texts: Asking a professor if you would be able to manage the material in their graduate course given lack of background

texts: I am a graduate student in a US chemistry department and found a class (mechanical engineering) that would be somewhat helpful for my research but is out of my discipline.  I'm not familiar with a lot of the methods used and so I was considering emailing the professor to see if it would be possible.  Would this be ok to do?


texts: How to deal with important but lazy collaborators?

texts:
I'm part of a research project, initiated by another collaborator. The collaborator did the bare minimum of work to get the project started, but then completely stopped contributing, while I did about 90% of my part in the project.

Now the collaborator wants to publish the work done, but without completing their part, by refocusing the paper and emphasizing my part as the main focus of the paper. The resulting paper is high on content (that I've written), but low on applicability/impact (due to the collaborator's negligence). It is also not worth the time I have put into it, since the collaborator's part was supposed to be crucial.

Despite their lack of input in this paper, the collaborator still insists on being the leading author (since they initiated the project), but the result is mostly my work. I may have to collaborate with them again in the future, so I do not want to alienate them by forcing my hand in this, but I feel like some kind of bait-and-switch has been done here.

Is there a way to proceed without seeming unethical? I can't leave this entire project without wasting all my work. But if I don't leave, then the collaborator gets credit for the work I've done.

Is there a way to stop this from happening again? Is this common in academic collaboration, and is there is a way to work with collaborators without this happening?


texts: How to answer the diversity question during faculty interview

texts:
On several occasions of my first-round faculty interview, I was asked about the diversity questions, such as:

"How do you work with diverse students?"
"How do you contribute to the university's diversity mission?"

I want to seek some insights into the questions. Which aspects I need to cover to deliver a winning answer?


texts: Include personal scripts & algorithms in scientific paper

texts:
as the title said I want to include a lot of scripts I wrote in scientific paper but how I do that do I upload them In GitHub & then cite them or include them as additional materials at the end of the paper.
Thank in advance


texts: Why are all these papers exactly 10 pages long?

texts: I've been reading papers authored by professor A's PhD students. I have read about a dozen of papers by now, and realized that all of them are exactly 10 pages long. These papers were written by different PhD students and they were published in several different venues (very good ones). Is 10 the magic number for paper-length? (at least in professor A's field, which is computer science - human computer interaction)


texts:
Right now I'm using Web of Knowledge, ScienceDirect, etc. to find papers to read and get some metadata. My university has a subscription, so this is nice. As far as I know these databases simply have a selection of journals, download all of the articles from those journals, and display them for me, updating every time the journal publishes. My question is: what percentage of journals are actually represented here? Some people say there are between 10,000,000 and 100,000,000 published academic documents in the sciences. Web of Science has about 50,000,000, and it's not clear how many ScienceDirect has.

A good comparison would be: if you take everything that Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, and Nature have, combined, and subtract everything that Web of Knowledge has, how many things are left?

Another way to phrase it: Of the major publishers (like the ones I listed above), how many are represented in these databases?


texts: How to decide which university to study for PhD

texts:
I have seen many different research students that want to apply for a PhD or MSc program but they are so nervous about their choice. Sometimes they pay most of heir time, reviewing the websites of the universities, profiles of the professors and do their best to gather information and choose the best PhD program or university to apply for PhD but they are still nervous about their choice.
Some students only think that the universities with higher rankings are best to apply for and they miss some middle-ranked universities which are so good at their majors. This way, their chance to apply for those high-ranked universities is so low and they may lose two or three years preparing and applying for those university. While in the same period of time, if they had applied for that middle-ranked universities, they had higher chance of applying and in this period of three years, they would have finished most parts of their PhD program.
My question here is about these things:

To what extent a person should be realistic in choosing a university for his PhD program. A normal student may be more successful in a middle-ranked university than a higher-ranked university.
I think that sometimes, normal students lose their confidence when they study at high level universities, while; if they study in good middle-ranked universities, their academic output may be much higher and they will be a more successful person.
Does it worth that a person that has high chance to be accepted in a good second ranked university, wait for two or three years to modify his curriculum vitae and apply for a first level university?
Which one is more acceptable and appreciated? A top student at a second ranked university or a poor and not so much successful student in a very good ranked well-known university?

I can not decide in this period of each persons' life, how he should make decisions. This also applies to other circumstances. For instance, working in good company with lower income or working in a not big company with higher level of income. Making clear how a person should make decisions like this may be so much helpful to me.


texts: What does a brief quick referee report mean?

texts:
A rather prestigious mathematical journal asked me recently to referee a paper.
More precisely, they asked me to provide "a brief (but relatively quick) report".

Does this mean that this is only a pre-referee report? What should be included in such a report?


texts:
I was thinking that Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is for people who has routine job, and with CPD they renew their professional skills. Normally, by attending some courses, workshops, and practical programs. However, for an academic, we do this everyday through teaching and research.

I an assistant professor of applied physics mainly focused on research. In an application, I was asked to write about my CPD in one page. I have no idea what should I write. Aren't my teaching and research CPD? What should I write about my activities in academia in one page?

Any idea what should be the outlines of a CPD statement for an academic?


texts: Emphasizing previous sales skill in finance PhD application?

texts:
It seems a rather odd thing to emphasize, but I thought my past experience as a broker could be turned into a positive rather than a moot point.

Do PhD admissions committees take into account soft skill development as a factor, and how heavily do you think they wieght this? Should I note my sales experience in the application, or ignore it?

My field is finance, or potentially economics depending on which program I can get in; I'll have degrees in both at the time of application.


texts: If I fail PhD, what is the appropriate way to present myself in CV for jobs in industry?

texts:
I am in a terrible situation. My two supervisors said that my thesis (about to be submitted) is borderline because I do not have any published paper (two submissions only). It is because I tried hard to submit A/A* journal.

My program does not need the paper though, but it sorts of culture and expectation in Computer sciences where everyone normally has a published paper.

I did think about quitting before or resorting to a Master, but I cannot do that anymore because I am in my third year in an Australian uni.

Edit: Got a job that is willing to pay me a Ph.D. salary before having my Ph.D. result. In my CV, I did mention that I had submitted my thesis, but not know the result yet. And yes, they asked why I move to industry? The reason was that I want to acquire industrial experiences which will be more challenging that can result in real-world contribution.


texts: How to phrase an email in response to an unreasonable action by a superior?

texts:
When I was admitted to my graduate course, I was guaranteed funding for six years.

Essentially, I have been doing research on a different school of thought, so I am not well liked by some of the senior professors (who have badmouthed me to department administrators), some of whom refuse to talk to me.

I completed five years and had a verbal conversation with a department administrator. They mentioned "you are not entitled to funding in your sixth year. We spoke previously. I asked whether you needed funding this year and you shook your head."

I am writing to the department administrator and will subsequently escalate this to the department head and deputy if things are unresolved. However, I don't know what tone to use. On the one hand, I need to convey the seriousness of this matter. On the other, they are my superiors.

I'm thinking of the following: "I refer to our conversation on date X. You mentioned that I would not be entitled to funding for the upcoming year because (repeat conversation). I would like to know if I heard you correctly. As this is an important matter, I appreciate your reply by date Y. If you do not respond, I will assume that there are no inaccuracies in my recollection. Finally, I reiterate that I made no indication that said I did not need funding."

Is there a better way of phrasing this?


texts: How to make leaving a PhD program seem like a positive thing on a resume

texts:
I have a feeling this question has been posted before, but I wanted to ask as my situation is slightly different. I've recently decided to leave my PhD program in the social sciences in order to look for work. I've basically come to the conclusion after completing 3 full years, courses, and fieldwork that I don't want to be an academic but would rather put my skills to use with NGOs, non-profits, or the public sector. In many ways, the last hurdle of the PhD (i.e. writing the dissertation) seemed more like a barrier to what I wanted to do, rather than something that would bring me closer to it. I left because I wanted to go in a new direction, not because I wasn't sure that I was capable of finishing.

Anyways, my main concern right now is how to present this discrepancy on my resume. As I've been a TA and doing research projects since getting my MA, I've decided to list my years as a TA, and the rest under the position of "Researcher." I figure that the situation is a little too complex to really explain in a resume or cover letter, and that most employers will be able to read between the lines that I was probably in a PhD program. I've basically been marketing myself on my resumes/cover letters as a "researcher" with lots of research projects under my belt, without specifically stating under the "education" section that I have a partially finished PhD. My motivation behind the "researcher" title is that during my graduate studies I designed, proposed and carried out individual research on a number of projects.

I guess I should qualify this by mentioning that my PhD studies were in the social sciences, and there seems to be a bit more leeway in terms of describing what we do. All of my dissertation research was funded by a fellowship, and all of my various other research projects (where I wasn't principal investigator) were the result of competitions funded by grants. I have always designed my own research projects, which is why I didn't think it was a bad idea to go with "researcher", and my references could verify that.

It looks like this title would be a little confusing given the circumstances, so I think I'm going to use "Graduate Student Researcher", "PhD Researcher" or something similar in the future. I guess this seems like it gives a more accurate representation of what kinds of things I was doing.
I figure that the 4 years of MA/PhD work on research projects gives me (and any other former graduate student) skills that are valid to most employers. I just want to be able to address this discrepancy honestly and enthusiastically in an interview, rather than clumsily addressing it in a cover letter/resume. What do you guys think? Is this the right strategy to take?


texts: Is omitting a school with blank transcript considered unethical in academia?

texts: Suppose one was accepted to a school of higher education, but due to personal reasons withdrew three weeks after the beginning of the first semester without registering for and attending courses. Suppose he is now reapplying to other schools and has to submit all transcripts from the universities attended. Is including information about such a school relevant on an application? There is no transcript to submit, and no grades.


texts: What did Israel Gelfand mean by “You have to be fast only to catch fleas,” in the context of mathematical research?

texts:
I'm confused about a statement by Israel Gelfand
given in the book TOPSY TURVY: A Book for All in One  Page  No:155
Why did  Israel Gelfand  say “You have to be fast only to catch fleas,”
and how does this phrase apply to researchers?


texts: Accused of cheating by proctor due to information on scrap sheet

texts:
Sorry if this is a bit long. I took a final for an intro elective (I'm a college senior), a pretty easy A- GPA booster class (average before this final was 90+).

I have learning disorders so I get to take the exam in a private room. Shortly into the exam, I asked to take a bathroom break and grabbed tissue from the washroom. Then I went back into the exam room and continued, got carried away and started doodling on one of the tissue papers. I believe I wrote about three words on the sheet before the proctor came by and asked why I had unauthorized "notes". I explained that these weren't notes and just me doodling. He asked why I didn't doodle on my scrap and I said I was using my one scrap sheet for actual calculations and didn't want to run out of space on it. He said ok but that we would need to go to the head proctor and report it just in case, and if she was fine with it I could keep writing. He gave me back the papers and we got up to head out to her office.

Once out of the exam rooms, he said on a second thought to give him the papers instead and he wanted to hand them to her. I said no, sorry, I can't do that, we are already heading there, whats the big deal with me holding them? He said something about protocol, but I told him I didn't feel comfortable with handing him my papers.

He then tried to grab them from me, which was when I ran into the bathroom because I felt like he was trying to attack me (been raped before - guess I got triggered). He goes into the bathroom with me still trying to grab my papers. I ran out telling him to get another proctor because I am feeling harassed and uncomfortable, so I went into the next washroom and he followed me in there. I had a panic attack, and ran out again trying to get as far away from him as possible, that was when he called a female proctor who sat with me the entire time in the hallways till they brought a counselor. Now he claims that I cheated with unauthorized notes and I have to go to a meeting with the dean.

Also they are bringing as evidence my scrap sheet because I had previously been given the same exam but couldn't complete it due to being sick (I memorized a keyword from each question wanting to see (also kind of hoping)  if they would administer the exact same exam and matched the old questions to the new ones). I don't see how that has anything to do with the three words I wrote on the other sheet.


texts: I'm feeling discouraged after getting tenure; should I quit?

texts:
A few months ago, and seven years after I obtained my PhD, I finally got tenure.  Hence I have a permanent position in academia.

After a few months in this new position, I find myself thinking of quitting academia. I do not know if this is because of my new status but I am quite discouraged and not motivated to do research. Meanwhile, it seems that I now face even more teaching, more administration and more research pressure than before.

Have you passed through a similar phase, and if so could you describe your experience?  I wonder if all these thoughts are caused by the transition from being a postdoc/assistant professor to being an associate professor, but I do not know.


texts: Why do so many pure math PhD students in the USA drop out or leave academia, compared to applied mathematics PhDs in the USA?

texts:
I notice that many pure math PhD students, doing things like algebraic geometry or representation theory, drop out and enter industry and become software developers. The ones who finish their pure math PhDs also drop out and do things such as blogging, tutoring, etc. These students are pretty "top of the heap" too, attending the top pure math PhD programs like at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Then I notice that many applied math PhD students typically finish, and also get post-doc offers. These PhD students are typically doing numerical methods for the solutions of partial differential equations.

Why does this happen? Do pure math PhD tracks often lead students to dead ends? Is it too hard, even for the brightest PhD candidates at the best programs?

In numerical PDEs, it seems that just a little progress leads to a PhD degree, e.g. solving numerically a PDE in one space dimension. (I know firsthand of someone getting their applied math PhD from an Ivy League program for solving a PDE in 1D.)

I have friends in both pure math and applied math PhD programs and have noticed this trend for many years now.


texts: Leaving a conference immediately after presenting a paper?

texts:
I work as a full-time employee in industry. Recently, I've been invited to present at a conference in an area not closely related to my degree. My employer approved me being absent for two-three hours and I accepted the conference invitation.

However, I'm not sure how will this look in the eyes of the conference attendees and other presenters since I will have to leave immediately after my 20 minutes talk. Therefore, I will miss their talks.

Is there an etiquette regarding this? Should someone accept a presentation on a conference if they won't be able to be present for the whole duration?


texts: Is it common for PhD programs to require students to have a minimum number of papers to be eligible for the defense?

texts:
In some countries like mine (Iran), you are asked to have at least two papers printed or accepted in an ISI journal before you can claim for your PhD thesis defense.

Is it like that in other countries?
Is there any world record for the number of papers extracted from a single PhD thesis?


texts: Politics in forming collaborations as a postdoc

texts:
Graduate students talk to other researchers, other than their formal advisors, all the time, whether at their home institution or at conferences. They get help on specific tasks, ask for input on their current work, or even to discuss research ideas.

However, as a graduate student, forming a significant collaboration with another researcher without checking in with his/her formal research advisor can be seen as "going over the advisor's head". Of course there is no hard and fast rule about this, and exceptions abound I'm sure, but then the student runs the risk of arousing the ire of his advisor, especially if the researcher is not a close associate of the advisor. Sometimes, this is because there may be "bad blood" between the advisor and the researcher, unbeknownst to the student. Also, if there is indeed politics between the two, the other researcher may be less prone to responding to the student, as the student is essentially seen as "belonging" to his or her advisor.

Is this still the case as a postdoctoral researcher? Does one gain more independence as a postdoc? If there are political differences between your hiring faculty Prof. X and potential collaborator Dr. Y, will Dr. Y be more likely to shy away from collaborating with you just because you're associated with Prof. X?


texts: Google scholar "sort by date" returns articles from last year only?

texts:
I am doing a pilot study for my research. When I search in google scholar, it gives me about 10 thousand results for the keywords that are anywhere in the article. I want to narrow my search down to abstract, title and keywords only but when I click on sort by date it only gives me articles from the last year only. Is there any option which I am missing so that I can refine my result to abstracts, keywords and titles from all previous years rather than only from the last year?

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Is it ok to upload encrypted pdf file on arXiv?

texts: Is it ok to upload a pdf file of my paper with "edit with permission of author-password encryption" on arXiv? Is it good? And also please answer, can your paper show "submitted" status and then put "on hold"?


texts: Relearning how to work (becoming much more efficient). Is it even possible?

texts:
I’ve been considering a career in academia ever since I was an undergrad. I’m turning 30 this year. I think I should either get to it (PhD and beyond) or give it up once and for all.

The key source of anxiety for me is the hyper-productive nature of contemporary academia (cultural anthropology in my case). Everything I learned over the years from books, blogs, mentors, and peers leads me to believe that academia is a place where only the most efficient knowledge workers can hope to thrive.

My issue: while I love anthropology, I am a SLOW knowledge worker. I read slowly, I take reading notes slowly, and I write unusually slowly. Then there is memory; everything I want to commit to long-term memory takes a conscious effort and planning (which again, is rather time consuming).

As a HS/university student I often got on simply by throwing in as many hours as it took. However, during the MA (and especially BA/MA dissertation writing) my slow pace became a severe hindrance. I finished the BA with a 3.7 GPA (4.0 within major) from a decent R1 university. However, I was leading an increasingly unhealthy life, definitely not sustainable in the long term.

My understanding is that serious PhD candidates and junior faculty in my field are estimated to work 65h/week, and are expected to be high performers in terms of their output/teaching/service. This leads me to believe that at this level I can’t expect to succeed by throwing in some extra hours. I’d run out of hours to “throw” fairly quickly.

When I feel optimistic I think that perhaps I can relearn how I work – how I read, take notes, memorize and most importantly, how I write. I can learn to work faster/smarter/better. I assure myself, PhD programs are also about figuring THAT part out. They are also about learning how to cope with the workload.

At my lowest, I recollect late paper submissions, or the debilitating anxiety associated with being months behind schedule on dissertation work. Then I think: someone who wants to do this for a living should have breezed through BA/MA. If I haven’t figured out how to handle it better back then, perhaps it’s delusional to think that it will all magically come together now.

A part of me is afraid of investing many years only to discover that I can’t handle this type of work. To learn at 35 or 40 that I can’t do this job well. Please tell me what you think. For those who might have dealt with a similar problem, how did you overcome your SLOWNESS and become more effective?

TL;DR ---- I want to be a professor. Love the field. Had good GPA/feedback on past work. But I’m a hopelessly SLOW reader/writer. Is there hope?

EDIT: Regarding the question "How should I deal with discouragement as a graduate student?" This recommended thread is similar, but does not focus on the main issue important to me: the question of efficiency.


texts:
I am a master’s student of pure mathematics at my country’s most famous university, and recently I have applied to a couple of foreign universities.

Because of the reputation of my university and my high average which is around 19.50 out of 20, and also my master’s project which is going to be published in an accredited international journal, I am optimistic to be admitted for a PhD position abroad.

However, the most reputed and cited professors do not write a letter of recommendation for me because my major is not their area of expertise. My supervisor does not have many citations on google scholar. Will it affect my admission process?


texts: How to gain strength for an exam I have been studying for 2.5 years which is only 15 days away?

texts:
I have been preparing for a very important exam for 2.5-3 years. And now I am completely exhausted, the exam was scheduled to happen in May, but due to COVID-19 it got delayed to September end. This delay and uncertainty did break my motivation a bit but I still kept on pushing, and now I'm completely exhausted. I don't have the strength to go and take the exam. I have prepared well for the exam, and have been putting about 7-8 hours each day with very little breaks in between, so acing this exam does mean a lot to me and my future also depends on it. But I just don't feel like taking the exam. Even my preparation has been suffering due to this for a week or two.
The exam is just 14 days away, so I don't want to take a break as this time is very crucial to revise the material, but obviously I'm unable to focus on it, which is worsening the situation and acting like a negative feedback loop.
It's like in the saying "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe", now I have worked hard to actually get a sharp axe, but no energy to actually use it. Please help me, what can I do to get out of this situation.
With the amount of effort I have already put in preparing for the exam, and with my future depending on it, I really don't want to mess this one up.


texts: Ph.D. in UK/Ireland as "Dipl.-Ing." from Germany

texts:
Is it feasible for an engineering student from Germany to get into a Ph.D. program in the UK/Ireland? Specifically, what should one keep in mind/try to accomplish in the last two years before finishing the "Diplom"? How would one apply?

Maybe this question can be extended to other combinations of countries, but I didn’t want it to be too broad.


texts: Is it ethical to keep authorized readings after course is over?

texts:
I was the TA for a course a few years ago.
As part of the course, I was able to obtain a set of business case studies.
At the bottom of each page, it is written something to the effect of:

  This document is authorized for use by [my name], from [start date] to [end date], in the course [name of course] at [name of school]. Any unauthorized use or reproduction of this document is strictly prohibited.

Is it ethical for me to keep these readings after the course is over,
and to read them some time in the future?

Conclusion

I appreciate the opinions of all who answered and commented.

I had asked this question because the licensing agreement
sounds too bad to be true.
The students had to pay more than $100 for all the readings for this course.
If the students were to purchase a textbook,
at least they are allowed to keep it and read it in the future.
I suspect that the publishers wishes they had the technology available
to make the case studies like the
"Mission Impossible" style self-destruct messages
which would explode once it is past the license end date.
This seems acceptable to me for software,
but strange for something like readings.

At the end of the day, I have to make my own decision
about what is the right thing to do in this instance.


texts: Where can I find a collection of past exams w/ answers on various subjects?

texts:
I am not currently enrolled in any university (too costly for me at this time), but I would like to study as much as I can in various subjects (Advanced Mathematics, Psychology, Computer Programming and so on.) I'd like to find out the areas in which I am adept in case I decide to attend a university later on in life. This will prevent me from working towards an area that I may not be good at or a line of work that I ultimately find out I'm not interested in (both of which have happened to many people I know.)

Are there any universities that provide past curriculums and exams (with answers) online to be used as study guides?


texts: Is it better having a bad PhD done or having no PhD?

texts:
I'm close to the end of a troubled PhD experience. However this closeness might be extended to the infinite if I would get to the point of having something that is good enough.
I might be too self-critical (maybe considering the standard of my institution) but at the moment the best scenario is ending with something that I wouldn't use after and I would prefer to not show it around.

Also I'm not very interested in the subject itself, so if my PhD has to be a visit card for my further steps in academia, it might be better to don't have it. I don't want to be framed in this "expertise".

My unique motivation is putting an end to this story, get the credit and the title, continuing in academia saying I have a PhD, but without showing it around as a good trophy.

I'm basically facing this dilemma:

On one hand I must consider that "it's just a PhD" so I'm not going to change the world with it. It's enough doing something proper and giving my small contribution to the research... in other words, it doesn't have to be perfect.
On the other hand, if this has to be something that is going to specialize my academic career and in which I should build my reputation and be recognized as an expert of this, I prefer to disappear from the scene.

There are few aspects to consider:

Even if I might be too self-critical, there are objective problems in my work (which are not my responsibility in larger part)

It can be possible that with some tricks the institution and supervisor might close an eye on this, since they have their slice of responsibilities and support my finalization.

Shortly, all the PhD has been done without following any of the supposed methodology and criteria. I had to put a bunch of material together, even if unrelated to the actual research, just because they are of a direct and personal interest of the supervisor. Thus, it should be my responsibility to make sense out of them and create questions, answers and a dissertation out of it... whatever it is. You can imagine what the result can be.

Will this PhD affect my future steps in the academia?


texts: Is it really legal to submit a work to a venue although we already uploaded it as a reprint somewhere like Arxiv or researchgate?

texts:
I am wondering if it  is legal to submit a work as fresh manuscript to a journal although we have already uploaded it somewhere else as a preprint?
Most of the journals/publishers require that the work at hand should not be submitted anywhere else. So I am wondering how the people who firstly put stuff  as a preprint on the researchgate and ArXiv deal with this issue!


texts: How to refer to descriptive information of variables as exogenous variables

texts:
I am writing the methodology section of my paper in management and one of the models I use takes descriptive statistics, such as min, max, mean, std, of entities as its input (classification model). However, I do not know how to refer to such input academically.

The way I have written it is:

  Our exogenous variables consisted of the descriptive information of
  main variables and item pool characteristics. It allowed us not only
  to rely on item side characteristics, but also on their
  relative location in the environment space and relations to one
  another.

How acceptable or academic is this? Should I explicitly refer to min max std etc. too? Or it is already clear to a reader


texts:
Summary: A senior faculty member insisted on uploading a draft of our math paper with incomplete proofs and intermediate results that turned out to be wrong to the arXiv. This was completely deliberate and done in order to claim priority. How serious is this? Does this warrant approaching an ethics committee?

I'm a PhD student in math in my last year. Some time ago, I got involved in a project with a senior faculty member, apparently a top researcher in his field, who is not my advisor. Initially everything seemed going well and I was enthusiastic about the project. As time went on he increasingly started pushing me more and more to finish the paper as he was worried about competition on the same problem, and I got into some trouble with my other work. But it's what happened in the end that really bothered me.

The senior reseacher insisted on uploading a half-finished draft to arXiv in order to establish priority on the results. He specifically told me that it does not matter that some of the intermediate results aren't stated carefully, and most distressingly that we should try to make it look just good enough that nobody will notice that most of the proofs are actually just rough sketches. In practice, this meant leaving out many arguments from our working draft and replacing them with weasel words like "clearly", "obviously" and such, or with long calculations that look relevant but on a closer reading turn out not to be justified adequately. When I raised my concerns about this being unethical he said I'm too naive to get to the top.

Some weeks after uploading our preprint, another preprint proving essentially the same result appeared on the arXiv, so at least my senior collaborator was right about there being competition. As for us, after some months' hard work after uploading the paper, we got most of the arguments fixed. The main results didn't change, but some intermediate results "of independent interest" changed almost beyond recognition. Even though the competing paper looked careful and not at all rushed and our proper arguments were on the arXiv only after theirs, my senior collaborator keeps giving talks where he stresses that we were first.

The episode changed gave me serious concerns about becoming a research mathematician. At least my view of scientific ethics was grossly violated when we posted a preprint with false proofs and uncertain results in order to claim that we were first, and moreover I'm shocked that this seems to be business as usual for someone. Now, I know arXiv isn't a peer-reviewed journal, but I'm ashamed of my part in the process and of having a paper with such a history in my publication list

I'd like to clear my conscience. I'm wondering if I should bring this up with some other senior faculty or even a university ethics committee. Would these events be considered a serious violation of scientific ethics? Would there be some consequences for the professor if I approach an ethics committee? Am I also at risk, should I wait with voicing concerns until my graduation?


texts: Does the NSA hire mathematics professors often for projects / contractual work / full-time work?

texts:
How often do math professors / math PhDs / postdocs, whose research directions are in abstract algebra and number theory, get hired by the NSA to do some work - either on a short-term contract or longer-term / full-time work?  Or is the NSA highly selective and just because one has a PhD in Algebra and / or Number Theory does not mean that one can just "sign up" to work for the NSA, like signing up to join the military but with math skill sets to contribute.

I've read about some high-profile mathematicians who have done some contractual work for the NSA, while keeping their professorships, so my question is mainly on whether this also happens for lesser-known PhDs / profs / postdocs. I asked my own prof this question and he said that the NSA is highly selective - something that he is not sure he could even get, if he applied.  Yet, another (more senior in rank) professor that I spoke with says the NSA is one of the largest employers of algebraists and number theorists.  So I seem to have two conflicting ideas.


texts: How do I deal with feelings of guilt and shame related to how long my PhD has taken?

texts:
I am physically disabled. I have spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease. I am wheelchair-bound and am nearly quadriplegic. This is not to complain, but rather to provide context.
My Ph.D. thesis defense is scheduled for less than two months from now. It has been a long road. I am tired.
It has also been literally a long time. It has been 10 years since I got my bachelor's degree and started the Ph.D. program. I only made it this far with the tireless support of my extraordinary advisor and a wonderful department. They never gave up on me.
I am currently struggling with guilt, or shame, that it has taken me so long to get to the defense. My advisor, my department, and my family have not made me feel this way. But I still feel bad that it has taken me so long. How do I deal with feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy?
I believe that all people have value, regardless of their success or failure or their intellectual ability. But somehow I guess I don't believe this applies to me.
I am looking for help, support, or anecdotes related to feelings of guilt/shame/inadequacy in academia in particular (especially Ph.D. programs), and not necessarily about life in general.


texts: How do I prepare to Skype discussion for PhD admission?

texts:
I applied for a PhD position in stellar astrophysics in Belgium, and I was offered an interview this coming Friday and they said this in the confirmation email:

In response to our call, we have received an impressive number of
high-quality applications and we have the pleasure to inform you that
you have been selected on our short list. To make our final choice
amongst the few remaining applicants, we now invite you to an online
discussion in the next days. You will be able to make a short
presentation (10 min maximum) of your current research.

Any clues what I should expect and how I should prepare for the presentation?
Is this formal interview with a bunch of staff or informal discussion with the supervisors?
I am so nervous because it is my first interview for PhD program and any suggestion will help.
Thank you!


texts: Can I cite a comment by a reviewer of a conference paper?

texts:
While researching for my thesis, I found a source containing comments by the reviewers for a particular conference on the acceptance of papers.
see https://openreview.net/forum?id=HkAClQgA-

If I am to cite one of the comments by a reviewer, how can I do that?
Or rather can I do that?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Is an undergrad travel grant relevant to a CV?

texts:
Last year, I presented a poster at a major conference.
My lab didn't have the money to send me, so I applied for and received an undergraduate travel grant from my university's office of undergraduate affairs.

Is this a relevant and/or important thing to list on my resume for future scholarships and grad apps?


texts: "Official" journal abbreviation of MAGMA

texts:
I am struck by the use of "Magn Reson Mater Phy" as an abbreviation by the journal "Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine" (a.k.a. "MAGMA"). See here for an example.

Their instructions for authors say:

  In order to have all citations to the journal taken into account in
  the calculation of the Thomson-ISI impact factor and citation index,
  please always refer to MAGMA as Magn Reson Mater Phy in all your
  publications. Magn Reson Mater Phy is the only official abbreviation
  of the journal.

That use is of course reflected in the Web of Science.

On the same site, they say:

  Always use the standard abbreviation of a journal’s name according to
  the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations, see ISSN.org LTWA.

Using the LTWA and ISO-4 rules, I determine "Magn Reson Mater Phys Biol Med" as an abbreviation; note "Biol Med" and the extra "s" in "Phys". "Physics = Phys." is even an explicit example in ISO-4 (section 3.5) and often used, for example, in the abbreviation of "Medical Physics" ("Med Phys").

So, I wonder why Springer says the "official abbreviation" is one that is different from the LTWA. Is that for historical reasons, and MAGMA just sticks to it because the ISI impact factor is so powerful? Is there a title history that I may have overlooked? Or is there another reason Springer uses a different abbreviation for "Physics" and omits everything after the comma? In the whole ISO-4, I have not found any indication to do anything like that.

Update:
A little bit of history. MAGMA was born as "MAGMA" in 1993 (with no explanation of the meaning in the first editorial). The NML catalog says that "Issues for Apr. 1994- have subtitle: Magnetic resonance materials in physics, biology, and medicine." So there is no indication of any title not involving "Biology and Medicine".

The header line read MAGMA in all papers until the end of 1997 (see that year's last paper), and had been changed to "Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine" in the first editorial after the publisher had changed to Elsevier in 1998. It remained like this until issue 15 (some time in 2002), when the publisher changed to Springer; they started using "MAGMA" again until issue 18; since issue 19, they have been using "Magn Reson Mater Phy" in the header line until today. Note that the ISO-4 standard has not changed since 1997.

Also, the Web of Science says in the JCR:

  Titles

  ISO: Magn. Reson. Mat. Phys. Biol. Med.

  JCR Abbrev: MAGN RESON MATER PHY

So there is no doubt the abbreviation I determined is correct. (Yes, there is! Note the difference in "Mater" [my abbreviation, according to LTWA] vs. "Mat" [ISO abbreviation according to JCR].) But still my questions remain:

Why does Springer/JCR use a different abbreviation?
Who was the first to use it?
And why do they still recommend using it?

And a bonus one:

Why does the JCR use a wrong ISO abbreviation?

Update: More facts.

MAGMA appears in the JCR for the first time in 1998, already as "MAGN RESON MATER PHY"
A fact that I have ignored so far is how the journal uses it's own name in references of their papers. Late 1997, MAGMA was cited "MAGMA", but I can't find self-citation after that (and before the JCR). So did the JCR ultimately define that abbreviation?


texts: Is the academic job market in developing / former Eastern Bloc countries welcoming towards young foreign researchers?

texts:
Though I am at the very beginning of my PhD journey, I am somewhat disturbed by the apparent lack of tenured positions in the US and Western Europe, especially concerning the humanities. All these horror stories about eager graduates looking in vain for years make me wonder how to prepare for my future, apart from publishing vehemently etc. Teaching and research are my passions, and I am willing to make significant sacrifices with regard to my family life and salary expectations in order to stay in academia.

To be more specific, I am willing to move (almost) anywhere if it means I can continue on my chosen career path. In fact, it would probably be beneficial to see the world and interact with different cultures. I am thinking of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and CIS-countries, Southeast Asia and other regions which recently underwent an economic boom; if this also implies an expanding tertiary education, I imagine they may be more interested in hiring Western graduates from older/more reputable universities. Industrialisation and population growth almost necessarily mean a higher enrolment rate and new institutions, and the faculty may consider employing researchers from more distinguished places a valuable marketing tool, at least in the beginning.

According to your experience, is this assumption correct? Is it reasonable to look for academic positions outside the US and Europe? Is the administration more likely to welcome me among their ranks at such places, ceteris paribus? If so, do you have any special advise on the application process or on the difficulties I may encounter? Thank you.

ETA: Just to be clear, I am specifically referring to second- or even third-tier target institutions, not Tokyo University or Peking Uni, though I welcome all suggestions.


texts: Can an image from a paper by author A be used in a published book by author B?

texts:
Generally, is it acceptable for one author to use an image, or video, from another author's paper in a book, provided that the original author is credited.

For example, I'd like to write something to the following effect.

  Jekyl & Hyde instructed a set of subjects to rate the attractiveness
  of each of the following two 3D-rendered animations of human dance.
  [VIDEO 1] [VIDEO 2]...

There are some important, and unique, images that convey information that can't be concisely described. I'm concerned that my requests to use the images might be ignored (I figure that answering a request from an unknown person from a distant university would be pretty low priority for most busy people), and that consequently, I wouldn't be able to effectively convey the author's findings to the reader.


texts: How to handle off-topic questions during an interview for a PhD/academic position?

texts:
While offering an answer to another question on this site (this one if you're interested), I was reminded of a particularly challenging experience that occurred during my interview process that might generalize to others.

I went to a decently well-known and respected undergraduate university, and while I was interviewing for a PhD position at various schools, at least one of my interviewers usually asked me how I could help his son/daughter/nephew, etc. get into my undergraduate university. This was not at the end of the interview when all other questions (both his and mine) were answered, but rather it was at the very beginning of the interview (e.g. "Oh, I see you went to university X. My [insert familial relationship] is applying there this year/next year. How can s/he get in?")

Not knowing if I was in a position to decline to comment, I gave some brief, generic suggestions and then tried to steer the interview back to my own application and admissions.

I can see this possibly happening in many scenarios, from graduate admissions (like my own experience) to possibly postdoc or faculty job interviews. Has anyone else faced this sort of situation before (off-topic questions that while not "illegal" are somewhat uncomfortable to answer), and any suggestions on how to diplomatically handle it?


texts: Is a conference paper whose proceedings will be published in IEEE Xplore counted as a publication?

texts:
I presented a paper at a conference last week. The organizer website has mentioned that selected papers will be published in IEEE Xplore. Following my initial paper submission, there was a selection process after which I got a mail intimating me that my paper was selected and the list of selected papers was also put up on the website and my paper was there. After this, I was asked to edit my paper according to the IEEE format. A deadline was set for the final camera-ready submission and I made it in time for that. After this, there was no intimation of anything related to publishing and I attended the conference and presented the paper. Since I read online that it takes a while for the papers to be put up online, I assumed there must be another review by the IEEE committee but I probably have been wrong. That last deadline asking for the papers in IEEE format was the final mention of publishing. I have a couple of question regarding my situation.

Can I include my paper in my CV under publications? Does this count as an electronic publication since it's going to be on IEEE Xplore? Or should I write it under conferences? This is my one and only paper. And when the proceedings are on IEEE Xplore, will they also be available in the book format or are they just digital publications?
Since the paper isn't out yet, I heard that forthcoming/in review/in press,etc must be used on the CV. Which term should I use here since my paper will probably not count as "in press" material? Also, what format must I use in my CV to mention this paper?
I read that depending on the area, a conference paper has much value or no value at all and in some fields like Computer Science, a conference paper has good value. Is this a fact?
What are "refereed" conference proceedings? Do IEEE proceedings fall into this category?

I am sure these questions have been answered before but I couldn't find the right answers and being new to the world of publishing in academia, things are quite confusing. If this question is a duplicate, please notify me so that I can delete it.

Edit: Added a few details to make my case clearer.


texts: Who to cite for fundamental mathematical definitions?

texts:
I am using first-order stochastic dominance and I am wondering if I need to cite a source.

More generally, how should one cite well-known mathematical definitions -- Is it okay to cite a somewhat recent source (like a book that covers the topic) or should one go to the effort to track down where it was first introduced?


texts:
I am starting to fill out my resume and I looked up a few "recommendations" on what to do. When it got to the GPA, it mentioned that you can list your cumulative, in-major, in-minor, or even last semester GPA (clearly labeled and marked as such).

I was just wondering, what "in-major" meant. Does it mean the classes directly related to my major (Computer Engineering) or does it mean my classes in upper-division or something else?


texts: How to proceed if a professor does not answer the request for letter of recommendation?

texts:
I have written an email to a professor asking him for a letter of recommendation. It's been almost a week and he didn't answer back.

I have already seen questions on this topic here, saying that when a professor doesn't answer is probably because he forgot or he overlooked it. However my question is: what is the best thing to do next? Send him another email? Or try and see him in person?


texts: Should I post publications in preparation (or just submitted) on my CV?

texts: If I have works that are almost submitted to journals, or are in journal review, is it appropriate to include these on my CV?


texts: How to handle a title (PostDoc) I consider misleading?

texts:
I have been granted a Marie Curie fellowship recently, and as some of you might know, one of the requirements is a PhD or 4 years of equivalent research experience (This question is related to that). Now, the contract issued from the host institution and the paperwork from the funding administrator set my role as Post-Doctoral Researcher.

Given that I don't have a PhD and applied based on the research experience item, I don't feel it is correct to have that title. Actually, I think this could be misleading and don't know how could this impact my career/reputation.

Should I ask to change this title? Does it matter in the end? or as long as I disclose I am "PostDoc researcher" because it was the title given for the role?

Here is another related question


texts: Can a paper be presented by two presenters in a conference

texts:
I am a beginner in research papers and doesn't know much about registration and presenting.

Can two authors register for the same conference and present the paper (together)?


texts: What data analysis software should a supervisor recommend to their research students?

texts: Often I have found that research students who have learned to do experiments have not learned to use software to handle their data effectively.  It's not within my power to insert the appropriate training into their prior education.  Teaching people to program or use software is not within my area of expertise or a priority for me.  I have observed other research supervisors expecting their students to "teach your self to use what I use" but I realize that what I use, while very powerful, may not be best for a beginner.  Also, I picked my tools a long time ago so the state of the art may have changed.  What should I recommend to my students, and why?  I would like for students to rapidly acquire flexible, durable analysis skills.


texts: I discovered a new analytical integral. How should I present this knowledge?

texts:
During my research in theoretical physics I encountered a problem that required integrating a space of functions that I don't think has ever been done before. I discovered that these integrals are analytic and can be represented by a linear combination of elliptic and non-elliptic functions which I believe is a rather non-trivial result.

I think this research, while rather esoteric, is nonetheless important enough that the world should know. In my paper this result is buried beneath other more physics-oriented results. My question is this: how should I present this pure-mathematical knowledge to the world? Is there a journal that this kind of result would be suitable for or some mathematical database of known analytical integrals? Not being a pure mathematician I am unfamiliar with the correct protocol.

Thank you!

Edit: After discussing with a pure mathematician I decided to have another look thought Gradshteyn & Ryzhik and I think the result I obtained is probably just a linear combination of known integrals, albeit in a hidden form.


texts: Travel reimbursement and "bonus programs"

texts:
I use a "bonus program" for train tickets, which (allows me to buy tickets with lower fares and) provides for each ticket some "points" which are worth around 2% of the ticket value. I make use of this also when I travel for academic purposes (otherwise the funders would need to reimburse a higher amount). However, for each reimbursement I feel the moral obligation to explain that in some sense I actually paid less for the ticket than what is on the receipt.

How should I deal with this situation? Is there a common practice regarding this? (I guess some institutions may have official policies regarding such situations because many people who are traveling often take part in such programs.)


texts: I am applying for a new PhD position. However I'm already enrolled at one institute for the past one year. How do I explain my drop out?

texts:
So I enrolled at a reputed Research Institute in Taiwan one year ago, just after my Master's. However, the course work and research conducted here was not as I expected it to be. I tackled it well but the professors keep rejecting me after working for almost a month in their labs saying they can't accommodate me.
Since it has been a year and I don't have any lab, they are revoking my stipend. Being an international student I can't afford the living cost here.
Now I am applying to another university in the same city.
How do I explain my one year PhD drop out in my applications. I fear I should not lie since it's the same city and the professors might find out sooner or later.


texts: How to stop weird labmate from staring at me doing experiments without damaging work relationship (too much)?

texts:
A few months ago my lab had a new member. Shortly after he joined I started hearing from students in other labs that he was being very weird, hinting that they were somewhat bothered. For instance he would roam around near other people's benches, stand really close to a student doing their work, or even follow them when they move to another machine.

We are in an open-lab environment so a lot of labs share the same area. Maybe it was confusing to him and he thought it was fine to do what he did. Still,  I talked to my PI and he had the situation dealt with. However, when I am working he still likes to stand on the side staring at me. Apparently my PI forgot to tell him don't do that to your colleagues either. I know he's just being curious and wants to learn. I could probably use this as a precious opportunity to train myself to focus and ignore distractions. And I have learned over the years to tolerate some social behaviors in scientists which are not accepted by the general public. But his behaviors can be REALLY disturbing sometimes.

How should I talk to him about this without making the whole thing too awkward? I am afraid if I tolerate him any longer one day I would just blow up and yell at him... I don't want things to turn out ugly.


texts: What to do when visiting a lab or a university for prospective application?

texts:
In his famous and interesting article "Ten Simple Rules for Selecting a Postdoctoral Position", author Philippe Bourne states, in the 2nd point:

  Rule 2: Select a Laboratory That Suits Your Work and Lifestyle

  If at all possible, visit the laboratory before making a decision.
  [...]

I think that is definitively a good advice, not only for Post-Doc applicants, but for all applicants in general. But, what is the best way to arrange a lab visit?

What to do when you're there?

Whom to speak to?
What to ask?
What to do?


texts: Why do engineering PhD programs require undergrad degrees in engineering or physics?

texts:
I notice that many top American engineering PhD programs ask for undergrad or master degrees in engineering or physics, but this discussion excludes math majors.  How come?  Are math majors not qualified because the training is vastly different from engineering?

I'm a math nerd interested in applications-oriented maths, but many of these research questions are worked on in engineering depts.


texts: What are the benefits of organizing a science conference for a company?

texts:
I'd like to propose the organization of a conference about mostly research related topics in the IT area (and probably a handful of business related topics as well). As an example, I like the assortment of topics presented during CppCon - I am thinking of a different scale, but something in that vein is my basic idea. I know that there are a lot of different conferences, but to be honest, I couldn't find one that covers the topics I'd like to propose.

I have to convince my upper management that organizing such a conference would be a good idea. As part of my pitch, I'm thinking of discussing pros (and possibly cons) of organizing a conference. Now here is my question - What should I mention as potential benefits a company might have from organizing such a conference?


texts: Neuroscience- NIH-IRTA for a international student

texts: I've finished my bachelor in Cognitive science and mathematics and I'm looking for research opportunities in the US, starting in a half year. Are there any programs for people in my position? The NIH-IRTA only works for citizens and permanent residents. A year ago I've been on exchange to a top American college, but didn't make acquaintances with any of the PI, as the classes were lead by TA's; can I still use my exchange to find an internship somewhere in the US?


texts: Is a hypothesis necessary for empirical research?

texts:
Suppose I would like to do an experiment that compares two existing methods for solving a certain problem, and decides which method is better (in some predefined metric).

I can start with a hypothesis: "Method A performs at least as good as method B", and then do the experiment and refute the hypothesis by showing that method B performs better and the difference is statistically significant.

Alternatively, I can just do the experiment without any preliminary hypothesis, and find out - again - that method B performs better and the difference is statistically significant.

Is there any advantage to the first approach? Why do I need to start with a hypothesis if I end up doing the same experiment and getting to the same result?


texts: Transforming the PhD thesis to a paper to publish and iThenticate

texts:
I want my PhD thesis findings to be presented as a scientific pager and get it published in a journal which uses "iThenticate" as plagiarism detection software. When I present my findings, it's unavoidable that I'll use many exact sentences and exact findings from thesis to the paper. So, as I have already published my thesis to the university (the thesis is not available to the public so, only me, university and the turnitin only knows that the thesis exists in this world), will the iThenticate detect my own thesis as self plagiarism? Does "iThenticate" go through the academic thesises submitted via "turnitin" to the university? Because iThenticate only state following as their databases which is not clear for me

60 Billion Web Pages
144 Million Content Items
ProQuest Dissertations
Internal Documents

The only option I see is pay $100.00 USD and buy their one paper credit and check if my thesis is detected by them, but it's a waste of money just to check. Can somebody tell me if they go through thesises? And any other advises for me?


texts: Do reviewers usually ask for data? (Computer Science/ Data Science / Data Mining)

texts:
I know it's a free process and it depends on reviewer if they want the data and for author if they want to submit it.

Questions:

What are the chances of a reviewer asking for data?
Why might reviewers ask for data?


texts: How to respond to “philosophical” questions that aim to undermine a position or derail a discussion?

texts:
A colleague of mine enjoys using philosophical questions to undermine ideas that are different to his own and to derail discussions that are not in his favour. At first I thought he was offering genuine perspectives, but overtime I realised he was just being defensive and finding enjoyment out of disrupting discussions.

To give you some examples, here are some of his frequent techniques:

The you-can’t-know-for-sure:

  The evidence may seem to be true but it could be wrong, and we can never know that for sure. You can only believe in evidence. Therefore, making claims about anything, with or without evidence, is meaningless.

  The human senses and the human mind are limited and fallible, and to say that an idea is more correct than another is just your opinion based on a fallible experience.

Disagrees with the definition, or shifts to a different definition, or question the meaningfulness of definitions and language in general:

  I define X as something different to how you defined X, and according to what I think of X, I am right. You can think of X how you want but it doesn’t matter to me.

  “X” only means X because humans defined “X” to be X. But “X” is just a subjective idea that doesn’t exist in reality. Therefore, anything you say about X, your ideas are on based on something non-objective and arguable.

All things are just perspectives:

  To say that I’m inconsistent with my argument or to say that I’m wrong is just a perspective. There are many perspectives and just because from one perspective I’m a certain way, doesn’t mean I really am.

I usually enjoy genuine philosophical perspectives in all discussions, but this colleague never offers his philosophical ideas at the beginning of talks and never mentions them when we agree with him, but only throws them out selectively against ideas during the middle of discussions. The worst is that he speaks them with a triumphant and condescending tone of voice over everyone else as if he is so clever.

Question: When he uses these types of philosophical questions as a way to undermine someone’s idea or to derail a discussion, what is an appropriate way to interfere with his remark in a way that doesn’t confront him, protects the other person from appearing to have being undermined or devalued, and restores the direction discussion to what it was before?


texts: What statistics should I disclose when giving grades to students?

texts:
When giving grades to students, I often find it interesting to disclose some information about the grades distribution. I imagine that it helps to know where one is situated in comparison to others.

I usually don't want to disclose the maximum grade and the minimum grade, the latter obviously for keeping the students that didn't perform well motivated.

I usually end up giving the mean (or the median, should they be significantly different).

Can one do better? Information about quartiles maybe? What are your practices?

If relevant, I am teaching in France where the grades range from 0 to 20. I am interested in different situations: small class (~20) or whole group of students (~200), regular assignments or final exams.

--- EDIT ---

I am interested in keeping the students motivation high. Are there any (research backed-up) studies about that question?


texts: Strategies to overcome "academic-apathy" in the final stages of the PhD?

texts:
Background - I am doing my PhD in atmospheric physics/photobiology.

Here is a scenario:

The experiments are complete - the results are far better than expected
Successfully got the computer program to work properly and have developed another
Papers are published
Much of the thesis is drafted

The light at the end of the tunnel is most definitely no longer an oncoming train.

But, at this stage, you just don't feel like working on the thesis, you do other things like cleaning, reading, watching movies - procrastination gets worse, and worse despite the submission deadline coming closer.

The procrastination resulting in more apathy towards the project, despite being fully aware of how much work has been put into the project, how much has been achieved and how little, comparatively, needs to be done.

What strategies are there to overcome this academic-apathy, particularly in this late stage of the thesis?


texts:
I am an International Student perusing a Masters in Actuarial Science in the US. I did my Bachelors here in the US (Actuarial Science), worked for 2 years as an Actuarial Analyst in the US. I am doing my Masters now with emphasis on AI (I could not get into an AI program for Masters due to my circumstances, so this is the closest I could get).
I want to continue with AI and I am looking into a PhD in the N.America or Europe. I am excited about Europe (never been there), but feel N.America will be a safer bet. Which location would be better to do my PhD in, if I am looking at eventually migrating and getting into tech entrepreneurship?


texts: change the citation of preprint version into journal version of article

texts:
In my article, I have cited a preprint version (arXiv) of one references. After my article has been published in the final form, I received a request from the author of the preprint article asking me to make Corrigendum that tells the readers about the journal version of his cited article. I am new in the publication field and I want to know whether I should obey to his demand and make the corrigendum or leave the citation as it is.
I might mention that the contents of both preprint and journal versions are similar and the version that I have read and referred to in my manuscript is the preprint as the journal version was not available at the time I wrote the paper.
Thank you for your advise.


texts: Response to selection criteria regarding health and wellbeing

texts:
I am prepareing response to answer selection criteria for a academic job in a university in Australia where the last question is
Enthusiasm for addressing research questions relevant to human health and wellbeing.

Anyone please tell me the points how should I write that?


texts: Can I cite an old book in my research proposal without having read it?

texts:
Here's a small dilemma. I have a few ideas that I am putting into the form of a research proposal. It borrows heavily from the insights of David Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage. Now, the notion of comparative advantage is pretty much common knowledge in economics. However, my proposal is for research in Complex Networks.

Should I cite David Ricardo's original book from 1817 in which he published the idea, without having read it? (I doubt I'll be able to follow the argument easily in Enlightenment-period English) Or should I cite a secondary paper by someone more modern that talks about and analyzes comparative advantage? I would prefer the latter route as I would actually be able to read the material that I'm citing, but then I will not be going to the source of the original idea.


texts: I have multiple journal articles, but I do not enjoy conference presentations. Is it bad for my job prospects?

texts:
I'm currently a Phd candidate, and I have managed to publish several articles in major journals in my field ( it is within social sciences). I am not quite sociable; I am the kind of person who prefers to work alone and spend time researching and writing. That is why I am not into the practice of presenting at conferences.
I am sure I can have like four conference presentations towards the end of my PhD. Do you think it is bad for my job prospects (to get a faculty position) that I do not have many conference presentations and that I tend to prefer tp work on publishing journal articles.
I would really appreciate your feedback.


texts: Is staring into the cover sheet of the exam paper and looking at the second page considered cheating?

texts:
Whenever I receive an exam paper, I usually stare at the cover page. I use the word "stare" instead of just "see" because the cover page is translucent and I could faintly see the page behind if my eyes focused on the paper. I am able to read part of the questions by doing so, although most of the words are still obscured by the text on the cover page.

The thing is, I'm not sure if this counts as cheating. By "staring", I obtain some knowledge of the questions before the paper begins (albeit only partially), which may be counted as unfair. However, this is done merely by looking at the question paper which all candidates do before the exam begins. It seems virtually impossible to detect and in some cases is unavoidable. I have seen no academic policies regarding this; most papers I receive only instruct candidates not to open the paper before the exam begins.

I don't know if I'm simply overthinking this or if it is a genuine ethical issue. I abide by all examination regulations, and never thought of this as "cheating" or disallowed until recently. I would definitely appreciate it if someone could help me out here - I've been fretting over this for days. Thanks in advance!


texts: Transition from university teaching career to curricular assessment type jobs?

texts:
I'm curious if anybody here has ever transitioned from a teaching-strong academic career to a curriculum assessment type job (in calculus, for example)? If so, what would you be able to say about that? That is, what do you think a successful applicant to such a job should have on their CV, coming from academia? What would you be able to say about the types of tasks you were involved in, once hired? How did the lifestyle differ (or not differ) from your past academic experience? You know, the works. (If it matters, I'm coming from an American context.)

I should perhaps say a bit about myself to help clarify this question more.

I graduated with a PhD in mathematics in 2017, having worked as a part-time graduate teaching assistant for six years (two semesters as full instructor-of-record). I have now completed two years of an intensive teaching post-doc, with one more year to go. This position has given me the ability to teach a wide range of undergraduate courses: calculus 1, 2, and 3, linear algebra, complex analysis, topology, real analysis 2, abstract algebra 1, and four semesters of an active-learning/group-work/IBL style logic&proof course for non-math majors.

These last two years, I have employed various teaching styles running the gamut from teacher-centered to student-centered. In graduate school, I was fortunate to serve as a TA for various instructors who I observed, and assisted with, employing techniques like flipped classroom, IBL worksheets, group work, etc. I have written several creative quizzes, exams, and interactive proofs (further details upon request) in all of my classes, and have come to quite enjoy this part of the job. I am preparing a conference talk and paper about work I did this past spring semester to revolutionize my department's logic&proof course for non-math majors.

I know that I would like a math education-focused career, but I am lately considering the possibility that perhaps being more behind the scenes rather than constantly in the classroom might be a better fit for my temperament/personality. Assuming that a transition to a curriculum assessment/specialist type job (still learning the lingo) is even feasible for someone with my experience, would it be advisable? Assuming, down the road, that I wish to return to university teaching, would it be possible? It strikes me that having experience in developing unique, cutting-edge curricular materials might actually be a benefit for a university instructor. Anyway, this is a new idea that I'm beginning to explore, so I'm gathering all the information and perspectives that I can at this stage.


texts: Permissions and copyright for a figure from an unavailable source

texts:
I would like to use, in a journal manuscript, a figure for which the original source (a website) no longer exists. What can I do?

I found the figure in a Ph.D thesis, the author of the thesis is however not the copyright holder of the figure. But the website of the figure's reference no longer exists, and is also not saved in the internet wayback-machine.
I have a copy of the figure, but i do not see any possibilities on how to ask permission to use the figure.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

I don't want to make this question too case specific, because I think it is a problem that could occur often, in different countries and settings. But of course I would like a practical resolution: the specific source indicated in the Ph.D. thesis is A2Engineering.com retrieved march 2010.
I already looked a lot on google, also using reverse image search, and I could not track the copyright holder, or their nationality or country of residence. The difficulty is that there are many companies with similar names, but their field of interest does not seem to match with content of the figure.
Is there any chance that i could still use it, based on the idea of "fair use"?


texts: Can someone with only a bachelor's degree teach at a community college?

texts: Can someone with a bachelor's degree teach at a community college, or are they required to have something more?


texts:
I applied for some PhD's in differential geometry in the UK, and I was offered an interview this coming Wednesday and they said this in the confirmation email:

"The interview will be conducted by insert prof name and myself and
should last around 30 minutes
In the interview we will ask about relevant courses you have taken, we will
explore your knowledge and understanding of these courses, and we will
discuss your motivation in applying for the insert department name PhD. We will also ask
some technical mathematical questions about topics you have covered."

Any clues what I should expect and how I should prepare? How much can they rip me apart in 30 mins?

It’s also worth noting that I did my undergrad in theoretical physics; would this imply that the technical questions refer to undergraduate questions or to the Masters programme I’m currently enrolled in (which allows me to study both pure and applied maths)?

Furthermore would the relevant courses taken mean the ones I’m attending currently for my Masters programme (given I did submit a list of the courses I attended last term and the ones I’m attending this term) or, again, would it refer to stuff I have independently studied in my undergraduate, which was a point I mentioned in my application?


texts: Is it unethical to enroll in a low-ranked institution with the intention of switching to a better one if possible?

texts:
I am an international student who has been admitted at a low ranked institute in the US. I also have an offer from an institute in my own country to do a Masters'. I ultimately want to get admitted at a prestigious program in the US.

I was recently advised to join the low ranked US institute, do my course work well, establish contacts with professors at more prestigious schools, and then switch to a better school for a PhD. It sounds immoral to me. But I was told it is not immoral in practice as the institute receives thousands of offers to fill up the seat you will be vacating.

Is doing the above seriously unethical?


texts: How to attribute subfigures from other sources ? / Does cropping a figure consitute a change?

texts:
I am writing a review article on common failure modes for a certain technology and to illustrate the different failures, I want to include a range of images from other publications. I have either obtained the permission to use the images or am using images from open access articles with a creative commons license. Some of the images I would like to use are (in the original source) part of a part of a single figure consistining of several subfigures (e.g. I would like to put only subfigure 2e from figure 2 into my paper). Does cropping a subfigure out of a composite figure already constitute a change or an alteration? If so, how should I attribute the changes in the image caption in my paper?
Maybe this is really trivial, I nevertheless did not really find an answer anywhere.


texts: Do people say why they decline a paper review request?

texts:
I am curious to know what actions are generally thought to be acceptable when one sends a request for a paper review, especially a journal one.

When academics are asked to review a manuscript and they have the relevant expertise, is it common for them to decline the review without giving any reason?


texts: Withdrawing my application for a research fellowship when getting a job elsewhere

texts: While waiting for the outcome of my application for a research fellowship, I was offered a job at a university in another country. It turned out that my fellowship application passed the first stage, but after some consideration, I decided to accept the job offer and not to pursue my fellowship application any further. My question is, should I tell the secretariat immediately that I would like to withdraw my application or should I just let the deadline for the second stage of application pass without informing them anything? Also, what should I say to my potential collaborators?


texts: How to ‘fill the gap’ between the end of one’s grant and handing in one’s thesis

texts:
I am a Ph.D. student in Germany. For the past three years I have been paid by a scholarship grant. (The source of this grant and the subject I’m in is not of relevance. Consider it natural sciences.) This grant is now terminating after three years however I still have to write and hand in my thesis. The relevant university requires Ph.D. students to be properly enrolled, thus I qualify as a student.

I need to fill the gap between the end of the grant and having handed in my thesis in some way — I need food and to pay my flat’s rent. I am not entitled to Arbeitslosengeld I (unemployment benefits) because a grant is not considered an employment contract. And today I also heard that apparantly I am not entitled to Arbeitslosengeld II (social welfare benefits) either, because I am still enrolled as a student.

Is that piece of information correct? If that is the case, are there any social welfare benefits I can apply for? Or do I really need to rely on ‘rich parents’/savings?

Side notes:

Technically, my grant can be extended; however, I am unsure whether it will be or not. There is no way I can finish my thesis by the time the original grant ends and my supervisor does not have any spare money to finance me for the remaining time e.g. as a wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft (scientific helper).

I’m still checking with my university whether I actually must remain enrolled or not; please assume compulsory enrolment in your answers/comments.

So far in my life I have never paid into the unemployed insurance. Any student jobs I had gave too little salary.

In case it matters, I am a German national.


texts: PNAS citation style for chapters in a book series

texts:
I am currently trying to format the reference list of my latest article for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, PNAS has its own reference style, and it is minimally documented in the intructions for authors.

  References. References must be in PNAS style. [...] Include the full title for each cited article. All authors (unless there are more than more than five) should be named in the citation. If there are more than five, list the first author’s name followed by et al. Provide volume and issue numbers for journal articles as applicable; provide DOI numbers if volume/issue numbers are not available. Provide inclusive page ranges for journal articles and book chapters. Provide date of access for online sources. Cite databases in the text or as footnotes.
  Journal articles are cited as follows:

  Neuhaus J-M, Sticher L, Meins F, Jr, Boller T (1991) A short C-terminal sequence is necessary and suf cient for the targeting of chitinases to the plant vacuole. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88(22):10362–10366.

  Use MEDLINE/PubMed abbreviations of journal titles or use the full journal title for any journals not indexed in MEDLINE.
  Articles or chapters in books are cited as follows:

  Hill AVS (1991) HLA associations with malaria in Africa: some implications for MHC evolution. Molecular Evolution of the Major Histocompatibility Complex, eds Klein J, Klein D (Springer, Heidelberg), pp 403-420.

I tried to find in published articles an example of a reference for a book chapter in a series of book but couldn't find it.

I have several citations concerned but one of them, to give an example, is the article "Pelagic sedimentation in modern and ancient oceans" by H. Hünecke & R. Henrich, published, in 2011, in pages 215 to 351 of the book Deep-Sea Sediments (edited by H. Hünecke & T. Mulde) which is volume 63 of the book series Developments in Sedimentology (published by Elsevier).

My understanding is that in APA reference style it would be:

  Hünecke, H., Henrich, R. (2011). Pelagic sedimentation in modern and ancient oceans. In H. Hünecke & T. Mulde (Eds.), Developments in Sedimentology: Vol. 63. Deep-Sea Sediments (pp. 215-351). Amsterdam, Netherlands:Elsevier.

In many Elsevier journals, the reference would become:

  Hüneke, H., Henrich, R., 2011. Pelagic sedimentation in modern and ancient oceans. In: Hüneke, H., Mulder, T. (Eds.), Deep-Sea Sediments, Developments in Sedimentology, 63. Elsevier, pp. 215–351.

What would it be in PNAS reference style?


texts:
How best to present long equations in two-column papers?

I've tried splitting them in two or more lines along operators, but that still looks a bit weird to me, especially when parentheses have to be carried along across the lines. Also, I've considered stretching them across both columns, but that seems only an acceptable solution if the equation is of outstanding importance, e.g. the final result and not some middle section of a proof.


texts: Harvard citation of original journals but accessed online?

texts: I want to cite an idea found in a journal accessed via the web and uploaded as a PDF file (or whatever mean). When I want to reference it at the end of my paper, should I cite it as if I've read the actual HARD copy of the journal article or just treat it as an electronic source and therefore, additionally insert the usual "Available from: url, viewed on..." stuff?


texts: Is January admission possible/common? MSc Statistics in Canada

texts:
I am interested in studying for a master's degree in statistics as an international student in Canada. I would like to begin my studies at the earliest opportunity and so would like to start in early 2018 (Jan/Feb) if possible.

I'm aware that McGill's program has a January intake, but most others do not specify either way.

Generally speaking, is it possible to begin in January, even if this start date is not mentioned on the program site? Are there any particular draw backs to starting at this time of year?

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Regards,

Andrew


texts: How should I describe the "relationship" between me and postdoc in our lab if I am getting recomendation letter from her?

texts:
How should I describe the relationship between me and postdoc in our lab if I am getting recommendation letter for phD admission?
Advisor? Superviser? reasearch advisor?...
She has a title of research professor.


texts:
I am currently preparing for the submission of my first paper to an academic conference and I've just seen this table of important dates:

What is "paper bidding"? Why is that before the submission deadline?


texts: It's been a couple of days now since my Google Scholar profile has duplicated all my article entries. Indeed, it is listing all my papers in chronological order as it used to, but now if I push the button "show others" at the end of the page, a whole new bunch of duplicate papers appear. I tried to manually merge those duplicates together,  but  this function doesn't work. How can I solve this issue?


texts: Is there any forum or FB group where people would exchange academic literature?

texts: Does anyone know any forum, FB group or other platform where students from different univerisites would exchange academic literature available in their libraries?


texts: How do I add in an already existing GPA into my cumulative GPA?

texts: I have a GPA from a single school and I want to add it into my cumulative GPA.


texts: I am interested in researching two very different problems (Genetics + Computer Vision). Haven't started a PhD yet

texts:
I have two topics that I really want to get involved in.

1) Confirming current research in chromosome structure while using machine learning to find relationships in genetic motifs. For instance, is function associated with how the genome condenses?

2) Developing novel Computer Vision algorithms to learn from small sample sizes and video using specialized equipment.

Maybe there is a common problem between 1) and 2) that I can study in depth, but these seem like very different projects.

Would it be feasible to apply for a Master's in Quantitative Genetics (+ Research Thesis) with electives in Machine Learning and Statistics, then apply for a PhD in Machine Learning? I have a double major in Math and Computer Science with a few electives in genetics.


texts: Awards that are open all-year-round (no deadline for call)

texts:
I am considering applying for a research prize that is apparently given out as one award per year, up to a certain amount of money. Applications are accepted all-year-round (there is no deadline).

I don't really understand this model of research funding: if a funding body gives one such award per year, then surely it would want all candidate applications to be submitted by a certain day of the year (each year), so that they all be compared and the award given to the best one that was submitted within the chosen time frame (in that year).

If they receive an application in January, say, and decide to give it the award, then what do do they do if an even better application is submitted in June of the same year? They can't fund it even assuming their maximum amount wasn't all used up by the earlier application, because they claim to only give one award per year. And they can't reject it on grounds that they already funded a project that year, since there is no deadline that the authors of the second application exceeded.

Unfortunately in this case I am not able to enquire to the funding body itself. Also, my question is more general as it also concerns other research awards that use the same call/application model.


texts: if a school is accepting applications for faculty through September 15, when does the job start?

texts:
If a 4 year liberal arts college is doing a search for a faculty position through September 15, when does the job start? The start date is not mentioned.

The position is for a new interdisciplinary degree program that appears to have been only been granting degrees for one year. It is teaching rather than research focused. I assume the interviews for prospective candidates last through the end of the year. Is it typical that this position is starting the following fall term, or would the hire start teaching in the spring?  Or is it institution dependent and I should just try to find out from the school?


texts: Is it bad to start an introduction with a direct quote?

texts:
I'm  a statistics student at the undergraduate level, writing an undergraduate thesis about genetics. I already have the objectives well defined and I will write the introduction lined with those objectives.

I found a text in a website with authors name and publication date that would be nice to put in my introduction. Is a bad thing start an introduction with a citation?

EDIT: Is a direct quote.


texts: What are the pros and cons of well compensated STEM graduate students joining a union?

texts:
Recently, my state has declared graduate students as employees giving them the right to unionize. The students in the Engineering School are very well compensated. The benefits that we get are

Minimum stipend of 29k$ (which was increased ~3 years ago).
Top tier health insurance plan fully paid for by the University and Engineering School
Deans that largely respect student needs and actively address current issues
Plethora of funding for student lead activities
Free services like legal council, psychiatrist, campus clinique, campus shuttle buses, etc.
TA opportunities are always available for those that need them.

Additionally, my department has a very high standard set forth for us. We have nice offices, the Chair actively addresses our concerns and complaints, funds for student activities and community building, computational resources, and more. The quality of life for students in my department (Applied Math) is quite high.

Lately, we've had outside people dropping by to advise us to join a union. The humanities students are largely in support of this movement since they are not compensated as well as the engineering students. In my point of view, there are very few reasons why I can see joining a union will benefit the Applied Math graduate students. Given how well we, the graduate students in my department, are currently treated, what are the advantages and disadvantages of unionization?

Edit: There is a similar question here, however, does not specifically address STEM students.

I am a naive graduate student and will like to be better informed about the advantages and repercussions of joining a union. Whenever administrative University personnel have approached us to dissuade the effort, their tone has been extremely diplomatic and ambiguous about why they are advising against unionizing.

A brief summary of the responses is as follows.

Advantages of unionizing

Security of current benefits
Bargaining power to timely address current, new, and growing needs of the entire bargaining unit
Guaranteed minimum pay
Improving circumstances of students in other schools who are not as well compensated
Human resources like representation for students facing abuse, harassment, or other adversities from their advisors

Disadvantages of unionizing

Partisan representation
Clarifying the distinction between student and employee (though some may argue that this is an advantage)
Paying dues (though contracts usually negotiate higher stipends to offset this amount)
Deterioration of student/administrative relationship

Additional STEM specific points that I'd like to add are

Advantages

Incentives to address issues such as a single student having to monitor experiments running for 8+ hours
For international students, alleviating fears of not being able to find an advisor which prevents them for settling to the 1st person that says yes regardless of their interest
Some departments in the Engineering school offer things like funds for all students in their 3rd year to purchase a new laptop. Adapting this or similar policies universally would be appreciated.
Guaranteed funding beyond X years as set forth by the School, especially when the average is just slightly below X.

Disadvantages

As funds are rerouted into increased stipends, there may be

Decreased support for professional development (conferences, workshops, etc.)
Decreased supplemental resources (rented compute nodes and hours, new lab equipment, etc.)
Fewer graduate student and postdoc hires

Thank you all for your comments; it is all very much insightful. I'll continue to look out for new responses.


texts: How should I avoid someone patenting technology in my paper/poster?

texts: I am working on a paper in the field of AI. I've developed a new technology that allows many state of the art benchmarks to be improved on. I want to make sure that when I publish the paper, anyone/company that wants to use the technology can do so free of charge with no strings attached. My fear is that someone will patent the work soon after I publish the paper and prevent this from happening. Should I patent the technology myself before publishing? Is there a better solution?


texts: How to obtain citation metrics for a low-profile journal that is not indexed in major journal databases?

texts:
I am interested in generating citation-metrics for The journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions using Google Scholar or such tools. (The journal is not indexed in almost any selective database, compounding my woes.)

Is there a way of doing this?


texts:
My dissertation is going to be a thesis by publication. I am going to publish a couple of papers and put those into one document with a couple of leading words (another 20 pages or so) and this is going to be my thesis. I feel that the monograph I wrote for my master thesis (which was pretty extensive) was actually pretty helpful as a reference now (I am continuing the research on the same topic). Thus I would like to know: Should I write a monograph for myself? Obviously I am not going to publish that, so I won't have all the work with writing it nicely (or at least more nicely than I personally need). My mentor (who is not my doctor father) told me this is too much work and I should rather use that time to publish more. What do you think? I am researching of A.I. and Machine Learning, thus I will have a lot of math and a lot of programming. The monograph I would write would be about the math, not the programming (that should document itself).

The comments seem to misunderstand a couple of things:

My mentor is not my doctor father. My mentor has not say in anything and no involvement - he is just there to give me tips.
There is no question what my thesis will be. It will be a thesis by publication. The monograph would just be for myself.
I cannot "publish a paper based on the thesis": My thesis is going to consist out of multiple (about 6) publications.


texts:
In short, I am a Ph.D. student computer science ( theory ) currently in the mid-stage. I have one serious doubt about the research process. I have worked on just two problems in the past and from that experience, I have felt that the research problem in the initial phase of research will be vague ( means research problem will be broader and somewhat less clear ) and as we start working on the problem, it will become clear and many times we will change the even original research problem. In the end, we will think about what results, we have and on the basis of those results, we will again change the research problem ( if needed ). There are a few problems with the above research process

Takes More time
More frustrations etc

Is the research process will be the same even after my PhD, I mean or I will become more careful with time which may lead to giving me a better way to do research.

Question : Is it okay if research problem is vague in the initial phase of research?


texts: As a graduate student, am I allowed to use university letterhead in a letter of recommendation for an undergraduate student?

texts:
This is in the U.S. I am a graduate student, and an undergraduate student who I mentored in an independent reading project has asked me to write her a letter of recommendation for an internship outside of the university.

For some context, I am the organizer of the program at my university through which undergrads apply to do these projects, and this program is advertised on the university website.

I haven't been able to find any information on who can use the letterhead on my university's website, thought I'm sure it's buried there somewhere. I was only able to one other question about this on here, and it was about an undergrad using the letterhead for a personal matter.


texts: Appropriate response to misattributed title?

texts:
There are many questions here on how to address someone by their title or current status.

What should one do in the case they are addressed by a title they do not have?

Some example of this:

A student submitting a paper and the editor emailing using the Professor/Dr. title.
A PhD in a research lab (not university) being invited for a talk and a letter stating "Dear Professor..."
A researcher (non PhD) being referred to as Dr.

If this is too broad, the question can be edited to just one situation.

In this type of case, should one reply and directly address the title?


texts: I have found an R Package written up that does exactly what is required but cannot figure out a bug that has presented itself. I have gone through the code and source code for the function and cannot figure out the problem. The authors' emails were included in the documentation. Is it inappropriate to email the creators to ask if the bug has occurred before or if I have any faults in my arguments?


texts: Has it ever happened that one paper's findings were contradicted by another?

texts: Since reviewers don't check the experimental results by trying to reproduce the experiment, is it possible for someone to submit a paper which basically says "Method X was proposed in paper Y and according to them it improved performance by 15% as compared to baseline. However when we tried it, it didn't work so well (only 2% improvement). Hence we propose its modification which actually achieves 14% improvement as compared to baseline on the same train/test data."?