word is fine in most fields and even preferable to LaTEX. But if it is a journal that requires LaTEX, do that.)
Don't work on this guy's stuff after you leave. But don't have a useless argument about that, NOW. Just leave and THEN don't do it. Once you are gone and funded elsewhere, your negotiating position becomes a lot stronger. He will likely realize that 3/4 of a loaf is better than none. IOW write up the results to date and get a decent paper (but lacking some things he'd like) because otherwise he gets nothing, no paper.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/17
| 1,412
| 5,663
|
<issue_start>username_0: **Background:** My course has three exams: I did really bad on the first, great on the second (97%), and I think well on the third. I regularly attended the professor's office hours and never missed class.
**Question:** I now estimate that my final grade could be at the cutoff. Is it appropriate for me ask if he can round up grades (or bump up..) now before the grade is out? Or after the grade is out..?
**Details:**
This professor didn't send out scores online for the previous two exams. He only allowed us to pick up the exam on the class. However, since everyone will be leaving, I don't know whether he is going to distribute the exam grade online or he is just going straight to put the final letter grade in the system. So, another option would be to e-mail him now and ask how he plans to distribute the exam grades.<issue_comment>username_1: It may depend on what you mean by "bump up"?
An increase of a couple of points to get you from 58 to 60 out of 100 (or eqivalent scale) may be one thing that may be considered prior to or at the grades or exam board..
But bumping your grade from 25 to 60 is completly different and not likely to happen whether you ask before or after...
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: **It depends on the prof, but usually this is inappropriate before the grades come out**. It is "inappropriate" in the sense that you will either be turned away or ignored, not that anything seriously bad will happen. Instructors get students emailing them **all the time** to talk about the exam they are convinced they have just failed before even seeing the results. There are several issues.
1. The instructor may not have graded anything yet, so he doesn't know whether you passed or failed.
2. It depends on your professor's policy. My personal policy is that students get the grades they earn. However, if I see a student on the edge I will go over their exam to make sure that no unnecessary marks were taken off, and no mistakes were made. However, I will not bump a student up unless it's something absurdly close, like getting 59.9 when the passing grade is 60.
3. Your prof may be intending to grade on a curve or some other adjustment anyway. Asking them will not be helpful.
Ultimately, wait until your grade comes out. Until then, there is not much you should be doing. For all you know, you passed the course, then it is a small embarrassment to admit that in your stress you asked for marks.
Now, what happens when the grades come out? As SolarMike said, it depends on your grade and the instructor. If it's a 58 when 60 is a pass, you might be able to convince the instructor to bump you. But yes, if it's much below a few percent or if the test was marked so that subjectivity doesn't count (as in: it's multiple choice or something), then it's unlikely that you will succeed.
I know that it is difficult to wait, especially if you think you failed. But you will demonstrate a far greater professionalism if you respect the timelines of things.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: **Consider asking for an appointment to review the final exam.**
Preemptively saying "I might be below the cut-off and would appreciate free points" is obnoxious. It's likely the professor has already taken your improvement and other factors into account. Further, asking for additional points for any reason other than a grading mistake is really inappropriate, though it's so common that most professors accept it.
On the other hand, waiting until the final grades might be too long. Once the professor has made a decision about what grade you deserve, they are much less likely to reverse that decision.
So, a good middle ground is to ask for an appointment to review the exam. This is a good thing to do in any case; further, the professor will take extra care when assigning your grade, as he will anticipate having to justify it to you. This also does not put you in an awkward position if you actually earned the grade you wanted -- you can just review the exam and thank him for a good course. Note, if you do this, you should make a good-faith review of the exam and an honest assessment of what you deserve; this is not "one weird trick" to get free points.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Asking for a bump in grades is dangerous. [There're many professors who will be offended](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/culture-mind-and-brain/201705/dear-students-no-i-wont-raise-your-grades). It doesn't matter if you're asking for a bump from a barely-failing grade to a barely-passing grade, or from an A to an A+. It can potentially [kill your professor's impression of you](https://www.math.uh.edu/~tomforde/GradeGrubbing.html) if e.g. you need a recommendation from them. I suggest not asking for a bump unless you think there was a mistake in computing your grade. At the very least, it shows you're taking responsibility for your grade.
As for distributing the exam grade online, if by that you mean whether you'll be able to get your exams: that's something you can ask about. If it's the final exam and everyone has left campus already, then the professor can't distribute the exams physically, but you might be able to arrange an appointment to collect it (if you are allowed to collect it - it's possible they are archiving the exams for whatever reason).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I don't think it is appropriate before or AFTER the grades to whine for a few points to get past a hurdle. If there is a legitimate mistake fine (and not just you scouring for some debatable trivia), fine bring it up. But that's not what you described.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/17
| 1,263
| 5,564
|
<issue_start>username_0: Here is my analysis for a theoretical subject like Math:
(Also assume I am super-smart which I am not):
1. I assume the stipend would be the same. So will the facility.
2. There is a change that a good university has a more accomplished professor. But since this is research, I can always go and meet him. Also, many schools allow having a guide from outside the university.
3. From my experience, the elite university always has a difficult curriculum along with some really book-smart students. So I would be really tensed to pass the exam and hence my research would suffer (Note here I am making a distinction between book-smart students and research smart students which in my opinion are not always same).
4. University brand is a definite thing. I don't know how crucial this would be after PhD. I for sure know that for undergrad, getting a high paying job was directly proportional to the brand of the university he/she graduated from.
5. Less pressure as people would assume I am not smart (because of mid-level university) and hence I could excel without any performance pressure except for the one which is required to keep the stipend going.
I would like to have some feedback from the current grad student regarding the validity of my reasoning. Feel free to add your own explanation as well.
NOTE: Not so good doesn't mean a bad university, it just means a mid-table university and good university means universities like MIT, Caltech etc.<issue_comment>username_1: This post is far too broad to be answered, but I can give some anecdotes.
In my experience, there are no "bad" universities provided that you go to a university that has some kind of national standing. Sure, you can go to the Back Alley University of Cat Medicine and Mathematics, but I don't think that's what you're getting at. More likely you're talking about whether you should go to a university that has national or international standing (like MIT) compared to one that might have decent regional standing but that isn't a national research powerhouse in your field.
Where you do your grad studies should depend on many things. The status of the university is perhaps one of those things but is certainly not at the top of the list, especially for PhD. You should instead be looking at individual researchers. Do they do the research you are interested in? Do they regularly publish? Regularly attend conferences? Then go and meet with them or speak to them via email about mutually relevant research opportunities. Determine if this is someone who can teach **you** to become a good researcher in the field.
Your research credibility depends on the problems you solve and the contributions you make. An excellent school does not make an excellent researcher just by virtue of having them attend the school.
So, what does a top tier university really offer? First, it tends to attract top tier talent and lots of funding to go along with it. Second, it is highly competitive, so you will be surrounded by other students of presumably high quality. Third, yes, you get a bit of the brand to go with it.
What does a smaller university really offer? Assuming you chose your advisor right (hard problem!) then you will probably get the same quality or higher training to become a researcher yourself, compared to going to a big school. The problems you are working on might not be ground breaking but will always be interesting and relevant - research doesn't care where you study, it cares what you do.
Finally, **it depends so strongly on your field which university is the best**. Speaking about my home province of Ontario, Canada, we certainly have some universities that are considered to be top-tier, probably world class, but only in certain fields. There is a smaller (but still highly regarded) university whose past is rooted in agricultural research and, despite being a smaller university is extremely highly regarded in that field, probably best in the province for it. However, it is certainly not a world class hub in, say, human computer interaction. They wouldn't compete with MIT's media lab there, but that's not to say that someone interested in HCI couldn't make a huge impact going there.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: UK perspective
==============
In the UK, the most important factor for a PhD is the **supervisor**, not the the institution. *Unlike undergraduate or master's courses*, a PhD does not involve any "classes", so the role of a department is limited to providing a supportive environment for research. The curriculum for PhD study is essentially the same everywhere -- you write a thesis that makes an original contribution to scholarship (of course, there are same practice-based programmes where other types of output may be admissible, but these are usually a different degree title, such as DLitt, DMus, &c.).
Of course, great supervisors are not necessarily distributed equally among institutions -- often, a particular institution may be notable for research in a particular field, causing the best researchers to cluster there. This can vary enormously by field or even sub-field. At the same time, there is no official league table nor a centralised system for allocating academics to institutions, the result being that some of the best supervisors may not be in the obvious places, whether because they are undervalued or because they prefer to work there.
So, to cut a long story short, you should be considering the different between a "good" and "not so good" supervisor.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/17
| 897
| 3,894
|
<issue_start>username_0: For an assignment, I was paired up with a professor who also has an administrative role within my college. The assignment was unique to me, with a competitive process to be chosen for the assignment (or put on to a different one). The assignment was to produce some software for the college.
The assignment did not require me to completely finish the software. The assignment has now ended, and the professor has informed me that he expects me to receive a good grade.
Outside of my studies, I make a living doing the same work that was required of the assignment (hence why I took it). The professor has asked to meet me to discuss completing the software to the college's specification. The professor is also the one currently marking the assignment. He has offered me an extremely modest sum of money for this - I would never work for this low rate under any circumstances in my job.
I'm concerned that refusing to work for such a low rate will jeopardise my mark as there is a conflict of interest. I do not have any feelings either way for the college and do not feel that I am obligated to complete the software, other than to appease the professor, and the college is very wealthy and so could afford to pay me a reasonable rate. Furthermore, during the course of the work I will graduate and no longer be a student of the college.
I am looking for advice on how to approach this. Would you suggest that I complete the work for, basically, free? Otherwise, how can I sensitively reject the work without affecting my grade?<issue_comment>username_1: While the comments already provide some advice, let me add a bit with some possible options. First, you should be properly compensated for your efforts. Sometimes that can include course credit. Sometimes it can just include relationship building with a professor - looking toward the future. Compensation need not be monetary in all cases. This is likely why you did the project in the first place. So, you might examine what it is "worth" to you to do a favor for the university, or just for this professor.
But there are other options. Telling the professor what your normal rates are for such work is valid. If you need that income to live and the time the project would take would lower your income if not compensated, then he needs to know that.
But there might be a possible way to just step away from the project. For example, you could suggest that some other student(s) might benefit from carrying on the project and may not need to be compensated financially for their work. The experience itself can be valuable for them, where it is less so for yourself.
But, if the university really needs *professional level* work done on this project, then they should expect to pay professional rates to get it done. The fact that you are also a student, in addition to being a professional, shouldn't give them reason to exploit you.
---
I'll add, however, to address your main concern, no ethical person would blackmail you into doing something by holding grades over your head. If that is how the university behaves you should work to step away as soon as possible.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This answer is based on a comment by [JeffE](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65/jeffe).
You should separate your student project from your professional services. Tell the professor that, to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interests, you would like to cleanly end the student project, and get your grade, before any discussion or negotiations related to future work you might do.
After that, some of the ideas in [username_1's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/130760/10220) apply. Your professional rates may be too high for the professor's budget. In that case, discuss options such as you briefing a student programmer on what needs to be done.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/18
| 1,507
| 6,171
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Computer Science student in Bangalore, India, doing a part time MTech at an autonomous university.
My classmates were avoiding working with me, and formed their own groups. I tried approaching one group but they were not willing to reveal their topic idea. So I spoke with students of three different branches: Electronics, Civil and Automotive, to see if I could work with them. While they were initially okay with it, they later backed out citing lack of time from company work.
A Civil dept teacher said I could do the project alone, so I told my department head that I would be doing the project alone. He mentioned by email that university norms require 4 people working on a group project and the Academic Registrar's permission would be required to do it alone. I replied (CC'ing my mentor) asking if I would have to meet the registrar. I received no reply. Subsequently I created my pre-project presentation and initial demo and showed it to my mentor and the department head. I got an okay for the project topic. Yesterday I presented the completed project. My mentor and two other faculty members loved it. My mentor asked if I got the Registrar's permission. I said I thought department head sir was going to handle that. I asked if it would be a problem and she said it might not be a problem.
Today my department head emails this:
>
> I recall that your topic was okayed but not that you alone would work on the group project as it was mentioned that university has its norms.
> So if your project is not accepted by university for the reasons that you are not in a group, your project may not be considered. Please be aware that this may happen. This was also about working in a group.
>
>
>
How do I reply to this? During the entire two months my mentor, the department head and even classmates were aware that I was doing the project alone. Is this a way of setting a precedent for other students? Can the university reject the project? I'm a working professional. Working in groups is an everyday job. Even companies have realized that certain people perform better when not in a group and are hired as "individual contributors". What is a university's purpose in forcing people to work together.
I'm scared now. What would be the right way to respond to him without sounding defensive? (I have cordial relations with all my teachers and department head. They know me as a good student)
**Update 29th May:** acknowledging my error was crucial. I did that and the HoD, my mentor and the registrar gave a retrospective approval, knowing that my not obtaining permission was not due to disobedience and that I had genuinely tried hard to find and convince project partners. Big relief. Thank you all for your help. And y'all were right. There was a good chance the university could have rejected the project.<issue_comment>username_1: It seems like this will come down to your university's rules and the personalities involved. Still, let's consider:
>
> He mentioned by email that university norms require 4 people working on a group project and the Academic Registrar's permission would be required to do it alone.
>
>
>
So you were very specifically told, in writing, that you would need to get approval from the registrar.
>
> I replied (cc'ing my mentor) asking if I would have to meet the registrar. I received no reply.
>
>
>
And you didn't get approval from the registrar. As a "working professional", you should know that you can't just send one e-mail and then drop the matter -- it's your responsibility to run this to ground.
>
> My mentor asked if I got the Registrar's permission.
>
>
>
Well that was predictable
>
> During the entire two months my mentor, the HoD and even classmates were aware that I was doing the project alone.
>
>
>
They probably assumed that you had gotten approval from the registrar as they had told you to. It would have been nice if they had followed up on this, but this is not their responsibility.
>
> I'm a working professional. Working in groups is an everyday job. Even companies have realized that certain people perform better when not in a group and are hired as "individual contributors". What is a university's purpose in forcing people to work together.
>
>
>
This is very much not the point. The program can impose whatever (reasonable) requirements it wants. Learning to work in groups is a reasonable goal, regardless of whether you personally already have background working in groups.
>
> What would be the right way to respond to him without sounding defensive?
>
>
>
This is the part that comes down to your university's rules and the personalities involved. It may be that this is a strict rule and there is nothing that anyone can do. Or, it may be that there is a process for an appeal or exception. I would start by recognizing that you are in the wrong.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> What is a university's purpose in forcing people to work together.
>
>
>
The main objective of a group project is *to learn how to work as a group.* The technical content is less important.
We only have one side of the story (yours) about why you didn't join a group, but the bottom line is that by doing an individual project you have *not* taken part in the main objective.
To be honest, I think the University is quite right to reject your individual project, however technically excellent it might be, simply because it was *not* done as a group project.
>
> Even companies have realized that certain people perform better when
> not in a group and are hired as "individual contributors".
>
>
>
That is true, but irrelevant. An "individual contributor" who can only work by doing *everything* on his/her own won't achieve much. Most real world "projects" are too big for one person to do in a reasonable time, and too important to come to a complete stop if that one person becomes ill, etc. And even if someone is working "alone," they need to convince *other people* in the company that what they are doing is useful, otherwise it has no value *to the company.*
Upvotes: 4
|
2019/05/18
| 1,443
| 5,960
|
<issue_start>username_0: How to become an Editorial board member?
Is it appropriate to contact journal's Editor in Chief to show interest for joining editorial board?<issue_comment>username_1: To become an editorial board member, contact the journal and ask. You can contact the editor-in-chief directly, or the publisher (who will probably discuss with the editor-in-chief in any case).
You'll likely be asked for your CV and area of expertise, and might also be asked about what you can do that the editorial board can't (e.g. if you have expertise in [topic] that nobody in the editorial board knows well).
It's potentially possible they ask you to publish/review a paper for them, or even organize a special issue, to show commitment to the journal.
**Edit**: It seems many people don't believe that non-shady journals can consider self-nominations. [Real life example](https://www.nature.com/news/predatory-journals-recruit-fake-editor-1.21662).
In this article, a group of Polish researchers create a fake academic profile "<NAME>" with woefully inadequate qualifications, and send applications to a variety of journals. A substantial amount of journals listed on Beall's list accepted the fake editor, which is not surprising. However I will point out two things:
* Some DOAJ journals (technically a whitelist) also accepted her.
* Even among JCR journals, almost half the journals sent a formal rejection. Because the fake academic has woefully inadequate qualifications, it's not surprising that they will reject. This indicates, nonetheless, that *if you have the necessary qualifications, they will consider self-nominations*.
Of course, if you have the necessary qualifications, it's likely that the journal either knows you or knows about you, and might approach you without you having to approach them. However it's one thing to approach someone who might not be interested, and another to be approached by someone who's already interested.
This doesn't even consider those journals that are having trouble filling their issues, for whom if the new editorial board member can attract submissions ... why not. It's not ideal, but the alternative is to let the journal struggle.
**tl; dr**: You can contact the journal and ask. Your chances of success are slim especially if you contact a top journal; however, they are also not zero.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: All you need is an academic email address. Then you will start getting un-solicited emails inviting you to publish in shady journals. And (occasionally) inviting you to serve on the editorial boards of those same shady journals.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: That's generally not a job you can apply for, but a job you're asked to take on. At least in reputable journals, the members of the editorial board are largely scientists well known in their field. They have that role because the editor-in-chief trusts their opinions and perspectives on submitted papers, and also because they have the stature in the field to write to potential reviewers and ask them to review a paper. Well established researchers also have fewer potential conflicts of interest: They no longer have promotions coming up, and so feel less conflicted about rejecting papers by people who might otherwise be asked to write letters of evaluation about their promotion.
I don't know what your career status is, but suspect that because you are asking the question that you are still young. As an editor-in-chief, I usually try to avoid using younger researchers as members of the editorial board. That's not necessarily because I don't trust their judgment, but because they have conflicts of interest and because they will have a harder time receiving the necessary reviews within a reasonable time frame.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> How to become an Editorial board member?
>
>
>
I think the most common way is to be refered by somebody who is already on the board (or has been before), or by somebody who already has a good reputation in the community and suggests your name.
So you should let people in your network know that you are interested and ask them if they can recommend you (starting with your advisor/PI if you are a PhD student/postdoc).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I became an associate editor for a journal after I effectively left academia. I reviewed 2 journals submissions per month as a hobby, and I make it a point to still read one paper per week in my field. At some point, the other editors notice that you are making their lives easier and then you are invited.
As an editor, I generally find this is what you need to know:
1. Enough of recent research in the journal's field to understand the value of the contributions.
2. Other recent contributions to the field outside of what is explicitly published in the journal.
3. Understand where the journal seems to be headed and what topics are relevant to the community who is reading the journal.
If you are really *into your field*, you should find that this organically happens even if you do not have an explicit academic affiliation. (It's probably didn't hurt that I have had one at some point. In hard sciences, people tend to look more at quality of work because it's easier to quantify.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: In some cases, publishers issue a call for editors. For example:
>
> Applications are invited for the positions of Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Remote Sensing and Editor-in-Chief of Remote Sensing Letters.
>
>
>
Source: [*<NAME>*](https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/call-for-editor-ijrs/).
<NAME> is an international publisher founded in the mid-19th century (see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_%26_Francis)), one of the "Big Four" STEM publishers, it is certainly a mainstream publisher and the journals mentioned are certainly mainstream journals.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/18
| 778
| 3,244
|
<issue_start>username_0: in order to apply for a research grant, they ask me to provide a permanent identifier for my publications.
I have looked at such publications, but only the ISSN of such publications are provided.
Question 1: is an ISSN a permanent identifier?
Question 2: How can I get a DOI for those publications?<issue_comment>username_1: Try looking at [doi.org](http://www.doi.org) ... [I believe ISSN identifies only the journal, not the individual paper?]
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Regarding Question 1:
ISSN is an identifier of the serial publication, not an article in it.
Regarding Question 2:
Most scientific journals nowadays assign DOI identifiers to articles. If no DOI is assigned, then perhaps you could omit the DOI or explain that the journal did not issue a DOI.
If you absolutely have to provide a DOI, you can upload the article to [ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.com), where you can generate DOIs for your uploads. However, that is probably not what the grant provider wants in a proposal, and it is probably better not to provide a DOI at all.
From your question, it appears that the permanent identifier does not have to be a DOI. If there is something like a report number assigned to your publication, that might qualify as a permanent identifier.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: As others have noted, the difference between ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) and DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is that ISSN identifies a periodical publication (i.e. journal, conference proceedings) as a whole (i.e. it does not change between volumes or issues), while DOI identifies a single published work (i.e. article) from that periodical (more specifically, it also identifies a version of that work).
Most journals provide a DOI for their publications, even if it is not immeadeately obvious. Typically it's somewhere close to the top of the page while browser-viewing the article.
**To obtain a DOI from a reference, take a look [here](https://doi.crossref.org/simpleTextQuery).** It seems to be an official service from *Crossref* that will search for a DOI based on a bibliography entry.
So, you just enter text in there (I tested the service by copy-pasting the first 7 bibliography items from the reference list of my latest publication), one reference per line, click "submit" and it will try and find a DOI for each entry. Out of the 7 references I submitted, it succeeded for 6, while the last one was a book and did not have a DOI.
**Note** that not finding a DOI through the suggested link still does not guarantee that a publication does not have a DOI (but some do not); in that case the next-best options are to check the journal website as well as how other papers cite the work in question.
Finally, it was suggested that posting a preprint of a paper on [ResearchGate](http://researchgate.net/) will allow you to generate a DOI for it. This is true, but with one caveat - as mentioned, the DOI identifies a single instance of an article, and therefore the DOI generated through ResearchGate will be linked specifically to a preprint (or "author's version"), and not the version of the work published by a journal or in conference proceedings.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/19
| 670
| 2,800
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a life sciences graduate from 2015.
After a career in the corporate world, I am preparing to apply to PhD programs in universities abroad.
As part of the application process, I am required to provide a certain number of references (usually 2 or 3).
Is it appropriate to approach my old college professors for references after a gap of 4 years? What things should I take into account if I am contacting them?<issue_comment>username_1: I would definetly approach your old colleagues. Explain that you need an Entry point after your corporate phase and reason why you didn’t do a doctorate earlier / why you want to switch careers.
If you left on good terms and show them the necessity of it, I’m pretty sure they will do you the favor. At least they would here in Germany.
Consider that references of old colleagues still look better than no references. I think you should also briefly explain your return to academics in the cover letter.
If you can’t get your ex-Professor etc. to review for you, you still won’t make a fool out of you or have other negative side effects. In that case I would also look for other academics in your environment who you might briefly have worked with to ask for support.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I would absolutely ask my college Professors for a reference letter - keep in mind that most academics are extremely reluctant to provide a negative recommendation, and would rather refuse altogether or provide a positive one (at least in Europe). So, the worst-case scenario is that they will refuse, and not a soul will be the wiser. I therefore see no harm in asking, but instead remember that "if you don't ask, you don't get"!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I agree with the other answers that you should ask old professors. I was in your situation after a break of *five* years, and while I felt awkward approaching people I hadn't seen in so long asking for a favor, the particular professor I asked actually did remember me and was happy to help.
I'll reiterative the general advice I was given (by a current friend who is a professor in another field, both of us in the US):
* Try to get at least one recommendation from a professor who's had you as a student. Not having an academic reference would be a disadvantage, and having a recommendation that speaks to your ability to do *research* is an advantage.
* Recommendations from industry are fine, normally your first choice would be an immediate supervisor. Your approach will depend entirely on your relationship with your peers.
* Recommendations from friends typically aren't great, but if they're in the same industry as you, have collaborated with you on stuff, and can speak to your professional competence then they're probably good.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/19
| 1,693
| 5,550
|
<issue_start>username_0: TL;DR: I am expected to work on a dataset with missing/wrong information about measurement units. Is this a common practice?
---
Longer version:
I am studying a Masters's program composed mostly of machine learning. This semester I need to complete a 12 credit Project Module. Project Module means that there are no lectures, just a problem formulation, consultations with a teacher, and then a final report, source code and presentation are submitted.
The problem is to identify rocks by [melting them with a laser and measuring the spectrum of the resulting plasma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_ablation).
The training data I have is a bunch of measured spectra ([example visualization](https://physics.nist.gov/cgi-bin/ASD/lines1.pl?compositionCu&spectra=Cu&low_w=180&limits_type=0&upp_w=961&show_av=2&unit=1&resolution=1&temp=1&eden=1e17&libs=1)). Each file comprises of comma separated tuples (wevelength, intensity).
My teacher didn't have the time to figure out what is being measured when we say "intensity" and sent me the "example" above to figure for myself. Well, I figured it's [radiance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiance), based on information of the same source as the example I was sent([here](https://www.nist.gov/pml/atomic-spectroscopy-compendium-basic-ideas-notation-data-and-formulas/atomic-spectroscopy))
Now, radiance is measured in watt divided by solid angle and surface area. This is strictly non-negative. The example graph also cuts the ordinate at 0.
Yet when I look at the provided dataset, I can identify regions such as
this one:
```
188.5999999999995,15.175680381419365
188.6999999999995,0.872615069518224
188.7999999999995,-8.345751621890303
188.8999999999995,-10.279252960079765
188.9999999999995,-4.22895372957017
189.09999999999948,3.978827692507486
189.19999999999948,16.603400130260713
189.29999999999947,-12.791825667786197
189.39999999999947,-4.859145351410255
189.49999999999946,4.452390240582065
189.59999999999945,-14.106010857508583
189.69999999999945,7.039306431256487
189.79999999999944,-7.3039003395809505
```
Negative line intensities with values far from 0.
And here is my question. Both my teacher and a couple of more knowledgeable colleagues agree that there is nothing wrong with this:
>
> The data you have is real world data collected with a hand held. Your model should be able to deal with the data as it is. You can apply preprocessing steps if you want to avoid negative data values.
>
>
>
To me it is absurd to even consider a dataset without first sanity checking it. Just as unacceptable I would call working with a preprocessed dataset without knowing how was it preprocessed (maybe I am seeing centered values, but no one told me the mean; maybe I am seeing a logarithmic scale).
Is it customary for a task to be presented this way?<issue_comment>username_1: From the point of pure exercise in machine learning, you do not care whether the data is reliable and whether it was collected or taken from the ceiling. Your task is just to design a recognition algorithm that classifies the objects into groups based on the numbers associated with them. If you can do it, you pass, if not, you fail.
From the perspective of practical recognition of rocks, your algorithm (if it works) will be useful only if you trained it on accurate data or data with not too much noise and if you know what the numbers mean, so if you later are given the information in different units or on an altogether different scale (say, logarithmic instead of linear), you'll know how to convert before feeding them into the machine. If your algorithm is intended for real use, the people who requested the work should be most interested in getting things right, so you should be able to ask them as many relevant questions as you want. If it is just a practice problem, just forget about "rocks", "radiance", etc. View all that as an abstract classification problem about objects and numbers without any meaning whatsoever.
From what you are saying, it looks like you are in the first case scenario. I agree that the exercise is about as meaningful as the exercise in computing the area of the triangle with sides 6,7,8 and the altitude of length 5 drawn to the side of length 7. My daughter really had that as a problem on one of her exams and her teacher replied to my objections that at that stage of learning he just wanted to make sure that kids knew which side to multiply by the height. He wasn't a bad math. teacher overall, by the way, just a bit reckless about the details that weren't directly related to the current topic. Apparently, your professors have a similar attitude.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This seems perfectly reasonable for a project at the Master's level. At that level you should be getting away from canned problems with perfect data, and actually tackling the complications that occur in the real world. Having to sort out bad data from good data and figure out normalizations and scaling transforms is a typical part of every real life application of machine learning.
I would also expect your advisor to be available to consult with on a regular (say weekly) basis. Your advisor probably won't be telling you exactly what to do next, rather *you* should be explaining the problems you are running into, and how you are planning to solve them. Your advisor should then be able tell you whether your approach is reasonable, and suggest other approaches if it is not.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/19
| 1,002
| 4,221
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have finished my master thesis and now a couple of colleagues who were involved (one of which was the supervisor) are interested in "extracting a paper" from it. We have already written one paper on a topic covered in the thesis, but in a bit more detail. I am worried that this would be considered self-plagiarism since I have already done the thesis and am only really summarizing one part of the thesis.<issue_comment>username_1: It is plagiarism only if you do not properly cite it.
If you have not published the thesis itself, of course you can publish parts of it or summaries of it or even the whole thing unchanged. The requirement to avoid "self plagiarism" is to cite. For example, in the introduction write:
>
> This paper is taken from my thesis [title] done in [date] at [school] under the direction of [advisor].
>
>
>
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you treat the thesis (and the other paper) like you would any other previously published work, then you avoid self plagiarism. In other words, cite the thesis as the source of the ideas and quote from it as necessary. Since it is also likely that you hold copyright on it, though maybe not on the published paper, you can quote more extensively from it than you might if it weren't your own work.
Self plagiarism doesn't mean that you can't restate your own ideas. It means restating them without indication of the original. The problem with self plagiarism is that it makes it difficult for a reader who wants the complete history of an idea to follow it back to the origin. The reason it *is* a problem is that the original contains additional context that the reader wants. The original itself normally cites other work and contains other ideas that form the context of the idea under examination.
---
Ignoring the plagiarism issue and answering only the top-line question, yes, it is normal to extract publications from theses.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It's totally accepted to publish journal articles based on thesis chapters. For one thing, MS theses are not well abstracted or searchable. Even with Ph.D. theses, they are rarely looked at. Getting something into a journal article is doing the scientific community a favor. It's also good for you and your coworkers in terms of pub count.
Consider the opposite--should one not publish any articles during grad school (to save them for the thesis)?
Just cite the thesis. That's sufficient. Nobody considers this double publication.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Adding to a few answers here, I agree that there's nothing wrong or unusual about this. My MS thesis lead to two conference papers and a journal paper.
It's usually a good idea to publish papers from thesis work for at least three reasons: first, papers in well known conferences or archival journals are much easier for other researchers to find, so there is a much greater likelihood that your work will be recognised and cited by others. Second, condensing your results from a thesis, which is usually roughly 100-200 pages, to a paper, which is usually 5-25 pages, depending on where you publish it, will make it easier for the community to digest your work. Few active researchers have the time to wade through a 100-200 page thesis, a great part of which will be a survey of basic concepts and results that they already know well, but almost everyone has an hour over lunch to read a 5 page article. Third, almost nobody reads thesis work because graduation timelines often make it incomplete or not fully peer-reviewed. While it's true that most theses must be defended in front of a committee, the background of the committee and rigor of the process vary considerably between institutions and departments. Submitting the research to a journal or competitive conference for review opens it up to criticism (very, very harsh criticism) from the wider community. There's a good chance that the remarks made by reviewers will give you a clearer idea of what's missing or could be better in your work. Although it's painful in the moment, in the long run it will make your research better and more likely to get picked up by others.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/19
| 1,244
| 5,304
|
<issue_start>username_0: There was about 30 mins left of the exam, everything had been going well so far, I got nervous as there was 1 question I hadn't answered that was worth a few marks, so I made the irresponsible decision to check my phone, the moment I pulled it out is when I got caught, the TA took my student ID and allowed me to continue with the exam. With the guilt of knowing what I had just attempted to do, I submitted my paper instantly after my ID was taken.
I just received an email saying there will be a meeting. What should I expect? (Never done anything like this before)<issue_comment>username_1: My advice would be to be honest, not argumentative, and explain exactly what happened.
1. I pulled the phone out with the intention to cheat.
2. I did not complete the cheat as I was caught in the attempt.
3. I turned the paper in immediately after being caught.
4. I have not habitually cheated.
5. I will accept whatever disciplinary outcome is assigned.
Maybe write this down and hand it in at the beginning of the meeting.
Accept the sanctions--not with a "crucify me" attitude, but phlegmatically. Then, go and sin no more.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: What you can expect depends on personalities, so is impossible to say with accuracy. But, at a minimum you will be asked to explain and justify yourself, which sounds like it will be pretty hard to do. Probably the best you can hope for is to admit you intended an infraction, but that it had no effect on what is written on the exam paper.
I was once caught in a different kind of ethical transgression and the faculty response varied from "expulsion" to "boys will be boys". I know this to be literally true, actually. The two of us admitted error and that we had learned something from it and so the only sanction was a stern talking to. But it might have been much worse. In some ways the worst aspect for us was that the decision took a week to come to fruition with the cloud hanging over us. The college and the faculty were small so our deed was widely known. In some ways the best outcome was that a variety of viewpoints were held by the sanctions committee and so they had to work through to some consensus position.
Hopefully you've learned that your fear of failure could be made worse by improper actions to try to avoid it. But some, you hope, of the faculty are also sensitive to the fact that we aren't perfect and that students need to learn a lot of things.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It would depend on what evidence they have of your intent when you took your phone out. If they have evidence that you searched for something relevant to the test then obviously you must admit it. Otherwise there are any number of reasons a person might pull out their phone during a bad time. Eg. Waiting for an important text from a family member and nervously checking for news.
If there is no evidence it was for cheating I don't see what benefit for the future there is from openly saying you were intentionally doing it for cheating. You are basically guaranteeing to be branded and punished as a cheater with no argument or pathway for repeal.
Of course how you handle it ethically is up to you. But if this was a legal case and I was your lawyer, and there was no real evidence of intent to cheat, I'm not sure I would advise you to walk in and spell that out for them.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: In a US school, you would probably be told you stand accused of using an unauthorized resource on an exam, and told the penalty the prof would like to assess, with your agreement. Likely, this will be a zero on the exam along with a lowering of whatever grade is arrived at as a result- often a full letter grade- and a report of academic dishonesty.
You might be offered the opportunity to accept the penalty, and if you decline, an academic honesty hearing.
It makes no difference that you had no time to actually cheat.
If this is a second offense, you might eventually be faced with suspension, but this would be after the prof submits his report.
You should most certainly go to your school's website and search up their academic honesty policy before this meeting. Also, check with your course syllabus to determine if there are specific course policies. There may even be instructions on the exam that are relevant. My Dean's Office encourages us to put language that possession of a cell phone during an exam is prohibited. If you're offered something much less harsh than what is dictated by policy, you should consider accepting it.
If this went to hearing at my school, a defense saying that you took out your phone to answer an important text, and that you handed in the exam right after this "misunderstanding", the penalty would be as I described it - unless your hearing panel believed you were lying to them, and considered that to be an immediate second offense. That would be unlikely, but a possibility.
Also, in my school, if this were a first offense, and it resulted in a course failure, there would not be a notation of academic dishonesty on your transcript. That is usually reserved for second offenses. We would expect you to use the incident as a learning experience, and you would also have to complete extra honesty tutorials.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/19
| 709
| 2,901
|
<issue_start>username_0: I recently became the co-author of a working paper an older version of which is online (at which stage I was not a co-author yet).
We added and changed most of the content, however some applications remained virtually unchanged. How do I need to cite/reference the earlier version of this paper to avoid plagiarism concerns? We already added "An earlier version of this paper circulated as *old paper name*".
I do my PhD in Germany. How do I need to cite/reference the old working paper to avoid any plagiarism concerns?
*Based on the comments:*
1. The earlier version of the paper was not pubslished in a book/journal, but posted online on SSRN.
2. I am not worried about how journals perceive an evantual submission, but merely about the (german) academic regulation(s) regarding plagiarism.<issue_comment>username_1: What I typically did in such a case was either a footnote at the title in the gist of
>
> A previous version of this paper appeared at XYZ Conference in 1201.
>
>
>
or a mention in the introduction with the citation
>
> This paper is based on our previous work [ABCD+ '01].
>
>
>
Two side notes:
1. If this is a paper and you submit double-blindly, you'd need to revise the statements accordingly. You might even want to remove them for review and/or inform the editor.
2. The information on previous versions and an explanation "what's new" belongs into the cover letter of a journal submission.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> How do I need to cite/reference the earlier version of this paper to avoid plagiarism concerns?
>
>
>
From what the OP has written, I cannot see reason for plagiarism concerns. Releasing an early draft of a paper (even with different authors and a different title) and subsequently releasing an extended version does not constitute plagiarism. Nonetheless, it is useful to note that an earlier draft exists and that draft can be cited in the usual way. (With arXiv, and probably other such services, you can use a distinct identifier for each earlier version.)
Going beyond what the OP has written, plagiarism concerns exist if: an early draft was published, rather than merely publicly released (e.g., as a technical report). In this case the most recent version can only be published under certain circumstances, e.g., in some disciplines, as a journal article that follows a conference paper. For PhD students, another plagiarism concern might be the inclusion of material from the earlier version in their thesis. This should be addressed in the same way as any work that a student has not produced themselves and should be explained in accordance with institutional guidelines, which may require a section devoted to explaining what the student's contributions are, for instance.
Other plagiarism scenarios may exist, but I cannot identify them from what the OP has written.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/19
| 919
| 3,705
|
<issue_start>username_0: A tenure track position I'm applying to (Netherlands) asks for a "motivation letter" in addition to the research statement. It doesn't give any details about what it should contain. Therefore my question is in general, what kind of information should one include in a motivation letter (for a tenure track professor position), and what kind of page length should one aim for?
One thing I can think of is to talk about my current employment and why this job would be better for me. Perhaps the purpose is to convince them that, if I was actually offered the position, that I would indeed accept it?<issue_comment>username_1: The purpose is rather to convince them *why* you would accecpt it and that you are the right candidate for exactly this position offered (research, teaching) and that you have the right mindset for tenure, a professorship with its possibilities and duties and that you will become a successful and happy professor at that place in the netherlands (especially if you were not born in the netherlands and are no native speaker).
Therefore I would outline and epxlain:
* why you apply for exactly this position (goals (though this should be described in detail in the research statement), chances and perspectives, interdisciplinary local collaborations with colleagues and industry you see, link to your previous work)
* what is your philosophy of teaching, research, team work (international corpus of students at the local university, furthering female researchers,...)
* do you plan to engage in administrative work at the university, improving the strategy of the university
* what do you like about this place, local culture
* (what is your marital-status (not mandatory), language skill)
The last point should be covered in your CV. But based on your CV no one can judge your motivation for exactly this position! So don't underestimate the importance of the motivation letter. The lenght of this letter depends a bit on the number of applicants and you should know this number roughly and what the attention span for the letters will be. Of course it should be longer than a recommendation letter.
A cover letter is obligatory and always added for applicaton to academic positions from PhD up to tenure. A motivation letter must show and deliver arguments why apart from other candidates with similar publication record, grades, qualification you are the best match for this position.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I interpret the motivational letter as a cover letter.
Basically, tell about yourself, which positions did you hold, what degrees do you have. What did you do for research and teaching. (Preferably, of course, that your strengths fit the position description.)
Roughly translated to English and severely abridged it looks like:
>
> Dear Madam or Sir,
>
>
> herewith I apply for the position of Great Wizard of Oz at Oz University, Oz, Neverland.
>
>
> I have obtained my BSc from Barnum Circus in 1999 and a PhD in the area of Levitation at Trinity College of Harvard in 2001.
> I have been working as a private military contractor at Boeing in the area of air transportation since 2002.
>
>
> During my time at Boeing I have published 112 journal papers and 747 conference submissions. My research interests include flying, landing, diving, and soap bubbles. Sincle 2003 I have been teaching prospective pilots the art of landing (BSc) and turbulence mechanics (MSc).
>
>
> I am looking forward to a personal meeting. If you happen to require some further
> documents or preprints of my works, please do not hesitate to contact me.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> <NAME>
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/20
| 2,065
| 8,025
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a research paper (graduate level) on eating disorders. Many books have been written on this topic, ranging from pop culture type to scholarly works.
How do I know if a book is sufficiently reliable to use as a source in my paper? Am I looking for an author with a Masters degree? With clinical experience? With personal experience? Certain publishers? Or does anything go?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> How do I know if a book is sufficiently reliable to use as a source in my paper?
>
>
>
Ultimately, you don't know whether sources are reliable. This shouldn't cause a problem: You needn't rely on a single source. For instance, you can write statements such as, "Alice and Bob found ..., whereas Charlie ..."
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: *"This shouldn't cause a problem: You needn't rely on a single source"* Unfortunately, the reliability of a statement does not increase with the number of its repetitions. In mathematics life is easy: you just verify the proof yourself. In medicine you usually do not have an option to repeat the study and decide whether it is crap or not this way. All you can do is to find the original article (not a reference to a reference to a reference to...) and see if it is written in a clear and convincing way (so the design of the study makes sense and is well-explained, the statistical evaluation is correct, the conclusions do actually follow from the observations presented, etc.) If it is the case, you can use it as a "reliable source", if not, the doubts remain. Unfortunately, the common medical writing is often not up to these standards even when the research itself is good (my ex-wife is a doctor so I've seen plenty of articles and heard her comments about them as well). Then you are forced to take into account secondary indicators like how reputable the researchers or their institutions are. In general, it is better to err on the side of declaring something that makes sense crap than on the side on declaring some crap making sense, so just be as skeptical as you can and look for all kinds of possible flaws.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: No field that I am aware of has a list of "officially approved sources". So there is nothing which formally forbids you from using a specific source.
However, your work will be judged based on not just its own qualities, but also the sources you use, *and how you use them*. Quoting a source just because it has a good, concise definition of a term is no big deal. But that same source might not be a good source for facts and numbers. Your average "pop culture" book will not document how those numbers were obtained.
Now for your specific case, I understand that the topic is *eating orders*, and not *the public perception of eating orders* or a similar meta-topic. In that case, you will likely be using academic definitions of your terms. So even if the pop literature would offer some concise, readable definitions of particular terms, they would likely *not* be the definitions used in the other sources that you will be quoting. So be consistent, and use the definitions from the academic sources.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: As a first approximation:
1. Meta-analyses and reviews are probably more reliable than single studies. Prefer them. If there are several, check that they agree. A review might be a (text)book, but articles are usually more common. Meta-analyses are probably articles.
2. (Text)books aimed at researchers and graduate students are the next step.
3. Particular experimental articles contain the state of the art, but you will need to check if they are reliable with more care than the other sources
To check the reliability of an article, check the methodology, check Pubpeer and consult senior researchers to figure out if there are problems with the articles or if the researchers have a good or a bad reputation, and check if there are several studies claiming similar results.
You might also want to check if the publisher is a known predatory publisher or a reputable scientific publisher, though this is by no means a reliable indicator. Wikipedia pages of publishers are a good place. I might also check the level of the journal in the Finnish Julkaisufoorumi database <https://www.tsv.fi/julkaisufoorumi/haku.php?lang=en> - it is curated by Finnish scientists. Level 0 journals are not up to the standards, for whatever reasons (e.g. lack of peer review, content is not scientifically interesting), while 1-3 qualify as scientific publications. The database also contains Danish and Norwegian journal levels, where levels 1 and 2 indicate a scientific journal. The level of a journal does not ensure the quality or correctness of the article, but it gives some evidence. Publisher likewise.
Note that it is often difficult to get a definitive answer on whether a source is reliable or not, but if there are too many worrying aspects, best find something else to cite. Also, senior colleagues are an invaluable help, but remember that they might have idiosyncratic opinions, so better ask several.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: [Citation Machine](https://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-book/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Evonne%20Englezos&commit=Search%20Books) gives a list of questions to examine when using an unfamiliar book:
>
> Source credibility can impact your grade. Here are questions to guide
> your evaluation process: Contributor/Author
>
>
>
> ```
> Is the author well known and frequently published?
> Are there any reviews available for the author's work?
> How easy is it to find contact information for the author?
>
> ```
>
> Publisher
>
>
>
> ```
> Is the publisher well known and well respected in the industry? Do they have a website?
> How selective is the publisher in determining what they publish?
> Are they also the main retailer for what they publish?
> Does their other content seem legitimate and credible?
>
> ```
>
> Currency
>
>
>
> ```
> When was the source originally published? When was it last updated?
> Are you citing the latest version? If not, how does that affect your argument?
>
> ```
>
> Accuracy
>
>
>
> ```
> Does the argument the author makes appear anywhere else? Is it backed up with data or other sources?
> Where does the information presented come from?
> Are there grammatical or spelling errors? Any dead links?
>
> ```
>
> Relevance
>
>
>
> ```
> What is the tone of voice? Does it appeal more to an academic reader, or is it more casual?
> Would someone not familiar with the subject be able to understand the source's topic after reading it?
> What is the intended audience of the source? Is it similar or different from your intended audience?
>
> ```
>
> Bias
>
>
>
> ```
> If the source is a website, does the site have ads? Do they affect the content?
> What is the purpose of the source? Is it to persuade or argue? To entertain or inform?
> What is the author's tone of voice? Do they seem to only present one side of the argument? How do they address the counter argument, if at all?
>
> ```
>
> Citations
>
>
>
> ```
> Does the author give credit to sources where they received information and conducted research?
> Do the sources they used seem legitimate?
> What sources refer to the one you are using? Do those seem legitimate?
>
> ```
>
> Reproduced
>
>
>
> ```
> Is this the original source? Has it been reproduced?
> If it was reproduced, when was that done? Who reproduced it? To what end?
> If it was reproduced, does it have copyright information or information on the original source?
>
> ```
>
> Complete
>
>
>
> ```
> How much information can be learned from the source on a particular topic?
> Does it talk about a broad topic, or a specific element of a topic?
> Are there larger, more popular sources on the topic than this one?
>
> ```
>
> Credible
>
>
>
> ```
> After reading through the various questions above, does this source seem credible?
>
> ```
>
>
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/20
| 633
| 2,535
|
<issue_start>username_0: This is a follow-up to the question I posted about a year ago: [How much damage would I be incurring if I turn down an informal postdoc offer?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107835/how-much-damage-would-i-be-incurring-if-i-turn-down-an-informal-postdoc-offer)
My situation: I moved to industry about 6 months ago after declining a postdoc offer because I wanted to have some money and geographic flexibility to take care of a sick family member. However, moving to the industry has given me a huge identity crisis because I was passionate about my research and the scientific community I was part of. Now I am itching to just take the postdoc and I got to know that the professor is still looking. I am wondering how I would approach him or has the damage been done already? The word is out that I have transitioned to the dark side and folks that I knew in grad school (including my grad school advisor) have begun to treat me as an outsider. Not sure how taking up a postdoc position would affect me in terms of recommendations and academic relationships. Anyone ever done this? How did it go?
Edit: My PhD was in geoscience.<issue_comment>username_1: I am in a different field (maths), but I know the stories of several people who went to work in unrelated industry jobs after their PhD, only to decide after a few months to return to academia. It never seemed to have hurt them, but there is of course a danger of survivorship bias, as I never got to know those who failed.
Since it does not seem like you actively burned bridges but only declined offers, I would simply approach the professor with a bit of humility. You made a mistake, but you are willing to correct it and six months is a short time in academia anyway. To add to that there is less danger of losing you to industry now than there is for a post-doc who hasn't tried it yet.
Concerning the "dark side" jokes, with most people they are merely that, namely jokes, so I wouldn't worry that much. They didn't really move away from you, you did move away from them. After all, with you in industry, there were simply no more research collaborations to be had and less of common interests.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Don't worry too much about it. Just write a friendly email to the professor and ask him if he would still be interested in hiring you (write a sentence or two how passionate you are about the topic). If the professor is in the same city as you are ask for an in person meeting instead.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/20
| 933
| 3,957
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student in mathematics and I recently found out that I failed my qualify exams.
I have the chance to take them next year. But now I am really concerning my future. The problem is that faculty members explicitly told me they wouldn't supervise students unless they pass the quals. That means I have to waste another year because of the exams. I am concerning that this will place me into big disadvantage compare to other students because they are already doing research (as I observed, almost everybody passed). I also feel embarrassed when the others ask about my results.
I am reading on topics that I like now but I have a hard time adjusting my feelings and can't really concentrate. How should I approach this situation? Any advice will be appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> The problem is that faculty members explicitly told me they wouldn't supervise students unless they pass the quals. That means I have to waste another year because of the exams. I am concerning that this will place me into big disadvantage compare to other students because they are already doing research (as I observed, almost everybody passed). I also feel embarrassed when the others ask about my results. I am reading on topics that I like now but I have a hard time adjusting my feelings and can't really concentrate. How should I approach this situation? Any advice will be appreciated.
>
>
>
Let's approach this line-by-line.
1. It's natural that the faculty members will not supervise students until they pass the quals. The quals are supposed to indicate the student meets the prerequisites. Supervising someone who hasn't passed the quals is like trying to supervise a high school student in a PhD project - it won't work.
2. If you indeed didn't have the knowledge necessary to pass the quals, then the year isn't wasted (it's better to spend that year getting the knowledge than to try doing something over your head).
3. Will this place you at a big disadvantage? Well, you're behind by a year. One year is not a particularly long time. You are behind, but not critically so - just compare your case to those students who e.g. took a gap year to travel the world, who went to do full-time work in industry, and so on. You can catch up, if you put in the required effort.
4. Odds are you're feeling more embarrassed than the people who are talking to you think you should be. After all, most people have failed exams before.
While it's certainly not something to be proud of, it's also in the past and not something you can change. Focus on fixing what's still to come. You are almost certainly going to meet more failures in the future, e.g. when applying for fellowships, when submitting papers to journals. Put these failures behind you and move on.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: From someone who's been there - I started in a PhD program in mathematics, received only a "Masters pass" on my written qualifiers the first time around, retook a year later to the same result. Left the program with a masters, since we only had two tries. Fast forward 2 years and I'm admitted into a different PhD program in mathematics. This school has oral qualifiers. First attempt at that and I literally break down and cry and ask to just stop and try later. Reprepared, and nailed it the next time.
I just finished my PhD in mathematics. I took longer than most due to qualifier issues at one school, changing to another, changing areas of mathematics, and dealing with increased imposter syndrome due to the experiences at school 1. Long story short, it's not a competition with other students. Don't compare yourself to others. You were admitted to the program and you can do it. Study hard, ask the professors for advice and follow it. If it doesn't happen, it's OK. You can still achieve a PhD, just perhaps at different university and at a different time. I am proof of that. Best of luck.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/20
| 916
| 3,760
|
<issue_start>username_0: So, I'm currently an upcoming sophomore in undergrad and my grades during freshman year weren't the best. I got a F during my second semester which gave me an overall freshman GPA of 2.9
I'm not too worried about the GPA since I still have time to improve it.
However, the F on the transcript is really stressing me out. As of now, my school says I cannot retake and replace the F on the transcript.
Even if I increase my GPA to at least a 3.7 but still have 1 F on my transcript, how badly will if affect my chances of getting into a good grad school or getting internships?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> The problem is that faculty members explicitly told me they wouldn't supervise students unless they pass the quals. That means I have to waste another year because of the exams. I am concerning that this will place me into big disadvantage compare to other students because they are already doing research (as I observed, almost everybody passed). I also feel embarrassed when the others ask about my results. I am reading on topics that I like now but I have a hard time adjusting my feelings and can't really concentrate. How should I approach this situation? Any advice will be appreciated.
>
>
>
Let's approach this line-by-line.
1. It's natural that the faculty members will not supervise students until they pass the quals. The quals are supposed to indicate the student meets the prerequisites. Supervising someone who hasn't passed the quals is like trying to supervise a high school student in a PhD project - it won't work.
2. If you indeed didn't have the knowledge necessary to pass the quals, then the year isn't wasted (it's better to spend that year getting the knowledge than to try doing something over your head).
3. Will this place you at a big disadvantage? Well, you're behind by a year. One year is not a particularly long time. You are behind, but not critically so - just compare your case to those students who e.g. took a gap year to travel the world, who went to do full-time work in industry, and so on. You can catch up, if you put in the required effort.
4. Odds are you're feeling more embarrassed than the people who are talking to you think you should be. After all, most people have failed exams before.
While it's certainly not something to be proud of, it's also in the past and not something you can change. Focus on fixing what's still to come. You are almost certainly going to meet more failures in the future, e.g. when applying for fellowships, when submitting papers to journals. Put these failures behind you and move on.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: From someone who's been there - I started in a PhD program in mathematics, received only a "Masters pass" on my written qualifiers the first time around, retook a year later to the same result. Left the program with a masters, since we only had two tries. Fast forward 2 years and I'm admitted into a different PhD program in mathematics. This school has oral qualifiers. First attempt at that and I literally break down and cry and ask to just stop and try later. Reprepared, and nailed it the next time.
I just finished my PhD in mathematics. I took longer than most due to qualifier issues at one school, changing to another, changing areas of mathematics, and dealing with increased imposter syndrome due to the experiences at school 1. Long story short, it's not a competition with other students. Don't compare yourself to others. You were admitted to the program and you can do it. Study hard, ask the professors for advice and follow it. If it doesn't happen, it's OK. You can still achieve a PhD, just perhaps at different university and at a different time. I am proof of that. Best of luck.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/20
| 1,465
| 6,304
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a currently an undergrad sophomore and am aiming to go to grad school for a PhD. I would like to do research with a professor at my school during the semester for (among many other things) graduate admissions. However, I have been able to secure a mentor or arrange for this research over the past ~year. I have contacted many professors by email (and sent polite follow up emails after a few weeks) but only a couple responded, and they said they were too busy to work with undergrads. After that strategy yielded no success, I tried to go to professors office hours and talk to them face-to-face; however, the majority said they were too busy, were already at capacity with undergrads, or did not have a lab/research area that was well-suited to undergraduate research.
The professors' reasons are of course completely valid, but I am very worried about finding a research opportunity and the attendant impact on grad school admissions. I have spoken with more than half of my school's faculty in my major (and many of the remaining faculty do not have significant lab groups and only work with one or two graduate students at a time). I believe that part of the problem is my school—it is very highly ranked in this field in the US, and the undergraduate population is very competitive. I am a slightly above-average student in the department, but I can't compete with the very top group for research positions. Would it be advantageous to transfer to another university with a lower-ranked department in order to increase my chance of finding a research position? Or should I just contact the professors again next year? I have also considered expanding my search to other departments, but I am less interested in those areas and unlikely to pursue them later.<issue_comment>username_1: **Personal Opinion**
Would it be advantageous to transfer to another university with a lower-ranked department in order to increase my chance of finding a research position?
It would be advantageous to do so keeping your short-term goals in mind. However, since higher institutional prominence also leads to higher fund allocation, I would not have done so in your position (if a PhD at the same institution was my goal). From my point of view, if you as an undergraduate at the university have so much trouble finding a research group, how much steeped does the climb get when you are competing for a PhD position?
Or should I just contact the professors again next year?
Yes, contact group leaders until you find a group willing to take you. But, don't be a bother. If a professor has been indifferent towards you, it's highly unlikely they are going to change their opinion with ten more emails. **Contact only those,** who have shown slightly positive response, indicating that their lab currently has no open positions for UGs but will have new ones later.
**What I would do**
1. Contact junior group leaders who are joining or have joined your institution in the current funding cycle.
2. Contact the group leaders you have ignored
>
> (and many of the remaining faculty do not have significant lab groups and only work with one or two graduate students at a time)
>
>
>
The above will provide you with better mentorship and growth opportunities, as you do not have to compete with 10 other people for their time. Furthermore, they might also be more inclined to take you on as a PhD scholar later on. In my field, joining a prominent group leader's lab hardly leads to good mentorship from the professor directly. You will be mentored by a Post-Doc or a PhD and at the end of your term, you will count yourself lucky if the professor meets you even once or remembers your name.
3. If you are still desperate to work with the most prominent groups, then you should approach their senior PhD students and Post-Docs. Not the group leaders themselves.
This is my advice from experience. You must get a very good feel of the lab you are joining, before you join it. It is not the project, but interactions with your mentor that lead to you becoming a better scientist.
Finally, do not be swayed by the big articles that are listed on group websites. People tend to be envious of them, but they hardly notice the years of toil that goes into such article.
For some perspective, I have worked on average 10 hours a day, 7 days a week for the past 2.5 years to create an article which has now been submitted to a journal of some prestige. I have also met people who have worked for a decade on a single project but have not submitted the study.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: This suggestion is totally "off the wall" and "outside the box", but the underlying idea is that you broaden your perspective. I'm assuming a few things. First, you are at a top institution. Next, you are a top student - you are obviously dedicated. Next, you aren't alone and there are at least a few of you in the same circumstance.
Consider forming your own "research group". Become its leader. Find a faculty member who will give you a problem to work on and maybe give you occasional ideas on your progress. The commitment of the faculty member can be minimal and your research discussions are mostly among group members. Find someone, maybe even a postdoc, who can give you some ideas about research process in your field.
But if four of you approach a professor it is a different sort of thing than going alone. A junior professor might be an especially good "target".
Try to have your group meet a couple of times a week to share ideas and what insights anyone has.
Produce a group report at the end of some period of time, even if it only discusses directions, not successes. You can even discuss failures, since it was learning that was important and it is just as good to know what doesn't work as what does in many cases. Offer the report to some faculty member and ask for comment.
This will have two benefits. One is that it should enable you to learn something about research process even if it comes with small progress. Knowing how to go about research is an important skill in many fields and it is good to get some practice at it. But having formed such a group is, itself, a big plus when it comes to talking about grad school application.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/20
| 1,100
| 4,788
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am in the final year of my PhD. My work was on using Finite element method to study tribology. It was completely modeling based. I developed various models and have gained quite expertise in modeling with the commercially available finite element code.
However, I come from materials engineering background and I don't have any formal education on statics, dynamics, continuum mechanics or finite element method. I had taken some advanced courses on mechanics. But, they did not cover the undergrad stuff and straightaway went for the modeling part or some applied stuff.
Whatever theoretical I have learnt during my PhD, I have done that myself. So, it's neither structured or formalized. I read books, online videos, and I only concentrated on portions applicable for my research. As a result, I know how to model my problem statement which involves dynamic and transient behaviors. But know nothing about statics or quasi-static behaviors.
Now, I am asked to teach a short summer finite element analysis course to mechanical engineering undergrads from July to September (8 lectures ~ 12 hours). and I have no idea what and how to teach them. I have to teach theory and introduce modeling. How do I teach students who have more formal education than me on topics like statics, dynamics, continuum mechanics?<issue_comment>username_1: I think the main problem that you are going to have is that you will not know what your students know or don't know right before they take the course you will be teaching. (That is, you have not been "in their shoes" before.)
I strongly suggest that you find out what courses the students have already taken (and what they haven't taken) then look at the syllabi for those courses. This will prevent you from wasting time and effort teaching them things they already know, as well as inform you about what necessary skills and understanding you need to introduce to them.
Of course, if the course you will be teaching has been taught before, then look at the previous syllabi (notes, exams, textbooks).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Having been in the same situation not a few times but in a different subject, here are my recommendations.
First of all, if you truly feel unqualified to teach this course, see if you can get a different course assignment, one that you have more experience with. It is unreasonable enough to be teaching in your final year (although understandably unavoidable for funding reasons at many institutions), but teaching a new course from scratch is quite tough.
If you cannot get out of teaching this course, then try the following:
1. Find out which of your colleagues has taught this course before and see if you can use their notes. Ask for textbook recommendations, online tutorials, any and everything to help you master the material (which you can probably do fairly quickly given your self-training). You should keep track of which resources help you, so you can build them into your lectures and give your students recommendations. The best teachers steal and borrow from each other *all the time*.
2. Write detailed notes for your lectures. This will take a lot of time, but I've found it to be an indispensible step when delivering lectures for a new course. Review and rehearse your first lecture with a friend, if possible. Over time, the prep work will take less time, but to feel confident for the first couple lectures, it's worth it.
3. Be honest with your students-- if they see what an expert you are after teaching yourself, and if you pass on your tips and tricks to them, they will trust you more. There's no shame in saying, "I didn't know what this was a few weeks ago, but now I do and I think it's cool and I want to tell you about it."
4. Make the class interactive. This goes for teaching any subject, but especially highly technical fields where there are a lot of details to absorb. Allow some time each class for students to work through some problems on their own, while you walk around the room and help. This takes some pressure off of you and allows you to pass on the intuition you've gained from self-teaching.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The more I think about this, the less I like it. A summer course is SUPER ACCELERATED. You blink, and the course is half over. The opportunity to fix problems that arise is tiny.
I hope this is a low-credit course, as I really encourage you to stick to a workshop-style approach. Teach by example. This will essentially be a "getting started" guided tour. Pick a problem, and walk the students through that problem during the summer session using a number of the tools you're trying to teach.
If you can find somebody that's taught this before, make that person your best friend.
Upvotes: 4
|
2019/05/20
| 911
| 3,956
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a US post doc applying for a position in Norway. The application asks me to include my motivation for applying for the position. Should I mention my personal willingness to move to Norway? I recently visited and loved the culture and outdoor lifestyle there. Of course my letter is primarily focused on my research interests and how they align with the posted position, but I was wondering if it is appropriate to include 1-2 sentences about my personal desire to live in Norway.<issue_comment>username_1: I think the main problem that you are going to have is that you will not know what your students know or don't know right before they take the course you will be teaching. (That is, you have not been "in their shoes" before.)
I strongly suggest that you find out what courses the students have already taken (and what they haven't taken) then look at the syllabi for those courses. This will prevent you from wasting time and effort teaching them things they already know, as well as inform you about what necessary skills and understanding you need to introduce to them.
Of course, if the course you will be teaching has been taught before, then look at the previous syllabi (notes, exams, textbooks).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Having been in the same situation not a few times but in a different subject, here are my recommendations.
First of all, if you truly feel unqualified to teach this course, see if you can get a different course assignment, one that you have more experience with. It is unreasonable enough to be teaching in your final year (although understandably unavoidable for funding reasons at many institutions), but teaching a new course from scratch is quite tough.
If you cannot get out of teaching this course, then try the following:
1. Find out which of your colleagues has taught this course before and see if you can use their notes. Ask for textbook recommendations, online tutorials, any and everything to help you master the material (which you can probably do fairly quickly given your self-training). You should keep track of which resources help you, so you can build them into your lectures and give your students recommendations. The best teachers steal and borrow from each other *all the time*.
2. Write detailed notes for your lectures. This will take a lot of time, but I've found it to be an indispensible step when delivering lectures for a new course. Review and rehearse your first lecture with a friend, if possible. Over time, the prep work will take less time, but to feel confident for the first couple lectures, it's worth it.
3. Be honest with your students-- if they see what an expert you are after teaching yourself, and if you pass on your tips and tricks to them, they will trust you more. There's no shame in saying, "I didn't know what this was a few weeks ago, but now I do and I think it's cool and I want to tell you about it."
4. Make the class interactive. This goes for teaching any subject, but especially highly technical fields where there are a lot of details to absorb. Allow some time each class for students to work through some problems on their own, while you walk around the room and help. This takes some pressure off of you and allows you to pass on the intuition you've gained from self-teaching.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The more I think about this, the less I like it. A summer course is SUPER ACCELERATED. You blink, and the course is half over. The opportunity to fix problems that arise is tiny.
I hope this is a low-credit course, as I really encourage you to stick to a workshop-style approach. Teach by example. This will essentially be a "getting started" guided tour. Pick a problem, and walk the students through that problem during the summer session using a number of the tools you're trying to teach.
If you can find somebody that's taught this before, make that person your best friend.
Upvotes: 4
|
2019/05/19
| 3,382
| 14,115
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have just started a research position (around 2.5 months ago) at a top-10 university. I am having my own funding and was initially quite excited about the opportunity, and did and do love my project.
I have some trouble with the mentorship, however, and the following things have happened so far:
* I was sitting across my mentor during one of the first meetings I had with him. I was not aware that because of my clothing (I had a rather loose-sitting shirt on) and the way I was sitting, one could see my décolleté. Although I understand that looking at other people is quite normal, not only did my mentor stare at my chest, he then also leaned back and laughed in an arrogant kind of tone. Although he has not done that anymore, he still looks at my body in quite discomforting ways (I see him staring at my backside, my waist etc.). At this point, I am spending my time thinking about what to wear when I meet with him to avoid such situations. Then I end up being bothered that this has become a concern of mine.
* I am the only woman in the group, and sexist jokes during weekly meetings are a thing. It seems that specifically, one of the students tries to cement his status by making jokes I would not like and that this student knows that the mentor will laugh along at these jokes (which he does loudest) which will also impact the relationship of me and the mentor in a negative way - which it does, though I see it as the mentor's responsibility to act differently. I have never been at a lab before where jokes about women's bodies were considered normal during meetings.
* When we discuss work from a female scientist, the tone is quite different than when work from a male scientist is discussed. Again, I am well aware that we all have biases. But the discussion of a female scientist's work became aggressive quite quickly, with the mentor saying things like "This work makes me so angry that I can't control my anger anymore". I haven't experienced such bursts of aggression towards male scientists, and his behavior shapes the overall environment of the lab, and aggressive behavior I experience from the students are in my opinion at least partly a consequence of his behavior.
The student is the kind of person who knows where people's sensitivities are and uses that knowledge in his favor - but my concern is really much more the PI than the student, since, at least to a great extent, his behavior sets a blueprint for acceptable behavior and the rules of the lab.
While I have not experienced this before, there still is the possibility of leaving and ending up in a similar situation - maybe I was just lucky so far with my supervisors? It is a fear I have, it does not have to be logical. But I simply am afraid of leaving a careerwise unique opportunity without knowing what will happen next
What should I do?
**Brief update** I changed my lab and I am now at another "top 10" university and extremely happy. Supportive lab environment, supportive and respectful PI, great scientific work. I am glad I left and don't have any doubts anymore that this was the right decision.
Advice for others experiencing something similar: I got (anonymously) help from people who experienced similar things, but kept everything very lowkey. I tried to part as peacefully as I could from the old lab, and pointed out positive aspects of the new labs during the job interviews. I care very much about my principles, but also understood quickly that the universities would use all of their force against me if I would speak up, and decided at this point to protect myself (and my mental health).
Also, I want to thank everyone here for their support!<issue_comment>username_1: If this is in USA, **your university has a very serious problem**. Your description of your work environment definitely rises to the level of **workplace harassment prohibited by law**. By allowing it to continue your university opens themselves up to all kinds of liability, not to mention serious risks to their reputation.
(Not to mention the personal risks to you, and the unpleasantness of your work environment.)
You should, at a minimum, find the **sexual harassment policy** of your institution and read it. You can find it possibly online, and possibly by asking somebody in human resources (the folks who handle your paycheck and vacation, etc).
After you read it, you probably will know how to file a complaint. You can decide whether to do that.
Keep in mind that **retaliating** against a person who files a sexual harassment complaint is also very seriously **illegal**.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I am writing this answer already feeling the down-votes coming.
There are several things I can express regarding your post:
>
> I was sitting across my mentor during one of the first meetings I had
> with him. I was not aware that because of my clothing (I had a rather
> loose-sitting shirt on) and the way I was sitting, one could see my
> decoltée.
>
>
>
I understand that it wasn't on purpose, but my number one rule about what I wear is to not expose anything that I don't want others to be able to see.
Now let me take some time here on this phrase...
>
> Although I understand that looking at other people is quite normal,
> not only did my mentor stare at my chest, he then also leaned back and
> laughed in an arrogant kind of tone.
>
>
>
From here I want to first thank you for this:
>
> Although I understand that looking at other people is quite normal,
>
>
>
Thank you for understand the fact that it is reasonable for people to be attracted to each other. You understand that this in fact is not harassment (in my honest opinion), but now this:
>
> not only did my mentor stare at my chest, he then also leaned back
> and laughed in an arrogant kind of tone.
>
>
>
This behavior is clearly unacceptable. If he had looked and even lingered that would be fine. Staring isn't.
>
> he still looks at my body in quite discomforting ways (I see him
> staring at my backside, my waist etc.).
>
>
>
Again, attraction = normal, continuously staring (to a point that it is even obvious to you) not OK.
I wouldn't tag it as harassment to be honest, just uncomfortable. If he makes comments or ever tried to be close enough to you to touch you, that would undoubtedly be harassment.
The crude jokes at work are just simply unacceptable, no discussion about it.
>
> When we discuss work from a female scientist, the tone is quite
> different than when work from a male scientist is discussed. Again, I
> am well aware that we all have biases
>
>
>
Again, amazing that you can look past yourself and admit that we all have biases, you could obviously have been bias when observing their behavior related to the female scientist. I wouldn't even go with **sexism** in this case (even if that is the case), there should not be violent outburst about any scientist, no matter **gender**, **race** or **age**!
All in all, you are amazing and well equipped to deal with life, this place needs to change. Talk to your department head, this is your opportunity to research something **you** like, this is **your** funding, do not let them ruin it for you!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Let me start by noting that this is an area I know something about. I collaborated on an assessment of climate issues in a prominent STEM department of a prominent university. Some of those issues revolved around gender generally and women particularly. So I may not have all the answers, but my response below is based on extensive interviewing of people at all levels and functions within the department, as well as people outside the department who had personal knowledge.
You have multiple options and a few preliminary decisions. The first step may be to decide what types and levels of risk you are willing to assume. Are you willing to have your name out there, assuming (as one probably can) that your identity will be generally protected but probably known to a few. It sounds like you’re past your qualifying exams; if not, though, then consider whether they’re conducted anonymously or not. Among other considerations.
The second step may be to decide whether you are more interested--or whether it would be more effective--to address your situation specifically or the situation of a woman in STEM at your institution.
Then you have different paths you can choose. They are not mutually exclusive.
You could go to the press; but there are several reasons not to, at least at the stage you described. You could go to or start a Women in STEM organization or publication; probably a good idea to consider generally, but I don’t know enough about your situation to know whether or how it would help or hinder in the short term.
You could go to the administration of whatever university division your program is within—for example, and I’m making this up, the Dean of the College of Science and Technology. The message there could be the experience generally of women in STEM. You could expore/request/demand training or an assessment or whatever makes sense for you, the department, and the university.
You could file a complaint with whatever office the school calls the people who know about and investigate issues of diversity and inclusion. My experience with people who have filed complaints in situations similar to your is limited, but, among those with whose situations I am somewhat familiar, there was no reprisal while they were still in their programs. Some were enabled to transfer groups/mentors.
You could go to your department head, or have a meeting with the department head and your mentor. This can be an effective step, but you might consider whether there’s someone from the diversity/inclusion office or another university resource to accompany you.
Going to the department head could be a good first step, if you feel you can do it. Going to the next up administration could also be a good early step. I don’t know enough about the relevant circumstances to offer more specific guidance.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: First of all, not all research labs are like that. You can find better work environment elsewhere, perhaps even have luck in the same University.
The academic world, however, is extremely small, and people will talk behind your back. You can't fight that. One way to minimize this is to minimize amount of time you spend in the current group.
Hence, one of few options is **update your resume and start looking for another job**. Your current situation will not become better. One of the reasons is that you have no political capital (friends) to change it, and filing complaint will definitely make your life worse in the group forever.
While searching for new job, try to connect with local chapter of [Women in Science](https://wise.usc.edu/) or similar unofficial group. Major universities have those these days. Ask them for help and advice. Another contact is something like Office of [Equity and Diversity](https://equity.usc.edu/). These people have seen your situation before and will give guidance.
When you get a new job offer, you might want to consider filing complaint with HR specifically naming your current group leader. Hopefully, university will pay attention and investigate.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I'd suggest changing labs as soon as you can. It's understandable that you're afraid of the next lab having the same problems, but based on your previous experience there's a good chance it will be better, and at any rate you know for sure that the current one is a problem. Once you're at a new position you'll be in a safer situation to decide whether you want to make a report about the old lab. Hopefully in the new position you'll have a new mentor who can protect you professionally, and advise you about your decision whether to report. I don't think you need to make things harder for yourself to go through any reporting at the same time you're trying to find a new job.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_6: I would like to add an 'aspect-oriented' answer. Whichever of the fine answers that have been proposed you choose, I strongly suggest you **document everything**.
The sexist jokes made by students (including gory details), the comments about female scientists, comments like "this work makes me so angry that I can't control my anger anymore" (as a male, I would be having personal questioning conversations about someone making these sorts of remarks - "is this just stupid hyperbole, or is he actually likely to throw lab equipment across the room?").
Document the day, the time, whatever was being worked on at the time, who else was in the lab (as they may be witnesses), and interactions immediately before any incidents. Being able to demonstrate a pattern of obnoxious behaviour will help if anything becomes official, if the offender tries to play down incidents, and will make it more difficult to dismiss any incident reporting as being because "she is difficult to work with".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: IMO, the "lingering" will die off in time. Just remember who you are and what you're there for. If it works out with your mentor in a very short time, then stay there.
I had to work with 23 women in my group at one time in life. There were 4-5 men, 23 women and a woman supervisor. Also, there was a feminist in HR who (I found out later) had it in for me.
I just worked on myself, worked hard. Gained there admiration so well they would eventually give me hugs when I walked in to work and stood at the end of our work area (except the supervisor).
I worked there for 30 years and 5 days until retirement, but for different groups. Moving around did me some good.
It's not really sexual harassment - yet. Now, having said that, I never heard crude jokes about women at work - that's not right. I would do like someone said, read the guidelines of conduct, how one should act with fellow students will be in print. Document.
Upvotes: -1
|
2019/05/20
| 3,315
| 13,732
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a postdoc in cell biology and I'm considering to change my career path after having spent the last 1.5 years in a lab that has completely destroyed my passion for the academic life.
Background: I was working abroad for a few years and, due to personal reasons, I asked a PI with which I collaborated in the past the possibility to go back to the homeland. I knew this to be a suboptimal solution but I needed to go back. This PI accepted and, to smooth the transition, I wrote a EU grant proposal, which was funded (yay!) to move back to my homeland.
The new lab is mainly a clinically oriented lab run by MD, but it has contributed to the field with nice basic science discoveries, generally with the help of collaborating lab. My tasks were to basically to setup and run the cell biology section of the lab.
For the first year, I was forced to write grants for the two/three PIs in the lab and I (33 y.o.). We got in total 3 grants (~ 2 M€).
My project theoretically started last autumn, but I was "forced" by the PI to give priority to these new projects rather than to mine. Due to severe issues with our collaborators, I got the cell lines I wanted to work on in my project with 6 months of delay, and other issues did not allow me to physically start my project before 8 months of delay. Now, after 1 year into my project, the experiments have still to start, mainly due to:
1. **the lack of a proper organisation in the lab:** there are no lab meetings, there is no supervision on the experiments, the PIs work in a separate premise. There's also a shortage of workforce, as they pretend that 1 person (me) can run the whole cell culture facility AND perform functional experiments AND order reagents AND collect quotations from vendors AND do conference calls AND analyse results AND go to the ethic committee AND write grants.
2. **a proper lab structure:** all the 4 postdocs in the lab are treated as technicians and the PIs do not have skills to understand the basic science we do. The two/three PIs do not understand that these are severe issues and they are constantly asking for results.
3. **a decent mentoring:** as I'm the most expert person in the lab concerning cell biology, I'm not receiving any helpful mentoring tips from my PI on my everyday work. Moreover, being the only one to understand a topic implies that the discussions on my topic are generally between me and myself.
Now, after 1.5 years in this lab I would really like to leave that toxic environment but this will mean to stop my EU-funded project (12 over 24 months left) and will clearly burn all the bridges for future academic position in my city and, probably, in the whole country.
I'm considering whether to switch to industry jobs, but this would mean to start again from scratch and acquire new skills. I've notice I've acquired skills and achievements (papers, h-index, citations, etc..) that are now completely useless in the current job market in my country. I'll do what necessary of course, but it will be a bad hit for both the spirit and the career. Start from scratch in another field in mid-30s isn't often a very successful strategy.
Do you have any tips or suggestion to escape from this toxic situation that is now also significantly affecting my health?
Thanks :)<issue_comment>username_1: If this is in USA, **your university has a very serious problem**. Your description of your work environment definitely rises to the level of **workplace harassment prohibited by law**. By allowing it to continue your university opens themselves up to all kinds of liability, not to mention serious risks to their reputation.
(Not to mention the personal risks to you, and the unpleasantness of your work environment.)
You should, at a minimum, find the **sexual harassment policy** of your institution and read it. You can find it possibly online, and possibly by asking somebody in human resources (the folks who handle your paycheck and vacation, etc).
After you read it, you probably will know how to file a complaint. You can decide whether to do that.
Keep in mind that **retaliating** against a person who files a sexual harassment complaint is also very seriously **illegal**.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I am writing this answer already feeling the down-votes coming.
There are several things I can express regarding your post:
>
> I was sitting across my mentor during one of the first meetings I had
> with him. I was not aware that because of my clothing (I had a rather
> loose-sitting shirt on) and the way I was sitting, one could see my
> decoltée.
>
>
>
I understand that it wasn't on purpose, but my number one rule about what I wear is to not expose anything that I don't want others to be able to see.
Now let me take some time here on this phrase...
>
> Although I understand that looking at other people is quite normal,
> not only did my mentor stare at my chest, he then also leaned back and
> laughed in an arrogant kind of tone.
>
>
>
From here I want to first thank you for this:
>
> Although I understand that looking at other people is quite normal,
>
>
>
Thank you for understand the fact that it is reasonable for people to be attracted to each other. You understand that this in fact is not harassment (in my honest opinion), but now this:
>
> not only did my mentor stare at my chest, he then also leaned back
> and laughed in an arrogant kind of tone.
>
>
>
This behavior is clearly unacceptable. If he had looked and even lingered that would be fine. Staring isn't.
>
> he still looks at my body in quite discomforting ways (I see him
> staring at my backside, my waist etc.).
>
>
>
Again, attraction = normal, continuously staring (to a point that it is even obvious to you) not OK.
I wouldn't tag it as harassment to be honest, just uncomfortable. If he makes comments or ever tried to be close enough to you to touch you, that would undoubtedly be harassment.
The crude jokes at work are just simply unacceptable, no discussion about it.
>
> When we discuss work from a female scientist, the tone is quite
> different than when work from a male scientist is discussed. Again, I
> am well aware that we all have biases
>
>
>
Again, amazing that you can look past yourself and admit that we all have biases, you could obviously have been bias when observing their behavior related to the female scientist. I wouldn't even go with **sexism** in this case (even if that is the case), there should not be violent outburst about any scientist, no matter **gender**, **race** or **age**!
All in all, you are amazing and well equipped to deal with life, this place needs to change. Talk to your department head, this is your opportunity to research something **you** like, this is **your** funding, do not let them ruin it for you!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Let me start by noting that this is an area I know something about. I collaborated on an assessment of climate issues in a prominent STEM department of a prominent university. Some of those issues revolved around gender generally and women particularly. So I may not have all the answers, but my response below is based on extensive interviewing of people at all levels and functions within the department, as well as people outside the department who had personal knowledge.
You have multiple options and a few preliminary decisions. The first step may be to decide what types and levels of risk you are willing to assume. Are you willing to have your name out there, assuming (as one probably can) that your identity will be generally protected but probably known to a few. It sounds like you’re past your qualifying exams; if not, though, then consider whether they’re conducted anonymously or not. Among other considerations.
The second step may be to decide whether you are more interested--or whether it would be more effective--to address your situation specifically or the situation of a woman in STEM at your institution.
Then you have different paths you can choose. They are not mutually exclusive.
You could go to the press; but there are several reasons not to, at least at the stage you described. You could go to or start a Women in STEM organization or publication; probably a good idea to consider generally, but I don’t know enough about your situation to know whether or how it would help or hinder in the short term.
You could go to the administration of whatever university division your program is within—for example, and I’m making this up, the Dean of the College of Science and Technology. The message there could be the experience generally of women in STEM. You could expore/request/demand training or an assessment or whatever makes sense for you, the department, and the university.
You could file a complaint with whatever office the school calls the people who know about and investigate issues of diversity and inclusion. My experience with people who have filed complaints in situations similar to your is limited, but, among those with whose situations I am somewhat familiar, there was no reprisal while they were still in their programs. Some were enabled to transfer groups/mentors.
You could go to your department head, or have a meeting with the department head and your mentor. This can be an effective step, but you might consider whether there’s someone from the diversity/inclusion office or another university resource to accompany you.
Going to the department head could be a good first step, if you feel you can do it. Going to the next up administration could also be a good early step. I don’t know enough about the relevant circumstances to offer more specific guidance.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: First of all, not all research labs are like that. You can find better work environment elsewhere, perhaps even have luck in the same University.
The academic world, however, is extremely small, and people will talk behind your back. You can't fight that. One way to minimize this is to minimize amount of time you spend in the current group.
Hence, one of few options is **update your resume and start looking for another job**. Your current situation will not become better. One of the reasons is that you have no political capital (friends) to change it, and filing complaint will definitely make your life worse in the group forever.
While searching for new job, try to connect with local chapter of [Women in Science](https://wise.usc.edu/) or similar unofficial group. Major universities have those these days. Ask them for help and advice. Another contact is something like Office of [Equity and Diversity](https://equity.usc.edu/). These people have seen your situation before and will give guidance.
When you get a new job offer, you might want to consider filing complaint with HR specifically naming your current group leader. Hopefully, university will pay attention and investigate.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I'd suggest changing labs as soon as you can. It's understandable that you're afraid of the next lab having the same problems, but based on your previous experience there's a good chance it will be better, and at any rate you know for sure that the current one is a problem. Once you're at a new position you'll be in a safer situation to decide whether you want to make a report about the old lab. Hopefully in the new position you'll have a new mentor who can protect you professionally, and advise you about your decision whether to report. I don't think you need to make things harder for yourself to go through any reporting at the same time you're trying to find a new job.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_6: I would like to add an 'aspect-oriented' answer. Whichever of the fine answers that have been proposed you choose, I strongly suggest you **document everything**.
The sexist jokes made by students (including gory details), the comments about female scientists, comments like "this work makes me so angry that I can't control my anger anymore" (as a male, I would be having personal questioning conversations about someone making these sorts of remarks - "is this just stupid hyperbole, or is he actually likely to throw lab equipment across the room?").
Document the day, the time, whatever was being worked on at the time, who else was in the lab (as they may be witnesses), and interactions immediately before any incidents. Being able to demonstrate a pattern of obnoxious behaviour will help if anything becomes official, if the offender tries to play down incidents, and will make it more difficult to dismiss any incident reporting as being because "she is difficult to work with".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: IMO, the "lingering" will die off in time. Just remember who you are and what you're there for. If it works out with your mentor in a very short time, then stay there.
I had to work with 23 women in my group at one time in life. There were 4-5 men, 23 women and a woman supervisor. Also, there was a feminist in HR who (I found out later) had it in for me.
I just worked on myself, worked hard. Gained there admiration so well they would eventually give me hugs when I walked in to work and stood at the end of our work area (except the supervisor).
I worked there for 30 years and 5 days until retirement, but for different groups. Moving around did me some good.
It's not really sexual harassment - yet. Now, having said that, I never heard crude jokes about women at work - that's not right. I would do like someone said, read the guidelines of conduct, how one should act with fellow students will be in print. Document.
Upvotes: -1
|
2019/05/20
| 578
| 2,557
|
<issue_start>username_0: A particular program I would like to apply to requires a recent (past year) graded work sample in either science, history, or the social sciences.
Of course, I would like to present myself in the best light, however, the assignments I have been given fail to capture the rigor I would like to show. My course assignments have been rather standard and have not allowed me to express any special creativity or interest. I understand that the purpose of such a requirement is to assess how well I write and the topic should be immaterial, but I feel much more confident submitting a piece not in my coursework.
In an academic situation, is it considered unethical to write my own research paper on my own topic and submit it to my teacher for grading, with the intent of using it as a work sample? I would want the paper to be graded as honestly as possible of course. I care less about the numerical grade and more about the content and style of writing.
I would appreciate your input. Of course, this would only work if my professor agreed.
Edit: Just to clarify, I do not wish to be deceitful in anyway, however, I could not find evidence of any convention governing this sort of situation. This would be a sample of my work and I am not sure how it would be any different from submitting an open ended assignment. The paper I am referring to would be related to the subject, and in the subject I am thinking of, it is a logical extension of my interests beyond the course. Again, since the requirement is a graded work sample, I wasn't sure if it had to be technical coursework.<issue_comment>username_1: I guess you sound like you are trying to game the system and that your "graded assignment" isn't really the sort of thing that is expected. If you are trying to deceive, then, of course it is unethical.
However, you might ask to submit a *second* writing sample along with the require one, stating that you think it represents your abilities better than your coursework.
It would probably also be a mistake to ask your professor to participate in a deceit. But, his comments on a second sample would be fine as long as you are clear about the situation.
Guard your honor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If they ask for a graded sample of your work, they almost certainly mean a real assignment you submitted that got graded for an actual class that went on your transcript. They almost certainly do not mean something you generated just for the application and which you asked someone to "grade".
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/20
| 362
| 1,477
|
<issue_start>username_0: I know there is a similar question here ([Should PhD students mention small grants on their CV?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/45216/should-phd-students-mention-small-grants-on-their-cv)) but there is a slight difference between my question and this.
I recently went to a conference as a student. The conference awards a travel grant for some participating students. This stipend is based in part on need (e.g., distance), but it is also based on level of participation, i.e. merit--only students who presented a full paper at the conference got it (as opposed to an abstract or workshop paper).
Are things like this worth listing on the CV of a starting PhD student, or should I not bother? A follow up question, if it turns out that it's good to list this, is how to list it.<issue_comment>username_1: I would suggest listing the participation, but not the grant. At the point you are, starting the doctoral studies, it will have little to no effect in any case and by the time the CV becomes more important you should have more substantial things to list.
Alternatively, if you list the participation and simply note (funded) after the reference, it would be fine, I think. But don't try to make it sound like more than it is.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: By your question, it seems that the grant is not competitive and hence it will not serve as a strong point in your CV (or cover letter)
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/21
| 2,302
| 10,139
|
<issue_start>username_0: **Update:** Thanks for the answers. I reworded and numbered the questions for clarification.
As a volunteer endeavor, I want to do online survey and education research. I am not being paid for the work, and the research participants are also not being paid. I am in the United States.
1. Legally, do I need to obtain IRB approval to conduct the research?
2. Legally, can I self-publish (e.g. blog)?
3. Would any reputable journal accept results obtained without any IRB approval?
4. What might the legal consequences be for not obtaining approval?
5. If I'm not associated with any IRB, how would I get approval?
6. Does it matter what my job is if I do the research in my personal time?
7. What about a collaborator at a university who is helping as a volunteer researcher in their personal time?<issue_comment>username_1: Many journals have policies that require authors to have obtained IRB approval (or its equivalent in countries other than the US) as a condition of publication for any paper that involves human subjects. Here, the consequence of not obtaining IRB approval would be that your paper isn't published.
If you are employed by an institution that has a policy on human subjects research than you may be required to obtain IRB approval for any research project involving human subjects by your institution's policy, whether or not the research is sponsored by the institution or makes any use of the resources of the institution. Here, the consequences of not obtaining IRB approval could include being fired from your job.
There are Commercial Institutional Review Boards that provide review and oversight for research involving human subjects outside of an institution with its own review board. These are used, for example, by companies that do human subjects research as part of the development of new products.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you can, it would probably help if you could find an academic partner interested in the study. This way you could apply with the ethics board at their institution, and it would probably strengthen the impact of your survey.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Here are my best guesses from reading the [Belmont Report Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont_Report) and from my academic experience.
1. No, collecting informal minimal risk survey data without IRB approval is legal in the US (as far as I know, but I am not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice). I am unsure what the legality is if the information contains personally identifying information or information that could put the participants at risk (for example, medical history or embarrassing history).
2. Yes, self-publishing results obtained without IRB approval is legal in the US (but I'm not a lawyer so am not sure). For example, I have never seen FiveThirtyEight describe IRB approval for the survey research they conduct, and I assume a major institution like that is following the law.
3. No, most journals have a policy that human subjects research have IRB approval. The reviewers and editorial staff might miss it and let a submission slip through, but in general reputable journals require IRB approval for research reported in the manuscripts they accept.
4. For a simple survey that is of minimal risk to participants (for example, does not contain any personally identifying information, medical information, nor other information that might risk embarrassment or other harms), I have never heard of any legal consequences for conducting and self-publishing research. I don't know the legality of conducting a survey with personally identifying information along with potentially harmful information, and then publishing the individual participant-level data. Regardless, I believe survey research conducted without IRB approval could be accepted by a pre-print server like PsyArXiv.
5. Find a collaborator at an institution with an IRB and have them submit the paperwork, or pay for a private IRB to approve the research.
6. No, considering the research is conducted in your personal time, your job does not matter with respect to the legality of the research. I believe your job does not matter regardless. It might matter to your employer though, depending on the contract you signed. People might feel differently about the ethics of the research depending on whether it is conducted by an amateur, a businessperson, a journalist, or a university professor.
7. I have no idea how most university contracts impact their staff's ability to collaborate on a minimal risk survey study that does not have IRB approval.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Your questions don't always have straightforward answers. It is necessary to keep in mind that there are two major components of Federal law regarding human subjects research. These are the Food and Drug Administration laws and regulations and something called 45 CFR 46, the code of Federal Regulations for Human Subjects. There are also Federal laws regarding the treatment of animals in research, which have their own CFR.
In addition, there are state laws governing human subjects research.
Starting in 1947, there were some ethical standards called the Nuremburg Code, which covered medical experimentation. The Federal Government initiated a commission in 1974 which resulted in a report called The Belmont Report, which was a statement of ethical principles for human research. Following the Belmont Report individual institutions and the the Federal Government established procedures, laws, and practices to review and approve human research.
You have to go read all these to resolve all of your questions.
The Federal regulations only apply to Federally funded research. One of the components is that researchers get to have their research approved by their local peers. So every research institution had to establish a review committee and procedures for review. Virtually every institution has decided to review all research using the same standards and procedures for all research, regardless of the funding source. They have also applied the same standards to all research done by staff they employ. There might be exceptions to both of these.
There is a lot of variation among institutions. There are explicit requirements in the 45 CFR 46 that not all institutions follow. There is also an accreditation process for institutions and their review boards.
If you now think that this is confusing, that I do not know the answer, and that you do not know the answer, then you are right.
However, it is essential to understand that the Federal government makes its review regulations only for Federally funded research, large research institutions make rules and procedures that they are certain comply, and journals that publish human research do their part to assure compliance. If a research institution does not comply then all its research funding can be suspended.
These rules and procedures than fall over into all the research that staff of institutions do and that journals publish. Nobody wants to look like they are not complying.
538 and commercial firms do research without Federal funding self publish or only write reports for clients. They are not covered either FDA regulations or 45 CFR 46. They can do what they want until someone sues them for an injury in state or Federal court. Moreover, 538 benefits from the constitutional freedom of the press.
Congress made laws about how the Federal government spends its own money and how it approves drugs and devices through the FDA.
A lot of research is just exempt anyway. The regulations tell you which. The regulations must be interpreted, of course, which isn't always easy.
Start by reading the Belmont Report and the 45 CFR 46,especially the exemptions from review.
In addition to Federal laws and institutional regulations there are also state laws that govern research. You have to find these out also.
There are some laws about calling cell phones that apply also.
"As a volunteer endeavor, I want to do online survey and education research. I am not being paid for the work, and the research participants are also not being paid. I am in the United States."
This has nothing to do with whether review and approval is required, except the volunteer part, which indicates that there is no Federal funding. Also, if you were in a different country you would have to comply with their laws.
1 "Legally, do I need to obtain IRB approval to conduct the research?" Doesn't sound like it. See 45 CFR 46.
2 "Legally, can I self-publish (e.g. blog)?" Probably, why not? Federal regulations are about conducting the research, not about publishing it, despite mistaken beliefs to the contrary.
3 "Would any reputable journal accept results obtained without any IRB approval?"
It is entirely possible. There are mechanisms in 45 CFR 46 to achieve this. One would be to make the data a public source by giving it to anyone who asks for it. Better yet, deposit it with a data archive where anyone can download it.
4 "What might the legal consequences be for not obtaining approval?"
Nothing. if approval is not required. You could be sued, but only if the complainant can show actual damages. There are criminal penalties, enforced by the Attorney General Office of Civil Rights. I don't think they have ever brought a case.
5 "If I'm not associated with any IRB, how would I get approval?"
You can pay an IRB to review and approve you research. More likely, you could ask the staff of an IRB to tell you if review and approval is necessary. A remarkable amount of research is determined to not be covered by 45 CFR 46. This is done by a staff member and/or the IRB chair. They might do this pro bono.
6 "Does it matter what my job is if I do the research in my personal time?" That depends solely on who you work for and what their employee handbook says.
7 "What about a collaborator at a university who is helping as a volunteer researcher in their personal time?" That depends solely on who they work for and what their employee handbook says.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2019/05/21
| 1,478
| 6,134
|
<issue_start>username_0: In this situation there is a co-author that wants their current funding source added to the acknowledgements section because they edited the paper that others wrote. The research in the paper is something the co-author worked on as a graduate student about 5 years ago, but they have since become an assistant professor elsewhere and no longer contribute to the paper's research.
The separate funding source they used several years ago to contribute to the data analysis for the paper is already listed in the acknowledgements.
The paper did not need major editing, but for the sake of scope - if the paper had needed major edits would that change the answer?
Never had this type of interaction before. I'm wondering if putting that acknowledgement would implicitly say that the co-author's current funding also funded the research in the paper. Maybe "Co-author was funded by Blank to edit the manuscript" is a middle ground?
The source of funding in question is the co-author's country's government - although unclear if it's a research grant or co-author's salary as a professor. In either case is it acceptable to "use" this money to edit manuscripts from previous work done and funded elsewhere?
First paper & graduate student, to finalize the context.<issue_comment>username_1: There are several questions being asked here. One primary question is:
>
> I'm wondering if putting that acknowledgement would implicitly say that the co-author's current funding also funded the research in the paper.
>
>
>
Before worrying about this, it might be worth asking what the consequences would be if someone were to make this mistake. (I can't answer that question.)
1. Presumably the primary grant that funded the work has reports, and the reports for that grant will properly attribute this paper.
2. Presumably the co-author will not lie when reporting to their granting agency about what their grant supported on the paper. (But, it may be listed on the grant report.)
3. If the grant is a recent grant, and the work is clearly older than the grant, then it would be clear that the particular grant couldn't have funded the research.
A secondary question is:
>
> is it acceptable to "use" this money to edit manuscripts from previous work done and funded elsewhere?
>
>
>
4. You'd have to look at the terms of the grant to determine this. In the US, professors are often funded in the summer by grants, and they can sometimes be interpreted rather broadly. So, if the professor worked on the paper during the summer, then it would be correct to list the paper as supported by the grant.
As for advice on what to do:
I would hesitate to list the activities that were funded individually - at least in my field this sort of detail is never/very rarely provided.
But, perhaps you could divide the funding by the people who were funded by it: `Authors X, Y, Z were funded by Grant A, author X was additionally funded by Grant B. Author W was funded by Grant C.` This might give the delineation you are looking for.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, I would be pragmatic about this. If the contribution of the Assistant Professor is large enough to warrant co-authorship (which is a different story altogether, and not the question here), it should be large enough to mention their funding source. Presumably they have actually had to invest some amount of time into the manuscript to warrant co-authorship, and if they "used" their own university-funded research time or some external project time to contribute to the paper is really their own business.
Clearly this does not mean that you need to pretend like the entire work was funded by your co-authors grant, but a clause in the acknowledgements such as *"Prof. X acknowledges the financial support provided by XYZ"* is common and completely appropriate.
>
> I'm wondering if putting that acknowledgement would implicitly say that the co-author's current funding also funded the research in the paper.
>
>
>
Only if you word it poorly.
>
> Maybe "Co-author was funded by Blank to edit the manuscript" is a middle ground?
>
>
>
This sounds very uncommon to me. I would only write it like that if you also explicitly list who paid for all other parts of the study (which would be highly unusual in my field).
>
> In either case is it acceptable to "use" this money to edit manuscripts from previous work done and funded elsewhere?
>
>
>
That's a question between your co-author and their funding source, and shouldn't really be your concern.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: If you have valid reasons to be worried about the implications of such insinuations (something I'm not sure about) - you can write it a longer comment describing two phases of the work - the "research" you mentioned to which said co-author has not been part of, and the writing work. Now, I wouldn't say co-author X was only involved in writing, or only involved in editing, but perhaps something like:
>
> Lab research was conducted at `[Institute name]` between `[start year]` and `[end year]` and supported by `[funding sources here]`. Work on this submission has received additional support from `[the editing co-author's funding source here]`
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I would add it. Normally, just the funding of the actual "work work" of the data collection would be adequate, but if someone is asking for it (and being funded now), go ahead and do it. I would as a primary author be inclined to list both my old and new sources. This person's claim seems a little more tenuous, but acknowledgements are cheap. Lean to the side of giving them, not the opposite.
I don't think it will hurt you. Don't think it is dishonest. And maybe the fellow needs to show current activity or the like. This is a much lower step than if the fellow was asking for extra co-authorships.
And nobody is going to nitpick which source paid for what parts. So I would not be so worried that people parse the sources of funding versus implied amounts of work. Don't get too granular.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/21
| 1,502
| 6,054
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently doing a PhD in mathematics and have been working with my current adviser for almost a year. My adviser is at an advanced age, however, even though he still has a couple of more graduate students apart from me. My work has been going decent, but with oral qualifying examinations coming up, I'm confused if having a co-adviser may be a good idea for me. There are a couple of reasons for me to think so.
First is the fact that my adviser is at an advanced age. Secondly, while my adviser was away for a semester last year, I worked with another faculty member, who recently told me to consider if I wanted him as a co-adviser. I've not spoken about this issue with my adviser yet.
In this situation, I'm really confused about two issues. Firstly, will it be a good idea to have a co-adviser at all in my case, or should I continue having a single adviser while continuing my work with the other faculty member and keep him in my committee? Secondly, if I indeed choose to have a co-adviser, how should I bring it up with my principal adviser so that he doesn't mind? This has left me very confused recently and I'd love to hear some general advise in this situation.<issue_comment>username_1: There are several questions being asked here. One primary question is:
>
> I'm wondering if putting that acknowledgement would implicitly say that the co-author's current funding also funded the research in the paper.
>
>
>
Before worrying about this, it might be worth asking what the consequences would be if someone were to make this mistake. (I can't answer that question.)
1. Presumably the primary grant that funded the work has reports, and the reports for that grant will properly attribute this paper.
2. Presumably the co-author will not lie when reporting to their granting agency about what their grant supported on the paper. (But, it may be listed on the grant report.)
3. If the grant is a recent grant, and the work is clearly older than the grant, then it would be clear that the particular grant couldn't have funded the research.
A secondary question is:
>
> is it acceptable to "use" this money to edit manuscripts from previous work done and funded elsewhere?
>
>
>
4. You'd have to look at the terms of the grant to determine this. In the US, professors are often funded in the summer by grants, and they can sometimes be interpreted rather broadly. So, if the professor worked on the paper during the summer, then it would be correct to list the paper as supported by the grant.
As for advice on what to do:
I would hesitate to list the activities that were funded individually - at least in my field this sort of detail is never/very rarely provided.
But, perhaps you could divide the funding by the people who were funded by it: `Authors X, Y, Z were funded by Grant A, author X was additionally funded by Grant B. Author W was funded by Grant C.` This might give the delineation you are looking for.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, I would be pragmatic about this. If the contribution of the Assistant Professor is large enough to warrant co-authorship (which is a different story altogether, and not the question here), it should be large enough to mention their funding source. Presumably they have actually had to invest some amount of time into the manuscript to warrant co-authorship, and if they "used" their own university-funded research time or some external project time to contribute to the paper is really their own business.
Clearly this does not mean that you need to pretend like the entire work was funded by your co-authors grant, but a clause in the acknowledgements such as *"Prof. X acknowledges the financial support provided by XYZ"* is common and completely appropriate.
>
> I'm wondering if putting that acknowledgement would implicitly say that the co-author's current funding also funded the research in the paper.
>
>
>
Only if you word it poorly.
>
> Maybe "Co-author was funded by Blank to edit the manuscript" is a middle ground?
>
>
>
This sounds very uncommon to me. I would only write it like that if you also explicitly list who paid for all other parts of the study (which would be highly unusual in my field).
>
> In either case is it acceptable to "use" this money to edit manuscripts from previous work done and funded elsewhere?
>
>
>
That's a question between your co-author and their funding source, and shouldn't really be your concern.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: If you have valid reasons to be worried about the implications of such insinuations (something I'm not sure about) - you can write it a longer comment describing two phases of the work - the "research" you mentioned to which said co-author has not been part of, and the writing work. Now, I wouldn't say co-author X was only involved in writing, or only involved in editing, but perhaps something like:
>
> Lab research was conducted at `[Institute name]` between `[start year]` and `[end year]` and supported by `[funding sources here]`. Work on this submission has received additional support from `[the editing co-author's funding source here]`
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I would add it. Normally, just the funding of the actual "work work" of the data collection would be adequate, but if someone is asking for it (and being funded now), go ahead and do it. I would as a primary author be inclined to list both my old and new sources. This person's claim seems a little more tenuous, but acknowledgements are cheap. Lean to the side of giving them, not the opposite.
I don't think it will hurt you. Don't think it is dishonest. And maybe the fellow needs to show current activity or the like. This is a much lower step than if the fellow was asking for extra co-authorships.
And nobody is going to nitpick which source paid for what parts. So I would not be so worried that people parse the sources of funding versus implied amounts of work. Don't get too granular.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/21
| 925
| 3,874
|
<issue_start>username_0: With networks like ResearchGate and Academia.edu, it's easy to connect with and follow researchers from a variety of different nations and backgrounds. I personally think this is great, and I hope such networks can help reduce redundancy in research.
Every now and then, though, I get a request from someone whose English is poor enough that it obscures meaning, and they are usually from a non-Western country with limited access to research materials. Recently, I received an e-mail from a PhD student wanting me to suggest a thesis topic.
I'm all for helping people, especially if they are bright and eager and trying to work their way out of a crappy situation. But I honestly have no idea how to respond to such an e-mail. I intend to ask for more information about who the student's advisor is, what people in their group work on, etc. But are there are other things I should keep in mind? Is there anything I should be wary of?
P.S. I'm trying to choose my words carefully-- I don't want to play "Western savior," but I also acknowledge I have a real advantage as a Westerner and don't want to lightly dismiss a request for help when it could have a real impact on the student.<issue_comment>username_1: I would suggest, unfortunately, that you refrain from giving students research topics. That is, unless you are able to continue to guide them through their degrees remotely. I doubt that you are able to do that, hence my recommendation.
It would be different, of course, if the request were coming from the advisor of such a student. In that case, you can examine what it might be that the advisor is most capable of doing for the student.
As a positive response to the student, and a general one that requires minimal tailoring in each case, is to ask the student to connect with a local advisor and, if the advisor is unable to come up with something, to have that advisor contact you.
But I think that local advice will be needed for nearly every student. In the very rare exceptions, the initial letter will probably make that clear.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I would answer that I am active on Academia StackExchange where there is, for very good reason, a rule:
>
> “Shopping” questions, which seek recommendations or lists of individual universities, academic programs, publishers, journals, **research topics**, or similar as an answer or seek an assessment or comparison of such, are off-topic here.
>
>
>
Developing a research topic is a key part of the academic process. Asking an academic to pick a research topic for you is like asking a teacher to do your homework. Even though they may not have intended it, it is really quite rude to expect someone to provide you a research topic.
Then I would wish them luck and move on.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: If you want to interact with them, just suggest some literature to read. But honestly, I wouldn't even do that. You don't need to be "in the West" to fire up a Google search. There are a lot of resources available for someone with a curious mind to develop ideas from. I suspect the issue with your lack of topic people is much more a lack of initiative (expecting canned answers) versus lack of resources.
P.s. This site (not telling questioners to "do the Google search") is really the wrong model for how you help young people in real life. That's fine for this site. It can be whatever it wants to be. But don't assume that this is right mode for real life.
P.s.s. No paywall whining either. I have zero academic access now, myself. But you can still find a bevy of things on the Web for free. If you are just trying to develop ideas, there is no need for a specific journal article. And libraries hold the major journals, even overseas. If kids are too lazy to get to the library...let them sink.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/21
| 2,730
| 12,141
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am currently attempting to write up my doctoral thesis, which covers a couple of domains. It's heavily involved in farming data, but the PhD itself is in computer science. Naturally I start the thesis with the introduction, which talks about the problem definition etc. However, the following step is proving problematic.
It seems typical for a literature review to come after the introduction, but a literature review of... what? In order to ground the research the context must be discussed, and the research surrounding that context. This seems particularly important when the examiners are unlikely to be familiar with the farming context that the research is based. However, this leaves me with a structural problem. It seems odd to go from talking about terms relating to dairy farming, and research about cattle, to talking about particular algorithms.
Moving from one domain to an entirely different one within the same chapter seems conceptually jarring. "... and that concludes the discussion on milk yields. Machine learning has a lot of uses in industrial fields and the focus of much current research...."
I haven't heard of a separate chapter for research context and literature reviews on techniques though... is this something which is "done"?<issue_comment>username_1: I think it is fine. Kind of cool to have something applied. Agriculture is really where DOE and scientific use of statistics (as opposed to betting) was born.
I would definitely do it in the order you have (after all the farming is sort of the economic motivation for the work). Just use numbered subheadings. That's plenty of division. The preceding subheading where you discuss the research topic should be sufficient to explain why you need to cover the two aspects of the problem. (If not make it so...after all, you explained it fine in this question!)
Maybe you are really struggling with what to write about farming, and that is more the issue than the structure. In that case, my advise would be to restrict the topic somewhat to the aspects of farming that were important to your research.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I was bothered by that as well when I wrote both my MSc thesis and my PhD dissertation. I get the impression that it is considered acceptable to have a selection of unrelated topics in the literature review without any context to tie them together. The reader will see the context for a topic when it is referenced later in your thesis. At least, many of the theses and dissertations I read were structured like that.
However, I myself was not happy with this approach. The problem was especially bothersome to me, because my dissertation pulled together ideas from a broad range of disciplines. So here are some of the techniques I used to "set the stage". These are just ideas; you don't need to do all of these.
* In the introduction, include a few sentences mentioning that you will be drawing on ideas from fields X, Y, and Z.
* Include a topic map that illustrates how the ideas relate to each other. Below is an example from my MSc thesis. My advisors were a little wary of this "weird diagram" at first, but they warmed to it. Later they asked for a similar diagram in my PhD thesis.
* Try to arrange the topics in your literature review in some sort of logical order, and add sentences that provide a segue from one topic to the next. For example, at the end of a section on cognition and before a section on evolution, I wrote "The next section presents a framework for analysing cognition within the context of evolution."
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sRh0P.png)
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The only universal rule with your thesis is that you, your committee and your advisor must be happy with it. You can do whatever you want so long as those requirements are satisfied. The corollary to this is that there's little point asking such things here, because it really depends. You should ask your advisor and/or committee.
By way of general advice, the introduction of the thesis should convey the goal of the research and the basic information needed to understand what is being done. Unlike a paper, the readers may be very unfamiliar with your area of work; you should therefore establish the basics from the beginning. You don't need to write an encyclopedia - citing relevant reference material and giving a high level summary is usually sufficient. But again, it depends on your committee.
In your case, you can probably expect that any reader knows what a cow is. However, they may not be familiar with how agriculture actually works at scales you are analyzing. At least a few paragraphs describing what sort of farming you mean is a good idea. You also want to clearly explain the processes and quantities that are represented by the data you analyze. Lastly, there should be an explanation of the relevance and usefulness of your analysis to the farming sector, if any - but that can go into the conclusion.
Conversely, a reader knowledgeable in farming but not computational analysis will need some grounding in relevant literature context.
Presumably you have some papers you published on this subject. How did you write the introduction for those? That's usually a good starting point. If you have written no papers, there must surely be at least papers you've read. And of course, you are probably not the first person to have written a thesis about using machine learning in agriculture.
>
> "... and that concludes the discussion on milk yields. Machine learning has a lot of uses in industrial fields and the focus of much current research...."
>
>
>
You don't need to say it concludes it. The final sentence, by virtue of being the final sentence, obviously concludes its section. Then you make a section break and title it "applications of machine learning in industrial fields". Texts can make more than one point, it doesn't have to be a single unbroken chain of reasoning.
>
> I haven't heard of a separate chapter for research context and literature reviews on techniques though... is this something which is "done"?
>
>
>
It's quite common. Sometimes people have already written review articles and they even recycle that into the thesis. If length is a concern, you can have a whole chapter, or even multiple chapters, devoted to the literature review. But often it is unnecessary - I'd check with my committee.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: First of all, as with all questions regarding theses, what ultimately matters is what your supervisor and doctoral committee is comfortable with. So, my answer (and any other answer that you might find helpful) must be understood with the caveat that it is subject to what is acceptable to your thesis committee.
With that understood, you are asking about a literature review. So, the primary point of clarification to help you decide what is best is: which literature do you hope to contribute to in your thesis? That is, **is your thesis only a contribution to the computer science literature, or do you also hope to contribute to the dairy farming literature?** Note that I am **not** asking about contributions to dairy farming *practice* (let's take it for granted that your thesis is a practical contribution to dairy farming); I am only focusing on the question of contribution to dairy farming **scholarly literature**. From the details in your question, I think we can take for granted that you want to contribute to the computer science literature, so let's focus on the dairy farming literature question.
**If you hope that your thesis will also be a valuable contribution to scholars of dairy farming**, then you should certainly review the relevant literature so that such scholars can appreciate where you contribution fits in. I would think that, in this case, you would focus on two main kinds of studies:
* Algorithmic approaches to solving problems in dairy farming: here you would remain in the scope of dairy farming literature but focus on any uses of computer algorithms to solve any problem in the domain.
* Similar algorithmic approaches to yours in animal husbandry: here you would broaden your scope to any topic in animal husbandry, but you would limit the algorithms that you review to those that are similar to what you will present in your thesis. (I don't know what "similar" means: you are the one who knows what that might mean because you know your algorithms best.)
Whichever of these approaches you adopt, then you could have two major sections in your literature review chapter, one for each literature domain (that is, one for computer science, the other for dairy farming). In addition, your abstract, introduction chapter, and conclusion chapter should devote ample space to presenting and discussing the contributions to dairy farming literature, in addition to the computer science literature.
**If, in contrast, you are only interested in contributing to the computer science literature** and your contribution to dairy farming is mainly practical, not mainly scholarly, then you do not need to do any sort of literature review of the dairy farming literature. All you need is a background explanation of the practical context so that computer scientists who read your work can understand the practical domain of application of the algorithm. For this, you do not need to cite any scholarlly literature at all. Scholarly literature is mainly to document new, proposed cutting-edge suggestions--it is not primarily for describing common practice.
In this case, it is perfectly acceptable to write one page or more of necessary background information off the top of your head, including only the dairy farming information that is necessary for a computer scientist to follow the rest of your thesis, nothing more. Then you should probably add one or two references to more detailed sources for computer scientists who want to know more about dairy farming, but these references should probably be guides for the general public, not scholarly literature, since the goal is not to describe the state of the art but rather to give the most useful background. For example, if it is sufficient, a reference to [the Wikipedia article on the topic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_farming) might do the job.
In this case, such background pages would only take one to three pages in the introduction chapter of the thesis. There should be nothing at all in the literature review chapter. Then you should probably add a few paragraphs in the conclusion chapter talking about the practical implications of your algorithm.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Write two or more different introductions, long or short, depending on what you want to emphasize. This makes it easier to write and adds explicit structure, which generally makes it easier to find things. Your thesis will hopefully be read more for the information than the narrative.
These can be sections, subsections, chapters, or whatever feels natural. You can start a chapter by explaining that the literature review or introduction is organized in a particular way. If you feel uncertain or if it is non-standard in your field, then you can explain why you are doing it. But I would suggest just doing it; people will see that it makes sense and be happy.
Background for applications in farming
======================================
We are interested in the following questions: blah, bløh.
For an introduction to blah, see textbook/review article. For our purposes it is sufficient to know this and that.
The issue with bløh is something. For further information, consult the books/review articles.
Prior computational studies
===========================
We mostly use method C. It is fairly new and has been studied in the contexts of D and E.
Method C works by...
Computational studies in farming
================================
Completely different computational method M has also been used in studies of farming, but for quite different purposes.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/21
| 1,156
| 5,295
|
<issue_start>username_0: At my college this semester, just a few weeks before spring final exams, the administration decided to entirely throw out the prior process for scheduling final exams (which has been in use for at least two decades, I think). Whereas scheduling, duplication, and collection of final exams was formerly centralized, basically it all immediately regressed to being each department and instructor's responsibility. Suddenly there are many (hundreds) of instructors and students with conflicts (two courses at same time in different rooms) and no defined process for solving them. Various instructors and departments are arbitrarily shifting finals to other days, times, rooms, etc. (which seems likely to cause more conflicts).
Our day class meetings are traditionally one-hour apiece, and our final exams have always been two-hour blocks. One of the people partially involved with the recent decision has claimed that these problems would be best solved by having a few days where departments with large common finals hold theirs, then followed by standard class meetings for a week in which the majority of instructors can do whatever they want; possibly extend the meeting to two hours, or split the final into two separate days, etc. The final claim is that this latter protocol is "how it’s done in almost every other college in America".
In my limited experience, it's hard to see how this proposed process (keep standard class meetings and let instructors work out final exam times on their own) is common or feasible. Is it truly how it's done in almost all U.S. colleges? If not, what is the most common protocol? Any references or evidence to support claims one way or the other?<issue_comment>username_1: In the two major US state universities that I have either been a student or taught in, the process was roughly the same:
Final exam times were based on the first day of the week course time for the main course meeting, typically a 'lecture' section. Every course that started at 9am on a Monday had the same final exam time. Every course that started at 11am on a Tuesday had the same final exam time. All these decisions were made centrally.
The exam times were mostly unrelated to the actual course times, since the final exam slots were longer than the actual class meetings, but it ensured that no one had overlapping final times because no students would have two courses that met at the same time. The exception was courses that were specifically night courses, which also had night finals, with the assumption that some proportion of the students in those courses were not full-time students and may have had other daytime responsibilities.
I believe there were procedures to allow for simultaneous finals for courses with multiple sections, but I am less familiar with how those processes worked; I believe the centralized time was chosen and then arrangements were made for the small number of students for which there was a conflict.
There were also processes for students who ended up with >2 finals in the same day to make alternative arrangements, but again, these circumstances happened rarely, especially because not ever course actually utilized their final exam slot as anything but a due date for a paper/project/etc.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Hold a one hour final. Do it in your standard classroom and on the last day of normal classes. Abbreviate the course to cut last week's section of material. Do review during last week of school.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Both models you describe, a finals period with longer timeslots which is coordinated by the school and having finals during ordinary class periods, seem to be commonly used at schools in the US but it appears that which is used depends a lot on (for lack of a better word) the level of the school. The former schedule is dominant (and perhaps universal) at state flagships, top research schools, and elite liberal arts colleges. Both schedules seem to be common at community colleges. I don't have access to good statistics, but it's plausible that the latter schedule is the most common one at community colleges (which would explain your administration's explanation).
I'd speculate that one reason is that community college classes tend to have many shorter exams throughout the semester rather than a single final worth a large percentage of the grade. (Of course, this means it's a terrible idea to switch systems during the middle of the semester, but it might suggest an alternative for future semesters.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: When the times of exams clashed, what usually happened in my equivalent of high school in UK, was that one of the exams was taken by the student on time, and then the next one they would be escorted to by personnel to complete later than students who could complete it on time. The personnel would take them along a quiet route to a separate room to complete the exam.
So things like these do happen, however your educational institution might of not been ready for it. The departments should have worked jointly on shared exams calendar to avoid clashes, or arrangements such as the ones above should be made. I guess it depends on the facilities available.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/21
| 529
| 2,209
|
<issue_start>username_0: First, I am a mathematics major who is doing an REU ([Research Experiences for Undergraduates](https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/)) in mathematics at my school. Initially, I wanted to do an REU outside of my school because I have had this professor before, and being in his class is difficult, but not unbearable. Right now, it is unbearable. For the first project, he has asked me to prove a proposition in category theory, and his criticism is not helpful nor is it actually advice. He has went as far as to say "this is your project, not mine", even though my proof is actually correct for the problem at hand; I have seen other verified proofs and had mine verified by mathematicians. It just makes me feel stupid, and I feel depressed and stressed coming to school everyday. What are my options in this situation and what is the most ethical?<issue_comment>username_1: Your professor is not being "unethical". It's possible he's a difficult person but ethics is not a part of this.
There's a pretty good chance that if your professor says your proof is not correct, that it really isn't. And he may not be as unhelpful as you think. Students sometimes think an instructor is unhelpful if they don't give them the answer any time they're stuck. But simply giving you the answer won't make you a better mathematician. Forcing you to keep plugging at it until you find the answer on your own *will* make you a better mathematician.
My advice: Consider the possibility that he's right, you're not and that he wants you to keep working at it until you solve it on your own and go from there.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It’s really hard to understand your question. In your questions and comments you’re using language in imprecise and confusing ways. I’d imagine that when you try to explain math you’re probably also explaining it in imprecise and confusing ways. My best guess is your professor genuinely doesn’t understand what your argument is. Have you tried writing it down carefully line-by-line and thinking through whether each step is totally clear and explained precisely? It also might help to try to explain it to another student.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/21
| 1,223
| 4,737
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a 23 year old cis-woman in sociology. I entered college at 16 and grad school at 19. The program is in the US, so it is a five year program with a Masters along the way.
I have been reading a lot of advice about going on the academic job market (starting this year, ABD but with complete draft). Despite all my searching, there is one topic that I cannot find anything on: indicating or revealing one's age. I would never volunteer this information (like how women are especially aware not to reveal parental or marital status), but I am worried about accidentally dating myself with a comment. Would it be particularly bad? Would a committee be more impressed or wary? Any advice or insights would be appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: If you have well regarded publications and some demonstration of teaching experience at the collegiate level, your age may not be of significant concern to hiring committees. If I was a 45 year old on the hiring committee, is there really that much of a difference to me between a 23 year old and a 27 year old? (Okay, yes, there could be a difference. But how much? Some of that difference would amount to life experiences like graduating college, experiences you already will have attained, just at an earlier date).
Long story short, hiring committees are used to hiring new colleagues that are "young" and fresh. Being 23, 24 years old is likely not a point of concern.
*I will add this:* Anecdotally, many of the people I have run into in academia that are very young for their academic age (e.g. 19 year olds getting a PhD) have not gained the soft skills necessary for actually being a college professor. You can have a PhD and still have no clue how to deal with the guy who's 5 years your senior being a discipline issue in class. I know that when I was a graduate student in my early 20s and teaching classes, some students took advantage of my being very young. **This is not to say this is your case.** As long as you can demonstrate that you can be a mature instructor of a college class (letters of recommend and teaching ratings can speak to that), you will be fine. (And frankly, at 23, 24 years of age, you should be fine). Being a mature teacher is something that every hiring committee will look for anyway.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you should use it as a way to promote your achievements.
In my case, which is slightly different, I might write in a job application something like
>
> I published X papers from my PhD, while completing it at a younger
> age than 99% of US science PhDs (reference to NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates).
>
>
>
This shows I am very productive.
Keep in mind the typical age at which a PhD is attained varies by country and discipline. Note that I did not mention my current age (20 when I got a Bachelors, 25 for PhD, much older now...) because that is not relevant.
In any case, there is no need to worry about your age. Some institutions prefer to hire younger faculty because they are cheaper. Others will only hire faculty who are already famous (and therefore older), in which case new PhDs do not have a chance anyway.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Personally I doubt it is a big deal.
Like others: difference between 23 and 27 is minimal. If anything, perhaps it's a mild positive in that you are precocious.
Your resume normally won't have your age on it. Perhaps applications may have a birthdate. If so, just fill it in. Don't volunteer or bring it up in interviews as that might seem immature. But I would not refuse to answer the question if asked, either.
I would avoid dating yourself or saying things that are seen as immature (e.g. parents taking care of car insurance).
This advice would be different for a job changing mid-level professional who is 40 but looks younger. In that case, being perceived as still moldable and growable is helpful. (Not saying this is true...just the world we live in, in terms of how companies/people react.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I would suggests you out the years you attended college and grad school, or at least the years you obtained your degree, on your application. This is pretty standard in the US. From this along with the assumption you started college at 18, people will potentially think you are 2-3 years older than you are. Starting college at 16 is rare, but not all that impressive. The same with finishing in 3 years. So there is nothing really to brag about.
Given the gender bias that exists in academia, being perceived as older at your age is probably better. I wouldn't suggest you go out of your way to point out that you are young, but I also wouldn't worry about it.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/21
| 4,597
| 20,079
|
<issue_start>username_0: There is a rather attractive position to be filled at my department. The heads of department are already quite sure about who should fill this position. Jobs being filled with preselected candidates are not exactly legal, but common practice in my country. Thus, there legally has to be a job announcement, as everybody has to be given the chance to apply for the job. There further is an equal opportunities office that ensures that all candidates are being judged by the same categories and no one gets preferential treatment.
I never found this practice of preselecting candidates particularly fair or ethical, but let's just say that up until now I had to deal with other challenges. Then I recently stumbled across the list of applicants for that position by accident (was still lying in the printer) and saw that I know one of the applicants who apparently will have no chance against the preselected candidate. It's not that I desperately want this acquaintance ("friend" is too much) to fill the job, but knowing a name on the "you're never gonna get the job"-list made the unfair treatment so much more real. I don't find it acceptable.
**Things that speak for me to do nothing:**
* Most importantly: My contract will be finished soon and I was, am and will be dependent on my boss's willingness to give me a contract or rather (because there is no funding) her cooperation on further projects.
* The head of department is my direct boss and (in my opinion) a very likeable person.
* I highly appreciate her concern for her staff, she nevertheless needs to make strategic decisions at some points, which comes with the job and is only professional - I understand.
* Furthermore, as much as I know the preselected candidate seems to be a very good, high impact candidate who will fit in the department.
**Things that speak for me to do something**
* Most importantly: It's a unfair/ unethical system and I don't want to stand by and watch
* There is no funding for a future contract anyway (although my boss tried)
* There may be many other candidates just as good or better than the preselected one
What should I do? I'm not gonna lie: talking to my boss (head of department) scares me quite a bit. But then again I don't want to go to higher levels, be the whistleblower and ruin parts of my boss's career...
---
**[Update]**
Based on your answers I did/will do the following:
* I talked to a colleague, turns out she had the same impression and wanted to talk to me about it as well. So concerning the question "do you have proof?": at least I have another witness now. But then again, as Anonymous Physicist wrote: up until now, no rule was broken. However, we decided to closely follow the application process in hope that our concerns were exaggerated (which I highly doubt)
* "maybe it was just a statement about the quality of the candidate?" It very much exceeded this, as my boss was talking about how important it is that they get the participant through the application process and what possible pitfalls could be. Nevertheless I'll talk to her in order to find out, what her behavior would look like if "someone better" shows up and if that'd be a case of nepotism (see answer of xLeitix).<issue_comment>username_1: It seems that you object to rule breaking and want to stop it. You have two problems here:
* The rule has not been broken yet. It is only broken once the preselected candidate is hired.
* It is very difficult to prove the preselection occurred. As you said, the system ensures all candidates are judged the same way. Probably the hiring records will show that.
I see no point in whistle blowing until the preselected candidate has been hired. Even then, I see little point in whistle blowing without clear evidence that someone has committed misconduct. I do not think you will get that evidence.
The reality is that it is impossible to prevent people from forming opinions before they get all the facts. As a result, hiring committees will always have preferences before they read the applications. You just have to hope they are open to changing their minds when they get new facts.
There is nothing you can do to help your acquaintance at this point. If you are correct, their time has already been wasted and it cannot come back.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Unfortunately it is common practice in many countries that the advertisement of a position (which is required by law) is the last step of a hiring process instead of the first step. See for example this recent article in Nature [“Job vacancies posted after being filled: it’s time to stop wasting everyone’s time”](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06774-7). So you are definitely not alone in this situation and I have by myself applied for several position where I had much better achievements than the pre-selected candidate in pretty much every category and I did not even make it to the interview or the interview (for a permanent positon) was a 15-min joke where I did not even get the chance to present my research ideas (quote “No need – we see this from your written application anyway”).
In your specific situation the question is if you actually have hard evidence:
1. Did the list you found in the printer contain a written statement
that these candidates are never going to get the position or was it
just a list of name without further comment? If so: is there a
printer log that you can take a photo of showing that this document
actually came from someone on the hiring panel?
2. “My boss explicitly said that she wants this person in a
conversation with me and others” - Are the other persons willing to
act as witnesses? If it is only you (and your contract will not be
extended) they might just say that you want to take revenge.
Only if you are sure that one of the two options above will absolutely hold then you can consider reporting it. In a second step you can weight your arguments above if you should do it. But the second step is a personal decision of yours then (where other persons cannot really help you) while the first step is purely based on the fact if you have evidence hard enough or not.
One more thing: as stated in the earlier answer you should only report it once the "crime" has been committed i.e. the candidate was officially selected.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: One important consideration that you should take into account is whether there is an actual case of **nepotism** or not. Nepotism is if the preferred candidate is objectively inferior to at least one other candidate *from all the information that is accessible to the selection committee*. Or, in other words, if the head of the department is willingly hiring a worse candidate because they like them better, owe a favor to somebody, or have some other invalid reason to give one candidate preferential treatment.
The problem is that many "not really open" open positions aren't actually like that. In practice, what I often see as the main reason why a department or selection committee quickly zeroes in on a specific candidate is that they *know much more* about one candidate than about the others.
**The most typical example is as such:** There is an open search procedure, and a number of external candidates apply plus Alice, a candidate that has worked tightly with members of the department before, and which has been explicitly invited to apply. What you now see is a tremendous information asymmetry - the department knows little about the external candidates, but before they even open Alice's application folder they already have a great deal of information about Alice. They know what she can and can't do. Where other candidate's past successes are just a line in a CV to the committee, for Alice they know the full story, how she achieved them, what she has learned from them, and how this would help her be effective in her new position.
Recruitment is *always* a risky proposition, in academia just as in industry. We all have seen candidates that looked great on paper but turned out unsuitable for reasons that were impossible to glean from an application package. Faculty visits help, but how much can you really learn about a person in one or two days, especially in a somewhat artificial and often strongly rehearsed environment? In this situation, a risk-averse committee (and, realistically, this is basically every committee) has a strong incentive to go with Alice over a candidate that may have a slightly stronger CV, but also a much higher margin of error. As a consequence, a committee may prefer the "known candidate" Alice despite her weaker CV for completely rational reasons (which makes it different to nepotism). In essence, them doing so may be the optimal move for them given the information they have and how much they are willing to risk.
---
>
> What should I do?
>
>
>
Depending on how close you are to your boss, I would carefully try to find out *why* they prefer one candidate so much over the others (i.e., talk with them about it). It is completely possible that you may find that their reason is solid given the information that they have. Even if you disagree with their reasoning, understanding it may make the situation easier to accept for you. And if it turns out that there actually is a clear-cut case of nepotism (your boss knows the selected candidate is inferior, but decides to select them anyway), you have a much, much clearer argument for any potential whistleblowing.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: >
> What should I do?
>
>
>
1. Reach *certainty* that the hiring process is/will be subverted
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You wrote you the heads of department are "already quite sure" about the candidate they will choose. This is a claim regarding their thoughts/psyche, which you can never have exact and accurate information (essentially). Perhaps it *appears* they are sure? Perhaps they seem to just be *biased* in favor of someone they already know? Perhaps they're just assuming there will be no other worthy applicants? What makes you *sure* they have already decided? Until you yourself are entirely sure they will subvert the process in a meaningful way, obviously - do not take any overt or committed action, and keep other actions, like fishing for evidence, inconspicuous.
2. Consider whether to deter or retaliate/condemn
-------------------------------------------------
The approaches to action are either to deter the decision-makers from acting inappropriately, or alternatively to act ex-post-facto again the process and/or the decision makers.
**Pros of first option:**
* A lot less effort.
* Much much lower evidentiary standard.
* You will not be perceived as vindictive or a trouble-maker, especially since you yourself seem to be a candidate (you haven't clearly indicated whether that is the case)
**Pros of second option:**
* It is usually pretty easy to mask the pre-selection of a candidate; if you tip them off, they'll know what they've missed, address it, and still do the same thing.
* Will have a much stronger deterring factor on this problematic culture - if you succeed.
* Much higher potential for recruiting "allies", if those exist.
3. Collect evidence
-------------------
Don't hack into people's computers or break into anywhere; and don't start chatting people up if you can't trust them to be discrete, but definitely consider going as far as taping your conversations on your mobile phone (but you might want to check local laws about doing so).
I don't know what evidence you do have so I can't really counsel you on getting more. Just remember that you want both quantity and quality; and that evidence is worth very little if it requires interpretation by your view of things or even your knowledge and experience. Thus, also consider locating evidence for facts/circumstances which are obvious to you but would not be obvious to an outsider (e.g. in court).
4. Find allies
--------------
Talk to:
* Other candidates which you are close with and can trust despite your partially-conflicting interests here
* Colleagues who are close friends and/or known for being both discreet and highly concerned with fairness.
* Your union representative, and possibly more central, assertive/active figures in your union at the university level.
The conversations could be about the basic dilemma of whether to act; for sharing evidence; and possibly even for collaborating actions or acting together as a group. With your union, you might stronger recourse both to formal procedures to prevent/undo a hire, or to informal but collective action. It is very much in the union's interest - and in that of the members - to fight the ability of university management overall and department heads in particular to be able to skew hiring procedures. That is not just bad in itself, it weakens the collective ability to fight for other issues.
5. Continue based on previous phases
------------------------------------
This is too speculative for me to say anything specific about. But actions could involve any or some of:
* A formal challenge to the hiring process
* Disciplinary complaints
* Public letters
* Private/Group/Union meetings with the department heads
* Organizing a public meeting of faculty at your department
* Getting in contact with all candidates about the matter
* The threat, or actual filing, of a lawsuit
* A labor dispute between your union and the university
But it could also be "nothing" (especially considering phase 1.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Your distress at this situation is understandable: it's certainly not fair to other candidates to put in equal effort for an interview they do not have an equal chance of gaining a position out of. But I would question your conclusion that this means the situation is *unethical*, based on the information provided. The hiring process is unfair by nature because it cannot take into account individual life situations. If you are currently homeless, you will find it an added challenge to appear as presentable as a candidate with a private bed and bathroom. If you bear primary responsibility for children in your family, you will not be able to agree to the same conditions as someone who can work whatever hours they choose. There are many things employers do not know and cannot know about the people they interview. That can be a disadvantage on both sides.
In this case, one candidate has the advantage that quite a lot is known about them already. Even you know they would be a good fit for the position. That is likely to lead to their being the successful candidate unless someone else comes across as absolutely amazing. That's common sense: employers want to minimise risk and get someone who is likely to fit in well and be an asset. If one of the candidates came with a recommendation from an existing employee who is respected and trusted, they would have an advantage over all the other candidates who performed as well in the interview but didn't have a good contact within the organisation. Not fair, but not considered unethical in any situations I've observed.
If I were you I would be questioning my insistence that something unethical is taking place here, and would stay very far away from this unless there becomes reason to believe interviewers felt another candidate was a better fit for the position and they went with the internal candidate for personal/political reasons. Expressing a desire to take on someone already known and liked is not good evidence; it's just a given. There is no way even hinting that you think your boss is doing or allowing something unethical will play out well for you: it is likely to be an end to any good relationship with her and anyone else who gets to hear about this. As for going higher, I would consider that utterly inappropriate unless you brought legitimate evidence to your boss and received an unsatisfactory response. It's certainly not an option to consider because you feel awkward about addressing the situation with your boss. At best I would expect the relevant higher-ups to tell you to stop bothering them with unfounded gossip.
The person who is getting forgotten in your consideration of what to do is the preselected candidate, who based on your account doesn't have any part in this other than perhaps being interested in the position. By virtue of being part of the organisation already they probably are the best candidate, and that shouldn't be something held against them. Getting caught up in this will be at the least upsetting for them and may be career-damaging. Will it be fair if this individual ends up feeling obliged to leave altogether? Once you start any sort of proceedings, you cannot know for sure how things will play out. Rumours and gossip can and do damage lives.
You are clearly motivated here by your desire to do the right thing, but sometimes the answer to the question of 'what is the right thing' is murky. Rather than a why/why not list, I would suggest you consider what you might achieve by speaking up, as someone very far down the food chain with no compelling evidence, against the harm you might cause, to yourself and to your colleagues who you appear to think are very nice and capable people.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: For all you know, they want to give the position to "the chosen one", unless someone better shows up.
And it's impossible\* to prove otherwise. Even if they end up hiring "the chosen one", no provable ethics violation will have taken place.
If it really bothers you a lot I recommend talking to your boss. If you manage to raise it as a concern instead of an accusation, there should be no repercussions. They'll try to assure you that there will be a fair selection process - If they manage to convince you, you'll have peace of mind, if they fail to convince you, you haven't lost anything.
---
\*If you happen to have legally valid proof of the transgression, the question is entirely different, and my answer is to discuss the proof with a local lawyer, unless such an action exposes yourself to legal liability under the specific circumstances.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: On thinking about it, I would say - **you** can't do much. But you **can** ensure those affected can do something. Which is right and proper as they are the ones affected.
A common answer to hidden dubious conduct, in some situations, is to call it out. Put these two together, I'd handle it like this:
1. **Do this only if you trust the employee concerned**.
2. Tell the employee who "doesn't have a chance" exactly what you found. Do this jointly with your other friend, 2 people with a concern are more convincing than 1. Give them at least one direct quote or comment from it (as best you can remember anything) in case it's denied.
3. Tell the employee to raise it directly in the interview. It's a bit risky but not *that* risky.
He/she should wait until they ask if there are any questions, then ask directly - "I had expected that candidates are assessed by merit without preconception. But a number of employees - who I'd rather not name - have told me directly that there is a document that effectively concludes that X is the predetermined candidate, and implies other candidates don't have much of a chance. I've been directly told this by those who saw it. Is that true?"
Expect shock, fumbling, embarrassment, and await interesting outcome. It makes it hard for them to do other than a truly merit based choice, as they know the scrutiny that will exist. If denied, state what the document said - any quote or paraphrase or comment from it, so they know you did speak to someone who saw it. Being caught in an untrue denial would be harder to counter if it happens.
Of course it *may* not be appreciated. Or the dubious conduct may be legitimate after all. But it's actually a fair question, so they are less likely to be penalised for it.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/22
| 1,822
| 7,693
|
<issue_start>username_0: Question is simple:
>
> Why are we not teaching university students how to learn/study ?
>
>
>
Motivation:
I've seen many university students who does not know how to study something, or learn something by themselves or by taking classes. I consider myself as someone who knows the basics about how to teach something to myself; I've various self-study experiences.However, all my experiences about topics that are well-localised, such as linear algebra, or analysis etc. However, for example, when I want to learn Analytical Mechanics with all of its mathematical backgrounds (starting from smooth manifolds), I get lost; I need to do both mathematics and physics at the same time in a rigorous sense, and the task has many faces, so regardless of how experiences I'm on self-studying, I don't know how to teach myself this particular subject.
Considering the fact that some student even cannot how to learn something even at the end of their second year in university, naturally this questions comes to mind.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Why are we not teaching university students how to learn/study ?
>
>
>
Historically, professor *profess* rather than teach and **it was not considered part of the university's job**. For example, [this PhD comic](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1099) makes fun of that. Thus, the onus in the student to learn rather than the professor or instructor to ensure learning. This includes both the college-level study skills and the ability to teach themselves new materials beyond their coursework.
Pragmatically, many universities (at least in the United States) recognize new students (e.g,. freshman) do not have these skills and **do teach them**. For example, my undergraduate school offers courses such as [Wildlife 100: Wildlife Profession and Preparation](https://catalog.uwsp.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=6&poid=2634&hl=wildlife+ecology&returnto=search) that:
>
> Provide a background on careers in the wildlife field and an overview of skill development necessary to work in the field. Exposure to opportunities in research, internships, and extracurricular, as well as guidance on creating an effective program of study.
>
>
>
Furthermore, many universities in the United States offer tutoring or learning centers to help students develop study skills for their current courses (e.g., [Texas Tech](http://www.depts.ttu.edu/soar/lc/), [University of Wisconsin-Madison](https://www.engr.wisc.edu/academics/student-services/ulc/), [Yale](https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/tutoring)).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: We don't teach students to learn because we don't know how to and many of us would probably be really bad at it. The argument is that being a student at a research intensive university provides (1) opportunities outside the classroom that a student wouldn't have at a teaching focused college and (2) that the faculty expertise in their field offsets the lack of teaching skills.
Given many faculty at research intensive universities lack teaching skills and of those, a significant proportion don't care, asking them to teach material they don't know or care about is probably a bad idea. Now whether a university should employee someone to teach learning skills is another issue. Historically, the idea was that students entering university should have the fundamental reading, writing and study skills needed to be successful. While that may not be accurate, universities seem to take the approach that they should be able to learn those things on their own.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: This is a complex issue with many contributing factors.
Not every student needs to learn how to learn at the level you are teaching. They may later, of course, and some students do well for a long time and then hit a wall when things get hard. Some struggling students go farther than some early superstars because they learn how to work at it and the superstars found it too easy and don't understand why they are now having problems.
Many faculty members, I think at the beginning of a career especially, don't realize that their students are not like themselves. They get doctorates because they can learn relatively easily in the environment in which they were taught - usually lecture and exam in many places. But their own students may not do well it that same environment (what ever it is) and so don't have any easy tools for teaching those students.
Furthermore every student is different in how they learn. And many students don't know when they have learned something and so make unfortunate assumptions. Some students read something and think they have learned it, when they have not. They have only a short term memory retention of what they read, not a true understanding.
Generally speaking we learn through reinforcement and feedback. Learning requires that we re-connect synapses in the brain, physically changing its structure. See [*The Art of Changing the Brain*](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1579220541) by <NAME> for a run-down on the science behind it.
### What to do
I think that every faculty member has a responsibility to teach their students to learn *as necessary*. This means being always aware of what is happening in their course, getting sufficient feedback on student learning and making sufficient course adjustments so that anyone with the desire to learn can do so.
Sometimes the most effective way to teach a subject, say computer science, is to interrupt the course and spend some time teaching the students how to learn CS. If you can make them more effective learners then everything else will be much easier.
For example, students may not know the value of taking notes, nor of summarizing their own notes. They may not know the value of always carrying something from which they can study (book, notes, index cards, ...). It isn't hard or especially time consuming to teach people the value of such things. I ended class periods with a call for the (say) three most important ideas of the current lecture. I sometimes asked students for the most important idea of the previous lecture. It takes a couple of minutes to do this and sets the stage.
So, I think that the presumption made by the OP that this doesn't happen isn't necessarily true. But the need for it isn't universally recognized, when IMO it should be.
In fact, you can teach people to learn your subject if you just require them to do tasks that give the necessary reinforcement and you also give them the required feedback. Don't assume that they have learned anything because you have lectured on it. Give them some sort of exercise or project that will induce the necessary changes in the brain. Then give them some feedback on how they did. Even better if you can let them re-do assignments to correct misconceptions and give better and more positive reinforcement. This can be done instead of any formal teaching them how to learn and can be just as effective. Maybe more effective, actually, as it is more organic.
In particular, active learning methodologies results in learning as it requires the active participation (reinforcement) of the student. The student doesn't need to "learn" how to learn the subject matter. The course activities themselves provide for the required learning changes to the brain.
I'll note that the [Pedagogical Patterns](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1479171824) project has spent quite a lot of effort on the issue of teaching technical subjects (especially CS) to people who have different learning modalities. So, it isn't that the issue has been ignored.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/22
| 742
| 3,242
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'll be starting my MSc next year, and just got informed that I won a Merit-based scholarship that covers tuition (although the school is in Israel, where tuition is heavily subsidized anyway), and also a generous monthly allowance.
I already have an advisor, (for whom I worked for the past year on a research project), and she told me she can fund an additional scholarship for me, on top of the first one. However it turns out that the amount I'll get in the first scholarship reaches the maximal amount the university allows MSc students, and exceptions need special permission.
I'm not greedy, but after 4 years of school I'm not in great financial shape, and that extra monthly sum would really help. But before I meet with whomever to get that special permission, I wanted to know what reason the university has to impose the restriction in the first place? It makes no sense to me.<issue_comment>username_1: It's likely not coming out of the PI's personal pocket but out of a grant they have.
The purpose of that grant is probably to advance some research project. Paying you double is probably not an efficient use of those funds when they could instead be used towards 1 more student. One of the things universities do is to administer grants and see that the funds are spent according to the goals of the university and granting organization.
Additionally, the merit scholarship you received is not coming out of nowhere. I don't know exactly where that money is coming from in your specific case, but in my experience these scholarships are often endowed from some donation to a university/professional organization/some other administering body. Those donations are typically to further some cause, such as education in a particular field. For example, a longtime politician and businessman just gave a large donation to my institution to fund graduate students researching public policy.
Giving these funds to someone who is already funded in another way doesn't really advance the educational goal of the donation intended to increase/support scholarship in some area. If I was a donor, I'd want to know that my donation was going to lead to more research.
In my experience these limits also apply to graduate student work (i.e., assistantships), not only to scholarships, for some of the same reasons. If a student is already funded by scholarships, and a teaching assistant position is available, the university likely prefers that the position is filled by a student who is *without* full funding rather than someone who already has a funded position.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The reasons are not very good.
1. Pay limits discourage students from asking for more money.
2. Pay limits create a perception of fairness, but not a reality of fairness.
If students seek pay from multiple universities, and select the one that offers them the best financial package, then they will be paid according to the equilibrium of supply and demand. The real pay limit is not what one university will pay; students can get around that limit by moving to another university. If a university sets its pay limit too low, it will soon be without good quality students.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/22
| 2,041
| 9,032
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a mathematician, frequently asked to referee papers. (As my career progresses, I now find myself frequently asked to referee *good* papers.)
I have found that I've gotten pickier and pickier as a referee. I just now finished a referee report (for an excellent paper, submitted to an excellent journal) with 53 bullet points on it: mistakes I found, requests for clarification, other suggestions.
On another occasion I believe I submitted six "revise and resubmit" reports for the same paper, before finally recommending acceptance.
In all these cases I am spending a *lot* of time reading the papers (which is worthwhile; they're interesting papers!), and I'm almost as meticulous as if it were my name on the paper.
How can I tell if I am going overboard with this? I have never heard any negative comments by anyone – including by journal editors, whom I asked for feedback on this matter after sending my reports. Indeed, editors have acted extremely happy that I've read these papers in such close detail. Nevertheless, I wonder if I am investing too much time in this, and/or annoying the authors.<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds like you are doing fine. It is in everyone's best interest to have high quality work and presentation. The authors don't need to take every suggestion you make, but are wise to consider what you say in each case.
But if you are overboard, you will hear from the editor. As long as you keep getting papers to review, don't worry about being too hard. Feedback is good for everyone.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: In my humble opinion, it looks like you are the ideal reviewer actually! You give a lot of advice to improve the paper, and this directly benefits the authors and the journal. And apparently you give very precise advice, which is much more useful and actionable than general or vague remarks.
My main concern as a reviewer is to be fair in my final recommendation. As long as your meticulousness doesn't lead you to reject potentially good papers, you are doing a good job as a reviewer. However the question of whether you are spending too much time on it depends on your priorities, it's important to weigh the benefits and costs for yourself before you accept. It's perfectly acceptable to refuse a review from time to time in order to maintain the level of quality for the ones you accept.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: If you manage to finish a report within a few months, then a careful detailed report is great (and it will make the author happy to see that at least one person really read the article). Having to choose between a superficial report within a month and an extensive list of all typographic and stylistic issues 2 years after submission, I would still prefer the superficial one.
And: Some things are a matter of personal taste. It would be nice not to request an author to rewrite a paper using different notation or completely change the structure or presentation, just because you (and maybe 60% of the people in the field) would prefer it that way (as long as it is still reasonable and not completely uncommon to do it the author's way).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Virtually every author is happy if others are reading their papers in detail. Neither is the editor going to object - highly detailed reviews are great from their perspective too. So you won't be going overboard on that front.
If anyone is unhappy you are being "too picky", it'll be on your end. Maybe you spend so much time reading papers that your PhD students / your own projects are being neglected, for example. Therefore you'll know the answer to this question better than anyone else. As long as you don't need the time you spend reviewing papers elsewhere, it's all good.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: There are 2 separate issues:
* The time you invest into finding things you think could be improved.
* What you threshold for withholding recommendation.
For the first:
More work on your part to identify areas for improvement, or that will make the fix for the author more clear, will invariably be welcome. Anyone going for a prestigious publication will have already spent significant time going over that sort of thing. An outsider engaging in that process constructively is help. Its work they would otherwise be doing, likely less efficiently as an outside perspective is useful.
The second is less clear:
Balancing quality of output vs time to publication is clearly a non-trivial compromise. Either extremes have obvious issues. I feel ill positioned to advise you but there are some things to be careful of:
There is (just?) fear in some communities that upsetting reviewers will hurt their careers. Hence being polite even in the face of obstinate behaviour is common. Hence I think there is a real danger that some behaviour (not necessarily yours) would cause ill will, or at least not be productive, with no obvious warning signs. This is even more true if there is suspicion that withholding approval is a political move (but this is pretty field dependent).
This is partly out of your control. However being clear about your expectations and having them distinguished from thoughts for improvements will improve the situation.
Is it worth it? Should you do less?:
Hard to say. I think it's important, and is seems so do you, but my judgement doesn't matter.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> How can I tell if I am going overboard with this? I have never heard any negative comments by anyone -- including by journal editors, whom I asked for feedback on this matter after sending my reports.
>
>
>
I would consider the following indicators of being too picky:
* You make extensive remarks on language that the copy editor can address, i.e., subject knowledge is not required to spot and correct them. Exceptions are persistent mistakes such as a complete lack of articles or some examples to illustrate that the quality of English of the paper is not tolerable.
* You persist on opinion-based matters (other than the relevance of the work), such as notational paradigms, structure of the manuscript, or level of verbosity. By *opinion-based* I mean that somebody else might consider your suggestion detrimental. By *persist,* I mean that you keep picking on such an aspect, even though the authors clearly have an opposing preference (usually expressed in a reply to the reviewers). While you should mention most such aspects the first time you are seeing the respective material, the review-process should not become a back and forth about such this.
* You effectively end up doing the authors’ job and write the manuscript for them.
Apart from this, I do not think that a review can be too detailed. At the end of the day, you are giving recommendations to the editor and authors and it is their job to responsibly make use of them. However, it may be wise to take a few precautions to prevent irresponsible use:
>
> I have never heard any negative comments by anyone -- including by journal editors, whom I asked for feedback on this matter after sending my reports.
>
>
>
I would not read too much into that fact. In most fields if not all fields, reviewers have become a scarce commodity and editors will avoid disgruntling them at almost any cost. If you want to make sure that your recommendations and review are not misinterpreted in terms of severity, or the categories offered for the overall recommendation are not nuanced enough, write a small note to the editor that elaborates your overall judgement and in particular how severe you consider the flaws you commented on. This also avoids that an editor makes a false blind decision due to not reading your entire review.
It may also make sense to consider that the authors may be overly obedient to your recommendations. If some of your suggestions are just this, make this very clear. For example, if you think that the work presented in the manuscript may be relevant for some application but are not sure about this (which is fine, since it’s the authors’ job to find out), make it very clear that you do not think that the authors should write this but just that they should consider this.
>
> On another occasion I believe I submitted six "revise and resubmit" reports for the same paper, before finally recommending acceptance.
>
>
>
It’s hard to judge this without knowing why this happened. For example:
* In the first round you requested some additional proof (or other substantial addition of material) because the paper was incomplete. The authors added this, but the new material has a gap of roughly the same severity as the original gap. This processes then repeated until all gaps were filled. Assuming correct assessments from your side, this is probably not your fault but the authors’, since they failed to properly write a paper or to do rigorous research.
* If the six revisions were only about how to best phrase some sentence, you have been overdoing it.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/22
| 3,993
| 15,573
|
<issue_start>username_0: I always address my professors as "Professor [Last Name]" in an academic setting. However, in an non-academic setting such as running into them out and about, would it be considered rude to say "Hi [Last Name]!" to greet them?
Would it be better to address them by their first name even if you have never used it before, or always prefix their last name with Professor?<issue_comment>username_1: Would it be rude if I called you by your surname only?
It depends.
How well do I know you? What is our relationship? Is there a significant age gap between us? Are we in a fraternity or the military?
As a student, I never once called a professor by only their surname when speaking to their face, formally or otherwise. They were always older than me (even if just by a few years) and we never had such an informal relationship that surname alone seemed appropriate.
*I did call some professors by just their given name.* This was usually when they specifically requested it or when I knew them quite well. As I rose higher through the ranks in academia
>
> (freshman -> sophomore -> ..... -> graduate student -> PhD candidate....)
>
>
>
calling professors by their given name became more common.
I'm sure there could be some professors that would be fine with being called by their surname alone. Most would not be, however. This is not unique to academia. Most people in their 40s do not like being called by just their surname by 18 year old kids. Even when I was a 25 year old graduate student, I'll admit that it would sort of bother me if students called me by only my surname (even outside of class). We weren't in the army or something. Just call me by my first name.
---
Obviously saying something like "I had combinatorics from Levenworth and topology from Kostanza" when speaking to fellow students is a different story. There's no need to worry about offending someone when referring to them by surname alone when they are not there.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: In the U.S., in this year, at my age, I would be surprised if anyone *addressed* me by my surname. But that is a very different thing from reference to my work, where I'd mostly expect people to say "Garrett, [year]", or something similar. Still, in an in-house situation, to hear a speaker say "Paul's work..." would not be jarring, and might be more congenial than "Garrett's work...".
... although the times that a speaker has said "Garrett's work" and waved to me in the audience were perfectly fine.
I guess some nod of respect is the only substantive point, and this is dependant on the local culture... for which there is no clean algorithm.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: As username_1’s answer suggests, this question is highly dependent on the relationship you have with the professor.
As a general rule, I try to match the level of formality that I see from a professor. For example, if a professor signs emails to me with just their first name, then I respond using their first name in an email. If I see them in person at this point, I think it would be fine to use the first name (but I typically do not). **When in doubt, always err on the side of formality.**
If you have never used their first name (or if they have never indicated that using their first name in an academic setting is appropriate), then I would **not** recommend using it if you see them out and about. This could create a potentially uncomfortable dynamic, especially if other students do not refer to them by first name.
---
As a grad student, one of my professors has indicated that they are perfectly fine with students addressing them by first name only. I would personally prefer to be more formal, but since my relationship with this professor is very casual and friendly (and it would almost be weird to say “Dr. X” or “Professor X” at this point), I’ve adopted a middle ground of omitting the title and only calling them “last name” in both academic and non-academic situations. It is important to note, though, that they are a younger professor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I wouldn’t find it rude, but I would find it weird. I can’t think of any situation where you wouldn’t be better off using a first name instead of a last name without a title. If you’re going to be formal do it right, and if you’re going to be informal use first name. We’re not on a football team or in the military.
(It’s of course totally fine and normal students talking to each other without the professor present, to just use last name and no title.)
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: Superficially, yes, it is rude, but really more true that it is just weird.
However, let us assume that:
* The professor is American
* You are from a non-English speaking background
In that case, the professor will most likely interpret your language as odd, but not intentionally rude.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Yes, it is very rude.
This form of address, unless specifically requested, is typical of a superior to a subordinate. Think corporate management, "So, I hear Smith did some good work on this project, but Brown really needs to work harder." It's the sort of address used when one refers to many people often and perceives them to be of lower rank.
Depending on your comfort with various levels of formality, you can use a first name, or a prefix and last name. But never a last name only, unless the recipient suggests it.
(This is in Australia, where formality levels are somewhat more relaxed than many other places, and the use of the first name is quite common even on a student-professor basis.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: In traditional Western culture, addressing a person by his family name only is mostly done in a superior-to-inferior context (military, very formal work environment, strict and old-fashioned school environment) with the nuance that the superior uses it that way to assert his superiority (somewhat rude, but the inferior has to swallow his pride). As such I would say it would be considered rude, or at least ignorant, if a student addresses a professor like that.
Using a person's given name is considered more intimate or at least informal in Western culture, typically **only** used in cases like:
* family (only some relations, depending)
* friends
* colleagues, only in cases where the corporate culture is less formal or explicitly states it (but that is the case in the vast majority of companies nowadays)
* when preferred by a person (typically, the person would introduce him/herself with something like "Hi, I'm `firstname`" or "Just call me `firstname`".)
If none of these cases apply, it is safer to use a more formal form of address, until the other party invites you to use a less formal address. The more senior party would extend such an invitation (see last point above). If you think your are (fairly) equal to a new person you are meeting (e.g., a fellow student, or joining a company and meeting colleagues) it should be OK to invite them to address you by your given name.
The other point nobody has mentioned, is that if **not** (yet) on an informal level, **it should always be OK to address the other person by their title (only).** An American professor should not take exception to being addressed as "Hello, Professor!" when met off-campus.
In general life it *should* be OK to address a stranger by an assumed general title like "mister", "miss", "mrs" ("sir", "madam") etc., and the person should have the manners to correct you with good grace if he/she prefers a different title (e.g., "Oh, I'm professor Smith..."). Or a business card/credit card/letterhead etc. should give hints at the person's title, if such materials are available. (Due to feminism, "Miss" and "Mrs" are problematic, but the proper replacements for such is another topic.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: The only correct answer is:
>
> Ask the professor how they prefer you address them.
>
>
>
There are many ways people call each other face to face, and some might be more familiar to the professor. Even if you hear everybody calling professor one way, it might not be their preferred choice.
So, ask and then follow with whatever they say is the best. It is their name, you have no say in how to call someone
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I am honestly baffled that so many people seem to agree that it is rude or unusual to refer to a teacher or professor by just their surname. Perhaps it's just where I'm from (grew up in Colorado and went to university in Washington state), but this practice was extremely common between students and would only be slightly unusual when directed to the professor. A question like "Do you have <NAME> Smith for Calculus II this semester?" would be totally normal, and I had a couple professors who went primarily by just their surnames.
Keep in mind this was a relatively informal university setting and we came to know our professors relatively well (I ate dinner at a few of my professors' houses), so this may just be an isolated cultural difference.
The most important thing to me would be to respect their wishes in how you refer to them directly, and many professors clarified their preferences at the beginnings of semesters. Some would prefer you use just their first names, some their title and surname, and some didn't care at all.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: As a general rule ('Dr.X on campus, X off-campus), I would find this strange.
However, I have a very common first name, and some *friends* do call me by my (short) last name. If we have been on a first-name basis for a little while, I don't mind at all. However, it would be a little strange to hear it from a distant acquaintance or stranger.
If you have a very jocular relationship, it *might* be okay, depending on your/the prof's background and relative ages. If it is more 'professionally friendly', I would avoid it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: What about just addressing him as "Sir" or "Mam" in case of a woman.
"Hello sir" is a common approach to addressing superiors when using English, in Europe, outside of work I believe.
Personally I would find using surname only very odd. I work in academia myself, but I have to say that in Europe and in the field of natural sciences the level is quite informal. Being on a first name basis with your professor or supervisor is quite normal once you're not just a bachelor or master's student anymore.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: In South Asia, we never address by name. We use Sir/Madam.
I guess it depends on the society you live in.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: I would perceive this as rude. In fact I think it is significantly more rude than just using the given name. Addressing someone by their given name suggests you are treating them as an equal, which some professors will be fine with but others might consider presumptuous. Addressing someone by just their surname, on the other hand, has connotations of treating them as an inferior; historically, it's how an employer would have addressed a servant.
If you want something informal but not offensive, how about "dude"?
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_14: In India, we usually address a professor as Sir/Madam/Professor + last name, whether in a formal or informal setting. In fact, I don't even know the first names of many of my professors - in most cases, I only know their initials and last name.
However, some notable exceptions introduced themselves by their first name and took offense to it being prefixed with Sir/Madam, and in those cases we addressed them by their first name in all situations. These professors were the exception to the above norm. However, when in doubt, we would always refer to a professor as Sir/Madam/Professor + last name.
When a professor is being addressed in the third person, we would refer to them in the same manner (sometimes dropping the prefix when in an informal setting - i.e. among students with no professors part of the conversation).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_15: Even when I was a freshman in college, there was a prof in a very small class (like my Honors Calculus class) that sorta announced on the first day that, **only** within that class, he preferred first name with everyone. But he warned us that outside of that class in the department, it might be frowned on.
When I bumped into him off campus, it was "Michael", not "<NAME>".
By the time I was a senior and grad student, I was on a first name basis with all of the profs in my very small electrical engineering department at the U of North Dakota. Certainly with my adviser.
But there are other professional/client situations that, until the person with an honorific tells you "Call me Bill, please" (like my regular physician), I think it's appropriate to address them the way you have originally when you are first introduced. "Mr.", "Ms.", "Dr.", "Prof.", "Dean", "Pres.", "Judge", "Gov." **until *they*** change it. But, if they do not, you have the right to ask them to address you formally in a reciprocal manner. But you don't have to ask that either.
(I happen to sorta know the Attorney General of the state of Vermont, but he's always been "TJ" to me. I also know the Lt Governor and he's "David". And the Mayor of the town I'm in is "Miro", but I like to say "Hizzoner".)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_16: I'm at a community college in California, and once in a while I do get a student addressing me as "Crowell." I've never asked why, because I didn't want to make it seem like I was getting uptight about my status.
My guess is that it's based on confusion and uncertainty on the student's part. At a community college, some professors have PhD's and some don't. Therefore the student may think that the options are "Hi, Mr. Crowell" (as in high school) or "Hi, Dr. Crowell." They don't know whether I have a PhD, so they don't know which is appropriate. It doesn't occur to them that "Hi, Professor Crowell" would be a safe alternative.
As a test of my hypothesis, we could see if others who have experienced this are at community colleges.
username_16 college students are often the first in their family to go to college, so they may lack any experience to serve as a point of reference on something like this.
Another possibility is that these are just students who object to titles and roles of authority on principle.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_17: It totally depends on the professor. Obviously, it's weird to start calling someone by their last name but in case of some people it's common practice. I think the best known example is the character Cosmo Kramer on the television show Seinfeld.
In his [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmo_Kramer#Given_and_surnames) says the following about his surname:
>
> Kramer was known only as "Kramer" during the show's first five seasons (from 1989 to 1994), though in "The Seinfeld Chronicles", Jerry referred to him as "Kessler", which was his original name for the show, until it was changed to "Kramer".
>
>
>
Indeed the difference here, is that Kramer and the characters he interacts with are mostly peers. In case of a student-professor relationship, it would be more common to add a title. The exception being when the professor says so, e.g.
>
> You may refer to me as Kramer
>
>
> You can just call me Kramer
>
>
>
It's not very common, but it has a certain appeal (as evidenced in the TV series).
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/23
| 1,522
| 6,449
|
<issue_start>username_0: I shall try to make my [former question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/130894/are-these-good-reasons-for-starting-a-new-phd-project) more on-topic and less personal.
When I started my PhD (maths) a year ago, I was having the following (mostly implicit, though) expectations about how working on a PhD project and the supervision by my professor would be:
*guidance-oriented expectations*
* In the few weeks or months, I'd be given articles and other material to work through and to learn new theory from.
* In regular meetings, we'd make sure that I properly understand what I'd have read.
* We'd agree on a concrete research topic which the material I'd be given partially enables me to work on.
* As time passes, I develop a better judgement which literature might help me and what would be interesting questions to work on, so I need less guidance.
* In first principle, the PhD is an opportunity for me to learn advanced contents.
As it has turned out, none of these expectations have been met; instead, the (implicit) expectations of my supervisor (who supervises a master's or PhD thesis for the 1st time) were:
*independence-oriented expectations*
* I'd know which problems I want to work on. Why else should I apply for a PhD position?
* I'd be able to find literature, articles, conferences etc. on my own; I am a grown-up, aren't I?
* In the occasional meetings, I'd report on my progress. I should not expect help with scientific questions, because
+ the questions arising from the work we agreed I'd be working on do not match my supervisor's expertise
+ as a researcher, I have to know by myself how to answer my questions.
* I have been hired to complement the knowledge in the group, so if I want to extend my knowledge, I am free to read any textbook or paper I want.
I am aware that at the end of a PhD, I should better match the latter. However, I was irritated that this is what is expected from me right from the beginning. Of course, this led to some conflict.
*Question:* Did I have unrealistic expectations?<issue_comment>username_1: From my own experience with different PhD supervisors (I quit working with one, picked up two more) and postdoc supervisors, I think it really comes down to personality differences and communication style. It's not that your expectations were unrealistic or not. It's that you ended up with someone who just works differently and expects different things than you do. For some people, this "independence-oriented" regime is perfect, because they have a specific goal in mind or narrowed down a PhD topic prior to starting the program. Others need a bit more guidance. That's not bad or unrealistic; it's just where you are in your academic journey. If possible, try to find a supervisor whose expectations and personality match yours. Or try to figure out exactly what you want from your relationship with your current supervisor, be as respectful and open as possible about it with him/her/them, and try to work out a plan to make that happen. If your supervisor isn't keen on this approach, then you have two options. 1) Stay in the relationship, accept it will suck until it's over, and focus on getting what you want out of the experience (presumably a Ph.D., papers, etc.). You can seek out other mentors in the meantime. 2) Find a new supervisor.
Edit: now that I understand your supervisor is a first-timer, I think this is further an issue of lack of experience on their part and perhaps a reflection of how they were supervised throughout their career. If presented in calm, reasonable fashion, your supervisor *might* benefit from hearing what a student's expectations are, at least for when they supervise future students. It's unlikely their overall modus operandi will change, though; these things take lots of time and mistakes. And I would reiterate again that calm, straightforward communication is important. Passive aggression or hoping that your supervisor picks up on subtle cues is counter-productive.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think this is a good question, because many others here point to basically the same underlying problem, different incentives and expectations of the PhD student and the supervisor, and you outlined the two philosophies pretty much.
And while one intuitively might think the guidance-oriented way is the better and more productive one for student and supervisor, I think it is mostly and only practiced in the first 1-2 years of a PhD odysssey, thereafter a **switch to independency-oriented has to happen**, otherwise it is questionable what distinguishes your PhD work really from a master/bachelor work.
At the middle and at least at the end of your PhD journey you should know more about the methods, details and open questions in your special niche than your supervisor. And as much PhD graduates are produced nowadays, finishing in fast-track programmes etc., important goals of a PhD like independency and autonomy become more and more diluted in my opinion. But this is just a side note.
Of course, the best mixture or time of transition from guidance to independence-oriented will depend a lot on both your experiences, personalities and work load of your supervisor. But I would always **choose a supervisor which offers me more freedom and patience to select and work on my own questions and topics** rather than outlining the full path of the PhD or guiding me every month.
Research is often pure chance, luck, the right question hitting the right researcher. Too much guidance can undermine the possibililty a PhD student develops a strong interest and ambition to work on a important problem for many years or spots such a problem at all, and solves it finally. Such risks have to be offered and taken in academia and especially in fundamental research. There is a reason engineering PhD's are often much better paid and last shorter than in fundamental sciences, it's this risk or possibility of insignificant or no outcome of years of research.
So my advise is to see this as a gift, if your supervisor doesn't pressure you to submit every year a paper. This kind of supervisor can have a higher personal interest to easen his way to tenure or fame than **fostering your autonomy and independence, which is absolutely necessary to have any chance of getting tenure yourself**. And after PhD in my opinion it is too late to develop such traits.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/23
| 314
| 1,234
|
<issue_start>username_0: My professor asked me to send the pdf files of my articles. However, I have about 80 articles in my Mendely favorites. The pdf files are on my PC but in different folders. I would like to know if there is any way to select them all, then zip all the physical files, or export or copy them to a folder, or any method so that I can have them together. The other option could be synching them with the Web; however, I don't know how then I can share the link of them to the prof. I prefer to have the pdf files in a folder.<issue_comment>username_1: It's possible in new versions of Mendeley (Currently version 1.19.4). Then:
* Select all documents in favorites (Right click and click select all)
* Then right click and from context Menue (or click File) and select `Export PDF(s) with Annotations`
* It will ask you to save them in a new folder.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you choose to sync with the web, there will be a way to set up a "group collection" or similar and share it with your professor (I'm afraid I don't remember the exact names of things, as I stopped using Mendeley many years ago). This will require your professor to also have a Mendeley account.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/23
| 1,783
| 7,572
|
<issue_start>username_0: My finals were held recently. Due to some timetabling issues, I had to organize for some students to take the finals early, but still within finals week. The dates were mutually agreed.
One of these early final takers was very upset when I stopped them writing at the 2 hours and ten minutes mark after starting (for a 2 hour exam). After they gave me their paper, they looked very upset and stomped out of the room.
They performed poorly on the exam but eked out a `D` overall for the class.
The fastest student in the class finished in about 45 minutes; the majority were done by 90 minutes. I don't usually set time-critical midterms or finals.
When the student was upset, I didn't respond at the time nor did I follow-up with them afterwards via email or in person.
Should I have done anything more? If so, what?
I believe that college should be about more than just grades, and wanted to give the feedback to this student that their behavior was extremely unprofessional.<issue_comment>username_1: It may well be that the student was upset due to frustration with their own performance and had nothing to do with you or with being cut off. Their actions may not reflect unprofessional behavior as much as just immaturity. Frustration often boils over into anger and the anger is often misplaced. You may have experienced this yourself, actually.
I don't think you need to be proactive here, though it is fine if you want to be. But your best response is to just listen, even if it is to a rant. If you think that some encouragement is needed you could give that, as well as offering to give suggestions on how to do better in such courses.
But you can leave the next move to them, I think.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I would not intervene unless I felt the student was at risk of harming themselves or others.
As you say, college is about more than grades, learning how to handle failure is part of life.
Moreover it’s not unlikely that their performance on the final was the icing on the cake: they had a bad day/week and were upset about all of it plus the final.
Unless you’re willing to allow them to retake the exam (which is probably a bad idea unless they offer a good reason), reaching out to them and telling them they should deal better with exams will likely annoy them and demotivate them further.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Students get upset all the time and the best way is to let it happen. Unless there is something statistically wrong with your exam - i.e. everybody gets a really low mark - there is really nothing to be said or done: there's no reason to believe this is not habitual on the part of the student.
What *can* be done on your part is keep all records relating to the change in scheduling, if you have such records.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: It is normal for exams to have time limits.
It is also normal for exams to be stressful for students, and thus I would not worry much about a minor lack of professionalism in this context.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> I believe that college should be about more than just grades, and wanted to give the feedback to this student that their behavior was extremely unprofessional.
>
>
>
Beyond the answers you've already received here, it's important to avoid giving feedback when someone is not receptive to hear it.
This student was in the middle of finals week, had a number of exams ahead of them, had just taken a lengthy exam, believed they just performed poorly, and was likely very concerned about their grade in the course and potential outcomes resulting from that grade. They may have had other things going on that you weren't aware of too. They had an emotional reaction to all of that and made their way out of the room. That moment is not a good time for them to be receptive to any instructor policing their tone and professionalism.
If there's a more extreme situation where there's concern for a student's well-being or behavior that's impossible to ignore, that may be a different case where some action is called for, but as for looking upset and stomping, what practically are you going to achieve by giving this feedback? Is the student likely to take away a lesson about professionalism, or will they file it under "I was having an awful day, and then I got yelled at for not smiling about it?"
There may be value in reaching out to the student later to offer encouragement, a listening ear, advice, etc... But trying to provide feedback on precisely how they should behave when they're upset is not going to go well and will not be effective.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Sometimes people are upset at no on in particular, they just need to work it out on their own. This is one of those things.
You shouldn't reach out to the student unless you really know what you're doing. The student might not be happy about you reaching out and complain to the university. You have no duty to reach out either.
Sometimes instructors offer additional work (such as an extra project or assignment) for credit to let failing students bring up their grade. If you have an actual deal of this sort you can offer, that's a fair reason to reach out. But if the student already got a D, it would be hard for you to move the grade by more than a letter without it being unfair to other students - especially if they didn't know that such an opportunity would be offered! So even if you go above and beyond for this student, their grade would at best be a C, which isn't much better. They're better off just retaking the course. If they retake it with you, it might be a pretty good idea to start a dialog (privately) about what parts they struggle with the most. You can frame it as wanting to improve the course so the student doesn't feel singled out for failing.
Don't worry too much about the time - it is what it is. Some people give extra time at the end of exam - but if you've taken 2 hours to do an exam other people did in 1.5, you've probably had all your best ideas already. Even an additional hour is unlikely to make a difference, unless the exam was specifically designed to gauge speed of work (if it was, you wouldn't have so much variance in how quickly they finish). If the student complains, you can point out that everyone gets the same amount of time, so giving an extra ten minutes is already special treatment for that student at the expense of everyone else who didn't get extra time. You would already take the overall class performance into account when grading, so if everybody had done poorly in that timeframe, presumably the best students could get an A despite not getting every question right.
Also, the final is a bit late for interventions. There's not much graded material left... Unless the student does retake your course, or comes to you for help, there's nothing you can do here - the ship has sailed. For future students, you can play close attention to early midterms and quizzes, and act accordingly during office hours, lectures or when providing study materials. Inevitably, some people in every class will score low. If you really want to prevent this, you can build in "second chance" type rules in your syllabus: For example, option to do a project for extra credit, or dropping the lowest mid-term mark from the average. If you put these in the syllabus and make them clear in the beginning of the course, it's a lot easier to help failing students overcome their low exam score while still being fair.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/23
| 899
| 4,014
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a rising sophomore (just wrapped up my first year) at a top US university, and time has come for me to start taking decisions about major classes, now that I'm done with required introductory classes. I don't really know what I want to do after college yet, but one possibility is definitely getting a PhD in economics, which is something that combines all my interests really well. At the same time, I'm very very interested in pure math as well. I've heard people say that your math education is more important than your economics education at the undergrad level if you're interested in going to grad school for econ. Is this true? Should I focus on taking the hardest math classes I can, or should I balance the hard math ones with the hard econ ones (though I'll admit that the math ones are generally considered to be way "harder"). Do I need an economics major at all, or is it sufficient to become as good at math as I can?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I've heard people say that your math education is more important than your economics education at the undergrad level if you're interested in going to grad school for econ. Is this true?
>
>
>
Yes, it is definitely true. Almost everything in graduate level economics involves real analysis and optimisation conducted at quite a high level of proficiency. Now, obviously there is a trade-off here, but generally students who come in with a solid mathematics education are at an advantage, even if this additional mathematical knowledge comes at the expense of an absence of previous exposure to economics.
One of the difficulties that most students encounter in graduate level economics courses is that they have to learn two things at once. Most students struggle with the mathematics, and so they are trying to learn real analysis and various optimisation methods. At the same time they are trying to learn the economic reasoning and intuition for the material they are studying. Often the difficulty of the mathematics obscures economic understanding of the material, which creates learning problems. If you are one of the lucky students who finds the mathematics easy, you will be able to turn all your brain-power to the task of understanding the economic principles and intuition of what you are being taught, and that is a major advantage.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Before you make a final decision, note that different economics doctoral programs in the US have a quite different focus. I think that U Chicago and Princeton, for example sort of exemplify the difference. Some programs are very heavy on modeling, in which case a math background might be useful. Others are not like that at all.
So, investigate the range of possibilities through their curricula and some papers that have come out of them to see what you want your focus to be. The two schools of thought are called "freshwater" and "saltwater", which might give you the basis for a search.
Outside the US it may be the same or not, but I can't help with that.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Both for US and outside of US, some maths classes are way more important than those of economics. But that does not certainly mean that you need a maths major, but means that you should absolutely have a notion in maths thinking. Other than that, those majored in engineering or maths can perform better in economics grad school as it relies very much on theory and modelling classes etc. but this is something you can achieve by having serious maths classes while doing an economics major too.
If I were you, I would take primarily core math classes for sure together with intermediate economics classes. Not mentioning Linear Algebra, Calculus, Real Analysis to name only a few along with their advanced versions. If time permits, you may also take graduate level economics courses to put them in your transcript as they strengthen your applications if you pursue a rigorous PhD programme in Economics.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/23
| 1,594
| 6,475
|
<issue_start>username_0: As far as I heard in (some of) the universities a person having a tenure track position who fails to get grants may not get tenure.
>
> I am wondering what might be consequences of not getting grants for a tenured professor. (Say may he or she get more teaching load? more administrative load? What will happen if he or she will not agree for that?)
>
>
>
In your answers please indicate about what country are you talking about.<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, once you have tenure it is difficult to get fired other than for misconduct and hard even then. But, you don't need to get annual raises or further advances in rank unless you are seen as a contributor. What constitutes contribution depends on the institution. For some, grants are very important. For a few, they outweigh all else, partly because they fund students. But not all institutions are like that. For some, grants are *nice* but not essential.
But, whatever the mission of the institution, not contributing will leave you in a bit of a dead end with little chance to choose courses or committees, etc.
While it may be possible to have a 30+ year career without doing more than the minimum, you will likely still be earning at the end about what you were at the start.
Moreover, department heads, have subtle ways to punish you, by assigning you things that you won't really like doing. And who knows where your office will be.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In Germany, either doing a traditional *habilitation* (non-tenure track) or going the *Junior-Professorship* (tenure track) path, not having acquired any grants where you have been a principal investigator is likely to be a big disadvantage versus competitive applicants for a full professor position. Especially for transitioning from Jun.-Prof. to tenured professor an examination of teaching, publication track and acquired funding is standard now.
There are also funding programs like *ERC* from european union which allow during funding time to take money to different universities/institudes. So "winning" an ERC grant over 2 millon € will increase significantly your likelihood of being approached by universities/institutes. There is a funding likelihood of around 30% at the *German Research Foundation (DFG)*. Both of above paths often last for 4-6 years, so having not been successful at the DFG or many other numerous funding possibilities doesn't really speak for a candidate. Also it is quite common that you start and help writing funding proposal during your PhD work in Germany.
It is important to note that at german universities not much tenured teaching positions exist and not much tenured research positions apart from professors that therefore are expected to do research their whole job lifetime.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: In the U.S., in math, at my R1 university, a tenure-track person who does not have an NSF grant will have a hard time getting tenure, currently. Ironically, it's not that mathematicians truly need money to "do research", since we don't need labs or equipment, really, nor "research assistants" to wash test tubes or do field work. True, funding to go to conferences can be viewed as necessary... "conferences" (=pointless jet-setting around the world...) are an issue in themselves.
The point (in my context) is that somehow the approval, expressed in terms of grant funding, of the NSF, is the purest (!?!) expression of the value of one's research. :)
Ok, perhaps no one really believes this in their heart-of-hearts, but it's an easy sell to other faculty who don't understand the work, to the Dean (most often an engineer, for whom funding is ... forgive me... everything), and to VP's. Within the department, non-grant-funding is an "excellent" excuse to sabotage a tenure vote, freeing up a space for one's own clique.
After tenure, things are not quite so precarious. Still, extra summer salary, and funding for trips to conferences, are things that are useful and attractive. In some places, I'm aware that lack of external grant funding will cause Deans or department heads to assign extra teaching or other punitive things. As though external funding per-se were the ... only? ... goal.
Given all the vagaries of "federal funding", depending on one's frame of mind, one might want to ... at some point... work through/beyond that, and be able to think about one's subject without imagining bureaucrats leaning over one's shoulder, disapproving, etc.
Sadly, it does appear that many idealistic models of "the academy" are ever-less viable.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: In my research university in Sweden, the rules are fairly clear:
* There is a default baseline teaching load for tenured faculty. If you do your work "normally" (you win a small grant here and there, but nothing wide out of the ordinary) your teaching load stays at this baseline.
* If you win an extraordinary amount of grants (or the grants are very large), you can, at least potentially, negotiate your teaching load down, up to a well-defined minimum teaching load. Some people are able to get a complete teaching relief, but this requires very special circumstances and negotiation directly with the rectorate.
* If you don't get funding over an extended period in time, and especially if you show no intention to get funding (that is, you are not even applying), your teaching load may be step-by-step raised above the baseline up to a specific maximum (which is, however, close to 100% of your work time).
There is no (official) angle to "refuse" to do more teaching. "Tenure" in Sweden isn't really tenure in the US sense - it's more akin to being a permanent staff member with certain well-defined freedoms. If you are asked to teach more as per the rules of the department and you refuse, that's a fireable offense (you are not fulfilling your work contract).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: There was a case at Northwestern University maybe 20 years ago. A tenured professor, a medical researcher with no teaching duties, was supposed to get research grants which would cover his salary. Then one year it happened that he did not get the grant. So he sued, and argued in court that the university must pay his salary, since he was tenured. But the court did not agree. Yes, he was tenured, so he could not be fired; but his contract with the university did not specify that the university must pay his salary.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/24
| 1,307
| 5,618
|
<issue_start>username_0: I've recently finished my PhD (the field almost doesn't matter, but applied mathematics if it helps), and begun a 3 year grant-funded postdoc with a heavy but very flexible research emphasis, in the same general area as my dissertation. At their request, I sent my doctoral adviser (a super senior/recently emeritus professor) a list of the papers I'm currently working on/close to submitting, and my ideas for approximately the next 6 months to a year.
All the papers I'm currently working on represent incremental progress on projects that either developed from my dissertation, or formed as collaborations with others. I didn't outline any wide-eyed ideas, because all the wide-eyed ideas I have will take several years and a long list of incremental progress to come to fruition. In my opinion (formed in part by reading science philosophers like Kuhn), this is how science progresses: incremental progress as long as it yields fruit.
My adviser responded with an alarming level of "concern" (to put it gently) that my current projects are not ambitious enough and he feels they don't match his expectations of me nor do they sufficiently challenge the status quo. I got the impression that he seemed to think that by publishing works that are only a slight improvement on the existing literature, I won't amount to anything, which I took to mean I won't be able to get myself a "real" job once my 3 year postdoc is up.
Oh, and by the way, he suggested a solution, which is essentially to drop everything I'm doing and spend more time working on a particular idea that *he* thinks will revolutionize a particular area of science. I'm always skeptical any time someone says that, no matter how good the idea, so I pushed back and said no, I'm going to pursue an array of topics, some of which are pretty mainstream, in order to build up a good publication record and good relationships with people in my field.
Ignoring the complexities of funding (my funding is flexible enough to permit me to work on a wide array of sub-topics), am I right to think that an early career academic doesn't really have the political (or emotional!) capital built up to make a "bold move" into an unproven field, which inevitably might involve trying to convince many experts they're doing it wrong? It seems to me like "challenging the status quo" is a dangerous game that can only be played by those with Tenure.
Or do I have it backwards? Is academic science so competitive that one can *only* progress, career-wise, by challenging the status quo? If so, aren't we just chasing each other around in circles, scientifically speaking?<issue_comment>username_1: Consider that he may be correct.
There may not be an upper bound, but there is certainly a lower bound to the 'boldness' of work that will move you to the next level.
Indeed, while progress is usually incremental, few good faculty positions go to individuals that produce 'usual' work. Your senior advisor has certainly had time to feel out what is likely to succeed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Rather sounds like a rhetoric question to me seeing the competition on positions with tenure.
And this is not restricted to the post-doc phase. I have worked in groups where the professor already and intentionally choosed research questions/methods with high risk of success/failure of the individual PhD student. **Different professors will have very different research/risk/diversification strategies**. Some groups work with same amount of people on one topic, other on 3 or 4.
If you have funding for 3 years, which is over average for post-docs, I think it is clear you are **expected to deliver something significant, not only incremental. Results that would allow to acquire further funding.**
Also, I don't have the same understanding of philosophy of science (Kuhn) as you. Paradigms are not shaken by incremental research, general relativity etc. were revolutionary theories that were adapted slowly and incrementally by the community. It's fun to read about this. There is even a stackexchange site (history of science)
Another view is, do you win scientific prizes with incremental research? Most of them go to researchers that developed new concepts/measurement methods/theories. Of course incremental research has to be done and most of the tenured researchers and PhD students work most of the time on such projects. **But the post-docs, in my opinion, are really the one selected to risk something and being able to manage to accomplish it.** And you can also find that a nobel prize on average gets awarded on average over 20 years after the discovery and it is known most of the researcher, depending on field, **make significant discoveries in their 20-30s**, PhD and post-doc phase again.
In the best case you already acquire funding during your post-doc time and can hire PhD students on your own as PI. Then you can diversify your research topics from risky to incremental
I don't think it would be a wise decision, to follow his advise 100% and drop all your current topics you are experienced in. From his overall strategy this can make sense to put single researcher on very risky new topics, I know such professors myself. In the aftermath, if it succeeded and you got outstanding results, you and he did everything right, if not it is very likely you regret it to not have proceeded with projects you were experienced and successful in. **I would suggest to negotiate again with him how you diversify the research projects and how division of labour is organized with PhD students.**
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/24
| 1,428
| 5,964
|
<issue_start>username_0: I finished my PhD in probability a few years ago and left to go work in the industry as software engineer in operating systems and databases. I sometimes ponder whether I can go back to doing research, perhaps on a part-time basis, if I somehow transform my character to have more self-discipline. When I was an undergraduate student, I really loved mathematics. Even now, on my spare time, I frequently go over my old courses and, as Terrence Tao puts it, learn and re-learn old materials. Each time it brings me great pleasure and newer insight.
What I have trouble with is actually spending time solving research problem. With absolutely no intention of offending mathematicians, I find that most of the open problems in mathematics don't hold that much interest to me because I find them too narrow. I really had a tough time with the proofs in my PhD thesis because they are hard and I couldn't sustain consistent work each day. I prefer discovering new connections and asking my own questions, such as pondering on the connection between complex analysis and probability or asking "what if I remove this assumption" and see if I can derive new theorems.
Even then, I usually can only do that for one day or two. I simply cannot do it day after day like a professional researcher. I would go back to my old habit of debugging and writing programs which I can do for 8 hours a day five days a week no problem.
Thank you for reading so far. My overall question is, how do I determine if my lack of success in research mathematics is due to lack of interest in research or lack of self-discipline? Can I just use something like the pomodoro technique and build up my tolerance for prolonged mathematics research?<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, you completed a Ph.D. in mathematics-- I would hardly call that a "lack of success."
Secondly, I'm a big advocate for getting paid to do what you're good at. And from an economic point of view, that's the best thing you can do for society. If you want to tinker with math problems in your spare time or build up self-discipline and concentration skills, by all means, go for it. Such things will sharpen your skills in every aspect of life. But humans are pretty straightforward creatures: we tend to pursue and get better at what we're interested in, and we flounder when put in career paths that just don't match our personalities. You're not a lazy or unintelligent person for not wanting to do math research. You already tried the path when getting your Ph.D. If it didn't fulfill you then, it's definitely not going to if you try to force yourself back into it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The term and the field *research* is very broad. Roughly I would distinguish
* fundamental research
* applied research
* interdisciplinary research
and in my opinion identifying which one you fit more could be a first step or looking into applied mathematics research.
Reasons you might not like working in both:
* you work pretty much most of time alone in lab/office, apart from conferences but are a very social and communicative guy (**social gap**)
* you don't see an (immediate) use of your results for society (**purpose gap**)
* to much theoretical/mathematical background necessary (with PhD can probably be ruled out, maybe **IQ gap** to be easily competitve and successful)
* you don't have the right personality and have to force yourself to do research day by day (**personality gap**)
There is the option to do a personality [test](http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality) ([Myers–Briggs Type Indicator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers%E2%80%93Briggs_Type_Indicator)). I'm not sure how relieable it is to identify your personality and how other types fit into research, but I made the test and was characterized as INTJ:
>
> **INTJ: The Scientist. INTJ (introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging)**
> is an acronym that represents one of the 16 personality types
> described by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. People with INTJ
> **personalities are highly analytical, creative and logical.**
>
>
>
While I would suggest to you to make a personality test, I would also suggest to rethink and remember your university time, from beginning to end and what courses/topics you really liked and if you see there a chance of research at an university or institute. **Applied and interdiscplinary research profits a lot from scientists with fundamental research AND industry experience and is by far much bigger and more researchers are working in it than in purely fundamental research**.
An [article](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/many-top-scientists-did-not-have-first-says-study) of timeshighereducation also suggests that many top-scientists didn't have best grades and I see this as a confirmation that many of above factors have to match for a personality **(not necessarily being INTJ)** fitting a distinct position in research like it is known for people with autism-syndrome to be only productive in a suited working environment or fulfilling special tasks.
To tell a personal anecdote, I started studying physics because of an strong interest in particle/astrophysics like many other physics students. To my experience most of such motivated students later don't even write a master nor a PhD thesis about such topics due to breaking up studies, too theoretical/mathematical necessary background, vanishing interest, other exciting fields in physics at the local university, better job chances in there or not seeing themselves in hardcore fundamental research and the ivory-tower their rest of life (my case). I do now applied physics as post-doc and love it. I did all astrophysics courses but decided in the master thesis to switch to condensed matter physics (I want to see faster results usable for society and I'm more the lab/communicative/team guy) and still read out of interest also news on astrophysics.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/24
| 342
| 1,500
|
<issue_start>username_0: I wrote a paper which got accepted in a reputed journal, I wrote another paper with completely different work, however when I submitted the second paper I mistakenly (actually I was in a hurry) with the old title (of accepted paper). What should I do now, should I withdraw my paper, or let the editor know about this, the paper is still in phase of "waiting for editor assignment"
thankyou<issue_comment>username_1: Such errors are not uncommon. Just inform the journal through the editor in chief or wait until you actually have an editor. It is normally possible to change titles in any case up to the time of finalization.
At worst there will be a bit of confusion until you make the correction.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Although the question doesn't explicitly say so, I guess that the incorrect title is only in the web form for the submission, not on the paper itself. If that's correct, then I think you could just write to the editor: "Dear [editor's name], When I submitted my paper [correct title] for publication in [journal name], I mistakenly put an incorrect title [wrong title] on the web form. Could you please either correct that in the system or tell me how to correct it? Thank you, [your name]"
If, on the other hand, the paper itself had the wrong title (which I find hard to imagine), then your email to the editor should, in addition to explaining what happened, include an attachment with the correct version of the paper.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/24
| 682
| 2,693
|
<issue_start>username_0: I've recently sent an article to a conference, and now I've received this technical revision:
>
> figure 3 should be in vector format
>
>
>
What does it mean exactly? My diagram is in PNG format. Which format should I choose?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not sure how a photo would come out, but vector format is just another image format. If you google:'png to vector format' you will learn how to do the conversion.
Apparently the conference doesn't care for png files for some reason. But the conversion should be easy with the correct tools.
BTW, this question is marginal here for scope.
---
Note that I haven't commented here on the advisability of using vector formats for photos. In fact, I think it is a bad idea. I merely provide information about how you can learn how to do it if it is necessary.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: TL;DR: If you have an actual photograph, rebut the request. Otherwise export to a vector format from source. Never trace.
A vector format is a format that stores information in terms of graphical primitives (lines, cricles, etc.). They are in contrast to pixel formats which store the colours of pixels on a grid. As a rough example, a similar graphics would be stored as:
* **Pixel format:** 1,1: white; 1,2: grey; 1,3: black; …
* **Vector format:** black circle with radius 5 centred at (7,8) on white background.
Examples of vector formats are PDF, EPS, SVG. Examples of pixel formats are PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF. Note that most vector formats can embed pixel graphics.
>
> My photo is in .PNG format, which format should I choose?
>
>
>
If you have an actual photograph (taken with a camera), the request to convert it to a vector format is ridiculous. Photos are best stored in a pixel format, usually JPG or TIFF. There is a process to deduce vector information from pixel data (called [tracing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_tracing)), but applying it to a photograph will either destroy information or dramatically increase the file size (the only faithful conversion would be one square per pixel). You can theoretically embed your photograph in a vector format, but that is a pointless exercise, since the typesetters can do the same.
If instead your figure does not contain a photograph but a diagram, figure out how to directly export to a vector format with whatever software you used to create it (and do this). Tracing will again almost certainly yield inferior results (and is quite tedious to tune).
A related and relevant question is: [Is increasing the DPI of a low resolution image a good idea?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/111867/7734)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2019/05/24
| 1,365
| 5,434
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have received an email saying that my essay is under consideration for the ethics committee for suspected plagiarism. My lecturer had told us that we could work on our essays together as we were all using the same data. My friend handed in her essay in semester 1 and I handed in mine in semester 2. We used her essay as a guideline because she received such a good grade in hers. I have a meeting with the ethics committee and I want to be prepared. What should I say and what should I avoid saying?<issue_comment>username_1: When the instructor said you could work "together", they meant together with a student that hadn't previously completed the assignment. They expect both students (when working together) to contribute equally towards writing an essay *from scratch*.
Basing your essay on another student's essay (that you did not work together on) is plagiarism.
The best you can say for yourself is that you didn't realize that what you did constituted plagiarism. The ethics committee *might* be lenient, however, they might also consider that you should have known what the rules were. To be frank, anybody should understand that you can't work based off material previously prepared by somebody else and pretend it's your own work -- that is the very definition of plagiarism.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: It sounds like you know what you did and have a pretty good idea as to why you are being called in. Whether you broke a rule, or pushed the boundary, regarding working together by choosing to work with someone from the past semester depends on the instructions given, the instructor, and departmental policy. You should be prepared to tell the committee what you did and why you thought it was reasonable. You should also be prepared to explain how you can see it might have been pushing the boundaries, but I wouldn't volunteer this until asked. Finally, you should be prepared to demonstrate how what you wrote was your own work and that you only worked with the other student's essay as a guidelines.
Most importantly, you should prepare to tell the truth and not mislead the committee: [Is it ethical/acceptable to give a lighter penalty to students who admit to cheating?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20841/is-it-ethical-acceptable-to-give-a-lighter-penalty-to-students-who-admit-to-chea/20851#20851)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: [I agree with everything Tom said](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/131040/i-unknowingly-submitted-plagarised-work/131041#131041), but I'd add that the in the meeting with the committee, they've likely already made up their minds. What you did was plagiarism and there is nothing you can tell them that will convince them otherwise. Do not be confrontational. Do not tell them that there's an interpretation of the rules that makes this ok. Do not try and justify what you did with anything other than "I misunderstood the rules." Don't blame anyone else.
These kinds of committees are generally looking to turn you into a good student afterwards, rather than trying to destroy your academic career. Help them help you.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: If you use your friend's essay "as a guide", that means she'd *already done* the work on her essay by herself (and perhaps others), and consequently you were not "working on your essays *together*".
The semester of separation just makes it more damning, but you could've done this in the same semester and it'd still have been basically the same problem.
So just realize you were not following instructions and be honest with them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> I want to be prepared.
>
>
>
I suggest you do the following:
1. Talk to your friend. Have her attend the hearing as well, to testify or to speak on your behalf. Failing that, get her to write a letter in your support. What she could contribute is to:
* Corroborate your version of the events and what the teacher had told you;
* Claim that you had her consent for using the work the way you did, or even that you agreed on this in advance;
* Claim that she, like yourself, did not understand that what you did constitutes plagiarism;
* Claim that you did not have any intention to break the rules or shirk any duties.
If your friend can't attend, have her write a signed letter to this effect. But it would be *really* useful if she attended.
2. Try to get the teacher (lecturer) to attend. This is less likely to happen, but s/he could contribute would be to:
* Corroborate your version of the events and what he had told you;
* Explain that he did not clarify what kind of use of other people's work would constitute plagiarism, and argue that you may have misunderstood;
* Claim that you did not have any intention to break the rules or shirk any duties.
at least the first one is likely and does not require that much good will. The other two are less so. Also, in the teacher's case it is more likely you would get a signed letter (if anything) rather than him/her attending.
3. Clarify (to yourself and others) whether the problem was not citing your friend's work, or that it was using it to begin with. It's not entirely clear from your question.
4. In your situation it seems you should prepare for humility and penitence, followed by non-confrontational explanations, rather than for trying to argue why you did nothing wrong.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/24
| 710
| 2,988
|
<issue_start>username_0: I found people getting PhD without studying the concerned subjects for the work and did not do the experiment. Pictures and results were manipulated. published in Journal and got the Ph.D (by publishing in Paid journals and bribed the external examiners)
During this case, can we challenge the PhD degree? Kindly let me know what is the procedure.<issue_comment>username_1: Challenging the work by submitting better work for publication is certainly possible and might bear on the reputation of the earlier authors and their institutions. But challenging the awarding of a degree is pretty rare and not very likely to succeed, I think. I'll guess that very few institutions have any established procedures for doing this and it would take a pretty extreme situation for them to consider it.
But fraud in grants or clear misconduct might be enough if it can be proved. Emphasis on *proved.*
But the "procedure" would be to raise the issue either publicly or with the institution directly.
Of course, certain claims will leave you open to charges of slander, so proceed cautiously.
The safest "procedure" for responding to poor work is better work rather than direct confrontation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you're saying the work was fraudulent, then yes, you can: academic misconduct is generally sufficient reason to revoke a PhD degree. [Real-life example](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%B6n_scandal).
As for how to go about challenging the degree, I would ask the university, starting with the Head of Department.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Depends highly on the university. In the US, this would be a case to take to the dean of the graduate college, or an office of research integrity, if one exists and the problem is more systemic within a lab or group. My university has an office that handles all allegations of research misconduct & ethics, for instance, but for issues regarding students, this is typically handled by a dean. As username_1 says, getting a PhD revoked is probably going to be very hard, but this seems like a more systemic problem that should be brought to the attention of the school.
For the most part, US universities (perhaps with the exception of "for profit" schools) take this sort of thing very seriously. In other parts of the world, the incentive structure is usually somewhat different and the university may not take steps to rectify the situation.
I suppose the other question you have to ask yourself is this: does this just make the students look bad, or the whole university? It sounds like you may be a PhD student at the same university, in which case you would prefer if the university maintains a good academic integrity reputation, and hence pursing this at the institutional level might be worth it. If you think it's just a few "bad apples", then it might not be worth your time - their misconduct won't win them any favors and will probably sort itself out.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/24
| 478
| 2,087
|
<issue_start>username_0: There was recently a call for book chapters (to be published by a reputable publisher), I submitted an article and it was accepted.
When I received the proof to review, I noticed that the book editor added references in my article. He basically cited some of his papers.
My question is, does he have the right to do that?
And, any suggestions on what I should do?<issue_comment>username_1: This is not common - nobody, be it editor, publisher or reviewer, should modify the technical contents of a paper without the consent of the author(s). After all it's the authors' name on the article.
I would contact the editor asking for an explanation, failing which if you strongly disapprove of the editor's actions, you could withdraw from the review volume.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: An editor can ask for coherence. He can also throw out the chapter if there are omissions that he thinks are critical. He can, in that vein, request that references be included.
But the responsibility on the article lies with the authors, and so the editor can never modify the content of the article without their approval; he must ask their permission. This falls out side of his "jurisdiction" (exceptions can exist in commercial publication/scriptwriting where the rights on the material may not fully lie with the concrete author).
Imagine the extreme case of the editor quoting some crank papers under the author's name.
In the concrete case, OP should consider:
1. whether the citations are, content-wise, appropriate and acceptable or not;
2. if they are acceptable, whether OP wishes to place the matter of the unauthorised addition on the table;
3. if OP decides to put them on the table, whether they would withdraw the article if the editor's justification is unsatisfactory.
Depending on the responses, OP may consider to
1. withdraw the article; or
2. insist on the references being removed; or
3. accept the references and not work again with this editor in the future; or
4. accept the references as a welcome addition to the paper.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/05/25
| 1,270
| 5,169
|
<issue_start>username_0: I used code from a published Masters thesis in my PhD work. I have modified just 10% of the code to suit my research requirement. However, most of the code is as developed by the original researcher. I had to use the code from the literature because I currently don't have the time, the resources or the motivation to write the code from scratch.
However, I am in a dilemma whether I am doing something unethical by using code developed by someone else for my research. I will cite the original thesis in my papers and thesis. I will cite it in the following manner:
>
> The code used in this thesis has been developed based on the work published by <NAME> at the University of Agartha [1].
>
>
> [1] <NAME>. Implementation of a code. University of Agartha, 2008.
>
>
>
Also, I am not going to add the code in my thesis or my paper. Will this be unethical and violation of the original author's copyright?<issue_comment>username_1: **No, it is not unethical.** If the original authors didn't want you to use the code, they would not have made it public. In fact they're likely to be flattered that you find their code useful/interesting enough to make use of it.
Of course, you need to cite the original authors, since you're using their work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There are three issues:
1. **Is it a copyright violation?** This depends on the license under which the original code was released. You'll have to read it.
2. **Is it plagiarism?** No, you have credited the original author. However, you may want to make it more clear that it is really a relatively minor modification of their code. Your current wording, "developed based on work...", could be interpreted as "I got some ideas from their work but then wrote all my code from scratch", which would misrepresent the real contribution of the other authors.
3. **Is it adequate for your PhD thesis?** You could write an entire thesis that just used the work of others, appropriately cited, with minor tweaks. It wouldn't be plagiarism, but it also wouldn't get you a PhD, because it doesn't demonstrate an ability to do independent research. So, you need to make sure that your advisor and committee are fully aware of what parts are your own work, and what parts are the work of others, so that they can evaluate your research accomplishment based on what *you* did. If they don't feel it's adequate, then you may have to do more work in order to complete a thesis that will pass.
The same applies when you publish a paper. Here, the editors and reviewers need to evaluate your paper based on its *novelty* - what part of it is new work, versus what simply makes use of existing work?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
But what you suggest is fine unless the code has been patented. That is very unlikely, of course.
Distinguish between **using** something (permitted - unless patented) and **republishing** it (depends on license).
The only time in which you can't *use* something is when it has been patented but not licensed to you. I doubt that is the case here. But otherwise you can use what you find and you can use modifications of it. You just can't republish the work of others without some sort of permission such as a license.
Plagiarism is a different issue than publishing/copyright. If you cite the work you are correctly attributing it to the source and so avoid plagiarism.
Think of an analogy with mathematics. If I find a (copyright) formula in a math book, I can use it. I can even adapt it for other use. I can't claim that I created it (that would be plagiarism) and I can't republish it without permission. If this were not the case it would be impossible for mathematics to advance. Every formula or other idea would be an absolute block to every other mathematician.
Think of an analogy with poetry. If I find a poem published somewhere, I can adapt and rewrite it for my own purposes. I just can't republish it and I may not be able to publish my rewrite. But I can use it myself, perhaps for my own enjoyment.
Code is a bit different since it can be executed. If I find it and it isn't patented, I can execute it. I can also rewrite it for my own purposes. And I can execute that also. I just can't republish it necessarily. And whether I can publish the changed code depends on things.
For reproducibility purposes you can publish how you changed the original because that is your work, but you may not be able to publish the complete version you used since it is in part the work of another, but that depends on the license.
---
Patenting code is extremely problematic in my view. Unfortunately it is possible to do it in some places.
Note that I've assumed that the program code is published as text, not as an executable. I've also assumed that you have legal access to that text.
---
Note also, that I've assumed that it isn't a "trade secret". If that were the case then you wouldn't be able to even *see* it without (probably) signing an explicit license setting out terms. But holders of trade secrets have to do due diligence in keeping the work "secret".
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/25
| 4,328
| 17,741
|
<issue_start>username_0: I think I may be overthinking things, as I’m known to having a huge guilt complex.
As an undergraduate last year, we were given a coding assignment to complete that was worth 15% of our overall mark for the course. We often worked on it at computing practicals where students worked together in computer labs along with postgraduates who could assist you if needed.
Towards the end of it, I had managed to complete the first two parts of it, but struggled with the final portion, and there were no more opportunities to ask for help at the practicals.
Eventually, a friend of mine’s close friend (who I was still becoming closer with) figured out how to do it, and showed us a screenshot of his code. I initially copied it down so I can see what he did, and then spent some time reading it to understand how I was meant to go about answering it properly, and then tried to write up my answer knowing the right way to go about it, but it couldn’t be done in a way that didn’t look very similar to what my friend did. So I fear I copied.
I didn’t think anything of it at the time, and submitted it, and it was marked and that was it. I think there may had been a plagiarism checker but I can’t remember.
Recently, I’ve since been worried that I’ve breached good academic practice. I don’t know why I’ve never thought about it much until now.
As well, in a module I took last semester, I had worked together with friends on homework sheets that we handed in but people often completed in groups, which I think was perfectly permitted. I only worked in groups if I couldn’t solve anything, so there was a time last semester where I went to a friend who went over with me how to do the homework assignment (helping me through almost all of it) which allowed me to get a decent mark on it as I now knew how to do it with his help and instruction (they also were intentionally meant to help our understanding more than assess us apparently). I’ve also had trouble saying no to people who want to look at my homework for help, as I’m not very assertive.
I’ve figured out that this could be poor academic practice as I’ve aided and gotten aid for assigned work recently.
I just don’t want to think I’m an unworthy academic. What should I do? Should I contact someone? Should I just let it go? I’ve told myself for now on when asking for help from colleagues that I will never ask for answers but merely understanding, and to my knowledge I’ve not done anything else that’s improper other than this.
Should I be ashamed of myself?
Is this situation a common thing, even among academics? I’m going to be at an internship over the summer with very esteemed academics. Am I likely different from them in my academic scruples given this described past behavior? Should I look down upon others who’ve done minor things like this who don’t feel guilty about it?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Eventually, a friend of mine’s close friend (who I was still becoming closer with) figured out how to do it, and showed us a screenshot of his code.
>
>
>
Here was your mistake: you looked at another student's answer. From this point it was impossible for you to be 100% sure that any answer you come up with is really yours.
>
> it couldn’t be done in a way that didn’t look very similar to what my friend did. So I fear I copied.
>
>
>
Here you go: maybe there was only one way to do it and your brain actually found it, but there's no way to know how much of your brain process was influenced by the answer you saw before. It might be 1%, it might 99%, nobody can tell. The border which separates plagiarism and genuine work lies somewhere between the two.
>
> Should I be ashamed of myself?
>
>
>
Shame doesn't really help with anything, ask any psychologist :)
A more constructive approach is to reflect on our choices afterwards, identify potential mistakes and try to do better next time.
>
> We often worked on it at computing practicals where students worked together in computer labs along with postgraduates who could assist you if needed.
>
>
>
Here was the better choice: when you were stuck with this question, you could have asked the postgrads who were here to assist for a clue. This way you could have been sure that whatever guidance you received was within the boundaries of what is permitted (whether you could have found the answer from it or not).
>
> I’ve figured out that this could be poor academic practice as I’ve aided and gotten aid for assigned work recently.
>
>
>
Yes, this is unethical. Not the worst kind of unethical though, since your intention was not cheat but to solve the problem.
>
> I just don’t want to think I’m an unworthy academic. What should I do? Should I contact someone? Should I just let it go?
>
>
>
Obviously you're not unworthy because of this, it's ok to make mistakes. Ethics is not a binary question of right and wrong, it's much more subtle than that. In this case you stepped in the light gray area once, and apparently you are your own very harsh judge so please show yourself a bit of forgiveness and move on.
>
> I think I may be overthinking things, as I’m known to having a huge guilt complex.
>
>
>
As you rightly suspect, the answer is yes you are overthinking it :)
---
>
> Is this situation a common thing, even among academics?
>
>
>
Plagiarism by students is unethical but it usually has a very limited impact (especially in a case like yours). Plagiarism by professional academics is a more serious issue, because it undermines the whole research process and introduces biases at every level: an academic publication record is used for evaluating candidates for hiring or promotions, allocating grants from funding bodies, etc.
While most academics have strong professional ethics, unfortunately there are plenty of cases of unethical behaviour (including plagiarism) in academia (you can find a good few examples here on AcademiaSE).
>
> I’m going to be at an internship over the summer with very esteemed academics. Am I likely different from them in my academic scruples given this described past behavior?
>
>
>
Your scruples are actually an indication that you take ethical considerations very seriously. If you stay in academia for a while you will probably see that some academics are not that strict. Even if you witness unethical behaviour, don't assume that it's a standard and keep doing the right thing yourself.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The past is the past and cannot be undone. Whether you are ashamed or not, you need to move on. But you don't need to invite external punishment for past misdeeds that haven't harmed others.
It is best if you do your own work, of course, since that maximizes your learning. It is worst if you copy since you haven't really learned anything. In between is getting hints about things, with various graduations of that. The best hints come from your instructor, since s/he can give you a minimal hint to get you past a block so that you can advance. Getting hints from others is worse since those others may not be taking your educational development in to account.
So, for the past, let it go. For the future think about the goals of the exercise, not just the end point. Seek appropriate assistance that won't hinder your learning rather than inappropriate assistance that might.
Probably you transgressed norms since you describe it yourself as copying. But treat it as a learning experience and move on.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: **No one cares about *this***
Your assignment was through, *no one* will ever look at it again. You're an undergrad student, learn to not do that. And I see you realized that now. It's important to improve in the future and learn now to be aware of it, an undergrad exercise is "plagiarism" and okayish, plagiarism later on is a career breaker. Like stealing money from you company. Don't ever do *that*!
That's what studying is about: learning the way things work together. And the basics of the field.
Next time better ask an assistant, that's what they are there for.
Definitely don't feel ashamed. Most people would lie if they say that they *never* looked at an other students exercise in their study time. Sometimes life and deadlines hit, sometimes two deadlines, sometimes frustration. Keep it at an absolute minimum, but again:
**Don't be ashamed.**
**Be glad that it happened *now* and you *learn* from it.**
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: What you did was only very borderline unethical. You were allowed to work in groups to solve the problem. People working in groups will generally all solve the problem the same way. And when people work in groups, often one person will have the key insight to solve the problem. So the main difference here is that you weren't working with the group and failing to solve the problem when your friend solved it. (You were working on your own and failing to solve it.)
Further, one reason copying is discouraged is that if you copy somebody's solution, you very often will not understand the material. This isn't the case for you — you first went through the solution and understood it, and then you tried to code it in a way that was different. Unfortunately, there was essentially only one way you saw to code your friend's solution, and you used that.
While this may have been a violation of academic integrity, it was an extremely minor one. Think of it as a learning experience for you, and not as a major crime that you got away with.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I may be missing something here since nobody else mentioned it but I fundamentally fail to see the supposed integrity breach. Two points:
1. You are talking about a programming assignment, not a sit-down exam. Collaboration between students is expected. *Usually* it’s encouraged (and should be!). Of course you shouldn’t just copy others’ solutions verbatim, the purpose is to work through the problem yourself. But you seem to have done this, even if your starting point was somebody else’s solution. So, from a didactic perspective, you probably learned a lot, and that’s the primary purpose of the assignment.
2. Professional programmers as well as academics look at each others’ code/solutions *all the time*, and collaboration is a fundamental tool for getting anything done — it’s the whole reason why we have Universities in the first place. Of course professionals are not being (directly) graded on their work but I mention this to establish how normal and expected it is in professional settings to learn from other people’s code and ideas. It’s the rule, not the exception.
Don’t get me wrong: Plagiarism is a serious breach of academic integrity. But collaboration isn’t plagiarism. Nor is getting help with your homework (otherwise private tutoring couldn’t exist). What would be a problem is if you just copied the work of other people and handed that in, without working on it. But from what you’ve said this isn’t even remotely what happened.
I think you misunderstand what you’re being graded on: You’re not graded on your knowledge before taking the course, and University isn’t an Olympics-style competition of who’s the fittest. Instead, you are graded on what you’ve learned *during the course*. If you learned by working in groups then that’s not a violation of academic integrity; it’s an academic success!
>
> Should I be ashamed of myself?
>
>
>
If you are feeling ashamed for what you’ve described then the University system has let you down.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Was it explicitly told you, that you should solve the problem individually?
If not, I would say it is not unethical at all. After all, all we have to get later in business, is to get a best solution for a customer. You should learn that, too, and what you do is - you engaged a consultant. In the real world, when, say, programming, you research online and in documentation, you ask colleagues or in forums, and you hire consultants. In my times at the university (was 20 years ago however), any out of class task to do was common for us to discuss, and search for optimal solution. Learning teamwork. The only guy whom you could have harmed, was you - you might have learned a bit more doing it yourself. Shame and other feelings should have nothing to search here - learn from any incident, do cold-blooded analysis, and then move on. Get that guy who helped you a beer/ice cream or so as a payment - then it will make it easier for you to look on his role as a consultant in that incident.
If it was explicitly forbidden to communicate the task - you just took some risks. The risk to get caught, and be fired from the university. Risk did not happen - problem solved. Same result as above, only harmed person is you here, and you took unnecessary (or necessary, if the incomplete task would have caused you some negative consequences, comparable to the consequences when caught, like not enough bachelor ECTS points collected in must time - fired from university) risks.
I would also stand to the answer of username_5 - he met the point exactly while I was typing mine ;)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: A good litmus test for whether something is unethical or not is: If someone asked you about what you did, would you have any reservations about telling them everything?
The correct course of action would have been to tell the professor *before* turning in the assignment exactly what you've told us here. Having acknowledged the work you built on, there would have been no ethical issues. (I suspect there would have been no practical issues, either. If you understood how the solution worked well enough that you could reproduce it, the goal of the assignment was accomplished.)
Failing to do so was mildly unethical. The fact that you're feeling shame and guilt over it (perhaps even a disproportionate amount) is *good*. It's a sign that your sense of ethics is functioning properly. It is far better to feel more guilty than is necessary under the circumstances than it is to try to justify unethical actions.
The way to eliminate the feelings of guilt isn't to focus on how minor the ethical violation was; it's to correct the violation.
While it would have been preferable to inform the professor at the time, there's nothing stopping you from doing so now. Tell them what you've told us, and ask what you should have done. In all likelihood, they'll just repeat what I already said: you should have acknowledged the assistance at the time it happened, and make sure you do so next time. In the unlikely chance that there are some consequences, accept them. Once you have told the truth without holding anything back, the error in judgement will have been corrected, and you will no longer have anything to feel guilty about. Rather, you'll have something to be proud of: you will have done what was right even when you know for a fact that you would have gotten away with not doing so.
p.s. I really doubt there will be any significant consequences. I say this not to suggest that you should only tell the professor because nothing bad will happen as a result (you should tell them no matter the consequences), but so you don't feel apprehensive in the meantime.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: Short answer: You didn't; but if you don't like working in this way, then don't work in this way in the future.
Long answer: Watch at least one whole season of "The Good Place", there are chances you can learn from Chidi's character and the way he views himself vs. the way he is really revealed to be : )
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: Since your friend showed you a "screenshot of his code", then his intention was probably to help you.
Your problem should not have a moral/ethic dimension; you would have had so if you took your colleague's work without merits, and from what you say this is not the case. So from this perspective, you are clear.
I think your concern comes from the inside - that you are not academically worthy and that there are other students who have nicer solutions to problems than you. The only one who can provide the answer to this question is you. How should you reflect upon this question?
Well, first of all don't be a pessimist, be a realist. Think of all the problems (not only in coding) that you resolved by yourself. Did they have the same difficulty? If not, what should be my strategy to increase the level of difficulty of the problems I solve? Should I try the *divide et impera* method, thus combining easier problems in order to solve a more difficult one? Also, about the final part of the code you were not able to solve entirely by yourself, you should be thinking something like - did I think enough about it? Did I try all the possible methods I know to solve the problem?
As for individual or collective solution. It is absolutely necessary sometimes to take solutions from others. That is the only way you can learn anything. Nobody was born knowing the solution to each and every problem that is. Think also about your friend. Are you so sure that he didn't read a solution for a similar problem from a book? Do you think your friend was born already knowing the solution to the assigned coding problem?
Whether you like it or not, you can't have solutions to every problem by yourself. Sometimes, and it should be no shame, you have to learn from others. And I honestly have doubts that you have never read a solution to a problem from a book. Why do you think it should be any difference between reading a solution from a book (written by a human) and looking at a solution directly given by another human?
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/25
| 1,135
| 4,397
|
<issue_start>username_0: I recently came across the term "propaedeutic diploma" in the CV of a Dutch academic. According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaedeutics), it's a diploma given for successfully completing the first year of university study, and used by many (how widespread is the practice?) institutions.
**Does it also have a formal function, or is it just a tradition at this point?**
For example, would progressing to second year courses be tied to earning this diploma? If it is, why is a diploma used rather than a simple cutoff in terms of credits earned?
---
Note: Yes, this is ostensibly a question specific to undergraduate education, but it's not about admissions or "undergraduate life". Rather, it's an attempt to understand a specific academic system, which I hope should be considered on-topic.<issue_comment>username_1: I heard this term in the context of a year of non-degree courses required to reach sufficient preparation to enter an advanced degree in a cognate field.
For instance, if you have an undergraduate degree in - say - journalism but you like to get a graduate degree in sociology, the program chair may require you to do such a year "to beef up your background in sociology" -kinda thing.
I knew a priest with several PhDs, all in cognate fields: philosophy, theology and political sciences. After his theology degree he was asked to do a propaedeutic year before entry in the PhD. in philosophy program, and another to gain entry in political sciences.
I've never heard of a "propaedeutic diploma". I don't recall this guy's propaedeutic years counting towards his ultimate degrees, and I don't think he got a separate degree or diploma for the courses completed during those years, although possibly by cleverly combining credits he might have been able to do so.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This [Wordpress Blog](https://insideibms.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/what-the-heck-is-a-propedeuse-and-for-what-do-i-need-it/) gives a good explanation. From this, I'll take a stab at your questions (Note, I'm not personally familiar with the Dutch system, just going from the blog post).
>
> Does it also have a formal function, or is it just a tradition at this point? For example, would progressing to second year courses be tied to earning this diploma?
>
>
>
Yes, it's required for second-year courses. The author of the blog post describes that 60 credits are required for the propodeuse at their institution. There are some circumstances in which one may attempt to earn the propodeuse during the second year; in other cases, they are disqualified. At this institution, 50% of students are disqualified.
>
> If it is, why is a diploma used rather than a simple cutoff in terms of credits earned?
>
>
>
It is tied to the number of credits earned. However, it is a big enough accomplishment (both numerically - quite a few don't make it - and culturally) that there is also a certificate.
I don't know what good the certificate is by itself (i.e., if the student doesn't subsequently attain a bachelor's degree); I suspect it's similar to an Associate's Degree in the US (i.e., little value, but perhaps better than nothing).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: The propaedeutic diploma is awarded after completing all the requirements for the first year of studies. Not all universities in the Netherlands award it, and its importance seems to be less since Bologna has introduced the bachelor/master system in the Netherlands. Before it was the only diploma/certificate until completing the full four or five years for a university study. Obtaining it in reasonable time could be seen as a sign that normally one should be able to complete the full studies, and hence nowadays it is also used as a selective tool, as is mentioned in @username_2's answer.
It does not carry much value and is not seen as a terminal degree. The only exception is for students studying in professional education ("<NAME>", in English these institutions normally call themselves "Universities of Applied Sciences"). In that case, the diploma can be used to be admitted to a university. To understand this, one should know that in the Netherlands, from 12 years old secondary education is split into four different levels, and only the highest level gives access to universities.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2019/05/25
| 1,208
| 5,239
|
<issue_start>username_0: Approximately a year ago, I finished a graduate degree under an abusive and bullying advisor. I successfully defended my thesis, and agreed to stay around for a while longer to finish a publication based on that same work, which would have consisted of rewriting a section of the thesis into a form more suited for a journal.
Due to my degrading mental health, and the continuing abusive behavior of my advisor, I strongly informed him that I was no longer willing to work with him, and provided him with my writing so far and all the data needed to finish the paper. My advisor continued to harass me after leaving, and I eventually reported him to the relevant people for his behavior, but I was met with blatant disbelieve and nothing seems to have been done about my complaint.
The paper I started was never published. Now, I discover that my advisor and another graduate student have published a paper which depends heavily on my work, but I am not included in the author list, nor is my thesis cited. Rather, I'm given mention in the acknowledgments section for "helpful discussions and collection of preliminary data."
This was the primary subject of my thesis! It was not "collection of preliminary data." They did gather additional data and do additional modeling, but my thesis laid the basis for this new paper, and they use my experimental designs.
As for my question, is it ethical that I was not included in the list of authors, nor was my thesis cited? If unethical, is there anything I can do about this? I didn't expect to be listed as first author on the paper, but I would like more acknowledgment for my work than a brief mention at the end of the publication.
**EDIT:**
To clarify some matters in response to answers/comments given below, my thesis was published and has been available online for a bit over a year, whereas this new paper was published about two weeks ago.
I understand that I don't have a monopoly on my academic work; anyone can build on the results of anyone else. I'm also aware that both my advisor and the university have rights to my thesis and any other work performed with university resources. I've been involved in the process of academic publications, ranging from being listed as first author, to being included further down the list as a collaborator, so I have some understanding of how this works.
My complaint is that I'm not given what I think is appropriate credit, e.g., my thesis is not listed in the references despite the fact that they used large amounts of content from it.<issue_comment>username_1: If your advisor is a well-known researcher in the academic community, it is very unlikely that anyone will believe you. Even if they do, they would prefer their own advantage and prefer not to ruin their relationship with this advisor.
You have two choices: you can move on and forget about it. Or, you can do what you think is the right thing. If you are confident about the story, send an email to the department head, look at the research ethics and IP department in your university and also include them. Ideally, there are written procedures in such department on how to make a complain about such issues. He/she will know about your complain from this department.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You may not like to hear this, but there’s a decent chance that your former advisor did nothing wrong. If you published your thesis and accompanying data, then *anyone* can use it, **as long as they cite your thesis as a source**.
To be absolutely clear, I can come across your thesis which is likely archived by your university and cite it. What I can’t do (and your advisor can’t either), is not giving you appropriate credit.
In the case of your advisor things get even more complicated. They offered you guidance (bad guidance as you describe it, but guidance nonetheless), resources to collect data (access to software licenses, computing resources, an office etc); in other words, they have some rights to the thesis as well. Your question uses very proprietary language to describe your thesis, but what you need to understand is that academic work is a) not really yours if you work as part of an institution and b) even less in your control once it’s published. This is just how academic research progresses.
If you decide to drop out in the middle of an ongoing project (one that your advisor seems interested in continuing from how you describe it), your advisor has the right to continue working on it. They should still credit you (either authorship or an acknowledgement depending on the degree of your involvement as deemed by... them at the end of the day), which they seem to have done.
Having said all of this, abusive behavior in academia is never ok. You can and should report this to someone, if only for the sake of future students they may advise. Does your university have an ombudsman? A student welfare office? A vice dean for undergraduate affairs? All are good avenues to pursue your grievances with. This is, again, a completely different issue that is probably the more serious and substantial issue here in my opinion.
Good luck, and I’m sorry this happened to you.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/26
| 977
| 4,217
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am planning to apply for green card for which I need recommendation letters from well known researchers/professors. In February 2019, I had contacted one professor and one industry based researcher to write the letters for me. Both these people know me through my research and have frequently cited my paper. At first I did not get any reply from them. A week later I reminded them while copying my PhD advisor in the mail. My advisor knows both of them. I got immediate reply from them that they would be happy to write the letter if I could given them an initial draft. I think it is OK to copy your PhD advisor while asking for recommendation letter from independent people who don't know you personally but only through research and papers.
Anyways, A month later i.e. in last week of March, I gave them the draft. Since then, I have sent 3 reminders to them but have not heard back from them. I am getting anxious and don't know what to do.
Does no response after 3 reminders and 2 months mean they backed out? Is it ethical?
I have all the documents ready for filing my application and I am just waiting for them to give me the letter. Since there is no deadline to apply for green card application, I can't even provide them a deadline. But I have tried to convey my feelings about the delay using mild language.<issue_comment>username_1: No response after 2 months AND that **they never met you personally** means very likely yes. If you don't know someone in person, how could you objectively recommend him. Without this condition there would be a "recommendation letter industry" where everyone tries to get the best letters from the most prestigious recommenders and looks a bit like cheating?! Ask someone less known you really **worked with/had contact with**, in best case co-authors or supervisors.
The point of a recommendation letter for the people examining you is to get **independent objective opinions on you as a person** (ambition, work style/experiences,...) than reading short redundant letters (with similar, by you drafted, content) of "big names", who are unlikely to have worked with you due to very different location/field not appearing in your CV. If these letters look strongly copy/pasted and the persons are not willing to invest the time to write 2-3 pages, it's really better to look for less "known/influential" persons which had a topical and local relation with your work (post-docs, assístant/associate profs.). Some fields of research are very small, it is rather important to be cited by someone who is very active in research/publications than older/well-known researchers, especially if they never met you, to stress this again.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: You need to move on and find new references, people who actually know you.
Realistically, it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to write an LOR for someone they've never met and know only as a name on a paper they've cited. But then you further poisoned the relationships by waiting a month to respond to their requests for a draft (of the letter you want?) and CC'ing your advisor on your requests, as if to "report" them for not responding quickly enough. And who knows what you put in your draft or your "reminders".
If someone did that to me, I'd permanently ignore them. I certainly wouldn't waste my time recommending them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I would disagree with the above answers somewhat and say that it's worth another try. My understanding is that for a green card one needs recommendations from prominent people. So if these are prominent people in your field, their letters may be worth a lot. And if they agreed to write a letter for a green card, it would be irresponsible of them to not follow through. Some people are just terrible at answering emails and meeting deadlines (thinking of Reviewer #2 here).
One thing to be sure of is that you sent them a high-quality draft. There's nothing worse than receiving a poorly drafted recommendation letter.
So I would maybe copy your PhD advisor again on a follow-up email and if that doesn't work, follow up one more time, letting them know you will pursue other recommenders.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/26
| 587
| 2,561
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have received an offer letter from a university abroad, which I am likely to accept. The country however has a very stringent immigration policy and a very complicated and lengthy visa application process. There is therefore a real chance that my visa application could be refused.
I have other interviews lined up and I know the usual procedure would be to notify the universities that I have received an offer. However, I feel like I ought to keep pursuing those jobs as a "safety net" because if my visa application fails, I'd effectively end up jobless.
Would it be unethical to go on with those interviews until I have received my visa?<issue_comment>username_1: You should definitely continue interviewing locally. I have personally seen several potential hirings fall apart because of visa issues. This is a real possibility.
Consider this: You would never stop interviewing until you have a sure, written offer on the table. Simply do not consider this offer to be sure, until visa issues are in the clear.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This is an unfortunately common situation that a lot of highly skilled professionals find themselves in, not just academics. I know from personal experience that it's not easy.
Still, I would say that you either take the job or you don't. Continuing to interview with other places after making this commitment is unfair to the institution who's willing to go through the trouble of hiring you. It's also unfair to yourself and your partner, because it extends the state of uncertainty, making it hard to make plans and move forward.
It's a risk, there's no doubt about that. You can easily find horror stories of people whose visas were denied for weird or grossly unfair reasons. But you also have to ask yourself whether looking up such stories is helpful for your mental health or for making a decision about the position. If possible, ask the university for their success rate with visas. Ask them if they have a back-up plan if your visa gets denied. And keep in mind that they are taking a risk too, and by making you an offer, they've deemed it worthwhile.
If you decide to accept the job, you should definitely inform the other institutions that you're off the market. However, you don't have to cancel the interviews outright. You could ask them if they're willing to chat regardless, just to build the connection. They can say no, but some might be intrigued and want to talk anyway. (This actually happened for me, and it turned out to be a nice chat.)
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/26
| 845
| 3,686
|
<issue_start>username_0: IELTS and TOEFL are valid for a period of 2 years only.
1. Is there any English language proficiency test with a lifetime (or
more than 2 years) validity?
2. Which is the scope of the test, in terms of recognition for academic and visa purposes?<issue_comment>username_1: If you obtain a degree from a country where English is the official language, then nobody will ask you for English proficiency tests in later applications. This is especially the case if you are applying for a postgraduate degree in North America or Europe.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Unfortunately no English test can claim lifetime validity. If one doesn't use a language, one's proficiency with it will go down over time. Two years is the limit IELTS and TOEFL use; beyond that, you need to demonstrate you still know the language well.
It's annoying because some people (like me) use English as their main language although they didn't grow up in an English-dominant country, and they still have to demonstrate that they know English well again and again, but *c'est la vie*.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I am not answering to the visa part of your question, however, as for educational purposes; the Cambridge tests are the ones which do not have any expiry date. IELTS and BULATS are exceptions in their system. The score you obtain shows your skills at the time you sit the exam. This link has valuable information on your question ([link +](https://support.cambridgeenglish.org/hc/en-gb/articles/202838296-How-long-are-my-results-and-certificate-valid-for-))
However, even if you have those scores, some institutions may require the candidates to bring results no older than two years in order to be sure about the language skills of the candidates. Some other institutes may accept older scores if they see proof of studying or maintaining language skills, such as participating in classes, working in English speaking environments, receiving supporting letter from the employer indicating that the candidate has worked on English demanding projects, etc.
If you have doubt about which language test to sit, you would better to consult the institute to which you are applying.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The results from a test administered in compliance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) such as [Cambridge English](https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/), which is an international standard for describing language ability, has no expiry date.
The [CEFR](https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/cefr/) describes language ability on a six-point scale, from A1 for beginners, up to C2 for those who have mastered a language. This makes it easy for anyone involved in language teaching and testing, such as teachers or learners, to see the level of different qualifications. It also means that employers and educational institutions can easily compare qualifications to other exams in their country.
Educational institutions across Europe typically use this test as a benchmark for non-native speakers. If another organisation requires a result for IELTS (or other) language tests, they *may* accept a CEFR certification in place of this - depending on the organisation and the country in question.
Once you have been certified at a CEFR level, certainly with lack of use your ability in that language will decline, but the certification never expires. It is also assumed that if one once reached a particular level, they can refresh their skill with some practice much more easily than when learning for the first time.
\* I have no affiliation with Cambridge English.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2019/05/27
| 787
| 3,105
|
<issue_start>username_0: I’m currently enrolled in Mechanical Engineering MSc program in the UAE. I’m on a scholarship program as a TA/RA. I just finished my first semester through which I suffered greatly but I ended up with a GPA of 3.75.
To find a research topic, we are required to choose 3 topics off a list and then be assigned one of them. All three of my choices were given to more suitable candidates. I will have to choose another topic. The problem is all the other topics are of absolutely no interest to me.
I don’t want to waste my time for two years doing something that I hate. I would rather quit now and start looking for a job instead of wasting my time. But if I quit, I will have to pay back the fees and probably my stipend, which could add up to 35,000 USD. This amount increases with every semester I spend in grad school, so I have to decide now whether to stay or leave.
I might be able to pay the 35,000 with the help of my family. But I would like to know if quitting could affect my job prospects and opportunities. What would you do if you were in my place?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Please keep in mind that to quit I would have to pay back the semester’s fees and probably any stipend I have received during the semester which could add up to 35,000 USD...
>
>
>
"Probably" the stipend? The "probably" makes me nervous -- I think you should start by quantifying exactly how much you would be on the hook for. It could be more than that, or maybe you misunderstand and this would be zero.
>
> what would you do if you were in my place?
>
>
>
Impossible to answer, partially because I do not know what your "Plan B" is. You need to develop two detailed plans -- one for staying and one for leaving. Only then can you make a good decision.
I would also consider whether you have any professors you trust to discuss this with -- they may be able to help you find a third option.
>
> I would like to...know if quitting could possibly affect my job prospects and opportunities
>
>
>
Of course not having a degree is worse than having a degree. Paying 35K USD and still not having a degree seems awful. Starting something and not being successful also doesn't look great. But again, the question is: what is the alternative? If you can transfer to a better program, or get an awesome job, then perhaps it is worth it. For sure you don't want to acquire more debt and then not finish.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In addition to the points raised by username_1, you should take into account the sort of work you would be doing if you quit the MSc program and take a job. Your reason for quitting is that the program would require you to work on topics that are of absolutely no interest to you. Though I don't know about your interests, I'd expect that many jobs also require you to work on topics that are of absolutely no interest to you. Are you reasonably confident that you could get a job in which you work exclusively on interesting topics? If not, then switching from your MSc program to a job may not really improve anything.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/27
| 689
| 2,902
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm a medicine undergraduate where my institute gives a undergraduate medicine degree after a 6 year course (non-US region, 2 pre-med, 4 med, it's MD equivalent). While I came directly from high school, students who have a BS can also apply to my institution directly to a 4 year med course through a similar process like in the US. Students like me from 2 year premed and students with BS who came through the latter process all study together during the 4 year med course.
I'm interested in quantitative genetics, therefore planning to apply to a PhD.
One of my concern is that I double majored mathematics in my premed years (It took an additional year, also took graduate level analysis (Rudin RCA) and related stuffs and ended up with an A) and achieved a somewhat descent GPA (somewhere around 3.9/4.0).
However, at the med school, there is a really intense competition regarding grades and the school has a very strict grading policy (median GPA of 3.1x). It's very difficult for me to achieve a GPA of 3.4/4 or higher which doesn't seem to be competitive applying to a grad school. I'm not that talented in memorizing all those stuffs I learn in med school.
Does an uneven GPA between math and med likely to affect admission? Considering that this 4 year med course is equivalent to a graduate level study, it seems unlikely that the GPAs are assessed in a same manner with other majors (for example, my math GPA) but to what extent?
It's really hard to find any information about this problem since there are very few people in my institution who pursue more basic science research rather than clinical ones.<issue_comment>username_1: If you want to do research then you will almost certainly want to do a PhD or equivalent. The MD-PhD combo is pretty common among researchers. But it is the PhD that is most important since it is focused on research rather than clinical and other aspects of medicine.
But how your record will be interpreted is up to the institution doing the interpretation. There is a lot more to be considered than just GPA, so don't overly obsess over that. The field will be considered, as will the institution, but your own general record of preparation is more important. People will be looking for evidence that you will be a success in a new degree program, so be sure to demonstrate that in your admissions materials.
But the way to learn about your chances is to actually apply. And taking a rigorous program is more likely to your advantage than disadvantage.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think your best bet is to reach out to genetics graduate programs that you are considering and have discussions with their admissions directors. You don't need to apply to do this.
To be honest, what's usually much more important than GPA to research genetics PhD programs is your experience in conducting research.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/27
| 1,255
| 5,356
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am currently trying to submit a research paper to a Journal, I am a PhD student in his final year.
My supervisor, who provided the data for the research paper and has overseen the whole process, is a very difficult person.
When I submitted a Conference paper, things were relatively easy, because of the deadline for submission.
But now with the Journal paper, my supervisor seems to be stalling the process just enough time for me to go to my final examination without having the paper accepted. She is that bad of a person unfortunately. The stalling is by the constant need to change the text and edit the paper, and the never ending stream of comments.
What are my options in this case, could I submit it without her as a co-author if she continues stalling.
Update. Yes having accepted research papers is essential for the successful completion of the PhD examination.
Update. Yes it is stalling, I cannot tell exactly the specifics, but in case someone might have a similar experience and might get some answers here, please assume that this person is doing this to hurt the student's progress and examination.<issue_comment>username_1: No one here can judge whether your supervisor is right or wrong. Perhaps your paper really isn't yet ready. I don't know your field, of course, and don't know why it is important to you to submit the paper now rather than later.
Your first consideration should be your examinations, I think, and completing your degree. Perhaps publishing the paper is essential to that process, but you don't indicate that.
But, few students really prosper by directly going against their supervisors. It just isn't a productive career path. And, depending on your field, cutting your supervisor out of authorship might be considered unethical, but even if not, might be a career killer.
Having a supervisor who is happy with you and your work is much more productive. And giving a lot of feedback on your paper is, in most cases, a positive thing.
Once you finish the degree you get to make your own decisions, of course.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I am facing a similar situation. I have been working on a problem for almost 4 years now and have a bunch of results but my advisor keeps adding new and very difficult things to the list of required items. So I won't be publishing anything before I graduate in a few months.
After I graduate, I plan to keep working on the problem but only if/when I get time and won't pressurize myself on it. Progress will be very slow and I don't expect a paper to be honest.
Academia is hard and is full of very difficult people and we are not that lucky to get an advisor of our liking. Just accept that and focus on the quickest way to graduate and then start planning for what you want to do after that. Don't start any argument with your advisor now. That's what I am doing.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: You do not have any good options. My recommendation would be to negotiate a timeline with your supervisor. Ask your supervisor to send you a complete set of comments by a certain date. In return, agree to make the corresponding revisions by a certain date. Make sure you perform the revisions correctly. Finally, agree to complete the submission by a third date.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: As username_1 has pointed out, it is impossible for anyone here to properly asses this situation. It is not unusual for supervisors to give very extensive feedback on papers, what to you looks like stalling to her could simply be making sure that your work is of sufficient quality.
>
> could I submit it without her as a co-author if she continues
> stalling.
>
>
>
Unless she agrees to this, definitely not! Given that she has contributed to the work through your supervision, feedback on the paper and providing you with the data, she has a clear claim to authorship. Publishing the research without crediting her will likely end up with the article being retracted by the journal, which would be a career killer for you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I'm going to add a reason that your supervisor *might* be stalling: it may be better to have a paper "under review" than "rejected".
Disclaimer: I have never been an examiner. I hope examiners are unbiased, but I know I would probably (unconsciously) regard work "under review" (especially at a good journal) more favourably than work that wasn't under review or work that was already rejected. I don't know if you'd mention a rejection at your examination.
I don't know the quality of your work or the level of journal you're submitting to, but if the two are not a good match, you might have a higher chance of rejection than acceptance. If your supervisor thinks this is the case, then she may well be stalling so that the paper is "under review" when you sit your examinations. It's not personal, just tactical.
As to what you can do, have you tried outright asking her if she is stalling and if so, why? If you haven't already, just be up front about why you'd like to submit sooner rather than later. She might not think she's stalling, just that she's minimising the possibility of rejection. If she fears an ill-timed rejection, is it worth considering a different journal from the outset? Is your supervisor known for stalling?
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/27
| 970
| 4,441
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm reading some papers and I think some of them are not clear in some parts or I want to know more in detail in some points to replicate, etc...
Also some papers I also notice (still not sure) some suspicious results or unfair comparison in result section.
Do you know where good websites/forums to ask or discuss about papers in general? (Certainly after I tried other ways like sending email, try to contact them via LinkedIn and so on).
I tried research gate and here but it seems like the researchers are busy with their work and never pay any attention on their accepted paper (I'm in Computer Science major).
(Edited) I mainly expected the help/hint/explanation from other researchers who also share the same research direction/paper on the paper I wanted to learn. (I knew no way the authors know/get notified someone ask/discuss their papers on somewhere on this big Internet)<issue_comment>username_1: First, you should always try to find answers on details and your questions on a paper in the **references of that paper**. It's also easy to overlook the **supplementary material** of a paper, when available. If your questions/details are very fundamental and basic, it's likely these issues are resolved in those sources, otherwise it's unlikely it would have passed the review process of a good journal.
On average (even on researchgate (imo horrible to search this website)) you will not find many readers interested in a particular article, [as not many read an individual article](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1206/41661), and the likelihood that you meet at the same time/spot in the WWW is low. If the article has an higher citation count, your chances are better to discuss via googlegroups/stackexchange/boards a paper with other being interested, but also the chances that you missed or misunderstood something reading the paper.
Another option is **looking into papers citing the particular paper**, via *google scholar* you can even search only within such papers and using the right keywords.
One imho very unused option is **looking into a related thesis to that paper**. In depth explanations, technical setups, formulas are often described there in detail and often the thesis is freely available in the www or the server of the university. In Germany all PhD thesis are freely downloadable.
If your confusion and questions are not answered by those methods, you should **contact the corresponding author** of a paper via the given mail adress. But keep the length ouf your mail short and the questions clear, especially and even if you think some results are "suspicious/unfair". **Here you can also ask if a thesis exists that gives more details than the paper**. It's only your suspicion and maybe wrong. Rather ask how than why questions, especially under such a suspicion.
Personally, if I ask a corresponding author something I'm missing or not understanding after applying above methods before, it's how they did something (technical measurement, simulation details). Why questions are mostly all resolved by authors, journal editor and reviewers during planning, writing and reviewing a paper. The details of how are quite often missing, due to limited space/interest or to keep an advance. In the latter case, if no other researcher/group can reproduce specific results in a paper (this happens quite often), at some point the authors will/have to reveal some secrets, before being suspected of pseudo-science and I have experienced also several times that results/methods of paper have been doubted directly after presentation in the questions time at conferences by the audience. If you can **meet an author of a paper** which is important for your research **on a conference**, take the opportunity, asking someone direct critical questions in a talk or poster presentation will often reveal much faster, if something is made-up or the well thought out.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Make really sure that you're right - that something really is unclear and it isn't your inexperience or lack of knowledge that makes it so. Ideally ask your advisor about it.
If you're still confident, then email the corresponding author directly. As the other answer says, be brief, respectful and concise. If you think they have made a mistake, do not accuse them of it straight away - start from a position of trying to understand.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/28
| 1,110
| 4,589
|
<issue_start>username_0: Dutch universities have an arguably peculiar academic calendar: each semester breaks down in two blocks (actually 3, but only 2 are teaching blocks) so 4 blocks in total. Each full course is block-long (around 32-36 hours per block, usually 7 *teaching* weeks with 4-6 hours per week) which might seems short and "rushed". Each such course is 4-6 ECTS.
When I am talking with some other Dutch colleagues, they are not exactly able to justify this but they claim that "is about quality, not quantity". Sure, but how can you teach, for example, Calculus in 34 hours total *including* tutorials etc.? (I am using the example of calculus because they try to fit in such a course single and multi-variate calculus, series, differential equations etc.).
Anyway, I am wondering if there exists any particular study or report that argues that is more beneficial to have more blocks with fewer hours per block/course than the traditional break-out of the academic calendar.
I am not sure if other countries have similar systems, Netherlands is the only one I know so it might be country-specific.<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that there is a demonstrated benefit, but I also doubt that it is a problem or an issue. The length of a term is basically arbitrary. The number of credits assigned to a "term length course" is just a number. What matters is that (a) there is a fair amount of consistence within a system and (b) that a translation to other systems is possible and rational.
Some national systems are historical and based on the country's past. In the US, terms were heavily influenced by the agricultural past. In some countries, say UK, terms are somewhat determined by religious holidays and conventions. But, if a student has some sense that the system behaves in a stable and predictable manner, then it isn't an issue.
Universities are good about knowing how to do the translations when students move from one system to another. Again, no real issue.
But, I'll guess that over, say a year, a student from The Netherlands and one from UK or US who applies him/herself equally to the study, will learn about the same.
Breaking up a total curriculum into more or fewer longer or shorter "chunks" with more or fewer credit numbers is not especially relevant as long as the student knows what to expect.
Trying to do it 36 contact course what other do in 45, would possibly be an issue, but even that can be "about the same" depending on what students are expected to do overall and what is expected of them when not face to face with a professor.
Local consistency and predictability is enough.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your question is unclear. Your real problem seems to be with the amount of contact hours, as you put in the comments:
"A typical course consists of about twelve 2-hour lectures plus a set of six 2-hour tutorials. In this duration it is supposed to cover the entire content of a semester-long course (which typically is 48+ contact hours)."
But the amount of contact hours has nothing to do with the use of a 4 block year rather than a 2 block year (i.e. semesters). The amount of contact hours differs per course and each university does it differently; there is no law that decides this\*. Some universities prefer very few contact hours, others more. That is not really a property of the Dutch education system as a whole.
Having said that, Dutch universities do rely heavily on self-study, although I'm sure universities in other countries do too. A course that takes up 5 ECTS (=140h) in 10 weeks will take a student 14h per week. Any number of this might be contact hours, but usually it will range from 2 to 6 hours. The rest will be filled up with self-study, which includes reading material, doing assignments, and everything else.
I couldn't find any research about what the best ratio of contact hours to self-study is. But at my university, and at others as well from what I've seen, courses are evaluated through individual student feedback and student committees every year, which is treated seriously by the university. Courses change every year to better fit the needs of students and the appropriate learning goals and difficulty level.
Looking internationally, Dutch universities rank pretty well: several, especially the technical universities, frequently rank within the top 100 globally. So it seems to be working fine.
\*Since 2013 Bachelor degrees are mandated to have at least 12 contact hours in the first year. Other than that universities can do as they like.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/28
| 1,100
| 4,615
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a software developer with 5 years of professional experience and 5 years of freelance experience. Prior to that, I taught myself programming since I was a kid. I have no degree.
I was able to get my foot in the door using that alone, but recently a Reddit thread was posted showing that someone with no degree had applied to over 400 jobs and only got 10 or so responses. That has been my experience, as well.
I was fortunate to get the jobs that I have with the use of recruiters. Due to circumstance, I really need to maintain employment to the best of my ability and have more stability, and would like to be able to pass the automated filters for degrees.
So while I'm working, I'd like to take classes in the evening online and just knock out some degree.
Does it matter if it's an associate's degree or not, in your knowledge? And are there accelerated programs that I could pursue in the evening, online? I've looked and looked and I just cannot find what I'm looking for, without submitting my personal information to sketchy website forms.
Clarification in case it matters: I'm in the United States.<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that there is a demonstrated benefit, but I also doubt that it is a problem or an issue. The length of a term is basically arbitrary. The number of credits assigned to a "term length course" is just a number. What matters is that (a) there is a fair amount of consistence within a system and (b) that a translation to other systems is possible and rational.
Some national systems are historical and based on the country's past. In the US, terms were heavily influenced by the agricultural past. In some countries, say UK, terms are somewhat determined by religious holidays and conventions. But, if a student has some sense that the system behaves in a stable and predictable manner, then it isn't an issue.
Universities are good about knowing how to do the translations when students move from one system to another. Again, no real issue.
But, I'll guess that over, say a year, a student from The Netherlands and one from UK or US who applies him/herself equally to the study, will learn about the same.
Breaking up a total curriculum into more or fewer longer or shorter "chunks" with more or fewer credit numbers is not especially relevant as long as the student knows what to expect.
Trying to do it 36 contact course what other do in 45, would possibly be an issue, but even that can be "about the same" depending on what students are expected to do overall and what is expected of them when not face to face with a professor.
Local consistency and predictability is enough.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your question is unclear. Your real problem seems to be with the amount of contact hours, as you put in the comments:
"A typical course consists of about twelve 2-hour lectures plus a set of six 2-hour tutorials. In this duration it is supposed to cover the entire content of a semester-long course (which typically is 48+ contact hours)."
But the amount of contact hours has nothing to do with the use of a 4 block year rather than a 2 block year (i.e. semesters). The amount of contact hours differs per course and each university does it differently; there is no law that decides this\*. Some universities prefer very few contact hours, others more. That is not really a property of the Dutch education system as a whole.
Having said that, Dutch universities do rely heavily on self-study, although I'm sure universities in other countries do too. A course that takes up 5 ECTS (=140h) in 10 weeks will take a student 14h per week. Any number of this might be contact hours, but usually it will range from 2 to 6 hours. The rest will be filled up with self-study, which includes reading material, doing assignments, and everything else.
I couldn't find any research about what the best ratio of contact hours to self-study is. But at my university, and at others as well from what I've seen, courses are evaluated through individual student feedback and student committees every year, which is treated seriously by the university. Courses change every year to better fit the needs of students and the appropriate learning goals and difficulty level.
Looking internationally, Dutch universities rank pretty well: several, especially the technical universities, frequently rank within the top 100 globally. So it seems to be working fine.
\*Since 2013 Bachelor degrees are mandated to have at least 12 contact hours in the first year. Other than that universities can do as they like.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/28
| 955
| 4,046
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am planning to attend a PhD program in the future. Should I be honest that I have some experience of attending a full-time Master degree in the past for three years? I had a somewhat rocky relationship with the thesis supervisor resulting in me being kicked out from the program. I am a bit worried that revealing this might be not too beneficial for me during the application process. Can I pretend that I did something else during the three years? In reality, I did some work in a part-time manner while attending my old program (self-employed).<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that there is a demonstrated benefit, but I also doubt that it is a problem or an issue. The length of a term is basically arbitrary. The number of credits assigned to a "term length course" is just a number. What matters is that (a) there is a fair amount of consistence within a system and (b) that a translation to other systems is possible and rational.
Some national systems are historical and based on the country's past. In the US, terms were heavily influenced by the agricultural past. In some countries, say UK, terms are somewhat determined by religious holidays and conventions. But, if a student has some sense that the system behaves in a stable and predictable manner, then it isn't an issue.
Universities are good about knowing how to do the translations when students move from one system to another. Again, no real issue.
But, I'll guess that over, say a year, a student from The Netherlands and one from UK or US who applies him/herself equally to the study, will learn about the same.
Breaking up a total curriculum into more or fewer longer or shorter "chunks" with more or fewer credit numbers is not especially relevant as long as the student knows what to expect.
Trying to do it 36 contact course what other do in 45, would possibly be an issue, but even that can be "about the same" depending on what students are expected to do overall and what is expected of them when not face to face with a professor.
Local consistency and predictability is enough.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your question is unclear. Your real problem seems to be with the amount of contact hours, as you put in the comments:
"A typical course consists of about twelve 2-hour lectures plus a set of six 2-hour tutorials. In this duration it is supposed to cover the entire content of a semester-long course (which typically is 48+ contact hours)."
But the amount of contact hours has nothing to do with the use of a 4 block year rather than a 2 block year (i.e. semesters). The amount of contact hours differs per course and each university does it differently; there is no law that decides this\*. Some universities prefer very few contact hours, others more. That is not really a property of the Dutch education system as a whole.
Having said that, Dutch universities do rely heavily on self-study, although I'm sure universities in other countries do too. A course that takes up 5 ECTS (=140h) in 10 weeks will take a student 14h per week. Any number of this might be contact hours, but usually it will range from 2 to 6 hours. The rest will be filled up with self-study, which includes reading material, doing assignments, and everything else.
I couldn't find any research about what the best ratio of contact hours to self-study is. But at my university, and at others as well from what I've seen, courses are evaluated through individual student feedback and student committees every year, which is treated seriously by the university. Courses change every year to better fit the needs of students and the appropriate learning goals and difficulty level.
Looking internationally, Dutch universities rank pretty well: several, especially the technical universities, frequently rank within the top 100 globally. So it seems to be working fine.
\*Since 2013 Bachelor degrees are mandated to have at least 12 contact hours in the first year. Other than that universities can do as they like.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/29
| 502
| 2,297
|
<issue_start>username_0: This question is aimed at undergraduate level, since postgraduate students are more mobile. By "upper echelon" I mean those that are, say, in the top 200 universities in the world (presumably there are lower-ranked universities that struggle to attract international students).
The idea is that most admission spots are reserved for local students for political reasons - it would be a political disaster if the country's best universities, especially if they are publicly-funded, teach more international students than local ones. So international students already have a higher bar to clear to be admitted. Therefore the international students perform better because they are better (e.g. they are the top 10% of their country's students, while local students are only the top 30%). Accordingly it should not be surprising, in fact it should be expected, that most of the best students of each cohort are international.
Is this the case in practice?<issue_comment>username_1: In the UK at least, this is not the case. Non-EU international students pay full fees so there is a strong push to accept as many of these students as possible. They still nominally meet the same minimum admissions requirements, but very few home students come in at the minimum. Once at university, many struggle with the language and differences in learning expectations and perform more poorly.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: From my experience (German speaking countries, UK, Spain): We just took the best students and the nationality did not really play a role. (exception: medicine where politics wants to make sure that enough doctors stay in the country after graduation).
BUT:
The reason why international students often perform outstandingly is that a positive selection takes place before: students that seek international education (possibly in a language that is not their mother tongue) will often be the most motivated and smartest students of their home country. Local students might just give it a try even if they are not that outstanding. Assuming that each admission process has false positive and false negative outcomes a pre-selected international cohort that got admitted might perform exceptionally well (low false positive rate).
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/29
| 1,180
| 4,959
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a postdoc in a biology department. I am friends with a professor in the philosophy department who is the editor of a Nature journal which publishes book reviews. A 150-page popular science book on biology has just come out and he has asked me to write a 3-page review for it. I would have 6 months to read the book and write the review.
What are the pros and cons of doing this?
An obvious con is that it takes away time from me doing research. There are no obvious pros to me, although it does not seem like much work and it might be 'fun'.
(Wasn't sure what tags to use, if someone has suggestions then please edit.)<issue_comment>username_1: There are several benefits of writing book reviews for publication:
1. Develop an understanding of the publications that are out there. Just like how reading academic papers affords you the benefit of being abreast with the latest research, writing book reviews allows you the opportunity to learn more about a field.
2. Develop a relationship with a journal. Journals need people to write book reviews. It can never hurt to build a relationship with a journal and its editors.
3. Develop a profile in the academic community. Book reviews are in no way akin to writing an academic article on a research subject. But they can put your name out there and allow you opportunities to become better known to you academic community.
All told book reviews allow your voice to be heard on a subject.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Since username_1 only mentions pros, let me list cons also. They may or may not apply to you. Feel free to edit my answer to add more cons.
1. As you've noted, It **takes away time** from your research. Moreover, it can also take time away from other important things like preparing for teaching or preparing for meetings, talks etc.
As some researchers feel the need (or the pressure!) to do the same amount of "real work" (i.e. research) every week regardless of what else they have to do, it could also take away free time and/or time you could spend with your partner, children, friends or hobbies. Especially if you procrastinate and do all the work in the last week. Don't underestimate the amount of work such a review is!
2. (I assume the review is public, not private.) Depending on the attitudes of the people in your field, **you could step on someone's toes**: If you write something, some people may not like what you have written, get angry and you could lose reputation with them. Of course, you can also make the authors themselves angry if you write something bad about the book or show some misunderstanding in the review.
3. **If the book is controversial, so will your review be**; you can probably not do anything right with the review. I heard about a math research book (in Model Theory, I think) where the author inserted in every chapter a (unrelated) pornographic/sexual picture. I wouldn't want to be a reviewer of this book -- it's hard to do such a review right, especially if the author is much more well-known than you. For a popular science book, scientists often argue about whether a book is "too scientific written" or "too less scientific written".
4. It **can be hard and dull** to read a book carefully for a long time, especially if the author does not write too well.
5. **Readers who buy/read the book because of your review \*\*may get angry** if they don't share your opinion. So many times I wanted to learn from books where the reviews said they were "didactically well written" only to find out that the reviewer had no idea about didactics and the book was not didactic at all.
6. **You may lack the knowledge** about (some of) the topics the authors write about.
7. **People may** look at your CV and **think of you as unproductive** because you "wasted" your time with this review. Unfortunately, those people exist -- on this site, there are even stories about hiring people who see good teaching evaluations as negative! Of course, one could say "those people are stupid, I don't want to work for them anyway" -- in reality, in academia one often does not have so many choices (especially if you are not geographically flexible).
8. You are make a **commitment to complete the review**. While most people are hopefully understandable, some people might not like it if you cannot finish your review because of something more important to you which might come up (new position, new partner, new children, sickness). Most likely, reneging is worse than not accepting to do the review.
Of course, some of those points may not apply to you but I found it important to list them all anyway.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: One small advantage is that you get a copy of the book "for free" (admittedly not really worth it in terms of the time you'd put into writing the review) ... This is more of an advantage for expensive technical books that you'd like to own.
Upvotes: 4
|
2019/05/29
| 1,536
| 6,654
|
<issue_start>username_0: Recently I've read an article in a journal and find out numerous scientific mistakes in that paper. I decide to write a note to the editorial board of the journal.
First of all, I want to know is there any credit for writing a note about scientific mistakes in an article?
Then I want to know what should be the subject of the note, errata, corrigenda, or retraction note with respect to the scientific mistakes and probably falsified, mistaken data?
It should be noted that I am fully confident of the paper's mistakes and have no desire to communicate with the author of the article.<issue_comment>username_1: I recommend you to use [PubPeer](https://pubpeer.com/) to put comments on any paper and ask question about an article from authors. Authors would be notified via email if their email is already included in the system but if it is not included you can add it manually by simply finding their emails in their webpages or just find the corresponding author email in the paper. If authors did not answer your query or if their response was not satisfactory, you can go ahead and bring this matter to the attention of editor-in-chief of the journal to investigate.
Keep in mind, in all stages of your comments and queries, you need to have a **neutral** language even if you are 100% sure that something is wrong with their paper. Otherwise, nobody will take you serious or even worse, they could charge a defamation case against you. I would recommend to discuss it first with your adviser, and then write your question with proven claims or facts in PubPeer to show why you think something is wrong or there is a mistake in that particular paper. Then, if still your question is not answered, you can think if it worth to put some time and efforts to bring the matter to the attention of EiC and administrative body of the author's institution or not.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: In this kind of scenario, write a [letter to the editor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_to_the_editor). To quote:
>
> In academic publishing, letters to the editor of an academic journal are usually open postpublication reviews of a paper, often critical of some aspect of the original paper. The authors of the original paper sometimes respond to these with a letter of their own. Controversial papers in mainstream journals often attract numerous letters to the editor. Good citation indexing services list the original papers together with all replies. Depending on the length of the letter and the journal's style, other types of headings may be used, such as peer commentary. There are some variations on this practice. Some journals request open commentaries as a matter of course, which are published together with the original paper, and any authors' reply, in a process called open peer commentary. The introduction of the "epub ahead of print" practice in many journals now allows unsolicited letters to the editor (and authors' reply) to appear in the same print issue of the journal, as long as they are sent in the interval between the electronic publication of the original paper and its appearance in print.
>
>
>
[Example of such a letter](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/332/6034/1149.2), and [the authors' response to it (and other letters criticizing their original results)](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/early/2011/05/26/science.1202098.full.pdf).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> First of all, I want to know is there any credit for writing a note
> about scientific mistakes in an article?
>
>
>
There is usually little credit for this kind of thing, unless it is a very important article in your field (for example published in Nature or Science), this will not help you improve your status.
>
> Then I want to know what should be the subject of the note, errata,
> corrigenda, or retraction note
>
>
>
These are all different things. Errata and corrigenda are written by the authors when they find minor mistakes in their work. If you feel these are appropriate, you should contact the authors and explain your concern. A retraction of the paper can only be done by the editor and is reserved for cases of fraud and/or severe flaws that invalidate the article entirely. Unless it is with the consent of the authors, an editor will not retract an article without some serious investigation. Typically, if fraud is suspected, the authors will be asked to provide their original data which may then be evaluated by a third party. The author's host institution will also likely carry on an internal investigation to determine if fraud was committed. Retractions due to fraud severely harm the careers of the perpetrators (as they should), so it is not something that is done lightly.
The other option you have left is to write a comment on their article. Comments are not too different from regular scientific articles. The title of your communication should be 'Comment on: Title of their article'. The content should contain a very brief description of their work followed by a discussion of the flaws in their measurement procedures, interpretation etc. The authors will be invited by the editor to reply to you criticism in an article that will be published as 'Reply to: Comment on ...'. This reply will often appear in the same issue as your comment. Comments are expected to provide a scientific critique of their work and not an allegation of fraud.
Note that there is a world of difference between 'falsified' and 'mistaken' data. The former can end the career of the people who engaged in fraud and alleging someone has falsified data is a serious accusation. On the other hand 'mistaken' data are not uncommon, few studies are methodologically perfect and most will contain some flaws of varying degree of importance. The usual way mistaken studies are addressed in scientific literature is not through the use of note/corrections or comment articles but instead in the discussion section of other scientific articles. For example, if I am communicating data that are in conflict with a prior study, I may write a paragraph where I propose some reasons for the observed disagreements. Among these reasons can be a critique of the previous paper experimental methodology.
>
> I am fully confident of the paper's mistakes and have no desire to
> communicate with the author of the article.
>
>
>
Being fully confident of their mistakes shouldn't stop you from communicating with them. In any of the options outlined above, the authors will be contacted and given an opportunity to defend their work anyway.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2019/05/29
| 610
| 2,732
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering(Fresh Graduate with emphasis on Electronics/RF-Microwaves). I'm thinking Engineering is not for me and want to pursue Astronomy/Physics.
1. How hard is it to do so?
2. What ways I can transition?
3. How can I be sure that the fascination with the subject is a genuine interest?
Thank you<issue_comment>username_1: The gap from electrical engineering to astronomy or even physics is big for a PhD. The other way around it's easier as physicists anyway specialize after master in a distinct topic, while electrical engineering is already quite specialized. Astrophysics is a field of physics that needs a thorough background in most of the physical theories apart from condensed matter physics. You would have to catch up a quite huge background. Only option I see is to dive into a very specialized PhD topic like, e.g. pulsar radiation or solar physics and trying to do simulations/data analysis on such systems. Other topics will need a lot of self-teaching and I'm not sure, even if you would be willing to spend this time, if supervisors or professors would like to offer you this time with alternative candidates. And many physics students want to get tenure in astrophysics, the competition is much higher in this field than in big fields like condensed matter physics.
I would rather suggest to you to look into topics and fields of condensed matter physics like spintronics, quantum sensing, quantum computing. Electrical engineers sometimes will have here an advantage over candidate with a master in physics concerning a distinct topic/task like circuitry development for superconducting quantum computers or quantum sensors.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Doing a transition within the US is probably going to be easier than moving to the UK/EU. The reason is that doctoral programs have fewer requirements for entry. With your EE background you already should have a fairly good grounding in basic physics and mathematics. You may also have some basic research skills from your MS degree. If other things are equal (grades, letters, ...) you should be able to gain entry, but will likely require some advanced coursework as part of the doctoral program. This is pretty normal in the US.
I'm not an expert on European standards, but have the impression that they want students to be farther along *in field* and with more research experience. Of course you will only know for sure if you apply. I suggest that you apply to a variety of places that meet your needs.
I suspect, also, that there are more job opportunities in your current field, both in academia and industry, which might factor in to your decision making.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/29
| 3,874
| 17,137
|
<issue_start>username_0: One of my PhD students told me during a supervisory meeting that they have been struggling with anxiety and depression and self-referred to the university psychological support. They asked me not to share with anyone and I didn’t.
Moving forward eight months and their penultimate year, their performance has declined to a degree that they might fail the PhD altogether. I tried to support with regular meetings, breaking tasks, teaming with other students, nothing seems to help pick up the pace.
Normally, at this point, I would set in place a special process: an independent committee is set to review progress regularly and set objectives and I’m only one of the three members. This is the formal process and usually works very well to address the progress issues but also puts more stress on the student because there is a stick at the end: the committee could decide to remove the student from the PhD program.
So, here is my trilemma:
* If I go on with the process, I don’t know what this will mean for the student’s health. There might be a note on their record from the psychological services to instigate special treatment, but I’ll not know beforehand.
* If I discuss this with the support team in hypothetical terms, it would be very easy to understand which student it is since my group is small and that student is the only one I have in that particular phase of the PhD. This would violate his explicit request.
* If I don’t do anything, the certain outcome is that the student will go unprepared to the viva presentation (if they manage to prepare a thesis) and fail.
Anyone has experience how to deal with a situation like this? Any resources?
**Update**: After laying out the options to the student, they decided to leave the program. It seems this was something they were planning for even before my talk. I am not sure if the plan to leave the program was also a contributing factor to the bad performance or luck of effort.<issue_comment>username_1: Be forthright with the student about what they are facing. Explain the various contingencies. They may be unaware or ill-informed. You could ask them which path they would prefer you to take... True, they may not be the best judges of their own best interests, or may not be able to act, but you can *ask*.
In particular, probably you indeed should not share information that you'd promised to keep confidential, short of issues like potential self-harm or harm-to-others. At the same time, it may be that your university has fairly strong guidelines about your supposed responsibilities in a situation like this. At least try to read up on them... whether or not you think it is humane or wise to comply. I suggest that you keep in mind that the university will be "covering itself" legally, first of all, with concern for students and faculty somewhat subordinate... so it is non-trivial to see what the truly best action will be.
In any case, I think it would be good to avoid allowing a disastrous thesis defense to occur, especially if there is no room for a second attempt (as at my own university). Being late but doing ok is vastly preferable to being on time and catastrophically failing...
No, I do not mean to suggest that laying this out for the student will magically transform them... but that it is fair to inform them of consequences of this and that, and ask them what route they'd want *you* to take.
And, by the way, is "removal from the program" merely (!?!) loss of funding? In my university, it is possible to continue to register (after everything but thesis and defense are done) without cost... and, thus, without necessarily having financial support from the program.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It can be incredibly difficult for a student to discuss any sort of health issue with his/her advisor or committee members and yet doing so can make all the difference.
Personally, I left my PhD program after two years rather than discuss my ongoing health problems with my advisor. I deeply regret that decision. I knew my advisor and committee were unhappy with my progress and I simply could not bring myself to talk to them about the health issues which were behind my lagging performance. By opening a dialogue with your student you may be throwing them a lifeline, a chance to open up and communicate about the relevant issues and find a solution.
To this day my former advisor has no idea that I was, and am, seriously ill and struggling with debilitating health problems. I "lose" at least one full day per week to illness. In graduate school losing a full day every week was a substantial liability. I am considered legally disabled and yet never shared that information with my advisor or department because I was scared about how they would perceive me and how it would affect my career.
Last year I finally received my M.S.(but sadly no PhD). The only way I was able to do that was to work with my university's student disability services office. Does your institution have an office for disability services? I would strongly encourage your student to seek their assistance and you may also want to consult with them and seek their advice on this issue.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: It is a very very important problem which is much more common in academia than is usually thought..
There should be opportunity to make a break in PhD, say for one year, for getting adequate health treatment, and then continue.
Some universities allow this (e.g., in Netherlands).
If problems persist for eight months, it means university psychological help does not help.
The person need to see a doctor, psychiatrist, who would prescribe suitable antidepressants.
A PhD adviser is not a mental health professional, but to give advice to see such a professional is a wise thing to do.
A person could lose years, sometimes dozens of years, because of depression..
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a cautious remark only: At the same time, sometimes depression is due to inability to accept the reality. Was the person strong enough to do science and fulfil PhD studies before having health problems?
If yes, antidepressants or other professional treatment will help.
Otherwise, maybe to try to find work which do not require PhD?
After PhD, nowadays there is almost no chances of permanent employment in academia: years of postdoctoral research with even higher level of anxiety. It may be better to stop earlier.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: To add to [<NAME>’s answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/131250/7734):
It is a common feature of many psychiatric disorders that those suffering from them fail to seek help when they should, be it because they do not notice or cannot make this step. This even applies to those who are aware that they are generally suffering from these problems and have sought help before.
Therefore the most important thing to do seems to be to talk to the student and find out whether they got all the professional help and support they need, more specifically:
* Share your observations on their performance.
* Tell them that you are worried about their mental health and have the feeling that they are currently suffering from a severe episode, phase, etc. If applicable, tell them that you feel they need professional help if they are not consulting it already.
* Ask how you can help them. If the PhD programme or your university have specific mechanisms to accommodate such students (check before), offer to help them to make use of them.
* Ask them whether they are fine with you consulting with others about the issues in general (thus breaking anonymity indirectly at best) or specific terms.
Since they confided in you, they should be okay with this; they may even have confided in you so you can keep an eye on them from this perspective (without telling you).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: As someone who was the student in a similar situation, I can speak from personal experience about what I wish my advisor and program had done (what they actually did will be omitted here to protect the guilty). My experience was in the US, so there may be some differences elsewhere.
If you are debilitated by a condition that impairs your intellectual functioning, it is difficult if not impossible to think clearly about the future and make good decisions. The student is evidently aware that things are not going well--as I was--but may not have the physical or emotional resources to be able to seek out options and plan ahead. This is compounded by all of the usual emotional stress and guilt of underperforming in grad school. The fact that the student brought it up to you is a cry for help, and you are doing the right thing by trying to act in the student's best interest.
Although it might be the case that the student really does not want to finish the degree (or isn't "PhD material"), it's impossible to tell as long as the student is sidelined by disability. So your first responsibility as their advisor is to protect the student from any future academic consequences for failing to perform now. This may involve your school's disability office, who might have standard accommodations for this situation. It may also involve working with the department to ensure that the student's current performance is not used as a justification to penalize the student if they later resume their program.
Your second responsibility is to do what you can to provide the student with some options to take a time-out and recover so that they can function well enough to make a good decision about when and whether to resume their program. From what you've said, the student seems to be dependent on the university for their living expenses and possibly also their healthcare as well. If this is the case--especially if you believe that the student would have difficulty finding or holding a job--the humane thing to do would be to offer some options so that the student can still be employed by the university and continue to have access to healthcare.
I emphasize that the student's health issues are ultimately their business and their responsibility. But since the student entrusted you and your program with their academic future, I believe that as the student's advocate in the academic world, the advisor has an obligation to protect the student in a situation where they are unable to fend for themselves.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I think it's worth pointing out that it is very likely possible to "save" the student. The argument being that the student was already pre-selected by the admission committee and hence likely to succeed, including being able to overcome their present difficulties. You also note that their performance has *declined*, so in the past they did perform better. Therefore the student was at some point in time capable of succeeding. A talented person does not become untalented easily, but it is not uncommon to lose motivation to apply that talent. In a situation like the one you describe, I would suggest that not squandering the talent is important enough to go to lengths in restoring the student's motivation. So I would recommend against allowing the student to wash out: The third option would be equivalent to this, and the second option as well if you feel that the independent committee is unlikely to give the student a fair chance. Moreover, sunk cost fallacy notwithstanding, much has been invested in this person already - it is best for everyone if they turned things around and succeeded, rather than failing.
Your student has already taken the correct first step of seeking counseling. You don't mention the type of counseling, but it's worth looking into support groups with other graduate students. I think the most useful thing with regards to the student recovering is being able to share the burden with other students - some people are fortunate in that they are good enough friends with others in their group or fellow students in other groups, to the point where they feel comfortable commiserating and seeking serious advice. I will go out on a limb and predict that your student does not have many good friends who are also graduate students. If your university's counseling unit provides support groups for graduate students, this can effectively bootstrap the process by getting the student to meet with peers in a confidential situation, obviating the slow and difficult process of learning to trust a new friend organically.
However, if the defense is months away, I think it is best abandoned. Some people, with proper help, can just "snap out of it" - but many cannot. Usually there is a lot of mental crud that needs to be processed for the student to go from being crushed by stress to becoming determined to overcome it. With proper support it would take about 1-2 years. If the student is really far gone, it may be advisable to take a break for a few months (such as a leave of absence). After that the student will need time to recover, and after recovering they will still need to bring their thesis up-to-date and prepare or re-prepare for the defense. I don't think you can count on all this happening in 8 months. It's certainly possible, and if you have no option of postponing the defense (such as due to funding) then it's worth a try. But if you have the luxury of time the odds improve significantly if the defense is at least a year out.
For handling the immediate situation, your university may have an Ombudsman or similar office (perhaps human resources would be the place to start) that provides advice for such situations. This may help navigate matters like negotiating with the committee.
With regards to the impact of the process, if done appropriately the impact should be positive. There's a lot of variables, such as the student's precise state, the feasibility of the goals set, and the attitude of the committee. However, there is nothing wrong with having a stick. The stick is your friend. The challenge of graduate school is great, and difficult to overcome with only a stick or only a carrot. You really need the combined effect of the two. Withholding the stick would be a disservice to the student. Of course the student must be ready for it, otherwise instead of perceiving the stick and moving away from it, they will perceive a wall of sticks surrounding them and give up entirely. This is why it's important for a counselor experienced with graduate students to work with the student first. *After* the student has regained some measure of stability, they may be ready for the formal process, or it may turn out not to be needed after all.
A useful thing you could provide here is to freshen up the carrot. It would seem obvious that finishing a PhD is much better than failing. But to a depressed or anxious person, impostor syndrome can paint some wild pictures of their future. They will always want to imagine themselves to be the one legendary failure. However, there are certain facts that even impostor syndrome cannot easily obscure: Statistics about unemployment for PhDs, incomes, skills, accomplishments up to now, and so on. You are in the best position to see these clearly in your student. You can approach the subject constructively by framing in terms of the student's career plans. These should be seriously considered anyways in the year preceding graduation. Likely the student feels they have no career prospects or hopes at all - but the fact is that this untrue. Even a failed graduate student still has above average skills and talents, and above average career prospects. To say "there's no job I could possibly get" is unrealistic, surely there is *something*, even if depressingly low status. You can start there and gradually move the target up based on rational, objective indicators such as skills, job descriptions, etc. I've heard of people bringing their resume to the university's career advisor, and saying "if I didn't do anything else, how bad would be the job I could get?" Often it is really not that bad. And then you realize you don't have to do *nothing*, you can do a little bit to improve your situation, and the job prospects get a lot better. And if you improve a bit more, it's even better... And that's how you end up to deciding to just finish the PhD, defend it properly and be done with it. So explicit planning of post-graduate career plans can be very helpful, possibly critical, here. Indeed, why bother finishing PhD if not for the things you would do with it after? I suspect your students has thought little about what they plan to do once they receive their PhD, they are too busy thinking about what they'll do if they fail.
Of course, this must be done with a measure of prudence. An already distressed person cannot easily have a robust discussion about career plans any time. They must be mentally prepared for it. So you have to approach the subject gently. Hopefully, you have enough experience and knowledge of the student's character to gauge this.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/29
| 3,490
| 15,435
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am going to apply for a postdoc position and one of the required documents is
>
> letter of interest.
>
>
>
Is it the same with research statement?
The requested documents are cv, list of publications and thesis and recommendation letter.<issue_comment>username_1: Be forthright with the student about what they are facing. Explain the various contingencies. They may be unaware or ill-informed. You could ask them which path they would prefer you to take... True, they may not be the best judges of their own best interests, or may not be able to act, but you can *ask*.
In particular, probably you indeed should not share information that you'd promised to keep confidential, short of issues like potential self-harm or harm-to-others. At the same time, it may be that your university has fairly strong guidelines about your supposed responsibilities in a situation like this. At least try to read up on them... whether or not you think it is humane or wise to comply. I suggest that you keep in mind that the university will be "covering itself" legally, first of all, with concern for students and faculty somewhat subordinate... so it is non-trivial to see what the truly best action will be.
In any case, I think it would be good to avoid allowing a disastrous thesis defense to occur, especially if there is no room for a second attempt (as at my own university). Being late but doing ok is vastly preferable to being on time and catastrophically failing...
No, I do not mean to suggest that laying this out for the student will magically transform them... but that it is fair to inform them of consequences of this and that, and ask them what route they'd want *you* to take.
And, by the way, is "removal from the program" merely (!?!) loss of funding? In my university, it is possible to continue to register (after everything but thesis and defense are done) without cost... and, thus, without necessarily having financial support from the program.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It can be incredibly difficult for a student to discuss any sort of health issue with his/her advisor or committee members and yet doing so can make all the difference.
Personally, I left my PhD program after two years rather than discuss my ongoing health problems with my advisor. I deeply regret that decision. I knew my advisor and committee were unhappy with my progress and I simply could not bring myself to talk to them about the health issues which were behind my lagging performance. By opening a dialogue with your student you may be throwing them a lifeline, a chance to open up and communicate about the relevant issues and find a solution.
To this day my former advisor has no idea that I was, and am, seriously ill and struggling with debilitating health problems. I "lose" at least one full day per week to illness. In graduate school losing a full day every week was a substantial liability. I am considered legally disabled and yet never shared that information with my advisor or department because I was scared about how they would perceive me and how it would affect my career.
Last year I finally received my M.S.(but sadly no PhD). The only way I was able to do that was to work with my university's student disability services office. Does your institution have an office for disability services? I would strongly encourage your student to seek their assistance and you may also want to consult with them and seek their advice on this issue.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: It is a very very important problem which is much more common in academia than is usually thought..
There should be opportunity to make a break in PhD, say for one year, for getting adequate health treatment, and then continue.
Some universities allow this (e.g., in Netherlands).
If problems persist for eight months, it means university psychological help does not help.
The person need to see a doctor, psychiatrist, who would prescribe suitable antidepressants.
A PhD adviser is not a mental health professional, but to give advice to see such a professional is a wise thing to do.
A person could lose years, sometimes dozens of years, because of depression..
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a cautious remark only: At the same time, sometimes depression is due to inability to accept the reality. Was the person strong enough to do science and fulfil PhD studies before having health problems?
If yes, antidepressants or other professional treatment will help.
Otherwise, maybe to try to find work which do not require PhD?
After PhD, nowadays there is almost no chances of permanent employment in academia: years of postdoctoral research with even higher level of anxiety. It may be better to stop earlier.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: To add to [<NAME>’s answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/131250/7734):
It is a common feature of many psychiatric disorders that those suffering from them fail to seek help when they should, be it because they do not notice or cannot make this step. This even applies to those who are aware that they are generally suffering from these problems and have sought help before.
Therefore the most important thing to do seems to be to talk to the student and find out whether they got all the professional help and support they need, more specifically:
* Share your observations on their performance.
* Tell them that you are worried about their mental health and have the feeling that they are currently suffering from a severe episode, phase, etc. If applicable, tell them that you feel they need professional help if they are not consulting it already.
* Ask how you can help them. If the PhD programme or your university have specific mechanisms to accommodate such students (check before), offer to help them to make use of them.
* Ask them whether they are fine with you consulting with others about the issues in general (thus breaking anonymity indirectly at best) or specific terms.
Since they confided in you, they should be okay with this; they may even have confided in you so you can keep an eye on them from this perspective (without telling you).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: As someone who was the student in a similar situation, I can speak from personal experience about what I wish my advisor and program had done (what they actually did will be omitted here to protect the guilty). My experience was in the US, so there may be some differences elsewhere.
If you are debilitated by a condition that impairs your intellectual functioning, it is difficult if not impossible to think clearly about the future and make good decisions. The student is evidently aware that things are not going well--as I was--but may not have the physical or emotional resources to be able to seek out options and plan ahead. This is compounded by all of the usual emotional stress and guilt of underperforming in grad school. The fact that the student brought it up to you is a cry for help, and you are doing the right thing by trying to act in the student's best interest.
Although it might be the case that the student really does not want to finish the degree (or isn't "PhD material"), it's impossible to tell as long as the student is sidelined by disability. So your first responsibility as their advisor is to protect the student from any future academic consequences for failing to perform now. This may involve your school's disability office, who might have standard accommodations for this situation. It may also involve working with the department to ensure that the student's current performance is not used as a justification to penalize the student if they later resume their program.
Your second responsibility is to do what you can to provide the student with some options to take a time-out and recover so that they can function well enough to make a good decision about when and whether to resume their program. From what you've said, the student seems to be dependent on the university for their living expenses and possibly also their healthcare as well. If this is the case--especially if you believe that the student would have difficulty finding or holding a job--the humane thing to do would be to offer some options so that the student can still be employed by the university and continue to have access to healthcare.
I emphasize that the student's health issues are ultimately their business and their responsibility. But since the student entrusted you and your program with their academic future, I believe that as the student's advocate in the academic world, the advisor has an obligation to protect the student in a situation where they are unable to fend for themselves.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I think it's worth pointing out that it is very likely possible to "save" the student. The argument being that the student was already pre-selected by the admission committee and hence likely to succeed, including being able to overcome their present difficulties. You also note that their performance has *declined*, so in the past they did perform better. Therefore the student was at some point in time capable of succeeding. A talented person does not become untalented easily, but it is not uncommon to lose motivation to apply that talent. In a situation like the one you describe, I would suggest that not squandering the talent is important enough to go to lengths in restoring the student's motivation. So I would recommend against allowing the student to wash out: The third option would be equivalent to this, and the second option as well if you feel that the independent committee is unlikely to give the student a fair chance. Moreover, sunk cost fallacy notwithstanding, much has been invested in this person already - it is best for everyone if they turned things around and succeeded, rather than failing.
Your student has already taken the correct first step of seeking counseling. You don't mention the type of counseling, but it's worth looking into support groups with other graduate students. I think the most useful thing with regards to the student recovering is being able to share the burden with other students - some people are fortunate in that they are good enough friends with others in their group or fellow students in other groups, to the point where they feel comfortable commiserating and seeking serious advice. I will go out on a limb and predict that your student does not have many good friends who are also graduate students. If your university's counseling unit provides support groups for graduate students, this can effectively bootstrap the process by getting the student to meet with peers in a confidential situation, obviating the slow and difficult process of learning to trust a new friend organically.
However, if the defense is months away, I think it is best abandoned. Some people, with proper help, can just "snap out of it" - but many cannot. Usually there is a lot of mental crud that needs to be processed for the student to go from being crushed by stress to becoming determined to overcome it. With proper support it would take about 1-2 years. If the student is really far gone, it may be advisable to take a break for a few months (such as a leave of absence). After that the student will need time to recover, and after recovering they will still need to bring their thesis up-to-date and prepare or re-prepare for the defense. I don't think you can count on all this happening in 8 months. It's certainly possible, and if you have no option of postponing the defense (such as due to funding) then it's worth a try. But if you have the luxury of time the odds improve significantly if the defense is at least a year out.
For handling the immediate situation, your university may have an Ombudsman or similar office (perhaps human resources would be the place to start) that provides advice for such situations. This may help navigate matters like negotiating with the committee.
With regards to the impact of the process, if done appropriately the impact should be positive. There's a lot of variables, such as the student's precise state, the feasibility of the goals set, and the attitude of the committee. However, there is nothing wrong with having a stick. The stick is your friend. The challenge of graduate school is great, and difficult to overcome with only a stick or only a carrot. You really need the combined effect of the two. Withholding the stick would be a disservice to the student. Of course the student must be ready for it, otherwise instead of perceiving the stick and moving away from it, they will perceive a wall of sticks surrounding them and give up entirely. This is why it's important for a counselor experienced with graduate students to work with the student first. *After* the student has regained some measure of stability, they may be ready for the formal process, or it may turn out not to be needed after all.
A useful thing you could provide here is to freshen up the carrot. It would seem obvious that finishing a PhD is much better than failing. But to a depressed or anxious person, impostor syndrome can paint some wild pictures of their future. They will always want to imagine themselves to be the one legendary failure. However, there are certain facts that even impostor syndrome cannot easily obscure: Statistics about unemployment for PhDs, incomes, skills, accomplishments up to now, and so on. You are in the best position to see these clearly in your student. You can approach the subject constructively by framing in terms of the student's career plans. These should be seriously considered anyways in the year preceding graduation. Likely the student feels they have no career prospects or hopes at all - but the fact is that this untrue. Even a failed graduate student still has above average skills and talents, and above average career prospects. To say "there's no job I could possibly get" is unrealistic, surely there is *something*, even if depressingly low status. You can start there and gradually move the target up based on rational, objective indicators such as skills, job descriptions, etc. I've heard of people bringing their resume to the university's career advisor, and saying "if I didn't do anything else, how bad would be the job I could get?" Often it is really not that bad. And then you realize you don't have to do *nothing*, you can do a little bit to improve your situation, and the job prospects get a lot better. And if you improve a bit more, it's even better... And that's how you end up to deciding to just finish the PhD, defend it properly and be done with it. So explicit planning of post-graduate career plans can be very helpful, possibly critical, here. Indeed, why bother finishing PhD if not for the things you would do with it after? I suspect your students has thought little about what they plan to do once they receive their PhD, they are too busy thinking about what they'll do if they fail.
Of course, this must be done with a measure of prudence. An already distressed person cannot easily have a robust discussion about career plans any time. They must be mentally prepared for it. So you have to approach the subject gently. Hopefully, you have enough experience and knowledge of the student's character to gauge this.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/30
| 1,252
| 4,771
|
<issue_start>username_0: I cheated on a homework assignment. The professor found out. I am afraid of what is going to happen. I know I should face the consequences. I am thinking about just withdrawing from my PhD program now, before his complaint gets to the dean.
He said that he would not report if I write an email admitting it and saying that I would never do it again. But this seems a way to get me admitting it with proof. I already admitted in front of him. I don’t know why he needs an email saying that.
Should I provide this e-mail? Is it a trap?<issue_comment>username_1: **You betrayed your professor with this cheating behavior and lost his trust.** But trust from others is the most important value in academia and in science. It is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for any kind of research in any scientific domain. It is necessary for any homework (the goal of any homework is *just* transmission of skills and of knowledge, nothing else; correcting and grading home-works is the worst part of any teaching job). And when you read any research paper, you have to trust its author. If you cannot, the author committed [academic dishonesty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_dishonesty). [Unethical behavior](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_ethics) is the number-one enemy of science.
Your professor is responding by asking you some email (that is some formal confession). He is likely to not use it now but could use that later.
I would have behaved as he did. **He is giving you a *last* chance.** Be grateful to him!
**We all make mistakes**, but you should try hard to avoid repeating yours. [*Errare humanum est*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_(E)#errare_humanum_est)
Your past behavior (described in your question) was unethical, not an adult one and incompatible with any PhD studies.
Most of us cheated at least once in our studies. My best teachers in French high school ([collège](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_education_in_France#Coll%C3%A8ge)) told me: "don't try to cheat, at your age, I cheated more than you can now". And I'll be 60 years old in August 2019.
>
> I am thinking about just withdraw my PhD right know before his complain gets to the dean.
>
>
>
Doing a PhD is hard work, and you'll make *a lot* of mistakes. They are part of the job (and that is why I like so much the "[Philosophical degree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophy)" in US academia: in France I am just a "[Doctor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_(title))" of computer science, but the only thing I really know is that I know almost nothing; read more on the etymology of the *Doctor* word).
NB: **I am not a native English speaker, since I am French.** During my own PhD I did pay for professional help from a psychotherapist, and as a human being (probably as old as your own father), I believe you should do likewise, at least to increase your [soft skills](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_skills) and probably to be able to achieve your PhD. It is a really hard journey.
I welcome any private email about this question (cited by its URL) and my answer above if it is written in French by a non-French native speaker.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Cheating is wrong and has serious consequences. If you weren't caught early, you could have continued cheating for longer. When you cheat, it indicates that you are deficiently studying. You require discipline to study and need avoid procrastination. In addition, you need banish all fear of failure from your mind, because that causes you to procrastinate. It seems you cheated out of despair.
When you prolong cheating, you will be caught eventually. In career life, you cannot cheat easily and fool your employers and colleagues. Your incompetence will be revealed in workplaces and result in your job loss.
If you are a cheater, you are wasting both your money and time on university education.
When your employer discovers your incompetence and mediocrity, he or she will distrust other graduates who attended same college as you. Cheaters like you are hurting honest graduates' chances of employment.
If you find studies too complex and daunting, try breaking them down and simplifying them. Alternatively, seek help. If professors are too busy, try external sources.
If studies are too stressful for you, you could perhaps take a year off from college and study up what you have fallen behind. My sister did that for medical reasons. She was allowed a year off after a surgery requiring months of recovery. While sick, she pursued her studies and was well-prepared for the following year. By then, she had less stress in studying as she had already prepared herself in advance.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/30
| 1,272
| 5,772
|
<issue_start>username_0: I just joined a new CS course and have some trouble understanding whether I should be worried that my coursework is to be considered plagiarized or not. The following is the situation.
I am doing a systems programming project with math. Our professor gave us numerous working code samples and math which can be directly copied over to a program with few changes. Some trivial details about the codebase structure was omitted, but can be easily derived by simple reverse engineering from the provided code samples with some effort; it is very intuitive.
Very few non-trivial details were omitted in the provided code samples and that is where the real effort to distinguish one solution from another is at in my opinion; this is less than 5% of the entire codebase.
The matter becomes more complicated because the answer to this coursework is available online by other students. Looking at the solution of other students,
one can't help but to see more or less the same solutions with minor variations.
Because I have looked at the solution of other students while developing my own solution, I can't help but feel guilty for having absorbed some of their ideas and thus leading to similar program structure. At the same time, all of us have been using the professor's code samples as our main resource. Where I thought I could improve the structure of the program or add features which were incorrect or omitted by other students, I have done so. So there are some differences from other solutions, but not that much.
So I am conflicted regarding whether I should be worried that my solutions is considered plagiarized in this scenario or not. I guess my solution resembles more a "highly patched up copy" rather than being different from the "ground up".<issue_comment>username_1: This is basically a request for opinions because there isn't a general answer to the definition of plagarism in coding. Borrowing code is a huge part of learning how to code!
That said here are my guidelines for myself:
```
make choices you're comfortable with.
```
If it feels wrong it probably is. You should be willing to openly stand by every decision and every google search.
```
add comments with sources throughout your code.
```
This will make things way easier just from a coding perspective and if you're accused of plagarism, makes it easier to argue that you were not intending to do so.
In particular, I link to stack exchange answers that were helpful, especially to questions I asked.
you could even put a link to this thread in your submission code somewhere so that you can demonstrate that you clearly thought about academic honesty.
Intent matters a lot in plagiarism at a grad or post grad level. It's when things are getting published that it becomes much more objective.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As a student you have more to consider than plagiarism as such. Of course, plagiarism - attributing the work of others to yourself - remains wrong for students, but it is "cured" by giving proper citation of the things you use.
But the professor assigning you some project is concerned with your learning and not, specifically, with the program you produce, other than how it contributes to your learning.
So, professors normally set rules and, hopefully, enforce them. If you don't understand the rules, you can and should ask. And you should make relatively conservative interpretations of the rules when in doubt.
But, and this is important, the rules will change as you progress through the educational system. This should be true for all fields as well as for CS.
At some point in your education (early) it is reasonable to ask you to work strictly alone. At other points it is appropriate to permit or even require you to work in groups. It may be appropriate to require that the "team" do all of its own coding, rather than using found code.
At other points in the process it is appropriate, even necessary, to require individuals or teams to revise and extend the work of others and to have students find and utilize resources from the web.
But the rules are there, not to be nasty, but to try to assure that each student goes through the various mental changes that will permit deep learning.
But there are few professors that will permit students to "copy" from past iterations of a given assignment if found. Likewise, there are few professors that would forbid your use (and adaptation) of code that they specifically give you for an assignment.
While the behavior of professors who reuse assignments, knowing that solutions are easily available, can be seriously questioned, the overall learning objectives should guide you as to what is appropriate.
If I turn in a "perfect" solution that I have found somewhere, but learn nothing other than how to use Google, then I've wasted everyone's time. The "perfect" solution wasn't the goal until you actually get hired by Google. Then the objectives change.
Moreover, improper copying can actually result in a person denying themselves an opportunity for insight that will be hard to recapture. Those insights lead to deep learning and are the underlying justification for requiring a process of "learning under constraint."
The goal of any assignment isn't the product produced by the student. It is the change of mental state that the *act of production* enables. Don't lose sight of that.
---
For a more explicit answer to your question, I assume that using and modifying the code given to you is fine - even the point of it. But looking to old solutions is probably improper, even if not explicitly stated. The professor would be wise to make it clear, however, and even to explain why, as I've tried to do above.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/30
| 1,944
| 8,314
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have an interview for a PhD position for which I have to create a presentation. They say:
>
> In this first stage interview you will be asked to give a four minute presentation on a project you have recently been involved and your suitability for this Ph.D. This will be followed by around 10-15 minutes of general questions from the panel.
>
>
>
My English is not very well and the interview is in English.
Does anyone know how I should create a presentation? What topic I have to mention it?
What are their possible questions?<issue_comment>username_1: They told you what your ppt needs to be about:
Part 1. A project you were part of,
Part 2. Why you are a suitable candidate for the phd.
So a slide of intro, some slides of a project then some slides of motivation and close...
As for asking what are their possible questions - that has **so** many possibilities:
Questions about project ie points that were unclear,
Questions about you & motivation
Questions about your education so far
The list goes on.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It sound like you need to give an elevator pitch with slides. Short presentations are tough! You need to follow their instructions exactly and describe both a project and your fit to the program. You need to have this in mind: this is a sales pitch, so be short and to the point.
The objective is to sell yourself, so details on the project matter less than how you contributed in a way that’s relevant to the PhD program you’re applying to. So if your program is on graphic design focus on how your designs were used in the project, if it’s programming, focus on your code contribution etc.
In the part about you, try to show that you’ll be an amazing fit to the program: high-level plans, your agenda, your vision etc. you need to convince the committee that you’ll be a valuable asset to the program.
You must practice your talk several times till it’s perfect, and ask your friends to listen to it!
While conference talks are different, I highly recommend <NAME>’ advice on how to give great talks, here: <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/give-great-research-talk/>
Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The goal of this type of presentation is to allow your audience to *see and hear* your current level of communication skills along and your professional interests as they relate to research. The nature of PhD application packets is they are surprisingly large, yet surprisingly low on clear, reliable information content. This is a great opportunity to make up for that fundamental weakness in the system.
One big issue for the people interviewing you is that many people have a CV that probably looks a lot like yours in many ways. Lots of people mention they had some previous experience with a project of some kind, and it is completely unclear what their actual involvement was. So this is your chance to make it so they have a much clearer understanding of what your level of involvement and understanding of that project was.
Questions to Prepare For
------------------------
There is no standard script, but you should prepare to answer questions like:
* What part of this project was the most challenging/hard/interesting?
* If you were going to do this project again, what would you do differently?
* Is this project the kind you would like to work on in the future?
* Do you have any experience with X? (you may have never heard of that before, ask if you don't know)
* Tell us more about your experience with X? (where X is generally pulled directly from your CV or personal statement - you should be prepared to talk in more detail about anything you put in your application materials)
* Why did you choose [some aspect of the project]? Ex: Why did you use multiple t-tests in the analysis (if you did stats)? Why did you make this as a web/phone application? Why did you choose to focus on revolutions in the 15th century? etc
* If you had your choice to work on any type of project in your first semester in the program here, what would you work on?
* Do you have any questions for us? (you don't have to have any)
They will not necessarily ask any/all of these questions - but I would expect you to be able to answer any of them on the spot reasonably well in such an interview.
General Short Presentation Outline
----------------------------------
You can reorder things as you like, but in general I would expect for a short talk of only 4 minutes that you would cover:
* ~30 seconds: basic intro of yourself like name, university and major you are coming from, and where you work if you are not coming directly from college (and assuming it is relevant to research - no need to mention if you are working in a restaurant now, for example)
* ~30 seconds: background/motivation for the project you are talking about. Why was this project done, what reason would there be for anyone to care about it?
* ~1 minute: what you did on the project
* ~1 minute: what was the big takeaway, lesson learned, result, impact, whatever
* ~1 minute: how do you think this project (and or other projects you've done) prepare you for advanced studies? It should be clear how the skills and interests involved in this project directly relate to what you want to do during your graduate studies
Quick Tips
----------
The hardest part of short presentations is just how short they are. Generally I find I need to prepare double the material, or enough for about a 10 minute talk on my first personal practice attempt, to start with. Then I have to cut, cut, cut, and revise to get it down to 5 minutes, and that ends up being too much. You know it's too much when as you look at the time while you practice you feel you have to rush because you are running out of time. Don't rush - remove material.
I find it helpful to say the talk out loud quietly to myself, with a stopwatch running (clock app on your phone/computer works fine for this). This helps you practice what you want to say and how long it takes. The timing dictates you do not have time to get into very low levels of detail, because there is too much you would have to say - that's how these talks work, if they want details they will ask.
The project you pick should be as clearly related to your reasons for applying for a PhD and wanting to do research as possible. Applying for a Computer Science program to work in computer vision and then presenting a group project where you did a literature review for the historical legacy of Marxism in Eastern Europe would be...hard to pull off well.
Finally, do not worry about your English skills. Seriously. Focus on clarity of your communication, taking deep breaths to calm yourself before the interview helps most people, and try to speak in a steady and clear way. Many students are not especially confident English speakers, and in fact there are often professors at most Universities that aren't either. No one is tut-tutting your grammar or demanding you use exactly the right word for everything. Besides, your current level of skill is just your current level of skill - there really isn't any hiding it, so no sense in trying. Just try to be clear, speak in a measured and calm way, and this will help both you and your audience to get what they need from the presentation.
Oh, and one last thing, in case it may help - no one expects perfection here. Academics, as a group, give some of the worst presentations on the planet, even at very high levels of achievement and seniority. I have seen middle-school students give presentations that were more clear and pleasant than some of the talks given at the most prestigious conferences in the field by highly accomplished authors. This is not a TED talk, you are not interviewing to be an entertainer or orator. Focus on clarity and telling a story that shows you have applicable skills and reasonable, thought-out, applicable interests to the program you have applied to, and you will be fine. You will have to prepare and practice, but it should not be seen as a great obstacle - its just a chance to talk about one piece of your experience and your interests in a way that would be otherwise impossible to communicate in a typical 2 page application statement.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/05/30
| 566
| 2,511
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm a contractor hired by a software engineering company that is branching out into research. For the last two years I have been working almost solo on a research project for the company. A number of other people have come to help out on the project at some point or another, but currently all code in the codebase is written 100% by me. All of the novelties developed throughout the project were also done solo.
My boss has just written a research paper about the project which has been accepted by a low-tier journal. I got to read the paper today and while a number of my coworkers are credited, I am not. The credits consist of every non-contractor that has touched the project, as well as a number of higher ups in the company.
Furthermore, I created a number of figures used in the paper and edited the abstract.
Is this standard practice? Would it be reasonable to ask to be included in the authors list?
Edit: Just to update, my boss said that he had me in the authors list on the first draft, but when he ran it by my contracting company they said to take it off. I'm following up with them now.<issue_comment>username_1: As a contractor you may have explicitly or implicitly given over all of your intellectual product to the company. If that is the case then what they did is (minimally) acceptable. But in human terms it may not be proper. Certainly not "neighborly".
Since you indicate that there is a difference in how contractors and non-contractors were treated there may be some underlying justification, valid or not, for what was done.
I suspect that the practice is pretty common, but not universal.
However, it would be reasonable to ask for an acknowledgement at least, and maybe authorship. You can ask, at least. You might be refused and you might be given reasons why refusal is necessary, but you gain nothing from silence. At a minimum you will learn whether it is in your best interest to continue under such a relationship.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: My personal view is that this is unethical, and that if there are named authors - rather than it being published under the name of the company - then it would be reasonable for you to ask to be included, probably as an author. Authorship does not come only from writing the text of a paper, but from the intellectual contribution to the work that it describes, and from what you have said it sounds as though you provided most of the innovation that is being written about.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/05/30
| 1,475
| 5,025
|
<issue_start>username_0: I try to publish a text without success. In peer-review most replies are "does not fit our journal", even though some journals gave me full referee's report (with negative opinion). I understand it is impossible to discuss all "low-level" works which exist (maybe the mine is one of them...which I do not believe). Yet I would like to discuss and defend my work. "Defense" is in peer-review process impossible, referee gives his opinion and the story ends. Linking my work on the relevant stackexchange forum did not help either: few negative comments were discontinued after I replied.
Question: Is there maybe a payed option to have the work discussed with the engagement of the referee to get and give responses? Is there a way to get discussion by paying (even on potentially low-level work)?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> How to get (a payed?) feedback with discussion?
>
>
>
**It is extremely country specific and strongly cultural.**
I can explain how I would do in your shoes ***in France***. You need to adapt my hints to your country.
I would first attend *several* university PhD level seminars (or at research institutions like [CNRS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_national_de_la_recherche_scientifique), [CEA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Alternative_Energies_and_Atomic_Energy_Commission) - I am employed at [CEA, LIST](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEA-LIST:_Laboratory_for_Integration_of_Systems_and_Technology) but soon retiring - , [INRIA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Institute_for_Research_in_Computer_Science_and_Automation), [INSERM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inserm) or [*Grandes Écoles*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandes_%C3%A9coles) like [Polytechnique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique) or [ENS Ulm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_normale_sup%C3%A9rieure_(Paris)) or [ENS Paris Saclay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_normale_sup%C3%A9rieure_Paris-Saclay) -from which I graduated-). Or even [Collège de France](http://www.college-de-france.fr/site/college/index.htm) ones. BTW, *Grandes Écoles* and [*Collège de France*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coll%C3%A8ge_de_France) are very French, you are unlikely to find equivalents in other countries.
At seminars with a small audience of less than 30 persons, you are allowed (at least in France) to attend them freely (no need to pay) and to ask clever (and politely) questions. You'll use Google or the Web to find such seminars.
Any scientific researcher is very happy to get oral feedback, as long as you respect his work (even if your opinions are different). That is part of the science game since at least Newton.
Then you have established some direct contact. Discuss with them your ideas. They might be interested. If they are, send them by email your draft and ask for feedback.
BTW, you should **attend [peer-reviewed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review) conferences** in your field of expertise. If in Europe, consider being part of some H2020 or [HorizonEurope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_Europe) submission. **Being inside a putative consortium submitting some [research grant proposals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funding_of_science) will teach you many related skills**. But you need to accept and contribute to your part (or even a bit more) of the submission efforts, and research grant submissions are generally highly selective (less than 10% of proposals get funded).
**Read *hundreds* of scientific papers** (in journals or peer-reviewed conferences) **related to your field and scientific interests**. Be sure to have a good bibliography of [citations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation) in your own text. A priori, several dozens of references (e.g. using [BibTeX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX) for your [LaTeX](https://www.latex-project.org/) paper).
At last, if you can afford that, **consider starting some PhD.** Your advisor will teach you most of these [soft skills](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_skills), including [scientific writing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_writing) skills, because that is part of his/her job.
[My answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/131259/19385) to another question on this forum also contain some useful hints.
PS. A poorly known fact is that on the average, every scientific publication has less than 2 or 3 readers. As [Higgs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Higgs) explained in his Nobel prize talk, the "[publish or perish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publish_or_perish)" mindset of current academia is globally counter-productive: most of the research papers I am reading these years give a sense of [déjà vu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_vu).
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If your field is physics, geophysics, biology, volcanology, or neuroscience, you could [talk to <NAME>](http://backreaction.blogspot.com/p/talk-to-physicist_27.html).
Upvotes: -1
|
2019/05/30
| 1,817
| 6,660
|
<issue_start>username_0: So I have joined my first job in research as a research assistant on an industry-academia collaboration and I am supervised by some professors and a representative from industry is managing the project.
I am employed full-time and am one of the biggest "expense" of the project so to speak as far as the funding allocated to the university goes. It is worth nothing that as division of funding goes, our industry partners received more than 3x what the university received.
Anyway, my employment will come to end soon. However, this project partly funded my degree (I don't want to sound insensitive or ungrateful but the funding received for my degree was a trivial amount), which is totally unrelated to my research assistant work, and that is still ongoing.
The problem is that our industry partners, at the last second, indicated that I might be asked to give out presentation of the work done to the funding body. I have no information about the style of presentation; obviously, effort in preparation for a 10 minute vs a 2 hour presentation is substantially different. However, I will be unemployed soon and have no indication on whether this presentation will actually happen or not or when it will happen. Also one would be right to think that the details are vague as communication between my supervisors and industry partners has been really vague. Sometimes communication happens in 2-3 month gaps because the industry partners does not respond to attempts at communication but there is nothing I can do about individuals' behaviours.
Anyway, my professors want to show good will with our partners and are suggesting that we comply with the presentation. However, I have serious commitments like progressing on my degree and new employment. Sure, I can make some time in my new schedule but I don't think it's fair to expect me to do that. I also want to indicate that I have good relationships with my professors and that they are helping me with my degree, so I do not feel in a position to disagree with them.
So I am interested to know if it is normal to keep on working on projects beyond the project termination date, especially given my circumstance. I'm not aware of what my rights or obligations are in this scenario. Of course, each circumstance is unique, but I would appreciate any tips or pointers of how I can reason about this situation without harming relationships or becoming a dramatic situation.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> How to get (a payed?) feedback with discussion?
>
>
>
**It is extremely country specific and strongly cultural.**
I can explain how I would do in your shoes ***in France***. You need to adapt my hints to your country.
I would first attend *several* university PhD level seminars (or at research institutions like [CNRS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_national_de_la_recherche_scientifique), [CEA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Alternative_Energies_and_Atomic_Energy_Commission) - I am employed at [CEA, LIST](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEA-LIST:_Laboratory_for_Integration_of_Systems_and_Technology) but soon retiring - , [INRIA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Institute_for_Research_in_Computer_Science_and_Automation), [INSERM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inserm) or [*Grandes Écoles*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandes_%C3%A9coles) like [Polytechnique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique) or [ENS Ulm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_normale_sup%C3%A9rieure_(Paris)) or [ENS Paris Saclay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_normale_sup%C3%A9rieure_Paris-Saclay) -from which I graduated-). Or even [Collège de France](http://www.college-de-france.fr/site/college/index.htm) ones. BTW, *Grandes Écoles* and [*Collège de France*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coll%C3%A8ge_de_France) are very French, you are unlikely to find equivalents in other countries.
At seminars with a small audience of less than 30 persons, you are allowed (at least in France) to attend them freely (no need to pay) and to ask clever (and politely) questions. You'll use Google or the Web to find such seminars.
Any scientific researcher is very happy to get oral feedback, as long as you respect his work (even if your opinions are different). That is part of the science game since at least Newton.
Then you have established some direct contact. Discuss with them your ideas. They might be interested. If they are, send them by email your draft and ask for feedback.
BTW, you should **attend [peer-reviewed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review) conferences** in your field of expertise. If in Europe, consider being part of some H2020 or [HorizonEurope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_Europe) submission. **Being inside a putative consortium submitting some [research grant proposals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funding_of_science) will teach you many related skills**. But you need to accept and contribute to your part (or even a bit more) of the submission efforts, and research grant submissions are generally highly selective (less than 10% of proposals get funded).
**Read *hundreds* of scientific papers** (in journals or peer-reviewed conferences) **related to your field and scientific interests**. Be sure to have a good bibliography of [citations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation) in your own text. A priori, several dozens of references (e.g. using [BibTeX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX) for your [LaTeX](https://www.latex-project.org/) paper).
At last, if you can afford that, **consider starting some PhD.** Your advisor will teach you most of these [soft skills](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_skills), including [scientific writing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_writing) skills, because that is part of his/her job.
[My answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/131259/19385) to another question on this forum also contain some useful hints.
PS. A poorly known fact is that on the average, every scientific publication has less than 2 or 3 readers. As [Higgs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Higgs) explained in his Nobel prize talk, the "[publish or perish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publish_or_perish)" mindset of current academia is globally counter-productive: most of the research papers I am reading these years give a sense of [déjà vu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_vu).
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If your field is physics, geophysics, biology, volcanology, or neuroscience, you could [talk to <NAME>](http://backreaction.blogspot.com/p/talk-to-physicist_27.html).
Upvotes: -1
|
2019/05/30
| 747
| 2,894
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have received both the NSF and another major fellowship (non-federal). Both stipends cover more than my departmental funding; do I get the sum of the stipends?<issue_comment>username_1: First of all - congratulations!
To answer the question, [the NSF provides specific advice on this question](https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12062/nsf12062.jsp):
>
> **May I accept or be paid from a private Foundation Fellowship?**
>
>
> Supplementation to a Fellowship while on Tenure is at the discretion
> of the GRFP Institution. Fellows should check with their COs.
>
>
>
In practice, I've found that you can at times get funding to combine with the NSF, but it is often intentionally limited by your local institution/department. For instance sometimes you can get summer funding or a 0.25 FTE assignment even while receiving the NSF, but you may get administrative pushback, and they are loath (or simply will not) allow more than that.
You will generally have a higher likelihood of getting them to agree if you can take the funding at different times. The NSF GRFP for instance is for 5 years, but only 3 years includes funding. If you have a fellowship that provides 1-2 years of funding, you can take that first and then stay "on reserve" with the NSF - and most institutions will be somewhat unlikely to object to that. One institution I talked to offered a 1 year fellowship, and on asking them they replied that I could take the 1 year and then take the NSF funding in other years, but that I would not be permitted to take them both in the first year.
But ultimately, the NSF says that is up to your local institution, so you'll have to check with your department to see what they say.
For completeness, note that the NSF explicitly cannot be combined with other fellowships provided by the US government (they mention "DOE, EPA, NIH, NOAA, USDA, DHS, DOT, NASA, etc."), but as the OP mentioned non-Federal this should not apply to them.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: First, congratulations! Second, first check the scheme notes for the fellowships. Usually they want you to have the money in some form, so it is useful to talk to them after you figure out what the scheme notes technically say and weave your proposal to them around those notes.
I held an NSF and an EPSRC fellowship at the same time. Instead of balancing it .5 FTE on one and .5 FTE on the other (which would count as a year on both of them), I alternated years on each one of them, which meant my fellowship lasted longer than it would have.
Talk to your university too to see what their preference is, but mainly find what is close to the scheme notes and propose something that works for you to everyone that seems fair. I doubt you'll be able to get "double paid," but potentially having a longer period of funding seems very plausible.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/31
| 703
| 2,940
|
<issue_start>username_0: A paper of mine did recently reach the final competition for the best paper award of a prestigious conference in my field. Although mine didn't end up with the best paper award, yet I'd like to note that in the "honors and awards'' section of my CV because the conference is arguably one of the bests in my field, and even getting through the roster of its finalists means a lot.
On the other hand, I was also the co-chair of one of the sessions of the conference. I had neither any impact on the selection of the finalist nominations nor any vote on the overall award process whatsoever. Since I'm a rookie Ph.D. student, I'd also like to quote this role in the "academic experiences'' section of my CV (next to my reviewing roles, TAships, etc).
Now I'm wondering if I take both ideas above into account, one may think that my co-chair responsibility would have influenced on my finalist achievement. How would academicians interpret this case? Do I have to pick one to avoid such a misinterpretation?<issue_comment>username_1: I would propose to put both points into your CV.
The interpretation you're afraid of is a bit far-fetched, and while some persons may indeed come to such a conclusion, I think most will not. Even for those who would think there has been an influence, I would argue that putting both is better than putting only one of them.
This is because they are in different CV categories, and thus people who evaluate your CV will in their mental checklist tick off both "won a paper award" and "chaired a conference session".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You chaired a session, you didn't organize the whole conference. People reading your CV will have had similar roles over the years.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Chairing sessions is not nearly as prestigious as winning an award in a conference. I wouldn’t list that on my CV at all, nor have I ever seen anyone else do it. Perhaps your advisor or experts in your field would correct me on this point.
To your question: you played a role in conference administration; it has nothing to do with your award and anyone who’s vaguely aware of how things work in your field will be well-aware of this.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I would list them both. They are really different things that show different abilities. One is you leading a session, perhaps showing some organizational ability, MCmanship if that is a word, and knowledge of a whole subfield, not just your stuff. The other is an individual research contribution and probably decent writing. In addition, academic CVs are "long text" and allow showing a lot of stuff. Sure, in the future, for example for an industrial CV, you may have better stuff and have to use selectivity and eliminate some stuff. But for now, it is fine.
In addition, I don't really think it will look odd (would be frank and tell you if it did.)
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/05/31
| 1,119
| 4,452
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a phd student in math. I am studying abroad. I need some advice.
When i started my Phd, my supervisor gave me a book and she(my superviosr) asked me to study it. In the first year, i passed 5 courses. Then, i thought, maybe that is good time to ask her(my superviosr) to give me a question.
She gave a question at once. Even, she did not think about it. I worked on it in several weeks, then i found out it follows from some paper.
She gave me another question. She did not think about it again. I workd on it several monthes but i could not move it. She gave another question from another area. I spent some monthes to read about it. Whenever i asked a question from her, she asked some basic question from me, sometimes i could not give answer to them. Then, when i came back home, i regreted a lot why i can not give answer.
I felt, i lost my self confidence. During of this time, i was studying a area that i liked and i was getting pretty good on it. In fact, i watched some lectures about it on youtube that helps me a lot. She gave me another question from another area. I spent some monthes to read about it, then she told me , she could not work with me and she wasted her time. That was big shock for me. I am working with my master superviosr.
I still have some problems. I lost my self confidence and there is a fear in body. When i am studying, i am scared a lot. I checked every thing many times . For instance, i check what is countable set.
She never helps me. All of my colleagues have been either taught ot given idea by their superviosors. She told me, i did not know any things, she told me, how i passed bachelor and master. On the other hand, she told me, i am good the area that i worked alone. I have passed all of my courses. But, i am not good like before. I am really scared. That is so difficult to explain it.
I need to mentioned i have passed all of my courses during of PhD. This semster, i have a course but i was not good in the course at all, as i lost my self confidence.
I would like to be good mathemacian, but now i can not even calculate geometric series. I do not know how it happens that i can work in PhD but i can not solve basic things. I am scared to ask my colleages, even though, i ask here. Do you know all of basic things? Is it big problem sometimes we forgot basic things? Baisc things means that things, we learnt in Bachelor.
What would you do in this situation?
Thanks in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: I'll give two bits of advice. Both may be hard to do. The first is to *relax*. Some things in mathematics are just very difficult. The experiences you have had with the material itself seem completely normal to me.
But the second is to try to find a more compatible and helpful advisor. Your advisor may not be bad, but seems ill suited to help you with what you need.
I can't judge your math background, of course, but if you can pass graduate courses it must be ok at least. Maybe excellent.
Your *inability* to solve basic problems may be overstated. It may just be "brain freeze" based on your emotional state. It may be that you are better suited for longer reflection rather than quick answers. But, until you learn to relax you may continue to have problems. Many people use periodic physical exercise to help them relax and give their mind a rest from work. But perhaps you need something. You might even need to talk to a counsellor.
I think my own advisor was helpful, but day-to-day I worked on my own. He gave me problems to work on. The first was too easy, so no real challenge. The second was too hard, so no progress. The third was just right, though it still took a year to but the thesis together. I was lucky in a sense that I went through my *low period* before I met him and so had bounced back and was able to be more productive. But a low period is pretty normal for math doctoral students.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: username_1 already suggested, among other things, that you might meed to talk to a counselor. I think I need to emphasize that suggestion. The fact that you can do well in graduate mathematics courses but "need to check what is a countable set" and "cannot even calculate geometric series" suggests to me that the problem is not mathematical but psychological. And even if you didn't have any psychological problem before, the problems with your adviser may have produced one.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/06/01
| 856
| 3,552
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have started a postdoc far away from home overseas, away from my family and with quite a large time difference. The original idea was for my wife to move over after obtaining a work visa, although this is appearing to be very difficult since the country I am in has an extremely slow process in granting work permits and many places are refusing to grant her one due to "legal reasons". The other option was to join right away as a family member, however there are two problems with that: 1. The pay isn't a huge amount to support us both and 2. Becoming a resident is such a slow process, she may have to wait up to a year before she can start working. That aspect of it is looking very glim at this point.
A couple months in and my mental health is suffering greatly (I have a long history of mental health that I have struggled with, but managed to obtain a PhD and get quite a good number of publications). I can cope in the short term, but I am concerned for my health. I always wanted to do some more research in the field I am interested in (physics), however I am pretty certain I won't be following the academic route forever. In my heart of hearts, it does not seem worth it to be this far away from family and struggling like this - it has become much more important that I thought.
Has anybody experienced this situation before? If it does not appear to have changed in the next couple of months (my wife doesn't get a job, my health doesn't improve), I would plan to give 1 months notice (as per contract) and return home, hoping I do not burn any bridges along the way. My PI already knows the trouble I have in relocating my wife over here, and he has even tried to help. Ultimately, I will be honest and give these reasons upfront because it is the right thing to do. On returning back home, I would plan to make the move into industry.<issue_comment>username_1: This will get closed...
But You need to do what is best for you, your health, your wife and your family.
You seem to have thought it through and your PI will understand - may not be happy to loose you but will understand...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The most important things in life are your healthy, family etc.! Please do not think about giving them up just because somebody would think that "this is not okay". What good does an academic carreer do if you have to sacrifize your life for it??
I know some people (including many academics) who regret that they worked so much in their youth and neglected friends, family, their partners, their health. (Of course, most academics do not fall into this category.)
I realize that this answer is quite similar to the one of username_1, but this is something which can not be said often enough. Don't care too much about other people, care about yourself! (Caring is meant here as in your question, I am not saying you should get egoistic)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I had a postdoc leave early for industry due to family-related reasons. He was nervous to tell me, but I understood that it was the right decision for him. I can’t promise your PI will also be understanding, but if they’re generally decent and compassionate I think they’ll understand.
As for burning bridges, if you’re leaving academia anyway, then what would you be doing with that bridge anyway? It’s unlikely that you’d get another chance at a postdoc after this, but that’s not what you want anyway. If you are hoping to get another postdoc some day then this would be a terrible plan.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/06/01
| 1,259
| 5,213
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am quite early in my PhD program, and am deciding on what tool to use to write my documentation, principally my thesis. My prefered tool would be markdown / latex, but my primary supervisor really does not like it, to the point that collaboration with this involves printing the document, hand writing notes on it and me transcribing these notes to the original. My supervisors prefered tool is microsoft word, but I use linux and running a virtual box just to do my writing is a significant drain on the resources of my computer, I am often writing while running computations.
We are currently preparing a paper on the initial work of my PhD, and this is being done successfully through google docs. Would this be an appropriate tool to use for my whole thesis?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> My prefered tool would be markdown / latex, but my primary supervisor really does not like it, to the point that collaboration with this involves printing the document, hand writing notes on it and me transcribing these notes to the original.
>
>
>
This is an excellent way to collaborate!
>
> We are currently preparing a paper on the initial work of my PhD, and this is being done successfully through google docs. Would this be an appropriate tool to use for my whole thesis?
>
>
>
Google Docs is as good as Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, etc. Personally I think they are all awful for academic writing.
Perhaps your supervisor can use [Overleaf](https://www.overleaf.com/)? You can then use LaTeX/git in the usual way.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: it's a very convenient tool. You might use it for most of your drafts, work, and review. There's many easy ways to get at the docs, and you can name revisions (so that you don't have a bazillion copies).
You may find it doesn't have the layout features needed for your work, or expected of people in your field in order to look professional and similar to your peers and predecessors.
In all cases, you need to make backups in various places, and make those copies regularly. Set a calendar reminder. Google makes errors with google drive. I have lost files. No one will cut you slack. Google owes you nothing for a free service, and only marginally more if you pay them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I just successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis, which was written entirely in Google Docs.
But I was able to do that because it worked well for my particular situation. I'm in bioinformatics, and my thesis didn't include any complex equations. So LaTeX didn't offer much of an advantage. And honestly I've tried it in the past and found myself far less productive. I'd often spend more time fiddling with markup than writing. This is consistent with [research](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115069) that suggests LaTeX is less productive than a GUI word processor when you're not using LaTeX for its strength (complex equations). For a while I wanted to move to LaTeX so I could track changes with source control like git. But then I realized Google Docs' edit history takes care of that in an arguably better interface.
But perhaps the most important factor is that *my thesis advisor uses Google Docs too*. That's what really made it a good idea to use it to write manuscripts and my thesis. If your collaborators don't use the same platform, you'll spend a lot of time doing conversions back and forth, and lose out on a lot of the advantages your platform offers. So remember to weigh that in. Maybe your preferred platform offers so much that it's worth the cost, but if your coauthors don't use it, that'll really raise the bar.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: It is perfectly acceptable, if both of you agrees. My recommendation is to try to find a citation manager that can work with Google Docs, though. It makes life a lot easier.
On the other hand, you can also give **online Microsoft Office** (office 365) a try. Many universities provides free access, some Microsoft plans also. That could be a good trade-off as well.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: If you do have a strong preference for Latex, you might have a look at [Pandoc](https://pandoc.org/). It allows you to convert from Latex to Microsoft Word documents and back again.
It's not perfect (can get a bit tricky with bibliography etc), but I've found it pretty good for collaborators who refuse Latex. Best used if the conversions are infrequent (since it does require some troubleshooting), and if the person is commenting but not adding substantially new, formatted content. It sounds like this might match your use case though!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: This really depends on your stakeholders: it is more a people problem than a technical problem. If your advisors / readers are set in their ways (MS-Word Client vs Web-Collaboration tools) then you are in all likeliness fighting an uphill battle that will prolong your tour in academia.
Only you know whether your advisor will support your bid to use Google-Docs or a particular tool. If your advisor has said "no", you would be well-advised to either use the prescribed tools or find another advisor.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/06/01
| 923
| 3,924
|
<issue_start>username_0: I came across this website:
<https://www.academics.com/guide/individual-doctorate-germany>
At the same time I am interested in pursuing a part-time PhD in Finance in Germany.
Anyone familiar with what is meant by "traditional way of doing a PhD in Germany" / "individual doctorate in Germany"?
Also, does it somehow better comply to a part-time formula?<issue_comment>username_1: The traditional German PhD is either self-funded or funded through a fixed-term (usually three years) part-time (mostly in the humanities) or full-time (less frequent, mostly in STEM) position at the university at which the PhD is pursued.
Regardless whether full-time or part-time position, you can formally use a certain share of your contractual working time to work on your PhD project. (I don't remember exactly, but probably something like 50 percent.) The remaining part is reserved for unrelated tasks, such as teaching, administration, or other research. This is usually specified in more or less detail in your work contract. In practice, however, your contractual work duties may be more or less related to your PhD project, and if you are lucky, they may even be perfectly aligned or identical. If you have a part-time position, it is generally expected that you also make progress on your PhD thesis during your free time, so that you may complete the thesis within the duration of the fixed-term contract.
It follows that in both traditional and structured PhD programs, and with both full and part-time positions, pursuing a PhD is *in general* regarded as requiring your full commitment, as if in a full-time job. However, this does not preclude exceptions, which will have to be negotiated on a per-case basis with your institutions and your supervisor.
My guess is that the traditional program offers more flexibility in this regard, because you don't have to follow a certain curriculum, your progress does not have to be aligned with the rest of your cohort, and you don't normally have to complete any coursework.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In addition to @username_1s answer
* There may still be a few places where the traditional PhD is done "the old way". This is self-funded in the sense that you are *not* paid for the PhD research. Many of those PhD students still earn their living at the university, e.g. by teaching. But earning your living in industry would often be considered fine in such a situation. In the past, the expectation for such situations were that you'd turn out 3 year's equivalent of research in, say, 6 years, when working an unrelated 50 % job.
* There are also so-called external PhD students. They work (full time or part time) in industry and their industry job is *related* to their PhD project. They are still associated with a group at a university but due to their industry job they usually hardly show up at university outside the presentations they give and the meetings with there supervising professor.
These PhD projects usually have less research freedom as the industry employer wants to see results of the research asap.
* One thing to keep in mind is that the traditional PhD thesis in Germany doesn't require the PhD student to be associated with the university until just before the submission procedure starts. In theory it is possible to show up with a more-or-less finished long-form thesis and then ask a professor whether they'll accept you as PhD student with this thesis.
In practice, it may not be that easy to interest a professor in your work if you are entirely unknown to them, and, most importandly, unless you already have experience in academia, a thesis entirely written on your own without contact to a research group will rarely meet the academic standards.
But it does mean that there is the possibility to get some flexibility with industry experience alongside research.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/06/01
| 469
| 1,917
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have recently applied to a PhD position and have been invited for a Skype interview. I am thinking about proposing to have the interview in person instead.
The website states that "interviews will be conducted either in person or via Skype", so in person interviews are possible. I will also not ask for any compensation, since flights are very affordable and I can be hosted by a friend.
My reasons to ask an in person interview is to get a change of seeing the campus/offices and to maybe appear more motivated and invested in the position.
How do you think such a request would be perceived? Would it be slightly appreciated or make me look like I am trying to hard? Or would it be completely indifferent?
Furthermore, are there substantial differences with regard to the interview itself? Would it be "easier" in person because it is easier to connect, or is it "harder" because you are subconsciously by everything you do before and after the interview?<issue_comment>username_1: From my experience going in person is the better choice:
* They will see you as very motivated and you show that you really want
that position and you are not just doing a quick skype interview (and
on the same day 3 other ones)
* Personal empathy can develop much better in person than via skype
* Your explanations will be much clearer e.g. using a white board etc
to explain
So, if you have the possibility then go in person!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Surely you can ask them, but don't expect too much. They arrange a Skype interview because that's less costly. When they arrange Skype interviews, they plan to interview a bunch of people in a few days. By contrast, if they invite you to visit their lab, they need to spare a whole day for you. So they arrange a Skype interview to save time. If you ask them and they just ignore your request, don't feel too surprised.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/06/01
| 869
| 3,942
|
<issue_start>username_0: When an academic researcher decides to file for a patent, where does the budget to pay for the patent-related costs typically come from? From the academic researcher's budget? From the University's intellectual property/legal budget? From somewhere else?<issue_comment>username_1: Usually bigger universities with fundamental and applied research departments have distinct funds and departments dealing with patents, IP and advising, coordinating and realizing start-up business ideas and companies. This is more or less necessary, as often you have to hire patent-lawyers to set up the patent in a professional manner. In Germany such departments are even prescribed, to be allowed to submit proposals for distinct bigger funding programs by the local state or industry and private/industry foundations to fund start-up ideas and R&D projects to build prototypes for market entry.
Patent registration and fees for non-national areas like europe or worldwide are also quite expensive. With an academic salary, you would have to be very convinced by the patent/idea to spend the money and invest time to write the patent on your own. Even then, if you do necessary tasks like patent literature research on your own, you need a patent-lawyer advising you. And their services are not cheap at all in general.
There exist also funding options, specially to get money which can only be used for the registration and payment of fees for patents. The incentive for a researcher to register a patent can also be very different from university to university. At my university a researcher registering a patent (property of the university) with the help and money of the university will get 30% of income generated from selling the patent or licensing fees. To my knowledge this number at my university is relatively high, but reasonable, as universities not as rich as ivy league universities or located in start-up-areas like San Fransisco with risk-aware and -willing investors, mostly generate income from selling patents or licensíng fees. With success rates of start-up's below 10%, money for founding a company nearly always has to come from private investors or national funding programs. For public universities this business is to risky.
As the minstries of resarch and economy also have huge funding programs to support development of new technologies in collaborations/consortiums of public research institutes and private companies, especially through funding from the european union for small and medium enterprises (SME's), dealing with IP rights and possible patents and ownership in the consortium often has to be already outlined in funding proposals and contracts are negotiated before the projects starts and money is granted.
I have no clue what the situation is like in very innovative and start-up focused areas like the silicon valley, but the case of Germany will rather be the normal case due to limited budget and financial means most universities face. Though I would be very interested to hear what the situation for researchers at public institutions in the silicon valley is like.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In my experience, in the United States, patenting is typically provided as a service by the university, budgeted to its intellectual property office (or equivalent).
Since the university typically owns the rights to all work done by its employees, it is more or less compulsory for them to use its services if they wish to patent. Moreover, many of these organizations will actively solicit interactions with faculty and offer them assistance in patenting as otherwise many faculty will not bother to patent things the university might be interested in licensing.
For most universities, this office is probably able to effectively pay for itself via licensing fees, though there might be any number of complexities in how the actual accounting might be done.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/06/01
| 553
| 2,376
|
<issue_start>username_0: I studied in Europe some times ago but didn't finish my PhD dissertation. Recently I finished it and I published in a math journal. I never studied in the USA, but I have been living and working there. Is it possible to finish this PhD with the same results that I have found, or I have to start all over again?<issue_comment>username_1: There are some US universities whose requirements are (a) pass the qualifying examinations and (b) write a dissertation acceptable to the faculty. You need to find such a place by searching and talking to people. You need to find a supervisor who is happy with your work and may accept it as is or with some additional work. But you probably also need to pass a set of qualifiers in several math areas. This may be easy for you or not.
But finding the supervisor who thinks this is a good idea is the main step. Best will be someone interested in becoming a collaborator and who has a definite interest in what you have already done.
But there will be more than paperwork involved.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If your completed work is not enough for a PhD dissertation in a US program, it's likely that you would need to take at least some exams and fulfill other requirements like any other student in a math PhD program in the US. But if your work is (1) enough for a PhD and (2) really exceptional, it is possible that some programs would grant the PhD with a minimum of additional requirements. The only way to know is to ask.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I disagree with the other answers. Virtually all reputable US graduate schools have a residency requirement. Further, they will have little interest in a "pass-through" candidate who feels that they have already earned a PhD elsewhere and wants to obtain it as quickly as possible.
Your best bet is to follow up with your old program / contacts. Even retired professors might be willing to work with you. Perhaps someone knows someone who will take a special interest in you. With a professor on your side, rules can be bended or special arrangements made.
If that is a strict no-go, then you would essentially have to start over at a new institution. You could shop for an institution that will minimize the additional work you will need to do, but I would still expect it to take multiple years.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/06/01
| 750
| 3,080
|
<issue_start>username_0: I’m applying to grad school and two weeks ago I asked three people for recommendation letters, two from employers and one from the professor. There’s no specific deadline, but I’m hoping to get accepted quickly in order to be eligible to start classes in the fall. Now, my entire application is complete, except for the one recommendation from my professor. I sent a follow-up email, to which she said that she’ll complete it in the next two days, which was great. But it’s now been a week since that email, and nothing’s been submitted. I sent an email responding to that saying thank you and offering more info if necessary, and have not heard anything back. What should I do? Should I wait, email her again, or ask someone else? I have some other people I can ask, but the problem is that I have no way of accessing the link as the university sends out the link with the application. I don’t mind waiting at all, but my concern is that if the professor decided to back out of it and I have to ask someone else, I want to give the new person as much time as possible by sending them info now. Help?<issue_comment>username_1: Ask someone else *now.* Provide a specific date, *e.g.* June 10, by which you need the reference and explain why. You can almost certainly add another referee to your application. If, for whatever reason, you cannot add another referee, cancel the one that's outstanding as soon as another professor has agreed.
If you can add a referee without canceling one, write to the professor who has already agreed and give *her* a deadline, also explaining why. (NB: Professors are necessarily pretty good about meeting deadlines, and often abysmal at those things that do not have deadlines. This from extensive research on a sample of one, namely Yours Truly.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Is it possible to talk to her in person or by phone? Personal contact is better than "nagging" e-mails. Further, this will give you the opportunity to stress how urgent and stressful this is for you, and will allow you to gauge her reaction and maybe you can better assess if she will come through or if she is looking for an escape.
If this is not possible, then I think you should you should write to her with something like this:
>
> Dear Professor, Sorry to pester you, I know you are busy, but I need to ask for an estimate on this letter of recommendation. Do you think you'll be able to submit it by [Tuesday]? If not, or if I don't hear from you, I'll have to look for another recommender. Regards, --Name
>
>
>
And then on [Tuesday] you reply to your own mail with the below (or you can jump straight to this, up to you)
>
> Following up on this. I appreciate your stated willingness to write a letter of recommendation, but given that you have not been able to do so after several reminders, I think it would be best if I found another recommender. Thanks anyway. Regards, --Name
>
>
>
Of course, you might want to make sure you have another recommender lined up before you wave off this professor.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/06/02
| 1,600
| 6,603
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am currently a postdoc and plan to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship as the funding to be a visiting researcher in other institutes. However, to be eligible for applying the fellowship, I would need an invitation letter from the department or institute. I have written about 30 emails from 2 months ago but haven't received any reply. I know that generally postdoc researchers are not so prominent or influential in the academic world so that many professors would not easily accept such requests. And I also understand that it would be more difficult if I do not know the professors personally through conferences or other social networks. But there should be at least a reply of refuse due to any kinds of reasons.
I wonder if there is any serious problem with my email. I would be very appreciated if anyone could kindly find any problems in it.
>
> Dear Prof. XYZ,
>
>
> I am writing to inquire about the opportunity of serving as a visiting researcher in your lab next year (Jan, 2020−Dec, 2020). The funding will be totally covered by the XYZ.
>
>
> I am currently a postdoctoral fellow focusing on research associated with human health risk assessment of environmental contaminants at XYZ. My major is nanotoxicology and environmental risk assessment; my minor is physiologically-based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling. I have enormous interests in your research after reading your articles regarding toxicities of TiO2 NPs.
>
>
> I have written a research proposal regarding pharmacokinetic and human health risk assessment of food-grade TiO2 NPs as attached in this email. It would be my great honor and appreciation if you could find time to read this proposal at your convenience and I hope my background in mathematical modeling and experimentation could help me to have a valuable contribution
> I have attached my CV and representative research to this email to provide more information about myself and my academic records. I have also provided the document of the fellowship for visiting researchers as the reference. There will be no expenses required during my visiting except for an invitation letter after your valuable permission to allow me to be a visiting researcher in your research team.
>
>
> If you require additional information, I would be pleased to provide it at any time. I am eagerly waiting for your kind reply and greatly appreciate your attention and valuable time to read this email.
>
>
> Yours respectfully,
>
>
> XYZ, Ph.
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: I think your email is fine! I'll speak from my experience doing several research internships (I haven't completed my PhD, therefore no postdoc). It obviously depends a lot on your field (ie, your field might be different than mine), but even though I had previous experience and publications, I sent about 100 emails before I got my first phone interview.
If you have the time to change your email, I might soften the tone a little. You do come off as very eager. For example, I might change the following to:
>
> "It would be my great honor and appreciation if you could find time to read this proposal at your convenience and I hope my background in mathematical modeling and experimentation could help me to have a valuable contribution."
>
>
>
To something more like:
>
> "My background in mathematical modeling and experimentation makes me a strong candidate to successfully [work in your lab/collaborate/publish papers/etc].
>
>
>
I suggest this because:
1. saying it would be a "great honor and appreciation" could be interpreted as brown-nosing/sucking up. In America, people are not usually this humble, nor do we usually speak this honorifically about others (but this could depend on your field/where you are applying).
2. In America, it is very acceptable to state why you are a strong candidate. Saying things like "I hope I will be successful at..." or "I believe I can..." can make potential bosses feel like you're not sure if you will be successful. Instead, I'd recommend saying "I can..." or "I will..." or "I am..."
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Overall, “cold emails” are very rarely successful. It’s a gamble to invest resources in a stranger, especially on someone who will stay for just one year.
Still, I suggest you start by cutting this “valuable”, “appreciation” and “honourable” non-sense; this kind of bait never works.
I do not know your field of work, but in mine it is usually the PI who “imposes” - or at least has some say in - the project on the student/postdoc. Unless your scholarship comes with a bench fee, i.e. unless there is part of your scholarship to pay for consumables, I can easily imagine that a PI is not so keen to invest time, space and running costs on a postdoc working on an independent project.
Again, I do not know your field but I would suggest you write an email first to make contact and indicate your interest in the work and that you could apply for a scholarship to work in this lab if a project suitable to *both* of you could be found. I would use your current project only *after* initial contact has been made and would present this project only if the PI asks for some sort of draft of a project idea.
I personally get a lot of emails from students who are “self-funded” in one form or another. This is of course good but compatibility with my research program comes first. I rarely have time to reply to more than 10% of these emails, usually the ones who do not write obviously *pro forma* letters, and never to people who feel honoured should I read their proposal: frankly I have no interest in making you feel honoured. If you have sent this letter 30 times with no feedback, it is probable that very few find it sufficiently specific to their research program to warrant attention.
There is also the question of timing of your emails. In many fields there are “hiring cycles”, meaning that postdocs start and end more or less when grants start and end. In some fields this coincides with the start of a term or an academic year, and starting asynchronously with these cycles is suboptimal, although in your specific case this doesn’t seem so bad.
Finally, your scholarship is for quite a short period. By the time you are comfortable with the lab and its procedures, you will be 1/3 to 1/2 done so what realistically can you achieve in the remaining time that will be beneficial to the PI? Moreover, you will quickly take the expertise away elsewhere. Of course this situation would be different of you were known already by the PI.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/06/03
| 2,493
| 10,179
|
<issue_start>username_0: I will be in a PhD program in Germany in which the first year of the program consists of only studying courses under several different professors.
Some people suggested me that I should give gift to the professors with whom I had interview with at the beginning of my PhD. Should I do it? Would it be misunderstood as bribing?<issue_comment>username_1: Write thank-you letters to those professors who interviewed you. Expressing your appreciation for their time is more than appropriate, but offering a gift at this early stage is not. Reserve gifts for mentors with whom you have established relationships and, even then, only for special occasions (perhaps holidays or the end of the academic year, for example). Otherwise, you’re creating a situation that can too easily be misconstrued as a conflict of interest.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would prefer not get a gift from someone that is dependent on me. I don't want to end up in a situation of perceived (by the person receiving the gift, giving the gift, or by an outsider) bribery. I realize that in many cases it is an innocent show of appreciation, but just saying (or writing) "thank you" will achieve the same goal without the risk of it being perceived the wrong way.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: No way! It puts them in an uncomfortable position, even if they do not (and were not tempted to) accept it. They have the choice of (possibly) upsetting you, considering this a potential influencing attempt, even if not ultimately completed, in some places having to report it.
In our place, we have to report all gifts or gift attempts, and hand them to the institution if they exceed a certain (very small) value. In other words, it creates extra work and we don't even get to enjoy it.
Thank the professors that decided to take you on by doing a good job.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: Yes!
====
I recommend gifts such as your attention, ideas of your own and questions...lots of questions. No physical gifts though, those aren't necessary.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: Oddly enough, the most appreciated gift from a student is probably just your *thanks* delivered personally. Even just a passing conversation in the hall way expressing your appreciation for their help will be remembered.
Students are often very appreciative of their professors, but often feel too embarrassed to actually say it. Of course, the prof will be embarrassed to hear it, but that is partly what makes it special.
We try hard, most of us, to help our students in every way we can. It is nice when that is noticed.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: Giving a gift to someone in the department where you will be studying will be awkward and probably inappropriate. A thank you note or card would be more appropriate by far.
It makes more sense to give someone a gift when you are graduating and leaving the program. That expresses your appreciation more concretely while not having the appearance of trying to curry favor with a superior or repay some kind of inappropriate favor.
I also gave gifts to people who wrote me letters of recommendation, but they were very small gifts (like a chocolate bar with a thank you note).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: A close friend who is a professor often has Ph.D. students from Korea and China, who give small gifts--food items from their home countries, for example. (We both work in the U.S.; I am also a professor, although in a different field.) I don't think I've heard of American or European students doing this sort of thing. My intuitions agree with other answers that warn against physical gifts. However, based on my friend's experience, my guess is that little gifts for professors are common, and considered appropriate, in Korea and China. If so, then the correct answer may depend on what's appropriate in the country in which you'll be studying--Germany, in your case. Perhaps other people can specifically respond for that case. (My sense is that the academic system in Germany is different from that in many other European countries, so it's possible that the culture is different, too. It could be that there is a different answer that's appropriate for Germany rather than, say the U.K., France, or the Netherlands.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: As a PI (in France though) I would say that no, this is definitely not good idea for all the reasons mentioned in the other answers.
On the other hand, bringing something with a low economical value **for the team** - and not only for the professor, this is important - would certainly be appreciated. Like a box of chocolates or, as suggested in the comments some culinary specialty from your own country/region if it's different from the lab.
Again, the important point is that it is shared by the whole group.
We have a somehow similar habit in our lab (approx 50 people) : when someone goes on a conference or on holidays abroad he/she usually bring back a specialty to share for everyone. No one is forced to do so, but this is usually highly appreciated and almost everybody does it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: (Answer from Germany)
Don't do this. Even small *personal* gifts in this situation are unusual here and may indeed create a "fishy" taste.
German professors are public officials and public servants (so also other employees at university) are subject to strict anti-corruption rules.
If you get an employment contract as PhD student, you'll also have to sign these rules among tons of other paperwork.
* As soon as there is a relation to their office (e.g. the professor being one of your examiners for some exam such as your PhD defense), *any* kind of gift is a big no-no.
And not only before the marks are given, this is still true afterwards (even after prof retires!).
This makes a gift at the beginning of your PhD at the very least awkward. Not as bad as directly before the defense, but still...
* For other occasions, where the general opinion is that they are harmless small gifts are OK (e.g. in Hessen < 20 €, but e.g. Berlin < 5 or 10 €).
Think along the lines of being allowed to have some of the coffee, cookies or sandwiches another institute/company paid for during the project meeting. Or someone offering a ride to the train station. Or pens, paper and/or a coffee mug at a trade fair.
* If it is or looks more valuable, the receiver has to announce this gift to their boss or to anti-corruption administration who then decide what to do with it.
This of course creates burocratic hassle, so isn't appreciated.
But this is how a professor can solve the conflict and save the face of a foreign student who's from a country where it is customary to give (even a valuable) gift to the professor which is clearly outside all accepable limits in Germany - but it would also hurt the student to refuse that gift.
Still, I'm happy you asked and thus can avoid putting the professor in such an awkward situation.
* The workgroup collecting money for a birthday gift of the professor is OK, as that's considered a private gift in no way related to their job.
---
### What to do instead
* In contrast, it is not only perfectly fine and polite but in some places even weakly expected that you bring e.g. some sweets from your home country for the whole group (if feasible). Or bake a cake, bring some ice cream or the like.
(Same btw. for your birthday)
* It is also fine if, after you successfully defended your PhD, you throw a party for your group and also include your professor in the invitations.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_10: Just thank now, no gift, as most of the other answers say. I'll add "thank later" too. The best gifts I've gotten from students come years after I taught them, when they remember something I helped them with and they write to say so.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I've never seen a case of this being done, and I think this is generally a bad idea. The professor hasn't yet really done anything for you to be thankful for and there's a real risk of it being perceived as apple-polishing (bribery would be too strong a word). As a general rule, starting a relationship with a gift makes things awkward without any substantial benefit to anybody.
If you are inclined to give something physical to your new boss, I would suggest you follow @lalala's suggestion and `a few snacks from your home country to the group' or bring some sort of souvenir that connects with your background (e.g., if you were involved in a student association and they had great T-shirts, you could bring one). A reasonable litmus test would be: Would you be comfortable gifting the same thing to your peers?
Also, feel free to give them a gift *after* you finish your degree. The dynamic is very different then: They stop having any real power over you and they have had a major impact on your life.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: As a former professor (USA) (now a full time research scientist) let me add to the chorus: **NO GIFTS, EVER.**
Gifts to a superior are a propitiation; I would not only refuse gifts from a student but report the attempt to my department chair, so I wouldn't be compromised by not reporting an offer of a bribe in the future. I would probably have to rescind my offer to advise you, and let you find somebody else.
Your urge to give a gift is called *propitiation* and it should be quashed; it IS a bribe to gain favor, not thanks. If I selected you, it was not to do you a favor, but because I thought with my management you could make a contribution to our field. If I didn't think that, I would spend my time on someone else, or on my own research.
Saying thanks is enough. Don't offer to buy me lunch, don't offer me tickets to something, don't try to use money or anything else of value to establish a personal relationship with me. It is possible we WILL become friends by the time you are ready to defend. I became (and remained) friends with my advisor. If that is going to happen it will be a result of shared cultural interests without any gifts being exchanged.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/06/03
| 1,874
| 7,873
|
<issue_start>username_0: What is more valuable broadly speaking (assuming all else equal):
* A PhD from a decent school (top ~100) with a very well respected (but not famous) professor; say for example the head of department
* A PhD from a top school (top ~5) with a young academic or substantially less reputable professor compared to the other school
In my case both are funded, both projects are good, and I can see myself working with either academic. Is there a broad brush-stroke "rule" as to which degree is more valuable for my career?<issue_comment>username_1: I can't see how either would be preferable to the other. What matters more to your career is what *you* do with the opportunities you have.
And note that disasters can happen even at the most prestigious levels.
Do good work. Make lots of professional contacts.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Well I guess it depends on a variety of unknowns.
You might get a lot more "supervision" from the young academic compared to the head of department (which in my case, had a ton arrangements, teaching etc.). So are you the person who relish the independence, little supervision is needed, but it might also be the other way around.
In general I would firstly prioritize the needs I would have in terms of self-development during the PhD and then secondly what value a certain professor name or school on a diploma would impose.
Best of luck in your studies!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> In my case both are funded, both projects are good, and I can see myself working with either academic. Is there a broad brush-stroke "rule" as to which degree is more valuable for my career?
>
>
>
It depends...
* Which advisor would be a better mentor for you? Does their style of mentoring match you?
* Do the alumni of the programs your considering go to places you want to be? e.g., do their alumni go to academic, industry, or government? Likewise, if you want to go to academia, what type of school do the program and advisors' students get positions at (e.g., ivy league schools, public R1 schools, small liberal arts schools, etc)?
* Your field. Some fields penalize students for going to lower ranked programs, others do not care. For example, I was co-advised by an environmental scientist and a math professor. My math advisor noted it was harder for his students to get academic jobs (some sometimes even publish!) because of the quality of the school whereas the environmental studies students did not face this hurdle because of the school's rankings. My math professor speculated this was because the life sciences publish more than math so it's easier to look at individual productivity.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Name recognition can be a powerful thing, both for your PI and your school.
Within the narrow field in which your PI is well known, being associated with them will be more important than which school you're at.
If you branch out after grad school into a new field, your former PI becomes less important (unless they're super famous/a Nobel prize winner).
In both cases, your personal contributions (ie: papers published) and your recommendation letter will have the most weight by far.
But...how much weight? That depends on what you do. If you leave academia, your PI's name recognition will probably take a back seat to your school's name. If you leave your field entirely (and go into IP law or technical writing or policy), then your school's name might ultimately become more important than even your publication record.
**But the most important thing is the fit**
Seriously, it sounds trite, but if you want any of the work to mean anything, you must be successful in grad school. That means publishing and graduating. So, a new PI will *need* you to publish so they can get grants/tenure. This could mean a lot of pressure on you! They also might not have a ton of resources/collaborators yet, so that could be more work for you to find what you need (but great training!). With an established PI there will likely be less pressure to publish but more resources available with which to do it.
Finally, there's the personality fit. This is not trivial. You'll need to work with this person for the next ~5+ years. You must be able to work with them!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The other answers so far have more or less assumed that you're aiming for an academic career. That's well and good, but if you're aiming for a career in industry I'll go ahead and say that the second option is preferable. People in industry are unlikely to recognize the names of professors (unless they are truly famous). They will, however, recognize names such as the University of California Los Angeles or University College London. They will conclude by association that any faculty at these prestigious institutions must be good, and anyone who graduated from these institutions must also be capable (until proven otherwise).
There're various secondary factors that apply even if you go for an academic career as well: the more prestigious institution is more likely to have comprehensive facilities, better journal access, more distinguished visiting academics, etc., and most importantly, better students. Graduate study isn't a solo activity; the presence of other good students can have a huge impact on your development.
All things being equal I'd hedge towards the second option. See also: [University rank/stature - How much does it affect one's career post-Ph.D?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/90/university-rank-stature-how-much-does-it-affect-ones-career-post-ph-d)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The key thing is not the professor or the school: it’s the student. A average student with a good supervisor remains a average student, even at a good school, and especially if the student is given proper chances to display suitable creativity in solving a problem.
Outstanding students will shine wherever they go; even a reasonable supervisor will recognize the quality of the work and can arrange to make sure this work is well read.
The advantage of a top supervisor is that she/he is likely to have interesting projects for eager students. The advantage of a top school is the possibility of standing out in a select group of peers, and finding larger numbers of good supervisors, balanced by the competition with other students to work with these supervisors.
I personally think the mentorship aspect that comes with interacting with an outstanding and caring supervisor at a reasonable school is ultimately more formative than just being in a good environment and left alone by a unengaged supervisor, even if the supervisor is a superstar.
But again: it really comes back to the student. If the student cannot stand out the reputation of the school or the supervisor doesn’t matter much.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: All things equal, I think I would go for the reputable school. The reason behind my decision is simple: People in general will be more familiarized with the institution than with the person. Unless the person is a mega star on the field like a <NAME> or a <NAME>, not many people would know who these professors are.
For example, when I visit the doctor, I look at the diplomas on the wall. Not once I have been able to recognize any names. However, I have been able to recognize the schools.
That said, if your goal is to make your decision solely to impress a potential employer, you need to make sure that the employer would be in a position to know who this professor is. For example, if you are getting a PhD in something related to semiconductors and your goal is to be hired by Texas Instruments, you have to make sure that professor has done extensive work with the company. Otherwise, go with the institution.
That is my humble opinion.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/06/03
| 760
| 2,928
|
<issue_start>username_0: I’m writing the master thesis, and I’d like to know if the following text would be appropriate or not. Consider the middle paragraph is copy-pasted from the source <https://www.lipsum.com/>
>
> In this section, I will briefly overview the Lipsum dummy texts and full details can
> be found in the source [1].
>
>
> Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting
> industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever
> since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and
> scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only
> five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting,
> remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with
> the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and
> more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker
> including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
>
>
> Bibliography: [1] Source, formatted in APA, IEEE, …
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: You should more properly put the paragraph starting "Lorem Ipsum..." in quotes. It seems a bit long for a quote, but not obscenely so. I think the first couple of sentences of it are probably enough for your purposes and avoid any issues of over quoting and hence infringing of copyright.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You open with:
>
> In this section, I will briefly overview the Lipsum dummy texts and full details can be found in the source [1].
>
>
>
This suggests you are providing a brief overview, yet you follow with (what I presume is) a verbatim quote:
>
> Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
>
>
>
I suggest revising your opening sentence (perhaps provide context and set the scene, then introduce the verbatim quote)
and indenting the quoted text, you can use `\begin{quote}...\end{quote}` if you're using LaTeX.
---
Comment from the OP:
>
> So, as I see, using proper indentation and indexing to references is enough to quote a source?
>
>
>
Indentation is appropriate for long quotations, such as the example you provided. For shorter quotations, you can wrap a quote inside quotation marks (and follow with a citation), e.g., "Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry" [1]. In both cases, a reference to the original source must be provided.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
|
2019/06/03
| 1,584
| 6,696
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying for Lecturer positions in the UK (entry-level faculty, other academic systems might call the position "Assistant Professor").
I just got short-listed for one of the positions I have applied to, and am currently arranging the interview details (time, date, and expenses reimbursement). Going through their forms, I have noticed the following statement:
>
> Candidates who are offered a contract of employment by University of XY but reject the offer lose their entitlement to claim reimbursement of interview expenses.
>
>
>
There is a [similar question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/130179/travel-reimbursement-for-interview-after-accepting-another-position/130180#130180) already. However, the candidate noticed such a clause only after buying the tickets, while I am trying to react to it beforehand.
This strikes me a bit odd. My questions are:
* Is this a typical procedure for interviews for such positions? Is it a red flag? (Or at least, a yellow one?)
* Is there a polite way to respond to this, indicating that I do not agree to this policy, but without sounding like I just want them to pay for a tourist visit?
* These positions have a fixed salary range in the UK, however the call is made across two ranges (simultaneous call for Lecturers and Senior Lecturers), and after all it is still a *range*. What prevents the University from extending an insultingly low offer to a candidate they do not want to hire, hoping that the candidate would reject it and therefore forfeit their right to expenses reimbursement?
* I was planning to evaluate this University further as a potential good match for me at the interview (see context below). Since I expect the expenses to be relatively small, should I just risk paying them on my own and go check the University out, even if I decide it is not a good fit?
---
**Some context:** This particular University was at the low end of the openings I am applying to. The research profiles of the staff did not look overly attractive, but the facilities were well equipped and I could find a couple of interesting people.
I had almost decided not to apply, when a colleague told me about a Research Centre associated to their University. I haven't originally noticed the Centre as it was not affiliated to the Department I am interested in, but a very different one. However, this Centre is very interesting for my current application domain, and could provide me with invaluable data to continue research in that direction (and bring that domain over to that University).
This Research Centre was the number one reason I decided to apply in the end. I've mentioned my definite interest in it in the application, figuring they would not call me if they were not interested in a collaboration with that Centre.
However, even after deciding to apply, the truth is, *this particular University is at the low end of my list*. I am serious in considering it as a potential place of employment, due to the presence of the Research Centre. However, with all the negative points still in place, *I was going to form my final opinion about that University at the interview*, which I think is a reasonable approach - both the candidate and the interviewers should look for a good fit.
When I was in a similar situation before, I rejected to go to the interview and have requested to not be considered further, specifically as I did not think the position was a good enough fit to risk the expenses. This was, however, for an industry interview, the travel expenses would have been much steeper, and they were not covering interview costs under any circumstance.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm surprised that you are surprised. If this isn't common practice, then I'm surprised. Universities don't have unlimited funds to work with and are interested in building a strong faculty, not gaming some reimbursement system.
The polite way to respond is to say *yes* or *thanks, but no thanks*. Your choice. Your risk. But it is their money, after all. I think it unlikely that they would agree to change the policy. I can't think of an incentive to change it unless they are very *very* interested in you.
The only thing preventing them from making you an insulting low offer in hopes you refuse it is that it would be stupid for them to do that. After all, it implies they really don't want you but would be stuck with you if you accept. I can't imagine that is a good thing for them to do.
If they are within your parameters for an acceptable job then you need to decide whether it is worth the risk of absorbing the cost in case you get a better offer. If it is outside your parameters there is no reason to bother them further. You can, of course, investigate them, if imperfectly, from a distance. But if you need to do that investigation first hand, you need to accept the fact that it will come at some cost, possibly.
You could, of course, interpret the *existence* of such a policy as an indication that this is fundamentally the wrong place for you to start your career. In that case, just say no. There is no reason to continue.
That is to say, if you find a policy at a potential employer that you find wrong or distasteful, you might suspect that there are other policies that you would find equally offensive or worse. This is especially true if you believe that the policies are in place to take advantage of you since you have little recourse. So, at a minimum, you need to be cautious.
If this place were high on your list for other reasons, you might (gulp) ignore the issue as you might if it is a trivial amount of money.
And, you can try to negotiate a better outcome as user username_2 was able to do. But I remain skeptical.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: This is common in the UK. In general interview expenses are relatively low. Many people take a train in the morning to the university and return home that night, so there might not be any food or lodging costs and only a relatively inexpensive train ticket. For an international candidate arranging flights and trains may require a 3 day stay, as it did for me.
I simply told the department that I was very interested in the position, but was not in a financial position to be able to cover my own interview costs if I found the departmental culture to not be supportive. They gave me a guarantee to cover the costs in writing. If your expenses are more than a train ticket, there is no reason not to ask.
Be aware, the offer may be made the day of the interview and they may want a decision the next day. The UK system doesn't really let you get competing offers.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
|
2019/06/04
| 1,865
| 6,990
|
<issue_start>username_0: As far as I know, in the majority of countries in the world, especially in Europe, undergraduate education, even at the top universities, is almost always significantly less expensive than at prestigous US universities.
For example, for the 2018-2019 academic year, the standard cost of tuition and fees at MIT was $51,520. Add in room and board and other fees, and the price tag reaches $70,240 annually. The average cost after aid was around $ 22,549.
At Cornell, the cost after aid was $30,498 and at NYU $37,362.
This is representative of most of the Ivy League schools as well as many liberal arts schools which are less well known internationally.
The average tuition cost at my school in France is a mere 2000 euros per year whilst other French schools have tuition ranging from 300 euros per year to 15,000 in one extreme case. In several European countries, tuition is either free or students are payed to study.
The student debt crisis in the US is a recent phenomenon, but how recent? I suspect that that students at Ivy League schools in the 1930's weren't paying anything close to their present counterparts, adjusting for inflation.
**So when exactly did top tier American schools start raising tuition and board fees to the astronomical levels we see now?**
I will leave out the question if whether this is sustainable or what the consequences will be, as this is speculative and opinion-based.<issue_comment>username_1: The simplest explanation I've heard is that proliferation of student loans have allowed the costs to skyrocket by spreading the cost to the student over time. Similar effects have occurred in other areas where loans have become prolific, such as 30 year housing loans and mortgages. The bank can afford to wait years, even decades, to reap the benefits, as it operates by volume and in the long-term. As such the sticker price rises to account for the fact that people can now "afford" to pay large amounts for things. Amounts that will take them many years of budgeting to actually cover. It is the loan itself that grants and permits them that time.
So while a historically normal transaction might be "pay now, get what you pay for now", loans (and things like credit cards) turn the transaction into "get what you pay for now, pay for it over the next several years". A one-time cost of $100, say, can be ballooned into charging $200 instead and then with interest costing you $240; but spread out over a year that's just 20 bucks a month, which at least feels easier to afford than turning over 100 bucks right away.
The issue is not one-dimensional, of course, as the proliferation of scholarships, financial assistance, and moreover the commercialization of these things (wherein organizations seek to profit off these matters, and so work to proliferate them), also allows costs to be deferred away from the individual student and the immediate moment. For example, government assistance would move the costs onto the tax base, which is again a deeper pocket to plumb than the student's.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: As others have mentioned, there are numerous reasons. Here's a couple more:
Universities have been competing with each other. Room and Board have gone up because the amenities have improved. Part of the improving is matching the improving in non-academic life, part of it is acting as a benefit to make one university more appealing than another. Another way to compete is for the faculty; faculty is (on average) paid better than they used to be. ([Policy Report](https://www.mhec.org/sites/default/files/resources/mhec_affordability_series7_20180730_2.pdf))
Another sort of competition is in showing how exclusive they are; part of that is by having a large sticker price, but then actually charging less on average. ([Forbes article](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lucielapovsky/2018/02/06/the-changing-business-model-for-colleges-and-universities/#bc17cbd5ed59).)
Lastly (for me and my answer, anyway), financial support for public universities and colleges has been decreasing. They have to make up the revenue differences somewhere; cuts to programs can only go so deep. ([Washington Post article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/09/08/states-decision-reduce-support-higher-education-comes-cost/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.51fcd3f1ae3b).)
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: I didn't attend a US University (although my wife teaches at one), but I would think a big part of the reason is down to simple supply and demand economics (which after all is what governs the price of pretty much anything in a free market).
Ivy league US Universities, in particular, are widely considered to be some of the absolute top Universities in the world. Plus, the US is a very desirable country to live in, in general. So, the level of demand is very high, and has only been increasing when you consider the huge increase in both the US and worldwide populations over the past 100 years.
However, on the supply side, the number of US Ivy league schools is very limited and has not increased significantly over the past 100 years (at least, not anywhere near the rate of the population increase).
So, I think it is natural to see significant increases in the price of something, when the demand is ever-increasing, but the supply is relatively fixed.
The free-market capitalist nature of the US has probably exacerbated the situation, since the freer a market is, the more susceptible prices will be to supply/demand forces. Regulation and state intervention can help to 'dampen' the supply/demand effect, which may be what is happening to a larger extent in other countries.
I disagree with [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/131438/97136), that loans are a significant part of the problem. They may be enabling people to pay higher prices, but it is not as if loans are a new concept that has only emerged in the past 50 years. Also, loans are available for pretty much anything else that people might want to buy, so the simple existence of loans doesn't explain why the price of US college education has risen so much faster than inflation.
To address the OP's question of *when* the price increases occurred: I think it is highly unlikely there was any 'watershed' moment where prices saw a sudden 'step change'. Prices have been creeping up gradually over many decades, as the population-driven demand has increased.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: [This article in USA Today from 2017](https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2017/06/09/private-college-tuition-is-rising-faster-than-inflation-again/37432483/) shows the graph below, which is average tuition and fees adjusted for inflation from '71-'72 to '16-'17.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/LDCCj.png)
To answer the question in the title: it looks like it started rising above inflation in around 1983.
Upvotes: 3
|
2019/06/04
| 1,204
| 5,123
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student working in life science.
I have started a computational project three years ago which is about to be done soon. There is a post doc who joined this project two years ago by my PI. No one talked about the authorship at that time, but I guess everyone assumed we would be co-first authors. This was my expectation, too.
He had another main project, which has not been going well. In the meantime, I've only focused on this computational project. He participated in important decision-making steps, but my contribution is much greater as I've run most of the data generation and analysis and written the manuscript. I believed my name is going to be the first.
When we talked about our authorship, he said that he understands that my contribution is greater, but he would want the first of the co-first authorship if possible. And I know, as a friend of his, this is not to make his contribution greater. He simply needs to give better impression with his publications for faculty positions because of this pervasive problem in the order of the names in the authorship.
However, as I have tried my best to make this publication as the first of my career, I am not so sure whether I should do this. At one time, I think if he really needed it, he could have contributed more and fairly claimed it. But at another, I start to think about how important this is going to be for his career as I still have time for more research but he doesn't.
I think I will have more power in the decision making. But whatever I choose, someone will get hurt. This makes me worried. I know some of you have already gone through similar situations. What would you suggest?<issue_comment>username_1: Reading what you have written and accepting it as an accurate statement, I have to suggest you would be a bit crazy to go along with this idea. If you did the work, the authorship should be fairly and accurately represented. It should be yourself. "Gifting" first authorship isn't a good thing. It gives others a false impression of the abilities and contributions of two people.
If this other person needs a "boost" for his career, he needs to do it himself, not have it laid on him.
Are you being manipulated because you are a nice person? Many students are just forced to give up first authorship by unscrupulous others, but this sounds like a different way to achieve the same result.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I have had a similar experience and I'll try to shortly state the situation and how I ended up dealing with it.
I was doing my PhD in a small research group (1-3 students, 1-2 PhDs, a postdoc and a professor) in the biotech field. An offshoot of my main project was started as I asked the post doc to help me set up some experiments (familiar to him but not me, hence I needed help). The type, conditions and preperation of samples were all done be me and then the experiments itself was performed be the post doc.
I had a conversation prior to obtaining actual data with the post doc, where I stated "well, it's going to be interesting with the arrangement of authorships" and got the reply "oh of course this is all yours".
However, as the results came in, we realized that this could amount to a rather big story and thereafter the story changed. Now the results were suddenly part of a much longer project which the post doc had spend 4-5 years working on.
Unfortunately the post doc was shared between two professors and the senior of the two "voted" against me, in order to secure the last position for himself.
I have now spent a long time (and a lot of energy) being irritated and even at times angry about this (to me) unfair treatment.
But I came to the conclusion that in order for me to "get what I deserved", I would have had to sacrifice the collaboration/friendship of the professor and post doc, the paper would most probably never see the light of day (can't publish data without the consent/agreement of the people involved) and it would have costed me even more loss of time and energy.
I have been fortunate enough to be involved in a range of other projects and hence I do not lack publications, which of course have influenced me decision.
And although I am firmly and outspokenly against ghost-authorships and a general disregard for the Vancouver guidelines (or whichever guidelines you follow), I also think that some battles are not mine to fight. Hence, in my case I stepped back and focused on my other projects.
My advice to you is, therefore, if (as I read it) it's only the post doc asking for the co-authorship and you do not "suffer" a loss in declining, I would definitely decline and with reference to ethics, moral and guidelines (not saying "it's because don't want to help you"). However, if you will "suffer" by declining (unfriending, termination of collaborations or perhaps future collaborations) it's a harder balance and although the "right" thing to do is decline, one must take everything into perspective.
Well not so short after all. I apologize and with this end my take on your situation.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/06/04
| 935
| 3,687
|
<issue_start>username_0: Yesterday night, a renowned Dutch newspaper [published](https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/06/03/wie-imiteert-valt-door-de-mand-a3962469) a long article on a former rector of one of the largest universities in the Netherlands. Research conducted by the paper shows she didn't take regular academic plagirism / citation standards into account in various important speeches, such as the ones for the university anniversary. Although it differs per speech, the paper has in some cases traced almost 60% of her literal text back to the work of others.
Citing the newspaper directly (well, translated):
>
> Based on research of NRC it shows that, XXX, former rector of the University of Amsterdam, has used texts in speeches and in her dissertations without clearly indicating these were the work of others.
>
>
> The plagiarism is remarkable, as the rector herself took various measures fighting plagiarism.
>
>
> According to XXX, her speeches are unjustly compared to academic standards.
>
>
> The university will start an investigation whether former rector XXX has violated standards of academic integrity.
>
>
>
Focusing on the accounts of plagiarism in speeches got me wondering **what the citation standards are in non- or less-scientific work, and how that might differ per type of work**. Specifically, I'm interested how this might differ in:
* technical reports, written in a company context
* policy documents
* official speeches
* blogs, columns, and other more personal writings
I'd personally say that attribution is required in all cases, but when is "as <NAME> has put it: research is interesting" good enough, and when would you a proper academic citation, including a full reference (either in a bibliography, or in a footnote)?
In addition to the explicit standards prescribed by professional organisations or codes of conduct, I'm wondering to what extent reality indeed matches these standards -- or whether pragmatism at some point takes over. (That might be a little opinionated, but I'm hoping the community will allow it.)
*Regardless of whether she was right or wrong, I think everybody will agree these actions are clumsy at best - as they in any case raise questions nobody would like to be raised. That's not what I'm hoping to discuss or establish here. Similarly (although I think this goes without saying here), I'm not interested in opinions on whether she is or was wrong, as we don't have all the facts to determine that.*<issue_comment>username_1: For legal compliance, any written document---e.g., technical reports; policy documents; and blogs, columns, and other more personal writings---must abide copyright law, which would seemingly forbid many instances of plagiarism, e.g., verbatim copying without attribution.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: You cannot include citations in speeches; no-one in the audience would stay awake if you tried to do so. And footnotes would be impossible.
The essence of plagiarism is passing off someone else's work as your own. You avoid that in an academic paper by giving full citations. In a speech it is enough to make clear that you are not claiming originality. "As Smith has shown...". "Numerous studies support the view that..." and so forth.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Speeches, delivered orally, do not come with footnotes. So I think calling "plagiarism" on them is being too strict. If you later collect your speeches and publish them, then you may get in trouble for plagiarism (unless you add the appropriate footnotes).
This came up some years ago when there was published a collection of the sermons by <NAME>, Jr.
Upvotes: -1
|
2019/06/04
| 1,568
| 6,090
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have seen a couple of images in several papers like those attached below. These images are really expressive also nice i.e. look very scientific. I have no idea how to generate such images since I have in the past used powerpoint/excel. I'd appreciate some pointers on the tools for generating such images or even better ones.
**UPDATE** Just to clarify about duplicated question(s), this question is quite specific to graphs like those that combine several features concisely into a line /bar graph or scatter plot e.t.c. (as provided in the attached images). Some similar questions e.g. [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1095/software-to-draw-illustrative-figures-in-papers) is about illustrations as seen in the answers provided. I think my question is different, so are the answers provided different from those in the referenced question.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/olu8Z.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/z8KZB.png)<issue_comment>username_1: LaTeX offers numerous packages, e.g., [pgfplots](https://sourceforge.net/projects/pgfplots/).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There are quite a few options here, with varying levels of user-friendliness. Some I have used are:
* [Grace](http://plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il/Grace/): Quite simple to use, you input values through a \*.dat file, and can manipulate plots through a GUI. I think it's Unix OS only (Linux, MacOS). Speculation: The figures in the question look like they were made in Grace.
* [gnuplot](http://www.gnuplot.info/): Works on Windows as well as Linux and Mac. A little bit more of a step up in difficulty, as you are manipulating figures either through a script or in a terminal/command prompt.
* [Matplotlib](https://matplotlib.org/): Also works on Windows, Linux and (probably) Mac. Requires some knowledge of Python, since it is a Python package. Also generates figures through a script or IPython console. Found this to be a bit easier than gnuplot. Very good documentation.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The [R](https://www.r-project.org/) language has a number of libraries to produce [clean](http://shinyapps.org/apps/RGraphCompendium/index.php) looking graphs, for example [ggplot2](https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org/).
The example below was made with the [galluvial extension](https://github.com/corybrunson/ggalluvial) for ggplot2, one of many extensions that allow animation, interactive graphs, and more.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm a big fan of GraphPad Prism as I am not as skilled in the python, R or scripting in general (although I'm working on it). Prism is to me very intuitive and the GUI has all the buttons and taps for me to get the data to analyzed and then presented in a style very similar to the examples shown in the first post.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: Slightly tangential: When it comes to the aesthetics of the output, the main advantage of the more technical tools recommended in other answers, over Excel and similar programs, is that they have better defaults. It is possible to create good-looking charts with Excel, LibreOffice, etc., if you know all of the things you need to tweak. In order to learn what those things are, I recommend these books:
* *The Visual Display of Quantitative Information*, <NAME> (the sequels are also useful, but not as much)
* *Data Visualization: A Practical Introduction*, <NAME>
* *The Grammar of Graphics*, <NAME>
* *Preparing Scientific Illustrations*, <NAME> (thanks @[username_3](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31917/username_3)).
Reading these books will also help you get the most out of something like gnuplot or ggplot2.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Just to address your example specifically, the top example shows some signs of having been generated by MATLAB.
MATLAB has documentation about how to make such a plot [here](https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/scatter.html).
To add a little more completeness, if you know JavaScript and are looking to make a very unique visualization D3 is a nice choice that has a reasonably friendly API but gives the user very fine grained control.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Excel can be used to create most graphics. It can be a bit click-y, but for one-off graphics, Excel is often the fastest way to create a custom graphic if you already know how to use it. The trick is to not accept Excel's defaults, so it doesn't look like out-of-the-box Excel junk that can be spotted from a mile away.
The one below was created in about 15 minutes (including making up data):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bOtR0.png)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: Although it might possibly be true as some of the answers and comments state that good graphics can be produced in Excel, there is one very big downside to using Excel for scientific graphics. The major downside is that it is very easy to make mistakes in an Excel spreadsheet and very difficult to see that they have been made. Auditing a spreadsheet is exceptionally challenging - you basically have to try to reproduce the results by other means. There is a way round that problem but it involves adhering to extremely strict protocols as to the construction of the spreadsheet. Since most people produce complicated spreadsheets by starting simple and adding complications, the result will generally be unauditable (other than by reproduction).
ggplot is free to use and very easy to learn.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: There are different software is used to design creative graphics. Graphics are basically a visual representation of colors. Some of the software are as follows:
1. Illustrator
2. Adobe Photoshop
3. Adobe After Effects
These are some amazing software that graphic designers used to design a 2d and 3d eye catchy creative designs.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/06/04
| 849
| 3,332
|
<issue_start>username_0: Its a conference paper that broadly says:
"There is X, Y, Z, Biguri *et al*, articles out there, but here is a table with each of the works and their limitations, and why ours is better"
And then lists a bunch of things on my published article (about a software tool) claiming it does not contain several features. The problem is, the tool has and always had most of the features they say it hasn't. They are published and clearly demoed and showcased in the webpage.
Their paper has some credit, it is still good work and its not invalid because of their mistakes. But it is seriously misrepresenting my work.
What should one do in this case?
I was thinking on politely emailing them to let them know about their mistakes, I assume its not a malicious mistake, but more the fact that they did not take the time to properly do research. Is there anything else I can/should do?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> What should one do in this case?
>
>
>
Nothing.
>
> Is there anything else I can/should do?
>
>
>
Some journals will publish comments. You could submit a comment pointing out the error. If the paper was published by a conference, this might not be an option. In any case, it is not a good option unless the error is somehow interesting. This sounds like a boring error or misrepresentation.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: While nothing much may come of it, I think you should write them pointing out that they have missed some things about your work. Ask them for a correction, though don't expect one to occur. If you want to smooth the waters, congratulate them, also, for the good things they have done in their own work.
But letting it lie without comment serves no one well and might lead to a repeat in the future.
If you want to be a bit more aggressive, copy the conference chair on your email, but think hard about the consequences of that.
I'll assume that the errors were unintentional, in which case you should expect a good result.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: We had a mistake concerning the paper in which a certain technique was first developed. The mistake was in a preprint. After being informed of this, we fixed the mistake (so it did not appear in the publised paper) and later updated the preprint, too.
Of course, if the paper is already publised, this is less likely. If the mistake was unintentional, then the authors are unlikely to repeat it, once you let them know of it.
If the mistake was malicious, well, I doubt the situation will worsen, as long as you keep the email polite. But who knows.
Hence, it seems that at least a polite email to the authors is a reasonable course of action.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: >
> What should one do in this case?
>
>
>
I think you are right to:
>
> politely emailing them to let them know about their mistakes
>
>
>
Ideally, they will correct their mistakes in future works (e.g., in a journal version of the conference paper) and update any technical reports that they have control over. (The published manuscript cannot be changed.)
>
> Is there anything else I can/should do?
>
>
>
You could contact the publisher, perhaps they will publish a letter or an erratum. (The latter will probably require agreement from the authors.)
Upvotes: 1
|