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2023/03/23
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<issue_start>username_0: my professor stated that my thesis has potential to be published in a scientific journal.
I have not come into contact with publishing in journals yet.
He advised me to put my empirical results, which I sent him, into concise writing as is done in journal articles.
Overall, I feel happy to receive such a good feedback. At the same time, however, I do have the feelings of impostor syndrome creeping up. That is:
* I personally feel the research that I have done not *"that"* impressive - I simply extended a model to an empirical question in finance/economics and have new results
* I feel a certain sense of pressure that my professor thinks that I am a much "better" (smarter) academic researcher than I actually am
Additionally, I am not one hundred percent sure what I am getting myself into. I've read on other threads that it is extremely rare that the results of one thesis are enough to be published. I went into the writing process of the thesis with the mindset to get done and over with it around a certain date - I don't really see with which resources I could shoulder further review requests down the road, as I am not going to enroll in a PhD program for now.
On the other hand, I feel that my concerns might be exaggerated. In the field of my thesis, my professor is a leading researcher with tons of publications. Following that, I strongly assume that he has the ability to gauge whether it makes sense to submit the piece.
Overall I am elated with the feedback. At the same time much more anxious than before!<issue_comment>username_1: It does not have to be worthy of some big international prize. It just has to be new and potentially useful to other researchers.
Consider if you were back to the start of your grad work. If your current work were published and available to you, you could have done some other new work. That is, publishing helps other people avoid repeating stuff. If you don't publish then somebody else may have to re-do the work you have just done.
Publishing means you help humanity advance. Maybe only a tiny bit. But "every little helps." (Unless you live in the UK you probably won't get the reference to TESCO adverts.) Or, in the words of [<NAME>:](https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/isaac_asimov_101762) There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.
Also, consider the tiny cost to you of publishing, compared to the potential benefit. You work for a few days to tidy up the chapter of your thesis into a journal article. And (maybe) you get to call yourself a published scientist. Even if you don't stay in academia it feels good and looks good on a CV.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. You said that your professor is a leading researcher with tons of publications. Why then not to trust him?
2. You are expressing doubts about the value of your research. But expressing these doubts is not your part of the work -- leave this part to the editors and reviewers. They are here to criticise and question. So leave their work to them, and do **your** work: write a paper.
3. Do not try to look too far ahead, and do not get scared in advance. Having you paper gone through the refereeing process is not that scary, especially if you have a knowledgeable professor by your side. In the process, though, you will learn a lot -- which by itself is a good reason to take pen to paper.
Upvotes: 0
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2023/03/23
| 720
| 3,116
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the last semester of my master study in Germany and going to publish my master thesis. However, I still need about two months to graduate. Could I contact with the professor in advance and apply for a phd position? I have some project experiences and I can provide the extended abstract of my thesis. Is there a chance that the professor could give an interview? I have sent my CV, Grades, Motivation Letter, Project Report and Extended Abstract of Thesis several weeks ago, but there is no response. Is it the reason that I have not got my master degree?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, now is the time to begin the process of application, not after you finish, unless you want to see a gap in your education.
Why you haven't got a reply is hard to say. Most likely is that the professor just isn't ready to think about accepting a student at the moment or is too busy to be interrupted.
But, if you want to find a position, don't depend on any one contact. Cast a broad net. And, preferably, apply to those who have indicated they are currently looking for students. It improves your chances.
If your first contact was "blind" and extensive, it is possible it was just trashed for lack of a current position. You can ask, since it has been several weeks, if there is a chance for a position. You might get a reply to such a mail.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: For the sake of this answer, I assume you are looking for a position as a *Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter*.
Definitely start applying before you finish your Master's thesis. Professors may or may not have open positions (= funding) for PhD students, and if you apply early and they want you to work with them, they may even try to secure funding to enable that. So I don't think that your currently unfinished Master's degree is the issue here.
In my experience, professors are often busy and have long queues of unread e-mails. If you are cold-emailing someone and do not have prior contact, they might not reply at all. I've seen some professors requiring you to put a specific keyword in your subject line when e-mailing them about the possibility of working with them, to show you have informed yourself about the position and their work (e.g. on their home page). Make sure you do that.
It can also be helpful if you know someone else who is already working in the group you are interested in. They already know the ropes and may be able to set up contact.
If this is someone at your current university, you could make an appointment during their office hours.
In general, try to apply to positions that are already being advertised, but also ask around for new openings. Academic positions may also be published on social media, e.g. Twitter, Slack channels for conferences, etc. Make sure your application shows that you are interested in the specific position and group you are applying to and that you have read some of their current work.
And, like when applying to a job in industry, don't assume that you will get the first and only job you apply to. Send out multiple applications.
Upvotes: 0
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2023/03/24
| 1,469
| 6,174
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<issue_start>username_0: During my second and third year, COVID made all my engineering exams online. The exams were not proctored. Some of the exams I cheated by working with a group of friends. One person would have the exam open and we all would help and gain extra time by working on the solutions before we did our test. I would look at my friend's exam and keep notes of the answers and work out the solutions/methods in my own time before going on to do my exam. Our exam question are not all the same - they do change it up a bit between each student - however, some of the questions would be the same and some would just have different values but same layout of the question. Because of how the lecturers set up the exam I got grades that were average around 40-70% in some of those exams, although my assignments helped boost those grades up. I know that when you do an engineering exam you still need to know the topics and how to apply the methods therefore some of those exams were lower than others.
After my undergrad I decided to do a master's in which I did not cheat apart from getting help on a online quiz for one of the courses.
I never plagiarised or paid someone to do my work, I only collaborated with my friend during some of my online exams and assignments.
I know what I did is cheating in some of these exams including some finals and assignment, I regret ever doing it, I feel ashamed and guilty and rightfully so. I just can’t comprehend why I did this, I wish the exams were in an exam hall.
I want advice on what I should do next. I’ve graduated and working as a graduate engineer in an engineering company. I feel like I don’t deserve this job and that I’m a fraud. I also feel like I don’t deserve the degree and that I should revoke the degree and tell the university about what I did. I aspired to be an engineer ever since I started this course and want to be a professional engineer in the future with a chartered engineer status. But I feel what I’ve done in the past means that I cannot achieve this as I would be a fraud and unethical because I cheated in those exams.
Should I leave engineering? Return my degree and tell the university? Am I a fraud? Should I work toward an engineering chartership (professional engineering)?
---
Thank you all for the advice, I feel a bit better from reading everyone’s comments. Honestly, I really could not sleep and work because of this guilt. I have decided to move on and not expose my cheating and take this as a lesson for myself. I’ll continue to work in engineering and be the best I can in my work. I’ll work towards my chartership which will take some years to achieve but I believe that I can build and repair my integrity and ethics while working in industry as an engineer. I’ll hope this will be enough for me to achieve my goals and someday be a professional engineer that can be a leader. I hope the mistakes I’ve made at university will be compensated through my work in industry. On the point of safety critical work (my work includes safety critical work), I’ll ensure my work is done to the standards and regulations in my industry and always keep an eye out for any unethical practices. I’ll also try and go through my lecture notes on those courses and try and understand them better - although those courses do not help me with my current work but you never know I may may work in those specific field in the future. In addition, I’ll work on learning new stuff to support my future.
You do not understand how helpful it was to receive feedback from you guys. I felt like I was in a dark place but I’m glad I’ve found some light. I’m an engineer and not a fraud, I feel so bad and guilty but I believe I can give back to the community and work hard in my field. Thank you all for your help.<issue_comment>username_1: While there is nothing in your past behavior, as described, that indicates that you *were* honest, I suggest that you let the past be the past and move on.
In fact, it was yourself that you cheated, not just "the system". There are possibly some things that you should have learned but did not, by taking shortcuts. Or, should have learned more deeply, in fact. But even that is in the past, and you may have learned those things since.
Since you seem to be feeling guilty, you may also have learned some lessons about honesty that should serve you well going forward.
But the point of education is learning, a point which is too often ignored.
Let it go. There is a phrase in the Bible: Go and sin no more. We can all learn. We can all change. Beating yourself up over it or something like returning the degree does no one any good, provided that you act responsibly in your engineering practice, including making sure that you do have the required skills.
Continuing to obsess over it is a form of [self defeating behavior](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-defeating_personality_disorder), actually.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: (1) You did cheat and obtain your bachelor's degree fraudulently. However, only parts of your study were impacted by your dishonesty, and presumably, during the Covid pandemic, many others fell into the same or similar temptations.
(2) You are planning on obtaining a professional engineer's degree that will (I hope, you do not give your country) test and certify your competence. Work for that and your cheating will become unimportant. Alternatively, seek out other professional qualifications that include a certification of your skills. This will ease your conscience.
(3) For the future, learn that you can give in to temptation and that you need to build up resistance, such as pride in your educational accomplishments and in your professional standings. People who are aware of their short-comings are actually better qualified to work in ethically gray areas. As a working engineer, you should and build up a reputation of someone who does not bend rules. If you achieve this, then your cheating has turned into something positive.
(4) Given the lack of gravity of your offense, there is no need to inform the university or offer to "give back your degree".
Upvotes: -1
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2023/03/24
| 703
| 3,049
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<issue_start>username_0: I have already written my master thesis. My professor encouraged me to publish the results in a journal. He said I should orient me on some of the articles published in there.
Nonetheless I am curious if more seasoned vets on here could give me some first hand advice on e.g. pitfalls to avoid?
I have never came close to publishing anything. I've also never intended to go into academia so this is quite a new situation to me.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> He said I should orient me on some of the articles published in there.
>
>
>
This is good advice. You hopefully read a lot of papers to prepare your master's thesis. Pay attention to how they are constructed, and use that to know what a paper should look like and therefore what *your* paper should look like.
Papers in different fields look quite different, so general advice isn't as helpful as looking at other papers in your field.
Generally, unlike a thesis, papers are more focused on the result at hand. While they may include some background information, they aren't for demonstrating everything you know about the topic. You still want to be informative, but also concise.
Once you have a draft, ask your advisor to help you revise it. Do not take it personally if they have a lot of suggestions for changes.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Besides reading a lot of papers to develop your style/vocabulary, make sure when writing that all of your sentences appear in logical order and make sense for a reader outside of the field. It is much harder to write 2 pages than 5 on a topic that you are familiar with. Focus writing concisely and read (and re-read) your paragraphs again and again. Make sure you express and follow a clear line of thoughts with your arguments. Do not be afraid to restructure and rewrite larger parts of your first draft(s).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Before taking pen to paper, ask yourself what your intended readership should be. For whom are you writing?
A very terse paper providing minimal introduction and using highly specialised knowledge will be understandable only to a narrow circle of the anointed. To broaden your audience, show respect to an average (not super-knowledgeable) reader. That is to say, provide a sufficiently detailed introduction.
On the other hand, if you extend the introduction beyond reasonable, and try to include there all you know about the subject, the editor may rightly remind to you that a research paper is not a review.
So you have to navigate between the two extremities. Ideally, a research paper must be understandable (a) to graduate student working in this field, and (b) to experts working in closely adjacent areas. The latter is needed for cross-pollination.
One possible strategy is to write a very extended, textbook-like introduction -- and then to squeeze it by deleting too trivial things, and by moving some of the remaining stuff to appendices or supplementary electronic materials to be cited in the main text.
Upvotes: 0
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2023/03/25
| 699
| 2,978
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<issue_start>username_0: After completion of peer review, the associate editor usually sends his recommendation to the editor-in-chief of a journal. The editor-in-chief is the one to take the final decision.
On this forum I frequently read that the editor-in-chief would usually not overrule / outvote his associate editors. Considering this, I would like to know what factors often delay the final decision on a manuscript. I witnessed it many times that the "decision in process" status did not change for weeks. Why is that? Office hours of the editor-in-chief? As for my understanding, many editors-in-chief are full-time professionals hired by the respective journals.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> As for my understanding, many editors-in-chief are full-time professionals hired by the respective journals.
>
>
>
This is the key misunderstanding. EiCs are not paid professionals employed by the publisher, but academics employed as such, typically full professors or people in comparable situations.
You become EiC either by being very senior, experienced and well connected and respected within your subdiscipline, or (more rarely) by founding your own journal. In either case, you will have a lot of other responsibilities, from doing your own research and writing your own papers, over teaching and advising students to committee and other assignments. And then it simply often takes a while for you to get around to process reviewer reports, typically in a batch when you have a block of time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Speaking as an editor for an Elsevier journal, the system says the review of a paper is **complete** if two reviewers have submitted their comments. However, I may have invited more than two reviewers. In this case, I'll have to wait for the other reviewers to submit their comments before I make a decision. This happens because during the invitation process, I have no idea how many reviewers will say yes. So I tend to invite more than two reviewers. If all of them says yes, then I'll wait for all of them to submit a response. However, if I have two reviews in hand, and one or more reviewers do not reply after their given deadline, then I can ignore them. Until then, I wait.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The most common reason is, as pointed out in the other answers, the editor or handling editor is busy and not available to look at the manuscript.
The next-most common reason is if the reviewers disagree. Some common results here are 1) involve another editor or 2) get another reviewer, both of which obviously add processing time.
A third possibility is that something went wrong with the original set of reviews. For example, maybe they sent the manuscript for revision when they shouldn't have (e.g. a reviewer got back to them saying their late reviewer will be arriving after all), or one of the reviewers they had invited is actually inappropriate (e.g. undisclosed conflict of interest).
Upvotes: 0
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2023/03/25
| 558
| 2,253
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<issue_start>username_0: I did a 3-year industrial PhD joint programme between a university and a company.
Working for the company, I vastly improved their technology, but got no patents in my name.
I wrote some papers, but they aren't submitted for publishing yet, and I will get my PhD regardless of that, because it is paper SUBMISSION that is a requirement for my diploma.
Essentially, my research is done, and soon after paper submission, I will have a diploma. But I have no idea how long it will take before the publishing.
Which means that I can spend a few months being a PhD, while not having any papers or patents in my name. Of course there are still two papers I published during my bachelor and master studies, but every postdoc requires "stellar publishing record".
How should I deal with this situation? Should I apply everywhere ASAP without worries about papers? Or should I take my time and wait, perhaps until July-August (it is March now), when I maybe will have some papers? Of course there's risk that my papers will be rejected too.<issue_comment>username_1: There is little advantage in waiting. List what you have done in a CV and write a good Statement of Purpose. Get people you have worked with to write letters attesting to your skills.
If an early start shows little promise, you can, and should, update everything for a continued search.
The alternative of taking a break would only be useful if you can put it to good purpose, either personally or professionally.
People understand that publishing takes time.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Why don't you put your papers up on a pre-print server if that exists for your field? Then there is actual proof of the body of work, plus prospective employers can read and judge the contents for themselves.
This does require that your current supervisors/employers support this, of course, so see if they do and if they currently do not see if you can convince them with references like this, which argue and support that preprinting is beneficial for early career researchers:
<https://ecrlife.org/preprinting-why-and-how/>
<https://journals.biologists.com/bio/article/11/7/bio059310/276073/A-guide-to-preprinting-for-early-career>
Upvotes: 2
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2023/03/25
| 655
| 2,818
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently, I stumbled over a CV in which the corresponding author included in the category of prizes and grants also Phd positions (with scholarship) which he/she was offered but declined. I never have seen it before. Of course, selection by the official committee of a PhD position together with a grant is of course an achievement, especilly if one is talented enough the get several positions. However, should one put in the CV? In the end, they have been declined, so one didn't benefit from the grant. What is the general philosphy on that? Is this a common thing?<issue_comment>username_1: I think the general philosophy is that what you put in the CV is up to you. And how it is evaluated is up to the reader. Such a statement is unlikely to carry much weight for obtaining a different position, I'd guess. But each reader makes their own determination.
I doubt that it is especially common, but might be more so for someone at the start of their career without much else to say.
I doubt that most people would even think to do it, but who can say for sure.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It is perfectly fine. You were awarded the scholarship (presumably in a competitive process), whether you accept it or not.
Where someone has to be careful is in drawing a line between the worthwhile and the trivial. It looks like padding or boasting if every single scholarship - however small, accepted or not - is listed, especially of some of these are automatic. It can of course be difficult to check if a specific scholarship is competitive so a wise course of action is to list *major* scholarships or other awards and honours received, for which it is not so hard to find details confirming that the awarding of such honour is indeed something prestigious.
It also depends on the specific situation. It makes no sense for a senior professor to include small undergraduate scholarships in a grant application, but it could be valuable for an undergraduate seeking a graduate position.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It depends a bit on the type of the position you have declined (as username_2 mentioned before). Especially when you applied for (multiple) high-ranking fellowships and declined one or some of them, I would personally *highly recommend* to put it into your CV. After the all, the job market in science is tough and everybody has to show everything they've got. Some fellowships will even award you a certificate, independently whether you accept the position or not - exactly for this reason! It shows you were successful in an evaluation process before. But do not put trivial positions you declined in your CV and do not apply for positions for this purpose, if you know that you will not accept them. This would shed a very bad light on you.
Upvotes: 1
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2023/03/26
| 1,531
| 6,657
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<issue_start>username_0: What is the purpose of the “Comments only to the editors” section in peer reviews? It seems lack of transparency to me. What couldn’t you possibly tell the authors?<issue_comment>username_1: A few examples:
* "I happen to know one of the authors personally and I know that they didn't consent to their name on the manuscript."
* "Are you sure this topic is within the scope of your special issue?"
* "I can't understand the authors. The other reviewers seem able to, however. Send the paper to them, not me. I don't want to see this manuscript again."
* "Did you notice that between revisions there is a new author?"
* "I'm not an expert on part X of the manuscript, but I'm an expert on part Y, and ..."
* "I previously reviewed this manuscript for \_\_\_\_ journal. I attach the review I wrote for that journal, since the authors have not addressed my comments."
* "I have reviewed so many papers for this group of authors. They all apply the same method to slightly-different problems. Scientifically, there's nothing wrong with this particular manuscript, but it's salami slicing."
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: There's differing opinions about this due to transparency, but I have been told by at least two editors (one from a big name journal) that they prefer your suggested disposition of the paper (accept without changes, minor revision, reject, etc.) and your opinions and justification on that matter should go into the editor comments.
This is because the editor makes the final decision, which may differ from the reviewers.
For example, consider the situation where all the reviewers say in the author comments to accept because they focus on the technical aspects. However, the editor is unconvinced that the novelty or interest is sufficient for the journal and rejects the paper. This causes confusion and complaints about why the paper was rejected despite two good reviews.
The other direction occurs too: a reviewer says in the author comments, reject due to novelty, but the editor believes they are unduly harsh and, overrides and accepts the paper. This obviously leads to less author complaints, but is awkward, can lead to some ill will with the reviewer and may give the impression of cheapening the journal.
Some people think that this is unfair due to transparency, but you can also [find guides](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.otohns.2010.02.010) saying you should do this.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Apart from what others have already said, you can also use the "comment to the editor" function if you are not 100% sure about your asssessment--you can use the comment to tell the editor so and why. When I did my very first peer review, I told the editor that this was my very first review, and although I did feel confident in my review, I was torn between suggesting "reject" and "major revision".
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: * You can convey information that would reveal your identity.
E.g., you had already refereed a previous version of the paper for another journal and the authors ignored your feedback. Or: you know that the authors intentionally refuse to cite some existing work.
* You can be more direct and blunt.
E.g., if the main result of a paper is roughly at the same level of difficulty as a homework exercise one could assign to a grad student, I might state this bluntly in more or less these words in the private field, but I would phrase it in a more diplomatic way in the report. The reason for doing this is not so that we can have a laugh behind the author's back, but to avoid discouraging and hurting the authors.
This applies especially if the authors are e.g. Ph.D. students, whom you don't want to discourage from pursuing research even if the paper should clearly be rejected.
There is nothing nefarious about this: clearly different norms of respect/politeness apply when talking to vs. when talking about a person. If they did not apply, it would be impossible to have fully honest conversations about other people's research.
* You can use it to give a concise informal summary of the report.
"Strong paper. Clear accept." or "Borderline. Either way is fine with me." or "Not a great paper but probably publishable".
* You can use it if you are uncertain about what to recommend.
One can choose to write an ambiguous report which the editor can use to justify either decision, and then convey your personal subjective opinion (which you might be uncertain about) privately.
* You can use it to convey information that is irrelevant to the author.
E.g., that you might not be able or willing to referee further revisions.
* You can use it to address potential conflicts of interest.
E.g., if you ask the authors to cite a number of your papers, you might use this field to reassure the editor that this is a legitimate request and you're not just abusing your position as a referee to get more citations.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Your report to the authors and your comments to the editor serve two different purposes and should address two different audiences. Your report to the authors should help them improve the paper. When writing these reports, regardless of my opinions of the paper, I maintain a positive tone. I point out problems, areas of concern, etc. and propose ways they could address them.
There are components that feed into my evaluation that are not helpful to include in reports. e.g., my accept/revise/reject recommendation (particularly if it does not agree with the editor's final decision). This is where comments to the editor can be useful.
My comments to the editor are intended to help them make then communicate their decision. In my comments, I clearly state my accept/revise/reject recommendation and summarize the major reasons for that decision. If I worry that my concerns cannot be addressed by revision or I'm on the fence about a decision, I say as much and explain why. This is never more than a paragraph or two tops, but provides the editor a high-level summary of the thinking behind my recommendation which might otherwise be less clear in my longer report to the authors and whether I am likely to eventually recommend acceptance if revisions are requested.
By revealed preference these comments must at times be useful because I have seen editors closely paraphrase them in their decision letters (particularly when providing guidelines for a successful revision). This may also address OP's concern with transparency. Editors are free to repeat information they receive in the comments if they feel it will be useful to the authors.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/03/26
| 470
| 2,086
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the process of applying to overseas institutions for the phd programme. For this purpose, my referees have already provided me with the reference letters as I am applying to the multiple institutions. So, they are unable to find time for filling the reference request forms. Unfortunately, most of the universities are asking for online reference request which I know my supervisors won't be able to fill it due to the time constraints. So, I fear on losing out on the applications of interest. Please guide me through this.<issue_comment>username_1: This really depends on the country, you're not very specific. But my gut instinct is that, if your referees really wouldn't find the five minutes it takes to fill out one of these online forms, they wouldn't actually want to support you.
But my guess is that your referees will be happy to support you, you're just too shy to ask them to fill out the online forms! Can't say I don't understand you.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There is nothing you can do but politely ask of your referees that they understand your situation and fill the online form.
There is simply no way my school will accept reference letters supplied through the applicant, and no amount of convincing will change this: there is just too much fraud with LoRs supplied by students.
Even if your referees fill the form online, expect (depending on the country) that they may be randomly contacted via their *university* or *institutional* email address to confirm the contents of the LoRs. Again, there is just too much fraud with applicants (or sometimes their agents) creating or controlling false emails. Be advised that our school logs the IP address of people filling out reference forms. I suspect other schools have similar policies.
Regrettably, we have seen (international) applicants arriving under false pretences, leading to absolutely horrible situations.
Finally I would personally automatically dismiss as not fully frank any LoR that is not confidential and has been seen by the applicant.
Upvotes: 3
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2023/03/26
| 975
| 3,995
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently doing master's in mathematics and am applying for summer research projects in various institutes where they ask a particular question: What is your topic of interest and why? I asked a few people( professors, mostly) and Google, and they suggested I should tell my story. How and when I became interested in a topic? What caused me to choose it over others?
I don't have such a story. I never had a fancy dream about my career. (I can't say that without people judging that I am not a serious candidate.)
I am devoted to pursue a career in research. My field of interest is Topology, Cosmology and Geometry. Also, I read Algebra for fun. I want to study about the universe from a mathematical point of view, see what it looks like and if possible explore why it looks like that. If there is a possibility of multi universe, do all of them have the same structure and components? Is our knowledge of mathematics vast enough to be able to formulate or model the topology of the universe? I know the answer to that one is no, but then what sort of advancements are required to achieve that goal and how do we go about that? Finding answers to such questions is why I want to study cosmic topology.
Unfortunately, I keep getting rejected due to "lack of passion" in my statement of purpose. And also because I come from a mathematics background and I don't have sufficient theoretical knowledge about cosmology (I am doing my self study for that).
How do I convince the institutes that I am thoroughly interested in working in such projects?
If asked directly, my answer is that it is an interesting and challenging field where I will be able to work with two of my favourite fields, astronomy and pure mathematics, but that isn't sufficient anymore.
What more could I add to my answer that would make me a suitable candid ate?<issue_comment>username_1: "Lack of passion" can be difficult to interpret when it's the feedback you receive. Still, your question is a bit difficult to answer without reading your actual statement of purpose - especially since I think you do write down elements that could be the ingredients for conveying that "passion", which apparently is somehow missing from the materials you send in when you apply. As a reader (and perhaps host lab?) you want to see a bit of genuine excitement and intrinsic motivation shine through in the applicant's writing.
Are you certain that it is not the second reason (i.e. your lack of cosmology background) that is the main reason you are getting rejected?
In either case, I would go over your statement again and ask for feedback from someone who knows you and the field you're interested in: Are you telling the reader WHY you are devoted to a career in research? WHY you want to apply your mathematics skills and background in this new area?
Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you don't have such a story -- develop it.
Along with reading top-notch research on the chosen topics,
dedicate some of your time to reading books on the history of mathematics and physics. This investment will pay off, not only at the interview.
Speaking of the history of math, this masterpiece is the first that comes to my mind: "[Prime Obsession. <NAME> and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10532/prime-obsession-bernhard-riemann-and-the-greatest-unsolved-problem-in)" by Derbishire.
Speaking of cosmology and relativity, one good book out of many is "[Seven Brief Lessons on Physics](https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/03/04/seven-brief-lessons-on-physics-carlo-rovelli/)" by <NAME>. Professional cosmologist, Rovelli is also a prolific writer, and his other books may be of interest to you.
Also the popular (and not so popular) books by <NAME>.
While this sort of reading is only a supplement to working with serious texts and papers, it helps one to develop a broader vision of things.
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<issue_start>username_0: I was recently asked to review a paper for a (reputable) journal in mathematics.
This journal follows a single-blinded peer review process (which is quite standard in math). Reviewers are not revealed to the authors, but the reviewers know who the authors are.
However, in this situation, the author of the paper is also an editor at that particular journal. Can they access the identities of their paper's reviewers? What measures do journals use to avoid revealing this information to their co-editor?<issue_comment>username_1: For the record: I have served as a managing editor on 2 editorial boards for many years (currently, just one board) and as a regular editor, on one more board. I encountered the situation you described in both capacities (my papers were submitted to "my journal") and I refereed editors' papers for other journals.
It is normally expected that the editor handling a paper keeps the author of the paper (another editor) out of the loop, regarding the identities of the referees; this is done, for instance, by using non-editorial email to contact referees, receive referee reports, through software used for the submission/evaluation process at the journal, etc. Any reputable journal will try it best to follow this. Of course, there is always a chance that something will go wrong...
Personally, the way I write my referee reports is so that I never say anything anonymously as a referee that I would not be willing/able to say openly to the author. This way I never have to worry if an author discovers or guesses correctly that I was a referee (this also has happened to me few times).
How much are you willing to trust the system to do the right thing, is your call...
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Usually yes**
Editors who are also authors are expected to recuse from the review process of their own papers. Once they recuse, they can no longer see the identities of the reviewers (usually, editors can only see the identities of the reviewers for the paper they are handling; if they are not handling their own paper, they are as blind as other authors). This goes for the editor-in-chief as well.
However, it's only "usually" because it's really easy for someone who's unfamiliar with the editorial management system (or simply not paying attention) to screw up. For example, if the current editor-in-chief resigns and another editor is promoted to editor-in-chief, it's entirely possible they will be able to see who reviewed their previous papers. It shouldn't happen, of course, but someone needs to notice before it happens, and there's no guarantee they will.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In addition to the other answers, I would like to point out that there is a major difference in this case between an associate editor and a chief editor in a typical journal workflow.
* Associate editors generally have no access to each others' work queues. Thus, if the author is an associate editor, the chief editors should send it to a different associate editor, and confidentiality is then maintained just like it is for any non-editor author.
* Chief editors generally have access to all of the work queues. Thus, confidentiality will depend on appropriate recusal, as pointed out in [the answer by @username_2](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/194647).
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<issue_start>username_0: Very recently, my feed suggested a new paper which was an extract from a thesis in an old group of mine. It was interesting for me, as I synthesised the material used. However, whilst the text referenced my paper in the "synthesis previously reported," I didn't have the expected acknowledgement of "we thank x for product y."
I just wanted to check that it would be the norm to give me an acknowledgment.<issue_comment>username_1: I think almost anything can qualify for acknowledgement, some people even thank family members. There aren't really rules for acknowledging. So while it would be totally acceptable to acknowledge you for the materials, it is also ok not to do it and cite your previous contribution instead. I highly doubt it was done out of malice.
If it really bothers you, try to get in contact with your old group and tell them so. It will probably be to late to change anything (I highly doubt that someone will make the effort to change the acknowledgement section of an already published paper), but maybe they will be made aware that this might be something people expect/wish and will try to act differently in the future.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: @username_1's answer is right, there are no particular rules what kind of contribution must be mentioned in the acknowledgements section of a paper. However, I would prefer to be more on the generous side here. Assuming that you put in some days of work for the synthesis and characterization of the material you provided, I think it is rather rude to just take and use it without mentioning specifically your contribution. It is also not wise because it irritates a collaborator and might make future cooperative work more complicated.
It simply is a nice courtesy to acknowledge people's help, and therefore it should be the norm.
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<issue_start>username_0: Have you encountered such a thing? A thesis submitted jointly by two people? Is that allowed anywhere?
I didn't realize it was even remotely possible until I looked up the [MSc thesis](http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108858) of one <NAME>u. Turns out he submitted it jointly with a Zeev Zurr, under the name <NAME>.
Was this common in MIT in the 1970s?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, this is possible. For example it is explicitly stated in the university law codex of multiple European countries that cooperative master theses are allowed if the individual contributions are clearly marked and can be graded separately. This is useful and often necessary in experimental disciplines that require a lot of lab work that cannot be done by a single student.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: To answer the MIT-specific question: at present it [is allowed, given departmental approval](https://oge.mit.edu/gpp/advanced-degrees/thesis/joint-theses/) (from what I can tell, this policy tends to be the same across departments).
Based on a quick survey of some selected publicly available theses ([here](https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582)), it appears to be uncommon but not unusual to submit a joint thesis at MIT in the 1970s.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As username_1’s answer points out, this is allowed in many European countries. In Italy, I actually supervised several MSc theses of experimental nature which were jointly developed and submitted by two and even three students.
At the defence, the students would then divide the presentation allotted time so that each one could deliver a part.
The final grade is generally a weighted average of a student’s exam grades, the thesis work grade and the presentation grade. In the case of a joint thesis, the thesis grade is typically the same for all joint defendants, whereas the exam grades and the presentation grades are indeed independent.
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<issue_start>username_0: I've talked to several colleagues who have expressed frustration at the amount of and kind of accommodations that some students receive. I know the Approved Position is "the disability office knows what's best so you can't question them". But what if it seems legitimately unfair to the other students in my class?
There are some students who several colleagues and I believe are abusing the system. Not doing work for months in every class every semester, then requesting "accommodations" at the end of the semester that amount to significantly less work than the average student. Also they have the benefit of solutions being posted, etc.
I know our position is not the Approved one. But if I honestly think a student is abusing the system and getting away with significantly less work than the average student, do I have any recourse?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm going to guess this is the USA. The delicate aroma of the [ADA](https://www.ada.gov/) wafts over this question.
The ADA is quite controversial. There are a wide variety of complaints, both from the POV of it going too far and not going far enough. You can easily find them on Google, and it's quite a bit outside this SE's topic to discuss it.
However, I would suggest you want to tread carefully here. People get excited about the ADA and anything connected to it. Pretty much regardless of your position you will find that there are people upset with you over it.
So, before you dive into this fight, gather yourself a bit and scope out what the results might be. See how "those who went before" have fared. See if they produced changes you thought were good. A little searching for news articles on the subject in your local university and city might be instructive.
There may not be a solution within your university. The administration may be hamstrung by laws and entrenched policies, both at the state and federal level. And the personnel involved in enforcing those policies in the university are likely to be quite intractable, even quite hostile to people who resist.
You may be faced with a choice of putting up with it, moving to a different political situation (probably a different state at least), or finding a political solution (new leadership at least within your university, maybe as far as the state level). None of those is attractive, I admit.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are a student, then I'd guess you have no "standing" to complain unless you can show that you are, somehow, disadvantaged personally by this. If your grade suffers because another's grade is advanced then the marking system itself is at fault. This is my objection to "grading on the curve", in fact. In that case, you can complain to the prof that, no matter the accommodation to another, you shouldn't be made to suffer for it.
If you are a professor, then I suggest that you and similar minded faculty request a meeting with the disability officer(s) to discuss the situation and the application of the laws.
I'd guess that such a meeting is unlikely to result in much of any change in policy, but you might learn more about the intricacies of the policy and why it is needed. If nothing else, that might ease your discomfort.
But also note, if you are a prof, that the student position, as stated above, needs to be considered in your grading scheme. You can discuss that, also, with the disability office.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: As others have pointed out, the result may be determined by the laws of your country, and there will be little you can do about that.
However, you have written, "...'accommodations' at the end of the semester that amount to *significantly less work* than the average student..." That means the students are getting significantly less learning, presuming that work is assigned to students for pedagogical reasons.
*That* seems like something that should concern a body such as a faculty senate. Such a body probably has more influence than one or two individual faculty members.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The "Accessibility Resource Center" where I work explicitly invites instructors to contact them if the suggested accommodations do not work. Not all my requests to them have been dealt with in a way that keeps me happy, but many were. Policies were altered in some cases, while in other cases ad hoc adjustments were made.
It takes time to have these discussions, so one must choose one's battles. I find "the disability office knows what's best so you can't question them" to be a caricature, but it could be accurate where you are. Of course, I can tell tales where our office was inflexible. I am sure such tales are told about me. This site is full of tales of woe. It is not always that way.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Simply put, this is beyond your pay grade. The university has mechanisms in place to assure compliance to their regulatory environment, and you can't really ignore them, and asking them to reevaluate the resulting decisions is likely fruitless.
You can, however, seek the help of the office coordinating such things when the accommodations aren't reasonably providable by you on your own. Also, if the suggested accommodation, for whatever reason, just doesn't work for your situation, to get them appropriately modified or waived. For example, if for some reason the accommodation is that the student gets to take an exam in a quiet room with one proctor, but your examination is oral in front of a board of 4 examiners, you obviously can't follow that direction. In that case, you would contact the office, explain your planned accommodation, so that they may "improve" it, or at least document the variation.
Yes, there are PLENTY of issues about fairness. For example, the evaluations for some of the things people seek accommodations for can be very pricey, and might well be out of reach for some students who could really use the accommodations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: In the US, disability accommodations do not need to be applied retroactively by law. Many institutions state explicitly in their policies that retroactive accommodations are not required. I did not find any example where retroactive accommodations *were* considered part of policy. Some examples:
[UW–Madison](https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-855):
>
> Students should not expect accommodations to be retroactively applied to course assessments or materials for which due dates have passed.
>
> [...]
>
> Faculty are not required to retroactively implement accommodations for course assessments or materials for which due dates have passed.
>
>
>
[University of Montana](https://www.umt.edu/disability/Students/Unreasonable.php):
>
> Students with disabilities are responsible for requesting accommodations in a timely manner. The University is not required to provide retroactive accommodations.
>
>
>
[The University of Iowa](https://policy.clas.uiowa.edu/clas-policies-and-procedures/undergraduate-education/accommodating-students-disabilities):
>
> Accommodations are not retroactive.
>
>
>
[University of Miami](https://camnercenter.miami.edu/disability-services/accommodations/index.html):
>
> Accommodations will not be granted retroactively.
>
>
>
[Loyola University](https://www.loyola.edu/department/dss/faculty/faqs):
>
> In general, professors do not have to provide accommodations prior to the delivery of the accommodation letter from the student.
>
>
>
---
Of course, you're required to follow not only the law on these things or the policies of *other* institutions, but rather the policies of *your* institution. I would check to see whether your institution has a posted policy on application of retroactive accommodations, and if it's not clear, ask to have a conversation about it with your disability office.
I do think in some cases it may be appropriate to consider some retroactive accommodation, just like it's appropriate to consider offering flexibility for students for various other reasons besides disability. I'd consider especially the timeliness and where the students are in their studies. For example, if students are in their first semester of university education they may be having their first experiences with not being able to perform well without accommodations, or may be experiencing stronger symptoms coinciding with the new university environment. However, your depiction:
>
> Not doing work for months in every class every semester, then requesting "accommodations" at the end of the semester that amount to significantly less work than the average student
>
>
>
doesn't immediately suggest this is the case. I think if you want to make an argument to your disability office that you should not be expected to make retroactive accommodations, you could use the policies from other institutions in your argument. I would not make these arguments directly to your students or implement a unilateral policy against retroactive accommodations, though: your quarrel is not with the students but with your institution's administration of accommodations.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_7: Faculty in my department have successfully pushed back against unreasonable accommodation requests (USA, college in a large urban university).
As others note, this depends on a rather deep matrix of interrelated institutional factors:
* State law
* National law
* Institutional policies
* Possible union contract language
* Position of accessibility services
* Position of the academic department
* Specific staff in all of these roles
In our case, we have a very experienced, capable, and proactive department chairperson who is willing and able to defend us against unreasonable requests.
One of the things that our accessibility office somewhat took advantage of is the capacity of new or adjunct instructors to receive their demands and not know if it's truly a management requirement, or whether reasonability is a thing they might even need to consider. Once our chair finds out and takes up the case, the proposed accommodations sometimes evaporate without an argument. (E.g., if it would obviously violate our union-contracted workload numbers.)
So the first step is not to try to deal with this in your own silo. Have a conversation with your department chair or other mentor about what your department's policies, practices, and experiences currently are. Given that so many local factors can be at play, that chat will likely be more informative than anything we can say here.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: As other people have mentioned, assuming you are in the US, there is no such thing as accommodations before the date you are informed of the disability. Students are required to provide the information from the office on the campus to the professor, and it is up to them to make the choice about when and to take the consequences.
However, I'm also concerned about something else you said. Accommodations never should reduce the expectations for students. They cannot excuse a student from doing the work. What they are supposed to do is to is make it possible for students to do the work. Most common is extended time on tests. Sometimes they have a note taker. Or they need to have adaptive software, like a screen reader for blind students, or an ASL interpreter for a deaf student.
>
> Not doing work for months in every class every semester, then requesting "accommodations" at the end of the semester that amount to significantly less work than the average student.
>
>
>
If you have a group of faculty who think that a student has done this repeatedly, then I think that you should speak with whoever runs that department (in a respectful way) in a face-to-face meeting, maybe with your chair. Also, you might want to document the whole thing if it is really the same student over multiple semesters or in multiple classes. This will let you get clarification about these issues. But it also lets that person know that they need to meet with the student in question. (Even if it is multiple students, I would handle each one differently.)
I was going to suggest next steps, but it really depends on what happens.
If you don't already include an "Accommodations" section in your syllabus, you should add one that explains the procedures and spells out your expectations about notification.
Now, if the issue is that you are not providing documents or interfaces that don't use accessible javascript or don't have alt text on your images, that is very different; you should do those things by default or work with the disabilities office to achieve them, as hard as it may be sometimes.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: Further to earlier answers: depending on what learning outcomes you're trying to assess, it might be possible for you to choose an assessment mode (for all students) that's accessible to students with (the most common) disabilities in the first place, so that no accommodations will be required. If you approach the Disability Office on the basis that that's something you'd like to attempt and you need advice on how to achieve it, I'd expect them to be only too happy to co-operate. Even if it turns out that it's not possible to choose a fully-inclusive mode of assessment for your particular set of learning outcomes, you've then established friendly relations with the Disability Office, which may make future interactions about the details of accommodations more fruitful.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: In **Sweden**, teachers are by law allowed to conduct examinations in the way they see fit for their subject (with some limitations regarding needing to follow the approved syllabus, etc.). A consequence is that any accommodations are always up to the teacher, the disabilities office or exam administration can only make recommendations (or, in the case of exam administration, refuse to administer your exam, which would mean you are on your own conducting the exam). So yes, in Sweden you are definitely free to disagree with certain accommodations.
**However:** note that being legally permitted to do so does not mean freedom of the consequences. If you decide, on a blanket basis, that you don't do accommodations anymore, expect massive pushback from affected students, student unions, and potentially program managers and your own managers. This may have severe implications for your student evaluations and evaluations you need for promotion.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_11: You're definitely free to disagree with them, but I recommend against making changes to the recommended accomodations without clearing it with the disability office first as they've already ran the recommendations though the legal compliance process. Having an official sign-off can save you a lot of headache later.
>
> Not doing work for months in every class **every semester**, then
> requesting "accommodations" at the end of the semester
>
>
>
If I'm reading you right, the student has done this in more than one semester. That really changes a lot of things and should make your case easier. The student already *knew* they had a qualified disability - as evidenced by filing accommodation paperwork the previous semester - and then willfully delayed the paperwork for the next semester until it gave them the maximum benefit. The disability office should be able to confirm this by looking through their records to see when paperwork was filed in past semesters. Filing paperwork late in the semester makes sense when someone is first diagnosed with a disability but if they've filed for accomodations in the past, filing paperwork extremely late should have raised some eyebrows at the disability office.
I would definitely approach them from an attitude of "I see a pattern that I think might be abuse of the system, what should I do?" That's more likely to get a positive response than arguing that the accommodations are excessive (set up the interaction as you and the office working *together*, not you arguing *against* the office). For best results, have documentation of the specific advantages that the student gets that aren't explicitly part of the accommodation and that wouldn't happen if paperwork was filed when it was supposed to be (like solutions being posted already). Those sorts of details are not always taken into consideration since the disability office doesn't know the details of your course, plus their processes probably assume that all the paperwork is done at the beginning of the semester. At a minimum, they should take the particulars of your course into account and adjust the accomodations so that they give the student what they need without giving them an unfair advantage.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: **Being proactive is better than complaining in hindsight.**
In our department, disagreements like this are largely avoided because we have had a general discussion with the disability office on what kinds of accommodations are reasonable from our perspective, ie taking account aspects like impact on the workload of the academics and the meaningfulness of the assessment. As a consequence, the disability office has a standard list of accommodations, and is usual able to meet the individual needs of a student by selecting something from the list. Occasionally, additional conversation might be needed, but this is rare.
**Don't discuss individual cases.**
Nothing good can come from questioning the appropriateness of measures taken for a concrete student. We would usually not know the precise diagnosis (and we probably shouldn't), and even if we knew, we probably lack the expertise to draw appropriate conclusions from it. So rather than discussing individual cases, it seems much more prudent to have a conversation regarding what are and what are not potential accommodations to offer in general.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: It seems to me that the OP should do two things...
First, figure out why said person/people are seeming to get retroactive relief and seeming to have to do LESS work than the average student and what exactly was the specific nature of the accommodations that were proposed that makes it seem unreasonable.
Second, if this has occurred in the past, that said person/people don't do any work and then wait until later on to either go to the disability office and seek accommodations or wait until late in the process and spring the I have a disability and I need these things done to 'help' me.
OP doesn't say if they are a student or teacher...so that means two different things.
A student is kind of limited in what they can do...other than complain to the powers that be about the perceived unfairness and perceived nature of gaming to system that is thought to be going on.
As a teacher, they could talk to the disabilities office about what they have recommended and how it's somewhat unreasonable -- and can we hash something out that's reasonably fair. Also, something that means that the student doesn't get LESS work, maybe in leu of doing X, they need to do Y, which is slightly more /equivalent amounts of work.
Additionally, they could explore the patternality of the 'requests' --that late in the system, requests are being asked for...and possibly wanting retroactive relief.
As a teacher, they could also pretty much state that accommodation requests should be tendered early on in the process and that would allow the teacher to fold them into their teaching/testing style and processes...e.g. do I do X for a single person or do I for everybody.
Also state that late accommodation requests would NOT be retroactive and that would be evaluated on a case by case basis depending on WHEN the request was received (and subject to the teacher talking to the disability office)...Ok, so maybe you'd be somewhat receptive if the request came after the start, but not too far in (when maybe a student figures out they'll need help with how you do things, that they didn't anticipate) but, very late, you'll be more suspicious of.
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<issue_start>username_0: I met someone at a conference and we had a good conversation. We emailed after for a bit. He is the associate editor of a reasonably well respected journal. He asked me to referee a paper and I just said yes without thinking much about it - he went to my talk and we talked for awhile so I assumed he knew what I knew well enough.
Now that I'm looking at the paper I have no clue what to say about it. I work in probability and this paper is straight up statistics. It uses a lot of jargon I am unfamiliar with and I have nothing valuable to say about the paper.
How should I proceed? I feel like my only honest review is "I don't know enough to judge the merit of this paper". I actually don't even like much of statistics and I'm uninterested in teaching myself the necessary statistics to understand this paper (which would require significant time and effort on my part).<issue_comment>username_1: Send an email back saying that, having looked at the paper, you don't have the experience to comment on it.
It is more common than you think. The editor has other options. And it is better if you don't hold up the process.
And, yes, as user Anyon notes, the editor is due an apology unless you have been working diligently on the paper for those two months. But, politeness suggests it would be wise anyway.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The editor could be legitimately annoyed by the delay. But what are your options? 'Fess up and apologise. Is anything else even remotely conceivable?
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing a review paper (for the first time) on an emerging topic, and the problem is that almost all the sources that I found regarding this topic are preprints on arxiv.
I wanted to know if citing them in the review paper is okay or not.
This paper is going to be a chapter in my thesis later on.<issue_comment>username_1: Your goal is to provide your reader with an overview of where the field currently stands. "The field" is defined by what people have done, and that includes not only publications that have already gone through peer review, but also those that have not yet, and that consequently are only available as preprints. As such, it makes sense to include these papers, though you have to pay attention that possibly not everything you can find on arXiv has the same quality as what you can find in the peer reviewed literature: You have to make a judgment call on each preprint yourself.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you use something you need to cite it. It doesn't really matter whether it was "formally" published or a preprint. It should be clear from the citation where it appeared, say on arXiv.
If you need to quote something be formal (punctuation). If you paraphrase make it clear that you do so and cite as well.
But, as you prepare your review, watch out to see if your sources appear in a more formal way and adjust if necessary. It is preferable to cite from a formal publication as it is less likely to change or disappear.
But, yes, it is OK. Probably necessary.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: There are journals that don't let you cite unpublished materials in review article submissions. Others won't have an issue with it. So do read the author guidelines for wherever you intend to submit.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: **This is significantly field-dependent.**
In many fields, including my own (mathematics/theoretical CS) citing preprints is very standard, for all the good reasons described in [other](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/194709/1277) [current](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/194710/1277) [answers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/194712/1277) and their comments.
**However, there are other fields — e.g. medicine and biology — where citing un-peer-reviewed work is rare, and generally viewed as bad practice** except in exceptional circumstances. (Caveat: my knowledge here is second-hand, based on what I’ve been told by colleagues who work in those fields.) And it’s not hard to see the reasoning behind this: in maths, if you rely on an under-scrutinised study and it turns out to be flawed, no great harm is done; but in medicine, it could have very serious consequences. So the relative weighting of the principles “use all available information” and “guard the literature against contamination by bad work” is different.
So in sum, you should **know and follow the norms of your specific (sub-)field** — read what other comparable papers do, and follow that. (Or, if you find you disagree with your field’s current norms, you can of course choose not to follow them; but be aware of what issues this may cause with e.g. journal publication, and bear in mind also [Chesterton’s fence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton#Chesterton%27s_fence).)
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<issue_start>username_0: One of my professors accused me of cheating because it appeared to them that I opened a link on moodle. I did, but did not look at what was open. It was opened by mistake as my laptop was lagging. I tried to talk with him, but he still insisted on accusing me. I asked him to repeat the exam in front of him if that would help, but he refused. In the end, I am very sad about what happened and I went to one of my other professors to ask for advice about what to do. I do not know if that was right or wrong. I did not cheat, but I am afraid that my other professor will not trust me and might even hate me. Did I do the right thing?<issue_comment>username_1: In many cases relating to examination rules it is possible to detect a breach of the rule but it is difficult to say whether the breach was accidental or was done intentionally, with a view to gaining an advantage in the exam. In the case you describe, it sounds like you are indeed in breach of the exam rules, insofar as you had unauthorised material available during the exam. So no, what you have done is not right --- the right thing would have been to take proper care in clearing your browser of other tabs and clearing your environment of any other unauthorised material when setting up for the online exam. Having failed to do this puts you in breach of the rules whether it was accidental or deliberate, though obviously the latter is worse.
A more sober professor would simply explain to you that you are in breach of examination rules, without speculating as to intention (or characterising it as "cheating"), and would then implement the relevant disciplinary procedure for breaches in a dispassionate manner. Sometimes professors get cranky about such things, and he has probably seen many genuine attempts to cheat before, so in this case it looks like he's also sceptical of your explanation and he has given you a dressing down about the matter. I also find your explanation strange and not fully forthright --- you initially characterise things by saying that "it appeared to [the professor]" that you had an unauthorised tab open, but then you concede that this is true. So why characterise this professor's observation as a mere "appearance" rather than just saying that he saw the unauthorised tab? In any case, all you can really do here is wait to see whether this professor implements the disciplinary system to report you for a breach, or decides not to. If there is action to discipline you over the matter then you will have an opportunity to put in your explanation of events and that evidence will be taken into consideration.
As to explaining this to another professor for purposes of getting advice, all you can do is explain what happened. If this is your first breach of rules then it is likely that people will give you the benefit of the doubt that it was not intentional. (They might get sceptical if it happens again.) Remain calm and put the matter in perspective, and bear in mind that academics deal with matters like this with sufficient regularity that they are fairly routine. I've had students breach rules in my courses before (probably intentionally in some cases), and I don't hate ---or even mildly dislike--- any of them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If all you mean by "is what i have done right?" is going to the other professor for advice and counsel, then, yes, you did the right thing there.
Getting advice from a trusted professor is always valuable. You didn't have to do that, potentially exploring your earlier breach of the rules, intentional or not.
I doubt that the other professor would think poorly of you for approaching them unless you took it to them as a complaint against the first professor.
I can't offer advice, though, on your relationship with the first professor. You may suffer for it, whether justly or not. But you need to be more careful about the rules in the future, as I'm sure you realize.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/03/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently reading a paper in my area which is very poorly written in my opinion. It is hard to understand the bigger picture of the paper. Now, I am just a student and my opinions might not be of that value but it is really difficult to understand the paper. It appears that everything in the paper is only implicitly stated. I took help of other better researchers (postdocs, profs) but they also face the difficulty of getting it properly. The authors of the paper are established researchers and the results are really great. But, I really want to tell them how bad the paper is so that when they write their next paper they also think about the readers. I wonder if their advisees also turn out like them. I just want to write a mail to them and tell them how a paper is written but I do not know if they will take it as constructive criticism. I am really mad.<issue_comment>username_1: From [*How to Win Friends and Influence People*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People):
* The easiest way to make enemies is to criticize them.
* Criticizing people puts them on the defensive. They will dig in their heels and rationalize their actions.
+ Just consider, how often do you see people respond to criticism with "Yeah, I was wrong. I'll do better next time"? Then compare vs. the number of times people respond with "I did nothing wrong, but you did X, Y, and Z".
+ <NAME> is one of history's greatest leaders. In 1863, during the American Civil War, the South launched an invasion of the North that was repelled at the Battle of Gettysburg. Because the Southern general (<NAME>) had appeared hitherto invincible, this was a major victory for the North, but the Northern general (<NAME>. Meade) failed to pursue and destroy Lee's army. Lincoln was upset, and wrote a critical letter to Meade that you can read [here](https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/lincolns-unsent-letter-george-meade). The most remarkable thing about this letter however isn't how restrained it is, but rather that *Lincoln never sent it*. He knew he wasn't there, he didn't see the battle and death firsthand, or know what it's like to trudge across soggy ground under threat of enemy fire, and he knew all these things didn't apply to Meade. Therefore he shouldn't criticize.
* If you absolutely must criticize, praise first. Wax lyrical about how the results are really great, and then say you wished the paper were better written so you could've understood it quicker.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Just write to the authors with all the questions you have about their paper: "Do I understand correctly that...?", "What exactly do you mean by...?", "One page X are you implicitly referring to Y?", etc. Do not hesitate to ask follow-up questions until you are sure you understand. Having to answer all these questions will punish the authors for their bad writing!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Historical context: It's by no means unusual for important papers to be difficult to understand. It's rare that the seminal papers in a subject are the place to go to learn that subject. For example, few people choose Einstein's original papers as their place to go to learn relativity. Few people go to Feynman's original paper on path integrals to learn that. Few people go to Dirac's original paper to learn about the Dirac equation. A lot of people will read these articles for personal reasons or historical reasons. But they are not likely to be the text for those learning those subjects.
There are a few possible contributing reasons for this, some of them these:
* The first explanation may arise from the process the author used to get there. This is often not the easiest to understand explanation.
* The journal probably has some harsh limits on word count, diagrams, tables, etc.
* There has not been a process of refining notation for ease of reading.
* There may be language issues if the authors are not native speakers of the language they are publishing in.
So, there is quite a lot of room for writing pedagogical versions of research papers. If you have talent for writing clear prose that gets the idea across, maybe there is a future for you in writing textbooks. Or at least review articles that wind up on every grad student's desk for the next thirty years. I recall a Physics Reports issue on Yang Mills theory that nearly every grad student in particle physics had a copy of.
So a poorly written paper that yet has interesting results might be viewed as an opportunity to produce a better written, possibly expanded, version for a journal somewhat more focused on instruction. You might even get a collab with one or more of the authors of the article that confused you.
That is, turn an annoyance into an opportunity. Much like an oyster turns a grain of sand into a pearl.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: As a reader
-----------
Its worth asking what you stand to gain or lose by emailing the authors or not doing so. A published paper is not going to change, so you have no chance that you will change the paper at this point. It is also not likely that the authors thank you for your completely out of the blue and unsolicited feedback on something outside of the science, so you are not going to impress anyone. There is some (but very small) chance that your feedback means that their writing will improve in subsequent papers, but for that to be the case, your feedback would need to go beyond just "I can't understand your writing", and contain constructive feedback, including specific suggestions for what particular parts of the writers style could be improved, and how they might go about doing that. Take it from someone who has provided feedback on a lot of writing - this is hard and long work. The only other benefit is that you will feel like you have done "something" about the thing that is making you mad, even if that something doesn't actually achieve anything.
On the other hand, you are likely to associate yourself with negative emotions in the minds of the authors - the best you can hope for is that they forget you. They don't need to be deliberately vindictive or retaliatory - this can be entirely subconscious. This can be true irrespective of whether they take your advice on board (or even thank you with the conscious part of their brain). This is just human nature. This could be particularly harmful if they are big names in the field.
This is not to say you should never disagree with a big name, or provide them with feedback at appropriate times. Good scientists will welcome feedback particularly on the science as it will lead to avenues for new investigation. But what is achieve must always be balanced against the downsides.
As a reviewer
-------------
As a reviewer of the paper as part of the peer review process things are slightly different. Generally, journals will provide fairly specific guidance on how to feedback on guidance. Usually you are not supposed to feedback on "style", but only those things that genuinely hamper your ability to understand the paper. You might say:
>
> Assessing the work was difficult because I found the way it was written difficult to follow. For example, the meaning of 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.' was unclear.
>
>
>
You should also comment where things are genuinely ambiguous – for example:
>
> The sentence 'Cras suscipit massa ipsum, ac tempus massa viverra et.' could be read as meaning either 'Nullam nec varius odio.' or 'Mauris sed ante posuere, euismod urna id, rhoncus erat' and which is not clear from the context.
>
>
>
If there are many typos in the text, point this out *if it makes the text difficult to follow*.
Be aware that it is not acceptable anymore to tell the authors to have a native speaker proofread the text. This is because:
* a) You have no idea if a native speaker has already proofread the text.
* b) Many non-native speakers are actually better at technical writing in English than many native English speakers.
**In both cases it is never acceptable to criticize the authors. Make sure always that your are criticizing the paper, not the authors. The difference might seem meaningless, but it is vitally important.**
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: Papers are not written for students but for experts in the field. It is not uncommon for a bachelor thesis (depending on subject of course) to work out all the details in a paper and show that the student managed to work through it in a couple of month. This working out things, helps you to slowly become an expert in your chosen field. So long story short, my answer is: absolutely no.
What as a student of course you can do is point out errors (if there are) in the publication.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: It's always tempting to immediately critique mercilessly (for me mostly to boost my ego), but first stop and consider why you're reading the paper in the first place. Clearly you're interested in the topic and content they're writing about and in understanding and replicating their results.
Kindness is King. If this is why you're interested in the paper then think, could there be potential opportunities for collaboration? Could an author on this paper be a future author on a paper you're hoping to publish? If so, then you don't want to ruin relationships now. It's always good to build interest and respect for another person's work whatever stage. You'll find you can make a lot more collaborations and faster progress this way, and a lot more people are willing to collaborate (however big their name) than you might think.
If you're hoping to discuss more with the author, I've found it particularly effective to send an email expressing thanks for their work (Say "Thank you for your paper..." as an email header or something similar). Express honestly what you liked, and/or any intentions for possible citation by your own upcoming work (if that's your true intent). I've seen these kinds of emails are very often replied to, and authors are generally fairly open about responding to concerns for a reply or maybe two.
If you're just upset for personal reasons (i.e., maybe the paper is from a well-known university that you were not accepted to, and you feel you could have written something better) then you're going to find you may be very miserable in a winner-takes-all academic environment. Hopefully this isn't the case.
Why might well-known authors allow this? Other than what @BobaFit said, some professors are far too busy to comb through student's work, or choose to let them publish their level of work in order for them to grow on their own. Sometimes it's used as a strategy (unfortunately) to claim some space so as not to give away too many ideas or keep competing labs away from their knowledge. This allows them to publish more papers in the space without worrying as much about competition. Yes, there are fields where publishing is that competitive and moves that fast.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: As a student, you're unlikely to be the intended audience of the paper. They may in fact be thinking of their readers; it's just not you. From the context, I'm assuming that the paper is a technical, academic one written by professors of some sort. The authors' goal was probably to announce results in their field to their peers, maybe stake out some territory, improve their odds of tenure or funding, and so on. For publication in a research journal, the authors are presumably writing for an audience of researchers in the same field who already have a substantial background in the subject and are already familiar enough with the area to automatically connect the dots themselves. It could also just be a bad paper; I don't know you or the authors or even the paper involved.
Regardless, I don't think anything would be served by "tell[ing] them how a paper is written." To be honest, I would respond to a unsolicited, angry message like that by summarily throwing it in the garbage, regardless of whether it was from a student or an established professor or a Nobel prize winner. You probably would too, and it's reasonable to do so. It's not even harsh but honest criticism; it's just being angry that someone didn't write the paper that you wanted them to write.
If you like the ideas of the paper but think their presentation is too opaque, you could contact the authors and ask for clarification directly or suggest they write a lighter survey paper. You could even write it yourself. If you do in fact know how a paper should be written, polishing up someone else's badly-phrased good idea for a different audience can be a valuable thing; that's kind of what textbooks are.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: You said you sought help from postdocs and professors, but they also faced the difficulty of understanding that paper. This makes me think that the paper is indeed poorly written.
Had your senior colleagues not stumbled on that paper, my sympathies would still be with you. In my opinion (with which some will disagree), a good paper must be written in a language understandable to a graduate student, ideally to an advanced undergrad.
I know an outstanding scholar who is having problems with writing clearly. This is not his fault but his problem of quite a psychological nature: it is difficult for him to model inside his mind how difficult his writings may be for a beginner or for a colleague from an adjacent area. On the other hand, I also knew people for whom writing solely for the anointed was a method of self-affirmation -- which, again, has a lot to do with human psychology.
For whatever reason an author is unable to write clearly, it will be useless to preach to them. Don't waste your time. Also, you may anger the author -- which will do you no good, especially at the start of your career.
Instead, you may send them a polite e-mail, praising their publication, and humbly asking to help you better grasp their so great and important result. After this, the author will probably respond and help you go through his so great and outstanding and ingenious work. Praise is more efficient than reproach.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: I generally agree with most of the answers. If you write some people and say "Your paper is terribly written", nothing good will come of that.
But, if you write them and say, "This result is amazing! I struggled a bit with this bit... if I paraphrase that with , is that correct?".
Then i think it might be appreciated, and maybe even borrowed.
In big labs, students/postdocs can be the main authors of papers and the group leader may barely comment on the paper before publication. Depending on the language This might result in "unpolished" writing.
Upvotes: 1
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2023/03/29
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<issue_start>username_0: My Ph.D. student is stuck on some technicality of their project. It's taken months already, and there is no good progress. The problem lies beyond their project focus and skill set. Thus, even after repeatedly helping the student, the progress remains so slow that we might be unable to finish the remaining project.
I assess that the problem lies in the complexity of the procedure. Lots of small details need to be carefully arranged for it to work. I can do it myself, but it's very hard to explain.
The choice I see is
1. Continue with regular meetings, try to explain as much as possible, and accept that we won't finish the project.
2. Redefine the problem by, e.g., changing assumptions so it becomes more tractable for the student.
3. I solve this part of the problem and then use that knowledge to better nudge the student in the right direction.
4. I solve this part of the problem and hand it to the student so that we can go to the next project phase.
My view on those options are
1. Risky because in my position, I'm too dependent on a project to have good results
2. It Would be the best way in theory, but not feasible in this case.
3. It seems pedagogically ok but possibly still time-consuming.
4. It seems pedagogically problematic as I overwrite months of work.
When I talk with senior colleagues, the conversation is not helpful because they would never touch any practical work themselves anyway. So, they only consider 1. or 2.
What would be your advice in this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: You talk about what is "pedagogically ok" vs. "pedagogically problematic."
* If this were an undergraduate teaching situation, I would agree that students need to solve their homework on their own with only nudges from you.
* As I argued [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/194315/how-much-technical-debugging-help-should-i-expect-my-advisor-to-provide/194317#194317), the same goes for PhD students learning foundational skills (e.g., debugging code).
* But it sounds like this isn't that -- this is an esoteric procedure that is so complicated that even you can barely explain it.
So, I would suggest that you (temporarily) stop thinking of yourself as a teacher and start thinking of yourself as a more senior collaborator. What is the best way for the two of you, as collaborators, to make progress? In other words: if the roles were reversed and your collaborator knew how to do a tricky procedure that you didn't know how to do, what would you prefer?
My guess is that it's mostly #4. Either tell the PhD student exactly how to do it, and why (not just nudges), or do it yourself and then explain it. Either way, the student will know how to do it next time. And you'll be able to move past this difficult, esoteric procedure and onto something more interesting, which is good for both of you.
>
> It seems...problematic as I overwrite months of work.
>
>
>
I would look at this from a different perspective:
* Maybe you misjudged in telling your student to solve this problem on their own. In that case, the sunk cost fallacy applies, and you should cut your losses (and explain this honestly to the student).
* Or maybe you didn't really do anything wrong, and this problem turned out to be more difficult than you expected. That happens all the time in research, and is a good learning opportunity in itself. If you hadn't known how to do this procedure yourself, you might have added a collaborator who does know rather than waste months with both of you stubbornly trying to figure it out.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Similar problems often arise in mathematics and in other fields that need programming. For a mathematician or computer scientist, I would expect the student to works for months on solving technical issues (finding a formal proof, debugging software) but if a physicist or engineer uses mathematics, programming, or any machine to get results for their actual research question, then they should not spend more then a month on the peripheral technical issues. Instead, they should work on their actual question.
So I would start with #3 and switch to #4 when time passes. If possible, #2 might be good, even better if the student proposes the adjusted research question by himself. Often this is not possible due to project scope. #1 offloads the problem to the student, he might not finish his thesis for reasons he is not responsible.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The problem, in my eyes, is a misunderstanding of what a PhD. thesis is meant to teach and demonstrate.
The successful dissertation, and associated research, cannot always discover or build something innovative and profound. There simply aren't enough successes available at any given time to give every competent PhD. student one to write up.
Rather, the purpose of a PhD. thesis is to demonstrate that, ***if one had discovered something innovative or profound***, one is capable of writing it up. Failures will outnumber successes. Can the student write up the failure in such a manner as to be a meaningful resource for future researchers, in steering them away from dead ends. A student who can do that, has properly earned the right to a doctorate degree in their specialty.
The key elements of doing so include, at least:
* Describing the state of the field when the thesis is being written.
* Outlining the research taken, and hypotheses investigated, in a precise and accurate manner while still being sensibly concise and detailed.
* Detailing any perceived reasons for failure; and how subsequent researchers could avoid those hazards.
* Listing possible future directions in which research could be pursued.
In truth, 90% or more of research is comprised of dead ends. Successes are rare. Building a strong brick, in the foundation upon which future researchers will stand, is sufficient to earn the degree.
Nearly any fool can write up a success; the true essence of science is learning both how to write up your failures, and how to not be embarrassed doing so.
Banting and Best didn't win the Nobel Prize for being the first researchers to isolate insulin; their colleague down the hall was. They won the Nobel Prize because they had taken meticulous notes of their failures; and were the first team to both do it a second time and describe to others how it was done.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I am a PhD student myself, but I have some experience supervising master and bachelor theses. To decide the next steps, I would recommend you to split the knowledge required to complete the project into "basic" knowledge and "domain" knowledge.
Basic knowledge are the skills and information anyone would be required to have or know to start the project and show good rate of progress. Because this is your project, you should have all the baseline knowledge, but not all PhD student would have all baseline knowledge.
The domain knowledge is something required to complete the specific task. This knowledge someone learns mostly during the work on the task. Even you may not have all the domain knowledge.
Ideally, you would accept a student who has all or most of the basic knowledge. Then you need to intensively teach only the few missing parts and the student can focus on solving interesting problems in the project.
Important difference between basic and domain knowledge is that teaching basic knowledge saves the students much more time than it costs you to teach. Whereas, with domain knowledge you reach point of diminishing returns in terms of time investment into the project.
Your student seems to be stuck on a "technicality", which you know how to do "quickly". If you classify the missing knowledge as "basic", then you need to bootstrap the student as quickly as possible, so that he or she actually can work in the interesting part of the problem. The reason is that being stuck on a basic problem kills your motivation, and you should try to avoid it.
On the other hand, you stress that the procedure is tricky and seem to struggle with formalizing the process. That is rather characteristic of the domain knowledge. Then you need to decide if you can write some protocol, to make the procedure more reproducible to demote this knowledge to basic knowledge.
If this is domain knowledge that cannot be demoted to basic knowledge by some manual, protocol or a script, then you are in a pickle. The project probably over-promised or you picked a wrong student for the task. If you do heavy-weight teaching, you will waste too much time. If you do the implementation yourself, you will lose time and the student will not learn. If you continue without change, the project and student will probably fail. At this moment you probably need to ask for help, if it is not too late, or reduce the scope of the project to make it manageable. In both cases you probably want to inform somebody who depends on the project results about upcoming delays.
Do not worry about "overwriting months of work", that is sunken cost fallacy. Your goal is to have the project completed on time with good results. The students can learn may more by solving "interesting" problems.
Upvotes: 1
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2023/03/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Ph.D. candidate in physical chemistry. I have 13 posters and presentations on my CV, with a couple more upcoming. Right now, they each are listed as a bullet point on one line, in a format like this:
* `Northwest Regional Meeting (NORM) of the ACS Oral presentation, Jun. 2019`
* `National Meeting of the American Chemical Society Poster session, Apr. 2017`
Does this look ok? Specifically, should I include the titles of the presentations? I have seen titles on some CVs but I am worried about adding any unnecessary volume to my CV since it is currently at a tight 4 pages.
Aside from my specific question, I would welcome any other feedback about this format.<issue_comment>username_1: What is in the CV is up to you, but I'd suggest listing the titles. As it is, it isn't informative to the reader.
I'd also suggest, since you are worried about length, to separate these out into a section and list it at (near?) the end so that a reader can stop when they like but see more important things (papers) if they come earlier.
Presentations seem to me to be at least a bit more important than posters (field dependent).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I wouldn't list titles, especially if it takes an extra line to do so. Titles of papers/preprints are important but I don't think presentation titles are - presumably you were talking about something from your list of papers, and I can't see why it would matter exactly what. My impression (though this could be field dependent, and I am not in your field) is that most people don't include titles, particularly if they have more than three or four presentations.
I would use a numbered list rather than bullet points, though - if someone cares about the number of presentations, you may as well make it easy for them.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
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2023/03/30
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<issue_start>username_0: As a grad student (or postdoc), past taking classes, is it ok to get a thank you gift for a professor who :
* has helped you with something (e.g. introduced you to someone for a collaboration or wrote you a recommendation letter for an application, or offered life-saving help with revisions for a paper without becoming a co-author)
* is not directly involved in any official evaluation (i.e. is not your advisor, is not on your committee, and you do not and will not have any classes with them)
But
1. is in the same institution (and your "neighboring" department, e.g. say Physics and Math).
2. might, in principle, still collaborate with you on a project in the future (but nothing is planned or discussed and there is no reason to believe such a collaboration is particularly likely to happen)
3. might still recommend you for other opportunities (e.g. internships, collaborations, or fellowships) in the future
4. you might still be a TA for in the future
**Which of the above (if any) would be a reason for such a thank you gift NOT to be ok.**
I am not asking what is in agreement with the rules and policies of specific institutions, but rather:
* What is the right, ethical, and fair thing to do in general, in such settings?
* What is the etiquette (in the US, or wherever you know the etiquette for)?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> is not directly involved in any official evaluation
>
>
>
This is important - not good to give gifts that could appear in *any* sense to be a bribe or request for special treatment. It's extremely awkward for the person receiving.
>
> What is the right, ethical, and fair thing to do in general, in such settings?
>
>
>
In the US, there is no ethical obligation to give gifts. People who help you out likely feel it is part of both their job and broader role in academia to help the next generation of academics. For help with a paper that is short of authorship, you could ask them if they are okay with you including them in the Acknowledgements section.
>
> What is the etiquette (in the US)?
>
>
>
I'd say the etiquette is generally *against gift giving to superiors* in the US, at least in the Midwest where I am. Gifts may come *from* an advisor to a student to celebrate events, like a PhD student's graduation.
The best thank you gifts are the things that don't really have a monetary value: a note or card with some words that express your appreciation goes further than any material gift would, and can feel a lot more special than an email. I keep a stack of any such cards I've received (though these have always been from people who I spent months or years working with, not for brief help).
If you must give a gift, think things like small treats (candy, cookies, donuts, that sort of thing). I'd say no more than $10 worth, and if relevant I'd give it as a gift to the professor and their lab. But, for the examples you gave, I'd stick to just a note. For people who write you rec letters, it's nice to follow up later with your plans (e.g., a position you've accepted).
Giving something more or any gift that seems to be a hardship to you will likely feel very awkward to the recipient. If you're unsure, it's fine to give nothing but a "thank you".
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In Germany, any gift over 25€ (currently around 27$) in a professional setting given to an employee (which a university professor falls under) is considered inappropriate and there are [even laws in place](https://bmdv.bund.de/SharedDocs/DE/Artikel/Z/korruptionspraevention-annahme-von-geschenken.html) that say so. And even gifts under 25€ should be reported to a supervisor (although this is rarely practiced). The reasoning behind this is to prevent bribery and corruption.
Even though you mean well, giving a gift to a superior always has a sour note, as others who do not know everything who might observe you giving a gift might think the professor helped you in some (not completely fair and legal) way. And since this is not something that students regularly do, there is also the chance the gift-receiver might even get the idea that the gift is meant to convey some (unwanted or unintended) romantic undertone.
In the end, it is the job of a professor to teach and support students. Tell them that you really appreciated their help--often a good and sincere compliment will have more effect on a person than a small gift. And if you really feel like you need to give them something physical, a card is probably the best way to go.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In the UK this would be more or less similar to advice for the US. A card or note would be very much appreciated. Doubly so if you take the time to pick out a particularly nice or relevant card. This would all that is ever necessary, and is probably going beyond what is expected
Gifts are sometimes given from juniors to superiors as long as there is no possibly of it being interpreted as a bribe (this would usually be the case for a grad student, as such students are only ever really assessed by their internal examiner). It is not unheard of, but by no means required, to give your supervisor a gift on leaving, most commonly a bottle of liquor, or small item from your home culture (if you are not from the same country). But that is for a relationship that will have lasted years.
For other situations, if you felt a card wasn't enough, I'd stick to something small, probably consumable, with a value of less than, say £10. Cookies or pastry from a nice patisserie. Perhaps a bottle of wine.
If your professional circle is sociable enough your might offer to buy them a pint or a coffee the next time you are in a pub or coffee shop at the same time. Buy someone a pint is definitely part of British culture. But make sure it is just one - it is not the done thing for a student to get drunk with faculty these days. And don't be offended if they say no.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Which of the above (if any) would be a reason for such a thank you gift NOT to be ok
>
>
>
It's inappropriate when the gift is excessive in comparison to the help. In the UK, "I owe you a pint" is the typical reaction to being helped in some minor way, even if you aren't actually likely to meet them in the pub. But that gives you an idea of an appropriate price tag for any thank you gift.
A small box of chocolates would be similarly appropriate, or a bunch of flowers, or buy them a coffee. A larger box of chocolates or a bottle of wine starts to look excessive for minor help, although it might be appropriate for "livesaving help" on a review. A bottle of really good wine or spirits is almost certainly excessive.
By the way, you may be noticing a trend here. In the UK, this kind of thank-you present is normally food, drink or flowers. Even if they don't personally eat/drink/arrange them, the gesture is appreciated, and those things can always be passed on to someone else if they don't like it themselves. Anything more solid/permanent is a no-no though. If it's good then it's too expensive to be appropriate, and if it's not good then it's not a worthwhile gift anyway. Food, drink and flowers fill that gap nicely - not too expensive, not too permanent.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: In my experience, a right gift at the right time makes people happy. Also, knowing how to gift properly is a great life skill. This is not restricted to academic environments but to life in general.
Just don't overdo it. Try to put yourself in their shoes: if some acquaintance shows up with a nice card and a box of chocolates, would you be happy? I guess so. If they show up with a dodgy envelope full of money, would you accept it? Most probably, not.
Then of course there are countless nuisances, which are part of the art of living. I used to interchange bottles of wine with my PhD advisors, who both come from cultures which accept alcohol (France and UK). This has always been really nice and enjoyable. But of course I avoided alcohol gifts to practicing Muslims, preferring, for example, fine olive oil. Also, avoid any gift that can be misinterpreted; for example, it is generally a great idea to offer flowers, but be sure they will not be mistaken for an unwanted romantic pass. Choose another kind of plant: a succulent worked great for me in several occasions.
All of this is basic common sense, more than academic etiquette.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: It can be considered inappropriate to give a gift. A card with a nicely worded thank you and how they have helped you is gratefully received. Teaching academics can use these sorts of things for promotions and appraisals so you're giving them something useful in return.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: As a former part-time lecturer in QUT's MBA School, my view on this is that it is very rarely appropriate. If you did decide to give a gift, it should be something appropriate to the circumstance - like a subscription to a journal that the person is likely to be interested in.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: My experience. Graduate students from China and Korea want to give gifts. Presumably, it is the custom where they come from. As noted in other answers, this should be discouraged when they are in the US. If there is an "orientation" for incoming students, it should tell them that no gifts are expected.
Let me second one of the suggestions already made: Send them a note thanking them. That would be more meaningful to them than a box of chocolates, by far.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: Speaking from an ethics perspective, it would depend heavily on whether the gift would create a conflict of interest, because that's what an ethics panel would use to determine if there had been an ethics violation.
In the case raised here, a conflict of interest would be determined based on two factors. Firstly did the professor have reason to expect a gift in return for their assistance, and secondly on whether the professor was rendering a service that was in conflict with their professional position or which might influence their judgement.
For example, could the gift be determined as payment for services rendered, and could the gift unduly influence a professional decision such as the awarding of grades or access to facilities. Either at this time or in the future.
I personally would not render a violation on someone who gave a relatively generic box of chocolate to a professor at the end of the semester for proof reading a first draft of a paper if the professor had no influence on the actual receipt or grading of that paper, but I would if the gift were a $100 gift certificate because that might effect the judgement of the professor if they were ever in a position to grade something produced by the student at some time in the future.
Check whatever written guidance is provided by your institute under ethics and\or bribery. If you are still in doubt after reading the guidance then consider whether the professor might fell awkward at a personal level receiving a gift.
As a rule of thumb, keep it affordable, keep it generic. Seats at a sold out concert that were really hard to get are a hard pass, convenience store chocolates of flowers are usually acceptable.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_10: The main issue is avoiding causing, or causing *the appearance of*, abuse of authority, or even of engaging in behavior that is not easily distinguished from such. That is, ethics rules are based on avoiding such situations, even if as a result of the rules, people are prohibited from doing something that, in the particular situation, is acceptable; ethics boards don't want to be trying to decide whether special exceptions apply to each case. Clear rules such that everyone knows when they've stepped over the line take precedence over bending over backwards to be narrowly tailored.
Another important principle is the lack of dual roles. If someone is your professor, then they shouldn't also be your dating partner, employer, employee, therapist, family member, etc. (the last one might be allowed in small colleges, but if there's enough professors teaching a course that you can take it from someone unrelated to you, you should). This principle is somewhat subordinate to the first one, in that the idea is that their interests in one role might provide an incentive to abuse their position in the other role.
So for the example of writing a letter of recommendation, there is the issue of abusing authority. While a LOR may not be an *official* evaluation, it is an evaluation, and it can be a very important one. It certainly would be unethical to give a LOR solely because of an expectation of payment, or refuse to give one to students who don't pay. Even if LOR are not part of the official duties, it is something they're being asked to do because of their position (and if you don't have any classes with them, why are they writing a LOR?) Introduction to a colleague also is an implicit recommendation, so professors should avoid any situation that could give the impression that they are being motivated by personal gain.
As far as helping with revisions, that's less of an issue. Technically, if you're giving a gift, then effectively you're paying them for their labor, which makes them your employee. Besides the question of whether they might be uncomfortable with this implication (depending on their cultural norms, they might even take offense at it), at some point this would raise ethics issues as a dual-role matter.
If you are going to give a gift, it helps for it to not have much monetary value, especially not much resale value. The less it looks like "payment", the better.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: according to me the best time to give a thank you gift to your teacher or adviser is when they are teachings are got helpful to you such a few if you were a coder and you build it some good app that worked well you must thank you professor who told you how to code
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am dual nationality. My surname on my both passports is totally different in terms of writing. Because some leters in country A has different writing style in country B. I already has determined my both surnames on my all academic platforms.
Is it possible to publish papers sometimes with surname A and sometimes with surname B according to the situation?
Thanks<issue_comment>username_1: In this case, you have to record or list your publications under your researcher ID, such as in Orcid. Hence, you can synchronize them with other scientific websites, such as Scopus, etc.
In addition, you have to add your papers to Google Scholar.
In this case, you will not lose your index from your publications due to the name differences.
Best Regards
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There isn't really anything that would force you to pick the same name anytime you publish something. In some cases, this may require you to have separate accounts with the journal/publisher to keep the meta data separate. Other than that, you just enter whatever name suits you right now in the name field, and that's it.
However, this seems like a **very ill-advised plan** to me. Even if you use OrcID or so to link your identities back together, you'd still lose out on the name recognition. Much of the process of building an academic career is tied to us developing a personal brand, which pretty means using the same academic name for all of our endeavours.
Upvotes: 3
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2023/03/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm moving to Malmö, Sweden in three months and I just got admitted to a Master's programme in Lund university. I also applied to University of Copenhagen for a different set of master's programmes, that I have a preference for over Lund's.
I originally had the idea of taking two masters at the same time because I will know if I'm admitted to my preferred programmes in Copenhagen only after the deadline to reject the offer of admission in Lund, and I can't risk that, in case I don't get admitted to Copenhagen. So I thought, I'll just do a couple months of lessons and withdraw from the programme I like the least.
But now I kinda really like the idea of doing two master's a true same time. **But is that allowed? If you've done the same, do you have any advice?** I would prefer not to start the second master after one year of the first as another thread suggested.
Some relevant info: I have a bachelor's in bioinformatics with top marks and some research experience, and the degree programme I got admitted to in Lund, although not in bioinformatics, largely overlaps with what I've already done, so it would be a fairly easy ride. Of the three I've applied to in Copenhagen, one is in Bioinformatics, so even more redundant with my Bachelor's, while the other two involve neuroscience and AI - I already have taken several good quality online courses and specialisations on these topics and I'm taking another 2-3 (equivalent to 6-12 ECTS each in terms of content) before courses start, so while the other two master's programmes wouldn't be nearly as redundant as another bioinformatics course would be, it still would be a fairly easy ride. Only, the course I gave highest priority to is an advanced programme. **Has someone ever taken an advanced master's programme in Denmark and how much harder/time consuming is it** compared to a regular master's programme?
Lastly, **do Copenhagen and Lund universities have mandatory attendance to lectures?** aside from the fact that I have ADHD which makes consistently following lessons almost impossible for me and frankly useless when I could just use books and recordings, obviously I'll have a lot of overlap between lessons.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't teach at either Lund or Copenhagen, but at a different Swedish university.
>
> But is that allowed?
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I don't see why it wouldn't be allowed. In general universities in Scandinavia do not try to limit what their students do in addition to studying. For example, some students work full-time next to their studies - universities may not love that, but they also cannot stop it. Doing two full-time studies at the same time would presumably fall under the same umbrella.
That said, expect little lenience from either of the universities to *support* your plan. "Sorry, I can't come to this mandatory class because that day I am in Copenhagen for my other program" is unlikely to be met with much understanding, on either side.
>
> do Copenhagen and Lund universities have mandatory attendance to lectures?
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I don't know about Copenhagen, but Swedish universities tend to have a mixture of optional and mandatory course elements. I believe this is fairly universal across Europe these days. Lectures you can normally skip if you want to, but most courses have some presence elements that you do in fact need to be present for. I would definitely not rely on courses being exclusively optional or online, unless a program is explicitly marketed as remote-friendly. My expectation would be that you need to be present multiple times a week at either or both university.
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> If you've done the same, do you have any advice?
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I have not done exactly the same, but I have (for some time) been enrolled in two full-time programs in the same university.
I would not underestimate the amount of stress that doing two programs in parallel will put on you. You are nominally looking at an 80-hour week, without even considering the time you'll spend travelling back and forth. It is true that the "minimal passing effort" for a full-time program is probably significantly below 40 hours of effort a week, but overall I would still expect to work considerably more than a full week. And at that point, wouldn't it be better to pick the program you like better, focus, and do really well there?
Another note is that if you plan to get a stipend, they will expect you to do a certain minimum number of credits *in one program*. This, again, may be hard to achieve if you work on two programs in parallel.
As you can tell, I would really not recommend it. The benefit of having two degrees is very, very limited except for a bragging factor. Any benefits you have in terms of learning will likely be dwarfed by the times you need to skimp on studying for courses because you have too much other stuff going on. I dropped one of my programs, and I am very happy about it even a decade and a half later. And that was without having to travel back and forth.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I am not sure of the maximum number of master's courses you can take here in Sweden, but I know universities are independent, and you can take whatever courses you like from different universities with some limitations.
I sort of agree with @username_1 if the course is really heavy. For me, the course here is more like a high school one or less. I am studying simultaneously two master's courses (medicine) at Stockholm University and informatics at another University, and I still have time to go around and do my own things. It sometimes takes 3 hours one way to reach the second university for the mandatory courses/lectures, and it is a nice time for me to read the content of previous or future things if needed. No doubt sometimes it is really difficult to manage both universities, and I got dead tired, but for me, the most challenging part was the financial problem of commuting (so expensive trains, up to 700 SEK/travel day). Until now, I passed all of the exams without even reading the books/content, and mostly I got VGs. So, I think you should try it, and yourself assess if it is stressful or just challenging.
I am in the last semester, and so far I had no problem with mandatory courses needing to be present. I was able to be there right when it needed. I also have to mention that the most course I spend my personal time studying, was the Swedish course. Having said that last semester, I had 30 credits at SU, and 40.5 at XS, which I passed by VG, except for the one I have an exam on 2nd June.
Based on the content of the course, which in the case of informatics I expected to be super heavy for a master's degree but it wasn't, you can take even more than 2 if you will. It is unfair not to say, that I got my Ph.D. in another country and I could not find a job in Sweden so I was advised to get a degree in Sweden to increase chance of recruitment. For the SU study, I can say my background is somewhat related to the master course making it much easier to handle everything, but computer science is something 100% new for me in the case of programming, and yet, XU is the most easiest course I had!
I really wish I could help to solve your questions, not adding more to what you already had in mind! Best of luck for you.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on a literature review of various machine learning models doing the same general tasks, both to learn the theory and challenges involved and also to find the current state-of-the-art and average expected performance to compare the experimental result to. In my search, I found that some articles measuring the same model, on the same dataset, with very different final results.
Seeing as this is about machine learning, which inherently has some amount of [result instability](https://machinelearningmastery.com/different-results-each-time-in-machine-learning/), not to mention that each lab will have its own model build, pipeline, and practice, some amount of it is expected. Furthermore, all the articles are from [IEEE](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/browse/conferences/topic), and the authors are from famous universities, so they are about as trustworthy as it is going to get. It still leaves the question of which set of results to cite, however.
The way I see it, there are a few options:
1. Cite the model's results from the article it came from: The authors obviously know how to get the best performance out of their own work
2. Cite a model's results from the article it *did not* come from: Prevent any bias, however unlikely
3. Cite all results from unaffiliated review articles: Prevent bias, and also give a "neutral playfield" for all competing models. The downside is that such reports are almost always a few years behind current developments
4. Try to test the models myself: Unless I decided to write my own review article comparing the models, I highly doubt that will be approved. In addition, the limited resources and time I have for this may not allow for a good or fair comparison, nor is it going to be much similar to any current results available
**Edit:**
To give a simple example of what I mean by "contradicting numerical results" in machine learning (ML), assuming that the current standard performance is against a (sometimes not even an ML model, just a mathematical algorithm) with average error Ep = 0.6 (cited as [3]). A and B are 2 models from 2 different labs and follow different model families:
Model A paper [1]:
>
> We have found that the newest Model A has an average error Ea = 0.5, ahead of SOTA B [2] with Eb = 0.8 and production model [3] Ep = 0.6
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Model B paper [2]:
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> We have found that the newest Model B has Eb = 0.57, above industry standard [3] Ep = 0.6, and better than Model A [1] with Ea = 0.75
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Assuming a lab C, which is not connected to either of the above, deigns to write a review paper about them, they might write [4]:
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> The tests conducted have shown that model A [1] has an average error of Ea = 0.7, similar to model B [2]
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>
><issue_comment>username_1: If you are reviewing a field, then you need to be complete. Picking and choosing is a form of bias, though you can explore whether newer results are an advance in validity over older.
So, you need to cover it all, or at least all of it post some reasonable date.
If you leave out a study you may be doing a disservice. Some models, approaches, etc, can be valuable in the extension if not done that way originally.
And yes, you can say that there is potential variability in results based on other factors than the models themselves. Those differences may actually be important - too important to leave out of a review.
Your last suggestion seems to take you beyond the realm of review, however.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Of the options you suggested, only the first seems reasonable:
>
> Just cite the model's results from the article it came from: The authors obviously know how to get the best performance out of their own work
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>
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A review is supposed to report what the literature says, with some intelligent commentary. So, for you, that would mean:
* Report what the literature says. If there are contradictions in the literature, then report it as such. That is useful information to readers, rather than hiding that fact by selectively picking what you think are the "best" results.
* Give some intelligent commentary. You should admit that you are not sure why there is so much variation in the literature, but try to intelligently suggest some plausible reaons. If this is quite an important issue, then it would be worthwhile for you to run the model yourself and see what you get. Although this should not be a formal part of your review, your experience could give you some insights as to why some results in the literature vary from each other. This would add value to your readers.
I do not think any of your other suggestions would be very helpful:
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> Cite a model's results from the article it did not come from: Prevent any bias, however unlikely
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>
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Maybe I don't understand what you are saying here, but I do not see any logic (or integrity) to citing results from articles from which they did not come.
>
> Cite all results from neutral review articles: Prevent bias, and also give a "neutral playfield" for all competing models. The downside is that such articles are almost always a few years behind current developments
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From the scenario you describe, how would you determine these so-called "neutral" review articles? You would be introducing a value judgment of "neutrality" that might be difficult to justify.
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> Try to test the models myself: Unless I decided to write my own review article comparing the models, I highly doubt that will be approved. In addition, the limited resources and time I have for this may not allow for a good or fair comparison, nor is it going to be much similar to any current results available
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I did suggest that you run a quick model for your own understanding, but not for publication of the results. Any such models would not normally be publishable because they would have to be subject to peer review in order to merit comparison with the literature that you are reviewing.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: When I applied to grad school it seems like the only places I got into were places that had someone on the faculty who knew one of my recommendation letter writers. How much does that matter? For example, if they are colleagues and/or work in the same area?<issue_comment>username_1: It does matter considerably, I think, though perhaps not decisively. Why should it matter at all? Aren't we supposed to be getting away from good-ol'-boy networking? Yes, but/and, still, it is hard to know the benchmarks for the opinions of someone one doesn't know at all. "Exceptional" can mean very different things for different people, obviously, depending on their environment, experience, etc. And, no, we don't generally require extensive bios from letter-of-recommendation writers, so...
So, yes, prior acquaintance matters, but maybe not so much for bias-y reasons as for (quite reasonable) comprehensibility of the relative senses of the opinions.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm not sure I have ever heard of a single one of the letter writers of any of the grad students I have taken on.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am completing my postdoc position in about 9 months, so I am looking at eventual career opportunities. My postdoc did not go as expected: due to some internal problems, I reported my PI for misconduct. Although the committee reviewing the case did not confirm the misconduct, they stated that I should be allowed to pursue my research as originally intended. As a response, my PI isolated me from the research group.
Despite the above, I was able to publish four articles: two papers in international journals and two extended abstracts in conferences (in 2 years). Thing is that now I will never be able to get a reference from my PI and I would like to ask how determinant is such a factor for a future in the academic field? Is there any strategy that I could use to still keep open future opportunities?<issue_comment>username_1: The good news here is that as you are moving on in your career, it becomes less important to have a reference letter from your current supervisor. Instead at some point you will want to pivot into using letters from people less close to you that are still familiar with your work, and can attest to the impact that has had on your field.
Of course, step one in this process is producing great work that has had an impact on your field. In the absence of that you will still have to rely on references more familiar with you that can attest to your potential to impact the field. However, this does not have to be your current supervisor, it can be other senior colleagues you have collaborated with. In fact, it is quite possible, for any number of reasons, that your current postdoctoral supervisor is not the best positioned person to give such a reference. As such, not having a reference from your current supervisor doesn’t the same eyebrow raising effect as it might have when applying for a PhD position or first postdoc.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: @username_1's answer is good. But there is also the point that interpersonal conflicts are not unheard of. It does happen that a student or postdoc doesn't get along with their adviser, and in those cases the adviser is typically not one of the letter writers -- that just happens, and those who read letters deal with it. It is not an automatic death knell to not have a letter from your adviser. If the other letters are good, someone on the selection criterion will say "That's odd -- the person doesn't have a letter from their adviser. I wonder what's going on?" and someone else will say "We'll never know for sure. It's not our business. How are the other letters?"
In the end, selection committees have to make decisions based on evidence and not speculation. Unless someone has heard specific stories, they will just ignore the fact -- far as anyone knows, the adviser might in fact be dead and really unable to write a letter.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In my opinion, it would help if one of your recommendation letters addressed this issue in just the right way. Exactly what that means is a bit delicate, but let me take a try:
>
> I wanted to give some context for the absence of a letter from Professor X in Dr. TMTTM's application. Professor X and Dr. TMTTM unfortunately did not get along. At a certain point the university intervened. No wrongdoing was found on the part of either party, and Dr. TMTTM was set up as a kind of independent researcher, a situation in which Dr. TMTTM flourished. I won't [better, can't] speak to the particulars of
> the relationship between Professor X and Dr. TMTTM, but I can say that in my experience Dr. TMTTM has been quite collegial. Indeed...
>
>
>
Now of course you don't write your own recommendation letters, so this is not copy for you; rather I just mean to claim that having a bit of explanation could smooth things over for you. In my mind, of all the reasons for your supervisor not to write for you, the fact that you had a personal conflict after which you did all your work independently is really a good one. With no explanation, I might have imagined something worse.
I suppose the above advice is predicated on the idea that those who look at your application are going to see the lack of letter from your supervisor as a definite hole. If you get sufficiently good letters from other people, that may not be the case. Or you may just decide to try for an additional postdoc position, for which having a strong letter from your PhD advisor seems more natural and important. After you do one more postdoc, no one will care whether you have a letter from your *last* postdoctoral supervisor: you can only have so many letters.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2023/03/31
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<issue_start>username_0: My major advisor has asked another professor to be my co-advisor behind my back.
What does that mean ? I have told the other professor that if the arrangement will be beneficial for him, I am ok.
My question is whether, if I have a co-advisor, my major advisor can leave me without me having a say in it ?
I am terrified and my advisor has been avoiding meeting me in the past two weeks.
We had no problems and we all talk about is research but He avoids me whenever he gets the chance and I don't know why.
if I agree on having co-major advisor, can the major advisor give me up without consulting me?
I am in the US
**Edit** the one the he suggested has been working with us for 2 years so why now ?<issue_comment>username_1: Slavery has been abolished, so you cannot prevent your advisor from quitting his or her job and thereby stop being your advisor. The vast majority of faculty takes the job of advising a Ph.D. student or an M.S. student very seriously and will try their best to not abandon them. If they were to do so without grave reason (e.g. being suddenly diagnosed with late stage cancer, having to care for a parent in a different country whose status has suddenly worsened) there would be repercussions on their career. Even if an advisor is suddenly offered a dream job somewhere else, they are expected to make arrangements for their students.
Involving someone else as a co-advisor is not a usual means of abandoning a student, but is usually motivated in trying to provide "better care" for the student.
At this point, you have not spoken to your advisor and you do not know what is happening. If your advisor is leaving the university, then appointing a co-advisor means that the advisor is NOT abandoning you, because he could just tell you that you have a new advisor, or tell you that both of you will look for a new advisor. Your advisor can also simply be thinking that the thesis / project / or what ever it is that he is advising you on needs some additional expertise. It could also be that your advisor is interested in getting more involved and bringing in someone else is forming an ad hoc research group. There are just too many possibilities.
To quote <NAME> from the comments, you DO need to take a big breath and wait until you know whether something is happening and whether this something is not to your liking. Again, academia frowns on professors abandoning their students without grave cause.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Your advisor can leave even if you ***don't*** have a co-advisor, just the same as they could:
* die
* have a serious accident
* retire, or
* get dementia
without your permission!
You being terrified is not a reason for your advisor not to live their life.
Moreover, your concerns that your advisor is avoiding you might actually be a misinterpretation of your advisor being busy and pre-occupied while they deal with whatever other life-event(s) are involved in them leaving.
On the very positive side, it sounds, in fact, as if your advisor is doing what most good advisors would do, and is taking steps to ensure that after they leave, you will have somebody suitable to take over.
Even in the worst circumstances (and it certainly doesn't sound like this is your situation), most institutions do not want to lose their graduate students ... and most will go to considerable lengths to ensure that you can remain at the institution and be appropriately supervised.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in my last year as an undergraduate student at a top Canadian university (not sure if it matters). This is my second time publishing in the school’s journal. The requirements are 1) it meets the theme and 2) we received at least an A− in the paper. I am very excited to have my paper published as it is an underrepresented field. My professor also loved the topic.
As much as I would love to attend grad school, I cannot continue next year due to financial constraints and personal reasons. As such, I was wondering if undergrads can still publish a paper in an official journal (outside the university) if the topic is interesting? It’s a history field, more specially, human migration.<issue_comment>username_1: There is no rule that you cannot publish a paper as undergrad, however you might need quite a lot of guidance by a supervisor. The procedures from submission to the actual publication of an article might be quite complicated and cumbersome.
It is likely that the article doesn't get accepted in the current form so there might still be a significant amount of work until publication.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Only rarely do journals ask about the qualifications of authors although they sometimes use university affiliation (as indicated by an institutional email address) as a kind of proxy for qualifications.
If you can persuade the referees and editor that your work merits publication, and fits with the style and goals of the journal, you will see your work in print. That said, depending on your ability to write clearly and to negotiate your way through the often obscure author-guidelines, you might find it useful to enlist the help of a more experienced person.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: [*short answer*] undergrad, like everyone else can publish a paper.
---
I would rather put your 'question' differently: *if undergrads ***can't*** publish a paper in an official journal*.
[assumption] by *journal*, you alluding to academic journals.
>
> I am very excited to have my paper published as it is an underrepresented field. **My professor also loved the topic**.
>
>
>
In the instance that your professor loves the topic, then, write up a structured abstract and engage the professor. (S)he would most likely come on board as 'co-author'.
Even if your professor doesn't come on board, writing a structured abstract will assist you in 'gathering your thoughts' and 'self-checking' your research and write-up your manuscript.
NB: structured abstract is different from traditional abstract. Not all journals request/required structured abstracts.
[structured abstract]
In structured abstract, the 'different' sections are 'separated' under sub-headings. This could be: background, purpose, approach/methodology, findings, originality/conclusion
* [Drafting an Impactful Structured Abstract](https://www.enago.com/academy/tips-writing-impactful-structured-abstract/)
* [How to write a structured abstract](https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/how-to/authoring-editing-reviewing/write-article-abstract)
* [SAG structured abstract](http://www.unice.fr/sg/authors/abstracts.htm)
* [Write an abstract](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_15)
I emphasise that 'qualification' is not a requirement for publishing. Feel free to work on your 'research topic', write and submit to a journal for consideration.
PS: Some journals (actually few) actually check authors' affiliation and desk reject a paper! Don't that this too serious? Most will focus on the quality of the manuscript and not the authors.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am preparing to submit my first research paper to a peer-reviewed journal and am at the stage of writing a cover letter to support my submission. I am technically affiliated with 2 different organisations: the non-academic research organisation where I am physically based and employed by, and the university with whom I am doing my PhD (this paper will be a chapter in my thesis).
I have both as affiliations against my name on the paper's title page, but **which should I choose to have as my affiliation when writing my contact details?** From an editor's point of view, does an academic institute appear more 'impressive' or doesn't it matter (i.e. is this simply a formality of needing some form of current contact details)?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no rule that you cannot publish a paper as undergrad, however you might need quite a lot of guidance by a supervisor. The procedures from submission to the actual publication of an article might be quite complicated and cumbersome.
It is likely that the article doesn't get accepted in the current form so there might still be a significant amount of work until publication.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Only rarely do journals ask about the qualifications of authors although they sometimes use university affiliation (as indicated by an institutional email address) as a kind of proxy for qualifications.
If you can persuade the referees and editor that your work merits publication, and fits with the style and goals of the journal, you will see your work in print. That said, depending on your ability to write clearly and to negotiate your way through the often obscure author-guidelines, you might find it useful to enlist the help of a more experienced person.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: [*short answer*] undergrad, like everyone else can publish a paper.
---
I would rather put your 'question' differently: *if undergrads ***can't*** publish a paper in an official journal*.
[assumption] by *journal*, you alluding to academic journals.
>
> I am very excited to have my paper published as it is an underrepresented field. **My professor also loved the topic**.
>
>
>
In the instance that your professor loves the topic, then, write up a structured abstract and engage the professor. (S)he would most likely come on board as 'co-author'.
Even if your professor doesn't come on board, writing a structured abstract will assist you in 'gathering your thoughts' and 'self-checking' your research and write-up your manuscript.
NB: structured abstract is different from traditional abstract. Not all journals request/required structured abstracts.
[structured abstract]
In structured abstract, the 'different' sections are 'separated' under sub-headings. This could be: background, purpose, approach/methodology, findings, originality/conclusion
* [Drafting an Impactful Structured Abstract](https://www.enago.com/academy/tips-writing-impactful-structured-abstract/)
* [How to write a structured abstract](https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/how-to/authoring-editing-reviewing/write-article-abstract)
* [SAG structured abstract](http://www.unice.fr/sg/authors/abstracts.htm)
* [Write an abstract](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_15)
I emphasise that 'qualification' is not a requirement for publishing. Feel free to work on your 'research topic', write and submit to a journal for consideration.
PS: Some journals (actually few) actually check authors' affiliation and desk reject a paper! Don't that this too serious? Most will focus on the quality of the manuscript and not the authors.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I run a lab in an applied computational field (e.g. computational biology/chemistry/physics etc.)
One of my postdocs (“A”) has been working on a problem for the last two years. They have made good progress, but the accuracy of their solution is not quite where we want it.
A new postdoc (“B”) joined my lab a month ago. Recently, B told me that they had given some thought to A’s problem and realized it was amenable to a specific computational method that neither A nor I were familiar with. B then showed me that, over the course of an afternoon, they had adapted said method to solve A’s problem. B’s approach is far superior to anything A and I had come up with in every possible way—accuracy, speed, interpretability, etc.
A does not yet know what B has done; B came to me first because they did not know how to break the news to A. To tell you the truth, neither do I. Knowing A’s personality, I think they will be extremely upset about this, and I have no idea how to navigate this delicate situation.
(To give an idea of how much better B’s method is: imagine spending months trying to come up with a good numerical approximation to a fiendish differential equation or integral, only to be told that there’s an obscure closed form analytic solution, obtained using techniques from a completely unfamiliar subfield of mathematics.)<issue_comment>username_1: This is a tough one.
I am a pure mathematician. Early in my career I was in a situation akin to the one of Postdoc B. (Except I was still a master student and the person in the role the postdoc A already had a permanent position. He worked on a problem for a year but had only an incorrect proof. One more thing to add here: I have learned a lot of research-level math from A as an undergraduate student.) Here is how my advisor (who was also a former advisor of A) handled the situation:
He first talked to me and said something along the following lines:
"Moishe, you are brilliant. We all know this. In your future math life you will prove many remarkable theorems. [At the time I felt embarrassed by all this undeserved flattery. In retrospect, my advisor used the right approach here by “smoothing my feathers” first.] You solved easily a problem that A was working for a year. What do you think of publishing the result as a joint paper (with A)? To you it probably will not mean much, but to A it will mean a lot."
He was right, I said yes and published the result together with A. I did not resent my advisor's advice; I also do not regret following it.
Will this strategy work in your situation? I do not know, but, I think, it is worth trying.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: I wish all the world were as generous as the situation and solution described in the [answer by username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/194816/75368).
However, before you do anything, you need to verify the solution of B to be sure that it holds up. But, assuming it does, there is no real solution but to "bite the bullet" and deal with A. It should be your task, not B's to break the news to A. You will probably also have some responsibility to A to get them to a success point.
But talk to B first to explore their position.
I don't think that A has an automatic authorship position here, given your description, but I also don't think it would be exactly a "gift" to include them.
But, if B insists on sole authorship, as is probably valid, then you need to sit down with A to break the news. You can then explore how much is salvageable from the work already done by A.
And, don't try to pressure B on a joint publication. (Caveat, a somewhat different scenario might call for a very different solution.)
One option in a joint paper is to describe both approaches and why the one is superior. That would make joint authorship valid by anyone's (I hope) definition.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: To begin with, this is not a problem with A's sensitive personality and how to delicately explain to him that he's been scooped.
The problem here is you.
Yes. You. And your selfish way of (mis)managing a group of researchers.
You should have lain down the law to all new researchers that they do **not** second guess the work others in the group are doing without their consent. Not even as an academic exercise. This does not preclude researchers exchanging perspectives: it just makes it happen in a decent and consensual way.
If the solution to this problem was so important then you should have - with A's consent - had a brainstorming session with the whole group, perhaps a few guys from the app math school too.
You've now got a discovery that appears valuable to the world but which neither you nor A can claim credit for. And B will belatedly realize that he shouldn't put his name to it either.
Gather A and B and talk to your Head of Department and tell him/her the whole truth - not least in acknowledging your foolish omissions that led to this.
If you decry responsibility on this you will have more messes ahead of you.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: You are wondering how to best deal with A's problem, but you need to realize that this is not primarily A's problem but yours.
Why? You are "running a lab". That means science. Now in your lab, a problem met a solution. That is the best thing that can happen in science. But it sells itself as a problem to you.
You want this to happen, and you want to encourage that to happen. Of course, you should try to wrap your head around what you can do in future to make this happen sooner rather than later. That's a long-term strategy. Part of it is making sure that you are up to date on the state of art at a name-dropping level so that you can offer suggestions to your post-docs what material to get acquainted with to be sure they are not obsoleted by prior or ongoing work (and if there is ongoing work, try maintaining the contacts to have a good idea whether there is a way to join it while it happens).
The problem you now have is to sell to A that they have likely wasted time and work regarding the goal of making science progress. It would not be honest to try burying B's work or rather discovery, and you need to figure out what B feels they should be getting out of it: they way you relate this, it seems like they are quite aware about the difference in actual invested work compared to what A did and are comparatively flexible regarding how to on from here.
Now it very much depends on A's priorities how to best serve their interest. Essentially there are the options:
a) need to get something published, no matter what. That is likely best served by finishing what they started. If turning the method found by B into a formal and tested and verified paper on the same problem space takes longer than finishing A's work, there is not even a conflict. It's just that A's paper is doomed to early obsolescence, but that would be independent of whether B is involved with applying the published third-party method to this particular problem or not.
b) need to establish lasting credits particular to that topic. In that case it is essential for A to get up to speed with B's discovery and publish/copublish about it in a reasonable time frame. Whether this is better served by first publishing work, methology and verification of his current approach and then basing a second work on this, or by binning his current work and restarting (and trying to secure funding, deadlines etc for it which you should support to the utmost of your ability) immediately is A's decision.
Being able to run a serious in-depth analysis of "best prior art competently applied" to "new method" is *very* *very* valuable for advancing the state of science and B cannot deliver that because he does not have the 2-year experience of A.
So again: this is a stroke of luck for science, and it is the thing what running a lab is for. It is your task to make both A and B see this as the stroke of luck it is and make sure that it turns into a net positive for both of them in order to make the progress of science line up with the well-being of your post-docs. Since this will involve replanning (particularly for A) and throwing large pieces of one's scientific fortune into an unplanned pairing with a colleague, it is your task to ensure a solid and trustworthy basis for the collaboration of the two. How much time and effort you will need to invest yourself very much depends on the two's ability to progress to coordination where both are satisfied with the outcome. Particularly regarding the actual workload and involvement and payback of B, there is a wide range of what can feel satisfactory to them, more so than with A, given their upfront work.
If they have problems trusting one another, it is your job to provide a common point of trust by nailing down agreements and making clear what developments you are willing to accept or not in the course of work submitted under the auspices of your lab.
Good luck in making this work! It's rare to get a chance to actively align the interests of people and scientific progress, and you should do your best not to waste it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Dilemma appreciated. I'm a sw developer (40 years) who has worked with many scientists & done a lot of collaborative design in different fields, with oft-touchy people.
Further to the excellent [answer by username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/194816/86932) is the question of *framing* - would B have thought about A's problem in the same manner if they didn't know:
1. A had explored a lot of approaches
2. a nearly-acceptable answer had been found but *accuracy of their solution is not quite where we want it?*
That context of A's work as a *preface to B's insight* is further reason for a joint paper.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: This scenario reminded me of a Billy Corgan (of Smashing Pumpkins) interview. Essentially, he says he would have been more successful and faced less drama if he had shared his writing credits.
Based on this logic, if "A" contributed to "B's" idea, B will have more success AND an ally by sharing the credit with A.
Billy Corgan Interview:
<https://youtu.be/GLvqzWSRwnA?t=307>
The interview contains some swearing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: My gut feeling in computational mathematics is that every method has place to shine, given the right circumstances.
Method X may work very well in situation ABC, but might not generalize beyond that setting (in theory or practice). Method Y might not work as well in situation ABC, but may apply to situations DEF, GHI, and JKL much easier than X.
If your example is anywhere close to the scientific setting
>
> (To give an idea of how much better B’s method is: imagine spending
> months trying to come up with a good numerical approximation to a
> fiendish differential equation or integral, only to be told that
> there’s an obscure closed form analytic solution, obtained using
> techniques from a completely unfamiliar subfield of mathematics.)
>
>
>
then would guess that B's method works in specific setting but A's method may work still once you change the specific problem a little bit (stuff like: nonlinearity, wild material coefficients, etc., can work wonders to derail good methods).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: This answer is to this question, but moved into an industrial environment rather than academic.
It seems that the "delicate situation", at least as referenced by the other answers, relates to who gets to publish the results, and (I presume) get a career boost. I re-read the question, and "publishing" is never mentioned.
Even within a lab, many problems are solved and advances are made that aren't directly published. A lab itself is a small industrial culture which solves many problems, some big, some small, some publishable, some patentable, and some that are keep secret until they need to be revealed. I would claim that given the OP's problem statement, this may have much in common with an industrial setting.
In an industrial setting, person A may have been working on a problem for a year and made good, but not complete, progress. Person B has a new idea for how to solve it.
My job as the manager is to put persons A and B together to talk about the problem, and the progress B has made.
If the problem was important, chances are that A was my best pick for someone to work on it. If I had a preferred outcome, it would be that A continues his work with B's ideas, and finishes the problem. If the problem was not important, it could mean that A isn't important to the organization. I should think about that.
Several outcomes are possible. No matter what, I would publicly note A's long-term progress and B's breakthrough.
I would also look for other problems to slide past B.
It is important that I be part of their first meeting to judge the vibe, and then follow up with guiding an outcome based on the responses of the individuals. I would also keep an eye on interactions between them after the meeting, looking for signs of collaboration or obstruction.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: A career math's challenge is like a romantic partner: if they get unexpectedly wed to a competitor, jealousy can ensue, even revenge. If you hint the news to him and he starts to splutter and even cry, don't unleash the full force of the news. Use subtilty: Scientists are temperamental, unstable, you potentially stand in the way of causing A to become depressed, feel like a failure, belittled in his field and workplace. You and B can conspire to announce it gently to him over a period of months and years, not necessarily all in one shocking destabilizing revelation... Say that news has come of a potential solution for the problem, using said analytic system, and let A find the solution for himself and feel positively about it.
Solving the maths problem using broad general knowledge is a very laudable feat (is that OK english?) You can agree with B to not break A's heart and belittle him if you feel that it is the professional way of dealing with it, depending on A's mental stability.
Once he is over the entire quandary, a few months down the line, perhaps years, you can start to break the news to him... "Oh! it was student B that told me that said analytic method could solve the mystery". Some months later, say that B even "started to demonstrate the solution, so you told him not to give A chance to solve his beloved maths problem". see how he reacts, if he starts to cry, leave it.
Various tactics can be used to lessen the danger of emotional destabilization.
Academia and depression are often closely bound, and there is no need to raise the risk of a student's depression. Perhaps now is a good time to research instances of madness and nervous breakdowns of scientists in relation to academic theories.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_10: Given the fact that B had the presence of mind to consult you before approaching A, I would echo the sentiments of several posters here to impress upon B how the terrain mapping of A framed the problem in an efficient way. Knowing where not to go has huge value and often comes at a high cost of time and effort.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: This is in fact very good news, and is one of the best reasons why we discuss our research with our peers. Yes, it is a situation that must be navigated with care, but really this is a win-win. Clearly the three of you should share authorship of this result, as it was cultivated in your laboratory through an ideas-sharing process. Culture of authorship order differs by field and should be navigated accordingly; you need only to be sure that everyone gets credit, including the credit for working at this problem for more than a year.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I was wondering how common it is that advertised PhD positions have actually already been given to internal candidates and if there are any signs indicative of this.
I am currently looking for a PhD position in microbiology and had this happen to me and some friends. I find this rather frustrating. Nothing feels particularly “fair” about having students spend their time and thoughts on submitting an application thinking they stand an honest chance, when really the position has already been promised to someone. My research area is quite specific, so there are by default not that many positions available. Now after a lot of research and patience, I found two positions that fit quite well, but the application periods are only two weeks long and one of them is supposed to start in “only” three months time. Is this a signal that the positions are already taken? I also had a professor tell me this is very common and I should contact potential supervisors directly, but another I actually mailed directly told me to look out for job postings. So what’s the truth here? How many advertisements are actually genuine? And what’s the better approach to land a position: apply to posted vacancies or asked supervisors directly? Also, do I need to write a cover letter for the latter? Seems like a lot of effort for not knowing if there’s even funding available.<issue_comment>username_1: Generally when a position is "earmarked" then the advertisement is oddly specific as to the wanted expertise etc. Basically to make the candidate fit well and others not. Once you look at a good amount of advertisements you can recognise these. They exist because of public advertisement rules, and in principal if you can fit the slot you could get it, but you'd need to shoot the intended candidate out of the water. If you correspond with the advertiser (the academic contact, not HR) you can mostly get hints as to what is what. Just ask a question, in particular if you need to put in a proposal it is helpful to ask for expectations (in any case). It should be clear enough from the response if there is little point in applying.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Some PhD positions are essentially equivalent to jobs; what you described is common for jobs. Hence, if I win a grant with one or more PhD scholarships, and I so happen to have a good student who did some work for me, then I will allocate one of these scholarships to the student.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Both journals are indexed by major search engines and have similar ratings. From my point of view (with limited experience), if you are researching a narrow subject and you have found online an article matching your interest, would you care from which publishing house this article came from?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think I've ever even had a wisp of thought in my head about how many articles a given journal publishes when I read a particular paper.
However, I have been concerned about whether it's worth reading a paper in certain venues that I don't trust to conduct rigorous peer review. If the paper is central to what I'm working on I have no choice but to read and evaluate for myself, but the majority of papers I look at I'm looking for something specific besides the primary hypothesis the authors are interested in: something about their methodology or a reference value for some group, and if I'm searching through dozens of papers I may not spend as much time on the ones published somewhere I don't trust.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This is hard to answer. I think a reasonable framework to try to suss it out is the rigor of the review process of the two journals as an indicator of the level of trust a scientist can put in the papers they read.
Assuming all other things are equal, it takes a much bigger network on the part of section editors to find qualified reviewers for 9000 papers than for 300 papers. My assumption is that there's some limit to the amount of work you can ask of a section editor.
So, the way you pose your question, if the staff involved in reviewing at the journal with 9000 publications was 20-30 times bigger than that of the journal with 300 publications, I would probably be able to accept that the quality of the peer review were roughly equivalent, and then move on to asking other questions about which journal I would send a manuscript to.
In reality, such considerations would probably not work into my decision making process. I'd start by considering which journals people in my area tend to publish in, impact factor, which journals appear in my citation list ...
Note that the factors in my "real" decision tree are not independent of the question you're asking -- if the editorial standards of the journal publishing 9000 papers per year were not up to snuff, I assume that that journal would not attract the papers of people in my field that I respect, and would not have a good impact factor.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Sorry this is a bit long. I really need some advice and opinions on what to do.
Last year, I started my PhD program, but due to changing my field of study and suffering from anxiety, my grades during the first semester were very poor. These were mandatory courses that were not directly related to my field of study, and I'm not sure how bad my GPA was because it hasn't been released yet. However, I know that I didn't pass with a score of at least 3.0. As a result, I have to retake the courses in the upcoming academic year. The course instructor told me that they would give me an 'incomplete' grade, and I can fill in my final grade once I retake the courses next year.
Although my grades were poor last year, I still tried to perform well in my lab work because I wanted to make sure that at least I didn't mess up everything. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder back (I'm an international student), and I didn't know how to seek treatment when I came here, also did not know that accommodations such as deferred exams could be requested based on mental health issues here. I could only get diagnosed with anxiety (my doctor here didn't agree with my previous diagnoses) and start taking medication after the last semester ended. This semester I'm making progress. I have been doing well in my classes and lab work, and I am still receiving my salary. Just when I thought everything was going smoothly, I received an email saying that I am on probation because of my poor grades from last year...
I'm feeling quite hope less right now. I accept responsibility for my poor performance last year, but is there any chance for me to argue or do I just have to accept the probation? The email regarding my probation did not mention my salary, only that I will not be able to participate in a minor assessment at the end of this semester (not the comprehensive exam) due to probation. I hope I should at least be allowed to take this assessment, as I am concerned that delaying it will only worsen my mental health...
Can you please advise me on what I can do?<issue_comment>username_1: You will probably have to accept the probation as graciously as possible and move on. It is not a good idea to try to argue in this kind of situation; you should imagine that the powers that be have a skeptical attitude toward you at the moment (which is essentially what the probation means) and trying to get out of things would likely make that impression worse. It seems that you’ll likely be fine as long as you perform better in the relevant courses next year, so focus on that.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> This semester I'm making progress. I have been doing well in my classes and lab work, and I am still receiving my salary.
>
>
>
That's great! Sounds like this will solve itself when your GPA goes above the threshold. Not seeing a big problem here.
>
> is there any chance for me to argue or do I just have to accept the probation?
>
>
>
What is there to argue about? You don't allege that the grades were incorrect, and I assume you are automatically put on probation when your grades are below a threshold. It sounds like your grades are getting better, so this problem should solve itself.
>
> The email regarding my probation did not mention my salary...I hope I should at least be allowed to take this assessment
>
>
>
If you have questions about what academic probation means, it is appropriate to ask for clarification. But I do not recommend asking for special treatment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: First, as to moving forward successfully, I imagine that your Graduate School Office and your dissertation advisor will give you far better advice than what you can hope to find here. I also imagine that your university has the equivalent of an Academic Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, or Counseling Services Office with staff who are professionally trained to advise students in exactly your situation.
Please avail yourself ASAP of the benefits from seeking out all of these services.
Secondly, as to accepting versus arguing against your probation limit, consider instead that a more important next step is to seek local counsel to help you sort through the complexities in your situation over the affected period.
Finally, for what it is worth, your situation is not unique (others have been there). It also sounds to be not yet hopeless. Your path out (e.g. to argue against the probation limit or to accept and move on) will become harder if not impossible to follow and/or may lead you to lingering self-doubts as you wait longer to ignore contacting the local offices at hand (versus seeking opinions here).
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am going on fieldwork to UAE in a couple of days' time. I'm researching parts of the local music scene in Abu Dhabi/Dubai. What is the right thing to say to check-in/passport control? Does one say one is going on research leave? Fieldwork? Or is it just simpler to say it's a holiday?
I take it one does not say "business" since no money is being earned. I ask because I think saying "fieldwork" could lead to question after question, but I just want to do the right thing.<issue_comment>username_1: You will need to check in which category fieldwork falls for the UAE - and in particular, whether it is even covered by the visa-free/visa-on-arrival scheme there or not. It would not surprise me at all if you would need particular permissions/paperwork to conduct fieldwork. For example, the UK has a particular "research" purpose for the standard visa/visa-free route, which has some rather peculiar requirements.
Claiming to be there for a holiday is a clear lie, and could get you into significant trouble.
"Business" is the correct answer for most trips we do as academics (e.g. attending conferences, meeting with collaborators).
It is generally ill advised to ever use the word "work" when talking to immigration-related people if you do not have a work visa.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I suppose it depends what question they ask you, but "I'm doing some academic research" seems both simple and truthful. If they have follow-up questions, they'll ask them.
Broadly, they aren't interested in what you're doing; just whether your answers and your paperwork matches.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It doesn't really matter what you call it. Either it's allowed or it's not allowed, no matter what you want to call it. It sounds like either you're not sure or you think it probably isn't and don't want to confirm that. This is a huge problem. (I'll note that the question you asked is *not* "Am I allowed to go on fieldwork research?" but "What do I tell them so they'll let me in?")
Your first priority needs to be finding out whether or not what you want to do is actually allowed visa-free. If not, your next priority needs to be finding out which visa you need to get and how to get it. Trying to trick or mislead a passport agent into letting you in on the wrong status is a very dangerous game with significant potential consequences.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I guess you should tell the truth and the real reason you go where you go. There is nothing worse than a lie to a passport security I reckon. Maybe it would be possible to get some letter or a paper with a signature of your supervisor and a dean. That would help be more transparent at the gate.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: I'm going to answer this question myself to give feedback on how things transpired. There have been a lot of helpful comments, though there has also been some speculation and I think it's important that the record is set straight. I would like to thank username_2 for his answer since it was the most helpful to me, though I still think it is better that I answer the question since I can report on what actually happened.
In the end I was not asked in the UAE at all what the purpose of my trip was. I was, however, asked in the UK outbound from Gatwick. First of all when I got to the Qatar Airways check-in desk the girl asked me if I needed a visa, which I thought was a nice question since a lot of airlines will just assume you have one sorted out. Now, as a UK resident, one does not need a visa if one is staying in the UAE under 30 days [and not earning]. I told her that I was doing academic research in music. She asked how long for, I said about 3 weeks, and she just said that was fine and took my bags.
At the gate when about to board the plane I was stopped by someone who identified themselves as a plain-clothes policeman asking me what the purpose of my trip was. He said, "you don't get many single guys travelling on Qatar, it's normally families or couples". I told him I was doing academic research - and that it was music-related. He asked me what genre and I told him it was hard rock/metal mixed with Middle Eastern influences - "that's quite a fusion" was his comment. He let me go after tapping a few things on his phone.
I transited at Doha and nobody asked me anything. When I got to passport control in Abu Dhabi the only thing I was asked was, "is this your first time here?" and that was it.
Now, of course the info at Gatwick could have been passed 'down the line' but it also could not have been. The reason I say this is because if there is one thing I have found in the few days that I have been here is that everyone is incredibly welcoming and friendly. Everybody speaks English [that I have met] and everyone is very respectful; I should also mention the architecture which is nothing short of breathtaking. The UAE is clearly successfully modernising while retaining its traditional core values and seems to want to welcome as many people here as it can. It has been a great stay so far and I would recommend others come here to see for themselves if they have the opportunity.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
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2023/04/01
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<issue_start>username_0: I've applied to several US grad schools for PhD math and one of my rejection letters stated that I can contact them regarding their decision. I would benefit from knowing whether their reason of rejection was something I can change (SOP, research experience, test scores etc.) in which case it might be worth applying again after improving those aspects of the application, as opposed to factors that I cannot improve on (past GPA, gap years, quality of past schools etc.).
Would it be okay for me to ask their feedback on this? One university has clearly stated that they do not provide feedback as part of their policy. Others haven't mentioned anything about this.<issue_comment>username_1: I would definitely recommend asking. The worst they can do is ignore your email, or decline to give a reason. And I at least would deem a desire for self-improvement a positive trait in any prospective applicant, whether successful or not. An important thing to emphasize is that you accept their decision, and merely seek feedback to identify areas where you can improve your profile for future applications. I have done so for most of my unsuccessful applications, and found the feedback generally very useful for my career development.
That being said, mind that you should take any feedback you receive with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, many hiring officers might give you superficial reasons for rejection, as there might have been hidden factors influencing the decision that they will not tell you to avoid potential legal action on your part. These might include subjective decisions ("I just don't think this profile/background is very interesting"), token hiring calls (["We already know we want to hire person X without looking at other applicants."](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/07/26/five-signs-your-interview-is-fake-because-theyve-already-hired-someone/?sh=25755860168a)), or hidden equity objectives (as regrettably evidenced in the [Harvard admissions scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Students_for_Fair_Admissions_v._President_and_Fellows_of_Harvard_College)).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think you should avoid asking because some of these schools are potential future employers for post-doc positions, professorships, and other posts, and you don't want to come off as needy to them. Though it's probably unlikely that they'll remember you, I'd avoid it.
Moreover, some schools receive so many applications that I doubt that you'd receive constructive feedback from say a faculty member if you decide to ask. You would rather get feedback from some administrator.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/01
| 388
| 1,610
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<issue_start>username_0: I've searched the articles, abstracts, and keywords using Scopus.
I narrowed down the time for the exciting period/range.
I limited the subject area to the relevant ones.
Now I've 40 papers instead of 3000. I don't know what the next step is. I want to do a systematic review and publish my findings. I've collected the research questions. Still, I don't find any good description of how to process them. Should I read all of them? Or is it enough to walk through the abstracts?
I want my paper accepted, so one solution is not the best, I need an elegant solution. :-)<issue_comment>username_1: People who write review articles are experts in their respective fields for a large number of years.
The answer to your question is that this approach is not going to benefit you, especially if the only goal is to publish a paper.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Well, maybe not. Reading a bunch of articles and then extracting some things from them isn't quite enough. You also need to *understand* the articles you read so that your paper is more than what a bot could do.
In fact, what you need to write a good paper is to achieve *insight*, if not enlightenment, from those papers into the topic(s) they discuss.
I'm currently reading a book that is important to my current project. It is very dense and full of "information", but it is terribly difficult to draw insight from it without spending a lot of time on each page and, in this case, drawing a lot of figures.
If you can express that insight in an understandable way, then you have made a contribution.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/01
| 829
| 3,371
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<issue_start>username_0: A few weeks ago, we (2 authors) published a hypothesis paper in the medical sciences.
Some days after the manuscript was published online, a researcher wrote me and asked for the full text. I did not know said researcher at that stage. We exchanged some emails back and forth about the content of the paper. I encouraged said researcher to publish his own ideas on that topic in a comparable hypothesis paper. Subsequently he wrote a draft and submitted it to the same journal. He informed me about that step and sent me the manuscript to have a look (after submission). Now the same journal where we published invited me to review the manuscript of the aforementioned researcher. We work in foreign countries and never published together before.
However, we had contact prior to his submission and he sent me some of his ideas.
*Should I decline the review invitation in this case?* I would love to review this piece because it is my main research topic. On the other hand, I feel it may be inappropriate that he sent me the piece after submitting it to a journal.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, accepting the review invitation is fine. Having discussed an idea with a researcher before they wrote it up in a paper, and having received that paper in private communication, does not constitute a conflict of interest.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not terribly unusual to be a referee of a paper (co-)authored by someone you know somehow. The scientific community is small in some fields, and discussing ideas is common enough. That alone is no problem by itself. However, I would return the question to you: Do you think you will be able to judge the manuscript based on its scientific merit alone? If so, go ahead. If you think that there is a chance that you would give the manuscript a preferential treatment, for example due to a personal connection with the authors, it would be advisable to take that into account, and maybe decline to review the manuscript.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Some days after the manuscript was published online, a researcher wrote me and asked for the full text.
>
>
>
That is normal
>
> I did not know said researcher at that stage. **We exchanged some emails back and forth about the content of the paper**. I encouraged said researcher to publish his own ideas on that topic in a comparable hypothesis paper
>
>
>
>
> Subsequently he wrote a draft and submitted it to the same journal. He informed me about that step and **sent me the manuscript to have a look** (*after submission*)
>
>
>
>
> However, **we had contact prior to his submission** and he sent me some of his ideas.
>
>
>
Your contacts appear to be more than mere contacts. It tilts towards engagement.
Ethics kicks in here. Irrespective of you not being a co-author, there're contacts between you; sufficiently so.
This call for you to reflect deeply and honestly.
Before you **hit the decline** (or accept).
* be transparent by contacting the editor about the degree of contacts and engagement between you and the author
* indicate willingness to remain unbiased if requested to go ahead and review the manuscript
* consider how small or broad the field (or subfield) is
* you may then accept to review or not
*PS: in some subfield, there are only a handful of researchers!*
Upvotes: 1
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2023/04/02
| 1,379
| 5,667
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<issue_start>username_0: There is a figure that is unbelievably clear and efficient in getting my point across. More specifically, I'm doing a presentation about modeling a certain real-world object to math students who are not familiar with the problem, and the figure beats any sort of clumsy explanation I can give. Nor is there any chance of me 're-imagining' the figure, or drawing from another example.
Now, asking for the rights to reproduce the figure will cost around 70euros (I study in Europe, the journal is Nature Computational Science). Are there any benefits given to students to get around this issue? Also, the presentation is only to ~40 students in my university, and the slides won't be public, so perhaps this may be another way out?
I've seen [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3100/id-like-to-use-a-figure-from-a-paper-whats-the-best-way-to-do-this), does my use case fall under fair use?
**Edit**: Added the selections I took in Nature's RightsLink.[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/W37nr.png)<issue_comment>username_1: I think you are free to do this, but it is a legal issue and IANAL. And the law varies.
In the US, "fair use" is defined in one way. In the UK "fair dealing" is similar, but not identical. Other places...???
One of the most important aspects of these exceptions to copyright law involve whether you affect the commercial value of what you copy. Another is the nature of the use. Publishing a figure in some paper needs some consideration, but very limited "sharing" in an educational environment is likely (not assuredly, likely) to be considered fair.
Another aspect is that copyright infringement is almost everywhere a civil matter. It requires a lawsuit to enforce. So the copyright holder has to know about the infringement and has to decide that a lawsuit is "worth it". If you were to republish he entire Bob Dylan songbook, they would take notice, certainly, and some are paranoid about smaller things, but only if it is worth the effort. In your case I can't see that as an issue.
But it would be best if you have proper access to the image to start with. Even finding it in a library is fine. Otherwise it has ethical implications that go beyond copyright.
And, cite the source when/if you present it.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You should contact the publisher (not the author) and ask permission, clearly describing your situation. I can’t believe there’s a fee for just asking.
For what you describe (an internal event), I would normally not even bother and use the figure, but it’s a good exercise to just go through the process of asking.
I can’t imagine the publisher will require you pay the fee; at worse you may be required to acknowledge the source of the figure, which is something you should do anyways.
I don’t have experience with the reuse of figures in your field, but graduate students of mine often reuse figures in their thesis and have never had to pay, although they have gone through the process of formally getting permission (sometimes electronically) and properly thanking the publisher for allowing the re-use of images.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, there is a way to do it without paying the fee. Just go ahead and include it in your presentation.
This is not a violation of a copyright law as it is fair use. [The US law](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107), for example, explicitly allows the use for teaching, and literally all the "factors to be considered" listed in the law to determine fair use work in you favor: you use it for non-profit, only a small portion of an article, it does no damage to commercial value etc.
I'll be as bold as to say that the king is naked: even if the publisher had a valid claim that you have committed a copyright infringement, it would be of no practical consequences. First, they would never learn about your presentation. Second, if they do, they wouldn't sue. What would they ask the court to do? Make the audience unsee your presentation? Make you pay 70 EUR?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The answers so far mention "fair dealing" (law in UK and several commonwealth countries) and "fair use" (US law). Especially the latter is a very open-ended doctrine for reusing copyrighted works. However, [EU copyright law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_European_Union) (to the extent that copyright law has been harmonized between the countries in the union) tends to work in a different fashion. The Copyright and Information Society Directive includes a list of explicit limitations and exceptions to copyright that member countries are *permitted* to implement. Among other things, member countries may allow educational uses. But the details vary from country to country. The European Union Intellectual Property Office has a useful [FAQ on copyright for teachers](https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/faq-for-teachers), which provides answers for the different EU states to questions like the following:
>
> 6. Under what conditions can teachers or students use copyright material (such as images, articles, photos) from the internet for educational purposes, such as in an assignment, presentation or in a digital learning environment?
>
>
>
If you are in an EU country, chances are you'll find there is some kind of educational exception to copyright, and an outline of it in that FAQ or at least references to applicable laws and industry agreements. If you are in a non-EU European country, you'll have to look to the appropriate national law.
Upvotes: 1
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2023/04/02
| 4,107
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<issue_start>username_0: I have conducted my PhD in Austria on a very hyped field in the international community. During my work I have been able to start an international collaboration and publish some relevant papers. In particular, I really want to continue working with my main collaborator and they indeed said that they could offer me a postdoc position, but only starting next year.
In that case I needed to find a temporary one year position to wait. Looking for something like that I talked to a professor in a nearby university who works in a closely related field, but using methods with which I'm really not familiar with and which I do not have any affinity with. The professor asked several things about my research and said that they could offer me a position right now and I accepted. The issue is that during our conversation *I took for granted* that I would continue my current research (which is indeed what I wrote in my research statement when I applied to that university). In any case, he never mentioned anything else.
After a while his assistent started filling a form to formally request the grant be issued to me, and I got worried when I saw that they posted a project on that professors research. Again, I have no intent to work on that, and had he said during our conversation that I would be required to do so, I would have rejected the position.
I think that I have to ask him about that to have a clear understanding of what its expected of me, but I'm afraid to look like a fool that doesn't understand how postdoc positions work.
In that regard: when I talk to a professor to be my supervisor in a postdoc position, is it implicit that I will have to work in whatever he decides without any input on my part? How can I deal with this situation without looking like a fool?<issue_comment>username_1: The only real requirement is that you adhere to any contract that you sign. But how postdocs work varies a lot from case to case. There are situations in which the person is totally free to set their direction and others in which they are bound to the needs of some specific project that may (or not) already exist.
Funding complicates the issue. If there is only funding for close adherence to a given project then you might want to keep looking for a more suitable position.
You are wise to be concerned and you need to work out any misconceptions about your respective needs. This situation may not be the one you want.
But you seem to have the right idea about the needed conversations.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I am sorry to break it to you, but yes, postdocs are generally not independent researchers. To do what YOU want to do, you've got to secure funding yourself (for example, a competitive postdoc fellowship awarded by a national granting body), or at least that's how it works in my country of origin (Japan) as well as in the labs I have visited so far (in Europe, Australia, and Russia).
So, the relationship between a supervisor and a postdoc is generally as follows: the supervisor either (i) gives you a topic to work on and expects you to come up with some ideas yourself, or (ii) gives you a specific problem and expects you to solve it. I've talked with a lot of supervisors and postdocs and have never seen anything different from that.
Professors spend a lot of time and effort to secure grants, so they naturally want to use their grants to advance their own research by hiring postdocs. Hiring a postdoc who would do something very different from what the professor does would be highly irrational for the professor.
Also, when professors apply for grants, they have to explain in their applications what the grant will be used for - the exact topic, methods, expected benefits, etc. So, when a professor is awarded a grant, he or she can't really use it for something substantially different from what was stated in the grant application.
There might be exceptions, so there might be professors who hire postdocs and give them freedom to do what they want, but that's not how things work in general, at least in my experience.
If I were you, I would say or write to the professor something to this effect, "Dear Prof. XXX, it looks like I totally messed up. My understanding was that I would be able to continue my current research. Now I've seen a form that says I will be working on a project of yours. And I've just realized, by reading things on the Internet, that postdocs generally work on their professor's projects, not on what they (postdocs) want to do themselves. But it wasn't my intent to work on your project. I didn't really know how things work in academia. How should we go about that?"
So, be honest and direct and ask the professor how he thinks both of you should go about the situation. In my experience, this kind of attitude gives the best outcomes in difficult situations.
Honesty is the best policy.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You have a strong view, it might be useful to soften it a bit:
>
> I have no intent to work on that, and had he said during our
> conversation that I would be required to do so, I would have rejected
> the position.
>
>
>
There are a lot of benefits of actually doing exactly that:
1. You haven't secured funding for the next year. Here you have money for a project in related field. It is better than to be unemployed for the whole year.
2. You have a great opportunity to learn new methods and extend your circle of collaborators.
3. It is very typical to continue to work on existing projects (e.g. finalizing manuscript, resubmissions, new job applications, etc.). Bare in mind, however, that the level of tolerance to these activities might vary. You should demonstrate good performance in the main project.
I suggest not to make quick decisions and actually try to harvest maximum benefits from this research opportunity.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: That depends on a lot
* The first thing is if the money for paying you comes from a project with a clearly defined scope and goal. Then it's not even up to your supervisor to change that (and yes, while I have seen it happening that money was misappropriated and nothing happened, the funding body could come to the person applying and ask why the money is not used correctly).
* If you work more than the funding paying for your position and get additional funding from the institution you work at and their money, then your supervisor is your boss and has power to decide what you should be working on
* If you use equipment provided for by your new institution, you need to ask if that's ok, even if you do this outside your working time.
* If you use equipment provided for by your a specific project funding, the applicant to that funding needs to clarify if that's ok (to be clear, i have seen parts from Projects "borrowed" to other experiments, which probably is not ok without mentioning the funding source).
* The rest is up to a discussion between you and your supervisor, but yes, they are your boss in sense of that contract and need to decide.
So talk specifics to your potential supervisor - it could be that they are interested to find a solution.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Why would researcher/PI fund from their grant a postdoc working on a project not related to the grant? How does this PI justify this to the funding agency? Why would this PI invest time, money and resources (space, computer time, a lab bench, whatever) into a postdoc who will bring much less to the research group than someone working directly on a grant-funded project?
So unless you come with your own money, yes you are expected to work on your PI’s project.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The official line is that they are paying you so at least in the sciences, yes you have certain duties to fulfil to get that money and you might be expected to work on a very specific project which supervisor has in mind.The game is to balance those duties with what you ''actually want to do''.
They probably aren't just going to pay a postdoc to work on absolutely anything they want, be completely independent and not write any papers with anyone in the research group, at least not in science and engineering.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: >
> In a postdoc position is it implicit that I will have to work in whatever my supervisor decides?
>
>
>
1. No. On the contrary, it is implicit that you will have some, or a lot, of autonomy, on the one hand, and contribute to the group/PI's research, on the other hand.
2. There isn't a proper definition of what a "postdoc position" is. Any position doing research, for which a PhD-equivalent background is a necessary and sufficient condition, and which isn't a permanent staff position, is a "post-doc" - but that's quite a wide set of potential occupations. BTW, It's not even implicit in the term "postdoc" that you'll have a "supervisor" at all.
>
> that professors research... I have no intent to work on that
>
>
>
Now you're saying something very different than what your title says and what your question up to here has said.
You asked whether you may be required to work **solely** on your host/supervisor's research project - but what you actually want to do is **not do any work** on that project. It is implicit that much of your work will be on the subject your research group is working on.
>
> and had he said during our conversation that I would be required to do so, I would have rejected the position.
>
>
>
I'm not sure I really believe you, and few others will take that claim seriously. It seems like you are trying to deny the nature of the position you have taken, using sophistry to argue that they should employ you to do whatever you like.
>
> I think that I have to ask him about that to have a clear understanding of what its expected of me, but I'm afraid to look like a fool that doesn't understand how postdoc positions work.
>
>
>
In Academia, we often look like fools, and sometimes even adopt the position of the fool to examine issues without our assumptions and presumptions; so - don't be afraid of that too much. More specifically, though, it is better to have a sit-down with that professor, explain your misconception, and try to reach an amicable arrangement - than to let this miscommunication fester and blow up later on.
An "amicable arrangement" might be some carving-up of your time between your own research agenda and his / his team's. It might also be an early termination of the post-doc, although that might theoretically reflect poorly on you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: A postdoc position is a contract for a particular job
-----------------------------------------------------
In a postdoc position it is implicit that there will be a particular research direction specified in the contract; postdocs generally are not treated as independent researchers, they are hired to do specific research work. Depending on the position and its funding, that direction may be set by the postdoc's personal research interests or by the supervisor's research interests or by the pre-committed direction of some already approved project at the institution.
In general, if someone says "hey, I've got a postdoc position that would be good for you" it shouldn't be interpreted that they have available funding to pursue your own interests, but that they have available funding for something specific that is close enough to your previous research that you'd be able to do it well; and if you want to consider that option, it's entirely appropriate to start with an inquiry about what the research direction is going to be, with the expectation that you might not have much input into what it's going to be.
It would not be safe to assume that it is a position to pursue whatever research topic catches your fancy, but it also won't be "whatever my supervisor decides on the spot", a reasonable expectation is that the direction would be agreed upon before the contract. Do note that the supervisor may or may not have the possibility to agree on an arbitrary topic that you want, that depends on what the constraints on particular funding opportunities dictate, it may well be that a research direction for a particular postdoc position is pre-determined, take it or leave it, and your previous research is only relevant as far as to suggest if you'll be able to do the specific research work that the institution needs from that postdoc.
That being said, often (perhaps usually?) postdocs do pursue their own research interests - however, unless they are a close match to what the research team needs, that research work on personal interests would be *on top of* the research and deliverables expected from the postdoc job.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: Welcome to the forum.
After some consideration I have formed the view that you have had an interview for a postdoctoral position that was **inter-personally** very agreeable.
So agreeable in fact that both parties left the discussion feeling quite confident that they could work together. We can all relate to this: being at ease with people in an intense working environment is almost a human necessity and a free-flowing line of communication a tremendous boon. This being rather hard to find, it is not surprising that when we do find it we may feel that everything else about that position, i.e. the actual work, the labs, library, canteen, colleagues, other faculty, office staff, sports facilities, the local city culture, etc will be at worst 'workable'. And this state of emotion may well make us neglect to run through that "matrix of job considerations" we may have mentally prepared on the train to the interview.
Yet, just as for every moonlight kiss there is a sunrise of reality, there comes a time in every fellowship when a client's needs must be ascertained or inferred, a real work schedule lain out and a set of project milestones set in place towards the eventual completion of the task.
Were you someone who had a difficult PhD supervisor, you no doubt would be quite happy to have found a research group leader whom you could work smoothly with and perhaps quite happy to let him/her determine the work objectives. Yet this does not appear to be the case with you: you had a seemingly reasonable supervisor and have a quite fixed idea as to what area you want to do research in. Making matters worse, the latter does not appear to be what this research group has in mind for your fellowship term.
Obviously, you will be fearing that your intense interest in your own favorite area will turn to intense frustration were you to continue on your present path. And this is surely the last thing that any researcher wants: research work always has an elegant sufficiency of frustration without one adding to it.
It may be helpful therefore to contact and respectfully apologize to the prospective research group leader for what seems to have been a rather unfortunate, although not uncommon, misunderstanding on the fellowship project objectives. Of advantage in this discussion is your own willingness to:
* assure the PI of your professional regard for him and his research group
* admit that only working in your preferred area is of real interest
* acknowledge that hiring a Fellow with limited motivation for the project would be a disservice both to the work involved and the supporting university's commitment
In this way the parting would be respectable.
I *could* end this answer to you by wishing you well in your search for a fellowship that would be interesting to you.
But in writing that I would feel like I am being indulgent to you and ignoring what with decades of personal hindsight I recognize in your thinking here: I see an echo of some of my own foolish career decisions and fear for your prospects if you proceed as you seem to intend. It's kind of like that final parole application in *The Shawshank Redemption* where Morgan Freeman's character says he wishes he could talk to that 16 year old boy that he was before he went out to rob a liquor store and kill the attendant in the process, putting himself in jail for life as a result.
If you are fortunate enough to have come through the challenges - financial and intellectual - of a PhD programme and have an offer of a fellowship in a good respectable research group led by someone you get along well with (maybe too well!) then maybe it's time you manned up and humbly accepted that offer.
Life's not just about doing interesting things and hoping the euphoria of that will carry us through the rest of it. It's mostly about persevering through humdrum work, sifting out the odd nugget of use to the world and carrying on. Most folks don't get a fraction of the opportunities you can have with this job. <NAME> recounts [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_OqanHY-EQ&t=4s) the happenstance preceding some of the major events of his life: they all seem to follow a "nothing" invitation from an agreeable person. (Of course, Greenfield is being modest about his own impressive analytical and communication skills as a young man: you don't get invites to high-powered dinner parties or to join RFK's campaign without real class)
Your offer of a fellowship "next year" may be genuine - or it may be a non-confrontational way of steering your out of your previous group. If you do find a position in the area you like, it may not be under a PI that you like. So please think hard about taking the fellowship offered to you and providing your own motivation to get through the less interesting aspects of it.
Upvotes: -1
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2023/04/02
| 4,253
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing my B.Sc. in Computer Science. I am currently writing my **methods** chapter and adhering to the **IMRaD structure** (<https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/imrad/writing-an-imrad-report>).
I am designing and implementing an interpreted programming language. I do classify my implementation as an artifact, as is normally classified and described within the Information Science Design studies.
According to **<NAME>**, *Researching Information Systems and Computing
Second Edition*:
>
> Having developed an IT artefact, it must be evaluated. There are many criteria for
> evaluating an IT artefact: functionality, completeness, consistency, accuracy,
> performance, reliability, usability, accessibility, aesthetics, entertainment,
> fit with organization, and so on. The criteria you use depend on the reason you
> developed the artefact in the first place---they will be related to your original
> research objectives. The evaluation can lead to conclusions about the design
> process as well as the design product, and may suggest that further modifications
> to either or both are needed.
>
>
>
**Artefact:**
An interpreted programming language that is inspired by Scheme, and aims to be closer with the nature of Mathematical Expressionism (Notations and Symbols) of expressing a equation, sigma or other notations and functionality to a problem of investigation.
According to this book: *Concepts of Programming Languages (10th Edition)*
by **<NAME>**.
The **1.3 Language Evaluation Criteria** includes this table:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yUGT4.png)
**Question(s):**
* Are there other methods for evaluating a programming language? (*I am aware that performance can be used as a metric, quantitative research*)
---
**N.B:** I have already posted here a different questions concerning methods section/chapter in a thesis, [Choice of design science method for artifact creation in Computer Science](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/194862/choice-of-design-science-method-for-artifact-creation-in-computer-science).<issue_comment>username_1: The only real requirement is that you adhere to any contract that you sign. But how postdocs work varies a lot from case to case. There are situations in which the person is totally free to set their direction and others in which they are bound to the needs of some specific project that may (or not) already exist.
Funding complicates the issue. If there is only funding for close adherence to a given project then you might want to keep looking for a more suitable position.
You are wise to be concerned and you need to work out any misconceptions about your respective needs. This situation may not be the one you want.
But you seem to have the right idea about the needed conversations.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I am sorry to break it to you, but yes, postdocs are generally not independent researchers. To do what YOU want to do, you've got to secure funding yourself (for example, a competitive postdoc fellowship awarded by a national granting body), or at least that's how it works in my country of origin (Japan) as well as in the labs I have visited so far (in Europe, Australia, and Russia).
So, the relationship between a supervisor and a postdoc is generally as follows: the supervisor either (i) gives you a topic to work on and expects you to come up with some ideas yourself, or (ii) gives you a specific problem and expects you to solve it. I've talked with a lot of supervisors and postdocs and have never seen anything different from that.
Professors spend a lot of time and effort to secure grants, so they naturally want to use their grants to advance their own research by hiring postdocs. Hiring a postdoc who would do something very different from what the professor does would be highly irrational for the professor.
Also, when professors apply for grants, they have to explain in their applications what the grant will be used for - the exact topic, methods, expected benefits, etc. So, when a professor is awarded a grant, he or she can't really use it for something substantially different from what was stated in the grant application.
There might be exceptions, so there might be professors who hire postdocs and give them freedom to do what they want, but that's not how things work in general, at least in my experience.
If I were you, I would say or write to the professor something to this effect, "Dear Prof. XXX, it looks like I totally messed up. My understanding was that I would be able to continue my current research. Now I've seen a form that says I will be working on a project of yours. And I've just realized, by reading things on the Internet, that postdocs generally work on their professor's projects, not on what they (postdocs) want to do themselves. But it wasn't my intent to work on your project. I didn't really know how things work in academia. How should we go about that?"
So, be honest and direct and ask the professor how he thinks both of you should go about the situation. In my experience, this kind of attitude gives the best outcomes in difficult situations.
Honesty is the best policy.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You have a strong view, it might be useful to soften it a bit:
>
> I have no intent to work on that, and had he said during our
> conversation that I would be required to do so, I would have rejected
> the position.
>
>
>
There are a lot of benefits of actually doing exactly that:
1. You haven't secured funding for the next year. Here you have money for a project in related field. It is better than to be unemployed for the whole year.
2. You have a great opportunity to learn new methods and extend your circle of collaborators.
3. It is very typical to continue to work on existing projects (e.g. finalizing manuscript, resubmissions, new job applications, etc.). Bare in mind, however, that the level of tolerance to these activities might vary. You should demonstrate good performance in the main project.
I suggest not to make quick decisions and actually try to harvest maximum benefits from this research opportunity.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: That depends on a lot
* The first thing is if the money for paying you comes from a project with a clearly defined scope and goal. Then it's not even up to your supervisor to change that (and yes, while I have seen it happening that money was misappropriated and nothing happened, the funding body could come to the person applying and ask why the money is not used correctly).
* If you work more than the funding paying for your position and get additional funding from the institution you work at and their money, then your supervisor is your boss and has power to decide what you should be working on
* If you use equipment provided for by your new institution, you need to ask if that's ok, even if you do this outside your working time.
* If you use equipment provided for by your a specific project funding, the applicant to that funding needs to clarify if that's ok (to be clear, i have seen parts from Projects "borrowed" to other experiments, which probably is not ok without mentioning the funding source).
* The rest is up to a discussion between you and your supervisor, but yes, they are your boss in sense of that contract and need to decide.
So talk specifics to your potential supervisor - it could be that they are interested to find a solution.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Why would researcher/PI fund from their grant a postdoc working on a project not related to the grant? How does this PI justify this to the funding agency? Why would this PI invest time, money and resources (space, computer time, a lab bench, whatever) into a postdoc who will bring much less to the research group than someone working directly on a grant-funded project?
So unless you come with your own money, yes you are expected to work on your PI’s project.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The official line is that they are paying you so at least in the sciences, yes you have certain duties to fulfil to get that money and you might be expected to work on a very specific project which supervisor has in mind.The game is to balance those duties with what you ''actually want to do''.
They probably aren't just going to pay a postdoc to work on absolutely anything they want, be completely independent and not write any papers with anyone in the research group, at least not in science and engineering.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: >
> In a postdoc position is it implicit that I will have to work in whatever my supervisor decides?
>
>
>
1. No. On the contrary, it is implicit that you will have some, or a lot, of autonomy, on the one hand, and contribute to the group/PI's research, on the other hand.
2. There isn't a proper definition of what a "postdoc position" is. Any position doing research, for which a PhD-equivalent background is a necessary and sufficient condition, and which isn't a permanent staff position, is a "post-doc" - but that's quite a wide set of potential occupations. BTW, It's not even implicit in the term "postdoc" that you'll have a "supervisor" at all.
>
> that professors research... I have no intent to work on that
>
>
>
Now you're saying something very different than what your title says and what your question up to here has said.
You asked whether you may be required to work **solely** on your host/supervisor's research project - but what you actually want to do is **not do any work** on that project. It is implicit that much of your work will be on the subject your research group is working on.
>
> and had he said during our conversation that I would be required to do so, I would have rejected the position.
>
>
>
I'm not sure I really believe you, and few others will take that claim seriously. It seems like you are trying to deny the nature of the position you have taken, using sophistry to argue that they should employ you to do whatever you like.
>
> I think that I have to ask him about that to have a clear understanding of what its expected of me, but I'm afraid to look like a fool that doesn't understand how postdoc positions work.
>
>
>
In Academia, we often look like fools, and sometimes even adopt the position of the fool to examine issues without our assumptions and presumptions; so - don't be afraid of that too much. More specifically, though, it is better to have a sit-down with that professor, explain your misconception, and try to reach an amicable arrangement - than to let this miscommunication fester and blow up later on.
An "amicable arrangement" might be some carving-up of your time between your own research agenda and his / his team's. It might also be an early termination of the post-doc, although that might theoretically reflect poorly on you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: A postdoc position is a contract for a particular job
-----------------------------------------------------
In a postdoc position it is implicit that there will be a particular research direction specified in the contract; postdocs generally are not treated as independent researchers, they are hired to do specific research work. Depending on the position and its funding, that direction may be set by the postdoc's personal research interests or by the supervisor's research interests or by the pre-committed direction of some already approved project at the institution.
In general, if someone says "hey, I've got a postdoc position that would be good for you" it shouldn't be interpreted that they have available funding to pursue your own interests, but that they have available funding for something specific that is close enough to your previous research that you'd be able to do it well; and if you want to consider that option, it's entirely appropriate to start with an inquiry about what the research direction is going to be, with the expectation that you might not have much input into what it's going to be.
It would not be safe to assume that it is a position to pursue whatever research topic catches your fancy, but it also won't be "whatever my supervisor decides on the spot", a reasonable expectation is that the direction would be agreed upon before the contract. Do note that the supervisor may or may not have the possibility to agree on an arbitrary topic that you want, that depends on what the constraints on particular funding opportunities dictate, it may well be that a research direction for a particular postdoc position is pre-determined, take it or leave it, and your previous research is only relevant as far as to suggest if you'll be able to do the specific research work that the institution needs from that postdoc.
That being said, often (perhaps usually?) postdocs do pursue their own research interests - however, unless they are a close match to what the research team needs, that research work on personal interests would be *on top of* the research and deliverables expected from the postdoc job.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: Welcome to the forum.
After some consideration I have formed the view that you have had an interview for a postdoctoral position that was **inter-personally** very agreeable.
So agreeable in fact that both parties left the discussion feeling quite confident that they could work together. We can all relate to this: being at ease with people in an intense working environment is almost a human necessity and a free-flowing line of communication a tremendous boon. This being rather hard to find, it is not surprising that when we do find it we may feel that everything else about that position, i.e. the actual work, the labs, library, canteen, colleagues, other faculty, office staff, sports facilities, the local city culture, etc will be at worst 'workable'. And this state of emotion may well make us neglect to run through that "matrix of job considerations" we may have mentally prepared on the train to the interview.
Yet, just as for every moonlight kiss there is a sunrise of reality, there comes a time in every fellowship when a client's needs must be ascertained or inferred, a real work schedule lain out and a set of project milestones set in place towards the eventual completion of the task.
Were you someone who had a difficult PhD supervisor, you no doubt would be quite happy to have found a research group leader whom you could work smoothly with and perhaps quite happy to let him/her determine the work objectives. Yet this does not appear to be the case with you: you had a seemingly reasonable supervisor and have a quite fixed idea as to what area you want to do research in. Making matters worse, the latter does not appear to be what this research group has in mind for your fellowship term.
Obviously, you will be fearing that your intense interest in your own favorite area will turn to intense frustration were you to continue on your present path. And this is surely the last thing that any researcher wants: research work always has an elegant sufficiency of frustration without one adding to it.
It may be helpful therefore to contact and respectfully apologize to the prospective research group leader for what seems to have been a rather unfortunate, although not uncommon, misunderstanding on the fellowship project objectives. Of advantage in this discussion is your own willingness to:
* assure the PI of your professional regard for him and his research group
* admit that only working in your preferred area is of real interest
* acknowledge that hiring a Fellow with limited motivation for the project would be a disservice both to the work involved and the supporting university's commitment
In this way the parting would be respectable.
I *could* end this answer to you by wishing you well in your search for a fellowship that would be interesting to you.
But in writing that I would feel like I am being indulgent to you and ignoring what with decades of personal hindsight I recognize in your thinking here: I see an echo of some of my own foolish career decisions and fear for your prospects if you proceed as you seem to intend. It's kind of like that final parole application in *The Shawshank Redemption* where Morgan Freeman's character says he wishes he could talk to that 16 year old boy that he was before he went out to rob a liquor store and kill the attendant in the process, putting himself in jail for life as a result.
If you are fortunate enough to have come through the challenges - financial and intellectual - of a PhD programme and have an offer of a fellowship in a good respectable research group led by someone you get along well with (maybe too well!) then maybe it's time you manned up and humbly accepted that offer.
Life's not just about doing interesting things and hoping the euphoria of that will carry us through the rest of it. It's mostly about persevering through humdrum work, sifting out the odd nugget of use to the world and carrying on. Most folks don't get a fraction of the opportunities you can have with this job. <NAME> recounts [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_OqanHY-EQ&t=4s) the happenstance preceding some of the major events of his life: they all seem to follow a "nothing" invitation from an agreeable person. (Of course, Greenfield is being modest about his own impressive analytical and communication skills as a young man: you don't get invites to high-powered dinner parties or to join RFK's campaign without real class)
Your offer of a fellowship "next year" may be genuine - or it may be a non-confrontational way of steering your out of your previous group. If you do find a position in the area you like, it may not be under a PI that you like. So please think hard about taking the fellowship offered to you and providing your own motivation to get through the less interesting aspects of it.
Upvotes: -1
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2023/04/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a new boss, who is experienced and has published a number of scientific articles. He is telling me that I should not have any tables in my articles, but rather make graphs for everything. I agree that graphs are better, but I also think it's ok to add some tables for the less important variables. I tried to google it, but couldn't find that anyone else has raised the question before. It seems that using tables is so normal that nobody is questioning it (apart from my boss, apparently). I'd love to know how other people see this!<issue_comment>username_1: There is a tendency among many older academics to avoid the use of tables. The reason for the dislike has more to do with the fact that tables were traditionally difficult to typeset well, rather than a specific preference for graphical displays. For example, historically, the American Psychological Association discouraged the use of extensive tables in their journals, and some APA journals set a specific limit on the number of tables that could appear in an article.
The decision to use tables or graphs should now be driven by your own goals in presenting the material. Keep in mind that you are likely to have the option of publishing on-line supplementary material along with your accepted article, so you can always present explanatory figures in the main text, but also upload files that contain tables of the data on which the figures are based.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I would say that you should include tables when the actual numerical values matter. That is, a graph is great for showing trends in the data, but it is difficult to read the actual numbers from a plot. But if your numerical results matter (say it's the kind of results someone else is likely to directly use in their work) then put them in a table.
Depending on the journal you could get away with just putting the tables in an Appendix at the end to not break up the flow of the text.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: It is the wrong question whether tables are good or bad. The right question to ask is this: *How do I present the data in a way that makes the point I want to make clearest?*
There are many cases where figures are the best way to show a trend, in particular if the numerical data is of low accuracy. If you can only measure things to at best two digits of accuracy, and if the data changes significantly from one time point to another, then a table does not have a lot of information -- a figure (from which you can read about two digits of accuracy) will show the trend much better.
On the other hand, if you want to illustrate that your device can measure the same variable repeatedly to five digits of accuracy, then a graph is pointless: You can't see five digits of accuracy visually, and you need to show the data as a table to allow your readers to compare the repeated measurements.
In other words, whether a table or a graph is more appropriate is not a question that can be universally answered. It depends on what the *message* of your paper is, what it is *you want to show*, and how you *convey the message best* so it is easy for your readers to understand.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2023/04/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student in mathematics. Recently I received back a request for revision of an article I had submitted to a journal. The referee made several good suggestions; the chief editor also provided some suggestions.
When I resubmit the paper, it is natural I will thank to the referee. But **should I thank the editor as well**?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no reason why you should not thank anyone who has assisted you. Acknowledgements of this kind are often written in the third person, running on something like the following lines:
>
> The author would like to thank *two* anonymous reviewers and the journal *editor* for helpful remarks that significantly improved this paper.
>
>
>
... amend the italicised words as necessary!
Examples appear [here](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1475-4932.12441), [here](https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1098&context=ajpl), [here](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17577632.2022.2139570) and [here](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167718716301369). In some of them, the editor is not only thanked, but named. The last of the four examples is almost identical to the words I have suggested above.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In normal circumstances, I would not thank the editor nor the reviewers in the body of the article itself (or any publicly-visible place - footnote, acknowledgements, etc.). I would, obviously, thank all around within the submission system, as is polite and customary to do (check your field’s cultural norms). It is entirely expected that any published article contains contributions from the editor(s) and reviewers.
In extraordinary circumstances, use context-specific judgement (and discuss with your coauthors if you have any). I have met such circumstances once in my career so far.
I was the junior author on a material science paper submitted to PNAS for which one of the reviews significantly generalized the theoretical result we presented (dropping certain convenient hypotheses and proving that the main results still held). The review was six pages long and included two figures. That is far from normal - the other review "merely" asked a few clarifications, pointed some errors, etc. (the standard stuff).
We ended up thanking "one referee for valuable suggestions relating to" that part of the paper. We did not thank the other referee (with the benefit of hindsight I would say their review was among the top 20% I ever received; never once did any of my senior coauthors suggest to thank them).
*To this day, I think that acknowledgement was insufficient. I think we should have proposed co-authorship to the reviewer, and if refused, made the acknowledgement much clearer about the scope of the contribution.*
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I rarely hear of students signing FERPA release forms when asking for letters of recommendation. Yet letters of recommendation commonly talk about student's performance in a class, projects they did in a class, their GPA/courseload, etc. Mentioning such things imply that a student took a given class (which I understand to be something protected by FERPA).
Are letter writers just assuming students asking for letters are implicitly waiving their FERPA rights?<issue_comment>username_1: You’re supposed to ask each student to explicitly waive their FERPA rights via a written form before writing a letter. For example, see [this explainer](https://my.hamilton.edu/offices/registrar/for-faculty/ferpa-rules-for-student-recommendations). This is highly impractical, and my impression is that 99% of faculty ignore this and just write letters that don’t follow FERPA anyway. It’s a very annoying and unsatisfying situation.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As an initial disclaimer, I am a professor, not a lawyer, so my position here certainly should not be relied on as legal advice. FERPA is a law in the United States with potentially harsh penalties (generally falling on the University) for violations. I have formed these opinions reading articles on the Department of Education website, directives from my university, and questions on this stack.
There is little or nothing I could write in an undergraduate or masters-level letter of recommendation absent a FERPA waiver. All of my interactions with these students are somehow related to their academic record. I *could* confirm directory information about a student, but as a faculty member, I am not the responsible party for confirming that information. Further, since I only teach a couple of undergraduate courses, even confirming I know a student would likely reveal protected information on their academic record.
The case is slightly different for PhD students who are entering the job market. Lack of a FERPA waiver would certainly restrict what I write. However, these letters usually contain objective evaluations of the student's research, which in my field will be at least public working papers by the time I write the letter. I feel that I could discuss my impressions of these papers without disclosing details of that student's academic record. I may (I am not sure) also be able to comment on details of their employment for me as a research assistant or teaching assistant. Again, these points are moot in my case because I require a waiver as a prerequisite to providing recommendations.
I will add that I am likely an exception in that I require any student I write a recommendation for provide a completed FERPA waiver prior to my writing the letter. I further include a notice at the end of each letter that I have provided the information in the letter under a waiver of FERPA rights. Anyone writing a letter for someone they knew as a student in a US university should be doing these things, but I am under the impression many don't.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am early to mid-career academic in the field of business. Leaving a tenure-track job, I am currently considering two different offers with very different pros and cons. While I do not consider this next job to be my forever place and do wish to settle down in a balanced tenured role in the future, I'm having trouble deciding between the two:
1. Tenure-track position in a teaching University:
* Offered at the associate level
* Very small town, small University
* 3/3 teaching load
* Relatively good benefits/support but not a huge amount of research support provided
2. Non-tenure track teaching position in R1:
* Very reputable, large University
* Offered a teaching assistant professor
* 4/4 teaching load
* Relatively good benefits/support (for a teaching role)
* Bigger town
Of course, the "tenure-track" position feels very attractive, but working at the R1 school will also help with building good relationships and networks for research in the future. I understand that it will depend on my needs and preferences, and any advice or opinions would be appreciated thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: This is a tough one because I don't know about the specifics of your situation. I would lean towards the tenure-track offer at the smaller school. Although I don't abide by the famous quote, "Better be first at a small Iberian village than second in Rome", I think there is some wisdom to it. At the small school, you'll have a bigger role, with students at your disposal who might not be graduate students but will nevertheless need undergraduate thesis projects and some of them might even be interested in research. With the tenure track position, you will be respected and you'll have a say in the inner workings of your department and school.
This is not to say that you'll not be respected at the big school, but remember that they are hiring you to teach. Teaching at a big school might mean teaching demanding students and large classes so you might not have as much time to work on your research as you might expect. Plus, I'm not sure that you can readily get involved in some research group or whether you'll be welcome to do so. At the small school, you can build the career you like, apply for research grants, develop classes, etc. And if you do manage to build a research group you'll be seen as a superstar because this is not expected of you. I think this might even increase your chances of applying and getting tenured at bigger schools after a few years at the small school.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I do not consider this next job to be my forever place
>
>
>
In my observation -- albeit in mathematics, rather than business -- neither job is likely to be a good stepping stone towards a more research-oriented tenure-track job. People can and do move, but unless your record is exceptional this would require a lot of luck.
If you take either job, I would do so on the basis that it might be your forever place after all: evaluate the position on its own terms, rather than what it might do for your long-term ambitions.
Alternatively, you say you are in a tenure-track job now. I don't know your personal situation, but if neither of these jobs offers is a good match for your eventual goals, you might consider staying if possible.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I typically use the following workflow when citing papers:
* search paper name on Google Scholar chrome plugin
* click cite -> BibTeX -> copy BibTeX into references in Overleaf (LaTeX)
I once had a conversation with a PhD student (whom I don't know personally or have any contact with) who said I need to be careful with references elicited in such a way. I can't recall anymore, however, what his full point was.
Now I am wondering how I should check source for source that I've cited in order to make sure that everything is 100% correct.
Is there a well established/recommended process in doing that?<issue_comment>username_1: I assume that you have a copy of every paper that you intend to cite since you wouldn't be citing a paper unless you had read it. With that in mind, the easiest way to check the citations is simply to compare the downloaded citation information with the information that you can typically find on the first page of each article. That, at least, is what I always do!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Whenever you are consuming somebody else's BibTeX, it's useful to check for some specific issues that commonly occur with BibTeX. Mangling capitalization is common in human names and paper titles - which you would see in the final output even if the `.bib` file looks OK. Sometimes the parts of names are given incorrectly, or are written in a way that looks normal in the `.bib` but will be horribly wrong once all the compilation steps have taken their turn.
You should also do a "global pass" to make sure bibliography entries from different sources are consistent. Journal and conference proceeding titles may appear differently depending on the source: "SIGCOMM '22", "SIGCOMM 2022", "Proc. ACM SIGCOMM 2022" and "Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2022 Conference" are all the same event, but if you have obtained `.bib` entries from several sources then they could all appear in your bibliography, inconsistently. Similarly, sources may differ as to whether they give the publication month, or the issue number, or both, for a monthly journal. Books might have a city of publication, or not, even for the same publisher, and the publisher's name might not appear consistently (consider "OUP" vs. "Oxford University Press").
These problems can be noticed by looking at your final formatted bibliography *carefully*, and comparing against the actual authoritative sources, i.e. the publications themselves, for how the various names, titles and metadata ought to appear.
Upvotes: 1
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2023/04/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a graduate student in (pure) mathematics, and I just finished up a project and am planning on publishing it. It's a short paper, only about 10 pages, answering a few questions from the literature. I'm writing to ask about conventions on acknowledgements; during this project I have gotten a lot of encouragement from a number of people in the field, and a few people have also read my draft of the paper and sent me kind feedback. I'm extremely grateful to all of them, and would like to include them all in the acknowledgements! The issue is that I'm worried it might come off as self-aggrandizing; given that it's only a 10 page paper, I am worried that it seems I have too high an opinion of myself or of the work by thanking so many. (It seems like such a multitude of thanks is more appropriate in long, groundbreaking papers, not short papers like this one.) Is this something I should be worried about?<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest that you do it as you like. If the editor or reviewers complain about it (probably not too likely) then make them happy.
There is nothing self aggrandizing about seeking and using help from people. Humble, actually, when you think about it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The main issue is not how many people you acknowledge. The issue is mainly that you should give *appropriate* acknowledgements that are consistent with the scientific publishing norms.
For example, acknowledging your 3rd year teacher who first introduced you to the fascinating subject of PDEs would be quite far outside the norm even if you're writing about PDEs. Or someone who fixed the departmental WiFi when you were really in a pinch to download a paper would not be acknowledged.
On the other hand, it would be very typical to acknowledge everyone who has read the paper and given feedback. Simple encouragement along the lines "that's an interesting idea - you should totally work on it!" would not be acknowledged. If in doubt, spell out exactly what you're acknowledging people for and then have your advisor check that all the acknowledgements fall in the typical norms.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2023/04/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I've posted a few questions regarding research and I'm trying to make my progress on a project more fruitful, and while the answers/comments have been quite helpful, it still doesn't seem like I am really enjoying the process - I have a hard time in following through with the advice and getting myself to work, and it seems like I'm asking questions trying to treat symptoms but not the root cause.
For me, it seems like I want a career in academia or something research-based because I don't really want to end up in industry (more specifically, I don't want to end up as a software engineer). But at the same time, I also don't feel I have enough interest and knowledge in my current project to push myself forward.
I've done a small (software) internship for a startup, did some "research" which was closer to software work where I helped visualize some data into a website, and now have an internship for a larger tech company this summer. I found the tasks I had in my previous experiences to be not very interesting or stimulating, so industry did not seem to appeal to me (though maybe things will change this summer). However, when I speak to professors during office hours, or family members with graduate degrees, and talk to them about their work it resonates more with me. So I've definitely found more interest in academia, or so it seems.
The problem is that it seems like my interest stops there - I like talking about academia/research work but am less motivated to put in the work in my classes and research. In the case of academics, I can warm up to a book about a topic I'm learning about over time provided there isn't much time pressure, but research is a different beast. I find that I keep putting my research on the back burner, and once I got my position, getting started on anything is hard, to say the least.
This conflict is why I'm feeling that I might be gaslighting myself by accident.
At this point, I feel like I'm the stereotypical parent in YouTube skits where they say that the kid needs to grow up to be a "doctor, lawyer, engineer, or failure", except I'm doing this to myself. Is there any way that could help me determine if I am truly wanting a career in academia or if I've just convinced myself that I do?
---
For context, my previous questions dealt with external factors that do seem to be making it harder. Having to deal with extraneous tasks and other commitments makes being able to find joy in learning hard (and finding time to work on research far harder), and a lack of supervision and deadline in my research project means I can let the inertia keeping me from work fester. I don't have access to a time machine or some way to tweak personal parameters so I wouldn't know how things would be if those roadblocks were removed, but it doesn't seem like those are the root cause - if I had more passion, then I feel like I could find a way around them.
I'm really not sure where I'm going with this question, so if it's against the rules or off-topic in some way, feel free to close this, but if not, advice would be greatly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: For me it looks like you should do something to find out more about yourself. This could be something like meditation, learn more about self awareness, counselling.
You are asking a question that ultimately only you yourself can answer. You need to take responsibility for yourself and *decide* whether this is where you want to go, and if not, where else. There are techniques to improve your awareness for yourself, your feelings, and what drives you, and I suggest you try to find out about them.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: This is an important question that I wish more people thought about before attempting an academic career. Try approaching it with this question:
**Suppose you wake up this morning, check your email and see an urgent message about something that went badly wrong yesterday. The problem is serious and fixing it is going to take a long time. Do you dread going to work?**
An academic example of such a problem could be that you published a proof of X, and then someone found what looks at first glance like a critical error in your proof.
If you dread to going to work, you might want to do something else. Otherwise, you're good.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: For context, I am currently also standing before the decision whether to stay in academia or leave. Which is why I am contemplating similar points.
A way I like to think about job decisions is in terms of two factors.
1. The abstract image of the job: Maybe you find this kind of work important. Or its a role you would like to see yourself in (e.g. the prestige of being a professor). Or you just like the end-result, (e.g. you value knowledge and would be proud to write a standard textbook at some point).
2. The day-to-day reality of the job: In short, you might enjoy the daily tasks of the job. They come easy to you and you feel you are doing it well.
A job that fits well should have a good mix of these factors (imho).
*To me, it seems that research scores high on 1. for you, but not so high on 2. And your internal conflict comes from a conflict of these two points.*
This is, I think, not uncommon, because everyone hears something about the findings of research, but only few actually produce these findings.
To me, it is very hard to work independently on projects that take a long time to be completed. Its hard to achieve such a high level of quality (as it is required in research) by myself. But that is okay. In the end these decisions are up to personal preference.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: You're presumably in your 20s.
You have many, many potential career years left.
This isn't a choice you have to make now and absolutely stick to. You can go get a job in industry, and if it doesn't work out return to acadaemia. You could also do the opposite, stick it out in acadaemia and if that doesn't work out go explore industry.
At this point in your life, there's not a huge amount of detriment or risk there as it's not like you'd be moving from a senior position in one to a junior position in the other: both would likely be junior.
This cost will go up as you progress, so I'd suggest experimenting sooner rather than later to see what actually works for you.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: From your description it looks like you are just starting your career. At this point it is normal to feel overwhelmed by difficult tasks, big projects and so on. Even so, when it seems you are left with less guidance than usual as described in one of your previous [questions](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/193722/how-can-i-deal-with-being-overwhelmed-with-large-not-very-concrete-tasks-and-lit).
My suggestion would be to wait and see. Do the internship, continue with your studies and choose. After some time, if you don't like your choice, you can always reassess and make a move in the direction you then perceive as more likeable.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: I had a similar internal conflict while working on my PhD. After my PhD and my first post-doc, I thought I hated research so much that I tried teaching at a small school. After a few semesters of teaching, I even got into one of those boot camps that connect you with industry jobs. And somehow I felt that it wasn't for me (industry I mean). I ended up accepting a research position in something slightly irrelevant to my PhD and somehow things took off for me (a bit).
So I think a small change in direction might help. Whatever it is you do, it might help finding topics or areas of research, related to what you know, and work on them. Something you find cool or interesting. Try them for a little bit and see.
Another thing I realized, after getting my current research job, is that despite feeling uncomfortable with research at times, I was always willing to do the work, i.e., I never really gave up on it completely.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: There's already plenty of general "academia vs. industry" advice answers on this site, not to mention the internet in general, so I won't go into that too much. I'll try to be as specific as possible to the question.
The way you've phrased things strikes me as more poetic or dramatic than practical. You are creating an artistically pleasing description of your pathos, but you are not effectively moving towards settling the question of which type of career you should do.
To answer something like that, one wouldn't start by asking emotionally loaded questions like "am I only doing X to avoid Y". You would start with a simple "should I do X or Y?" This would lead you to the helpful "what appeals to me about X? about Y?". You would then balance this against the obvious "I have already been doing X, but what would be the cost of trying Y?".
Since you speak of talking to professors during office hours, rather than outside of them, you are surely a student and not faculty. You can easily spend a year or three working in the industry and see if you really like it better. It would be minimally disruptive to your aspirations in either career. Having done both, I can tell you the industry is less complicated than academia, you can definitely get a good idea after 1-3 years. This would be the most direct way to settle your issue.
While it's not hard to switch from academia to industry, it is still non-trivial. For one, you will have to learn how to interview well. Another, you will have to get used to people who don't have anywhere near the technical knowledge you do, don't want to learn, and just want you to "summarize it" or "explain like I'm 5". Both of these things can be learned fairly quickly, you should look for the relevant resources (too many to list here).
The obverse, switching from industry to academia, can be harder but is not as difficult as people make it out to be. Especially for a student it is not a big deal. You can also be proactive and discuss it with your advisor, and perhaps he might be able to help arrange a "soft landing" for you if/when you do return - like hiring you as a postdoc so you can freshen up your academic CV.
I'll also note that it's important to distinguish between consuming the fruits of a labor and doing the labor itself. Not every foodie's calling is to be a cook. Libraries are free, you can read and talk about the latest research no matter what job you do. This should not be the basis of your decision. Rather, to decide if you'd be happy in academic research, you should look at the key activities of the academic researcher and how they relate to you. I would say these are things like writing papers, writing grants, coming up with novel research projects and so on.
And lastly, don't base your opinion of the industry on one boring internship you had. Internships are often boring. Remember that job interviews go both ways - you should absolutely be asking what sort of work you would be expected to do, and if they fail to convince you that it will be interesting, you can absolutely decline the job. Of course, this assumes that you are employable enough that you can choose from multiple job opportunities, but if you are not, it is probably unwise to be in the industry to begin with (this, keeping in mind my previous point about learning to interview well).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: you didn't write where you live or your age, but I guess you are between 20 and 25.
First of all, in my opinion, you should better understand what you want from your life and since it looks like you struggle to achieve it by yourself, a psychotherapist would really help a lot.
Then you need to speed-up your choices.
Consider that you will hardly find the dream job, so for sure there will be something you will not like in your daily routine. we don't live in a fantasy world. So if you decide to leave academia, the sooner the better, because industry it's a completely different world, and the more you push it away, the worst will be.
A lot of people working in academia will downvote me, but I tried both, and academia is like kindergarden if compared with industry. You have deadlines yes, but nobody will fire you, you have plenty of time to develop projects, not a lot of pressure, etc..
So going to the industry will be a big jump, but also rewarding.
You just need to decide fast, because it's very unlikely that someone will want to hire a 30 years old software engineer with ZERO experience in the industry. Unless you want to start from very low in the hierarchy. It depends a lot on the country you work in, but I think it could be true in many cases.
I hope I didn't sound too harsh, you just need a bit of help and you will find your way without any issue.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: your question is very interesting actually.
I will give you my view on this based on my experience. I am a 2nd year PhD student at the university in Central Europe. I finished my master degree in 2017 and graduated in 2018. But decided to apply for PhD programme in 2021.
For the last 5-6 years i have also been working in the same office (industry). Of course because of my involvment in academic area my agreement needed to be changed. Actually I do not know any PhD student who do not work in an industry overall. It is because of economical factors and small scholarships that we get from university and government. Everyone of my PhD friends work somewhere ( either in the industry or in other schools as assistants or wherever).
My point is that I did not want to be only an academic. Theory and experiments ( academia) are not taken 'seriously' in my field. That is why I still pursue my daily job. I can not think of myself only as a theorist but also an active do-er and creator.
For me the 'practice' is pretty important as well as cooperation with workmates at the office. I know after finishing my PhD i would continue working in my industry but also I would like to work in academia part time.
For me you should not leave academia but maybe try to be more open for your industry. It would be good to work part time in your professional field or get some internship.
Sometimes it gets difficult when you focus only on 'one thing'. You need to have perspectives from other people - not only theorists and researchers.
I do not know how old you are but basing your career on academia and research is not enough in my opinion. What if in 2-3 years you would definitely leave academia and you will have no working experience? I think in 21 century people need to be very flexible.
I know that PhD process is difficult and it takes so much time to think and do experiments... But you can not get stuck in 'one thing' as I said before.
For your general career I would suggest to get an internship or a part time job in your industry. You will need to decide then or pursue both ( in my opinion its the best option).
I hope it works. I cross fingers for you :)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: Honestly, I feel that you are beyond the usual kind of advice given out on this forum. I believe that you need to consult with an occupational psychologist at the very least. They will advise on the question of academia vs industry - though there are of course several other arenas where IT skills are deployed, e.g. government, large institutions and private consultancy to name but three.
If they adjudge that motivation issues are relevant then they will advise you accordingly on the relevant professionals in your city that you can attend.
Someone in a previous answer suggested a heart-to-heart with a doctor. If you have a *family doctor*, i.e. a doctor who treats your parents and siblings and knows you since you were a child, I would see this as a useful step. But with the world changing as it has over the last 50 years, family doctors seem to be a thing of the past and this may not be an option.
Do **not** go to the campus counsellors or psychologists just because they are cheap/free under your insurance plan. Campus counsellors tend to be evasive on issues where parents, professors and adults in general have to be confronted as they are part of the subject's problem. They frequently make things worse in such situations in their efforts to avoid dealing properly with it.
Spend a few bucks on yourself and find a well-recommended (perhaps by a family doctor, if your family have one) occupational psychologist downtown.
Be assured that most of us here are - in soul and spirit - with you on this part of your journey and if it's any assurance to you quite a few of us had to undertake similar digressions during our own careers: there really is resurrection in these matters.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_11: Is there other non-academic work you would enjoy? Just as an English major doesn't have to become an author and could work for a software company, you could apply for work at a company that does something you're interested in besides software.
And if you decide that what you're doing now is better than anything else you could think of, then it makes sense to keep doing it.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: As the title mentions, I am wondering how to approach an upcoming teaching presentation I will be giving as part of an interview. To be clear, this is a 30-40 minute teaching presentation on a topic related to the humanities-based field in which I work.
My main concern: I am fairly certain that the audience will be composed entirely of the committee, rather than students, so I am concerned about whether I will appear like I'm talking down to my colleagues if I give a standard freshman survey lecture. Or is this just part of the interview process, whereby professors sit back and act like they're teenagers again?<issue_comment>username_1: I think you should ask your audience to role play their students. When they ask questions as students you can both answer them as students and offer meta thoughts about what you chose not to say.
I hope they are willing to do this. If in your experience teaching you found it necessary to encourage students to participate, do that here.
I would avoid a standard "freshman survey lecture" unless that's been particularly requested. Can you start out saying this is small junior level class halfway through the term on [topic]?
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I had a very similar experience when I was interviewed for a science position at a small liberal arts college. The audience consisted of a small number of students though, (about 5), and a lot of faculty members including the dean (more than 10)!
To begin with, the only adjustment I made to my normal teaching style was that I prepared a self-contained lecture, i.e., I talked about everything one needed to understand the lecture without assuming they had any prior knowledge of the subject presented. I.e., I briefly explained the mathematical background needed to follow the lecture, the physics background, etc. To prepare the lecture I consulted with YouTube and Udemy lectures on other subjects because usually they do a good job of preparing self-contained lectures. Moreover, I always use Wikipedia to find interesting trivia on a subject to inject into my lectures.
Now during the actual presentation, I assumed that I'm the one in charge of the room (it's a psychological trick I use when I teach), so I didn't care about the audience in the sense that I wouldn't talk down to colleagues but I wouldn't disrespect anyone either. I stopped to ask questions, I discussed major points, and overall I kept the whole thing relaxed and to the point. In my mind, I was teaching a freshman class if that makes sense.
Finally, pick something you find interesting to teach (if you are free to choose) and enjoy the process. It's very important to have a bit of fun in any type of teaching situation anyway. Don't assume that colleagues will know every single thing you'll talk about. You'll be amazed about how happy people become when you talk to them about something they already know or heard about, but take it a step further. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am on my 2nd year of PhD. Some months ago, a woman from another department had similar PhD ideas to me and my advisor's other student. Our supervisor was furious when he realised this and he accused of us sharing our work without authorization. It turns out that my colleague had informed her about our ideas because they were close friends and she copied them. When our supervisor learned this, he was still angry but was not able to do anything because he "didn't have any proof."
At the end of last semester, my supervisor talked with the woman who *copied* our ideas and invited her to co-teach our lectures next semester. I don't know exactly what her role will be or why her involvement is necessary. I thought this was unfair and I told him so. He was angry at me, but I don't regret it. Since that time our relationship is very cold and way more distanced. In fact, I am worried he wants to replace me with this student who stole my ideas.
So, I am wondering: is my anger justified? Should I have concerns about the woman who *copied* (or at least, inspired herself too much from) our ideas? And at my supervisor for offering her a place at our lectures? I know my supervisor is a head of a department and it is him who makes decisions but I felt that this situation was unfair. Additionally he would accuse me of being unfriendly and not cooperative.<issue_comment>username_1: I am surprised that most answers are acknowledging neither the power dynamics at play within the supervisor-student relationship, nor the toxic and immature behavior of the supervisor. In a PhD, the supervisor (who is additionally the head of the department) has a disproportionate amount of power over theirs students. It is thus the supervisor's responsibility to provide good working conditions for the phd students, together with making sure that communication is maintained and healthy, in order to overcome any problem arising during the PhD. From the testimony, however, we understand that the supervisor does not show responsible behaviour and does not treat his students with care and consideration, that are needed to go through PhD. The student here is in their own right to feel disturbed and angry by the situation, while the supervisor is just putting oil on the fire. This behaviour for a PhD supervisor is not responsible and is immature.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: One lesson to learn for life (and it takes time): get angry slowly. Find the facts first. Understand the situation. And then, if you still believe you should get angry, but always in a controlled way. Yes, easier said than done.
The situation seems to have multiple components. A leaked piece of idea. A unreliable colleague (who is that? someone from your group?), a second group, and PhD student. And you.
Now, the problem for you is to find out what is the situation with this idea and to which degree it is actually a problem for you. Does this allocation of the idea to the other person endanger your PhD? Would you want to give that teaching instead?
You should find out exactly what is going on, and perhaps ask your supervisor what he thinks the status with this idea is, and how he sees the collaboration with the other group, and what, if at all, your role is within this collaboration, as well as what effect it has on your PhD.
All this should happen in a sober, unexcited, calm and factual tone. Once you understand what your supervisor's thinking is, you can decide how you wish to proceed further.
In my own opinion, the only case where it is worth contemplating making a more forceful point is if that leak may endanger your own PhD; not being involved in the teaching is an ego hit, but from my experience not a hill worth to die upon. In this case (where your PhD is affected), again, you need also bring that up with your supervisor, possibly in the same meeting and discuss what the consequences of this leak might be.
You might consider reminding him in a side remark that it was not you that decided to share the idea, to refresh his memory that you are just affected by the situation that emerged as much as him.
This is a relatively diplomatic approach, but from what I read between the lines about the situation, the supervisor themselves may have lost control over developments and does not really know how to reclaim control over the idea against the other group. I think it is worth trying to show him you are on the same team and see where that goes.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student in the USA in the field of Aerospace Engineering.
My supervisor had mentioned that he will be the sole 'corresponding author' in all journal publications. Consequently, I am not the corresponding author in any of my publications.
I have noticed that some postdoc fellowships ask for the 'number of papers as a corresponding author'. This was new to me and I was wondering if it is common to use 'the number of papers as a corresponding author' as a criterion to judge candidates?<issue_comment>username_1: This is a personal view and it may not be valid in all fields, I realize. But my view is that "corresponding author" is a *job*, not an honor. It is who should be contacted by the editors and later by readers for questions about the paper. With this view, it is best that it be someone with stable contact information, now usually an email address. That suggests that students may not be the best choice if they lose their university email after graduation.
"Principal author" or "first author" in some fields is a completely different concept. In some fields the concepts are foreign and not used.
Principal author, in some fields refers to the PI of a lab. The one that supplies the infrastructure in which research can be done. In some fields they are listed last. In some fields it is interpreted that they had little part in the actual research beyond infrastructure and maybe general guidance. Sadly, in some fields, some interpret this as "this person *really* did this work and the others are just being carried along".
First author, in some fields, is usually listed first in the ordering of authors on the document and the implication is that they did the majority of the work, perhaps (or not) coming up with the research question and driving the whole project intellectually. Those fields in which first authorship is considered important often have bitter fights over who should be listed first. I find this sad.
In you current situation, however, for purposes of applying for jobs and writing CVs, I suggest that you just add a note at the end that the supervisor insists on being corresponding author (as I think is appropriate). This could short-circuit any feelings that you aren't adequate in some way.
As for grant applications, I think it would be foolish (though I can't rule it out) for those evaluating an application to look at such things and give them weight over what is being proposed in the grant and the information there that backs up the application. Maybe first authorship would give a bit of confidence in those fields in which it is a vital concern.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In biology, a corresponding author is generally a person with overall responsibility for the research. It is often, but not always the last author listed. While the first author is usually the person that did the most work, the corresponding author is expected to be au fait with the details of the work of all people listed as authors on the paper (which the first author may or may not be). They are expected to continue to have access to all records and data related to the paper in perpetuity.
Research in biology is often conducted as part of a research program. The corresponding author will generally be the person who is in charge of the complete program, not just the single piece of research being conducted here. The goals and aims of the larger program will be determined by them, even if the idea for the individual paper is not theirs. Thus, they will understand how the research fits into the larger goals and aims of the program, how it relates to work that came afterwards, etc.
Thus it is normal that the person nominated as corresponding author is a senior person. Often the last author (senior author as some people say). A junior person being the corresponding author would suggest a degree of autonomy and independence (it would suggest that the last author was last author purely out of senority, rather than because they were actually responsible for the research). This may be exactly what funders of postdoctoral fellowships are looking for.
So yes, being corresponding author is advantageous, but it is unusual for a postdoc, at least in biology.
To pass probation (similar to tenure in the US), I had to have 3 papers as first, last OR corresponding author. To get promoted I had to have 3 corresponding author papers. So for us at least, it's not expected that we will be publishing corresponding author papers until our first promotion after tenure.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Much of this is field dependent. I'm a public policy phd student, full disclosure. But, corresponding author is just who you reach out to for matters of code (in my case) data and other matters. It also is conferred, naturally, based on contribution (ideally). So, so long as you played a central role in the developing of the topic, the code, the design and all quintessential elements of the research process, you can then (theoretically) become the corresponding author.
But note, in my case, I'm far enough along in my development that I can ask my mentor if he wants to work with me on something, where I'm lead author. Because I have my own research questions and I'm generally always finding new stuff to work on or study, and I don't need anyone to hold my hand to do research (not saying that you do, by the way). So yeah, it's field and context dependent.
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a 1st year math PhD student and wish to transfer. I applied to transfer fall 2023 to 16 schools but didn't get in anywhere. I'm going to try again, but first I'll answer why I wish to transfer and how I ended up in my situation to give more context.
**Why I wish to transfer:** I want to be in a program with stronger students, a more challenging environment, and most importantly, professors in my research interests: algebraic geometry, number theory. My best option in pure math, given the professors who've left or retired over the 1st year, is discrete math (graph theory & combinatorics specifically). However, discrete math is still pretty far from algebraic geometry. In fact, there aren't even any courses in algebraic geometry being offered, so I study the material myself. As for the other issues, courses and qualifying exams posed no issue. It's suspicious how easy everything is going, even the research that I started this semester is flying by. With 2 professors I was scheduled to read through prerequisites and then attack a specific research problem. The semester and both research plans started early February, with credits for the spring and an expectation to continue during the summer. With 1 professor, I completed all the tasks mid March, and with the other I'm on track to finish by the end of April.
**How I ended up in this situation:** I wasn't able to get into a better school since I applied (in fall 2021) after only completing 2 years of undergrad and got my B.S. in 3 years (f19-s22). I thought about staying a 4th year, but my parents pressured against it citing the monetary cost. The undergrad math department offered no support (in fact, negative money, since by starting and finishing a masters in the 4th year, I would even lose the 4 year partial merit scholarship that I gained in 2019), while grad schools cover tuition and give you a stipend for living expenses. Given how many kids my dad has to support and my belief that a transfer is possible, I decided to start grad school.
What should I be doing to improve my chances? Next cycle is my last chance as if I don't get in for fall 2024, it's better to hustle and finish my PhD in 3 years. I have generally strong credentials that would normally make me a good applicant for a higher-ranked program.
I asked a professor, former chair of admission, and a few students to look over my CV and statement of purpsose when applying, so they're very polished. To not waste people's time, I also asked schools I got rejected from for feedback before posting to academia SE. One said
>
> It's hard to say. We don't usually consider transfer students from graduate schools like yours - if a student is bringing a Master's degree, it is usually from a better school. You should be asking Directors of Graduate Admissions at more realistic schools. Your professors can give you advice. Kansas State and Carnegie Mellon might possibly play out for you.
>
>
>
Another said
>
> We are less likely to accept PhD students from other programs. There has to be very good reasons for transfers. I should also say that at ---, we could only accept a small number of applicants this year and so it was more competitive than usual.
>
>
>
The biggest issue, mentioned even by programs that otherwise declined to give feedback, is there's 200-300 students applying for 7-12 spots. However, I consider myself qualified enough to contend for those spots. It appears that my reason for transferring wasn't good enough, and that the low prestige of my grad school (50-100th) hurts my chances. I knew that prestige might be an issue, but I didn't consider it to be such a large issue that I would get rejected from everywhere. Certainly I could've applied to schools just slightly better than my current one, but then all the problems which caused me to transfer except the subject area would remain. When applying, I mentioned the lack of professors in my subjects, but left out the part about student strength and difficulty after receiving mixed responses in feedback. One thing I might've failed to mention in my statement of purpose is just how strong my desire is to transfer, that I'm willing to give up 1 year just to be in my preferred field of research. Should I add that when reapplying? How else can I improve my application?<issue_comment>username_1: I am not a mathematician, and I am occasionally reminded on this site that math PhDs are quite different than science ones. So, this will just be a partial, rather speculative answer; hopefully an actual mathematician can give you a better one. But, a few points:
(1) I suspect your "mistake" was in your SOP. Compare the v1 of this question to the [revision 4](https://academia.stackexchange.com/revisions/194966/4). The first version was all over the place, whereas in version 4, a brilliant editor did an amazing job writing excellent prose that clearly and concisely made your situation crystal clear. I jest, since it was my edit, but I'm a little bit serious: if the beginning of your SOP had laid out such a compelling narrative, I rather doubt that you would have gone 0 for 16.
(2) Despite my diagnosis, I'm not sure this will help you much if you reapply next year. Yes, you can borrow from what I wrote above and write a much better SOP, and this will probably be enough to get you "serious consideration." The problem is that at that point, you'll no longer be a new grad student; rather, you'll have been in grad school for two years. So, a good undergrad record and a clear narrative won't really be enough anymore; rather, you'll need to show some impressive accomplishments from the past two years. From what you say, it's hard to get impressive accomplishments at your low-ranked school...so it seems like a bit of a vicious cycle, at least from the outside. Good luck.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you've found yourself in a bit of an unfortunate situation. Only getting three years of undergraduate instruction makes it hard to compete with other excellent students, nearly all of whom are staying for four years and many of whom are really maxing out the opportunities their institution provides. You explain why this was not your decision, and I feel for you.
I think you are finding that it's pretty hard to trade up from one PhD program to another once you're already there. Realistically, I think you may have to give up on your hopes to get a PhD in a top 20 department. On the other hand, you should be able to find a department that shares your research interests: if you want to do algebraic geometry, you should not be at an institution where none of the faculty do that, and I think you *can* transfer into an institution in which there are strong faculty in that area. For instance, my institution (UGA) is about the 50th best graduate program overall, and we are very strong in algebraic geometry, with at least one truly world-class mathematician working in that area. I'm not saying that coming here is as good as going to Harvard or Princeton or Michigan (it isn't), but it's *still very good*, and in fact programs like ours serve unusually motivated and knowledgeable students quite well. We have had some graduates go on to do distinguished work in algebraic geometry...and we are not unique in this regard. Other PhD programs at around the same level can say the same.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Find out where people from your current department *have* successfully transferred. Then see if any of those places have algebraic geometers. You don't have to limit future applications only to such schools, but knowing what those schools are will give you a realistic benchmark to compare against where you dream of transferring. I didn't get a sense from reading your post how you decided what schools to apply to this year. I know someone who got no math PhD program offers when finishing college, and it turned out that (i) the person's application list was all top-20 departments, which was quite unrealisic for that student's situation and (ii) the student had not spoken to anyone for feedback about the list before applying. If I had been shown the list ahead of time, then I would have warned the student that it was wildly unrealistic.
I know someone who transferred a few years ago from a math department outside the top 50 (but ranked much closer to 50th place than to 100th place) to a top-20 department, so this kind of thing can happen, but the lower ranked the school is that you're applying from, the less likely it is that you'll be successful.
Upvotes: 3
|
2023/04/06
| 3,037
| 12,466
|
<issue_start>username_0: In a research field that math is frequently used, while sending a long note/paper, attaching a pdf is of course the best. But for a short email that only involves few equations, a pdf file might be too much I guess (is this correct?). What is the best way to facilitate communication and not scaring the readers to stay away from the content?
Here are some options for writing equation in a short email:
1. There is chrome extension generating in-line equation for Gmail. But such option is unavailable for other sender's clients and the recipient might face some formatting/loading problem.
2. Use in-line image like this [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/3HeEh.png). Again this option might cause massy formatting issues in the recipients' end, even if the sender's been careful
3. Use uncompiled latex pseudo-code. This is what my advisor and some seniors use, for example: "consider the equation mu(Q)=sum\_{n in Q}a\_n, we can get...". This option is hard to read but will not usually cause formatting problem accross different platforms.
4. Use uncompiled real latex code. Since it is the real code (not pseudo code), the code is more rigorous and directly compliable if the receiver likes to. For example: "consider the equation \mu(Q)=\sum\_{n \in Q}a\_n, we can get..." This could be harder to read than "option 3".
5. Use pdf regardless of the length of the email.
6. Write a pdf and then take a large screenshot of the page.
What do you use daily? Please don't hesitate to share us your own tricks!<issue_comment>username_1: If your equations are reasonably short, consider explaining them in plain English, rather than presenting them in maths notation, e.g.:
>
> For a given sequence, consider a set of indices and call the partial sum of sequence elements on this set
>
>
>
(of course, use the correct terminology -- I am not sure what does your equation represent).
If explaining in simple English becomes tedious, perhaps, your email is not so short after all and it is best to write a proper LaTeX or Markdown file and compile it into a pdf.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I rarely need to communicate equations except with other mathematicians or statistician, and in those circumstances, I presume (possibly incorrectly!) that they all speak TeX ... so I write the equation in the same way as I would if I were using TeX, LaTeX, or the kind of markdown that Stack Exchange uses.
No one has yet replied saying, "What was that supposed to mean!?"
#### Added in response to a comment question ...
I type the equation, much as I would in [TeXMaker](https://www.xm1math.net/texmaker/), including the $ and \ marks. My reason for doing so? Laziness! Sometimes I'm just cutting and pasting a line. I know it might sound inconsiderate, but for [reasons similar to these](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/59238/104266), I don't think it is.
### And finally ..
Having just read the [nice answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/195023/104266) by #username_6, I might change my ways.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I've frequently send and received emails with LaTeX code in them. I don't think I've ever received an extremely short pdf (ie a single line or so). Formulas as image is something I've seen only students do, never colleagues. As such, I feel confident in declaring LaTeX-code-in-emails the de facto standard in my local neighbourhood.
There is no clear pattern in whether it is compilable code, or whether stuff like \ is dropped. For stuff I am writing myself, I'm more likely to write correct code if either the expression is sufficiently complicated that the receiver may want to compile it rather than reading the source code, or if it seems plausible that the expression could eventually be copied into an actual paper draft. I'm less likely to write to write formally correct LaTeX code if I'm in a hurry.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: If you need to communicate equations to someone outside a field where LaTeX is common you might want to use the embedded equation features of Office or Google Docs. Typesetting systems knowledge is mostly limited to a subset of hard science and engineering fields and anyone outside of them can still use equations and citations but only through such GUI tools.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: If the math involved is more than three or four short equations then I usually typeset the math, or even the entire letter, using latex. Then I attach the latex and a PDF -- one for quick reading, the other so the other person can edit the equations when replying.
For just a touch of math, I use an unholy (uncompilable) mashup of latex code and matlab code and ASCII art. I will write --> in place of \rightarrow and alpha\_2 in place of $\alpha\_2$. And finally totally corrupt things like alpha --> [alpha 3; 3 2\*alpha] . Lots of extra whitespace that SE will delete.
When I teach math online, this is a real problem. Undergraduates rarely know both matlab and latex. The discussion boards are rather pointless. I tried third party discussion boards with easy editors for tex, but it was a bit of a failure. The solution that was best was for students to write using pen on paper and use their phone to make a PDF.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I often use LaTeX pseudo-code with some symbols encoded in Unicode. For example, I might express the valid LaTeX
```
\mu(Q) = \sum_{n \in Q} a_n
```
as the pseudo-LaTeX
```
μ(Q) = sum_{n ∈ Q} a_n
```
or the valid LaTeX
```
\sum_{n \in \mathbb{N}} \frac{1}{n^2}
```
as the pseudo-LaTeX
```
sum_{n ∈ ℕ} 1/n²
```
I know that the more Unicode I use, the more likely I am to hit a character that the recipient's browser or e-mail client can't render, but I can't recall anyone ever telling me this happened to them. Operating system developers have gotten really good at using [font fallback and font linking](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/input/font-technology) to seamlessly display documents containing wide ranges of Unicode characters.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: #### Another option is to use links to SE posts
I would typically just use attached pdf for communicating mathematical material with colleagues, students, etc. However, one alternative that you don't list is for the student to post their question on <https://math.stackexchange.com/> or <https://stats.stackexchange.com/> (both of which have LaTeX facilities for mathematical notation) and then send the professor the link to their question. For professors who use SE, they can answer directly on the site, but even for professors that don't use SE, they will at least be able to see the question set out using clear mathematical notation.
This option is obviously not suitable for every occasion, but you can add it to your options. Typically it is useful to use a linked SE post when you have a question of a general nature that may also be useful to a wider audience, you have a professor who either uses SE or doesn't mind viewing linked questions on the network, or you want to attract answers from a broader audience of experts in the field. It is typically not suitable if your question is too narrow to be appropriate for the network, or if your professor is averse to this method of communication.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: Personally, I use any and all of the following, depending on how much of a hurry I'm in and who I'm communicating with.
1. Avoid email and use a messaging service that supports LaTeX.
This is the best option if you can convince people to use such a messaging service, which admittedly won't be the case with everyone you want to mail. The one I like is [Zulip](https://zulip.com). It's free to set up a reasonably small server and the functionality is similar to Slack or Discord, but it supports LaTeX (or rather KaTeX, an alternative to MathJax) out of the box. There might be other good alternatives, this is just the one I know.
2. Use images
Personally, I think your email is much more likely to be read and understood if the equations are legible, so I think this is much better than the pseudo-LaTeX-code option. I think the main reason people don't do this is because it's a bit of a hassle, but if you set up a good workflow it's not so bad.
I don't know about other platforms but on the Mac there is an app called LaTeXit that allows you to just type the LaTeX code and view the resulting equation, without all the boilerplate of setting up a document. Then you can do `shift`-`option`-`command`-`4` to screenshot part of the screen and place it in the clipboard, so you can then just do `command`-`V` to paste it in the email. I've never had an issue with someone not being able to see the images.
I never use an image as an inline equation though - I always put each image on a line on its own. That ought to avoid the vast majority of formatting problems that you might otherwise run into on the other person's email client.
4. Use unicodeit
[unicodeit.net](https://www.unicodeit.net) is a simple web site where you can enter (pseudo)-LaTeX code and get unicode output. It's great for writing simple inline things like x ∈ ℝ, which I got by typing `x \in \mathbb{R}`.
5. use Markdown
There are many Markdown-based text editors that let you use MathJax and export the result as a pdf. What I do is write the email in such an editor, then *both* paste the Markdown source into the email body *and* attach the pdf with the LaTeX rendered. That way the recipient doesn't have to open the pdf just to see what you wrote, but they have the option to if they want to see it with the equations rendered properly.
5. write LaTeX pseudocode directly in the email
To be honest I do this quite often, but only if I'm feeling lazy and/or in a hurry, and if I know that the recipient won't have trouble parsing the pseudo-LaTeX and will take the time to do so.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: #### TL;DR Don't use images. Use PDFs if complex.
I don't know much about the math side of things, but based on my experience in end-user email (and everything else) support across many different platforms, I highly recommend *against* using images. Depending on the destination email system, software (whether local such as Outlook or Thunderbird or online webmail of various types), device (smart phones often different from desktop and laptop computers) and other factors, images are not a reliable way to convey critical details in an email message:
* Size - depending on many factors, an image that looks "normal" on the sender's computer might appear tiny (and nearly unreadable) or huge (and unprintable) on the recipient's system.
* Access - Due to bandwidth issues, spam issues and other reasons, some systems block images, some allow images only after confirmation and some block remotely hosted images (some sending systems will automatically turn attached images into hosted images without a non-expert sender realizing what is going on). So using images can sometimes result in the recipient not actually seeing the intended content at all.
* Printing - Some email systems will reliably print images inline with the text of the message, some will not or will do so but too small/too large.
I have dealt with this so many times that I actually wrote a system - [picturepdf.com](https://www.picturepdf.com) - to handle it. I have some customers who receive images occasionally from many different sources and in many different sizes and who can't be easily trained to open up attached images in Paint.NET or a similar program to resize them and print them. Send an email to <EMAIL> and it will send back a PDF of the included images, one per page. Once they have the PDF, they can print that easily or forward it along to someone else, etc. (I don't make any money on this - the value to me is in *not* having to help customers every time they get an image that they can't print properly. Saves me time and saves them frustration.)
I agree with using various methods of spelling out an equation, depending on the situation, including plain text, pseudocode and LaTeX. I have not used LaTeX myself (I am not a mathematician) but I done similar things with snippets of code as needed.
But when it gets complex, use LaTeX or whatever system you prefer and turn it into a PDF and attach it.
Upvotes: 2
|
2023/04/06
| 2,827
| 11,696
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm planning to attend a top 25 school in the US for a Ph.D. in Mathematics. Are research collaborations with professors outside of the school generally encouraged? This could include short or long-term visits to other universities or just an online collaboration.
I understand that an answer to this question might be advisor-specific. Since I do not have an advisor yet, should I just email one of my potential supervisors (who I've been in contact with for a while now) and ask them? I'm not sure how such a question might be received.
Additionally, since many people reading this question on this website might have experience with math departments in the US (as a graduate student, professor, or otherwise) - it'd be nice to know if you have an answer to this question based off of your experience.<issue_comment>username_1: If your equations are reasonably short, consider explaining them in plain English, rather than presenting them in maths notation, e.g.:
>
> For a given sequence, consider a set of indices and call the partial sum of sequence elements on this set
>
>
>
(of course, use the correct terminology -- I am not sure what does your equation represent).
If explaining in simple English becomes tedious, perhaps, your email is not so short after all and it is best to write a proper LaTeX or Markdown file and compile it into a pdf.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I rarely need to communicate equations except with other mathematicians or statistician, and in those circumstances, I presume (possibly incorrectly!) that they all speak TeX ... so I write the equation in the same way as I would if I were using TeX, LaTeX, or the kind of markdown that Stack Exchange uses.
No one has yet replied saying, "What was that supposed to mean!?"
#### Added in response to a comment question ...
I type the equation, much as I would in [TeXMaker](https://www.xm1math.net/texmaker/), including the $ and \ marks. My reason for doing so? Laziness! Sometimes I'm just cutting and pasting a line. I know it might sound inconsiderate, but for [reasons similar to these](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/59238/104266), I don't think it is.
### And finally ..
Having just read the [nice answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/195023/104266) by #username_6, I might change my ways.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I've frequently send and received emails with LaTeX code in them. I don't think I've ever received an extremely short pdf (ie a single line or so). Formulas as image is something I've seen only students do, never colleagues. As such, I feel confident in declaring LaTeX-code-in-emails the de facto standard in my local neighbourhood.
There is no clear pattern in whether it is compilable code, or whether stuff like \ is dropped. For stuff I am writing myself, I'm more likely to write correct code if either the expression is sufficiently complicated that the receiver may want to compile it rather than reading the source code, or if it seems plausible that the expression could eventually be copied into an actual paper draft. I'm less likely to write to write formally correct LaTeX code if I'm in a hurry.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: If you need to communicate equations to someone outside a field where LaTeX is common you might want to use the embedded equation features of Office or Google Docs. Typesetting systems knowledge is mostly limited to a subset of hard science and engineering fields and anyone outside of them can still use equations and citations but only through such GUI tools.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: If the math involved is more than three or four short equations then I usually typeset the math, or even the entire letter, using latex. Then I attach the latex and a PDF -- one for quick reading, the other so the other person can edit the equations when replying.
For just a touch of math, I use an unholy (uncompilable) mashup of latex code and matlab code and ASCII art. I will write --> in place of \rightarrow and alpha\_2 in place of $\alpha\_2$. And finally totally corrupt things like alpha --> [alpha 3; 3 2\*alpha] . Lots of extra whitespace that SE will delete.
When I teach math online, this is a real problem. Undergraduates rarely know both matlab and latex. The discussion boards are rather pointless. I tried third party discussion boards with easy editors for tex, but it was a bit of a failure. The solution that was best was for students to write using pen on paper and use their phone to make a PDF.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I often use LaTeX pseudo-code with some symbols encoded in Unicode. For example, I might express the valid LaTeX
```
\mu(Q) = \sum_{n \in Q} a_n
```
as the pseudo-LaTeX
```
μ(Q) = sum_{n ∈ Q} a_n
```
or the valid LaTeX
```
\sum_{n \in \mathbb{N}} \frac{1}{n^2}
```
as the pseudo-LaTeX
```
sum_{n ∈ ℕ} 1/n²
```
I know that the more Unicode I use, the more likely I am to hit a character that the recipient's browser or e-mail client can't render, but I can't recall anyone ever telling me this happened to them. Operating system developers have gotten really good at using [font fallback and font linking](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/input/font-technology) to seamlessly display documents containing wide ranges of Unicode characters.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: #### Another option is to use links to SE posts
I would typically just use attached pdf for communicating mathematical material with colleagues, students, etc. However, one alternative that you don't list is for the student to post their question on <https://math.stackexchange.com/> or <https://stats.stackexchange.com/> (both of which have LaTeX facilities for mathematical notation) and then send the professor the link to their question. For professors who use SE, they can answer directly on the site, but even for professors that don't use SE, they will at least be able to see the question set out using clear mathematical notation.
This option is obviously not suitable for every occasion, but you can add it to your options. Typically it is useful to use a linked SE post when you have a question of a general nature that may also be useful to a wider audience, you have a professor who either uses SE or doesn't mind viewing linked questions on the network, or you want to attract answers from a broader audience of experts in the field. It is typically not suitable if your question is too narrow to be appropriate for the network, or if your professor is averse to this method of communication.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: Personally, I use any and all of the following, depending on how much of a hurry I'm in and who I'm communicating with.
1. Avoid email and use a messaging service that supports LaTeX.
This is the best option if you can convince people to use such a messaging service, which admittedly won't be the case with everyone you want to mail. The one I like is [Zulip](https://zulip.com). It's free to set up a reasonably small server and the functionality is similar to Slack or Discord, but it supports LaTeX (or rather KaTeX, an alternative to MathJax) out of the box. There might be other good alternatives, this is just the one I know.
2. Use images
Personally, I think your email is much more likely to be read and understood if the equations are legible, so I think this is much better than the pseudo-LaTeX-code option. I think the main reason people don't do this is because it's a bit of a hassle, but if you set up a good workflow it's not so bad.
I don't know about other platforms but on the Mac there is an app called LaTeXit that allows you to just type the LaTeX code and view the resulting equation, without all the boilerplate of setting up a document. Then you can do `shift`-`option`-`command`-`4` to screenshot part of the screen and place it in the clipboard, so you can then just do `command`-`V` to paste it in the email. I've never had an issue with someone not being able to see the images.
I never use an image as an inline equation though - I always put each image on a line on its own. That ought to avoid the vast majority of formatting problems that you might otherwise run into on the other person's email client.
4. Use unicodeit
[unicodeit.net](https://www.unicodeit.net) is a simple web site where you can enter (pseudo)-LaTeX code and get unicode output. It's great for writing simple inline things like x ∈ ℝ, which I got by typing `x \in \mathbb{R}`.
5. use Markdown
There are many Markdown-based text editors that let you use MathJax and export the result as a pdf. What I do is write the email in such an editor, then *both* paste the Markdown source into the email body *and* attach the pdf with the LaTeX rendered. That way the recipient doesn't have to open the pdf just to see what you wrote, but they have the option to if they want to see it with the equations rendered properly.
5. write LaTeX pseudocode directly in the email
To be honest I do this quite often, but only if I'm feeling lazy and/or in a hurry, and if I know that the recipient won't have trouble parsing the pseudo-LaTeX and will take the time to do so.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: #### TL;DR Don't use images. Use PDFs if complex.
I don't know much about the math side of things, but based on my experience in end-user email (and everything else) support across many different platforms, I highly recommend *against* using images. Depending on the destination email system, software (whether local such as Outlook or Thunderbird or online webmail of various types), device (smart phones often different from desktop and laptop computers) and other factors, images are not a reliable way to convey critical details in an email message:
* Size - depending on many factors, an image that looks "normal" on the sender's computer might appear tiny (and nearly unreadable) or huge (and unprintable) on the recipient's system.
* Access - Due to bandwidth issues, spam issues and other reasons, some systems block images, some allow images only after confirmation and some block remotely hosted images (some sending systems will automatically turn attached images into hosted images without a non-expert sender realizing what is going on). So using images can sometimes result in the recipient not actually seeing the intended content at all.
* Printing - Some email systems will reliably print images inline with the text of the message, some will not or will do so but too small/too large.
I have dealt with this so many times that I actually wrote a system - [picturepdf.com](https://www.picturepdf.com) - to handle it. I have some customers who receive images occasionally from many different sources and in many different sizes and who can't be easily trained to open up attached images in Paint.NET or a similar program to resize them and print them. Send an email to <EMAIL> and it will send back a PDF of the included images, one per page. Once they have the PDF, they can print that easily or forward it along to someone else, etc. (I don't make any money on this - the value to me is in *not* having to help customers every time they get an image that they can't print properly. Saves me time and saves them frustration.)
I agree with using various methods of spelling out an equation, depending on the situation, including plain text, pseudocode and LaTeX. I have not used LaTeX myself (I am not a mathematician) but I done similar things with snippets of code as needed.
But when it gets complex, use LaTeX or whatever system you prefer and turn it into a PDF and attach it.
Upvotes: 2
|
2023/04/06
| 758
| 3,369
|
<issue_start>username_0: If a big publisher provides access to a paper of famous author but only in its original language and from a deprecated journal. Can I submit an English translation of such a paper to the same publisher indicating that it is a translation? If yes, why is this not done more frequently? If not, why is this not allowed?
There are still important papers in German, French and Russian that have no available translation on the web. Maybe it is because this rarely increases the citation metrics of the person translating it?
Update: I asked the publisher, they ended up saying that I can always ask them for rights to use or modify. However they showed no signs of having interest of having the paper translated and published as they we unable to point me to any of their journals.<issue_comment>username_1: You would get permission from the publisher (or whoever holds the copyright) in order to publish a translation. Then your translation could be published anywhere, not necessarily with the original publisher. However, most journals want original research, not translations of previous research, so you may need to look carefully to find the proper place to publish.
Also (as you note), publishing such a translation will not count as "research" in your vita. Perhaps it would be counted as "public service".
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is less of an answer to the actual question and more of a reflection on the *reasons* why there are many important-but-not-translated articles:
There is a difference between "no translation is available" and "the material is not accessible". Let's presume that there are no translations of Einstein's papers. That doesn't matter very much, because whatever Einstein talked about in these papers has been described just as cogently -- or maybe even better -- in dozens of textbooks by now. That's pretty much true for everything that is important: Others, in other languages, have extensively written about it in their own works.
In other words, it is rare that one really *needs* access to the original papers. In most cases, the material is already accessible elsewhere and looking at the original paper is really just for curiosity and for seeing how a master of yore wrote about it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This is possible. It is not common. Most of the information from important papers makes it into other papers and into textbooks. Sometime this does does not happen.
There is a paper by <NAME> that some physicists feel got somewhat forgotten and misunderstood, in part because it was German. Here is an arxiv version of the paper, that was later published by a Springer; [Proof of the ergodic theorem and the H-theorem in quantum mechanics](https://arxiv.org/abs/1003.2133)
Alongside this a commentary article was published. Reading older science papers can be a challenge, as the meaning of technical words shifts a lot over the decades.
The citations to the translation add only to von Neumann's record, it seems.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: You would avoid the copyright issue and also probably do the community a better service if you do not translate an old (but still important) paper, but write down the important results in your own words, add some examples and/or the relations to other more recent papers.
Upvotes: 0
|
2023/04/06
| 2,463
| 10,099
|
<issue_start>username_0: I used ChatGPT to polish my essay, now I’m freaking out.
As above, in Feb I had to write a reflective piece about 1000 words for university. The essay was based on my real experiences and reflection. I wrote the essay myself then fed it into ChatGPT with prompts like “ revise this to make it more professional.” And the output it gave looked much better than my original writing, but did not change my original meanings, and I used the chatgpt output pretty much word for word as the essay I submitted. The essay might not be marked until July/August. At the time my intention was not to cheat, I thought it was like using a better version of Grammarly. Especially because I am not a native speaker and have always struggled with writing. Fast forward to today, I realised what I did was shady, put my essay into multiple AI detectors and got picked up as AI written by some. I looked up my university’s policy about AI (published after I submitted the essay), which states you have to openly disclose any use of CharGPT or it will count as contract cheating. I have been living in pure fear the last couple of weeks and it’s ruining my life. I am in my last year of a professional program which means it will attract more severe penalties. I have immense regret for putting my education and career at risk for something so stupid. I also wish the university had talked to us about AI directly early on. In fact, to this day, I have received no information about AI from any faculty member. If I had known this was contract cheating I would never have done it.
I have had no previous experience with academic misconduct, and I have no idea what to expect.<issue_comment>username_1: The consequences for any sort of cheating/misconduct are determined by your institution. Generally, I'd expect more leniency for first offenses and more leniency for things in a "gray area" versus clear violations.
It would seem extremely unfair to me to apply a policy published *after* your submission, and if you were accused under that policy this seems like a straightforward defense. There is certainly some level of novelty to these tools for everyone involved, and likely to be some growing pains associated with that.
It's possible a strict interpretation would find you have violated some already existing policies, with the new policy only meant to clarify. It could be argued that, especially if you are expected to be graded on things like the language used, you have not submitted work that reflects your own writing abilities. You've also violated any terms of using ChatGPT that require disclosure/attribution.
I don't know what academic system you are in where assignments are graded so long after they are submitted. Possibly you could in the meantime write a proper version of your original script without ChatGPT, confess to having violated a policy before it was a clear policy, and ask that your new submission be accepted. If it were me responsible for assigning a grade, I'd find this to be honest and commendable, but I can't have any idea what the attitude will be at your institution. As BobaFit alludes to in a comment, many people find that ChatGPT's idea of "professional" or good writing really...isn't, so it's also quite possible that the version you've submitted will not get a better grade than what you could have produced yourself, even with your low confidence in your writing.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Earlier in the year, I wrote a [policy thought on conversational AI (ChatGPT](https://lnkd.in/dZsxz6aH).
I refer to this as in my view, your use of ChatGPT us what I thought it could be. An assistive tool rather than a replacement tool.
You indicated that you used ChatGPT to polish up your essay. Although you did not say to what degree this polishing up is. What is instructive is that you're not saying you wrote your essay with ChatGPT: in essence, it was not written by ChatGPT from ground up.
In the circumstances, I'll strongly iterate that
* you send a follow-up declaration email: indicating that ChatGPT was used as a consulted tool to polish your essay.
* you could even send through a supplemented copy of your essay (unofficially, as the submitted essay remains the official), along with your declarative email. The supplementary will be in two parts. The first is the exact same copy you submitted. The second part (more of appendix), will succinctly outline how ChatGPT was used or consulted.
PS: I took note of
>
> I looked up my university’s policy about AI (published after I submitted the essay), which states you have to openly disclose any use of CharGPT or it will count as contract cheating.
>
>
>
By sending the *declarative* email, you are infact (proactively) aligning to the university's policy.
The policy came after you've submitted. You've now sighted it and acting on it.
*My view about conversation AI like ChatGPT is that it should not be banned outrightly. It should be encouraged as part of learning processes: as learning scaffolding.*
[Extract from my [policy thought on ChatGPT](https://lnkd.in/dZsxz6aH)]
1. Students must disclose their ChatGPT search terms (keywords)
2. Students must include their ChatGPT result verbatim as an appendix
3. Students must write their own assignment/assessment submission
4. Students must **show their creativity, their critical thinking and cognitive skills in their writing**
5. It is a crime or punishable offence to use tools to paraphrase ChatGPT results.
6. Students must show their **own originality**.
7. For computing-based assignments/assessments, students must fully comment on their work:
introduction/summary, each line of code, and each function/class
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If we don't know where you study and we don't know the internal regulations, we can't answer this question. Each university deals with this according to its own regulations, so it would probably be best to contact your own study department or someone who understands these regulations and consult them.
From a professional point of view, I would recommend developing your own methodology for recognizing the veracity of chatGPT responses. ChatGPT is not an AI that has logical intelligence, so its answers may be wrong. ChatGPT is a chatbot that synthesizes some text (probabilistically, I guess) from bibliographic sources provided to it during learning. The output is then sorted - the developers assign points to the individual outputs (so, for example, expressive answers are pushed to the back). However, this mechanism cannot check for itself if, for example, there are things that contradict each other in its answer. It is developed to synthesize text, answer, and speak. It can be worse with the truth of the lyrics.
The correctness of the answer also depends on the accuracy of the question. When you ask a question that is not in direct line with the answer (even if it seems like it is), the chatbot will answer it, but in reality, it is not an answer to your question. It is best to play with it a little to see what answers different chatGPT contexts offer to the same question asked in different ways and how the bot answers conflicting questions or situations that occurred after the last update.
With the above two paragraphs, I want to tell you that after using chatbots, for example in the direction of deepening information, you need to be careful about them not to ruin your knowledge.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: #### Disclose to your lecturer, and seek to remedy the problem
Since your essay has not yet been assessed, and the university itself has not detected the use of ChatGPT, I recommend that you approach them and advise your use of this facility for "polishing", let them know that you are worried that this may not be allowable, and ask them if they would prefer for you to resubmit the earlier version of your essay prior to adding this "polish".
If you were the one to make this approach (as opposed to having the university detect it and raise it with you) then that is much less likely to be interpreted as cheating. Moreover, even if your previous submission were to be regarded as a breach of academic rules, if you were to take the initiative to bring this to the attention of the university and offer to resubmit, that would be a heavily mitigating factor. The likely outcome is that your lecturer will counsel you on what is and is not allowed, and will want you to submit the pre-ChatGPT version of your essay.
Assuming you still have your pre-ChatGPT draft, I recommend that you immediately write to your lecturer to disclose the problem and seek a solution. Here is an example of the kind of thing I have in mind:
>
> Dear Professor ...
>
>
> I am writing in relation to my essay I submitted in February, which I understand is due to be assessed soon. I am writing to disclose that for this essay I constructed an initial draft that I wrote myself, but then I used ChatGPT to polish the prose for the essay, and took substantive changes from this source. The essay presently does not cite ChatGPT as a source.
>
>
> It has come to my attention that this might not be allowed under university rules, and so I would like to find out (a) if use of ChatGPT for this purpose is allowed; (b) if and how I am supposed to cite ChatGPT as a source; and (c) if not allowed at all, what I should do to go about remedying this error. In case it is not allowable to use ChatGPT for revisions of the essay, I have retained the previous draft of my essay prior to use of ChatGPT and would be happy to submit that version in lieu of the presently submitted version. If use of ChatGPT is allowable with attribution, then I would like to revise my essay to make the required attribution.
>
>
> Please accept my sincere apologies if I have done the wrong thing here, and for any inconvenience it has caused. I would appreciate if you could advise me on what you would like me to do with my essay in order to make sure it is compliant with university rules.
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> ...
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Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Since my university doesn't have algebraic geometry courses or professors (\*), I'm self studying algebraic geometry with the goal of finishing prerequisites before transferring. I've already started on commutative algebra and algebraic toplogy, next my goal is to read *Royal Road to Algebraic Geometry*. After that, I'll finally start Hartshorne.
How do I put my efforts on my transfer application for U.S. schools? I'll mention how I self-studied and what exactly I did in more detail on my statement of purpose, but is that enough? My primary goal in studying is to prepare, but my secondary goal is to convince universities that I'm putting in a ton of work on my own and thereby boost my application. I'm certain to succeed in my primary goal, but I'm unsure about the secondary goal since even if they do believe I studied, they have no reason to believe I carefully studied. I could type up exercise solutions, but they're not gonna spend time reading through all of them when there's so many students applying.
A similar question was already asked [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/87772/how-to-make-sure-graduate-admissions-committees-are-able-to-recognize-verify-the) but there are 2 differences: the topics are more advanced and I'm applying to transfer. The answers given there are to excel in the math subject GRE and get a professor to vouch for your knowledge through a letter of recommendation. The 1st difference makes the former answer irrelevant (besides, I already got 96%), and the 2nd difference + (\*) makes the latter impossible unless I get someone from another university to vouch for me. What's the best way to do that, knowing full well that I would be approaching faculty just to get them to check my work?<issue_comment>username_1: If this is the United States, this might merit a line in your statement of purpose, but only to state that you have been studying on your own, showing self-sufficiency, in areas that will help fulfill your future research goals and/or fill in any gaps in your undergraduate education. However, I will say that this is fairly common for incoming graduate students to study on their own; it does not need to merit more than a few words.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I might disagree with @parever about the universality of self-directed study... in people going to math grad school in the U.S.
Yes, some do... and, yes, it is highly desirable, both for the sheer information, and, for me, as a grad-admissions-committee person, to see that an applicant doesn't "just take classes", but has some self-motivated interest in the subject!!!!
Sure, it is possible to skim through things "without mastery", but, hm, given that we are finite beings, it is often optimal to skim through lots of things without mastery, rather than look at just one thing to "master" it... especially if/when that thing turns out to be just some gnarly little technical point, and of no great consequence.
Again, if anything, I'm more interested in applicants' self-motivated study rather than in their transcript. :)
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Summary: Coming from Russian university student, cheating at exams seems normal and encouraged. Why is it so much more frowned upon at the North American/western universities?
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Ok, I assume that most people viewing this question are from the US, or at least from the West. This question is something that got me kicked off Reddit for "promoting cheating". I spend a lot of my time in the American infosphere and one thing that always baffled me is the apparent attitude towards cheating, plagiarism etc. It seems that everyone (including the students) see it as immoral or the like. Here in Russia cheating is a normal part of student life. It is seen as a way of bolstering your grade/passing a class and is only bad in the sense that you might get caught. And you are not a thief until you are caught...
I don't remember a single serious exam I didn't prepare some cheat sheets for at least as plan B. Not doing so would have simply been callous on my side. Helping each other cheat is expected of friends, and no fellow student would ever see it as immoral. Students cheating and professors trying (or at least pretending to try) to catch them is a normal and expected game of cat and mouse. It isn't something you necessarily do out of desperation or laziness but something you do if you can get away with it.
My question is why it seems to be such a big deal in the West (and in America in particular)? I have seen movies where students buying course papers from each other is a major plot point and is presented as something horrible and not as something totally mundane. Would people in the US be comfortable telling stories about how they managed to cheat on exams to their bosses during small talk?
Edit: Just to clarify, I don't see cheating as something that should be ignored by professors. I just don't see a moral dimension to the issue: if you can get away with it, it is not your problem. Nor is it such a big deal to try.
Edit 2: Another accidental observation. Just reading the questions that pop up in the "related" section makes me cringe:
"Is it cheating if you guess on multiple choice questions?"
"Is it cheating if you know the solution in advance?"
It simply wouldn't have occurred to me to ask these questions. "If you can't get caught, then there isn't anything to worry about" is the way I see it. The fact that people even consider these questions points to a profound difference in our mentality.
Edit 3. I understand that "Western" is a vague term, but I chose to use it because I am also interested in perspectives from other "Western" countries - not necessarily just the USA.<issue_comment>username_1: First of all:
>
> Here in Russia cheating is a normal part of student life. It is seen as a way of bolstering your grade/passing a class and is only bad in the sense that you might get caught.
>
>
>
I am going to assume for the purposes of this question that this is indeed the prevalent thinking among Russian students. (As opposed to an issue localized to your university / your group of friends, or motivated reasoning of the "thiefs think everyone steal" variety.)
I do agree with the comments that it is part of a larger societal trend, which I will try my best to illuminate. However, please keep in mind that I am not a political scientist, and I have not spent any meaningful amount of time in non-Western countries to have first-hand experience of the conditions there.
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While "the West" is a rather large and inhomogeneous group of countries, the belief in the **rule of law** is a common cultural feature in those countries (or at least the *intelligentsia* of those countries, which includes both students and professors at universities).
The concept (simplified for the purposes of this answer) is that there should be open and clear rules, it is legitimate for established authorities to enforce those rules, and there should be mechanisms to ensure the enforcement is fair. ("Rules" here is not restricted to written laws and regulations - [cutting in line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_in_line) at the grocery store would be a rule violation, which would be seen negatively both by by people in the queue with a direct interest in your actions, but also by the shop clerk and non-queuing clients in the store.)
The key part is that the rule of law *binds the authority as well as the citizens*. This is what makes the citizens voluntarily agree in principle to follow the rules; they are not a top-down decree enforced by raw force, but a two-way give-and-take contract. Some examples of this thinking as applied to exams, viewed as part of a grand teaching bargain ("I promise to test you under such and such conditions, and in exchange you promise to work hard and not cheat")
* [Any recourse for testing on material not mentioned in the class syllabus?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/67932/any-recourse-for-testing-on-material-not-mentioned-in-the-class-syllabus) : thinking (incorrectly) that the professor's syllabus is part of a moral contract with the students, and binds the professor’s future actions
* [If a professor refuses to elaborate on the contents of the cheat sheet, what becomes fair game?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/192717/if-a-professor-refuses-to-elaborate-on-the-contents-of-the-cheat-sheet-what-bec) : complaining that a professor refuses to give enough clarity as to what material is allowed in the exam room
Now, that lofty ideal has obviously some faults. For instance, individuals and companies with money and connections can more effectively manipulate the system to create rules that favor them. Sometimes, the rules are vague enough that enforcement is arbitrary; or the rules that bind the authority are lax enough that it can get away with anything. But *that is generally seen as a bad thing*, a defect in the system, rather than an unescapable fact of life. People try vigorously to change the rules in a way that suits them. If you believe the authority will do anything that suits them regardless of the rules, you don’t bother doing that - either you try to break the rules and not get caught, or you try overthrowing the authority.
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My understanding is that Russian society does not view administrative rules the same way. (Religious/cultural rules might be a different thing.) They are seen at best as non-binding statements of intention from the authority ("here are your orders, if you follow them you won’t get in trouble, until further notice") or at worst as mere theater ("we are a totally legit country with solid institutions, well-functioning courts etc."), such as in [that example](https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1595456040677556226) (in Chechnya, but I don’t think a similar thing would be unthinkable in Moscow). In that view, rule-breaking is normal and expected, because the rule has no *legitimity* to speak of, and the authority would be foolish to rely on compliance unless it can enforce it by raw force.
I would also note that in Asian countries, in particular China, there *is* a strong deference to rules. Those rules might not be of the same nature as in the West: for instance, [guanxi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanxi) (i.e. reliance of your network to obtain favors from the authority that others would not have access to) is generally considered proper, whereas in the West it would generally be shunned as nepotism or cronyism.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I graduated from a Russian university and later taught for years at an Australian university, so I understand your question very well. In my opinion, the reason for the phenomenon you're asking about is multifold, and I will now make a few points to explain my view.
I have to start with an important caveat though. The West isn't uniform, and my answer is specifically about Australia. For a German point of view, read another [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/195043/111943).
**1. While students at Russian universities are generally graded against well-defined standards, students at Australian universities are often graded on a curve, that is, against their peers.** This means that if you cheat at a Russian university, your cheating won't affect the grades of other students, and that is why your cheating is simply none of their business. And that's often not the case at Australian universities.
In response to comments below, I want to clarify that grading on a curve is often implicit rather than explicit. When I taught at an Australian university, we first gave each student a score according to our assessment criteria, like in Russia, and then, when all scores were known, we decided how to convert these scores to grades on the scale of 100 - and the latter grades were written in transcripts. The conversion rule was chosen each time on the ad-hoc basis and had to be such that outstanding students (say, top 5-10%) got a grade above 90 (but never 100), while average students got something like 75. So, it was, in effect, a curve, but we didn't really explain this to students, so I guess that some of them were not fully aware of the competitive character of the grading process. Still, I believe that many students realized, at least on some level, that they were compared to others in the grading process and that this could affect the grades.
In contrast, it is quite normal in Russia to give every student in the class the highest possible grade, отлично - or, for example, to give most students the lowest passing grade, удовлетворительно. The point is that there are no expectations whatsoever from Russian teachers regarding the mean value and spread of the grades. Russian teachers are expected to clearly define standards before the exam and then blindly grade against them.
One more clarification: A comment below says that grading on a curve is likely to [increase](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1018724900565) cheating, not the other way around, and that well may be true (provided that all other factors are the same), but OP is asking about how your cheating is viewed by others. And my point is that if grading is on a curve and you cheat, you basically push the grades of your peers down. So, I think it's understandable how they feel about cheaters - and they woudn't feel that way if grading wasn't on a curve. Also, teachers who grade on a curve have an additional motivation to ensure that no cheating takes place, to avoid fair students getting "robbed" by cheaters.
**2. Australian universities care much more about their reputation than Russian universities do, because a good reputation helps attract students who are prepared to pay a high tuition fee.** In Australia, students pay a lot of money for their education. Getting a BS degree in Australia can easily cost you A$100,000 (which is about US$70,000). Tuition fees are a considerable part of a university's income. And each university is free to set its own tuition fee. So, if a university gets notorious for letting its students cheat, its reputation gets destroyed, and so does its ability to attract well-paying students. After all, students want a diploma of a reputable university. And in order to remain reputable, Australian universities strive to eradicate cheating.
In contrast, education at Russian universities has been free for decades. Now many Russian universities have started introducing tuition fees, but they are not as large as in Australia, and many Russian students still pay nothing for their university education. In Russia, if you get good scores for your school-leaving exams (ЕГЭ), you will be able to choose between many universities that will grant you a tuition waiver. And if you don't get good scores, you probably don't need a university education in the first place. At any rate, Russian universities are largely state-funded, and their income doesn't depend on their reputation as strongly as for Australian universities.
So, when you cheat at a Russian university, you harm neither your fellow students, who are graded independently of your grade, nor the university itself, which gets funded by the state according to some formal criteria that your cheating has nothing to do with. So, if you don't make any obvious harm to the university or your peers, why would anyone at your university be really bothered by your cheating? No harm, no foul.
**3. Academic staff at Russian universities are notoriously underpaid, with the typical salary being US$500 per month or so.** They barely make ends meet, at least unless they have a second source of income such as a second job or private tutoring. As a result, they don't really value their university teaching jobs. So, they don't really care when they teach. And, consequently, they don't really care about cheating. Furthermore, if you are a Russian university teacher and let your students cheat, you'll be able to give them good grades, and that will be a good cover-up of your poor teaching - and you have to cover it up because your teaching is as good as your salary check is.
In contrast, academic staff at Australian universities are relatively well-paid. Professors in Australia make about A$200,000 per year (which is US$130,000). So, they value their jobs. They really care. And no professor wants to get notorious for letting students cheat, for no university will tolerate this - see my second point above.
**4. Students in Australia tend to have a more responsible approach towards their studies as compared to their Russian counterparts, in my experience.** After all, Australian students pay a lot for their education, so they naturally want to get real knowledge. And this makes them less inclined to cheat.
**5. Finally, cultural differences play a role, too.** Australians tend to be much less tolerant towards cheating in general (e.g., cheating on taxes) than Russians are, in my experience.
At any rate, there's no simple answer to your question. It's a very complex picture involving many factors, and I'm unsure whether I've listed all of them.
And I'm sorry if my answer seems too critical of Russian universities. I hope they are improving now, although the recent geopolitical developments don't add optimism, to be honest.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Much I could say, but as others have asked, would you want the person doing brain surgery on you to have obtained his degree not because he himself passed Med school, but because the girl up the hall did all his exams?
Are you okay with him cutting into your head? If not, why not? If not, ask why he should be allowed to be a brain surgeon at all. If he lacks the knowledge of the brain to be one and doesn't have the requisite experience to know what he needs to do for his job, by himself, then why should he be in that position to begin with?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm not sure whether many students in the "Western" countries actually see cheating as that big a deal. I come from (Western) Germany, and when I was a student (pretty long ago), I knew many fellow students who would cheat and brag about not getting caught, and there was also this kind of moral code that would imply that it is good and nice to help your friends cheat, and you're rather the evil one if you don't. Not sure whether it's still like that or how widespread this phenomenon is, but in my perception for sure it does happen in "the West" as well.
Consequently, as a lecturer I don't think it's a moral issue in the first place. Cheating is bad for learning and has bad consequences, e.g., people not being up for later courses that they take or even for their jobs, also maybe discouraging or frustrating honest students who would be up for learning properly, but of course I also know that not every student later needs to properly know and understand everything I teach, so students may cheat and it may, at times, not do harm. As a lecturer it's my job to try to stop students from cheating, and there need to be severe penalties and measures to stop them cheating, so that students are properly discouraged from cheating. But if students get caught I don't try to make it a moral issue. They are penalised and that's it. I also don't like to use moral appeals to put students off cheating because I think that this implicitly communicates that penalties and measures against cheating are not strong enough, which may in turn actually encourage cheating.
I like open book exams allowing students to use all written material, so cheat sheets are no issue for me. I also try to make my exams so that they are hard to cheat on, but apart from "open book" (which surely helps against a certain way of cheating) I'm not sure how well this can ever work. I think also as university teachers in "the West" we need to accept it as a reality that the moral barrier against cheating is very low.
Also, in my view, capitalism encourages everybody to put their own advantage first (on which I'm not particularly keen), which means that I'd not be surprised about a rather lax attitude to cheating in countries with a long and strong capitalist history (I'm alluding to certain "Western" countries here). Cheating on tax returns is a big issue pretty much everywhere, isn't it?
I'm not an expert on Russian culture, however I am interested in what I can pick up. I fairly recently had a discussion with a Russian, who said that in Russia (and maybe in other countries with authoritarian governments or a strong history of such governments) "playing by the rules" isn't something that can be justified ethically, but is rather only a strategy of survival, and often not in line with what people really think, rather there is general distrust in the justification of rules, and consequently, as long as people can get away with breaking them, there is no moral consideration that would stop them from doing so. This makes much sense to me, except that I don't think (as said above) that in "the West" things are *that* different.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: If I was asked for the underlying reason that cheating is viewed as bad in the west I would say there are two contributing factors: 1) normative ethical tools that have been developed and implemented in western cultures, and 2) the view that education is about improving society, not just a piece of paper.
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Before discussing the first factor, I would not be surprised if your and your colleagues points of view are more in line with those from the west in the medieval time. That is basically because at that time societies had developed fewer tools to help two random people to trust each other. So in this sense it makes more sense to be out for yourself, cheat by making yourself look brilliant, pay less taxes, help to promote your family or those in your society at the expense of others.
The tools I'm talking about having been developed are norms, behaviours that society decide are worthwhile and so people will go a little bit out of their way to enforce, if you get enough people agreeing on a norm then it becomes very hard to break from that norm. If the norm improves trust, e.g. checks and balances in government, limitations on wealth/power concentration, agreement that you won't cheat on tests, then people begin to be able to re-orient from spending a bunch of effort on verifying every new person they meet and making sure they aren't being screwed over by others to more productive/pleasurable things. For these norms to hold consistently the view that violating them are immoral or unethical categorically, rather then only bad if you are discovered, is important.
These tools probably happen to leverage our biology to help make sure everyone agrees to the norms. Once something is viewed as moral or just, then we tend to feel bad when doing it and may go out of our way to punish someone for violating these norms (e.g. you might go out of your way to punish a person who tells the lecturer how everyone cheated). Look up experimental tests of the prisoner's dilemma and the ultimatum game to see that (I believe it is) the pleasure centers of our brains light up when we dispense justice, whatever we consider that to be.
So why do people agree to the norms and keep agreeing, I'm going to guess that its from a few thinkers who sat down and tried to work out what kinds of new behaviours would help society become better. Once they have their beliefs they then tried to convince others that this should be done and sometimes these beliefs spread far enough that they become entrenched. After entrenchment there will always be some people who think about why do we do what we do and come to similar conclusions, applying stronger pressure or convincing others that even if this norm harms us in the short term, it will help us and the people we care about in the long term.
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The second factor is that education is viewed not as a door to something better, but something that makes you better yourself. Think of it like exercise (and we are going to ignore steroids here), if you put the effort into exercising properly then you'll end up strong no matter how you're tested. If you instead find a trick so that when you are tested, you are actually lifting less weight then you are suppose to for your test then you just appear to be strong. So if strength is necessary to get a job then cheating makes sense, if you want to be able to apply your strength in a variety of scenarios, then cheating doesn't make sense.
From this point of view those questions you mentioned (is guessing cheating, is it cheating if I know that answer) start to make sense if you view education and tests as about your intrinsic smartness rather then how smart you appear. In theory I could know nothing about a topic and get 100% on a multiple choice test, but that's just an illusion of my actual skill and when people find out that I somehow violated that norm then people will go out of their way to penalise me for creating that illusion. Similarly I may have only the flimsiest grasp of topic X but happened to work through the question that appeared on the exam last night, creating the illusion of competence and possibly also of cheating once people find out (and associated penalties). Note that this is not really how people think in the west, but I think it captures the basic ideas if you were not raised in this society and are trying to understand it.
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In all these cases you have conflicts between the different norms you've learnt from different societies and your situation. You might be really struggling with a course and so try to cheat, or you want to signal your intelligence to your friend group by "outwitting" the lecturer. Or you might think of the course as not meaningful or worth your time and just a roadblock to something more worthwhile and so decide to cheat so you can put your time towards something more valuable/will be able to reach a position to help people sooner. In all these cases the norm of "cheating = bad" helps to apply pressure so the norm of "everyone cheats" is suppressed and prevents the negatives that come with that second norm (e.g. incompetence).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The moral side of cheating is easy enough to see: using *illegal* means to get an undeserved advantage on your fellow students (or citizens, when cheating on taxes; or friends, when cheating in games; or scientists, when cheating their results... you got it).
I don't think that cheating can *ever* be not harmful to anybody. Even after reading username_2's answer, ***there is no cheating that has "no harm done"***. You are at least damaging people that will trust you to be prepared to do a job and not to be prepared to cheat through it. Do you ever think about how many exams were approved by cheating by the engineer that has designed the elevator you are using?
So cheating denotes a lack of social feeling; you can call it a lack of empathy for the people around you. You can do it by ignorance, by lack of self-esteem, or by sheer greed, but always you just avoid thinking you are damaging somebody. Higher education is thought to be a tool to prepare young people to be useful to society; they sign a social contract when starting it, and cheating means they are not able to be really *useful*. The instructors' task is to correct such behavior the best they can.
I do not really think that *all* people in Russia believe cheating is morally ok. I have acquaintances (among them a girl from Cuba that studied in the URSS in Vladivostock) that is one the fieriest defender of academic (and general) honesty.
And yes, I know real life is different; people cheat and sometimes even are proud of it. That does not mean that the *ethical* way is to try to teach that this behavior *harms* and that nice people don't do it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: There is a profound cultural and factual difference in understanding the society between the rule-of-law democratic countries ("the West" in the Russian parlance) on one side and the ex-USSR space on the other side.
In "the West" law, order and various rules are seen to be:
* beneficial for the society as a whole
* beneficial for the society members (people breaking the rules may see short term advantage, but long term resistance as well)
* subject to change, should a general consensus of changing them is established
* livable in the first place
* generally enforced
* usually take precedence over what the boss says
Another important fact is that the education certificate (diploma) is good, but is in no way a replacement for the actual abilities and competence when we talk about earning money.
"In Soviet Russia" everything is the other way round.
* Rules are from the above. Even if they change, the average Ivan has no business thereof.
* It is generally hard to follow the rules. They are hardly ever evaluated for efficiency or acceptability (no feedback so no one cares).
* Rules are enforced sporadically and selectively.
* The best-known social elevator is breaking the rules in one way or another (corruption, stealing, etc...). People doing this precisely are seen as successful and see approval instead of resistance.
* The society well-being is a ruler's business, not everyone's.
Back in the USSR times, diploma determined your work position and your actual competence had little to do with your income. It is not exactly like this anymore, but the diploma fetish is pretty much entrenched.
So here we go.
The authority or rules of any kind and form are seen as an obstacle and people learn from early age that the ability to evade them is a must.
If two or more people are in a position to share the need of a particular rule evasion, they unite against the rules ad-hoc, no conspiracy needed.
Cheating on exams is how the school prepares children for their adult life.
>
> The only really forbidding road sign is a big, heavy concrete beam blocking the whole width of the road. Everything else is a mere recommendation.
>
>
>
In regard to the integrity and "keeping your word":
* In "the West", keeping your word is keeping your word. There is no profound difference between cheating your wife, cheating on exam, cheating in your tax form or stealing an item from the neighbor.
* On the other side of the iron curtain, cheating "the system" (be it your boss, the government or the grocery store) is really, really morally different from doing the same to people equal to you (friends, family, direct contractual partners or even an unknown person on the street). The former is acceptable and sometimes approved, the latter is not.
---
p.s. I am not going to say that neither of these things is unknown at the other side, but the general mechanisms of life, the universe and everything else are exactly as stated above.
This is a first-hand experience. I spent a half of my life on both sides.
p.p.s Contrary to the popular western belief, **there is such a thing as "the West"** from the Russian viewpoint. Russians are so much culturally different that the "subtle" differences between Greece, Norway, France, USA or Japan look unimportant to them. Yes, Japan and S. Korea are part of "the West". It is easier to count the places that are not "the West", but the list is rather dynamic these days.
Upvotes: 5
|
2023/04/07
| 1,474
| 6,190
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm confused as to whether an "official offer letter" that i have signed is actually a contract.
I have received a tenure-track offer from a US university, and they have sent me a 1.5 page official offer letter specifying salary, starting date, etc. However it does say employment is subject to university funding availability and other background processing (criminal record, visa etc.).
I have signed and sent this offer letter, but was wondering whether this is actually a binding contract, or just an offer on paper and thus not binding.
Could anyone kindly answer my question?<issue_comment>username_1: It seems that you do not have anything yet that is **enforceably legally binding in EU law**. US employment law may differ in this respect - though I doubt it based on what I read in [employment lawyers' websites](https://os-legal.com/is-an-offer-letter-a-legal-document/). Please consider reposting your question in [Law Stack Exchange](https://law.stackexchange.com/).
In UK/EU an offer isn't an enforceably legally binding offer till it is made in writing, accepted in writing and its acceptance - including satisfaction of all contingent matters that might cause withdrawal of the offer - confirmed in writing.
1. You need to obtain written confirmation of your acceptance of the initial job offer or a letter whose contents, e.g. arrangements for meeting new boss, admin meeting, ID issue, etc, imply the receipt of your acceptance of the offer.
2. Apparently in this case security clearance has not yet been obtained. The processes entailed in this should soon be advised by the employer to you.
3. Other things like
* medical examination
* proof of no restrictive covenants on your working for an employer such as that making the offer
* inadequate qualifications
* unsatisfactory references
* false information on job experience or personal history, e.g. convictions/prison
could also be a basis for legally withdrawing an offer that would otherwise be legally binding.
If the job has a probation period inherent in it, an employer may terminate the contract for any or no reason within the agreed notice period, e.g. 1 month.
Furthermore, in cases where staff are recruited contingent to a fixed quota of vacancies there may a final hitch.
**The biggest danger in changing employers is that you may be encouraged to submit notice to leave your current employer prior to receiving a full legally-binding offer from the would-be employer.**
**So do not submit your notice until you have a letter attesting to all the above conditions being satisfactorily dealt with and a starting date, salary and general conditions being referenced.**
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: An agreement, written or verbal, **is a contract**. You've signed it, so you've agreed to it, and you should look carefully at what you've agreed to.
Generally, the advice is to make sure your employment offer is in writing not because a verbal offer isn't a contract but because *it's a difficult contract to enforce*.
In the US, it's rare relative to other countries to have employment agreements that bind employee and employer to a specified length of employment. This varies a bit by state and you can come to an agreement otherwise, but in most cases in the US you are free to leave a job at any time and your employer is free to fire you at any time, as long as they don't violate other rules in doing so (like discriminating by gender or race).
>
> However it does say employment is subject to university funding availability and other background processing (criminal record, visa etc.)
>
>
>
That's pretty standard - if you aren't eligible to work at the university because you have no visa, your offer is void. If you fail a criminal background check, your offer is void. Even if you had already started working and were there for a week, if they run out of money they can end your employment, they're only legally required to pay you for the time you already worked.
Now, there is an important distinction between what is *permitted by law* and what is free of consequences. If you accept an offer and then decide you don't want to work there, the institution can't legally compel you to work there, but they can be annoyed by you. They can refuse to consider hiring you in the future, the faculty there can tell their friends that you skipped on them. If you have good reasons to renege and gave ample notice, it's unlikely those things would happen, though, at least not to an extreme degree. If there are visa problems, they're likely to see the bureaucracy as a shared enemy and not blame you for it, as long as you've done your part. If they were expecting you to arrive and teach courses and you told them 2 days before the semester began that you chose to take another job that's a definitive bridge burned.
Similarly, if an institution regularly hires people to tenure track faculty jobs and then tells them "oh sorry, we decided we don't have the money to pay you, bye" the word is going to get out and they will quickly find it harder to recruit anyone (and likely other people working there will look for other jobs).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I have been in a similar situation; I suspect it is all too common at state universities in the US.
Here's what may be the case.
The department has permission from the university to search for and hire. Everything on campus has been done - all the way up through deans and chancellors. But the state legislature has not yet officially passed a budget that includes the financing they negotiated with the university. So the letter
needs that boilerplate "subject to university funding availability" so if the money does not appear they don't have to make good on the offer.
In my case and in every case I know of the hire went through. Of course you will have to get a visa and a criminal background check if they are required. That's up to you, not to the state or the university (though they should help with the visa).
Finally - congratulations. Tenure track offers are hard to come by; you seem to be on the track you set out for yourself a year or so ago.
Upvotes: 1
|
2023/04/07
| 1,744
| 7,324
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'd like to write a scientific article from my master's thesis.
My supervisor offered to collaborate on this, and become co-author. I would answer positively if it wasn't for the following considerations:
* he wants to target journals of a certain level, and I don't think my work is up to these standards (yet?)
* this is mostly because of two weak points in the actual content of my work. Improving these two weak spots will require a very significant effort: doing new research, learning new topics, writing more arguments...
* I would like this article to be published quickly, to take advantage from it in my early career life. The journals of my supervisor take many months (sometimes a year) to have the work published. This is incompatible with my timeline
* and sincerely I am okay with the work as is, with its weaknesses. I don't want to put new research effort into it.
I'm not entirely sure what his opinion on it is, on the two weak points for instance. I know that he thinks it's suitable for a publication. I also don't know in advance what his specific plans for the paper are (only shortening and rewriting? Adding more content? Fixing the weak spots?).
I would therefore like to ask for a meeting, and tell him about my concerns, before confirming I want him to work with me on the paper. In particular that I don't want to put the effort required to fix the two major issues, and something about my timeline. And gather his opinion on those issues too. Maybe they're not such a problem as I imagine.
As for me I am working full time, and I'm not in academia anymore. But I might return there. I'd be writing this paper during weekday evenings.
Is this something sensible to tell my supervisor?<issue_comment>username_1: It seems that you do not have anything yet that is **enforceably legally binding in EU law**. US employment law may differ in this respect - though I doubt it based on what I read in [employment lawyers' websites](https://os-legal.com/is-an-offer-letter-a-legal-document/). Please consider reposting your question in [Law Stack Exchange](https://law.stackexchange.com/).
In UK/EU an offer isn't an enforceably legally binding offer till it is made in writing, accepted in writing and its acceptance - including satisfaction of all contingent matters that might cause withdrawal of the offer - confirmed in writing.
1. You need to obtain written confirmation of your acceptance of the initial job offer or a letter whose contents, e.g. arrangements for meeting new boss, admin meeting, ID issue, etc, imply the receipt of your acceptance of the offer.
2. Apparently in this case security clearance has not yet been obtained. The processes entailed in this should soon be advised by the employer to you.
3. Other things like
* medical examination
* proof of no restrictive covenants on your working for an employer such as that making the offer
* inadequate qualifications
* unsatisfactory references
* false information on job experience or personal history, e.g. convictions/prison
could also be a basis for legally withdrawing an offer that would otherwise be legally binding.
If the job has a probation period inherent in it, an employer may terminate the contract for any or no reason within the agreed notice period, e.g. 1 month.
Furthermore, in cases where staff are recruited contingent to a fixed quota of vacancies there may a final hitch.
**The biggest danger in changing employers is that you may be encouraged to submit notice to leave your current employer prior to receiving a full legally-binding offer from the would-be employer.**
**So do not submit your notice until you have a letter attesting to all the above conditions being satisfactorily dealt with and a starting date, salary and general conditions being referenced.**
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: An agreement, written or verbal, **is a contract**. You've signed it, so you've agreed to it, and you should look carefully at what you've agreed to.
Generally, the advice is to make sure your employment offer is in writing not because a verbal offer isn't a contract but because *it's a difficult contract to enforce*.
In the US, it's rare relative to other countries to have employment agreements that bind employee and employer to a specified length of employment. This varies a bit by state and you can come to an agreement otherwise, but in most cases in the US you are free to leave a job at any time and your employer is free to fire you at any time, as long as they don't violate other rules in doing so (like discriminating by gender or race).
>
> However it does say employment is subject to university funding availability and other background processing (criminal record, visa etc.)
>
>
>
That's pretty standard - if you aren't eligible to work at the university because you have no visa, your offer is void. If you fail a criminal background check, your offer is void. Even if you had already started working and were there for a week, if they run out of money they can end your employment, they're only legally required to pay you for the time you already worked.
Now, there is an important distinction between what is *permitted by law* and what is free of consequences. If you accept an offer and then decide you don't want to work there, the institution can't legally compel you to work there, but they can be annoyed by you. They can refuse to consider hiring you in the future, the faculty there can tell their friends that you skipped on them. If you have good reasons to renege and gave ample notice, it's unlikely those things would happen, though, at least not to an extreme degree. If there are visa problems, they're likely to see the bureaucracy as a shared enemy and not blame you for it, as long as you've done your part. If they were expecting you to arrive and teach courses and you told them 2 days before the semester began that you chose to take another job that's a definitive bridge burned.
Similarly, if an institution regularly hires people to tenure track faculty jobs and then tells them "oh sorry, we decided we don't have the money to pay you, bye" the word is going to get out and they will quickly find it harder to recruit anyone (and likely other people working there will look for other jobs).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I have been in a similar situation; I suspect it is all too common at state universities in the US.
Here's what may be the case.
The department has permission from the university to search for and hire. Everything on campus has been done - all the way up through deans and chancellors. But the state legislature has not yet officially passed a budget that includes the financing they negotiated with the university. So the letter
needs that boilerplate "subject to university funding availability" so if the money does not appear they don't have to make good on the offer.
In my case and in every case I know of the hire went through. Of course you will have to get a visa and a criminal background check if they are required. That's up to you, not to the state or the university (though they should help with the visa).
Finally - congratulations. Tenure track offers are hard to come by; you seem to be on the track you set out for yourself a year or so ago.
Upvotes: 1
|
2023/04/07
| 1,819
| 7,142
|
<issue_start>username_0: My thesis title is:
>
> Study the phase-shifting behavior in the complex reaction mechanism.
>
>
>
My external examiner suggested changing it to
>
> Study of the phase-shifting ... .
>
>
>
But due to university rules it is not possible at this stage of Ph.D. Can I continue with the title? Is this at least academically or technically correct?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd say your thesis title as written contains a grammatical error. If your institution considers repair of a grammatical error to be "changing a topic", that's a ridiculous policy but not something anyone here can do a thing about.
Probably the external examiner will roll their eyes at this silly policy if you tell them it can't be changed due to the reason you state, but I can't see why they would make this an obstacle for your graduation, since your thesis is about phase-shifting behavior in a complex reaction mechanism, not about English grammar. It's unlikely that this will be their first experience with a silly policy in academia.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: It's technically and academically incorrect English grammar.
A standard English reader would take this as a signal that it comes from a low-quality institution.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Talk with your University's admin and say it was just a small typo and you just want to add two letters to correct the typo.
Most admin will help you to do this.
However, if they refuse your request, just change nothing. You are a chemistry researcher and people will look into your chemistry contribution (not English grammar); one typo, which is not meaning-changing, is very forgivable.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: It doesn't conform to the usual style for academic paper titles in English, which is that the title usually functions as a [noun phrase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_phrase) describing the paper's content. Your "Study the..." title seems to instead be a [verb phrase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb_phrase) describing what the author did, or maybe what the thesis is going to do. It also happens to function as a complete sentence with "study" in the [imperative mood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperative_mood), which as others mentioned, makes it sound like a command.
Adding "of" helps, in that it makes "study" function instead as a noun (meaning "examination", "investigation", etc), and so it sounds more like a noun phrase.
Personally, I would remove "study" altogether as it's redundant: the reader already knows that the paper is studying something, that's the whole point of a thesis. So I'd just make it "Phase-shifting behavior in the complex reaction mechanism".
I'd also look carefully at the definite article "the" before "complex reaction mechanism". If this is a [term of art](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/term%20of%20art) in your field that refers to a specific mechanism, and when you say "the complex reaction mechanism" people know exactly which mechanism you mean, then "the" might be okay. But if you are simply talking about an unspecified reaction mechanism that happens to be complex, then you would not use a definite article, and would instead say something like "Phase-shifting behavior in a complex reaction mechanism", or "Phase-shifting behavior in complex reaction mechanisms." Articles ("a", "an", "the") are often a challenge for learners of English, so you might want to consult with someone who knows the terminology of your field, and is experienced with reading and writing academic English.
If I were in your situation, I would make a reasonable effort to get the title changed. If it's a matter of filling out a form, or making a phone call, or contacting the boss of whoever told you that you couldn't do it, it would be worthwhile. Even if it's a university rule, there is almost certainly some person or group who has the power to make an exception, and there is also very likely to be a process for making a formal request to that person or group. On the other hand, if it would require a major hardship to get it changed, like paying a large fee or delaying graduation, then I would just let it go.
Relatively few people are likely to read your thesis anyway, so it probably isn't such a big deal. But if you will be publishing one or more papers based on your thesis, they will be more visible, so you'll want to be more careful with your grammar and proofreading.
Also, when listing the thesis title on your website, CV, etc, I would be inclined to list the corrected title. Yes, yes, normally you should always cite documents by their exact title with no changes, but adding a [stop word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_word) like "of" isn't really going to cause any problems.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: No, the present title reads like a bad translation of a title in another language.
Yes, you can change the title as the research evolves to make it more representative of the final work.
In English speaking countries a thesis like that would normally be titled as either
***A Study Of Phase-Shifting Behaviour In A Complex Reaction Mechanism***
or
***Studies In Phase-Shifting Behaviour In A Complex Reaction Mechanism***
if you studied just a single complex reaction mechanism and drew no general conclusions.
But if several complex reaction mechanisms were investigated you might title it as
***Studies In Phase-Shifting Behaviour In Complex Reaction Mechanisms***
It might be an idea to add some qualifier before " ... Reaction Mechanism" that references the *category* of chemical reaction which you are studying, e.g. combustion, decomposition, redox, etc, and the class of chemical substances involved, e.g. metals, metal oxides, organic liquid, polymer, etc, as chemical reactions is a huge field and a thesis title is better when searchable on keywords.
For example,
***Studies In Phase-Shifting Behaviour In Complex Polymerization Reaction Mechanisms***
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: As most others have commented, the title is grammatically incorrect. Nor do I think a great deal of your supervisor's suggestion. My suggestion would be to make a simple change that would place your title in a grand tradition. Specifically, replace "Study the" with the word "On" so that the title reads:
>
> *On phase-shifting behavior in the complex reaction mechanism*
>
>
>
The tradition of commencing the titles of scientific articles with the word "On" reaches back more than 200 years from the present. Examples, including modern examples, include:
* *On the Feasibility of Side-Channel Attacks with Brain-Computer Interfaces* (Martinovich, 2012)
* *On the Cognitive Benefits of Cultural Experience* (Lee, 2012)
* *On the Origin of Species* (Darwin)
* *On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies* (Einstein, 1905)
* *On the Theory of Relativity* (Carmichael, 1913)
* *On the Quantum Theory of Radiation* (Einstein, 1916, translation)
* *On the Problem of Empathy* (Stein, 1916)
* *On the Nature of the Chemical Bond* (Cunningham, 2017)
* *On the Problem of Three Bodies* (Chalis 1856)
Upvotes: 2
|
2023/04/08
| 846
| 3,396
|
<issue_start>username_0: The situation I am asking about goes like this: I am writing a math paper that I hope to publish, and want to use a certain math technique that I found in a paper from 2021. In that paper, the author gives credit to two other papers, one from 2011, as well as the original 1887 paper by <NAME> creating this technique in the first place. The 2011 paper cites the 1887 paper as well.
I now have three possible sources to cite this concept, with all the references readily available to me. What would be the standard practice in this case? Is it bad form to cite all three?
On the one hand, it could be more convenient for the reader to have all three references, if they want to know more about where the concept came from, instead of having to trace it back through the one reference.
On the other hand, maybe this is redundant because I am essentially citing three sources for one idea.<issue_comment>username_1: Depends. I can cite [this paper](https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10331930-using-synthetic-controls-feasibility-data-requirements-methodological-aspects) or [this one](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1198/jasa.2009.ap08746), and within the right context, the same information is conveyed either way (e.g., general case for where researchers may use synthetic controls). I would only cite both if the case of the old paper was substantively different/interesting or there were other reasons to cite both at once. But there's no rule.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I currently cannot imagine a situation where it is a good way not to cite the original source. Give credit to the inventors of an idea, that is simply good practice.
Concerning the newer papers, it depends on what you want to express, or if there have been adjustments to the original method that make it more powerful, for example. You can make this clear by adding a little context, so that it becomes clear to the reader why you cite the different papers for the one method. For example:
>
> The method applied here, originally discovered by Pascal in 1887 [reference 1], was more recently adapted by [another author] to solve problem X [reference 2].
>
>
>
If you simply want to give a source for the method you use, and you still are using the method as published originally, there is no strict necessity to cite the newer work.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I obtain, read, and cite the original sources whenever I can.
I first did it as a kind of mindless distraction while avoiding writing my PhD but then I discovered that it was also fun. Adding to my long-term enthusiasm for tracking original sources was the fact that the examiners of my PhD commented on how frequently they had been unaware of the original source of many of the ideas that were central to my research area, and how much they enjoyed learning of them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: It depends entirely on the purpose of the reference:
* Do you want to cite the other paper as the original proof of a concept? Then cite the original.
* Do you want to cite the other paper because it contains a good description of the concept? Then cite whichever paper fits that description, which may or may not be the original.
* Do you want to cite the other paper to show that the concept is still of interest during recent years? Then cite the most recent paper.
* etc.
Upvotes: 3
|
2023/04/08
| 2,638
| 10,610
|
<issue_start>username_0: As the profile indicates, my name is <NAME>. I've recently started working on a dual PhD on process mining and natural language processing at a university and a governmental institution in the Netherlands.
According to [this overview](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames_in_Europe), the surname *Muller* (or variations thereof, including *Müller* and *Mulder*) is the 5th most popular surname in Austria, the (single) most popular one in Germany, the second most common one in Luxembourg, the 10th most common surname in the Netherlands, and the single most popular one in Switzerland.
In other words, there are a lot of *Muller*s in Northwestern and Central Europe. Moreover, the first name 'Max' is quite popular as well, and the combination '<NAME>' is pretty widespread too.
Although I don't think there's much wrong with the name itself, I am slightly worried people won't be able to find my (hopefully upcoming) research articles on repositories like the ArXiv, Google Scholar, ResearchGate and similar venues.
Therefore, I currently consider adding a pseudonym to my full name, and use the combination as a profile name on these websites. This could help make me and the papers more easily identifiable. In my case, I'd like to add the name *Lonysa*, a pseudonym I've thought up years ago. It's also the name of my website. So the full name would become '<NAME>' or '<NAME>'.
My full name is <NAME>, so I could also consider using the name <NAME> or something along those lines (as suggested in the answers to [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/125135/taking-an-academic-pseudonym)), but I'm not sure that would help in this case, given there are so many Max Mullers who might have done something similar to their academic names.
I have the following **questions**:
1. Is it generally a good idea to add a pseudonym, and the aforementioned one in particular, to your full name on venues for scientific articles in order to make yourself more easily identifiable? Why or why not?
2. Are there other ways to distinguish yourself from people who bear the same name as you?<issue_comment>username_1: You could do that. It isn't a problem. However, it might not matter much unless there are more people with your name publishing in your field in the same time period.
There is another prominent academician with my exact (real) name publishing concurrently, but we are in such different fields that it doesn't matter.
It is important, however, that a person publish under a single name, whether a true name or a pseudonym in a given field over their career to make things easier on potential readers.
But the modern alternative is to get an [ORCID](https://orcid.org) identifier that will, in principle, keep you and your work connected. I suggest that you explore that. I've never felt the need for one, myself, but my name isn't all that popular either.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There are two related but separate concerns here: One is to provide a way to figure out which papers are yours, and which papers were written by other Max Mullers. This problem is solved by [ORCID](https://orcid.org/), which also handles things like future name changes, etc. In my opinion, every academic ought to get themselves an ORCID.
The second is the question whether you are googelable. For example, if someone reads an older paper of yours and wishes to find out your current affiliation, you really want that searching for your name plus maybe a keyword from your research area leads them straight to you. Here, adding something rather unique to your name as you propose would be very helpful.
Giving yourself a middle name of your own choosing would be completely straight-forward. None of the few potential problems with having a different academic name than legal name would apply here. On the other hand, picking '<NAME>' would probably lead you to become "Dr Lonysa" in short, and then there would be some rare situations where the fact that your passport or degree certificates don't have "Lonysa" on them at all could lead to (surmountable) difficulties.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: A simple solution would be to just use your full name. For every publication, on any institute/personal academic website, when registering at the university, when entering into collaborations, at conferences, ...
Multiple things will then help you (specifically you, with your name) here:
1. Your (full) first name, Maximiliaan, is the Dutch version of writing that particular name, a version usually not used in e.g Austria or Germany (Maximilian or just Max), but also not in the UK (usually just Max afaik) or e.g. Italy (Massimiliano, see one of the other answers) or France (Maxime, I think). Unless of course the person has some connection to the dutch speaking part of the world, but this already quite limits the number of people with your first last name combination. Of course, this does not help you much if you get abbreviated to <NAME>.
2. Having a second name helps you get ahead in the combinatorics game. There are probably fewer <NAME> than <NAME>. And <NAME> is probably similar to <NAME> as far as frequency goes, so I dont think Lonysa would be any better (or worse) than Alexander here, since most people will only see the initial in the shortened form anyway. Now, if you started using a middle name that started with an X, things may be different, I would wager that there are not many people (in Central Europe, in academia) with that middle initial.
3. Muller is not the same as Müller, Mueller, Möller, Møller, Mulder, .... People can, and usually do in my experience, use the full range of UTF-8 (well, maybe not the full range, but certainly the parts used to write most people's names, in particular if the characters come from a characterset that looks similar enough to latin characters...) in bibliographies, especially if wherever they copied the citation from (the author field in the paper, another paper's bibliography, ArXiv, the publishers website, some citation managament tool/database...) also did.
4. There are so many specialisations in science. How many <NAME>ers that publish in underwater basket weaving (specifically the kind done close to underwater vulcanoes) that got their PhD at Atlantis University are there really going to be?
All of that put together means that you are probably going to be fine, if you just go with your full name (or swap out your actual middle name for the one you came up with).
And if not, that is why you should get an ORCID in any case (among other reasons like your legal name possibly changing at some point in the future due to some reason or another).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Is it generally a good idea to add a pseudonym, and the aforementioned
> one in particular, to your full name on venues for scientific articles
> in order to make yourself more easily identifiable? Why or why not?
>
>
>
I'll answer from personal experience. My surname was Smith. No-one could ever find me in directories or anywhere else despite the fact that I included my middle initials. Let's face it, who knows or remembers someone else's middle initials?
After constant complaints from people who needed my services (and for my own personal reasons) I changed it to something much more unusual. In Britain one's legal name can be changed easily by deed poll. I did this at zero cost and I now use it in every aspect of my life. I have never regretted it and people remember me for my unusual surname alone - never mind my achievements.
If you can change your name legally, I would recommend it. My passport, driving licence and everything else are in my new name. It just works.
<NAME> would distinguish you from any other author. However, if you want to steal a march and appear first alphabetically in every list of authors, change your name to <NAME> or similar and you'll be remembered for all sorts of reasons! (I'm only half joking about this latter idea).
>
> Are there other ways to distinguish yourself from people who bear the
> same name as you?
>
>
>
Many - but unless you are a talented and unrelenting self-publicist or an undoubted trail-blazing genius, most of them are undesirable.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I have a common, but complicated name (including two diacritics). While still in academia, I made the terrible mistake of not **simplifying** it (removing all complexities and especially the diacritics that cost me a paper).
Other answers recommend ORCID and, by all means, do it. This is an unambiguous identifier that is much, much better than your name.
At the same time, I would recommend keeping your name as simple as possible. Many countries do not use the middle name or use it sometimes, or use it with a specific order, or use a letter, or a few letters, etc. Names are [horribly messy](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/).
*<NAME>* sounds great.
---
Since you mention the Netherlands, they have a weird thing about (changing? inventing?) first names a Dutch friend of mine explained to me once, but I forgot what it was. So keep it simple.
**EDIT**: I called my friend and the story is that parents (used to) choose traditional "Official" first names, but never used them in real life and also (used to) choose at the same time a short version more or less aligned with the "official" name. People would always use the second one in their day-to-day life. The usage of the first one is only on official papers (and especially on papers abroad such as visa applications)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I think that some of the arguments in favor of using a pseudonym presented here do not apply in the academic world.
A creative pseudonym added to someone's real name could leave an unintended funny impression (I am thinking of the honorific nicknames of artists or athletes). And one's own taste may change sooner or later. In science, you just want to be identified correctly during your entire life. For that purpose, I consider consistency more helpful than creativity. Not to mention the hassle that may arise from adding another version of your name (e.g. when travelling).
Thus, I second the points in favor of using your full real name, especially considering that it does not seem that common to me, and that there are supplementary tools such as the ORCID identifier.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/08
| 1,425
| 6,106
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<issue_start>username_0: I want to do good work, but I don't have the benefit of a postdoc advisor to bounce ideas off of. I applied for postdocs but didn't get any offers. Now I'm just reading papers in my room on my own and trying to generate stuff, but I end up with "observations." At this rate I'll never publish in a top journal. And I'll be competing with postdocs who have the advantage of working with postdoc supervisors who give them projects to work on that will get published in good journals. What should I do?
Here's a concrete example. I was reading two papers, both on similar things. I wondered if it was possible to extend one of the results using ideas from another paper. At first I didn't have a good understanding of either paper, because I hadn't read them carefully. Then once I really understood what was going on, I realized that it's actually very easy and the proof can be given in a few lines. So I still prove things, but it's without any guidance and the result I get ends up being an "observation." Not an Inventiones paper. At this rate, all I will end up with is minor results that aren't publishable in good journals. What do I do?
I know I can do math. But I'm not in a situation that will lead me to be competitive and I want every advantage I can get.<issue_comment>username_1: Not an answer, but too long for a comment.
You have asked several questions here about your academic career that suggest it has not been going as well as you hoped and asking how you could fix that.
Try to think more about how your career might evolve in broader terms than wanting to be "competitive in math research".
You have earned (or are about to earn) a doctorate in mathematics, so you have proved some theorems. Write them up and submit them to appropriate journals - places where people who work in your area will find them. Work at getting your mathematics out into the world rather than about the rankings of the journals. Find coauthors who share your interests, independent of their prestige.
Look for a job at a where you can enjoy the work at level appropriate to your abilities. That may be at a place that values teaching along with research.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Times may have changed, but when I had a postdoc in pure math it did not occur to me to ask my supervisor for a project. My supervisors supported me in many other ways, like snagging me invitations to conferences and helping me interpret referee reports. That said, I got advice from a lot a mathematicians at that time, including from supervisors. I still got advice from my former PhD advisor. I also talked to mathematicians I met at conferences. This was before the internet, so I imagine it is a lot easier to met other mathematicians these days.
I found it easier to keep up with math topics when there was a local seminar. One can then present your results and get an idea of what confuses others prior to sending the paper to a journal.
The main benefit one gets from a good pure math postdoc is reduced teaching and travel funds. That is, time and money to devote to research. You need to seek resources for one or both of these. This seems to have gotten harder than in the past.
You told us you did not get a postdoc position, but not what position you did get. If you are unemployed and hungry you need to ignore this advice and focus on food and shelter. I am writing this assuming you have something like a visiting professorship with a full teaching load.
Since riding a supervisor's coat-tails is not an option, I suggest you start developing your own areas of research and cultivating your own list of collaborators. These days you need not ever met someone in person to write a paper together. Instead of sending a small observation to a modest journal, consider discussing your observation with some mathematicians that you know and see if you can develop a joint project. If you don't know a dozen early career mathematicians in your area, you need to met some.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The good news is that you don’t need an Inventiones-level paper to get a tenure track position. Most people who get a position at my department do not have such a paper. That is even true at departments that are better ranked than mine.
The bad news is that you have correctly diagnosed that not having a postdoctoral position puts you at a significant disadvantage. I’ll go even further: if you cannot get a postdoctoral position with a reasonably good mentor who can help you advance in your research, you will not be able to have an academic career.
So, your focus should be on making yourself attractive enough so that someone will want to offer you a postdoctoral position. That means writing up and publishing whatever results you have that are not yet published. And it means networking, through your adviser and other connections, to identify opportunities. And, of course, applying to whatever positions you can find that seem like even remotely realistic prospects.
As for getting new publishable results all by yourself: this can be an extremely difficult thing to do for someone at your career stage, and for some people it will be impossible. So, it’s worth trying fir sure, but don’t neglect other approaches, such as collaborating with your adviser or other people you got to know during your PhD. It may well be the case that the best use of your time right now is not to try to do new research, but to publish the work you have already done and to promote yourself with the goal of securing a postdoctoral position, which will set you up for continued success.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Most math Ph.D.s (who remain in academia) end up at an institution with lower reputation than their Ph.D. institution. So look for a position at such a place.
If you are near a research math department, they will likely be happy to let you attend talks given there. Or even let you hang around at a departmental tea. Probably you should just listen for a few weeks before you try to discuss your interests with them.
Upvotes: 3
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2023/04/09
| 1,499
| 6,122
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a first-year Ph.D. student in an engineering field in my home country, and my Ph.D. supervisor is my master's supervisor.
The central problem is that he is very busy with administrative work, thus he has no time to guide his students. I must emphasize that this is very common, at least in my school (though I don't consider this to be right), so other students in the research group seem to accept the fact.
Also, there are other problems:
1. I don't like the environment. I used to be a master's student for the same supervisor, but I was basically guided by another supervisor in another institution since I was working on a cooperative project. Thus I was not familiar with the current research group when I applied for the Ph.D. candidate. The supervisor has more than 30 students with around 10 Ph.D. students, thus the resources are very limited, and everything can be competitive (this is quite common in my country). The master's students seem to be very antiforeign for some reason. Though I don't really have to be close to them, it kind of irritates me.
2. No money, the dormitory sucks, and the administrative department is not helpful.
Actually, I have reached out to the supervisor that I decided to quit after two months since I got in. But he persuaded me not to do that and promised me he would make some changes.
I have talked to one of the Ph.D. students in this group, and she also persuaded me not to do that because there are plenty of ways to get instructions. So anyway I decided to stay at that time.
But the central problem cannot be solved, and I have to be on my own to start my project with very limited help.
All I want is to get basic and systematic scientific training from a supervisor who is prominent in my field. The current situation is quite the opposite.
If I quit, I would apply for another Ph.D. project in another country (I am so sick of the environment in this field of this country). I want to know the situations in countries other than China: the majority of supervisors would give basic instructions or not, and how they treat students.
I'm almost 24 years old, and I think I can afford to quit and wait for another year. Anyway, there are plenty of struggles for me, as no one would support me to quit, and the language barrier (I have never been abroad), and whether I am qualified to get into a project.<issue_comment>username_1: When I was first looking for graduate programs, I met a post doc and asked him what he advise someone starting out in grad school. He simply said "pick the right advisor". It sounds like you picked the right advisor for your masters program, but not for PhD.
>
> The central problem is that he is very busy with administrative work, thus he has no time to guide his students. I must emphasize that this is very common, at least in my school (though I don't consider this to be right), so other students in the research group seem to accept the fact.
>
>
>
I know in some countries, as it seems in yours, this is normal; in others, its highly variable and really depends on the professor. This same post doc I met advised that in America, "star students go with professors who are writing their last book and are nearing retirement; doctoral students who would prefer a more active advisor should go for the recent hire, who will often involve them more and also have more time for them." It's not a hard and fast rule but by and large I've seen this to be the case, and might apply to you.
>
> All I want is to get basic and systematic scientific training from a supervisor who is prominent in my field.
>
>
>
Given what I just said above, this might not be possible with your current advisor. Also, cconsta1 is right when they said that supervisors typically lack the time, and as you've already noticed,
>
> The supervisor has more than 30 students with around 10 Ph.D. students, thus the resources are very limited, and everything can be competitive (this is quite common in my country).
>
>
>
That is a crazy busy life, not to mention the administrative work.
>
> I'm almost 24 years old, and I think I can afford to quit and wait for another year. Anyway, there are plenty of struggles for me, as no one would support me to quit, and the language barrier (I have never been abroad), and whether I am qualified to get into a project.
>
>
>
Plenty of time. The real question is whether the best use of your time and energy is to find a different program/advisor, or whether you should bare knuckle it and learn on your own, and pretend as if you don't even have an advisor, because as you've noticed even when asking for more involvement, you still got none. If you still aren't sure where to start, maybe ask your advisor what textbooks he would recommend.
I wish you all the best.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Hope you're doing well.
*(Sorry for the length of my intervention)*
I won't advise you to quit or stay, but I can just tell you that you're the only one who knows what is good or bad for you.
* First thing first: **As a PhD student you must have or build the ability to work independently (for most of the time without supervision). Since the moment you start your master, you must start build this ability or improve it**.
Here in my country and particularly in my University, a master student who doesn't know how to work independently will probably never defend his end of study dissertation because about 90% of supervisors will never ask you what level you are with your dissertation or how you're progressing. The student is the one who must contact him to show the progression of work and even suggest improvements .
* **If you aren't comfortable with the environment and your security and/or health can be in danger, then you know what you have to do**.
* Don't already stuck on the idea that language is a barrier. As far as you can learn new concepts and notions in your field of specialization, why not do the same for a foreign language?!
**In all cases, take the right decision (the one you think is right) for your good**.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/09
| 782
| 3,429
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<issue_start>username_0: I got a notation of academic dishonesty on my BSc’s transcript after I received the conditional offer from a top graduate school. I submitted the application very early before the notation was added to my transcript. Now I received a conditional offer from the school. They’ll give me the official offer after I get the final transcript and degree certification, which is in June. Will the school withdraw my offer because of this notation? Do I still have a chance to get matriculated after I send the official transcript?
Should I inform the school in advance about this notation on the transcript? Or I should wait until they check my transcript? I’m not sure if the admission team will look very carefully at my transcript. (Since they have no requirements on my cumulative GPA.) I am worried that if I tell them right now, my offer will be withdrawn. Since the top school has lots of competitive students on the waiting list, they’ll probably reject me. Maybe I should wait until later in May, maybe there are some extra positions left, and although there’s a notation on my transcript, I’ll probably have a chance. But I also worry if I wait until they find out, I’ll be regarded as not honest and transparent to them.
I don’t know how should I do currently. Since the incident happen, I lived under regret and self-accusation every day. I’ve really learned from this and I’ll never let this happen in my future study. Now the offer from my dream school is just in front of me. But I may be going to lose it.
Does anyone know what is the right thing I should do currently? I am very hesitant to send the school an email to tell them in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: Most importantly, please do not (once again, DO NOT) live "under regret and self-accusation every day". This will not change things, but may be damaging to your psychological and perhaps even physical condition. No matter how important your academic attainments are to you, please rest assured that your health is infinitely more important. Set your priorities right.
Regarding your notation. I am not in a position to advise, but I wish to ask this question: what does it exactly mean to inform the graduate school about the notation? Won't you be informing them of it by simply submitting your transcript? Won't that, by itself, be a disclosure of the existence of that notation? You are not going to hide anything. If they look attentively through the transcript, they will find the notation. If they do not find the notation -- then good for you. One way or another, no one will be able to accuse you in hiding something.
Or is there any special regulation at that school, requiring you explicitly to inform them by a separate letter about any major development? I doubt this.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It seems by what you have written that you looked to what is required by the application standards in terms of what you need to divulge. As many have pointed out, you are not hiding anything, though that could be considered a technicality . In an adversarial setting such as a court of law, this fine line might be just the thing to win a case.
Is that on an ethical level enough?
What does honest mean at this school?
Have you looked to academic dishonesty policy for students at this university? Could these rules inform you of the level of honesty expected at this particular university?
Upvotes: -1
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2023/04/09
| 374
| 1,673
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted an article to a certain top IEEE transaction journal, and after a year and a half of peer review, it was finally rejected. During this period, we got a chance to make minor revision.The paper was then sent to two new reviewers. One of the new reviewers made several rounds of incorrect comments. In the latest revised version, I clearly addressed his error issues. However, he deliberately claimed that he could not understand it and said that my notation was problematic. As a result, the paper was rejected.<issue_comment>username_1: Do not continue to re-submit to the journal that rejected your paper. Try another journal.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: No, it is very unlikely to succeed unless you do major modifications, addressing the concerns of the reviewer(s). Even then, resubmission after rejection may be impossible.
Most important, however is to try to address the reasons why you weren't understood. Was your notation non-standard, for example? And if so, was it completely and clearly explained in the target language.
What you write here seems like two people talking past one another having different backgrounds and/or assumptions. You need to address that if you want success. It isn't up to them (and future readers) to try to understand you if you are insufficiently clear.
Your words "deliberately" and "unreasonably" worry me. Complaining to editors of unfairness or claiming the reviewers are idiots will get you exactly nowhere.
Even for another journal, you may have a lot of work to do. In the long term, high standards are to your benefit as well as that of the world of scholarship.
Upvotes: 3
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2023/04/09
| 1,812
| 7,874
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<issue_start>username_0: I graduated with a BS in math from [Cal Poly SLO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Polytechnic_State_University,_San_Luis_Obispo) in 2015. My grades in upper level math were about B-. I feel like my understanding of the motivations for them was a little weak because my study habits during lower division were not good, and I feel I missed a lot of details.
In the years since I've graduated I have spent a lot of time going back to my
calculus, analysis, and abstract algebra texts and I feel a lot more confident that I can do well in the higher level classes, so I am thinking of enrolling in my local university to take
classes in the upper level undergrad courses to have more recent coursework and to impress faculty with my
potential for success in a doctorate program. Maybe take some graduate courses.
I am wondering if this sounds like a good plan. If I am successful in doing well in carrying out this plan, would it increase my chances of getting into a well regarded program for my eventual choice of field of research? If anything, I figure I can carry out the plan for my
own interest, but it would be a significant investment in personal resources, so I would like to have some sort of idea of the chances of success.
My ultimate goal is to become an instructor or a professor in California where I live. I could be happy in a rural
area or an urban area or in between. Since my undergrad I have worked in software quality assurance followed by data analysis, but I think I would be happier as a teacher. I have experience in tutoring, and I have been told I make clear explanations and have a lot of patience with people.
I think I would be happy teaching at a community college or university, but I do not have research experience that would tell me whether or not a research career would be a better or worse fit.<issue_comment>username_1: It might work, and it might be worth doing in any case, but you can probably increase your chances by exploring your options directly with one of the candidate universities, probably in California.
Make an appointment with the department head for a meeting to explore your options. If you have a proposed field of study, mention that in the request for a meeting. There may be a professor in that field that you also want to speak with.
Take your transcripts along with a CV to the meeting.
You want to ask them what path you might follow to gain admission to their doctoral program. They can look specifically at where you have gaps in your undergrad education and can make suggestions about filling them.
You don't need to ask to study there in the short term, but try to make a plan, including when to apply.
Speak about your goals and whether they are realistic. They might suggest enrolling in a masters program, either course or research based.
The gap in study isn't helping you, as you have probably forgotten some things. But making assumptions about what you need to do is probably not optimal.
If your local university has a doctoral program, you can start there. If not, and you visit another, make sure you know precisely what courses the local place offers, say with a printed catalog of courses or a listing from the web.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a lot of factors to consider when you are looking at being evaluated for suitability to a PhD program. Grades are looked at, absolutely. But something much better than grades is good research experience, contributing to a paper that is either in consideration by a journal or conference for publication, or at least being considered for submission to a venue for publication.
To address the possibility of publishing, you could ask to volunteer for someone’s research project, or apply for an RA (research assistship), or even attempt to apply to whatever the American equivalent of NSERC is, although if you were in Canada, they wouldn’t consider you with a B average but the Americans may have much more money—I don’t know.
In any case, yes taking some advanced courses and doing well in them will improve your chances. If one of the profs who have to look at graduate applications looks at your transcript, they will see that you improved your study habits and performance. With that in mind, they may choose to downplay your lower grades in their evaluation-especially if you contribute to a paper that could or has been submitted to a venue.
A big factor is also reference letters. It may be that some health conditions impacted your performance. Maybe you couldn’t be very consistent as a result, ect ect—but you were able to solve very difficult problems, contribute to research, clearly demonstrate genuine interest. In my case, I had serious depression, anxiety, and insomnia issues throughout undergrad, which did impact my performance. Regardless, I was able to do an RA, solve difficult problems, do guided studies in some advanced areas, deliver an outstanding talk in a 4th year undergraduate logic seminar. Some of my grades were very good, but I don’t believe they were the selling point in my applications.
In Canada, you are usually required to do a masters first. I applied and was able to get in a top tier school. I still had those health issues, and again they did objectively interfere with things. Regardless, I again solved a lot of very difficult problems, essentially tutored other grad students in many courses with them often just using my arguments, and so on. As a result, I was able to go to a PhD program
After clearing the courses, comps, and the thesis proposal, it was not that long until my health issues got pretty extreme. Long story short, I ended up withdrawing.
I tell you about the health stuff because your post reminded me about that experience. If you do have health issues like that, you have a very serious choice to make: delay while getting quality treatment or go and risk underperforming while you get treated. I did the later, and I do not think it went so well.
Another factor you must consider is the job situation. Every single academic posting in Canada is an international competition, or if the phrase “tenure track,” the word “professor,” and even “postdoc” now adays. If you don’t go that route, you will try to go the teaching one. Unfortunately, most of these jobs pay very, very low figures, come with no security of any kind, and likely require you to move across the country perhaps as often as ever 3-6 months. I’ve talked to people have been sessional instructors for a long time and they are absolutely miserable. Some teaching positions pay well, are permanent, and come with security; however, these are almost always international competitions as well. Be sure to keep this in mind now, and if you end up going—it is important, and if you go there is no doubt you will develop deep concerns over this.
With all that doom and gloom, attending graduate school in math allows you to experience many unique things not possible elsewhere. You will be in a community of people who all genuinely love the subject as much as you. You will spend 10 or more hours sometimes on problems a professor took out of a research paper of theirs without realizing the trick he had in mind is only known to people who have already worked for 10+ years in the subject, and you might come up with a valid proof not using the trick that connects many different areas of math but is also impossible to grade as it’s 10-20 or more pages long. All of that is wonderful even with the frustration you and all of your comrades will experience, and absolutely everyone does experience that.
If you are going to go, I suggest doing loads of independent reading in core areas while you wait to attend. Solve as many problems as you can. In any case, take care of your health, and, if you go, have a grand time.
Best of luck.
Upvotes: 1
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2023/04/10
| 1,739
| 7,396
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a math major and I'm finishing my bachelor thesis. I was lucky enough to find a hardworking and caring advisor to work with.
I'm very grateful with him for his guidance but, during this time, I noticed he likes to give a bit too much guidance and sometimes restricts my creative freedom.
He suggested me to prove some results and I successfully proved them while also developing related examples and ideas on my own.
When the moment to put everything on paper came, he wanted me to explain some of those results in the way **he** reached them. When I try to explain something, he interrupts me every five minutes (no kidding) saying things like "it should be better if you start motivating this in this way",
or wants me to change the structure/order of the argument (when my initial structure is also correct). He likes to state the same thing two or three times and elaborates a lot, but
I prefer to state things clearly and only once. Sometimes we discuss for hours minimal details like the placement of commas or my election of words. Since I get tired of the conversation I just change what he asks me to.
I managed to include all his observation on the writing while trying to add my personal ideas, but now that I need to prepare the talk for
my defense I would like to have the freedom to plan it completely alone.
Being honest, the only two people who will actually be listening to me will be my advisor and my mom: one of them knows everything backwards, while the other is already happy with me getting a degree.
Then why can't I explain the content of my dissertation in my own way? I also find more difficult to explain the ideas following my advisor's line of thoughts instead of mine.
Taking into account that I will be presenting work done by me and him, I don't know if it's right to ask for total freedom to prepare and give my talk.
Is it right? If yes, how can I discuss it with my advisor without looking like an ungrateful person?<issue_comment>username_1: **Summary:** The main point of supervising your thesis and talk before you deliver them is teaching you how to do these things. Forsaking the supervision entirely is going to the other extreme. Rather, try to convince your supervisor to tune down the micromanagement.
>
> Then why can't I explain the content of my dissertation in my own way?
>
>
>
The **ideal** is this:
* Your supervisor is far more experienced than you at scientific writing and presentations. Many bachelor students go into their thesis with barely any relevant experience.
* By receiving constructive feedback on writing your thesis as well as preparing your talk **before** delivering them, you learn a lot about writing theses and giving talks, respectively. Retrospective feedback is far less efficient because implementing the suggestions is a major part of the learning process.
* Good supervision balances between teaching too little and micromanaging them and explains its recommendations, e.g., why a certain argument structure is bad.
Mind that it’s quite common that students find this process unnecessarily tedious when they are first exposed to it and even when the supervisor actually does too little.
That being said, going by your description, your supervisor is micromanaging and obsessing over details. For example, if I disagree with a student on the placement of a comma, I’ll quickly leave it to them to look up the respective rules and either convince me or be convinced.
>
> Taking into account that I will be presenting work done by me and him, I don't know if it's right to ask for total freedom to prepare and give my talk. Is it right? If yes, how can I discuss it with my advisor without looking like an ungrateful person?
>
>
>
In the above ideal model, asking for total freedom is directly going to the other extreme, and thus asking a lot. By declining any supervision of your talk, you are also skipping the intended learning effect. Moreover, a supervisor who tends to micromanage will likely obsess over perceived shortcomings of your talk – and there will be some if you prepare it on your own. If your talk is graded or you are likely to rely on your advisor’s goodwill in the future (e.g., for recommendations), this is a bad idea.
Rather, I recommend that you try to gently push the situation to the intended ideal and tactfully ask your supervisor to:
* micromanage less,
* focus on the important parts first (as opposed to commas),
* help you realise your structure instead of imposing his structure,
* provide rationales for his recommendations.
This is certainly a less radical demand than dropping the supervision entirely.
As for how to tactfully broach the subject, it really depends on your supervisor, in particular his experience and priorities. Is he rather inexperienced as a supervisor and open to suggestion, or is he settled in his ways? Does he value the learning effect mentioned above, or does he just want to mold every thesis and talk according to his ideas? The best scenario here would be the respective first cases, which allow you to appeal that you learn more with more freedom.
>
> when my initial structure is also correct
>
>
>
Sidenote: This is a hill I have seen many mathematicians pointlessly die on. Their presentation is the mathematical equivalent of a [Yoda condition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoda_conditions), yet they refuse to restructure it because it is technically correct. Of course I don’t know whether your structure is good or bad, but correctness is just a necessary condition and does not mean that your writing is good.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Probably not, largely for the reasons others have given. Also importantly, I think there's something important to learn from: "He likes to state the same thing two or three times and elaborates a lot, but I prefer to state things clearly and only once."
His way is generally better. When teaching, repetition is an essential technique that teachers use to impart learning. With the most adept students, less repetition is necessary. But among smart mathematicians conveying what to them are complex concepts, explaining things more than once, in more than one way, is certainly best practice.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: At the end of the day there are two things at play here:
1. Your work is your work and it is entirely up to you what you put in it.
2. It is your supervisor's job to help you make (1) the best it can possibly be. They will also inevitably have more experience in academic writing than you will.
Consequently, they're well within their rights to tell you what they think is better, but it's up to you whether or not you choose to take that advice. If you would like to respectfully decline, there's nothing wrong with that. You should still hear the advice they have to offer though, condsider it, and then decide on whether you want to incorporate it; don't just go it alone.
However, I will council that if your supervisor is also going to be the one marking your thesis, take their advice whether you like it or not. A bachelors thesis is not the time to start trying to make your own waves, it's the time to learn how to walk the well trodden path and get some solid foundations. Play the game, get the marks you need and you can start trying to do thinks your way later.
Upvotes: 1
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2023/04/10
| 1,043
| 4,078
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<issue_start>username_0: I published a paper in a reputable journal in 2021 December. I had proved a conjecture.
Today I discovered that another author published a special case of the conjecture and published it, in another journal, in 2023.
I think it is wrong on the journal's part. Why did the Editors publish the paper when they can see that it is a special case of my paper?
Shall I write to the journal and ask them to remove the paper from their website?
Or do I file a case of plagiarism against the author?
If someone can kindly help, I will be grateful.<issue_comment>username_1: With the amount of papers that are published nowadays, it’s not rare that a result gets overlooked, whether your are an author, reviewer or editor.
If the proof published in the new paper is somewhat different from yours, it can hardly be considered plagiarism, and if the work in the new paper is legit there’s no reason to withdraw it.
My suggestion is to submit to the journal where the new paper has been published a “Comment on ” where you point out that the other author’s result is a special case of yours, highlighting the differences. Keep the comment mathematical and *don’t make any accusation of plagiarism, sloppiness or malfeasance*.
---
In the above, I assumed that your paper wasn’t cited in the more recent one from the other author. From a comment below, it seems that you’ve just happened to discover that the authors *did* cite your work.
Then, if this is really the case, *be happy with that and do nothing*.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You assert that "... the editors can see that it [the 2023 paper] is a special case of my paper?" but neither editors nor reviewers normally undertake extensive literature searches to check for overlaps between existing papers and newly submitted manuscripts. They rely, instead, on the general integrity and honesty of most of the authors who are making submissions.
And lest you think that I'm suggesting that the author of the 2023 paper was dishonest, I'm ***not***! It seems to me unlikely that you have discovered a a case of plagiarism; it is much more likely to be a case of having overlooked or not noticed something. It is notoriously difficult to undertake a complete search of the the literature in any domain. Mathematics, because of the structure of [*Mathematical Reviews*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_Reviews), has always seemed particularly difficult.
Even in the unlikely event that the 2023 author used precisely the approach to their proof as you used in yours, it is not uncommon to see papers that focus on even small, but non-obvious special cases of previous work.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It is possible that a special case has obvious applications that are not so obvious from the general case. It is possible that the special case had a much simpler proof (which is a good thing to have), or a proof that can be adapted to unrelated situations, while the proof for the general case can't.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: *(edited/extended from a comment made 2 days ago)*
I think a solution that is both simple and quick to carry out, as well as likely being quite effective, is to mention this to [an editor who works at Mathematical Reviews (MR)](http://www.ams.org/publications/math-reviews/edcommandstaff) so that the review of the 2023 paper -- assuming the review is not yet finished -- can mention your earlier more general result. I suspect having your paper cited in the MR review of the 2023 paper will make your paper more visible than most anything else you can do, because people who are interested in the 2023 paper will probably look at its MR review. Looking at the list of MR editor names, I recognize 3 who participate in Stack Exchange -- [1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6038/andr%c3%a9s-e-caicedo) & [2](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/99964/edward-dunne) & [3](https://mathoverflow.net/users/14493/margaret-friedland). In fact, the first 2 of these participate in Academia SE.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/10
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<issue_start>username_0: I come from a signal processing background and I have even published in a signal processing conference with a PhD student when I was an intern, therefore, the publication process isn't unknown to me.
My PhD supervisors insist on publishing at top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, ICLR, CVPR, etc); however, upon researching these AI and Machine learning conferences, I was surprised to discover their low acceptance rates, which can be as low as 20%! Is this common in this field?
I am anxious about my ability to graduate if I am unable to publish at these conferences. Can you offer any advice, blogs, or tips for publishing at these conferences?<issue_comment>username_1: Conferences have limited speaking slots, limited by time and space. If you get a lot of submissions in any hot field, you get a low acceptance rate.
Note that venues for conferences are contracted for long in advance, much longer than the submission/acceptance cycle.
Things may settle down if the number of venues increases or the field cools. It might also be that a lot of the submissions were of low quality or represented parallel work on some problem and reviewers had to choose from the better papers there.
In any hot field (ouch) you have a lot of competition.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: These are indeed competitive conferences though they might not be quite as competitive as the percentages appear, since some fraction of the submissions are crankery/junk.
Some of my colleagues do publish in these areas and my impression is that they typically resubmit work that doesn't make it to the "top tier" in more accepting venues, and this is not a barrier to graduation. This is really no different than journal publishing in other fields: supervisors may want their students to aim for Nature and Science papers, but very few papers actually make it in to those venues.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Crucial question: do your supervisor's students regularly publish there?
These are the possibilities:
1. If so, and if most of their students do, they have a pipeline and know how to get top-worthy publications done reliably.
2. If not, and students still graduate, it's fine to just aim high.
3. If the answer is no, but they keep the students from graduating unless they have publications in these venues, you should reflect if you want to stay in this group at all, or if, perhaps, you want to give it a try at least for a round.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: This has always been the case for computer science conferences; some has low double digits acceptance rates, e.g., ACM SIGCOMM comes to mind.
Top researchers are measured by the number of such conferences they have on their resume. In contrast, in the EE discipline for example, IEEE Trans. are the norm.
The low acceptance rate is a function of the limited number of slots and the huge community. Arguably, the computer science community, especially AI, is much bigger than signal processing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: While the acceptance rate of venues can change between different fields (as discussed in [this study](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1751157713000710)), values ranging between 20% and 30% are seem to be common for top venues not only in AI/ML but also in other fields including signal processing.
Taking the signal processing/ML example specifically, we can compare the acceptance rate of some top venues:
* IEEE transactions on signal processing: 32% in 2010 ([source](http://eceweb1.rutgers.edu/%7Eathinap/img/eic_paper.pdf))
* IEEE transactions on image processing: 24% in 2012 ([source](https://signalprocessingsociety.org/uploads/Publications/TIP/TIP_EIC_Report.pdf))
* Signal processing: 16% in 2022 ([source](https://journalinsights.elsevier.com/journals/0165-1684/acceptance_rate))
Those numbers are in the same ballpark as conferences such as NeurIPS and ICLR.
The other answers elaborate well on the reasons for acceptance rates being low, but I would recommend you not focus on these numbers but instead on whether your advisor's students publish there regularly, as suggested in username_3's answer.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have presented in conferences A and B. The work presented in A is published in the conference proceedings (in case it is relevant, it is indexed by IEEE), and the work presented in B is published in a special issue dedicated to conference B. My CV has sections for conferences and articles. Is it the norm to include both publications in the article section and then rewrite them again in the conferences section (in each case, the talk and the paper have the same title)? If not, how should I do it?<issue_comment>username_1: You can list both if you do so with some care.
For two things that are essentially the same, you can list one, followed by "Also published as..." giving the second reference.
If one extends the other you can list the more complete one, followed by "Preliminary version published as...".
There are other variations, of course, but if you link them, giving any distinctions, you should be fine.
Only treating them in a CV as independent when they are not would be an ethical issue.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: #### Put your articles in articles section, and presentations in presentations section
For a publication that comes out of a conference talk, it is legitimate to list it in the appropriate part of your articles section, and also list the conference talk in your conference presentations section. So as not to conflate the two, make sure that the latter section is clearly about conference *presentations* rather than conference *publications* and reference the presentations by conference title, location, date, etc. So long as you are clear on the distinction between published articles and presentations relating to those articles, there should not be any confusion.
Upvotes: 2
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2023/04/11
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<issue_start>username_0: I read on JRR Tolkiens wiki page that he was asked to be a tutor in the early stages of the women's colleges at Oxford because he was married. This was apparently not common for professors at the time.
Why would marriage status have anything to do with his work as a tutor? Did the people who thought it good for women to go to college not realise there were men working there? I would personally be highly offended if the presence (or lack thereof) of a wife affected my job prospects. Seems pretty sexist to be honest.<issue_comment>username_1: Things were different in the past. If this is not obvious to you, I recommend reading <https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/engage-with-us/local-community/part-of-oxford/history>. Until 1877, university fellows were not even allowed to marry.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: At the time, Oxford was indeed very, very sexist, although certainly not unique in that way. It was a different society from the one we have now. Note that the female students mentioned would not have been able to gain a degree at the time - that only became possible in 1920. Even their limited status was controversial enough that it was important to avoid impropriety, as opponents of women's education were suspicious of their effect on the male students and faculty. They had to be seen to be behaving respectably and certainly not having illicit sex with young men.
The Wikipedia article cites the story to *J.R.R. Tolkien's Double Worlds and Creative Process: Language and Life* by <NAME> (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), which further quotes an anecdote in *The Tolkien Family Album* by John and <NAME> (HarperCollins, 1992), as follows:
>
> He was interviewed by the head of <NAME>: years later he described her as a formidable woman, dressed in the style of his grandmother, buttoned top-to-toe in an ankle-length dress. He remembered the severity of her expression as she enquired, "Are you married, <NAME>?", and her relief at his reply. Thus Ronald gained some employment tutoring her students.
>
>
>
This would have happened between Tolkien's arrival in Oxford at the end of 1918, and his departure for Leeds in 1920, so the interview must have been with [Eleanor Jourdain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Jourdain), who was particularly strict in discipline. At the time, St. Hugh's, like the other women's colleges, operated strict "chaperon rules" concerning how and when women were allowed to be in male company. You can read about this in *The History of the University of Oxford*, volume 8, chapter 13 ("Women" by <NAME>; ed. <NAME>, OUP, 1994), which chronicles their detailed development, selective enforcement, and protests. As of 1919, the rules included:
>
> [Women] must not, among other things, enter men's rooms nor go to the theatre with a man without their principal's permission and a chaperon approved by her, nor go to a cafe with a man, nor on the river, nor for walks, bicycle or motor rides unless with principalian permission and at least two women in the party. Mixed societies required permission, to be renewed annually, from the women principals as well as the proctors, and meetings in men's colleges must be chaperoned. Mixed parties in cafes were allowed only between 2.00 and 5.20 p.m.
>
>
>
These strictures were motivated by wanting women to be seen as respectable, and in particular to shield them from sexual life or the hint of impropriety. Being alone with an unmarried man was a potential source of scandal. At St. Hugh's, a woman could receive a male visitor in her college rooms, but only so long as he was her father, uncle or brother, it was in daylight hours, *and* she dragged her mattress into the corridor for the duration.
As a tutor, Tolkien would have mainly received students at his home on Alfred Street: he moved there for that reason. A female student coming to *his* house, where his wife was also present much of the time, would be acceptable - compared to the student visiting an unmarried fellow in his college rooms, for example. The setup made it respectable enough for Jourdain to feel comfortable with the arrangement.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently a final-year undergraduate student of economics. I am among the top ten of my class. I am in Europe so my degree program would usually take me 3 years; I am going to complete it in two. My plan for the last semester is to take some advanced/graduate level courses while working on my bachelor thesis, so academically things are going pretty solidly.
However, my academic track record from before is not that good. I graduated high school when I was 17, but didn't like what I was studying, so I first slacked off and then quit. I started studying something entirely different at a different university (but related to what I am studying now), enjoyed that greatly but failed in 99% of my classes for a variety of reasons (illness, lack of housing security, etc). I stopped attending university for a year, worked a bit and stayed at home. Obviously not a good look on my CV. I'm 21 years old now, and will graduate with my BSc at age 22 from a university that is ranked among the top 150 worldwide according to times higher education.
I am wondering if there's anything I can do to improve my chances of getting into a (really) good statistics masters/PhD program in the US. My grades, GRE score and letters of recommendation are all more than enough but I can't say the same about my academic track record. Would love to hear some insight before I spend hundreds of dollars on applications.<issue_comment>username_1: My track record is not unlike yours. At an admission interview for a graduate program, an interviewer, whom I knew well and from whom I expected no surprises, said: "I see username_1 that we have some truly excellent referee reports about you. How do you explain that in the light of your appalling academic record?"
It sounds as if you fear you might face something similar! The question, as I have said, took me completely by surprise. Nonetheless, I commented that it was true that my early academic record was very poor; but it was also true that since a particular point in my undergraduate years, it was clear that I had settled into my studies and my record showed a rapid improvement from terrible to excellent. I also said that I saw no reason why that trend would not continue." Whatever discussions went on between the interviewers after I left, I don't know. But I was admitted to the program ... and my undergraduate record has never been mentioned since.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Here is a famous case of someone who didn't do well during undergraduate studies: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Huh>
What compensates for low undergraduate performance are stellar recommendation letters. The recommender has to be convinced that your research skills are truly extraordinary. After all, academia is about research. Presumably you'll already have done some research as an undergraduate student. Do another research project during your years as a Master's student.
In the case of Field medalist June Huh; he applied to 17 graduate schools and got into one, thanks to the recommendation letter of a famous mathematician he had done research with.
Upvotes: 0
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2023/04/11
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<issue_start>username_0: A few years ago, I discovered that someone (Mr. A) had copied almost the entirety of his master thesis report from a course report I submitted to the same department two years earlier. Mr. A copied my report word by word including the figures and the captions. He defended his thesis, graduated and now has an engineering job with a good title at a large respectable company, which he probably wouldn’t have gotten without the degree. I confronted Mr. A on one occasion and he confirmed that it was intentional.
I have solid proof of my work and the figures.
Mr. A worked on his thesis under the supervision of the same professor and TA who supervised my coursework, two years before. Three years ago, I contacted the professor and provided him with my proof of Mr. A’s plagiarism. However, the professor had merely asked him to rewrite the chapters using his own words. The TA informed me separately that Mr. A obtained access to the source code I submitted as part of the coursework. So I suspect that he plagiarised my code. When I asked the professor for Mr. A’s code, he refused.
**I would like some guidance and help with deciding the right thing to do in this case.** I am obviously concerned about my own reputation as I don't wish to harm my chances with this company. I am also concerned about the legal repercussions, even though I am in possession of solid proof. These were the main reasons I haven't taken actions until now.
I have been considering reporting him to his superior at work, but I am also open to other suggestions.
Some minor details that may or may not have a weigh in the case:
* The university in question is a top engineering school in the EU.
* Mr. A and the professor come from the same country (both speak the same language).
* About six years have passed by since the incident.
* The professor in question didn't reply to a request of recommendation I sent him a while ago (for a different purpose). I suspect it has to do with the plagiarism issue I brought up to his attention.
* Just to be clear, this is not driven by any revenge thoughts or personal vendetta. My concern is that there is an anomaly, an unfairness, an unjust situation that touches me personally that needs to be corrected.
**Updates**
* 13/04: I sent a formal request to the officer in the Ethics Committee asking to be connected with the right people who can investigate this case impartially and independently from the department's sphere of influence.<issue_comment>username_1: Since years have passed since the incident, it may be that nothing you do will have any effect. And you should take care not to have claims of slander made against you, even when not warranted.
But, you could, at least, inform the department at the university at which this occurred, probably through the current department head. It is their responsibility to address this.
You could also let it go, realizing that the world in general and academia in particular has some ethical issues.
However, if you inform the university, use documented evidence only to back up your claims. Conversations from long ago are too easy to discount.
Once you make such things public, however, the fallout can't be predicted. You will have little, if any, control over outcomes once you start the process.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If you would like to pursue action via the University, you're likely going to need to route through a misconduct office with your complaint. You should have clear and unambiguous documented proof of plagiarism if you do this. If you like you can also route through the Department chair, though I think this is less likely to be productive. A Dept. chair doesn't ultimately have the ability to revoke degrees, which sounds to me like the commensurate penalty associated with the kind of blatant plagiarism you're describing if you can prove it.
>
> I have been considering reporting him to his superior at work
>
>
>
Absolutely do not do this unless you are working at the same company and the person directly impacts your day-to-day work negatively. You probably have zero personal interest in how this organization conducts its business. Say, best case scenario, this person's boss takes your unsolicited criticism of their employee seriously. They're probably still going to want an official determination that the employee committed misconduct from an institution better equipped to assess that...that is to say, the academic institution that awarded the degree.
>
> I am obviously concerned about my own reputation as I don't wish to harm my chances with this company.
>
>
>
What you're describing is that you have external incentives (a possible job, customer, good relationship with this person's employer, etc.). Nobody is going to be able to answer for you what the risks of pursuing academic discipline over this matter are or whether they're worth taking on. If you report someone committing plagiarism against you to your University, that results in academic discipline against the perpetrator, and their employer subsequently doesn't want to conduct business with you...is that an organization you'd like to work for anyway? Not an easy question, but one you have to answer yourself.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As the professor in question is obviously supporting Mr. A, your report to him was void and at worst helped them to cover their tracks.
Therefore, I would suggest that you report the incident to some uninvolved authority at the university. Ideally this would be an academic-integrity officer or similar, but it can also be the responsible department or faculty, etc. Importantly, this should be nobody with ties to the professor – when in doubt, go one level higher.
Also, unless you are contacting an academic-integrity officer or similar, first make sure that you got the right person before you reveal any details.
When you report something, mind that you are merely presenting evidence or hinting at things to look at and it’s the university’s job to figure out the truth. There is little point in getting overly accusatory, emotional, etc.; focus on the evidence.
I strongly advise against contacting the company.
The problem with such a case is that your evidence very likely hinges on data on university servers and similar.
Thus only the university has the means to reasonably investigate this.
Also, you can contact the university solely to report a strong suspicion (which should be legally safe), whereas a report to the company can be considered libel or similar.
Consider the possible cases of the company reacting to your report:
* They do not act on your report because they cannot evaluate the evidence and wait for the university to do so. In that case your report achieved nothing.
* They do act on your report and the university revokes Mr. A’s degree. In that case, your report only made things happen a bit earlier.
* They do act on your report, but the university does not revoke Mr. A’s degree for whatever reason. In that case, you may be in legal trouble.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: You can escalate with your university - that might mean contacting a department chair or someone in charge of your former graduate program, or might involve contacting a third party at the university that can help you with ethics complaints (such as an "ombuds").
From your story, at this point it sounds like your advisor is defending the student. That might be because they're "in on it", that is, that they've known all along, or that they're just covering for the former student because they don't want to deal with the hassle. Either way, you should be aware that your accusation is likely now to become an accusation against both of them. Hopefully you're now sufficiently secure in your current position that you aren't reliant on recommendations or mentorship from this former program.
It's also quite possible that your accusation will be seen (unfairly to you) as an indictment against the entire program or university; this is very unfortunate, because it puts the people who are supposed to investigate these things on the side of the defense. If that sort of corruption shows up, it's unfortunately probably not worth it to you personally to pursue it, sad as that is; if there were more systematic evidence it might be worth getting others involved, but there's likely no legal benefit to you (you'd have to show that *you are harmed*, not that someone else benefitted).
I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope that much will happen, as unfair as that is. Provide the evidence you have, not your emotions and feelings. You are likely overattributing the importance of this work for Mr A's current job: the degree might have helped them get the job initially, but most likely the content of the thesis was not important and if the company they work for likes their work, they'll probably see this as all some academic trivia far from their concern. I certainly would not raise it with them directly.
If it were me, I'd be more concerned with the masters supervisor's role, and that's where I'd want any investigation to focus.
Upvotes: 3
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2023/04/11
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<issue_start>username_0: **Short version:**
After spending 4 very successful years as a postdoc at a top university in Switzerland, I was offered a promotion. However, the new contract comes with a very high teaching load (75%) for at least 3 years. It is also not a permanent position. I am afraid that the new position will limit my future career chances because I'll not be doing much (if any) research during this time and teaching will also not improve my chances in industry. Therefore, I'm considering declining the position.
**Long version:**
I'm working in a young research group at a top university in Europe (Switzerland). Our professor is still in his tenure-track phase. I am probably the most experienced postdoc in his group and have many responsibilities and significant research output and an outstanding international research network. I'm also personal friends with him.
I'm in the fourth year of my postdoc (which I feel is already pretty long). In my last appraisal interview, I mentioned that I would like to progress with my career toward a more senior scientist-like position. In fact, I do not really have a lot of time to do my own research anymore but am instead supervising a lot of other people's research.
Within the institute, another senior scientist who did a lot of teaching now got a professorship at a different university and I was offered his position. However, it comes with a ton of teaching, more than I would like to do, and in a field that is not really my main expertise.
Thus, in the next years, I will be very busy preparing lectures (and learning about the field). The contract officially lists 75% teaching load. Thus, I will have only very little time (if any) for doing research besides the other operational responsibilities that I have. Additionally, it is not a fixed position but only a temporary contract for a couple of years.
Although the professor basically promised me a great future (he is confident that he can turn my position into a permanent one in a couple of years after his tenure-track ends) I'm not fully convinced. First of all, these are only verbal promises and he mentioned that such a position is not only based on my teaching skills but also based on my success in getting funding for proposals and my research output. On top, our university is trying to reduce costs, thus, I'm not even sure if there will be permanent senior-scientist positions in the near future. (Some professors do not have one). He is also still on his tenure track.
My fear is that I will accept the promotion, will do a lot of teaching in the next three years (which I do not really want to do to this extent), and then not get a permanent position. In this case, I assume that the three years of teaching will not be beneficial for my academic career due to the reduced research output.
Furthermore, I also fear that moving to the industry will get even more challenging (I will then be in my mid-30s). Unfortunately, there is no industry related to my field (we are doing fundamental research in a very niche field of radio astronomy). Thus, for a change to the industry, I would, either way, have to change my focus.
**My question is if it is reasonable to decline the position.**
I was already playing with the thought of moving to industry and I was already looking for suitable positions (without luck yet but also without really applying for many jobs). There is no time yet to explore my possibilities in industry before accepting/declining the promotion since he needs a decision soon.
If I accept, it obviously means I would stop looking for positions in industry (since I cannot agree on doing a lot of teaching in October but then leave mid-semester or even before the semester starts leaving the institute with nobody to do the teaching) meaning that I am "stuck" in the teaching position for at least some years.
Some colleagues from other institutes I talked to also raised concerns if this position will really be advantageous for my future academic or non-academic career.
The only related question I could find on this side was based on the US system, thus, I would appreciate some more suggestions/comments.<issue_comment>username_1: If you feel that 75% teaching load is more than you can handle, don't take the post. This is indeed a very large teaching load, significantly exceeding a more classical 40% teaching, 40% research and 20% admin ratio. In practice, you can expect extra teaching responsibilities which are difficult to quantify (e.g. answering student emails, personal tutor responsibilities, writing new assessments, etc) and extra admin tasks. The combined total will quickly exceed 100% of your full-time contract, and the work will spill over into your weekends and holidays.
The problem with exploitative and unreasonable workload is that it ruins your wellbeing and creativity. Even if you get a permanent contract, and even if your teaching load is reduced one day, you will likely find yourself unable to get back to productive research instantly. With your publication track record damaged, you may find yourself effectively unable to find another academic job, and will be essentially tied to one University and fully dependent on decisions that senior management and admin teams make in relation to its strategic direction.
You may not have a permanent position now, but you have a number of options. If you spend 3 years on a 75% teaching contract, you may get a permanent position, but you will lose other options. I don't think this is a deal worth taking.
Personally, I took a similar deal in a similar situation, because I was on a temporary work visa and needed another contract asap to maintain the continuous immigration track for myself and my family. I would recommend not doing this, unless you are desperate.
I would also add that if you want to succeed in a post with 75% teaching load, you need to mentally prepare yourself to the idea of doing this job very very badly. If doing a bad job affects your self-perception, do not take this post.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I don't know which country you are in, so things might be different. But in my country, if you want a permenant academic position, at some point or other, unless you are an absolute superstar, your focus will move away from doing research. Tenure-track (or the closest thing to it that exists), potentially permenant jobs are almost all split between teaching, admin and research, and the "research" part of that is generally obtaining grants, and supervising students and postdocs.
Such positions generally claim to be 40% teaching, but almost everyone spends far more than 40% of their time doing teaching-related activities in the first few years, and research producitivity always takes a hit. I basically did no research related work in my first year, and the only thing I did in the second and third years was to write grant proposals and supervise one student getting started. Everything else was teaching.
If you are on a tenure-track, then this dip in productivity is expected, and accounted for in the measurement of whether you are doing well enough to pass tenure.
However, that is not what a 75% teaching, fixed-term contract position sounds like to me (unless by 75% they mean you will have 75% of the average teaching load, rather than that you will be allocated tasks that nominally add up to 75% of a 1640 hour working year).
That said, I have known people (generally in the humanities) that have taken contracts that are purely teaching roles, but that are part time (say 66%) and have managed to do enough research in their own time that they have sustained their research through that period, and are now flourishing. But boy was it hard for them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It is quite reasonable to accept the idea of a career in academia that does not involve aspirations to ever more senior positions. Whether you can manage to do that in your current university, or whether you will need to look further afield, I don't know, but I do know of many academics who have managed to achieve (to use an overworked phrase) a "work/life balance". For some people that means finding a position that is part-time; for some it means finding a more senior researcher who understands you, likes you, and is willing to employ you in a notionally more junior capacity while in fact treating you as a valued equal.
I strongly suggest rejecting your current offer. It sounds as if you already know that it will bring you heartache ... by which I mean a sense of very real stress and anxiety that, for many people, leads to a general unhappiness with life or something more serious.
I once worked with a female colleague (her gender being relevant only because she particularly wanted to stay home two days per week with a newborn) who encountered deprecatory remarks from her more ambitious and striving colleagues. They would say, on the Wednesday when my colleague's work-week ended, "Oh, you're so *lucky* having two days off while we're still here!" Her retort was, "I don't have the days off, and it's not luck. You just have to choose a 40% cut in salary."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: (Too long for a comment)
How long is the postdoc trail in your field before someone gets a tenure-track type or research-scientist position? Are most new hires offered teaching positions?
How many positions have you applied for and how many interviews did you get since you started this postdoc, and in the last 12 months in particular? If new hires have the roughly the same or less experience as you do, what makes you think the next 12 months will be different from the past 12 months in terms of possible offers?
In other words, if other universities or institutes have not hired you in the past 4 years, what has changed so they would suddenly consider hiring you now in the near future? Is there new $$ in the field? Some exciting recent discovery? Did you recently (or are you about to) publish some stand-out work?
The reality is that everywhere unis are trying to cut costs and are replacing research positions by teaching positions since the same salary buys them 1.5x or 2x the teaching. So while it is wise to take promises for a future position with a grain of salt, and 75% teaching is quite high, can you coldly research the recent job market and assess the odds of you getting a position with 40% teaching in the reasonably near future?
You could of course choose to remain on soft money, with all the associated uncertainties…
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Most answers so far have advised you to trust your gut instincts and turn the position down, essentially, and I think those are generally good answers. But for the sake of presenting an alternative viewpoint, I will suggest one investigative question for you to look into over the next few days and then list some possible reasons to take the position (based on what you find out).
The question is: **how well does your institute support teaching positions**? Sub-questions include:
* How well does the teaching administration run?
* Do colleagues collaborate on teaching, provide mentorship to new teachers, and even occasionally write papers on tertiary education practices?
* Importantly, *will your subject assignment be predictable* (that is, will it be straightforward for you to get the subjects you want to teach and will you get to teach them for a few years in a row)?
* Are good metrics (student evaluations, test score distributions) considered as plus points in internal job evaluations?
If the answers you find are negative, then obviously you should reject the position. But if you find positive answers, here are some possible reasons to take the position:
* Teaching can be fun! The extensive human contact is just good for the soul (for some people), and the knowledge that you are directly helping students can be very rewarding.
* Teaching is a very valuable composite skill, and it can significantly enhance a non-academic CV (you can present technical material fluidly to large audiences, coordinate teams of tutors to get the job done, handle time pressures well ...)
* You will get a large network of grateful students, many who may in turn help you in the future. You will also widen your professional network with teaching colleagues.
* You may even easily reel in potential PhD students if you can bring your research expertise into your teaching.
* *If you repeat the same subject for a few years*, you only need to prepare your material once. You can teach subsequent iterations of the course for relatively less effort.
* While there is always some unofficial work, *if you are good at setting boundaries with your students*, you can cut down on the amount of student question-answering and special-casing you have to do.
* And other parts of the terrible admin work (lesson plans!) can be straightforwardly automated with large language models these days.
* Teaching can offer "productive procrastination" -- that is, you can work on teaching when you're tired of your research and your research when you're tired of teaching. That can increase your efficiency even further!
Finally, while you are rightly concerned with the decreasing amount of research you will be able to do, you should consider three things:
1. A continuing academic position *anywhere* will have some teaching component, and the sooner you learn time-efficient teaching, the better you will be at maximising your research time.
2. You will be doing less direct research anyway even in a fully research-focused position, as you've discovered for yourself -- you simply have to become more managerial the more people and money you're managing!
3. The person whose position you're filling did, after all, become a professor elsewhere. I'm sure that hiring committee saw their teaching load and adjusted their research expectations accordingly. What's stopping you from doing the same thing from the same position?
All the best!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I would like to offer an alternate, possibly unpopular perspective to the other answers. If you are not excited by the prospect of spending most of your time teaching, your possible future students may not be excited to have you as their teacher.
Students respond positively when their teachers are excited about the classes and subjects they teach. Alternatively, they will sense if you are only teaching those courses because you have to and not because you want to, and their performance and attitude toward you and the subject may suffer.
If you are not genuinely interested in teaching courses about this subject, I suggest you consider turning down the offer. Not just for your sake, but also for the sake of the students. They deserve a teacher who is invested and interested in the courses they teach.
There's certainly nothing wrong with wanting to spend more time doing research, but it may be in everyone's best interest for you to continue as a researcher instead of moving into a teaching role. In the future, you may get the opportunity to teach something you are enthusiastic to share with students, and then you can re-evaluate that decision.
Just a thought from a former student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: You have good answers from the perspective of academia - a few thoughts about industry.
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> I also fear that moving to the industry will get even more challenging (I will then be in my mid-30s)
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This is not challenging, provided that you bring in some needed knowledge (you would then get a more senior position). There may be a problem, though, if you work in research in a niche area because the knowledge is hardly transferrable, and the tools you use are used by others as well, possibly as their core work.
I would advise looking at positions to get an idea of what companies are looking for, especially the ones that may be closer to what you do. You could also try to build some relations right now.
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> If I accept, it obviously means I would stop looking for positions in industry (since I cannot agree on doing a lot of teaching in October but then leave mid-semester or even before the semester starts leaving the institute with nobody to do the teaching)
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From an industry perspective, this is not obvious. What happens if you are incapacitated, say [by a bus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor)? It is the role of the university to account for that.
I completely understand your point about being fair (and this is a very good approach morally - I am saying it without any irony or something, I really do believe that) but at some point you also need to think about yourself.
You may want to try to negotiate the load, or make sure the limits are enforced (I would not count too much on that one). One problem is that you do not really have the upper hand.
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the 5th year of my Ph.D. studies. My Ph.D. supervisor always likes to mentally and verbally abuse me and some of our group members. This time, I really could not take it anymore and I want to share my story here.
I started my Ph.D. program with a slow start and only published my first paper in the 4th year. Got many unlucky rejections and now I have one paper almost finished and one in submission.
I was asked by my supervisor, several times during my 3rd and 4th years in the program, to quit. It was very personal. But I sucked it up and remained in the lab because I am an international student and could not afford to quit after that much effort was put into the program.
I was hoping to graduate this year but something really bothersome happened. During one meeting with him this semester, he questioned my progress and asked me tricky questions like he usually does. I learned over time to keep silent otherwise we will exchange arguments without meaningful discussion. He then told me to my face "Why do you look like a retard?" I was totally stunned and didn't know how to respond. This kind of personal attack is not something new but calling me a retard was a first. I really cannot let it go this time.
I would like to seek some advice. Should I report this to the department? What should I do since I just can't let it go? I feel very bad after this incident.
Background: I am in a good US university with a good CS department.<issue_comment>username_1: Your supervisor has a problem, seriously. He shouldn't be doing this. Don't internalize it. It isn't you, it is him.
Do what you need to do to finish. After you finish and find a position is the time to make a complaint. Making one now will only slow you down.
If there are other faculty that you do trust, you could seek advice from them. It is good to have a faculty advocate in such situations.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Don't do anything.
Finishing your Ph.D. is more important than reporting your supervisor's behavior.
Just finish your Ph.D. and get the heck out of that university and never come back.
Even though I am writing it very easily, I am also wondering what I would have done in such a case! I feel extremely lucky that I have a very polite and cooperative supervisor.
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> [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kMOu3.png)
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***Would you really give this same advice to someone with an abusive spouse, parent, or manager?*** --- It really depends. In the case of a spouse, I would suggest getting a divorce and that won't affect anyone's career. In the case of parents, leave home and that won't affect someone's livelihood either. Dealing with an abusive manager and an abusive Ph.D. advisor is almost similar - the career is affected. So, yeah, it depends.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I get PhDs are a helluva process, and achievement, so potentially derailing one is a bear of a choice to confront. But I have a question for all these people advising OP to stick their head in the sand and stomach this level of abuse from someone who is supposed to be in a mentor position.... What exactly makes any of you think this person will act fairly when it comes time to review OPs work and assign them their PhD? They could be putting up with this garbage for their work to amount to literally nothing. And what will they have to show for it? Oh yeah, learning how to roll over and say "hit me again Ike, and this time put some stank on it." That is seriously y'all's advice eh? Wow ... Just wow.... Milksops is all I gotta say about that.
OP it is ultimately up to you. However universities usually have a plethora of avenues for resolution. Talk to your student advisor (which you should have already btw), talk to other faculty, talk to the faculty supervisor, hell talk to the dean! Bring all the other students that have had this person disparage them with no provocation. Look up former students and see if they have had similar experiences. Point out to anyone in the higher ups (I forget how the command structure works at proper unis, but make stinks on desks of people that shouldn't have to deal with this. Don't be afraid to jump rungs on the ladder if the one you're at isn't listening) the money, time, and resources wasted, not to mention the mental and emotional stresses experienced by the students exposed to that treatment, will not benefit the universities image should the story of a professor (er whatever that supervisor is) calling their students "retard" get too much traction publicly. I imagine there's a handful of benefactors that would not like to hear what's going on at the school they are dumping money into.
Sure, if you want to wait to drop the bomb, that is entirely your call. In this day and age it's not unusual for young people to avoid the prospect of rocking the boat. But remember, the only thing needed for evil to flourish is for good to do nothing. If there is one thing we need to fear above the tyranny of evil men, it is the indifference of good men. Whatever you do, do not stay silent. Do it tomorrow, do it after you (hopefully) secure your PhD, just do it! To do nothing is being complacent with the abusive nature of this person. Being complacent is endorsing treating others that way. It will directly lead to others also being abused, disparaged, made to feel like lesser beings which no one deserves especially at a university particularly by a member of the faculty.
I understand if you are stressed, I understand if you are afraid of confrontation, I understand if you just want it to go away. All of those feelings are entirely natural, everyone who has ever needed to stand up to mistreatment has felt those feelings and more. But ignoring this behavior before is what lead to you to being treated this way. Embrace the disappointment, dissatisfaction, and anger towards those who fostered this absolute wretch of a human and allowed them to continue verbally attacking students, turn it into motivation to save future students from such treatment at the hands of someone who is supposed to be fostering and inspiring the next generation of educated individuals needed in the world.
You will be afraid, you will be scared, you will feel small and a loss of worth and unimportant. Most importantly.....you WILL be doing the right thing. Never loose sight of that. You're not alone. There are people who will help (try reddit, both the academia, and legal advice subs). You only need to seek them out.
My final bit of advice is to always keep this in your mind: no matter which avenue you choose, You CAN do this. And I believe in you. Now, go carpe that diem BY THE THROAT!!!
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I think you should report them to someone higher up or someone who is in charge of the welfare and wellbeing of PhD students (or someone in HR if necessary). Universities have recently started to realise that wellbeing of students is important so if you make it known to someone that you are not happy, they will probably have to do something about it.
The original supervisor on my PhD (who was also Head of Research) was being very rude to me, including in front of other people. I went to the guy who was in charge of well-being of PhD students, I complained that that my supervisor was being rude to me and asked to change supervisor. I know that you are right at the end of the PhD but you should still report him (this is just my opinion). If you don't challenge it, he will continue to do it to other people for his entire career. It's important to make someone else in a position of authority know that this is going on, as they won't know if you don't tell them.
These people deserve to be reported. It doesn't matter that the supervisor didn't like it, I just found alternative references to get to my postdoc. You can use the examiners for your PhD thesis, other collaborators or other people in the department. Why would you want to use them as a reference if they call you a ''retard'' to your face anyway? What do you think their reference letter is going to look like?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: You'd have to check the local laws, but personally I would begin to record conversations regardless. Some places allow recording conversations and phone calls if it is for personal use. In that sense, recording meetings to make sure you catch all the suggestions is plausible deniability.
You don't have to report and share the recordings at any time if you don't want to. But when you're getting it all on tape, you won't be worried about him escalating this abuse. You'll be looking forward to gathering more and more evidence.
Moreover, recordings would give you leverage in worst case scenarios such as him not letting you pass for his personal reasons.
With this approach you can both continue working on your PhD without drawing attention and report it only if he intentionally fails you. You'd be able to show a pattern of behaviour if needed. It would be very silly of him to take his sadistic games to that extent, but he'll only have himself to blame for the consequences.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I think that you need to open up to a medical professional **downtown** and ***not** to the campus doctors/counsellors* as so many of these are useless when it comes to challenging professors or pressurizing parents. Besides the university will likely want to keep a lid on the whole thing as it would be bad for their public image. And counsellors are ever conscious of the fact that they are employees of the university at the end of the day.
For you, this is a mental health matter at this stage. Beforehand it was just a supervisory issue that grew and grew. It's strange this professor didn't simply opt out of supervising you if he *sincerely* never rated you much. It must be the same old cuteness of these types - he could keep his "reputation" if he provoked you into walking off rather than risk losing it if he unilaterally stopped supervising you.
Talk to people outside the college to find a good local psychologist. Having a few recordings of your supervisor's insulting remarks would be helpful here.
Going to your Head of Department with the support of a local psychologist is a lot better than going alone. Also bring a trusted other person to act as a witness to what the Head says - in case he tries to wriggle out of it later. Be prepared for the Head insisting on your professor being present while you make the complaint and giving him the right of reply. And if the Head starts to talk the issue to death, be ready to leave immediately.
Your PhD is something you worked hard to achieve. It's worth trying to keep it while there is any chance to save it. But it's never worth taking such abuse from a professor - and not least by omission from other PhDs who witness this in group sessions.
You have to be prepared to throw this overpriced "pearl" back into the sea when it threatens the things that really matter in life.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: Since your supervisor is not supportive of your efforts, find another supervisor ASAP. It's pretty much the only way out if you want to obtain a Ph.D. A supportive, trustful supervisor is a must. In retrospect, I think this is what you should have done long time ago.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Along with the already good advice to finish your Ph.D first and *then* report them to the campus afterwards, you should find them on a Professor Rating Site and give them a review (Also after you finish your PH.D).
Include details such as how they were rude to other students and how they were rude to you specifically - but do not name yourself or any of the other students who took his class.
It may not help resolve anything for you, but for the especially wary college student it could help them identify a bad professor and avoid taking his courses, which would also mean less power for him in his academic position.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: Where I am doing my PhD, there's a special spokesperson at the graduate office that is specialized in exactly those things, maybe something smilar exists where you are?
Also, I disagree with people saying push it through, especially if your supervisor has a direct say in your final grade! Then I suggest you definitely speak up **before** you finish your PhD!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: I disagree with everyone in here.
Don't let that get into your soul and mind.
You decide how to react and what to learn form this. There are jerks everywhere, but some jerks are useful. They make you strong!!
Pause and think this person has good intentions wanted you to communicate something.
Concentrate in the message in the letter not the color of the paper.
Have friends, walk with them. Grab a beer. Send love and kisses to your family.
Have a great rest and then come back and kick ass!!
Good luck!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_11: You must finish. You say you have nearly two papers that's good you're ready to finish.
Do not try to leave your institute and do not complain at least for now. You need to show your supervisor you've got what it takes to finish.
Once you have your PhD you are then on the same level as him. In other words you can take on research working on your own or supervise others. Then this is your chance not to be like him towards others and for as long as you work you can make a positive difference to others something your supervisor seems to have lost touch with.
If this bothers you somewhere down the road you can raise this politely but firmly with your PhD complete.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_12: This isn't the answer you or anyone wants to hear, but I'm offering it has a matter of perspective. Lots of people give up on their PhDs for a wide variety of reasons. Everyone understands how difficult they are. But, there are a lot of companies who would be happy to hire anyone with any kind of CS degree, and sponsor them.
Despite how it feels right now, you've already had amazing academic success. You should be very proud of everything you've already accomplished. The reality is that you may be blocked from getting your PhD, and it might be time to pivot. There's nothing wrong with that.
Regardless of whether you choose to fight for your PhD by plowing forward, or by reporting your supervisor, you should think about backup plans as well. Simply knowing you have other options will likely reduce the stress and pressure, and make your remaining time easier.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: The highest rated answers say do nothing, suck it up, finish your PhD, and then launch a complaint.
I have to say, I understand that impulse. But really, you should report your professor. His behavior is inexcusable. If he were outside of academia, he would have lost his job by now for creating a hostile work environment for subordinates. Yes, this may slow you down, but your professor is a bully! You really should stand up for yourself. Give him a big middle finger by launching complaints against him with anybody in the university that will listen. Seriously, consider legal action, especially if he retaliates against your complaint in any way shape or form.
You've published a paper, you have two more in the works. You are smart enough. The next time that you speak with your advisor, let him know that you will NOT be treated like this any longer. Tell him that he needs to stop, and then document that this conversation took place. This is for evidentiary reasons. On no uncertain terms, you need to tell him that he is creating a hostile work environment for you and all of the other students in the lab. Stand up to him. Let him know that you are also launching formal complaints into his behavior as well. Say nothing about progress on your thesis, say nothing about progress on anything going on in the lab. This meeting is about putting him on notice that YOU believe that he is violating employment laws. That seems extreme, but what you need to do, following this conversation, is to launch all sorts of complaints. Complain to the department administration, to the university administration, the labor relations board in your state, hell talk to a lawyer and/or threaten a discrimination suit based on your status as a foreigner, that will make the administration sit up and pay attention really quick. Bring down hell on your advisor not advisable for finishing your degree, but you basically need to figuratively give this dude a black eye.
Don't let people like this get away with what they are doing. Because they will do it again and again an again.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: There is a professor at a certain university (in EECS) whose webpage states that they are 'currently on leave at [other school].' They are also listed as a professor at the other school. I am interested in working with said professor, and so there status is relevant.
Every sign points to them simply having moved schools, but I am a bit unsure why the phrase 'on leave' is being used. Note both institutions in question are US-based.
Question: What does 'on leave' refer to here? Does it imply that the move is temporary?
Edit: I assume this could also mean that they (1) have moved, and (2) are on leave at the other school, but this does not seem to be the case either (as they are teaching a course).<issue_comment>username_1: You need to read the information more carefully and then ask the question again. For example, you can have a one-year appointment at another university B (e.g. as the Joe-Doe chair with a million dollar salary to be held for a year). This does not mean that you have left the other institution A. After the year you would return to it and at that point stop being the Joe-Doe professor at B.
It could also be that I leave University A to go to University B. University A would like to keep me (as I just won a Turing award and the Best-Teacher-Ever award), and so they give me a deal: I can try out University B for two years and if I don't like it, I give notice at University B and return to University A, to be reinstated into my old job.
I am not claiming that these are the only two possibilities. I give them only to show you that the information given supports several likely scenarios.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: While the answer of [username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/195193/75368) shows imagination, a more prosaic reason is just that the professor had an opportunity to work for a year (or so) with a colleague at the other university on some joint research project and they found a way to get it funded.
Often the "title" at the other place would be "Visiting Professor" or whatever.
And on leave usually would mean an intent to return.
If you want to work with this person, contact them and ask about what you can expect might happen in your time frame. If they can't give you a reasonably firm answer, then maintain your flexibility.
I've been a visitor in the past because I was the right person to teach a needed course and thought it would be fun to explore. Nothing more than that.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: It is 12 days since the editor-in-chief told me our appeal against a publication rejection is "currently being processed". I have received no further information. Should I inquire for an update?<issue_comment>username_1: You *could*, but 12 days is not an especially long time, and anything is possible:
* The editor-in-chief is waiting for a response from the associate editor who made the decision for your manuscript, and they are on holiday.
* The associate editor is waiting for a response from the reviewer, and they are on holiday.
* They are waiting for a second opinion from another editorial board member, and they are on holiday.
So I suppose it depends on what kind of update you're looking for. It's unlikely they'll have a final decision on your appeal, but they might be able to tell you what they're waiting for.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I suggest that you view the 12 days in the context of whatever the *typical* time frame is for reviews and subsequent publication in the journal to which you submitted the paper. If the journal usually takes 3 months to review, then I'd consider 12 days to be a very short time in which to be asking anything about your appeal.
Many journals give an indication of (i) their overall acceptance rate of submissions, (ii) typical review times, and (iii) the typical length of time between an acceptance for publication, and actual publication. All those things might give you more context in which to consider the elapse of 12 days.
An additional thing to consider is what kind of rejection it was. It's not something you mention in your post, but was the paper sent our for review and rejected on the basis of reviewers comments, or was it rejected by the editor on first-pass (perhaps because it was not a good fit for the journal).
I might add, that without knowing anything about the particular journal, 12 days sounds to me like an incredibly short time frame in which to expect a response. Just because you are appealing, rather than making a new submission, does not mean that your appeal will go to the top of the work-pile. And most journals have long backlogs.
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been reading about potential impacts of ChatGPT on education, and one thing that came up time and time again is something referred to as "college essay" or "undergraduate essay". Nobody ever explained the term and what exactly it refers to, so I have to assume it is a ubiquitous type of task at American universities. I have heard it talked about as if it is one of the defining features of American college experience.
What is it? Is it a common exercise? What is its purpose? If I understand correctly, it is a short written thesis that is supposed to make an argument for or against something, so is it a written exercise in rhetoric? Do all majors have them? As a chemical engineering graduate, I had nothing similar during my education, though it may have also been due to the differences in the education systems... The closest thing I had is a written report on a certain topic, such as "rhodium plating for jewelry" or "self healing coatings". That is different from an typical college essay, right?<issue_comment>username_1: This likely refers to essays written as part of an undergraduate application. [From Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_essay):
>
> ... intended as a chance to describe "things that are unique, interesting and informative about yourself".
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It can also refer to any essay written during undergraduate studies. In the humanities, marked essays are standard and very common.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Essay writing is not limited to the US, or to humanities subjects. Both my education (Nature Science and Computer Science in the UK) and the course I currently teach on (Biology, also in the UK) made extensive use of the essay form in both formative and summative assessment. It does appear to be a more common form in Anglo-Saxon derived cultures, although it originated in France. Its also more common in less quantitative subjects: while the Computer Science part of my degree did require at least one essay to be assessed at some point, most assessments weren't essay based, the opposite is true of the Natural Science part, which had many essays and a small number of problem based exams. Humanities subjects are generally entirely essay based.
Your definition: "a short written thesis that is supposed to make an argument for or against something" is not too far off, although I'd say that it's not strictly speaking necessary for it to be for or against something. Generally an essay takes some topic, position, or statement, and examines it from as many different angles as possible, before coming to to some sort of conclusion on the topic. The structure thesis-antithesis-synthesis is common, that is, when asked a direct question, or to pass judgement on a statement, the most common conclusion is that the answer is neither yes nor no.
It has come to mean, more or less, any medium length (say 1000 words to 10,000 words) piece of writing on a coherent topic that is not a report of new research.
It is used often because a good essay demonstrates many things we would want from university graduates: they must have a good grasp of the underlying facts of the topic; they must understand the context in which those facts sit; a good essay requires the student to show good, fact based judgement; they must be able to write well; and its open-ended nature offers an optional opportunity to demonstrate mastery of material and argument beyond that taught in class or on the syllabus, including the ability to invent new arguments and theories.
Critics of the essay form argue that either it's bad because it requires all these things, rather than testing each one separately, or that most essay questions really only demand a recitation of the basic facts, along with a cookie cutter structure that makes it sound like an argument.
An example of an essay in Chemical Engineering (not a very good one as I'm not a Chemical Engineer) might be:
"'Click chemistry has revolutionized Synthetic Chemistry'. Discuss"
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently noticing that students are submitting essays where they have used ChatGPT to produce the text of their essay assignments. On some occasions, they have used it to correct the writing of the text. However, on other occasions, they have used it to answer the essay question directly. My idea is not to prohibit it but to teach them to work with it as a tool.
Do you have resources on this regard? For example, I recently found a teacher on Twitter who included in his instructions how students should use ChatGPT. In this regard, some of the caveats were aimed at citing if they have used ChatGPT in their essays and what kind of instructions they have used. Warning them that using it and not citing it can be considered plagiarism. Unfortunately, I didn't save the tweet.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm a lowly PhD student who's not yet formally taught a class, but here's my initial reaction: Chat GPT can be used for coding/data cleaning purposes (when necessary), and it can also be fine for spell checking. However, where I sort of would draw the line is them formally using it to write the paper. The paper should be the student's work, not Chat GPTs work.
I don't know how to check if chat GPT's been used, but that's my view on it. As someone who writes code for statistics purposes, GPT can be quite useful for a variety of problems (not that I've used it). But, it should not (nor should we expect it to) replace the human analysts, and that philosophy matters in the classroom too. In other words, it can be used as an awesome supplement to one's work-- never as a substitute. So, I think your idea is just fine, so long as you can check to see if it was used and how. The main thing to be concerned about, I think, is how to know if someone actually did use it, but did not disclose it. I'm sure people who have worked with it would have a better idea than I would.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: There's a discussion around [LLM/ChatGPT for programming courses](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/195274/162770). There are valuable nuggets from there you can adapt for essays.
You are on the right track, or rather, I'm in agreement with your approach of *teach them to work with it as a tool*.
In drafting a [policy for conversational AI/LLM](https://lnkd.in/dZsxz6aH), I see engaging them more of **learning scaffolding**.
Students must disclose their use and how they are used. Students must take ownership and must show their creativity.
What we can and should do is getting the students on the path of purposive engagement as assistive tools, leveraging them for their critical appraisal and thinking.
Inbtw, there're tools that detect text/essays written by conversational AI. Openai, the ChatGPT 'creator', has one: [AI Text Classifier](https://openai.com/blog/new-ai-classifier-for-indicating-ai-written-text/)
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<issue_start>username_0: My master's advisor proposed to me a research point that was already published. I found another question, modified the methodology, and got new results, and I am planning to publish the work. He didn't help me during my work and was always telling me that he is not convinced of my ideas. When meetings became unproductive, I stopped visiting and continued on my own. Now, regarding the ethical rules of authorship. Should his name be included?
Update 1: I am adding more info:
1. I am self-funded
2. He used to tell me that he is not convinced without giving me reasons why. He simply was not interested and was underestimating me.
3. My field is numerical optimization and I presented the work at a reputable conference in the field.
4. He wants his name on it but, this was after it got accepted by this prestigious conference.
UPDATE:
I asked a young faculty who I know personally and can trust. He suggested that I would need to respectfully discuss my contribution and the advisor's involvement in the paper with the advisor and reach an agreement on authorship.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm a lowly PhD student who's not yet formally taught a class, but here's my initial reaction: Chat GPT can be used for coding/data cleaning purposes (when necessary), and it can also be fine for spell checking. However, where I sort of would draw the line is them formally using it to write the paper. The paper should be the student's work, not Chat GPTs work.
I don't know how to check if chat GPT's been used, but that's my view on it. As someone who writes code for statistics purposes, GPT can be quite useful for a variety of problems (not that I've used it). But, it should not (nor should we expect it to) replace the human analysts, and that philosophy matters in the classroom too. In other words, it can be used as an awesome supplement to one's work-- never as a substitute. So, I think your idea is just fine, so long as you can check to see if it was used and how. The main thing to be concerned about, I think, is how to know if someone actually did use it, but did not disclose it. I'm sure people who have worked with it would have a better idea than I would.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: There's a discussion around [LLM/ChatGPT for programming courses](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/195274/162770). There are valuable nuggets from there you can adapt for essays.
You are on the right track, or rather, I'm in agreement with your approach of *teach them to work with it as a tool*.
In drafting a [policy for conversational AI/LLM](https://lnkd.in/dZsxz6aH), I see engaging them more of **learning scaffolding**.
Students must disclose their use and how they are used. Students must take ownership and must show their creativity.
What we can and should do is getting the students on the path of purposive engagement as assistive tools, leveraging them for their critical appraisal and thinking.
Inbtw, there're tools that detect text/essays written by conversational AI. Openai, the ChatGPT 'creator', has one: [AI Text Classifier](https://openai.com/blog/new-ai-classifier-for-indicating-ai-written-text/)
Upvotes: 2
|
2023/04/12
| 1,065
| 4,670
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am currently working in the field of my undergrad study in "computational systems and microelectronics". I have pursued my graduate masters project in Quantum Transport which have gotten me an A+ along with a Frist Class CGPA and the praise of my professors for laying the foundation of quantum transport simulation in the university in addition to publishing the quantum transport simulation paper in a high impact journal.
Now I am interested to pursue my PhD in quantum information/condensed matter/atomic and optical physics. I have emailed around 40 professors all around the world so far, around 10% of them seem interested and have called me for a PhD interview in renowned Universities (a **good sign** I suppose) but then they all have rejected me after the interview so far, citing a preference for more experienced candidates in the field. 20% of them outright respond back to the email enquiry, saying that I do not have the necessary background for their research. While a vast majority of professors don't even respond back (I assume they send the email to trash on sight).
I am autodidactic and have been ameliorating the courses that I didn't undertake in school such as Statistical mechanics, Optics etc. However I do have the necessary background in the mathematical and physics framework such as Tensor Calculus, Abstract Algebra, Electrodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, Solid State physics etc.
Is this a "fools errand" for a person of my background attempting to pursue the PhD in condensed matter/ atomic and optical physics or should I **power through** the rejections and continue approaching professors via email until one eventually hits ? I have met and seen people with my background pursue a PhD in these fields, one or two professors (no PhD openings unfortunately) on consultation even have said that my background is not an issue at all, which gives me hope.
I am currently lost and I wonder is the rejection rates I'm facing normal for PhD applications ? Should I even attempt trying or is this to be expected during the application phase? I have a preference for American or UK universities as these places offer more opportunities post graduation. I hope people who are from these fields and academics could advise me on this dilemma.<issue_comment>username_1: The following applies to the US, but, possibly not UK.
As an undergrad, you can contact a professor at a doctoral institution for advice and to express interest, but it will be very (very) unlikely to affect any admissions decisions.
The same is true even for those with a masters, to a somewhat lesser extent.
In the US, admissions is by committee of faculty who look at all the applications in a cycle and make decisions based on formal application materials.
Also, because of that custom, the most likely answer you get from a professor, is "I encourage you to apply." Even if they are on the committee, outside communication is unlikely to affect anything.
The first task of a new doctoral student, in most departments and fields, is to take the advanced courses that help you pass comprehensive exams. You don't need a dissertation advisor for that. Even with a good masters, you need to be aware that comps are usually an gate that must be passed through.
Some other places than the US requires you to apply to a professor who will ultimately be your funding source.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: For a physics Ph.D. application in the US, you are generally expected to take the subject and general GRE tests, and the TOEFL test if English is not your native language. Furthermore, the complete application includes a letter of intent describing your background and the kind of research you want to pursue. Additionally, you need an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above (preferably). Beyond that, any research publications you might have will help your cause. The system works that way. A committee then decides on the applications and offers positions according to the department's needs which are related to funding. So cold emailing as you do might not help you get into a program I think.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: There are many universities, and in my experience a majority of the top schools, where the professor will rarely if ever formally commit before the student has spent some time at the institution.
Basically, they want to see how you will perform in *their* program, irrespective of previous achievements in other programs.
The default position is for you to apply for admission, get accepted and then set the stage on fire during your first year (usually coursework) when you get there.
Upvotes: 0
|
2023/04/12
| 1,947
| 8,365
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am approaching the end of my PhD. My relationship with my supervisor has been really complicated: I get on very well with her personally, but in terms of supervision/research it's a struggle. I didn't get any help in terms of feedback or the direction of my thesis, she barely knows about my topic and she doesn't even pretend to care about my research. When she comments on my papers it is always to comment on the form (spelling, syntax), not on the substance. She largely funds other PhDs or Masters students whereas I wasn't treated the same way. I basically rely on competitive funding. It's great on the CV, but the lack of support from her is a problem. She provides opportunities for networking and collaboration on papers for other phds. In my case, I never received anything like that. All students have co-supervision. This is crucial in my field in terms of funding (to fund experiments, field trips, for instance). In my case she always refused co-supervision. This is my biggest regret as PhD student. I feel very isolated as a researcher, despite being very involved in her lab. I have missed one our lab meeting in years and she's complaining about this one meeting occasionally. Others are skipping meetings quire regularly without any comments from her.
Today I offered her to be a co-author on a paper with another researcher. It took me a while to ask her because of the constant rejections from her. This paper has clearly potential for a great contribution. She said no, again. The reason is that she is busy. The problem is that she collaborates with everybody but me, sometimes on random paper. Due to the constant rejection, I am now unable to solicit collaborations with other researchers. I tell myself that there must be a reason why I am so isolated, why she rejects my ideas, she is not involved in my PhD That this is probably my fault. My self-esteem is at an all-time low. Yet I publish quite well on my own. I got the best academic position among her students, by far. Everyone in the department thinks we get along very well. I can't say anything, or complain. I want to tell her what I think but I can only rely on her for letters of recommendation due to the lack of collaboration during grad school and no co-supervision. The worst part of this mess is that I really like her as a person. I don't want to be a problem for her by making drama at the end of the phd, but this situation is mentally draining.<issue_comment>username_1: I find your post similar to my situation… but I am in my 2nd year of my PhD and not finishing yet.
You can talk with someone trusted at the department or faculty. Maybe some representative of PhD students to highlight the situation.
I am really sorry that this happened to you. Please don't sabotage yourself and do not make this situation be responsible for your self-esteem and mental health.
What I can advise you and what I also do (not to be very stressed in any situation) is to switch off emotions and be an observer of a problem. I usually remain emotionless even if the situation is stressful because I kind of switch off my emotional state. It does not influence me on any level.
It would be good to finish your PhD as it is now, not making any drama. You are about to end your PhD journey soon - maybe it's better to remain as it is but try to search for scientific opportunities on your own.
Do you want to stay at the department when you finish your PhD? Maybe it would be good to leave academia after you graduate…
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Maybe this is a bit of a frame challenge, but I suspect that she doesn't co-author your papers mostly *because* you are doing fine. Generally, as a supervisor, taking a step back and letting students work on their research alone is a sign of trust, not a criticism\*. That is, I doubt she rejects your ideas because she doesn't like them, but rather because other students need her help more (and if she is closer in topic to other students she might also feel that she can help those students more). It's similar for competitive funding - if you can get funding on your own, her money is better spent on students who cannot (with the side effect for you that acquiring your own competitive funding is good for your CV as well as a good learning opportunity).
Of course, feeling isolated is a big problem. However, maybe what you need are more and better collaborations with other people. I think this is the conversation you should have with your supervisor - how can she help you set up more collaborations (not necessarily with her, just with *somebody*)?
**Edit:** that said, if you have a good working relationship with your supervisor, bringing up how you feel is always a good idea. It can be hard for us to assess how happy people are with their current supervision, and it's certainly possible that she simply does not realise that you are unhappy. Just be open to other fixes she might propose (e.g., finding other collaborators). And it may also be good to raise that she seems to have much higher expectations on you regarding things like attendance of lab meetings than for other students - these things sometimes happen unconsciously, and if she is aware of it she can work on it.
\* Ok, it *can* be a sign of criticism. If a project is going *really, really poorly* a supervisor may also take a step back because they consider the project effectively unsalvageable (or because they have made the learning experience that the student doesn't listen to them anyway). A halfway ethical supervisor will have multiple serious conversations with the student before that point, though.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm sorry to hear that this is mentally draining. But it'll be over soon. Especially since you like her as a person, just leave it at that. You may try and matter-of-factly ask her if she wants a more central role in your research or if she's likes it the way it is now but don't spin it into too much of a thing, especially if she doesn't show any awareness of it. It might also be a topic she's not as good at or keen on.
Even when you change advisors for your postdoc, you might want to collaborate with your former advisor in the future and it doesn't pay to burn bridges, especially since the gain for future PhD students would be minimal and your personal gain will only be release (which feels good for a day). In my experience, advisors do not change.
Several labs at my institute had issues, we all came together and talked and tried to formulate guidelines for a better flow of communication between PIs, postdocs and phd students. In the end, when we talked to all the PIs, the PIs who were problematic didn't listen, brushed everyone off as being "thin skinned and just not tough enough", while the ones who are great and supportive PIs tried to help everyone and actually listened.
In your case, showing collaboration on papers beyond your supervisor/lab is *amazing* for the CV, as is the acquisition of third-party funding. In my lab we are not allowed to collaborate with outside labs on the lab's time unless our PIs are also involved, so the opposite of your problem.
If you are considering staying on as a postdoc, you can really have an honest talk with your advisor about your role and her involvement. That is something that you can do better once the pressure of finishing a PhD is not on you anymore.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I was in basically the same position during my phd. My supervisor completely ignored me and had no interest in working with me. Talking to him about research was always frustrating; he didn't show any interest and was never helpful, sometimes he was even actively hindering me.
All the while, other students worked with him. In hindsight, I was as good as any of them. The frustrating part therefore is that the favoritism seems arbitrary.
Looking back, I should have said something halfway through my PhD, when it mattered. Nowadays, there is no point anymore. If it won't help you, just keep quiet. If your supervisor is not actively working against you, no point in saying anything.
My life really improved when I realized that talking to my supervisor was, at best, useless. So I just stopped talking about research with him altogether. I suggest you do the same.
Upvotes: -1
|
2023/04/12
| 1,511
| 6,489
|
<issue_start>username_0: Until I told it not to, Google Scholar automatically added articles to my profile by scholars with the same name. I deleted those articles, but they still showed up on my university Google Scholar's page.
I have now deleted my Scholar account and had the university delete my Google account, but my university Scholar profile still pops up and it still seems to be "grabbing" works by scholars with the same name from other fields.
How do I just delete my Google Scholar existence entirely and start from scratch. It's been over a year since I first deleted my account.<issue_comment>username_1: I find your post similar to my situation… but I am in my 2nd year of my PhD and not finishing yet.
You can talk with someone trusted at the department or faculty. Maybe some representative of PhD students to highlight the situation.
I am really sorry that this happened to you. Please don't sabotage yourself and do not make this situation be responsible for your self-esteem and mental health.
What I can advise you and what I also do (not to be very stressed in any situation) is to switch off emotions and be an observer of a problem. I usually remain emotionless even if the situation is stressful because I kind of switch off my emotional state. It does not influence me on any level.
It would be good to finish your PhD as it is now, not making any drama. You are about to end your PhD journey soon - maybe it's better to remain as it is but try to search for scientific opportunities on your own.
Do you want to stay at the department when you finish your PhD? Maybe it would be good to leave academia after you graduate…
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Maybe this is a bit of a frame challenge, but I suspect that she doesn't co-author your papers mostly *because* you are doing fine. Generally, as a supervisor, taking a step back and letting students work on their research alone is a sign of trust, not a criticism\*. That is, I doubt she rejects your ideas because she doesn't like them, but rather because other students need her help more (and if she is closer in topic to other students she might also feel that she can help those students more). It's similar for competitive funding - if you can get funding on your own, her money is better spent on students who cannot (with the side effect for you that acquiring your own competitive funding is good for your CV as well as a good learning opportunity).
Of course, feeling isolated is a big problem. However, maybe what you need are more and better collaborations with other people. I think this is the conversation you should have with your supervisor - how can she help you set up more collaborations (not necessarily with her, just with *somebody*)?
**Edit:** that said, if you have a good working relationship with your supervisor, bringing up how you feel is always a good idea. It can be hard for us to assess how happy people are with their current supervision, and it's certainly possible that she simply does not realise that you are unhappy. Just be open to other fixes she might propose (e.g., finding other collaborators). And it may also be good to raise that she seems to have much higher expectations on you regarding things like attendance of lab meetings than for other students - these things sometimes happen unconsciously, and if she is aware of it she can work on it.
\* Ok, it *can* be a sign of criticism. If a project is going *really, really poorly* a supervisor may also take a step back because they consider the project effectively unsalvageable (or because they have made the learning experience that the student doesn't listen to them anyway). A halfway ethical supervisor will have multiple serious conversations with the student before that point, though.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm sorry to hear that this is mentally draining. But it'll be over soon. Especially since you like her as a person, just leave it at that. You may try and matter-of-factly ask her if she wants a more central role in your research or if she's likes it the way it is now but don't spin it into too much of a thing, especially if she doesn't show any awareness of it. It might also be a topic she's not as good at or keen on.
Even when you change advisors for your postdoc, you might want to collaborate with your former advisor in the future and it doesn't pay to burn bridges, especially since the gain for future PhD students would be minimal and your personal gain will only be release (which feels good for a day). In my experience, advisors do not change.
Several labs at my institute had issues, we all came together and talked and tried to formulate guidelines for a better flow of communication between PIs, postdocs and phd students. In the end, when we talked to all the PIs, the PIs who were problematic didn't listen, brushed everyone off as being "thin skinned and just not tough enough", while the ones who are great and supportive PIs tried to help everyone and actually listened.
In your case, showing collaboration on papers beyond your supervisor/lab is *amazing* for the CV, as is the acquisition of third-party funding. In my lab we are not allowed to collaborate with outside labs on the lab's time unless our PIs are also involved, so the opposite of your problem.
If you are considering staying on as a postdoc, you can really have an honest talk with your advisor about your role and her involvement. That is something that you can do better once the pressure of finishing a PhD is not on you anymore.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I was in basically the same position during my phd. My supervisor completely ignored me and had no interest in working with me. Talking to him about research was always frustrating; he didn't show any interest and was never helpful, sometimes he was even actively hindering me.
All the while, other students worked with him. In hindsight, I was as good as any of them. The frustrating part therefore is that the favoritism seems arbitrary.
Looking back, I should have said something halfway through my PhD, when it mattered. Nowadays, there is no point anymore. If it won't help you, just keep quiet. If your supervisor is not actively working against you, no point in saying anything.
My life really improved when I realized that talking to my supervisor was, at best, useless. So I just stopped talking about research with him altogether. I suggest you do the same.
Upvotes: -1
|
2023/04/13
| 1,799
| 7,790
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm in the process of applying for an editorial position in Mathematics Books, where the key responsibilities are as follows:
\*Evaluate book proposals and manage the peer-review process
\*Liaise with authors throughout the publication process, including negotiating contractual conditions
\*Collaborate with editorial boards to evaluate manuscript submissions
\*Coordinate with internal departments such as production, marketing, and sales
\*Establish and maintain a network of relationships with academics
\*Attend international conferences and visit universities for acquisition
\*Achieve annual publishing goals
And the requirements are as follows:
**Essential:**
\*Postgraduate degree in Mathematics or related field
\*Excellent written and spoken English
\*Strong communication and organizational skills
\*Ability to work independently and as part of a team
\*Availability to travel to universities and international conferences
\*Track record of working to deadlines and delivering results
**Desirable:**
\*PhD in Mathematics or related field
\*International experience (study or work abroad)
\*Working knowledge of LaTeX
Now I've done a PhD in math with published papers, traveled for conferences and worked internationally, and also have decent knowledge of LaTeX. However, **I'm sure almost all the applicants will have these**, so these perhaps won't be the deciding criteria. Hence I wonder what other qualities a good editor will have to possess? For example, **I reviewed a paper for a journal published under this company, should including that have a positive effect?** Anything else, or any other experience that'll make someone a good applicant for this position? I'm trying to write a letter of motivation and I'm trying to go through my experience and relate them to those of a good editor, hence this question.
Thanks in advance!<issue_comment>username_1: I find your post similar to my situation… but I am in my 2nd year of my PhD and not finishing yet.
You can talk with someone trusted at the department or faculty. Maybe some representative of PhD students to highlight the situation.
I am really sorry that this happened to you. Please don't sabotage yourself and do not make this situation be responsible for your self-esteem and mental health.
What I can advise you and what I also do (not to be very stressed in any situation) is to switch off emotions and be an observer of a problem. I usually remain emotionless even if the situation is stressful because I kind of switch off my emotional state. It does not influence me on any level.
It would be good to finish your PhD as it is now, not making any drama. You are about to end your PhD journey soon - maybe it's better to remain as it is but try to search for scientific opportunities on your own.
Do you want to stay at the department when you finish your PhD? Maybe it would be good to leave academia after you graduate…
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Maybe this is a bit of a frame challenge, but I suspect that she doesn't co-author your papers mostly *because* you are doing fine. Generally, as a supervisor, taking a step back and letting students work on their research alone is a sign of trust, not a criticism\*. That is, I doubt she rejects your ideas because she doesn't like them, but rather because other students need her help more (and if she is closer in topic to other students she might also feel that she can help those students more). It's similar for competitive funding - if you can get funding on your own, her money is better spent on students who cannot (with the side effect for you that acquiring your own competitive funding is good for your CV as well as a good learning opportunity).
Of course, feeling isolated is a big problem. However, maybe what you need are more and better collaborations with other people. I think this is the conversation you should have with your supervisor - how can she help you set up more collaborations (not necessarily with her, just with *somebody*)?
**Edit:** that said, if you have a good working relationship with your supervisor, bringing up how you feel is always a good idea. It can be hard for us to assess how happy people are with their current supervision, and it's certainly possible that she simply does not realise that you are unhappy. Just be open to other fixes she might propose (e.g., finding other collaborators). And it may also be good to raise that she seems to have much higher expectations on you regarding things like attendance of lab meetings than for other students - these things sometimes happen unconsciously, and if she is aware of it she can work on it.
\* Ok, it *can* be a sign of criticism. If a project is going *really, really poorly* a supervisor may also take a step back because they consider the project effectively unsalvageable (or because they have made the learning experience that the student doesn't listen to them anyway). A halfway ethical supervisor will have multiple serious conversations with the student before that point, though.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm sorry to hear that this is mentally draining. But it'll be over soon. Especially since you like her as a person, just leave it at that. You may try and matter-of-factly ask her if she wants a more central role in your research or if she's likes it the way it is now but don't spin it into too much of a thing, especially if she doesn't show any awareness of it. It might also be a topic she's not as good at or keen on.
Even when you change advisors for your postdoc, you might want to collaborate with your former advisor in the future and it doesn't pay to burn bridges, especially since the gain for future PhD students would be minimal and your personal gain will only be release (which feels good for a day). In my experience, advisors do not change.
Several labs at my institute had issues, we all came together and talked and tried to formulate guidelines for a better flow of communication between PIs, postdocs and phd students. In the end, when we talked to all the PIs, the PIs who were problematic didn't listen, brushed everyone off as being "thin skinned and just not tough enough", while the ones who are great and supportive PIs tried to help everyone and actually listened.
In your case, showing collaboration on papers beyond your supervisor/lab is *amazing* for the CV, as is the acquisition of third-party funding. In my lab we are not allowed to collaborate with outside labs on the lab's time unless our PIs are also involved, so the opposite of your problem.
If you are considering staying on as a postdoc, you can really have an honest talk with your advisor about your role and her involvement. That is something that you can do better once the pressure of finishing a PhD is not on you anymore.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I was in basically the same position during my phd. My supervisor completely ignored me and had no interest in working with me. Talking to him about research was always frustrating; he didn't show any interest and was never helpful, sometimes he was even actively hindering me.
All the while, other students worked with him. In hindsight, I was as good as any of them. The frustrating part therefore is that the favoritism seems arbitrary.
Looking back, I should have said something halfway through my PhD, when it mattered. Nowadays, there is no point anymore. If it won't help you, just keep quiet. If your supervisor is not actively working against you, no point in saying anything.
My life really improved when I realized that talking to my supervisor was, at best, useless. So I just stopped talking about research with him altogether. I suggest you do the same.
Upvotes: -1
|
2023/04/13
| 1,642
| 6,498
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have started and completed 4 years in a theoretical physics PhD program. I was ABD ("all but dissertation") and have published a couple of papers on that topic and been employed in a research project. I quit about 1 year before completing it and was considered ABD because all that was left was to write up my PhD thesis.
I had been considering switching to Computational Neuroscience for a while then, and because there was a project hiring PhD students in a lab that I really wanted to work in, I decided to abandon my first PhD and switch to Computational Neuroscience. This second PhD I completed and am now a second year postdoc at the same lab.
So for my current position, the CV was not much of an issue. But now I am thinking of applying for other positions and grants and I wonder how this sort of "gap" in my education section will look to people evaluating my CV and how to declare what I did during those 4 years. Do I list my PhD and say that I was ABD? Does that even mean anything to people outside of the US? I'm in Europe now and my current advisor did not know what ABD means and suggested I just leave out my first PhD program. Does that feel right to people?
Going from physics to computational neuroscience is by no means uncommon but I feel like completing 4 years in a PhD program to then go do another one is.
If anyone has experience with a similar situation, I'd appreciate pointers!<issue_comment>username_1: To me, "ABD" is mostly a fancy way to say you didn't graduate; it provides almost no information, because the thesis/dissertation is *the central part* of your PhD; far more interpretable that you "published a couple of papers on that topic and been employed in a research project". It's like saying you're a novelist, but haven't written a book, or saying you're an actor but you've only ever auditioned or competed against family members in charades and never actually *acted*.
I find its use *within* academia in the US to be fine to *describe your in-progress situation*; people know what it means, and I think generally understand that the meaning varies between programs and is often informal. Outside of academia or possibly outside of the US, it's a little tricky, I've seen some examples where people write something like "PhD (ABD)" and it's quite misleading, as if you have a PhD and "ABD" is some secondary characteristic. Even for someone who knows what it means, though, it may look like you are *attempting* to mislead. I'd just stay very very far away from that. For you, though, you aren't really "ABD" anymore: you withdrew. You're not in the program. You didn't earn half a degree, you quit. For some people in your position, it may have been possible at the time to apply to exit with a masters degree, but if that wasn't an option or you didn't go through the paperwork, you don't get an "almost PhD" as a consolation prize.
On your CV, I wouldn't bother touting the "ABD" designation; published research and employment can be listed in other sections (e.g., "Research Assistant"). I'd probably list it clearly in the education section, maybe like:
>
> Education
>
>
> Computational Neuroscience University, PhD Computational Neuroscience 2022
>
>
> Theoretical University of Physics, PhD Theoretical Physics (withdrew)
>
>
> State University, BS Physics 2013
>
>
>
I think for some things, especially outside of academia, it might be fine to just leave it off, though the rest of your CV would probably still have signatures of your time there, such as employment as a TA/RA. For grants, check carefully about any requirements to list all past education.
In either case, you should be prepared to answer questions about why you left the first program, but I think that'll be pretty easy now that you've completed another degree, you can simply say you switched to a different program that interested you more, and point to your accomplishments there. You can also make clear that this was your decision, rather than some sort of discipline, and you have some productivity from that time to point to as well. Overall I can't see it hurting you, the only thing that would hurt is if someone gets an impression you're misrepresenting.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: For the theoretical physics, OP can state (withdrew) or (incomplete). I suppose, withdrew might sound better though, but not ABD.
All but dissertation is a US thing where you complete your course work and passed the qualifying exam. At that stage, ideally all that is left is to write up your thesis.
In Europe, things are different.
In lot of places on the mainland and Scandinavian, as a PhD, you are actually in a (university) employment.
In some, you're simply a *student*.
In others, you are in a sponsored project.
The ABD is unknown in Europe. That is not to say that academia (in Europe) might not understand it. So, it's either it (PhD) was completed or incomplete.
Rather, speak to the relevant research project(s) you've done. Talking about '*relevant*', theoretical physics can relate to aspects of computation neuroscience.
See [Theoretical physics professor wins NSF grant in computational neuroscience](https://science.nd.edu/news/theoretical-physics-professor-wins-nsf-grant-in-computational-neuroscience/)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: ABD indeed means nothing in Europe, this is the first time I hear of the term. I would refrain from even having the word "PhD" in the description of that time period on your CV, because having the actual awarded title in there can come across as misleading, even when followed by "withdrew".
So I would either be more specific (PhD student in theoretical physics, not completed due to personal reasons) or more vague (xxx lab at yyy university).
In the first case you can expect questions about WHY you quit and in the second case about what you did there exactly. Either won't be a major issue after you have actually completed a PhD, it's just about making sure that time period on your CV is covered.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Just say what you did:
**2000-2004** **Graduate student, theoretical physics**:
>
> Completed qualifying exams and published two papers (referenced
> below). Employed by the University of the Universe's Dark Matter
> Antidiscrimination project during this time. Left this program when I
> decided to switch to, and complete, my PhD in Computational
> Neuroscience.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I teach courses in which, as homework, students implement data analysis algorithms from scratch, apply them to real and simulated data, and then reflect on the results.
As a student in such courses, I felt that implementing analyses from scratch and conducting in silico experiments provided me with deep insight. However, this year it has become quite easy to solve such tasks using large language models (LLMs). [GPT-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPT-4) codes quite well. Even its smaller sibling, [ChatGPT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT), can answer correctly if asked undergraduate-level statistics and computer science questions. [Copilot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub_Copilot) also solves many undergraduate-level programming tasks and can be integrated into several IDEs.
I'm wondering what the best way forward is to ensure learning happens. I cannot effectively stop the students from using this technology, and perhaps I shouldn't. This technology will be available to them in their future academic or industry workplaces. However, I'm concerned that if they just use LLMs to solve the homework, they will not gain any real understanding and will not be able to handle novel problems, for which the chatbots would fail.
I'm wondering what the best way forward should be. Currently, I'm deliberating between the following options:
* Forbid using LLMs, but do not enforce it. The students' learning is their responsibility.
* Modify the homework so that LLMs cannot solve it, moving away from textbook problems.
* Complement the homework with written and/or oral exams that should be straightforward to pass if the students understand the work they submitted, regardless of how it was generated.
Thoughts?<issue_comment>username_1: What about effectively haven’t in-class coding exams on university-controlled computers? You could even allow such computers to connect to a range of Internet resources, just not LLMs.
You could then tell students that they are free to do their homework however they wish, but if they use LLMs for all of it they are likely to be very poorly prepared for the exam.
I guess this is variation on your third option.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I taught undergrad and graduate classes on statistics and had my students learn R and Python (for many of them from scratch). I think learning to use tools like GPT-4/ChatGPT is a valuable skill.
It does not do well enough for them to just use it without debugging, at least beyond very simple things, so I guess it's a nice way of learning how to use a tool like this effectively. I teach Stats for Cognitive Scientists and Linguists, so it's not super high-level stuff. Simple data mining and data wrangling and regression in frequentist and Bayesian frameworks.
And I don't know about the data you use but when I was confronted with some of the linguists' data and questions, I've had to think a bit on how to address them. The way one would ask GPT to formulate a solution would fail to provide a good outcome in many cases given the underlying questions.
I'm sure there are many questions that can be asked where ChatGPT can be a start but cannot provide the ultimate solution.
Same goes for term papers and homework essays. I've yet to see a research overview produced by GPT that is good (or even one that provides actually existing references).
So yes, I guess it's most likely to be "moving away from textbook problems". In many disciplines the textbook examples are lacking anyway and often might not prepare the students for the "real world" enough. Finding trickier examples but allowing for increased use of these tools might be a service to them.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Coming back to LLM (or conversational AI generally), I believe they have a place, a role in learning and teaching.
What can't (or rather shouldn't) happen though is for them to replace the learning/teaching. Their role is learning scaffolding.
By **learning scaffolding**, whether *constructivism* or *connectivism*, I mean they should be engaged as part of the learning or teaching process. When calculators came along, they were *integrated*; we used to use those Four Figure Table. When computers (PC as they were) came, they facilitated educational technology. With internet, boom, technology enhanced learning.
*PS: when I was teaching subnetting in networking, I discouraged students from relying on calculators. They get to convert any class A or C address and large 'numbers' in short space of time, typical in less than a min (2min at most). And they did it. It was more of improving their thought process and reasoning capability.*
>
> Complement the homework with written and/or oral exams that should be straightforward to pass if the students understand the work they submitted, regardless of how it was generated.
>
>
>
LLM have their role if focus is on the cognitive reasoning.
Earlier in the year, I drafted a [policy thought on conversational AI (ChatGPT](https://lnkd.in/dZsxz6aH).
I refer to this, as in my view, your use of LLM/conversational AI should facilitate rather than a replacement tool.
*My view about conversation AI like ChatGPT is that it should not be banned outrightly. It should be encouraged as part of learning processes: as learning scaffolding.*
[Extract from my [policy thought on ChatGPT](https://lnkd.in/dZsxz6aH)]
1. Students must disclose their ChatGPT search terms (keywords)
2. Students must include their ChatGPT result verbatim as an appendix
3. Students must write their own assignment/assessment submission
4. Students must **show their creativity, their critical thinking and cognitive skills in their writing**
5. It is a crime or punishable offence to use tools to paraphrase ChatGPT results.
6. Students must show their **own originality**.
7. For computing-based assignments/assessments, students must fully comment on their work:
introduction/summary, each line of code, and each function/class
**Edit**: by the way, the ability to ask LLM/conversational AI, domain knowledge guided queries, might become sought after skills in coming years.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Homework, or work under non-controlled conditions in general, is okay for informal, formative assessment, but poor for *high stakes summative assessment*.
So you should start with "Why am I testing this person". If you are doing so to help your students identify their strengths and weakness and target areas for work, or to help you plan your teaching then this is formative assessment. If you are testing them to assign a "score", "grade" or similar that describes their success or failure in a course or section of a course then it is summative assessment. If the consequences of success or failure could have significant impact on the students' future career prospects and earnings, it is "high stakes".
With high stakes assessment, the temptation to cheat has always been high, whether this is copying a friend's work, or finding essays in an essay bank, or asking an LLM. The advances in AIs only increases the range of options; it doesn't fundamentally change the nature of high stakes assessment.
The solution is, and always has been to have controlled assessment. First: communicate to the students. "This task will help you think about loops and working efficiently. An AI can solve this task, but I'm interested in what you can do with it. I'll be feeding back, but this won't be part of your final grade."
Or "This task will for 20% of the grade for this course. You will have 3 hours of lab time, and the work must be completed individually. Use of AI is not permitted, to ensure that the assessment is fair."
Or even "this task is more complex than others you have met so far. You are expected to use the full range of resources, including internet Q&A sites and GPT-4 to achieve this task. You won't be graded on the details of the code, but on the professionalism with which the product is produced and presented."
Using homework as a means of giving a grade for a course has always been problematic. If the grade is worth anything then students will cheat. The art of assessment is creating a task in a controlled environment that correlates well to the actual skills that the course is teaching. That has never been easy, but AI doesn't make it any harder.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Why are you testing "hello world"?
----------------------------------
It is common to give assignments that boil down to a little more than "hello world". Consider why you give such assignments - the students ability to do "hello world" is usually not the goal.
If you treat it as a learning opportunity, where you offer to *fix* problems the student has with writing "hello world", instead of an assessment that determines if they get credit for the course, the GPT problem sort of goes away.
Your goal is to have the student honestly try the homework, then provide feedback on how to do it better, and repeat until they can actually do the homework type problem reliably. Handing a student a problem and saying "solve it" doesn't really do this; it will divide your students into "the ones who can solve the problem" and "the ones who cannot", but it won't substantially move students in the ones who cannot bucket into the ones who can bucket.
Homework as tutoring
--------------------
Require that they turn in the "hello world" problems. These will be corrected by your TAs, but the assignment is to attempt it, not to succeed at it.
Students whose assignment doesn't succeed can try again and get marked again.
Assignments build on each other. You are expected to have mastered assignment #1 before you try assignment #2.
Actually handing in an assignment, that honestly attempts to solve the problem, at the level of competence expected of someone *entering* the class, is worth "full marks"; if it fails abysmally, the student may be required to do some tutoring and try again.
This will require some prerequisites on students.
Assessment as Assessment
------------------------
Your assessments -- the exams will have problems -- similar to the assignments, and often simpler, but different. Simply memorizing will not work. ChatGPT will not be available during the exam.
The exam will have a choice of more than one problem to solve.
Students are encouraged to use GPT or whatever to help them learn
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If a student is having problems with a question, they are encouraged to try to use ChatGPT to prototype. They will, however, have to be able to solve the problem *without* ChatGPT.
You can even provide sample solutions.
Multiple assessments
--------------------
Don't have 1 or 2 high-stakes assessments of the student's progress. Students will falsely think they know something after they copy-paste it from somewhere else. An actual early assessment may wake them up.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: In the long run, presumably the object should be to teach students the skills they'll need in a world where GPT exists - which would include include the ability to use GPT for the things it's good at, while still maintaining enough skepticism about the technology and enough understanding of the code to avoid embracing its mistakes uncritically.
One interesting strategy I've seen, via Reddit: <https://old.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/117gtom/my_friend_is_in_university_and_taking_a_history/>
>
> My friend is in university and taking a history class. The professor
> is using ChatGPT to write essays on the history topics and as the
> assignments, the students have to mark up its essays and point out
> where ChatGPT is wrong and correct it.
>
>
>
As a programming-oriented example, I just asked ChatGPT the question that plagues me any time I order at a café:
>
> write a Perl regular expression that matches all common variations of spelling for "Geoffrey", e.g. "Jeffry", "Jeffery" etc.
>
>
>
Response:
>
> To match all common variations of the name "Geoffrey" using Perl
> regular expression, you can use the following pattern:
>
>
> /^(G[eoa]offr(e|ey|y)|J[eo]ffr(e|ey|y))$/i
>
>
> This pattern will match the following variations:
>
>
>
> ```
> Geoffrey
> Geoffry
> Geoffery
> Geofrey
> Geofry
> Jeffery
> Jeffry
> Jeffray
> Jeffraye
> Joffrey
> Joffry
> Joffery
>
> ```
>
>
It then provided a nice explanation of how this pattern is supposed to work. But just a few seconds' scrutiny will show that several of those variations (7/12 by my count) are actually *not* matched by its pattern. It doesn't even pick up "Jeffery", which was one of the cases in the prompt.
If you play around with GPT, you start to get a sense for the things that can trip it up. For instance, I find that it's often vulnerable to context reversals, where most of its training material deals with a question asked in one direction but the prompt runs in the opposite direction. Like so:
>
> Please convert the following old Python 3 code to run in Python 2:
>
>
> print("hello world")
>
>
>
GPT:
>
> In Python 2, the print statement requires parentheses around the
> arguments. Here is the Python 2 version of the code:
>
>
> print("hello world")
>
>
> This code will output "hello world" to the console when executed in
> Python 2.
>
>
>
This is of course incorrect - in Python 2 `print` was a statement not a function, so the correct change would have been to *remove* the parentheses. But GPT has seen thousands upon thousands of examples of updating Python 2 to Python 3, and very few in the other direction, so it patterns its answer accordingly. The "old code" is thrown in to mislead it further.
(Disclaimer: GPT has a random element and this trick doesn't always work. On a few trials with similar prompts, I found it got the conversion right about 60% of the time. But even if it's right 90% of the time, I'd still need to vet its output 100% of the time.)
(As suggested by wizzwizz4 in comments, something with `file=` or `end=` might be a better example in Python.)
A problem format similar to the history-essay approach might be:
* Part A: Write a program to do [thing]
* Part B: Prompt GPT to write a program to do [thing], then compare with your own code from Part A. Discuss the major differences between the two versions and comment on which version is better.
Once you have a feel for GPT's weaknesses, you'll be in a better position to set questions for which it will occasionally stumble, or to provide examples where it *has* stumbled and ask students to explain what it did wrong. Once they understand that it's fallible, and have developed the habit of assessing its output with due suspicion, you've done your job.
The meta-problem here is that recycling old assessment material with minor variations is much, much less effort than coming up with new question styles appropriate to the new world, and lecturers who are suddenly required to update vast swathes of assessment material should be appropriately compensated and supported in that. But that'd be a separate question, perhaps best directed towards one's union.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: As a teacher as well as a student, I think the abilities of large language models (LLM) such as GPT-4, should shift the focus of what we are teaching, and what we should be learning.
Yes, the invention of the pocket calculator diminished people's ability to find square roots, and logarithms in their head or by pencil and paper. And because of that, we could progress to more depth in other topics. But yes, there are pros and cons. Now there is a lot of time and effort to save for the students on the programming aspect when they use LLMs, which however also implies that they can spend it on other aspects of the course.
If programming is the goal and essence of the course, like in undergraduate programming courses, one could argue to forbid the use of LLMs. Which could be enforced by exams or homework in computer laboratories on site where there is supervision and technology to enforce this. Or smaller offline oral examinations about homework, or supervising peer reviewed student assignments. Having the perspective of exams/assessments without the possibility to use LLMs might stimulate the students to train and practice without them. On the other hand, if after trying exercises themselves, they are stuck, LLMs can be great tutors, available any time, which means that [TAs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_assistant) can maybe be used in other ways.
However, for many courses, such as data analysis, the essence could be more about understanding the algorithms, methods, and interpretation of the results. For this type of course I think the use of LLMs can be a blessing, because you can increase the complexity and depth of the contents of the course. If you target insight by programming, ask questions about the particular insights you expect to be gained by the implementation experience. Already assuming that the students use LLMs, you can ask questions about the computational complexity of their code, and alternative different implementations. You can focus more on in-depth experiences with different data sets. But the problem is that GPT-4 is also already getting quite good in the reasoning skills that can be expected from students even in advanced courses.
One way to deal with this is to give more realistic and open-ended questions and data sets where there are multiple possible correct answers. Such that the students have to choose and analyze themselves. The challenge could become to formulate and create questions that are educational and challenging even when the students will be using LLMs.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I used to teach mathematics about the time that computer algebra systems were being built for smartphones. I used to encourage students to use smartphones to do the mathematics because the department had a policy of using TI-Nspires with a built-in CAS anyway. So, the approach was two-fold and simple:
1. **Design a series of questions that show a problem done and instead of asking the student to solve the problem, ask the student to explain the rationale in the steps of the problem solving itself.** Why did we move from A to B? You can also structure your language to contain hypotheticals and counterfactuals. If X were Y in step A, would we still arrive at step B? If NOT X, why wouldn't we transform the equation in such and such a manner?
2. **Ask natural language questions about the concepts involved and make them linguistically challenging.** Programming language theory is replete with concepts about syntax and semantics and specific programming languages, given the complexity of the BNF and the idioms that are used, can be torturous to master. [Take JS equality rules for instance.](https://eqeq.js.org/) Go after questions that not only allow for the use of technology, but require it. Imagine assigning work that asks natural language questions about JS equality, not only by asking a student to fill out such a table, but then to either craft natural language or to answer questions that use [indexicals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indexicality) that refer to the table. In other words, create Captcha-like questions. Even if a student finds a way to translate a graph or picture into words to feed to an LLM, make them work for it.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I published my first author papers in 2021 and 2022.
My supervisor wants to write a commentary on my Ph.D. work and she will be the first author and corresponding author of that commentary inside which she stresses my already published hypothesis.
Could anyone please advise whether I should ask her for the first authorship? I am also contributing to the writing part. The results and hypothesis discussed in the commentary are based on my Ph.D. work.
It will be a big thing for our lab and country if that hypothesis is proven. Will I get due recognition if she doesn't give me first authorship? I can't request the first authorship because she may get angry and delay my thesis. She has already given me a lot of trouble in the past.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't understand your worries if indeed you have already published your proof in the two papers in 2021 and 2022 as you mention here:
>
> I published my first author papers in 2021 and 2022.
>
>
>
Also, if the paper that is going to be a commentary on your Ph.D. is going to stress the proof you provided as you mention here:
>
> My supervisor wants to write a commentary on my Ph.D. work and she will be the first author and corresponding author of that commentary inside which she stresses my already published hypothesis,
>
>
>
then that's good news. I'm assuming you'll be listed as a co-author of that commentary paper. Moreover, the commentary paper will draw results from your thesis, which I assume it's already been published.
It sounds to me that the extra commentary paper will advertise your results found in the two papers from 2021 and 2022, and your thesis. I think that if your advisor is going through the trouble of doing that for you, then she deserves to be the first author. Additionally, the paper is not going to take away anything from your authorship of the proof. If I was in your position, I wouldn't do anything and I'd be happy to get another paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The first authorship should be determined according to who made the main intellectual contribution **to the paper in question**. Prior publications do not really affect it; if your results are already published, then anyone, including but not limited to you advisor, is free to follow up, in particular, write a review or commentary (and it's good for you if they do!).
So, if the main **new content** of the commentary, as compared to your prior publications, is to offer your advisor's vision of the field and the place of your hypothesis/results in it, then it is they who have made the main contribution and should be the first author. If, on the other hand, you feel that there's more new content in it which is due to you than your advisor, then you have an argument for first authorship.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: **Background:** Consider a postdoc P in the field of natural sciences. P has completed her PhD rather recently and is lucky enough to be in a group where she has a lot of independence. P gets to decide what projects she can work on. P has also been told my the group leader that she can go ahead with single-author papers at some point. There is no strong expectation that the leader has to be on every single paper.
**Situation:**
1. P has never written a paper with less than 3-4 other authors, although she was always the lead author and did most of the work.
2. P is unsure if she is mature enough to write her own paper without making 'mistakes'.
3. P has learnt a lot from the past papers but has never written a paper where significant corrections were not required.
**Question:**
Should P wait to be more 'mature' or barge ahead with a single-author paper right away?<issue_comment>username_1: I think that a better question is to ask "When is the right time to *try* publishing as a single author"! The reason I say this is that if, for example, you were to try writing a paper on your own (and then succeeded), and tried to submit the paper on your own to a journal (and succeeded) ... up to the point of having your paper published, then you would know that ***right now*** is a very good time to start publishing on your own. And if you don't succeed at any step despite trying, then you can always enlist help. And the help doesn't have to be the whole cart-load of four co-authors; you might just invite one colleague to work with you on a paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: To me the "when is the right time" framing of the question doesn't make sense. I think of this from the angle of research and results rather than when is the right time. In some fields and cultures people publish on their own very early, in some others research is essentially always collaborative and many people do single author papers very rarely if at all.
For me it boils down to the question whether P has results on her own that deserve to be published. If there is good material for which she deserves to be sole author, I think she should go for it. (This doesn't rule out asking a colleague for an opinion about certain details or writing issues.)
On the other hand, if the project/results need substantial input of competence from somebody else, this person should be co-author.
In practice, the social system of P could play a role - it may be a little help is needed and people who help may or may not expect to be co-authors. For the sake of building experience, in case that there is no help available without demanding co-authorship, one option is to submit a first version alone, and if this doesn't work out to involve a co-author when resubmitting.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: If the work is yours, you should present it as yours and submit it for publication as yours. If it is group work, or others make substantial intellectual contributions to it, then it is joint work.
If your field highly values sole authorship, then the earlier you start on the process the better. If the field more highly values collaboration and joint authorship, then it is much less important.
And, in many fields in which tradition favored sole authorship, the modern world (electronic communication...) is pushing toward easier, hence more frequent, collaboration.
However, in any sole publication that you have in preparation, it is still useful, when possible, to get feedback from colleagues, and especially the PI.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: You publish solo when it is time. I'm not saying collaboration is bad, but at some point, you must flee the proverbial nest and be confident enough to publish by yourself in journals that you can get in. If you're a postdoc, then surely you're ready to publish by yourself. Whether you're confident enough is another matter, but any PhD program worth its salt should make you prepared enough to publish by yourself. It is part of the life of academia, so practice and experience with it is always helpful.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Asking a slightly unusual logistics question about changing academic jobs with future plans in place. I have organised a conference which is due to take place at my current institution next year, but I have just been offered a new job elsewhere (and therefore would no longer be employed where the conference is due to be held). Is this normal? What do people tend to do in this situation? The options I can think of are:
* Ask very nicely to still host the conference at my former institution, even if I no longer work there
* Try to move the conference to the new institution (problematic as the call for papers has already been released and I don't want to make life difficult for participants)
* Turn down or ask to postpone the new job (but that would be a 7-month delay, which is almost definitely pushing it!).
Does anyone have any advice?
Thank you :)<issue_comment>username_1: Moving the conference seems like the worst choice. You disrupt the plans of too many people since it has already been advertised.
Turning down the job seems also to be a bad choice if that job would enhance your career. And, it shouldn't really be necessary.
If your current department head knows of your plan to move (and they should, once you accept), then work with them to make the conference happen just as if you were still there. You don't actually need to be on the faculty of that institution to take a lead role in the conference.
But, I also suggest that you convince one of the current faculty to join you in leading the conference. This should allay any discomfort at this institution and also provide backup for things that occur along the way.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Hopefully the conference organization does not depend on your work only. It can of course also be an option to pass on all conference related duties to somebody else as soon as possible, just like most other tasks when transitioning from one place to another. Organizing a conference is a lot of work, but not incredibly difficult, so somebody else should be able to pick up where you leave. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with handing over tasks, and you are free when starting your new position.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In a perfect collegiate world, your new employer would be fine with you organising the conference, and your old employer would keep you on as an (unpaid) adjunct in order to give you staff-only access to the university to organise staff-only type things.
I would go for option 1. It is a win for your old institution to host the conference; they get all the glory for it, and someone else is paying your salary!
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have an article accepted in a journal. I have already submitted the final corrections to the publishing group, but the article is not yet published (We have not paid the publication fee yet).
I have just discovered a misplaced axis label in a figure. Basically, it is labeled incorrectly, and the text is describing another thing (my mistake in editing the figures). Although the figure caption is correct and this is arguably a minor issue, the error makes the figure more confusing.
Can I contact the publishing group at this stage because of this issue, or is this unprofessional and/or will hinder the publication of the article?
---
Just a quick update: I proceeded as suggested in the accepted answer. I contacted the publisher explaining the situation, and the article is now published with the corrected figure.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, though it might delay publication for a bit. But corrected errors won't generate email from readers pointing out something (the error) that is no longer there. Otherwise, some of them will.
Better English: Yes, correcting errors makes the paper more readable and useful. It is better for everyone if it is fixed.
Sadly, if it is in production, the editor might not want to interrupt the process, but you do what you can.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As they say at weddings, speak now or forever hold your peace. If you don't contact them now, it can easily be impossible to change in the future, especially if it's a print journal and they've printed the issue.
If you contact them, yes you will delay the publication process, by like, a few hours at most. That's probably not a long time for you, so yes, worth contacting them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: At production stage, you're at liberty to contact. In actual fact, you're duty bound to point out factual errors/incorrectness.
It doesn't stop there. Post production, you can contact to have factual errors/incorrectness rectified (by sending a *correction notice*). In this case, the republished is now '*corrected article*' / *corrigendum*.
If APC was applicable, in this instance, you might be asked to pay administrative fee. It might even be free/waived.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Master's student in the US. I am in a course and was discussing an idea with the professor and TA for the course. Both of them seemed pretty excited about the idea and said it can become a paper we submit rather than just a term paper for the course. I later fleshed out the ideas and asked for a meeting with the prof and the TA to talk it over in more detail.
A couple of days later, the TA pulled me aside and recommended I not tell the professor about the details, but rather submit the original idea as the term paper and go find some other professor and talk to them about the expanded idea. The TA claimed that the professor was struggling with his research and was likely to try something fishy if I talk to him.
Is this actually a concern or is the TA incorrect? Would you recommend against further discussion about this with the prof and/or the TA? Does me submitting the paper count as proof, if needed, for authorship? I'm not even sure if I can approach someone else in the department about this because it's pretty well known that this professor is the only expert in this subfield in the department. What would be the recommended course of action? I'm very confused - please advise.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, though it might delay publication for a bit. But corrected errors won't generate email from readers pointing out something (the error) that is no longer there. Otherwise, some of them will.
Better English: Yes, correcting errors makes the paper more readable and useful. It is better for everyone if it is fixed.
Sadly, if it is in production, the editor might not want to interrupt the process, but you do what you can.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As they say at weddings, speak now or forever hold your peace. If you don't contact them now, it can easily be impossible to change in the future, especially if it's a print journal and they've printed the issue.
If you contact them, yes you will delay the publication process, by like, a few hours at most. That's probably not a long time for you, so yes, worth contacting them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: At production stage, you're at liberty to contact. In actual fact, you're duty bound to point out factual errors/incorrectness.
It doesn't stop there. Post production, you can contact to have factual errors/incorrectness rectified (by sending a *correction notice*). In this case, the republished is now '*corrected article*' / *corrigendum*.
If APC was applicable, in this instance, you might be asked to pay administrative fee. It might even be free/waived.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a current 4th year Ph.D. student in social science. In my first year, my advisor asked me to focus on my courses so I did no research even though I wanted to. In my second year, I proposed my own project and I collected data for it, with feedback from my advisor. I have yet to publish the data…
I attribute this mostly to feeling lost without having the process modeled for me first - which I have been advocating for by being put on someone else’s project for the last several years. I would think it’s because my advisor is likely ready to retire but the student after me is now on a project with my advisor and two other faculty.
I feel like a crucial step in my development was not given to me. Am I right for feeling robbed? Isn’t it standard that your advisors use you as a research assistant? But at the same time, I feel like a complete failure for not publishing something yet, even though I don’t want to go into academia.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> In my second year, I proposed my own project and I collected data for it, with feedback from my advisor.
>
>
>
That's a great supervisory support from your advisor.
Beyond this, what have you done with the feedback on your collected data in terms of insightful analysis? This is what would lead to publication far more than the 'data'.
>
> I have yet to publish the data.
>
> Perhaps, this is where you should direct your energy.
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As a doctoral student, showing some level of independence, initiative, creativity, and writing for publication are essential aspects of your 'training' and evidence of your '*doctorateness*'.
It appears you're more on #assumptions mode. I'll recommend you teach out to your advisor. Engage with what you've done with the feedback on your collected data. Show draft of manuscript idea, even if it's one or two pages.
>
> Isn’t it standard that your advisors use you as a research assistant?
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>
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For completeness, RA isn't cast in stone. Ain't compulsory.
Regarding your including you on (other/additional) research, let's look at it this way. You've got a research that reached data collection. There're feedbacks. Should your advisor 'overload' you with more research?
I'll stop with a poser: Do you need additional research for your doctoral study writeup?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think the answer to your question requires self-reflection on your part.
* Why do you think your project hasn't yielded any publications yet and how would joining another project help?
* What do you expect to learn on someone else's project? You mention having the process modeled for you, but what exactly are you looking for.
* What exactly do you feel has been "robbed" from you?
* What is it that you're looking for from your advisor (other than being put on another project, which you seem to be a bit fixated on)?
I don't think you were "robbed" of anything. It sounds like your advisor is allowing you the space to develop your own ideas. I would argue that this is *exactly* what you want in an advisor, especially considering that you admit they continue to give feedback and support.
I think that it is natural to feel lost in the process of research. But as mentioned in another answer, developing independence is part of the journey. Your energy should be directed towards your current project.
All that being said, if you feel you need more specific guidance, you should ask. However, that support does not necessarily mean you should be added to other projects - you have your own.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: What is the best approach for resolving this issue with the help of the supervisory committee, when my main supervisor decided to be the first author on an accepted abstract without my consent?<issue_comment>username_1: From your comment
>
> When I shared the abstract with him I sent it myself being the first author
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In my view, ethically, your main supervisor should have at least discuss with you or feedback to you why he sent the abstract with him as first author.
NB: I use *the* and not *your* abstract.
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> he is the corresponding author again
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I see nothing wrong with him being the corresponding author. He might be best placed to handle the 'intricacies' of review process.
Nonetheless, he should have engaged or if it's the rule of the lab, made all aware
@first authorship
You'll need to have a non-confrontational session with him. I'll be able to comment further on this when I understand the dynamics further.
What you can do, is possibly initiate a *post abstract* session.
* with the abstract accepted and presented, how can we take this further
* how do we move to developing to a journal article
If he or they are receptive to the idea, the issue of authorship can *sneak* in as an important topic.
PS: I understand your question's tag is `ethics`
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: So a few things:
* The supervisor being the corresponding author is not as big of a problem. The corresponding author doesn't have to be the first author.
* Changing the order of authors before sending an abstract without talking it over with the other author(s) beforehand is very problematic. Generally, sending anything anywhere without checking with all authors is unethical.
* Did they actually mean that they would be first author or is it a shared first author type thing? This might be if the prof. feels that you might not have enough experience to do all the required work by yourself and they envision themselves being as involved as you in the process.
* The point above you absolutely must discuss with your supervisor. And do so in a factual, calm, matter-of-fact manner. It's sleazy if they sent it off without checking and changed the order, yes. But you still should come off as calm and like you're just discussing a normal matter of authorship. Authorship is something that must always be discussed and your supervisor should see it as completely normal and mature that you are doing so. If they say that they want to be the sole first author, you need to immediately establish what they will do and what your role will be. There are guidelines for that but the minutiae need to be debated in each individual case, since no paper or author constellation is exactly the same. As an example: I co-authored a paper with a student who intended to leave after getting her MA. She explicitly stated that she would not be first author because she just wants to hand me the experiment data she ran and then she's done, she will not embed it into a larger frame, nor will she write up anything. She's there to answer any clarification questions but that's it. So she did the majority of work for the actual experiment, while I just supervised the coding. Yet, she chose to step back from first authorship. That's a decision and that decision absolutely **must** be stated clearly.
Upvotes: 0
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2023/04/15
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a grad student in the final term of my 2nd year. In a weekly meeting with my supervisor yesterday, I brought up an upcoming conference in our discipline. This conference is twice-annual and very general, and it is far enough in the future that I don't know how many speakers from our speciality will be there.
It's a 6 hour drive, so not exactly an exotic location, but far enough away that I might not visit this city in my personal time.
I asked my supervisor if he thought I should attend. I first asked him if he had funding for such a trip, which he does, and then asked if there are any upcoming (in the next year) conferences that are more specific to our research speciality, of which he doesn't know any.
Basically the decision came down to me, so I listed some pros and cons with him. Some cons are that there is a relatively high chance of no researchers in our field going to the conference, and if a more relevant conference is announced soon, there may not be enough funding to go to both.
Some pros are, of course, the chance to network with students and faculty from the host university, and to see a new city.
On the second pro, I said "I would like to see [city]". My supervisor gave an odd chuckle, paused for a second, then said in a very solemn tone "of course, the reason to go to [city] is to engage with the [subject] and research there".
After that, we talked about the host university for the conference and what we both knew about it, but I felt that the energy of the meeting had become more tense.
My question is, was I impolite to say what I said about seeing this new place? I understand that, in this case, my supervisor would be paying for me to go since it's an academic opportunity, and networking and keeping up with current research is the main reason to attend. However, I don't think ignoring the conference as a travel opportunity makes sense either, especially when it's no secret that grad students don't have the time or money to travel for fun very often.
Would you feel offended in my supervisor's case? Is there a need for me to follow up via email about this interaction?<issue_comment>username_1: Don't overthink this.
>
> Would you feel offended in my supervisor's case?
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>
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No. Your supervisor is probably right to avoid formally taking such factors into account, especially when spending money that ultimately comes from the taxpayers. But commenting on the location is not a faux pas.
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> Is there a need for me to follow up via email about this interaction?
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Absolutely not.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It's kind of an open secret that people participate in business travel for reasons other than strictly business - certainly it isn't something specific to academia. For a conference organizer, choosing an interesting location is a good way to boost attendance. The big conference in my field alternates between a few different cities; the years in San Diego tend to have bigger turnout (by 10% or so) than years in other places like Chicago, even though it's probably the most expensive city the conference is ever held in.
Within academia or government positions, though, there's an impression that we're often spending "other peoples' money", such as grant money that comes from taxpayers. That comes with a bit of a responsibility to be frugal and spend wisely. A private company can tout frequent conferences in exotic locations as a perk of working there and there's no problem; when done on the taxpayer's dime there's risk that it's seen as wasteful spending. Attending a conference, though, especially overnight, almost always consists of more of a time commitment than your normal working hours: instead of spending your evenings on leisure of your choice, you're stuck in whatever place you're visiting, so it's certainly reasonable to prefer traveling to places where you're okay being stuck a little while.
While "I want to visit a city I haven't been in" is a perfectly reasonable motivation to go to a conference, as long as it's not the *only* motivation, maybe your advisor views this as something to be left unsaid. I don't think you need to see it as any grand violation, and no need to follow-up, but in the future I suppose a general guideline might be to keep those motivations to yourself when you're asking someone for funding to travel, and certainly keep focused on business justifications when formally applying for travel specific funding.
Without being there to hear your advisor's tone and not knowing their personality I can't say for sure, but the way you describe it with the chuckle and sudden change of tone, I think they were probably making a bit of a joke referencing everything I've included in this answer.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I don't think it has to do with politeness/offence. Neither do I think it's a big deal. However, many places have very strict rules about how research money can be used, and it is an issue to make sure for those who control the money that the money is not used for private pleasure. So saying implicitly that private pleasure motivates you to use your supervisor's funding is rather unwise. I don't know (and neither may you) whether he'd even need to justify his spending when funding you to go to a conference, and for sure then he couldn't get away with saying "my PhD student wants to see the city".
Another thing is that it is for sure not unheard of that participants cut conference sessions in order to explore the place, and chances are your supervisor wouldn't be happy about you doing that. (My impression is, the older people get, the more free they feel to do it. But don't forget that it's his money.)
That said, it was an informal conversation and you're (probably) young, so chances are your supervisor won't mind that you carelessly say such a thing at this stage. I don't see how following up could improve anything anyway. So better let it go but learn from it!
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Maybe it is just me, but conference visits to other places are not suited at all to really "see" the city. Basically, often the conference programme absorbs most of the time and energy, and on a "free" evening I either meet with people from the conference, maybe in some random pub, or if I am too tired I simply go to the hotel. The conference location is therefore almost irrelevant. If you told me that you would like to visit a conference to see the city, I would not consider it impolite, I might chuckle a bit, and take it as a sign of little conference experience.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It's normal to want to see a bit of the host city.
There's often a little dead time that can be spent seeing a few things in the city, perhaps in company of colleagues. This is particularly suitable if not all evening meals are catered - you can walk into/around the city centre to see it and find dinner. Or the conference ends at lunchtime to allow people to catch flights, but you don't have to travel until the evening - time for a short tour of the city (a few of us did that in Glasgow during my PhD).
You may, for example, take some time off while you're there anyway - perhaps stay for the weekend following the conference. This is very common and done well can save a PI's budget some money by allowing cheaper off-peak travel.
Some conferences even organise an excursion. At the international conference I attended in Glasgow there were options: a busload of us visited a whisky distillery, a lot of the Japanese visitors played a round of golf *as part of the conference schedule*; the conference dinner was at the national football stadium. At the short conference we host, the dinner is at the castle, though we don't get to see very much of it.
All of these examples demonstrate that it's normal to combine a bit of sightseeing.
On the other hand some supervisors, and their relationships with their students, are less inclined to discuss such things as their students having a life outside work. In the vast majority of cases it would be wise to mention it only as a bonus effect of attending a suitable conference.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: No, it was not impolite, but IMO it showed a certain lack of experience.
It is indeed an open secret that people add extra days to their conference visits to do a bit of sightseeing and it varies widely how much is covered by the institution. I once was able to add half a day of sightseeing and get a full refund because the return flight in the evening was cheaper than the one just after lunch, another time, I agreed to pay for the hotel myself for two nights while the flight was still covered by the university.
However, when discussing where we'd go on a conference, the location was never part of it, unless it was "don't go there, it's too expensive". Officially, you have to pick the conference based on the topic, and be happy if it turns out to be in a nice place that you want to see.
Of course, if submission is a prerequisite for being allowed to attend, and if conferences are announced well ahead of time, you might be able to "hold back" or "speed up" some of your results to just make or miss the deadline of one conference, allowing you to pick the more interesting one. But that really is the odd case where you have two similar conferences taking place within a short period of time such that there is no "scientific" argument for choosing one or the other.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: 1. Were you lying when you said you'd like to see a new city?
2. Would your desire to see a new city hurt someone in any way, or even make them feel bad or embarrassed?
If the answers are no, then it wasn't impolite. It may or may not have been a wise or naive thing to do.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: As I left "arrivals" at the Berlin airport, I could see copies of a thick set of medical conference papers in the bin. Attendees had waited until arrival to ditch the conference papers-- perhaps after checking for anything interesting during the inward flight.
Your supervisor is laughing at your naivety in not knowing that people go to conferences to visit cities. You lightened his day: you don't have to apologize for that.
He's also reminded you that you still have your career to consider: he did that because it would have been rude to just laugh at you.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a junior student at a competitive university in my home country and I major in a mathematical field. Last year, I went to the (tenured) professor who matched my interest and she said she normally doesn't give students problems, but we should find our own research problems and write a research proposal. We had some high-level talks about her work but she didn't give me any list of papers to read, etc. After several months I found a problem and wrote a proposal with a method to solve it. I submitted it and she said the problem was not very meaningful. She suggested I talk to some of her Ph.D. students, which I did.
The first semester I attended her group meeting but gradually chose not to attend the second semester. At that time I suffered from some mental health problems, like very low self-esteem and severe procrastination. But by reading papers, taking courses, and talking to my peers, I cultivated my own understanding of the field and gained a lot of technical skills.
I eventually submitted another proposal, which she also rejected (said it was common sense), but she suggested that I should work on one of her projects with her Ph.D. student (**~1-year** after I first contacted her). It is an ambitious, challenging big problem, but she said it's okay if we don't get the ideal result.
I did learn (in a rather painful way) a lot about the research process. My advisor will reply to my email and schedule a meeting with me whenever I want, and we can talk happily about technical detail and general questions. However most of the time I don't have something meaningful to say to her so I choose not to send an email. She never sends emails/messages to her students to ask how they're doing and said it is the student's duty to take care of their own research and plans etc.
She says what she is doing is cultivating our independence. I think perhaps I was not mature enough and there was some miscommunication between us at least in the beginning. I'm in general enjoying the research and considering applying for a decent Ph.D. program. But I am a little concerned about continuing in research after this experience. Is my experience normal?<issue_comment>username_1: What you describe is normal. Research is about the unknown. Fruitful questions to answer are hard to find, especially (perhaps) in math and math-adjacent fields. It took Einstein 10 years of thought to finally understand Special Relativity. If you can predict the outcome when you begin, then it isn't really research.
Your advisor may be doing you a favor, actually, by not disguising the difficulty. It is impossible to comment on her ability, however.
But you seem to me to have been doing just the right things. Finding and reading papers, looking for possible extensions or alternatives.
I hope that your system is flexible enough to count you a success even if you didn't wind up with results. That happens in research all the time. You follow a thread that leads nowhere. Or where it leads has no impact. Don't be discouraged. I'd guess you learned a lot and gained some insight. That alone is very valuable.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: What you describe is not normal. Research is about the unknown, but throwing students in the deep end with no training or guidance is not good practice.
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> I think perhaps...there was some miscommunication between us at least in the beginning.
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I agree. I think the professor was saying "If you have an idea for a project, I can advise it" and you heard "I am advising you and your first task is to come up with an idea for a project." Since you didn't actually have an idea for a project, nor much an plan for how to come up with an idea, it probably would have been better if you had continued looking for an advisor with a more hands-on style of advising.
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> gradually chose not to attend the second semester...a lack of sense of belonging..severe procrastination
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Assigning blame after-the-fact is rarely productive, but I think there is some on both sides here. On one hand, I don't blame you for the above miscommunication: undergrad students "don't know what they don't know," so the professor should have stepped in once it was clear that you had no ideas and were floundering. Letting you waste years coming up with bad ideas is not good practice. On the other hand, if you were an absentee researcher with a procrastination problem, she may not have realized you were floundering.
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> I am a little concerned about continuing in research after this experience. Is my experience normal?
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Bear in mind that you are no longer a second-year undergraduate, you have learned a lot. So while your first experience may have been a little bit painful, it is likely that starting a new position with a new advisor will be much less painful, since you now have more technical knowledge and also more knowledge about what good research looks like.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: There are very different approaches to student project supervision. I think your supervisor's approach is one that you will find fairly often, although maybe not among a majority of supervisors.
The problematic thing I see here is the expectation that you find your own project topic. It's for sure good to give students the possibility to come up with their own topics, but I don't think this can be *expected* at undergraduate (or even MSc) level. So in principle a supervisor should also be available who ultimately defines a topic if the student can't do that. Now this to some extent depends on how the workload coming from project supervision is organised. It may be that your supervisor has decided (rightly or wrongly) that she has overall so much work from project supervision that she wouldn't want another student who needs a large supervision effort and a topic designed. Depending on the departmental workload organisation, she may be well within her rights to act like this (and even "ethically justified" if her workload is high). For the students this should be OK as long as they have the option to find another supervisor who is willing to define a topic for the student (I'm not quite sure whether this would've been possible for you).
Personally I was pretty independent as UG student (maths) and my supervisor wasn't very present and had the reputation to leave lots of freedom to the student (and would steer only very lightly), but he'd provide me with a topic. Not a detailed plan but at least directions good enough that I had a fairly clear idea where to start and how to go on (as far as I couldn't then make that up myself).
>
> My advisor will reply to my email and schedule a meeting with me whenever I want, and we can talk happily about technical detail and general questions. However most of the time I don't have something meaningful to say to her so I choose not to send an email. She never sends emails/messages to her students to ask how they're doing and said it is the student's duty to take care of their own research and plans etc.
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This is consistent with my own attitude as a supervisor, and therefore seems normal to me. Yes I'm available for helping, but the students need to take responsibility for their own process, particularly deciding when they need help and what help they need. This can be rather fundamental (I'd be happy also to help with "I don't know what to do next"/"I'm stuck"), but still it's up to the student to bring it up.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: In open-source software development communities, if someone has already implemented a module well enough, we re-use it over and over again, in different projects. If there is any room for improvement, people update the original module and all the project that use the module, get the updates.
On the other hand, in research communities, we rarely quote the exact definition of a theory or method that was written by the original author. Instead, we paraphrase them over and over again, which sometime involves noise in the paraphrasing process. The worse issue happens when the authors decide to change the terminology to define the same theory or method, which makes it very confusing for the reader.
I understand paraphrasing is preferred over quoting in most cases because it shows that you understand the outside material you are using and it gives you more agency over your paper by allowing you to explain the expert opinions, research studies, or other evidence to your reader as it relates to your topic and thesis. Paraphrasing also helps you process the material and understand it on a deeper level. It signals to your reader that you have processed the information and understood the material. Paraphrasing also reads more smoothly and keeps your own voice front and center.
But why do these benefits justify the drawbacks of paraphrasing? For example, if we paraphrase to signal to our readers that we have processed the information and understood the material, why can't we just show this in the way we use the theories or methods in our analysis?
The main reason I'm asking this question is that I believe after the wide usage of large language models like ChatGPT, all of these benefits of paraphrasing do not make any more sense and I see greater value in quoting.<issue_comment>username_1: Writing style is a cultural thing. There are not reasons for it. In my experience, science and engineering fields do not use quotes, but I think some humanities fields do.
I am sure someone will think up some reason why some fields use quotes and others do not, but it's actually arbitrary.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: The OP is making an analogy between software reuse and direct quotations in a written work.
The thing is, the way software is reused (in modern development) is really more like paraphrasing than direct quoting. The actual code implementation should be encapsulated and hidden from the application programmer, with a clean interface that the application programmer *references* without duplicating the code wholesale. A function call in this sense is like a citation. It's not like you *copy* the reused code in its entirety.
Providing paraphrasing, citations, and references is efficient for a writer, reader, publisher, and programmer. There is less content bloat to deliver. If an interested party wants the exact expression/implementation from the original source, they can go look it up. If for some reason there's an edit, revision, or correction in the source, there's no promise or need to propagate it to all the places it was quoted.
For more reflection on this point, see <NAME> Thomas, *The Pragmatic Programmer*, Tip #15: **Don't Repeat Yourself**.
Secondarily, the OP's attempt to connect this issue to LLMs like ChatGPT is hard to interpret. The OP posits a rather strange reason for writers to paraphrase anything:
>
> ... if we paraphrase to signal to our readers that we have processed
> the information and understood the material...
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Perhaps in a school environment some instructor once said this as justification for an assignment? But it's not generally true (and it's also not true that the presence of ChatGPT means that no human has to understand anything anymore), so what follows after this conditional is inoperative.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I completed a First class Honours degree in 2000 and I am now considering doing a PhD. In Australia, degrees older than 10 years are no longer considered valid academically and I was wondering if it was the same for Honours? Thanks<issue_comment>username_1: I'll suggest that whether the answer is yes or no, your actions should be the same. If you want to join a program, apply for it and make your best case for acceptance.
If it has been a while since your previous degree then you may have some hurdles since your current state of knowledge may be harder to judge. That would be especially true in a fast changing field.
If your activities since graduate support your continuing knowledge in your chosen field, find a way to emphasize that in application materials, such as a Statement of Purpose.
But, degrees *per se* don't expire. Lots of people have gaps of various kinds prior to graduate study.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In Australia an Honours is a postgraduate degree (it is different elsewhere). An Honours does not expire.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> In Australia, degrees older than 10 years are no longer considered valid academically...
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This is not true --- unless they are revoked, awarded degrees remain "academically valid" and recognised forever. I think what you may be referring to here is the fact that universities in Australia (and presumably also elsewhere) typically have a time limit on how long completed courses can remain valid *for the purposes of gaining learning credit/exemptions in a current degree*. In order to ensure currency of knowledge in a current degree program, universities often impose a time limit for claiming credit/exemption for a course you have previously undertaken.
For example, in the [ANU Policy for recognition of prior learning](https://policies.anu.edu.au/ppl/document/ANUP_6278391), Clause 7 imposes a ten-year (undergraduate) or seven-year (postgraduate) time limit for recognition:
>
> 7. Time limits on the eligibility of prior learning for credit and exemptions:
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> >
> > (a) Unless the Associate Dean (Education) has approved different program-specific periods, prior learning must have occurred within ten years (for credit towards undergraduate degrees) or seven years (for credit towards postgraduate degrees) before the first day of the first session that follows acceptance of the offer to the program.
> >
> >
> > (b) All courses in a completed degree are eligible for consideration if the date of completion falls within the time period specified in (a).
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> > (c) Other formal or non-formal courses are eligible if the date of completion falls within the time period specified in (a).
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Policies of this kind do not mean that an awarded degree is not "academically valid" if it is too old. They merely mean that if you enrol in a new degree, you might not be able to claim credit/exemptions towards that new degree from courses you did in your old degree. If you enrol in a PhD program now, and that program requires coursework, you will probably find that you will not be exempted from the coursework based on courses in your (old) honours degree. Your previous honours degree remains perfectly valid; it just doesn't give you exemptions from courses in your new program.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a paper and found some straightforward additional things to do based on what I wrote in the Results and Discussion section.
I want to add a new experiment based on the findings and I am thinking about explaining the new experiment in the Results and Discussion section right away so that the narrative "flows" instead of rewriting the Proposed Method/Experimental Settings section (laziness is also a factor here). Is that appropriate or not?<issue_comment>username_1: I'll suggest that whether the answer is yes or no, your actions should be the same. If you want to join a program, apply for it and make your best case for acceptance.
If it has been a while since your previous degree then you may have some hurdles since your current state of knowledge may be harder to judge. That would be especially true in a fast changing field.
If your activities since graduate support your continuing knowledge in your chosen field, find a way to emphasize that in application materials, such as a Statement of Purpose.
But, degrees *per se* don't expire. Lots of people have gaps of various kinds prior to graduate study.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In Australia an Honours is a postgraduate degree (it is different elsewhere). An Honours does not expire.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> In Australia, degrees older than 10 years are no longer considered valid academically...
>
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This is not true --- unless they are revoked, awarded degrees remain "academically valid" and recognised forever. I think what you may be referring to here is the fact that universities in Australia (and presumably also elsewhere) typically have a time limit on how long completed courses can remain valid *for the purposes of gaining learning credit/exemptions in a current degree*. In order to ensure currency of knowledge in a current degree program, universities often impose a time limit for claiming credit/exemption for a course you have previously undertaken.
For example, in the [ANU Policy for recognition of prior learning](https://policies.anu.edu.au/ppl/document/ANUP_6278391), Clause 7 imposes a ten-year (undergraduate) or seven-year (postgraduate) time limit for recognition:
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> 7. Time limits on the eligibility of prior learning for credit and exemptions:
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> > (a) Unless the Associate Dean (Education) has approved different program-specific periods, prior learning must have occurred within ten years (for credit towards undergraduate degrees) or seven years (for credit towards postgraduate degrees) before the first day of the first session that follows acceptance of the offer to the program.
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> > (b) All courses in a completed degree are eligible for consideration if the date of completion falls within the time period specified in (a).
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> > (c) Other formal or non-formal courses are eligible if the date of completion falls within the time period specified in (a).
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Policies of this kind do not mean that an awarded degree is not "academically valid" if it is too old. They merely mean that if you enrol in a new degree, you might not be able to claim credit/exemptions towards that new degree from courses you did in your old degree. If you enrol in a PhD program now, and that program requires coursework, you will probably find that you will not be exempted from the coursework based on courses in your (old) honours degree. Your previous honours degree remains perfectly valid; it just doesn't give you exemptions from courses in your new program.
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2023/04/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I was invited to review a paper for a well-known SAGE Journal in my field. The editor of the journal invited me specifying that “I was highly recommended as a reviewer” by the authors.
The review is single-blinded; I can see the authors’ names. I do not know the authors and I have never worked with them. Their article is of average quality.
It quickly becomes apparent that they cite a high amount of my publications in the field (twelve publications), although other authors demonstrated comparable findings. The article has fifty references and nine come from the journal under discussion.
Can this be seen as an intrinsic conflict in a way that I should not review this piece?
I have the feeling that the authors want to charm the journal and me by adding many references from both of us – although many of them are just marginally related to the manuscript itself.<issue_comment>username_1: Every reviewer has some conflict of interest. For example, when the manuscript cites the reviewer, this biases them towards accepting it, as they benefit from being cited. If the reviewer is not cited, this biases them against it, as they like to be cited. There are no completely unbiased reviewers, but most reviewers are not relevantly influenced by such minor biases.
The more crucial question is whether there are any hidden biases, which should be declared (e.g., if the reviewer collaborated with the authors long ago), or even totally prevent the review (e.g., if the reviewer is currently collaborating with the authors).
Your case is only slightly above the baseline bias that almost every reviewer has. Furthermore it’s completely transparent to the editor that this extra bias exists and they have chosen you nonetheless. Therefore you do not need to declare a conflict of interest or decline to review.
On the contrary, if you are critical of some of the citations of your own publications (as you appear to be), you are probably better suited than many other reviewers and can demonstrate that you can act against your potential extra bias. The same applies to the citations to the same journal. (Also, it appears that if you are able to make these statements, you have already done half of the work for the review.)
Also see: [Is it OK to review a paper which builds on my work?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/111550/7734)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: There could be a less nefarious explanation for what's going on. Of course, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
When learning about or getting up to speed in some topic X, there are usually many "pathways" one can take. There may be hundreds of research papers and dozens of review papers about topic X, and one doesn't need to read all of them to get an understanding of X (indeed, one would not have time to read all the papers).
It's a normal course of action to read a particular paper, and then to continue to other papers cited by that paper, or search for other papers by the same authors, etc. So when an author (or group) embarks on a research project about X, during the background research phase, they may well unintentionally end up reading lots papers by a particular author or authors, papers from particular institutions, papers about a particular sub-field of X, etc. And then, when they write their paper, this bias will carry over to their citation choices.
It's entirely possible that this is what happened here. Maybe the authors of this paper you are reviewing read a paper of yours, and then through the natural course of conducting background research, ended up reading many papers of yours. And then they suggested you as a referee, because by now they were well aware of your name, from reading so many of your papers! It's entirely possible that all this happened subconsciously (at least to some degree).
The bias towards a particular journal is harder to explain, especially since nowadays literature searching is done via inter-journal means (e.g google, arxiv), but this may be field-dependent. (In my research area, nobody ever searches for articles on the website of a particular journal, but maybe that is the norm in some fields)
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