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<issue_start>username_0: This may be off-topic here; if so, I'd appreciate suggestions for where else to post it.
I recently got into a disagreement with someone regarding <NAME>, the neurosurgeon who has recently become a prominent figure in American politics, and is said to be considering a run for the Presidency. The other person in this disagreement referred to Carson as a "scientist". I thought that label seemed wrong. Without question he is an accomplished neurosurgeon, perhaps one of the greatest living, and he definitely has many, many publications. But somehow the "scientist" label felt off-key to me, and those publications don't seem to me to be "research" as much as they are clinical reports.
I know the words "scientist" and "research" don't have hard-and-fast definitions, and I certainly don't want to cast aspersions on the applied sciences. Nor do I want this thread to fixate solely on the individual that inspired it. I'm really interested in the more general issue that is in the title of the question: *Is it correct to refer to a neurosurgeon with many scholarly publications as a "scientist"?*<issue_comment>username_1: At the research company where I work, there are three parallel career tracks: scientist, engineer, and manager. Manager is obviously quite different than the other two, and eventually ends up with the person doing little or no technical work. The only distinction between the scientists and the engineers, however, is determined *post hoc* by observing what the person tends to do: scientists are the people who tend to publish a lot and lead research projects, and engineers are the people who don't do those things much.
Science is not a tribe, nor is it a credential, nor an award. Science is a behavior: performing investigations that contribute to human knowledge. Any person who does this in a consistent and sustained manner, I would call a scientist, in addition to whatever other labels may be appropriate.
In the case of your example, <NAME>, a quick [Google Scholar search](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=Benjamin%20Carson&hl=en&as_sdt=0,16) shows he's got a lot of publications, many well-cited (easily 2000+ citations, H-index of around 35). Even without reading any of it to see if his work is ultimately borne out or refuted, it is clear that this is a person who has made a significant intellectual mark on the scientific discussion of their field. This is not surprising: careful and well-presented clinical reports are an important contribution to knowledge! Complementarily, a non-scientifically inclined doctor might simply treat their patients and not write the cases up for publication, merely keeping their private records in accordance with normal medical practice.
In short: definitely a scientist, no matter what else he may or may not be as well.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I think there are two question at play in whether or not Mr. Carson can be considered a scientist.
1. Is the field in which Mr. Carson practiced a science?
2. Is the work that Mr. Carson performed in this field scientific?
The answer to the first question is not as definitive as some might believe. Even among physicians, some view medicine as more art than science (every patient is different, not all treatments can be universally applied, have to tailor care to the individual, etc, etc). It sounds to me like you believe it falls into the realm of applied science, and since it incorporates the application of several branches of biological science, "applied science" is a logical and fitting tag.
The answer to the second question in my opinion should be handled with care, and not treated as a blanket answer for all medical physicians. So let's just take Mr. Carson's body of work and see if it fits the mold for "scientific." To me, the high level basic test of whether or not a study is scientific is whether or not it uses the scientific method. To remind everyone:
* Ask a question
* Do research
* Form a hypothesis
* Test the hypothesis with an experiment
* Analyze the data and form a conclusion
* Share your results
Just reading his [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson), the following jumped out at me:
>
> I was talking to a friend of mine, who was a cardiothoracic surgeon, who was the chief of the division, and I said, "You guys operate on the heart in babies, how do you keep them from exsanguinating" and he says, "Well, we put them in hypothermic arrest." I said, "Is there any reason that -- if we were doing a set of Siamese twins that were joined at the head -- that we couldn't put them into hypothermic arrest, at the appropriate time, when we're likely to lose a lot of blood?" and he said, "No." I said, "Wow, this is great." Then I said, "Why am I putting my time into this? I'm not going to see any Siamese twins." So I kind of forgot about it, and lo and behold, two months later, along came these doctors from Germany, presenting this case of Siamese twins. And, I was asked for my opinion, and I then began to explain the techniques that should be used, and how we would incorporate hypothermic arrest, and everybody said "Wow! That sounds like it might work." And, my colleagues and I, a few of us went over to Germany. We looked at the twins. We actually put in scalp expanders, and five months later we brought them over and did the operation, and lo and behold, it worked.
>
>
>
Just from this blurb I can see that he formulates questions for a field of applied science, forms a hypothesis based on known science, and performs his experiments. Based on his published works, I think it's reasonably safe to assume that he analyzes results and shares the findings.
My opinion is that a doctor that does not simply read from a script of "How To Treat" is absolutely a scientist. The body is their Petri dish, so to speak. He shares his results, and I don't see anything about him being a kook, charlatan, or fraud, so I am assuming, given his prominence, that his results have been reproduced by others in the field. The human brain in particular is an area where medical science's understanding is pretty limited, so I think the tag is even more fitting for someone like Mr. Carson whose work didn't have a definitive How-To guide. However, your views may differ based on how you would answer the questions above.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: If a PhD student kills himself, how does that affect the advisor? Does it count against him for tenure purposes?<issue_comment>username_1: *To get the elephant out of the room first:*
If you are contemplating suicide and wondering whether you will hurt the tenure case of your advisor by this, **stop this thought right there and get counselling**. The tenure case **really** is of no concern in this question. I am sure your advisor would also agree to this.
*Now, assuming that this is a hypothetical question, or it concerns a suicide that already happened.*
A suicide of a student will very likely not hurt a tenure case directly. No educated person in her/his right mind would react like *"he killed this guy, he must be the worst teacher ever!"* I would rather expect a wave of sympathy and compassion about the loss. Of course, whenever a student leaves (for whatever reason), the tenure case is indirectly hurt a little, simply because the advisor needs to start from ground up with a new student, who is likely not going to be very productive for some time.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I'm quite sure that for most professors, their own tenure is about last in the things they care about in this situation. Professors are people too, they care about their students and how they do. In some sense, your students are your children too, as you see them grow up and spend a lot of time together. You're proud if they succeed, and you're sad if they struggle. If a student kills themselves, from the perspective of the adviser it's first and foremost a human tragedy. The impact on the tenure case is really something that's secondary (or tertiary, or even less important).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: There is no obvious link between a student suicide and the supervisor's tenure. As you may know, even a breaking up with his/her boy-/girl-friend can lead to a suicide.
If you are planning to punish/revenge your bad-ass supervisor, there are more than 100 ways, but none of them would be a suicide. If he/her has ever abused/hurt you, just report to the committee, and you may find that someone even help you punish him/her.
If the tragedy has happened to your student, please first make sure not to blame on yourself too much -- unless you really *helped* a lot on the tragedy -- a suicide is also a decision of him/herself.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: **Tl;dr:** Having taken lots of math classes, I've managed to forget a lot of information. Also, since I'm at a small university, most of my peers are not interested in pure mathematics graduate school, so I am not sure whether I am truly prepared for graduate school. I also feel that my GPA indicates my ability to work hard as opposed to any real ability. How do I know if I am actually ready for graduate school, as opposed to being a big hardworking fish in a small pond?
---
I am currently in my fourth year of undergraduate school at a small public liberal arts university (I transferred in during my sophomore year from community college). I plan on spending another year here in order to graduate with the degrees I want. I came in as a biology major, taking mathematics courses for fun. I ended up getting As in each math course and was hooked. I am now a math major, with minors in biology and chemistry.
I've taken several classes (including Proof/discrete math, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, ODE, Advanced ODE, Abstract Algebra, Number Theory, Math Methods Operation Research) and some independent learning studies (fractals, Cantor set, some real analysis, measure theory, etc). I'm currently in Complex Variables, Real Analysis - 2, and Mathematical Modeling. In the future I am planning to take Abstract Algebra - 2, partial DEs, and an independent learning study on primality. So far I have a 4.0 GPA in math (3.92 overall).
I am not required to take many of these courses to graduate, but I have taken them because I enjoy math and to broaden what I know. I have pass failed only 2 classes (mathematical modeling and operations research) because I did not have enough time to devote to get the grade I wanted, due to pledging into a fraternity and being ill. I attained a pass of course in these two classes. Plus, these are more applied courses which I did not care as much as the purer courses.
My ultimate goal is to go to graduate school in number theory, mainly focusing on pure mathematics and primality.
My main problem is that over the years, I have taken more math courses than the average undergraduate would at my university and plan to do more. Although I've maintained an A average in all my math courses, I have managed to forget a lot of information I have learned. This mainly has occurred due to the fact that I've focused so hard to maintain this GPA that I often work very hard to get that A and then the knowledge is never used again for the most part. I am very, very afraid that when I attend graduate school, I will not know as much as I should, that I will be subpar, much far behind other applicants who have more mathematics memorized. Granted I have decent grades, it almost feels as if I don't deserve it since I can not recall a lot of the information I knew so well at one point or the other. I want to pursue a career in mathematics as I love it. I am just worried.
Also, aside from one very gifted student, I do not know of any other students in the small math department with grades like mine. Many are pursuing teaching masters and not as interested in pure math. Many of my classmates believe I am intelligent or gifted of some sort, but I do not feel like it. I feel like I should know everything if I attained an A in every course. The problem this is late in the game and I'm not sure what to do. Having a course load so difficult and challenging for the past few years, with taking organic chemistry/biology lectures and labs, with 2-3 math courses each semester, I barely have time to sit there and recall information from earlier courses to jog my memory.
I also don't believe I have the mind like some select few who just know how to do things or apply things. Sure I can work on something for a few hours and eventually get it but it does not just spark into my head to do certain things.
Overall, I honestly do not believe that my GPA is a good representation of what I know, but more how hard I can work. I know the simple answer is to just take the time and review things, learn it again, and use it so it isn't forgotten; but surely I can not do this for all the courses I've taken.<issue_comment>username_1: It was a bit surreal reading your question, because my own thoughts back when I was an undergraduate were eerily similar. Are you me?
Anyway, first and foremost, as JeffE would say, **do not listen to the imposter syndrome!** Here's some [information](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) on that in case you are unfamiliar with the term; it's worth keeping in mind - imposter syndrome is far too prevalent in academia.
Secondly, I don't know which university you are in, but unless you have massive grade inflation where everyone gets an A all the time (which you have indicated later in your question is not the case), if you're consistently getting great grades, you're doing something right. The underlying thread in your question seems to be the notion that the ability to do math (research) well is some sort of innate spark that some people have and some people don't. **Nope, doesn't work that way.** Math, even advanced math research, much like research anywhere else, is mostly about hard work. Some people do math more quickly than others, which must be nice for them and is an advantage sure; but the rest of us can do math just as well.
The point I'm trying to make is that you shouldn't knock hard work, it's at least 95% of any PhD.
Your (sub)question about remembering every single thing you have learned in college reminded me of this [question on quora](http://www.quora.com/Do-grad-school-students-remember-everything-they-were-taught-in-college-all-the-time), which is about physics, but is pretty relevant to math as well. To summarize the many good answers there, no, you're not supposed to remember every single detail of everything you learned in college (ok, I guess there are people with eidetic memories, but not every person with an eidetic memory is in research, and not every successful person in research has an eidetic memory). If you learned something well, as in understood it and didn't just memorize it, it will come back to you when you need it (and it will take less time to understand it the next time).
A couple things about this: firstly, preparing for the math subject GRE, which you should take if you are planning on graduate school in mathematics in the US, was really helpful for me to recall a lot of the information I had managed to forget as an undergraduate. It also made a lot of connections between fields clear to me. (Of course I have now forgotten it all again!) Secondly, and very importantly, your statements about memorizing mathematics are odd. Maybe this was just an odd choice of phrasing, but you're not supposed to memorize mathematics, beyond say differentiation/integration formulas in calculus (although even those are better remembered by understanding where they come from). *Memorizing* proofs is different from *understanding* proofs; I hope this is clear to you.
I was also in a small department where not too many of us were interested in graduate school (we also had a large math education program, so again, are you me?). But, remember that you do have access to lots of people interested in mathematics, namely the faculty in your department! It sounds like you've taken several independent learning courses with some of them, why don't you ask them if they think you are prepared for graduate school? Back in the day, I got a lot of useful advice, ended up taking a reading course in graduate-level math which was lot of fun, which was a large part of how I decided that why yes, I am prepared for this.
Lastly, math is not just for a select cadre of geniuses. In order to succeed in graduate school (and probably beyond, but I am still working on that myself), you should have the ability to work really hard, feel really dumb most of the time, and yet still keep going. Being a genius is helpful, but neither necessary nor sufficient.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: My wife suffers from Imposter Syndrome. I will tell you what I tell her:
**Rationally:**
1. As @Aru-ray suggests, take the GRE. It will be a requirement for admission to graduate school anyway. Even if it isn't necessary, take the math subject matter portion of the test too. This will give you an idea of how you compare in knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge against all undergraduate students who intend to continue with graduate studies as well as undergraduates who intend to study Mathematics.
2. Your grades give you a comparison of your ability to complete the assigned work at your school. See if you can find the distribution curve of grades vs. number of students for your major. Also see how your school compares to other schools in Mathematics.
Doing just these two things, and applying a little of your mathematics skills, should give you a very good idea of how you compare to other students who intend to pursue graduate studies in Mathematics.
If you still feel uncomfortable, talk to guidance counselors at the school you wish to perform graduate studies for their opinion.
**Emotionally:**
My wife informs me that Imposter Syndrome often does not succumb to rational arguments. If this applies to you, use the following argument:
If post-graduate work in math is what you want to do, you are enjoying it, and you qualify to do it; why do you care how you rank among other students? Just do it!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Very good points from @username_1. I'll throw one more disclaimer out there, in reference to the last line of your summary:
>
> "How do I know if I am actually ready for graduate school, as opposed
> to being a big hardworking fish in a small pond?"
>
>
>
In truth, many mathematics graduate programs at well known and respected universities are pretty small ponds. I got my degrees from Vanderbilt, and their graduate mathematics class size averages no more than a dozen (there were 7 of us in my year). So if you were thinking you'll be adrift in a vast sea of geniuses, it's not really like that. Instead, if you choose well, you can become one of a very tight-knit group of people working together and supporting each other through the difficult, but very do-able task of getting your graduate degrees. There are small ponds everywhere, sometimes where you least expect them.
While I'm at it, I'll throw another tidbit out there. How and when you enter the PhD program, the requirements for the Master's and the PhD, and the choices you need/get to make along the way can vary wildly from program to program. Some schools reward you with a Master's after passing 2 years of their regular graduate level program. No Master's thesis required. Some don't even allow you to petition for the PhD program until after you've got your Master's, while others tend to weed out Master's candidates right from the start based on their likelihood to continue to their PhD.
I knew several folks in graduate school who were unsure, but applied, got accepted, worked until they got their Masters degrees, and then decided whether to continue. And even if you stop there, there are a lot of advantages to a Master's degree. For instance, you can teach at most community colleges across the US with just a Master's, and no education courses or certificates are required.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I think the only thing I would add is in your last year try to do some research with a faculty member(or REU). For any area of grad school actually doing research as an undergraduate can help give you a good idea if you will enjoy doing that for the next few years. I've been told that doing research can be quite different then course work. If you are able to present your work at a conference(poster board) or maybe even publish then I think that would be a big indicator that you would be ready.(not required at all).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: You are drawn to the tough stuff. You deal with it. You master it.
You are afraid you don't remember enough of it.
You sound like a sword master who had won a fight against one of the great after preparing for a year. Now he's afraid that he might not remember all the winning moves in case this great sword master met him in an underground station and ambushed him.
And since he cannot remember the moves in detail, he considers himself unfit for a fight.
That's not how it works. Of course, sitting back and sipping wine is also not how it works. But it does not sound like that's what you are doing.
You'll meet more great challenges. But you are not expected to walk into them unprepared.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: [It has been asked before](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/21742/7734) if it is ethical to withdraw from one journal, from which a paper has been accepted, and resubmit to another better journal. I believe that the situation here is a little bit different.
I submitted an article to a Computer Science conference in which the organizers stated that the proceedings were going to be published with publisher X, which is indexed by Scopus and Scimago. I personally checked up if that publisher was on those indexing sites, and it was true; so far so good. So I submit a research paper to that conference that got accepted and in the acceptance letter they put again that paper will be put on the proceedings published with publisher X.
A few days after my notification letter, I checked up again at the site and saw that "mysteriously" they have taken away the note saying that they will publish with publisher X, to put that they will be publishing with another publisher X. When I checked it up I saw that the publisher Y is not indexed on Scopus, or Scimago, but only by Google Scholar, DBLP, EBSCO, DOAJ, and ProQuest.
I have also seen in the webpage that publisher X has put the following message on their news site:
>
> Please be aware that there are conferences claiming to be associated with X, despite having no relationship with us whatsoever.
> X attaches the utmost importance to the standard and quality of publications.
> If you are aware of any such conferences, or suspect their authenticity, please contact us at xxxxxxx.
>
>
>
Personally, I feel like being cheated. I mean, I have spent time and financial resources trying to reach the deadline, and now this conference has just changed the rules without giving a notification to anybody.
Long story short, I have seen other conferences that are really sponsored by publisher X; and the question that I have is if I should resubmit my research paper to these other venues? I have still not paid for the registration part, I only got the acceptance letter. Also, one funny thing is that this conference put a document of copyright transfer, which was the format of publisher X, but since publisher X has informed that they do not have any relationship with this conference I did not sign any document.
On the conference site they have put the following (I put it here for clarification purposes):
>
> To be published in the XXXX Conference Proceedings and submitted to X,
> an author of an accepted paper is **required to register** for the
> conference at the full (member or non-member) rate and the paper must
> be presented by an author of that paper at the conference unless the
> Workshop Chair grants permission for a substitute presenter.
>
>
>
Actually, publisher X has put a list of conferences that are misusing their name (this was recently posted a few days ago), and that conference is pointed out in that list.<issue_comment>username_1: If your paper was submitted to a scam publication venue, because that scam venue had willfully misrepresented itself as a legitimate venue, then it is perfectly reasonable for you to withdraw your paper and resubmit it to a legitimate venue instead.
Actually doing so, however, may pose some challenges, so I would recommend the following procedure:
1. Get in touch with X and confirm that you really are being scammed, and that it's not just incompetent conference staff.
2. Assuming you are being scammed, contact the scammers and withdraw your publication, cc'ing the contact at X who has confirmed the scam.
3. The scammers will likely fail to respect your request for withdrawal, likely publishing without your consent. You can't do anything about this, because they are fundamentally dishonest, and you don't have the resources to fight them. X might choose to do so, however.
4. Submit your paper to a legitimate venue, and get it properly published.
Now, if the scammers publish your paper without your consent before your paper is reviewed, there is the possibility that somebody might notice it and think that you are self-plagiarizing. It's not clear to me whether it's better to address this head-on with a note in your cover letter, or whether to wait until it comes up (assuming that the reviewers will discount a fraudulent site). I suspect that it is unlikely to come up, but you should decide whether you would prefer to speak about it in advance or whether you want to wait and respond if necessary.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: At this point, I think you need to get in touch with publisher X directly and ask them what's going on with this conference.
You mention the note on their web page that conferences may be using their name without their consent, and it does seem likely that this conference may be one of those, but you need to be absolutely sure. Ask X explicitly if they are, or ever were, intending to publish the proceedings of this conference.
Then find out what the status of the copyright transfer is. Maybe X really does have it and, in light of the situation, would be willing to transfer it back to you. Maybe they already transferred it to someone else (eg the new publisher Y). Maybe this was another instance of the conference misusing X's name and they know nothing about it. In the latter case, you might be able to claim the transfer is void because it was fraudulent; but ideally, you would talk to a lawyer before doing anything further.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I just had an abstract accepted by a UK conference and will be submitting the final paper in a few months. We were notified by email of the acceptance and directed to register for the conference. The information we were sent currently does not mention a presentation and the schedule is not yet posted.
Does this mean that I will definitely be presenting at the conference? Or are abstracts/papers sometimes accepted but not presented?<issue_comment>username_1: The practices vary significantly by field, but unless it is a very unusual case, having your abstract accepted means that you will be presented in some form or another. It is not certain, however, whether you will be making an oral presentation.
In some meetings, having your abstract accepted means that you are definitely going to be getting up on stage and presenting. In others, it means that you will definitely not be presenting, but will be given a chance to stand next to a poster in a distant corner of a giant room where nobody will realize that you are even there. Most are somewhere in the middle, and you cannot know where it will fall on that spectrum without asking the organizers or looking at information from past conferences.
In all cases, however, it is reasonable to approach your advisor / department to ask about travel support. Whether you can get full support depends on their policies and finances. If you cannot, many conferences also have student travel grants or opportunities to work as a conference volunteer in return for having some of your costs compensated.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, "accepted" means that your talk is going to be included in the program (when it's published) and you are expected to present it at the conference. Congratulations! Don't get your hopes up though, your time slot could be as short as 15 minutes and in parallel with other talks, and the conference organizers will not contribute any money towards your accommodation or registration costs (unless explicitly stated).
If this is a joint work with your advisor and/or they suggested you to apply for the conference, probably they have already plans for the funding to be covered by your department (usually, under their research funds or under a common fund for phd students). If you applied for the conference without telling anybody, this is unusual and it will be a surprise for them. Ask your advisor, definitely, but the answer is not a certain "yes", especially if they are short on funding.
If I can add some more advice, **don't be afraid to talk to your advisor** for matters such as this one. It is a reasonable doubt and it's understandable that you have it, since you have zero experience with conferences.
It is crucial for the future of your doctorate that there is a direct and healthy line of communication between you two.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all don't worry about whether the question is silly or not. There are no silly questions, there are only silly questions ;) Moreover, it's pretty normal for early PhD students to be unacquainted with the 'politics' of academia (how publishing works, differences between venues, etc..). So it is pretty normal to ask your supervisor about these stuff, otherwise he/she might assume that you know that information already and, then, you will be in trouble.
In my field, some conferences base their acceptance on the abstract only, meaning that they accept or reject your abstract, and based on that you get an opportunity to write the full paper, submit it and present. I am sad to say that usually these conferences are not really strong ones.. but in any case going through the submission process and getting the opportunity to write a paper and present it has a lot of benefits that outbalance the strength of the conference.
You should examine the conference's website, you could also email the organizers. Usually they should clarify whether accepted contributions are to be presented in talks, or as posters (where you print a poster, stand next to it and answer questions of those who pass by).
I don't know any venue that accepts contributions without planning them to be presented. So I really doubt that.
As for the funding, yes it is always okay to ask, if they can't fund you they'll just say that they can't. They could also agree but set limits to the accommodation (e.g. it doesn't have to be a 5-stars hotel). If your supervisor recommended submitting a paper there then he probably knows that it is possible to fund you to attend.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I would suggest that, as the other answers say, you should talk to your advisor about this. First off, they will be happy to explain the process to you. In fact, I'd go so far as to take a guess that your advisor will have potentially published in this conference before (you could check their past publications to see if this is the case). Was your advisor aware that you had submitted to the conference? (I will presume so, as in my experience, UK PhD students typically show their papers to their advisors prior to submission). If not, it might be helpful to do so in future, as it allows them to anticipate the potential need for conference funding in advance.
I know that my first publication was at a conference which my advisor had previously presented at many times before (as well as having at one point been an organiser). As to if you will give an oral presentation or not, that is highly conference-specific. My first conference presentation was highly unusual, in that I ended up having around 1 hour to give a presentation and field an extended Q&A session (which was very helpful). Don't fret though - this was highly unusual, and I was aware of it in advance. You will more likely either be giving a poster presentation, or a standard-length presentation with a few minutes for questions. I simply give this example to highlight that you really should speak to your advisor, as every conference is different.
Don't feel silly about asking your supervisor, however. I am sure they will be supportive, and happy to explain how this works. They should also be happy to explain how the process of paying for conferences works (since it is hardly an elephant in the room - conference publications are relatively expensive). There might even be a designated fund to pay for student publications.
While certainly not always the case, I had my own budget for conference travel and registration fees, and was able to simply use this to pay for conferences and travel. For my first conference, I spent roughly the same as you are talking about spending, so that's not wholly unreasonable. Conferences can be expensive, but the opportunities to network, meet other researchers, and share your work are important, and your advisor should understand this and be able to help you understand what is going on.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: This may get lost among the other good answers, but it's worth looking at the conference website for last year's edition of the conference (or the last several) in order to find out about the format. If it's entirely organized around parallel sessions of paper presentations, then you're likely to be giving a talk. If it's an even mix of posters and talks, then it might be up in the air.
Also, you should look at the Call for Participation for this year again as well. If posters are mentioned as a separate submission item with a different date or other specification, then it's likely you submitted for a talk and should be presenting one. It might also say there whether accepted abstracts will be invited for talks, posters, or a mix.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on my undergraduate research project in an [HPCC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPCC). Whoever does programming knows this is a "teach-yourself" skill. Everytime a problem arises, you search the wealth of tutorials and guides on the Internet, you ask in an specialized forum and the last resource is to consult a colleague (everybody is very occupied with their own business).
A few weeks ago, a new MSc candidate entered our lab and was assigned a seat next to me. She seems unable to go beyond very basic commands like executing a `for` loop in a [Bash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_%28Unix_shell%29) script. We helped during the first weeks, but she is making no progress. I myself handed her down a couple of tutorials and scripts. What exasperates us is that the more frustrated she gets the more she starts mumbling expecting that someone will approach and solve the problem for her, not to mention that she interrupts every five minutes asking the same question we have answered several times. We spoke about it in the most kindly possible way, now she says we are bullying her!
She is completely unprepared and we are starting to think that she lied to get accepted by our supervisor. She is destroying the amicable relations in our lab and affecting performance of almost everybody. I decided to program the most I can in my laptop instead of using the HPCC, but a process that gets done in five minutes at home is solved in seconds in the lab.
We don't want to mess up her reputation with our supervisor, but we got to find solutions. Does anyone had a similar situation with a colleague? How would you solve it in the most diplomatic way?
**UPDATE:** Group meeting this morning. Our supervisor found out she has done nothing. She blame us. Our supervisor said it is not our business to solve her problems, she might have spoken them out a couple of weeks ago. She (our supervisor) asked her to separate an appointment to talk privately. Let's see what happens...<issue_comment>username_1: This is a obviously difficult situation, perhaps in part due to being an undergraduate researcher, with an MSc candidate the subject of your question. As you said that this is starting to affect the productivity of the lab though, this is obviously a matter which may affect the PI or supervisor.
I've been faced with a similar situation before, although the dynamic was somewhat different, in that while officially of the same level as the person in question, I effectively was their mentor or "secondary unofficial supervisor". In that case, I had a duty to raise the concern with their formal supervisor (in an informal manner), to alert them to the concern. They were grateful at being alerted early to the situation, rather than being left out of the loop, although this will vary in different cases, depending on their (desired) level of involvement in the goings-on of the lab.
If someone is struggling though, I do feel that you have an academic responsibility to a colleague to offer assistance if appropriate, but that has obviously been done here, to the point of detriment of others' work.
If you have a good working relationship with the supervisor (I am presuming it is also your supervisor), you could probably bring this to their attention casually/informally, although this obviously may not be the case - I had a completely colleague-like relationship with mine, and would act as the main contact supervisor to his project students), and any problems or concerns (including with other graduate students, as I was the most experienced) would be raised. In that case however, this information was always understood to be simply to help them as much as possible.
Perhaps you could discuss the concerns with a (no doubt already aware) experienced colleague in the lab. I am presuming that there's someone who is generally looked up to for advice by those working there. I'm sure they would be happy to discuss the matter in private and advise (or perhaps talk to the supervisor if they have a good relationship with them).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Let's say you have taken the final *"asked a colleague"* step, what's the next source of help if that still isn't useful? It sounds like that is the action she should take.
If you are not sure yourself, then that is probably the problem. There should be another source of information past just your colleagues.
If the answer by that final source of information is, "Look it up" then support that answer yourself. Ask `"Have you looked it up?"` She may say she didn't find it. Ask `"Have you asked on the [such and such] forum?` She may say she didn't get an answer. If she *has* done this, and you don't know the answer yourself without looking stuff up - you can choose to either show her **how** you do your process for looking something up - by having her looking it up but you just tell her verbally what you would do - or refer her back to the final source of information saying, `I tried looking it up but still can't figure it out`.
* Most people like to "take control of the keyboard" to teach, but that is probably a poor teaching method for her. Guide her if you choose too, but don't do it for her.
* Is she asking the same questions over a particular process? Have her write it down somewhere safe and then if she asks again, refer her to the notes. She may not realize everybody doesn't memorize *everything*.
---
I myself was a student who would be afraid to ask above the colleague level because after the first time of `"Look it up"` it felt like that means, `"I will not help you"`, which is not true - they are just trying to make the best use of their and everybody's time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I will try to present yet another approach than the ones in the answers above. I don't consider it a definite solution, rather a way to go that may work for someone and may not for someone else. (And also, **I would much more prefer to speak to someone higher-up, if you can; that's what the other answers discuss.**)
---
The thing is: **Be honest, but without judging the other person's qualities at all.** I had been in such a situation before: person coming to me with simple problems that fall in the "googlable" or "in every book" or "in every course" or "in every tutorial" category, again and again.
The honest answer was, for me at least: *Well, we have discussed a similar thing before. I'm sorry but I have got other things to do as well. I'm willing to help you with the burdens, but please, try to [point out some good resources here] before approaching me, and if you approach me, please make it specific enough so that we don't lose too much time solving the problems.*
It is true, honest but not rude. After all, it is your time, your studies and you yourself who'll go on the market to sell your results, and you need to be productive. If this is a serious annoyance that makes your productivity drop significantly, they need to know it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: You are a student, not a mentor, advisor, teacher, or [TA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_assistant). And therefore it is not your responsibility to teach other people to do their job (you can help, but only if you want so). When the time will come and your advisor will ask you to present your results, I highly doubt that `"I have not finished my task, but I helped A and B to do their task"` will help you.
It looks like you have done more than expected. Taking into consideration that some of your attempts were considered as bulling I would stop giving any help.
If you want to make it in a more diplomatic way and do not want to speak with your supervisor I think about two possible ways:
1. Start answering the questions with an increasing delay: answer the first question, for the second - tell that you need to finish some stuff and will be able to think about it in 15 minutes, the third in 1 hour and so on.
2. Tell that you will be able to do this tomorrow, so ask her to write her problem in an email so that you will be prepared on the next day. This way the third person (your supervisor) would be able to see whether the issues she is failing with are really trivial (who knows, maybe only you think that it is easy) and you would have a list of all problems she faced and asked your help.
If the person tells `"I want it now, stop all you things and go help me"`, you have to explain that the word does not work this way.
**P.S**: But please do not assume things like this: "she lied to get accepted by our supervisor". There are a lot of explanations apart of she lied, so this is a really strong accusation.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Be careful about the bullying part. Even if it's completely unfounded, if she complains about bullying to a supervisor or even the department, you will have to explain yourself. And if people believe her but not you, you are in trouble. There is no guarantee that people make sensible judgments.
If you raise the issue with a supervisor in a way that leaves a paper trail, you are not only doing something to address the immediate situation, you are also protecting yourself from a situation that is much worse than the current one.
Also keep in mind that communication is tricky. If you say "she starts mumbling expecting that someone will approach and solve the problem for her", then **that is almost certainly not the way she experiences this**. Involving a third party (the supervisor) can resolve communication issues, or mismatching expectations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I don't know much about the interpersonal climate in your lab, but if you feel confident to solve it with humor, I can help you.
Hand her 20 question vouchers. Sounds ridiculous but worked perfectly for my daughters some years ago. 20 vouchers per day are plenty, but it forces her to think about every question. It also gives her the possibility to proof, that she isn't asking to much questions, which is smoothing her way to improve her "teach-yourself" skill.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: Is she pretty? This may sound like the most sexist question possible, but in some STEM courses/disciplines particularly with a low female quota this can be a large contributing factor to not getting used early to organizing your workloads and learning yourself. Because those male coeds who get along well with their stuff have little better to do than fall over themselves providing help and support in study groups.
Been there, done that, got no T-shirt (800 coeds starting with me, about 16 female students among them). Now depending on the college and courses you are in, you still need the skills and brains to pass. There are hard limits to how far you'll get just by being someone to look at. Which is not restricted to females, actually: it is well-known that taller and/or more self-confident men convey much more competency than their less visually gifted counterparts. But they are less likely to be the victim of unabating "let me do as much for you as I can" attack waves.
Whatever the reasons, it is becoming apparent that she is not well-prepared for the kind of workflow she is supposed to be part of. That does not have to mean she is dead baggage: one thing that comes to mind to me is oboists: one of the most time-consuming and exasperating part of playing that instrument is making your reeds. As an amateur, you easily spend an hour on a reed, and then it will work any amont of time from 5 minutes to several months. Several professional oboists have a side business of making reeds for amateurs. You can perfectly well perform on your instrument while never making a reed yourself. But it makes you dependent on the skills and availability of someone else. Of course, you'd not expect another colleague in your orchestra to make your reeds without compensation.
So at any rate, it is clear that your colleague here is not able to do her work without the involvement of others. That's a department and managing problem. You need to get together, figure out what is missing here, figure out what is required for jump-starting her into become productive in the manner expected in your department, figure out who can help with that in what manner and what effort, and figure out how to free the resources necessary to do that.
Basically there are three possible outcomes:
a) she'll be more work than she gets done. This will not work out, separate.
b) she'll require work on a continuing basis, but deliver more than one puts in. This requires proper work arrangements and understandings. One needs to evaluate whether the net benefit justifies the pay and the work disruption.
c) she can develop into a productive member of your team once she gets over the culture shock and develops the necessary skills.
It is clear that this will not work without someone originally carrying some of the weight, and the self-organizing of that does not work well. Fingerpointing will not get this situation under control. Actively trying to fix this on a department level will keep the cost under control, will make it clear who needs to get credit and responsibility for carrying that initial cost, and will make it clear how to assess where one is getting.
This is an unproductive and aggravating situation for all of the involved. Conflicting plans, targets, and expectations are not going to help.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: I think this calls for some serious talking with all the parties involved, including your supervisor.
One possible approach to keep things civilised and without pointing fingers, is to set up a private chat for the lab, and everybody asks through that. This way, you don't interrupt anyone asking a question, and potentially anybody can answer you. This also gives some broad exposure to the questions (maybe you didn't know that one of the new people to join the group is an expert in the technology you have a question about, and you wouldn't have asked him).
Applied to your particular case, it creates a paper trail of her questions, spreads the load among more people, and forces her to think about the question (I managed to answer a couple of questions I had while writing them on Stack Overflow). When she asks in person, politely point her to the chat, where she will get the answers. It is important that you make this a firm rule, with no exceptions.
If she still refuses to use this chat, you change your subjective complaint (she asks too many too basic questions) to a very objective one (she is not asking through the chat).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: There are several good answers here already. For example, be honest with her. I really like this idea but it might not work for a simple reason:
No matter how hard you try, if there is no will to change on her side, you will not succeed. There is one person who *can* force her to change her attitude and that is of course your supervisor. I think safest solution here is to let the supervisor know about the situation and let him/her handle the situation.
The point is, you are in a tough situation and I encourage you to act very wisely. You need to consider few aspects carefully.
For instance, be mindful of sexist behavior/bullying/humiliating. I am *not* saying that you are being patronizing or any other accusations. However, experience is telling me these types of situations have good potentials for misinterpretations. For this reason, I believe it is wise to handle this situation through the senior staff sooner or later.
The rather difficult part here, is how bring this situation to your supervisor's attention. Perhaps you can directly tell them about the situation and ask them to handle it. This highly depend on the relationship you have with you supervisor and your position in the lab. Be sure that he/she knows that you have done more than enough to solve the situation in the lab.
Another solution would be involve the supervisors indirectly. For instance next time she comes with a new question, ask her to email it to you and CC the supervisor. If the answer to the question is very trivial your supervisor will automatically be alerted about the quality of new msc candidate. A better scenario would be that she will try to solve the problem herself, when she face the case of supervisor's involvement. You should carefully and delicately pass her to the supervisor.
Couple of notes:
1. She might be in a hard situation as well. New programming paradigm, new person in the town, just coming from bachelor, feeling a bit vulnerable, etc. Maybe, just *maybe*, she is actually trying.
2. Do **NOT** assume she is lying. You are not in a position to judge her and this is a very strong accusation and quite unprofessional.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: This person sounds like a real-world [help vampire](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19665/the-help-vampire-problem). The problem is, you don't have the buffer of an SE site to prevent her vampirism, and she seems to have learned very well how to leech help off of those around her - recognizing that her muttering will get people to pay attention to her, if for no other reason than to stop it, and knowing that repeatedly asking the same question will get people to eventually just do the work *for* her.
This is an entirely unhealthy habit on her part, and you should do everything you can to **not** feed into it. Don't help her unless it is absolutely necessary. Don't offer to write any script for her. Don't direct her to anything but the most basic of search engines. You may even want to consider playing dumb if she insists on you giving her help, and if that doesn't work, then consider asking for or sitting in a different seat (I can't imagine you have assigned seating at the Graduate level, but if you do you should be able to ask the professor for a change of seating).
Above all else though, do *not* feel guilty about cutting yourself off from this person. They may try, very effectively, to guilt trip you into offering help, but do not feed into it. As you said, this is a class where it is expected that the student will do a lot of self-teaching (and I hope that's true, or else she should be asking the *professor*, not you, for help) and she's going to have to learn, the hard way, that self-teaching means exactly that - finding a way to teach yourself.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: Suppose she asks you how to open a file in Python. Rather than telling her about the "open" command, go to her computer and google "how to open a file in Python." She'll quickly learn that she should be asking Google instead of you.
If her question requires more than 30 seconds of thought for you to answer, you can also say "I don't know, why don't you check the Internet? Someone there will probably know the answer."
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_12: You have a legitimate complaint (you are not there to teach that stuff). However, that's surrounded by misconceptions that I'd like to correct. [<NAME>'s](http://www.pgbovine.net/command-line-bullshittery.htm) has written excellently on the topic and I recommend his post; I'll apply his idea to what you describe (which is a part of your actual case).
There are two explanations for the situation you described:
* she's indeed incompetent on stuff she should know (as you're assuming);
* she just happens to not know *bash* and run into some obstacle learning it, but appropriate training would make her able to contribute. In which case, the (wrong) assumption "how could one possibly not get that by oneself" acts as a form of bullying. In fact, since women and minorities are less likely to know Unix culture, this attitude can easily be a source of discrimination (see [<NAME>'s post](http://www.pgbovine.net/command-line-bullshittery.htm)).
And my HPCC experience was *full* of `bash`-like tools with similar problems. (You only mention `bash` once, and `bash` is a bad offender, but lots of this answer is more generally valid).
>
> Whoever does programming knows this is a "teach-yourself" skill. Everytime a problem arises, you search the wealth of tutorials and guides in Internet, you ask in an specialized forum and the last resource is to consult a colleague (everybody is very occupied with its own business).
>
>
>
I've learned programming that way (up to Linux-kernel-hacking level, in case you're tempted to dismiss me), but that's not the only one. For all skills, teachers exist to help overcome "teach yourself" obstacle.
>
> [...] She seems unable to go beyond very basic commands like executing a for loop in a BASH script.
>
>
>
Does she ignore languages she was taught in her courses, or does she have trouble getting bash? In the second case, I have news for you: it's extremely easy to be a genius and not get bash. I'm a PhD student who does get bash, surrounded by many smart students who get it less, in a programming languages lab.
One key problem is that bash violates so many unconscious assumptions that are valid in "sensible" programming languages—for instance, by lacking a parser. So that forgetting any space in `if [ -f "$i" ]; then` will result in unhelpful errors — and trying to get them will result in more frustration.
[As <NAME> explains](http://www.pgbovine.net/command-line-bullshittery.htm):
>
> There is a huge disconnect between the elegant high-level ideas discussed on the whiteboard (while presumably sipping cappuccinos) and the grimy, grungy, terrible command-line bullshittery required to set up a computing environment suitable for implementing those ideas in code. This gulf of execution is tremendously frustrating for highly-capable and motivated students who just didn't happen to spend 10,000 hours of their youth wrestling with nasty command-line interfaces.
>
>
>
Now, you're not supposed to teach her this stuff — the professor should check one has the skills on entry or setup training. However, I don't see how one can *avoid* unconsciously bullying somebody else with those misconceptions.
Now, how could it be that she has an issue with the whole lab? Guo answers again:
>
> OK here's what gets me super pissed. Many commenters presumed that “real programmers” should be command-line experts... POSIX-flavored command-line experts, to be precise.
>
>
> [...]
>
>
> More generally, this notion that the only “real programmers” are those who have already mastered POSIX command-line-fu before they leave the university is a dangerous one, and contributes to the continued monoculture in software-based industries.
>
>
>
I've had the same idea—then being a PhD student gave overwhelming contrary evidence.
EDIT: Another insightful analysis of what's hard in learning POSIX (specifically, of the "long tail" problem) appears in an analysis of a completely different problem—learning to cook for geeks. [Here it is](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/the-psychology-of-soylent-and-the-prison-of-first-world-food-choices/2/). Enjoy.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: With almost every question from people having dealing with predatory publishers, the question comes up whether they have already signed a copyright agreement. This always makes me ask myself this question:
**When it comes to that point, how could a publisher actually prove, that you “signed” a specific copyright transfer agreement?** Any copyright transfer agreement I have encountered so far (only reputable publishers) I agreed to by clicking on a button in some submission system. Now there are two cases to distinguish:
* The submission system is hosted by a third party. In this case, the publisher has a source other than itself that could confirm that you¹ clicked on *agree* and what exactly you agreed to. I do not deny that there may be some evidence here.
* The system is hosted by the publisher itself. Some reputable publishers do this (at least so it seems to me) and I also would guess that this is what most disreputable publishers do. How can the publisher produce any evidence that you¹ clicked the button and what copyright agreement was shown to you? They can show that the `accepted_copyright_agreement`-flag in their database is set to `true` for your submission, but given that it’s their database, they can manipulate it at will and this does not constitute any proof.
I have not come across any other case where such kind of unilateral agreements are made online. For example, if I buy something online, the actual contract of sale is established by me transferring money (or similar) and the other party transferring a product (and I have full return rights for some weeks, at least in my country, legal disputes on whether the *buy* button was actually clicked are unlikely).
Note that I am not so much asking about whether some evidence would actually convince a court but rather about anything that could be even considered as evidence by any reasonable person or court.
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¹ or more precisely: the person who submitted the manuscript<issue_comment>username_1: First, I would like to clear up a little misconception. A signature is never proof of anything. There is very little difference among a hand written signature, pressing the I agree button, and writing an 'X' on the signature line. They all carry the exact same legal weight provided they were done in a proper fashion. The only time a signature is ever really sufficient proof is when it has been notarized (which is much more than just the notary's signature). So, signing a paper and faxing it over, for instance, doesn't have much more value then pressing your "I agree" button. Without being notarized, signatures in any form are simply evidence.
Third parties, in this case, can effectively act as notaries to a certain extent. There tend to be very strict guidelines when dealing with electronic signatures. Depending on the field and the government involved, how the signatures are stored is often very important. Other than the legal requirements, the person or court would need to ask the question "Why would the third party forge the signature" and "Was the signer who they say they were". Usually these are emailed and involve a unique token, so identity is based on the security of email and the token is stored and hopefully not accessed. Periodic backups (using non-re-writable media) that are stored securely can often be used to ensure data hadn't been added or modified.
It is nearly impossible for a party of the deal to serve as the sole witness to the authenticity of any signature as they generally have reason to lie. Instead, they need to show that you agreed to transfer copyright as evidence that the signature is authentic. If they don't have you agreeing to the publication somewhere, then they are just waving around a piece of paper with an 'X' on it.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The standard in US civil courts is that one side needs to show by a [preponderance of the evidence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_burden_of_proof#Preponderance_of_the_evidence) that their side is true. This is actually a pretty low bar, i.e. that there's a greater than 50% chance that their version is true. It's a lot easier to come up with evidence to this level than it is to the "reasonable doubt" standard that US criminal prosecutions need in order to convict some one of a crime.
As such, a copy of the email from your email address, attested to by sworn testimony from the recipient and containing the proper text to be a copyright transfer would probably be sufficient. Similar evidence could be used if you submitted the form through a website. In order to rebut this evidence you'd need convincing evidence that you didn't do it or that it was done fraudulently.
I know that you say that you don't care about what a court would say, but the only time it would come up is in that context. Nothing else matters. If you need to try to stop someone from publishing an article or to retract an already published one, in the end, you're going to be in court. If you're going to try to convince a judge or jury that you didn't really execute the copyright transfer, you're going to have a high hurdle. If the journal presents some evidence of a transfer document, you're going to have to try to convince a judge/jury that it's somehow fraudulent.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently in a financial accounting class with a professor that has used offensive (in my opinion) commentary in her lectures since my first exposure.
Examples of comments she makes:
* Financial accounting is a class everyone *should* take, because it's actually useful, not like forced electives such as sociology. (Whether or not you believe income statements and balance sheets are more important than understanding how and why the society around you functions, the tone of this comment was what bothered me at the time.)
* Boys are bad at wearing work clothes for work instead of nice clothes.
* Girls treat their clothes better because they find them more precious.
* Woman have a shopping gene.
* It's implied that women (or moms) do all the shopping and cooking.
I admit that I don't attend class often enough to know whether this is a pervasive or sporadic issue. I just know I've been put off enough to not attend classes more often and find out. I make up not going to her lectures by putting in extra effort other ways.
I can tell that she's not *trying* to be offensive. Her comments are meant to come off as motherly and humorous. I'm also not *trying* to be offended, as I gain nothing from that.
**What is the most diplomatic way of addressing issues with a professor when you're in a large lecture hall setting?** (As opposed to small classroom settings, which lend themselves to more personal connections with the instructors)
Or
**How would a professor prefer I address them if I were dissatisfied with the nature of their off topic commentary?** (As opposed to opinionated comments that relate to the course or field, such as economic policy preferences in a economics course)
* Should I send a polite email to the professor explaining that I wasn't comfortable? It's quick and semi-anonymous. She won't be able to associate the name with my face. Presenting myself in an impersonal matter may result in an impersonal response.
* Should I wait until the end-of-semester course evaluations and express my concerns? These are completely anonymous, but seems passive aggressive and rather too far after the fact.
* Should I approach her directly *if* it happens again? It's more personal, but that can also seem to be more confrontational (especially if I go out of my way to meet her during office hours). I don't feel it's confrontational, or that I would present myself that way, but people receiving critique can feel that way.
* Is there a better solution?
Switching sections isn't any more preferable than skipping the current lectures. The other available times didn't work well for me or my family on a regular basis. I'm also not sold that it's the best option for most students in a similar situation. I would see changing sections as a recourse only if other methods failed, or the lecturer was wildly offensive.
While the first class bothered me, I didn't drop attendance immediately. This was done after getting a feel for the course, when I knew I could balance not being in the lectures. It wasn't a knee-jerk "How dare she!" reaction.
Spotty attendance is admittedly doing nothing to address the issue. Thus, my inquiry.<issue_comment>username_1: You're a postgraduate student. You and the professor are both academics. And you're both grown-ups.
So have a grown-up, informed, intelligent conversation with her about this. Pick her up on it during a seminar or lecture, when it happens. Do it intelligently. Use your academic skills. Build a point up *concisely* from literature and reason. You should be able to do that in three sentences with some thought; have other literature to hand to back up your discussion, after the lecture.
The lecturer started the disruption: If a lecturer is perpetuating nonsense such as "shopping genes" and women's role being cooking and shopping, that needs challenging. Do it at the moment it occurs: it really is the best time to catch it. When people use stereotypes that reinforce existing hegemonies, they often don't even realise they're doing it. Catching it in the moment gives them an opportunity to reflect. Postgraduate education can be much more versatile, more flexible than undergraduate - it can be open to broadening out and extending discussions.
If we were talking about undergraduates in large groups then the disruption to the lecture might be inappropriate, just as the lecturer's sexism is: but we don't deal with that sort of undergraduate question here, so the only way to make this question useful is to deal with it as a question about a postgraduate degree. And in such cases, there is a much more level playing field between lecturer and students: learning is a collaboration.
A large part of a postgraduate degree is independent study and thought. So show some.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm afraid you lose a lot of my sympathy by complaining about a lecture that you rarely attend. I don't really understand what you mean by "the luxury of other options". If you can take the class from a different instructor and would prefer to do that, do it. If the attendance in the lecture is not required and you feel that you can get what you want out of the course without attending the lectures: that's your choice too, but is it a good choice?
You seem to be prioritizing sociopolitical beliefs over the material of the course. It's very easy to be offended if you want to be. I won't comment on the gender stuff, but I will say that the bit about accounting over sociology really doesn't rate as an "offensive" comment. I think it's true that accounting is a more practical field than sociology and that most American adults need to do some accounting in their daily lives in a way that they do not *need* to do sociology. Not knowing how interest and loans work will have a more direct negative effect on most people than not understanding the difference between mechanical and organic solidarity. Of course "practical" is not necessarily better: it is a matter of taste and goals. I am a mathematician, I have taken courses in sociology but not accounting, and I am fully content with that decision: in fact, I would be hard-pressed to imagine a university course that sounds less interesting to me than accounting. But that's just my own personal taste: the idea that the accounting instructor prefers accounting over sociology is neither offensive nor even surprising. We have a right to like what we do better and tell that to students.
Not everyone has the same views that we do. But an accounting instructor's views on gender, shopping and clothing seem incidental rather than professional: it is very unlikely that she is *pushing* these views on the students or that she is holding herself up as an authority figure on them; they're just part of the way that she likes to present her lectures. Ask yourself this: what are the negative effects of her expression of these views? Is it likely that the men and women in the class will adjust their own behavior or views in accordance with hers? Will men feel worried about their own cooking and shopping agency? It just doesn't sound that insidious to me.
In my opinion, if you disagree with the views and feel strongly that the lectures would be improved by not sharing them, then have the courage of your convictions and convey this to the instructor, either in person or by email during the class, or after the class is over. But not attending the lecture because you don't like the incidental views that the instructor expresses? I'm sorry to say that I don't find that to be a very mature reaction. In so doing you are compromising your own educational experience in exchange for...what, exactly? What is anyone gaining by your failure to attend the lectures?
**Added**: If from the first day of class you have a problem with the instructor which is severe enough that you can only bring yourself to attend the class sporadically because of it, you have an excellent reason to drop the course or change sections *right away*. Staying in a course with an instructor that you find personally offensive doesn't seem like a very good plan. In fact, if you tell your advisor that you want to change sections for this reason, you can probably get additional help with the particulars of that: it is in everyone's best interest for you to take a different course.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: If the language is sexist (and your examples are) file an official complaint or grow a pair. Don't whine, no-one wants to hear it and it just makes you sound foolish.
Many women don't understand how sexist and rude their language and behaviour is, and you don't have to put up with the abuse anymore than they have to put up with flirt/pickup orientated abuse in class.
Upvotes: -1
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2015/03/05
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<issue_start>username_0: I have accepted a PhD offer from a very good university to do a project very close to my interests. I have told the project supervisor I accept it. In the meanwhile I have managed to secure a PhD offer from another 2 universities much better in world rankings and with better research groups and better faculty. Additionally these 2 universities do research exactly on what I want to devote my PhD research.
My only commitment to the first university is a mail confirming I accept. Nothing else. I understand declining the offer after already having accepted it is quite dishonest but it is a huge decision that will affect my future in a very significant level.
I would like your opinion and I would also like to ask for possible consequences of such an action. As far a postdocs concerned, in the first university there is no chance I ever get a postdoc since they do not actually do research on my area (except for the prospective supervisor and even he not as much).
**UPDATE**
I have decided to do as I was afraid to. I have decided to choose a different university than the first one that I have already accepted the offer. My offer acceptance included:
* An online "I accept" statement.
* An e-mail I sent stating "I accept the scholarship and this University is my first option"
I do not have any legal commitments since I have not signed anything. The supervisor of the first university though is really nice to me and continuously was sending me mails. **How do I very nicely tell her I will not be joining in the end?** Additionally the place I will go in the end will be for research in Mathematics and not Physics. Can I use this as a part of a sensical excuse?
**WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN AND WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WERE**
I think that I should let people, especially other beginning grad students know what happened with my case. I have chosen to nicely tell the first university I got accepted that I will not be attending and will not be pursuing a PhD there since I decided I have different research interests (which is true). I had applied there in the first place since I was not sure what I wanted to do and because it was a nice program. Despite that, I got an offer from a World top university to work on 100% my research interests. I explained this to them, the first uni, and they happily let me go and wished me good luck, especially the supervisor who faught a lot secure me funding. I was lucky.<issue_comment>username_1: I am assuming you are going to go to the better place, so asking our opinion is rhetorical.
The consequences depend on the people at the university: if they are reasonable folks, they should understand. But you never know.
You should do your best to make it as painless as possible FOR THEM. My suggestion is that you should decide where you want to go, and accept there. And AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, send a **very very** nice and **very very** apologetic letter to the person you had said yes to, explaining that you have decided to go elsewhere. The key here is "**as soon as possible**" so they have the opportunity to offer acceptance to someone else — that will lessen any annoyance they have.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Of course this a tremendous decision, and one that will likely stay with you for the rest of your life. Trust me, while the folks at this institution are likely of a particular kind of 'good' sort, I would bet a boatload of money that each of the committee members that accepted you would likely do what was best for them should they have ever found themselves in your shoes. The worst possible scenario is that if you've paid some sort of deposit, you will likely not see this returned. Also, in the future, should you seek employment at this institution, you might find yourself in a precarious situation should one of these committee members find themselves on a search committee for a position you're interested in (unlikely). Perhaps the most disheartening impact will be felt by way of having to explain to those you might have already told that you'd be attending this particular institution about your change of mind. Rest assured, they will not judge you, and if they are in fact true friends, family, or kin, they'll unconditionally support your decision. Hope this helps..
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Most US universities with serious graduate programs are signatories to the [Council of Graduate Schools Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants](http://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGSResolution_Rev2015.pdf), which pertains to situtations in which graduate acceptance comes with an offer of TA and/or RA support. This resolution explicitly allows students to retract acceptances made prior to April 15th, but not after April 15th:
>
> In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently
> desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time
> through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer
> without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made.
>
>
>
This is not to say that programs will be *happy* to hear that you have retracted your acceptance, only that you have every right to do so as long as you do this before April 15th.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/03/05
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm starting a unit (undergraduate class) at my university which deals very much with topics researched by my grandfather - He has written a number of books and papers on the issue.
I don't yet know if I'll need to cite them but I thought it would be wise to ask now, rather than with a looming deadline. Is there anything I should take into consideration if I end up citing his works?
Additionally, would it be considered unethical (and/or an 'unfair advantage') to clarify anything on the subject matter with him, or does that just constitute "good research"? If I did get clarification from him, would I have to add my communications with him in an appendix?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not aware of any reason you couldn't cite work of a family member. Indeed, a tenet of academic work is to cite your sources and give references appropriately, so due credit is given to previous works.
Were you not to cite your grandfather (or indeed anyone else's work you reference), that in itself would be the improper behaviour.
It is normal (and often necessary) to cite your own work as well - in order to avoid self-plagiarism, you need to reference any previous works by yourself if you use them in a future work, so as not to be re-presenting the same work repeatedly and claiming it as new every time.
Regarding clarifying points, that wouldn't be a problem - it is actively encouraged to discuss and collaborate with others in research. Authors place their email addresses and affiliations on publications to facilitate private conversation and discussion with other researchers, and often this is how collaborations and future advances happen. Conferences are also organised with the principle aim of facilitating dialogue and further discussion between researchers.
You would be able to cite information from clarifications with him as personal correspondence type references, and I don't see a reason you would need an appendix to quote the actual correspondence.
In the event that there were to be any kind of potential for conflict of interest, you obviously should disclose it as such. Also, if you are significantly referencing personal correspondence with your grandfather, he may be making sufficient intellectual contribution to be considered an author of the paper. Simple clarification of points in already-published works wouldn't be an issue (otherwise I'd be an author on any paper as a result of an email I replied to!), but significant intellectual contribution or addition of new material would probably require you to regard him as an author. For assistance and clarifications which don't constitute author him, you could add an acknowledgement to the paper to express recognition of the assistance and advice given.
Disclaimer - there may be discipline specific nuances here I am not aware of, most probably around how to cite personal correspondence, since it's not something I've had to do before. The requirements to declare authorship may also vary between disciplines and publications based on their regulations.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I would say it's definitely permitted. Citing is a part of preventing bias...the point here is "this comes from a published work, so it's trusted." This is a major reason why you are required to self-cite, too. Citing shows that someone already approved the results that you are referencing in your paper, so people it's not just a quote pulled out of thin air from your crazy uncle.
If you contact him personally and use the information he gives you in your paper, that requires a separate citation. Most reference styles have a format for a "personal interview" or "personal communication."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: By all means, do not treat your grandfather (or his works) any different from any other publications you come across when it comes to citing. If the citation is appropriate, do cite them, and if it is not, do not cite them.
There is nothing unfair or unethical about using the opportunity to clarify anything on the subject matter with him. Indeed, I would argue it constitutes "good research" to use such a source of knowledge; there is no point in cutting yourself off of possibly significant information and restricting yourself to what is literally written in a paper just because other people may not have the option to casually call your grandfather to inquire in the case of inclarities. The only thing you may want to make sure is that if a paper you want to cite says X, and your grandfather insists he actually meant Y, be aware that your readers will not be able to find the additional information, so the paper in question may not be the best source to cite Y from.
Lastly, there is no need to add any such communications to the appendix. During your research career, you will come in touch with plenty of people who work in the same field as you do, and you will cite numerous of them. You need to make sure you provide all information you get, and you properly reference where you got it and where other people can check it. However, that is for informative purposes towards your readers, there is no ethical obligation to publicize the specifics of when you talked to whom while conducting your research. Thus, *you* may have received a particular bit of information in the conversation with your grandfather, but (if you ask him!) he might point you to a work that contains the same bit of information that you can actually verifiably cite.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I've had several professors who discussed their *own* work in class. Sometimes they explicitly say it's their work, but sometimes they present the work without saying who did it, probably to minimize awkwardness. Or they'll cite the work, but only in a footnote, and without drawing much attention to the author.
Especially at the graduate level, you'll often see professors who made substantial contributions to the material they are teaching, and the class would have been incomplete without a discussion of their work.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Given that this is for a class assignment, some of the other answers may not apply. For instance, you can't offer co-authorship to your grandfather. The goal here is not only to produce a worthwhile paper on your topic, but to demonstrate that you can do it yourself.
So I think the best course of action would be to approach your professor and ask how she would like you to proceed.
If I were the professor, I'd probably say it's fine to read and cite his papers, but I'd discourage you from involving him personally. There can be a fine line between "he's clarifying his work" and "you're using his ideas instead of synthesizing them for yourself". The line can be hard to judge even for experienced academics, and more so for students. If you do discuss the paper with him, I'd want careful documentation of his contributions, so that I could judge what you had done yourself.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/06
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<issue_start>username_0: Can someone provide advise as to what a student should do immediately after being accepted into a graduate program and has identified with a professor?
Usually students are accepted in the middle of their final year of undergrad. A window of time opens between now and when the first semester begins.
I wonder what should a student optimally do during this time to smoothly transit into the designated graduate program.
Some thoughts:
1. Build up relationships with other graduate students, professors
2. Start reading papers on the topic of focus
3. Start preparing course work for first year of graduate school
4. Start identifying specific research area and pin point thesis topic and open questions
5. Get to know the locale
But ultimately this question is directed at people who have went through this process. What can a student do now in the little time that he or she has to smoothly enter the graduate program?<issue_comment>username_1: I have three utterly contradictory pieces of advice:
1. The first year of graduate school will be a much more intense version of the coursework that you took as an undergraduate. In particular, the basic core courses often sink many first year students. For example, in some disciplines you may be asked to read over 1000 pages a week during that first semester, while in others you might be asked to do significantly more complex problem sets or labs than you've ever encountered previously. If you can, I'd obtain copies of the syllabi for the required first year classes and start reading as much of the material as you can. The more breathing space you can give yourself that first semester the better. Build up your scholarly reserve.
2. Graduate school is a very long haul. Burnout is a very real possibility. Because you don't have a gap year, you should use your summer to expand your mind a bit. Go for a month or so of walkabout in Europe or Australia. Take what will be your last extended vacation for a little while. Build up your emotional/psychological reserves.
3. Unless you're in a well-funded program, you may well be destitute -- especially before you pick up a TA/RA position. Even with funding, you may only make $15-25,000 a year, which can be very hard to live on. You might want to build up your savings heading into grad school so that you don't have to take out too many loans or spend too many cold nights eating ramen noodles. Build up your financial reserves.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Talk to a lot of graduate students, especially in the lab(s) you are interested in. If necessary, cold-email them and ask about their experiences in the PhD program. There will be time to talk to graduate students during visit weekend, but you won't get enough time to have a lot of in-depth conversations, and in general the department will put on its best face for you. (It will mostly be the happy students who bother to show up at visit weekend.)
You don't want to accept an offer only to realize it was not quite what you'd expected. There are usually things that seem like no big deal during visit weekend, but are actually a huge pain in the ass, and you want to be warned of that early.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: As a PhD student in engineering, I can say that the most important initial task is to build relationships with your peers and especially your supervisor. The stronger your academic relationships, the better your foundation of support will be. This will especially come in handy when you need help, either academically or personally.
Also.... read.... a lot.... My trick is to setup a Google Scholar alerts system that forwards relevant articles to a special Gmail tag, for me to read at my own convenience.
Upvotes: 1
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2015/03/06
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<issue_start>username_0: **Summary (TL;DR):** The following's biased; so are there any counterarguments? Please beware that this question concerns only authors who are professors and who also write textbooks.
Are authors truly helping students as much as possible? For example, are textbooks edited and revised every two years out of greed? Certain subjects tied to real-life reforms (like law) may require such turnover, but what of Economics (as below) or [*Calculus*](http://www.amazon.ca/Calculus-James-Stewart/dp/1285740629/ref=dp_ob_title_bk)?
>
> **[Supplementary Context]** [[Source:]](http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/12/modern-principles-3rd-ed.html) <NAME> December 16, 2014 at 12:22 pm
>
>
> LOL from the comments section of the npr post:
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> >
> > Mankiw is the worst sort of economist. He’s a blatant liar. Why does [his book cost $320](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/128516587X)? Because that’s how much the publisher, Cengage, has determined the market will bear. Why does he not advocate reducing the price of the book to make it affordable to more students around the world? Because he wants to make as much money for himself as possible. (This is also why pharmaceutical companies often price their newest drugs at outrageously high prices; to maximise profits in the short term, rather than to deliver the greatest public health good.) Mankiw does not care about the impact of his ridiculously priced book on the purchasers of his product, and he papers over any twinge of guilt he might otherwise experience by convincing himself that his personal brilliance is worth the extra money. Congratulations, professor, for playing your little part in the grand national pastime of burying America’s college students in debt.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> (no sympathy from me as he dissed outrageously priced on-patent drugs, but it’s telling how people think education is a public good. Nothing can be further from the truth. If you can’t afford an Ivy League education you have no business applying to Harvard…)
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: Academic authors typically receive very very little, if any, of the cover price. And an author has very little leverage over their publisher. Many publishers would be either bemused or amused by an author telling them how to do their job. I expect to receive zero financial compensation from books, as that seems to be the going rate here. If the author receives 4-6% of a book's cover price, that gives the author scope to reduce the price by 4-6% by foregoing their royalties. But a one-off cost reduction of 4-6% is not really worth having the discussion about, is it?
Well-produced books take the time of many skilled professionals to do the work of co-ordination, editing, layout and printing; then there's the material costs, distribution and marketing, and overheads. Only a few dozen copies may get sold. So there are a lot of fixed costs to be distributed over a few sales.
It's rather different to an amateur publisher knocking out a pdf. (Not *you*, dear reader, if you publish your own books, do all your own editing and layout: I'm sure that's of the same quality as something from the OUP; here I'm talking about the *other* amateur publishers - the one's who think they're professional-grade editors and graphic designers, but, well, aren't.)
And it's a market. Supply and demand. If the book's worth $320 buy it; and if it's not, don't. Students still have a choice. They can choose the course with a $320 book, or a different course. If you're getting taught by Mankiw himself, I'd expect the $320 to be (1) a tiny part of your total costs; (2) tiny compared to your expected future earnings increment resulting from your education; (3) tiny compared to the value you get out of it.
The discussion about education as a public good, and the economic & social impacts of student debt, are a distraction, a red herring, *for this particular question on this site*. Those are important discussions; but we don't do discussion here, and book costs are tiny compared to tuition fees.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Short answer: both yes and no.
Partially, no they are not responsible, because some of it is a matter of costs and markets. You're never going to see textbooks offered for the same price-per-page as romance novels, because the cost of creating and curating the textbook is so different. So the base price of textbooks is expected to be significantly higher.
At the same time, however, authors have a lot of choice which publisher to work with, and some publishers are much more predatory in their pricing than others. Most significantly, there are a number of university and society presses that can give a book quite good promotion and also a reasonable price. Consider, for example, the MIT Press, and these widely used books: [the CLR(S) Algorithms textbook ($70)](http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-algorithms) and [the SICP programming textbook ($49)](http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/structure-and-interpretation-computer-programs) and also [free](http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/). Moreover, academic publishing is a seller's market, unlike fiction publishing: in my experience, big academic publishers are always soliciting for authors to create books for them, and so there is space for an author to select (if not necessarily negotiate).
I would say, than, that any author who has courage of their convictions with regards to education can make a publishing choice that keeps their textbook well under $100 US. Doing otherwise demonstrates either that the person is not caring about student costs or else [that they think like an economist](http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3507#comic).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2015/03/06
| 3,215
| 13,900
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<issue_start>username_0: One of the most common replies I have gotten as a student in engineering is the phrase "what you are asking is beyond the scope of this course". But I always found it a bit funny coming from the prof since he or she most reasonable have a thing or two to say about the subject. Furthermore, whether something is considered "beyond" sometimes depends on a prof's temperament, on a good day a topic that is beyond will be addressed, or a busy day that topic is hold off indefinitely.
Now I am a TA for an introductory calculus class. Often there would be a handful of students come into the class with years worth of experience in calculus. Sometimes they will ask a question that is addressed in an upper year course, sometimes the question would have to resort to complex variables, sometimes it relates to physics.
How should I handle students who are interested but asks question beyond the course in the sense it requires an additional course or two to truly appreciate its importance or at least to see how the actual calculations are performed.
I could tell them the answer but sometimes it can lead a student down a rabbit hole which can be devastating given how busy first year students are.
Further, I don't want to disrupt their "natural course" by saying something that may prevent independent self discovery.
Lastly, I don't want to say something which could be misconstrued as a test topic.
At the end of the day, how should I address the questions that are deemed beyond the scope while not withhold information.<issue_comment>username_1: "This is beyond the scope of the course" is not a great answer without further clarification or commentary. As you say, the ethos of the university is that your instructor is someone whose qualifications and expertise lie *far beyond* the scope of any undergraduate course. The answer is justified for a student who asks a certain kind of question *in class*, because class time is limited and one must exercise judgment about what to say and cover in that limited time. Going off on a lengthy digression that is likely to be of interest to only one student and perhaps not even well understood by her is not a good use of class time. So I would expect an instructor to say "Come talk to me after class if you are interested in that."
If a student comes to talk to you in your office hours or your spare time, I think that she deserves some kind of answer. The answer may in fact be that the question lies beyond *your* expertise (and there is nothing inherently wrong with that; there is a lot of stuff out there...), but in that case you should still spend at least a little while trying to direct the student elsewhere, either to the appropriate reading materials or to some other faculty member who can better help them out.
If you do feel that you know the answer to the question -- or at least, enough of the answer to the question -- then, sure, take a crack at answering it. It takes a lot of expertise -- subject expertise, pedagogical expertise, and practice -- to be able to give answers to such questions which occupy a reasonable amount of time and are at least somewhat meaningful to the student. This may involve for instance asking some quick questions of your own, trying to understand the student's background and the true direction and depth of their interest. One mistake that even seasoned pros make is to open up the gates and flood the student with information of a quantity, density and sophistication that is beyond what they can be expected to process in the moment. If someone asks you about the example of a conservative vector field on the punctured plane which is not a gradient field that you discussed in class, you should probably not respond by giving them a half hour lecture on DeRham cohomology. (At least not at first. One of the amazing things about teaching is that the chance that a multivariable calculus student really is looking for a lecture on DeRham cohomology in answer to their question is very, very small...but it is positive!)
>
> How should I handle students who are interested but asks question beyond the course in the sense it requires an additional course or two to truly appreciate its importance or at least to see how the actual calculations are performed.
>
>
>
You take a shot at it. Make your first shot very brief: just drop some terminology and try to give a sentence or two expressing one of the main ideas in broadest terms. In the above case, you might say "Whether every conservative field is a gradient field depends on the domain. We saw that this is the case when the vector field is defined on the entire plane [or all of three-dimensional space...]. It is also true if the domain is something like an open disk or ball. It turns out though that 'holes in the domain' lead to conservative vector fields which are not gradient fields." (By the way, I first wrote more and then deleted some of it! Restraint is truly hard.)
>
> I could tell them the answer but sometimes it can lead a student down a rabbit hole which can be devastating given how busy first year students are.
>
>
>
I'm not really sure what you mean by this. The type of personality that is going to be "devastated" by learning that things go deeper than they currently know does not seem well suited to higher education. If anything I feel exactly the opposite way: as an educator at any level, *showing students the rabbit hole* is one of the most important things that you can do. Especially, getting an undergraduate degree is all about learning just enough to get an awareness of the true depth of knowledge and acquiring a sound foundation upon which more knowledge can be built.
>
> Further, I don't want to disrupt their "natural course" by saying something that may prevent independent self discovery.
>
>
>
Again, I don't really buy into this. Students who want to be sufficiently well insulated from being taught things by other people do not belong in a university. Self discovery is a wonderful and important thing, but it is enriched and reinforced by prior knowledge and coursework, not ruined by it. There are plenty of things to discover for oneself, and anyway you are only telling them a little. It seems very likely that such a conversation would if anything trigger the student's independent learning and self discovery, not inhibit it.
>
> Lastly, I don't want to say something which could be misconstrued as a test topic.
>
>
>
This is why it's best to address such questions outside of the classroom, or at least outside of the class session, and ideally with only the students who are explicitly interested. It should then be much clearer that what you are telling them is not a test topic. If there is any ambiguity about that then you should resolve it. For instance, maybe the question actually is closely related to a test topic but comes from a direction in which the student does not see that. In that case you should point out the connection to them.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: From a student perspective, a short answer that just mention the concepts I need to know to solve a certain problem I am interested in is pure gold. If it comes with a reference or two, it's even better.
I think most students (especially those who ask that kind of questions) are able to manage their time efficiently and decide what is more important for them. Also, some of them actually enjoy what they are doing (some ask just of curiosity) and want to study that topic more deeply, in their own spare time. From my experience, knowing what to look for or where to look for it saves a lot of time. Considering the fact that if I ask such a question, I'm usually really interested in that topic, I'll waste that time to find the concepts/references that I need.
So, for questions that are way beyond the scope of the course, I think the following answer is ideal:
>
> This question is well beyond the scope of this course. In order to solve your problem, you require concepts A, B, C, which are studied in more detail in courses X, Y, Z. But, if you're really interested, you can find some information in the following textbooks ...
>
>
>
I don't believe that this is too much time wasted on your side, given the fact that you are aware of the required concepts. Also, it is not harmful to the student, as you make him aware that if he chooses to study this in more detail, he should do it on his spare time at this moment. Also, you inform him about a possible academic path, by giving information about which courses study the topic in more detail. And, if he really wants to study the topic in more detail, he has the references required and knows what to look for.
Also, it might helpful to point to another academic who is more entitled to give an answer like above.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Excessive enthusiasm or curiosity is usually easily handled (unless you have Feynman Jr) and is a Good Thing.
Obviously the primary responsibility of the prof and TAs is to teach the on-course material, and teach it clearly and well. If not, you deservedly get into trouble.
If you confuse some students or they mistakenly think something is on-course when it isn't, you could get into trouble.
But, you also want to encourage curiosity and give students signposts to how everything all fits together and what future courses build on it, and how it relates to other disciplines. Yes, it's a judgment call and depends on your/professor's workload, mood and energy level that particular day.
So as to material beyond the scope of this course, IMO that falls into different categories:
* a) stuff that's beyond the scope of this course, but will be covered in follow-on courses (core or popular electives).
* b) ... stuff that's really advanced or only covered in rare electives.
* c) ... stuff that's generally offtopic for most students, as in essentially irrelevant.
* d) ... stuff that's generally offtopic for most students, as in is only covered by further degrees or diplomas, possibly in a different field, e.g. Masters in Quantitative Finance.
a), b) you try to encourage their curiosity without dedicating class time or injecting confusion about what's on-topic.
c), d) you gently tell them is offtopic and point them to the library for any independent reading they care to do.
I guess your specific case is kind of the flipside of a):
e) stuff that can be understood by people who have done other prerequisites or courses
I would briefly mention to them the advanced calculus or physics implications of something, while preambling "this is not on the course, just for the benefit of people who've already studied X,Y,Z".
If the more basic students object, you may have to tone it down.
Possibly better to give these pointers in writing (/on course website) so doesn't take up class time or confuse the others.
"See me in office hours" might be one tactic but don't let it preempt teaching the essential material.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Write down the question: I always do this, even with questions I answer right away. It shows me the gaps in my teachings. By the students' questions I can adjust my material for the next time I teach a topic. Taking a note is also the basis for all other recommendations.
Recommend books: Tell the students where to find that topic treated. This also "forces" you to keep up to date about material that would else lie beyond the scope of your own preparations. It's never bad to know more than you have to teach. Since I have written down the question I can check what books are available and give more precise recommendations (e.g. "Chapter X in book Y treats this topic thoroughly - but I find the whole book very interesting.").
Office hours: Since I wrote down the question I can do some short research to be up-to-date when the student (or group of students) comes to seek my answer on it.
Breaks/After lecture: My least favourite way of handling this. First of all you're under time pressure during breaks and after lecture (cleaning up the space for the next lecturer, etc.) and secondly there's no time anymore to really have a look at material covering that topic. I prefer to be up-to-date before giving an answer.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Your first goal is to NOT disrupt the flow of class. So what you could do is have the student write their question down and bring it to you at the end of class or during office hours.
Now if you are exceptionally busy (which is entirely possible maybe a large class) then you probably don't want to be sniped at the end of class or during office hours by the same question if there are other students with more basic needs. In this case you can either 1. make the student wait [which also might not work if the question-load is so high that you miss your next class/fail to dinner and sleep before the next day] or 2. have them email you a list of questions which you add to some kind of TODO list, and then you get to them when you get to them.
Assuming you're acting in good faith and you have reached plan (2) those questions will be answered as soon as possible whenever they can be answered and the student receives the enrichment they are looking for, but it might be a long time. If you just do not have enough time to answer those questions you are best off directing the student towards someone else who might have more time OR give them a lesson in asking questions on online forums such as math.stackexchange, physics.stackexchange and physicsforums.
Nurturing curiosity is a critical role so you really want to try backup plan after backup plan to try to answer those questions and never abandon someone or just flat out say "i refuse", at most you should say "I can't but here where you can go next to find an answer \_\_\_\_"
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student in math in my final year, and for several years have been teaching at my department as a lecturer. This semester, in the same lecture hall there is another lecture that starts 20 minutes after my class ends. It's taught by another instructor from my department. I usually have many students coming to office hours and there are also students asking questions immediately after lecture. Due to other activities, I cannot have office hours right after the lecture this semester and can only stay for about 15 minutes to answer questions.
Many times in the past I had a similar situation and never had any issues with it. This semester the instructor who is teaching right after often arrives 20-15 minutes before her class starts and tells me immediately that I have to go with my students somewhere else.
I make sure to leave the blackboard clean and take all my stuff away from the instructor's desk before she arrives, but I do believe that I have a right to stay in the classroom after my lecture for at least 5-10 minutes. There is no vacant classroom around, and I don't have time to go with students to my office, which is in a different building.
Last time the instructor told me **in front of my students** that I don't understand "simple things" and that I am "playing games". When I was talking to one of my students, she stood very close to us and clearly demonstrated that she wanted us out. I tried to explain her that I couldn't go anywhere else due to my time constraints, but she didn't want to listen to me. I really don't understand what "simple" things she meant and what "games" I am playing.
We leave the board clean. She doesn't need to set up a projector. She can still talk to her students before her class starts, if she wants to (even though it seems like her students don't ask her any questions before their class). So, I don't see how I cause any disruption.
I had met this woman many times before this semester, but we never talked. I didn't see her talking to other instructors/students much, and she seems to be quite reserved and a bit neurotic. She doesn't want to have any conversation with me regarding the issue.
I felt really offended after last class when she said those things to me in front of my students. What would you do in my case?
**Added later:** There are no official rules regarding classroom occupancy between classes. Instructors are supposed to use common sense and be reasonable. For me using 50% of the break time seems reasonable to answer questions after lecture seems reasonable. I agree that for some people it may not.
I don't block the entrance to the classroom. A few students from the next class who come earlier always go ahead and take their seats as soon as my students start leaving the room. I also had one of the students from the next class listening to my explanation to one of those after-class questions and asking me further questions before their class (which is the same class as I am teaching, just a different section). Maybe the instructor got jealous, I don't know.
The entrance to the classroom is from its front (not back), so I do stay in the front. But it is a big lecture hall, and there is a plenty of space in front of the room (the board itself consists of 8 huge panels).
Also, during my career as a grad.student who is also teaching for the department, I have had several observations from experienced professors who are considered to be great teachers at the department and are in charge of undergraduate teaching policy. In my evaluations the fact that there are always several students approaching me with questions after class considered as very positive, meaning that students find me approachable.
Thank you everyone for answers.<issue_comment>username_1: What are your university's rules about lecture room bookings? Find them, stick to them, make sure the other instructor does too. Typically, they'd indicate a 5- or 10-minute grace period between bookings which is explicitly for the following lecturer to set up. With a 5-minute grace period (which is what my place has) a room booking for 10.00-11.00 means that we're cleaned up and out by 10.55.
Make sure you know the rules; then let her know what they are, and explain to her why they are what they are.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You should clean up after yourself and get out of the classroom so that the instructor and students who will use the classroom next can get into the room and prepare for their class. Classrooms aren't the place to have these kinds of discussions with students- that's what you've got an office for.
At the very least, you should give the next instructor half of the time between the scheduled end of your class and the start of their class. It seems that you're taking 15 minutes of the 20 minutes between classes, which is excessive.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You should first find out what is the standard convention for when you have to vacate the room. Since the other instructor is in your department, you can take this up at the department level: talk to your advisor and/or a trusted faculty mentor about it.
In my experience though this is often left a little fungible and people need to be reasonable about it. In my opinion it is reasonable to expect to have access to the room five minutes before your class begins. Ideally the previous instructor will have vacated the room at that point; if not, s/he should be occupying the room in a way which doesn't interfere with your own use of it. (For instance, a lot of times students will not enter a room if an instructor is still writing on the blackboard. It can be annoying to come to your class a few minutes before you want to start and find everyone waiting out in the hall.)
In the absence of a clear directive about how to split the time, it seems reasonable for the departing instructor to take half of the time, as long as they leave at least five minutes for the other instructor. In your case 20 minutes is a very nice cushion (in my university it's 15 minutes), to the extent that I find it a little strange that the other instructor is arriving 15-20 minutes early. What is she doing with that time? Do more than a few students arrive that early? If you are using the time to talk to your students and she's using the time for nothing, then I think you are morally in the right and should push back on it a bit. You should be able to stay for the first half of the 20 minute break.
How should you do that? As above, I would find out what other people do. If the standard convention is that you can take those 10 minutes, then talk to the department head (or other departmental authority figure; e.g. whoever schedules the teaching) about it and get their support. (You don't need to phrase it as a grievance or even identify the other instructor by name.) Assuming you get backed, then you should pay a visit to the instructor in her office and explain that you looked into the matter, that you have a clear instructional purpose for how to use the time, and that the head (or whoever) has confirmed that this is a standard practice. Definitely do this outside of the classroom so that you two can have the conversation you need to have not in front of the students and so that there is not a direct confrontation to be resolved.
In my opinion it is probably not worth trying to seek redress for your poor treatment by this instructor. We are not obligated to be nice to each other; it's just better if we are. If you respond to the treatment in a professional way and show that you are neither going to get pushed around nor retaliate in any personal or emotional way, then you're basically just rising above. What some random person who you're only going to see for one more semester thinks of you isn't really so important, is it? Especially if you're confident that you're in the right?
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: You don't mention where you and the students stand when having these conversations. Are you up front near the podium, or in a back corner of the room? If it's the latter, then it seems she's perhaps a bit rude and territorial; but if it's the former, she might have a fair point.
She may not look like she's doing anything before class, but you don't know what kinds of thoughts are racing through her mind – perhaps she's mentally prepping, and she's unable to do that effectively with a lot of commotion in the room.
Either way, I agree with the gist of what others have said here. The best course of action is to solve such disputes privately, locally, and cordially. When that seems unlikely, find out what the official rules are and, if you must, (reluctantly) get the department head involved.
You also might quietly mention this conflict with your room scheduler. You could make a request that, if possible, you not be assigned a room where this instructor has a follow-on class. (Sometimes you can't resolve a conflict in the present, but you can avoid it in the future.)
One last recommendation: try to keep a sense of humor about it. Even when you're in the right, being uptight and brewing animosity is rarely a better solution than an amused shrug. The worst case scenario for you here is that you have to move your after-class discussions into the hallway – something that may not be as ideal for you, but something that most instructors have to deal with eventually.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I would like to provide two suggestions. The first one directly refers to your discussions with students:
>
> There is no vacant classroom around, and I don't have time to go with students to my office, which is in a different building.
>
>
>
If the questions really need to be answered immediately, you could simply take the discussion outside into the hallway. Surely, most of the students have to or want to leave, anyway, I presume, as they might have to move to different buildings themselves (?)
For anything else, you do not have to "have office hours right after the lecture", and you do not have to "go with students to [your] office". They are adults. **Surely, your students can find out where your office is on their own and come there when you are free.**
My second suggestion is related to whether you may stay around in the lecture room after your class:
It generally seems like the most corteous and natural thing to me that once the class has ended, one should try and leave the room as quickly as possible. Unless otherwise regulated by your organisation, I see no basis for the fundamental belief
>
> I have a right to stay in the classroom after my lecture for at least 5-10 minutes
>
>
>
... unless your departure actually takes that long (e.g. because you have to pack some elaborate experimental setups for a while). At the same time, however, I wouldn't concede the other lecturer any basic right to arrive in the classroom at least 5 - 10 minutes before the next lecture starts, unless some elaborate setup needs to be prepared for that lecture.
In other words: **If you are entitled to stay for at least 5 to 10 minutes after your lecture has ended, I would argue that the next lecturer is just as entitled to claim the room for themselves at least 5 to 10 minutes before the next lecture starts.**
With that said, it is usually well possible to stay around to answer such questions, though that does neither mean that the room will be *reserved* for you (the next lecture may already be under preparation), nor are you automatically the "main party" (in that you may block the "lecturer's desk" or any such central device, rather than cluster your discussion in a corner of the room to give the next people space).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I would be quite firm about this. The woman is a bully. She comes in demanding you clear out the room, you say "I believe the next lecture is not for another 20 minutes; I need ten minutes here to wrap up. Thank you" with a curt smile. She will have no choice but to comply unless she feels like committing physical assault.
If she kicks up a stink, *she* can take it to a higher authority (and ultimately, from the sounds of it, get shouted down by them). When they ask you about the situation, then you have an opportunity to also tell them about the inappropriate things she's said about you in front of your students, which is a bonus because then there is no impression that you went complaining about her: you were *asked* about it.
If you have good reason to believe that she would actually cause a big scene there and then, frankly I'd let it happen — but only after quietly consulting the relevant authorities on the rules of room use, so that you may be absolutely certain as to your position before she makes a total fool out of herself.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: So it seems strange that you can't have office hours right after this lecture, but you can, in fact, spend 15 minutes after the lecture time helping students. It appears you could have 15 minutes of office hours right after this lecture. Perhaps the travel time is excessive, or you have an aversion to setting up office hours of such short periods of time?
An option not already presented in other answers is to end your lecture 5-10 minutes early and encourage students to spend the remaining time working with each other, or asking you questions individually.
This would alleviate the issues you have with limited office time. I don't think it's a great choice, though, as lecture time is also valuable.
I think to root problem is convenience. You find you can support your students better by providing some time at the end of class, which they already attend, to support them rather than expecting them to schedule time out of their day to visit you during normal office hours. You don't seem to suggest you don't have enough office hours, so it appears you are doing this purely as a convenience for your students.
You don't have a right to the classroom outside your lecture hours, save, perhaps, for several minutes before and after to set up the classroom if necessary. Your use of the classroom as an informal office is a convenience.
If your university or college doesn't have rules regarding classroom use between lectures, or preparation/cleanup time, then I'd suggest it's fair for you and your students to vacate the room by the halfway point between your two lectures. This doesn't mean ending your conversations ten minutes after your lecture, but being out of the room.
I suspect that she's only becoming more and more insistent as you are consistently going well over 10 minutes, and perhaps even infringing on her 5 minute preparation time.
Regardless, I believe your best bet in this case is to simply stand firm. If she asks, tell her you and the students will be out ten minutes prior to her lecture start, and then stick to it aggressively so it's something she can count on. She should, then, stop interrupting your activities and passive aggressively intruding on your after-lecture time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: If I were in your situation, I would ask the other professor for a reason and explain that I wanted to make an announcement to my students at the next lecture. If the response is "because I want you out" then I would politely explain that I would announce to the students that we could only remain for 10 minutes after class after which time we would all need to be out of the room.
No need to make it confrontational. I find that if you offer to help people solve a problem that helps reduce tension. If this professor doesn't actually have a problem then offering to help solve a problem will be a non-confrontational way of pointing that out.
This worked for me last semester. We only had 15 minutes between classes and my course was taught in a computer lab. Quite often students had questions about projects they were working on and already had their code pulled up on their screen. Unfortunately the students from the following course would be filing in and because their course required them to have access to code on a particular machine (shared drives wouldn't work) they needed particular seats which my students were still occupying.
In my case, the professor after me simply explained why he needed the room and at the next lecture I explained to my students why they needed to exit within 5 minutes of the end of class. Everyone understood, no tension, no confrontation.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: There are a number of good suggestions above.
If I were in your place I would want to understand why she wants / feel she needs the full 20 minutes before her class starts in the classroom without interruption. She might be territorial, she might find lecturing stressful and wants / needs the time to prepare.
You now seem to have a second problem that both you (from the fact that you are posting) and her are upset. At this point I would learn if there is a departmental guideline on when you should be out of the classroom, or if there is no guildline then with the knowledge be non-confrontational, say you don't understand, and ask her to explain why she wants/needs all of the 20 minutes. Be ready for her to be hostile but listen first, then explain why you would like to have time after the class. Again she may be hostile to your explanation.
Once you understand you can decide what to do next.
There is an good book called "Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In" by by <NAME>, <NAME>, and <NAME>. Which is a good read.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_10: I have a slightly different perspective here, and I want to offer two options.
**Option 1: be selfish**
Assume the instructor is a neurotic bully. Don't be passive aggressive. Don't get the instructor overruled.
It's not worth it. Use your imagination as to why.
Arrive early to class if you can to answer questions before the start. At the end the lecture tell your students to come to your office hours, then arrive early to the next item on your schedule. Your department would probably rather you get another paper out than spend 15 minutes after every class with students who can't do it themselves or won't use other resources of the school (your office hours, other help rooms, tutors, etc...)
**Option 2: be selfless**
Ok, so you want to be your students' advocate? Tell the department head and ask for advice on how to handle it, and try to be discrete (that is, don't embarrass her in front of students).
This *could* be interpreted as the selfish approach, if you consider that it makes you look good to the department head and makes a seemingly unpleasant person seem even moreso.
But it also has risks. What if there are rules on the matter that you have overlooked? Then you appear foolish to your department head. Double-check before you do. Also, your department head would probably rather you have another paper published, and might question your priorities.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I'd agree with the ideas posted by others here, especially about checking with your department about if there are official policies around the issue, and then discussing it with her privately. However, I know the barrier of entry to walking into an argument with someone who may be many levels above you in the university hierarchy - not a fun thing to do. As an easier first option, what about simply sending her an email - something like:
>
> "Hi, I'm the lecturer in Room XXX before your 3:20 lecture, and I'm sorry that I sometimes run late with discussions with my students after class. However, I like to be able to answer questions that have come up during lecture, and due to location and scheduling constraints can't take them to my office after lecture. Since we have a 20 minute gap between our lectures, would it be okay if I used the first 10 minutes of that time to hold discussions with my students, as long as we're cleaned up and out 10 minutes before your lecture starts? Of course, if you ever have special preparation that needs more time, feel free to shoot me an email before my lecture, and I'll be happy to let my students know that we need to be out earlier. Thanks for understanding! I appreciate it so much."
>
>
>
That way, you can avoid a direct argument, or confrontation in front of your students, while still getting to address your concerns to her directly. If she has a valid reason to need you out, you can talk it through - if not, she should have no way to refuse your request. If she does, you can even take her response to your adviser and see what he recommends. If she doesn't respond and then confronts you again, you can simply tell her that you tried to address the issue in private with her but didn't get a response - and she'll look very foolish in front of the students from your class and her class too.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: >
> Last time the instructor told me in front of my students that I don't understand "simple things" and that I am "playing games".
>
>
>
This is where she lost her argument. You should have simply totally ignored her. Let her make a formal complaint and only respond to such formal complaints. You don't have the duty to respond to insults, or to look up what the guidelines say in response to insults. If you were violating the small print of some guidelines, then it is her job to point that out to you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: I think the logic behind the post is quite confusing. You should tell your students directly that discussion can only happen during office hour, and mention that there is another class afterwards. And you can extend your office hour (in a different day, say) by some period of time or move it if you wish, this can always be discussed with department secretary.
You suggested that:
>
> Many times in the past I had a similar situation and never had any
> issues with it.
>
>
>
as well as
>
> In my evaluations the fact that there are always several students
> approaching me with questions after class considered as very positive,
> meaning that students find me approachable.
>
>
>
and many other reasons claiming your behavior is tolerable and okay by your standards. But these justifications is simply not related to the fact that she finds it uncomfortable because you did not end up the class on time. Since you are aware of that, you should do something concrete to resolve this issue. For example you can cover more background in the lecture time available, and encourage students to come to your office hour for longer 1-1 discussions.
My impression for after class discussions is totally opposite to yours; the fact students coming after you after class usually means you did not explain the material well enough during class or unclear during the grading process. Your course should be in the format like "Calculus III, 2:00-3:00pm, Room 31A, Darwin building". If the description did not mention an extra 15 minutes for afterclass discussion, then it means you do not have it. As what the other instructor does when she comes to your classroom is totally irrelevant. In my experience a student (not even an instructor or dept chair) can knock at your classroom door and friendly to ask you get out without giving any specific reasons. They might need the room for group projects or whatever. The fact you are late should be compelling evidence against you already.
You also suggested that
>
> Last time the instructor told me in front of my students that I don't
> understand "simple things" and that I am "playing games". When I was
> talking to one of my students, she stood very close to us and clearly
> demonstrated that she wanted us out. I tried to explain her that I
> couldn't go anywhere else due to my time constraints, but she didn't
> want to listen to me. I really don't understand what "simple" things
> she meant and what "games" I am playing.
>
>
>
I think you should think from her point of view, that your class **should** end up on time. The fact that you have time constraints, etc is irrelevant to her. If you think these are legitimate reasons to justify your behavior, to her you were simply being immature and using poor excuses. You may have your disagreement and ask for support from senior faculty in the department as Prof. Clark suggested, but her position is very clear. If she demonstrated you need to get out, then you need to get out even if this is the final exam. Unless you have a student with disability that needs extra time, etc I think there is no point arguing further on this issue.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_14: I must be missing a point but if the schedule is
* your class is 10:00 - 11:00
* there is a break between 11:00 and 11:15
* her class starts at 11:15 - ...
then I fail to understand where the problem is. She comes in, tells you to leave in front of your students, you first respond first nicely (for her not to interrupt you), and if she insists you just tell her to shut the [censored] up.
Is there something I missed?
If she is offended by the fact that you dare to talk to her, tell her to **escalate to her boss**, ideally on the spot - and turn your back to her. This is a fantastic mechanism as soon as **you** are right (and have a supportive boss , etc.).
A behavior like hers is either psychopathic, not enough parent supervision when she was growing up or seen in nature by individuals who pee in selected places to mark territory.
Note: an edit for the last paragraph was suggested (and accepted by a vote 2/3) (on the grounds that it is insulting or loaded with assumptions). For me, it is not. If one feels that the answer is wrong and that a bully like her should be approached in a kind or elegant way please, by all means, downvote my answer. Everyone has its own subjective way of dealing with psychopathic, badly brought up or territory-marking people.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: When it comes to the evaluation of a methodology (or an algorithm (CS)) we usually see how well the methodology actually is by comparing it with other similar methods that achieve the same thing.
However, in my case, the method we are proposing is unique and novel and, to best of my knowledge, isn't used anywhere else. Is it valid to evaluate it on its own, for example by simply measuring its time/complexity against *n* datasets? How would we perform evaluation for methods that can't be compared against others?<issue_comment>username_1: When proposing a new technique, where there isn't an equivalent to compare performance with, I tend to do as you suggested, and measure the time/complexity, and give some real world data points (it would take X time to operate on realistic situation Y).
Depending on the specific work, you could present an analysis of it based on rationale (for example, evaluating the security of a proposal by explaining the assumptions and demonstrating it is secure against certain threat models).
If there really is nothing which can do the same task, then you can't do a comparison. But perhaps there is another technique which, while technically different, can be used to solve a similar problem to your technique? You could compare performance within the context of that problem in that case.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: ***TL;DR: if you don't know how to evaluate your work, you probably don't know exactly what research question you are working on.***
>
> How would we perform evaluation for methods that can't be compared against others?
>
>
>
I work in applied computer science, and this qualifies as the Number One statement my master students usually have when I ask them how they plan to evaluate their work - *"I can't compare my tool / approach against anything - no existing tool has exactly the same scope, so the comparison won't be fair!"*.
This is of course true, but it also shows a misunderstanding about the research question that the work is addressing. Essentially, the "compare against a standard tool" approach is a valuable evaluation method if the research question is *"Can we improve the performance/quality/whatever of an approach that does X?"*. If the research question is rather, as presumably in your case, *"Can we find an approach that does X?"*, the evaluation of course needs to be different.
In that case, you need to find an evaluation that actually shows what you claim your approach does. Some recent examples from my students:
Is your claim that it makes sense to show software developers certain information, which isn't visualized by any other development tool? In that case you need to set up a study where you show that developers that see this piece of information do *something* better than developers that don't. Is your claim that taking costs of cloud resources into account when scheduling tasks allows for cheaper execution with the same quality? Set up an experiment where you compare costs with and without taking costs into account for a number of representative workloads.
Orthogonally, it often makes sense to do a *partial comparison* to existing approaches and tools, to also check how your approach fares in comparison to standard tools on standard problems, essentially to make sure that the improvement your approach presumably has in a "new" dimension does not mean that something else does not work anymore. For instance, in the development tool example above, you may also want to check if the new visualization distracts people so much that they now fare less well in usual development tasks than with standard tools.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: There are two things that you need to evaluate with your method:
1. Does the method actually do what you want it to / claim it does?
2. What improvement does the method offer over prior work?
No matter what you are doing and how unique it is, you need to be able to validate #1 (preferably experimentally, but simulation and analytic methods can be fine as well). If you can't do that, you aren't doing science.
The improvement, however, may be either qualitative or quantitative. If it is a quantitative improvement, you must be able to validate by direct comparison (e.g., 30% faster, 5 db more gain, quadratic rather than exponential growth). For a qualitative improvement, however, you may not need to compare if you can demonstrate that prior methods simply do not address certain aspects of your problem (e.g., you can predict upcoming frozbozz failures, but nobody else has even tried). In this case, the comparison with other methods is most appropriately done in the literature review.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Scenario: A researcher, who is also a member of the political party A, investigated the impact (e.g. on public health) of specific actions or policies (e.g. strikes or health expenditure cuts) belonging to the rival party B.
Assuming that the research motivation is scientifically justified, the methodology is sound, the results are "unbiased" and reproducible, and support was only received from an independent body (e.g. a research council), should the researcher disclose his/her political motivation in the publication?<issue_comment>username_1: The researcher should probably disclose any bias she knows she has, though outside of potential biases due to funding of the research (think drug companies funding studies for their products), I don't think this is done much. Prominent public intellectuals usually wear their biases on their sleeves, so reviewers are often pretty aware of them. I'm not sure matters as much for less well known academics unless there's a worry that they were cooking the data.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The correct answer is probably to look at the journal's website. It sounds like the manuscript would be submitted to journals of political science, where possible biases or conflicts of interest of this type could be expected to occur frequently. So I'd expect editorial boards to have thought about this and to have formulated guidelines about what kind of bias needs to be disclosed, and in what way.
Anecdotally, neither the [*American Journal of Political Science*](http://ajps.org/) nor the [*Journal of Politics*](http://www.thejournalofpolitics.org/) (both of which I pulled out of a random Google search) seem to have *any* guidance on conflicts of interest at all. So it may make sense to contact the editor and ask explicitly.
---
That said, here is *my* answer (as opposed to what I think is the *correct* one, see above): I don't think it makes sense to require disclosure of political bias based on party membership. Why? Because if party membership was a criterion, all you'd need to do is to renounce your membership. Which would likely not change your biases, only whether or not you'd need to disclose them. Doesn't make sense to me.
Unless the criterion for disclosure is "was a party member during the last year, or two, or five years", which also seems to border on the absurd. Suppose you left a party not to avoid having to disclose a conflict of interest, but because you changed your views so that now you are *less* biased than when you were a member. There are just so many ways such requirements might have unforeseen consequences.
So what about some other criterion to disclose political views? I don't see anything that can be operationalized meaningfully. Nor does it sound realistic to me that people can really step back and assess their own biases dispassionately.
Bottom line: it looks to me like requiring disclosure of political leanings will likely not result in useful information. Instead, it makes more sense to rely on reviewers to catch methodological weaknesses due to such biases, and on readers to understand that political biases may well play a bigger role in political science than, say, in molecular biology.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Totally not an answer, more like a "what about an option three."
I personally think it's not necessary. Because it's creating a false label that indicates a certain piece of work is likely tainted with or free of political biases. But in fact, a party member's work can be critical and objective towards his/her party; and a seemingly neutral person could have been paid by a party using paths with variable traceability to produce biased reports.
To bring the argument up one more level, it's unrealistic to expect everyone to operate in a truly objective manner. We're all shaped by experience, beliefs, feed backs, etc. in both conscious and subconscious manners. Just like another answer says: the affiliation in question is not operationalizable. If political interest needs to be reported... what else should also be reported? A researcher who was molested as a child may advocate for stronger punishment against sex offenders, another researcher who lost her child to medical malpractice may study the benefits of alternative medicines... etc. There is no end to it.
Whoever thinks that if they pick up an article written by a seemingly "clean" author will definitely learn something objective is going to have a really bad time. While I do embrace the idea of reporting conflict of interest, I don't think it's viable to report conflicts of belief. Instead, we educators should encourage students and audience to engage in critical thinking, to ask questions, and to consider and evaluate multiple points of view.
Upvotes: 1
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2015/03/06
| 1,520
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<issue_start>username_0: Once upon a time in a lecture I attended, the lecturer had clearly not fully understood the material and was struggling to explain it. I was a student, but very knowledgeable about the topic, and had taught it many times in informal settings, so I felt silly just listening.
In the interest of the other attendees' learning, I considered offering to take over the lecture. However, I stopped myself, out of concern that the lecturer might feel humiliated, or think I'm questioning their authority more generally.
In such a situation, is it appropriate for a student to offer to teach a topic? What about other teaching staff who are attending? How would one politely suggest it, or otherwise deal with the situation?
---
**Related questions**: From a student's perspective: [offering alternative viewpoints on lecture content](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30728/as-a-student-should-i-offer-alternative-ways-of-understanding-a-point-in-lectur), [handling unintelligible lecturers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16858/a-lecturer-is-hard-to-understand-what-to-do) and [handling lecturers who just read from the book](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13363/frustration-with-lectures). From a lecturer's perspective: [teaching a class you've never taken](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3210/how-to-teach-a-class-that-ive-never-taken).<issue_comment>username_1: Perhaps the best approach would be to ask leading questions that helps the lecturer head in the right direction. Or, offer an answer to a question that wasn't going well.
I've taught classes (especially ones that use complex libraries, such as parts of a game engine, that I wasn't a seasoned expert with), and have had students who had more experience with a specific topic chime in to the discussion with details I didn't know. It was great. I've also had students who were aggressive and conveyed arrogance and had them derail the class by setting up a me vs them dynamic. Not so great.
The most important thing is classroom dynamics: let the lecturer retain control (ie. facilitate the discussion) but you actively participate. The lecturer should be there to create a learning environment, not bestow knowledge on the class. You can make it clear you know the topic, and let them have you participate as much as they are comfortable.
Asking to "take over" would not go over well; offering your knowledge on bits and pieces and nudging the lecturer in the right direction through questions would be better.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: No, you should not.
The lecturer isn't trying to give a single lecture, but deliver a complete course. That means connecting many lectures together, alongside supplementary material (notes, textbooks, etc), whilst pitching it at a level so that all can engage (taking into account the background and prior knowledge of all).
It may be that the lecturer really didn't understand the material. Or it may be that the material was difficult to teach coherently with the rest of the course, in a way that matched the expected prior knowledge of the others in the room.
It's most likely that your first impression is right: the lecturer was poorly prepared. But unless you're truly confident that you could explain the material to all in the room (you know all their background knowledge?), and link it to the rest of the course (you know how future lessons will be delivered and approached?), you can't expect to do better *in the context of the whole course*.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You should also keep in mind the reactions of other students in the class. Most people are aware that what you propose (getting up, telling the lecturer they don't understand the material, and starting to teach it yourself) is wildly inappropriate. This will almost certainly earn you a reputation you don't want to have, both with teaching staff and other students.
Your concern about balancing the needs of students to learn with the ego of the lecturer is noble, but you taking over the lecture is not only rude (or socially awkward at best), it's probably going to be ineffective. There's a high chance that other students will be turned off from the lecture based on your behaviour, no matter how technically accurate the content. Behaviour management in the classroom would be difficult after such an interruption. And as others have commented, knowing the material and being able to teach it effectively to a large group are very different things (I have tutored 1-on-1/in small groups as well as in larger classrooms, and they are very different environments).
In the immediate situation, do what other answerers have suggested and ask leading/clarifying questions in situations where you know the material is clearly wrong. If it's more a matter of ineffectual lecturing style and you just think the material could be explained better, perhaps you could start a study group or similar, to help other students to understand the material without embarrassing the lecturer?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Does not likely work anyway. Students are "entitled" to lecturers with "proper qualification". A student does not qualify, and probably assistant teachers must not exceed a particular percentage of lectures either.
Never mind who does a better job for the particular task. There might be less formal tutoring sessions where you actually might be able to get a small job. But the lectures themselves more likely than not are off-limits.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: If you feel the lecturer doesn't have a full understanding the material. You should make a list of documented cases of the material being mis-explained or misleading.
Then make an appointment with the Department Head or with the Academic Dean of the College. If the faculty of the department are not informed about the lecturer, then they can't take steps to fix the situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: First of all: If you approach the teacher about anything like this, make sure to do it privately.
Secondly, offering to take over something he is doing may generate feelings of hostility, so tread carefully.
Finally, if you think you can do a good job, **consider offering your services as a guest speaker for the *next* semester**. Preferably *after* you have aced the test that covers this part.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/06
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<issue_start>username_0: Before I begin, feel I should make it clear that I have no doubt that undertaking a PhD. anywhere, let alone at Harvard, will be a difficult and strenuous task!
To briefly explain, I have graduated with a good Bachelors of Arts from the UK, and am set to do my Research Masters in Holland. However, I have been in contact and have contacted the literature faculties in Harvard, who have been very encouraging but, to be honest, the system itself seems very different.
To clarify, I'll copy in some of what my (possible) supervisor has emailed me:
*Our students enter the program, take two or three years of courses, and only then settle on a dissertation topic and choose a committee of three faculty -- one primary advisor and two other readers.*
This sounds at once much more fluid and liberal a way of doing things, but, considering the ridiculous costs of studying in the USA, I'm not sure how leisurely that would be in reality! Should I assume that Doctoral programs in the USA are like a Masters leading into a PhD? Is there a scholarship available for both of these?
Has anyone reading this had any experience on the matter, and can relate more clearly how this process works, and whether exceptions are every possible?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you can assume that the coursework part of an American PhD program is the rough equivalent of a European Masters, and the research part is like a European PhD. In many American programs, after completing the coursework part you actually receive a Masters degree.
Scholarships do exist (they are usually called "fellowships" at the postgraduate level) but a more common funding method are assistantships, in which you are paid for either teaching or for research work (the latter is often funded by a supervisor's grant). If you got a fellowship or assistantship, you could expect it to pay for all of your tuition and a low-to-modest salary. Teaching assistantships are usually based on 10-20 hours of work per week; research assistantships vary, but in some cases you can get paid for doing your own dissertation research. Depending on the department, the availability of assistantships can range from scarce to universal. Part of your conversation with your Harvard contacts should definitely be "What funding is available, and how much can I realistically expect to actually get?"
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The quoted description is pretty standard for how Humanities departments in the US work. Most students entering Humanities PhD programs in the States do not have MA degrees, although a significant proportion of those from the UK do. It would be unlikely that you could skip those first 2-3 years of coursework. Even if you could, it would put you at a serious disadvantage even if you knew in advance what topic you wanted to research. A 1-year UK MA degree, just does not prepare you to the same extent as 2-3 years of coursework.
As for funding, the top students are likely guaranteed funding for some number of years. The funding will likely require some teaching. The teaching maybe in the form as a TA, but is likely to be much more extensive and require you to design and run a large undergraduate lecture class. For those students, the funding will cover tuition and a stipend. Those without guaranteed funding can still get funding for teaching, but you cannot count on it. How tuition is handled depends on the university/department and where you are in the program.
In the Humanities, it is unlikely that any supervisors will have grants that pay for PhD students, but there are grants that you can apply directly for. Some of these cover students in the first few years, but most are for more senior students.
For US PhD programs in the Humanities, unlike in the Sciences, funding should play a huge role in your decision of where to go. In the Sciences, everyone essentially has funding that covers tuition and living expenses and very little teaching. In the Humanities, self funded students and students with with huge teaching requirements are common. There is a huge difference in productivity and happiness between those who have to take out loans, that they will likely never be able to pay back, or teach and those who do not.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/03/06
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<issue_start>username_0: In science and engineering classes involving a "practical" lab, students are often required to write some kind of "lab report," typically describing the procedure and results of the lab experiment.
Is there any research on the pedagogical benefit of having students at the graduate level write lab reports?
(I've seen some on K-12 education and a little bit about undergraduate education, but couldn't find anything relevant to graduate students.)
I am especially interested in research that describes *how* students learn by writing lab reports, and what parts of this exercise benefit them most. For example, what is the benefit of having students write a full lab report vs. just reporting their results? I read [this paper](http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1662/0002-7685(2006)68[342:DTIIIA]2.0.CO;2) which asserts (tangentially) that "very little is learned by rephrasing the written procedure," and I am wondering if anybody has formally studied this.
---
This is a [reference-request](/questions/tagged/reference-request "show questions tagged 'reference-request'") question: I am looking for a citation+brief summary of a research study, not personal opinions.<issue_comment>username_1: <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED286205.pdf>
There was too much to cite, but I think this addresses the issue.
If not, I'm sorry.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: There is research to graduate student's teaching skill:
1. Graduate Students’ Teaching Experiences Improve Their Methodological
Research Skills ([link](http://ste2m.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/pub__1630192.pdf))
And research to lab reports, evaluating the reports and how reports are viewed:
2. Using the Science Writing Heuristic in the General Chemistry Laboratory To Improve Students' Academic Performance ([link](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed084p1371))
3. Development of a ‘universal’ rubric for assessing undergraduates’ scientific reasoning skills using scientific writing ([link](http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=biol_facpub))
4. “As You're Writing, You Have these Epiphanies” - What College Students Say about Writing and Learning in their Majors ([link](http://wcx.sagepub.com/content/16/3/317.short))
5. The Laboratory Report: A Pedagogical Tool in College Science Courses ([link](http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/handle/1840.16/3343))
6. Writing-To-Teach: A New Pedagogical Approach To Elicit Explanative Writing from Undergraduate Chemistry Students ([link](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed200410k))
If a paper you found is interesting, use Google Scholar to search for that title and click 'Cited by' to see other papers that refer that paper. Then you might find more interesting papers. For example, for papers that cite item 3 probably use this rubric or relate to the use of lab reports: ([link](https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?cites=12611023932064724797&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5&hl=en)).
I'm not in this area of research, so it's hard for me to find the right papers and I'm not 100% sure what you look for. Some of the links above require university access to read the full paper.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/06
| 1,477
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<issue_start>username_0: Whenever I've been in the audience of a faculty interview presentation, I left impressed but demoralised. It appears the bar of making it as far as the interview is very high indeed, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to reach a similar level. On the other hand, I know quite some people employed as researchers at national/supernational scientific research laboratories, or at research divisions of operational government institutes. I don't get the same impression there. It seems to me that people who obtain faculty positions are more outstanding than those who obtain scientist positions for governments.
Is my impression correct? Is it less competitive to get employed at research laboratories or government institute research divisions, than it is to get employed as faculty at a university? If yes, why is this so? At a university, faculty spend their time writing grants, teaching, doing administration, and hopefully still a little bit of science. At research labs, the exact division of work probably varies, but involves doing research, developing products, writing reports and papers, perhaps doing consultancy or other work. Unless one loves teaching (I suppose nobody loves grant writing), I'm not sure why a position at a university would be more desirable/competitive than one at a laboratory. Is my impression wrong, or am I missing something?
(I have this impression for at least Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, and Canada.)<issue_comment>username_1: Of course the answer depends on the university and the lab. There are plenty of university departments with low standards, and some labs are truly excellent. However, I think your comparison is right on average for top universities vs. national labs in the U.S. There are several reasons for this:
1. Many researchers at universities aren't professors, and in some universities the non-faculty research staff outnumber the faculty by a substantial factor. To make a fair comparison, you should not restrict your attention to professors, but rather compare all research staff in both institutions (or look at especially noteworthy or high-level employees at labs).
2. Some research labs are huge. For example, Los Alamos and Sandia are each the size of a whole university, but they cover a much narrower range of fields. The top researchers at these labs are exceptional, but the sheer number of positions makes it difficult to maintain the highest standards for everyone. (And you can't just keep positions open for years while you look for the perfect candidate, since that would compromise the lab's mission.)
3. Researchers at national labs in the U.S. do not have tenure, and their jobs are subject to availability of funding and political interference. In some cases they face as much or more pressure to get grants as faculty do.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In his book A PhD Is Not Enough, physicist <NAME> argues that government labs are a superior place to start one's research career. He argues that assistant professors (at universities) are burdened with too much busy work: committees, advising, creating lecture notes, teaching, and grading.
If academia is a merit-based organization, then prestige comes from one work (publication record). In my mind this means finding the best environment for research. Feibelman argues that a scientist's optimal path is to establish one's research at a national lab, then move to a university.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Stereotypically, I would say your perception is correct: university faculty are (on average) slightly more outstanding than their colleagues at national labs. Why is this the case when science is easier at national labs?
A national lab researcher has one main job (research) with a token amount of administration on the side. A university faculty has more roles: research, mentoring grad students & postdocs, teaching class, advising students, and (more complex) university & departmental administration.
Scientists with minimal people skills are often proud of shirking extraneous administrative duties "to get some 'real' work done." Those with this attitude will likely find a national lab to be a better fit, while those with higher [EQ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence) will preferentially select faculty jobs. Perhaps this selection mechanism accounts for university faculty members being more "outstanding" than colleagues working in government labs.
But what might attract faculty to such a disadvantageous work environment?
* superior university architecture & aesthetics,
* convenient university location (universities (usually older than labs) had the city grow up around them),
* greater variety of culture & the arts,
* teaching/mentoring students is rewarding,
* teaching responsibilities offset grant writing pressure,
* cheep graduate students can be an effective source of labor,
* faculty jobs are more abundant than those at national laboratory, and
* the possibility of tenure.
(The University of Tennessee at Knoxville & Oak Ridge National Laboratory furnished me with these stereotypes.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: There is a big difference between the search processes at Universities and National Research Labs. In an open University call you may be going up against 100+ qualified applicants so even getting to the interview is difficult. In my field everyone of those applicants will be doing research in an area relevant to the department, have a strong publication and funding history, and some teaching experience. For a targeted call, the search might be limited to a subfield, for example an Psychology Department might do a search for a Cognitive Psychologist. The search might even get so specific that it is for a Cognitive Psychologist with interests in memory. For a research lab the search will be even more specific. For example, it might be for a Cognitive Psychologist that uses fMRI to understand memory issues of children with ADHD. If the National Lab search is lucky, they will get 5 qualified applicants, so getting to the interview is not that tough. National Labs are more likely to have top people in their sub-sub-sub------subfield than Universities, but that person may not be particularly strong relative to others in their field in general.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/07
| 593
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<issue_start>username_0: I actually wrote two papers on my work, and I want to publish both in same conference. I have now submitted first paper and it is yet to be selected and my second paper is extension of my first paper. I want to publish the second one also. So can anyone please tell me how to cite my first paper? Both are IEEE papers.<issue_comment>username_1: Since at this time your first work is unpublished, that is how you unfortunately have to cite it, unless you state "submitted to ...." but the latter is usually used on a CV rather than for publications.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: One solution would be to post one or both papers to the arXiv, and then cite the arXiv versions.
IEEE does allow posting to the arXiv with certain terms. From their [FAQ](http://www.ieee.org/documents/author_faq.pdf):
>
> **Can an author post his manuscript on a preprint server such as ArXiv?**
>
>
> Yes. The IEEE recognizes that many authors share their unpublished manuscripts on public sites. Once manuscripts have been accepted for publication by IEEE, an author is required to post an IEEE copyright notice on his preprint. Upon publication, the author must replace the preprint with either 1) the full citation to the IEEE work with Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) or a link to the paper’s abstract in IEEE Xplore, or 2) the accepted version only (not the IEEE-published version), including the IEEE copyright notice and full citation, with a link to the final, published paper in IEEE Xplore.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Dual submission of related works is a fairly common occurrence, and need not be problematic. The key question is the degree to which one work depends on the other.
Typically, if you have two pieces that are being submitted in parallel, they should be exploring different aspects of the work. In this case, you simply cite the other paper with its publication date and venue as "submitted." When this is done with journals, one often submits the other paper as supplementary information, but many conferences to not allow this.
If one piece builds incrementally on the other, however (as it sounds like is the case for you), then you should seriously consider whether it is actually appropriate to have two separate papers, or whether they should be combined into one. Otherwise, you may be viewed as engaging in [salami slicing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_publishable_unit), which is definitely a bad thing.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/03/07
| 929
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<issue_start>username_0: In my country where I come from, online or part-time or even more, part-time online degrees are not comparable with on-campus full-time degrees. The difference in the value of the degree/diploma is huge, in the depth and breadth of the studied material and recognition from prospective employers.
Is it true for US education? Would a part-time student who earns his/her degree 100% online cover the same exact material than another student who is studying the same program but full-time and on-campus?
Do US employers favor on-campus graduates over online part-time graduates?<issue_comment>username_1: For many years on-line (a/k/a, "distance learning") degrees have been offered by regionally accredited universities In the USA. Until a decade or so ago, most of the degrees were earned by schools that specialized in distance learning. Even graduates of schools that had physical campuses and regional accreditation who studied full-time on campus were perceived as having earned their degrees through distance learning. Over the course of many decades with little or no government regulations, legitimate distance learning programs were viewed as "mail order" degrees and thus, looked down upon by brick and mortar schools as well as the business world. Schools often refused to accept transfer credits or admit holders of such degrees into their graduate programs. Employers, at least of top firms tended to reject such job applicants.
In more recent years however, many top tier universities have been offering on-line degrees adding legitimacy. American institutions of higher learning are slow to adapt new methodologies but are beginning to recognize we have already passed through the "Information Age."
So Daveel, I would say that if you earn your degree from a top tier university and your diploma does not make note that the degree is from the school's on-line division, your degree will increase its likelihood of being accepted in both the academic and business worlds. This is especially true of earned degrees in areas that are a natural match for on-line study, namely anything that has to do with computers.
Daveel, I suggest that you do an internet search on the history of distance learning. You will better understand the negative views that were held in the not so distant past. I would also highly suggest that you discuss the validity of such a degree with people in position to make such judgments. This specifically means academics people who hire professors in universities and human resource managers who are responsible for hiring in your intended field. If your degree is intended to be used for licensing purposes, contact the government agency that sets the licensing requirements. They will be the ones who can best answer your question.
Best wishes to you Daveel.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Sometimes online learning is the only practical option, and in that case I'd recommend it. It may be difficult to find someone to speak for all prospective employers, so you might want to check on the college quality as much as you can yourself. Make sure that online or not, the colleges you consider have the same quality of programs.
It also depends on what field you're considering, and if you can demonstrate your knowledge to employers. For example, if you have projects to show off, a potential employer may be more convinced in the depth of your study.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: The number of students who take online courses and get their degrees online continues to grow each year, so I would say that in general most employers view them as legitimate. [More than 75%](http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/08/28/the-digital-revolution-and-higher-education/) of colleges offer online courses.
US News puts together a list every year of the best online programs, so this might help when choosing a school: <http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education>
Upvotes: 1
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2015/03/07
| 676
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing my bachelor's thesis with OpenOffice Writer. Most of my sources are websites, and the author or publication year is often absent.
With Writer's bibliography system, you can specify whether to display author, publication year etc. for a certain type of entry, eg. WWW document, but the same settings will be used for every WWW document (whereas I would like to have the author displayed when and only when applicable).
I know there are "user-defined" entries, but this system seems a bit clumsy, as you can't rename them from "User-Defined1" and so on.
I think MS Office Word has a better system, but I've heard that the open-source alternatives are just as good, so why buy it? I've also tried Zotero and Mendeley, but it seems they can't display inline citations in the [1][2] style, which I would prefer.
Would rather avoid using LaTeX/BibTeX, since they seem like overkill.<issue_comment>username_1: Okay, apparently you can get the [1] style in Zotero, but it's not installed by default.
Also, there's a "protect from manual changes" checkbox which can be unchecked in Writer. This way you can edit the entries in pretty much any way. It's far from ideal though, as manual changes are overwritten every time you update the bibliography.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Alternatively you can use the WWW-document type in every case instead of a second or third user-defined one. Build the bibliography entry for WWW-documents in a way that it always reflect an Author.
If no Author is given, you can fill the author-field with:
* *Unknown* or *Anonymous*
* a *user name* in case of publications under pseudonyms
* a *company name* e.g. for white papers from tech companies. (W3C, Oracle...)
WWW documents are difficult to deal in citation at all. You may also miss a creation or publishing date and can sometimes only rely on the date you requested it from a web server.
Anyway you should ask your supervisor if he/she accepts WWW documents as cited sources at all. Some supervisors may reject sources without an author as not proof-able or not cite-able.
---
**Tip:** If you want to be sure, that a website did not change in the time between submitting it to the examination office and the reading by your supervisor, I suggest you to use a web preservation service like [WebCite](http://www.webcitation.org). With this you can provide an additional link to a preserved version, even if the original source is yet gone.
---
**Early warning:** I've made bad experiences with de-activating the "protect from manual changes"-option in LibreOffice/OpenOffice Writer. It kills the advantage of auto generating the bibliography cause everytime you update the bibliography after adding new sources your manual changes are gone with the wind.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/03/07
| 1,801
| 7,831
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<issue_start>username_0: I am reviewing a conference paper that violates the maximum number of pages by more than 10%. I believe that this is enough reason to outright reject the paper.
However, maybe the authors would welcome reviewer comments anyway. But I do not want to waste a day's work, in case nobody cares about my comments. What is customary and ethical in such a situation?<issue_comment>username_1: Technically speaking, you have the right to immediately vote for rejection because of the length constraint violation.
If you **want** to review the paper and leave helpful comments, you are obviously welcome (for example, if there is some section in the paper you think is not necessary and can be removed to make the paper both in the correct length and good enough for the journal / conference then you might point that out).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As a disclaimer, I have not been in this exact situation: in my field (mathematics) there are few conference papers, and the number of journals with strict length requirements is small enough that I have never reviewed a paper which violated the requirements. Nevertheless:
In my experience it is *customary* in academic and professional contexts that if you submit something that does not adhere to the rules of submission, then you should expect that your submission will be rejected for that reason alone. Now it may be the case that rather than definitively rejecting your submission you are told, "Hey, please fix X so that your submission can be considered"...and it may not. There is much talk of grant applications that are rejected because something in the fine print of the submission rules was not followed.
In your case, you have noticed that one of the submission requirements has been violated, apparently in a nontrivial way ("by more than 10%"). In my opinion your clearest ethical obligation is to convey this knowledge to the editors. It is really unfair if the requirement gets completely ignored and the paper gets published anyway whereas some other authors are either getting dinged for not following the same rules or are working much harder (and perhaps, trading on the quality of their paper) in order to follow them. So I think your first step should be to point this out to the editors.
If you like, you can convey your willingness to look at a new version in a timely manner. You could even say that you are reading the version that you already have and are willing to work on a report under the assumption that the authors will later submit a version which is essentially the same but meets the length requirements. But I think that's about as far as you can go. If the submission really is permanently rejected based on the length then the authors will resubmit to another conference/journal and they'll get their feedback at that time (possibly even from you!). Viewing the fact that you received the paper and are not at this time writing a report on it to the authors as some kind of disservice to them is probably the wrong way to view it: this is really part of the usual business of academic refereeing.
**Added**: As long as you point out the failure to meet the length requirement, I certainly see no ethical problem with passing on whatever evaluation of the paper you want. In fact, when communicating with the editors if you think that the paper is otherwise very strong then it would be useful to say that. However, it seems to me that it is possible that the editors might decide that since the length requirements have been violated the paper will be rejected *and the authors will not receive a referee report*. Thus your careful comments are not guaranteed to be conveyed to the authors. This seems like a good argument for checking in with the editors before writing a full-blown report.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: It's not uncommon to have vague descriptions of maximum length (do references count? acknowledgments? tables? all of these can vary across conferences). Maybe the maximum length is not as you interpreted.
If you suspect that the paper is overlength, I would petition the program committee and wait for their response before putting any effort into reviewing, but I would not vote for rejection myself.
In my opinion, deciding on desk rejection is up to the editors/PC, not the reviewers. If the paper was sent out for review, I assume that it passed initial screening, but ofcourse it is possible to have slipped through the cracks.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Maximum length alone should not be a criterion for rejection. If the paper has merit, then final acceptance **should** be contingent on bringing the length down.
EDIT: Maximum length should still be within reason and often there is some flexibility for one page over the limit. If the maximum page limit is 8 pages and the paper is 15 pages, it should be rejected. For an 8 page limit, 10 pages is about the limit of what could be condensed to something less than 9 pages without losing content.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: There is only one possible answer: **Ask the Program Committee chair**. It is an almost-one-line mail:
>
> Hello Jeffy,
>
>
> one of the papers I've got to review for the ABC Congress doesn't fit in the page limit given, it's: <NAME> et al.: Study of DEF in context of XYZ, link:
> <http://sciencesconf..../link-to-the-paper-in-the-review-system>
>
>
> Should I still review it or is exceeding the length itself a reason for rejection?
>
>
> Cheers, Tom
>
>
>
It saves troubles in the thing I think. It may be fine in some conferences (when the page limit is taken loosely) and may be a problem elsewhere (when it's strict for instance because the proceedings publisher is strict about it, or for whatever reason). You can't know this, there's the PC chair to know this.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: Given that it is a conference paper, I would assume that by the time the reviewer sees it, the submission deadline has already passed. The authors would therefore not be able to submit any modifications. Hence the only viable action is to contact the chair of the program committee, as username_5 suggested.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: The rejection is not up to you. The fact that the manuscript (MS) has gone out to review despite being two long can be for two reasons: (1) the length was not spotted by the editors and was thus sent out without identifying the problem and (2) the editors know it is too long but do not think it is a problem. Now you do not know which of these apply. If you refuse to review it and number (2) is the case, you are not doing the editors any favours. If you review the MS and (1) is the case, then it is still not certain you can see what will happen since any decision is up to the editors. It is possible they will reject the MS once they know it is too long but it is also possible they will require the authors to take the reviews and both revise according to suggestions and shorten the MS to a proper length. It is of course possible they let MS through despite breaking the length.
So options are plenty. Therefore, if you think your work may be done in vain, you simply drop a line to the editors pointing out the fact that the MS is longer than expected and ask whether or not they still want you to do the review. An editor should be quite happy to respond to such a heads up mail question.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: Ask them to re-write it properly or if they refuse reject the paper. Schools work on a basis of you teach this person and **they** adhere to **you're** guidelines not vica versa. As they are opposing this is the basic contract of teaching discluding money and limitations such as not permenantly confiscating or prosecuting.
Upvotes: -1
|
2015/03/07
| 981
| 4,025
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have a question about "post-academia" personal websites. The question is open-ended and fuzzy because I am not 100% certain with what I would like to do, so I am also looking for suggestions.
Some background first.
I will soon finish my PhD and I will probably leave academia permanently for an industry job (and most likely it will not include any research). Despite leaving academia I am not abandoning my work and my academic credentials. In future (at least in the next 5-10 years) I would like to
* brand myself as a professional in the field with an emphasis on my academic contributions (I think that if someone googles my name and as the first result is listed my academic page that can only be positive for my image)
* remain open to a potential collaboration with academia (e.g. projects that my company finds interesting; reviewing papers for conferences)
* remain open to sporadically co-author papers that are related to my previous research (e.g. someone reads my paper, finds my work interesting enough to ask me to contribute to his future paper, but realises that I am not anymore in academia so gets a wrong impression that I am closed to such offers -> I would like to avoid that).
Now goes the question.
As many academics, I have a personal website with my research interests, projects, publications, and so on. I would like to retain that website, but I have no idea how to design it in the way it is sustainable and not dead for many years to come. I have seen that former researchers leave personal websites on the server of their former departments, but they look quite dead with an obsolete email as contact, old photograph, last update 10 years ago, etc.
But on the other hand, probably I will also not have any new content to fill since I will not be writing papers anymore, and my field is not like architecture where architects have websites with their portfolio even when they work for a large company.
How to design a "post-academic" website in the way it is sustainable? What content to put? Do you have any examples of successful webpages of former researchers?
Edit: I forgot to note that I have a Linkedin profile, but I don't find it as a good replacement for a personal website.
Edit 2: I'd like to make a website that is sustainable irregardless of the job and company I will work for (I expect this to change multiple times in the next 10 years).<issue_comment>username_1: So, just some thoughts:
* If you are in a field were you are allowed to show of individual work you did for various employers (or various projects for the same employer)
+ Make it a portfolio driven website. Like with the blog below you need the discipline to keep it updated, but perfect for freelancers and the like.
* If not you have two other options
+ Make it primarily a contact card, so put your contact details, name and biography up front and centre and 'hide' the more time sensitive details away.
- For example, on my [own site](http://www.apriol.com) I have removed *all* time sensitive things after realizing I wasn't keeping them up to date enough and I have a second 'secret' portfolio I update every time (once every two or three years) I need to share it.
+ Make it a personal blog discussing things in your area of expertise. If you do this however you have to be sure you will be keeping this up to date with at least a single post per four to six weeks. If you know you won't be able to keep that up, don't do this (as an out of date blog looks kinda bad).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: * Put your website on some other hosting than your university.
* Write up-to-date status and contact, perhaps with a few words of explanation (e.g. to make it clear that is not only for archival purposes).
* When it comes to rest of stuff, they can be the same. (Minding academic data and contact; when it comes to branding - it is a question for [Workplace SE](https://workplace.stackexchange.com/) and answers will depend on your profession.)
Upvotes: 4
|
2015/03/07
| 2,633
| 10,754
|
<issue_start>username_0: It's not that I cannot hold my attention - I find it a lot easier to put in sustained effort during research - literature surveys, practising derivations, and coding. I also find myself actively engaging in 1-1 (or smaller groups) discussions over long periods of time.
During lectures and seminars, it is a completely different story. I invariantly doze off within 15-20 minutes, irrespective of the content, presenter and class size. I despise it, and sincerely want to change it. Any suggestions?
**EDIT** **:** All your answers made me go through all the possible reasons for nodding off. In my case, it is most likely a case of lack of interaction (<NAME>'s answer) since I have made through with long hours of both mental and physical work for consecutive days (hence mostly not a case of sleep deprivation). Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: The first thing you need to do in order to address this issue is to understand why you are falling asleep. Since you say that you do not have difficulty focusing elsewhere, it seems likely that there is something specific about the lecture environment that is triggering your sleep. The approach to fixing it depends on the cause.
Two likely possibilities:
* If you are extremely fatigued in general, then any significant chunk of time where you are entirely passive, like in a lecture, is likely to result in you falling asleep. I had this experience as an undergraduate. The only real cure is to start sleeping more at night. Remember, you are not in a sprint, but running a marathon, and you need to pace yourself at a sustainable level.
* Packed lecture halls often have dim lights and/or higher CO2 content in the room (due to how densely packed people are), both of which are sleep-inducing for many people. If this is the case, for you, a good way to counteract it is to move your body and get your blood flowing. There are many [exercises that can be done while seated](http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/cabinair/seatedexercises.page), which will not generally be disruptive if you do them toward the back of a classroom. In some larger lecture halls, it may also be possible to actually stand in the back, behind the seats.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: If fatigue is not the issue at hand then I have found the following tactic to be helpful in graduate-level courses and research talks.
I take a few notes on *paper* with the intention of:
* identifying three important messages from the presentation;
* identifying at least one key question for the presenter.
You don't always have to ask the question but the process of identifying the question helps improve focus.
More generally, I have a small notebook that I carry to all research talks these days and the notes are valuable if I need to go find additional references, etc.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The other popular alternative to getting more sleep is **caffeine**. Coffee, green/black tea, many sodas, dark chocolate, etc. all contain caffeine.
Just remember that, though it may be socially acceptable, it is still an addictive drug. So don't overdo it...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I had issues falling asleep in some of my classes but I found the link to be that I entered these courses already in a sleepy mindset. For example, classes in which I had friends were much better because I would be hanging out with them before the class, and I'd enter the room in a more active state. Classes where I knew no one or had a long break beforehand were classes I struggled to stay awake in.
I (while completely unqualified to say) strongly believe that your brain can only be so productive throughout the day before you just kind of shut down, so I started to cut back on intense studying between lectures. Instead, I left that for when the day was winding down, so if I got burned out, it was okay.
Between classes, I would be sure to eat well and spend time doing productive things that would not burn me out, such as making study schedules, cleaning my dorm, reassuring my parents that I was still alive...etc. Anything that would take minimal mental energy, but would lessen distractions or otherwise improve my productivity later on.
Conserving mental energy was a big thing for me, as was eating properly and *avoiding* caffeine dependency. I did find, however, that when I needed a quick jolt to wake me up...nothing would do it like a single sip of Coke. I quickly realize that it wasn't even the sugar or caffeine, it was the carbonation. I replaced it with seltzer and when my buddies in my 8am Physics lab thought I was nuts...well, maybe, but I was *wide* awake instantly.
This is all very personal fixes to my issues with falling asleep, but I hope some are helpful.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: [Make sure you get enough exercise](http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/study-physical-activity-impacts-overall-quality-sleep). Young people need to do at least 30 minutes of intensive exercise at least 5 times per week. If you don't do this regularly already, you may not have the physical fitness to start doing this rightaway, you then need to start slowly with exercise and gradually build up your fitnness levels so that you can run for half an hour without gasping for air.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Since you invariably falls asleep during lectures, and not when you are doing any other actively engaging/interacting work, I presumed you are not overtired, or lacking of sleep. Most likely you lack interaction. Whenever you talk to someone, you will not fall asleep. So when the lecturer are talking, it is very often I take down notes. And there are two kinds of notes - just like different ways of talking to the lecturer.
If I already understood what he said: you can often see me dropping down QUESTIONS which I want elaborate further - likely to be on my own, or with hime/someone else.
If he covered some topics / area which I am not familiar, I will try to understand at a high level (if I were to zoom in understanding every word he said - it is not fruitful), and perhaps summarized as one word or two what he said - which I will explore further after the lectures.
Through these two types of notes, often it can sometimes be overwhelming as I try to concentrate listening + writing at the same time - strike a balance for yourself.
Another way? In the past I used to use my handphone, mp3 recorder etc to record the lecturer teaching, but that required you to seat in front.
SITTING IN FRONT does help too - as I find myself more likely to interact (with lecturers) through asking questions.
My past lecturer also encourage questioning - intelligently posed, which will score points. And so all of us are encouraged to engage in actively making remarks, asking questions to further our understanding. Once in a while some chocolate bars are offered for the highest numbers of questions asked, or best questions posed (some times very subjective, so difficult to judge).
Update:
I used to have lectures at 2.00pm too, and that is after lunch hours. As I invariably will fall asleep after a heavy meal, I did TWO things:
1. I jogged at 12 noon under the sun in the stadium, or you can go swimming. All these is to build up the short period of alertness after exercising.
2. Since you don't eat before exercising, that's good. And after exercising, have a small meal - 80% full usually will mean sleepiness after a short while, but 30% to 50% full usually I can stay awake for at least 4 or 5 hours. Many times I can skip lunch altogether, just to make sure I stay awake throughout the entire lectures.
Another new way for the electronic geek :
Recently, since I had a new Nexus 7 7" tablet with me, I found it extremely useful. I was listening to a lot of different talks (in a Conference), and many times the technically advanced speaker will mumble something which I don't understand or know of. Instead of writing down some keywords to be explored later, I entered into Google the keywords, out came the many search results as answer INSTANTLY. It helped me to understand IMMEDIATELY the outline ideas, but more important - I just enter "star" button and this search results is remembered as a favorited page. The list of the favorited pages exported out as HTML can be easily imported anywhere to be explored further just by clicking.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_7: I think the best idea is to sit in the **first row**. You will have to move your head and eyes a lot more during lectures which will keep you a lot more alert. I'm sure the body also releases stress hormones to prevent the awkwardness of sleeping in the first row, or there is some other psychology behind it, but it certainly always helped me.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: This simple way to stay awake (but not necessarily alert) worked for me in night school: chew gum.
Even though I was not paying attention, giving me some kind of action instead of sitting completely passive kept me awake more than cups of coffee.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: You might want to get tested for sleep apnea. (See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apnea> for lots of information about it.) The essential point is that you could be getting far less sleep than you think, so no wonder you get sleepy. I had sleep apnea for a long time before it was diagnosed; once it was diagnosed it was quite easy to treat.
I'd also endorse the suggestion in one of the other answers to take notes, but only after making sure there isn't a medical problem.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Standing instead of sitting is what got me through the lectures in Navy Nuclear Power School. Note taking was mandatory (your advisor checked your notes weekly) but I could fall asleep while writing.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_11: Here's my trick: I find someone else who's falling asleep, and watch them desperately trying to stay awake. It's usually hilarious. This, of course, introduces a new problem: not laughing out loud during the lecture.
Generally the hilarity wakes me up enough that I can return my attention to the speaker.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: Although most has been already said in this thread, There is something that gets me through lengthy conferences and/or block lectures, which I did not see yet mentioned. I found hydrating and fresh air and sunlight to be the best friends. Use the breaks to get your blood pumping, so you can stay alert. Also avoid caffeine as you might get pretty soon accustomed to it and then it is not helping any more. When air is not helping, try to have a little power nap (about ten minutes) before the lecture in question.
Upvotes: 0
|
2015/03/07
| 2,520
| 10,310
|
<issue_start>username_0: I realize there are different forms that a qualifying exam can take in CS / ECE PhD programs.
*In departments where this does not take the form of a comprehensive written exam*:
* What is the role that the qualifying exam fulfills in the PhD program in your department?
* What is the approach taken in your department?
* What are the perceived advantages / weaknesses of the approach?<issue_comment>username_1: The first thing you need to do in order to address this issue is to understand why you are falling asleep. Since you say that you do not have difficulty focusing elsewhere, it seems likely that there is something specific about the lecture environment that is triggering your sleep. The approach to fixing it depends on the cause.
Two likely possibilities:
* If you are extremely fatigued in general, then any significant chunk of time where you are entirely passive, like in a lecture, is likely to result in you falling asleep. I had this experience as an undergraduate. The only real cure is to start sleeping more at night. Remember, you are not in a sprint, but running a marathon, and you need to pace yourself at a sustainable level.
* Packed lecture halls often have dim lights and/or higher CO2 content in the room (due to how densely packed people are), both of which are sleep-inducing for many people. If this is the case, for you, a good way to counteract it is to move your body and get your blood flowing. There are many [exercises that can be done while seated](http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/cabinair/seatedexercises.page), which will not generally be disruptive if you do them toward the back of a classroom. In some larger lecture halls, it may also be possible to actually stand in the back, behind the seats.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: If fatigue is not the issue at hand then I have found the following tactic to be helpful in graduate-level courses and research talks.
I take a few notes on *paper* with the intention of:
* identifying three important messages from the presentation;
* identifying at least one key question for the presenter.
You don't always have to ask the question but the process of identifying the question helps improve focus.
More generally, I have a small notebook that I carry to all research talks these days and the notes are valuable if I need to go find additional references, etc.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The other popular alternative to getting more sleep is **caffeine**. Coffee, green/black tea, many sodas, dark chocolate, etc. all contain caffeine.
Just remember that, though it may be socially acceptable, it is still an addictive drug. So don't overdo it...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I had issues falling asleep in some of my classes but I found the link to be that I entered these courses already in a sleepy mindset. For example, classes in which I had friends were much better because I would be hanging out with them before the class, and I'd enter the room in a more active state. Classes where I knew no one or had a long break beforehand were classes I struggled to stay awake in.
I (while completely unqualified to say) strongly believe that your brain can only be so productive throughout the day before you just kind of shut down, so I started to cut back on intense studying between lectures. Instead, I left that for when the day was winding down, so if I got burned out, it was okay.
Between classes, I would be sure to eat well and spend time doing productive things that would not burn me out, such as making study schedules, cleaning my dorm, reassuring my parents that I was still alive...etc. Anything that would take minimal mental energy, but would lessen distractions or otherwise improve my productivity later on.
Conserving mental energy was a big thing for me, as was eating properly and *avoiding* caffeine dependency. I did find, however, that when I needed a quick jolt to wake me up...nothing would do it like a single sip of Coke. I quickly realize that it wasn't even the sugar or caffeine, it was the carbonation. I replaced it with seltzer and when my buddies in my 8am Physics lab thought I was nuts...well, maybe, but I was *wide* awake instantly.
This is all very personal fixes to my issues with falling asleep, but I hope some are helpful.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: [Make sure you get enough exercise](http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/study-physical-activity-impacts-overall-quality-sleep). Young people need to do at least 30 minutes of intensive exercise at least 5 times per week. If you don't do this regularly already, you may not have the physical fitness to start doing this rightaway, you then need to start slowly with exercise and gradually build up your fitnness levels so that you can run for half an hour without gasping for air.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Since you invariably falls asleep during lectures, and not when you are doing any other actively engaging/interacting work, I presumed you are not overtired, or lacking of sleep. Most likely you lack interaction. Whenever you talk to someone, you will not fall asleep. So when the lecturer are talking, it is very often I take down notes. And there are two kinds of notes - just like different ways of talking to the lecturer.
If I already understood what he said: you can often see me dropping down QUESTIONS which I want elaborate further - likely to be on my own, or with hime/someone else.
If he covered some topics / area which I am not familiar, I will try to understand at a high level (if I were to zoom in understanding every word he said - it is not fruitful), and perhaps summarized as one word or two what he said - which I will explore further after the lectures.
Through these two types of notes, often it can sometimes be overwhelming as I try to concentrate listening + writing at the same time - strike a balance for yourself.
Another way? In the past I used to use my handphone, mp3 recorder etc to record the lecturer teaching, but that required you to seat in front.
SITTING IN FRONT does help too - as I find myself more likely to interact (with lecturers) through asking questions.
My past lecturer also encourage questioning - intelligently posed, which will score points. And so all of us are encouraged to engage in actively making remarks, asking questions to further our understanding. Once in a while some chocolate bars are offered for the highest numbers of questions asked, or best questions posed (some times very subjective, so difficult to judge).
Update:
I used to have lectures at 2.00pm too, and that is after lunch hours. As I invariably will fall asleep after a heavy meal, I did TWO things:
1. I jogged at 12 noon under the sun in the stadium, or you can go swimming. All these is to build up the short period of alertness after exercising.
2. Since you don't eat before exercising, that's good. And after exercising, have a small meal - 80% full usually will mean sleepiness after a short while, but 30% to 50% full usually I can stay awake for at least 4 or 5 hours. Many times I can skip lunch altogether, just to make sure I stay awake throughout the entire lectures.
Another new way for the electronic geek :
Recently, since I had a new Nexus 7 7" tablet with me, I found it extremely useful. I was listening to a lot of different talks (in a Conference), and many times the technically advanced speaker will mumble something which I don't understand or know of. Instead of writing down some keywords to be explored later, I entered into Google the keywords, out came the many search results as answer INSTANTLY. It helped me to understand IMMEDIATELY the outline ideas, but more important - I just enter "star" button and this search results is remembered as a favorited page. The list of the favorited pages exported out as HTML can be easily imported anywhere to be explored further just by clicking.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_7: I think the best idea is to sit in the **first row**. You will have to move your head and eyes a lot more during lectures which will keep you a lot more alert. I'm sure the body also releases stress hormones to prevent the awkwardness of sleeping in the first row, or there is some other psychology behind it, but it certainly always helped me.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: This simple way to stay awake (but not necessarily alert) worked for me in night school: chew gum.
Even though I was not paying attention, giving me some kind of action instead of sitting completely passive kept me awake more than cups of coffee.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: You might want to get tested for sleep apnea. (See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apnea> for lots of information about it.) The essential point is that you could be getting far less sleep than you think, so no wonder you get sleepy. I had sleep apnea for a long time before it was diagnosed; once it was diagnosed it was quite easy to treat.
I'd also endorse the suggestion in one of the other answers to take notes, but only after making sure there isn't a medical problem.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Standing instead of sitting is what got me through the lectures in Navy Nuclear Power School. Note taking was mandatory (your advisor checked your notes weekly) but I could fall asleep while writing.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_11: Here's my trick: I find someone else who's falling asleep, and watch them desperately trying to stay awake. It's usually hilarious. This, of course, introduces a new problem: not laughing out loud during the lecture.
Generally the hilarity wakes me up enough that I can return my attention to the speaker.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: Although most has been already said in this thread, There is something that gets me through lengthy conferences and/or block lectures, which I did not see yet mentioned. I found hydrating and fresh air and sunlight to be the best friends. Use the breaks to get your blood pumping, so you can stay alert. Also avoid caffeine as you might get pretty soon accustomed to it and then it is not helping any more. When air is not helping, try to have a little power nap (about ten minutes) before the lecture in question.
Upvotes: 0
|
2015/03/07
| 2,658
| 9,047
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have been involved in a number of large-ish research consortia usually with 10 or more groups, with each group containing 2 or more individuals. Some have originated from computer science, others engineering, and even the social sciences. In general all have contained partners from a variety of disciplines.
I'm curious as to how large mathematics research projects tend to be? Do they tend to be smaller, with individuals rather than research groups and/or subject matter experts involved. Are there any mathematical research associates out there that could offer insight into this please?
*EDIT:* Just to clarify, if P is a project, the "size" of P I'm interested in is:
```
|P|=Total number of people involved.
```<issue_comment>username_1: It's rare for a large number of mathematicians to collaborate on a single project. The vast majority of mathematics papers have 1, 2 or 3 authors.
Using the techniques described in [Getting a dump of arXiv metadata](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/38969/getting-a-dump-of-arxiv-metadata), I downloaded metadata for all the `math` preprints on arXiv, and had a script count the number of authors. I got the following results:
```
251459 papers
0 authors: 1 papers 0.0004%
1 authors: 101926 papers 40.5338%
2 authors: 89630 papers 35.6440%
3 authors: 43290 papers 17.2155%
4 authors: 12555 papers 4.9929%
5 authors: 2949 papers 1.1728%
6 authors: 700 papers 0.2784%
7 authors: 216 papers 0.0859%
8 authors: 102 papers 0.0406%
9 authors: 40 papers 0.0159%
10 authors: 14 papers 0.0056%
11 authors: 9 papers 0.0036%
12 authors: 7 papers 0.0028%
13 authors: 4 papers 0.0016%
14 authors: 2 papers 0.0008%
15 authors: 3 papers 0.0012%
16 authors: 2 papers 0.0008%
20 authors: 1 papers 0.0004%
22 authors: 3 papers 0.0012%
23 authors: 1 papers 0.0004%
28 authors: 1 papers 0.0004%
37 authors: 1 papers 0.0004%
60 authors: 1 papers 0.0004%
67 authors: 1 papers 0.0004%
```
I took a look at some of the outliers. Some are ordinary papers but some are other kinds of collective works. Note that some appear to be cross-listed under other arXiv sections.
* [0 authors: arXiv:1005.0836](http://arxiv.org/abs/1005.0836) (placeholder for a preprint deleted because it was a duplicate)
* [20 authors: arXiv:1011.1764](http://arxiv.org/abs/1011.1764) (regular paper)
* [22 authors: arXiv:1403.2953](http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.2953) (review article)
* [22 authors: arXiv:1501.02155](http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.02155) (regular paper, computer-aided proof project)
* [22 authors: arXiv:cs/9909001](http://arxiv.org/abs/cs/9909001) (report on the results of a workshop)
* [23 authors: arXiv:quant-ph/0701168](http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0701168) (regular paper)
* [28 authors: arXiv:1009.4134](http://arxiv.org/abs/1009.4134) (regular paper)
* [37 authors: arXiv:1001.4737](http://arxiv.org/abs/1001.4737) (regular paper but seems closer to physics)
* [60 authors: arXiv:math/0406190](http://arxiv.org/abs/math/0406190) (list of open problems collected from a workshop)
* [67 authors: arXiv:1410.0719](http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.0719) (extended abstracts from a conference)
To the asker: There may be some ambiguity here based on what we think of as a "project" and "people involved", and how research is conducted in our fields. As a mathematician, I think of a "project" as a concerted effort by a researcher, or group of researchers, actively working to resolve a specific mathematical question. If this effort is successful, it normally results in one or more published papers (sometimes three or four, but usually not dozens), and all the researchers who significantly contributed to the solution will be authors of those papers. If it's a two-author paper, then there really were only two people working on that project. (Of course, there could have been other unrelated groups working on the same question, or something closely related, but they would normally publish separately.) So to me, there is a pretty close correspondence between "project" and "paper".
You might also find this question interesting: [How do mathematicians conduct research?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/34038/1010)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on what you mean by "projects", but there are both large and small ones.
There are both casual collaborations between two or three individuals, which translate to a single paper, and which can be funded individually (there are grants as small as 1k USD or less, the money for a single visit or a conference participation), and larger ones that can let you hire multiple people for several years (e.g., the EU grants called ERC, which can give six-digit amounts).
I have also seen even larger "projects", but they were usually structured as mini-funding agencies, giving out their funding to smaller individual research endeavours.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Are you asking about projects or papers? (You could measure how big a project is in person-hours, people/project, actual time/project, etc.) What I think of a project may be something spanning many years (possibly most of one's career) with lots of different papers, possibly with different sets of coauthors, or it could be a single standalone paper, or something that never turns into a paper at all. I would guess that most published research papers are pieces of a larger project that the investigator(s) are working on. For example, this is probably true for 2/3rds or 3/4th of my papers, depending how you count. The reason is because math is hard, and one typically can't prove what one hopes right away.
If you just are asking about number of people on papers this is easier to answer. There are two papers of <NAME> just about math publications you may find interesting, though the information is a bit dated (particularly compared to Nate's answer, but using Mathematical Reviews data, which is more representative than the arXiv):
* [Patterns of Collaboration in Mathematical Research](https://www.siam.org/pdf/news/485.pdf)
* [Patterns of Research in Mathematics](http://www.ams.org/notices/200501/fea-grossman.pdf)
These study things like trends in the number of coauthors and variation by field. For example, from Table 3 in the first article the average number of authors/paper went from 1.1 in the 1940's to 1.63 in the 1990's, and the number of 3+ author papers went from 1% to 13%. See also Figure 6 of the second article which has a graph. Table 3 of the second article, breaks things down by section classifications (which are subjective, but still instructive). Here is a sample from that table:
```
Section #authors/paper 2+ authors 3+authors
CS 1.77 53% 17.7%
Combinatorics 1.64 46% 17.7%
Statistics 1.56 45% 8.7%
Geometry 1.34 28% 4.9%
Number Theory 1.32 26% 5.0%
```
Note these numbers are for papers in between 1980 and 1999, so I suspect the numbers should be considerably higher now, based on the upward trends in Grossman's papers and just from what I personally see in Number Theory. This is also supported by the data from Nate's answer.
**(Edit)** I just remembered [this paper](http://arxiv.org/abs/1203.5158) (with 8 authors) which has more recent data than Grossman's (going up to 2009). See Figs 2a and 3a, from which it's clear that there's more collaboration in applied areas. The most recent data in there gives about 2.2 authors/paper for applied math and 1.8 for pure math. (End edit.)
For a comparative study across different disciplines, [his paper of Newman](http://www.pnas.org/content/101/suppl_1/5200.full) is perhaps the most well known (at least to me) study. From Table 1 we see
```
discipline avg #authors/paper
biology 3.75
physics 2.53
math 1.45
```
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: How common it is for mathematicians to be officially organized in structured projects varies a lot, depending on the country, the institution, and the type of mathematics.
For pure mathematics in U.S. universities, there's practically no notion of named projects or consortia. Just about everyone is an individual researcher, including graduate students. You may have short or long-term collaborations, and it's common to write papers together, but there are no formal organizations behind the collaborations. Even if a funding agency conceives of a grant as funding a specific project with PIs in charge of a group, it's not likely to be described this way in casual communication among mathematicians. You might say "Smith and I have been working a lot on widget optimization recently", but you wouldn't describe it as the WIDGEMAX project.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I spent a bit of time in France and in the USA. I observed that there are many more awards given to students and academics in the US than there are in France. Is that observation correct, and if so what accounts for it?
---
Examples:
Grade awards in the US:
* University of Chicago Student Marshal
* Dean’s List
Student research awards in the US:
* <NAME>. and <NAME>
* Jin Au Kong Thesis Award
* <NAME> PhD thesis award
* <NAME> Memorial Master's Thesis Award
Teaching awards in the US:
* [MIT Inspirational Teacher Award](http://inspire.mit.edu/)
* <NAME> Memorial Award
* <NAME> Award
* Graduate Student Council Teaching Awards<issue_comment>username_1: I have half french kids and I have spent a lot of my life in France and in the Midwest. The answer is easy - culture.
Americans love recognizing everything. Participation awards, so many awards that anyone that is pretty good at something will surely get one. My 4th grader at the time got a ribbon for 4th place in a race and his French grandmother said, "Why?" She didn't even understand it.
In France if you win something you are really at the top of your game and its a big deal. They generally don't placate to keeping self-esteem high, even with children. Things are more regulated, committees generally mean something and there isn't a lot of duplication. Now I see this slowly changing in France over the years and it becoming more westernized.
Your answer is just, different culture. England is a bit the same as America except they seem to have accreditation companies and societies that also allow you to "pay" for an award.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In the US, its common to try and award as many participants as possible. This trend hasn't gone [unnoticed in the US either](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-sigman/when-everyone-gets-a-trop_b_1431319.html).
Usually this trend is blamed on one of two things - raising self-esteem of the participant, and need to show achievement to be accepted into a prestigious school or college.
In America, its pretty common for families to enroll their young children (middle school and younger) into summer sports teams. As these teams are meant more as a family bonding experience, several hand out participation and superlative trophies to encourage families to sign up next summer.
The other recent I hear less often is that most universities expect to see extra-curricular activities, and winning an award is better than simply participating. Therefore parents may expect (or demand) their child be awarded in some way. Sports and other clubs have responded by simply adding more awards.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: This question is motivated by the movie [Whiplash](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582802/) which justifies the abusive behavior of a teacher by the future success of the student. The idea is that if a student fails to become fanatically driven to the degree that (s)he ignores/survives/enjoys teacher's abuse, then (s)he is no potential genius and his/her departure from the field is no loss to the field and Humanity.
Science is, of course, very different from music (which is the subject of the movie), e.g., they have very different [Lorenz curves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenz_curve). I.e., a Ph.D. in Physics at the 50th percentile in his class can still have a decent professional life. In Music, he will probably drop out of the field (like the drummer who switched to medicine in the movie).
Still, I wonder what influence abusive professors (e.g., [Landau](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Landau)) could have on science. We will never know, of course, of any potential Einsteins who left the field because they were mistreated by their thesis advisors, but we might be able to find circumstantial evidence.
Statistical evidence: are there any studies correlating students' success with teachers' personality at the **high** end of the spectrum? (I.e., *very* talented graduate students, *very* famous professors, success is measured in Nobel Prizes or something similar).
Anecdotal evidence: are there any examples of students leaving their advisors because of abuse and still achieving great success in science?
PS. Please note that the important point here is the *high* end of the spectrum (i.e., not elementary school, and not even college). The critical aspect of the question is that the teacher can claim that he is the *senior colleague* of the student, and that their common interest is *advancing the field* rather than *educating the student*.<issue_comment>username_1: Because of the way our systems work, at the top end of the distribution in fame, you will find people who are not only very good, but who also strongly desire to be famous and are very skilled self-promoters. The market is simply too large for people to rise to the very top without that being the case. And that means [they are more likely to be abusers as well](http://thenarcissistinyourlife.com/the-rise-of-high-level-socialized-sociopaths/).
Sufficient abuse, academic or otherwise, can destroy any person.
Abuse can also help the abuser, by allowing them to effectively exploit other people... and that in turn might help those who survive (or who also learn to profit from the strategies of abuse), because they have a famous supervisor.
So: abuse can be profitable to the abusers and their chosen disciples, but it's a bad deal for the rest of the human beings they interact with and should be resisted at every turn.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Abuse of the wrong kind, at the wrong time, can break anyone.
I spent grades 3-7 fighting a near-total writing block, literally unable to put more than a sentence or two on paper though I was reading far above my grade. Driven into it by one abusive teacher whom I had made the mistake of correcting; brought out of it by one exceptional special-ed teacher who was able to give me assignments designed to gradually pierce that defensive shell.
I don't think that's the question you were asking, though.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Movies are *intentionally* fantasy. You certainly should not interpret them as telling you the truth about much of anything.
"Genius" and "talent" are mostly movie fantasy. The literary "chosen one" is not a real thing.
Anyone can experience a sudden mental illness. "Broken" is the wrong word to describe that. They are just sick, and they may get better. Abuse might cause that illness, but it can also happen with no know cause.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Let me start by giving my opinion ( I do not think your question has one answer, correct or otherwise) from your last point.
You mention that statistical evidence suggests that talented students come from famous teachers, and it is these elites who get the Nobel prize. Yes, it is true. But it is not just because of the so-called 'genius' qualities. Nobel prize committee does not confer its prize by using some heavenly mechanism which shows them the best candidate. Winning a Nobel prize not only requires a lot of hard work but *more* importantly requires lobbying. Being able to find other top researchers in that area who can give letters supporting you. And that is where this game changes.
By working with a famous professor, you get a headstart in forming those connections. You get to work in those areas that those "top" researchers consider the most important. You get evaluated by the 'best', 'cited' by the best and you get to collaborate with the 'best'. I hope you get the underlying reason behind the statistics, which you refer to. Geniuses are created in the minds of the observers and commentators, not in the labs. Not every deserving researcher is celebrated. You need to be a salesman too, to be called a 'genius'. And this is true for all professions.
Now coming to the main part of your question. Abuse in any form should be unacceptable, even at the price of success. No one has the right to abuse anyone. Being a genius is less important than being a good human. As a society, we need to start rewarding only 'geniuses' who are good human beings.
I have been scolded by my supervisor (who is no genius) but with the sole intention of helping me. And that is not abuse, that is a gift because the truth was conveyed to me. I became confident, better. The supervisor would think for hours before giving his harsh opinion and would do it in a professional manner.
Then, I have also had a supervisor who was selfish to the core and would only look for his academic interest and exploit me, borderline abuse me. And that man is considered a gem in my university because of his tall accomplishments. After working with him for close to 2 years, I confronted him over a trivial matter. I decided to stand up. It just had to be done once, and his demeanor changed. I wish I had spoken up at least a year ago, I would have flourished more in my Ph.D. as it was only after that moment that I could really enjoy my work.
So, one must determine if the strict demeanor of the supervisor is genuine or if it is totally selfish. And if it is abuse, then it is totally unacceptable. If they abuse for pleasure, it is the worst kind. If someone is accepting abuse in such a scenario, in the hope that it would make them a good researcher, it is akin to prostitution.
Also, note that there are examples of 'genius' students who never meet their supervisors during their Ph.D. study and won Nobel prizes. Science is above everything. And you as a person are more important than science.
Our society is changing. For example, more women are in the industry at least in Europe, the Americas, and most parts of Asia Pacific. Now mental health is important. We had a me-too movement. In a changing society, it is time that bullying, even by the "genius" is not accepted.
And, IMHO, movies are the last place to look for answers or form opinions.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'll be applying to graduate schools in the fall but so far don't have any real clue what area I want to focus on. As such, I hope to attend a very large math graduate program with a lot of varied research going on so that there are many avenues I can explore. I also worry that if I attend a small or midsize graduate school, I may come to find out that my true passion is in an topic for which there are no suitable advisers. I also think I'd fit in *much* better in a larger department.
I'm interested in a list of PhD math programs by number of students. So I've done some googling, but I can't find any relavant results. **What are the largest math graduate programs in the US?**<issue_comment>username_1: In general, the state universities have much larger programs. There is a very strong correlation between the size of the school, the size of the math department, and the size of the math graduate program. For example, Ohio State has over 60 000 students over all their campuses and if I remember correctly, nearly 200 grad students in math and faculty in nearly every area. Look up the largest universities, and they will be very likely to have the largest programs.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The AMS has [this help](http://www.ams.org/programs/students/findgradprograms/findgradprograms) for those searching graduate schools.
For "size" you can use the statistic "Number of PhDs awarded in the last 3 years" which is included. For example, I found that the champion was U.C.Berkeley, with 83 PhDs
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: As has been pointed out by Johanna, there is a strong correlation between the size of a university and the size of the math department (because basically every student in a university has to take some kind of math course), and by consequence with the size of the graduate program. But the better correlation is actually between the size of the *engineering program of a university* and the size of its math departments because engineering students have to take *multiple* math courses.
This explains why universities such as Ohio State, Michigan State, Texas A&M, etc, have such large math departments -- they are very large engineering schools. A general rule of thumb is that in most states, the University of X has a larger liberal arts program and a smaller engineering program, whereas the X State University has it reverse (due to their heritage as land grant universities). The names of the X State University are not always uniform (as in the case of Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech) but often are (in the cases of Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Oklahoma, for example).
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: When I had just started my PhD in Computer Science in Korea, a Physics PhD student in the EU proposed a collaboration. He and I wrote one paper for a conference. I learned last week that the paper was accepted. He is first author. I am second author.
I did not tell my professor about this project even though he was my supervisor then. I mentioned it to my professor recently. He became very angry. He asked me to remove my name from the paper. He said that all my work represents his lab and my university. I shouldn't conduct other work.
**My professor's points**
* The collaboration should be done between supervisors. (My professor's background and interest do not fit with my coauthor.)
* Another issue is none of us can present the paper at that time, asking someone for authorship is acceptable for this situation?
**My question**
How can I mend things with my professor and continue to collaborate with my coauthor?<issue_comment>username_1: **Decode your professor first**
* If this is a *scientific* disagreement, then you should try to have a scientific discussion with him and perhaps the other author.
* If this is your supervisor's indirect/cryptic way of saying that he cannot pay for this, look for other means of funding. Perhaps your university has a general travel fund. At worst, you may have to sit this conference out. Anecdotally, I have seen many formerly well-funded professors who project their anger at their shrinking budgets onto students in situations like this.
* If this is an *interpersonal conflict*, then you have to decide whether the tension results from miscommunication or deeper differences. As @O.R. Mapper says, a PhD student is learning how to conduct independent research. Shockingly, that involves the student taking initiative.
**Tread lightly**
We all have to deal with irate superiors from time to time. If you two cannot have a civil conversation about this, work around him until things cool off. (See the general travel fund above.) Is there an ombudsperson? Can someone from your committee who is at your supervisors level mediate?
**Mind the politics**
Invoking [Sayre's law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayre%27s_law), politics in academia can be stupidly vicious, especially if the issue involves people at different levels in the hierarchy. It is wise to recognize if your supervisor is playing power politics and wiser to recognize if supervisors you might go to tend to do the same thing. You wouldn't want to win the battle but lose the war.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It's reasonable for your professor to want some input as to how you spend your time, and it's customary for students to keep their advisors informed about other things they are working on. You have perhaps committed a slight breach of etiquette by not telling him about this project earlier.
However, in my view, it is deeply inappropriate for him to ask you to take your name off the paper. He is your advisor but he doesn't own your life. You have done the work and as an academic it is your right to publish it. An interaction like this would have me thinking about looking for a new advisor, quick.
If the professor has technical concerns about the quality of the paper itself and thinks that it is not ready to appear in the scientific/academic record, then he should discuss this with you, and you should share those concerns with your coauthor and come to a decision on their merits. But I feel it's not appropriate for your professor's reputation to be part of that conversation - just decide whether the paper is good and publishable or not.
Your second question is unrelated but I'll address it here anyway. Do not add another person as author (your advisor or anyone else) just so they can present it at the conference. In order to be an author, a person must have made a significant intellectual contribution to the work, and it's unethical to "gift" authorship for any other reason.
In many cases, conferences allow a paper to be presented by someone other than an author. So if you know someone who is attending the conference and willing to present your paper, they may be able to do it without you unethically making them an author. But if the conference really requires one of the authors to attend and neither of you can, then I suppose all you can do is withdraw your paper and resubmit to a conference which you can attend.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Well, you are dealing with politics, cultural habits, and Asian values all at the same time. He is thinking you should be working for him ALL the time. And having the Asian/Confucian values as their background: respect for seniors and authority is more important than being right or wrong. Or whatever...better not to have too much assumptions about others' thinking.
So solution should be quick and easy: if he want your name removed, either continue with another pseudo-name + email, or retain your name + not using the university email, just your personal email will do. Since this is done without using any of the University's resources, you have the right to retain your name as well, and remove all obvious link back to the University. This is not being dishonest, but your right to do things outside your "working hours".
Ok, if you really want to be honest, just follow whatever he said, and showed him nothing has been done externally. But in the background, just maintained your relationship with your collaborators. Many times in life, a paper is often read and forgotten - good ones are few and rare. But your relationship with other people matters most - in future, you may even coauthor many more papers with your existing supervisor + the "illegitimate" partner after you have completed your PhD.
Bottomlines is always: BRIGHT IDEAS that matters most. A name (in the paper) is just for eternity sake (or may be not): it is not as important as the content of the paper. These contents/bright ideas, are always a result of a cordial collaboration / interaction among people - and you should aim for that, actively working towards perfection.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I will throw out another opinion here: if your supervisor was paying you to work on his research agenda, it is unethical and unprofessional to instead work on something different without telling him. Likely the money came out of a hard-won research grant that specifically stipulated the type of project you were to work on, and your advisor will be on the hook with the funding agency when the project doesn't deliver.
Even if the supervisor gave up nothing but his time training and mentoring you, there was still an expectation that you would work in good faith on the project the two of you discussed.
That said, what's done is done. Taking your name off of the paper is not an appropriate fix, nor is adding your supervisor's name gratuitously. Have a candid talk with your supervisor, ask him for his specific concerns and how he suggests you make things right, and in the future strive to keep communication more open so that a similar situation does not arise.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> He is your advisor but he doesn't own your life. – username_2
>
>
> Professors/supervisors do not own people like their pet turtle. – Greg
>
>
> Your adviser is a jerk, regardless of culture. This is 2015, not 1895. – gnometorule
>
>
>
I don't think there is such a thing as "regardless of culture". The world is very diverse and sadly, the English-speaking Internet tends to forget that.
---
As you may have noticed, the hierarchy is very strong in Korean society. Your professor may not "own" you, but he is both older than you *and* hierarchically above you. As such, you owe him respect. In theory, if he gives you an order, you have to comply, whether you like it or not. If he asks you to come work on a weekend or late at night, you have to. In practice, rules are more relaxed for foreigners, who are not expected to know all these cultural details, but I suggest you be aware of them to avoid any mistake!
What you really have to remember is that *you and your professor are not equal*. In all situations, your professor dictates what is right and what is not, what you should do and what you should not.
That being said, there are (mainly) two kind of professors:
1. Your professor is from an older generation and / or he is a reputed researcher in his field. This kind of individual tends to be *very* traditional and *very* finicky on "proper respect". If this is the kind of professor you have, I strongly advise: **do not displease him**. Just obey. Lie if you have to, but *do not* go against him in any way, the consequences may get way out of proportion. I am serious!
2. Your professor is more understanding and used to dealing with foreigners. First, start with an apology and try to explain the situation with him: you didn't know you were not allowed to do what you did, and that you will refrain from doing it without his approval in the future (again, lie if you want to, just try to not offend him). He will probably listen to you (but it's unlikely that he will change his mind anyway) and move on. Perhaps try negotiating a collaboration with him and the other author's supervisor.
So, in short:
>
> How can I mend things with my professor and continue to collaborate with my coauthor?
>
>
>
Make an apology, do (or say you will do) what your professor wants, and continue collaborating *discretely*. Do not get caught again and do never mention any external research again. If asked about it, feel free to lie if needed. It is OK to say something and do the opposite, the only important thing is to not show disrespect.
This may sound stupid or senseless to foreigners, but this is how things work, whether you like it or not. Hopefully, it will change over time, and in fact, it is already changing, albeit slowly.
Hope that helps.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing an undergraduate dissertation and I have found some very good information from lecture handouts from other universities.
Will using these lecture notes compared to official publications or other dissertations reflect my dissertation in a bad light?
Of course I will source everything.<issue_comment>username_1: You probably shouldn't source a concept key to your thesis from some unreviewed, posted on some website lecture notes. If the concept turns out to be wrong, the data unreproducible, or anything else comes up, your entire dissertation could be called into question.
Your best bet is to try to find a textbook or peer-reviewed publication which the author used to create the lecture notes and cite that. Look in the notes themselves for references, and then look at the publications of the author of the notes. If you don't find something in one of those places, write the author and ask them for something citable. Also, start searching the internet for related concepts. You might even ask a professional librarian at your institution for help tracking down a good source.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I firmly believe that one should cite what one has used... and possibly more. To use a source and not cite it is simply dishonest and fails to give credit where it is due. At the same time, yes, one *also* wants official credibility, which usually entails citing refereed-journal publications (although the latter is not a promise of correctness, either). If nothing else, citing refereed-journal publications is *expected*, so doing it is doing what one is expected to do.
(Lecture notes are not always mere echoing of textbooks or journal articles.)
So, cite both the actual source you used, and find "cite-able" sources to accompany, so you'll be both honest (and explanatory) and "formally correct".
Upvotes: 3
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2015/03/09
| 1,174
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<issue_start>username_0: In my department, PhD admissions and funding are two separate processes, which means many PhD students are admitted even if there is no funding for them. To be admitted, an applicant typically needs to impress a faculty member enough to want them to take the applicant on as a student (which means this faculty member becomes the applicant's advisor, if they decide to accept the offer of admission). To get funding, an applicant need to impress at least one of the several faculty members who controls a training grant enough to want them to offer the applicant a slot on the grant. It is very uncommon (if not impossible) for any PhD student to receive funding outside of a training grant via an RA, TA, or other source, at least in the 1st year.
As such, it is fairly common for a professor who wants a particular student to join the department as their advisee to lobby for the student with one of the training grant directors. This is particularly true in cases where the student of interest has communicated that they have a funded offer from a rival department and will likely not consider our department without a similar funding offer being extended.
Because of this practice, a difficult situation sometimes arises when funded students want to switch into a research area that is still within the scope of their training grant but not within the scope of their advisors' interests. Because both areas fall within the goals of their grant, these students are not risking their funding by switching (although they may be risking an additional year of PhD studies, depending on how late they switch). However, because their initial advisors usually had a large role in helping them secure funding, they are hesitant to make the switch out of a feeling of obligation to their advisor (e.g., "Dr. Z did a lot of work recruiting me and helping me get a funded offer, so I feel bad leaving her").
In situations where funding is not directly tied to one's advisor (but may be indirectly tied to them), what obligations does the student have to their advisor? Should the student feel free to switch advisors if they discover that another research area appeals more to them? Are there any special considerations or etiquette protocols?<issue_comment>username_1: You should select your advisor based on your actual research interests and abilities, bearing in mind that that might not be possible given a change in funding. You should *never* maintain a relationship solely out of a feeling of guilt. However, you should carefully scrutinize your interactions with the potential abandonee, to be sure that you didn't make promises that you would now be breaking. If Professor X had a 4-year position to offer to you or an alternative student Z and you promised to see the project through to the end (which resulted in the actual offer), then that is a kind of promise / contractual relationship that should be taken very seriously. But usually, all the student knows about the matter is that they have an offer, and they are not contracting for anything long-term. It seems clear that in the situation that you describe, there is no broken promise.
The right (polite) thing to do is have a frank discussion with the faculty member, explaining your interests. It is okay to acknowledge his/her interests, but you need to hold fast to your own interests, which are primary. There could be bad consequences if the professor isn't sufficiently rational and professional to handle this, but you can't live your life for someone else's sake.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think it is hard to answer this question without actually knowing the system and seeing whether such switches are commonly done. Typically, admission systems are either *central* (e.g., US-style, you apply with the faculty and once you are admitted you get an advisor) or *decentral* (e.g., central European, you apply and get funded directly by a specific professor). In the former case, transfers are not entirely uncommon. In the latter case, transfers are a bit of a dicey topic as students really only apply with and get accepted by one specific professor.
Your system sounds a bit like a mixture of both - somehow, admissions are centralized, but it sounds like individual professors have so much say in the process that it in practice may well work like a decentral system. One important question may be how this "lobbying" for students works in practice. Does every professor have an "alotted" number of students that they can choose (either explicitly or by common practice)? That is, does the transferring student "take away" an alotted place for a professor and add one for another? If that is the case, I would assume that transferring *will indeed* lead to some hard feelings. However, if the system is more flexible, and "lobbying" for a student really just means that the advisor sent a recommendation without many more implications, I think transferring may be just fine for everybody.
In the end, I think you need to see whether transfers happen regularly, and how the students that transferred are seen by the old and new faculty. If they never seem to happen, I would assume that professors will not be thrilled about the idea.
Upvotes: 3
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| 1,240
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<issue_start>username_0: I often find myself lecturing for 7 hours in one day. This question is not about how to reduce my hours, it is about making healthy choices with my existing constraints.
I am lecturing to different classes during the day (it is not a single group of students for all 7 hours), in case that makes a difference.
I realize that during my lectures, I must choose what to do with my body. Should I sit (blood clots, deep-vein thrombus) or do I stand (I've heard non-lecturers complain about swelling legs when standing too much).
My questions are:
* What impacts are known from standing while lecturing for 7 hours per day, 3 days per week?
* Is it better to stand or to walk around?
* Is it better to sit for the whole time?
* Is it best to do a "little bit of everything?" If so, where is the optimal balance?
I realize that this might be specific to the person but I am hoping to find some experiences or, even better, research, which will indicate the best choices to make when one must lecture for many hours.<issue_comment>username_1: The health impacts of standing while doing a job are known to be strongly positive, compared to sitting while performing a similar function. For the seminal paper on this, see Morris et al., 1953 in the Lancet (<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673653914950>). Morris examined the incidence of heart disease in bus drivers vs. bus conductors. The former spend the day sat at the wheel while the latter spend the day walking around the bus collecting fares and enforcing the rules. This occupation was chosen because drivers and conductors come from the same socio-economic conditions and were expected to be fairly similar in every respect except for their working activity. Naturally the incidence was sharply reduced in the conductors. A casual Google Scholar search will pick up more recent references, and the health benefits of standing vs. sitting are widespread.
One can imagine that standing for very long periods of time repeatedly might cause problems, particularly on the feet or ankles, but seven hours a day a few times a week is not really anything to be excited about. Many people work in bars or restaurants, on building sites, in hospitals and so on doing much more labour intensive work with shift lengths exceeding twelve hours, six days a week.
All I would say is ensure you wear comfortable shoes!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't have hard evidence at hand, but I'd guess
* a bit of everything is probably good
* Walking around is better than standing still or sitting only. One way of doing this could be to walk back and forth between slide changing (keyboard) and a lecturing position somewhere forming a triangle with students and projected slide.
* Some colleagues of mine who have to stand a lot in somewhat similar settings like [unstable "rocking chair" shoes](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masai_Barefoot_Technology).
* AFAIK, people who get swollen feet while standing tend to have the same problem when sitting for a long time. Which is plausible because the swelling has to do with the valves in leg veins and lymphatic vessels not working properly. Walking is better because the calf muscles help getting the blood back up. But for optimal results you need to use all kinds of muscles of the calf and foot, which you normally don't do on flat floors (this would be an argument for the rocking chair shoes, but I have no idea whether they actually help). OTOH, sitting on a table with legs dangling is really bad with resped to swollen feet: the edge compresses the veins in the upper leg. The same can happen with chairs that have the wrong (backward) seat slope and/or height.
* Making good use of breaks could also help without distracting students from the lecture because you do funny gymnastics. I knew a teacher who spent the lunch break doing a power nap with the feet up to prevent/alleviate swollen feet.
* I don't lecture long times, but: my natural idea about lecturing is to do it standing: this way you are better seen by the students, gestures work better and the voice is better as well. Standing still becomes uncomfortable very soon (=> walk). I take this as a (possibly rather late) sign that the body needs to move, so walk. Obviously, you cannot hike or run around the lecture hall, although this would be more healthy than walking a few steps every once in a while: it would make the students crazy.
Going on with this train of thought, I sit down when standing becomes uncomfortable. Again, I take this as a sign that some (back) muscles get tired from the standing position, so having some other posture for a while is a good idea.
I call this primarily standing even if you walk a bit back and forth from the observation that I find it *much* easier to hike a whole day with a substantial (e.g. 25 kg) backback than to keep on my feet in these standing plus a tiny bit of walking postures.
Upvotes: 3
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| 1,445
| 5,953
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently an MSc student, and I really enjoy teaching. As an anecdote, when I was younger (like 7) I had a school for all my toys and did homework (with errors!) for them all.
Anyway, I have good reviews from my current students (I'm a lab instructor this semester), and a TA award from last semester. I enjoy this process - explaining concepts, developing lectures/labs, interacting with students. I do not really want to do a PhD though - it is not that I do not like research... I do, but I do not think it aligns with my life goals exactly.
We have two instructors with just MSc-s in my department, but they both apparently did so much research they could get a PhD if they wanted to. So I'm not sure if it is even possible to do from my current position? Can I become an instructor without doing a PhD once I graduate?
I mean, if not, I will probably spend that time developing online tutorials instead :)<issue_comment>username_1: Typically at larger "more prestigious" institutions, Professors must have their PhD to teach. It has been my experience that some smaller institutions will allow MS holders to teach undergraduate students - but your mileage may vary.
As an example, a friend of mine has currently taken over a Computer Science department at a small institution and only has his Masters. While they would prefer a PhD holder, they can not find one to take the job.
So, technically, yes - it is possible. Although you may not find yourself at a top-level institution.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: No, except in fairly unusual (and limited) circumstances. You generally require a PhD to lecture.
In my department, it's expected that those lecturing classes will hold a PhD (I understand this is different from the USA where TAs may lecture). Teaching assistants are well paid (compared to some horror stories I've heard) and available to those working on their PhD, as well as finishing up a masters. They generally only assist in lab sessions and tutorials though.
I did give some masters lectures while working on a PhD but this was definitely the exception rather than the rule - it was on a very specific niche where I was unofficially viewed as "professor of practice" by colleagues, so the restriction was ignored on that occasion, on account of having teaching and presentation experience, and that everyone else offered the class asked if I had been offered it... (to try cut their own teaching load)
In my experience from my own institution and department, it wouldn't be possible to start a career today and move into lecturing undergraduate classes without a PhD, so I have to suggest my answer is no, a PhD or similar "terminal degree" would be needed. In some cases there are exceptions made, but these are pretty rare and generally relate to a special exception being made for someone with comparable experience gained elsewhere.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, absolutely, it is possible, at least, here in the US. Lots of top schools use teaching faculty for large undergraduate courses, especially in computer science and engineering and a few of them (like me at Michigan) only have a master's.
The rule is you're supposed to have one degree higher than the students you're teaching or a terminal degree, i.e., a PhD. So, if you're only teaching students working on their bachelor's, all you *really* need is a master's. Even if their post says applicants should have a PhD, it doesn't mean you can't get the job without one. (What else do you bring to the table?)
What matters is whether you can teach. So, the search committee will be looking for teaching experience and ability. The way to get the experience when you have none is (or was for me) as a part-time affiliate or adjunct instructor, perhaps starting out teaching a lab, later a lecture course. (Part-time opportunities tend to open up last minute when they realize they've got a hole in their schedule, a course they've promised to offer but no one available to teach it, and they're desperate to find someone right away. This is especially true of summer offerings. Check in regularly with the chairs or whoever's doing scheduling at the relevant local departments to let them know you're available.)
The search committee will ask for your CV, some LORs, a few short essays, e.g., describing your teaching philosophy, list of classes taught, probably want to see past student evals, and perhaps a short video of one of your classes. If they like what they see, they'll ask for a teaching demonstration where you'll present a sample lecture and they will role-play as students. (Hint: Never take new material on the road. If you're asked to give a teaching demo, give a lecture you've previously given and thoroughly debugged in front of a live class, hopefully several times. Pick something where you know you nailed it. The quality of your lecture is far more important than the topic, so don't try to "pitch" your lecture to what you think the department is looking for with new untried material.)
Teaching appointments are not tenure track positions, it's all teaching, no research, and the pay and status is lower, which is why they're not very attractive to top PhDs. So, it's a lot harder to attract really good teaching faculty than you'd think and why they may be willing to hire you with only a master's if you can do the job. Typical contracts are initially 3 years, then 5 years at each renewal. At many schools, the title is some variation of "lecturer". That's what we have here at Michigan, where it's Lecturer I through Lecturer IV. (Yeah, no one likes the title.) Some schools have switched to a variation on "teaching professor". [University of Washington](https://ap.washington.edu/blog/2020/05/uw-establishes-new-professorial-teaching-track/) now has Assistant Teaching Professor, Associate Teaching Professor and Teaching Professor titles.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: This question is triggered by the recent allegations about <NAME> failing to declare conflicts of interest in his papers on climate change. It got me wondering about situations where an obvious conflict of interest existed in the past, but doesn't exists anymore at the time where a paper is published.
Are there generally accepted practices on when to declare past conflicts of interest, or is this entirely up to each journal? Requiring disclosure of decades-old conflicts of interests does feel a bit silly to me, but making them disappear if they just happened shortly before one worked on a paper seems rather problematic as well.<issue_comment>username_1: Usually the consideration is not about the funding received when the paper was *published*, but received *while the work was being done*. To illustrate: if a grant is won after a paper is submitted, but before it is published, it would be strange to see it declared as a conflict of interest.
But if a researcher persistently receives funding from a particular source, and then takes time off from that funding and uses those windows in funding to publish material in support of that source, then it would be inappropriate to stay silent about that funding: doing so would be against at least the spirit of the rules about declaring conflicts of interest; and may be explicity against the letter of the rules, when the papers contained work that was done during the funding period.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think the principle is fairly straightforward: if some factor exists that a (possibly imaginary) opponent of yours would consider a legitimate conflict of interest, then declare it. In other words, you need to consider what other people would regard as a conflict of interest, rather than what *you* view as a conflict of interest. If the journal requirements are even more stringent than this, then you still have to abide by it if you want to publish a paper with them.
In this particular case, it is a requirement of the [journal](http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/11434_IFA.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1492850-p173620791)
>
> i. Disclosure of potential Conflict of interests
>
>
> Authors must disclose
> all relationships or interests that could influence or bias the work.
> Examples of potential conflicts of interests that are directly or
> indirectly related to the research may include but not limited to the
> following:
>
>
> Research grants from funding agencies (please give the
> research funder and the grant number)
>
>
> * Honoraria for speaking at
> symposia
> * Financial support for attending symposia
> * Financial
> support for educational programs
> * Employment or consultation
> * Support from a project sponsor
> * Position on advisory board or board
> of directors or other type of management relationships
> * Multiple affiliations
> * Financial relationships, for example equity ownership
> or investment interest
> * Intellectual property rights (e.g. patents,
> copyrights and royalties from such rights)
> * Holdings of spouse and/or
> children that may have financial interest in the work
>
>
> In addition,
> interests that go beyond financial interests and compensation
> (non-financial interests) that may be important to readers should be
> disclosed. These may include but are not limited to personal
> relationships or competing interests directly or indirectly tied to
> this research, or professional interests or personal beliefs that may
> influence your research. The corresponding author will include a
> summary statement in the text of the manuscript in a separate section
> before the reference list. An examples of disclosures is shown below:
> Conflict of interest: Author A has received research grants from
> Company A. Author B has received a speaker honorarium from Company X
> and owns stock in Company Y. Author C is a member of committee Z. If
> no conflict exists, the authors should state: Conflict of interest:
> The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
>
>
>
This specification seems rather more rigorous than most journals, but it is pretty clear. It seems reasonable to say that the previous funding is indirectly related to the research in the paper in question. I would also say that all four authors of the paper being affiliated with think-tanks (e.g. the Heartland Institute) that are active in the political debate on climate change is a far more significant conflict of interest than the funding issue. Having said which, this is IMHO a fairly minor issue, which should be dealt with via due process, just like any other case. I am more concerned with scientists being harassed by FOIA requests, regardless of which "side" of the argument they support. It would be better all round if we could just stick to the science.
Upvotes: 2
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| 2,856
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<issue_start>username_0: Why does there **seem** to be a lack of oversight when it comes to how professors interact with students?
For example, consider the following questions:
1. [How to deal with an advisor who wants a "friendlier" relationship with me than I do?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28631/how-to-deal-with-an-advisor-who-wants-a-friendlier-relationship-with-me-than-i)
2. [My professor is rigging data and plagiarizing. What can I do?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31265/my-professor-is-rigging-data-and-plagiarizing-what-can-i-do)
3. [My first authorship is being turned into co-first authorship, what can I do?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29572/my-first-authorship-is-being-turned-into-co-first-authorship-what-can-i-do)
I understand that these situations are not typical, but why is this able to exist at all in the academic world? In all three of these situations it seems that there is a complete lack of oversight of professors went it comes to their interactions with student and it seems their students can do very little if they are being treated unfairly.
I ask this because in many ways, it seems that academia is much more objective and fair than the corporate world. For example, one cannot get a faculty position at a top school by interviewing well or because their friend heads the department. College admissions tend to very (perhaps, even brutally) objective. Lastly, outright fraud and theft of one's work tends to be low compared to outside academia. I suppose my point of confusion is why does academia fail to be as strict and fair at the professor/student level.
To give some context to my question, I work in the software industry and **I am approaching this question as a total outsider.** It seems like the academic world tries to do everything it can to be fair, but I don't (as an outsider) see this with the professor/student dynamic.<issue_comment>username_1: Much abuse in the academic world is directed against students. They are in an ambiguous position. They are often not considered working professionals, though in practice they are. I.e. they often teach and/or conduct research. They are usually not rewarded financially in line with their training and skills. They cannot easily move to another place till they have completed their degree. Also, they are more dependent on their mentor/supervisor than a working professional would typically be. And they are not accorded the rights that working persons normally are. Students are also less likely to complain because they need to have good relations with the faculty for their future careers. Often they are working with faculty members on projects. While similar situations/circumstances can arise outside academia, this combination is relatively unusual. The closest analogy I can think of is the institution of interns, who probably also endure abuse, though their stays are usually much shorter.
Anyway, this is fertile ground for abuse.
While this is not directly relevant, it's symptomatic that there is often much controversy/difficulty when students try to start Unions to protect their rights. This has been an issue for a good many years, at least in the United States. There was a famous case at Yale some years ago, for example.
Additionally, the institution of tenure is quite rare outside academia, though it exists. For example, judges have tenure. Tenured professors are hard to fire, and therefore are more likely to get away with abuse without consequences.
There is another issue, which is more speculative. But I'll mention it, anyway. This may also be country dependent. Foreigners entering Western countries, at least, are subject to employment restrictions. There is one notable exception to this restriction - namely educational institutions, which means universities in practice. This may not be universally true, but for example in the US, being a student is probably the easiest way to enter the country, and the main exception to the H1B work visa cap, the last I heard, were educational and non-profit institutions.
Anyway, in practice this means there are many foreigners in Western universities, both at a student and post-doc level, and of course at faculty level. Here I am only concerned about junior temporary employees like students and post-docs. In the US, at least, there is much institutional discrimination against such persons. They can't easily move to another job or university because of employment restrictions. Getting a non-university job is often very difficult. Getting employed involves an additional burden of paperwork. So, such people are, again, targets for abuse. This is not theoretical - I've seen and heard much to support this. Of course, foreigners get employment outside academia too, but for the reasons I have discussed, I believe the density of foreigners employed is particularly high in Western universities.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's a strange thing to ask why do bad things happen.
Bad things happen.
Rules aren't there to prevent bad things happening altogether. That would be an impossible goal. They are there to reduce the occurrences, and their consequences, as far as is practicable.
You have found some cases where bad things happen. You've then tried to extrapolate that to infer something about academia as a whole. And that inference is invalid. You've identified some possible bad things. All their existence shows, is that bad things might happen. Not that oversight is missing; not that there is an absence of accountability; not that there is a failure to redress wrongs. Just that sometimes, bad things happen.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: To supplement [a great answer by username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/41338/49):
I would add that there are professions with very structured career (e.g. in medicine, law and military), and problems there are at least as severe. In general, the thing is a about the [guild system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild), where the only way to become a professional is to get acceptance of a small community of professionals (cf. free jobs, where anyone can start and it is the market who decides).
Such systems have good quality control (i.e. there is no way around internal checks), but also generate huge gap between the already established people and the newcomers (which is an ample room for abuse - conflict with supervisors may not only jeopardize one's position in a particular company or institute, but the whole career).
As a side note, internships in the guild system are not only meant to *teach*, but also to control supply, so to maintain prices or prestige.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Oversight rules vary tremendously, but at the end of the day, professors have a considerably position of power over students, no matter how many rules the university has to protect them.
In at least two Swedish universities I am aware of, PhD students have the right to change supervisors. This rule is designed to provide the student a way out in case the relationship with the supervisor becomes unworkable. I know at least one case where this happened, but having heard both sides of the story, I think it is rather a case of conflicting personalities than a case of abuse. Of course, it's an undesirable situation in any case, but it does mean there is some form of oversight. If it happens more than once to the same professor that their students switch before finishing, that's going to look quite bad on the professor. Maybe it helps, if only a little.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The OP wrote
>
> "*...I ask this because in many ways, it seems that academia is much
> more objective and fair than the corporate world.*"
>
>
>
So I understand the question as follows: Academia seems, *in general*, structured to exhibit a *lower* degree of harassment, unfair practices, etc, compared to the corporate world. But it appears that in one particular "field", the professor/student relationship, Academia does worse than it does in other fields, like
>
> "*For example, one cannot get a faculty position at a top school by
> interviewing well or because their friend heads the department.*"
>
>
>
This we could call [**meritocracy**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy) (as a guiding principle). And meritocracy is a *ruthless* regime, where those with lesser merit, are, pardon my political incorrectness, *lesser*. And however imperfectly measured, and bar exceptional situations that validate the rule, students have lesser merit than professors, in the specific field of activity that they meet and interact.
In theory and in imagination, armed with humanistic principles and the currently prevailing *ethical ideals* (not practiced ethics), at least in the Western world with which I am familiar, we could perceive of a meritocratic system totally free of (from?) abusive treatment of those with lesser merit.
And as @Energynumbers answer correctly points out, after all, the issue at hand is a matter of *degree*, and so we will have to measure it in order to conclude on how widespread it is, how frequent, how severe, and whether it has become the rule, or the exception that validates the rule.
My answer just says that the same rules that may make Academia "score better" than the corporate world in the eyes of outsiders, are those that create also the potential for seemingly conflicting attitudes and phenomena.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: The question makes a salient point, namely why it keeps happening (to whichever degree) even though everyone knows that it happens.
I think there are two answers to this question:
* Professors don't really have any kind of training with regard to human resource management. As a professor, at least at research intensive universities, you are hired and promoted almost exclusively based on your research credentials. You may be managing a group of 20 grad students and postdocs, but almost never will these managers have gone through any kind of training that would teach them how to actually do this -- neither from the operational viewpoint, nor from the point of view of how to manage the humans that make up your group. It is certainly true for me that I have felt unsure how to deal with situations in my own research group many times. There is no formal structure in universities where you have to go through (or could even choose to go through) any kind of training that would prepare you for being in the position of a group leader before you get into it. Consequently, many professors essentially wing it day in day out and "shit happens". (The same happens, by the way, within the professorial ranks -- there is no training you can take before you become a department head.)
* Among colleagues, it is usually reasonably well known which of the professors treat their students well and which don't. But what are you going to do about it? Once someone has tenure, the only stick you have is to open post-tenure proceedings or to have formal hearings to revoke someone's tenure because of abuse of students. Unless a professor sexually assaults a student, it is almost inconceivable to think of evidence that would stand in the court of law upon which a university could base revoking someone's tenure. So it isn't done. A department head might talk to a professor in a case where students keep complaining, but as there are no formal training programs or requirements for professors (see above), there is in fact very little that can be done in practice. (I'm not trying to make this into an excuse, it's just a cold hard look at the realities of a university, sad as it is in these cases.)
Upvotes: 4
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| 776
| 3,132
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<issue_start>username_0: I, along with two fellow doctoral students, am about to publish a paper supervised by our professor. Our professor is listed as the last author, which of course is fair as he supervised the project.
One of us, student A, is listed as the first author, which there is not disagreement on. Student B is listed afterwards, and I am the third listed author.
The ordering of student B and I is alphabetical, nothing more. This is also reasonable, as we all believe that our contribution has been the same.
However, it is not listed in the paper that our contributions are the same. Should I insist on this before submitting the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: Personally, I don't think that being second or third matters. At least not to the point of arguing (in case you needed to). If you have the space, you can add a statement in the Acknowledgements section.
Realistically, only those who read the paper would be aware of that. You'd have to replicate the statement in your CV, or the distinction might be lost.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In fields where authorship order matters, the difference between second author and third author is very little, pragmatically, in terms of how people will think about your contributions. Neither is the first author (whose name will be noticed in every citation), and neither is the last author (in those fields where last = senior).
What you can do, however, is what many journals now require, where you add a section at the end of the paper with a name like "Author Contributions." In this section, you write down exactly what each author did, e.g.,
>
> R.L. performed the experiments, T.X. ran spectroscopic analysis, B.G. supplied a critical DNA construct, R.L. and T.X. analyzed the data, T.X. and B.M. wrote the manuscript, and R.L,.T.X., and B.M. edited the manuscript.
>
>
>
This won't change the "first impressions" that anybody has of the paper, but anybody who wants to know whether you're a significant contributor or not will be readily able to find out.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: In many cases (especially seen on online sources like PubMed et al), names are suffixed with a \* and explanation:
>
> <NAME>, <NAME> \*, <NAME> \*, <NAME>, PhD
>
>
> \*: These authors contributed equally.
>
>
>
Whether this solves the problem or just makes the order slightly less important... That's up to your personal preference. But this is a commonly accepted method of mitigating just this issue.
The greatest benefit of this solution is that it *can* change the first impression of the viewer, if the \* catches their attention.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: If you want to highlight that everyone has contributed his/her expertise equally, you could sort the authors' names alphabetically and specify in the acknowledgement that 'the order of the authors is alphabetical'. I have seen this a few times. Of course, this is meaningful for the audience that reads the acknowledgement, which may be a small subset of the overall target audience (who may just be content reading abstract and conclusions).
Upvotes: 1
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| 523
| 2,241
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper ten day ago, respecting the dead line. Precisely, I submitted the paper two days before the dead line indicated by the Journal on its web site. The Journal had different editions during the years, such as the spring, summer and winter one. The deadline is important only to see your article published on the next edition of the journal. However, from the day I submitted the paper, I still haven't received any answer from the editors. I submitted my paper, as required by e/mail. I didn't get even a confirmitation that the paper was received. Is this normal?
Should I ask about the current status of the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: From what I understand, the journal has a schedule for considering articles to be published in the next issues. This means that if you miss a (not *the*) deadline, your article will be considered for inclusion in a subsequent issue. No problem there.
You not having heard from them in 10 days does not mean your paper was not received. I assume they received the paper already, but they 're too busy/unprofessional not to send back a confirmation or a thank you email.
Yes, of course you can ask about the status; nothing wrong can come out of that. I would write an email of the form:
```
Dear Editor,
I am writing to inquire about the status of the paper, entitled:
[title]
that I submitted to the [Journal name], on [Date].
I would appreciate if you could confirm that you have received the paper.
Best regards,
[Name]
[Affiliation]
```
Assuming of course that you have checked your spam folder.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You should always get a confirmation email that your journal, paper, demo, etc. has been received.
Now this happened to me once before where the journal article was submitted on time but due to some automatic pdf renaming, the journal got sent by the system to the wrong editor who just ignored it. Luckily, because this article was an invited one our editor sent us a kind reminder that we didn't make the deadline (since she never got it) and we figured out what happen and resolved the problem.
So as username_1 suggests, just ask about the status of receiving it. A review will take some time...
Upvotes: 0
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2015/03/09
| 1,558
| 6,765
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<issue_start>username_0: As a preface, [this is a related question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30473/should-i-cancel-alter-office-hours-for-committee-meetings) but it is from a different perspective.
I am an undergraduate student in physics and have a professor that routinely ignores his own office hours. He has three scheduled office hours/homework help sessions each week (two hours on one day and a third the next).
The professor has (and has had all semester) a known staff conflict during the second hour of the first help session and as such has missed at least one hour every week. He has not and will not reschedule this hour.
He also is routinely late to the first hour on the first day as well. As such, he is only at his office hours for twenty or so minutes for the first session. The second day he holds office hours he also often comes late but is much more consistent in attending. Unfortunately for me, I have a class conflict at that time and can rarely attend.
As a student, I learn best while working on homework problems and in one-on-one (or small group) interactions with the professor. Because of his unavailability, I feel like I am not learning anywhere near as well as I could. This is extremely frustrating to me as a student and overall I would like to know **what, if anything, can I do as an undergraduate student to encourage my professor to attend his office hours?**<issue_comment>username_1: Most faculty members state that they are available during their scheduled office hours or *by appointment*. If this is the case, then the most effective way for you to handle this situation is to send an email (or in-person) request for a short meeting outside of the regularly scheduled office hours.
If the request is declined, you may want to speak to the person in your department who is responsible for undergraduate education to let them know about the situation, and ask for help in resolving the situation.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If the professor is refusing to play ball, and you have reasonably done what you can to sort it out between the two of you (polite requests by email to arrange other times, dropping in during the hours to ask), you should escalate this up the chain of command. Make a complaint to your student representative, if you have one, and be sure to ask to be notified when a reply to that complaint is made. Also, make a complaint to the head of the undergraduate studies committee, or whatever equivalent you have. If that doesn't go anywhere, CC in the head of department. If you really want to be annoying, do this in person.
There is a reason to get another person involved: if the professor is tied up in another teaching or administrative commitment, one perhaps she would rather actually avoid, she now has some wriggle room to say "sorry, I'm busy, the head of department wants me to do this instead".
Believe me, academic staff spend a huge amount of time dealing with student matters. If you make the right request through the appropriate channels, it will be heard. And actually, 99% may privately grumble about having to teach students, and the time commitment that is, but they do enjoy it really and they do like to see enthusiastic students.
I don't know which country you are in, but where I am the undergraduates now pay a lot of money for their education. From that point of view I would expect as a paying customer to get my money's worth.
Obviously, you better have some good questions to ask when you do get her attention.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Just another thought, when asked to schedule a time you can ask to schedule *during explicit office hours* in which you can come. The professor does not have much leg to stand on if you ask to meet during the time the professor is routinely late.
Giving the prof. the benefit of the doubt, it may be the case that the professor is routinely late during that time slot because no one uses the office hours, so they are not punctual. (Although I totally agree it is unprofessional even if this is the case.)
I agree as presented this case is problematic, but you have to remember the perspective of the professor. No matter what time slots you have the office hours it will always leave some students on the short end of the stick due to conflicts -- it is impossible to make everyone happy. I've gotten both complaints about office hours and times I've held extra study sessions. I'm willing to meet alternative times due to a tough work schedule or class conflicts, not so much because it conflicts with your afternoon workout session or because you only come to campus on certain days of the week.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: The professor should honor their office hours but it seems like you want a mini-class every week to sum up what he has already taught.
I would first try to engage the professor during class. If your questions are answered during class then you are done - and great for you because now you don't have to go back to his office.
If the professor tells you that he does not have time for your questions or that to ask him during office hours, then great again because now you have a solid reason for having his office hours enforced.
I would follow up with the professor via phone or email to make sure to schedule an appointment. And then also show up at the office hours and email the professor then. "Hi Professor X, I am currently at your office during your designated hours. Are you going to be available soon and if not when can we make up the hours?"
The tone of your question worries me a bit though. If I were a professor and there was a student who expected me to tutor them one on one then I may take appointments with that student less serious, especially if this student isn't asking any questions in class. Can you imagine if everyone said "I learn better in one on one situations"? The professor would need 40 hours a week of office hours and his classes would be useless.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: 1. Try sending an email directly to the professor in question, and bring up this concern in a reasonable manner.
Unfortunately, some professors are more rigid than others. Other things to do:
1. It seems like small and personal interactions are more your liking. Form a study group with classmates and/or friends. Would recommend talking to someone you sit next to in lecture regularly, your lab partner (if you have one), or the likes of those.
2. Attend a different professor's office hours who also teaches the same course. Course syllabi are usually archived on department websites, and office hours should be listed on them. Who knows, you might like this professor better.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/10
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<issue_start>username_0: The question is inspired by this [image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DhnmY.jpg) posted on reddit. Would this be considered a constructive step towards improving the interaction with students and the teaching in general? To clarify, I am talking about the reviews that the department or college solicits from students towards the end of the course, aka student feedback.<issue_comment>username_1: Your question is still rather vague, but it depends upon the manner in which one approaches the topic. The point is to make oneself inviting about student concerns rather than scaring them off.
It can helpful to show/mention some previous reviews at the start of a course to point out that there are certain issues the instructor is aware of and wants to avoid them being a problem. For instance (from your linked image), the instructor may say something "Based on reviews, I know I sometimes get excited and talk too fast, so if you notice I start speaking too fast, please let me know."
I think once students know the instructor is aware of such issues and wants to address helps turn internal complaints (for students) or worries (for instructors) into productive conversations. Discussing reviews can also be used as an opportunity to point out and correct common misconceptions of students.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: When I was teaching at a German university and we received course feedback, we were required to inform the students about the feedback. So while the feedback was anonymously given by each student (online), the students should get general feedback on how the course was evaluated. For some that meant simply sending the questionnaire summary to the students, but many discussed the evaluation in the last lecture.
For me it made sense to discuss the results:
1. You get an opportunity to thank the students for positive feedback.
2. You get an opportunity to clarify contradicting or unclear feedback (e.g., talks to fast vs. talks to slow).
3. You can also address 'below the belt' feedback. I think you can say anything if you do it with respect. And giving feedback -- even highly critical feedback -- with respect is something that students should learn, if only to prevent huge problems in the future where a lack of respect is ... less tolerated.
4. You can show students how to constructively deal with feedback (if you can deal with feedback). I think you should both take the feedback serious and add some humor (i.e., take yourself lightly but the job seriously). Otherwise, you are not only alienating the current students but also future students.
5. You can get feedback in the very last lecture. In some courses, the feedback was requested during the phase with the highest stress levels. Students only saw what they had learned and how they had benefited later.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2015/03/10
| 861
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<issue_start>username_0: I am from a developing country and finished my BA in February 2011. I was a very good student and my university is one of the best in my country (It is in TimesHE top 200 global list so its prestige is somewhat acknowledged)
Last year I decided to go back to school after 4 years of fulltime employment (sector and position irrelevant to my research areas) and applied to 9 different M.S. programs in US. I was very uncertain about the strength and quality of international credentials, and gave myself no credit but to my surprise, only a month after my applications were in I have recevied 2 acceptances. By now I have 4 acceptances, 2 of which were my top choices. I am over the moon. I do not even want to hear from other 5, because I'm in for my top choices.
My question is this: I have been accepted to very good 2 M.S. programs for my research focus, and for both, program directors contacted me in person to congratulate and to state their interest to take me on as their student. Furthermore, both of them also offered me a TA position, one of them partial tuition waiver and the other one full waiver, while both give me a generous stipend and health insurance. However I cannot decide which one to go for.
One of them is sufficiently prestigious, my research interests are 50% in line with those of program director's, but their financial reward is great. I kinda negotiated the offer from her by sendind a follow up email and she finally sent me the offer. The school is also located at a nice city to live in, and I'd love to live there.
The other school, on the other hand, has the coolest program director a student would ever want, she is very friendly with me and I can tell she is genuinly interested in me. She'll be taking me on as one of her research students. Her research topic is 100% in line with mine. But this school waives only half of my tuition, so I'll be covering the other half myself. It is also located in a not-so-interesting city.
Which one should I go for? Cool mentor-bad city-half tuition rates or OK mentor-cool city-fully funded? I'd like to turn the other down very gently and keep the bridges "unburned". How do I do that without getting anyone offended?
I plan to stay longer in US so to eventually get a PhD.<issue_comment>username_1: You put the facts down already. So it is really up to you what is more important to you. Personally, I find that the second option is more tempting.
Now to the question in the title, a polite email will probably suffice. Explain that you are regretting to inform them that you are going to accept another offer and thank them for their time and opinion. There are no bridges to burn, it is common practice to apply to more than one school and consequently be accepted by more than one. The people there know that and it is perfectly acceptable to turn down one offer in favor of another.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Before you turn it down, you should tell the school that offered you only half tuition that you have an offer from the another school (its OK to name it) that offers you full tuition. Mention that you prefer the offer from them (i.e., the half-tuition school) but that it will be financially hard for you to make it work.
There's a chance that the school that offered you a smaller package will be able to match the other in order to get you. If not, they'll understand why you eventually turn down their offer and they won't hold it against you.
Upvotes: 5
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2015/03/10
| 616
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper to a journal and one of the referees suggested to slightly change the title of the paper. The paper was already posted on arxiv. I have updated the paper on arxiv after the revision, but this update is not recognised by Google Scholar. The main problem with this is that Google Scholar is not detecting the new citations to the arxiv paper since the new citations use the new title.
Any suggestions on how to solve this issue?
**Update:** I updated the arxiv version 2 months ago but Google Scholar does not detect it. It detects new papers that cite my manuscript, but not the updated arxiv.
**Disclaimer.** I am aware of the following questions, but they are related to different issues.
[Submitted to arXiv with a different title. How to make Google understand this is the same paper?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/31800)
[Do all versions of an arXiv paper appear in Google Scholar?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/20172)<issue_comment>username_1: Google Scholar should (relatively soon) detect both versions, at which point it will likely list them separately. Once both versions are showing up in your profile, you can merge them together. Select the check-boxes next to both publications, and a "Merge" button should appear amongst the buttons up at the top of the list. During the merge process, you can tell it which version is the "best" version, and it will use the information for that version as the source for its title, authorship, etc.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You can change the citation info by clicking the Edit button in the top-right corner:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hfvgr.png)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Google Scholar usually first indexes papers appearing within 7-14 days of their original announcement in arXiv, and then again within 2-3 days for minor tweaks that might have occurred after announcement. Any subsequent replacements or other metadata changes will appear in Google Scholar during their twice-yearly full system reindex, where they re-harvest all their data sources (details are at item number 1 in [their documentation](https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/inclusion.html#troubleshooting)). Typically these indices occur in January and July. No prior notice is given to arXiv that they are occurring, so arXiv cannot provide you with specifics regarding dates for the next harvest.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/10
| 1,069
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<issue_start>username_0: After much research at many universities, I have found a supervisor whose research perfectly matches my research interests. I believe that I have truly found a good match...and believe that I would also be a great addition to the research team given my background and goals etc.
I have not heard back from said professor...it has only been a few days, and I intend to send follow up emails in the future. However, I am wondering, should I never hear back (because this has happened with other potential supervisors), do you think it would be OK to try and meet with this person physically? Said supervisor is at a university I have never been to, and in the UK (I live in the US), and I can't really find their office hours online nor classes they may be teaching. Any advice on how to get in touch with them in person, if I am willing to travel and go that extra mile? I would normally drop it, but I am so set on this one.<issue_comment>username_1: Some important things to know:
1) Many professors receive *dozens* of unsolicited emails a day from potential graduate students, and essentially ignore them because they can't keep up (although having a form letter "no more students!" response is, perhaps, a nicer thing to do).
2) Many (most) faculty don't admit students without having some idea of how they will fund them, so it's not unlikely that this specific researcher can't really offer you a spot in the department.
3) In my experience, most of the unsolicited emails are also way off the mark in terms of research topics, so the most important part of your communication with this researcher is conveying that you a) actually know what they do, b) have something useful to offer, and c) that you are applying to the department and would like to work with them. And it's fine to ask to speak with them *briefly* (by email or phone) about whether you would fit in with their research plans. They might ignore you.
If you are actually in the area and want to set up a meeting (by email), that's one thing, but I don't think you should fly to their country and ambush them.
Not to be a downer, but just because you think this person is the perfect advisor doesn't mean that you are their perfect student (or that they want another student right now). That said, you can still send a nice follow-up email and apply. You might want to apply to some other places too, however.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I have one anecdote that is worthy of mention and consideration here. An ambitious colleague of mine really wanted to get a better supervisor. To do this, he traveled to an Ivy league university, arranged meetings with all relevant staff (some of whom were famous enough that I knew them by name even though I am not in his field). This audacious move paid off as he was accepted at this university (unofficially) as part of the research lab of one of the most well respect researchers in his field. This relationship and associate turned out to be of great benefit to him.
While this story doesn't discount what username_1 said above, I think it shows how travelling to meet face to face with potential supervisors can be a much more effective way of getting them on board then emailing them. What is important, give what xLeitix said, is that you should not signal desperation by making it known that you travelled all that way to meet that person - instead, just explain your travel for other reasons.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Your proposed plan is weird and inadvisable (as others have said). Without any context, to them you are simply one more person on the street. If there is sufficient funding for them to take students then they probably also have more people interested in working with them than they can take. If they have limited or no funding they can access, they will need to be careful about who they take. In either case, their time is precious to them.
If you want to meet them in person, you should do so through a mutual contact, or by attending a conference they are (speaking) at (I appreciate that without being on a PhD program this may be difficult, but you seem to have money to spare anyway).
A more normal approach would be to simply apply to their institution, and say (if given an appropriate option) that you would like to work with that supervisor.
However, you need to consider the difference in culture. If you are looking to start a PhD in the US, you are very likely not yet ready to apply for PhDs in the UK. The likely reason you can't find their office hours online is that many UK institutions don't have office hours.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/10
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<issue_start>username_0: This is my first semester being a [TA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_assistant) for this course. However, the professor has changed since I took the course. The content seems to have grown in difficulty since I originally took the course, and I feel that the professor has been giving inadequate or unnecessarily difficult problems to get across relatively simple concepts in lectures, which I then have to explain in tutorials.
I have compared to my previous notes and although the major concepts are the same, the examples used are overly complex, and I can see some students are falling behind as a result. Is there an appropriate, professional way to get this message across to the professor without sounding like I am not familiar enough with the material for the position as an assistant for this course?<issue_comment>username_1: Begin with the assumption that there are good reasons for the change: professors rarely make a large change in a course without thinking about why (it's just too much work to bother). Rather than beginning with your judgement (which might or might not be justified), open with an observation and a question, something like:
>
> I was looking at my old notes, and I've noticed that the examples have changed a lot and gotten significantly more complex. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about how you've changed the course and why?
>
>
>
Maybe the professor actually wants the class to be harder; maybe they just wanted it to be more current and don't realize it became harder as well; maybe you are overlooking something... all of these are possible, and until you understand how the professor is thinking about it, you don't have enough information to figure out how to proceed.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is there an appropriate, professional way to get this message across to the Professor without sounding like I am not familiar enough with the material for the position as an assistant for this course?
>
>
>
Yes: just send a short and polite e-mail to the professor mentioning that a lot of the examples seem to be too difficult for many of the students. There's no need to overthink it. If you make it clear that you are just passing along information rather than asking the professor to change the way he or she teaches the course, then I don't see how this could be objectionable.
I think your worry about "sounding like [you are] not familiar enough with the material for the position as an assistant for this course" is unfounded. I always like getting e-mails from TAs about how the course is going, and my reaction to such e-mails has never once been to think "sounds like this guy doesn't know what he's doing."
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Every teacher has his or her own approach to a problem at hand and sometimes the viewpoint can be quite different. I believe it is good manners for a teaching assistant to give feedback to the teacher about the progress of their students.
I assume you have access to the lecture notes and can check on what level explanations are given there. If you do not have access, that might be a good point to start, asking for them. Make sure when you tell the teacher, that you notice your students are falling behind. It might also be worthwhile talking to your colleagues about this situation, if they notice similar trends in their classes.
Another good way is to ask the teacher for more examples and or exercises (or literature thereof) on a more fundamental basis. These can then be seen as leading up to the more complex problems. Especially when teachers are giving a course for the first time, it can be a little rough around the edges, and some might the misjudge the principle level of their own exercises.
When I was a student, we had a similar problem with a new professor for mathematics. My teaching assistants talked to him, and successively to the other staff, about these observations. Unfortunately he was improvement resistant, even though it then came from other professors of the same field, and the whole problem had to be resolved by the faculty dean. But this is only the worst case scenario. When I was a TA myself I had vivid contact to the lecturers and they always appreciated the input.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/03/10
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<issue_start>username_0: In order to help in future salary negociation, I wanted to know whether it is condiered normal in North America to be quoted a gross salary that does not take into account employer contributions to things such as a a mandatory pension plan.
**Specific example situation**
This question is based on a situation I am experiencing right now, so I will use this to illustrate more specifically what I mean. I have just accepted a postdoc position (in a Canadian university, in case this is relevant), for which my advisor offered a salary of $40,000.
He wanted me to start working very quickly and I was available, so I started working without having signed my contract. Two weeks after, he explained that the work contrat was ready, and that the amount I would see in it (ca. $36,000) was the $40,000 he had quoted minus the contributions towards the pension plan and group insurance.
It was not obvious to me whether the deducted contributions were *my contributions,* i.e. $36,000 minus withheld tax would be my net income, or whether he had deducted *the employer contributions* and my net income would therefore be $36,000 minus my own contributions minus withheld tax.
I sent an email asking just that, and my advisor came to my office, slightly on the defensive I thought, to explain that the grant he had for my salary covered only $40,000 per year in total but that he had decided he would pay for the employer deductions with money from a different grant, and therefore that a new contract would be drafted.
And here I am, wondering whether there was an honest mistake or misunderstanding, whether I'm being a diva and my advisor just doesn't want to deal with it, or whether someone has tried to screw me.
Your answers will help me address this concern but mostly, as I wrote, will be helpful to me and I suspect to others in knowing exactly how to negociate their salary in the future.
**Disclaimer**
And before anyone tells me, I do realise that I am getting an adequate salary in the current conditions and that I should consider myself lucky to have a pension plan and group insurance.<issue_comment>username_1: In general, unless otherwise stated, you are normally quoted *gross* salaries, which are of course before any automatic deductions have been made. If you were somewhere like Germany, you could consult tables which tell you how much your post-tax salary would be, but in the US, there are too many variables (what health plan is selected, how many exemptions you choose to declare, and how much you choose to put into various retirement plans) for either faculty or even HR staff to be able to give you accurate information on the net salary.
However, the **employers'** contributions are *not* supposed to be included in the gross salary, since that's not what you'd be expected to pay taxes on.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: To deduct employer contributions from the salary as well as employee contributions would be highly unusual, I believe. (If it were the norm, then there would be no need for a terminological distinction between employer and employee contributions.)
EDIT: Here is my guess about what happened (purely speculation). Perhaps there are contributions that are classified as "employer contributions" for tax purposes, and the university requires these contributions to be made for postdocs as well as regular employees but only *makes* the contributions for regular employees, so for postdocs the money has to come out of a grant instead. This situation has the potential to be confusing, so perhaps your advisor simply forgot about this until you reminded him, at which point he realized that he made a mistake.
In any case, the question you asked him in your e-mail was completely reasonable.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2015/03/10
| 888
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm planning to start my master thesis soon. It will be an external thesis in a company.
As this kind of thesis is not very common in German universities, I need to find a professor to supervise me during the whole semester.
Luckily, a professor agreed to supervise me and advised me to meet with one of his PhD students to discuss my task, whether it meets all requirements.
We met the following day. Afterwards, I sent my professor an email to arrange a meeting to clarify some things and get his final OK.
As he hadn't responded for about a week, I sent a reminder. This time he answered, we met and discussed more things. He even suggested to call my boss to clarify my task, so that I don't need to "liaise" between them.
After talking to my boss, I sent my professor another email with times, my boss is available for the call.
This email remained unanswered for another week, as well. I wasn't sure how to react, so I contacted my professor's secretary. She told me to send him another reminder, also she would talk to him.
He answered me a few days later and promised, to call my boss during the following 2 days.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
I'm in an awkward situation now. My boss asks me regularly about my professor, because I can't officially start my thesis before we have his OK. I'm waiting for about a month now.
The phone call between them wouldn't last more than 10 minutes and all the little issues about my thesis would be resolved.
His secretary said, this behaviour is very uncommon. Also, I never had any problems with this particular professor.<issue_comment>username_1: You didn't really ask a clear question but I will answer the implied question: "How would you handle this situation?"
My experience with emails and professors is they are hit and miss. For some this is a very reliable method of communication, for others it is not. This isn't necessarily generational since quite often universities give young professors a new email address which becomes just one more thing they must monitor. In addition, as the semester progresses, most professors' inboxes become flooded with student email along with the usual administrative junk mail.
My suggestion would be find some way, phone call, in person visit or "ambush" outside of a regularly scheduled class. Once you find a way to make contact, explain your predicament with your boss and ask if there is a better method of communication. If the reply is "just use email" then explain this has proven unreliable and if you are to continue with the collaboration you need another method.
Bottom line is this is a collaboration. If you are unable to collaborate, you will not finish your research and you will damage your reputation at your job. If the professor is unable to communicate in a manner supporting the collaboration, you need to find a different professor of find a different thesis.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Not everyone does well with emails. Quite frequently I had to remind my supervisor that I had emailed him, and he would look embarrassed and find my email, and then be happy to talk to me for well over two hours, cancelling any other meetings he had.
I remember once I said to him, "So many unread emails? GMail now has some 'Important' filter that picks out those that are important so you don't see the unimportant ones immediately"
His reply was, "Yes I am using that, it is very effective, as you can see today I have only had 394 important emails. Maybe I will read a few of them." [and this was not a sarcastic remark!]
After that I would see him in person or telephone him if I needed anything urgently.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/03/10
| 1,749
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<issue_start>username_0: My friend studies at a very prominent university and has invited me to visit her. Coming across the university shop, I was considering buying one of the t-shirts with the university logo.
I am possibly over-thinking this, but the following scenario popped up in my head: What if, while wearing it, I am approached by a person who thinks I went to the university, and who'd ask me what my major was, etc. And when I'd say that I wasn't affiliated with the school, wouldn't it look like I'm taking a credit for what I haven't done?
Does wearing a university t-shirt imply that the person wearing it was/is somehow affiliated with the university?<issue_comment>username_1: No. Many of the top universities are tourist attractions and it is not uncommon to see tourists wandering around campus taking photos and eventually buying paraphernalia. While in the US it is not uncommon to see students wearing standard school t-shirts and sweatshirts, in the UK, students generally do not wear clothes that are available in the bookstore. Rather, they wear clothes made for particular clubs that they are involved in.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: No, but you may still confuse people, since many of the people who wear such clothes do have an affiliation.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Not at all. In Madrid it is in fashion to wear UCLA t-shirts (fake). It would be rather weird if so many graduates were from Madrid ;)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> And when I'd say that I wasn't affiliated with the school, wouldn't it look like I'm taking a credit for what I haven't done?
>
>
>
Certainly not. If those items were meant as any kind of certificate, they wouldn't be publicly available to everyone. Universities sometimes sell various kinds of university-branded paraphernalia, and while anyone associated with the university might buy them for themselves, they can just as well be used as gifts or directly sold to visitors who want to have a keepsake.
I can't imagine anybody assuming that you actually study or have studied at a place just because you wear their t-shirt. That would be just as silly as assuming that all the people who are wearing [t-shirts](http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=new%20york%20t-shirt) or [caps](http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=new+york+schirmm%C3%BCtze&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Anew+york+schirmm%C3%BCtze) labeled "New York" (or some other toponym whose ring is considered fancy) are from, or have been to, New York.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Another point is that many Universities have great sports teams. American universities in particular have great sporting events and tons of people not in anyway affiliated to the university buy branded merchandise simply because they support a sports team from that University.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: This may vary from country to country, and from culture to culture, but in the U.S., wearing a shirt with a university logo may indicate nothing more than that you root for that school's athletic program. In some places, it's very traditional, particularly on Saturdays in the fall – and it's not just alumni wearing the garb. Sometimes the entire staff of a business establishment, such as a bank or a restaurant, will sport team colors. Some fans even paint their skin or dye their hair, or fly flags from their doorsteps, in addition to wearing numbered jerseys or sweatshirts emblazoned with team logos.
Aside from athletics, there are other legitimate reasons to sport a jersey, too. Perhaps your child aspires to attend that school someday. Maybe you visited campus and wanted a souvenir. Or maybe you just like the colors. No harm in any of that.
Unless the t-shirt says GRADUATED FROM USC or something like that, you're not doing anything misleading by wearing the shirt.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: When I was younger, I'd buy a sweatshirt or T-shirt at every university where I gave a talk. In more recent years, I'd buy ditto for my daughter at many universities where I give talks. So, yes, some connection, but not necessarily "affiliation".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: No. When I entered college, one of the first things my parents pointed out to me about the other students was that wearing the shirts of other colleges was clearly a popular fashion. (For my own part, I never had more than a couple of school-related shirts for my own school.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: There will be an association that people have when they see you wearing this shirt - or using anything with the university logo - that may initially make them think you attended the university, especially if you're of an age, or look like you are of an age, that would have recently graduated or attended the school. This happens to my wife all the time when she wears my sweater with a logo of my Tech school on it.
It is not, however, duplicitous to wear it, and you shouldn't feel bad for wearing it either. Some people will assume this based on you wearing the shirt, others will correctly assume you know someone who went to that college, and still others will assume something else entirely (like maybe you are a professor at that school). People do this with shirts that have logos, regardless of the accuracy of this assumption.
Don't be too concerned about it - no one is going to accredit you the full rights and privileges of an alumni based solely on seeing which t-shirt you wear, and they'd be considered pretty silly for doing so. It is not wrong to wear a shirt in support of your friend's college.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: While T-Shirts don't imply university attendance, I only wear shirts from places I have attended/worked.
Once I was on a desert hike in Arizona and a lady asked me if I had been to UC Irvine as my shirt alluded. We then proceeded to talk about my experience at UCI and the research I did there -- it was a *great* conversation starter. Being an extrovert and not wanting to miss future conversations, I choose not to dilute my wardrobe?
Besides, having attended the university on your shirt gives you better posture. ;)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been teaching math at HS level for some years, for this Fall I am applying for instructor job at local community colleges. Because of my background, I anticipate that the interviewer will ask me the difference between secondary and post-secondary math teaching.
1. In a non-interview setting, I would answer there really is no much
difference considering that vast majority of HS graduates are
deficient in math skill. I was even told that community college is
just an extension of high school. The upsides are that I do not have
to deal with the pesky parents, students are more matured and
motivated since college is not free. Are these assessments correct?
2. But in an interview setting, I think that this honest answer won't
be politically correct. Any suggestion on a politically correct
response?
Thank you for your time and help.<issue_comment>username_1: With regards to parents: in the US there are laws that prevent you from discussing anything about your students with anyone (including parents). But this is not an important issue, as any employer will likely believe that you will comply with basic privacy laws.
One major difference between high school and community college teaching is the diversity of the student population. At a community college you will have a wider range of age/outside responsibilities/life experiences among your student population, and this may require you to adjust how you conduct yourself in the classroom.
Also, unlike high school, at a community college you may have students who already went all the way through high school feeling like they will never "get" math. So you may want to think about how you would help such students.
It may also be helpful to note that some community colleges teach courses that go beyond the usual level of high school math.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are several pretty big differences. Perhaps not all of these would apply, and not all of them are appropriate to mention in an interview context, but here are a few:
1. You will likely be teaching students older than yourself (depending on your own age). This can be intimidating if a lot of your classroom presence and authority derives from age. You can't use lines like "because I said so" or "you'll find out when you're older" - not that you should in high school, either, but you're more likely to get away with it there.
2. Discipline might be different. You can't send adults to detention (and adults includes both mature students returning to study to reskill, and 18yo kids whose parents are insisting they get some kind of an education despite their protests).
3. Academically, you may be required to teach a higher level of maths. Not all classes offered by the college will be high school remedial level, and the college may want to know if your own mathematical knowledge is sufficient.
4. "College is not free" can lead to students expecting more of you than you believe is appropriate academically: "I'm paying a lot of money to be here, so you have to give me more notes/help/assistance/marks..."
5. Nobody has to be there (depending on attendance requirements at your college, but they can always just not take your class). Attendance may vary significantly more than in high school, with some weeks being almost empty and others (near due dates) crowded with students with a months' worth of questions each. Controlling this can be difficult.
6. You might need to hold office hours outside of class times, and depending on the needs of your students, possibly have classes or office hours outside of regular business hours (such as evening classes).
7. Students are much more likely to see you as being "on their level", and you may feel the same. It's nice to be friendly, but the boundaries between teacher and student are a lot more blurred and it might take more effort to avoid friendly or romantic relationships.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I've recently started a PhD. I'm having trouble getting high impact authors to agree to write papers with me. Is there any ethical issue which prevents me from paying high impact authors monetary compensation, to agree to write papers with me? I of course will obey any and all paper writing requirements, such as both must substantially contribute, etc...
Also, my original intention is that the monetary payments would be fully disclosed before the transactions, to all relevant parties, including my University, supervisors, opposing side in the final PhD, etc...
I kind of do the same thing with my daughter. I hire a tutor, but ask them to help provide her with the required knowledge, but require her to do any and all actual work.<issue_comment>username_1: If you are simply writing scientific papers, I don't think it is inherently wrong about hiring a collaborator. I do it all the time when I offer a student an RAship to work on a project and the student ends up as a co-author. It's a bit unusual that the student would be paying the professor, but I don't think there's an *ethical* problem there. (And in fact I do know of a few cases where a well-off individual has worked out an arrangement of this sort, albeit with a postdoc rather than someone more senior.) The only ethical issue I can see is that if the authors are required to disclosure their funding, the hired author might have to disclose that you had provided the funding. My student RAs always do so, after all -- we acknowledge the grant that supported them.
If the work is to be part of your thesis, things get more complicated. You would want to be very clear that you had not violated any university requirements for the preparation of the thesis. My gut feeling is that paying high-impact coauthors to help with the chapters crosses a line, but I can't nail it down to some particular rule. And obviously (I hope), paying anyone on your PhD committee would almost certainly create a conflict of interest that would be a significant breach of ethics.
All of that said, there most definitely is a *reputational* issue here. Word will get out that you are paying people to collaborate. Depending on your goals, this may not be in your advantage.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you are lining their pocket with a secret bribe, then of course it is wrong on several levels. If you are offering to hire them in an openly declared consulting role on a problem, and willing to pay their rate and deal with the appropriate paperwork, that's more plausible. Note, however, that anybody actually high quality is likely to have a consulting rate in excess of $200/hour, and you probably can't afford them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Is there any ethical issue which prevents me from paying high impact authors monetary compensation, to agree to write papers with me?
>
>
>
Assuming you are honest and open about what you are doing, and you don't violate any of the usual ethical rules about collaboration and authorship, I doubt you can get in any trouble for doing this.
However, your collaborators might get in trouble if they accept your proposal. If they are already being paid to do this work, then their employer or funding agency will be unhappy to hear that they are making side deals for extra money, so you'll have to be careful in how this is set up. Furthermore, being paid by a student to collaborate looks terrible, since it suggests they are exploiting you or extorting money from you. Even if they insist it was your idea, I'm sure administrators will be unhappy with them.
In any case, this would be bad for everyone's reputation, as username_1 pointed out at the end of his answer. You'd effectively be announcing that you can't convince people to work with you without offering them money, and your collaborators would be announcing that they sold out and decided to earn money via a project they wouldn't otherwise consider worth their time. Unless you work in a field with an exceptionally strong commercial ethos, neither side would end up looking good.
Instead of offering money, it's worth rethinking how you are trying to attract collaborators. For example, are you trying to recruit people to work on your own ideas? That can be a tough sell, since they probably have lots of exciting projects already taking up their time (otherwise you wouldn't be interested in them in the first place), and they have little idea of how skilled you are or how good your ideas are. Instead, you might start by seeing whether you could contribute in some way to their current projects. If you impress them by doing so, then they may be much more open to other ideas you have.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I think the other answers are way too nice. As for myself, I have never heard of such a insulting / distorted idea about what a PHD is. Do you want to buy yourself a PHD? There are countless diploma mills for that, so you could hang a useless paper on your wall to claim you have a PHD without doing all the necessary work / research yourself. Do you want to buy yourself an academic career by hiring established professors to write papers for and with you? That is even more insulting. If that was the case, every rich kid could tell his / her dad. "I want a PHD for Christmas. Buy me some high impact authors to write papers with me. Pleaaase..".
It does not work that way. And the fact that you are at the beginning of your PHD and you are even considering this, is even more infuriating for people who have busted their behinds to get a PHD (and some of the people in Academia SE still do to this day). Reconsider why you want a PHD and what you want a PHD for. I am mostly sure you want it for the all the wrong reasons and not because you actually want to do research. In that case, you should probably spare yourself the agony, because without a passion for research your PHD road will be a long, rocky one.
**UPDATE**: In retrospect, the tone of my answer is pretty hostile. Still, the upvotes showed that my initial reaction to the OP's question also expressed an important part of the Academia SE community. In this sense, my answer might still be useful if it makes the OP reconsider his "thought" of hiring "high-impact" authors to write papers with him, since such an action will probably cause much more damage to him than my "harsh" words.
Moreover, since we had a previous question about "Is it ethical to hire a programmer for ... my CS PHD" and now "Is it ethical to hire high-impact authors ... to write papers with me", I sincerely hope that in the future we do not get any other questions like "Is it ethical to hire a professor to write my PHD thesis if I still do the typesetting in Latex and all spell checking" or "Is it ethical to hire a professor to do my PHD defence, since I will still bring the pizza and the drinks".
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_5: You say you have "recently started a Ph.D." At that stage, you're only expected to be gaining your bearings in the field the Ph.D. is about. You shouldn't jump ahead of yourself.
Typically, your connections with other researchers will come from your advisor at this stage. Later, as you learn more about the field, you will develop more independent relationships with other researchers based on your level of scholarship.
In many fields, it is common for top Ph.D. candidates not to publish until towards the end of the graduate program, after they have actually produced valuable research. The research tends to define the authorship, not the other way around.
Furthermore, single-authored papers are arguably more prestigious than those with collaborators, all else being equal, because they reflect a higher level of intellectual independence. Caveat: Single authored papers are only possible in some fields.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: **TLDR** You can hire researchers to work with you,
but you still need to do independent work for your PhD thesis.
I am unsure if you understand what is the typical research process
for a PhD student.
Based on my observations of my PhD classmates,
I would say that this is a more or less typical PhD experience
in an applied math PhD program:
* A student would have a professors as his/her PhD adviser,
and meet the adviser approximately once every one or two weeks.
(Some students have two PhD co-advisers but the process is similar.)
* The adviser would give high-level input such as:
why don't you read this paper,
can we build a mathematical model of this problem?
The student would do the work,
and discuss his/her findings with the adviser during the next meeting.
* At the end of about two or three years,
the student would write the paper,
with the adviser providing some feedback.
* After 4-6 years, the student writes a thesis
which is basically stapling 2-3 of his/her research papers together.
In our field, basically the student does all the tedious work,
while the adviser provides high-level guidance.
I think that it is basically impossible
to hire anyone to do your PhD work for you
because **you are awarded a PhD
when you can demonstrate through your independent work
that you are capable of independent research.**
(Caveat: Among my classmates,
occassionally one of the 3 chapters of their thesis
was joint work with a fellow PhD student.
Nevertheless, at least the other 2 chapters were his/her independent work.)
Finally, perhaps your expectations are unrealistic.
I think it is fair to say that in almost any field,
most PhD students do not co-author a paper
with a professor in the top 1% of their field
during the course of their PhD studies.
You don't have to co-author a paper with a famous professor
in order to do excellent work.
In fact, if you do co-author a paper with a famous professor,
people might discount your contribution to the paper
because they think
"This is just another one of Professor X's amazing ideas
that <NAME> just latched on to."
This thinking would be further reinforced
if they found out that you paid for the collaboration
as this is extremely unusual in academia
for a co-author to be paying another co-author out-of-pocket.
(Usually funding comes through grants and not personal funds.)
Instead of trying to pay a famous professor to work with you,
why not work to become a famous professor in your own right?
If you do excellent work and become known for it,
it is extremely likely that chances will arise
for you to work with other famous professors.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Luckily, there is no genuine issue here, since, I'd wager, none of the people you'd fancy paying to collaborate would do so, even for significant sums of money. This is lucky for you, since if any such thing happened there'd arise many problems... first about whether you earned a Ph.D., second, about your own fitness for the academic milieu...
So, in brief, don't do it, don't try it. Even a failed attempt would be so operationally unfortunate for you that the ethical issue wouldn't even get to the front of the queue.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: This is not the same as hiring a tutor. I suppose its possible that you could find a retired or semi-retired academic who is interested in your work. That said, the usual course of action is for you to find a researcher to work for or with, and write your own paper with their advice (and their name on your paper so you can publish). I don't know what your field of study is, but the route you are suggesting doesn't sound like it will help you get grant funding in the future.
I think the problem you are having is related to the expense of running a research laboratory, and the way researchers are judged by their peers. I am not a researcher, but I have had a front row seat for my lab's struggle for research funding - so here is some perspective.
The cost of running a research lab can be huge. For instance, the cost for some types of microscopes can easily be 6 figures. And the yearly maintenance contract for a microscope can be 5 figures. And of course most labs employ lab technicians and/or post-docs. On top of this, research groups pay their university a percentage of some of their expenses - salaries and some purchases. For a "wet" lab, this is almost 50%. In other words, a researcher's time has to equal a lot of money.
So a lab has to get some grants, and researchers must have published research in order to get those grants. An experiment with negative results, even important and valuable negative results, generally cannot be published. So successful, accepted research is the indirect source of almost 100% of the funding of many labs. Sound like a crapshoot? Yes it is. Encourages bias? Ah hum mumble. Do researchers generally give into this bias? I think most of them try very hard not to.
The grants that a lab receives are peer reviewed - that is researchers are on each other's grant panels. Researchers cannot afford to be involved in a research project unless they can defend it. Research can be highly specialized, and this makes it difficult to defend against critics who are experts in something slightly different. Researchers I know always hope to get panel members who do very similar work - if not, they are likely to get turned down.
There is a lot of pressure put on researchers, and they value their time and reputation highly. Unless you can substantially contribute to funding a lab or have a project which the researcher really understands and believes in, they won't risk working for you. And there's no denying that there can be a status thing here - they would rather work with you then for you.
<http://www.nature.com/jcbfm/journal/v30/n7/full/jcbfm201051a.html>
<http://acfnewsource.org.s60463.gridserver.com/science/negative_results.html>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: In my opinion it would be unethical to do this, as it would mean that students or researchers from richer backgrounds would have an unfair advantage over those from more working class backgrounds. In some ways it could be seen to parallel the idea of unpaid internships which give an automatic head start to young people from richer backgrounds who have the freedom to focus on obtaining key skills relevant to their desired career, while others have to take whichever paying job that allows them to subsist themselves/ their families.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: Taking this question seriously, since you appear to be independently wealthy, you could establish a research foundation (The Booth Foundation) and announce grants in your particular area of interest. I still doubt that you will get listed as a co-author but your foundation will at least get an acknowledgment.
Or you could set up your own own research institute, in which case you might get courtesy last author depending on your field.
Neither option guarantees that anyone serious will actually want to work with you, but you might attract some mercenaries or cranks. Cf. [Discovery Institute](http://www.discovery.org/).
Ps Neither of these will get you anywhere near a PhD at a reputable university.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: So, awhile back I wrote [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/31774/11353) suggesting that the student council would be ideal to handle the issue, but got told that student councils have no influence/role in such matters. In general I am used to the idea that a student council and student representatives do anything where students have to be represented at a higher level (from specific studies, to the faculty level, to the university level, up to even international politics). This does not only mean being a part of the rule making process, but also making sure students aren't disadvantaged because of professors not following those rules. Now, today I came across [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/41374/how-to-deal-with-a-professor-skipping-his-office-hours) and a comment (+22) on the highest voted answer warns the OP against escalation, because of retaliations against him as a student. For me that's exactly the kind of thing where I would expect the student representative to step in, he would first approach the professor in his role as student representative (not revealing the names of individual students). If the professor doesn't resolve the issue at once the student representative would know - unlike a typical students - exactly who best to approach within the institution and is best aware of all the rules and systems that are in place (and importantly if a dean for example were to ignore student complains too many times a student council is able to escalate this easily to upper university levels).
Now, it's becoming clear to me that that's not how it works in a lot of institutions as a lot of answers which I would expect to be "go to your student representative" are instead complex diplomatic answers or just "live with it" answers, so what I am trying to understand is where this model **does** apply (is it typical of just some western countries? Europe in general? Only our institution?). And how a student councils activities and responsibilities broadly look in different systems.<issue_comment>username_1: The answer to this will vary a lot from one country to another and (at least within the US) between one university and another. I don't believe that there is any universal answer to this question.
My experience within the US system is that "student government" typically has its most significant role in the area of extracurricular activities (clubs, student professional organizations, social events, concerts, intramural athletics, etc.) Student government can also play a significant role in the management of housing (dormitories) and food service.
At some universities student representatives may have the opportunity to express their concerns to top level administrators at board meetings and in other settings. For example, my university's board of regents includes a student representative and the president regularly holds meetings with the students to hear their concerns.
When it comes to degree requirements, academic rules and regulations, disputes over grades, and incidents of academic dishonesty (cheating), students typically have much less real power. In these areas, decisions are typically made by the faculty through some institution of faculty governance (e.g. a "Faculty Senate") that works with the administration. Although students may have some involvement in decision making in these areas, I've seldom seen a situation in which students actually held any meaningful voting power that could overcome the wishes of the faculty and administration.
One interesting exception is that some schools have "honor code" policies in which students caught cheating are judged by fellow students.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Austria is in a rather interesting situation regarding this. Traditionally, Austrian universities were mandated to maintain what was called (roughly translated) "university democracy", meaning that all members of the university (students, non-faculty scientific employees, non-scientific employees, faculty) need to be able strongly influence all decisions that directly impact them. In practice, this led to (for instance) student representatives with quite real powers, such as vetoing certain decisions.
After 2002, a new legisation was put in place to "americanize" the system, which (interestingly) was also understood to mean that decision power should be centralized more or less purely in the faculty (in Austria that's basically only full professors). Since then, the role of student representatives has shrunk perpetually. They are still in most meetings, but if they disagree, the only consequence is a note in the meeting protocol. This has certainly led to some developments that were quite frankly not in the student's best interests.
That being said, in Austria, student representatives are still your best bet when you have some "systemic" problem with a lecture or a professor. Not necessarily because they have any power to change things, but at least they are on first-name basis with the people that do (the dean of studies, the responsible department head, etc.) due to sitting on many meetings with them. Even if they can't force anything, they should know who to talk to, who might be able to remedy the situation.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am affiliated to an institute and they provide each student an opportunity to make their own homepage, which they can put up as `www.[institute-webpage]/[username]`. Now, this webpage is not reviewed by the institute. I made my homepage recently and I am wondering if it is ethical to put ads on it.
On one hand, it is my own website, while on the other hand, it is hosted on their server and I don't have to pay anything to get this.<issue_comment>username_1: This is a matter of institutional policy. Find your university's IT policy and read it; if advertising isn't explicitly mentioned, ask someone.
* [Here](http://www.it.ufl.edu/policies/web-related/advertising/) is an example of an advertising policy, from the University of Florida. It permits only a limited group of university offices to place advertisements on their sites.
* [Here](http://policies.vpfa.fsu.edu/bmanual/itpolicy.html) is a policy from Florida State University and [another one](http://www.gre.ac.uk/it-and-library/about/policies-and-procedures/it-policies/computer-related-legislation#S12) from the University of Greenwich that forbid advertising.
* [Here](http://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/documents/policy-zone-information-policies/DITadvertising.pdf) is a policy from the University of Aberdeen that permits advertising under certain conditions.
* [Here](http://www.unlv.edu/web/advertising-sponsorship#advertising) is one from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, that generally forbids advertising but makes an exception for advertising academic endeavors - for example, a faculty member linking to a retailer or publisher of the academic book they have authored.
The point is: check your university policy.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It may depend on the rules of your institute, but I'd bet that putting ads on your homepage is not allowed. You should certainly not put up ads without verifying that you have official permission to do so.
If you work at a public university or other governmental institute, then putting up ads could be considered using government property for personal gain. That's probably not just unethical, but illegal (but you'd have to look into the appropriate laws in your jurisdiction to be sure).
If you work at a private university or institute, then it may not be illegal, but there are still probably institute rules against using institute property in this way. I'd be surprised if any big organization didn't have such rules.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In academia the goal is to build one's scholarly reputation. While this is done primarily through publishing quality research, developing a professional network is also important.
Ideally one's webpage is:
* a summary of your research,
* a repository collection of useful links,
* technology tips you want to save,
* projects you have started,
* printed on your business card, and
* (most importantly) a portfolio of your work.
When I visit a colleague's tidy web page, my impression of her goes up. Ads would erode this perception in exchange for a few dollars.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I have some papers which describe some computer algorithms.
My algorithms have some input, output, static (global) variables, comments ...
something like the following algorithm, however I borrowed it from a book about artificial intelligence and I am not sure that is the style for a paper
```
function SIMPLE-REFLEX-AGENT(percept) returns an action
static: rules, a set of condition-action rules
state← INTERPRET-INPUT(percept)
rule← RULE-MATCH(state, rules)
action← RULE-ACTION[rule]
return action
```
What is the standard notation to insert such algorithms into a paper?<issue_comment>username_1: To the best of my knowledge, there is no standard notation for algorithms across computer science fields. However, looking through previous editions of the venue you plan to send your paper to should give you a good impression for how algorithms are typically denoted.
That being said, most papers I know just use a very simple procedural notation, basically pseudo-code in a simplified structural programming language. The reason is likely that such a notation has the least "hidden assumptions" in contrast to what your average computer scientist will know and expect. Contrary, your example seems ripe with symbols and expressions that are certainly not globally understood outside of AI. Using a "compact, expressive" notation loses much of its appeal if you then need to spend half a page to formally define your notation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Personally, I strongly recommend *not* using pseudocode, but instead choosing a language where you can express your real code tersely enough that you can simply publish your actual code in your paper.
The reason for this is that writing code is hard, and so pretty much all code has bugs in it when first written or translated from another language. Normally, we debug our code in various ways, including running it against tests or applying static analysis tools. For pseudocode, however, you can't do this, and so unless you're dealing with a very simple algorithm, there's a high likelihood of introducing a bug during your translation from your validated code or math into pseudocode.
If you must use pseudocode, however, just look at other publications in your field and choose a similar style. In particular, there are a number of [good LaTeX packages for pseudocode](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Algorithms), which you are likely to find useful for this purpose.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: My application has been put on the wait list at my top choice institution (unfunded masters, about 10% acceptance rate). The Department said they may not be able to let me know the final decision until after April 15 (which I understand). However, I need to know the decision before April 15 to respond to other offers. In order to determine my chance, I have the following questions:
1. While this may vary depending on the programs, is there a general percentage of applications out of the entire pool being put on wait list? If not what factors determine this?
2. Are wait listed applicants ranked? if not, how do programs determine which one to accept off wait lists?
3. Should I let them know that they are my top choice and if accepted I will almost surely attend?<issue_comment>username_1: The answers to your questions depend on the university/department, but are all reasonable questions to ask. It would be perfectly reasonable to send an email along the lines of
>
> Thank you for letting me know about the wait listing decision. I understand how competitive the admissions process is. I wanted to let you know that XXX is my top choice and if offered a place I would accept it immediately. As I have also received an offer from YYY that I need to respond to by April 15, would you mind if I checked on my status closer to the deadline?
>
>
>
This will hopefully open a dialog and they might say something like "given your place on the wait list it is unlikely we will know anything prior to the deadline" or "given your place in the wait list the picture should be a lot clearer closer to the deadline.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you want to play it mean, you will accept the second best offer on April 14th. But you will not give up on your first choice. If your waitlist subsequently clears and you get a confirmed place, then you will have to withdraw with regret from your other offer.
Some people would suggest it is ethically unsound to accept firm offers in the knowledge that you may later renounce them. I don't really agree but that is your decision.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/03/11
| 949
| 4,014
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<issue_start>username_0: In Biology, I was told, you will almost not be able to find a professor that does not have a Macbook. And as soon as they have enough money, students and scientific staff will follow.
But also in my own field, mathematics, I have seen lots of highly respected professors with Macbooks.
Now, I have never worked with a Macbook myself, but I have helped out colleagues with problems a few times and I have really have not encountered any advantages over a regular and half as expensive Windows laptop, or an even cheaper Linux laptop.
Those that I know good enough to question their choice of laptop confirm exactly my suspicion, saying they thought it was pretty/everyone in their lab had one, or swear by it but never had a different laptop.
Is there something I am missing about Macs? Maybe some recent convert out there?
If not, why are academics so keen on status symbols? Isn't academia the one place where content should count, not looks, or even worse, depiction of wealth?
EDIT: while I agree that this question is prone to flame wars and the question about mac vs. anything else is also not really new, I DID want to know about the specific situation for scientists and the two answers so far are exactly of the kind that I wished when I was posting the question. Now of course mentioning that Macs might(! "if they..") be regarded as status symbols attracts attention to my question ;)<issue_comment>username_1: Rest assured that there are reasons enough for using good quality hardware. Those of us who purchase a Mac do not do so because they are a "status symbol". We do so because they are the best tool for the job.
* In many fields, using Windows is simply not an option. We **need** UNIX.
* Linux is a good operating system, is free, and can be installed on a wide variety of hardware. However, Linux is nowhere near as refined as OS X in terms of its overall usability. We can often be much more productive on an OS X machine, and reserve Linux for use in virtual machines or on a powerful desktop when we need software stability or heavy-lifting power.
* The other side of the coin is hardware. Until recently, there was very scarce competition in terms of hardware quality. Macs are built well, thin and light, and have long battery life – great for conferencing. Now, other manufacturers have caught up and are making hardware that is at least as good – but a high quality Thinkpad or Dell XPS is still just as pricey as a Mac. I repeat: *comparably high quality Windows hardware is just as expensive as a Mac*.
The money spent on a good machine pays for itself in productivity.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I remember the transition point, which happened in the middle of my grad school, with the major shift happening across approximately 2003 - 2006. What happened was [OS X](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_OS_X). Before that point, scientists generally faced a nasty computing dilemma:
* Use Windows, and have a terribly difficult time using lots of Unix-based scientific applications.
* Pick a Unix flavor, and have flaky hardware and driver support, no access to proprietary applications like PowerPoint and Word (which are often required for US government interactions), and a lot of time required in being sysadmin to your own machine.
Once OS X stabilized and picked up sufficient application support, you could get a Mac and have the best of both worlds: proprietary software, Unix (BSD), and minimal sysadmin time. The elegant design was a plus, but the big thing was the capabilities.
Over time, both Windows and Linux have started catching up---particularly Linux, where there are now much more sane graphical interfaces and it is no longer a crapshoot whether you'll be able to make the drivers work on any given laptop. Mac has remained very strong, however, especially with things like their increasing lightness and lengthening battery life, though, and so I expect it will be widespread for some time to come.
Upvotes: 5
|
2015/03/11
| 551
| 2,454
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<issue_start>username_0: Most science research is published in subject-specific journals, of which there are many. However, there are a relatively small number of interdisciplinary journals, some of which are the most highly cited of all journals (Nature, Science); others have impact factors comparable to subject-specific journals (e.g., PLOS ONE, J. R. Soc. Interface, etc.).
If we discount arguments around open science and similar business model arguments (which could favor journals like PLOS ONE), and assume that the purpose of publishing is simply to get your research read (and cited) by the largest "relevant audience", when should one publish in an interdisciplinary journal versus a subject-specific journal (assuming they have comparable impact factors)? (Are there any papers out there that compare the fate of publications [or their authors!] in the two different types of journal?)
Thanks in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: If the scope of your research is so wide that audience of subject-specific journal would require prerequisite knowledge other than the predefined scope of the journal then I'd be publishing in the interdisciplinary journal if I were you.
I don't to expect to read an article in computer science specific journal and encounter an article about useful application of computer science in some other scientific field.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: My opinion on this is as follows. If your research advances the state of the art of field X, either by adding new knowledge specifically to X or improving existing methods/knowledge in X, you should submit to an X-specific journal. If your paper improves knowledge in field Y using methods from field X, I would either publish in a journal specific to Y, or in an Y,X interdisciplinary journal.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I think the most important factor is who you (and the editor/reviewers) think should read the paper. *Nature* has a very broad readership from different fields - if your results are relevant for this broad audience, send there. *PLoS ONE* is also multidisciplinary, but has a different audience then *Nature*. If your results are relevant to a more specific field, send to a field-specific journal.
In fact, in some cases, you could even have a work that is mainly in field X, but you feel an audience from field Y should be exposed to it and send it to the "less fitting" journal of field Y.
Upvotes: 1
|
2015/03/11
| 1,199
| 4,933
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<issue_start>username_0: I have had to read so many papers, and papers on writing papers, that I noticed how engaging and more pleasant to read a publication is when the author inserts the occasional funny remark.
I'm also writing so many project papers lately (mathematics bachelor) that I am actually developing an enjoyment for writing and attempting to come up with my own style. It's something I'd like to improve and I'd love to write more in the future and as I further my studies.
And so I wondered. How appropriate is it for a student to sometimes be funny in his or her reports? I have stumbled on so many half-assedly written assignments that it makes me think that many students simply don't care about nice writing at all, so I don't have any example to base an opinion on. Thoughts?<issue_comment>username_1: Well if its not a conference or journal paper but rather a report or even a thesis then go for it. Your teachers (despite what students think!) are people too, so if you can at a fun tone then why not. I've done it when I considered it appropriate and confident it would be acknowledged.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The goal of a publication is to communicate a scientific idea, not to be funny. That said, there's nothing wrong with using a little bit of humor if it doesn't detract from the presentation. The problem is that most humor does exactly that, either being a joke "aside" that disrupts the flow of text or (worse) effectively attempting to substitute humor for a solid argument (which is how humor is often used in normal conversation).
For the most part, then, plan not to use humor in scientific writing, but as you develop your writing voice you may find there are ways that humor will eventually find ways to acceptably creep in (see the [scenarios in many security papers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_and_Bob), for example).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Whatever you decide, humor in academic writing is always better understated rather than overstated. See here:
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I think the general rule is that humor should not distract from the message of the paper, and that turns out to be a surprisingly high bar.
That said, there is a place in every paper where you can find humor on a quite regular basis: The acknowledgments. I've thanked jetlag for unexpected nocturnal clarity there, and a friend has thanked his favorite brand of beer. There are probably many other occurrences. If you find it difficult to find appropriate places for humor in your papers, this is it!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I think the most important thing is comedy is **know your audience.** Either that, or be funny. I don't know, I don't really know comedy.
The point is, you need to know your audience for your report to know how much humor, and of what kind, is acceptable. If it is a paper/report to be submitted to a serious venue, or just something to submit to a crochety old professor, then the answer is you should be quite reserved. If you're submitting this report to a professor who jokes around a lot and puts in a lot of humor in his notes, or just putting it on your webpage for fun, you can be more free.
Caveat: many academic jokes undergrads think are funny are less so to experts. (It goes without saying that all professors' jokes are funny to everyone.) Once again, know your audience.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: There is something to be said for appropriateness both of time and place but also reputation.
I can't speak for your field but as an instructor for computer programming, I **always** appreciate when students inject humor into their code assignments.
Recently I have spent a lot of time reading academic works in the field of psychology. Authors from Wertheimer to Baddeley to Paivio have all injected small bits of wry humor into their writing. I appreciate this as a reader but am not sure I would try to pull this off as an author.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I must disagree with many of the answers here. I think well put humor deserves a place anywhere. Communication, whether via speech, writing or any other medium requires the active engagement of at least two parties. Humor, when used properly, is a method to increase audience engagement. Look at Wilde or Orwell - their writing is packed with quips and humorous devices. How about Franklin or even a figure such as <NAME> in his memoir? Humor is a very effective tool to increase audience engagement and thus making your point all the more resonant and enjoyable.
Response to comment (since I can't add comment due to closed status):
That is a good point - however have you read Orwell's essay on the English language and his resistance to much of it's trending slang? That would be considered academic, yet is still completely Orwellian
Upvotes: 1
|
2015/03/11
| 995
| 4,464
|
<issue_start>username_0: For a paper I am currently writing, I am doing an extensive literature review on a subject which is much more vast than I had anticipated. Are there any specific tricks and tips for organizing ones reading when the body of literature is so large? I tend to get carried away with interesting references and lose the overview a little. If I read everything linearly from A-Z, I would not have the time to finish my review. My goal is thus instead to have a non-exhaustive, but ideally representative impression of the structure of the literature (that is, different strands of research, who 'responded' to whom, etc.).
I would very much appreciate any hints from an experienced academic.<issue_comment>username_1: First: Use a modern reference manager. Mendeley, Zotero or Endnote are all fine. BibTex is wonderful for formatting the citations, and all the previous mentioned exports to BibTex. What BibTex lacks is search functions, storage of the original publications, networking, annotations, easy import and so on. The reference manager can save you significant amounts of work.
Second: Start with the existing literature reviews in the field. If you are publishing the review you will need to position yourself against them in the related work anyway.
Third: The trick to a good literature review is the focus. You want to include all the papers that are important considering the scope of your review, and nothing else. A review which covers "the 200 most cited papers in this broad field" is pretty much useless. If you feel you are getting overwhelmed it's time to start pruning ruthlessly.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Define useful subcategories within the field you are examining. When you are not familiar enough with subject to define applicable categories, then first read a few papers that have been cited a lot.
Now assign each paper to one or more categories, just by reading the abstract and conclusions, and glancing over the rest. Also keep track of how many citations each paper received (you can use Google scholar or Scopus for this).
Within each category you can build a tree by assigning the highly cited papers to knots, and the less cited papers to leaves. Connect them according to how they cite each other. Preferably, connect each leaf to only one knot. Keep in mind that since older papers can never cite the newer ones, it is most efficient to start with the older papers.
Now you have a pretty structured overview, and you can spend some time to read the most important knots in more detail. Finally, write down for each category the most important differences with the other categories, and how the knots and branches are structured.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If my opinion, a good survey is not a snapshot of what is out there in the literature, but rather is a presentation of the current state of knowledge on a subject (which will necessarily involve some snapshots of what is out there). **This model of knowledge is the novel contribution of the survey.** Your goal, then, is to develop enough expertise in the "lay of the land" to be able to see a pattern that may have never been explicitly enunciated in the literature before.
As such, I recommend the following iterative approach, which has been useful for me in preparing surveys:
1. Begin with a hypothesis of the structure of knowledge on your topic.
2. With keyword searching, find lots of articles related to the topic.
3. Do not read the articles: read just enough to make sure they are actually relevant, and download and organize them into categories based on your hypothesis.
4. When you've got a big enough pile, skim them to see how your hypothesis is holding up, and adjust it to fit the reality of what you've found.
5. Repeat from 2, with your adjusted hypothesis, gathering more references, until you find your hypothesis is beginning to stabilize. Once you've got a stable hypothesis, you are ready to write, and your final organization will reflect the discovery enunciated in your final hypothesis.
A good survey is probably going to be in the 50 - 200 reference range. If you are finding that you are gathering many more than that, consider whether your subject is too broad and you need to narrow its focus. It may also be that you have an appropriate focus, but that you are thinking about too many details, and you need to go into less depth in your investigation.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2015/03/11
| 1,001
| 4,301
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm wondering how to reference a book The Jepson Manual, 2nd Edition shown below.
>
> <NAME>. et al. (ed.). 2012. The Jepson Manual, Vascular Plants of
> California, **Rev. 2, 2nd ed**. University of California Press.
>
>
>
I wondering about citing the revisions which are available on-line at eflora. There are now two revisions of this second edition. Should the revisions be listed in the citation as above or some other way? And should I keep the book date at 2012 even though the online revision 2 was 2014.<issue_comment>username_1: First: Use a modern reference manager. Mendeley, Zotero or Endnote are all fine. BibTex is wonderful for formatting the citations, and all the previous mentioned exports to BibTex. What BibTex lacks is search functions, storage of the original publications, networking, annotations, easy import and so on. The reference manager can save you significant amounts of work.
Second: Start with the existing literature reviews in the field. If you are publishing the review you will need to position yourself against them in the related work anyway.
Third: The trick to a good literature review is the focus. You want to include all the papers that are important considering the scope of your review, and nothing else. A review which covers "the 200 most cited papers in this broad field" is pretty much useless. If you feel you are getting overwhelmed it's time to start pruning ruthlessly.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Define useful subcategories within the field you are examining. When you are not familiar enough with subject to define applicable categories, then first read a few papers that have been cited a lot.
Now assign each paper to one or more categories, just by reading the abstract and conclusions, and glancing over the rest. Also keep track of how many citations each paper received (you can use Google scholar or Scopus for this).
Within each category you can build a tree by assigning the highly cited papers to knots, and the less cited papers to leaves. Connect them according to how they cite each other. Preferably, connect each leaf to only one knot. Keep in mind that since older papers can never cite the newer ones, it is most efficient to start with the older papers.
Now you have a pretty structured overview, and you can spend some time to read the most important knots in more detail. Finally, write down for each category the most important differences with the other categories, and how the knots and branches are structured.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If my opinion, a good survey is not a snapshot of what is out there in the literature, but rather is a presentation of the current state of knowledge on a subject (which will necessarily involve some snapshots of what is out there). **This model of knowledge is the novel contribution of the survey.** Your goal, then, is to develop enough expertise in the "lay of the land" to be able to see a pattern that may have never been explicitly enunciated in the literature before.
As such, I recommend the following iterative approach, which has been useful for me in preparing surveys:
1. Begin with a hypothesis of the structure of knowledge on your topic.
2. With keyword searching, find lots of articles related to the topic.
3. Do not read the articles: read just enough to make sure they are actually relevant, and download and organize them into categories based on your hypothesis.
4. When you've got a big enough pile, skim them to see how your hypothesis is holding up, and adjust it to fit the reality of what you've found.
5. Repeat from 2, with your adjusted hypothesis, gathering more references, until you find your hypothesis is beginning to stabilize. Once you've got a stable hypothesis, you are ready to write, and your final organization will reflect the discovery enunciated in your final hypothesis.
A good survey is probably going to be in the 50 - 200 reference range. If you are finding that you are gathering many more than that, consider whether your subject is too broad and you need to narrow its focus. It may also be that you have an appropriate focus, but that you are thinking about too many details, and you need to go into less depth in your investigation.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2015/03/11
| 592
| 2,612
|
<issue_start>username_0: I want to know whether my PhD thesis supervisor (with whom I have co-authored many papers) is allowed to be a reviewer for one of my journal submissions?<issue_comment>username_1: In many cases this would be inappropriate. PhD advisors are considered to have a permanent conflict-of-interest when it comes to their advisees.
Some conferences/journals relax this condition and allow for reviews from former collaborators if there has been no collaboration in the past 5-6 years (or some similar time window). You should check the rules around CoI for the particular journal if these are publicly available.
However: it is best to not have your PhD advisor listed as a potential reviewer. If the Associate Editor or Editor-in-Chief makes that call -- to have an advisor review the advisee's work -- it is a different matter but one should not rely on obtaining reviews from former advisors.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: The question is ultimately one for your advisor and the journal editor to answer, but it certainly does not seem like a best practice. If for instance you are being asked to suggest possible reviewers, I think you should never suggest your thesis advisor.
I could perhaps imagine a situation in which your work is so difficult or technical that the thesis advisor needs to be consulted at some point in order to vouch for it or address its correctness. However, I think this should be avoided if at all possible: as the tag indicates, this is a clear conflict of interest.
From the perspective of the thesis advisor: if I were asked to referee a paper by a current student I would automatically turn it down, giving this conflict of interest as the reason. If I were asked to referee a paper of a former student I would write back to the editor informing them that they are my former student, ask them whether they really want me to referee the paper, and take it from there.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: If the journal has asked you to suggest potential or preferred reviewers, you should not ideally include the name of your PhD supervisor. However, if yours is a niche field, and your choice of preferred reviewers is limited, then you could perhaps include his name, adding a note disclosing the potential conflict of interest and stating that you added his name due to a lack of other options.
However, if the journal editor invites your supervisor to review your paper, then it's up to them to decide. Usually in such cases, the referee discloses the conflict of interest, as mentioned in the last part of username_2's answer.
Upvotes: 1
|
2015/03/11
| 319
| 1,156
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Masters student and graduating in two weeks. I need to admit that I procrastinated A LOT while working on my thesis. If I do my Ph.D. I expect myself to procrastinate a lot there too. However, I'm wondering if this habit vanishes as the individual gets more senior in academia. So maybe as the person gets more senior in academia, they learn to handle this habit better.
My questions:
1. Is true that the more senior you become, the more you are able to handle this bad habit?
2. Do professors procrastinate too?<issue_comment>username_1: 1. No. I think that procrastination is a lifetime problem. I'm doing it right now, and while not a professor, I'm a senior researcher at a university.
2. Yes. Everyone procrastinates.
I suppose that some people manage to never procrastinate, but my brain doesn't work that way. Don't worry, it's normal.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: (1) No and (2) Yes.
Evidence to support both claims is the fact that I am a professor and I am writing this answer to you as a way of procrastinating from writing two syllabuses, several research papers, and a grant application.
Upvotes: 4
|
2015/03/12
| 843
| 3,765
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<issue_start>username_0: Here is the situation; I made an article that got published in a Computer Science conference; the final decision was that it was considered a borderline paper. After a while I got an email from the organizers of that conference, letting the authors know that there would be the chance to resubmit our articles to a journal, but that the work should contain at least 30% more contribution than the original paper. Long story short, I worked through all the reviewers comments and added more information on my original article.
Actually I am a little bit afraid if my article would make it through the journal, but because I worked hard on doing the asked changes I would not like to leave it like that.
For that reason, I was wondering that in case of a rejection, Could I submit my expanded work to another conference; or should I just leave it like that? I am afraid that maybe the reviewers from another conference could see it like a case of self-plagiarized, even though I am citing my original article.
What to do in this situation? Should I paraphrase all the article again before submitting it with the new material? or should just let it be?<issue_comment>username_1: When in doubt talk to your adviser.
It is common in the Computer Science that the delta between conference and journal papers is 30%. That is not updated text only, but 30% of new substantial material, such as new experiments etc.
When submitting paper to a conference, there isn't a 30% rule. Your new paper needs to have a stand-alone novel contribution.
The reason is that CS adopted an iterative publication style workshop -> conference -> journal. So if your extended paper does not get accepted to a journal, you can attempt another journal, but not another conference.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> For that reason, I was wondering that in case of a rejection, Could I submit my expanded work to another conference; or should I just leave it like that? I am afraid that maybe the reviewers from another conference could see it like a case of self-plagiarized, even though I am citing my original article.
>
>
>
Submitting a conference paper that is only 30% off of another conference paper is not very likely to succeed. It is likely not going to be considered self-plagiarism (at least not if you didn't copy-and-paste large parts of your old paper, just described similar ideas in a new way), but the reviewers are likely going to criticise that the innovation over existing research (often called the "delta") just isn't large enough.
However, you are free to resubmit to a different *journal* if this one rejects your paper. Getting "invited to submit an extension" gives you sort of a starting advantage, but you can still submit your revised manuscript to any other journal. Just note that some journals require a larger update than 30%, so you should check that you are in compliance with the journal's rules prior to submission.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Although your paper is now an expanded version, it would most likely have the same or very similar findings as that of the version you presented at the conference. Thus, if you present the expanded version at another conference, you'll most likely be repeating most of the ideas you presented at the previous conference. Thus, your paper will lack novelty, and will not be a success.
In case your paper gets rejected, a far better option would be to submit it to another journal. Make sure you go through the peer review comments even if your paper is rejected, and try to incorporate the changes suggested. That way, your manuscript will be further improved and will stand a better chance of acceptance when you submit it to another journal.
Upvotes: 1
|
2015/03/12
| 780
| 3,311
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am approaching the end of the tunnel and starting to look for my options beyond the PhD. The few contacts I have initiated have been positive so far and I will be visiting some labs in the coming months.
I am wondering which questions would be good ask during these visits. What insights would be valuable to acquire after these visits?
Regarding the talk with the group/lab leader, I am thinking of keeping the conversation/discussion around **research interests** for both parties, as well as his/her **expectations** from me and my **responsibilities**, if I start a post-doc there.
With respect to the group members, I intend on inquiring about the social environment, work ethics/common practices, different competencies that are in the group. **Edit:** a good advice I recently got from an ex-colleague who's doing post-doc in the US now, was to investigate whether or not there is a tradition of inter-group competition, *i.e.* will there be another post-doc working on the same project?
Any comments/suggestions based on personal experience?<issue_comment>username_1: Do not forget to ask about what **training** you can expect.
As a post-doctoral fellow, you are supposed to develop new skills and expierence. A supervisor might simply look for a cheap scientist. One person I know was hired to do pretty much the work she did during her PhD, except at a different location and with virtually no supervision at all. They needed a specialist and she fit, but as she is the expert she has little use of the other group members. The good thing is that she keeps writing papers. The bad thing is that she doesn't really acquire any new skills that she didn't already have at the end of her PhD.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Your list is a good start, but I would dig a little deeper into the "expectations" item than you may plan. "Postdoc" is maybe the least well-defined role in a research group, and what you are supposed to (and *allowed* to) do can vary greatly. You need to have a clear understanding in advance whether your vision of the position matches with the vision of your mentor. Concretely:
* Ask whether you are supposed to write papers without your mentor. If yes, try to get a feel whether the mentor *means* it (very few will outright say No to such a request). Try to get a feel for what percentage of joint vs. individual work your mentor expects.
* Ask whether you are supposed to write grant proposals. Ask whether you will be the PI of said proposals, or your mentor.
* Ask whether you will be responsible for your own PhD students.
* Ask whether it will be possible to work on topics that are of interest to you, but of less interest to your mentor.
* Try to get a feel for the mode of collaboration your mentor expects. Everything from *"you do your thing and ask me for input when you need it"* to *"I'll tell you which problem to work on, and you report back your results to me"* is possible, and you will want to know which one it is.
In addition to that, also ask what your mentor has in mind in terms of your career plan. When you apply for assistant professorships in a year, will he fully support you, or will he want to keep you around for longer? If the latter, what can he realistically offer you?
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
|
2015/03/12
| 504
| 1,987
|
<issue_start>username_0: I coauthored a paper with my former advisor and he sent it to an expert for review before submitting it to a journal. A couple of weeks have passed by and I would like to know the status, but I have not heard anything new from my former advisor about the paper.
I thus am wondering:
>
> Are there any negative consequences associated with asking my former advisor about the status of the paper?
>
>
>
Simply put, I am afraid that my former advisor would feel that I am being pushy or something similar.
Moreover, if there are no negative consequences, I would like to know how to properly formulate such an email.<issue_comment>username_1: I see no problem with such a question. Just phrase it in a non-pushy way, like:
>
> Hi, XXX: I just wanted to check in on the status of our paper, since we sent it to YYY for input a couple of weeks ago. Do you know if YYY has gotten a chance to review it yet?
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you co-authored the paper, this is definitely a harmless and reasonable question. Just send your former advisor a brief email, asking whether he has heard back from the person he asked to referee it. Something along the lines of
```
Dear Prof. X,
I was wondering whether you have heard back from Prof Y about our paper yet.
Could you please keep me updated when you do?
Kind regards,
Z
```
(Since you're afraid to ask I've guessed that you have a formal relationship with this person, but off course replace "Dear Prof." and "Kind regards" with whatever you usually would use to address him.)
Note that a couple of weeks isn't a very long time for reviewing a paper, as it's the kind of job that people tend to put off until either right before the deadline or until a magical time when they will be less busy, so it's very likely that the other person just hasn't gotten back to your former advisor yet. Especially if they didn't give them some sort of deadline.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2015/03/12
| 762
| 2,988
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<issue_start>username_0: I wrote a Master's thesis a couple of years ago (which is available to view from my University's online service; so it's out there) and am now doing a PhD. Some passages from my Master's thesis is relevant to my PhD and could be used in my PhD literature review. If it matters, the masters thesis is not published and I am studying in a UK university.
Am I allowed to copy chunks of text from my masters thesis into my PhD thesis?<issue_comment>username_1: No. It's called self-plagiarism. You can of course cite results from your Master's thesis, and even quote it, but only if you clearly indicate the source. That it wasn't published doesn't make a difference.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I did my PhD studies in Sweden. In Sweden it is common to write two theses: a *licentiate thesis* after roughly 2 years, and a *PhD thesis* at the end. The second one is a natural extension of the first one, so this question came up. One person said one should rephrase everything, but we thought this was silly. Instead, I wrote a preface in my PhD thesis with the following:
>
> This text can be considered a continuation of the so-called
> licentiate thesis (Holl, 2011).
> In the Swedish academic system, the licentiate thesis is a thesis very
> similar in structure to the PhD thesis, that PhD candidates are encouraged
> to write approximately halfway through their PhD studies.
> A lot of the material published here was already published in the
> licentiate thesis.
>
>
>
Self-plagiarism occurs if you claim information is new, when you've already used it before. Therefore, if you write something like this in a preface, you are not committing self-plagiarism.
However, you should still check if your university has any rules against it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: This is a matter for local policies at the university in question.
At the university I got my PhD from you are required to declare what (if any) material in your thesis have been submitted for previous qualifications in the thesis front matter. The examiners will presumablly take that into consideration when deciding if you have done a sufficient ammount of new work.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: In UK, this was strictly not allowed (I had asked a similar question to my guide on my Masters thesis). As Johanna correctly says, it is considered "self plagiarism" (you copied from yourself!) and while I do not agree with it, this is a common criteria.
For the same reason, you are not allowed to take any article / essay written by you earlier, and use it in your PhD thesis or your Masters research thesis.
The rationale, I believe, is that each work during your studies should be original and unique, different from what you have written earlier. It cannot build up on your earlier work (at least in the written word - in thoughts of course you have all through been building up on your past knowledge and learning)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have two PhD offers:
Team a) I like the people but the research topics rather just ok.
Team b) I like the research topics but the people are a bit strange and not as well qualified.
Can someone, maybe out of experience, say which is more important to choose?<issue_comment>username_1: It is a very personal choice, and depends on many factors.
That being said, the team can make or break project. Not only you will get helpful advice (or lack of) from the team, but you will go through some very rough bumps along the way. The strength of the team when going to the hard times will determine if you come out stronger, or if all energy is spent in the conflict.
You should ideally be passionate on the topic, but it might not be a love at the first sight. :) A good problem will give rise to five more questions to be answered, and once invested in it, your natural curiosity should drive you naturally to solve them.
Personally, I would choose team over the topic within the reason. If the topic is completely outside of my interests, I would look into how to best integrate with the given team, would set my expectations accordingly. Perhaps you can find a well-qualified collaborator outside your group, or plan on working independently more, etc...But, do make sure you can work well with your adviser, without being able to work well with him/her, you won't get far.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Pick the right people and make their lab your home base, then find a way to make the topic also relevant to their group, and in the meantime collaborate with the not so ok people.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: In the acknowledge of a thesis, we thank all the people who helped our research. E.g.
"First of all I thank xxx, for xxx throughout my Ph.D. period."
For my master thesis's acknowledge, I tried very hard to rephrase the sentences to avoid repeating others' similar ones.
This time, I need to write my PhD thesis's acknowledge. I have download around 10 copies of other's acknowledges. I find it really difficult to work out a sentence structure that is different from all of them.
I mean the peoples we thank are different, but the reasons or the phrases representing how we should thank them are similar among all thesis.
I just wonder if I can stop struggling with rephrasing the sentence structure, and copy & mix the sentences from my and others' acknowledges and just replace the people's names?
Is this an acceptable behaviors? Is this plagiarism or self-plagiarism?
I just think there are so many theses with acknowledges. You probably would never be able to work out an unique sentence structure. You will be similar to others anyway. So why not just copy, mix and change names?<issue_comment>username_1: First, throw away everyone else's acknowledgements sections. Ignore them.
Second, think of all the people to whom you feel grateful, and write down your thanks in whatever way feels natural to you.
It really is that easy. There's only so many ways to say something, so if it sounds similar to someone else's, so what? As long as they are your own heartfelt words, no one will notice or care.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The acknowledgements aren't really something you claim credit for. I think on the whole people aren't going to worry about copied acknowledgement sentences, unless you copy something very unique (eg. someone quoting a film/book/their grandfather). I'd very much doubt anyone would care if you copied your own text from your master's thesis (I guess they might interpret it as insincere, but if they know you find the language hard they could probably see past that). You could try mix-and-match, with sentences but also with clauses.
Or alternatively you could write in your own language.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been out of undergrad for some time now but was interested in publishing a few things I have been working on. Are there any good "beginner" journals where someone without a mathematics PhD might have a chance at publishing something?
It might be important to note that most of the material would likely just be more on the recreational side of things.
Thanks in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: Of the [journals of the Mathematical Association of America](http://www.maa.org/maa-journals), you can choose between *The American Mathematical Monthly*, the *Mathematical Magazine*, and *The College Mathematics Journal*. The three have (perhaps subtly) different scopes1, and short of you telling us exactly what your results are about we cannot tell you which journal is the best choice. (On the other hand, you can easily write to the editors of one of those three journals to see where your manuscript would best fit.)
As Dirk mentioned, [*The Mathematical Intelligencer*](http://www.springer.com/mathematics/journal/283) is also an obvious choice (again, caveats about not knowing whether your paper fit in their scope).
If you aim the material at the mathematical maturity level between secondary (high school) education and first years of a college education, two good publications are [*Pi in the Sky*](http://www.pims.math.ca/resources/publications/pi-sky) which is published by the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and [*Parabola*](http://www.parabola.unsw.edu.au/) which is backed by the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Another general mathematics magazine you can try is [*Plus Magazine*](https://plus.maths.org/content/about-plus) based at Cambridge; the editors specifically asks you to contact them in advance if you want to write for the publication.
---
1 A very rough guide is that in terms of "mathematical maturity", the "age" of the readers are such that CMJ < MM < AMM.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Willie's answers provides a good list of math journals aimed a general audience from undergrads to PhDs, but I'd like to give a different kind of answer. You question seems to assume that most math journals are specifically for people with PhDs to publish in but this is just false. While it's certainly true that most papers published in most journals are written by people who already have PhDs, many of them are written by grad students, some by undergrads, and even a few by high school students (I don't know any articles by preschoolers or middle schoolers, but maybe someone else can enlighten me.)
The main question you should ask is: what journals publish the kind of papers I am writing? Since you say it's primarily recreational mathematics, then the kind of publications that Willie mentions may well be most appropriate (though beware the Monthly has rather high standards in terms of quality and exposition--I don't know much about the others). But, depending on the kind of mathematics, it might be appropriate for, say, one of the many journals with a focus on combinatoric or number theory. The ideal thing would be to see if one of your former professors, could give you some guidance--both feedback on a draft, and suggestions for suitable places for publication. In fact, the feedback on a draft is likely to be more valuable than journal suggestions. If this is not possible, you could also consider contacting a mathematician who you think may be interested in your work, and briefly explain your situation and ask if they would be willing to take a look at your draft.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Try for Recreational Mathematics Magazine. [LINK](http://rmm.ludus-opuscula.org)
url : rmm.ludus-opuscula.org
As noted here, the *Journal of Recreational Mathematics* has ceased publication. Maybe this new journal will help fill the gap.
See the 4 issues published so far at that address. And more information about the journal.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I've recently watched *The Theory of Everything* and it got me thinking. How does a researcher with a serious physical impediment, such as <NAME>, conduct his research?
Academic life usually involves studying, staying up to date with current literature, attending or giving conferences, teaching some classes, etc. Each of those activities presents serious challenges. For instance, how does he *do* math? Everything is done in his mind or does he scribble some notes on software? Or maybe in Latex? I'm assuming he has people helping him, too.
I'm not sure if this is on topic here, so I apologize if it's inappropriate.<issue_comment>username_1: Have you read his article in the Wikipedia? I believe most of your questions are answered there.
As for students and researchers with disabilities in general: Every disability is different and different things can be done to help, from extra time on homeworks and exams, to special reading / blackboard viewing devices, hearing aids, keyboards that require very little finger strength, to having another person take notes for the disabled student / researcher. I'm sure I forgot lots of other tools.
The most important tool for research is the mind and with a keen mind most obstacles can be overcome.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There is a book by <NAME> (philosopher and anthropologist of science at UC Davis) about how <NAME> is working. For the author, Hawking is, by necessity, the archetype of new scientists who are more than just individuals.
Here you can find information about the book :
<http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo3750667.html>
If I remember well, the book was in some sort of controversy, but this is just me remembering.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Perhaps, this is a meta-level question. Most review papers narrate the story of the field/problem or summarize a large but focused body of literature. The authors are usually senior level faculties with years of experience in the field. How these papers are being reviewed and what is the formalism behind accepting or rejecting them? Many such papers fail to present a framework/criteria/dimension for the field (maybe due to complexity), but is there any effort targeted to develop reviewing skills for young researchers to follow?<issue_comment>username_1: When referring to a Review, I am thinking of a Topical Review, PhD Tutorial, or Colloquium such as those published in [The Review of Modern Physics](http://journals.aps.org/rmp) or the [Journal of Physics B](http://iopscience.iop.org/0953-4075/).
It is true that most publications leave a new graduate student without a sufficient introduction to the topic; however, this should not be the case with a Review. As a grad student, I recall being frustrated reading regular journal articles. Then I remember my elation while reading the introduction of my first review article. The clouds of confusion parted as the author explained few-cycle laser pulses in "plain physics."
Review articles are arguable the hardest to write. First, the author must be intimately familiar with the topic and be able to weave a disparate group publications into a cohesive story. The Review's introduction must present sufficient motivation, provide a historical context, and create a structural outline for the topic at hand. Next, the author must clarify and distill the important papers, and include lesser papers as they advance the story. Since Reviews often include over 200 articles in their reference list, this can be quite a task. Finally, a good Review will highlight new applications and open question.
In addition to the above structural criteria by which a Review should be judged, see [the selected answer of this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3628/at-what-stage-of-research-career-one-can-write-a-review-article?rq=1) for political advice.
To summarize and answer your question:
>
> Why don't junior scientists write such Reviews, and why aren't there efforts train them?
>
>
>
Before learning to run one must learn to walk, and before writing a Review one must learn to write a regular article.
As you mentioned, senior faculty often write Reviews because they have the most familiarity with the literature, connections, and experience.
The best training for junior faculty is gaining a familiarity with: the literature, the publishing process, and colleagues.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I too find it frustrating that so many literature reviews are so unsystematic.
There are efforts underway to improve the quality of reviews, and to develop these skills in early-career researchers. We like our students, where possible, to write a review article as a early part of their PhD. The medical field has for many years been honing the quality of reviews, and there's much that other fields can learn from it.
We have had a [Q&A about systematic reviews](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/34625/96) earlier, and there I listed three relevant books. The most significant of these, as far as your question is concerned, is [Doing a Systematic Review: A Student's Guide - <NAME> et al](http://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book240606?siteId=sage-uk&prodTypes=any&q=Systematic%20review&fs=1) - it's primarily aimed at Masters students, and also makes for an easy-to-read introduction to the field for anyone.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I tried searching for a similar question but most I read dealt with published papers and not a **PhD**, so apologies if this is a duplicate. I will remove this question if it is.
I've read a number of PhD dissertations and I haven't come across one which cites a conference paper, only journals (and the occasional website). I guess also it depends on the university if they accept such citations but I was just wondering if this is commonplace?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no problem in citing a conference paper in a PhD thesis.
When selecting literature that you want to use in your scientific work, it is not uncommon to take the reputation of the hosting medium (journal, conference, etc) into account. The examiners of your thesis might question the quality of the work that you are citing when it origins from dubious sources. But that holds for dubious conferences, as well as for dubious journals.
There are, however, many conferences with an excellent reputation. And there is no reason why you should not cite papers that have been published there.
Furthermore, when you make use of a work (paper or anything else) that comes from a less established source, you are still obligated to refer to this work. After all, we want things to be verifiable in science. You might even cite a source that you are disagreeing with.
Sometimes, an extended version of the conference paper is published as a journal paper, and then you may prefer to cite the journal paper instead.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It has little to do with paper vs. thesis and everything to do with whether the person's field considers conference papers "real" publications. If you read computer science Ph.D. dissertations, you will find them to be *filled* with conference paper citations. In a field that disdains conferences, you will not.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: Just out of curiosity, I will like to know if there is any difference (if any) in academic environment, between Ph.D issued by most Universities and D.Tech issued by University of Technology.<issue_comment>username_1: [According to Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Technology), the nature of a D.Tech depends on where it is issued, and who by. In some cases, it is equivalent to a Ph.D., in other cases it is definitely lesser. It is certainly not a commonly issued or recognized degree, but that does not mean it has less value if it is from a strong institution.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Typically its awarded in only a few British Commonwealth locations. It was awarded in Australia once as a Professional Doctorate (Deakin Uni) - and as such was at 'roughly' the level of a PhD although Professional doctorates are often considered less 'academic'. In South Africa it is/was common amongst the University of Technology sector. They are considered similar to a professional doctorate - in that they are more practice based than a traditional PhD. In the UK itself however it was once common many years ago in the University of London as a Professional doctorate - ie typically done by working people. Nowadays in the UK it is common as either a Higher Doctorate - typically given to PhD's after they have established themselves via a body of public work such as books and publications and therefore is considered higher than a PhD. Otherwise it is commonly given as an honary doctorate to luminaries in fields related to Engineering or Science. BTW I have a BTech(Hons) and an MTech followed by a PhD from the UK. Perhaps when I am older I will submit my body of work for a DTech. All were from schools of electronic engineering, although its probably impossible to do that today. It was once common at universities like Brunel and Cranfield.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: At the end of writing up our manuscript, we discover that there has been another earlier study in a very different context (but using a physical model very similar to ours) that claims a similar result.
We were not inspired by this earlier work and we could not have found it until we had our results; so this is not a case of not having done proper literature survey a priori.
So, do we cite them within the main text's introduction and results despite not having been inspired by it at all? Or do we cite them during the concluding remarks highlighting the similarities?
In either case, our results certainly complement theirs.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> So, do we cite them within the main text despite not having been inspired by it at all?
>
>
>
Yes, you should surely cite it and you can do it in the introduction, where you will outline the differences between the two works and specify in which way yours complements theirs.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In mathematics (maybe in other fields too), one would put at the end of the introduction a statement like "After obtaining the results in this paper, we learned of related work by X. In particular, X obtained ...." Here the "..." would be a description like "a stronger form of our Theorem 7" or "a weaker form of our Theorem 7" or "a result related to our Theorem 7" or whatever it was that X actually got.
In computer science (maybe in other fields too), papers often have a separate section called "Related Work", and information of this sort would naturally go into that section.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: It is useful for readers if you distinguish your work from previous work early on in a paper, typically in a "related work" section. If your paper is being peer reviewed, distinguishing your work from previous work is an important aspect of demonstrating novelty.
It does not matter that you didn't find out about the previous work until after you had results. The manuscript is not a chronological record of your thought process.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: If indeed the other study deals with a completely different setting, and is only related to the present one by an analogous finding as the main result, and the only way to come across this other study is by using a description of that result as search terms, then I do not see why it should be cited in the introduction. Unless, of course, it is something to potentially attract further interest towards reading the present paper in full (the introduction is a good place to try to attract a potentially interested reader to read the paper completely).
Otherwise, something like this can be mentioned in the "discussion" part of the paper, whether it is a separate section or a part of the conclusions.
It is not like before beginning any study, we are first going to carefully read through all the papers in the world in order to find out if similar models have possibly been used somewhere in a completely unrelated setting. If the only reasonable way to come across the other study is indeed the result itself, it is fine to leave this citation to the end of the paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: This also very much depends on the journal you submit to. There are a growing number of journals that aren't so concerned with the novelty of the result as compared to whether the science was technically correct. For example, PLoS One would likely accept the paper even if you note the other similar result. Some rarer journals may even value that you've independently found similar results as another.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: In the US universities, many positions are endowed by donors. Is it possible/common for individual academics to directly contact possible donors with some plans? If so, how one can find possible donors?
For instance, an academic can propose a plan to university officials for establishing an innovative research center. University officials check if they can raise fund for the plan or not. In parallel, the person can individually find donors to raise the necessary funds.<issue_comment>username_1: How this is handled probably varies between universities, so you should check what is considered customary or acceptable at yours. I don't think there would be any explicit rules against contacting potential donors yourself, but it could antagonize the administration. Securing a large donation is often a lengthy process of building a long-term relationship with the donor, identifying shared goals, and convincing the donor that this would be the best use of their money. U.S. universities have special staff who are (or at least should be) skilled at handling this, and they would probably not appreciate individual faculty members interfering. Working with them would probably be more effective and would keep the university administration on your side.
A further issue is that it's not good for anyone if competing faculty members try to convince the same donor to support their project instead of the competition. It's better to sort this out at the university level, rather than undermining each other.
The best case scenario for fundraising by an individual faculty member is if they already have a personal connection with a potential donor who is not otherwise being asked for funding. If you are not in this position, then it will be difficult to identify the right people, and you are better off seeking professional advice from the administration.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You need about 30x the funding in the bank that you expect to need to run your research center per year. I.e. endowments often run assuming ~3% returns. If you want to endow a $100k professorship, then you need about $3.3M in your endowment. If you think you can raise that much, I'm sure your university would be happy to set up an endowed chair, endowed research center, or other named entity for your center's benefit. That being said, they might want to have solid pledges for at least half of the money handled quietly behind the scenes before they make a public announcement that they are raising funds for this purpose. Nothing is worse than announcing a big fund-raising drive and missing by a mile.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I read that some academics would avoid accepting students (undergraduate or graduate) or other researchers requests on Linkedin. So what are the cases that could be acceptable for academics to add people on Linkedin and avoid any embarrassments?
* After completing their course?
* After working on a joint research?
* After attending a workshop, seminar, talk?
* After meeting them at a conference?
* After sending them an email about mutual work, papers, etc.?<issue_comment>username_1: I consider LinkedIn to be pretty low-stakes interaction, so I merely want to avoid being linked to spammers and frauds. My own policy, then, is that I will accept LinkedIn invitations from anybody who I actually know who they are, either by a) having had a non-trivial interaction with them (including by phone or electronically) or b) indirect interactions such as reading their papers.
Other people may have more stringent policies, but in my opinion, it's reasonable to request a connection with anybody you have a relationship with: the worst that will happen is that they will ignore it.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Each person has their own policy for who they accept as LinkedIn connections. If your priority is to avoid embarrassment, the safest practice is for you to establish a personal, mutual relationship before you issue a LinkedIn request. The best way to establish a personal relationship is to do so in person, through meaningful conversation about mutual interests. If you can't do it in person, then you might start the relationship on-line through email, but you should be conscientious to be sure that the communication is mutual. If you are in doubt about what this means, read the book *[How to Win Friends and Influence People](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People)*.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Computer Science undergraduate doing a research project in Bioinformatics. I know my weaknesses, especially that I am not good at speaking, listening, and interacting with people in all social context. Until now, this wasn't a problem, I hardly paid attention in class, studied by myself directly from books, and got excellent grades. But in my current position, I have come to understand that I have to improve some social skills if I want to advance. Right now, it's plainly difficult to me to follow the rationale among two or more phrases if I don't see them on paper and this characteristic is causing problems because my advisor's instruction are mostly oral.
Although my professor praises my ability to do math and program, he complains about how I easily lose track of the instructions. This is a true problem, specially when processing biological data (one thing is that the program works, the other is that it makes biological sense and I am not yet conversant in biological background). This situation is starting to raise problems with my advisor and I have to find a solution before everything gets worst.
Note: I take notes. This is the most logical, straightforward solution, but I never developed the ability to take good notes as I didn't like attending classes. I'm working to improve this skill, but I the problem of connecting orally communicated ideas effectively remains.
As a summary, I have to figure out how to follow the incredible amount of **oral** information passed to me, even if I have never built this ability.<issue_comment>username_1: Forgive me if I'm way out of line, but the problems you describe sound similar to those who have [Asperger's](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome). Especially, difficulty with social interactions and difficulty processing instructions given verbally and with less than complete logical precision are both indicative of that condition. Have you looked into this? If the diagnosis seems to fit, then there will be a lot of resources out there to help you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I've found that taking notes, even point form, is really helpful.
Even if you were good at understanding oral instructions, taking meeting notes would be useful.
They let you go back to things you didn't have much time to think about at the time later on.
You could also email your supervisor a summary of your understanding of the meeting and your plans until the next meeting, so that he has a chance to correct/clarify in writing any misunderstandings, or refocus your priorities.
As for the problem of connecting oral instructions, you should take every opportunity to confirm your understanding of the main points discussed so far in the meeting. Rephrase what you just heard back to your supervisor. If there is a definition you don't know, either ask right away, or jot down the word to ask about later.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You say your ability to take notes is limited, but he expresses most of his comments verbally -- have you tried audio recording your meetings? Most smart phones have an app that will do that.
You should also ask him if that's alright first. You might get in trouble otherwise.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm looking for a tool (web application) similar to Atlassian Confluence but for academic purposes. The main purpose of that is to allow selected teachers and students from different schools collaborate on a project. It should have features like file uploading, to-do lists, calendar, rules assigning etc. Also it should have a possible low price-tag. I'm from Europe so if it could be a European tool that would be great.<issue_comment>username_1: I understand you mean "school" as in "before university", so you are working with non professional researchers. In this case, I think the most important bit is to keep it simple, and use tools people know and are familiar with and just work. So,
* *Mailing list:* for group-wide communication. There are tons of free alternatives.
* *File upload:* shared Dropbox folder or ownCloud. With the extra benefit that everybody has a backup of everything, so nothing gets lost.
* *Everything else:* any free wiki.
That should cover all your needs.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Probably you want to look into [JiveOn software](http://www.jivesoftware.com). It is mostly used by businesses, but that groups includes Google and Pearson (a US education supplier). I have used it in a corporate setting, and can speak well of its ability to create collaboration spaces, and reinforce a group-learning social network.
If you find they have pricing for education, or a course-long trial period, it would be good to hear. Seeing their potential, I would not be surprised that you could negotiate a deal, though as a EU-based learning org, you may not be able to offer them US-based tax deferral (501c3). Maybe they have a EU arm.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: You should find this wiki comparison engine helpful:
<http://www.wikimatrix.org/>
I've personally seen wikis used very successfully in large academic environments.
A couple of suggestions thought:
* Don't think that because you start a wiki, people will use it. You must do most of the work initially, placing the content in there, structuring the content, etc. Others will come and contribute on their own, but only once you've seeded 90% of the content.
* Do not lock down the wiki with too many rules. As long as you lock out spammers and strangers, that should be enough, give everyone the same editing privileges on all the pages. You're not wikipedia.
* Make refactoring a wiki page a homework assignment for newcomers. Newcomers to wikis are afraid of refactoring existing wiki pages, for fear of deleting other people's content. Making refactoring a wiki page a requirement will alleviate that fear.
* Make editing the wiki an homework assignment for newcomers. Ask them to create a profile for themselves as a wiki page. Ask them to use their real names when registering, or at least their real first name (unless they're too young obviously).
* Make sure that the wiki has a RecentPages functionality and bookmark that page. That will be your primary way of observing what's happening in your wiki.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/03/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I had recently taken a class where things are poorly taught and much of the studying was self study. This then turned the course into a function of time and workload, and the resulting midterm mark is normally or bell shape distributed with a center of 50.
Needless to say, people who had less workload earned higher scores, people who had more workload earned less scores. After the exam, no one felt that the exam was a good reflection of individual capabilities but it is uncertain if the professor had gotten the hint.
How do professors interpret this outcome? Specifically, are there actions taken to some how adjust this (because most courses have an average passing around a C or 70 instead of 50)?<issue_comment>username_1: Unless you have access to every student's score, you cannot know that the distribution is a normal distribution. It isn't clear that you do have access to the scores, but in a comment you say, "the 50 percent people were slightly less than the people who got 30-40 and 50-60 but not by much." You have described a bimodal distribution -- one with two humps at the ends and a dip in the middle. Your "slightly less" says the dip in the middle is a small one.
My own experience as a college teacher is that a bimodal distribution is a usual and expected result for a fair exam. At the "good" end, you find the people who either worked hard or found the material to be familiar. At the "bad" end, you find the people who did not work hard. That is *exactly* what you've described, although you equate "worked hard" with "had more time to work."
As far as interpreting the scores, you don't say whether the scores you mention are percentages, *i.e.* out of 100, or have some other base. If they're grades out of 100, then that is probably, but not certainly, a poor exam. (The other choice is that there's an entire class of poor students, and yes, that does happen.) If I, as a teacher, got a result like that, I'd use the grades as they were, but work much harder on the questions for the next exams.
Finally, you question whether the exam "was a good reflection of individual capabilities." That's not what en exam is supposed to measure. An exam is supposed to measure *your knowledge of the course material.* A very capable person who doesn't study can and should earn an unsatisfactory grade.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Here is how I normally assign grades in a class of 30-50 students, given a distribution of scores:
1. Declare the average to be either a B or B+, depending on how satisfied I am with the class's performance as a whole.
2. To find the A/B cutoff, look above the average for obvious clumps. If, say, the average is 75% and there are ten scores of 85% or higher, and no scores between 80 and 85, then the scores higher than 85 are the As.
3. There will not always be obvious clumps, and in that case I put the cutoff somewhere between the average and the maximum in a semi-arbitrary way. I may look back at some exams to see if particular students did what I consider A work.
4. Determine the B/C and C/D cutoffs, then pluses and minuses, using a similar process.
5. To distinguish Ds from Fs, I don't make a numerical cutoff. Fs are reserved for students who have not shown me that they're actually trying.
The benefit of this method is that if I accidentally make the exam too hard or too long, the students don't pay the price. But I always try to make my exams straightforward, with at most one challenging problem, because experience shows that asking students to regurgitate what I've told them already provides a good enough range of scores to separate students from each other. If I've done things right, the average is usually in the low 80s.
Now, your professor may or may not use a system like mine. He may simply enter the scores into the grade book and use rigid, pre-determined cutoffs, regardless of the class's performance. The only way to know is to ask him.
By the way, you've observed that the people who spent more time studying got higher scores, and this strikes me as completely fair. If the class could be aced without studying, it wouldn't be a very useful class.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: For example, if (hypothetically speaking) I am stuck on proving a theorem, is it okay to ask my academic advisor some help for next step? My approach has been, "this is what I have tried, I am stuck here...can you point out how I can continue". But the amount of time that it takes the professor to reply is stressing me out, I am afraid that he is getting exasperated at my question.
What makes thing a bit worse is that the prof says flat out he likes people who are able to solve problems independently. But he also has a reputation of being a fast replier to student emails regarding problems arising in his course. I wonder what he expects of me.
So what is considered appropriate to ask your advisor without pushing him to the limit of having to solve the problem himself. Ultimately I am worried about looking totally incompetent. Is there some way for me to not appear totally incompetent?<issue_comment>username_1: Your approach to asking -- "this is what I have tried, I am stuck here...can you point out how I can continue?" -- is the right one. Without knowing how difficult of a problem you have gotten stuck on, and how often you ask for help, it is very hard for us to judge how your advisor will interpret your request.
That said, in general I very much appreciate it when my graduate students and postdocs let me know when they get stuck on some step of a research project. My students and I are collaborators after all, and if I can help them get going again, or alternatively if I can recognize that we've been heading down a dead-end, this is very much to everyone's benefit.
Of course, they should not be coming to me with trivial problems: "I can't get this expression to format properly in LaTeX" or "I don't know how to compute the Jacobian matrix for this function", nor would I want to get these requests on a daily basis. But if a competent student has made a serious effort to solve a problem and is still stuck, I'd like to know about it and to help if at all possible.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: First you should ensure that your question is not trivial (as @username_1 noted).
Are there other graduate students in your group? Talk to them. Bounce ideas off them first. There may be senior PhD students or the like in your department who may be excellent resources for certain types of material.
When you have exhausted some of these avenues, you can and should discuss the roadblock that you have with your advisor. It is quite possible that your advisor may also need time to digest the question and provide an answer or provide some direction. Remember that your advisor is your collaborator and that you are tackling a research question and so others may be as stumped as you are. Even if you believe your advisor is extremely capable you should bear in mind that faculty members have so many tasks to attend to that the fraction of time available to think deeply about your question is quite limited. This may be another reason for delayed responses. A PhD student may have a course or two to tackle but will have -- or is expected to have -- sufficient time to think deeply about a problem.
One more possibility is to discuss your problem with another faculty member in your department who may not be working on the same problem but may have the relevant background to quickly set you on the right path.
A professor responding quickly to questions in a course is quite different because she or he is already an expert on the material, likely set the question or has answered it in the past. So a swift response to student doubts in those cases does not contradict slower responses to open questions.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: To offer perhaps a different perspective here, I wouldn't have hesitated to discuss something like this. Yours likes people who are able to solve their own problems. I'd perhaps pose the question though, that perhaps he also values those who know their own limitations and seek advice from others.
As the other answers stated, it's always good to talk to other students or post-docs. This may be for specific advice, or simply as a form of "rubber duck programming" - there is significant learning and new understanding by explaining something in fundamental terms to a metaphorical (or physical) rubber duck sat in your desk. If your colleagues are not experts in the field, even discussing the problem in broad terms may help you spot something you didn't spot before.
To give an example, I once was stuck in knots, trying to work out a complex concept in some code I was writing. I ended up discussing the problem in fundamental terms with my coworkers in the office. The process of explaining it to them (non experts in the topic) made me really think about the problem I was facing and its context. That led me to have the proverbial brainwave, and find a new angle of approach to the problem I hadn't considered.
In saying that, as I said earlier, I never hesitated to discuss things with my advisor. In fact, we would generally try to talk for at least half an hour per day. Of course that wasn't all seeking technical advice, rather dealing with ongoing business and updating each other on any progress or interesting ideas or discoveries. Obviously this depends on your advisor, but in my experience, advisors value independence, but also recognising your own limitations. I would rather a student I'm supervising came with a problem, than struggled and made no progress for weeks or months.
You asked how to avoid appearing "totally incompetent". What I advise is that you prepare a brief summary of what you've attempted. Be able to concisely explain the problem, and your initial analysis of how to solve it. Then be able to state the problem you're experiencing, and what you've tried to work around it. Did you refer to any other works or books (if so, mention this)? Putting a bit of effort into the question shows that you have put the work in, and understand the problem, but need some advice. Don't expect your advisor to immediately solve it, but perhaps they will give a few pointers or ideas. The first few words I mutter after being posed with a problem are often scribbled down quickly by students, who then go away to decipher them and try them out - often the initial thoughts from someone uninvolved with the problem help to solve it or offer a new insight or way of thinking.
I would add though that often it takes me a while to look through a complex problem. And I am often bad at replying to emails when my initial reaction is to delve straight into the problem! Replying to class-related questions is typically much easier (they are generally based on established theory and can be answered with reference to slides, notes or books. Failing that, the explanation is usually familiar). For ongoing, leading edge research, that's obviously not possible. Don't panic - in the cutting edge of research, even the most experienced professor doesn't know the answer immediately. Otherwise it wouldn't be the cutting edge!
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I had applied for a PhD to some colleges in the US, and am waiting for admission results. A professor at a college that I am hoping I am accepted at has responded to my queries of "Is my application likely to be accepted, or should I just accept school B's offer?" with the same answer "your application will be considered in the second round, so you should wait for it. However, I cannot make any promises".
I feel that if the professor thought I had a good chance of getting in, he might have stated so in his replies. "I can't make any promises" seems to be a polite but safe reply, indicating I might be accepted, but thechances do not appear too bright. Should I just accept school B's offer?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Should I just accept school B's offer?
>
>
>
Probably not -- at least not yet.
In the U.S., at least in my discipline of mathematics, deadlines everywhere are coordinated to be April 15. If you decide where you would like to accept an offer beforehand, it is good manners to let everyone know of your decision immediately. But in your situation, where you are waiting on an offer you would prefer, it is fine to wait until B's deadline.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I take "I cannot make any promises" to mean ... I cannot [i.e., I won't] make any promises. Behind that door could be anything.
In other words, it added no information to your decision about whether to respond in advance to School B's offer.
I wouldn't recommend asking the same professor again, but a more informative question for you to have asked would be *when* (with specific reference to the April 15th deadline that most graduate programs operate under) you would hear back.
Your best bet is to wait.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: So I have to defend my master thesis in computer science in two weeks. It's in Germany and the thesis is 30 credits. I'm wondering what could make someone fail his defense? In my thesis I mainly compare different approaches and algorithms and did experiments on them to answer some research questions. Would I fail if, for example, during the discussion a mistake in my comparison and evaluation approach is discovered which makes my results meaningless? Although I discussed my approach and everything I did with my advisor (postdoc not the prof), yet I still fear that I might have done something wrong and then everything collaps.
I still remember reading a question on this site where someone mentioned that he discovered a vital mistake in his PhD thesis after two years of the defense which made almost his entire thesis useless. Yet of course he didn't lose his PhD degree. So if something like this happens, but during the defense, what could happen?
So how would one fail his master thesis defense? Just to calm down a bit and feel safe and secure!
Edit: I passed with an excellent grade :D.<issue_comment>username_1: Evaluation criteria varies vastly, not only across different countries and cultures but even amongst different institutions within a country.
The only way I can imagine anyone failing a thesis defense here in Sweden is if you have a mental breakdown during presentation or questioning.
Alternatively if the defending student has plagiarised parts his/her work, that would also be a likely fail but otherwise, if you are allowed to defend, then you have practically passed already.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It's pretty rare for a student to fail the defense of a master thesis in the Swedish systems, but I have seen a few over the years. The three most common reasons include:
* Did not show up to defend the thesis (AKA: Lose on walkover)
* Doesn't know the material of the thesis (AKA: Didn't write it)
* Unable to hold a discussion about the thesis (AKA: hid in a corner)
Note that unlike a PhD thesis the professor does not have lot of skin in the game. Having a PhD student fail a defense is extremely embarrassing and can end the career of a professor. Having a master student fail a defense isn't considered such a big deal.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Would I fail if, for example, during the discussion a mistake in my comparison and evaluation approach is discovered which makes my results meaningless? Although I discussed my approach and everything I did with my advisor (postdoc not the prof), yet I still fear that I might have done something wrong and then everything collaps.
>
>
>
This should not happen unless:
* The mistake is blatantly obvious and something you should have really known better. And with blatantly obvious, I mean something that somebody who has not even studied computer science or a related field could easily spot. Even then you may have chances, if the rest of your work is appropriate – almost everybody brainfarts now and then.
* You made not only one mistake but a lot of big mistakes.
* It becomes obvious that you deliberately ignored that mistake, to avoid being stuck or to get “nicer” results.
(In the first two cases, your advisor is in big trouble, too.) The point of the master thesis is that you should demonstrate that you can investigate a scientific question under supervision (or something similar – check the regulations, if you wish to know). One mistake does not change this.
Moreover, in some examination regulations I am aware of, there is a procedure for the case that some important but localised flaw is detected in your thesis. For example, you could be given a month to amend your thesis.
---
>
> How would one fail a master thesis defense?
>
>
>
I have not experienced or heard of such a case but from what I have gathered, you pass if you:
* Give a talk about your thesis.
* Be able to answer questions about it.
* Are not detected to have been cheating.
Even if you suffer from a mental breakdown due to nervousness or similar, you probably can repeat the defense – at least with any reasonable examination regulation and examination committee. I am aware of one case where somebody had a nervous breakdown for understandable reasons¹ and the examination board let him repeat the exam. If you look into your examination regulations, there are probably some clauses that allow the examination board to do some things at their own discretion in exceptional cases.
---
Be aware though that being very difficult to fail does not make the defense unimportant. A bad defense may seriously (and in particular more than nominally) affect your thesis degree, which in turn has a huge impact on your total degree. In particular having passed a thesis with the lowest possible degree (or something close to it) is something you definetely do not want to have in your vita².
---
¹ It’s very complicated, but you might compare it to the following: In the middle of the defense, somebody who was the defender’s girlfriend until six months ago enters the room being obviously pregnant in her ninth month.
² Unless you are in one of those few disciplines where this is the norm.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Note: Similar questions exist on ASE but those pertain to funded programs.
I have been admitted to an outstanding MS program and waitlisted for admission to another outstanding MS program. Both are unfunded. The first's response deadline is 04/15, and the second said they may not be able to let me know the final decision before then. While the first program is outstanding, I find better fit in second program (mainly research interest, location, and tuition rate). My question is: would it be ethically unsound to accept the first offer prior to the 04/05 deadline, and if I find out thereafter that I am accepted to the second one, decline the first? Since there is no funding involved (as in a Ph.D. program) I would not feel as bad about it.<issue_comment>username_1: Evaluation criteria varies vastly, not only across different countries and cultures but even amongst different institutions within a country.
The only way I can imagine anyone failing a thesis defense here in Sweden is if you have a mental breakdown during presentation or questioning.
Alternatively if the defending student has plagiarised parts his/her work, that would also be a likely fail but otherwise, if you are allowed to defend, then you have practically passed already.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It's pretty rare for a student to fail the defense of a master thesis in the Swedish systems, but I have seen a few over the years. The three most common reasons include:
* Did not show up to defend the thesis (AKA: Lose on walkover)
* Doesn't know the material of the thesis (AKA: Didn't write it)
* Unable to hold a discussion about the thesis (AKA: hid in a corner)
Note that unlike a PhD thesis the professor does not have lot of skin in the game. Having a PhD student fail a defense is extremely embarrassing and can end the career of a professor. Having a master student fail a defense isn't considered such a big deal.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Would I fail if, for example, during the discussion a mistake in my comparison and evaluation approach is discovered which makes my results meaningless? Although I discussed my approach and everything I did with my advisor (postdoc not the prof), yet I still fear that I might have done something wrong and then everything collaps.
>
>
>
This should not happen unless:
* The mistake is blatantly obvious and something you should have really known better. And with blatantly obvious, I mean something that somebody who has not even studied computer science or a related field could easily spot. Even then you may have chances, if the rest of your work is appropriate – almost everybody brainfarts now and then.
* You made not only one mistake but a lot of big mistakes.
* It becomes obvious that you deliberately ignored that mistake, to avoid being stuck or to get “nicer” results.
(In the first two cases, your advisor is in big trouble, too.) The point of the master thesis is that you should demonstrate that you can investigate a scientific question under supervision (or something similar – check the regulations, if you wish to know). One mistake does not change this.
Moreover, in some examination regulations I am aware of, there is a procedure for the case that some important but localised flaw is detected in your thesis. For example, you could be given a month to amend your thesis.
---
>
> How would one fail a master thesis defense?
>
>
>
I have not experienced or heard of such a case but from what I have gathered, you pass if you:
* Give a talk about your thesis.
* Be able to answer questions about it.
* Are not detected to have been cheating.
Even if you suffer from a mental breakdown due to nervousness or similar, you probably can repeat the defense – at least with any reasonable examination regulation and examination committee. I am aware of one case where somebody had a nervous breakdown for understandable reasons¹ and the examination board let him repeat the exam. If you look into your examination regulations, there are probably some clauses that allow the examination board to do some things at their own discretion in exceptional cases.
---
Be aware though that being very difficult to fail does not make the defense unimportant. A bad defense may seriously (and in particular more than nominally) affect your thesis degree, which in turn has a huge impact on your total degree. In particular having passed a thesis with the lowest possible degree (or something close to it) is something you definetely do not want to have in your vita².
---
¹ It’s very complicated, but you might compare it to the following: In the middle of the defense, somebody who was the defender’s girlfriend until six months ago enters the room being obviously pregnant in her ninth month.
² Unless you are in one of those few disciplines where this is the norm.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I will shortly be submitting a paper to an IEEE-formatted journal. I am not affiliated with the IEEE, while my co-author is.
Currently, the author line reads like (made-up author names)
>
> <NAME>, <NAME>, *Senior Member, IEEE*
>
>
>
One of the reviewers expresses concern that **"it is unclear if the first author is IEEE-affiliated"** (no, I am not). How should I format this? I have been unable to find references in standard IEEE template files. Should I sign up for IEEE just to have something to write next to my name?<issue_comment>username_1: I would suggest asking the journal editor. This seems more like a question of journal style than actual content, and the editor should be able to help with that.
I assume there is a tradition or convention that IEEE members are identified as such. Otherwise, I don't know why you would include this information at all; I don't see why a reader would care.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The example you have given in your question is correct.
>
> <NAME>, <NAME>, *Senior Member, IEEE*
>
>
>
Here, <NAME> is not a member, while <NAME> is a *Senior Member.* This is the exact way you should format the author line in this example.
In general, if you are not an IEEE member, you do not list anything next to your name in the author line for any papers you submit to IEEE journals: you should only list the membership grade next to your co-author's names if they are IEEE members.
>
> Should I sign up for IEEE just to have something to write next to my name?
>
>
>
You should not join IEEE just to have something to write next to your name in the author line of any papers you submit to IEEE journals (for more information on IEEE membership benefits, you may find [this site](http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/index.html) helpful).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Your reviewer is overreaching beyond their duties. S/he is not a copy editor and it is not their place to check the affiliations, it is IEEE's.
Plus it is obvious because it does not say Senior member **s**, only says Senior Member so singular membership is implied. I would hope that they paid more attention to your article than this nonsense which is around for at least two decades that should be quite familiar to any in this business unless it is a freshman getting warmed up with reviewing papers.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I was writing my bachelor's degree and that went quite bad. The reason was that my supervisor was a sophist, in my opinion. For example, when I wrote in my thesis:
>
> "Let n be the cardinality of the set"
>
>
>
The professor said the proof was wrong. Then after tens of times of trial and error I changed that sentence to the form
>
> "let n be the number of elements of the set".
>
>
>
He accepted it. There were tens of times such small mistakes like this and in hyphenation of a word and he just asked me to fix errors in the thesis without pointing where the mistake is.
Is my career in mathematics finished as I couldn't get along with my thesis supervisor?<issue_comment>username_1: Overall I find your question rather strange. First of all the word "sophist" is rarely used to describe living people; in my experience it mostly refers to a school of teachers of rhetoric in ancient Greece. I had to look up the dictionary definition to see what I think you mean. The third definition [here](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sophist) is
>
> 3. (loosely, by extension) One who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument.
>
>
>
If it helps:
>
> captious:
>
>
> * (obsolete) That captures; especially, (of an argument, words etc.) designed to capture or entrap in misleading arguments; sophistical.
> * Having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections; cavilling, nitpicky
>
>
>
So it sounds like you think your advisor is finding fault unreasonably and making petty objections. I have two points in response.
1) In my experience, the majority of the time students think that about their advisors, they are mistaken: the problem is actually one of miscommunication. I think it is very likely that there are *reasons* for the comments your advisor has made and that you just haven't found them yet. You wrote
>
> after tens of times of trial and error
>
>
>
This is a huge red flag of poor communication. You shouldn't be editing your thesis by "trial and error", and you shouldn't have to edit it "tens of times" to address any one sentence. When someone tells you that a proof is wrong, you ask them why. If they don't tell you, you double check it yourself, come back and say "I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to figure out your objection to the argument: it still looks valid to me. Can we discuss it in detail?" If the answer is a hard **no**, then more than a sophist, you would be dealing with someone who is not actually advising you.
In this case it is not even clear (to me, anyway) based on what you said that the issue lies with "cardinality" versus "number of elements". You are not getting specific enough feedback, so how do you know that this was the problem? That you think it was is in itself worth a followup conversation: the cardinality of a finite set is indeed the number of elements of that set, so why would one be acceptable and the other not? You should find out.
2) Assuming that your advisor actually is captious, fallacious, deceptive, or is totally unwilling to explain himself: those are all bad things about him. Why would his bad qualities ruin your career? I could say more, but I'd need to hear more about why you're concerned. At the moment this concern is at the level of a *non sequitur* to the rest of your question.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is my career in mathematics finished as I couldn't get along with my thesis supervisor?
>
>
>
**If your account of the story is accurate**, your advisor is either evil or a didactical failure. I would rather say that if you actually got along with this style of advising, this would count against you. So, this does not say anything against you and unless you want to specialise a particular subfield of mathematics that you can only pursue under this supervisor (which is very unlikely), your career is not finished. Choose a better advisor for your next thesis and that is it. The only drawback you suffer from is probably the sup-par grade of your bachelor thesis and not having the experience of writing a thesis under regular conditions.
As a sidenote: If your account is accurate, I would consider this a denial of supervision and thus inappropriate behaviour. You should take this issue to your faculty’s student body (or similar) as well as to appropriate people from the faculty (e.g., a professor responsible for student issues). This may not have any positive effect on you, but at least you can spare other students your fate.
However, you should also **check whether you are at least part of the problem**: If a supervisor acts as you described to everybody, it’s unlikely that you did not encounter any big red warning signs before choosing him or at least after starting your thesis work:
* News of such bad supervising should spread quickly amongst other students.
* The supervisor’s workgroup should be comparably small.
* Other members of the workgroup are likely to have informed you about this behaviour.
Did you in any way communicate with your supervisor about these issues, such as asking him to explain your errors to you? In particular, consider that your supervisor may not have realised that he told you ten times that something is wrong and just thought that at each instance he was pointing out a new error or an error he had missed before – which would likely not render the advising good, but at least it would not be abysmal anymore.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I finished writing a paper but haven't sorted out the abstract yet. Currently it looks something like this, but I'm not sure if this is OK.
>
> Hello, my name is \_\_\_\_\_ and I am currently a \_\_\_\_\_\_ in high school.
> This is my first paper on math.
>
>
> In this paper, we investigate....
>
>
>
Notice how I changed from "I" to "we" in the second paragraph. I'm not sure if this is normal?<issue_comment>username_1: By usual standards of academic writing, the first paragraph should be removed entirely. In academic writing, unlike conversations, the author does not begin by introducing herself. The focus is always on the topic of the paper, not the person who wrote it.
This is particularly out of place in the abstract, which should be a very concise summary of the contents of the paper, so that a reader can tell as quickly as possible if the paper will be interesting or useful to him. It definitely should not contain anything unnecessary. (Also, it is normally limited to one paragraph.)
In some cases, a brief biography of the author can be placed at the beginning or (more commonly) the end of the paper. But it's normally written in third person, and should take a formal, rather than conversational, tone (don't say "Hello").
>
> User45220 is a sophomore at Groucho Marx High School in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. This is her first mathematics paper. Her interests include geometry and calculus.
>
>
>
The question of whether or not to include a biography, and if so where to place it, is up to the journal where you will publish; usually they have a policy of either always including biographies, or never including them.
Now let me address the question I think you really wanted to ask: within the paper, should the author be referred to as "I" or "We"? (Grammatically, this distinction is called [number](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_number), not [tense](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_tense) which is something else.) There is no universal agreement on this. Historically, "we" has been more common, even if there is only one author. ("In this paper, we investigate splines.") But some authors prefer to use "I" ("I investigate splines"), and this is generally okay, if the editor of the journal approves. Another possibility is to use third person, and use "The author investigates splines" or "The authors investigate splines", according to whether you are writing the paper yourself or with co-authors. Ultimately, your preference as to which option to use is part of your own personal writing style.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You may choose as you wish. Personally, I find "we" in papers authored by a singular person very odd, and I find the image that the author prefers to use the majestic plural in reference to himself in ordinary life inescapable. However, it is quite common, and probably the "safe choice". Most top-tier papers are very happy with the singular first person.
Certainly I (that is to say, "we"!) would not be inconsistent. If you want to begin with "I", then continue that way. If you are going to use "we", then keep it consistent throughout your work.
Finally, do not worry too much about it. If your paper is accepted, you may ask the journal editors for their opinion.
Good luck in your submission!
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I received my PhD in mathematics about ten years ago. Despite my preference, desire, and attempts, I was not offered any postdoctoral positions. Part of the reason was (I think) that my dissertation topic was outdated, as opposed to being *trendy*. Since then, I have accepted a couple of tenure-track positions in teaching-oriented institutions, the second at a two-year Community College and in two years from now I will most probably be tenured. However, I constantly struggle with *existential* questions. I am *not* where I wanted to be. Granted, I have a job, but if my goal was to have a job, I was totally capable of aiming at a higher-paying job, instead of mathematics, when I was deciding what to study at college. As a teenager what intrigued me about mathematics (and still does) was its *beauty* and the opportunity it provided me for *being creative* through *research* and *continuous learning*. However, since my PhD the processes of research and learning have been very slow, despite my continuous attempts. For a long time I used to think the reason was lack of time due to heavy teaching load. While that may have contributed to the problem, I now think a bigger reason is lack of *team support*. There is a disconnect between my job and my research. I don't have people (graduate students, researchers, etc.) around me to whom I can talk about my research, everyday or every week. Consequently, the ratio of outcome to the time that I spend on research and learning new things is very small. So what are my questions?
1. Ideally I would have liked to be part of a team, a *lab* if you like, consisting of one or two senior mathematicians (lab leaders), research assistants (mathematicians like myself who are not young enough to be postdocs, but still need to develop their research plans), postdocs, and graduate students. My question is, does such a model exist anywhere?
2. Are there any options for mathematicians who really are not after a secure job and prefer to work as research assistants (paid less), rather than tenured "calculus teaching" faculty who do not meet age requirements to be considered for postdoctoral positions?
3. Suppose someone (e.g., myself) didn't know better and did his dissertation on a topic that was not trendy and because of that couldn't secure a postdoctoral position. Is that the end of their career as a research mathematician? Are there any other options? What would you suggest?<issue_comment>username_1: 1. This model is extremely common in Europe (for example, one of my coauthors in Germany is in a group with her and another senior professor, two junior mathematicians on essentially very long term second postdocs, and about 7 or 8 young postdocs and 7 or 8 graduate students), but there is no institutional framework for it in the US. I know of pairs of tenure-line faculty at the same institution who are close enough to essentially run a joint research group, but outside of a few departments, they are unlikely to have more than one postdoc at a time, so "research group" mostly means them and their graduate students.
2. Not really. Essentially postdoctoral positions are the only mechanism that exists in the US system for paying people who are not already performing at a pretty high level to do research. You could still apply to these, though as I think you've already guessed, the odds aren't great this long post-Ph.D. I think the other possibility would be obtaining a long term, non-tenure-track lectureship at a research university (for example, my department hired someone to [such a job](https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/6114) this year) where there are senior faculty who might work with you. There would still be high teaching expectations (though maybe not worse than a TT community college position), and any research involvement would be "on your own time," but presumably that's largely the case now.
3. I suppose this depends on how you define "career as a research mathematician." The answer is obviously not "absolutely no," look at [Yitang Zhang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang). Of course, that's a very extreme example (Zhang didn't even have a teaching position in mathematics for several years), but I think it does show that if you do something undeniably great, at whatever age, the community is open to it. On the other hand, this is like asking "If I can't get on a Division I college team, does that mean my career as a basketball player is over?" Obviously, no one can stop you from playing basketball, but if you mean doing so professionally, the odds are slim. If you're really that good, then maybe an NBA team will notice and hire you. But you're not going to be in the place that they look for potential new players, and you'll be missing out on how most people develop their skills. So it's a tough row to hoe.
I think in terms of what's realistic: if what you're missing is being around other people doing mathematics, getting ideas, etc. and you're not worried about security then I would look into finding a permanent (or at least renewable) but non-tenure-track teaching position at a larger research department. It will certainly have some downsides, but I think it's the closest feasible approximation to what you're looking for.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: * keep reading about your field of research
* see where is the "hot" part. What things are debated / argued? What theories are evolving or developing? If we both agree that $\int sin(x) dx = -cos(x) + C$, there is no debate and no opportunity for research here.
* publish something about the things you perceive as new (this will fix your self confidence too) and see what the community is saying about it. Think of the reviewers as your peers, not as your enemies, as the egocentric writers do.
* once you accumulate some publications, look for jobs in research
* try to join a research group, as an adjunct (unpaid). This won't take you much time, but you will interact with smart people, which will value your mathematical knowledge. And maybe they will raise some problems that would make you shift your view of what you want to research.
* you may want to keep your teaching job, since it puts bread on the table. Put some passion in it, this way it will be perceived as easier.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently doing some research on an algorithm that may (or may not) end up being slower than other similar algorithms. The idea behind it seems solid although it will probably not be as fast as other, already known and used solutions. Finishing and testing is of course part of the science, so the research will get carried out nevertheless.
So here is my question: *is writing an article about conducted, but failed work a good thing?*
My thoughts are that publishing such an article would help people conducting similar research, who would otherwise waste their own time, trying to do the same thing. Saving their time is crucial for the scientific community in my personal opinion, but I am unsure how others perceive the same problem and I do not want others to have negative opinion about my work.
There are many similar questions on this site, but none seem to duplicate this exact one. [This question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36794/have-researchers-any-incentive-to-publish-negative-or-confirmatory-results), for instance, covers confirming or denying others research carried out and described elsewhere, while I am talking strictly about inventing and disproving the idea myself. Many other talk about the rationale behind not posting negative results, but that's also a slightly different subject (although undoubtedly related).<issue_comment>username_1: In order to give your work sufficient rigour and novelty for publication, you might need to set out the theoretical basis for why you thought your new algorithm would be quicker; and an analysis of why, despite that theoretical underpinning, it was not quicker: i.e. how did reality interfere with the theory?
In theory, the test for whether or not it's a good idea to publish failed attempts, is: would it help other researchers advance? In practice, even if it did, you might struggle to find a journal that considered it of sufficient interest to be worth publishing.
Some fields do now have a journal of negative results, which could be a suitable venue. That seems, for now, to be mostly restricted to fields within the life sciences, which might not be your field.
So you might want to consider going to one of the new mega-journals, which select only on the basis of whether your work is methodologically sound and on-topic, and whether you've paid their publishing fee.
And now you can see one risk there: you've got to be careful to avoid predatory publishers.
Another, less obvious risk, is that given some megajournals have incredibly wide scope (e.g. "science"), they are not always able to get suitable peer-reviewers: so [your work could appear alongside some really shoddy work](http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2014/01/29/can-mega-journals-maintain-boundaries-when-they-and-their-customers-both-embrace-publish-or-perish/), leaving readers doubting the quality of your work, even if the journal is widely held to be non-predatory.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The key question to analyze for this decision is whether you just have a "failure" or a "negative result." In this case, I am characterizing the distinction as follows:
* A "failure" is any case where you didn't get what you wanted in the study. This might be a negative result, but it might also be due to error, mistakes, design problems, management problems, etc.
* A "negative result" is a special type of failure, which clearly establishes that the system that you are dealing with *could not* produce the result you wanted or expected.
Negative results are often harder to establish than positive results, because there are generally more alternatives to rule out. They are, however, legitimate contributions to knowledge and should be published. Thus, if you have a project that is a failure, you should analyze it and ask: how hard would it be to turn this failure into a publishable negative result? If it is not too difficult, you should definitely publish your negative result.
For some cases, such as medical studies, the answer is obvious and publication may even be required. For others, such as certain complex software systems projects, it may be effectively impossible to actually establish a negative result. For your own case, of investigating an algorithm, it could go either way, depending on the nature of the algorithm and your investigation thereof.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Its a very interesting idea. showing what you call failed attempts. however we need to realize that many problems, and the more complicated they are , may need many attempts or different approaches. its more steps toward a goal , than failed attempts. I think the word fail , actually implies giving up, maybe give yourself a D grade , or a C, but yes this would show the process , which is very important. so like Ford Model T was most successful, and there were many before that, in development, ford model A, model B, model C , etc, so these were predecessors, and they were in development , toward, maybe the goal of the Model T, which proved most profitable
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I have applied to multiple graduate schools and have been offered two GTA positions. Both included full tuition waivers and similar work loads.
The primary difference is one is for a MS program and the other is for a Ph.D program. I applied to the Ph.D programs because the school's Master's program didn't come with a GTA opportunity.
I am not currently committed to the idea of pursuing a Ph.D. The way the program is set up, the course requirements for a MS and PhD are very similar with the primary difference being the depth of the research project. My plan was to evaluate my job prospects and the prospects of a PhD around the time I obtained my MS. I feel like I would have a better idea then about whether or not to pursue the PhD. I don't want to be dishonest but I don't want a career in academics and I suspect that a masters will be sufficient to get me where I want to go. Is it considered unethical to leave a PhD program after my masters under these circumstances?
If it makes a difference, I stated in my SOP that my goals were to obtain a job in an industry.<issue_comment>username_1: It is often frowned upon to leave a PhD program after you receive an MS, *if this is your intention from the start*, because the program would have admitted someone else who wanted a PhD had they known. However, if you don't tell anyone that this is your intention, there is no way for the program to know; PhD students drop out all the time after getting a masters (it is usually assumed that this was not their original intention). But ...
**You are lucky enough to have been accepted to a fully funded masters program!** If you think it is a good program, you should go there. Fully funded masters programs are quite rare in most fields. Do the right thing and allow the person who really wants a PhD to enter the PhD program. The PhD program, most likely, has offered you funding assuming you actually want a PhD.
Now if you had not been accepted to this fully funded masters program you would have had a tougher ethical question. For people not accepted to such a program the options are to (1) doing something that is morally questionable (at best) and going to the PhD program, (2) getting a job and waiting a few years until that employer funds a masters degree or (3) paying the money for a masters degree and potentially going into debt. That is a much harder question to answer, my inclination on that one is to go for option (2) if at all possible. But the fact that you were accepted to this funded masters program makes doing the right thing a much easier decision than for most people in similar situations. Take advantage of it!
**Response to edits made to the question:** Note that you can still evaluate whether you want to go on to a PhD from your separate fully funded MS program. After your MS, you might even get into a better PhD program and have a better idea about what PhD program/advisor would be best for your research interests. The fact that you "may" want a PhD in the future is actually a good reason to take the fully funded MS program. The opportunity costs of delaying the PhD by 1-2 years, by doing a fully funded masters is much less than the opportunity cost in delaying an industry job. .
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Your best bet here is to be clear and discuss it with your future supervisor. In case you don't know who, with whichever professor is in charge. If they are okay with it, there is no ethical concern, and you can drop without issues. If they prefer you not taking the masters, they will not get angry at you because you did no harm.
Also, being honest about this can hopefully help you get a project more oriented towards industry and easier to close before time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: There are two things here. (A) Are you worried about what your peers/professors would think once you leave the PhD program after the MS? (B) Do you think it is unethical and hence, it'll make you feel guilty because the same PhD position could have been granted to someone else?
Well, in my opinion, you need not worry too much about (A). People do drop out of a PhD after an MS, and the university does understand that it is statistically impossible that all the students will end up completing their thesis. (B) You should convince yourself that you deserved to get selected, and hence, in some sense you are better than that guy who just couldn't make it. Whether someone else would have been given this position is none of your concern, since you're not a part of the selection committee. Your job is to do well in the studies (MS/PhD) and make decision that will suit your academic interests better. So don't worry too much about the ethics of leaving the PhD in the middle and give your best in your MS.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Coming from someone who is in the middle of his PhD program, I would say that it is really important to discuss your interests honestly with your presumptive future advisor (or school). Forget about the morals and ethics, forget about depriving other people. Sure, it's wrong, but that's not your main concern for your decision.
First of all, your concern should be about getting yourself in and our of grad school efficiently. Sounds easy, right? Keeping yourself moving forward is harder than the actual work, and I say that as an experienced 37 year old (former) professional. I know for myself in engineering, my wife (PhD in Psychology/Neuroimaging), and a lot of grad student friends, grad school is incredibly tough. But it's not necessarily the academics or even the research that is so tough. It's the "politics". What I mean by that is keeping your masters/PhD focused, keeping your proposal to a reasonable scope, keeping other people from taking it over, keeping your committee members from exerting their own biased interests on your project, keeping your advisor from keeping you there forever as cheap labor. Or what about this: my wife's PhD advisor got fired for fooling around with a student during the middle of her degree. Think you can just "get another advisor"? You have to find someone with the same research focus, with funding, with time for another student. Or start over from scratch with a new advisor. Or for me, my advisor is old. If I don't get my proposal approved asap and god forbid something happens to him, I could end up effectively abandoned in the middle of my degree. AKA "Start Over". My project got switched three times in two years before I put my foot down. Ok, so that might all sound crazy, but you check around and you'll find a ton of these kinds of stories. I've only met a few people who had a really smooth grad school experience, at least outside med school. I've heard that med school (residency, etc.) is a very focused, structured and disciplined experience.
What does all that have to do with you wanting to do a masters by being admitted into a funded PhD program? Well, first, if you sign up as a PhD student, you will be treated as a PhD student, which means you will have to do a lot more in the way of forming a PhD committee, making an extended research plan, submitting a proposal, passing your qualifying exam, etc. etc. when you don't have any real intention of doing that. You're wasting YOUR time, not to mention anyone else's. Second, you are really sabotaging your own success at earning only a master's degree.
Here is a specific example: Your PhD project will be very, very different than a master's project. If you are in a combined Master/PhD program, your masters and PhD project is one in the same (maybe different phases/levels of difficulty). How are you going to get out of the program in 1-2 years with a master's if you're working on a PhD project set up for 3-4 years? You can't just stop in the middle, say "that's enough", and expect them to hand you a master's degree. Sure, you can absolutely quit, but you probably won't have any degree - just a couple years wasted and some prospective employers asking you what the heck happened and why you aren't reliable.
Furthermore, as a PhD student, you might be guided to spend your whole first year getting classes out of the way without even starting on your 3 year project in earnest. Or, a different school might do the opposite and guide you to spread your classes out over 4 years. In my case, my research project was in a rush to get started, so I didn't take classes at all my first year. I just worked on building my reactors and getting them running for a multi-year duration experiment. That was my decision to ultimately benefit myself, but depending on the circumstances, your advisor may instruct you to do something similar.
One thing I will say about ethics/morals/quitting is that in my field of water/wastewater engineering, at the graduate level, it is a remarkably small world. If you quit a program for an "honest" reason, nobody will frown upon you. But if you develop a reputation for not being genuine, there is a reasonable chance that it will haunt you eventually.
Another thing that I will agree on with some of the comments to your question: Don't do a PhD unless you know exactly why you are doing it. I'm doing mine because I want to do a very specific job and after 10-12 years working experience, I decided that I wasn't going to find a way into that job without a piece of paper hanging on the wall with the letters "PhD" on it. It's not really about learning - I'm teaching post-docs right now. But no one is going to hire me to be their "expert" unless I have that PhD hanging on the wall to prove it.
And it is absolutely true that having a PhD can be a hindrance for many jobs. Sure, you can say it's because it means you have to be paid more, or because being overqualified could scare an insecure boss. But I have actually had someone say to my face that they wouldn't hire a PhD in their consulting business because PhD's are by definition perfectionists. That person said "in engineering consulting, there might be 10 solutions that will satisfy the project requirements. I just need one; it doesn't have to be the absolute best one." And to that, I agree wholeheartedly. In business, you can't waste time like that, and PhD's have a reputation not to the contrary.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am nearly at the end of my master thesis and, according to my research, the last part of it deals with something that has not been treated before in any paper/book I have found.
To make things more clear: in my thesis I am applying a method well known in literature, which has been applied many times on simple structural elements built on purpose to validate the method. In my thesis I have started applying the method on simple structures too, to be sure I have implemented it correctly. Then, in the last part, I apply it on a real-world structure using real measurements (not numerical generated ones).
The problem is that I am not sure if I should underline this fact as a novelty in the method application. According to my literature research, this approach has not been tried yet, but I can speak only 2 languages, therefore I looked for books/papers written in those 2 languages only.
What if this thing has been already done by someone else on a paper written in another language? Then my results will not be a novelty anymore, so I should not mention it in my thesis and this will also affect the 'goodness' of my work too (because my thesis will not actually add any useful information to the already existing literature).
How can I deal with this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: This is a common situation, since it really isn't possible to be absolutely certain that nobody has done this work before. What I find people usually do is:
1. Do the best literature search you can. As for references in other languages, in many fields it's common that papers written in, say, French, will have an abstract in English, so you'd have a chance of finding them even if you can't read French. But if you find a French paper whose abstract suggests that it may contain similar results to yours, then it is your duty to find a way to read it (look for a translation, ask a colleague to translate, learn some French yourself if necessary) and make sure.
2. Once you are satisfied you have done a diligent search, write something like "this result appears to be new" or "as far as we know, this result has not been obtained previously".
3. If it later turns out that your result was already known, be prepared to acknowledge that the other author had priority, and to be able to show that although you did a reasonably diligent search, you did not find the prior paper, and that your result was truly obtained independently (not plagiarized).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: A general guideline for writing papers (which also extends to theses) is: **Never claim that something is new/novel,** and at least some journals or publishers reflect this in their guidelines, e.g., [here](http://journals.aps.org/authors/new-novel-policy-physical-review). If you publish something, it is always implied that this is new according to your knowledge or, if it isn’t, that you properly cited whoever did it before you.
The very most I have seen people claim is something along the lines of:
>
> To our knowledge, X has not been attempted before.
>
>
>
which would be the truth in your case. I would however even refrain from such a sentence, as it should be implicit when you do not cite. However, in some disciplines (like yours) this may be common or acceptable, respectively.
>
> What if this thing has been already done by someone else on a paper written in another language? Then […] this will also affect the 'goodness' of my work too (because my thesis will not actually add any useful information to the already existing literature).
>
>
>
Master theses are (or at least should be) evaluated differently than papers and the main goal is not to produce something useful but to perform a proper scientific investigation (or similar). Of course, if you were assigned a proper topic, the two things are usually somewhat equivalent. But if, e.g., somebody publishes a paper doing the same things as your thesis one month before your defense, this does not diminish the quality of the investigation you performed¹. Something similar holds, if it turns out that somebody already published something similar in another language or under totally different keywords in another field (rendering it very difficult to find).
Moreover, the duty of deciding whether something is actually novel lies at least to some extent on your supervisor: If somebody already investigated the topic of your thesis, you should not have been assigned this topic in the first place. You cannot be expected to know whether your topic hasn’t already been investigated before starting your thesis, because you probably do not even know where to search.
---
¹ It may even underline the importance of what you have been investigating and that your work is on a publishable level.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Every now and then I receive an email claiming to be from some undergrad student in Math or Computer Science at an Indian university asking for a summer research experience in "my research group" (there is no such thing).
These emails all have a very formulaic structure. There always is a claim that the student read and very much enjoyed some paper of mine, but never any indication that this actually happened (ie no reference to stuff in the paper). In particular, these emails look like they could have been sent to dozens of people with a little bit of copy&paste. Attached are real-looking CV's.
Are these real students or this is some elaborate scam? If these are from real students, why do they think this could potentially work? Why India?
Edit: While I have only received emails like this from India, in the comments <NAME> mentions having received some from China, too.<issue_comment>username_1: I believe these are genuine requests for internships. They almost all appear to be mass e-mails. Even the personalized ones usually involve just a few "fill in the blank" additions, and it's clear that applicants sometimes share templates because I've received nearly identical e-mails from different applicants.
As far as I can tell, it's a vicious cycle. It's difficult to judge these applications, and most of them are wildly ill-matched or inappropriate, so recipients usually don't even reply. (I've found that replying is viewed by some applicants as a strong form of encouragement, even if I just say something like "Sorry, I never have any interns and I don't work in area X in any case." I feel bad about it, but this is a powerful motivation not to reply.) The lack of replies pushes desperate students to send out huge numbers of e-mails, and this drives the response rate even lower. The net effect is that everyone ends up unhappy with the status quo. For example, see the comments [here](http://paulwgoldberg.blogspot.com/2011/02/iit-student-seeks-internship-at-your.html), which feature discussion from both faculty and internship applicants.
>
> If these are from real students, why do they think this could potentially work?
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>
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It seems to have degenerated into a lottery, in which a few students succeed in getting an attractive internship and that motivates many others to try.
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> Why India?
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>
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One partial explanation is that there are enormous numbers of English-speaking students in India who would be willing to consider studying abroad and would like to get an international experience as undergraduates. I've also heard that the IITs encourage students to do internships, but I don't know the details.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Some of the comments to [this blog post by <NAME>](http://recursed.blogspot.com/2010/01/weirdest-request-to-work-with-me.html) written in January 2010 appear to be from students from India.
Comment 1:
>
> Not really. Most of the email soliciting these internships come from students who are looking for a free vacation in a foreign land, to make a bit of money and to get laid. The trend was started a few years ago, when some actually talented individuals were invited to universities abroad. Since then, these IITians seem to think that they are entitled to free lunches. My advice to you would be to install a spam filter that identifies these types of mail. If not, you can write a mail to the director of the institute or the dean of UG studies at "<EMAIL>" requesting them to forward a circular banning students from spamming international academicians.
> However keep in mind that some of the students are actually very talented, so to weed out the hacks, you can post some instructions that applicants must follow (many professors in major US universities have already done so).
> I hope these emails do not create a bad impression of IIT grads in your mind.
> I should hope so, considering I am one myself :)
>
>
>
Comment 2:
>
> this is an Indian student of the college in discussion. We Indians are basically opportunists who have little to do with research when we say 'we study in premier institutes of India'
>
>
> Mass mailing is a fad amongst iit students, most of whom look for a paid vacation in your project. But iitians provide economic labor and some of them work above expectations(some...mind you). Next time, try negotiating with the guys, and i am pretty sure you would save by outsourcing to the brown :D
> regards
>
>
>
Comment 3:
>
> I too am a student in the mentioned institute, and like the guy who sent this mail, I have been applying to various professors in my field of interest.
>
>
> Of course, the sad truth is that most of us write a template mail and send it to a group of 100 odd professors. These are generally the ones who want to have a "free lunch".
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> There are, though, certain very talented applicants who actually read your papers and are interested in working with you.
>
>
> It is very sad that these students are screwed because of the spammers, but such is the reality.
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>
>
Comment 4:
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> Intern Mail Spamming has always been a nettling issue for the Professors of foreign universities.
>
>
> It is agreed that most students mail for the sake of getting an internship rather than having a keen and genuine interest towards the work. Yet, its a perpetuating fact that the Indian Institutes of Technolgy produce the best academicians.
>
>
> Thus, its a request to all the Professors o kindly keep their mind casual in this regard as they can be assured of really talented students whose mails are on the way.
>
>
>
There are more comments, but they seem similar to these.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I graduated from a premier Indian university more than a decade ago and have sent out such emails. Let me try to put this practice in context.
Like many universities around the world, Indian universities have a semester system and a three to four month summer break in-between. Many Indian universities (but not the [IITs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institutes_of_Technology)) have a compulsory *summer internship* that must be completed in the summer before the final year. These internships can be done either in industry or academia. Therefore, it is common for Indian students to apply for internships. Until the late 1990s, most students used to apply for such internships within India.
The situation changed in the late 1990s because a couple of European universities (EPFL for sure, but I think that there were others as well) started a *summer internship program for Indian students* (almost exclusively from the IITs). The primary reason was to attract Indian students for graduate studies; at that time most Indian students went to English speaking countries. I participated in such a program in the early 2000s.
These programs did not result in any mass emails. The department of the Indian university used to send a list of student CVs, and the department at the European school would select from that list.
However, once students realized that European universities accept students for internships, they started applying en mass. And *most*, if not all, of them got offers, typically from universities in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Singapore; but also occasionally from the US and UK. (At least, this was the situation at my time). Initially, only IIT students were doing this; slowly everyone else also started applying.
At our time, some of us applied because we wanted to experience the research environment in Europe, others applied because they wanted a paid vacation. Some were meticulous in their search and wrote personalized letters; others simply sent out a form letter to everyone. My understanding is that most students (at least from IITs) still get such internships, so the practice continues.
Note that the universities which started this practice to attract Indian students were successful. They saw an increase in the number of students from IITs who applied for graduate studies. I have friends who went to study in a non-anglophone European country because someone had gone to the same university for an internship and had had a positive experience.
I don't know if more European universities have started this practice or not; but I know that recently Canadian universities (rather a Canadian funding agency) started a university internship program for international students from India, China, and Brazil.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: **Tl;dr:** Few people genuinely want to do research internships at universities unless they are academically oriented. Successful students’ stories spread around. Juniors under pressure to land an internship emulate/copy templates. Despite sound advice from seniors, a lot of undergraduates send spam.
---
As an undergraduate senior currently studying at IIT Bombay, let me try to add to the already written answers by username_3 etc. with reference to my interaction with my seniors and peers. As has been mentioned in [username_3‘s answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/41734/7734), there are some formal channels to get internships; these are mostly helpful for top-ranking students, whereas the number of students wanting to do internships is much more.
At IIT Bombay, there is no mandatory internship requirement for graduation but I know other universities where this is the case.
As far as I understand, students, especially juniors (and to a lesser extent sophomores) are under quite some pressure to land a "summer internship" and the order of preference is typically as follows: Great company > Average company > Foreign University > Indian University > Current University ≫ Nothing.
For students who are interested in entering the job market after graduating, the order follows naturally, where the last few inequalities stems from peer pressure and the last one from “something is better than nothing”.
For academically-oriented students – primarily aiming to apply to grad schools abroad the next year – the first two options are not relevant. Here, the internship serves three purposes:
* Doing decent/good work ensures a letter of recommendation for grad school from a Professor who is not from your current university (the general belief is that such a LOR is likely to be more helpful than a “local” one).
* Research experience helpful for deciding fields of interest.
* As somebody as already pointed out, free vacation in a foreign country.
Of course, the relative importance of each factor varies from individual to individual.
In the fall semester, there are often short sessions organized by student bodies on “tips on landing an internship” from successful seniors; I have attended a few of these. The common summary usually boils down to: if you are interested in some professor’s research write a short email with:
* short introduction;
* research you are interested in (after reading papers);
* previous research/study experience with linked/attached homepage/CV.
Although all our seniors strongly advise us against writing fake emails (like the ones you’ve mentioned) as it hurts the reputation of the student community and especially affects those who write sincerely, there are inevitably more than a few who feel desperate (because statistics of landing an internship via emailing are so low), skip over the “reading papers” bit and choose to send spam in bulk rather than a few well-thought emails. And inevitably, one “ideal” email gets shared which is copied and edited as a template. This leads to a “race to the bottom” as pointed out in [the answer by username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/41693/7734).
Apart from the statistical factor, there is an obvious mental cost of writing a genuine email; posting spam takes little to no effort compared to writing a sincere email – I remember having written exactly one email which took me around two weeks including reading papers, references etc.
A short reply to <NAME>’s comment:
>
> If faculty members really wanted their students to do internships abroad, why aren’t they helping them out in some way?
>
>
>
Many students have little to no experience with undergraduate research and are looking to land an internship quickly. Professors do occasionally help students get such an internship abroad; this happens mostly in the case where the student has prior undergraduate research experience **and** is comfortable talking about the situation with the professor.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I need to cite some patents for a paper in BibTeX format. *Google Patents* provide me a BibTeX like this one:
```
@misc{spangler1988method,
title={Method and system for measurement of road profile},
author={Spangler, <NAME>.},
url={http://www.google.it/patents/US4741207},
year={1988},
month=may # "~3",
publisher={Google Patents},
note={US Patent 4,741,207}
}
```
I do want to cite Google as the publisher. Rather the patent is from the US Patent and Trademark Office.
What is the correct way to do this?
Note that this patent, e.g., is expiate due to failure to pay maintenance fee.
**NOTE**
I have found this instructions on [IEEE](http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecitationref.pdf):
>
> ***Patents***
>
>
> Basic Format:
>
>
> [1] <NAME>. Author, “Title of patent,” U.S. Patent x xxx xxx, Abbrev. Month, day, year.
>
>
> Example:
>
>
> [1] <NAME>, “Nonlinear resonant circuit devices,” U.S. Patent 3 624 125, July 16, 1990.
>
>
> **NOTE**: Use “issued date” if several dates are given.
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: Firstly, BibTeX is more or less a data structure. You can populate its fields however you want, as long as it captures the essential information.
Now, there is an `@patent{...}` type which, while not standard, is supported by many styles. Check the documentation for the citation style you are using for details. As you would be using either the `@misc` or `@patent` types, you should try to populate your fields or configure your styles in a way that the *compiled output* from BibTeX matches the expected style of the document that you are trying to prepare.
For example, [IEEEtran's BibTeX package](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/IEEEtran/bibtex) supports that `@patent` type and you can read their documentation on what fields should be populated and how. In particular, they support the `number` field which you should populate with `4741207` and the `nationality` field which you should populate with `United States`, instead of the Google output which put those information in the `note` field. The `publisher` field is actually ignored in the IEEEtrans style, so you don't need to do anything about it, and the `url` you can just drop, since given the United States patent number it is relatively easy to find it on the USPTO website.
If your publication follows the Chicago manuals, [here's how they prefer it to look](http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/15/ch17/ch17_sec219.html). Note in particular it does not show any "publisher" or "url" information.
If you use biblatex, [this TeX.SE q/a](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/45459/citing-patents-using-biblatex) gives a pretty good sample of acceptable use.
In short, like most questions about "how to cite *blah*", the answer is:
>
> The point of a citation is to give an unambiguous reference to previously published material. Many publishers and societies have established conventions and styles and the practical suggestion is to follow their guidance in how to style your bibliographic information. Absent that, use your own best judgment about how much information is sufficient to identify the reference.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is a bibtex @patent entry.
This is what the [documentation](http://ctan.mirrorcatalogs.com/macros/latex/exptl/biblatex/doc/biblatex.pdf) says:
"@patent A patent or patent request. The number or record token is given in the number field. Use the type field to specify the type and the location field to indicate the scope of the patent, if different from the scope implied by the type. ...
* Required fields: author, title, number, year/date
* Optional fields: holder, subtitle, titleaddon, type, version, location, note, date, month, year, addendum, pubstate, doi, eprint, eprintclass, eprinttype, url, urldate"
*However*, the @patent entry [might](http://tex.aspcode.net/view/635399273629833626143940/how-to-reference-a-patent-with-bibtex) be treated as an @misc entry, and therefore, depending on the LaTeX citation style you use, you might want to use the @misc keyword instead, as indicated in the question.
Finally, I would suggest to use [WIPO Patentscope](https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf) instead of Google for your url references.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Add the **nationality** as per IEEEtran.bst as described in:
```
ftp://tug.ctan.org/pub/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/IEEEtran/bibtex/IEEEtran_bst_HOWTO.pdf
```
In addition all you need is **authors, title, url, year, date**.
So if submitted to the United States this is what you would provide as the nationality or U.S.
Also as mentioned above use WIPO patent search not google for accurate dates and years on patents.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I found the other answers a bit challenging for some random format. Here's what I did:
```
@misc{name,
title={Best invention ever},
author={Edison, <NAME>},
year={U.S. Patent 1 234 567, Nov. 1969}
}
```
This appears with the correct formatting, even though it probably not the technically correct way to do it. Not proud, but I need to move on.
Upvotes: 3
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|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm in a Ph.D program and feel like I'm trapped inside of a bubble most days. Attending lectures, daily research seminars, meetings, etc is all very interesting to me and I really like what I do. However, all the fancy models, theory, and discussions only pertain to those of us in the position to be talking about such ideas and can actually understand the concepts. To a general audience it seems like a bunch of fancy equations that don't apply to the real world and I have a hard time explaining my side and why it is important. In turn, I start doubting the importance of academic/non-academic research. During my first year, I felt like my professors who were theoretical were just creating their own jobs; of course you can prove that theorem because of those assumptions.
So my question is, what are some tangible (or non-tangible) benefits of academic research? Why should research exist when most of the papers will only ever be read by academics, while a very select few will be accepted by the general public.
Disclaimer : please don't take this as an elitist post. I wouldn't be able to understand a carpenters way of thinking.
Edit :
I want to add, what is the incentive to invest so much in research that doesn't go anywhere in hopes that decades down the road one paper will be recognized? I'm having a hard time understanding the billions of dollars funded in research each year in hopes of a significant achievement.<issue_comment>username_1: The reason we do lots of strange and probably useless research is that predicting which bits will turn out to be important is only possible in retrospect.
Consider, for example, the internet on which we are discussing the apparent uselessness of research. It is now driving a significant fraction on the world economy. Twenty years ago, it was just starting to be publicly noticed. Twenty years before that, my company was playing with the prototype versions in experiments you likely would see as largely useless and known only to a small niche audience. Thirty years before that, in 1945, <NAME> laid the basic principles of hyperlinked text, in what was clearly an ivory tower fantasy... and yet here we are.
Almost everything ever done in science is useless... But the parts that aren't make a real difference. Sometimes only a little, sometimes a lot, and sometimes they shift the fate of civilizations. You just have to hold a vision of how it *might* matter, and chase that dream with all your heart.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In addition to the [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/41695) regarding how some objects of pure research turn out to be monumentally important (and we don't know ahead of time which ones they'll be), there is another point worth considering.
What does it mean for something to "benefit" people/citizens/society? You might instantly think of rather tangible examples -- feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, ending wars, etc. But having a roof over your head and food in your stomach *is not sufficient* to be considered leading "the good life." What about fun? Entertainment? Seeing something new? Learning how to do something you couldn't do before?
Net value can be created in ways other than making a new material product enjoyed by every person on Earth. Consider money spent to fund poetry and archaeology and wilderness preserves. No one such project uniformly adds real wealth to everyone in the world (I might love camping but find poetry incomprehensible), but taken together they can have a grand impact on society as a whole. We end up with more knowledge about the world around us and about ourselves, opening up more options for how to spend our lives.
To take a concrete recent example, a [certain somewhat successful movie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_%28film%29) used ideas from my own field of research, black hole accretion disks. This is an incredibly narrow field, to the point where most university astrophysics departments don't have anyone who deals with it. But the impact of the pure research went far beyond the few people capable of reading the scientific literature, in the form of providing new ideas that resulted in new creative works.
People pay real money for culture and entertainment. Some even get one step closer to research and pay real money to learn a subject just for fun (see especially continuing education programs). Now I'm not claiming we spend the "right" amount of taxpayer money on pure research, or that it's necessarily going "where it should" -- that's incredibly difficult to quantify. I'm just pointing out that there is real value in expanding humanity's corpus of knowledge.
Put another way, imagine living in a world with all your basic needs met but without any of the enrichment derived from fundamental research. Suppose someone were to come along with a Kickstarter idea -- learn as much possible about nature, from the history of the universe to cataloging all species of life on Earth, where much of the data and all of its interpretation would be made freely available to all. Wouldn't you, and indeed most people, give a little bit to that cause?
Upvotes: 3
|
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| 5,798
|
<issue_start>username_0: I know someone who works at a university and is considering taking courses there (which the university allows and subsidizes for its employees). If they take enough courses to make up a masters degree, will they be accredited a masters degree? Will employees, schools, etc. See this as the same as if they had just done the masters program regularly?
EDIT: In this case, their work isn't directly related to the MS program. Instead they work more generally for the university, in a capacity that isn't related to any particular department. They also hold a bachelors of science in the given field so I don't think prerequisites would be an issue.<issue_comment>username_1: Many master's degrees have other components besides required coursework, e.g. "comprehensive" exams, projects, a thesis. Certainly to get a master's degree you need to fulfill all the requirements.
Someone who is taking master's level courses piecemeal should check to see whether and in what way they can fulfill these additional requirements. This may depend on the details of the enrollment. However, in most cases that I know about, the department and the faculty won't care much about the administrative fine print, so long as the student is doing well in the courses and shows herself capable of doing whatever extra work is required.
If you do fulfill all the requirements of a master's degree, then you get a master's degree. Whether you were employed by the university at the time has nothing to do with the degree and probably would not show up on the transcript. By the way, in many academic fields most or all graduate students are employed by the university in one manner or another -- e.g. as a PhD student, I taught every other semester, and every semester that I was teaching I received a separate ID card listing me as an **officer** of the university. I had quite a few of these cards by the time I graduated.
**Added**: In order to get a degree, you need to be enrolled in the program. There is such a thing as a "non-degree student"; you might want to look that up. What I and <NAME> are saying is that, in practice, a non-degree student who is doing well in the coursework and shows herself able to complete all the requirements of the degree has a good shot at getting enrolled in the degree program.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> If they take enough courses to make up a masters degree, will they be
> accredited a masters degree? Will employees, schools, etc. See this as
> the same as if they had just done the masters program regularly?
>
>
>
I have never heard of this happening. Taking courses that make up the same courses required in a Masters program is different than being in a Masters program. As <NAME> points out, there are more requirements than taking classes to a Masters program.
Put another way, a student admitted into the history department at a university is allowed to take classes outside their department. Imagine they extend their degree program by a factor of 2, or some other method for taking enormous course loads. Now they take every class that is required of a computer science degree. In the end, they do not get a computer science degree, they get a history degree.
Yes, many universities allow employees to take classes. This is different than being in a degree program which may have a variety of requirements in order to graduate, such as internships, weekly faculty advisor meetings, thesis project, independent work, etc.
As one reference, Cornell has a specific [employee programme](https://www.hr.cornell.edu/benefits/education/edp.html) for doing just what you are asking about. It also states:
>
> You must apply to and be accepted by a school or college as a regular
> degree candidate, as special student status is not a consideration.
> Prior to the application process, you will need to have the
> endorsement of your immediate supervisor, your supervisor’s manager,
> and the dean or executive officer.
>
>
>
This is different than employees taking classes, which is referred to as [extramural studies](https://www.hr.cornell.edu/benefits/education/extramural.html).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Basically it depends on whether they are formally enrolled in the subjects or just attending.
I think you mean they would be enrolled (since the university is subsidising, this suggests they would otherwise pay full fees). As long as they pass all the courses, do an approved structure (that is, all compulsory subjects and the correct number of elective) then, yes, they get the same degree as any other student.
If they are just attending lectures and doing some (or even all) the coursework, but never actually enrol, then they are not a student and will not get the degree.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Great answers above. One extra remark: One might also look at the school in which they are enrolled for these degree credits. During my PhD, I had a friend that was working at the university taking all the necessary credits for a certain scientific Masters degree. When it was almost done and he went in for a graduation check, they told him the degree he was going to get was a Masters in Liberal Arts instead of the MSc because he was enrolled in the Liberal and Professional Studies College part of the university (the name for the Continuing Graduate Studies college for the university) instead of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. There was no way for the college he was in to bestow him a degree from the Graduate School even though he had taken all the appropriate courses. Making sure one is enrolled in the right part of the university to obtain the degree is important if one is employed in a large university.
Upvotes: 1
|
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| 606
| 2,527
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<issue_start>username_0: When applying to a computer science PhD position in US, does it make sense to mention various significant achievements (finishing in top 5% percent) in programming/data-mining contests ([topcoder](http://www.topcoder.com/), [kaggle](http://www.kaggle.com/), [hackerrank](https://www.hackerrank.com)).
These competitions have their weight for tech giants, but does a PhD hiring committee takes them into consideration? If so, it would be nice to know how much weight do they have and what is the best way to present them?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, they matter to PhD hiring committees, because they show potential.
I believe you should include such achievements in a "Distinctions" or "Awards" section in your CV.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Definitely yes! It shows you're willing to take an extra mile, and show extracurricular enthusiasm in the subject.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I doubt there is a given weight to any of an applicant's documentation. Every applicant is different, and every PhD research is different.
* An applicant might do well in certain competitions for coding, but a PhD research is certainly not only about coding. Most of it is literature review, writing and formulating the problem and finding a solution (which has nothing to do with coding)
* An applicant may have wonderful scores on each and every subject (in Bachelor/Master maybe), but if it is not completely within the field of the PhD, a committee will most likely look at how capable this applicant is for the research
* An applicant with a very good CV who writes an application letter that does not indicate any interest or is poorly written is most likely not to be chosen compared to an applicant with a reasonable CV who shows strong interest and enthusiasm
Certainly, listing achievements and publications helps if you like to have a career in academia. In tech companies they hire you specifically for your programming skill, and that's most likely what you do there, not too much else. In academia it's the 'full package' that you need to provide.
To conclude: I doubt there is a grading system and equation that evaluates the 'best match' for a PhD position.
Edit: I am not saying that you should not mention them in an application. All achievements, honors and awards gained in the field will benefit your application. It can be beneficial to even shortly explain the details of the competition and your result, so the committee understands their importance.
Upvotes: 1
|
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| 763
| 3,356
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<issue_start>username_0: Given that only papers where you are the first-author will contribute to your dissertation, isn't it a poor use of time to be contributing to the projects of other researchers?<issue_comment>username_1: In disciplines\* where the PhD thesis consists of a set of published articles, the PhD usually - but not always - must be composed of first-author papers. Yet there are many reasons why it might be beneficial to be involved in other projects as well, so long as one is also making reasonable progress toward the dissertation.
Perhaps the two most important reasons are:
* **Training.** Early on in graduate school, it may be valuable to simply have the experience of going through every stage of a research project from conception to publication, without having to be in charge every step of the way. Often a first of second year student will be involved in a research project on which a more senior student or postdoc is first author.
* **Portfolio-building**. For most students the goal is not merely to finish the dissertation, but to do so in a way that positions the student for future success. It may be preferable to graduate with 3 first-author and 4 mid-author papers instead of 4 first-author papers, for example.
Additional reasons include
* **Research assistantship duties**. If one is being paid on an RAship, this often contributes substantially to published research that may not be directly relevant to the dissertation.
* **Reciprocity**. Sometimes students collaborate on a series of papers and alternate first authorships as they go.
* **Too good a thing to pass up**. Sometimes the lab hits on something so cool that one would be a fool not to be part of it, whatever the authorship position.
* **Networking**. By establishing collaborations with researchers beyond one's home lab and institution, one builds up one's professional network.
This is only a partial list, of course, but it should provide a sense of some of the reasons that graduate students should not shy away from projects that will lead to mid-author publications.
* Authorship order does not matter in all disciplines. In economics and some subfields of computer science, for example, authorship is alphabetical by convention. Clearly this distinction does not matter in those fields.
[ *Edited to include suggestions from the comments and other answers.* ]
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In addition to username_1' good answer, it is also worth noting that in many disciplines you *can* include work from a non-first-author paper in a Ph.D. thesis---you just have to place it in the appropriate context. For example, if your Ph.D. thesis is about a methodology that you have developed, then papers you participate in where you put that methodology to use would be excellent pieces to include in the thesis as part of the validation of its value, even if you are not the first author.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Another good side is networking. By collaborating with colleagues, especially those in other institutions, you end up with a list of collaborators that will be good for your future projects and career. Maybe next time you will end up writing a proposal with one of the co-authors, or maybe someone recognizes you on the job market since you collaborated with them before.
Upvotes: 2
|
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| 8,702
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am pursuing a PhD in synthetic biology in the EU. I will finish my PhD in approximately 11 months.
I feel my PhD has been mediocre. I should end up with:
1. 3 first name research articles (two on a ≈3 IF journals, one on a ≈9)
2. 1 middle name research article (≈9 IF) and 1 review (≈3 IF)
3. couple of courses I taught and, hopefully
4. Chapter for a book from Springer.
I am tired with my field. I want to continue in academia, but not doing wet lab research. I have become interested in cosmology after reading some books on cosmology.
**Should change fields because of my changing interests?**
Would I ruin my career? I also would like to remain within the EU, but I can also move to the US.
Does anybody know of specific fellowships for such extreme cases? I was looking into the Human Frontier Science Program but they would still require me to work into something related to the life sciences.<issue_comment>username_1: I think it's going to depend a lot on the specifics of the field that you are switching to. You're actually doing a bit of a surprising direction of shift---I've known a number of people who made radical shifts in the opposite direction, from highly unrelated fields *into* synthetic biology, which works pretty well because it's a young and rapidly expanding field, both inside and outside of academia. Cosmology, on the other hand, is much older, not particularly growing (to the best of my knowledge), and without a large non-academia research sector, so it may be significantly harder to transfer into that field.
That said, if you're going to transfer, postdoc is the right time for "retraining." The key question is to look at the skills you have, and try to figure out how they can be remapped into something "close enough" that it will give you a chance to shift. You might want to consider looking at ESA or NASA, who have both cosmology and biology and where they may be close enough to help move from one to the other. If you do the shift, you should also expect a fairly long period of postdoc, probably multiple postdocs, while you retrain and build credibility for your new field.
Finally, speaking as a synthetic biologist, I might urge you to consider that your view of the field may currently be quite limited. Synthetic biology is an extremely wild frontier with a lot of things you might be interested in. Are you sure you are tired of the field and the wetlab, or are you just tired of your particular lab and how it uses its wetlab people? There is a wide variety of labs and cultures out there, along with a lot of non-lab companies with good positions for people with prior lab experience. Unfortunately some academic labs have rather toxic cultures and treat their graduate students like underpaid lab techs, rather than investigators in training: if this has been your experience and what's driving you out of the field, consider that it may be much better elsewhere.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Cosmology is very very far from synthetic biology, in the sense that most of the expert skill a biologist has will not be useful in cosmology. The only exception if your background has a very strong physics/math component (which is unfortunately not the case for most biologists).
For this reason, I don't think you have a chance to get a postdoc in cosmology without a PhD in a closely related field. In fact, if you only have classical biology training it might even be difficult to get into a graduate program. But if you are serious about cosmology, you will probably need to get a relevant PhD.
Two other suggestions:
1. I very much agree with username_1 that synthetic biology is a very exciting field at this time. There are huge opportunities for creativity and ground breaking research. I suggest you go to a relevant conference to broaden your perspective of the field and hear what is being done.
2. Have you considered a postdoc in astrobiology? This would be a natural way for you to combine your new interests with your current expertise. I think synthetic biology approaches will be a very important tool in this field in the future.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If your question is
>
> **Should I change fields because of my changing interests?**
>
>
>
It is much much more desirable to invest effort in the next 5-7 years and enter a career you actually like, compared to committing yourself to an academic job that you don't enjoy doing just to make a living. (If you just want to make a living: go in industry, they typically pay much much better.)
On the other hand, if your question actually is
>
> **Should I invest the next 5-7 years to switch to an unfamiliar field?**
>
>
>
my answer would be: are you sure you want to do that? This is the same question I would ask of someone who tells me he or she wants to go and do a PhD, in any field. A PhD, with an eye toward academic employment, is a particular life choice and include a certain degree of commitment and sacrifice. Just reading a few (popular science?) books on the subject is generally not enough information for you to decide whether the field is really for you. The fact that you have committed once and are now having doubts should be a flag to you that before you make another commitment in a drastically different direction you should perhaps seek out someone already in the field (in this case, cosmology), and talk to him or her and try to find out if this career path is really good for you.
Further more
>
> **Would I ruin my career?**
>
>
>
A drastic change of research directions is not common, but also not unheard of. If you do good work you will *not* ruin your career. But you need to be aware that
* Cosmology is very, very different from synthetic biology. If you are into more observational astrophysics, with a decent scientific background you should be able to get in to the field with some hands-on training (provided you find someone willing to invest the time in you). If you are however into *theoretical* cosmology, unless you have an exceptionally strong and diverse undergraduate training, you will almost certainly have to earn a second PhD if you want to continue in academia in that direction.
* Regardless of whether you earn a second PhD or not, the re-training required to take on a new field will necessarily take several years out of your life.
* You will, of course, have to field questions about this drastic change whenever you interview for early career positions; the "I got sick of it and want to do something else" response is unlikely to sell well.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I think finding a postdoc in a field so far afield is going to be very difficult. In many fields of academia, there are a lot of PhD students being trained. If a P.I. is hiring a postdoc, and they can choose between someone with a PhD in synthetic biology vs. someone with a PhD in cosmology, the latter will be preferred.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I also agree with the above answers. Getting a posdoc in cosmology without a PhD in a related area will be almost impossible. You maybe have a non-negligible chance if you try working with groups which basically do data science, provided you have a good computational background.
On the other hand, I don't understand why you consider your PhD mediocre at all. In cosmology you would be glad to come up with 4 papers and a book chapter on Springer after your PhD.
Cosmology has become a very specialized science where half of the people are always trying to come up with different models that are still not satisfactory at all which try to explain the data and the other half of the people are trying to understand how to produce and process larger and larger amounts of data.
If by cosmology books, you mean popular books, then you will be entirely dissapointed once you start doing real research. Real life is much more complicated. In order to understand the literature of cosmology nowadays you need a strong background in General Relativity, Quantum Field Theory and Statistics. (I am not mentioning here all the astrophysical background which is certainly needed in some fields.) This will cost you at least 4-5 years of your life. I doubt that someone would pay you to do that.
I am myself doing a PhD in Cosmology and it is a very competitive and fast-changing area of research. I know many good people with strong mathematical and physical backgrounds and very good PhDs which have had a very hard time finding a posdoc position. Especially if you consider Europe, which is almost saturated already.
So, I would recommend you to find something completely different to do.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: It is common language in graduation ceremonies, at least in the United States, to hear a degree conferred with "all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto." How would one discover what the rights and privileges pertaining to a MA or PhD degree actually are?<issue_comment>username_1: The answer is: something that existed centuries ago in Europe, and not today, any more than one wears formal academic regalia.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: For the United States things are pretty limited, but generally the rights and privileges are going to be some sort of guarantee that the degree granting institution will verify that you were in fact awarded the degree in question. Since a lot of jobs now require degrees this is a non-trivial right. Additionally, alumni usually get some sort of perks such as library borrowing privileges, access to athletic facilities, etc. but that is very dependent upon the school.
Of varying use depending upon where you live you can use post-nominal initials to indicate the degree awarded and being addressed as "Doctor" if you were awarded a suitable degree. As noted in the [answer by jackbael](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/41736/7269), you also have the academic right to wear the regalia of the school from which you graduated.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Each of my diplomas says my degree is awarded "with all of its privileges and obligations" or something close to that. I know of neither an official codification nor a learned treatment of the privileges and obligations involved.
But, along with <NAME>, <NAME>, and Mr. Spock, as opposed to <NAME> and Cmdr. Data, I hold that values are *logical*. So I deduce that:
* The "privileges" include putting the degree on your curriculum vitae so you can get jobs requiring a degree;
* The obligations include honesty about the subject matter in which you are supposed to have some expertise.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I would think the rights and privileges also includes the not necessarily actualized non-legal right/privilege to teach at universities and colleges (Sorry for the convoluted sentence -- I don't know how to simplify it).
Actualization of course requires being hired by some university and is not wholly exclusive to PhD and MA holders.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: While the rights and privileges are not always physical aspects they do indeed exist. The right to wear Regalia (and the pride that goes with it), the fulfillment of a degree requirement for potential employers, the assumption that some degree of knowledge about the particular degree major exists, the legal aspect of holding a degree (and the fact that you can actually be jailed if you lie about some degrees, i.e. nursing, doctor, minister, etc), the privilege of moving on to the next step in your degree aspirations, i.e. masters, doctorate, etc. The degree process will open many doors that would not be opened if you lack a degree in some discipline. Just a few thoughts.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: to use the title granted for all your job searches and to receive henceforth the honors to be part of an elite, as a result of the level of education you have achieved by your efforts.
to offer a professional expertise as expected for the conduct of the professional tasks that will be asked to you during your professional career and to respect the code of ethics of the specific profession.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: As for specific countries, both my degrees were obtained in Canada, and both diplomas bear that statement, although one got all hoity-toity, and the entire diploma is in Latin.
My understanding is the rights are to use the designation (is: BA, and BEd, in my case) on curriculum vitae and letterhead, etc. It also qualifies me to apply for a higher degree program.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: I don't think any of the seven previous answers attempts to address the question from the body of the post:
>
> How would one discover what the rights and privileges pertaining to a MA or PhD degree actually are?
>
>
>
The first thing to do would be to check the university's website for its regulations, which may go by different names. E.g. in Cambridge they are [Statutes and Ordinances](http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/), and by reading them you can discover, for example, that both MAs and PhDs are members of the Senate (unless they have resigned or are suspended) and as such can vote in elections to the Chancellorship.
If you can't find the regulations, believe them incomplete, or need clarification on some point, then the next thing would be to write to the university. Again, the name of the body or title of the person equipped to answer the query probably varies: it would probably be reasonable to make an initial approach to the Alumni Office, the Dean's office, or the Vice-Chancellor's office, and to request that should their department not be the correct one that they point you in the right direction.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_9: Given the Medieval origin, one right is not to have the authorities use thumb screws if you are subject to interrogation. Being able to write was deemed a valuable skill. I suspect other rights fall into these categories which are now extended to everyone through the Bill of Rights.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_10: Here is what I used to tell students assembled for commencement: "When the President of the University confers upon you your new degree, she will confer all the "rights, privileges, and responsibilities appurtaining thereunto."
Don't let that go unto your head. You have almost no new rights nor privileges; you may add the initials of your degree after your name, but outside academia, and before the Ph.D., almost no one does that.
What you do have are the responsibilities of an educated person, one example of which is the responsibility to help others understand the social and political implications of what's going on. That turns out to be a substantial amount of work. So, enjoy your new status and exercise your new responsibilities well! We're proud of you, SPSU grads!"
Separately, the president specifically granted "the right to wear the hood appropriate to your degree," so, at least one actual privilege, although perhaps less important now than 600 years ago.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am wondering if there have been any sort of rigorous/meaningful study about how well an h-index measures the scientific productivity of a person. I am wondering how much stock I should put into the h-index, both as a personal measure and a measure of those around me.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm no expert on this, and this is just a comment that is a little too long to cram in the comment section.
Before addressing your question, h-index is *not* supposed to measure productivity alone. It attempts to measure both productivity and impact in terms of citation count. The simplest and crude measure of the former would be the number of papers a scientist has published, and one simple measure of the latter would be the total number of citations. You could say these are two crude measures of quality and quantity, although their meanings are vague. In a sense, h-index is intended to measure the quality and quantity of scientific output by a single number.
Anyway, to answer your question, assuming that you are asking if there's any serious research on how well h-index works as intended, if you just google with some obvious keywords, you should be able to find many serious academic papers that study h-index, e.g.,
[<NAME>, Comparison of the Hirsch-index with standard bibliometric indicators and with peer judgment for 147 chemistry research groups, *Scientometrics* **67** (2006) 491-502.](http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/Scient.67.2006.3.10)
or several papers cited [in this article (pages 5-6)](http://www.researchtrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Research_Trends_Issue11.pdf)
or many other papers you should be able to find through usual means like checking the references at the end of a paper on the topic, looking up papers that cite them, putting more effort in googling, trying different keywords you couldn't come up with at first but you can after reading some papers on the topic, using different search engines, etc.
Note that the above parers are by no means meant to be representative examples. I just googled a bit, skimmed bits and pieces, and copy-pasted the links. As I said at the beginning of this post, I'm no expert and as clueless as you. For what it is worth, the journal Scientometrics seems to have a decent impact factor, since you seem to care about that sort of thing.
I hope real academics who work on bibliometrics chime in and give expert answers.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Besides the convincing argument in Moriarty's comment to the OP there is also a formal argument that the index is particularly meaningless. The Notices of the AMS recently published "Critique of Hirsch's Citation Index: A Combinatorial Fermi Problem" by <NAME>, see here <http://www.ams.org/notices/201409/rnoti-p1040.pdf>
Roughly: The h index is about half the square root of the number of citations...
More precisely: For an author with *N* citations to his paper, the h-Index always lies between zero and the square of *N*. Now assume that these citation are distributed on a number of papers and all partitions occur with equal probability. Then it turns out that the estimated h-Index is then about 0.54 times the square root of *N*. In the article it is quoted that Hirsch himself has observed that basically all h-Indices he looked at were in the range of 0.45 and 0.58 times the square root of *N*. Yong also states that, especially for the highly cited people in math, physics, computer science and statistics only very few people have an h-Index above 0.54 times square root of *N* (and they are never more that 5% above that). The article contains much more data but only for famous mathematicians such as Field's medalists or members of the National Academy of Science and it is really worth a read.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a paper with autors A, B, C and D. Their names appear sorted by last name, so the order of the authors does not really say anything about their role in the paper.
When I cite this with the style that I currently use, I obtain “A et al, 2014”. This is logically, but B was the speaker and D is the professor of the workgroup.
Should I now cite this as “A et al”, or change the order of the names and make it “D et al” or “B et al”? The second version only works since I know the roles in the workgroup. With other papers, I would not know how to do this.
I could also just cite it as “[1]” and not worry about that at all …
What would be a good way to deal with this in general?<issue_comment>username_1: If the authors are listed as *<NAME>, <NAME>*, you **cannot** cite it as *Brown et al.* The standard thing is to simply cite *Adams et al*.
**If you are one of the authors and you cite it.**
Let's say that you are *Brown* and you now have an article with *Eldridge*. Then you can write the following:
>
> ... as was shown by the first author in collaboration with *Adams et al.* [ABCD14].
>
>
>
This way you cite the paper properly and at the same time, you make it clear that you are one of its authors.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I've never seen a citation style that allows reordering the authors. If you're mentioning them by name, either list them all or write "First et al.", regardless of whether First is first author because of some estimation of merit or because of an accident of birth.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Elaborating slightly on username_2's answer: cite the paper with the authors in the same order that they appear in the original. **Never reorder them for any reason.**
The simplest reason for this is that people will expect that your citation matches the original author ordering. If the original paper has authors in the order A,B,C,D, and you cite it with authors B,D,C,A, a reader is going to think you are talking about a different paper by the same people, in which B was listed as the first author. They will probably figure it out eventually, but confusion will occur in the meantime.
For a deeper reason, there are two possible reasons why the authors wrote their names in the order A,B,C,D:
1. They made a decision that A should be considered the "first author", perhaps because A had the original idea or did most of the work.
2. They made a decision to list their names alphabetically, so that nobody would be "first author". This implies that they believe that all of them contributed (approximately) equally to the paper.
In either case, you should respect their decision. If you change the author ordering, it makes it seem like you are second-guessing their decision, as if you know better than the authors who did what on the paper. This will come across as arrogant and disrespectful.
You can't assume that the person who presented a paper at a conference is the one who did the most work on it. Maybe A did the most work but couldn't attend the conference for some reason. Maybe they all did the same amount of work, but B really wanted to give the talk and so they agreed to let him.
You also shouldn't assume that the professor of a workgroup is the one who deserves the most credit for a paper. In many cases, the most senior person on a paper is the one who is least involved in its details (because they are dividing their time between many different projects).
So if the paper lists the authors as A,B,C,D, cite it as ABCD. Some people think the use of *et al* is problematic, especially for alphabetically ordered papers, but if you must use it, cite as "A et al."
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Alphabetical ordering of authors is the prevalent style in mathematics (there may be other fields where this is used, e.g. theoretical CS, but I'm not aware of any others).
In mathematics it is considered good style to cite the author list in full, i.e. A,B,C,D instead of A et al. The reason is that all authors are considered to have contributed (approximately) equally to the paper, so they deserver equal credit and exposure. Citing as A et al. would underexpose people with lastnames further down the alphabet. Also note that in mathematics, papers rarely have more than 3-4 authors, so this is not too unreasonable to do.
Upvotes: 3
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