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<issue_start>username_0: I plan to finish my PhD thesis this year, but I will likely not be able to defend it this year, because my supervisors obviously need time to review it.
However, I will leave the country by the end of the year as well and it is not clear yet, whether I need to come back for the defense or whether it can be done remotely. In case I do not come back to Germany, I would still like to have a last social gathering with my two supervisors to say goodbye and express my gratitude. We had dinners in the past (usually when a collaborator from a different country would meet us here in Germany) and so far it was always them who have covered the bill.
If it was a normal social gathering, I'd expect it to be the norm that one party does not always covers the expenses but it is shared among all participants somewhat equivalently (I pay this time, you pay next time, ... ).
But given that they are my supervisors and will have to grade me, I wonder if this is ethical. Perhaps an arrangement like pay dinner for yourselves, I'll cover the drinks, will make it less problematic? I do not expect the expenses for any single meal+drinks to be over 20€.<issue_comment>username_1: Taking a person out to a (reasonable) dinner as a "thank you" is a custom that appears in many societies. As a Ph.D. thesis is a long relationship between people, offering to take your advisors out to dinner as a thank you is within reasonable bounds of this custom---even before you graduate. Technically, they are grading you, but a Ph.D. is not like an undergraduate class.
In some cases, a person may not be allowed to accept such an offer. Common examples include government employees and people with a potential business conflict of interest. If you *know* that such a rule applies to somebody, it would be rude to offer something you know they cannot accept.
For most professors, however, there is no such rule between them and their students, and if one applies here that you are unaware of, it would be up to the professor to inform you and to decline.
That said: in the professor-student relationships I have observed, the direction often goes the other way, i.e., with professors buying for their students rather than the other way around. This can be about [power dynamics](https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/questions/8427/how-can-i-get-someone-to-stop-paying-for-my-meal), "[paying it forward](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward)," or even just the simple pragmatics that students often have little money.
**Bottom line: invite them out, but don't be surprised if they turn the tables and end up taking you out instead.**
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I can give you my perspective of someone who used to supervise students and their theses at a German university. You did not mention what kind of institute you worked at, but as you mentioned "grading" I'll assume that you and your supervisors work at a state university, as industry and research institute supervisors typically are not responsible for the grading.
Therefore, they are most likely to be either a civil servant or an employee of the respective German state. In consequence, they are either not allowed to accept presents or only up to a very small amount (~ 10 euros if I remember correctly), depending on the state and the type of contract. And this is before even taking into account that they will be grading you.
My advice is therefore **not to do it** or to directly ask them about their opinion- it creates a dilemma for your supervisors and might open them AND you to malicious gossip.
A suggestion: Do you know about the German "Ausstand"? If an employee leaves a group or company they typically bring food, either for breakfast in the morning or cake at coffee time for the whole group. If it's a group where parting employees get a small gift from the co-workers there might be a small speech. The monetary amount is (more or less) negligible and it serves as a nice opportunity to say thanks and goodbye to everyone (thus not directly aimed at your boss).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Inviting your supervisors to dinner before the defense is unacceptable
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to emphasize what @Deb<NAME> already stated in a comment:
University professors in [germany](/questions/tagged/germany "show questions tagged 'germany'") are typically public officers and subject to strict anti-corruption laws. Other employees in public institutions are typically bound by their contract to the same rules.
The anti-corruption regulations already forbid anything that could be read as corruption by others; and they apply to both sides: the supervisors cannot accept *and OP is not allowed to offer*.
In general, as @Deb<NAME> said, acceptable gifts or invitations are limited to negligible monetary value even *after* all exams are over.
Shorly *before* the final exams/grading, such an invitation is totally unacceptabe since it could be seen as an attempt by OP to bribe their supervisors. This would not only be a problem for OP's supervisors but also for OP.
---
What is acceptable
------------------
* Inviting the supervisors along with everyone else in your group (AND)
* when there is a reason: you leaving, your defense being over, birthday, ...
* again, the value should not be too high per person.
@username_2 mentioned the Ausstand which is on the order of magnitude of cake and coffee for the whole group (note: not only the supervisors).
A similar occasion would be directly after the defense (in-person obviously) - then possibly with added sparking wine.
What I'm familiar with after the defense between different groups in Germany was in the range between: a "hallway-party" one evening at the institute (fresh PhD bringing the food such as buns, butter, cheese, cold cuts and pickles as well as beer, coke and juice for the whole group, the whole group helps preparing the buffet from these or PhD buys already prepared buns). Or somewhat more elaborate food (cooked, BBQ), but then either a few fresh PhDs join forces, or join forces with a workplace birthday party and/or there's a certain potluck component (PhD provides a "basis", and everyone else brings something).
But never anything of non-negligible monetary value to the supervisors or commission *only*.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been putting my name on university assignments even though I know it's not advised. Something to do with unconscious biases.
To me it's a moral principle to write my name on my work which is my way of claiming ownership. It's my work and me putting my name claims that. I feel like putting a number instead puts a sort of a distance.
Some professors have expressed slight disapproval but can they (or should they be able to) do more? I'd tell them that if someone in their position cannot be impartial they aren't suitable for their jobs but I can't really say that.<issue_comment>username_1: There is a rule in your university that you don't write your name on assignment but instead some anonymized number. You don't like that rule and choose to break that rule and still put your name on your assignments. Now your question is: can there be consequences for me breaking that rule? What do you expect? Of course there can be consequences for breaking rules. It is the possibility of a sanction that makes a rule a rule. A rule is a set of actions that other are supposed to take or not take *plus the implicit or explicit understanding that not doing so will have consequences*.
What those sanctions are in your case depends on the local institution. That can range from being invited for a stern talk, to a reduction of your grade, to your work not being graded at all. They may decide that what you did is not worth the hassle of a sanction, but there is no guarantee.
In essence you have chosen a specific form of protest by breaking it: civil disobedience. You break a rule that you believe is unjust *and accept the punishment* to arouse the conscience of the community on the injustice of that rule. Choosing this form of protest means that you are willing to bear the consequences of your actions, not that you are protected from those consequences.
There were probably more effective ways of protesting open to you. There is probably a complains procedure. There are probably various committees you could go to. You can talk to the department head. Typically you would first organize multiple students to join you.
Than there is the question whether you are right. It may be helpful to look at the pros and cons for putting your name on an assignment.
**The pro** You are proud of your work and you feel that putting your name on it is more personal than a number. So the benefit for putting your name on those assignments is the feeling of pride in your own work that you get from putting your name on it. Your feelings are yours and legitimate and real. So that is a real benefit. Moreover, I think you are right that your achievements should be celebrated in some form.
**The cons** Subconscious bias is real. Remember that teachers are human, and unconscious bias is deeply ingrained in society. It is not something that can be easily overcome, and you can make a valid argument that it is impossible to completely overcome. Educators should take action to reduce their subconscious bias, but grading assignments anonymously will provide an extra layer of protection for students against unconscious bias. It also protects the teachers and the institution against accusations of bias.
So whoever made that rule had to balance your feeling of pride in your work against the protection of the students, the teacher, and the institution. I think they made the right decision by saying the protection is more important.
If you choose a very confrontational way of protesting that decision, then the likely outcome will be that they explain to you why they think they made the right decision, and that will be the end of it. The rule will stand, and if you choose to break it you will be sanctioned. If you choose a more constructive form of protest, then the rule will in all likelihood still be maintained but they may look for alternative ways of celebrating your work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I'll guess that you have no basis for a complaint unless you can show some real, tangible, harm that arises from such a regulation and that the harm accrues to you. Your "desire" to behave otherwise has little standing.
No one is using this system to "steal" your work, I assume. Somewhere there is a correspondence between the id number and your name, so your "authorship" is easy to verify.
Such regulations normally have a purpose, in this case attempting to assure, perhaps imperfectly, fair grading. Unless you have a specific claim that this does you harm, you are better to go along.
Also note that no one here has the authority to give you permission to break university (or course) regulations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Surely the more genuine issue is have a *unique\_identifier* for students, so that (for example!) people with exactly the same name can be distinguished!
And, at least for convenience of computerization and so on, the system for assignment of unique identifiers may need to be done centrally, not by individuals self-assigning a (hoped-to-be unique) identifier. The potential anonymizing aspects are not necessarily connected to this uniqueness issue.
Abstractly, not in any particular system, if you want to add your real-life name, in addition to the unique identifier for the situation, I'd not see an objection.
Concretely, I can imagine that graders might complain that, when you de-anonymize yourself, you create the possibility that they will be accused, by you, of acting prejudicially.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/10/21
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<issue_start>username_0: Is the TA expected to solve the homework for the professor or is the professor supposed to provide the solutions to the TA for grading homework?<issue_comment>username_1: If the professor wants the grading to be good, then the professor will provide the solutions and guides to the distributions of points. Otherwise, the grades of a student depend on the individual decisions of a TA. Alternatively, the TAs can grade together and create the solution and grading guideline among themselves. The result might or might not conform to the intentions of the professor. Finally, a professor can have a single or a single trusted TA who generates the grading guidelines.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on the professor. Some professors will always generate a solution, and others will have the TA generate the solution. It also probably depends on the experience of the TA. If the TA is going to generate the solution, they have to have some knowledge about the material. A lot of times a TA will be assigned as a "grader" but has never taken the course. Still another option is that a professor will have an assignment that is "close" to an assignment from a previous year. The professor will give the old solution to the TA and ask them to update it for the new assignment.
I think your question really should be "what is a reasonable work load for a TA?". If the grading is taking much longer than 20 hours/week, I would first talk to the professor. They may not understand how long it is taking you, or maybe you are doing more work than they expect. If you can't resolve the issue with the professor, your next step is to escalate to the department head. Some TA's are part of a union.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/10/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a PhD in Math at US grad schools mainly because they allow you one or more years of coursework to figure out your research interests and potential advisors. Are there any other countries that allow you this opportunity outside of the US? I have an MSc that was purely coursework based without a thesis component and while I'm certain of the subfield I'd like to work in, I still need more time to figure out the specific topics of my research and create a research proposal.
From what I've read [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/176908/how-does-the-admissions-process-work-for-ph-d-programs-in-country-x) and [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/79386/where-do-other-countries-fall-on-the-us-europe-continuum-for-phds) Europe seems to be on the opposite side of this spectrum. Are there any (preferably English speaking) countries that are closer to the US in this regard?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> US grad schools mainly because they allow you one or more years of coursework
>
>
>
They require coursework. "Allow" is the wrong word.
>
> to figure out your research interests
>
>
>
That's not the purpose of the coursework. You may be allowed to take time to decide your research topic, but that does not mean you should. The most successful PhD students will have a plan for completing their PhD before starting it.
>
> Are there any other countries that allow you this opportunity outside of the US?
>
>
>
It's normal for research projects to evolve over time. I do not think there is any PhD program that would be exempt from that.
The flexibility available to a PhD student is based primarily on funding, not the country.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: This has as much to do with the specific project and its circumstances as it does with the country.
In my own country, the UK, some projects begin life clearly defined: "The appointed student will use methods x,y, and z to determine whether A and B are affected by C". That isn't to say that the project might not change and evolve over 3 years, but it is clearly set out to begin with. This is perhaps more common in STEM subjects, where one or more PhDs might form part of the research for a larger project.
Other projects are on more general topics, where it is expected that the student will narrow their interests and more clearly define the project during the first 6-9 months.
Something to note is that no time is "allowed" for this - it eats into the time available (usually 3 or 3.5 years). So in some senses this is less flexible than the US approach.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/10/21
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<issue_start>username_0: Specifically I am looking at [this paper](https://doi.org/10.1145/3301312), but I've seen these in other papers too. At the bottom of the first page, it has some metadata and copyright information:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VX6ue.png)
>
> © 2019 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.
>
>
> 1549-6325/2019/02-ART29 $15.00
>
>
> <https://doi.org/10.1145/3301312>
>
>
> ACM Transactions on Algorithms, Vol. 15, No. 2, Article 29. Publication date: February 2019.
>
>
>
I understand the copyright notice, and the DOI, and the human-readable citation information. But what is going on on the second line, besides year, issue number, and article number? What is `1549-6325`? And **what, if anything, costs $15.00**? Is the `$` character being used to mean something else here?<issue_comment>username_1: I haven't noticed this before, but it does match the cost of the individual article for a non-member who does not have access:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bUX2T.png)
Click "Get Access", "Get this Article". You may need to access from a different device/location or at least an anonymous browser session if your institution subscribes to the journal.
My suspicion, though this is far outside my area of expertise, is that they are including this amount in the document as a marker of its value alongside the copyright notice, such that if they were to bring a lawsuit for violation of that copyright, they can point to that amount directly and claim in court that the person they are suing clearly knew of it's value ("it says $15 right there! you posted it on your website and it was downloaded 10,000 times and so you owe us $150,000") rather than having to provide separate documentation. I have no idea whether this is actually legally useful, or just a suggestion from someone who thought it was legally useful but has no better legal background than me.
For the rest of the numbers:
>
> 1549-6325/2019/02-ART29
>
>
>
Anyon points out in a comment that 1549-6325 is the ISSN for ACM Transactions on Algorithms, in addition to the 2019 = year, 02 = issue, and then this is the 29th article in the issue. Overall it seems like this is the publisher's internal system of shorthand for identifying a specific article and would be unique for every article they publish.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This is called a **Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) fee code**.
When you request a book via [Interlibrary Loan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlibrary_loan) (ILL), the lending library physically mails the book, and eventually receives it as a return. Today, when an article is requested, the lending library scans it and sends the PDF. (It used to be photocopied and mailed). This is far more efficient than mailing the whole journal two ways.
However, because the article is being copied, it may exceed fair use and become a copyright violation. In 1978 the [Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CONTU) studied this issue and provided guidelines on how much copying should be seen as permissible by libraries. The [suggested limits](https://www.copyright.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/White_Paper_ILL-Brochure.pdf) include that a library can request five articles per title per year, among other conditions.
When these fair use conditions cannot be met, (e.g. a sixth article is requested) a copyright license must be obtained. The fee code line indicates the publisher has set up a voluntary agreement through the [Copyright Clearance Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Clearance_Center) to collect a $15 royalty for this license. The other information is used by the CCC to [identify the article](https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/0xx/018.html) and determine which publisher to remit the fee to. The fee code may be listed on each article, or it may be listed in the printed front matter to apply to all articles. I believe this scheme also applies to certain other library photocopying cases outside fair use, like making a copy for course reserves.
Including the fee in print is from the days before the Internet. The library would make a list of all fee codes that were due and send it with payment to the CCC.
Today, we have online systems. In your example, you can search the DOI through the [Copyright Clearance Center Marketplace](https://marketplace.copyright.com/rs-ui-web/mp/search/all/10.1145%2F3301312). If you go through the wizard and select "Report interlibrary loan borrowing", you will see a $15.00 per-copy fee, plus a CCC processing fee.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rw119.png)
You can read about this process in the article "[Pay-per-view in interlibrary loan: a case study](https://doi.org/10.3163%2F1536-5050.100.2.007)" (J Med Libr Assoc. 2012 Apr; 100(2): 98–103.) This article points out that the listed cost plus CCC service fee is often higher than purchasing the article direct from the publisher.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I interviewed for a faculty position back in September 7 and 8. All interview for this position was done the next week. On October 3 I followed up with the search committee chair and they replied they sent the recommendation to the dean. I haven’t heard anything so far, although my interview went pretty well. I sent another follow up email to the Dept. Chair regarding the Status yesterday and they replied they are internally processing it with the HR and hope to get back me soon. Does this indicating that they already offered the position someone verbally and now processing with HR? I hope some of you who are experienced with the systems can explain it. TIA.<issue_comment>username_1: *Does faculty hiring process vary from institution to institutions?* **Yes**
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: "Does this indicating that they already offered the position someone verbally and now processing with HR?" Nobody can know other than the people involved. It may be that they want to make *you* the offer and it is going through HR right now. Or perhaps you are right. There is nothing you can do other than wait.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: If they didn't want to divulge whether you or someone else has been selected, but you could find out by asking here, then they would say less, otherwise they are telling you too much.
If they wanted you to know more, such as to understand if you are the top candidate or whether you are no longer in consideration, they would say that explicitly.
Take their statement at face value: the process is ongoing, third parties are involved as they always are, they hope to get back to you soon with more information once they have it.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a professor who is teaching two-credit medical terminology course. This course is being taught at a public university in Montana.
She taught the first class session we had with her, and now just sits in the back of the class room “filling out work notes from being a PT,” and is now having the students who are taking course teach the rest of the material for the semester.
**My question is, is this okay and legal?** I am paying to be taught by the expert in the field, “the professor,” not a student trying to learn the material. I am not also happy with forking my hard-earned money to have the professor do nothing but fill out patient notes during class time.<issue_comment>username_1: Having students explain material to each other is a perfectly normal and reasonable pedagogical technique. "Teaching a class" is not synonymous with "giving a lecture".
It's not clear to me from your description whether your instructor is using a method like this (if so, I'd expect them to be monitoring and providing feedback, even if they aren't lecturing) but you do not recognize this as an appropriate way to teach/it is not your preference, or whether they are actually *not teaching*.
If they are actually *not teaching* and spending the instruction time completing other tasks, then as a commenter suggests there will be avenues in your institution for managing complaints, and you can file one. It's likely to be helpful if multiple students share your concerns. Be polite and specific in your complaint to have the best chance it will be handled seriously.
Unfortunately, it's very unlikely that you have any legal recourse besides taking your money elsewhere. If they won't make changes and you are not happy with the instruction you're receiving at a given institution, your only other option is to apply to become a student elsewhere.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The real question is how much you are learning this way. The only thing that matters in the end is not how much time a professor spent at the blackboard herself but whether *reasonably hard working students who diligently do all assignments* (the rest do not count and have no real say in the matter) master the subject. If yes, I do not see what is there to complain about. You are paying for an opportunity to learn, not for a show in some particular format, and if it is there, all contract obligations are met IMHO. If no, then yeah, there is something to be corrected, indeed, and you may have a good reason for bring this issue up though I would start with bringing it up with the professor herself. Just try to be constructive then and start your sentence with "I believe I would learn more if ...". Go higher only if you meet total lack of understanding at this level and if you meet the above criteria in italic (if you don't meet them, look in the mirror first and correct all problems there before accusing anyone else of anything).
By itself, the technique of letting students make a class presentation on a regular basis is actually a good idea and I use it a lot myself, especially in graduate courses, though I prefer not to switch to that format entirely. I normally use 2:1 ratio (for every two hours I'm talking, I have 1 hour when students are talking). But the optimal ratio may be discipline and subject specific, so I wouldn't be surprised if 0:1 were chosen by somebody under certain circumstances.
With all that said, I *do* know of some cases where professors turned their classes into some meaningless activity where students were being occupied with some tasks requiring no attention from the professor and in the end everybody got an A for just being there, which, IMHO, only aggravated the problem. So it is really impossible to tell much about your particular situation without knowing more details.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: **It’s almost certainly not okay**. Teaching is part of a professor’s job and a significant justification for the salary that they receive. Now, it is true that there are contexts when “teaching” is not synonymous with “lecturing”, as another answer points out. However, that fact is not as relevant as the other answer makes it out to be, for two reasons:
1. Those contexts are fairly limited. In a generic undergraduate class at a generic university, it will be assumed and expected that a professor will spend a significant proportion of her classroom time actually lecturing, barring very specific reasons why a different mode of delivering instruction is justified and makes more sense.
2. More importantly, the *absolute bare minimum* that will be expected of any professor in the US is that during class time, they are *actually doing something related to the class*. Being physically or mentally absent from the classroom for extended periods of time, and particularly working on other things like answering emails or writing up notes that are unrelated to the class, would not be acceptable behaviors for a professor at my university, nor, I’d be willing to bet, at OP’s university or any self-respecting institution.
To emphasize the last point, even in a setting where a professor is implementing some system where students explain the material to each other, a conscientious professor would still listen in on the discussion and be on standby to correct inaccuracies, point out important points the presenter has failed to mention, make clarifying remarks that push the discussion along, etc. Basically the professor is still running the class and is still in charge. To be working on unrelated things and letting students run the show without even paying attention to what’s going on seems to me like a clear dereliction of duty. So no, it is not okay.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/22
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<issue_start>username_0: How can I write an adequate State of the Art section in the following case for the field of CS? Let´s suppose that I am writing an article that solely relies on using classic Machine Learning techniques to detect spam. However, nowadays, the research has pointed out the use of advanced Deep Learning methods such as transformers, but I will not like to point my research toward that path. In this case, what would be the recommended way to sketch my State of the Art? I have been thinking of two possible ways:
1. To briefly mention the studies that relate to Deep Learning at the beginning of my State of the Art section and then narrow the description of these studies and focus more on those that used classical ML techniques. These articles, of course, would be outdated compared to the DL ones, but I am trying to avoid a critique of my work that would point out why I have not used DL techniques if I mention them in the State of the Art.
2. To not describe these DL works and only focus on those related to ML techniques.
Which one could be a feasible option in this case?
Thanks<issue_comment>username_1: Let me suggest a third way, a variation on your first option. Explain that you are extending classical ML techniques in this paper (and why) and give the state of the art on that. At the end, mention that current research has been exploring a different path, DL... Give a few sentences about where that is currently.
Say the things most important to your paper first, not last.
It would probably be a mistake to ignore Deep Learning.
For a thesis, rather than a paper, you have a lot more space, probably, to be fairly complete on both.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally speaking, you can not omit the current state-of-the-art solutions from the comparison entirely. The elephant is in the room.
The main question, of course, is why are you using something else in the first place. Yes, there are very good reasons for opting out of "black box" modern machine learning techniques, but you have to make a convincing argument here. What is desirable, but not achievable by those deep learning models?
And then there is a problem of implementation. It is hard to keep up with the AI/ML field if you do not collaborate with a lab doing specifically that, and as a result, articles with poorly implemented and/or woefully outdated models are all too common. This consideration should go in the planning phase of your research: do you have resources to properly reproduce the current state-of-the-art? If no, how can you compare your results to it? Should you be using some well-known public dataset? If your work is contingent on collecting your own data, maybe opt for an indirect comparison based on the existing research to make statements about that data.
I have now spent a few years preaching that the research dealing with machine learning must either improve on SOTA or be still valuable in some other way in several years when the performance goalposts move a lot. Coming from that perspective, it is perfectly valid to not pursue the "hot" topic as long as you could still provide the sufficient research motivation. Publishing papers just to heat up the interest for ML in your field of study seems superfluous at this point.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/22
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm finishing my first year as a PhD in a STEM field (say field A), although my main field is B. I have two supervisors (say S1 and S2, both very well-known). I usually work with S2 (younger, less famous), and report to S1 (older, extremely famous).
Much of the work in field A can be applied in field B. Indeed, coupling the research lines is highly beneficial and much appreciated.
My supervisors have been trying to do this coupling in the past without experts from B. I noticed it very much since day 0 because most of their solutions were poorly implemented or didn't make sense.
So, I expressed my discontent and willingness to fix these issues by adequately implementing the solutions.
However, I received a strong "NO" from S2. He literally told me: "I don't care about field B; I don't care if the method from B is well applied or not; I just want you to work with my models, using these methods (his), and obtain results". Nonetheless, S1 is always very interested in what I have to bring, although I don't have many meetings with him.
I even re-implemented in two weeks what a student from S2 did in the past (again, not an expert in field B) in a proper manner, obtaining realistic and accurate results. However, S2 told me: "why did you spend time on this? The models were right. Just focus on the method." Indeed, I focused on the method as well...
It is painful for me to hear that. It is like an engineer telling a doctor that using gloves during surgery is not necessary, and if the doctor argues about it, the engineer replies: "I don't care."
After a year, I decided to implement in parallel my own improvements. I don't even bother about telling S2 about them anymore, although I do tell S1.
Is this normal? Is this an ego problem? I would like to hear some opinions :)
**EDIT**
WOW, I was not expecting so many useful answers! Thank you.
I will mention some aspects to consider:
* I could work directly with S1, but there are two issues. First, the relationship between S1 and S2 is close (essentially, S2 works for S1), and I want to avoid raising drama between them (although I am not afraid of raising concerns, I'm quite straightforward). Second, S1 is extremely busy, which may affect my supervision.
* Indeed, I now realize my project is following a direction based on S2's authority, which actually detours from the original description of the PhD (which was extremely interesting to me).
Based on your advice, I now want to raise my concerns to both S1 and S2. Any advice on how to do this without creating too much drama?
Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds like an ego problem, or a dominance problem. But worse, it sounds like S2 is prioritizing their own career at the expense of yours. That is something that a supervisor shouldn't do.
Maybe a talk with S1 would help. But if S1 has sufficient authority to get you finished in spite of S2's behavior, then you may already be doing the right thing in disengaging from S2.
S2 also sounds like they have decided what the outcome should be and wants to impose that in spite of evidence. Not a nice trait. But note that "results" from any given method can be negative and still have research/intellectual value. Knowing that something doesn't work can be just as valuable as knowing that it does.
So, if it is a test of the method itself, rather than a claim that it *must* (absolutely *must*) succeed, then it might be a valid line of research. The other behaviors remain problematic, of course.
But your supervisors individually and collectively need to work to assure your success. Anything else is an ethical lapse.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It sounds like your relationship with S2 is pretty much busted. You do not respect S2 and S2 does not respect you. That is not a good foundation for an advisor relationship.
What to do about this depends on the culture and the system. Sometimes it is better to give in, sometimes it is better to get out of a bad relationship.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I think @username_1's answer is quite useful. I also think the second superviser wants to make you use their own methods to further their career at your expense.
You have something that works better, and they don't want it, because it's proving their models and methods are suboptimal.
Whether you like it or not, you and your second supervisor are fundamentally at odds, regardless of the ego issues. Unless you cave and do things their way, you won't be working well together.
I cannot advise what you should do, because I don't know how much can S2 hurt your career if you keep disengaging from him. But, if they don't have any leverage on you, it's not worth doing what they tell you.
Also, telling S1 you're going your way, may backfire if the two supervisors are on very good terms. In my case, I remember my postdoc supervisor had a situation like this and he simply decided the two people involved (a postdoc and a graduate student) should stop working on the same projects together. I would assume S1 could find a solution if you bring up this problem as a conflict between methods, rather than people.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/10/23
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently completing a Graduate Certificate of Studies at an Australian university, taking subjects in history. I plan to apply to a Master of Arts - Thesis for January, 2024 with the eventual goal of upgrading to a PhD. I have a topic and have written a (rough draft) research proposal of 1,900 words. My field is Russian history and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Of course, 2024 is over a year away. So, I've been taking notes from monographs and trying to read numerous articles while learning Russian (and Greek). Due to my current work & study engagements, I can devote 10 hours per week to reading.
Note: I'm not looking for shortcuts. There's no plan to 'finish the PhD in one or two years.' No interest in that! But I'd like to make graduate research a positive (and intellectually stimulating) experience while writing a high-quality thesis. Would reading beforehand make a difference?
Thanks for any advice / feedback and enjoy the rest of your weekend.<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds like an ego problem, or a dominance problem. But worse, it sounds like S2 is prioritizing their own career at the expense of yours. That is something that a supervisor shouldn't do.
Maybe a talk with S1 would help. But if S1 has sufficient authority to get you finished in spite of S2's behavior, then you may already be doing the right thing in disengaging from S2.
S2 also sounds like they have decided what the outcome should be and wants to impose that in spite of evidence. Not a nice trait. But note that "results" from any given method can be negative and still have research/intellectual value. Knowing that something doesn't work can be just as valuable as knowing that it does.
So, if it is a test of the method itself, rather than a claim that it *must* (absolutely *must*) succeed, then it might be a valid line of research. The other behaviors remain problematic, of course.
But your supervisors individually and collectively need to work to assure your success. Anything else is an ethical lapse.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It sounds like your relationship with S2 is pretty much busted. You do not respect S2 and S2 does not respect you. That is not a good foundation for an advisor relationship.
What to do about this depends on the culture and the system. Sometimes it is better to give in, sometimes it is better to get out of a bad relationship.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I think @username_1's answer is quite useful. I also think the second superviser wants to make you use their own methods to further their career at your expense.
You have something that works better, and they don't want it, because it's proving their models and methods are suboptimal.
Whether you like it or not, you and your second supervisor are fundamentally at odds, regardless of the ego issues. Unless you cave and do things their way, you won't be working well together.
I cannot advise what you should do, because I don't know how much can S2 hurt your career if you keep disengaging from him. But, if they don't have any leverage on you, it's not worth doing what they tell you.
Also, telling S1 you're going your way, may backfire if the two supervisors are on very good terms. In my case, I remember my postdoc supervisor had a situation like this and he simply decided the two people involved (a postdoc and a graduate student) should stop working on the same projects together. I would assume S1 could find a solution if you bring up this problem as a conflict between methods, rather than people.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/10/23
| 1,012
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently, I decided to do an undergraduate thesis (in computer science). Since I just took a course related to the topic I'm interested in, I contacted the course lecturer and asked if he would advise me on the thesis. He immediately agreed.
However, after some chats, I realized that he is not an expert in this area. He read some papers when preparing for the course, but never publish or advise students in this area. He definitely knows more than I do on this research topic, but probably not an expert. Meanwhile, I also found that another professor in our department understands more in this area, but I do not know that professor personally, and neither do I take any of his courses before.
Should I worry about that? The research has yet to start. Should I go for another advisor? Or is this so rude that I should never do it?
There are plenty of similar questions here, but most apply to masters and PhDs. As far as I know, the undergraduate thesis is more about learning how to do research and does not require novelty or publishable (I may be wrong on this, though), so the answer may be different.<issue_comment>username_1: Undergraduate research is unlikely to be cutting edge. In fact, it rarely amounts to publishable work. A good working relationship with the advisor is therefore more important than first class expertise. If the department trusts your lecturer with teaching a class, you should be able to trust him with supervising you. Also, the rewards for supervising undergraduate theses is usually quite slim, implying that people are not going out of their way to supervise undergraduate research. If someone is willing to supervise you, and has not expressed any doubts about their suitability, then in their judgment, they are capable of supervision.
However, as long as you did not ask the lecturer to supervise you formally, there is no obligation on you. Once the lecturer spends time on you by looking for a good research topic and maybe preparing a list of papers for you to read, then switching to the other professor would be rude. Depending on the circumstances, much thought and work can go in planning a research experience for an undergrad.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You already found an answer to your own question. Get friends who are in that research area. The thing I do when I start with something I have no expertise in is set some initial research goal, and then start asking people I know questions related to what I want to do. When they don't know the answer, they can refer me to someone who does, which is something your adviser can help you with.
Sometimes I email someone I don't know and ask them questions related to their published work that are directly relevant to mine. Some are busy and don't answer, some do. Sometimes you meet people at conferences. Those are very good places to find collaborators.
Once your network of collaborators is made, your adviser's expertise is less important. In any case, even if they were an expert, your research could take you in a direction very unfamiliar to them.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Let me suggest that you try to get the three of you together and decide on a plan. If you mention to the one who has already accepted you (say "John") that the third person (say "Mary) has expertise and you wonder if it would be possible to get them involved as well then something might be made to work out.
In particular, John might open a dialog on your behalf with Mary, and if everyone agrees, then everyone might benefit. John might welcome a learning experience. Mary might value expanding departmental expertise in the field of interest.
There is no need to be rude.
---
However, if that isn't possible and you decide to still work with the one who accepted you, then note that while they may not be experts in the specific sub field, they are probably fluent in the general research process in the overall field, so can still guide you appropriately. If they aren't too busy with other things, they might take this as an opportunity to expand into that topic area. They already had enough interest in the topic to teach the course.
See [this question on another site](https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/q/4379/1293) about how some teachers go about things like this.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/10/23
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<issue_start>username_0: I would like to ask how to deal with pressure and high expectations from supervisors.
I am beginning my 3rd year of a PhD programme and I am very close to having a mental breakdown. I have two supervisors who are extremely tough on me. They expect very good results *every week*. I am working so much, but I don't have a lot of satisfying results. A lot of things are just not working and supervisors blame me for this, even though I have nothing to do with it. They have a vision of how my research should go and what the results should be, and for everything that is not going in the expected direction, they blame me.
They tell me that I am not-effective and that they are not satisfied with my work. They have never worked in a lab (they are doctors) and have no idea how it works in practice. I don't have anyone to help—any technician to do small things—so of course all of this is on my shoulders.
How can I explain to my supervisors in a good way that it's not my fault if they don't have the effects which they are expecting?<issue_comment>username_1: If what you write is true, your work relationship is abusive, and it's not worth continuing with them. People get burnout and depression in graduate school because of the pressure often, especially in highly competitive places. One reason is that they place too high expectations on themselves.
Another reason is that they are simply not ready for graduate school. Typically, people who are not ready do poorly in classes and have to leave because of low GPAs.
Sometimes, and I assume this is your case, advisors place high expectations on their students and bury them in work. Those expectations are justified in their minds by some benchmarks, which could be themselves, or other excellent students they had before. But if your supervisors have never worked in the lab, their benchmarks could be well based on what Batman would do if he was their graduate student.
Keeping these in mind, it is a good idea to start thinking of what could be the worse case scenario if you leave them for other supervisor. You already have research experience, and you won't be starting from the scratch with everything. My advise is to start searching for someone better, even at a different graduate school, as soon as possible.
You also have to deal with the mental health issues. Bad relationships, if they last long enough, may cause you serious mental problems which could leave you unable to work for years. You need time out of the lab, vacation, and you should spend your free time outdoors with people who care about you even if you don't bring them research results. You should also talk to a mental health professional to help you eliminate as much as you can of the stress in your life, before it's too late and you are forced to get on medication. Psychiatric drugs are the least fun I know.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: #### Seek support for improving your lab work (maybe an additional supervisor)
One of the difficulties you are going to encounter here is that supervisors generally have a better idea than students as to the appropriate pace and expected quality of research work, and the university will generally defer to the expertise of their academics in judging these things. However, in the present case you note that your supervisors do not have lab experience and much of the work you do is lab work. This may mean that your supervisors are not in a good position to judge the amount of time it should take to progress through lab tasks, and there is scope here to talk to them about this and see if you can come to an agreement on expected research pace. It would also be worth seeking an additional supervisor who specialises in lab work, both to assist you in this aspect of your work, and to provide perspective on expected progress in this aspect of your work.
My recommendation would be to get some input from an academic at your university with a lot of lab experience, both to get an idea of reasonable timeframes for your work, and to get advice on improving your own lab work. Once you have done this, sit down with your supervisors and have a general discussion about the expected pace of progress and the support you would need to improve progress in the lab. One piece of useful support might be an additional supervisor with lab experience. (If you have received an opinion on timeframes from another academic with lots of lab experience then you could add this to the discussion as an outside perspective.) Your agreed timeframes for your research should take account of the time it will take you to deal with lab problems that will naturally arise from time-to-time. If it is taking you too long to do things then seek support for improving this. Don't get into the weeds on whether these problems were your fault or not --- ultimately, whether or not problems in the lab are your fault, it is probably your responsibility to deal with them and overcome them to progress your research.
As to the feedback you are receiving from your supervisors, take it seriously (even if it seems like they have expectations that are too high) and talk with them to identify specific problems and get advice on how to develop further and improve the quality of your work. As a student, you are not in a very good position to judge whether their expectations are too high, but you can certainly raise this issue for discussion. If your supervisors say that you are not effective in your work, and that they are not satisfied with the quality or progress of your work, drill down further to see what are the biggest problems they are identifying (if they haven't already told you), and then spend time working on improving the most pressing issues. Since you received entry to the PhD program, trust that you are capable of learning and improving with practice. In the immortal words of Kipling, "trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too".
Upvotes: 0
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2022/10/23
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently, as a graduate student in the social sciences, my supervisor has given me a short list of federal institutions that give out the majority of grants to all levels of academia, they share similar proposal formats, and they're only mildly competitive. There are a few other bodies, usually nonprofits with extra rules or with a target minority in mind, but that is all. This system is quite simple, easy, and predictable.
My question is, if I end up moving out in the future, for a postdoc or professorship, probably to the US, do the expectations change? Could it get more complicated? How much will I have to adapt?<issue_comment>username_1: Thing change. Usually it is fairly gradual, with occasional big bumps (like COVID or War in Europe).
For the gradual changes you will adapt as your career progresses.
For the big and abrupt changes, you will be in the same situation as everyone else.
But, no one can really predict what will occur over, say, a 40 year career. Yes, things will change. How? Well, that is much harder to even contemplate.
As a citizen, however, you can also work toward positive changes. Education at the moment would benefit from increased funding at all levels and in every place.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: The culture around grants and funding varies significantly from country to country. For example, in Belgium the majority of public resource funding is dispersed through research councils internal to universities. In Denmark, a significant part of research funding comes from private charities connected to major companies (e.g. Carlsberg). In the US, the funding mostly comes from a larger number of smaller grants each paying for maybe a student, or some summer salary. In the EU, there is more of a focus on massive 5-year grants that will pay for a small army.
When applying to a position in new country, it is often important to be aware of these differences and sculpt your application around these differences.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/23
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<issue_start>username_0: What are considered appropriate mean/median grades for college-level calculus and linear algebra classes in United States (say out of 100 or out of 4.0)?
Please don't just say "it is different with different universities and colleges". Can anyone give me any **specific examples** where only a particular range of mean/median grade is allowed (or considered reasonable) in some U.S. university?
I am asking about this from the view of instructors/professors. I am not asking what kind of grade is considered "appropriate" as an undergraduate student. This question also aims at giving instructors an idea how to write exams and how to "curve" the scores in case the exams get too hard.<issue_comment>username_1: Hmmm. It's different with different universities and colleges. What can I say? It is also meaningless except with that university or college. And unusual system may need translation for external use, however.
A typical (not universal) grade scheme is 90, 80, 70, 60 for the minimum marks for A, B, C, and D respectively. However, grading is itself individualized so the grades often are awarded to meet those breaks. How well has the student mastered this material. "Near perfect" = 90-something. "Almost" yields 80 or so. Etc.
And numeric grades within a course are usually fractional. 3.8 is not as good as 4.1, but only by a little. For the transcript, though, they might be integers only or "half" scores: 3.5, sometimes with a max of 4.5. The overall will be a fractional GPA: 3.7 or 3.72, say.
Note that the grade distribution for a class is likely to be different for entry level (first year) courses and for later (upper division) ones. The less serious students have likely gone elsewhere. If the same "curve" applies then it is almost certainly unfair. A lower mean and a larger variance is likely for an entry level course, especially if it has many students.
I've taught courses at a top university where nearly every student earned and deserved 90 plus. They worked hard and made me work hard as well. I've also taught courses where students had been accustomed to be a bit lazy and were a bit shocked with their low grades. It was, fortunately, a convincing goad to get them to work harder.
Every group is different, not just every university. A group of 400 or so students might have something like a normal distribution of grades (honestly and fairly) but a group of 40 isn't likely to. It is too small. Probably skewed one way or the other as in the two examples above.
Note that large groups with many sections and lots of TAs need to take some precautions to assure that grades are fair across sections and TAs.
My advice is to make grading individualized but using a rubric. Consider every student to be different from every other with their own strengths and weaknesses.
And if you impose a grading scheme such that some student has to get low marks so that others can get higher marks (competitive grading) then IMO you are being unethical.
Your job is to teach them. I.e. set up the conditions for learning. It isn't primarily to grade them. You aren't the Hogwarts sorting hat.
At the end of a course, do an informal evaluation of your grades prior to filling out grading forms. You probably have a general impression about how they did "overall". If your grade distribution matches that general sense, then you probably got it about right. I had the luxury of being able to adjust grades upwards (for all) if I felt the individual grades were too low for what I saw as the learning. Never downwards, though. Surprises for students should be happy ones. This ability to adjust depends on some experience, of course.
See [this post about imposed curves](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/116464/75368).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I will assume you are referring to the distribution of letter grades, and that your university does not have a mandatory mapping from "points" to letter grades.
There are two different philosophies here:
* One is that the course should challenge the average student. So an average student should get a B (or somewhere between a C+ and a B+), with most of the rest getting As or Cs. If the average course grade is much higher or lower than this, then it's probably the case that the course was too hard or too easy, relative to the college's admissions requirements.
* The other is that course grades should honestly assess a student's familiarity with the material. Even at an "easy" college, students who get an A in calculus 1 should be able to reliably take a derivative and tell you what it means. If this means that you give very few As, that's just the way it goes; better that they fail your class rather than moving on to physics classes where they have no chance of succeeding.
Of course, in both cases, it's "theoretically possible" that all students will exceed all reasonable expectations and thus they'll all deserve As....but this is statistically very unlikely.
In the US, my experience is that the first philosophy is much more common. For most (STEM) courses, I would expect average grades somewhere between 2.7 and 3.3 out of 4. But you asked about calculus courses specifically, which may be one of the rare cases where the second philosophy is not so unusual, and a relatively large number of failures is expected. Of course, this will vary by school: MIT undergraduates will probably not struggle too much with calculus. But in general, I would not not be so concerned if the mean Calculus I grade was even lower than 2.7.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: There are few cases where this information would be useful -- it varies widely from school to school. The only case that I can think of where you would want this is if you are a faculty member at a school where there is a political fight about what the grade distribution should be, and you would like to introduce data of the form "at U Michigan, the median grade is a B" into the discussion.
That said, I know where to look up this data at UMich, so here it is: The grade distribution for Math 115, our largest calculus course:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/h7Inn.png)
Unfortunately, this data is behind a log in screen (see [here](https://atlas.ai.umich.edu/)), but there aren't any FERPA issues with large statistical reports like this.
I would like to editorialize on people's sad inclination to put passwords on things. At Harvard, this information was collected in the CUE guide, which was sold in campus bookstores where anyone could walk in and buy it without ID. Now it is [online](https://q.fas.harvard.edu/results-prior-2019-20), which make perfect sense -- but you need Harvard log in credentials to read it. Why??!!
Upvotes: 3
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2022/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I want to cite a theorem from a book written by two computer scientist that I consider to be influential and renowned. If you want the specifics, I want to cite **Theorem 11.8** from the book *Computational Complexity: A Modern Approach*, by <NAME> & <NAME>. If it affects in any way, I am planning to submit this paper for a conference.
This theorem is stated on the book, however the proof is omitted since it is similar to another proof that is presented in the book. I keep wondering: should I include my own proof of this theorem or is it unnecessary? I could write the proof but I feel that it could be distracting and take space in a paper that will already have many short proofs (at least at this point in my research it seems that way). Additionally, I don't think someone would contest the validity of the theorem. On the other side, the result is vital to the content of the paper I am writing.
**UPDATE**: I should have mentioned before that in the book, three sources are cited for the theorem. However, when I read those sources, none of them state directly the theorem, even if they give the "building blocks" for proving it. I also tried searching for the same theorem in other sources and I found one in which it is proved, but it is stated in a way that could be confusing to read.<issue_comment>username_1: If the theorem is central to your paper, I suggest you to put a proof in an appendix. In this way:
1. Even though the proof is a straightforward adaptation of a book's proof, and no one would likely contest the theorem, it remains anyway documented for those who want to read it.
2. It does not distract the reader from the main discourse.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If we're looking at the same theorem, the theorem cites 3 papers where it is presumably proved. Why don't you cite those papers instead of citing the textbook?
This is in fact what you should do regardless of whether it is proved in a textbook or not. You presumably want to cite the textbook because it happens to be where *you* read about the theorem. But the reader doesn't care in the slightest about where *you* read about the theorem. They care about (i) who proved it and (ii) where they can find an accessible proof. If the textbook does not provide an accessible proof, then there is no reason to cite it instead of citing the original papers.
**Edit:** the OP has clarified in the comments that they "looked for the proof in those three sources but did not find it. Instead [they] found the proof for a weaker result. Based on those papers, the proof for the stronger result [...] can be derived, but neither the result or the proof are mentioned." Therefore this answer does not apply to the OP's situation and is superseded by the other answers.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: You do not have an obligation to include a proof, and it might actually be to your detriment to do so, unless perhaps you believe that the textbook authors are severely mistaken when they claim the proof is similar to another proof that they did include and therefore is not necessary to explain in detail.
The point is that if the textbook authors’ assessment is correct, then you would be creating no meaningful new scientific knowledge by writing the proof in detail. Now, if you were writing an expository work and felt that writing out the proof would be of pedagogical value to students or researchers working in the field, then I would say it would be fine to write the proof. But in a conference paper, where the focus is on creation of new knowledge, including the proof of an already known result might actually make your paper seem less novel and draw criticism from the reviewers for rehashing standard ideas.
The one scenario where it would make sense to include the proof is if the textbook authors actually made the wrong call. If you work out the proof yourself and find that it requires substantially new or different ideas from what the textbook claimed, then it would make sense to write the proof in you conference paper. In that case, you should also point out that you are proving a result claimed in the textbook but explain that you are including the proof since it was in fact not as similar to the other proof as the textbook authors claimed. That implies that you are presenting *new* knowledge that you created, which actually should enhance the value of your paper as a research work.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
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2022/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm halfway through my PhD studying abroad and due to a series of problems with my current advisor and the way the university is handling these issues my mental health has been affected and I'd like to move my current research elsewhere. My question is that if my situation here doesn't improve, can I take my current progress and continue in another institution without starting over?
So far I haven't published anything and the only work submitted was as part of my internal evaluation, It's worth noting that I'm being funded.
Thanks in advance<issue_comment>username_1: I'm guessing this will be very difficult unless you make compromises. Perhaps lots of compromises.
Certainly you can change institutions, provided you get accepted. That is the least of the problems, I'd guess.
Taking your research with you rather than starting over, however, depends on finding a supervisor at the new institution who is willing to advise you on this topic. That might be harder, depending on how "mainstream" your research is.
Taking the funding along may be harder still. It depends on lots of things, including the willingness of the current institution (since they charge overhead against most grants) and the funding agency. This might be the hardest part of all.
You might, however, be able to get some alternative funding, depending on your field.
But, also consider that you can work on mental health issues through a professional, perhaps at your current institution. That should be a first priority in any case. If you can manage that, the simplest option might just be to stay and finish.
But, depending on the mental health issue, starting over might not be the worst option.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You have two issues to overcome here: securing a new spot (mostly contingent on the ability to find funding, it is usually fairly competitive) and making sure you do not break any rules taking your research with you.
I am a bit surprised username_1 did not mention that, perhaps due to the background: many - especially experimental - fields do not take too lightly to people quitting the lab and bringing their research with them. In some cases, it causes a relatively high-profile drama.
An obvious example would be data collected during an expedition or a field trip: you might be the one doing the work there, but a lot of lab's resources go into greasing the wheels. People quit relatively often, but there might be an expectation of them to turn the research over for someone else to work on it in that case, so that the lab still gets a return on the investment.
If your field is like that - and ultimately your contract terms determine what you can and can not do - you should be negotiating it with your current advisor. You do not want your actions to be perceived as inconsiderate or even treacherous, the word spreads like fire and it will bring you down.
On the other hand, it does not mean you should yield to abusive conditions. Do consider whether you are truly taking only *your own* work with you. Instructions/education received during your PhD program are also fine, of course - the advisor was compensated for it and if they had different expectations of you, it is their problem, not yours.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/24
| 558
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing my dissertation for master's degree course and I intend in the future to join a sandwich doctorate in my field.
Do you have any experience to share?
What advice would you suggest to me?<issue_comment>username_1: Sandwich doctorates are used in countries without developed higher education to bring their academic elite up to high international levels while limiting the costs. More importantly, since a full doctorate can last about five years, the graduates of a sandwich program will spend considerable time in their country and are less likely to grow roots in the host country. They can also maintain family ties better.
In Uruguay some ten years ago, the sandwich programs worked out well for all parties. The students would probably have become better researchers if they had stayed longer in their host institutions, but the goal was to develop the local capabilities.
In short, sandwich doctorates are a good, reasonable way for the student to get a good doctorate. In many cases, they would not be able to be accepted in the host program otherwise.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: First, I have no experience with this. But you asked for advice, also.
One consideration you will need to face is whether you get sufficient good advising, either locally or at the host institution, or preferably both. This is something you will probably need to work continuously to attain. Along with this, make sure that language isn't a serious issue.
Depending on what communication facilities are available you might also miss out on group discussions and seminars. This might matter or not, depending on local resources and also on your own ability to work independently. People differ greatly on that last point.
Second, since your field is Chemistry, you need to be assured that you will have adequate (lab) facilities to carry out any research. This might be easy or hard, depending on what is locally available to you, but make sure you know that you will have the needed materials.
Good luck.
---
Note that I taught in a doctoral program in which students were dispersed widely throughout the US (mostly). We met as a group once a month for the sorts of things that couldn't be done over the internet. It worked because we had a continuous connection among students and faculty in which all participated. It wasn't what you are looking at, but note that communication was key. (Labs weren't an issue as this was CS.)
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an undergraduate student in Biology located in Montreal, Canada. I've contacted a researcher at Stanford University and he's interested in hiring me. Since this is a very expensive place to live and he will not be paying me for my work, I'll rely only on scholarships and grants.
I'm still in the preliminary steps, but I have a few questions.
The main one is related to the tuition fees regarding such a work field. Since I won't be attending a semester as a student but will be an unpaid intern, will I need to pay fees to the university?
Second, I heard the university is responsible for providing the visa. Any approximation of how much such a visa costs?<issue_comment>username_1: The question about whether you would be considered a student and have to pay tuition has to be addressed to the researcher at Stanford. For the visa, you will need to have documentation and you will have to be able to show that you will have the money to pay for your stay. The costs of the visa will depend on the type of visa you are getting, which will depend on the type of agreement you will enter with the researcher. This needs to be brought up with the researcher as well. Stanford university has very good resources and has dealt with visa for students, permanent and visiting faculty, and so the researcher has better resources to answer these questions.
In general, Canadian citizens can stay in the US for up to six months without a visa, but if you are entering into something like a working relationship or something similar to a student relationship, a visa MIGHT be required. If the researcher enters into any type of agreement with you, Stanford University might want these matters to be cleared.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This sounds to me like a very, very bad idea to pursue.
>
> student in Biology ... he's interested in hiring me ... he will not be paying me for my work
>
>
>
Yes, it can be normal in biology for undergraduate students to work unpaid in labs, sometimes as volunteers, sometimes for course credit. The idea in these cases is that the value the student is providing the lab is nil or negative; any value the lab receives is worth no more than the cost of training provided. In these situations, too, the cost to the student to putting in a few hours work per week is not that high. It can be thought of like a lab course taken in a research lab rather than a standard lab course in chemistry/biology. Even then, there is some controversy over whether these positions should be allowed. My personal position is that it's okay up to a limit, as long as students are primarily *learning* and not primarily spending their time doing menial tasks.
In any event, **this situation doesn't apply to you.** You're talking about moving to a different country to work possibly full time *for free*. Don't do this! This isn't how any of this is supposed to work! Either your potential supervisor is taking advantage of you, in which case you definitely don't want to work with them, or there has been some huge misunderstanding (for example, maybe the professor assumed you're also a student at their university, or will be soon). Someone who is not going to be paying you for your work **is not interested in hiring you**, they're wanting your free labor.
You expect scholarships or grants? These are almost certainly not available to you. Any worthwhile scholarship or grant program is going to be funding **graduate students**, who have applied and been accepted to a graduate program. Graduate programs get lots of qualified applicants, and are mostly limited in how many they can accept by funds available. Unless you have a personal connection to someone that's going to give you personally a bundle of cash because they have money to spare and they have a personal interest in you (for example, they're rich and you're their nephew), this money doesn't meaningfully exist. Non-graduate students who are paid to work in biology labs are paid using research grants that their advisors get, usually from the government. If the professor in this lab won't pay you, you've already been denied the only reasonable expectations of funds.
I don't think it's worth addressing issues of visas, that's a likely obstacle but isn't even the most pressing one, which is that this is a very bad idea and won't work well for you.
Upvotes: 5
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2022/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I want to create a database of notes and previous exams for classes at my university, however, I am not sure if this is legal. I just want to know if this is OK or would I get a cease and desist or something similar from my university? And does posting the exams with/without answers make a difference?
Edit: Sincerely I didn't expect such quick responses and so many of them so thank you guys and thanks to all that may answer in advance. But also, I think I need to clarify some things to get a more concrete answer. First, I want to make clear that I will not charge anything for this website or access to it, second of all, I would change all the numbers of the questions, from say 2 + 2 to 7 + 5, and I don't think mathematics in any way shape or form can be copyrighted, of course exact wording and scenarios like Alice went can, but not something like prove the sum from 1 to n is (n(n+1))/2 or if it indeed is please point me to a US copyright law that says that. Per my understanding, "known, rational facts" cannot be copyrighted, since then you wouldn't even be able to do math to begin with because you'd be using way too many formulas written for other people.<issue_comment>username_1: "Legal" is a local question. Probably civic, not criminal, law. But it isn't appropriate. The questions were probably created by someone else and if there is any creative element in them, then they are likely covered by copyright, even if not explicitly stated. That could be a legal issue. Appropriateness, however, is a different, possibly more important, issue.
But, if they can be found, you are also subverting the educational process if you make cheating possible on reused questions. While professors probably should't reuse exam questions, the reality is that they do. Shortcuts taken for grades are seldom an educational/learning benefit for those who take them.
You could, of course, ask your professors for their position on this. They might agree or not. But it would be respectful to do so.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: * The legality of "creating a database" differ from country to country, and without knowing the details it is impossible to give an exact answer to your question.
* It may also depend on the purpose. Keeping info for personal use is probably fine; sharing it with others may violate the copyright.
* Your University may have its own rules on what is permitted for you as a student. For example, you may be granted free unrestricted access to a book, software license or electronic service, but you lose these rights when you complete your course and are no longer a student. If in doubt, ask your University first.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In all jurisdictions I know, professors (or in some cases their employers) retain copyrights over their exams, so unless the copyright holder themselves post the exams and you link to their site, it is illegal for you to repost unless you have permission.
The same holds for lecture notes or any other material, including third party material that may have been used by instructors (*v.g.* images, slides, audio contents etc.), especially as such material may be updated to remove obsolete material or correct errors.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: At my university, sharing course material without authorization is a fairly direct violation of our academic honesty policy.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: While I agree with most other answers regarding the copyright issue, I want to give a different perspective on "subverting the educational process" or "academic dishonesty": in my country and field of study, the student government had an offline repository of written accounts of oral exams and written exams. This is in fact one of the primary functions of that institution for most students. Some of the written exams were provided by the instructors, though typically without answers, to the student government. Other written exams would be handed to the students after grading, and the most successful ones were retained in the repository. In some cases, learning from these old exams was about the only way to understand the questions, unfortunately. In all cases, they were valuable tools for checking the study progress and useful practice. Note that all students were well aware of the material, which was provided either free of charge (written exams, you pay only for the copies) or for a "bottle return" fee (oral exam accounts, you get your money back after writing up your own).
Of course, if your institution handles this differently, then things are different. All of this to say: besides the copyright issue, there is also an issue of findability/accessibility. If only some students know about your repository, an unfair advantage may arise.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: It would definitely help if you state which country you are in.
As a (former) professor from Canada, yes it is extremely common for professors to re-use exams due to time constraints. In some cases, the professor may have never taught the course before (everyone has a first time) and has no material of their own.
In some universities, **midterms** are often returned to the student and used for study purposes, but publishing the midterm by the student would be a copyright violation of the professors intellectual property. At least in Canada, the professor OWNS the copyright to any material they produce, otherwise free and open research could never happen.
At my institution, **final exams** were never returned.
Unless you're in Germany (apparently), providing a copy of a past test to students currently taking the same course where it is likely known the questions will be re-used, can be seen as the same thing as looking at the exam before hand to know what questions will be on it. That may come down to a personal choice.
For-profit sites that contain previous tests are great for students, and terrible for professors. There are (I believe) professors who seek to have *their* material taken down from such sites because their permission was not given to publish it there. Is is more of a intellectual property stance and not specifically because they plan on re-using the questions.
If you go ahead and publish it, and you DO get a cease and desist letter from your university, wouldn't you stop publishing it? If so, then nothing else would happen.
Is it legal? Probably.
Should you? Probably not.
Your best course of action would be to simply post questions on the topic that *you* wrote. Then provide the answers if that is what you want to do.
And then you'll find out how hard it is to write different questions every 4 months to check for the same knowledge (varies by discipline of course).
It could also lead to a future money generator for you when you create a course on the topic (that you wrote) like all those bloggers out there. :)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: Although there are already answers that are on the mark, I have to add that, in the United States at least, every fraternity and sorority known to mankind has filing cabinets full of old exams. In fact, it would not surprise me in the least if they haven't scanned at least the newer ones and established a database just such as you are asking about.
What they have not done is *published* that database. My non-lawyer mind says that scanning might be fair use and so might not be a copyright violation but *publication* of such a database absolutely would be. Since you've included a "publication" tag on your question, I presume you intend to publish this database, possibly on the Internet.
In that case, the answer to your question is **No, it's not legal,** whether you get away with it or not. Someone else owns the copyright on those exams, and you have no right to publish them. It isn't even necessary to debate who owns that copyright, whether professor, university, book publisher, or someone else. To address an addition to your question, it also doesn't make any difference that you do not plan to charge for access. It is the act of *publication* that creates the copyright violation.
I'm retired, but I used to put copyright notices on my exams to try to frustrate outfits like Chegg and Course Hero who collect such material (that they haven't created) and charge for access to it. It doesn't stop them, but if I win the lottery I'll sue them into oblivion!
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently received an email asking to review for a *reputable* journal (I recognize the journal, and the person listed as Associate Editor is listed as an associate editor on the journal's editorial board).
I am not currently in a graduate program nor do I have a doctoral degree. However, I was a co-author of a single publication a few years ago, and I still work in research in a related field with a master's degree. I had never heard of someone who does not currently possess a terminal degree nor working towards one being asked to review. How common is it?
In addition, the email came to my work email, but it is not associated with the published article, and I did not have an account with them.
How do editors find potential reviewers and/or their contact information?<issue_comment>username_1: There are a number of ways to identify reviewers
First, the journal may ask authors for so-called preferred reviewers, which are suggestions for reviewers.
Second, the editor, who likely is an expert in the field, may recognise experts to contact for reviews.
Thirdly, by looking into the reference list of a manuscript it may be clear who is behind the bulk of science on which the manuscript relies.
Fourth, a publisher with whom a journal is published may provide a database of reviewers who have contributed in the past according to a set of key words or expertise from which the editor may retreive useful contacts.
Thus, an editor relies on knowledge of the field, the basis upon which a study is built and indirect information from the manuscript and the journal or publisher.
As for contact information, that is a relatively simple task to extract from the sources of information from which the reviewer identity is extracted.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I add one more option to the previous answer: Most journals are desperate to find just **anyone** to review for their articles as they expect reviewers to work for free. Fewer and fewer people are willing to work for free as journals make massive profits while expecting everybody else to work for free. This is why journals spam pretty much anyone who ever left an academic email address anywhere with review requests. I get tons of review requests for completely unrelated fields.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I imagine the editor found the article you wrote, googled to see if you were still in research, and found you listed somewhere with your current work information. It quite often happens that I get requests via my current work email and not one associated with relevant papers.
It's certainly unusual (at least in my discipline) for someone neither having a doctoral degree nor working towards one to be asked to review. But that is because it is unusual for someone in that situation to be a suitable reviewer, and not because editors make any effort to avoid it. In this case it seems clear that you are a suitable reviewer, and I don't imagine an editor would feel the need to check whether you have a PhD.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Back when I handled a journal, the most common method I used to find reviewers was to search Web of Science for related articles and invite the authors of those articles. Any submission to the journal will include an abstract, possibly keywords. Those keywords enable a Web of Science search for related articles, and as a bonus those related articles usually come with the contact information of their corresponding authors.
One of the upsides to doing it this way is that you avoid having to invite author-suggested reviewers (c.f. [potential bias](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2954795/)), although sometimes an author-suggested reviewer will show up in the Web of Science search anyway (which is a sign that the method is working!). Another upside is that Web of Science has some analytics tools to see which authors are writing the most articles, who is citing who, and so on. A third upside is that you typically end up with so many potential reviewers that you never overload or overuse any of them.
Downsides are sometimes you end up reaching people who, like you, may no longer be in the field or may no longer be research-active. It's possible to find things like this out by Google, but it's time-consuming especially if the name is common (especially the case for 2-character Chinese names). For the same reason it's possible to reach people who might not be very experienced in the field even though they've written a few articles in it.
In your case the invitation reached your work email that's not related to the published article. That makes it more likely it's a recommendation as opposed to a direct search. It could, for example, be that the original reviewer they invited declined, and recommended you. Still, possibilities abound; it's not possible to eliminate all the alternatives.
**Edit**: About this -
>
> In addition, the email came to my work email, but it is not associated with the published article, and I did not have an account with them.
>
>
>
It's possible another reviewer declined and suggested you, using that email address. It's also possible they identified you as a reviewer, and then Googled for your email address.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The editor contacted some potential reviewers, asking them to review the paper or to at least forward him the contacts of someone that may be able to give a meaningful review.
One of your former co-authors may have thought of you as a possible good reviewer, forwarding the editor your contacts.
Be honored of the consideration your former co-authors have of you, then think carefully if you would be able (time-wise, mostly) to perform the review...
Side note: the only terminal degree you can get is a certificate of death.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Some people will just get your e-mail and not care too much. Twice I have been invited to review for a journal in social sciences associated with Springer, presumably because someone found my e-mail address (surname)@(institute abbreviation).(university domain) somewhere and mistook me for a person X with the same surname. They seemingly didn't care to check that in that e-mail address part belongs to an institute of physics and the university domain to a university X was never affiliated to. Funny things... But an exception, I believe (and hope).
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I read some email about some paper submission:
>
> Here are potential COIs [Conflicts of Interest] found by our automated tool, which uses DBLP to detect recent coauthorships: [Alice, Bob]. Per [conference name] submission guidelines, it is the full responsibility of all authors of a paper to identify and declare all COIs, and we reserve the right to desk-reject submissions with undeclared conflicts or spurious conflicts.
>
>
>
Why would a conference desk-reject submissions with undeclared conflicts based on COIs automatically found on [DBLP](https://dblp.org/) instead of using these COIs to choose proper reviewers?
(The dblp.org website is a database of authorship information for computer science publications.)<issue_comment>username_1: You/They did not follow the rules and got sanctioned for it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: While the answer by username_1 is correct, I guess a deeper question is why the conference would even ask the authors about COIs if it has a way to automatically extract them.
The reason, quite simply, is that not all COIs are visible from DBLP. DBLP does not index all papers, and there are other types of COIs that are not directly observable from co-authored papers. In practice, it's almost impossible to get around authors self-declaring COIs, and it's crucial to get them to do so carefully and truthfully. I suspect the conference's somewhat draconian response is a reaction to that - authors failing to declare obvious COIs is not a light matter, as it calls into question which other COIs they failed to declare (which are not visible from DBLP).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_1: A conference needs to proceed in a timely manner. The conflict of interest are needed to select reviewers. If a reviewer is asked to review (at a top conference they might have already agreed to review N papers at this time) and finds a conflict of interest, the reviewer will inform the chair of the program committee and the paper needs to be reassigned to another reviewer. What is easy for a small conference with less than one hundred submissions becomes an administrative nightmare with more than a thousand submissions.
Even with a small conference, there is no time to go out and start recruiting reviewers after submissions. That is why there are program committees, which might or not might give discretion to assigned reviewers to assign to sub-reviewers (in their research group) or recruit other sub-reviewers outside. Usually, shortly after the submission deadline, reviewers are invited to bid on papers (in which they declare their confidence in being able to do a good job at reviewing for a particular paper). Papers with a conflict of interest are usually already excluded for a particular reviewer from bidding. During this phase, reviewers can also state conflicts of interest. After the bidding phase (usually a few days), a typically automatic assignment of papers to reviewers is made, giving reviewers a relatively short time window to prepare the reviews. For conferences with a very large number of submissions, this process needs to be modified. Instead of bidding on papers, the conference might choose a different mechanism, such as assigning papers and reviewers to sub-topics.
Not declaring conflicts of interests interferes with this process. It is not the task of the conference organizers to do the conflict of interest declaration. Automatic tools are actually dangerous. People publish under different names, change affiliations, and there are even people with the same or similar names in the same field. The current process has enough informal safe-guards to deal with difficulties arising from the difficulties of identifying conflicts of interests.
There is also a concern in the community about various forms of manipulations. There have been cases of groups of scientists helping each other to get published by manipulating the peer review process. Openly declaring conflicts of interests is our duty as submitters in a peer-reviewed conference.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I am from Spain and I recently graduated from a masters degree here and now I'm applying for a PhD in the US. I'm having a hard time finding people who will write me a letter of recommendation for my PhD application. I already have two (one from my thesis supervisor and another from a counselor) but I need at least one more and I'm running out of options. I did a couple of internships a long time ago (both in 2019) and I asked my supervisors but none of them replied to my email, they weren't very involved in the research so there's a great chance that they don't even remember me or the work I did, and I don't want to insist too much. Is it alright to ask coworkers or postdocs that supervised my work? I think I have these options:
Person A: Professor with whom I took two classes last year and was on my master's thesis' evaluation committee, so she knows me from class even though I didn't participate much but I got good grades, and she has read and evaluated my research work, but she doesn't know much about me in a lab context.
Person B: Lab technician with whom I worked recently during my master's thesis and can say good things about me and my work but will definitely be weaker than a professor's.
Person C: A coworker of one of the internships (long time ago) that supervised my work (she has a PhD). She remembers me and will say positive things but the field is not very related to my current field.
Who would better support my application? Any other suggestions?
Thank you so much.<issue_comment>username_1: You/They did not follow the rules and got sanctioned for it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: While the answer by username_1 is correct, I guess a deeper question is why the conference would even ask the authors about COIs if it has a way to automatically extract them.
The reason, quite simply, is that not all COIs are visible from DBLP. DBLP does not index all papers, and there are other types of COIs that are not directly observable from co-authored papers. In practice, it's almost impossible to get around authors self-declaring COIs, and it's crucial to get them to do so carefully and truthfully. I suspect the conference's somewhat draconian response is a reaction to that - authors failing to declare obvious COIs is not a light matter, as it calls into question which other COIs they failed to declare (which are not visible from DBLP).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_1: A conference needs to proceed in a timely manner. The conflict of interest are needed to select reviewers. If a reviewer is asked to review (at a top conference they might have already agreed to review N papers at this time) and finds a conflict of interest, the reviewer will inform the chair of the program committee and the paper needs to be reassigned to another reviewer. What is easy for a small conference with less than one hundred submissions becomes an administrative nightmare with more than a thousand submissions.
Even with a small conference, there is no time to go out and start recruiting reviewers after submissions. That is why there are program committees, which might or not might give discretion to assigned reviewers to assign to sub-reviewers (in their research group) or recruit other sub-reviewers outside. Usually, shortly after the submission deadline, reviewers are invited to bid on papers (in which they declare their confidence in being able to do a good job at reviewing for a particular paper). Papers with a conflict of interest are usually already excluded for a particular reviewer from bidding. During this phase, reviewers can also state conflicts of interest. After the bidding phase (usually a few days), a typically automatic assignment of papers to reviewers is made, giving reviewers a relatively short time window to prepare the reviews. For conferences with a very large number of submissions, this process needs to be modified. Instead of bidding on papers, the conference might choose a different mechanism, such as assigning papers and reviewers to sub-topics.
Not declaring conflicts of interests interferes with this process. It is not the task of the conference organizers to do the conflict of interest declaration. Automatic tools are actually dangerous. People publish under different names, change affiliations, and there are even people with the same or similar names in the same field. The current process has enough informal safe-guards to deal with difficulties arising from the difficulties of identifying conflicts of interests.
There is also a concern in the community about various forms of manipulations. There have been cases of groups of scientists helping each other to get published by manipulating the peer review process. Openly declaring conflicts of interests is our duty as submitters in a peer-reviewed conference.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I was reading through the post [Is it possible to work full time and complete a PhD](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8747/is-it-possible-to-work-full-time-and-complete-a-phd) and had a few follow up questions:
(1) I read somewhere that one can complete a PhD without funding from a TAship or RAship, getting that funding from one's full-time employment instead. Is this allowed by most (US) universities?
(2) Likewise are fellowships/grants such as NSF awarded to those with full-time employment? I couldn't seem to find anything explicitly to the contrary on the web, except I am unsure if 'fully-engaged' in one's graduate program includes TAship/RAship particpation; can anyone speak to this?
Basically, I am interested in substituting departmental funding for an external job, yet curious about having it both ways -- still getting an external fellowship (obviously this is contingent upon many things, but I am curious about the possibility). My field is math (probably pure, but perhaps applied.
**This is not a question about stress/workload/work-life balance**, which are addressed pretty handily in the linked question, simply about what would generally be possible or impossible.<issue_comment>username_1: That's going to depend on which field you're in, the scope of your research, how many hours it ***really*** takes per week including shared responsibilities that come with the position, how many hours the job demands, how much of your personal life you are willing to sacrifice, how much sleep you need, and whether you are willing to graduate so burned out that you can't begin to think of getting a job in the field you've put so much work into.
And on how many years of tuition you are willing and able to pay while pursuing this degree.
And on whether you can find a research topic that overlaps with your job responsibilities enough that management is willing to support it.
And...
Sorry if this isn't the answer you wanted, but you made the question quite precise (thank you) and the answer is:
Is it possible? Sure, with low probability.
Whether it's practical, or possible in your specific case, is a different question, with no general answer.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Your situation (1) happens with the equivalent of a research assistantship funded by some company; this is common in fields where companies want to hire PhD students to do projects for them, and not common elsewhere. Otherwise you're just a person taking your own salary and spending it on a graduate program; that might happen especially for students who have already exceeded funding limits but still want to graduate, but it's a really bad idea to try to start out that way. Individual programs might allow it anyways.
For (2) you'll have to check for any specific funding stream, but generally I would expect you will not find policies that say "you can't work", but *will* see policies that state you need to be fully dedicated to research or something along those lines, and that it's up to your institution to make sure you're following those guidelines (in the US, the government generally tasks academic institutions with the administrative burden of making sure their money is spent well). I'd expect any reasonable university policy to say that holding a whole additional full-time job would *not* permit students to direct their full effort towards their studies.
For example, from this Q&A: <https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13084/nsf13084.pdf>
>
> I am on Tenure; may I participate in paid/unpaid activities?
>
>
> Fellows are expected to devote full time to advanced scientific study or work during tenure.
> However, because it is generally accepted that teaching or similar activity constitutes a valuable
> part of the education and training of many graduate students, a Fellow may choose to undertake a
> reasonable amount of such teaching or similar activity, without NSF approval. It is expected that
> furtherance of the Fellow's educational objectives and the gain of substantive teaching or other
> experience, not service to the institution as such, will govern such activities.
> Compensation for such activities is determined by the GRFP institution and is based on the institution's general employment policies. Fellows are required to check with their GRFP institution about specific policies pertaining to GRFP fellowship and paid activities.
>
>
>
>
> I am on Tenure; may I work an outside job?
>
>
> Outside employment is not governed by the NSF. Fellows should check with their CO about specific institution policies.
>
>
>
("on Tenure" here means "actively being paid by the fellowship")
It's not normal for people to do a full-time job and separately do full-time PhD work; it's impossible to do both at a high level. Don't dismiss these concerns about stress/work/life balance just because you think you can do it: the warnings exist because of all the people who thought they could but couldn't.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Individual university and fellowship policies will vary. In general, when on Fellowship, I have seen that limited outside employment (10 hours per week) is permitted.
Here is the UCLA policy that tends to follow that pattern (p14-15)- <https://grad.ucla.edu/asis/stusup/gradsupport.pdf>
In general, I think most PhD programs (and most PhD advisors) would not be accommodating to students working full time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I'll only address your first question. I'll assume that you're talking about an "academic" PhD from an R1, not a program specifically aimed at working professionals.
The key point is that tuition remission is normally tied to the TAship / RAship / fellowship, not tied to your admission. So, you would have to:
1. work your regular job;
2. do your grad school work, which is easily another full time job; and,
3. pay tuition (~$40K/year).
If you're willing to do this, will they let you? Most schools probably don't have a firm policy for such an edge case; you'd have to ask them. I suspect the top schools would decline, while the lower-ranked schools might be interested and might even offer some reasonable accommodation (e.g., a partial or full tuition remission).
>
> I read somewhere...
>
>
>
I *suspect* what you read was a special case in which you could "double dip" -- i.e., the work you do during your day job is relevant to (or is) your thesis. In particular, some universities have established industry partnerships and the funding is already worked out. For example, [Northeastern University's experiential PhD](https://phd.northeastern.edu/experiential-phd-partners/). But in these cases: (1) the affiliation between your employer and the university would probably have to exist already; you probably won't be able to create the affiliation yourself, and (2) within your company, the "job" may be classified as an internship, with a corresponding salary.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The goal of a PhD program is to train you to be a researcher in an academic institution. Part of that is coursework, part is teaching, and part is learning how to research and performing original research. What you are asking for is rare for PhD programs, but I have seen the self funding model for Master degree programs.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently applied to a PhD program (computational chemistry) in the United Kingdom. I am from the United Kingdom and I have autism. I have asked this question because I would like to build a scaffold of sorts as due to my autism I find it easier to understand when I have things planned in advance and know what to expect. I have listed below some of the things I am aware of and I would greatly appreciate if someone could point out things I may have missed or expand on the parts below (or both).
* From my understanding, my main priority is my research project.
* However, I've read online that people publish and review papers
during their PhD. Is this something I should be doing and how do I go
about doing it?
* Also, I've read people go to conferences, network and present their
research. How do I know which conferences to go to and the best way to network?
* Also, will I have time during the first year to familiarise myself with the research material?<issue_comment>username_1: In a doctoral program you aren't a fish swimming alone. You will have assistance in the second and third bullet points. If you choose the right advisor and learn to interact with them well then they will advise you on lots of these things, including your research. With autism, that communication may be a difficult task until/unless you learn to master it.
Other students in the program can also be a resource, pointing you to things, say. But it requires communication.
Many of the tasks you learn by doing; reading, reviewing, writing. Don't worry that you don't start out with those skills. They are attained over time with practice.
The program is usually structured so that you have time for all of the important tasks, but you will be very busy and need to manage time effectively. But, through any available coursework, reading, and research you want to become a (novice) expert in your field. It can be done.
One problem you might actually wind up with is being too focused. Take time for your physical and mental health.
At any university you wind up at look to see if they have a counseling office that can give advice on managing autism. You aren't alone among academics by the way. Many top academics/researchers are on the spectrum. They have found ways to interact with people so that it isn't obvious. Some are quite famous speakers, actually.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I already gave username_1 a thumbs-up. Just want to add some other stuff. The advice username_1 gives about getting assistance is very good.
Most PhDs have course work plus a thesis. While you are doing your course work you may or may not have a lot of free time. One class I took was given by a brand-new fresh-caught assistant prof. He had something to show us. He was proud that his one class managed to keep all the PhD students in our subject completely occupied for 3 straight months. One of his homework assignments took everybody in the class a full 60 hours to finish. The take-home final exam consumed about 80 hours of my time, and I was about in the middle for effort. We loved it and bragged about how much work we had done. Your mileage may vary.
Happily, the bullet-point items you list go together quite well.
For example, many people find that an excellent way to organize thoughts in your own mind is to write them down in a way that can be understood by others. Making it clear for others makes it clear for you. So writing journal articles and doing research are usually thought of as a very good pairing, even a required pairing.
Conferences are another form of this. Preparing a paper for presentation forces you to do another "run through." It may uncover things you didn't see the first however-many times you went through it. It's a different focus, a different light.
Seeing what other people are doing is also interesting. It may give you ideas about research you could do. Or it may just be interesting to know something you did not know before.
Conferences are also about contacts. Science has an aspect of exchanging ideas with other people. And it has the aspect of getting a job after your PhD. So brush up your social interaction skills and see if you can meet somebody at that conference. If they like your presentation maybe you can get a post-doc position with them.
Reading research journals is useful, even necessary. If you don't know the general trends of research in your field you are apt to try to publish stuff that has already been beaten to death.
Probably you can't read the entire literature in depth. Not unless you are truly unusually fast. Maybe start by looking at the table of contents, then read more detail in articles that seem to be interesting to your work.
You might try starting with some review articles. Depending on your field there will be journals that specialize in them. These are survey articles that give "the state of the art." You can also look for reports produced by working groups at various universities or labs. You can likely find reports from various labs and experiments that explain what they have been up to recently, and what they hope to do in the near future.
Upvotes: -1
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2022/10/26
| 1,013
| 4,156
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<issue_start>username_0: The other day I was reading a paper on IEEE. To access the paper I needed to sign in through my institution. On the bottom of the paper, it read:
>
> Accessed through [my institution name] at Oct 24, 9:30 PM
>
>
>
Will my institution be able to see all the papers I'm reading?<issue_comment>username_1: Since you are using your institution's network, yes, they could see all of your internet activity, including your accesses to the digital library of IEEE. But it is rather unlikely they would bother.
If your university wanted, they can use a man-in-the-middle attacks when establishing an SSL connection by using their own certificates. Some corporations with high security needs do this. They would need to get you to install a root certificate for this. Otherwise, they can tell the sites to which you go.
If you access the library via a token provided by the university via the log in through your institution, they can keep track of the token and its destination.
However, at least in the US, librarians will fight tooth and nails to dissuade the institution from getting this information while accessing library functions.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: **Yes they can**.
Your institutional library uses data on what papers you're reading to decide which journals to subscribe to.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Your library will get aggregate data from the publishers along the lines of "in this month, 473 user sessions read 621 papers on the service". (The standard for this is [COUNTER](https://www.projectcounter.org/), and I assume IEEE use it). They won't be told "at 5.11 am on Sunday 20th, Steve downloaded..."
However, that data does exist, somewhere. If you are going through your university network there are situations in which it could in theory be identified from their logs, in much the same way that they could tell you then read a news story and finished for the day. The same is true for your home internet connection, but the widespread use of secure HTTPS connections make this level of detailed visibility less common than it used to be.
If you are signing in through Shibboleth authentication or similar, the university will know that you were authenticated for that provider at a particular time, but may not exactly know what items you read. (I would have to dig into the mechanism to be confident either way here). The publisher will also have a log of what you read, and that you were an authenticated user from X, but probably not precisely who you are.
It is vanishingly unlikely (and probably, in many jurisdictions, illegal) for this information to be used other than for things like troubleshooting and tracing abuse, however. So no-one is going to get sent a file of 'here's everything the department read this week, we highlighted Steve'.
But *if* there are problems, someone might well get an email that says 'user STEVE logged in from a weird looking Moldovan IP and downloaded 5000 papers in ten minutes last night, so the system then shut the account out, you should probably look into this before we reenable it'.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: The counting statistics not only applies to publications (as in *primary* literature), but equally to databases your school then may highlight e.g., as *top* in a given specialty (example [University of Vienna](https://usearch.univie.ac.at/primo-explore/dbsearch?query=contains,dbcategory,&tab=jsearch_slot&sortby=title&vid=UWI&lang=en_US&offset=0&databases=category,Chemie)), *most useful* (example [University of Geneva](https://www.unige.ch/biblio/en/disciplines/chemistry-and-biochemistry/articles-journals-databases/)), or *recommended* (example [Polytechnique Montréal](https://libguides.biblio.polymtl.ca/az.php?s=93507)). And if the electronic catalogue does not display these on the library's web site, beside the subscription fee, the number of accesses per license period and database still are arguments to (dis)continue the provision of access to all on campus' network, or only to the few interested groups of a department (perhaps especially if groups/schools do not team up).
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/26
| 1,065
| 4,297
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<issue_start>username_0: I need to italicize a word in the title of my submission. In the final preview page before submission on arXiv, the word is not being italicized rather I see:
>
> \textit{word}
>
>
>
This is the case for both title and abstract. Screenshot:
[arXiv submission page](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kUqzT.png)
Is there a solution for this?
For reference, <https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.01521> has some LaTex text in the title.<issue_comment>username_1: Since you are using your institution's network, yes, they could see all of your internet activity, including your accesses to the digital library of IEEE. But it is rather unlikely they would bother.
If your university wanted, they can use a man-in-the-middle attacks when establishing an SSL connection by using their own certificates. Some corporations with high security needs do this. They would need to get you to install a root certificate for this. Otherwise, they can tell the sites to which you go.
If you access the library via a token provided by the university via the log in through your institution, they can keep track of the token and its destination.
However, at least in the US, librarians will fight tooth and nails to dissuade the institution from getting this information while accessing library functions.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: **Yes they can**.
Your institutional library uses data on what papers you're reading to decide which journals to subscribe to.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Your library will get aggregate data from the publishers along the lines of "in this month, 473 user sessions read 621 papers on the service". (The standard for this is [COUNTER](https://www.projectcounter.org/), and I assume IEEE use it). They won't be told "at 5.11 am on Sunday 20th, Steve downloaded..."
However, that data does exist, somewhere. If you are going through your university network there are situations in which it could in theory be identified from their logs, in much the same way that they could tell you then read a news story and finished for the day. The same is true for your home internet connection, but the widespread use of secure HTTPS connections make this level of detailed visibility less common than it used to be.
If you are signing in through Shibboleth authentication or similar, the university will know that you were authenticated for that provider at a particular time, but may not exactly know what items you read. (I would have to dig into the mechanism to be confident either way here). The publisher will also have a log of what you read, and that you were an authenticated user from X, but probably not precisely who you are.
It is vanishingly unlikely (and probably, in many jurisdictions, illegal) for this information to be used other than for things like troubleshooting and tracing abuse, however. So no-one is going to get sent a file of 'here's everything the department read this week, we highlighted Steve'.
But *if* there are problems, someone might well get an email that says 'user STEVE logged in from a weird looking Moldovan IP and downloaded 5000 papers in ten minutes last night, so the system then shut the account out, you should probably look into this before we reenable it'.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: The counting statistics not only applies to publications (as in *primary* literature), but equally to databases your school then may highlight e.g., as *top* in a given specialty (example [University of Vienna](https://usearch.univie.ac.at/primo-explore/dbsearch?query=contains,dbcategory,&tab=jsearch_slot&sortby=title&vid=UWI&lang=en_US&offset=0&databases=category,Chemie)), *most useful* (example [University of Geneva](https://www.unige.ch/biblio/en/disciplines/chemistry-and-biochemistry/articles-journals-databases/)), or *recommended* (example [Polytechnique Montréal](https://libguides.biblio.polymtl.ca/az.php?s=93507)). And if the electronic catalogue does not display these on the library's web site, beside the subscription fee, the number of accesses per license period and database still are arguments to (dis)continue the provision of access to all on campus' network, or only to the few interested groups of a department (perhaps especially if groups/schools do not team up).
Upvotes: 2
|
2022/10/26
| 555
| 2,510
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<issue_start>username_0: My coauthors and I have submitted a paper to a fairly prestigious journal. We have received favorable reviews and were in the process of incorporating the reviewer's suggestions into the final revision.
Unfortunately, a few days ago a crank paper was published in the very same journal. The paper received a whole lot of publicity, and has severely damaged the journal's reputation. We no longer have confidence in it.
We plan to withdraw our paper and submit it to another, more reputable journal. However, we are not sure how to go about this, since the current version of the paper already contains acknowledgements pertaining to the anonymous reviewers (who have done stellar work) and their suggestions.
>
> What's the appropriate way to acknowledge these reviewers in the new submission? Should we submit a new version of the paper to the new journal, leaving out the acknowledgements to avoid confusion? Should we leave them in and write a letter to the editor of the new journal explaining the circumstances? Something else altogether?
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: I would not rush to withdraw the paper. "A few days" does not seem to me time enough to know that the "prestigious journal"'s reputation will be "severely damaged".
Since the paper has not been finally accepted, it can't be published until you submit the revised version. Wait a while to see the dust settle. Talk to colleagues. Then decide whether to withdraw.
If you do withdraw and resubmit elsewhere you can acknowledge the contribution of reviewers of an early version of your paper.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If the editor who handled the paper is an editor at multiple journals, you could ask if they would consider let you withdraw and submit it at their other journal in which case they would just use the same referee reports. It's not unusual for referee reports to be transferred like this. You could also ask for them to send the referee info to another editor at another journal, but that's a little riskier because they could be offended.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: You acknowledge the referees by writing **"We thank anonymous reviewers for important and insightful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript."**
This is no different whether your paper was previously rejected from another journal, you withdrew it from another journal, or whether the reviewers worked for the journal where your work is ultimately published.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2022/10/27
| 290
| 1,236
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<issue_start>username_0: I need to inquire about the expected date for the final decision as I sent the minor revisions since one month . should I message `Editor-in-Chief` or `Journals Editorial Office (JEO)`. what is the time expected between sending minor revision and the final decision in general, please ?<issue_comment>username_1: In my experience, a person who works as a general manager or coordinator for the editorial office is most likely to be able to give you some updates or information. However, I do think this also varies by journal. But I generally default to whoever I was communicating most with, like Buffy mentioned.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: When in doubt, message the journal editorial office.
If you were mistaken and should have messaged the editor-in-chief instead, then the worst that can happen is the editorial office will forward your message to the editor-in-chief, potentially losing a day's worth of time (but not much more, since the editorial staff work full-time and will see and act on your message quickly). On the other hand, editor-in-chiefs are wont to delay longer, because they are busy people and are not likely to be work on the journal full-time.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/10/27
| 621
| 2,682
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's say that while browsing the Internet, I come across a font that I genuinely like and decide to use it in my thesis or my academic research article that will be published. Should I care about if it would be correctly licensed or not?
For instance, it might be a licensed font that I'm unaware of that I discovered while browsing a random website. What if the font's name and all other meta data are altered such that I am unable to determine its true identity, creator, etc.?<issue_comment>username_1: It's a really bad idea to do anything that can be seen as dishonesty or misconduct in your thesis.
If you want to use a commercial font, buy a license. If you like your thesis to look good, it may be worth the money. Otherwise use fonts that can be used free of charge.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, you should care for other people's rights, including other people's intellectual property. In particular, you should not ignore license agreements when you download and install software, including computer fonts.
There are many ways to go around the copyright / software IP protection, and your question mentions some of them. This is technically possible, and depending on your luck and attitude of people around you, you may or may not get away with it on one or several occasions. However, violating other people's rights is wrong, even if you do not face consequences instantly. Please do not expect us to approve of or support such decisions.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It might not be the same for you, but for me, worrying about fonts for the dissertation was a classic sign of self-distraction!
Your university probably has strict formatting requirements for dissertations, which may rule out choosing your own font. Certainly, any publisher will require your article to use their journal's font.
Ultimately, in most academic settings, you can only control the fonts you use to write privately, or the fonts you use if you put anything up on a personal website. Whether you steal the fonts you use to write privately is, I suppose up to you, but I recommend against it.
Stealing fonts to display your work publically is a really bad idea, for the reasons the other answers go into. Also (as a thought experiment) because you'd be rightly annoyed if a font designer grabbed pages of your dissertation to use as the sample text advertising their typography without crediting you, and so fair is fair.
To answer your question about trying to identify a font found in the wild, this page has some good resources:
<https://www.creativebloq.com/typography/best-font-identifiers>
Good luck with the diss!
Upvotes: 4
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2022/10/27
| 1,748
| 7,260
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm attending university 100% online. I have the same professor for three classes, which are all structured the same way. Every week there is assigned reading, videos, and a discussion board post with a prompt written by her. We have to make an original post, reply to any comments and comment on other's posts a minimum of 6 times spread over 3 days. And we also must submit a weekly journal reflection after all assignments and posts are complete. I'm in week 10 of doing this, times 3. The instructions say to summarize what we've learned this week and to tell her if we are struggling, and it's okay to occasionally vent. She's commented on my submissions several times and given me positive feedback. I never really vent, but I have told her when I've been struggling with certain parts of the class. This last week I wrote a short reflection, first saying what we were focusing on this week, then commenting that I'm feeling overwhelmed with all the new terms because there are so many. I said, "but I am trusting the process and will continue to go through the lessons one at a time." she graded me 7 out of 10 points, which was really surprising. Then she sent a comment that began fine, just saying she's sorry I'm struggling. But then this :
>
> <NAME>. It isn't necessary to waste your time reiterating the content of each lesson--your takeaways are what's important if you have any.
> Are you okay? One week you are kind and appear happy and the next week you act as though you want to tear my head off. Is there anything I can do to help?
>
>
>
I'm very confused by this. I replied saying this :
>
> I'm super confused by this question! I have no desire to tear your head off! If I've said anything to give that impression, I am very sorry. Please let me know where I may have misstepped.
>
>
>
She has not responded at all, though she did comment on my post in the discussion board last night. I don't know what to think. I've been racking my brain trying to see where my reflections sounded angry or anything and I have nothing.
Should I just try and forget about it? Or should I request a zoom meeting to discuss the misunderstanding?<issue_comment>username_1: My attention is focused on this comment, which I see very often in different guises: "I've been racking my brain trying to see where my reflections sounded angry or anything and I have nothing." This might not be the right thing to check. This may be privileged on my behalf, but it seems stressful to review all your communication for nuances that may be inaccurate or inadvertent - especially if you are trying to hide real feelings. Please recognize you send nonverbal cues that are likely beyond your control, unless you are a professional actor or salesperson. I would consider evaluating the content of your own feelings (which will get expressed one way or another) rather than your messages for nuance that may simply not exist. Are you stressed? Or mad at the professor? If so, that's allowed - some of my favorite students are mad at me (the last test had a too-hard essay).
Professors generally can tell if you are struggling - or at least, they think they can. I also get the sense you are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. These feelings are okay - there are resources for you at your school usually available through councilors. I consider stress a practical matter that must be attended to, much like food, shelter, and water. Some people do not get the help they need (whatever form that might be) and they also fail to thrive as a result. Please take care of yourself.
In your particular case, I believe the professor is offering you an olive branch by allowing you to lower your workload - "You don't need to summarize each of these." It doesn't appear to be a criticism of your existing work. I see your response is apologetic - this is a valid response, but reminds me that you are probably under a lot of stress.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In my experience, it has always been fruitful to clarify misunderstandings in a meeting, and moreover it develops your relationship with your professor. In short, try not to worry/overthink too much about it (stop racking your brain!), since that will not be fruitful, but I do think it's a good idea to request a Zoom meeting to have a discussion.
You'll have the chance to clarify your comments and emphasize that you trust the process even if you are struggling. You'll also have a chance to jointly figure out if there is anything your professor can do to help you, or anything you can do differently (your professor may give you useful learning advice!) As one example, I do not personally know if this is an outstanding question for you, but you can also clarify the difference between reiterating content and takeaways, and ask for examples of the desired summary format. Or you can clarify what you could have done better next time to improve your score from a 7/10.
Professors are people too, and they are generally particularly time-crunched and stressed as well. Your professor may not have had the time to really take in all your words and perhaps only the negative ones stuck (there are a plethora of human negativity biases). Your professor may even have been hungry at the time! Thus, taking the chance to clarify things will be helpful for your professor as well, in the case that your professor has accidentally developed an incorrect assessment of the situation or misread you.
Since your professor has already kindly asked if there is any way to help, I am sure a Zoom meeting will be welcome.
Edit: I think it may even be possible that the professor was making a dry joke or being hyperbolic and it landed poorly. Nevertheless, you will probably benefit from a meeting. Office hours are a highlight of both a student's and an educator's experience.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think **you're focusing on the wrong part of the message**. Let's look at what she wrote:
1. "It isn't necessary to waste your time reiterating the content of each lesson--your takeaways are what's important if you have any."
2. "Are you okay? One week you are kind and appear happy and the next week you act as though you want to tear my head off. Is there anything I can do to help?"
The first part is useful feedback, take it to heart. It means less work for you, less work for her, making you both happier.
The second part **is not criticism, it's an offer for help**! "To tear someone's head of" is a [hyperbolic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole) figure of speech, nothing more, nothing less. If she had known how much her choice of words distressed you, she would have likely used a different (weaker) metaphor. If it helps, imagine her smiling playfully while saying this, or imagine that she said (more boringly) "...and the next week you appear unhappy and struggling". Be generous and cut her some slack: Getting non-verbal communication right is hard, and professors are just as human and fallible as we are.
Thus, my advice is to ignore that ill-chosen phrase and focus **on the real content** of the message: "Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?" So... are you okay? And is there anything she can do to help?
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/28
| 1,191
| 4,952
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<issue_start>username_0: The title is a bit long but let me explain. I am a final year undergraduate student and am currently applying for a PhD in my field. All the universities I am applying to require three letters of recommendation (LoR). My supervisor for my Bachelors Thesis is writing me one letter and a Professor with whom I did a summer internship is writing me the other, so in total I have two research supervisors writing me a letter each.
Now for the third LoR I am a bit confused about whom to ask. Here are my options:
1. Professor A: I got an average grade (my grade was 7, and 10 is the highest you can get) in his class but I have had a lot of interactions with him since that class. Basically when I was looking for research groups to apply to (in his field), he guided me a lot and recommended many groups and put me in touch with one of his colleagues. I also approached him when I wanted to learn some advanced topics and he gave me some papers to read, and we will be having discussions on them.
2. Professor B: He is the faculty advisor of my class (as in he signs some of our official documents and things like that). I have done two courses with him, one of which I got a 9 grade (few people got a 9 or a 10 because the course was tough) and an 8 in the other. The first course had a project and my team was adjudged to have the best presentation in that class. I have also had some interactions with him but they were mostly unrelated to course material. He also did help me out a bit with figuring out how to apply to grad schools.
3. Professor C: I did very well in her course (10) and also did a course project with her. But that course was around two years ago and I don't know if she remembers me because I haven't interacted with her since then.
I was initially inclined to ask Professor A since I have a good rapport with him but I don't know if I should ask him because I hadn't done very well in his course, so I don't know if he would write me a strong LoR.
What should I do?<issue_comment>username_1: Don't hesitate and ask to professor directly.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You may be able to ask your two research supervisors for advice on this matter.
In any case, you can ask professors A,B,C if they would be willing to write you a STRONG letter. If you ask them to be brutally honest, you'll be able to gain some very useful information. This is a situation where you would rather they be brutally honest up front, to avoid a situation where someone kindly agrees but writes you a less-strong letter because that's all they can honestly do.
In general, grades are not everything, so it IS possible to get a good letter that highlights your strong points from a professor whose class you did not ace.
Ultimately, you need to seek more detailed knowledge from your professors for your specific situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: For US study, all of those three people seem like good choices for letter writers. In the case of the third person, make contact and remind them of who you are and what you did with them. A face to face visit is best as they are more likely to remember you. Tell them your plans and ask them if they remember you sufficiently well to write you a letter.
The first person seems like a winner as they have already tried to support you, no matter the grade.
You want people who can predict your success in grad study and beyond. The first person seems best (to me), but the others seem fine as long as they can honestly and sincerely make such a prediction.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: As someone who has written several letters for graduate and professional school admissions, and heard internal conversations about this type of thing, I would recommend against asking Professor A. Faculty writing letters of support need to be in the best position possible to give strong (in the case of the U.S., in particular, *very* strong) statements of support, with clear and convincing examples. As in the case you mention there likely won't be anything like this, I recommend against asking this person. However, there might be other ways for Professor A to help you, for example by leveraging Professor A's network, if that is a possibility.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: You sound as if you are in quite a good situation actually, in that the professor (a) is a normal human being and (b) doesn’t hate you. This does not always happen in academe!
Given that - ask your professor the question you are asking us!
“Given my history, and our history together, **advise me:** is there a letter you could reasonably write, both telling the truth and helping me to move forward to the next stage in my career?”
You may or may not get a letter out of this. But at the very least (from the story you have told us) you will get some good advice. Plus a better relationship which may have positive effects at some time in the future.
Upvotes: 0
|
2022/10/28
| 1,060
| 4,336
|
<issue_start>username_0: I completed masters in 2017. After then I did internship as a software engineer in one company X for 6 month in 2018. And then did another company Y job in 2019 as a full stack developer. But during that time(2020-2021) my family was infected by COVID-19, so insistly I quit my job for look after my family.
Consequently my family 4 members including me was infected. And in that time I lost my elder brother.I was mentally broken.During this time in rural areas humans didn't have no money to survive, during that time I was started to help the people and teach the all village students and parallelly I have been started study very intuitively my personal all the computer science 12 to 14 subjects and try to contribute stack overflow site(Mathematics,computer science,Networking exchange,computer graphics etc) and focused on masters thesis. And the year 2022 I have published my research paper and parallelly started preparing for GRE and TOEFL. I scored 315,108 on GRE and TOEFL respectively. I have 4 gpa for both undergraduate and masters.I also get informal PhD offer from my home university where I did masters.
My question is could I get PhD admission with full scholarship in USA or any other university in world with full scholarship? I need the help and suggestions. In this situation what should I do by which I could get PhD admission with full scholarship?<issue_comment>username_1: Don't hesitate and ask to professor directly.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You may be able to ask your two research supervisors for advice on this matter.
In any case, you can ask professors A,B,C if they would be willing to write you a STRONG letter. If you ask them to be brutally honest, you'll be able to gain some very useful information. This is a situation where you would rather they be brutally honest up front, to avoid a situation where someone kindly agrees but writes you a less-strong letter because that's all they can honestly do.
In general, grades are not everything, so it IS possible to get a good letter that highlights your strong points from a professor whose class you did not ace.
Ultimately, you need to seek more detailed knowledge from your professors for your specific situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: For US study, all of those three people seem like good choices for letter writers. In the case of the third person, make contact and remind them of who you are and what you did with them. A face to face visit is best as they are more likely to remember you. Tell them your plans and ask them if they remember you sufficiently well to write you a letter.
The first person seems like a winner as they have already tried to support you, no matter the grade.
You want people who can predict your success in grad study and beyond. The first person seems best (to me), but the others seem fine as long as they can honestly and sincerely make such a prediction.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: As someone who has written several letters for graduate and professional school admissions, and heard internal conversations about this type of thing, I would recommend against asking Professor A. Faculty writing letters of support need to be in the best position possible to give strong (in the case of the U.S., in particular, *very* strong) statements of support, with clear and convincing examples. As in the case you mention there likely won't be anything like this, I recommend against asking this person. However, there might be other ways for Professor A to help you, for example by leveraging Professor A's network, if that is a possibility.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: You sound as if you are in quite a good situation actually, in that the professor (a) is a normal human being and (b) doesn’t hate you. This does not always happen in academe!
Given that - ask your professor the question you are asking us!
“Given my history, and our history together, **advise me:** is there a letter you could reasonably write, both telling the truth and helping me to move forward to the next stage in my career?”
You may or may not get a letter out of this. But at the very least (from the story you have told us) you will get some good advice. Plus a better relationship which may have positive effects at some time in the future.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Many subscription databases only offer subscriptions to libraries and not to individuals.
Do the legal requirements of registering as a library require the library to have a physical building where patrons can attend, or is it possible for a library to only offer services online, through a website/web portal?<issue_comment>username_1: Don't hesitate and ask to professor directly.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You may be able to ask your two research supervisors for advice on this matter.
In any case, you can ask professors A,B,C if they would be willing to write you a STRONG letter. If you ask them to be brutally honest, you'll be able to gain some very useful information. This is a situation where you would rather they be brutally honest up front, to avoid a situation where someone kindly agrees but writes you a less-strong letter because that's all they can honestly do.
In general, grades are not everything, so it IS possible to get a good letter that highlights your strong points from a professor whose class you did not ace.
Ultimately, you need to seek more detailed knowledge from your professors for your specific situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: For US study, all of those three people seem like good choices for letter writers. In the case of the third person, make contact and remind them of who you are and what you did with them. A face to face visit is best as they are more likely to remember you. Tell them your plans and ask them if they remember you sufficiently well to write you a letter.
The first person seems like a winner as they have already tried to support you, no matter the grade.
You want people who can predict your success in grad study and beyond. The first person seems best (to me), but the others seem fine as long as they can honestly and sincerely make such a prediction.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: As someone who has written several letters for graduate and professional school admissions, and heard internal conversations about this type of thing, I would recommend against asking Professor A. Faculty writing letters of support need to be in the best position possible to give strong (in the case of the U.S., in particular, *very* strong) statements of support, with clear and convincing examples. As in the case you mention there likely won't be anything like this, I recommend against asking this person. However, there might be other ways for Professor A to help you, for example by leveraging Professor A's network, if that is a possibility.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: You sound as if you are in quite a good situation actually, in that the professor (a) is a normal human being and (b) doesn’t hate you. This does not always happen in academe!
Given that - ask your professor the question you are asking us!
“Given my history, and our history together, **advise me:** is there a letter you could reasonably write, both telling the truth and helping me to move forward to the next stage in my career?”
You may or may not get a letter out of this. But at the very least (from the story you have told us) you will get some good advice. Plus a better relationship which may have positive effects at some time in the future.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: As seniority increases, admin tasks increase, and effective time for research decreases. There's no way around investing long hours in replying to e-mails, filling up budget forms, and screening/interviewing prospective lab members. Assuming there's no additional staff to help, this can take almost a large fraction of the week, in random slots.
Do you have habits that work successfully to conduct research i.e. "deep work", during long hours e.g. papers/theory/programming every week without interruptions, for at least 3-4 hours? What I care about is a strategy to get research done weekly and consistently, and notice when having many weeks without active research conducted.
I have considered blocking on a fixed weekday the same morning or afternoon slot for this purpose. Alternatively, having a limited slot for replying to e-mails no longer than one hour. This has limitations e.g. urgent meetings/emails that need to be replied to.
Thank you,
[Examples of strategies for deep work (*Medium*).](https://medium.com/@rishisidhu/3-simple-steps-towards-deep-work-c0db9ab606a3)<issue_comment>username_1: Well, you *might* have to accept that from a certain point on you become a manager and no longer an active researcher. For instance, managers in industry do not perform the dirty job of directly designing products, but they are the ones who provide the infrastructure and the organization so that other "lower-level" employees can design and manufacture the products. Likewise, a senior academic, in many cases (with exceptions), no longer performs the dirty calculations or the dirty lab work, but provides the group infrastructure, the organization, the experience, and the big picture so that younger colleagues can do the research work. That's why in certain fields the principal investigator is considered worth of autorship even if they don't directly perform the research: without them, there wouldn't simply be any research.
However, with some care, one can still do a bit of research. My technique is the following:
1. **Be organized and efficient.** Setup standard workflows for your bureaucratical tasks, and allot specific weekly times for some of these tasks (e.g. reply to students only twice a week at certain times, or only when you want to take a break from more demanding tasks). This seems something you already thought of, but relax your expectations on urgent stuff.
2. **Train yourself to switch rapidly between different tasks.** For instance, if when I was a PhD student I could work for hours on a single task, nowadays I'm only able to dedicate 10-20 min to each task, and I've learnt to switch quickly from one task to another, even if they require concentration.
3. **Use idle time to perform background work.** For instance, I usually conceive lectures and classes in my mind while driving to work, while shopping or while having a walk. I also use these idle times to organize papers, so that when I arrive at work I just have to write what I thought.
But, in any case, forget to have 3-4 hours uninterrupted...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Massimo's answer is great, but also optimistic: For a lot of us at the more senior end of things (I'm 49 and been a full professor for 10 years now), all good intentions often don't lead to much concerted research time. I've tried to block off my Tuesdays for work at home, uninterrupted by meetings. But in practice, I spend most of most Tuesdays preparing for classes, answering emails, having meetings that simply didn't fit anywhere else, even though I've generally been able to at least work from home.
So one, not completely unreasonable, answer to your original question is: There is no magic incantation; a lot of us don't find that uninterrupted deep work on a regular basis. For me, it is a rare day when I get to work on something for 2 or 3 hours at a time; that happens once or twice a month. I just need to work within these constraints and focus on the tasks that I can do within the constraints of my schedule, and that is often doing the writing on papers, rather than the underlying work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Do you work on the weekends? I work 7 days a week so that I know that I always have two days undistracted where no-one else is around.
Reminds me of when <NAME> was asked how he did so much whilst also teaching, writing books and having a wife and family. He answered 'I don't ski and I don't go to church', or something like that. His wife also stated that he just did nothing about from work and had no real hobbies to speak of.
You could perhaps sit down and honestly see how much time you are losing which you don't need to lose, like spending it on phone conversations and stuff like that. Ultimately, life is about making choices, so if you have to sacrifice something to make way for time to spend on your ambitions, then do it.
<NAME> also has some [general advice](https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice) on his blog which might be useful.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Get an assistant if you can. Offload admin tasks onto them.
Otherwise, create set hours for stuff and/or use dead time to multitask those tasks that can be.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: As an advisor, at what point do you decide that a PhD student no longer deserves authorship on a paper?
I am an associate professor who is very active in engineering research at a low-ranked R2 institution. Most non-top-10 institutions have a hard time attracting good PhD students, but here it is nearly impossible without deliberate, targeted recruiting. Consequently, I frequently find myself in the situation where I bring a student onto a project, only to find (sometimes a year or two later) that they are simply not up to doing the work. So, I do (or redo) all of the work myself and usually end up re-writing the entire paper. But even though I effectively did all the work, it was still a project assigned to a student, and worked on by a student for a considerable amount of time. So, in all of these cases, I left the student as the first author on the paper, with myself as last/corresponding author - even though the student's actual contribution was effectively nil.
This is not just me being non-confrontational or altruistic. As a faculty member, it is usually better to be last/corresponding author with a student as first author, than to be first author oneself. Student-first-author / advisor-last-author shows off mentoring ability as well as scientific contribution. So there's not much incentive to take the student off the author list, especially since doing so can make one come across as a greedy credit-grabbing advisor.
So my question is: at what point do I finally decide that a student no longer deserves first authorship? When I realize that I re-wrote the entire paper and generated all figures myself? When the student quits the program? When I learn that the student never did any work to begin with? When I learn that the student has not actually been dedicating the time to the project that was expected?
Or, is it better to err on the safe side, give away first authorship to undeserving students, and risk letting them take credit for something they did not earn?
**Edit 1**: In my field, the convention is that the first author is the primary contributor (usually a student or postdoc), the last & corresponding author is the senior lead, and the other authors are ordered roughly in accordance with contribution.
**Edit 2**: I am talking about removing as first author, not removing from the paper. Few students contribute little enough to warrant complete removal. However as far as how it looks, it looks equally bad (or even worse) to make myself first author, as it does to remove a student from a paper entirely.<issue_comment>username_1: From a general perspective, you are (in danger of) engaging in "gift authorships", which are detrimental to the academic community, if you end up doing all the work. From an individual perspective, you might have not much of a choice, since an accusation of taking a student's work and appropriating it for yourself (whether the student has left the university or not) could be very detrimental to your career.
In general, the criterion for authorship is that an author has contributed materially to the paper and can be held responsible for all aspects of the paper. Since this leaves a lot of lee-way and also does not resolve issues such as the collaborator that can no longer be contacted or who after being involved no longer wants to have anything to do with the research group, the key is good communication before troubles start. When you accept a student, make an agreement on how publications are going to be handled. It might even be worthwhile to write a document for your lab, setting down the criteria for authorship. When you decide that you no longer want to supervise the student, talk to the student about what happens to the work.
You will not be able to avoid all conflicts. Let's say that a student is to write a simulation to lay the basis for some work, but does not provide code that you can trust or that even works, that you then reimplement the code yourself and get different results, showing that the student's work was close to worthless. Since knowing that something does not work still contributes to solving a problem, has the student contributed materially to the research work to be published and deserves to be named an author? Other difficulties arise from handiwork? If you ask a student to make an excel graph for a data sheet with your own data, is this worth authorship? (You can spend hours trying to make excel graphs look decent.) In this forum, you will find people saying that it does, but I would disagree. Then later, you create your own graph using pyplot? What now?
To reiterate: you want to avoid conflicts about authorships by being clear about the rules in your lab. Within reason, you get to set the rules, but they need to be set out before students start working for you. Treat such things as abandoning the Ph.D. and not being able to communicate. Make clear what your expectations are when you set a task for a student and how this would impact future authorships. To protect yourself, include students as authors if in doubt.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I frequently find myself in the situation where I bring a student onto a project, only to find (sometimes a year or two later) that they are simply not up to doing the work. So, I do (or redo) all of the work myself and usually end up re-writing the entire paper. But even though effectively did all the work, it was still a project assigned to a student, and worked on by a student for a considerable amount of time.
>
>
>
This seems all very wrong and troubling to me. A lot should be happening over a year or two of mentorship on a project, and at no point should a PI be unilaterally doing/redoing a project that a student is working on.
If this is **frequently** happening, then there is something seriously wrong about the supervision process, and I'd be extremely hesitant to put the weight of that on the students at all, this is a mentorship problem that needs a thorough review. I'd recommend seeking your own close mentorship from senior faculty colleagues, consider getting co-mentors for your students, and find out what is going wrong that students are so lost.
For the title question about when to change first authors, the key is that this should be an iterative discussion and agreement among authors, not a "boss decides at the end" scenario. *You don't own these projects,* you're a collaborator on them with the students.
A change in authorship should not happen simply because a supervisor is unhappy with the writing or the figures. Before a change in authorship is even considered, an advisor should be working with the student on specific ways the student's work can be improved. It might take some specific guidance and management, not just an insistence that the student somehow finish the work on their own. If a student can't produce a particular figure, why not? Their advisor should help them organize and work through any blockers. If a figure needs revision, what steps are required? What's wrong with the current version? What are the specific problems with writing, and how can the student address them? These are all learning and *teaching* moments.
If directing these individual aspects of a project is not getting anywhere, it may eventually be time to have a discussion about the overall ownership of the project. A clear plan should be made between the student and the advisor setting expectations for what must be done on the project going forward for the student to remain first author, and a timeline. The advisor should be working with the student to make clear what the expectations are for someone who is first author in your field. You should build from these expectations to make a plan that the student can *agree* with and is fair. In case of a dispute/failure to reach agreement, or a serious circumstance that may jeopardize the student continuing in their graduate program, it may be necessary to involve a third party that has the trust of both the advisor and student and a role in advocating on the student's behalf such as a department or graduate program chair.
Even for a student who has left a program, authors need to agree about how past work is going to be credited when an eventual paper is published based on that work. Remaking figures and rewriting text does not erase previous intellectual effort towards a project.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: To add to [this excellent answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/190084/13240):
1. Have a written authorship policy.
2. Provide it to all collaborators, PhD students or otherwise, before they start work.
3. Follow your policy.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Authorship is not a reward to be bestowed for satisfactory job performance. It is about having made a significant intellectual contribution (which might indeed be small and much less than what you had originally expected).
Your expectation what the students should have done and what they have done has nothing to do with their authorship. Hence the answer to your questions is relatively straightforward:
>
> When I learn that the student never did any work to begin with?
>
>
>
Yes, you can and should you remove the student. If they truly never did any work that means they cannot have contributed to the paper and they should thus not be an author.
>
> When I realize that I re-wrote the entire paper and generated all
> figures myself?
>
>
>
No, just because you wrote every single word and made every figure does not mean the student did not make a significant intellectual contribution during the research or writing of the drafts.
>
> When the student quits the program?
>
>
>
No, just because the student left the program does not mean the student did not make *any* significant intellectual contribution while they were in the program.
>
> When I learn that the student has not actually been dedicating the time to the project that was expected?
>
>
>
No, just because the student underperformed does not mean the student did not make a significant intellectual contribution.
As others have pointed out, repeated failure of your students meeting expectations should result in some introspection on how you could possibly manage your students differently. For example, you may have re-evaluate what kind of research you can do and how much explicit guidance your students need. In the end, doing work for someone else is an extreme measure and a short-term solution that is not a sustainable long-term strategy. Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: In marginal cases, you should err on the students' side, but I suggest you should at least consider making yourself first author when your contribution obviously warrants it.
Reasons:
* Weak students are unlikely to seek an academic career, and industry employers probably won't care about author order.
* You can give the student *something* to do to deserve their second authorship, putting you on the right side of publication ethics.
The caveat is that you should think about just how weird this will look to people in your field. And this will be rather field-dependent. Perhaps ask some other researchers you know who are not at extremely prestigious universities how they would see this, and how they've seen the issue handled.
A note about the other answers to this question: In theory, this problem would indeed be solved by more intensive/effective mentorship. But in practice, as fellow R2 faculty I can vouch that sometimes you end up supervising a student who has no business being in a graduate program in your field, *but you are still expected to shepherd them through the program successfully, and if you don't it will be bad for YOUR career.* This is certainly not the way things should work, but in some places, it is how things do work.
Namely, in my university, the number of PhD students successfully mentored is a key factor in tenure and promotion, but the average quality of students is very low, so in the long run there is no way around this issue. I gather OP's incentives are coming from a different source (grant funding), but the practical problem seems roughly the same.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Some students are not as smart or hardworking as others. You should set a minimum input that makes a student part of the authorship. Then set an extra for the order of authorship. Let the student know that if they can do task A, B and C they become first author. If they do only task A, B, they can be second author. And if they do none their name will be removed. This should be established at the beginning of the work. Students at that level are adults and are expected to understand and keep to agreements.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: I'm a Ph.D student, so perhaps I'm biased, but I'm good enough to solo publish my own papers and ask other instructors to work with me, instead of the reverse. To me, authorship should be removed when the person who's meant to be first author isn't doing first-author stuff. Such as, taking an active role in the planning, analysis, code upkeep, and all stages of the project to the best of their abilities, including the writing process.
Note, I'm biased also because I have worked in teams of 2 to 3, so it's much much harder for a long chain of command to be messed up, but to me that's the general rule here. If no major work is happening over a year such that you need to go back and redo things, this sounds like an issue with supervison and bigger factors, as others have noted. I can't think of a situation where my mentor had to go redo everything me or my coauthor did, and if he had to, again I'd say this is a symptom of a bigger issue.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: I'm going to take a somewhat different tack, and this is possibly because of disciplinary differences. When you are working with students, it is work, you have to put the time in to allow them to learn how to do things. If you are feeling frustrated with a student so much so that you think they are not capable of doing what is required, you might need to step back and think about whether you are writing people off unnecessarily.
It is almost always easier to do something yourself when you are highly skilled than to have a student do it. The student is not going to work at the level you are -- they do not have the experience.
I also think you might want to consider whether from the student's perspective they have put a lot of time and work in, even if you don't think it is good enough. Is this student still going to be upset about this loss of credit in later years? What kind of acknowledgement will you give them if not an authorship?
Would you consider a "with" rather than an "and"?
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently, I submitted my article to the frontiers series and received comments from the reviewers. After revising the article, I let a native English speaker help me to check it.
She made great revisions for me, especially in improving the writing (eg. grammar/choosing a better word/changing the order of the sentence).
Although it was helpful, the reviewers didn't request me to do it. They just evaluated my writing as 3(the full point is 5).
Should I improve all of them according to her suggestions, even though most of them didn't been pointed out in any questions or errors? or do I just need to improve the parts that have been commented on?
If I improved and changed lots of the word selections, should I mention all of them in the response to the reviewer/editor?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you most definitely should make the revisions. It is your article, not the reviewers'. You can make whatever changes you want to. You do not need the reviewers' or editors' permission to make improvements that they did not ask for.
For your review response, you should probably mention something like this: "I had a native English proofreader proofread the article. I believe that the writing in this version should be much improved." There is no need to go into any more detail than that. Most reviewers and editors would be happy to see a comment like that, and almost none would want more details than that.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I would definitely submit the improved version, especially if it improves the English writing, only.
I assume the technical content of the paper is unchanged (although better explained). The technical content should only be changed upon reviewers' request, otherwise it's a different paper, and you wasted the original review's time and effort.
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a difficult paper for my PhD. My first draft is rambling and long, so I'm cutting it down for the next round of edits.
However, I find it difficult to discard old writing. Some of the paragraphs I'm discarding may still be valuable for my future PhD, so I put them in 'discard' documents which I may use for my final dissertation document, or try to fit them into drafts for future papers.
What is your strategy for discarding old writing? What's the most efficient way to utilise discards, so you don't have to rewrite the same paragraph in future?<issue_comment>username_1: If I have discarded something earlier, this was for a reason.
If it was rambling then, it is still rambling now.
Because of that, I keep these drafts around to kickstart writing and to help overcome the writer's block so to not stare at the blank page, but not much else. The rest is generally easier to rewrite.
There are cases where the writing itself is reasonably good, but the decision is made to make the scope more narrow for a given paper. If that is the case, strike while the iron is hot: build up on this work lest it becomes outdated.
As Hemingway famously said, "The only kind of writing is rewriting". You will be discarding a lot of old drafts, because part of what you are producing in the process of writing is knowledge and deeper understanding of the topic, not words on the paper that make it into the final version.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I used to hate discarding paragraphs, which I'd spent lots of effort writing. And indeed, they can be useful and save time. On the other hand, hoarded paragraphs could be distracting and delay the inevitable rewrites.
My solution has been to use version control, such as GitHub. It's free and easy with LaTeX, and there must be something for other document types. There is a learning curve, but lots of advantages: easy backup and version management, clean directories, easy re-use of text (you can highlight differences between versions), collaboration with co-authors, and no regrets for discarded text.
**Added Clarification** (fully re-using the comment by @preferred\_anon):
Just to clear up any confusion about terminology: GitHub is not a version control system, it is a third party host for files that are version-controlled by the software git. For offline work, no more is needed than just git - no server, local or otherwise. "Private" github repositories are not private from GitHub, but for truly private hosting over the internet, you are forced to do it yourself. Server software like Gitlab or Savannah provide this, but both require some know-how.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: So if you do find you want to use that paragraph again, it's going to be tough to find it again in a "discard" document. You will be most likely to be able to locate it again in the location you originally wrote it, because that's where you remember creating it. Much better if it can stay there.
Also, sometimes I think I can cut a paragraph, then my supervisor comes back with the comment "I really think you need more background on X", so it has to go back in.
For both these reasons, you don't really want to move the paragraph.
If you are using LaTeX, the solution is easy, just comment it out in place. If your LaTeX document is getting too large, it might be time to restructure each chapter into a separate file and pull them all together with `\include`.
If you are working in some other format, then the way to hide the text will have to depend on the format. Lots of formats allow some form of annotation or comment that can be hidden. But in the end my advice is still the same, keep it in it's original document, just find a way to hide it in the final output.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: My take is a little different than some of the others'.
Your old rambling paragraphs will distract you and weigh you down, pulling you back into your previous thinking and approaches.
You need to improve your writing skills, so I strongly recommend you **burn everything** (or at least put it all away where you can't easily get at it) and just keep starting over.
You need to find your writing voice, and that takes time and a lot of attempts. It's really hard to find a better way to write if you keep focusing on your old and admittedly not good attempts.
Toss it all out.
Like the cartoon writers, each time you change your mind, pull the paper out of the typewriter, crumble it up and toss it in the garbage.
Only this way will you make a fundamental improvement in your writing skills. You will see that it gets easier and easier.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: "However, I find it difficult to discard old writing." I would certainly say the same of myself. I agree with your sentiment that this stuff has to be axed from your current draft and yet, hoarder that I am, I feel your pain in not wanting to throw it away. (You might not be a hoarder like me, but that is definitely what instigates me to think in this way.)
Here is what I have found works great for me: **I have a massive collection of electronic notes where I hoard all these snippets.** (I use Microsoft OneNote, but you could use any note-taking system that works for you.) I save them in notes in a section that I call "Research ideas". Here is the power of this simple strategy for me:
* **Because I know that I am not throwing anything away, I can be very aggressive in cutting out these paragraphs from my current working document.** There is little pain of parting because I know (or think) that it's just a goodbye; I can change my mind and bring it back whenever I want. So, I have no excuse to cut things out aggressively. That meets the very real need of aggressive rewriting if you want to move forward. For me, this is probably the single most powerful feature of this simple system.
* Because everything is in an electronic notes system, storage space is virtually unlimited. So, I can hoard as much as I want. (That satisfies my hoarding urge with little cost.)
* Because it is an electronic note-taking system, I can rapidly search for and recover anything that I really need. So, unlike a physical hoarding system, there is very little downside to the clutter here.
* As I think more about these tangental ideas, the notes give me a place to develop and flesh out details. Some ideas are recorded once and then never again revisited; others I find myself coming back to again and again, sometimes over several years.
Over the ten-plus years that I've been saving snippets like this, I would estimate that probably no more than 5% of things that I put aside and save actually make it into new, active work. I evaluate this either as that the 5% justifies my hoarding reflex, or that the system frees me of 95% of deadweight that I could quickly offload from other projects. Either way, this system works for me.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: As with everything you do with a computer, use version control. There's little reason to throw out anything digital in the 21st century, save security concerns.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Every time you remove sections from a document, simply save it under a different name.
In the morning you open up Abacus.doc. You spend the morning chopping bad sections out. In the afternoon you save Abacus(i).doc. The next morning you open Abacus(i).doc and continue writing as normal.
Take this opportunity to backup the most recent version externally.
You end up with many numbered versions of the same document. But this is no problem. The old versions are still there in case you ever need them. The only difficulty is if you remember something you removed but want to put back, you need to crawl through all the earlier versions to find it.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: (This answer is based on my experience with mathematical writing. I assume that it should apply to other kinds of scientific writing too, but your mileage may vary.)
I suspect that you may be fundamentally misunderstanding the purpose of the writing that you are having a hard time "discarding".
It seems like your logic is that you spent a lot of effort writing a certain paragraph, but since the paragraph will not appear in the final version of your manuscript, this effort was wasted. So that the effort is not wasted entirely, you would like to keep your writing in the drawer so that you can pull it out later at an opportune moment. This is of course pure speculation on my part, but I cannot imagine why else you would "find it difficult to discard old writing".
The flaw in this logic is the idea that the effort it took to write the paragraph will go to waste unless you use it somewhere. This is a misunderstanding. The effort was not wasted, since **the paragraph has already served its purpose**, which was to serve as a stepping stone on the path towards the final manuscript. Its purpose is not to be something for you to hold on to until you find a proper place for it. The paragraph had its place in the process of exploring and stumbling towards the final manuscript, but after it has served that purpose it's time to let go of it. Imagining that it is going to be revived for some other purpose is almost always wishful thinking.
Of course, from time to time you may find yourself writing an *outstandingly well-polished* couple of paragraphs which for some reason or another did not quite fit into the final manuscript, or paragraphs where you have a *convincing, well-articulated reason* to believe that they might be useful later, rather than a generalized feeling of *what if*. These it makes sense to keep around. But your average run-of-the-mill paragraphs that simply didn't make it through the editing process? Kill them and don't carry their corpses around. (This does not mean that you should never back up previous versions of your work, but rather that you should not primarily do so with a view to resurrecting unused paragraphs in some future work.)
Your stated reason for keeping these paragraphs in a state of suspended animation is "so you don't have to rewrite the same paragraph in future". Again, I suspect that there is some fundamental misunderstanding here, because it's not like the act of writing a paragraph is a major undertaking. The amount of effort you are going to save by not starting from zero is going to be infinitesimal, and is more than made up for by the fact that writing the paragraph anew will almost certainly result in a better one. What is a major undertaking is polishing a paragraph over and over again (and moving it to and fro) until it fits perfectly into its surroundings. But this process is not something you can substantially speed up by cutting and pasting bits and pieces from your previous work. Whether you start from zero or not is almost irrelevant, as long as your focus is on *producing good writing* rather than *spending a minimum amount of effort* on the writing process.
I can sympathize with the fact that at the beginning of your scientific career it make take you some time and effort to write a coherent paragraph, so my comment that the amount of time saved is going to be infinitesimal might not ring true to you. If so, then that's all the more reason for you to **practice the bread and butter of scientific writing – which is editing, rewriting, and experimenting with different ways of expressing the same idea, rather than clinging to existing strings of words and sentences** – until it does ring true.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_9: Let them go.
Those paragraphs were not living in a vacuum, but they were heavily intertwined with the surrounding sentences and paragraphs and documents.
They costed you some effort, they may contain some valuable informations, both things are true, but:
* it costs you less effort to rewrite them from "scratch" (see next point) rather than being burdened by carrying them with you ... don't let you drown in the burden of sunken costs;
* the valuable informations hidden in them is there because **you**put that worthwhile chunk of information into them: either you can reproduce that information, or it is lost forever if you are not being able to produce it again, having that information already written will be of no help, if you cannot reproduce the "substance" underlying that information.
In short: either you can prepare a short essay, a commentary, a blog post, a tweet or some analogous microblogging post with those paragraphs, or they are more of a burden than of a potential help in the future.
Disclaimer: obviously there is a small exception: if you by any chance will become a Nobel prize in literature, those discarded paragraphs will have immense value ... afer your death. If you really worry about leaving something to your offsprings, think about how unfair is for some people to be loaded with cash and responsibility with no merit on their own ;D
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a math professor, and we've just moved back into our building after a year-long renovation. One of our rooms, currently piled high with junk, is to be made into a seminar room.
I'm on the committee charged with coming up with a design for the room, and making recommendations to the department chair. We will continue to host chalkboard talks and in-person meetings, and we'd also like the room to be suitably outfitted for:
* hybrid meetings, with some participants online and others in-person, so everyone can hear each other and see the board
* presentations, where someone at the board is recording or presenting to a live online audience, and people watching online can easily follow
* other needs which may arise over the coming years.
I've sent out a survey to my department and gotten some ideas. Beyond that, what are the important factors or options to consider when making these recommendations to my chair?<issue_comment>username_1: I will not answer your question directly, but give you my concerns born out of experience with having to use on-line class-rooms that are not well maintained.
It is quite easy to install some impressive systems such as cameras that detect motion and focus on the presenter or cameras that capture where a presenter is writing on the white-board and amplifying that part of the screen automatically. It is difficult to get a university to commit to keeping a high-tech seminar room working. It is even more difficult to get a university to upgrade such a room and replace worn out equipment.
Concentrate on the basics such as a good, reliable internet connection preferably Ethernet, that will not go through an overloaded authentication server whenever you want to connect. Some outside presenters will still want to use transparencies, while others want to use their Mac or Linux machine, so be careful you have hardware and a software that can interoperate with your system. It is cheaper and more reliable to have a grad student film a presentation with a camera on a good tripod instead of having an automatic ceiling-mounted camera. Get some microphones with a USB connection instead of trying to get an automated sound catching system.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: 99% of seminar attendees want coffee. Design it with coffee equipment.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Lighting problems are common in seminar rooms.
Get good blinds that block sunbeams. In an office, you can move desks and chairs out of the sun if needed. In a seminar room, it is much harder to move a wall-mounted board/projector screen/video display.
There should be separate lighting for the board and the rest of the room. The lighting controls should be easy to locate and clearly labeled.
Adding a million technology controls to your seminar room just causes disruption when your visitor is preparing their seminar and needs 15 minutes to find the switch that turns on the light.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Many seminars have desktop computers. I suggest leaving that out of your seminar room design. They are cheap to purchase, but:
* Nobody wants to spend time updating them.
* Logging in is inconvenient.
* Copying files to/from the desktop computer is often frustrating.
* People leave them on, so they waste energy.
If a computer is needed for presentations, bring a familiar laptop.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Make sure that there is wheelchair access, and extra-soft flooring across the front where lecturers may stand for a long time.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: In contrast to username_2, I do think you should have a simple desktop computer with an internet connection. Not everyone wants to lug around their personal laptops (and some people might not have one either). But you should have a simple solution so people can connect their personal laptops. My university purchases highly overengineered systems for this, and it ends up being complicated for most people to get working properly. Plus it's insanely expensive. Instead, I would just go for a good-quality KVM switch, which is just a black box that lets you hook up a mouse, keyboard, and monitors to multiple computers.
The other thing I would recommend is checking the acoustics in the room. If nothing else, have good-quality acoustic panels on the walls. If it's not carpeted, consider doing so. And maybe consider adding acoustic panels to the ceiling. Heavy curtains for windows will help to dampen exterior noise if that's an issue. And maybe check the doors; cheap/lightweight doors won't block noise from people talking or walking in the hallway as well as heavy good-quality doors.
Having fine control over the lighting to make sure lights close to the projector screen can be turned off while leaving lights on for everyone else is nice. And investing in a quality projector screen can make a big difference in the quality/brightness of the image. And definitely get a decent-quality projector; particularly one with very good brightness.
Depending on the size and layout of the room, you might want two projectors (one very nice conference room I've been in is very wide and has pillars blocking some viewing angles, so there is a projector screen for each half of the room with the speaker placed between them).
If it's a room where long meetings might be held and people need to use their laptops, tables/desks with built-in power outlets are also nice to have.
Make sure there is a good-quality wireless access point in the room itself; you don't want a bunch of people dealing with sketchy wifi access because there are a bunch of walls between their devices and the nearest access point.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: One piece of classroom technology that I really like is audience response systems / keypads. In a physical classroom, every seat has a keypad that allow the listener to press a key and, for example,
* "raise a hand" to ask a question - it's actually easier done now if the talk is delievered via Zoom or Webex than in person, especially in a calculus section with over 50 students.
* respond to a multiple choice survey, or vote.
* anonymously ask the speaker to speed up or to slow down and provide more detail.
The keypads can transmit the information through wires or radio. If you google "Audience response system", you'll see a few choices.
---
Many people (not necessarily me) like to have a "document camera" in the classroom that looks down on a horizonal whiteboard. (Again, google it for a few choices). It is intended to let the speaker put a book or paper notes on the whiteboard, and have the image show on the big screen(s), and also to the remote audience. Some people who use such cameras also like to write on the horizontal whiteboard as they speak, and the audience can see it better on screen than on a traditional vertical board on a wall.
---
Of course most people have their notes and slide decks as computer files these days, rather than as a stack of papers / transparencies. The standard that everyone expects is - the seminar speaker brings a USB-A flash drive, with the slide deck as an Adobe pdf or Microsoft Powerpoint (or LibreOffice Impress etc) presentation. The flash drive is mounted into a USB-A port of a Windows computer in the classroom, which casts the presentation to a big screen. Usually, the presenter holds a wireles "clicker" with slide show controls for "next slide" and "previous slide". A very fancy clicker also allows the presenter to point at things on ths screen (a pjhysical laser pointer does not work well for remote audience).
There are 2 problems with this traditional approach:
* Microsoft Powerpont under Windows often does not display 100% correctly presentations created on other platforms. For this and other reasons, it's usually better to make slides in LaTeX and to output pdf (don't expect the classroom computer to be able to read a dvi file).
* Some presenters want to bring their own devices and to display, for example, Mathematica animations, or their live interactions with a web server. There are 2 ways to accomplish this:
* provide an HDMI port. The presenter can feed whatever video and audio into the port through an HDMI cable and have it shown on the large screen and loudspeakers and broadcast to the remote audience.
* allow the presenter to install client software on their device (again, google, there are several choices) that will allow the presenter to connect to a school server over wifi and cast whatever audio and video is on their device.
---
Depending on the size and shape of the classroom, consider having several large screens showing the same slides, so that from every seat, at least one screen is clearly visible.
---
The presenter should be able to attach a wireless microphone to their clothes, and have their voice sent wirelessly to loudspeakers around the classroom and to the remote audience. ideally, the presenter should be able to change the loudspeaker volume. You may want to talk to an ADA expert on how to make the large screens and the loudspeakers more friendly to vision / hearing impaired audiences (google T-coils).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: It is funny that no one discussed the choice of blackboards yet. I would say it is the most important thing and most noticeable when done wrong. You likely will want multiple panels. The best system I have seen is also the simplest. Have two blackboards above each other in a position that they can both be completely readable without them overlapping and also without either of them being too low to see. Have them set up such that if you move one up the other one moves down (they should be movable by hand, no button please, that is always slow, annoying and malfunctioning).
Don't go for more than two panels, it is confusing and almost never convenient especially if not all three can actually be read at the same time. And they rarely can be. In order to have enough vertical space for three blackboards it will probably mean one of them has to be on the floor and the other obscenely high. If a blackboard can't be completely visible at the same time as the others it basically makes that blackboard unusable anyway.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Frank, here are two suggestions.
1. Make sure the screen is shifted off to the side a bit, *not* coming down directly in front of the center area of the board. It is super annoying when the screen covers the center part of the front board, as it makes it awkward to use the fully available space on the board with the screen. When my department moved into a renovated building, I made sure all the classrooms had the screen come down shifted off to the side. For example, in the view of our classroom 314 in the math department on the page <https://classrooms.uconn.edu/classroom/mont-314/#> (**note**: before clicking that, see the comment below about the large images on the page) you can see the screen storage space along a part of the ceiling that is off to the side in front of the far part of the front board.
2. Have boards on the sidewalls if possible. This can allow someone to put something on a board ahead of time that stays up for the whole presentation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Note: I'm not from academia, but from an IT company.
Firstly, I suggest making as much as possible of the walls a black- (or white-) board — and on the side and back walls too. I've seen once a room with walls covered by dark panels that resemble normal blackboard so that you could use chalk on it; where I work they cover the walls with some special white film that allows one to use standard whiteboard markers. One of the advantages that you will get is that if there is a lot of relatively independent discussions in groups (e.g. after a seminar), each discussion group can use their own part of a wall/board.
Secondly, while many people here suggested keeping the equipment simple, I would still suggest installing a decent equipment that would allow integration of both in-person and online attendees. At our company we have some advanced equipment in conference rooms, obviously somehow integrated with zoom, with decent microphones so that zoom participants hear everything that is said, and large TVs where these zoom participants are shown when they are talking. As a contrast, I sometimes organize events and read lectures at local universities, and when I ask them to make the meeting available for both in-person and online attendance, it's always a big hassle and mediocre results. As a result, the last time I was organizing an event, I simply talked to my company asking to make use of our conference room — and it turned out much better than my previous attempts at the universities.
Thirdly, I don't know if this is possible at your current stage, or if it's something obvious and already done, but think about electrical sockets in the floor, so that people seating in the middle of the room have some place to plug their laptops to.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am finishing up my undergraduate degree in mathematics in my home country and expect to apply for PhD studies in statistics in the US (I am also willing to consider Canadian options but more on this later). My wife will also have finished her bachelor's degree in statistics by then and we intend to travel together. It seems to me that we have the following options:
1. **Spouse does not work or study in the US.**
In this case, I am aware that we would have to subsist on my PhD stipend since F-2 visa holders (my wife) are not offered employment. I am unsure whether this could be sustained for an indefinite amount of time (we will get some financial support from our families at home though).
2. **Spouse works in the US right away.**
This would be ideal but I do not know whether US employers would be willing to sponsor a work visa for someone who has a bachelor's degree from a relatively unknown university from outside the US. She will have very good grades though and some professional experience in auditing.
3. **Spouse pursues a MSc program (in statistics or a related field) with the intention of finding work immediately afterwards.**
In this case, we thought of two issues. One is that the MSc would have to be at my own university or somewhere preferably in the same city. Would it be possible for such an arrangement to be made after we arrive in the US and how could funding be secured? The other is related to 2) in the sense of whether she could land a job a short time after her US MSc.
4. **Spouse pursues a PhD program (in statistics or a related field).**
In this case, financial concerns would be minimal since we both would get independent stipends. However, she does not have a genuine academic interest in doing a PhD and would be mainly doing it to chip in with the finances. Another concern is whether we would have time to take care of a baby as PhD students (we are not currently expecting a child, but this could happen before we finish grad school).
As for options outside the US, I am aware that Canada provides an open work permit for international student spouses but have no information on how easy it would be for a foreign graduate to actually land a job in preferably a tech company.
Is this list comprehensive? We would be very grateful for any advice you could provide on any of the above. Personal anecdotes would also be most welcome since they are absent in most generic information pages on this topic. On a more positive note, my wife is considerate and super supportive so we are both willing to bear with any tough times for a better future :)
*UPDATE: Thank you for all your suggestions! Would love to hear from an international student who has been in similar circumstances. Any advice on the above career prospects from a Canadian perspective would be welcome too*<issue_comment>username_1: This is a US only response due to the differences in visa requirements.
Of the four, the last is probably best if you can both get accepted and either or, preferably, both can get a Teaching Assistantship. The same university is probably best, though there are places in the US with a lot of nearby universities and some (NYC) have good public transportation. But housing in such places is expensive. And, some enthusiasm for the program is necessary to achieve both success and satisfaction.
Note, however, that you are unlikely to get a "stipend" (scholarship), but rather a teaching assistantship which comes with a modest income and no tuition charges. Some places deal with medical insurance as well. And, there are duties attached in assisting in a course, usually undergraduate.
The third is probably financial infeasible unless you are already wealthy, as masters level students pay tuition (could be very high) and don't get funding. Switching to a work visa later will also be an issue.
Most people do the first option and live frugally on a teaching assistantship. I'd think that the visa issue would be minimal. Doctoral students with a TA don't, normally, pay tuition, which is otherwise expensive.
The second option might also be infeasible for reasons of visa. Not necessarily impossible, but it requires a sponsoring employer IIRC and you will need to worry about co-location and transportation issues.
I'm going to guess that TAs in math departments are readily available and somewhat less so in statistics. So, a combined department might be the best option.
You will need advice from someone else about Canada, though.
---
If you aren't yet expecting a baby, it might be wise to wait. Dealing with a newborn can be pretty intense. Even the first two years require a lot of care and attention. If one parent can dedicate themself to childcare it can work out (my history), but very hard otherwise. And, if you are in the same program, then you will probably be taking some of the same courses at the same time. That might even be true if one was in a masters program and the other in a doctoral program.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In my current experience, the (median) PhD stipends in the US would certainly make it challenging for you to support yourself, your spouse and your baby without outside financial help.
Of course this varies with the cost-of-living in the area you intend to reside in, but usually the programs will anyway adjust stipend amounts accordingly. I would recommend getting this information — cost-of-living and the expected stipend amounts — as you are beginning to apply to various programs.
Now, it appears that your most ideal situation would be #2, but aside from that, I think #3 and #4 are your next most plausible options.
In fact, there may be a way to combine the two. It is not entirely uncommon for students to enroll in a PhD program and drop-out after receiving a Master's degree, people do this for a variety of reasons. The ethics of this are debatable, since in your particular instance, the intention is known in advance; nevertheless, I would try to see it as an opportunity — if your spouse ends up enjoying being in the academia, she has the option of staying. Since PhD programs are funded, this may be a good option. In this case, your spouse would also need to check if the programs she applies to have the option of getting a Master's "along the way". Note that some may charge a fee for doing this. This is likely to pose some challenges to her visa status later, but being a graduate degree holder in the US would certainly give her a better shot at landing a job locally; and with a degree in hand, she would still be eligible for OPT + STEM extension.
It is not my intention to suggest that your spouse misrepresent her academic interests. Transparency is important in the academia, and if she can genuinely not see herself possibly working towards a PhD, then I would strongly advise against applying to a PhD program. In that case (again, barring #2), perhaps option #3 with some combination of financial-aid, loans and scholarships is the better choice. There are several one-year programs in Statistics and Statistics-adjacent areas that are worth considering. Here again, I believe she has the option of an OPT + STEM extension after graduating.
I should add that it is not certain that you will both be accepted into the same program. Few things are ever certain. You have been presented with a tricky situation, hopefully it works out favourably. Wishing your family the best!
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: If I understand your post correctly your family has a small baby or is expecting one soon, congratulations. Unfortunately this means option one is the only feasible one for the near future. Taking care of a newborn is not compatible with both parents having full time jobs and external child care in the US is expensive. You would both need a well paying job to be financially better off compared to one of you staying at home and a PhD stipend is not well paying and your wife is highly unlikely to get such a job.
If you have an offer at a fairly high ranking university money is going to be quite tight but should be managable. Note that the cost of living in the greater Boston, NY and San Francisco Bay area is very high, so ideally you would want a university not in one of these three places. Financial support from your home country will be very welcome.
Otherwise I'm sorry to say but it seems to me the combination of a) moving to a new country b) studying for degree and c) taking care of a newborn all at the same time does not seem feasible to me with any consideration of work-life-balance and general happyness for all three involved.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Pursuing a Master degree causes an extra financial burden regarding tuition fees if your spouse does not get a scholarship. If they do get a scholarship, however, finding a job after graduation might be easier than without a degree from a US institution.
I would strongly advice against your spouse pursuing a PhD for 2 reasons: 1) if you are not completely passionate about the idea of doing a PhD, gradschool will be extremely tough and your chances of succeeding will be significantly low. 2) you would be taking away a spot in gradschool from someone who might be more passionate about this career path.
There is, however, another route you can take if your institution supports it, which is that of going for a J1 VISA instead of F1. With a J1 VISA, your spouse will get a J2. On a J2 VISA you can actually apply for a work permit. However, this process can take long and it does not guarantee that your spouse will actually find a job (in their field). Another downside is that there is a 5 year limit on your J1 VISA, meaning you will need to graduate within that time period.
In short, I would take the following approach: while you finish up your gradschool application, let your spouse apply directly for jobs in the US, and ask whether the company wants to sponsor her a VISA. If so, great! Your problem seems to be solved.
If that does not work, your spouse can go for a Master degree, provided she is interested in that and will get a scholarship to cover the costs. After graduation, finding a job should be easier.
If none of those options work, ask your institution whether you can go for a J1 VISA instead of a F1, but then commit to finishing your degree within 5 years.
In general, I would advice against raising a child in gradschool.
Best of luck to you and your family!
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: (Considering the fact that this question is specifically about the UK academic system,) [this webpage](https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/staff/research-information-staff-applying-funding-and-managing-projects/i-need-my-salary-be-covered) says
>
> Applicants are expected to spend an average of at least 50% of full
> time working on the project **and the employment costs for this effort**
> **would be covered in full**.
>
>
>
Assume that a lecturer is supposed to be paid amount X by their university to be a full time employee. Now assume that individual gets a government-supported (does it matter?) grant in that they claimed that they spend 30% of their full working time. If the grant's period is a year, is it correct that the university will not pay 0.3X of that salary since it is supposed to be compensated by the grant?<issue_comment>username_1: The grant funding goes to the university, not to the individual PI. If the grant budget includes 30% of the PIs time, the university will then use that money to cover 30% of the PIs salary, while paying the other 70% from other sources.
There is no direct impact on the PI. They still get exactly the same paycheck as before. (The existence of this funding would be an argument towards getting promoted though.)
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: One relevant thing here might be that while other answer are correct - the funder reimburses your employer for the fraction of your time its taking off them - some employers will include a bonus payment for the PI. I've got the Wellcome Trust specifically in mind here, but there may be others. On things like the old Henry Dale fellowships (and I believe the new career development fellowsihps) they pay for 100% of your time (and expect you to spend 80% on the research), but they pay for you to be paid at a higher rate than would be standard for a new PI.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think one important thing to add to [Arno's](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/190124/4249) answer is that while there is no direct impact on the PIs salary, there (at least in theory) should be one on their workload. A typical research-oriented Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in the UK is supposed to spend **40%** of their time **on research**, **40% on teaching**-related activities, and **20% on admin**. In a way, teaching-and-admin duties an academic performs "pay" for their allotted research time.
If that academic then gets a research grant on which they are costed to work for 40% FTE (which covers 40% of their salary), this does not mean they should spend all their research time on this project. In fact, these 40% should be taken out of their overall workload, and ideally out of their teaching+admin workload. This is sometimes referred to as **buying out** your teaching time.
So in principle, the academic from the above paragraph would go from 40(R)-40(T)-20(A) workload to 100(R) workload (ideally), or at least to a 64(R)+24(T)+12(A) (in case 40% of their combined R-T-A workload gets assigned to research on this new project). The grant money, which goes to the institution, should be used to cover the reduction in the PIs teaching workload (e.g. to hire somebody on a fixed-term teaching-only position).
As mentioned in the previous answers, successfully securing external funding is one of the conditions for promotions as well.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have an accepted paper (yay) going through copy-editing at the journal, and several changes suggested by the editor I disagree with:
* joined two barely related sentences with a semicolon in the abstract because "the background has to be one sentence"
* replace all spelled numbers ("two") with numerals ("2") -- this is against most major style guides, which recommend spelled numbers for less than 10 or even 100.
* Appendix 1, 2 instead of Appendix A, B -- whatever, but it's unconventional, and Figure A.1, etc. now needs a new convention, "S.1.1" ? Ugh.
* moved a sentence like "more info on these methods in the Appendix" from the end of the relevant methods section, to the middle of it -- no idea even why
* removed all "/" and "and/or", usually replacing both cases with "or" -- some people seem to be at war with "/" and/or "and/or", but in some cases they are more clear.
Anyways, can I (politely) reject these suggested copy-edits at this stage?<issue_comment>username_1: Most of these seem like the journal's standard style guide. You can object, but will probably not win. But "reject the edits" probably isn't on the table.
You can ask, of course, and ask for the justification. I suspect you might get access to the style guide provided to the copy editor who probably has little decision making power on their own.
But the editor wants a consistent look and feel across papers when possible.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: None of the changes you mention appear to change the meaning, so it really isn't that bad of a copy-editing job, all things considered. For worse examples, see [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/11441/17254) and [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/140521/17254).
If a change is simply a matter of journal style you should probably let it go. It can be worth checking some previous papers in the journal to see if they are consistent about labeling appendices, number formatting etc. When it is unclear what the journal style states, I sometimes respond by saying that we understand if change X was made due to journal style, but otherwise prefer the original version. The success rate is quite variable... In general, you can make polite requests, but should be prepared for ones regarding simple formatting and spelling to not be accepted. It is better to save the stronger requests / insisting for changes that actually modify the conveyed meaning or otherwise introduce mistakes.
>
> * moved a sentence like "more info on these methods in the Appendix" from the end of the relevant methods section, to the middle of it -- no idea even why
>
>
>
That sounds like it's just a mistake that you can ask them to fix.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I disagree with the other answers that "it is journal style." Some of these things might be journal style, others probably are not. It's quite possible the journal does not have an official style, or does not adhere to its documented style. It's even more possible that the copyeditor works on many different journals and is not that familiar with this journal.
If you do not like it, ask them to change it. In my experience, the copyeditor will do whatever you want (I have not tried making intentionally unreasonable requests). The main downside of requesting changes is that you will have to wait for a response and check that the new version is not worse.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student interested in doing research.
There is a paper I have recently read. In the paper, a new (general) algorithm is proposed (in a bottom-Q1 journal). It is not a groundbreaking discovery. However, because the algorithm is very general, there are many possibilities to develop new algorithms based on that algorithm and to improve the efficiency of the algorithm.
Is it a good idea to write a paper on new algorithms based on that algorithm? It is because I have some ideas in my mind now. Can I submit the paper to a journal? (probably with low enough IF)<issue_comment>username_1: For your own personal development, yes, it is worth writing the paper. Ask a local professor to evaluate it and give you feedback on it. It might take a few rewrites before if feels "satisfactory". This is typical for academic writing.
It can be submitted to a journal, but would only be accepted if it is sufficiently "novel" to appeal to other mathematicians or mathematically inclined computer scientists. It is a fairly steep hurdle, but an experienced local professor can advise you there.
Note, however, that there are some journals dedicated to publishing student work. The need for a "wow" factor is a bit less there so it has a better chance of publication.
But writing the paper will help you firm and clarify the ideas. Learning, through practice, to be a clear writer in your field is a necessary step and the experience gives you some skill that will be important later. Have fun. Good luck.
---
Note also that almost all work in mathematics and CS is based on earlier work. The exceptions are rare.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: #### Yes, that is a good idea
Extending existing research in a new direction, or in a way that adds some novel improvement, is a large part of what academic research does. What you are proposing is consistent with the types of research projects academics undertake that lead to publications. If these algorithm extensions are something you are interested in then it sounds like an enjoyable project that could potentially lead to publication.
If you pursue this project, make sure your paper gives the appropriate background to your problem and cites this other paper. You could consider targeting the same journal where this other paper was published in the first instance. Since you are only an undergraduate student, you might have some difficulty writing to the standard of work expected in academic journals, so you might also consider getting some preliminary feedback from an experienced academic in your field prior to submission.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Of course! Building on prior work is *the* way people do research.
If you look at the literature on (say) matrix or graph operations, you'll find plenty of work where people refine a general-purpose algorithm to exploit some special feature of the problem, like sparsity or symmetry. There's also a great deal of interest in adapting algorithms to fit different types of computation: parallel/distributed processing, resource-constrained environments, or branchless/cache-oblivious versions of an algorithm.
Without knowing the specific details of your problem and proposed solution, and field, it is hard to say what would be expected for a publication. This will also vary a great deal from venue to venue. In general, I think it is often easier to publish *algorithmic* advances that improve the asymptotic runtime (e.g., O(N²) to O(N log N)) or performance on a benchmark. Optimizations of a specific *implementation* via clever coding may be harder to publish as a CS paper, but might find a home in the "applied" literature if you really polish the implementation and build it into a library/toolkit.
There are plenty of exceptions—and pitfalls—so a conversation with an experienced researcher in your field would be a great next step. You may also want to consider whether this could be the basis for an Honors Thesis or Independent Study course, which would provide a more formal structure for advising.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/10/31
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for Ph.D. in the United States. During my undergrad, I had worked with a postdoc in the research lab I was working. Presently, the postdoc student has joined an esteemed university as an assistant professor, but has not yet started any research there. Can I approach him for a Letter of Recommendation for my Ph.D. application? How would that affect my application?<issue_comment>username_1: It would probably depend more on how well they know your work and can predict your future success than their actual career position at the moment. If you did good work with them it should work out. So, yes, ask them. Especially so if this was your only research experience.
You likely need three letters. If this is the one you think "weakest" then you are in good shape. It is good that they have moved beyond postdoc, which will add a bit to their credibility.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Can I approach him for a Letter of Recommendation for my Ph.D. application?
>
>
>
Yes. It seems a good idea. I would suggest that you at least reach out to him. Generally, a letter from an assistant professor at an esteemed university, who worked with you in the past, is a good idea.
>
> How would that affect my application?
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>
>
That depends on how the postdoc writes the letter of recommendation for you.
Specifically, it depends on how the postdoc thinks of your past performance in that research lab, and how he perceives your ability to learn and do research independently as well as in a team environment.
Do you feel that he really appreciates your work and contribution with him in the past ? If yes, that is a very good starting point.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I was involved in several projects which got considerable funding from the US federal government.
In retrospect I feel there was a substantial amount of equipment that should have been purchased/built but wasn't and the PI did something else with the funds but I don't know what. I always felt the whole thing was fishy at a department level since there was a big gap between what needed to be purchased and what was.
Does the university encourage PIs to keep the money for other uses? How does this work? It's certainly not being given to graduate students.<issue_comment>username_1: Generally speaking grants, especially those from federal agencies, are administered by the university through a "Grants Office" or similar. The PI doesn't get the money directly. This assures that the university stands behind how the funds are spent and provides a way to audit the grant.
So, if bad things happen, lots of people are involved, not just a "rogue" PI. At R1 universities, which might be just about the only place that such a large grant might occur, the accounting is very strict and all expenditures need to be justified and accounted for.
The university also takes a substantial part of the grant for general overhead (heat, light, lab space, buildings, maintenance, etc.). None of that stuff is free. IIRC, 40% is a typical overhead charge.
If there were RAs working on the project, they might have been funded via the grant, including their "forgiven" tuition and such. Yes, they might have been funded anyway and it may just be an accounting "trick", but it does work that way.
I've even had private grants (from corporations) that are administered this way. But, federal grants are in almost all (all?) cases handled by the university. It isn't just free money - do what you like with it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Research administrator here. It appears that you are accusing the PI of fraud, is that right? Let me explain the proposal and award process roughly for government grants and contracts before we jump to that conclusion, although some PIs do commit fraud. Please note that the sponsor and exact solicitation will vary the rules which I cannot speak to without knowing this information.
When you put in a proposal, you respond to a specific solicitation (RFP/BAA, etc.) that will put forth some rules, potentially what cost categories you can spend on. E.g., with NSF, the MRI program restricts the entire budget to a piece of capital equipment. The REU and RET programs focus on training undergrads or teachers. Some solicitations are very open, and you can propose a budget with "any" cost category.
There are federal restrictions on what government money will fund, however there are exceptions if you put the costs into your proposed budget and the government agrees to fund it. An example would be with studying alcohol. Alcohol as an entertainment expense is not allowed on federal grants, but if you are studying alcohol, it can be cited as having "unlike use" and then you can classify it as a lab supply. Similarly, "office supplies" are not allowed on grants as they are part of the "indirect cost" line (typically ranges from 50-70% of the direct costs), but if you were to propose a project that has a large focus on surveys, it would be reasonable to ask for paper, envelopes, and postage as a direct cost. As for computers, in 2014, the passage of Uniform Guidance changed the rules for charging computers to grants. It used to be that they had to be "sole source", e.g., running a piece of equipment. Now you are allowed to split-code them between multiple projects. However, you still have to meet the burden of determining the allocation. If a computer should be split between 10 funding sources, one could argue that it is similar to an indirect cost, and thus does not belong on any grants. In my computer science department, we do not charge student computers to grants for this reason. We do not want to have to track usage. However, when really fancy computers are purchased, we do budget for them upfront because they are beyond the normal administrative machine for email, etc.
As charges hit the funding, there are research administers who are hired to monitor the spending, and requirements for internal controls mean that audits are periodically performed on expenses. It is very possible that when costs are proposed to a research administrator (like myself) the proposed costs are not considered allowable on the project. The sponsor may have restrictions preventing a rebudget or the exact thing (which appeared to be in the proposal) cannot be purchased for other reasons, e.g. strategic procurement could block an equipment charge. Sometimes I have found conflict of interest problems because the PI wanted to buy equipment from a small business they have too large a stake in and the university blocked it.
It's always possible that the funds are also unspent and not misused. Unless you are privvy to the exact spending, you cannot know how things were spent to know that funds are misused. At the end of the day, the institution will send financial reports to the sponsor, and the PI is responsible for sending annual (or more frequent) technical reports. Are you assuming the technical reports are fraudulent and are falsely reporting progress on the project? Also consider that if your institution has an indirect cost rate of 70%, a $500k project is only $294k of direct costs. If you have the PI's effort, fringe, and a student's effort and tuition to consider, and the project is three years, you are talking less than $100k per year to distribute. At my university, many PIs don't take any salary because this money is so little, and students and postdocs are so expensive. $100k direct annually won't even get you a postdoc for a year in Computer Science, and not much more than a student. You can likely look up your indirect ("facilities and administration") and fringe rates as most academic institutions publish them online.
If you are still concerned, you can see if your institution has a whistleblower option and let an internal group investigate. However, if they find no fault, you have to accept that you just don't know how grants are run and there is nothing wrong with that; you just are not privileged to know this information.
Please note that if any student or postdoc asked for information on a project that they are paid on, I would only be willing to give them the award number for their publications' acknowledgment section. I would never discuss spending with them or anyone who is not the PI. I even limit conversations with Co-PIs to the spending they oversee.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/01
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<issue_start>username_0: I've received an email from a student [name changed for privacy] that goes like this:
>
> My name is <NAME> and I am in your Biology 101 class. I am here at this college on a soccer scholarship. I am the oldest of 4 and I am from Southern California. I am not intelligent. I understand that high school is easier than college. But I was a straight As in high school and I want you to know that I'm a hard worker.
>
> After I failed the first exam. I did all I could to improve my grade by getting a D on the second exam. I don't know what else more I can do.
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Do you think he is just trying to emotionally manipulate me by mentioning he is the oldest and is attending college due to soccer?
Based on the email, do you think the student understands that college is not as easy as high school?
I have a tendency for being too direct and sometimes blunt. How can I explain to him that being a straight A in HS doesn't guarantee As in college and show some empathy at the same time?
**EDIT:** It turns out John was not trying to manipulate me. We met and I gave him many suggestions. He studied hard and got an A on the 3rd exam! He only missed 3 questions in a 30-question exam. I'm very proud of him.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't read this as an attempt to manipulate. I also don't read this as if the student is not aware that having As in high school does not mean he should have As in college. Quite to the contrary: it sounds to me as if he's acknowledging that his As mean little now, and were maybe due to his work ethic primarily.
It sounds to me that he feels at the end of the rope. Having relied on hard work, he realizes it's not enough because that only allowed him to score a D. There might be additional fear because athletic scholarships can be linked to GPA. Being the oldest of four, and declaring yourself to be not intelligent, sounds to me as if it's a hint that their family is probably also not academically inclined, and so unable to advise.
Of course it might also be attempted manipulation, or a reference to being a jock who the school should support. Impossible to know. But given that there is at least a chance that this is a desperate student, I'd start by writing something empathetic, and maybe suggest hiring a tutor, working with friends, and seeking out whatever support your university offers.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Like others, my interpretation of that email is that it is probably genuine. A lot of new students struggle with transitioning from strategies that worked in highschool to strategies that work in university. In all universities I worked at we had courses aimed at helping students make that transition. Maybe such a course also exists in your university, and you can direct that student to that. Sometimes there are also other resources available, like counseling aimed at effective study habits organized by the university of as selfhelp groups.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It's worth pointing out that many high school curricula (including AP courses in general) are based on memorisation, and making the shift from regurgitating information to thinking critically from multiple perspectives will be hard for many students. Thank them for being proactive and seeking support, and advise them to:
1. Read thoroughly over the course outline and materials.
2. Recognise that effective study consists of using the right strategies (the Feynman technique etc.) instead of pure hard work
3. Encourage them to learn and think independently using multiple sources of information.
Let me elaborate on point number 2: John's clear belief that just working harder will translate into higher grades. While hard work is a prequisite to success, this is is only true if their effort is applied in the right direction. Studying for chronically long hours is only going to accelerate the risk of burnout and inhibits the brain from learning effectively.
So I would follow up with the student (face-to-face if possible) on strategies for them to get proper support on their learning. This can be achieved in two ways: 1) making sure John gets feedback on their learning so that they can have some direction and 2) in the long run, allowing John to try out a range of study techniques so that John has autonomy over their own learning. The first method can be achieved quite reasonably: encourage John to ask questions in lectures, and develop a plan for them to ask questions during their tutorials. Suggest that they view feedback on their written assignments as information on how to improve and not as reward and punishment, while also using office hours wisely. Regarding the second point, collaborating with other students, such as splitting up the work and then feeding back to each other, is also a great way for John to not feel as alone and adapt to a new learning style that involves independence, asking for help (which he already does), and eventually metacognition.
Avoid any remarks that might signal you mistrust the student: they are most likely desperate, confused, and stressed at this moment. Most importantly, detach the process and the experience of learning from the grade and support them in using their own intellectual curiosity to think around and sideways through the material. De-emphasising grading, as educators <NAME> and [<NAME>](https://www.alfiekohn.org/) have done, will help create an open and trusting environment, where students are more interested about learning, rather than worrying about failure or limiting their learning to what is on the test.
Most importantly, encourage John to use their support network. This will enable them to be resilient enough to overcome these challenges and feel like they belong.
Ultimately, remember that John *wants* to do well and that his behaviours are a reflection of the lack of support and guidance he has experienced during college. A great professor or TA like you can really make a difference in students' lives.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Cautiously assume the student is genuine for now, and point the student to academic resources that can help them. Their personal information is likely just a result of panic, I think. The student may not have fully internalized the differences between high-school and university yet, but there is good news for them: it sounds as if they're learning this critical lesson very early on in their education, and are thus well on their way to seeing the light on the other side of the metaphorical tunnel, before anything too bad catches up with them. If they can get some assistance through help centers, tutoring resources, etc, then they can recover.
The most gifted high-schoolers *very* often make the worst college students at first, having never been challenged and thus they never learn how to learn. The primary struggle of the gifted student is to humbly learn that AP classes are emphatically *not* university-equivalent, and any of their intellectual advantages will vanish overnight if they don't quickly learn the proper study skills that their peers learned through difficulties during high-school. Almost every struggling student I've ever advised was a formerly straight-A student who's used to everything being easy.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I would discount the "not intelligent" comment, myself, for a number of reasons that are not particularly important.
The key thing is that this student is doing the correct thing in asking for help. That's very hard to do even in high school, let alone college.
I had no trouble in high school; I did the homework during class and goofed off a lot. When I went to college (a year early) I drowned. I couldn't keep up and came within a whisker of flunking out. I thought I was working hard, but I was doing the wrong sorts of things. Memorization can be helpful, but if you can't bring up the memories when you need them, it's wasted time and effort.
What I eventually learned was how to take notes - do a rough copy at the time, and that evening rewrite it all into a separate study book. That let me see where the holes were and add supplemental material that would help me remember and understand it and its context later on. Everything is clear in class - it's 2 weeks later when you're doing last-minute studying that it might as well be written in Martian.
I also learned the benefit of office hours by TAs, as well as the absolutely critical benefit of study groups. Everyone is different, and a group lets us all benefit from different angles of view and different lines of attack.
I was never a great student in college, but I got to where I wanted to go; I suspect that John can do better than that once he learns where to put his hard work.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: There's a distinct possibility that this student has undiagnosed ADHD and should get that looked at and get helped. Doing well in High School and then crashing out in University once outside motivations are removed is a pretty classic scenario. Low test scores is not always a symptom of this (it tends to be missed smaller assignments), but if the subject matter is difficult enough they'd need to know how to study when their brain is screaming to do literally anything else (which they wouldn't have learned in High School) it could still be the case.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: Try briefly going over their submissions in the last couple of exams and see if you can figure out why they're failing, and maybe some targeted advice can be offered there.
e.g., are they failing basic memorization tasks (dates, names, this-means-that)? Intro courses often involve a fair amount of regurgitation so is the problem simply that they are not reading and memorizing relevant facts? Or are they apparently getting the memorization but failing to connect the dots or not understanding how to apply the knowledge?
Just spitballing here but while the other suggestions have good general ideas, you are in a position to really look at their answers and make a targeted guess as to what they are specifically failing to understand. Identifying the key weakness may help them get more specific tutoring.
(I think the personal details were meant to help understand where they are coming from. Oldest of 4 means they are probably used to being the mentor, and not having to get one. I take it to mean they really have no idea why their efforts are failing or where to turn for guidance. A good tutor can definitely help but the exam giver/grader may have some unique insights...)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: #### You're being manipulated.
Every single line of that student's statement contains some sort of appeal to pity or other trope.
The whole thing is a red flag large enough to mount to the back of a CCP motorcade.
>
> I am here at this college on a soccer scholarship.
>
>
>
Casually mentioning financial hardship...the corollary to humble-bragging.
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> I am the oldest of 4 and I am from Southern California.
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Implied dependency: won't you think of the children? They'll be so disappointed if *you* let me fail!
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> I am not intelligent.
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Self-deprecation: disarming tactic meant to lower your expectations.
>
> I understand that high school is easier than college.
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>
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Classic! Telling you *exactly* what you want to hear is what puts the "con[fidence]" in con-artist.
I've seen Reddit grifters angling for some chump to send them a new iPhone try this too-- "I know I need to be more responsible with [whatever], *but*..."
GoFundMe is also rife with this sort of rhetoric. Despite raising thousands of dollars for cat chemo or whatever, the money always goes to a bunch of other unaccounted-for nonsense that's totally beyond their control-- and now the grifter starts a second round of funding to deal with the cat. "For real this time, guys. Anything helps."
>
> But I was a straight As in high school and I want you to know that I'm a hard worker.
>
>
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Fall from grace, and a disingenuous one.
He's clearly a new student and presumably part of the COVID generation, where teachers struggling to adapt to remote-teaching handed out As to students who bothered to show up to Zoom meetings. This is no fault of his, but grade inflation may have inappropriately qualified him for admission. He is not above exploiting it nonetheless.
He says he's a hard worker. His grades so far suggest otherwise, but the only evidence in his favor is "just trust me, bro."
>
> After I failed the first exam. I did all I could to improve my grade by getting a D on the second exam. I don't know what else more I can do.
>
>
>
Desperation. "All I could"? "What else more I can do"?
Sparse on evidence/details, so immediately suspect omission. Ex: a statement like 'I spent twice as long studying' might be factually true, but omits the fact that he went from studying for 5 minutes the night before the test...to 10.
---
It's well-crafted enough to tickle your sympathy nerve without telling any outright lies you can hold him accountable for later. He's even cautious enough to not *ask* you for anything specific-- he's fishing to see *what you're willing to offer*.
This is a bad time to extend charity or sympathy to anybody under the age of 25. An entire generation that's had years to rehearse these acts are now bringing them to production outside of high school. Some of them make it as far as the workplace, where they eventually cross my desk.
**Do not give in.** You'll be expected to do so again in the future (for him, if not the friends he'll direct your way for easy negotiation), and when you finally put your foot down, you'll find yourself on the receiving end of a (false or exaggerated) discrimination or workplace violence complaint.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: I think it is impossible to know whether this is genuine, but I do think username_8 has quite a few points, despite all the downvotes. The red flag for me is the soccer scholarship and the "I am not intelligent" statement, together with the completely irrelevant statement about being the oldest of four siblings for pity.
There is an expectation among students on athletic scholarships that their primary task is sports, and passing classes is a mere formality. Many colleges are all too happy to play along, since this generates a lot of revenue for them. I've known quite a few TAs in my time who were more or less told explicitly to pass such students.
The student might be hinting that you are failing to play along, dressed up in the "I so want to improve" trope. The latter is because the student does not have a full-ride athletic scholarship (as evidenced by taking your class), so his enrollment hinges on his academic standing, officially. Asking for special treatment explicitly is obviously out of the question.
Also, even though college is harder than highschool, and grades go down a bit, I do find it hard to believe that a straight-A student would completely fail Biology 101, even at a top-tier university.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: The odd thing here is that the OP is a soccer scholarship student - and therefore faces down all sorts of verbal and physical intimidation in every match he plays - yet still hasn't the guts to talk to you personally on this.
But maybe this is just a case of 'brave in one thing, timid in another' that bedevils all our characters.
You need to meet this guy sometime soon in your office, alone and uninterrupted by phone-calls, door-knocks from grad students, etc.
Don't be afraid of your own tendency to be blunt. Sportsmen might benefit from less diplomacy and more plain speaking - as long as it's relevant and fair to the situation. Soccer coaches are real blunt.
Just remember that you are a professor, not a psychologist. It's possible that there may be family issues involved here ("oldest of four" ~ parental expectation ~ fear of failing to 'lead' younger siblings, etc) so it would be wise to liaise with a guy from the university student counselling bureau.
Other respondents here have raised things like time management, study technique, note taking, being more vocal in class/tutorials and so on. That's a possible dimension and every student would do well to attend advisory classes on these things. But I doubt if it's the main thing in this case.
So you just have to get that meeting organized and take it from there.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_11: I think this student is at a loss. He was good at high school (and worked hard for this, perhaps), but now he is in trouble, no matter how hard he tries.
The reason? *Perhaps he has just chosen the wrong subject.*
It is a common mistake to think that somebody who is good at high school will be successful in every field of study. Everybody has special talents, and is less talented in other fields. Perhaps you do not realize this at school, but you do when it is getting more difficult.
Some students chose a subject because they think they have to (their parents want them to be a lawyer or doctor), some chose a subject because they want to work in a field with good prospects (bad at maths, but studying computer science), or they just want to do something where you can earn a lot of money, no matter what it is. These are often the students that fail. You cannot deal with a subject on an academic level without talent or at least some interest.
I would encourage the student to find out where his talents are and perhaps chose something else. Tell him that he is not stupid, but has perhaps just taken a wrong decision.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_12: I'm creating an answer here, that doesn't apply to this student, but might to other students that fit the description from the title:
Find out if they are neurodivergent.
Many neurodivergent people are very successful in High School, but fail at College. Especially highly intelligent people with ADHD and/or autism can have straight A's in HS, but fail hard when it comes to College/University. They might need medication for ADHD, or they might need different strategies to study. But learning that they are neurodivergent can make the difference between failing and excelling at higher education.
This does not at all seem to be the case with the student that OP describes, but if others find this question based on the title, it might apply in the situation they are dealing with.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: If you don't have a certain minimum number of published papers, will that be used to reject applicants in the first round? Is that common?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no general rule for this. The hiring decision for post-docs is essentially up to the PI. They will be looking for the best candidate for the project, however they define that. Factors which could be important include:
* Research experience
* Experience with a particular piece of equipment/software/technique relevant to the project
* Good reference letters/recommendations from researchers the PI knows/respects
* Quality/quantity of publications
* PI's familiarity with the potential post-doc
* etc
Different PIs will weigh these factors differently. For me personally, number of publications is pretty low on the list of important criteria. Ultimately they can only choose from whomever applies, so always apply if you're interested.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on how many applications a position gets and the publication tradition of the discipline. When a position attracts hundreds of applications, then there are often quick and dirty rules applied to bring that number down to something manageable. This could include the number of publications. Though I suspect that it won't be a hard rule in the sense that not having x publications means you are in the discard pile. Instead you would end up lower on priority pile. In such a highly competitive environment the end effect will often be the same though.
However there are many positions that are not that competitive, and I would not expect that publications would be the main criterium at such an early stage of the career. Publishing takes time, so early in the career a person hasn't had the time.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I saw a job advertisement recently with this line:
>
> We are looking for candidates [for this teaching position] who are able to inspire women undergraduate students to seriously consider careers in physics, engineering, and related professions.
>
>
>
I'm aware there's a large gender imbalance in physics/engineering, but I'm not sure how one might attack the problem at the lecturer level, unless (very cynically) this is code speak for "we are looking to hire a female candidate".
How might an individual lecturer go about inspiring women undergraduate students to seriously consider careers in physics/engineering?
Related: [How do some institutions attract so many female computer scientists?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/118673/how-do-some-institutions-attract-so-many-female-computer-scientists) which gives some ideas for what can be done at department level.<issue_comment>username_1: It is rather easy, actually. The candidate just need to show that they are able to not reject women undergraduate students, as it has been done until now.
How? just go to your uni's library or other collaborative space, look how the median male students discuss between them technical topics, and how they discuss exactly the same topics with some fellow female students. Listen to the jokes they make. Have a look at their posture.
It is very easy to see the gender-discriminating (demeaning) behavior ... it is really hard to undo it, because we have been imprinted all our life with "rejecting" behavior... realizing what **not** to do is easier than having to do something.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: My best advice on this is actually to provide numerous successful role models. This is also true for other underrepresented groups in a field. If a faculty is "unbalanced" this is difficult, but can be remedied to some extent with guest lecturers and speakers.
Conscious mentoring is also a factor, whether by faculty or by outside professionals. Mentors provide a role model, but also encouragement and career advice to mentees.
One can also form discussion and support groups that might cross fields when numbers are small. This requires some discussion across departments by interested faculty to keep it active.
Over a longer term, work to assure that people are treated fairly and can attain positions of authority. And, fair treatment doesn't always mean the "same" treatment. Child bearing, for example, should not be a block to a woman's career development.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I know a professor who claims he was hired because he was, in his words, "better than everyone else." But isn't it possible that one person on the hiring committee thought he was the best applicant, another person thought someone else was the best applicant and that he wasn't even close, and a third person thought a third applicant was the best? It seems hard to say that someone on the hiring commitee was wrong and that actually the person who got the job offer was unanimously the best.<issue_comment>username_1: In actuality, in a pool of applicants there is a mix of attributes with some stronger in some areas and weaker in others. A committee will match those strengths and weaknesses against the requirements of a job.
The sorting isn't a consistent linear scale and it is even possible that a candidate who wasn't "best" on any criteria but had a mix of attributes that was considered most appropriate by the committee will get the job.
From the person's own standpoint, however, it is good to feel proud of yourself when you get a desired job. Saying you were the best is harmless enough on its own. Being arrogant, however, is less welcome.
"Better than everyone else" is true in the sense that the committee treated them the best fit for the position overall, not on every criteria.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: What the hiring committee decided was that the successful applicant was the *best suited* of those in the applicant pool for that *particular job.* For a position that's primarily or wholly teaching, the "best" researcher isn't necessarily the best suited, and vice versa. Similarly with the other axes of the decision matrix.
He may very well have been no one's first choice, but the committee members differed about first choices and he was the majority's second, or even third choice.
No, it does not make sense
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: ... depends on the meaning of "everyone else" and depends on the meaning of "better". Maybe a more nuanced answer is that this person was judged to be the best qualified in the pool of candidates at the time the offer was made.
"everyone else" would depend on the pool of applicants. If there was only one other applicant, this person would indeed be "better than anyone else".
Additionally, "better" depends on better at what, and who does the evaluating. If a job is posted in number theory, and there is a fantastic applicant working in differential equations, the latter might be better than all those with a number theory background, but the job might still go to a number theorist. Even if the job is broadly advertised, it is quite possible that internal departmental politics is involved, because -- say -- one candidate could collaborate with a committee member, or works in the area of research of a committee member. It could be the acknowledged top candidate has an intolerable personality so the committee will overlook this "better" candidate.
Hiring someone is *always* a matter of compromise. While it is likely that anyone hired is well qualified, it's not clear this person is "better than anyone else".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: "Best" in the eyes of an employer means a lot of things. Most affordable *of the applicants.* Most qualified *of the applicants.* Best interpersonal skills *of the applicants.* Best balance of competing interviewer opinions... you get the picture. But none of that has any meaning if there's someone out there who is yet more affordable, more qualified, has better interpersonal skills... and yet didn't apply.
This means your professor is both completely right and entirely wrong. He's certainly the best the department could hire *of the applicants* - and that means absolutely squat. Hopefully his work ethic matches his sense of self worth.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I was hired for an academic job because I impressed the dean. I didn't impress the committee beyond the minimum for the dean to hire. This turned out to be unfortunate for everyone involved, including me (at least in the short-term!) Even if everyone is impressed, it doesn't necessarily mean "best" as there are many hiring factors.
The things cited as examples in the OP's question are certainly possibly true. Sarcasm can always be a factor, determining when it is present or not is sometimes difficult also.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: You have a **causality** issue (better -> hired or hired -> better), an issue in **scope** (who is considered?), and an issue in **definition** (what does "better" mean?).
You state he says:
>
> he was hired because he was, in his words, "better than everyone else."
>
>
>
If someone is better than everyone else who were considered at the time, according to whatever criteria are important for the people who assessed them, it would be logical for them to be hired.
So indeed, better -> hired is quite logical.
But again, that is **among the pool of applicants**, and according to **specific criteria**, which may be "years of experience", "technical ability", "pedagogy", "number of publications", "quality of publications", "charisma", "popularity", "good looking", "cheap", "good golf buddy", "family friend", etc.
That, however, doesn't necessarily mean that him being hired means he is better than everyone else considered for all possible criteria (or even any at all that would matter to other people than those who made the decision), and much less that he is better than everyone else in the world.
So hired -> better is not necessarily true, much less if he implies that that he would be "better than everyone else in the world" (there could have been a single candidate!), or a reason completely outside of what most people would consider "better" (like a personal relationship to members of the hiring committee).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: We always hire the best. Everyone who works here can say that they were hired because they were the best. There just might be some less flattering qualifications for "best".
They were the best that could be found, or the best who found us, given a short window of time to apply for a position, and successfully went through whatever negotiations they had in mind for compensation or other details. I mean the *technical* best might have been the one who decided the commute was just too long, or the one who couldn't talk us up enough in the negotiation phase, so they refused the offer, but clearly that means that they weren't the best choice.
So, the one we hired was definitely the best. At the time. Given the constraints. From that particular candidate pool. As far as we could tell in that moment.
*(but still totally the best. I mean, that's why they hired me. I was the best!)*
I guess, in summary, it makes sense to say it, but only in the sense that it is, after looking at all factors, a truism.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: You get hired for a position if you are available and if you are the person giving the best value for the least amount of money.
Say there was just a damning report that women and ethnic minorities don’t get jobs at your university. So suddenly a black woman applying for a job becomes very valuable. Or you are supposed to work closely with an institute in France, and suddenly someone who speaks and writes French may not be the best, but very valuable. Or someone who is extremely good at their science but has a personality that makes others quit is not acceptable.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/01
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm in math but not currently in academia (completed PhD). I had to leave and I'm trying to get back. Recently I've been working on some small problems that I made up myself from reading some papers. But it's not part of any sort of larger program or is related to stuff that people work on. So, I am worried that when people look at my research statement, etc., nobody will find it interesting and will pick someone else who works on trendier things, or that is part of a bigger research group.
One person told me that I should continue working on what I find interesting, because otherwise I would be "pandering." That's bad because that sort of defeats the purpose of doing mathematics, which should be done for intrinsic reasons. But wouldn't that lead to my applications being turned down? Should I think about who might find my work interesting?<issue_comment>username_1: Two ideas:
First, it is fairly common for mathematicians to work on things of interest to only a few people. When I completed my dissertation (previous century) it was quite interesting but of interest, really, to only half a dozen people worldwide and I knew most of them. Don't let that be a concern. You can even get things published in good journals, as the main results of the dissertation were. Math is very balkanized and interesting things can pop up anywhere. For some, the personal rewards are enough.
Second, academia is a big place. it might be very hard to get hired at an R1 but there are lots of satisfying careers at other universities and colleges, including liberal arts colleges, all of which are likely to have a math department. While research is less important (than teaching) there, it still gives an opportunity to do it and if you keep up a circle of collaborators you can succeed. You can also move up the food chain if you are able to publish.
So, look at all the possibilities and cast a wide net.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: When you leave academia, you need to stay in touch with academia and perform up-to-date research. If you can publish from time to time, it should be enough to demonstrate a potential employer that your are capable to research on your own.
I assume you apply to open positions. There you won't do your own research, but follow the ideas of a PI, do work which was promised for grant money, or help with the problem of your new colleagues.
You should clarify what your strategy is to get back to academia. I suspect that your actual problem are your unsuccessful applications. Probably you have to post a new question addressing this issue.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> One person told me that I should continue working on what I find interesting, because otherwise I would be "pandering."
>
>
>
I don't agree with this advice. At least, not for young researchers. The accumulated expertise of the mathematics research community is valuable, and you should learn from it as much as you can in the early part of your career. A big part of that expertise is a "nose" for good problems to work on, and this takes time to develop. It usually develops a few years later than the ability to solve research problems that a mentor helped you select.
I don't know much about your situation, but if you're still at the stage of asking for general advice about what to work on, then you should try to get advice that's as tailored and specific as possible, and get it from as qualified of an expert as possible. Which usually means entering into some kind of mentorship arrangement (formal or informal). On a practical level, it will be very hard to get back into academia without at least one well-established person in your corner.
Eventually, once you've reached a certain level of expertise, you can strike out on your own if you want to do that, and you'll be able to judge the worth of your ideas for yourself. But it's difficult to gain that expertise working in isolation on your own questions.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: There isn't a right or wrong decision what you should work on. It's entirely your decision, taking into account both your own passions and interests, and the likely rewards of succeeding at solving different types of problems. It's certainly the case that not all problems are created equal in how highly they are regarded by the mathematical community, and how much solving them will advance your career in a practical sense.
In any case, you might consider that if you decide to do a bit of "pandering" to advance your career, you will be in pretty good company. Gauss was twenty-four and already well-known for his amazing discoveries in number theory when he decided to work on an applied problem in astronomy: calculating the orbit of the dwarf planet [Ceres](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet)), which had been discovered at the beginning of 1801 and observed for a brief period but then could not be located again by astronomers. The problem of finding Ceres became quite a trendy topic that attracted the attention of the scientific community of the day. Drawn by the opportunity and interest generated by this problem, Gauss attacked it and, through heavy calculations combined with ingenious methods he had developed, was able to calculate the orbit of Ceres and predict its future position from the recorded observations. This was a stunning success: astronomers pointed their telescopes towards the positions Gauss predicted and swiftly located Ceres.
In chapter 14 of his classic book "Men of Mathematics: The Lives and Achievements of the Great Mathematicians from Zeno to Poincaré", author <NAME> describes Gauss's motivations for working on the problem of the orbit of Ceres:
>
> His friends and his father, too, were impatient with the young Gauss for not finding some lucrative position now that the Duke had educated him and, having no conception of the nature of the work which made the young man a silent recluse, thought him deranged. Now at the dawn of the new century the opportunity which Gauss had lacked was thrust at him.
>
>
> [...]
>
>
> Why not indulge his dear vice, calculate as he had never calculated before, produce the difficult orbit to the sincere delight and wonderment of the dictators of mathematical fashion and thus make it possible, a year hence, for patient astronomers to rediscover Ceres in the place where the Newtonian law of gravitation decreed that she *must* be found—if the law were indeed a law of nature? Why not do all this, turn his back on the insubstantial vision of Archimedes and forget his own unsurpassed discoveries which lay waiting for development in his diary? Why not, in short, be popular? The Duke's generosity, always ungrudged, had nevertheless wounded the young man's pride in his most secret place; honor, recognition, acceptance as a "great" mathematician in the fashion of the time with its probable sequel of financial independence—all these were now within his easy reach. Gauss, the mathematical god of all time, stretched forth his hand and plucked the Dead Sea fruits of a cheap fame in his own young generation.
>
>
>
Bell proceeds to describe the rewards that Gauss reaped from his feat:
>
> Recognition came with spectacular promptness after the rediscovery of Ceres. Laplace hailed the young mathematician at once as an equal and presently as a superior. Some time later when the <NAME> (1769-1859), the famous traveller and amateur of the sciences, asked Laplace who was the greatest mathematician in Germany, Laplace replied "Pfaff." "But what about Gauss?" the astonished <NAME> asked, as he was backing Gauss for the position of director at the Göttingen observatory. "Oh," said Laplace, "Gauss is the greatest mathematician in the world."
>
>
>
Of course, Gauss is only one of numerous mathematicians whose choices of what to work on were influenced by considerations of career success. Was Gauss's decision to work on an applied problem really "pandering"? Did it "defeat the purpose of doing mathematics"? I'll let you judge for yourself.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/11/01
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<issue_start>username_0: In the US, competition for admission to elite universities (whether for an PhD, MA, BA, or even for a position as a professor) is fierce. Race is a more or less official consideration in admissions.
How do universities check racial declarations? If a person does not look a given race in an interview, does a staffer makes a note? I don't think they do that, and anyway, some racial categories have no visible difference.
[Some reports](https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/10/25/survey-asks-if-applicants-are-truthful-about-race) have said that applicants do lie, but I am primarily interested in how universities validate such declarations (at all levels: for a graduate or undergraduate degree, or a job). And if they don't, given the ferocity of the competition and the lack of validation, why don't *more* applicants make something up?<issue_comment>username_1: Race in the US is a matter of self-identification. I am not aware of any university program to validate racial identification.
Quoting from the [article you reference](https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/10/25/survey-asks-if-applicants-are-truthful-about-race):
>
> Admissions experts have varying views of the survey. Most said that colleges do not routinely attempt to verify applicants’ answers on what race or ethnicity they are. Some doubted that such a large percentage are lying. And they said the answers point to misperceptions about the admissions process. But they agreed that lying is a problem.
>
>
>
there seems to be a mix of opinions on the situation.
There of course have been some high-profile cases in the media where people have reached a social status of public interest (for example, elected officials) and have been found to have lied or misled about their racial or ethnic background, and this has cost them in the court of public opinion.
Perhaps it's not something people lie about often because, despite the implication in your question that lying about race gives an advantage, maybe that advantage isn't actually perceived to be that large or exist at all, and that applicants who are actually filling out their applications (as opposed to a survey about their application) are more cautious about what it means to lie: will they face punishment? will they face discrimination based on the race they claim?
>
> Race is a more or less official consideration in admissions
>
>
>
I assume you refer to [affirmative action](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action), but the statement is certainly not universally true. Racial quotas are not legal in the US, and at most race is a minor contributor in a wholistic admissions process.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> How do universities check racial declarations?
>
>
>
They don’t.
>
> And if they don't, given the ferocity of the competition and the lack of validation, why don't more applicants make something up?
>
>
>
“More applicants” compared to what? If you mean compared to the rate of dishonesty claimed in the report you linked to, it seems already quite high to me personally, so I don’t know why you’d expect an even higher rate. In any case, that report measures the rate of white applicants who *admit* in a survey to claiming a false racial classification - that is, it is measuring the percentage of “honest liars”, if you will. It’s possible that there are yet more dishonest people who will not admit to such behavior even in an anonymous survey.
It’s also possible that the numbers in the report are unreliable for other reasons, and of course it’s possible that your view of humanity is more jaded than it deserves to be. Finally, perhaps some people don’t lie not because they are honest but because they are fearful of future negative repercussions if they do lie (as described in @BryanKrause’s answer). In other words, the negative stigma associated with claiming a false racial identity, and social taboo against such behavior, is what provides the negative incentive discouraging such behavior (whether that’s effective or not), rather than any enforcement mechanism implemented by universities themselves.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: As others answered, there's not really a practical way for colleges to verify race.
>
> why don't more applicants make something up?
>
>
>
Because if too many people do it, it becomes an ineffective strategy. If the admissions office gives preferential treatment to X, and everyone is X, then they're preferring everyone, which means they're not preferring anyone.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/01
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<issue_start>username_0: Basically, I think research groups form "inner circles" where people generate important problems. But I am not in any of these "inner circles," so I don't know where the potentially important problems that will lead to papers in top, prestigious journals are. The people who publish in top journals know what the important problems are. However, I do not and I will never publish papers in top journals at this rate. How do I access this information without asking someone what the important questions are?
One way I can think of is to go to seminars. But I also want to know how to make an advance in the difficult problems and for that I need to discuss with the leading experts in the problem.<issue_comment>username_1: I wrote this as part of an answer on another question:
>
> One of the things many mathematicians have trouble developing
> is what might be called "good taste" - a sense of what mathematics is
> genuinely interesting and can lead to further interesting
> developments. Some have so little taste that they declare that there
> is no such thing, and then claim the popularity of various research
> areas is driven purely by the entirely arbitrary decisions of famous
> mathematicians.
>
>
>
Don't fall into this trap. Problems are interesting or not for genuine mathematical reasons.
You should think that there are a small number of 'obviously interesting' problems - to pick a few that most algebraically inclined pure mathematicians have heard of - calculating the homotopy groups of spheres, understanding the moduli space of complex algebraic curves (with marked points), the Riemann Hypothesis, the Continuum Hypothesis (although in some sense this is solved), irrationality of zeta(5). Most fields of mathematics also have less famous problems that are important in part because they have been worked on but remain unsolved for a long time. Of course it's probably a bad idea to work directly on these problems.
However, because these problems are so important, any work that provides a potentially useful approach to these problems is important. That's where taste comes in. Great mathematicians have the ability to spot approaches to problems that are potentially useful, and these approaches require solving more problems, and these are the practical important problems whose solutions get published in top journals.
Anyone with the vision to find such approaches can get published in top journals. It is true that mathematicians who are close to great mathematicians can sometimes benefit by having the great mathematician point out an approach and direct them to the problems that need to be solved, but, actually, the great mathematicians generally reserve most of these problems for themselves, because it's important and they don't trust someone else to do the work.
So - the answer is - develop good taste for yourself rather than trying to rely on the good taste of others - or, like 95% or more of mathematicians, give up on being great.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It is difficult for anyone working strictly alone to come up with good ideas and just as hard, perhaps, to turn them into interesting results. Even Einstein worked with a circle of collaborators in the development of Special Relativity.
My advice would be to talk to a lot of people and form a circle of collaborators. Find ways to meet with them, at conferences, say, or by inviting them to your institution for talks. This is easier now with the internet than it was in the past, but it has always been a tool for researchers. It is one of the main reasons that universities were formed, of course.
Share ideas and work toward a productive group, probably sharing authorship of things that develop.
Talk to people outside your field, also: "What sort of problems do you see that need a solution?" After supper sherry hour at the Cambridge colleges are especially good at this, since the members are interdisciplinary.
You can read a lot of stuff for ideas, of course, but a group can read a lot more than an individual can. Some ideas are just serendipity, but a group can make serendipity work for you if you spend some time "thinking out loud".
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Attend seminars, post on online forums, work more with students - it is not like these "inner circles" are some secret cabal designed to hide the information from underprivileged, they are just more intensive and, ergo, efficient, than an average seminar or a random hallway talk could be. It is people that make research groups "top", not the other way around - although is your situation is particularly bad, you could be very noticeably less productive than you could have been otherwise. Researchers flock to prestigious universities to find interesting people and ideas there; clicking with them would be a whole lot more productive than joining a leading research group where you will be a fifth wheel. Setting your sights on a handful of people and trying to squeeze into their group which already works well is setting your scope too narrow (not to mention piggybacking on others' success is a dubious tactic).
There are a few other things that I would also like to point out. First and foremost, [every measure which becomes a target becomes a bad measure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law): publishing in top journals is a terrible *goal*. Because of that, "I will never publish papers in top journals at this rate" is dangerous as a shortcut for "I am concerned I will never do great research".
Next, as [Hamming has elucidated](http://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html) (this is an amazing read overall!):
>
> It's not the consequence that makes a problem important, it is that you have a reasonable attack. That is what makes a problem important.
>
>
>
Great scientists made breakthroughs in known problems, but those who are the first to convince others something is worth studying truly cement their place in history. Please refer to this [important observation](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/167041/145124) also (IMHO, this applies to all sciences, not just mathematics). "How do I make progress" is a million-dollar question, sometimes literally. There is no general advice on how to know if something is important and could lead to interesting results - as in, which ideas are worth pursuing. The answer is 42, essentially. Short of going through more ideas and training your own heuristics and intuition, there is not much to be said on this topic.
Then come the strategies. Sometimes, it is obvious that the field is "hot" and is making rapid progress, but in small steps: if you are not a member of a strong research group or do not have a good attack on the problem otherwise, it is indeed more likely that you end up producing something valuable, but not all that significant. It does not mean one should always give up or never even try, but if public recognition for some reason or another is important for you, it has to be a consideration. As stated above, maybe you could make more substantial progress by joining a group you get along with well rather than chasing the hottest trends in your area. This has its own drawbacks, of course, and there are looming risks of irrelevance.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/02
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the start of my second year of PhD studies. I have identified a gap in the literature, a research question and half way thorough my research proposal. Unfortunately, the rising costs of living, electricity and the extreme housing crisis in the country have rendered our already low (350 euros below minimum wage) stipend as non-relevant anymore. Some PhD students need to work part-time and thus affecting both our output and health, especially mature students. Therefore, I decided to change country, I identified several programs and I am planning to email prospective supervisors regarding my research. How do I go about discussing this situation (also in my application), is this a valid reason and should I even mention it? Any advice would be more than welcome. Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: Actually, it seems to me to be a good reason to want to move and should be easy to explain to any potential supervisor. It would be especially helpful if you can get the support of your current supervisor in whatever changes need to be made.
I'd suggest you have a talk with them about the financial situation and how it puts your continuing at risk. Maybe they have some other options to increase your funding. And, a note from them saying "I hate to lose this person, but the financial situation here is untenable." would be a big plus.
As in any application, however, focus mainly on your skills and what you can bring to the new place. You need to find a good fit, which can be harder unless you can start over.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I would not mention the current financial situation in your application or make it the center of your discussion with new, potential supervisors. While it is an important consideration for you, it might distract the conversation from your research program and how your work could fit in (at the new institution, with the new supervisor, etc). You really want to highlight how you'll fit there with your work, not why it's a more affordable place to live. (Obviously, if it naturally comes up, you should be honest, but I wouldn't lead with it.)
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/02
| 1,520
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<issue_start>username_0: Lately I have noticed few job advertisement (that range from PhD to Assistant Prof. positions) for which the deadlines for application was literally a couple of days after the job posting.
As a matter of fact, just today (2nd November) I get one announcement with application deadline 4th November.
This is obviously extremely short notice for people, although technically there is nothing wrong with this practice. The fact that they will thus get (knowingly) much less applications than they would get if the deadline was further in the future, makes me think that they have a candidate and they do not want "too much competition", but that is just my arbitrary interpretation.
My natural questions are:
1. Have you ever noticed something like that in your field?
2. How would you react if you are a potential candidate? Would that raise your eyebrow and is it a red-flag?
3. Is there anything that could be done to restrict these practices at a more centralized level?
Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: A trivial and benign explanation is that the time you see an advertisement is not necesserily the same as the time of publication. Lots of positions are advertised through mailing lists, and to avoid filling all mailboxes all positions are collected over a period of time and sent at a fixed schedule. So there could easily be a month difference between the time you get it in your mail box and the time of publication. If that is the case, then I would not think much about this.
I have also seen "tricks" like these used in cases where a department wanted to offer a dual career or tenure track position, but for organizational, budgetairy, or legal reasons could not. In that case, a "reserved" position still needed to be posted. If you think that that is going on, I would not waste my time applying for that position.
As to a solution: give the departments the opportunity and budget security to be able to offer tenure track and dual career positions, so they don't have to use these tricks. More easily said than done, though.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If the posting is also **extremely specific**, I might suspect that it's meant for some bureaucratic purpose rather than a bona fide attempt to hire someone new. I once got very excited over a job that *perfectly* matched my background and interests. I later realized why: it was my current job and immigration rules forced HR to post an ad in order to renew my visa.
On the other hand, I also seen legit postings with very short durations. These are occasionally just...odd administrative decisions (welcome to academia!), but they are also sometimes extensions of a previous advertisement or search. It may be that they want to receive a larger pool of applicants before screening begins, or it may be that they intended to post the job for 45 days, but the site only shows ads for a month at a time. The date sometimes even resets whenever the ad itself is edited, even if it's just a typo fix.
If you know someone in the department, you can often **informally enquire** whether it's a real job or "saved" for someone. The hiring manager may not be permitted to flat-out refuse to hire someone else, but you could ask whether they're "expanding the group" and read between the lines. For some jobs, the ad might even be both. At the time I saw "my" ad, we would have been thrilled to hire me and someone like me and we had the money to do so. This is *very* unlikely for tenure-track jobs, but is a real possibility for North American postdocs, which are often hired opportunistically.
I also realized--far too late--that you aren't meant to *begin* writing faculty applications in response to a job ad. Instead, it is generally expected that you have **prewritten material that can be adapted** to each specific position. This is the only real way you can map out a coherent 5-year plan in a few weeks!
I agree that this can be very frustrating, but I also doubt that it's possible to completely eliminate it. It's mostly an interaction of rules meant for "interchangeable jobs" with huge potential applicant pools (e.g., cashier) with academia's extremely specific positions (how many people know about the response properties of PIT neurons?). In many cases, it's not even under the organization's control if it's required for immigration (etc).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The most obvious explanation is that the time when you got the announcement is not the time when the job was actually posted. The position may have been open for a while (and announced in forums you didn't see) but the person who posted the announcement you saw did so only a couple of weeks later realizing that the deadline is approaching -- I certainly have been at fault for this.
A separate explanation may be that the search committee wrote the announcement, set the deadline based on when they need to make a decision, gave it to the HR department for approval, and then ... waited.
In the end, I firmly believe in [Hanlon's razor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor) that says "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." There is almost always an explanation that does not need to resort to nefarious people playing games.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I think its a fairly common appraoch, to advertise a job with very specific requirements for a very short period if you already have someone in mind for the position. Here, the minimum you would be allowed to advertise for is 2 weeks I think. However, I wouldn't expect to see these on mailing lists etc. Certainly when I've seen this happen, the position would be advertised only on the university website, not promoted, and probably over an awkward time (like Christmas, or Easter in countries that shut down for those periods).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I'm not in academia, but many of my friends are, and this is what they've told me about how the game works in the US.
Universities are often obligated to publicly advertise the available positions. However, they already have someone in mind for the position. In the old days, they would "publicly" post the position in an out-of-the-way place (say, a bulletin board on the third floor). They still may do this, but now they also post online with very narrow application windows.
It's just a way to game the rules so the organization can hire its person of choice while meeting outside requirements.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/11/02
| 374
| 1,535
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a master's student doing theoretical physics and am currently preparing for PhD applications. I just started working on a dissertation for my program, and I'm expected to have it completed by May next year. I wonder if it is appropriate for me to include the title of my dissertation on my CV for PhD applications (in the education section), as it is an ongoing project, instead of a finished work. Should I also include my supervisor's name if I include the title?
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest that you make a section titled "Work in Progress" and list it there. You can use the working title, indicate that it is a dissertation and, if you like, list the supervisor, though that isn't really necessary unless it is joint work.
But the Education section is probably best reserved for degrees held and working on, honors, and such like.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: That's what I do. It's a concise way to give a little bit more information about the content of your degree, which might otherwise just say "M.S., Physics."
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, please, a CV must be short but not too short, it would be really helpful to know what you are working on now.
I expect you to write in the education part "M.Sc XX.20yz - expected 05.2023" with a quick mention of the exams that are relevant to the position you are applyiong, as well as a "Work in progress" section where you add the thesis with the provisional title and the advisor.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/02
| 788
| 3,471
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<issue_start>username_0: In my paper as well as in others there is a specific person that acquired gift authorships. How do I speak about that anonymously? Should I send an anonynous email to integrity office? or to the journal? I don't know how to handle the situation and I need some guidance. Apparently something is going on with this person. Is it possible a person to be handed authorship on papers across departments without significant contribution (eg. helped with 2 constructs, set up a PCR, helped with an experiment aliquoting sample supernatants, etc.) and this to be done for non-suspicious reasons?<issue_comment>username_1: A useful answer would require much more knowledge about your situation, which you probably should not provide. As a co-author, you should know who was responsible for this person to be included as an author and why this authorship is not warranted. Also, how can you be sure that these are gift authorships on the other papers?
At a US institution, you could bring your concerns (not accusations) to a Dean or a VP for research.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The amount of contribution is a fickle matter. Students tend to view it as very black-and-white and are overly protective of their work (and tend to deem others' contributions as insignificant), while those with more experience managing research groups - and, admittedly, valuing evidence of them being good at managing the team higher - are more likely to include a lot of authors.
Nominally, you are very likely to have at least some case here: one of the checkboxes one gets to fill when sending a paper to a journal is a confirmation that all authors agree to a publication and listings of others' respective contributions, especially if something like [CRediT](https://credit.niso.org/) is being used. But anonymity is likely not an option in your case. How likely is that someone not familiar with their work flags them as dishonest? How many people are in the authors' list of their recent papers? How long would it take for them to talk to each other and figure out who was the most likely person to yell "misconduct!"?
The reality of a situation is that the practice of gift authorship in this case (which does not even seem completely outrageous to me, try people just exchanging money under the table!) may be so deeply rooted you could not possibly hope to bring it down, especially not without causing a very considerable harm to yourself. You surely could demand a stricter standards of contribution on papers where you are one of key authors, but that is about it. If you come across something unmistakably egregious, you could report it to someone in the university like username_1 said (and be prepared for them potentially sweeping the issue under the rug to not deal with the fallout; the only viable escalation from there is burning the house down by getting press involved).
It is very, very hard to argue your case there, unless some *extremely* apparent corruption was involved. Authors get to collectively decide whose contributions were significant and whose were not; if you stir up trouble, not working with you would be an easier option for the rest of them, and it may well end up being a career suicide for you. Until your own contributions are valuable enough for others to play by your rules, you get to play by theirs or look for a more perceivably ethically sound team to be in, sorry. Not a lot of leverage there.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/03
| 1,103
| 4,906
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<issue_start>username_0: I was in a manuscript which was not accepted in the first journal. They resubmitted it to an other journal and left me out without telling me a word. They reproduced my data with the protocol I gave them (what I developed actually) and now they are telling that my data were not used and I was not contributed enough to be a coauthor. They told it after I saw that the paper was published without me… The previous boss (who is in the manuscript but not working any more) promised me a few years ago that I will be a coauthor.
What shall I do?<issue_comment>username_1: There are two avenues. The first is to complain to the journal's editors that you were improperly excluded. This might help or not.
The second is to complain to the administration (department or dean level) that academic misconduct has occurred in leaving you out. This might help or not.
But either of the above will make the problem more public, which will raise hackles among some, possibly helpful (or not). Be prepared for some blowback.
Also, enlist the help of the "previous boss" even if they aren't working anymore. In some situations such people will be listened to. I probably have some influence with my former employer even ten years after retirement, for example.
Your name here sounds female. I certainly hope this isn't another case of all too frequent sexism and the negation of the contributions of women.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: As someone who has been through this situation myself, the way you respond will depend on how many bridges you are willing to burn.
If the author's university has a Research Integrity office (or similar), the best way of having it resolved is to contact them with a complete description of your claim, including any evidence or communications you have had with the authors. Most institutions will carry out an investigation (or at least, a preliminary investigation) for research misconduct and advise you of their findings. This process may take a long time.
However, this approach will almost certainly have the effect of ending any working relationships you have with the authorship team, so going down this pathway is one you should consider thoroughly.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The editor of the first journal that rejected could help:
Fortunately for you if you wish to escalate, there is a clear paper trail here of your contribution that can be confirmed by the editor of the first journal. Having the editor of a similar journal in the same field confirming your allegations should go a long way into pressing the editors of the second journal to investigate and resolve the situation.
In practice, if I wished to escalate this, I would
1. Write to the editor of the first journal to ask if they would be willing to confirm your authorship in the submission they handled; and if they would agree that you forward your correspondence with them on this matter to the editors.
2. Once you have this, forward your email correspondence with the editor of the first journal to the editors of the second journal, with the senior authors of manuscript and the editor of the first journal in the CC field:
* Pointing our that my research contribution on the protocol used in the published version of the manuscript;
* Asking whether my name was had been somehow mistakenly forgotten from the author list of the published version, and how that could be fixed.
The paper trail is on your side here. As others haved said, you should be prepared that escalating this will annoy and possibly burn bridges with your senior coauthors: They will be caught red-handed by the editors of the two journals for misconduct. The idea of the phrasing of the second bullet is to give some space for your coauthors to save face by working towards adding your "forgotten" name to the published version.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The fact that they reproduced your data is irrelevant.
Please contact research integrity officers, or the equivalent, at the institutions where the authors in question work. Present your documented evidence.
If the work was funded by some funding agency contact them too. They care about good scientific practice.
Writing to the journal editor can also be useful. This adds publicity to the case and helps to make it known in your research community.
I would avoid any direct contact with the authors, dean, head of a department, etc (in this point I disagree with username_1's answer). This will put you in the begging position with a frustrating outcome.
You said "I do not want any bad for them, no retraction, etc. I just want to be in the paper somewhere in the middle." Not very likely to happen, but do you really want to be surrounded by people who steal your results? A much more realistic goal would be to exert some pressure on them so that this does not repeat in the future.
Upvotes: 1
|
2022/11/03
| 1,544
| 6,794
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<issue_start>username_0: I've a teaching position in an engineering college in France since September 2021, and in a few years' time I'd like to get either a research-only or a mixed research and teaching position. With that in mind, I'm trying to get some research done in the fields of statistical/theoretical machine learning, although my ideal research domain is in the intersection of differential geometry and statistics, e.g. manifold learning, dimensional reduction, aspects of medical imaging or computer vision where one needs to do statistics/ML on manifolds etc, and my PhD was in pure math (in 2013).
**Problem I'm facing:** The problem I'm facing is that I'm in no way connected to the research part of the academia, so I don't get to travel to conferences. Also, my doctoral supervisor is a pure mathematician, and it's different from what I do now. My postdoc supervisor doesn't reply to my emails. I can't go to conferences, because I can't afford to pay hundreds of Euros to go there - normally these fees are covered by the research lab one is part of. I had a failed time in industry lasting for four years, and this made me totally isolated from academic research, that I truly love and want to get into.
**Steps taken:** I've reached out to several researchers in France telling them that I'd like to voluntarily be part of a project (without any position or payment), but never got a reply. I guess the reason is that they don't know me, so they don't feel like sharing the credits of a potential research article with a stranger. My postdoc supervisor ignored my emails. I've presented my work in an online seminar in a research group in front of a few people, that got decent feedback, but nothing enough to move things ahead - e.g. they had a postdoc position available, but they chose someone they knew although they considered my profile very good - something I'm tired of hearing and yet ultimately getting defeated by the candidates already known to the lab people.
**Question:** I understand that I'll have to streamline my research and get myself published if I'd like to get a research position someday. But given the above, what can I do to get my research started again that actually is in the interest of one of the research labs? I'm doing some research on my own, but I'm afraid that this won't be enough to get me where I want to go. Any leads will be appreciated with sincere appreciation!
Thank you very much!!<issue_comment>username_1: There are two avenues. The first is to complain to the journal's editors that you were improperly excluded. This might help or not.
The second is to complain to the administration (department or dean level) that academic misconduct has occurred in leaving you out. This might help or not.
But either of the above will make the problem more public, which will raise hackles among some, possibly helpful (or not). Be prepared for some blowback.
Also, enlist the help of the "previous boss" even if they aren't working anymore. In some situations such people will be listened to. I probably have some influence with my former employer even ten years after retirement, for example.
Your name here sounds female. I certainly hope this isn't another case of all too frequent sexism and the negation of the contributions of women.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: As someone who has been through this situation myself, the way you respond will depend on how many bridges you are willing to burn.
If the author's university has a Research Integrity office (or similar), the best way of having it resolved is to contact them with a complete description of your claim, including any evidence or communications you have had with the authors. Most institutions will carry out an investigation (or at least, a preliminary investigation) for research misconduct and advise you of their findings. This process may take a long time.
However, this approach will almost certainly have the effect of ending any working relationships you have with the authorship team, so going down this pathway is one you should consider thoroughly.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The editor of the first journal that rejected could help:
Fortunately for you if you wish to escalate, there is a clear paper trail here of your contribution that can be confirmed by the editor of the first journal. Having the editor of a similar journal in the same field confirming your allegations should go a long way into pressing the editors of the second journal to investigate and resolve the situation.
In practice, if I wished to escalate this, I would
1. Write to the editor of the first journal to ask if they would be willing to confirm your authorship in the submission they handled; and if they would agree that you forward your correspondence with them on this matter to the editors.
2. Once you have this, forward your email correspondence with the editor of the first journal to the editors of the second journal, with the senior authors of manuscript and the editor of the first journal in the CC field:
* Pointing our that my research contribution on the protocol used in the published version of the manuscript;
* Asking whether my name was had been somehow mistakenly forgotten from the author list of the published version, and how that could be fixed.
The paper trail is on your side here. As others haved said, you should be prepared that escalating this will annoy and possibly burn bridges with your senior coauthors: They will be caught red-handed by the editors of the two journals for misconduct. The idea of the phrasing of the second bullet is to give some space for your coauthors to save face by working towards adding your "forgotten" name to the published version.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The fact that they reproduced your data is irrelevant.
Please contact research integrity officers, or the equivalent, at the institutions where the authors in question work. Present your documented evidence.
If the work was funded by some funding agency contact them too. They care about good scientific practice.
Writing to the journal editor can also be useful. This adds publicity to the case and helps to make it known in your research community.
I would avoid any direct contact with the authors, dean, head of a department, etc (in this point I disagree with username_1's answer). This will put you in the begging position with a frustrating outcome.
You said "I do not want any bad for them, no retraction, etc. I just want to be in the paper somewhere in the middle." Not very likely to happen, but do you really want to be surrounded by people who steal your results? A much more realistic goal would be to exert some pressure on them so that this does not repeat in the future.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/11/03
| 1,203
| 4,974
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have been seeking a full time research position in psychological research since I graduated and moved to a new city. Breaking into it without any connections was hard, so I took a part-time temporary position doing educational research in the public school system. The work is challenging but meaningful, and I have a very supportive advisor and research team. I recently got offered a full time research position in a field I am really excited about, and thus am facing the choice to leave this current research project to chase something more stable and better for graduate school, or staying and having integrity to my current PI.
Many people have been telling me "it's just a job, he's just your boss, and it's his job to figure it out" But it doesn't feel that way. It feels as if I am screwing him over in the middle of a complicated project that requires constant hands on work in the schools. It's an odd schedule (adhering to all the breaks in the public school schedule), and again, it is temporary (only through March). So I feel like if I leave, he will have a very hard time filling my position.
I respect this PI, and his project. This is the last year of his data collection on a four year study. I guess I'm just feeling emotional and guilty for leaving, and am looking to see if anyone has had a similar experience. Is leaving research truly just business, and I should do what's best for me? Or should I try to buy as much time on this project out of respect for my PI?
I am planning on giving him 4 weeks notice, have found two leads in replacing myself, and offered to train in the new employee and do anything that would make the transition easier for him, and am planning on asking him if he needs even more than four weeks and I'll see what I can do. But damn, that guilt is killing me!
I appreciate any and all advice, insight, or criticism. Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Sensitive new researcher :)<issue_comment>username_1: Anyone who employs someone else in a temporary fashion should expect that person to leave at any time for a more permanent job.
>
> I am planning on giving him 4 weeks notice, have found two leads in replacing myself, and offered to train in the new employee and do anything that would make the transition easier for him
>
>
>
This is very generous of you, and should be more than acceptable to your boss unless they're actually a jerk and you haven't found out yet. I think the most useful thing to do will be to be available and receptive for questions when your replacement takes over, whenever they take over. It won't really be your job anymore, so don't let this past obligation get in the way of your new position. I know some people will say you shouldn't do anything at all for a past employer, but I think that's an overly cutthroat approach to business that doesn't really fit the world of academia or public service. As long as you can help out a bit with minimal time investment I think you're doing the right thing.
It's likely that your contributions warrant authorship on any publications that result from your research, and you shouldn't lose that authorship opportunity (though someone else may need to take a primary role) by leaving - this is something you will likely want to discuss so everyone is clear on expectations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: With regards to giving 4 weeks notice. It's not really your choice as it will be specified in your contract how much notice is needed. It may be 4 weeks, it may not, so check what the minimum will be.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Breaking into it without any connections was hard, so I took a
> part-time temporary position doing educational research in the public
> school system.
>
>
>
Congratulations for enduring these harsh conditions ( I am honest, I am not being sarcastic)!
>
> he will have a very hard time filling my position.
>
>
>
Sure, finding someone that is working so hard for so cheap it will be difficult (please note: [hard-working is just the other side of exploitation](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/183083/128758) [Earlgrey, 2022]).
Dataset are always incomplete, if the research depends so badly on the collection of 4 years of data, then a bigger effort should have been done by the PI at the planning stage. Maybe one less conference for them, 6 more months for a redundant PhD to collect data.
If PI really needs the data, they can go and collect them themselves. If PI does not need the data, but their PhDs need them, well PI is an idiot exploiting the others and putting them in unnecessarily hard conditions for PI own ego/career only (what's the point of this 4 years research, if not substantiating the research theme of interest of the PI?).
You are doing extremely well, with your offer.
You can do more than that. But you should **not**. Stop exploiting yourself, otherwise you will unconsciounsly exploit the others, too.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/03
| 709
| 2,986
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<issue_start>username_0: I have read that even in published papers there are citation mistakes such as putting an incorrect word in cited text, missing a word, etc. I have even noticed these mistakes myself in some papers.
Can such a mistake ruin a career? Obviously there is no intention to use someone's words as your own, just a mistake that everyone could make. I'm a young researcher worried that sometimes I will make such a mistake. I think that making mistakes in this job is inevitable. I'm an over-thinker and would like to know how much is tolerable.<issue_comment>username_1: Take a deep breath and relax: mistakes happen all the time, and most of the time they do not matter.
The only really important questions here are:
1. Does the mistake change the meaning of the quotation?
2. Is the mistake worth correcting?
If the mistake doesn't substantially change the meaning of the quotation, then it's almost certainly not a problem. For example, if a typo or transcription error caused a word to be duplicated, mangled, or dropped, then it may be clear that there's an error, but the intention of the communication will be clear. An easy example generating this is when a copy-paste runs into problems with [ligatures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligature_(writing)) or text selection order. If it makes it past not just you but also some peer reviewers or copy editors, then clearly it wasn't a big deal, and nobody will hold it against you.
Even if it *does* change the meaning, you are presenting the material in some interpretive context, which should make clear what the quote was *intended* to contain. Again, if you aren't distorting or misrepresenting the actual contents, you should be fine.
Now, as to whether it's worth correcting: my general opinion is that it's worth correcting if the mistake changes the meaning, or if you just can't live with incorrectness once you've noticed it. Issuing a correction is often a hassle, however, so if it's just an inconsequential typo, I would let it stand.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As to "how much is tolerable": There is no clear upper limit for a tolerable density of citation mistakes. You navigate between two conflicting issues:
* It is obvious that you should try to avoid citation mistakes altogether, so your goal should be to have zero mistakes.
* It is equally obvious that we are all human and consequently are prone to make an occasional mistake.
So a single (minor) citation mistake will, under normal circumstances, not ruin a career or invalidate findings in a research paper, as long as it is an honest mistake, even if it is noticed by somebody. It becomes problematic if the density of mistakes is high enough to give the impression that you do not take the goal of avoiding the errors seriously.
For example, if I find a single citation mistake in a paper, I would assume an honest mistake. If I spot a second mistake, I start to suspect that there might be a problem.
Upvotes: 2
|
2022/11/03
| 203
| 862
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<issue_start>username_0: We have submitted a manuscript to a reputable BMC journal. A few days ago, we received a mail stating that our article was accepted. In the Editorial Manager software, it says " accept " under "current status". Our previously submitted manuscripts to that particular journal have the status "Final Decision Accept". May I ask whether there is any difference between "final decision accept" and "accept"? I am asking since the field "final deposition" is still empty for our recent article.<issue_comment>username_1: "Final Decision Accept" is a weirder way of saying "Accept". Congratulations.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Chances are "Accept" is when the editorial board member handling the paper recommends acceptance, and "Final decision: accept" is when the editor-in-chief formally accepts the paper.
Congrats!
Upvotes: 1
|
2022/11/03
| 4,100
| 17,233
|
<issue_start>username_0: My wife and I are international students planning on applying for PhD programs in the US (at nearby universities, post-bachelor's, stat/AI/ML area). We would like to know how manageable it would be to have kids while in the middle of our PhD programs. This is different from similar questions that have been asked before because:
* Both parents are international students on F-1 visas and hence may not have certain privileges that US citizens have (such as having family nearby to help with childcare)
* Both parents will be doing PhDs (as opposed to one doing a PhD and the other being a stay-at-home parent)
The manageability would primarily rest on the financial support needed (our PhD salaries for TA-ships + some financial aid from our home country + possibly salary earned from internships during the PhD) and the childcare help needed (we don't have family nearby but one of our parents could come to the US on a tourist visa). I suppose the role of the wife's advisor will also be important since they would have to be sympathetic towards her taking some period of maternity leave off the PhD. Any perspective on this, especially from people who have had kids during their PhDs, would be greatly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: I think there are very few universities left in the US that have subsidized housing for married students. If you were at such a place, with a dense core of married students living together, the childcare situation would be easier (my situation - previous century) as some spouses would be happy to do that for a small charge. Otherwise, childcare would be a big expense, potentially.
The advisor problem and maternity leave can probably be managed in a field like math, but possibly harder if constant presence in a scientific lab is required.
Some universities might provide subsidized day-care for children, but not infants. Also make sure that the health insurance enables what you want to do. That isn't obvious in the US as we don't have a national health plan comparable to, say, UK.
But, being in the same department (starting with bachelors degrees) will cause a scheduling issue as the early years of most programs are heavily course oriented and you would probably need to be in the same course at the same time - adding to the childcare issue. The purpose of the (advanced) courses is to get you through qualifying exams, so they aren't optional and there may not be a lot of flexibility unless you were off-by-one in years, with one of you starting a year earlier than the other. But that might bring up visa issues.
At different universities you will have a transportation problem unless you are either wealthy or live in a place with good public transport, which is rare and which also implies high housing costs. A lot of the US is very dependent on cars for transport.
With two TA positions finances should be generally fine, but scheduling worse.
I read this that you don't already have kids. If you can delay that for a few years it would be much easier and, with a couple or three years of experience, you will be in a better position to make a decision and to recognize the issues.
Once you reach the dissertation stage in statistics, I'd guess that the situation changes as you can think and work everywhere and anywhere, even with kids about. Also, if you are the male partner, plan on sharing the childcare burden.
Long ago it was much easier. I had two kids by the time I finished, but we were on the safe side of all the issues I brought up (and not international students). My spouse started studies later than I did. We were in subsidized on-campus housing (very cheap) and we were surrounded by lots of others (including international students) in similar circumstances. We were also in different fields so had different schedules.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It does not matter what stage you are at in your career; having children is going to make your career harder.
Having children while you are young is likely to be physically easier.
It is highly unlikely that unpaid maternity leave would be denied. Paid maternity leave is unlikely (in the US).
Financial circumstances vary greatly. Let's consider two scenarios.
* The near-best-case scenario is to get two $45,000 engineering PhD stipends at Stanford. The university provides you a two bedroom apartment for $30,000/year. The university provides a $20,000 grant for child care, but it costs $32,000/year. You pay substantial income tax. It probably works out okay.
* You get two $13,000 psychology PhD stipends at University of Nebraska - Lincoln. A two bedroom apartment is $10,000/year. Health insurance is $6600/year. Childcare is $12,500/year. To survive in Lincoln, you have to have a car. You need a third PhD student in your family to make this work.
Do not rely on a tourist visa for child care until that visa has been issued. While the B-2 visa is issued for visiting family, visas can be denied simply because the applicant has family in the US. There is a maximum stay.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: #### Modern man has lost all perspective
This is a variation on a question I encounter maybe once every year or two and it makes me cringe every time. People lived through the Great Depression in one or zero-bedroom houses and had families of six children while they scraped for work and food. People lived in the middle ages labouring in fields all day without running water or a working sanitation system and they had families of ten children. People lived in bondage in the Roman and Persian empires and managed to pump out a few children in between whippings. People lived in caves before the wheel or language was invented and had families. So yes, this same feat is manageable for two parents in the modern world living on a leafy university campus and doing academic research while sipping chai-lattes.
The point is, there is no perfect time to have children and there is no time at which conditions are so adverse that it is infeasible to have children. The entire history of the human race attests to these facts. If you want to have a family, have a family. If it matters, I went through my PhD while raising two young daughters. I was in different situation since I was a single parent (so one person doing PhD instead of two, but same essential issue). Raising children while doing a PhD full-time is not trivial, but it is probably no more difficult than raising children while working a full-time job. It is manageable and enjoyable if you are sensible about the trade-offs and make appropriate arrangements with supervisors, etc. to ensure that you are able to respond to childcare requirements. You will probably find that you need to work some nights after the children go to bed. With two people you will have the ability to juggle child-rearing duties to help each other out when needed.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Being an immigrant, having gone through graduate school and having had one child, this question throws up all kinds of red flags for me.
1. Grad school is not a 40 hr/wk job. It's closer to 60 hr/wk, which will already put a great strain on your relationship with your partner. If you are in a hot field like stats or ML, your hours could be even longer. Children and partners require time, where will that time come from?
2. It is possible for one of your visas to be cancelled or one of your visa statuses to change in some other way that requires one of you to leave the country. If you have a child, you will then have to decide if the child stays or goes, which will bring innumerable complications either way.
3. The first 15-18 months of a new child will be harrowing, with much crying, many sleepless nights and constant, inescapable stress. I really, genuinely thought grad school had prepared me for having a child, but the latter was more difficult.
4. When childcare stress increases, it will probably be your wife who steps up first, probably at the cost of her grad school progress. This will create new stress in your relationship. Eventually, she may get too tired or just unhappy with the imbalance and you will have to take on a greater share of the childcare. Now, you have a problem with your wife and your grad school progress will also take a hit.
5. Children are not a model that can be tuned and left to work on their own. They require time every day, and especially so in the first years of their lives. If they do not get that time when they're young, it will affect them for the rest of their lives. There is simply no way around this. To some degree, you can make up for mistakes when they're younger as they get older, but it will require much more time and effort than if they had gotten the time they needed when they were young.
To be fair, I knew people who had kids in grad school, but it was always only one parent who was enrolled, and/or they had a lot of external support (church or family) and/or they were able to retain some time for their family.
Two parents who are both enrolled, both at risk of having to leave at a moment's notice, without any guaranteed external support..., it sounds like a very high risk venture with potentially catastrophic consequences. I would advise against it in the strongest possible terms.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: The career story in the most recent issue of Science (Oct 28, 2022) is coincidentally very relevant to this. It's from a married couple in academia that eventually ended up working together in the same institution while still maintaining separate labs. They've used their situation to support couples in your situation. The story is here: [Better Together](https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-spouses-five-couples-labs-heres-weve-learned-working-together) (I don't think it is paywalled).
My point: you may want to consider looking for advisors that are married and work in your field. They'll understand and be more sympathetic to your situation. Combined, they also might have more financial flexibility to get both of you hired together.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm writing from my own experience and that of several family members doing PhD's in various circumstances (all in the UK). I suggest that a key aspect you and your wife should consider is how many years you may spend on your PhD's. The combination of unforeseen difficulties with your research itself and balancing your time with family and other commitments will perhaps result in your taking much longer than you anticipate.
If that seems possible then three issues arise: a) Would that be acceptable to you, given that it may mean delaying the start of your subsequent careers with consequent financial implications? b) Would it be acceptable to your universities, or do they have rules or expectations about the timescale within which they expect a PhD to be completed? c) Would it fit with your visa conditions? I can't answer those questions for you, but I would suggest that if your answer to any of these is no so that you are committed to a fixed timescale then you may be taking on a very demanding challenge by embarking on PhD's in your circumstances.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I had two kids during my PhD program, my spouse was a stay-at-home parent during this time.
I would strongly recommend looking at what support your target graduate schools have for parents/new parents. This varies greatly between schools. I went to Princeton for grad school, which provided 12 weeks leave for a new primary parent (new mother, primary caregiver of newly adopted kid) and an additional semester of funding for the primary parent, among other things. They've expanded financial support for students with children since I was there, and it's even better now.
I'm not saying this to say that Princeton should be a school you should choose (there are lots of factors going into that), but just providing an example of what at least one school does provide. (And I acknowledge that Princeton has more financial resources than many schools to be able to provide these things.)
And also, even though the school provided this support and required an advisor to be okay with it, that didn't mean that every advisor on campus would've been okay with it. I didn't hear any stories to this end (which is a good thing), but I imagine some advisors may be resentful to have a student take 12 weeks off even if the university is financially supporting them during that time.
With my spouse staying at home, we never had to look really hard at childcare options. But from what we have seen and heard, on-campus childcare options that would've been available to us skew towards the higher end of costs of all available childcare, on and off campus. But where we were at, public transportation options were limited, so those who used off-campus child care and didn't have cars spent a lot of time transporting everyone even for relatively nearby places.
Cost of living should be a major consideration. Having children means that your housing, food, and transportation costs will be more than your child-free counterparts, and locations with higher costs of living will only compound that effect. Living in New Jersey was expensive and so our housing options were extremely limited (we had to live in low-quality and small on-campus housing), while if we had gone to some other schools we probably could've rented a much larger place, maybe even a single-family house. There were reasons we made the choice we did, but different choices would've had different advantages financial-wise.
By the best study we could put together, we estimated about 4% of grad students at my university had children. There are disadvantages that come with that. We would have friends get Child Protective Services called on them by student neighbors for just normal kid crying, and a lot of students were more annoyed by the presence of children on campus and in housing than anything else. Other universities will have larger fractions of grad students with children, and I imagine will have fewer of these problems.
And in the end, I would advise at least one of you to visit the university and department(s) you'll be at. My wife was pregnant at the time that I was invited to visit departments who had accepted me, and I asked lots of questions about family support at such. The department I ultimately chose had lots of positive things to say and show about being okay with grad students having kids, and that played out in practice. My advisor was supportive of my having children, they would come visit me in my office regularly and it was never awkward, and they were always welcome at department parties and other functions. I know not all departments on campus were like this.
In the end, I'm glad I didn't wait to have children until after grad school, but having them in grad school was much more difficult than I imagined it would be. Having both parents pursue PhDs simultaneously adds a whole other dimension of difficulty and complexity that I can't even imagine what that will be like.
My undergrad research advisor had kids after he finished his PhD. When I told him that we would be having a kid my first year of graduate school, he told me that he wishes he would've started having kids in graduate school. That's his experience, I can't say that that would be everybody's experience, and I don't think he and his spouse were pursuing simultaneous PhDs (they both do have PhDs).
In end, having kids in graduate school definitely decreased the quality of my research output. I performed well enough to graduate without problem, but I had trouble managing my time and mental energies in a way to be completely successful as both a parent and a developing scientist. But I don't regret that sacrifice to have my kids when I did. But it was a sacrifice to the quality of my PhD for me. And in the end, I took a different career path post-grad-school than I imagined pre-grad-school so that I could have a better work/life balance. I "left the field" as my academic colleagues would say, and in that sense having kids in grad school took me completely away from the academics of it all. But I don't (usually) regret that either.
From my experience only pursuing one PhD while having kids, I don't see how pursuing two PhDs while having kids is practicable, unless one of you is willing to be the "primary caregiver" and give much more sacrifice than the other as far as the quality of their PhD education, or you both end up with extremely understanding advisors and programs. And even with that, it's likely that your PhDs may take significantly longer than they would otherwise.
From the kids' perspective, they think those years in the dinky apartment with a busy dad were great, they don't look back on those years with any bad memories. They loved where we lived and the friends we had there, and they were so young the "bad" aspects, at least to me, didn't affect them very much.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: lol no way, I was being paid 24k/year, had no dependents and didn't pay rent and I was still living close to the poverty line in my area.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/11/03
| 616
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a postdoc position.
1. I am wondering if it's acceptable for one of my advisors to write a letter of recommendation for research and teaching? I have been TA for my advisor a couple of times. Does this look good for hiring committee?
2. In mathjobs, I listed the name of my advisor twice (the one who writes research and teaching letters) and 3 other people who will write letters for me (4 people in total and my advisor is counted twice). However, when applying, I see that my advisor is counted once. How to indicate him also as a person who is writing two letters?
Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: I think the amount this matters is very position and field dependent, but in general, my gut feeling is that getting recommendations / referee letters from two people looks better than from one.
In my field (Chemistry) I have worked with a few Profs for whom good recommendations (admittedly, research ones) are key and without one you would not get a foot in the door. I have also worked in a position where the "recommendation" requirement was a formal one, used to evaluate whether anyone at all is willing to support you, because - as the head of the committee said: we're judging the quality of the candidate, not of the referee.
My suggestion would be to find someone else involved in the course you helped teach, and approach them for your teaching recommendation. Even in small departments there are often multiple people involved in a single course. I had my senior co-tutor, who was very junior faculty at the time, write one for me!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: No, you should not ask for two different letters from the same person, and I'm surprised your advisor didn't already tell you this. This would be very unusual, and not make your application stand out in a good way. (I have seen thousands of applications on mathjobs, and I don't remember ever seeing this.)
Your advisor should write a letter that focuses on your research, though it's common for that letter to also comment on your teaching. Committees want to see an independent assessment of your teaching (advisors' letters are often biased), but for most research-oriented postdocs, they're not looking for a lot from the teaching letter, just evidence that you'll do a reasonably good job in the classroom.
Some departments have a standard person to write teaching letters for students, so that's one option. Or if you had some sort of teaching mentor/supervisor, or TA'ed for someone else, those are other options. If you're still at a loss, ask your advisor for suggestions.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/04
| 838
| 2,902
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<issue_start>username_0: How did medieval universities discipline their students? What classroom management techniques did they use?<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, you can get Rait's Life in the medieval university from Amazon for free.
There were a number of different punishments for various infractions, which also took the age of the student (children vs. adults) into account. They ranged from a beating over fines to expulsion.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The answers and comments have mentioned Rait's [Life in the Medieval University](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20958/20958-h/20958-h.htm). To give a self-contained answer for this site, this book claims that punishments could be:
* **financial**. This seems to be the most common: fines, loss of "commons" or "burse" (scholarships pro-rated over the period of the punishment), or "sconcing," which seems to be a fine to be paid (or consumed) in wine rather than money.
* **whipping** and other corporal punishments. These were introduced in the 1500s; prior to this, such punishments were for boys rather than adult men. One stricter college would put students in the stocks for fighting.
* **loss of food**. In some places, misbehaving students might get only bread and water, or may have to eat by themselves.
* **suspension or expulsion**. These were reserved for more serious crimes, as now.
In some cases, students (and faculty) were outside the jurisdiction of the lay civil and criminal courts, so actual crimes up to and including murder were dealt with by the internal disciplinary processes of the university. Punishments could include incarceration. One on occasion, the city arrested a student for attempted murder, and the university had to choose the punishment among: cutting off the hand, burning the stigma onto the hand + banishment, or whipping + banishment (at length, option 2 was chosen).
It's worth noting too that the (non-criminal) "crimes" that could lead to such punishments are considerably different than what we have now. Since [exams were oral](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/190052/did-exams-exist-in-universities-in-medieval-times), cheating and such was not really an issue; rather, most of the rules concerned personal conduct. For example, conversation was often required to be held in Latin; this had the explicit goal of reducing conversation altogether. Singing, games with dice, unusual clothing, skipping chapel, sitting down at meals in the wrong order, or missing curfew were often punishable offenses.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: See Rait's [*Life in the Medieval University*](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20958) chapters
4. [College Discipline](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/20958/pg20958-images.html#page049)
5. [University Discipline](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/20958/pg20958-images.html#page094)
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2022/11/04
| 490
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<issue_start>username_0: I did an undergraduate thesis with my partner. It don't have any missed, wrong or theft information. I was ill and long away from my dorm that time. So I told my partner to print and submit it. He had to sign my declaration page too by my name becasue I could not that time.That paper have two different name signature but by the same perosn. Is this going to be any issue for my degree ? or casue any future problem ?<issue_comment>username_1: The problems I see is that our friend falsified your signature and you did not say so before you friend handed in your thesis. The first should not have happened, that was wrong. You could have solved this a lot easier if you just sent an email explaining your situation before handing in the thesis. You are not the first student who got ill close to a deadline... They would probably have suggested a similar solution, without faking signatures, and it would have all been above board.
So what you did was wrong and it is possible you are in trouble. However, if they know the situation the most likely outcome will be you get privately told what I told you above and they leave it at that. If they don't know the situation, then they may suspect fraud, and you will have to explain it and hope they believe you.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is a more general answer than is probably required, but may not fit the case at hand.
It is possible and legal (some places, at least) for one person to sign for another, with permission and with a notation by the actual signer. It thus becomes possible for any authority to check on the validity, even though the signatures "don't match". Illness of one party is often a cause for such to occur. My spouse, for example, recently signed an important document on my behalf based on a verbal approval.
But that wasn't done, apparently.
My best guess, however, is that you can work it out after the fact with no consequences by appealing to "authority" whatever that is.
Given some of the now deleted details, it doesn't seem like any fraudulent intent is involved.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/04
| 3,130
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<issue_start>username_0: I published a paper that received a bit of attention several years ago. A few months ago, I received an email from a student who expressed interest in my work. I don't know her, she is not in the same institution as I am, and she appears to not be located in the same country. I thought I was corresponding with a peer.
Later, I found out she is an undergraduate student who is doing her own research project with my model. She has been sending me emails asking very elementary stuff which she should have figured out herself and sometimes she tries to urge me to reply by implying what I did in my paper was wrong.
I answered a few of her emails just to clarify that what I did in the paper is correct. Moreover, from time to time, she said that she has severe depression and the deadlines were close.
What is the professional and ethical way to deal with this student? I don't want to waste time on this student, to whom I have no obligation to train, but I also don't want to increase her depression.
Currently, I plan to stop answering her emails.
**Edit 1**: After reading @Buffy's answer, I realized I forgot to mention an important point. At first, I thought the student was somewhat experienced in the field. After a while, I found out she did not know various basic concepts in the filed, so I pointed her to various introductory materials. However, the next time she asked a bunch of elementary questions that were covered by the introductory materials, as if she had never read the materials. Several days ago, she said she just wanted to finish thesis on time, suggesting she would just throw all things away after her thesis was finished. I felt very discouraged at the moment. At first, I thought I was communicating with a potential collaborator. After a while, I thought I could inspire a curious mind. Now I found out that she have never been interested in the things I discussed with her.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I plan to stop answering her emails.
>
>
>
Good plan. Put it in practice. Yesterday.
>
> sending me emails asking very elementary stuff
>
>
>
When dealing with a paper from someone else, it is better to ask any doubt, also on the elementary stuff. Then, the answer may be "please go and find the answer in your notes from Introduction to inorganic chemistry" to a passive-aggressive "you should know that valency of carbon is 4"
>
> she tries to urge me to reply by implying what I did in my paper was
> wrong.
>
>
>
She is free to write a rebuttal paper or to go ahead proving your method wrong. You should welcome any effort in confuting your paper: it is the best peer review you can receive.
Back to the student: your duty with her were not different than with any researcher. Give her the keys of the publication, i.e. to give her all the tools to repeat the results you obtained in your paper.
If she cannot, it is not your duty to teach her how to get there.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Politely end the conversation and stop responding, even if she keeps trying to get help from you. You've given a nominal, helpful response to her initial inquiries, which is, I think, a good default approach to research questions from strangers. But a cold email never obligates you to get into an extended discussion. Her depression issues (taking her at her word) shouldn't be downplayed, but there's nothing to do from your position that would alleviate them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I guess I have a more expansive view of "duty" here. While you may not be paid for any interaction, IMO a professor has a "duty" to help people who ask them for professional help if done sincerely. It is part of what it means to be a "scholar".
But you can also make it less of a burden by pointing the student to some resource(s) that they can study to bring themselves up to date. You don't need to give them a course via email.
Imagine a different situation in which some eminent scholar from a related field sent similar emails asking for help? They don't have the background you have and don't understand some things. How would you treat them? Would you consider it a "waste of time"?
Personally, I'd be quite pleased if some undergraduate decided to follow up on something I'd done earlier. And, if they had serious misconceptions, then I'd be glad to set them on the right track. But not by giving them a university level course via email. I might suggest that they consult with a local professor to help them learn. Lots of "low impact" possibilities.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: Essentially I agree with username_3's answer, but I think there is a more important step again; you do not have a duty of confidentiality to this student, and they are displaying symptoms of serious mental distress, if you know their home institution you should raise this issue.
In the UK we have recently had two high profile cases involving student death due to suicide.
<https://wearetogether.live/phoebe-grime-inquest/>
<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-61534460>
In the second case, the university was actually found liable for failing to take reasonable actions to protect a student who was known to be at risk.
If you know which institute this student does belong to, you should raise your concerns there. This will give the institute a more complete picture of the risk to that student, and their own institute is in a position to act on that risk. This could be anything from refering the student to appropriate support facilities, to starting a discussion with the student about a medical break from studies. Good friends of mine have done both these things, they do make a difference and they do matter.
But all you can do is make sure someone at their home intuition knows, so they can act on this information.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> I thought I was corresponding with a peer.
>
>
>
>
> Later, I found out she is an undergraduate student who is doing her own research project.
>
>
>
I would go *way out of my way* to to provide appropriate assistance to this (potentially future) scholar. I have to go with [@username_3's](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/190310/69206):
>
> ...a professor has a "duty" to help people who ask them for professional help if done sincerely. It is part of what it means to be a "scholar".
>
>
>
Personally I think all human beings have this duty, but that's for other SE sites :-)
---
The issue of depression can be addressed completely separately from the help/don't help question.
These days most people (especially younger) are working hard to de-stigmatize mental health issues. And so you will see a lot more matter-of-fact discussion of depression.
There's nothing wrong with a short caveat like
>
> I'm sorry to hear about the depression. On this topic I simply can't help you at all. I sure hope you are getting some help from qualified people.
>
>
> But I can help you with some resources on topic X that might be most suitable for you and your project right now. A lot of the material out there is pretty high level, but the following...
>
>
> I think it's great you are pursuing this project, and I wish you the very best of luck in your future!
>
>
>
The notion you should [*a priori* suspect deceit and refuse help based on such preconception](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/190295/should-i-answer-email-from-a-student-who-based-her-project-on-one-of-my-publicat/190415#comment513486_190295) is ludicrous. You don't know and you don't need to. As long as the interaction helps someone to better understand your field of research, the potential benefit of helping someone in a rough spot outweighs the potential risk that they got help without matching the profile of the person you think "deserves" your help.
---
>
> Several days ago, she said she just wanted to finish thesis on time, suggesting she would just throw all things away after her thesis was finished. I felt very discouraged at the moment. At first, I thought I was communicating with a potential collaborator. After a while, I thought I could inspire a curious mind. Now I found out that she have never been interested in the things I discussed with her.
>
>
>
This is very forthcoming of you and I applaud your willingness to be so open. This aspect might better be addressed with an additional question in [Interpersonal SE](https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/), but I would say the best thing you can do is
1. Don't loose faith so quickly! They're in a challenging situation with pressure and simply may have slightly "overshared" how they were feeling at the moment.
2. What they ultimately do or don't do in the future should not be a gating factor for how much you do/don't do right now. The fact that someone helped may crop up later in their life, they may even choose to help someone else some day based on this memory.
3. That you care so much is wonderful, but we must always give without expectation of return or immediate gratitude. Life is a hard, funny and strange thing for each of us, and it seems you already got the notion that "this one is worth helping" based on correspondence. Disengage a little bit at the emotional level so your feelings aren't impacted, help where you can and then move on.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I would try to find out who is overseeing her work at her college/university, and make your concerns known about her ability, and her health.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: I think it depends, for example, if their questions are 'real' questions.
I would like sharing my experience, from the student side.
When I was doing my thesis project, I was studying many algorithms and I had to read their original papers and re-achieve their algorithms. I read their papers carefully, including their published codings. I find some errors in their codes, and some places stated in their papers are not same as what they did in their codes. I also sent emails to the author about my questions. I sent some, but only one teacher replied me, and even he replied me three times. I invited him to my thesis defence, and even he would like to provide my recommendation letter for my phd application.
I appreciate it very much, I got lots of confidence because of him. I am not a confident student, cause english is very hard to me.
Maybe, next time, when you are not busy and you find their questions are meaningful, you could give them some time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: If she is doing a research project, there must be a supervisor, and if they have agreed to base her work on your model, the supervisor most certainly has some knowledge of the model, too.
Kindly tell her to turn to her supervisor if she has any more questions. She obviously needs supervision, but that's not your job, but someone else's. This person is also responsible for teaching her the basics. If she contacts you again, tell her again to ask her supervisor.
In the end, it is her supervisor who has to be contented with her work, not you, so she has to communicate with them.
I would not talk to her or somebody else about her depression, that's too intrusive.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: I don't think the idea that there is a (single?) "right thing" that one "should" do makes much sense here. There is a wide range of reactions that I'd consider as acceptable, and what I'd do would depend on things such as my personal time planning, deadlines etc.
Personally I think helping people who are interested in my work is worthwhile, also addressing concerns with my work. On the other hand I don't want to get myself into a situation in which I do other people's jobs. If the student lacks some basic knowledge required for understanding the paper, it is for sure not my duty to teach this to her, although depending on my personal time planning I may help a bit. At some point I'd tell the student that "XXX is basic knowledge, taught in course so-and-so and/or book so-and-so", and that I don't have the time to teach her these things myself. The central thing to tell the student is that my time is limited, and that they have to understand that my ability and willingness to respond is therefore also limited. This can be done without implying anything negative about the student, I believe.
Regarding the mental health issue, I think I'd just advise them to get professional help. So I can really only say what I'd do, without implying anything about what is "generally right".
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/04
| 2,883
| 11,546
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it ok to form a model based on several papers and omit something from newer papers? Of course, not that someone else proved what you're researching, just that authors said that something was important for one segment and you investigated another segment and neglected that. Later, the author published something and considered the thing you neglected. For the scope of research you couldn't include that and you based your argument on research context, scope and author's first publication.
What do you think? Is this a problem? Does it happen that authors omit some information because it doesn't help them? Please share your thoughts with me. Thanks.
Furthermore, is it ok to make changes in your argument after peer reviews even if reviewers didn't notice and didn't consider it a mistake.
Since I'm new in this research field, I have so many questions. I hope you understand.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I plan to stop answering her emails.
>
>
>
Good plan. Put it in practice. Yesterday.
>
> sending me emails asking very elementary stuff
>
>
>
When dealing with a paper from someone else, it is better to ask any doubt, also on the elementary stuff. Then, the answer may be "please go and find the answer in your notes from Introduction to inorganic chemistry" to a passive-aggressive "you should know that valency of carbon is 4"
>
> she tries to urge me to reply by implying what I did in my paper was
> wrong.
>
>
>
She is free to write a rebuttal paper or to go ahead proving your method wrong. You should welcome any effort in confuting your paper: it is the best peer review you can receive.
Back to the student: your duty with her were not different than with any researcher. Give her the keys of the publication, i.e. to give her all the tools to repeat the results you obtained in your paper.
If she cannot, it is not your duty to teach her how to get there.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Politely end the conversation and stop responding, even if she keeps trying to get help from you. You've given a nominal, helpful response to her initial inquiries, which is, I think, a good default approach to research questions from strangers. But a cold email never obligates you to get into an extended discussion. Her depression issues (taking her at her word) shouldn't be downplayed, but there's nothing to do from your position that would alleviate them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I guess I have a more expansive view of "duty" here. While you may not be paid for any interaction, IMO a professor has a "duty" to help people who ask them for professional help if done sincerely. It is part of what it means to be a "scholar".
But you can also make it less of a burden by pointing the student to some resource(s) that they can study to bring themselves up to date. You don't need to give them a course via email.
Imagine a different situation in which some eminent scholar from a related field sent similar emails asking for help? They don't have the background you have and don't understand some things. How would you treat them? Would you consider it a "waste of time"?
Personally, I'd be quite pleased if some undergraduate decided to follow up on something I'd done earlier. And, if they had serious misconceptions, then I'd be glad to set them on the right track. But not by giving them a university level course via email. I might suggest that they consult with a local professor to help them learn. Lots of "low impact" possibilities.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: Essentially I agree with username_3's answer, but I think there is a more important step again; you do not have a duty of confidentiality to this student, and they are displaying symptoms of serious mental distress, if you know their home institution you should raise this issue.
In the UK we have recently had two high profile cases involving student death due to suicide.
<https://wearetogether.live/phoebe-grime-inquest/>
<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-61534460>
In the second case, the university was actually found liable for failing to take reasonable actions to protect a student who was known to be at risk.
If you know which institute this student does belong to, you should raise your concerns there. This will give the institute a more complete picture of the risk to that student, and their own institute is in a position to act on that risk. This could be anything from refering the student to appropriate support facilities, to starting a discussion with the student about a medical break from studies. Good friends of mine have done both these things, they do make a difference and they do matter.
But all you can do is make sure someone at their home intuition knows, so they can act on this information.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> I thought I was corresponding with a peer.
>
>
>
>
> Later, I found out she is an undergraduate student who is doing her own research project.
>
>
>
I would go *way out of my way* to to provide appropriate assistance to this (potentially future) scholar. I have to go with [@username_3's](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/190310/69206):
>
> ...a professor has a "duty" to help people who ask them for professional help if done sincerely. It is part of what it means to be a "scholar".
>
>
>
Personally I think all human beings have this duty, but that's for other SE sites :-)
---
The issue of depression can be addressed completely separately from the help/don't help question.
These days most people (especially younger) are working hard to de-stigmatize mental health issues. And so you will see a lot more matter-of-fact discussion of depression.
There's nothing wrong with a short caveat like
>
> I'm sorry to hear about the depression. On this topic I simply can't help you at all. I sure hope you are getting some help from qualified people.
>
>
> But I can help you with some resources on topic X that might be most suitable for you and your project right now. A lot of the material out there is pretty high level, but the following...
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> I think it's great you are pursuing this project, and I wish you the very best of luck in your future!
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The notion you should [*a priori* suspect deceit and refuse help based on such preconception](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/190295/should-i-answer-email-from-a-student-who-based-her-project-on-one-of-my-publicat/190415#comment513486_190295) is ludicrous. You don't know and you don't need to. As long as the interaction helps someone to better understand your field of research, the potential benefit of helping someone in a rough spot outweighs the potential risk that they got help without matching the profile of the person you think "deserves" your help.
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>
> Several days ago, she said she just wanted to finish thesis on time, suggesting she would just throw all things away after her thesis was finished. I felt very discouraged at the moment. At first, I thought I was communicating with a potential collaborator. After a while, I thought I could inspire a curious mind. Now I found out that she have never been interested in the things I discussed with her.
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This is very forthcoming of you and I applaud your willingness to be so open. This aspect might better be addressed with an additional question in [Interpersonal SE](https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/), but I would say the best thing you can do is
1. Don't loose faith so quickly! They're in a challenging situation with pressure and simply may have slightly "overshared" how they were feeling at the moment.
2. What they ultimately do or don't do in the future should not be a gating factor for how much you do/don't do right now. The fact that someone helped may crop up later in their life, they may even choose to help someone else some day based on this memory.
3. That you care so much is wonderful, but we must always give without expectation of return or immediate gratitude. Life is a hard, funny and strange thing for each of us, and it seems you already got the notion that "this one is worth helping" based on correspondence. Disengage a little bit at the emotional level so your feelings aren't impacted, help where you can and then move on.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I would try to find out who is overseeing her work at her college/university, and make your concerns known about her ability, and her health.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: I think it depends, for example, if their questions are 'real' questions.
I would like sharing my experience, from the student side.
When I was doing my thesis project, I was studying many algorithms and I had to read their original papers and re-achieve their algorithms. I read their papers carefully, including their published codings. I find some errors in their codes, and some places stated in their papers are not same as what they did in their codes. I also sent emails to the author about my questions. I sent some, but only one teacher replied me, and even he replied me three times. I invited him to my thesis defence, and even he would like to provide my recommendation letter for my phd application.
I appreciate it very much, I got lots of confidence because of him. I am not a confident student, cause english is very hard to me.
Maybe, next time, when you are not busy and you find their questions are meaningful, you could give them some time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: If she is doing a research project, there must be a supervisor, and if they have agreed to base her work on your model, the supervisor most certainly has some knowledge of the model, too.
Kindly tell her to turn to her supervisor if she has any more questions. She obviously needs supervision, but that's not your job, but someone else's. This person is also responsible for teaching her the basics. If she contacts you again, tell her again to ask her supervisor.
In the end, it is her supervisor who has to be contented with her work, not you, so she has to communicate with them.
I would not talk to her or somebody else about her depression, that's too intrusive.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: I don't think the idea that there is a (single?) "right thing" that one "should" do makes much sense here. There is a wide range of reactions that I'd consider as acceptable, and what I'd do would depend on things such as my personal time planning, deadlines etc.
Personally I think helping people who are interested in my work is worthwhile, also addressing concerns with my work. On the other hand I don't want to get myself into a situation in which I do other people's jobs. If the student lacks some basic knowledge required for understanding the paper, it is for sure not my duty to teach this to her, although depending on my personal time planning I may help a bit. At some point I'd tell the student that "XXX is basic knowledge, taught in course so-and-so and/or book so-and-so", and that I don't have the time to teach her these things myself. The central thing to tell the student is that my time is limited, and that they have to understand that my ability and willingness to respond is therefore also limited. This can be done without implying anything negative about the student, I believe.
Regarding the mental health issue, I think I'd just advise them to get professional help. So I can really only say what I'd do, without implying anything about what is "generally right".
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<issue_start>username_0: I like a PhD position. If they give me offer, I definitely will take it.
I have submitted my application, and the dealine is the 20th of this month. But now I have a working offer with a ddl for acceptation or rejection. I don't think I have time for waiting for them.
Could I message the professor in linkedin, and request an interview for this position? Or it is not polite? Because they have their process for interviewing candidates.
Or actually they have reviewed my resume, and don't think I could be a match?<issue_comment>username_1: Messaging the professor in itself is not going to cause you a problem. But it is unlikely that it can help you, because the professor is probably bound by procedures, which usually implies waiting for the deadline to pass before making a decision in order to allow to "exhaust the applicant pool". Even giving feedback on your application, even an "If I were you, mmmm, I'd take the other offer", could be dangerous. Saying (hypothetically) that you have good chances, is going to be particularly dangerous because a deranged twin version of you could sue for damages or badmouth the professor in the community as a liar, if you are considered but end up not being the preferred candidate. This would constitute at the least a big bother.
If you message the professor after what I just said, at least restrain yourself from explaining your dilemma. Also, using LinkIn appears to me to be a bit tacky, but this might be a reflection of my cultural prejudices.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You can try, but the response will probably be "I am sorry to hear that. All the best with the rest of your career." They cannot make a decision before the deadline, because who knows who is going to apply just before the deadline. Depending on the local laws they may be legally required to wait till the end of the announced deadline.
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<issue_start>username_0: In a graduate course (master's level), during topic assignment for coursework, I mentioned that I came up with a research idea of my own. The professor asked me to present it in front of the class. Afterwards, he encouraged me to write my final thesis on it, but assigned me one of the predetermined topics for the course.
Now I'm worrying that my idea is turned into a paper by one of his research assistants present during the session (who works in that field and valued the idea) before I can write my thesis.
Is this concern justified? Should I mention it in my next conversation with this RA and ask him if it is understood that I have the priority on this idea given that it's a product of my intellectual effort?<issue_comment>username_1: If people act ethically, then it shouldn't be a problem, provided that you take some action. Write up your idea in rough form and attach your name to the document. Tell the prof that you will, indeed develop this for your thesis and give them a copy of the doc. Keep a copy of it in hard copy form as well.
It would then be plagiarism for someone, seeing your document, to "steal the idea". Not everyone behaves ethically, however, but your professor has an interest in ethical behavior. He should guide his assistants to other topics.
Note that I'm not suggesting publishing it on arXiv or elsewhere. And also note that you don't "own" ideas, and if you don't follow up then others are free to do so.
Finally, note that collaboration on developing the ideas is another possibility, though I don't know how that would work for a thesis at your institution.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is this concern justified?
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Yes, your concern is justified. If someone from the audience decided to work on the research question you proposed you would have no real leverage to prevent it.
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> Should I mention it in my next conversation with this RA and ask him if it is understood that I have the priority on this idea given that it's a product of my intellectual effort?
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The idea might be a product of your intellectual effort, but that does not give you priority to expand on the idea. By presenting it in a more or less public setting, you released the idea and everybody is free to work on it. In case the work is done without you and a publication follows, some sort of (minor) credit to your contribution might be necessary, of course.
But certainly yes, you can try to convince others that it would be the right thing to let you do the work.
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<issue_start>username_0: I don’t understand where "reproducing results from other labs" fits into the running of a given research lab.
(I'm not in academia, and I confess I only consider this function in the context where it's News due to fails - ie, "So & So breakthrough is published, but other labs were not able to reproduce …". Nor do I recall a popular science headline about a discovery, that bothers mentioning successfully reproduced results.)
Such news mention might imply a quiet ongoing process.
With limited time & resources, it seems researchers would stick to their own project, however adjacent new results may be. Rather than pause their work for a tangent, all to say "Yes, we found those same results", or "No we didn't". I don't see their benefit.
Or is "reproducing outside results" simply built into all labs' work flow, and how so?
Obviously its a needed function, but I've never heard how it's actually structured. (quid pro quo - I'll reproduce yours if you'll reproduce mine.. ?)<issue_comment>username_1: >
> With limited time & resources, it seems researchers would stick to their own project, however adjacent new results may be.
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>
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Well, yep, there's the problem. Most labs have funding to perform a *new* project. Hence, most results are never attempted to be replicated, until it becomes of interest to someone, or easily achievable on the way to doing something "novel."
Occasionally, students, like undergrads or master's students might perform a replication as their thesis, where there is less expectation of originality.
>
> Obviously its a needed function, but I've never heard how it's actually structured.
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It's not.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a number of possibilities. Usually they are triggered because someone knowledgable has some doubt about published results. That might be just intuition, or it might be based on earlier work that seems inconsistent. Sometimes the author(s) are mistrusted for one reason or another, such as being employed by someone with a vested interest in certain "results".
A scientific paper will include its methodology. The usual process of checking a result is to use that same methodology with new data, perhaps a larger data set (or not), and see if the results match. Statistical studies, for example, might be like that.
Sometimes a result is based on an experiment, say in chemistry, described in the paper. The "checker" will run the same experiment in their own lab and see if the results match.
Sometimes a result is based on software and a dataset. The check could use the same software, when available, with a new data set or independently developed software built to the same specifications. Independent development guards (somewhat) against software errors.
However, the most valuable sort (IMO) is when someone takes the same research question and develops a different methodology to check the research claim and gathers what evidence is available to see if the results agree. This rules out (hopefully) some results too determined by a given methodology. For an interesting example of what can go wrong see [the Stanford Prison Experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment).
Any of the above are possible, along with others.
Yes, researchers want to run their own experiments, but they also want valid results to make it to the mainstream as future work will be based on it. This is especially important in some fields, such as health, and medical research. Casting doubt or disproving a published result can be a very valuable contribution to knowledge.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: If you publish results, then at some point you would hope that someone picks it up and bases something better on your research.
So you published that if you do A, B, and C, then X happens. And I thought of a way to do Y and Z if X happens. But it doesn’t work.
At some point I suspect your results are not correct. And I start a project trying to replicate your research. Or not. Because showing your results are wrong is a good contribution to science.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The other answers are so far covering situations where some result is reproduced because of doubts. But there are also situations where the published result allows (is the only or presumably best known way) the other lab to obtain material they directly need for their projects. Reproducing the original paper is then no waste at all\* but a by-product of using the results of the paper for other research:
* Think chemical synthesis: a synthesis method or process is published which allows making substance or material X or a particular group or type of substances. Someone needs X for their synthesis of Y, and thus they start reproducing the paper, so as to actually have material/substance X.
* Think of measurement methods: a paper describing new instrumentation, and then another lab realizing that the measurement problem they encounter in their work would be better met/solved/improved by the published setup.
* Think of data analysis algorithms: someone publishes an algorithm to do X, with application example being the well-known benchmark data set Y (or publish code for X together with data set Y). Others realizes that the algorithm may be useful with their application problem, too. Typically, when familiarizing themselves with the algorithm, they'll start with Y, too, and thus reproduce the original paper.
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\* I'd like to emphasize that reproducing other findings is often not wasteful: there is actually indication in several fields that we'd need to do far more of this. But: for certain types of results there is low/no incentive to do this (or it's even outright discouraged because funding agencies and publications have novelty requirements)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Question author says the following:
>
> I'm not in academia, and I confess I only consider this function in the context where it's News due to fails - ie, "So & So breakthrough is published, but other labs were not able to reproduce...". Nor do I recall a popular science headline about a discovery, that bothers mentioning successfully reproduced results.
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In addition to the other answers, I'll try to provide some (potentially) instructive/informative examples.
### Reproducibility is the hallmark and cornerstone of science!
What separates science from other forms of explanations of the world around us and for example the healing arts is *reproducibility*. If I explain to you how to do something in detail, all my techniques and precautions, and what results I get along with my estimated errors, then you should be able to follow my instructions and get the same result, within some range of variation that is consistent with recognized estimates of experimental error.
If I say that mixing blueberry juice and thumbtacks makes plutonium and tell you how I did it, then you should be able to try to make plutonium too. If it doesn't work for you, my results are *irreproducible*, and [there's a journal for that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Irreproducible_Results).
Here are a few extreme examples that may bracket how the reproducibility (or lack thereof) of a given result was or was not confirmed in a timely way.
### Alzheimers - Tragically, NOT enough effort was spent trying to verify a result, time & lives wasted?
Biology SE's [Does the recent concern over several papers about Aβ\*56 call into question the association of Alzheimers Disease with any amyloyd beta oligomer forms?](https://biology.stackexchange.com/q/108845/27918) gives more details on a really tragic failure of science to police itself.
Not enough effort was spent trying to reproduce an experiment pointing to a certain form of amyloid protein's link to Alzheimer's disease. Instead many biologists spent years doing not-so-fruitful research based on the premise that this result was correct and several pharmaceutical companies spent (essentially our1) money and (their) time developing drugs and doing drug study after drug study that did not demonstrate results.
The scientific community failed us in this case because they did not confirm that the original results were *reproducible*.
Several papers were retracted years later, some by the journal without the authors' input. There was plenty of damage to go around, but no way to recover the time and money misspent.
### GSI positron peaks
[The positron-electron peak puzzle: results from APEX](https://www.phy.anl.gov/atomic/PUBS/zpa235.pdf) (Ahmed et al (1997) Z. Phys. A 358, 235–236 (1997)) summarizes a few million dollar project at Argonne National Laboratory to try to verify some strange results seen for years by two competing groups at GSI [Puzzling Positron Peaks Appear in Heavy‐Ion Collisions at GSI](https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.2814764) (Physics Today v. 38, no. 11, p. 17 (1985)) There was no room for such peaks in modern understanding of physics, they stubbornly remained at the few standard deviation level and release of specific details of analysis (and the raw) data was never completely forthcoming.
It was irritating to nuclear and particle physicists, so a clean start on a different continent by a group with no ties to GSI was initiated. A huge amount of effort went into trying to reproduce the results, including consultations with those groups to make sure nothing was omitted.
### Cold fusion
This is another "irritating" result for which there was no room in Physics for the phenomenon, but the potential payoff was incredible.
Unlike the GSI positron peaks, this one was relatively easy to *approximately* reproduce - you could stick some palladium in water, run a current through it and put a neutron detector next to it or put it in a calorimeter and measure the heat produced compared to electrical power, but in this case due to greed the originators withheld certain specifics that made honest attempts at reproducing the results unable to implement tests that were exact reproduction.
Lack of sufficient information to test the reproducibility fed the storm and the pockets of some individuals.
---
1Research budgets of established pharmaceutical companies comes from revenue - i.e. how much we pay directly or indirectly for the medicines that keep us alive and healthy. This also means time and money was NOT spent on potentially more helpful drug development.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I have some divergence with the existing answers; my viewpoint is that reproduction is naturally built into the scheme of researchwork. That is to say, it is neither occasioned by suspecting some results, nor is it something that has to be additionally incorporated into workflow.
This answer is based off an engineering discipline; I find it to be valid for experimental as well as simulation groups.
Research in such fields is often incremental, which implies that each bit of research is built on some previous research and adds a small advance. In other words, previously published research becomes a starting point. It is then imperative and natural to reproduce the previous work, so that you have a known starting point. Without doing so, you would not know whether your results are consistent or not.
In materials engineering, a perennial effort is to make materials stronger. One group develops a new class of materials and shows that it is stronger than the existing materials. Another group wishes to push the envelope further and introduces some processing method which will further strengthen the material. They need to first produce and test the starting material to benchmark their results. In doing so, they are reproducing/validating the first group's results.
>
> Or is "reproducing outside results" simply built into all labs' work flow, and how so?
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It is, provided that there is some connectivity between research of different labs. In fields where each lab is producing fundamental results, I suppose this is not built in.
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> (quid pro quo - I'll reproduce yours if you'll reproduce mine.. ?)
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No quid pro quo; it works just as citations work. If your work is important and relevant, if it prompts further research, then someone will reproduce it as part of a further study.
In my field, we informally use this as a way to test the response; if something is not reproduced in a few years, it's probably not relevant enough to pursue much further.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I want to emphasize the part that the answers that cbeleites and username_6 provided, repoduction is very often a core parts of the scientific workflow. But that part is much less obvious in the literature as it is often not explicitly published.
Any time you start a new project, odds are that you're working on top of existing results. Either the subject of your investigation, e.g. a specific protein, chemical or organism has already been studied or the methods you're using are well established. And the first step is to establish that your lab setup works how it should, and this is easiest if you only check one thing at a time.
So for example if you want to do experiments on a specific protein you need to produce it first. And once you did that you need to make sure it behaves like expected, and for that part you would usually compare it with previously published result. So you would check the structure (or rather some experiment that works like a fingerprint for the structure like an NMR HSQC) against the literature or check the function of the protein if it is an enzyme. To do that you would typically reproduce the literature, to make sure your system behaves as expected. And of course this is a bit more complex in detail, you might be interested in specific behaviour or properties of protein X under conditions Y when you add Z. There are plenty of things that can go wrong, so trying to do some experiments first where you know the expected results is usually a good idea.
The other case is when someone publishes a new method. Those are often published with data on some kind of model system first, those model systems usually are well behaved and easy to handle. If you try out that new method first you typically would do that on the same model system, to make sure it works and you're doing everything correctly.
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<issue_start>username_0: I checked the W1 salary of junior professors in Germany but noticed that there is no health insurance, unemployment insurance, and pension contribution.
Source : <https://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/c/t/rechner/beamte/bund?id=beamte-bund-2021&g=W_1&s=0&f=0&z=100&zulage=&stj=2022b&stkl=1&r=0&zkf=0>
Questions- Is it true? And at what level does a junior professor start their job?<issue_comment>username_1: A Juniorprofessor is a "Beamter", which basically means you can almost not be laid off from the job, but generally "auf Zeit", which means your contract ends after a given time (typically 5 years).
Beamte in Germany are freed from public health insurance, because the state reimburses for a certain percentage of the healthcare costs (and you can - and have to - quite cheaply insure the remaining parts), and free from unemployment and pension contribution, because defacto they can't become unemployed (unless, of course, they are "auf Zeit"), and the pension is given by the state (in German difference between "Rente" and "Pension"), approx. 70% of your last salary.
Also Junior Profs only have one level W1, because they are expected to become W2 or W3 Professors later on.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: To complement the other answer by one aspect:
If you terminate your employment as a "Beamter" (whether due to expiry of the junior professorship, or any other reason, including voluntarily), you will be retroactively insured in the pension insurance. However, the insurance amount will be computed based on your gross salary as a Beamter, that is, it will be less if you had been employed as a regular employee with the same *net* salary (as in that case, the gross salary would have been higher, due to precisely those deductions). So it is not a good deal. (In fact, I would claim "Beamter auf Zeit" is never a good deal, unless you transition into a lifetime Beamter employment afterwards.)
On the other hand, if your Beamter status is terminated, you did not have unemployment insurance, so you would immediately fall into social welfare. (This is of course only relevant if you intend and are allowed to stay in Germany after that, and don't terminate because of another job.)
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<issue_start>username_0: Once I published a few math papers which contained new ideas in a new direction. This was closely related to my usual field of interest, but went somewhat beyond it. It was not obvious to me how many people in my field would be interested in it. Anyway I naturally wanted to promote my ideas to as broad community as possible.
I was invited to have a talk at a conference of a different community. There I met a person from my usual field. They said (if I understood correctly) that the fact that I visit this conference creates a competition. I feel they were unhappy about it.
**Assuming that I understood the remark by my colleague correctly, was it a bad idea that I came to this conference? Is it unethical?**
**ADDED:** I was told that in some scientific schools it is typical to consider some topics as belonging to the school, and others should not work on them. **I am wondering how popular is this point of view.**<issue_comment>username_1: Certainly there was no ethical problem. In fact, I think your acquaintance was off base. Spreading knowledge between communities is a good thing, actually.
Unless there is something not said here, such as a conflict of interest of some kind or a predatory conference, I think it was the other person who is off base. And I also wonder why they were even present with such an attitude.
Do good work. Spread the word.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It's true that some research communities can be territorial, but I wouldn't necessarily assume that's the case here.
The fact that someone from this community invited you to speak at a conference is fairly concrete evidence that you're not being shunned. Your colleague telling you something vague about people maybe being unhappy with you sounds like comparatively weak evidence (based on what you've written here, at least).
Competing with other researchers is perfectly ethical. It is often considered bad etiquette (not bad ethics) to knowingly work on the same problem as someone, and doing that would be a good way to ruffle feathers and may lead to your work not being received as warmly as it otherwise would. But simply working in the same broad research area as someone isn't the kind of competition that would ever violate this etiquette. *Attending a conference*, even less so. I wouldn't put much stock in your colleague's remark.
Edit: I ought to emphasize, there *are* research areas that can get unpleasantly political. But if you get on the wrong side of a group like that and they ignore/downplay your work for political reasons, they are the ones being unethical, not you. The best way to avoid/mitigate this sort of thing is to get to know a reasonable, reliable person who works in the area in question (the subject area can't be *entirely* full of mafiosos) who understands the political situation and can give you advice.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Here's what one faculty member told me about how hiring works at their department.
There are maybe 10-12 people on the hiring committee and they rate applicants on a scale. There are a bunch of different fields, but two different fields are sometimes lumped together, say field A consists of fields A1 and A2. What happens is that the faculty in field A1 will rate anyone in field A2 with the lowest possible rating, in effect rigging the system so that only faculty who work in field A1 actually get hired. And in fact, when you look at who gets hired in the department, it's *always* people who work in field A1, never A2.
How common is this?<issue_comment>username_1: I can't say how "common" it is, having too little experience and no research. But I do know of places with large faculties where there was a definite balkanization. The factions really despised one another and students were wise to avoid the bickering and not to get involved.
And, factions can form for "reasons" other than research field.
It is, in a certain sense, unproductive, though the faculty was large enough that each faction was able to function independently. I don't actually know how if affected hiring, but I can see that it might have done.
Students just need to deal with it as it is, however. But, if it is not helpful overall, then the faculty, collectively, has means to deal with it. Some faculty, however, would rather just do the work and not get involved in faculty politics. To make a change you often have to "be that change".
---
And, if you were an A2 candidate that didn't get selected, you may be lucky overall.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: For any hiring, admissions, promotion, grants, or awards process where the decisions are made by humans using subjective criteria, there will be bias. The particular bias will vary.
What any one individual tells you about the bias behind a particular process is not reliable. It seems to me that such rumors are only a small step above conspiracy theories.
Looking at the list of people who have been hired an their prior records will tell you the truth.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It’s common for academic hiring to arouse strong feelings and opinions, and for faculty members to express those opinions in a variety of ways, and to exert their influence within the department, also in a variety of ways, in order to achieve an outcome they view as preferable.
Some of the ways in which people exert their influence may strike certain other people — especially people who were hoping for a different outcome — as aggressive or distasteful. Does that mean the process is “rigged”? I don’t think so; not necessarily, anyhow. If you are a member of a search committee and think it would be better for your department to hire someone working in field A1 than A2, it seems only natural that you will vote and rank candidates accordingly. If this leads your department to always hire in A1 and never A2, that simply reflects the balance of opinions of the department’s faculty. This is how institutions run themselves. For all we know, preferring A1 to A2 may actually be a sensible thing in this situation and in the best interests of the department. Even if it isn’t, it’s valid to have that as a preference, and it seems valid (if perhaps less than maximally collegial) to express that preference in the way you described when you are a search committee member, unless the practice is somehow violating some rule or policy.
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm particularly interested in the condition in mathematics. In [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/163025/is-there-a-max-number-of-authors-for-a-paper-of-math#:%7E:text=Papers%20in%20%22mathematics%22%20had%20an,in%20%22mathematics%2C%20applied%22), I find that the average number of authors for a mathematics paper is less than three. This suggests to me that, most of the time, new mathematics does not originate from a large group working hard on the topic. [Similar case](https://www.nature.com/nature-index/news-blog/paper-authorship-goes-hyper) for other theoretical subjects, with philosophy being 91% sole author.
At the same time, I notice there is a growing consensus of opinion that science is tending to the collaborative side nowadays; however, this data suggests the opposite. Maybe I am missing something, so I ask: are there any benefits from networking and getting contacts for researching in mathematics?<issue_comment>username_1: There is nothing inconsistent between collaboration being (very) important and it happening only or primarily in very small groups.
Mathematics isn't like particle physics. You don't need billion dollar accelerators, with a huge support staff. Paper and pencil will do, though a good library also helps a lot.
The size of collaboration groups in math is increasing a bit, I surmise, because it is easier now to communicate. I grew up in a time when postal mail and travel/visiting were the only viable options. Now we have the internet. And before my time international mail was very slow and unreliable. I've collaborated with people from four continents, actually.
A lot (most?) of math collaboration is face to face around a table. Often it happens in a coffee lounge in a university department. A whiteboard to sketch out ideas, perhaps. But a lot is just a couple of people sitting down and one mentions an idea they have and the other makes some suggestion about how it might play out. This is much harder in a large group. Even at a conference, if someone brings up an idea to a large audience, the most likely thing is that one or two people will approach the speaker afterwards to share "thought". It doesn't become a large group "huddle". The coffee table might now be a zoom screen, of course, but still only a few people for the most part.
This is, I think, driven by the intensely internal nature of pure mathematics. I wouldn't predict that math would ever be done in a group of hundreds (thousands) as happens at CERN, for example.
Another factor is that it is harder, I think, in math to "divide up the work" with different members of a large group contributing different things. One may have a large overall goal, but no path to carry it out other than very intense focus at a very small part until that gets resolved, giving some insight into what the next steps might be. That isn't quite as true in computer science, and collaborations tend to be somewhat larger there.
One reason for the importance of collaboration in math is that when you work strictly alone it can be difficult to know what the currently important questions are. What is worth pursuing. Those sorts of discussions can, and do, happen in larger groups. But the follow up is more likely to be only a few, especially interested, people who are willing and able to do the deep dive.
So, essential collaboration doesn't necessarily mean in large groups.
---
I also question, not that it is especially important here, the classification of math with the sciences. The methodology is completely different and the nature of proof (math) vs. evidence (science) is profound.
---
In thinking about this again overnight, I'm reminded that every mathematical (almost) collaborates widely, but with our, possibly, long dead mathematical ancestors. Nearly every paper is based on some things from earlier work that may have set a direction or provided some insight.
And, mathematicians with doctorates can know their "genealogy", which is a trace back through their advisor's advisor, etc. See: <https://www.mathgenealogy.org/index.php>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> At the same time, I notice there is a growing consensus of opinion that science is tending to the collaborative side nowadays; however, this data suggests the opposite.
>
>
>
No, it doesn't. All it shows is that mathematics tends to have fewer authors per paper than other subjects. However, within mathematics the proportion of collaborative papers, the number of authors per paper and the number of collaborators per person have all been increasing over time: see data for the 20th century [here](https://oakland.edu/enp/trivia/data-on-mathematics-research-publications-over-time).
The number of authors on a mathematics paper tends to be limited because it is difficult for lots of different people to make a meaningful contribution to a single paper (and the criteria for authorship are perhaps stricter than in some other fields). However, there are fewer overheads to doing mathematics and research groups can be much more fluid.
Consequently, while in some subjects increased collaboration might take the form of each project having more authors, in mathematics it takes the form of each author being involved in more separate projects with different collaborators, often at the same time. For example I am currently actively working on three projects with a total of six other people involved, but no overlap.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: An international student or postdoc from a list of certain countries has to obtain an [ATAS](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme) certificate before being able to applying for a UK visa, and **that certificate has to be obtained again every year**. In the link above, however, I could not find any information about new faculty members (lecturers). In particular, assume a new lecturer, with a permanent contract, who has obtained an ATAS certificate and, subsequently, a 5-year skilled worker visa. Does that individual have to apply for ATAS every year, or it is just a once-for-all experience?<issue_comment>username_1: If you are a faculty member you are not studying as a student or performing research as a contracted researcher the documentation the ATAS is not clear. However you should always ask the HR department of your employer for clarification.
The staff guidance at different universities (as shown on their web pages) is also contradictory or vague. However at least one major university does explicitly say that academic staff covered by the subjects of study and nationality clauses of ATAS must have an ATAS.
If you are in employment always be guided by your employer, but the UCU (Academic's Trade Union) can be an independent source of advice.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: **Short answer (Nov 2022)**: Assuming the individual has already obtained an ATAS certificate and subsequently a 5-year Skilled Worker visa, the individual is not required to reapply for an ATAS certificate every year. Some exceptions related to a change in employment circumstances apply.
Immigration rules are subject to frequent changes - future readers should verify whether the content within this answer remains up to date.
---
**Long answer**:
The individual in question is newly hired as a lecturer under a permanent contract. They obtained an ATAS certificate and used the certificate to secure a 5-year Skilled Worker visa. For the avoidance of doubt, we also assume the individual is already in the UK and performing their role when we reach the one-year mark (when the OP suggested a new ATAS certificate is required).
According to [this GOV.UK guidance on whether one requires an ATAS certificate](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-require-an-atas-certificate), they are considered as a researcher:
>
> The UK government defines a researcher as an individual conducting an investigation into a problem or situation, where the intention is to identify facts and/or opinions that will assist in solving the problem or tackling the situation.
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> A researcher may be working independently or as part of team. You need to apply for an ATAS certificate if research is being conducted at PhD level or above. PhD students should apply through the student route, not researcher route.
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>
>
The [main ATAS guidance](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme#if-you-are-a-researcher-already-in-the-uk) suggests the individual is not required to apply for a new ATAS certificate:
>
> **If you are a researcher already in the UK**
>
> You do not need to apply for an ATAS certificate if you:
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>
> * are already conducting research in the UK
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>
In fact, the guidance does not mention any requirement to apply for a new ATAS certificate simply because the year is up. Searching the entire page by the keyword 'year' yields two irrelevant results: one on how long your referee has known you, the other on studying in courses with an integrated masters year. Searching the entire page with '12' or 'twelve' yields no results.
There are several exceptions to the above as an academic. The most common reason that requires a fresh ATAS certificate is a change in employment circumstances - moving institutions, additional appointments, change in the research field and/or location, etc. The following sections in the main ATAS guidance provide further details. Another common reason is that the individual requires renewing or switching to a new visa.
* [If you are a researcher already in the UK](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme#if-you-are-a-researcher-already-in-the-uk)
* [Researchers also undertaking a course of study](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme#researchers-also-undertaking-a-course-of-study)
* [If your circumstances change after ATAS certificate is issued](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme#if-your-circumstances-change-after-atas-certificate-is-issued)
* [Conducting research at more than 1 HEI/research institutes](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme#conducting-research-at-more-than-1-heiresearch-institutes)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: A colleague of mine recently suggested to wait with the re-submission of a revised article until the very end (e.g. the deadline day). His rationale is that reviewers might be less inclined to dig in the matter again after a certain time has passed. Based on his experience, the chances of acceptance are therefore higher.
I doubt this believing that the revised version content is the only decisive factor.
May I ask whether you agree on said colleague's statement?<issue_comment>username_1: In my experience, both as author and reviewer, and looking also at my closest's colleague behaviour, your colleague's statement is unfounded.
I'd say that the willingness by the reviewers to dig in the matter again depends mostly on the types of issues found at the time of the first submission, on the interest generated by the paper and on the journal's perceived quality.
Personally, I tend to resubmit as soon as I can find the time to do it, possibly within a few days, for two reasons. First, tasks always pile up and there's always the possibility that incoming urgencies make it difficult to complete certain tasks or easy to forget about them (*oh, shoot, the deadline for the resubmission was yesterday!*): so, my policy is to get rid of what's possible as soon as I can. Second, if among the coauthors there are PhD students or other young scientists, for them it's better to publish sooner than later because there might always be an application around the corner. In any case, I haven't perceived any difference in the reviewer's responses depending on the time of the resubmission, and I've never changed my reviewing's style depending on it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Based on his experience, the chances of acceptance are therefore higher.
>
>
>
I don’t think that anybody can make robust empirical statements about this.
Journals can’t because revision time also correlates with actual effort put into the revision, and thus they would to have even more reviews to normalise for paper quality. Of course, your colleague knows whether he delayed a resubmission deliberately, but I doubt that he has sufficiently many samples to substantiate a claim¹.
Thus, all that remains are arguments.
¹ In fact, I have witnessed many scientists exhibit weird superstitions on what will appease reviewers or audiences, presumably based on one or two experiences, where something worked or a reviewer made a bizarre demand. How can I know that these are superstitions? Well, many are clearly contradictory, and they can’t all be right.
>
> His rationale is that reviewers might be less inclined to dig in the matter again after a certain time has passed.
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From my peer-reviewing experience, I think there are three main flaws with this argument:
* Unless the revision comes very quickly (say, within a week), I have to dig into the topic again anyway, whether it has been three weeks or a year – and I have experienced both.
* I am skeptical that “not digging into the paper” generally leads to more favourable reviews. Suppose my first recommendation on a manuscript has been “major revisions” or worse (otherwise you have little to worry about anyway).
Then this is the baseline with which I go into the second round of review: The manuscript and response have to convince me that the problems have now been fixed. This can only happen if I engage with the topic and the manuscript. Of course, there are reviewers whose lazy stance is benign, but I see no reason to assume that they predominate or you can predict whether you have such a reviewer.
* If I don’t want to engage with a manuscript again (for whatever reason), there is a decent chance that I simply decline to review. This results in a considerable chance that the editor seeks the opinion of a fresh reviewer, who in turn is much more likely to have completely new issues with your manuscript.
>
> I doubt this believing that the revised version content is the only decisive factor.
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>
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I find that a bit idealistic because peer-reviewers and editors are humans and come with all sorts of biases and similar. But yes, at least my rosy view of my own reviewing is that solving my major concerns is by far the best thing you can do in a revision, be it by amending your manuscript or arguing that my concerns are ill-conceived. There is an amazingly clear-cut difference between resubmissions who try and succeed and those who attempt to wiggle around this. All manuscripts I recommended to reject in a second round spectacularly failed at this hurdle.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing my master's thesis about an already published method which I improved and modified.
When writing the background section of my thesis about the existing method I am tempted to use the graphics of the original paper/thesis when explaining why this method was created in the first place and how it performs compared to other methods.
Is it necessary that I create such graphics myself even if they include the same tests and information or can I use the existing images and cite them accordingly?
What is your general opinion about citing images of other works?<issue_comment>username_1: Citing images is not the same as including them. Presumably those images are under copyright held by others, probably publishers. You have to respect those copyrights in any work to be published.
Even if your thesis is not going to be published, I'd recommend that you employ standard scholarship methods in creating it. While citation absolves you of plagiarism charges, it doesn't permit republishing copyright material.
The problem with images is that they often (not always) employ creative elements, giving a copyright to the creator (most jurisdictions). And, they can also carry a lot of information. So, while quoting a sentence or two from a copyrighted work is normally fair use, copying an image can be considered a significant element of a work. Moreover, one of the concerns in copyright law (most places, again) is that if the new "infringing" work reduces the "value" of the original, it is considered more serious.
"Recreating" the image may not save you, either, as that would, possibly, be considered a "derived work" which is one of the rights covered under (most) copyright law.
The solution to the dilemma is to ask the copyright holder for permission and describe your use. I'd guess that most publishers will agree that it is fine, though it might take some time to get the necessary permission. Use in a thesis will, I hope and expect, be granted.
---
Note that the caveats in the above are needed because copyright law is normally civil, not criminal, law and it varies in some places.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Others have explained already that in order to reuse copyrighted content you need to obtain permission from the copyright holder. Here's a how-to:
* If the original source is a thesis monograph, this would usually be the author,
* unless it's in the form of a book with a publisher (note that the university may be the publisher), then it may be the publisher (or an open license, see below). The book will then tell you at its very beginning (frontmatter) who the copyright holder is.
* And in any case, the author must be aware to whom they've signed their copyrights away if they did so. They can thus point you to whom to actually ask.
* For a journal paper, if it's under an open license such as CC, that license may already allow you to re-use content, and will then also tell you how. It may also specify how to cite.
* Papers which are not under an open licence: here you need to obtain permision for re-use from the publisher. The big publishers have established processes for this. E.g. SpringerNature displays a "Reprints and Permissions" Link under their online content, which already has "I would like to reuse in a dissertation/thesis" as established category. You fill in the form, and can then expect to get permission pretty much automatically. Again, there's typically a condition that you cite in a specific form, something along the lines of "This image is reproduced from [$ORIGINAL\_PAPER] with kind permission by $PUBLISHER".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I have read many articles where the description of respondents (their characteristics) are put at the beginning of results section. Is it ok? Will your manuscript be rejected if you did so, but reviewers require it to be in methodology section?<issue_comment>username_1: It depends: If you chose the respondents based on those characteristics, then it is part of your design and should thus be part of the methods section. If they weren't your choice, but instead an empirical finding, then it belongs in the results section.
Apparently, your reviewers thought those characteristics were part of your design. If that is not the case, then your text describing your design is not clear, and in that case that is what should be fixed, rather than moving text around.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: One can't predict what the editor will require. But the "expected" characteristics are probably best in the methodology. On the other hand, if the actual respondents didn't actually conform, then something in results might be essential. This would especially be true if there were no necessary characteristics in the target population. But the methodology should state that explicitly.
But normally, I'd think, that you describe the target population in the methodology.
You can ask the editor for advice, of course.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/07
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Grad student and this is my first time as a TA, in a first-year undergraduate course.
My concern is students that come to office hours completely unprepared, asking things that have already been covered in lectures or answered in the course's mailing list multiple times. I am always trying to be helpful but I feel the majority of them are either wasting my time, exploiting me and not making the most out of the office hours.
For instance, many students arrive at the final day of the deadline asking how to set up Git (this is how they submit their assignments), which has been covered in the first lecture a month ago. Others keep telling me that they can't solve the exercise, and when I ask them what they tried they reply "I don't know". Some even have the guts to ask me for the solution.
Others have arrived in groups admitting they solved the exercises together when they are meant to be solved and submitted individually. Others send me personal e-mails with their homework without signing with their name or id, when they are not supposed to submit homework like that.
I even had four students arrive and wait for me **inside** my office, because there was another student there before and he invited them inside. Then he left and they were waiting inside. When I see students waiting outside the office, I greet them and open the door and they all rush in and take a seat by themselves. When I asked them kindly to wait outside because I cannot handle multiple students at the same time they went grumpy.
I've had a student visit outside office hours, because I spend a lot of time in my office. When I gave him feedback on what to work on and if he has qustions again visit me on the office hours, he kept working on his homework next to me with no intention for leaving. I told him multiple times that I have things to work on as well and should work on the feedback I gave him individually, but he did not pick up any hints. I did not want to be rude and tell him to leave, and he spend about 40 mins extra.
This is my first time as a TA and I do not want to seem rude or arrogant to the students. I am always there to help but I cannot be of service if they have not prepeared or studied the material individually as well. I understand that as first year students most of them are just kids, some with no manners and waiting to be spoon-fed, but I have no idea how to tackle this issue without having many students hate me. I am really getting burned out by having the same interactions over and over, and answering questions that have been covered fifty times already.<issue_comment>username_1: **As a TA, your role is to be a resource for the students.** It is not really your job to judge whether they are "making the most of [your] office hours," or if they are managing their time effectively. Office hours are for their benefit: if they choose to spend the time having you review material that has already been presented several times, that is their loss, not yours. Yes, it can be boring and frustrating to have the same interaction over and over, but you can use this as an opportunity to practice giving these explanations in the best, clearest way possible.
**However, you should set boundaries.** If you have been clear that you do not accept homework by e-mail, then you should reject e-mailed assignments, or penalize their grade accordingly. If students visit your office outside of office hours, you can send them away. Perhaps the most difficult thing is to set boundaries with students who are trying to get you to do their homework for them. Yes, it will make them grumpy, but that's okay, they will respect you more when you make it clear that you will not work through entire homework problems end-to-end (or at least, not very often; I would probably be willing to accommodate a conscientious student who was totally stuck on something).
One last note: your comment about "only handling one student at a time" seems a bit strange. My experience is that many students will show up, and you can rotate your attention from student to student; when you interact with one student, other students can listen and learn. If your office is physically too small to accommodate multiple students, you might want to look into booking a conference room or classroom and holding your office hours there.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: It seems that your problem could be framed as a lack of appropriate boundaries and teaching strategies. While it might be awkward to try to enforce new boundaries if these students have been taking advantage of your generosity, this might be the only way to keep doing your job effectively *without getting frustrated and burning out*. Below are some strategies which might help you in this regard.
>
> students that come to office hours completely unprepared, asking things that have already been covered in lectures or answered in the course's mailing list multiple times
>
>
>
Have you told them that their questions have already been answered elsewhere, and they need to look there first? Pointing them to existing resources may be the best way to get them going; tell them to come back to you "when they get stuck". It's not unreasonable to expect that students should try to get as far as they can on their own first.
>
> Others keep telling me that they can't solve the exercise, and when I ask them what they tried they reply "I don't know".
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>
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This might point to a deeper issue if they truly don't understand what's going on in the course. Here you might have to spend more time with some students so that they at least understand how to get started on the exercise. This will require a delicate balance; it should be clear that you won't just give away the answers "for free" during office hours.
>
> Some even have the guts to ask me for the solution.
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> Others send me personal e-mails with their homework without signing with their name or id, when they are not supposed to submit homework like that.
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> I even had four students arrive and wait for me inside my office
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Here you will just have to learn to say "no". If it's against the course policy (or otherwise unacceptable), then simply explain what the expectation is going forward. Otherwise, the students may not consider these things to be a big deal.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: They are abusing your office. And you. Don't let them.
Find policies that are reasonable, but that push them to not waste your time or the time of other students. Do not be drawn into discussions. Do not listen to excuses.
Get a classroom for your office hours. Do not let them into your office. You should be able to find an empty classroom. Possibly you need to talk to your uni to reserve such a classroom so you don't step on toes of other persons wanting classroom space. Explain that at times there are too many students for the size of your office, and you need a larger space for office hours.
Once you have the classroom, tell the students to go there. Go there yourself. Do not be in your office. Put a note on your door where the classroom is and that they should see you there if they want to.
When you are doing office hours in the classroom, you basically have been paid for these hours. (I presume, right?) So be there for the full time. Take some work of your own in case nobody shows up.
When they ask "how do we do the thing we were told in the first class?" type questions, suggest that this should be something they already know. If there are other questions people want answered, you should consider what is the best use of their time. If they have other more useful questions, answer those first. If they really only have the first-day-cover type questions, answer them after the other more useful questions are all asked and answered.
If you must answer the they-should-already-know questions, answer these in front of the whole room. Hopefully it means you won't have to explain how to log in to each individual student.
If you are supposed to deal with one student at a time, then pull a couple chairs over into the corner by the white board, and ask everybody else to go on the other side of the classroom and work quietly.
If they seem to have "smartened themselves up" a bit, then you can, at your own option, let them back into your office. Treat it as a privilege you are giving them rather than something they are entitled to. If they start abusing it again then go back to the classroom.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> My concern is students that come to office hours completely unprepared, asking things that have already been covered in lectures or answered in the course's mailing list multiple times.
>
>
>
It's perfectly normal for inexperienced developers (or anybody else) not to pick up the ability to do practical things from lectures alone. For example:
>
> ...many students arrive at the final day of the deadline asking how to set up Git (this is how they submit their assignments), which has been covered in the first lecture a month ago.
>
>
>
I've taught Git to dozens of new developers and in general I'd be very surprised if someone without previous experience with a version control system, or at least a fair amount of previous experience with the development process, could learn to use Git from a lecture alone. Some people will manage it (especially if they have previous experience with these sort of things) but many won't. Even the process of merely installing Git for Windows involves answering [a dozen questions](https://github.com/0cjs/sedoc/blob/master/git/win.md#installation-summary)
that will not have obvious answers to someone without a fair amount of experience.
This is an area where the course is badly designed: one of the first assignments, due within a week or two after the lecture that covers Git, should be to fetch a repo, add a commit, and push that commit back up. I'd expect a good number of students to need to be walked through this by a TA. (I generally find that I need to walk new developers through each basic procedure three or four times before they can reliably do it on their own.) This should be reinforced with every subsequent exercise, and these should be frequent. Practice is the only way to get comfortable with Git. Leaving this until they could fail an assignment with actual work in it because they couldn't commit and push is just asking for major problems and panic at the last minute.
>
> Others keep telling me that they can't solve the exercise, and when I ask them what they tried they reply "I don't know". Some even have the guts to ask me for the solution.
>
>
>
The issue here, again, is that inexperienced developers often don't even know how to approach problems. You can't give them the answers, but you can have them sit down at their laptop with you sitting beside them and offer suggestions on the next step to take when they're stuck. Ideally you'll be giving them hints such as, "try this, but first think about what result you expect from your change, and then compare the result you get with what you expected and, if it's not the same, see if you can figure out why you got the result you did and where you went wrong in your thinking." I would consider it normal to go through a dozen "loops" of this in any session with a student.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: You should take care of your mental health. Total lack of empathy and the feeling of being overwhelmed by "things" (like answering the same questions over and over you mention at the end) are marker of excessive stress (excessive stress may lead to burnout).
Breath in, breath out, learn how to set your boundary.
In a comment [you mention](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/190416/handling-unprepared-students-as-a-teaching-assistant#comment513708_190416)
>
> it makes me wonder how can a freshman who grew up with the internet is unable to answer most of their question with some Googling.
>
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>
Well, can you? The questions you pose have already been asked, on this site and on other site. A brief google search gives you already a lot of feedback, ranging from satirical comics ([like xkcd](https://xkcd.com/1597/), as [commented by](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/190416/handling-unprepared-students-as-a-teaching-assistant#comment513767_190416) @Buffy wrt to the git issues) to
more academic resources.
Good luck and think about the students doing things "right".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: You could try not announcing any office hours and let students write you an email and ask for an appointment. You could then require that they state their problem in detail and describe what things they already tried, much like here on stack exchange.
You could also use the first 10 minutes or so each each lecture to recap things a lot of people have asked.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose I am an international student X living in country Y and I apply to university Z in a european country/developed asian country Q. Would my chance for admission into Z, if applied, depend substansially on whether I did my previous schooling in Q or not? Would this be different for different levels like Bachelors and Masters?
Eg:
I do my Bachelors in India and try for Masters in America
Or,
I do my Highschool in India and try for Bachelors in Germany
Of course, I do agree for some countries there is additional process. Eg: Germany an Indian student has to do one more year of highschool before university in undergraduate but that is not important for me here. I only care about the raw rates.
N.B: By competitive college I mean a place where there is a bit of competition for seats. For places with no seat caps then theoritically none of this matters.<issue_comment>username_1: First, such data would be difficult to obtain, but, also, more difficult to interpret. And, since you added "substantially", then I'll guess "no", or it would be a well-known effect.
But, more to the point, if your question is actually looking for advice on what *you* should do to increase your likelihood of acceptance to a competitive college, I suggest you look elsewhere, such as gaining all possible knowledge and skill in the field(s) of interest and trying to have something tangible to show for that, or even intangible in the goodwill of your current instructors.
The one way in which it might be advantageous to study in Q is that an application might be easier to analyze, since readers are more familiar with that educational system. But if it comes at the cost of having less time to "impress" potential letter writers, then it could easily turn in to a negative. That would be especially true in the US, where letters carry a lot of weight.
The problem is that there are too many possible factors affecting admissions (at any level) to pick out one and depend on it to get you over the line. And there is so much "noise" in any such data set as to be probably meaningless and almost certainly meaningless to an individual case. Gaming "at the margins" isn't going to be helpful.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: There is a difference. I would not call it substantial, but it is still there.
One of the difficulties of a admissions committee is that the members are much more familiar with the universities close by; maybe one of the members studied there, worked there, collaborated with someone from there, had students from that university, etc. They have an idea about that university, and what a degree from that university is worth. There is no such personal relationship with many universities further away, making it harder to evaluate those universities.
Another difficulty many applicants have is what is expected from letters of recommendation differs from country to country and culture to culture. This makes it very difficult to evaluate some of those letters that come from far away.
Both problems can be dealt with, and many committees are aware of them and do their best, but it is a friction that international students have and local applicants don't.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Top math grad programs in the U.S. will receive tons of applications from people with excellent grades in grad or advanced undergrad math classes, high math subject GRE scores, and some research. No doubt there are other factors like competition results or awards from the student's department, but they tend to carry little weight, being considered as not very predictive of performance in math research. Not to say that doing well in a competition is useless, but the marginal predictive utility of doing well vs doing extremely well is insignificant in the sense that you're not gaining much info, if any at all, about future performance when comparing top 50 in Putnam and IMC to top 10. It will just be seen as the difference between solving constructed problems well and solving constructed problems very well by putting in even more effort practicing them.
Judging the research has its own problems with verifying how much the student learned and did on their own, so admissions committees turn to recommendation letters to distinguish between very good students who have nearly maxed out all the other criteria. However, recommendation letters are qualitative in nature and can only be justified on the basis that they provide info on a candidate's ability to succeed that other factors don't. In other words, recommendation letters aren't perfect but it would be much harder to make decisions without them just using other factors, which I agree with.
All that being said, why don't U.S. programs use entrance exams as a factor on par with classes, research, and letters? They shouldn't have the bulk of the weight as that may lead to similar situations as in India and China, where students go all out just for the exam at the expense of other skills, but there should at least be some weight. Something like the preliminary exams that colleges have for 1st and 2nd year students in linear algebra, abstract algebra, real analysis, differential equations etc. could be given to applicants instead of waiting for the students to enter and then requiring them to pass those exams, which is done at almost every university.
Another idea is interviews or oral exams, but the biggest reason why those may not be used is the amount of time required to administer interviews to 25-50 applicants who have passed all the checks on previous factors (good enough classes, grades, and letters) and compare those interviews. In comparison, the effort needed to write, proctor, and grade exams can be spread out. Staff outside the committee can proctor and grade while the committee just has to come up with the questions and look at the results.<issue_comment>username_1: Some departments actually do use an entrance exam: The Math subject GRE exam.
But in the end, the question everything comes down to is this: How *predictive of success* would such an exam be? Would students who do well on these exams do better than the pool currently considered for admission? People and universities have, over the decades, come up with all sorts of ideas of how better to assess how successful students will be in graduate school (or when companies are hiring, or for faculty hiring, or for undergraduate admission, or ...) and the general observation is that it is just very difficult to predict, especially the future. If there was a single criterion we could apply to predict how successful a student would be in graduate school, we'd all be using that criterion.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My department (Chemistry) used to use standardized American Chemical Society entrance exams in the (then) four main chemistry sub-disciplines: analytical, organic, inorganic and physical. Students performing below pre-determined thresholds had to take one or more remedial courses. Then biological chemistry came along, and faculty decided that taking five entrance exams was simply too much.
This problem was resolved when faculty in the various sub-disciplines decided to drop the entrance exams. One by one, the entrance exams were dropped until only my own area was giving entrance exams. The last straw was when faculty in my sub-discipline found out that other faculty were using results on our entrance exam to make decisions about the new graduate students! So we dropped the exams as well.
Overall, I think the entrance exams had some utility is assessing fairly minor deficiencies, but not enough utility to justify keeping them. Dropping the exams caused no significant issues.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all, even just 3 years ago, administering such exams would have been a logistical nightmare. It takes me (and my students) 10 hours each way and $1200 in airfare to get to Cambridge, MA, and even longer (and more money) to get to, say, Charlottesville, VA. The alternative is to find and pay someone here to proctor one exam for one student, or maybe have two students drive 2 hours each way so that one person could proctor one exam for three students. (Now it's not a nightmare only if you trust exams proctored over Zoom.)
Second of all, there are two such exams. One is the GRE, though that suffers from being a multiple choice test and from having a syllabus that's somewhat outdated and narrow and also aimed at more of a mid-tier graduate program. A second is the Putnam Competition, though that is taken voluntarily and is perhaps too hard (the median score is sometimes 0, after all) even for top graduate programs; it perhaps also has too much emphasis on problem solving within a short time span. (Putnam scores definitely *are* considered by admissions committees.)
Third, top graduate programs are looking more for mathematical talent than mathematical knowledge. It's the experience of basically all graduate programs that a certain kind of ability to learn and do mathematics is much more important than knowledge of mathematics, because a sufficiently apt student can catch up on the necessary knowledge very quickly. June Huh, who just won a Fields Medal, did not study mathematics as an undergrad, almost failed out of undergrad in any case, and knew relatively little mathematics with relatively little classroom mathematics education when he was first admitted to graduate school. (He basically learned mathematics in a haphazard way by working as Hironaka's personal assistant.) There is no way he would have done well on any exam (perhaps even when he moved from his first graduate program to another graduate program, having proved a 40 year old conjecture), but of course every graduate program that rejected his application would now say that was a mistake, considering he has won a Fields Medal.
(Personally, I had well below average mathematical knowledge when I started graduate school, having taken a minimum number of courses for a math major at a liberal arts college, though I did write a nice undergraduate thesis.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: In brief, in my 40 years of involvement with graduate admissions at my R1, ...
... because the U.S. educational system does not substantially prepare people for grad school in mathematics (REUs are really just fluff, most times). So there's no "content-related" exam that could be given that would reflect peoples' future potential...
Sure, this aspect of the U.S. educational system makes most students look worse by comparison to nearly all the other educational systems in the world, which do not emphasize "broadness" at all... quite the contrary.
Nevertheless, in my long-term observation, this initial advantage-or-not usually disappears within one or two years!!! (... of grad school).
So, in terms of "pseudo-factual things would could pseudo-objectively test"... they'd mostly be irrelevant.
Seriously, the "intangibles" in letters of recommendation are the most relevant, yet least "objective", things that predict success in grad school.
Upvotes: 4
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2022/11/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I work at a faculty which is completely dedicated to open access and open science. They do everything in accordance with best practices. Very cool.
But at the same time they are totally embedded in the Google infrastructure, using Gmail, Calendar, Drive and so on. Even I, a Google skeptic, find myself using it because it’s so gosh dang easy.
I’ve been recently invited to join the Open Access Committee, which is obviously terrific. I think of taking up this issue, but I can’t really get a grip on the extent to which this may be a totally different issue, or a related one. Therefore I’d like to hear your advice on the matter!<issue_comment>username_1: Its a totally seperate issue.
Other than closed science = bad, large monopolistic tech company = bad, I not sure I see any connection.
Open Science/Open Access is about publishing all your data and methods in fora that allow free access to everyone as soon as possible. Is there anything specifically about google that prevents or makes this harder?
I can't think of anything.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Absolutely yes.
Nowadays, Google is just the offspring of a big advertising conglomerate (let's call it Alpha, because it is the alpha character in the room and not anymore a bet).
As such, Google will try to integrate and inglobate everything. See google Scholar, which is being the reference tool to find paper and citations. A part from the data collection-harvesting, its algorithms are absolutely obscure and unclear, so there is no way to evaluate why the results of certain search appears the way it appears.
So you are well in time for setting the boundary, and raise awareness of the potential pitfalls in integrating too much of the university software ecosystem in the big colossus.
For example: they are even trying to make you upload open access papers to their platform, which [then will be accessible then only via google drive (see slide 8)](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_ny6hxY46M1i2eML3-uzePfmeY7vi3lio9vOp755Fig/edit#slide=id.gce900bb84f_0_5), bypassing whatever publisher and allwing them to collect even more data without a clear consent from your side (well, you gave it long time ago, not that you had an alternative ...) !
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: While the main concern against Google (privacy) does not apply here, there are some avenues in which the big G can cause damage. Having a good, almost-free-but-not-really service discourages the development and use of free (as in freedom) alternatives; but then this lack of openness can later become problematic because of lock-in, or because a previously-free service becomes expensive to use or is discontinued.
Examples: data is hosted on Google sites, or on Google Docs in a proprietary format; suppose Google pulls a Geocities and closes that service; then the data disappears or becomes difficult to migrate. Large datasets are hosted on Google drive, but then the user runs out of space in their free tier and decides to delete them.
[EDIT: very relevant real-life example: we just got word that the free Google Drive tier that Google offers to our university will be reduced from "unlimited storage" to "100 TB for the whole institution", so the university has until January to free up 372 TB of extra used space, or upgrade to a paid plan.]
The real problem, though, is that open alternatives are difficult to set up and expensive to maintain, while Google's stuff is free (at first) and easy to use. Becoming Google-free requires investment, and not all universities are prepared to make it. A positive example is Germany, which in the past years [has pushed](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/160716/what-is-the-status-of-foreign-cloud-apps-in-german-universities) for free self-hosted services in all universities at the nation level. But this is not a simple road to take.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/08
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<issue_start>username_0: A colleague and I, early-career researchers, are planning to submit a research funding proposal. The research program we are envisioning would need a third PI with complementary expertise and resources. Of all the collaborators we might invite, one of the most qualified would be our former supervisor. (I worked under this supervisor as a doctoral researcher, and my colleague and I both worked under this supervisor as postdocs. All three of us are now at different institutions across Europe. My colleague and I have each already received a single-PI research grant without any involvement of the former supervisor.)
The funding program to which we are applying indicates that its purposes are only "to support excellent collaborative research projects" and "to make it easier for researchers to collaborate across borders", so including our former supervisor doesn't violate any explicitly stated guideline. However, I understand that "academic incest" is often a concern, for example when admitting graduate students or hiring faculty. Is it also a concern when evaluating research funding proposals? That is, is it possible/likely that reviewers would raise objections to a funding proposal that is submitted jointly by a professor and two of their former postdocs? If so, we'd rather invite a different collaborator to be the third PI and retool the research program around their particular skills and resources.<issue_comment>username_1: Since decisions are made by individuals with their own priorities (and biases) I can't say that it isn't a *concern*, but it should be a minor one, especially as you state the case.
A more important expectation of those judging whether to give money for a given project is whether these people are likely to do a good job with the proposed research (and the money). An established collaborative group probably sits a bit higher on that scale than an untested one. These folks have worked successfully together in the past and are therefore more likely to do so in the future. Equally important is whether this research is really worth doing at all (with our money).
I worry about your suggestion of choosing people first and then choosing the direction afterwards. That feels backwards. If you have a good research question, a plan to work it, and a good team, I see no reason to do otherwise.
And, regarding your examples of academic incest, some of them are actually based on similar considerations, not incest. A person is known to a supervisor or hiring committee already as a successful and compatible researcher. Yes, we will choose them over an unknown.
There are, of course, true instances of academic incest, with unqualified people selected for reasons other than merit. But I don't think it applies to your case.
OTOH, there is also merit in bringing new people into an existing collaboration. Those are often students, in fact.
---
Thought experiment: Imagine a world in which there was active discrimination of existing successful collaborative groups in favor of new and untested ones. Would scholarship likely be improved in such a system?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are issues beyond the funding mechanism you need to be concerned about here -- specifically, your tenure committee when you come up for review. They will be looking for evidence that you've successfully established your independence as a scientist. If this grant is your only major initiative, and it looks like you need the support of your mentor, you may have a problem.
That said, a portfolio can be a big complicated thing. If there are other factors that clearly establish your strengths as a successful independent researcher, there may be no cause for worry.
The tenure clock ticks fast, and establishing collaborations beyond your mentor quickly is something worthy of your attention and efforts.
Upvotes: 2
|
2022/11/09
| 2,887
| 9,188
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<issue_start>username_0: If I publish a 22,000 word article in a journal, can I call it a monograph in my CV? It seems too long to call it an article.<issue_comment>username_1: You can call it whatever you want in your CV, but if it is in a journal with other articles, it would not usually be called a monograph, but an article. If you include page numbers, then people will recognize its length, anyway.
You do not tell us for what purpose you are crafting your CV. If it is for purposes in academia, people in general will be more impressed by peer-reviewed publications than by books that are not peer-reviewed. If you do it for getting a job in industry (outside of research labs), publications are only important in order to validate your Ph.D., or to support a claim that you can do research. Thus, I do not see why calling it a monograph would give you a benefit. (No, to be honest, things are different in for example history where an academic is supposed to write books. Then calling a very lengthy article a monograph might be a good idea, unless it appears that you are not familiar with customs in your field.)
In my field (CS Systems), calling a lengthy article (a bit more than twice the normal Springer journal length) a monograph would be a little bit out of the normal.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: **No**. Journal articles are journal articles. Monographs are books.
Here's an [example](https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/8526#t=aboutBook) of a monograph. Note it comes with:
* A summary/blurb
* Front matter
* Different chapters
* A book cover
* An ISBN
And other things besides. None of these things are in journal articles.
If you call your journal article a monograph and I notice it, I'm likely to interpret it as misrepresentation, and the rest of your CV becomes suspect.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: It is up to the journal's policy if there is a strict threshold how many words are permitted, or not. Depending on the type of publication for a scientific journal, 22k words may be acceptable (e.g., review articles).
* Let's assume there is a strict limit set.
With a start in 1999, [*Organic Letters*](https://pubs.acs.org/journal/orlef7) by the American Chemical Society for example has a limit of four pages per publication. To keep the contributions short (i.e., *like a letter*) their [author guidelines](https://publish.acs.org/publish/author_guidelines?coden=orlef7) explicitly state:
>
> «A manuscript may not exceed 2,200 words at submission. This word count includes the title, abstract, main text, and titles/footnotes of typically five graphics (one of which is the TOC graphic). Tables and graphics count toward the word-count limit at the rate of 20 words per vertical centimeter for one-column items and 50 words per vertical centimeter for wider items up to two columns. Large graphics or additional graphics will require a reduced amount of text. Authors are reminded that any graphics that are reduced in size to help adhere to the length limits need to be fully legible when the page is printed at 100% scale.
>
>
> The goal for these length requirements is for manuscripts to fit within four pages, end matter (Supporting Information, Author Information, Notes, Acknowledgments) and references excluded — end matter and references are not included in the word count, and are the only part of the manuscript that will be allowed to extend beyond the end of the fourth page. Authors of submitted manuscripts that exceed the length requirements will be asked to adjust their manuscript by removing material, which can be placed in the Supporting Information. Note that authors should take care to not allow the length of their manuscript to exceed these requirements when making revisions.»
>
>
>
At the same publishers, [JACS](https://pubs.acs.org/journal/jacsat) (or, *The Journal of the American Chemical Society*), the constraint on words is even tighter. Their [guideline](https://pubs.acs.org/page/jacsat/submission/authors.html) states:
>
> «JACS will consider Communications not exceeding 2200 words, including abstract, main text, and the titles/footnotes/captions of graphical elements.»
>
>
>
So the details shared with the public how the experiments were performed, how intermediates and products where characterized, etc. enter a second .pdf file about the *supplementary information* for which the authors are responsible compiling and formatting the content. This may be substantially larger, than the communication it self. One freely accessible example is [*11-Step Total Synthesis of (−)-Maoecrystal V*](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.6b06623) by the Baran group, with the brief .pdf of [main article](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jacs.6b06623) (barely 4 pages) and the larger pdf of the [SI](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/jacs.6b06623/suppl_file/ja6b06623_si_001.pdf) (112 pages) to summarize e.g., 1000+ experiments of optimization.
* Or, there is no strict word limit.
Then, your publication likely is a *literature review* to summarize primary literature. Maybe *review* is in the title of the publication (or journal), maybe it is in line of *annual report*, or *recent progress* to survey only the most recent advances in a field. For this, the editors of a journal may compile multiple publications for a *thematic issue*, too. The editors either may get in touch with you because you are an already known reference in the field, or you reply to their invite to all readers of their journal. Or, you write a convincing proposal a literature review were for the benefit of the journal (and hopefully, equally for the community); both approaches (usually) take into consideration writing a review may take months.
Let's pick [*Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) and Their Applications*](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cr300162p) in *Chemical Reviews* because there is no paywall for this publication. Its .pdf may be burst into individual pages (e.g., [pdftk](https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/)), converted into a text file (e.g., [`pdftotext`](https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftotext-man.html)) for a word count. As pointed out by a commenter, [`wc -w`](https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/wc-invocation.html#wc-invocation) may be misleading if the intermediate .txt wasn't linted in regard of numbers, punctuation, single characters enclosed by white space, etc e.g., by character substitution:
```
sed -e 's/-*\.*[0-9]*\-*\.*//g' \
-e 's/[,:;?!−%()]//g' \
-e 's/ [b-zB-Z] / /' \
-e '/^$/d' \
-e '/^[+-=:]$/d' < text.txt > text_edit.txt
```
As the diagram illustrates, this preprocessing may have a significant on the word count *per page*, as well as for the total (22398 [unprocessed], 20373 [processed by above]):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/pGMIm.png)
especially when the pages are dominated by the bibliographic references. The diagram equally contains a dotted, and a chain thin line about the average word count (raw, and processed, respectively) of pages 1-18 for comparison against all 23 pages of the publication.
---
The data underlying the diagram:
```
|------------+-------------+----------|
| page | wc -w | wc -w |
| | (raw count) | (edited) |
|------------+-------------+----------|
| 1 | 626 | 537 |
| 2 | 961 | 938 |
| 3 | 1044 | 1006 |
| 4 | 652 | 503 |
| 5 | 1030 | 969 |
| 6 | 817 | 783 |
| 7 | 1149 | 1119 |
| 8 | 1169 | 1161 |
| 9 | 994 | 976 |
| 10 | 818 | 802 |
| 11 | 270 | 248 |
| 12 | 1125 | 1110 |
| 13 | 972 | 963 |
| 14 | 943 | 916 |
| 15 | 979 | 969 |
| 16 | 1059 | 1022 |
| 17 | 933 | 921 |
| 18 | 998 | 971 |
|------------+-------------+----------|
| 19 | 942 | 920 |
| 20 | 986 | 752 |
| 21 | 1264 | 893 |
| 22 | 1365 | 964 |
| 23 | 1302 | 930 |
|------------+-------------+----------|
| sum (18) | 16539 | 15914 |
| sum (23) | 22398 | 20373 |
| mean (18) | 918.8 | 884.1 |
| mean (23) | 973.8 | 885.8 |
| vsdev (18) | 220.3 | 235.9 |
| vsdev (23) | 236.0 | 210.3 |
|------------+-------------+----------|
#+TBLFM: @27$2=vsum(@4$2..@21$2); %.0f
#+TBLFM: @28$2=vsum(@4$2..@26$2); %.0f
#+TBLFM: @29$2=vmean(@4$2..@21$2); %.1f
#+TBLFM: @30$2=vmean(@4$2..@26$2); %.1f
#+TBLFM: @31$2=vsdev(@4$2..@21$2); %.1f
#+TBLFM: @32$2=vsdev(@4$2..@26$2); %.1f
#+TBLFM: @27$3=vsum(@4$3..@21$3); %.0f
#+TBLFM: @28$3=vsum(@4$3..@26$3); %.0f
#+TBLFM: @29$3=vmean(@4$3..@21$3); %.1f
#+TBLFM: @30$3=vmean(@4$3..@26$3); %.1f
#+TBLFM: @31$3=vsdev(@4$3..@21$3); %.1f
#+TBLFM: @32$3=vsdev(@4$3..@26$3); %.1f
```
Upvotes: -1
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2022/11/09
| 3,364
| 14,410
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Ph.D. student at a university in Germany.
After about four years of research, my supervisor told me to write my thesis.
After I sent him my thesis, he told me that he now thinks my work did not have enough scientific soundness and that I would not be graduating anymore.
I published more than eight papers with him, including international journals and conferences with him, and worked as he suggested.
One year before, he wrote me saying I had enough material to write a thesis, so I should start writing, and now he is 100 percent the opposite.
His behavior is so bossy now that he won't hear whatever I say. Even the other professors can not challenge his decision because of their personal relations with him.
Should I take legal action against him based on his previous and current statements.
If not, then what could be the alternate way?<issue_comment>username_1: I am sorry this is happening to you. Unfortunately, in Germany the PhD supervisor has a lot of power about the graduation of their PhD students. However, it is not in the best interest of the university to prevent students from graduating based on whims rather than merit.
Your points of contact should be the graduate school (if your university has one), the Promotionsausschuss (might be called differently), the Prüfungsamt (they are normally not directly responsible for PhD students, but they can help you find the right person to contact), or as a last step the Dekan of your faculty directly.
Let them know about your situation as objectively as you can. Do not accuse your professor of anything, but describe your situation that you fulfill all criteria, list your publications, and if you have written proof that your professor told you start writing your thesis, include that.
Then describe all the ways you have tried to talk to him and what *exactly* he said why you could not graduate and ask them how to proceed (and start writing down every conversation you have about this word-by-word).
In my personal experience, a legal action from a student is the last thing a university wants and they will definitely try to find another solution. But this should be your last resort (it will be expensive, it will take forever, and you might still not get anything).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: First of all, I strongly recommend that you consult somebody with whom you can share all the details and who ideally has some insight into your faculty’s rules and structures. It depends a bit on your university’s organisation where exactly you can find somebody to provide confidential advice and support you, but they clearly exist. At least the PhD office (usually called *Promotionsbüro)* or student union should be able to point you to the right people.
That being said, here are a few thoughts on what you are writing:
* >
> After I sent him my thesis, he told me that he now thinks my work did not have enough scientific soundness, and he told me that I would not be graduating anymore. […] Although I published more than 8 papers with him, including international journals and conferences with him, and worked as he suggested.
>
>
>
Let’s assume for a second that his assessment is correct and your work is not sound.
How could he not have noticed over eight papers? Does he intend to to retract those papers?
**This is casting a very bad light on his academic integrity and supervision.**
In fact, if he honestly believes that your work is bad, bullying you into not submitting your thesis could be him trying to save face by sweeping everything under the rug, which brings me to the next point:
* If you just submit your thesis, your professor would have to give some pretty strong arguments to let you fail, given that you have eight papers.
Most importantly, he would have to present those arguments in writing.
As he co-authored your papers, I see little way for him to do this without severely shooting himself in the foot (see the above point).
Also people failing their PhD at this stage is extremely rare and would therefore draw quite some negative attention (to your supervisor) and there are many safety nets that would get activated.
Finally, depending on the faculty’s rules, he might not be able to do this alone, but would have to convince at least one colleague of this extreme step.
I therefore find it much more likely that your supervisor’s threats are just empty bluffs.
Instead, **you will likely pass if you simply submit your thesis**, although possibly with a bad grade.
If your faculty’s rules allow for a cumulative thesis, consider doing one, since then your supervisor would directly be rejecting papers he co-authored (also, it’s less work).
* >
> Even the other professors can not challenge his decision because of their personal relations with him.
>
>
>
What makes you so sure about this?
A PhD is awarded by a faculty and, even if your university has small faculties (e.g., you are at the faculty of computer science), it is unlikely that your professor has positive personal ties with everybody, in particular given your description of him.
There are likely hidden animosities and factions within your department; at the very least, there are some other professors who could not care less about your supervisor.
As internal department politics are usually not shared publicly, **I find it very unlikely that you can assess your supervisor’s popularity** with the other professors.
(The main exception would be that you have some insider in the faculty, but then this person could either support you or is not trustworthy.)
* The entire situation sounds a lot like **your supervisor is [gaslighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting) you**.
* >
> Please suggest to me whether I should take legal action against him based on his previous and current statements.
>
>
>
Unless you have some clear statements in writing, I don’t think you have much basis for legal action.
And even if you have, what exactly would you be suing over?
If you take any legal action at all, I would wait for some substantial result, e.g., if you submitted your thesis and failed.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: In many German universities, you can hand in a PhD thesis without the consent of your advisor, sometimes even without having an advisor at all.
While this is not advisable in most situations, it may be in yours because then, a committee will be set up and your thesis will be judged by more than one person.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I had deep, long-running personal problems with my PhD supervisor.
All those problems instantly vanished once we stopped meeting one-on-one and every meeting became a group meeting.
The situation you describe does not have a single answer. You’re going to need to address multiple smaller issues as part of the whole.
You think your supervisor is unreasonable? Make it a group conversation and get objectivity in the room.
Focus on minutiae. What can you actually achieve? Make a giant pile of small victories, because the problem as you describe is too large to solve at once.
Isn’t your research where it needs to be? Fix that. The thesis is one document. Do whatever it takes to improve that document. ***Whatever*** it ***takes***.
Hit the panic button and get all the help you can from wherever you can, because it’s time to show up and finish.
It’s one guy standing in the way. Manipulate him, intimidate him, beg him, and lie to his face. Anything it takes. Just overcome. the end justifies the means in the situation you describe.
Do not be combative, be a PhD. Identify issues and tackle them. Don't give him any excuses.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: A key factor here is what your contribution was to the eight papers. If these are papers you made a substantial contribution to, or even were part of your PhD work then you have a good case as clearly your own research work is worthy of publication.
If, however, this is a bigger research group or network, and you are included on the papers as one of several authors and you were part of a team on those projects, it unfortunately makes less of an indication as to whether your own research is up to standard.
I just point that out as it’s a key distinction others haven't mentioned in answers.
My advice is to firstly try and get proper feedback from your advisor in writing (whether this is notes on the draft, or a text summary). Your question indicates you don't have this. This will give you more specifics to think about and to maybe ask someone for a second opinion. It's also an important component of supervision that you should have been given.
From there you can try and formulate a plan.
* if you are sure they are wrong or refusing to give you feedback at all, then you can look to get a second person to look over it, and/or speak to graduate school.
* if they are correct then you need to speak to graduate school about what the route forward is. If you have listened to the advisor all along then this is their failure as a supervisor as well. Is there a way to address the issues? Extra time to fill in experimental work, etc.
* it may be necessary to get a replacement or second advisor to finish it off, but this needs to be managed carefully. Hard as it is, you don't want to make your advisor defensive or adversarial about this because if they are the type they may try and sabotage your thesis and/or career.
Legal action is a last resort and will not give you what you want. You'd be very unlikely in my opinion to win a legal case and be awarded a PhD. You may get damages. But your case would have to be on grounds of insufficient/bad supervision, so it would have to be that vs. the university regulations of what your supervision should have been.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: There are a few possible things going on here. It is possible your supervisor is purposefully harming your chances of getting a PhD, and if that is the case, you should be sure to talk to your department's, or your university's, student support.
I'm going to present another possibility -- note that I can't know if this is what's happening, and if this is the problem, your supervisor is still describing poorly what the problem is.
When the supervisor says your "work did not have enough scientific soundness", this may be a specific discussion of the thesis writeup. Taking eight co-written papers and re-writing them in your own words is non-trivial, and you may be suffering from a poor presentation -- you can have an unscientific writeup of perfectly correct work.
If things have not fundamentally broken down with your supervisor, I would try to understand if they think the work is fundamentally bad (in which case this does raise issues about why they wrote so many papers with you) or if it is the presentation in the thesis. In general, it would be useful to get someone else to look at your thesis draft and give you honest feedback on it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: "Should I take legal action..." probably, or even definitely, not at this stage before you exhaust internal means.
You should of course take the advice of many other answers and try to resolve the issue internally. But I do not think consulting a lawyer is necessarily a bad thing, if you have the means to do so (it *is* expensive).
Within their academic freedoms, professors at public universities are still public officials under the law who must not act arbitrarily; their decisions must be justified and are subject to internal and judicial review (where the degree conferring power is granted by the state, including in Germany).
There are lawyers specializing in higher education law under which disputes between students and universities may arise (even if their existence and social "utility" may be questioned). If the internal contact person or the student/staff unions cannot point you to the right direction, a lawyer may still be able to help you navigate internal regulations or support you in in an internal process (even if they do not communicate with the university directly at first stages). They may also tell you if a legal case is impossible or unlikely or likely to succeed based on the full circumstances you tell them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: You could move universities and find another supervisor elsewhere to finish up.
I have personally had a great experience in the UK with the PhD system there, in particular does your PhD not get graded by your own supervisor, and they are not permitted to speak at your doctoral defense, only listen.
A few German friends of mine had similar problems like you described, some picked other supervisors and finished at the same university, whereas others changed universities and in one case countries to finish up. The good news is: do not despair - all these friends ended in a good position in the end.
The German system gives professors too much power as supervisors, who often are also employers. I would like to see the system change towards supervisors playing more of a "guide" role, independent of the assessment, which should not be done by conflicted people.
German PhDs seem more political than focused on the science, I know one person who was not permitted to talk to a professor from another department when he wanted help from a statistician. In the UK, cross-departmental collaboration is much more part of the culture.
If the original poster could be reached (e.g. disposable email account) I'd be happy to have an independent discussion. In any case, I wish you all the best and a satisfactory outcome. Meanwhile, tell yourself, "The first PhD is the hardest!"
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: I couldn't find this in the other answers: Another place to contact would be the Ombudskommission / Ombudsperson for your faculty. Most universities in Germany have this institution to support questions of good scientific research as well as scientific misconduct. They would launch an independent investigation and look to resolve the issue. I would guess that in your case, a change of advisor would be recommended.
The amount of papers you have published with your advisor directly and transparently contradicts their evaluation of your work, so I think your chances of resolving this situation by involving the Ombudskomission are quite good.
All the best to you.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/09
| 1,164
| 4,917
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<issue_start>username_0: I want to pursue a PhD in experimental particle physics and am looking for a supervisor. I know that the first advice to students like me is to go through the professor's most recent paper. However, the journals in my field are usually published collaboratively, which means the number of authors ranges from tens to thousands per paper.
For example, [this paper](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168900222006945?via%3Dihub) has 29 authors and [this](https://inspirehep.net/literature/2045484) has 1030 of them.
Therefore, it is difficult for me to identify what the professor has been interested in recently. Sometimes I am lucky enough to find the topics of their past supervised students, but I am not sure if I can go through those theses and ask them questions based on those topics. To make matters worse, some do not update their research interest or the topics of the past supervised projects, and I am not sure if it is appropriate to write to them and ask them what they do.
Any suggestions for the situations mentioned above?<issue_comment>username_1: Talk to a librarian (research librarian) at your university or a nearby one. Write to a librarian at the person's institution. They are very good about such things.
Their "most recent" paper(s) may not be required, or even very helpful, actually. If you have a grasp on their (fairly) recent work and interests then it may be enough.
You could also ask them directly for references to recent works, saying you are interested in the same things and are looking for a doctoral supervisor, without directly asking them to be that person. A first communication of that form might actually be helpful. The might even have suggestions about others you might want to approach.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Some other possible ways to determine a professor's research interests are:
* Check to see if he/she has presented at conferences lately. That might have a more reduced author list.
* This might be futile if all the publications have 1000s of authors, but you can always check Google scholar. Sort by citation count, then see if you can find some recent papers that have a fewer number of authors.
* You can ask your professors at your current institution; they might know the professor you want to work with.
* You can check the professor's website (although websites are notoriously out of date!)
* You can google search for press releases featuring the faculty member. If they have won large grants - and you probably don't want to work with someone who hasn't - they will often be featured by the institution's internal press.
* You can email the professor's graduate students. (Talking to current and recent grad students is a good idea regardless.)
I would not recommend emailing the professor to ask what their research interests are. That is almost certainly going to be poorly received - faculty get lots of emails from prospective students, and they expect the students to have done their homework.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In addition to the suggestions from the other answers, here are a few ideas in no particular order:
* Check their faculty web page. It may be out of date, but could give you a sense of what they have worked on in the past. If there is a CV on their web page, they are likely to only include the papers that they were directly involved in even if they are on the author list for the entire collaboration.
* Ask other members of their collaboration. HEP-Ex collaborations can be gigantic, but usually people has some sense of what others in the collaboration are working on.
* Ask senior academics in the field who you know. People pick up a large network over time and it's not that large of a field.
* If you think the professor is heavily involved in a particular paper, look for them or their students or post-docs as corresponding authors on the paper. There may also be a contribution list in the paper.
* Big collaborations are often broken into working groups. See if the person has a leadership role in a working group. This might not be publicly available information but sometimes people advertise it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: [Sarcastic joke about the social reticence of profs removed after some reflection, and a nice high-calorie lunch. Apologies.]
But seriously. You have the name of a potential prof. He knows the author list on those papers. Google up his home university, see if you can find his email, and send him a nice email. Ask him what his current research program includes, and whether your interests might be a match.
You should state near the top of your email that you are interested in being a PhD student, that you are looking for a supervisor, that you are interested in X, Y, and Z. And when you would be starting, supposing you were accepted at his university.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/09
| 326
| 1,333
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<issue_start>username_0: A reviewer's comment:
>
> some sections, such as A, are very short and they need to be expanded or removed; other sections such as B and C are very superficially developed
>
>
>
So I am wondering if I am supposed to revise section only A, B and C or any other sections with same problem?<issue_comment>username_1: The reviewer mentions "sections" (plural), giving A as an example. This seems to indicate they found others too short as well.
But it isn't the length, specifically, that is an issue but whether you say enough to support your arguments in those sections. A section can be long objectively, but still "too short". The opposite is also true of course.
But in your case, the reviewer seems to be asking for more generally, not just in section A. Back to work.
And the "or removed" also needs to be considered if some section(s) is not useful overall. Say more to make it more relevant or consider dropping it.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The reviewer didn't say sections A, B and C are the only sections that need revision. They said there are many sections (with a plural) that need revision, and gave A, B, and C as *examples*. Examples aren't usually exhaustive, which means other sections also need revision.
So the answer is "yes, you should".
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/09
| 438
| 1,884
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a paper in submission and only managed to revise it after more than 8 months when I emailed the editor a reminder about my paper. I have re-submitted my paper about a month ago but from the website status regarding my paper, an invitation on my revised manuscript had been sent to the reviewer and is waiting for him/her to accept it. Is it reasonable to ask the editor to send a reminder email to the reviewer again and if so, how should I phrase it?<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest that it won't lead to any change. It will be a bit of noise for the editor. Probably not especially irritating, but it adds to their load and someone will need (perhaps) to take time to respond to you. When everyone does this, and many want to, the system slows down.
If the editor is at all competent, they haven't forgotten you and have some process already in place for finding, prodding, reminding reviewers as they think warranted.
Unless you have some real need, beyond anxiety, to know something, I suggest patience. Work on the next thing, perhaps.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You can, but it might not be very helpful. The reason is that Editorial Management Systems (i.e. whatever software is used to tell you what the status is) will typically send automated reminders. Your reviewer simply isn't accepting the invitation in spite of being reminded.
For the editor the alternative is to invite a fresh reviewer, which is not ideal for a revised paper.
If you do decide to ask the journal to send a reminder, write to the journal office. It's something they should be able to handle. I personally wouldn't say "please send a reminder", but rather ask them for a generic status update. The status you're seeing is somewhat more detailed than is common, so you write something like "is the reviewer not accepting the invitation?".
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/10
| 570
| 2,509
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it ok to use a question similar to a question from someone else's questionaire? The question is not that specific, but the possible answers are similar. For example the question similar to yours measures level of involvement on a 7 point scale, while you measure level of importance on different scale. Howerer, possible answers that are measured are similar (some are the same, but not all of them). I know that when scales are used in social sciences, they are cited, but this is not a scale, more like a descriptive question.
Is this considered plagiarism? The advisor thought that it's not.<issue_comment>username_1: Your advisor is giving good advice. It is unlikely that anyone would consider such things to be plagiarism for a number of reasons.
First, other than in exceptional cases, there isn't much "creativity" in the questions. The questions are not especially likely to capture the "thoughts and ideas" of the questionnaire writer.
Second, and related to the first, is that there are a limited number of ways to say such things.
Thus, questionnaires of this kind tend to be very similar.
Watch out for exceptional cases (the creativity issue), but in the main, there should be no issues.
Note, importantly, that plagiarism is about misappropriating "ideas" and concepts, not just repeating words. If it isn't an issue overall with your paper, using similar/same words for known concepts won't be an issue either.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your advisor is correct, this is not a plagiarism issue.
Whenever possible, questionnaires should use validated survey questions and responses from previous research. These should be used word-for-word if possible, as small language changes can affect how respondents answer.
If you are totally making up new survey questions when there are good questions that measure constructs out there, you are probably making a mistake.
If you are changing a word or two here and there solely to be “original”, you are probably making a mistake.
Cite appropriately, of course. Usually citing the original source of the validated questions is best, and maybe one or two other influential papers that are directly related to your topic.
Note that you do not need to cite every paper using a similar question to yours. There are fields/questions where hundreds of papers use the exact same question—imagine how long those citation lists would be if you had to cite every other paper with a similar question.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/11/11
| 787
| 3,182
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a postdoc in the US working under the supervision of a not-very-known PI. Whenever my supervisor gets tipsy, he brags that he has also a full-time job in a German university and receives a 100% E14 salary in his German account. I knew that he is also affiliated with this university as he uses this affiliation together with the US one, but I didn't know that it's a paid one.
If later, I myself want to obtain such a position in Germany besides my US one, what is the common procedure in Germany?<issue_comment>username_1: This is not common and could get your PI in trouble. So don't even try it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If it was easy, everyone would do it. But they don't, so I think you should not make it a life goal of yours.
As for your PI's situation, there are two possibilities. Both are predicated that it must be obvious to both of his employers that he's not full-time at work in both locations.
1. What your PI says when he's tipsy is not actually true.
2. What your PI says is true, and it's been approved by both institutions. Few people are stupid enough to spend 50% of their time away from work without telling their employers, because employers will pretty clearly, sooner or later, realize that they do. And then you lose your job. So you tell the employer and you make arrangements if the employer is amenable. That might mean being part-time for either or both employers. At least in places where salaries are negotiable, that might still mean that you're drawing a good salary for your half-time work, but that will not be the case in Germany: If you draw a full E14 salary, then you will be expected to work full time *for that university*. (Whether that university expects your PI to work on location or remotely is a question for them to negotiate.)
There are a substantial number of people in academia who have appointments at two universities. But (i) I would venture that a large majority of them have very long and accomplished CVs, (ii) all but the most stupidest among them will have cleared this arrangement with both of their employers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It might be useful to ask yourself why your PI only shares this information when he’s tipsy (and presumably less in control of his faculties). The explanation is simple: for a “not-very-known PI”, the only realistic path that can lead to such a cozy arrangement allowing a person to draw two full time university salaries involves some form of deceit or subterfuge, as no serious institution will knowingly agree to such an arrangement for an ordinary, non-famous faculty member. So the answer to “How to get two [full time] paid affiliations?” is almost certainly “by lying to both your employers (and it’s very difficult even then)”.
Basically, this behavior is unethical. While it may work for some people in some situations, and while ethical versions of the practice may exist for top researchers (I’m thinking Nobel Prize/National Academy level people), @MaartenBuis is absolutely correct that this could get your PI in trouble and even cost him his job (both of them!) and/or seriously damage his career.
Upvotes: 4
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2022/11/13
| 1,173
| 5,607
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<issue_start>username_0: I have seen a definition of research in the [Cambridge Dictionary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Advanced_Learner%27s_Dictionary). It says:
**a detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new) information or reach a (new) understanding:**
Here we see that two news things are created 1) Information 2) Understanding
So I am bit confused. Can we also consider this Stack Exchange process of posting question and answers as research, especially in domains like scientific and technical domains like Stack Overflow and electrical engineering domains, etc.?
I am not talking about the very basic level questions that are being asked here because there solutions/answer are already obvious to many. Instead I am talking about the case of a bit advanced level questions.
Actually, I am very much interested in learning new knowledge, but I don't have any publications. But I have posted many many questions on Stack Exchange.
I want to apply for MS (Masters) admission and funding in European and US universities. Can I refer my potential supervisor to my questions of Stack Exchange, in order to improve chances of my application confirmation/approval?<issue_comment>username_1: #### Contribution to SE is professional service, not research
Posting questions and answers on SE ---whilst a valuable professional service--- is not considered to be academic research. Questions and answers on SE are not peer-reviewed and do not usually involve the level of detailed study of a subject or novel contribution to a subject that would be accepted as academic research. Occasionally one will encounter answers on technical forums in SE that have some useful novel insight that might serve as the basis for an academic paper, but that would usually require much more development and a peer-review process before being counted towards research in an academic CV.
While the contribution of questions and answers on SE is not academic research, most universities will count substantial contributions on SE as professional service. Usually this would require posting high-quality answers rather than just posting questions, and a sustained contribution with relevant indicators of esteem (e.g., a high "reputation" metric, "people reached", etc.) would show that the contribution is substantial. For this reason, if you have made a substantial contribution to a relevant forum, and can show evidence of that through relevant metrics, it is acceptable to refer to such contributions on your CV or mention them in applications for admission or a funding application where relevant. This would be listed as a form of professional service rather than research. As to how this is perceived, that will differ according to who is reading your application --- some will consider this irrelevant and some will consider it something of value. As with anything you list on your CV, the main thing is to make a judgment about whether the item you are listing is of sufficient value to warrant inclusion.
For your particular case your own contribution to SE is relatively small (based on your present metrics) but you are only applying to a Masters program, so expectations for professional service would not be large. Your contribution of questions might act as an indicator of a modest amount of professional service and it could potentially illustrate your curiosity and interest in the discipline. High-quality answers are generally better than questions at illustrating existing knowledge, but high-quality questions can also be a valuable professional service. Speaking only for myself, I would not be put off by an applicant with your contribution listing this on their CV or resume, though it would be unlikely to move the needle. If you decide to list your contributions, *do not list them as academic research*, since that would be perceived negatively; instead list them as professional service and keep your contribution in perspective.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: **No.** In academia, research refers to a process whose goal is the creation of new knowledge - new for everyone, not just for you. The Stack Exchange questions that you are posting seem (by my cursory examination) aimed at improving your own knowledge and understanding of various subjects. While it is nice that you like learning and are using Stack Exchange for that purpose, this is not research. It also does not show anything about you that isn’t also true (in a readily apparent way) of 99% of grad school applicants. So mentioning this in your CV adds nothing in my opinion.
To be clear, some Stack Exchange posts contain genuinely new knowledge that would qualify as research. I have seen many such posts on MathOverflow for example, but they were all authored by professional mathematicians. Still, if you ever create that kind of knowledge, it would be worth mentioning.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: **Put it under Hobbies**
Having an active SE account indicates you have a genuine interest on the topic. This is good to hear for admissions and should be included on your CV.
On its own however, SE is not research. It can of course be used for research purposes, to contact people in your field, and ask questions related to a research project. But in that case you should put the project itself on the CV and not just your SE account.
I will add that an applicant with many good answers on their account looks better than an applicant with many questions. This suggests they are not only interested, but are also able to communicate well with others.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/11/14
| 3,137
| 12,648
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<issue_start>username_0: Most people try to work in the academia of rich and developed countries. I suspect that the rationale for not working in developing countries includes factors such as low-quality healthcare, weak transportation, corruption in the system, etc. I wonder if there is any rationale for working in developing countries.
Is there a rationale for working in academia in [South Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia) (excluding India)?<issue_comment>username_1: If you believe:
* Education is good
* It is good for people to have equal opportunities
* People in developing countries have fewer opportunities to get education
Then you would conclude that working as an educator in a developing country is a good thing to do.
On many occasions I have considered doing it myself. However, malaria and similar are bad, so I do not.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Most of the types of activities you would do in academia in South Asia are the same types of activities you would do in academia in wealthy Western countries, so there is a substantial overlap in the rationale. Points of difference are that the money is less and the quality of the universities is lower, but you would still be doing teaching and research. Consequently, the rationale would be to get all the good things you get from doing teaching and research, while living in South Asia.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I spent 11 years in the US doing my Bachelors, masters, PhD and postdoc in Math, and currently I am a professor in Malaysia (which I think counts as south Asian)
I had a lot of personal reasons for going back (I am a Malaysian citizen, I have family in Malaysia etc) but leaving those aside:
1. **It is easier to get grants and promotions.** The requirements for getting grants and promotions in a country like Malaysia is lower. In countries like Malaysia the government has decent funding for grants, but less people are competing for them. I have applied to three grants in the Malaysian version of the NSF and one grant in the Chinese NSF (my university is a branch campus of a Chinese university located in Malaysia, so I am eligible for both) and have had a 100% success rate so far. I think if I were in America my success rate for the NSF grants would be much much lower. I was also able to achieve a full professorship much more easily than I would have in the US
2. **Easier to obtain leadership/professional opportunities**. For example, I got the opportunity to be an editor for the top math journal in Malaysia, which has been a cool experience. Earlier this year I got to give a plenary talk at the annual meeting of the Malaysian Math Society. Again, there is less competition for roles like this in a country like Malaysia.
3. **These countries can be fantastic places to live**. Malaysia is one of the best places in the world for nature tourism, our beaches are phenomenal, our culture is fascinating and our food is exceptional. A lot of countries in the South Asia region can be similarly appealing
4. **It is easier to make a difference**. I think I was good enough to land a tenure-track position in the US - but I think for any job I could get, the next best person they could hire would be almost as good as me, since the job market in the US is so competitive. Whereas here in Malaysia I think there is a bigger difference between myself and the next best person my university could hire. So in that sense I am making a bigger difference with my life. It makes me happy that my department is making it so a Malaysian doesn't have to travel thousands of miles away to get a good math education, and I feel my department is giving opportunities to students who would not have had them otherwise.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: At some point you have to do something that puts food on the table. You can't sit around forever. If all the job applications are being denied (and the job market is significantly more competitive in developed countries), then you must eventually accept an offer that you do have.
Put another way, would you rather:
1. Be unemployed while writing job application after job application, or
2. Be a professor in a developing country?
**PS**: this doesn't mean that *every* professor in a developing country would rather work in a developed country. There are many possible reasons to want to avoid working in so-called developed countries, e.g. [here](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03604-9) is an article in *Nature* interviewing several early-career researchers on why they don't want to work in the US. The reason above is just the most pragmatic of them.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: [Academia is not a monolithic entity.](https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4471/academia-varies-more-than-you-think-it-does-the-movie) In some fields, it is almost impossible to do relevant research without proper equipment and enough people capable of working with said equipment. In others, all one needs is to poach enough talent and assemble them under one roof, and when a government is really, really interested in advancing their technology, they may offer very cushy conditions. Some people make their choices based on that alone: maybe the research potential would suffer a bit from the stifled competition and fewer top notch researchers in the immediate vicinity, but this may well be a difference between scrambling with the job security and finances and possibly being rich, as in not even upper-middle class rich. Diverting resources specifically towards economic and technological growth and sparing no expense there while the rest of the country remains poor for a while is a well-established role model by now, especially in Southeast Asia.
Of course, personal factors play a big role in that. Family ties, background, even climatic preferences are all relevant. But the main thing developing countries lack is well-established intellectual traditions in modern fields of research, which is an obstacle one can overcome. It is a bit similar to organizing a movie night where nigh everyone's attendance is conditional on enough of their friends going as well.
Simply put, developing countries are often willing to put relatively more resources in science and tech than developed ones. They would buy top-notch equipment, let people work in their old collaborations, offer great funding, all as long as the researchers bring in knowledge, and train new people to make these high-tech facilities work. And there are people eager to learn, work, and improve their communities, too.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Organizing available knowledge trasferrable to the coming generations with clear discrimination of usefulness is essential in developing countries. Native knowledge, black and white, are often hidden for ages, while the new generations crave for anything labelled "modern" or the "latest" from the "developed" countries. This disturbs the pace in learning as a people generating imbalance in "status" and appearance.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Other scenarios:
1. After doing grad schools in the First World, someone from a
developing country may just wish to return home to rejoin their
family / friends, and live within their home culture
2. Some developing countries (e.g. China) actively compete for their citizens who have done PhD in the First World and can offer very attractive compensation packages for those are willing to repatriate: the repatriates may actually enjoy a higher standard of living / community prestige than what they would get if they remained in the developed country
3. An international student with a PhD may be technically well-trained but may not be comfortable in conducting research / instruction full-time in English or French (or whatever language the PhD has been done in)
Scenarios #1 and #3 only apply to international students, but #2 can also apply to those born in the developed country. See username_3's [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/190547/41826).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Poorer working conditions (associated with developing countries) mean there's less competition, so it's easier to stand out. Some people, like Caesar, would rather be first in a village than second in Rome.
Besides, developed countries are attractive to people of any profession, not only academics, yet developing countries have their own share of IT specialists, engineers, etc. Most of the reasons that can make e.g. a web designer work in South Asia (higher social prestige, lower cost of living, personal preferences) would also apply to a university professor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: India has a incredible tech scene. It has massive industries that you as a person from South East Asia can be a part of. All the international tech giants are all open to Indians.
It has low cost of living so it does not take an incredibly high salary to live well.
It is not a country without problems but as long as your finances are in good standing you can have a good life there.
I really want to visit India at least once in my life. It certainly is on my bucket list.
Indians do not give there country enough credit. It has some real problems with poverty that is certainly a big problem, but as long as you earn enough you certainly can.live extremely well there. It has an intoxicating culture and I would consider it a life affirming event if I could ever visit India.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: (I'm adding a second answer because it's fundamentally different from the one I wrote above, and also because I know quite a few people who've chosen to base themselves in developing countries.)
Some of the most common reasons for not working in developed countries:
* **Personal reasons**. This is very common. If your family/friends/partner are in a particular country, then it's a powerful reason to work in that country.
* **Financial reasons**. Sure you earn less by working in a developing country, but you also spend less. See the [Big Mac index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index#Figures) as a highly simplified example. If you work in Switzerland, you pay $7.30 on average for a Big Mac. If you work in India, you pay $1.62. That means that unless your salary in Switzerland is 4x your salary in India, it's actually cheaper to work in India. (To some extent. It depends on what else you want to do, e.g. if you want to take holidays outside of India then the discrepancy can matter more.)
* **Financial reasons #2**. An extension of the above. Many developed countries charge high income tax. Check the [table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates). For example, if you work in Austria, your highest tax rate is 55%. If you work in Bangladesh, your highest tax rate is 25%.
* **Ideological reasons**. As linked in my first answer, some people simply [will not](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03604-9) work in certain countries, regardless of whether those countries are "developed" or not. The reasons given are varied, but ultimately if one does not feel comfortable about X country, it's a very strong reason not to work in that country. [Another example](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/184401/is-it-reasonable-to-have-concerns-about-the-recognition-of-russian-degrees-given/184429#184429).
* **Ideological reasons #2**. I have a friend who cited racism as a reason to work in Kenya - they say they don't experience racism there.
* **Cultural reasons**. If e.g. you are Hindu, then Diwali is one of your most important holidays. However, in many developed countries, Diwali is not a public holiday, so you might not be able to celebrate it. You might even be forced to work on that day. Same goes for other cultural events like Chinese New Year.
* **Cultural reasons #2**. In certain countries, it's rather common to socialize by going to the pub, drink alcohol, and watch the World Cup. If you're from a culture/religion that doesn't drink alcohol and/or care about football (or, even worse, don't know the rules of football), then it'll be awkward.
* **Political reasons**. It's significantly harder to get a job in a country which you don't already have the right to work in, especially if that country is also tightening immigration rules ([example](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tighten-visa-requirements-highly-130530620.html)). By the way, some people will interpret such tightening as "I don't want you", and therefore ask "why should I work in a country that doesn't want me?". See ideological reasons above.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I was invited at a conference to give a contributed talk. I was given 12 minutes to speak and 3 minutes for Q&A, but to keep my talk simple I didn't go in details (probably I spoke faster also). In all, I finished the talk in ~10 minutes. I know this somewhat disturbs the flow of the schedule, but it also gives more time for discussion.
What is the general impression in such cases? Is it bad to finish your talk early?<issue_comment>username_1: Do not overthink about the past. What has been done, has been done.
The only feeling about the general impression you gave is the feedback you got from questions from the audience, at the talk or from "chit-chat" you had after your talk. And we cannot judge them, because we were not there.
The outcome of a talk at a conference can be that you raised the interest of
* many people;
* some people:
* very few people;
* nobody.
There is no such a thing as a bad impression. Scientists and researchers are too busy and quite good at forgetting, being focused only on things relevant to their own research.
If you have the feeling you left a bad impression, because of no questions or very simple and courteous questions, let it go. You can be 100% sure that even if you presented deeply wrong results, a couple of weeks afterwards no one will remember about them. So the worst it may happen is that your talk went unnoticed.
Now, focus about what you learned, not about the impression of you from "the others".
You learned that you can give a talk without much details in 10 minutes.
Therefore, you know that next time you can go into details for at least 2 minutes. Or you can spare 2 minutes of simple things and of introduction and go into details for 4 minutes.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Most folks perform faster than they rehearsed, due to nervousness.Presenting is a performance.
Over time you'll learn how to allow for this, how to set time-check points in your presentation so you know if you're ahead or behind, and how to bring yourself down to a more relaxed speed.
Call it a learning experience and don't worry about it. It's happened to all of us. I once blasted through an overseas business presentation that I expected to take all day in the first hour; now *that* is embarrassing.
And remember: If you finish early, calling for questions from the audience will often consume as much time as you let it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It's hard to say without seeing the actual talk. In fact, the opposite could be more likely: presenters squeeze in too much and end up talking too fast, missing the main points, leaving no time for questions, or going over the time. So finishing a couple of minutes early could be quite refreshing.
If you'd like to improve for future talks, here's a checklist, which I used after hearing a professor snore during my statistics talk:
* Practice and time the talk (but no reciting by heart, please!). If it takes 10 minutes for what you plan to say, leave it, or add a bit of extra.
* Have some optional points/slides, which you could skip during the actual talk.
* Get feedback on your practice run—to help with content, clarity, pacing, etc.
* Likewise, ask people after your conference talk, although they might be too charitable.
* Think of a question to ask the audience afterwards. (What do you think of my approach to...) This could start the discussion or fill the time if people run out of questions.
* Decide what you like about others' talks and what you'd improve. Was an early/late finish a problem?
There are plenty of things you'll improve with each new conference. (That snoring disaster turned out quite valuable.) But there isn't any need to worry or strive for perfection.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: As there are very often speakers who take longer than they are supposed to (and thus either cause delays or take time away from questions), it is not very disturbing to have someone speak a bit shorter.
Also, if you managed to say everything you wanted to say in a slightly shorter amount of time, that is fine, as you did not fill your talk with unnecessary extra words.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Getting the timing on a talk exactly right is difficult, and it’s *much* better to go short than long. So I wouldn’t worry about it. Similarly ending a 50 minute talk at 45 minutes is totally fine. Plus it gives people more time for questions.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: A 10 min talk with 3 minutes of actual Q&A is no worse for the scheduling of the conference than a 12 min talk with 1 minute of actual Q&A. And a 10 min talk with 5 min of Q&A is better for scheduling than a 12 minute talk with 5 min of Q&A. -- So I wouldn't worry about schedule flow when you're asking about giving a shorter talk.
Going too long is an obvious problem -- if you're too long you short-change other parts of the schedule. Going too short isn't necessarily an issue. You either leave more time for Q&A, or you give people a slight bit more time to discuss things privately with their neighbors.
Instead, I'd worry about the *content* of your talk. There's a certain expectation of "substance" for a 12 min talk. Depending on your presentation style, you could hit that at 12 minutes, but you could certainly also be efficient and convey all that in 10 minutes. There are also people out there who could drone on for 20 minutes and still not reach that point. The issue with short talks isn't the time in and of itself, but rather that it's harder to put enough "substance" into the limited time period.
Note that "substance" here is *effective* substance. Rattling off a bunch of facts in rapid succession isn't effective substance, as no one listening can take it all in. You need to be able to communicate the substance, and that actually may involve presenting less, but slowing things down such that the audience can actually take it all in properly. But on the flip side, slower isn't always better. A concise delivery of points can be more effective than a detailed belaboring.
My recommendation would be to look at your presentation not from a time perspective, but from an effective communication perspective. Did you manage to cover enough "substance" in your talk for a 12+3 timeslot, or was it too thin? Was your delivery an effective communication of that substance, or did you hurry through it too fast/too ineffectively?
It's sometimes hard to gauge from the podium, but the attention of the audience is often a decent proxy. If you've covered the points you want to, and the audience is engaged throughout, then you've done well. If they've checked out at 7 min because they can't follow, that's bad. (If there was someone in the audience you trust for honest evaluation, I'd ask them for their opinion.) You can also sometimes get a sense of how the presentation went from the Q&A. If there's a bunch of basic questions you covered in the talk, then you may have gone too quickly and lost a bunch of people. If there's basic questions you didn't cover, you need to add detail. If there's a fair number of interested, advanced questions, you've probably done well. If there are close to no questions, then either you've bored everybody (so they no longer care), confused everybody to the point where they're afraid to ask questions, or did such a great job that you've addresses all the issues. (The last tends not to happen in practice.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: >
> I know this somewhat disturbs the flow of the schedule, but it also gives more time for discussion.
>
>
>
None of these are serious issues. But I will claim that **speaking fast is a problem**, especially if you're also trying to "squeeze in" material. When you first hear about a subject you're unfamiliar with, some kind of novelty, the points and arguments require more time to sink in. Now, even 15 minutes is not enough, but try to artificially slow down your speech; and leave an informative slide (e.g. with a diagram or chart) up for longer than you need to describe what's on it. Take less short-cuts in your rhetoric and with your formal argumentation - even at the price of saying less things / going into less detail.
PS - I have this problem all the time, even after attending a bunch of conferences already. So, I might as well preach this to myself :-P
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing my methods section where I want to stress that I am not looking at the effect by condition, but exploring the continuous relationship between my predictor variable and the dependent variable. Both are continuous variables in my analysis, but the original study where the data comes from bins the predictor variable by High and Low, and just looks are the main effect of condition (High/Low), so I'm trying to clarify that this is not what I'm doing here.
"We are interested in the **continuous** effect of Y on X, rather than the overall effect of condition". I feel like "continuous" is not clear/misleading. I feel like there must be a proper term for what I'm trying to say, perhaps something obvious, but I can't think of what this is called.<issue_comment>username_1: While "continuous" is pretty obvious to a mathematician, it might not be in your own field. But "fine-grained" might work, though it isn't the same thing mathematically. In some fields, "deterministic" might also work if small changes in one variable lead to predictable changes in the other.
But if your methodology just uses (lots) more "bins" then "fine-grained" is pretty accurate.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: "Continuous" is standard terminology for variables and their relationships in statistics.
I would explain explicitly what differentiates your current paper from previous work: e.g., previously X was dichotomized as high/low, whereas you are using X as a continuous variable. Might also be worth emphasizing whether X is actually continuous or not (some examples where you might treat X as continuous from a modeling sense would include counts or other fine-scale but technically discrete variables like a score that takes only integers, or even clearly discrete items like Likert scores that nonetheless often behave acceptably when treated as continuous). That is, distinguish between *variables* that are continuous and *approaches to analysis* that treat them as such.
The part that feels wrong to me in your sentence is:
>
> rather than the overall effect of condition
>
>
>
There's no "rather" here; a continuous relationship might as well be an overall effect, though that sort of phrasing typically comes up in ANOVA contexts where an F-test of the hypothesis that some factor with more than 2 levels has an effect, without specifying which levels, is described as "overall". In your case I might say "rather than binarized/categorical coding of condition".
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: This is essentially a continuation to my previous question [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/169913/how-to-study-a-field-on-which-no-professors-specialise-in-your-university). In one of the answers, it was proposed that I find people who did active research in the field I wanted to study and contacted them. My current question is, thus: **how do I do this**? Just googling "researchers in 'X area'" hasn't yielded many results...
Evidently, I can just search for random/prestigious universities, look up their research departments, and see if someone happens to have research interests which align with mine. But is there a better way?
Is there some sort of mathematics database of researchers by field of research, number of publications, university, etc? I'm finding it tough to discover good researchers on a field which my professors don't have a lot of contact with...
Thanks in advance!<issue_comment>username_1: There is a large list of number theorists at [Number Theory Web](http://www.numbertheory.org/ntw/number_theorists.html).
The greater problem seems to be finding important results and contributors in your area of mathematics of interest though. You could also look up survey papers and go through the mentioned people or through the authors in the references.
This isn't ideal, but crawling through links on Wikipedia or Math Genealogy searches (once you have some significant topics, results, or people in mind) will probably give you more.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Here is one approach, assuming you have access to MathSciNet.
MathSciNet allows you to search by MSC2020 code (MSC stands for Mathematics Subject Classification, it is a system assigning codes to each mathematics subfield). So you can find the code corresponding to your subfield, and then do a MathSciNet search for all papers published in the last 30 years or so with that classification code (use the "MSC Primary" search field), and then order the search by number of citations. I did this with my main research area's code (47B36, for "Jacobi (tridiagonal) operators (matrices) and generalizations") and the top papers in the search are authored by people like <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, and <NAME>, who are definitely people that I would consider the most important in my research area.
[Here is a link to MathSciNet](http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/), and [here is a website](https://zbmath.org/classification/) you can use to search for your subfield's MSC2020 classification code
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a tenured professor. I recently moved to a new R1 university (less than a year) but always had a different school as my dream university. How odd is it to apply to another university given that I have been in my new university for less than a year? Is it something the new university will consider as a negative point on my application or are they just looking at the qualifications?<issue_comment>username_1: First, understandably, you do not say much about yourself and where you are. Academic customs differ in the US from Germany, etc.
It is not unusual for tenured faculty to apply to another university. Hiring is a costly procedure and leaving a university after only a year will leave bad feelings behind. At the dean's level, hiring someone after only a year at another university would be seen as an impolite act. This would be especially the case if it appears as if you were actively recruited, even if, as in your case, this is not the case.
That's being said, there are many exceptions justifying such a move. For example, you could be a much better fit for them.
Presumably, you know people at the other university and their estimate and advice is much more important than that of a random academic who does not know you and the two departments.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: My suggestion is that you apply if the job description is a close fit. Not doing so passes up an opportunity that might not return. People may want to know why you want to move, but I'd save that for any actual questions. "Dream job" is a pretty good reason.
Don't worry about the place you leave behind. You've presumably done your job so there should be no complaints. The cost incurred in hiring you is a sunk cost in any case. At an R1 university, such things are not a (proportionally) major expense since the faculty is probably fairly large overall even if not in a single department. They will cope. It isn't their first rodeo.
However, expect an additional probationary term before you get tenure again. It might be two or three years and has some risk, though more in some fields than others.
---
As to the question in the comment to another answer, most R1 universities are bound in hiring to make a national (at least) search and to evaluate all applicants. Someone can be invited to apply but the process still has to be followed.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Can a researcher work full-time in two universities on a rotational basis?
For instance, say someone works in a university 'A' in Europe from February to May and then works in a university 'B' in the Middle East from October to January, etc.
Is it possible?
Has anyone done that before?<issue_comment>username_1: Anything can be done as long as it does not violate the law. In your case, you just need to find two employers who are willing to give you a job contract that allows for what you propose -- namely, a contract that pays your for six months of work per year, and gives you unpaid leave for the remainder of the year; or a contract that pays you for 50% work throughout the year, with the expectation that you spend 50% of the year on location.
Is that practicable? That is a question that depends on the person and the universities involved. If you have received a Nobel prize, then you can negotiate pretty much whatever you want with any university in the world because they will be eager to have you on their faculty, and I suspect that a fair number of Nobel prize winners have exactly the sort of arrangement you suggest. If, on the other hand, you're a second year faculty at Podunk State University, with ten publications and 200 citations, then you probably don't have the negotiation power to do that: If you go to your department head and ask whether you could go to a 50% position where you're only going to be in town for six months of the year, the department head will likely say "That is not worth our time and money; we wish you well should you decide to go that other university on a permanent basis".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Full time in separate countries? Seems unlikely but not impossible (see Wolfgang's answer). I do regularly see people with joint appointments, usually at a research focused location and another at a university. Where the second is there to do teaching and possibly comply with regulations for having students. But this is usually in the same country and same city (or at least having the locations near each other).
The other option is taking a sabbatical. Where you may still be paid by your normal university, but get to go spend a year doing other stuff, possibly at other universities. You could then structure that to spend 6 months in Europe and 6 in another country. But this would only be a temporary arrangement.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I take your question to mean that you want two part-time jobs at different universities that together form one full-time job. If you want two full-time jobs, then forget about that ( [How to get two paid affiliations?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/190519/how-to-get-two-paid-affiliations/190520#190520) ).
Unlike Wolfgang I do think that it is possible without first winning a Nobel prize. Some countries (like the Netherlands) are much more flexible when it comes to part-time work than others (like Germany). It possible to find two part-time jobs in two flexible countries and make good arrangement with both universities to make that work. However, it is not easy:
* Finding two jobs is more difficult than finding one job, and since you have special requirements it will be more than twice as difficult.
* The travel is fun for a while, but will quickly become a chore
* You need to find two places to live, which could either become expensive or cause a lot more organization work on top of all the extra organization work you have to do anyhow.
* Getting the schedules to work will be an absolute pain: if one university works with trimesters and the other with semester you have a problem. Even if both work with semesters, they will probably start at different times.
* For that reason you will probably not get up to a full 100% job, but maybe two 40% jobs
Financially, you should expect such an arrangement to be a loss. In terms of time and effort, you should expect it to be a loss. You need to have another very strong reason for accepting those losses. For example, I have seen such an arrangement for international couples who want their children to fully experience both cultures.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an international student in my final year of Electrical Engineering. I enrolled in an RnD course last semester and tagged it as an honor course. This is a semester-long research project where you work closely with one of the professors in your department. The work I did in the semester was satisfactory. However, it wasn't AA-worthy, so I decided to work on the project during the summer (the professor agreed). The professor I worked with is known for allotting the grades for his other courses even past the grade submission deadline. (In one of the courses, the grades were assigned two days before the course registration for the next semester began). Hence I assumed that I could work through the summer and have my grade evaluated before the start of the next semester. However, I could not get hold of him, so the grade column shows "not allotted" for this course.
So I talked about this with the professor guide at the start of this semester, had my evaluation done, and my grade submitted to the academic office within a month. However, the Dean did not approve of this, and I am looking at a potential Fail grade in this course. My current transcript still shows "not allotted".
I am applying for MS to top US grad schools. So my question is - Should I submit the current transcript with justification (in the SoP) or the updated transcript(which has the fail grade) with proper justification? The updated transcript has a slightly higher converted GPA (3.92 vs 3.9). On one hand, since I did not actually fail the course, a proper justification should suffice. On the other hand, since it's an RnD Course, it could negatively affect my chances (not sure how much, could someone shed light on this) and so "not allotted" looks better than the alternative. Also, if I do decide to submit my current transcript and get accepted, will I have problems later since the grad schools require official transcripts to be submitted after completion of undergraduate studies, and that would have the fail grade?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> On one hand, since I did not actually fail the course
>
>
>
Actually, it seems you did actually fail the course. It doesn't seem like you had any official arrangement or explicit agreement to receive a different grade by completing the work past the semester, and as of right now your institution (i.e., the Dean) is not in agreement with your assertion that you should get late credit for it, and your professor has not taken any action to support your position and get it changed.
>
> Also, if I do decide to submit my current transcript and get accepted, will I have problems later since the grad schools require official transcripts to be submitted after completion of undergraduate studies, and that would have the fail grade?
>
>
>
Yes, this failed grade will eventually come through. Whether or not that will affect anything is entirely up to the institution admitting you as a graduate student.
If you think you should be credited for the course, you really need to work that through your current institution, not just expect to explain it away in your application materials. That means working with the professor and/or dean to get your grade adjusted if appropriate. It's your current institution that decides what your grades are.
Yes, you can attempt to explain your grade in your graduate applications, but consider that there are good reasons and bad reasons to have a poor grade, and "I thought I could get special treatment but didn't" is not necessarily a "good reason".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Should I submit the current transcript with justification (in the SoP) or the updated transcript(which has the fail grade) with proper justification? The updated transcript has a slightly higher converted GPA (3.92 vs 3.9).
>
>
>
I guess the question boils down to whether the upside of the extra +0.02 in your GPA is worth the downside of having to explain the fail grade. This is a clear NO: 0.02 is in the noise and is unlikely to have any affect at all, whereas even if they buy your explanation that "my failing grade should actually be an A+", it still introduces confusion. Further, giving explanations or excuses in your SOP, while sometimes necessary, is very difficult to do successfully.
>
> will I have problems later since the grad schools require official transcripts...and that would have the fail grade
>
>
>
Could be. It would be very good to resolve this with your institution so your transcript does not have a failing grade. It sounds like your professor should be dealing with the dean directly, since he allowed / encouraged you to do what you did. Failing that, I would recommend explaining the situation to your preferred graduate school after you are accepted but before you accept their offer.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing to ask for the community's advice in both reacting (regulating my own thoughts) and responding (whether worth the time to respond at all) to situations involving questionable publications.
I mentor high school students to work on computer science projects, and one of my students wanted to explore an image classification project. To evaluate their performance, I went to Google Scholar and found the first few results papers for their data benchmark. I was surprised to see the paper reporting 99% accuracy in their conclusions - this is remarkable for the task. Upon further examination, they were reporting only training accuracy -- those near ML know this to be a cardinal sin, as any model can be overfit to perfectly learn data. The publication had further oddities, such as a far-too-simple CNN structure to be published in 2020, given that any commonly-adopted CNN (ResNet, AlexNet, etc.) would readily exceed performance of their simple, tutorial-level architecture.
"Ok", I tell myself, "Someone took their 1-week class project, and turned it into a predatory conference to be 'published'. No big deal, this happens all the time." (This was SAI Intelligent Systems and Applications 2021, just to alert others.)
But here's where I became perplexed; the article was cited by another article published in a highly respected conference proceedings for our field. This conference is on the top-10 list from Google Scholar for its category. I went to the citing paper, and read the line - it was a clearly generic statement to which the cited paper had no relevance or strength.
Clearly, reviewers for the conference made a (reasonable, trusting) oversight (no one has time to check every reference), and perhaps even the cited paper was not refereed.
I find myself feeling frustrated to see how quickly articles like this become part of our academic digital clutter, especially when these artifacts are used as metrics for our "worth" as scholars on the job market, up for tenure, etc.
Is there something productive that can be done with this energy? Is it best to let things like this go? Does this happen often?
Thank you in advance for advice from others in the academic community.<issue_comment>username_1: In my discipline, engineering, many articles in top journals are poorly written and have numerous technical flaws. There are many reasons that led to this 'pollution'; one of which is that experienced reviewers no longer review papers given the volume of submitted papers. Another reason is that there are many cases whereby reviewers simply accept their mate's papers in return for favorable reviews in the future; yes, this is un-ethical but they are playing the system.
How should one react? pissed. Can one do anything? nothing really. The system is corrupted. At the end of the day, we judge what is good quality ourselves, and not rely on the 'brand' of a journal or conference, or even an author's name.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: My first reaction would be "typical, not another one". My second reaction might be: This would make a great teaching example for how academic publishing works.
Firstly as a demonstration that peer review doesn't guarantee correctness. Almost all papers contain flaws. This isn't to say that peer review is hopeless or pointless. I'm sure without peer review papers would contain more flaws, and I'm sure peer review at good venues weeds out the worst offences (like, I suspect the paper you discuss only reporting accuracy on the training set wouldn't have gotten accepted at a reputable venue). Even pretty bad mistakes get through sometimes, but it reduces the probability. I might discuss with students the difference between "reputable", as in has a proper and trusted peer review reputation, with "glamorous", as in famous for accepting the most "exciting" or "outlandish" (depending on your preference) results.
Secondly its a good example of how:
1. Something being cited has little to do with its quality
2. Citations shouldn't be blindly trusted.
I bet only 1% of citations are ever checked by anyone. As a reviewer, I certainly don't check citations, unless its something that a) feels wrong to me and b) is an important point for the central conclusions of the paper.
That these things are common is why the most important thing we can teach our students is critical thinking. Can they judge the quality of the claims for themselves, if so, then they should. If they can't (e.g. I wouldn't have been able to judge the structure of a CNN, although even I know that performance on training data is the wrong metric), then what do people can make of it? Are the results broadly accepted in the field? Have similar results from other groups supported the main conclusions? Has the work been built on and expanded? Can they ask an expert for their opinion?
In terms of correcting the record: if this rogue citation really does mean the central conclusions of the main paper don't stack up, there are things you can do. Although I'd make sure that it really is central to the main conclusions of the paper and that the paper itself is important. You could tweet about it. You could leave comments under the paper if the hosting site has a comments section, or on PubPeer.
Finally, it terms of screwing up the metrics, the best thing to do is to join campaigns pushing for people not to be judged on numerical metrics like impact factor, H-index or citation count. You could push [DORA](https://sfdora.org/) at your institution.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: There are essentially three approaches to this problem.
The first one is to start a guerilla war and challenge the paper directly. A lot of noise, not likely to be very efficient overall, you will end up fighting windmills.
The second one is to work with your local community: [Ian has covered these options nicely](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/190590/145124). If it is an one-off, this option is preferable - you could show it as an example to your students to teach them about what could go wrong about real research.
Finally, if you think a problem is wide-spread enough, you might try address it via the regular means of scientific communication. Raise awareness by giving talks at conferences and writing op-eds; this is what is traditionally being done when one thinks there is a big problem in their field. One could turn the unsightly trend into a research item of its own by provide insights about what kinds of methodological flaws are the most prevalent and what should the scientific community pay extra attention to do their research and reviewing better. I would argue this is the most impactful (but also demanding) option available in this situation.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a postdoc. One of the students in the class I am teaching has reached out about getting involved in research. I would be happy to work with them on a project. *Are any ethical issues with this given that they are currently in my class?*
Obviously, PhD students frequently take classes with their advisor, but I wonder if this is entirely analogous given that a PhD is fundamentally different from undergrad.
Edit: It seems some answers/comments bring up the distinction between me being a postdoc/professor. I'd be interested in expanding the discussion to include both, including potential differences between the situations.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see a conflict here, though others may differ. The student isn't offering you something of value in return for special consideration in the course.
Undergraduate students wanting to do any sort of research with a faculty member will likely find themselves in such a position. Likewise any faculty wishing to guide student research. The concerns are separable.
But, to be extra safe, discuss this with someone who supervises you, perhaps the department head. You don't have a lot of independent authority as a postdoc so ask someone who does. You might even want to have someone with a permanent position to "look over your shoulder" in grading decisions. I doubt it is necessary, but might be useful.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I have seen lots of UG students doing research work with a professor they're taking a class with.
There's nothing inherently wrong with it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: First, thumbs up for worrying about ethics.
One thing I can think is, does your position as instructor mean that the student doing research with you might be perceived as unfair? That is, could anybody (the student, other students, profs, etc.) believe that doing research with this student might influence the mark you gave the student? Up or down. Not sure if that is even a reasonable concern.
Another thing I can think is, since you are a post-doc, can you arrange that any research the student does with you gets credit with the university? That is, this would be something unofficial. So the student is not going to get course credit or credit for "extra work" or anything like that. If the student *believes* they will get some kind of extra credit, they could be misled into expending more time than is reasonable.
First make sure you understand the context in this regard. And then make sure the student understands it.
Also, make sure the student understands that you are a post-doc, not a prof. So, for example, a letter of reference from you carries the corresponding (probably smaller relative to a prof) weight.
Agree in advance if you will try to publish, assuming something interesting results. Agree in advance who will get their name on any journal article that gets published. And if it's a case where it isn't alphabetical, what order the names.
As another answer has suggested, chat with somebody who is already doing supervisory tasks.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I was in both situations (as a student doing work for/with a PhD candidate (an older guy who was working in the dept for eons and who wanted to finally get his PhD) and then I had a student volunteer to do similar work for/with me.
In both cases, **the exam was waived with a top mark** (thus no ethical issues over marking unfairly) with the rationale that this work requires way more preparation and knowledge than the course brings. It was OK'eyed by the Dean (but it was a formality)
Upvotes: 0
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2022/11/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an international student in the US. Whenever I wish my PhD advisor on holidays (over email), like on Christmas or on Thanksgiving, he never responds.
Is it impolite to wish your advisor on such holidays? Is it common to maintain professional boundaries with one's student by not responding to such holiday wishes? I am not sure what the etiquette is here.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think it's impolite. However, I don't think it is particularly common.
In the absence of any other information, I would interpret "no response" as neutral, meaning the person read the email, but didn't feel it required a response. I would say it's likely that the person either appreciated it but had to move on quickly to other things, or else did not care one way or the other; I think it is unlikely that they thought something negative about you. I can understand how a non-response might feel cold to you, especially if you were expecting them to send a message in return. But, people are busy, especially around holidays, and you generally shouldn't expect responses to non-work-related emails from people you have a purely professional relationship with. That's not to say that you can't have a more personal relationship with your advisor, but that will depend on you and your advisor and isn't required for a successful advisor-advisee relationship.
As was suggested in the comments, I think it's very likely that if you wished the person happy holidays face-to-face, they would appreciate it and respond in kind.
One caveat is that not everyone celebrates Christmas. So it is possible to commit a faux pas by wishing Merry Christmas to someone who does not celebrate it; generally "Happy Holidays" is safer. However, I think most people would likely treat that as a well-intentioned mistake if you did that, or else gently correct you if it mattered to them. (And, on the other hand, I have wished "Happy Holidays" to a professor who corrected me with "MERRY CHRISTMAS", so sometimes even when you try to be careful, you can't win :-))
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: No its not impolite all. I wish everyone in my research group a happy Christmas, and they all wish me the same. I also generally intend to send a happy Christmas message to my undergrad tutees, even if i don't always remember.
It is generally considered polite to respond to such a message. However i wouldn't expect a reply on the holiday day(s) itself - holidays are about resting and if your advisor has any sense, they won't be checking their messages!
I would see failing to get any reply an impoliteness, but a minor one. There are much worse things an advisor can do than fail to acknowledge holiday wishes.
Upvotes: 2
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