texts: Does it have a bad effect on my career if I publish in Frontiers journals?

texts:
Recently, one of my articles has been accepted in Frontiers. At first, I thought, Frontiers' journals are reputable and they acted like a reputable journal by just assigning an associate editor and then 2 reviewers to take care of my article. Last month, they sent the reviewers' comments. It was easy overall for both reviewers' comments. I sent the revised version and it got accepted. You know, Frontiers show the name of reviewers after that article is accepted. I checked the profile and research interests of both reviewers, but unfortunately none of them had any interest or published materials in the field of my article. Even one of them was from a really distant major that I study, which makes me think that their comments were easy cause they did not have any expertise in this field. Right now, I have a really bad feeling about it and want to know does it have any bad effect on me when someone looks at my article and see it got reviewed by some people without knowledge about this field? Any suggestion or recommendation is appreciated.

Update

I used financial hardship ground to withdraw my article from publishing and thanks to not paying their publishing fee as well as not approving the proof version of article and not transferring copyright to Frontiers, it seems they accepted to withdraw my article. In fact, they act pretty much like a predatory journal. I checked several published or accepted articles in that particular journal: "Frontiers in Materials" and indeed it seems there is no connection between peer-reviewers background and the reviewed articles. Also, the interesting thing, which I'm not sure how to interpret, is that usually the peer-reviewers of their articles are from same country or even same university as authors that might introduce high chance of conflict of interests... Anyway, I have a plan to submit it in a more prestigious journal in my field (definitely not OA).


texts: Should I let my professor know that I cited a text written by him....that I pirated from online

texts:
I wrote an essay for a professor of mine, in which I cited a book he had written. As it so happens, the citation is based on my having obtained a (most likely) pirated PDF copy of the book. The text is quite expensive, not readily available anywhere (library, textbook store, or Amazon) aside from the publisher, and the subject matter is esoteric and poorly addressed in other papers. I am only citing less than 10 pages worth of material, mostly on definitions and problem formulation

I am going to be presenting this essay in front of the class, and my concern is that he will notice the citation of his book and ask the potentially uncomfortable question of "...so you have one of my books...?"

I'm wondering what I should do in this case. Should I simply remove all references to the problem texts and cited portions and pretend that nothing ever happened? Should I not do anything? Is the citation of a text that you pirated really a big deal in academia?


texts: Getting a Research Grant for Carrying out Research as Independent Researcher in my home country

texts:
I took a mid career break to complete my doctoral research in management of intellectual property rights.
Currently, I don't have an institutional affiliation though I have a comprehensive experience in research and publications.
How and where can I look for funding to take up a project for a short term?


texts: Aiming for graduate school in applied math with weak math grades

texts:
I am close to finishing a degree in a combined program in computer science and physics, and I am thinking of applying to graduate school in environmental modelling, ideally with a strong mathematical and computational focus.

My overall GPA seems to be respectable, 3.72 (if I'm doing the conversion correctly). However, I have done much better in computer science courses (3.96) and worse in math (3.51) and physics (3.58).

The problem is that many of the grad programs I'm interested in are in math departments, and I fear that the low math GPA will exclude me from top programs. I should note that part of the reason for the math marks is that I took mostly honours courses, but I worry that admissions committees will not be able to tell (the course names don't always indicate this). I have, however, taken several courses in mathematical methods (both under computer science and math departments) and done very well, and am also taking a math-heavy graduate course in machine learning.

I have extended my degree by a semester to do a math minor, but unfortunately most of my marks for this will not be out by the time I apply for grad programs. I plan to study quite a bit for the GRE Math Subject Exam.

I have research experience in mathematical biology as well as currently working on an undergraduate thesis in environmental modelling. I will hopefully have one or two publications related to this research by the time I apply for schools.

How can I tailor my applications to have a good chance of getting into applied math programs? Will they care about my strong computer science marks, or my marks in specific courses? Should I try instead for computer science programs and go from there?


texts:
I am currently an undergraduate at a university. I am looking at graduate programs in Mathematics, and if I am applying for math graduate programs for the year 2014-2015, are fall courses (2013) taken into consideration for graduate applications?

If so, could you elaborate according to your knowledge and experiences. I'm sure this question is applicable to other graduate programs other than Mathematics, so any comments pertaining to this question would be appreciated.


texts: Is it common to work as a visiting scholar at a company while employed as a postdoc in a university?

texts:
I am currently employed as a postdoc at a US university. I was wondering if it is possible/common for postdocs to work as visiting researchers in industry while employed as a postdoc?

I know that many PhDs do internships while completing their studies but I was curious what the case is for postdocs. Do companies fund postdocs to visit their research labs?

My PhD is in machine learning if that makes any difference.

Thanks!


texts: Group members want to work using virtual meeting (google hangouts) but we already have bad group dynamics

texts:
I am in the first semester of my masters degree in a professional field. I have been assigned to a group with a (fake) political stance. Every week of the semester we are expected to make presentations to the class advocating our groups position in various formats (town hall, internal meeting, speech, etc.). The groups were largely assigned based on age/professional experience (many of the students in this program are working adults, but we are all just out of under-grad).

Our first meeting there was some friction about where and when to meet, one of the members even went to the wrong location then blamed the group when she was 15 minutes late.

Our first presentation was good but not nearly as professional as the other groups. Now the group wants to stop meeting in person and use Google Hangouts instead. I am very afraid this will detract from the quality of our work and probably our grade, how can I convince my fellow group mates that the extra time spent meeting in person is worth it?


texts: Do any math PhD advisors work on a problem with their student?

texts: I am wondering if anyone’s math PhD advisor worked side by side with you on your thesis problem? In other words, instead of meetings consisting of updates of where you are at in your research and just talking about ideas, the meetings consisted of working at the board together on the problem at hand.


texts: I prefer to be called by my maiden name by colleagues and friends. Is it unprofessional or illegal to use my maiden name at school and even after graduation?


texts: What kind of citing permission do I need for a research project (not a master thesis) report that I am writing?

texts:
In my master program, there is a so called Research Project worth 20 credits.
This is done before the Master Thesis.

Not all the publisher website provide "reuse for technical report" option for using their pictures and tables when we want to ask for the permission.

IEEE have "reuse for report" but I found it that I need to pay for reusing the picture.

Should I just use "reuse for thesis/dissertation" option?
Or is there any more correct or better option for this usage?


texts:
My co-authors and I are preparing to submit a major project manuscript.  Unfortunately, we have just learned that one of the persons involved in the project has committed major scientific ethical violations related to the project, but not directly impacting this paper.

The scale of the ethical violation is quite large (think: non-consensual and dangerous medical experiments) and is directly connected to their work on the project. It does not, however, affect the validity of this manuscript or their contributions to it in any way.

Many of the co-authors, however, no longer want to be associated with this person in any way, and are likely to withdraw their names from the manuscript if this person remains an author.

Would it be reasonable to remove this person from authorship based on their ethical violation, essentially as a form of community shunning?


texts: How do I ask whether I am going to be an author on a proposed research project?

texts:
I am a PhD Student in Australia and I have been asked to help out a research team in my lab on a grant related research project. I have a fair bit of knowledge in the area they are looking in too. I am 'close' with all members involved (two are my supervisors and one is a postdoc in my building).

All signals are going my way indicate an enthusiasm regarding including me - however, I am also aware that the project may be time consuming for me. If I do get involved, I want to ensure I will be author on any papers that are released.

Would it be a naive question to explicitly ask one of the members whether I would be an author on any papers before committing myself to research?


texts: Personal contribution in N-author articles vs single author articles

texts:
In a given field there are essentially two types of articles, N-author articles and single author articles. Related to this fact, I wonder how a committee when evaluating someone for a tenure promotion establishes the personal contribution of an N-authors article? Just to give an example, suppose that we have two candidates which one has in total 20  articles, all co-authored, and another candidate which has in total 15 articles, with only two co-authored articles, and the rest are single authored. Assume also that both candidates have published their work in the best journals in their working field.

Based on your experience and on my example above, how is in reality determined the PERSONAL contribution of an N-authors article? Would this contribution just be 1/N? Which of the candidates in the example which described above would be more likely to be selected for a promotion? How in reality are seen single author articles published in the best journals in a given working field?

An observation: Usually people who work with several co-authors tend to have more publications than someone who works alone. Also in many fields, in an N-authors article, the author names are put in alphabetic order.

EDIT NR.1: My question is mostly related to theoretical fields, such as mathematics, theoretical physics and computer science. In these fields usually the number of co-authors is N<10.


texts: I am studying computer science but I am passionate about electronics

texts: I am studying CS but I am passionate about electronics and hardware. However, I can't study CS and EE at the same time. So if I study electronics by myself with online courses, can I work in that field after graduation?


texts: Why is having multiple college majors seen as a bad thing when applying to graduate school?

texts: I have been told that triple (or more) majoring and/or taking numerous minors is seen as a bad quality when applying to graduate school. Can anybody explain we why they do not want academically oriented students that like to learn stuff?


texts: Graduate Fellowship: Who to ask recommendations from

texts:
I am a first-semester master's student in my field of study and I have a question about applying for funding/fellowship opportunities.

I need two recommendation letters from professors for a fellowship that I am interested in right now, which is a foreign language-related one.
I only took the general courses that are needed to satify the mandatory course requirements for my major.
I lacked enthusiasm in most of my courses that I took this semester, which led me to be not too close with my professors.

Should I ask professors who taught me for a semester for a recommendation letter? ALso, is it okay to ask a professor that will teach me next semester?

My spring semester begins on January 17th, and the fellowship application deadline is February 1st.


texts: What employment can someone obtain if they were not given the PhD after studying and publishing?

texts:
Suppose, after six years of study toward a PhD, my advisor refuses to give me PhD because he is not happy with my work.  (I am in India, currently in my third year of the PhD, studying computational biology, dealing with the computational aspects of host pathogen interactions, after doing my bachelors and masters degree in computer science.) After 6 years of work (assuming after 3 years if this situation remains same), if I have not gotten the degree, although I will have my publication record, with all first authorship.

My question is , with 6 years of research experience and papers that I have worked on, with all first authorship, what types of jobs would I be able to apply for, without a PhD degree?

My question is not about what is legal or illegal in PhD. My question is what is in bold...

A little info regarding my university: A student's fate depends on her advisor, higher authority cannot do anything...

Edit (from comment):

I am in my 3rd year of phd.


texts: Why is headhunting uncommon for academic positions?

texts:
In scientific conferences, there are usually many headhunters who come to offer newly graduated scholars jobs in the industry sector. As a matter of fact, the recruitment in industry mostly works with the headhunting system.

However, academic recruitment is mainly application-based, and they are stuck with Equal Employment Opportunity, in which even when planning to appoint a Vice President to a vacant President position, they need to follow public call for application.

Why doesn't a department chair offer faculty position to exceptional scholars to attract extraordinary people?

In an application-based system, only those who are looking for new jobs will apply, but in a headhunting system, headhunters tempts satisfied employees with attractive offers.

In general, when someone is averagely satisfied by his/her job will not check current job ads.


texts: What research expenses to request for early career fellowship?

texts: I'm applying for an early career fellowship in the UK. The fellowship has a budget of up to £6k per year for research expenses to further the fellow's research activities, which must be requested upfront. Other than travel to conferences, small equipment, and perhaps organising a workshop, does anyone have any good ideas about what this money might be spent on?


texts: Potential ethical concerns on advisor's advice on publication venues

texts:
I can't be sure, but my instinct tells me that I am about to step in a minefield. I want to seek your advice on how to handle the situation. Here is the brief story:

The background: my PhD thesis is almost ready for submission and I am now working on turning it into several publishable papers. I have identified a few potentially suitable outlets, with one of them a special issue in a prestigious journal in our field edited by my advisor's ex-student (who he has been close with and has influences on). One of the essays in my thesis fits perfectly the scope of the special issue that has a deadline 3 weeks. I want to revise my essay to fit the requirements and submit to the special issue, but my advisor has been trying to stop me using three reasons: (1). It takes a long time to write a paper for a top journal and I wouldn't be able to make it; (2). The journal usually publishes highly technical papers and my multidisciplinary mix-method paper does not at all fit methodologically (actually, the special issue calls openly for these types of papers); and (3). If I rush to submit my paper, it'd certainly be rejected and if I then revise and re-submit it to other less prestigious journals, I'd likely run into the same reviewers and be seen very badly in this community. When I told him that I felt comfortable meeting the submission deadline, that I understood the possibility of getting rejected and would take it as a learning experiences, and quoted the section of the "call for paper" that shows my method actually fits the scope, he seemed to lose his temper, became quite upset, and sent me a message saying something like "it doesn't work this way" and another journal (similar level of prestige, but he does not publish there often, and it is edited by other scholars) would be a better fit. His arguments obviously are not convincing to me.

More background: I sent him this essay 6 months ago and he seemed to start working towards this direction since then. Actually, the idea of that special issue might be from him (he as a highly influential academic in this field organized a workshop soon after with many people from different disciplines coming to talk about this topic, and he mentioned back then that he'd write a few papers based on the workshop, probably planning to publish in this special issue). And I also asked for his advice on selecting journals for the other four papers from my thesis, he pointed me to those lower-ranked journals which I think is not a fair evaluation of my work (I have received very positive feedback on my thesis from other academics in our field), neither a good-willed gesture an advisor would show to his students. So I now have the strange feeling that he might be trying to slow down my progress as a young and promising scholar in the same are. He is seen as a world renowned so-called "guru" in this field. I am also concerned that he might have already used my ideas (interesting and new) in the essay that I sent him 6 months ago to write his papers and might have already submitted them to the same special issue.

My question: what should I do now? I feel it is a right thing to do to submit to the special issue. But I am afraid that might expose him if he'd done something unethical (he is about to retire and it is certainly not the most graceful way to go). I am also afraid that he might sabotage my job search for tenure-track positions as he will be one of the two key references for me. However, I also feel strongly about standing up for what I believe is right, and not to tolerate unethical behaviors around me. I think tolerating such exploitation (if it actually exists) would only reinforce such behaviors and empower these human sharks.

Please share your thoughts and offer your advice. Thank you in advance.


texts:
What is citation index?
How are such indices calculated?
How can any journal become part of an index?
These are my questions about various indexes that are used at academic environments.


texts: Email Asking for Appointment Letter of Reccomendation

texts:
I am planning to ask professors that I haven't seen in two years since graduation for letters of recommendation.

I want to ask in person so they can see and remember me, but I want to set an appointment ahead of time for this meeting. I really don't want to drop in on the during office hours randomly.

I am having trouble thinking of how this email should me worded.

If I don't allude to the letter of the recommendation and say something like:

*Dear Professor,
I was in your class two years ago. I would like to meet with you to discuss something.
Sincerely,
Student
*

Then they have no idea what I am meeting about. But if I say:

Dear professor
I was in your class two years ago. I got an A+. I would like to meet with you to discuss you writing me a letter of recommendation.
Thanks for your time.

...Then it's like I am just asking over email, which I don't want to do because I haven't seen them in multiple years.

Can anyone think of a better wording for this email?

Thanks!


texts: Dismissed from PhD program and reapplying; how to answer question about dismissal?

texts:
My story is that the research in my department did not match with my background. I worked hard and my GPA is 3.5+, but the research topic was hard to develop. Unfortunately, I was dismissed from the program but was approved to get a master's degree before I leave the university. I do not have any misconduct.

Now I am applying to another PhD program which could be a good match with my research interest. However, I am facing a question from most universities that I am applying to.

The questions is:

  "Have you ever been expelled, dismissed, suspended or otherwise
  subject to disciplinary sanction by(at or from) any college or
  university".

I need to select yes or no.

In my case, it is not a disciplinary sanction. I was dismissed from the PhD program only due to misfit in research. I stayed at the university for my Master's degree and I was not dismissed directly from the university. As an international student, I am not quite sure how to answer this question.

I am nervous about this application. Can anyone help me figure out how to deal with this issue in a proper way?

Thank you so much!


texts:
I keep coming across general wisdom of the type, "A teacher has to be a clown". This attitude is gaining traction, e.g. as in this TED talk.

This leaves me quite baffled. Thinking back to my own teachers, the ones I admire most and feel I learnt the most from were all serious and single-mindedly focused. Maybe it is for that reason that I have become a similar teacher, though not by a conscious decision on my part. My students find me a tough teacher but I receive emails several semesters later thanking me.

I have discussed this with colleagues around me and while they agree with me, they argue that the current iPhone generation has so many resources available to them, working hard to grab their attention should also be the teacher's task. Afterall, the argument goes, they may just receive better instruction online through a world leader in the subject.

I am just wondering what others feel about this.


texts: Are university counseling services usually able to help with the professional troubles that PhD students face?

texts:
The thing with PhDs is that it often takes someone who knows the politics and people of the field in order to really understand (or help) a PhD student's troubles (if any arise). At the same time, there are many similarities.

If they don't, who are the other best people to talk to in case issues arise?


texts: Submitting to a journal as an undergrad but lying about academic status on bio

texts: As an undergraduate I submitted a paper of mine to a reputable journal. Fearing that I would be desk-rejected for simply being an undergraduate, I stated in my submission bio that I was a PhD candidate. It turns out the paper is going to be published and I am curious if there are any long term repercussions or ethical concerns to be worried about on my end. Is it worth issuing a correction or is it statistically unlikely the EIC will even care at this point? Equally as important: would relaying such information result in the paper not being published?


texts: Can we quantify the difference made by or popularity of online learning?

texts: How much of a change is online learning through open courseware (OCW), etc., actually making? Are there any peer reviewed studies regarding the same?


texts: When citing in MLA, do you need to cite the same source twice?

texts:
I have a Works Cited in MLA style. Two of my sources look like this:

http://www.example.com/a/x.html
http://www.example.com/a/y.html#42

Do I need to cite both pages, or do I just cite example.com?


texts: How to deliver google scholar alerts at specific time

texts:
I get google scholar alerts at all times of the day. This irritates me because it comes up as an email, I dont have time to read it, and then I forget about it.

My only reading time is Friday morning so it would be great to get my alerts at 8.00am on Friday morning as that would be consistent with my workflow.

The question is therefore can I get my alerts delivered on Friday 08.00 and not before then- a kind of weekly digest?


texts: Postdoc vs Assistant Prof - which is better for a career academic?

texts:
All questions are hypothetical as of now.

I work in the health / biomedical sciences. I have been a postdoc for about 2.5 years and had to leave the postdoc after the lab closed. I have been interviewing for both junior faculty and postdoc positions for the last 3 months but none have worked out (pay cut, rejection etc)

I have an upcoming postdoc fellowship interview with X lab in University A, which I applied for towards the end of the application deadline 1st week Feb. The independent academic committee has determined I am fully qualified for the position and no rebuttals were needed (unusual I know; this is a Scandinavian university). This is a position that will take me out of my comfort zone and give the opportunity to develop new quantitative skills - if the mentors are good (YKWIM). This project is supervised by 2 mentors and both have very impressive h-indices, and one very experienced researcher and another younger researcher but very impressive credentials. I will have teaching responsibilities.

However I applied for an asst prof position in Y lab/dept in the same uni A, which has a much later application deadline. I believe I have a good chance of getting this gig because I have run many projects in this exact area of research and have all the training and certifications needed. I guess I won't be developing any more technical skills and moving on to project management / teaching / administration. This is unique as the position already comes with a project and a longer term of employment, and is still supervised by 1 prof. The yearly salary is not much different from the postdoc and the potential impact of the research is lower.

The academic's goal is to get a faculty position but it seems the asst prof position would be of little value since this is not my grant. It is also not clear if this is a tenure track position.

Hoping I could get some advice from more experienced researchers because my focus  is on building a career, although I do hope to make great scientific achievements in the process.

Cheers and I'll be hanging around if anyone has questions.


texts: Signaling Interest for Job at Low Ranked University

texts:
How do PhD graduates signal job interest to low ranked universities? I am envisioning a scenario where a candidate does not get interviewed by a university because the university believes the candidate is "over qualified", but the candidate is actually very interested in working at that university because of some outside reason (family in the area, spouse employment, etc).
How does the candidate tell the low ranked university to consider hiring him/her, even if the candidate is overqualified? (I don't intend this to sound snobbish, I am just interested in how the process works).


texts: How do you "grow your own" post doc opportunity?

texts:
I am a finishing doctoral student (graduation in ~7-9 months) and I would love to get an year or so of postdoctoral experience. I've come to understand that a postdoc is generally paid by funds created for the project (s)he is a postdoc for.

How should I go about "growing my own" postdoc opportunity? In other words, how should I go about soliciting for funds for research ideas? I know it is a rather daunting task. Although I have participated in writing several proposals (some of which were accepted), I have never been the PI or co-PI for any of those projects -- generally just one of the grad students working on it.

I am at a US university and have already taken at look at NSF's website.. Being an international student, I don't have all the options available to domestic candidates.

This is what I've thought of so far:

Come up with feasible research idea and approach advisor.
Discuss idea and possible collaborations.
Try to categorize it into NSF's or any other funding agencies categories.
Write a proposal in the summer and submit it during the next window of opportunity.

Any pointers, tips or funding agencies I might also look at?

Some background:
I am a PhD candidate in Mechanical engineering with emphasis on fluid dynamics, applied mathematics, energy systems and space systems.


texts: Should I omit my master's supervisor from Referees list in PhD Application?

texts:
I've finished my masters thesis and waiting for results. Meanwhile, I've started searching for PhD position. and I find out one of the requirement of one to three referee contacts, one of them preferably the masters supervisor.

I've 3.93/4.00 CGPA with coursework and My current masters supervisor is quite satisfied with my research performance so far. He wants me to continue my PhD with him and has offered me the position as well. Whereas, I don't want to continue with him and that's why I haven't told him about my PhD plans.

I'm confused and I'm not sure if I tell him that I don't want to my PhD with him, Will he write good remarks about me or he'll write bad remarks so that I don't get PhD position somewhere else.

Another problem is that if I tell him straight forward that I am not interested to continue my PhD with him I might lose this opportunity as well.

I've no one to discuss with about this issue and about my further PhD plans. Time is running and I'm becoming more and more stressful.


texts: Should a CV for a fellowship application ever include test scores even if these scores are not requested?

texts:
I did quite well on my GREs -- perfect scores on all three sections of the general test, and a result in the 98th percentile on the relevant subject GRE test. I'm applying for Ph.D. programs in a STEM field and will naturally submit these scores as part of my application.

However, I'll also be applying for fellowships like the NSF graduate fellowship and the Hertz. It's my understanding that these fellowships do not require the GRE, but I would assume these strong scores might work in my favor if the relevant committees were to know about them. Can/should I include these scores on the CV I submit with my application, or is doing so always considered gauche?


texts: Chances of admission for a PhD program with high WAM (GPA) for masters but an average GPA for undergraduates (A unique case)

texts:
I have completed a Master of IT specializing in cybersecurity at an Australian University ranked around 200 - 250 in the world for computer science and IT. In my master's, I achieved a Weighted Average Mark of 90.875%  with all HD (higher distinction) grades for the coursework and a thesis mark of 95%. The thesis accounted for 25% of the course.

In addition to all of this, I have two refereed publications (a journal and a conference) of which I am the first author. I am currently working at my master's university as a research assistant.

However, I am still concerned about my bachelor's of Engineering (Computer Engineering) GPA which is average at best. My bachelor's GPA is 3.0/4.0 although I showed significant improvement in the final year of my 4-year bachelor's with a GPA of 3.52/4.0. My bachelor's university has a much lower rank than my master's university.

Could anyone tell me what are my chances of admission to a Ph.D. program? I would also like to know whether I would be competitive for scholarships?

I really hope to pursue a Ph.D. but I am really worried about my bachelor's GPA.

P.S - I have 322/340 for GRE with 168/170 for Quantitative reasoning


texts: Can a master's thesis still be good if it lacks demonstrable results?

texts:
I am currently writing my master's thesis, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will not be very good. This is partly because I have been unable to test the system I propose in the thesis properly, because testing it involves test cases that has to be manually performed, and I simply haven't got the time/resources/mental sanity to do more than a handful of them.

The problem is that having little testing could be viewed as a large, weak point in my thesis, and is easily attackable when I shall defend it.
My thesis is about detecting malware that requires human interaction (hence the testing difficulty), and by looking at some indicators I can determine what is malware and what is not. But my fear is that these results won't be very generalizable because of the small sample size. So my question is then: can a master thesis still be good if the presented results only cover a laughably small sample size?


texts: When is applying for a postdoc too early or too late?

texts:
I am in some kind of conundrum. Currently I am a grad student in Germany. Things are reasonably fine, but because of some bad luck I am not 100% confident that I will finish my thesis at the end of this year (as planned). I might need some more months (maximum 3, I hope), which in the worst case I could finish my work even without a salary. Still, I want to try and get done as close to the end of this year as possible.

Some sources (the Internet generally) tell me I should soon start searching for a postdoc position, especially because I am for personal reasons bound to a fairly specific location in the UK (not where I currently live, but where my significant other lives).

So what do I do? Start looking and applying for postdocs now, wait three more months (to give me the same leeway but with the added three months) or wait until I am actually done. Waiting until I am done is probably the morally right thing to do, but if it is taking me until March 2018 to finish, sustaining myself for potentially some additional months of job search will be financially problematic.

If I start searching now (or soon), what can/should I tell potential advisors? How common (if possible at all) is it to set the start day "somewhere between January and April next year"? I have a feeling this would hurt my application significantly, in favor of applicants that have a more well-defined timeline. What is the most common thing to do? I have seen others postpone their graduation, but most of them were planning to leave academia after that anyway, so had to prepare for a fairly different hiring process.

I am just worried that even if I find a position quickly after finishing, the start day might be months away and that would still leave me without any salary for a lengthy period of time. Any tips and experiences would be appreciated.


texts: Is it possible to obtain a bachelor's degree by passing some test to prove equivalent knowledge rather than attending a university?

texts: Is it possible to obtain a bachelor's degree without attending a university? I'm talking about passing some kind of test or series of tests to prove my knowledge. I'm not asking about buying a fake degree or anything related to that. Is there a name for this type of procedure/way of obtaining a degree? Is it practiced in the US? If yes, is it possible for non-US citizens to pass these tests? If not, are there any countries that practice something like this?


texts: Telling supervisor we need to wait before publishing

texts: I am a PhD student and my supervisor absolutely wants me to publish an article with results from my master's thesis (done 2 years ago). I started writing the paper, but the more I write, the more I feel that it is not that good, results are hard if not impossible to replicate, methodology is a bit "hacky" (parameters were chosen at random, do not work in every case, etc.). Well, in short, I consider it unfinished and think that we could do better and need extra work on it before publishing. I also want to point out that this paper is not related to my PhD thesis. My question is, should I pursue this paper, and if not, how to communicate this to my supervisor without being rude and/or arrogant (after all, I'm a student and he's the supervisor).


texts: Advisor gives me no choice on research topics - should I tell him my real feeling?

texts:
I am a 3rd year physics PhD doing high energy theory.
This field has two large communities -- phenomenology and formal theory. I am interested in formal theories.
Faculties hired with either background join the theory direction of the department. Not until I had already fixed my advisor, I found out he mainly does phenomenology, which requires simulation more than derivation and math.
My advisor asked me to join some projects, without asking me if I am interested. Most recently, even though he asked me if I am interested, he did not understand my tactful refusal.
We talk every several months about my career. He believes that doing simulation for phenomenology is the only path to success (that is being hired eventually). However, I am extremely not interested in this path, and would rather quit academia if I would have to do simulation.
As I said, my advisor mainly does phenomenology, but not completely. He is able to give me theory projects, but not willing to do so. When I tell him I wish to do a certain theory topic, he asks me to look for questions myself and eventually discourages me out of it.
I am extremely discouraged and spend most of my time arguing with him virtually in my head.
Should I explicitly tell him I don't like the future he plans for me? I tried several times with tactful wording. He couldn't get my point and ended up persuading me harder and harsher.


texts: What is a better point in an academic career to move to the U.S.: as an assistant professor or after tenure?

texts:
I am starting my second academic year as an assistant professor at a university in Europe. I'd like to move back to the US at some point in the near future. If I stay at my current university for 2 or 3 more years, it's likely that I will be offered tenure. Based on the openings I see in the US in my field, there are more assistant professor positions than associate professor positions.

Will it be better for my career prospects to apply now for assistant professor jobs in the US? If so, should I expect a reduced tenure clock?
Or should I wait a few more years and with tenure under my belt, apply for associate professor jobs?


texts: How to cut ties with abusive supervisor?

texts:
While I read through a similar post written by K.Grayson, I couldn't find a response that overlaps with my case.

In all honesty, I don't know in what way to explain how the situation with my M.Sc. graduate supervisor has escalated to what it has gotten. There are a lot of factors and interference by people who have nothing to do with our problems that muddled communication. Things escalated to a point where I was on the receiving end of a racist declaration from him, at which point a few breaches of my privacy had set me up on a vulnerable path.

My graduate supervisor has actually admitted to some of the abuse and said that he wouldn't do it again with his new students. (At this point, I suspect that someone in the department had found out, ousted his behavior, leading to some disciplinary action.) Unfortunately, by then, my time was up and I had already submitted my thesis, which I later defended successfully.

Leaving the lab, I actually gained nothing more than whom not to work with and whom not to be in the future. As far as my scientific development goes, I gained absolutely nothing, as extreme as that sounds. I figured since my graduate supervisor had at least admitted to some of his mistakes (mainly withholding information and exclusion from project development discussions, grant/article writing, and experiment designing) that he wouldn't stop me from getting that training I had missed somewhere else. I was wrong. In applying to a PhD program in my field, I had asked him if he could write a strong recommendation later (through e-mail) for me, explaining that this is a field I would like to dedicate myself to, and asked if he could be objective despite his personal reservations. He wrote that he would.

I was rejected, unfortunately. I grew suspicious, however, of the rejection. I went back to the previously mentioned e-mail, where he had forwarded the PhD department's request for the letter. (He forwarded the e-mail to me initially to convince me that the deadline was not what I was informing him to be. I sent him a link to the department's website to see for himself that I wasn't lying to him.) In the e-mail there was a link, and I clicked on it and read the letter. I know that what I did was unethical, and there is probably no excuse that I can offer to justify it. I know why I did it and I have come to terms with that. However, now I also know that my graduate supervisor does and will not have my best interest at heart, and thus I cannot trust him. I also know that, given that most of the things that have happened with him would require that witnesses corroborate my experience, I essentially cannot relate what I went through in that lab.

I am currently seeking psychiatric help since the culmination of what happened at that lab has left me cynical, enraged, and depressed. I am also having a hard time with the psychiatrist who suspects that I have gone through a psychotic break that left me delusional. Honestly, I don't want retribution or anything; I just want to move on and continue research in my field of interest. It feels like all doors are closing on me, and I just want a clean break from anything that has to do with him and his influence. Is it even worth staying in the same field? If even a psychiatrist is skeptical that a graduate supervisor would do that, is this uphill battle too steep for me to climb?

Thanks.

Edit:  I provided the background info I thought necessary for a stranger to understand my position right now. To clarify my question: what are my chances of getting into and continuing research in the same field considering that:
1. I don't have the primary reference expected by grad schools to be the best source of information on my performance; and
2. I cannot relay what has happened since I am afraid it would be dismissed the same way as with my psychiatrist?

Also, Dawn brings up a good question. How do I go about building new research mentors using a diplomatic approach to discuss my M.Sc. experience?


texts: Should I get a BSc at a top-ranked university or a MComp at a lower-ranked university?

texts:
I'm currently in the situation of having to choose between the two options aforementioned in the title. The field of study I look forward to pursue is Computer Science. I would say that attending a course which offers a MComp would provide me with a deeper knowledge and a more elaborate skillset which I can employ after I finish my studies. However, I also have the option of pursuing a BSc at a top-ranked university which would probably provide me a higher-quality education. Moreover, the difference regarding rank (and supposedly quality) between the two universities is not big (namely, only a few places).

To sum up, which path should I choose for my academic preparation ?


texts: Are there ethics concerns when students conduct human subjects research?

texts:
It is common for faculty and graduate students to conduct human subjects research on undergraduate students.  Typically precautions are made to ensure that faculty do not use the teacher/student relationship to harm students.  For example, the faculty member may be required to finalise their grades before they find out which students consented to participate in the research.  This prevents the faculty member from incentivising students to participate by changing their grades.

Let's suppose that the researcher is an undergraduate student instead of a faculty member.  Are there risks associated with the student-student relationship?  Let's suppose it is a small university where students often know each other.


texts: I got caught writing my student ID number after the end of the exam. Will I get in trouble?

texts:
I had an exam yesterday morning which lasted 2 hours. There were two supervisors in the room for about 25-30 students.

Before the beginning of the exam and again 5 minutes before the end, they told us not to forget to write our name and student ID number on each sheet (we used our own paper to answer the questions of the exam sheet but they had in reserve in case we had not enough), something which was also indicated at the front page of the exam question sheet.

At the end, they told us to stop writing and not leave immediately, that they will now proceed to collect all exams and check that they have all of them, after what we would be allowed leave. To do this, for each student, they stapled his/ her exam question sheet with the other sheets on which he/ she wrote his/ her answers.

Now here is my problem: while they were collecting the exams, I noticed that I had forgotten to write my student card number (not the name) on one of my sheet. So I quickly took my pen and wrote it on the sheet, something that took no more than 2 seconds.

But then, once finished, I noticed that one of the two supervisor was looking at me with an angry frown while the other was stapling a student exam just next to him, so obviously he noticed that I had written something on one of my sheet.

They continued to collect all exams like normal. But once they were near me - I was the last student of the column -, the supervisor who had given me the angry frown collected the exam of the student in the row in front of me (there was one student sitting at each seat row end during the exam) and already directed himself with the pile of exams of our column to the main desk where they were gathering all exams, while the other supervisor was still busy stapling my exam.

So the second supervisor then took my exam alone in his hand. This supervisor then put my exam on the main desk and then put at least one sheet that I could not identify on top of it (so he did not put it on the exam pile of our column), and so I saw it disappear. They then said we could leave and began to sort the exams in alphabetical order (at least that's what it seemed to me they were doing)

So my questions are :

Will I likely get accused of cheating in  a few days?
Did the other supervisor take my exam alone in order to put it on
the side so they can identify who I am?
Should I write a mail to them and explain what I was really doing?
If I really get accused, how should I behave? Should I just tell
them what I was doing even if they of course can not know if I am
lying or not?

I already talked about it with my father, who is a law professor, and he said I am dramatising the entire thing and that if they really wanted to do something, they would not have let me leave the room. Moreover, he said they could not prove anything, especially given that only one of both supervisors noticed what I was doing (and there is no video surveillance in the room). That if I really get called in the office in a few days, I would just need to say that I was writing my student card number, and that's it.

I know this is a bit long, but the more I think about it, the more I think something will happen, so I would like your opinion about that matter.
 Thanks for your help.


texts: If a paper is accepted but not included in the conference proceedings, does organization (IEEE) retain the copyright of the paper?

texts:
In case a paper is accepted but not included in the conference proceedings (conference fee not paid), does the organization (IEEE) retains the copyright of the paper?

Consider the case that none of the authors is able to attend the conference to present the paper and possibly they would like to submit it to another conference in the near future.

We have only uploaded the paper to PDF eXpress and then to the online platform of the conference. The copyright transfer will be signed at the end of the conference following verification of attendance.


texts: Am I allowed to give a gift to a fellow student for helping me in a very direct way?

texts:
Due to the COVID situation our lab course only allows one of two students in a partnership to run an experiment during a session while the other observes via Zoom. I can't make it to the next session so I asked my lab partner to go. It turns out that my lab partner is dropping the course and going to run the experiment anyway presumably just to help me out.
I just met the guy and that's such a kind gesture that I want to show him my gratitude by mailing him a gift card or something. My concern, however, is that this might be dangerously close to paying someone to do my schoolwork. Is it potentially against university policy to show my gratitude with a gift?
Edit: We're in the United States.


texts: Can I apply to international internship 3 month early?

texts:
I am a 2nd year masters student here in Morocco. To get my diploma I have to enroll in a 6 months internship from January to the end of June.

I found in the website of a well known company which is active in the field of my master an internship opportunity titled "Intern, Software Engineering" but based in Austin, TX, U.S.

My questions are: should I apply now? Or should I wait until December?
Should I specify that I need a 6 month internship starting from January?

Remark: The offer page contains only two buttons, "Apply with Linkedin" and "Apply Now". I didn't find any contact information to get more info.


texts: Do hiring committees look at a candidate's StackExchange account?

texts:
On StackExchange, some people use their real names, while others hide behind a username.

I was wondering, do hiring committees look at a candidate's StackExchange account and consider the candidate's activity on these accounts?

I know committees look at my website, they openly mention this during interviews.  They also ask me about things that they would only know about after seeing my website.  I have yet to connect my real identity with my StackExchange account, because of my reservations about this.


texts: What is the average salary of a life sciences post doc in Singapore and what is the average living cost there?

texts: I am from India and I am about to submit my PhD thesis (Biotechnology) and considering for a post-doc in Singapore. Can you help me know what is the average post-doc salary in Singapore in an institute like NUS or TLL? From my contacts I have come to know that the cost of living in Singapore is quite high. Please guide me what would be the average monthly cost of  living for a family of 3 (me, my wife and an infant)?? or Should I look for a post-doc position in any other country like USA, UK, or anywhere in Europe?


texts:
I’m on my 3rd/5 undergraduate years, so I’m just starting to think about grad admissions.

I’ve been planning on applying to MD/PhD programs. I enjoy/feel comfortable in hospitals and think I can make a contribution or two in medically-relevant bioinformatics/comp. genetics.

So, one of the big pulls for me into a grad program is teaching. I would probabaly enjoy being a high school teacher or a college lecturer but it seems like an insecure career path to me, and not doing any research would probabaly bum me out after a while.

And, in theory, MD/PhD programs support that—TAing, teaching classes, teaching workshops at conferences, simplifying complex ideas for patients, etc. MSTP guidelines even mention teaching interest as an important characteristic.

But, in practice, I feel weird about emphasizing my teaching interest. Most grad students I meet dislike being a TA, professors don’t like teaching, and often it seems like they feel like teaching gets in the way of their real work. And those are the people who will be reviewing my application. I’m kinda afraid that I’ll be seen as a not-serious-researcher for wanting to focus on teaching.

Should I de-emphasize my teaching interest? If not, do you have any suggestions about how to present it on personal statements/interviews/etc?


texts: How to cite the same source multiple times in a row IEEE

texts:
I have several sentences in a row that that cite the same source.  For example,

Here is question one [1].  Here is question two [1].  Here is question three [1][myOriginalWork].  Here is question four [1].

What is the proper way to cite this using IEEE?  Do I cite my use of the source each time or do I cite it just once at the end of all my references to this source?  I don't think that citing each of my references to this one source is the way to go, but at the same time I have other sources mixed in and I want to make sure that credit is given where its due.

This is somewhat of an open ended question about citing the same source multiple times using IEEE.  I am just learning the style and want to make sure that I am using it correctly

Thanks in advance for any help.


texts: Employer contributions deducted from quoted salary—is this normal?

texts:
In order to help in future salary negociation, I wanted to know whether it is condiered normal in North America to be quoted a gross salary that does not take into account employer contributions to things such as a a mandatory pension plan.

Specific example situation

This question is based on a situation I am experiencing right now, so I will use this to illustrate more specifically what I mean. I have just accepted a postdoc position (in a Canadian university, in case this is relevant), for which my advisor offered a salary of $40,000.

He wanted me to start working very quickly and I was available, so I started working without having signed my contract. Two weeks after, he explained that the work contrat was ready, and that the amount I would see in it (ca. $36,000) was the $40,000 he had quoted minus the contributions towards the pension plan and group insurance.

It was not obvious to me whether the deducted contributions were my contributions, i.e. $36,000 minus withheld tax would be my net income, or whether he had deducted the employer contributions and my net income would therefore be $36,000 minus my own contributions minus withheld tax.

I sent an email asking just that, and my advisor came to my office, slightly on the defensive I thought, to explain that the grant he had for my salary covered only $40,000 per year in total but that he had decided he would pay for the employer deductions with money from a different grant, and therefore that a new contract would be drafted.

And here I am, wondering whether there was an honest mistake or misunderstanding, whether I'm being a diva and my advisor just doesn't want to deal with it, or whether someone has tried to screw me.

Your answers will help me address this concern but mostly, as I wrote, will be helpful to me and I suspect to others in knowing exactly how to negociate their salary in the future.

Disclaimer

And before anyone tells me, I do realise that I am getting an adequate salary in the current conditions and that I should consider myself lucky to have a pension plan and group insurance.


texts: Right time to start applying for PhD - Germany

texts: I am a computer science student and am currently doing my Master Thesis in Germany. I am in the second month of the six month duration for the Master Thesis. I wish to pursue a PhD after Masters and I was wondering when the right time is to start applying for PhD positions. I found a few positions that start in September 2015 but I would be done with the Masters only at the end of November. Is it alright to start applying for a position from now itself or should I wait for a few months?


texts: How to make the most of a currently unfulfilling post-doc experience

texts:
How to make the most of an nnfulfilling post-doc experience

Before I pose my question, I would first like to describe the circumstances and provide as much "quantitative data" relevant to this as possible.

Background

I am on a leave of absence from a US university for 1 year (2014-2015) and currently working at a lab in France as an Engineer II (let's face it, E2=fancy_way_of_saying(post_doc)). I posted a question about the merits and demerits of doing this a few months back and received some useful feedback (in hindsight obv.!)

I am at an early stage of my career. I received my PhD in Mechanical engineering in 2013. From Aug 2013-May 2014, I worked as a non-tenure track instructor at my US university. I will return to my university in May 2015 to take up a non-tenure track lecturer position. I prefer teaching track to research track. The idea was to diversify my portfolio to work and hence the leave of absence to work as an E2 in France. I am in month 3 of my E2 position.

Gist of current position

To introduce major modifications in a "spaghetti code" developed by my E2 supervisor some 6-7 years ago. The code itself is quite obfuscating and models certain thermal engineering physics problem.

My perceived failings as an E2

The code is obfuscating! No, I am not making excuses but the previous two E2 quit to go on to purportedly greener pastures.

I was given tasks to modify certain aspects of the code and in my opinion (I have no yardstick for comparison), I have not done the best job at it.

Result (for now)

My supervisor has hinted that "we must hurry as there is a deadline next month we must meet" (I did not know of this deadline prior to taking up this position).

I am making a sincere effort to accomplish the tasks but I am not sure if it is my ineptitude or lack of scientific maturity that I constantly see myself failing at my job.

Over the last couple of weeks, my supervisor has not asked me to do any important things with this code/project and I think I have been relegated to "just check the code for mistakes".

Also I find that unlike my previous department head, my current supervisor treats me like a student and is sometimes disparaging in his comments. I suppose this is normal.

Also, what is normal in my current lab is that post-docs share the office space of their supervisors and the supervisors LITERALLY are looking over their shoulders at all time. Yes, I know what LITERALLY means.

I understand that this is a character building exercise for me and I'll treat it as such.

Future

Do I have a future or am I looking at a premature "pink slip"? My contract doesn't mention conditions of being fired.
How should I make the most of this situation? I want to have a positive impact on this project which in turn will have a positive impact on my career. Although I am in a teaching track from 2015, I feel that this research experience will only enhance my teaching capabilities.

References I have used to understand this better

A postdoc experience

Making the most of your post doc

However, I would feel better if I got "real time advice" from the diverse membership of this forum.


texts:
A couple of weeks ago I met this person who had come to our institute for an invited talk. Her domain of work was same as my area of research. Later I discussed with her some of the topics and asked her if there are any openings in her company (she is in the industry as an R&D head). She responded: "Send me your CV, I will look into it."

Now I want to write to her. How do I begin with that? Should I send my CV in the first mail itself? If so should I also include a cover letter? What's the best way to introduce myself?


texts: How often do Ph.D. holders hold faculty positions in different, but related, fields from their Ph.D.?

texts:
This is something that I thought about a while back when reading (I forget where) about someone who held a Ph.D. in chemistry, but focused on physical chemistry throughout his Ph.D. years and actually became a physics professor.

I was wondering how often this happens. For instance, do electrical engineering Ph.D. holders with very physics-oriented research become physics professors ever? What about vice versa? Or what about, for instance, applied mathematicians specializing in cosmology. Do they ever become physics professors?

More important question here: does this open up the possibility in which one can apply for faculty positions in multiple departments, thereby increasing one's chances of a faculty position? Or does the interdisciplinary nature of it actually limit the candidate's faculty choices?

Note, when I say someone is a professor in another field, I mean, for example, they received a Ph.D. from a department of chemistry and were subsequently employed by a department of physics.


texts: Is scooping viewed negatively in the research community?

texts:
I graduated my undergrad two years ago, and I have since published 4 papers in top computer science conferences and journals. However, all my papers seem to follow a common "scooping" pattern, where I would read an interesting paper, notice some possible improvements/speed ups in the algorithm published, type up the improvement, and submit it. This seems to have worked well for me so far.
I am planning to apply to graduate school, however, an old colleague in my research lab told me some graduate school admission committees might raise an eye brow at my research, since they all seem to "scoop" other researchers work, and not come up with new/original research directions.
My question is, how truthful is this? I feel what I have done should be considered original research, and not "scooping", as the original authors did not allude in the slightest (either in the paper or on online mediums like arxiv/twitter) that they were pursuing this problem further.


texts: How do I prepare for the UK Research Excellence Framework submission?

texts: I want to strengthen my return for the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF). My publications are fine, but how can I improve my REF "impact"?


texts: Changing PhD programs: should I submit a recommendation letter from my old advisor if it's not purely positive?

texts:
I am in the process of changing PhD programs, and my previous supervisor cannot write a letter that is purely positive. The main difficulty is that she wants to include details about what happened at my previous university; however, we do not agree on all these details, and she seems to be unwilling to debate the past. She believes that I should (or I may have to) explain myself and that I can't justify everything I have done in my previous institution.

Other faculty members I have talked to are of the opinion that if I have to explain myself like this then it is not a recommendation letter anymore and recommend not asking her for a reference. This is difficult because I can get other letters, but the strongest letter that I got was from my first supervisor, and I expect the other ones to be good but not stellar.


texts: Should I (an undergrad) call potential industry research intern supervisor by first name?

texts: I am corresponding via email with an industry researcher regarding an internship. He always signs off his emails with his first name, Bill. Still, I have addressed him as "Dr. X" for several emails now. I realize that if I am offered this internship I wouldn't want to keep calling him this and would prefer to be on more casual terms. Should I just abruptly switch to his first name, or wait for him to actually tell me to use his first name?


texts: PhD student with mental health issues and bad performance

texts:
One of my PhD students told me during a supervisory meeting that they have been struggling with anxiety and depression and self-referred to the university psychological support. They asked me not to share with anyone and I didn’t.

Moving forward eight months and their penultimate year, their performance has declined to a degree that they might fail the PhD altogether. I tried to support with regular meetings, breaking tasks, teaming with other students, nothing seems to help pick up the pace.

Normally, at this point, I would set in place a special process: an independent committee is set to review progress regularly and set objectives and I’m only one of the three members. This is the formal process and usually works very well to address the progress issues but also puts more stress on the student because there is a stick at the end: the committee could decide to remove the student from the PhD program.

So, here is my trilemma:

If I go on with the process, I don’t know what this will mean for the student’s health. There might be a note on their record from the psychological services to instigate special treatment, but I’ll not know beforehand.
If I discuss this with the support team in hypothetical terms, it would be very easy to understand which student it is since my group is small and that student is the only one I have in that particular phase of the PhD. This would violate his explicit request.
If I don’t do anything, the certain outcome is that the student will go unprepared to the viva presentation (if they manage to prepare a thesis) and fail.

Anyone has experience how to deal with a situation like this? Any resources?

Update: After laying out the options to the student, they decided to leave the program. It seems this was something they were planning for even before my talk. I am not sure if the plan to leave the program was also a contributing factor to the bad performance or luck of effort.


texts: How to deal with the (hidden) feedback from research supervisor?

texts:
I am a PhD student who works in a theoretical field. Often times, I have discussions with my research supervisor, and I try to do as much work as possible.

It seems that many times these days my research supervisor does not seem happy with my performance. He often doesn't seem satisfied, judging from his facial expression and body language, but when I ask him, he just says ok. Most times, I leave the meetings in illusion (meeting was good or bad). I feel pressure due to these things. I don't know if it is a common thing in academia or not.

Question:    How to deal with the (hidden) feedback from a research supervisor? This is constantly creating pressure on me.

There is a difference between feedback and hidden feedback. For explicit feedback, we can ask the supervisor once in a month or something like this.


texts: I can't find a masters thesis advisor. Can I publish independently in a math journal and get my MSc degree that way?

texts:
Is it possible publishing original work in math research without having an adviser?

I had some thought of matrix multiplication which I posted in this forum which wasn't welcomed that well, I plan to publish it in the arxiv.org but I also want to publish in a journal.

I tried looking for advier for my MSc thesis in PDE but with no success so I am thinking of publishing an article by myself, will that be sufficient with providing me with my Msc degree?

I heard once that Saul Kripke published during his Bsc studies, I am not sure if he were granted his PhD without an adviser, but I hope it's possible.

P.S
my case is different than the other case as I don't even have an adviser to discuss my paper.


texts: How do I get back into Mathematics after graduating with BSc 14 years ago?

texts: Ive always loved Maths but for numerous reasons I bounced along in general/non-profit admin/management. After maternity leave I have found myself at the bottom again and seriously thinking how can I get back on track. Im 37, I graduated in 2000 with a UK BSc in Math 2:1. Anyone I chat to (non-mathematicians) always say, "it will come back to you" " go for it" etc but what do they know? What do those working in Math think? I especially was drawn to discrete maths, logic and computability. Where are the doors?


texts: CMS citations: complete page numbers for serialized works

texts:
When citing a novel that was originally serialized in a journal (Dickens, for instance), one usually does not give complete pagination of all installments individually. But the issue may arise, if for instance a major focus of analysis is the journal and its handling of, advertising for, and conversations with the author. The issue is particularly significant when citing novels in Japanese literary journals, for instance, wherein each installment may be a quite small fraction of the page range of the complete volume; to skip the page numbers in the citation would thus be like citing an article in a large scientific journal volume without giving page numbers. How would one give such pagination?
EXAMPLE (note form):
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress, in Bentley's Miscellany (February 1837--April 1839), PAGES.


texts: Should table heading units follow a slash or be in parentheses?

texts:
What is the standard in Computer Science and Physics?

Independent variable (units)
Dependent variable (units)

1
1

2
4

3
9

or

Independent variable / units
Dependent variable / units

1
1

2
4

3
9


texts: How do I refer to a picture I added in my essay?

texts:
I'm trying to write an essay about the elements and principles of design in Michelangelo's Pieta. The essay must be in MLA format and I need to include a picture to visualize a central point I'm trying to make in one of my paragraphs.

  There is clearly a hierarchy here too, with the Virgin Mary at the
  top, and Jesus at the bottom, and they seem to form the shape of a
  triangle. (figure one or something)

How do I refer to a picture in this context, and furthermore, how I include pictures in an MLA formatted essay? Should there be any? This professor is pretty lenient about how it's formatted, so I'm just sticking with what most people know.

These are her instructions.

  Cite all work using APA or MLA
  Double space, font size 12, Times Roman font
  A good paper will be 3 pages, not including photos (place your photos at the end)
  No heading or title whatsoever! iLearn does that for you already

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


texts: Is my adviser stalling or am I being plainly lazy?

texts:
So I am a master's degree student in math at a local university. I am very dissatisfied and surprised with the type of work that my adviser asked me to do. I am unsure if I have bad attitude towards work or what is happening is already inappropriate.

The task I was given is extremely routine; it was mind-numbing. It involves a LOT of symbolic manipulations that follows a few set of rules and I apply them repeatedly. To give you guys an idea of how much computation by hand, I have done; I have used more than 30 pages and I write really small (around 0.5cm height and 0.3cm width) with very few white spaces(less than 0.5cm) so this may take other peoples a 100 pages or even much much more. One can imagine the high likelihood of making a lot of computational error due to sheer size of the number of computations. I have checked my computations a few times already, and I am still finding errors here and there. I have asked my adviser, if we can use software to do this computations and he refused without giving any reason why other than being embarrassed(I did not ask why.). Obviously, we have to make sure my work is a 100% correct so we could conjecture correctly, but I have no idea how we'll manage to do this manually.

Hence, I am really finding it difficult to be not cynical about my adviser. I feel like it's a stalling strategy, but perhaps not?

edit

@Anyon, in response to "Can you at least check your pen and paper results using software or is he against that too?"

I have asked if I could allot time to study and use software on my own and he said we should do it near the end, but that means any errors may, of course, negate results; which I don't think makes any sense because it seems very inefficient. I don't understand how he plans to proceed without any computer checks. He also said that he'll check my computations, although he did not say if he'll do it by hand or by computer. He also mentioned that, he had use software during his dissertation and have now forgotten how to use it which means he can't help me with software.

update
I have succeeded in getting my adviser to reveal his motives. Well, he has no motives. As everyone below who answered have guessed, my adviser, simply, does not want to use software because there are technicalities in the mathematics that he does not know how to implement correctly to the software, neither do I. Wolfgang Bangerth is correct, there was a serious breakdown in communication. I am happy this is settled. Thank you to everyone who've answered.


texts: How do I make sure I get strong recommendation letters for faculty positions?

texts:
I would like to ask Prof. X, a distinguished scholar at a top school, for a recommendation for a tenure-track academic position. However, I only want him to write me a recommendation if he is going to write a good one. If he will write me a mediocre or just insufficiently positive recommendation, I would prefer to have someone less famous than X but more positive about me write the letter.

If I simply ask Prof. X for a letter, there is the possibility that he will agree and  then  write something that is not as positive as I would like. I want to avoid this.

One way to solve this problem would be for me to ask Prof. X if he is sufficiently familiar with my work to write me a strong letter. If he does not wish to write me a strong letter, he can simply reply that he is not that familiar with the whole body of my work. By giving him an easy way to decline, this makes it more likely that he will write a strong letter if he accepts.

Unfortunately, in this case this little strategem will not work, as Prof. X and I have been working on the same questions for years, so there is little question of him being unfamiliar with my results.

Another possible solution would be to have someone else approach him to ask whether he can write me a strong letter. Sadly I have no one who could do this for me.

What would be a good strategy to use in this situation? More broadly, what are some general tips for asking people for recommendation letters which ensure you only get strong letters, besides the two I mentioned above?

Edited: Maybe I should mention a couple of other strategies that crossed my mind:

A. Mention to Prof. X that I'm going on the job market in unrelated conversation and see if he volunteers to write me a letter.

B. Ask him for a letter in an email and see how he responds. If he responds enthusiastically, e.g., "It would be my pleasure to write you a letter..." or "I'd be extremely happy to..." this is good. If he only responds neutrally, e.g., "Sure, I can write you a letter" then simply neglect to follow up with him and ask someone else for the letter.

Both of these strategies are decent, but they are not perfect. They might work, but they also might cause me to miss out on a good letter from a well-known scholar. Anyway, I'd welcome thoughts, corrections, additional strategies to use that I haven't thought of, etc.


texts: Switching between active and passive voice

texts: I realize writing in active vs passive voice is a heated debate in academia, with arguments being made for and against both styles. My adviser prefers passive voice.. But is it acceptable to switch from passive to active voice in the same paragraph? What about different sections? For example, the intro and literature review in passive voice, but switching to active voice for materials and methods section. Is this a big no no?


texts: Tips for starting a new research direction

texts:
My research group started a new research direction in a somewhat of a classical engineering field (which heavily relays on experiments/tests). I noticed that reviewers who review our work seem to be extra harsh with their assessment and tend to favor a direct “rejection” without clearly explaining what is wrong with our works or even giving us a chance to respond to their comments/questions. I see a common trend in their reviews in two separate papers so far:
1. Consists of 2-3 sentences max
2. Terms like “I feel that this work does not have merit” and “to the best of my knowledge, I don’t see how so and so”
3. The review takes 9-12 months to be completed - while papers in these journals are constantly being published with 6 months.

My assessment is that reviewers are holding very tightly to traditional methods and do not seem to accept our new approaches - and hence the poor reviews we keep getting. I don’t think that they don’t understand our work, since it is clearly explained + been presented in international conferences with great success. Regarding point no. 3, perhaps it is possible that editors are having a hard time to find “suitable” reviewers(?).

I am seeking any thoughts, tips, or experiences you have to cope with such behavior.


texts: software to organize (1) research questions (2) secondary literature (3) own notes

texts:
Is someone aware of software that can help me create certain goals and research (sub)questions (digitally) and connect these questions in an organized way with the secondary literature on my computer, as well with my own notes.
I have over 2000 pdf files on my computer. The problem is that I don't want to create a new folder (and copy of the file) every time I come up with a new question.
Ideally, but not necessary, the software should also keep track of edit history and I should be able to make notes on files. It would also be nice if I could access my research organizer from everywhere, though this is not a necessary requirement.
I have looked into some software to manage bibliographies, but the main goal of this kind of software is to export the bibliography, rather than organize my research-questions, computer files, and own notes.
I suppose I want to create some kind of database/tree with the following structure

WEEK 1 ("short title comes here")
-- more detailed description of research question; goal/workplan/etc.
-- literature to read this week (software links correct files on my pc)
------- book 1
------- book 2
------- article 1
------- etc.
-- output
------- version (monday)
------- version (friday)

The software, ideally, must have a "search function" which redirects me to the correct node of the tree (i.e. "WEEK 1" not "this-pdf-contains-the-string.pdf")


texts:
This question arises because I noticed in the past the patent articles in my Google scholar was cited and included in the rank for h-indexing.
Since last year, these citations were removed, only to find out that they are included back.

My question, should citation on the patent article be included for h-indexing ?

Note: They can influence a lot with inclusion and without.


texts:
I am trying to publish a publication in the web site of a journal, and when I put my .tex file (also .png files) the website gives an error and says "File will not display in proof". I think it is treated by ScholarOne.
Do you have any solution for that or may I have to contact ScholarOne?


texts: Referencing forum comments and translating citations using the Harvard citation style

texts:
I'm using the Harvard citation style for a paper for the first time in my life, and I can't figure out how to cite specific comments on a web forum. Can I simply treat in like any other web resource, and do something like this:

  On the forum "Name of forum", user "John" says that "Quoting something John wrote on Name of forum". (Name of forum 2013)

I also wonder: When using direct quotes, is it okay to translate these from one language to another or must a direct quote always appear in the language it was written in?


texts: How to credit Creative Commons icons in a Bachelor's Thesis?

texts:
I am currently working on my bachelor's thesis in computer science in Germany. I have created a few charts/graphs, making heavy use of icons downloaded from http://www.thenounproject.com/.

Most of the icons I did use are published under a Creative Commons license. I am not sure how to credit the authors of the icons. The website states the following for books:

  The attribution should be displayed either on the same page as the symbol, with the colophon, in the bibliography or Credits section.

The license text (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/) states the following for attribution:

  If supplied, you must provide the name of the creator and attribution parties, a copyright notice, a license notice, a disclaimer notice, and a link to the material.

I don't think it makes sense to credit the authors of the icons in the bibliography of the thesis though.

How is the usual procedure to give picture credit in theses? Is it considered appropriate to use these kinds of graphics for illustration in academic contexts?


texts: How far into the program should a doctoral candidate transfer to a different school?

texts:
I read the thread about PhD students transferring to a different school. How far into the doctoral program can or should such a transfer be done?

Related:

Is transferring to another university an option for an unhappy PhD student?
Can a PhD student transfer to another graduate school after advancing to candidacy?


texts: Got 0% on a midterm in Math Graduate school

texts:
The title says it all, I studied very hard I would say, and it’s seemed to amount to nothing. I mainly focused on one part of the material since we only had to solve 2 out of the 4 problems on the exam and usually 2 questions where from what I focused on. As luck had it, there was only 1 problem for what I have studied for, and the problem was very hard and I could not solve it. The other problems seemed almost unsolvable unless you have seen the trick before , which I have not. Thus I could not solve any of the problems.  The exam was supposed to mimic the qualifying exam, and the mean was 65%.

I have no idea how to move forward from here. It makes me feel like I am not cut out for math graduate school. What keeps me sane is the fact that I do well on the homework’s , when I have time to look at them.

Oddly enough I think the biggest pain is the shame and feeling of disappointing the professor. I visit his office hours regularly to ask questions and I end up with a 0%.. it will be humiliating having to pick up the midterm.

Any advice as to how to move on From here would be appreciated. Should I treat this as a wake up call and start studying harder and use this as motivation? Or should I just give up?


texts: Who owns things bought with research funding after project ends?

texts:
In my research group, some time we use our funding to buy things required for our research. They can be pretty cheap (e.g. books) or quite expensive (e.g. machines).

When the funded by the project is over, I wonder who will own those stuff.


texts: Harvard Multiple authors- Alphabetical or not?

texts:
I apologise if I have missed this in the Harvard guidelines but I was wondering whether the order of multiple authors matters. For example a book by A Smith and A Jones. How should it be written:

(Smith & Jones, 2014)
 Smith, A. and Jones, A. 2010. Another Book. 5th ed. New York [etc.]: Book Pub.

or must it be written alphabetical of surname:

(Jones & Smith, 2014)
Jones, A. and Smith, A. 2010. Another Book. 5th ed. New York [etc.]: Book Pub.

I understand all the other rules regarding the list been alphabetical and date ordered where multiple authors exist but haven’t seen anything explicitly mentioning this.

Thank You


texts: While teaching how should I give justice equally to both female and male students?

texts:
I am 27 years old unmarried male teacher. I have been a teacher (lecturer) for the last 6 months in an Engineering institution. My students are 4 to 5 years younger than me.

The problem is that while teaching I have soft corner towards female students. I don't understand whether it is due to opposite gender attraction or due  to female students asking more doubts than male students. I help  female students more than male students.  I know that it is against moral ethics of teacher's profession. But I couldn't change my attitude. Now, I think that male students might have noticed this and they may make complaints against me to the principal.

So what changes can I make?
While teaching how should I give justice equally to both female and male students equally? Or should I quit teaching?


texts: Why don't researchers request payment for refereeing?

texts:
One of the most criticized aspects of the current publishing scheme, is that academics do pretty much all the work for free and publishers get the money.

Why don't people just charge a fee when contacted by a publisher to referee an article?

I know why do academics write peer reviews?, that's not the question. The issue is why do it requesting no monetary compensation when the publisher is getting (for doing next to nothing) an extraordinary monetary compensation.


texts:
I have just got my first paper accepted to a reputed IEEE (say X for generality) conference. Now, one of the authors have registered for the conference as a student member of X. I have applied for student membership, but probably won't receive the member card before registration deadline. In that case, I have been informed that only the author attending the conference would be getting the certificate.
So I have the following question:

1) Do I need the certificate to proof that I have this publication in future ? (My dept has procedure of submitting copies of all certificates that you earn during the semester, and my co-author would definitely be submitting his there.)

2) Is it worth to register without availing student discount so that I may get the certificate ?


texts: Do statements giving background about a problem require proper citation?

texts:
Say I am starting a paper, with the purpose of showing my work to some professors internally at my department for some high-level feedback - with no plans for it to be published at the moment, but more to be kept as a project and perhaps earn a letter of recommendation for it - and I describe the problem in almost exactly the same way as some earlier papers do; e.g., I want to briefly describe both its theoretical and computability issues, and then give some examples of diverse applications of the problem in the sciences.

Does this introductory page of writing need any citation at all?  Does saying stuff like, "this is a problem that has challenged mathematicians for over half a century" or... "the computability of the matrix, given only partial spectral data quickly becomes intractable in higher dimensions..." need citation?


texts: What can I do to prevent ethnic conflicts in research groups?

texts:
Many research groups are international. While I hope that academics are in general open-minded and tolerant, there might still be a potential for conflicts when researchers from different ethnic groups, which are hostile towards each other or are even at war, work together in the same group.

As a head of the research group, what measures can I take to prevent such conflicts from affecting the work of the group?


texts:
I am writing a scientific paper and compare my results with those of other studies in several tables and figures. When presenting the data, I have one column in the table/ one axis in the diagram, where I provide the sources of the data (with very low space). The other studies I can abbreviate with the reference, e.g. [31].

Does anyone have a good idea how to abbreviate the reference to my own data? I could write "t.s." for "this study", but it seems strange to me.

Best regards

Wilko


texts: When should a faculty candidate notify schools about a competing offer?

texts: If a candidate has been notified that she is going to receive an offer from another school, at what point should she notify other schools at which she has interviewed? In particular, if it's known that the other school is on a much slower trajectory to make a decision—say, six weeks or more—what should a candidate do, either to determine if other offers will be forthcoming, or to expedite the process?


texts: The Page Rank effect of Academic recommendations for Graduate School

texts: I am an undergraduate who comes from a relatively small department, with moderate research activities being done around. We don’t have any research lab or dedicated research personnels in my field of interest at our school. I have developed an interest on my own regarding the topic and I’ve been working on it for the past one and half years. I have 2 publications and 3 more working papers , and I am pretty sure that I want to pursue this topic going ahead for graduate school. An essential component of graduate school application is Letters of Recommendations. I have learnt from many research groups homepage and some of my friends from natural sciences department that If I want to work with professors who are the leaders in research of  ‘XYZ’ , only the Professor who have made significant contributions in the field ‘XYZ’ or who is a collaborator of the potential advisor have a strong case on the letter of recommendation. I have been supervised by two different professors, who are very much unrelated to the field( as I’d discovered my interest on my own ). I have demonstrated research and other parts of applications to back me up , but I’m worried if Letters of Recommendations not coming from the same ‘XYZ’ area Professor will not help my case. Is the Page-Rank type effect which I fear really true in academia ?


texts: how to write a dissertation acknowledgement that is not superfluous?

texts: A dissertation acknowledgment is important in the final works of a Ph.D research. After writing a scientific research, it's not easy for me to compose paragraphs to thank my supervisory committee, colleagues, fellow lecturers, etc. Could anyone help me by giving the idea how to work with it so my acknowledgment is interesting for everyone who reads it.


texts: Toxic colleague talks about me to Professors

texts:
I am a PhD student with a very difficult colleague - someone I thought was just socially inept, and rude. I was always friendly, giving her the benefit of the doubt, even though she offended me and others on a constant basis with her privileged, superiority complex. On paper, she looks brilliant - she has had many educational opportunities that my parents couldn't afford - something that has made her unbelievably unaware of experiences not her own.

After many derogatory and humiliating comments, I eventually started ignoring her quite a bit - she would never respond to my hellos, would interrupt me in class, laugh when I didn't know a scholar she brought up, etc. It was taking energy to be kind and outgoing to her. Her demeaning behavior was obvious to many, but because she is my classmate, I see her the most. After seeking guidance from mental health professionals, I decided to no longer be upset by her, but also not entertain her behavior. I blocked her out as much as I could, while trying to maintain professionalism.

Granted, there may have been a few times when I questioned her in class - asking for clarification or further explanations into her method of thinking. As PhD students, I am under the impression that we should be able to defend our research, and my professors never said anything to me about the questions I asked.

However, very recently a few professors approached me about "tension" between us. They informed me that this girl has complained about me to them. She apparently has discussed me often, even going as far to say that I "trigger" her. I am shocked. I have never said anything to my professors about her, even though she has offended me several times. I am friends with almost everyone in the program, while she has isolated herself.

I now am feeling extremely insecure, and painted in a very negative light. Professors are suggesting that I meet with her, and show her my "softer" side - I'm from the East coast, we can get a bit...intense. They are encouraging me to reach out to her and comfort her. However, I have been kind to her from the beginning, only recently trying to ignore her toxic attitude. I'm not sure what to do, or how to go about this.

Suggestions?


texts: What are some good things to make explicit between a student and his supervisor when beginning a PhD?

texts:
This question is motivated by the fact that my last research internship was unsatisfactory in my relation with my supervisor. Partly because of me, I may have tried to be too much autonomous, rarely coming to him or sharing what I was doing or reading and never asking feedback. We didn't produce much and by the end he shared with me his disappointment, which strangely was a bit surprising to me, I was blind to the situation and our lack of exchange.

Now, I'm about to start my PhD with a totally new supervisor, and I'd like to learn from this mistake. I'm deeply convinced that the experience will be much more fulfilling for both sides if we maintain stimulating exchanges.

I was thinking about having from the beginning a long discussion about his expectation from me on short, mid and long term, his availability and the way he would like to supervise and push me.

Is this irrelevant or too much? Have you already had similar discussions? Have you tried something else?


texts: Can I publish a review article if I only have a Master degree?

texts: I read many articles about specific area and I feel like I can write a review article. So, is that ok if I only have a Master degree? can some journals accept that? (I will be the sole author)


texts: In publications section of application, I'm asked what database the journal is indexed in. Where can I find that information?

texts:
I am applying to a university for a PhD and in the application it asks for information on journal publications. And under that it asks for journal's Impact factor and database the journal is indexed in.

What is meant by database the journal is indexed in? How can I find it?

I have my journal submitted to BMC systems biology and I found the 2015 impact factor to be 2.213. What is the database the journal is indexed in?


texts: Didn't Pass Final Course for Undergraduate Degree - Already Have Full Time Job

texts: Unfortunately I failed the last class I needed to get my undergraduate degree- even after walking on stage in front of my whole family. I emailed the professor back and forth to no avail and even applied to repeal the grade with the chair of my school (didn't work). This course is only offered during working hours for me and I don't think it can be done online. I am in panic mode and don't have a clue what to do at this point. Theres no way this is the first time this has ever happened to someone? Does anyone have any advice on what I should be doing? Thanks so much.


texts: Would a (temporary) industry position before starting a tenure-track position have a negative effect on academic career?

texts:
I have obtained a tenure-track offer (computer science) starting in 1 year that I'm planning to accept. I'm currently a postdoc in theoretical computer science and I'm facing the situation where I could either extend my current postdoc for another year or, somewhat by coincidence, I have also the option of going into industry with the knowledge that my appointment there would have a fixed ending date (when my tenure track position starts). The potential industry employer does not have any knowledge of my tenure track offer, so in a sense I would be "abusing" my position there as an industry postdoc. (Considering that the company is a big player in the financial world, I'm sure they wouldn't be too heartbroken over me leaving after a year...)

I feel somewhat more inclined to go for the industry position just for the sake of "trying something different" before going the full academic route.

  Would taking up a temporary appointment in industry be perceived as lack of commitment to research once my tenure clock is up and/or could there be other negative repercussions for my future (academic) career?

Edit: to add more detail, I'm planning to continue to work on research problems during my industry appointment as time permits. I'm reasonably well connected to avoid suffering from the fact that I'm not going to be physically located at a research institution (considering it's a short term absence).


texts: When and how did journal publications start to have such an important role in evaluating researchers?

texts:
Wikipedia says that Newton published the laws in 1687 on Principia Mathematica. And in another page that:

  The first recorded editorial pre-publication peer-review occurred in 1665 by the founding editor of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Henry Oldenburg

However is unclear to me when and how publishing in highly reputable journals has become so important, in particular for judging a researcher's past research success. (For example, for evaluating researchers for purposes of awarding funding.)

I assume that it all started as a way to filter or deprioritize low quality research proposals or researcher, but that would make for other question maybe. When and how did journals start to have such an important role in science for evaluating researchers?


texts: How important is it to submit papers early to a conference?

texts:
Does the submission number in any way influence the way a paper is treated?

For instance, is it likely that an early submission will be picked up by a member of the program committee, rather than being handed over to a subreferee?  When I'm going through a list, I do have a tendency to be more concentrated on the first few elements.

Thus, is it a good idea, knowing that I'll be on time for the conference deadline, to submit a good draft a few days/weeks before in order to rank higher in the submission number, then update with a polished version?


texts: How to ask professor to let me audit lectures at university I am not enrolled in?

texts:
There is a professor in the city I am currently living in who does some interesting work. I would like to sit in on his lectures, but I do not know how to ask him.
What is the best way for me to ask him to attend or audit his lectures or seminar? I don't want to come across as rude or imposing myself on him, esp. when its about seminars which are maybe not so big.

Also, relatedly: I am not sure if I would be able to attend every single lecture because I will have a lot of work to do the upcoming weeks. So I am not sure how to best ask with this in mind. If he says yes and I am not coming to one of the lectures -although I would love to- will it maybe look very bad?