texts: Advisor as an assistant professor a reputed private R2 school vs a full professor at a R1 school for PhD

texts:
I did my Master's from a top 5 school. Now I have to make a choice between these two professors. While the R2 school is a private school with a great track record of research in my field - there's an assistant professor there who's willing to hire me. He has a good network, is very driven - and so - I'll be publishing a lot. Plus, the R2 school works in close collaboration with industry - so, getting a job after the PhD will be much easier.

The R1 school professor is a stud though, and has amazing collabs. But, precisely because he's a stud, I don't think that he's very inclined towards having his students in industry (the whole if you're not in academia you're a failure culture). His students have good postdoc positions or work for research positions for the govt.

Going for R1 school will restrict industry possibilities - he is not very much into industry collaborations. But he has an established lab and an established network - so I'll probably go into academia - and hang out with people who do research for the love of it - with zero industry emphasis. I don't want to get stuck in academia - and want my life to move forward after industry.

Going for R2 school is kinda a gamble. The professor did win a prestigious grant and has full funding - and since he is new, he's more aware of recent trends, and not exactly in his own world (ain't nothing wrong in that). I am very well aware of that fact that I'll be working on the projects that he has grants for and won't necessarily be the guy that has a breakthrough during PhD because of the nature of those grants. But the R2 school is pretty renowned in my field in industry, and the school has a lot of industry collaborations.

I'm hella confused. I also have an offer from my master's school (top 5) but with only one year of TA and no RA currently. Also the research domain is new-ish, so not really excited about the top 5 school.


texts:
I am now between postdocs and I did some consulting work for a SME. The work was slightly related to my research field (I am a physicist specialized in developing algorithms, and the work I did was to develop an image management system).

In my CV, I included the consulting work in the "Education and experience" section. Would you recommend doing otherwise? Is there any reason why I should leave it out, e.g. to show that I am focused and will do the work?


texts: When to give up and ask the research community?

texts:
While reflecting on my last research paper (currently in the hands of a referee) I discovered a closely related pair of problems that, as far as I can tell from published record, nobody else has considered.

  For those interested in topology, the problems concern a property of
  first-category continuous images of the half-open interval of reals.
  The property has previously only been of interest in compact spaces,
  but I want investigate for other classes of spaces.

A solution to one or both would make for a nice paper I think.  I've been thinking about them for a couple of weeks with basically no progress.

Should I just tack the problems at the end of my research paper (give up?), or keep them to myself and hope to eventually solve one?


texts: Must a PI who collected data but did not contribute to its final analysis be one of the authors in the paper?

texts:
A PI started a study and collected some data. The study was originally meant to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment. After a year or so of collecting data, the PI decided to do some analyses. When I looked at the design of the study, I informed the PI that this design will not be able to provide any meaningful evaluation of effectiveness.

Some time later, I came across a novel method to analyse this data and tried it out. The results were quite interesting and with the PI's agreement, I decide to try and publish it.

My question is this:
Since the PI was not involved at all in the conceptualisation of this novel method and did not contribute in the interpretation of the results, should he be granted authorship? According to ICMJE guidelines, the answer should be no but I am unsure.

Addendum:
I would like to add, while thinking about this problem, I thought of big studies like the Framingham Heart Study, the Global Burden of Disease study. The PI of these studies are not automatically authors on every paper that came out of the data they collected. Would this be any different from my situation?


texts: How to handle a paper by a reviewer who wants to be paid?

texts:
A reviewer declines to review a paper because he wants to be paid. Some time later, this reviewer submits a paper to the journal (or to another journal who's aware of what happened – very possible with today's editorial management systems). How should the journal handle this?

Possible options:

Pretend we didn't notice and review as normal.
Write him an email to tell him we're aware of it, but are reviewing the paper anyway because we're a magnanimous journal.
Charge him a submission fee which we then use to pay the reviewers for that paper only.
Charge him a submission fee which we then use to pay the reviewers for that paper only, plus some extras which we use to pay the editor.
Desk reject because "our reviewers are on strike because they're not paid so we can't find reviewers for your paper".

I'm concerned taking retributive action will come across as petty and / or lead to a lose–lose situation. However, not taking retributive action doesn't feel right either – if the reviewer is not willing to review unless paid, then it's hard to expect other people to review (or handle) his paper unless paid either.

If it matters, only the first part really happened: The reviewer used the "decline to review" button with a reason that went something like: “Sorry, I don't review unless I'm paid. Feel free to contact me again to discuss rates”. Still, this decline reason is logged in the EMS, so it can happen in the future.


texts: Entering the correct Publisher and Editor in a BibTex citation

texts:
I would like to enter a PDF book I have purchased into a bibtex library using JabRef. JabRef requires the publisher and editor information for "Book" type entries. In the inside cover of my book I see the following useful information:

Academic Press is an Imprint of Elsevier
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Publisher: Glyn Jones
Acquisition Editor: Glyn Jones
Editorial Project Manager: Naomi Robertson
Production Project Manager: Kiruthika Govindaraju
Designer: Christian Bilbow

Some more information about the book can be found in this link
I am inclined to place Elsevier as the editor and Academic Press as the Publisher. I also know that that Academic Press is owned by Elsevier. I have looked up the individuals stated in the Editorial Project Manager and the Publisher sections and they seem to work for Elsevier at this time. However I also note that Tsinghua University Press is mentioned in the cover of the book so I am not sure what their role was and whether they need to be included in the citation.
What should I place in the Editor and Publisher fields in JabRef, respectively?


texts: The mathematics GRE score Advice- Should I send?

texts:
My GRE Score is 740(68%) and is only recommended when applying for a Ph.D in statistics. Is sending this score disadvantageous to me?

I did not take mathematical classes that are strongly required for admission. So, I studied those math subjects by myself and took GRE exam. By sending my score, could I prove I have some mathematical knowledge to admission committees?


texts: Making future goals clear in statement of purpose when changing fields

texts:
I need your advice, dear visitors. Currently I am finishing my BS in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, and trying to apply for a PhD program in Computer Science to universities in the USA.

But I have a real problem.

The topics on which I worked with my adviser are purely mathematical (differential geometry). I began to study this branch of math 2 years ago. But 1 year ago, due to a suggestion of my friend, I started reading articles on Theoretical Computer Science (namely algorithms on planar graphs and in Linear Algebra but nothing related to numerical methods) and became carried away by that. For some reasons, I couldn't have abandoned the work on my topics. One of them is that the results in differential geometry we eventually obtained are excellent (together with my advisor we have two articles in good mathematical journals). Since this is the last year of my education at my University, I haven't changed the field for my diploma (it would have had no sense and it would have been impossible in some way, but let me not tell about it).

Differential Geometry is very interesting and I know much about it but I feel that algorithms is the field to which my future research will be dedicated. I am not interested in any other field of CS. By the way, my scientific advisor knows about my future plans (reported to him half a year ago). He also heartily agreed to write a strong letter of recommendation for me.

So what have I got? Good mathematical skills: a wide spectrum of knowledge on many fields including algebra (linear and abstract), advanced analysis, differential geometry (as mentioned before), functional analysis, combinatorics, algorithms, graph theory... I also have medals and prizes earned on mathematical olympiads (IMO, IMC). So math and TCS background is not a problem for me. After all, Theoretical Computer Science is the same math (we also state and prove theorems like in math)!

Why a PHD? Because I absolutely know that one-two years spent on getting a MS finished will be just a waste of my time.

So I feel difficulty when composing a Statement of Purpose. I just don't know in which way I should put the description of my personal experience forward in such a way so it would be clear and laconic. I don't want the reader to be confused about my goals. I don't want my statement of purpose to be a fruit-salad. I want the reader to understand that a PHD in CS is what I need since I am completely determined about my intentions.

A lot of sincere thanks to whoever will answer my question. Maybe, one can give me a link to a sample of SOP similar to my case.


texts: Can a Ph.D. candidate at a US-style Ph.D.-only graduate school be admitted to a European doctoral course?

texts:
While most European doctoral courses require its applicants to hold master's degree, many doctoral courses in US often do not.  In these graduate schools, by satisfying conditions set by the schools, students advance to candidacy, when the school may or may not grant them master's degree.

Suppose the school does not.  Then, can a Ph.D. candidate at the school be admitted to a European doctoral course, which usually require its applicants to have master's degree?


texts: Is it normal for a journal submission to show "awaiting assignment" for more than a month?

texts: I submitted a paper more than one month ago. The status of my submission is still "awaiting assignment". May I ask if this is normal? How long have I to wait before formally asking the editor about the status of my submission? My field is mathematics.


texts: Is there any difference between one-year MScs and two-years MScs?

texts: I am currently intending to apply for a master degree in Health/Clinical Psychology. I would like to ask if there is any difference in terms of qualification between an one-year MSc and a two-year one, that is, if they are recognised as of same value in any possible field of application. If not then what are the differences between them?


texts: Can someone continue her education in Germany if the first university degree is not recognized?

texts:
My sister is living in Saudi Arabia in a city that has very few limited education options for her. She has to stay there for certain circumstances and she can't leave for a different country. She has now been enrolled in an architecture program at a private University there for a year so far. Yesterday, she found out that her degree is only recognized throughout the middle east and not world-wide and we don't know why. So, her university is only recognized in Saudi Arabia and other middle-eastern countries.

I live in Germany and once I start working, I can afford to sponsor her and bring her here. She has the dream of continuing her education here in Germany. Now the problem is that we don't know what to do in that case at all.

I recall when I got my master admission in Germany, that they told me that although they didn't find my home university in their universities catalogue, yet the admission commission decided to give me the admission because I had good grades and good recommendation letters.

My question is:

Considering her situation, can she still continue her education in Germany after finishing her degree in Saudi Arabia?

Even if she has to re-do some courses. We are wondering if there is a possibility to get an admission from a German university regardless if they ask to redo a lot of courses or not,  we just want to know that there is a hope for her to continue her education in Germany.


texts: I don't want to do research (First year tenure-track faculty)

texts:
I'm currently in my first semester as a tenure-track faculty in a small liberal arts college. I also finished my dissertation and defended about 5 months ago. While I'm grateful that I've got a tenure-track job as a newly minted Ph.D., I'm struggling to do research at the moment. Of course, I've been busy adjusting to the new lifestyle, but honestly, it hasn't been bad at all.

So, to cut it short, making time for research or lack of energy isn't really the issue for me. I consistently have at least 3-4 hours of writing time everyday. I think I'm just burned out from research after finishing my dissertation. When I sit down to do research, I spend hours doing nothing on my computer. I can't get myself to focus and write. I thought resting for 3 months after my defense was enough, but this state of unproductivity in research makes me very anxious.

Sometimes, I even think that I might not be apt to do research anymore. Is this normal? What was it like for you? Does it get better? How do I get over this?

Added:

Thank you for your answers. They were all helpful to read. I know I'm not the only junior faculty suffering from a burnout after getting the degree. I've seen more people taking at least a year off after they finish than continuing with productive research. I needed to acknowledge that my 3-month break was not enough. I'll take it slow for now. I need to find my passion for research again from within, and it will happen soon.

Another problem is that I still haven't quite figured out what kind of scholar/teacher I would want to be. I'm not sure if I want to pursue my career in an R1 university or a teaching school. I come from a very large R1 university and didn't want to live a research-oriented lifestyle that would make me work 70 hours a week. And at that point, I was already burned out from my dissertation even before I finished it. But now that I'm in a teaching school, I miss the environment of intellectual conversations and academic discussions. I'm not sure if I'll be content in teaching-focused environment.

How did you guys decide or know which environment you wanted to work for?


texts:
I'm not an academic, but I notice a trend in the top journals where replication studies aren't taken with the same glamour as original studies. Considering mountains of recent research show the majority of studies in many fields may in fact be irreproducible 1 2 3 4 etc, how can journals as a whole be taken seriously?

As a scientist, surely the scientific method must be respected, and one tenet of that method is reproducibility. This fundamental part of science seems to have taken a backdoor seat, and is not taken too seriously it seems. Be it due to funding, lack of prestige, or whatever. The end results are tainted/irreproducible studies that are cited many hundreds of times, distorting the truth of the world.

I respect there are individual initiatives recently to replicate large numbers of studies, but replication should be the norm, not the exception.

My question is, why are prestigious journals relied upon in terms of status, knowledge and information exchange, when in fact the replication rates of their studies are quite low, and there is no guarantee of any study you publish, cite or rely upon actually being accurate unless it's been replicated?


texts: Is it wrong to repeat yourself in the abstract, introduction and conclusions?

texts:
I find that when I writing a paper,
I use the same phrases and sometimes the same sentences
in the abstract, introduction, and conclusions.

When I compare this to non-fiction writing
(e.g. Malcolm Gladwell or Michael Pollan),
my impression is that they do not repeat themselves
in the prologue and epilogue.

However, I realize that they are writing non-fiction books/articles,
whereas we are writing scientific articles,
for a different audience and a different purpose.
My questions are:

Does using the same phrases and sentences
in the abstract, introduction and conclusions
make my paper boring to read?
Or is it easier to read and understand a paper if it repeats itself?


texts: Is sharing R code for a dissertation consider to be plagiarism?

texts:
I'm working on my individual dissertation in finance. This thesis tests the low-volatility factor on European markets. The core methodology is creating Fama and French portfolios, testing the new low-volatility factor with the Carhart model and a transaction costs analysis with R.

A friend of mine, who is also writing his thesis this semester, uses the same metrology to test the existence of a new momentum factor in the European markets. Therefore, we developed the core R code together. Although our dissertations are completely different, since we both test other factors, we do use the same code. Would you consider this plagiarism and how do I cope with this issue?


texts: Should the postdoc interview focus on my research findings or transferrable skills that could be value of the research team that I am applying?

texts:
I will have a postdoc interview soon. I previously ask our community about whether I should prepare a PowerPoint. I got some great advice about preparing a deck of slides that would help me to clarify my thinking about what to say.

I would like to ask your opinion about the content. Should I talk about my research findings at all and instead focus on what research skills I could bring to the lab? Of course, scholars are excited about hearing cool research findings but I have a sense that, pragmatically speaking, they would want to hear more about my skills. Given time restrictions, what would be the best strategy to optimize my interview time to promote myself?

I appreciate your advice and insights.


texts: Is it normal that a peer reviewer would ask for an executable file in order to check my results?

texts:
I have just received a decision letter for my submitted manuscript to an Elsevier journal. It was a revise and resubmit. However one of the reviewer asked for an executable file in order to check my results. (I felt distrust from his comment..)

This is regarding a computer science paper on testing the efficiency of an algorithm on a set of instances from the literature. I compared the results of the algorithm with those of other authors.


texts: Contacting authors directly when reviewing a paper

texts:
I am reviewing a paper for a journal that has an open review policy. This means that when a paper is submitted to the journal, the paper is published online on the journal's website and when a decision is made, the reviews are published with the reviewers' names. If they want, reviewers can opt out and be anonymous.

I reviewed a paper where I was not anonymous. The decision was to request a major revision. I was invited to review a new version of the paper. I am still unsatisfied with some aspects of the paper but I do not think the problematic parts are sufficient to request a reject. However, I am reluctant to accept the paper with minor revision because I think the changes are substantial enough to require another round of review for checking the last version. If I could, I would propose another major revision, but the journal policy is that a major revision is either accepted (possibly with minor revision) or rejected.

So I thought I could contact the authors (whom I know) directly to tell them how to fix the issues, and then request a minor revision. Since they already know that I am a reviewer, this seems like it would not break any principles of good reviewing behaviour, would it?

Independantly of my precise case, and in order to make the answers useful to more people, it would be good to see opinions on what circumstances allow a reviewer to contact authors personally.

[BTW, I already asked the journal editors if this would be appropriate. At the time of writing the question, I'm waiting for their reply.]

Edit after journal editor answered my request:

The editor in chief replied by discouraging me from contacting the authors and provide suggestion how to deal with the situation within my review. There were several reasons evoked for not contacting the authors, but I will simply tell the one that I find most important: that it prevents documenting the review process properly. As a journal that prides itself of making open reviews, contacting the authors directly completely breaks transparency.


texts: Is it ethical to approach a professor asking for a (unadvertised) postdoc position?

texts:
Some postdoc positions are formally advertised. Arguably, even more exist on a "gray market" - they are not advertised, and a person seeking a postdoc is supposed to contact a professor directly.

One ethical concern that I see here is that in some situations even when the agreement between the professor and prospective candidate is made, the position still has to be advertised (e.g. this may be a legal obligation in some countries). The advertisement will attract a number of applications, none of which has a chance to succeed, since the deal about this position has already been made behind the curtains.

My second concern is a bit harder to formalise. Is it true that when a candidate approaches a professor with a request like this, some serious ethical restrictions arise? Is it more difficult to turn the offer down, if you were the one asking for it? Is it more difficult to terminate the postdoc contract earlier than expected (and move to permanent position, for example), if you were the one asking for it?

Should I keep trying to apply only for a officially advertised positions, or should I give up and approach senior professors directly?


texts:
I'm in a situation that I'd love to hear some second opinions on. I am a second semester senior at a well known engineering university. I was never interested in going to grad school during my first three years of undergrad. After an internship, I realized that I might want to go to grad school but didn't apply to any by the deadlines because I was hoping to get a job in industry. When no opportunities panned out, I approached a professor to do undergrad research in his group this semester in the hopes of getting a recommendation letter for future applications. Once we talked, he mentioned that he had a PhD position available and asked me if I would be interested. Once I learned the details (the funding was coming from an external company that I would have a good chance of getting a fellowship from), I was extremely interested and said that I would join his group to pursue my PhD.

Now that I have accepted the offer, I am starting to have reservations. I believe that I would love the research and the coursework, but I'm not sure that I want to stay at my undergrad university for that long. Would it be beneficial to go somewhere else? If so, how should I go about considering other universities? How should I let my potential advisor know about the doubts I am having? Any insight more experienced people could provide would be extremely helpful!


texts: How can I challenge a professor who is ignoring me in an online course?

texts:
This summer I am taking an online course due to being part of an internship 1000 miles from home. That said, the physics course I am taking the instructor is not grading the tests right. When asked what the right answers are, she responds but then when I ask about the specifics of why I missed them she ignores me.

For example this question,

"An elevator weighing 20 200 N is supported by a steel cable. What is the tension in the cable when the elevator is being accelerated upward at a rate of 3.00 m/s2? (g = 9.80 m/s2)"

She responded that the answer is T = 26383.7 N, then gave me zero points when I wrote 26400 N which seems more correct given significant figures.

However when I asked about it, she ignored me.

Because of this kind of thing my test grade went from a 100 to a C-.

What else can I do?


texts: ATINER - is this a legimate conference? pros and cons?

texts:
Background:
A close acquaintance of mine is a tenured faculty member at a minor US college, having worked there for several decades. They are very well respected for their contributions to the college, students, and community, but they really haven't played a research role. This individual isn't the best when it comes to navigating the perils of the Internet, which brings us to the scenario and question...

Scenario:
For both fiscal and, I suppose, for personal reasons, they want to submit a paper to the ATINER conference. I think that submitting a few papers may change their title and pay grade, which would help them before moving towards retirement within the next decade, as their family has some financial issues.

Question:
Is this a legitimate conference, and what risks of participating? It appears on librarian Beall's List of potentially predatory conferences. However, from my inspection, it seems to be established, but perhaps low quality. I cross-referenced a couple of their past speakers and the talks do indeed appear on actual people's CV's.

So, to reiterate, my acquaintance is not a researcher, per se, nor desires to be known as one. With that in mind, what are the pros and cons of submitting a paper and giving a talk? I mainly want to protect my friend from harm.


texts: Are non-citizen Muslim professors and students going to be removed from US universities and subsequently deported by Trump's ban?

texts:
Does anyone have any information on this?  Are academics somehow protected from Trump's ban on Muslims?

I know that some have the "alien of extraordinary ability" work visa, but what about for others that don't have such status?


texts: Having Public Consumption on my record to greatly affect my PhD applications?

texts: I made a really stupid mistake. Me and some other graduate students were playing Dungeons and Dragons in my lab after hours (9 pm) this summer and we each opened up a beer and the cleaners called the cops on us. I think I'm going to get an academic censure because of it, which means I think that it will go on my transcripts. This is the only case of my misconduct, and I feel really stupid that I did it. My question is will this greatly affect my ability to go into a PhD program? I joined this masters program as a stepping stone, and have done very well academically and with my thesis in this program. I'm worried that all the progress I have made will go away because of one lapse of judgement.


texts: How do I find references and how do I know that they are valid?

texts:
I took a pause from school during personal problems and started it again half-year ago. Now that I've finished almost all of it, the last thing I have left is to finish my thesis-work.

My professor stated that for my work I need to look up references that validates and proves for what I've stated in my report (Which is logical), but my problem is what the title is given out.

How do I know that the reference is valid?
Where is the best place to find references? (For my case it's about software-development)


texts: Are there style guides for lists of figures / list of tables?

texts:
I am currently writing my thesis and I will add a list of figures and a list of tables.

Are there any style guides how to / not to write the text shown for each entry in those lists? (e.g. I could imagine that somebody already wrote a list of common mistakes)

Example

This is a part of how it currently looks like:

Hence some questions are:

Should title capitalization be used?
Should it be a sentence?
Are braces ok?

As I have not seen this before, I'm not aware of any guidelines how to write those. I think it should be written in such a way that a person who has already read the work can quickly find the table / figure again.


texts: If tenured staff are virtually unsackable, why is the drive to find funding so strong?

texts: Tenured staff are virtually impossible to fire, why is the urge to find funding so strong? For post-docs and other untentured scientific staff I can understand, for their job depends on it. For a tenured professor it would rather be the joy and honour of doing important research. Apart from a reduction in joy and honour, are there any consequences if a tenured professor fails to get grants?


texts: There is a professor who has made several reference letters for me, and I would like to thank him. However, I have some doubts as to whether it would at all be appropriate to thank him with dinner delivery to his office, say. I feel that simple verbal thanking is not sufficient at this point, but then, the atmosphere of formality is still there at the level of university relationships. What are one's ideas on this? If sending him a fine dinner would not be appropriate, especially without first discussing this with him, what is another way of thanking a professor, which would be considered "formally appropriate"?


texts: Effects of financial burden on PhD research

texts:
I am currently finishing up my 3rd semester in a very good (top 10-15 in US) PhD program in math. After this summer, I will have passed all my quals and will seriously have to think about my research. But I have been plagued with financial problems for the last two years and it is currently causing me following problems:

I work multiple part-time jobs outside of class and TA-ship, just to break even with my financial obligations. The fact that I am an international student makes it even harder to find such jobs; I usually end up working for late night jobs for low pay.
Getting tired from work, I rely on caffeiniated drinks to basically just survive and do my class works. It seems like forever since the last time I felt fresh and full of enthusiasm to do math. Going to seminars, attending reading groups etc all impossible because of it.I guess it has been working so far only because I am only in my 2nd year and only taking classes.

So my question is that how realistic it is for me to continue like this and expect to be at least moderately successful doing research? If there is anybody here who dealt with similar issues, I would be very glad to hear what your solution was.

P.S: Quitting the program and going back to my home country is not option an - I will have to stay in the program until I finish it or get a full-time, industry job in US, whichever comes first. Also, my adviser is sympathetic with my situation and helped me a lot by securing me a summer position, but that is the extent of what he can do to help me financially.


texts:
I am a PhD student works in computer algebra(Theoretical computer science). I have published one research paper recently, I am currently making slides for the paper. It is my first time and believe me I am struggling a lot. I have spent 4 days but till now not able to convey the idea that I want to deliver to the audience. I have given 30 mins for the presentation. My algorithm is based on 4-5 other algorithm with few lemma and some modification to previous algorithms. I am confused how to make slides such that I can convey my work efficiently.

Should I focus more on modified previous results or on new lemma. Should I first explain them notations and definition or directly go to the results.

Questiom : How to convey your full length paper in conference through slides?

Edit : Audience is Professor and Ph.D students of computer science and mathematics.


texts: Is a graduate pathway program likely to help for admission to a masters in another field? Is it better than MOOCs or an internship for this purpose?

texts:
I am a 4th year Electronics engineering student studying in India. I applied to Master's of Science in computer science programs (I wish to change fields) offered by 11 universities in the US, but my application was rejected by all 11 of them.

One of the important factors (correct me if I am wrong) that I consider is weak in my application is my background. I have no formal background (even though I have lots of informal background) in Computer Science (my university did not encourage Minoring in a second subject).

To address the above stated problem, I am considering enrolling into the "academic graduate pathway program"(by academic I mean that it is not intended to fulfil english language requirements, but to fulfil background requirements for the graduate studies in some field) which is basically an additional year before the Master's program where I will study all the required prerequisites for a Master's program in Computer Science.

The problem is that the cost is an issue. I will have to spend an year's worth of extra money before the Master's.

So, my question :

Is enrolling into the pathway program necessary (and if yes, how much) for improving my chances of getting into a Master's in Computer science program, or would taking online courses on coursera, edx, udacity ... be equivalent (by equivalent I mean would it benefit equally in the admission procedure)?
Hypothetically, if I get an offer for a 6 month research internship in a subject of my interest (Machine Learning - which is what I wish to concentrate on during my graduate studies), will the internship, or studying at the pathway program benefit my application more ?
Are there any other ways, specific to my case, in which I can complete the background requirement, without formally enrolling in such a program ?


texts: Seemingly minor revision under review for two weeks. Is this common?

texts:
This is a follow-up question on "Why call it a "major" revision if the suggested changes are seemingly minor?"

I have submitted the revision two weeks ago and it's still showing as "under review." The paper has been under review for 1 year and 9 months. In general, if such scenario happens when should one expect a decision?


texts: Most part of my result is as same as orginal version. Can I make a paper?

texts:
I am a PhD student in mathematics. Recently, I could extend some old result to higher dimensional. I want to make a paper. But I doubt that is a good result or not, because most part of my proof is the same as the proof in the orginal version. In fact, what I did: I try to understand which part of the proof does not work for higher dimensional. So, I replace them by  higher dimentioanl theorems. Do I neglect my result and do not make a paper? Or I have to do it?

I checked that no one did it before me.


texts: Is it fine to ask a collaborator to give me a recommendation letter directly or should I ask my adviser to do so?

texts: Recently, I need to take some recommendation letters from our collaborators but I'm not sure is it fine to ask them directly by myself or should I ask my adviser to do so? Any idea or suggestion is appreciated.


texts: What is an "international equivalent" in the sentence

texts:
I am applying for college in the state, one of the question in the application is "Will you have graduated from high school, earned a GED, or received and international equivalent prior to enrolling at the University of Oregon?".
My question is

What is "international equivalent" refer to? For example, is my high school diploma in Taiwan count as an international equivalent?

I'm confusing about the or list, whether the question is asking
A. (have graduated from high school and earned a GED) or (international equivalent)
B. have graduated from high school or earned a GED or international equivalent

Thanks.


texts: What can be an exceptional record of teaching?

texts:
When an academic apply for a faculty position, the main criteria of selection are usually his record of research and teaching (and other academic affairs).

For the case of research, it is straightforward: research publications, other research outputs, funding, etc.

But how one can have an exceptional record of teaching and academic affairs?

When someone has many high impact papers, he can be confident about his research records. With what records, one can be confident about his teaching/academic records?


texts: Self-plagiarism in Publication-based commentary PhD thesis?

texts:
I am writing a publication-based PhD thesis, and the thesis will not be publicly accessible once has been finished due to classified data included. The thesis is not the traditional sandwiched thesis, it is supposed to be a commentary on my own publications.

I will use three papers in my thesis, two have been published in journals and another one is still under review. I have obtained permission to reuse the content of the two published papers for my thesis. I have two questions:

Dose reuse mean that I can use exactly the same words? like I can copy and paste the content of the two published papers? or do I need to rephrase the content?
The third paper has not been published yet. If I use the data in my thesis, can I still publish it in a journal? if so, can I copy and paste the same content?


texts:
In the past, I experimented a lot with the layout of my thesis. Until I managed to find a PDF of a standard book layout of some publisher, which attracted me so much that I copied it for my thesis.

The problem is: I can't remember where I got this layout from. Does anyone have an idea? It was the standard layout example of some publisher ...

Thanks!


texts: What degree of borrowing from a Stack Exchange answer and submitting to a peer reviewed journal, without citation, is ethical?

texts:
I posted a highly-upvoted answer on Skeptics Stack Exchange based upon numerous Chronicling America database newspaper quotations, and chatted in comments about this with a psychology professor.

The professor, listing himself as sole author, then submitted an article with highly overlapping content to a peer reviewed journal, without any citation to my Stack Exchange answer.

(More specifically, in Stack Exchange comments, I criticized a specific 2012 paper of the professor, which was primarily based upon google book ngrams, and showed in my answer numerous quotations from the Chronicling America database that result in a different conclusion. The professor then submitted an update of his 2012 paper to the same journal adding numerous quotations from the Chronicling America database.)

Is this ethical? I've only published in chemistry/biochemistry journals and don't have any idea what is typical for psychology journals.


texts: Postdoc application, different team, same institute

texts:
A month ago I applied for a postdoc in a renowned institute in my field. Through the process of evaluating the different candidates, an assessment was performed by other professors from the same institute but from a different team.

An assessment here means a paragraph written by someone in the field but not the potential PI that summaries the candidate studies and experience and ends with: qualified or not qualified for the job.

My assessment was very positive so I reached the interview stage but at the end I didn’t get the job. Two weeks later the professor that wrote my assessment published a postdoc position ad, and I’m very interested in the offer. The institute is famous in my field and the position fits with both my expertise and interest.

Question: Do you think that applying for this postdoc position only after few weeks will be regarded negatively by this professor? Do you think that I will look like someone who wants to work in the institute no matter what?

Update:
Thanks everyone for your valuable replies;

I indeed applied for the position, I wrote a personal statement from scratch and I had a really great time reading about the proposed project, I really learnt a lot while preparing for the application.

However, I couldn’t even pass the first stage of pre-selection (I think my transcripts are to be blamed).

But I have no regrets, as everyone here said; if I don’t apply, I won’t get the position. as Buffy said, Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Thanks everyone again!


texts: review paper and authorship of ex supervisor

texts:
I am now in another lab now, different from my PhD studies, as a post doc.

We had a review paper in which we included a figure from my thesis, without analyzed or even concentrate the paper to this figure, since it is very common. This figure was included in one of the 10+ topics discussed in this review. Should the authors include the supervisor of my ex-laboratory, as author or could just declare the laboratory and the name of my ex- supervisor to the acknowledgments, where they could thank him personally, as well as his laboratory? (my ex supervisor has not contributed in writing of the review).


texts: Is it common to refer to someone as "Prof. Dr. [LastName]"?

texts: I have generally only heard people refer to professors as either "Dr. Smith" or "Prof. Smith". However, I received an email that referred to the keynote speakers at a conference as "Prof. Dr. Smith". Is this common? (It is for a conference in taking place in the EU and I am from the US if that helps).


texts: Productive but not respected advisor - Should I continue with him?

texts:
My situation is the following: I have a very productive but not respected advisor. By productive I mean that he has published a lot, and with not respected that his work is not cited by anyone except himself (his top paper has 20 citations, 15 from himself).

I will get my master's degree in 6 months, so I need to decide where to do my PhD. To be honest I don't know is my advisor doing real science. Am I judging his career too hard? At least I would not hope to be in the same situation as he is after the next ten years. Also, he demands me to do things exactly as he wants, so I have been thinking this issue a lot.

If you think I should not continue with him, can you tell me what kind of publication record I should demand from my advisor?


texts: How to decide on what citation format to use when writing on legal history?

texts:
I am an amateur historian who is considering writing a book about the history of Treason in the United States. I have a dilemma with how to format citations.

The book, by nature of being history of law, would have to cite both historical and legal sources.

Should I cite everything using Chicago Style, everything one of the law citation formats, or use the Chicago style for the history sections and the law citations for the legal section?
Does my choice in citation format affect my book's ability to be cited in academic journals?


texts: Requesting a change to conference lodging before accommodations have been verified?

texts:
I have applied and been accepted to a conference as a graduate student attendee (not presenting any material). They were able to give lodging and promised to reimburse a good portion of travel which is all very good and I am very grateful. However, when I applied for the conference I indicated that I would be O.K. sharing  a hotel room. Unfortunately I have an medical situation that is better at some times than others and it's been rather poor since I first applied to the conference. Realistically if I'm going to attend the conference I'd need my partner to come with me to help with that situation which means we'd need to share a room and I couldn't share a room with another attendee. What is the most professional and effective way to make this request?

I always prefer to say as little about my medical situation as possible particularly because the folks organizing this conference run a Department I'm interested in for my PhD. They have not made lodging arrangements yet but made it clear they will need to make them by tomorrow so really I have about 1 day to request a lone room before they go and make arrangements. Thanks y'all for any tips on approaching this!


texts: TOEFL IELTS GRE scores expired but with work experiences in English speaking countries

texts:
If one wants to apply for grad school in the USA, and one's TOEFL, IELTS, GRE scores all expired, but one has all the following experiences able to prove ones' English proficiency:

one did an exchange student program in an English speaking country;
one has work experiences in English speaking countries;
one has published many papers in English.

Will these be sufficient reasons to persuade the admission office and pass their English requirements?


texts: How can I most respectfully leave my current PhD position for a new one?

texts:
My professor is a bully and the university will not challenge his behaviour despite numerous complaints from both staff and students. I am 9 months into the first year of my PhD. I love my work and all of my other colleagues but the professor's behaviour is unbearable and affecting my mental health. I have made the decision to apply for positions elsewhere.

How can I do so without appearing as a troublemaker? I am terrified that other lab groups will read my application and just see me as weak, lazy, or disruptive for leaving my current position. How can I mention the experience of my current position on my CV, and explain politely in cover letters etc. the circumstances without sounding like a brat?

Thanks in advance,

A very stressed PhD student


texts: Suppose I disagree with the methods and/or conclusions of a paper published in a scientific journal, and I produce some new results that refute the claims in this paper. What would be the best way to publish my contradictory results in a way that challenges the original paper, but also shows respect for the authors of the previous paper? Should I explicitly mention the positive merits of that paper before explaining why I think that the conclusions are wrong? Or would it be implicitly assumed that I disagree only with the previous paper's scientific conclusions, and I have no negative feelings towards its author(s)?


texts: Should I mention a professor's name in my SOP for MSc if the professor is only taking PhDs?

texts:
Some facts:

I am applying for a Master's program in Computer Science at a university in US.
My research interests exactly match with the professor's.
I am applying to the university because of the professor.
The professor is only taking PhD/PostDoc students in his group.
He has just joined after completing his PostDoc and there is no information on the website if he will take any courses.
Chances of directly doing a PhD with him are very less based on my profile.

The problem:

I understand that whether or not I should write his name or mention some of his work depends on if he will be able to advise me during the program which is exactly what I do not know.

Can having discussions with him during his office hours be a good enough primary reason to study there?
What could be the possible reasons that a professor is not taking any Master's student? Is there a good chance that if I get an admit, my regular interaction with him, interest, and work will make him take me in his group with PhDs?


texts: How to organize a Joint Collaboration Plan and Fees

texts: With today's technology it is very easy to collaborate with people around the world (I totally recommend Vyew for that). When you collaborate with people from different countries, are there any rules for who pays the bills? The expenses could be conference fees, attendance fees, journal fees, etc. For collaborations we use Hardy-Littlewood, but is there any such kind of rules for paying the bills? Or is it just a previous agreement or consensus between your coauthors? How do you normally approach the subject to your fellow coauthors?


texts: Likelihood of being accepted to top PhD programs without an interview?

texts:
I did my CS undergraduate at an international university (being top 5 in my class), and I am applying for this round of Comuter Science PhD admissions. I'm mostly applying to top 10 schools (MIT, Stanford, CMU, Berkeley, UIUC, ...). My profile is relatively competitive with a few independent publications (written solely by me) and joint publications published in top CS conferences. My LORs are also supposedly strong (Professors' words, not mine as I have not seen the letters).
I came across this website where students post about admission updates and interview invitations. I've noticed that most, if not all, the programs I applied to had already sent interview requests. However, unfortunately I have not heard back from the programs for any interview invite (whether formal or informal).
My question is, how common is it for international applicants to be accepted to these top programs without an interview (formal/informal)? I feel it is unlikely, because if a professor is planning to fund an applicant for a few years, I'd expect they would at-least be interested in having a short conversation with the applicant.
I am aware of this answer, however this was three years ago. I am interested if this expectation has changed over time.


texts: Should I publish book chapters as standalone articles before approaching a publisher?

texts: [Humanities - Post Doc Stage] Do you encourage the publication of chapters as articles prior to full book publication, with the aim to improve research profile? Or do you advise publishing a book of previously unpublished work? Or do you suggest publishing some and retaining other research? Please detail any experience of this in your response, with reference to approaching publishers if possible.


texts: An author of a paper included a blank supplementary file. Is it possible to make the journal correct this?

texts: The authors of a paper explicitly wrote that they included their code as a supplementary file, and the file is actually available, however, it only includes the header and no code whatsoever. Is it possible to make the journal take notice and correct this issue?


texts: Is an author allowed to use the same figure in different papers without citation?

texts:
Authors A, B and C published paper [1] in journal X.
Author B created a figure for paper [1]. The figure is not essential and does not contain any important data. It is just a geometric ilustration.
Authors C and B are writing a new paper [2] for journal Y.

Can the same figure be used in paper [2] without any mention to paper [1]? Is it ethical? Does it violate copyrights of X? Is it considered plagiarism by Y? How about the situation X=Y?

(Authors A, B and C are friends, so there is no problem for author A.)


texts:
I just received an email from an undergrad student in a course that I am teaching.
The student informed me that his girlfriend's father passed away,
and so he will be unable to attend my class because
he "needs to stay with her to help her with official processes related to her father's death".
(I am paraphrasing what he wrote.)
This is the first time that a student has raised this as a reason for missing a class.
Question:
Is the death of a girlfriend's father a reasonable excuse for a student to miss a class?
Here's how I am thinking about it:

The death of an immediate family member is a significant event.
If the student experienced the death of an immediate family member,
there's no question to me that this would be a reasonable excuse for missing a class.
However, in this case, it's not the student
who is experiencing the death of an immediate family member, but his girlfriend.
I understand that for university students,
a girlfriend/boyfriend can be extremely important.
I don't think my university policy allows a student to miss quizzes/exams
due to the death of a relative of the student's significant other,
so I am assuming that the same policy would apply for missing classes.
However, I have a nagging feeling that if I were to deny his request,
I would be a "bad" or "unreasonable" teacher.
(Note: I mistakenly wrote "due to the death of the student's significant other" earlier but I fixed this mistake.)

Response to comments/questions

Due to COVID-19, the course is run virtually using Zoom.

A few weeks before the start of the semester,
I inherited this course from a colleague
who received reducing teaching load
because he was assigned additional administrative tasks.
I am therefore trying to run the course how he set it up in the past.
The attendance policy which he set,
and is included in the syllabus,
is that if students miss 2 or more classes,
they will automatically fail the course.

In addition, students do receive a small amount of points
for attendance and participation.

The course is conducted using a seminar course format
rather than a traditional lecture format.
For all classes except the first class,
students present their work,
and other students ask questions and give feedback and suggestions.
Due to the seminar course format,
it makes some sense to me why my colleague required
a high level of attendance to pass the course.

I found what the university policy says
regarding excused absences for exams or coursework:

A death certificate and supporting documentation where there is a demonstrably close relationship between the student and the deceased.

What I learned and what I decided to do

Ultimately I decided to excuse the student from that particular class.
It was pointed out that attendance and participation
only counts for a very small number of marks
in the overall course assessment.
Therefore, I should not waste time and effort overthinking this issue.
(In the case where the student were absent for
an exam or major course assignment,
I would have to follow official procedures
to handle the student's issue.)
It was also pointed out that students
may be strongly emotionally affected
by events that occur not only to their immediate family
or to their married spouses,
but also to their significant others or close friends/relatives
or even their pets.
Finally, it is a hassle to take attendance,
so in future courses,
it would make my life easier and less stressful
if attendance was not considered in the course assessment.


texts: Is referring to a textbook solution considered academic dishonesty?

texts:
There are weekly homework assignments based on a textbook. We will finish each problem set and hand that in every two weeks.

Since the assignments are straight out of the textbook, it is very easy to get a copy of the textbook solution manual from online sources.

As an undergraduate student, if I try the problem myself, and then refer to the solution manual only for comparing the final answers, am I committed of academic dishonesty?

Since I have referred to the solution manual, it is very likely that I will receive a good score on the assignment. If I also have a very good score on the exam, does my score reflect that my homework wasn't copied from the solution manual?

The homework is only worth 10% of the overall grade.


texts: What software license allows me to have GPL for academic use and paid use by industry for my open-source project?

texts:
I have spend many years during my PhD developing a code base and decided to open-source the code when I finished. It's currently under GPL. The code is used by many different research group around the world, and that was my goal; to provide a useful tool for the research community.

Recently I have been contacted by a company that wants to use the software. My intention was always to charge a fee for industrial use of the code. On the website, it says something to the effect of "GPL for academic use", "please contact me for industrial licensing".

Firstly, do you think this is reasonable approach? Personally, I don't think that industry should get a free ride from my publicly funded research code.

Secondly, what are reasonable terms, pricing and software license for an "industrial license"?


texts: Applying for a PhD program after withdrawing from another one

texts: I started a physics PhD program in 2014 in a very prestigious university in my field (in US) but after going through depression and heart problems, which resulted in bad grades, I decided to withdraw from the program after taking one year leave of absence in 2016. I'll be starting a one year masters program outside US which I'm pretty sure I'll get perfect grades in and I've already published a paper during this one year LOA. I'm intending to apply for another PhD program this year and my question is whether I need to submit a transcript from my previous PhD program? How severely would my bad grades in that PhD program affect my application if both my undergrad and masters GPA are 4.0 ?


texts: The status of my paper is "Ready for Decision (30 days)". Should I write an email and ask?

texts:
I submitted my paper in Elsevier, the status of my paper is "Ready for Decision (30 days). Should I write an email and ask why does it takes so long?
Thanks


texts: Publishing paper using an open-source software

texts:
Can someone publish a paper on the mathematical model of the open source software i.e. parameter analysis of the model (i.e relevant to specific area) which is the backbone of the software.

Is it possible to publish paper on model analysis?
Apart from citing the software, what kind of credit I should include in the paper?


texts: Am I taking the Right steps at Switching from Geoinformatics Bsc to Information Technology Msc?

texts:
I am a Bsc degree holder in Geoinformatics from Nigeria intending to apply for Msc in Information Technology program in Germany, looking at the prerequisite its entirely a different ball game. So I decided to take some training for IT certificate courses like Network+, Cyber Ethical Hacking (CEH) and hoping to do Cisco certified Network Association (CCNA) and even planing on learning German language soon.
My question is will these certification acquisition give me a boost for admission to study Information Technology in Germany or anywhere in the UK.


texts:
I am applying for PhD scholarship and there is selection criteria and I have to respond to each of them. One criterion is given below.

•   willingness to collaborate and engage closely with industry partners.

The question is, how can I respond that criterion. Not to mention, I have no experience with industrial partners


texts: As first author, what should be included in the first formal communication [email] with other coathours

texts:
I am in the process of writing a paper ( public health/ policy) for submission collaborating with two professors. Both are supportive and interested in my project.

separate meeting with both were held and now I would like to send a formal email to both of them. what should such email include at this stage? giving that we have an  agreement on a general deadline and the targeted journal.

Thanks!


texts: If I believe a student lacks the preparation to pass, what should I say to them?

texts:
I'm an Advanced Level math teacher in my country. I teach  two courses Pure and Applied. Its duration is 3 years. At the end of three years, there is one exam for the whole three years. Only 1200 students are selected for universities out of 50000.

I told (Privately) two of my students that they are going to fail the August AL exam if they are not going to work hard.

They have no knowledge of their syllabus. (They joined my class three weeks ago). I myself told them the truth and they stopped the class telling me that I'm a very discouraging teacher. I could have told them "Yes you can," but as a teacher I told them the reality.

Is it better to tell them that "You will get an A" or to tell them the truth?

This course contains 40 lessons and it is a 3 year course from which now only five months are left.


texts: What is the proper way to ask for ideas for a research topic to a professor on a different institution that I have no connection with?

texts:
I am planning to start a new project on a certain topic, which nobody in my institution is an expert in. I have spent several weeks on literature research on this topic (by superficially reading papers without studying them), however it is very hard and inefficient to find a well-defined problem all by myself.

So I need help from an expert, currently my knowledge on this specific topic is very superficial. I plan to properly get my self ready while doing the research after I find a well-defined problem, because without a well-defined problem it is very hard to make a structured well-defined path, I would end up wasting time by jumping from one paper to another blindly (I have been there).

I have prepared several questions related to this topic that may lead to a research problem, however it is very likely that those questions are very ignorant.

I have sent emails to several people, after the first email they usually respond but when I send those long questions I don't hear from them anymore.

So I would like to learn what is the proper way to ask a an expert that I haven't met before, for a help direction guidance to find a well-defined problem?

The thing is, I really need this problem on that specific topic, because of several reasons, I tried to find by myself, but without proper experience in that field, it is hard and extremely inefficient. Also, I know it is something pretty unusual but I must find this problem, and I know for an expert it would be pretty straightforward. Any advice would be great!

edit:
I need this specific topic because, I have finished the first year of my 3 year PhD, and so far it was jumping from one project to another randomly with the direction my advisor, and it was mostly a dead end. Thus I need a well-defined project that puts me on a track and helps to have a good understanding of my current field. Currently, what I do is not efficient, I am not learning the important first principles of the field it is just random drafting. I need a systematic, structured path. It is hard to explain without telling the specifics. But that certain topic I want is not that a narrow topic it is quite broad. and if someone spends a year on a project involving that topic, he would really have a very good understanding of the overall field that I am working on. I mean that topic, would really teach most of the very important fundamentals, also would be really beneficial.

To explain this more, what I am doing now is like watching a tv series starting from episode 150, so it makes some sense but always something is missing, in order to get the overall picture in order to have a bottom-up approach I have to start from episode 1. And that specific topic would provide that. There are a lot of papers coming out on that topic I know there are accessible problems for a PhD student without a deep background on that topic. The matter is, this is getting out of scope but, I know I can have a very good productive PhD. But as things going now it is not going well. I am certain if I keep doing what I am doing at the end I will be one of the failed PhD's. So I think I have to take the wheel and make good plan respect to my aims. And I think a project on that rigorous topic that will teach most of the fundamentals of my field, also which will give a deep insight and the first principles would be really what I need. Otherwise, this PhD and my career, my potential(?) are just fading away. I mean PhD is knowing something very well, but currently for me, it was just having superficial ideas on a lot of different stuff. So I have to turn things around. Focus on this important topic, which will help me to be very good on one thing.


texts: Using the same letters of Recommendation from previous admission cycle

texts: My question is geared toward Math PhD programs, but perhaps I will broaden it a bit, so it serve useful for future questions. Hypothetically, if you applied to a graduate program and didn't get in a given admission cycle, is it viewed negatively by the admission committee if you applied to the same institution with the same letter writers next year of the admission cycle.


texts: Follow up email to a potential PhD supervisor

texts:
I have contacted a potential PhD supervisor and he sent me back a positive email and asked "have you contacted anyone else in the department or just me at this stage?".

I have replied to the email in a very short notice and stated that I have directly contacted him after careful consideration of the academic staff profile because I can more easily merge with the research theme he works on.

It has been 2 weeks but haven't received a reply, should I write a follow up email? If yes, what should I write in it?


texts: How to not get "filtered out" during graduate admissions in top programs?

texts:
There are a lot of questions about admissions on this forum, including many which discuss the importance of the GRE. However, my question is a little more specific than most of them.

In short, what does it take to not get "filtered out" of graduate schools admissions, particularly in competitive engineering/STEM programs?

I have read some answers on this forum that mention that candidate profiles are divided into MAYBE/PROBABLY NOT/NOT groups, where applicants who belong on PROBABLY NOT/NOT groups may not have their applications read by faculty--which makes sense, given the hundreds of qualified candidates they can choose from. (See this and this). This practice is consistent with what I've heard from other professors. However, what does it take to not automatically fall into those categories?

JeffE, for instance, mentions that, in his school, candidates are/were filtered by GRE and GPA. How does this process work? Are GRE/GPA scores the only filters or are other qualifications taken into consideration during the initial triage (i.e., publications)?

For instance, I received unimpressive GRE scores (~90% Q / ~70% V / ~10% AWA, ran off-topic). Moreover, while I ranked first in my graduating class, I am an international applicant from a (top) Latin American school and the committee may not be able to interpret my GPA. While I could take the GRE again and score better, that would consume time, energy and money (getting to the nearest test center requires 10+ hours of travel as well as sleeping over), all of which could be better spent in other parts of my application. Nonetheless, I believe I have an otherwise very strong application, having various first author publications in top journals and conferences, very strong LORs, 5+ years of research experience, and regularly serving as a reviewer for a top journal in my field.

However, my concern is to be rejected in the initial triage, given that I have no idea about what would get me past it.


texts: What is the impact of an invitation letter on a fellowship application?

texts:
I applied for a Fulbright scholarship as a non-US resident, for a research visit in the US.

I obtained an invitation letter from one of the top Professors in the field, from a public university in California.

During my Fulbright interview I was asked whether I would still accept the fellowship if I was not matched with the inviting institution. My answer was Yes. However, the more I think about this, I get confused as to why would they think of sending me somewhere else. I always thought that an invitation letter makes things easier for all parties involved. Maybe some of you who have participated in admission commissions can elaborate on this.

I can think of two reasons about why I was asked that question:

the interviewer wants to learn to what extent the candidate is keen to be part of the program.
the budget of the program might not suffice covering the living costs of someone in California.

Also the interviewers were not experts in the field, so probably the name and work of the inviting Professor was not relevant to them. I also did not make any extra effort to highlight that.


texts:
I'm an undergraduate currently. I am looking to pursue a PhD next year. I have an established PI here who I have been working very well with, and we already have, well, probably at least 2 years in the future worth of plans for potential projects.  Obviously, it often does not look good to do your PhD at the same program as your undergraduate, as I have read that institutions view it as though the student does not want to leave their comfort zone, will have a more restricted network, fewer diversity in the background of recommenders, etc.

The problem is, my undergraduate institution is number one in the field I am doing, and in the graduate field I hope to pursue (its "specialty" is a different subfield than mine, but I am sure it is still at or near the top of the specific subfield I work in, and the entire program itself is still number 1). So my question is, could it potentially harm me in pursuing my PhD at the same place? What potential impacts could it have on me down the line? If I have other connections that I also have worked well with in the past at, say, the number 10 school in the field and am accepted there, would that be better, worse, and why? If I could instead work in a similar field at a different campus of the same university that is also top 5 (and also would allow me to perform the same research, take as interesting and focused coursework, etc), and my current PI would be able to co-advise me with a faculty member from that department, would that change things and be "far enough" of reaching from the undergraduate institution?

I am not at all concerned with rankings, but obviously with the current pay structure and employment market in academia, that is not something that can be taken out of the equation. I agree that I really enjoy pushing my comfort zone as well; at my current university, The only places with that sort of funding for the area of research I perform are top 25 schools, and getting hired by one of those is obviously a majorly uphill battle to start with.  I really appreciate any insightful feedback/suggestions/tips you guys can give!


texts: How can I strengthen my submitted graduate application?

texts:
I am applying for a master degree in Germany. I have submitted my application but wish to strengthen it as I want to be accepted. What can I do to enhance my application? Can I contact any of the professors or maybe the student advisor? Will it look artificial? If so, what must I say? (I am coming from abroad otherwise I would have visited the university).
Besides, can I email a professor and communicate to him that I am applying for graduate study, and I was intrigued by his research and wish, if accepted, to work with him? Is it too early to do so before even getting accepted?
I apologize if my questions seem trivial, but this is my first graduate application, and I hope to do all that it is in my power to get accepted.


texts: High-stakes tests: How messy can an optical scan sheet be and still be readable?

texts:
A student has traditionally been given a 504 accommodation to be permitted to mark answers to multiple choice questions directly in the test booklet, for a proctor to transfer the answers to the bubble sheet (optical scan sheet).  Now he's in a situation where this accommodation has been rejected.

If you're curious, his difficulty with bubble sheets has to do with ADHD, OCD, anxiety and sensory integration disorder.  He sometimes presses too hard, sometimes too light.  It is inherently hard for him to bubble neatly, but he also obsesses about it, and this ends up wearing him out mentally, leaving him less able to concentrate on the content of the test questions.

Well, okay, he lost the battle (for the accommodation) and will regroup for the war (e.g. updated neuropsych testing has already been scheduled), but in the meantime, there is a high-stakes test on Tuesday and I have to figure out just how messy the bubbles can be, and still be readable.  This will help lower the anxiety for the student.  (Today is Saturday.)

What I have found so far: "Most systems accommodate for human error in filling in ovals imprecisely, as long as they do not stray into the other ovals and the oval is almost completely filled."  (Wikipedia)

I need images showing the threshold.  A messy but acceptable bubble and a messy bubble that the scanner coughed on.

Here is a screenshot of what the bubbles look like for this particular high-stakes test:


texts: I am working as a researcher in a research lab, and I want to apply for a Ph.D. position. I have read that most of the professors read emails sent through professional email-id only. But my current professional email id is restricted to be used in the research lab only. What should I do to make my application email stand out?


texts: How should I cite a website which includes institutional information

texts:
I would like to cite a webpage which I am accessing with credentials through my academic institution. In this case (and I've seen this often) my institution is indicated in the url. For example:

http://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com.libdata.lib.ua.edu/...

Given that this url seems dynamic and will not be effective for others attempting to access the page, what is the best way to cite this page? In this particular case, the page gives no option for permanent link or link to this page or anything like that.


texts: What is limit for the number of students for one supervisor in India?

texts: How many number of students can be supervised by a supervisor in India? Is there a limit imposed by the government of India?


texts: Is there a (text)book on how academia works?

texts:
Is there a (text)book on how academia or science works? What I'm looking for is not anecdotes and tips, but actual insights presented systematically, like any textbooks in every disciplines. This book should provide connections between varieties in academia, and how the root of seeking new knowledge shaping the varieties as they are now. I think this can be categorized as an application of sociology.

Some questions I want to know:

How does a new theory spreads out and be accepted?
Can it answer everything?
How do governments fund researches?
[to be added]

Meta discussion: How to make the question asking for books on academia/science not a shopping list?


texts: At how many citations should I make my Google Scholar profile public?

texts:
I have recently got another citation, which brought my citation count to three. Even though I am proud of my three citations, others may find it funny or pitiful. So I am having doubts whether I should make my Google Scholar profile public and share my achievements with the world. Most profiles on Google Scholar I click on have over 100 citations. I will be lucky to get that many in 20 years.

I think the decision to make the Google Scholar profile public depends on citation count + several other factors. The other factors that come to mind are: my age, number of publications, field, level of the institution I am affiliated with, etc.

I am 30, a young economist still working on my big paper, I have a PhD from a low level university in Eastern Europe, presently working at a not so high level university in China, but I have aspirations to make it to an average American or Western European university.

It seems to me that public Google Scholar profiles are for accomplished researchers and I should just wait for a decade or two. But what concerns me is that as I attempt to publish my next paper or apply for a grant or a job, the editor/reviewers/committee will bring up my profile on Scopus or some other portal, which will be missing some citations. In my case, Scopus shows two citations instead of three! I feel like someone must be laughing at this point, but I am sure even the best go through this stage in their careers.

Does anyone have an advice for me and other scientists with less than 100 citations? When do they usually open up Google Scholar profiles in prestigious universities? In not-so-prestigious universities? On your faculty?


texts:
How do NSF Graduate Fellowship panelists feel about images in the personal statement?

I'm applying to the NSF Graduate Fellowship for the first time. None of the successful personal statements I have seen so far have included images. I can't tell if this is because few applicants choose to include images or if it is because the applicants who do choose to include images are unsuccessful.

I know visuals would take away word space, but I feel they would add to my statement (and maybe break up the overwhelming monotony of type). Specifically, I would like to discuss how I use visuals and technology to engage non-scientists with science and to get scientists from other fields interested in my own. I'd like to show an interactive, laser-cut display I did for my university's Arts Festival as well as 3d models I printed for a conference. I kind of also want to include an old picture of me as a child in my mother's graduation cap because it is adorable and relevant to my personal statement but perhaps that is too irrelevant.

If I was a panelist, I think I would be bored out of my mind looking at endless text regardless of how interesting it was. But then again, I'm a very visual person.


texts: can a poster paper and poster presentation have different title?

texts:
I have submitted a poster paper for publication. Now its time to present the poster presentation at the conference.
I am presenting my key idea and results after my work rather than the actual results of what paper intended to explain. I thought this will be fruitful to me.
To present an idea, the paper title which is used in poster paper is not the best.

  Can I use another title which fits for my presentation?

For example :
Paper title  - Node simulator: Analytics platform for p2p system.
Best fit  title for poster presentation - Behavior measurement for p2p system


texts: Can contacting a search committee for questions about the position hurt your chances?

texts:
Most job postings include an email (usually for the chair) to contact the committee's chair. I have so far never dared to use it for fear that i'd get sidelined for asking stupid questions. Things that I've wanted to ask in the past but haven't include:

Could I amend my application by adding document X (after deadline has passed)
Would you be interested in an applicant with a background in X and Y, having worked on Z (with CV attached)
Could I submit one more recommendation letter than the specified number?
Should the "Teaching statement" (or whatever they call it) include student evaluations (if they're not asked for anywhere else in the ad)?

Could asking such questions potentially hurt a candidate's chances?


texts: Conferences and journals for network science?

texts:
I'd like to learn about the state of the art in network science and which problems researchers are actively working on. In particular, I'm interested in the applications, but the theory is also interesting.

I've found papers on scholar.google.com, and if I'm not mistaken most of the papers are published in application-specific conferences. For example, if network science is used to understand something related to cancer then the results are published in a medical journal. This is making it hard for me to get a consistent view and it's hard for me to get access to such a broad section of the literature (I'm not at a university so I keep hitting paywalls).

tl;dr: Where can I find conferences and journals that focus on network science?


texts: Tips for work-life balance when doing postdoc with two very young children and a one hour commute

texts: I have a postdoc position in my dream lab with PI, who leads the field and has very cool projects for me. The thing is, I have two small kids (youngest is 3 weeks old) and I live one hour away from my prospective place of work. I have a great nanny and a wonderful daycare, but I am still worried if I can pull off the lab work and all the writing and not abandon my children. Anybody in the same boat? Tips for survival?


texts: I submitted an assignment late. Should I email the professor to explain my situation?

texts:
I submitted an assignment 1 day late. Should I email the professor to explain my situation? He has a pretty loose policy on deadlines but we should definitely submit the assignment before the answer is posted.

I dropped the assignment in his mailbox so if he does not check on Sunday and posts the answer keys on the same day, he might be suspicious of me submitting the assignment after the answer key is posted, which is way less acceptable.


texts: Submitting multiple papers to the same journal simultaneously

texts: I know that it is ill advised to submit a single paper to multiple journals at once. But what about multiple papers to a single journal? For instance, I have a few different drafts that I could clean up, which would probably fit well in Mathematics Magazine. I don't know how long it takes for a submission to be accepted or rejected. Is it acceptable to submit additional papers before hearing back about the first one?


texts: Unconscious bias toward recommendation letters written by men?

texts:
This is an attempt to rescue a strongly down-voted question.

Are there any studies investigating possible unconscious gender bias in evaluating recommendation letters?  Specifically, is there any published evidence that recommendation letters with female authors are (or are not) less effective than recommendation letters with male authors?  Studies considering letters for graduate admission, faculty hiring, or promotion and tenure are all relevant.

Let me emphasize that I am not asking about intentional sexism, which I assume is sufficiently rare to be insignificant, but rather unconscious bias.  I am also not asking for anecdotes, but pointers to actual published literature.

Similar studies have revealed significant gender disparity in several related academic contexts, including recommendation letters for male vs. female applicants.  Other examples include:

Applications to lab manager positions
Prospective doctoral students emailing faculty
Judgement of publication quality
Teaching evaluations (See also)
Selection for mathematical tasks (See also)


texts: If I am among the co-authors of a manuscript which I worked on while I was in a Laboratory during my Erasmus Experience, should I be affiliated only with the Laboratory or also the University I regularly attend?


texts: Do references, notes, and tables count towards journal word count restrictions?

texts:
I'm preparing a manuscript to be submitted to a journal, but I'm struggling with the language used regarding the word count for this specific journal:

  The ___________is a peer-reviewed publication. Articles
  between 4000-7000 words (double spaced pages) including tables, notes
  and references, are accepted for review. The Editors reserve the right
  to return papers to authors where they exceed this word limit.

My confusion is, does this mean that references/notes/tables contribute to the word count of the manuscript for this particular journal?


texts: Acces to database as guest auditor at another university

texts:
For my doctorate (economics) I absolutely need access to a scientific database. The problem is that my university unfortunately does not offer this database in its library.
The database access as well as single data from the database would be much too expensive for my university.
There is also no kind of agreement possible with another university that offers this database.
For this reason, I am considering enrolling as a guest PhD-student in a university that offers this database to all its members.
However, I am not sure if this would be in accordance with the licensing law.
So I would get the necessary data from the database in University B and use this data for my research at my University A.
Downloading the data from the database in University B is completely legal for guest PhD-students.
But I don't know if I can use this data for research at my University A.
Can anyone tell me if this would be legally okay?
Maybe someone has already been in a similar situation and can help me.
For a better legal classification: I am doing my doctorate in Germany.
Many thanks in advance!


texts: Will every PhD student from a reputed institute land a postdoc position?

texts:
I have completed my master’s in pure mathematics in India.
Though I am passionate about mathematics and would really want to do a PhD in pure mathematics, one thing I am uncertain about is how would my life turn out after getting a PhD in pure mathematics.

I checked the departmental homepage of some reputed institutes and universities in our country to gather knowledge about their past PhD students.
I found that only a handful of them go to postdocs and a very few get recruited as assistant professors in other institutes.
There is no  information about the other students and I can't get any information about what they are doing.

My questions are:

Is there no guarantee to get a job after doing a PhD in pure mathematics?
Or it is that everyone will get a postdoc after getting a PhD in some institute?
Is a postdoc absolutely necessary after doing a PhD in mathematics?
Will I get a job after a postdoc in mathematics?

I am concerned because I don’t want to be among those who are without any work after doing a PhD.


texts: Is it necessary to get permission if an article is to be summarized?

texts:
I would like to open a blog on my company's website in which I would create posts to talk about different research related to a particular topic. The blog would be educational, however the company is for profit.

For example, a post could be about "does depression influence job performance?" and in this post I would talk about 3 or 4 papers that investigated this, how they did it and what conclusions they reached.

Would I need authorization for this type of use? (I'm just mentioning the facts, but I'm not quoting anything).

would I need authorization if I made a few small textual quotations?

I would logically reference the authors and the papers. But to obtain the authorizations of the companies that possess the rights of the article would be something tiresome.


texts: Why don't more academics write textbooks?

texts:
For example for an undergrad CS/ECE course, say Intro to Computer Networks, there are about 5 textbooks published by the top 15 publishers in the last 20 years. Why aren't there way more textbooks, since there are probably tens of thousands of people (academics) who have the necessary knowledge to write such a book.

Is it because:

publishers don't publish a book about a topic for which they already published a book previously;
or academics don't think writing a textbook is beneficial for their careers and royalties are very low?


texts: Is it possible to hire a phd student or postdoc by hours?

texts:
I am working on small projects in machine learning field at my spare time. I love to research on the main ideas and concepts. However, I won't have much time on implementing it. Since the field requires special abilities, I feel it would be better to hire a phd student or postdoc.

When I search online, even part-time postdoc jobs offer around 50k annually. Since my projects are not that big and I do not have much money, would it be possible to hire a phd or postdoc by working hours for the projects ?


texts: Does putting poor performing students on academic probation improve student performance?

texts:
As we enter a new school year, I'm wondering if the is any evidence to support or contradict the idea that putting a poor-performing students on academic probation improves their performance. Does anyone know of any such evidence?

I can imagine that schools are naturally concerned about eliminating students whose tuition keeps the doors open and my school does not have any formal rules on academic probation. I'm thinking of proposing some, but only if there is evidence that it will actually improve performance. If it demotivates students (for example creating a stigma which is a very serious issue here in Asia) and bounces students who might otherwise just pass then it does not seem so appealing.


texts: Statistics PhD - Sending the math GRE score

texts:
mGRE is only recommended when applying for a Ph.D in statistics.
But obviously sometimes it's better not to send a score than to report a bad score.
Stanford, which is the only place that actually requires mGRE, post that their average is the 82% quantile. But this also includes graduate students in probability, with much higher level in mathematics.

How would you cut the threshold between send/not send/indifferent?


texts:
What are the benefits and harm of taking a leave of absence after the first year of PhD?

......My situation is as follows.... I just completed the first year of PhD in Epidemiology at one of the top 5 programs in the nation and failed all my classes both semesters. All year long I'd battled with PSTD, Separation Anxiety, and Depression brought on by psychological and physical abuse experienced after moving back in with my parents for a few months while I applied to PhD program. This was exacerbated by the subsequent 3 months stint of homelessness I experienced in order to flee the real risk of physical harm.  Unfortunately, this all occurred immediately before the start of classes in September. When the academic year started, I moved into academic housing and dissimulated my problems but could not hide it very long as my performance was less than optimal. My depression was so severe that I forgot how to speak, I experienced memory loss, could not write comprehensive essays, and even forgot how to spell simple words on tests.

When my professors became worried that I was not cut out for the program, my chair and academic advisor were made aware of the situation. Since then, they have worked with me to link me up to services on campus, meet with me regularly to check in and advise me on how to manage several situations.

The issue now is that although I am getting better and my grades have improved, they are not competitive to keep me in the program. Luckily, I have been given a temporary academic disability status to allow the university to make accommodations for my situation.  Provided that my improvement is a work in progress, my chair is recommending a year's leave of absence to help me get back in good health before resuming studies.  This is a swell idea for if I was younger than 30, was financial stable to be able to afford the luxury of moving out of student housing or had a family to rely on,  had a job waiting for me.  I am having a hard time seeing any benefit to taking a year off, even if it means  starting fresh.

If anyone has had a similar experience, please offer some advise or anecdote to how you handled the situation.


texts: How much the region you get your PhD is important to your career path?

texts:
I am about to make an important decision for my career. I have a good PhD position (fully funded with a good stipend) in East Asia. The university is one of the top 50 in my subject, which is electrical engineering and computer science (based on QS, THE) and Top 100 generally (QS, THE). The professor is somehow well-known and has an established international connection: He graduated from a top US university and is the author of a well-known book on the subject, associate editor of prestigious journal, etc.

I want to say everything is good. However, I ultimately seek a position in the West and not the East. At the moment I’ve missed the opportunity for Western schools for Fall 2018, and such an opportunity might not be offered to me in Western universities.

Here is my question: Assuming that I manage to produce good research and a good CV with a good international collaboration, does having a PhD from abroad (esp. East Asia) dramatically lower my chance of a research career in the target country (let's assume the US, but I am asking more generally)?

I want to compare the importance of individual merit for career and the region you get your PhD. What’s its impact?


texts: What's an appropriate phrasing of a caveat about self-citation?

texts:
I'm writing some report, and at a certain point I give an example by citation. The citation format is such that you don't see any names (e.g. "[123]") without visiting the bibliography; or maybe it's just initials. And I wasn't the only author. I would like to "warn" my readers to take the citation with a grain of salt, as I am relying on what is at least partly, if not mostly, my own perspective or my own arguments elsewhere. At the same time, I don't want it to sound like I'm boasting about being an author; nor that I'm making a stronger pitch of the cited paper; nor that I'm disparaging it somehow.

What's a good way to phrase this limite-caveat/weak-warning?

Note:

I'm currently writing alone, am not using the first-person voice at all, and have just a handful third-person  "it is the author's opinion that" and similar expressions.
I can't presume to individually take the credit for the work in [123] which was a group effort.


texts: Why does my Arxiv paper not show my affiliation?

texts:
I am a graduate student and have just submitted one pre-print to Arxiv. However, there is no organization name before the author name although
the Arxiv endorsement system automatically accepted my submission due to my .edu email address.

How can I fix this?


texts: Recent review time of Pervasive and Mobile Computing?

texts:
This question is related to the page below:
https://journalinsights.elsevier.com/journals/1574-1192/review_speed
The speed has two indicators. "First Decision" and "Final Decision".
The paper is submitted around 1st Feb, and its status changed to "Under Review". Afterwards, its status is changed twice, however the status is same as of today.
I have two questions:
First Decision should be within 8 weeks on the average. I suspect that it has to be after first review. But since submission 16 weeks are passed by, and after being sent to reviewers, around 12 weeks are passed by. Even with the average final decision time (11 weeks), it has crossed that mark. Has anybody submitted to Elsevier recently. I would like to know the timelines in recent Covid situation.
Its a hard question, but what could be outcome of the review? If the date has changed once in last few months, it might indicate that the reviewer has submitted the review or a new reviewer has been asked to review. Thats what I guess from few threads around internet.
Tx.


texts: Strategies to plan research and make the maximum out of it

texts:
My masters advisor handed me a bunch of papers and an old dissertation. After week 1, I have hardly managed to read one paper. He asked me to focus on a specific part of the project and I have read the relevant paper but I have not been able to read others. Many weeks have gone past and I feel like I am already a disappointment to him.
I seem to either concentrate on reading papers or doing specific tasks related to the project (e.g. try to understand specific details and implement the knowledge to infer something). I feel for the project to be something fruitful I would need to read a lot of papers, keeping record of the ideas that I came across while reading which can be used in the project, and also reference them while writing my dissertation.
How can I manage time better to read papers and other project related work given that I don't have any coursework or other commitments? How can I keep record of reading to fulfill the aforementioned needs?


texts: Is it okay to reproduce the work as a teaching assistant?

texts:
Next week, I need to give a lecture on a topic (say T).
I surveyed over the internet and found excellent video lectures by a professor (Say P).
I learned T thoroughly. I can able to answer any question. I can able to clarify any doubt.
But I may undergo the following problem:

I may end up in reproducing the same content in all aspects (lecturing
flow, motivations, examples, notations,...). If any of my students watch the lecture
series of P after my lecture, they can easily realize that I reproduced the
same.

Is it a problem or is it normal?
I am feeling it as a problem because of the reason that I feel that my lecture is a subset of the lecture by P. And there is no contribution of mine other than reproducing.


texts: Is typical ebook reader with pdf support enough to read scientific papers

texts:
I am considering buying either an e-book reader or a full tablet. My main motivation is to read books and scientific papers and I really don't need all the extra stuff tablets can give me.

My only concerns are

whether e-book reader (that has pdf support) will handle many different layouts used in articles (how well will 2-column A4 page fit in an 800x600 e-ink display)
whether it will display math properly

Do you have any thoughts and (more preferably) experience about this?


texts: When being accepted individually in a PhD program, one needs a certain amount of publication work to come up with along with their dissertaition. Are there any rules regarding the number of publications, papers or books created collectively by a research group? If some want-to-be researchers team up, how can they pursue their PhDs together?


texts: Is an algorithm that stitches together various algorithms "good enough" material for IEEE Trans?

texts: I have worked on a paper which utilizes concepts from signal processing and machine learning, and then implements them in a low-cost embedded system. Since the work was more on the implementation side, it required less mathematics and more engineering. Furthermore, since I was using hardware from a particular company which suited my application the most, among other contenders in peripherals and price, the implementation is really hardware-dependent. Finally, I cannot seem to find similar work. In that way, it is a bit novel. Is this something which will be acceptable for say, IEEE Transactions in Industrial Electronics?