texts: How can a student suggest changes in grading policies

texts:
I am taking a graduate course online in education. Though I have taken many online courses, my professor is clearly inexperienced. Like all education professors, mine writes about rubrics and standards. However, his grading contradicts the things he teaches us to do.

I am not concerned about my previous grades, but I would like him to make improvements for future grades this course. I don't want to wait for the end-of-term evaluations.

Should I politely and constructively suggest that he make some changes in his grading policies? What would be the most effective arguments to give?


texts: Can I use abbreviations in the title of a research paper?

texts:
Is it a good practice to include an abbreviation in a title of a research paper.
for example : PC , IDE , RAM


texts: How to train students to write high-quality research papers?

texts:
As someone supervising postgrad students, I wonder what is the best way to train these students to write high-quality research papers?

The best way seems to be through coauthorship but ...

On the one hand I can be hands-off and rather give them feedback as best as I can but let them do most of the work themselves, sort of like a "sink or swim" strategy.

On the other hand I can be hands-on and rewrite the paper (or large parts of it) and hope that they learn from the example I give.

On the one hand I want them to learn to write papers without me some day and I want them to learn as quickly as possible to take load off me.

On the other hand I want us to publish in the best place possible with as little stress as possible.

On the one hand I want them to see the peer review comments from what they themselves have written.

On the other hand I do not want them to be discouraged by the peer review system early on and do not want to submit papers I know we could have written better.

On the one hand I want them to get confidence by being published and presenting work at good venues.

On the other hand I wonder if they need to get there themselves to get that confidence boost.

At the moment I'm very hands on. There's a few factors for this: I don't like submitting papers that are not up to a certain standard, I'm a native English speaker in a non-English speaking country with non-native speaking students, publications are a high priority for me, etc.

But recently a friend/colleague warned me that I should not be so hands-on with the writing of the papers of my students. He pointed to recently graduated researchers in my area that published good work as students but who struggled after leaving their PhD supervisor saying their supervisor did them no favours in the long term ... that by being so hands on, while the students have success getting published and so forth with me, I'm not really doing the most important thing a good supervisor should do: making myself obsolete.

My question is how to train students to write good research papers and in what ways can I balance being hands-on and hands-off?

I'm also interested in methods not directly involving coauthorship.


texts: Should I turn down PhD offer if I think I may not pass qualifying exam (risking immigration issues if I fail)?

texts:
I am done with my MS in EECS from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and I currently working full time in a good company on OPT.

I will be defending my MS Thesis in coming December. Moreover, when I contacted one of the well-renowned Professors in my department he expressed his interest in taking me as PhD student depending if his funding is approved in next few months.

Here is the issue:

My overall GPA is 3.43 and my core GP is 3.5. I had already mentioned this to the Professor, and I straight away told that after working hard I am just a solid B+ student that too when I study with friends. I sent my transcript to him thinking he would turn me down based on my GPA, but he did not.

My question is: I don't have issues with quitting the well-paying job for the PhD program. But what scares me is the oral qualifying exam. If I don't make through the exam, and they decide to kick me out, I have no options. I will no longer be enrolled in the PhD program, and cannot go back to the industry as I have used up my OPT.

My future goal is to join academia, but if I don't pass the qualifying exam, I will put my family and me in immigration issues. So, least I can do is to work in industry and give up on joining Ph.D. At least I will not put my family at HUGE risk of getting kicked out of the US after spending so much on MS program.

Please advise. The reason I ask this question is that one must aware his limitations. When I compare myself with fellow PhD classmates, they way better than me in course work. I have never met any classmate in my graduate school who are less smarter than me.


texts: I recently realized how bad my mental health (anxiety or insomnia) condition is. Should I apply to US universities for grad school this year?

texts:
I wish I could see a therapist and talk about these instead of writing about them here but, in my country, there are no reliable therapists and people do not emphasize higher study at all. People do not deal with anxiety here, some ignore the symptoms and others who know keep it a secret because it is seen as a weakness. So there are no help or support groups here. Two years ago, when the mild anxiety started because of stress at my first job, I sought medical help but I think I was wrongly treated with medicine and I think this contributed to insomnia or worsen the anxiety, whatever it is. This experience has gotten me fearful of seeking professional help too.

I have been struggling with anxiety for more than two years since I first started my job but did not know that it was anxiety. Recently I got to know about it and made lifestyle changes like leaving my job and moving back home. The anxiety is less now because of having no job stress. But the application time for the fall 2018 semester in the US is approaching and I really need to make a decision right now. I feel like I do not know much about this illness or how to cope with it. I don't know if it is insomnia or anxiety, but because of it, my performance was suffering in the job and my manager was unhappy with my performance before I left. For these reasons, my confidence level is zero, I feel like I won't be able to keep up with a Ph.D. program and also work as an RA or TA since I do not know how to deal with the boss. Also, my anxiety reaches its extreme when I start working seriously and can't sleep enough for days. The condition at home is very poor, all of my family members are suffering from illnesses and since I do not have any friends right now, seeing them suffer breaks my heart. I feel like running away from home so that I do not have to see them suffer. If I could help them financially it would be very useful for them and so it is a source of pressure too.

So right now, I am fearful of my potential adviser (if he turns out to be unsympathetic to students), seeing a therapist here in my country, getting fired from my Ph.D. program when I get into one or staying at home with the risk of worsening my anxiety for not having any help.

I have options like going for the Ph.D. program in the US and see a therapist over there. It's a benefit that they have enough data about people like me. But I do not know how to work with a therapist and if I'll be able to help myself and also keep up with the grueling schedule of a graduate program. There will be other challenges like a new culture, not having anyone to talk to, etc., and I'm not good at making friends. So I don't know if it will be the proper step. I have been trying to get into a Ph.D. program for four and a half years now, so if I get fired it will emotionally crush me and take a huge toll on my confidence.

So what should be a rational step in this situation? I am willing to do anything to improve my mental health condition to get a Ph.D.

Thank you for being patient with this long post.


texts: If I drop out, can I restart my Master's degree in the future?

texts:
I was enrolled in a prestigious school in central Europe, studying an MSc in computer science.

I have decided to drop out because it seriously felt like my bachelor background was weak, and I had to cover too much ground. Also, my study technique was poor.

Will it be possible to go back to graduate school if I want to again in future?


texts: Is it ok to withdraw from a PhD when receiving another job offer?

texts: I received admission to a Ph.D. offer in the US with an assistantship that would cover my tuition and living expenses for Fall 2021. At the same time, I received a 10 days consultancy contract with the WBG to be completed by the end of June 2021. This consultancy contract may be extended based on performance and needs. Now, I have always wanted to work for the WBG, but I am very confused whether I move on and accept the PhD offer while doing the 10 days, then withdraw from the Ph.D. if am offered a longer contract. Or, I just move on with the Ph.D. because contract extension is not really guaranteed. Bear in mind that I am an international student and I need to start the visa process to move to the US by fall. What can I do? Is it ok to withdraw from a Ph.D. after accepting the offer and before starting the classes?


texts: How do I reply to a potential postdoc supervisor who has no funds at this time for me?

texts:
I am in the process of contacting potential supervisors for a postdoc position, and I need a bit of advice on how to reply to one of them. I have a PhD in urban planning, and I am applying to some American Universities for a postdoctoral position.

After contacting a supervisor, I got a positive reply, however he wrote to me: "You have impressive credentials, and I'm sure you could contribute  to our group. However, I have no additional funds at this point to support a postdoctoral position. I would be happy to talk if you have funding from another source. But at this point, my funding has been allocated to ongoing students. I am sorry that I do not have better news."

What and how should I reply? On one hand having some financial support is quite vital to me, but on the other hand I don't want to lose this opportunity. I would like to show how much enthusiasm I have to work in his group. I would like to suggest to write a proposal in order to give a grant, or asking him if he know somewhere I can find a financial scholarship. Or I ask him to let me know when he has a vacant position for me. I am unsure what to do!


texts:
I will have to submit my master of science thesis (in the engineering field) in 2 months, therefore I would like to know which aspect of the thesis are taken into account the most in the final evaluation.

Also, is it mandatory for this kind of thesis to have as output a new procedure/methodology? And what if mine doesn't?

What are the main factors that the commission will focus on when deciding the final evaluation of the work done?


texts:
I get "spam" emails advertising journals listed in Scopus.
Can a Scopus journal be fake/predatory?
Or does Scopus has enough strict conditions to list only reputable journals?
Or do spammers lie about being listed there?
My question is not about other criteria of fake/predatory and how to determined if a journal is predatory in general, but namely about whether this one criterion, presence in Scopus, is enough to decide if it is fake.


texts: Can I conduct psychology research involving my restaurant customers without their explicit consent?

texts:
I will be working as a waiter to make extra money, but I am also an ardent academic. I want to know if I can make audio and/or visual recordings of interactions with customers without having them sign some sort of waiver. Thus I won't necessarily have the names of participants.

Can I later publish some papers without actual evidence other then someone listening to the tapes and concluding they are not all me pretending to do different voices?  It's in the interest of social psychology - will anybody consider this too invasive without permission? And is it less invasive and acceptable if i just try and conduct research on game theory (e.g., possibly trying to manipulate purchases between two customers as competitive relations)? Will it just be considered anonymous contribution, or am I soliciting information while withholding my actual objectives during interaction?

I have no ethics committee monitoring me.

There are 3 days before I start my job.


texts:
I will soon start my thesis, and have read a bit of literature, particularly a few short papers. One professor recommended using a template, displayed below. However, I generally feel that the questions in the template don't apply well to the papers I have read, and my answers get very "artificial" or "forced", while some aspects are not answered by the template at all. Obviously no template can fit perfectly for every paper, but perhaps there are better templates out there.

Are there any standard templates for this purpose? Perhaps a list of questions to ask oneself when reading? Or other structured ways of note writing for scientific papers or similar literature?

  Title

  Title of paper

  Citation

  Authors

  Abstract

  A short summary of the paper.

  Issues

  What are the issues that the paper addresses? Describe the problem.

  Approach

  What did the authors do? How did they approach the problem. What did
  they do? What methods did they use?

  Conclusion

  What are the authors conclusion? What do they claim about their
  results.

  My Conclusion

  What do you think about the work presented in the article? Explain

  Rating

  Give a score [0 - 10] 0: awful, 10: brilliant.


texts: Is there any online server to upload recommendation letters and share the link with the universities

texts:
Usually we need a few recommendation letters when we apply for a job or academic positions. Im wondering if there is any online server to make it easier on my referees so that they only write once their letters and later I only share the link with the companies or who asks for a recommendation.
Any suggestion is welcome.


texts: In writing a paper, how far can criticism of previous works go?

texts: What are the appropriate limits when criticizing the previously published work of others that you're citing in a paper? Are there limits with respect to maintaining decorum and decency?


texts: Is it okay to ask a former tenured professor why he suddenly left his job?

texts:
He's also not listed in the faculty directory / contact list any longer.

I used to meet him about twice a semester to talk about life and academics, so he knew me fairly well.

He was tenured and, to me, was brilliant.

Can I email him to say hello and ask why he left? Or is that being too nosy and inappropriate?


texts: Who decide about a journals Impact Factor? What are the measurements?

texts:
Dears,
I am wondering on who decides the Impact Factor of a journal? I am a writer, reader, and editor myself and consequently come across several papers. What surprises me though has to do with the inconsistency of ratings. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, one of the best in the country is rated low despite all the good work the journal has done over the years. I checked all the indicators and I believe the journal deserves more rating. So, I wish to hear from whoever is involved in rating journal.

Appreciate genuine and positive response

Mirgissa Kaba (PhD)


texts:
I am a graduate student in mathematics, and I recently got the question why there isn't a press release to the general public whenever we publish a paper (to advertise mathematics and increase interest).

Now, every paper is a bit extreme, but forced me to ask several questions:

Would arxiv be a good place to put math text aimed to the general public?
(I am currently trying to explain an article in a very metaphorical, but accessible to non-mathematicians).

Would it be considered strange to explain research for non-mathematicians either in a separate abstract in a paper, or also writing a shorter non-math version?
(I fear that this is considered slightly odd,
and metaphors sometimes dumbs down the problem so that the question seems very silly. Also, will professors think it is a waste of time?).

A partial goal is to be able to explain what I've done the last five years to my family at the dissertation, but also get some experience in explaining math for grant applications. It would be nice if news from the world of mathematics appeared more often in the news, (local news for smaller achievements, explanations etc).


texts: May F1 students with a US PhD receive their stipend if they leave the country?

texts:
I am considering returning to my home country since my PhD classes are being offered optionally online (which means we can take them both in person or online) for the fall semester, and the US state I currently live in has one of the worst covid-19 outbreaks. Previously, my concern was with ICE revoking my F1 status, but now that they have rescinded their proposal, this is no longer a concern for me.
My home country is in a much better situation than the US, and has free healthcare, so I wanted to return home where I am safer and with my family.
I was wondering if, under the current climate, I would be able to return home and still receive my scholarship and stipend, assuming that any TA/RA work I need to fulfill can also be done remotely?
Has anyone had an experience with this?


texts: Getting into graduate school and then switching fields

texts:
I am in my final year of an honours undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science.

Over my undergraduate years, I have built up academic and research credentials in the field of mathematical biology. I have done two summer research projects in the field, given presentations of my research at seminars and conferences, received a travel grant to attend a mathematical biology school, have a professor in the field who is likely to write a strong recommendation letter, after he said he was impressed with my work, another professor who says she wants me to work for her, and hearsay that I did good research among professors outside of the field.

When I was doing research, I really enjoyed my work because it was all computational mathematics. I happened to not deal with any biology at all. As I became more involved in the field, however, the biology which I was not interested in became ever more important.

I realised that if the computational mathematics kept me going and not the interest in studying biological systems, I may not have the motivation to continue if I went into the field further in graduate school. As a result, what I really want to do is study computational mathematics. An area which interests me, for example, is shape optimization. I want to become a researcher in this topic, and eventually become a professor as well.

The problem here is that my chances of getting into graduate school are much better if I apply as a mathematical biology student, rather than a student in a different field, because of the credentials I have built up.

So my question is: Is it possible and acceptable to apply as to graduate school as a student in one field, and if I get in, immediately switch to the field I want to study in?

Right now, I am doing my undergraduate thesis with a professor in the field of computational mathematics (numerical analysis to be specific), so I feel like this is a little step closer to my switch. But I am unsure if I can build enough credential to be a good candidate for this field in graduate school.


texts: Is it appropriate to use a previous (recent) letter of recommendation for a different application?

texts:
I have an outstanding letter of recommendation from someone who I am no longer in regular contact with and it would be a hardship to contact them in person (to receive a signed letter). This is the kind of letter that I could run for president on.

I did not receive the scholarship that I originally needed it for.

Contacting the original author is no longer a real option. Is it appropriate to use this letter again for a subsequent application for an unrelated scholarship? (Note that the letter specifically mentions the first scholarship, not the one I am not considering using it for.)

I was considering simply attaching a short note to the front stating the reason for this.

However, something is nagging me in the back of my mind that this seems a little unprofessional. Should I pursue a letter from a different author instead?


texts: Is it a bad sign, if reviews are completed very early?

texts: My manuscript was sent to the reviewers of an Elsevier journal around 10 days ago. Today, I logged into EES and saw that the status has changed to Required Reviews Completed. I couldn’t believe it. My impression is that my manuscript is likely to have been rejected by the reviewers. Am I right about this?


texts: How does a typical CS Ph.D program start

texts:
I  am just starting a computer science Ph.D. in the EU, and i have been assigned, since the first month, various papers to implement by myself (no team members to help neither the advisor is helping)
I want to ask, is that normal from first month ?
I was expecting to find team members, maybe Post-Docs to give me a hand when needed, when there's something i couldn't comprehend etc.
What's your thoughts on this ?


texts: Do graduate admissions committees look at old grades? Should I mention past mistakes in SOP?

texts:
As an undergraduate, I had a few F's and was on academic probation but graduated with a 3.2 in electrical engineering from a mid level ranked uni.  Then I thought about going to graduate school in engineering so I registered as a non degree graduate student and I got a F in that single graduate class.

But that was ten years ago.

I then worked ten years as an engineer realizing my passion was never in engineering, I only studied it for the career opportunities and high salary. I was more interested in the business / economics side of things so I applied for a MBA (I got probationary acceptance) and graduated with a GPA of 3.7 for my MBA.

Now I want to apply for a PhD in economics in a higher ranking school (not an ivy or top 25 school) and I am panicking because economics has similar math classes as for engineers.  Will they look at my old grades and reject my application?  I am afraid they say 'you had a few Fs as an undergrad and then another as a graduate student and even though it was ten years ago - sorry no chance'.

My bad grades are obvious on my transcript, I cannot hide them. I admit I was a lazy student with no goal in life until the real world hit me.  I feel my poor study habits and mistakes made me a more serious, more studious and more driven student now and I can transfer a lot of my engineering skills to economics.  Should I give a reason for my bad grades in my SOP? The schools I am applying for did not ask for an essay of 'additional information'.  The SOP requirements want me to talk about my future plans and current qualifications.  All my economics and statistics prerequisite grades have so far been straight As as were my MBA grades but I am afraid the graduate admission committees hold my past mistakes from 10 years ago against me in particular because I got a F in a graduate class ten years ago.

Do they care about my old grades?

Any advice?  What should I do?


texts: My discipline is Telecommunication engineering and I am writing a paper for an IEEE journal. I want to cite an invited paper published in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory. My question do I need to mention in my citation that the paper is invited? If yes, how? As part of the original article name or the journal name or somehow else? Same with correspondence papers which are not full length articles, but short ones on some emerging area. What does IEEE say about it?


texts: Professor stopped replying to my e-mails about lab positions

texts:
I emailed a professor about a potential lab position in the summer about two weeks ago. He replied a very nice e-mail the next morning saying that he is interested and has open positions. He asked for some information (transcript, CV). I sent those to him that same day and we exchanged a few e-mails. After that he just went ghost... I sent a follow-up e-mail after one week, still no response. Now it has been two weeks and I'm debating whether I should send him another e-mail.

Is this kind of situation normal? What's the best action in this case? I've had tons of experiences of professors not replying e-mails, but this is new to me... I definitely don't want to sound annoying by sending multiple follow-up e-mails. Any help would be appreciated!


texts: How can I force a journal to withdraw a paper?

texts:
I submitted a research paper to a reputed journal (open access). Later, after getting the first reviews, most of the authors are refusing to pay the publication fees even though we all previously decided to contribute.

I sent a wave-off request to the journal by explaining the money problem. The journal denied the delay so at last I requested them to withdraw the paper. First they said that they were withdrawing it. Later they said that we mistakenly wrote withdraw instead of "move to production" (which is a clear lie).

I have mailed them so many times to withdraw but now they are replying in an impolite way. How can I convince the journal to withdraw the paper?


texts: A master's degree from IGNOU is eligible for a CSIR -NET qualification?

texts:
If someone completes his master degree in mathematics from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Can he be eligible for a CSIR -NET application?

CSIR -NET is a necessary qualification for lectureship or junior research fellowship in india given by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).


texts: Advisor ill, out all year... how should I proceed?

texts:
I’m a first year grad student beginning this year. My professor was diagnosed with cancer and won’t be in, probably all year, maybe even the entire time I’m in class.
He’s a great man, and also a nice man, which are two things that don’t always go together, so I’ve spent a while just being sad, but now I think it’s time to try to figure out what I’m going to do. I don’t want to make it to obvious who I’m talking about because I don’t know if he’s announced it publicly yet, but I am studying an ancient language… So he is the only professor in my program who knows how to read it. My question is do I change my topic of study to match a different professor at the school, or do I continue to focus on what I had hoped to focus on without the guidance of my advisor?
Thanks so much for any thoughts you can give me on this topic.


texts: How does a math degree help in electrical engineering graduate studies?

texts:
I am doing a double degree (bachelor of electrical engineering - bachelor of math) and I am in year 2 (my double degrees takes 5 years). My final goal is to enter electrical engineering graduate school. I love math and I am getting excellent grades for my bachelor of math degree but since my goal is entering electrical engineering graduate school, I feel that I am wasting my time by making my bachelor degree much longer. On the other hand, I think that I may forget the majority of my math theorems in a few years. I am thinking of dropping my math degree and just continue with my bachelor of electrical engineering but I can not decide for sure.

How would a double degree in math and electrical engineering help me in electrical engineering graduate school? Will I have any disadvantage if I just enter graduate school with a straight bachelor of electrical engineering? When it comes to graduate admission, does the graduate committee look more favorably to someone who has done a double degree in electrical engineering and math than someone with a straight electrical engineering degree? If you enter electrical graduate engineering school with just a straight electrical engineering degree, would then learning the required math be doable?

Edit: I am thinking of control theory and/or signal processing in graduate school.


texts: Is it acceptable in an academic interview to pretend like you derived something, or to explaining where it is from

texts:
Video in reference: https://youtu.be/dUwN6GI-0EQ after 4:05

In a Cambridge (model) interview, someone was asked to sketch a graph of sin(x)/x. The intention was clearly that they were not to have seen this function before. When watching, I immediately recognised this as sinc(x) (a function sometimes used in electrical engineering). They were then told not to evaluate this function at 0 because it's difficult, however I knew how this could be done. If I was in this position, would it be acceptable to pretend like I could derive everything I knew about this function already to impress the interviewer, or important to say that I have already seen the function before.


texts: Condolences from a student to a professor

texts:
I have a professor I really care about and our professional relationship as a student/teacher has been growing in a positive direction. The professor has been really kind to me in many ways including giving personal/academic advise and providing motivation towards certain goals.

My professor has been gone, without word, for an extended period of time...

I got stupid and curious, and using Google, I figured out the professor lost an important loved one.

I now feel ashamed because I know I violated the professors privacy; however, now that I know my first instinct is of empathy and to give my condolences to my professor.

Now the more I think about it, I don’t want to say anything so that I don’t disrespect our relationship, but I feel that giving my condolences is the “right” thing to do when someone you care about is in pain, but I only am aware of the situation because I already disrespected our relationship.

I’m frustrated and confused. Could any lecturers or professors give me some guidance?


texts: How can I do well with an unpredictable boss as a postdoc?

texts:
My current postdoc advisor is an expert in my research field. He is head of research center and has huge amount of experience in this field.

The poblem is, he is a bit whimsical. Sometimes he is happy in one day, but he become very unhappy the very next day when discussing exactly same topic. I think he is a...  bit emotional. It is not always the case, but if it is his unhappy day, a meeting on that day 'usually' goes bad. If he is happy, usually the meeting flows in good mood.

As you may imagine, he changes his mind frequently, and sometimes he changes his words. Sometimes I wish if I could record his voice and listen together next time. He is old, and he is controlling numerous projects from a moderate sized research center, so he may forget about my work. He can forget, that is OK, but sometimes it makes me really sad, feels like he doesn't care about my work at all.

Oh, and he is really skeptical. Skeptical attitude as a scientist is a good in general, but I think sometimes he asks too much. I achieved the research target last summer, and presented in conference back in September. But from then, I couldn't publish this paper because he is keep asking for more validation and validation over and over. He is a very experienced researcher, so I respect his decision. But I never saw such amount of validation from other papers in this field... To me, it seems enough, but to him, it is not.

So, I'm really demoralized. It is just one year after joining this group, I didn't even have a chance to show my full potential to him. But as I lose morale and will to pursue, I'm also losing my interest in this topic. This influenced my productivity, and he is not that happy about me recently.

What should do? In general, what is the best way to deal with such a boss?

Does his behavior mean that he doesn't like me and my results, and he expresses it in such way? I really have no idea how to satisfy him and publish this work.

Also, I wish to find a new post-doc position, but he will not write a good recommendation letter for me, so I feel like I'm trapped in here. Should I still try to find a new post-doc position, without his recommendation letter? Is this possible?


texts: Including proofs of known theorems in master's thesis

texts:
I am currently writing my master's thesis in computer science. In my topic, I had a lot of papers to read and my main result relies also heavily on some theorems from especially one paper.

In the common literature there are some standard theorems for which the proofs are usually omitted bescause it is common knowledge or radically shortened as in "an easy application of the KKT theorem" and the authors do not want to waste any space for that.

In a master's thesis, however, I would assume that it is good practice to write down those proofs more extensively, since it also shows that you really understand your topic in-depth.

My question is: Would you agree on that and would a citation as in

Proposition 3.14 (see [5]). A nice theorem.
Proof. My extended proof.

be sufficient?

I checked out When should one include the proof of known results in a mathematical PhD thesis? already where the answers suggest that my intuition is right here (for a PhD thesis). My thesis advisor also agrees (which is probably most important), however, I am unsure to what degree this is appropriate.


texts: Avoiding publishing in a particular journal without bringing up politics

texts:
As part of the PhD programme I am enrolled in, we're encouraged to publish a review paper within our first two years. After talking to my advisors, a suitable topic related to the area was agreed and I set about writing.

From the beginning, we had a particular journal in mind, but toward the end of the writing process my supervisor was invited to contribute a review to a different journal for a special edition, and suggested that my paper could be submitted there as the topic was in-keeping with the topic of the special edition.

The journal in question is an Israeli journal, though has contributions from researchers worldwide.

Personally, while not entirely supporting an academic boycott of Israel (I don't see this as being productive), I don't wish to publish there – I have significant concerns over Israeli policy and their handling of the Palestine conflict and don't want my name associated with the journal.

Clearly this is a very sensitive topic, and I don't wish to bring up politics with my supervisor - he hasn't ever expressed any political opinions and isn't Jewish, so I'm not concerned about offending him (we're in the UK, so generally the mood here is far less pro-Israel than in the USA).

I have tried to suggest that I would generally just prefer the paper to go into the original journal given that we've already formatted it for that journal etc, but without much luck.

How would I best go about dealing with the situation?


texts: Having preferred and non-preferred reviewers in journal submissions

texts:
IEEE asks journal authors to submit the names of their (non-)preferred reviewers. Given it may not be appropriate to list an acquaintance as a reviewer, how does one judge if an anonymous person will be a good reviewer or not?

Is giving "non-preferred" reviewers akin to the author confiding about his academic relationships to the editor? Do people really need to fill this column up at all?


texts: Is there a difference between "in review" and "under review"

texts:
I recently submitted a paper to a Management journal, usually if the manuscript is in the review process, it shows "under review".

This time, once upon submission the status turned "in review". I wonder why it turned like this right away and anyone has any idea if there is actually a difference?


texts: My master thesis supervisor wants me to continue as his PhD student, but he has no funds at the moment. Any advice?

texts:
I am currently working on my master thesis in physics and mathematics and will finish within a few months. My supervisor told me he would like to continue with my thesis' research subject and asked me if I wanted to be a PhD student in his group. However, he doesn't have any funds at the moment for hiring another PhD student, although his current PhD students are all almost finished.
He is going to look around and obviously will continue submitting proposals for grants. But unless we are very lucky, there won't be a grant within a reasonable time. He offered to help me get a PhD somewhere else and write a good letter of recommendation. I think the chances are good to obtain a PhD position somewhere else. However, I would like to find a way to do a PhD with my current supervisor.
Does anyone have any ideas how to get funding or something else I could do? This is at a university in The Netherlands and a PhD is considered as a job here. Funding is almost never arranged by the PhD student his/herself.


texts: Can I re-apply for a new PhD position of a better university if I am currently full funded international student of another university(both in US)?

texts: Can I apply for a new PhD position of a better university(Stanford, Berkeley) in coming fall semester if I am currently international full funded PhD student of another university (both in US)? After acceptance I will leave the previous university.


texts: I want to do a PhD in Dynamical Systems as applied to any physical science ; how do I decide where to apply?

texts:
I'm at the end of a 2 year post-Bacc at Columbia. My goal when I started was quite clear: I wanted to study atmospheric science through the lens of dynamical systems. However, as I've moved along, it's become clear to me that my interest is really in the approach, and that I care relatively little about the particular field to which it is applied. That is: I'm much more interested in the process of modeling with dynamical systems than I am in what I'm modeling (though I would prefer to stay in the physical sciences). This is great in some senses, because it means that I can apply to a wealth of different sorts of programs, but I'm suffering from paralysis of choice; how can I even decide?

Some pertinent background:

-My undergraduate degree is actually in linguistics from Georgetown (it's how I got interested in complexity science in the first place)

-I've been working with a research team in climate science, although it hasn't been very mathematics heavy.

-My first project has begun to conclude, and so I've recently begun working with an physical oceanography research team doing very mathy stuff

-One of the theoretical climate scientists in the department (who started his career with a very theoretical fluid mechanics/dynamical systems approach) told me that the use of dynamical methods in atmospheric science has been largely mined out: there aren't many tractable questions remaining and it will be difficult to find work doing that even if I do get funding for a PhD.

-My quantum mechanics professor recommended looking into either plasma physics or ion transport in batteries. She says these methods are being used there (and I trust her on this; she has her own lab doing work closely related to the later and is generally quite brilliant all the time).

I really need two things

a) Specific advice about how to navigate this choice and to finesse the applications: Are these fields all equally likely to allow me to play with these techniques? Should I be applying to math programs or science programs given my interests? Are there scientific fields I should consider beyond those recommended to me above (p. oceanography, atmospheric science, plasma).

b) General advice about organizing this choice, selling myself as a legit candidate in a diversity of fields (my background is at this point equivalent to a bachelors in Mathematical Physics kinda; more analysis than most physicist undergrads but less calculations.

Thanks


texts: latex and word template for conference submission

texts:
I have seen in some conferences that they usually put two kinds of templates, one in Latex and the other one in word. The question that I have, and is because I will be on a conference committee in the next couple of months, is how to deal with the differences of fonts between both templates.

For what I know the Latex fonts are usually not found in Word, so how to do when one send the articles to print the proceedings. Should one person convert from Word to Latex or the Latex template should be made in a way that resembles the Word fonts?

Sort of easy question, but I have not been involved in conferences committees before.

Thanks


texts: Do graduate admission committees include persons from outside the field?

texts:
I am applying for a master's programme in Computer Science in the UK. In my application I am using the term "penetration tester".

Can I assume that everyone in the committee knows what that means? Computer Scientists should, but administrative staff probably won't. Should I explain what the term means?


texts: How to handle capitalized abbreviations in Book, Anthology, Journal, etc. titles in APA?

texts:
I am using APA and need to cite an article from a conference which has a capitalized abbreviation in its name:

Proceedings of the 1992 ACM/IEEE Conference on Supercomputing

https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=147877

I can't find information on how to handle abbreviations in the reference entry. My Biblatex code is this:

@inproceedings{schutze_1992,
    author = {Schütze, H},
    year = {1992},
    pages = {787 - 796},
    title = {Dimensions of Meaning},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 1992 {ACM/IEEE} Conference on Supercomputing},
    editor = {Robert Werner},
    location = {Los Alamitos, CA, USA},
    publisher = {IEEE Computer Society Press}
}

On suspicion, I manually kept the abbreviations capitalized, producing this output

enter image description here

But per default ACM/IEEE is not capitalized by Biblatex.

What is correct?


texts: Should I go ahead with presenting incomplete results and partially unverified conclusions in conference?

texts:
I have a conference talk (did not submit proceedings) in two days and last night I was making the presentation and I came across a major error in my conclusions of the work. I am currently writing the paper, so I thought the work was completed. But the error is a major drawback to my results.
To go into the details, my talk consists of two parts:

Using computational modeling to determine the mechanism of an experimental process.
Developing an empirical equation from the simulation results to predict the experimental results.

There are no issues with the first part. But yesterday I found that the second part is partially wrong and I need to rework my analysis and run more simulations. However, I don't have time to do so. This was supposed to be completing my results and be a major highlight to my work. Predicting the experimental results is a necessary part of work of this nature.
Should I go ahead and present the results with the error? Won't that be unethical? Or should I withdraw from the conference altogether? My advisor is not responding to my mails.


texts: H-index: Any quantitative (or other) measures on how well h-index actually measures scientific productivity?

texts: I am wondering if there have been any sort of rigorous/meaningful study about how well an h-index measures the scientific productivity of a person.  I am wondering how much stock I should put into the h-index, both as a personal measure and a measure of those around me.


texts: How to list workshop presentations on a CV when circumstances change?

texts:
This might be a bit of an unusual situation. I was accepted to a workshop as a solo authored abstract, but a situation arose in which I was unable to attend. However, the organizer allowed for my colleague and myself to combine our presentations since we work on similar research. What would be the best way to list this on my CV? Just list the final presentation, e.g.,

  Colleague and Myself. "Joint presentation on cool research subject."
  NSF Workshop, 2019.

or should I list the original abstract which appeared the proceedings, e.g.,

  Myself. "Cool research project." presented by Colleague as part of
  Colleague and  Myself. "Joint presentation on cool research subject."
  NSF Workshop, 2019.


texts: What exactly counts as an 'unofficial transcript' for graduate school admissions?

texts:
At my school, I can request an official transcript to be emailed to me, and it comes addressed to me at the top, with a COPY watermark all over it. Since this doesn't go directly to the graduate school, would this count as an unofficial transcript? It contains the classes taken, my grades and so on.

One thing though, is that at my institution, first year grades don't 'count' per se, so they don't appear on the official transcript. Instead, these are all listed as SC [Satisfactorily Completed]. Would seeing this on the official transcript be odd to a grad school admissions committee?


texts: On-campus interview: Faculty exit interview

texts: I am going to do an on-campus interview and one of the items (the last one on my last day) is "Exit interview" for one hour with 4 faculty members (search committee chair, co-chair, ...). I was wondering what this interview is?


texts: What do people usually ask letter writers to emphasize in a letter of reference?

texts:
I hear that a lot of letter writers to let them know things things you would like for them to "highlight in your application".

What do most people ask their letter writer to emphasize? Is it personal anecdotes between themselves and the letter writer? their own work ethic? their personal theoretical contributions to projects?


texts: Is it okay to have a good (not strong) recommendation letter from a well-known scientist?

texts: I approached my internship advisor for an LOR while applying to Masters. She said she would not be able to provide a strong one but a good one based on an internship that lasted for two months. I approached her because she holds a PhD from a good university in the USA and she's published papers in top-tier conferences and journals. Will it adversely affect my application? Will it hold as much weight as a strong one because it's she who's recommending it?


texts:
It seems that my advisor keeps pushing me to answer this question, and I am not comfortable answering it.  How should I respond him?

Update: I just recently graduated and landed a tenure-track position.  The salary mentioned above is of this position.  I was wondering if it is normal for the advisor to know your salary?


texts: How to ask for rec letter for another program after verbal commitment to stay with my current advisor for PhD?

texts:
I'm a senior undergrad, and I verbally committed to sticking around with my current research prof for a PhD at the beginning of the school year. However, I'm now really enticed by the graduate program of another school, and I'd like to at least apply to the other school.

However, I don't know how to ask my research prof--whose lab is the technically-juciest part of my CV--for a rec letter. He has already recommended me to 2 fellowships, so I know he has a letter ready for me.

Should I just not ask my advisor for a letter? How would a grad committee feel about the lack of input from the closest research adviser? I have a 3.8 and 3 years of hands-on experience in different labs (no publications) and student groups, so I feel like I have a decent shot at getting into the other school without my adviser's recommendation, but I'd like to get your thoughts.

More broadly speaking, is it okay for me to even apply to the other school? On one hand, I feel guilty about possibly reneging on my statement to work with him, especially since I've had some unproductive spats in his lab and I feel indebted to him for keeping me on. On the other hand, I don't feel guilty because he told me he doesn't have any long-term funding left for me (hence the fellowship applications). Moreover, one of the fellowship proposal's depended on the lack of progress in a certain field which my prof and I later discovered has been secretly progressed very rapidly by a government lab.


texts: How much can you share unpublished forum articles?

texts:
There are some journals, such as Behavioral and Brain Sciences, that publish a single target article per issue, followed by 20 to 30 commentaries on that article, and then a rebuttal/synthesis from the target article authors. Their rough workflow seems to be:

Authors submit a target article.
Target article is peer-reviewed as in a normal journal, with a focus on if it is of sufficient interest to warrant discussion in such a forum setting.
If accepted, the editors send a massive number of invitations to associates of the journal, soliciting commentary proposals on the target article. A dark-net link to the final version of the target article is included.
Authors submit commentary proposals, and the editors review them, selecting a subset that would make a good discussion.
Selected commentators write their articles and submit them to the editors
Editors do a quick review of commentaries and pass them on to the target article authors for a rebuttal.
Target article authors write a rebuttal.
Everything is published at the same time (this is the stage that BBS makes anything directly publicly available from their site).

At stage [3], the number of commentators contacted is significantly in excess of what you would for soliciting peer review. A link to the post-review paper that is accessible without any logins is also distributed, but this link is on the 'dark net' -- nothing on the main site links directly to it. The contacted associates are encouraged to share the article with their colleagues and bring non-contacted collaborators on board if they want to write a commentary.

My question is: to what extent can the sharing in step [3] be taken?

Can you share the article privately as much as you want? I.e. can a non-associate that was sent the article by an associate (but not the editor) then forward it to another non-associate?
Can you contact the authors of the target article with questions or comments that make it obvious that you've read the article? (Note, that you wouldn't be able to do this for an article you are peer-reviewing)
Can you write a blog post about the article before it comes out, making a summary of it, and referencing it as (to appear)?
Can you share the link that was emailed to you publicly (say on your blog)?

Note that the target authors often have a preprint of the target article linked from their website, kind of like a white paper (although it isn't always exactly the same version as is sent out by BBS). I am interested in answers to the above questions in both cases: when a preprint is available from the authors and when only the BBS dark-net link exists.


texts: Do sample solutions increase student 'productivity'?

texts:
I'm not 100% sure whether this belongs here, but since I am a PhD student (teaching) in the TCS/Algorithms department, I'd like to know what fellow, maybe more experienced, teachers think.

The question at hand is whether we should offer sample solutions to all our exercises for, e.g., a Data Structures & Algorithms lecture.
I am convinced that this would be a highly beneficial service for our students whereas my advisor is against it. Here are the pros and cons that we came up with:

Pros:

Students have access to high-quality answers when they don't understand something.
Our expectations on verboseness, conciseness, depth of proofs, etc. can be communicated more clearly.
A student can individually study using the solutions and is not forced to attend the tutorials if this is not his preferred style of learning
We (the professor/tutor) have a clearer idea of what solutions to expect since we have to work the problems ourselves.
The tutor (me) is more free in the design of the tutorial. Without sample solutions, the tutorial basically boils down to writing the sample solutions on the blackboard. Otherwise I can't be sure that everyone has at least seen the correct way how to solve it. Little interaction is involved.

Cons:

It costs time and/or money.
Students may stop being engaged in the exercises since they know they can always look at the sample solutions.
Students may stop coming to the tutorials.
We can't reuse exercises from past years since students might have access to (and use) past sample solutions.
If we do it once, the students might expect we do it for every lecture.

To be clear, in both cases the students are expected to solve the exercise sheets on their own, and they will be graded. I'm merely interested in what to offer after this has happened.

I think that's all. Optimally, I would like to find some kind of empirical study that proves that sample solutions increase the "productivity" of students. Data always wins. However, so far I couldn't find anything like this.

To discuss the points mentioned above, my general opinion on these matters is that if we can offer more services using little work, we should always do it. If someone really misuses it (as stated in the cons), he or she will notice that this is the wrong approach the latest in the exams. My advisor, however, wants to minimize the time spent on lectures and have me rather do the research relevant to my PhD. Since I have to do the solutions anyway, the overhead for providing a sample solution is maybe 2-3 hours/week.

What do you think?


texts:
While filling a PhD application for a European university, I came across a field  that needed to be filled. The field - to be filled by 'Yes or No' -  asked if my master's or bachelor's universities are 'delocalized campuses'. This is the first time I have come across this term. I am not a native English speaker.

What does 'delocalized campus' mean?


texts:
I have authored a large textbook on Male Pattern Baldness already in 2015 in my native language, Greek,
I have finished the translation in English and looking for a publisher.
It is a unique medical textbook, addressing multiple disciplines in a very detailed manner.
Springer has been interested in publishing my work but does not offer remuneration per chapter download, which is the most distinctive aspect of my book since there are 129 dedicated chapters for each separate issue!
I am interested more in "fame" than "fortune" but knowing that most of the revenue from my work will be generated in a way that I get no remuneration at all will be at least annoying.

Can anyone suggest any other reputable publishing house that is offering a fee -per-chapter download as well?
Can anyone suggest a house that can guarantee visibility and spread of my work as good as Springer?
If making ay considerable money out of this huge work is not possible, would you suggest Open Access for increased visibility?

Thank you for your time!


texts: What can a grad student do when their assistantship requires more hours than specified in their contract?

texts:
I'm currently finishing my second year as a STEM PhD student at a fairly large research university. As a grad student, I am expected to fulfill 20 hours of extra duties each week. Typically this involves working as a TA for two classes and then completing a few hours a week in the tutoring center or helping out in large lecture classes. This has gone fine for me during that last three semesters. However, this semester I was only scheduled for one TA section. So this left about 10 hours in the tutoring center for my leftover duty.

Over the course of the semester the department has been giving me fairly large grading assignments for upper-division classes. The first was given about three weeks in and required some shuffling of my schedule to accommodate (I'm getting ready to take my quals and am taking multiple core classes this semester). This replaced 7 hours of my tutoring center time.  Now toward the middle of the semester they've given me another fairly large grading assignment, but are only counting it for 3 hours so as not to go over my 20 hour limit.

Is this typical behavior for a department? I feel like having my schedule disrupted like this is very unprofessional. Also, I know there are other grad students in my department who could more readily take on this assignment. This new assignment is for a class outside of my field, and I have zero experience with the material. It just seems like there's no consistency to these work expectations as many other students have duties that count for their full time, but are much easier and require fewer hours in practice.

Is this something that I should bring up with my department? All of these duties are starting to take a toll on my work. I appreciate any advice.


texts: Is it important to publish my article in a journal indexed on Thomson ISI?

texts: If a journal is not indexed this way, is it an academically honorable one?


texts:
I just finished my 3rd year in a combined pure/applied math program at a Canadian university.  I have been leaning towards pure math, but I'm not sure if I'll have done enough to go to grad school for it.  I've taken Real Analysis (single-variable, metric spaces, basic function spaces and topology), a standard course in complex analysis, and an introductory abstract algebra course (mostly rings and fields).  I've also of course done the basics in single/multivariable calculus, linear algebra, probability, and ODES.  Next year I was planning on taking measure theory, general topology, mathematical logic, and group theory, as well as some applied courses.  In addition I'm planning on working through Munkres' Analysis on Manifolds this summer.

Will this suffice for grad school, or do I need more higher-level courses?  Also, I've never written the Putnam or any other contests, or did research.  I'm probably not going for top grad schools, but would an average school admit someone on the basis of coursework, or do they expect more evidence of research potential?

EDIT: My question is specifically about my math background and math grad school, I don't see how this is really answered by the other question.


texts: Funded PhD in the UK with a Distinction in MSc and a low undergraduate CGPA

texts:
I completed my undergraduate degree in engineering at the best university in my country of origin, almost a decade ago. I completed the undergraduate program with a 2.9 CGPA  on a 4.0 GPA scale, which roughly equates to an overall B grade (74.5%). Owing to my very difficult personal circumstances at the time, I had to repeat 6 failed courses and completed my degree in 5 years instead of 4. I later completed a master's degree at a mid-ranking UK university - a former polytechnic, albeit one with a very good history and a good reputation in my subject area - with an overall distinction and an A1 grade in my dissertation. I had the opportunity to start a funded PhD at that university at the time, but I wasn't really interested then.

Since completing my master's program, I've worked in the industry for nearly 8 years. Now, at 35 I would like to apply to a good PhD programme at a top ranked university next year. I'm very passionate about my research topic and  have drafted a very good research proposal. Will my undergraduate record have any bearing on my application?


texts: In-class pop quizzes (online) and how to moderate them

texts:
I teach an undergraduate course in thermodynamics. In class pop (surprize) quizzes account for about 10% of the grade. I use canvas for my in-class quizzes (and to collect homework assignments, start discussions).

The class room I teach in doesn't have computers so when I set up an pop quiz on canvas, I generally let the students out of class during the last 10 minutes to log in to one of the several campus computers to take the quiz.

However, I know that our computers aren't top notch and one can easily spend about 5-7 minutes just logging in and another 2-3 minutes launching a web browser to access canvas.

Given these technical issues (that can't be sorted out because of a lax IT department) I generally keep my quiz open for about 9 hours. This also takes into account the other classes that my students may have to rush in to right after mine which might prevent them from attempting the pop quiz until later that day.

Isn't this unfair to students who take the quiz immediately? By keeping my quiz open for 9 hours, it takes away the surprise component of it substantially. Is there a way I can do this without having to have quizzes on paper and in-class?

Should I just be mean and keep my quiz open for only the 20 minutes or so at the end of my class?

Edit: I was thinking about this and I thought of a couple of things that I'd like to add:

One way to nullify this is by announcing that there would be a quiz in the next 3 days. That way, the students will try and learn and not just haphazardly flip through their textbook as I assume they would if it were a true pop quiz.
I could tell them that the examinations which account for 70% of the grade will be tough and it would be sensible to be honest with pop quizzes.
Borrowing from Zenon's comment below, why not mix multiple choice questions with single valued answers with only 1 attempt?


texts: Applying for another job within same department?

texts:
I've been a postdoc for just under a year in a nice lab, and I have no problems with my boss or colleagues. However, another position has just come up in the same department, which fits way better with my career plans. I've been advised to apply anyway, and only mention it to my boss after an interview / offer are made, if I get as far as that. The reasoning being, there's no need to cause awkwardness in the group if I'm not even shortlisted. The problem is, the HR persons responsible for recruitment are the same for both departments. So, even if I ask for confidentiality in the application form, it's not impossible that the information could leak to one of my colleagues.

So the questions are:
 - From a PI's perspective, how acceptable is it to hear one of your postdocs is trying to move to another job in the same department?
 - From a postdoc's perspective, what is the less damaging strategy in this scenario? Try to keep it confidential, and risk the info leaking to your PI? Or telling your PI about it before you apply, and risk creating an awkward feeling among your group - especially if you don't get the job?

Disclaimer: I'm aware of previous questions around the theme of multiple job applications to the same University / department; and of questions about changing departments while in a graduate program. What I'm asking is neither of those, as you're already employed and thinking of moving within the same department.


texts: I will apply to another Phd program, and I don't know how to explain my problem with my current program. (phd student)

texts:
I posted my problem a few weeks ago here:
My advisor has literally no idea what my research is about and I am freaking out (phd student)
Now I am considering applying to another PhD program. I am going to go to the university and talk to them. However, I am not sure how to explain my problem without sounding like I am trying to trash my advisor (as explained, he is very nice, but he is not a specialist, and what is really making me want to change the program is that he doesn't know what my research is about).
Also, should I mention that in my SOP? How should I put it?
I am really worried that my advisor would know (people know each other, he might have contacts especially that both universities are in the same state. what if they call my university to ask? I am okay with that, but if I did not get in I'll be in a problem with my advisor).
Should I just say that I want to change the program because I am interested in prof.x work instead? What if he is not interested in my research? This would cost me my chances with other professors (while I really like his work, I need ro transfer and I really don't see him as my priority)


texts: When is it appropriate to close your office door when meeting with a student?

texts:
Generally speaking, keeping the door open to your office while attending with a student (or students) is a safe policy given the amount of danger one can get in should any allegations be made.  (I mention this last bit in light of the number of Title IX investigations that seem to be on the rise.)

However, is there ever an appropriate situation where closing the office door while meeting with a student or students is okay as a teacher/lecturer/professor?


texts:
I've started my Masters in Computer Science this year and i'm facing some questions about citations. Papers and dissertations i've seen so far have a lot of citations even for the most basic subjects.

Now, i'm working on a paper and i have this question: should i explain things with my own words or use anyone's definition and properly cite their work?

I'd like to know what is the usual way of doing citations. I don't know if i write with my own words and look for citations (or even when to cite).

Thanks in advance.


texts: How does Semantic Scholar count influential citations?

texts:
On Semantic Scholar, each author has a count of "Highly Influential Citations", see for example https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/Onur-Mutlu/1734461.
This information is also present in the API (field influentialCitationCount).
How are those "Highly Influential Citations" identified and counted?


texts: Should I ask for deferral before accepting a PhD offer or after accepting it?

texts:
I am currently in a PhD program, and have applied and received offers to start another (changing fields). Both are in the US, so I do not need to finish a master's or anything. The plan was that I will finish this year in my current PhD program, take some useful courses, get my master's degree, and peacefully leave in good academic standing and start the new program. For some personal reasons, which lead to serious bureaucratic issues, I had to take a leave of absence from my current program. So now, I would have to just leave my current program with very few courses taken and start my new PhD in Fall.

I know all of the departments I have offer from are ok with that, but I am NOT! I think it may look really bad on my CV to have just a few courses from my current PhD program, and abandon it in the middle of a leave of absence and start in a different field. Plus, although I am changing fields, some knowledge from my current field, the courses I was going to take, and the master's degree, are going to be extremely useful at many levels (super useful transferrable skills and a master's degree in a field and from a very prestigious school that can significantly improve my qualifications and open more doors for industry jobs after my PhD). Additionally, just for the sake of my confidence, feelings, and my relationship with my current classmates and professors, I think it would make a big difference if I go back after my leave ends, finish this year, and leave with good grades at a nice point (end of the master's courses), especially because the department was very kind to me and helped me a lot with the personal and bureaucratic issues.

I have to respond to my offers by April 15th, and I wonder if I should talk to the departments I am considering, and ask them if I can put their offer on a hold and join the new program in 2021 after finishing my master's. I know that most departments are going to be struggling financially because of the pandemic, and that makes me afraid that they may really dislike the idea and reject that request immediately. So, I think it may be better if I accept their offer, then ask them to defer the start date for a year. That being said, there are two risks with that: 1. If they decide not to take new PhD's at all in 2021 because of the pandemic, I will have trouble with starting then, especially because all are small departments with <10 PhD students a year. 2. One might be ok with that and another might not, so if I ask now, I can choose the one that allows me to do that. On the other hand, if I ask now and they reject, there is no way I can do that after accepting the offer, and going for a likely suggestion that I reapply next year is very risky. So, I think I have a higher chance for getting a positive answer to my request from each individual department if I present them with a fait accompli, i.e. accept their offer, then say I want to defer, but possibly a lower chance than getting one positive response if I ask all of them now (but that might not be from my current top choice). I know for a fact that some departments always reject the request to defer an offer, but sometimes accept to defer the start date when a new student asks for it after accepting their offer.

So, here are my questions:

Should I ask the new departments I have offer from if they allow me to go back and finish my current program and defer my enrollment in their program until next year, or should I accpet the offer, and then ask them?
Does it make sense to choose based on whether they allow me to do that or not? (and so, ask now)


texts: How to frame/explain that I built datasets used on several publications, but I'm not on the papers

texts:
I was wondering how I could frame/explain in my CV that I built the datasets used in several publications outside of my field. I'm in the health sciences but have worked for a couple social science professors for several years. In this work I built several of their datasets that were used in papers. However, due to my lack of knowledge of their field and lack of contribution to the papers (beyond the dataset) I am - quite reasonably - not included as an author.

How can I best frame this work on my CV and for PhD applications?

Thanks!

Edit: spelling


texts: What reference from current insitution is required/advisable for pre-tenure move?

texts:
I am interviewing for a tenure-track position in the United States. I am currently a tenure-track faculty member at another US university. In my cover letter, I stated that I wished to keep my search confidential, at least until the flyout stage. Now that I am at the interview/flyout stage, I am trying to figure out a strategy for providing a contact/reference from my current department without damaging my relationships if I stay in my current position. I already have three official letters of reference from faculty at other institutions.

What sort of communication between a prospective department and a current department is typical/expected at this stage? Could it be limited to calling a junior faculty member for a discussion? What sort of contacts should I prepared to offer or what sort of statements should I be prepared to make? (I realize one option is just to ask the prospective department, but that is a conversation I would like to be prepared for before opening.)

Some relevant details:

My current department is small. There are just a few tenured faculty, most of whom are quite close to the chair. (or who I don't know well because they have been on sabbatical/other reasons.) If I ask a tenured faculty member to give me a reference, the chair would likely know.
I have been told that my chair "holds a grudge." I could see this being true.
I do have a junior faculty member in my department who I have revealed my search to (they are also quietly searching). I think this person would speak well on my behalf. This person is not in my direct specialty.
I believe I have a good reputation in my current department.
My other major mentors at the university are in the administration for my department. I don't think these people hold grudges, but I am not convinced they have an incentive to keep my search confidential.
I applied because the new department is in a city where my family lives, it is also higher-ranking than my current department. I am early pre-tenure but I could not afford to pass up this opportunity.

This question is related: Should I request a letter of recommendation from current employers that don't want me to leave?
However, my situation is different as I have a current position and more of an incentive to keep the search private. I also have some indication that my current chair may not be pleased by this.


texts: Are research opportunities common in India and how can I enroll in a research program in India during my undergraduate studies?

texts:
I am an Indian, currently in 12th standard and I am pretty sure next year I am going to be in a decent UNI for my bachelor's in physics. I have read a lot about undergraduate research in Western colleges but I am not very sure about that here in India, as I have heard that a very small amount of money from the GDP is spent on research every year - like 0.6%. So I was curious if I will be able to get any research opportunities during my initial college years or not.
Another question is:
-- Are researches necessarily done by college professors or there are other groups of researchers who provide opportunities out of school?


texts: How to find a suitable summer internship university/department abroad?

texts:
Let's assume I want to look for a research internship at a university in the next year, what are decent strategies to find a suitable professor/department?

A few come to mind:

Ask home university/department/professor for contacts and use that connection? What if I have no prior research experience and professors only know me from classes?
Google and send CV + Statement to (many) professors via email and hope for the best
Google for positions that are explicitly offered for 8-10 week summer internships
?


texts: Graduate School Admissions (Fall 2021): What are the prospects of an international applicant?

texts:
These days I have been seeing a lot of chatter on Gradcafe (forum for grad school applicants to discuss results and admission process) about decline in the percentage of admits being offered to international applicants for fall 2021 (Universities in USA).
I am also an international applicant (engineering) and this was my 3rd time applying for grad school.

First: Applied in 2017 (PhD), got into Tier 1 university (Ivy League) in USA with presidential scholarship for PhD. Due to personal issues, I was unable to attend grad school that year.

Applied in 2019 (PhD): Got interview invite from a Tier 1 university (X university) in the US. But in between Covid happened and the university did not take further interviews. Did not get an admit.

After this, I did a 6 month RA at university X in 2020 and completed my project successfully.

Applied for fall 2021 (PhD). I thought that my chances will be bright in University X this year due to added advantage of RA at the university. But I haven't heard anything from Univ X till now. I believe, it will be a reject 95% at this point.

What do you think, do the chances of getting an admit for international students in the US decreased?


texts: What is an Ad-Hoc Acting Editor for Journal of Finance and/or PNAS?

texts: What is an Ad-Hoc Acting Editor for the Journal of Finance and/or PNAS? Is it similar to the special-issue editor? How to select that editor in paper submission?


texts: What is the admissions process for top UK graduate programs? What is a considered competitve resume/application?

texts:
I'm considering applying to a few top UK universities for a PhD in Engineering, for the 2016 year.  I would really like to attend a strong program, namely, Imperial, Cambridge, or Oxford.

Admissions to undergraduate courses at these universities are extraordinarily competitive.  How does the graduate admissions process compare?  Is it just as competitive, or is it more relaxed?
What credentials would an American applicant need to have (grades, research experience, job experience, etc) to be competitive?
Do you need to have both an American BS and MS degree to apply to a UK PhD program?  Or is merely a BS sufficient?


texts: How to convert courses and hours (from a non-european university) to ECTS?

texts:
I'm getting my "Licentiate of Computers/Systems" degree soon, in Argentina.
The degree is composed by 40 courses of 68 hours of lectures each. On top of that, you have to add the time you spend on assignments, studying for exams, etc. Depending on the course, you might have to spend from 30 hours to 250, but of course, this depends on each person.
You are supposed to take 5 courses per semester if you want to get the degree in 4 years (full-time).

I don't know how to convert my degree credits/hours into ECTS, given that, if I understood correctly, ECTS points do include studying and assignments hours.

I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me. Please, let me know if more information is needed in order to calculate the ECTS.

Cheers.


texts: PhD in pure mathematics for a student in computer science

texts:
I'm a student currently pursuing my masters in computer science.
My present area of research is computational algrebraic geometry (theory of grobner bases and tropical geometry).

Afterwards, I'm interested in pursuing my PhD in pure mathematics.

I would like know if I'll be elligible for applying to pure math PhD programs?
And if yes, do I have any realistic chance of getting into one?

What else can I do to improve my chances of being accepted?


texts: What is meant by the requirement for an "outstanding academic record"?

texts: I am going to apply for a PhD program. What does mean when one requirement is "Outstanding academic record".


texts: Leaving a postdoc after 3 months (for another)

texts:
I accepted a postdoc position after a short interview by Skype and I haven't had the chance to get to know the people and the city. Anyway, my PI helped me to get my visa (EU - researcher) issued and, currently, I'm already working on the project with some good preliminary results.
BUT
I hate the city, I'm sure it can never be a home. Also, and I'm having some serious problems with another postdoc, which I need to work with because our projects are connected (he's sexist; gave me a wrong protocol to follow and I have lost time and samples; he doesn't leave me alone to work, slows my progress and is always criticizing my project and my experimental approach in not a good way).
I know it will cost me my health if I stay the agreed time (1 year, at least) and I have already landed some other postdoc interviews to work on better places (better places, with nicer people) and I believe I have good chances to get the job.
But, with the visa issued and being my current PI a really good researcher and person, I'm afraid it will look pretty bad on my CV and I don't know how to explain it if someone on the interview asks about it.

I don't have a contract, I never signed anything for the fellowship, it's a normal procedure to have just a spoken agreement; Also I haven't received the payment yet because I still don't have a bank account because of the bureaucracy.

Since I really wish to stay in academia for quite some time what I should do? Tell that I cannot stay till the end of the agreement? Tell about the other possibilities? I'm lost here, the truth is that I never taught it could happend.


texts: What is the difference between “Hochschule” and “Universität/Technische Universität”, especially for master degrees?

texts:
I am really confused by the difference between Hochschule (university of applied sciences) and (Technische) Universität ((technical) university) in Germany, especially with respect to the master’s degree.

What is the main difference and features?

Can a master graduate from Hochschule have a chance to do PhD like a graduate from a university in Europe, US, Canada or Australia?


texts: Advice to manage a Facebook group for PhD students

texts:
In my institute, there was no online (or otherwise) platform exclusively available for the current and graduated PhD students. So I created a Facebook group with a vision that the group will allow sharing and dissemination of:

Useful information such as conference calls, seminars, webinars, colloquia, etc.

Inter/intra department equipment related information (such as availability of an instrument, technical advice, etc).

Queries or information related to drafting manuscripts, graphing tools, and software.

Information on post-doc and other career related opportunities.

Provide a platform for networking with students of other departments with a scope for inter-disciplinary collaborations, etc.

Any other information useful to the institute research community.

This is my first experience as a group admin and I'm quite anxious. Is there something I could add to the scope of the group? In general, I am seeking some advice on how can I make this group more valuable to the members.
Thanks!


texts: How to become a professional design researcher?

texts:
I graduated from BA art design (mostly practical) and MA communication design (where I fell in love with research).

Now I have been working as a interactive designer (mostly visual) for a digital magazine company for half a year, they don't do any research before launching any new project. But I know design is not what I would do forever, I would like to become a design researcher.

The problem with finding this kind of post is that most design companies only hire either intern or senior. There seems to be no place for entry level researcher like me, whose research background is just a master's degree.

Now the question is, how to get on to the right path if I want to apply for a "senior design researcher" job in the future? And how should I lead my own research projects while there is no real projects in hand?


texts: Is it worth going to an academic conference if I'm just attending?

texts:
There's a maths conference coming up and the whole thing amounts to about $1K, which is not the problem. I'm not going to be presenting, and I'm just going to be attending. I am planning to go next year to present a project I've currently started. Is it worth going this year?

Thanks!


texts: How to handle communication about the class outside of the official channels, when I am a TA for a class that a friend is taking?

texts:
I am an undergraduate student who was asked to TA this semester for a class that I have wanted to TA for for a while. Duties would likely involve basic grading of exams and projects as well as answering questions during office hours, but no recitations or other classroom teaching.

However, a close friend of mine will be taking the course with the professor who asked me to TA. The course started this week (TAs will be finalized soon and start within a few weeks) and my friend has already asked me a few basic questions on the topic, which I answered. Additionally, I met with him to assist him with the introductory assignment. It was only after this that I was asked to be a TA.

I wanted to know how to best conduct myself, both from now until I am officially made a TA as well as after I become a TA with regards to him in this course. Should I simply say that any questions should be saved for my eventual office hours and deny any additional assistance, so as not to give an unfair advantage? If he were to send me a bug (cs course), would it be improper to assist outside of any office hours, even on trivial problems?


texts: How to reply this mail from potential PhD professor?

texts:
I have mailed to a professor and got the following reply in half an hour:

  Thank you very much for your interest in the position and your application. We will start evaluating applications today and will let you know the result of the first step of the evaluation process in due course.

Do I need to reply to this mail, if yes then what could be decent reply?


texts: Can a dean expel a doctoral student without a trial?

texts:
My friend, a doctoral student, is being accused of harassment/stalking by the dean, yet law enforcement has not contacted my friend, and the dean refuses to substantiate his accusation, for fear of retaliation. My friend has not been given a trial, yet the dean is preventing him from completing his PhD, suspending him from the university. The dean kept my friend's adviser completely in the dark regarding the accusations. It seems the dean is harassing him, pure and simple.

What should he do?

thanks


texts: Write about coursework/background or research first in letter of intent? (and misc. question)

texts:
I am graduating next spring with a Math and Statistics BSc, and am currently applying to graduate math and statistics programs. There is program in particular that has caught my attention. It's essentially a pure and applied stochastics Ph.D. program in the UK. The program description mentions that coursework constitutes an important part of the program in the first few years, and that relevant math background is important in the admissions criteria. However, in the latter few years research becomes a critical aspect of the program, and consequently research potential is also important in admissions.

Thankfully I have a strong coursework and research background that is relevant to this program, and will describe both of these aspects in my letter of intent. What I'm not sure is which I should discuss first. My impression is that since selection committees are viewing hundreds of applications, it is necessary to get the most important information written early on in the letter. I'm unsure if I should mention my related advanced coursework or my related research first. I would guess that research should come first since research potential is less common than a strong coursework background. Any thoughts on this is appreciated.

Another question I have is: should I mention the names of some of the faculty I've worked with in my letter? From what I've been told my previous and current research supervisors are respected and well known for their work in numerical methods and stochastics (respectively). I'm also currently taking an advanced graduate course in stochastics with one of my referees who is apparently very well known as an expert in stochastics. Something like "in my current research supervised by Professor X... (etc)"?

Thank you!


texts: How to include text intended only for reviewers in main manuscript submission?

texts:
When I submit papers using blind review, I sometimes need to include text to reviewers that is not intended for the actual publication.

For example,

Sometimes I include a URL to the OSF that has all the materials and data for the project. However, because the paper is blind review, the url is not yet active. Instead I include a special blind review URL with comments along the lines of "while this paper is under peer review, an version of the repository without author names can be accessed at ....". I often place this in a footnote.
Other times I might want to put a black mark through something identifying like the institution that approved the ethics of the study, because this might give away my identity. And I might want to include some text to the reviewers explaining why this was blacked out.

However, I often find that these kind of notes to reviewers end up in the proofs. Of course, at that stage, I can just ask the the people doing the proofs to remove this. But I think it would be better if I didn't have to do that, and I didn't have to worry about whether they would make the change correctly.

So, the question:

How do you include text in a journal submission manuscript that you want the reviewers to read, but that you don't want to appear in the main publication?

I've tried using footnotes and that didn't work. I thought maybe putting such text in a textbox with some special words might help.
Has anyone solved this problem?


texts:
In Poland where I study, public lectures by professors from other universities are not common (maybe one or two lectures every semester in my faculty). I stayed one semester in USA as an exchange student. There were 2-3 public lectures every week in our department. It was surprisingly for me as many people even undergraduate students attend each lecture. More surprising, there were active discussions after each lectures, students asking questions and even follow the lecturer to nearby cafe to talk more about the topic. In Poland, a few people attend a public lecture. Some leave during lecture and some after lecture. A few remains for discussion and almost no one asks question.

Is it the regular practice in America that students actively attend public lectures as much as (if not more) than their classes? Even most courses I attended had a guest speaker in a session.


texts: What percentage of STEM PhD applicants have peer-reviewed publications?

texts:
I am simply looking for a rough estimate on how many PhD applicants typically apply having published a peer-reviewed paper (or papers).

Particularly, I am interested in Computer Science (or STEM fields in general).

Also, it would be interesting to know the same percentage for the admitted students.

These questions can likely only be answered by those on (or previously on) admissions committees, but all responses are welcomed!


texts: Poor Master's grade but demonstrably passionate about the field- do I stand a chance of getting a funded PhD place?

texts:
I am graduating with a pass grade in my Master's degree from a good university in London.  I want to apply for a PhD scholarship at the University of Sheffield in non-communicable diseases.

I did public health undergraduate degree and became interested in non-communicable diseases in low income countries as it's a neglected area overshadowed by the high rate of infectious diseases. I wrote my undergraduate thesis in this area. I also have a personal interest in this field because I lost my mum to cancer within one year of her diagnosis. My pass grade in the Master's can partially be explained due to difficulties with illness.

Do I stand a chance of gaining my desired PhD place, taking into account the medical reasons for the low grade and my proven interest in the field?


texts: If and how long a thesis parked on a restricted server will be indexed by Google?

texts:
My thesis has been archived on the repository of my university with restricted access three weeks ago. By "archived" I mean that it has been assigned an identifier online.

So far, however, I found that the item cannot be detected by Google Scholar. When I try to add it in my Google Scholar profile automatically my thesis cannot be found by Google, and when I add it manually in the profile there is no field for me to add the link of the identifier.

I understand that normally it will take from a few days to several weeks to find a new paper and include it in Google. My question is: in my case (thesis archived on the restricted server) if I could find it later until Google indexes my thesis? If yes, how long I should wait for? If not, how can I show an identifier for the thesis item in my Scholar profile?

Thank you very much!


texts: How to deal with my fear of large audiences?

texts: I am having problems facing audiences. During my primary and secondary school period I had inferiority complexes due to my size. Therefore I always skipped and ran from debates, but now I graduated with a good grade from university. I am a teacher now and still have this phobia of facing crowds. No matter how I prepare, whenever I stand in front of the crowd, my voice will be shaking. I really need your advice because I tried every method, but they are not working and it's depressing.


texts: When did it become customary to eschew gender pronouns in scientific essays?

texts:
Anyone who's written a scientific essay knows that the use of he/she/him/her, etc are frowned-upon (except where necessary)

But where does this come from? When did it achieve (near) consensus? When were the guidelines first written by a major academic body?


texts:
In a paper, I should refer to an existing algorithm in different parts of the paper. There is no name for this algorithm. For the firs time I wrote "the Algorithm proposed by (Xia, et al. 2008) .....", but I don't think it is a good way to use this method any time I want to refer to it. I may name it Algirhtm A, or Algorithm 1 or Algorithm Xia, Algorithm base ...

What do you suggest for referring to this algorithm for several times?


texts: How to judge the quality of academic paper (students pov)?

texts: I have a master's degree (in maths) and would like to pursue a PhD in future and have at least a year in hand. So I thought of picking some new research topic by reading articles in journals. The problem is how do I know the material I am reading is of a suitable standard. I often hear (and I don't mean to belittle all researcher) rumours that few researchers publish for the heck of publishing. So I don't want to waste my effort in reading those papers. One of my criteria to shortlist papers is to look for the journal which has high brand value. But this method looks superficial to me. So can you suggest some pointer on how does one goes about finding a new research topic of which he/she has no advance knowledge (although I have the pre-requisite knowledge to pursue that topic).


texts: What is the difference between MBA and Masters in a business subject, and which is better for a future researcher?

texts:
What is the difference between MBA and Masters in a specific subject of Business studies like, master in Management?

What will be a better option for one if he intends to be a researcher in future?
And does MBA degree specialize a specific subject of business studies?


texts: What to do if Professor offers an internship position

texts: I had been offered a position to work as a intern in one of my professor's lab. He had asked me if I would be interested. But the position was not confirmed. How do I ask him about the confirmation? Would it seem desperate? I really enjoy the course and would love to contribute to the work that is being undertaken.


texts: How to write a good PhD literature review?

texts:
I am in the early stages of my PhD and I am trying to put together a literature review of my topic. My intention is that this review will eventually be included in my thesis, something like "the chapter that describes the state of the art in the domain."

My subject is soft matter physics and a large number of theses have already been written this topic. When looking at the literature reviews included in these other works I've noticed that:

The sequence of ideas is often the same (this makes sense, so why not?)
Cited papers are always the same, even though 20 years elapsed between the first and last thesis. Moreover, papers from the 30's are cited but no one in my lab seems to have a copy available?

My hypothesis is that these theses are derived from some sort of a Mother of All Thesis, and that paraphrasing the work of the previous student is OK.

So, what makes a good literature review?

How do you notice that a literature review is sloppy?

PS: I posted this question because I assume many of you have experience with this process either in your own PhD work, or as a supervisor where you have had to deal with paraphrasing of your students.

PS2: I am not asking about making proper citations, LaTeX+BibTeX handles that like a charm.


texts: How to choose between very good journals in mathematics?

texts:
I finished preparing a math paper, and am now trying to decide where to submit it.

I read How do you judge the quality of a journal?,
but it seems that the answers there mostly deal with how to judge if a journal is good at all.

The journals I am considering (see list below) are all very good. But how can I know how do very good journals rank?

I know my paper is not at the level of Annals,
so I considered the following journals:
Selecta mathematica,
Duke,
Compositio Mathematica,
American journal of mathematics,
Advances in mathematics,
International mathematical research notices,
and Crelle journal.

How can an author compare the quality very good journals such as these? Is there any reasonable way to use public data in order to sort them from best to worse?

Note: this question is looking for an answer about a general method, not necessarily a particular ranking of those particular journals.


texts: Is there examples of mathematicians who had to lose years before proving themselves in the field? I'm asking since in most of the cases I noticed a steady career path for most of the mathematicians.


texts: Using the Internet to Meet Collaborators

texts:
Suppose I am a researcher who is interested in finding out what other people might be interested in collaborating on an idea with me. Are there websites or internet communities that function to connect to other people with similar ideas or interests?

I would be interested in answers in any field.


texts: Journal employees offering free publication in return for co-authorship and citations: is it a scam?

texts:
Some of my colleagues and I got offers from employees  of some reputed journal (not from journal itself), to publish our research paper for free, if:

We include their name as co-author
We use 60%+ citation of their journal (Doesn't it add up to IF??)

In return:

It will be published completely free
They will give us discount of some sort for next publication

Is it may be some kind of scam?


texts: Does anyone in Academia.SE know about Saudi universities?

texts:
I did a masters 8 years ago. am 38, unemployed, and don't have any fund.

I want to go to the USA for a PhD. But, probably won't get a visa for having a study gap and/or being unemployed and old (on most occasions refusal letter would reply "You haven't satisfied us that you would leave the country after the designated period of your study!"). So, I am planning to get a PhD in Saudi university so that I can later go for a PostDoc in the USA.

QS ranking:

Looks like Saudi Arabia has a number of world-class universities. I heard they also pay scary amount of money to PhD students.

I heard that admission committees in US universities often find hard times evaluating weight of degrees from unfamiliar universities while selecting potential research students, and instructors.

How familiar are Saudi universities in the USA in the field of CS? Are they good enough to support my goal?

Note. The rationale behind going to Saudi Arabia is, it has a very good relationship with the USA. I can save some money, and then get visa by showing that fund.

Note.2. some users asked in the comment section why I am considering KSA why not Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. Well, as far as I researched, universities in SEA has issues in their learning cultures. As far as I understand, they prefer memorization based learning. I also heard that a large number of students in Taiwan, Japan, and so on commit suicides because of study pressures.

Taiwan: Pros and Cons from a Master’s Degree Student
5 Challenges You Will Face Studying Abroad in Japan
Singapore schools: 'The best education system in the world' putting significant stress on young children