texts: Advisor drops MSci student suddenly in final semester

texts:
Today I had a fellow student (who is working on a master's degree) come to me and inform me that our mutual advisor (call her Professor WW) had just dropped her as a student for "personal reasons." I am a more advanced doctoral student and have some niche expertise that my advisor does not have, so I do not feel like I am in personal danger of being axed as well, but I want some advice on how to proceed with this situation.

My colleague (call her QQ) is entering her final semester of a master's degree, so naturally having her advisor drop her is rather troubling.  QQ is a high quality student and is an excellent worker. She is the type of person I am privileged to have as a colleague. I was very surprised to hear that WW had curtly told her to find a new advisor.

QQ was funded via an NSF grant that WW had. As such, QQ had turned down other funding offers. With the abrupt dropping, Prof. WW obviously also cut QQ's funding. This has left QQ scrambling for funding for next semester with about two weeks before school goes on holiday.

To make matters even weirder, Prof. WW told QQ to not mention this to anyone and that she (WW) would arrange a new advisor for QQ privately, a complete circumvention of the department administration. The advisor that WW has chosen to pursue for QQ is on sabbatical until April 2017. (So,...not a great option).

While QQ has done some of her thesis, she is still at a stage where having an advisor is critical. The only professors who have enough expertise in our area of research are either on sabbatical or are the brand new department chair (and hence is "too busy for grad students").

Professor WW is up for tenure soon, and I think she is fearful that this antic will reflect poorly on her (since, well, it does). As I mentioned, WW has a large NSF grant. She produces a lot of papers (mostly on the backs of her grad students honestly) and brings in lots of money. She probably will get tenure.

Should I do anything here? Professor WW does somewhat control my destiny, but I already have a strong dissertation topic I feel, and I am not so far along that I could not just switch advisors if it came to it due to politics.

Am I ethically obligated to mention behavior like this to the administration, especially with the tenure considerations?  I want to advocate for my colleague QQ, but I also do not want to be blacklisted in my department for stepping out of line.

Additional Information

Some of the comments or answers have suggested that QQ was caught cheating/plagiarizing in some way. I am going to take this into consideration. It is a reasonable thought, not so much because I feel that QQ might actually be a cheater, but just because there is a (albeit very tiny) probability that QQ plagiarized.

Still, the last we spoke, QQ has been in contact with someone at the university level to guide her through the process of switching advisors. Unless QQ is much less intelligent than I thought, she probably will not be going down on the official record of filing a grievance if she had been caught doing something nefarious that WW had any semblance of proof of.

As for the thoughts on some sort of romance that developed between WW and QQ.....even less likely than QQ being a cheater in school. Let's just leave it at that.


texts: My colleagues and I recently published a resource paper with a finding that could suggest a mechanism for a disease-to-gene correlation from a 2014 study. I'd like to inform the authors. But, the contact email given with the 2014 paper is dead, and I can't find a better one. Is it too creepy to track these folks down on Google? Should I give up? Is there a better way to get in touch?


texts:
I am Ph.D student works in theoretical computer science (algebra). I will be graduating next year. I have been able to publish 2 paper currently writing a paper. Idea's are comming into my mind these days, and also I start writing as soon as possible. I try to write the things as early as possible. The problem from which I am suffering most is "writing skill", as the feedback I have from my collegue I have good idea's but writing is not that much good even after two months of writing ( I have written many drafts). Note that in those two months in which I were writing the draft of the paper, I was also working on some other problems.

I know that my writing is not great, but I have heard that good writers are good theoreticians. I may have very good idea but I may not be that much good writer and due to this thing I may not be much successful, Please help

Question : Are good writers are good theoreticians?


texts: Can one's PhD work be an extension of their Masters research?

texts: I am currently pursuing a Masters degree in Literature, and I see potential in further research on the current topic of my dissertation for a PhD in the future. I have been told that an Honours thesis cannot be used as a foundation for a Masters dissertation, so i am wondering if a Masters dissertation can be used as a base for a PhD dissertation later on.


texts: What topics should go in the thesis Appendix?

texts:
I am not sure about some side-topics related to my thesis. During the development of the results I have to rely on some other mehods which are not the main topic of the thesis but since I used them to derive some approximation I then implement in the analysis I think it is useful to explain how this methods works so any reader can understand what I did and also because I spent time learning them.

I was thinking to put these extra-info in an Appendix not to cause confusion in the main topic, but I am afraid they will be considered as off-topics.


texts: Textbook publisher offers to pay me for a comparative review of textbooks

texts:
I'm currently teaching a fairly large introductory class,
with about 500 students per semester (spread across multiple sections).

Recently, I received an e-mail from McGraw-Hill Education
offering me a few hundred USD to complete a comparative review
of our current textbook (also McGraw-Hill)
and another McGraw-Hill textbook.

I am not sure what to make of this.
On the one hand,
it definitely sounds nice to me
to spend an hour or two to look through a new textbook,
and write a comparative review,
and be somewhat well compensated for my time.
On the other hand,
it feels like they are trying to "bribe" me
to adopt another textbook,
which may perhaps be more profitable for them
than our current recommended textbook.

Should I be wary about taking the money and accepting this offer?
Is there something unethical about this?
Also, would my university be upset about such an arrangement?
I suspect this would happen at most once a year,
if it indeed happens in the future.


texts: Correcting grammatical errors versus content in post-graduate coursework submissions in the sciences

texts:
During an intramural teaching forum, I was interested to learn from a Head of Department (HoD) that she didn't consider it her role to correct grammatical errors when evaluating coursework submissions (an essay, say) at the post-graduate level and that she limited her assessments to the content of the essay. I'm an HoD myself and am directly opposed to this, and have strongly recommended to academic staff in my department that the assessment of grammar should be part of the feedback provided to students. My reasons for this are:

Communications with peers, the public and policy makers are important aspects of the role.
While a number of our students are non-native English language speakers, there are a number of so-called native English language speakers with atrocious writing skills.
The students appreciate the feedback they receive and we can detect a substantial improvement in their writing skills.

The other HoD's reasons are equally cogent:

The university already has a minimum language level required for entry.
This additional task would impose a heavy burden on her already limited staffing resources.
Students need only be made aware that there are errors and can seek guidance on correcting the grammatical issues elsewhere.

This is my question to you good folks:

  For teachers, what is the practice in your department and is this practice backed by specific assessment policies?
  For students, what are your expectations about your grammar being corrected?

EDIT: I am interested in approaches from STEM fields, primarily. As @DanRomik points out in the comments, the approach in the humanities and arts may be different.

To put this in perspective, here is part of a report submitted in partial fulfillment of a basic statistics course at the Master's level that I am grading at the moment. The statistical formulae, graphs and numerical results are spot on.

  This report uses te data from the study of [redacted] about lizard to do some analysis. Graph 1 shows the survival status of lizard. The value of survival lizard are higher than that of the death lizard.

How would you approach such a submission?

Thank you for your patience.

PS. I have found the related thread here but it focused on peer-review. Nevertheless, I accept that some grammatical errors are so egregious as to make the submission unintelligible. I am not concerned about those submissions here.


texts: How long do editor decisions take at Science/Nature?

texts:
What does the distribution of wait times for a editor decision look like for a manuscript submitted to Science or Nature?

(You are not allowed to say "Gamma" unless you give a shape and scale parameter)


texts: What to do if my advisor insists on early attendance?

texts:
I have a genuine problem in waking up early in the morning. My advisor prefers to walk in my office whenever he wanted to. Lately, he started to complain to me about not showing up in the morning. Even the way to
 he used to come to my office has changed, he started to open the door without knocking and then the first thing he checks my computer screen.

I tried to tell him that about my difficulties and suggested scheduling meetings instead. He told me these are the rules of the institution and I have to follow them.

Long story short, I started to come early in the morning but I can barely get anything done.

Update 1: I reviewed the contract, it explicitly mentioned that working time starts no later than 9am. My contract is with an institution not the university directly.

Update 2 : I consulted a doctor and I have been diagnosed with depression. Besides the medication that was prescribed to me, I was asked to take a rest from the school.
Thank you, everyone, for sharing your thoughts.


texts: Mass (spam) emails seeking short term internship, solutions

texts:
This question asking if the subject of current question is spam or not serves as the motivation for further, seeking solutions. As can be seen from the answers and comments, the emails from undergraduate students seeking a short term internship in en masse can be identified as a legitimate problem faced by many in Academia. Most of the emails have a common design or made out of same template and an equivocal tone. Even the researchers who doesn't even started a group were targeted asking them to consider the application to join the group(which doesn't exist) and claiming that the applicant had read the publication(doesn't exist either) on so and so topic. The epicenter of these mass outbreak is a particular country according to the OP and the answered. Some pointed out that most of it are indeed from legitimate students but overly opportunistic and some pointed out the reason why. If this is indeed a growing trend and a real issue,

How can the target weed out the emails considering that some applications are indeed real?
Taking into account that this may harm the chances of talented students and may form a negative general opinion(?), what measures can be taken to make the students aware that sending out emails in mass is not a professional way to attain a position?


texts: Potential downsides to requesting an extension

texts:
I am curently working on my final year project which has a deadline in 3 weeks. This deadline has already been extended by 1 month from the previous deadline (which would have just passed) for everyone as a mitigation measure for the COVID situation. This was applied automatically and was not something that we had to request.
Now, in addition to this, we have been told that we can individually request 7 day extensions (this applies to all pieces of coursework from all courses, not just final-year projects) and that we should expect these to be granted. Again, due to the current situation, we have been told we won't have to give a reason or proof for requesting them.
My situation is that I still have a considerable amount of work to do on this project (I have written up about half of the number of pages we are recommended to do) and one extra week would definitely help to some extent, but maybe not by much. If I wanted to, I would be able to complete the project by the deadline without having to ask for this extension (by working extra hard for these 3 weeks), so the only help the extension would give me would be to be able to produce slightly better quality work and therefore maybe get a slightly higher mark. I have never asked for an extension in my four years at university so I'm a bit discouraged to have to do so now right at the end.
My question is if the professors who mark my project (which are 2 of them) may have an unconscious bias against "late" submissions (even with a valid extension) and this could result in me losing out in a few marks in the more subjective marking criteria. Of course, this could only happen if the markers know about it in the first place, which would be if either

They start marking the projects submitted by the normal deadline before the extended deadline has passed, or
They wait until all extension-included deadlines have passed before marking any project, but they can see the submission date/time when marking them.

One of the two markers is my project advisor, so he will probably know if I have requested this extra extension because we talk quite regularly about how my project is going (so when the normal deadline approaches, he will ask whether I'm (nearly) finished already).
To be clear, I know that in theory I shouldn't be penalised for requesting and using an extension since that is the purpose of them. I am just curious if the markers will assume that students who request extensions (especially in this case after everyone having already been given one) are weaker students and therefore expect my project to be slightly lower quality.


texts:
[comments from my supervisor]

  You still have a tendency to use phrases such as "All in all", and "To
  this end". Not a serious problem of course, but be aware that the
  editors/reviewers for some scientific journals will not accept such
  wording - they will see it as a waste of words (the phrases have
  little real meaning, after all) and will encourage a more concise form
  of writing. You also continue to split infinitives (e.g. "To
  effectively curtail"), again not a serious problem, but not "good"
  formal English if that is what you are aiming for.

Above are some comments from my supervisor on my writing styles. So how should I improve from here, for instance, if not saying 'all in all', 'to this end', what connecting words should I use. And, if not starting a sentence with infinitives, how should I restructure my sentences.

[the referred sentence that has a bad style]

  To effectively curtail pollution from all sources requires attention
  paid to the long-overlooked industrial pollution. To this end, this
  PhD research emphasises the need to ...


texts: Can I do research at a different college than the one I am attending?

texts:
I will be general here so as to help others searching for the same question and to conceal my identity.

I am a freshman at a top liberal arts college, and I would like to do chemistry research over the summer. I could pretty easily do research at my own college, but it is very far away from home and I'd like to at least spend my freshman summer closer to my family/friends back home.

Would it be normal to contact professors at local colleges and say that I am interested in doing research over the summer? Is there a normal procedure (if any) in getting research opportunities at a college that I do not attend?
Thanks


texts: If my research is addiction related, can I tell the professor I have first hand experience?

texts:
I’m an undergraduate doing research in the bioinformatics department, and we are researching drug addiction. We are also attempting to incorporate the psychology cooccurrences (i.e. suicide ideation, anxiety, depression)  of addiction. Personally I have not experienced drug addiction, but I am very familiar with two different addictions (one ongoing) and the cooccurrences mentioned above.

A benefit of this has been that my first paper and project was very well received by the professor because I understood the subtleties of the topic. However, this also means I am mentally unhealthy.

I have always considered telling the professor about this, but I don’t know if this would be encouraged/acceptable, and if I would still be allowed to stay in this research area.

Any input is appreciated, thank you!


texts: Is it conventional to provide a list of GUI element descriptions in a thesis?

texts:
I'm currently writing my dissertation/thesis regarding my Rubik's Cube Solver program (sounds more exciting than it actually is haha). Anyway, I have created a GUI to visualize and animate the cube throughout various processes like solving and scrambling. However, this GUI has more elements such as buttons, sliders, multi-dropdown lists, etc. than I originally thought.
Would it be convenient to provide each specific GUI element with its own description somewhere? E.g. a glossary for the GUI or perhaps bullet-pointed? I had a recent thought of labeling everything via a screenshot?
I get this could be subjective but what would be regarded as a more professional/cleaner route to take?
Any thoughts, ideas, recommendations are more than welcome.
Thanks!


texts:
Is there something like a "standard dress code" for a Ph.D thesis discussion? And, if there is - how important is it? Obviously, one should not (I think) dress too casually, but I do not know what is deemed appropriate.

I don't know how much this varies around the world; if it helps, I am from Europe.


texts:
In german computer science it is quite common to use citations like [HoBo12] or [HoBo12, pp.1-4] for say, Hoy, Jane; Boy, John 2010: The great story. The rules for composing this label depend on the amount of authors and their order. Seemingly, this is defined in DIN5015-2 and ISO690, but the wikipedia page only talks about the bibliography and not about the in text references. Weirdly, there is a Zotero style named DIN1505-2 which kind of does that, but still seems to have a few bugs or the official definition (which I can't find talking about this topic) thinks that weird things are nice e.g. [HoBo12, pp.1-2, WVDE13, p.2] (notice that a ; would be nicer).

I think this style is quite nice and would like to use it for an English text. Therefore I would like to choose an accepted style from an english speaking nation.

Question: Are there any other styles in that form (maybe even defined in a Zotero CSL-format)? I still think it looks a bit big with the additional page information. Something like this would be perfect [HoBo12:1-2; WVDE13:2]. Is this an offical style?


texts:
I am obliged to hand in an an exposé outlining my PhD project in mathematics, including some kind of working plan. Since it is answered here and since it can be easily found on the internet, I have some understanding about what such a working plan should look like.
However, when it comes to fleshing this out, I have large difficulties. But I am sure that I am not the first would-be mathematician writing a working plan in the world, so how do others do it?
What I struggle with. For instance, I have no idea of what I want to achieve within the (expected) three years of my studies, and apparently, since we fixed a very broad working title for my thesis, neither has my supervisor.  My Master's was in a different field with only minor connections to the one I am about to start my PhD in.
Therefore, I expect that I spend the first weeks or months getting used to the field, reading literature, working on small problems of which hopefully one turns out to be interesting and fruitful enough to build a theses on.
But I have no idea how to foresee when I will be done with spending most of my time on literature, when I will have solved which problem and finished the proof for what theorem, when I will start compiling my results into a thesis, when to write which chapter of it or when I will hand in a paper with what title to which journal.
How I've solved the problem in the past. To my shame, I have to admit that when writing my Master's thesis, I had not made any plan either. I just worked into the day and in the end, there was a thesis. I am aware that this is a very inefficient working style, but apparently, expectations towards my thesis were low enough such that it worked out. I expect that for a PhD, working in such an unstructured fashion does not work out any more; therefore, I am actually motivated to give my work more structure.


texts: Would transferring to a better school in the middle of a graduate program irreparably hurt my professional connections and academic reputation?

texts:
I did not get accepted into any good graduate programs.  For various reasons, I feel I could do much better if I reapplied next year.  This question isn't about the feasibility of doing so, but of the affect on my professional reputation and network.

It is an investment for the university to give me funding, so it would be a jerk move to transfer simply for the increase in prestige.  But how much of a jerk move would it be?  Would it burn my colleagues and advisors so hard that I would scar my reputation for the rest of my career?  Would I simply lose these people as connections, but have no lasting affect other than that?  Or would everyone be understanding that this is a professional choice, that I am looking out for my future?  (If so, could I request recommendations from professors in the program?)

  If I transfer to a better school either at the end of my first or second year as a graduate student, how much will this piss people off?

To be clear, I am talking about transferring from a mid-ranked state school to somewhere good, at least top 20 hopefully top 10.  And since I am sure this matters, the discipline is mathematics.


texts: For a list of references is it better to give full links to a research group or just the address to the faculty homepage?

texts:
I am in the process of writing a contact list of my references. I noticed a inconsistency in how the different individuals include links as a reference (e.g. in mail signatures or business cards). Essentially there are two options when providing a link:

to the specific pages of the research group or individual
to the department/faculty pages to which the individual or research group belongs.

Option 1 feels more appropriate as it provides a direct access to the person who's supposed to be contacted. However, this option typically has the negative drawback of having a long, often ugly links containing many encoding characters. These links typically break the visual appearance of the document.

Option 2 alleviates that problem by problem by providing a short and clean address, however implies that the reader has to dig into the faculty/department pages to find the person/group that is being referred to.

I have considered link shorteners but that does not feel legitimate in such a document. If I was a recruiter I would be vary of a short random link of a document.

Any suggestions?


texts: Should I include a summary of related literature and comparison of results in Review of Related Literature?

texts:
One suggestion I received for my thesis is to include a summary of related studies and compare the results with my results.

Should I include the summary in Review of Related Literature? Is it a good idea?


texts: Is GitHub adequate for purposes of giving a manuscript a timestamp to protect against plagiarism?

texts: I wrote a paper that I want to put on my webpage, but that I don't want to publish anywhere.  I think that I need a timestamp on it, in case someone decides to plagiarize it.  Is GitHub adequate for this?


texts: How do people have so many papers in just one year?

texts: I am a 4th year Ph.D. student majoring in computer science. My advisors don't do anything for me unless saying that my ideas are really simple. I've got so many rejections for my papers, on the other hand, I see people who write more than 20 papers in a year. Can someone guide me on how is it possible? I cannot change my advisors and I should do it on my own.


texts: What is the maximum time-span of a referee?

texts:
I applied for a PhD program in 2017 and got rejected. I'm preparing to apply again in 2018.

Could a professor who gave me a recommendation letter last year refuse to do so again? If so, why, and how could I approach this issue? Is there any unwritten rule regarding how long a referee will provide a reference for a student?


texts: How to avoid the "you didn't consider this" review in a scientific publication?

texts:
I am a 5th year PhD student, and I have been writing scientific papers for conferences for a few years now.
One constant in the feedback that we get from reviewers is what I call, for lack of a better definition, the "you didn't consider this" comment.

I am working on an emerging technology, let's call it E, that has certain advantages with respect to the industry standard, let's call it S.
E has of course its disadvantages too, and my job as a researcher is trying to address the major shortcomings, let's call them E.a, E.b, E.c, and E.d.

The problem that I am facing is that, when I write a paper addressing E.a, a common feedback that I get is "you have good results, but what about E.b? There is no way this is going to work when you consider E.c and E.d as well".

While I understand the concern of the reviewers, I am also frustrated by the fact that a paper is rejected not because my work on E.a is poor, but because there is a lack of research and solutions to address E.b, E.c, and E.d.
Moreover, I don't know how to improve a paper that was rejected based on those reviews, because they are not specific about the content of the paper.

My question is: how can I present my work in a way that makes it clear that only E.a is addressed, and minimize the chances of getting those unhelpful reviews? Is it possible to be explicit about it without being unbecoming?

A few notes:

I am concerned about conferences, so paper are limited to 4 to 8 pages, and this limits the amount of background that can be covered in the introduction,
Because I am addressing an emerging technology, I usually have at least one page introducing the basic principles of it before moving on to my contribution on E.a,
I do mentioned E.b, E.c, and E.d and cite relevant research in that regard.


texts: Are there any scientific papers that were retracted by the publisher due to the reader comments?

texts:
Recently, Elsevier retracted an article that was published in 2012.
The only explanation by the publisher is as follows:

Personality and Individual Differences has taken the decision to
retract the review article Rushton, J.P., Templer, D.I. (2012). Do
pigmentation and the melanocortin system modulate aggression and
sexuality in humans as they do in other animals? Personality and
Individual Differences, 53, 4-8. This retraction comes after a
thorough review of the published article, the sources cited within the
article, and critical comments from readers. The retraction notice is
currently being finalized and will appear in the journal imminently.

As far as I know, if an article contains misinformation, the right practice is to publish a refutation article at the same journal.
I wonder whether there are other examples which the publisher retracts an article because of the sources cited within the article, and critical comments from readers.


texts: Advice on: Quitting your PhD because you dislike the place and the associated project?

texts:
I'm a year into my PhD (electrical engineering). I loved my topic from the beginning, and the direction in which my research is going. My advisor is also a really understanding and experienced Prof.. However, I am an international student here (Netherlands) and I don't like living here. I cannot necessarily point out one particular aspect of it, but life in general doesn't "feel happy" and is now getting to me. The place where I live is also kinda dull. I doubt I could go on like this for 3 more years. Normally, in times of stress elsewhere, the social aspects or something outside work always brought up my motivation, without really trying. That here is seriously lacking, at least from my perspective.

I find the university's attitude towards international students a bit indifferent. And, I dislike the graduate school.  Its very disorganized. I would like to point out that I have lived in many places before (in and outside my home country) and this isn't the first time I got out of my house. I even have 3 years of work experience. I enjoyed studying in the US and made good friends easily. May be it was just accidental, I don't really know.

To make things worse, my phd is associated with a project, which is a highly disorganized, almost a bloody joke and would mostly get worse over time. I knew this earlier, but thought it would get better. It isn't. People in the project aren't thinking like engineers, sometimes ignoring physics, in short. This causes a lot of stress sometimes and could affect my research output itself.  Having said that, my output for the past few months is not great either, due to stress, but I see that as a temporary thing.

I am contemplating quitting the PhD but continue to work on the research, from my home country, without a job/salary, to do justice to the topic. I haven't communicated this to my prof. yet, but he knows I have second thoughts. I came here only for the love of science, to improve my skills and not to escape my country (may be the general mentality in my country towards research, however, its not good here either). Having said that, I'm open to new cultures, people, etc. There are limits though. Reports of rising xenophobia in Europe also bother me at times, worrying about how it would escalate in the future.

In short, I feel the cons are outweighing the pros (funded phd, awesome topic, good prof.) and the cons might invoke lot more stress in the long run. I have no issues with the stress of learning and discovery itself. I understand that this is the essential stress. What I find difficult (and made me quit jobs) is the stress caused by bad policies/ attitude, peers, society, etc. And I find putting up with these things a waste of time and mental energy.

I would appreciate your opinion or recommendation on quitting in such a situation. Thanks for reading


texts: Is it unreasonable to set assignment deadlines on Saturday/Sunday?

texts:
I read a similar question
(Knowing that most students submit assignments right around the deadline, is it advisable not to set deadline that is very late at night?)
about setting assignment deadlines at different hours of the day
(e.g., 9 AM, noon, 5 PM, 9 PM, midnight).

At my institution,
we use a learning management system
to manage our courses.
I require students to use it
to submit all of the assignments for the course.

I am wondering if it is reasonable to set assignment deadlines on Sunday.

On the one hand, I don't want to ruin the weekend for students
who may be working on my assignment at the last minute.
However, I feel that Sunday deadlines
have minimal conflicts with students' other commitments.
If for example I were to set the deadline on Monday,
students may skip classes to meet my deadline,
or they may be busy with work from other classes.

Question:
Is it unreasonable to set assignment deadlines on Saturday/Sunday,
say 6 PM on Sunday?
Would this be forcing students to work on the weekends?


texts: Where to continue my research-oriented studies after Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science?

texts:
I have a bachelor's degree in computer science. I am looking for an appropriate master program. I am interested in algorithms.

My question is not about where I should continue my education. My question is about how exactly should I search for the place to study for my master's degree. I simply don't know where should I start. I don't know what my first step should be. I don't have any experience living abroad.

Right now in order to choose the place I consider just few parameters.

I am interested in algorithms, almost every university that offers master degree in computer science would be an appropriate choice.
Fee. It's really a problem. I didn't find universities in Europe that offer master's degree study for free, few of them offer applying for scholarship. But I am not sure I have a good chance to get one, and obviously it doesn't cover all fee. I don't have citizenship in a European country so I assume it's going to be harder to apply.

What's your experience? Did you try to apply to scholarship? What's your opinion? Can I start doing research and hope for funds.

In Canada there are few places without fee, therefore it should be very competitive, but at least there is a chance. Usually they ask for GRE in mathematics and computer science; sometimes for IELTS. What's your opinion? I assume you should be really perfect in your field in order to get applied.

In China, very interesting option, without fee or with minimal fee plus one year to get a new language. It looks very attractive, especially with approach of Chinese government to education, as I know there are many programs for free. The only problem is to get the minimal communication in Chinese which may take up to a year according to experience of others.

Addendum:

According to responses I decided to update my post.

I earned my bachelor degree 3 years ago, I have a good job, and I work as a programmer. Throughout the last year I am taking courses of master degree in my domestic university. I have one day off in week for studies. Three years is a long break but I feel the power is back. In my place it's not common that employer will pay for studies, of course I have some savings but this is not going to cover fee, and all spendings for at least two years.

I would like to go to research master. Right now I am not ready to get good grade at GRE, but I am working on it. I am not fluent in English, but in my opinion more important to be good in my field of study.


texts: My paper was retracted – how can I handle this in my future career?

texts:
In September 2016 I saw a PhD advertisement in a forum. I emailed the advertiser and he sent me a half-baked draft of a research project and told me that if I want this position I would need a first-author publication and therefore I should make that draft publishable. I did that and sent the draft back to him.

After some time I asked him about the paper and he told he has submitted that and we will hear from the journal soon, but he did not give me any confirmation email from any journal. After few months he asked me to do the same analysis on another topic but this time from the scratch.

I started research on that topic when I was waiting for the journal he mentioned to inform us. One night, in Skype he asked me to send him some of my personal pictures. First I thought he might just be curious but he started a nasty conversation about my marital status etc. I felt that something was going wrong and I told him that I don’t want to carry on that that collaboration. I stopped research on the second topic and ask him about the status of the submitted paper. He replied that he didn’t want to publish that with me anymore.

I was just shocked by his reaction and got too upset feeling being badly abused. I then submitted the draft to a journal in 2017 without mentioning his name, but he asked for retraction.
I sent all of conversation via Skype and Teamviewer to the editor and him. The editor told me I should disclose this with his university, but that the journal could not help and has to retract the paper.
The paper has been fully retracted in November 2019.
The retraction note of the journal says:

  This paper is significantly overlapped and based on an unpublished research by ...
  The author disagrees with this retraction

Does this retraction note imply that I committed some academic misconduct? How can I handle it in future academic applications.


texts: Is it appropriate to call a research professor by phone or to email one of his postdoctoral assistants if he doesn't reply to emails?

texts:
I've just completed the first year of a biological sciences PhD program and I still haven't chosen a lab for my doctoral studies since 3 of the labs I rotated in were not good fits and another had insufficient funding. I recently reached out to another professor and on May 13th we had a Zoom meeting wherein he seemed very interested in me and said he would gladly let me rotate in his lab this summer and I would be welcome to do my doctoral studies if it turned out to be a good fit. Before we wrapped up our conversation, he said he would email me some scientific papers related to his research for the coming weekend and reach out to one of his postdoctoral assistants whom I would be working with to arrange a meeting time, presumably the following week.
However, a week has passed since our Zoom meeting and I haven't yet heard anything from him or the lab assistant he said he would contact. On the 16th I emailed him a friendly reminder about the papers he said he would send to me and on the 18th I asked if he had reached out to the lab assistant to arrange a meeting time. But as of this writing on the 21st, he still hasn't replied to me. If he doesn't respond by the 24th, I plan on sending another friendly email reminder. I'm very and anxious and unsure what to make of the professor's lack of response.
It's important to mention that this professor is the PI of a lab and head of a University department so I know he must be an extremely busy person with a lot of responsibilities. I should also note that before our Zoom meeting, he often required email reminders and one time did not respond at all to an email. In fact, he even forgot about the Zoom meeting we had on the 13th at first and had to reschedule for the following hour before we spoke.
If he doesn't reply to the reminder that I plan to send him on the 24th, I was wondering if it would be appropriate to try calling his office phone. I'm also considering emailing the postdoctoral lab assistant. During the Zoom meeting I asked if he wanted me to reach out to this assistant but he told me that he would do it himself because the assistant doesn't yet know me. I'm concerned that calling his office phone might come across as stalking or that reaching out to his lab assistant may violate the preference he expressed to contact him himself at the Zoom meeting. Would doing these things become appropriate after two weeks have passed since our last contact?
I'm generally a very anxious person by nature but this situation is significantly exacerbating it since my standing in the PhD program depends on me finding a lab by Fall. My ultimate fear is that his lack of replies in the past week means that he's no longer interested in having me in his lab but I don't know if this fear is well-founded or if I'm just being overly anxious. So, in summary, what do you think I should make of his lack of response in the past week and should I reach out to his assistant or call his office phone if he doesn't respond by next week?
Thank you so much!


texts:
Are there any standards in higher education (any country) on when lecturers (any level, any field) have a private office or a shared office?

I know it's a good idea to provide 'consultation time' for students as one-on-one teaching helps the student in so many ways. However, in a shared office it seems that some of the benefits of one-on-one teaching disappear. For example, the student is less likely to be concerned about how they look in front of others if it's in a private office but if there are other teachers (perhaps with other students) then your student will have those issues again.

So, are there any standards about private vs shared offices for university lecturers?


texts: Ways to display extra-curricular/independent learning

texts:
I am a mathematics student and have been extensively reading textbooks cover-to-cover in my own time.  Thus, my transcript does not say that I have (for example) taken differential geometry, even though I know diffgeo as well, if not better, than if I took the course.

How would you suggest that I display such efforts so that grad schools can be aware that I am more knowledgeable than my transcript might suggest?

Thanks!


texts: How to efficiently print the image of a whiteboard?

texts:
I often brainstorm research ideas on my whiteboard. I then run out of space and want to store and print the contents of the whiteboard. In general I have a system of taking a photo of the whiteboard with my phone, which is synchronised to dropbox, which then creates a copy on my computer. Now I can print the image, on my computer, but it is not optimised for printing.
It is possible to open it up in photoshop and manually make it black and white, and try to optimise the contrast and so on.

However, I'd ideally like it to be a one click process for printing a whiteboard image. The whole point is that the process shouldn't disrupt the brainstorming process.

How can I efficiently print digital photos of a whiteboard that are optimised for printing?

Naturally, the procedure might vary under different computing or phone operating systems. An ideal solution would be (a) extremely efficient, (b) minimise printing toner usage, (c) maximise readability. Useful automated steps would include: (a) optional conversion to black and white; (b) arrangement of image into a size and layout designed for printed paper, (c) optimising contrast so that the whiteboard is white and only markings print. Some form of auto-cropping might also be useful.

UPDATE: A few options I've discovered since posting:

Ricoh has a couple of Apps for iphone and Android that will email you a modified whiteboard photo. I wasn't entirely happy with the quality of the results, but with good initial lighting and black and white image, it seem to work okay. They also have a web app that is quite easy to use for uploading single files and then printing cleaned versions.
This gimp tutorial and gimp script for processing whiteboard images. The manual process if fairly straightforward, but not a single click.
Various suggestions on Photo StackExchange for getting more professional results particularly one involving shooting both the original image and and an empty white board and digitally subtracting images. It all sounds a bit complex for simple brainstorming needs.
These suggestions on SuperUser. In particular, there's an email service where you email the original whiteboard photo file and get a cleaned version back http://snapclean.me/ . It took a few minutes when I tried it.

Given that using whiteboards is fundamental to teaching and research, I hope people don't mind that I have used this site for asking the question.


texts:
I have a 3 year post-doc position at University A and also have been offered a 3 month post-doc position at Research Institute B. To be precise, the invitation letter from B is worded as follows:

  We would like to invite you to spend three months at Research Institute B. For your research work in collaboration with the mathematical community at our Institute, we will offer you a monthly research grant in the amount of XXXX. By accepting this grant you do not become an employee of Institute B.

The position has a flexible time so I can go for any continuous period I like. I would like to accept the invitation and go during the summer so that it doesn't conflict with my teaching duties at A. However there will be a period of about one month of overlap. My idea is to commute during this month, as I only have to teach one day a week at A, and no teaching at B; and it's about a 5 hour train ride. So I could spend about 3 days out of 5 at B and the other two at A, for the period of overlap.

My question is: is it ethical for me to do this? Would I get in trouble with University A or Institute B, if either found out?

I have heard of someone doing something similar, but I don't know the details of how that worked, so I want to be sure that I wouldn't get into trouble for this.


texts: How to react once you discover someone plagiarized your call for papers?

texts: I am editing a special issue for the reputable Journal A. My special issue is now closed and I am still running the paper reviews. Much to my surprise, I discovered my CFP is plagiarised word-by-word and it is now online in another reputable journal B by different editors. I understand that calls for papers are not original papers but is it acceptable to copy someone else's published CFP word-by-word without proper acknowledgment? Would this create any problem for me when I write a preface for the published papers in my special issue? What would you do if you were instead of me :)


texts: Unofficial documents for admission process

texts:
I have applied  few universities for the graduate admission (PhD in physics) in this fall. Maximum of the universities require all of the official documents for the admission and review process.

Before applying these universities I emailed the graduate coordinator and the admin of the department to know if they allow the scanned copy (I upload the scanned copy of my transcripts and  students copy  of GRE/TEFL score cards.) They replied that the review process can be done without the offical copies but final decision will be made after the official copy they have with them.

My intention is that I want to send the official  copies to the department after hearing the review results from them because if I send the official scores  before the decision I may loose some amount of money and also I may not get an admission  offer (my financial status is not that great).

My question is that, will it create any problem if I send the offical copies after I get any  positive news (admission offer) from any of the university?

"If you uploaded your documents with the application, you do not need to mail anything at this time. If you are admitted, you will then be asked for official documents." this was from University of Tennessee.

Do I have to send official transcripts?
"For the sake of evaluation purposes, no, you do not have to submit official transcripts. You are welcome to upload unofficial transcripts to the on line application website. If you are admitted, you will be required to submit finalized official documents".it is from the Washington state University


texts:
Setting
I am a graduate student in a quant/informatics group (size = 2 people: my advisor and I) housed within a larger academic group that do wet laboratory/bench research. I have my own project independent of those in the larger bench research group.

Problem
We often get requests from the bench researchers for some data analysis. My advisor has been passing all these ad hoc requests to me and I do duly comply.

Anticipated consequence
If the current pace of requests continues, I think that my PhD project will suffer.

What actions should I take and why?


texts: How do I/should I convince my advisor to let me transfer with her blessings?

texts:
(I am going to be somewhat vague for identity reasons, but I'll try to include enough information to describe the situation - let me know if anything else is needed!)

I have a strong passion for X (an obscure area of computer science which is not well funded), and did an undergrad thesis on that topic.  I didn't think I would get into any graduate schools if I said I wanted to work on X, so I applied to machine learning since I used a fair bit in my undergrad work on X.  I realized now that this was a mistake, but it's not something I can change at this point.

I have been working for the last two years under my advisor (I started as a PhD in 2017).  So far I've gotten through my quals/coursework, published one paper in machine learning at a top conference with my advisor as my co-author, and published in two workshops on X, with no intersection of machine learning and without the help of my advisor.

Up until two months ago, my advisor was extremely reluctant to let me work on X, as she didn't think it was a good career move and it also wasn't something she personally wanted to work on.  However, I recently got an offer to work on X in industry, and simultaneously learned of two universities where people have funding to work on X and are interested in having me join.  Once I told my advisor about that, she changed her message and said "you can definitely work on X, but it should be through the lens of machine learning and you should only publish in machine learning journals, since that's the only way you'll be successful."

Here's the thing: as someone who has studied X fairly deeply, I am 99% convinced that the way to make progress with X is not through machine learning.  This is based on theoretical concerns, the reality of what methods are currently producing the best results in terms of future promise, and what I believe is a significantly better understanding of the potential value of X than my advisor (who never claimed to know anything about X in the first place).

Obviously there is some truth to her claim that I'd be better off professionally if I submitted to conferences in an area which is very popular; however, I feel like I care about X so much more than machine learning that I'd rather work as a humble programmer on X for industry or even freelance as a programmer and spend my own time on X than get a academic position in machine learning.

I really believe that I should transfer to one of the universities where I can approach X as a problem in its own right, and where I won't be forced to submit to machine learning conferences.  However, my advisor (who is a good person but also very blunt and biased at times) doesn't see why I should, since I can just do X through machine learning.  She hasn't explicitly said that she would deny me the opportunity to transfer, but she hinted that she wouldn't give a good recommendation if I was "unprofessional and left for no reason."  Both universities told me I needed her blessing in order to enroll.

What do I do?


texts: Master student pursuing PHD: how to spend summer break?

texts:
So I'm a master student pursuing a PHD. I'm currently following a research master program of which the natural path is a PHD program, in which I am seriously interested. I already hold a regular master in marketing and a bachelor in business.

My field is business (specifically, quantitative marketing, but I also like some extensions to strategic topics in management).

Now I want to spend the summer (break) doing something fruitful for my skills and/or possibly, carreer. I expect to be done with course obligations around week 19, new semester starts in september which gives me at least (in case of resits) 10 weeks of free time but can easily be around 15 weeks.

I identified some options:

Work in advance for thesis (look for suitable topic, review literature)
Summer school (abroad)
Contact someone from my department to collaborate on research
Contact someone from my department to advise me on extra readings
Find an intership or job (may be difficult when regarding my field, experience, and time available)

Can someone give me some advice or other ideas?


texts:
I don't think this is quite the same as enter Referencing the reference? apologies if it is.

I am quoting someone in my thesis, they say:

  ... blah blah as noted in experiments by Tom (2013), Dick (2014) and Harry (2015)...

Should the three references in my quotation appear as in my bibliography even though they are not directly referenced by me but rather via the quote?


texts: Trying to collect information on grad schools

texts: I'm in the process of listing and comparing all the graduate schools I am interested in. What should I be comparing, gathering, etc. And what is the best way to keep all the information together?


texts: Should I accept a funded MS offer, and then wait for other offers, knowing that under the resolution I can submit a resignation of the funded offer?

texts: I'm applying for a MS at 4 different schools.  I received a funded offer (TA position, tuition waiver) from one school who asked me to accept the offer by March 7.  I am thankful for the offer, however I have more interest in another school that I applied to. My other 3 schools are in various stages of reviewing/deciding, from what They've told me.  With today being March 2, should I accept the funded offer, and then wait to see what else is offered to me, knowing that under the Resolution I can submit a resignation of the funded offer?  Is this a common occurrence?


texts: Should I abbreviate the author names due to the page limitation?

texts:
While I am writing the references for my paper, I usually copy and paste the bibliographic information and use it directly. AFAIK, most of them are in the full version, meaning that all the author names are spelled out, e.g. James Rhianna Smith. (They can be really long!).

Also given the fact that some conferences do have a page limit (e.g. 6 pages maximum), directly using those tedious full names is sometimes a luxury I cannot afford.

Under this type of circumstances, should I shorten the author names?


texts: Unable to defend and graduate because of advisers fickle mentality

texts:
I am an international student at a US university and I have a fantastic, caring and supportive adviser who I find fosters a happy work environment for all his students to grow in.

Here's the drawback to this happily unfolding story:

He advises 9 students, 5 of who are PhD students (I am one of them).
4 out of the 5 PhD students are in the final stages of their PhD program (me included).
3 out of these 4 PhD students have families and should have graduated at least about 5-6 months ago but because of "family pressure" they haven't. I don't relate to that because I don't have a family and I want to defend and graduate

My adviser has always had goals that are generally considered unattainable in my group. I had been given 3 weeks to finish my dissertation in 2012 with the dangling carrot that I could defend and then focus on writing papers perhaps.

I met this goal one whole week short of the 3 week goal. However, my advisor has been postponing my defense for a variety of reasons (all of which are true) and  is being pulled in several directions at the same time because of an important position in the research area of fuel cells.

So these constant vacillations have led to my defense being pushed to the end of Feb 2013. Now I'm told they don't know when I'll defend.

I find that this is rather unfair and considering that I generally have a good rapport with my advisor I am unsure of how to broach this topic. Why am I so worried? I come from a country where demanding things from your adviser is sinful and gets you kicked out of graduate school.

I'd really like to say that I want to defend and figure out the next step in my life! I am not talking getting a job necessarily but just life in general — get married, have kids, find a job, move to a different place (in no particular order) what have you.

Any advice or similar experience that I can draw from?


texts: How to change author profile name in Google Scholar?

texts: I would like to change my author profile name after a divorce in Google Scholar. I tried to open a new account with my maiden name but I couldn't When I entered my current account on Google, it doesn't give me any fields to be able to write my maiden name. Is there a way to edit or change it easily?


texts: Handling reviewer comment challenging the novelty of a used method

texts:
One of the Reviewer comments for a paper that I sent to a journal is the following:

  The authors claim that they are the first to use subjective
  questionnaires  to develop predictive models. This is not accurate, there
  are many studies on the literature that use questionnaires  and some of
  them even compare PQ to objective data coming from sensors in order to
  find correlations.

Now the problem is that I have done a thorough check and have observed that this paper indeed is first to use questionnaire to develop predicitve models for the particular disorder. Now how do I handle such a comment?


texts: What is the process for getting sponsored by big companies for PhD research?

texts:
I am doing PhD research. My PhD fees are covered by the government.

I have seen other PhD students got sponsored by big companies such as IBM, so they are working with IBM and at the same time do the research. It is important to me to get such a sponsor, as I am working and studying part-time now.

Is this something I can apply for (to each big company) proposing my research? Or there are certain programs I apply for? Or it is my supervisor who applies?


texts: What are the things you feel that you should have known before your first postdoc position?

texts: I will be graduating by this year end and subsequently I will be doing a one year postdoc with my PhD advisor. This will be both a transition phase and also will allow me to learn a new modeling technique. Apart from the addition to my academic knowledge, publications, what should I strive for during my postdoc? What should my strategy be if my goal is either academia or industry?


texts: How to behave when dating a fellow PhD student in same department?

texts:
I am currently dating a PhD student in the same department as me (I am also a PhD student). Not the same research group, but closely related topics anyway. We're both happy with it, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I am worried about possible negative consequences on the job.

So, what rules (written and unwritten) should be followed when dating someone like that? that is we do not work together everyday but we are still working closely, both geographically and scientifically.


texts: Data mining online course: does it go into my bibliography?

texts:
I am writing a paper that relies on data extracted from Facebook and analysed using techniques I am learning online at DataCamp. Considering that most of my methodology comes from those courses, it seems that I should include them in my bibliography.
The thing is, I never really saw that kind of citation anywhere - but it seems so wrong not to include them.
Any opinions?


texts: Why do universities offer full fund positions to international student?

texts: Many top universities in north America accept international ph.d. students and pay their tuitions, insurnace and other funds. To get visa, international students should convince the officer that they will go back to their home countries. I am wondering why universities should accept international students and what are the benefits for universities and the destionation universities?


texts: Appendices to other people's papers - what's the incentive?

texts:
I've noticed several instances of papers in mathematics which include an appendix written by someone who is not among the authors of the main body of the paper (for instance, here).

I'm quite curious about this practice (I don't have a practical reason for asking, except for wanting to understand academic environment a little better). Specifically:

What's the motivation for the authors to for this kind of partition? It seems that it would be entirely within the ethical and cultural norms to simply write a joint paper, or to write two independent papers. Joint paper seems like a much easier option, two disjoint papers is simpler and more clear cut (and a cynical person might add - produces more citations).
For the sake of keeping track of publications (for the sake of CV, citation counts, etc.) does the author of an appendix count as being one of the authors of the paper, not being among the authors of the paper, or being the sole author of the appendix which counts as an independent publication?


texts:
I submitted a paper to an editor of well-known journal via email. It has been almost a month I did not hear anything, even not an acknowledgement from the editor, though I sent them 2 follow up emails.

What should I do?


texts: Is there a test equivalent to a bachelor's degree?

texts:
Like the GED, which is equivalent to a high school degree, is there a test that you could obtain that is equal the a bachelor's degree? Which states in American can you take it? And what are the requirements? Is there a website? Please leave the link. Or is there some kind of online test that is equal to a bachelor's degree? If not, what would be the quickest way to get a bachelor's degree without going to college/University?
I want a bachelor's degree in Science, space science. I want to get a bachelor's degree quickly cause I feel as if I've wasted years of my life and want to get back on track. I want the bachelor's degree so I can go for a Master's degree.


texts: Applying for graduate school with uncertain GPA

texts: I'm currently applying for Ph.D programs (applications are due in mid December, my semester ends in early December, and I am applying for the Fall semester) and I am asked to list my GPA. I currently have a 4.0 GPA, but that might change in between the end of my semester and the due date for applications. My question is, should I list my GPA as 4.0 on my applications and let the school know if this changes? Should I list it as a 4.0 and not let them know, even if I end up with a B or two this semester (this feels unethical to me)? Should I just wait to submit my application after I've gotten my grades for this semester? I would like to avoid doing anything unethical or dishonest that would involve the admissions committee believing I have a GPA that I no longer have, as I understand they might not even look at my application until next year, and at that point, I may not even have the GPA that I said I had.


texts: My university changed my bachelor course. What can I do?

texts:
I'll have to excuse myself if my question sounds rant-like. I am desperate.

Back in 2013, I started my 4 year (240 ECTS) bachelor course. The course I went to was ranked the best in the country (of 20) at that time. There was a schedule of what classes we would get in what year, what choice we had, etc. I had to agree, it was a good university.

Fast-forward two years. I was studying in a different department to get my free-choice credits. I heard from friends from my main department that the course was being changed and that it was horrible. Apparently, the head of department wanted to implement some way of learning that is popular in France and Finland, where students pick what skills they want to learn now and learn that at their own pace. It sounds amazing in theory, but it went a little wrong in practice.

As students, we need to demonstrate that we have learned a certain competence to get ECTS now. For example, for 'Software Development 2', we need to show that we can and know when to implement certain programming concepts, like hash maps. Each student can fill a role in a project with a real client, for example the role of software architect. We would work together, as students of different years, in different roles. The department decides which role slots are available per project.

It does sound pretty awesome in practice and I was very enthusiastic when I started in 2016, even though some of my friends from different years were complaining. It turns out, they were right. It was horrible. It still is horrible. Yes, I had 1 year left to go in 2016, I am still trying to finish that year.

Clients were companies that usually could not afford an IT department and used us instead. There have been no lectures since the start of the new system in 2015. Communications about requirements are horrible. For example whole requirements are being left out of syllabi. Client and academic expectations do not align. For 'Software Development 2' I need to integrate a functional programming language and a object oriented one. The client wants an API written in PHP for a very specific task that leaves no room for a functional programming language.

I miss one small part of a 'class' from 2016, but the project has already finished. This means I cannot finish the class. I have asked for an alternative, but communications about that amount to "that's your problem". Actually, I have only been able to get 10 ECTS (1/6th of a year) over the past 2 years, while I have always been able to get my credits at in the same semester as I attended the class.

Coursemates are not much better off. The department scrapped the 30 ECTS requirement for first-years, because less than 10% had more than 30 ECTS. 60 ECTS in one year is normal. The course was best in the country up to the rankings of 2012, scoring 84 out of 100. Now it is scoring 30 out of 100, being the worst course in the country.

Some coursemates are considering sueing, but we do not want to ruin the value of our degrees even more. I want to drop out, as I am getting more and more depressed, but it makes me upset to drop out so close to getting my degree. I wanted to continue to get a masters degree. I was conditionally accepted into a really nice one.

We tried talking to just about everyone in the university. The department is trying to improve the course, so the university itself is letting this mess continue.

Basically: University (department) changed the course and made it go from best of the country to worst. University doesn't want to change anything. What can we do? Is there someone, some organisation outside of our university we can complain to?

Note: this is a hogeschool


texts: How do I find research groups that do work in field X?

texts: What is the best way to go about to find a certain research group that do work in a specific field (e.g research groups doing empirical brain investigations but working from a dualistic perspective, or research groups doing eyetracker work on infants)?


texts: Why do academic journals usually have continuous page numbering?

texts:
In a normal magazines, page numbers restart counting from 1 at every issue.

Most academic journals, however, count continuously, perhaps per year or per quarter, leading to articles covering pages 13199–13255 or similar folly.

Why is this so?  When citing year and issue, there is no ambiguity when starting to count at 1 at every issue.  So why not paginate by issue like everybody else?


texts: How should I reference my Github repository with materials for my paper?

texts:
I am writing a paper describing some of the research I have done. As part of my work I have developed an open-source library and made it available on Github.

How should I link to it?

Should I cite it in the bibliography or make a footnote with the link to the software?


texts:
I completed my Master's in Chemical Engineering recently as an International student in the US and now I wanted to go for a PhD as well in the same field.I completed a few Volunteer research work for a few professors to build up experience and gain vital skills necessary for research.One thing that I noticed was the lack of direction in research. While the PhD students I worked under were great, they would just give me a problem and tell me to solve it without any guidance or direction. I had no prior experience with the research topics in question and I had a really tough time to figure things out and as a result it was quite stressful.

I wanted to ask if this is to be expected in a PhD position as well.


texts: Will resercher lose funding for taking maternity leave?

texts:
According to Rhiannon Pugh tweet.

  I'm sad that the funding we were successfully granted has been revoked because I am going on maternity leave and apparently an extension to account for this is beyond the remit of the funders. It's hard to win funding, to have it taken away again after so much work is gutting

I haven't lived in Sweden for more than 10 years, but are these kind of things legal?

Especially in Europe/EU.

My friend is an assist. prof in Czech Republic and the only thing that was different during her maternity leave is that she received 80% salary.


texts: How much does it matter if my Masters is in Stats or Math (in Stats track)

texts:
I have a choice of Master's programs in statistics, one of which is formally a program in applied statistics, the other is formally in math with an applied statistics "track".

The courses in the 2 programs are about the same, so I am wondering how much the label of the degree really matters (I most likely will not work in academia unless I am doing contract work).

Thank you for any insights you may have,

Matt


texts: If I wanted to quote a joke from a website in verbatim in a formal academic essay, how would I do that?

texts:
The assignment is to evaluate humor in movies. I am unsure how to incorporate a joke quote in there. Would it be classified as plagiarism?

Quote: “I have an Epi-Pen. My friend gave it to me as he was dying. It seemed very important to him that I have it.”


texts: A weaker version of a published theorem with a simpler method; what should be done?

texts:
A paper contains three theorems. After submitting the paper, the author finds out that one of their theorems was already published by someone else with stronger result. Although their result is not as strong, the author’s method is much simpler.

They have two choices:

Keep the theorem and mention the result already done, and state that the method in current paper is simpler.
Just drop the theorem from the paper, and keep 2 theorems instead.

Given that they have already submitted the paper, the author just has to wait for referee's report. So their choice will come after the decision of the referee.

What would be the best choice?


texts: Should one continue their journey on the academic path if they love their field of study and research but are not proficient at it?

texts:
Suppose a student decides on a topic for their PhD that's interesting and enjoyable for them but they are not very good at it. For example, an experimentalist wanting to completely transition to be a computational researcher, starts with their computational research and enjoys the research. They are conversant with the tools available but they are technically mediocre in the fundamental knowledge of the tools even after taking the courses and working hard on improving themselves on the topic.
They will get their PhD and publish decent papers, but they lack the basic proficiency that others in their field readily possess. Others in similar academic position easily develop the codes that they find extremely difficult and time-consuming.
"For example, papers in my research field of additive manufacturing and machining are easy to produce. I can publish in 3-4 impact factor journals (computational materials science, surface and coatings tech, jour. of manufacturing processes). But I lack the deeper fundamental knowledge to make significant contributions to new code or algorithm development for better predictions. This skillset is possessed by almost everyone in my field, and is a requirement for producing good papers in top journals of my field (international journal of plasticity, journal of mechanics and physics of solids)."
Should they continue on the academic journey, like postdoc(s) after PhD, apply for tenure track position?


texts: Methods for finding graduate programs for specific areas of research

texts:
What types of methods are available to students today who want to find a University for a Master, PhD, or postdoc program that supports the student's obscure/specific area of research?

For example, I am looking for PhD programs that specialize in software engineering metrics analysis and process improvement.  I have looked at the websites of about 15-20 universities that offer PhD's in Computer Science.  Sometimes, I'll find "software engineering" listed vaguely as a research area, but as I research the publications and activities of the faculty, there will be just a single faculty member who does work in an obscure aspect of software engineering, like applying CASE tools to data modeling, validation of aeronautic systems, etc.


texts: If a student complains to the associate dean about an adjunct faculty member, does the dean have the power to intervene?  In this case, the student is complaining because the faculty member won't accept late work, although the syllabus states that this is so.   Can the associate dean override the syllabus and force the faculty member to accept the late work?


texts: What is the difference between a journal whose name ends with "Letters" versus "Reviews"?

texts:
What is the difference between a journal named "Letters" & "Reviews" in the end?
e.g. journal named - "Neural Processing Letters", "Machine Learning Reviews".
What is the core difference between these two types of journal?
Thanks.


texts: I passed JPLT N5 exam with average score, should I be worried about MEXT examinations in Japaneese?

texts:
As part of preparation for MEXT scholarship I had given JPLT N5 examinations (I know I will give seperate written examinations in Japanese and English as well for the Mext Scholarships) and I got average scores (~97/180) on it.

My major is in Computer Science with a Masters in Digital System's security and I plan for a PhD in Japan. So I wonder does by having an average score in JPLT N5 mean that I can have a low score in Japanese examination for MEXT?

What worries me is a failure for my application for being rejected, because of low Japanese level. Also, I wanted to know how does the English test affect my application as well (I am really confident on my English level.)?

Also, should I focus on getting My Japanese on N3 Level before applying, as seen on this answer a good result in these examinations is a crutial part of a successful MEXT application. Though the answer is for an application through Indian Japanese embassy and not the one that is in Greece (I am a Greek native). If yes (bringing my Japanese in N3 level) I think I may not have as many chances due to time limitation (cap for research students is 35yrs old, and I am 29.)


texts: Will I get a negative LOR from my professor

texts:
I have recently asked my professor to write a LOR for my taught master program application. We are not so familiar with each other, but at least I have attended one course of him (got A grade) while my final year project literature review was also supervised by him (luckily A grade also). Originally it went quite well, the prof said yes to be my referee. But then it turned out like the application system is super weird, the LOR submission can be done by the applicant itself (simply uploading the signed LOR) or the referee can email the LOR directly to the uni. When I told my prof, he replied me like

'I have never given students LOR and I don't believe in any application handed in by applicants, so I will email the letter directly to the uni'

I am now so scared of getting him angry. Will I give him a bad image,turning out write me a negative LOR. Shld I find another referee in case somethings goes wrong at last?


texts: Does ACM have a style guide for authors?

texts:
I am writing a paper for an ACM transactions publication precisely using the acmsmall format. However, I am yet to find a comprehensive Do's and Don'ts for writers with regards to style. For example, I've seen some papers say, "in Equation (5) ..." while others abbreviate it to "in Eqn. (5) ...". I have also seen some papers merely refer to equations by their numbers i.e. "in (5) ..." as is done in the IEEE. I've even seen these used interchangeably.

The first case is correct though, as it was used in a sample paper provided, however, are Eqn. (5) and (5) acceptable equivalents?

There seems to be consistency in referring to figures and tables though: figures are always referenced thus "in Figure 5 ..." and never abbreviated, for example as "Fig.".

At the moment, I'm just picking styles from already published papers which I'm not sure is the best way.

So where does one find clarification on these issues? Which is right in the above cases mentioned?


texts: I plagiarized in my Bachelor's thesis, and after a year,went back and redid it unofficially. Should I push for some official action?

texts: My supervisor does not want to push this further and take official action since this was a lone incident and I had health issues at that point. However, since I am not getting closure, I do not feel like I have a go-ahead to re-apply to universities. I feel that future advisers/people I write to for grad school should be aware of this but do not know how to bring it up, since there's no official record of this. By plagiarized, I do mean that there's no question/argument about it, there's some straight up copy-paste. I have reworked it now, but feel like I have put an end to further education for myself. I also turned down some grad school admits (this + monetary issues). Any advice/clarity would be appreciated.


texts: How much research experience to include on a CV?

texts:
Do I have to include all of my research projects on my CV?  I have worked in ten different labs, mostly projects from undergrad, and most of my projects and publications are completely unrelated to my current field of research. I'm concerned that if include all my research experiences, people will not know what my current field of research is. I'm also worried since I am an early stage PhD student and my CV is three pages long and may be too long.

Should I include or exclude research experiences unrelated to my current field of study on my CV?


texts: How to address email to professor your advisor knows

texts:
My advisor recommended I email a well-known professor at another institution because of our shared interests.

He said I should use his name in my email so I'm good on that.

I (of course) refer to professors in my department and other professors who I have met by their first name. But having never met this particular person I am wondering what the least awkward least offensive most professional salutation would be in an email to hopefully set up a meeting.


texts: How can one best seek out collaborators in obscure topics as a young researcher?

texts:
Some context: I will be starting a Ph.D. program in mathematics this fall (a 5 year, U.S. program), and I have a wide array of research interests. In the majority of these areas, I have a (relatively) broad conceptual knowledge, and a few ideas for potential research projects, but I don't think that my command of the material is sufficient to allow meaningful contributions on my part (viz. writing publication-worthy papers) without collaboration.

For example, I have developed a type theory I believe to be compelling for qualities both philosophical and technical. This intellectual endeavor would benefit from the experience and specialized reference of a more knowledgeable collaborator who could elevate my general understanding and vision of how to go about proving the relative consistency of this type theory and enrich the discourse in parts where my experience may be more limited. This brings me to my question: How should I go about seeking (and attracting!) potential collaborators for such a project given my lack of experience in the field?

One other issue that I should mention is that most of these projects are relatively far outside the faculty/student's areas of expertise at my university, so I don't think these projects (like the type theory example given above) would be reasonable for my dissertation, or more generally collaboration with my peers/the faculty at the university I will be attending.

Should I put projects like these on hold until I finish graduate school, make more connections, and have more academic freedom, or is it worth it to try to reach out to academics who might be interested through e-mail/conferences and try to convince them to co-author papers/collaborate with me? I'd appreciate any input on how to best approach this dilemma, but some things I've already thought of are:

Type up a short analysis of the literature to ensure potential collaborators that I've done my research, and give an argument of why this research might be significant.
Correspond with potential collaborators via e-mail with more pointed questions relating to the potential research question before formally asking if they would like to co-author a paper/collaborate.

Any other input along those lines I think would be helpful, but I think I'd also like to get some context on how my position might fit into the general academic etiquette of the mathematical community, and how someone in my situation might best approach different researchers as a newcomer to the research community.

Thanks in advance for any responses!


texts: Is hastily writing down the professor's lecture a good way of learning?

texts:
I am writing this from the perspective of a mathematician. I am wondering whether there is any research on the standard mode of instruction.
Mathematics lectures, at least in my home country, typically work as follows: the prof starts writing on the blackboard (or whiteboard) while telling about the notes, and students copy down the notes from the board.
90% of the lecturer's speech is reading out the notes aloud while facing the blackboard. Depending on the level interaction, there may of course be questions to the audience, but mainly it is reading out the lecture notes.
Most students aren't really listening because they are busy copying down the notes from the board. You typically see them turning their back and forth between the board and their own notes. Students may find themselves in "unintelligent copy" mode, just copying symbols from the blackboard without any comprehension of meaning.
Irrespective of your style of instruction, I think this is a terribly ineffective concept of teaching right from the start. Individuals have told me that they believe in some sort of "subconscious diffusion" of the lecture material into their students' minds, even if their students are just in "unintelligent copy" mode. I don't believe in this and find this rather counter-intuitive.
All in all, much of the typical way of lecturing looks like a giant waste of time to me. I can only imagine that the most gifted students may benefit from this, and perhaps that is the reason such a mode of instruction is pursued.
Has there been any research on this mode of instruction and its educational benefits? Has there been any research on that "diffusion" hypothesis?


texts: Does providing textbook solutions benefit the student?

texts:
Often textbooks don't have solutions to problems and if they do they are often password protected for instructor use only.

Has any research been done (in peer reviewed journals) that looks at whether providing solutions to students actually benefits the student in their actual understanding of the subject?


texts: What does it take to get a tenure track position at an Ivy League School?

texts: I see some professors at Ivy league schools who didn't go to Ivy league schools. I also see professors who went to Ivy League schools that end up working at mediocre universities. So clearly pedigree doesn't play a very significant role by itself. What other factors come into play?


texts: Feasibility of moving from US to France for a postdoc opportunity

texts:
Recently I ran across an international postdoctoral opportunity, which seems quite interesting to me. While I would prefer to stay in academia in United States, there are various factors that enable me to consider that opportunity, including potential for work on an interesting and important topic as well as an opportunity to immerse myself in somewhat different cultural, language and, perhaps, academic environment (thanks to my relative freedom from family obligations at the present time).

The problem is that the opportunity is at one of the universities in France, which creates several issues (beyond the obvious one of being accepted). The issues (and corresponding questions) are somewhat specific to my situation, but, at the same time, likely rather common to many people, who are originally from non-Francophone countries. Specifically, I'm concerned about the following.

How feasible is to consider such an opportunity from the foreign language perspective? I am talking about the fact that I practically do not speak French (discounting a very limited number of popular words and phrases)? While English language is considered a de facto universal language of science, I expect this aspect of academic environment to vary significantly from country to country (probably much less from university to university, even in major cities).
Combining that assumption with my, perhaps, incorrect knowledge that English is not as popular second language in France as in some other European countries, such as Sweden, this aspect brings an additional potential challenge of everyday living in a foreign language environment. I am aware of the fascinating approach of learning languages by immersing yourself in different cultural/language environment, but I'm not sure that it is such a good idea under the circumstances, considering that a postdoc position is demanding enough already. Thus, I am curious about the following question: is that a real challenge and to what extent?
How feasible is to consider such opportunity from the perspective of me being a US citizen without French work visa or similar documents in hand. I realize that, typically, AFAIK, selected international candidates' visa documents are processed by hosting universities. However, the question is this: how significantly the potential burden [financially and time-wise] of visa processing and, perhaps, relocation negatively impact hiring committees' decisions and, thus, reduce international postdoctoral candidates' chances to be offered a position of interest? I am interested in answers to this question from both general and local (France) perspective.


texts: Is listing non-academic interests on academic CVs important?

texts:
Since the first time I had to write an (academic) CV, I seem to be getting two conflicting opinions on the subject of including non-academic interests on an academic CV.

(Some examples of such interests would be sports, cooking, etc.)

The "sources" of my advice include professional people in and outside of academia, (not that many) PhD students, a lot of internet searches and observing the CVs of other academics/researchers.

One one hand, I heard that including a section about such interests is important, as it is supposed to demonstrate that you are a "diverse, complete person" and not a solitary scientist/workaholic. This is also one of the more common "don't forget" advice I found on not-academia-specific guides to writing a CV.
On the other hand, a lot of examples of CVs of senior scientist didn't include anything of the sort, which mostly makes sense to me: since I am writing a CV to apply for a position / grant in an academic concept, I should be judged based on my academia-related activities.

So, I would like to know what is actually the convention in academia? I can imagine the answer might depend on several factors such as:

culture of the country
culture of the field
seniority of the scientist (e.g. PhD student vs permanent Professor)

But, then, I am really not sure. Is it a matter of convention depending on some or all of the above, or, if not, what is the global convention for including non-academia related interests in an academic CV?


texts: What are the long-term advantages of a US PhD compared to Europe/Oceania?

texts:
I have applied to PhD programs in ecology in Europe (Germany, Denmark, UK) and Oceania (Australia/New Zealand). Now the deadlines for US programs are coming up and I am debating whether I should apply there as well. Aside from the exorbitant cost to apply to US programs I am interested in comparing the pros and cons as far as career opportunities.
I have ready a MS from a major US university and I will turn 31 soon. My career goals are to pursue a teaching/research position.

Assuming that the potential advisors satisfy my requirements (good publishing track, personable, successful students, international connections) and that there will be funding. I will consider "rest of the world" and USA.

Rest of the world:
- can be completed in three years, in this case I will have gained two years for a possible Post Doc, and also make use of my Masters
- I will be able to just focus on research without being a teaching assistant, from what I understand publications would count more than teaching assistant experience even for a 50%/50% research/teaching position
- it might be harder in case I want to find a job in the US, especially since I will not be located within the country
- there are no obligations to complete courses
- pay rate is generally decent compared to cost of living

USA:
-I am under the impression that with a PhD from a top US institution is well-regarded internationally and would be easier to find a job in Europe or Australia
- the teaching experience could be useful to me as I would like to also be involved in education alongside with research
- there is more time to explore and think about research questions and goals, as opposed to Europe where you join to develop a certain project
- the stipend and the US is very low also compared to the living costs especially on the West Coast. It would mean five years of financial sacrifice
- more chances to perhaps be involved in other projects, it seems there is more of an open research community within departments
- it might be productive to take some classes that are taught by top profile professors

Are the extra time spent and the financial sacrifice for a US PhD worthwhile for my career goals and my preparation has a successful educator/researcher? Will my international mobility be limited based on where I graduate?


texts: Can I be admitted to a graduate program in Computer Science with relevant work experience, but academic background in Electronic Engineering?

texts:
As mentioned, I have an undergraduate degree in Electronic Engineering but my work experience (>3 years) is in server-side software development including development of horizontally scalable and distributed services. I am interested in getting a graduate degree in Computer Science. However, most of the programs I have looked at require an undergraduate degree with computer science courses. There are a few programs that do not have this requirement and I shall be applying for.

My question is; will it be possible for me to prove my eligibility purely on the basis of my work experience and thus get admitted into a graduate program? I am fairly confident that I have (most of) the required skill-set and knowledge base and that I can catch up on the rest easily.


texts: Is it fine to change th order of authors in Arxiv?

texts: We have a paper on arxiv. For some reasons, we need to change the order of the authors. The first can be second. Is it fine ? or should we delete the paper on Arxiv and post it again with new names and authors.


texts: Will reference letters from a researcher who does not have a Ph.D be valid?

texts:
I'm applying to Ph.D. programs in the biomedical field in the US but I have a question regarding reference letters:
Can I request a reference letter from a co-worker that has no Ph.D. (instead has been working in a research institute for many years)  or a professor from my undergrad university (does not have a Ph.D. but has years of experience) and still be valid? Or should I request a reference letter just to researchers that have a Ph.D.?


texts: How to ask my professor to write recommendation letter for me?

texts:
Now I'm in a community college and I am trying to gathering recommendation letter to apply to graduate school.(I have already got my bachelor degree). I performed well in calculus and got an A in that course. After i got my grade, I wrote a thankful email to my professor and he replied me that I am the top student in his course. I thought he is nice. Therefore I asked him whether he can write me a recommendation letter to me by e-mail but there is no-reply. I considered if he didn't see my email, so I went to his office and wanted to see him in his office hour. His office hour was posted on the wall and on the schedule he said if anyone want to see him please notice him ahead of time. So I e-mail him again to ask for an appointment. Here is the content:

Dear Prof XXX:
It's XXX, a student who finished your calculus 1 last semester. I went to you office yesterday and record your office hour on the wall. Would it be possible to meet with you next Monday 11 am (office hour) about whether you can help me write an recommendation letter?
Regards

He didn't reply me. I almost lost my confidence. I don't know whether I need to go to his office directly. I am afraid it's impolite or disrespect. And I don't know  if he don't want to do it, why he praise me in the first thankful note?
Hope anyone can help me.


texts: Can a department revoke a degree, once granted by the university?

texts:
I’ve just completed a graduate degree at a university in the UK, as an older student.

The department, IMO, is a mess of politics, fickle actions, and backstabbing. Whilst here, I have been pushed, abused, called names, intentionally failed and ignored.

A few others have suffered the same fate and it has dealt more than a few low blows, so much so that it has made me severely depressed.

I finally got my course completed, received notification of passing and confirmation of my degree award.

Recently, I learnt that I may be facing yet another confusion with my department (regarding my choosing to publish dissertation findings with a certain professor (dissertation supervisor) and not including the department head).

Please can you let me know if my degree can be taken away, i.e, revoked, from now to graduation ceremony? (No plagiarism or fraud)

My question specifically is, can a whimsical and angry department head revoke a degree once granted by the university?


texts: What is the etiquette for CCing faculty in eMails?

texts:
I'm working in an international collaboration (Germany and Netherlands). It happens quite often that I'm asking technical questions to fellow postdocs by email, just sending the email to this single person. When I receive the reply, I almost always see that the head of the group has been put in CC.

I'm wondering why this is done. Is this some kind of etiquette I'm not aware of? I imagine that as a group leader you get flooded with emails, so why would you request more?


texts: I want to write a blog post building upon someone else's paper, how can I properly cite/credit them?

texts:
I want to write a blog post which builds upon an author's paper.

He uses a formal notation and academic language for describing his findings, I want to rewrite the author's examples in simple and more popular programming languages, and use a more casual language to explain the same concepts. I don't know if this is a relevant detail, but this is also not the only goal of the blog post. It covers other related subjects as well.

As someone outside academia, I wonder if this is considered OK and how can I properly credit the author.

Also, is using a standard citation format and clearly indicating the source of these ideas enough?


texts: Why is it that many academic books are written by a different expert each chapter?

texts:
I've noticed that many academic expositions are written in such a way that a different expert supplies each chapter, and one editor brings it all together.

I can understand why such a format makes sense in a "The Handbook of something-or-other", for example, where exhaustive coverage and authoritative material are sought. But I've seen it used, just recently, in The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory, a history book, and in The Psychology of Music, an exposition of an academic field.

My question is: how and when did this practice arise? (I don't recall seeing such a practice in books published more than 50 years ago). What are its upsides and downsides, and what makes it attractive?


texts: How to respond an email for postdoc process

texts:
I live in Iraq and my postdoc application for a Dutch position has been accepted. Now, the PI has sent me an email:

Dear XXX,
Ms YYY (in Cc) and Ms ZZZ will now start the procedure of your
appointment. Please let us know from which date you can be available.
Note that it may take about two months to arrange your residence
permit.
Kind regards,

I have ambiguity about the sentence:

which date you can be available?

Does she mean the date on which I can start the job (for example as soon as my visa gets ready) or she means the day on which I will be available for HR calls? (for example tomorrow)
Thank you.


texts: Who owns the research data at US research institutions?

texts:
When a graduate student, or PI does government funded (NSF/NIH/etc) research at a US R1 institution who owns the data?

What portion of the copyright for the research data does the graduate student have and what portion does the PI have? My understanding is that graduate students are supposed to be listed as co-inventors on resulting patents meaning that they should own some portion of the copyright? Can a graduate student deny a PI access on copyright grounds?

My interest comes from a debate we recently had between two PIs where one refused his copyright for our collaborative research results (some anonymized medical outcomes data). Apparently, PIs can refuse to their copyrights to each other, but can graduate students?


texts: Are not published workshop papers considered in similarity check for an extended journal paper?

texts:
I am going to submit my journal paper in 2 weeks. Besides, there is a workshop whose deadline is in a couple of days. I am going to submit a brief version of my potential journal paper (12 pages) in this workshop (4 pages).

In the workshop website it's mentioned that "Please note the papers will not be published in a proceedings but will be made available via this website."

Now I'm concerned about one thing. As the workshop papers will be made available via this website, I assume they will be considered in the similarity check for my extended journal paper submission.

Will not that cause my journal paper to be considered as plagiarism (or self-plagiarism)?