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2020/01/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a fourth-year Ph.D. student in pure mathematics. I am studying abroad. I need some advice.
Before getting through to my question, let me say something about myself. I am studying at a good university in Europe. I have 3 papers, which two of them are my own papers(without co-authors). I am planning to defend my thesis in the following summer. Moreover, I am applying for a postdoc position.
My Ph.D. story is a sad story. After two years, my Ph.D. supervisor informed the university that I do not know any things about math, and he could not work with me. Then, the university chose a co-supervisor for me. After 1year, I and my co-supervisor wrote a paper. To be honest, my co-supervisor had a lot of nice ideas and I wrote his idea in papers. I did not fill good because that was most of his idea, but my colleges told me we always did the same things. There was a lot of pressure on me because all of the people found out my problems with my supervisor and they thought I am weak and stupid.
Last summer, I wrote two papers in the area which I have been working since my Ph.D. Then, everything changed. My supervisor said hello to me every day( before he did not say) and behavior everyone changes to me. I got some emails from great mathematicians about my papers.
I have two big problems. First, I can not solve basic things in math. That makes me feel upset and worried. For instance, when I got up today, I was thinking the following statements are equal: For all x, there is y such that x+y=4& There is x, for all y such that x+y=4, but somethings in my heart was saying I am wrong. So I start to read a logic book. That is not shaming for a Ph.D. student? Is it? or, Why I do not remember Linear Algebra? and other whys?
These kinds of questions make me feel I got lucky to write two papers. Anyone get lucky. My supervisor might be right, I do not know any things from math. How I can pass PhD exam?<issue_comment>username_1: I have seen my fair share of mathematicians failing basic tasks. Probably more iconic ones are related to arithmetics but that is more understandable.
For example I have seen a +40 years old working mathematician volunteering to teach differential equations because s/he didn't feel confident in his/her ability do solve them and wanted to force him/her-self to improve.
I don't think it is detrimental to fail basic tasks as long as you behave accordingly. As long as you discuss with others while doing your research and prepare before you teach, you can avoid most of the potential issues and fix them along the way.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your story reminded me of the [Monty Hall problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem). Even great mathematicians didn't believe:
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> Many readers of vos Savant's column refused to believe switching is beneficial despite her explanation. After the problem appeared in Parade, approximately 10,000 readers, including nearly 1,000 with PhDs, wrote to the magazine, most of them claiming vos Savant was wrong (Tierney 1991). Even when given explanations, simulations, and formal mathematical proofs, many people still do not accept that switching is the best strategy (vos Savant 1991a). <NAME>, one of the most prolific mathematicians in history, remained unconvinced until he was shown a computer simulation demonstrating vos Savant’s predicted result (Vazsonyi 1999).
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As a physicist, mathematics was never a strength of mine, but I'm a postdoc and sub-group leader now and the thing you have to see is: Academia not only needs the savants, wiz, Einsteins to work efficiently. **Academia also needs organizers, problem solvers apart from researchers with very bright and big ideas.**
I remember some stories on <NAME>, how he picked his assistants, postdocs to work with him and help him as he can hardly move/speak. He would probably have written similar letters like your first advisor, but that doesn't mean academia is the wrong place for you. There is so much competition in academia on various jobs with various criteria that you will get a very good and objective picture of your self after PhD, which way to go. But don't base it on a experience with a single advisor. Maybe he is just very ambitious and smart and seeks to work only with such persons. Understandable, but not not the norm, in a PhD the student is still and mostly learning a lot.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: It is hard to give you well-targeted advice, not knowing a lot more, but I can offer a few suggestions for thinking about the issues.
First, your advisor's past comments may just have been momentary frustration that should probably not have been expressed. Perhaps he just has a volatile personality. But you seem to have convinced him now, so no problems.
More important, you need to realize that since soon after the year 1900 it was no longer possible for anyone to know *all* of mathematics. The field is very broad and increasingly so. I knew (retired now) quite a lot about real analysis and general topology and had a lot of insight into both. But I had (and have) little actual insight into abstract algebra beyond the basics. But I was very good at what I did at the time.
Success in mathematics, today, is more about depth than breadth. The topics of research interest are very esoteric and not all topics give much insight into other topics. It isn't something that working mathematicians worry a lot about.
But, if you know some field well enough to get published in it, you are doing fine. You can branch out a bit after the intensity of doing a dissertation subsides if you like, or you can keep fishing in the same pond until it is no longer productive or you want to move on.
As to messing up with simple things, none of us is perfect. When our mind works intensely on some topic, we focus on it to the exclusion of other things. Then, we are less likely to miss simple errors since our mind is deeply engaged elsewhere. I'm working on an elementary book about mathematical thinking. I produced a draft and in reviewing it, I noticed (thankfully) that I'd reversed set union and set intersection in an important place. Embarrassing, but no more.
Think how boring life would be if you were perfect.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a research scholar who published a paper in an Elsevier journal recently.
My advisor had almost no contribution in the paper, but since it is mandatory to put the advisor’s name in the paper, I had to put it.
I was the first author and also the corresponding author.
Recently my advisor said he had got an article from the same journal related to my work and he wants me to review it as he does not have any knowledge in this field.
Shall I review it for my advisor or politely refuse my advisor that I wont do it?
I don’t understand why the journal contacted him and not me to review that paper though I was the corresponding author?
I feel very bad that even though it was my work the journals did not send me the paper for review.
What do journals usually look for when they send a paper for review?
**UPDATE**:
I did talk to my advisor that I would review the paper if he could mention my name to the Editor so that I get enlisted as a reviewer in their database.
But my advisor is not keen on saying that to the Editor.
He is arguing that this is how things work in academia.
He said that he also reviewed for his advisor but never asked anything in return like this.
When I published the paper he gave me the same explanation that in academia advisors dont work.
It is the duty of the scholars to do all the work and since he has read the draft once and I get my scholarship through him, he is entitled to get an authorship.<issue_comment>username_1: Normally the answer to such requests is yes. It is good experience. But the review may wind up being in the name of the advisor. He was contacted as a more senior academic, I think, and the editor didn't know of his lack of specific knowledge.
However, since the work is related to your own, it might be worth letting the editor know, directly or, preferably, through the advisor, that you have been asked to do this on his behalf. The editor can then act with full knowledge. The advisor would be wise, I think, to review anything you write and give you advice on it.
But journals look for both expertise (which you have) and to avoid conflicts of interest, which could possibly be an issue here. At a minimum, explore this with your advisor, pointing out the issues.
There is no reason to feel bad, especially if you are relatively unknown at this point in your career. The advisor may also have reviewed other things successfully for them in the past.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: One way to resolve this would be that your advisor refused to review the manuscript and suggests you as a possible reviewer. Then the editor can decide what to do. Do not overthink why your advisor was chosen first. He has been around for a longer time and is therefore more known to editors.
I would prefer this procedure to a simple 'yes' to the request (which would be the easy and probably common approach) because it makes contributions transparent. You made a good start with making yourself the corresponding author of your own paper, so it would be consistent if you sticked to this path.
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Addition after comment: The answer above makes most sense if you already know how to handle a paper review resulting in a high quality report. Should you require some general support on this, asking your advisor to do the review together and communicate this accordingly to the editor is a possible and viable alternative.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I would suggest to review the paper, it's a very good experience. Tell your supervisor to warn the journal editor that he refused to review the paper and you will do the work.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: **TL;DR:** Doing the review for your supervisor is as mandatory as making him an author of your paper. For the editor, it practically matters only that your supervisor commands the expertise required for the review.
This is kind of circular, but let’s start here:
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> My advisor had almost no contribution in the paper, but since it is mandatory to put the advisor’s name in the paper, I had to put it.
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While I cannot say whether your advisor deserved authorship of your specific paper, it is not globally mandatory to make your advisor an author of your paper¹. Unfortunately, this is often ignored due to the power advisors have over their advisees, making it mandatory locally (i.e., for advisees of a specific advisor).
Now, the fact that you consider it mandatory strongly suggests that it is **as** mandatory for you to review papers for your advisor and get no credit for it. Only somebody very familiar with your advisor can tell you more on this.
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¹ In fact, making somebody an author just because they are officially your advisor goes against academic authorship ethics.
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> I don’t understand why the journal contacted him and not me to review that paper though I was the corresponding author?
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The editor probably asked your advisor to review on basis of the following:
* He has expertise in the respective subfield as evidenced by being the last (senior) author on a paper in that subfield.²
* He has seniority in academia and thus is an experienced peer-reviewer (possibly evidenced by previous peer reviews for the same journal/publisher), a skilled scientific writer, has a broad knowledge of literature, and can judge the impact of research.
While I wrote the above as facts, the editor can most often only assume these things – they were obviously wrong about the first point in your case.
However, they have to make such assumptions if they want to find any reviewers at all.³
Assuming that this is your first peer review, what should ideally happen in this situation is that you perform the review with your supervisor (or some other experienced peer reviewer) guiding you through the process. There are several mechanisms to register your part in this such as your supervisor officially taking you on board as a reviewer (e.g., APS journals allow this) or your supervisor redirecting the review to you (rejecting and suggesting you as an alternative reviewer).
And now we are closing the loop:
Often this is done unofficially and advisees just perform “mandatory” reviews for their advisor – without getting what little recognition there is for peer-reviewing (and possibly compromising the strict confidentiality of the review).
Editors are aware of all this and may belong to the advisor-takes-it-all school of advising themselves.
And if your advisor does not belong to that school, he can still officially redirect the review to you.
From this point of view, the editor needs not even care whether your advisor actually **has** the expertise listed above; your advisor only needs to **command**⁴ this expertise – which he evidently does.
There is another practical aspect to this: Most advisees who published a paper a few years ago have now left academia. While this does not disqualify them to review, they may not care anymore. Advisors on the other hand tend to stay and know the people who can perform the review instead. For example, if your work has been taken over by another advisee who has not published yet, your advisor may perform the review together with your successor.
On the other hand, this way of handling things is detrimental to grooming new reviewers (and knowing that you did).
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² The interpretation and importance of [corresponding authorship](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/84476/7734) varies across fields, countries, funding agencies, etc. Depending on what applies to the journal’s field, the editor may not even have noticed.
³ Things may be a bit more complicated, as the editor may personally know your advisor, the authors of the paper may have suggested your advisor as a reviewer for the same reasons, etc.
⁴ Along the classic saying: “An undergraduate student knows things; a graduate student knows where something is written; a professor knows somebody who knows.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: Others have given good advice regarding how you should respond to the review. But to add a little regarding your concerns:
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> I don’t understand why the journal contacted him and not me to review that paper though I was the corresponding author? I feel very bad that even though it was my work the journals did not send me the paper for review. What do journals usually look for when they send a paper for review?
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You really don’t need to feel bad: it doesn’t imply anything about how they rate your contribution to your paper. At least in fields I know (in pure math & theoretical CS), **editors usually invite potential referees based on what they know by about them overall, not based on any particular piece of previous work, and not based on expertise alone.**
The main factors are typically more like: the editor is confident that your advisor has a good chance of having the expertise to do the review himself, or in case he doesn’t, being able to recommend someone who does; also, that he has the experience to judge *whether* he’s got the right expertise, and (ideally) the reliability to respond promptly. On the one hand, your advisor is obviously more likely to have accrued the experience-based parts of this, and for the editor to know that he has. (I.e. not that the editor thinks you *don’t* have the experience, just that they don’t *know* whether you have it.) On the other hand, the editor may well simply have thought of your advisor first, and not considered you at all, by chance and/or because they’re more familiar with your advisor’s work/reputation. Assigning referees isn’t the sort of crucial task where you exhaustively list all possibilities and carefully pick the best; you just look for *someone* suitably qualified for the review.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Having published a few things with Elsevier journals I can tell you that you often need to suggest reviewers. Your supervisor is the big cheese, so he gets put on that list.
Don't be upset about the authorship, some journals make you describe contributions to stop this, but it is very common practice, and there are comics about how much work different contributors did, depending on order and field.
I'm guessing your very much at the beginning of your career, so I would advise you to not take the order of authorship too seriously, just as the review request. Once you get a name in the field you will be contacted, should you stay in academia. Then you'll also long back for the days you weren't contacted.
Upvotes: 0
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2020/01/04
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<issue_start>username_0: It maybe sounds emotional, but I am struggling because I have been delayed two years until I found a new program that could accept me. I was kicked out because of a racist supervisor. It hurts me as in the new year everyone asks did you finish your Ph.D., I panic as I did not let anyone know. What hurts me I was a top student and get master with excellence. there are certain events in my life that derailed me, now I am approaching 29 and I didn't even make a progress in my personal life and this delay in my professional caused me self-confidence. I escape from any gathering with people know me when you finish as they did not what happens and I don't want anyone, but the result I am struggling with these thoughts and I am living alone. I don't know if anyone could face that, what you should do when you used to be successful and all of a sudden you get derailed when you approach 30.<issue_comment>username_1: Success can be interpreted in many ways. You can be a successful man without a bachelor's degree if you do something that is important for you. You have 30 years and you are doing a PhD, it's perfectly normal. Thre are people that start their PhD in their 40s or laters. Two years are nothing.
Remember that we cannot choose the life that we live, but we can adapt ourselves to get the best in our possibilities.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I was kicked out because of a racist supervisor.
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That is quite an accusation. I'd suggest that you consult an attorney, if you have any evidence that you were discriminated because of your ethnicity. There is a chance that you might resume the programme. Of course, provided that the expelling took place based on some sort of discrimination.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Being successful until almost 30 must be rough. I had failed at several things that seemed really important at the time, and learned to pick myself up and get on with life, before I was 12. Picking yourself up and carrying on after something goes wrong is an important life skill because very few people get through life without ever failing at anything. I am afraid it is one of those skills that has to be learned through experience.
If you do not yet feel comfortable discussing the situation in groups, pick one friend who is sympathetic and well-connected. Tell that friend exactly what is going on, making it clear you want them to spread the information but that it is a sore subject you do not want to discuss. You will feel more comfortable in groups that way, and get more emotional support.
As you start on the new program you will need to be able to talk about your background, or you will be very isolated. Decide in advance how much you are willing to say about what happened, and how to present it.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/04
| 1,077
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm starting as an Assistant Professor at an R1 university, and will be teaching my first undergraduate course (~2.5h/week) in the Spring of 2021. I've been asked if I have a preferred teaching time. What are some factors to consider when deciding the class time? Is there a specific time that should be avoided at all costs?<issue_comment>username_1: Some students don't like to get up early in the morning, so attendance can suffer then.
Just after lunch (or supper) can be hard as people can get drowsy.
None of that is necessarily a problem if the course is interesting and you have a way to keep them active.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This depends on several factors:
1. What is your mental rhythm during the day?
2. What kind of teaching are you doing?
3. What do you want to achieve with your teaching?
4. How do you want to balance that objective against your research time?
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> 1. What is your mental rhythm during the day?
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Are you at your best in the morning, mid-day, or in the afternoon? In other words, when are you intellectually sharpest? That's your "A" time, for doing the most difficult tasks. When are you less capable, but still pretty good? That's your "B" time, for managing important but routine tasks. When are you physically present but mentally shut down? That's your "C" time, for doing rote, house-keeping tasks that require no thought but still have to be done. Managing your A, B, and C times during the day is how we survive in an R1.
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> 2. What kind of teaching are you doing?
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Are you classes going to be lecture format? Lecture/discussion format? Are there several hundred students? or 25? Think about whether you are primarily working from a script, or working with student questions and/or student engagement that demands your full attention.
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> 3. What do you want to achieve with your teaching?
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Teaching in your first year requires a great deal of preparation time and if student ratings of your teaching are a factor in tenure decisions (that is not always the case), you will want to demonstrate at some point in the first 2-3 years that you can stimulate excitement about your course materials in the students. That connection with the students matters more to some of us than others, so consider where you want to fall on the spectrum between being 'engaging' vs. 'adequate.' That will influence whether you teach during your A, B, or C time of the day.
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> 4. How do you want to balance that objective against your research time?
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The balance in an R1 is always between teaching and research demands. Some professors will save their A and B time for thinking through their research agenda; the downside is that you are in the classroom when you are not at your best and least able to respond intelligently to smart student questions. Others will find a way to alternate days during the week, so that on some days you teach at your best time and on others dig into your research.
You are the only one who can make this decision about your "preferred" teaching times. So it is wise of you to ask the question, as it involves decisions about who you are, what your objectives are, and how you are going to balance the different demands of teaching and research at an R1. Being in your first year may mean you answer this question differently than you would if your were more advanced. It's fine to be flexible--you won't always get your preferred time, anyway, in most departments. So sometimes the question is pointless, in a practical sense. But if it helps you to define yourself as an academic professional, it is a very worthwhile consideration.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: 1. Avoid first morning classes: students miss busses, get delayed etc. The first class of the day is always the most disrupted. Moreover, it is difficult for me as an instructor to “get in teaching mode” when class starts so soon after I arrive (lest you are comfy with really early arrivals),
2. Avoid classes at meal times: students have their mind (and their stomach) focused on something else than learning,
3. Although this may not apply now, avoid back-to-back classes so you can more easily mentally switch from one topic to the next.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/05
| 3,507
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<issue_start>username_0: I earned my PhD in continental Europe. Except going to a few conferences outside Europe, my network, collaborations and events were all in Europe so I was pretty much living in a European bubble. I am still here, but now that I am in a faculty position I started collaborating with people from everywhere and travel quite a lot outside Europe. As much as I try to avoid generalizing and I am aware that much is field dependent, there are some things I noticed about the general perception of European PhD degrees (and this can probably be extended to universities in general) outside Europe:
* Students from Asia (especially from China and Korea) I met said that they prefer going to the US for a PhD, and Europe is only a second option because of less prestige.
* When I was considering applying to positions in the US, a few people told me informally that I don't have good chances as those who apply with PhD degrees from US universities, without even considering my CV.
But my experience is conflicting and makes me confused:
* I visited a few universities in the US, and noticed that people doing a PhD are treated as students rather than as employees, financially they struggle and most of them have to work on stuff other than research (taking courses, teaching). Frankly the whole system looks miserable to me. In many European countries they would be employed with a decent salary and benefits, focus only on research, have a better travel support, among other benefits. If one was given the choice between the two, I don't understand why anyone would go to the US to do a PhD instead of Europe (no hard feelings) and consider it a better option.
* Judging from job applications I get from fresh PhD graduates around the world, on average those with a PhD from the US are not better than others (I am aware that this might be biased because good PhD graduates in the US often prefer staying there).
* American PhD theses I have seen are not as good as those from Europe. For example, in the Netherlands most PhD students must publish a few journal papers before they graduate (some have 4-5, and this doesn't include conference papers). The theses are usually of high quality, and are even published as books. Looking at recent PhD theses at elite US universities like Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley and MIT, I cannot help but consider them less good and with less contribution.
This will likely strongly depend on the field, but in general I find that the average PhD experience, student wellbeing and quality of work in Europe is no worse than in the US, if not better. Yet, people worldwide seem to favor US degrees.
Is a PhD degree from a European university considered equally valuable as one from the US?
If not, why is there this gap and lower perception of PhD degrees from Europe?<issue_comment>username_1: I got my Ph.D. from a small university in Northern Ontario (Canada). I have been working in the private sector and know very little about getting into academia.
To the best of my understanding, your likelihood of success is determined by the quality of your publication record. Then the pedigree of your education comes second.
I've found there is always one-up manship that goes on between Europe and the US - and not just on the basis of academics. European patents are purportedly harder to get than those in the US.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: One simple answer is no, the two aren't equally valued, because the two are also not even regarded as equal. As a trite example, consider that many European countries (especially the German-influenced ones) are very picky about which letters you can put before or after your name. I have a dual-degree, so I am "allowed" to use Dr. as a legal part of my name in Germany; but my officemate with a solely American Ph.D. cannot. The way in which doctorates are made is also vastly different-- the U.S. requires coursework and *then* research, (often) mixed with lots of (often underpaid) teaching duties, while European doctorates typically frontload on the research and are light on teaching responsibilities. Those different experiences produce different palettes of qualificiations and skill sets. It's no wonder that if you're primarily paid to do research, you'll probably produce a better thesis than someone who had to perform teaching duties 20 hours a week.
However, there's also the danger of regarding "Europe" as a monolith. I've heard anecdotes from some Italians who struggled to get funding to finish their degrees without taking on big teaching duties. (But see comments by @MassimoOrtolano.) Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria all suffer from "brain-drain" as young folk go west for education. And I get the sense that when people say "Europe" in the context of academia, they're almost always, knowingly or unknowingly, referring to Germany, France, and the UK. Few other European entities have as much economic, political, or historical influence as those three.
Along the same lines, Europe comprises dozens of different languages and cultures. Asian students are more likely to already know English than French or German (or Dutch or Polish or Finnish...) and therefore will seek a degree in an English-speaking country. American culture and accents are more familiar to the world than, say, British or Australian, because of the movie and music industries. (The UK is also not super stable in terms of immigration standards at the moment.) Seeking a degree in the U.S. is then just plain easier-- you don't have to spend time learning a new language or adjusting to a new culture. For these students, it may be that because English is the de facto language of science, the notion of what's considered "prestigious" just followed blindly.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would say, from what I understand, the answer depends on who is doing the valuation. I have seen people claiming certain school/countries has a bias towards phds from the US. I have also heard that it was better to do your PhD in US if you want to stay in US afterwards and it was better to do your PhD in Europe if you want to stay in Europe. It is hard for me to elaborate further without expressing opinions. I think there is some truth to American Universities being more prestigious. They are much more name recognized for one reason or the other. My impression is that American Universities were significantly better as there had been huge brain drains to US and good educational acts such as the G.I. bill while Europe and other potential contenders were recovering from the WW2 and other political instabilities. Also, I would say this is a passing trend. contemporary US politics seem to go in the direction that
* makes much harder for underprivilaged Americans to get decent education
* makes it very hard for successful foreigners to come into their system
* less welcoming for academics to stay (let it be xenophobia or let it be widespread misinformation on factual topics such as climate science or medicine)
* makes harder for American Universities to compete fairly with foreign ones on graduate admission
I think what you are observing is "the heart of academia" shifting from US to Europe. European graduate programs are, I think, much better. To my experience, they are free and easy to apply, they do not require meaningless paperwork (for admission), they usually offer good benefits (healthcare, maternity benefits etc.) and many more things that you have listed. There are also some issues with the European system that still make America more of a "hot spot" when it comes to applications. The biggest example is that European system usually only gives stipends to PhD applications (and PhD programs require masters degrees) whereas the American Universities usually offer a way to earn money (even though it is seriously underpaid with little benefits). People who wish to apply abroad after their bachelors can not apply the European programs unless they have sufficent external funding for a masters first. It seems like there are some German innitives dealing with this issue (DAAD, Berlin Mathematical School etc.).
In short, I believe the American Universities and their PhD programs were far better. Hence they have a huge name recognition and prestige attached to their names. However, I think currently they are equal to sub-par with European programs and they are overvalued with very few exceptions. It usually takes a few generations for peoples' perceptions to change. I think overtime, with this trend, American Universities and their PhD programs will be valued more according to their actual quality (at least by foreigners). But in the meantime we have overvalued schools/programs living off their former success. You may also check [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/141590/are-phds-from-former-warsaw-pact-countries-recognized-in-north-america/141591#141591) for my opinion on the subject with expilict examples.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There's a pretty huge variation in (objective) quality of Ph.D.'s in the same University, with the same supervisor even. And pretty huge variation in perceived quality on top of that. So whatever is any objective or perceived difference in "average reputation", conditioned on U.S. vs Europe, it is less than the variance inside those populations.
What is true, I think, is that people love making value judgements based on perceived ranking of institution and (inside the field) on the advisor. The very top universities in the world, though of course there is not universal agreement what they are, have pretty global name recognition. But once you go below that top tier, awareness of who's who gets a lot less outside of home continent, overall and in many disciplines. Being in North America, I'm likely to know what's 2nd tier vs 3rd tier around here (and I mean that without criticism of either one), while I won't have a clue between 2 Italian universities, for instance. I expect someone there will have a firm opinion about that, but much less clue about University of [U.S. State #1] vs University of [U.S. State #2]. This will result in a "reversion to the mean" bias in my impression of candidates from far away, unless I take the time to look into their specific situation. And since we're all trying to hire "the top", reversion to the mean bias is a negative bias in this instance.
Finally, it's worth noting that the conditions for study at U.S. Universities actually vary widely. Yes, you are more a student than an employee. But (this is 20 yrs ago) I got paid a very decent living stipend in return for teaching 3 hrs a week, rest research; others might have much higher and precarious teaching loads and a less good stipend; and in some fields you pay high tuition and scrape together a living from non-University sources. So I don't think you can generalize meaningfully.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In mathematics a European PhD seems to be more valuable than the US degree *as far as the research potential is concerned*. The US degree gives you a noticeable advantage when it comes to the consideration of your teaching record *in the US*. For some reason the American students are viewed as "special" (though after 20+ years of work in the US I failed to figure out what exactly is so special about them: they cheat just as much as we did in Russia, they are just as susceptible to brainwashing as we were (though the content of the brainwashing is different) and they have about the same abilities and levels of motivation on average and in the extremes). So, if you have a US PhD, this usually means that you have a couple of years on your American teaching record as a TA and that is often highly valued nowadays whether justifiably or not.
Another advantage of the US degree (if you want to work in the US) is that you automatically get some connections (through your advisor, conference attendances, seminar talks, etc.) so you are not a total stranger never heard of before when it comes to the job search and, under the usual situation when you are one of several OK candidates in the pool but not a superstar, this gives you a higher chance to get selected not in the first round, but in the second or the third (once I cannot get somebody from the top of the list, I'd rather vote for someone familiar to me than for a grey horse when there is no big difference in credentials).
The US system may look miserable or great depending on the university, your adviser, and the source of funding. If your adviser values you highly and can throw some money from his or her grant into the game, you may have a really great life. If not and you are at some teaching-oriented college, expect to be treated as a cheap work force.
That is (my impression of) the US situation. If you want to end up in some other country, listen to what people from that country say.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I'll add my 2 cents and address this point of yours, which the other answers have not really talked about yet.
>
> Students from Asia (especially from China and Korea) I met said that they prefer going to the US for a PhD, and Europe is only a second option because of less prestige.
>
>
>
1. There are more "big name" and "elite" universities in the US (and the UK) than Europe. In continental Europe, basically the only places with an "elite" ring to their name are ETH Zurich, ENS, and the Max Planck institutes. Compare that with all the Ivy League universities, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, etc. The US also has a huge list of mid-level universities like UCLA, UIUC, Duke, Northwestern, etc. that also outrank pretty much anywhere in (continental) Europe, as far as global name recognition is concerned. Obviously, this does not reflect that research is better in the US than in Europe, but for various historical reasons we are in this situation where essentially all the "elite" universities in the world are clustered in the US (and the rest of the anglosphere)
2. In much of the developing world (and even in the more wealthy parts of East Asia), the US is very much still seen as the land of opportunity, to an extent that is perhaps hard for Europeans to understand. The US is seen as the place to go, if you are talented and ambitious and seek to advance your career. Canada, Australia, or the UK, would be seen as the next best option. If you go to Europe, you would be seen as someone who wanted to go to a western country/ a developed country, but couldn't make it to the US. I am not saying that this view is correct, but that is the way things are.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently got the news that my prof and his colleagues were got many grants/funding.
Is it common to write them a congratulation?
I prepared this simple sentences, how should I wish him more success in the future for his ever growing research group?
>
> Congratulations on your recent achievements.
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: If you feel like congratulating your professor, go ahead and do it. He might appreciate it, or in the worst case he will ignore because he has too many emails in his inbox. But I cannot imagine a scenario where the professor would take such a congratulation email negatively.
As with most emails to busy people: keep the email short and to the point. Just one sentence like the one you wrote, though maybe using a more specific term than "your recent achievements":
>
> Congratulations on receiving Grant X[!]
>
>
>
where the use of the exclamation mark [!] depends on where you are and what you have seen your colleagues do in emails (and also on whether you want to use it of course).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends a lot on your relation with your prof. I'd say something like "I spotted you got the xxx grant - congratulations!" when meeting them on the floor, or add something similar at the end of an email that you would have sent anyway (planning the next meeting, asking for feedback, etc) - don't overthink it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If you are in a situation where you are likely to meet face to face then a spoken word is also an option. In fact, a colleague would be most likely to offer congratulations in an elevator ride or if they meet informally in a coffee lounge. The latter can lead to a longer conversation about how you are doing and your plans.
For a student, if you meet in their office for another reason, you can add something at the end of the meeting like "Oh by the way,..."
Pre-COVID this used to be pretty easy.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Stay out of it - it's not your business, even if there may be something in it for your research group: he will announce it in his own time to you all.
How do you know this anyhow ?
Propogating rumours is not something you want to get a name for.
Neither do you want to be the type who wants success by association.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose I would like to do an experiment that compares two existing methods for solving a certain problem, and decides which method is better (in some predefined metric).
I can start with a hypothesis: "Method A performs at least as good as method B", and then do the experiment and refute the hypothesis by showing that method B performs better and the difference is statistically significant.
Alternatively, I can just do the experiment without any preliminary hypothesis, and find out - again - that method B performs better and the difference is statistically significant.
Is there any advantage to the first approach? Why do I need to start with a hypothesis if I end up doing the same experiment and getting to the same result?<issue_comment>username_1: It is not necessarily true that you will draw the same conclusions when doing experiments with or without a hypothesis. This is because a good hypothesis contains an expectation of the outcome which you can and usually will formulate - in text or in thoughts - due to your expertise. So you already have an idea what to look for. The conclusions you draw from the data is therefore biased by your previous knowledge. You might even overlook some other unexpected important result due to this bias.
The last sentence already tells you how you can describe results you obtain without a previous hypothesis: They are **chance encounters** you find when carefully analyzing your data you collected for another purpose.
You could in theory of course collect data without any intended purpose. However, people usually prefer to follow a systematic approach with hypotheses allowing them to plan their research. And this is the **primary purpose of hypotheses: Planning the research.** The necessary experiments are then deduced from the hypotheses. Therefore it is next to impossible that you would perform the same experiments with and without a hypothesis.
But results cannot be planned, and chance encounters are not so rare. Then often a new hypothesis is formulated afterwards which is used to generate some common thread e.g. in a publication.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Your question itself is very hypothetical, because as soon as you need funding/grants or conduct experiments with costly infrastructure you have to argue for others or your self, if it is reasonable what you are doing.
Just comparing two methods and looking what is better afterwards is not how planned research is working and experiments like hubble space telescope or CERN particle accelerator could have been never started.
If your "experiment" is computation time like pointed to in the comment of Siren, then it's up to you but maybe also up to computation infrastructure you need to start with a hypothesis. But I doubt as a physicist that CS is less hypothetical than natural sciences, because you can do very much cheap computation experiments and need a reason to start a specific one. So you also end/start with a hypothesis before doing the computation.
Research is planful thinking, what you describe would be random trial and error, this is also practiced for instance in superconductivity research, labs put together for decades random materials to test for high-temperature superconductivity because this was/is the only way without a theoretical base for long time. But you only get funding for such experiments, if at all, as long as the topic is trendy.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: It depends on the type of research you’re doing.
================================================
There are three different general types of research: descriptive/qualitative, scientific/quantitative, and artefact-oriented. Only scientific/quantitative research uses hypothesis testing, and all three approaches are used in the IT space depending on what your research question is.
Artefact-oriented research involves the creation of an artefact and its evaluation against the state of the art, often using a methodology like the Design Science Research Methodology. Qualitative research involves gathering descriptive data that you then analyse to extract meaning from; in the IT space, it often involves asking users things like “what did you like/dislike about X” and then applying techniques like thematic analysis or coding to the results. Scientific/quantitative approaches involve creating a hypothesis, gathering numerical data, then performing statistical analysis on the data to prove or disprove your hypothesis.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: You fail to recognize you already *had* a hypothesis. You have method A and method B, so clearly both are important And you knew that *a priori*.
That said, you can remain agnostic as to the direction or non-direction of the effect (better? Worse?) - and that is the difference between one-tailed and two-tailed tests.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: In some sense, there is always a hypothesis, but this is not always a useful way to look at the situation.
A key thing in experimental work in **computer science** is that the **specific results rarely matter**. We are measuring the performance of implemented methods, but the implementations are imperfect realizations of theoretical methods, which in turn are imperfect realizations of some key ideas. We are measuring the implementations, but we usually want to judge the ideas. If the ideas are worthy, somebody may eventually come up with a better realization of them.
There are often **huge systematic biases** in the measurements. The implementation of one method may be of higher quality than the other. Or maybe one method is a straightforward realization of the ideas, while another contains many tweaks and details that improve its performance. Or when we are interested in computational performance, the relative results may depend on hardware. Then we are measuring the performance on yesterday's hardware, but we are really trying to make predictions about the performance on unknown future hardware.
Because of the systematic biases, experimental computer science is often only interested in **large differences in performance**. If you have to think about statistical significance to see the difference, the difference is probably not significant. In such situations, the choice of the method often depends on other factors, such as the ease of implementing, using, and understanding the method or adapting it to solve a slightly different task.
While statistical significance has a role in experimental computer science, it is not as useful as in natural sciences. After all, statistical significance is a tool for dealing with random variation in measurements. But if we already know the specific causal mechanism behind the method, and if we treat the **data as a fixed quantity** that can be reduced to a set of combinatorial and statistical properties, there should not be much random variation left. If we see significant unexplained variation in measurements, it often indicates that we have not found the relevant properties of the data, or that there are some issues in the method, the implementation, or the experimental setup.
So what does this mean in practice? Often the first step is **simply running the methods** with various kinds of data to see what happens. This may already give decisive results. One method may be consistently better than the other, or maybe the performance of the methods is similar on all datasets. In such cases, we probably want to repeat the experiments in a more rigorous manner, but there is usually no need for formulating and testing hypotheses.
On the other hand, if the relative performance of the methods varies significantly from dataset to dataset, it probably depends on the **properties of the data**. Finding the relevant properties is clearly a place for hypothesis-driven work. Or maybe the **results were not what we expected**. Maybe we expected, based on our theoretical understanding of the method, that the method should perform well with certain kinds of data, but that did not happen. The issue may be with the implementation, the experimental setup, or the data – or even with the theoretical understanding. In such situations, it can be helpful to clearly formulate the hypotheses before testing them.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: **Yes**, for empirical research you should have a hypothesis. While review papers don't necessarily *need* one, you should still have one to outline the expectations going into it based on the literature. I would say "check the style guidelines" but I have never come across one that says a hypothesis is either optional or not required.
Some exceptions to this have been noted in other answers, but they are by-and-large just that, exceptions. I do touch on one potential exception later on.
If you are doing *empirical research*, a hypothesis is important for a number of reasons. If you absolutely have no preconceived idea regarding the outcome— which I find highly unlikely—a null hypothesis that there will be no observed difference is the go to here.
* **Context:** A hypothesis clearly defines the context of the experiment, *"what it is"* that we're looking to determine, it's *why* you're doing the experiment. Yes, you will have a chance to postulate on observed phenomenon and discuss the results and their implications later in the paper, but clearly defining the scope in relation to a hypothesis is crucial to a quality paper.
* **Bias:** When it comes time for peer review it is important to look for and consider biases in experimental design and outcomes. With no hypothesis—unless the abstract/introduction is *so specific* so that it might as well be one—there's no indication as to the perspective of the researcher. This is particularly important in clinical fields and other traditional sciences where there are real, sometimes large-scale human/environmental impact, but new(er) fields like data-science and A.I. are rapidly having as much if not more of an affect on society.
Even in validation studies where new equipment or methodology is being tested, you should state the expectations and whether they're based on similar models, testing, etc. This is really the only type of paper I would say *could* be an exception. Sometimes a papers only purpose is to answer the question: "Does this work?"
There is a peer responsibility to make sure conclusions and solutions resulting from empirical research is neutral in all regards except for the variable being tested. A strong hypothesis (or an introduction answering the "why?" and at least touching on expectations, if applicable) is where it starts.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I have used github code for my research paper. But that code comes with no license. I have asked author to add license to code but he has not replied so far. Will this be a problem for me in future? I have not intentions for owning that code. I have just used that code without any changing and i would like to cite that repository link in my paper giving credit to original developer.
Please give your valuable suggestions<issue_comment>username_1: This topic is treated in [this answer](https://opensource.stackexchange.com/a/5874/16807) on Open Source Stack Exchange. I reproduce it here because it might also be relevant for Academia. [The Open Source.SE answer](https://opensource.stackexchange.com/a/5874/16807) points to [GitHub's "No License" page](https://choosealicense.com/no-permission/):
>
> If you find software that doesn’t have a license, that generally means you have no permission from the creators of the software to use, modify, or share the software. Although a code host such as GitHub may allow you to view and fork the code, this does not imply that you are permitted to use, modify, or share the software for any purpose.
>
>
> Your options:
>
>
> * **Ask the maintainers nicely to add a license.** Unless the software includes strong indications to the contrary, lack of a license is probably an oversight. If the software is hosted on a site like GitHub, open an issue requesting a license and include a link to this site. If you’re bold and it’s fairly obvious what license is most appropriate, open a pull request to add a license – see “suggest this license” in the sidebar of the page for each license on this site (e.g., MIT).
> * **Don’t use the software.** Find or create an alternative that is under an open source license.
> * **Negotiate a private license.** Bring your lawyer.
>
>
>
Note in the second line that you do not even have permission to **use** the software. Unfortunately, this means that, in order to be safe, you should either wait for the developers to reply to you and add the license, or write your own code.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: There's two different things to consider:
* Academic honesty - for this a citation will be fine. The emphasis here is on not claiming credit for the ideas of others, and by citing the repository appropriately you've done this. There's a slight concern here that if the code turns out not to be licensed in a way that's possible for people to use then it's harder for people to reproduce your results, but that's no different to making use of a proprietary tool (which is considered acceptable).
* Copyright/licencing/"are you legally allowed to use the code". I suspect the answer is "not really, but practically you will most likely get away with it". I also think this isn't really on-topic for this site. If it turns out you can't the consequences will likely be having to pay some compensation rather than an academic problem.
Probably the best solution would be to reimplement the algorithm in the repository yourself *and* cite the original source, thereby giving yourself the best chance of being legally fine while fulfilling your commitment to honestly acknowledging your sources. Note that this isn't the same as mechanically retyping their code - you should be aiming for a more high-level reimplementation.
---
**Small addendum:** it might be worth considering the source of the code. My experience is that a small-scale programs written for academic work (e.g. a data analysis algorithm from a mainly experimental group) are published without a license and without anyone ever really thinking about a license. The authors are generally very happy if the code is used because it shows someone's interested and gets a citation, but aren't hugely interested in formal licensing (which might involve painful interactions with university IP departments or similar). If the code comes from this kind of source then they'd probably be happy for you to use it (with a citation). This obviously doesn't provide legal clarity, but might give some re-assurance.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently a year-one history PhD student at a UK University. I didn't get any fund from the school or outside. I just supported my study by myself relying on my personal savings and some helps from my parents.But the tuitions fees for international students in the UK are very high. The school cannot provide enough financial support for my outside research in China, the US and some other places. I feel difficult to continue my PhD now and I want to find a new institution which can provide me with a fund. But I have no ideas about how to talk with my current supervisor who is so kind as to help me to improve my research proposal for year one. Also, I am not sure the supervisor's attitude to the student like me in the new school. Can you give some advice for this? Thanks.<issue_comment>username_1: You seem to be in a box that is difficult to escape. You need funding and it sounds like you can't continue without it. So, think about that first, not about changing places.
I think the way to approach it in the short term is to sit down with your advisor (i.e. face to face) and say just that: I need funding or can't continue here.
After the conversation starts let it flow. Give the options you think you have, but ask if there are other options. The advisor probably has more experience with this.
Perhaps the advisor can either find you that funding, or suggest a way, or suggest a better place to continue your education. They can be a resource in figuring out what to do. Perhaps there are TA/RA positions open. Perhaps there are grants that apply.
If that fails, then look for another place, but make sure you have adequate funding before you jump.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I sympathize, but why did you start this PhD without funding in the first place?
Imho the problem is not about staying or leaving, it's about having a real funding plan in any case: Finding funding for a PhD in history is not easy, but in order to do a PhD one needs at least 4 years during which one has to pay living costs and university fees, possibly also research costs such as travel and conferences fees. These expenses are fairly predictable and it wouldn't be very wise to keep burning your savings (or your parents' savings) without any guarantee that there's enough to reach the end of the PhD. In other words: be careful about the [sunk cost effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost).
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been told that private high schools would likely hire this candidate,
* MSc/PhD in physics (but no teaching certificate or degree, just TA duties in undergrad and grad school),
and that public schools would likely hire this candidate,
* BS/MSc in physics with teaching certificate/degree on top of TA duties
Is this oversimplification legitimate? Can a PhD get a job at a private high school without teaching certificate? Is the same possible at a public?
If a teaching certificate is indeed a prerequisite for both, what type of programs award these degrees/teaching certificates and are they quite expensive?
How does the salary (say in ... New England) compare between these two people? More specifically, how great is the increase in salary for a candidate with a PhD over an MSc at a private school, and similarly for a public school. What benefits (on-campus housing for private versus unions for public, etc) do each have?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it is an oversimplification overall. First, state laws vary about who can teach, and some laws apply to private schools as well. You may need certification or not to be hired, but in some places you will need to seek it afterwards. Most schools need to be certified by the state themselves, so the rules need to be followed.
Whether having been a TA or not may make little difference. What secondary school teachers do and what TAs do can be very different.
Nearly everywhere teachers need to do some kind of continuing education (to maintain certification). That might be in field, or it might be pedagogy, but it is usually a requirement. Having an advanced degree might alter the equation, but probably not erase the requirement.
Public schools aren't all unionized. Private schools don't all provide housing and few provide housing for everyone.
You probably don't *need* a doctorate anywhere in the US to be hired, but, some top secondary private schools value them.
Salary by region is probably a poor metric. If salaries are low, it is also likely that local living expenses are low as well. Some places excepted, of course, such as anywhere near the California Bay Area. But even New England isn't uniform. Boston is pretty expensive.
As for salary for an individual, the doctorate probably plays a relatively small part. The institution is looking for people who will serve their students well. Having a doctorate adds a bit of prestige to a school, but not necessarily an improvement in service to the students. They will look at the whole picture, as would any employer. Experience and letters of recommendation might weigh more than the degree.
But it is the *complete* picture and a judgement that you will fit in well that is more important than the degree.
After you are hired, your advance in salary depends little on the degrees you came in with. And most schools are constrained financially, both public and private.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In principle in public schools you need to be certified. In practice the shortage of STEM teachers means that you can sometimes get hired without this, but then in the first year you must complete the requirements for certification. This is the model that programs like Teach for America or NYC Teaching Fellows use.
To earn a teaching certificate you need to do research on your state to find the approved programs. Generally this will be some form of Master's degree (MAT, MA, MEd). Many state colleges offer these programs and they will usually have the lowest tuition as well as good placement records because they work with nearby school districts. If you are currently a doctoral student you should look to see if your university has a school of education. If you are in STEM and agree to teach in a high need school you are potentially eligible for various scholarships.
Private schools are very variable in what they require, and they have a lot of autonomy. However you need to be a good teacher even if you lack formal training.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I was surprised to see the description given for "liberal arts education" in Wikipedia as follows:
>
> Liberal arts today consists of four types of areas: the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Its central academic disciplines are physics, biology, philosophy, logic, linguistics, literature, history, political science, psychology, mathematics, and many others.
>
> [Liberal arts education (Wikipedia article)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education)
>
>
>
I'm obviously talking about the modern usage of "liberal arts", not the ancient or historical term ([trivium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivium) and [quadrivium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrivium)). I had in mind something more akin to humanities, so excluding natural sciences like physics, chemistry, even astronomy. My conception seems to be right at least by some definitions of the term. The first result I get when I search for "liberal arts" is a definition by Oxford Dictionaries:
>
> North American
>
> Arts subjects such as literature and history, as distinct from science and technology.
>
> [Oxford Dictionaries at lexico.com](https://www.lexico.com/definition/liberal_arts)
>
>
>
It's defined by Collins as:
>
> (Education) the fine arts, humanities, sociology, languages, and literature. Often shortened to: arts
>
> [Collins English Dictionary](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/liberal+arts)
>
>
>
It's possible that the British English definition and/or the meaning of the term outside North America or USA is different. Two of the most common online American dictionaries seem to emphasize "general knowledge" as opposed to professional knowledge:
>
> 2 : college or university studies (such as language, philosophy, literature, abstract science) intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities (such as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills
>
> [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberal%20arts)
>
>
> pl.n.
>
> 1. Academic disciplines, including literature, history, languages, philosophy, mathematics, and general sciences, viewed in contrast to professional and technical disciplines.
>
> [American Heritage Dictionary](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/liberal+arts)
>
>
>
I'm not sure whether things like physics and chemistry fall within the American dictionary definitions above, but the Wikipedia article clearly says that the natural sciences and life sciences are part of the liberal arts, and gives examples of physics, chemistry, geology, biology and neuroscience.
[Liberal arts education: Modern usage (Wikipedia article)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education#Modern_usage)
Notwithstanding that many American dictionaries don't mention the natural sciences by name, at least the one below does:
>
> n.pl.
>
> 1. academic college courses providing general knowledge and comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.
>
> [Random House Kerneman Webster's College Dictionary](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/liberal+arts)
>
>
>
Does anyone know whether even in America there's consensus among academics and institutions that "liberal arts" include things like physics, chemistry, geology or neuroscience?<issue_comment>username_1: There is little consensus, I think. But mostly it is a matter of convenience and organization at colleges and universities. I studied mathematics. I earned both a BA and an MA at different places, one of them an R1 university. Just by asking, the degrees could have been designated BS and MS. Other places the math department is in the School of Engineering. But that is just an organizational convenience, though it might let some departments share faculty more easily when it comes to budgets and such. Some places CS is part of the math department and is a "liberal art". Other places it is part of an engineering discipline. Still other places it is different from both.
But in the US, at a liberal arts college, the student is expected to gain a broad and well rounded education. It will include both literature and science, even though it might focus somewhat on a single area.
But, your question, itself, details that there is no consensus on this.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I don’t think there’s a complete consensus, and my feeling is that outside of the usage “liberal arts college” (or SLAC) the phrase “liberal arts” is going out of common usage. The meaning of both the word “liberal” and “arts” are not their modern usages and so most people don’t understand the term. On top of that both words are unpopular or at least controversial with parents, and so it’s not great marketing.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I know that in the United Kingdom I can sit examinations equivalent to GCSE/A-levels without actually doing the years required in a school or other institution.
I want to know if there are other exams that I can sit that are considered higher than A-levels and I am given a certified certificate of qualification, without spending time in any institution, all that is necessary is to arrange payment for this exam at a centre. And if I pass then I receive the qualification.<issue_comment>username_1: Speaking about education in the UK generally, the answer is probably **no**. The A-level exams correspond to [qualification level](https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels) 3, and anything above A-levels is considered higher education: bachelor degrees cover Levels 4-6, master degree is level 7, and doctorate is level 8. I do not know any HE provider in the UK awarding HE degrees by examination only.
Having said that, the [Open University](http://www.open.ac.uk/) provides many courses using distance learning, which do not require students to attend the campus, except for a couple of short periods each year.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are two sorts of qualification you can take that go beyond A-level without become "higher education". These are [GCE Advanced Extension Papers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Extension_Award) and [STEP papers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Term_Examination_Paper). Both of these used to be available in a large range of subjects, but as far as I am aware Maths is only subject available now in both types of exam.
Both are primarily used as university entrance exams, but at least for STEP, some people take then for "fun".
I've no idea how you would go about taking them if you were not assocaited with a school or FE college though.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I just started a new job teaching at a university last September; because of that, I’m also in a long-distance relationship. (We’re not married or even engaged at this point.) My partner is also in my field and has applied for a job in my department which would start this September. My question is: is it out-of-line for me to contact one of my colleagues on the hiring committee, explain the situation, and ask about the status of my partner’s application? Obviously, since I am a brand new hire, I don’t want to be overstepping my bounds here, and I’m unsure if I have any real “say” in the matter to begin with.
Any advice would be appreciated!<issue_comment>username_1: Almost everywhere the proper response to such a question would be "no comment." It is improper for a potential employer to comment on an applicant to anyone not part of the hiring process. So, I strongly recommend that you don't ask. It will probably be an embarrassment and might be seen as interference.
Giving a recommendation, however, is a slightly different matter, as long as you reveal the relationship. But whoever is responsible for hiring might have to disregard any such recommendation unless you make it formally as part of the process.
But even a proper recommendation is problematic, since your opinion won't be considered independent. Your partner would do best to use independent recommendations.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no harm in informing the hiring committee that your significant other is applying. Even better if you can do so informally (and it is better coming from you than from your partner).
Most academics can relate to the plights of the 2-body problem, and resolving it for its employees benefits the department (e.g. it increases the chances of retaining you, and an employee not dealing with the 2-body problem is likely to be more productive.)
The hiring committee may or may not take this in consideration, but it is unlikely to be held against you or your partner. You can, of course, tell them what you think of your partner's academic qualifications, but be prepared to be taken with a grain of salt.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> My question is: is it out-of-line for me to contact one of my colleagues on the hiring committee, explain the situation, and ask about the status of my partner’s application?
>
>
>
**This is definitely out-of-line** --- any contact with the hiring committee to attempt to influence them in favour of hiring your partner is contrary to the assurances that universities make to applicants to hire on merit. If you do this, you will rightly be seen as attempting to influence the hiring process based on considerations where you have a personal interest. Secondarily, the hiring committee probably has no *right* to give any information to you on the status of any person's application, since you are not part of the hiring process (and if you were, you would need to declare a conflict of interest).
I would strongly recommend you don't raise this at all, particularly if you are a new staff member. Depending on the particular rules of your institution, there is a possibility that this could be considered a breach of university rules, or even a form of employee misconduct, which is not a good start to your position. Please bear a thought for the other applicants for the position, who are not dating an academic in your department. These people want fair consideration on their merits, without any "whispers in the ear" of the hiring committee.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/05
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it possible?, do Universities recognize the knowledge you have and believe in your billingual skills in the field that you are studying, or is it completely not being acknowledged, and require you to retake the degree in the language you want to get Master's degree as if you were without the degree in the first place?<issue_comment>username_1: Unless you are specifically studying something really English related, such as English Literature, there is no reason that language matters at all. Math is the same in Britain as it is in Spain. It isn't an issue.
But even if you were studying, for example, the foundations underlying the English language, there is no reason you couldn't do something similar for German or Swahili.
In the US, also, there is a fairly clear break between undergraduate and graduate education. Interesting changes of field are possible. Other places it might be a bit more constrained due to tighter integration of the degrees.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no need to repeat the degree. Just as non-English-speaking students can do graduate studies in the US after passing the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), other countries also have language proficiency exams. For example, [Germany](https://www.studying-in-germany.org/proof-of-language-proficiency-german-english/) has the "Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache" (TDAF). When you apply for your master's degree, they may require this test or something else (e.g., an interview) to prove your fluency.
The more subtle point is that not all degrees are interchangeable. As my answer in [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/138775/how-to-pursue-an-md-phd-in-france-after-bs-from-the-us/138782#138782) question points out, there may be a whole procedure to verify that your degree is compatible with the foreign one. This is unlikely to be an issue if you go to a reputable English-language school, but you may want to do further research before committing to this.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2020/01/05
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm not quite sure where this question fits, but is it possible in any field to get funded while you are abroad? As a post-doc is it possible to get funded say while you work remotely? I'm mainly talking in the EU.
This is purely hypothetical I'm just curious if this would ever be possible for any scientist. Maybe more possible for a theorist, someone who doesn't need a lab or equipment.<issue_comment>username_1: Here are some examples where it might be possible:
You could probably get funding for for work at an EU university that required, say, archaeological work in Thailand. There are lots of similar situations. Some fields are like that.
Some scholars need access to library materials that are not portable. Ancient Maya stelae for example. You have to go there to read them. Manuscripts in monasteries, ...
But even a student of mathematics might need to go to say the US for a while to work with someone there. But the association would remain with the EU university.
People all over the world go to CERN for research, but maintain their affiliation and funding with the home university.
But, probably not, if the goal is just to see the world. Not on a post-doc, anyway. Likewise if the goal is just to avoid moving from where you currently are.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Postdoctoral positions usually (always?) come with a salary. So yes, for all academic disciplines, postdoctoral researchers are funded. The funds can come from your PI grant (in which case getting funds is not your problem), or from a university directly, or from a funding agency. The rules and regulations of providers vary widely: many large agencies make no restrictions based on nationality, but there are also many national agencies offering funding for candidates from EU or from a particular country only. Some funding streams are reserved for women or under-represented groups.
Distant work is not very usual in academia. Most universities will have strict rules saying that all full-time staff, postdocs included, must relocate to where the University is. Exceptions are possible in case of fieldwork or project work with partners overseas. However, if you want to get a postdoctoral position in country X and continue to live in your home in country Y, it may often become a dealbreaker.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2020/01/05
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<issue_start>username_0: When a graduate student, or PI does government funded (NSF/NIH/etc) research at a US R1 institution who owns the data?
What portion of the copyright for the research data does the graduate student have and what portion does the PI have? My understanding is that graduate students are supposed to be listed as co-inventors on resulting patents meaning that they *should* own some portion of the copyright? Can a graduate student deny a PI access on copyright grounds?
My interest comes from a debate we recently had between two PIs where one refused his copyright for our collaborative research results (some anonymized medical outcomes data). Apparently, PIs can refuse to their copyrights to each other, but can graduate students?<issue_comment>username_1: For the NSF, specifically, see: <https://www.nsf.gov/od/ogc/intelprop.jsp>
For NIH, see: <https://grants.nih.gov/policy/intell-property.htm>
Each agency will have a published policy. Just go look for it. Or consult an IP lawyer.
But note that acknowledgement for something and ownership of it are quite different things.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: **No one.**
The short answer is that “data” as the term is understood by US law is not covered by copyright, thus in popular parlance it is not “owned” by anyone. If you google “can data be copyrighted” you will find various articles explaining this in more detail. Here is [one](https://libguides.library.kent.edu/data-management/copyright).
The longer answer is that, as seems to often be the case in matters of law, the legal meaning of “data” seems to differ slightly from how people use this word in normal speech. What academics might refer to as “research data” may also include aspects of what is referred to in some sources as “presentation” or “compilation” of data, and to the extent that this is the case, copyright might apply to it after all. In that case, the copyright would be owned by some combination of the PI, graduate students, the institution that employs them, and any funding agencies who might have funded some of the research, depending on the policies of the institution and funding agencies. For example, at my own university, researchers own the copyright to the work products they create.
I also notice you are mixing up copyright and patent rights by mentioning them together as if they were the same thing. They are not. Data is not a form of invention so I don’t see how patent rights would apply to it. But more generally, if a graduate student and PI come up with any patentable inventions, those would be subject to quite different rules and policies than those covering copyright. For example, at my own university, patent rights for researchers’ inventions will generally belong to the university, though the inventors can receive a share of any royalties generated from their inventions. As far as I know this applies equally to graduate students and regular faculty. But you should check the policy at your own institution.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Particularly when you are government funded (at least in the US), you are merely the data *steward*. If asked for your data, you are obliged to make every effort to share.
Inventions, IP, patents etc are different, and usually concern what the data means or how it can be used. Here you must engage with university legal counsel to reach an agreement because usually the institution owns your IP by default when the work leading to it was conducted while under employ.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/06
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<issue_start>username_0: I rarely see academic prizes mentioned on academic CVs. I suppose many students who are completeting a PhD also have a few of such prizes. I am thinking, amongst others, about
* best MSc dissertation,
* top of year,
* top mark in a certain module,
but also about
* scholarships,
* reduction of tuition fees, etc.
Often, these prizes (or medals/certificates) have some fancy names and are awarded in combination with some money. Yet CVs of academics rarely mention such prizes.
Is simply no one interested, do just too many people in academia have such prizes? Are they regarded as meaningless (compared to papers/reference letters/attended summer schools/teaching experience)?<issue_comment>username_1: As for all CVs, they get less important in time. If you're applying for graduate study straight after undergraduate, they're good to list. Your acheivements at this point are likely to be from academic performance, rather than from independent work. When you've completed the graduate programme, no one will care that you came top in `Module X` in your second year of undergraduate. If the scholarships and fee reductions were based on academic merit, then list them, bearing the same in mind.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This isn't true.
Awards such as top of the class ("Bronze Tablets") are often listed by the GPA under the "education" heading.
Undergraduates, especially in engineering, will often include "relevant" or "selected" course work that will highlight interesting projects.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Your observation is contradicted by virtually every researcher's CV I get when assessing grant proposals (natural sciences). People list their prizes as appropriate for their level (a professor will not list anything that happened during undergraduate studies, for example). The [CV of Ulrich Schubert](https://www.bcp.fu-berlin.de/en/chemie/chemie/forschung/OrgChem/schalley/SupraChem-2015/InvitedSpeakers/Pics/Schubert_CV.pdf) is quite representative here. As he is one of the most cited chemists in the world, it is out of question that he is an outstanding researcher. Still, he lists the prizes most important to him.
Also at conferences, when speakers are introduced, the chair quite regularly mentions some important prizes the speaker was awarded. So prizes are considered important.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: A department will only issue one *best MSc dissertation* and *top of year* award per year. Perhaps even to the same student. So, the number of such awards are scarce and shouldn't be expected of every student. Of course, lesser awards, such as *top mark in a certain module*, are more common, but they're less prestigious and may be omitted. *Scholarships* or *fee reductions* are only relevant if awarded on the basis of academic merit (and perhaps some cases I've neglected). So, to answer:
>
> do just too many people in academia have such prizes?
>
>
>
I think the converse is true: (Significant) **Prizes are rare, so don't appear on the majority of CVs**.
---
From comments:
>
> Would you say...prizes are even rare amongst PhD students? ...surely, graduating as top of the year is not *that* special?
>
>
>
PhD students that finished top of their year are still special: Such students are a minority in each PhD intake, since *Number of departments worldwide (making top of year awards) < total PhD intake (per year)*.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2020/01/06
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm taking an independent phys ed course at my local university. I'm also currently studying for the GRE and I'm hoping to start grad school here in a totally different department in fall 2021. There's a professor I really like and have a good connection with here so I'm pretty set on this university.
The instructor cancelled the course after one class due to low enrollment, and the university is saying that since it started, it's too late for a refund on the $650 fee. I've called and tried to get a refund but their HR/registration department won't budge.
I paid with a credit card and I'm considering doing a chargeback. Would this hurt my chances at getting into the grad school later on, and I should just let myself be robbed?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Would this hurt my chances at getting into the grad school later on?
>
>
>
Practices vary, but probably not.
>
> Will it hurt me later on?
>
>
>
Very likely. You probably will not be able to complete a graduate degree if the university thinks you owe money.
>
> I should just let myself be robbed?
>
>
>
No, you should insist on a refund. Ask the instructor and their department to help you get a refund. Ask the registration department again. Ask to speak to the head of that department.
HR is probably the wrong department to contact.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: HR is not your friend. I'd recommend talking to any or all of the following people:
* The instructor who cancelled the class
* The department chair/boss of the instructor who cancelled the class (after trying the instructor first)
* The undergraduate ombudsman
* The Dean of Students
You should also figure out what, from the university's point of view, "the instructor cancelled the class" means. Does the class appear on the university's list of currently ongoing classes? If no, talk to the registration department or to general university administrators. If yes, then talking to the instructor or their immediate boss is more likely to be helpful.
The ombudsman (if such a position exists at your university) can be a wonderful resource. They will not intervene directly, but they will give general advice and explain how the university's bureaucracy works.
University bureaucracies can be infuriating. Good luck!
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: When I was an undergrad I had some similar problem. At my school there was a special student advocacy office called the "Student Conflict Resolution Center" that was able to do... well, exactly what the name says. They were tasked with helping students navigate this kind of bureaucratic headache (among many other things). I explained the problem to them, they listened and understood it, and then they fixed it in a matter of days. It as a big weight off my shoulders.
You might want to see if you have a similar resource at your school. If you do, definitely get in touch with them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Asking your bank for a chargeback may be a technical solution to the problem, but it is not a real solution. You may get your money back but if the University thinks you still owe them, they will hold your certificates until the debt is settled.
Consider shifting your focus from the money to the actual source of disagreement. Ultimately, it is a question of who is responsible for the cancellation of the course. From the first glance, it seems obvious that the University should accept the responsibility and refund the students, at least from what I can read in your question. But it's not happened yet. You need to understand better the university regulations relevant to this situation. You also need to understand better why the person in HR department believes they don't have to refund you.
Whom can you ask for help or advice? Can student union help? The head of the department, perhaps? Is there an external regulator in your country, e.g. [Office for Students](https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/) in the UK?
Also, is HR the right person to ask? Should you consult student finance, perhaps? Do you have an invoice / receipt for the money you payed and is there an address on this document of someone you can contact with issues?
Your situation looks strange to me and I hope it will resolve itself easily as soon as you find right people to talk to. Good luck.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I believe the correct term for a class to have enough students to be worth teaching is "to make." If the class officially didn't make, you should get a refund of course: the school decided the course doesn't even exist and can hardly make you pay. In this case, the school would not allow the professor to submit a grade, so it's out of their control. The prof could decide to teach you *anyway* but they couldn't submit a grade for it as the class simply doesn't exist.
If the course *did* make but your prof is literally refusing to do their job (this happens thanks to tenure) then you have a tricky position: even when tenured professors refuse to hold class or office hours or unfairly fail all their students (there have been cases of this) it can be contractually almost impossible for the school to remedy. From the school's perspective there is a class and your prof will eventually enter a grade for it, or not (which also happens). You'll eventually have credit hours for it at that school, even if the class isn't meeting. The prof might be penalized, but since you would be getting credit hours the school may not wish to refund. In this case what can you do?
If you want the *teaching* then you're out of luck. Prof says he won't teach. (Though idea: if the same course is offered at a different time perhaps you could just switch sections? You shouldn't have to, but just an idea. Maybe the second prof can't grade your assignments, which is a PITA for them, but lets you listen to lectures at least, which shouldn't put them out.)
If you want the class *knowledge* and don't need the actual weekly teaching part, perhaps you could self-study and the prof would administer tests for you at mutual convenience? That should be minimal effort for the prof and they might be amenable. If you additionally need some tutelage perhaps this could be available in office hours?
If you want the class *credit* and don't care about the knowledge you might be able to just get an auto-A or pass from the prof on just a verbal commitment to study the text.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/06
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a PhD program in US. The university has asked to address the following in personal history statement:
>
> How your perspectives or activities contribute to social or cultural diversity and/or make you sensitive to the experiences of underrepresented groups
>
>
>
Honestly, the statement does not make sense. What is social or cultural diversity? Why it is important? Who are exactly underrepresented groups? What is experiences of underrepresented groups? I would be grateful if someone help me to understand this statement and give some examples about it. Many thanks.<issue_comment>username_1: This question suggests you are not prepared for doctoral study at the University of California. Sign yourself up for a diversity training program.
In my opinion, the prompt is code for "Tell us how you will work effectively with people who are different from you." Answer that appropriately for the context of your discipline, and you will be okay.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: "How your perspectives or activities contribute to social or cultural diversity and/or make you sensitive to the experiences of underrepresented groups"
I think a useful way to approach this question is to not think about it in terms of race, but instead consider what it means to be socially diverse. As an example, consider this brief response to the question:
*"Growing up in a small farming community in Canada has given me an opportunity to see how many of those in my community - many of which have never stepped foot on a university campus - can benefit from feeling represented in institutions that they might not naturally feel apart of. Growing up in a rural community gives me the advantage of being able to personally relate to people who might not have college degrees, or even high school degrees, and develop a level of trust when communicating scientific information that might be the topic of the day in the news. When I come to U of X, I hope to be able to share and encourage this level of empathy among my peers to help unify communities that might otherwise feel divided."*
So, what's happening here? In this paragraph I mention that I am an international student - as I assume you are - and I am reflecting on how my own experience in my country might be able to bring about some type of positive change to the United States and the immediate community I am hoping to be in. In the example that I listed above, the 'underrepresented community' happens to be just the local people I grew up with. What I believe you should do is examine your own lifestyle in your home country and think about what you have experienced that might bring about positivity in your studies. Your response does not have to include gender or race because there are TONS of communities that might be relatively disadvantaged to you - these could even be immigrants from your own country that are not in touch with the institution you want to attend.
The question you ask is a challenging one, because it's actually a somewhat divisive question: Do you talk about racial disparities? Do you talk about gender disparities? What you want to really try to reflect on is how your own story can bring about some type of positive change when you go to the institution that you want to attend. It's a tough question to answer, but hopefully this response gives you some type of idea about what you want to say.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I think you are missing some key text from the prompt. I searched the exact text you did include, and found a prompt posted elsewhere that seems to match. It might not be the exact full prompt you were given, but please read yours carefully.
Here's the text I found posted by another applicant [here](https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/97290-personal-history-statement-of-ucs/)... Bold is added by me.
>
> Applicants for our graduate programs are selected using a holistic evaluation system. This essay will assist both the admissions committee and fellowship review committees to evaluate your background and motivation for graduate study. **In your personal history statement, please describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. A sample of topics that you might address in your statement is below.** However, please structure your statement in any way that you feel best represents your personal history. Please do note that there is a 1200 word maximum for the statement.
>
>
> * Any educational, familial, cultural, economic or social experiences or opportunities relevant to your academic journey
> * Challenges and/or obligations you have had to address in order to achieve your educational goals and how you addressed them
> * Employment while an undergraduate
> * How your perspectives or activities contribute to social or cultural diversity and/or make you sensitive to the experiences of underrepresented groups
>
>
>
You are not meant to address all four bullet points, but rather address a suitable topic that is relevant to your own life experiences. Different people are going to have different types of answers to a broad question like this - that's kind of the point.
I dug up one of my own statements from applying to grad schools over a decade ago, and although I don't have the exact prompt I was responding to, it looks like what I wrote would have fallen best under the first and third bullet points here.
I wrote about a job I had as an undergrad in which a big part of my role was in bringing biology to engineers, wrote about the challenges and benefits in working with experts having different knowledge and skill sets, and how I benefited from (and enjoyed) being in the middle.
I also wrote about a subject that I minored in as an undergraduate (the history of science and technology), that I thought would be uncommon among other applicants, and how I thought those perspectives were important to the practice of modern science.
I think for these statements the answers should show that you are thoughtful and have some ability to measure your own perspective; they aren't meant to check some magic "diversity box" that only certain people are qualified for.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/06
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<issue_start>username_0: In Sweden, a PhD student can change its supervisor according to [the higher education rules and regulations](https://www.uhr.se/en/start/laws-and-regulations/Laws-and-regulations/The-Higher-Education-Ordinance/#chapter6). They actually have quite a lot of rights during their studies. I wanted to know if this is also the case for a Postdoc working at a Swedish university?
Note that this question is purely about the legal aspects of the matter.<issue_comment>username_1: TLDR: It will depend very heavily on the funding situation.
A reasonable guess as to why there is a clear remark about the PhD students and not about the postdocs is that how postdocs are employed varies significantly.
Without having any proof, I would guess that you can't change your mentor however you like if s/he is paying you. Because why would you have that right, it is that person's own funding. In that situation your best bet (besides trying to find a resolution) is to quit and apply for a new position. Or better yet, apply for new positions and quit when you find one.
If you are bringing your own money, then you would have more flexibility, although it would still be an unpleasant move if you just bail out and start working down the aisle or the next floor.
That being said, you can in general not be forced to submit an article you are not happy with. Because you can always get it pulled (or your name removed) if you are not OK with it's content. That creates bad rep for the group and the paper in question, so I would be willing to guess that it's not really a common situation. More likely, you and the PI has differences of opinion as to why the paper should (or should not) be submitted, and if that's the case it's generally a better idea to try to understand each other rather than fight it.
You can however be forced not to submit a manuscript, or prevented from going to a conference, and I would say it happens relatively often. Usually not it harsh terms, but also that sometimes. That is part of the employment, that would happen anywhere and it's important to try and find constructive solutions. The comment by @lighthouse\_keeper is on point, if you try to go down that route, you are burning bridges and you are the small fish in this particular case.
---
**EDIT** following OPs comment:
-------------------------------
**Re: the role of a postdoc**
When a group leader gets funding, it's typically from a grant (exceptions exist but lets put that aside for the moment). Grants are written for specific subjects with usually well-defined tasks and goals. In the context of these tasks and goals, one or more postdoc positions might be opened.
So when you are a postdoc, you are taking on a role in that lab that fits their goals and targets, with the implicit assumption that whats good for the lab is also good for you. In other words, it's implied that carrying out your research project there is beneficial for both parties, meaning you *choose* to do your post-doctoral research there. If that is not the case then obviously it's not a good situation.
Within the context of that project and academic code of conduct, the group leader does have the privilege to direct the project as s/he sees fit. If your disagreements are fundamentally scientific (i.e. not related to bullying, fraud or something similar, which would typically violate the university's code of conduct) I don't see how you'd argue for a valid reason to change to another group, while keeping your current position.
**Re: the comparison to a PhD student position**
In comparison to a postdoc position, the university and the faculty is an active stakeholder when a PhD position is announced. In Sweden, most (all except a couple) universities are government institutions. So by being a fully employed PhD student you are a state employee, besides being a student. In this case the university (and by extension the state) has accepted you to a degree of higher education. If your supervisor cannot teach you well, for one reason or another, you are entitled (within reason) to ask for a change.
As you see there are some fundamental differences in what the employment is, what is being offered. I would not necessarily say that your rights are more limited, essentially it's not really a "right" to be able to change your manager. Your rights as it pertains to social security, healthcare, insurance, paid holidays, paid parental/sick leave etc apply regardless if you are PhD student or postdoc, **as long as you are actually employed and not on a stipend.**
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Just to add a few things to username_1's great answer. I think it's worth mentioning that a PhD and a postdoc position are very different in terms of work dynamics with the "supervisor", and trying to compare the two is a bit questionable:
* The primary purpose of a PhD student position is to provide the student with specialized research training under the supervision of the PhD advisor. Of course the PhD student carries out research work, but they are not considered autonomous in this work that's why they are supposed to work under the direction of the PhD supervisor. As a student whose academic success strongly depends on their supervision, they are entitled to specific protections.
* For all means and purposes, a postdoc position is a work contract: the employee carries out a job for a Principal Investigator (PI). The role of the PI in this work relationship shares some similarities with the role of a PhD supervisor but it is significantly different:
+ The postdoc is supposed to be autonomous in their work and as such is normally entitled to greater academic freedom than a PhD student. Ideally, in a healthy postdoc-PI relationship the two work practically like collaborators (as opposed to student/professor). For example the discussion about whether or not to submit a paper that both co-author should be made by mutual agreement, because the postdoc is able to make their own academic choices.
+ Ultimately the PI is usually the one who controls the funding, and the institution cannot force the PI to give away their funding. As a consequence there's no general mechanism to "change PI", since the institution doesn't have any alternative source of funding to pay the postdoc. This is a major difference with a PhD position, where the funding is usually allocated to the PhD student themselves.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: *(I'm faculty at [Chalmers University of Technology](https://www.chalmers.se/en/Pages/default.aspx), a well-known private university in Gothenburg, Sweden)*
The pragmatic question (whether it's a good idea to change supervisors mid-flight) is covered well by [username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/142466/10094), I'll focus on the legal angle here.
As you mention, PhD students have quite some rights in Sweden, but this is mostly because they are in a special type of employment largely governed by Swedish university law. This is not the case for postdocs - postdocs aren't students and they are not faculty (for which the law also knows some special privileges). Fundamentally, postdocs are just "employees", similar to research engineers, secretaries, or university accountants, and hence their tasks, rights, and privileges are exactly what the university has defined in their job profile. At Chalmers, I am not aware that there is any formalized "right" to be assigned a different supervisor. I suspect the situation in other universities is similar, but you may want to check your own contract first.
That said, and to echo the other answers a little, changing your supervisor is hard. Really hard. Even as a PhD student, when the law is on your side. Funding is a huge issue, but so is the fact that faculty tends to be sceptical of taking on students/employees where one of their colleagues has already made bad experiences. As always, there are exceptions, but in general you should figure out which faculty would take you on and take over your funding *before* talking publicly about changing supervisors. It's better to have a normal working relation with a supervisor that is not ideal, than to have an advisor who has been assigned by the department because nobody else took you on.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: A non-Sweden-specific answer:
**A post-doctoral researcher is not a student.** (That is, except in the sense that all researchers are "students" of the subjects they study.)
Thus, what you're asking is:
>
> Can a post-doctoral researcher working under the supervision of another, senior researcher switch "bosses"?
>
>
>
I believe this clarifies things somewhat, and would lead me to answer (again, generally and not Sweden-specifically):
* In the less-likely case of the employee being directly engaged by the workplace, with enough autonomy and an individually-defined work agenda - then it may be possible to switch "seats" to another research group, but it would depend on inter-university regulations and politics for approval.
* In the more-likely case of the researcher position itself being associated with a certain group or a certain single researcher - it is probably impossible to make this switch; but it may be technically possible to quit one post-doctoral position and start another with another group.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/06
| 838
| 3,403
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<issue_start>username_0: I was dismissed from a (Canadian) PhD program on the charge of plagiarism. I had muddled up sources, and the professor insisted I deliberately did it to get higher grades. My student advocate informed me that plagiarism is plagiarism, whether intentional or not, whether only on a single line or not, and regardless of the professor's motivation. So, I admitted to the charge, while looking for ways to avoid a repeat and rebuild my reputation.
I did inform the tribunal that this was a single sentence in a 22-page document, and that I was traumatized during this period as the state had taken custody of my two children.
The tribunal upheld the charge but recommended that the provost should consider a minor punishment. My advocate suggested I should not contest the recommendation of the tribunal. However, four months later, the Provost decided to dismiss me because I did not appeal the decision, and because I had failed to inform the professor of my personal challenges when I took the course.
When I was dismissed, I completed a master's program at another university with a GPA of 4.0/4.0. I discussed the plagiarism incident with my master's supervisor.
Now I want to apply for a PhD Program in a separate, but related, area (my current supervisor does not work in this area and so could not supervise me), and I am wondering how to go about it since I am required to disclose all the post-secondary education attended. I would appreciate any suggestion on how I can navigate this muddy waters.<issue_comment>username_1: As mentioned in the comments, I do not think that you will be able to find a supervisor who does not know you well already if you have a record of dismissal for plagiarism.
You could try:
* Telling the truth about your dismissal (lying or omitting that you were dismissed would likely be grounds for getting dismissed again).
* Explaining, with evidence, why it will not happen again.
* Do not mention the nature of the trauma you experienced. Academics are not likely to consider any kind of trauma to be an excuse for plagiarism. And they are likely to have strong opinions about how children are raised.
* There is no need to give the details of the process leading to your dismissal.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: **You should *concisely* discuss this in your application.** In the US, the Statement of Purpose would be the appropriate place for this (I do not know about the Canadian system). Since you have already completed a degree since being expelled (and are switching areas), there is no need for a lengthy post-mortem, and this shouldn't be a dis-qualifier.
More concretely, I recommend:
* *Briefly* (i.e., no more than one paragraph) explaining what happened
* Including (in that one paragraph) the mitigating factors. Namely, that this was a single plagiarized sentence, in a 22-page document, during a child custody investigation. I would *not* mention your theory that the professor was biased against you (if true, that should have been raised at your appeal).
* Considering getting someone to corroborate your account in their letter of recommendation. In particular, that this was all about a single sentence -- that's the part that is hardest to believe (the odds of 'accidentally' plagiarizing a single sentence is pretty high, so it's hard to believe you could be convicted based just on that).
Upvotes: 0
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2020/01/06
| 1,119
| 4,725
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<issue_start>username_0: Example: I have a simulation to run that requires social media data sets. The data sets that actually matter are too big to be able to simulate anything useful on. Instead, I picked a data set that's much smaller that had similar properties and I (hoped) would therefore have similar behavior.
One thing I discovered was that different data sets, even when they're of a similar size, can behave radically different in ways that I'm not exactly able to predict from those properties.
Obviously this is a major weakness of the paper, because now I don't have a way to even guarantee that those 'similar properties' even matter anymore.<issue_comment>username_1: I wonder if your research is ready for prime time. Not getting consistent results and not knowing why is a fault. Maybe you should continue work for a bit.
But for the question itself, it is better that any shortcomings come from you rather than from someone else.
At a minimum, you have an interesting "future research" section to write. Maybe you should find a way to look at the larger data sets or others that will give you better insight into what is really going on.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Not a weakness but a ‘limitation’. All research has limitations due to reductionism. It’s a feature not a failure.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Example: I have a simulation to run that requires social media data-sets. The data-sets that actually matter are too big to be able to simulate anything useful on. Instead, I picked a data-set that's much smaller that had similar properties and I (hoped) would therefor have similar behavior.
>
>
> One thing I discovered was that different data-sets, even when they're of a similar size, can behave radically different in ways that I'm not exactly able to predict from those properties.
>
>
>
I would say you have an interesting discovery there: datasets X and Y which seemed similar actually aren't all that similar. There's some kind of difference between them that your simulation technique can bring to light.
Since you say the datasets you originally wanted to study are intractably large and your smaller datasets can't be trusted to generalize, your research has hit an obstacle. But you also have interesting new research avenues:
* Can you find out what difference in the datasets causes them to behave differently in the simulation?
* Now that you know what difference you're looking for, can you come up with a more focused, efficient test to figure out which class a given dataset belongs to?
* Can you use your efficient test to figure out which of your smaller datasets is most similar to your big datasets?
It's always a good thing to be open to surprise discoveries instead of rigidly only sticking to your original research question.
>
> Obviously this is a major weakness of the paper, because now I don't have a way to even guarantee that those 'similar properties' even matter anymore.
>
>
>
Well, you now know that it's not safe to assume you can generalize your results on the small datasets to the larger ones. If you don't point this out you would be misleading your readers, and producing **bad science**.
Another option is to discuss with your supervisor if it's possible to access heavy-duty computing resources that will enable you to process the original large datasets, given that you've shown that you can't properly substitute in the smaller datasets.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Should I 'admit' a weakness of a paper even if it's 'obvious'?
>
>
>
Yes, as per [username_1's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/142480/22768).
Delving deeper: You *discovered...different data-sets...can behave radically different[ly and unpredictably]*. You acknowledge *this is a major weakness of the paper*. So, a better title might be "*Should I 'admit' a major weakness of a paper even if it's 'obvious'?*" Given that you did not expect the weakness, perhaps even
>
> *Should I 'admit' a major weakness of a paper?*
>
>
>
Again, yes.
You should consider whether a paper with major weaknesses is publishable. If you can establish why results are *radically different* between datasets / you can *predict* when differences will arise, then you can perhaps change a major weakness into a strength, simply by explaining that your simulation works for data sets that produce predictable results and defer consideration of other data sets to future work. That said,
>
> data-sets that actually matter are too big to be able to simulate anything useful on
>
>
>
You also need to explain why your simulations are interesting, given that meaningful data sets cannot be considered.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/06
| 847
| 3,777
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the unfortunate situation where I am being forced to leave a PhD program with a master of art in an engineering discipline. Advisor left while I was on leave (health reasons), couldn't find a new advisor in the same field (had to do it while off campus, which made it so much harder) so the university told me to pack up.
What is the difference between an MA and an MS and is one better than the other? Also would it be worth joining a new university as a masters/PhD student even with an MA?
I assume I have no recourse here and my only option is to packup, but if anyone has been through this or has any advice I would appreciate it.<issue_comment>username_1: You have options.
Escalate to the chair, then the director of graduate studies, then the dean or provost if you feel the only reason is that your advisor left. You took this job (and it is a job - they get something in return too) with certain assumptions from the university that were not met. That said, if there *is* no advisor left that fits your interests, then best to pack anyway.
MS vs MA is usually designated by the school your program is in. It isn’t generally the case you get to choose. Both would be Masters degrees.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In terms of whether it is *worth it* to continue to pursue a PhD, that's up to you and your own life and career goals. Based on your reasons for leaving the program, though, you may have a better chance of continuing in another program than students who leave for other reasons (such as failure to complete qualifying exams, conflicts with a supervisor, etc). You will probably need to explain your leave of absence, at least in vague terms.
Although US programs often admit students for direct PhDs, at least in engineering disciplines it is not that uncommon for students to be admitted with Masters degrees. At my institution, I just checked a couple of engineering programs and they allow at least some credits from a prior masters program to count towards the course requirements of the PhD, and they expect students with a masters degree to progress through the program more quickly. It's still more efficient by about 1 year to start as a fresh PhD student and skip a separate masters, but the masters degree is not "wasted" (whereas in some other disciplines there may be no transfer at all). Of course all of this will vary by institution.
There is little distinction between MA and MS; MA in engineering is more unusual but may occur when engineering programs build out of departments more commonly housed in the arts. Since your institution offers both, then that distinction matters more than the letters. Probably the thesis-based masters is better, but I suspect that it will matter little compared to a course-based masters plus the work you've done towards a thesis (especially if this includes publications).
If you decide to continue towards a PhD, I would suggest you begin contacting professors at other institutions that have research programs you are interested in, and simultaneously checking the posted policies for the programs at those institutions. You can also apply directly to programs you are interested in (hopefully those that have more than one professor in your chosen field; the narrower your focus the more likely you need to have an advisor in mind ahead of time). Pretty much the same process as a new student. Your former advisor may be a good resource for suggestions as far as who to contact if you are still on good terms with them (I don't see anything in your question that implies you are not).
Letters of recommendation from your former advisor and possibly others at your current institution that can explain the situation will also be helpful.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/06
| 1,097
| 4,866
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<issue_start>username_0: Update: I talked with my advisor about (1) the possibility of asking the editor about submitting our paper this journal X and (2) the possibility of me as the sole author to submit this paper. She said no and no :(
Background info: I am from the field of social science, and this paper is from my dissertation. My advisor provided funding for my dissertation ($9,000). My advisor has been very good to me. I just graduated last year and am now an assistant professor at another university.
I did plan to add my advisor as the second author of this paper, I also told her in an email I would like to submit this paper to X, the top journal of our field, and I attached the draft in this email.
Then I heard back from her yesterday with an edited version. In the comments, she told me not to submit to X because she is one of the associate editors which creates a conflict of interest--I emailed the editor to confirm and this is indeed the rule. This rule was not listed on the journal's website and my advisor did not tell me when I sent her the email saying I would like to submit to X journal.
I really want to submit to this X journal because I imagine it would help me a lot with my academic career. If I knew that any paper with associate editors as a co-author cannot be submitted to journal X, I would never send this paper to my advisor for comments.
I wonder if I can ask my advisor to withdraw her authorship and I will be the sole author for this paper so that I can submit to X. I am not sure how unethical my behavior can be? Or maintaining a good relationship with my advisor is more important than having a top journal publication? Any suggestions are appreciated!<issue_comment>username_1: As an adult, and a professional, contact them and discuss how you feel about this and why it is important to you. Should they have informed you... maybe, but you didnt really ask and maybe they didnt expect you to publish in X or want to.
Your advisor seems to believe in you and work well with you, I cant imagine an adult conversation discussing your desires and her rules within her own company. Maybe you cant be published if you are invested or funded by anyone at X anyway.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: This is not about the relationships with the former advisor at all.
The list of authors is supposed to be determined based on who actually worked on the particular research (which sometimes – however good or bad it is – may mean simply being a supervisor and providing funding). If the researcher contributed to several of
* the formulation of hypothesis
* data collection / measurements / numerical simulations
* data analysis
* writing the actual paper
* *insert here other field-specific steps*
she should be an author. Certainly, different criteria for being an author of the paper can be applied, and the list is very field-dependent.
However, the unfortunate amalgamation of facts that
1. you want to submit to a certain journal X
2. this journal X has a certain conflict of interest policy
3. the presence of one co-author **who normally would be listed in the list of authors** does not allow to submit to X
should not be used as a reason to exclude one from the list of authors. At least, the initiative should not come from the other authors who could benefit from it.
---
So, I would strongly consider submitting to a different journal.
Alternatively, you (or your colleague *in the potential conflict of interest*) can ask the journal X editor to arrange a submission/revision process through another associate editor(s). There might be other associate editors willing and qualified to do it for the paper in your field and your particular research direction.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Removing the advisor's name from the paper does not fix the underlying issue preventing you from submitting to journal X, which is the prevention of conflicts of interest. By removing your advisor from the author list and submitting to X, she wouldn't have to make an editorial decision about her own paper, but will now have to make that decision about her advisee's paper, which is not much less of a conflict of interest than the original situation. Removing your advisor's name denies credit where it's due, and also attempts to circumvent the spirit of the conflict of interest rules, so I don't think you should do it.
If you really have your heart set on journal X, it might be possible to see if your advisor can recuse herself from any decision making related to this paper, but it sounds like that would require a special dispensation from the editors. You mention she's an associate editor, so presumably there are other associate editors who could handle this manuscript, but again, this will come down to the editors and how far they want to stay from COI territory.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/06
| 467
| 1,965
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper with my co-author to a Springer Journal in the area of computational Mathematics. It has been nearly a year now and we have not heard from the editor. There was no response for inquiries made every 3 months. I requested status from managing editor few weeks ago but still with no response. Given the length of the wait and the fact that the journal is the right avenue for our work, I was not sure what are the right steps ( wait more, withdraw and submit elsewhere?...)<issue_comment>username_1: Withdraw. That is far too long especially given lack of any communication as well as fact that journal isn’t even quite the right fit.
But you need to get it withdrawn. Have you contacted the general editor? Time to escalate.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Getting no response to status inquiries at all is not normal. Make sure you're contacting the right editor. Unless the journal is dead (i.e. no new papers accepted and published), someone out there is organizing peer review. That someone should be able to answer your question. However if you're writing to the wrong email address which might not even work anymore, then your email might not even be getting read.
* See if you can reach the journal office (i.e. Springer's employees). I don't know what journal you're referring to, but e.g., for [AIDS Research and Therapy](https://aidsrestherapy.biomedcentral.com/) they say at the bottom "General enquiries: <EMAIL>". Try writing there.
* See if you can reach the editor-in-chief.
* If you've already tried and the editor-in-chief isn't responding: search for him/her via Google, see if their email address has changed.
* If you've confirmed that the email address is correct: try sending from a different email address, in case your current email address is blacklisted for whatever reason.
* Failing all of the above, try contacting a different member of the editorial board.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/07
| 1,833
| 7,719
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<issue_start>username_0: I plan to apply to approximately 16 schools and am wondering whether that's too many for my recommendation letter providers.
It's happened before that a professor of my friend refused to provide all letters for him because they're too many. They refused to send all the LoR and cut it from 10+ to about five finally. It would be a disaster if the LoR provider changes his/her mind in the end. Also, I don't want to bother my professor that much.
I believe my professors are nicer than him, but still don't know what's a suitable amount of required schools.
I'm applying for master programs and the 16 selections are range from *dream* to *match* to *safe*, with about five in each category. I failed last year and thus I chose a safer (and might be a bit unnecessary) plan.<issue_comment>username_1: You can ask him, of course. But the problem with asking for too many is that you will get a general letter sent to all, rather than a letter tailored to each given position.
I realize this is hard if all schools have similar deadlines, but if possible you should spread it out over time, with your professor's OK. You can also have a different professor write some of them.
If your professor has any sort of secretarial service then a lot of letters isn't burdensome as long as you are happy with the same general letter going to all schools.
You should also ask yourself whether sixteen schools is really too many to apply to. If you are a marginal student then it might be, but you should also ask for advice about whether some of the applications are just wasted. Your professor can probably help you choose a smaller set of schools without lessening your chances of acceptance. But, work out a plan with your advisor to make your application process effective.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Tell your professor of your plan to apply to 16 schools, and let them decide if it’s too much. They are capable of making their own decisions without you doing that on their behalf. It’s nice of you to worry about the professor’s well-being, but unnecessary, and counterproductive if it ends up undermining your own success.
And as for the professor regretting having to send so many letters, well, yes, I think that’s something that many of us experienced. It’s unconscionable and stupid that the system works that way. But that’s not your fault. If it’s really a lot of schools and a big time sink for the professor, perhaps they can arrange to delegate the task of uploading the letter to a clerical staff member at their department. That’s their concern, not yours.
**Edit:** I see that several of the answers and comments are discussing whether the number of schools you’re applying to is appropriate, not from the point of view of your specific question about the professor’s letter workload, but in the sense of whether it’s generally in your interest to be applying to that number of programs.
It seems to me worth acknowledging that this sort of gratuitous advice has nothing to do with your actual question and was not solicited by you in any way. In particular, there is no need for you to explain the reasoning that led you to that number or what mix of schools you’ll be applying to, either to the people here or to the professor you’re asking for a letter from (although if you want to seek advice about such things, it’s certainly fine to discuss it).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: As other people have mentioned, the problem with 16 schools is that a professor cannot, either truthfully or operationally, provide customized letters to 16 different schools. **By "customization"** I mean more than changing the name of the school and program. Good letters of rec use professor's familiarity with their field to speak to applicants' specific strengths with regard to the program, or referencing previous students of theirs who attended the program in question.
In honesty, I wouldn't expect to ask a professor to customize a letter for more than two or three schools, plus a generic one for the others. *Maybe* four custom letters if you have worked very closely with them.
You could let them know what your top few choices are, then acknowledge a generic letter can be shared among the rest.
I would also reconsider whether 16 is a necessary amount. In my field, 10 programs would be a lot.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: Unlike the other answers, I do not think the professor's time spent customizing is an issue. Customizing a letter does not take that long. Professors have lots of practice. Submitting it can take longer due to low quality submission systems. But writing the first letter is most of the work.
The issue is that only one of these letters is worth submitting: the one for the place you are going to enroll in. We don't know which of the sixteen is the right one, but it should be easy to identify several that are the wrong program for you to enroll in. Ask yourself: Is it realistic for me to get in? Is it unlikely that I will get in to a better program? Is the program able to provide realistic funding? Is this a place I am willing to live for years? If the answer to any of these is no, don't apply.
There's no prize for getting into a lot of graduate programs.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Consider how long it will take for your professor to write one great recommendation letter for you. Next, consider how much time it might take your professor to produce 16 fantastic recommendation letters for you. Most people will do a fairly awful job if they feel they are being undervalued or asked to serve unreasonable requests.
That you are asking the question should be evidence enough requesting 16 letters is unreasonable. It shows you were raised right.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> I plan to apply approximately 16 schools and wondering whether they're too many for my recommendation letter providers...It's happened before that a professor of my friend regretted to provide all letters for him because they're too many.
>
>
>
You needn't necessarily require a letter to support each application (unless that's strictly required). You may be able to submit an application that lists referees, whom schools will contact if interested. It's likely you won't be short-listed by all schools and those that don't are less likely to request references.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: >
> I'm applying for master programs and the 16 selections are range from dream to match to safe, with about five in each category.
>
>
>
Please for simplicities' sake, choose your top one out of each category, and save yourself so much time and stress.
That would be 3 recommendation letters.
If you must, add 1 or 2 backups and have a max of 5 needed letters.
If you need help narrowing down the choices that is understandable, but you really should take the time to determine which schools are the best fit for you and your goals.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: This is a foolish proposition.
You need **one** letter as *an academic reference* from a tutor or project supervisor. This testifies to your worthiness as a student - it is not a personal character reference.
The original is hand-signed. You may make 16+ copies of this and send one to each of the graduate schools you are applying to.
You should really be focussing on writing **16 well-composed application letters** wherein you frankly assess your own capabilities and your vision of yourself as a researcher in the graduate school you are applying to, how you see the new school, your research aspirations, your education perspectives and how you see the graduate school's ethos merging with all these.
Upvotes: -1
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2020/01/07
| 432
| 1,981
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<issue_start>username_0: This might be a weird question. But here we go.
I'm applying for business/data-related master programs.
I'm a stutter with a certified moderate language disorder.
Do I need to tell my professors (who provides recommendation letters) the fact of my disorder?
I'm afraid that the recommendation letter or the questions asked by the master programs require my professors to evaluate my oral English level. If they don't know this fact, they may attribute my stutter to my English (I'm an international student btw).
Added: is it common that the professors are required by master programs to evaluate the students' oral English skills in RL.<issue_comment>username_1: No, nobody needs to know. Your letter writers need to attest to your academic abilities, whereas your medical history is not something they need to know nor do they have any business telling anyone else about it.
As a matter of fact, all that ought to matter are your academic abilities. The fact that you're applying for graduate school implies to me that you must have been reasonably good in school/college -- in other words, that your disability has no implications for your academic performance. That's all the admissions committee wants to know: that you'll excel academically, and they will be able to see that from your transcripts and what your letter writers describe in their letters.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Inform your university’s disability office. They should be able to handle things appropriately.
===============================================================================================
In most OECD countries, there is a law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities, and obligating workplaces and schools to provide reasonable adjustments. As a result, the universities in those countries will have equity offices who should be able to intervene on your behalf once you identify yourself to them as disabled.
Upvotes: 0
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2020/01/07
| 1,473
| 5,545
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<issue_start>username_0: My son is in his second year at a UK univ. It guarantees accommodation just for first...students rent privately themselves. It discretions other year. For privacy, I won't say his degree. We live in Canada. Given vacations, he's in the UK for just 7 months. We thought [extended stay](https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/20429/13759) hotel is best. First, waste money to lease a flat 12 months! Second, stupid buy appliances and furniture, then sell them at loss when he finishes.
Anyways, his univ. requires address and he put extended-stay hotel. Someone leaked because many instructors ask him if he's staying in a hotel, but he never told them! Some students overheard and now many think he's Crazy Rich Asian! LMAO! He tried to explain we are not rich and extended stay hotel comes out cheaper. But no use!
1. Can he do anything to change this mentality of students and staff?
2. Is extended-stay hotel this un-ordinary for academics and students?
3. Don't visit academicians that visit just 6 months' stay there?<issue_comment>username_1: I understand your concern. This sometimes can be frustrating if it is really impacting the student's academic freedom or anything. The best option is to "IGNORE". There is no point in explaining all this to students and staff. Is it worth putting effort into changing people's mentality? There are other issues to take care of during academic studies. Your son should better focus on everything other than this.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think there is absolutely no need to try change someone's perspectives on subjective matters. Your son told the truth and that is all that matters as honesty is very important in academia. However, I do not see a point in explaining himself over and over again to people not willing to believe him.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Can he do anything to change this mentality of students and staff?
>
>
>
Moving out won't help now that the voice has spread. Looking stingy in ordinary expenses will further stereotype you into a Scrooge Mc Duck type, so do not try to overcompensate by saving pennies. Just live a normal life. Do not drive to campus in a Lamborghini or a taxi, but do not reuse tea bags.
I am afraid it will take time and personal interaction to fix this and get across one's real personalities. Stereotypes exist exactly because they are easy to form.
On the bright side, as far as stereotypes go, it's not a particularly bad one.
>
> Is extended-stay hotel this un-ordinary for academics and students?
>
>
>
For students, in my experience it is quite unusual. In many universities there are student dorms, of course, but they are aimed *especially* as students and they are a different thing.
For academics, it is more common; see below.
>
> Don't visit academicians that visit just 6 months' stay there?
>
>
>
Yes. 1-6 month visits are very tricky to arrange from the logistics point of view: too long for a hotel, too short to make renting an apartment convenient. This kind of furnished accommodation is a godsend.
Nowadays these visits are reasonably common, but it is not unheard of that some academics, especially older ones, never went to one or hosted a long-term visitor. You basically need a semester free from teaching to do it, and once you have a family a long trip is a lot more tricky to arrange.
For this reason I would suggest you not to worry about faculty; things will fix themselves, and most faculty at least tries to be objective and not let these stereotypes influence them. For your own social life, convincing students that you are not <NAME> is your #1 priority. How to do it is is off-topic here though. As *another* stereotype says, we academics are not so competent about social interaction. :) So treat also my first paragraphs with a pinch of salt.
I would suggest you to head over at [interpersonal.se].
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: >
> he's in the UK for just 7 months...We thought extended stay hotel is best. First, waste money to lease a flat 12 months! Second, stupid buy appliances and furniture, then sell at a loss when he finishes.
>
>
>
Leases shorter than ten months are common and many properties are fully equipped.
>
> many think he's Crazy Rich Asian! LMAO! We are not Rich. He tried to explain he's not rich and extended stay hotel comes out cheaper. But no use! Can he do anything to change this mentality of students and staff? Is extended-stay hotel this un-ordinary for academics and students? Don't visit academicians that visit just 6 months' stay there?
>
>
>
I've never heard of an *extended stay hotel* nor any student/academic using one, short-term leases, possibly in university owned property, are more common. Regarding *chang[ing] this mentality*, the maths is surely straightfoward:
```
extended stay hotel < lease
```
Whether that's true depends on your initial calculations. A quick search reveals a [student budget calculator for the UK](https://university.which.co.uk/student-budget-calculator/). Taking the University of Cambridge as an [example](https://university.which.co.uk/student-budget-calculator/cambridge-university-of): Accommodation is £231 per month, with [term](https://www.cam.ac.uk/about-the-university/term-dates-and-calendars) starting in Oct and ending in Jun, that's at least a nine month contract, totalling at least £2079. You can repeat those calculations for your son's university, which should provide a solid argument.
Upvotes: 1
|
2020/01/07
| 1,436
| 6,545
|
<issue_start>username_0: Do search committee members ever see or take into account the time that candidates submit an application as a postdoc or faculty member. Does submitting close to the deadline (same day or few hours before) carry a risk of predudicing your application due to being considered unorganised for submitting so late.
Since most applications are now submitted through convoluted electronic systems it seems likely that submission are timestamped so this information could in principle be accessed. Any thoughts? I know one could just stumble across an application late in the day but can anyone speak from experience about whether such meta data has an effect (even if legally forbidden, we all know that unofficial or subconscious effects can take place...).<issue_comment>username_1: The only applications that tend to be affected by time are those that arrive **after** the stated closing time.
I have never heard of or seen any system of application sorting involving those who submitted first or last past the post. However, my experience is limited, perhaps it does exist somewhere...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Extremely unlikely.
More organized institutions, and especially those with a culture of "procedural fairness", may *enforce* the stated deadline and resist considering applications that arrive after it. Certainly those that arrive significantly late, and possibly literally to the second.
At others, the effective deadline is when the person in charge gets around to preparing the file for the hiring committee, which may happen at any time after the stated deadline but may well be a few days later. You cannot count on that, of course.
Prompted by your question, I've checked and on the hiring files I most recently reviewed: the timestamp of application is visible, buried among other technical info none of us on the committee are paying any attention to.
A much bigger challenge for hiring committees are late letters of reference. Recognizing the unfortunate tendency towards elastic/fake deadlines and just-in-time response in academia, there is not only leniency towards late letters (when sent directly by the letter writer) but a painfully time-consuming amount of increasingly strident outreach by the committee itself to writers who are being slow. We try hard to not let it color our evaluation of the candidates, but it does: in an era (in some fields) of increasingly glowing letters becoming standard, akin to grade inflation, I have seen committees discount letters that took a lot of prodding after the deadline to come in versus those which arrived on time without prompting, indicating a higher level of priority for the writer.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: A rather different angle on the question:
From the way you phrased the question, I doubt that the deadline is three months away, and you are deciding whether to write the application now or to put it off and do some interesting research instead. Instead, I imagine that the deadline is very near, and the decision is whether to apply at all.
If I am right, remember that (even if it were true that your chances of getting the job were higher if you had applied two months ago), your chances of getting the job are almost infinitely higher if you apply now than if you don't apply.
(If you really are considering applying now or later, I would advise applying now).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I would say this depends on the department and their hiring practices, but in my department (math at a public US research university) applying early can definitely give you a leg up. In math in the US, there is a centralized application system (mathjobs.org) that most places use, and in my department all faculty get access to start looking at applications well before the deadline. Many of us do start looking at applications early, partly out of interest, and partly so we can take our time.
The advantage of applying early is that faculty may start talking about some candidates before any search committee meetings and people have the chance to get excited about your file early, which would give you some **early momentum** to help you stand out when we officially have meetings and rank candidates.
That being said, in other departments, faculty might not look at applications at all before the deadline, in which case there is no real affect. I do not know how common our approach is, but at least a few of my colleagues agree with me that it is better to apply early. I have also heard of departments that have somewhat misleading deadlines (they start officially reviewing files before the deadline, which might be in fine-print in the ad), so my advice is to try to prepare you application a bit early, and then submit application when your portion (i.e., excluding the references) is ready.
Incidentally, in mathjobs, the candidates submission date is readily visible, though it is not something that we focus on or analyze. (Though often we'll sort by submission date to see what files came in since last we looked.)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: I am a mathematician, and the optimal strategy is to wait with the application until the very last (with some comfortable margin in case of technical issues).
This gives more time to do changes, and *allow for inclusion of papers which change status* (under review to being accepted, accepted to published, etc).
There can also be personal changes (pregnancies, illnesses, etc) which might totally change the life situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Given normal order of a search committee, submitting toward the end of the solicitation date should do you no damage as an applicant.
There are variations from normal order. For example, a very strong candidate can turn up, and that candidate might be in a position to require an immediate decision, or some sort of fast track; a committee might develop a "favorite" or two in the candidate pool before they ever see your application, and your competitiveness falls below where it should be; the search could close early because somebody suspects a leadership change could shut down the search without a hire, and they need to put a butt in a seat quickly...
Stuff like this might not happen often, but it can certainly happen.
Unless there's something that will make an application look better if you wait, like a pending decision on a grant application that will likely go in your favor, apply when you see the position posted.
Upvotes: 2
|
2020/01/07
| 324
| 1,396
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have submitted a paper to a journal as part of my degree at university X. This paper includes my correspondence e-mail and affiliation to the laboratory at university X, of which my co-authors were a part.
I have now moved to another university in a different country and the paper has been returned with the reviewers' comments. Should I be updating my affiliation and e-mail, especially considering that the majority of the work (the submitted draft) was completed at my old lab? I'm not sure if this is important at all, or whether it has any implications for the eventual transfer of copyright.<issue_comment>username_1: If you are doing the revision work at the new place you can just add the new affiliation as a second one (e.g. with 1,2).
Yes, I would update the email as there is no point in a dead old one for anybody.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The primary purpose of the affiliation is to give readers a way to contact you. As a consequence, you should update your affiliation at a point in the process where this is possible -- specifically, when you get the paper back for revisions.
If you continue to have an affiliation with your old institution, you can provide both affiliations with the paper. If you have severed your ties there but feel grateful for the time spent working there, you can note that in the acknowledgments.
Upvotes: 2
|
2020/01/07
| 628
| 2,743
|
<issue_start>username_0: Often, one gets a notification email with, typically 2 to 5, review reports compiled together and one would respond to each of these reviews with a list of *"quote/response"* items (if needed, referring to the **revised manuscript**) in form of a **response letter**. Now, facing the case of both an email with review reports and a commented PDF basically replacing/extending one of the reports, how would I pragmatically write the response letter? Should I respond to the PDF-based review ...
1. by copying each of the PDF comments into the **main response letter**, add a reference to the commented PDF, and add my response item?
2. with another **commented PDF** (i.e. my comments would be next to the reviewer's comments and, if needed, refer to the revised manuscript) and refer to this PDF in the corresponding section of the **main response letter**?
The first solution sounds more coherent to me while the second solution may be more easily usable by editors or reviewers. Apart from [that more general guidance](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/72005/how-to-respond-to-peer-review-a-step-by-step-guide-to-my-first-response), I haven't found anything. This might be a bit of a trivial question but I appreciate any suggestions about best practices.<issue_comment>username_1: As one of the people who writes reviews in the form of annotated PDF files + a summary review, I think I'm in a good position to answer this question :-)
At least in my case, annotations in the PDF are often of relatively small points. I expect you to address all points raised in annotations, but you don't have to prove it to me by mentioning them individually in your response. Many will be typos/grammar annotations, some about missing axis labels, etc. In your written response, just mention somewhere that all of the points raised in annotations in the PDF that are not specifically addressed in your response have been taken care of -- that's enough for me, and likely the editor.
That leaves maybe ten longer comments in the margins of the PDF. If you think that they are worth addressing individually, copy the text into your response and add your reply. That should be easy enough to do.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Either approach is fine.
The quality and clarity of the responses is more important than the format.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I wouldn't jeopardise the response. I would neatly adress all the points raised by the referee as usual in a single letter addressed to the editor, clearly indicating when you respond to criticisms or suggestions only stated in the pdf report by quoting or grouping them (depending on their importance, as usual).
Upvotes: 1
|
2020/01/08
| 191
| 836
|
<issue_start>username_0: As a just graduated student, I have submitted my contribution proposal for an academic event and the organising committee has accepted it.
Despite I have still met none of the above mentioned committee members, would it be fine to already send a connection invitation on LinkedIn to most of them (in particular to the event director)? If yes, would it be better to include also a custom message into the invitation request?<issue_comment>username_1: It is unlikely to cause harm for you to send the invitation. It is likely to be ignored.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes I think totally appropriate. A lot of academics use Linked In to expand their networks. Some can be a bit precious about 'curating' their connections but most are all about expanding their networks.
Upvotes: 1
|
2020/01/08
| 470
| 1,970
|
<issue_start>username_0: My situation is that I already hold a Master's degree in computer science (in machine learning specifically), I apply for some doctoral schools but haven't got any offers yet.
During my master's study, I have built some background in coding and some machine learning area knowledge. However, I do not have enough research experience to start or to find a good Ph.D. topic independently.
Here are my ideas,
1. I can take another Master's degree in applied mathematics (I will probably do it in Europe). After I collect enough background, I will do a Ph.D., and hopefully, by that time I will start a good Ph.D. topic.
2. I can do a Ph.D. directly. Even if I may be not very interested in the given Ph.D. topic.
which track should I choose?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I am thinking about following another Master's degree in applied maths...The courses include measure-theory based probability and more challenging statistics, in which I am interested.
>
>
>
**You don't need another degree** to research *the theoretical aspects of machine learning (instead of the application)*. During research, you can study any aspect of mathematics that are necessary and your supervisor et al. can help you.
>
> which track should i consider ?
>
>
>
The **theoretical aspects of machine learning**. Perhaps with a supervisor that is also interested in applied machine learning, so that you can switch, should you want to.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: What is the value of a degree? It proves two things, one you have a certain set of knowledge or skills and two you can do work at a certain level. So a second degree is worth less than the first because you've already proven you can do work at that level. The only value of the second degree is learning the new knowledge. But you could get that knowledge directly during your PhD instead of doing a masters first. So I'd say go straight for the PhD.
Upvotes: 1
|
2020/01/08
| 1,472
| 6,017
|
<issue_start>username_0: As everyone else here probably does, I receive a lot of unsolicited emails. I don't like it, but I've gotten used to it and can just ignore them with a friendly smile on my face, because at least those emails give some unfortunate person a job and an income.
However, today I got an email that at first seemed undesirable but at a second look appears to be legit (albeit irrelevant, so I wouldn't have missed anything), so I'm wondering if there's any rules or hints to go by to identify legit conference invitations or journal introductions?
On the one hand, this is probably going to be simply somewhat of a reverse of identifying undesirable emails (see below) but I guess **I'm mostly looking for information on how legit entities advertise themselves. Do they:**
* actually send out unsolicited emails at all?
* invite "unknown" researchers for high profile roles?
* even care if they emails look legit?
I'm a geoscientist (sorry, we hit rocks with hammers and trample on vegetation, but I'm working to better myself), so I have been at conferences organized by [AGU](https://www.agu.org/) and [EGU](https://www.egu.eu), so I do get emails from those two and they're legit, but for example AGU doesn't care about the third point at all, with their emails being a mess of HTML with embedded (and thus of course blocked) images and obfuscated links with over 100 chars of tracking stuff in them, so if I did not know they were legit, I'd long have added AGU to my list of undesirable publishers.
And the second point, well, like most early career scientists, I have a slight case of impostor syndrome, but I probably have some good stuff out there and apparently I'm a good speaker, so it's probably not impossible that someone saw me at another conference and thought "Yeah, I'd like to have that person as a speaker", but is that really how it works?
And just reversing my criteria for spam is probably also not a surefire way to identify them. Sure, a poorly formatted email in poor English to "Dr. JC\_CL, Coauthor and Coauthor, I hope this finds you well" from a Chinese company I have never heard of for a field not even related to what I'm doing can probably be disregarded. However, all of those errors could also happen in a legitimate case, as my name is somewhat complicated for people not speaking my language, most people don't speak perfect English (and I can't identify perfect English with 100% certainty) and I do work quite interdisciplinary.<issue_comment>username_1: The #1 criterion is: they come from someone whose name you recognize as a respected colleague in the field. Or, at least, a conference or a journal that you know already.
The #2 criterion is: they look like they are not written automatically. Compare
>
> Dear Arthur, I have seen your very interesting article on shiny rocks and I would like to invite you...
>
>
>
and
>
> Dear A.Uthor, I have seen your very interesting article *Shiny rocks in South African Mines: a Case Study* and I would like to invite you...
>
>
>
The second one seems auto-generated, since they copied over your name and title verbatim. The first one looks like someone went through the effort of paraphrasing the title into a real English sentence.
In my opinion also putting a lot of emphasis on proceedings, Scopus and ISI-indexed journals and impact factors is a red flag. This is something I would never mention if I were inviting a real person to a conference.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I am from a mathematical background, so I hope this information is not too field specific but in my experience legit conference invitations travel exclusively through personal connections.
So the decision on whether something is legit is very simple: Was is sent to you by someone whose name you recognize as being a researcher in your field?
This went so far that for a new PhD student finding out about relevant conferences is actually somewhat tricky. Usually your advisor tells you about them. If they don't for whatever reason, it is very hard to find out about conferences.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: This is likely field specific, but no legitimate conferences/journals reach out to specific faculty members in my field.
All of the legitimate conferences/journals put out the call for papers in typical fashion. However, it isn't unusual or the editor of a journal to talk to somebody personally at a conference and ask about the repurposing of a presentation into a journal paper, for example.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: In case of doubt, I write a short reply asking if there is a conference website, travel is covered, etc. Usually, I can tell if it is spam or not from the answer.
Some companies organizing spam conferences appear on black lists, so you can google for them.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Another field-specific answer:
* Most conferences and journals don't send out invitations by email.
* Many conferences distribute call-for-papers posters, which get put up on boards you might see at your university/institute, or on people's doors, or even in *another* conference.
* A few journals also have CFP posters.
* A few conferences - more industry-oriented ones - send automated invitation emails.
* Most conferences and journals have websites, and invitations invite you to visit the website for long-form calls, online submission mechanism, and communicating with the organizers or PC if necessary.
* Nobody ever tries to solicit you personally as some great and wonderful researcher, except someone you know personally (or who knows a friend of yours personally etc.), who writes you personally.
* ... and in the rare cases such solicitations *do* occur - they're scams or semi-scams (i.e. really bad venues which try to get naive grad students to commit to them).
**But - most importantly: If you haven't heard of the conference/journal - ask around about the venue, and go through their website, before providing any reply.**
Upvotes: 2
|
2020/01/08
| 772
| 3,394
|
<issue_start>username_0: Is it acceptable to create YouTube videos about exercises of a University level course ?
I struggle to follow a quantum mechanics course I need to take and thought about making YouTube videos where I explain the exercises and their solutions provided to us step by step. I already did that for two math courses last year, and not only did it help me a lot, it also helped other people that watched my videos. But some people told me to be cautious, because after all I did not create those exercises by myself and thus I have no right to talk about them in a YouTube video.
What should one do in those cases ?<issue_comment>username_1: You should ask whoever created the exercises for permission. If they give it to you, then you can proceed. If they don't give you permission, better to know before you create the videos so you can do something else.
This is pretty much a good strategy any time you are dealing with copyright issues -- ask permission before you use the material.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As an alternative to basing your videos on someone else's work, I suggest writing your own exercises. Each exercise should bring out the issues you want to cover in the corresponding video.
If you write your own exercises, on your own time, you own the copyright, and can do what you want with them, including creating videos about solving them.
That would be superior from a learning point of view, because your users will be able to watch your video, learn from it, and then check their understanding by completing the coursework.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Actually, I think it is easy to avoid most problems. Plagiarism is about presenting something of others as if it is your own. If you cite the source, giving proper attribution, you avoid plagiarism absolutely.
Copyright is another issue, but it is about copying something for which you don't have the proper rights. You don't seem to be doing that. Taking a video of the actual exercise statement (say, from a book) would probably be a form of copying, of course.
Ideas, however, are free to use. The solutions you give are your own and you can certainly discuss the *ideas* in an exercise without issue.
But a final issue should also be considered. If you are making it easy for others to engage in academic dishonesty by avoiding doing the exercises themselves, the professor of the course won't be happy with you and can possibly make a claim that you are assisting. That can result in academic sanction.
So, a good course, overall, is to make videos that don't "solve" the specific exercises of a course, but help people to understand the principles and insights needed to solve the exercises on their own. Using your own exercises is a good way to do that.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Most times you get the same recipe, let's say a pie crust recipe but measurement amounts are different. Sometimes it is 2 cups or 2.5 cups or in grams but the ratio is the same.
If you were to reference your professor, s/he would not like it that you give his teaching material away.
How to make your exercise sample yours, change proportions and examples. Try to bring more than one solution.
I remember my professor telling that every exam, he asks around the same questions and there are only so many, but he changes them around.
Upvotes: 0
|
2020/01/08
| 1,752
| 7,270
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have always wondered, why it seems I have never seen people using excel-generated charts for publishing. Is excel considered less professional/not serious? [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/t3dJ1.png) Say I have a time-series like this. What could have other chart making platforms do better (that excel cannot) to improve it? The dimension (boundary) of the chart?<issue_comment>username_1: Excel can produce high quality charts, but it takes a lot of work. The biggest difference between Excel and other systems is the quality of the defaults. I suspect some people are using excel charts, but they have gone to a lot of effort to tidy them up.
In the example chart, you will, for example, definitely need to deal with the x-axis labels overlapping the y-grid lines. In fact the y grid lines are too strong - in fact I'd put some more consideration into the gird lines in general - why y lines, but no x lines - there might be a good reason, but you should think about it?
Limit the y-axis to make 0 the minimum (I'm assuming a negative flux makes no sense).
I would personally also add a y axis and x-axis border line. You are almost certainly going to want tick marks on the axes. And markers on the lines/larger markers if they are already there but too small.
Your axis titles need to have the same font size (the y looks bigger than the x to me at the moment) and the difference in font size between the labels and the titles is probably too big. I probably take out half of the x-axis labels and make the remaining ones bigger.
One thing that Excel is bad with, and isn't easily fixable is consistency. Getting two plots looking exactly the same, with exactly the same size plot, same size text, with all the elements in the same place is really difficult because it relies so much on the mouse and manually moving/sizing things.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: [<NAME>'s comment](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/142585/is-excel-generated-chart-acceptable-for-publication/142606#comment378603_142585) about reproducibility is the most important one. I used Excel for many years in a professional but non-academic setting but gave it up when I needed auditable, reproducible results. It is extremely easy to make mistakes when you use Excel and very hard to detect that you have made them. It is effectively impossible to check an Excel spreadsheet that someone else has produced and, as we are all taught in basic coding courses, "somebody else" is you in 6 months' time.
If you want other people to be able to follow what you have done and reproduce it, don't use Excel.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You have asked several important questions.
1. Are Excel-generated plots ever accepted in published manuscripts?
2. Is Excel considered less professional/not serious [at creating plots]?
3. What can other chart making software do better (that excel cannot)?
4. What are some examples of things that can be done to improve the sample plot provided here?
In response to your first question, the answer is, unfortunately, yes. Being a regular peer-reviewer for academic publications and an expert in data visualisation, it is usually very easy to identify how graphics have been generated, e.g. whether they have been generated using Excel, `ggplot2` in R, MATLAB, or other software. This is because there are hallmark tell-tale signs - usually default settings that aren't changed by the user, which is a dead giveaway. It is worth noting that I have never seen this in Q1 [SJR-ranked](https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php) journals (top quartile of journals), but it does sometimes happen in Q2 and less reputable journals.
In response to your second question, the answer is a resounding "YES". While Microsoft has made large strides to improve their graphical tools (for example, by consulting with data visualisation guru Edward Tufte), the default options are poorly chosen (and even go against [Tufte's 5 Principles of Graphical Excellence](https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi)), are difficult and tedious to manipulate when the default options are untenable, and the amount of work required to create the same plot with different data or for another user to recreate the same plot with the same data is difficult. From the choice of colour schemes to unnecessary details like 3D effects are all bad design choices. Moreover, some types of plots are available which shouldn't be (like pie charts - there is no *good* reason to *ever* use pie charts), and many types of plots and features are unavailable (polar charts, interactive plots, GIS maps, 3D surface and 2D contour plots, raster plots, etc.). Compare this to the [list of plots available in](https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org/reference/) `ggplot2`.
As an extension of the response above and in response to your third question, other software excels at making plots (excuse the pun) in many ways:
* The default options are usually better looking (higher quality) and meet Tufte's Principles of Graphical Excellence.
* Changing the default options is usually straightforward.
* Plots generated programmatically (say from R or MATLAB) are able to be reproduced by simply re-running the code (code which can be published alongside a manuscript as supplementary material which facilitates reproducibility).
* Editing the plot at a later date is easier. This is important when you submit a paper for review and reviewers ask you to make changes to your plots. Many features are difficult or impossible to replicate in Excel plots, which leaves you with only one option - taking a screen-capture and manually processing the changes. The tediousness of this task is exacerbated by the number plots to edit and level of detail/changes to make.
* Journals often have strict standards on graphics, such as what format (file extension) is acceptable and often specify a minimum resolution/DPI (usually between 300 DPI and 600 DPI). This is easily accomplished in software like R and MATLAB where the user can specify the desired DPI and re-generate the plot accordingly.
In response to your last question, username_1 has already provided a number of good points for improving your sample plot. I would add the following:
* Consider using a better colour scheme; the current one is neither grey-scale friendly or colour-blind friendly. I suggest making use of [ColorBrewer](http://colorbrewer2.org/#type=qualitative&scheme=Accent&n=3) to help choose good colours for qualitative data, and the [Colour-blindness simulator](https://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/).
* Consider making the lines thicker (I would have to test this to see if it's actually better or not).
* Consider using log-y-scale (if flux is always positive; in which case the error bars should be capped at 0 too) to facilitate comparisons when values are smaller (which is where most of your data occurs).
* The title of the chart is missing (although you may have chosen just not to embed it in the plot itself, which is fine).
* In addition to Ian's suggestion of making the y-axis minimum zero, the maximum should be 550 rather than 650.
Upvotes: 4
|
2020/01/08
| 569
| 2,526
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am applying to PhD schools in physics in the United States. I would like to know if there is any advantage to applying early rather than just before the deadline. Honestly, I was trying to focus on research and I was also trying to write a good statement of purpose, hence this delay.<issue_comment>username_1: Probably there is very little advantage. Committees are likely to only start considering candidates after the deadline anyway. Likewise not much disadvantage in being close to the deadline as long as you beat it. The committee will be made up (almost) entirely of faculty who want to schedule time and get through the pile of applications.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The only likely advantage to applying early is that you won't run into unexpected events that make it difficult to meet the deadline, and that this could improve the quality of your application (especially the written/essay portions) as well as avoid simply failing to meet the deadline at all.
That said, this can be a very valuable advantage. You'll find a lot of other questions here from people panicking about having missed application deadlines, having deadlines approaching too quickly, being unable to reach their writers for recommendation letters, etc.
I would not recommend applying *extremely* early (as-in, months in advance) - in that case, you'll instead be regretting having missed your most recent accomplishments. Give yourself some cushion against the deadline, and don't worry about gaming the system beyond that. No one cares (or probably even knows) if your application is officially submitted 0.01 or 1 or 2 or 3 weeks before the deadline: the deadline is there so that **the admissions committee has a known day to start the job of reviewing** while being fair to everyone. That's the only game.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It is unlikely there is any advantage of applying too early, because unlike undergraduate admissions, there is usually no "quotas" to be filled here.
Contacting prospective supervisors early, however, is a very good idea. (1) They would give early feedback/pointers given your research statement, (2) They might give you advice if they're not themselves accepting new students (e.g. check out this recent paper and if you like considering contacting this or that supervisor).
And if you do contact them early, be sure not to make a commitment too early as well, as your research interest might shift after talking to a few professors.
Upvotes: 0
|
2020/01/08
| 888
| 3,675
|
<issue_start>username_0: While completing my PhD, I was assisted by my advisor in writing three papers. Because he had to go on medical leave for a period, we have been slow in getting them submitted for publication. (He did not allow me to submit the papers myself. He insisted on controlling the submission). I am first author on each of these papers.
Now that my former advisor is back from his leave of absence, he has begun submitting the papers without my knowledge. (I emailed him to ask about plans for submission and he informed me that he had already submitted the papers a few weeks prior). He has refused to share the final manuscripts or a list of journals that he has submitted the papers to. He just tells me to wait until the papers are accepted, then he will contact me. From what I can determine, he has told the same thing to another co-author (who was also one of his PhD students).
I find this behavior to be not only odd, but moreover incredibly unprofessional. While I am still a young researcher, I am not a complete push-over. I believe it is completely reasonable to ask that I be included in the publication process.
One major issue that I worry about is the authorship order. When I became his PhD student, a few people warned me that he would try to creep his way up to being listed as the first author on the final publications. (I guess that he did something similar to a previous student: drag on the submission process until the student graduates, then secretly slide his way onto the publications as first author).
**What steps can I take to ensure that I am given a more reasonable say in the publication of these papers?**
---
*Side note 1*: My advisor was fired from his previous position (where he was my advisor). As such, our former university is not likely to be willing to do much about this. He now works as an assistant professor at a different school. Because he is almost 10 years into his career and still not tenured, he is becoming desperate to get some first author publications.
*Side note 2*: I am in a stable position currently and am not reliant on my advisor for anything. My career is not leveraged by him.<issue_comment>username_1: Unless you are willing to make a formal complaint through the university or the journal, there is probably little you can do.
But don't work with this person in the future. That should be obvious.
If you are already clear of his influence and ability to sabotage you, then a formal complaint might be worth doing, but more for the benefit of future students. But if he still holds a thumb over your future, personal preservation might be the wise move.
But move on ASAP. Or faster.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, your advisor behaviour is unprofessional and certainly against the ethical policies of virtually any serious publisher. I'd contact the other coauthor and write a joint email along the following lines (modify according to your knowledge of the situation):
>
> Dear X,
>
>
> We are disappointed by your refusal to share the final versions of the
> manuscripts and the journals which they have been submitted to. Journal policies require all authors to approve a submission, and not
> only does your refusal go against such policies but it also undermines
> the trust that should exist among coauthors.
>
>
> We kindly ask you to comply with our request. In case, we will take
> all the necessary steps to exercise our author's rights.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Y and Z
>
>
>
If they still refuse, contact the ethical or disciplinary office of their university, if there is one, or the Head of Department.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2020/01/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I've been working in a lab for more than 3 years and during this time I have worked on several projects. I have collaboration works too. Most of my projects have been submitted recently. For example, I have finished a project a year ago but it got so many corrections from the supervisor that it took a year to be submitted. Side by side I finished another project. Now, while upgrading my CV, I see so many 'submitted' projects.
Will it make a negative impact on the Ph.D. admission committee thinking that my work might be substandard?
Or is it ok to include all the projects that I have worked on and still working? (almost 6/7)
P.S. All my published works have been published in good journals till now.<issue_comment>username_1: It's pretty hard to imagine that it would be a problem. More is generally better. And the time to publication for a submission can be long. It seems better that you keep working and submitting rather than waiting for one to complete the process.
It shows you are active. Always a good thing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I have been on tons of search committees for faculty members, and I would never look at this in a negative light.
A submitted manuscript doesn't mean it is substandard work. Conversely, I believe, it means you are an active researcher and have the ability to build a substantial research agenda.
I wouldn't worry about this in the least.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: "Submitted manuscripts" count less, but are still viewed favorably.
Uploading these to a preprint server and stating the preprint number is a plus.
The only thing that could look strange are too many "manuscripts in preparation": a committee might wonder if you finish in time what you started.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/09
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student at a German university. Motivated by a longer absence of a (technical) coworker due to illness, the accessibility of data of the members of my institute has been discussed for such cases. My computer is owned by the institute, but I am the only one using it, and I have completely installed and configured it to my liking. In particular, I am encrypting my data. I do have some private data on that computer as well, e.g. emails since my private email account is linked in my email program, but also some music, and perhaps a few photos, my private PGP key, etc. The setup is pretty similar to some of my colleagues.
Now, I was asked to either physically or digitally hand over my private encryption key (or password) in order to get access in some emergency case. Apparently, my colleagues have done so already. I feel very strange about this, since I grew up learning that passwords should never be given away. I have raised my concerns, e.g., that this would also enable access to private emails or other data, and allow to send emails in my name.
But these were marked invalid, since private data has nothing to do on my work computer (even though everyone uses it that way).
Alternatively, I was told I could unencrypt my hard drives.
My questions are:
* Am I required to hand over my private encryption key by law?
* Morally, how would I best act in this situation?
* Should I hand over a wrong (digital) private key and hope that this situation would never happen?
* Instead of rebelling, I am thinking to give access to part of the system only, i.e., put certain data in an encrypted container that they cannot access? I do not have to mention this anywhere if I hide the container good enough...(maybe that is not even necessary).
It is probably worth to note that no one is really involved in my research topic, i.e., no one really depends on my data. I could however imagine someone to be interested in possible (unpublished) results in the case I am gone.<issue_comment>username_1: The institution's solution seems unworkable.
It is well known that professional resources - e.g., equipment (including computers, photocopiers, and shredders) and the mail room (where personal items may be sent) - are used by employees. It is also well known that personal resources - e.g., equipment (including smartphones and texbooks) and home offices - are used for work purposes. Such use benefits both employers and employees.
Rather than caving to the institute's demands, a workable solution could be proposed. For instance, moving shared data to a server accessible by collaborators.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Since the computer belongs to the university, you will need to think in terms of the following limitations. Even if you bring your own laptop to work to do your private emailing, etc., many work places today, will not allow you to use their network for private matters.
I am surprised to read you have configured your computer to your liking. As to why, this means your workplace/ academia setup is open to intruders. As an IT professional, even I when I use my computer, I do not use the administrator screens. I assign myself like a guest screen and password protect the Admin site, because, even if you do not see it visibly, stuff can download itself on your computer and through your network, spread to other computers. Workplaces today, will not allow you to download stuff. The IT professionals will do it within academia policies.
Secondly, although everyone else may check their private email at work, we all do, but some work places will not allow you to use your work computer for private matters. It will be shut off to 'private stuff' as it not only can cause a security issue, but also loss of work hours. Just saying.
Third, let's say, you do not have good intentions and use the university network to hack places. You will not be identified unless you log in to some system that records who you are and when you are logged in and your activities.
I am sorry to say, I don't get how your university can allow such lose practices, especially in our era. Wow! AND you are trying to hold on to your work computer as if it is your own.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I do not understand why you want to have private data in a company computer. Your claim of not being able to separate professional from private is highly debatable. Only data that has something to do with the job and acquired according to the IT policy of your institute should be on your workspace computer. For other stuff such as music and private emails, you could use your phone.
From an ethical point of view, using workspace resources for personal gain ( whatsoever) is unprofessional and could harm your reputation.
As for your concern, I suggest to remove your private data from your workspace computer and follow the institute IT policy.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> My computer is owned by the institute
>
>
>
Well then, you have to follow the policies of the institute, whatever those might be. If you don't like those policies, then give them back their computer and do all of your work on your own personal device.
Think about it from the institute's point of view. You are probably working on a research project that is being funded from somewhere. Maybe the government gave your institute a 10 million Euro grant for example. It is very important to the institute that they show the government that they did something useful with the money so that they can get the next 10 million Euro grant. Imagine that you get hit by a bus. If nobody can get your data, then they have to go tell the government, "sorry, all the data we generated with that 10 million Euro grant is on this one computer and we don't have the password, may we please have another 10 million Euros to start over?" That will make the institute look extremely bad. So they have this policy that everyone must make their data accessible just in case.
>
> Instead of rebelling, I am thinking to give access to part of the
> system only, i.e., put certain data in an encrypted container that
> they cannot access?
>
>
>
This seems a reasonable compromise to me. Make sure your research data is accessible and encrypt the private stuff.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In my experience, academic staff (including PhD students) are usually given great latitude about managing their own computer as long as they are able to take care of it themselves. It can be understood as an effect of academic freedom (in the sense that the researcher is free to use the tools they like), but on a more pragmatic level it also saves the institution some IT resources if most researchers maintain their device themselves. To some extent it's as if there's an unwritten rule in academia that in exchange for not requiring too much IT assistance, the researcher is free to do whatever they want with their computer. In any case this means that strict industry-like standards rarely apply in this domain: researchers commonly use their work and personal devices interchangeably, in the same way that they often don't make a strict distinction between their work time and personal time.
Given the traditional absence of data management in academia, it looks to me like the institution is just trying to apply a questionable quick fix to a sudden problem, instead of taking the time to design a proper solution. I would note that the "solution" is unlikely to work in the long term, because it requires:
1. A well-maintained repository of devices with their corresponding username and passwords/encryption keys
2. Every staff to comply and provide their password every time they change it or re-install the OS (it's unlikely people will remember after a year)
3. The IT staff to check regularly that they can access everybody's device (that's just not going to happen)
Additionally depending how the repository is maintained it could be a serious security risk, since a hacker gaining access would get access to many devices and potentially a lot of sensitive data. If it's stored very securely and only one person can access it, then it doesn't solve the original issue: what if this person gets sick or worse?
I'm not a legal expert, but I doubt this solution has been legally assessed anyway. I would suggest to inquire about the exact details of the policy and ask colleagues how they dealt with it. You might want to suggest alternative solutions: data sharing software and collaborative tools are not in short supply, in my opinion it would be a much more suitable approach. As a PhD student, you should probably discuss this with your supervisor, at least to get a sense of how serious these requirements are (you might want to mention that this policy could hinder your productivity). In case your supervisor tells you not to take this too seriously, you can consider yourself off the hook.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I am going to (partially) disagree with some of the answers here. I think it really depends on *who* is asking for your key, and based on what policy.
First of, I am more than confused by the many answers here assuring that the university has in general no business accessing information on the computer they provided you - the IT usage policy in all institutions I worked at so far (in Austria, Switzerland, and Sweden) would certainly disagree with this stance. Sure, the lived practice is that they give you a computer and then don't care much about what you do with it, but the fact remains that it is *the university's* computer, and that you also use it for private things (maybe with their explicit permission) does not change this fact.
However, if the (somewhat silly) plan of requesting private keys is appropriate depends on who made this request - if this is actually part of the written IT policy (very unlikely) your options are to give them the key or stop using the equipment they provide, but if it's just a wild idea of your PI you have all the right in the world to just say no. "Your" computer isn't really yours, but it also isn't your PI's. Even if they paid for it through their grants, the computer belongs to the university, and university policy governs how they are managed. I am also fairly sure that your IT department would back you up on this if push comes to shove, because a supervisor (or whoever) storing a bunch of private keys or passwords sounds like a liability / traceability nightmare that nobody wants to deal with.
>
> Morally, how would I best act in this situation?
> Should I hand over a wrong (digital) private key and hope that this situation would never happen?
>
>
>
Certainly not - that's just as silly as asking for the key in the first place, and if your PI wants to test it (every backup solution is only as good as the last time you tested it) you may run into major conflicts. It's much better to acknowledge that their concern is per se not unfounded, even if their solution approach is bad, and to work with them on a better solution. Having a cloud service for data backup would be an obvious approach.
>
> Instead of rebelling, I am thinking to give access to part of the system only, i.e., put certain data in an encrypted container that they cannot access? I do not have to mention this anywhere if I hide the container good enough...(maybe that is not even necessary).
>
>
>
Unless there is some deep distrust between you and however is requesting this key I don't see why they would mind if you had a separate "non-work" partition (assuming that they allow private usage in the first place). That said, as I mentioned before the whole idea of collecting private keys / passwords is a bad solution to the problem anyway.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_7: This seems like an X-Y problem. *Why* is important work data only kept on a computer on your desk, in the first place? I would expect it to be on a Git repository, or on the shared storage space of a workplace server.
Once you fix this problem, the issue you mention becomes irrelevant: your data will not be lost if your disk suddenly becomes inaccessible.
So a practical way to address the issue could be offering to put more of your work data in shared servers and git repositories, so that the problem disappears. Ask your superiors which data they are worried about, and offer to keep them online preemptively.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_8: In my field this would certainly be a no go. I work with human subjects and our IRB approval lists who has access to our data. These data management plans outline who, how, and where the data are stored and backed up. This means either encrypted files (typical) or encrypted drives/partitions. I have never seen a data management plan that would give IT support permission to access the data. The plans do not go so far as to prevent "evil actors" from accessing encryption keys from RAM or performing cold boot attacks, but they almost all require access to the data to be limited to named individuals.
I also run Linux and all the computers in my lab use full disk encryption. I assume that i the university wants the computer back (or needs access), they will wipe the computer and reinstall the OS. All data and information on the computers are stored in accordance with departmental/institutional storage requirements.
If your department head wants a particular type of data stored in a particular format and in a particular location, you do that (assuming it does not violate other regulations). This might mean all data gets pushed to a USB driver or a server. It might mean you boot and run the computer off a USB stick and never write to the hard drive.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_9: >
> Morally, how would I best act in this situation?
>
>
>
The moral thing to do is first of all to recalibrate your somewhat immature (in my opinion) attitude towards this question and stop trying to think about dishonest solutions like giving an incorrect password or undoing the system-wide encryption but hiding encrypted content on your system and not telling anyone about it. Whether or not you should agree to give the password is a separate question where the answer would be more nuanced, but certainly if you care about behaving morally, **do not lie to your supervisors**. Any option that involves dishonesty should be unconditionally off the table.
As for the question of whether to give the (correct) password: first, I think it’s reasonable of you to find the policy a bit draconian. I myself am a person who cares a lot about privacy, and as most academics do, I sometimes use my work email for private purposes, so I get where you’re coming from. I wouldn’t want my employers going through my emails. But I also am perfectly aware that they have the right (and technical means) to do that, so if I need to send something especially private or sensitive, I use a different, private email that is protected by a separate password and is not physically stored on my work computer.
What I find *unreasonable* however is that you are complaining about the policy and how it infringes on your privacy rights, without looking at things from the institute’s point of view, acknowledging that they are trying to solve what is a real problem for them, or offering a solution that might make the violation of your privacy unnecessary. It would be completely reasonable and honorable for you to go to your department chair (or other relevant administrator), say you object to the policy and offer them an alternative plan that ensures accessibility of your work data in unexpected events. A smart administrator would be willing to negotiate a solution that keeps their researchers happy while still meeting the institution’s needs, so I’m optimistic that a solution can be found. And if they don’t agree and just insist that you hand over the password? Well, then, the mature, professional thing to do is to follow your institution’s policies, even if you disagree with them, and vow to behave more reasonably in the future when you yourself someday become an administrator.
Finally, I want to share with you an insight I had one time during the years I was a department chair. I noticed that regular employees have a different approach to risk (of all different kinds) than administrators do. A regular employee will often be willing to ignore the possibility of low-probability events happening and choose a more risky path when making a decision, but administrators are much more sensitive to such things. The reason is that from your point of view, the low probability event of you falling very ill (to use your example) or otherwise not being available to provide coworkers access to your data seems like an outlandishly unlikely event that is like nothing you have experienced happening in your lifetime. But from the administrator’s point of view, they actually see low probability events happening *all the time*, *somewhere* in the organization. Those events are not at all “low probability” from their point of view, and it is precisely the administrator’s job to put in place policies that protect the organization in the actually very likely event that such things end up happening to *someone*.
So what I’m saying is, the administrators aren’t necessarily being as unreasonable as you think with their data protection policies. But of course, it’s reasonable to want to have some privacy as I said, so it isn’t obvious to me that your objections are completely wrong or misguided. Anyway, good luck.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_10: 1) You own only what is in your head.
2) The least secure place you can put things you move out of your head is to a place you do not own (your employer's, for example), followed by one you do own.
3) There are various ways (legal and/or ethical) of compelling you to move things out of your head and into the world, and of compelling you to move things from place you own to places you do not. Knowing them is important.
@buffy's excellent comment refers to 3. Your idea to hide an encrypted container with a password you know is an interesting extraction of #1: the location and password would presumably exist in your head. See #3.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: First of all, if IT is correctly managed, your private data may very well already be available because they are backed up.
Then, the ability to have private data on your device is dependent on the local law. You can have the case where everything belongs to the company/school, up to the case where you have the right to have personal data and they are legally protected.
For the first case, you are deliberately working against your institution by defending them access. It does not matter what you think, how they handle their data is their decision.
In the second case it gets more complicated. There is the part where you actively work against your institution like above - for the portion which belongs to the institution (because I guess there is something which belongs to them, right?). You must not encrypt that part.
If you have legally personal data then you can do whatever you want with them and your institution would not access them anyway (again, if this is the legal framework). The complicated part is email, when personal and professional data is mixed.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_12: I think you have one core misconception: The machine is a work machine, as such it is not your private encryption key, it is a custom encryption you applied to a company/institute machine. It's the institute's machine and primarily their data and their right to determine how you use that machine. They may allow private use and they may allow you encrypt stuff, but that is up to them. If your personal encryption scheme conflicts with their policy, you loose. Now, the typical proper use-case for something like this would be that IT department has a master key that they can under certain regulated conditions use to lookup data needed for professional purposes. Potentially with a 4-eye procedure to make sure they don't look at stuff that is not in their professional interest.
However, as is often the case in academia, things aren't that well organized and a more pragmatic approach is used. This seems to be the case here: There is no standardised encryption in place, and you are allowed to do private stuff on your machine. You are even allowed to manage your security yourself, but they ask to have access to it in case of an emergency. Now, while the method to ask for you password may not be the best, it seems like a reasonable way to satisfy your need for encryption and their need to get to the data.
Of course you can suggest alternative solutions, like having central servers that maintain all data and you not being allowed to have any essential data solely on your machine (you may get quite a bit of an argument from your colleagues, if they prefer to keep their data on their machines) or having separate hard drives/partitions and the like. A personal container with private data might be fine. But ultimately you have to convince them and if you cannot, they have the last word in this. They give you an option to not encrypt, which doesn't involve handing over your password if this is such a big issue for you.
Note: the encryption password should not be the same as your system user password etc. anyway such that misuse should be limited to direct physical access misuse, which you should be able to prevent by having your laptop with you all the time.
Is handing out the password problematic from a security perspective? yes, in the sense that it lowers security. Is it their decision how to use their machine? Yes!
(within lawfulness, but bringing up laws might mean they have to draw up a proper policy that restricts you far more than their current approach).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: I have helped to manage the IT for an academic group for a while, and students or employees keeping research data only on their individual PCs was a very typical problem. It is important for the university and your PhD supervisor to ensure that they have the data that you produce. This is also a requirement for many grants that actually pay for the research, your supervisor is required to ensure that the data created is stored in some accessible way. This is not an arbitrary request, your supervisor is likely violating the terms of some research grant if they don't ensure proper management of the produced data.
This doesn't mean that you have to give them your private key, a much better way is to ensure that all relevant data is stored somewhere else than only on your PC. For example a central file server with proper backup procedures in place.
What your institute is asking for is a bad way to solve the underlying problem, especially as it doesn't solve a major reason for data loss like hardware failures. But they do have the right to insist on having access to your research data, and you should propose an alternative that fulfills this requirement like e.g. syncing your data to a file server of the institute.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: Since I am no lawyer or remotely active in that space, so I'll refrain from answering the first question.
Then in general I am a huge advocate of honesty. It's your best bet, anytime, at least in the long term. Therefore I think that handing over a wrong key is waiting for a conflict to happen. And hiding a container might not even be necessary in the first place.
However I do sympathize strongly with the feeling of privacy. I had similar concerns and issues before. To be clear: I do think it is a bad idea to share authentication credentials in general. So the question remains: how to comply with the policy and keep your private data private.
And a few possible solutions come to mind:
* Shared repositories / backups for the work related data.
+ Pro: no need to break into your device at any time. Kind of convenient in general. What if the hardware fails completely? (Struck by lightning.)
+ Con: you will be responsible to keep this in sync.
* An encrypted container solution (E.g.: Veracrypt) No need to hide it really.
+ Pro: Very convenient for files and backup of private keypairs.
+ Con: Might not integrate very well with mail configuration and such.
* Use an external drive with an automatic mount to keep the container on.
+ Pro: Physically separates the data.
+ Con: Might not cover all use cases. (E.g.: the mail configuration) And could be a bit cumbersome.
* You could use a security key (E.g.: Yubikey, but have your pick, plety exist.)
+ Pro: It's hardware, the one holding the key can log in. You don't need to hand them a password or decryption key, but you could get in writing that if you get in a coma (hopefully not!) the can get access to the key.
+ Con: If you lose the key, you're also out.
* Use your own hardware.
+ Pro: You can have it just the way you like, and there is nothing they can say about it.
+ Con: It could be expensive. And if data loss is the underlying problem, you haven't solved it.
In the end I think the institute's end goal (having access to the research data?) is very reasonable and justified. But maybe there are better solutions to be suggested to solve the problem. So maybe your strategy could be to find out what their biggest fear is. If it is data loss, clearly there are way better solutions to this, and maybe they are willing to listen for other solutions.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_15: You are right to be concerned. Private keys are called private for a reason.
The institute also has a legitimate concern, that they won't be able to access the data if you're unavailable. Problem is that when you hand over the key, someone will be able to impersonate you. You don't have to be especially important to be impersonated; if you have a credit card you're a target already. The meta-threat is that, just like with credit card info, if you give it out you may have a difficult time dealing with a future breach, because you're the one who gave out the data.
### Solution:
**Key escrow**: Speak to your IT department about setting up a [key escrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_escrow). It's possible they're already doing that but I doubt it, because they asked for the key in plaintext. So, ask the IT department and get some technical documentation from them with the details of the scheme. This is not so much to get the details, but to signal to them this is how you expect this to be done.
**Automated Backups**: Exactly what it sounds like. Backup your `~/project` directory, have IT validate the solution. Or, use a shared workspace (ie a git repository).
**Separate Keys** You might ask the uni to supply you with a public key into which all work-related emails can be BCC'd. This way they get the data and your key is not compromised.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_16: Talk to your works committee ("Betriebsrat"). They should know what you are legally obligated to and what not. And they are not the voice of your employer (the university) but the employees.
Most of what you ask depends on the IT policy relevant to your institute. In general, if not prohibited by institute policies, you are allowed to have private data on your work machine. You maybe also allowed to use Internet access for private purposes. This is also the agreement at our institute, and any access to an employee computer by a third party (any colleague, boss, IT, the institute director) without them being present must be supervised by an employee representative to make sure that only work-related documents (and e-mails) are accessed. And it is suggested that we keep any personal documents in a clearly marked folder (e.g., "private").
Concerning the encryption key: Any work communication must be accessible by your employer for legal reasons! Concerning key escrow, again, ask your works committee.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_17: It is not 1990's anymore and both Internet access and personal digital devices are not that much scarse. Back then, it was normal or even expected for an employer to allow some personal use of computers and internet access. And the Internet was a lot safer place, back then.
Now, there is still some acceptance of this practice and even some expectation of privacy regarding personal matters, but the general trend is exactly the opposite. Private matters are private and done on private devices (laptop, tablet, phone), work is work and is kept separate on a work computer.
There can always be matters of competition between different employees (esp. in research or marketing) that have to be kept secret or data that is part of your work, but you are personaly responsible for keeping it safe. Spare for these (and they can be kept in a separate encrypted container) the employer is pretty much in a position to tell you what to do and what not to do, with any computer, or any other tool, or any work-related data.
What's more, your employer is probably responsible for a lot of things related to "your" computer (say, unlicensed or malicious software). When employees are left on their own to manage their computers, it is only because of the brave assumption that they know what they are doing. Today, this assumption is almost always wrong (hey, it is even wrong for most of the IT people I know, but that's completely another matter).
In short, the best strategy is to segregate personal (or, at least, sensitive personal) matters to different device. It may as well be an external USB flash or disk that connects to the work computer when needed or a completely separate device (laptop or tablet). Then, comply to whatever management asks regarding your work computer - be it decryption or "key escrow".
p.s. regarding these matters, student is the same as employee.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_18: >
> Morally, how would I best act in this situation?
>
> Should I hand over **a wrong** (digital) private key
>
>
>
**Morally** it *is not okay* to **deliberately produce** a **fraudulent work**
>
> My computer is owned by the institute, ... and I have completely installed and configured it to my liking.
>
>
>
Then you're tech enough for this:
Get a low cost cloud computer for your personal stuff (Azure, AWS, etc.)
Remote into **that** computer *through the university computer* and you can do/store whatever you like (encrypted + anonymous).
Or even remote through your smart phone (if you buy one).
This is completely portable.
It completely complies with your university's policy
Also you'll never have the heartache and/or expense of trying to get data off of a computer that has been stolen, dropped on edge because a rogue firework was coming at you, was run over, caught fire, etc.
Implement this, and you can give them the private key they've asked for
(more work if you have reused this private key... but that's on you).
---
It is also a failing of every person with technical ability to not have (work) stuff backed up where others can get to it.
That's my opinion, but it is widely shared in 2020.
For completeness I'll mention that getting a smart phone would make your life easier.
Since you are tech savvy I'll assume this option isn't appealing to you for some reason (and there are a *few* good reasons).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_19: Here is my understanding including the legal situation in Germany. IANAL, but I've had occasion to read up on such issues.
First of all,
>
> Motivated by a longer absence of a (technical) coworker due to illness, the accessibility of data of the members of my institute has been discussed for such cases.
>
>
>
This sounds to me as if your institute is right now in the process of developing such a strategy. That is good news for you, as it gives you a chance to suggest improvements.
Thus, I think you have the genuine and actually rare chance to **contribute constructively** to your institute becoming much better than most institutes in this respect. Do that instead of rebelling.
---
>
> I am encrypting my data.
>
>
>
That's fine. Still,
* The [bus factor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor) of your PhD is obviously 0 since you are required to hand in a substantial chunk of original own work. However, in case you suddenly leave the project, others may need to access your work in order to save as much of the project as possible. This is probably part of the risk strategy outlined in the grant proposal, and this means your institute signed a contract with the funding agency that they have reasonable means to save the project in case you drop out/get sick.
* The university/your institute/your PI are typically required by the project funding agency to guarantee accessibility of the research data that belongs to the project.
So it's not only their whim, they have signed that they can show everything from raw measurement data to lab books if needed.
**Bottomline: Asking you to ensure others can access your project-related data is reasonable and sensible, and they probably signed contracts that actually require this.**
* If you have an employment contract with your university, the university owns your work. In consequence, they have a right to access it and you must provide them with appropriate means to do so. Actually, they may legally ask you to not even keep a copy of your project data when you leave.
In my experience, some instituates do excercise this right while many institutes are fine with you keeping a backup copy of your data: in case something is needed/there are questions later on, it is often easier to ask you to send them the data (and of course, your ability to answer questions without access to the data is limited) and of course it is a kind of a distributed backup strategy.
*Personally, I'm somewhat uneasy with the request to not keep a copy of anything as my professional reputation potentially depends on whether I can answer questions (and possibly show data) about my papers years later. But legally, there's no choice here: it's the employer's (institute's) responsibility if they choose to excercise their right to exclusive data ownership.*
---
>
> Now, I was asked to either physically or digitally hand over my private encryption key (or password) [...] I feel very strange about this, since I grew up learning that passwords should never be given away.
>
>
>
You are right in not sharing your private key or password.
* **You probably signed** with the IT policy (see below) **that you will not give your password to anyone.**
* As you correctly point out, someone may gain access to your accounts and may do bad things(TM) in your name: sharing passwords creates a nightmare wrt. responsibility (it's impossible to know who exactly did X - and for you it's impossible to prove that it wasn't you)
* A closely related issue is **data integrity**. If you grant change/write access to anyone (via password or otherwise), how can you be sure things are as you left them?
The answer to this however is **signing** username_15er than encryption.
* And moreover, it is not necessary as you can **grant rights (e.g. group-readable) according to the required access level**.
So that's what you should do: possibly create a "project" user, make the relevant data readable to that user and hand over that login to your PI.
An alternative is to have a shared drive on a file server for the project - but that's IT infrastructure that is outside your control. If it exists it's probably good to use that as these are in my experience typcially run with backups etc..
---
I'd like to exand a bit on my understanding of the legal situation in Germany wrt.:
>
> I do have some private data on that computer as well
>
>
>
You have probably signed an "IT use" document when starting as PhD student. Time to review that.
Regardless of whether the IT policy of your university does allow small-scale private use of university IT, IMHO the best container for your *private private* data is a private external storage which you keep.
However, you may also have *work-related private* data => see below.
AFAIK, two scenarios are common in Germany wrt. IT use policy:
* Employer/university allows small-scale private use. They are *not* allowed to access your *private* data. As they allow private use, the default assumption is that your computer contains private data, and it should therefore *not* be accessible to everyone.
So in case that's the policy at your institute, you can keep such personal data in your own encrypted storage.
* However, AFAIK employers can also mandate that their IT infrastructure is strictly for work/research purposes only. In that case, you may be expected to have almost everything at least readable to other employees.
* Still, As @username_8 points out, it is actually quite common to have encryption (or physical access restriction) mandated e.g. by
+ Privacy requirements for projects involving human subjects,
+ Certain professional positions also mean that part of the work data should not be accessible to your whole group, and possibly not even to your PI/professor. Examples are data related to positision as ombudsperson, Fachschaft [student union] or Personalrat [employee committee] work, and everything related to grading students.
The conclusion is that **the institute actually needs a more fine-grained access policy** than just "everyone can access everything if need be".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_20: You never give away passwords or private keys. In Germany you cannot be forced by anyone to do so.
Look in your contract.
Is private use allowed? (email, surfing, etc). Then ask for a server, external drive and store the property of your institute.
If not (computer may only be used for working purposes). Well then get your private stuff from the computer, decrypt it and hand it over.
But the best place/person to discuss it is the Data Security Officer (german: Datenschutzbeauftragter).
Because the usage of private data is obviously not clearly communicated and the usage of encryption on personal devices seems a bit vague, I would contact him/her on base on
Article 39c of the DGSVO (General Data Protection Regulation) --> <https://dsgvo-gesetz.de/art-39-dsgvo/>. Because there might be some issues in the handling of giving computers in your institute. These need to be solved for the future and for you.
(--> <https://dsgvo-gesetz.de/art-35-dsgvo/> and <https://dsgvo-gesetz.de/erwaegungsgruende/nr-75/>)
However the Data Security Guy is normally a nice guy and will find a solution and the solution will never be be to reveal your key.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_21: I have talked to the data protection officer of my university, who seemed very sensitive with regards to my concerns. So in fact, the university officially allows a *small amount* of private usage of computers - without explicity defining *small amount*. There also is a policy for *emergency cases*, where the head of the instite is not allowed to simply access the computer, but instead the data protection officer (or some member of his team) makes sure that no private / sensitive data is made accessible, and only then allows the head of the institute to access the data. He then basically confirmed, that this is an infrastructure problem, and that the university offers tools to circumvent any kind of password hand out (e.g. backup and server-storage with fine-grained access control, mailing lists, etc.).
He also mentioned that there are different ways to proceed (which I can chose from): He could generally talk to my institute without referencing me or any details of the current discussion, just for a general clarification. Or instead reference me and talk to the institute. Or do not talk to the institute at all, and I will figure out what I need to do by myself.
Anyway, he did say that handing out private keys or passwords is the wrong solution to a problem that should not even exist when using the correct tools that the university offers.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2020/01/09
| 688
| 2,601
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<issue_start>username_0: I have received an e-mail inviting me to join the program committee (PC) of a well-established and renowned conference in computer science.
The e-mail looks genuine, based on the sender address and the links provided to accept the invitation.
However, I do not directly know the guy writing to me (though he seems to be a respectable researcher, after I googled his name), and the e-mail is not tailored at all on my profile: it looks automatically generated, and does not specify at all why they chose me.
Is that normal, or should that ring some bells?
Thanks in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is that normal, or should that ring some bells?
>
>
>
It is normal to have
```
received an e-mail inviting me to join the program committee
```
even better that it is for
```
a well-established and renowned conference
```
and that it
```
looks genuine
```
Personally, I would have already accepted the invitation.
>
> However, I do not directly know the guy writing to me
>
>
>
That's normal, you can't know everyone directly. Given that the conference is *well-established and renowned*, you should expect to find *he seems to be a respectable researcher, after I googled his name*.
>
> [T]he e-mail is not tailored at all on my profile [and] does not specify at all why they chose me
>
>
>
I'm not surprised, it most likely was *automatically generated*. Hand-crafting individual PC invitations is time-consuming and not really necessary, IMO.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If your alarm bells are ringing, but the offered position is attractive, then there are ways to check it out without causing problems.
Example: The person who's name is on this invite will have contact information outside this particular email. A phone number or email that you don't get from this email, for example, but from their institution or some such. That way, if the email is not legit you are not going through the channel it has provided. Contact that person using that independent contact info. The approach could be something like so:
>
> Hello well-known-person-running-a-conference. I have received this email inviting me to join the PC for well-known-conference. What would be involved? How much time and effort is expected to be required? What other requirements are there?
>
>
>
Then if the person responds with ready information you can simply decide if the amount of work is acceptable. If they respond with "who are you and how did you get my name?" then possibly the original email is not so legit.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
|
2020/01/09
| 526
| 1,856
|
<issue_start>username_0: My first article was accepted with minor revisions, one of them being the correction of a citation. This citation points to the first time the method I am improving was proposed, which was 1962.
Here is a link to the Paper : <http://www-isl.stanford.edu/~widrow/papers/c1961generalizationand.pdf>
It is on the Stanford online library. I found this paper cited multiple times in the following way:
>
> <NAME>, ``Generalization and Information Storage in Networks of
> Adaline `Neurons','' in Self-Organizing Systems, symposium
> proceedings, <NAME>, <NAME>, and <NAME>, eds.,
> pp.435-461, Spartan Books, Washington, DC, 1962.
>
>
>
So I used it, but the reviewers are still asking me for a revision as they deem it to be incorrect. So my
**Question:**
How to cite this paper in a Periodica Polytechnica journal ?
---
**EDIT 1 :**
Thank you for your help, They didn't point to a particular correction, here is a print screen of their comment :
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/D95R2.png)<issue_comment>username_1: If they're objecting to your citation style, don't worry. They are hardly going to recommend rejection because your citation style is wrong (or even if they do the editor is unlikely to actually reject for that reason). The journal's production staff will fix it for you if/after your paper is accepted.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: First of all, this doesn't look like a reviewer's comment, but rather like a copy-editor's comment. And if I interpret the comment correctly, they just want a note that indicates when the resource was last accessed for all online resources. So you only have to add "(Accessed 10 January 2020)" after the URL.
This is completely unrelated to the age of the paper.
Upvotes: 2
|
2020/01/10
| 890
| 4,025
|
<issue_start>username_0: I've been a software developer for about 10 years or so and am familiar with various security related concepts (SQL injection, server-client validations, man-in-the-middle attacks, etc.)
I'm upgrading from a college diploma and found myself sitting in an "Enterprise Application Development" class learning about SQL.
The core content is very basic and normally doesn't cover security, but the teacher decides to talk about it. He advised students to use mixed cased table names as "security" so that it is harder to guess. This is known as "Security Through Obscurity" and is one of the least effective form of security (it is treated as insecure). Security is talked about throughout the class and they're all forms of the same thing and extremely dangerous since it is completely ineffective.
As a professional that knows better, if he was an employee I would've had to sit him down and have a thorough talk, and probably advise some security training.
**What can do I do as a student?** Since the other students are probably clueless
and security is not even one of the program's topic, there is no foreseeable chance for correct learning and they will probably end up doing this in the future, possibly jeopardizing their own career, the company, and all the data they work with.<issue_comment>username_1: If the teacher is not a reasonable person, and some are not, you should keep your head down and hope that your fellow students will get some real security training, at least on the job, before making decisions in this area.
If the teacher is reasonable, select a very small number of references on the topic, preferably including peer-reviewed papers. Look for an opportunity to talk with the teacher privately, definitely not in class and preferably without any of your fellow students nearby.
Explain that you have had to learn about some security issues because of your jobs over the last 10 years, and that you have more up-to-date information than is being presented in class. (Yes, I know something of the history of security-through-obscurity, but we are being tactful here). Offer your references. How you play it from there on will have to depend on how receptive the teacher is, and how helpful you are willing to be.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I don't know enough of the details to actually judge, but there is a benign explanation. You say the the course overall is quite elementary. You also say that it is focused elsewhere than security and that this is a side topic. Let me start with that.
There is a Pedagogical Pattern called Spiral in which it is suggested that advanced topics can be mentioned in early courses just to put out a few terms and to put the ideas into the heads of students so that when they see the topic later, in a more complete way, they have already seen a few basic ideas. The later course then builds on the earlier base. So, learning is a spiral with each loop being deeper than the earlier one.
Unless the instructor is presenting obscurity as an important security technique, perhaps they are just introducing the idea that security, itself, is an important consideration (to be explored later). After all, if they give the complete course in security within the current course it can't meet its objectives. It would be bad, of course, if they suggest that obscurity is sufficient.
Look at the overall picture before you make a judgement. You may not need to challenge the professor, but it might be worth a visit to the office to see what their goals are in opening the door to security in this way. In general, mentioning advanced things early to set the stage for later development is a good thing that gives students a bit of perspective on the whole field.
---
Related to this is that instructors teaching a first programming course might have students implement something simple like the Caesar Cypher, and mention the idea of encryption, but not suggesting that this is a good one.
Upvotes: 2
|
2020/01/10
| 1,865
| 7,503
|
<issue_start>username_0: (Content warning - some people may find this post distressing due to discussions of mental health and self-harm.
Hello academic community - I could use some advice! I’m a 1st year PhD student, and I went through a difficult time during my MA that I’d like to get some help with.
I worked as an Residential Advisor (RA) on campus for 4 years before my MA and during. It was a great job, but was also a lot of responsibility. The final year I was there (which was during my MA) I had a student living in my halls who was experiencing severe mental health issues. This was not a new situation, as sadly lots of students need extra support, and I had worked with students like this before.
One night, I received a call on the emergency cell from this student, at about 3am. They had attempted to take their own life, and due to issues within my RA team, I was the only one available to help. I went to the student’s room and saw the situation, carried out emergency first-aid, phoned the ambulance and then accompanied them to the ER.
I stayed with the student for the night until they were discharged, and arranged for further support. However, to cut a long story short, the student began to contact me both day and night via email and phone, saying that if I didn’t go to their room to speak to them as and when they asked, they’d do it again.
In the end, I was diagnosed with PTSD in relation to what I saw when I went to the student’s room that first night. After this, they called me repeatedly, hourly, 2, 3, 4am, and sent emails several times a day.
I sought help from the higher ups in the RA team, as we were supposed to in this kind of situation, and though they were aware of this student and the issues going on, they said they couldn’t do much to help me. I began to experience severe anxiety myself and became quite ill. In the end, I quit my job as an RA and had to move back to my parents’ house. This was over 2 hours away from campus. After this, I found my MA very difficult, and due to a combination of all of these circumstances, I was rejected for PhD funding a few months later. I wanted to explain to my Department what had happened, but felt too worried about breaching confidentiality agreements myself and getting into trouble in terms of the contracts I'd signed to be an RA.
When I didn’t receive funding, I spoke to the Head of Department (as in, my academic Department, not my RA team) about what my possible next steps could be in terms of funding, and almost told them, but instead I ended up getting upset and crying in their office. I said that I felt that I had been abandoned by my academic Department. The Head of Department was clearly upset themselves that I felt this way. It wasn't a nice interaction (though wasn't an argument) and after that, I didn't speak to any staff in the Department again. I just stayed home and tried to study and get better.
In the end, I left the University with my MA but also with no one and very few support networks, having isolated myself from everyone. Now I’m a PhD student and I did get funding. However, I feel regret about the way my education ending at my MA institution, which was a fantastic place and which I loved.
I also feel terrible every day about what I said to the Head of Department. They were the best teacher I’d ever had and they are also one of the foremost scholars in my current field. Eventually, the investigation into what happened with the student was closed quite recently - nothing ever came of it, and they graduated after an extra year out as far as I know.
My question is whether I should try to reach out to this academic to explain what happened to me and why I acted how I did and to apologise? If so, how should I do it? Via email, or in person? Or maybe it’s too late? I just feel terrible because to them, it must have looked like at one point that I just withdrew myself from the Department (when I was previously a hugely active member of the PG community there) and then blamed it on them.
Thanks in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I also feel terrible every day about what I said to the Head of Department. They were the best teacher I’d ever had and they are also one of the foremost scholars in my current field.
>
>
>
I think what you said to the Head of Department should have been expected and I think you should have been better supported.
>
> My question is whether I should try to reach out to this academic to explain what happened to me and why I acted how I did and to apologise?
>
>
>
Given that you *feel terrible*, I think this might be a good idea.
>
> If so, how should I do it? Via email, or in person?
>
>
>
Personally, I'd write a handwritten letter, and open the possibility for a future in-person meeting. Ultimately, you should make contact however you feel the most comfortable.
>
> Or maybe it’s too late?
>
>
>
It's never too late.
---
Before proceeding, you could talk to a professional.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The immediate problem here seems to be that you have a conflict between confidentiality obligations in relation to your past work, and giving a frank explanation of something that caused your academic work to fall behind. In this circumstance, I would recommend you contact your past employers in your RA position and see if they can write you a generic letter of reference that explains that you were impacted by an attempted suicide by another student, and subsequent events relating to that, and this negatively impacted your academic work.
It should be possible for your previous RA supervisors to write you a letter in a way that gets across the important information, without breaching privacy/confidentiality obligations to the student you helped. (All that is really needed here is to avoid giving the identity of the other student or any details that would make them identifiable.) Here is what I would write if I were in their position:
>
> To whom it may concern,
>
>
> <NAME> previous worked as an RA in our residential hall during her Masters program at [University] from [date] to [date]. During that time she assisted in a difficult matter involving another student who attempted suicide, and she was also involved in a number of follow-up interventions in this matter. We observed that this matter had a significant impact on Gemma in terms of stress and time-obligations devoted to this matter over subsequent months/years. We believe that it negatively impacted her academic work during this period.
>
>
> We are writing this letter to explain that Gemma's academic work over this period may not reflect the full extend of her academic abilities, and we hope that this circumstance can be taken into account in any future applications she makes for entry or funding for academic programs. Privacy and confidentiality limitations prevent us from giving any additional details on this matter. Suffice to say, this was a circumstance beyond Gemma's control and she endured significant hardship to help another student in crisis. We commend her for using here own academic time to help another student in crisis.
>
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
>
> [Name]
>
>
>
If you were able to solicit a letter of this kind, then this is something you could include in the materials for any future PhD funding application. It would then be taken into account in assessing your suitability for entry/funding for a program.
Upvotes: 0
|
2020/01/10
| 712
| 3,058
|
<issue_start>username_0: The University of Illinois physics PhD deadline is January 15th. When I submitted on January 1st I got an email confirming submission and it included the following:
>
> *"Committee reviews will begin immediately after the application deadline, January 15 for Fall term. Admissions decisions are typically completed by March 15 for Fall admission. Decisions will be sent to you via e-mail."*
>
>
>
However, the [GradCafe results board](https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=physics) shows that multiple applicants received offers within days of applying.
The more I think about it, the more this doesn't make sense for the program to do. Aren't they missing out on potentially more qualified applicants who are busy and haven't applied yet (deadline isn't for another 5 days)? What if these offers they are sending out BEFORE the deadline are accepted? They are reducing the number of spots in their program.<issue_comment>username_1: Sending offers too late to a very good applicant also involves the risk that the applicant will accept a different offer, and the university will lose out. Very good applicants also tend to receive many offers, so this risk should not be underestimated.
Similarly to the case of hiring employees at a company, if a university wants to admit the best students, the optimal strategy would probably be to make sure to admit the very best applicants as quickly as possible, while delaying the decision for the "good but not best" applicants until the end of the deadline, in case someone better shows up. The difference between study programs and hiring processes is that universities have plenty of statistics from previous years that let them know what a "great" applicant is and what a "good" applicant is, so the could optimize this process much more if they wanted.
In the German system, some universities have this explicitly built into their admission procedure. For example, [at the Technical University of Munich](https://www.tum.de/en/studies/application/admission-procedures/), great applicants are immediately admitted, and good applicants are invited to an interview:
>
> In the initial stages, the grades you obtained during your Bachelor's program, as well as your written documents, will be evaluated using a point system. Depending on the number of points accumulated, applicants are either immediately admitted, rejected or invited to a 20 minute admissions interview carried out by the department faculty.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In the US, I see this more and more. It puts a different flavor on student visits, which have trended towards organized events for a slew of students at once. It means the students can ask questions of a different sort when face to face with faculty members, and the departments work on wooing the good students.
It's a horse race. Departments don't want to lose good students to other schools just because they want to make a decision with the acceptances they're already holding.
Upvotes: 0
|
2020/01/10
| 329
| 1,253
|
<issue_start>username_0: In my understanding, the common understanding of the word "*topic*" is as defined in the [Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/topic):
>
> *Subject; theme; a category or general area of interest.*
>
>
>
**Now which discipline deals with this and related effects, for example how to determine topicality of a message in a given context?**
First, I thought it could be linguistics, but this discipline has got their own notion of topic, either they work on a single-sentence level:
>
> *In linguistics, the topic, or theme, of a sentence is what is being
> talked about.*
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: Linguistics/Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and perhaps others.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Sociology could be one consideration. The word “topic” has the ability to shift, what could be considered a “theme” is dynamic, and evolves with societies definition of what it means. Philosophy could also be a major player because you’re concerned with the question of what it means to be a topic, and that sounds like the realm of philosophical thought. To me it sounds more like a question best suited for the social sciences as opposed to the hard sciences.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
|
2020/01/10
| 547
| 2,272
|
<issue_start>username_0: Years ago, I published a paper with some collaborators, and recently a comment to the paper has been submitted. Together with the other authors, we published a reply to comment, which has been published on the journal.
Is it reasonable to list the reply as a publication in my CV, in addition to the original paper?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally you can put whatever you like in your CV. And generally the reader will judge whether it is a real thing or padding. If the reply is truly substantive then it might be worth including it (along with links to the comment you are replying to) so that a reader gets a more complete picture of the current state of the original publication. But I would, personally, probably want to set it off as a "comment" and not as a "publication".
It is a subtle thing, though, and it requires judgement. Your judgement.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, but you would probably want to make separate lists of refereed and non-refereed publications. By putting the comment in the latter list, you do show that you engage with academic discussion, but you do not overclaim it as yet another refereed publication.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I'd expand the entry, in my publication list, for the original paper by appending a reference to the reply. So the entry would look like: "List of authors, "Title of Paper", journal, volume (year), pages. See also "Title of reply", ibid., volume (year), pages."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: My publication list is divided into sections, which in your case could look something like this (add/delete as appropriate)
>
> Journal papers
>
>
> Peer reviewed conference papers
>
>
> Peer reviewed short comment
>
>
> Non-peer reviewed conference abstracts
>
>
>
The section with the comment in it would list only one publication, but that's ok.
I generally put "peer reviewed" or "non-peer reviewed" in the section titles, because (for example) in some fields conference publications would not usually be peer reviewed whereas in others they are, so I think it helps to make it clear.
Another option is just to put a brief explanation after the reference in your publication list, e.g. "Peer-reviewed reply to comment"
Upvotes: 2
|
2020/01/10
| 584
| 2,462
|
<issue_start>username_0: I published 3 papers as first author. Now, my supervisor requested me to place him as first author in my 4th paper. Should I agree to my supervisor's request to place him as first author of my paper? Is this ethically fair and legitimate? Is this only in my country?
He has the contribution of proofreading the paper, advising me how to organize the paper and results, suggesting co-authors for the paper. He does not know the paper technically, however.<issue_comment>username_1: This is hard to give good advice about without a lot of context. What is ethical and what is done (in some fields) don't necessarily match up well. In some fields, an advisor is often a co-author - even first author.
If the other person has made no contribution to the paper then, ethically, the request is wrong. But you may need to accede to it just out of personal protection. If the advisor has some influence or control over your future then you may be stuck, no matter the ethics. And you may have no effective way to counter it while preserving your future career.
It isn't really a question of which country, though this sort of thing does vary by field. In situations in which the advisor funds a lab in which work is done it is pretty common.
But, think about why he is asking. Think about whether it is really valid. But think most about how your long term career will be affected if you go along and if you resist.
And note that having another paper on your CV is still a good thing, even if he is first author. And even if it isn't right.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There are really two questions here:
(1) Is the request ethical/fair?
(2) Should you agree to the request?
Unfortunately, these two can be quite independent, and we can only honestly answer the first. It is neither ethical nor fair, going by the information you've provided. Its safe to say that this would be a form of exploitation, even if it doesn't add to much in the long run.
Having said this, you need to decide what to do, based on the possible repercussions of either choice. If you agree, could this become a regular request? Or do you have reason to believe that its a one-time thing that you are doing to help him out of a tough spot? Ethically, you should not agree, because even if its harmless, these things create a culture of gift authorship. Practically, you need to decide based on your individual context.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2020/01/10
| 4,989
| 20,479
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been studying for a PhD and unfortunately had been suffering from depression during the first year and on medication, so I didn't make much progress at all. My supervisor seemed understanding, telling me I was 'one of the strongest students' he'd taught, and not to worry as sometimes life gets in the way, and I should take a study break if necessary.
I therefore took an official study break for one year, and came off the medication. Just before I was considering returning, I sent an email to the supervisor just asking about what we should do next. His reply was to say how terrible my performance had been so far and that he strongly advises I should quit. I felt devastated to say the least. Is he right after all and should I really quit? I thought he was so supportive to begin with and actually suggested the break. Or is the blunt truth correct? Doing a PhD was my dream and now it is shattered.
Edit: I have been advised to add that I did not tell the supervisor in advance that I was going to be on break for a year, just that I was taking a break as he advised. I did not know in advance how long a break would last. Neither was I in communication during this time. When I was depressed, nothing else mattered.
Edit 2: Clarification that the break was officially sanctioned by the university. Please note technically I am still "on break" as the supervisor has not allowed me to return.
Update: The supervisor has ignored my last email so I guess I will be quitting or moving on. Thanks to everyone who answered and commented.<issue_comment>username_1: You should really reflect on it, and probably talk to your physician or other professional about it. If the PhD, although it is your dream, was causing your suffering you might be better off not returning to it.
Now, if you actually want to keep going, you might try to convince your advisor, if that does not work, it does not mean that you have to quit the program, you will still be able to look for a different advisor and mindfully explain the situation. Or yet, if there is no one in the same area of research you want, go for a different university.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If your advisor is suggesting that you quit, it is likely that you will have a hard time carrying on with the same advisor.
You maybe need to have a discussion with them about why your performance was bad, and why you needed a break. As it currently stands, it sounds like you had one year in the program without any progress, and then another year where you took a break and also made no progress, so it is two years since you were admitted to the program and you are essentially a new student. From your advisor's point of view, suggesting you quit is good advice as they feel it is unlikely that you will finish your degree. If you want to work with them, you need to convince them that this is not the case.
If you want to continue to pursue a PhD, and you are unable to reach a point in discussion where your advisor is empathetic to your situation and *enthusiastic* about working with you (not just grudgingly willing to work with you), you probably **should** either 1: change advisor at the same university, 2: leave your current program and apply to other programs.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I would like to add my perspective as a supervisor having a PhD student suffering from a depression. She has been absent for about two years now and not yet returned. Neither me nor she herself have anticipated that it would take so long. The year might have been a surprise for your supervisor, too. I have been supportive over all this time and will keep that up if possible when she returns. She is four years in her PhD work so only needs a few small steps to complete. However, her progress might become state of the art someday also without her thesis, and then it might be difficult to give her the degree. This is something you should take into account, too: After a while with no progress, it will become more and more likely that your topic becomes obsolete.
The situation is not easy for me either. Of course I wonder how big the share of the PhD work and my supervision is for this situation. And I am competent in giving advice in the research, but not sure how to handle somebody with a depression. Your supervisor probably is in a similar situation, so also her/his actions need some understanding. I try my best, but it might not be the best.
As a supervisor, it is your duty to give the PhD students feedback on their progress, and part of that is to tell them whether they will probably make it or not. I have seen many PhD students not suffering from a depression having a hard time during their work. A PhD student usually needs all the power to succeed. In the example described above, I might have advised her to think about quitting too if she was only in the beginning of her thesis. This might be good advice, and you should consider it if your supervisor says so. Discuss it openly with all people involved.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: This is a big area to cover in "an answer" which will be more like 5 questions to begin of a conversation :) but you've done the right thing in asking for opinions.
Firstly I'd say I disagree with most of the answers.
>
> If your advisor is suggesting that you quit, it is likely that you will have a hard time carrying on with the same advisor.
>
>
>
Maybe, but you haven't shown the situation is as clear cut as this. It sounds like you sent them one email and received one response.
Have any other communications gone back and forth? How long did the supervisor take to respond (was it in minutes i.e. rash, perhaps caught them at a bad time and ill thought out)? Was their email polite but firm? What was the agreement you left on; did they expect you to leave for a year?
What is your subject in? How long do you have funding for? Is it your supervisors funding or did you bring it to the table? If it's their funding and you didn't agree to a year off I can understand they might be very annoyed... but if so, why did they not contact you before now?
A little background from me: I was doing a PhD in biotech / chemeng. I quit it after 2 years as I felt it was a waste of time. I've known and helped several people through depressive episodes. Well done for navigating your way back out.
Then on to where I would have liked to start this answer: Why do you want to do a PhD. If it's personal challenge, personal glory / ego, commercial, fun, curiosity? Do you know and have accepted that PhD's can be very isolating (by their nature).
\*\* **Edit** \*\*
I talked "briefly" with a friend for 20 minutes about your question and the other "answers". We came up with 10 to 20 potential main and sub scenarios of how to interpret the information you've given here and potential advice to give. This would need a few one hour conversations to fully explore. **With that in mind I would suggest you get a good counselor / friend who will listen and ask the "right" questions.** There are some useful pointers and advice in the other questions. But I'm surprised by how they seem to lack a lot of nuance and jump to conclusions given such complex personal, and interpersonal dynamics plus the additional v important information you've surfaced later regarding other emails, department interaction, timeline, the financial situation, your motivations, your desires, your supervisor's group situation, including the "other previously depressed" student etc etc.
Best wishes.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It is hard to know how to advise you in particular because there are many aspects of the situation that are not covered in your posting. However, here are some ideas that may be helpful.
1. You should not do this by email. Email is not a good medium for important discussions such as this. You should request an in-person meeting with your advisor. Before you go to that meeting, you should have an agenda of what you wish to accomplish. For example, you may wish to bring old emails and ask your advisor how is it possible that you could have been told that you were one of the advisor’s “strongest students” and now there is a very different assessment of your first year’s work.
2. You don’t make it clear if you are still depressed or not. You may be misreading your advisor’s emails. So again, I recommend printing out representative emails from before and from now and showing them to a neutral third party.
3. It is possible that your supervisor is depressed as well, or is going through their own life issues. Therefore, you may wish to show the emails to a dean or the ombuds office at your school, if you have one.
Leaving a Ph.D. program now does not mean that you will be giving up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. You may find another program in a few years. You may switch fields. There are *many* people who have started in one Ph.D. program and completed another after a period of time. The critical issue is what you accomplish when you are not in the program: if you are academically active, if you are writing, if you are participating in research-like activities, then you should be able to land a position in another program.
Why do you want a Ph.D.? If you have a love of research, you may find that there is a corporate research lab that you can join for a few years. You may find another lab, either at the same school or another, that is happy to have you as a part-time, unpaid lab member.
There are many possibilities. It’s a big world. There are many people who have completed a Ph.D. while depressed. There are many advisors who have a toxic relationship with some of their advisees, and end up making their advisees depressed. There are some advisees who are toxic to their advisors. The Ph.D.-advisee relationship is a charged one. This may not be the best pairing for you or for your advisor. But it may be that either you or your advisor are not objectively evaluating the situation. That’s why it’s useful to write things down, print things out, and to involve other people.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: In my opinion your confusion is understandable, your supervisor owes you at least a clear explanation, if only for you to make an informed decision about what to do next. If for some reason your supervisor doesn't give you this explanation, I'd suggest you try to discuss this with somebody else who can give you a reasonably objective evaluation: maybe there is another researcher in your department that you would feel confident to talk to? Even if you have the discussion with your supervisor, it might be worth getting a second opinion.
In any case you should probably also have a meeting with the director of studies (or whoever is in charge of the PhD program) to discuss the situation and your options. Don't hesitate to contact them as soon as possible even if things are not clear for you yet: it's part of their role to advise you and the sooner they are in the loop the more helpful they can be.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Most depressions during a PhD stem from an unreasonable supervisor that puts people in uncomfortable if not threatening situations of pressure. There is almost no checks and balances in academia and a PhD ultimately depends solely on the opinion of your supervisor. Considering the reply of your supervisor, you should rethink twice if you want to work with him/her again. If you even come to the conclusion that your depression is somehow related to your work, you should report it to your faculty, move on and maybe find a different supervisor.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: Thanks for the very interesting question. Here is my two cents.
1) I fully agree with username_6 that " your supervisor owes you at least a clear explanation, if only for you to make an informed decision about what to do next."
2) Getting a PhD is supposed to be tough and rightly so. Advising PhD students is hard work. One of a supervisor's tasks is to help you, but his resources (time, focus, commitment etc.) are limited, since he is human, as we all are. Beside helping you the advisor has also the heavy responsibility of setting and enforcing standards for your work. If he has lost confidence in your ability to carry through demanding work at the required level, you may try to convince him otherwise, but at the end of the day it is up to him to decide.
3) Since you have not even begun your work, it is difficult to see why you should insist on pressing on after an unauspicious non-start. If your commitment is serious, as it should be, I suggest you try a fresh start with someone else.
4) Nobody is "a priori" entitled to a PhD. A PhD is something you achieve by overcoming considerable challenges. Finding a good advisor and mantaining a productive relationship with him is one of them. In any case, after you start work, it usually gets much worse before it eventually gets better.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: Assuming what you said is entirely true. Some key points to think about are:
1) Did you suffer from depression prior to being admitted to the PhD program? If yes, you should consider this as your mis-judgement of the suitability of the PhD program to you at the beginning. Learn from it.
2) Were you paid by stipend during the break?
If yes, I would say your supervisor or whoever is behind your funding are already very generous if they are not the ones who caused your depression.
3) Did your supervisor suggest you to take a year-long break? Or you decided to take the break however long it is on your own without much communication to your supervisor? <- you need to clarify on that.
4) It seems that you were shocked because the supervisor had a "sudden" and drastic change of attitude. However, that was a year apart. From your shock, it hints to me that you communicated very rarely with your supervisor during the break, you need to clarify on that. If you really did not take much effort to communicate with your supervisor (anything e.g. about updates of your recovery process, future plan for the research to be conducted), it is indeed a little irresponsible to think that you can jump in and out on your wish.
Finally, imagine how bad your supervisor impression about you would have to be for him/her to say such thing to you. If you think you don't deserve it, is it still worth to work for him/her? You may want to consider talk to someone in the university who has the power to independently investigate this situation .
Learn from it and good luck.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: >
> My supervisor seemed understanding, telling me I was 'one of the strongest students' he'd taught, and not to worry as sometimes life gets in the way, and I should take a study break if necessary.
>
>
>
Taking a break seems a great idea, I think your supervisor said good things here.
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> I therefore took a year off, and came off the medication.
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It is great to know that you got better and came off the medication! Congratulations!
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> I did not tell the supervisor in advance that I was going to be on break for a year, just that I was taking a break as he advised. I did not know in advance how long a break would last.
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No one could know how long the break would last. Knowing that is simply impossible. So don't worry about it.
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> Neither was I in communication during this time. When I was depressed, nothing else mattered.
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Agreed. Again, don't worry about it. The fact that other things matter now is another evidence that you are better :)
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> Just before I was considering returning, I sent an email to the supervisor just asking about what we should do next.
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Good! However, just keep in mind that in written communication it is hard to express emotions, tone, and such. So this form of communication has a few drawbacks and can lead to misunderstandings. But overall, it is fine.
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> His reply was to say how terrible my performance had been so far [...]
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He certainly could have chosen better words. But let's make an effort to put emotions aside for a moment. It is true that you made no meaningful progress in the last two years. But you, more than anyone, already knew that. And more importantly, it is utterly completely extremely okay that you made no meaningful progress. You were tremendously sick after all! Who can make any progress being extremely sick?
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> [...] and that he strongly advises I should quit.
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Hmmm... I don't know what is the right thing to do (no one does), but I know that if your advisor no longer wants to advise you, then he should stop being your advisor, it's a win for both of you. But please note that leaving an advisor is just leaving an advisor. You can find a new advisor, why not? People change advisors. It won't be the first time someone changes advisors.
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> I felt devastated to say the least.
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Good... Feeling devastated over devastating things is what should happen. If you didn't feel devastated I would be worried. It means you're human.
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> Is he right after all [...]
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No one will ever know whether or not he is right. The good news is that it doesn't matter. What matters is simply what you will decide to do.
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> and should I really quit?
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Hmmm... As I said earlier, I think it would probably be good for you to look for a different advisor, since your history with this advisor got messy. People change advisors. It's normal. No need to make a fuss about it, things just turned out in a way that seemed that you two won't work very well anymore.
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> I thought he was so supportive to begin with and actually suggested the break.
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From what you said, apparently he was indeed! And it's great that you accepted the suggestion, and got better! You getting better is the most important thing in this story.
Now, one year has passed and your supervisor said something different... Well, advisors are humans too, right? One year ago he thought you should take a break, now he thinks something else! People change their minds. And this may be for one million different reasons. Thankfully the reason doesn't matter.
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> Or is the blunt truth correct?
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I am not sure what you mean by "the blunt truth"... You seem to be implying something... And although this is written communication, I am going to guess you are saying this in a pessimistic tone. Perhaps implying that you're not worthy of a PhD? Perhaps implying that you're not good enough? Or something like that?
Stop it right there. These are astronomically absurd conclusions. Firstly, there is no *"the"* here. Using *"the"* makes it look like everything boils down to one little fact. Life is immensely more complex than that. Secondly, the words of your advisor may have been blunt, but there is no *"truth"* and especially no *"blunt truth"* anywhere here.
Whenever you see yourself taking drastic conclusions about something, take a step back!
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> Doing a PhD was my dream and now it is shattered.
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>
>
???????
No it's not shattered.
You just took a sudden drastic conclusion again.
To me, it looks like doing a PhD **is** your dream. Where did that past tense come from? If it wasn't your dream, would you be here asking this question? The fact that you got devastated after reading that email is yet another evidence. We humans only get devastated about things that really matter to us.
An advisor saying (although with a bad choice of words) that you should no longer be advised by him, because you made little to no progress in two years (which is obvious because you are a human and you were super sick, as I said):
* Simply becomes someone that should no longer be your advisor;
* And is astronomically far from "shattering a dream".
You will be fine!!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: Your supervisor has acted with hipocrisy, has no interpersonal skills and should resign himself right away to supervise you. This might be just a supervisor's strategy to avoid problems in their publication goals and an attempt of gaslighting you and the department managers. Take your work with you (if any), estimate whether you should ask for a supervisor change based on supervisor's email or wait for him to resign, and then file a complaint or communication to the department managers or dean in order to inform about your case.
Upvotes: -1
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2020/01/11
| 4,921
| 20,149
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<issue_start>username_0: About halfway through last semester, my professor asked me to do research under her with a group of people I had been friends with since freshman year. Dream come true! These are all people I already like working with, it's research in a field we are all interested in, we already spend a lot of time together, etc. The best part is, we all benefit professionally from this! Perfect!
My only concern now is that one of my friends just doesn't do anything for the project except show up to the meetings. It causes me a lot of heartache because I am close friends with this person, and I want to see him succeed. I've talked to him about it before, he hasn't given me any reason. I've told him ways he could contribute, he just never does.
On another level, it makes me upset because this is an opportunity I imagine many people would love to have. It's not fair to other people interested in research that this person may end up piggy-backing his way to a publication! If I weren't on this project, I know I would be upset.
Any suggestions for how to handle this unfortunate situation?
(Also, if there's any way to make this anonymous, that would be nice, too... I'm not interested in one of my colleagues seeing this)<issue_comment>username_1: You should really reflect on it, and probably talk to your physician or other professional about it. If the PhD, although it is your dream, was causing your suffering you might be better off not returning to it.
Now, if you actually want to keep going, you might try to convince your advisor, if that does not work, it does not mean that you have to quit the program, you will still be able to look for a different advisor and mindfully explain the situation. Or yet, if there is no one in the same area of research you want, go for a different university.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If your advisor is suggesting that you quit, it is likely that you will have a hard time carrying on with the same advisor.
You maybe need to have a discussion with them about why your performance was bad, and why you needed a break. As it currently stands, it sounds like you had one year in the program without any progress, and then another year where you took a break and also made no progress, so it is two years since you were admitted to the program and you are essentially a new student. From your advisor's point of view, suggesting you quit is good advice as they feel it is unlikely that you will finish your degree. If you want to work with them, you need to convince them that this is not the case.
If you want to continue to pursue a PhD, and you are unable to reach a point in discussion where your advisor is empathetic to your situation and *enthusiastic* about working with you (not just grudgingly willing to work with you), you probably **should** either 1: change advisor at the same university, 2: leave your current program and apply to other programs.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I would like to add my perspective as a supervisor having a PhD student suffering from a depression. She has been absent for about two years now and not yet returned. Neither me nor she herself have anticipated that it would take so long. The year might have been a surprise for your supervisor, too. I have been supportive over all this time and will keep that up if possible when she returns. She is four years in her PhD work so only needs a few small steps to complete. However, her progress might become state of the art someday also without her thesis, and then it might be difficult to give her the degree. This is something you should take into account, too: After a while with no progress, it will become more and more likely that your topic becomes obsolete.
The situation is not easy for me either. Of course I wonder how big the share of the PhD work and my supervision is for this situation. And I am competent in giving advice in the research, but not sure how to handle somebody with a depression. Your supervisor probably is in a similar situation, so also her/his actions need some understanding. I try my best, but it might not be the best.
As a supervisor, it is your duty to give the PhD students feedback on their progress, and part of that is to tell them whether they will probably make it or not. I have seen many PhD students not suffering from a depression having a hard time during their work. A PhD student usually needs all the power to succeed. In the example described above, I might have advised her to think about quitting too if she was only in the beginning of her thesis. This might be good advice, and you should consider it if your supervisor says so. Discuss it openly with all people involved.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: This is a big area to cover in "an answer" which will be more like 5 questions to begin of a conversation :) but you've done the right thing in asking for opinions.
Firstly I'd say I disagree with most of the answers.
>
> If your advisor is suggesting that you quit, it is likely that you will have a hard time carrying on with the same advisor.
>
>
>
Maybe, but you haven't shown the situation is as clear cut as this. It sounds like you sent them one email and received one response.
Have any other communications gone back and forth? How long did the supervisor take to respond (was it in minutes i.e. rash, perhaps caught them at a bad time and ill thought out)? Was their email polite but firm? What was the agreement you left on; did they expect you to leave for a year?
What is your subject in? How long do you have funding for? Is it your supervisors funding or did you bring it to the table? If it's their funding and you didn't agree to a year off I can understand they might be very annoyed... but if so, why did they not contact you before now?
A little background from me: I was doing a PhD in biotech / chemeng. I quit it after 2 years as I felt it was a waste of time. I've known and helped several people through depressive episodes. Well done for navigating your way back out.
Then on to where I would have liked to start this answer: Why do you want to do a PhD. If it's personal challenge, personal glory / ego, commercial, fun, curiosity? Do you know and have accepted that PhD's can be very isolating (by their nature).
\*\* **Edit** \*\*
I talked "briefly" with a friend for 20 minutes about your question and the other "answers". We came up with 10 to 20 potential main and sub scenarios of how to interpret the information you've given here and potential advice to give. This would need a few one hour conversations to fully explore. **With that in mind I would suggest you get a good counselor / friend who will listen and ask the "right" questions.** There are some useful pointers and advice in the other questions. But I'm surprised by how they seem to lack a lot of nuance and jump to conclusions given such complex personal, and interpersonal dynamics plus the additional v important information you've surfaced later regarding other emails, department interaction, timeline, the financial situation, your motivations, your desires, your supervisor's group situation, including the "other previously depressed" student etc etc.
Best wishes.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It is hard to know how to advise you in particular because there are many aspects of the situation that are not covered in your posting. However, here are some ideas that may be helpful.
1. You should not do this by email. Email is not a good medium for important discussions such as this. You should request an in-person meeting with your advisor. Before you go to that meeting, you should have an agenda of what you wish to accomplish. For example, you may wish to bring old emails and ask your advisor how is it possible that you could have been told that you were one of the advisor’s “strongest students” and now there is a very different assessment of your first year’s work.
2. You don’t make it clear if you are still depressed or not. You may be misreading your advisor’s emails. So again, I recommend printing out representative emails from before and from now and showing them to a neutral third party.
3. It is possible that your supervisor is depressed as well, or is going through their own life issues. Therefore, you may wish to show the emails to a dean or the ombuds office at your school, if you have one.
Leaving a Ph.D. program now does not mean that you will be giving up on your dream of getting a Ph.D. You may find another program in a few years. You may switch fields. There are *many* people who have started in one Ph.D. program and completed another after a period of time. The critical issue is what you accomplish when you are not in the program: if you are academically active, if you are writing, if you are participating in research-like activities, then you should be able to land a position in another program.
Why do you want a Ph.D.? If you have a love of research, you may find that there is a corporate research lab that you can join for a few years. You may find another lab, either at the same school or another, that is happy to have you as a part-time, unpaid lab member.
There are many possibilities. It’s a big world. There are many people who have completed a Ph.D. while depressed. There are many advisors who have a toxic relationship with some of their advisees, and end up making their advisees depressed. There are some advisees who are toxic to their advisors. The Ph.D.-advisee relationship is a charged one. This may not be the best pairing for you or for your advisor. But it may be that either you or your advisor are not objectively evaluating the situation. That’s why it’s useful to write things down, print things out, and to involve other people.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: In my opinion your confusion is understandable, your supervisor owes you at least a clear explanation, if only for you to make an informed decision about what to do next. If for some reason your supervisor doesn't give you this explanation, I'd suggest you try to discuss this with somebody else who can give you a reasonably objective evaluation: maybe there is another researcher in your department that you would feel confident to talk to? Even if you have the discussion with your supervisor, it might be worth getting a second opinion.
In any case you should probably also have a meeting with the director of studies (or whoever is in charge of the PhD program) to discuss the situation and your options. Don't hesitate to contact them as soon as possible even if things are not clear for you yet: it's part of their role to advise you and the sooner they are in the loop the more helpful they can be.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Most depressions during a PhD stem from an unreasonable supervisor that puts people in uncomfortable if not threatening situations of pressure. There is almost no checks and balances in academia and a PhD ultimately depends solely on the opinion of your supervisor. Considering the reply of your supervisor, you should rethink twice if you want to work with him/her again. If you even come to the conclusion that your depression is somehow related to your work, you should report it to your faculty, move on and maybe find a different supervisor.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: Thanks for the very interesting question. Here is my two cents.
1) I fully agree with username_6 that " your supervisor owes you at least a clear explanation, if only for you to make an informed decision about what to do next."
2) Getting a PhD is supposed to be tough and rightly so. Advising PhD students is hard work. One of a supervisor's tasks is to help you, but his resources (time, focus, commitment etc.) are limited, since he is human, as we all are. Beside helping you the advisor has also the heavy responsibility of setting and enforcing standards for your work. If he has lost confidence in your ability to carry through demanding work at the required level, you may try to convince him otherwise, but at the end of the day it is up to him to decide.
3) Since you have not even begun your work, it is difficult to see why you should insist on pressing on after an unauspicious non-start. If your commitment is serious, as it should be, I suggest you try a fresh start with someone else.
4) Nobody is "a priori" entitled to a PhD. A PhD is something you achieve by overcoming considerable challenges. Finding a good advisor and mantaining a productive relationship with him is one of them. In any case, after you start work, it usually gets much worse before it eventually gets better.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: Assuming what you said is entirely true. Some key points to think about are:
1) Did you suffer from depression prior to being admitted to the PhD program? If yes, you should consider this as your mis-judgement of the suitability of the PhD program to you at the beginning. Learn from it.
2) Were you paid by stipend during the break?
If yes, I would say your supervisor or whoever is behind your funding are already very generous if they are not the ones who caused your depression.
3) Did your supervisor suggest you to take a year-long break? Or you decided to take the break however long it is on your own without much communication to your supervisor? <- you need to clarify on that.
4) It seems that you were shocked because the supervisor had a "sudden" and drastic change of attitude. However, that was a year apart. From your shock, it hints to me that you communicated very rarely with your supervisor during the break, you need to clarify on that. If you really did not take much effort to communicate with your supervisor (anything e.g. about updates of your recovery process, future plan for the research to be conducted), it is indeed a little irresponsible to think that you can jump in and out on your wish.
Finally, imagine how bad your supervisor impression about you would have to be for him/her to say such thing to you. If you think you don't deserve it, is it still worth to work for him/her? You may want to consider talk to someone in the university who has the power to independently investigate this situation .
Learn from it and good luck.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: >
> My supervisor seemed understanding, telling me I was 'one of the strongest students' he'd taught, and not to worry as sometimes life gets in the way, and I should take a study break if necessary.
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Taking a break seems a great idea, I think your supervisor said good things here.
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> I therefore took a year off, and came off the medication.
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It is great to know that you got better and came off the medication! Congratulations!
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> I did not tell the supervisor in advance that I was going to be on break for a year, just that I was taking a break as he advised. I did not know in advance how long a break would last.
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No one could know how long the break would last. Knowing that is simply impossible. So don't worry about it.
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> Neither was I in communication during this time. When I was depressed, nothing else mattered.
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Agreed. Again, don't worry about it. The fact that other things matter now is another evidence that you are better :)
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> Just before I was considering returning, I sent an email to the supervisor just asking about what we should do next.
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Good! However, just keep in mind that in written communication it is hard to express emotions, tone, and such. So this form of communication has a few drawbacks and can lead to misunderstandings. But overall, it is fine.
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> His reply was to say how terrible my performance had been so far [...]
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He certainly could have chosen better words. But let's make an effort to put emotions aside for a moment. It is true that you made no meaningful progress in the last two years. But you, more than anyone, already knew that. And more importantly, it is utterly completely extremely okay that you made no meaningful progress. You were tremendously sick after all! Who can make any progress being extremely sick?
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> [...] and that he strongly advises I should quit.
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Hmmm... I don't know what is the right thing to do (no one does), but I know that if your advisor no longer wants to advise you, then he should stop being your advisor, it's a win for both of you. But please note that leaving an advisor is just leaving an advisor. You can find a new advisor, why not? People change advisors. It won't be the first time someone changes advisors.
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> I felt devastated to say the least.
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Good... Feeling devastated over devastating things is what should happen. If you didn't feel devastated I would be worried. It means you're human.
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> Is he right after all [...]
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No one will ever know whether or not he is right. The good news is that it doesn't matter. What matters is simply what you will decide to do.
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> and should I really quit?
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Hmmm... As I said earlier, I think it would probably be good for you to look for a different advisor, since your history with this advisor got messy. People change advisors. It's normal. No need to make a fuss about it, things just turned out in a way that seemed that you two won't work very well anymore.
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> I thought he was so supportive to begin with and actually suggested the break.
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From what you said, apparently he was indeed! And it's great that you accepted the suggestion, and got better! You getting better is the most important thing in this story.
Now, one year has passed and your supervisor said something different... Well, advisors are humans too, right? One year ago he thought you should take a break, now he thinks something else! People change their minds. And this may be for one million different reasons. Thankfully the reason doesn't matter.
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> Or is the blunt truth correct?
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I am not sure what you mean by "the blunt truth"... You seem to be implying something... And although this is written communication, I am going to guess you are saying this in a pessimistic tone. Perhaps implying that you're not worthy of a PhD? Perhaps implying that you're not good enough? Or something like that?
Stop it right there. These are astronomically absurd conclusions. Firstly, there is no *"the"* here. Using *"the"* makes it look like everything boils down to one little fact. Life is immensely more complex than that. Secondly, the words of your advisor may have been blunt, but there is no *"truth"* and especially no *"blunt truth"* anywhere here.
Whenever you see yourself taking drastic conclusions about something, take a step back!
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> Doing a PhD was my dream and now it is shattered.
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???????
No it's not shattered.
You just took a sudden drastic conclusion again.
To me, it looks like doing a PhD **is** your dream. Where did that past tense come from? If it wasn't your dream, would you be here asking this question? The fact that you got devastated after reading that email is yet another evidence. We humans only get devastated about things that really matter to us.
An advisor saying (although with a bad choice of words) that you should no longer be advised by him, because you made little to no progress in two years (which is obvious because you are a human and you were super sick, as I said):
* Simply becomes someone that should no longer be your advisor;
* And is astronomically far from "shattering a dream".
You will be fine!!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: Your supervisor has acted with hipocrisy, has no interpersonal skills and should resign himself right away to supervise you. This might be just a supervisor's strategy to avoid problems in their publication goals and an attempt of gaslighting you and the department managers. Take your work with you (if any), estimate whether you should ask for a supervisor change based on supervisor's email or wait for him to resign, and then file a complaint or communication to the department managers or dean in order to inform about your case.
Upvotes: -1
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2020/01/11
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm confused about the existence of vanity journals. My impression is that they often charge significant sums of money yet provide no peer review, editing, etc.
If I want to claim I published something to stoke my ego, why wouldn't I just create my own "Journal of articles that were totally peer-reviewed" and "publish" there? In the days when things were published in print I can understand the difficulty in doing this yourself, but now surely creating a "Journal" is no harder than throwing up a quick website?<issue_comment>username_1: We do not call them "vanity journals." We call them "predatory journals." They make their money from people who do not understand how journals work. Their customers do not know that anybody can set up their own fake journal website. The person who is fooled by the predatory journal might be the author, or it might be the person responsible for evaluating the author's publication record. Ego stroking is not as relevant.
They continue to exist because they are profitable.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: If you’ve ever submitted a manuscript that was eventually rejected, you can understand why people will resort to this kind of publication. Publishing novel stuff is hard, and not everybody can do it.
First there are the true crackpots who see the chance to finally tell the world about their pet theory. Friends have always told them they are really smart and so the only reason why regular journals do not publish their stuff is because of some conspiracy.
More common are those people for whom this is a means to an end. One is required to show a certain level of publishing activity to maintain a job or a salary level, and this is a way to maintain the appearance of productivity without skipping too many fishing weekends with your buddies.
Some do it to keep up with the Jones. Well after all I should have the same perks as my colleagues who manage to publish crap only because they know the editor, or their collaborators do all the work etc, but at least *I* publish my own ideas by myself...
Validation does not come from doing this yourself, it comes when your work is validated *by other neutral third parties*.
Of course there are also predatory conferences. Quoting from [this Vancouver Sun article](https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bogus-vancouver-academic-conference-erupts-with-outrage-and-police):
>
> The debate over such publications often revolves around which academics are genuinely duped by the deceptive journals and conferences, and which academics take advantage of them to advance their careers.
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>
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: As I pointed out in a comment this question can be answered from a lot of angles.
On one level predatory journals exist because there's a demand for them. Where there is demand, someone will supply it, especially since it's profitable.
One another level, people publish there for various reasons. Some people are genuine victims, but there's increasing evidence that [others are publishing there in spite of knowing the publisher is predatory](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/80320/do-most-customers-choose-predatory-publishers-knowingly).
If your question is why publish there instead of set up your own predatory journal, it's easy to think of some reasons:
* It's not as easy as you think to set up a predatory journal. Sure it's easier than setting up a real journal, but it's still not trivial. For example, how would you go about setting one up?
* It's psychologically easier. You know you're doing something that's not quite right, but you're doing it anyway because there's an illusion that it is OK. In the same way many people are OK with downloading pirated papers off SciHub without checking their local laws even though they probably know they may be doing something illegal.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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| 1,238
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<issue_start>username_0: Context: I am planning to apply to a US lab.<issue_comment>username_1: Many universities have mandatory requirements for letters of recommendation (LoR) for a postdoc position, and that's the main reason they ask you to submit LoR. There were some PI who interviewed me told me this and also told me that they wouldn't even care what my referees would write about me. They were willing to hire me immediately after they have three letters of recommendation. If you have solid credentials as a researcher, I think your LoR would not matter much. However, a terrible remark on a LoR would also significantly influence the hiring decision.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This question is too broad to answer. Many PIs will not hire a postdoc without strong letters of reference. On the other hand some PIs will not care. Although I suspect in this case you would have to be an obviously very strong researcher. (Even though personally I find it hard to believe that references wouldn't be asked for. Even if you're a star researcher maybe you once assaulted a fellow student and tried to burn the lab down? That's something one would typically find out from Letters of reference.)
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/11
| 410
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<issue_start>username_0: ISBN is for books. Is it a standard procedure to assign an ISBN for a Ph.D. thesis?<issue_comment>username_1: No, it would be unusual for a thesis to have an ISBN. It would be an unnecessary expense.
Edit: The Astrophysics Data System says my dissertation has an ISBN. However, the ISBN provided cannot be used to find my dissertation.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Some institutions publish each PHD thesis as a book, and then they assign ISBN to each. E.g., theses done at CWI, Amsterdam.
To my knowledge, this is quite uncommon throughout the world, but does exist in certain places.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I suspect it largely depends on whether the PhD is expected to be printed as a book. In some countries (like the Netherlands) it is. Many printing services offer ISBN registration as a freebee. This is likely how most dissertations end up with an ISBN (I know mine has one because of this).
Other than this, I doubt many graduates go through the trouble of registering manually for a PhD. I don't know of any place that explicitly requires it. So in short, it's not expected, but it's not *that* unusual for a thesis to have one.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: What is an ISBN? It's not for books, it's for *published, commercial books*. So this question is effectively "are PhD dissertations usually published commercially?" The answer to that is, of course, no. That's not to say that there are no PhD dissertations with ISBNs, but they would be in the minority.
Upvotes: -1
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2020/01/11
| 644
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<issue_start>username_0: I assume this is something related to the US and NIH Research Project Grant Program (R01), but I don't understand how one put value on a "single word"
Is there anyone who understands this sentence and care to elaborate what was implied by that?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zu2Xb.png)<issue_comment>username_1: R01s are the main grants given by the US NIH to research labs. They typically have a single PI but can have some other co-PIs, and depending on scope are worth a few hundred thousand USD per year over five years.
The "specific aims page" is a 1-page summary of the goals of the grant, kind of like an abstract. So, this tweet is connecting A) the words on 1 page of paper in a grant to B) the total value of that grant over 5 years. ($3000 to $4000) \* maybe 500 words = $1.5 - $2.0 million over 5 years, $300-$400k per year.
There's nothing particularly insightful about it, although writing a specific aims page is a pretty time consuming part of writing one of these grants, since the space is so limited.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: According to [the yearly NIH report](https://report.nih.gov/success_rates/Success_ByIC_Details.cfm?IC=NIAID), in 2018, a total of 625 NIH Research Project grants (R01) were awarded, and the total cost for NIH (funding + other costs) of these grants was $347,466,328. This averages to $347,466,328/625, or about **$556,000** of funding per year in one grant, or **$2,780,000 in total for a 5-year grant**
The *Specific Aims* application document [is considered](https://www.biosciencewriters.com/NIH-Grant-Applications-The-Anatomy-of-a-Specific-Aims-Page.aspx) to be (one of) the most important part(s) of the application. The example document on that website has 601 words. The tweet in your question exaggerates the importance of the Specific Aims document, and implies that the document is "worth" the whole $2,780,000 of the grant. The cost of each word would then be $2,780,000/600, or approximately **$4633 per word**.
Upvotes: 4
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2020/01/11
| 544
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<issue_start>username_0: This year I will graduate from a European university and willing to start a Ph.D. program in the USA. As a graduate student, there is a “guaranteed financing” opportunity of approximately $ 32,000 per year. My question is when a graduate student is part of a research grant (ie NIH / NSF grants) of his PI -in their own lab-, does he receive payment in addition to the guaranteed funding stipend? Does income from the research grant -if some- and guaranteed funding stipend different things?<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that it would happen. You don't say what the stipend is for. If it is an RA then you are already being paid for research help and it might actually come out of any grants. If it is a TA then you will have certain (teaching related) duties for that and the research project is probably more associated with your own degree than as an "assistant".
But, I suppose it could happen, but don't expect a doubling of the basic grant or anything close to it. Maybe some small increment over the "guaranteed" part. The institution has to serve a lot of students and the funds aren't unlimited.
And "free money" in US universities is pretty rare.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In my experience, “guaranteed funding” means that (depending on field) you will be either working for a PI who has grant money to pay you or working as a TA (with the possible exception of your first year, where their may be general department support while you find an advisor). Because graduate stipends are typically on a pay scale, working on a grant can be expected to bring you up to the guaranteed level, but not put you above it.
To support the guarantee of funding, the university (or a unit within the university) may have a reserve fund with money that can be used to cover gaps in PI funding (which may come with TA obligations).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It varies, so you need to check with the program. For example, if the grad students are unionized at that institution, the CBA might specify that the PI can't sweeten a grad student's base stipend out of a grant. There might also be distinctions between what's permissible during the academic year and what's permissible during the summer.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/11
| 460
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<issue_start>username_0: I am going to be applying to schools for a PhD in the not so distant future and I received a couple of scholarships in my masters degree that are worth over $10 000.00. I am not sure if it would be a wise idea to include the values next to the awards or just the actual award names themselves. Here are a couple of thoughts I have as to why I should and shouldn't:
**Should**
* Including the award values could be a good signal for graduate committees that I am somebody who is proactive in seeking self funding.
* Including the award values might suggest that I have potential to attract more money of the same magnitude
**Should Not**
* It could be considered unprofessional to add award values - I have no idea
* It could be potentially viewed as arrogant, boisterous, and off putting
* Graduate committees don't actually care how much they're worth and can look the awards up if they're interested.
Question: Should a prospective PhD student include award/scholarship values on the academic CV? Why or why not?<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that if I were reading the CV that I'd care one way or the other. If the award has a name or title, you should list that: Award/grant from IBM to support research in "glub-bending at the cusp". But adding the amount is also fine. My response to seeing the amount would be "interesting", but not "yay" or "nay".
But the important thing, to me would be the fact of the award, not its amount. Not a big deal, though. Others might have different opinions, of course.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It is common to include award values for research grants, including training fellowships, in a CV. Done with tact, I would see this as a positive and unlikely to be taken as arrogant.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/11
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<issue_start>username_0: I tutored a student in math for two weeks to help her prepare for an exam. I expected her to inform me how the exam went, but she did not.
Is it appropriate to ask her how the exam went?
We are in Ireland.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I expected her to inform me how the exam went
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I'm not sure why you expected this. While it's certainly not unusual to follow up with a tutor (or thank them), it's not a requirement.
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> Is it appropriate to ask her how the exam went?
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I see no reason why not.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As a tutor in undergrad, we were taught to ask "how did the exam go?" and *not* "what did you make on the exam?" The idea being that the tutee gets to project their feelings onto their score (some are happy with a 75) and gives them a way out ("ehh ok I guess").
It's implicit in these instructions that asking "how did the exam go?" is appropriate for the tutor.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Well, the are two sides to the answer. It's either the exam went well or it didn't. If it didn't, I am not sure your tutee will be comfortable to tell you about it. Another thing is that your tutee may also expect you to ask how it went, to show you care. So it depends. Regardless though, it's not a bad thing to ask a student how the exam went.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/12
| 1,119
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a first year PhD student. I just finished my first rotation lab and absolutely loved it. I met with my PI every week, and I never felt like she had a problem with me. Though I never had a frank discussion with her regarding the fact that I wanted to commit to her lab (big mistake, I know), I heard from other students who spoke with her that she wanted to make sure she had enough space in the lab for me and the other rotation students had we chosen to join. She also promised us that she had enough funding so we wouldn't have to compete with one another. I really thought I had found my lab home until....
I received an email from her yesterday telling me that she couldn't keep me. The reasons she gave me seemed flimsy (i.e. I wasn't enthusiastic enough....when literally anyone else in the group can vouch for my enthusiasm!) and contradicted what she told me at the start of the rotation (ie. she said she wished I had gotten further in the project, when she explicitly said multiple times that she didn't care how far we got through our rotation projects).
I hate confrontation, but I want to be a self-advocate. My biggest regret in undergrad was not self-advocating enough. I feel like I lost a lot of wonderful opportunities because of my fear to approach professors. But this time I want to stand up for myself, try to get a chance to defend myself and ask for legitimate reasons why she suddenly rejected me. And of course, try everything I can to try to change her mind. This is my dream lab, and I want to be brave enough to fight. I know I'm stepping on some annoying lab politics by doing this, but how should I go about addressing my concerns with my PI while not offending her?<issue_comment>username_1: If you are in good terms with your PI and you have weekly meetings with her, it is probably best if you bring up the topic in your next meeting. If "lab politics" are really involved (which need not be the case), it is unlikely that she will provide more information through email.
If she had told you that she would have funding and space for you all, it is perfectly reasonable for you to ask what changed, so she should not be offended by the question.
Regarding how to phrase the question, I would be moderately direct but, as most "conflict management" courses suggest, prefer the use of "I-messages" instead of "you-messages". Something along the lines of:
>
> I would have liked to be able to stay here, is it really not possible anymore? And if it is not, do you have any suggestions as to how I can do better elsewhere in the future?
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Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think the only conclusion that you can draw from the situation is that the PI perceived something that made her feel like she didn't want to commit to a multi-year relationship with you. I don't think it does you much good to wonder if she really has the resources for more than one student or not.
There are some hints in some of the comments you've made to other answers like
>
> there were times when I stumbled through explaining my experiments or
> science topics), how should I respond to this?
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>
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That could certainly leave the impression of "lack of enthusiasm" -- though I would go out of the way not to use that language if I were turning down an applicant. This could mean anything. It could mean that she didn't feel you spend adequate time preparing, it could mean she thought you didn't understand the science, it could mean she didn't like your communication skills, it could mean she thought you would need too much extra preparation before you'd be able to be productive.
That statement makes it feel like you already have some sense about what went wrong. If I were to advise you based on what I detect, I would say that you should consider every contact during a rotation to be a job interview. Read about the project you're involved in. Before you start a rotation, read the profs recent papers, and contact the prof and ask if there's any reading you should do in prep for the rotation. Read them, and read the more important papers that are cited. Prepare for each and every meeting. Be ready to present what you're working on, and to ask the questions you have (after you've spent effort trying to answer them on your own with literature review). Write down the points you'd like to make.
Last, but not least, you tried and missed with this PI. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Move to the next, and try to use the experience to have a better experience the next time. You should consider this the first of many such misses you'll have in an academic career. We all have them, and we all need to move past them.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/12
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<issue_start>username_0: I am leaving graduate school in May with a Master of Science in Mathematics. For the past few weeks, I have been applying to full-time instructor/lecturer positions (mostly 2-year with a few 4-year). I started with a list of ~40 and after whittling it down, have completed applications for 18.
The past few days I've been reading application blog posts and how-tos and the writers talk about applying to dozens of schools (even [hundreds with little success](https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1775-i-found-a-tenure-track-job-here-s-what-it-took)). And these are PhD holders with a lot more experience, which is making me worried.
There's a lot of information for PhD required professor positions so I wanted to ask-just how competitive is the teaching only scene? I know that "applying to more places equals higher probability of getting a job" but I've more or less applied to everywhere I'd **like** to go. However, I don't want to regret not lowering my standards and being unemployed for an entire year.<issue_comment>username_1: How many is required and how competitive the job market is varies by time and by place. You are competing for many of the positions with people that hold doctorates. So, start with your current list but expand it as necessary. And don't apply to just institutions within a narrow range of perceived quality if you really need a job.
I'd also recommend that you have someone else review your application materials, such as your CV and SoP so that you have some assurance that you present yourself well. Make sure the skills you present in your applications match the needs of the institutions you apply to.
When I finished a doctorate half a century ago, a few hundred were needed. There were many more recent graduates than available positions. That was just academic economics at its worst.
If you are finding it hard to get a job, you can also work to obtain complementary skills, say in CS, that might make you more attractive some places.
Research is very important at a few hundred institutions in the US, out of a few thousand. But a doctorate is required for those in very nearly every case. Research is also needed at other institutions, but teaching may be more highly valued. There are some secondary schools, actually, that are highly regarded and the stress there is almost entirely on teaching.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The sad reality is that even for limited-term appointments there are several 10s of candidates with PhDs willing to apply. PhD holders are now starting to apply for sessional positions, somehow cobbling together these appointments to eke out a living. Finally, a position might be advertised as teaching-only, but the possibility of continuing or participating in research or supervising students is often an unstated expectation.
I’m sorry if this sounds grim, but in the current fiscal climate the ability to teach is secondary to the ability to raise revenues through research grants. I’m sure there are exceptions and niche markets, but overall the odds of getting a stable position with an MSc degree are rather slim.
Upvotes: 0
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2020/01/13
| 1,271
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm curious if there's been anyone who's really good at research but also really bad at teaching - for example traditionally, Nobel Prize winners are required to give a public lecture related to the topic that won them the prize. For the hypothetical winner, nobody would look forward to the lecture (or the requirement is even waived entirely).
I'm asking this because I've attended many lectures given by well-known researchers and somehow they're all surprisingly good. Some are better than others, of course, but nobody is so bad that people fall asleep during the lecture (which I've seen happen in high school). It makes sense that there is some level of self-selection, because universities would not hire really bad teachers, but presumably research output is also valuable, and one does not have to be at a university to perform research.<issue_comment>username_1: If you ask are there "any" then the answer is clearly yes. But, like anything else, skills are learned. I turned out to be a good teacher, beloved by my students (mostly - some exceptions). But I started out as a terrible teacher with really poor ideas about how people learn.
If you don't do something (a lot) you aren't going to get very good at it. Being a "natural" researcher doesn't just happen either. But if you are allowed to spend all of your time on research and no one ever requires that you do any *effective* teaching, then you probably won't get good at it.
Some brilliant people make too many assumptions about others. If I have deep insight into some topic, I might, falsely, assume that my students do too. In particular, I might forget how long and hard it was for me to develop that insight.
But if your students turn out to be "just like you" then you can probably reach them ok. If you learned easily thorough lecture and you can lecture with some logic and completeness, then people like you will probably do ok. But, not all students are the same.
Your experience of hearing "good" lectures in public settings is, a lot, due to the fact that your general educational experiences are probably a lot like those of the speaker. And if they are established and experienced, then they probably have a lot of experience getting through to *people like you*. But maybe not so much in a class of beginning undergraduates.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I'm asking this because I've attended many lectures given by well-known researchers and somehow they're all surprisingly good.
>
>
>
While I can't identify any academics that are good researchers and poor teachers, I will note that there is good reason to think that good research and good teaching would be (at least weakly) positively correlated, and therefore it should not be surprising that most well-known researchers are also good teachers. Moreover, there is a self-selection effect in academia, whereby the most highly successful researchers often have the ability to negotiate away some or all of their teaching duties, and so those that remain as teachers tend to be the ones who are good at it (at least by self-perception). (Note that there is quite a bit of meta-analysis on this subject in the education literature; see e.g., [<NAME> 1996](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00346543066004507); [Zaman 2004](http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.145.1140&rep=rep1&type=pdf); [Elken and Wollsheid 2016](https://nifu.brage.unit.no/nifu-xmlui/handle/11250/2386141).)
In my experience, the main three elements that good teaching requires are: (1) having a comprehensive understanding of a subject *from first principles*; (2) the ability to be able to build the material up *slowly and patiently*, with respect for audience context and existing knowledge; and (3) the ability to *anticipate and address* common areas of confusion, misunderstanding, and other pitfalls. Most of the best researchers have at least the first of these three traits, which already gives them the baseline requirement to be excellent teachers. Also, most well-known researchers are highly experienced academics, so they have probably also taught a lot of courses, and have built up a good knowledge of how to go about explaining the basics, and anticipating the common confusions, misunderstandings and pitfalls.
In theory, it is possible that becoming an expert researcher on the "cutting edge" of a field could harm one's ability to be able to remember the common confusions that one suffered from as a novice, or harm one's patience in dealing with these confusions. However, in practice, most academics do enough teaching from time-to-time that they maintain their ability to slowly and patiently explain material, and anticipate and address misunderstandings. For those who do not have the patience and inclination to explain the basics in their subject, if they are successful academic researchers, then they have probably negotiated their way out of teaching duties, and thereby self-selected out of the teaching pool.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/13
| 2,674
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<issue_start>username_0: A while ago, I spent some time working for a lab doing biology research. While I was there, my main job was to write code to automatically perform specific kinds of analysis on the collected data, because they collected too much data to be analyzed manually. I did that job for a couple months, and then moved on to doing other things.
Now, I'm seeing that it would be quite beneficial to be able to point to a paper that exists with my name on it. Naturally, I'd like it if I could get my name on papers which used that code (because who doesn't want to get more credit for their work). However, I don't know what the standard is for biology papers, and I'd like to know what the common practice is before I have this discussion. Also note that I haven't had any discussions about this topic with the professor who heads that lab or anyone else in the lab, so I don't know what their thoughts are.
Is it standard practice to include on the list of authors of a paper, someone whose only contribution to the lab was the creation of a computer program to automatically analyze the data?<issue_comment>username_1: The [Council of Science Editors](https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/) has published a [White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications](https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/wp-content/uploads/CSE-White-Paper_2018-update-050618.pdf) that gives a summary of research on authorship and attribution in scientific journals (see section 2.2 of the report). I recommend you begin by reading this material, to get an idea of the general principles for authorship and the required contributions. One of the things that the white paper is designed to address is the practice of "ghost authorship" where a contributor fails to receive authorship credit despite making a substantial contribution to a paper. It also recommends that if someone contributes to a paper, but not enough to receive authorship, then they should still be listed by name in the "Acknowledgements" section.
There is no universally agreed set of rules for the requirements for authorship, but the general view is that a person should be list as an author on a paper if they have made a "substantial contribution" to the paper. You can also find a set of recommended principles for authorship (in the context of medical journals) published by the [ICMJE](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html):
>
> The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:
>
>
> * Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
> * Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
> * Final approval of the version to be published; AND
> * Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
>
>
>
The above principles are written by a well-reputed body of medical journal editors. I do not have any source material from editors of biology journals, but hopefully there is a reasonable correspondence in approaches. In any case, whether or not your coding work constitutes a "significant contribution" to the work depends largely on the magnitude of the contribution relative to the overall paper, whether any customisation or innovation was required in the coding, and whether you made a contribution to the actual design of the study you were coding, or just coded a set of methods/procedures that were already determined by others. On its own, coding the analysis for a study would not usually constitute a "significant contribution", but it would usually constitute enough of a contribution to warrant acknowledgment. (Although it is for a different kind of contribution, you might find it helpful to read [<NAME> (1998)](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0258%2819981030%2917%3A20%3C2289%3A%3AAID-SIM931%3E3.0.CO%3B2-L), which sets out recommendations for authorship credit for statisticians working on applied research. This is a different situation, but it may have parallels to someone doing coding work on a research project.)
The main problem you will encounter in this case is that you have not negotiated any credit on the paper prior to doing the work. In future, when you are asked to contribute in some way to an academic paper, it is a good idea to have an initial discussion with the principal author, to make agreement on what your contribution will be, and what acknowledgement (if any) you will receive. You can certainly try to negotiate this *post hoc* but you might find this more difficult, depending on the attitude of the main authors of the studies in question. In any case, if you feel that your contribution warrants a formal acknowledgement in a paper (or even co-authorship), I recommend you contact the principal author of the paper to start a discussion about that. The best way to do this would be to frame your request in the context of the authorship principles set out in the above documents (or other similar studies), so that you can point to an external objective source to back up your request. In the absence of some more direct document, the ICMJE principles should be applicable to the world of biology papers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: @reinstate-monica has already pointed out, these discussion are best happening before the work is done. However, for what its worth if you were in my lab, you would absolutely be an author on the paper. BUT .... this does mean would also expect you to be intellectually engaged with the project and prepare to offer feedback on the whole paper (including parts you weren't involved in). But in any case you should definitely be acknowledged. I think the previously mentioned comparison to applied statisticians if perfectly apt.
I think two apt questions are 1) Could the paper have gone ahead without your contribution, 2) If someone were to challenage the correctness of the part of the paper you were involved with, would any of the authors be in a position to know precisely what happened, understand the process and comment on any possible mistakes, omissions and design decisions. Somebody on the the authors list should understand every part of the process sufficiently to take responsibility for it.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Others already told you: when a paper is written by that lab that uses your program, it will depend on how important an intellectual contribution you added to the subject of the paper. This comes in two "sizes": **authorship** for significant intellectual contribution or **acknowledgement** if your contribution was "merely" technical, i.e. you implemented the analysis someone else developed.
(And it's notoriously difficultimpossible for us to judge whether your contribution would merit authorship or only an acknowledgement without far more details about the project.)
---
However, there's a third option that has not been mentioned so far: **citing your software**:
>
> it would be quite beneficial to be able to point to a paper that exists with my name on it.
>
>
>
Possibly too late for the project in question now, but something to keep in mind for future projects: You can have software publications.
* for software that in itself adds/implements new scientific knowledge that can be scientific paper which is published together with the software.
* but it may also be the manual of that software (which in science terms would count as a non-peer-reviewed publication similar to e.g. a technical report)
* you can even get a [DOI for the software](https://blog.datacite.org/doi-registrations-software/) itself.
The first and third options of course requires the software to be public to some extent - so this would be something to discuss with the PI of the project.
>
> Naturally, I'd like it if I could get my name on papers which used that code (because who doesn't want to get more credit for their work).
>
>
>
You can then ask that this publication be cited by papers that used it.
This is quite common e.g. in the [R](https://r-project.org) world. Actually so common that there is even a function [`citation()`](https://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel/library/utils/html/citation.html) that tells you how each package would like to be cited. (see also e.g.[here](https://buzzrbeeline.blog/2018/06/15/its-easy-to-cite-and-reference-r/) for reasons to cite scientific software).
Here are some examples of packages I am/was involved in that illustrate the range of possibilities:
* package `softclassval` is an implementation that belongs to a [full scientific paper](https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemolab.2012.12.003):
>
> > citation ("softclassval")
>
>
> To cite package 'softclassval' please use:
>
>
> softclassval-ChemomIntellLabSyst
>
>
> <NAME>, <NAME> and <NAME>: 'Validation of Soft Classification Models using Partial Class Memberships: An
> Extended Concept of Sensitivity & Co. applied to grading of astrocytoma tissues', Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems,
> 122 (2013), 12 - 22, DOI: 10.1016/j.chemolab.2012.12.003, arXiv: 1301.0264, R package version 1.0-20160527,
> <http://softclassval.r-forge.r-project.org>.
>
>
>
* package `hyperSpec` is publicly available on CRAN and github, the citation refers to the package/its manual:
>
> > citation ("hyperSpec")
>
>
> To cite package 'hyperSpec' please use:
>
>
> <NAME> and <NAME>: `hyperSpec: a package to handle hyperspectral data sets in R', R package version 0.99-20200114.
>
> <https://github.com/cbeleites/hyperSpec>
>
>
>
* package `cbmodels` is a collection of functions I put together when I was working at IPHT. It is not under an open source license (it's under the "ask-the-institute-director license"). I don't have it any more, so I cannot call `citation()` on it, but we used e.g.
>
> <NAME>, cbmodels, R package version 0.5, 2015.
>
>
>
in a [publication](https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c6an01739h).
Note that version numbers also serve scientific reproducibility.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/13
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<issue_start>username_0: A commonly asked question during the faculty position interview is
>
> How do you fit in with the department?
>
>
>
It is quite similar to but different from
>
> How do you fit in with the position?
>
>
>
I want to seek some specific suggestions as to answering this question, assuming the position to interview for has a 50-50 teaching and research appointment. What is the hiring committee really looking for from a candidate from this question?
In my previous interviews, I would answer this question by focusing on how I would collaborate with other faculty in the department. It seemed that the answer did not hit the point well.<issue_comment>username_1: It's possible that the question is really "What can you do to help our department achieve its goals?" To the extent that they're asking that question, you need to understand what it is that they want. You also need to let go of any preconceived notions that might have about "every college or university wants x, y, and z", because priorities really do vary. In answering this question, you need to explain how you can contribute to the goals of the department.
This can be tricky to analyze because the real objectives of the decision-makers may not have been stated or might not match their public statements. Furthermore, there may be conflict within the department or with higher levels of the administration about what the goals should be. It's important to realize that the hiring committee would probably not have brought you to campus for an interview if they didn't believe that you could somehow contribute to the department. ("Probably" is here to exclude the small chance that the interview is a sham because some other applicant has been preselected. If you're caught in that situation then your situation is hopeless.) Therefore, it's likely that something or a combination of things in your application attracted their interest. If you can figure out what that was, and can convince the interviewers that you will deliver that desired result, then you will have successfully answered the question.
If there is conflict within the department or between the department and the administration, then the "wrong" answer to this question could hurt your chances of getting the job.
There are other possible interpretations of the question.
For example, the question could be "How will you get along personally with other faculty in the department?" It seems silly to ask that question, and the interviewers can probably judge this more readily by observing your behavior during the interview.
Or, they might be getting at "Will you be happy working at our institution and living in this place, or will you be trying to find a better job as quickly as possible?" If you can say "I really want to work here because ..." and you aren't obviously lying, then that will go a long way towards answering this version of the question. On the other hand, if you answer "I want to turn this institution into the Harvard of southeastern Alabama", then that might not go over very well.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The other answer has good advice. But for a job with a research component, I'd interpret it at least partly as "How does your research synergise with our own?".
Point out things that you could work together with existing staff on; areas in which you could help each other out, and things where the combination of your skills/knowledge and their skills/knowledge might combine to produce something bigger than the sum of its parts.
Similarly, but less clearly, on the teaching side you might be able to identify how you fill a gap in their existing areas of expertise.
Upvotes: 3
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2020/01/13
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<issue_start>username_0: The application for math postdoc at United States is the end of every year. Want to know when it usually releases the results?
Has someone already got an offer or some shortlist notifications?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe that in math the first round of postdoc offers usually go out shortly after the NSF announces who will be receiving NSF postdocs. This usually happens in late January. After that, offers tend to go out when (or if) previous offers were declined.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Seems most positions should have a shortlist for interview within this week (probably 1 week before the NSF announcement and 2 weeks before the [Coordinance](http://www.ams.org/profession/employment-services/deadline-coordination/deadline-coordination)). You should send an email to each position you are interested in to ask for the progress. At least half of them will give you a clear answer and for the rest, you should never think about them again.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Here at U. Michigan, our first round of offers went out in mid-January. As those offers got declined, we have made offers to replace them, trickling out a few at a time. Many of our first round offers have now learned that they received NSF postdocs's somewhere else, so we made several offers following the NSF announcement. Our first offers had a deadline of February 3, in accord with the [uniform deadline](http://www.ams.org/profession/employment-services/deadline-coordination/deadline-coordination). After Feb 3, we will most likely get more declines and make more offers. We aren't sending out rejections because it is possible that this process may go on for a long time, but most likely it will end sometime in February.
Contrary to what other answers say, we started two weeks before the NSF made their announcements, and many of our offers did not involve prior telephone contacts. I think our actions are typical of a large University.
Upvotes: 3
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2020/01/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I've just finished my under-graduation in psychology in my country and I'm very motivated to start publishing and making my own experiments.
Following this answer: [Does one need to be affiliated with a university to publish papers?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3010/does-one-need-to-be-affiliated-with-a-university-to-publish-papers), I've discovered that I can publish papers without institutional affiliation. Is it the same with experiments?
How can I prove that my experiments were rigorously conducted and that I'm not faking documents or participants? how can I show that I didn't induce some answers to the participants to prove a given hypothesis?
If I can publish without an institutional affiliation, would my results be taken seriously in academia?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is it the same with experiments?
>
>
>
Yes, assuming you have sufficient resources to conduct the experiment.
>
> How can I show my experiment was really made rigorously and I'm not faking documents and participants? How can I show the experiment really happened? how can I show I didn't induce some answers to the participants to prove my hypothesis? There are a lot of simple experiments I can do by myself and I want to publish them, how can I be taken serious?
>
>
>
In each instance: The same way a university researcher would.
---
I didn't think it needed saying, but: The necessary ethical and legal paperwork is required, regardless of where work is conducted; some experiments cannot, should not, or both, be conducted at home; and other caveats. Nonetheless, ultimately, publishable research - even in psychology - *can* be conducted at home, albeit, you'll need to be selective about the research and you'll need to compliant. (The OP might want to ask *should* such work be conducted at home, which [username_2](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/142799/22768) partly answers.) Working with an industry- or university-affiliated PI - e.g., as an intern working from home - would simplify the process.
That said, given that
>
> I've just finished my under-graduat[e degree] in psychology
>
>
>
You might want to ask: What are the benefits of a supervisor, over working alone? The benefits are significant and I'd recommend supervision.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Publishing papers about psychology experiments does present an additional issue, human subject research ethics. A reputable journal is likely to require assurance that the rights and welfare of the research subjects were protected during the research.
If you were working or studying at a research university in many countries the university would have some provision for reviewing the ethics of planned research, and monitoring it in progress. US research universities each have an [Institutional review board](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_review_board#International_ethics_review_committees). A journal could rely on IRB approval to know that the research subjects were protected.
You need to find out how that is handled in your country, and make sure you are following procedures and getting reviews that will make your research acceptable for the journals in which you wish to publish. There are enough pitfalls in doing human, or even animal, experiments that one should really not attempt them without guidance.
Usually, a psychology researcher starts their research career as a graduate student with an academic advisor supervising them. They will learn how their supervisor, and other researchers, prepare and organize experiments. Their supervisor will guide them in selecting ethical experiments, getting informed consent, preparing paperwork for independent review, etc.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: You are absolutely able to publish the results of observational studies with no oversight, and this has been done before without university affiliation. However once you get into 'experiment' territory where human or animal subjects are manipulated in some way, all respectable journals require that you have informed consent or IACAUC review and approval. Without that, you'll mostly be unable to publish your results outside of shady pay-to-publish journals, if that.
Upvotes: 4
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2020/01/14
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<issue_start>username_0: Generally
=========
There's a question which asks [is it possible to get a PhD while working full time](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8747/is-it-possible-to-work-full-time-and-complete-a-phd)? The responses to this were essentially "yes but say goodbye to anything except school and work" or "only if you're a prodigy".
My first question then: **can I complete a Master's degree while working *without* killing my social life?** Browsing the course names gives me the impression that at least 10% will be review from my undergraduate degree.
Specifically
============
I'm interested in deepening my knowledge in my area (software/computer science) and am in NYC, where Columbia U would be a great option for this. I have completed an undergraduate degree and since a PhD seems like a stretch, I am considering a Master's degree.
My job has a 40 hour work-week but has flexibility with timing.<issue_comment>username_1: A lot of people in the US do this, actually. Some places have enough evening classes at the MS/MA level that it may not disrupt normal work hours. But it takes a lot out of the rest of your life, of course.
It is easier in a field in which you can complete the degree without research, say by coursework and/or creative writing.
But if you can afford to spend three hours a night in class for a couple of nights a week and also do the required other work then it can happen on a reasonable time scale. And NYC has a lot of options.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It's doable (I know someone who did it) but expect it to be hard. You can compare it with your current job - a full-time Masters student might work 40 hours a week. If you do it part-time, you might have to work 20 hours a week. Added to your day job, that's 60 hours a week. Can you cope with that? Some people undoubtedly can but for others it'll be very stressful, especially since you'll probably have to keep it up for months if not years.
... but it's doable.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: At least in the US, there are often masters programs designed specifically for people with full time jobs. Often people attend these programs with support and even funding from their employer. Classes are mostly at night. Your work schedule may permit you to take normally scheduled classes, however.
Unlike a PhD program, you also often have the option to draw out your studies a bit, and trade a longer time to degree for a bit more sanity in your day to day.
As with most things, you'll have to check the specific policies of a program you are interested in.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Yes, it is possible to do a masters while working full time. The trade-off is that it takes a much longer time to get a degree in many cases.
I know that at least one university in the UK offers such courses, as my father was the Distance Learning Coordinator for the Civil Engineering department. There is [a short article about what Civil Engineering Distance Learning](https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/go-distance-flexible-masters-course) they offer published on their website.
I think many of the other departments also offer part-time courses, although not all of these are Distance Learning so you will need to attend some classes on campus AFAIK. You can study some of my own degree there. [Details of the Computer Vision MSc](https://www.surrey.ac.uk/postgraduate/computer-vision-robotics-and-machine-learning-msc-2020) show that
a one year Full-Time masters degree is expected to take around 5 years as a part-time module.
A fifth of the study time a year of a full-time course (one day a week) should leave you with some time to socialise and live a normal life.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: At least with regards to the UK - it's highly dependant on the institution and the demands of their program. I had a guy on my CS masters course who worked full time and due to the self-learning-centric course design, he managed to get away with making a deal with his employer in regards to flexitime and compulsory program obligations. He also practically lived and worked on campus.
I wouldn't personally recommend it unless you have a very fortuitous set of circumstances and potentially a flexible employer. I'd be worrying about the mental strain of doing both in parallel, least of all that it'd impact my social life. As mentioned, there are part-time masters courses available as well, but I don't know much about them.
But if you're set on it, definitely look into the prospective program and its demands before making the leap - perhaps even ask your current employer if accommodations can be made?
Personally I'd take the advice of one of this centuries greatest philosophers: "Never half-ass two things. Whole-a\*\* one thing" - give each thing in your life the time it deserves.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I have completed 2 Master's degrees online with a full time job and 3 children. It is very possible. I did spend several hours a night on homework. I did that several times a week. I did have time to spend with my family as well. It does require a lot of time.
Ask yourself this: In 2 years, where are you going to be? It will be 2022. Regardless if you enroll or not, it will still be 2022. So, go ahead and enroll because you might as well embark on something challenging. The nice thing is that unlike certifications, degrees do not expire with time. Hope this helps. Good luck! Go get it!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Depending where you are and who you work for, maybe your employer would be willing to let you do some of your course on their time? If it's relevant. They might even contribute to the costs.
This is not uncommon here (Germany), especially for PhDs, but then it has to be relevant and useful to your employer. In fact, our firm will offer to support you with advice and a sponsor, as well as leave and fees.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: I did this with a thesis-based MSc in Software Engineering. It was a terrible idea.
I worked full time (>40 hours/week) at a software engineering job. Since it was my first job, I also wanted to be good at it, so I put in more than 8 hours a day. I would then come home, eat, and either work more remotely for my employer or work on my MSc. Weekends were spent the same way.
A summary:
* It does let you get a Master's without quitting a good source of income
* It affects relationships with family/friends because there is almost 0 free time.
* Meeting with your thesis supervisor is hard because you're always at work!
* It is really hard to come home after a long day at work and to sit down and focus on something. Looking back at it, I think I could have finished my thesis a year faster if I didn't have to go to work.
* It requires a lot of self-motivation and organization because any experimentation you are doing will be self-driven.
I would not recommend it if you can avoid it. I was mentally drained every day (slept well though!).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: As other answers have mentioned, it is not just possible to complete a master’s while working full time, but there’s a whole assortment of great master’s programs designed specifically to accommodate career professional students.
In the industries I’ve worked in, primarily aerospace engineering and defense, it’s a prevalent part of the culture that early career people will sometimes choose to pursue a master’s while working. Many of my peers and I are currently following (or have recently finished) that path, so I can share what I’ve learned from our experience.
**Schools/Programs:** It seems you’re already looking into programs that are local to you. That’s often a great choice, but another route worth considering is an online program which doesn’t require you to be physically on campus. The idea of an online program can have a negative connotation to some, but an online master’s program in engineering from a university with name recognition is often indifferentiable from a degree gained while studying full time on campus. One example I can think of is a master’s at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering, which you can complete without ever setting foot on campus, but the degree you receive is identical to that of any other master’s student. I’m sure there are a number of other programs like this
**Time Scale:** As others have mentioned, the time it will take you to obtain a master’s this way will be significantly longer (prodigies aside). However, in all programs I know of you can mostly set your own pace. Many of my peers have found that taking 1 class a term is plenty of additional workload and taking any more can be overwhelming. That being said, if taking 1 class a term it can take 2.5+ years to complete the degree, even if you choose to take a summer class or two. Regardless of the pace you end up choosing, I highly recommend starting out with 1 class the first term, so you can learn how to properly balance work and school before feeling immediately overwhelmed.
**Value:** How much value you will personally gain from the program is difficult to judge, but it’s a crucial exercise before you commit to years of school. Some key questions that you should ask yourself are:
1. Why do I want to do this? (e.g. do I think it will help me land more promotions at work, make me look more prestigious to my colleagues, do I just really enjoy learning in an academic setting)
Once you’ve answered that question, think about these:
2. How much will this help me advance in my career? (e.g. I’m partway through my program and I’ve reached the position that newly graduated master’s students are hired into in my company. Doing my master’s for the promotion would’ve been a poor choice for me)
3. How much will this additional academic learning benefit me over additional time I could spend learning on the job? (e.g. a number of my peers in EE/CS are now pursuing their masters in order gain expertise in machine learning. This has resulted in them landing projects at work they may have not gotten otherwise. It’s helped them break into a field that was otherwise mostly closed to them. If they had studied the same field they work in every day, the calculus for the benefit would be different)
4. How much do you enjoy academic studying? (Hopefully you have at least some enthusiasm for it, as it’ll be a significant part of your “free” time for a while)
Pursuing your master’s while working full time is a fairly accessible and not uncommon route. How much social life you have left over and how much benefit you get from the program depends largely on how you choose to accomplish this goal.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Yes. It is definitely possible to do Masters or PhD degree while working. I did that comfortably.
I wish you success in your pursuit of learning.
I achieved M.S. degree in Software from a great university while doing a demanding job in a New York based company.
**These 3 factors have helped me achieve the degree without hassle:**
1. The Manager was convinced that what I am learning will be beneficial for the company's business. Hence, I did not have an objection for pursuing higher studies.
2. A Senior colleague who had achieved the same degree provided guidance and mentoring.
3. Fellow colleagues got inspired by the stories that I shared about those who got better pay after completing the degree.
Had I not had the approval and encouragement from the Employer, colleagues and friends, I would not have been able to achieve the degree.
Thanks to them.
**I could achieve the degree and also pay back with these returns:**
1. Better value and more efficiency at work
2. Sticking with the company for a long time
3. After completing the degree, I became a mentor and helped a few others advance their careers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: This is definitely doable, and I know because both me and my wife have done it (simultaneously in fact). And we had kids while we did it. And she was pregnant with and gave birth to another child during the final semester of both of our programs...I would not recommend aligning having a child with this (we didn't mean to, but life happens).
Look into executive masters programs - I was able to go through an executive masters of software engineering program which was designed for working professionals, and was able to keep my full time software engineering job. The classes were 2 saturdays and one friday a month, and most of the classwork was on your own time, so it definitely requires the motivation to work on your own without having regular classes. The professors were all fairly available for questions via email and stuff. Overall it was a positive experience for me I'd say, and was worth the trouble. Hold off on having kids until afterwards though....
As for social life, I do have to admit I had less free time during the program than I would have otherwise, but not none. I guess it depends on how much social time you desire, but one thing I would say is this depends a lot on the program. With my program, I was able to get a lot of the work done in and shortly after class, so I was able to mostly keep the extra time to class days. There were a few weeks each semester where I had a large group project due or was studying for a test where I would be busy every day in the week but for most of the project I still retained my evenings for the most part. I'd say overall my free time was cut in half on average (some weeks having mostly the same amount, some weeks being completely shot, especially around finals for instance).
You can do this with a standard masters degree (e.g. non executive program), as I know several people who are doing this, but I would really recommend looking for programs specifically tailored towards working professionals - I find that the courses themselves were better adjusted for real world application of the material and were more helpful for growing myself as a working engineer as opposed to some of the regular masters level engineering classes which I took as an undergraduate, which were much more academic in nature and not really applicable to my day to day as a working engineer.
Hope this helps.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: I did this myself, but I've seen lots of people failing. There are a lot of hints and compromises you should think about:
**What helped me:**
1. I've earned many credits from "isolated classes", which I took before actually enrolling. Time is critical when your are not exclusively dedicated to an academic program. So work a lot before the clock starts ticking (i.e. before enrolling) and don't let yourself lag behind schedule once the countdown starts.
2. I was dismissed from work to attend regular classes, but did not take work hours to work on my thesis or class activities.
3. I often took a full day every weekend only to study/work on my thesis. Other than studying on workdays.
4. I was lucky my advisor was okay with meeting with me outside working hours, I did went to his place rather than his office (that is something many people would be uncomfortable with though).
5. The program had difficult admittance exams, but I had seen everything on grad school. I worked with topics covered in most classes I've attended, and made my thesis on the same topic of my graduate thesis, which was the specialty of my advisor. All of these are measures I considered would put the program on "easy mode" for me. While it was still far from easy, I know a guy who failed to deliver a thesis within deadline because among other reasons, he wanted to work with something completely different than what he did on graduation, took no classes on the relevant subjects and his advisor was not from the exact field.
**What you should be concerned about:**
1. You will have setbacks. You need to leave room for failure to occur while not being catastrophic. I've known a guy whose thesis depended on an experiment, which required a few custom materials. The company that sold him one of these materials screwed up its composition (and the guy was able to notice and prove it later on). Basically, this meant that a very important experiment had basically failed due to execution error, but by then he had no time to wait for new materials and no results to compose a master thesis.
2. You will likely need to cut-off some hobbies. People often feel like learning something new and thus decide to do a master's program. These same people often decide it's a good time to also learn a new language, or start playing some musical instrument, and doing both at the same time might be a bad idea. While you should not stop physical activity or simple hobbies like going to the movies, there is a limit to how much you can effectively learn and focus on your daily life. And doing a masters while also working full time already pushes you close to this limit.
3. It does take a toll on social life. I've spent a month without seeing my girlfriend while preparing a pre-thesis. At some other point I had very limited time to see her because other than studying I also needed physiotherapy five times a week. People understand this up to some point, but both you and them will be frustrated by the situation (this depends a lot on the type of people you relate as well).
4. You may be out of the academic environment, but you should try to put yourself in it. I hadn't had the opportunity to attend a single thesis defense or a random seminar while I was enrolled in the master's program. People often talk and exchange useful information on daily life and on social events. Often students spend work hours at the university rather than at home, which makes them and teachers much more accessible. But if you spend work hours at your full time job, you are out of this circle. So you'll miss on the information, tips, culture and so on that makes the academic program a tad easier.
5. Vacations are not (primarily) for traveling anymore. While I did took days from my work vacations to travel and enjoy myself, it happened that I had classes during vacations, and often spent a lot of time working on my thesis or class assignments when on vacation. From an outsider opinion, I've seen people fail their master's while working due to what I believe was a "vacations are sacred" mindset. If you think you'd be okay by skipping classes when on vacation and going traveling to forget everything about work and studies, then you've just increased the difficulty settings by two levels.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: I work full time and I am doing **two** Masters degrees part time. I looked at both curricula and decided I could rush it and lose energy and motivation or *take it slowly (4/5 years) and stay sane*. I don't have much of a social life (by choice), only use the TV for news and perhaps a 1 hour drama series. Sunday evenings are quiet times when I watch a 1 hour movie on Netflix. For sport I weight lift or cycle daily to keep fit and hike during the vacations.
I know people who have done this as a dual degree within a 3 year period and think that's impressive but I'm happy to just be steaming along. I'm not doing it for any other reason but because I'm very interested in the subject (don't think I could earn a living out of it, particularly at my age). I would have just done one but got a full scholarship for the 2nd degree and just couldn't say "no". In one of the programs, for example, I am prepared to take 9 credit hours *in a year (one course a trimester)*. It's doable if you are really motivated, happily single, work in a conducive culture and are able to set definite boundaries.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on a paper and I found open-source code that I could use for running a simulation. Should I write my own code for that simulation? Will it be enough if I refer to the code in my citations/references section?<issue_comment>username_1: You'll need to conduct due diligence to ensure that the code generating the simulation is accurate and that you fully understand how it is working; otherwise other peoples' mistakes become your own. Personally, I would take that code and deconstruct it to the point I understand how it works, then re-write it on my own. That said, nothing prevents you from using open source code, just be sure to document accurately and be confident it is doing what you anticipate!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, open-source code can be used for research if it is cited everywhere you use results from it. You may first like to verify that the code is indeed open-source by verifying that the license is one of these: <https://opensource.org/licenses>
This should be listed clearly on the website/repository/license/readme file. If this is not available, try contacting the author to verify that it is indeed open source.
Certain licenses additionally allow you to freely modify the code for your specific purpose; the link above contains details about this.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Open source software is used everywhere. For all example, nearly all of High Performance Computing, and the entire field of Computational Science and Engineering (CS&E) works with open source software, and does so very successfully. Furthermore, these packages are often at least as good or better than what commercial packages can offer. Many of these packages have been used in hundreds or thousands of papers. A few examples of packages just in my field that have very widely been used is [here](https://www.mcs.anl.gov/petsc/publications/index.html), [here](http://libmesh.github.io/publications.html), and [here](https://dealii.org/publications.html).
So yes, you *can* use open source software. In particular, there is no reason to believe that open source software just by virtue of being open source is of worse quality.
In practice, nearly every software package has one or more paper that describe its inner workings. The right thing to do when you use a package is to cite these papers.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: When writing a journal paper, we are expected to write in third person. But when I present some assumptions of other researchers and then want to say that I disagree with that and then present my own hypothesis, how do I write it?
Example:
Artificial neural networks store neural weights, which are a generalized way of memorizing and abstracting training data, similar to the neurons of the human brain.
I disagree with that because I theorize that memories are not stored in the neurons. I don't have any evidence, but can provide my theories about how memory storage actually works.
But I can't start writing it as "My hypothesis is that...", because it isn't in third person. What is the right way to write it?<issue_comment>username_1: You need not go to first person to convey this idea. How about: Alternatively, it may be the case that ... [your alternative goes here].
Just be sure that your theories are testable, lest they become conjecture. Then test your theories.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You don't need to drop out of the normal first-person-plural way of academic writing. You can write something like:
>
> Bob e.a. [1] theorize that (something you disagree with), but we are skeptical because (reasons you disagree). In this paper we offer an alternative hypothesis (your own ideas) and propose experiments to support it.
>
>
>
It doesn't matter whether you're a single person writing the paper or a team, you use the "academic we". That's just the convention.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a student of Indian origin. I am Studying Mechanical Engineering in a local university in north of Germany.
I am writing my thesis in a company. My task is to optimize the throughput of the line. I tried to apply 2-3 concepts on optimization to the output of the line, but my all efforts been in vain. Now I am looking at my computer screen the whole day everyday, hopping hopelessly from one research paper to another but finding nothing. I have only 2 months before my final presentation in front of the company's manager. And in it I have to prove to them that giving me this topic for my thesis was not a waste of around 1500€/month.
I am not able to sleep. For the last 15 days I haven't gone out for shopping or anything. Eating just a little bit of food only one time. Talking to no one, my family or friends. Just sitting all day in front of the screen trying to find some kind of breakthrough. I think i am going into depression. I am afraid that i will fail this thesis.
I don't know what to do? How to do? Who to ask for help regarding my thesis and topic. I am constantly worried about what if i fail. What will happen. Should I have to go back to India without completing my Master's.
Update 28.09.2020:
Thanks a lot. I have passed my Thesis as well as my masters with satisfactory Noten(Grade). Over all 2.5 Noten for my Master Degree and 2.5(average of Report and Presentation) . Once thanks a lot this wonderful community who gave me the ideas and support in my difficult time.<issue_comment>username_1: From your description it is difficult to understand your research question. How about a little more detail so that the community can help you brainstorm ideas?
Aside from that, you are suffering from tunnel-vision and defeatist mentality. You are so focused on failing you have become unable to gain traction. You need to take a few days rest, then come back to the table and try to think about your problem from a new angle. I have found it is useful to read research papers from a different but related topic. Sometimes that reveals new avenues for inquiry.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Having worked with master's students in an applied research lab, I am fairly confident that you are not expected to come up with a solution that will dramatically change the production process and lead to great profits. Your stipend is not contingent on your work delivering monetary returns; research doesn't work like that.
You are engaged by them to apply your skills, use your time and energy to contribute to their problem. The magnitude of that contribution and its ultimate impact on the company could vary wildly. So steer yourself out of both extreme expectations (that you will fail completely, vs you will create a revolution through your work) and put in your honest, best efforts. Be systematic and document everything. What you see as a negative result or failure now could be a positive confirmation to a more experienced researcher at some time in the future. Don't worry too much about the ultimate outcome, but don't procrastinate either. Keep executing chunks of work, and once again, document everything.
Remember, you justify your stipend through your efforts, not through the outcomes.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: Your work has not been in vain.
What you have shown to the company are those methods which don't offer improvement, now, they can continue looking at other methods.
While you have had a limited time to look at a few methods, you should write those up and then consider suggesting other avenues that they could continue after you finish. That should sort your thesis issues...
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> If i will do this by simulation there wont be many things to write about.
>
>
>
What we have there is the real problem, your attitude.
If you cared about the subject, rather than only about getting the degree, you'd see many interesting things.
For instance, try a sensitivity analysis. For each factor in your simulation, keep the others fixed and run simulations with that one factor slightly larger and slightly smaller. For some factors, the final result will hardly change, while for other factors the final result will change a lot. That tells you which factors are worth further investigation and which are worth ignoring.
If the only thing you give your employers is a ranking of how important each factor is, they got their money's worth.
But that's just one example. There really *will* be "many things to write about".
>
> this is getting too complicated for me to understand
>
>
>
How the universe works is too complicated for anyone to understand.
Yet, despite concentrating on only a few of the most easy aspects of the problem, Einstein is generally not thought of as a failure.
Everything that's complicated is made up of many non-complicated things.
Find some aspects that by themselves are relatively simple and study them, ignoring the rest for now.
Even if you don't complete it yourself, the parts that you *have* analyzed will help your successors to understand how the simple parts fit together to form the complicated whole.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: This is not your fault. It seems like you had a bad supervisor at the company since a supervisor should meet up with you often to discuss your problems and your progress. He should guide you towards a successful thesis.
Now, first of all, talk to your thesis supervisors and tell them about your concerns. You should have one supervisor in the company and one supervisor at your university and you can ask both for help.
I want to add that here in Germany, people rarely fail their thesis. Not because everyone writes a great thesis on great results, but because the threshold of passing is very low. Not only results, but also effort is recognized, therefore:
Get the formal aspects of your thesis right: e.g. no spelling mistakes, good looking images, proper citing, good literature summary, polish your presentation...
If you do that, you will not fail. For the master thesis, negative results are totally acceptable.
Therefore, for your thesis and for the presentation:
1. summarize the literature
2. show the methods you have tried, show that they did not lead to an improvement
3. make educated guesses about why it did not lead to an improvement
4. if you have an idea, explain what else could be tried in the future
Maybe the company will not hire you, but you will definitely not fail your thesis.
>
> Should I have to go back to India without completing my Master's.
>
>
>
If you really do fail, maybe because of the limited time left to write the thesis, then that is also not a problem at all. You lost some months, but you can just try again with another topic.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Start writing up now what you have. Describe (properly) the results of the 2-3 concepts. The next student doesnt have to repeat them then. If you finish the first (complete) draft and you have time, try to come up with hypothesis why these concept failed. If you even have more time, do numerical experiment to check this hypothesis. Add this to the thesis. Depending on you supervisor send him the individual drafts.
Submit your thesis. You will most likely only fail if you do not submit.
You also have a supervisor at university, s/he is usually the person to ask for advice.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: **Expectations**
First of all, it is important to be clear precisely what the expectations of this project are. If you are a master's student working alone on such a project, there should be no expectation of positive results, especially since you seem to indicate that you have only been working on it for a short amount of time. A Ph.D. might be a different matter, but then you would work on research for many years before writing a thesis.
It sounds to me that you have set a particular bar of expectation for yourself that you feel you are not reaching. Reevaluate if that expectation is reasonable, firstly for yourself, and second by the official standards which you are being held to.
**Communication**
In such situations, having communication and people to talk to is important. You should certainly be discussing the situation with a supervisor, but do not cut off contact with friends and family and jeopardize your mental health, which will do nothing good for you. You are less likely to make any breakthrough if you are starving yourself and not talking to anyone. Discuss what you are working with someone, anyone, whether they understand it or not, and discuss other things as well! Relaxing can help a lot. Take breaks, go for walks, meditate, whatever helps you to calm yourself and clear your head.
**You may be suffering from impostor syndrome**
I think you underestimate what you have accomplished and your future achievement potential. There is no reason to give up when you have already put in so much effort. If you genuinely feel that your current position is due to lack of effort, then that's something you can change going forward, but it doesn't sound like that's the case. You've put in the effort, and null results are results, don't dismiss them!
**Do not worry about the money**
Consider that any entry-level engineer with a Bachelor's degree at your company probably makes *at least* twice what you are being paid. No reasonable person would consider that they had wasted money paying someone [minimum wage](https://www.google.com/search?q=minimum+wage+germany&rlz=1C1HIJA_enUS743US743&oq=minimum+wage+germany&aqs=chrome..69i57.2109j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) to do research on how to improve their production line for a few months, even if they didn't produce a positive result (and no one can expect a single master's student to produce significant result in a few months of work).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: 1. 1500 euros/month is not a big deal for the companies, they do not expect you to offer them breakthrough solutions.
2. Negative results are results, report them if you have. That is research
3. Frame your suggestions as hypothesis and try to critically analyse them. Those optimization methods you mentioned try to address how they can enhance their production and bla bla.
4. Write the literature review about those papers you are reading and that by itself can be good study and great chunk of your MSC thesis.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: From personal experience working with people from many other cultures, I know that in some Asian cultures the idea of "failing to complete a task that you have been promised to do" is taken much more seriously than it is in Europe.
As a personal anecdote, a co-worker had arranged vacation time to make a religious pilgrimage. The group were scheduled to depart at 2am. At 11 pm (three hours before departure) the co-worker turned up in the office, attempting to complete some task he had been given before he left!
By pure good luck, there were some senior employees in the office at that hour of the night, having a conference call with a customer in a time zone 8 hours different. The guy was told in no uncertain terms to stop working and go and catch his plane, but he was reluctant to do that until somebody else said they would take full personal responsibility for any consequences of the work not being finished.
To most westerners such a story might seem like pure fiction, but I was there when it happened.
You will not achieve anything by "not going out for shopping, talking to no one, and barely eating" for 15 days - except that you might end up as a medical emergency case because of self neglect. You have made an honest attempt at solving the problem, and you have some results, even though they are negative. That is as much as anyone in the West would reasonably expect from a student writing a thesis.
Put your effort into making a good report of what you have actually done, and the things that you would have liked to do but found too difficult. That will almost certainly be enough for your thesis to be accepted. The risk of lying in a hospital bed and not submitting anything at all is just not worth taking!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: Look, I am Master student in a very similar field, Aeronautical engineering in Spain, I was going through the very same thing like a month and half ago, and with the help of my mum I realized that sometimes, health and wellness are way more important than academic results.
Professional help will also help you getting over it, a healthy diet, taking care of the relationships and a bit of exercise are essential to maintain your mind clean.
Aside from that, those dealing with students like us expect from us realistic results, this means that they do not expect you to improve drastically the performance of whatever you are dealing with in just few months, but they are rather interested in seeing how you have fought against the problem, and how you have learn from it.
Good luck, hope you recover from this, recognising you might be entering into a depression stage or having anxiety problems is the very first step towards a full recovery.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: The feedback I give below is rooted in my own experience, going through all years of school and employment - when I was always expected to provide something.
---
>
> I am not able to sleep. For the last 15 days I haven't gone out for shopping or anything. Eating just a little bit of food only one time. Talking to no one, my family or friends.
>
>
>
Well, that is the perfect recipe for disaster. How do you expect your brain to function properly (even, better than properly, since you are trying to do a highly intensive task) without caring for it? Go ahead and eat nutritious food, have good rest, do some exercise, and then things will definitely improve.
>
> Just sitting all day in front of the screen trying to find some kind of breakthrough.
>
>
>
With a under-nutritioned, not rested brain? No way.
Moreover, a thesis (regardless of the level) implies research, and research means that you can (and sometimes MUST) cooperate with other people. Go ahead an talk with anyone who might be able to give you some idea. Even terrible ideas can turn into genius ideas.
Corollary: if you have no benefit of staying in front of the computer, do something more beneficial. Even sleeping is better then torturing yourself uselessly.
>
> I think i am going into depression. I am afraid that i will fail this thesis.
>
>
>
As I said, good food, rest, exercise... It will go away.
>
> I don't know what to do? How to do? **Who to ask for help** regarding my thesis and topic.
>
>
>
The thesis is not something that you do in a toilet and you must be alone.
A thesis has **at least one coordinator** (provided by the university).
In your case, there are **two coordinators**, the other one being assigned by the company.
Each of them will provide you with support according to their area of experience / expertise. Even if they do not push or pull you about the work you do, be PROACTIVE and go talk to them. Tell them about your results until now. Tell them about the problems encountered. Ask for help. Ask to be assigned to other specialists which might have good feedback which you can use.
>
> I am constantly worried about what if i fail. What will happen. Should I have to go back to India without completing my Master's.
>
>
>
Leave the worries until after the final exam passes. How can your brain think about the work you need to do, if you keep it busy with analyzing ways of failure?
---
Bottom line:
* provide the best conditions to your brain to function at maximum capacity;
* remove from mind all negative stuff (worries, fears, negative emotions...); they will appear independent of your will, but when you become aware of this, push them out
again;
* be proactive and be in regular contact with your supervisors;
* be proactive and seek help / information / ideas from anyone who might be able to provide them;
---
My own case: I am able to ignore all the negative stress before a serious endeavor (exam, delivery of project, preparation for some bigger activity...) - even to the point where I feel too "free". However, once the event passes entirely and the really final results are in, my brain suddenly releases all the energy and the feelings and everything which I ignored previously. Physically I become weak for a few seconds / minutes. On rare occasions, I needed to sit for a minute, to recover.
That works excellent for me, and I would never want to change that. Even though the feeling of weakness is not something to be proud of, it allows me to really concentrate on the task and deliver maximum performance.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: I think you're focusing on the wrong facet. Instead of worrying, "How do I optimize their process," think, "What makes an optimum process?" - and then relate that to the existing model. If it turns out that the optimum way of doing something is what the company is already doing, *that's great!*. It's not a failure if the company is already doing the right thing!
Instead of focusing on "But I didn't change anything!", focus on "How can I help identify *why* things are optimal?" Because it's entirely possible their configuration *isn't* due to extremely studious effort, but a bit of trial-and-error. It's entirely possible that you will give them *immense* benefit in laying out *why* their current setup is optimal - they might think it's good simply because they haven't been able to identify anything better, not because they've done rigorous analysis. And, well, I can guarantee you: no factory line remains unchanging over the long haul - they have to adapt, improve, and reorganize. Processes change. Requirements change. Etc. So being able relay *why* it's currently ideal might help them keep that efficiency after a change down the road.
If I were in your shoes, the next path I'd start poking down is their line history. Did the current setup emerge due to methodical analysis? Was there trial and error? You may be able to give a *great deal of value* in being able to say, "The current line is actually extremely efficient - there aren't a lot of gains to be had. However, one thing I noticed is that the road to get to the current setup seemed to systemically have a problem with neglect of transport and transit times. These three areas were shuffled around quite a bit, trying to decrease the time moving parts around the factory, but if that was analyzed up front, it might have helped back when the reorg was required."
(For what it's worth: I worked awhile as a IT Dev in a Tire Manufacturing Plant, and was semi-involved in efficiency evaluations. So I actually have a bit of experience on this front. The plant liked it when someone said, "You can shave 15 seconds off the total build time if you toggle the location of these two presses." They *loved* it when someone said, "Well, there's a systematic mistake XYZ you're making with this - you can shave 15 seconds off the time if you toggle the location of these presses, and the next time you're shuffling the line, you'll get the same savings if you keep in mind XYZ.")
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_13: Thanks a lot. I have passed my Thesis as well as my masters with satisfactory Noten(Grade). Over all 2.5 Noten for my Master Degree and 2.5(average of Report and Presentation) . Once thanks a lot this wonderful community who gave me the ideas and support in my difficult time.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I have an on-campus interview next month. Being my first time to make an on-campus interview, I have no experience on how to properly do that. I was asked to give a teaching demonstration for 30~45 minutes. The university is focused on teaching and they have only a master program (no PhD ). I am planning to present my research work as "a teaching demonstration". Is that okay?<issue_comment>username_1: In my lecture series, I talk about my research too. So it is not necessarily forbidden to teach about your research work. However, the presentation must be tailored towards a student audience. Whenever you give a research presentation to an audience of your peers, you can typically assume that your audience is up to speed with the state-of-the-art work in your research field. This obviously does not hold for Master students.
If I were you, I would familiarize myself with the entry requirements of the Master students at the university, and the program they are supposed to follow. I would start your teaching demonstration by briefly breaking the fourth wall, and sketching to the committee / audience which context you envision for this lecture. For instance:
"I imagine this lecture as the seventh lecture in a series on the general topic of [x], to be taught in the first semester of the master program. Students are supposed to have knowledge of [y] as entry requirements of the program itself, and have acquired knowledge of [z] in the first six lectures of the series."
And then you start the lecture. Make sure you clearly indicate when the fourth wall is broken, and when it is restored again. By making an introduction like this, you can show the committee that you take the context of your course in the wider program into account, and you can build on the topics [y] and [z] as prior knowledge in your lecture.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I do not suggest this. You should probably be tailoring the presentation to be aimed at 1st, or maybe 2nd, year students/classes and you should attempt to make the lecture be understandable to non-majors. You should be pretending that the audience of the class is a general elective audience. While in actual practice a lecture in a class does not need to be self contained, a teaching demo should be.
Getting back to the question, almost anything that would be considered research related would be too advanced for a general elective audience. Now this does not mean to go completely away from your area of research. If you are electrical engineer whose research is biomedical
in nature and are interviewing at a joint EE/CS department, it probably doesn't make sense to give a CS lecture on compiler design or even EE lecture onpower enginnering. You would be better served by giving a biomedical lecture. Of course, if the job advertisement asks for someone who can teach compiler design, well then, there is your lecture topic. Similarly, if the search chair suggests a topic, follow that advice.
The biggest thing to remember is teaching schools are not inferior to research institutions, they are simply different. They want to make sure you care about teaching and not your research. They generally tend to look at research as a way to get students to learn. Focusing on your research will probably send the wrong message.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If you want to mention your research at all, consider the following plan. The think you really want to avoid is being overly pedantic and going over the head of the likely audience. Pitch the talk at undergraduates.
In such a talk, you don't want to try to impress people with your brilliance. It is more important to stress that you are *inspiring.* Save brilliance for the later session in the faculty lounge with Sherry instant coffee.
You don't give your field, but your profile suggests it might be mathematics or similar.
In the talk, rather than going through details of the research, you can talk about what it is that got you started on it. Make it relevant to some undergraduate course, if possible. How does this connect to, say, elementary topology, or even Calculus. In some math fields this is easy. You don't have to draw all the connections, but just give a hint that what they are now studying has extensions and that those are "interesting."
Talk about the main result just a bit, but mention *why* it is important. If possible, talk about what future explorations might look like.
Your goal is to show *insights* into the field, whether math or not, and not details.
But the main idea is to leave the typical fairly good undergraduate with the idea that "I can do that, too."
If you can make it interactive, all the better. If you can ask questions, for example, you can get them engaged. Leading questions, actually.
And even if you skip talking about your research altogether, do the above things in your talk.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I just finished the first draft of my thesis in computational neuroscience. It contains all the published work and some other material that is relevant to the main theme of the thesis. I deliberately kept some very recent work out of it because I thought it won't add any value to the reader.
Now I am tempted to include this exploratory work into the thesis as well since I've put quite a lot of time on it. This work is an attempt to extend the main results of the thesis. The problem statement is well defined with a good literature survey but no concrete result.
I can probably add to the appendix? Or epilogue (doesn't sound great for a technical document)? Or is it a bad idea altogether?<issue_comment>username_1: That may be something to add in a "further work" section as part of the conclusion.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Including incomplete work is risky: An examiner may find fault with negative consequences, **omit your unfinished results**.
>
> I deliberately kept some very recent work out of it because I thought it won't add any value to the reader...Now I am tempted to include this exploratory work...since I've put quite a lot of time on it.
>
>
>
You don't believe your recent work adds value, so don't include it. The time you've spent needn't go to waste, you can finish and publish later.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: My advisor always said, "The best thesis is the one on the shelf."
To expand on @SolarMike's answer: "Future Work" may be a good spot for it, but also, be careful. If the core of your thesis is solid (and done!) then focus on refining and finishing that. It's better for your thesis to be a bit shorter but pack a punch, than to have a longer one where you try to fit in everything. (This I know from personal experience...) Don't spend a lot of effort putting unfinished work in a semi-finished form in a non-exactly-published document. That work will be much more valuable as an early postdoc paper. Also, since theses exist in this weird state of publication, there is a (probably small) chance that someone could steal the work, if you provide too many details.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Firstly, **talk with your supervisor/professor**. Likely it need not be included since you mention it *won't add any value to the reader*, and this is an important argument. Remember that a thesis needs to read as one piece (not as a concatenation of papers). If it is already sufficiently complete, it does not need to be included. Only if it builds on your thesis' topic and thus strengthens its value, you could still **opt for mentioning it as future work** in your discussion. However, this is best discussed with your supervisor, since we cannot judge the completeness nor relevance of your recent work.
**Don't place it in an appendix**, since appendices are best used for additional yet complete and often technical information to support main chapters of the thesis.
Also, don't fear that your recent work will go to waste if you don't mention it. A thesis is not the terminus of a research project. You (usually) have the right to publish your recent work and to extract publications from the thesis even after its completion.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/14
| 675
| 2,740
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<issue_start>username_0: I am wondering what affiliation to put down on a paper that has been accepted (now going through the proofs).
I worked in one department (a centre, or institute, within my university) while I was conducting the research. I am now in another department (not a centre/institute, but a different department), within the same university.
Does it make sense to put both both affiliations, even though they are both linked to the same university? In my mind it makes sense to acknowledge both labs (the one where I did the research and the one where I did the writing), but then again it doesn't make sense to acknowledge the same university twice.
Does anyone have experience with this sort of situation, whether from the author or from the editor perspective? Is there a generally accepted solution?<issue_comment>username_1: If the original institute provided funding or support for the research, I'd suggest keeping that as your affiliation. It may be just "noise" to list both, provided that anyone using the affiliation to contact you or disambiguate names will find you without both. The university will get your mail to the right place, I'd guess.
I might want to list both if, for example, my email changed with the switch. Or, perhaps if the new department is in another city. Other wise, it just seems like a complication, not an enlightenment.
Note, that this is just an opinion.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Does it make sense to put both both affiliations, even though they are both linked to the same university?
>
>
>
The publisher may require
```
current department, university
```
or just
```
university
```
For the latter, there's no choice for you to make. (*Old department, university* seems unlikely, since it is obsolete.) Regarding,
>
> it makes sense to acknowledge both labs
>
>
>
That can be achieved in the acknowledgements section. E.g., *this work received financial support from old department, university*. Such an acknowledgement can also be included if the publisher mandates the former style (above).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Of course it’s also possible to have
>
> Zero the Hero, Department of Nothing and Institute of Heroes, Gong University
>
>
>
or else you can have your “old” address on the byline with a footnote to your new address:
>
> Zero the Hero\*, Department of Nothing, Gong University
>
>
>
(\* now at Institute of Heroes, Gong University )
The latter (and variations on this) is the model used for sabbaticals or for people who have moved since the work was completed: the researcher will acknowledge the host institution but will have a footnote to the current or the permanent address.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/14
| 829
| 3,760
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<issue_start>username_0: During a statistical analysis of a study, I found an interesting relationship between two variables that was not part of the original hypothesis. It is, however, clinically interesting and I want to report it in the study.
I've never seen a medical study in which authors admitted to data dredging although I do know it's prevalent. I'm confident enough in my study and methods that I'm willing to admit to it.
What would be the best way to do so in a manuscript? Would I include all the information of the dredged variable such as p-values and confidence intervals, but put a note that this hypothesis is based on the data?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes. I would have a separate section of your paper entitled something like "Further exploratory analysis", report what you did and what you found, and note that until a study has been design to specifically test your hypothesis, it remains a hypothesis, but suggest that it might be an attractive target for further study.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This should be fine, so long as you're doing appropriate multiple hypothesis correction. Note in your manuscript what types of exploratory variables you evaluated for association, and how many of them there were. If your p-value is still significant after multiple hypothesis correction, that means there's still a stronger association than you'd expect by chance alone, which makes it an interesting variable.
If you only report the interesting variable and don't mention the other 1000 variables you tested, you could be rightly accused of p-hacking, which occurs when someone ignores "researcher degrees of freedom" to inflate the significance of their result. There's nothing inherently wrong with testing exploratory variables, you just have to do it in a responsible manner. Pre-selecting variables of study is essentially just a means of using prior knowledge to get around multiple hypothesis correction.
[Obligatory xkcd](https://xkcd.com/882/)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: My best advice is to be very upfront about the fact that
1.) You found some relations in your data that were not apart of your original hypotheses you were interested in testing.
2.) These results relations were still interesting enough to share, although the evidence should be taken with a grain of salt.
Because these relations were found spuriously, the evidence is not as strong as if they were the original hypotheses of interest. When writing this in your results, it's important to reflect this.
In **my** opinion (as a PhD in statistics, for what that's worth), I'd include *unadjusted* p-values and confidence intervals, and label them as such; "p-value (without adjusting for data exploration): 0.0013". Thus the reader isn't in the dark about your interesting discovery, but also is not misled about the strength of the evidence.
On a pragmatic note, note that this means this previously unhypothesized finding **alone** is unlikely to be sufficient for publication, as one could make the argument that the strength of evidence for this finding is not particularly strong. But hitching this result onto the published paper seems quite reasonable if that connection has the potential to be interesting other researchers in the field. One of my professors referred to this type of exploratory data analysis as "hypothesis generating" rather than "hypothesis testing".
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Maybe talk to your supervisor about it. I had something similar in my data set and it turned out that it was something that was not significant, as in it was the exact relationship a more experienced scientist would have expected to see, so I would be stating the obvious.
Upvotes: 0
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2020/01/14
| 771
| 3,221
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<issue_start>username_0: A lecturer of the programming course said: "In this course you can't use Google. If we find you are cheated, you will fail the course".
What kind of rights there are if I accidentally write something that is already published on the internet and I don't know it? The problems seems to be so basic level that there is a positive probability that if you have done programming before, you can find similar or even identical code from the Internet.<issue_comment>username_1: I doubt that this would be a problem, provided that you don't cheat. But your work will probably be put through a plagiarism checker and get a score. How that is handled is up to the instructor.
But if you really *need* assurance, then do the work under the eye of a mutually trusted individual who will attest to your following the rules. A proctor, in other words.
Some people need such assurance, I think, perhaps because they aren't naturally trusted for some reasons. But for most people it isn't needed. Paranoia isn't essential in normal relationships. Cheating, when caught, is usually pretty obvious.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's not clear what you are asking.
You can use duck duck go or yahoo.com or any other search engine on a browser like Vivaldi or Opera, or IE and keep your log to prove you didn't use google.
Doing that you are following the directive of not using Google. ¿Is that it? otherwise please reword your question to be more specific, please.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: If your lecturer is a reasonable person, he or she would base their decision to call out any plagiarism on how many results they find on google. For example, if a string of code has 10k similar results, it is much more likely you came up with the code yourself than if the search only finds 50 or so results.
Of course, I question why they are stopping you from googling code, as most coders will not try to reinvent the wheel and will look on google, ask questions on forums, ask colleagues, etc. when they can't figure out a solution. Technically if you reference the original author of a specific part of your code then it will not be plagiarism. However, you lecturer is likely asking for original work, so that won't get you far.
Ultimately, the burden of proof is on the lecturer. If it goes through an appeal process, then the most likely determiner that you cheated would be a calculation on the probability of you reaching the same piece of code as someone else. In that sense, it is not dissimilar to plagiarism of text. What are the odds someone else on the internet has written this exact phrase? What about this one?
Honestly, I would not worry. Do your work in good faith so if you get accused of plagiarism you will have probability on your side. You may also want to consider keeping a changelog of all your code so you can prove it wasn't just pasted in but was changed, optimised, etc.
And if you want to cheat (which I do not recommend because it ends up hurting your career), just contract a professional coder and make them sign a non-disclosure agreement. Goes to show that the real problem here is the assessment methods of your lecturer.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/14
| 935
| 4,031
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<issue_start>username_0: Good side of my background
--------------------------
I'm 27 years old with a Ph.D. in **electrical engineering** and now I'm about to finish my postdoctoral research.
During my Ph.D. program, I've developed an innovative device that successfully passed a trial operation period and entered into commerce operation. I'm one of the authors of the patent on this device.
Also, I have **a number of papers published** in scientific journals that are widely known in this field in my country. I have experience in **lecturing and supervising students**.
Bad side of my background
-------------------------
All of my accomplishments are made in my **country's language**, not in English. Almost all of the engineering journals in my field are not indexed in Scopus or Web of Science (some of these have translated versions that are indexed).
In short, I'm known in my field in my country only, **not world-wide**.
Does it make any sense to try to get an academic job (tenure track) with such a background or it's better to build my career **"from scratch"** by publishing new research papers in English so that I would get a chance ?
I'm interested in getting a job in Europe or Canada.<issue_comment>username_1: My guess is that you could move without a lot of turmoil. As you describe your background it seems pretty solid.
But you could try an intermediate approach first. I'm assuming you are still active. I suggest that future papers be in English (or some European language) and submitted to journals there. I also suggest that you make sure to reference your older work that isn't in English as appropriate.
You can, in parallel, see to getting some of that work (the stuff you cite) translated. If you need practice in English you could use the older work as practice to get an English body of work available, even if on some informal sites. You are probably the best person to do this sort of translation, actually. And if it improves your language skills, so much the better, though you may not need that, I realize.
You can also, if funding is available, start to make a presence in conferences in one or more of the countries you'd consider moving to. Preferably get on the program with talks on new stuff that references the larger body of work.
It might be easier to move if you establish some visibility in the world you want to move in to, but it may not be essential to do that.
And if you have a tenured position somewhere, or even a tenure-track position, you can often move and get some credit for that, resulting in a shorter probationary period than the typical (for the US) seven years.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: No, I could not in good conscious advise you to start from scratch just because your publications are not in English, especially given that you clearly have mastery of the English language. What you need to happen is to be judged for the *work* that you've done. Here are two options:
1) Create a detailed summary of each of your papers, in English, to go alongside each of your publications
2) Translate, yourself, your top 3 publications into English
3) Hire someone to translate all of your papers into English.
The point is, you are your work, so let your work be known. You still face a hurdle with the journals perhaps having low impact factors being outside the English speaking world, but you can work through that to a large extent.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: To build an international career in academia, you need to show mastery of your field. Your background makes good progress, but you've yet to publish in an internationally leading venue in English. This creates a risk for any potential employer. A further postdoctoral position overseas could help mitigate, if you can get one. Regardless, you need to showcase work in English. That could be future work or existing work, e.g., you could publish or extend & publish some existing work (depending on rules of publishers).
Upvotes: 0
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2020/01/14
| 1,452
| 6,139
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently in the first year of my MSc in an European university and as time goes on I'm thinking of what to do afterwards. One of the options is continuing on to a PhD and so I find myself from time to time browsing arXiv or some other journals in my field of interest, hoping to see a professor/group at a university doing something that interests me. While doing this I came to the realization, that in almost all cases, I have absolutely no idea what the papers are about. This isn't really surprising to me (I checked with my peers and they feel the same way), but it leaves me wondering how exactly I'm supposed to find out what topics in my field could interest me.
To hopefully explain the problem a bit better I'll take myself as an example, but I'm pretty sure this applies to a lot of other disciplines as well: I'm studying physics, most of my subjects focusing on theoretical aspects of physics. There are obviously several sub-fields in theoretical physics, but all of them are really broad and today's research seems really far away from what is thought in university classes. Most of the classes are only introductions to theories that have been refined for the last 50 years or more, leaving a huge gap between what I may be working on in a couple of years and what I know of today. So how exactly am I supposed to asses how interesting, challenging, etc. a direction in a particular sub-field is, when I almost know nothing of what is relevant in that field today? And, maybe even more importantly, even if I exactly knew what I wanted to do, how do I exactly single out the people who work in that area?
Some remarks about things that I've tried so far and the situation at my university:
* There are almost no research opportunities at my university for students in the BSc and even in the MSc category (at least in my field of study).
* The contact between the students and faculty is almost non-existent. I maybe have spoken to like three professors in the past 4 years for about 5 minutes (not counting the exams). I speak to PhD's a lot more regularly, but to no-one who has more experience in the academic world. I asked them more or less the same question, but the answers range from "you just kinda slip into a PhD program" to "I already knew in year one of my studies that I wanted to do XYZ, so I can't realate."
* I talked to the "Students-Help-Office" of my university, which is basically a senior researcher from my university. His comment on the question was that he doesn't think that planning that far ahead is useful... Is this true, is one to two years of planning ahead to much in this context?
* I've also seen this question [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5300/methods-for-finding-graduate-programs-for-specific-areas-of-research), but the top answer reads kind of like it's searching for the "best" place to do your PhD and less for the "best-fit". I'm not so much concerned about going to one of the best places in the world as much as I'd like to find a topic and adviser that actually fit me (obviously the other way around as well).<issue_comment>username_1: If you read random papers on arXiv without having research experience or knowing how to choose, your chance to find something that awakens your interest is very little. Normally, this problem is solved by doing some research during your Master's program. You say that there are very few research opportunities for students at your university, so become active and try to get one of those few. Depending on your study program, there might also be the possibility to do a research internship for credit at a company or research center.
Even if you do not manage to find one, there should (hopefully) be a Master's Thesis at the end of the program. That should include enough research.
At Master's level, you will do research under a supervisor that will point you to literature and guide you on how to find more. You will get a feeling of whether you actually like research, and whether you want to spend 3-5 years doing it as a doctoral candidate. You should also hopefully get a feeling of which topics you like to work on.
I am actually quite surprised at the comments from your professors: I have never heard anything along the lines of "you just kinda slip into a PhD program", and this does not look like the kind of advice a senior academic should be giving to a student. They are probably right when they say that planning two years ahead is too early, especially if you have no experience with research.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Perhaps it matters less than you think. Some people are absolutely driven to work in a very specialized domain. Others, at the other end of the scale, are just attracted to academia. I was somewhere in between. I knew I wanted to be an educator and I knew I wanted to work in mathematics, but, beyond that, I wasn't especially committed to any one thing.
The more I studied the more I reduced the options, but still had several open to me at the point I chose an advisor. I let him guide me to some interesting problems that led to my degree and eventual career in academia. It was fine. There was no need to choose within a very narrow range at the start.
This was in the US, however, where things are a little less compressed. In UK and EU a bit more is expected, but I think (hope) that there is still room to work with an advisor to find a problem (or two) that are interesting enough to start and will become more interesting with time. Perhaps your interests and goals are a bit like mine. "I don't want to do this. I want to do *something like* this other thing." That may be enough.
But the key is to find an advisor with whom you are mutually compatible and from whom you can take a bit of direction at the start. The rest can follow. It takes a lot of commitment, but that commitment can develop over time.
In fact, people who are too "narrow" at the very start, may have trouble later when it turns out not to be what was expected. Find an advisor who has enough time and ability to advise you well.
Upvotes: 1
|
2020/01/15
| 604
| 2,536
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<issue_start>username_0: There is one topic in the course that I am TAing that I felt interested to re-learn (since I forgot most things about it). I also had some questions I want to ask about the topic (that could be beneficial to students). As in the question, knowing that the room is frequently overflowing, is it not appropriate to "steal" the seat of students to sit in the lecture?<issue_comment>username_1: Ask the professor
-----------------
The professor should be the one to make this decision, weighing the potential positive and negative impacts on the students.
As a TA, you should in any case ask the professor before planning to attend lectures, whether the course is full or not, and you should particularly ask whether it is okay for you to ask questions. In some classes, the professor might think having a TA present would be distracting, and may or may not share your view that your questions would be "beneficial to the students".
If you do end up asking questions, it would be good to check in with the professor periodically to see if they are still finding it helpful.
If the professor asks you not to attend the class, then it is your responsibility to find some other way to get up to speed on the material (i.e. reading on your own). If you do not think that will be possible, then you should ask to be assigned to a different course.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If I was in the situation with a room this full, I'd probably find a stool or chair and sit to the side or behind the professor rather than taking a "normal" seat. I'm sorry you are in a position with such limited seating for the class size.
I think it's completely normal and desirable for TAs to attend lectures regularly, but I'd also agree with @NateEldridge in that you should probably run your questioning by your professor in some way. There are a lot of questions a TA might have that aren't really relevant to the course, and you run the risk of undermining or appearing to undermine the professor in front of their students, which, even if it is in some way deserved, is unlikely to work out positively for anyone involved.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> is it not appropriate to "steal" the seat of students to sit in the lecture?
>
>
>
No, it is not appropriate. In most cases it is appropriate and potentially slightly helpful for a TA to be present in a class when they are not teaching it. But the TA should allow the students to take priority. The class is for them.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/15
| 600
| 2,580
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<issue_start>username_0: Many times, you receive comments such as:I am unable to accept your manuscript for publication in "Journal name" The reason for this decision is that in its current state, the level of English throughout your manuscript does not meet the journal's required standard.
The work was revised thoughtfully and reach reviewing stage in higher impact journal but was not accepted because of scientific disagreement.<issue_comment>username_1: Ask the professor
-----------------
The professor should be the one to make this decision, weighing the potential positive and negative impacts on the students.
As a TA, you should in any case ask the professor before planning to attend lectures, whether the course is full or not, and you should particularly ask whether it is okay for you to ask questions. In some classes, the professor might think having a TA present would be distracting, and may or may not share your view that your questions would be "beneficial to the students".
If you do end up asking questions, it would be good to check in with the professor periodically to see if they are still finding it helpful.
If the professor asks you not to attend the class, then it is your responsibility to find some other way to get up to speed on the material (i.e. reading on your own). If you do not think that will be possible, then you should ask to be assigned to a different course.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If I was in the situation with a room this full, I'd probably find a stool or chair and sit to the side or behind the professor rather than taking a "normal" seat. I'm sorry you are in a position with such limited seating for the class size.
I think it's completely normal and desirable for TAs to attend lectures regularly, but I'd also agree with @NateEldridge in that you should probably run your questioning by your professor in some way. There are a lot of questions a TA might have that aren't really relevant to the course, and you run the risk of undermining or appearing to undermine the professor in front of their students, which, even if it is in some way deserved, is unlikely to work out positively for anyone involved.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> is it not appropriate to "steal" the seat of students to sit in the lecture?
>
>
>
No, it is not appropriate. In most cases it is appropriate and potentially slightly helpful for a TA to be present in a class when they are not teaching it. But the TA should allow the students to take priority. The class is for them.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/15
| 1,924
| 7,990
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<issue_start>username_0: Nowadays universities judge faculty based on their h-index, to be promoted from assistant to associate or to be hired as associate in some universities you need at least a h-index of 10. I am struggling to increase mine, I have tried all the tips I found online, shared my papers on social media such as Research Gate and Linked In.
How can I increase my h-index otherwise?<issue_comment>username_1: The most sustainable and rewarding "tip" is to do good work which is interesting to your peers, and present it well. All other approaches are merely tactics that will only get you so-and-so far. I still include some of them in this answer, since they might be useful to increase your h-index to 10 in a given timeframe.
**Self-cite**. While a citation record that mainly consists of self-citations might raise some questions, it's an accepted way to get started with building up your record.
**Cite other people**. Cite active researchers in your field broadly, so they notice you and cite you back. username_7't shy away from including multiple references to the same group of authors, so they notice you even more.
**Find a "gold-mine" topic**. There are some topics that are more amenable for extensions and follow-up papers then others. Once you have such a topic, each new paper allows you to ethically cite and discuss all previous papers in the same line of research.
**Spin-off publications**. In some fields, it's OK to apply a tactic which is known as "salami publications" in other fields: Publish separate papers which are closely related to another work, for example, a tool or a dataset developed in the context of the work.
An important point is to **not overdo** it with these tactics. For example, in a book recently published in my field, each chapter contains a reference list with a significant (n>10) number of self-citations. At a certain institute, each PhD thesis contains a separate "Further reading" biography with dozens of references to the institute's papers. I would surely bring such cases up if I was involved in a relevant hiring committee and the topic of research metrics came up.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Write papers that people will want to cite. In particular:
* When you come up with a new concept/technique, **write a good explanatory section**, so that people will refer to *your* paper for in depth explanation.
* **Make something useful**, like a piece of software or a benchmark that people working in your field can use. Write a paper that people using your work can cite. For example, the introductory page of [PonyGE2](https://github.com/PonyGE/PonyGE2) contains a "how to cite PonyGE2" text.
* When you make something people can cite, **make it easy to cite it**. Include snippets for BibTex and other citation systems that people can easily copy-paste. (BibTex in particular is unpleasant to do entirely by hand; so take that work off your readers' hands.)
* Use good **titles** for your paper, good **abstracts** and pay attention to the **keywords**. These things matter a lot for whether people will find and decide to read your paper, and that's necessary to get them to cite it.
* **Collaborate with a lot of different people** in your field. If you write something good with X, chances are X and X's colleagues are going to be citing that paper later on. Also, people looking at X's papers also get to see your paper.
* **Collaborate with famous people** in your field. They probably got famous by being good at it (so learn from the best!), and they get published in the more prestigious journals. That's good for increasing your citation odds.
* **Write about interesting things** that other people will want to follow up on.
* **Supervise good students, teach them well, and co-author their publications** sometimes the student exceeds the master, but the master also gets a boost from the student's success.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: In addition to writing papers that others will want to cite, another important factor is simply the number of publications that you have- if you look at the profiles of researchers who have h-index numbers of 30 or more, they typically have total publication counts of 100 or more with a highly skewed distribution of the number of citations.
Another issue is that citation counts build up over time. In some disciplines, papers published 20 or more years ago are still being heavily cited, while in other disciplines papers are typically only cited for a couple of years before they become out-dated. If you're in a discipline where the citations come in over a very long time, then it can take decades for your H-index to build up.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The H-index is largely a function of how many large projects you are involved in. Without having a large number of co-authors who all write papers, it is impossible to be competitive. If you write a brilliant paper that earns you the Nobel Prize, your h-index will only increase by one. In the meantime, I know one telescope group where everyone who has ever worked on the telescope is automatically added to all future papers produced from the telescope observations. Those will see their h-index steadily increase without effort.
Unfortunately, Google Scholar considers the h-index to be the only measure of scholarly success. AdsAbs also offers normalized citations as a measure, where the number of citations is divided by the number of authors on a paper. If your normalized citation count is high, you could use this as an argument. And don't write a paper that you expect to get fewer than ten citations.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Obsession with the h-index, in particular among young researchers, is an extremely unfortunate and destructive aspect of the current environment in academia. My suggestion: username_7't look it up for the next five years.
Look at the positives: You may end up writing interesting, novel papers that get you recognized, hired and/or promoted.
The down-side: Maybe you neglect to write large numbers of papers on fashionable subjects that can drive up your h-index, some idiotic hiring or promotion committee will punish you for it, and you miss out on that great job.
But then again: Maybe you do write large numbers of papers of fashionable subjects, but they fail to drive up your h, or that hiring committee actually has some sense, and considers your work to be boring me-too work, and you still don't get the great job at FancyU.
In what situation would you rather be?
Yours
username_5 (h=xx)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Consider what gets cited the most - **reviews**.
If you want to increase your h-index, then in many areas reviews are the way forward. Often reviews are invited, but you solicit the invitation.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: I have become a bit cynical from what I have observed over the past years in my university. Tactics to boost your H-index:
1. Force your graduation students to publish their work with you as co-author (or better, promote yourself to first author as supervising is hard work). Numbers count.
2. Be co-author as often as you can! Promise to lead a follow-up publication but never live up to your promises. People will buy it over and over again. Some of your colleague researchers will manage to be cited successfully and you will benefit from their success.
3. In the incidental situation where you are first author, invite a co-author with a high H-index. Your work may actually get accepted.
4. When reviewing papers (anonymously), force the authors to cite your important work even if it is not relevant for their research.
5. Supervise as many PhD students as is allowed and be their co-author
6. Participate in (literature) review papers. Once accepted these are often cited frequently.
My advice: Find a faculty elsewhere. You are more than your H-index. Own your research and publications. Be proud of your work.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I give lectures to postgraduate students. The number of students in this batch is very low (< 20). The lectures are foundation lectures for the course. We are only into the basics of the course.
A few (maybe 4) students of this batch are requesting to cancel two lectures as they won't be available for personal reasons. In fact, they are going to attend a workshop. In my university, attending workshops that are not fully recommended by the department is considered 'personal interest'.
One option is to ignore their request and ask them to study the topics covered during the lectures or with the help of students present during the lectures. If they could study these topics themselves or with friends, they wouldn't have requested me to cancel these lectures.
**What should I do in this case?**
I could ask this question to my head of the department, but, I don't know how this will turn out for students. They should not feel that they were not allowed by the head to attend this workshop.
I do understand that there will be variations of opinions on my question as per the different academic rules of universities but I still want some insights from experienced academicians.<issue_comment>username_1: If you do this for a minority, then you will have to do it every time a few students have some excuse.
I suggest that you don’t consider this and make it clear that if they miss lectures then it is up to them to catch up on material.
Providing double or triple repeats of lectures due to a few absences, especially if unpaid, is not a good use of your time.
Some students will want to rationalize their choices and make sure which they attend - some workshops can be valuable. If you think one workshop is very worthwhile then you could consider re-scheduling for all, but that depends on your schedule, and yes, I have done this for similar reasons involving the majority.
Based on a comment>
I always provide the material used in class - notes & worked example on Moodle as well as further practice problems (some 10 to 20 for each topic with solutions) for those who attend as well as those who do not.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is really no need to do this. Lecture is an efficient way for a single person to help a group to learn, but it isn't the most effective way for an individual to learn material. There are other ways to learn the material and they need to become familiar with them. Books, notes, discussions, but most important, exercises to make the material part of their deep learning.
Point them to alternative sources if you like. And maybe some exercises, also. It is very unlikely that such sources don't exist. But learning is *their* responsibility. Your responsibility is to provide the environment in which learning can occur.
Moreover the request shouldn't result in impeding the learning of the rest of the class.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: From the comments:
>
> I provide the notes, worked example and further practice questions on Moodle for those who do, and do not, attend without fear or favour.
>
>
>
If they choose to attend a workshop instead of your class, they are still receiving the material so are not at a disadvantage (other than missing out on what I'm sure is a superb lecture).
They are making the choice to go to this workshop, it's not compulsory. I think that you therefore have no ethical obligation to provide them anything more. When I was at university many lecturers would only provide notes to those who attended or didn't provide notes at all, regardless of your reasons.
You sound like a fair lecturer who wants the best for their students, but don't let them take advantage of your kind nature. I would respond with:
>
> All material covered in the lecture will be available in the lecture notes in the usual format, I will therefore not be cancelling or repeating the lecture, but understand your decision to not attend on this occasion. Please feel free to ask next class if there is anything from the notes which you did not understand.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm assuming these are not frivolous workshops. In a large university, often one department doesn't really know what the others are doing and schedules are difficult if you want to learn stuff from multiple departments. So if these are "serious" workshops, you can be a bit accommodating. Especially since this is not an overly full class.
You don't want this to be a "bad example" though, that leads to many other people requesting to miss lectures with mandatory attendance.
So what you could so is give them a reading list that should cover the material you'll be doing in that lecture, that they'll have to do in their own time. It shouldn't be any less work than just attending your lecture. Encourage them to stop by during your office hours if they have questions, but only if they've done the reading first.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: An easy way around the problem is to record the lecture on camera.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Two thoughts:
(1) You may be under contractual obligation to hold scheduled classes. (If so, you may want to point this out to the students if they become insistent that you cancel.)
(2) It may not be fair to other students in the class to let a few students get to, in effect, cancel a class.
I would tell the students that it is fine for them to attend the workshop, but they are responsible for the material they missed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Workshops are shorter and therefore can be opened more frequently. Main lectures for a class are more important. I see this as a lack of or correct prioritization and/or time administration; young people tend to be impulsive, comfortable childish and kind of wild, demand that they make sure the workshop is higher priority and can't be opened some other time.
Edit: discuss with them how/why is important that workshop and the lecture, I think a common solution is better than a unilateral one.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: A good teacher should be more concerned about conveying knowledge than feeding their own ego.
In this case the fact that you are considering moving your lectures for them makes you sound like a good teacher.
I'd say 4/20 is a pretty significant number. Maybe check with the other 16 students for their availability before you decide to move it.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose you teach a course in which you display slides. Two approaches exists:
* distribute the slides (or any document that summarizes the content of the slides);
* rely on students to take notes.
[EDIT: When I say "distribute the slides", it does not imply that taking additional notes is forbidden. It simply means that the documents are available for students if they need them. The question is whether this policy encourage student to rely more on the slides than they should (reasoning "I can read the course whenever I want, so I don't need to listen carefully in class").]
Is there any evidence of which is better. I am searching for evidence that could solve the following situations (list not exhaustive) without relying on personnal taste/preferences:
* you don't have a lot of experience in teaching and you want to build an opinion on the subject
* you share a class with an other professor, and one of you think slides should be distributed, the other not
---
Suppose that there is no problem of copyright, etc.. Class level may be a parameter (e.g. undergrad vs grad).
---
The question [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27347/is-it-common-to-provide-digital-notes-slides-or-handwritten-for-students) is related, but no answer seem to provide evidence other than experience or testimony, which are not strong evidences. A study from education sciences, pedagogy or something similar would be much better. I suppose such study exist, yet I can't find such a study on google scholar or similar sites.<issue_comment>username_1: Anecdotal evidence, but based on learning theory.
There is no reason it can't be both. Actually it *should* be both. If you distribute your notes ahead of time, either electronically or on paper, the students can actually use those notes, when printed, as the basis for their own notes. I other words, the students can mark up your notes with their own annotations.
But if you just give them notes and don't, in some way, require that they take notes themselves, then too many of them will be too passive in the classroom, thinking they can rely on memory alone or that the distributed notes will always be available to them. In fact, long term memory and making knowledge useful requires more.
On the other hand, if you could, but don't, distribute notes then some students will spend most of their effort just copying what you show or write without any thinking about it, again lessening the effectiveness that you could achieve.
One technique that I used often was to make sure that students carry a few index cards. They are asked at the end of a class for what they consider the most important (or three most important) ideas from the lecture. The note cards are to jot down ideas as they occur, knowing that the question will come at the end. The cards are also useful for short summaries of key ideas. The cards can then be carried for review as the course proceeds. But the overall strategy of the instructor is to keep the students active during lecture and otherwise so that short term memory moves to long term memory and what is "remembered" is also available for application.
See the post on the [Hipster PDA](https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/a/1168/1293) for more on the use of index cards.
---
I'll note that many students don't really know, yet, how to learn and may have to be taught these techniques. Some haven't yet hit anything that was hard for them. I was "lucky" enough to hit my natural limits early and so had to learn how to learn.
So, don't assume that they will "do the right thing" if you give them the right tools without comment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is contradictory evidence I think on whether for the general student, providing materials is beneficial or not.
For example, a study finding a benefit in providing notes:
<NAME>., & <NAME>. (2010). Impact of the provision and timing of instructor-provided notes on university students’ learning. Active Learning in Higher Education, 11(3), 189–200. <https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787410379682>
A study finding that providing notes is detrimental:
Weatherly, <NAME>., <NAME>., & <NAME>. (2003). Providing Introductory Psychology Students Access to Lecture Slides via Blackboard 5: A Negative Impact on Performance. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 31(4), 463–474. <https://doi.org/10.2190/KRW7-QHFY-AY3M-FFJC>
Lots more on google scholar.
However, i think it is better established that providing notes is beneficial to those with various specific learning difficulties (SpLD) like dyslexia and dyspraxia (although I don't have the evidence to hand) and we are required to provide materials to this group of students. Given the large number of such students in a modern classroom, and the effort it would require to distribute materials to only this group, it is easy just to give it to everyone.
I tend to provide my slides, before the lecture, but - my slides contain little to no text, meaning some notes must be taken. I also draw a lot of diagrams during the lecture, that are represented as blank slides in the pre-lecture notes.
After the lecture I provide the slides with the blanks filled in, and my speaker notes.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: For students with disabilities having the notes ahead of time can be critical. Many deaf students literally cannot "listen" and take notes at the same time since they have to look at the talker to lip read or look at the interpreter. Interpreters can really benefit from having something to follow and at least a few minutes to brush up on terminology. For students with learning disabilities, there are lots of strategies that involve using notes ahead of time.
We were required by our student disabilities office to distribute notes 48 hours before class. This was helpful to me in that it made me prep early. Amazingly, the number of changes I would make to my slides, even new preps, after the fact, was pretty small.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Everything I have read about such issues indicates that maximal learning occurs when multiple information channels are engaged. This is what the "see hear do" thing is all about. Multiple channels through the brain give maximum chance of retention.
<https://controlstation.com/the-power-of-the-hear-see-do-learning-method/>
<https://www.amazon.ca/ABC-See-Hear-Do-Learn/dp/099857760X>
So any means by which you can get students to have information flowing through multiple channels will help them. If you can get them looking and listening and at the same time writing it out, that's three channels. Hopefully that helps get the information into their heads. For some kinds of lessons it may be valuable to get them at a white-board and writing out the material for themselves, at least some of the time.
Some people can learn by just reading a book. They don't need to have it explained aloud. And they don't need to do the homework problems. They can just understand the material right away. I have met exactly three such people in my life. One of them was the first ever Rhodes scholar in math, and he managed to really screw up the grade curve in my undergrad. Another now gets mentioned in various popular science publications with "the great" in front of his name. And he also screwed up the grade curve in my undergrad.
Most people need to have the information in multiple channels. They need physical action as well as to see it and hear it. Or read it and see the graphs and diagrams and so on. And then to do the homework, hopefully with some struggle involved. If the homework is too easy it does not stick. If it's too hard they can't even do it.
This is part of why most science classes have practical labs. If you learn the abstract stuff but never do any physical "hands on" stuff, you probably are missing something. Oh how I miss the ripple tanks and air tracks from my high school physics labs.
Maybe hand out the notes at the end of the lecture. Maybe with hints that they might not get the notes if they don't pay attention. Or hints that the notes will have strategic items deliberately left out and the first student to find the missing part gets a reward.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: I started my studies in a university in Romania. There were no official course notes. The system relied on students taking notes. If someone missed a class, the other colleagues would provide the notes. Sometimes books would be indicated as references, often going too much in detail into certain aspects. I would have preferred to have complete course materials to work with.
Coming to France, I noticed there was a general practice towards providing course notes. The high quality courses always had nicely typed documents. Since I started teaching my own courses, I wrote and made available all documents: typesetted course, slides, numerical codes, etc.
I find there is no need to hide material from students to make them take notes in class. Those who are interested and eager to learn will take notes even with slides and notes available. Those who are not motivated will find ways to get their hand on the course information anyway.
There is a learning advantage for students if they are writing the course by hand. However, this advantage might be limited to the top students who understand things right away and they fix them even better by writing everything down. It all depends if you go slow enough such that everyone can follow the arguments (which is often too slow for half of the students). If not, then maybe half of the students are one blackboard behind and are just copying things down without understanding. For such students, taking handwritten notes will give no advantage with respect to reading the official course material.
There is also the perception you want to give to the students:
* are you willing to be perceived as a professor who does not give course material in order to force students to take detailed notes?
* do you want to make all materials available and let the student manage the learning process? They are becoming adults and develop individual learning habits. Some learn throughout the course. Some learn just before exams.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working in a lab as a research assistant for the last 3 years.
During this time, I published three papers (1 first author) and three of them were published in good journals. In one of my published work (I am a co-author), I had to repeat almost most of the works (writing, figure, table). The project was done by another person and rejected several times. Then he went for a Ph.D. and he did not bother and did not continue with that project. As we have the same supervisor, so the supervisor asked me to work on that paper. I had to correct a lot, had to do experiments again. Then the paper got published. Even all the major corrections (that reviewers asked was done by me) as the main author had no idea at all. That time I was thinking I should be the first coauthor as I worked really hard on that project. That project was kind of dead and I started to work on that after two years and it got published.
Now I have two more projects like this (both were done in 2015 and none of the authors care about them anymore). Again I have to give the same efforts as a new project. So is it worth to ask my supervisor to make me the first co-author? Is it too much to ask for?
I am happy that I get many projects to work on, but personally I think I should be the first co-author as I have to work hard to get them in shape.
PS: My supervisor is very pleased with my work till now.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, of course you can ask. But in some fields there are other considerations that are considered important and first authorship is assigned for reasons not obvious to people from other fields. Sometimes those reasons are just political, but people go along with them to keep peace. It might also be necessary to keep the peace with a supervisor who has authority over you and can affect your career.
So ask, even if you might not get what you think is fair. Think long term and preserve relationships. Having a publication, even if not as first author, is still valuable.
And there may be future work that you can extract from the project that won't bump up against the same considerations, making your own first authorship the obvious choice.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It sounds completely justifiable to be the first coauthor. Depending on how much work the drafts needed you may even qualify to be the first author. If the experimental data was near-useless, the ideas half-baked and you needed to do most of the heavy lifting you could definitely argue that. Something like this happened to me during my PhD. A colleague who'd left handed me down some material and experimental data and told me I was free to use it. All he asked for was a co-authorship. I had to perform additional experiments and modelling work, wrote everything up and got it published. I think me taking the position of first author was justifiable in this case.
But as username_1 pointed out, author position depends on the conventions in the field and the relationships in the group. If pushing for more credit means ruining relationships it might not be worth it.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am creating a mathematical model in [R (programming language)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_(programming_language)) as part of my thesis. I created the first part of the model no problem and sent it to my advisor. She said I did a fantastic job on it. For the second part, I need to look over some class notes as we did it in class last year. This part is very challenging and I even remember in class that I didn't fully understand it. I have been working for 3 days trying to create this model, but I am not even close. I just can't figure out the code to use. I am trying to use the same code as we did in class, but my model is quite a bit different than the class examples so I can't figure it out. I tried looking online as well, but this type of model analysis is not very common so there are not many resources available.
I need to get going on the project so it may be better to meet with my advisor so she can show me how to do it. But I am afraid to ask as this is something I should know how to do. I would like your help with drafting up an email to ask her for help.<issue_comment>username_1: The way to frame your question can have a huge impact. If you did your due diligence and researched some material on this (books, lectures, papers, StackExchange!), and are still stuck, then there is a chance that your questions are more than valid.
If you start your email or personal question by: "I have tried three ways to do this.." and then show/tell them that you have honestly tried your best, your supervisor should help you out. That's what they are for.
Also, feeling like a fool today may accelerate your advance in the future. Postponing communication like this is not always wise (given that you've done your part).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I have been working for 3 days...but I am not even close
>
>
>
Research takes time, three days isn't very long. (Albeit, I'm unfamiliar with the specifics.)
>
> I am trying to use the same code as we did in class, but my model is quite a bit different than the class examples so I can't figure it out.
>
>
>
Ask your peers, a teaching assistant, whoever taught the class, ..., how to apply what you learnt to your model.
>
> it may be better to meet with my advisor so she can show me how to do it
>
>
>
During your regular meeting (if you don't have them, start), explain what you've done and the problems you've encountered, your advisor should be able to offer guidance. But, you can ask others too.
>
> I would like your help with drafting up an email to ask her for help.
>
>
>
Ask in person.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Your supervisor is there to guide and mentor you during this process. As long as you have done your due diligence and can show the avenues you have tried and why those avenues didn't work, your supervisor will most likely be perfectly happy to help you with what your next step might be to solve the problem.
I work in a research environment, have supervised students and work closely with colleagues who do the same. Postponing communication, as @username_1 says, is not always wise, *especially* if you have made a genuine attempt to solve the problem. Waiting too long wastes precious time. Both yours and your supervisor's. If one of my students can show me their thought process and give me something to work with, I am very happy to point out where they might have taken a wrong turn. I am not thrilled when someone comes to me and just says "I don't know what to do" without giving me anything to build on.
From the sounds of it, it is not for lack of trying that you are struggling. You even said that she was very happy with the first part of the model so she clearly sees that you are working hard. If this is a PhD thesis... the work is meant to be complex and original. It would be odd if you weren't struggling at some points.
I would suggest using email to set up an appointment to discuss your progress. It is a good idea to have face-to-face meetings when you are trying to understand and convey more complex topics. When you meet with her, explain your thinking behind your approach, what you have tried and why it hasn't worked and then ask her if she can see anything wrong with what you have attempted and whether she could point you in the right direction :)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I agree with username_1 but want to present it from a somewhat different angle.
You're feeling embarrassed that you don't know how to do something, that your supervisor previously taught you. This isn't needed. Science isn't easy. If it was, anyone could do it and we wouldn't need to go to university to learn.
Consider it a matter of professionalism. Suppose you're working at a company and you're tasked with a project. You get to work but then you run into a problem that needs to be solved before the project can go forward.
* You could go to your team lead for help. Your team lead probably knows how to do it, but they're also busy with other responsibilities. Your team lead thought you could do this yourself.
* You could try to solve it yourself. You don't know if this is going to take a few hours extra or a few weeks extra.
What should you do? If you go cry for help immediately, you'll look bad. If after a few weeks you have to admit that you still haven't gotten close to a solution, you also look bad, because now the project is badly behind schedule. So the most professional solution is to try yourself for a reasonable amount of time, but go to your team lead if it starts taking too long.
Your situation is the same. You're not in high school anymore. In high school you should never have gotten any assignment that you weren't able to handle. But in university (and the rest of the "real world") it's entirely possible to run into a problem that you won't be able to handle without help.
So after doing your due diligence, seeking help is the most rational thing to do. And in university you should never be ashamed of being rational.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I have heard from academics in various fields that the usefulness of their research is not always immediately clear, but sometimes, a piece of research will inadvertently become important at some point in the future.
If this is true, i.e. if the usefulness of a research idea is not immediately clear, how could one write a convincing research proposal when a research proposal is supposed to address the importance of the idea? Does one resort to generic lines such as "to expand our understanding of x, y, and z"?<issue_comment>username_1: This has a lot of possible answers. One wants to say, as many answers as there are research proposals.
In mathematics, some things matter just for the pure beauty of it. The same may be true in other fields. Probably true in the arts as well.
In CS one can often search for improvements on current best practice - faster, more secure, smaller, simpler.
Some problems matter because the search for answers has been long and unfruitful. Some things in physics are like that.
Some things matter because they provide synergy between existing ideas thought to be distinct. Drug research, pedagogical research.
Some things are useful. And, as you say, one can hope that other things become useful in the future. Very fresh pure math may have few current uses. But potentially future uses.
Think about why you want to do the research. Think about how it will complete something from the past. Think about how it might foreshadow the future.
I'm sure you can come up with something. And it need not matter to everyone. Sometimes it will only "matter" to a small group of specialists. Math can be like that too.
And they aren't mutually exclusive. Quite a few of these were manifest in my own doctoral research.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Nearly all of the time, all you can know is the very near use that could be made of your research. Just as one example: The idea of making a laser was originally quite "out there." When Einstein did his work on the [idea in 1917](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#History) it would have been very difficult to predict the very many uses we now put it to. And since it was more than 40 years before one was constructed, it clearly remained difficult for many years.
So it's doubly a challenge. It's a challenge for you to try to predict where it might go. And even if you do predict correctly, it's a challenge to try to get your reviewers to agree.
But never mind. Predicting the future is a task at which nearly everybody is affected severely by the [Dunning-Kruger effect.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) People think they know all about it and can confidently predict exactly what will happen for all of their lives. In reality, nearly nobody can predict more than trivial things, and even those at most a few days in advance. At 2 days out, weather forecasts are about 50% accurate where "it will be the same as today" is 60% accurate.
It also depends on the nature of the proposal and the process to follow. In many cases, the ultimate motivation of the people approving a proposal is some variation on prestige for the granting agency or profit for some company.
So bring in some cynicism. Figure out how you can leverage the self interest of the granting body. Don't actually lie. But present things so that the "shiny" parts of your work will reflect positive light on the granting body. They do a lot of medical research? Your research will contribute to the process of finding a cure for a particular disease. They fund a lot of research for aircraft safety? Your research will contribute to improving aircraft safety. You get the idea.
Then it's a question of choosing a granting body that has a suitable lever for you to pull. If your research really does contribute to curing a particular disease, you should get yourself in front of a granting body that funds such things. If you really have a way to invent a better flight computer for commercial aircraft, then you need to tell an aviation company's granting department about it. Again, you get the idea.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Skipping over the case where the usefulness *is* already clear.
Experience and knowledge of the field helps. For a new student it is very hard to know what kind of research would make a valuable addition. But a researcher who's been around for a while has a wider view:
* What kind of research has been happening recently, and what new vistas it opens up?
* What are people talking about on conferences that they'd want to investigate?
* What grants exist? What kind of research do they exist to fund? Which particular projects have they been funding recently?
* What are big hairy problems in the field, and what are bite-size portions of it that a junior scientist could try to do something with?
* What kind of new techniques, sources, resources have recently been discovered or acquired, that allow new types of research?
* What's been happening in society, relating to this field? Are there ethical worries? Is there excitement about a new device?
* What kind of problems in industry could be tackled if a particular technique was developed? (Much easier to answer if you've been involved with industry than as a pure cloistered academic.)
* What kinds of problems in other academic disciplines could be attacked if your field develops a new technology for them? (for example, what can Deep Learning do for the study of historical texts?)
Those points are useful to narrow down where to look for promising ideas to research. But what if you already have an idea, and need to convince people to fund it?
The same points can be helpful. If you know what kind of research other people would recognize as valuable, you have a starting point to relate your novel idea to those desires of theirs.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's assume a hypothetical context where someone figures out that a given businessperson's claims to have a PhD from a prestigious university are not true. The person in question was enrolled in a PhD program but they never finished and therefore no degree was awarded. The person is introduced in interviews and presentations as "Dr." and listed in the company's website as having a PhD in a scientific topic from a specific real university.
Provided the evidence is unequivocal, the questions are:
**What is the ethical response to this? How to handle it?**
**Is it fraud?**
**What are the mechanisms available to denounce this, if pertinent?**
(depending on answer to previous question)
I'm personally **interested in the case for Europe and UK**, but cases for other countries may be of general interest.
This is related to other question about [Diploma mills](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/31576/20409), but my question is about real prestigious universities, real enrolment but no award.
This question does not relate to degrees [pending imminent conferral](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/61604/20409), but to [incomplete degrees](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/13100/20409), falsely advertised as completed.<issue_comment>username_1: **Obligatory disclaimer**: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.
In **Germany**, using a Dr. title without having earned it is illegal, and it is punished with [imprisonment up to one year or with a monetary fine](https://dejure.org/gesetze/StGB/132a.html) (this is a link to the relevant law in German).
The mechanism available to denounce this is to report the offending person to the police. Before doing this, I would suggest talking to a lawyer, as there might be consequences if the accusation turns out to be false. If the offending person is working as a medical doctor or some other regulated profession, the corresponding regulating association (for example, in the case of doctors, Bundesärztekammer or Medical Association of Germany) or other fair competition associations might sue the offender on the grounds of unfair competition (this has happened already several times).
The ethical thing to do depends on your particular sense of ethics. What you will do depends on what motivation you have to do it. The other person could sue you for false accusations, and going on a legal fight as a private person is very expensive, so there must be a good motivation. If the offender has been selected over you for some position and you feel that this is due to the fraudulent use of the title, you might as well just inform that particular employer of the situation. Going public is not recommended unless you have talked to a lawyer, as you could land in legal trouble if you make public accusations that turn out to be false.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In many countries (Germany being a well known example, and I know this is the case in the Netherlands as well) the use of the "Dr." title is protected by law. Using the title without having obtained the appropriate degree is an offense it these jurisdictions and can be prosecuted. In other jurisdictions it can be less spelled out, but generally it would still constitute some sort of fraud (the way of handling it legally will differ though).
A relatively low key (and therefore safe) first step to take if you learn that someone is claim a PhD title they do not have, is to contact the university that supposedly conferred the degree, and inform them that you think someone is wrongfully claim to have a degree from them. It is very much in the university's interest to protect their reputation from fraudulent claims, and take appropriate legal action.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/15
| 1,230
| 5,177
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<issue_start>username_0: Every answer in this related question has some phrasing about it being unethical or, as the first answer "does not have the right". [Does a supervisor have right to submit paper without consents of coauthor students?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30200/does-a-supervisor-have-right-to-submit-paper-without-consents-of-coauthor-studen)
Another similar question and answer states simply "No" to being 'allowed' to do this. [Co-author blocking publication](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22005/co-author-blocking-publication) . Some comments suggest it is extremely rare and unlikely someone would do this.
This question is similar [Paper submitted by co-author without authorization](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/89248/paper-submitted-by-co-author-without-authorization), but about how to handle the situation as they still wanted it to be accepted.
Yet, the [one case I can find in COPE](https://publicationethics.org/case/paper-submitted-publication-without-consent-or-knowledge-co-authors), the self-described **Committee on Publication Ethics**, does not seem to consider this a journal issue.
>
> • The corresponding author submitted an article without the knowledge
> of all or some of his co-authors.
>
> • The corresponding author was under contract with research centre X at that time.
>
> • The scientific content of the article is correct. A minor error that occurred since publication can be corrected by an erratum.
>
>
>
The result/answer to this problem:
>
> On a show of hands, half of the Forum suggested that the editor do
> nothing further, a few suggested publishing a correction or some form
> of note on the paper regarding the authorship dispute, and only two
> people suggested a retraction.
>
>
>
Are there any reasons, legal or society-wise (does IEEE or some groups have specific information related), that this is not the standard? This is not a question on if someone is allowed to just publish, it is literally asking, so-what if they do? What can possibly happen (to a paper or person) if someone publishes a manuscript without their co-authors permission?<issue_comment>username_1: Usually, nothing happens, except damage to the submitting author's reputation.
Anything *could* happen. It depends on the coauthor's feeling and the content of the paper. If the content of the paper is objectionable, then this might lead to retraction. Potentially the submitting author could be fired. But most likely, if a coauthor complains, the submitting author just promises not to do it again and nothing else happens.
Don't do it. Just because unethical conduct has no direct consequences doesn't mean it's okay. Don't even do it if your coauthors tell you to do it. Note that the coauthor's permission is needed in addition to their knowledge.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If the co-author is fine with the content of the paper, then submitting it without his/her knowledge isn't that big a deal - (s)he's likely to approve anyway. I'm guessing that this (point 3 in the case listed by COPE) is a big part of the reason why half the Forum suggested the editor do nothing. Another big part could be that the paper has apparently already been accepted. Since review processes usually takes a long time, it's unusual for the co-author to not be aware (and raise a ruckus, if so inclined) that the paper's been submitted.
Much more concerning is the case where the co-author actively opposes publication and lets the journal know before the paper is accepted. This will come down to the journal's policies, if it has any written for this, and/or the discretion of the editor. I know of two such cases:
**In the first case**, the author submitted a paper without the co-author's approval, although presumably with his knowledge. The editor learned about this when one of the invited reviewers stated that he has personal knowledge of the situation. Apparently the lead author was a student of the co-author and their relationship had broken down. The student did something and thought it was publishable but the professor felt it wasn't strong enough. The student decided to submit anyway against the explicit instructions of the professor.
Once the editor learned about this he terminated the review process and rejected the paper.
**In the second case**, the author submitted a paper without the co-author's approval, although with his knowledge, because the co-author wrote in to tell the editor he didn't think the results were robust enough, and asked to remove his name from the paper. The paper had already been sent for review. My understanding is the editor chose not to terminate the review process, but is likely to reject the paper unless the reviews are really good (this is an example of when a "revise" review nonetheless leads to rejection).
As for the case where the co-author actively opposes publication but doesn't let the journal know until after the paper is published, I have no experience with this, but my guess would be that the journal will analyze the co-author's reasons, and probably retract the paper.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/16
| 1,234
| 4,938
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<issue_start>username_0: I've just finished my bachelor degree in Psychology as a second under-graduate degree. My first degree was in mathematics.
I am 37 years old and I would like to know if it's possible to pursue a master's degree program in Psychology. My under-graduate degree in psychology was unique for the following reasons:
1. I started it in 2003 and since then I did it very slowly (sometimes stopping for a few years) because I was doing my under-graduate degree and then a masters degree as well as working as a TA in another area (pure mathematics) for several years. Another reason for the extended time is because even if I hadn't stopped this undergraduate degree in Psychology several times and had done it full-time, it would have taken 6 years to finish (very long under-graduate degree).
2. My course was more focus oriented in humanities/arts.
3. Despite studying psychology as a second degree, I've always taken it seriously. My average grade for the entire course was 9 (10 is the maximum) and I always had a higher performance than the other students, maybe because of my mathematics background. I'm used to studying a lot with a high level of concentration.
So my question is: **do you think it's possible for me to be accepted into a master's degree program in psychology?** I'm afraid I wouldn't be considered a good student because of taking such a long time to finish the undergraduate course (maybe they would even laugh at me).
An additional problem is that I want to study in a more science-focused research in psychology. What are my options?<issue_comment>username_1: It's very hard to say from the information you have given. All you have told us is:
* You took four times as long as usual to finish a bachelors degree.
* You are 37.
* You lack focus.
* You are currently confused.
* You managed to get a fairly good mark in one class.
Working as a TA in other areas isn't a good reason to stop an undergrad degree. I am wondering why a university would accept such a protracted process. It makes me wonder if there are not some extenuating circumstances. Maybe some personal stuff happening that the university would take into account. The typical university would not just let you drag out an undergrad degree this way.
But consider. Your lack of focus and energy has made a 4 year degree take 16. If you start a PhD, and if your past performance is an accurate guide, your PhD will take 12 to 20 years to complete. With the 20 year range being more likely.
By then you would be 57. Most people at 57 are starting to shop for retirement options, not starting out a research career. Finishing a PhD at 57 reminds me of the biblical story of [Jacob.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel) He worked seven years for Rachel's father to earn her hand in marriage. Then he found out he had not earned Rachel's hand, but her older sister Leah. And he had to work *another* seven years to get the woman he loved.
Maybe there are other options that would suit you better. Maybe there are more rewarding things to do than helping undergrad math students with their homework.
Unless that is, you can find some way to put some passion and focus and energy into your work. Maybe that personal stuff I mentioned can be tidied up? Maybe you can find the exact right kind of research that will get you excited so that you work at it without needing to be pushed? If you don't find yourself working extra hours on something, without needing to or being told to, then it's probably a bad choice to try to do a PhD on it.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Extended periods on your CV are fine as long as you can explain why they are there.
From my understanding, you took as long as you did because you did a full-time undergraduate degree in Mathematics followed by your Masters degree, while still doing TA duties on the side, and then also attempted to do the Psychology degree at the same time. This is a huge amount of work. You also stated that you had to pause the Psychology degree for a few years. Given that your full-time Mathematics path would have taken around 6 years (correct me if I am wrong) and the full-time Psychology undergrad would have taken 6 years, your situation makes sense.
All you need to do is be able to explain the timeline - and you can! I would not worry too much about applying. You have demonstrated that you are completely capable of higher-level study by getting your Masters in Mathematics (which isn't at all easy)!
Good luck! I really hope this works out for you!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: There are currently several questions, I will try to answer:
>
> Do you think it's possible for me to be accepted into a master's degree program in psychology?
>
>
>
Yes. Very likely, if you look at different universities, you can find a master's degree program in psychology that accepts all applicants who have bachelor's degrees.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/16
| 221
| 987
|
<issue_start>username_0: How to find about info about proportions of different categories in budget in grant applications? For instance, how much put in travel, how much put in RA fees etc.<issue_comment>username_1: If you are lucky your University has a research support unit, which you tell what you need and they create the budget for you, then tell you what parts of that budget that funding agency has and has not funded in the pasted, what items you might have forgotten etc. After some back and forth you get the final budget.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Apart from asking your institution's research support unit (if there is one) as suggested in other answers, try to get in touch with colleagues with grants similar to yours (in terms of grant call, scale of the funding and scientific area) and see if they can show you their budget. In my experience when I was new to grant requests, this was the single most helpful thing that helped me tune my budget.
Upvotes: 2
|
2020/01/16
| 529
| 1,969
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have a study in which I have several promising variables, all concurring with previous literature and significant at alpha=0.05.
However, I have this one variable that is of special interest and this variable is significant even with the conservative bonferroni correction.
How do I go by slipping in my manuscript like "Hey by the way look at this guy, this guy is definitely not a coincidence"? Because I don't want to set a new alpha and lose all the other good and informative variables.<issue_comment>username_1: You dont. Either a p-value is below your alpha and than you consider it significant or if it is above your alpha level you don't. But there is no such thing as "more significant".
Regarding the Bonferroni Correction. If you do multiple testing than you need to correct your alpha values/p\_values. It should not be based on whether you would lose other variables. Thats what you generally consider p-hacking.
But you can also try a different Correction Method. Usually you do not want to use Bonferroni because it has a low power. Many Statistical Software provide alternative. I would recommend the Benjamini Hochberg Correction
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: First of all, I'd say this question is off-topic here, because it relates more to statistics than academia as a whole.
In any case the answer by username_1 is accurate, when doing a statistical test, an observation is either significant or not.
Sometimes people use stars to annotate the level of significance a particular result would be able to clear, for example:
* `*` for p < 0.05
* `**` for p < 0.01
* `***` for p < 0.001
Here's another example from an [R tutorial article](http://www.sthda.com/english/articles/24-ggpubr-publication-ready-plots/76-add-p-values-and-significance-levels-to-ggplots/):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2XT0Nl.png)
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
|
2020/01/17
| 668
| 2,709
|
<issue_start>username_0: For example a review might say:
>
> This paper is acceptable if the following comments are addressed:
>
>
> 1. In section two, change "this is a topy" into "this is a typo"
> 2. Instead of writing "Log" for the natural logarithm, write "Ln". This issue is present in sections two, three and four.
> 3. In section four, [do some serious work].
>
>
>
Then when the revision arrives, the authors make some attempt to address point 3 but completely do not address points 1 and 2, even though they're not controversial.
Why do some authors do this? I certainly do not want to Ctrl + F "Log" and list where all occurrences of it are when the authors can do that just as easily (besides, even if I do that, it often goes unfixed anyway). On the other hand, outright not fixing these issues when they've been pointed out seems pretty rude.
In my experience it seems that authors from India do this especially often, but I have no idea why this would be the case.<issue_comment>username_1: Personally I would do things the other way round fix 1 and 2, and not ignore 3 but maybe push back in what's asked.
Anyway back to the question, I expect it's a either an expectation that the journal will correct spelling/formatting issues (depends on the journal) or a gamble that you wouldn't reject a paper just because of a spelling mistake.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You think those points are not controversial, but they maybe are (not speaking about typos, of course). Maybe it is a bad example, but there might be some country where the natural logarithm would be written as log and the authors would like to have it that way. *[Exchange this example with anything you like.]* If that was the case, it could be discussed like that in their reply, no doubt, and it would be better, but:
I also suspect that in many such cases people do not know better. It might be good practice to reply to every reviewer comment, but not everybody follows good practice. They might be inexperienced, never got good advice on this issue, or simply do it on purpose. *[It reminds me a bit of quite a few PhD students' first attempts to prepare a reply for the reviewer comments to their first paper. They very often need good tutoring to end up with an acceptable response letter.]*
But so what? You are not the author of the paper and are not responsible for it either. You do your share with your review, and in your example it would be only fair to let the editor know of the unwillingness of the authors to improve the standard of the manuscript. Then the editor can decide.
I would not call such behavior rude, it is just wrong/not helpful. Do not take it personally.
Upvotes: -1
|
2020/01/17
| 436
| 1,844
|
<issue_start>username_0: A faculty member recently brought their young child to a graduate seminar. The child had a fever -- and therefore was deemed not healthy enough to be at school. The faculty member did not ask the students if this would be okay, but merely stated the situation.
Is this a breach of ethical or professional conduct? The general expectation for students at the university is that if you are running a fever, you should not come to class. It seemed highly inappropriate to expose students to potential illness versus 1) arranging childcare, or 2) cancelling class. How should such a situation be handled? Is this a legitimate offense worth reporting?<issue_comment>username_1: Is it unethical? Yes.
Is it worse than the alternative (usually canceling class)? Probably only slightly.
Is it worth reporting? Only if it happens repeatedly.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Complain to the university.
===========================
You're paying good money to attend classes, and it wouldn't be ethical for a professor to do something that'd negatively impact your ability to attend your other classes. There's probably a Student Ombudsman, a Dean of Students, or someone with a similar position employed by your university, who might be able to help you make a formal complaint, if you choose to do so.
Even if you don't want to make a formal complaint, it'd be entirely legitimate to note it in any student feedback surveys about your course.
An exception to that *might* be if you were studying pediatric medicine and the presence of a sick child was relevant to class activities, but while medicine is well outside my area of expertise, I'm pretty sure they do their hands-on training during formal placements at hospitals - and breaking that pattern might be an ethical violation in its own right.
Upvotes: -1
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2020/01/17
| 617
| 2,527
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently, my math professor isn't very good and I have had plenty of experience using Khan Academy and my Googling skills. However, I'm afraid that if I diverge from the class, I might accidentally study something he's not testing us. Or he might go out of order and teach us chapter 6 when we're suppose to be on chapter 2. Up to this point he hasn't done anything like that and has actually been very good at keeping on schedule. I have a syllabus with the concepts listed for each day and a textbook to corelate with it. The textbook is incomprehensible but nothing a little Googling and Khan Academy can't solve. I don't mean to be rude but listening to him feels like a waste of time.I would really like to diverge from the teacher
I know other students have been in a similar situation. What do you recommend doing?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes you should study yourself, but you should also listen as something relevant to an exam question may be explained which won't be in your other source.
That way you improve yourself - which is the whole point of education.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Or he might go out of order and teach us chapter 6 when we're suppose to be on chapter 2. Up to this point he hasn't done anything like that and has actually been very good at keeping on schedule.
>
>
>
So why do you think he will do it? In your question, you do not give any examples of what he does wrong. Be careful not to become overconfident and think you know better than anyone, this might come back to bite you in the future.
If your issue is that you feel that the course is very slow, and you want to learn faster, then you are doing the right thing: study on your own at your own pace.
If you really feel that the lectures do not bring you anything, it is your decision whether you want to skip them. Assuming there are no attendance requirements, no one is going to stop you. This is university, you are responsible for your own decisions.
Make sure that you are ready for the test though. If the course provides access to past exams, that is a good way to gauge if you know the content that is going to be tested. If the professor uploads his slides, that will also help you know what was taught. Otherwise, it might be worth asking a classmate what the professor is covering.
>
> I might accidentally study something he's not testing us.
>
>
>
I do not see how that would be a problem. If you learn more than strictly required, good for you.
Upvotes: 2
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2020/01/17
| 695
| 2,730
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<issue_start>username_0: To illustrate what I'm thinking of, [this page](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brexit/support-ucl-community/faqs-students) by UCL on Brexit says:
>
> **Are EU students welcome in London?**
>
>
> Yes. In the words of <NAME>, Mayor of London: "To the almost one million Europeans living in London ... you are welcome here." UCL fully endorses this statement.
>
>
>
There are tens of thousands of staff and students at the university, so it's statistically unlikely that they all endorse the statement. Who, then, decides that UCL indeed fully endorses this statement? He or she is speaking for the entire university. Does he/she know if indeed the majority of staff and students at UCL endorse the statement? If so, how?
If I had to guess, I'd hazard that the Vice Chancellor decides for the university as a whole, but I don't know if it is a solo decision, if the Vice Chancellor conducted a poll of the permanent staff (presumably not the students), or if the Vice Chancellor simply assumed that the university needs EU students for revenue so they had better endorse the statement.<issue_comment>username_1: Universities have a governance structure like any other other institution, company or country. For issues of this type, most universities have a committee for diversity and inclusion ([example 1](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/), [example 2](https://diversity.mit.edu/), [example 3](https://diversityandaccess.stanford.edu/)). The people in this committee design (suggested) policies and measures on the topic. Depending on the university and on the extent of the measure, most nontrivial changes of policy will have to be approved by the governing body of the university. The names and tasks of the different governing boards vary by university. For example, information about the governing structure of UCL can be found [here](https://london.ac.uk/about-us/how-university-run).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Universities work like any organization. The stance of the organization is the stance of its leadership. It can be the president, the chancellor, whatever you call it, it can be the board of directors, it can be the faculty assembly… It can even be a university-wide poll as you suggest. It depends on how the university is governed.
The statement "organization X has position Y" is a very common one in English. For example, "country X is a friend of country Y". "Statistically", it's unlikely that every single inhabitant of country X is actually a friend of every single inhabitant of country Y. Saying that a group of people does something is not the same as saying that every single member of that group does something.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
|
2020/01/17
| 322
| 1,319
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a research paper to be submitted to an IEEE conference. Part of the work was performed as a part of my University. I have graduated from there and am no longer a part of the university. My work has evolved and I would like to publish these results. What should my affiliation be for this paper? Should I use my old university as my affiliation or using something like IEEE-RAS member is fine?<issue_comment>username_1: To the best of my knowledge, you would need to somehow indicate both but a similar question has been asked and answered before:
[What affiliation to put on an academic paper for alumni authors?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11841/what-affiliation-to-put-on-an-academic-paper-for-alumni-authors)
You have to acknowledge that part of the work was performed when you were at your university. I had a similar situation where I did part of the work when I was at university as part of my PhD and then completed the work when I took up a position at a research institution. For the paper, I was listed as having two affiliations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It is the institution where the work was primarily conducted. You can add a note/comment that ‘author x is now at y’ but officially it would be the former in most cases
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/17
| 1,449
| 5,838
|
<issue_start>username_0: Just after submitting my CV to graduate school for masters admission, I realized that there was one spelling mistake on the first page of my CV. I misspelled the word 'merchandising'(missed the h). Is it going to be a major issue for my application?<issue_comment>username_1: **No**.
Check [this paper](http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1986ApJ...304...15B) out. As of time of writing Google Scholar says it's received 3871 citations, which puts it well into the upper echelon of papers. And yet on page 50 there is ...
>
> To diagionalize the remaining four dimensions, we transform to a new set of variables
>
>
>
Obvious typo, but it's far from uncommon and it doesn't stop people from reading and citing the paper.
Exception: if you misspell a key word - for example if you apply to John Hopkins University instead of Johns Hopkins University - then the damage to your application can be more severe.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I'll give the same answer as [username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/143032/75368), but for a very different reason. Not only is it common, but most people won't notice it. And of the few that do, fewer yet would think it an important enough issue to bother with.
"Egad, this person misspelled a word. Horrors."
Nope, it ain't gonna happen.
But, you also need to be assured that no single thing, whatever it is, would likely derail an application (yes, a few obvious exceptions). Your acceptance is based on a judgement and the judges try to look at a complete picture of an applicant; both their past accomplishments and the likelihood of success in the future. The CV (as a whole), your statement of purpose, your grades and test scores, your letters of recommendation. Each of those contribute to a (fairly) complete picture. Flaws or issues in one part can be balanced and overcome by the positive and supporting parts elsewhere.
Relax. The judges are no more perfect than you are.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: For the purpose of admissions it's unlikely to have any impact.
If this were to support a job application, where a recruiter might have 500 resumes in front of them, and 95% of those resumes end up in the trash after one pass, you want to make every effort to prevent yours from being trashed, and every effort should be put into making sure your application package is as perfect as you can get it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: OP asks, will the spelling error be a "major issue for my application"
**MAYBE.**
The spelling error on the first page is evidence that OP might not have read their own paper prior to submission. That is demonstrative of a lack of attention to detail. Whether writing a simple email or important application, take the time to read it at least once to catch simple errors. Especially if OP's spelling check language isn't set to English. Such a drafting process is also an opportunity to find areas for general improvement.
Whether or not the reader(s) of OP's application cares about the error enough to let it affect their opinion of the application as a whole, is not knowable.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I'll give a different answer, which is deliberately not an answer to the exact question you asked.
**Can you fix it?** Can you overwrite your initial CV on the web application form, or ask the admissions administrator to replace it for you, or something like that?
* If so, then you should fix it, because you're trying to present your best self with your application.
* If not, then it doesn't matter whether it's an issue—it's out of your hands.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: There are two main causes for incorrect spelling: You made a mistake, a typo, or you didn't know how to spell the word correctly. "mercandising" seems to be a typo. That's much more forgivable. Getting "your", and "you're" wrong would be more of a problem.
I did review someone's CV before it was sent out and noticed "wether" was used instead of "whether". You can figure out yourself why the spelling checker didn't flag it. Would have been embarrassing if the reader knew the word or looked it up (like I did).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Personally, I'd like to say I would ignore such a mistake, and indeed my eyes would likely skip it. But if I noticed it, it would raise my brows. I'd suspect that either you are not using a spell checker on an important document (which would make me think less of you), or you've ignored some warning given to you (and spell checkers in fact do give lots of false alarms depending on context).
In both cases, this is an *inconclusive* sign of sloppiness. Which means I would have insufficient evidence to assume either case to be applicable to you. I would then make a conscientious effort to ignore those suspicions. I do believe that only an asshole would be picky on such minor problems (but you will find plenty of those people over your career). I've once worked with reviewing some extensive technical documentation written by non-native english speakers which had been updated plenty of times. I had express instructions to ignore minor typos such as "mercandise".
Then again, if those typos do create interpretation issues or if they are common, I'd let myself conclude that evidence is enough for me to consider that either you have bad procedures (i.e. you don't use spell check at all), or that you have been very sloppy/lazy (you didn't pay attention, you've wrote the CV overnight right before the deadline or similar).
So, if you are concerned, recheck the CV as whole using different spell-checkers (word, grammarly, etc.). If that was your only mistake, rest assured this shouldn't matter. If you find more than 3 spelling mistakes (or two major grammar ones), learn your lesson.
Upvotes: 1
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2020/01/17
| 2,750
| 11,047
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a freshman at <NAME> right now and intend to pursue Theoretical physics in the future. I will likely apply to graduate school immediately after graduation and have no plans of working in the industry for too long. So, I chose to double major in Physics and Mathematics as I think they complement each other quite well and will prepare me adequately for Academia and Research. But I am slightly concerned about the kind of jobs I'll get if I can't go to Grad school immediately.
What sort of jobs are physics majors usually offered? And what courses should I take for them?
I've been told time and time again, to the point of exhaustion, that physics majors make good Data analysts, Software engineers etc, but I would like to work in something that is a little closer to physics.
And how much of a role can independent study play when applying for a job? Is it treated equal to courses or less?
I ask this since I do not have a lot of space for courses that aren't Mathematics or Physics. So anything else that I am interested in or that is required for a job, I will have to independently study during the summer (e.g- Fluid Dynamics, Stress Analysis etc).
I am not sure whether Stack Exchange Academia is the appropriate site to ask this question but any help is much appreciated.
Edit: What I want to become, first and foremost, is a theoretical physicist. Not entirely sure where this will lead me, but I am not bothered about the pay of a physicist. The reason I talk of getting a job is because I am International student on a loan and need a way to keep paying after graduation if I cannot immediately make it into grad school.<issue_comment>username_1: You're asking in the wrong forum. I'm not saying this is more suited to another Stack Exchange, but rather that you shouldn't be asking someone else for help with this question in the first place because you are the person best-positioned to answer it.
Go to your local jobs portal and search for "degree physics". You'll get more relevant results than anyone here can tell you. For example I put "job new york" into Google and reached Indeed.com. Searching for "physics", the top three results are:
1. [Research assistant](https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=59cf10b2b615799a&tk=1dupmihqtf8gt800&from=serp&vjs=3)
2. [Intelligence research specialist, level I](https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=51dbe0e209ebca33&tk=1dupmihqtf8gt800&from=serp&vjs=3)
3. [Adjunct instructor - physics](https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=3c3d0073329d5856&tk=1dupmihqtf8gt800&from=serp&vjs=3)
Look through some of the more common (or more enticing) jobs and find out what they're asking for, and then go get the required experience. For example the third job says:
>
> Qualifications, Credentials, Experience: The successful candidate will have
>
>
> (a) At least an M.S. in Physics Degree
>
>
> (b) Fluent English Language Skills
>
>
> (c) It is also desirable for the applicant to have experience teaching recitation, lecture or laboratory sections at the college level.
>
>
>
This disqualifies you because you don't have a MS degree. But if you like this job and want to do it for a career, it means that 1) you should do a MS degree in physics after you've completed your double major, and 2) try hard to get some teaching experience.
In New York, you'll likely find tons of jobs, so you can try refining for those that explicitly suit you - e.g. by searching for both "mathematics" and "physics". You could even search for "fluid dynamics" and "stress analysis" to see what taking those topics open up for you.
There's a good chance you'll discover that "I think they complement each other quite well and will prepare me adequately for Academia and Research" is not good enough. Don't depend on rumors and feelings about what jobs you can do, actually find out. What you think might not be what is actually out there.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> What sort of jobs are physics majors usually offered?
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>
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Jobs that require smart people! Physics is hard, employers understand physics graduates must be smart (without necessarily knowing why), and hire such graduates for a range positions that require smart people.
>
> And what courses should I take for them?
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>
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The specific courses don't matter so much, unless you're targeting a particular skill set. That said, in today's market, having some business and computer science courses will surely help.
>
> I would like to work in something that is a little closer to physics.
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>
>
You'll need to give more clues before anyone can help direct you.
>
> how much of a role can independent study play when applying for a job? Is it treated equal to courses or less?
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I consider independent study to be largely incomparable, but potentially more valuable. For instance, suppose you apply for a stockbroker position. Your physics degree might get you through the door, but knowledge of stockbroking, markets, etc. will get you the position.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Let me make a few suggestions that may add up to an answer or not. But, I hope they are worth considering.
First, and I think most important, is that you don't try to lay out the trajectory of your work life to firmly too early. You are probably young enough that your future will be long. Setting things firmly in place now might deny you opportunities later. Not everyone ever has a chance in their life to just do what they love for a while and are burdened with responsibility. I doubt that you have such problems now. So, if you love physics and math then, just do it. Just for the joy of it. Full Stop.
Next is that studying anything will establish patterns of thought appropriate to that field. Writing will make you a better writer, for example. And, physics and mathematics are very different in the thought patterns that they enable. Physical sciences explore the world as it exists. It is grounded in reality and searches for the nature of that reality. Mathematics is pure mind stuff. It need not have any relationship to anything outside mathematics itself. So, the mind develops in different ways by studying two such fields. This gives you mental capability that can be used to learn and do those things, but also other things. The flexibility of thought is an important skill to develop for any professional person. This is independent of any synergy between math and physics, by the way, though those also exist, as you note.
Next, you need to give a bit of thought about what you really want out of life. I hope it isn't just "a job." That is boring and the sort of thing too many people are forced into by circumstances. Since you are attending one of the premier state universities in New York, you are likely be be able to go pretty much where you please in life, provided you take advantage of the opportunities. And if, say "doing physics" is more important than "having a job" then I suspect that you will be able to find a way to do that, even if you wind up earning less than you might if you had studied law or finance.
If you have the opportunity to do what you love, then do that. And if you learn to think powerfully in a variety of ways, they you will be a valuable resource to many employers, in or out of academia.
I heard a comment elsewhere, but don't have a source: "We don't choose mathematics. Mathematics chooses us." That truly resonates with me.
---
The statement about math choosing us comes from [here (pdf)](https://www.ams.org/notices/200910/rtx091001268p.pdf)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: "Closer to physics" is still an extremely wide category. Physics grads work in aviation, automotive, petrochemical, nuclear (that's me), electronics, computers, etc. etc.
First, always make sure you are completing the requirements for your degree.
I would suggest that you pick your undergrad courses for things that you find engaging so that you have a strong tendency to work hard on them without being driven by threat of bad marks. If you find a particular subject in the course catalog interesting, load up on it.
Being your are a freshman, you have lots of choice and time to modify your plans. If you take classes this year that you find keenly interesting, load up on them in 2nd year. If the plans continue to satisfy, then keep going. If you find they don't work out so good, look back at the course catalog.
Don't neglect those acquired skills. For example, learning to program in any computer language is likely to be useful, and quite quickly. Especially in a class that will get you doing something non-trivial. If the class takes you beyond "hello world" and little ASCII graphs of y=x^2, so much the better.
And don't neglect those lab courses. Learning to use some cool lab equipment can be a door opener. Does your university have an electron microscope? Some cryogenic labs? Some wind tunnels? Or any other keen lab with specialist equipment you might find interesting. Find out from your course catalog, your university web site, your guidance department, and maybe even things like open-house night at the lab.
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada has a pool type nuclear reactor.
<https://nuclear.mcmaster.ca/>
Any physics student who went through Mac and didn't at least take some training on this reactor would be passing up a big opportunity. Find out if your uni has something of similar interest.
Also, glance around the course catalog outside of physics, even outside of science. Does business interest you at all? There are a lot of physics grads doing stock market analysis. If that grabs your attention, maybe some business classes. There's physics in weather and climate models. There's physics in design of river management. There's physics in design of commercial items. And so on and so on.
Glance through that course catalog. Look for the item that "glimmers." That is, the item that keeps you coming back and thinking "I could be satisfied doing that. I would find that interesting." On the other hand if you are thinking "that would be a chore and I would quickly find coming to class totally a drag" then maybe you need to keep reading the catalog.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: In real-world quantitative problems, although people are good at what they do, they don't think like a major in math or physics. They only see what is physically present, and don't know how to think in abstract but quantitative ways a mathematician or a physics major does. So all fields are wide open for you. In my opinion, in the beginning, it can be quite challenging and there could be a lot of failures, but I guess one could do wonders if they keep at it.
In applied fields, people have a habit of looking at theories as only successes or failures in producing desired results. They can't estimate the value of partial success of a failed attempt or theory...they just throw it aside. Only a mathematician can learn even from a failed theory.
Upvotes: 0
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2020/01/17
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<issue_start>username_0: After managing a project at a research institution in the US, I was awarded a grant (did it for free, so this is the remuneration). The grant covers travel, books, research equipment ("that does not contain a hard drive") and some other things. They strongly recommended confirming with their representatives if certain expenses are covered by the grant. I decided to purchase PC components and just build it myself. Last August I contacted them to check if they would cover the components cost (2 reps said it should be fine, both were in 1 email thread). Over Black Friday I purchased all parts and sent them all receipts for reimbursement. Now, middle of January, they claim they did not realise I was building a PC (although I explained everything in detail in our email communication back in August) and would not reimburse me as the institution tracks parts "as part of their on campus computing inventory". It is past return period time now for the components I purchased. What should I do now? All communication was over email, so I have everything in writing.<issue_comment>username_1: What you need to do is work it out locally. If necessary, the grant funder may need to make a judgement. But it seems like you were trying to get around a restriction by somewhat questionable means. Not necessarily ethically dubious means, but questionable. A pedantic interpretation of the statement in the grant, and ignoring its likely intent is what got you into the current situation. You need to argue that your interpretation is correct and you need to get others, who have some authority here, to agree with you.
I can't guess whether you will win this or not, but the situation is between you, the institution and the funding authority. Make your best argument there. And note that you can't impose your own will on this.
If this is PC level equipment, I doubt that it is going to be a serious setback to your finances. Maybe it is best to just absorb the cost and spend the funds on things that aren't so close to the margin of acceptability.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I strongly recommend that you talk to your department chair and ask for their help.
The situation as I understand it is that you obtained confirmation in writing from university employees that the equipment you wanted to purchase would be covered by the grant and you would get reimbursed. Now the institution is refusing to reimburse you. This is pretty unconscionable and sounds like a screwup on the side of the relevant officials.
It is the job of the department chair to try to help you resolve the situation and get the people involved to either find some way to be flexible about the stupid inventory issue (I am reasonably optimistic that if somebody beat them over the head with a hammer they would suddenly find some magical way to make it happen), or own up to the mistake and find some other way to cover your financial loss. The chair may also end up deciding that the department should absorb the cost if the reimbursement issue is truly unfixable.
Finally, before you talk to the chair I suggest carefully examining your own role in the events that took place and thinking about whether your own behavior might be seen to have played a part in this misunderstanding. Did you communicate your question clearly in the emails you sent? Did you miss some ambiguity in the email thread about whether it was okay to go ahead with the purchase? Did you make any assumption about the meaning of what the employees wrote that wasn’t explicitly written in their email (say, interpreting “research equipment” to mean “whatever I think research equipment means”)? If there was some negligence of this sort on your part, the chances of getting the purchase reimbursed would be much smaller. In that case the best thing to do may be to suck up the loss and use the experience as a lesson for the future. Anyway, good luck!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In my experience in the US, computers and their parts are considered part of overhead, as are things like desks, office chairs, etc.
When you get a grant, part of it goes to "you", and part of it goes to the university as overhead - they use this to keep the lights on and for other various expenses that you don't directly see, but they also often make some of that money available to the researchers to buy capital equipment including computers.
It's unfortunate that you got incorrect information due to a miscommunication, but it's likely nothing can be done about those funds directly. It's possible there is overhead money that can help you out retroactively, but I don't have experience with that circumstance.
From my perspective, this looks bad for you - it seems like you tried to skip around the "has a hard drive" rule.
Upvotes: 4
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2020/01/17
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<issue_start>username_0: During literature review for my research proposal, I have come across a professor who has published several papers in my field, some closely related to the topic of my own research. In a series of papers he uses a specific model, expanding on and extending it in each paper. In my work, I want to use the same kind of model (evolutionary) and I would love to see the source code, both to better understand and replicate the results and because it would tremendously help me in getting started. Unfortunately, I could not find it anywhere and it is not published with any of the papers.
I am wondering if and how I should ask for the code and have three related questions:
1. Is it common to just email and ask for the source code or would that be considered somehow inappropriate? I might well end up applying to the university that professor is teaching at, so I don't want to leave a bad impression.
2. Who is the appropriate person to contact? All of the papers on the model have been published by by the professor and the same two co-authors, some with additional co-authors. Should I email the professor himself, one of the co-authors, or all of them?
3. How much detail about my own research should I include in my email? Just what's sufficient to justify the request or more, possibly a draft of the proposal?<issue_comment>username_1: Whether common or not, it is acceptable to ask. Ask the main professor, who may pass on the request to a co-author.
I'd suggest that you only give a small amount of detail in the initial request but offer to say more if you like. But don't flood the professor in the initial request. Mention that you have a draft, but don't send it. And you can certainly mention that you are interested in applying to the university.
What happens next depends on the nature of the reply. Perhaps they will want to help you, but other outcomes are possible.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it common to just email and ask for the source code or would that be considered somehow inappropriate?
>
>
>
It's not improper to ask. Consider some core values of the scientific world:
* **Reproducibility:** for research to be truly valid, others should be able to reproduce it. This is why publishing source code is encouraged.
* **Standing on the shoulders of giants:** science is all about building on each others' achievements. My discovery may help you and your discovery may help me. It's not a zero-sum game.
>
> Who is the appropriate person to contact? All of the papers on the model have been published by by the professor and the same two co-authors, some with additional co-authors. Should I email the professor himself, one of the co-authors, or all of them?
>
>
>
Now, what is the best way to ask? You can email directly, but it would be nice if you can find a mutual acquaintance that can introduce you.
Is there anyone in your department (maybe your supervisor) that has met this professor before? One of the reasons scientists go to conferences is to build these networks. Or maybe someone in your department has co-authored something with the professor or his co-authors; go through the professor's publication list and look for familiar names.
Ask your supervisor if they know anything about the professor that's relevant. It's part of the supervisor's role to know the field and use it to advise you.
In the end, who you contact is a bit opportunistic. If you have a good connection to one particular person, start there.
>
> How much detail about my own research should I include in my email? Just what's sufficient to justify the request or more, possibly a draft of the proposal?
>
>
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I would keep it reasonably short. Enough to justify the request, certainly. But in general you don't share draft proposals until you've gained whatever grant you're applying for.
Upvotes: 3
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2020/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: Do conferences ever reject low quality abstracts? I've never heard of anybody wanting to attend conferences and being rejected.
If they do screen abstracts, will they reject abstracts that are not of low quality but are too broad in theme? Will organizers give applicants a chance to revise abstracts?<issue_comment>username_1: Depends on the conference. Small conferences often accept most of things, at least to the poster stage.
In some fields, a conference is a place for researchers to meet, so conference papers have little significance.
In others, conference papers are almost as important as journal papers and its really hard to get an abstract in. [Check ICCV acceptance rates.](https://github.com/hoya012/ICCV-2019-Paper-Statistics). ICCV2019 accepted 25% of the papers only.
In any case, I doubt any conference would accept an abstract without checking it first. One thing is having low acceptance threshold and another is not checking the abstracts.
In short: it highly depends on the conference.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Major physics conferences do not screen abstracts. Abstracts that are nonsensical are routinely accepted at certain very big conferences.
Small conferences may vary.
Physics conferences do not permit revision of abstracts.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2020/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: Is [EF-SET English Certificate](https://www.efset.org/) accepted for higher education or jobs across the world? Did anyone try using that? I have not yet seen any place where they accept this.<issue_comment>username_1: The EF-SET English certificate is a test you take online without any supervision. From [the EF-SET FAQ](https://www.efset.org/faq/):
>
> **If the test is available to the public online, how is it secured from cheating?**
>
>
> Because it is intended as a learning tool, using the EF SET to its fullest advantage is the learner’s own responsibility. [...]. As an adaptive English test that covers multiple CEFR levels from beginner to advanced, the EF SET is designed to be useful to an individual as a measure of growth in proficiency over time and as a proxy to other expensive, high-stakes English tests like TOEFL, TOEIC or IELTS. To take advantage of this design, we advise that the test taker follow the timing guidelines and not try to cheat the test.
>
>
>
The [homepage of EF-SET](https://www.efset.org/) has three "buttons":
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> * Check your students
> * Evaluate your employees
> * Check your English
>
>
>
So the EF-SET test is intended either as a self-assessment tool, or as a tool that can be used by universities or companies to evaluate their students/employees, in which case **the company or university will take care of the supervision**.
If you come with an EF-SET certificate that you got by yourself, the institution has no way of knowing that it was really you who took the test. Therefore, it does not make much sense to accept this as proof of English knowledge. I have never seen this accepted at a university.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I use EF SET to enroll in Japanese University (Monbu Scholarship) and has been accepted by the University for further step. Now I still waiting the announcement for the scholarship in June.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I Was told to get the EFSET test from a company abroad and send the certificate to evaluate my English level. So I would say that it has some power. In fact, its a good test and very reliable if you are serious IMO.
Upvotes: 3
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2020/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: How should I dress for my visits to math programs as an accepted student? As if I were showing up to a job interview? Shirt and tie? Suit?
The visit seems nicely planned by the program - jam-packed with meetings and events with faculty and students.
(I'd guess that this visit would also be a great time to talk to faculty to see who could be a great match for me as an advisor.)<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, it depends on the University, so the best answer is probably to ask someone there, if you are already in personal contact with any Professors or graduate students there.
That being said, I would be extremely surprised if anyone expected you to wear a suit or even a tie. Many professors I visited with on my visits (Computer Science, U.S.) were wearing t-shirts, as they do on many days. Many others were wearing collared shirts, but I didn't see a single tie.
The safest bet is to wear a collared shirt and jeans, or something similar. Then you will look nice and put together, but not overdressed.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Math professors tend to be pretty casual dressers compared to those in other disciplines. Wearing khaki pants and a collared shirt (polo or button down) would put one towards the dressier end of the spectrum at most places, and jeans and a t-shirt / hoody are usually unlikely to cause one to stand out.
I think that if you were to wear a suit and tie to these events you’d stand out. Not in a negative way mind you, it’s just that all of the faculty members you’ll be interacting with will be dressed much more casually. If you wear jeans or khakis with a collared shirt and sweater then you’ll look like you put in some effort and are taking this seriously, but aren’t dressed up so formally that you stand out.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I would call the university and ask if they have any particular preference. However, let’s assume that they do not, I highly suggest that you wear the type of clothing that makes you feel the most confident. Mind you, you need to balance that notion with the fact that you are going to be at a university. But the underlying idea is that if you believe that you look good, you’ll feel good, and that will shine through in an interview.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: I wore khaki's, dress shirt, tie, and sport coat when I was in your position. The professor remarked that he was impressed that I took the occasion serious enough to look sharp. However, I would agree with others here that a tie is probably not necessary. Chinos, a dress shirt and a nice blazer/sport coat looks really sharp without looking overdressed in almost all professional occasions. I doubt anyone is expecting this level of dress given the current state of academic attire, but it would likely leave a favorable impression.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: Business casual. If you assume 20 students, you'll have 1 that wears a suit (or even just a tie) and look oddly out of place. Probably 5 that wear jeans. And look fine, but maybe a little undergrad-y. The rest in business casual. Given the economics, probably not even that fancy of a business casual.
My rec (for a man, don't know women's attire): slacks (anything from khaki to wool), some sort of neutral shoes (not wing tips, not sneakers, plain black or brown leather is nice because it can go from dressiest to most casual). And a long sleeved shirt. Maybe a sweater. I wouldn't bother with a jacket. Uh...I shouldn't have to say this, but wear a belt.
If you are the worrying sort, you can bring a tie in your bag. But don' wear it. You'll look like that 5% geek from my population example above.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable within reason. Mathematicians will be judging you based on what you say and how you think, not what you wear. And if a future advisor for whatever strange reason judges you poorly based on what you like to wear, you probably don't want them as an advisor.
Remember, you've been accepted. You are now trying to find an advisor. You want someone who you will get along with. Be yourself. You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. Have fun discussing your mutual interests. Your attire is especially irrelevant in this situation [compared to the case where you haven't been admitted yet, and it's pretty irrelevant even in that situation too for most math departments in the USA]
Slacks and a shirt with a collar or a casual dress are pretty standard just because they are versatile, and you can pretty much go to any function in them and be at ease that your outfit fits in. But really, wear whatever you would normally like to wear at school or work. Perhaps there are some exceptions, but they are rather extreme ones, like showing up in clothes with very offensive phrases on them.
Upvotes: 2
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