texts: How to split two papers that Google Scholar incorrectly thinks are the same paper?

texts: For some reason I don't understand, Google Scholar thinks two of my papers are the same, despite different titles, co-authors, and publication years. When I click on one ("Resonant absorption as mode conversion?") it lists 27 versions, most of which are the completely different paper ("Three Dimensional MHD Wave Propagation and Conversion to Alfvén Waves near the Solar Surface. I"). It therefore combines the citations for the two. How can I split them? I even tried deleting both papers and adding them manually from scratch, but without success.


texts: Grounds for an ethics complaint? UK math prof. publicly misrepresenting results from an unrelated discipline

texts:
I'm a Ph.D. candidate in social sciences and last month I presented and defended my thesis in an Eastern European university. The full text of my thesis is available to the public. A couple of weeks after my defense, a math professor from the U.K. wrote a blog post in which he utterly misrepresents my results and suggests that my work is pseudo-science. His opinion does not deal with statistics or any other parts that may be a common ground for mathematics and social sciences. When I tried to publicly defend my work on his blog and to point out that his claims are malicious and untenable, he accused me of homophobia, implied that I am a psychopath, and said that the methods I'm using have driven people to suicide (none of which is true, but rather nonsensical - I had a serious WTF experience when reading these claims).

All of the above happened on a niche blog that is widely read among my colleagues, and I fear that it will affect my career as a researcher. Some signs show that this may have already happened. I want to file an ethics complaint against this professor at his university and I would like to hear whether the above are sufficient ground for such a complaint. Do university ethics committees dealing with other cases beside research misconduct and harassment? Should I present this as a research misconduct case or as something else? I feel that this belongs to presenting flawed interpretation of data and misrepresentation of qualifications or experience which is not held (a math professor thrashing social science research), but I do not think that a blog post would qualify as 'research' at all.


texts: Finishing a PhD that I started abroad, in the USA?

texts: I studied in Europe some times ago but didn't finish my PhD dissertation. Recently I finished it and I published in a math journal. I never studied in the USA, but I have been living and working there. Is it possible to finish this PhD with the same results that I have found, or I have to start all over again?


texts:
I am a postdoc who has been supervising a Master's student, who is applying for a PhD. The application uses an online system, and I have been notified that I have been designated as a referee. In general, will this be entirely confidential, such that the student will never see the reference I have written? Or will the student then see my reference on their application, with the ability to download it and read it?

Of course, I could ask my institution about this directly, and also this may vary between different universities, but I am wondering what the expected rule would be. My university is in the UK.


texts: How many papers are expected a PhD student to write in order to be accepted on postdoc programs?

texts: I am a PhD student now in theoretical physics with applications to nuclear physics, astrophysics and chemistry and I am asking about how many papers are expected a PhD student to write in order to be accepted on postdoc program. I know that this varies from field to field. I know one PhD student who didn't write any papers during his PhD, but this didn't stop hip being a CERN collaborate postdoc. I also know that quality papers are not so easy to be written so it may take some time for a student to write good papers and to work independently on papers without his supervisor. Also, some people don't have a good opinion regarding a sole author papers because "they" think it may lead to some erroneous results, although many scientists have written sole author papers even when they were teenagers. I also asking if such sole author papers would weight more than the papers with the research group. It would be nice if people from different fields would answer since this question would be of interest for scholars in different fields.


texts: Does the related work section need to be strictly about other's work only?

texts:
I would like to clarify a writing style issue concerning separating related work from my own work:

Does the related work section need to be strictly about other work only? Or may you also explicitly explain the relevance of the related work to the text at hand?

That is, should you avoid explaining why a given related paper is related to your work and just report on the paper itself, or is it okay to also explain, WHY that paper is relevant while you talk about it? For example

Related work

[...]
Someone et al. (2010) report that "X -> Y". Someoneelse (2011) however found evidence for "not X -> Y". It is not entirely obvious where this difference in findings results from. That is why I study "X" in regard to its influence on "Y" in more detail in this thesis.
[...]

A version of this statement would also find itself in the introduction and possible the abstract, but imagine there to be more surrounding explanation in the related work section.

Is that permissible writing style? Or is the That is why I study "X" in regard to its influence on "Y" in more detail in this thesis. part out-of-place in the related work section?


texts: How to find someone online to collaborate on a joint paper?

texts:
I would like to know where (a website) I can find anyone to publish some joint papers?

I thought such cooperation can be shaped as the following:

We could share some ideas for papers through email or a web tool and ask the opinions about them (in fact if the person is an expert on a field who could transfer his knowledge and experience to me and direct me in the right way would be a plus :) )
I would try to prepare a draft of the paper

Somethings that I wish the other one can guide or help me on are:

I don't know much journals to publish a paper in, in this regard one could send the article to the journal
My English is not perfect and the other one could modify the paper or guide me for some modification

Update:
it seems the way I wrote it, the relation could be like two keen researchers with common field of interest or like an expert who guide a PhD student.


texts: Cite articles "in preparation" or conference presentations in post-doc/junior positions grant application

texts:
There are already questions on how to handle unpublished material in CVs. But here I am wondering if would be reasonable to cite an article in preparation in the application of a grant for a PhD or a postdoc position right after a PhD. So basically only for Junior scientists  who are still  in the process of finishing their PhD or their Masters and have one or two papers in the pipeline which are very relevant to the application in question.

I have seen published papers citing  other manuscripts in preparation, usually from the same author or a co-author. So how is this handled/seen in a grant application, provided that the manuscript in preparation exist and can be  provided if requested? Would it be better to reference a presentation at an international well-known conference?


texts: What is a authentic source of civil engineering BS graduation rate in united states in the last few year?

texts:
What is a authentic source from multi-institutional study of just civil engineering BS six years(preferable six year year, but otherwise it is okay) graduation rate in united states four year college and the research is conducted in one of the year in last five years?

If not, does somebody have access to this paper and snapshot a quarter of page from that paper for evidence?

http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000244


texts: Studying PhD in the UK as an EU student?

texts:
I have been very concerned about a friend who is considering studying PhD here in the UK. He wants to study music composition in RCM / Trinity Laban / guildhall music school.

I have been thinking about the financial issues he will be facing as an EU student (coming from EU).

I know that the government is offering up to £25000 doctoral loan, but that is definitely not enough to cover the living costs + fee, and also if he is applying for doctoral loan, he won't be able to apply for any scholarships / other funding.

I am desperate to look for an answer for him, I would love to know what are the options. And what type of funding is available? Any stipend or teaching/working for the university during his PhD?

(I honestly don't know much about PhD but I want to help him, and I have been digging through the web for every piece of info I could find.)


texts: Viewing paper abstracts from Google Scholar

texts:
In a researcher's page in Google Scholar we can click the paper title to see its abstract.

Is it possible to do this from standard Google Scholar search?

(I'm starting to think this is just not possible, but maybe I'm doing something wrong.)

No abstract in standard search

Abstract example as seen from researcher page (by clicking paper title)

Update: To clarify, I meant viewing the abstract without leaving Google Scholar. (Microsoft Academic, for example, shows the abstract within the website.)


texts: Does stating multiple degrees from a single university on a CV disadvantage an applicant for a research or lecturing position?

texts:
I have a bit of a potentially unusual situation with my CV.  Over the years while I worked in an unrelated field (to pay the bills etc), I completed multiple degrees - all degrees were completed to a good standard.  The degrees are either in education (earlier ones) or physics (later ones).

However, most of the degrees are from a single university - including the final few, which were in closely related fields. All culminating in a PhD.

My question is - is there any disadvantage to having multiple degrees listed from the same university on a CV when applying for a postdoc or lecturing position?


texts: How much revenue do academic authors make on their published books?

texts:
Is there any dataset that look at how much revenue academic authors make on their published books?

I am aware of the question How much do Springer-Verlag authors make per book sold? but answers there focused on royalties (i.e., data on number of sold books is missing), and the question was on Springer-Verlag only.

I am most interested in the computer science field (machine learning and natural language processing in particular), but I am curious about other fields as well. I am most interested in the United States but curious about other countries as well.


texts: Professor put me in cc when sending recommendation letter to college I am applying to?

texts: As the title says, I received an email yesterday, presumably I am in Cc of the email that my professor wrote to the university I am applying to. In my understanding there is always some mystery about the letters. But what exactly is the norm here? Does anyone care?


texts: Is it considered self-plagiarism if I submit a part of my own paper as another 2-page demo paper for demonstration purposes?

texts:
Recently I submitted an IEEE conference paper about an open-source machine learning project/framework related to mobile networks. Now, I also want to demonstrate its features at another IEEE conference using a 2-page demo paper.

Considering the original paper is still in reviewing process, is it ethical to submit a related demonstration paper with the same approach to another conference. I mean from self-plagiarism aspects, can I use the same title and experiment results in demo paper as well just for showcasing purposes? If not, how can I also reference the original paper considering it is not published/accepted yet!


texts: How to react when a team of colleagues obviously made up some results?

texts:
In a recent paper, a team of colleagues published results that are clearly made up. I am 100 % sure of that because my position at the university involves the management of the animals they used in the study, which grants me access to the native data.

Actually, the statistics were so poorly handled you have hints something is definitely wrong just by reading the abstract.
My name doesn't appear on the paper, but I could be indirectly associated with that team through my position.

So how to properly react? Close my eyes and move on? Write to the journal they published in?


texts: Recommendation letter from a research supervisor who was not satisfied with my work

texts:
Is it beneficial/harmful to get a letter from a research supervisor who was not satisfied with my work? (I wasn't interested in that topic, but I kept working in the lab for the money).

Or forget about that and instead focus on people who were satisfied with my research experience only?


texts: Faculty interview: 15 min. PPT explaining Teaching philosophy and Research Vision

texts:
I have a faculty interview call that asks me to summarize the following two points in 15 minutes PPT. The interview will be on Zoom.

How would you describe your teaching philosophy? With examples from your previous teaching experience?
How do you think your research can help develop the research direction of the school, outlining vision and plans for the next three years?

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated as it is my first such interview.


texts:
I've found lots of documentation on in-text bracketed citations and referencing list styles, but very little on the following.

When referring to names of articles in text, should the article name be surrounded by quotation marks?

For example:

  In 1990, John Smith presented his work: "A question on quotation marks".

Or, alternatively:

  In 1990, John Smith presented his work: A question on quotation marks.

In my case, the required referencing style is ACM format, if needed.


texts: Good idea to name the keynote speaker of a local conference at which my paper was accepted to be presented?

texts:
I am applying to doctoral programs in the US, and I am wondering:

Is it advisable to name the keynote speaker of the local conference where I presented a paper recently?

The keynote speaker is a well-respected expert in my field, and I thought of mentioning his participation in order to highlight the merit of this conference in my statement of purpose.
It seems to me that only a conference with a certain level of importance would be able to get such a reputable expert as a keynote speaker.


texts: As an undergraduate, should I graduate 1.5 to 2 years early with little research experience or 1 year early with a decent amount of research?

texts:
So I am an undergraduate student in my third semester and I am mostly done with my double major in Pure and Applied Mathematics/Statistics. I will be done with the requirements for my bachelors by my fifth semester at the latest.

If I want to go for a PhD in Pure Math, would I be better off graduating after my 5th semester or pushing some classes back, taking graduate level classes and seminars in my 6th semester and doing an undergraduate thesis? I have some research done and will be doing more next semester, but that is nowhere near what I would do for the honors thesis.

Alternatively, I could go all out next semester and graduate then. However this would leave me very little time to study for the subject GRE (I am good with the general GRE) and to actually apply for schools due to how busy I will be.

I tried to make this a good question by including as much information as I thought was relevant, but if there are any questions or anything I forgot to mention then please let me know.

Does anyone have advice?


texts: How to get notified when a specific paper is cited

texts:
I cannot find anymore the option to get notified with an alert on google scholar when a specific paper gets cited.

I am sure I could set up this a while ago because if I go in my profile I can see that an alert like this is there and it is still active.

Did google remove this option or I just cannot find it anymore?

Thanks for your help.


texts: Is it worth publishing a paper rephrasing what past papers did with a different mathematical framework?

texts:
I work industry (I'm an engineer with a decent background in math) and for work I often read through papers and I attend conferences to keep up with the state of the art.
I've noticed there're few papers (not very recent but not very old either) whose methods can be derived in a more elegant way using other mathematical frameworks.
I was wondering if it make any sense to re-work all the math these papers did and publish them somewhere. It wouldn't be potentially having new results from these papers but just reformulating them, maybe a new reformulation might highlight new properties worth experimenting.
My question is:

Is this kind of work worth some paper submission somewhere?
If no new experiments are produced that would yield different results I wouldn't really say they are worth engineering wise (I might be wrong though), so for sake of mathematical interest is there some Journal of applied mathematics of some kind that could fit for this purpose?
I struggle to find similar work somewhere but I'm not really good with looking up math papers / applied math papers do you have any suggestion of something I can look up?


texts: How does one manage to "time stamp" their physics paper without submitting it to a preprint server like arXiv?

texts: Say, I have a paper written up. I wish to publish it in a reputed journal without submitting it to arXiv. The first journal(A) I submit it to rejects it.  I send the paper to a 2nd journal (B) for submission. At the same time, some other group submits a paper to another journal (C) and it gets published there. Is there any way to avoid this problem without using arXiv?


texts: Should I post my PhD Thesis on arXiv, if I intend to make a paper based on it?

texts:
I am interested in posting my math Ph.D. thesis on the arXiv, but I also plan on writing a shorter paper based on some of the results in my thesis.  I plan on posting this paper on the arXiv when I am finished.

Would this be appropriate?


texts: Is it preferable to list the limitations of the presented method in the paper?

texts:
I don't remember I have seen authors (in CS) explicityl listing the limitations of their approaches. Most of the cases, the approach is presented as complete solution of the addressed problem*. Authors (including myself)  usually mention in future work a potential solution of another problem (specifically, a higher level of the problem* being discussed).
Obviously, every method has limitations on the addressed problem. Is it preferable to list the limitations of the method? as I believe the authors are the most knowledgable people about their approach. Also, does "listing the limitations" hurt the acceptance chances of the paper? (I don't think I would be influenced by the fact that they are listed when I review papers, but not sure how other reviewers would react)


texts: What can I do in my last semester to improve my chances of admission to physics PhD with a poor GPA?

texts: I am transitioning from EE to Physics in MS program. I am taking courses required for my research. Also, I am taking courses that will help me in finding employment after MS. Due to this act of balance, and doing research, my overall GPA has plummetted to 3.3 ( At the moment my major GPA is also same). I have one more semester to go. What should I do to improve my chance to boost my GPA so that I can apply to top PhD programs in Physics? I am doing MS theses.


texts: Arxiv equivalent for medical research article

texts:
I'm looking for a suggestion, for a medical journal counter part to the arxiv. A minimal frill, open access online repository
to time stamp articles with some visibility.


texts: Tracking updates for an individual paper in arXiv

texts: Albeit arXiv offers RSS news feeds for subject areas updates, it is also possible to track an individual paper for updates (such as if it was submitted and/or accepted to a journal)?


texts: Getting published in a course-based grad program

texts:
I was wondering if anyone has any advice about how I can get published despite being in a course-based masters program. I am currently pursuing a master of public health in health promotion, but I have never been published before and would like to apply for a PhD program eventually. I have heard people have done literature reviews on topics before, is this an option?

I appreciate any help and insight you can provide! I really do not know much about academia.


texts: Should I cite a statement as coming from in journal article or from the related PhD thesis?

texts:
I frequently come across PhD dissertations that have spawned multiple journal papers, either while the author was working towards their Ph.D. or after completion. My field is not one with "stapler" dissertations that merely collate a number of papers, so there are often differences between the details of the paper and those of the dissertation.

However, often there are claims/statements/arguments that are present in both sources, so which should I prefer to reference? Should I cite the earlier reference? The later one? Or are there other issues I should consider?


texts:
Should one give gifts to those who one's close to, or those who one generally doesn't interact with very much?

If the professors who wrote my LORs seem reluctant to meet me again for some reason (not sure why - maybe they're just busy), should I simply forget about it?

Also, do people usually give gifts to their advisers for PhD programs, or not really?


texts: Searching for papers from a specific conference

texts:
Is there a way to search, using Google Scholar or another tool, for all papers that appeared in a certain conference?

For example, I would like to find all papers that appeared in the recent "EC 17" conference. While I can see the papers in the conference website, I do not have access to them so I would like to see them in Google Scholar too. I tried to use the "published in" field of their "advanced search", but it did not give any meaningful results.


texts: reviews of a submitted paper after payment

texts:
I have submitted an article to a CS conference that its proceedings are indexed by Springer in its series entitled Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, the link is:
https://www.springer.com/series/11156

The problem is that I have gotten an acceptance letter from this conference, but they tell me that for getting the reviews I should pay the registration fee first. One colleague told me that the organizers from this conference usually they do that. So, I would like to know if this kind of behavior is normal in some conferences, because when I have submitted to other venues the policy was that they send an acceptance or rejection letter, but with the comments made by the reviewers. By the way the conference has been indexed by Scopus in the last two years and it does not appear in the list of predatory journals.

Any help would be useful.

Thanks


texts: What is the proper action when peers in your field have/are publishing papers with a crucial flaw?

texts:
I am in an uncomfortable position. I am beginning to do research in a particular area within my field. The body of related works are mostly done by students of a single professor. And, nearly all of it makes a crucial mistake. The works are borrowing/applying concepts and techniques from other, more theoretical and mathematical fields, yet in a way that doesn't make logical sense. Specifically, they are conflating terms, utilizing them as good sounding buzzwords, and (through an incorrect interpretation) as a criterion for the design and value of their techniques.

My work heavily uses the same concepts, yet my arguments are completely contradictory to those of my peers. So I am trying to figure out the best course of action.

I could start by submitting a paper correcting their mistakes, but it would feel a little cruel, and would likely turn my peers against me. I could publish my works, and try to point out their flaws politely, but the flaws are so prevalent that it would still likely cause a lot of discomfort to them. I could send an email to them explaining the problems with their work, but I'm not sure how that would go. It's quite a problem, because it really invalidates the reasoning and conclusions of dozens of papers and even a text book. The professor is distinguished and well known in his field. I really don't want to be the one to stir things up, but the issue must be addressed in some way or another in order for me to publish my work.


texts: Should I reference the book I got a formula from, or the source that book got the formula from?

texts:
I need to use a formula, found in a book "A". The book itself refers to an academic paper from the 50s, "B".
So when I use the formula, who should I reference?

We use the formula given as g = 4x^2 ("A", 2001).
We use the formula given as  g = 4x^2 ("B", 1950).


texts: Postdoctoral application asks about 'ability to assess resource requirements'

texts: I'm in the process of applying for a postdoctoral arts position in the UK, and the application asks me to address my 'ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively'. In the context of an arts position, does anyone have any clear idea what they expect me to discuss here?


texts: I missed the PhD application deadline, what now?

texts:
I missed the PhD application deadline (Physics), and apart from applying late, what can I do if I get no position and I have to wait another year?

I would like to keep doing what I was doing for the Master thesis, and so spend a good amount of time staying in research somehow, so I won't feel like I'm wasting my time. Are there some alternative paths to follow?


texts: Do I have to translate primary and secondary sources into English for a dissertation?

texts: I am writing a dissertation for my PhD in Romance Languages. I focus on Spanish literature and use primary sources all in Spanish and secondary sources in Spanish and English, but I am writing in English. Do I need to translate the Spanish quotes I use from my primary and secondary sources into English for my dissertation? I am using MLA style and I could not find a rule about this issue.


texts:
I am a PhD student and apart from academic supervisors I also have a mentor. This mentor I haven't met in person yet and have only communicated through email once. But I am going to meet the mentor in person in a conference. My question is how am I going to introduce myself to him? It is important for me to make a good connection with this mentor. Since I wrote that email  long time ago he might not remember me at all.

How do I approach him? Should I mention to him that he is my mentor and then explain to him what I am doing in my research?
Is it okay to say that he is being assigned as my mentor ? How can I say this politely?


texts: Is there any guideline or consensus about reviewer's scores from ACM?

texts:
I have been wondering about if there is any document in which is stated the criteria for scoring an article according to ACM. For example, for the ACM Symposium on Applied Computing I thought that the scores were from 1 to 5, but I have seen some parts that they put a 6, or maybe is a typo?
Does anyone knows the ACM criteria or the ranges of those scores?


texts:
Does anybody know if conpher is a trustworthy organization?
I have recently received a couple of emails from jm@conpher.com. The email body says:

Congratulations on your new article! We are a group of researchers
gathering feedback on your journal publishing experience in order to
share with colleagues around the world. I know you are really busy,
but it takes less than 90 seconds to share your advice and it could
help save a colleague months of stress with future submissions.

followed by a URL to their website with the DOI and my email as arguments. I am very suspicious since I do not see any relationship between conpher and PLOS where the specific article they linked is coming from. In fact, I believe their business model is similar to yelp, except for shopping for journals & publishers.
From their privacy policy, stated in https://conpher.com/privacy-policy/, they seem to want me to evaluate journals and articles.

When you make a review of a journal, we collect the information you state in the review, including which journal you review, which article(s) the review concerns, and how you evaluate the journal.


texts: Does it still count when ranked first but with no formal acknowledgement?

texts:
I'm from a developing country with two degrees (B.A. and M.A.) from two public universities, both English-taught, in a social science field. There are no extracurricular activities and no prizes for outstanding students.

Being obsessed with grade rank, since my first university semester, I used to keep detailed record of the highest grades. Making my own calculations, by the end of the two programs, I knew for sure that I was ranked first in both. (I was officially ranked first in my high school baccalaureate, received a modest prize, and made a speech.)

I'm planning to apply to American PhD programs (sociology). I want to highlight these two first ranks, but I have no official proof.

Can I still add these two pieces of information to my CV, giving that I'm absolutely certain?


texts: Do U.S. PhD students who engage in research during summer or intersession breaks get vacation time?

texts: When a PhD program in the United States like this states that students are expected to engage in full-time research during the summer months and the January intersession in addition to their regular coursework, should one expect that vacation time is out of the discussion, unless it is unofficially granted by the advisor?


texts: A LinkedIn Recommendation as compared to an Academic Recommendation

texts:
In what ways would a Professor's LinkedIn Recommendation differ from his Recommendation for Graduate School(Masters/PhD)?

In other words: In what was does the visibility of a Recommendation change a Professor's Recommendation?


texts: Submitting the same research to multiple conferences

texts: I'm aware that it's a violation of terms for most publishers to submit the same article to more than one journal, but I frequently see authors whose papers seem very similar, particularly papers released in a single year. In my field, neuroscience, this is particularly true about conference papers; one researcher will often have numerous posters/conference papers about seemingly the same topic. What are the guidelines for acceptability regarding this type of behavior?


texts: How to reuse complete paper for my thesis?

texts:
I am currently writing my PhD thesis, and I have published an article together with my supervisor. The third chapter of my PhD thesis (1/3 of my whole thesis) is basically the paper. I plan to include the 30 pages of the article of the content that I have produced almost unchanged, except that it fits to my thesis layout, and I will remake the images, remove the introduction and some other minor changes. I also will add some new content, but this is mostly 3-4 pages.

My first question is, how do you actually cite 30 pages? Do you add a sentence at the beginning of the chapter like that?

  The content of this chapter has been published before in ...

My second question is, should I ask the "author service" of the journal where my original article has been published if it is okay if I reuse most of the content from the article in my PhD thesis?

There is nothing regarding this issue in my PhD regulations.

[Edit]Some additional information: I am from Germany, I am doing my PhD in math, and I published the article in the journal Numerical Linear Algebra with Applications.


texts: What is the history of teaching assistants (TAs) in France?

texts:
I know that in France, as late as the early 20th century, although I'm not sure if this is true now, a university student (undergrad or grad?) would take a nationwide concours exam to receive the aggrégation "to be aggregated" in the French school system and be able to teach at lycées ("high schools"?), académies (universities), and grandes écoles.

Was one with an aggrégation essentially a TA?


texts: What algorithm does Google Scholar use to order papers in a search?

texts: When you perform a search on Google Scholar, is there any detailed explanation of how Google orders the results?


texts: How and why are PhD programs free in Europe?

texts:
In some European countries, PhD programs are free. As I understand, PhD opening depends on the research funds of the supervisor. In other words, PhD research is funded by a national agency or EU.

Some countries offer the programs for free and an international student in the UK should pay about $20,000 per annum?

In addition to the research cost (which is funded through the same routes), a PhD student has other expenses for the university, which is provided by the tuition fee in the UK, while in countries with free PhD programs, the governments provides the supports (correct me if I am wrong).

My question is: Why/how such governments support PhD education of international students? And if it is reasonable, why isn't it the case in the UK?


texts: How is PGCHE by distance learning viewed relative to in-class?

texts:
I've been told by some that online or distance learning PGCHE's (post grad certificate in higher education - basically a certificate in teaching), and distant learning in general, is seen as not serious and that any qualification done over distance learning is disregarded in Europe.

Can anyone from Europe (especially CH) comment on whether distance learning qualifications are 'looked down upon' there?


texts: Can a Mathematics Undergrad do a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics?

texts:
I have a particular background, I studied biology and Chemistry in Highschool, some engineering in college, and I am now majoring in mathematics with a minor in computer science.
To some extent I feel like being able to do research is on my life goals bucket list. Diving into unexplored territory definitely excites me. So I somewhat feel I need to take advantage of the broad spectrum of fields I have knowledge of, although almost insignificant, it is still there. I thought maybe bioinformatics mixed with some data science algorithm research would be a good path to pursue. Would my prior experience in Biology give me an advantage? For example the ability to pick up technical biology concepts quicker?
Any insight and guidance on the topic would be appreciated.
Kind regards.


texts: How much will a poor first semester affect my grad school chances?

texts:
I'm studying Computer Science with a double major in Math at a public university. I hope to attend a private school like Vanderbilt (Nashville, USA) to pursue an MS or PhD. My GPA is still above a 3.0, however:

I have received a U (unsatisfied, incorrectly submitted work) as a final grade in a single credit course that is part of an honors college program during my first semester in college.
I also had one terrible score (D) in a 200 level maths course during the same semester.

Will these early blemishes on my transcript affect my chances of getting into graduate school?


texts:
Question is as in the title:

  What care do reviewers take when writing a review for a published paper in mathematics?

I have seen some reviews from MathSciNet. These reviews slightly overlap with the abstract of an article but say much more than an abstract of a paper, in a clearer way.

I am not asking for a referee report of a submitted paper. I am asking for a review of an already published
paper.


texts:
I submitted a Review paper to a journal where the review committee reported

  Author did not make Taxonomy of the his review

I do not understand their need. After searching the questions in this forum, I came across the question regarding ACM 2012 Taxonomy. Are the reviewers asking for this ACM 2012 Taxonomy or something else?


texts: What are the pros and cons in sending a research paper to well-known author, before publishing?

texts:
Currently I am reading a research paper of a well-known author published in 2011. I did a slight modification in his method and the new method is very efficient.

Is it reasonable to send that paper first to the author before sending it to any journal?


texts: It seems every postdoc position needs representative papers. What should I do if I don't have any publications?

texts: I have spent 4.5 years on my PhD, writing my thesis, with just one average publication. I am 30yo with no work experience and don't want to go to industry. I have been looking at several postdoctoral positions and it seems every postdoc position needs representative papers showing proof for the work. Will I be able to get a postdoc and pursue academia?


texts: A tenured position with less pay and less responsibilities than a professorship

texts:
At the moment I am a (soon to be graduating) PhD student. The reason I went to graduate school is that I love doing research. In graduate school I discovered that I absolutely hate teaching but I had to do some of it to avoid starving to death (though I tried to do a reasonably good job since I recognize it is not the students' fault that I hate teaching).

I know there are some teaching-free postdocs at R1 institutions. They can be rather difficult to get but my discussions with some senior people seem to indicate that my publication record could get me such a postdoc. However, teaching-free permanent academic positions seem to be much less common (in my field, there are places like IAS, IHES and some smaller institutions, it seems almost exclusively in Europe).

The question is is it possible to "downgrade" a normal professorship at an R1 institution (in US) in the following way: I don't have to participate in any administrative or teaching activities, I have tenure and I get paid less (say, 65% less)? I think I still could survive on such a salary. I am afraid to ask senior people I know about this since this kind a question conceivably might worsen their opinion of me.


texts: Is it acceptable to ask a professor for advice regarding a subject not taught in, but related to their class?

texts:
I'm having a hard time understanding some concepts not explicitly taught in a course I took recently, but quite related nonetheless. I'm wondering if it's okay to e-mail the professor who taught this course and ask them for advice regarding this matter, considering:

I am no longer a student enrolled in one of their courses,
The subject matter I want to ask about was not part of that course's curriculum, even if it does come (very?) close.

Knowing this I've been wondering whether or not it's reasonable for me to approach this teacher and ask for help.

I've tried my best to research this site for simliar questions, but I've come up with little. The best I could find is only tangentially related at best, since it's not a homework matter.


texts: For those who study in the humanities, have I made a mistake in doing my Master's abroad?

texts:
I'm an American student currently earning a Master's in American cultural studies in Germany. Why study American culture in Germany? Firstly, I wouldn't have been able to afford a U.S. Master's in this field, and secondly I'd like to learn/improve my German with the ultimate goal of (possibly) pursuing a PhD in comparative literature.

However, since classes have started here, I'm beginning to regret my decision for the following reasons:

A) classes are incredibly large, direct contact with professors is scant, and so, among the obvious academic disadvantages, I'm ultimately worried I won't be able to get good letters of rec.

B) even at the graduate level, many students don't take their studies seriously (probably because there isn't the pressure of student loans and because education is quite open here [a good thing])

C) classes are not as rigorous as they were in my B.A. literature program, and so I don't feel like I can grow as a researcher/scholar, which is my goal

Does anyone have a similar experience applying to American PhD programs after doing a Master's abroad? Should I just stick it out and try my best to befriend some professors and make the best of my time here?

At this point, I regret not applying directly to American PhD programs sans Master's degree since my undergraduate grades and professors were quite good.
Thanks in advance!


texts: To what extent do visit weekends impact graduate school applicant's final decisions?

texts:
Is there any study/survey that tried to quantify to what extent visit weekends impact graduate school applicant's final decisions? (final decision = which school to attend)

I mostly interested in the computer science field in the US, but curious about other fields and locations as well.


texts: Documentation or evaluation instruments used for accreditation of CS programs under The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)?

texts:
I was wondering if there is a repository about the documentation or evaluation instruments that are used for accreditation of CS programs under The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)? I mean it could be real data or examples on how an accreditation process is made. I know that there is some material on the ABET website, but it is very general.
Any help?


texts: What is the purpose of women-only meetings, panels, conferences, etc. in academia?

texts:
Since entering graduate school, albeit in a STEM field, I have never been exposed to such an emphasis on women-only meetings, leadership conferences, panels, etc. I have seen most, if not all of these venues, exclusive to women. Most of these meetings are hosted by the WISE (Women In Science and Engineering) organization at this university. I am sure this phenomenon is true elsewhere.

Why is it that in academe, in my experience, it is common for women to segregate themselves in the context of raising gender issues?

How does this behavior exemplify equal opportunity?

How does this behavior develop real solutions to real problems?


texts: Faculty job search (one year from graduation/starting postdoc)

texts:
I am reaching out to get a piece of friendly advice on the search process for a faculty job worldwide.

I was awarded a PhD in Pure Mathematics from a Russel Group university in July 2018. I started a postdoc during my PhD, and it is has been now one year and a month of my postdoc. I wrote the grant for my postdoc and my doctoral advisor secured the funding.
My research interests are in analysis on quantum groups and noncommutative spaces, contractions of Lie groups, geometric quantisation.
I have 12 preprints and nine are published, and more are coming. There are 48 citations of my papers in Google Scholar.

I have put my best efforts in the application materials.
At the moment, I have applied for 145 faculty jobs mainly in the USA (  both tenure-track and non-tenure-track).
My references for the applications are the tenured recognised professors and heads of the departments in Europe.
Could anyone in the community share a piece of friendly advice on what I might be doing wrong?

My sole aim is to improve and suit the faculty search.
Unfortunately, I have not been given any constructive feedback so far (cold, formal e-mails mostly).

The time scale is from mid-November 2018 - up until now.
I followed up with 6-8 e-mails and received cold written official rejection e-mails (eight overall).  The rest are keeping silence. I have not had any interviews yet.

Many thanks to everyone who replied!


texts: Lack of confidentiality for a letter of recommendation

texts:
I was recently invited to write a letter of recommendation for a colleague applying for a tenure-track position at UCSD.  The email said:

Although a candidate may request to see the contents of letters of evaluation in accordance with California law and University policy, your identity will be held in confidence. The material made available will exclude the letterhead, the signature block, and material below the signature block. Therefore, material that would identify you, particularly information about your relationship to the candidate, should be placed below the signature block. In any legal proceeding or other situation in which the source of confidential information is sought, the University does its utmost to protect the identity of such sources.

Firstly, how does this protect my identity, if the applicant knows whom he has invited to write letters?
Second, doesn't this policy lead to worse letters, without personal anecdotes and examples?
Third, the industry standard has been to allow applicants to waive their right to see the letter, and if they don't waive that right then the letter writer may refuse to write the letter.  Doesn't UCSD's policy remove this safeguard for letter-writers?


texts: Does "required reviews completed" mean good news or bad?

texts: I submitted by math paper to an Elsevier journal around 6 months ago. Today I logged into EES and saw that the status changed to "Required Reviews Completed" about 10 days ago. Is this good news or bad news ? Does it mean my paper is rejected and the Editor is basically preparing the rejection letter :( ?


texts: What to do with papers after misconduct allegation was resolved?

texts:
I was alleged in scientific misconduct in form of authorship abuse. More details are in my previous questions

How to respond to allegations of misconduct in authorship dispute?

Should I put my supervisor as coauthor of a paper?

The good news is that the investigations have ended in the inquiry stage (the dean have informed me by email).

There are several probable reasons why they have stopped:

The article was indeed done with different methodology, which had nothing to do with the approach described in the grant application.
At the interview I have revealed several facts of abuse, namely I was ordered to work on the projects not connected to my funding project.
They are afraid I could become a whistleblower.

After receiving the confirmation from the dean, I immediately informed the editor of the journal. Unfortunately, the editor rejected the manuscript, stating that:

  This is useful information for us, but the question before the journal is not one of personal scientific misconduct, but rather whether the authorship on the paper is the correct one, and whether we should proceed with the external review process, which may lead to its eventual acceptance and publication.

  Based on the information available, we have decided not to go further with the review of your manuscript.  There are still significant concerns being raised about whether the manuscript should have been submitted with its current authorship, and we do not believe there is any clear path to removing these concerns.  The scientific reviews we have received are mixed and would place the manuscript in an unclear position regarding acceptance or rejection based on its content.  These two factors together give us sufficient cause to issue a rejection.  Because the manuscript did not reach the publication stage, no other action is necessary, and we would like to also consider the case closed.

My questions are:

Should I try to resubmit the manuscript as is into some other journal; should I redo all the calculations, reanalyze, and rewrite it first; or should I just abandon it?
I have another manuscript, for which my ex-supervisor sent me an email stating that "he assumed that I was going to publish it by my myself", in spite of the fact that he supported me. This seems to be the evidence that he resigns his authorship. Should I try to publish it also?
Can they reopen the misconduct case if they would like to do that?


texts: Is it ethical for students to be required to consent to their final course projects being publicly shared?

texts:
In a course, students were required to sign a consent form to share their final course project. There were two options that they could choose from: either anonymous sharing or sharing with attribution/credit. There was no option to opt-out. But the scope of the sharing was not limited in any way:

I permit the instructor(s) to publicly post this work electronically or physically, and to digitally or physically handle the delivery, cross-posting, deposit, or other distribution of this work...

Is this ethical? Or would this violate any University policy in the US? I know that different universities have different policies but here, it seems, that students are being softly coerced to give consent since they need the final-project grade and it seems reasonable to assume most students would be somewhat fearful of asking to opt-out.


texts: How to write my project contribution in graduate application essay?

texts:
I am applying for PhD position in the USA. In the application, I have to write a essay on my research experience. Its not a SOP, rather how I worked there, why, findings, what were my contributions, techniques I learned etc.
I have few publications and some of them were entirely done by me. My supervisor guided and when the manuscript was written, it was checked by other post docs or professors and that how their name is also in my paper.
My question is how to write it in the essay?


texts: How does a software application idea become a research project?

texts:
As a software developer just starting out in research (working for a lab) I have this idea of a software application which is meant to target a specific need: specifically to help users query data using specific and novel methodologies (navigation languages and autocomplete methods).

Anyway, I know that ultimately I want to do science and not engineering. By that I mean that ultimately I don't want to build a tool (although it could help prove my idea) but that I want to investigate (that's really what research is about isn't it?) about how the navigational and autocomplete methodologies are important for querying data (for example)

So I'm a bit troubled wondering how I can transform this application idea into a more scientific research project. Should I look at the novel parts of the application (such as the autocomplete functionalities) and investigate how that might make querying better for users? Is that even research?

I guess overall I'm puzzled on how to make the idea of my software application stand on its own. How do I make my software idea contribute to the current body of human knowledge? Does software even count as knowledge? I guess I'm trying to convert the idea of my software application into a piece of knowledge. Any help/clarification?


texts:
Nature’s “News and Views” articles summarize high-impact research published recently in other journals. The News & Views articles are typically not written by the authors of the research paper, but by other researchers in the same field.

However, the topic of News & Views articles are not covered at all in Nature’s information for authors. So, how are people writing the News & Views chosen? Is it only by invitation of the editor? And who chooses the articles written about in the first place?


texts: What are the "acceptance rate" for journals in computer science?

texts:
While conferences seem to be the norm in the field, I am interested in the fraction of papers that are accepted to CS journals.

It seems (to me) that due to the fact that unlike conferences journals can accept a much more flexible number of articles, it is easier to get a paper accepted to a journal (comparing top-tier conferences to top-tier journals, second-tier to second-tier, etc.).

  Are there any published numbers on the fraction of papers accepted at different journals?


texts: Is it advantageous to take Ph.D courses before applying to their program?

texts:
I currently have a master's degree in my field. Before starting my Ph.D, I took a position in private industry. Recently I was hired to work at an American university, and part of my compensation includes tuition costs. Because I will be working a full-time job, I would be a part-time student taking only one course at a time. My intent would be to continue this job while I was working through the Ph.D. program.

I'm concerned that being a part-time student will make me an unattractive candidate for admission.  One potential work-around that I have considered is that I take a number of the classes required for the Ph.D program prior to being admitted. Then I could complete the program in a similar amount of time to other students.

However, I don't know much of anything about how academic departments are managed.  Would taking courses required for the Ph.D. program be advantageous when applying to that program?


texts: Referring students to external resources

texts:
I am a grad student and this is my first time as TA for a course which requires me to grade essays. I usually grade assignments with more objective answers (think late undergrad science labs). A problem I have been facing while grading these is whether or not I should refer external resources to these students like Mendeley or Grammarly.

The course is a very introductory course with mostly freshmen taking it. It is very evident that a lot of these students don't know how and where to cite their work. The instructor has provided them with links to read about the citation style. I usually leave comments telling them where a citation might be needed but there are wrong ways of citing which I see often (like putting page numbers in APA citations for everything, not just quotes). I provide them with a link to our University's guide, but sometimes I feel like it would be much more useful to the students if they learnt how to use Mendeley (or any other reference management software for that matter), but I am not sure if it is right to do so.

Another important thing that I also come across very frequently is that since there are a lot of international students in the class, for whom English might not be the first language, they have very poor grammar. I usually point them to our university's academic skills centre but since usually there are points for grammatical correctness and writing style, I hate it when they lose points for something they can't do anything about. They are freshmen who probably haven't had enough time to learn the language yet I think. I would like to point them to Grammarly, but again, that might become an easy way out for them and might not be the right thing to do.

What is the best idea in this kind of situation? Is it usually okay or even allowed to point them to these kinds of resources?


texts: Should "extra credit" questions allow students to get more than 100% of the marks?

texts:
This semester I am teaching a course.
Due to the fact that the students differ in their abilities,
I decided to create a few "extra credit" questions
for some of the assignments
to stretch the thinking of the more capable students.
However, at the same time,
I don't want to stress the less capable students
and make them feel that they need to solve problems that are difficult,
but not so essential to getting an adequate mastery of the material.

Unfortunately, I am not sure how to compute the scores
for assignments with extra credit.
Suppose the assignment has 100 marks, with 10 marks extra credit.
Suppose a student completes all of the regular questions
as well as the extra credit questions correctly.

Do I give this student 110 marks for the assignment?
Or do I cap the max score of the student at 100 marks?


texts: How can I get my name removed from the acknowledgments of a published paper?

texts:
I was actively working in a research project, contributing experiments, hypotheses and analysis. Suddenly, I was forced to leave the program. The adviser stopped to sponsor me and replaced me by another person (who had only contributed purification for 3 weeks). I was relegated from the second to the third or fourth author. The supervisor decided all this without consulting anyone in the project.

Finding this unfair, I resigned from the paper, and I specifically requested not to be acknowledged at all. Against my wishes, however, my name was included in the acknowledgement, as if nothing had happened. I was stunned. (The paper itself was not even very fascinating.)

What can I do to have my name completely removed from this published paper? This includes not only the authorship but also the acknowledgment and anything else.

Thank you for everyone's answers.

My point is I do not want to be in academic at all so there is not much to talk deeper of academic career.

I was never informed about this publication

ie I was not given a copy before it was sent to publication.

I did not know when and where it was published until I was looking for job and looking for details of that work after a year later.

I had very explicitly stated that I did not want to be involved in this publication by the time I left. This was cc'ed to a third party.

The result I had was not reproducible and I did not agree the methodology of the publication on top of the disagreement.


texts: What makes a stellar undergraduate thesis?

texts: In mathematics, what distinguishes an exceptional undergraduate thesis for the rest? How do original contributions, accessibility of the topic (ie more or less prerequisites), novelty of the topic, etc factor in. Would it, for example, be better for an undergraduate to give an overview of well trotted areas or venture into less significant areas and try to pick some low haning fruit?


texts: How to approach PhD admissions after leaving previous PhD because my advisor tried to force me to manipulate data

texts:
I started my PhD in one of the very well renowned institutes in Germany.
Unfortunately, in the middle I was forced very much to manipulate the data. I was extremely upset and did not know what to do. My supervisor has enormous amount of grants and he was very ambitious to prove all his hypotheses correct and he had to show the data to the grant givers as well. He starts forcing the PhD students in the middle of their PhD so that they can't leave. And he also doesnot allow somebody to simply graduate without publishing the manipuated data. So even for degree one has to publish that and afterwards if that person gets caught then the phd degree is gone and then the people would say that he/she should have reported the case when he/she was forced. It is a circular process , once you enter it is hard to get out.

I went to the University Higher Authority and told them indirectly(not very bluntly but slightly) about this problem. They gave me the feelings that they were helping me but it was actually leaked to my supervisor. He made my life even more difficult and finally I had to leave my Phd at the end of third year. I had three path: 1) to continue with dishonesty 2) To give him a full fight 3) To simply leave him. I chose the last option.

Afterwards, I started applying again to different places and everywhere I was asked that why I left my position. Initially , I told to the places I was called for an interview that I was not motivated in the project (without talking anything negative about my prveious lab) but this answer was not very well- accepted. Then, in one of the places I tried to tell about the real problem what I faced and I was given the feeling of committing a' grave crime of 7 murder cases' by one of the members of the Graduate School Selection Committee. I seriously felt like that after talking to them that leaving a PhD in between is a CRIME.

I am still applying to different places , it is almost going to be a year and now I am in real conflict that what is wrong and right? I left my Phd  for not compromising with ethics of science and after leaving it people are giving me the feeling that not finishing my Phd is wrong.

1)I would like to ask you that what should I do and in what way I should approach other supervisors at this situation for a Phd position? Or I have to simple leave academics? Although I do not want to leave it because I have not done anything wrong or violated science ethics. Kindly help me and provide your suggestions.

P.S. My previous supervisor is not also giving any good recommendation so that is another big problem.


texts: Citing multiple authors that do not have all statements in their publication

texts:
Let´s say I wrote the following statement in my thesis:

"A substantial shift to cycling can reduce health risks, noise and air pollution and space and energy consumption."

After that, I am citing the name of the authors that I am referring to (each of them has published a different paper), let´s say Author A, Author B and Author C. However, while Author A and B include  all benefits, Author C did only state in his paper, that cycling can reduce health risks.

Is it okay to use all authors at the end of the statement?

"A substantial shift to cycling can reduce health risks, noise and air pollution and space and energy consumption (Author A, Author B, Author C)."

or should I put the authors' names right after the corresponding words:

"A substantial shift to cycling can reduce health risks (Author C), noise and air pollution and space and energy consumption (Author A, Author B)."


texts: If Thomson Reuters says it indexes a journal but it's not mentioned on the journal's web site, who should I trust?

texts:
On the Thomson Reuters Master Journal list is stated that the given journal is indexed in Science Citation Index and Current Contents. However, on the official journal's web page, there is no such information.

In addition, the journal has Impact Factor. I also checked on the Thomson Journal Citation Report to be sure.

Who should I trust in this case?


texts: Should I omit some of my qualifications in my application materials to "surprise" with during an interview?

texts:
I am applying for a fellowship so that I can pursue a PhD in the US. The selection process includes an interview for shortlisted candidates.

I like  to save the best for the last in order to surprise the audience. I think surprise, wherever it is used, has a good effect. I have a poster based on my undergraduate dissertation, which is said to be very attractive. It is inspired by the poster of Michael Barton, which is introduced by the Better Poster blog. I think I can use it to surprise the fellowship selection committee.

Now, should I apply this strategy to the interviewers? That means I will keep the information of what I've done in the SOP as minimal as possible, just enough to pass the first selection round to get to the face-to-face round. At this round, I will show them my poster and hope they will be favorably impressed.

Should I use this strategy?

I think I should quote my comment on Hans Adler's answer here:

  I just take my A0 size poster in to the interview room. During the interview, professors will test my knowledge, ask me what I've done and judge that if I'm adequate to the fellowship. In the room it will have a white board for you to outline what I've done, and this is what is poster born for. Instead of drawing figure or chart by myself, I just need to open the poster and show what's what.


texts: Proper etiquette for withdrawing from an undergraduate research lab?

texts:
I am currently involved in two very different Biology research labs in two different areas at my university, as an undergraduate volunteer. Lab A has been a long-term commitment of mine, and Lab B is a newer addition to my schedule but also a valuable experience, I think, but I have a choice coming up:

Before I graduate, I must complete one (and only one) senior capstone/thesis/etc lab project, that will almost certainly take up all the time I can dedicate to research outside of my regular coursework. I originally sought out and joined Lab B because it was looking like Lab A would not be able or willing to advise a capstone project, but now that is no longer the case - so I want to complete all my senior work at Lab A.

How do I politely tell Lab B that I do not plan to complete a capstone there after all, and probably won't even remain a volunteer in future semesters? (I don't recieve any payment or grades from them, but I know it does take time and effort to train new lab members so I feel bad about leaving without contributing a paper or presentation or something.)


texts: What are the advantages/disadvantages of getting a PhD from China?

texts:
A Chinese university has offered me acceptance into its PhD program.  This university globally ranks 68th overall and 23rd for Computer Science.

Now keeping in mind the image Chinese universities have, I am confused whether it's worth it to pursue this opportunity. My potential supervisor has decent number of publications and experience, but he is not a well known personality in the field and just setting up a new lab. Now I am confused if going for a mid-level university in US or a top university in China is a good option in my case.

My background is in Robotics and I did my MS from Korea. My PhD topic is going to be an overlap of machine learning and robotics.


texts: Are there risks of manuscript rejection if manuscript is the edited version of a thesis report available online?

texts:
I have completed a thesis project report that is currently uploaded in ResearchGate with a DOI identifier. Out of that report, I created a manuscript for publication in IEEE and recently submitted my manuscript.

My question is this: how would IEEE determine that I am not plagiarizing and that the manuscript that I recently submitted is just from my own thesis project report that I uploaded in ResearchGate. Are there any risks?


texts: How to properly cite other papers in my slides?

texts:
We recently submitted a paper, and now I'm creating some slides about it for future presentation. There are papers that we have cited in our paper and I need to cite them in slides too because they are directly related to our work. What I would like to do is inline citing when you just mention author's name, or conference name, or the year. I have seen works in which what is mentioned is the first author's family name, e.g. (Patterson, 2013). And I've seen those who just mention conference name and year, e.g. (PPoPP, 2012).

I want to know which one is more appropriate, or actually correct? Where to use one, and where to use the other? Or should I use something different?


texts: What is "shared governance" and how does it work in practice in academia?

texts:
I read the Wikipedia page and this article on the subject and frankly, I am still clueless. I don't understand what shared governance means in practice, how it applies, who it is for, and how it actually works. (In most universities - I understand the details are university-specific.)

What kind of issues are decided by shared governance?
Who participates? (I understand this can vary by university; just asking about general trends)
How does it work, on a practical level? (I understand what a session of the U.S. Senate looks like, I have no idea what a session of a faculty senate looks like.)
What are the benefits and disadvantages of this approach to governance?
What kind of hierarchy typically exists? (Who reports to who?)

A related question is What is the usual role of a faculty senate? Does it typically have any real power, or is it a rubber-stamp for the administrators?, but that only questions the extent of their power. I am trying to understand how this kind of system looks and works in practice, the way my high school Civics course taught me how the U.S. government functions in practice.

For context: I am most interested in large research universities in the U.S., though I welcome answers from other perspectives.


texts: Worth attending discipline's national conference as early grad student if not presenting?

texts:
I just finished the 2nd year of a PhD program. I was planning to present a poster at the national conference but (probably) need to cancel. Now I'm deciding whether to attend the conference anyway. On the one hand: I'll meet people and probably enjoy myself. On the other hand: I could use the time for other work, would prefer not to spend $$ on the hotel, and I'm years away from being on the job market.

$$$. My plane ticket is non-refundable. My hotel is refundable. So I could save some money by skipping the conference.


texts: Contact information on CV and cover letter for US mathematics postdoc applicants

texts:
I am in the process of preparing various applications for postdoctoral positions in the US, and I need advice on what is the appropriate way to include contact information on my cover letters and CVs.

Presently, I am an international student studying in Australia. I foresee completing my PhD program (including conferral of the degree) by the end of Jan. 2017. Most of my applications will be lodged through the MathJobs system by early Dec. 2016. My Visa expires at the end of Feb. 2017, and I'm not sure if I can get a visa extension. Meanwhile, my current lease agreement terminates mid-Jan 2016. As you can see, there is a fair amount of uncertainty about my situation next year.

I have always thought that the purpose of writing addresses on any document is not primarily based on the desired affiliation with an institution but so that the recipient of the letter knows whom to reply to. However, and I might be wrong in this, it seems to me that putting your home address in your cover letter and/or CV, as opposed to your current departmental address, is deemed unprofessional. Bear in mind, though, that upon submission of my thesis, I am effectively no longer a student at the university, and hence, I think it somewhat dishonest to use the Maths department address for my mail. By the way, I expect to submit my thesis around mid-October.

So my first question is: Is it considered unprofessional to put my home address as opposed to my institution address on my CVs and cover letters?

My second question is: In light of my situation and the answer to the first question, what is the best way to address my cover letters and CVs?

I understand that I can update my application materials through MathJobs. Thus far, my plan is to use institution addresses (with a c/o Secretary of the Mathematics Department) throughout and then update forwarding addresses through MathJobs as things become more certain. What do you think?


texts: How can I finish my Ph.D within 9 months (when my funding runs out) when I have few results until now?

texts:
Currently, I'm doing my Ph.D. in Biochemistry in Germany. I'm now in the 4th year. My fund will finish within 9 months.

My topic was changed after two years. Actually I was a lazy student with many responsibilities. I have very few results, which do not satisfy my supervisor. During my study, I faced many problems which embarrassed me in learning my area of research.

Now I have opened my eyes, but I'm afraid that I will lose everything and I will not get the degree. I'm asking about tips and advice? Is it possible to convince my supervisor within this short time and finish my Ph.D. within these 9 months?


texts: Is it okay to contact a professor for collaboration and say the goal is to publish?

texts:
Say I'm in sitting in a research-type course and I like one of the ideas the lecturer talks about. I also have an idea for a nice research topic/application that I believe we can work on together.

Is it polite to just send him an email and say that I have this or that idea, and ask directly what he thinks about being able to publish it (is it a good enough idea)?

I'm a graduate student with some published papers, and overall I think that given the correct idea I could write a paper and get it published. But it still seems to me a little pretentious to just contact someone and ask directly if some idea I have is 'publishable'... on the other hand, I don't really want to work on some project that is not good enough for publication, so I would want his honest opinion regarding the prospects.

Of course, I would accept an answer such as 'maybe, I don't have enough information', but my main question here is if it's not too rude to ask about publication directly.

Thanks


texts: Affiliation of an Undergraduate Student: Paper Publication

texts:
I'm an undergraduate student, and I'm working on a (physics) project with one of my supervisors. We hope to complete the project soon and submit it to various journals for publication.

Most journals require the affiliation of the authors. Since I am an undergraduate student, I'm not affiliated with/hired by a university's department, per say. How would I ho about filling in the affiliation section (in my case)? Should I be leaving it blank?


texts: Do graduate committees in math decide to not take students based on lack of knowledge of specific topics?

texts:
My question is far more specific than the one in the title, and so, I urge you to not reply to the question in the title alone, and to try and reply to the questions I shall pose in this note.

I am a Master's student in an above-average European university, interested in geometry and topology, and will be applying to graduate schools in the U.S. this December. While I have done the standard graduate-level introductions to algebraic topology, differential topology, representation theory and differential geometry, I have no background in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. I would like to work in low-dimensional topology, and my thesis will be in this area.

Will the fact that I know little to no algebraic geometry hinder my application? Do graduate committees specifically look for background in certain related areas, when candidates apply for a particular area? I ask because while people often say it doesn't matter much, it (possibly concidentally?) is also quite clear that most entry-level graduate students in top-tier graduate schools know substantial knowledge (at least a first course of all, and a second course of maybe two or three) of algebraic topology, differential geometry, representation theory and algebraic geometry.

P.S. In your answers, please consider that the graduate schools I am applying to in the United States will be part of the top-ten lists by USNews for topology schools or geometry schools.


texts: What is the appropriate length and specificity for a teaching statement?

texts:
A colleague and friend has been approached by another institution (a state university in the U.S.) seeking to fill a position. My friend, who is putting a package together, has asked me to review his teaching statement. Evidently, this was a good idea.

I read the statement, and, quite frankly, I wasn't too impressed. He and I are quite candid with each other, so I'm not too worried about what might otherwise be a delicate issue: me telling him how much it needs to be polished.

That said, I'll admit: I have very little experience with teaching statements (either writing them, or reading them). I'm not usually on faculty hiring committees; I don't want to give him bad advice out of ignorance.

My questions are:

1) What is an ideal length? (So far, I've narrowed it down to half a page is too little, and three pages is too much.) Would a single page be considered too thin?

2) How detailed should it be? My friend talked about different courses he has taught, even mentioning one course by its catalog number. I initially thought that generalities would be better. In other words, instead of saying something along the lines of:

  Teaching styles should be adaptable, based on the student demographics in the class. For example, in my Intro to Programming course at Urbandale College, I taught had mostly freshman, but the Programming Languages course I taught at Westerville University, CSCI 352, was a more advanced course with juniors and seniors...

my gut instinct tells me it would be better to say something more general, such as:

  Teaching styles should be adaptable, based on the student demographics in the class. For example, I've taught some courses with mostly freshman, and other more advanced courses with juniors and seniors...

but perhaps I'd be dishing out out some bad advice if I recommended a more general wording; maybe applicants are expected to weave such details into their teaching statements.


texts: How to obtain number of publications by year on a given subject?

texts: Does anyone know of a good way to obtain data on the number of publications per year on a given subject? Scholar has an option to sort search results by date, but there does not seem to be an automated way of generating a report. In the worst case I will write a script that extracts the data I need, but perhaps someone knows of another system that offers such a facility? Thank you.


texts: Is it OK to send the same research proposal to several professors?

texts:
I am a prospective PhD student in the humanities and I have already got in touch with a potential advisor in the university I would really like to work in. I have drafted a research proposal (as I have to submit one with my application) and sent it to him for feedback.

At the same time, I am planning to apply at other universities as well, my first choice being very competitive. I have already found a couple faculty in other uni's I'd be also happy to work with (same research interests etc). Problem is they both require a research project draft when making first contact.

My question is: is it OK or 'ethical' to send the very same research proposal to a few different potential advisors? How common is it? Am I really free to contact as many advisors as I want, hear from them and then pick the one I want to work with (assuming more than one are willing to take me in, on their part)?

I know this might sound anxious but I really don't know how it works when it comes to the 'application etiquette.' Thank you all!


texts: Is it a good idea to write to some researchers for some help on my own research?

texts:
I am a Ph.D student and I am currently working on my research project. In this moment I am stuck with it because I suspect there is some error in the algorithm, but I can't recognize it. Unfortunately my supervisor cannot help me at this point. However, I know that in my city there is a good professor who is working on the field, so I was thinking to write to him and ask for a meeting, where I could explain my issue.

Do you think is it a good idea? Would it be better if I ask to my supervisor to intermediate for me? How this kind of email are considered by professors?


texts:
I have been offered an opportunity for a part time PhD in Computer Science. I have had brief conversation with the person that would be my advisor. He has suggested that I start to think of a topic/proposal.

I literally have no idea where to start, what level of detail I should be looking at for a proposal?

I have read a couple of the articles on this site like: How to find a good topic for a PhD research proposal?

These all offer great advise. Maybe I'm missing something but I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed already!

One idea I have had is modelling student success based on different factors like: home environment, past student success, etc.

All I keep thinking of is the advisor said "It needs to be something new".

I guess any advise on creating a research proposal, picking a topic, where to begin... would be great.


texts: Moral dilemma in unwittingly being paid to complete a student's work

texts:
I am a computer science freelancer who takes on medium-sized projects I can complete in a month or less. I was approached by someone who wanted a set of 12 tutorials at least 500 words each about certain programming topics with code examples and workouts. We talked payment and I accepted this project and got to work. I have been using GitHub to write the pieces and publish them privately on my account.

Here's where things get tricky. After I had completed the tutorials, but before I sent them to him, he disclosed to me his full name and the institution that he attends. It turns out that this was his honors project for an undergraduate major in Computer Science. He has already paid me.

My dilemma is this: I would like to return his money and not send him the tutorials and have him fail his school project. However, I have worked on this for 3 weeks, and I obviously need the money.

In our original conversation, he made no such mentions of secrecy, so at the very least I could make the GitHub repository public and still accept his payment.

My question is this: What is my best course of action? I don't want him to submit that work as his own. However, I still would like to get paid as he did not confine to me he was planning on plagiarism until the very end.


texts: How to tell my co-advisor I am leaving for PhD?

texts:
I am doing my master's and I am considering doing my PhD at a different institution. I asked my advisor for reference and he was fine with it. My co-advisor insisted on me staying. I tried to talk him multiple times to be able to leave on good terms before I started applying and he was very reluctant to me leaving. My discussions with him were not productive and every time he starts suggesting projects for me and tries to convince me to stay. Discussion gets heated when I say I want to leave my options open and ends that way. I have to say that he is a very good advisor, but that reason is not enough for me to stay.

I decided to apply without letting him know and I did. My advisor is now asking me to let my co-advisor know that I am applying, and that I owe him that. I am sure he will be very angry and another heated argument will start again. What to do in a such a situation?


texts: Faculty interview: how to develop yourself into a national or international research leader

texts: I was recently interviewed for a TT position, and was asked a question "how to develop yourself into a national or international research leader". It looks quite a big question. I stumbled on it, and so want to seek some ideas or inspiring thoughts to answer this questions effectively.


texts: Postdoc contracts in US - signing an initial one which is superseded by different online one?

texts:
Is it usual for postdocs (I'm in the US) to sign one contract with the department and then have to accept a notice of appointment online which supercedes the initial one signed?

I signed my postdoc job offer before moving to the US to take up the position and then when I arrived in the country I had to accept what turned out to be my actual contract online which differed from the original one (different start date and end date). This second one stipulates that it supersedes any previous documents signed or verbal agreements given. This has now happened again after a year in the post. A pay rise which was agreed to start on one date has now been pushed back a fortnight on the second document which I am now expected to accept.

Is this normal? Is this fair? Any advice appreciated.


texts: Asking an external professor for a feedback on my BSc. thesis

texts:
In my senior year. I have put so much effort in writing my thesis and my supervisor didn't even read what I have done or even bothered to do his work, I wrote my thesis in a topic in mathematical analysis. I think it is interesting to read, no new results but, there are many undergraduate publications that are just interesting to read and contains no new mathematics! so I think my thesis is interesting to read.
All undergraduate journals I found requires a letter from the supervisor, I can't get a letter from him because:
1. He didn't read it and he won't
2. My relationship with him is not good

I thought maybe I should ask an external professor to give me a feedback but, who would do that!
I am even embarrassed to ask for such a favour. I just want to learn even if my thesis is not as good as I think it is, it is okay but at least I would then know why and learn something!

If I had it published. It would then help me when I try to apply for scholarships and stuff.

Can someone suggest me a solution or something?
Do other professors normally agree to review other student's work?

Thank you.


texts: Why is it that when I tell people outside my university that I'm a PhD student, I am sometimes told that I'm arrogant/privileged/ignorant?

texts:
This did not occur before I started my PhD. It does not occur when I simply say I’m a graduate student. I only say this when people ask what I do as a living (I do not namedrop this).

This tends to occur when I vocalize a strong opinion or disagree with another person’s viewpoint. They might say "not everyone has a PhD like you".

Ever since I started my PhD some people keep pinning certain behaviors on me because I'm a PhD student, and therefore I must somehow be arrogant/entitled etc.

To be clear, this has only happened a very small number of times, so I suspect it is not because of my behavior.


texts: What to write in appeal for a rejected PhD application?

texts:
I have applied for PhD scholarship in Computer science at a European university. My master is from Malaysia. Unfortunately, my application has not been selected (only 9 has been chosen among 116 applicants).

The email I received informs me that I can file an appeal form attached against the decision made by the committee. Although having a form is supposed to be helpful, I have not written such an appeal before and am not sure what to write. The form is one page (A4) and five lines of it starts with

  I expose

and I have to fill the five lines and other five lines start with

  And therefore, Kindly ask you for.

The question is, what should I write here? I have no idea about appeals and their justifications and consequences. The only thing I can add since my original application is that another paper has been published. I really believe I am very strong candidate for the program as it conforms exactly to my research area (which I had published two conference paper in).

My question is therefore, what and how to write in the two sections of the form if I decide to write an appeal?


texts: affiliation if I change departments within university

texts:
I am wondering what affiliation to put down on a paper that has been accepted (now going through the proofs).

I worked in one department (a centre, or institute, within my university) while I was conducting the research. I am now in another department (not a centre/institute, but a different department), within the same university.

Does it make sense to put both both affiliations, even though they are both linked to the same university? In my mind it makes sense to acknowledge both labs (the one where I did the research and the one where I did the writing), but then again it doesn't make sense to acknowledge the same university twice.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of situation, whether from the author or from the editor perspective? Is there a generally accepted solution?


texts: What to do with dead times during your PhD?

texts:
I am about to finish a phd in economics (couple of years left). I am in good shape:

I have a nice on going solo authored paper
I have a co-authored paper submitted to a journal and waiting feedback
One other large project on-going with another co-author
I starting to work on a new project that requires heavy computation.

Now here's the thing. At the moment I have a lot of dead time.

Paper (1) - I do not feel there is much I can do now. I am presenting the paper in couple of places in the Summer and hope to get feedback.

Paper (2) - We are waiting for referees to come back to us.

Paper (3) - I am waiting to discuss with my co-author next steps - he is on holiday for the next 3  weeks.

Paper (4) - I have setup what I could on this paper. I am running preliminary results (but the codes take up to 4 days to run).

The key question is what to do in the meantime. Of course, I could work on paper (1) a bit more, but I feel that productivity is low on that one at the moment. I could start something new as I have some ideas on the pipeline, but I am avoiding this as something might come up unexpectedly on papers (1), (2) or (3), and giving a false start to a new project might not be optimal.

Edit: A suggestion below was to learn a programming language. However, I am "fluent" in Fortran, Matlab, Python, Stata and SAS ... and I have no use at the moment for other languages.

I could always read papers, but how much can you read if do not have a proper goal in mind?

Any advice?


texts: Where can I search for researchers in a specific field by location

texts:
Where can I search for some authors of publications or researchers in a specific filed (e.g. Computer science) and in a specific country (USA, China, ...)

For example I would like to find all people who work on Data Mining located in Iran


texts: PhD in mathematics, science communication jobs

texts:
I'm doing a PhD in mathematics at one of the world-leading universities. I spend a lot of time engaging in science communication: both speaking (talks for general audience, some of them quite successful) and writing (popular science blog, I started to publish also in some magazines). Even though I enjoy maths a lot, I prefer communicating it to non-mathematicians much more.

Would getting a job in science communication as opposed to continuing research or working in industry be a "waste" of PhD?

Also, would I need a degree in journalism or science communication to be considered a serious candidate for jobs in popular science or media? I've done some research online but it seems that there aren't many scientists (not to mention mathematicians) with a PhD who would focus their career on communicating science.


texts: Can a research publication have a bad impact on your career?

texts:
When I was starting out in my Masters degree, I had an idea of a publication that could be completed in a small amount of time. I was starting out and I felt it would get me at ease with research after publishing this idea.

My idea was like a comparison between two different techniques of solving a problem and the paper could be completed in a week. However, My supervisor told me that I could get a publication for this idea but he recommended me not to waste my efforts on a low quality publication and focus on a long term high to medium quality publication.

So my question is would it have badly affected my research career if I had published that paper?


texts: Should I tell my supervisor that I will consult someone else?

texts:
I need an specific advice on a specific area (not the main one) in my PhD research (e.g. is it a good idea to include the factor x in the review and analysis of the topic y?).

As far as I know, my supervisor is not an 'expert' in this specific area.

I think that someone else, who has recently done a PhD in my department and has good connections with my supervisor, is an expert in that area and can help.

In academic etiquette: should I make my supervisor aware that I am asking an advice from that person?


texts: Does unpublished paper matter for U.S. graduate school application?

texts:
How different are papers that are "in draft", "in review", and "pending publication" for graduate school application?

I have a research paper that's already drafted, but my PI is aiming for a high-profile journal, so he wants me to address all foreseeable questions about the method I'm about to propose, which means I need to do some supplementary experiments. But this way my paper can't be submitted at the time of my application, and I will have no objective proof about the significance of the work.

Or alternatively, I could submit my draft and wait for the reviewer's opinion, so I can put mark the paper as "in review". This will serve as a proof that my work is mature enough to be seen by others. But is it worth it?

By the way, I'm an senior undergraduate, and I got another paper in draft, but definitely won't be submitted before January. And both drafts are at the stage where they're fit to be reviewed by the admission committee. Besides my supervisors for both projects are listed as my recommenders, and should be able to vouch for me if contacted.

Thank you!


texts: Can I use data and images found online in my project report, under the fair use clause in copyright law?

texts:
I am a mechanical engineering graduate student, and am working on my final project.  I am doing a finite element analysis of a particular phenomenon.  I was hoping to find test data of that particular phenomenon using a quick google search, and sure enough, I found some.  The test data will be helpful in showing that my analysis results are accurate.  I found the report on a vendor’s website.  Can I reproduce the test data from this report in my final project?  Per the “fair use” clause of the copyright act, since this will be used for scholarship/research (no profit involved), am I covered?

Can I also reproduce images from the report?

Added detail:

Thanks all of you for your answers!  I am certainly going to cite the source of the data and images.  Tom, to explain a little more about the data - it is friction coefficient data that applies to two very specific materials.  Company A did the testing for Company B.  Company B has posted the test report on their website (they are a vendor, and want people to know how low friction their particular material is).  I want to know if I can use the friction data from the report, and one or two images from the report (properly cited).  The reason I ask, is that Company A explicitly states in the report, "This document is provided on the basis of strict confidentiality.  Subject to any statutory requirement, the contents must not be disclosed to a third party, without the prior consent of Company A."  I know that I can contact Company A and ask, but if they do not give me the right to use the data and images... am I still ok?


texts: How long is it reasonable to wait for a graduate student or postdoc to obtain a visa?

texts: For a recent position for which an offer has been made, a colleague of mine has been waiting for more than eight months for a visa to be issued. Is there any reasonable point at which it makes more sense to try to withdraw the offer (as the candidate has been unable to secure a visa, which would enable him to work) and look for a replacement? Or must the offer "stand" until a final visa decision has been made (even if there's no such date in sight, as is the case here)?


texts: Should you organise reviewer points thematically when preparing a complex response to reviewers document?

texts:
I was recently reading some suggestions on how to effectively write a "response to reviewer comments" document. One suggestion was to consider categorising reviewer comments by theme.

  Categorize the reviewers’ comments: If there are too many comments, it would help if you separate the comments into categories. For
  example, all the comments related to methodology could be grouped
  together, all related to language could be under one category, etc. If
  you decide to do that, make sure you add a sentence such as “I have
  separated my responses to the reviewers’ comments according to several
  categories in order to achieve an integrated approach in my
  responses.” SOURCE

Previously my workflow has been to do this internally but to still organise the response document  by reviewer order and then by the order implied by their response. So, I would number and give a title to each reviewer point. I would then organise these into categories in a separate document (just for me) and work out the best way to sequentially work through them. If two reviewers made the same point, in the response to the second reviewer, I would just refer back to the relevant review earlier.

So my question:

Is it advisable to re-organise reviewer points thematically in the response document? Or is it better to retain the order implied by the editor's letter?

Some initial thoughts:

Organising by theme will mean that points made by different reviewers and the editor are interspersed. Thus, it will be harder for the editor or reviewer to identify their specific points. A naming convention might reduce this issue a little bit (e.g., I often name reviewer points R1.1, R1.2, etc. for Reviewer 1 Point 1, Reviewer 1 Point 2), but not completely.
Response documents vary in complexity. I imagine when there are a lot (e.g., 50+) separate points to address that thematic organisation might be more relevant. Similarly, when there are more reviewers, there may be more overlap in the points that are raised and therefore greater benefit in organising thematically.
Some reviewer points are distinct enough that they need to be addressed separately, but may not be as clear when not seen consecutively.


texts: Use of bolded variables in conference paper

texts:
I'm currently writing my first conference paper and am trying to determine a variable naming convention. I like the approach used by Di Carlo in Dynamic  Locomotion  in  the  MIT  Cheetah  3  Through  Convex  Model-Predictive  Control:

  [skipped irrelevant convention] Vectors are bold, upright, and lowercase (a,ω),  matrices  are  bold,  upright,  and  uppercase  (A,Ω),and  scalars  are  lowercase  and  italicized  (a,ω).

The conference recommends following the IEEE guidelines outlined here, which does not comment on the topic. I assume it is thus up to me as the author to decide. Is bolding variables frowned upon? Is there a alternative, preferred method?
Thank you!


texts: How to improve the language of my master thesis by myself?

texts:
I have written my thesis on my own (with my limited English skills) and I gave it to my supervisor to check it. He said the work is fine but the writing is a bit bad and I need to proofread it by myself. I know that my English level is just below the normal and needs time to improve. However, I have limited time (a couple of weeks), so my question is how to improve my English writing efficiently during this period that will lead to an improvement of my thesis?

I have heard that there are some phrases and academic vocabulary list that are given by Cambridge University or other universities for use and are not regarded as plagiarism, does anyone know them?