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2019/11/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I want to apply for PhD program in mechanical engineering at Stanford. Furthermore, I want to conduct research in the area of computer vision and computer graphics with application to robotics, manufacturing and mechanical industry. However, there are not any professors in mechanical engineering department who conduct research in this area, most of the relevant professors are in Computer science or electrical engineering.
Is there a way to highlight my intent to conduct interdisciplinary research with a professor outside mechanical department in the Statement of Purpose without negatively impacting my chances to receive an offer of admission? Is applying for PhD in mechanical engineering but not intending to do research with a mechanical engineering professor viewed negatively?
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: (slight edit to clarify my perspective after reading username_2's answer)
>
> Is applying for PhD in mechanical engineering but not intending to do research with a mechanical engineering professor viewed negatively?
>
>
>
In my opinion, you're asking the wrong question. Don't ask how the admissions committee will view this, ask if you should even be considering doing this at all. And, in my opinion, you should not. And here is why:
If you are a student in mechanical engineering, you must have an advisor in mechanical engineering. You can have a co-advisor who could be from a different department. You can have committee members from a different department. But if you're in ME, your main advisor must be in ME. That person has to sign off on your dissertation. I don't think it is a good idea to have an advisor who has zero knowledge or interest in your research topic.
The advisor-advisee relationship is less of employer-employee and more like husband-wife. For example, let's just say you want to have 4 kids and live out in the country. What do you think marriage would be like to someone who wants zero kids and wants to live in downtown New york city? It will not be a happy marriage and will probably end in a painful divorce. That's what it will be like having an advisor who does not share your research interests (you can search this site for many examples of students who are in this situation).
Maybe there is someone in the department who is not currently doing what you want do, but would be *interested* in getting into that area. If so, go for it. But if not, if there is no one in the department who is *interested* in research that you want to do, then either apply to another department, apply to a different school, or find a different research topic.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If I read your question correctly, it seems that you want to do interdisciplinary work. That is highly valued in some places, even if it is a bit unusual. But to make it happen requires that you have an advisor who is on-board with the concept and that you have sufficient additional resources across the fields of study. This might mean a co-advisor. And if you have more than one, then they need to agree on a lot of things for it to be successful.
I can't speak specifically for Stanford, though it is places *like* that where is is more likely to be acceptable.
But you should explore with them, and perhaps with some individual faculty members there how feasible it is and how much support you could be offered.
I therefore disagree with the answer here of [username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/139490/75368). But don't underestimate the difficulty of setting up the circumstances in which you can be a success.
That said, there are a few students who are so self motivated and prepared that they need only very minimal guidance from their (nominal) advisor. If that is you, then it is more likely to be successful, but just as difficult to arrange initially.
In your SoP focus on the interdisciplinary aspects and on the value you see in potential outcomes. Acknowledge that you know it is a big plate, but stress your preparedness to assume the burdens. And, again, a place like Stanford is a pretty good prospect.
Alternatively, of course, you could do the same sort of thing in a different department, provided that the cross discipline support can be arranged.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/11/04
| 2,873
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently completed my Ph.D. in Germany. I believe my dissertation was evaluated extremely unfairly. For my dissertation, I published seven papers in high-impact international medical journals (IF from 3 to 6). I used four of them as core papers and three of them as additional publications. I also have six conference papers. My seven papers have been cited about 34 times so far. The first one was published in Oct 2017.
For the written theses, I had two main reviewers and one of them suggested my grade to be “strong *magna cum laude*” and the other one said it should be *cum laude*¹. Then, I was very much prepared to change the second reviewer during my defense. I did an excellent presentation and defense (that is what everyone who was there told me). The second reviewer asked only four questions during the defense. I answered them properly although one was unrelated to my work.
After the defense was over, I was told to go out with the entire audience until the review committee decided my grade. They took a long time and I was sensing there must be something they didn’t agree with. Finally, I was called to go in and one of the reviewers said: “Congratulations, you passed. Unfortunately, your grade is *cum laude.* We are stuck in the middle.” This was extremely disappointing to me and I believe the whole process was totally unfair as everyone else also think so.
As I heard from the student members who sat with the committee, this reviewer said I didn’t include a reference for the animated graph that I have produced myself, and insisted that I don’t deserve more than *cum laude.* They were fighting for a long time until the first reviewer gave up. I, my wife who also has a Ph.D. from many years ago, and the entire audience didn’t expect my grade would be like that. In fact, many believe that I am unfairly treated because of my skin color. This is the most difficult situation for me. I am very much stressed and I don’t know how much impact it will have on my career at least to get a postdoc position. What bugs me is that this reviewer doesn’t have a major point.
I am now considering to appeal to the university. But, I am scared.
I also wish to retract my thesis and submit it to another university in Germany and defend it again. Please advise me on what to do.
---
¹ There are usually four passing grade for a PhD in Germany: \*summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude\* and \*rite\* (from best to worst).<issue_comment>username_1: *At least if you are or plan to be in the United States:*
Let's come to the important point first: Nobody will ever ask you about your grade, and if they did, it would have no impact at all. The point of a PhD is to show that you're a capable researcher, and you've made that point. Beyond that, it's about the concrete accomplishments -- papers, presentations, where and what you published, etc. You have a bunch of papers in good places already, and so anyone who evaluates you has plenty to work from.
In other words, you worry unnecessarily. In the 17 years since I got my PhD, nobody has ever asked me how it was rated, and I've never asked anyone that question either. So just let it go and move on: focus on the things you can affect (your next publication) and not on the things where you feel like you didn't get a fair shake.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: ### Why it matters
In my field, *cum laude* or *rite* (the two worst German PhD grades) are rarely ever awarded and if they are, it’s usually a sign that there were major issues and a strong hint that the PhD should not consider any career aspirations in academia. Such PhDs often end in positions which mainly care about the title for its own sake (e.g., to impress customers). Your field may differ a bit, but even in law (which is known for using the entire spectrum of grades), such grades would not bode well on an academic career.
I would be careful with taking the position that the grade does not matter. As already said, the vast majority of PhDs that stay in academia have either *summa cum laude* or *magna cum laude* (the two best grades). Since getting a *summa* requires at least a bit of luck in many examination rules¹, many people do rightfully not care about the difference between the two. On the other hand, not having either is likely to raise some eyebrows and may prevent you from getting your desired position without you ever knowing why. Even if you find stories of people who had a successful academic career in your field with a *cum laude,* beware of survivor’s bias.
Moreover, many job offers in Germany (in particular at government agencies) explicitly require a very good PhD². This includes professorships to the extent that it is in the text of the respective laws (Landeshochschulgesetz), e.g., [the one for Northrhine-Westphalia states](https://recht.nrw.de/lmi/owa/br_bes_detail?sg=0&menu=1&bes_id=28364&anw_nr=2&aufgehoben=N&det_id=440677) (translation mine):
>
> Einstellungsvoraussetzungen für Hochschullehrerinnen und Hochschullehrer sind […]:
> […]
> besondere Befähigung zu wissenschaftlicher Arbeit, die in der Regel durch die Qualität einer Promotion nachgewiesen wird; […]
>
>
>
>
> ---
>
>
> Preconditions for being hired as a professor are […]:
> […]
> an outstanding qualification for scientific work, which usually is evidenced by the quality of the doctorate; […]
>
>
>
Now, this does say “usually”, which means it is technically not impossible to get a professorship with a bad PhD, only more difficult. But that already can be a severe disadvantage and may mean that you are ending up with a considerably worse position.
One function of such rules and phrases in job offers are things like avoiding nepotism or having to hire a bad candidate due to lack of better ones. Still if the criterion is phrased respectively, it may be legally impossible to hire you since you fail a hard criterion. If I found out that the successful candidate for a public job I failed to get only has a *rite,* I would certainly suspect foul play and consider legal action.
All in all, this grade may very well be career-ending.
---
¹ I know of cases where somebody did not get a *summa* only because they did not perform top-notch in a one-hour oral examination on their field of study that was unrelated to the topic of the PhD. Consider a theoretical cosmologist PhD being asked about lasers.
² Including your grades on your CV as well as providing a copy of the actual PhD certificate is the default in the hiring process, so you cannot really hide it.
### What to be scared of
>
> I am now considering to appeal to the university. But, I am scared.
>
>
>
… of what?
It sounds like you have little left to lose here.
If your PhD gets re-evaluated from scratch, you are very unlikely to end up with a worse grade.
There is a small risk that you earn a reputation over making a fuss about this, but those who care about this will also likely care about your grade.
On the other hand, if I were to consider you for a position and asked you for the story behind your grade (and I probably would), I would rather be negatively surprised if you hadn’t made a fuss.
### What to do
Now, every faculty in Germany has its own PhD rules and therefore it is difficult to make any general statement here.
However, there are several aspects of your story where my PhD rules could have kicked in:
* There would be two further members of the committee who can intervene in case of major disputes or grades being given with questionable reason or an accusation of academic misconduct (using material without a reference) against which you could not defend yourself.
* The entire committee (four professors) grades the defense.
* If the two main examiners differ by more than one grade, a third examiner would have to be consulted.
* If your thesis is deemed to have major flaws, you have to be given the opportunity to amend it.
* Grades for the thesis have to be given independently and cannot be changed afterwards. (It sounds like the “bad” examiner wanted to give a *cum laude,* so it cannot be the middle, unless he changed it to a worse grade later.)
* There is a written record of committee’s decisions.
* Nobody else would have been admitted to attend the committee making the decision. It is particularly weird that students can attend, but you cannot.
I recommend that you thoroughly read your faculty’s PhD rules and consult with whoever oversees the process (usually the dean). Also talk to the “good” examiner (your supervisor, I presume) to get a more detailed story of what happened.
Note that most PhD rules also forbid you to just submit your thesis to another university.
### Caveats
Beware that you very likely did not get the full story so far.
For example, attendees of the committee’s decision tend to primarily report the most egregious aspects even though other points had been made.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Maybe I can reveal that I actually got rite for my PhD. I think my second reviewer is a psyco who never let his PhD student passed. I think I am the first one getting away from him.
So in the end I got *rite*. He was so delighted and told me that with that grade I may not be able to find a post-doctoral position.
Outside Germany no one asks about the grade.
In Germany I still got an academy position in a research center.
I believe the grade matters. But the reality is that fewer and fewer people want to do academia and therefore you might still get a position since you are still a Made-In-Germany PhD. Best wishes to you.
[EDIT] Updated 2 years later
1. I am now still a post-doctoral researcher in the research center for the 4th year. First of all no one ask for my grade. Second my advisors are happy about what I did for them.
2. One of my friends with made-in-Germany PhD, who also got a *rite* because the second reviewer did not like his research topic, is now an association professor and also the Institute Head in our home country.
I just want to address that *rite* is not the end of the world.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Welcome to the *cum laude* club! I've been a full professor at a polytechnic in Germany since my defense, am now retired. Since there is such an inflation of *mcl* and *scl* grades, search committees for which I have read the decision book or participated in myself are more and more disregarding it. The papers (in our field, computer science) at least, especially the conferences, are the ones looked at. And as someone noted above, many professors are retiring in the next years, so there will hopefully be many positions to fill.
Trying to challenge a grade in Germany will be difficult. You can obtain the protocol of the deliberation with a freedom-of-information-act application to the official office of the university (it will differ from state to state). Generally these tend to offer little possibility for requesting redress legally, and that can take anywhere from 3-8 years, as the administrative courts are overworked.
Oops, just saw this is three years old - so tell us, what happened?
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/04
| 726
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<issue_start>username_0: The title says it all, I studied very hard I would say, and it’s seemed to amount to nothing. I mainly focused on one part of the material since we only had to solve 2 out of the 4 problems on the exam and usually 2 questions where from what I focused on. As luck had it, there was only 1 problem for what I have studied for, and the problem was very hard and I could not solve it. The other problems seemed almost unsolvable unless you have seen the trick before , which I have not. Thus I could not solve any of the problems. The exam was supposed to mimic the qualifying exam, and the mean was 65%.
I have no idea how to move forward from here. It makes me feel like I am not cut out for math graduate school. What keeps me sane is the fact that I do well on the homework’s , when I have time to look at them.
Oddly enough I think the biggest pain is the shame and feeling of disappointing the professor. I visit his office hours regularly to ask questions and I end up with a 0%.. it will be humiliating having to pick up the midterm.
Any advice as to how to move on From here would be appreciated. Should I treat this as a wake up call and start studying harder and use this as motivation? Or should I just give up?<issue_comment>username_1: Remember exams are supposed to measure your mastery of the material, and if you focus on only two out of four topics, you haven't mastered all the material - at best you've mastered 50%. Trying to game a passing score this way is not a winning strategy; even if it works, you'll come out of grad school thinking you barely learned anything ([example](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/139506/ms-in-mathematics-and-no-desire-to-teach-what-next)).
That said, one failed midterm isn't the end of your graduate program. It's likely even one failed course isn't the end either. You will however need to step up your game. If you're able to do the homework but not the exams, figure out why. You alluded to you being able to "having time to look at the homework". If this is the reason, then you must work faster. Try doing the homework problem with solution covered up, and timing yourself. Repeat it several times. The time you need should go down, and if you can do that, you can solve the exam questions in the time available too.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Don't think to much about being ashame for scoring low. One of my professor pointed out that we should be mature, meaning don't just look at the score, look at what you learn. Even if you can't solve it in class you should talk to someone, e.g. your professor, to know how to solve it, and that helps you learn.
Remember your (short term) goal is to pass the qual, your course and midtem is just a way to help you achieve this goal. Nobody will care about what you scored on one midterm after the qual.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/04
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<issue_start>username_0: 10 years ago, I got an undergraduate degree in IT/CompSci from a good school. I spent most of my hours playing video games or drinking beer, and learned only enough to get a barely passing GPA. I never used the degree, as I joined the military and did the minimum amount of time for my paid education and got out.
7 years later, in 2016, after traveling and busing tables for a couple years, I realized that I had been wasting my life. I realized that learning is cool, and that I'd wasted a great opportunity both to learn interesting things and to have a rewarding career. So, I decided to go back to school.
I applied the graduate Math program at WVU, for no other reason that I got a B in Calc 2, one of my highest grades in undergrad. They let me in even though my undergrad GPA was abysmal (2.5 or so), and that I didn't have any of the prerequisite math classes to get in. I agreed to spend the first two semesters taking undergraduate differential equations, basic linear algebra, proof writing, etc. After that, I started taking a full load of graduate courses. After three years, I survived to get a piece of paper, but having retained little actual mathematical ability.
I was exposed to a lot of math, but because I was so far behind the learning curve, very little of it stuck. I was too busy trying to pass/survive to be able to learn much. What I did pick up lies mostly in the realms of numerical methods and differential equations. It is important to note that I learned almost nothing, even in these two areas. I graduated this summer, and can only talk in very vague terms about what I was exposed to.
Now, I am unemployed and wondering why I ever gave up waiting tables. I can program a little. I can read a math textbook without my brain exploding, and that's about it.
Now, I spend about 10 hours a day reading textbooks on ODEs and Numerical Methods, as well as working practice programming exercises from Project Euler and sites like it. I'm slowly working through Khan Academy's probability and statistics courses, as I never learned any of that in school.
It's dismal. I'm depressed because I worked so hard to try to bring myself up and correct a life time of laziness. I'm still working at it every day. My wife goes to work, and I read until my eyes bleed, occasionally checking my email for the most recent employer rejection letter. Now it seems like I should never have left waiting tables.
So what's the question here? This:
**What do I do? What do I study, and how long is it going to take before I know enough to be marketable?**
I can teach community college, but the thing is i *loved* the stuff that was covered in school, and I want to apply it. Sad thing is, I'm too dumb to get a job at anything but teaching algebra to bored college kids who don't want to be in class.<issue_comment>username_1: **Get a job**. Don't do more studying - you already indicate that you 1) are not good at it and 2) don't have a good reason to do it (you would effectively be doing it because you're avoiding the job market). It doesn't matter how much you love the topic if you're terrible at it. In fact I would question that you actually love the stuff because if you do, how did you learn so little?
So: figure out what you're good at + don't hate doing, and get a job there. Make use of the job-seeking resources you have at your disposal, e.g. WVU has a [career services division](https://careerservices.wvu.edu/), go talk to them and get their help. Stop reading about ODEs and start reading about how to navigate the job search process. Talk to your wife - she's got a job, that means she's done something you haven't.
One more thing - do some critical thinking about what you actually learned during your MS. If someone hires you, what can you contribute? If you go into an interview genuinely thinking you can contribute little, it's not surprising that you're getting rejected everywhere.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't have enough reputation to comment so I just add an answer here.
Since you insist on learning instead of just getting a job, instead of asking **what do I learn**, perhaps you should ask **how do I learn**, given that you have already recongized you didn't learn efficiently during your master degree.
If there's a university where you live, you could try sitting at classes there and talk to students and faculties. The point is that if you are not good at learning this stuff you need to talk to the others. In your situation only working on books on your own is not that helpful.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all, jobhunting s u c k s. It sucks even more when you're trying to get into a field and it sucks further if you're not in a major metro area. It's a massive timesink with terrible ROI, but it needs to be done in order to get a job at all. The truth is that whether you get hired isn't going to just depend on your skills and experience, but also on whether the person reading your résumé *thinks* your skills and experience line up with what they *think* they want, and you don't have a lot of control over that. So honestly it's impossible to predict how long it will take before you find something.
That being said, your situation really doesn't sound so horrible to me. You're interested in and studying things that (1) you want to do and (2) employers are looking for. You have a master's degree in a marketable field. As for whether you feel you learned much during your degree, it sounds to me like you're just in a bad place with a killer case of impostor syndrome. Some employers might want to see your transcript, but they're a lot more interested in what you can do for them. So maybe try putting together a portfolio of the kind of work you want to do, which might include models or software that you developed or small projects that you did for free or for cheap for someone. (These are pretty standard suggestions.)
Finally, you can't be everything to everyone. It might feel like you need to cast as wide a net as possible, but it sounds to me like you might be spreading yourself thin and that's contributing to your frustration. Narrow it down some by considering where your best bets are in your geographic area and what you really want to do. For example, if coding is the right path, then back-burner the modeling, or vice versa. Good luck.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Get around people! A lot of people want to help you, you just have to find them.
How do you do that? Go to meetups and groups. Heck, go to church, there are a lot of nice people there. Meet people and if they seem like someone who would give a care about you, tell them about your situation. They can help you much better in person. They can give you advice that is more relevant to your situation because you can have a longer conversation with them. You may have to talk to a number of people. But the insight they give will really help give you fresh perspective that short answers on the internet will not be able to match. You will also gain friends in the process who are rooting for you to succeed. One thing we don't learn in school very much is how important other people are to our success. **But often the biggest breakthroughs in our lives come when others help show us new ways of thinking that lead to success.** And when you are in person it is much easier to have a dialog. By the way, good job on having the courage to reach out with a question online!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: First thing: congratulations on starting to get your life together.
Many good suggestions here. I have one more. While you search for a job, consider volunteering in a semitechnical capacity for some nonprofit or political organization whose goals you support. With your IT/compsci skills (even if rusty) and your ability to think mathematically you can be useful. You will sharpen those skills, meet people who may know about jobs, and have a good item to put on your resume.
And listen to your wife.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: You need to get rid of one big misunderstanding which plagues many students who "went to college to learn interesting stuff" and then failed to get a job.
Nobody in industry *cares* about the "stuff" that you learned in college (or what you are teaching yourself about ODEs and numerical methods from textbooks - most of the standard topics they cover were the state of the art back in about 1960, but you may have noticed that computers have changed a bit since then.)
What industry *does* care about is that getting a college degree *taught you how to learn independently*. Your college GPA might not be a very good measure of that, but it's about the only one available. It is certainly better than nothing as a measure of your ability to focus on doing what you are being asked to do (even when it's not particularly interesting or motivating), your time management skills, etc.
The other thing that industry cares about when choosing who to hire is "how much money are you going to make for us if we hire you?" Of course they don't put it quite as crudely as that, but that's what is behind everything else in the selection process.
Your work experience and military experience probably taught you a lot more *useful* stuff relevant to getting hired than anything you learned in college. Stop reading textbooks and start thinking hard (and/or get some professional advice) about how to sell *that* story to your potential future employers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: There are some other good answers here but none of them give concrete steps to your questions of
"What do I do? What do I study, and how long is it going to take before I know enough to be marketable?"
This is probably because these are questions that only you can answer for yourself, but based on your question and your profile description of wanting to use math and programming together, and your recent interest in statistics I think that is where you should focus your attention. Obviously I'm biased as a biostatistician but your background seems like a perfect fit for applied statistics (a good amount of math and a good amount of programming) and it's not like I'm alone in saying it's a good job either (<https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/statistician>).
What do I do? - If you are spending 10 hours a day studying, get a certificate or Masters (online or in person) for it. That way instead of saying I read x,y,and z, books on ODE's you can say I got a graduate certificate in Python, or something related. This is much more tangible to an employer. There are many online programs in applied statistics/ data science and the American Statistical Association has been highlighting these programs (<https://community.amstat.org/blogs/steve-pierson/2019/10/21/amstat-news-qas-featuring-new-masters-and-doctoral>). You will not be getting the same training as your previous masters, the emphasis in many of these programs is heavily applied, you will learn how to do machine learning with real data for example instead of learning the theory of machine learning (something you can probably teach yourself if interested/needed).
What do I study? - Based on the jobs you are applying for in your comment, stop studying ODE's and Numerical methods, or apply for jobs where the application of these methods is more obvious. You seem to want to use programming, pick a language and get good at it. I would suggest R or Python since they are in high demand and will teach you basics of programming that you can apply to other languages.
How long is it going to take before I know enough to be marketable? - Realistically at least a year, you need to have some proof you are a desirable candidate, that means degree/certificate/projects you can show off but along the way you just have to keep applying for jobs.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Suggestion: stop learning **ODEs** and learn **Data Science**. Nothing against ODEs, but there are very few jobs in that area directly. but Data Science on the other hand is very hot, and likely to stay so. And you have the background to get it faster than those that struggle with the math (and there are a lot of those even in this field), and it is a highly employable and enjoyable field.
The competition is relatively thin, There are very few degree programs still, so almost no one in the field actually has much in the way of paper qualifications. The best of course have a doctorate in Statistical Learning - and can code well - but people like that are few and far between. You having an advanced degree in Math actually gives you a leg up over most people.
Most practitioners have just completed a few Coursera or eDX courses, and played with Python and R, and discovered that they like it and can actually get useful things done. Talent helps. But still most have some kind of imposter syndrome to my experience too, so that should make it a bit easier on you.
If you are interested need more advice, let me know - I mentor quite a few junior people in this area in my company.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: I was in a comparable situation a few years back: I was stuck on a CS BSc thesis that wasn't going anywhere fast with an obscure and unmarketable topic. Also, I had no relevant work experience. I managed to improve my situation through a couple of different things.
The best way to get a job is to have a job
==========================================
Finding a perfect job rightaway is hard. All the nice jobs require prior experience. So clearly, you need to get experience. Start a step lower, find a job that will take you, and then work your way up to something you like for the long term.
I got my foot in the door by working for an IT secondment firm that mainly hired STEM students with "stuck" degrees, like people dropping out of a physics or engineering bachelor in second or third year. They were smart people with problem solving skills but no nice employable diploma. They made *amazing* helpdesk staff: competent and cheap to employ. For me, it was a good entry to the job market; I got to get used to working in a big company, and I pursued the internal training opportunities.
I then pursued internal trainings in the secondment firm, which both gave me new skills but also brought me to the attention of senior colleagues who then knew what kind of gigs to put me on, which eventually landed me in a nice junior development job.
Evaluate what skills you have
=============================
Reset your mind. Try to find out what marketable skills you have. There may be more than you know.
* You've gained soft skills while waiting tables.
* You've spent time in the army, learning both physical skills but also discipline.
* You've actually managed to graduate from higher, which is still higher than the majority of the population does.
This is just a start, my point is that you need to get an idea of what skills you actually have. Here are some ideas on how to find out what you already have:
* Take a whole day to browse job listings for positions you're interested in on LinkedIn and Glassdoor, and note down what skills are asked for. Then, try to find things in your background that qualify you for those skills. Finally, compose a list of the frequently asked skills that you turn out to have. Update your CV, describing in your previous positions how you learned those skills.
* Contact the career counselor at the university you recently graduated at. Most universities are keen to advertise that their graduates are successful at the job market, and provide services to help make that actually happen. Try to schedule an interview focused on exploring where your opportunities lie.
* Reach out to people you were in the army with, and have a chat with them, ask them how they've been able to use their army experience to boost their civilian career. Consider which skills also apply to you.
Treat the search for jobs as a research project
===============================================
As a science grad it can be easy to think of math as a science and job searching as some sort of magic trick that other people are mysteriously good at. But in fact it's a skill, and other people have put a lot of thought into how to get better at it. So start reading up on how to be better at interviews, writing CVs and all that. Use what you've learned in university for doing research, to research how to get better at job hunting.
Find out what's missing in your skillset
========================================
Just like you need to find out what skills you already have, you also need to find out what's missing. Again, go read fifty++ job postings in a field you want to work in, and list the required skills. Count frequencies. Figure out which skills/platforms are generally asked as a package deal. Then look at which clusters you already many of the required skills for, and what's missing.
Get coding
==========
One question that you'll get (in many forms) is "what have you actually done". For example, you mention data science as a direction you're looking at. Look for some competitions in a field you like and try your hand at some competitions. [Kaggle](https://www.kaggle.com/competitions) for example (data science). You're not going to win; a lot of these teams are very practiced. But there are some real benefits for you in participating:
* When you get asked in a job interview what you've done in the field, you have something to point to. "I did this and this and this Kaggle competition and scored better each time" sounds like experience, because it is.
* You learn skills by *doing* that you can't get by just reading.
* These competitions have very active forums and you can learn a lot from what the other teams are doing and sharing.
* You might make some connections with other participants that can help you.
I mentioned before that the best way to get a job is to start by having another job. This is the next best thing, and it's got a huge advantage for you: you don't need anyone's approval to get in. You don't have to get hired into a competition.
Don't obsesss about certifications
==================================
There are many, many, maaaany certifications in IT. Nobody has all of them. Many people don't even have all the ones that you would think are standard for a particular job, or that get asked on a job posting. For many jobs, meeting 2/3 of the listed requirements can be enough to be considered. Because IT platforms change all the time and almost nobody uses software like the manual tells you to, so every company knows they'll have to train new employees anyway. A certification *helps*, even one in something fairly unrelated, because it shows you can work hard enough to get it, and it shows you're trainable. But don't worry about having all of the ones in a job listing.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: >
> but the thing is i loved the stuff that was covered in school, and I want to apply it
>
>
>
I'm going to give you an outside-the-box suggestion that may or may not intrigue you: consider going into a *different* field where you can apply the topics that interest you. A lot of mathematics historically was developed in conjunction with other sciences to help describe the natural world. Look at <NAME> and <NAME> and their contributions to the life sciences.
Here's how this might look for you:
1. Find a field that interests you and has a need for mathematicians. Extremely math heavy fields like physics might be harder to get into because they'll have higher base standards of math, but other "softer" sciences like sociology, economics, psychology, biology, ecology, etc, do not have that same expectation. Research in these fields ranges from very applied to very theoretical. The problem is, most people that go into these fields are not very advanced in math, so the theoretical end of the spectrum tends to be lacking. This could be your niche.
2. Go into a master's research program in said field. A master's won't necessarily give you the flexibility to do exactly what you want, but it will give you necessary background in the field and help you decide if you want to continue this route. Master's research programs are generally paid; you won't necessarily make a lot of money doing it, but unless you're waiting tables at fancy restaurants, it's probably not going to be much worse. You shouldn't have to take out loans for a MS degree doing research.
3. Then go onto a PhD program where you have the flexibility to do what you want with math. This could be applying advanced mathematical concepts in a novel way to the field you are now in, or maybe even finding a way to use your new field to drive discovery of new mathematical concepts. The pay situation is similar to a MS. Meanwhile, depending on the field, your course requirements are probably going to be flexible enough that you can probably take graduate math courses as part of your PhD program.
4. Postdocs are an optional step that may appeal to you. They give you more flexibility in defining your own research.
5. Going into an academic research position may be your end point. Here, you have the flexibility to define exactly what you want to research, how theoretical/applied it will be, and develop a lab of graduate students with similar interests to help support you while you simultaneously support and train them.
Now, I'm going to give you some perspectives/examples about this from my view as a wildlife ecologist/geneticist/programmer:
First: ecology, in particular, is interesting because it is a nexus science that incorporates virtually every other field you can imagine, including physics, chemistry, law, economics, geology, biology, psychology, etc. This means there is a lot of flexibility in how people curate their interests and careers.
Second, going into grad school, I had a strong background in computer science and well above strength in math (I've always enjoyed math and almost switched to mathematics in my undergrad). Programming and math are both very valuable in ecology, and especially rare for incoming students to have any level of proficiency (most students only have a rudimentary calculus background, if that, and no programming experience). My background has given me a huge advantage in conducting advanced and interesting research. I'm actually planning on taking some of the graduate-level math courses in things like modern analysis, linear algebra, etc, and my advisor, who is not a math person but recognizes its importance in theoretical ecology and genetics, is very supportive of this.
Third, ecology, and probably other "soft" sciences as well, tend to be flexible about the backgrounds of incoming graduate students. I did have a background in biological sciences from my undergrad, but I know people that have come from completely different backgrounds. In one case, a friend did her undergrad and masters in some form of engineering (mechanical?) and worked for NASA. She then completely shifted gears and started a PhD in quantitative ecology and had a successful degree doing black bear research. Being able to pitch a strong math/engineering background is what got her in, despite no background in ecology that I'm aware of.
Fourth, related to the previous point, it's common in my field for people to start grad school late. I started my MS 5 years after my undergrad. I know people that started their PhD's in their mid- to late-thirties. Age isn't so much a factor for developing a career in some fields like mine.
Fifth, ecology, and other sciences as well, develop many theories based on mathematical concepts. It's really common for these theories to be developed based on mathematical concepts that are decades old (or older); often they just weren't applied earlier because people with the necessary background and expertise to do so are rare. So there's plenty of opportunity to do this type of thing. Network/graph theory is one relatively recent example in ecology, and the application is still relatively rudimentary.
Fifth, related to the previous, I recently was involved with applying absorbing Markov chains to predicting the dispersal and mortality of wildlife populations across landscapes. This process involved interdepartmental collaboration with mathematicians/engineers to develop the relevant theory.
If I've piqued your interest, just start looking into different fields, the theories they operate under, and the math underpinning those theories. I can't speak for other fields, but in ecology I can point you to [quantitative ecology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_ecology) and [theoretical ecology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_ecology). That's just a starting point, because math is ultimately relevant to all aspects of ecology. In my case, I'm interested in theoretical population genetics in ecology, which is also very math heavy.
If you find something that interests you, then consider finding university researchers that do related work and try digging into what they do specifically. Contact them to discuss their work and how someone with your type of background could potentially become involved in their field. Some might not respond, but others will be very supportive. Ultimately, your success down this path will depend less on your formal education and more on how you pitch the skill and background you have, as well as your ability to show initiative.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: You should be somewhere in your early 30s, that's not too late. Go to programming: you can learn the basic skills online (leetcode is a great place, for example) in about a year or so, then join an open source project of your choosing for about a year or so as well - to show that you can apply those skills. That, plus your math creds should give you a resume that's good enough for an entry level job.
The reason what you are studying is not sticking is because you are not applying your skills - the "use them or lose them" adage. Switching to programming will let you learn for real if you combine the theory you read with the practice. I was kind of in your shoes, but I was able to pull myself together and start a good programming career. If you are interested, I can post specific tips in comments.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: If you understand math to a decent level, I think you're more than fit for a career in machine learning. Since you can also program, that's another advantage for you. The nice thing is that ML is a tool, rather than a "destination". You can use it to solve a lot of problems, from many different domains, which will interest you beyond just doing what the boss says to do.
I can highly recommend <https://course.fast.ai>. I haven't done it personally as they came up a bit after I already graduated and found a job requiring these skills. I looked through the course to recommend it to my pears and I learned new things myself, which indicated how arrogant I was to consider I knew *enough* of deep learning.
But don't listen to me. Go on Twitter and see what people say about fast.ai and <NAME>. It's incredible. Every day I see success stories from people of all kinds of backgrounds, some who say didn't do much coding before. And then look through the forums. I'm in awe of how supportive people there are and how complete strangers help each other learn and progress while solving real-life problems.
So, **TL;DR**: use your math and coding advantage in a highly sought-after area by learning deep learning and applying it to new problems that are of interest to you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: If you have programming skills and some passion for programming, consider contributing to some existing open source project on your spare time.
There are many of them, e.g. on <http://github.com/> or <http://gitlab.com/>
If you work with others, you will learn those soft skills (communicating, working in a team on software development). And you'll increase your self confidence.
But contribute with your real first and last name, not a pseudo. You want to raise your visibility
Read also <http://norvig.com/21-days.html>
Did you consider getting some help from a psychotherapist?
PS. If you are able to code in C or C++, I have a crazy open source hobby project with two partners, and I am seeking for a few more of them. Contact me by email to `<EMAIL>` for more... (Look on [my web page](https://starynkevitch.net/Basile/index_en.html) before... you might guess what I am interested in).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: I graduated with a Computer Science degree in 2016 with low grades. It took me 6 months to get my first job as a junior dev. The advice I can give you for getting a development role is that you create a website and put your CV there(like a portfolio/bio). These days if you show in the first 5 minutes of the interview that you have a website live that will immediately put you above the average person.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_15: Your story sounds reasonably similar to mine a few years ago. I somehow got a maths degree, but neither with good grades nor with some really deep and relevant kmowledge. Got problems finding a job because a job requires work experience and work experience requires a job.
I actually found a programming job in the end, one year after graduation. What helped me?
* it was an SQL job and many programmers do not like SQL
* Apparently studying maths tought me to look out for traps and special cases. The company sent me a small test project with some easy-to-spot corner cases, which they said the majority of applicants had ignored
What might have helped me even more?
* Have someone with relevant (recruiting) experience have a look at my cv and documents
* Have trained how to read other people's code
* Have better knowledge of somewhat peripheral aspects such as version control, unit tests, continous integration systems etc. This is nothing one cannot learn on the job, but if HR is just ticking a list, these things may be helpful
* Be slightly more explicit about the humble and down-to-earth odd jobs taken previously. I.E not "odd jobs", but "odd jobs (production line, construction, restaurants etc)"
I think it may also help if you get some understanding just how much above average your maths skills are. In programming, there will eventually be some point where calculations are necessary. I have had coworkers who regularly struggled with linear interpolation (a.k.a. rule of three):or who could not grasp how 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 could possibly be not exactly the same as 0.3 when calculated on a computer. Having a math guy in the team really can be an asset even if the maths does not go much beyond what can be learnt at high school.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently applying for PhD positions in the US, having completed a Master's degree in Engineering in the UK and then working in Industry for the past 13 years. I'm a bit confused as to the extent to which (if at all) a Master's thesis is considered to be 'published'?
To my knowledge, my Master's thesis was not officially published on the University website. However, I have seen some cases where Master's theses at some institutions are available online from the affiliated institution's website. To what extent are these 'available online' Master's theses considered to be published?
If they are not considered published then, if someone completes a Master's thesis and publishes it online, but doesn't follow-up by publishing it in a journal (perhaps they don't go on to do a PhD), then what is to prevent another academic taking those results and publishing them as their own? Is that considered 'fair game' in academia?
The background to this on my side is that my Master's thesis was a very successful project and was received very well at the time by the faculty in the Engineering school I studied in. It probably could have been turned into a research paper; however, given that I made the decision to start a career in Industry, I didn't push to publish the results in an academic journal at the time.
More recently, I have come across a paper that was published a few years later by researchers I am not familiar with at another institution, which seems very similar to my Master's thesis (I'd say ~75-80% the same content). Now, I am not accusing them of plagiarism - it's quite possible they may have discovered the same thing independently. However, I am just wondering, in general, to what extent a Master's thesis posted online is considered to be 'published' and how it is perceived in Academia if someone was to 'plagiarize' a Master's thesis.
I guess a follow-on question relating to my situation is: how much of this (if any) should I mention in my applications for PhD programs?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> To what extent are these 'available online' Master's theses considered to be published?
>
>
>
In academia, *published* typically means included in conference proceedings or a journal by a publisher in some format (typically a printed book) that has an ISBN. A thesis is not published, under that definition. Nonetheless, an unpublished thesis needn't be private, e.g., it may appear online and it may be available in university library.
>
> what is to prevent another academic taking [someone's Master's thesis] and publishing them as their own? Is that considered 'fair game' in academia?
>
>
>
Such behaviour isn't prevented, but it would destroy a career, so it is uncommon.
>
> to what extent a Master's thesis posted online is considered to be 'published' and how it is perceived in Academia if someone was to 'plagiarize' a Master's thesis.
>
>
>
Such a thesis isn't published, but that's not the main issue: Academic fraud is intolerable and fraudsters will suffer severe consequences.
>
> how much of this (if any) should I mention in my applications for PhD programs?
>
>
>
I don't see any reason to mention any of it. Do you? (Perhaps add a comment if you do.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Let me clarify that published may be a bit ambiguous. When your thesis is accepted and your degree is awarded, it becomes part of the university’s archives. A few decades ago that meant a dusty copy in the university library. Nowadays it’s a publicly available repository that anyone can access. So in that sense, yes: your thesis was made public and has undergone peer review by your advisor and committee.
This is usually considered less prestigious than having your results published in a reputable journal or conference but it makes the results no less yours. Taking them and publishing them as one’s own is gross academic misconduct that’d cause serious damage to one’s career if found out.
Independent discovery is common, especially if you didn’t publish your results in a high profile venue. So someone else coming up with similar findings shouldn’t surprise you too much (great minds etc.).
I would not mention this in the CV as it’s not an achievement you can reasonably claim (someone thinking of a similar idea and publishing it is hardly a feather in your cap).
That said, it may be worthwhile to mention it if the other paper turned out to be impactful or published in a well respected venue. In that case I’d say (in the research statement): my thesis was about X; interestingly, Smith et al have independently discovered my approach, and recently published the result in *Nature*. Their paper has since been cited 1423 times according to *favorite metrics site* and has given rise to a whole research field studying the effects of X.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/11/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am attempting to identify how Google Scholar chooses which publications to rank highly in search results.
I'm aware that Google Scholar uses metadata from academic websites, but therein my understanding of the process ends.
My query: What parts of Google Scholar's process for indexing and ranking search results is public, and where can that information be found?<issue_comment>username_1: I think it is part of Googles business model to keep that information secret. If they specified how the rank is calculated people would try to game the system and it would become less useful.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Here is what the [about page](https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/about.html) says:
>
> Google Scholar aims to rank documents the way researchers do, weighing the full text of each document, where it was published, who it was written by, as well as how often and how recently it has been cited in other scholarly literature.
>
>
>
Here is an academic article that attempted to deconstruct the ranking algorithm: [Beel et al 2009, PDF](https://www.scss.tcd.ie/joeran.beel/pubs/Google%20Scholar%27s%20Ranking%20Algorithm%20--%20An%20Introductory%20Overview%20--%20preprint.pdf)
They suggest that two key factors were the citation count (more citations pushes the article higher up the search list) and the search term appearing in the title. They review a wide range of features.
Note that the article is 10 years old and the algorithm has presumably been updated over the years.
### References
* <NAME>., & <NAME>. (2009, July). Google Scholar’s ranking algorithm: an introductory overview. In Proceedings of the 12th international conference on scientometrics and informetrics (ISSI’09) (Vol. 1, pp. 230-241).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2019/11/05
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<issue_start>username_0: I have just began my first year as a math graduate student at a US school. I am having an issue in the fact that
During my undergraduate years, I would only take 2-3 classes a semester, and usually only one or two of them were a math class. This got me used to a particular style of learning; I always had as much time as I wanted to spend on any particular topic; I would read about the topic from different books, read about the history of the topic, etc. I feel like I learned very slowly, but what I did learn, I learned well.
Now I am in grad school, and the atmosphere is completely different. I have 3 math classes which move very fast, and assign a lot of homework. I feel like I do not really have time to learn the material well; I learn the material just barely enough to to do the homework and pass the exams, and then I have to immediately push on to the next topic. I solve the problems and try to understand the theorems/proofs, but then one week later I often retain very little. I always feel like I need 2-3 more passes over the material to learn it well, I never get a chance to do it.
I feel like some of those undergrads who just learn the material to pass the class, not really to use it. But this is terrible to do as a grad student, since math is supposed to be my specialty.
My question is, is this common? I am trying to figure out if this is normal, or if I handicapped myself in undergrad by taking it too easy. It seems to me like there are some students who retain information much better; they study much less than me, and seem to recall information from weeks before, and I can't do that.<issue_comment>username_1: If you're putting the time in, successfully doing the homework, and passing the exams, then you're doing fine. The first year of grad school in mathematics should be thought of as a horrible bootcamp to get through rather than a deep learning opportunity. How comfortable someone is during their first year is mostly a function of what their undergrad experience was like. So it might be true that your undergrad program was less strenuous than that of some of your fellow students, but if you're keeping up, you're getting the job done.
Depending on your learning preferences, you might find that things percolate better if you work with others. I would also suggest that you keep good, searchable records for what you want to get back to at a later date. This will be especially helpful when it comes to prepping for written exams.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There are memory systems that assist many peole in better retaining information.
Typically it is recommended that you review material repeatedly woth decreasing frequency. I could dig up links, but, so can you and you will better know what suits you.
That said:
This may be useful [Active Recall](https://wiki2.org/en/Active_recall) wikipedia
&
[How to Improve Memory for Studying in 27 Ways](https://www.chegg.com/study-101/improve-memory-studying/)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Your intuition that you need multiple passes to learn the material is correct. Retrieving material several times from long term memory ([spaced repetition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition)) will keep that material accessible to you for much longer than cramming. Another effective technique is to try to teach the material to someone, even if it's a stuffed animal -- by having to explain what you've learned, you not only retain it better, but you uncover gaps in your knowledge.
Between semesters, I'd recommend reading a book on learning. One I really like is [Teach Yourself How to Learn](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1620367564), but there are a number of equally good books on the subject. Find one that focuses more on how to understand material with short, focused sessions rather that just spending more time, because short focused sessions are way more effective.
Also, don't skimp on things like sleep, exercise, and nutrition. I felt I never had time for any of that in grad school, but I found if I did a quick 30 minute run I was so much more focused afterwards (and less stressed!) that I was enough more effective when I got back that it was a net gain for my studies.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: In one of my PhD papers I am using a statistical model that is not known in my field, and many readers (including my PhD supervisors) will not be familiar with it. I therefore dedicate a subsubsection of the paper to describing the method. Essentially I restate the mathematics of the original paper and describe how certain variables and parameters ought to be interpreted for the research question under consideration.
In light of recent PhD thesis plagiarism scandals in Germany, I try to be extra careful to make sure the audience understands that I am not claiming any original authorship over the method or even the presentation of the mathematics (which by nature of similar) in my own paper, but merely include because it will be difficult to understand my work otherwise.
How would you recommend going about this?
* This subsubsection will be 2-3 pages in a paper of roughly 20 pages (excluding all tables and references)
* Not describing the method accurately and simply referencing the original paper and ask the reader to look it up themselves, seem like a less appealing solution right now.<issue_comment>username_1: I suspect you're overthinking this. I would just write something like:
>
> II. Related Work
>
>
> A. Statistical Model
>
>
> Our work uses a statistical model from X *et al* [44]. As this model is of fundamental importance in our work, we will present a thorough summary of their work in this subsection.
>
>
> ...
>
>
> B. Something Else.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You could put this statistic background into an appendix of the paper instead of the main body. Give it proper credit and then nobody should get the mistaken impression that you claim this to be your own work.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently a post-doc researcher for two-months at a department (say A). I also graduated with my PhD from the same dept. The post-doc is not funded with any project but with department money and I am expected (pushed) to bring funding from industry partners as soon as possible.
I recently got another post-doc offer where they already have project funding. The place is closer to my home, but I have heard some poor remarks about PI. The project is also well-aligned with my PhD work.
My question/confusion is as follows: my PhD supervisor at department A, who works remotely, insists that I should not leave the current position. She is a great person and I loved working with her. I have also heard that it will not be good on my CV to switch post-doc so quickly (just after 2 months).
Does anyone have experience regarding this? Is it really true that switching positions will look bad on CV?
Many thanks everyone in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: Not all. Switching post-docs especially from your home institution is very well accepted. If you are not interested in obtaining industry funding, that is a legitimate reason. Wanting to increase your networks and work closer to home, are all very good strong reasons as well.
The issue is how to maintain relations with your PhD supervisor and also, how to smooth over any animosity that may result if you leave. Maybe communicating how much you respect her, and how much you loved working with her may be a good first step...
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Your primary goal during a post-doc is to improve your chances to land a permanent job in academia. You should compare both jobs with that goal in mind. Especially interesting is the recent track record of both PIs: How many top publications did they recently have? How many of their graduates have made it to permanent jobs? You should absolutely watch out for "red flags" that may make your life difficult, like (trustworthy) hints about a poor working environment. Based on your comment, there is a reason to be a bit skeptical, and you are well-advised to seek more information.
Generally, switching to a different place after your PhD is a good idea. You want to communicate the idea that you can do a good job in different environments and with different people. You also don't need to be concerned about switching after two months. It's quite typical that people do a few post-doc months at their PhD institution while looking for a job somewhere else. (If you're still worried, you don't even have to mention in your CV that the last two months were a post-doc; you can just specify the duration of the full employment at your home institution, and that did your PhD there.)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: It sometimes happens that I receive referee requests for theoretical papers which deals with the same phenomena I do in my research, but from a totally different specific theoretical starting point. I am familiar enough with the "competitors'" theoretical framework that I can read the papers, but they more often than not, it seems that the papers I receive are limited to only basic results of the kind I would not publish myself, but rather leave for my memoirs or a lecture note.
I realize that I am of course a bit biased, since I actively dislike that theoretical framework. For that reason I also have a hard time judging if the papers actually make some kind of incremental contribution, which would warrant publication.
For these reasons, I mostly decline reviewing such papers. But recently I have started to doubt whether I am, in this way, a bit too soft. If everyone, who are not active researchers in that very specific theoretical framework, decline to review their papers, we just end up with a lot of sub-par research being published. On the other hand, I don't want to become one of those petty referees, who will only accept papers that does the kind of theory that I find best.
Are there any good solutions to this dilemma?<issue_comment>username_1: Not all. Switching post-docs especially from your home institution is very well accepted. If you are not interested in obtaining industry funding, that is a legitimate reason. Wanting to increase your networks and work closer to home, are all very good strong reasons as well.
The issue is how to maintain relations with your PhD supervisor and also, how to smooth over any animosity that may result if you leave. Maybe communicating how much you respect her, and how much you loved working with her may be a good first step...
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Your primary goal during a post-doc is to improve your chances to land a permanent job in academia. You should compare both jobs with that goal in mind. Especially interesting is the recent track record of both PIs: How many top publications did they recently have? How many of their graduates have made it to permanent jobs? You should absolutely watch out for "red flags" that may make your life difficult, like (trustworthy) hints about a poor working environment. Based on your comment, there is a reason to be a bit skeptical, and you are well-advised to seek more information.
Generally, switching to a different place after your PhD is a good idea. You want to communicate the idea that you can do a good job in different environments and with different people. You also don't need to be concerned about switching after two months. It's quite typical that people do a few post-doc months at their PhD institution while looking for a job somewhere else. (If you're still worried, you don't even have to mention in your CV that the last two months were a post-doc; you can just specify the duration of the full employment at your home institution, and that did your PhD there.)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: My PhD research will be in numerical modeling of Selective laser melting (SLM) process. I will be using finite element method, Fortran and python programming and a bit of machine learning in my research. My research is going to be completely computational based. I will be using Abaqus finite element analysis software for my research.
I took three courses (Finite Element Analysis, Mechanical behavior of materials and Numerical methods in scientific research) as part of my grad school requirements. I have a background in metallurgical engineering.
Now, I have got B-, A-, B+ grades in the three courses respectively. And I had worked hard for these courses, probably should have worked harder. My advisor says the grades and courses are a formality and I should focus on my research as I will learn more by doing than through any coursework.
It's true that I won't be developing any finite element code for my research and I will learn programming and fundamentals of material behavior as I go about my research, I am concerned that the abysmal grades in the courses is an indication to my research and future academic career inability. Is it? Any advice?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> My advisor says the grades and courses are a formality and I should focus on my research as I will learn more by doing than through any coursework.
>
>
>
Your advisor is right. Listen to him. Class in an engineering Ph. D. program mean very little. Research is more important by an order of magnitude.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It is true that research matters much more than coursework in graduate studies (if you get a paper in *Science* then no one will care if you got a B- in some random course). I half-jokingly tell my students that they should get the *minimal* grades needed to keep their scholarship.
That said, bad grades in your own field of study are not a *positive* indication of your research and future academic career potential. I would not ignore this. Go over the class materials again, see what might be relevant to your own research and make sure you become an expert in these things. If you didn't do well because you were focused on research and didn't work hard, then that would be another matter. You yourself mention you worked very hard on the coursework and still didn't manage to get it right. This could be a number of things, but still - take this as an opportunity for self-improvement.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: First, let me say that I don't know exactly how bad your grades are since I do not know the rules in your country.
My impression is that you care too much about grades. A single grade (or even three) is often not only related to how you do in the subject, but also to many other things -- how strict the prof grades, in what kind of mental state the prof is, what questions were asked, things like attandence etc. What is a really bad grade for one prof could be the best grade for another.
What you should care more about is the feedback you got. This can include feedback from yourself (e.g. do you feel comfortable to solve new problems in this area?), the prof (if you get the exam back, you should closely inspect it -- how did you lose points? For failures in memorization? Or solving new problems? For bad handwriting? Were the questions inappropriate?) or your advisor (who can probably say a lot more about your abilities than an exam).
(Of coursey beware that you may not be able to judge yourself appropriately.)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I agree with everybody about the low importance of grades, but offer one suggestion. Maintain good enough grades to not be kicked out of your program. At my institution, two C's on your transcript will get you the boot.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I've heard a lot of horror stories about PhD programs taking several years, and that US universities typically force you to go through many steps before you're able to be considered for graduation.
I'm interested in pursuing a PhD in the field of artificial intelligence, I already have a pretty thoroughly researched topic from my time running an AI company, data collected, and a partial paper written, but don't want to be stuck for years.
Does anyone have any experience making it through a US computer science PhD program in a reasonable amount of time?<issue_comment>username_1: PhD programs in the US very often are combined master+PhD programs with a planned duration of 2+3 years. In maths and computer science it is also very common that people take exactly that time. The horror stories you heard are more common in lab sciences like physics or chemistry.
If you already have a masters degree you might find programs that allow you to skip the first 2 years but AFAIK this is rare. It is more common that the masters degree part consists of a bunch of exams plus optional courses with the implication that this part can be completed much quicker if you have the skills and knowledge to pass the exams without needing to take the courses.
The three years of PhD time are meant for doing the research and writing a thesis. If your results are good enough this time can be reduced as well. In practice this could mean that after one year of research your adviser thinks you have enough results to write this up as a thesis and then you could graduate after another year. This happens but it is not very common.
A PhD is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. You can't expect to come in with a good idea for a paper and then negotiate that they will award you a PhD for that paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Let me go out on a limb and assume that the question you really want answered is twofold. Can I do this? How?
In the US, the *essential core* of a doctorate is the ability to pass a set of qualifying exams and production of an acceptable dissertation. I got my degree from a place where those were actually the only requirements.
Yes, there is a lot of coursework in a typical program, but it is there to enable you to do the other things, not for the essence of the coursework itself. In some places, not all, everything else can be waived beyond the two essentials. The qualifiers are there to assure that you have sufficient breadth in your field. The dissertation is so that you show both depth in a subfield and the ability to successfully do research.
So, the first requirement for you to finish in two years is to find a professor willing to "advise" you and judge your resulting dissertation. If you can do that, and if you are already prepared to pass the (quite difficult) qualifiers, then you have a hope of success. Finding that advisor, however, will take some effort because not everyone will want to agree. I think that few will, and none will make you any guarantee that you finish on a schedule. You and that professor will also need to convince a committee that the dissertation is adequate. Normally that isn't a problem if the advisor is happy. Note that all of this is true if your advisor doesn't need to give you any actual advice. Some students are self-organizing enough that it isn't needed. But the advisor's acceptance of the thesis is still needed.
But the harder requirement is the dissertation. Having a good problem and having done some research on it (partial paper...) is good, but gives you no guarantee. Whenever true research is involved there is no guarantee as to when it will reach fruition. You are stepping into the unknown and, well, it is unknown. Some problems that appear doable from the outside are devilishly difficult once you open the door. Others that seem substantial turn out, after a bit of work, to be trivial and not worth the effort. (I've personally worked on both of those sorts of problems.)
So, with hard work, and your obvious head start, you have a shot of finishing sooner than others would. But, still, there is no guarantee. Don't organize your life as if there is such a guarantee. You need diligence as well as flexibility to be a researcher.
---
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” ~~<NAME>ein
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Research has become more and more complex and difficult to be successfully conducted by a single person. However, there are fields (such as some branches of engineering) in which a researcher can conduct pretty high standard research without wasting anybody's time or resources (for example, using opensource software on his/her own laptop over a couple of months during the weekends). Nevertheless, single author papers are very rare. How is this possible? I am asking because I believe I have produced a pretty interesting manuscript with no sort of help from anyone, but I am afraid it will be frowned upon by my past close collaborators and the PI of the project I am currently working on if I try to publish it.<issue_comment>username_1: This answer should be qualified. Do you have a contract of any kind at the place you are working? Does your work agreement have anything to say about publishing research? You should look carefully at that before submitting any paper.
The questions that get asked regarding publication are things like: Is it new, at least in some aspect? Is it interesting? Is it generally in the subject line of the journal? And is it the work of the person submitting it for publication?
If you have run with an idea that the group was working on, that might get you some dark looks. But, if it's your own idea and you have done the work on your own, then it should be just fine to publish it on your own.
Presuming you respect and trust the people you work with, it is possible you would benefit from discussing it with somebody senior.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I think there is no universal answer. There are fields of pure mathematics where single author papers are quite frequent (the majority?) while there are other areas of the sciences (e.g., the biomedical field) that are so broad that nobody has the requisite knowledge and time to do everything themselves.
So it depends on the field you're in. But beyond that, *every* field has single-author papers, and a single paper isn't going to make others put you in a box: it is, after all, just a single paper. People will turn out to be surprised if you have been in a field (any field!) for ten years, written 30 papers, and 25 of those are single-authored. For a single paper, there really is no rule to go by: If you have a good idea that you've entirely developed yourself, go write it up and get it published!
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I accepted a PhD offer from a major public research university in the US this year. However, turns out that the university makes students compete for funding and try to join a group in the first month of the first year. So my POI's chose different students and were not able to take me in. So I decided not to continue and withdraw (After 1 month of enrollment) before wasting my time and theirs. Now the university is asking me to pay back the tuition waiver guaranteed by the sham RA position. I cannot request a transcript to show to schools I am applying to this year unless I pay 20k dollars. Any suggestions on what to do in this bait-and-switch situation? The transcript only shows a 1-hour seminar with a grade of W and does not show GPA. should I just hide the fact that I went to this scam of a place or just show them proof that I withdrew in the place of the transcript.<issue_comment>username_1: If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. Do not lie to another school, just tell them the truth, without the words "sham" and "bait-and-switch" etc.
Tell them you attended for one month and withdrew, and can prove that, but there is now a dispute over tuition, which you thought was waived. They want you to pay 20K, which you are contesting, so they will not send you a transcript for the one course you signed up for and dropped after a month. Also tell them there will be no grade for that course, you formally withdrew, and that is all the transcript would say.
Lying to a new school will get you into trouble THERE too. Be honest, with just the facts, so they can't say you kept this a secret from them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Now the university is asking me to pay back the tuition waiver guaranteed by the sham RA position.
>
>
>
Don't do that. US universities should not ask students to repay tuition wavers. Maybe if the student committed fraud, but not because of withdrawal.
>
> I cannot request a transcript to show to schools I am applying to this year
>
>
>
In your application, say "I want to study X. Previously I enrolled at the University of Y with the expectation that I would study X. I found out after one month that it was not possible for me to study X there, so I withdrew as early as possible."
Next time know which group you will be working in before you enroll. If the university will not let you join a group at the time of enrollment, find a different university.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I believe that including references is important, especially for a chemistry conference poster. However, I have more than two dozens of citations so it is way too lengthy.
Should I still include the reference section or should I simply explain when asked?<issue_comment>username_1: Of course you should have references. (Unless chemistry is *really* different from other disciplines.) But it is probably acceptable to make it a pretty short section, and perhaps refer to another document if asked for more details.
In particular, are there 2-3 most important references you could cite in "short format" with "et al." to make them short enough to not distract? That might be a good middle ground. Alternately, you could do inline citations for the most important ones, with or without footnotes.
---
(But as always, different disciplines have different standards, so you might want to double check with a few other chemists with a lot of experience presenting posters in the event none of them post an answer here.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Biologist here.
I tend to be more careful to cite *methodology* on a poster rather than things that belong in an introduction or discussion section, and especially anything derived directly from a particular paper, such as an equation that is on the poster.
Sometimes there is a particular key reference - either a review or highly relevant original paper - to cite for background. Otherwise, if you find yourself citing a lot of things you probably have too much text on the poster.
(to be clear: if it needs to be cited, it should be cited; it just turns out that the type of content that needs to be cited should be at a minimum on a poster)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: CS/AI: I absolutely don’t cite anything beyond the bare minimum and place citations in tiny font at the bottom. The point of the poster is to get people to *read your paper*. They need to get the TL;DR version of it on the way to get tea and cookies, and your poster needs to be more interesting than the robocup tournament. Put the main message in a few sentences, highlight the most interesting things in bold colors and large fonts (think accident lawyer billboards). If anyone asks you about references, give them a copy of the paper (print out a few copies to hand out on the spot).
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/06
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<issue_start>username_0: Is there such a thing as a "quick paper"? My experience is that whenever someone proposes writing a "quick paper," it turns out to take much more time than expected, and/or gives poor results. But perhaps I am approaching it wrong.
In your experience, do "quick papers" ever turn out to be quick and worthwhile?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no categorical answer to this, as it depends greatly on many factors. One of them is the field: the paper output rate in mathematics is for example considered to be slower than in other fields (see [here](https://mathoverflow.net/q/221920)). Even inside the same field it might greatly vary. In my field (electrical engineering) it is not unheard of that three-month student projects lead to a paper.
But most importantly, it depends on the project itself, and how advanced it is. A project might consist of taking an idea that has already proven effective in one setting, and testing it in another (maybe more practical/realistic) setting. Depending on how different the settings are, you might get a more or less valuable and more or less quick paper. In general, the higher the "novelty" of the paper, the longer it should take to have it ready, and the higher the uncertainty. But this is just a general statement and there are exceptions. A research group might also have unpublished intermediate results and need your contribution to finish the job.
I would personally advise against blindly falling for promises of quick papers. Instead, I would form my own opinion based on the topic, and decide based on how it fits my own goals: for a short student project, I might be interested in quick, not so novel papers, while for a longer research project I might find an interesting or novel topic more valuable. Of course you might be wrong in your evaluation, but this is less relevant at the beginning of your career, and you will get experience as you progress.
TL; DR: quick papers are not impossible, but as a researcher you should try to decide based on your own evaluation of the project.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I have done "quick papers" before, in the sense that they didn't require as much time or effort to produce as most of my other publications. But there are some important reasons for this. In particular, these papers were almost always the result of my becoming aware of a very specific publishing opportunity which serendipitously overlapped with research that I was already conducting at the time, and which was being arranged by a venue that was much more specialized in scope than the top-tier conferences and journals I usually aim for.
For example, my colleagues and I recently developed a method for automatically assessing rhetorical devices in a particular type of text, and we published a paper on this in one of our field's top conferences. A few months later, we coincidentally read a call for papers for a [shared task](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/69429/what-is-a-shared-task-and-what-is-the-purpose-of-it) for the evaluation of methods like ours, albeit on a somewhat different text type. It was no great effort to adapt our method to deal with the new text type, run some experiments on the data provided by the organizers, and then submit our results along with a description of our system. The development and experimental work took only about a week, and it took only a day to write the paper.
Despite the minimal effort we expended, we don't consider ourselves to be "dishonest" or "ignorant". First of all, this wasn't a junk conference: the call for papers came from a workshop associated with an established and respectable conference organized by a national scholarly association. The conference is certainly not the most prestigious in the field, but that is more down to its niche and regional focus. Second, we weren't just resubmitting the same paper to another venue. We (anonymously) cited our previous method and made it clear that the system we were describing was a modification of it. The paper therefore focussed on the nature of these modifications and on a quantitative/qualitative error analysis. We believe that this constitutes an important (albeit not particularly groundbreaking) contribution to the state of the art. Because it was specifically targetted to a rather narrow audience, the paper is probably not going to rack up a very high citation count, but neither is it going to pass entirely unnoticed. In short, we think the impact of the paper will be commensurate with the effort we put into it, neither of which was negligible. We don't regret taking a week of our time to work on it.
Of course, this is not to say that this sort of "quick paper" approach should be the sole focus of one's research career. As I previously mentioned, my colleagues and I aim for (and frequently achieve) publication in our field's top-tier "broad church" venues. But sometimes an opportunity presents itself to spin off a strand of our main research into a relatively quick contribution to a more specialized but still-respectable venue. In these cases we'll certainly consider the cost–benefit tradeoff.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Quick papers exist. I have a number of papers that I wrote in a matter of days. Publication obviously took a bit longer, say one or two months, because of the peer review process. However, these are a rather specific type of paper: These are very narrow in focus, very short, and often more pedagogical than presenting new results. If you are in a field where there is an outlet for this type of articles, then quick papers are definitely viable. Though they should not be your only output. I see them more as a service to the community than a way of advancing my career.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There are many quick and good ideas.
But without someone doing a rigorous and systematic study to investigate them, which paper do you think will vanish in nirvana and which one will become the most cited referring to that idea.
Academia is not much about who had an idea first, but who elaborated on that idea at first and extensively. I doubt quick papers can be much more than noise in the literature on a mid-long term perspective.
Quick, short papers without depth will vanish in increasing publication noise very fast in comparison to former times, the dynamics of citation and group citation have completely changed. In physics more and more groups in age of publish or perish focus on longer interdisciplinary hybrid theory-experiment studies and papers to have a impact or get published in good journal. "Quick papers" cannot become more popular/impacting with exponential growth
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Do professors who are in a position to write a recommendation letter for me "have to" write a recommendation letter? For example, my PhD advisor, can he suddenly (without any reason) say that he won't write a letter? I mean does it depend on their will?
More specifically, if some professor has promised me a recommendation letter earlier, can he suddenly change his opinion without any reason?<issue_comment>username_1: Short answer, no they don't have to write your a letter; yes it depends on their will.
No one has to write you a recommendation letter. It is poor form not to write one for a supervisee, but nothing compels letter writing and there is no requirement that you be given a reason.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As stated in the other answer, no professor has to write a recommendation letters for a specific student. The most common reason is that it would be a letter the student wouldn't want anyway, ie a bad recommendation.
On the other hand, it is part of the job of a professor to write recommendation letters for students in general. So if a professor states that he/she categorically refuses to writes recommendation letters for anyone that would be a reason for complaint to their dean or head of department.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Writing a reference letter is a courtesy, never an obligation.
It is possible for a thesis director to decline supporting a student for a job. It is usually a bad sign when a director is not writing a reference letter - either because the director has declined or because the student did not ask - and indeed in many cases employers *expect* a letter from the thesis director.
On the other hand, if the professor promised a letter, he or she is morally bound to provide this letter. Basically, the time to decline is passed and reneging on such a promise is extremely bad form.
There’s nothing to be done if the professor no longer wants to support the student except ask someone else. If things have gotten that far, one can rightly wonder how strong would be the letter of support, and a letter from someone else might be a good way for the student to cut his or her losses.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a postdoc in mathematics. I had a conversation with a professor after he gave a talk at my university, and he seemed interested in my ideas. I sent him an email the next day to elaborate on our discussion, and he replied by inviting me to give a talk at his university. I accepted the invitation.
However, I don't feel confident about giving a talk on the subject of our conversation. I wrote something about it in my thesis which I sent to him in my email, but it was just some undeveloped ideas (not central to the thesis), and I am certainly not an expert in that area. Is it okay to give a talk on a different topic?
He didn't specify what he wanted me to talk about, but we didn't discuss anything else than that, and it seems like our only point in common. So, I fear it would be awkward to give a talk on my true expertise area. Or is it?<issue_comment>username_1: If you haven't come to an agreement on what you would discuss, then I think you are pretty free. But as a courtesy, if nothing else, send him a note about your topic. If he disagrees you might want to re-think it.
However, a talk about partially unformed ideas, if presented that way can be very valuable. It can give ideas about research the listeners might explore. If you do it right, it can give ideas about how to come up with such ideas and how to begin to tackle them. What insight do you have into the problems?
In the best case it can lead to collaborations on that topic and others that might emerge from the exploration.
In fact, a talk on "things worth exploring" is probably more interesting to a mathematician than one on "things done and finished."
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I think this depends on who the audience for your talk is. Maybe he invited you because he wanted to hear some more about this particular topic and possibly have some joint research come out of it. The audience in that case would be his research group. If on the other hand this is a general seminar for his entire department it would be perfectly acceptable to talk about some topic you feel more comfortable with. Ask him who the audience is, what you both want to get from the talk and make a suitable decision.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: As a courtesy to your audience and potential audience, as well as the professor, make sure the topic of your talk is accurately established well in advance. It is frustrating to go to a talk that is not on the stated topic and does not interest me, and to miss a talk that would have interested me if I had known what it was about.
I suggest discussing topic and title with the inviting professor as soon as possible.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Another possible aspect of the situation is that the invitation to speak at the seminar is a way to fund a short visit on your part, in which you could discuss more with that professor. If that is the case, the topic of your talk wouldn't necessarily need to be the same as you discussed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I think you're free to give a talk on any topic that you think is relevant to the audience. I've given several seminars while visiting other institutions and assist with organising them at our institute. The topic of a talk is rarely stipulated, although a speaker is usually expected to give a title or abstract ahead of time to promote the talk.
You can take the talk as an opportunity to introduce yourself, your skills, and wider research topics. It does not have to be restricted to the topic you are interested in working on in the future. You can, of course, have private meetings about other topics while you are there. It is up to you alone (and perhaps your co-authors) whether you share unpublished findings. What's most important it to bear in mind the audience and to focus on a few topics to allow enough time to go into detail rather than overloading with information. I think it's safe to assume that most academics have wider interests than what they are currently working on. If they've invited you or shown up to a talk announced about you, then they're interested to hear what you have to present.
You should think about what you want to get out of the talk. Some people give talks much like a conference but seminars can be more informal. If you are an early-career researcher, bear in mind that these may be people that could hire or collaborate with you in the future so do present yourself appropriately. Think about what topics you want to discuss with them afterwards and what you want them to know about your previous work. For some it's a chance to introduce yourself to the rest of the department. For others it's part of your job interview. The talk can be a formality to justify travel funds for other meetings or can be a courtesy to offer do do a talk while visiting. Content varies considerably accordingly.
What's most important is communication with your host who has invited you. If you have any doubts, then contact them. They'll rarely give you any conditions on what to talk about. You don't have to give them details in advance but it is polite to let them know your plans and interests ahead of time. If you give them enough notice, they can make sure that others that may be interested in your talk or meeting with you while you are there are available to do so. Please bear in mind that they may be very busy and need time to make arrangements, especially if they are covering the costs of your visit.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: As departments grow, they tend to hire people in the same area of research. And different people from different communities call things differently. For example, people in Statistics may call it "Statistical learning", while others "Pattern recognition". If several departments or people within the same department propose courses with similar content but different names and no one wants to change, what can be done at this point? Offer 2 courses but allow students to take only 1? Offer 2 courses and try to minimize the overlap? A senior faculty, chair, or dean should decide on 1 course only? Other ideas?<issue_comment>username_1: If it is between 2 possible courses, its better to check what is different and what is the same, then join what it is the same and if there are not that many differences then add them all in the same course, if there are many, then you can either give one course with extra set of classes for each course (which is a bit of an administrative nightmare), or you can give 2 courses with shared classes of those that are the same.
As an example, in my university there are 2 extremely similar careers. 1 in the Licencee in Informatic sciences, and the other is the Licencee in Enginery of Informatic sciences. They are basically the same in most courses with same professors teaching in both, however, the first one has administration courses and the second has instead physics and chemistry. The other difference is that one has 1 semester of probability and another of statistics, and the other has both probability and statistics on the same semester. Who decides this? the direction of the school and the heads of careers/departments. they revise and update curriculum plans and then send them for approval/registration to the national education department, which might not be needed in your case.
My suggestion regarding the courses is in sum to check what is different between the proposed courses and see if it's worth A)to make them separate, B)Mash them together into 1 course, or C) Make 1 course with 'optional' extra classes needed for the student to Attain the credits to the different subjects.
Who needs to be consulted? All your stake-holders, meaning all the professors, chairs and such that would participate in the definition of the curricula.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Note that I am not totally sure what the problem is. I assume you don't want your students to get credit twice for the same material.
In this case, if you have the power to do so, you could split up both courses into the"overlap" and the "rest", each a seperate course. (If there are two many students, both profs could teach the overlap simultanously.) Now students might take both courses, but get credit for the overlap only once.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm not really sure what the issue is. Similar courses are offered all the time. Some examples from my own life would be:
* A physiology department offering courses for majors, pre-med students, and nursing majors.
* A linguistics department offering syntax courses for theoreticians and computational linguists. My department had Intro to Linguistics for non-majors (a number of foreign language departments required it and I believe it was also an elective for English), and prospective majors.
It's common for undergraduates to not be allowed to take both for credit, or can only use one to fulfill a requirement and the other only for elective credit. It's nice to take a class that's geared toward your subfield.
I'm not sure what your role in the department is, but if the chair doesn't have an issue, then there's no reason to change.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I came across several collections that are of great interest to me: they are books that summarize the knowledge of a specific field in about a hundred pages. There is, for example, the "Que sais-je?" collection in France or Oxford's "Very Short Introductions".
I was wondering if an equivalent project existed under an open source license to freely translate and distribute the texts.
*There is no commercial intent.*<issue_comment>username_1: What your looking for looks a lot like the **wikimedia project [wikibooks.org](https://www.wikibooks.org/).**
Here a quote from the main page :
>
> Welcome to Wikibooks,
>
>
> the open-content textbooks collection that anyone can edit.
>
>
> 3,072 books with 83,999 pages
>
>
>
Also there are a lot of **old textbooks in the public domain** published in different languages. One repository of such books is [project Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/), where I find the category page helpful to get books in the right context/science.
Also some books, event recent ones are published with a open licence and as such you are allowed to read, copy and translate them at will, such books are for example published by [framabooks](https://framabook.org/) (mostly in french).
These are must have books and there are some others to be found.
Also some book are freely readable online, copyright holder being aware, eg see [VMLS](https://web.stanford.edu/%7Eboyd/vmls/) if interested in maths or [Motion Mountain](http://www.motionmountain.net/index.html) for physics, but a big mouthful, not just 100 pages. (not sure for the licence, couldn't check it).
These are more often than not typeset in latex... So you might also ask on the author for the sources.
(I hope this answer isn't too much out of the context of the question)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Some textbooks are freely downloadable. <http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/> is an example
You could also be interested in [Creative Commons Licenses](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/).
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it normal to contact people from an old postdoc position interview and ask if a job is still available? Last time I withdrew my application before results were announced. I was from a different country, had some family issues etc.
I noted that some positions in academia remain unfilled for longer periods of time (several month to more than one year), because they cannot hire the right person, I suppose.
**Is it a good idea to contact the main member of the selection comittee (project leader) and ask directly if that particular postdoc is still available?** They have a webpage with open positions but none is related to what I am capable of doing. I wonder if they found the right person for that older job, or that person could leave before the contract expired etc.<issue_comment>username_1: In general it's totally fine to write a short note asking if the position is still available. The worst that will happen would be your e-mail gets deleted and never replied to. Even if the original interview was some time ago, you could still phrase the e-mail as "wondering if there are any new open positions in your lab for X."
In your specific case, because you applied, dropped out, and then are re-expressing your interest, the potential hiring faculty member would probably be a bit wary of your sincerity. I.e. if you dropped out once, what's to say you wouldn't drop out a second time, this time after the faculty member goes through the time and expense to hire you, get you set up in the lab, etc.?
Therefore, you should go ahead and write the letter, but be prepared to justify why this application is different from your previous aborted one.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> They have a webpage with open positions but none is related to what I am capable of doing. I wonder if they found the right person for that older job, or that person could leave before the contract expired etc.
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Contacting the project leader when they are no longer advertising for the postdoc is probably pointless. If the position were open, they would list it. If they don't list it, they no longer need someone.
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> Is it normal to contact people from an old postdoc position interview and ask if a job is still available?
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That's a different issue, since it's a question of etiquette. No, it's not "normal" in the sense that few people do it. Hidden in this question is another: "will it do any harm?" That depends on the project leader. For most, it probably does no harm to remind them of your existence.
But there are more effective ways of doing that. It begins with learning as much as you can about the project leader's research. Then send a note to the project leader about how much you value their research (assuming you do) and that you had liked idea of working together, and regretted having to drop out. That would allay any misunderstanding. You could even say that you hope at some point to have the chance of working together in future. If they have an opening, they will let you know. And if one comes up in the near future, they'll remember you.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/11/06
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a third-year mathematics student at a top-20 private research university in the US (though mostly known for the humanities). We have a small undergraduate mathematics department, but we were offered the option to take many graduate courses. I’m always passionate about studying pure math, specifically algebra, and I’m very seriously considering pursuing a PhD degree in mathematics. Nonetheless, I’ve not been able to participate in mathematical research of any kind so far – getting undergraduate research experience is impossible due to personal status issues, and my department has no resource committed to undergraduate research.
Indeed, as of my course load, I’ve finished the three-semester algebra sequence by my second year (i.e., group/representation, ring, field/Galois, category theory, commutative algebra, and homological algebra). Though I started late, I'm also working my way through the analysis and topology/geometry sequence, taking differentiable manifold and complex analysis now. I maintained all As in the graduate courses I’ve taken.
Regarding this, I do have one important confession to make, and it is in fact the reason why I’m asking this question. Math SE is a very robust community with respect to algebra. This worked very conveniently for me as there are very few peers at my school to discuss math with. As a combined consequence I actively seek ideas on SE whenever I get stuck on homework. (Please note that I'm not in violation of any collaboration rules set by my department: I understand and then proceed to write every proof myself.) This happens in about 30% of the assignments. I have no problem with exams since they are usually much easier than assignments.
Only after having recently talked to graduate students and professors at a conference, did I realize this is a terrible approach. I vividly remember one said something like: “unless you went through a textbook and attempted to prove every theorem yourself first you won’t truly understand the subject”, which is, the exact contrary of what I’ve been doing. I’m seriously in doubt about my aptitude over these subjects, fearing that I will be subpar on the level of understanding as well as the ability to conduct research, to approach open questions when I reached graduate school. I fear I never try/explore “hard enough” to come up with proofs like others have suggested. I managed to do most just by familiarity of common methods/tricks and theorems, but those things can be forgotten over time.
So here comes some specifics of my question:
* Is searching SE for homework problems common for math students?
* How will doing so affect a student’s understanding of the material?
* In what ways does doing so tie to one’s ability to do research?
* What are some possible ways to remedy this, besides completely re-learning the material?
* How much do I have to pay in the future for stack-exchanging through my courses?<issue_comment>username_1: I wouldn't worry too much. It sounds like you are making excellent progress. You are still an undergraduate, you have tons of time ahead of you!
There are lots of good ways to learn mathematics. Talking with others (including over the Internet) is one. Allowing yourself to get stuck, and trying hard to come up with your own proofs is another.
If you feel that your study habits have skewed too much towards the former, I'd recommend trying out the latter approach. (Which does not mean you have to change to it permanently.) For example, choose a course or book and try to get through it without SE. See what happens!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: **Yes!** In fact, I think you're well on your way to [doing better than your peers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/126430/why-do-username_1s-tend-to-be-reluctant-to-ask-for-help-from-other-username_1s)! Taking longer to understand something isn't something to be proud of! There's no need to reinvent the wheel. If someone can help you understand something, you would be well-advised to make use of them. In the same way, you would be well-advised to attend the lectures, thereby getting help from the professor, instead of staying at home with the ZFC axioms and attempting to derive the whole of mathematics from scratch.
My experience asking questions on Stack Exchange also indicates that simply writing the problem in a form which others can understand is a great help in clarifying my own understanding of the problem. Indeed, I've solved some of my problems simply by beginning to write a (never asked) question.
Of course, this doesn't mean you should outsource your understanding to others. You should make it so that you can explain the concept to next year's students without help (answer some other SE questions while you're at it!). But even then you should feel free to ask for help with next year's problems.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all, I believe this is extremely common these days. More and more I notice students neglecting to develop important problem solving skills and instead developing great “google-fu” and “stack-exchange-fu” skills to achieve the same goals.
Now, don’t get me wrong, SE-fu is a terrific skill to have. Just like you are worried about using the internet too much and coming to rely on it as a crutch, some people genuinely ought to worry about having the opposite problem of obstinately trying to figure everything out themselves even if it takes them weeks or months and refusing to ask for help. This is just hugely inefficient. These people may in fact become excellent problem-solvers given enough time, but it’s just not a practical approach to covering the large amount of material a modern mathematical education requires.
So what I’m saying is, there is a right amount of stack-exchange usage that can be really good for you. Someone who makes the right use of math.SE and other great online resources can really boost their ability to master complex topics and speed up the learning process compared to their peers who don’t use those resources. And then... there is definitely also a wrong amount of stack-exchange usage. It is certainly possible to rely on it too much, or more generally to rely too much on asking other people to help you figure things out when you get stuck (before SE was around, people with such tendencies also existed, they would just nag their friends and class mates with lots of questions instead of using google/SE).
So, is this a fatal flaw or an indication you’re unlikely to succeed? **Absolutely not.** From your description it sounds like a slightly bad habit at worst, but one that you likely share with a lot of other students (I mean probably something like 70% of them, if we interpret your habit to include heavy use of google and not just SE).
I do advise you however to actively work on shaking this habit and investing more time and effort in trying to solve problems by yourself before you give up and ask for help. Getting yourself unstuck when you get stuck is a skill in and of itself, and involves important sub-skills like learning how to identify when you have a serious misconception about a problem, learning to believe in your ability to solve problems by yourself, learning to be attentive to small details, and probably other things that are equally important but that I would have a hard time articulating in words. When you look up the answer or ask for help on SE, you end up solving a specific short-term problem (figuring out the answer to the specific question you need solved), but deprive yourself of broader opportunities to acquire these very valuable problem-solving skills. It’s certainly not too late to start though, and your tendency to over-rely on help sounds fairly mild in any case, if it even exists. Good luck!
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: I intended to answer after looking at the kinds of questions and answers you posted on Math SE. I was surprised to find none linked from your profile.
Stack Exchange can be a good place to "discuss mathematics", but if all you did was lurk, reading other people's entries, you have not discussed much, and may not be as ready for further study as others here suggest.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Instead of me looking through your questions on Math SE like [username_4](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/139684/4249) suggests, let me tell you what I would look for and evaluate instead, and then let yourself do the self-evaluation (which is also an important skill to develop as a researcher!).
Basically, I would look at **if your questions are well received**. If you hit the hallmarks of a "good question" (as defined on many SE sites), **you are probably benefiting from your interaction with Math SE**. To list some of these characteristics of good questions:
* shows that you have put thought in the problem,
* shows that you have attempted to solve the problem yourself,
* shows that you understand the material.
If you had good guidance and supervision, you would probably be able to discuss these things with your advisor. If you had many peers with similar interests, you would be able to discuss these things with your peers. Neither your advisor, nor your peers, nor the community at Math SE would value if you came asking for help while showing you had put no effort into understanding the problems yourself.
So **if your questions are not well received, SE might be pulling your weight**, and the same way the community does not appreciate questions showing low research effort, a prospective adviser would not develop confidence in your understanding and dedication if you expected them to serve you with all the answers.
Additionally, and **excellent way to deepen your understanding of mathematics** (or any topic, really) **is to start answering others' questions**. You need a deeper understanding of the material in order to explain something clearly and concisely. This would be similar to explaining a topic to one of your peers asking for help.
Finally, I'd like to note that **not everybody has the same learning style**: some people benefit more from sole studying with a textbook, some people benefit from using visual aids or drawing, and some people (me included) work and learn (and come up with new ideas!) best when interacting with other people.
To summarise: **if you are asking well-received questions and providing well-received answers on Math SE** (or a similar technical SE) **you are probably benefiting from it similar to what you could get out of a good adviser and peers with similar interests.** This is especially true if you have an interactive learning style; you were simply looking for the most effective learning method fitting your learning style which was possible in your situation.
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On a personal note: I used to be much more active on Stack Overflow during my BSc and MSc. My activity and reputation graph pretty much follows my project and seminar schedules: they had required me to think about more than we had to do for class, or to combine the course material in new ways. Being able to get feedback on my ideas and approaches was invaluable for my learning and understanding.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Really, the answer to this is very simple.
Everything that you can find on the internet has already been done by someone else.
What you are required to do in PhD research is something which has *not* been done by anyone else yet.
Of course, the web may still give you good ideas about techniques, etc. But SE or (any other web forum) isn't actually going to "do your PhD for you" in the same way it can "do your homework for you" - even if you have been avoiding straightforward "copying" of what you discovered from web sites.
You will also eventually hit the problem that there are very few people in the world who are working on anything very similar to what you are doing - and that handful of people might not hang out on SE, or anywhere else you are looking on the web for advice!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: There are a lot of aspects of training to be a mathemtician. For example, you want to learn:
* Mathematical theory (definitions, key theorems, key constructions)
* Literature search (figuring out what's in which papers, finding results in books, using google to find relevant ideas)
* Mathematical tricks and proof techniques
* How to struggle with a difficult problem that takes hours or days to solve. What kind of techniques do you use to get unstuck? How do you deal psychologically with being stuck? How do you decide when to give up on a problem or approach?
* Writing math papers (dealing with writer's block, making diagrams, organization, clarity of proofs)
* Collaboration (learning how to solve problems together with other people, figuring out how to learn from and explain to your peers, etc.)
The bad news is it sounds like you've focused exclusively on the first two bullet points at the detriment of the other ones. Getting stuck on 30% of problems suggests that you're pretty far behind where you should be in terms of mathematical tricks and proof techniques. If you go to a graduate school that has a preliminary exam you're likely to struggle with it. Not having the experience of really struggling with questions you're stuck on, means you're underprepared for the psychological experience of research, and for figuring out how to work on problems to which no one knows the answer. It's important to try to learn the difference between being stuck and close to an answer, and being stuck and far from an answer. By turning to stackexchange exclusively instead of talking with your fellow students and your teachers in person, you've fallen behind on learning how to collaborate.
The good news is that you have time to learn these things during the rest of this year and during your first year or two of graduate school before you move on to research. But you really need to start thinking about the aspects of your mathematical training beyond just learning mathematical theory. You need to stop giving up on problems early, and you need to talk to people in person about problems you're stuck on rather than just finding answers online.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: "... unless you went through a textbook and attempted to prove every theorem yourself first you won't truly understand the subject"
Nonsense! This is anxious, perfectionistic thinking, and internalizing thoughts like this ultimately caused me to leave academia. I felt that I couldn't pursue my research unless I fully understood everything from first principles. I would get stuck for weeks trying and failing to get my head around a particular tiny nuance of probability theory. Needless to say, it was exhausting, and I barely managed to finish my master's thesis.
The thing is that learning is a continuous process, and you don't have to understand everything perfectly to move forward. You can learn as you go.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: No-one really knows the educational effects of reliance on SE yet, mostly because you, and your generation, are the [**canaries down the coal-mine**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinel_species). Most of the experts who answer questions on the technical SE sites are people who completed their graduate education before SE existed, and some before the Internet was even in regular use. Those of us who answer questions on these technical SE sites rely on the students who use this facility to have good judgment about when reliance on this assistance is helping them learn, as opposed to being a substitute to learning. From our perspective, we certainly hope this assistance will help your understanding of the material, and we try to frame our answers in this way, but we are relying on *you* to let us know how it all works out, not the other way around.
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> So here comes some specifics of my question:
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> • Is searching SE for homework problem common for Math students?
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You are probably in a much better position to judge this than most of us. Ask around the students in your faculty and see if they use this resource, or if it is just you. There are certainly a reasonable number of student questions on SE.math, but the volume is still far below the number of mathematics undergraduates presently studying. This suggests that one a small proportion of math students are using SE to ask questions, though many may be looking up answers to existing questions on that facility.
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> • How will doing so affect a student's understanding of the material?
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This really depends on the exercise of good judgment by the student, so you tell us! Has SE helped you or hindered you? Have SE answers functioned as a tool to *assist* your learning, or as a *substitute* for learning? Have there been any instances in which you used an SE answer to substitute having to learn to understand a piece of material? Was this common?
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> • In what ways does doing so tie to one's ability to do research?
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Unless the use of SE answers has hampered your previous learning, there is no reason to think it will impose a limit on your ability to learn to do research. It takes a long time to learn to do research, which is why we have PhD programs, but if you are able to get into one of those programs, there is no inherent reason that you should lack the ability to learn the material and ultimately succeed in this area. You mention your professor's comment that you won't truly understand a subject unless you attempt to prove every theorem in the relevant textbook yourself. I would say that is rather aspirational, and it assumes that the textbook is some kind of golden-tablet that perfectly delineates all necessary knowledge in the subject. In practice, this level of engagement wouldn't necessarily occur, and it is not a necessary condition for expertise. As you acquire expertise in a subject, you are naturally going to be curious to check and re-check all the foundations, so you are probably going to find that *at some point* you will learn to prove all or most of the relevant theorems yourself. That might occur slowly, as you learn more about your subject and relate it to other relevant areas of mathematics.
In regard to research trainnig, it is worth noting that the major difference between undergraduate mathematics, versus research mathematics, with respect to SE, is that the latter is going to involve problems that are sufficiently difficult that it might be hard to get answers on SE. At the level of graduate research, you are expected to be developing into someone who is becoming an expert in your topic, so at that point the pool of people that can help you diminished substantially. Some researchers do ask questions on SE.math pertaining to research topics, and sometimes they get useful answers, but often the complexity/obscurity of the topic is such that it is difficult to get assistance through this medium.
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> • What are some possible ways to remedy this besides completely re-learning the material?
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You haven't really told us exactly what deficiencies you feel you have that you're trying to remedy. Presumably you have learned *something* in the courses you passed, so even if there are gaps in your knowledge, plugging those gaps would require only a *partial* relearning of the material. Certainly, if you feel that there are areas of your mathematics education where you did not acquire the relevant knowledge, go back and have another go at them, and try out some practice problems until you gain the understanding that you missed.
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> • How much do I have to pay in the future for stack-exchanging through my courses?
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As I said at the start, you are the canary in the coalmine here, so we are waiting to see the results, and then you can tell us.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: As students read textbooks and solve exercises, but do not have access to them while writing the actual exam. So is the case with StackExchange. You don't have access to it while writing the actual exam. Whatever case you follow, as long as you did well on the exams, why should it matter?
BTW, if you do join PHD, please use mathoverflow.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: I imagine that this is one of those situations in which far too many people have this "not invented here" mentality. It is something every one of goes through at some point in our lives. For example, a beginner programmer might insist that he or she has to write their own code for any and all functions that they wish to implement, including shunning the use of open-source, freely-available or otherwise acceptable to use libraries, functions, plug-ins or other assists. By the same token (and this is something I have personal experience with) a 3D beginner might insist on refusing to use any texture art, mesh data or keyframe information that they had not explicitly created themselves, even if it served the purpose to flesh out certain areas of a concept they might have been going for in the first place.
There is nothing wrong with properly-attributed work being used to support your case, and examining other people's work (and collaborating with other people) is often a fantastic and accelerated way to learn how to do things. I greatly enjoy 3D modeling, animation and rendering, but I absolutely suck at mathematics. I learned just enough to be able to work on my 3D stuff, and I use computational tools that simply didn't exist 30 years ago to provide me the assistance I need any time I work on anything requiring calculations.
In my experience, you will not be treated poorly by the username_1 community for using other people's work to support your own, just as long as you are open and honest about doing so. That's the key issue here. Academic dishonesty is severely frowned upon for very good reason, but so long as you do not engage in such shenanigans, I think you'll be fine.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_12: [You can just carry on with this approach through graduate school and well into your career as a professional mathematician.](https://mathoverflow.net)
For instance I have at least one series of papers that started because of answers I got to a mathoverflow post when I was confused about something.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: If you are looking up the solutions to the exact (or trivially similar) questions you are being asked in your homeworks, then that is cheating. It is bad for all the reasons that cheating is bad:
1. you are not doing the assignment the professor wants in the manner they want you to do it; you are side-stepping the challenge.
2. Your performance in the assignment is incorrect feedback to the professor that you understand the problem, potentially causing them to accelerate or at least not bother reviewing and circling back as much. At the very least you should cite the online sources you used so they will know. This provides a good opportunity to test your theory that it is perfectly kosher to use those sources.
3. Your grade will not represent your abilities as it was meant to, and potential grad schools and employers will be misled into thinking you are better at math than you really are. This is also blatantly unfair to everyone who did not look up solutions.
As for rewriting the theorems after you understand them, this is better than nothing sure, but couldn't you claim the same after "collaborating" to get the answers? That doesn't make cheating ok. Many other answers here focus on the question of learning, but you could also learn wonderfully while plagiarizing fellow students' work, hacking the profs laptop for the solutions, and performing other forms of overt cheating, as long as you did it "properly". Hey we can't expect you to solve every problem in the book yourself right?
When I made this point in a comment it was met with a surprising amount of alarm and the comment was even deleted. To everyone with such mindsets I'd suggest you consider the problem viewed from a higher level of moral development. See here: [Kohlberg levels of moral development](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg%27s_stages_of_moral_development). What matters is the universal principal underlying the rules against cheating, which I listed above, not what you can get away with due to less-savvy profs and outdated student handbooks.
As for re-doing every proof in a textbook, this is creating a false dichotomy. There are more alternatives between the extremes of cheating through all problems versus re-writing a content-packed book with your eyes closed. That middle ground is the job of your instructor to find for you. You don't really understand math unless you can redo it yourself without first knowing the answer. Yes, that's a fact. You may or may not need to understand every theorem in a particular book. Depends on the book, most aren't even peer-reviewed and have some mix of key topics and the author's personal preferences. Your instructor's job is to feed you material and challenging practice work a little at a time so that you can follow along and keep up.
As for your specific questions, yes it is very common as is all cheating. The modern view of students seems to be that a college degree is worth millions as some kind of job ticket, while merit is practically irrelevant. It will hurt you far more than you realize because your tendency will be to seek help at precisely the times you shouldn't; while you are motivated to do problems yourself when they are easy and you aren't challenged. Expertise requires [Deliberate Practice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practice_(learning_method)#Deliberate_practice) which means increasing challenge, not just working easy problems or reading how others solved problems. This also provides the framework for answering the rest of your questions. Yes working through an entire book is one way to get this increasing challenge. But a better way is to do just certain key parts in a good order from a really good book. Use stackexchange to find these superior resources. Another way of course is to take a class with a good instructor that leads you through the material and provides assistance when you are stuck, rather than you looking to the internet for assistance.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently, I am an undergraduate majoring in biophysics and minoring in astrophysics. I've always had a deep passion for learning about the universe (especially the field of astrobiology) and I also have strong interests in "applied" biophysics.
Initially, I wanted to pursue higher education to do research in either astrophysics or astrobiology. After spending time in both physics and biology research, however, I realized that research was not what I am most passionate to pursue and I could not find a calling in that career, although I enjoy the subjects very much.
However, through my experience in research, I was introduced to and developed an interest in the field of medicine because of many reasons, but especially because it provides me an opportunity to apply my biophysics passion to work on "practical" things such as creating new medical technology.
My problem is that pursuing further studies towards medicine by going to medical school would almost completely isolate my passion for space. So, currently I am at a crossroad and do not know where to pursue my higher education.
I can't find much information on how I could possibly continue to pursue both passions, which is why I am writing to ask if anyone has any ideas if there are any fields or directions that would still allow me merge my two interests (medicine and astrobiology)?<issue_comment>username_1: [Space Medicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_medicine) is actually a thing, but I suspect that the opportunities are limited.
And I doubt that it is very connected to astrobiology.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Neither of these fields is my area, so I'll mention an orthogonal path: you could become an expert in something else (e.g., statistics, game theory, programming -- right now the hot thing is machine learning / deep learning, but who know where we'll be in 10+ years), then you can apply that toolkit to both space programs and biomedical programs (whether through a university or through scientific consulting). Of course, it's an uncertain path, particularly if there is no "something else" that you are also passionate about.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/07
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<issue_start>username_0: I am new to the field of academia, and when performing a literature review for really any topic, I am puzzled as to why some papers have so many co-authors.
Most papers have only about 1-5 authors which I can understand but I can't seem to understand how 10-20 people could all meaningfully contribute to a single paper. How possible is it that co-authorship is being gifted?
Are there any reasons why so many co-authors could be justified?
**Update 11/11/19:**
Some comments have suggested this question may be a duplicate. To clarify: I was not referring to large-scale taskforces that produce world-changing results such as the Higgs Boson project ([What is the point of listing 1000 authors for a single scientific paper?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/63440/what-is-the-point-of-listing-1000-authors-for-a-single-scientific-paper?noredirect=1&lq=1)). Those projects clearly play by different rules. I was meaning routine contributions to journals (such as a new formula or algorithm) where I struggle to understand how so many people could all meaningfully contribute to a small (albeit important) idea.<issue_comment>username_1: In my field, where author numbers between one and six are the norm, reasons for having more include the following:
* The paper results from a **large-scale collaboration** between different groups that developed different parts of the overall work.
* The paper is supposed to give a **broad picture** overview of something, like in the case of a survey paper or a research roadmap paper. The authors are experts for the different considered areas.
* The paper results from a **collaborative brainstorming effort**. Such papers are sometimes written by the participants of a research meeting (like the famous Dagstuhl seminars), or a breakout group from such.
* The paper results from a **student project**, and most of the co-authors are actually students.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are many reasons. Science is becoming more and more collaborative, especially in fields requiring experiments. See for example the ATLAS and CMS paper on the discovery of the [Higgs Boson](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.191803) which has 5,154 authors, or this [1000 Genome project](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09534) paper which has hundreds.
Those are extreme examples, but with the increase in complexity it is often required to recruit collaborators with a large amount of complementary skills to be able to gather the data and analyze it.
There are also discussions about what really warrants authorship and how those rules are not necessarily clear. There is an interesting discussion on the [blog of PLOS](https://blogs.plos.org/absolutely-maybe/2015/11/25/science-and-the-rise-of-the-co-authors/) about that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: *De facto*, co-authorship means different things in different fields.
As username_2 mention in their answer, the [Higgs Boson paper](https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.191803) has 5154 authors. Does that mean that there is a first author who sent around the manuscript to all co-authors, then waited for 5153 people to give feedback and OK? No, absence of response does not hold up publication and is taken as agreement on the content. As I understand it, on this collaboration, the criterion for co-authorship were that you'd been part of the team for a year (source: personal communication).
In my field (Earth Observation), there are sometimes papers on validations or campaigns that include many different instruments. For each instrument there is a PI and their postdoc and/or PhD student, who should be on the paper even if their only contribution is "provide data". They need that to prove to their funding agencies that the data are being used for science. With 10 instruments, that can easily mean 20–30 or more co-authors.
So to answer your question: it depends. The reasons for papers to have many co-authors are field and even sub-field dependent.
See also: *[Academia varies more than you think it does – The Movie](https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4471/academia-varies-more-than-you-think-it-does-the-movie)*
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Combining methodologies often requires a team for each, with their own PI and then a coordinating PI.
For example a paper I'm familiar with looked at fMRI and gait metrics, so there was **(1)** 3-4 people who worked on the fMRI data, **(2)** 3-4 people who worked on the gait data, **(3)** a large group of senior professors who wrote the original grant and coordinated the study (this was across two sites), and finally **(4)** the overall PI.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As others have written, this is extremely field dependent.
I work in two fields. In one (forecasting) the maximum number of coauthors has been five, including me, and that was a review paper in which everyone indeed contributed different expertise and a different view on a subfield.
In clinical psychology, I have collaborated on papers with up to ten coauthors, including me. To a certain extent, the number of coauthors was driven by different kinds of expertise. I did the statistics, other people did the fMRI analyses, yet other people the blood analyses, and the PI had the overall vision that got everything started, funded and seen through to the end. That's four people right there. Add a postdoc that supervised the day-to-day running of the project, and finally multiple people who did the psychological intervention, or psychotherapy. This is a very time-consuming effort, and you need multiple therapists to be able to process a sufficiently large number of participants, each of whom may require many one-on-one sessions. Plus, of course, all the ancillary activities like report writing for each and every participant.
Thus, one driver especially in clinical psychology is the sheer amount of work necessary to acquire each data point.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Consider a full length life-sciences article. It might have 8 figures, each of which might be composed of 6 panels. There will also probably be at least the same amount of supplementary material (often more) that is available from the journal's website, but not in the main text of the paper. Thats 96 figure panels. Now consider that even the most simple experiment takes at least 2 weeks, and will have to be done in at least triplicate. So, that's a minimum of 6 weeks per panel even for easy experiments, or 576 weeks worth of experiments.
A grad student in the UK gets 3 years for data collection, or 141 weeks working 47 weeks a year. So that's 4 PhDs worth of data. Then their will be multiple PIs, maybe because there are different sorts of data being collected, maybe because no one PI has that many PhD students doing nothing. There will probably be at least one, but probably more lab techs.
If there is animal work there will be an animal house tech, if there is clinical work there will be a clinical team (Doctor, Nurses, counsellors etc).
Also consider that the people who generate the data might no be the people who can analyse and model it, so there will be at least one biostatistician or bioinformatician + their PI.
Of course all this assumes that 1) everything works smoothly, nothing needs doing again and all the experiments you do are the correct ones first time and they all make it into the paper, which is frankly preposterous; and 2) That you are able to wait 3 years to get everything together - if you need it in 1.5 years then double all the numbers above.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: It really depends on the field and the culture of that field. For example, I find that in several fields, most projects are run by a PI and require many student and professional researchers to gather data, perform experiments, analyze results, etc. As a result, the entire team usually ends up on the paper, even if there is a lot of variance in the amount of contribution that each member of the team brought to the paper. This is common in fields like biology, chemistry, biochemistry, psychology, and physics.
Having many coauthors is also common in fields that are interdisciplinary and straddle application and theory. For example, in statistics, you often find that there are a multiple statisticians collaborating with multiple professionals in other fields, like biology or medicine. The statisticians develop the statistical models and do the data analysis, while, say, the biologists help provide necessary scientific knowledge and expert opinion.
Another good example is when a paper began as a student research project, especially for students new to research. You often find that several students are put on the same project to make it easier on the students and provide a smoother transition into research.
A more specific example is the following. I know (by observation and word of mouth) that the culture in many computer science departments to place a lot of students on a single paper in order to pump out a lot of papers quickly. I am not sure on the exact the reason for this. But it is not unusual to find computer science PhD students with many publications, with many of those papers having several coauthors.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: My maximum is 9 ([here](https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msv129)). It occurred on an interdisciplinary paper in *Molecular Biology and Evolution*.
Six from computer science:
1. The lead author was a student in our lab. There's another student who helped him, who became coauthor.
2. Aside from me, there are three other teachers from our lab, who probably offered advice to the students during weekly research meetings. I would guess one teacher came up with the basic ideas, and another teacher is the student's supervisor.
3. I surely would have done much of the paper revising.
Three from biology:
4. The professor whose biological data we use.
5. Two of his students, who I've never met and do not know their role in the paper. I assume they helped the biology professor obtain the data.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I attended a conference in computer science recently, where we were not given any proceedings at the registration desk.
They said the papers are available online on the website of the conference inside the program detail.
However I know that the publisher (ACM) is not open access, and for example I have to buy the papers from the last conference if I like to read them.
So, there is a chance that the papers might be removed from the conference website 1-2 months after the conference.
I was wondering if giving proceedings to the attendees is a tradition only to make sure they have access to the contents during the conference?<issue_comment>username_1: This may be a new practice of ACM and it may be limited to some conferences. Things may have changed (a lot) since my retirement. But, printing on paper is expensive, and costs are affected by decisions about printed proceedings.
But it is unlikely that anything will soon disappear as the proceedings, such as they are, will become part of the ACM Digital Library. They have also captured much of what was written in the past, making research in CS much easier.
You can subscribe to this yourself, for about $100 per year (last time I looked), and many members of ACM do subscribe. I did for a number of years.
However, it is highly likely that your university library has a subscription and that you can get a copy of just about anything by asking the librarian. In fact, it will probably have subscriptions to lots (lots) of such professional libraries. The rules may preclude you from asking for every paper in a proceedings, but will probably permit you to get a pdf of any single paper (or a few).
The world is changing. We may have crossed the boundary where most prefer electronic to paper copies. If this is the case, then the (expensive) printing becomes a waste of resources. I suspect that it will soon become the case if it isn't already.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: No, obviously you shouldn't expect to always get printed proceedings. Your recent experience proves it.
Yes, giving out proceedings to participants is a tradition to make sure they have access to the papers during the conferences. Nowadays, everyone attending a scientific conference has access to the internet, and everyone as a whole is becoming aware that wasting resources (paper, electricity to run the printer, etc) is harmful to the environment. (Of course, it doesn't prevent attendees from flying around the world to attend the conference, but "one step at a time I guess".) They have put the proceedings online, so you have access to them.
And honestly, if downloading the papers one at a time is such a hassle, maybe it's a sign that you weren't even going to read them all anyway. Finding one paper is a stack of dozens is also a hassle! And if we are not talking about dozens of papers, then the argument that downloading them one at a time is annoying does not really hold much water. You can report this minor inconvenience to the conference organizers, but be prepared to the fact that it will be dealt with like all other minor inconveniences.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a manuscript to an Elsevier journal on 8 days ago. However, the "Current Status" of the manuscript is still "Submitted to Journal".
Is it common that the status "Submitted to Journal" lasts over a week?
When I click "Send E-mail" in the "Action Links", it shows that "This letter should not be used at this time. This submission is not in a status that would allow this letter to be sent to the intended recipient."
I cannot even withdraw this manuscript now because the Action Links do not contain "Withdraw" button. I submitted several manuscripts to this journal about three years ago. I checked the email at those moments. When I approved the submission of PDF files built by the submission system, I would receive a confirmation email from the editorial office. However, this time I did not receive any such email.
What should I do at this moment?<issue_comment>username_1: 8 days is nothing in academic time. Like the blink of an eye. It is not uncommon for reviews to take months. Just be patient. I know it's hard, but just move on to your next project. If there's no movement in a month or two, then maybe e-mail the editor and ask for a status.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Have patience -- you're asking that many things happen within a short amount of time. Your paper needs to get through an initial administrative check whether the formatting is correct and/or whether there is any plagiarism. Then the editor-in-chief needs to assign the paper to an associate editor. And then the associate editor needs to assign reviewers. Only then does, in most system, the status change to "Under review".
So it requires three people. Any one of them might be on vacation for the week. Or they have a paper or proposal deadline themselves. Or they have a family emergency. Or they need to grade a term paper. You can't expect that they stop everything they do and turn to handling your paper. They'll get to it in due time -- I'd say you can start to get upset if it's been 3 weeks, but before that my recommendation is as stated at the top: Have patience.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a second year PhD student in Canada. My first year was spent pursuing courses and getting a hang on the PhD topic that I am supposed to work for the next 4-5 years.
I always wanted to work in nanomechanics of materials, however, after applying for a year, I got accepted in just two programs ( one in the US and other in Canada).
The position in Canada was the most aligned to my interests (computational mechanics) and thus chose to come here for my PhD. However, a point to be noted, I did not get the exact research topic that I wanted work on, it's close but not exact.
This was disheartening at first, so when I started my PhD in Canada, I was bit unmotivated and wasted time feeling sad about not getting to work on the exact topic of interest.
I was not very enthusiastic about my research topic last year and wasted sometime thinking about what might have been. Is this something PhD students usually face?<issue_comment>username_1: As far as I am concerned, I don't know personally someone who is or was in the same situation as you. However, being 4 years in in my own Ph. D. and knowing a lot of people who are doing one or finished one, I can maybe bring some perspective to your situation.
Among people I know and including myself, I've seen two typical situations upon starting a Ph. D.:
* either the student doesn't know exactly the topic (s)he will work on and only got a broad field to investigate,
* either the student is actually deepening a topic (s)he worked on during a master thesis (this is my case).
The first situation seems fairly common in my experience and is arguably worse than yours. Not knowing what you will be working on for the 4-5 next years is probably more disheartening than having a topic that is close to your interest but not exactly matching what you had in mind at first. Sometimes, people change of topic every 6 months (because they didn't *find* anything with the previous topic they were working on) in the beginning and don't seem much more advanced 2 years after starting to work on their Ph. D. thesis. In fact, most people I know who stopped their Ph. D. started off like this (note that this isn't a rule of thumb; I've seen people in the same situation finishing their Ph. D. as well).
The second situation sounds, of course, ideal. You start your Ph. D. already knowing what to do; sometimes you even get to publish what you worked on during your master thesis right from the start or by slightly re-working it/expanding it (depending on how your master thesis was received). However, this doesn't necessarily shield you from other issues you can encounter while doing a Ph. D., such as:
* having trouble to explain to friends and family what the heck is your thesis about (don't underestimate this problem, and if possible, train yourself to explain your topic in the simplest way),
* getting sometimes the feeling that your research doesn't really interest people in your own field (because people keep asking you during conferences what's the endgoal of it, because your paper submissions get rejected because reviewers have trouble understanding what you're doing, etc.),
* doubting about whether you should finish or quit your Ph. D. when you're halfway through it, even if you managed to publish some papers (a phenomenon which has been dubbed as "[the Valley of Shit](https://thesiswhisperer.com/2012/05/08/the-valley-of-shit/)"),
* having irregular schedules (except if your university enforce them), sometimes working all the time (even the week-end) for some weeks and sometimes not working much because you're unsure about what you will do next (or because you want to slow down a bit), which can also be a problem on the social side,
* etc.
What I'm trying to say with my points above is that doing a Ph. D. is a difficult task anyway, even if you manage to get the best possible topic, and it's perfectly normal to feel unmotivated at some point. Doing a Ph. D. isn't just an intellectual challenge.
Also, be aware that the way you progress in your research can lead to developments you wouldn't have expected at first. In my case, for academic reasons, I had to write a kind of big planning for the first years at the start of my Ph. D., but I can guarantee you it looks nothing like what I actually did up to now. I don't know much about your research topic, but you can already keep in mind that you might not always work exactly on what you expected to, and you might even reconnect with the topic you first had in mind or go into completely different directions. I hope this helps.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Agree with Jef's reply.
It sounds like you are stuck and ruminating as well which is preventing you from moving on with your current PhD. Many people work on a topic that they are less interested in and move towards their area of interest in their post-doc or free time. The distance between computational mechanics is not very far from nanomechanics of materials...
There are great resources to tackle rumination and the possibly obsessive thoughts about what could have been. Definitely consider visiting your student counselling or see your primary care person. Having a professional assessment can help get a better overall feel of where you are at the moment and how best to move forward.
Rumination that is impacting your PhD is serious and deserves time and effort to process. Imagine all the opportunities that you are missing now just because you are interested in nanomechanics. Maybe the skills you could have learnt from computational mechanics could have made amazing advances in nanomechanics but you were unable to appreciate it at the time...
<https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-stop-ruminating>
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: During university I had 3 professors I did close work with and that were really familiar with my work. Unfortunately one of them retired and as such is no longer willing to give me a reference letter.
I have been working in my field at a startup, and the CTO of the startup knows my work really well and is willing to write a recommendation letter for me.
Is it better to contact professors that remember who I am but with whom I only took a couple of courses and as such may not be totally familiar with my work ethic/skills, or is it better to list my CTO who doesn't have a PhD.
Edit: Field of study is Computer Science<issue_comment>username_1: General Answer
--------------
This will in part depend on what type of graduate program you are looking at.
If this is for professional school (business, law, medicine, etc.), I would think that a letter of recommendation from non-faculty would be relatively common. Such a letter (such as in the case of an MBA program) could actually be favored over a letter from a pure academic.
Conversely, let's even suppose you are trying to get into a master's program in a purely academic discipline. (For sake of argument, let's say pure maths). **You need to have some letters that can speak to your academics and scholastic abilities directly.**
However....
If you already have two solid letters from professors who can speak to your academic qualities, a letter from someone in "industry" who can speak to the more non-academic aspects of your profile might add a positive depth to your application that would not be achieved by having three academic references.
Speaking for myself personally, if I was to receive an application from a student who had two academic references and one reference from a CTO, I would likely be *more* inclined to look at the application with deeper consideration. The non-academic reference could provide a dimension of insight into the applicant that would not be accomplished with three academic references.
Long story short, I would much prefer to have a non-academic letter of recommendation that gives a fuller and more complete picture of an applicant than a letter of recommendation from a professor than does not know a student well.
---
Situation Specific
------------------
Based on some inferred information from your profile, it seems that you are likely trying to get into a program in the computer science fields. If you have a quality letter of recommendation from a well credentialed CTO (i.e. not someone who runs a company worth US$200 from their mother's basement), I would by all means include it in your application. Many programs *want* students who have connections to industry. It helps them make inroads with their alumni network into new employers and new fields of collaboration.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is unfortunately not at all clear in which country you studied, in which country you apply and what you apply for (academia, industry, in between).
You might try if you haven't already to ask again the retired prof if they could do you this small favor or the other two profs.
If this fails, I'd say it's the best to ask both the industry guy (who can speak a lot about your skills, which is necessary) one of the other profs. Ask them beforehand if they could write you a (strong) reference letter. (From your question I have the impression that they might but you don't know.)
If you are/apply to a culture where reference letters are handed to you, read them and decide afterwards if you want to use them.
Summary:
Take the best reference letters you can get! (And for academic applications, do include an academic letter if you can get one which is good.)
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am supervising a senior reading course. As I cannot give a name to a problem I am having with one of the students, I will give an example.
We are reading a paper, and he was not making progress. He was not able to read the introduction and present an overview of the paper's method and main results. I held an extra meeting to outline the paper and review the methodology step by step. I explained the first two outcomes, and asked him to fill in the steps joining them. I checked on him two weeks later, and he has been reading a book that is related to the paper only in title.
I have two other students who are working on similar topics and they *get it*. I can tell they have not mastered the topics yet. They are still good at figuring out and presenting intermediate steps on their own. Maybe they have different abilities, or maybe they are better at interpretting what I am saying. I do not judge anybody based on their abilities or skills. That is, I am not holding this against the student. I still want to help him and myself learn to be more efficient at whatever this is.<issue_comment>username_1: There are too many possibilities to give a definite answer. But one thing stands out:
>
> He was not able to read the introduction and present an overview of the paper's method and main results.
>
>
>
The student may have a learning disability, like ADHD or dyslexia. Most universities have a service that will test students, diagnose the problem, and provide them with the assistance they need to perform as well as anyone else.
Most faculty members are not trained to recognize the problems or to treat them. Since you are clearly a well-meaning teaching who wants to help this student, the first thing to do is to refer them to the school's service for learning disabilities. If that turns up nothing, then at least you can move on to other possibilities, like anxiety or even language issues. But if it turns up something definite, your action will make a huge difference in the student's academic success.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> He has been reading a book that is related to the paper only in title.
>
>
>
This along with him not making progress might be a sign that he is missing pre-requisites. Maybe the paper requires mathematical tools he is not familiar, or has several words which are new to him.
Usually, I'd go with some assisted reading/reviewing. **This is very harsh, so be careful and prepared before attempting.**
Set up a meeting with plenty of time, explain that you'll be studying the paper and he should try to read and understand by himself first. Mark some time you know he should be calm (i.e. don't do it last hour of Friday or right after a difficult test, also make sure the student isn't hungry). Schedule at least two hours, but preferably have more allocated time on your schedule, and try to know that he'll be free after the scheduled time as well. Ask him to bring a laptop or have a computer in front of him at the meeting place.
Then, the strategy is to tell him to read the paper and interrupt him at least once per sentence asking for clarifications (what does this word mean? Can you rephrase this? Why is the author making this exception?). He should know that your are trying to measure gaps in his knowledge and habits, so tell him to be honest if he does not know anything and that it doesn't matter if that's the case (might be a particular poor strategy when dealing with people from a cultural background who have issues admitting they don't know something). The tense scenario will naturally keep him focused (though you should try to put him at ease).
When he doesn't know anything (*I don't know this word!*) you can either explain to him (and check if he understood) or say something like "*and how would you look it up?*" (that is why I've suggested leaving the computer close by). Very often, you'll notice he has poor googling skills, so you'll present him with some useful websites (*Linguee* comes to mind when dealing with translation issues, it is simple to use when you know it exists, but a student might not find it out by himself). Maybe you'll need to introduce him some book on the matter, and go through its index (some students may have only learned an important topic over classroom notes that he/she threw away, he might be unable to name a single book he could check some equation if needed be).
Additionally, this will reveal gaps in the student background, maybe there is a complete theory that is relevant to the paper but the student knows very little about (something like: *"yes, you need to know trigonometry before learning calculus"* or *"Yes, you need to study electrodynamics before studying quantum mechanics"*). Many elective courses try way too hard to remove pre-requisites for students, and then student simply don't know about things that should be the pre-requisite in any sane place. The process of asking for clarifications over each sentence usually reveals this kind of gaps.
Often, people read complex texts ignoring parts they don't really understand. Maybe because they expect that part to be clearer as the reading progresses, perhaps they think they'll get it with more context, or they just hope that weird word lies in a sentence that isn't actually important. This is a poor reading habit that almost everyone has at some degree. However, struggling students might take it to a whole new level of reading without understanding. Part of the idea is to identify when this is happening and forcing the student not to ignore too much of the text.
**After a while doing so, you should:**
1. Have taught the student how to use some tools that you are used to, be he never heard about.
2. Have provided him with good basic references if he needs them.
3. Have identified topics you expected him/her to have mastered, but he/she actually knows little about.
4. Improved his/her reading habits a bit.
Explain to him that this is not to be done often, as it is too much time consuming and stressing for both of you. Also, the whole point is to fill basic gaps, once they're filled, this tool should no longer be used. Over time, he should get better at identifying these gaps by himself, and asking for assistance as needed.
Another note on how to handle the student:
>
> I have two other students who are working on similar topics and they get it.
>
>
>
Unless they have very similar backgrounds (i.e. same bachelor degree at same university) to the struggling student, the comparison is more likely to be unfair than otherwise. Even if just in your mind, avoid comparing colleagues directly, and specially never compare colleagues in front of them (or speaking to either).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I completed my Ph.D. a few months ago, but it was 4 years of a living hell. My PI was super abusive, I had severe depression and when I said I wanted to defend (6 months earlier than the deadline) because I couldn't bear it any longer she said: "you will only defend if I want you to".
Anyway, I spent a year abroad, funded by an agency, and when I came back with the data she said it as bad work and unpublishable. I still wrote a manuscript (after the Ph.D. ended and I no longer had funding) draft without any participation from her and any result coming primarily from her lab. I recently shared it with the authors and she is taking it as if it was her work, sharing with random people and claiming she is senior author, which I don't agree since she didn't contribute at all (not even with experiments planning).
My question is: do I have a saying on the authorship order? I feel like it's my work and I should be able to decide that, especially after everything she put me through.<issue_comment>username_1: **The authors** agree on authorship order (as well as the requirements to be an author at all), preferably before the research actually begins.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Authorship is a delicate issue, and students have limited leverage when it comes to author lists. It may be that your supervisor was not involved in the writing of the paper, but she apparently contributed to the work so she should probably be an author. *Usually* the senior researchers will just who has contributed enough to be co-author.
Just like in a parade, ther are two prized position in an author list: first and last. If it’s politically tricky to be first author, then be last author. Indeed, “the boss” *i.e.* the person in charge, is usually last (although that may depend on the lab).
There really isn’t much to do when you fall out with your thesis director. In the long run I still believe it is self-defeating for a senior person to mistreat more junior persons, but this does not help you with your situation.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The answer of [username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/139709/75368) is the morally correct one. The answer of [username_2](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/139716/75368) is the political one.
I'll give the *self defense* answer. If your advisor has power over your future, then I advise you to go along. But move away from her orbit at your first opportunity. What she is demanding is unethical and seems to be trying to boost herself at your expense, rather than supporting a former student as she could.
But if that power is there, and she has a grudge, then she can use that power to affect your future. You probably don't have any countering power to contest it, though some do.
The order of authorship, I'll add, varies greatly by field. In some fields there are tremendous fights over it (lots of evidence in posts here). In other fields we just list contributors alphabetically, but they need to contribute. Some with very minor contributions show up in acknowledgements, but not as authors. My advisor (mathematics) helped me a lot and did, in fact, contribute to my dissertation, but no one would have thought he should be co-author. But he was acknowledged and cited.
In other labs, the PI is always listed (often last) and people make different assumptions about that. Some have said they always assume the last author did all the work. Others assume the last author provided funding and encouragement, nothing else.
But, in your case, think long term about your career and protect it. This paper may wind up with, to you, an unhappy listing of authors, but it won't be your last work, nor, one hopes, your best. If you need to submit to protect yourself, then do so, but, as I said, move away quickly. Don't look back. Find a better circle of collaborators.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's say that a journal article submission wordcount limit is 10,000 words. Does this mean that only really awesome or important submissions should be over 9,500 words? Or any article can be at 9,999 without predisposing the editors against it?<issue_comment>username_1: If you have 9,000 words, do not try to add new words only to get closer to the limit.
If you have 9,999 words, do not remove words merely to get further from the limit.
Submit no more than 10,000 words unless you ask permission (sometimes there is flexibility in the word count, sometimes not).
---
**In summary, use the limit as given and don't concern yourself with gaming the system beyond that.**
These sorts of strategies and games might have a place in standardized testing but they don't have much place in research.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm sure someone may say, "depends on the paper" or "the discipline". However, generally speaking, these limits are guidelines to prevent the submission and processing of articles that just do not fit the parameters of the journal. So don't go over (without permission, there may be a bit of leeway).
However, no editor is going to say, "this could be a good article, but it's too close to the limit, so I spike it." If it's potentially publishable, it will go to peer review. And then be treated per the results of the peer review.
If your paper is too wordy for its content and importance, the peer reviews may be less good and the editor is more likely to pass on it. You should also expect peer reviews may point to sections which are too detailed or superfluous, or -- more likely -- highlight areas you should augment. You will then have to fight how to create space for the revisions requested, what to cut out, or plead for extra space. So by and large, if a journal's limit is *n* words, I would hesitate to try to place an article there where my first submitted draft was more than *0.9 n*, say, just because I expect difficulties further on. And I would be doubly careful if I ended up at 9,999 vs a limit of 10,000 after careful chiseling already, since I've never had a minor revisions or revise-and-resubmit that didn't end up growing the paper at least a bit.
I'd be a bit more careful with journals that say "typical papers are *n* words, but exceptionally up to *m > n* words". They are telegraphing that their limits are flexible for the right paper, but it had better be something special if you're at *m-1* with your submission. That being said, exceptions can always be made. My spouse, not in my field, has anchored an author team that got a highly important systematic review published in a special issue all on its own of a fairly important journal since the paper's required length to be comprehensive required more pages than the journal's typical single issue, never mind single paper. And I've seen important research papers in my old field, math, that have been split into 2 or 3 somewhat arbitrarily chosen subarticles due to the length, and then all published in a specific top journal. But that's rare.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I've worked at several UK institutions over the past 10 years and one aspect that consistently raises my eyebrows is the reaction to student-staff liaison meetings\* from senior members of the team. Often, these meetings are merely an opportunity for the 'representative' to voice their **own** concerns and are clearly, obviously, not representative. Yet, time after time, when a far fetched and often untrue complaint/comment is made in one of these meetings, senior staff go into full meltdown and start firing off perplexing and demotivating e-mails asking for things to be fixed because the students are unhappy. The simple matter is, as previously stated, these are often not representative views and the sample size is one: the person who said it.
In any other context, a sample size of one would be immediately disregarded by those with only rudimentary scientific knowledge. No sound conclusion could ever be drawn from that sample. Yet, if this sample happens to be one student in the context of a 'staff-student liaison' meeting then it appears to be absolute fact to senior 'management'.
My question is for fellow academics from across the world, do you have this nonsense to deal with? What do you tell 'management' if they ask you to change based on comments from a single source? Am I being too touchy about it?
I am a lecturer at a UK institution.
\*These meetings are usually bi-yearly where student 'representatives' voice any matters arising on their degree
---
For the those thinking "Jeez, this guy gets a lot of bad comments". I have not once been on the receiving end of this but I know good colleagues lose sleep over it.
I also see the benefits of these meetings, I do not wish for them to be scrapped.<issue_comment>username_1: [Converting a comment to an answer at the invitation of @hueblue...]
I feel you are focussing on the wrong part of the issue here. It does not make sense to encourage 'management' to ignore the student representative's views; inevitably this will just create problems and bad feeling in the future, when students get the impression that their input is ignored.
The real issue is that (at least in your perception) the student representatives are not doing their job properly: they are using their position as a platform for their personal views, rather than those of the student body at large. It seems to me that this is what you should aim to address. Some things to consider:
* How well do the student body understand the role played by their representative(s)?
* How are elections handled? Are they treated as important, or an annoyance to be dispatched as quickly as possible in the first lecture of the year?
* Is the student body aware of the issues that are being discussed in meetings attended by their representative(s)? Do they know when meetings are due to take place?
* Are students reminded to send comments to their representative(s) in advance of relevant meetings?
* Is there a clear, well-advertised, equitable opportunity for the student body to get together and discuss any issues and concerns they have with the representative(s)?
* Do students have any way of knowing what their representative(s) said in meetings? Are minutes or summaries circulated to the student body at large?
I suspect that at present, the answer to most of the above questions is 'No' - certainly that was the case when I was a student. If you can change some of them to 'Yes', you will probably see a marked improvement in the quality of representation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In our UK, Russel group, STEM department the Staff-Student liason structures seem to work well.
We have a staff-student committee that is attended by any staff member involved in teaching and representatives from every group of students in the department. The students are there as elected representatives, but obviously they bring their own experiences to the table.
The students can and often do raise worries about thing in this meeting and often an explanation of why things are this way is offered, the students are told that the matter will be investigated and the results presented at the next meeting. This usually results in either an explanation, or a small tweak to how things are setup, or an apology that something went wrong. The students are almost always satisfied with this. Part of this is that those in charge are old hands and are very good at making the students feel listened to, without panicking and deciding everything has to change.
We also have a smaller number of student representatives on the Department's teaching committee, which is the departments ultimate policy making body with regards to teaching. Students are there to express their views on matters of policy, and not to raise specific issues. For example, we recently discussed changing our structure in the 3rd year from 10 credit modules to 20 credit ones, thinking the students would prefer this as it would mean fewer exams, but it turns out that the students unanimously preferred the 10 credit system.
Neither of these forums is the right place for a serious complaint about a specific member of staff, and we have a proper complaints procedure to handle this.
In general this all works well. The students are on the whole pretty happy with how things are run, and in return rarely raise vexatious or petty complaints.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: There is a concept circling in the air that
1. [doing a Ph.D. is a waste of time](https://medium.economist.com/why-doing-a-phd-is-often-a-waste-of-time-349206f9addb)
2. [a Ph.D. is worthless](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-phd-worthless-lesley-crane-phd-ma-bsc-hons/)
3. and [more](https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNRY9m8HEUd7ZmE1rnkpzxItRKwOzw:1573298720434&q=why%20phds%20are%20useless&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHke26gt3lAhWo1aYKHQ2UA4IQBQguKAA&biw=1366&bih=621)
But, today, [the following comment](https://qr.ae/TW4S0Z) caught my attention:
>
> [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9IW3V.png)
>
>
>
I am asking this question, coz, I am venturing into a Ph.D., but these types of news are making me demotivated.
Does this have anything to do with academia or simply bad life-decisions?<issue_comment>username_1: In reality, few PdDs wind up homeless. A few do, and at certain times more do. But, in general, it shouldn't be a concern for someone wanting to study for a doctorate. But occasionally...
There are a lot of factors. The general state of a nation's economy at the time you finish can have a lot to do with it. When I finished (1970's) there were almost no jobs for mathematicians. We had landed on the moon and all money for science suddenly dried up for several years. I was lucky to stay in academia at all, and many PhDs at the time were pumping gas, etc. It cleared up in a few (several) years.
Some people get a doctorate not intending to use it for anything but the love of knowledge. Some turn out to be writers.
<NAME> (the Unabomber) was evading capture by the police.
Lots of reasons.
At the current moment there is a glut of doctoral graduates relative to the market for those skills in many fields. Academia in general graduates more PhDs in a given year than there are positions open in academia. So the system depends on jobs being available elsewhere. Sometimes that is true and sometimes not.
A lot of people take jobs below what their skills and education would require, such as teaching school with a doctorate.
And, as to bad life decisions, it is impossible to say. Having a job shouldn't be your highest lifetime goal, actually. Moreover, because of the length of time it takes to earn a doctorate the economy and the demand for your skills can change drastically before you finish. This is what happened to me. When I started grad school everyone would predict a bright future for a mathematician. When I finished, not so much. Nothing, really. I looked into becoming an actuary, for example. And, I switched fields to CS to become more employable in the short term.
But, I'm glad things are better in Kenya. Here (US) politicians have decided to drastically decrease funding for education at all levels. The feeling among some of them is that it is up to you, not society, to see to your education. This is a great way to assure that the population gets dumber and dumber and poorer and poorer over time. I have an opposite view that an educated populace is a national resource that shouldn't be compromised. Silly me.
---
Postscript: I didn't interpret the question as "Why do so many...". I don't see that implication anywhere in the original post.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: To add another perspective to this, there are two important factors that make people start a PhD, not least of which is a misconception about their likelihood of success.
The glut in PhD candidates is partially fueled by faculty members misrepresenting one's prospects post graduation. Doing a PhD in the hopes of securing a position in an R1 faculty position is, statistically speaking, a (very) risky prospect - lots of good people competing for very few positions.
Of course, faculty members who are *already in these positions* suffer from observation bias, and see their road to these positions as straightforward, whereas it is in fact far from it. I don't think that faculty members who encourage people to enter grad school are being malicious: they genuinely believe that their success can be replicated with hard work and determination; this is often not enough to succeed (there's a tremendous amount of luck, and qualities like creativity that are hard to teach). School recruitment of course has no interest in telling you otherwise - they want to keep those enrollment numbers high, thus you may get very skewed signals.
One might say that even after graduation students are still (weakly) more employable than they were before studies. This is probably true (you probably won't become homeless!), *however*, you are not factoring in lost wages, job experience, and losing what are probably your best years career development wise.
As an example, some people (in CS and related disciplines) start their PhD under the false impression that it will improve their chances of securing a software engineering job. As I cover in [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/135211/why-is-getting-a-phd-considered-financially-irresponsible-by-some-people/135217#135217) answer, you stand to lose roughly $500k++ (probably more) by simply entering the PhD program. While you won't end up being homeless (probably) if you graduate with a CS PhD, losing out on this amount of money in sunk costs/lost wages is something that most graduate students don't even consider when entering the program (at least not the ones I had a chance to interact with).
This is not counting time spent doing a postdoc, or adjunct teaching. Both positions pay peanuts (I think in some disciplines you're better off financially by flipping burgers), and that's again time and wages lost.
To conclude, people tend to romanticize academia, and overestimate their chances of succeeding after graduation. This tends to lead to them making poor choices, and unfortunately, faculty members/recruiters often enough are not helping them understand what they're getting into.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: They do not "become homeless". This is a myth.
==============================================
It's as simple as that. Or at least the implied softer statement that a person with a PhD is somehow more at risk of unemployment than other groups of people. Obviously, there is bound to be *some* unemployment even in that group, just by chance; unfortunate accidents can happen to anyone. But on the whole, a PhD is protective against unemployment, and for many reasons other than the simple topic studied (e.g. a boatload of transferable skills, for one, opening far more doors than their narrow topic of specialization might imply).
Your question is an example of the Bulverist Fallacy, i.e. presenting a loaded argument of the form "A is true. Why is A true?". Any attempt at answering this question that jumps straight into "Why" is fallacious to the extent that it has not addressed whether A is in fact true or not.
As for your specific question, the answer is that it simply is not the case. People with PhDs are far less likely to be unemployed than people without one.
<https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/05/employment-crisis-new-phds-illusion>
---
Now, *if* and *when* they are in the minority of people who *do* end up unemployed for whatever reason, username_1 has an excellent answer on the kinds of reasons that might lead to that. But it's worth nothing that you might as well have asked "Why are there so many unemployed green aliens on earth"? The answer would have been equally valid. In that it's mostly not, simply because the premise is largely untrue in the first place.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2019/11/08
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<issue_start>username_0: Here's my rough understanding of differences in higher education in different countries:
* In the U.S., college is paid for in general by the individual student, not the state. On the other hand, access is basically universal, as anyone can attend a [community college](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_colleges_in_the_United_States), which is [open admissions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_admissions) (no entry or admissions requirement) if they wish.
* In other countries, such as those in Europe, college is generally provided for free by the national government. However, I assume that placements are competitive and have strict entrance and performance requirements.
Those would be my impressions. However, I find it extremely hard to confirm the latter point, because basically no one talks about the difference in admissions requirements in U.S. vs. Europe (possibly because people in the different environments take their own practices so much for granted that no one thinks to say them out loud in conversations?).
So: Am I correct that countries in Europe with free government-funded higher education have strict entrance requirements in all cases? Or, is there any nation that has both open admissions and universally free college education?
By "college", I mean adult education (age 18+), including community colleges, 4-year colleges, universities, and international equivalents.
For the purposes of "strict entrance requirements", **answers should address the status of nationwide qualifying examinations** such as the [Abitur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abitur) (in Germany, etc.) or [Matura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matura) (in Switzerland, etc.), which are passed by less than half of secondary school students, and do not have any analog in the U.S. (And which, as a U.S. person, I didn't even know about until it came up in the comments.)<issue_comment>username_1: Here is an overview of the situation in Germany, where there are no tuition fees for Bachelor and Master programs at public universities (though student union fees and public transport fees totaling 60-130 EUR per semester still apply).
* For Bachelor degrees, the general requirements for admission to *any* German university are (1) proof of knowledge of the language of the study program (German or English) and (2) university entrance qualification (Hochschulzugangsberechtigung).
"University entrance qualification" means proof that you are eligible to attend a university. In Germany, this is obtained by completing the Abitur examination. In the German education system, at the age of 10, students are already separated into [different types of schools](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany#Secondary_education) based on their performance, some of which have direct access to Abitur (and therefore to university), and others which have practically no access to university. [About 50%](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiturientenquote_und_Studienanf%C3%A4ngerquote) of German students complete Abitur and have directly access to university.
For international students, this is the corresponding high school leaving certificate. Depending on the country, your school leaving certificate might directly qualify you to study in a German university, or you might be required to do a two-semester preparatory course ([Studienkolleg](https://www.tum.de/en/studies/application/preparatory-study-at-the-studienkolleg/)) before being allowed into German university . In [this](https://anabin.kmk.org/no_cache/filter/schulabschluesse-mit-hochschulzugang.html#land_gewaehlt) database (only in German), you can search for your country and school leaving certificate to see how it is in your case.
* For most Bachelor degrees, admission is *unrestricted* (Zulassungsfrei), which means that any student that satisfies the above general requirements will be admitted, without going through a field-specific aptitude test. Switching programs after the first year is not difficult, but there is a somewhat strict requirement to pass the first-year courses in a limited amount of time, so the idea is to let students "test" their preferred program and switch to another one after the first year if they are not comfortable with it.
Note that not all Bachelor programs have unrestricted admissions: in some fields such as Medicine there is a limited number of admissions and students will be chosen according to their grades in previous stages. This is called *<NAME>* (NC).
* On the other hand, most Master programs do have an aptitude test and students are admitted based on qualification in their field (in addition to the general requirement of having a Bachelor's degree). At this stage, students are supposed to already know what they want to study. *I would expect the level of "strictness" of the aptitude test to be in some way related to supply and demand (disclaimer: personal opinion here)*, so the requirements do not necessarily have to be stricter than in US universities. The offer of Programs taught in English (which are mostly only Master programs) is more limited than for German programs, so the aptitude test for English programs might also be stricter.
As pointed out in the comments, many Master programs are the result of the splitting of old 5-year programs (Diplom) into a 3-year Bachelor and a 2-year Master. Students doing the Bachelor program that apply to continue with the corresponding Master program at the same university usually have very easy admission into the Master program.
In summary, the requirements for entrance to *German university in general* are somewhat strict, but once you are in, there are in most cases few additional requirements for choosing a specific university or field.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Well, it depends how strict you are with the terms "open" and "free":
**Open:**
Most European countries I am familiar with (Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland) are actually fairly open in terms of admission. There are always some basic requirements (e.g., candidates need to have a high school diploma or comparable), and sometimes there are entry examinations, but in general there is no US-style admissions system.
As an example, in *Sweden* university programs can define their own objective admission criteria (e.g., specific grades in specific high school subjects) and how many students they are willing to admit, but they cannot rank students themselves - they need to accept at least as many eligible students as advertised based on a ranking generated centrally (usually based on high school grades, as far as I know). Students will generally get admitted somewhere, but some of the best schools (e.g., KTH, Chalmers) you will need rather good grades to get in.
In *Germany*, the system is comparable to Sweden in the sense that your high school grades largely determine whether you can enroll in a specific program at a specific university through a system called Numerus Clausus.
In *Austria*, historically every eligible prospective student could enroll freely in any program of any university (there was no further admission system, aside from basic requirements such as having a high school degree or equivalent). This is still the case for many programs, but in some high-demand programs (e.g., medicine) they have now started to experiment with entry exams.
These systems are all quite different to US-style admissions systems. There are no application packages, interviews, or recommendation letters, and it's generally not the university that actually makes the decision (instead there is some broken but objective kind of ranking criterium, such as grades or test results). Further, these systems are often more about routing than they are about admission - for instance, in Computer Science in Austria, everybody who wants to study CS can do so in Austria, but not everybody will be able to study at TU Vienna (historically the most popular place to study CS in Austria). It's also important to understand that the difference in quality of the schools is actually not dramatic, so "getting into" TU Vienna is not a huge job market advantage - people mostly prefer studying in some cities over others.
In *Switzerland*, as far as I know admission is still completely open - every eligible Swiss citizen can choose to enroll at ETH or EPFL (international top universities). The "selection" here mostly happens at the first semesters of study - for ETH, I know that many, many students will give it a shot and drop out within the first weeks, after realizing that they will likely not be able to keep up with the highly intense workload and intellectual challenge.
**Free:**
Education in all these European countries varies between free and (relatively) cheap. Taking Austria as an example again, studying was historically indeed free at all public universities (which were basically all of them - private universities are a new trend around here, and not one that has really gained any traction). Since around 2000, we have been flip-flopping back and forth between "free" and a study fee of around 400 USD per semester (depending on which political party was governing the country). Tuition for non-EU citizens is about twice as high (so about 1600 USD per year of study).
In Sweden (and, I think, in Switzerland and Germany) there is no fee for eligible citizens (EU citizens in the case of Sweden and Germany, Swiss citizens in Switzerland). At least in Sweden and Switzerland, tuition for citizens of other countries is at least in the same ballpark as in the US (still a bit cheaper, but far from "free").
>
> However, I assume that placements are competitive and have strict entrance and performance requirements.
>
>
>
To summarize, this assumption does not really work out. Systems differ, but in general universities are fairly open for eligible students (although entry tests and grade-based systems are increasingly seeing use).
So how *do* universities cope? Mainly by scaling up. Classrooms in Europe can be **large** - classes with 500 or 1000 students are not a rare sight in popular programs in Austria, Switzerland, or Germany (but not in Sweden, as programs can limit how many yearly students they accept - often in the range of about 100, give or take). It is often accepted that many students will fail and drop out - when I studied CS in Austria, it was not uncommon to partake in early exams with fail rates considerably above 50%, and about half of my classmates switched programs / universities during the first year of studying.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Scotland has free undergraduate full-time degrees, and the part-time distance-learning Open University has no entry requirements for most of its degrees (access courses are available for those who haven't studied up to age 18). And as far as I'm aware there are no limits on student numbers.
<http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/do-it/ready-for-success>
Scottish students with personal income of £25,000 or less, or on certain benefits, can qualify for the Part-Time Fee Grant and funding to cover 100% of course fees (including the access course).
>
> Studying part-time for a 360-credit honours degree at a rate of one
> 60-credit module a year, would typically cost £1,008\* per year and
> take six years to complete. At today’s prices, the total cost would be
> £6,048.
>
>
>
<http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/fees-and-funding>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I have taught at both at two Swedish universities and one American university (Ivy League). The main difference is really the philosophy - in the US, it is difficult to get in, but once admitted, it is not that hard to stay with passing grades.
In Sweden, getting admitted is relatively easy (which implies a much more diverse body of students), but the difficult part is actually passing the classes. In mathematics, only about 40%-70% pass the final exam (passing grade is from A-E). Not having to pay tuition might explain why students are not as motivated as in the US, but studying without eventually getting a diploma is a waste of time that could have been spent on working.
I still prefer the Swedish system - it allows for people with diverse background to have the *opportunity* to get a diploma. Only very few programs have a high competition for the spots, so higher education is available in principle for almost everyone. But to stress - passing the classes is the main challenge and I would say that the quality of the education is at least on par with the United States.
EDIT: There are several ways to get a spot at a Swedish university.
**High-school diploma** that fulfills some basic requirements depending on program (these requirements can be fulfilled later, for example in math, many universities offer preparatory courses as a complement to high-school diploma).
**University entrance exam** Anyone can take [this exam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Scholastic_Aptitude_Test), any number of times (offered twice a year), each time at the cost of about $50.
**Work experience** Military service, having a company, or general work experience might give enough support university admittance.
I have taught classes with people between 18 to 60 years old -- as mentioned, it is quite diverse. It is also quite common to work part-time in parallel with studies. Also, students get a scholarship for university studies (unless their income from working is already over a certain limit).
I noticed that during 2009-2011, the classes were larger. It is most likely due to the 2008 economic crisis, and thus fewer work opportunities.
Universities hence act as a sort of 'buffer' to keep people busy -- it is better (IMHO) if the tax-payer money to goes towards university tuition, rather than unemployment benefits.
**On grad-school**: Another big difference is that graduate studies (getting a PhD), is a proper job in Sweden (with unemployment benefits, parental leave, sick leave, retirement savings, etc) and the salary is something one can live comfortable off. Also, it is much less that a PhD student prematurely stop the studies, compared to the US system, where the qualifying exams are *expected* to get rid of say 50% of the PhD students.
In the US, it seems very difficult to handle a pregnancy during the PhD studies.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: California isn't a country, but our community college system does have open admissions as well as being in effect free. It's free in the sense that all students receive at least an ~80% subsidy, and most are 100% subsidized. There are various programs that allow students to completely get free tuition. There is a need-based program that something like half of students at my school qualify for. There is also something called College Promise, implemented in California as AB 19 in 2017, which makes community college in California free for first-year, full-time students.
The real economic issue for our students tends to be not tuition but the need to survive while going to school. Rent is expensive in urban areas of the state. Many students work 20-40 hours a week to support themselves while taking a full-time load, which means that they don't succeed academically, or end up repeating all their classes because they don't pass the first time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm going to offer an answer, partly from the U.S. perspective, highlighting information gathered in the comments, chat, and other answers.
* In both Europe and at U.S. lower-level (community) colleges, entry to the college usually requires a high school diploma and no other qualifications.
* However, the "quality control" that I would expect for the European system most commonly occurs with some state exam at the exit to high school (such as the Abitur, Matura, or Baccalauréat), as a requirement for awarding the high school diploma. Note that the U.S. has no such comprehensive qualifying exams at any of the national, state, or local levels to receive a high school diploma.
* In addition, European secondary school students are often "tracked" (as we'd call it) into distinct educational institutions, some of which give vocational training only, while others are college preparatory. In contrast, in the U.S., systems of "tracking" have been systematically dismantled in recent decades. (e.g., Buress and Garrity, [Detracking for Excellence and Equity](http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108013/chapters/What-Tracking-Is-and-How-to-Start-Dismantling-It.aspx)).
* The end result is that while in the U.S. around 85% of students receive the high school diploma (and hence automatic entry to an open-admissions community college), a significantly lower rate of European students receive a degree qualifying them for college. Examples would be the 20% rate of students receiving the Swiss [Matura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matura#In_Switzerland), or the 49% of students with the German [Abitur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abitur#Statistics).
American education reporter <NAME>, who specializes in international college experiences, summarized this state of affairs in an interview in *Clarion*, March 2020, ["Higher ed: reproducing social inequality?"](https://psc-cuny.org/clarion/march-2020/higher-ed-reproducing-social-inequality), in support of a series of articles in the [Chronicle of Higher Education](https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/20191231-barriers-to-mobility).
>
> When you look at countries that have enacted some variation of free
> college – that buzzword of the presidential primaries! – the way
> they’ve typically been able to do it is by limiting the number of
> spaces at public universities. And that ends up creating some weird
> dynamics. In Brazil, for example, almost everyone who benefits from
> free college at top-ranked public universities got there because they
> went to private high schools and could afford the kind of preparation
> that helps them gain admission. Germany, too, has free college, but
> it’s a very stratified system, where certain students get tracked into
> higher education and others don’t. One of the particular challenges of
> the American higher-ed system is that we really elevate the idea of
> equity of opportunity, and that makes other countries’ solutions hard
> to adapt.
>
>
>
The best example of a national system that is both universally tuition-free and basically open access to all - including an absence of qualifying exams for the high school diploma - seems to be [Argentina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Argentina) (thanks to username_8). Given that, Argentina is noted for having [among the highest university dropout rates in the world](https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/world-view/argentina-top-%E2%80%94-its-dropout-rate).
Interestingly, in 2017, a member of the National Academy of Education, economist Alieto Guadagni, observed that being without high school exit exams was an unusual state of affairs, and argued that they should instituted in line with most other countries ([Google translate](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.infobae.com%2Feducacion%2F2017%2F10%2F30%2Funa-de-las-tasas-de-graduacion-mas-bajas-del-mundo-la-unica-y-deliberada-referencia-de-macri-a-educacion%2F%3Fstory%3D20150422123029167)):
>
> According to Guadagni, the solution is to implement a general exam
> that stimulates the preparation of students in their last years of
> high school. "Everyone does it except Argentina and Uruguay. It is a
> tremendous delay. Implantation of exams is a necessary but not
> sufficient condition, although it is not going to change," he added.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Not sure if something hasn't changed in the last years, but it has been like that in Latvia since 1991(regain of independence):
There is a (fairly large) number of state sponsored slots in 2-4 major state universities.
To qualify for those slots, you have to be above the threshold in entrance exam results.
The threshold depends on the number of applicants vs number of slots for this program, so, it is technically possible to have every student of some programs above threshold, if the enrollment is low.
Every semester there's exams, after which the state sponsorship for next semester again goes to those that pass the exams above the threshold as compared to their fellow students.
Anybody who didn't pass exams has to pay for his tuition for that semester.
There exist a number of private schools, where you can't receive state payment for your studies and some of them might have additional criteria for eligibility.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: I can mention the case of Argentina. All public universities are free, with open admission since the early 1980s. Anyone with a high school diploma (and there's no comprehensive final exam, or qualifying exam, etc. after high school) that applies gets in, including foreigners that have residency (which is super-easy to get). There is a limited possibility of needs-based financial assistance.
The free admission even extends to most graduate programs, where the number of available scholarships is a significant percentage of the graduate student population.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_9: For any reasonable understanding of the terms, French public Universities are open admission and free.
To give a bit more details, one is allowed to enroll in a university provided one has a high-school degree. At the moment, about 80% of high-school students eventually succeed at getting the required high-school degree. Even without such a degree, there are several ways to enroll, so that for instance someone with a couple of years of working experience should have no problem enrolling in an undergraduate program related to his working experience.
Besides, even the program and university you want to join is to a large extent up to the candidate, in the sense that aside from regional requirements that incite students to enroll in a university close to where they live, a high-school graduate can freely choose to join the geography undergraduate program at the University of Bordeaux or the philosophy undergraduate program at the University of Strasbourg.
Costs are not exactly zero: they are calculated to match the administrative costs of enrolling someone. So they are very low, typically in the low hundreds of euros per year. Students from an economically struggling background may waive them. That happens to typically 10 to 25% percent of the students in a typical undergraduate class at my own institution (which is itself fairly typical in that respect).
Finally, public Universities constitue almost the entirety of the University system. There are a couple of private Universities, but they tend to be quite small. I would say only one of them is fairly well-known. On the other hand, there is a parallel system of higher education which is to a large extent at the opposite end of the spectrum, that is to say very selective in its admission process and which can be quite expensive (for French standards, that is to say tow orders of magnitude more expensive than the University system).
In conclusion, if all you are looking for is an existence statement, then I think French Universities will do: open admission and free.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Argentina. I did my BA for free there. And my MA almost for free. Both in public universities. They even give you scholarships if you cannot pay your already almost non-existent tuition fees.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Can a professor (let's say a math professor) do something like an internship at a tech company during the summer as a way to keep their industry skills sharp / relevant? Does anyone ever do this?
Perhaps the word "internship" is not quite right, but the idea would be to show up, be useful for 6 weeks or so, then go back to the university and teach students relevant real-world skills they'll need in industry.<issue_comment>username_1: Math perspective:
Of course they can (in the sense of there is no law against profs doing internships).
In practise, I doubt many profs do this. Universities and professors do generally value research higher than real world skills. If a university cares about teaching real world skills, they might hire anyway a professional from the real world to teach a course.
However, there are some (mostly applied) math profs who work closely with industry. This might influence their teaching, i.e. some of them surely tell the students a little bit about the world outside academia.
(For a newcomer to industry, it would be also doubtful if they could be useful within 6 weeks.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, absolutely. I am not able to answer for every discipline and country, but this is common in many places. There are company schemes, government schemes, charitable schemes and university funded schemes to support such arrangements.
For a specific example, in the UK the [Royal Academy of Engineering](https://www.raeng.org.uk/) provides [Industrial Fellowships](https://www.raeng.org.uk/grants-and-prizes/grants/support-for-research/industrial-fellowships) to support such activities.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, but they are usually called "visiting researchers" or, in some cases, "residents", rather than "interns". See for example [Facebook](https://research.fb.com/programs/post-docs-and-sabbaticals/), [Microsoft](https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/job/738642/Microsoft-AI-Residency-2020), or [Google](https://ai.google/research/outreach/visiting-researcher-program/).
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Mathematics professor [<NAME>](http://rtalbert.org/sabbatical-steelcase/), in a 2018 article titled ["What I Learned On My 'Secret Sabbatical' As a Scholar-in-Residence at a Private Company"](https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-06-12-what-i-learned-on-my-secret-sabbatical-as-a-scholar-in-residence-at-a-private-company), described how he was an intern for a year at the furniture company [Steelcase](https://www.steelcase.com):
>
> Last fall I started my first day on the job as an embedded faculty
> member with a corporation—as a scholar-in-residence at Steelcase
> Education. But don’t be too impressed by the title; according to the
> employee system, I was just an intern.
>
>
> Actually intern is probably the best lens through which to look at
> what I’ve been doing at Steelcase for the last eight months. I was
> nobody special: Just a guy, at the bottom of the org chart, working
> with and around a lot of people smarter and more talented than I am in
> any number of ways, and tasked with making their work and the
> collective work of the organization better. It’s kept me a little bit
> humbler than I would have been otherwise.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The short answer is of course. But it isn't necessarily going to be easy to get your foot in the door for a short time. You would almost be better off applying for jobs and then giving your notice before returning to teach.
There are two issues at play here.
1. The company the professor would intern at would not want to sink cost into temporary training.
2. The company would not want to expose private data. Especially to a mathematician that would usually mean working with customer data or insights, or company revenue etc. Companies usually don't want to expose themselves or their clients data to what would be a temporary hire that isn't getting vital work done.
Basically, a company tends not to want to hire or give space to someone who isn't going to produce some results or profit for them. If a mathematics professor genuinely expressed interest in helping the company in exchange for learning about the industry along the way (to benefit students as well) I do believe that it would just be a matter of communicating with enough companies.
Heck, it would probably benefit the professor to say that they will recommend future graduates to that company if they allow them to learn about the industry.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Just take a Sabbatical, which lets you take time off to work in-industry. Some universities require you to take a sabbatical of a certain length at fixed times. It's odd that you haven't run into this, unless you are relatively new.
The problem for you is that it won't be 6 weeks, it will be closer to 6 months. Nobody can be useful in 6 weeks, so you can't get cutesy over-the-summer work, especially not unpaid.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: (Note: For international students)
If someone has a gap of more than 5 years after obtaining a masters degree, are they eligible for a PhD in the USA?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no restriction that a PhD should be done right after a Master's degree.
For instance, I knew a returning PhD student of age >50 at a major US university.
Depending on what the candidate did in the three years in between, snatching a precious place in a PhD program may be either more difficult or easier.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Edit: I didn't exactly answer the question before. The short answer is that there is no such eligibility requirement. Long, original answer below.
As with any job application, a gap is only as bad as you describe it. You can "sell" yourself effectively by describing that gap as positively as possible-- whether you were working professionally, raising a kid, traveling, helping out your family, etc. And quite often, the life experience you gain by having a break from schooling is a huge asset when you enter a grueling graduate program.
I don't have data to back it up ([this](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-average-age-of-PhD-graduates-by-discipline) is close enough), but my perception is that the average age of PhD students in the U.S. has gone up over the past few decades, because people often need to work a "real" job, save up money, and pay off loans before taking on the job of an underpaid grad student with excessive hours. So three years between a masters and PhD seems about right.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I would like to find a better way of naming publications which I store on my local computer as PDFs. So far I have been doing something like this:
*<NAME>., <NAME>., <NAME>., <NAME>. (2014) - A GIS-based model to estimate flood consequences and the degree of accessibility and operability of strategic emergency response structures in urban areas.pdf*
This presents a couple of disadvantages:
* Titles can be extremely long. This causes problems in certain operating systems or software such as [OneDrive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OneDrive). You can only have so many characters in a filename...
* Not all publications can follow this format. The above is OK for journal papers and theses, but not so much for books or other kinds of publications.
I would like to have a consistent way to manage such a database. I thought of keeping the publication metadata such as authors, date of publication, type of publication and type in a separate text or excel file and naming the PDF files by ID, like `1.pdf`, `2.pdf`, etc. This could work, but it would require referring to and managing a spreadsheet which would contain all the meta data.
Is there a simple method or perhaps lightweight software that I can use which can help me with this sort of task?
**EDIT**
I didn't really like the way @Jonas Stein's script is set up, though I do owe him the inspiration and indication to use JabRef. Here's my alternative script:
```
import bibtexparser
import os
from shutil import copyfile
filename = 'db.bib'
out_folder = 'out'
with open(filename) as bibtex_file:
db = bibtexparser.load(bibtex_file)
for entry in db.entries:
print(entry['file'])
id = entry['ID']
file = entry['file'].split(':')[1]
copyfile(file, os.path.join(out_folder, id)+'.pdf')
print('done')
```
It's much more compact and does the job.<issue_comment>username_1: There is lots of software out there which can help (e.g., [Mendeley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendeley)). I used this (and others) but found it would take more management than I would care to give.
Personally, I just had a publications folder with nested sub-folders for different topics. I would then simply name the .pdfs using the last name of the first author and the year of publication, that is: *lastname\_2019*.
I found this had several advantages:
1. It's easy to remember. In discussion with peers I could easily refer them to a paper by *lastname* in *2019*. It's great to be able to do this easily and helps your reputation. The alternative is discussing with peers who just vaguely remember the contents of a paper but can't remember the title or authorship.
2. It's easy to search for the paper using (for example) spotlight in macOS. I just typed in the last name and all their papers would come up. Also helps in memorising the authors last name. I relied on this heavily and never really searched the publications folder.
3. If using LaTeX, I could easily remember what papers I wanted to cite and as I set the bib reference to the *lastname\_2019* format, I had no more information to remember.
Of course, if a person publishes multiple papers in a year, I would just append a letter to the add. To be honest, I think I only had to do this once or twice for my field.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I use mendeley with automatic folder scanning. I download a paper with a filename like `SI90234023499-II.pdf` dump it into one of my watched folders, and it is automatically sorted into `~/Literature/FirstAuthor/Year/Journal/Title.pdf` and added to the Mendeley database. You can customise the directory location from any combination of metadata, but for me is doesn't reallly matter because I only ever access stuff via the Mendeley App anyway, so I rarely handle the PDF files directly.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: For the filename, I use a system that I plagiarised from my PhD supervisor:
`aaaadd_xxxx_jjj.pdf`
where:
* aaaa: name of the first author (variable length)
* dd: 2-digit year of publication (fixed length)
* xxxx: first word of title, minus articles and other small words (variable length)
* jjj: abbreviation of journal of publication (variable length, but short)
I then use the same without the `.pdf` as my bibtex key (with an added `:`).
For example:
<NAME> et al, a Survey of Antarctic Leasure Activities, Journal of Improbable Results, 2025
would be
`penguin25_survey_jir.pdf`
with the bibtex key `penguin25:_survey_jir`.
I like this system because:
* I'm used to it
* Filenames remain compact and UNIX shell friendly
* The encoded information is usually enough for me to identify the paper
It doesn't cover tagging or categorising.
This applies well to journal articles. For conference proceedings articles or books, the journal acronym is replaced by an acronym of the conference or the publisher, or perhaps the full name of the publisher; I'm not fully consistent there. But I don't usually have entire books as PDFs anyway.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: For books you can use [Calibre](https://calibre-ebook.com/), which is a free e-book management program. Easy to use.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: How about plain old Excel.
* Start by naming your PDF documents using a naming scheme like what @username_3 has suggested (or some other mechanism that results in manageable/recognizable file names).
* Create an Excel worksheet document. Make Column A very wide. Each row will represent a single file
* Select a cell. Choose the `Insert` tab and press `Link`
* Paste in the full name of the document (in whatever format you want) into the "Text to Display" field
* Navigate to your PDF file in the file browser, select the right file and click OK
You now have a searchable document that contains your publication titles and clickable links to your documents
If you want to be fancy, you could have several columns (publication date, authors (or maybe primary author and other authors), title, etc.). Put some column headings in. Now, it's not only searchable, but it's sortable and filterable (particularly if you create it as a *Table* (play with the `Table` button on the `Insert` tab.))
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> Is there a simple method or perhaps lightweight software that I can
> use which can help me with this sort of task?
>
>
>
Although it is a bit over the top, JabRef can maintain bibliography and [rename files](https://help.jabref.org/en/FAQgeneral):
>
> Renaming of files is now part of the “Cleanup Entries” feature (brush
> button in the toolbar or Ctrl + Shift + F7). Then, you can rename
> attached files based on the BibTeX key. You can change the format
> (pattern) under Options → Preferences → Import, by altering the
> pattern under “Default PDF file link action”.
>
>
>
And the [patterns are diverse](https://help.jabref.org/en/BibtexKeyPatterns), and it is possible to consistently abbreviate journal names, titles, and combine author names, for example:
>
> **Author-related key patterns**
>
>
> * [auth]: The last name of the first author
> * [authors]: The last name of all authors
> * [authorLast]: The last name of the last author
>
>
> **Title-related key patterns**
>
>
> * [shorttitle]: The first 3 words of the title, ignoring any function words (see below). For example, An awesome paper on JabRef
> becomesAwesomePaperJabref.
> * [veryshorttitle]: The first word of the title, ignoring any function words (see below). For example, An awesome paper on JabRef becomes
> Awesome.
> * [camel]: Capitalize and concatenate all the words of the title. For example, An awesome paper on JabRef becomes
> AnAwesomePaperOnJabref.
> * [title]: Capitalize all the significant words of the title, and concatenate them. For example, An awesome paper on JabRef becomes
> AnAwesomePaperonJabref.
>
>
> **Modifiers**
> Generally, modifiers are applied in the order they are specified. In
> the following, we present a list of the most common modifiers
> alongside a short explanation:
>
>
> * :abbr: Abbreviates the text produced by the field name or special
> field marker. Only the first character and subsequent characters
> following white space will be included. For example:
> + [journal:abbr] would from the journal name “Journal of Fish Biology” produce “JoFB”.
> + [title:abbr] would from the title “An awesome paper on JabRef” produce “AAPoJ”.
> + [camel:abbr] would from the title “An awesome paper on JabRef” produce “AAPOJ”.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: I manage publications with [JabRef](https://www.jabref.org/) in a [bibtex](http://www.bibtex.org/Format/) database.
It is possible to add a link to the filename with JabRef in the bibtex database.
A python script [pybibtexcleaner](https://github.com/jonasstein/pybibtexcleaner) transcribes the special characters in the title and moves all sorted files to one folder with file names in the format
```
bibkey-title.pdf
```
The script will generate from a bib entry
```
@Article{Stein2017a,
author = {<NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME> and <NAME>},
title = {Control of Chiral Magnetism Through Electric Fields in Multiferroic Compounds above the Long-Range Multiferroic Transition},
journal = {Physical Review Letters},
year = {2017},
volume = {119},
number = {17},
doi = {10.1103/physrevlett.119.177201},
file = {:../included/119.177201.pdf},
publisher = {American Physical Society ({APS})}
}
```
the new filename
```
Stein2017a-Control_of_Chiral_Magnetism_Through_Electric_Fields_in_Multiferroic_Compounds_above_the_Long-Range_Multiferroic_Transition.pdf`
```
and copy the file to `../articles/` and also adjust the path in the `.bib` file.
It is very useful if the filenames start with the `bibkey`.
You should always use **all digits of the year**.
The script can also transcribe **chemical formulas** in a readable way, if they are introduced with `\ce` as in `\ce{H2O}`.
You can keep track of your work with [git](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git) and you can restore old versions or synchronize the literature database on your different systems.
ps: I use the old stable 3.8.2 version of JabRef, because the new versions 4.x were less stable when I tried them. The user has better control on the rename process with the short python script and can easily adjust it to the needs, but recent JabRef versions are shipped with similar functionality.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_8: My method is to name each PDF file as:
```
year, authors, title.pdf
```
E.g.:
```
2020, Abc Def Ghi, The letters of the alphabet.pdf
```
I work with Ubuntu and never had problems with these filenames, although they contain spaces and commas.
Putting the year first makes it easy to sort papers by year in the file explorer.
Putting the title in the filename makes it easy to immediately see in file explorer what the file is about.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: I recommend you name the papers as you say 1.pdf, 2.pdf, and have corresponding metadata files 1.txt, 2.txt which you can structure however you want.
Then the crucial part is this: use `grep` (available for both Linux and Windows) to search through the content of all the text files in that folder. This will find you which txt files contain the searched terms.
Searching is as simple as this (this will show which text files in the current folder contain the word "Adamowski"):
```
grep -r "Adamowski" .
```
I think this is the simplest way.
Upvotes: 1
|
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm wondering what it is commonly considered to be of high value/importance amine the types of publications in applied linguistics/language teaching ? Is it journal article, conference paper, book chapter, books...?
What would be the best choice for Phd students seeking a position in Academia ( post-doctoral/assistant professor)<issue_comment>username_1: The most important publication for you as a PHD student is the publication that will award you your title. Normally that is your doctoral thesis although it can also be paper or two. That depends on your university.
After you get your PHD title then the most valued publications are papers (in peer reviewed journals) because researchers/academics are measured by the number of papers and even required to publish certain amount a year (creating of course a wide net of vicious incentives to publish as much as possible regardless of importance or quality, thats why there are so many predatory journals pout there and a whole business of ghost writing... yeah, I expect the downvotes from this.)
Then the industry (although it depends which) value books (but a book chapter would be a good start and then a book once you have more works to your name) and media content a bit more (Tech for example would value your github stuff and working prototypes/projects more than they care about a paper done during your studies).
So,the answer to what would be best for a PHD student regarding types of publications is to first foucs in whatever publication is useful to finish your PHD according to your school, and secondary about the type of publication that would help you afterwards according to your personal plans to go into the industry or go into academia/research.
NOTE: There's a middle but gray ground regarding research outside of academia and in that case articles might be of consideration for your case.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Linguist here.
I would rank publications in the following manner:
1. books (reasonable to make plans while a grad student, but might be too ambitious for most PhD students to actually pursue while they're also working on their dissertations)
2. peer-reviewed journal articles, which I think I'd rank almost alongside books if you're publishing in top-tier journals.
3. book chapters
4. conference proceedings
5. book reviews
If you're only just starting out in your PhD program and haven't tried publishing anything yet, I don't think it's a bad idea to start with conference proceedings (if they come up) or a book review (journals or even through Linguist List), just to get your feet wet. However, as you advance in your PhD program, I would urge you to go up the ladder, and focus on publishing your work as journal articles.
I would also keep in mind that in any given category of publications, there's a lot of variation along the 'prestige' spectrum. For example, a chapter in an edited volume that's being published by university presses like Georgetown or Cambridge would probably be valued more than an article published in a virtually unknown journal.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm thinking about conducting a research at a specific division of the university from which I received my PhD. I had a negative experience while I was there. And I keep hearing that many other students there are going through horrific experiences of abuse. I'd like to conduct a study case and perhaps better understand what's going on there. I know many other institutions have similar problems, but, as I said, I'd like to do a case study and then perhaps go from there to researching other institutions.The problem is that I don't work there, I'm just part of their alumni. I work at a different university. So, basically, this would be an independent study. My question is, given that this is not a dissertation proposal, can I simply complete the IRB form as an independent researcher? Or do I have to write a whole proposal? I know each university is different, but can someone give me an idea of how this works? I'm new to this idea. Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: Some universities offer their alumni access to resources (and perhaps their old affiliated email address). If your university offers this to you, you can certainly take them up on it.
You are asking for more than just access to resources, you are asking for IRB approval (presumably) to conduct a study involving people/animals. This would involve the university's legal department, and some other researchers reading through your plan. Even if you agree to pay for the experiments out of pocket (I'm going ahead and assuming you're not asking IRB approval to dissect rats, because if that's what you're planning I hope you understand that the university won't endorse it), you are asking for the university's legal endorsement of your research activity, which is not be something they'd be willing to extend to someone not officially affiliated with them.
So the short answer is - the university is not likely at all to endorse your IRB (unless it operates in a vastly different way from most places I know).
If you have a good idea which you want to push forward, why not seek employment/studies in a university? Seems like you're ready to conduct research, seems like it might be easier, no?
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Since the other university is actually the *subject* of your study, then I think that the IRB of your current university is the better place to judge it. It avoids a conflict of interest within the other university.
Your former colleague at the other university probably shouldn't be a co-researcher, but could be integrated into the study in another way; say as a source of information. This lets them, also, avoid a conflict.
Proposing it to the Dean at that university may also be problematic. Your "want to help them fix the problem" will very possibly not be well received. You might get quite a lot of blowback.
If they recognize the problem on their own and come to you as a consultant, then it is a different story. Otherwise you will come across as an unwelcome outsider and a disgruntled alum.
I won't recommend against your study, but I think that you should keep it as independent of the other university's administration as possible.
Upvotes: 2
|
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| 1,631
|
<issue_start>username_0: How do European PhD interviews work when a candidate is not local? Are virtual interviews common?
Edit: In particular, I am interested in interviewing for a German CS position when I am in Slovenia.<issue_comment>username_1: Your question is too wide.
But in general, if you have a particular university in mind you should check their website, else you can start your search for a field and title in particular by looking at universities that provide PHD's (there can be national databases about the registered PHDs and universities in the national department of education or equivalent of the country), and then go into their sites to see their requirements and applications processes.
But first, you need to figure out if you want a particular country or a particular program, and why.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I once had an interview for a PhD position online and we used Skype. I think it depends entirely on the university and the department. My tip would be to check with the department that you're interested in. They might also do a phone/video call first, and then invite you for an in-house meeting depending on how well the call went.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Interviews through teleconferencing (e.g. Skype) are pretty common if it is not feasible to invite all shortlisted candidates for an in person interview.
However, since we are talking about Slovenia to Germany, it is very well possible they would would invite you to come over if they wanted to interview you. In such a situation it would be standard practice to reimburse your travel costs.
Upvotes: 2
|
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| 5,313
|
<issue_start>username_0: I teach at a teaching university. Research is not a priority. I'm new to the university and am teaching full-time. I believe I've developed a rapport with the current cohort of senior students.
During one our classes, the discussion moved to the teaching of other faculty. This is a group of seniors who are likely to graduate at the end of the semester.
The students made several very concerning things about other faculty:
* They download labs from other universities and these labs cannot be run on the equipment we have. When asked about it, they state *... I'm retiring soon, let's just do it.*.
* They publicly abuse individual students for stupidity.
* They make assessment available through the content management system without mentioning its existence to the students during class.
Apart from end-of-semester student feedback, there doesn't seem to be any way to address such poor teaching (or even investigate whether the student views are correct).
What do other places do? Is it at a department level? Dean level? Is it a separate organization?
I can't do anything directly for the current cohort of students, but it would be good to try to move towards clear mechanisms for improving faculty teaching.<issue_comment>username_1: Some universities hold "Faculty Development" seminars and even full day workshops. Sometimes these are required, especially of new faculty. It is harder to influence bad actors among the tenured faculty as long as their actions aren't egregious.
But even tenured faculty can be influenced by a dean who makes attendance at a workshop part of the required goals of an offending faculty member. Ignoring such "encouragement" can result in negative consequences to pay and perks.
Some universities have faculty members visit the classrooms of other faculty and make recommendations to them or to the head.
And some just depend on student complaints to higher ups and try to keep the uproar within bounds. Deans, especially, tend to be unhappy when the students are storming the gates. University presidents tend to be unhappy when things overflow into the news.
And, at some universities, teaching by top researchers is bad and the administration looks the other way. Sad, but true. And seniors may, at some places, be expected to just put up with it for the chance to work with a top researcher who is a terrible teacher.
On the other hand, some universities try to avoid the problem by having faculty who are primarily teachers not researchers. These folks seem to self-police and support the development of one another. Duke, Stanford, and Carnegie-Mellon are among top universities who do this. But it is primarily for lower level, not senior level, courses for the most part.
And in general, the long probationary period prior to tenure should, in principle, weed out most of the bad actors.
But some university departments also hold annual or semi-annual all-hands meetings where the entire faculty is expected to attend. Mostly these are for top-down communication of initiatives and such. But, if a faculty member is secure enough they can raise an issue. "Some of our students don't seem to be happy..." Not a place to blame others, but just to raise the issue of keeping students satisfied with their treatment. If you are new at this place, I'd suggest you don't do this, but perhaps you can find an ally with more seniority who would be willing to. The goal of raising the issue would be to generate a faculty-development project. Even good faculty can benefit from seeing new pedagogical ideas they might not have considered.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are several mechanisms we have that in theroy should deal with this sort of thing:
All academics must have their teaching observed by another member of staff *at least* once a year, but ideally once a module. All academics must observe someone else teaching once a year. When this happens a form must be filled in that says what the observed could improve and what the observer learnt that they will implement in their own teaching.
We have a pretty good staff-student committee where concerns by students can and are raised. We also have student representatives on our departmental teaching committee ([see this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/139794/82972)).
How effective these are is varied. Student surveys make up a big part of who a department is ranked in national rankings, which determines how many students we can recruit. Management in the UK can exert quite a lot of pressure on offenders because there is no such thing as tenure in the UK (although all workers are protected from sacking to a greater extent than in the US).
But this can be ineffective if: A staff member is important to the department/university for another reason (e.g. very high research income), or the staff member is just so over worked and stressed, that they give up the will to do well irrespective of the consequences - this is increasingly common as enrollments fall and management tries to force more work out of fewer people with less resources. If a staff member were protected by the fact you are leaving soon anyway (it takes up to a year to get rid of someone), I'd say there is not much to be done.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I have seen in certain types of questionnaires that the content is very similar, and that, possibly by coincidence, certain phrases are the same.
Let me give you an example: the organizational culture measurement questionnaires.
If one compares different questionnaires, you normally will find similarities in certain items and some may be exactly the same. This is not because a copy has been made, but because human resources has a general consensus on what things should be measured. For example, because everyone agrees that the leadership of the bosses should be measured, therefore we commonly find items such as:
*My boss is a good leader*
or with respect to the company:
*I feel happy in this company*
My question arises from this: Could an author who created a questionnaire claim copyright infringement by other questionnaires with similar or identical items, even if this happened by pure chance?<issue_comment>username_1: Copyright law varies from place to place, so a valid answer might depend on where you are. But in general, it is a good idea to assume that copyright law applies to everything. Basically if you write something (or create in another medium) you own rights to it. Some places you may have to register the copyright as was true in the past in the US. Most places copyright is a matter of civil, not criminal, law. But I think there are exceptions.
There are some caveats, however. Copyright doesn't prevent you from using something, only from copying it or obtaining a copy illicitly. There are a few exceptions to the general prohibition against copying, but they are a bit subtle.
The first is [fair use](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use), but that is a subtle thing. While there are fair use exceptions for some uses, including research, they aren't unlimited exceptions and depend on a "proportional" standard that can only be adjudicated by agreement between parties or by a court in a lawsuit. (Note, this is a US view, things vary around the world).
So, since you are doing research, you can depend on fair use *up to a point*, but that point isn't very clear. A few items out of a hundred is probably not an issue. How few? No-one can say in general. If the copyright holder objects, then you have a problem that will be expensive to solve.
However, another caveat may be more important here. You can't really copyright things for which there is only one basic way to say or write. So lots of things in mathematics can't be copyrighted because the "expression" is more or less immutable. Copyright doesn't "protect" ideas, only the *expression* of ideas. So, if "The boss is kind and gentle" is the idea, then there are only a few ways that that can be said in a questionnaire, so it is unlikely anyone would have a basis for a copyright complaint.
Unless you copy a lot of those kinds of things from a single source. Then the source is more likely to start to question your intent and might want to raise it in a lawsuit. My guess is that is pretty unlikely, but don't discount it altogether. You can get a bad reputation as a researcher for things that don't break any legal rules.
But you also need to consider the question of plagiarism. If you copy a bit and don't cite the source then you have a different issue, though it, too, may be covered by the "one reasonable form of expression" idea.
A claim of copyright can always be made. Courts, however, won't be supportive of frivolous claims, where only a small part was copied or the reasonable ways to express an idea are very limited. Therefore it is unlikely that a claim is likely to be made if things happen "by chance". A valid claim would need to depend on fairly clear evidence, especially given the research (partial) exception as stated in the law.
See especially the section on the four considerations used to evaluate fair use claims in the link above. I think the third one is what you need to be most concerned with:
>
> the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
>
>
>
But, of course, if you need to repeat a questionnaire in its entirety, say for reproducing the research, you can always ask the authors for permission.
Moreover, if you *reuse* a questionnaire that you find in a copyrighted work that you have valid access to, there should be no issue as long as you don't reproduce that questionnaire in your own work. You just refer to the published questionnaire in your methodology section.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Answering from more of a scientific perspective... wording is everything in questionnaires.
The specific language is critically important, even if the general concept is the same. When you validate a survey or questionnaire-based scale, you are validating that specific language. Developing a copycat scale, or translating it to another language, removes the ability to compare to existing normative data and you lose all the benefits of past work towards validating the scale.
Therefore, I would think that most scales that are available for purchase or under a particular license would be most concerned with preserving the specific scale items: that's where the value is.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm answering from my perspective as a health services researcher. I am not a lawyer. If you know that there are a number of proprietary copyrighted surveys in your field and you think you might run into issues with them, then you are arguably on the wrong Stack Exchange (maybe try the [Law Stack Exchange](https://www.rand.org/health-care/surveys_tools/mos/36-item-short-form/terms.html) site), and you may also need your own legal advice.
It is possible for a researcher to develop a proprietary version of a questionnaire. The Short Form 36 (SF-36) survey was an early measure of health (specifically, we'd say health-related quality of life, which I'll abbreviate to HRQoL). I don't know the entire history behind this, but I think that the researcher involved in its development later collaborated with Optum, a company owned by the US health insurer United Healthcare, to develop the proprietary SF-36v2. There is an older version, known as the [RAND SF-36](https://www.rand.org/health-care/surveys_tools/mos/36-item-short-form/terms.html). RAND is a non-profit corporation which explicitly licenses the RAND SFS-36 for public use. I believe that all or nearly all the survey questions are identical, but the SF-36v2 has some different Likert response scales for a few questions.
After the SF-36, however, other measures of HRQoL have been developed by other academic researchers, such as the EuroQol 5D questionnaire (EQ-5D). To my knowledge, the literature establishing the new measures would probably cite the SF-36 researchers who published in peer-reviewed literature. Many of the underlying domains are identical. (A domain in my context might be physical function, in org studies it might be trust in leadership.) I'm less clear if the items (i.e. the individual questions) on similar HRQoL surveys or measures of some of the domains (e.g. measures of mental distress) are identical or similar. My guess is that there are at least a few individual items out there that are very close to the equivalent SF-36 items. The thing is, the RAND SF-36 has a paper trail in peer reviewed journals that came before the SF-36v2, so I don't know how it would work for Optum to sue (but recall IANAL).
If you cite peer-reviewed sources that describe what domains should be measured and you use and expand on the domains, that should be fine. If you develop your own items based on established domains (e.g. through focus groups of experts or consumers), I'm pretty sure that should be fine also. If you combine the same items from several surveys, and you cite them and state a justification for needing to do so, I think that should be OK as well. That said, if I were a peer reviewer, I might ask if there was an already accepted instrument in the field. There's no point re-inventing the wheel many times unless the wheel is limited in some respects.
It's already been said that there may be a limited number of ways to ask about a concept. If you did your own item development and you duplicated some of the items in my existing non-proprietary survey, I would probably write a letter to the editor pointing this out if you duplicated a lot of items or you duplicated the wording exactly. If I had developed a survey that I'd copyrighted and commercialized, then of course I'd be more litigious. I don't know how many such surveys exist in your world, however.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for faculty positions as assistant professor. I have two questions regarding recommendation letters.
(1) Is there is a limit for the number of references? For me, I have many research collaborators who I can ask them to write me a reference letter. Most of faculty positions ask for three reference. Is it a good indicator when more than 3 references sent their letters to the research committee?
(2) Is it okay to add one reference who is currently assistant professor and was my lab mate for two years? We also co-authored many papers together.<issue_comment>username_1: Copyright law varies from place to place, so a valid answer might depend on where you are. But in general, it is a good idea to assume that copyright law applies to everything. Basically if you write something (or create in another medium) you own rights to it. Some places you may have to register the copyright as was true in the past in the US. Most places copyright is a matter of civil, not criminal, law. But I think there are exceptions.
There are some caveats, however. Copyright doesn't prevent you from using something, only from copying it or obtaining a copy illicitly. There are a few exceptions to the general prohibition against copying, but they are a bit subtle.
The first is [fair use](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use), but that is a subtle thing. While there are fair use exceptions for some uses, including research, they aren't unlimited exceptions and depend on a "proportional" standard that can only be adjudicated by agreement between parties or by a court in a lawsuit. (Note, this is a US view, things vary around the world).
So, since you are doing research, you can depend on fair use *up to a point*, but that point isn't very clear. A few items out of a hundred is probably not an issue. How few? No-one can say in general. If the copyright holder objects, then you have a problem that will be expensive to solve.
However, another caveat may be more important here. You can't really copyright things for which there is only one basic way to say or write. So lots of things in mathematics can't be copyrighted because the "expression" is more or less immutable. Copyright doesn't "protect" ideas, only the *expression* of ideas. So, if "The boss is kind and gentle" is the idea, then there are only a few ways that that can be said in a questionnaire, so it is unlikely anyone would have a basis for a copyright complaint.
Unless you copy a lot of those kinds of things from a single source. Then the source is more likely to start to question your intent and might want to raise it in a lawsuit. My guess is that is pretty unlikely, but don't discount it altogether. You can get a bad reputation as a researcher for things that don't break any legal rules.
But you also need to consider the question of plagiarism. If you copy a bit and don't cite the source then you have a different issue, though it, too, may be covered by the "one reasonable form of expression" idea.
A claim of copyright can always be made. Courts, however, won't be supportive of frivolous claims, where only a small part was copied or the reasonable ways to express an idea are very limited. Therefore it is unlikely that a claim is likely to be made if things happen "by chance". A valid claim would need to depend on fairly clear evidence, especially given the research (partial) exception as stated in the law.
See especially the section on the four considerations used to evaluate fair use claims in the link above. I think the third one is what you need to be most concerned with:
>
> the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
>
>
>
But, of course, if you need to repeat a questionnaire in its entirety, say for reproducing the research, you can always ask the authors for permission.
Moreover, if you *reuse* a questionnaire that you find in a copyrighted work that you have valid access to, there should be no issue as long as you don't reproduce that questionnaire in your own work. You just refer to the published questionnaire in your methodology section.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Answering from more of a scientific perspective... wording is everything in questionnaires.
The specific language is critically important, even if the general concept is the same. When you validate a survey or questionnaire-based scale, you are validating that specific language. Developing a copycat scale, or translating it to another language, removes the ability to compare to existing normative data and you lose all the benefits of past work towards validating the scale.
Therefore, I would think that most scales that are available for purchase or under a particular license would be most concerned with preserving the specific scale items: that's where the value is.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm answering from my perspective as a health services researcher. I am not a lawyer. If you know that there are a number of proprietary copyrighted surveys in your field and you think you might run into issues with them, then you are arguably on the wrong Stack Exchange (maybe try the [Law Stack Exchange](https://www.rand.org/health-care/surveys_tools/mos/36-item-short-form/terms.html) site), and you may also need your own legal advice.
It is possible for a researcher to develop a proprietary version of a questionnaire. The Short Form 36 (SF-36) survey was an early measure of health (specifically, we'd say health-related quality of life, which I'll abbreviate to HRQoL). I don't know the entire history behind this, but I think that the researcher involved in its development later collaborated with Optum, a company owned by the US health insurer United Healthcare, to develop the proprietary SF-36v2. There is an older version, known as the [RAND SF-36](https://www.rand.org/health-care/surveys_tools/mos/36-item-short-form/terms.html). RAND is a non-profit corporation which explicitly licenses the RAND SFS-36 for public use. I believe that all or nearly all the survey questions are identical, but the SF-36v2 has some different Likert response scales for a few questions.
After the SF-36, however, other measures of HRQoL have been developed by other academic researchers, such as the EuroQol 5D questionnaire (EQ-5D). To my knowledge, the literature establishing the new measures would probably cite the SF-36 researchers who published in peer-reviewed literature. Many of the underlying domains are identical. (A domain in my context might be physical function, in org studies it might be trust in leadership.) I'm less clear if the items (i.e. the individual questions) on similar HRQoL surveys or measures of some of the domains (e.g. measures of mental distress) are identical or similar. My guess is that there are at least a few individual items out there that are very close to the equivalent SF-36 items. The thing is, the RAND SF-36 has a paper trail in peer reviewed journals that came before the SF-36v2, so I don't know how it would work for Optum to sue (but recall IANAL).
If you cite peer-reviewed sources that describe what domains should be measured and you use and expand on the domains, that should be fine. If you develop your own items based on established domains (e.g. through focus groups of experts or consumers), I'm pretty sure that should be fine also. If you combine the same items from several surveys, and you cite them and state a justification for needing to do so, I think that should be OK as well. That said, if I were a peer reviewer, I might ask if there was an already accepted instrument in the field. There's no point re-inventing the wheel many times unless the wheel is limited in some respects.
It's already been said that there may be a limited number of ways to ask about a concept. If you did your own item development and you duplicated some of the items in my existing non-proprietary survey, I would probably write a letter to the editor pointing this out if you duplicated a lot of items or you duplicated the wording exactly. If I had developed a survey that I'd copyrighted and commercialized, then of course I'd be more litigious. I don't know how many such surveys exist in your world, however.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I emailed a professor in Australia for a PhD program. In the response, and as a part of that, he told me "For scholarships, you need to be at least 85% and over". What does it mean? Is this refer to GPA or something else?<issue_comment>username_1: It may be GPA. It may be rank in your class. It may be your percentile on the graduate exams. I agree with @GrotesqueSI: The answer is to email the professor again and request clarification.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Typically Australian universities would use Honors 1 equivalence for allocating scholarships both to locals and international students. So the 85 would be that of an equivalent mark. I have found one document from QUT that explains this, you should search something similar for the university you are applying for.
<https://cms.qut.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/275477/honours-equivalence-research-applications.pdf>
In my experience that would be the minimum and without things adding to it, you would be less likely to be competitive for a scholarship.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: As part of a research project, I use results from [this paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.4995). It seems to have been published at least 3 times:
* [as an arXiv preprint from January 2012](https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.4995)
* [in a Springer book from 2012](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-30347-0_35)
* [in another Springer book from 2014](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00224-013-9497-5)
Google also found a version hosted [on PSU's website](http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.225.8324&rep=rep1&type=pdf), which I guess is a copy of one of the published versions.
For each of these versions, there is a different `.bib` file containing the "right" way to cite the paper.
I don't know which one I should use.
Since I don't have either of the Springer books, I work with the arXiv version, but it seems weird to me to cite the arXiv preprint (I assume it's a preprint) if there are versions already published elsewhere.
I am relatively new to research (not a PhD student) and have encountered this situation several times.
I usually don't have access to the peer-reviewed version, and work on preprints published by the authors.
How do I choose which version to cite? Should I always cite the exact one I have been reading, even if it is not the final peer-reviewed publication?<issue_comment>username_1: If at all possible you should cite the most recent official (published, peer reviewed) version.
You could consider contacting the author to ask if the arXiv version differs in any way that might matter in your context. A librarian might be able to help with that too.
You can note in your bibliography that a version of article is also available on arXiv.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is a known tricky situation, which I've often seen addressed incorrectly (people citing the published version, but actually meaning the arXiv version).
My personal way of solving this is: I cite the published version in the bibliography, but when I actually reference it, I add a footnote saying that I'm referring to the arXiv version. This is honest and helps the reader (who likely has the same troubles finding the published version as you do). Some editors might not like such citations, but keep in mind that, just as you do, the readers of your paper will probably be reading its arXiv version, so whatever mess the editors make of your references will have a limited effect (and won't be your fault anyway).
Of course, you should handle arXiv preprints with the usual care: if at all possible, check their work and point out any errors that may significantly impede their use. Also, as @EthanBolker pointed out, it's a good idea to contact the author asking for the precise relation between the arXiv version and the published one (and subtly hinting to update the former).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In fields where arxiv usage is standard (e.g. high energy physics or astronomy), standard practice is to cite the arxiv identifier of the article along with any journal reference. (Journals tend to remove them upon publication, but that is very much their problem.) Some of the most commonly used abstract indexing services in those fields (e.g. [inSPIRE](http://inspirehep.net/) or [NASA ADS](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/)) in fact automatically merge the records of the arxiv and the journal version. Consequently, if you use the bibtex entries exported from those services, you will typically get bibliography entries that refer to both the journal version and the Bibtex version.
This, of course, only applies if you are reasonably sure the article on arxiv and in the journal are actually the same article (same title and authors may not always be enough to guarantee this). In many cases this is easy to tell because the arxiv entry will have a link to the published version (Many publishers in fact require this link as a condition for authors being allowed to also post the pre/post-print to arxiv.) The presence of a link to the journal version does not guarantee that the arxiv version is identical (contentwise) to the published version (although an increasing number of funding agencies now require this in order to satisfy their open access requirements).
In the specific case presented by the OP there is no link to the journal version in the arxiv version. Hence we cannot be exactly sure they are the same article (although identical abstracts and similar length make this extremely likely). Moreover, the arxiv version was updated after the journal version was published online, making it highly likely that it was updated to match the journal version.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'am 2nd year PhD student and I'm in the phase of problem definition and exploration for my research. Other than research, I also do both RA (working on paper review, grants, etc) and TA jobs as well. On the TA job there are many things that I do, and she only recites the PowerPoint in front of the class.
I had a good (or OK) experience with her in the first year and I done pretty well in the courses. Recently I've started my research and as I work with her I find her more of judge, an angry boss than an advisor/mentor. And in my response to let's address this shortcoming she plays too late scenario.
I agree that I'm not perfect but I think that I'm dedicated, motivated and smart enough to do a PhD. However, these believe has come to question recently as I am working with her and now I'm full of doubts. To try gives more clear and less subjective statements:
### The Downsides
* I'm working 8hr a day (56 hr a week) and she thinks it's not enough. So she demands more and signals (implicitly) me to cut my stipend. She demands something around 80+ hour per week at least.
* I think she like more of an employee than collaborator and I feel she has no appreciation for creativity at all. She just like to be given some solved problem then she gives some feedback and the less time this process take, the better.
* When I do something good, she is very reluctant to say anything positive but when some mistakes or shortcoming happen she is very quick to give you an entire speech about her experience and how good she were during her PhD etc.
* While she put me in the not good enough mode, she doesn't give me clear feedback how can I improve it. When I offer a solution, her response is basically: "It's too late, but go on, surprise me (and don't think of less workload)".
* I join the group with high confidence, fully funded, good records, grades, etc. I was proud of my ability in problem solving and now during these specially last 3 month I am full of doubts. I sometimes think she might be completely right and these frustrations all stem from the fact that I'm bad at doing PhD.
* Not only my experience but for other lab member she is more of a Boss, a judge who can tell you're good or bad (binary feedback) and low tolerance for mistakes. This situation has a history before me and probably after me.
The Upsides
===========
* I have shortcomings and fragments in my foundations which I love to address. However, I'm in doubt that she thinks it's late. Or not willing to be patient with me growing. In my defense, I'm an independent and quite quick to grasp the concept, I think. However, I need time to address those (and not by 11hr/day all year)
* She pays me well in relative to others, as far as I know.
* I am not sure since not my field of research but safe to consider her as recognized in the field might not be top 10 but probably top 100. She is also affiliated with reputable university. However, I'm working in a field (a bit relevant to her but distinct) which he is not an expert by any means.
* She has years of experience in her job and I respect her record of publications. She only demands good publications from students and try to force it.
* All these confusing and cruel judgements? Sometimes I think this is her way of mentorship. She probably wants few one or two which survives this hardship as @buffy pointed out. But since she is pretty indirect I'm not sure about her intention it's always a mystery. One reason is when she gives harsh un-improvable judgement after a few days she become a bit kind...quite confusing for me....
* She is hardworking, herself and I respect that.
### My worries to change my advisor
* It's possible to do so (and there is a good record of it) but since the professors are usually taken each other side and I probably need his recommendation for funds etc I'm afraid of the change because financially I'm depended heavily on this fund without the money I will be in an extreme financial hardship.
* As @Buff pointed out, in recent months I had this idea that I can manage to prove myself to her and surprise her. However, it's extremely hard when you don't believe her well intention and sometimes frankly I think she doesn't like me to be succeeded. The only way, is to some great job that surprise her in a big way. I genuinely consider that, but mentally I feel too weak to do so.
### The questions
I probably don't have enough experience or might not think it through but I'm considering change my lab. So here are my questions:
1. Are this scenario pretty bad or something common in a PhD?
2. If I change my advisors what are the consequences?
3. She once said for a job in Academia you should work more than 11 hours per day (including weekends) to survive in academia. How accurate is this claim?
4. Let say by whatever reason I'm not compatible with this advisor. Is it wise to just ignore and do my research independently and forget about her? I mean just considering having no advisor and do my own PhD by myself since she clearly stated that I should define my problem and I think I can solve a problem as long as she leaves me free and give me some time. The downside is that, I don't feel mentally good during this process.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Should I change my lab/advisor?
>
>
>
Yes. All your complaints suggest you have the wrong advisor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: First of all, you are not alone. Half the reason this forum exists is that getting a Ph.D. is an incredibly challenging endeavor. Funding security, compatibility with your advisor, relevance of the research topic-- all of this plays a big role in whether someone completes a Ph.D.
>
> I probably don't have enough experience or might not think it through
> but I'm considering change my lab.
>
>
>
You definitely don't have enough experience-- you're a student, and the point of a Ph.D. program is to acquire the knowledge and skills for later directing your own research. But if you don't feel you're gaining those things in your current lab, it's definitely worth considering a change. Try to find a mentor-- a more senior grad student or perhaps another professor in your department in whom you could confide. Many universities these days also have counseling centers, some even focused on career planning. Seek out these local resources-- they'll be much better than some strangers on the internet at helping you figure out the right way to proceed in your particular situation.
>
> Are this scenario pretty bad or something common in PhD? Should I
> change my lab/advisor? What are the consequences? She once said for a
> job in Academia you should work more than 11 hours per day (including
> weekends) to survive in academia. How accurate is this claim?
>
>
>
Such scenarios are bad and common. But being common isn't an excuse for being something that everyone should put up with.
You definitely do not have to work more than 11 hours per day to be a successful researcher. People who do that probably aren't managing their time well and, quite frankly, they're probably missing out on way more satisfying things in life.
>
> Let say by whatever reason I'm not compatible with this advisor. Is it wise to
> just ignore and do my research independently and forget about her? I
> mean just considering having no advisor and do my own PhD by myself
> since she clearly stated that I should define my problem and I think I
> can solve a problem as long as she leaves me free and give me some
> time. The downside is that, I don't feel mentally good during this
> process.
>
>
>
I've witnessed some friends try to do this, and it just doesn't work. Research is big. It's not just about solving a problem; it's also about conveying that problem and solution in such a way that the community at large appreciates and understands it. As a student, this is really hard to figure out for yourself-- you simply don't have enough exposure or connections yet-- and your advisor (as the expert) should be the one helping you navigate the gap between your own work and the larger body of work. Furthermore, your advisor should be your biggest advocate when you starting writing your thesis and looking for jobs. If you've gone solo, though, there's no guarantee she won't fire you, let alone support you at the end.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: >
> Is it wise to just ignore and do my research independently and forget about her? I mean just considering having no advisor and do my own PhD by myself since she clearly stated that I should define my problem and I think I can solve a problem as long as she leaves me free and give me some time.
>
>
>
This is probably the worst thing you could do. In order to graduate, you have to have your advisor (and committee) approve your dissertation. If you completely ignore her, you might spend three years doing something and at the end find out that she won't approve it. At that point, your options would probably be either start over (taking another 3-4 years) or give up and walk away with nothing to show for years of effort. You do not want this to happen. You want to be completely in sync with your advisor at every step of the way, so that when the time comes to submit your dissertation, the approval is just a formality.
So your options are either work out an understanding with your advisor now, or find a new one. Finding a new advisor will be very painful now. But if you don't switch now then things could be 10X more painful in the future.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: You paint a pretty bad picture. I have no reason to doubt its accuracy. It is common enough to be worrying, but not universal. But, you haven't written any positive aspects - any *upside*. I suggest you consider whether there is an upside. If not, you would be well-advised to find another advisor or even a different institution.
Some advisors can be extremely painful to work with, but have so much standing in the academic community that a positive recommendation is worth a bar of gold. Students of such advisors may just tough it out, looking beyond the short term to long term goals and how to best achieve them.
As to ignoring your advisor and just getting the research and dissertation done: it may be possible or not, but will be difficult. Again, some students thrive in such an environment, being very self directed, hard working, and full of vision. But it also requires an advisor willing to go along with this and, in the end, approve of your work and sign required paperwork. You have to judge whether that is possible in your case. Most students *need* continuing support from the advisor as the answer of [username_3](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/139825/75368) implies. Only a few students can really be independent and it depends on both the student and the nominal advisor.
But first, look to see if there is an upside. Pain in the short term may enable bliss in the long term. But that isn't guaranteed. And the pain of switching institutions might be less than the pain of staying. But you need to assess that.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Change advisors. Some highly successful professors (highly published/cited) are both terrible bosses and terrible human beings. Remember, while you may be treated like an employee, you aren't--you are an apprentice, and a minion. Expect abuse.
TA/RA positions are funded so professors can dump some of their workload onto graduate students, and actually keep sane hours. That said, you can't get a PhD working 40 hours a week, or even 60. You need to be constantly working in order to make progress. Smart is good, motivated is good, but the proof is in the pudding: both putting the hours in, and getting something useful out of the hours.
But make sure you get enough sleep, regular food (brain runs on glucose), and regular exercise. (Every academic I know is a religious about regular exercise, whether it's tennis or running or yoga or whatever). People adapt all sorts of weird schedules--I've read of academics that work strictly from noon to midnight, others which take mandatory midday naps. Regardless, forget about 'free time'.
I know of one guy who managed to get his PhD done on a sort of 40-hour basis--work diligently all day, and teach nights 6-9. But he was sort of ruthless about not doing anything absolutely necessary, never volunteering, and relentlessly asking others to help him do things.
As an aside, classes no longer matter. Grades only sort of matter. So if you've been devoting a lot of time to doing well in classes, it's a waste. The research is the only thing that matters in a PhD program.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently filling out an application for gradute study, which includes a section on employment history.
During my time as an undergraduate, I carried out two summer research projects in pure maths. One of them was based at my home institution, for which I obtained a monthly stipend from an outside organisation (a research bursary). For the second project, I was on the payroll of the university at which the project was based.
The application asks for details of "work experience, internships or volunteer work". Do either of these count?<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest that employment history should probably be reserved for situations in which you were actually paid for your work. You will have to think about whether a "stipend" qualifies. But "payroll" certainly would.
But such things are naturally *work experience* and most people might agree that they are internships (or at least similar).
I think volunteer work would be different unless you were using your skills (academic or otherwise) in support of the mission of some (charitable, governmental, ...) agency.
I think the only real error you could make, based on the description, is to label them "volunteer". Well, leaving them out, would be an error, also.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes they count.
>
> "work experience, internships or volunteer work"
>
>
>
is clearly more broad then just regular employment. Just make clear what type of position each role was. If there is some other section that allows you to report other types of research experience you could be free to classify these either way, it wouldn't affect much. The people reading your application just what to know what you've done.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: At least in the field of computer science, I have noticed this to be a common practice.
Why exactly is this done? I find it harder to read and follow.<issue_comment>username_1: There are some established standards for page layout in publications. One that I'm familiar with is a set of patterns for desktop (that is, personal) publishing by <NAME>, published in the EuroPloP 1999 proceedings (University of Konstanz).
One of the patterns says that a page should be no more than about half text. A fair amount of white space, margins, and other elements besides text.
Another pattern says that a line of text should be no more than about twice the length of the alphabet used, so around 52 lower case letters in English. This isn't applicable to Chinese, of course. This limit is "imposed" by the physiology of how the eye works. Among other things, if a line is too long, then it is harder to pick up the start of the next line when scanning back.
But a full line of text in a reasonable font can be nearly twice that limit.
So, just those two patterns suggest two column format or some other accommodation.
And note that, if you are young, you have an easier time reading long lines than someone older with poorer eyesight.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I suspect it's not a matter of being "common practice" -- rather, it's the standard for IEEE and all of its associated conferences and journals (e.g., CVPR). Further, it's a sort of a nice looking formatting with plenty of infrastructure (e.g., .sty files), so it's a common choice when no particular format is prescribed.
There are plenty of other journals in CS that use a single-column format (e.g., SPIE, NeurIPS). But, this does leave a question of how many characters to allow per line. So, these single-column journals either (a) allow a large number of characters per line, which introduces some difficulty in reading, or (b) uses very large margins -- over 2" (on "letter" size paper). With respect to the latter -- perhaps this makes sense in Europe where A5 paper can be used (not sure), but in the US, I think this looks just awful.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I hold a masters in mathematics and philosophy (emphasis on logic) and, for personal reasons, I will be joining the US Navy as an officer doing cryptology. I'm curious if I apply afterward to programs (math or computer science programs) specifically doing cryptology (or number theory or related) will they see my experience as a plus to my application, especially since I will not be able to say what I did (being top secret and whatnot).<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it will be a plus. And no, you won't need to go into details. But get a letter of recommendation from a superior.
But part of its being a plus is that it is closely related to your academic trajectory and not something different.
And, with permission from the DoD, you can probably say some things, even if not especially detailed. You can, for example, possibly speak about non-classified papers that you found useful in your work. But more important, those non-classified papers that you want to consider for extension - whether related to your work or not.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes, this would be a big plus. While the university cannot know the specifics of what you did in your job, if they know it was a role involving cryptography then they will assume that you were getting some good experience. They will also know that you come from a professional background where you are aware of applications of cryptography and might potentially have ideas for methods or uses of cryptography. Military institutions generally have extremely high levels of capability in security measures like cryptography, so experience at an employer like this would be highly regarded.
While you cannot disclose details of your military work, you can presumably still let the university know the broad types of cryptographic methods and techniques you are already familiar with (without specifying whether you have used these in your work or learned about them independently). In addition, I would expect that you could also get a letter of reference from one of the supervising officers in your area, which can give a useful reference even without disclosing unauthorised information about your work.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: The pool of applicants for a PhD program consists of people applying straight after undergrad, and also people who have done masters programs. Do students with masters degrees have an edge over undergrads in the process? Do admissions officers judge undergrads and masters students differently? If undergraduate students have taken graduate-level courses (but perhaps not as many as a masters student has), where does that put them in comparison?<issue_comment>username_1: You need to have a masters degree to even be able to apply for a PHD. It's a basic legal requirement. In most countries (In Europe and America. USA being different clearly than the rest of the continent while most latin countries have extremely similar systems between them and regarding Europe given the inspiration came from there) you need to have graduated from university to make a masters degree and then graduate with a masters to apply for a PHD.
Graduation does not mean to just finish school by acquiring the necessary credits or passing/approving the classes. That is the first step, after which there are some graduating/titulation requirements like making a thesis, publishing articles, passing a seminar, etc (plus doing X hrs of social service, presenting extra documentation, etc). And then of course are bureaucratic tramits to certificate it all and be government approved as a graduate of the scholar level. Only after you get that can you pass to the next level.
Check if such is the case for the specific PHD you are considering.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: It very much depends on the Country, the Field, and the Master's.
I'm assuming, since you are asking that you are interested in Country where a Master's degree isn't an absolute requirement for a PhD in your field of interest. My field (Life-Sciences) in my country (UK) is like this.
I would say that it very much depends on the Master's degree. As far as I can see there are three types of Master's degrees in UK Life-Sciences
* Those for people who want to learn something different to what they learnt at undergraduate. So for example, my research is in Bioinformatics, and this is not normally covered in UK undergraduate degrees. This could be an advantage if you wanted a PhD in that area.
* Master's degrees that are integrated as the 4th year of an undergraduate degree, and are generally almost entirely research based. I have found the students with these often have an advantage over others as they have experience of doing real research in a real research lab. This is important because UK PhDs are generally 3 years (4 at a maximum) and you need to hit the ground running.
* General topic master's degrees for people who didn't get a good enough grade to go straight to a PhD. These might help you make the grade (i.e. if your undergrad grades were too poor there is 0 chance of a PhD, and a none zero chance after the master's), but if you have the grades to be accepted, this master's is useless to you. Worst, it might you look worse.
So in conclusion, it very much depends on the master's and why you took it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It depends on the structure of the PhD in question. Ask the university.
=======================================================================
Basically, there are generally two different types of PhD courses: ones that include a coursework component, and those that don’t. Typically, these will be offered by universities in the USA and in Europe, respectively, though as always it’s possible that any given university might be an exception.
For the degrees that include a coursework component, they will typically take 5-6 years to complete with two of those years being coursework, and having a Master’s Degree would not be required.
For the degrees that don’t include coursework, they will typically require 3-4 years to complete, and require the completion of a Master’s Degree (which would, in turn, typically require 2 years of coursework) before you can apply.
As you can see, both methods are roughly equivalent in terms of requirements; the latter simply splits them up between the Master’s Degree and the PhD.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I spent 5 years on my mechanical engineering PhD. I think that my thesis work could have been done in 2 years by a serious student. I have wasted my time on futile work.
I don't know how to justify the time spent aon my PhD and my low research output to my committee.<issue_comment>username_1: There is a LOT of dead time during a PhD. I've had friends spend years on projects that never came to anything. Some people are luckier than others - and any examiner will know this.
The main reason not to worry is that they shouldn't ever take into account the time taken to produce the thesis, only the quality of the thesis itself. They don't hold you to a higher standard if you took five years to complete than if you took three. A thesis is a thesis! Don't panic, and you'll be absolutely fine!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: With hindsight most PhD theses could have been done a lot quicker, but we typically don't start with hindsight. Moreover, you are supposed to learn while doing your PhD thesis. So again, someone with the experience learned from doing a PhD might have avoided some of the futile work (but see my first point), but that is not a fair comparison. So the first thing you need to ask yourself is: are you fair towards yourself.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Worry not. You dont need to justify your time, you only need to justify your thesis and what is written in it. Anything else wont exist for the duration of the defense exam. You are there to defend the data and results of your research, and any question outside of that you can redirect back to your thesis.
For example, if you have a research in pokemon evolution and you are asked about the time of the research, you says that the methods presented on your thesis, in Chapter 2, section 'XXXXXX' denote the process's own time, and therefore help validate the results, which are appropriately and consciously revised as can be seen in the conclusions chapter in section 'YYYYYY', which point to the prof/disproof of the original hypothesis.
Remember that you are defending your thesis, it's methods, and the results (and maybe, awfully too, the historical/theoretical frames). Unrelated questions are actually tricks from the examiners to derail you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Even without knowing any further details, it is clear that you are too hard on yorself. Doing a PhD is not about doing a certain amount of work and then graduating.
You need to learn new skills, research and keep adapting until you find out in which direction to go and how your contribution is going to be. So in those 5 years you did much more than just the contribution itself.
You are not alone in thinking this way, as someone mentioned, check "imposter syndrome".
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: If everyone made an equal contribution in effort to write the paper, but no on the team but myself decided to post the paper on arXiv and no one opposed my decision to arXiv post, should I myself, the poster, or the corresponding author be the first author, or should the authors be listed alphabetically? At this point there's not yet any monetary or power incentive to be first or last and I don't expect there to be any in the future.<issue_comment>username_1: If everyone made an equal contribution, you can put that information in the footnote.
In a very famous (in the AI-related research) paper [ADAM: a method for stochastic optimisation](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1412.6980.pdf) you can encounter the following line:
>
> ∗Equal contribution. Author ordering determined by coin flip over a Google Hangout.
>
>
>
I'd say randomisation is a fair way to go.
If you want to be more specific, [here](https://www.epj.org/images/stories/faq/examples-of-author-contributions.pdf) you can check examples for contribution statements.
There's a whole taxonomy for that: [CRediT author contribution statements](https://casrai.org/credit/).
You can place these contributions e.g. just before the references section in the paper.
As Jukka already mentioned in the comment, arXiv does not matter in this case.
I think the order should always reflect the real contribution (if possible).
All in all, it's good that you care about such things - good luck with your research.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Presumably the authors will have all agreed to an author list, and this should be the one used on arXiv, irrespective of who is posting on arXiv or who is the corresponding author.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: A friend of mine is considered a minority in her research field, for being female. Recently, her advisor wanted to nominate her paper for an award sponsored by a kind of Women's Engineering Society. (Not actually the WES; I don't want to give away field-specific information for her sake.) To qualify for the award, the student must identify as female. She therefore asked her advisor not to nominate her, saying that she does not want to compete for an award where identifying as female is a prerequisite.
Her rationale is essentially that while she does identify as (mostly) female, she does not think it's fair to restrict award eligibility based on attributes outside of someone's control, such as gender. (There are also subissues, with the award eligibity requirements treating gender in a binary fashion, and my friend viewing gender as a spectrum.) She said she would be happy to participate in an award program sponsored by a women's society if the gender prerequisite weren't there.
After much debate, we further boiled down the issue to the following question:
**Do awards with gender identity requirements help or hurt the minorities they intend to support?**
We are looking for studies and statistics to answer this question; not just anecdotes.
(A side question is whether her individual refusal to participate could hurt the community she is a part of. For example, a snowball effect: if a large number of people refuse to participate in the very programs designed for them, perhaps the programs lose funding and then cease to exist for other members of the minority group who do wish to participate. Or perhaps the reputation of the award just goes down. I would be curious to know if there are documented cases of this happening.)
*Note: my friend gave permission to post and update this question.*<issue_comment>username_1: I applaud your friend for refusal to participate on ethical grounds. I think your second question can be answered in the negative. But not making a public statement leaves the (unfortunate) status quo intact.
The first question however is, at this time, pretty opinion based and some research might actually help settle the question. It isn't my field, so it is possible that something has been researched and reported.
But we are in a time of change. The past was bad. We hope the future will be better. But there is still observable discrimination against women and many others, especially gender fluid individuals. Hopefully this will sort itself out if enough people get enlightened. But there are observable disparities in treatment even when it is (largely) unintended. And those things won't just dissipate without pushback. Individuals of "good will" need to be part of the pushback even (especially) when they aren't part of people and groups who are discriminated against.
But (opinion), if such awards tend to highlight the underlying problems, then they might be useful. And I hope that such things can go away in the future. A future in which individuals are judged only for their own accomplishments and not, at least in part, for things over which no one has any control.
I believe that more than one Nobel Prize has been given to a male whose female student actually did the work and had the breakthrough.
Fifty years ago, in the US, we thought, through the civil rights movement, that we were approaching a better future. Sadly progress has been slow, at best. Maybe stalled.
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. (Attributed to several people, including Dr. <NAME>, Jr.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: **Do awards with gender identity requirements help or hurt the minorities they intend to support?**
In general they seem to help an individual of "minority" status, while giving the stigma of all "minorities" in certain fields or with certain funding being due to that status rather than their work standing on their own. It also gives a lot of "minorities" imposter syndrome where they feel they may not have earned their way the way someone not offered many scholarships have. But that's on the individual, certainly many never experience this.
**Does her individual refusal to participate hurt the minority community she is a part a part of**
If your friend is exemplary, then why not be a success story. I personally disagree with restricting rewards based on any immutable characteristic but if I felt my exemplary work could shift opinion of my "group" in the positive then I would accept the award and attention it might bring in that field or space.
NOTE: Psychology is all generalities about behavior and there are lots of people outside of the norm on both sides of "minority" and "majority" so both these answers contain generalizations about how individuals and groups of individuals within certain groups might feel. There will be outliers.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Key here is that awards with identity requirements, gender or otherwise, **may hurt the level of accomplishment assessed by the individual, and others**, even as they have positive effects on the status and abilities of the aggregate minority group they support.
Often, there is some lessening of achievement associated with being awarded in a subcategory. The fact that no one suggests gender segregating Nobel prizes (right?) is as telling as the struggle to unite men's and women's football, or the rarity of academic awards with a male gender identity requirement (they do exist, but arguably server a very different purpose).
Certainly, gender quotas in faculty hire processes are a related mechanism that have this undesired effect. I have counseled more than one friend who was indirectly or (in one unfortunate case) directly informed the department 'needed a minority hire'. I have also heard colleagues disparage new hires as 'only because they are' whatever they are. The concerns of the hired and the disparaging align: did the person really deserve the job. I personally support quota mechanisms, regardless of these negative consequences, and for a selfish reason: I prefer working in diverse departments.
In the end, the unfortunate ends have been determined by society to justify the noble means. It is an individual choice whether to join in this structure. I applaud your friend for assessing that she would not be happy doing so, and supporting this gender-driven approach.
Related, devilishly difficult question: **How might awards with a minority (gender or otherwise) requirement be made to reflect the same level of accomplishment, to individuals and the general population, as equivalent unrestricted awards?**
Potentially, there is no answer.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: **TLDR:**
I am attenting a seminar where the grade is based entirely on a talk I hold. The responsible lecturer fell asleep during the talk multiple times, and I am worried about my grade, feel insulted and am unsure how to communicate these issues.
---
For a seminar, I was required to hold a 45 minute-talk about current department research in front of the course. The corresponding researcher attends this talk as well.
Together with the lecturer (the instructor for this seminar), they grade my talk, which amounts for the entire seminar grade. The researcher can make comments about how accurate the presentation was, but the ultimate choice of grading is with the lecturer.
During my talk (actually not too far in), the lecturer fell asleep for a bit for the first time, for only a brief period. Now this happened on multiple occasions during my presentation, and it has happened during someone elses' past talk on an earlier date as well.
I find this highly insulting, since I have spent a lot of time reading up on the topic and practicing to hold the talk.
Since the lecturer did not hear or see my entire talk, I am worried that grading may be affected in addition.
The lecturer is notoriously busy (which I assume to be quite common) and stressed, but both issues should not affect me or my grade in my opinion.
Also, he may have had stress-related health problems in the past, which could be a reason for him to pass on caffeine consumption. I see that this may be a reason for his tiredness, but again I cannot possibly account for it and I should not be graded differently because of it.
---
**I want to communicate the following two issues, how can I approach this situation?**
1. I feel insulted by the lecturer falling asleep through my graded talk
2. I am worried about him falling asleep could influence my grade
---
On a side note, I really like the lecturer otherwise, but I am afraid that making a comment like "please reconsider your sleep schedule" whould be considered highly inappropriate (and rightly so). Recommendations on this matter will be appreciated as well.
---
**Update:** Grades are out as of today, and I am not satisfied with the grade. I don't have any pointers on what I could have done better or how to improve future talks. I will probably not pursue this any further.
I don't know if I wrote this in a comment already, but in another seminar I attended, a similar thing occured for another student.<issue_comment>username_1: I would advise patience, wait until the grades are out.
If the lecturer was actually asleep then that may or may not be something to deal with.
However, if the lecturer was not asleep but not looking at you and perhaps reading the papers on the desk or similar you may be starting something you should not.
Again, patience and see how it goes.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Wait. Yes, it is insulting or at the very least rude, but ultimately as long as you pass there is no problem... But I do hope you have recorded evidence of your presentation and of the public in case you dont pass. In which case you can demand a revision of your grade based on the lecturer falling asleep multiple times.
You mention that the lecturer seemed very busy, that is not a problem, you dont need your eyes to hear and he/she could have been listening to you, which isnt necessarily rude, it could have been that the lecturer was was fact-checking stuff or taking notes on your presentation. Falling asleep however is rude even if the person was super tired and make an effort to arrive to your presentation. You don't know and we don't know how interesting your topic was either, but sleeping it out is a lack of respect for the speaker.
Yet, as long as it does not affect your passing grade then swallow your pride and move on. Your main objective for the lecture was to get a passing grade. Just that.
In usm, wait til you see your grade. If you pass decently 'good work, well done, move on' , if you dont pass, then thats when you act, but be sure to have lots of evidence.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The first thing to note here is that sleeping in such situations is often not a voluntary action, but a physiologically unavoidable response to the situation the body is in - many people die every year after falling asleep at the wheel of a car. I don't think you'd describe the results of that on other people in the car as "rude". In general, if you are in this state of involuntary somnulence, then no amount of caffeine will change anything.
You do not know the circumstances in which this lecturer is in: casual lecturers or adjuncts may be working several other jobs, or may have insufficient income to afford rent and therefore a proper place to sleep. Permanent folks may have so much work that they literally don't have time to sleep and complete everything they are required to do. Or they might have a young child or as you say, mental health problems. My point is these things may not be voluntary choices for the person concerned.
If i had a dollar for every student that fell asleep in a lecture that I had spent days preparing...
But....
None of this is your problem. You deserve not just to get the correct mark for your work, but also the feedback that will help you improve - after all, you are there to learn, not to get grades. As others have said, wait and see what the feedback is (and really you want proper feedback, not just a grade). If it's fine, then I'd wait and see, but even if it is - if this becomes a pattern then it might be in everyone's interest, including the faculty member's (depending on how understanding the Chair is), for people to know what is going on.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: I understand your frustration with a part of your audience sleeping through (some part) of your talk. As many other answers mention, this is unfortunately not an unusual experience for anyone presenting in academia. Members of the audience have different lifestyles and indeed different situations and sometimes the sleep deprivation takes the best of us. It is alright to be frustrated about it but please try not to feel insulted - there is really no evidence that this fact was in any way a response to the quality of your presentation and research.
As for your second question, why do you think the grade will be adversely impacted? If I were the lecturer in this situation, I would feel terrible about it and I would probably be inclined to "make it right" for the student, so I would consciously or subconsciously raise the grade.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: The poor guy has to listen to dozens of presentations like yours, and most of them are going to be boring. When you go into real life and give presentations to your managers or your customers, they are going to fall asleep if your presentations are boring. When it comes to grading or assessing you, it will come down to "this presentation was so boring, I fell asleep".
It's your job to make it sufficiently interesting that your audience stays awake. Work on your presentation technique.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: **About your grade**
Granted, you are likely not getting the best assessment of what a fair grade for you would be. But in any decent place, the professor knows he is at fault and won't let his fault put you in trouble. If you are expecting to graduate with some kind of special honors, I'd have a friend put in the word about this to this teacher. If you are afraid of failing this class (which from my experience, is very rare in presentation-only grading systems) then unless you made very crappy slides and handed them for evaluation, you should have nothing to worry about.
**About feeling insulted**
Vent to some friends, as you have every right to be be insulted. But what do you actually expect that should happen? Have you ever seen a student apologize to a teacher because he slept during his class? Well, it happens, but I've never seen the other way around, even though teachers have struggled to keep awake during presentations of mine.
If the teacher does come to apologize to you, what would you respond? *"It's okay"*? From what you've told us, I think it's not. *"Take better care of your sleep schedule?"*, he should know what to do in this regard and what he can't do, and better than you know. *"I appreciate the apology"*? Still leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The only good response I could think of, would be in the case where you could suspect him having some rare/uncommon disease that might have been undiagnosed (some people for instance have dark marks on their necks, which are often dismissed for poor hygiene, but they're actually a sign of diabetes, quite dangerous if nobody ever points it out to them). But that is not the case, is it?
My point is, with regards to feeling insulted, leave it alone.
**Another thing to consider**
There are several presentation techniques that help preventing a sleepy audience. Have you used any of them? You could have:
1. Moved from side-to-side of the class every now and them, forcing the audience to move their necks.
2. Modulated your voice tone, so it changes every now and then and during sentences (thus achieving the opposite of a mono-tone/monotonous voice).
3. Fake coughed, stomped your feet or made any other annoying noise (poor tactics, but work when someone is nearly falling asleep).
4. Prepared a few jokes (don't tell them unless you really need to re-engage the audience, but have them up your sleeve), a laughing classroom wakes up the sleepy ones very well.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Of course, sleeping on the job is a very unprofessional thing of the professor to do. But should you complain because of the grade?
First, as you are in Germany and are most likely not paying for your education, I doubt you find an institution in the university which takes your complaint and is able to do anything about it. You can probably only complain to the professor themselves.
But should you do this?
If the professor does not realizise they were sleeping, they will probably not believe it if you tell them. This could give them a worse image of you which might result in a worse great.
If they did realize, they most likely do not hold this against you. I have seen professors sleeping (and even snoring) during student's talks and exams -- they tended to give some general feedback "The talk was good. See you next time." and give the best grade as they realize they made a mistake. Calling them out on their mistake would probably again make a bad impression and put the professor in a defensive spot.
Addendum: From the comments, it seems that some people do not believe that nobody would and could take the complaint. Indeed, this is my experience with German universities. It is (most likely) different in universities where students pay a lot of money. However, of course I don't know all German universities. So my advice to the OP is: Before you complain, think about if you know who to complain to. Is there any institution where you know there has been a change after a similar (!) (that's important) complaint (something of the same level as your complaint)? I assume no -- then my answer stands. If you could really think of such an institution in your university, you can ignore my paragraph regarding that. (Note that you certainly will have an institution which takes those complaints on paper -- this does not has to mean that something will ever happen).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: ... You could always ask the presentation to be remarked by a different lecturer?
Being a former student myself, this option has always been common knowledge across the entire class if one is unsatisfied with the assessor.
Best act sooner than later, I recall remarking of work after being formally marked only able to reach a certain percentage (60% - or a 1:2).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: My suggestion: **Go talk to him**. He is probably pretty embarrassed about having fallen asleep, and would be appreciative of you not drawing wide attention to this incident.
So, arrange a meeting - now, not after the grades are published. In that meeting, tell him what you told us, and how you feel about it. Let him offer an apology and a solution regarding how you should be graded. Don't rush to agree or disagree immediately, tell him you need to think about it. And - do think about.
Now, if he gets angry, denies it, yells at you or threatens you - talk to your student union and then lodge a formal complaint.
Also, if you can coordinate your actions with the other student during whose presentation the lecturer slept, that would be great. It would strengthen both of your positions and credibility.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: (I'm German as the questions author is too, and studied computer science at FU Berlin.)
The situation is less complex than your intuition tells you:
It is, on an abstract level, very simple. Much of what happens is nice for various reasons, but not actually relevant.
The sole purpose of the presentation is that you, personally, learn to give a good lecture. How good you do is usually documented in terms of a grade, but that fact is not relevant for you during the process. The final grade is relevant, but you do not need to know how it was derived. To illustrate that, the grading person may always give a good grade, for whatever reason. That can happen after he listened your presentation with great attention, even posing good questions during the presentation. Or he may sleep during the whole presentation. Or, for this example, even sleep behind a half transparent mirror so you do not even know whether he is there. You would make some assumption how the grade was derived, but that is irrelevant for the result. All that is perfectly fine.
If there are other students in the seminar, it is perfectly normal that they are your audience. You do not need to worry about the grade, because he knows if he is missing information that is useful for grading, and has tho assume the positive wherever he is missing information. It's not your responsibility. For example, you may hold a presentation, with the lecturer being awake in the beginning and at the end. While he is awake, you give a good presentation to the audience you prefer. But while he is asleep, you mess up a couple of times. In this situation, it is legitimate to let him grade based on beginning and end. Except if you feel it is not legitimate, and explain to him what happened.
Note that in all this, it is not actually relevant what the lecturer does. Theoretically, the audience could be a single mannequin, which only exists to make it easier to imagine the presence of an audience. (No audience at all would be pretty hard to handle).
You see that you can fulfill the purpose of the presentation without an audience.
I can absolutely understand that you are not comfortable to have a practical experience like above. That is perfectly fine. But if you take the above into account, you can just disregard anything that does not feel right in the process.
And if you feel the presentation should be graded, you are perfectly competent to just do that yourself.
Now on your actual experience: There is no reason to feel insulted. Because no insult does exist. That he sleeps is unrelated to you, and you even know the very valid reason for it. He has the option to either listen to your presentation, while he already knows most of the content. Or sleep, and spend an hour actively discussing with and supporting a student. That student could be you. At least in the later case, you may agree that the second option is far better for you, and potentially for him too. I assume this may be a proof that there is no disrespect in the situation, because it is clearly the right thing to do.
Your case is actually much simpler, as your audience actually includes
* a person responsible for grading
+ He will practically just decide for the other person where he is missing information
+ a negative influence on your grade could only happen if the person not sleeping tends to give lower grades, and the sleeping one does not object, even based on a single second being awake.
* an audience that is sincerely interested in and gains objective advantages from listening to you.
+ I would call that an outright luxurious situation
Finally, I want to emphasize that there is nothing insulting whatsoever. There is n malice involved at all. And that, if in doubt, you even have the information to conclude that yourself. That conclusion would be perfectly valid in a strict mathematical sense.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I recently had a very important interview for a postdoc position. There were two professors in the interview. One of them fell asleep on multiple occasions. What shocked me was he fell asleep after asking a question and while I try to answer his question. I tried my best to keep him up by changing the pitch of my voice and it really helped.
I was a lecturer at a university and had taught many courses. I learned about active learning methods before becoming a lecturer. The key to make your audience awake is on your hand. Just change the tone of your voice (low to high then to low), the audience will stay awake. Try other tricks to add some spice besides perhaps the boring hardcore science stuff.
I wouldn’t feel insulted instead I would ask myself whether my talk was that much boring to make my key audience be sleepy.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/11
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently a final-year student on a BSc Mathematics programme in the UK. For the first two years of my degree I've mostly adopted a '2:1 will do' approach and didn't focus on my studies all too much, sometimes even cramming in an entire course the night before the exam. As a result, my grade distribution is extremely uneven: for example, last semester, my lowest grade was 40% and the highest was 89%. I'm not sure about other degrees, but from my experience people tend to score fairly consistently in maths. Overall, I currently have a 60% average.
Last semester, however, I took an introductory logic class and was really intrigued by the subject. The 89% referred to earlier was for that logic course, which was otherwise considered fairly demanding. It may sound somewhat cliche, but I believe I've found my academic 'passion', however niche it may be. Over the summer I've worked my way through a couple of mathematical logic books, and am currently in the process of writing my bachelors thesis which is on a fairly advanced topic in model theory. With that my attendance has improved and I've found other maths classes more enjoyable, too. I'm rambling here, but the point is that my interest in this particular area is pretty serious.
Now, to my question: with this in mind, I've started thinking of possibly going on to do a PhD in the future. Problem is, I'm afraid the first two years of my Bachelors will drag me down to the point of not being able to gain acceptance into a decent programme. I will most likely end up getting a First Class degree in the end, and the university I go to is in the Top-100 across all major rankings, but then again I know people who have close to a 95% average. Would you say it's still worth trying, or should I just take the safe route and re-orientate my studies towards something more practical?<issue_comment>username_1: In your final semester, it may be exceedingly difficult to show a solid change in your habits and work ethic that I would say would be good for convincing others if you turned it around in the last 2 or 3 semesters.
However, you say possibly doing a PHD in the future. If that doesnt mean immediately applying, then gaining relevant experience at work and continuing your studies after receiving your degree could help you if you choose to apply a few years down the road.
Good scores on the GRE (or the UK equivalent, whatever that may be) could also help a candidate seeking to have low grades overlooked.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Ask your university, though undergraduate grades probably won’t matter because you’ll probably need to complete a Master’s Degree first.
========================================================================================================================================
Generally, there are two different methods for PhDs to be structured- ones that take 5-6 years to complete and include a coursework component and can be entered directly after finishing a Bachelor Degree, and ones that don’t include a coursework component, take 3-4 years to complete, and require you to have completed a Master’s Degree first.
The latter structure is more common in Europe, though I admit I’m not completely familiar with the system used in the UK; I do know that it is used in some Commonwealth countries like Australia, though. As a result, when applying for this sort of PhD, it’s likely that the admissions office will put a lot more weight on the results you got from your Master’ Degree than the ones from your Bachelor’s.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/11
| 1,658
| 6,967
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently, I have started to regularly write on chalkboards. I have also found out that I am quite terrible at it, although my handwriting is quite good.
Any tips or strategies for a beginner are welcomed.<issue_comment>username_1: I assumed that chalkboards were last used when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
Anyway, write slowly and with large figures. Practice. It will probably get better with practice.
But.
The reason for the *chalkboard - dinosaur allusion* is that the technology is terrible. It was used at a time when there were few options and no better ones. It was difficult and expensive to distribute notes in other ways at that time. Your back is to the students so you are focused on what is in front of you, not on them. You don't see puzzlement on their faces when it occurs. They need to interrupt you vocally to ask a question and that is harder to ignore than a hand raised silently that you can postpone responding to. Whiteboards are no better here, of course.
For this reason, write big so that you can't write as much. Write slowly so that they can keep up **and** so that you don't try to overdo the stuff on the blackboard with too much detail or content. Don't make it a goal that students just copy what you write there and think they have learned something.
Use the blackboard for things that matter and that you want to talk about otherwise, not just to get it "up there". An important definition (the *derivative*) might be written on the board so that you can talk about its parts and what they mean -- the difference quotient, the limit, ... how it fits. This leaves the rest of the board free for drawing examples.
If you have a lot of notes for them, then distribute them on paper or electronically. I like paper since the students can write on them in class without a computer. I prefer distributing them before class. If they are read, then you can use the face time more effectively without turning your back on them. See "Flipped Classroom" here and elsewhere.
I once actually took a course from a professor who seemed to believe (the old story) that the purpose of a lecture is to transform the professor's notes into the student notebooks without going through the mind of either. Don't be that professor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As you mention this is about the physical act of writing, then yes, there are things you can do.
Put a projector with text on various sizes (like the vision testing charts optometrists use) and walk to the end of the room to see which size is more fitting given the room size, then go back to the board and mark the size. You then can measure it with a normal ruler (there are BIG wooden rules and instruments for chalkboards too) and then proceed to mark at the edges of the board the lines for that letter size. Then you can get some threat and tape from mark to mark to make a whole board ruler to mark dots on the board (or place stickers).
Then it's practice, practice and practice.
Sectioning the data you are going to put on the board before hand in a notebook can help you plan the spacing and distribution. It's a good practice for the lecture but it can be time consuming.
Alternatively,if you want to help the students more then you can provide them with digital notes on the topic.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I was a teacher for 2 years. After the first month or so you get comfortable using your arms to write more / larger. If you are a teacher / lecturer than the best two options are
1. Do a practice lecture or a component of it depending on the length before hand. Particularly practice any diagrams ahead of time.
2. Just ask your students. Everyone has different handwriting. Ask if they can understand yours. Adjust size or specific letters / habits as needed and eventually you will meet in the middle. Your writing wont be perfect but it will be large enough everyone can see and no characters will look too similar. At the same time, your class will learn how you write and adapt.
After a year or so you will break almost all bad habits and the one or two you have your students will adapt to quickly when they can make out all but one letter. It wont be too hard to figure it out
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Maybe it's silly, but there is a section on Blackboard Technique in Gian-Carlo Rota's [Ten Lessons I wish I had been Taught](http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~cahn/life/gian-carlo-rota-10-lessons.html) that I have always found very useful:
**Blackboard Technique**
Two points.
**a.** Make sure the blackboard is spotless. It is particularly important to erase those distracting whirls that are left when we run the eraser over the blackboard in a non uniform fashion.
By starting with a spotless blackboard, you will subtly convey the impression that the lecture they are about to hear is equally spotless.
**b.** Start writing on the top left hand corner. What we write on the blackboard should correspond to what we want an attentive listener to take down in [their] notebook. It is preferable to write slowly and in a large handwriting, with no abbreviations. Those members of the audience who are taking notes are doing us a favor, and it is up to us to help them with their copying.
When slides are used instead of the blackboard, the speaker should spend some time explaining each slide, preferably by adding sentences that are inessential, repetitive or superfluous, so as to allow any member of the audience time to copy our slide. We all fall prey to the illusion that a listener will find the time to read the copy of the slides we hand them after the lecture. This is wishful thinking.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Try to have a good attitude about it. And make use of any technology available.
In undergrad, one of my profs would write on slides directly on the overhead projector. It meant he could produce his stuff in fairly normal sized printing on the slide, and he could even be sitting down when he did it. He had a tall stool by the projector. It means he can be looking at the class when he writes.
One day, the overhead projector was pointed at the curtains at the side of the room when he turned it on. Without missing a beat he said "if you will look over there" and did his lectures on the curtains.
But if you find it difficult to use the blackboard, possibly there is an overhead projector you can use. You can get dry erase markers in many interesting colors and nib widths. And then you have those slides that can, in principle, be transferred to other lectures.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: This is going to sound stupid, but I've seen it work. Try dividing the blackboard with vertical lines to create narrower "pages." This will make it easier to write in a straight line and will discourage you from writing too large. Of course, the "pages" need to be large enough that you don't write too small.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2019/11/12
| 394
| 1,653
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it allowed to take notes during the "read instructions" stage of TOEFL? At this stage the timer is stopped and it's a good time to take notes such as drawing tables for speaking and writing sections. But I'm not sure on whether it is allowed in the exam. I'm asking this question because I didn't find any section of the TOEFL rules that addresses this scenario.<issue_comment>username_1: Afaik the sections are sequential so you don’t get all the material in one go.
Then the reading time is reading time not writing time.
And I have run these exams in the past following their detailed instructions for each section.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I watched the test procedure [video](https://www.ets.org/s/toefl/flash/15571_toefl_prometric.html). At about 2:47 the paper was described as "scratch paper for your use during timed sections of the test". To me, that suggests you are not allowed to write on it outside the timed sections. You should be able to ask during check-in.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The 'read instruction' section is before the actual test. It will tell you how the actual test is structured and what you are and aren't allowed to do. It is also available online and doesn't depend on the particular instance of the test you get. So if you do a mock exam in preparation, this mock exam will have the exact same 'read instruction' section as the real test. You can and should familiarize yourself with the general structure of the test before taking it but I don't see what kind of notes you would want to take during this section of the actual TOEFL.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/11/12
| 2,807
| 11,477
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<issue_start>username_0: I was the teaching assistant (TA) for a very introductory physics course at a large state university. In the course of grading for this class, I came to learn that my university used the same course material as many other universities had for the equivalent course for more than twenty years. The answers to questions, in particular, were readily available online, through various forums. The syllabus explicitly forbade providing disingenuous answers, as well as any plagiarized responses. To be clear, this instructor was a fully tenured professor; not someone in any risk of losing their position.
After noticing patterns in homework assignments, I began to look for them in midterm and final exams as well. What I initially thought was a couple of bad students turned out to be more than 50% of the class regularly citing online sources word-for-word. Once I realized what was happening, I informed the professor, and I started assigning zeros to the offending students, in accordance with University policy, and the professor did not object to my assignment of zeros. However, all of this was still subject to the lead professor's review.
The professor asked for documentation of the offenses, and was in fact the undergraduate director of the department. I spent the better part of a week accumulating evidence, scouring Yahoo answers and other common homework repositories for the sources of the dirty students' answers. I found a veritable source for every single one. I printed copies of the students' responses, alongside their internet sources, and deposited the six-inch-tall stack of documents at the professor's door.
As far as I know, nothing happened to a single student, and word was never made public of the massive cheating scandal that was blatantly obvious in this course. Multiple athletes were in this (1A) course.
Is this just academia?<issue_comment>username_1: Edit: question has changed.
You probably cannot do much now.
>
> Once I realized what was happening, I started assigning zeros to the offending students, in accordance with University policy.
>
>
>
As a TA, you should have spoken to the professor about the situation before taking any action. Student misconduct is squarely in the professor's area of responsibility.
>
> I printed copies of the students' responses, alongside their internet sources, and deposited the six-inch-tall stack of documents at the professor's door.
>
>
>
This sounds like you are trying to provoke the professor, instead of helping. I fear you have done serious damage to a relationship that should be collaborative.
>
> Is this just academia?
>
>
>
Not really; all types of institutions are subject to occasional corruption.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: [Beer and Circus](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0805068112) calls this the "student-faculty non-aggression pact":
* Faculty provide an easy class and don't look too hard into cheating
* Students happily take the easy grade and leave the professor free to do research
I wouldn't say this is "the rule"; plenty of faculty do an awesome job teaching. But, I'm not surprised to hear your report -- some faculty don't care about teaching generally, while others care about teaching but don't care about grades or catching cheaters. Many feel (for better or worse) that cheaters get what they deserve eventually, and don't want to be personally involved in punishing them.
>
> What to do...
>
>
>
I would carefully check the department and university policies -- often, cheating cases are explicitly prosecuted "at the professor's discretion." I would also speak directly with the professor. Speaking of....
>
> I started assigning zeros to the offending students...[collected evidence]...and deposited the six-inch-tall stack of documents at the professor's door.
>
>
>
I suspect this was not the best way to go about it. I would recommend first speaking with the professor, making them aware of the problem, and asking how to proceed. At a minimum, this could have saved you a week's worth of wasted effort. As it is, you assigned a bunch of zeros, and it sounds like your professor was okay with this -- that is some punishment, at least.
>
> Is this just [the way of] academia?
>
>
>
Well, it's certainly a bit dysfunctional. And it's inevitable as long as prosecuting cheaters is a lot of work for the faculty while providing absolutely no "reward" when done successfully.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I experienced a related situation when I was supervising a written exam as TA: I caught a student cheating who actually (though probably accidentally) admitted cheating ("I couldn't read anything" - yea but already trying to read other's answers is cheating).
When telling my prof, he decided to nevertheless have the exam graded regularly. His explanation:
* In a legal sense, we'd be in a situation where my word would stand against the student's word - we did not have hard proof. Our claim of the student cheating would therefore be very weak.
*This is something I consider extremely important nowadays: given the difference in power between student and examiner and that even [confessions of cheating are not reliable indication of actual cheating\*](http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2071397), it is IMHO extremely important to accuse students on the basis of **solid** evidence only.*
* In his experience, students who cheated/were caught cheating had always anyways failed the exam due to lack of knowledge - which was actually the case.
* The official penalty for cheating was failing the exam, so correcting the exam and failing the student on that basis was safer and just had the same outcome in terms of the need to redo the exam.
* In terms of pedagogy, they had had the reprimand I gave them during the exam plus everyone else had seen someone being caught cheating.
\* While marking each homework that is considered cheating 0 without any interaction with the student does not induce any bargaining problem, I gather that it is common to take a more strict view on students who do not admit cheating when accused. I'd argue from that that students may *expect* to minimize their losses by confession - which would be sufficient to put most interviews with students who are accused of cheating into the realm of that study.
---
>
> I found a veritable source for every single one.
>
>
>
Your situation is similar to my catching the cheating student: there's a definitive smell, but not a solid proof: that would require you finding evidence that each student did actually access that web page (during the time of that homework) and maybe even proof of them copying the relevant part.
Without such proof, the professor may still deliver a lecture about cheating or depending on what is up to their discretion assign some more homework that is not found online, announce that homework grades do not enter the final grade, ...
As such proof is not realistically possible, the usual way out is to allow all kinds of sources but require proper citation. This is not only a good excercise of how academic writing works, but it also reverses the burden of proof: regardless of whether the thought was the student's own, it's up to them to check whether the thought has been published before and if so, cite it.
Thus, a lack of citation is far easier to proove than a student using forbidden study material.
---
>
> Is this just academia?
>
>
>
Something went wrong here quite obviously. I'd say: on both sides, students cheating and the prof having dysfunctional rules (whatever is done: either condemns without proper proof, or doesn't enforce rules).
OTOH, academia is like the rest of the world.
* There will be inexperienced profs (who may learn and do better in future)
* There will not only be brilliant teachers but also mediocre ones, and finally
* Students are usually comparatively inexperienced due to their age and
* may actually cheat.
---
I may add some context: for us,
* homework itself was rarely graded, it was mostly considered an *offer* for self-study.
Homework that was graded were either
+ reports on certain questions and I think the topics where handed out according to what was of interest for the teacher that year, i.e. new topics.
+ reports on experiments - here the whole labwork performance was graded
+ reports that were presented during a seminar, so the student was questioned on the topic.
And they all used the cite-properly strategy explained above.
* Graded excercises (undergrad/introductory) had the excercise being done during excercise lessons with TAs being around who had an eye on cheating besides helping. Some of these excercises were supposed to be group work, btw.
* In general, noone cared how we acquired knowledge, the emphasis was on having the knowledge when examined. Failing exams, particularly during the first semesters, was very common (we had exams with pass rates at first try of ≈ 25 %).
* Collecting exam questions and studying with such collections was usually encouraged.
* Important exams were oral.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There is an argument that cheating should be **clearly and formally forbidden**,
but it is not important to enforce that.
The reasoning is based on that the student does **harm only to himself**.
While enforcing it is **not fundamentally important**, it may still be desirable to enforce it, but with lower priority when short on resources.
The base assumption may or may not be valid, the student may in some context do harm to others, like gaining an **objective competitive advantage**. But note that, except for the final grades, an advantage in grading of exams or classes is not an **objective advantage in the world outside the university**. An objective advantage would be receiving a certificate or final grade that has a value independent of what was learned.
For example, this is a valid approach in the following context:
There are introductory lectures that are needed as base for a lecture later in the curriculum.
In studying physics at an university that includes a lecture on statistical mechanics, there will be an earlier lecture of thermodynamics. It is not important to have valid grades for thermodynamics, because a student does not need the grade, but only the knowledge to get a good grade in the lecture about statistical mechanics. A good grade in that implies understanding the underlying concepts used.
A student cheating in the thermodynamics lecture without gaining the knowledge just needs to learn it later. There is no way to understand why pressure and temperature interact the way they do without knowing how they interact.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: You can't do anything if the student is just looking at his/her classmate's paper. you can only warn him/her to pay attention to their jobs, but you can't give zeros to them. because **just looking at another one's paper** isn't a reliable reason. It may the student says I have a neckache! That's why I turn my head! (but in fact, he/she is cheating) and you can't prove the cheating.
you can only assign zeros to students who have cheating papers with them or who have their hands full of math formulas; because these are reliable and you can prove the cheating to higher university staff.
perhaps the professor you're talking about is aware of my statements.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/12
| 2,459
| 9,893
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<issue_start>username_0: So in writing a math paper, if I am writing a proof of a theorem and I need to refer a lemma that comes later in the same paper. What is the proper way
to say that? For example if I am proving a theorem in page 10 and I need a lemma
in page 15, how should I say that in the proof?<issue_comment>username_1: Edit: question has changed.
You probably cannot do much now.
>
> Once I realized what was happening, I started assigning zeros to the offending students, in accordance with University policy.
>
>
>
As a TA, you should have spoken to the professor about the situation before taking any action. Student misconduct is squarely in the professor's area of responsibility.
>
> I printed copies of the students' responses, alongside their internet sources, and deposited the six-inch-tall stack of documents at the professor's door.
>
>
>
This sounds like you are trying to provoke the professor, instead of helping. I fear you have done serious damage to a relationship that should be collaborative.
>
> Is this just academia?
>
>
>
Not really; all types of institutions are subject to occasional corruption.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: [Beer and Circus](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0805068112) calls this the "student-faculty non-aggression pact":
* Faculty provide an easy class and don't look too hard into cheating
* Students happily take the easy grade and leave the professor free to do research
I wouldn't say this is "the rule"; plenty of faculty do an awesome job teaching. But, I'm not surprised to hear your report -- some faculty don't care about teaching generally, while others care about teaching but don't care about grades or catching cheaters. Many feel (for better or worse) that cheaters get what they deserve eventually, and don't want to be personally involved in punishing them.
>
> What to do...
>
>
>
I would carefully check the department and university policies -- often, cheating cases are explicitly prosecuted "at the professor's discretion." I would also speak directly with the professor. Speaking of....
>
> I started assigning zeros to the offending students...[collected evidence]...and deposited the six-inch-tall stack of documents at the professor's door.
>
>
>
I suspect this was not the best way to go about it. I would recommend first speaking with the professor, making them aware of the problem, and asking how to proceed. At a minimum, this could have saved you a week's worth of wasted effort. As it is, you assigned a bunch of zeros, and it sounds like your professor was okay with this -- that is some punishment, at least.
>
> Is this just [the way of] academia?
>
>
>
Well, it's certainly a bit dysfunctional. And it's inevitable as long as prosecuting cheaters is a lot of work for the faculty while providing absolutely no "reward" when done successfully.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I experienced a related situation when I was supervising a written exam as TA: I caught a student cheating who actually (though probably accidentally) admitted cheating ("I couldn't read anything" - yea but already trying to read other's answers is cheating).
When telling my prof, he decided to nevertheless have the exam graded regularly. His explanation:
* In a legal sense, we'd be in a situation where my word would stand against the student's word - we did not have hard proof. Our claim of the student cheating would therefore be very weak.
*This is something I consider extremely important nowadays: given the difference in power between student and examiner and that even [confessions of cheating are not reliable indication of actual cheating\*](http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2071397), it is IMHO extremely important to accuse students on the basis of **solid** evidence only.*
* In his experience, students who cheated/were caught cheating had always anyways failed the exam due to lack of knowledge - which was actually the case.
* The official penalty for cheating was failing the exam, so correcting the exam and failing the student on that basis was safer and just had the same outcome in terms of the need to redo the exam.
* In terms of pedagogy, they had had the reprimand I gave them during the exam plus everyone else had seen someone being caught cheating.
\* While marking each homework that is considered cheating 0 without any interaction with the student does not induce any bargaining problem, I gather that it is common to take a more strict view on students who do not admit cheating when accused. I'd argue from that that students may *expect* to minimize their losses by confession - which would be sufficient to put most interviews with students who are accused of cheating into the realm of that study.
---
>
> I found a veritable source for every single one.
>
>
>
Your situation is similar to my catching the cheating student: there's a definitive smell, but not a solid proof: that would require you finding evidence that each student did actually access that web page (during the time of that homework) and maybe even proof of them copying the relevant part.
Without such proof, the professor may still deliver a lecture about cheating or depending on what is up to their discretion assign some more homework that is not found online, announce that homework grades do not enter the final grade, ...
As such proof is not realistically possible, the usual way out is to allow all kinds of sources but require proper citation. This is not only a good excercise of how academic writing works, but it also reverses the burden of proof: regardless of whether the thought was the student's own, it's up to them to check whether the thought has been published before and if so, cite it.
Thus, a lack of citation is far easier to proove than a student using forbidden study material.
---
>
> Is this just academia?
>
>
>
Something went wrong here quite obviously. I'd say: on both sides, students cheating and the prof having dysfunctional rules (whatever is done: either condemns without proper proof, or doesn't enforce rules).
OTOH, academia is like the rest of the world.
* There will be inexperienced profs (who may learn and do better in future)
* There will not only be brilliant teachers but also mediocre ones, and finally
* Students are usually comparatively inexperienced due to their age and
* may actually cheat.
---
I may add some context: for us,
* homework itself was rarely graded, it was mostly considered an *offer* for self-study.
Homework that was graded were either
+ reports on certain questions and I think the topics where handed out according to what was of interest for the teacher that year, i.e. new topics.
+ reports on experiments - here the whole labwork performance was graded
+ reports that were presented during a seminar, so the student was questioned on the topic.
And they all used the cite-properly strategy explained above.
* Graded excercises (undergrad/introductory) had the excercise being done during excercise lessons with TAs being around who had an eye on cheating besides helping. Some of these excercises were supposed to be group work, btw.
* In general, noone cared how we acquired knowledge, the emphasis was on having the knowledge when examined. Failing exams, particularly during the first semesters, was very common (we had exams with pass rates at first try of ≈ 25 %).
* Collecting exam questions and studying with such collections was usually encouraged.
* Important exams were oral.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There is an argument that cheating should be **clearly and formally forbidden**,
but it is not important to enforce that.
The reasoning is based on that the student does **harm only to himself**.
While enforcing it is **not fundamentally important**, it may still be desirable to enforce it, but with lower priority when short on resources.
The base assumption may or may not be valid, the student may in some context do harm to others, like gaining an **objective competitive advantage**. But note that, except for the final grades, an advantage in grading of exams or classes is not an **objective advantage in the world outside the university**. An objective advantage would be receiving a certificate or final grade that has a value independent of what was learned.
For example, this is a valid approach in the following context:
There are introductory lectures that are needed as base for a lecture later in the curriculum.
In studying physics at an university that includes a lecture on statistical mechanics, there will be an earlier lecture of thermodynamics. It is not important to have valid grades for thermodynamics, because a student does not need the grade, but only the knowledge to get a good grade in the lecture about statistical mechanics. A good grade in that implies understanding the underlying concepts used.
A student cheating in the thermodynamics lecture without gaining the knowledge just needs to learn it later. There is no way to understand why pressure and temperature interact the way they do without knowing how they interact.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: You can't do anything if the student is just looking at his/her classmate's paper. you can only warn him/her to pay attention to their jobs, but you can't give zeros to them. because **just looking at another one's paper** isn't a reliable reason. It may the student says I have a neckache! That's why I turn my head! (but in fact, he/she is cheating) and you can't prove the cheating.
you can only assign zeros to students who have cheating papers with them or who have their hands full of math formulas; because these are reliable and you can prove the cheating to higher university staff.
perhaps the professor you're talking about is aware of my statements.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm in a situation where my paper is accepted conditionally, thus I need to revise it in some way as stated by the reviewers. While two reviews were encouraging and mostly constructive, the third review is way off from the other reviewers in their judgement and included sources that I "forgot" to cite and should mention.
Yet, there is a problem since the sources listed by the reviewer were published just ONE day AFTER the hand-in deadline of the paper. I was not able to anyhow know about them. I feel in a dilemma right now between acting "independent" as a researcher but also having to follow the comments made by the reviewer to have a positive outcome.
1. Am I obliged to follow their comments?
2. Should I react in the "review log" that I need to upload, that the "status quo" on which research performed is not based upon these sources (although they might be relevant), therefore I will ignore the sources named by the reviewer? I feel that I should at least mention it from a moral standpoint.
3. How should I behave for a positive outcome? I feel the review was written with negative intentions in mind.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> 1) Am I obliged to follow his comments?
>
>
>
No, but ignoring all comments is unlikely to result in an (unconditional) accept.
>
> 2) Should I react in the "review log" that I need to upload, that the research performed is not based upon these sources (although they might be relevant), therefore I will ignore the sources named by the reviewer?
>
>
>
I recommend citing (in the paper) at least some of the citations and explaining why they are irrelevant. Other citations you might dismiss in the "review log," which I assume is a private document which will support your revised paper.
>
> 3) How should I behave for a positive outcome? I feel the review was written with negative intentions in mind.
>
>
>
Beyond following my suggestions above, explain (in your "review log") what you have done to address certain comments and explain why other comments need not be address, making sure you are polite and not drawn into a unnecessary battle with the reviewer who seems to have "negative intentions."
---
>
> my paper is accepted conditionally
>
>
>
I'll improve my answer if the OP explains the above more precisely.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Take a very deep breath. The only way to react to a review that you believe to be in bad faith is to act as the bigger person. You can definitely mention that the reviewer disagrees with the other reviewers, but don't say anything about motives to the editor - there is no way that it can benefit you. The editor will have noted a difference in tone themselves and decided what they think about it. If you complain, and the editor has decided the review is valid, you just look defensive and bitter. If they have already decided that the third review is unfair, then you'll make no difference.
If its possible implement the reviewers suggestions, do so unless you think it seriously harms the paper. Whether you think they are fair or not, as long as they don't hurt the paper, do it. This goes double for citing papers if they relevant; 90% of citations in a paper will be read after the work it done.
"How should I behave for a positive outcome?" Open a bottle of champagne, celebrate your paper, be thankful you got through it despite the reviewer and forget about it. There is nothing you can do about this sort of thing. If you really want to do something support movements for open peer review and next time submit to a journal that practices it.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: It certainly appears as though the reviewer is making an unreasonable demand, yes. Unfortunately, this situation is too common: reviewers as experts, and thus often active participants in the field, have their own conflicts of interest and biases. Since your paper is conditionally accepted, I recommend you let it go.
Try to ignore the reviewer's intentions, but instead objectively evaluate whether you can meet his demands without compromising your paper in terms of quality or ethics. Specifically:
(1) I feel that since your paper is not yet published, assuming the suggested sources are indeed relevant, it is worth mentioning them for the benefit of your readers. In my own field (chemistry), where it is common for related (or identical) studies to come out during the publication process, we often include a note to the effect of: "After submission of this paper, several relevant and independent studies were published (ref. XXX)." This way, you can point the reader to them (which both the reader and authors of those papers will appreciate) and make it clear that your research was done without knowledge of theirs.
(2) Write a note to the editor to explain what happened: that you did not "forget," but are happy to cite those references. If the reviewer's intention is really to make sure your citations are complete, they should be satisfied.
I guarantee that the editor knows what a bad-faith reviewer looks like, and you taking too much effort to point that out will only backfire. It will make you seem petty and dramatic. Instead, you should focus on feeling happy about the publication of your paper! Congratulations!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: If the papers the reviewer is pointing you to actually have impact on your paper, the reviewer is doing you a favor, potentially extending the useful lifetime of your published work.
Read the papers, and incorporate them if it makes sense. If it doesn't, don't, and explain why.If you feel compelled to make the point that you didn't "forget" to include them, but that they were published after your submission, feel free, but it likely won't help or hurt your chances of acceptance (so long as you do it nicely).
The review you got does not seem out of line, or at least out of the ordinary. Your reaction to it seems too dramatic.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: What I usually do is take the comments that are more logical and reject the others.... sometimes you find instructive comments and sometimes reviewers comment to comment...but don't be too much affected it's your work after all. Good luck
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am preparing a conference paper. I have been looking for references for a specific topic related to my research. I have not found any that were not written by current/former members or my research lab.
How common is it and how acceptable is it to submit a paper where most or all of the references were written by the same group of authors?
In other words, my adviser is an author for most/all of them with a subset of his students.<issue_comment>username_1: If your work is either very new or very esoteric, then I don't see that this would be unusual. However, for a more general topic there might be some issues. When I finished my dissertation the topic wasn't new, but it was very esoteric. I knew of only two universities in the world where there was interest in the problem and only about a half dozen people interested. All were either professors or students at those two institutions.
Research is very specialized and often balkanized. So, if there are, in fact, few or no other papers then the situation is determined by the facts and is therefore acceptable. Publishing may spread interest and the "problem", if any, will disappear in time.
Make sure your search was thorough, of course. It wouldn't do to be informed of a wide body of work that you missed.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Have you tried looking for references in other languages? Finding one even if loosely related can cover for diversity. Other than that, if you dont find any then there is no problem.
Actually it is a good strategy because you are both honoring the original researchers on the field... and they can't exactly disagree with their own papers (this is not a joke, its an actual tip given around. To try and include a paper in your references from the teacher/teachers on your PHD that may be your supervisors/exam comitee ).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: In my field, computer science, this can be fine depending on circumstances.
E.g. it can be fine if you're in a new area.
Do your citations cite anyone outside the group? They may be a good place to find more citations.
Also make sure you've tried the 'related articles' feature on Google Scholar.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Although I have seen a lot of questions similar to this, my situation is substantially different. I want to pursue a Ph.D. but since the deadlines are soon approaching for this academic year (most of the deadlines are in December) and due to my lack of readiness (partially due to my poor planning and busy schedule) in terms of not having written GRE and preparing my SOP and LORs, and most importantly not having contacted any professors yet, it is highly unlikely for me to pursue Ph.D. from fall 2020. Is there any chance universities accept students for Ph.D. for spring 2021? Furthermore, when should I start contacting professors i.e emailing them? Is it okay to start emailing them a year in advance?
P.S - I only have a bachelor's degree in engineering.I am currently working in a lab (mechatronics to be precise). I have done some research work but do not have any publications yet, although I am writing a patent on my work.<issue_comment>username_1: I would be surprised if PhD programs admitted students in the Spring semester. at least as far as I know in the US there is a single application cycle each year.
So, as far as i understand it, if you can't pull off an application for Fall 2020 then you're essentially looking at applying for a Fall 2021 start. You'll have to wait for the next yearly cycle. Sorry.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This really depends on the University and department.
European universities will more often accept PhD students at random times of the year. American ones are more standardized because a PhD student is actually more like a student than an employee and will therefore normally do courses (i.e. a masters as part of a PhD).
Since you don't have a masters yet, you may therefore need to apply for one of the more standardized programs that start in the fall.
But also consider that some universities (again mostly in Europe) will let you apply just a few months before the fall or even just a month. In such a scenario you will definitely need to be in touch with your supervisor before applying.
Aside from that, it makes sense to be in touch with your potential supervisor as early as possible since they can then get a better sense of who you are and it helps them see that you're specifically interested in them. But you need to individualize your email by reading some of their papers first.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm doing some history of science research. I want to build networks of researchers that cite each other (or otherwise do similar research).
I'd like to search: **For a researcher X, find which *researcher* has cited them most frequently**.
Is there some tool that can do this kind of thing? I've tried Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge.<issue_comment>username_1: I would be surprised if PhD programs admitted students in the Spring semester. at least as far as I know in the US there is a single application cycle each year.
So, as far as i understand it, if you can't pull off an application for Fall 2020 then you're essentially looking at applying for a Fall 2021 start. You'll have to wait for the next yearly cycle. Sorry.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This really depends on the University and department.
European universities will more often accept PhD students at random times of the year. American ones are more standardized because a PhD student is actually more like a student than an employee and will therefore normally do courses (i.e. a masters as part of a PhD).
Since you don't have a masters yet, you may therefore need to apply for one of the more standardized programs that start in the fall.
But also consider that some universities (again mostly in Europe) will let you apply just a few months before the fall or even just a month. In such a scenario you will definitely need to be in touch with your supervisor before applying.
Aside from that, it makes sense to be in touch with your potential supervisor as early as possible since they can then get a better sense of who you are and it helps them see that you're specifically interested in them. But you need to individualize your email by reading some of their papers first.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently solving a coding problem. I remembered that i came across this problem in another book i studied myself to improve my coding in the summer. That book has the same problem to this assignment. I understand the answer and know how to explain it but not sure if it is cheating to use that piece of code for my assignment.<issue_comment>username_1: Only your professor can answer such a question, though your syllabus may give guidance. "Found" solutions may be permitted or forbidden. My rules and my colleague's will probably be quite different.
But you will learn more if you "forget" you saw it (i.e. don't consult it) and try to write the solution on your own. Your course is about learning, not about producing solutions efficiently.
But you would be wise to tell your prof that you saw the solution earlier and that you worked without referencing it.
And, of course, it may not be possible to completely forget.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: One more thought in addition to username_1's answer:
Transparency is maybe the solution here: tell your prof "I remember this problem, I met it studying *book* last summer. How shall I proceed with the assignment?"
* This will ensure that there won't be any ground for accusing you of cheating
* Prof may give you another assignment, from which you can learn more.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: No, it's not cheating. You were tasked with solving a problem, therefore your task is to solve.
Unless you were meant to create a new method or something specific you are merely solving the problem which is to find a way to solve a problem.
Using an old answer is like calling a redundant function. And as long as you get to understand how that code works in your answer then all is fine.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: It seems like a very difficult problem to discern whether a "peer-reviewed" journal is reputable. When a journal claims to be peer-reviewed, is there a commonly-agreed-on definition of what this means? Is there a publicly verifiable process to verify whether a journal is peer-reviewed?
[This question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/101/how-do-you-judge-the-quality-of-a-journal) mentions "vanity press" as a whole class of disreputable journals, and [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28640/as-a-reviewer-what-steps-can-i-take-after-paper-is-published-despite-major-scie?rq=1) mentions Pubmed and Scopus as authorities on what constitutes legitimacy, but I can't find their standards anywhere. [Scopus](https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus) says they vet articles with an "independent review board," but I'm really looking for an answer about what they verify a journal does.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> is there a commonly-agreed-on definition of what this means?
>
>
>
Generally, good peer-review means that experts in your field carefully read your work and evaluate its merit. The definitions of "experts" and "carefully" vary widely across disciplines. Some fields require several rounds of meticulous back-and-forth between author and journal; others are less stringent.
>
> Is there a publicly verifiable process to verify whether a journal is peer-reviewed?
>
>
>
There are several journal rankings, but I think your best bet is to look at the editorial boards/published works. Are they reputable researchers who are considered `pillars' of their respective fields? Are the papers that were published in that journal of general good quality, and relevant to your prospective submission?
Some red flags to look out for when deciding whether a journal has good practices:
* Journal is publicly listed on some blacklist (such as Bealle's list)
* Journal charges exorbitant fees for publication, and promises a fast turnaround time on publications.
* Journal emails you: good, reputable journals don't need to spam researchers for articles. That said, sometimes this is valid (say, you published in a CS conference that has a direct-to-journal track for fast publication turnaround, that is ok).
* Editors are relatively unknown people from non-research oriented universities
* The papers submitted there are garbage (not 'unclear' but absolutely unreadable/weird)
In general, research publications are about disseminating your ideas to a certain community. It's important to see where your community publishes, and go for these venues.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no accepted standard for peer review. This is a good thing. Different kinds of research need different kinds of review.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: No, there isn't. Different journals/publishers will have different guidelines.
Here're some examples of publicly-published reviewer guidelines:
* [Wiley](https://authorservices.wiley.com/Reviewers/journal-reviewers/how-to-perform-a-peer-review/step-by-step-guide-to-reviewing-a-manuscript.html)
* [Elsevier](https://www.elsevier.com/reviewers/how-to-review)
* [PLOS One](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/journal-information#loc-criteria-for-publication)
To illustrate the differences, Wiley's guidelines say "What is the main question addressed by the research? Is it relevant and *interesting*?" (emphasis mine). Meanwhile PLOS One doesn't care about "interesting". To quote [a testimonial](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/journal-information): "I published with PLOS ONE because I love the idea that acceptance is based on quality of the work, not whether it's trendy or important in the eyes of a few editors."
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: If there were a strict definition and satisfying it became important, then the disreputable journals would find a way to game that.
**It's straightforward to determine whether a journal is reputable: ask the experts** (the word *reputable*, after all, refers to *reputation*). Experts here means, for instance, faculty working in the relevant field at reputable universities. I think the average person has a good idea of what reputable universities are.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's say Alice has written a paper that attacks a well-known problem in a clever new way. Her paper ends with "these methods work up to N = 10; for larger N, the calculations are prohibitively expensive".
Bob reads the paper and successfully duplicates Alice's results, but where Alice only had access to a 4-core desktop, Bob has a 4000-core supercomputer. Therefore he can calculate what Alice found prohibitively expensive, and get results up to N = 20.
Are Bob's results publishable? He didn't actually do anything special, he just had more computational power. On the other hand, the results are definitely new, and interesting (for whatever reason N = 20 is the point where interesting effects are predicted).
If they are publishable, what would Bob actually write in such a paper? Everything sans the result could effectively be communicated in one sentence ("Read Alice's paper"). If they are not publishable, how is Bob to communicate his results to the wider world?
I suspect something like this has happened in the past, in which case I'd appreciate a link to such a paper.<issue_comment>username_1: (I switched the order of a couple of your questions to give the answer a more logical flow.)
>
> On the other hand, the results are definitely new, and interesting (for whatever reason N = 20 is the point where interesting effects are predicted).
>
>
>
If the results are new, and interesting, then they are by definition publishable. The key point is they add something meaningful to the sum total of human knowledge. That’s certainly a sufficient criterion for publishability (in an idealized sense it should be necessary as well, but I fear it isn’t - plenty of things get published that don’t really meet this condition).
>
> Are Bob's results publishable? He didn't actually do anything special, he just had more computational power.
>
>
>
The concept of “doing something special” is both mostly meaningless and (to the small extent that it has any meaning) completely irrelevant to the question of publishability. Plenty of authors of excellent papers “didn’t do anything special” - they just had more patience and were willing to work a bit harder, or in many cases just got a little bit luckier, than their peers, and ended up discovering something significant. Publication is not a prize that’s given for “doing something special”, it’s simply the scientific community putting a stamp of approval on a discovery that it is correct, new, and worth paying attention to.
By the way, one can even say that a researcher Bob who works harder than his peer Alice is pretty much the exact scenario you are describing of someone “having more computational power”. In this case the computational power is of the human sort, but I don’t see why that should change the calculation.
**Edit:** another thought is that Bob actually did “do something special”. It’s not just that he had more computational power, but he had the foresight and intuition to realize that it would be worthwhile to apply that computational power to Alice’s particular problem rather than spend his time and resources doing any number of other things. So although it’s not really that important as I said above, even by your own criterion I think there is more merit to the achievement than your description makes it sound.
>
> If they are publishable, what would Bob actually write in such a paper? Everything sans the result could effectively be communicated in one sentence ("Read Alice's paper").
>
>
>
Bob would simply write what he did and what the results were, and what makes them interesting. If it can really be described in one sentence I’d argue that it likely wasn’t such an interesting result after all. But on the off-chance that it was indeed interesting, then it would make for a great one-sentence paper. There isn’t any rule that papers have to be longer than one sentence.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Its completely publishable and called 'secondary literature' (*Which is different than secondary source*):
It relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a primary source, which is an original source of the information being discussed.
May fall under a review article too.
As a clarification: **Secondary literature** is material that interpret, evaluate, or analyze the evidence derived from primary materials and/or sources.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: ### Papers like this can be published, and can be extremely important
There is no inherent reason why a paper of this nature would not be publishable, and indeed, there are some examples where papers of this nature have been published in high-ranking journals and have been extremely important papers. Whether a paper of this nature is publishable largely depends on the importance of being able to compute outcomes of the problem to a higher level. In some cases this will be unimportant, and the paper would be rejected; in other cases it would be extremely important, and the paper could become an important work in the field. Note also that the mere fact that the additional computation does not involve "anything special" from a theoretical standpoint, is often quite irrelevant to the importance of the result.
The most obvious example I can think of here is [Shaeffer *et al* (2007) Checkers is solved](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/317/5844/1518.full). This paper was published in the prestigious Science journal. It extended earlier works computing the game-theoretic solution to the game of checkers. In this paper the authors had managed to obtain sufficient computing power to (weakly) solve the game, and this was a major innovation in the game-theoretic analysis of checkers. According to the authors:
>
> The effort to solve checkers began in 1989, and the computations needed to achieve that result have been running almost continuously since then. At the peak in 1992, more than 200 processors were devoted to the problem simultaneously. The end result is one of the longest running computations completed to date.
>
>
>
In this particular case, the additional computing power accruing over time made the difference between early calculations that could not solve the problem, and later calculations that constituted a solution. This particular paper only *weakly* solves checkers (meaning that it gives perfect play from the starting point of the game, but it does not give perfect play from every possible board state). The next expected innovation would be to *strongly* solve checkers (i.e., find perfect play from every possible board state), and I imagine that the team that does this will also get an excellent publication in a high-ranking journal.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: username_1 and <NAME> have both given good answers. I'm going to give another answer with a slightly different emphasis with two points.
First, that there are specific journals which are often devoted to this sort of thing or close to it. One of those journals is the [Journal of Computational Mathematics](https://www.jstor.org/journal/jcompmath). That journal has a wide variety of articles, ranging from very pure number theory to mathematical physics ,but generally involving heavy duty computations.
Second, almost any paper which runs something for longer is going to be able to say something beyond just that they ran it for longer, and if I reviewed a paper, I'd like at least something beyond that. Explanations of any code tweaks they did would be one thing. Another thing would be any patterns they noticed in the data that wasn't obvious, or additional conjectures. Most of the time, if one is implementing something this way one is probably going to be thinking of the problem well enough that one will have at least something additionally novel one can say even if it is very minor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: In addition to the excellent answers that have already been given, the question indicates to me a common misunderstanding what papers actually are. They are, or at least should be, the communication of ideas, results, or some other type of knowledge that may be of interest to others. They are not badges of honour or grades or brownie points for doing X atomic units of research. In that sense, "how much work was it?", "how difficult was it?", or even "how large is the delta to existing work?" are fundamentally not the right questions to ask when evaluating whether something is publishable. If you have a stroke of genius and write down a cool idea very quickly, it's value to society is in no way diminished. Conversely, spending a lot of time on a bad idea does not make it more valuable to society.
However, as I wrote initially, it's an easy mistake to make because there is, of course, a correlation between effort/complexity and value/interestingness. Simple ideas are not often extremely valuable, because the chance that somebody else had the same idea before is high.
Apply this thinking to your question:
>
> Are Bob's results publishable? He didn't actually do anything special, he just had more computational power. On the other hand, the results are definitely new, and interesting (for whatever reason N = 20 is the point where interesting effects are predicted).
>
>
>
Doing "anything special" isn't in truth what makes papers accepted. If there are interesting effects to be observed for N=20, then go for it. That said, to my ears it does sound a bit suspicious that all that was needed to resolve an open question that people actively find interesting is to throw a little more hardware at it. I would make quite sure that indeed nobody has done it and that there are indeed interesting effects to be observed (and then I would still wonder a little why nobody has done it yet, unless the paper you build upon has appeared like a week ago).
>
> If they are publishable, what would Bob actually write in such a paper?
>
>
>
Summarize the original work to the extent that is needed to actually follow your paper (given the setup this may be quite a lot more detail than what you would typically dedicate to previous work - that's ok, as long as you make it clear that these are not your new results). Describe your setup and experiment. Then, if the interesting results for N=20 are what should carry this publication, describe these results and in which ways they are interesting in a lot of detail. Connect them to previous results for smaller Ns, and, if possible, go to the bottom of why the results start becoming more interesting for higher Ns.
If that does not give you enough "meat" for a normal conference or journal article, there are alternative publication venues dedicated to shorter articles, such as journal notes.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> Are Bob's results publishable? He didn't actually do anything special, he just had more computational power.
>
>
>
What you say is not correct. **According to my experience** things are not as simple as what you think in supercomputers. It is not just simply copying and pasting the codes. The codes should be prepared in a completely different manner and need some adjusting and tunning in some cases. You do not have that much flexibility in coding in supercomputers as you have on your laptop. In fact, improving an algorithm and making it runnable in supercomputers is itself a challenge and might be worth publishing, even if the final results are not that distinctive.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: A lot of the answers already given are great but something that may help Bob make a decision about whether or not to publish a paper describing his results is to classify his methodology against other fields of research. In a more soft science, what Bob did would absolutely warrant a paper because there is a lot of difference between what he did and what Alice did, even if he followed her methodology to a T. From a hard science perspective, it may be better for Bob to contact Alice and see if they could collaborate on extending her existing paper or creating a new one if they find the scope is larger.
Since computer science kind of falls into a grey area of hard vs soft science and how Bob publishes his results should be based off of his interpretation of what methodology he used. A hard science result can be easily reproduced in the sense of X result was achieved with Y equipment and took Z amount of {time, temperature, pressure, etc}. If Bob had access to Alice's source code and did not have to make any changes to run on his supercomputer, this may be a situation where he would contact Alice to share his results.
If Bob had no access to Alice's source code and rewrote from pseudocode or basic descriptions of the program from her paper, this would very much be a case where Bob should have no reservations about publishing his own paper describing his findings. There is a varying degree of how well authors describe their methodology and even if Alice was very descriptive, Bob could easily find a difference between his methodology and hers if he had to rewrite it, even if it is not immediately obvious.
Ultimately, the decision is up to Bob. A lot of answers above have mentioned there is no harm in more papers and if the result N = 20 is truly interesting, it would certainly merit its' own paper for the knowledge that it would contribute. In my personal opinion, computer science is much closer to a soft science than a hard science. To truly prove some results, it has to be reproducible by many researchers from bare-bones methodology with relatively similar results for something to be conclusively true. There are so many moving parts involved in computers that it really is more comparable to a Psychology than a Physics.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I think the answer is determined by WHY such a study with N > 10 is conducted. E.g.
1. Show off of computational power, for example, by calculating more decimals for Pi, beyond what is practically needed. About 39 digits are needed to [calculate the circumreference of the known universe](https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-many-digits-of-pi-do-we-really-need/) to the accuracy of a hydrogen atom. Calculating a Pi value beyond N = 40 is a sport with little scientific value per se.
2. Attempt to test a hypothesis (derived from a theory, model, or experiment) that something interesting happens when N is in a certain range. For example, model a material structure consisting of more atoms, providing a better view on how such material behaves.
Both results are publishable!
The second example is inherently very interesting for publishing. Especially, if the results are significant.
The first example could be used to report recent advances in computer performance, report a novel method for scaling up resource-intensive computations, demonstrate the use of a supercomputer on a simple example, or raise public awareness of science and research.
There is also nothing wrong to replicate an earlier study, e.g. by demonstrating how certain algorithms scale from personal computers to supercomputers.
In your paper, you can summarize the earlier study, motivate your angle, and report and explain your results.
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/11/13
| 810
| 3,435
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<issue_start>username_0: I am paying for my studies and I have chosen my own theme for my MS thesis. It is in artificial general intelligence and symbolic methods, rather rare theme. I am promising to do all the work fully myself, with some guidance by external researchers. Noone in the department is willing to be the advisor for my theme. I consider this research direction to be of utmost importance, in any case it is far more superior than the machine translation themes to some minor language - themes that are proposed by the department. I am not asking the would-be advisor to be expert in the field, I am asking just formal signature on the papers to continue my own research. Can university refuse to give me advisor? Maybe I can ask my money back? Maybe I ask the university to improve its quality and topicality of its research directions?<issue_comment>username_1: Approach an advisor that you already have a relationship with. Explain that you are an excellent student, providing grades as evidence, if that's true. (If it isn't, I wonder whether pursuing this topic can be recommended.) Explain why you are passionate for *artificial general intelligence and symbolic methods*, why the *research [is] of utmost importance*, and perhaps mention why it is *superior [to] the machine translation themes...proposed by the department* (being careful not to criticise the potential advisor's research domain). Explain that you have found external researchers willing to guide you, providing letters of support as evidence, if those researchers will provide them. You must deliver your message succinctly and coherently.
---
>
> Can university refuse to give me advisor?
>
>
>
The university aren't refusing: You are refusing to find a topic that the university is willing to supervise.
>
> Maybe I can ask my money back?
>
>
>
Sure, but you're seemingly at fault, not the university, and I think it is extremely unlikely that you have any chance of getting your money back (at least, not in the context of your question).
>
> Maybe I ask the university to improve its quality and topicality of its research directions?
>
>
>
Sure, but it won't help you. (Change takes time.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: See this from the point of the department: They are giving out diplomas saying "we have seen the work produced by this student and certify that it meets these requirements". If there are no specialists in a given topic, how can they certify that you meet those requirements? When you choose a department for doing your masters then it is up to you to determine that they are doing the things you are interested in. So yes they can and should refuse if they feel they don't have anyone with the expertise necessary to evaluate your work. You can always ask your money back, but in all likelihood they refuse.
You can always ask the university to cover different topics, but universities cannot cover all topics so choices have to made. Adding a topic typically means hiring one or more additional professors. That is a really big long term investment. They are not going to make that investment because a student (who is almost done anyhow) wants that topic.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Surely you should have agreed the “theme” with your advisor for it to be accepted and ratified by the institution.
If you have not, then you might need to choose a different topic.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/11/13
| 929
| 3,880
|
<issue_start>username_0: I saw some reports about how corrupt teaching staff in some colleges in some countries forces their students to comply with their unreasonable demands (e.g. to conceal a huge flaw in the teacher's research, or to stop speaking their own native language) by threatening to write negative emails and letters to disadvantaged their students' job or academic application.
Of course, such teaching staff will, hopefully, eventually get punished. (Note that we cannot always find evidence of their unethical behaviour, so some get away with it.) But even if they are punished, there is probably no means to stop them from making negative comments directly to the admission office or even one or two professors/employers who make the final decision.
**What should students do to protect their own rights? Is it likely that some real damage will be caused by such malicious emails?**
Some may complain that I should not ask this because it is not happening on myself - but the situation I describe is NOT hypothetical, and it might happen on anyone, so it is helpful to know how to tackle the situation.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> What should students do to protect their own rights?
>
>
>
Don't study at corrupt universities.
Don't tell corrupt people that you are applying for a job or degree program.
>
> Is it likely that some real damage will be caused by such malicious emails?
>
>
>
Somebody sending an email like that might send it to the wrong person, but if they send it to the right recipient it probably will cause serious damage. At that point, nothing can be done to fix the problem.
What you should not do is contact employers and tell them that someone might spread lies about you. That makes you look paranoid or guilty.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Depending on the contents such emails can of course cause serious damage. For example I once heard of an email sent between graduate schools that went "we've confirmed that so-and-so applicant fabricated his test scores and his recommendation letter is actually written by his wife". Needless to say that was the kiss of death.
You are asking about a different kind of email, which will depend on different things:
* Is the person writing the email reputable? If not (s)he's much more likely to be ignored - he's after all acting out of the norm.
* If so, what can (s)he truthfully say?
* Do those things actually matter? E.g. if the complaint is that the applicant starts work at 6am and leaves at 4pm, many departments are not likely to care.
How to stop this is a much easier question - just don't tell the person where you're applying to. They can't write to everyone.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: This is a supper difficult problem and is responsible for much of what is wrong with academia.
Its definitely not unheard of for a recruiting academic to call contacts at institutions a candidate has been associated with and ask.
If you are in Europe, and you are turned down for a job you were sure you were the best candidate for, you can issue a GDPR demand to the universities in question, and they must turn over any materials that contain information about you. This should include both formal and informal references. Obviously if the bad-mouthing happened over the phone, there will be no record of it, which is exactly why people often use the phone for this sort of thing.
You could then try claiming that the university treated you unfairly in the hiring process. You'd have to be careful because the university could try saying "We didn't select this candidate for other reasons, nothing to do with the reference. Here is the documentation that lists the criteria we used and the candidate's scores".
You could also try suing the phantom referee for libel/defamation if you were really into long drawn out legal battles.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/11/13
| 779
| 3,135
|
<issue_start>username_0: From the very first assignment an undergraduate student has been submitting work which has been heavily and repeatedly revised by her father (who is an A level teacher of the subject of her degree). Is that collusion? If so, how can it be proven?<issue_comment>username_1: If you state it accurately, then yes, it is collusion and maybe plagiarism if she presents the work as her own when it is not.
I would think that the limits are also hard to discern. If the father reads and makes comments then it is hard to say how important those comments are.
But it is probably difficult to prove without an admission.
But the father is as much at fault as the student. He deserves some sanction in a sane world.
One thing you might want to do (generally) is have the students write under observation, rather than in their own time and space. You will get a fairer read of the student's abilities, though a less polished product (from everyone).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Interestingly our university undergraduate guidelines definition of collusion only specifies working with another student. So I guess this would count as plagerism rather than collusion.
I wonder however, if the rules for PhD students give a better definition of what is an isn't acceptable:
>
> It is acceptable for a student to receive the following support in
> writing the thesis from the supervisory team (that is additional to
> the advice and/or information outlined above, if the supervisory team
> has considered that this support is necessary:
>
>
> 1. Where the meaning of text is not clear the student should be asked to
> re-write the text in question in order to clarify the meaning;
> 2. English
> language: If the meaning of text is unclear, the supervisory team can
> provide support in correcting grammar and sentence construction in
> order to ensure that the meaning of text is clear (if a student
> requires significant support with written English above what is
> considered to be correcting grammar and sentence construction, the
> supervisory team will, at the earliest opportunity, require the
> student to obtain remedial tuition support from the University’s
> English Language Teaching Centre);
> 3. The supervisory team cannot
> re-write text that changes the meaning of the text (ghost
> writing/ghost authorship in a thesis is unacceptable);
> 4. The supervisory
> team can provide guidance on the structure, content and expression of
> writing;
> 5. The supervisory team can proof-read the text.
> 6 . Anyone else who
> may be employed or engaged to proof read the text is only permitted to
> change spelling and grammar and must not be able to change the content
> of the thesis.
>
>
>
In practice, the line between proofreading (which is generally considered allowable) and plagiarism (which is not), is fuzzy and hard to define.
If you don't know how to prove this is happening, how do you know that it is? Someone's written work being better than their oral work would suggest is not proof, and having a father in the same field is not a crime.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/11/13
| 960
| 3,894
|
<issue_start>username_0: Some background, for my bachelor of science degree I have to do a practical research (thesis) for a company that develops software.
At the end of my Introduction chapter I arived at the following central question:
>
> Which testing strategy should company X implement to decrease the
> time and cost that goes into testing software Y?
>
>
>
After finishing my introduction chapter, I'm stuck with the literature review/theorthical framework. In my mind I already have the practical solution to the problem and find it easy to write the steps it would take to solve this problem but I'm not sure in what direction to approach this theortically and what type of literature I would need to use.
**-update-**
Perhaps I'm focussing to much on the `testing strategy` part of the central question? Should I rather focus on decreasing time and cost that goes into testing? And write down the possible solutions to accomplish this?
So for example a theoritical perspective could be:
* Test automation?<issue_comment>username_1: If you state it accurately, then yes, it is collusion and maybe plagiarism if she presents the work as her own when it is not.
I would think that the limits are also hard to discern. If the father reads and makes comments then it is hard to say how important those comments are.
But it is probably difficult to prove without an admission.
But the father is as much at fault as the student. He deserves some sanction in a sane world.
One thing you might want to do (generally) is have the students write under observation, rather than in their own time and space. You will get a fairer read of the student's abilities, though a less polished product (from everyone).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Interestingly our university undergraduate guidelines definition of collusion only specifies working with another student. So I guess this would count as plagerism rather than collusion.
I wonder however, if the rules for PhD students give a better definition of what is an isn't acceptable:
>
> It is acceptable for a student to receive the following support in
> writing the thesis from the supervisory team (that is additional to
> the advice and/or information outlined above, if the supervisory team
> has considered that this support is necessary:
>
>
> 1. Where the meaning of text is not clear the student should be asked to
> re-write the text in question in order to clarify the meaning;
> 2. English
> language: If the meaning of text is unclear, the supervisory team can
> provide support in correcting grammar and sentence construction in
> order to ensure that the meaning of text is clear (if a student
> requires significant support with written English above what is
> considered to be correcting grammar and sentence construction, the
> supervisory team will, at the earliest opportunity, require the
> student to obtain remedial tuition support from the University’s
> English Language Teaching Centre);
> 3. The supervisory team cannot
> re-write text that changes the meaning of the text (ghost
> writing/ghost authorship in a thesis is unacceptable);
> 4. The supervisory
> team can provide guidance on the structure, content and expression of
> writing;
> 5. The supervisory team can proof-read the text.
> 6 . Anyone else who
> may be employed or engaged to proof read the text is only permitted to
> change spelling and grammar and must not be able to change the content
> of the thesis.
>
>
>
In practice, the line between proofreading (which is generally considered allowable) and plagiarism (which is not), is fuzzy and hard to define.
If you don't know how to prove this is happening, how do you know that it is? Someone's written work being better than their oral work would suggest is not proof, and having a father in the same field is not a crime.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/11/13
| 347
| 1,363
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am going to submit a short math paper to a journal. During the process of submission I am asked to suggest the Editor \ Reviewers. In this respect, can I write the name of my co-advisor of my Ph.D as a potential reviewer? Need to say, we have a joint paper with my co-advisor.<issue_comment>username_1: If this co-advisor is
1. not involved in the work leading to the current paper
2. is knowledgable in the area of the paper
then it would be fine to suggest the coadvisor as a reviewer.
For a more senior researcher it is quite common to personally know essentially everyone who is qualified to review their papers and to have co-published with a lot of them. Most of their papers will be reviewed by people they know.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Recent joint papers are one of the first examples of conflict of interest most journals mention, see for example [here](https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/editors/how-to-find-reviewers/32890) and [here](https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-systems-and-software/policies/conflict-of-interest-guidelines-for-reviewers). Being your advisor is also explicitly mentioned as a conflict. I would avoid suggesting this person as a potential reviewer, this will at the very least raise eyebrows unless you have a very convincing reason.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2019/11/13
| 669
| 2,991
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am applying to graduate programs and one of my research professors will write me a recommendation letter, but wants me to write a rough outline of the letter. He will add his own content and edit all my work, but wants me to highlight things he might not know.
I am not sure how to write this outline, advice from people who have written graduate recommendations on what to put in one?<issue_comment>username_1: This is pretty common, actually.
I'd suggest making it an outline, not a narrative. But use complete sentences so that he can copy paste if he wishes. Include the things from your background that you want highlighted in a letter. But, I'd probably not recommend writing glowing praise for yourself. Let him add that part.
You can also include some forward looking things, such as what you intend to focus on in grad school.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: When asking for a reference letter, it is customary to provide materials that will inform the recommender of what you've been up to. In addition to an example cover letter and CV, you might also provide a brief synopsis of work that's relevant to the recommendation. Think about what you'd want to show the graduate school:
* evidence of research skills, like a research project or two - what did you do? How was it effective?
* evidence of communication or leadership skills, like serving as an officer in a group or giving a presentation at a conference
* evidence of work and life skills, like serving in an internship or volunteering
Providing that to a recommender will help them connect the dots between what they've seen from you and what else you've been up to. They can add the praise, clear statements about your skills and dedication, and so on.
---
That said, while it sounds like the recommender will write the letter, in the future you should know that a similar practice exists where recommenders will ask their students to write the letter, make superficial changes, and then send it off. There are three big issues with this practice:
1. It's unethical to purport to send someone else's writing under the recommender's name in a situation where the words are assumed to be the recommender's own.
2. The recommender is performing a professional duty in writing recommendations for students and colleagues from time to time. They can choose who they recommend and how strongly they do so, but writing the letter themselves is a courtesy.
3. You probably can't write a letter that sounds like a faculty member wrote it. You don't have the general experience of being a faculty member or the specific experience of writing recommendation letters for others.
**It doesn't sound like that's what is happening here**, but I have worked with students in the gray space between "give me a brief of what you've been up to" and "write your letter," so it's good to know the dangers of the latter practice in a situation like this. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/11/13
| 841
| 3,664
|
<issue_start>username_0: US [REU programs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Experiences_for_Undergraduates) sometimes accept "self-funded" international students. However, **do they also sponsor the student visa (J1 or F1) for the selected international candidates?** Or do the students have to use a tourist visa? (From what I read so far, using a tourist visa for that purpose would not be legal as REU programs fall in the "internship" or "training" category.)
**Edit**:
I noticed that the J1 requires that 51% of funding come from either the hosting institute or some external source. So I suppose the J1 wouldn't be applicable for international students. However, as far as I understand, the F1 is only applicable for students enrolled in a degree course in the US. **So is there no visa that would be applicable for international students willing to participate in a US REU program?** That seems contradictory as many REU programs clearly mention that they are open to international applicants. [[Source](https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/students/new/fj_compared)]<issue_comment>username_1: This is pretty common, actually.
I'd suggest making it an outline, not a narrative. But use complete sentences so that he can copy paste if he wishes. Include the things from your background that you want highlighted in a letter. But, I'd probably not recommend writing glowing praise for yourself. Let him add that part.
You can also include some forward looking things, such as what you intend to focus on in grad school.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: When asking for a reference letter, it is customary to provide materials that will inform the recommender of what you've been up to. In addition to an example cover letter and CV, you might also provide a brief synopsis of work that's relevant to the recommendation. Think about what you'd want to show the graduate school:
* evidence of research skills, like a research project or two - what did you do? How was it effective?
* evidence of communication or leadership skills, like serving as an officer in a group or giving a presentation at a conference
* evidence of work and life skills, like serving in an internship or volunteering
Providing that to a recommender will help them connect the dots between what they've seen from you and what else you've been up to. They can add the praise, clear statements about your skills and dedication, and so on.
---
That said, while it sounds like the recommender will write the letter, in the future you should know that a similar practice exists where recommenders will ask their students to write the letter, make superficial changes, and then send it off. There are three big issues with this practice:
1. It's unethical to purport to send someone else's writing under the recommender's name in a situation where the words are assumed to be the recommender's own.
2. The recommender is performing a professional duty in writing recommendations for students and colleagues from time to time. They can choose who they recommend and how strongly they do so, but writing the letter themselves is a courtesy.
3. You probably can't write a letter that sounds like a faculty member wrote it. You don't have the general experience of being a faculty member or the specific experience of writing recommendation letters for others.
**It doesn't sound like that's what is happening here**, but I have worked with students in the gray space between "give me a brief of what you've been up to" and "write your letter," so it's good to know the dangers of the latter practice in a situation like this. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/11/13
| 1,457
| 5,727
|
<issue_start>username_0: **TL;DR** My bachelor's degree didn't leave me with a solid education in mathematics and I'm not sure how to start a career in pure mathematics from there.
To start with, I'm 24 years old, living in Indonesia in Southeast Asia, and I just graduated from a low-ranking university (even for this country) with a bachelor's degree in computer science. I want to pursue a career in mathematics even though I've also enjoyed programming immensely (see all my posts on codegolf.SE) because I've loved mathematics for much longer and I feel like I wasted this first opportunity for education on a less-than-stellar degree. (Note: this less-than-stellar degree didn't even have a linear algebra course. Make of that what you will.)
I figure that a good path to a career in mathematics academia is to at least work towards getting a Master's and PhD in mathematics. The trouble is, is that even this is very broad. What topics/fields should I pursue (first) when looking for graduate programs? If I email professors, what do I tell them? "Hi, I'm looking for a graduate degree, but I don't even have an undergraduate's understanding of mathematics and I have no idea what path to pursue. Can you help me?"
Another hiccup is that I've just started a job as a software developer here in Indonesia to support my family, and I don't think I can leave that job to pursue academia for however many years, until I've worked there for a few years and saved up some money (especially if I pursue these degrees abroad). "Hi, I'd like to join your graduate program, but not till 2023." doesn't seem like a great thing to receive in your email.
This delay does give me time to give myself an informal refresher in undergraduate mathematics, but I have no idea where to even start. Read a textbook? Join an online course? Find a tutor here in Indonesia?
This is not to mention that I'm not sure how on earth I'll pay for everything, or that for most master's or PhD courses (or a combined degree) expect you, quite reasonably, to have a bachelor's degree in mathematics.
And lastly, my main mathematical interests are in number theory, algebra, and calculus, in approximately that order. I was thinking of applying to a North American university (maybe the University of Waterloo in Canada) before applying to Australian or European universities. I have US citizenship, which should help a lot.
In short, I have a myriad of choices and a bad starting position. I understand this is a very general question, so I thank you for any advice you can give or resources you pass along.<issue_comment>username_1: Undergraduate math has a wide variety of free or cheap resources online. Youtube, udemy, and khan academy are your best friend. You will quickly learn how to spot a good teacher / course. Some books are public and many are available at libraries or online. And of course stackexchange is an option when you feel stuck. As you said, you have a number of years before you would try to make this transition.
This is coming from someone who went from being a teacher to learning python and getting a job at more than double the pay with just 3 months of online learning (mostly udemy and youtube) and a 3 month internship after that
As you learn more and gain a stronger grasp on undergraduate mathematics, you will begin to answer your own question about what topic you really want to pursue.
Although, even now, it does not hurt to send out a few emails and ask professors about topics. The worst that can happen is them ignoring you. You might "waste" 3 minutes of 100 professors time but a single answer could inspire you or help you make a more informed choice about your future careers. I think it is worth is.
If you are unsure the topics you should study on and the recommended order, find transcripts or graduation requirements for a mathematics degree in a school you respect. It might take a little digging, but finding exactly what you would need to take at x school for y degree is not impossible (heck, send emails to counselors there and just ask if you cant find it easily online)
for an undergraduate reference
<https://webapp4.asu.edu/programs/t5/roadmaps/ASU00/LAMATBS/null/ALL/2018?init=false&nopassive=true>
Even vague terms like "upper division depth course" can be clicked on there and it leads to a list with descriptions of what they are and what is taught.
I found this by just googling
course requirements for math degree ASU
similar searches should yield fairly similar hopefully helpful results
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I totally understand where you are coming from and am also an aspiring Mathematician. I am of a Statistical Data Science degree (long story of how I ended up here and it was a bad start up as well) and even though there's Maths but it's hugely statistics-based, which leaves little to no room for Pure (Number theory and etc) and was quite disappointed by that. There are actually a lot of resources for Masters/Undergraduate materials taken by an undergraduate student in Cambridge: (<https://dec41.user.srcf.net/notes/?fbclid=IwAR2JKzUSmkiNPWmclCFguBZ8xkLMpiet386xrym-be-aP4djueOTPxUb04A>) and the notes actually gave me a lot of insight of what knowledge I should be equipped with before progressing to Masters and next to PhD. There are free online courses from Harvard as well and sites like Coursera actually helped me a ton. I would suggest to read through the notes with your own pace until you understand the concept, and the rest of it will fall into place. It's not too late to ever start Maths (<https://mathoverflow.net/questions/3591/mathematicians-who-were-late-learners-list>)! Good luck! (I am from Malaysia btw)
Upvotes: 2
|
2019/11/13
| 1,053
| 4,401
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have graduated from university and am no longer enrolled. Even while there, I didn't really have any experience finding and reading research papers written by others.
Is there an online database where people post their papers so that others can download to read?
Looking for a list of these databases/websites. Paid is okay too.
**Update** After reading the comments and answers below, I'd like to add that I am looking for research papers in the Computer Science / Computer Engineering / Electrical Engineering fields, and that I have graduated a few years ago from an undergraduate Computer Science program. I have not attended graduate school nor pursued a PhD.<issue_comment>username_1: This is going to depend a lot on your discipline. Some disciplines are very good at keeping papers and preprints publically available. For example, most math and physics papers get papers put up on the [arXiv](https://arxiv.org) but this is rarer in other fields. Some other fields put papers up on [SSRN](https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/), but some fields don't up up almost any preprints.
It isn't clear from your question if you've completed just your undergraduate or did some graduate work. Given your statement about not having looked at papers before, I'm guessing this mean that you have either finished just an undergrad or finished a master's but nothing beyond that. If that's the case, I'm also not sure that finding papers will in general be useful for you. It might help to clarify why you want to find papers and what your goals are.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Some journals give free access to articles after publication for limited time.
If you need older articles:
* google scholar crawls open copies and arXiv
* researchgate (ask directly the corresponding author for a copy)
* reddit/scholar
* sci-hub
Read the according thesis if available, but often thesis are publicly published on university servers
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If you're confident that you know the foundations or you're willing to put in many hours to catch up, then kudos to you! Literature review is a grueling process and you're going to find that it's going to take you a while for you to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Since you specified that your background is in Comp Sci and Elec Eng, you'll find plenty of high quality papers in ieeeXplore and elsevier. If you do generalized searches like in google scholar, you may get mixed results since that pulls in papers from all over the google-space. But you can get lucky and it might be easier to start out from there.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: You don't specify a location, but where I live, using my public library card (i.e. free membership to municipal library), I have access to thousands of journals from hundreds of publishers via the library's subscriptions from EBSCOhost and ProQuest aggregators.
These include several hundred journals under the subject heading Computer Science as well as several hundred under Engineering. My library's subscription includes only a handful of ACM and IEEE journals, so if you want those, your best bet is to go directly to the source. However, if you're looking for a broader selection of international academic journals, I recommend consulting your local library.
Another library suggestion, if the public library doesn't work for you, is to contact your alma mater to see whether there are any library services available to alumni.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: There are a lot of paper databases out there you can use to find some papers to read:
* ACM: <https://www.acm.org/>
* arXiv: <https://arxiv.org/>
* Google Scholar: <https://scholar.google.com/>
* IEEEXplorer: <https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/>
* ScienceDirect: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/>
* ResearchGate: <https://www.researchgate.net/>
But not all the retrieved papers from these services are freely available. If you have access to some University network, probably most of the paid papers will be unlocked for you. Most of the Universities around the world have agreements with major publishers.
If you are interested, I've made a tool to help me to find papers for my research <https://github.com/jonatasgrosman/findpapers>. You just need to write a query, and the tool will automatically search for matches on many databases for you :)
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/14
| 1,768
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<issue_start>username_0: For some context, I am enrolled in a PhD in applied mathematics.
There is a recent work where I, my thesis adviser and a friend of his in industry have worked together, with at least half of the work done by me, I even tutored the colleague to help him start at the beginning.
This work got presented by the two of them at different conferences. Each time I wasn't cited at the presentations (except just once when my adviser decided to put my name in the first slide, but the colleague then uploaded an identical version without my name). My adviser still gives me credit whenever he exchanges with attendants or other academics, and yes I got my name on the paper, but two things still bother me:
* the colleague **never** mentions me, he remorselessly talks about the work as being his and my adviser's only (he can't easily get rid of my adviser since he's well known, but at least he can get rid of me and no one would notice), the damage is beyond just talk as he also writes that in his updates to his network;
* being a PhD student or not, and even if my name is on the paper, removing it from the presentations is unfair and damaging and just feeds the idea that maybe my name is on the paper just because I did secondary work or scripting/plotting.
This kept happening for a few months now and will keep going if this issue is not addressed as my adviser and his colleague keep submitting the work to future conferences. Some might see me as overreacting but this is impacting me in a lot of ways and the feeling of betrayal is hitting hard, I even stopped working with my adviser's colleague altogether without notice and started pursuing some of my own research goals alone without notifying anyone of my progress.
I just started my PhD half a year ago, so surely I may be lacking experience with regards to these issues of authorship and citation, but is it common practice to assume that a PhD student should just be content with his name being in a paper, but not expect to be cited when the work is presented in conferences, even if he put more than half of all the combined work? What would be the motivation of keeping me out during conferences ? Better to split the cake in two rather than three ? Should I bring this up with my thesis adviser even though the one who is clearly dishonest here is a friend of his?<issue_comment>username_1: It definitely sucks when you feel like you're not getting credit for your work, and in applied math, it is certainly *not* standard practice to omit mention of PhD students' contributions. In fact, I've seen many presentations where professors and industry leaders show group pictures of their entire lab, and they're proud of the team effort.
However, passive aggression is almost never effective at helping you achieve what you want.
You seem to be on better footing with your supervisor than with his colleague, so I would start there. Once you've cooled off a bit, schedule a meeting with him and mention how you've noticed your name is absent from presentations on your work. Be honest (and respectful) about how this hurts you, and leave room for your advisor to explain. It could just be an honest oversight, it may be intentional-- the fact is, you don't have anything but speculation until he explains. Mention that you've noticed the same happens with his colleague's presentations, and ask if he could talk to the guy about it. Again, try not to assume the worst. There isn't any real motivation for omitting someone's name when they've made serious contributions, especially in industry, where large author counts are the norm and papers don't matter nearly as much as they do in academia.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you should first meet your advisor,and maybe in second time the other colleague. I would not tell him directly the problem but instead asking a question like "I don't get why I am not mentioned for this work. Is it usual ? Didn't I work enough on the problem ?". And if his answer does not convince you, request that your name appears everytime needed like "I would like to be mentioned, I think it is not fair otherwise."
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: CS/AI perspective: the name on the presentation matters *far* less than the name on the paper. You are listed as a coauthor on a paper less than 6 months into your PhD, that's a big deal I think. In other words - while not being mentioned during the presentation is annoying and hurtful, I don't think it actually hurts you as much as you think it does.
That said, this line is a red flag:
>
> [...] my adviser decided to put my name in the first slide, but the colleague then uploaded an identical version without my name.
>
>
>
This sounds like a (borderline unethical), willful omission of your name as a contributor which needs to be addressed.
I can only guess as to the motivation of this colleague: they might feel that your contribution is not as great as you think it is (doesn't make this ok, but this could be their passive-aggressive way of dealing), or that they want to present themselves as more independent than what they really are.
That said, quoting Hanlon's razor -
>
> Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
>
>
>
Could be that it was a simple error/omission (say, they use beamer to typeset slides and their configuration is weird when listing authors).
This brings us to your last question - should you talk to your advisor? Absolutely! Willful or not, your colleague's behavior is not okay, and you should be credited.
I would reference the specific instance where they omitted your name. Take a polite tone and don't be accusatory. How about this - "hey Prof. Advisor, Dr. Colleague uploaded slides but forgot to add my name, did you notice? I'm just starting my PhD and it's really important for me to get my name out there, would it be okay if you let them know about this? I'd really appreciate it!"
See what their response is, and take it from there.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Your concern seems quite reasonable to me, so I would suggest you raise it directly with your supervisor. If you have indeed contributed substantially to the project then it is not appropriate for anyone in the group to discuss the project in a way that misleads their audience about your contribution, whether that is by leaving your name off the slides, or taking full verbal credit for the research.
Tell your advisor exactly how you are feeling, and don't pull any punches. Don't speculate on motive of the other party; just state the facts and explain how it has negatively affected you. Have in mind an outcome you want that will satisfy your concerns, and tell your supervisor what this is. This is something where your advisor is in a good position to fix the problem by communicating directly with the other party. (Your decision not to work with that person anymore also sounds like a good decision, but keep if open to reconsideration if they fix the problem you are having.)
It is highly likely that a simple conversation will solve this problem. In the unlikely event that your supervisor and the other author are unwilling to fix the problem, it will be possible for you to escalate this as a formal complaint to your university. Failing to properly stipulate the authors of a project in public presentations of work is a form of plagiarism, and can amount to academic misconduct (albeit of the milder variety).
Upvotes: 0
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2019/11/14
| 565
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<issue_start>username_0: My paper was accepted in one of Elsevier's journal and it was recently published, but there is no pagination instead they have this "article number" for example "Volume 123, Article No. 212021" similar to those in some Springer and Royal Society journals. The paper is already included in an issue. I am wondering, does my paper officially published or not? Could anyone tell me how this policy is called? or where I can locate this policy in the Elsevier website?<issue_comment>username_1: Page numbers are going to go away because (i) stuff isn't actually printed any more, and (ii) page numbers are inconvenient in the publishing process because one needs to know how many pages the articles *before* the current one have before giving the current one page numbers. So the short answer is: You'll need to learn to cope with it.
In similar situations, I've used the following formats to indicate how many pages an article has:
>
> <NAME>: "Stuff more scientists ought to talk about", Journal of Important Research, article 12687 (24 pages), 2019.
>
>
>
or
>
> <NAME>: "Stuff more scientists ought to talk about", Journal of Important Research, vol. 24, pp. 12687/1-24, 2019.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> My paper was accepted in one of Elsevier's journal and it was recently published, but there is no pagination instead they have this "article number" for example "Volume 123, Article No. 212021" similar to those in some Springer and Royal Society journals.
>
>
>
This is not concerning. As others have pointed out, the use of page numbers is outdated and unnecessary, so Elsevier has probably discontinued them for your paper.
>
> I am wondering, does my paper officially published or not?
>
>
>
Yes it is. By the way, if someone is asking you to provide a page number, maybe you can just put 1 to X where X is the # of pages of your paper? Or put "N/A"? The question is not important so I wouldn't put too much worry into the answer.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/14
| 261
| 1,095
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<issue_start>username_0: How should I describe the relationship between me and postdoc in our lab if I am getting recommendation letter for phD admission?
Advisor? Superviser? reasearch advisor?...
She has a title of research professor.<issue_comment>username_1: Why not just ask her/your lab's PI if you're not sure? They are in the best position to answer the question.
Advisor is sometimes a reserved word for people listed on a thesis, so if I had to guess I would say that this is not the right word.
Also - to be honest it probably doesn't matter very much, you're focusing on an unimportant detail in my opinion. What matters is that her reference is positive and supports your application in the strongest terms. Having sat in graduate admissions committees myself, I cannot imagine a scenario where we look at an application and say "it's good, **but** they didn't list the referee's title appropriately, gotta reject it now!"
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Assuming this person is not formally your manager nor supervisor, the correct term would be **colleague**.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/11/14
| 567
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<issue_start>username_0: As a follow up to [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/139733/how-to-manage-publications-on-a-local-computer) I am now trying to use JabRef along with @Jonas Steins [python script](https://github.com/jonasstein/pybibtexcleaner) to manage a small literature database on my local machine. I came across the following conference paper :
<http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/852068/1/098_Argyroudis.et.al._rev.pdf>
I tried adding it as "Proceedings" in JabRef but the only required fields which need to be added are:
* Title
* Year
* Bibtexkey
I find it really strange that entries which are conference proceedings do not require anything about the name of the conference, or the authors responsible for this particular article.
Am I looking at the wrong category? If so which one should I be looking at? Here are the possibilities in JabRef:
* Article
* InBook
* Book
* Booklet
* InCollection
* Conference
* InProceedings
* Proceedings
* Manual
* MastersThesis
* PhdThesis
* TechReport
* Unpublished
* Misc
If this *is* the right category, could someone please explain why the name of the conference and the authors are not required for this literature type?
Thanks<issue_comment>username_1: This looks like a conference paper to me, so "InProceedings" is appropriate.
The one you thought of, "Proceedings" is for the entire conference. i.e. the book that contains every single paper from the conference, not just a single paper. That's why there is no author field, and the title field is for the name of the conference.
BTW, definition of the categories is here: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX>
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: "Proceedings" refers to the entire conference proceedings as a single publication - e.g. *"Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Natural Hazards & Infrastructure"*.
What you are looking for is "InProceedings" - a single paper within the conference proceedings.
---
Besides these two, there is also "Conference". This is the same thing as "InProceedings", and exists purely for compatibility reasons.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I have got an official postdoc offer letter. The HR now is requesting my signature and then return the letter back asap. But I haven't made a final decision to sign it or not, because there may be another offer coming very soon, which seems better to me. I wonder if it is appropriate to delay the received offer a little bit. After that accept or turn it down.<issue_comment>username_1: Sitting on an offer (e.g. ignoring emails from HR, taking forever to answer or other delay tactics) is generally not appropriate in my opinion. I would suggest honesty and transparency.
Let your prospective postdoc advisor that you'd like a bit of time to consider your options (they will likely get the hint that you're considering other positions, no need to be too blunt). In addition, talk to your alternative option ASAP and let them know the situation. It is absolutely acceptable to tell them that you have another offer who's waiting for your reply, and you'd appreciate an answer from them soon.
Whether either party would agree really depends on them. I would be careful of losing both options: if you wait for too long then your potential host might get annoyed and just rescind the offer. They could be holding off on other good applicants thinking that you are about to sign, and you waffling might result in them going ahead with other applicants.
Your other option might not be getting back to you because they actually don't have an open position right now, or they themselves are waiting for some other applicant's final answer (if they say yes, you're out).
These are all considerations that you should weigh out for yourself, and I cannot offer any concrete advice on. Just to reiterate - lying/misrepresenting your status/using delay tactics is probably a bad idea.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: 1. I would **definitely delay** in this case. (If you truly might have another, better written offer soon.) HR is in the business of getting selected candidates hired. You need to look out for yourself when comparing competing offers (or about to) as your interests are not 100% aligned. There is nothing odious about this. It's a normal part of hiring and recruiting. The same applies if you are negotiating salary, after a formal offer (the only time you should negotiate or discuss salary).
2. The actual mechanics of how you delay (ignore the letter, say "I'm looking at it, request more time, etc.) depend on the situation. For example, did the letter have an offer time period? How long has it already been? Etc. Without knowing more, I would say ignoring an email from HR (not the principal) for a handful of days is not completely off the table as an option. But again I don't know the specifics and that is not your only option to delay.
3. Things are a little delicate now, but you really don't want to commit to one if about to get another, formal offer. And of course you don't want to blow what you have, now. But you will never have as much power as you do now (or shortly). With two offers in hand, you can pick the best or negotiate terms (with some power). It should be the normal objective of any job searcher to get competing offers. Employers know this and try to push after the offer or have short consideration periods. You need to to try to get that second offer though.
4. Reach out to the other possibility (email AND phone) and let them know you have a formal offer and need their letter ASAP. Give a hard date for how long you can delay the other offer, during discussions--if you don't know, estimate, but not more than 1 week. Of course, make it 100% clear you need a fornal offer letter with terms (salaray, etc.) of the new offer. Knowing you are in demand and will be off the market makes you look good. If they are leaning to you, it will often shift the balance AND make them hurry up their red tape and send you a letter. If they don't, then they weren't a serious possibility. (You may not have been top of their list. Or even if so, if they don't care enough to walk an offer through, then they don't love you that much.)
P.s. You don't need to share any details (place or salary) of the letter on hand with the place that you are pushing to send a letter. Probably better for you if you don't "put a price on your head" and just see what they offer. Once you have two offers, some light negotiation is normal (and informed by comparing the terms). You want to seem graceful, but at the same time, you really do want to create an auction. You won't have any power to negotiate later.
P.s.s. Read What Color is Your Parachute. You should know more about how to manage the mating dance of job searching.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/14
| 2,788
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<issue_start>username_0: I was in a library and by opening at random a book about university tests I crashed against this page
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8yv2S.jpg)
This is meaningless, a finite set of numbers can't define a succession and this is a multiple choice test that doesn't ask to justify the choice: the student can answer peacefully randomly. For example in the question 3 the book say that only E is correct, but we can answer A, if we consider for example the sequence
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dhulF.jpg)
or B, if we consider for example the sequence
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NNJJV.jpg)
or any other answer. The authors of the test implicitly consider the simplest law the *only* correct: is this way of proposing the thing acceptable? Am I too pedantic? I only contest the fact that this kind of question is not compatible with the closed form. It would be correct to reject a student who provocatively check all the answers? Please note this is not a question about mathematics (things are simple about that), it concerns the right, or maybe the duty, of a student to respond provocatively to a question he deems wrong. Would it be inappropriate?
---
Edit
----
Of course strictly speaking this is not a university book, this is a book thought to admission tests. Anyway the target are men and women who are preparing to enter the university, decidedly not kids. I add that if "quickly" is the point, I could think to:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/YfocD.jpg)
This is simple, quick, correct, but it would be marked as wrong. I didn't know the Stack Exchange room about teaching mathematics, is it possible
migrate the question there?<issue_comment>username_1: Actually, it would be wrong to reject such an answer, but the student had better have evidence to back it up. This is the sort of thing that a teacher might be misled by if they haven't actually developed the question themself. Or worse if they are a "tester" rather than a "teacher". Worst, if they are teaching "by the book", keeping one day ahead of the students as is done too often.
I fear for the student in a situation like this. The "expected" answer is likely looking at only simple progressions and not sophisticated ones.
I once encountered a similar situation, though, thankfully, not on a test.
But if a student had an enlightened instructor they could answer outside the bounds similarly to what you point out here. But an uncommented "checking" of all the boxes will probably not be seen as provocative, but as unprepared.
---
[Gauss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss) was famously hated by his teachers for his brilliance. Or so the story goes.
---
Let me add, for people who aren't mathematicians here (taken from a comment elsewhere):
While a student at this level is unlikely to be able to prove it, I find it plausible that some students know that for any n points in the coordinate plane, unless vertically aligned, that a polynomial can be found to pass through them all. You don't even need to get to the point of "a unique polynomial of minimum degree".
So, consider (1, 3), (2, 9), (3, 81), (4, k), for any value of k. There is a polynomial, which is a simple sort of function, passing through all of those points. It might even be mentioned as a "teaser" in a relatively low level class. It shows how relatively simple functions can have great power and applicability.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Although not reliably explicitly made a part of the question, it is widely understood that the "correct" continuation of a sequence is the (allegedly) "simplest". There is still a problem with the notion of "simplicity", since it is relative to context. (The notion of "Kolmogorov-Solomonoff-Chaitin complexity" is a rigorous approach, but certainly not something that kids should be expected to know.)
Nevertheless, in the implicit context of school mathematics, for example arithmetic sequences are very simple, so if the initial segment fits into an arithmetic sequence, just continue it. Also geometric sequences.
Beyond that, it quickly becomes murky, because I don't think students are taught "polynomial interpolation" (also known as "Lagrange interpolation"), although I may be mistaken.
So for a student to check "all" as a sort of "protest vote" is not really justifiable, since a student who knows that *any* finite sequence can be interpolated arbitrarily will surely also know that that's not really the point... :)
EDIT: and, no, \_of\_course\_ there's scant excuse for an awkward version of the question being posed, where there *is* no unique very-simple extrapolation. Yes, of course, in principle this could happen, and then we might imagine that a student is justified in a protest-response. In practice, in my experience, such questions most often really do have a plausibly-best response, while, yes, in principle, being ambiguous. The fact that, in principle, there's a problem, does not, in practice, create a problem.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: **If a student is knowledgeable enough to recognize that all the options are correct, (s)he should also be knowledgeable enough to recognize which is the answer that's desired.**
As the exam-setter, you can never exclude the possibility that there's something you aren't aware of which could make a multiple-choice question have multiple answers. For example in the 3rd series, even if you write "what is the next number in this *power series*", how certain can you be that in some obscure field which you've never heard of, "power series" has a different meaning? To illustrate, try this question, which is similar:
>
> Q: Which of the following is a metal?
>
>
> A) Bromine B) Oxygen C) Carbon D) Calcium
>
>
>
---
>
> *Technically*, all four of these elements are metals - by the astronomer's definition of "metals" as all elements heavier than hydrogen & helium. Of course, by the much more common chemist's definition of "metals", only calcium is a metal. If you had never heard of the astronomer's definition, you would never have dreamed of this objection. I'd actually venture that most astronomers would also never think of this objection and will happily mark (D) as the answer. Indeed, I first heard of this question as a gameshow question where the contestant got it wrong, then discovered via Google that there's actually a definition of metals where his answer was correct, and filed a lawsuit alleging he should be given the prize. Similarly, I will give anyone who tells me "none of the above, metal is a type of music" zero marks (sorry).
>
>
>
You can't rule out *every* possible objection, but you can say that anyone who's familiar with these obscure "other interpretations" of the question really should be able to recognize what you're trying to ask, and therefore get the right answer. In the absolute worst case, they should object during the exam. The student should know that marking one of the other answers and then objecting after the exam is asking for trouble, and that marking all of them is just as bad (I'm sure the instructions say to only mark one answer).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I actually think this *is* a question about mathematics, or more precisely about mathematics education (and in the limited scope in which it is presented it would be a better fit on the Math Educators stack exchange), but there is a larger academic issue which is perhaps what you are “really” asking about.
The point is this: as educators we try very hard to instill in our students the values of precision, logical reasoning, and attention to detail. When they are sloppy in their answers to our carefully phrased exam/HW answers, we mark off points and wag our fingers at them. We go to great lengths to provide them with examples of well-written, thoughtful, precise, polished answers (and other content) that pertain to the topics being discussed, in the hopes that they will pay attention and seek to emulate that style of discourse.
Given all that, and especially in mathematics where that precision is an essential value that goes to the core of the entire discipline, **we cannot afford to ask sloppy (and formally incorrect) questions ourselves.** It is a terrible example to give students and undermines the very goal we are trying to achieve. A teacher who is sloppy cannot expect to produce students who are any less sloppy than the teacher.
Coming back to your textbook example, it may depend on the age group this textbook is aimed at, but for a university-level audience the problem you cite is indeed unacceptably sloppy. You are not being too pedantic; a student who answers that all answers are correct will have answered the question correctly (to the extent that the question is sufficiently well-posed that it can be said to have a correct answer) and deserves to get full points for the question and to not have anyone be describing their behavior with the word “provocatively”. Such a student will have shown themselves to be more thoughtful (unless they arrived at their answer by pure luck) and to have a better grasp of mathematical precision than the authors of this textbook.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> The authors of the test implicitly consider the simplest law the only correct
>
>
>
Google-assisted translation from the text at the top of the page, emphasis added:
>
> "...these are questions that intend to assess the candidate's ability to **quickly discover** the criterion by which numbers and letters are arranged within a given succession. Also in this case, **no mathematical or linguistic concepts are required other than the ability to perform elementary arithmetic operations**."
>
>
>
IMHO that text makes it pretty explicit that they are looking for quickly-discoverable answers which don't require the use of non-elementary operations. Of the two alternate answers you suggest, both require significantly more time than the obvious/expected answer, and one requires non-elementary operations (square root).
(Also: you mention that you opened the book directly to this page, so I guess none of us here know whether there's any further guidance earlier in the book on how to approach such questions.)
>
> This is meaningless, a finite set of numbers can't define a succession
>
>
>
It's not so much *meaningless* as *slightly non-rigorous*. Yes, there are infinitely many different sequences with the same beginning, which cover all of the answer options given. But even mathematicians don't need to be 100% rigorous 100% of the time; it's commonly accepted practice to use "..." to mean "continuing this sequence according to the most obvious/simple rule", in cases where there is one rule that is much more obvious and simple than the alternatives.
In this case, I would suggest that 95%+ of competent high-school maths students could figure out what answer the examiners are looking for.
Insisting on absolute rigor in all circumstances is just a recipe for unreadable tedium, even for mathematicians - let alone undergraduate engineers.
Upvotes: 3
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2019/11/15
| 4,019
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working in a academia-related field and the type of relationships tend to be pretty much as kind of mentor-students. I have mentored many persons in the past with very nice experiences and results. But today I am worried about the current one.
As acknowledged by past and current colleagues (both below and above my rank), I am the complete opposite of 'conflictive' or 'difficult' person and 99.5% of the time I avoid confrontation and displeasure in work because I like people to feel good working with me and I trust that we get better results this way. So I am open to interaction and constantly try to encourage my team mates (including employees) to write emails to me, set up meetings, communicate, update me so I can better help them in context, etc. I have defects as everyone else and I am willing to openly talk about them and resolve them if possible. I am open to criticisms and have no problem in admitting and try to change things if that helps the team to work better and achieve more results in a fair way.
So, there is this person who is doing his project under my guidance. I don't directly pay his salary, but his project (and hence his salary) was approved because I was recommended to be the supervisor. I provide the project-related funding (except his salary). Everything started very well and I liked him, I felt he was a potential good team member. But for some reason that I can't understand (I have asked a few times already with no real answer) everything changed when the real work started. He seems to be always in a defensive position and I have a hard time getting updates about what he's doing. I don't really know what to think: is he too shy? (sometimes in this mentor-student-like relationships the 'student' side feels he/she doesn't want to bother the mentor).. or am I doing something wrong in my side? For some reason he seems purposedly limit the information he gives, as if it was a kind of hidden strategy or somehting. Does he not see that this will hurt the project, and potentially impact his professional career? I try all the time to make contact with him with very limited success. He is not all the time in the office as he says he's more comfortable working on goals instead of work hours. I said whatever works best for you, as long as you get results. He seems to like what he does, he usually doesn't skip meetings, and it's not that he is lazy, incompetent or doesn't want the project to advance. But I can't figure out why he behaves like this and why, without explicit reason, he doesn't follow my advices or communications. I even opened the possibility that if there is an advice that he doesn't agree on we can discuss it. But even when he replies my emails, half of the questions remain unanswered and I am tired of replying with emails like "oh, and when you have time please remember about [...several subjects...] which I asked in my previous email". The 1st day of work, before starting anything together I sat with him and made it very clear that communication is of high priority for me to work well with any team member. So in theory he knows that. However he puts very little (if any) effort in keeping that communication alive and healthy. In addition, the cash flow for his project depends pretty much on my approval, and it is me that is constantly encouraging to spend (and send me the bills!) so he doesn't need to worry about funding limitations.
This has been going on for one year already. But more recently the problem got worse. I had to travel for a few weeks to work in another city. He wanted to do some activities while I was absent and I suggested him to wait until I arrive so I can participate and help him better. He decided to go on anyway, and I said 'OK, if you feel you need to do it now and you consider it will work, go ahead'. Several weeks (4-5) went by without me knowing what he was doing and then I started getting (unsolicited) updates about him from other colleagues:
First two colleagues told me (they were just mentioning it in the middle of unrelated conversation, assuming that I was already in knowledge of it) that he was engaging in trying to set up formal agreements with another company, without me (ie his formal supervisor) knowing anything about it. After this I sent him an email from my trip saying that we really need to improve communication, and that I got updates and information about him via 3rd parties instead of directly from him. He replied something like "yes but it is difficult when you are far away and since I am preparing things I don't always take the time to write you an email". So my feeling was that after I allocated my time to write a very careful email (I always take care that the email doesn't sound harsh and doesn't close the communication flow by blaming etc.) asking for more communication, and the answer was that the other party doesn't give the value I expected to the communication. In short, I felt that if I can sit down and write that email in the middle of very-intensive work days, he can very much do it as well, but he can't (or doesn't want to) give priority to communication. This is something which builds up a barrier between us and for some reason I feel something like discomfort from his side (which I have asked about and again, never got a real answer).
Second (and this is the worst part), I learned from two additional, different people that while I was away he was spreading the 'image' (I can't be sure what words he used) that I left him alone, abandoned with his activities. He even said that if I don't help him soon, he will make sure that I don't get any credit for any advancement in the project. This is crazy because he is in the project thanks to my recommendation in the first place, he is using funds that I provide in the second place, and most important every time I want to help, he closes the door to open, healthy and constructive communication. The most funny thing is that his career (not mine) really needs the project to advance. So I am left in the silly position that I care about something which is not huge benefit for me (and it is for him), but I have to deal with this crappy situation as if I am doing something wrong, does it make sense? And again, if I am doing something wrong it is totally fine but I can't change it if I don't know what the problem is.
This is the first time I have to deal with this kind of situation (or person). As I said I am usually in a very different (if not opposite) situation so I feel like I don't have tools to handle him or the situation. In the email I mentioned above, I asked him if there is anything from my side that he feels it's blocking or preventing the communication (no answer to that) and that I am willing to change things if needed. Everyone who has ever worked with me knows that I am the kind of guy who is always there to help and encourage people, so it is unfair that I am now feeling like I am 'being put' (in the eyes of others who listen to his gossip) into the same character of those cold, careless bosses which I myself criticize a lot.
So, as you see, the title of this question is about communication, but can it be something else? What would you do in my place? How to solve this professionally without blocking his career but at the same time keeping my authority? I fear that if I don't do anything and let him spread bad words about me I will pay an undeserved cost: it will hurt my reputation because it would look like a double standard from my side (ie always preaching about communication and team work but on the other hand I 'abandon' my employee instead).<issue_comment>username_1: Actually, it would be wrong to reject such an answer, but the student had better have evidence to back it up. This is the sort of thing that a teacher might be misled by if they haven't actually developed the question themself. Or worse if they are a "tester" rather than a "teacher". Worst, if they are teaching "by the book", keeping one day ahead of the students as is done too often.
I fear for the student in a situation like this. The "expected" answer is likely looking at only simple progressions and not sophisticated ones.
I once encountered a similar situation, though, thankfully, not on a test.
But if a student had an enlightened instructor they could answer outside the bounds similarly to what you point out here. But an uncommented "checking" of all the boxes will probably not be seen as provocative, but as unprepared.
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[Gauss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss) was famously hated by his teachers for his brilliance. Or so the story goes.
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Let me add, for people who aren't mathematicians here (taken from a comment elsewhere):
While a student at this level is unlikely to be able to prove it, I find it plausible that some students know that for any n points in the coordinate plane, unless vertically aligned, that a polynomial can be found to pass through them all. You don't even need to get to the point of "a unique polynomial of minimum degree".
So, consider (1, 3), (2, 9), (3, 81), (4, k), for any value of k. There is a polynomial, which is a simple sort of function, passing through all of those points. It might even be mentioned as a "teaser" in a relatively low level class. It shows how relatively simple functions can have great power and applicability.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Although not reliably explicitly made a part of the question, it is widely understood that the "correct" continuation of a sequence is the (allegedly) "simplest". There is still a problem with the notion of "simplicity", since it is relative to context. (The notion of "Kolmogorov-Solomonoff-Chaitin complexity" is a rigorous approach, but certainly not something that kids should be expected to know.)
Nevertheless, in the implicit context of school mathematics, for example arithmetic sequences are very simple, so if the initial segment fits into an arithmetic sequence, just continue it. Also geometric sequences.
Beyond that, it quickly becomes murky, because I don't think students are taught "polynomial interpolation" (also known as "Lagrange interpolation"), although I may be mistaken.
So for a student to check "all" as a sort of "protest vote" is not really justifiable, since a student who knows that *any* finite sequence can be interpolated arbitrarily will surely also know that that's not really the point... :)
EDIT: and, no, \_of\_course\_ there's scant excuse for an awkward version of the question being posed, where there *is* no unique very-simple extrapolation. Yes, of course, in principle this could happen, and then we might imagine that a student is justified in a protest-response. In practice, in my experience, such questions most often really do have a plausibly-best response, while, yes, in principle, being ambiguous. The fact that, in principle, there's a problem, does not, in practice, create a problem.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: **If a student is knowledgeable enough to recognize that all the options are correct, (s)he should also be knowledgeable enough to recognize which is the answer that's desired.**
As the exam-setter, you can never exclude the possibility that there's something you aren't aware of which could make a multiple-choice question have multiple answers. For example in the 3rd series, even if you write "what is the next number in this *power series*", how certain can you be that in some obscure field which you've never heard of, "power series" has a different meaning? To illustrate, try this question, which is similar:
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> Q: Which of the following is a metal?
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> A) Bromine B) Oxygen C) Carbon D) Calcium
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> *Technically*, all four of these elements are metals - by the astronomer's definition of "metals" as all elements heavier than hydrogen & helium. Of course, by the much more common chemist's definition of "metals", only calcium is a metal. If you had never heard of the astronomer's definition, you would never have dreamed of this objection. I'd actually venture that most astronomers would also never think of this objection and will happily mark (D) as the answer. Indeed, I first heard of this question as a gameshow question where the contestant got it wrong, then discovered via Google that there's actually a definition of metals where his answer was correct, and filed a lawsuit alleging he should be given the prize. Similarly, I will give anyone who tells me "none of the above, metal is a type of music" zero marks (sorry).
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You can't rule out *every* possible objection, but you can say that anyone who's familiar with these obscure "other interpretations" of the question really should be able to recognize what you're trying to ask, and therefore get the right answer. In the absolute worst case, they should object during the exam. The student should know that marking one of the other answers and then objecting after the exam is asking for trouble, and that marking all of them is just as bad (I'm sure the instructions say to only mark one answer).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I actually think this *is* a question about mathematics, or more precisely about mathematics education (and in the limited scope in which it is presented it would be a better fit on the Math Educators stack exchange), but there is a larger academic issue which is perhaps what you are “really” asking about.
The point is this: as educators we try very hard to instill in our students the values of precision, logical reasoning, and attention to detail. When they are sloppy in their answers to our carefully phrased exam/HW answers, we mark off points and wag our fingers at them. We go to great lengths to provide them with examples of well-written, thoughtful, precise, polished answers (and other content) that pertain to the topics being discussed, in the hopes that they will pay attention and seek to emulate that style of discourse.
Given all that, and especially in mathematics where that precision is an essential value that goes to the core of the entire discipline, **we cannot afford to ask sloppy (and formally incorrect) questions ourselves.** It is a terrible example to give students and undermines the very goal we are trying to achieve. A teacher who is sloppy cannot expect to produce students who are any less sloppy than the teacher.
Coming back to your textbook example, it may depend on the age group this textbook is aimed at, but for a university-level audience the problem you cite is indeed unacceptably sloppy. You are not being too pedantic; a student who answers that all answers are correct will have answered the question correctly (to the extent that the question is sufficiently well-posed that it can be said to have a correct answer) and deserves to get full points for the question and to not have anyone be describing their behavior with the word “provocatively”. Such a student will have shown themselves to be more thoughtful (unless they arrived at their answer by pure luck) and to have a better grasp of mathematical precision than the authors of this textbook.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> The authors of the test implicitly consider the simplest law the only correct
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Google-assisted translation from the text at the top of the page, emphasis added:
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> "...these are questions that intend to assess the candidate's ability to **quickly discover** the criterion by which numbers and letters are arranged within a given succession. Also in this case, **no mathematical or linguistic concepts are required other than the ability to perform elementary arithmetic operations**."
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IMHO that text makes it pretty explicit that they are looking for quickly-discoverable answers which don't require the use of non-elementary operations. Of the two alternate answers you suggest, both require significantly more time than the obvious/expected answer, and one requires non-elementary operations (square root).
(Also: you mention that you opened the book directly to this page, so I guess none of us here know whether there's any further guidance earlier in the book on how to approach such questions.)
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> This is meaningless, a finite set of numbers can't define a succession
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It's not so much *meaningless* as *slightly non-rigorous*. Yes, there are infinitely many different sequences with the same beginning, which cover all of the answer options given. But even mathematicians don't need to be 100% rigorous 100% of the time; it's commonly accepted practice to use "..." to mean "continuing this sequence according to the most obvious/simple rule", in cases where there is one rule that is much more obvious and simple than the alternatives.
In this case, I would suggest that 95%+ of competent high-school maths students could figure out what answer the examiners are looking for.
Insisting on absolute rigor in all circumstances is just a recipe for unreadable tedium, even for mathematicians - let alone undergraduate engineers.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: There is this excellent thread about teaching workloads across the world on Academia SE: [Is 100 hours per year of teaching a heavy load for a lecturer?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/91364/is-100-hours-per-year-of-teaching-a-heavy-load-for-a-lecturer/135890)
I would now like to continue this discussion with respect to the actual workload teaching staff face. I know that teaching is not only blackboard/classroom hours, but of hours of preparation, grading, examinations etc. Since exams and grading usually happen during the semester break at universities, I am more interested in the workload teaching staff face during the semester. Of course, creating a new class from scratch consumes an enormous amount of work, so this is not what I would like to use as baseline. I'd much rather go for your typical class of well-established contents, maybe undergrad stuff, for which only occasionally a minor update of materials is required - and not a complete makeover every year. To formulate the question precisely: What is your actual workload during the semester per blackboard hour in classes that belong to your established portfolio?<issue_comment>username_1: In my opinion this is hugely course-dependent, and standards vary a lot between universities and disciplines.
**If your task in the class is really almost only lecturing** (e.g., you have assistants that run any class projects etc., and who answer most of the "standard" student questions), *and* you already have everything prepared, your actual effort for the course may be close to the "blackboard time" - but even in such cases, you probably want to count in at least half an hour before each class to refresh your memory on what material you plan to cover in a specific unit.
**If you have any other tasks at all in the course**, "blackboard time" quickly becomes a *very bad* proxy for your actual effort. In my experience, course planning, answering student questions, office hours, organizing and/or holding supervision sessions, giving feedback on in-class exercises, dealing with exceptions, preparing and grading exams, or dealing with teaching infrastructure can take a large, and highly variable, amount of time. These factors are also virtually independent of how often you actually speak in front of the class. Not all classes have all of those activities, but most classes have at least a few of the above elements.
In the course I recently wrapped up, I would estimate that a maximum of 1/5 of my actual work was done "in class", while 4/5 was preparing, grading/giving feedback, and organizing. However, in other classes I have spent close to 70% or 80% of my course work time "in class". It really depends on the course, your role in it, and how effective you personally are. Unless you have good reasons to believe this will not be the case I would assume that your workload outside of class will at least be as high as in-class (i.e., assume that if you are teaching one full day a week you will spend at least another day dealing with the various paraphernalia of teaching, *even* if you have everything set up and prepared - if this is not the case, I personally calculate that I will spend at the minimum one full day to prepare a two-hour session from scratch).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Here's an imperfect guideline
Professor Workload
* Lecture, Discussion
+ 1 office hour per class
+ 1 hour per credit per class for preparation
+ 1 hour per credit (per section if not multi-section lecture hall) per class for lecture, or discussion
+ 1 hour per credit per section per class for grading
+ a section maximum of 24 students, minimum of 8 or the section gets closed
- sections may overload to 32 students, or higher during a recession
* Laboratory (Sciences), Studio (Arts), Seminar (Humanities and Research)
+ 1 office hour per class
+ 1 hour per credit per class for preparation
+ 2 hours per credit per section per class for laboratory, studio, or seminar
+ 1 hour per credit per section per class for grading
+ a section maximum of 18 students, minimum of 6 or the section gets closed
* Fieldwork, Physical Education
+ 1 office hour per class
+ 1 hour per credit per class for preparation
+ 3 (4 at graduate level) hours per section per credit per class for fieldwork
+ 1 hour per credit per section per class for grading
+ a section is how many a single person could supervise
* your preparation is frontloaded in creating a syllabus
* grading could be offload to teaching assistants
* max 1 teaching assistant per section
The position Department Chair counts as a load for each term
A published research counts as one load for a school year
A Department requires at least 5 actively researching professors
* active researching is defined as a published research within the last 3 years
* this is an accreditation maintenance requirement
At most Universities (before the Great Recession) with 3/3
* 3 office hours
* 9 hours preparation
* 9 hours lecture/discussion
* total 21 hours per week before research and service
* 270 hours in class out of 630 hours teaching
* TAs does grading
* TAs leads Laboratory, Studio, and Seminar
At most Colleges (before the Great Recession) with 4/4
* a typical lecture/discussion class is 3 credits
* 4 office hours
* 12 hours preparation
* 12 hours lecture/discussion
* 12 hours grading
* total 30 hours per week before research and service
* 360 hours in class out of 900 hours teaching
At most Colleges (before the Great Recession) with 3/2 = 4.5/3 weighted load
* a typical laboratory/studio/seminar class is 2 credits laboratory/studio/seminar and 1 credit discussion
* 3/2 office hours
* 9/6 hours preparation
* 3/2 hours discussion
* 12/8 hours laboratory/studio/seminar
* 9/6 hours grading
* total 36/24 hours per week before research and service
* 300 hours in class out of 900 hours teaching
Teaching Light Hybrid Classes 3/2 = 4.5/3 weighted load
* a light hybrid class is 3 credits lecture and 1 credit laboratory
* 3/2 office hours
* 12/8 hours preparation
* 9/6 hours lecture
* 6/4 hours laboratory
* 12/8 hours grading
* total 42/28 per week before research and service
* 375 hours in class out of 1050 hours teaching
Teaching Medium Hybrid Classes 2/2 = 4/4 weighted load
* a medium hybrid class is 3 credits lecture, 1 credit laboratory, and 1 credit discussion
* 2 office hours
* 10 hours preparation
* 6 hours lecture
* 4 hours laboratory
* 2 hours discussion
* 10 hours grading
* total 34 per week before research and service
* 360 hours in class out of 1020 hours teaching
Teaching Heavy Hybrid Classes 2/2 = 4/4 weighted load
* a heavy hybrid class is 3 credits lecture and 2 credits laboratory
* 2 office hours
* 10 hours preparation
* 6 hours lecture
* 8 hours laboratory
* 10 hours grading
* total 36 per week before research and service
* 420 hours in class out of 1080 hours teaching
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am IT Director of a Company and I'm regularly invited by Italian universities to do lectures on Innovation or Information Systems, usually 5/6 lectures per year. Can I claim University Guest Lecturer title in my CV?<issue_comment>username_1: A "lecturer" is usually considered an academic title. So if you are just giving an invited talk, that would usually be considered a seminar; if you are invited to teach an occasional 6-week long course, then maybe it could be justified to call yourself a "guest lecturer" for that period.
Whether or not you "can" do this is somewhat subjective. You do occasionally give lectures as a guest, so you are not technically lying. But I would suspect that if someone called you on this and you had to explain yourself, it would not look especially flattering.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I pretty strongly suggest that you don't claim a *title* of any kind unless it is formally conferred. That is, if you want your CV to be credible.
But there is a difference between "University Guest Lecturer" and "university guest lecturer". The first seems to be a title, but the latter is just descriptive. You can certainly describe what you do in a CV without making any claim to hold a position that the university hasn't actually conferred.
Caution is best, I think, in all such situations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Are your lecturing with a formal contract, or is it just a volunteer activity? Does your name appear on the course syllabus and on the university website?
If yes, that would fall into the case of "professore a contratto" (even if just for a part of a course), and I would endorse the translation as as guest lectures.
Otherwise, it would seem like an abuse of the title.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Last summer I failed my comps/quals of my PhD program. I did not have a chance to take a second try, as my spring semester grades were poor. The first semester (fall) was good, though.
I could not fully concentrate on my studies during the spring semester as there were some family issues in my home country.
My advisor believes in me and said I should continue my studies. I am still very much motivated to do research in my area.
There are couple of concerns, though. How will my poor performance in the spring semester (and consequently failing comps) affect my chances into getting to another program? How should I approach my personal statement?<issue_comment>username_1: Two bits of advice.
First, your SoP should be as positive as possible without hiding the setback. Talk, as usual, about your goals and how your preparation makes you a likely success.
But, I think more important, use your adviser's personal/professional contacts to help get you in the door somewhere. The advisor, even beyond a LoR, can boost your chances if they are willing to speak to others they know who can help you.
If you say "I failed comps, but ..." it is an entirely different thing than a professor saying "He failed comps, but ...". The professor is putting their reputation on the line for you. It is likely to be respected.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree completely with username_1.
RE the SoP, I would add:
* You need to spend a paragraph to address it honestly. They're not going to admit you until they feel like they understand what happened, so you want to give your side of the story. In particular, you should honestly answer why you think you will be more successful someplace else.
* But don't dwell on it or make excuses. Your SoP is not the place to do a lengthy introspection or post-mortem.
* If you can summarize the problem at home in a sentence or less (e.g., "my father died"), that is probably worth doing.
* If you can take responsibility for some aspect of the failure in a sentence or less (e.g., "I didn't spend enough time studying for quantum"), that is also probably worth doing.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I pointed a professor (my major advisor) to a resource (a data set), in an email exchange during the beginning of the semester, he published a paper based on this data set several months later, however I had no idea he was working on the project. He did not notify or mention to me about using the data set.
The email that I sent to him earlier when I pointed out the resource had no reply back, however it did indicate in his response that he did not know about the existence of this data set.
When I had a brief (15 minute) meeting with him, he denied that the data set was my idea and said that it was his research colleagues who he got the data set from. I must mention that this data set is freely available and open to the public (online).
My questions are: Is this professor's behavior ethical? and Would I be able to bring this as a complaint to a higher person in the department (since I have email evidence that he did not have knowledge of this data set prior to my informing him).
My final question to you all is whether I should stay with this person as a major advisor because I am having trust issues with sharing my ideas. The only problem is that anyone else I might choose as my advisor would result in me completely changing my area of research. Thank you.
Edit: Responding to the commenters, when I met with him in person, I he mentioned a paper which he authored, and when I asked for the citation he refused to give it to me saying, "I'll think about it". While my gut feeling is that I should change advisors, the other people in the department are not involved in my area of interest, and the other person who is conducting research in this field refused to be my advisor. What would you do in this situation?
Edit: Thank you for everyone's responses. Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding on my part.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm addressing just the first and what seems to be primary question:
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> Is this professor's behavior ethical? and Would I be able to bring this as a complaint to a higher person in the department (since I have email evidence that he did not have knowledge of this data set prior to my informing him).
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Quite simply, no, I don't think your advisor violated any kind of ethical code of conduct and I don't think you have grounds to complain to a higher-up. It sounds like you just pointed out the existence of a data set; if you didn't also make some kind of project proposal or conjecture, it's hard to see how your actions constitute a protected idea. Furthermore, even if you did share an idea, what constitutes a research paper is much more than data and an idea: tons of work probably went into processing the data and extracting publishable results from it. The most I would expect from this kind of interaction is maybe that he mention you in the Acknowledgements section of the paper; but if he genuinely doesn't remember you sending him the e-mail, then even that might be a stretch.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: You pointed out a dataset and had a 15 minute conversation with your advisor, and now you are expecting credit for it. This certainly does not warrant authorship (even under the most lenient definitions of contribution I can think of), and perhaps not even an acknowledgement. Bringing this up to the department head will not do anything to help since it sounds like you have no cause. If I were your advisor and you came to me asking for authorship over this I would have found it rather off-putting (and probably would have had a serious conversation with you about authorship and credit).
Generally speaking, chasing credit for every little thing that you contribute paints you as petty and makes people not want to share ideas with you. If you let that happen, you can seriously damage your research career. Sometimes you contribute ideas, sometimes others help you; if it's minor stuff that requires minimal time commitment from you, I wouldn't think of authorship.
That said, you don't want to be a pushover: if you sit in brainstorming sessions, contribute significantly to the analysis, help with developing and writing the paper - by all means you should be an author, and fight for your right to be one!
Should you stay with this advisor? I would say that if this is the only issue, then they did nothing wrong and you should. If you do not trust them and feel like this cannot be repaired by a simple conversation, then perhaps you should reconsider. I would think though that if you have this kind of attitude towards research you will have a hard time finding a good fit for an advisor - you should probably reconsider your position.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: On more than one occasion, a student has pointed out a resource to me that I am already familiar with. In those situations, I always thank the student but don't always mention that I was familiar with it. I don't lie and say that I hadn't seen it before, but see no reason to bring it up (since doing so might make them feel slightly disappointed). If it is open data which has relevance for their field of study it is quite possible that they were already familiar with it. Perhaps in their e-mail they meant that they were unfamiliar with a certain source that contained the data, even though they were familiar with the data itself from another source (such as, from research colleagues who presumably were aware of the source).
The fact that he published a paper several months later is strong evidence that this is indeed the case. The time frame seems too small for him to have begun the research after your email exchange, found something which was publishable, written the paper, and gotten it through peer review. Obviously I don't know the specifics of the case, but I find it *implausible* that he was unethical in the way that you claim.
I don't see any reason for you to switch advisors. If you unjustly accused him of dishonesty, the real question is if this advisor would still want to work with you as a student. Unless you have evidence which goes beyond what you have communicated here, an apology might be in order.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I was acknowledged in a colleague’s phd thesis as I showed him how to use the statistcal functions in excel.
I did not expect any acknowledgment at all...
If you had produced said data set then you may have some case but as it was publically available and others seem to have found it as well then I don’t think you deserve acknowledgment.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: Let's flip sides here. Your professors have pointed you to many ideas and useful resources (e.g. textbooks) in the subjects you study. Some years later, you will probably be writing a paper based on the techniques you learnt. Will you credit all your professors in it?
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a student in the technical field A in a European university. I'm currently doing a master thesis in a field that's notoriously at the interface of subjects A and B, I haven't officially started the thesis time yet, but I've been doing preliminary work for about a month and a half and there is verbal agreement with my supervisor that I'm doing it.
The more I delve into the thesis and the more I realize that, while being at the interface, the topic is mostly subject B, with very little subject A.
While I don't hate subject B, I've come to realize that I'm not really interested in it, and I'm finding working on this thesis rather demotivating.
I still could technically leave the thesis, although I suspect it won't make me look good in the eyes of my supervisor, since I already told them that I intended to go through with it and I've had multiple occasions to leave by now.
On the one hand, I still like other aspects of the interface between A and B, doing A with a B perspective instead of the other way around (which I'm doing right now) is still a possibility for me, hence I don't think it would be wise to break ties with my supervisor and their group. I feel that if I leave the thesis I'm just going to look bad, lose potential references and just restrict my possibilities for the future. The group is quite important in the subject and the master thesis admission process is pretty selective, and I don't have any other readily available alternatives. From this perspective, it seems better to soldier through this thesis and do it well in order to have good references. I've been told that it's not at all uncommon to do a PhD in a different subfield than your master thesis. And who knows, maybe interesting elements of subject A (or even B) might come up along the way, though that seems unlikely to me right now.
On the other hand, I fear that committing to a thesis in a subject I'm not passionate about will prevent me from doing a good job. I fear that I'll just survive through it doing the bare minimum and end up with a mediocre thesis and mediocre references in a subject I don't really enjoy, making it much more difficult to both stay in this subject or switch. Beginning a thesis I do not enjoy, while I have still time to leave, feels somehow like lying to my supervisor, and starting a project alreading looking forward to end it is not a good looking prospect.
Even if I do manage to write a good thesis, I fear its strong element of subject B will make it more difficult for me to be considered for subject A positions.
Also I would like to stay at the same university after my Master's, and I think the chances of that would be made better by doing a thesis on a subject I like, which could be continued in a PhD.
I guess I'm demotivated and looking for advice from experienced researchers on what of the concerns I listed are sound, and what, if any, am I exaggerating.<issue_comment>username_1: This is certainly a question you need to explore with your supervisor. What they would accept or recommend is certainly important.
What an experienced researcher would do is one of the following, maybe both. First, they would be likely to consult with colleagues (not unlike your supervisor) and explore viable alternatives.
But, assuming that they have a secure appointment, such as tenure, they would do whatever most appealed to them. Of course, wisdom would suggest they keep their options open.
But you don't have the luxury of a secure appointment. Your supervisor's advice is needed and should probably be followed. They will also have advice on the probably effect on your career, if any.
---
Actually, I think you may be suffering from a common ailment: [Buyer's Remorse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer%27s_remorse). For most such situations, the feeling of regret goes away in time. If you are making progress toward a better future, you are probably doing the right thing. Don't let emotions get in the way of progress (easy to say, of course).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I've personally encountered this problem before, albeit in one of projects for my engineering PhD (which I haven't completed so take this with a grain of salt).
What worked for me was to actively poke around the current topic and try to find a new direction which has a reasonable connection with the original thesis topic while still being appealing to me. It was important to have a *concrete proposal* about what the alternative is, what steps are to be taken and what the final outcome is going to be, ideally with some preliminary results.
This may come across as patronizing but in my case, I discovered a spectrum of interesting research topics that are becoming fruitful. My advisor was happy to see that I was taking the initiative to pursue new directions, and to be honest my advisor wasn't sure about how *exactly* to approach the problem either (which seem to be pretty common in my field).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: As a professor, I could tell you about how I would feel in that situation.
On one hand, I would definitely avoid having a low-quality thesis work: if you feel that topic B is not your best, be honest with your supervisor and tell them. They would suggest you how to increase the "A" part of the thesis, or they would suggest you drop the thesis altogether. Both options are preferable to having to work with a student delivering "mediocre" results (your words): it's a waste of time for both parties.
On the other hand, if you feel like you could deliver good results on subject B, and you are relatively close to the end of the thesis, I would suggest trying to finish the thesis. We don't always have the luxury of working on what we like the most.
Both qualities (honesty and transparency, and commitment and resilience) would be positively evaluated.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/11/15
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<issue_start>username_0: Here's the scenario: I was asked to review an article for a given journal. I did, the authors addressed my comments/corrections, and now the manuscript is back with me for a second time to review the reviewed version.
I don't think that there's anything *particularly wrong* with the article at this point, **but** I don't think it has enough merit to be published in a Scimago Q1 ranked journal.
Since the editors sent it to me *twice* now, I have to assume that **they do**.
Will it look out of line if I suggest the editors that they should suggest the authors to publish the article in a more "modest" journal?
Again: *there is nothing wrong with the article in itself*, I just don't think it is notable enough for the submitted journal (considered by Scimago to be a top ten journal in my field).<issue_comment>username_1: Actually, don't assume anything. They sent it to you for your honest evaluation and feedback. Give it to them. But, make it complete. Say what is good, but also where you think it fails to meet the standard, either of scholarship in general or the standards of the journal.
Don't make recommendations to the editor about the alternatives, I think. But if you are "kinder than you should be" then it will, over time, bring down the standards of the journal.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Referees and/or editors should not invite the authors to submit a revised version unless there's a real chance that the revision will be accepted. Also, most things *could* be made significantly better than they are. If your feeling is that the paper, even though not flawed in any way, does not meet the standards of the journal, then I think you should recommend rejection unless you can identify *explicitly* which improvements would change your mind. Even then, in a field with a sufficiently large number of reputable/good/great/... journals (my own field, mathematics, is certainly like this), it would be reasonable to suggest improvements that could make the paper suitable for a journal of the caliber submitted to *while rejecting the paper*. A top journal is going to get more than enough papers that are good in every way than it can publish. And finally, if you revise and improve your paper **enough** then at a certain point you can justly claim that it's not the same paper. Nothing stops authors from submitting the new, better paper to the same journal. (Once I was added as a coauthor on a paper after the first version was rejected by a strong journal in the field. I saw how to improve the paper so significantly that I thought: why not send it back to the same journal? They accepted it.)
Having said all that: from the comments it doesn't sound like the authors spent much time and effort making significant improvements to their paper. So while there may have been a miscommunication of some sort among you, the editors and the authors, it doesn't seem to have caused much harm to them. In my opinion you should reject the paper for the reasons that you say: there's nothing wrong with it, but it's not good enough for the journal. A top journal *must* reject many papers for this reason -- that's what makes it a top journal.
(If they had spent a lot of time and effort: well, I would feel bad about it if I were you, but it doesn't really change the decision to reject the paper. Anyway the time they spent improving their paper did after all result in an improved paper, which they can then submit to another journal.)
Maybe the lesson is to be more clear in the future. It feels nice to give people a chance, but in fact you're being asked to apply your professional judgment in a way that's going to have a negative outcome much of the time. When your judgment is negative, the nicest you can be is to deliver the bad news relatively quickly and with sufficient justification.
Finally, the fact that the editors asked you to referee it again might or might not mean that they are more positive about the paper than you -- you have no way of knowing. Anyway, their opinions are their opinions, but they're asking you for yours. Once or twice I have been asked to referee a second draft of a paper that I recommended for rejection the first time. I did look at the revised versions, quickly, but my answer was essentially: "I told you that I didn't think the paper was suitable for your journal. If you disagree, okay: ask someone else to look at it."
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: You should. The editors aren't likely to know otherwise. A review that says "there's nothing wrong with this paper, but it uses a well-known method to investigate a not-too-different system and discovers something that's unsurprising" - this is perfectly fine and the editors are likely to appreciate it. After all they're not likely to know all three points. It's up to you whether to check "reject" or "revise", though. With a review like this, the recommendations are effectively the same and the editor will have enough information to make the decision.
Them sending it to you twice doesn't mean they think the paper is good enough to accept - as JeffE wrote in a comment, it just means they don't think it's obviously poor enough to desk reject.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The editors do not read the paper carefully. They browse the paper and check the general framework of the study to see 1) whether it fits the scope of the journal and 2) to be able to find the appropriate reviewers.
It is the duty of the reviewer to technically evaluate the study and decide whether to accept it or not. If you, as a reviewer, find the quality of the paper poor to be accepted in the journal, then you should clearly state it in your review, e.g. a statement like "the reviewer believes that the novelty of the study is not sufficient for the current journal". Alternatively, you can reject the paper right away (of course with enough reasoning) and write a confidential message to the editor and say that you don't find it suitable for the journal.
Just remember if you review the paper once and the authors address all the issues raised by you then it is very unprofessional to declare that you don't find it suitable for the journal. Unless, you expect something from the revision and you don't get it. In the latter case also, you have to state clearly why you don't find it suitable.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Check if the journal provides some reviewing guidelines and/or assessment criteria. For example, in my field, it's usually expected that a paper argues for its own significance. If the authors don't do a convincing job with that, it's fine to point that out in the review (with a detailed and fair argumentation), give them the chance to improve that in a revision, and recommend rejection if they don't make a substantial improvement.
(However, it would really be important to have pointed out the weakness in your first review already. Raising additional issues late during the review process is a mess, if these issues were obvious from the beginning.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: The role of reviewers is supporting editors to enforce their own editorial lines which, more in general, ought to fit the accepeted standards of scientific discourse. In this light, you have to inform the editor of your evaluation and justify it. In other words, the editor's decision must be informed, and delegation is the mechanism of gathering decision-supporting information.
Rather than 'not just thinking that this is notable enough', please provide positive arguments to the editor (and authors, for transparency) as to why you **do think** that the manuscript **does not fit** the journal.
**Please move away from injecting the suspicion of a false positive towards providing the case for either a true negative or a true positive.**
In my view, the yardstick should not rest in the Q-so-much ranking --- which is statistics hence subject to intrinsic uncertainties ---, but on the editorial line of the journal, which should be stated somewhere clearly. Ask the editor for it in case of uncertainty.
In sum, your honest and argumented opinion is crucial to the integrity and transparency of the reviewing process. The final responsibility of a decision remains on the editor. Not to scare anyone, but please also note that the editor might well think that a reviewer is not concentious enough for his/her reviewing team.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: One point I have not seen raised here that I think you should pay attention to in the future: if you think the paper is not up to the journal's standards you should say so in your first referee report. Suggesting changes too would be a courtesy to the authors.
Replying just with the list of changes and saving your reservations for later may cost the editors time and raise false hopes for the authors.
That said, in this case I agree with the other answers that say you should tell the editor you don't think the paper is good/string/important enough for this journal.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: What does the 'guide to reviewers' of the journal say? E.g. The Guide to Reviewers of IEEE states, that if you accept with minor changes required, then the paper has to be accepted when the list of changes was completed.
So if the journal you were reviewing for has a similar policy, you made a mistake if you accepted the paper under conditions of minor changes. How come it was not obvious during the first round that the article is not notable enough?
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/15
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<issue_start>username_0: When a conference gathers more money (e.g., from sponsorships, registration fees, or public subsidies) than what was spent for organizing the conference, where does the conference budget surplus go?<issue_comment>username_1: In many (most?) fields, conferences have sponsors. In my field (CS) a typical sponsor might be the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) or one of its parts. Any surplus would go back to the sponsor.
But the sponsor is also responsible for any shortfalls that occur.
I've never been a conference chair (only lower level positions) and never the Finance Chair, but I suspect that most conferences are expected to at least break even and maybe return a bit to the sponsoring organization. I don't have examples of "cash cow" academic conferences, but suspect that they exist. There have been some monster conferences, though they are more like expositions.
My recollection of ACM conferences is that the conference committee always has a member who represents the organization directly, looking out for lots of things and giving advice to the chair(s) if they aren't already experienced.
I'll also note that the committee is (ACM, again) composed of volunteers, though some support clerical staff might be paid. In any case, it isn't the committee that benefits financially.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Here are some models I am aware of; combinations of these also exist:
* There is a sponsor (e.g. government, local university or some academic organization) that covers part of the expenses but their rules for sponsoring are such that you cannot make surplus. You will need to return some of the sponsor money back to them so that the bottom line is non-positive.
* There is a contingency fund for the conference series. Surplus from one year is used to cover deficit in another year, or to support other conference-related activities in the future years (say, sponsoring student travel).
* There is a scientific organization (e.g. ACM) that runs the conference series and takes any surplus (and promises to help if something goes wrong).
* The local university that organizes the event will keep any surplus (and they will also be responsible for helping if something goes wrong).
* The local organizers will figure out some way to avoid surplus. More free coffee, additional student travel grants, last-minute conference fee discounts, additional awards, free city tour, honorariums for keynote speakers.
* Some part of the income can be flexible. For example, the registration fee for local participants may be fixed only after the conference, once all other income and expenses are known, so that the bottom line will be close to zero if possible.
Upvotes: 5
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2019/11/16
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<issue_start>username_0: In many countries there are funding sources that enable students or postdocs go study or work at a university of their choice, usually abroad. Usually for these applications, the applicant has to get in touch with a potential supervisor to get a letter of invitation and approve their research statement. More often than not, the potential supervisor is expected to discuss the ideas in detail, and also help improving the cover letter and research statement, since the award of the fellowship depends on it.
I have noticed the following situation recently: students from abroad approach me with interest to do research in my lab, and ask for help in checking their application and aligning ideas to my research. We have a call or two, we discuss the details, we come up with a strong application (that looks much better than the one they initially approached me with). As the application deadline approaches I don't hear back from them anymore nor they respond to emails.
Soon I learn that in parallel they approach a more famous lab with a much better application (thanks to me). Since the cover letter and research statement are now of high quality (for someone at that stage in their career), they are accepted easily, and get funding (sometimes directly from the lab).
This is new to me, and in just a short period of time I had three similar cases. I spent at least a day on each (calls, emails and checking the application), so it is a waste of time, and frustrating.
Is this a new trend? What is the best way to avoid this, while not discouraging genuine applicants?<issue_comment>username_1: * It is perfectly normal for students to apply multiple places.
* You should examine how you are promoting your lab. What are you telling students about why they should work in your lab? If they are going elsewhere, perhaps you are not telling them the right things.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: A student contacts you and expresses an interest to work with you on your research. The student has funding contingent on your letter of acceptance and your approval of their research statement.
Ask the student to prepare a research statement. Tell him/her that you will provide all the necessary resources but that you will not write the statement for them or pre-grade it before it is to be submitted. Point them to the resources about your research, including Web pages, journal articles, and presentation abstracts. Provide them with a template research statement for a research project entirely unrelated to your field yet fully complete to be accepted in the other field. For example, when you are in a biology department doing research on gene expression, have a colleague in the physics department draft a statement on quantum dot fluorescence that he/she would accept as a suitable application. Alternatively, prepare a well-written application to a ballet theater group that expresses an interest to be Juliet in the upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet.
After that, let it be.
After all, do you really want/need to employ PhD students or postdocs who cannot initiate efforts on their own to prepare a coherent statement of their interest in your research?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: While I haven't experienced this exact situation first-hand (or simply don't know what happened to my potential supervisees), I can easily imagine it.
In my case, though, the resulting research statement we prepare is typically very much entangled with our lab's ongoing research activities, so I doubt it can be re-used elsewhere. I can understand that a cover letter or a CV is a pretty generic thing, but it is also the easiest part to write. A research statement is, however, a completely different story.
I wouldn't say I do it deliberately, but at some point I realized that my job is not only to support someone's ambition, but also to push forward the agenda of my own lab. Thus, we formulate research statements accordingly, and I don't think the students can get away easily with the same statement in another place.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/11/16
| 278
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<issue_start>username_0: My professor wants to give me a letter of recommendation for a graduate school that I am applying which I will submit via scanning. She didn't give offline recommendation to any One. So she wants to know, when I will submit the recommendation, will there be any email sent from the admission council to the professor informing a letter in her name has been submitted. It will be great if anyone here can inform me if there is any such process like this.<issue_comment>username_1: You will most likely receive a generic confirmation that your application has been received, which you can forward to the author of your LoR. If you want to be absolutely sure in advance, ask the institution that you are applying to. Practices differ, so we can't make a certain prediction.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In a perfect world, the admission council will verify the recommendation by calling the professor. So one way or another your professor will know.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: In recent years, my experience has been that, when I submit letters of recommendation via automated web systems (which is the most common situation), I get an automated confirmation. When I submit letters via individual emails, I sometimes get confirmations but usually not.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/11/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently working on PhD applications in Engineering to start in Fall 2020. I am in my late 30s and have one child. I am planning to apply to at least one quite highly-ranked school in the US.
I am wondering if it might be seen as a negative for the admissions process that I have a child? I have heard that top US PhD programs are not looking for 'balance' and that they typically expect candidates to give *everything* to the program. However, I have heard of people doing PhDs with kids (even having kids during a PhD program) and still being able to complete without any major problems.
In particular, should I avoid mentioning that I have a kid in my application/personal statement? Or, conversely, *should* I mention it? Would it be seen as dishonest in some way, if I gain admission and then turn round and tell people I have a child?<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that you will find any general problem in the US, though it is possible that some individual professors might take issue. Some labs, for example, expect long continuous hours at the bench.
I don't know of laws in the US governing this, but there may be some.
There are tons of grad students with children. I had two kids in the final years of my doctoral study. But, you don't say if you are a *single* parent. In such a case, I don't think you would find discrimination, but I do think you would find it hard. But then pretty much anything and everything is hard for single parents.
In many subjects, of course, you can actually work while tending a child. Mathematics, for example, or Literature. Even CS folk can do quite a lot at home on a laptop.
And note that there is nothing special about academia with respect to "giving your all". Many employers expect exactly that.
My suggestion is that you don't mention it in applications, but because there is no need.
---
And, of course, professors may have kids and are still able to work effectively.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: My advice would be to leave it out. It's probably a mild negative, as is your age. (In a theoretical world, it shouldn't matter, but I am discussing reality.) You're not under any compulsion to volunteer this information and I would not bother.
Again, I would say the concern/issue is mild. You'll be fine. Many people end up getting married (some having children) during grad school, after all. Fewer enter with progeny (after all, the pay is not great), but it does happen.
As far as the application, leave it out--concentrate on why you want to do the Ph.D., why you'll do well, what is special about their program (little flattery), etc. As for the bambino/a, it's (a) nobody's business, (b) a mild negative and (c) not something you should be perceived as wearing on your sleeve or wanting special exemptions because of. So just write a straight application. If it comes up in conversations, I would probably go ahead and be forthright. But I wouldn't raise the topic yourself.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/11/16
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<issue_start>username_0: Usually distinct journals have their own templates for latex, some of them require you to use specific format for pictures etc. However sometimes you write an article and you do not know what journal will be your target for submission. What temples do you use in such scenario? Do you have any custom ones or do you prefer one provided by some journal?<issue_comment>username_1: Duplicate of this question on TeX stacckexhange
<https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/514898/how-can-i-format-a-document-for-submission-to-analysis-journal/514906>
My answer:
If the journal doesn't give you style files I suggest just vanilla arrticle class. If the paper is accepted they will format it. If not, you haven't cluttered it with formatting some other journal won't like.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In general whichever software you use to write the paper, word processor or LaTeX, make sure that it is easily adaptable. That said, most journals will have very specific requirements and it is difficult to make a generic file which suits all. In my experience the text is easier to adapt than the format (but this of course depends on the field).
Beyond using the most basic template, there are some pitfalls which are worth considering beforehand:
1. The article is still a draft so focus on making it as readable as possible for the reviewers rather than fancy.
2. Avoid elaborate packages that will make exporting the paper to different software impossible if needed. I recently had to submit a LaTeX paper to a journal accepting only .doc files, and it took a while to realise that I needed to revert to an old citation package in order to export to RTF. I think this is a specific case of the general point that you shouldn't rely on specific environments for your paper.
3. Figures should follow basic rules of readability (font size, colours, etc) and this should keep you safe for most journals. It can also be handy not to rely on colour if not necessary.
Keep it simple, elaborate only when necessary.
Upvotes: 3
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2019/11/17
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<issue_start>username_0: I had a very bad experience with a colleague and just do not like/trust him. (Eavesdropping, lying, ...) I am working on a project with my mentor, and know they shared information with the colleague I do not trust. How can I politely point that out to them?<issue_comment>username_1: As a meta comment, sharing your research is *on average* the best way to progress in my opinion. Sure, there are some bad apples out there, but overall I feel it’s wise to err on the side of collaboration and communication.
I suggest that my students prepare human readable manuscripts that they can share with others. No one stole their work yet (though it did happen to me once).
Again, on average this is better I think.
To your question: I think directly and politely asking is the best way. “Hi, I feel like the work is not quite ready to be discussed as it’s too preliminary, would it be ok if we develop it more before we present it? I feel it would have more impact this way”
Don’t mention distrust or plagiarism. If your professor is not completely dense they’d understand that this is part of it.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you can trust your mentor, just tell them. Say it as it is. But not in an email. This requires personal communication.
But, if you cannot trust your mentor then you have a bigger problem than you state and need to find better guidance.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: This situation will require you to go see your mentor in person, be friendly and straight forward. Just let him know how you feel.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Much depends on HOW you say something like this.
Of course this must be expressed in person, but if you tell your mentor directly, as in "sir, can I ask you to do one thing, ... etc." then there is a likelihood that it won't be taken too seriously. Why? Because, indirectly, you are telling your mentor that you understand things better than him/her -- that you understand this other person is untrustworthy, something the mentor didn't realize by himself. Human nature is that nobody likes to be corrected.
So, in my opinion, a better approach would be in the form of asking the mentor for advice.
Instead of just telling him what to do -- "please don't talk about this in front of others", ask him advice on how to handle the situation. "Sir, can I ask you one thing?" (sure...) "Maybe you will feel I am a bit silly..." (no, don't worry, what is it?) "Thanks... well, the fact is that I noticed that after our collective discussions, person X is doing A and B and C and this is a problem for me because D and E, etc." (um, I see...) "So how should I handle a situation like this?" -- at this point, if you made your case convincingly, your mentor may "spontaneously" come to the right conclusion: (well, you know what, maybe next time you should talk to me when they are not around).
(By the way, do not badmouth this other person unnecessarily. Be fair and balanced while making your case)
Bottom line: if you can make the mentor feel that he made the decision, and at the same time let him save face (for not noticing the problem themselves) then there are good chances that things will go the way you want, and not just temporarily but permanently, especially if the way you want is also a good way which in the end benefits everyone.
Cheers...
Upvotes: 0
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2019/11/17
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<issue_start>username_0: It's everywhere, but no matter who I ask I can never get a straight answer, only "I don't know"s. What is the advantage of using multiplication and negative powers over just using division when writing out units, as in the question title. Granted, in most cases they use superscript rather than how I formatted it in the title, but my phone keyboard would not let me do that.
I don't have a problem reading units written this way, but it just seems inefficient as it uses more characters and makes it more difficult for "regular people" to follow. I'm suspecting it's nothing more than a style choice, possibly because it looks "more scientific".<issue_comment>username_1: I think the main advantage is that an ambiguity of *a/bc* is avoided. For example, *g/m^2s* may be read as *g m^{-2} s^{-1}* or *g m^{-2} s* depending on whether multiplication takes priority over division. As far as I know, there is no consistency in opinions about it, so to avoid confusion a slightly uglier notation with negative powers may be worth accepting.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally speaking, the choice of one form over another is better done on a case-by-case basis, according to readability.
If I have to specify a speed of 5 meters per second, I'll write *v* = 5 m/s rather than *v* = 5 m·s-1, because for most people the first form is more readable than the latter.
However, if I have to label the axis of a quantity with some complex unit, I may choose the form with the exponents. For, instance, if I have to report the spectral density function *Sv(f)* of some voltage noise, whose unit is V2/Hz, I may label the vertical axis (according to the style [I described here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28918/20058)) either
*Sv(f)*/(V2/Hz) (with parentheses to avoid any ambiguity)
or
*Sv(f)*/V2Hz-1 (for compactness).
In this case, I'd probably choose the second form because is probably more readable even in the case of more complex units. Strictly speaking, also this second form without parentheses is ambiguous because multiplication and division are associative from left to right, but frequently people understand that unit as a single block.
*Remark.* If you use LaTeX to write papers I cannot but recommend to use the package `siunitx` to typeset the units, because it allows you to switch between the two forms with just one option (`per-mode=symbol` or `per-mode=reciprocal`). Moreover, it automatically adds a small space between the units.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Personal preference, but having the numbers be explicit helps me with checking the dimensions of the final answer (it's easier to see which terms cancel, especially if the exponents are non integers as I don't need to keep subtracting 1 as 1/x^0.5 is actually x^-0.5)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Dimitry's answer is probably the most complete, but for me, the issue is around ambiguity in fractions. For example I would never write `a/bc`, because it is ambiguous, I would right (in LaTeX) `\frac{a}{bc}` or `ab^{-1}c^{-1}`. The former I find much neater for an equation out in the open, while the later looks a bit better if included in-line text.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Another significant advantage of using negative powers to me is that checking for correctness of units becomes easier. In physics especially, any physically meaningful formula or identity should have units which match up on both sides, so if the units not match up for an equation, this can be an effective check that the equation can't possibly be correct. This is a common way to check one's work, and can even be taken further: see [Dimensional Analysis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimensional_analysis).
Now, working with units is much easier with negative exponents. Consider the equation distance = velocity × time. The (SI) units of the LHS are (m), that of velocity is (m/s), and that of time is (s). It is easier to see that m·s^(-1)s=m than that (m/s)s=m to many people. Of course the difference is slight because the formula is simple in this case, but once one starts working with more complicated equations dimensional analysis becomes much easier once you abandon the forward slash notation.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: Perhaps its not an academic reason, but more of a practical reason combined with tradition/preference for the earlier format learned?
Historically, typesetters may not have been able to render what is now easy with various markup notations.
39.3396 m/s might be accidentally read as "mis" or "mls" or "mi5" where (m.s^-1) is unambiguous.
---
A horizontal fraction bar will also break up the flow of a paragraph of printed text, so this presentation keeps the units to be one "line of text" high.
---
"m/s" when sent by morse code is
```
-- -..-. ...
```
Since the forward slash is a relatively rare character, could be accidentally transcribed as one of these:
```
-- -.. -. ...
m d n s
-- -. .-. ...
m n r s
-- - .. - . ...
m you get the idea...
```
---
```
$39.3396 \frac{m}{s}$
```
should render unambiguously like this (if mathtex were supported here)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QNLd8.png)
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I missed a class where I was supposed to hand in an assignment.
I arrived at my school at the end of the class, and the teacher had already left, so I sent them immediately by email.
It has been a week, and I understand that they are probably busy.
I imagine that a professor's inbox can receive so many messages that they don't have time to read all of them either.
This is an important grade in an important course for me, and I would like to make sure that they have actually seen my message, and that they are willing to grade it (instead of failing the assignment).
Is it appropriate to follow up on my first message, asking politely if they could confirm that they have seen the email?
Will that just anger them?
I don't think I will have an occasion to see them in person to ask.<issue_comment>username_1: It depends on the procedures at a particular institution, but using email as a delivery vehicle for assessed work is so unreliable and untrustworthy that at many places it is prohibited. You should consult your local rules.
Email is unreliable because, for the sender there is no guarantee that anything arrived. It could have been blocked by various spam filters on the way because of content, type of attachment, or originating domain. Did you use the institutions own email account to email from, or an outside one?
Email is also unreliable because the time in transit can be variable. It is also insecure as the message could be tampered with in transit as third parties are used for delivery.
You may not be aware of the recipients mailbox situations. It could be overflowing with messages. You do not know the message delivery rate; how many are received per day. You have no knowledge of what the situation looks like from the other side.
For the recipient is is untrustworthy as they have no assurance of authentication, that the sender is who they say they are.
These, and many other reasons, are why many places use a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) for the submission of graded assignments.
For you, however, without contacting the person directly you have no way of finding out if the work was received, and when it was received, and whether your email would be acceptable.
However, if email is an accepted or required form of submission, you could not expect an acknowledgement either. It would be quite time-consuming to individually reply to each message that was an assignment submission.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Totally independent of this happening in Academia, giving an explanation, even if or especially if it is a stupid one like “I forgot my alarm clock” and mentioning how sorry you are and explaining that you *just* missed him would make it so much more likely that your mistake would be forgiven.
The professor has every right to just throw your late homework away. You should have given him at least \_ some\_ reason not to do so.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I will take a slightly different stance than these. I would state it is *absolutely* reasonable to ask if a professor has received your late assignment via email. This type of return receipt is a bureaucratic courtesy, particularly when the contents are valuable (as you describe). If I had copious free time or a personal assistant, I would send return receipts to all emails of this sort.
However, most professors have bad experiences with students **demanding** to know that a particular assignment has been received and that it is accepted. That is not appropriate.
Some good body text might be:
>
> I hope that my assignment (on XYZ) has been received in good order. I submitted it late on DD/MM. I recognize the due date had passed by (1 minute/1 hour/1 year), but I was (attacked by piranahs/had a reasonable crisis/had embarrassing technical issues). I am unfamiliar with your late policy in those cases and hope that you recognize I submitted this in good faith and hope for your leniency. I generally performed (well/poorly) in your class, so I hope you can recognize I am (typically on time/trying to improve).
>
>
>
Some bad body text might be:
>
> I absolutely sent you XYZ after the due date. It's not my fault it's late b/c (blaming on others). Why isn't it graded yet? I need a good grade on this.
>
>
>
Good luck for everyone at the end of this semester, by the way.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am presenting my PhD thesis in front of my committee next week and I feel that I have just not done enough. My work is simple and I also feel that I have poor theoretical foundations and am going to be an embarrassment when quizzed by my committee.
I am not feeling confident about presenting my research and I am finding it extremely difficult pushing away negative thoughts like (I feel I have not done enough or I am not theoretically strong enough for doing my PhD on my research field).
I am revising theoretical stuff (related to my thesis work) that I studied in my first year of PhD, but I am not able to push out the feeling of guilt and the impending doom.
Any advice on how to tackle this?<issue_comment>username_1: Take a deep breath. You will be OK. You're suffering from [impostor syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome).
PhD defenses are traditional formalities. Your advisor wouldn't let you schedule yours if they didn't think you ready.
The examiners are more likely to want to know what you did than theory from your first year you have forgotten.
When you pass your defense come back here and tell us about it.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: To complement what @Ethan wrote, trust the process.
No (good) supervisor will let you do irrelevant work and defend insufficient results. If you have good supervision, trust your supervisor. By the point of defending you should have at least a few peer-reviewed papers and conference presentations under your belt. Use that to convince yourself that your results are relevant.
You can always do more, however that is not the point of Ph.D. The point is to learn and demonstrate knowledge of how to do research.
Even if your results are insufficient and you are facing the committee as a means of evaluating your work. The committee will point out specific deficiencies in your work. Their feedback is for both you and your supervisor to consider and adjust the course.
Do not assign your self worth to the thesis work. There is more in life than just that!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Here's the thing: People's dissertation work is usually not an earth-shattering achievement.
>
> I feel that I have just not done enough.
>
>
>
I feel my Ph.D. was sorta-kinda enough; and a "strict version of me" might not have accepted it.
(in hindsight I developed a better opinion of it. I now feel it was solid enough work.)
>
> My work is simple and I also feel that I have poor theoretical foundations
>
>
>
Well, your work may be simple (or it may not), but most research findings are simple once you have all the context in mind. The point is that you discovered or invented something new that wasn't known / didn't exist before. You *have* done that; and that's basically why you deserve your Ph.D.
As for the lack of theoretical foundations - ugh, tell me about it! Even at my peak I felt like an empty-headed fool compared to the "sages" of my field. Again, it's possible that you're under-estimating yourself, but it's also possible that you're setting unreasonable expectations: Most Ph.D.s in your field know less than you do about what you've been studying.
>
> and am going to be an embarrassment when quizzed by my committee.
>
>
>
From best to worst:
1. You'll probably know enough about what they ask you to say something non-embarrassing.
2. "Esteemed opponent, that is an interesting idea. I have not considered that avenue during my doctoral work, and would need some time to consider it. It may well lead to further results beyond my own work."
3. "Esteemed opponent, I am not versed in [insert complicated subject here]. It is possible this field may have bearing on my findings."
Now, is no. 3 embarrassing? Well, it might be. But it's also the truth. Don't try to run from it in your head. You know what you know, you've done what you've done, you are who you are. That's not shameful.
>
> I am not feeling confident about presenting my research
>
>
>
You should present what you did. Don't try to glorify it, nor to downplay it. What the question/goal/challenge was, how you approached it, how/why it worked, what the results were, what the consequences/corollaries/implications are. You can be "confident" about that - since these are just facts.
>
> I am not theoretically strong enough for doing my PhD on my research field
>
>
>
You are strong enough in the sense that you've already done your Ph.D. work. You're not auditioning for the title of all-knowledgeable theorist.
>
> I am not able to push out the feeling of guilt and the impending doom. Any advice on how to tackle this?
>
>
>
As for the guilt - don't try to make it disappear. Just try to separate the presentation from the guilt. You present the stuff that you're not guilty about.
As for the sense of doom - I tried to make the non-doom'ishness more palpable for you; I hope this works.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Let me emphasize the "trust your supervisor" advice that others have already given you. I don't know the official procedures in your department, but I imagine they're somewhat similar to those in my department. Before one of my Ph.D. students can schedule a thesis defense, I have to provide two official documents. One is a description (usually about two pages long) of the work in the thesis, ending with my recommendation to my department that the thesis be accepted. The other is not for the department but for the graduate school; it doesn't require as much information about the thesis, just some general comments on its quality, but it must also include my statement that the thesis is acceptable (perhaps with minor revisions). Furthermore, a second faculty member must provide an independent evaluation for the department, and all members of the committee must provide the second form for the graduate school.
So, by the time of the defense, I've already officially stated (twice) that this thesis is worthy of a Ph.D. I wouldn't do that if I wasn't confident that the student can pass the defense. If anything went wrong at the defense, I'd be at least as embarrassed as the student.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The fact that you have submitted your thesis is in itself an achievement, with sufficient responsibility shared by your Guide too.
You may have already worked out and specified some propositions in your submission. You need to list them during the ViVa and explain them, to provide more clarity during your presentation.
Always try to present objectives clearly and refer to them sequentially, while highlighting the conclusions of the study. Also, mention some of the obvious limitations and explain (if possible) as to why they happened and how the next study on your topic can get over them.
Finally, this is only a defence of what you have done. So, believe in it and go forth and defend.
All the best!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: My supervisor mentioned 3 key points that were checking in the viva.
1. Interesting work
2. The work is correct
3. You did the work
You have done the work. Understand your own work first, not stuff related to your thesis. Trust your supervisor on the first two.
I have never seen anyone not nervous before a viva. My other half commented that I still had some shakes when we went for lunch an hour after my own (and that was a good result).
And then the final thought is that in most countries it is very hard to shift grade very far in a viva. It is on the thesis which has already gone. Finally issues happen and mistakes happen in a thesis. Minor corrections are generally to be expected and major ones happen. If either result comes in it is still fine. Take the notes on board and fix the issues pointed out, no different to a paper review (albeit normally a bit more work).
You should feel proud getting this far. I know plenty who didn't.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: You feel ashamed by your work ? Please don't !
A lot has been said by other contributors, but I would go further, make one more step.
You probably think about all what you have NOT done during your PhD and it's normal, you can not explore all the possibilities. for the quiz with the jury members, feel open. It's not a lawsuit, it's a discussion between people who are relevant, passionate and know a lot about your PhD issue. It's a great (and maybe the only one) opportunity to have the most relevant advice and ideas on your work.
As far as I'm concerned, I really enjoy the quiz part, even if I were petrified at the very beginning of my presentation. I understand that jury's members are not there to judge you, but to put the introspection to a next step. I realize I miss some opportunities during these years of tough work, but more essentially, I understand that I need to share more my work and discuss with people more often, even if everything is going well. It should have opened more doors and now, I'm aware of that.
Your presentation is just one step in your life and you are prepared for that. It's like a wedding ceremony, lot of pressure but it will past too quickly :)
You know a lot about your topic, just relax, be open to conflicting views, stay in a productive state of mind and you will enjoy it.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: There is so much fake research going on under the guise of PhD. It has become just like any other Masters defence. No one cares much about the results, no one is gonna check/review them. You are gonna do just fine my friend..... just go in there with a wide smile, and say everything you have done very confidently. You are gonna do amazing :-).
Also, you have worked really hard for 2/3 years now and your examiners will take that into consideration. Also consider the fact the you are gonna be part of the top 1 percent in the world. Its a really huuuuge achievement. So just go in there, and kill it with whatever you got.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: I like the given answers but I'm surprised there isn't more practical advice in them. If you want "things to do", here you go:
As someone who recently defended (successfully) and felt similarly before the defense, I think you are not only suffering from impostor syndrome, but a separate feeling that probably has/deserves its own name.
**As the creator and person most familiar with your own work, you are more aware of its faults than anyone else in the world.**
There is a lot of good advice here about trusting the process and your advisor's opinion about your work, but I'll offer some other practical tips for dealing with your anxieties that only you can understand, because only you are fully familiar with your own work.
1. **Preparation helps quell anxiety**: Practice your talk, with your advisor if possible. Try to come up with the questions that you would be most afraid to answer. Then come up with some imperfect answers to said questions. At this stage, remember that **it's expected to have limitations in your current work**. Nobody can expect you to have done everything, so making simplifying assumptions, leaving things for future work, etc are almost always acceptable answers. This is what people mean by "trusting the process." They mean that if these sort of terrifying questions actually uncovered fundamental flaws in your work, then your advisor should have found them much earlier. I would argue that it is most important simply to show that you have put some thought into these "scary" questions.
2. **Don't sell yourself short**: Even if you don't know exactly how to do something. Be clear up front about the limitations of your work, but don't frame those limitations in terms of your own personal abilities. If you are asked a question you can't answer totally, get as far as you can. Say "while we have strong intuition (for x,y,z reasons) that there exists theory to back up our empirical results, we leave that derivation to future work. We might derive it by trying Q, R, and S on problem formulation T". Don't say "I don't know how to derive this so I didn't, and I have no ideas for how I might do it".
3. **Fake it 'til you make it**: My advisor gave me some really nice advice before my defense: part of the committee's goal, whether they mean to or not, is to determine whether or not you seem like you should be given the same Ph.D. title that they have. You are being inducted into a community. So act like a **humble** but full-blown researcher. When they ask a question, they often don't have a correct answer in mind: they're probably legitimately trying to gain an insight from another expert (you) who has done work related to theirs. When someone makes a suggestion/critique that you haven't thought of, take a moment and weigh its merits. If you have doubts, explain why. Ask them to clarify. If you think it makes sense, don't be hard on yourself and say "I should have thought of that", say "Oooh interesting, we tried the approach we did for X,Y reasons, but we should follow up on that in future work. Maybe your approach lets you do BLANK". If you can, draw on previous experiences of attending technical talks given by strong researchers for this. If you can't remember any interchanges, youtube has plenty of examples.
4. **Invest in good pizza**: No, I'm not being facetious. At the end of the day, these are humans judging you, not machines (as of November 2019). Human judges are invariably subject to all sorts of confounding variables when making judgements. For example, studies have shown correlations between judge leniency in criminal trials and the time of the day: you're more likely to go to jail when a judge is hungry (i.e before lunchtime). If you are able, supply your audience with good food at the beginning of your talk. If that doesn't work, at least you'll have good food to eat after a bad experience! At the very least ensure that your committee has access to pens, paper, water, and the comfiest chairs in the room. I was asked zero hard questions at my defense, even though I could think of quite a few, which I partly attribute to the local pizza place.
Hope that helps, best of luck!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: Been through that for my PhD and did very well, your anxiety is normal.
Prepare a very good and detailed defense presentation:
I suggest you organise it as follows: (list from my PhD supervisor <NAME>)
1. Problem statement, very short and clear
2. teaser video of what you have done that supports the problem statement you previously defined
3. Explain the problem
4. Explain the objectives of the thesis
5. overview of the solution
6. Explain core of the thesis
7. Results
8. Contributions (include papers, patents if you got any, awards...)
9. The future after your thesis, how your work can impact other areas of research or open new areas of research.
Best wishes!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_11: I did a PhD defense as well, in 1984. Hard core physical science. Getting this far, it's highly doubtful you could fail at this point, and hopefully your committee knows that. More importantly, just be confident, mainly because you probably know more than anyone else on earth about your thesis content and subject. Good luck, it will go fine.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: Me and my supervisor were written a paper on medical imaging as a part of my master thesis, we sent a paper to a journal for publishing, after a period of time the journal send us back the paper with some comments from each reviewer. In our perspective a number of questions from reviewers comes from a word "Novel" that we wrongly put it in a title. And I want to ask you professionals that is it possible to change the title? is it a good or bad idea? this will make our paper to be refused by reviewers or not?<issue_comment>username_1: It's normal to change titles during the review process, sometimes reviewers even ask for it explicitly.
If it's causing a problem or confusion, change the title.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I would say yes it's possible as I have just had a paper accepted where I changed the title during review. Now the change wasn't huge and the referee had commented on the title (and I'm not submitting to medical journals). Like most things in a refering process, if you can justify it and the referee(s) accept the change you can get away with alot. It might get more complicated if you posted the paper on a preprint server beforehand (only in the sense people might mistake it as two papers, depending on the level of "change")
Upvotes: 2
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| 4,149
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently an undergraduate in Canada, but I am interested in math/comp sci PhD in the US. I heard that an academically supporting environment(the environment of the school? of the department?) in PhD study is very important. Also, I heard in some schools, PhD students don't like helping each other, because they think they are competing, which is a sign of bad experience. In some other cases, the adviser might be unhelpful or even selfish. So how can we choose a university/department/adviser to ensure a good study experience? If you are a PhD student, do you like your department? I like any personal experience or examples.<issue_comment>username_1: I think this depends a lot on your advisor. Some will be very helpful and supportive and others not. I had both experiences.
The first part of a doctorate in the US is normally a lot of coursework, giving you access to several faculty members. You will also probably be assigned an advisor, but you don't need to stay with them for the dissertation phase. They are there mostly to watch over your progress and see that you get ready for comps. At this stage I had an advisor who was not yet tenured and spent all of his time making sure that he got over the line. He wasn't very helpful and I was lucky to eventually leave him behind. However, I stayed too long with him even knowing we weren't going anywhere.
Later in my studies (long story) I wound up in a better situation with a better advisor. It wasn't that he gave me more support, actually. It was just that our mathematical interests were more alined and he had a wealth of experience to give me the support and helped me with new ideas when I needed them.
But, had I switched out my first advisor (much) earlier for someone that I knew would be better for me, my journey would have been much shorter.
So, your experience can be good or bad. There are horror stories on this site. But the good stories don't get mentioned here. But, look around at the options and hook up early with an advisor who has a good reputation among students and is aligned with your research interests.
Some of the best advisors will run a formal or informal seminar series in which a few faculty and a few more students meet regularly to discuss ideas and/or papers. These tend to be more senior faculty, I think. People share ideas openly, though each works on their own stuff more or less independently.
And, I'm pretty sure that the advisor is more important than the school in almost all cases. The exceptions would be for those advanced students who can carry on research with minimal help from an advisor.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: This is not really an answer but a (somewhat) relevant anecdote that's too long for a comment. About 20 years ago, I chaired my department's graduate admissions committee. The college had a requirement that new graduate students whose undergrad degree is from outside the U.S. must participate in an orientation before the start of their first semester of enrollment, to acquaint them with various aspects of life in the U.S. and, in particular, university life in the U.S. We could apply to an assistant dean to have specific students exempted from this requirement. We had admitted a student who did his undergrad work at the University of Waterloo (Ontario, not Belgium), and I requested that he be exempted form this orientation requirement.
I thought (and I still think) this was a no-brainer, but the assistant dean wanted evidence, meaning information from people who had taught at the University of Waterloo. So I had to write (with some embarrassment) to a few of this student's instructors, asking them for the necessary information about similarities and differences between Waterloo and Ann Arbor.
One of the responses ended with a sentence that, I think, summarized the situation very well: The only thing the student will have to get used to in the U.S. is the absence of Tim Horton's.
End of anecdote.
We now have <NAME>'s in the U.S. So I suggest you think about U.S. universities the same way you'd think about Canadian ones.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have seen a number of postings along the lines of "Am I too old for tenure track?". While the consensus was "no," I am suspicious of the meritocracy holding for F grants. These are training grants designed to develop the next generation not scientists. Someone who is applying for an F31 at 40 has less runway than a person who is 22 or 23. Does this aspect get baked onto your scores on some fashion?
Is there an unwritten rule? What's the oldest F31 recipient you are aware of?<issue_comment>username_1: The NIH offers a bunch of [comparison data](https://researchtraining.nih.gov/sites/default/files/PDF/Chapter_2.pdf) of NRSA recipients. I think you should pay considerable attention to figure 2.9[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZDUeG.png)
Only about 55% of fellows receive Ph.D.'s by 30.
There is more data to be mined from the [entire report](https://researchtraining.nih.gov/Early-Career-Progress#) -- and it shows that about 10% of NRSA recipients received their degrees at 36 or older. Given what I think the applicant pool must be, I suggest that age is likely not a bias.
Also, the [mission statement](https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-19-195.html) for Kirchstein states that:
>
> The overall goal of the NIH R<NAME> National Research
> Service Award (NRSA) program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of
> highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific
> disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and
> clinical research needs. NRSA fellowships support the training of
> pre-and postdoctoral scientists, dual-degree investigators, and senior
> researchers. More information about NRSA programs may be found at the
> <NAME> National Research Service Award (NRSA) website.
>
>
> The purpose of the R<NAME>. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
> (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31) is to enable
> promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored
> research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting
> dissertation research. Applicants for this F31 program are expected to
> propose a dissertation research project and training plan in
> scientific health-related fields relevant to the mission of the
> participating Institutes and Centers. This training plan should
> reflect the applicant’s dissertation research project, and facilitate
> and clearly enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a
> productive, independent research scientist. The training plan should
> document the need for, and the anticipated value of, the proposed
> mentored research and training in relationship to the individual’s
> research career goals. The training plan should also facilitate the
> fellow’s transition to the next stage of his/her research career.
>
>
>
As with any grant, you should ask yourself whether your situation matches the institutional aims. I would think the more "atypical" your application package is, the more you need to consider this.
Age is a balancing act. The older you are, the more mature you are, and the better you should be able to describe your aspirations and career goals. If you look like you're putting off hard decisions, your application will suffer. This is true regardless of age, but probably especially true for older applicants.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I am not aware of any section of the F31 application that explicitly asks for your age. Your date of birth may be required to obtain an eRA Commons account, but if it does, it is not made available to reviewers or program officers for funding decisions. The only two places that I think your age might become know to reviewers is if it is mentioned in the letters of support or from your bio sketch. If you are worried about it, you can mention it to the letter writers to not give away that detail.
As for the bio-sketch, it does ask for dates of degrees and positions and years when courses where taken. Depending on your trajectory (i.e., if the gap was between high school and undergrad or undergrad and PhD), they may actually think you are younger than you are. If the dates denote gaps, you can always ask a program officer if you can leave the dates out and just list duration. For the courses, you might want to say what academic year (freshman, sophomore, etc) the class was taken.
Upvotes: 1
|