texts: How much feedback to provide for unsalvageable manuscript during peer review

texts: When reviewing a manuscript as a peer reviewer and providing written feedback on a manuscript that is clearly a Reject, how does one decide how much feedback to provide? By "clear Reject," I mean poorly written, lack of novelty, experiments not satisfactory, issues with references, etc. Should the time be taken to provide comprehensive feedback for all aspects of the paper (i.e., what I'd typically do for a major revision) or do I just note the major components that led to the rejection recommendation? In other words, how much time should I spend providing feedback for a paper that is not reasonably salvageable?


texts: Alphabetical authorship order in graduate admissions (particularly high energy physics)

texts:
I would like to know how graduate admission committees at US Universities look at alphabetical authorship publications in a CV (particularly in high energy physics). Since the convention in high energy physics is to have authors in alphabetical order, how do the committees determine the contribution of the applicant (I guess recommendation letters is one way)? Also, do the committees actually read the papers (mentioned on the CV) on arXiv or the journal website to check the quality of the papers?

I am applying to US universities for a Ph.D. in high energy physics. Because my surname starts with one of the ending letters in the English alphabet, however, my name on all of my publications is last in the sequence. Could this create confusion in committee members about my contributions?


texts: An F grade (in a labor studies class) on the transcript will hurt my admission to mathematics grad school?

texts: So, I'm a third year student studying mathematics. My goal has always been getting a PhD in math. I'm currently doing ok with my math (taking grad courses and stuff). However, as many other students, I have to take courses outside math. I'm currently taking a labor studies class right now. All the class talks about is how bad America is treating its workers, and why don't we raise minimum wage to 50 dollars per hours to help the poor workers and stuff like that. I don't agree with everything I learn in class, and I show my disagree. As a result, the professor gives me terrible grades for saying my opinions. My question is: Will that bad grad hurt my future? Can I explain my situation in my application?


texts: Finding a research group where I can work remotely?

texts:
I've not seen this question before, so I'll ask it after feedback I received on this question.

I've finished my MBA in the UK and was awarded distinction but would like to find a research group to work with. I'm no longer in the UK (or even Europe) and would like to find a research group with which I could work on a telecommuting / remote basis.

My goal here is not for income (though it's OK if it led to some). My goal is to build my research experience with the thought of pursuing a PhD (business / intercultural management / something in that general area). My MBA didn't result in a lot of research guidance  for me so I feel like there are so many things that I don't know and I want to 'fix' that.

Any ideas how someone can find a research group who would be interested in working with someone remotely for free (obviously there is a time and attention commitment from both sides, which is not exactly free)?


texts: Is it worth staying an extra year to bring up GPA for grad school (Master's)

texts:
I'm currently a junior at a Canadian university studying math. In my sophomore year, I got 2 Cs in two computer science classes, a D- in biology, and then in my junior year I ended up getting two Cs in two of my math (intro to analysis and DEs) classes.

I don't really want to make any excuses. My overconfidence and long term depression (I'm in counselling and on medication now) kind of were my vices for the past few semesters. I'm thinking about my prospects beyond undergrad.

I am hoping to apply to schools for physical oceanography, geophysics, and computational science and engineering. I'm particularly interested in UC San Diego (Scripps, CSME), UC Santa Barbara (MAT), University of New Hampshire (Marine Science and Ocean Engineering), and Dalhousie (Oceanography). Depending on how the rest of my academic career goes, I may apply to more computational mathematics programs.

I am just starting to study for the GRE and have a number of research projects under my belt and have presented an independent project at a math conference, which I hope to publish in the coming months.

Should I consider staying for an extra year or semester and maybe retake the math courses I did poorly in, seeing as they are important courses, and perhaps some other courses to boost my cGPA overall. I will be able to manage a 3.0 (B) average, which is what most (if not all) the schools I'm interested in are looking for... but I'm unsure if those sub-par grades will or can be overlooked.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!


texts: What's the point in "the paper is structured as follows"?

texts:
Inspired by the recent question on list of figures: what is the point of ending your introduction with a paragraph saying "The paper is structured as follows: in Section 1 we do BLAH, then in Section 2 we do BLAH, we move on with BLAH in Section 3, and conclude with Section 4 in which we do BLAH"?

Many papers in my area do it, my coauthors add them to our papers, and I kinda took the habit, too, but I never really understood why. It looks like a poor man's table of contents. After all, we already write what we plan to do in the introduction, and remind the reader in the conclusions.


texts: How do weak students who want to do PhD's get into masters programmes in the first place?

texts:
One common piece of advice for weak students who want to go into academia is that they do a terminal master's degree first before applying to PhD programmes. This, however, bothers me for two reasons:

If I'm not mistaken, master's degrees are, in some places, often seen as the first of a two-part process to getting advanced degrees, where the PhD is the second part. (This is the sense I get of many non-American systems.) So finding a terminal master's programme doesn't sound that simple to me, although this may depend on the field.
I would imagine that there's still a need for decent grades / recommendations / etc. to get into a master's programme in the first place. Something like GRE scores can be readily fixed via preparation, but a lack of appropriate coursework (due to concentration mismatch) or poor grades cannot be, and this might also mean very weak recommendations. In some fields where doing research assistant jobs after graduation are common, this might be still resolvable, but it does not appear to be so in something like math or the humanities.

If so, how viable it is actually to get into a terminal master's programme in order to boost future applications to PhD programmes?


texts: How do I cite a screenshot from a paper?

texts: There is an image in a paper that I want to use in my master’s thesis. I have the PDF file of this paper and I cant save the image from the file. So I have to take a screen shot. How should I cite the image?


texts: Changing graduate schools after a semester

texts:
I am stuck in a somewhat unusual situation. I am enrolled in a graduate program (masters) in my country in the field of my choice. My college has a good undergraduate program but, as I've come to discover over the roughly two months I've been here, the graduate program fails in comparison.

Basically, the professors teaching graduates seem disinterested, there is no visible scope for research and they are only concerned about grades and getting a well-paying job after I get my degree. I wish to have a career in academia (I particularly enjoy teaching) and my current graduate education experience has left me dissatisfied.

I am in my first semester and I am considering applying fresh to graduate schools outside of my country for the next academic year. I am planning to drop out after I complete this semester.

My questions are:

Does it make sense to start afresh? Should I stay and try to work things out? (I've been talking to professors and it doesn't look good so far).
Should I mention my current college in my graduate school application statement? Does it hurt my chances if it appears that I have dropped out of a graduate program before?


texts: What courses should be included as "Course Highlight" in Resume for Master's application?

texts:
I am writing my resume to apply for master's in computer science. My question is, what courses should I include as "Course Highlights" at the bottom of my bachelor's degree?

A) Are the courses which I got great grades the candidates? But I have a lot of them fortunately!

B) Or should I include only the courses which are elective and important to my research interest?

C) Should I include a course, which is mandatory for my bachelor's degree as I guess, that I had a great grade, and is really important for the field? I mean Algorithms Design if anyone is familiar with computer science.

Thanks in advance


texts:
I have just defended my MA thesis which I have one advisor who does not live at the same place with me, and therefore I have build my thesis and discuss all the results around bi-monthly frequency with an academics who works at the same institution with me.
She also came to my defense (which was at another city we live) and from the beginning to the end supported my and my work as if she is my primary advisor. (FYI, my main advisor even said to me that "you did all the work by yourself and I did not contribute anything). Plus, the academics I work with is also my boss and she's an executive person in the workplace. I have two questions in mind:

I want to give a copy of my finished thesis in a hardcover format, is it okay to give the final version with a hardcover one to the advisors? (+ I did not want to give it to my main advisor as he did not care/direct me at all) I heard some people give the hardcopy, but I am not sure about it. In fact I want her to read the Acknowledgements part that I thank to her in a detailed way..
I consider giving a nice present to her, could be a good quality pen etc, but should it be appropriate because she holds also an executive title at the workplace?

At the beginning, I was hesitant to work with her as people around may misunderstand it, but we started somehow. But since completing this thesis meant a lot to me, I want to give a nice gift to her? If it could be appropriate, what would be your suggestions?


texts: What should I do if I realize there is a minor error in a paper I submitted?

texts: I have submitted a research article and later realized that it has a slight error.  The paper is now under review. I have proposed a few theorems; one theorem contains a slight error that can easily be removed. The methodology is correct. Would this cause the rejection of my paper?


texts: How can I go about graduate school admissions? Lack of coursework, poor GPA

texts:
I'm an undergraduate in their penultimate year in the US, although for financial reasons I am thinking of graduating next month instead of next year. For a long time, I've wanted to go into academia: I just found the idea of doing research and maybe teaching appealing. However:

My GPA is completely wrecked: it's below a 3.0. I was fairly depressed for a few terms, and I probably had a mismatch with my major, which was made all the worse by poor focus and me not realizing it until recently.
Most of my coursework has been for things related to my major. Thanks to a strong liberal arts education, I've taken a good selection of other courses, in which I've gotten significantly better grades more consistently, but that's only around 25% of all my courses. (Think generally around the 3.3 range, at a school and presumably departments not known for grade inflation.) I want to go to grad school for something related to this stuff, but I feel like my preparation would be extremely lacking, particularly with my graduation plans. (Too few contacts, not enough experience, etc.)
I'm going to a top 10 or so school supposedly not known for grade inflation in the departments I'm interested in, but I have no idea if this helps.

How can I salvage my dreams of going into academia? At one point, I would have just considered it over and gone into industry, but now, with my current interests, I think it's still worth a shot. But I've had friends tell me I have no chance of getting anywhere decent with my grades, and well, even if they're not the best advisors, the issue of lack of experience and potential references is something.


texts: Include author after revision in IEEE journal

texts: I submitted a paper to a  IEEE journal. During the submission, I acknowledged a person who helped me in experiments.  Now I am getting minor revision. Is it possible to include him now?


texts: How to demonstrate your ability to publish in high-impact venues? (Application form)

texts:
I was applying for a postdoc position and I came across this sentence.

Please provide examples of when you have demonstrated your ability to publish in high-impact venues

This one is confusing and a bit redundant because they previously asked me about my experience in fields X and Y. So, I don't know how to address this question without mentioning (again) my experience in the fields X and Y. All I did, is deliberately avoid, in the previous question, talking about my publications in journals and conferences. Any ideas about this? Do the examples they're talking about are: my publications in journal A and a conference B?


texts: Is it customary to be reimbursed for travel to a PhD interview day?

texts:
I'm applying for PhD programmes over in the UK and begun to get my first invitations for interviews. Some of them have to be in person as they include a tour of the facilities and such. Unfortunately, travel over here is not cheap and it got me wondering - is it customary for the interviewing institution to reimburse the cost of my travel?

On one hand the invitation emails do not mention anything about the cost of travel but on the other hand I got reimbursed even for travelling to my undergraduate interviews.


texts: What's the rough budget size for one person year (research asssistant/postdoc) in academia?

texts:
For my CV, I want to mention the budget size of third-party funds I helped to raise, but I do not know the financial details. So:

What's the rough cost for one person year in academia, including personal costs, travel costs, overhead costs, etc.

Update: Since the budget seems to depend on the location: It was a German project ("DFG Einzelantrag auf Sachbeihilfe") and I computed the personal costs per year to be about 60 thousand Euro. But I have no clue how much the travel and overhead costs are per year.


texts: Does doing an undergraduate semester exchange abroad improve chances of getting into top universities?

texts:
I am a math undergraduate student from India, from one of the IITs. I have an opportunity to go for a semester exchange at some Universities in Germany, France and Switzerland, for a single semester. I am interested in pursuing further studies in pure mathematics at a top university abroad. I wanted to ask how much would a semester at an excellent university help me in getting into the masters or Phd program of the same University, or for that matter even other top universities.

How much of an impact would a semester at an excellent university have on the chances of acceptance for masters and Phd programs at top universities?

Edit: Recent development and further information

I have been accepted as an exchange student at EPFL.(The question still remains)

Some background as to why I am asking the question - While the University is not taking any semester fees, the cost involved is significantly high, and would stretch my finances quite a bit. I want to evaluate what I would get out of, what would be a very significant monetary investment for me. Basically "Is it worth it?".


texts: I am studying a combined bachelor of engineering (electrical) and bachelor of mathematics; I just started this year and will graduate in 2018. The reason why I am doing double degrees and not a single degree is because I love both electrical engineering and mathematics and I could not ignore any of them. So with this in mind, I am thinking of doing two PhDs when I graduate (one in electrical engineering and one in mathematics). Is this a good path or I should concentrate on only one of them?


texts: I have 14 F's on my transcript and I am finishing late. Do I have any chance of getting accepted into a master's program in Germany?

texts:
Because of multiple factors including depression, attention deficiency, laziness and immaturity I've managed to accumulate 14 F's during the first two years of my computer science education. I'm finishing a semester late and I'm currently on my last semester. For context, I come from relatively poor European (non-EU) country and my university is considered pretty decent in my country.
Starting from third year I believe I changed myself for the better and so I managed to pass all my classes and more or less catch up to my peers. My GPA is currently 3.0 and I'll most likely graduate with the same GPA. I'm not an exceptional student in any way and I don't have any amazing projects to redeem myself. With my level of (un)success, I am aiming for average universities at best.
While I realize that I've pretty much destroyed my chances of pursuing higher education considering all my failures but I wanted to seek more opinions before I completely give up on it. Thank you.


texts: Would this situation be considered plagiarism? - humanities assignment

texts:
Here is what happened.
In one of my humanities class, I had to do a project that involved creating exam questions from the reading material and explain why they a relevant in today’s society. In my rough drafts, I would write key points from the readings as a reference for writing my questions. One of the questions I chose was a true and false format for the definition of culture. I made it a false statement by switching the the word culture with civilization. I wrote the definition of culture from my professor’s presentation and underneath I wrote my own definition. Later in the day after I got home from work, I wrote the question into my final draft. I don’t know why this occurred maybe I was tired but when I was writing it into my final draft, I misread and included the professor’s definition rather than my own. I did not include in text citations; however, in the study guide we had to create, I included my professor’s name, the name of the presentation, and where I got the information. I sent an email to my professor, but it has been four days and he still hasn’t contacted me.


texts: Where in academia are HEA fellowships valued?

texts:
https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/fellowship#categories

Apparently these fellowships are popular in the UK?  What sorts of universities care about them?  And why?


texts: Right time to go for poster presentation and talks

texts:
I have multiple questions regarding talks and poster presentations. I am in my second year of PhD (computational biology) and have not yet published any paper. Keeping my background in mind do answer my question if possible:
My question is: Is it okay to give poster/talk of your unpublished work? Is there any risk of leakage of research idea via this?
(Leakage in the sense that I do a work and someone probably was thinking in the same line, now gets the idea from my work and works fast enough to publish it before me)


texts: Changing the method after first peer review round

texts:
I have submitted a paper and got a R&R. After the submission, I have learned new method techniques for my research and I found those very compelling.  Now, I would like to use them and I was wondering whether I could change the method section of the reviewed paper and re-submit the changed paper with the new method?  It would still be the same research question, the same dataset and theoretical framework (with minor adjustments). Of course, I would explain in detail that the newly discovered method would suit very well to the same dataset used before, would present the results better and thus, improve the paper a lot. However, the reviewers haven't criticized the used method or suggested a new method approach for my paper.

So,

Is such a change in the method section after the first peer review round possible?
Is such a change acceptable and okay for the journal editors and the reviewer?


texts: 'Outstanding publication commitments' meaning?

texts:
I'm applying for research funds and, while filling in the application and all the expenses, I came upon a field called 'Outstanding publication commitments (Please list, continuing on a separate sheet if necessary)'.

Does this mean that I should write my engagement in publishing academic papers? And before you answer, just a little info: I'm asking because I just finished my Bachelor degree and I don't have much experience in publishing (I only published one paper that is in print). However, I have experience with organizing conferences (as part of the organizing team) and I also gave two presentations on scientific conferences. Should I list this?


texts: How can a student stop/report conversations with a professor that make her uncomfortable, while avoiding negative consequences for the student?

texts:
I have some concerns about the behavior of a professor whose class I am taking, Professor A.

First, Professor A has been trying to involve me in his attempts to get another professor in the department, Professor B, fired:

I am taking different classes from two different professors that are in one department. Professor A has asked me to BCC him on all my emails to Professor B, in case Professor B does not pass me in his class.  I took a class in the Spring semester with Professor B and never had a problem with him. Professor A said he can defend me, to the dean but needs documentation to prove I asked for help during the semester.

Today, Professor A asked me to write a detailed outline to him about Professor B and all of the things he has not done correctly in my class and then sign it and include my name, the company I work for and my job title. He wants to turn it in to the department chair to have Professor B fired. Professor A continues  the conversation and tells me Professor B was supposed to have been placed on a performance improvement plan, but the school has gone through 4 chancellors so Professor B did not receive any disciplinary action.

I am also uncomfortable with other conversations I have had with Professor A:

Another time, Professor A asked me to look at an invitation his wife created for a fall fundraiser for the school. Both he and his wife want my opinion. I work in corporate America, but never did fundraising. He asked for my cell phone number to give it to his wife. I didn't think anything of it and gave it to him. He texted me in the classroom so I would have his number. I thought it was very strange. I have stalled the meeting because I am busy with school and work. Plus it seems weird to me.

Professor A gave me his business card that his wife made him in case I want to contact him outside of school. Apparently, he is a musician when not teaching during the week.

I am really uncomfortable with these conversations. He waits until after class to have them. He told me he records all conversations on his phone when he speaks with the administration to use it against them in case the administration tries to get rid of him. I think it is unprofessional and unethical to say any of this to a student.

The semester is half over with and I only want to pass the class and never speak to Professor A again. I have not committed to anything because he creeps me out! I feel like he should be reported to someone, but I don't want anything negative coming back to me. Can someone please help me with what I should do?


texts: What is theoretical complexity of a scheme?

texts: A reviewer asked me to calculate theoretical complexity of my scheme. I know about computational complexity, time and space complexity, but not about theoretical complexity. I Googled it but in vain. Can anyone explain what is meant by 'theoretical complexity'?


texts:
I am writing a paper that is based on previous work I have done that I have published as a pre-print. I am submitting it to a conference. However it is significantly improved and different. The submission process is double-blind do I have to cite the pre-print? The idea and contribution is mostly the same.
I am in Machine Learning / Deep Learning field of research.


texts: Is a "Scientific Journal Impact Factor" of around 4 or 5 good for a philosophy journal?

texts:
I am considering (for a variety of reasons) submitting an article to a philosophy journal, which happens to have a Scientific Journal Impact Factor of 4.699. This would be my first submission.

Is this considered to be a decent impact factor?
Or should I try a higher ranked journal?


texts: Is there a preferable time of year when one should apply for a PhD in the UK?

texts:
[Edited] I am very shortly going to be sending off my PhD application. I cannot apply quite yet because I am waiting on my bachelor's documentation which was withheld (library fines which are now cleared) but now it is in processing, and I do have my transcript. I have my master's documentation. The BA uni say they don't know when the cert will be ready, it could be a week or two, or longer presumably. The deadlines for PhD applications are set as the summer, but I know that many faculties like to have the applications in sooner because they want to decide on their student quantities. Is there some kind of unspoken deadline that I should shoot for in general [e.g. late Feb, Apr etc] or does it vary by institution? Does one lessen one's chances of acceptance if applying nearer to the official early summer deadlines?

I should mention that a staff member in my choice of PhD uni has already approved my proposal and agreed to be my supervisor. Should I apply anyway without the BA cert and just say it is in processing [without going into reasons why]? I am not applying for funding.


texts: Transferring to a Top-10 PhD program in Theoretical Physics from a Top-50 program in US for better job prospects in Academia?

texts:
I will be soon joining a Top-50 school for a PhD in High Energy Theory. They have some very good professors who have published top quality journal articles in their area of expertise (even with some Nobel Laureates as co-authors). They are not as famous as Nathan Seiberg, Leonard Susskind, etc. though. I would like to know, given the job scenario in academia (especially in high energy theory), is it worth transferring to a top school like Harvard or Princeton after performing very well at my current school ? I mean, is their any huge advantage in the academic job market to be at a Top-10 school compared to a Top-50 school ?

I do not really care about going to a brand name school as far as my studies are concerned. I just want to make sure that if I work hard and succeed, I do not face problems in getting an academic job just because I did not attend Harvard or Princeton. Academically, my current school is very good too but it doesn't have that IVY kind of brand. My concern is only about the people in the hiring committees otherwise I am happy going to my current school.

Also, I have earlier worked with Professors who graduated from such top schools and they say that famous advisors are like "King-Makers" who get their students well placed in academia after PhD since they have influence in the field. Personally, I have no issues being at my current school if I get good people to work with. Also, is it ethically good to change schools like this ?


texts: Reporting error in publication after copyright transfer

texts:
Last year my paper got accepted in a Mathematics journal. This year the online first version of the article came out. I put the online version on research gate and a lot of people read the article. Then a fellow reader pointed out a big mistake in last part of the paper.
I mailed and informed the journal regarding the error.I told them the error does not seem to be fixable at the moment and requested them if they could update the paper by removing the erroneous part.  After a week I noticed that the journal has taken down the online first version from their website. But till now I haven’t received a reply to my mail. It has been a month now.
Can anyone tell what I should do now? I mailed the journal secretary yesterday, but no response.
I should also mention that I had submitted the copyright transfer form , after proof reading i.e Just before the online first version came out.
Also the journal is a decent one with .50 MCQ on mathscinet.
Well I expect a response from them because then I would know what their plan is with my paper, so that without loosing time I can publish it somewhere else if required.


texts: How many class room hours does the typical university teacher teach per week?

texts:
I am wondering, for full time university teachers (not those who also have research responsibilities), what is generally the number of hours per week that they teach? I currently teach 20 hours per week and find the load quite heavy giving me little time to prep new modules with quality. Adding to that the responsibility of marking and it is not uncommon that I end up working more like 50-60 hours per week to teach 20.

Are these numbers average? High? Low?


texts: How to tell if a paper is behind a paywall?

texts:
I am trying to figure out if a paper is open access or not. My university subscribes to many non-open access journals. Some journals offer mixed models where some papers are open access and others are not.

Some journal websites tell me I have accessed them through an institutional subscription, but if the journal uses a mixed model of open access, that does not mean all papers are behind a paywall. Is there a reliable way to tell if a paper is behind a paywall?

In particular I am interested in knowing if this Nature paper is behind a paywall.


texts: Is it possible to ask 2 professors to write a joint-letter of recommendation?

texts:
I have been working with 2 faculty members on the same project. I took a class from each of them, and the three of us meet in person on a weekly basis. I think it's reasonable to assume that they've seen the same level of research ability from me.

I am planning on applying to graduate school, so I was wondering if it's appropriate to ask them for a joint letter? My motivation behind this is

the two of them mentor me on the same project, so 2 separate letters may have unnecessary overlap?
applications typically require 3 letters (I already have 2). For schools which you can submit > 3 letters, I would think they still value quality > quantity
may be slightly less work for both of them (?)

I don't want to come off rude by asking the two of them to co-write a letter of recommendation for me. Is it generally deemed appropriate to ask two faculty members to do this? I think this is quite uncommon because on applications I only get to designate one writer per letter of recommendation (i.e. provide just one name, his/her title, email, phone, etc). If so, how should I phrase the question of asking both of them to co-write a strong letter of rec for me?


texts: Should I learn to use LaTeX to write up a History Masters Thesis?

texts:
So I reviewed the "What are the advantages or disadvantages of using LaTeX for writing scientific publications?" question on this forum and am sitting on the fence at the moment whether or not to use LaTeX to write up my masters Thesis.

I get the feeling that it is best suited for Scientific work but my MLitt is in History. I have searched my university website about LaTeX and most results come back from the maths department.

I am a part-time research student so my thesis with be approx. 50,000 words. At the moment I am using Libreoffice (I'm a Linux user -Ubuntu distro) to write up each chapter as a separate document which I was going to bring into a master theses document. I am using Mendeley to manage all my footnotes and bibliography.

I'm going to be meeting my supervisor over the next couple of weeks and would like to discuss the matter with him as to if I should/can use LaTeX. I'm sure how familiarity or usage of LaTeX within the History department will impact on my decision but would also like to prepare my thesis in the best possible way.

  Edit 10/04/14: After a meeting with my Supervisor it appear that the History department has no preference on software for writing the thesis. Only requirement is that final thesis before defence is printed in ring-bound cover and the (hopefully!) accepted thesis is a hardback bound copy. My last written piece to my supervisor was done in LaTeX, using Texmaker on Ubuntu then exported to pdf, and other than some tweaking we need to do to the citation styling he was quite happy with the output. His advise was to use whatever software I was comfortable with (although he had never heard of LaTeX).

I would be grateful for answers from people who have used LaTeX in the Humanities area so as to be best prepared for my own decision on whether or not I would like to use it.

  (Edit 10/03/2014) Just based on some of the answers, especially in
  relation to the learning curve with LaTeX, here is some more info that
  may be useful. Probably about 95% of my thesis will be text but I
  shall also need to insert some images (maps and photos) and will
  probably be entering some tables with stats. As stated above I use
  Mendeley for my refernece manager and have read some blogs where this
  is compatible with LaTeX so I think I would continue to us it if I go
  the LaTeX route.


texts: Including critical feedback about a course on exam paper

texts:
There was a subject in our university, regarding Web Designing.  Under that, we were given a group assignment to build a website using HTML, CSS and PHP(we were allowed to use additional technologies as well if we wanted).

However,most of us felt like that we were not given enough practical guidance, because that was the first group project we were given with technical aspects in the university and though the lecturers tried to deliver their best the workload was too heavy even they failed to teach anything beyond the ones given in learning materials(textbooks).  There were sessions to discuss the issues with the teaching staff, but the time windows allocated were not enough as there were too many groups.  Under those circumstances, most of the groups were frustrated and it even affected the assignments in other subjects as well.

Eventually, the websites we built were evaluated in a VIVA and our website was unfinished at the deadline. (the marks given were never disclosed to the students).

When we were given the written paper for the final exam, after answering the questions as much as I can, I wrote a note to the examiner at the end of my answer sheet, criticizing the subject content being too heavy and the lack of attention towards the groups' progress.  I got a good grade for that particular subject in the end, but have never received personal feedback regarding the note I wrote.

Now looking back at the incident, I feel like I should have tried harder for the assignment, but I am still unclear whether that piece of criticism was suitable or not as I believe someone should have made a point.

The issue is we keep getting more subjects with heavy workloads and low content organization like that as the degree is being progressed and there is no proper objection from the students.

My questions are,

Was my action appropriate?
How to tackle such situations if they arise in future?


texts: Path to US board certification for international medical doctor

texts:
I would like to get a board certification in order to practice is US as a doctor.

I am graduating in October in Italy and I am aware that before getting a residency in US I should pass USMLE exams STEP 1, 2CK, 2CS.

Taking into account I don't have any contact in US, which is the best route I should follow in order to maximize my chances of getting a residency?

I am sure that getting outstanding marks in USMLE exams could help a lot but it isn't a guarantee, nor sufficient to be hired.

What about trying to get an observership, PhD program or similar.


texts: Any easy STEM research articles/papers that high school students can understand?

texts:
I'm helping to hold a workshop sort of thing to help students learn how to read/write research papers, but as I am a sophomore and haven't read too many papers myself, I can't find anything that is easily comprehensible for the students. Anything that is not too long and does not have too much jargon will probably work well. I already looked at this paper on mathematically modelling spaghetti curling, which I think is doable, so anything like that, or written simply would be good!
Please help out, I am sort of on a deadline and we need to finalize the papers very soon.
Thank you in advance!!


texts:
I had a bad relationship with my advisor. He told me evidently that he won’t write the recommendation letter for me in the future.

Of course, I will not put him in my reference list in my future career. But I don’t know if the future employer will contact him or question my working performance or attitude? I feel very bad about this. Can you guys give me some suggestions?


texts:
I'm writing my master thesis. I need to quote a cited quote from another paper. So the scenario is that I'm reading a paper and this paper has a quote which is cited from another paper. Now I want to quote this quote, how should I cite this?

Is it correct to just write the text of the quote and then cite the paper I'm reading? Or should I cite the original paper? The thing is that if I cite the original paper then I will be considered that I read that paper, however i don't want to read that paper. So what is the correct thing to do here?


texts:
I was a first-year PhD student but was forced to quit although hard-working day and night! I am disappointed, I am now 27 and did not create family, left my home country. Problems from the past in my family hugely affect my mental health. I have OCD and some other health issues.

Everyone admires my personality in presenting my work, however I am now shocked as I dreamt of doing good research to really help people and imprint a memory before leaving this earth. But I found it does not look like that. When I was a little girl, I used to tell my late mother: "I do not want to be an ordinary person, I want to add this world, to become an important person".

However, while writing now I would burst in tears and feel deeply alone. I suffered from complaining, so I would forget to speak and grew used to keeping every thing inside. I am afraid for my family as I feel responsible and I would like to make their lives better. Maybe the problem was that I did not do as well as the others? I thought I could do something new and meaningful, but I ended up being kicked out.

I would be grateful if someone tell me how can I overcome this harsh period?


texts: GRE subject test- Biology or Cell/Biochemistry?

texts:
I am majoring in computer engineering and having a minor in computational biology. I'm planning to apply for a PhD in computational biology too, though I didn't take an impressive amount of biology/chemistry/biochemistry modules. Therefore, I am taking the GRE subject test to compensate for the imbalances between my EECS and bio-related portions in my transcript.

Which GRE subject test will benefit me the most in this case? Biology or Cell and Biochemistry? The main purpose for me is to prove that I have good background in the fields.

Thanks


texts: MLA bibliography style in computer science

texts: Does anyone know a computer science or engineering journal that uses MLA as their bibliography style?


texts: What is wrong with conference publications compared with journal and transaction papers?

texts: Our professor has set us to select a credible fresh paper and present it as part of our course in a computer engineering subject for an MS program in computer engineering. But, he insists that we select transactions and journals as categories to select papers from, thus he opposes conference papers. What is wrong with papers published in conferences making them probably unsuitable for such a presentation job?


texts: How does one assess one's chances of getting accepted into a PhD program in philosophy?

texts:
I'm about to complete my B.A. in philosophy, and I want to pursue a PhD in philosophy. I'm aware that it's a long, difficult, lonely process and that doesn't scare me off. But I can't help compare myself to the grad students who TA in my school's philosophy department. In particular, I lack the clarity of argument (especially verbal) and originality of thought that they regularly exhibit. I know these skills are developed, but I wonder if any part of them is innate. That is to say, it seems to me unlikely that everyone who desires to get a PhD and go into teaching is capable of doing so, just like not everyone's capable of being a professional basketball player, regardless of desire or training. Obviously you should go for your dreams, but it's important to be pragmatic and recognize your limitations.

My question is this: what would it look like if someone wasn't cut out for a PhD program, and how would they know? I ask because I want to be sure (as much as is reasonable) that I'm capable of being accepted to and eventually completing a program before I invest a lot of time and money into the application process.


texts: PhD application cover letter closing formula(e)

texts:
A friend has asked me to proofread their cover letter and CV for applying to a PhD position. I've done such proofreading when it was about more-or-less unskilled labour, or for friends who'd done a Bachelor's or Master's degree and were applying somewhere at some company. Never for a PhD, and I'm generally wondering what differences there are.
Specifically, the cover letter has the "thank you for your consideration" phrase at the end, followed by an "appreciate the opportunity to meet" phrase. A PhD is not a very common thing, so my question is: how appropriate (or not) is it to use such omnipresent formulae at the end of a cover letter seeking admission to one?


texts: Graduate school and students with learning disabilities

texts:
I'm looking to apply to a Ph.D program in mathematics. I was going to apply last year, but ended up getting cold feet because I wasn't sure how having a learning disability would affect (1) being admitted (application process), and (2) if I were to had been so fortunate, whether faculty would treat me any differently (be less willing to take me on as one of their students, for example). I especially worry about (2) because I have experienced a few awkward situations with professors as an undergrad (at the university I attended, it was quite uncommon to find a student with a learning disability studying maths).

For the sake of simplifying the issue, let's assume that my understanding of mathematics is roughly equivalent to those who I would be "competing" against in the application process.

Should I explain my situation in my application and can it affect my chances of getting in? (I do not mean to ask if it is legal or not).
How are graduate students with disabilities seen from a professor's point of view?
What would happen if I were to need a year or two more than other students needed to finish their doctorate? Would they consider this matter in the admission process? What about funding?

I apologize if I don't provide a clearer picture, but I'm not very comfortable providing too much information. I would really appreciate hearing from those in academia (though others are obviously more than welcome to provide responses) who have either personally been through a similar situation or dealt with a student with a learning disability. Lastly, please don't worry about "softening" any responses, I'd like responses to be as honest as possible.

Update:
I am looking into programs both in Europe and in the United States (there are programs in both countries I would very much like to attend). I've noticed some programs in the United States state on their website they would like students to finish in 4 years (perhaps this is due to economic constraints in recent years).


texts: How do junior faculty in the U.S. normally address senior faculty in emails?

texts:
In the United States, what is the common way junior faculty address senior faculty in the same department or different department?

Hi First or Last name
Hi Dr ___
Dear Dr __
Dear Doctor ___
Dear Prof. ___
Dear Professor ___
No greetings, start the topic directly.


texts: struggling with procrastination, looking for strategies and ideas

texts:
I am currently in the writing phase of my thesis. Factors related to and unrelated to academia are putting me under "nice" amount of pressure. it became much harder for me to concentrate on reading or writing and always end up procrastinating much of the time.

What are good strategies to get back on track in regards to managing my thesis work? When should one consider psychiatric counseling?


texts: Using an alternative name part of the way through my academic career

texts:
For the first 11 years of my career, I worked as an academic in my home country. I moved to the United States two years ago to begin a new faculty position at a flagship state university.  During these 13 years, I have used my full name as my "academic" name (as would be the usual practice). However, I have noticed that a number of my English speaking colleagues find it hard not to snicker at my name. And I do not entirely blame them. They do not mean to be impolite: my native language name sounds like a rather crude phrase in English.

Although this is not my name, the Korean name Yu Seok Beom 유석범 (You Suck Bum) is an example of such a name. (Unfortunately, my name sounds like a much more vulgar phrase in English than just "you suck bum.") I have considered going by my initials, however I have had a few journals that still would highly prefer I use a non-initial name to identify myself ("for indexing purposes"). Furthermore, my initials plus my surname create only a slightly less crude variant of the vulgar phrase my full name sounds like, so the issue is not fully solved.

My latest idea is to begin using an English name that sounds good with my surname. However, I fear that this will create confusion as to my academic profile. I have numerous papers and connections in which I am known by my actual name. I do not want to lose 13 years of academic name recognition (not that I am that famous).

How should I handle having an academic profile built on a name that sounds like a vulgar phrase in English? Should I just proceed forward and embrace the fact that my name sounds like I am spewing an obscenity, or should I try to build a new era of my academic career with a new name?


texts: Is it advisable to put entire source of my thesis up on GitHub?

texts:
I've been using git for a while and now GitHub. I'm starting to write a master's thesis. Would it be a good idea to upload all the files to online public repositories? Does anyone have any experience with this?

EDIT: Thanks for all the answers. I consulted with my adviser about this, and he said that latex sources were ok, as the document will be open access anyway. My source code however was not, primarily because the collaboration already has a protected wiki for such things.


texts: Are authors identified by the chapters they contributed to in multi-authors books

texts:
I wrote 4 chapters of a book, and three more authors wrote other chapters.
I was expecting that each chapter would reference the author who wrote it, but the editor says it is customary not to do this, so the book will have us four authors as collective authors of the book, without any reference to each chapter.

Is this really customary?


texts: Does an admissions committee check if a student retook a class

texts: Many schools around me (in asia) allow a student to retake any class, regardless of grade, and replace it on their transcript.  Is it normal for an admissions committee to query if the school an applicant is from allows this, or is it not thought of at all?


texts: Teaching classmates who don't put much effort in

texts:
I'm not sure where to ask this so I thought I'd ask you here.

I'm in my 3rd year at university doing maths and some of the modules are a bit tricky. I know this and I know the way that I need to work in order to understand the material and pass the exams well. Due to this, I try and spend  a lot of time learning the theory (and recently its been through loads of questions on here). However, what I noticed with some of my friends is that they don't put in the same amount of effort as me (quality wise).

Let's take the example on semidirect products. A lot of us have been struggling with constructing SDP's, however I've tried very hard to learn the theory on them and what the answer's are looking for and what the methods I need to do (and why I'm doing them) to try and learn how to construct them. A lot of that has been on Math.SE but I've been referring to online PDF's and lecture notes as well. Now, my friends know that I put this in and try and learn it and so I can do the work properly, so I think they're trying to take advantage of that.

Today I showed one person how to do a question regarding compositions on Möbius transforms and they just refused to think for themselves. I said "think about it, because I'm not going to tell you what the answer is" and they still wouldn't think (just kept saying "I don't know"), so I didn't tell them the answer. Eventually, after some BIG hints, they got what to do. Now I've noticed people are relying on me to tell them how to construct SDP's (as this is a main question in the exam). From my history, you can see that I've struggled a lot with this and I think I'm close to solving this problem now, but at the same time I can tell that my friends aren't going to learn it themselves. Mentally they've given up and so won't even bother learning it.

My question is this: Should I tell them the answer, when (it is when and not if because I WILL get it!) I figure out how to do it?

I feel bad because obviously I don't want to lie and say "I don't know how to do it" or mess up their exam, but at the same time, I feel like they had the exact same time as me to do this, and the same resources (online, books, notes, ask the lecturer, etc.) yet they still didn't do it. So it's their own fault. Plus, the time it'd take me to teach and explain it to them, I could spend that couple of hours doing my own work. Other examples, revise another module, etc.

What should I do? Do you academics have any tips?

I'm sure you feel like this sometimes when people ask questions on here clearly without thinking about and just expect you to answer it.


texts: How can students with varied interests decide which to pursue in graduate school?

texts:
I am someone who has wide-ranging interests, and these interests are not terribly interdisciplinary. (Say someone is interested in Physics and History. Or perhaps, Economics and English. Or, Civil Engineering and Music Composition. You get the picture.)

The fields I am interested in do not inherently intersect. They can be fused, however I don't think this interests me, because it would result in a "perversion" of each respective field, for lack of a better word. It seems forced...and would probably ruin my interest in both fields.

It's not that I "like" one field more than another; both fields are interesting to me and I cannot calculate which one is more interesting. The fact is, they are very different, and I like each one for different reasons.

I want to go to grad school, because I enjoy learning, reading, writing, etc. and I am interested in a career in academia. But I am trepidatious about immediately going into grad school because I basically believe, "Whichever field I end up choosing is the field I will be destined to spend the rest of my life (or at least many years) exclusively studying. I really don't want to mess this decision up."

How can someone in my situation decide which interest to pursue in graduate school?


texts: How to avoid being (falsely) accused of plagiarism when reusing notations and definitions

texts:
I'm currently writing a paper of my results in a field of pure mathematics.

My work is a generalization of an already existing result, which is not mine. My adviser and I think that there is a substantial differences between my result and the already existing result, and so it's worth a publication.

Since I'm generalizing an already existing paper it will be very convenient both for me and the readers that I will use the same notations and definitions as in the other paper. So I wrote those down and cited the other authors.

The part of definitions and notations is roughly 10%-15% of the whole paper, and even though I properly cited the other authors, I'm worried to be accused of plagiarism by the "automatic plagiarism detector", which I heard most journals use.

How can I avoid being falsely accused for plagiarism?


texts: Do postdoctoral studies have official certificate?

texts:
I have seen that some universities give postdoctoral fellows an official certificate (similar to the PhD diploma) after finishing their postdoctoral job. On the other hand, some of postdoctoral positions are just simple research (or even academic) jobs. I have even seen that some professors pay the postdoctoral fellows without contract (from their grants).

My question is: How common is a certificate of postdoctoral studies? Do future employers expect applicants to give them certificate of postdoctoral studies as well as PhD diploma?


texts: How many points should a journal paper have?

texts:
Suppose I have done a work that has many features or aspects A, B, C, D,... when I want to present it as a journal or conference paper, should I cover all of them? or just to focus on one or two aspect? because I feel some of these features are irrelevant and not close to the topic or aim of the paper.
It seems, to explain each of them I need distinct introduction, review and experiments and mixing all of them could make the reader confused...

Is it better for my paper be focused on one or two arguments? Can we say journal papers are usually about one point?


texts: How to cite a new journal in abbreviation form which is not found in existing abbreviation list?

texts:
Recently, I want to submitted a paper to IEEE, I encounter a problem when I want to cite a paper from a new journal, for example, Systems Science & Control Engineering . According to IEEE standard, all papers submitted should have the abbreviation form of journal name in reference, however, I can not find the abbreviation form for the journal I want to cite. How to solve this problem?

I tried this abbreviation database JabRef/reference-abbreviations and not found.


texts: How do you acknowledge the useful comments left by the reviewers invited by a journal that rejected your paper?

texts:
Sometimes a paper is rejected but you obtain some useful suggestions or remarks on improving your paper, directly or indirectly.

When you improve your paper per the suggestions to a certain degree with the intention to submit the paper to another journal, how do you acknowledge the good opinions from the anonymous reviewers?

In addition, is this academically necessary?


texts: Applying to faculty jobs: how close to research area should I be?

texts:
I am applying to faculty jobs in computer science. Let's say I am in field A.
I found a job ad for an assistant professor position. The ad says something along the lines of "the department is seeking applicants whose expertise is in the area of Field B" and "A focus in (subfield of B) is preferred." The ad also reads "the applicant should have interests that complement existing departmental strengths," which I interpreted to mean that you could apply if you do similar research to existing faculty.
Field B is essentially disparate from Field A, but there are fewer people in general studying in Field A than in Field B. (Speaking statistically of data sets like the Taulbee report.)
Would it be appropriate for me to submit an application for this job, even though I don't work in Field B? Or would the department hiring committee get mad that I submitted an application, effectively wasting their time?


texts:
Suppose a review of algorithms used to solve a particular problem is to be written. Is it considered plagiarism or malpractice if the algorithms to be reviewed are copied verbatim?

Do the algorithms have to be 'paraphrased' before reviewing?


texts: Most effective free software for publication-grade structure diagrams

texts:
I have done extensive research on trying to find free software that I can use to create publication quality structure diagrams with but have yet to find something suitable.

Tools I currently know about are:

Xmind
Freeplane
FreeMind

And then there are a bunch listed here.

The problem with all of these are that they either make mind-maps that have quirky stiles that don't look very technical/professional or they don't support PDF or PS or high quality bitmap exporting.

I really like XMind, but the free version export totally rubish quality bitmaps and no PDF.

I currently use Libreoffice Draw, but I have to manually place objects and manually connect them with lines and arrows etc. Thus not a very efficient workflow.

To clarify my need:

I am doing engineering research so I am in look of something more utilitarian than 'pretty', although I like for the figures I create to be soft on the eyes as well. To sumarize, efficiency of use and clarity of the structure diagram are the important factors.


texts:
I've already spent some months in a multi-year post-doc in Europe, doing clinical research. However, neither the project nor the life outside the lab seem good enough for my interests, and I'm planning on moving forward.

I'd like go for either an industry job (1st choice) or another postdoc (2nd option). I have a few questions about this:

Should I immediately tell my supervisor, or might I just give her
a short notice?
Regarding the next move (either industry or other postdoc): will
it be hard to get a new position if I don't manage to get a
recommendation letter from my current supervisor? I guess I may have
to ask for recommendation letters to my PhD references. If this
could be a problem, how to avoid/minimize it?
...And any general advice/experience about the topic would
likewise be appreciated.

Thanks,


texts: How much of a grad-school dissertation fellowship should I personally keep?

texts:
I've recently been awarded a graduate school dissertation fellowship which (unlike many other fellowships) is awarded directly to me personally rather than to my institution. Normally, when fellowships are awarded through my institution, the amount of the fellowship is deducted from the stipend that my lab pays me. For example, when I received an NRSA (National Research Service Award) Fellowship, my actual take-home pay didn't change -- the NRSA money was used to cover my tuition, and to pay my stipend, instead of my lab paying it.

In this case, since the fellowship is being awarded directly to me, I have the option of asking my PI whether I can keep some or all of it -- in effect, giving myself a raise. The fellowship is $20,000 annually, and I was considering asking for $10,000 of it, and allowing the other $10,000 to be applied against my tuition. Does that sound reasonable to you? I haven't heard of other people doing it, so I'm not really sure what the rules around this are. I also don't want to annoy my boss.

I'm a graduate student in biology.


texts: How should I email professors regarding online research during covid-19?

texts: So I've been accepted into a masters program and there is this professor that I really want to get involved with hopefully as a research assistant. And since many if not most researches are being conducted online, I was wondering if its a good idea to email the professor to see if there is any way I can get exposure to his research by either working as his assistant or intern. I'd appreciate any comments!!


texts: How do you get started organizing a class?

texts:
As an academic in the university, how do you organize your self from the beginning of a  semester?

For example:

How do you take the absent students names?
How do prepare your materials?
How do you write a syllabus for students and do you hand them out?
What computer programs do you use to plan your lessons?

I started my career as a lecturer last semester and I found myself not organized so I need to learn from your experience.


texts: Is a math degree really useless financially?

texts:
I graduated in December 2018 with a double degree in math and electrical engineering and have applied to various graduate schools in pure math and electrical engineering and have been offered admission to phd programs in pure math and electrical engineering.

During my undergraduate studies, I have heard many academic mathematicians say that a math degree opens many opportunities for you and mathematicians can get any job, ...

On the other hand, I have also heard people saying that a math degree is useless financially and you can not get a decent job with a math degree; you either need to become a school teacher or work at a bank, ...

Now that I am about to start my phd program, although I enjoy math a lot, I do not want to get a phd in math and after four years find that it did not worth it financially and I have to do a not well-paid job. I can not also hope that I will end up in academia as I have heard academic jobs are very hard to get.

So that leaves me to think that if I want to get a well-paid job, I should do a phd in electrical engineering and not math.

I am so confused and I do not know which paths am I supposed to take? do a phd in math or electrical engineering?


texts:
I teach in the school of sciences and engineering in the university where I work. I have asked professors several times if the final exams have to be comprehensive, and I usually get mixed answers.

So I want to ask, for a course with two midterms and a final:

If there is some criteria or organizations that require the final exams to be comprehensive (for instance, does ABET accreditation or legal statute require it?), or does it depend on the school or the professor?
What are the pros and cons of having a comprehensive final?
Will your answers to the above questions be different if the course components were 2 best out of 3 midterms plus a final, or if the course was a graduate course instead of undergrad?


texts:
For background, I'm a first year PhD student in a mathematics program. Basically, I can't tell if I'm "where I should be".
As an undergrad, I read before class and lecture felt like a nice review. As a grad student, I can read before class, spend an hour or two pouring over a few pages, understanding every sentence, and the professor will breeze over it in 10 minutes. If I don't prepare, I'll be left in the dust, totally lost. Or, he will cover material with so few details it's hard to tell if I understand anything at all. Talking to classmates, I'm not unusual, but I find this very stressful because it's consistent and I'm not used to it. If it's typical to get lost and not understand the lecture, how can I tell if I understand anything at all? Is this just standard?
Reading papers or attending talks is worse. I feel like I get things only at 'handwavey' level, without details or subtlety. I know this is normal so I don't stress much, but some day I will have to be giving talks, writing papers. How can I get there if without a firm basis?
I think my fear is that I could be learning the absolute minimum and barely skating by -- which will bite me when it comes time to take prelims/do my own research -- or I could be doing perfectly fine and just stressing myself out. My question is, how can I tell? How can I gauge if I'm making typical or appropriate progress?
My grades and homework are good, but this seems meaningless. I always receive full marks, even when I find errors in my own work later, and work comes back with no comments. Talking with peers helps a lot, but is hard with distance learning. Asking a professor directly seems like it would be awkward and unprofessional, and also how could they know? They don't grade the homework and we speak for maybe 20 minutes in office hours occasionally. What else could I consider?
I've also read this post, which is relevant, but the answers are directed at the research stage of the PhD. I'm still taking courses, etc. I've also read posts on imposter syndrome and I feel like my issue is distinct. It's not that I feel like an imposter, but more that I feel like I'm untethered and in la la land as Dan writes. I'm interested in ways to feel more tethered, and in understanding how common/typical this untethered feeling is so it doesn't stress me out as much.


texts: Assignments taken and re-used without consent

texts:
I'm a TA at a British university, and as part of this job role I create and write educational material, which also includes creating and marking assignments.

I've recently discovered that several of the assignments I wrote have been taken by a colleague, my name then scrubbed off them, and distributed as part of this colleague's assessment strategy. My colleague did not tell me he was going to do this, and I feel as though my hard work has been/could be unfairly attributed to my colleague.

I feel aggrieved by the situation, but am I being unreasonable before I decide to escalate this matter?


texts: Paper author has not included all suggestions in peer review

texts:
I am peer-reviewing a postgraduate paper. I reviewed the paper and sent off my recommendations for major corrections. Now the paper has come back and the author has only implemented around half of my suggestions.
They restructured the paper as requested, but failed to add some detail when requested in a couple of places, neither did they change the referencing to fall in line with the house style. The paper also has some spelling and grammar errors.
Should I recommend acceptance to the editor anyway? I am rather disappointed at the fact that some specific detail, as requested, was not included, but at the same time I do not want to deter this author and the paper is quite good in its current format. I feel that the parts left out, though not detrimental, should have been included at least for good practice. I am thinking of recommending acceptance with a note along the lines of what I have written above. Or should I be stricter?


texts: Applying to a full time lecturer post in the UK in a psychology related field

texts: I am a non-European applying from outside of the UK. I need to come up with realistic external funding ideas for the next three years. I have a good idea of what kind of research I would like to do but there is no definite plan. Any resources to consider for funding are greatly appreciated.


texts: Reuse of article written as course assignment

texts:
For one of my courses (subject is history related) I have to write a longish (currently 40 pages) article about a topic.

I feel a bit bad, because I worked a 3 digit number of hours and only one person (my professor) will ever read it.

In the previous courses I have either

Put the PDF on my university webspace, and hope Google will spill it out to someone interested in the topic.
Distill Wikipedia articles out of it. This has the disadvantage that it takes additional time to change the formatting etc to make the content Wikipedia compatible.

Are there any other uses?


texts: Can a letter from a professor not from my university but a high-ranking university carry extra weight?

texts:
After reading this question, I started wondering about students applying for graduate school and the letters of recommendation accompanying their applications.

Let's say Student is studying at University A and one of his lecturers is primarily working at University B (lecturer was doing some adjunct or other kind of part-time work at University A). University B is a much higher ranked school. After graduation Student asks the lecturer for a letter of recommendation so Student can attend University B. How much extra weight is the letter of recommendation given in the application process if it is from a lecturer at the university?

I would guess that it would depend on how that lecturer's past recommendations have turned out but I'd like to hear from the experts.

Does it change anything if Student wants to become a PhD and would like to have the lecturer as Student's adviser?


texts: How to withdraw a paper when advisor insists on having his name

texts:
I have written a paper all by myself,the research problem and its solution all were formulated by me.
As a result I wrote the paper and submitted to a journal citing only my name.

As I told my advisor today that I have submitted my work,he is insisting that I should include his name in the paper as he is my supervisor and he has every right to own it.

I knew that if an author makes some significant contribution then only his name should be cited.

But I fear that if I dont agree,he may spoil my career.

Shall I ask the editor that I want to withdraw my paper citing this as a reason?

or What shall I do to include his name as the paper has already been submitted?

I think I should not submit my paper for publication at all.


texts: Difference between research question and research objective

texts:
What is the difference between research question and research objective?

In my opinion, every research question can be paraphrased as a research objective and vice versa. Am I right?


texts: Contacting multiple potential supervisors at the same department?

texts:
I am interested in topic X, and I would like to find a supervisor for that topic. At one particular uni, there are quite a few people interested in my topic, and I need to find out who might be a fit and whose interests are maybe not so aligned with mine.

Should I just message all of these people at the same department? Would it potentially reflect bad on me? I am also worried that in case two of these people are interested, I am facing a dilemma when applying.

How should I proceed, how do these things usually work?


texts: Graduate math student migrating to engineering?

texts:
I don't know how to start, truly, but lately I've been involved with some projects in pure mathematics and I've grown frustrated and disappointed. I don't think that pure mathematics is so inspiring; my intent is to move on to study some applied math but most teachers in my department aren't that dedicated to it. All I see are theoretical approaches to problems "that applied sciences may be interested some day".

By talking to a colleague of mine who is seriously considering moving on from Math to Physics, he told me of some engineering departments who might accept someone with a master's degree in their Phd programs. There are some areas I like that might have a connection with what is studied in some Engineering Phd programs, like applied ODE and Dynamical systems and I'd love to put some programming on what I do.

But every teacher I talked about this so far tells me to avoid this kind of migration, since it brings a loss of academic focus and it might be hard for me to find a job later as a teacher. There is no strong tradition in Mathematical Engineering as there is in other countries (I know that such courses exists in Italy and some other European contries).

So I'd like to know some thoughts from more seasoned students and researchers out there. Any advice is welcome.


texts: Frequency of appointments with Ph.D. supervisor

texts:
I am a recent PhD student. My adviser is really a very nice, kind, and open-minded person. They are always open to discuss about subjects of my interest.
As I am almost at the half of my first year, my rhythm of working has evolved from making lectures to doing something concrete. So, I have started to contact my adviser more often in the last month.

How often a PhD student can see his supervisor? Is it really disturbing to send them some results to take their opinion every week? For the moment, my adviser does not seem to be disturbed but are there some "implicit" norms that have escaped me?


texts: Can he/she get admission for Phd in U.S/European university?

texts:
If someone have done Post -Graduation from not reputed institution (India) and have   not done  any project /Thesis in Msc  and Msc percentage/mark also low  ?

Can he/she get admission  for Phd  in U.S/European university ?

Notes : Department  is Mathematics


texts:
I have studied at 4 universities, and in 3 different programs.
I always observed that STEM professors are not good at teaching. I suspect this is because they do not have degrees in pedagogy like MEd and so on.
Do STEM professors generally hold training in teaching from faculty of education or not?
If YES, what am I missing?
If NO, why?


texts: I have nothing to show for the last five years but graduate school and I can't finish/want to leave this field

texts:
I have no formal work experience. I have a BA in sociology and went into graduate school for education. Instead of following my instincts or really thinking about whether I could teach childhood as a job, I told myself it would feel more natural. It has not.

I will fail this program if I have to teach full-time, which is required to graduate (as is an exam that's so new there are no prep books, and it is required to stay in this program). I am in my mid twenties and have zero formal work experience. Foolishly, I'm one of those people that could barely juggle a full courseload and work. I've always chosen school and realized too late that graduate school was a horrible choice for me.

In terms of anything resembling work, I've assisted as a volunteer in classrooms, written papers and portfolios, and have put two years into this program but am incredibly unhappy and cannot finish, nor do I want to be in this profession anymore. I thought it was the one way to put my useless liberal arts degree into a professional path.

Before that, I went through a year and a half after graduation looking for entry level office job, bookstores, retail...no callbacks. Maybe three interviews in the whole time. Temp agencies stopped responding and when I called one to ask why they weren't calling me in to offer advisement, they said they'd have to call me. I graduated with a 3.0 but my resume was too weak, I guess. I had friends look at it to see that it was passable, but as I said I have no experience and I'm now in my mid-20s. (And for what it's worth, am incredibly ashamed of myself.) No experience, no work. My family says I am "unemployable" and I fear they're right--I was in this program two years and should have pulled out sooner. It looks suspicious. If nothing else, it is damaging because I went to school full-time instead of working.

The time, money, and effort I spent on this makes me feel bad, but the lack of a degree/ANY work experience in all that time makes me feel worse.

So there it is, I have no work experience AND no degree to explain the time gap. Can I salvage this? I feel embarrassed even to put the school on my resume b/c of the lack of a degree, but it's the only thing I have to show for the last few years.

(This is in teaching/early childhood. I don't know how to spin graduate school into first experience in even a basic clerical job.)


texts: Do I have the legal right to demand information on plagiarism of my work from another university?

texts:
A student of a German institute has translated my Russian thesis word by word to English and submitted it as her own work in 2014. I informed the university providing them with my work in Russian and presentations of the work I made in 2013.
Upon receiving my email, university examinations first asked for a legal translation of my work. To which I replied that my work was written in Russian and that is a reason why it was stolen – for translation – and also that the legal translation of even one page would cost a lot. And since I was the victim in this case, I suggested that their university is responsible for preventing the acceptance of plagiarised works and has to either translate my work or ask one a professor who speaks Russian to confirm the match. Also, I suggested them to look at numerous tables with hundreds of numbers and match them (providing pages).

Two months have passed since then, and I still haven’t received any update. I called the examination office, and the woman re-directed me to her colleague, who then told me that:

Me not being a student of that university, I have no right for any information.
If there was any plagiarism, their system would recognise it.
I should ask the student who I claim has stolen my work on any information.

Yet the problem is:

Their European plagiarism system has no access to the database of university in Russia, and moreover my thesis is in Russian, while she submitted translated English version. So plagiarism is untraceable by their system. Which they apparently ignore.
Asking me to talk to the person committing the plagiarism, who in the first place lied to me when stealing my work, and declined my request for her to come forward and recall work. It is the same as police would tell the assault victim to go and talk to the criminal.

Is there any legal way for me to get the answer on the plagiarism case from this university? Shouldn’t the university be checking the translation of my thesis rather than requesting me to make an official translation? After all it’s their job to prevent plagiarism! And given their system has holes – I did part of the job for them already – identifying that the work is plagiarism and its up for them to check.

Yet they completely brush me off saying I am not involved and have no rights.


texts: How is East European PhD viewed in the USA?

texts:
Eastern Europe is composed of the former Warsaw Pact, plus the European part of Russia (e.g. St. Petersburg).
I believe Eastern Europe's higher education is influenced by the former USSR. On the other hand, there has always been a political tussle between the USA and Russia. Therefore, there should be some kind of stigma in the USA in recognizing Ph.D. degrees acquired from those countries. No?
How is East European Ph.D. viewed in the USA? Are they considered on par with American PhDs or at least compatible with American education?


texts: Should I publish a given unit of work in more smaller papers or fewer larger papers?

texts:
Having just spoke with my advisor, and speaking on occasion with other professors, I have come to the impression that one should not "subpublish."  Let me say what I mean.  I'm a 3rd year graduate student right now, and the professors I talk to seem to say that it is not a good idea to publish many small papers along the way to a result: that is, holding fixed the total mathematical content across N papers, it is best if N is minimized.  I was trying to understand why.  My advisor cited the reason of "reputation" and I have invented my own reason that perhaps there is an upfront cost to the process of writing and submitting a paper so that although effort per length may be constant, it is to my advantage to pay the upfront cost as few times as possible.  (Finding a referee is the only upfront cost that comes to mind, but keep in mind I've never done this before.)

Can someone expand upon how reputation is relevant here i.e. for fixed mathematical content why it looks bad to come out with many small papers?  Are there also benefits to the community or the knowledge pool that I'm trying to expand however slightly by writing such papers if it all comes at once in one big paper?  One would think that if I "subpublish" that actually since my results become available more immediately that it would benefit the community if I did so.  The only person it would seem to possibly hurt is me if I were to get scooped.

Are there other ways in which upfront costs to the whole process of publishing may happen?

I am interested in all my questions in both advantages and disadvantages to me, and also to those who would use my work.


texts: Is it advisable to use non-scientific method to teach science courses?

texts:
This question is motivated after reading a pop-science book from a famous researcher about physics and some implications. I find the content very amusing but I was utterly frustrated at the lack of any scientific value.

In particular, the book is about some plausible explanations about some observed fact. The author tells a story as follows:

Event A *could* occur under some wild assumptions. If A occurs and a sequence of events B occur, then an event C has non-zero possibility to occur. So, A is potentially responsible for C.

I.e., if something could happen, let's write a book about it (about A => C) without absolutely any supporting scientific evidence for A or B. It doesn't matter if C could occur for a gazillion other non-related and more plausible issues.

Such exposition reminds me the famous argument that a rocket launch could (in principle) alter the rotation of the earth and a change on its rotation could alter the climate. So, if we observe a change in the climate together with any change in the rotation, we should blame NASA.

I wonder why, otherwise prominent, scientists follow such populist and counter-scientific way of exposition. Could this qualify as pseudo-science?

My question related to academic standards and ethics, motivated by the above incident, is the following:

Do the ends (of drawing more people into science) justify the means (doing so by an exaggerated non-scientific way)? This is not limited to a single pop-sci book.
Can this be applied to standard university level pedagogy? Is it advisable to teach any scientific topic using a non-scientific way with the hope that more students find it appealing?
Are there specific examples of such successful pedagogical method?
Is this a contradiction?

Note: Initially, this post created some controversy, and subsequently was voted for closing, for being very opinion-made. I tried to adapt the text and the questions to reflect more objectified answers related to ways of teaching in academic environment. In other words if it is OK to teach the public about scientific matters in a non-scientific way, could we do the same in class? Do you have any particular examples, successful or not, in mind?


texts: May a man attend a workshop entitled “Young women in [domain]”?

texts:
The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics at the University of Bonn hosts workshops such as 'Young Women in Harmonic Analysis', 'Young Women in Geometry' and 'Young Women in Mathematical Physics' biannually, I think.

I am very interested in attending such a workshop as they are seldom found within the topics I am interested in. However, the title of the workshop begins with "Young Women". Moreover, the description on their page states that "the workshop provides a platform for female graduate students and postdocs in mathematical physics..."

Now, before you lambast me for even considering it, note that they also write "everybody is welcome to attend the workshop. We encourage all participants - male and female".

My worry is that male participants are technically permitted so that they do not break any discrimination laws and that if I were to attend such a workshop, I may find myself in the awkward situation of being the only male there facing the scowling looks of my female contemporaries.

Thus, my question is: can I apply (from a common sense, ethical, moral, situational point of view...because technically, I obviously can)?


texts: Etiquette for declining a tenure track job offer

texts:
I have a good idea of what things to say in my correspondence regarding this matter; here I'm mainly asking how to deliver the news: by phone or by letter/email.

I have received conflicting advice about this. In many jobs (academic or not) the most common advice seems to be to make a phone call, followed up with a confirmatory email or letter. Specifically in an academic setting, I have heard at least two chairs/deans say something along the lines of "Call me with good news. Email me with bad news". Others have said "use the same medium the school used to contact you"-- in most cases I've heard of, the school often uses a mix of written and telephone correspondence.

In my particular case, declining the offer by phone would require scheduling a phone call through an intermediary, because all previous correspondences have gone through the Dean's secretary (sending contracts, scheduling previous phone calls). Based on the non-instantaneous scheduling of our other chats, I suspect this would delay things by a few days (so, it wouldn't be like I could just call his office number for a quick chat). Regardless, it seems rather awkward to go through this process of scheduling a phone call just to say "No Thanks".

Any advice on the general question and/or my specific situation is appreciated.


texts:
I am an assistant professor and was invited to do a "stealth" interview at another university.

Should I really treat this interview as a secret (and risk that others in my department find out through the grapevine), or should I go ahead and tell my department chair now (even though it is just an interview)? What are the pros and cons of each?


texts: Referring to a movie concept in Statement of purpose

texts:
I'm writing my statement of purpose for computer science master's program.

Can I refer to the concept of a movie that I have watched and kept me wondering and aroused my curiosity? I'm talking about Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, “Artificial Intelligence”. It really had a key role in motivating me to continue for postgraduate studies and research in the field.

Thank you in advance.


texts: Received an incorrect review from a conference (a review for a different paper). What should I do?

texts:
I've submitted a paper to a computer vision conference (a top one), and recently recieved reviews from the reviewers. An issue was that one of the reviewers provided an incorrect review (i.e., a review meant for another paper than ours).

At the moment, I do not know which Area Chair (AC) manages my submission. All I can do is to contact the Program Chair (PC). Should I contact PC about this before submitting my rebuttal (i.e., responses to the reviews)?

The context is that my advisor told me that if I contact PC for this reason, it might be interference. So I was kind of scard and this is why I ask a question here. Also, it might not be completely obvious to others that the review is an incorrect one (althoguh it is completely clear to me).


texts: How can/should I indicate that it's okay to use open access content in a paper?

texts:
Suppose I want to reuse some substantial piece of content - say, a figure1 - from someone else's paper in my own scholarly work. If the other paper is under a traditional license, I'll have to obtain explicit permission from the copyright holder (usually the publisher), and then when I include the figure in my own work, I can say "Figure from reference [x], used with permission."

However, if the other paper is under an open access license or is in the public domain, and my own work will be released under a compatible license, I don't need to explicitly contact the copyright holder to ask for permission to use their content. When I attribute the figure in my work, can I still say "used with permission"? Legally speaking, I do have permission to use it by virtue of the license under which it is released (or lack thereof, if public domain), but including that phrase makes it sound like I've received an explicit statement of permission from the copyright holder, and I wouldn't want to give a misleading impression about that.

If I shouldn't say "used with permission," what would be a suitable replacement? If it's under a Creative Commons license, for example, I could say something like

  Figure from reference [x], used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license

but that seems a little verbose. Is there a better alternative?

I'm also interested in how to handle this when the content is in the public domain, or is under a much more permissive open access license (perhaps one whose attribution requirement is merely "you must credit the author"). I understand that I'm not legally required to include any notice saying that I'm allowed to use content under such a license. But for this question I'm more interested in the ethical obligations that a reader might perceive.

1Even though a single figure would often be considered fair use. But let's pretend for this question that whatever I want to reuse is enough that fair use doesn't apply.

This question concerns a similar situation, but is asking about whether it is legal to reuse content at all, whereas I'm asking about how to properly show that it is legal to do so, after it's been established that no explicit permission is necessary.


texts: Redoing my bachelor’s degree for general specialisation and better GPA

texts:
I completed my Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree, in Computing Information Systems (IS) and in Information Technology (IT), respectively, at a university in Australia four years ago. Both degrees are from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

In back home, computer science jobs are widely demanding. Even before arriving back home, l applied to many jobs in the public and private sectors but my applications were rejected mainly for the following reasons:

I have a low GPA in my bachelor’s.
IS is unbelievably misperceived as Management Information Systems.
IS is not computer science (very narrow specialisation to the point that it is not computer science anymore).

I know already some may wonder why the description of the program or courses are not reviewed. Unfortunately, this is how many organisations from all backgrounds including technical and research/Academic bases bluntly processing the applications. They pretty much match the words from the degree title to the job description. Yes, this is how irrational! Your academic achievement is based on what your undergraduate degree consists of, summaried by the title (mostly general specialisation) and GPA. In many cases, whatever builds up on that will be ignored if you are not satisfying with your first degree.

However, I am not saying that I cannot find a job that is related to my academic backgrounds. Currently, I have been working as a web developer for the past three years. But my point is that I cannot get a high-salary job because of the degree title as well as my low GPA.

Now I am seriously thinking to do a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at the same university, hoping that I receive more than two years of credit exemptions of a three years undergraduate degree. This is because I covered almost all core subjects required in the Computer Science program in my previous studies.

My questions: (1) As in the policy of Australian universities, Is there a way to get higher GPA other than doing another degree? I am asking for Australian universities because I did my two degrees in an Australian University. Also I am assuming that I would get more credit if I go back to the same university.
(2) Since the units of my both degrees cover almost all units of the undergraduate program of Computer Science, can I argue that my degrees are equivalent to the new degree without further study?

[My inner voice says this is worth it if I receive that degree with better GPA. If you were living in the same circumstances, what would you do? I would appreciate sharing your opinions and thoughts about my plan].


texts: How much vacation time is typical during a PhD in the United States?

texts: What is the typical amount of vacation time, per year, during a PhD program in the United States.  I am particularly interested in 1. PhD programs in the physical sciences, and 2. PhD programs at competitive, research-focused universities.


texts: Can I get a faculty job in the UK without UK experience?

texts:
I have worked as an Assistant Professor in Japan for 5 years and can apply for promotion, but for personal reasons, I cannot live in Japan. I plan to apply for a Senior Lecturer/Reader position in the UK.

A friend of mine who works in the UK told me you cannot get a teaching position in the UK unless you have studied or worked in the UK higher education.

She suggested that I have a better chance to get a job in the US where universities do not expect a local experience if the application is strong at the international standard.


texts: Removing outliers. Would it be called cherrypicking data?

texts:
Could removing outliers be called cherrypicking data? Because, to run some tests, outliers have to be removed. And they even turn up unexpectedly ruining good data.

I still haven't yet started acquiring data for my project. Still collecting samples. I've heard a senior say that he removes them and I really doubted if such a thing could be done. Also, I've read that ANOVAs work on the assumption that outliers shouldn't be there. (correct me if wrong)


texts: Why do PhD students volunteer at conferences?

texts:
Other than the possibility of waiving registration fees, What is the objective of graduate students volunteering at conferences?
For instance, I am considering volunteering at IJCAI these days and wish to do it at least once (never done it before) but do not really have  a clear motivation for it.


texts: Should I avoid using personal pronouns in an abstract?

texts:
I was somewhat surprised when reviewing the Full Paper Template from the Journal of Computational Chemistry, which states that the abstract text should contain "no personal pronouns".  I have seen many articles which go against this and even several that have been published in this journal recently (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcc.24217/full,  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcc.24225/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcc.24252/full).

In this specific case, I plan to follow whatever instructions the editor provides.  In general though, is it better to avoid using personal pronouns in the abstract for scientific writing?


texts: PhD application denial - Is it usual to ask reasons/recommendations?

texts:
I got a denial to a PhD application I sent. The mail basically stated that they had picked another candidate and wished me luck.

I am doing my master in a German university and I applied to another department in the same university

Is it usual to ask the reasons of denial?. Would it even make sense?. If it is something like e.g. low GPA, there is pretty much nothing I can do to change that. If however it is something like "your motivation letter was too long" or something like that I guess it is salvageable.


texts:
My advisor has bred a very competitive lab culture where students frequently compete for power and attention. I am not naive to think this is uncommon, and I suspect many PhD students are by nature very competitive.

My overall question is this: How does one thrive and remain at the top of the pack in such an environment? How do I cultivate influence and power within such a group?

These scenarios have occurred frequently for many people in the group.

During presentations, when my advisor doesn't know what the presenter is saying, students from the audience frequently interject the presenter and try to explain concepts from the presentation. To me this seems very rude as this doesn't respect the fact that the presenter normally knows more than the others students in the room. Students frequently stand up in the middle of a presentation and start having side discussions on nearby white boards. This has happened to many student presenters in my group.
During paper discussions, students tend to filibuster and interrupt each other and try to talk for as long as possible.
During group meeting, my advisor may ask one student to complete a task, but other students will also try to complete the same task with the belief that they would be able to one up the other student and do a better job.

The most successful students in the group also happen to engage most frequently in these demonstrations of power.

My advisor does not actively encourage such behaviors, but by inaction condones them.


texts: What are the most important actions after starting as a junior lecturer?

texts: I am a new lecturer in a sciences department, this is my first academic position. There is no one telling me what to do which is great, but I am not sure how to maximise my chances of doing well here. What would you think is the most important actions to do and not to do in your first 6-12 months of a position like this? Some people suggest to apply to all grants possible, but I am tempted to get my backlog of papers submitted instead. I was given a lab which is currently empty, and I have limited internal research funding but I can hire one PhD student. Any tips from more seasoned academics?


texts:
I am applying for mathematics postdocs through Mathjobs.org. I have mentioned
names of three of professors for reference letter. One of professors asked me
about whether should I submit a generic letter or a specific letter?

I have no idea about how does Mathjobs.org work and what should I tell my
professor? Any advise, comments will be helpful to me.


texts: What factors to consider when choosing between similar tenure-track offers?

texts:
When one is fortunate enough to have multiple tenure-track offers that are roughly similar (research-focused institutions, similar levels of prestige, salary offered and teaching load), what factors should one consider?

Naturally, the weight of different factors can be subjective, so I am more interested in what types of things to consider and why, rather than what is the final choice that should be made.


texts: Who is earning money when users buy access to a research article?

texts:
I'm a software engineer, but I used to have to read a lot of papers about neurology. I am slightly disappointed by the high price for access to the full text of research papers. I can understand a pharmaceutical company could pay that amount of money, but I don't think private people can afford to pay $30 for reading a paper.

Does the money from article sales go to the researchers, the journals or somewhere else?