texts: Advice - MS in mathematics to increase competitiveness for PhD programs?

texts:
I am a senior maths major (computer science minor) who is pretty worried about the next step in my academic career. First, let me state that I'm about as sure as I can be that I want to get a PhD in mathematics. Unfortunately, I didn't realize what the field entailed, or my passion for it, until I had made many really poor decisions - mostly in the form of bad attendance. For example, I basically just showed up for tests in calc 2, 3, linear algebra, and differential equations, and consequently, my field of potential letters of recommendation is quite small. To make things worse, I come from a party school - I need letters!

I've had one professor (abstract algebra) offer to write me a letter, and I've taken my advanced calc sequence under a professor who I think could write me a good recommendation (adv calc 2 was a graduate course; had [i think] the highest grade out of about 15 students). I'm also taking topology (graduate level) this semester, and am hoping to impress my way to a third letter.

My GPA is okay - cumulative about 3.61; math is all A's and one C in linear algebra. I've also been working through a few books (Spivak's "Calculus" and "Calculus on Manifolds," and am about to start Birkhoff and Maclane's "Survey of Modern Algebra." Although I love the material, and enjoy learning it, the independent studying probably stems from some feeling of inadequacy due to my past immaturity.

I got a 169/170 Q, 165/170 V on the general GRE. Also, I think I can crack 80% on the subject test, but am not overly confident about this. One glaring hole is that I have done zero research, and have done nothing extracurricular - I literally have nothing "extra" going for me.

My concern is that I've seen the resumes of many people accepted to top universities (PhD track), and I just don't stack up. But if my goal is to become a professor one day, it seems that where I go to school is extremely important. So should I just hope that I can get accepted into a top 30-50 school, or would it be beneficial to consider improving my resume in a solid Masters program so that better schools become available?

And if a masters is a viable option, what caliber of school would I need to excel at in order to be a competitive applicant for a top 10 PhD program?


texts: Take a few courses in another university

texts:
I'm a foreign (non-EU) student enrolled at the CS master's program in a European university.
I would like to take 2-3 courses that my university doesn't offer, and the first idea that came to mind was to take them at another university (preferably also European) in another country.
Obviously I want these courses to be counted in my diploma (assuming that they fit my program).

What you would do if you were in my place? Is there any "general" approach to my problem?

From what I've found there are a few ways:

Go as a free mover and enrol to the courses individually (seems that not all universities offer this option)
Go as an Erasmus student (not sure if I qualify being non-EU citizen)
Go by direct exchange program to the university that have bilateral agreement with my university (in my case, I'm not satisfied with offered transfer destinations, so it's not really an option)
Something else?

UPD:
I assume there are 2 general cases:

My university and the university I wish to go are "partner
universities", i.e. they have some sort of mutual agreement
They are not "partners universities"


texts: Does Canada have similar tenure-track system as the USA? Does it have around 6 years in a tenure-track position before getting tenure?


texts: Conference and journal papers in physics

texts: I am preparing an interdisciplinary paper for publication in a leading physics journal. A preliminary version of this paper has been submitted to a conference in my field. Can the editors reject my paper based on this fact? In my field it would not be an issue. It is usually required that the journal paper expands on the contributions of the conference paper. In practice there a number of ways to overcome that requirement, so that it does not really matter. You need to submit a full paper to talk in a conference, so people use them as a first step of dissemination. But I do not know what is the relation between journal and conference papers in physics.


texts: How to address having been plagiarized by senior scholars without ruining the relationship

texts:
I recently came across a book written by two senior scholars in my field (anthropology), who cite a paper I published with a colleague two years ago.  They cite us quite favorably and in most places they cite us correctly. However, there are two passages which they have copied verbatim from our paper but without attributing them to us, nor even citing us anywhere on the respective pages.

What should we do about that?  We certainly don't want to ruin our relationship.
What are appropriate steps to be taken?

We have never met the authors in person but been exchanging emails with one of them a few times – all very positive exchanges. He is also supposed to participate in a conference panel with us this year. How to bring it up and what should we expect from them to do?


texts:
I am writing a grant application as a sole PI, and it is not clear to me whether I should use singular or plural terms. As an example, currently I have a sentence like this:

  "Based on previous work, I got to the conclusion that the present approach X to problem Y is inappropriate. Therefore, in paper Z we developed an alternative approach which I plan to pursue further in the proposed research.

The reason for the switches between "I" and "we" is that the conclusion is mine, but paper Z is a paper I wrote with a coauthor, and the plan to pursue this further is again mine alone. While the terms reflect the reality, it seems bad English to switch back and forth between singular and plural.

In usual research papers, I often use "we" even when I am a sole coauthor, since this is convenient and quite common in my field (computer science). However, using "we" in a personal grant application seems inappropriate.

What is a better style for writing sentences such as the above?


texts: Should I persist with article that keeps getting rejected?

texts:
My paper has been rejected four times in last two years. I have tried two journals. They don't even have good rankings but it was rejected repeatedly. I improved the article by taking reviewers comments into consideration but still it comes back with rejections.

What frustrates me is the fact that I can see some articles which I followed getting published in same journals. They explore country context, whereas my article investigates the same problem in another country context (a developing country) which indicates there is a contribution.

It's been a long time that I have worked on this article. The data that I used is getting outdated since the business environment keeps changing rapidly.

So my question is, what course of action I should take given my current situation? Should I dump this article and move on with something new? Or just keep sending it to other journals?


texts: How did researchers find articles before the Internet and the computer era?

texts:
I find it hard to write a literature review, even though I have Google, the Internet, and all free, very easy to search for information tools.
I have to search for days to find a piece of information that is related to my research.
I really would not be able to do that without the help of the  internet and the technology.

This really makes me wonder how people in the past did that:

Did they have to read the entire book to find a piece of information?
I know they might have used the index, but still this wouldn’t have given them the details of what they were looking for.
Does that mean people in the past (before the Internet) worked harder to achieve their degrees?
Does that mean that research before relied less on references?


texts: Creating a secure test environment for a programming lab practical

texts:
I'm a senior TA helping out my instructor with restructuring the course in light of the coronavirus causing in-class cancellations at our university.  We have tools allowing our students to do their programming labs online, and therefore our class can still run, but we still have a lab practical that's a huge part of students' grades, and I personally would prefer that that not be replaced by some generic homework.

Would any of you happen to know of ways to make secure environments where a website (in this case, the tool allowing students to do their labs) could be loaded?  The student shouldn't be able to navigate to another tab or close full screen, and the website immediately submits code to the server when the time for the virtual "exam" is up.

I've tried searching for examples myself, but I'm not sure if I'm wording my problem correctly because I don't get any relevant results.  I'd really appreciate the examples you have.  Thank you in advance!


texts: How to mention "failed" final year thesis in SOP?

texts:
I am an undergraduate intending to apply to an American graduate program. In my SOP, I decided to write one paragraph about my final year thesis. However, the truth is that I failed to propose something new in my final year thesis. The only positive things, I believe, is that I have found related papers quickly without any guidance.

I hope to talk positively about this experience. Is it positive to mention that "I have found papers quickly?" And how to mention such a "failed" final year thesis in SOP?

More background information:

Field: graph theory

My supervisor was busy and he did not spend much time discussing the topic with me or teaching me about it. I have a problem understanding papers that are somewhat concise. At last, I had no choice but to change my topic. He only described the topic, did not give any references to read. I found the references by myself, which were exactly what he wished me to read. The time is limited and hence I do not propose many new things in my final year thesis.


texts:
Are there known cases of plagiarism in mathematics? The writing practices in mathematics are clearly different from the writing practices in the humanities. In the latter area I roughly know how to characterize plagiarism because examples are known. But I do not know how plagiarism is possible in mathematics, except for blunt copies of text.

Do you know about examples how plagiarism in mathematics looks like?


texts: References in a PhD thesis in mathematics

texts:
I have a few questions about the references in a PhD thesis in mathematics:

What would be a "normal" range of items there? I am not sure if there is only a few items in the reference it may not be suitable. Would 30 be good? 50? Or 100?
Is there any conventional way to order the references?
When I add a paper to the reference, do I really need to read the paper? For example, I may read from some other paper that "the following result was proved in [1]". Then can I also add [1] to my reference by writing "the following result was proved in [1]", without really reading [1]? It is possible that [1] may be too long/tedious/difficult to read, difficult to find, or not in English, etc.


texts: Is it okay to get partial funding for a conference from two institutions?

texts:
Is it possible (and legal) to get funding from both the host university and the university the student is from, for overseas conferences?

To elaborate, let's say I (a student) am going for an overseas conference. My home university is able to fund me (but only partially). The host university is also providing funding (but limited funds, so I am assuming it is also partial funding). Is it possible to apply for both these fundings?


texts: What is the difference between a conference paper and a workshop paper?

texts:
I recently participated in a conference. Several workshops were organized in parallel with the conference, and I also took part in one workshop to see what kind of material is presented there.

To me, there was no major difference between the conference paper presentations and the workshop paper presentations. Both usually discuss work that is in progress, i.e. could benefit from some new ideas. I didn't see a huge quality difference between workshop paper presentations and conference paper presentations. Both conference papers and workshop papers presented interesting ideas that usually had some merit.

My understanding is that the workshop papers are also peer-reviewed and additionally will be published in conference proceedings. So no difference here, either. Also, in both cases, questions and occasionally even some criticism were raised by the audience.

So, what is the difference in practice between workshop papers and conference papers?

Related question, not exactly the same: What is the point in publishing a paper in a workshop rather than in a conference?


texts: How do I recommend a student requiring extended deadlines?

texts:
Some of my students get extended deadlines on assignments due to a disability. They are not required to tell me the nature of their disability (which may be physical, intellectual, or psychological), but some choose to do so. (United States faculty are legally required to grant accommodations to such students, who are certified by a college office that knows the details of their situation.)

My question is what to say when a student asks for a recommendation for an industry position (typically as a software engineer). I legally cannot reveal that they have a disability, but their ability to complete assignments correctly and on time is relevant to their qualifications for a job.

Update

To clarify, I don't consider it relevant to an employer if a student uses assistive technology or if the student takes extra time on exams, since the latter is an artificial situation irrelevant outside of school. (All of the exams I give are untimed anyway.) My concern is about students who are unable to complete assignments in the normal amount of time, which is always at least a week, even given any needed accommodations. The ability to complete work at the normal rate seems like it might be a bona fide occupational qualification.  Of course, it is not the employer's business whether the need for extra time is due to a disability.


texts: Is it considered normal to publish job offers inviting candidates to apply based on their gender and/or race in academia?

texts:
I was browsing PhD position offers in Europe on different websites and I was quite surprised to find that several offers contained sentences such as

  University of X value equality and diversity. We strongly encourage women and BAME applicants for this position.

where BAME stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities; or

  The research group aims to increase the number of women in scientific positions. Female candidates are therefore encouraged to apply.

Is it considered normal in the academic environment to discriminate between  candidates according to their race and/or gender for "egalitarian" reasons?

How is the choice of a candidate based on their gender and/or race considered "egalitarian"?


texts: Is it a good practice to indicate the desired handling editor when submitting a paper?

texts:
In submission forms of academic journals, I often see the possibility to give names of desired / non-desired reviewers for the submitted papers. But very rarely I see fields for choosing an editor who handles the submission from the journal's editorial board.

When the submission form does not offer the choice of a handling editor, should one indicate a desired editor in the cover letter? Do some researchers (e.g. specific fields) commonly do so?


texts: Found better technique just before publishing old, but still good technique – can the old one still be published?

texts:
In our lab, we hypothesized that a technique T1 should be able to solve some problem with high performance. As per our hypothesis, we got an excellent result. We started writing a short paper to be submitted to a conference for the last date is due in four days. The paper is complete except for some proof-reading. We have not yet submitted the results.

Yesterday, just for fun, I was applying a different technique T2 to the same problem. Surprisingly it achieved an even better performance than T1.

We were wondering, is it okay to write a “failure” paper stating the hypothesis failed because of so and so [which is tough to analyze given the time constraint on deadline.]? Some of my colleague suggested to not disclose the performance of T2 until T1 is published, so that later I could do a comparative study between T1 and T2. Will it be okay?

Note: T1 and T2 are very different and it does not make any sense to write on both techniques in the same paper. Plus, rewriting the paper now is also difficult.

Update After going through answers, comments and suggestions, we are submitting T1 paper. Thank you very much all the learned academicians here on academia.SE.


texts:
In some job adverts I found something on the lines of (emphasis mine):

  Requirements:

  Graduate degree in X or PhD in Y with a proven track record in X, ideally with experience in Z. We are looking for a highly motivated scientist to join an interactive, multi-national team at the cutting edge of...

(I know I should ask the OP as they are the only ones to know what do they want to say... but,). What does this "proven track record" mean ?

Does that it mean I should have publications?
Could it be other published work like blogs, programs, discussions, answers in SE traceable back to me if they are related to X?


texts: After contacting a potential supervisor, is it ok to ask if my application is competitive?

texts: I contacted a professor for PhD study, and discussed the project. I would like to make a formal application: should I first ask would it be competitive?


texts: How should I fix the problem of two part surname taken as middle name by google scholar?

texts:
I recently published my first paper in a conference proceedings (CogSci2020). Before submitting I was struggling how to give my name. My name is:

First: [Alireza]
Last: [Mahmoudi Kamelabad]

The two words for the last name are both my last name. First I was thinking to get rid of Mahmoudi and publish with Alireza Kamelabad since Kamelabad is pretty rare and except my uncle and a relative who publish there are no Kamelabads in the world. But I thought maybe it is better to give my full name. So I did and now that the paper is appeared in Google Scholar it considers Mahmoudi as a middle name and for citation makes it AM Kamelabad instead of A Mahmoudi Kamelabad.
I have set up my Google Scholar account and tried to fix my name by there but it does not happen. Also the citation that Google Scholar shows is wrong in general in terms of format.
My question is how can I fix that? Is there any way I could specify in google scholar that [Mahmoudi Kamleabad] is a chunk and not separable?
Thank you.


texts: How to cite and build on the work of another paper that is still under peer review?

texts:
I've written a paper which I submitted to journal ~5 months ago and is still in peer review. I have a follow up piece of work that is similar, but uses a different formulation of a problem (so I can show the results are similar and draw attention to the positive/negatives of using one formulation or the other).

How can I cite this in my new paper? I have published the first paper on arXiv, but it hasn't even got to the first round of reviews. I also have a need to publish as soon as possible as my Ph.D. funding runs out in 6 months - so I'd like to complete before then!


texts: Is it fine to submit a paper to a journal via arXiv without updating on arXiv?

texts: I have uploaded a preprint of my article to arXiv and it is published there. After that, I made several changes to it and I am submitting the same to a journal which allows submitting via arXiv (Physical Review E, to be specific). My question is, is it okay to submit the article without updating it on arXiv because I am submitting via arXiv?


texts: Thought Exercises in Deciding Whether to Stay in PhD Program or Leave?

texts:
TL;DR: Thinking about leaving my PhD program after 6 months.
1.) The program is not what I imagined it would be.
2.) I'm not positive I need a PhD to do what I want to do.
3.) I've been offered a pretty great opportunity that would put me back on a track that I was happy with prior to my program.
4.) However, I do not want to burn bridges with faculty/people that have invested time and resources in me.

I would love to hear any thought exercises or lines of self-inquiry that people have found useful in making a decision of this nature! tl;dr/close

I will keep details in the following fairly vague to avoid identifiers.

I am a 1st year PhD Student (6 months in). I've spent several years in "the real world" in between my Masters and my current position. I was achieving just about everything I wanted to during this time, but felt that a little more access to independence and/or creative discretion in designing projects would be nice.  I decided to pursue a PhD, visualizing 4-5 years of independent research in a free-thinking environment, and then returning to an applied position outside of the academic arena.

Without getting stuck in the weeds, I'll just say that my program, and academia in general, is not what I had built up in my mind, and I am now incredibly disillusioned with the work of my cohort.  I feel as though the end result of my research ideas will simply be research products that remain one or two steps removed from being applied in practice, whereas prior to this work I was taking ideas and just implementing. Creativity realized. I'm not sure a PhD is necessary for what I ultimately want to do. In the end I'd rather share my ideas with a broad audience of practitioners, researchers, as well as lay communities. No textbooks. "Regular books" with complex ideas distilled into elegant simplicity that even the public could ponder.

I have recently been offered a pretty great position that would place me back in an applied position and on the track I was on previously.  My intuition tells me to find a graceful way to exit my program, but I also know that I am new. I would give the decision more time, but the external opportunity requires fairly immediate action, and I'd hate to become more ingrained in a current team project and have folks invest more resources in me.

I would love to hear any thought exercises or lines of self-inquiry that people have found useful in making a decision of this nature!

Thanks in advance!


texts: What are the conditions for using "Smith et al., unpublished data" in journal articles?

texts:
From time to time, I see what I mention in the title. For example: "It has been suggested this figure may be in excess of 800 gazillion dollars (Smith et al. unpublished data)."

My question is why this is allowed in fields where statements usually have to be backed up by facts? Do reviewers get to see this unpublished data sometimes? Or, is it reserved for speculative statements and as long as you aren't indicating they are cold hard truths it is accepted?

I am just curious on the conventions for its use, since it seems quite contradictory to normal conventions for providing sources.


texts: Is it possible to improve(fix) a paper after its acceptance by the conference

texts:
After getting the conference's decision to publish a paper there is a short period of time to prepare and sent a camera ready version. However, during the review period, it was found that the paper can be improved significantly or that the minor bug can be fixed.

Is it acceptable to change the scientific content of the paper after it's acceptance?
If yes, to what extent one can change the paper? I am especially interested in the minor setting of the experiment.
Should one inform the conference chairman if he's gonna make changes (fixes)?


texts: Tips for faculty members seeking administrative responsibilities

texts:
How does a faculty member seek administrative responsibilities in a Department? Do such positions come in a cycle only? Or should the faculty member make his/her willingness known in advance to the Chair? Are there any politics/wrangling involved?

Moreover, for an assistant professor, is there anything that could be done during PhD so that the profile comes out as someone willing to take admin responsibilities?


texts:
Usually preface is written in books and myself personally have not seen it in a thesis.

But, can a master's or doctoral thesis contain a preface?

Thanks


texts: Is it possible to submit a MathJobs application before a reference letter arrives?

texts: If I'm awaiting a reference letter, is it possible to send a MathJob application before the reference letter arrives? If I do this, will the employer be able get that reference letter whenever it is uploaded? Or should I not do this because the application would be submitted without the required letter?


texts:
When one already has a PhD from a university outside of Europe, could he apply for a second PhD in Austria?

I know that second PhD is not possible for example in UK. Is it the same for Austria? Is there anything against it?


texts: Is it illegal for professors to make copies of or share student work with other professors without permission? This has happened to me. I thought there was confidentiality in academia but then again nobody follows the law or rules in this world.


texts: Building community in a college classroom

texts:
I am a TA for a class designed to bring a group of about 25 students together as a cohort starting their freshman year of college. They are in the same department so they will be mostly taking similar classes for awhile.

By the way this class meets weekly.

When I TAed this class last fall community building was a huge focus of mine. As such we did do an ice breaker and a scavenger hunt towards the beginning of the class but that was about it. I couldn't think of anything else to do. At the end of the quarter we did do a sort of "show and tell" for cool things students had done (sky diving, making rockets, baking, art etc).

The goal for me would have been that by the end of the quarter they would all know each-other decently well and would have a sense of solidarity. A stretch goal would be that they would feel comfortable hanging out with each-other outside of classes for studying or just exploring the area around campus.

None of this really happened with my class unfortunately. I think part of it is I just didn't do a lot to encourage this sort of thing to spring up. Additionally I was not in control of the curriculum/schedule so while things like the student showcase may have been more effective early on they were not so effective later in the quarter when I could control the class topic.

This year I am moderately in charge of the curriculum and I want to do something cool with it. The current plan is to roughly stick with the same schedule from last year but in my opinion it didn't work. Students didn't have a good chance to get to know each-other nor work together early on.

I have been looking for ideas of how to improve things here or stories of successful classes like this one but I am really having a difficult time finding good examples/resources. Everything I find seems to be geared for much younger kids or thinks ice breakers are actually the only/best way to get your class to interact with each-other.

Do you have any tips/ideas/resources I might be able to leverage to make this next year's class special?


texts: Are there laws preventing someone from collecting data not connected to a sanctioned research project?

texts:
I would be interested in conducting a survey of Japanese learners of English to find out what they find difficult about learning English. I'm a university graduate, so no longer part of the university in effect, and am not connected to any research institution, nor any business. I would be an individual acting out of my personal academic interest.

My question is, are there rules or laws that prevent me from doing this? I would have no access to journals or similar, so the most I could do is publish anonymised data on a blog or Reddit or similar. I could collect consent from each participant, but if the survey hadn't been approved by any particular ethics committee would this act be essentially meaningless?

I'd appreciate any advice or input on this matter.


texts: Can I only submit my graduate transcript for a second-master/PhD application?

texts: I am applying for some (second) master programs and a few Ph.D. programs. I earned my undergraduate degree outside the US but got my master degree in an American university (I am an international student). I wonder if I can only submit the transcript of my first master degree for my application?


texts: Better to give a poor/unfinished talk at a conference or cancel it?

texts:
Here's my dilemma. I met a post-doc at a conference a while back, and told him about the project I was working on at the time, and he subsequently invited me to give a talk in a session at an upcoming (next week) conference.  I accepted, since it was my first invitation to speak at a conference, and overall I was/am excited at this prospect, and at the prospect of collaborating with him in the future. However for various reasons (mostly time commitment on my part), this particular project - which is really a side-project to my main dissertation work - hasn't panned out like I hoped it would when I accepted the talk.  Needless to say, I don't feel confident that my talk will make a good contribution to the session, since my results are very lack-luster and my expertise in other aspects isn't enough to make up for this.  Since I'm a PhD student and this is a side project, I don't have old work to "fall back on" and my advisor is impartial.

So which is better: cancel the talk and apologize to the organizer profusely, perhaps suggesting a future collaboration, or suck it up and give a woefully under prepared talk, risking embarrassment to myself?  I'm leaning towards cancelling, because I feel like a poor talk makes me look bad to everyone who listens, while cancelling only makes me look bad to the session organizer.


texts: Why are recommendation letters highly relied upon?

texts:
For any kind of academic application (from graduate admission to professor position), recommendation letters have a major impact on the outcome. The basic idea is understandable: discovering what others think about the applicant. It can help the review committee to decide about the applicant.

However, recommendations letters cannot be statistically reliable. For instance, when all recommendation letters of an application are highly positive, this cannot guarantee that all colleagues think highly of the applicant. Instead, it can be the result of only a few friendships.

In a typical example, if someone has three socially close friends (including current colleagues, coworkers, past professors), then, his applications are always supported by strong recommendation letters. For example, one could have conflict with his entire university, but having close social connection with three persons who can recommend him.

So, why are recommendation letters relied upon so highly, given these limitations?

UPDATE: I do not mean friendly recommendation letters. I mean influence of friendship on a professional recommendation letter. As an another example, Applicant A who has good relationship with 20 professors of his department is an ideal academic with professional relationships at workplace. BUT applicant B who has serious conflicts with most of his colleagues (professors of his department), but having only three friends among his department professors will get better recommendation letters. Those three professors will write recommendation letters based on the applicant strengths by ignoring his weakness in the light of their friendship.


texts: Do degrees from the ETH of Zurich value the same as 'normal degrees'?

texts:
I have noticed that the ETHZ gives the following degrees / titles upon graduating:

  Bsc ETH [Subject] instead of BSc [Subject].

  Msc ETH [Subject] instead of MSc [Subject].

  Dr. sc. ETH Zurich instead of Ph.D [Subject].

I am aware that there already is a question on academia stackexchange about why this is the case.

More interesting is the question about their equivalence in industry or academia. Please don't misunderstand. I don't want to ask if they have the same value as an Ivy-League degree or not. If a college or university asked for people having a master's degree or a Ph.D. degree, are candidates with a Msc ETH or Dr. sc. ETH considered too? Would they think something like 'Oh hey, he has a Bsc ETH, so he has no real bachelor.', or do they think that Bsc ETH = Bsc?


texts: Will I be penalised if my economics job market paper is coauthored with my supervisor?

texts:
I read once before that the job market paper should not be coauthored with my supervisor because other universities will assume that my supervisor did all the work.

I will apply for an academic role after my PhD, is it true I will be penalised for this?

If my other two papers are relatively strong will that eliminate the risk?

But what if my supervisor coauthors on more than one paper?


texts: Can a recruiter contact a postdoc's recent supervisor who was not listed as a reference on the application?

texts:
P, a postdoc applicant, lists 3 referees (A, B and C) on her strong application.

A knows P's work best and gives a mixed (guarded) assessment.
B knows P's work moderately well and gives a great assessment.
C knows P's work least and gives a great assessment.
S and T, a recent supervisor and a recent employer, are not listed as referees.

Can the recruiter contact S and T for further feedback? On the one hand, they are not listed as referees, but on the other hand, the applicant has not requested not to contact these people.


texts: Importance of Mathematical Maturity for CS Grad School Admissions

texts:
I want to improve my competitiveness for grad school admissions. My intended area of study is AI/Machine Learning and possibly other math and statistics heavy fields of Computer Science.

My undergrad math grades were terrible, mostly C's and a few B's. Although my mathematical maturity improved tremendously after years passed, as you will guess I have no proof for this. So I decided to take a math class to show my skills to adcoms.

Now I have to choose exactly one from the two options available:

an undergrad MATH level mathematical analysis class following through walter rudin's PMA book or
a graduate EE level Random Processes class about stochastic processes following through Ross.

So from an admissions comittee member perspective, which class do you value more for judging a students mathematical maturity?


texts: Transitioning back to science after working outside of the field?

texts:
I went to university studying Immunology but university as a whole was rough for me because I was a poor international student (on scholarship) and my mental health was really bad in general. I graduated with 3.29/4 cGPA, 0.01 point away from minimum requirement of most grad schools in Canada but most of my bad grades actually came from my last two years of study, which definitely doesn't help. I also didn't have any research experience. I tried multiple times to get it during my second, third, and final year, only one professor ever got back to me and she just gave me pointers to improve my application. Funny enough, I actually put myself into one of the most difficult undergrad programs at my uni because they promised research opportunities for their students only to be rejected from that exact same opportunity because they told me that my cGPA was too low for their research work. At the end, I graduated with bad grades AND no research experience at all.

I have since been working odd jobs in admin and project management that have nothing to do with my interests. Just a job to pay the bills kind of thing and also a job to help secure my immigration. At least fortunately, I became a permanent resident of Canada few months back and I definitely have better grasps of my own mental health/time management/maturity. Anyway, even prior to becoming PR, I have always wondered if it's still possible for someone like me to transition back to science. It's been 3 years now and I thought with getting a PR (more doors open), I should probably start looking into ways for me to get back into science.

The thing is, with no research experience and mediocre grades, I feel like I'm stuck and unable to find my way in. I want to volunteer but labs will most likely prefer to take in undergrads/actual students. Sad thing is because I've never done research, I really don't know if I like it or if I'm just romanticizing it. If it's any indication, I really enjoy the planning phase of projects at my company and quite well known for my attention to detail (admin wizard here). Plus, there have been many incidents where my bosses, mental health counsellor commented on how I am logical minded and tend to be problem solving. On my own reflection, I specifically know that I need to go back to science because my small talk conversation with colleagues at work involves me explaining to them genetics and HIV pathogenesis! I remember HIV pathogenesis out of all only because my coursework at university heavily focused on that and I'm myself HIV-positive so HIV topics are very 'dear' to me. My YT channel subscriptions are full of science+geography channels that I binge-watch when I'm sad/depressed/after work.

I'm even looking at professional healthcare degrees but my grades are probably more heavily weighted there. All the schools I'm looking at seems to require 2-3 LOR and I don't think any of my professors remember me lol (large institution). I'm contemplating taking a non-degree year to improve my cGPA but I'm scared if it will just be a waste of money. I'm turning 27 this year and I just feel so stressed out.

Is it even feasible for someone like me to get my foot back in?


texts: Is it a mistake to talk about hobbies in a job application?

texts:
According to Sean Carroll, a famous cosmologist and tenured professor,

  Don’t be too well known outside the field. I hate to say this, but the evidence is there: if you have too high of a public profile, people look at you suspiciously. Actual quote: “I’m glad we didn’t hire Dr. X; he spends too much time in the New York Times and not enough time in the lab.” And that’s the point — it’s not that people are jealous that you are popular, it’s that they are suspicious you care about publicity more than you do about research. Remember the Overriding Principle.

According to an opinion piece by Manil Suri published in the New York Times, in science it is also not appropriate to talk about hobbies. Manil Suri is a famous scholar, his description of the situation in academia is worrying, and gives the impression that behavior is constrained and under close scrutiny. Being too expressive of personal identity can be viewed as running counter to scientific neutrality. In competitive venues, where complete immersion in one’s field might be the promoted ideal, the mention of an extracurricular pursuit can even be seized upon as a lack of commitment. I remember a young mathematician at a prestigious research institute sharing his love for piano playing after hearing I wrote fiction. “Don’t tell anyone in my department I own a piano,” he requested in the next breath. This is a shock to me because I perceived the STEM field as most openminded.

Am I hurting my chances by answering honestly about hobbies and extracurricular and social engagement activities? I work in a STEM field.


texts: Is it ok to email my professor something I found related to class?

texts: I just stumbled across an article directly related to what we just discussed in class. Is it appropriate to email it to my professor? For some reason it feels improper and I don't want to look like a teacher's pet.


texts: Is obtaining a professorship contingent upon the ability to secure federal grants?

texts:
I am a DACA student in the US in my last year of my PhD program, and that means that I will be applying for postdoc and professor positions. However, DACA status means that I am ineligible to apply for federal research grants and I am limited to only applying for private grants that have no restrictions on legal status.

There's also a lot of uncertainty surrounding the fate of DACA as the Trump administration has previously stressed that they would work to rescind the program (which may result in deportation of people like me).

My advisers said that applying for lecturer positions should not pose a problem, but I'm concerned about my chances to apply for professor positions when I am not able to secure any federal grants issued by the government, in addition to the fact that my stay in the US is not 100% guaranteed in the long run. I love teaching but would also like to continue doing research as well, in a university setting...

Any insights on the matter, especially by those that have worked in hiring committees, would be much appreciated!


texts: What does “temporary faculty pool” mean?

texts: I have seen university career postings for a “temporary faculty pool”. What does this term mean?


texts: Choosing PhD advisor between Professor X and an Assistant professor Y who was a PhD student of the professor X

texts: I got accepted in two different US schools for CS PhD programs. My prospective advisor/supervisor for the two schools are Professor X and Professor Y respectively. Professor Y was a PhD student of Professor X. Professor X has a lot of successful PhD students coming out of his lab and he is a heavyweight in the field. Professor Y is a tenure-track assistant professor but has really good recent A* publications. How should I approach this issue of choosing one of them?


texts: How can people with debilitating social phobias get through foreign language?

texts:
I almost didn't get my BS degree because I have never successfully tolerated a foreign language course. My most recent attempt was no exception. I paced about in front of the building trying unsuccessfully to force myself to enter the classroom. Surely this represents a severe defect of my character, but I maintain that an alternate teaching strategy would make success possible for someone like me. An extreme social phobia of this type is rare (<2%). There will never be a house reform because those who gravitate to teaching language are extroverted, and communication is a social activity. so there is little basis for empathy. This is something that I need to figure out, because I learned that the math PhD program requires fourth-semester proficiency. I am sure that the masses love this ubiquitous type of social teaching philosophy, and that the best way to handle statistical anomalies is to tell them to "get over themselves" and "get with the program". This is what I have tried to do, so much against my nature. Language is the only department where this is a problem for me. The format is always the same.

How can someone with a debilitating social phobia get through a foreign language course?


texts: PhD supervisor stalling research paper submission

texts:
I am currently trying to submit a research paper to a Journal, I am a PhD student in his final year.
My supervisor, who provided the data for the research paper and has overseen the whole process, is a very difficult person.
When I submitted a Conference paper, things were relatively easy, because of the deadline for submission.

But now with the Journal paper, my supervisor seems to be stalling the process just enough time for me to go to my final examination without having the paper accepted. She is that bad of a person unfortunately. The stalling is by the constant need to change the text and edit the paper, and the never ending stream of comments.

What are my options in this case, could I submit it without her as a co-author if she continues stalling.

Update. Yes having accepted research papers is essential for the successful completion of the PhD examination.
Update. Yes it is stalling, I cannot tell exactly the specifics, but in case someone might have a similar experience and might get some answers here, please assume that this person is doing this to hurt the student's progress and examination.


texts: Why do some editors/journals withhold response letters from reviewers?

texts:
I recently reviewed a paper for which I recommended rejection. I wrote a comprehensive review with a list of items that needed fixing to motivate my decision. I spent some time (between a day and a day and a half, perhaps) carefully reading the manuscript, writing and motivation my review.

Today I was curious to see what happened to the paper but since the journal uses Manuscriptcentral, the information regarding what decision was taken does not appear on the online system. I googled the title and found out that the paper has indeed been accepted by the journal. Having a quick look, it is obvious from its present form that the authors did receive my review and made changes accordingly.

I would have expected to receive a response letter to my review, especially within the context of my negative recommendation. However, this did not happen. On the one hand, I understand (and fully respect) that it's up to the editor whether to follow a reviewer's recommendations or even fully discard their review. On the other hand, given that I spent some of my time producing the review, it would have been nice to at least be able to see the response of the authors (even if not requested to produce a second review). Precisely because the paper was eventually accepted, I would have liked to read the author's criticism/rebuttal of my own criticisms - I might have been wrong after all.

What is the reason behind some journals keeping reviewers "in the dark" regarding what happens to the paper? Would it be appropriate to ask the editor to have a look at the author's response letter?


texts: Applying for Masters Program at University I work at as a Developer

texts:
I am currently a developer for a middle tier software company in the US. I have this job despite a bachelor's in economics. With my employers blessing, flexibility with working hours, but with my purse, I have been taking CS classes at a flagship state school here while working. I found that I really love taking CS classes and the formal learning!
Mean while, I have an offer at another uni as a full time developer as part of a grant funded team. One of the perks is covered tuition. My question is, should I decide to apply to graduate school for a CS Masters, does working as at the university as a developer affect the admissions process at all? For example, make acceptance somehow "easier"?


texts: Why the taboo against naming discoveries after yourself?

texts:
It is often considered a very bad idea to try to name a discovery (a law, phenomenon or an invention) after yourself.

On the other hand, there are many species names which seem to be a bastardized Latin of the discoverer's name. With gene names, I'm not sure, but I've seen many frivolous gene names, such as those inspired by cartoon characters. I wonder if you could get away with naming a gene after yourself if you wanted to.

In other cases, such as names of synthetic strains and plasmids, it is in fact preferable to use the researcher's name. Off the top of my head, I recall GFAJ-1 - the surrounding controversy aside, given all the work she's done, what is so wrong about her wanting to name it after herself?

However, why is this so? Apparently, it can even advance to an extreme where many years after a discovery has become established and associated with Dr. Jones, when he writes a review article on applications of the Jones Effect he will still carefully avoid acknowledging this name.

Isn't it convenient to simply name something after yourself when no clever acronym exists? Isn't doing the work of the discovery enough to earn the right to name a thing? Doesn't the fact that the discovery is important enough to be published automatically imply that it's important enough to be named after oneself?


texts: How can I get a second review of my grades?

texts:
How can I ask for a different faculty member to evaluate my final grade as opposed to my professor?

I know this is an "odd" question but if there is a possible way for that to happen I would greatly appreciate advice.

I will leave the details out of it, but the long & short of it is that this professor has gone out of his way to publicly humiliate me on false claims which I will be contesting. But my concern isn't proving correctness, but rather ensuring that my grade is fair.


texts: Is there prestige to be had by posting to arXiv?

texts: Do people ever upload papers exclusively to arXiv, or do authors simply use arXiv to assist in review while they find a journal to publish in?  If people sometimes publish exclusively on arXiv, what's the point?  What do they get for their work?  A paper on their CV?  Is it at all prestigious?


texts:
How is a senior research fellow different from a lecturer and a professor? I suppose it has small teaching responsibilities? Would it then be a suitable academic career option for someone who chooses research over teaching?

I do not have a specific interest in a particular country, since I am not sure if the practice would differ between countries, but let us say it is UK.


texts: Emailing supervisor after applying for phd to discuss about research problem and funding

texts:
I had contacted a potential supervisor regarding phd position in his lab. He was interested in my profile and advised me to apply for the program. I have applied for the program and informed him about the same. Earlier, We had not discussed about funding and exact research problem. I am curious to know about funding as well as my research problem. I need your opinion on the following

What is the appropriate time to discuss about project? Should i wait till I get an offer from admission team to discuss this or while my application is being evaluated can i discuss with my potential supervisor
Can i get some help in what should i write in my email when i ask about project and funding?

I thank users in advance for helping me in this regard


texts: How long should you wait for a professor who's late for class?

texts:
I've heard that you should wait 15 minutes for a professor who is late to a class, before leaving.
Some of my classmates have said that the 15 minute rule is only for professors without PhD's, and that you must wait at least 20 (and up to 30) minutes for professors that do have PhD's.
The PhD part seems silly, but after hearing some version of this "rule", or "myth", so many times, I wonder if it has some backing.
Is there any evidence that this was once an actual rule put in place by a university, or academic governing body? Was this ever anything more than a "rule" put it in place by impatient students?

Why wait?
Some classes will fail you after a certain number of absences and others will calculate 5% of your final grade from the percentage of lectures you attended. And it can be a good idea to attend as many classes as possible to show that you are putting forth effort. Professors are much more likely to bump a high D grade to a low C if they see that you have been to every lecture (at least in my experience).
So how long do you wait before the professor should no longer be able to show up and not give the daily "attendance credit" for absent students?
If a class was an hour long, and the professor didn't show up for 55 minutes, it would be common sense to leave by that point. But, at what point do you leave? An evil professor could always wait for 59 minutes before poking his head into the empty classroom and counting everyone as absent.


texts: Is it unfair for paper circumstances to play a role in the review of the paper?

texts:
Let me say beforehand that this question does not refer to scientific correctness and treats it as undisputed, i.e. the paper is assumed correct in the sense that it clearly states a valid purpose, has an adequate literature review, the theory and methods are scientifically sound.

After a brief introspective, it came to me that I often take into the account under what circumstances a paper was written when assessing the scope / prestige of the venue it is to be published at. This usually includes funding, if any, seniority and number of the authors.

On the one hand, I find it unfair to expect the same scale of experimental devotion from a student-mentor author pair from a developing country with no or relatively little funding as from a research group with multiple grants from a developed country. Given the relevance of the contribution, the first group shouldn't be rejected on the grounds that they don't have a comparable abundance of resources. Also, they shouldn't be discouraged as they managed to make a difference without those resources. And, after all, we do this kind of expectation management in other aspects of life, e.g. one doesn't fail a student because they wrote the assignment in a free text editor, because they can't afford MS Word.

As a concrete example, I once saw another reviewer comment that they would like to see a more significant average deviation on the graphs. This requirement would've required the authors to run tens of multi-hour simulations on a cloud cluster consisting of ~50 high-end instances, each billed by the hour, and it is also rather irrelevant to the proof or the contribution itself. The two authors received a government grant which translated to roughly $1200 for this research at an university that doesn't have subsidies with the cloud provider.

On the other hand, this is clearly a bias. Augmented additionally by the fact that it is not possible to implement during a double-blind review. Also, somewhere in there is an argument how practices to include low-cost research would result in research funding being gradually cut in some way or the other.

So, my question is the dilemma whether it is unfair to let capabilities outside of a research group's direct influence contribute to the review of their paper (again, only once the contribution is established)?

My field is computer science, so, while not strictly pen-and-paper, few resources are needed, relative to other fields, e.g. experimental physics, bio-medicine, etc., to do meaningful research.


texts:
So during exams and as of late, I started to informally cite scholars sometimes and as much as possible to backup the written ideas, however and due to the very nature of exams, I am facing the below issues:

Sometimes I memorize ideas almost word-by-word from the textbook or course book, and as a result of answering the exam question, I almost write everything as it is and without paraphrasing or even citing, is that plagiarism? The doctor would definitely identify my answer as being from the book we learned...
Other times, I get some ideas from outside the book and I do cite them in that case, however I do not paraphrase as I am learning by heart the thoughts in order to answer a specific question in the exam, is that plagiarism? (e.g. lack of paraphrasing)
And lastly, since I am memorizing by heart, I sometimes misspell the name of an author or even change a bit of details in his or her idea, is that a bad thing?


texts: How do online resources compare to resources obtained from extension programs from top ranking universities?

texts: I am a self learner because quite frankly I like it better and my brain seems to absorb material more efficiently that way . MIT, Harvard, Stanford and many other schools offer free online courses, which I have been taking for the past few years. Schools such as Harvard and MIT however, offer extension programs where you can pay a fee(usually around 2-4k) to obtain current courses. My question is, how viable do these extension programs hold against the older resources obtained for free? Although older, I do find the material to be consistent and hold over time. so as someone studying computer science, what exactly am I being deprived of by not buying these extension programs, or attending the actual school itself?


texts: Letter of nomination versus letter of recommendation for Sloan Fellowship

texts:
Background: I'm a math department administrator in the U.S. preparing to nominate one of our faculty for a Sloan Fellowship. As described here, fellowship candidates need to have:

  A letter from a department head or other senior researcher officially nominating the candidate and describing his or her qualifications, initiative, and research;

  [...]

  Three letters from other researchers (preferably not all from the same institution) written in support of the candidate’s nomination.

My question: how is a letter of nomination different in its requirements from the "three letters from other researchers"?

In particular, the three letters would be coming from researchers in the area of the candidate who can speak with authority about his research achievements, but I (and I expect the same is true for other department heads writing similar letters) am not an expert in the candidate's area so can only survey his achievements in a relatively superficial way. What is expected, and what is the best way to add value in such a letter of nomination on top of the three "standard" letters of recommendation?

Scope: please answer only if you have direct experience with the Sloan Fellowships or other similar type of fellowships, preferably in math or at least in STEM. I am not interested in "common sense" speculation based on parsing the required materials text I quoted above, which is something I can do well enough on my own.


texts: Why do we pay to present at conferences?

texts:
I recently presented at a conference abroad (my first one), and the entry fee was $50 USD. Now, as this was my first conference, the concept of paying to present at a conference is still a foreign one to me. I can't really wrap my head around submitting an abstract, it getting accepted and then paying to present about the work mentioned in it. So my question is fairly straightforward. What is the purpose of a presenter paying for a conference? Isn't it for the greater good not to have barriers for showcasing research?

Edit: I see this question has generated of a lot of discussion. Let me explain some of my reasoning in choosing the accepted answer. In the region I am from (the Caribbean), due to economic hardships finding the money to pay for conferences deters many young scientists from even thinking about attending. The conferences themselves generate a fairly significant audience from graduate students, faulty members and the general public wishing to understand the scientific concepts presented (all of whom enter for free). I can't help but think how much more productive  the scientific activity in the region would be if  the people wanting to present didn't have to pay. Many of you are saying that $50 USD is nothing, but are neglecting the various exchange rates it takes to obtain said money. At an exchange rate of 121 to 1, $50 USD could buy me food for 2-3 weeks in my home country. I asked this question without any mention of these things because, in the most general sense, paying for conferences seems, to me, to only provide barriers to sharing results and boosting academic (read scientific) activity, and I wanted to have an idea of what others thought about a (somewhat one dimensional) version of this idea.


texts: Etiquette for an initial meeting with a prospective advisor: What is expected of the student?

texts:
Assuming that one has begun a PhD program at a university which allows a student to choose an advisor after his/her first year in the program and the student has narrowed down on a couple of potential advisors and has taken AT LEAST one course with each of his potential advisors:

What should the student take to the first meet? A rough research idea, summary
of the professor's important papers or otherwise?

Note: I have made 5 separate questions as suggested (As opposed to the single one which I started off with)


texts: Asking a past professor to teach a workshop/short course

texts:
I would like to ask some of my former professors to come to my country and teach a small workshop, with undergraduate students, for a couple of days. I am doing this because I would like to raise the interest in my career, which is computer science, inside the faculty that I am currently working in. So the question that I have is: what would be the recommended things that I should offer to them, so that they are more likely to agree to pay a visit to my faculty? I ask this because I believe that I must submit like a report of expenses to my faculty dean or coordinator, so he or she could see if its feasible or not.

What expenses should my faculty cover? I was thinking of:

Plane tickets
Accommodation and meals
Material for the workshop

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


texts: Appropriate time to announce current research topics

texts:
I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the field of economics and I'm starting to make significant head way into my research and submitting articles to journals.  I get a really strong vibe in the academic community to protect my ideas and don't leak anything until it is appropriate.  My general sense of this comes from my experience with various individual's ideas getting "scooped."  While collaboration is obviously key to academic success, I also want to be wary of announcing any current research plans until it is appropriate.

My question is : When is it appropriate to discuss current research projects and update a CV or website?

When the paper has been accepted to a journal?  After the paper has been submitted to a journal? A proposal has been drafted?  After all preliminary research has been complete?

I appreciate  your responses.


texts: How to improve my English from Academic papers?

texts: I'm not a native speaker. However, I'm doing my PhD in an English country and I read Academic papers which are in English. How can I improve my English from those papers? Any ideas? Although sometimes those papers are not written by native English speakers and may still have problems.


texts: Why does the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine think they will need quadrillions of DOIs?

texts:
The Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine uses the following format for Digital Object Identifiers:

  DOI: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000xxx

Where xxx is a simple incrementing count, currently in the 200s, based on order of article publication. The latest issue has 26 articles, and they publish bimonthly, for a total of under 200 articles per year. Theoretically, if they increased publication to daily, they could reach 10000 articles per year. Hence, their 16 digit format will be sufficient for at least a trillion years.

Simple question: why? The usability is terrible; it's very difficult to transcribe by hand. They could chop the number of digits in half without any realistic risk of running out.


texts: Why are the acceptance rates of Oxbridge and top US schools not comparable?

texts:
I have just had a look at admissions statistics for grad school. Oxford seems to have much higher acceptance rates than, say, Princeton or Stanford. I do not want to conclude that it therefore is easier to get into Oxbridge than Ivy League Schools, lets say (for grad school that is), because I am probably forgetting some crucial factors here.
Or is it just that getting into Oxbridge is easier than Top US unis?

PrincetonAdmissions Data (about 11% acceptance rate)

Oxford Admissions Data (about 24% acceptance rate)

Cambridge Admissions Data (about 39% acceptance rate)


texts: Is it acceptable to hide your affiliation in research paper?

texts:
I am a Ph.D. student enrolled in one of the top universities. I was working on a research problem. And, it turns out that my results are not of as high quality as one would expect from a student from my university. I am planning to submit the paper to a low-tier conference and if submitted, this would bring a bad name to my university. Therefore, I do not want to mention my affiliation in my research paper. Is is acceptable to do so?

By "not good quality results" I mean that "just so-so work", that is done well but not seemingly very interesting right now.


texts: Is it permitted to not take Ph.D. students who have girlfriends/are married/don't come in weekends...?

texts:
As a professor, are you permitted to prohibit Ph.D. students from joining your research group if you know they have a boy/girlfriend, are married, don't come in on weekends, who don't stay late, etc...?

The professor does not intend to make them work on stuff related to his/her research outside of normal working hours.  Rather, the supervisor would like their students to be driven enough to study/read publications and books about topics outside their particular research program during those times.

That way, supposedly, by the time they graduate, they will be very well rounded, and also develop their own research programs in meaningful ways.

Since I observe this behavior with a certain professor I know at a US university, I was wondering if that professor is liable for legal charges, which I could bring up to the dean.

One way I hear about how he "weeds" out the normal people is by telling them how much work it takes to succeed, and gives examples of previous "successful" students, and what their lifestyles were. I suppose he says something like: "this is how much you know from being an undergrad, this is how much you need to know to succeed in this field, here is a humongous list of topics you should know before you can competently do research with me, come back to me when you're ready." But I don't think that's all he does....  I think he intimidates prospective advisees with his demeanor, and so this fact along with his reputation leads to him select students who work day and night everyday.


texts: Why does achieving some success in research not feel satisfying?

texts:
Are our academia research minds just so trained to constantly climb our mental mountains that when achieving some success, one feels, "that was it?", even when the past leading up to the success was absolutely brutal in terms of work load and stress and creative thinking, so that one would think the feeling would be more joyous.

Does it always just kind of feel that way?  Does the rewarding feeling dissipate very quickly?


texts:
I am currently a post-doc student in computer science. I have worked on one research problem and have got small results. I am doing this work independently so my current supervisor is not giving any feedback. I am worried should I wait for more results or just go with results that I have in my hand. My question is should I wait for more results or first submit a paper with small results and then keep working on the problem and then after that if I have a further results then I can also try to publish in the extended form.

  Question : Publishing something in incremental way or as a single paper by waiting for more time?


texts: How to stay calm for a 7 minute scientific research talk?

texts:
As I wrote few days ago, maybe someone remembers, I am waiting for a date to be set up and to present my scientific research on the Congress.
I have never done this before, they give me 7mins to show my introduction, aim, material and methods, results, discussion, conclusion and literature.
The research is huge but my main problem is being nervous and too emotional. Does any of you have any tips how to make myself more relaxed and somehow bring myself to state "its gonna be ok"?
My main problem is my devotion to the subject since there is some molestation and neglecting recorded and law violation. It is very hard for me to stay "normal".
I would appreciate any advice
Thank you, all.


texts: Journal standards vs. personal standards

texts:
I am currently reviewing an applied math paper that I don't think is great; indeed, I am hesitant to accept it even with major revisions.  The language is poor, I'm not convinced by the arguments, and the numerical results are difficult to interpret based on how they are presented.  However, based on other work this journal has published (in particular, other papers by the same authors), I think the quality of the journal I'm reviewing for is a bit lower than my personal standards.

Should I based my final recommendation on my own standards, or the journal's?


texts: Locating a specific German Ph.D. Dissertation from 1959

texts:
I am trying to access the following work online, but I'm having no luck finding it:

  Krüger, Dietrich. 1959. "Die Bildersprache des Demosthenes." Ph.D., Classics, Göttingen.

Any idea where I could access it?


texts: Etiquette when unable to attend a conference

texts: I'm supposed to give a presentation at an academic conference in the coming days but have fallen ill. What is the best way to send my regrets? Should I also send a doctor's note? It doesn't provide details of my condition but does have other personal information such as date of birth and home address. I just wonder if any of this is the conference organiser's business. At the same time, sending an email without proof that I am truly incapacitated doesn't seem like it's enough either. I'm still not sure what to do about the presentation I'd prepared - whether or not to send it anyway etc. I'm trying to focus on getting better, but I am worried that this medical issue will ruin my good name. Any advice would be appreciated.


texts: Coping with "survivors guilt" in Academia

texts:
I managed to get a tenure-track academic job in the last month. While I'm thrilled and relieved to have secured employment, I feel somewhat guilty about it. The current employment situation is dire, due to the Covid-19 pandemic (it wasn't great before...). Many of my friends and colleagues are extremely worried about their career prospects, facing unemployment, or being forced to leave academia. I don't think I'm necessarily more deserving of a job than any of them. I can see that my experience fits well with the department I was hired by and was fortunate that they were pressing ahead with hiring.
Perhaps calling it "survivor's guilt" is too extreme. I certainly don't intend to minimise the experience of those suffering due to much more severe circumstances. But I don't think Impostor Syndrome quite describes it. I suspect this feeling may be common in academia, in particular at the moment.
How can I support my struggling colleagues/friends and mentally handle the guilt that comes with surviving in academia (at least so far!) when so many others are facing an unprecedented crisis?


texts: What is the difference between this "book" and a research paper?

texts:
I don't know a lot about the scientific research and its concepts. What is the difference between this book and any research paper?

From my understanding of the research world, I know that link.springer is a journal and journals publish research papers after reviewing. If that is the case, then what is that book doing in link.springer? Is it really just a book? or Do people call it "published book"?


texts: Electronic-only contributions in journals

texts: One of my manuscripts accepted for publication recently. The accepted manuscript exceeds the prescribed page size (16 p.) as per the journal policy. We will have to pay charges for additional pages in the manuscript. To avoid this, the editor suggested us to publish our paper as electronic-only contribution. Will it have all the indexing as a printed paper? (I mean issue, volume, and page numbers)..


texts: Is it a good idea that a reviewer recommend a paper to be submitted to another journal after it is rejected?

texts:
I am currently reviewing a paper, which is definitely not suitable for the journal where it was submitted (high impact, topics should be interesting for a broad audience). The content is not new and in this current state not sufficient for publication at all.

I would now recommend rejection with reference to some literature which covers the same results.
I would suggest some more detailed experiments for the authors, to quantify their results and then submit it to a journal with a more narrow focus.

Here my questions: Is it ok, if I write a precise journal, like

  I recommend to submit a revised manuscript to Journal XYZ, which is
  more focused on the authors' topic.

or should I write;

  I recommend to submit a revised manuscript to another journal, which
  is more focused on the authors' topic.


texts: Where should I place the citation in this sentence?

texts:
I have the following sentence, where the citation refers to the first part of the sentence. Because of how it appears in the formatting of my paper, and how it reads, I would like to have the citation at the end of the sentence as below. Is this acceptable in APA style formatting?

However, location controls should control for variation common across regions, while my placebo test does not provide evidence that an unseen trend in weight gain is responsible for my results (Mincy & De la Cruz Toledo, 2014).

The citation refers to a study which uses location controls, while the placebo test refers to something I did myself, but that I mention here to provide additional support to the plausibility of my results.
Even if it's not your personal preference, would it be OK by APA to have this reference at the end of the sentence?


texts: How to cite a specific living document in a GitHub repository?

texts:
I want to cite the Ethereum Project's white paper. It was the document that announced the project and outlined its philosophies, properties, etc. However, in 2014 they moved the paper to GitHub and treat it as a living document. For example, although the paper was initially released in 2013, as of today it has 84 revisions on GitHub with the most recent being two hours ago. They do not make a PDF available that I have found, nor have I been able to locate a DOI.

I'm going to assume that I would need to cite a specific version of the document, but I'm not sure if there is a preferred way to do that.

Note this question is similar to, but distinct from, this question which addresses how to cite an entire repository that one owns. I'm asking how to cite a specific document within a repository owned by someone else.


texts: My supervisors want to make me finish my Ph.D. in 2 years. What can I do?

texts:
After finishing my M.A.Sc. in Canada, I had been interviewed with my current supervision team in my current Swiss university to start a Ph.D. In that time, it was fairly obvious that the project I was supposed to work on would not prolong for whole four years. In the course of those interviews, particularly, my co-supervisor (whose financial resources supports my studies) had asked my what I would do if the project finishes sooner than what my Ph.D. deserves. I had answered that I would find a broader problem statement to generalize the solution to the (theoretical) aspects of the project. He had said nothing when he had heard it.

I just started my Ph.D. on Oct. 31st, 2018, and I defended my proposal in the Oct. 2019 becoming a Ph.D. candidate. In that proposal, whose content were fully known to both of them, I had noted the main problem statement of the project, as well as another as an extension (to work on one the main project is done). Before the candidacy exam, I was pretty productive not only in terms of the progression of the project but also in view of my publications (3 proceedings and 2 journal papers, 4 other journal papers are also under review now).

Today, I just received an email from my supervisor stating that he and the co-supervisor has discussed my case, and they think that I better finish my Ph.D. by the end of this year. He said I may later consider the extension problem statement, only if I can find some money to support myself in a potential post-doc period. He has fixed a zoom call for the Monday to discuss that with me in the presence of my co-supervisor. He also sent me a line of the law associated with the doctoral school of my university to support the validity of their standpoint:

  Ordinance on the doctorate at XXX, art. 9, pt 2. As a general rule,
  the subject must allow for the thesis to be completed within a
  four-year period from the candidate's official enrolment date (October
  31st,  2018 in your case), with a minimum required period prior to the
  oral examination (Art. 15) of two years.

In return, I shortly responded to his email by stating that the idea of finishing my Ph.D. just within two years is not a sound plan for me, because I later want to try to apply for some post-doc and finally tenure-track positions in North America. A two-year Ph.D. is way lower than their standards, and it shall seriously diminish my chances on that side. I also reminded them about the fact that they should have been honest and should have frankly told me that I am supposed to be dumped once the project in done regardless of how much time is passed from the start of my Ph.D. (I said all in a very professional tune without any aggression). I also noted that even if they don't like the extension problem statement, I am open to discuss about what they may alternatively prefer to be done. In the end, I reiterated again that finishing my Ph.D. in two years is not a thing I could imagine.

Now, I am thinking about the optimal way I should approach this issue. Finishing in just two years is literally like wasting two years of my life as I do know that almost every search committee would raise eyebrow when they see a two-year Ph.D. in my CV. I fill this whole story is totally unfair and hideously disappointing. I am heading toward a very important meeting with them that I have no idea how I should react if they just throw a THAT'S IT to me and simply make me end my Ph.D. How should I manage such a potential worst-case scenario?

PS. 1 I am in an STEM field, if does matter.

PS. 2 My university assigns each Ph.D. candidate to a mentor to whom she can bring any issue which could not be resolved in the circle of herself and her supervisors. Because of the pandemic, I can't meet mine, and he has not answered my email regarding my consultation request.


texts: How to get (a payed?) feedback with discussion?

texts:
I try to publish a text without success. In peer-review most replies are "does not fit our journal", even though some journals gave me full referee's report (with negative opinion). I understand it is impossible to discuss all "low-level" works which exist (maybe the mine is one of them...which I do not believe). Yet I would like to discuss and defend my work. "Defense" is in peer-review process impossible, referee gives his opinion and the story ends. Linking my work on the relevant stackexchange forum did not help either: few negative comments were discontinued after I replied.

Question: Is there maybe a payed option to have the work discussed with the engagement of the referee to get and give responses? Is there a way to get discussion by paying (even on potentially low-level work)?


texts: Have most journals recently stopped providing off-prints to authors?

texts:
I've recently obtained my PhD in mathematics and started a post-doc this year. I have 5 published papers, across a wide spectrum of journals (in terms of quality, from very good to mediocre). However I never received any off-prints from the journals and it seems that to receive those one has to pay. On the other hand all the professors that I know of have always a lot of off-prints for most of their journal publications. I always wanted to have these neat looking off-prints but it seems that the winds have changed and journals are becoming "cheaper" (behavior-wise) than ever.

This leads me to the following question:

Is this a recent change? Is it considered the norm now to not send off-prints free of charge?
Are these professors perhaps ordering the off-prints through some departmental fund?

Is there anything that can be done about this situation? Can I pressure the journal into sending me off-prints free of charge (e.g would trying to refuse signing the publishing agreement, unless they provide the off-prints for free work?). Have people tried boycotting journals not offering off-prints? This kind of cheap behavior really strikes me as pushing the boundary of what is acceptable. Not only we do most of the work for the journal (refereeing, writing, etc.) but on top of that journals are expensive and do not even offer off-prints anymore.


texts: Choosing Recommenders for Physics Graduate Applications

texts:
I am applying for physics graduate programs. For context, the graduate programs I am applying to require three letters of recommendation and most of them do not allow more letters.

I have several options for graduate recommendation letters. I plan to send one letter from my current research adviser and one letter from my research adviser from the REU program I did last summer.

For my last letter, I can either request a rec from my research adviser from another summer research program I did two years ago OR from a professor I have a good relationship with who taught an undergraduate class in quantum physics my sophomore second semester. Which final letter writer should I choose?

The reason I am hesitant to go with the professor is because I am not sure his letter will add much. I have a 4.0 GPA and I have no research experience with this professor, whereas I believe the research adviser from my summer research program can write a strong letter and can discuss my abilities to do research.

I have taken additional physics classes (and some graduate courses), but I did not develop a close relationship with the professors and those professors can at best say I got an A in their class and was an engaged student.


texts: Should I include non-English textbooks in the course?

texts:
This is set up in a Russian university with English as a working language, but may apply to any university with a large share of international students.

Suppose I'm listing a set of course materials, including textbooks and educational resources, for a graduate course. Should I include textbooks in Russian / any other language that might be useful to a part of the students cohort, or should I stick to English only?

Pros of providing additional materials in Russian:

some students might benefit from them, and additional materials might make the course content clearer for these students,

Cons of providing additional materials in Russian:

students that don't know Russian might fear they are missing out some course material.


texts: If a professor says he will not fund my internship as it will be my first visit, how can I convince him politely?

texts:
I contacted a professor in a foreign university for a possible research internship in his lab. He is willing to accept me as an intern, but has stated that since he barely knows me and it is the first time I will be working under him, he will not provide any financial support.

I have read his publications, his areas of interest match with mine, and I believe that his papers were among the most exciting ones I have read so far. Being an undergraduate, I have limited funding of my own and I don't want to miss this opportunity because of lack of resources.

Since he mentioned 'will not fund' instead of 'cannot fund', I feel that there is some scope to convince him. Can someone advise me regarding what I should say to do so, without being rude? I would appreciate any help.


texts: How do people who are not active in the academic community write papers? Is it possible?

texts:
I've recently finished grad school.  I've written two papers since that time, and I think that I have more good ideas.  However, I find it difficult to write now for two reasons.  First of all, I don't have access to the ACM / IEEE literature databases anymore (they were gratis from my university.)  Second, I have no one to review or even proof-read my papers.

So, how do people who are not active in the academic community write papers?  Is it possible?


texts: Advice on study plan for Applied Math/Machine learning courses, for PhD degree not in either subject

texts:
My question requires a little background which I will give here:

I'm heading into the 2nd year of my Epidemiology PhD program. I work on vaccine trials/infection control using simple non-linear math models and love it. The majority of in-department modeling courses have been survey courses focused on translating epidemiological concepts into models, only briefly touching on the math used for implementation.

I've signed up for some introductory courses in the econometrics department (with my department's permission) which cover bayesian statistics, pdfs, importance sampling etc. I chose courses in the econometrics department as I thought they would be more applied and have more students at a similar math level to myself.

1) My main anxiety is that I've always been a solid B grade math student. I learn best through project-based learning and hands-on implementation. Formula based lecturing and proofs have been very difficult for me and I find that subsequently I don't retain much.

2) I've been able to learn more difficult mathematical concepts using computational software (I am a proficient R and MATLAB user) and doing self-teaching tutorials. Concepts that have previously been explained to me in math theory 4-5 times 'click' when I code them out and can experiment with sampling, seeing actual results. (for example, mcmc metropolis-hastings)

3) What would be your recommendations be for devising a study plan for these classes, and my future classes, which maximizes learning the relevant mathematical concepts given this 'learning style'? Were there any websites, types of courses, or textbooks/exercise books that taught difficult concepts with code but didn't overly rely on pre-built functions?

People in other departments either seem to grasp concepts effortlessly or stop trying to learn them. In addition no one else else in my cohort or the years above work on these type of questions or models so I have no one to ask for advice.

I am under no delusions about my mathematical abilities here and have no ambition to pursue math/statistical/machine learning research. My goal is to reach a level where I am able to fully comprehend the tools used in my particular field and be able to implement and critique them at a 100% competent level. Thanks!


texts: How to request retraction of a published paper when contacting the editors and publishers doesn't work?

texts:
About 18 months ago, I found a published paper which plagiarised my work.

I initially contacted the journal editors, but they did not respond. I then contacted Elsevier, which publishes the journal. After a series of emails over several months I was forwarded a fairly cold response from an editor, which denied the issue with little apparent investigation (even though I had already presented detailed evidence of the plagiarised sections). I eventually contacted one of the authors who readily admitted the problem (the authors had previously attempted to plagiarise my work, but I caught this early because I was invited to peer-review that paper). The authors offered to request that the paper is retracted. However, I suspect that the authors have experienced the same issue I faced when trying to request action from the editors, and the paper is still available in published form online.

How should I proceed to deal with this situation? I have already tried contacting the journal editors and Elsevier via the "Contact us" link (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/contactus), but this has been a waste of time.

This is not a well-respected journal within my field of work, so I could try to ignore it. But, as well as the obvious reasons why the paper should be retracted, it has already received a citation - which potentially could have been attributed to one of my original publications.


texts: How should I ask professor for letter of recommendation?

texts:
I'm a freshman undergrad student, and I'm applying for some programs that require letters of recommendation. I already have one professor who seems happy to write one for me, but I have another who I don't know how to ask. In the past when I've contacted the professor, he has neglected to reply. He's quite busy and disorganized. Most people I've talked with have also had trouble contacting him. In addition, I am worried about asking because I have only had one class with him and I'm not sure he likes me or can actually write much about me.

I have a class with him starting about 3 weeks before the deadline. Should I ask now over email so he has time to look at it? Should I include information about the programs I'm planning on applying to in the initial email, or would that seem presumptuous? Thanks for any help!


texts: Master in humanities as a software engineer

texts:
I am living in the Netherlands (at the moment, I am an expat), I have two M.Sc and a bachelor in software engineer / computer science and and I am looking at the possibility of having a part-time masters course in Humanities, particularly history or philosophy.

I checked the universities in my area but all the programs are not accepting students without a background in related fields and the don't offer any preparation courses. I wouldn't mind starting from a bachelor but there are not available as part time programs and I am working full time.

If anyone has a deeper knowledge of the Dutch educational system I would like to know if there is a way to carry out my plan.


texts: What corrections can you make on galley proofs?

texts:
When I receive galley proofs of a paper, I look at possible errors introduced by the copy-editing team. But while I proofread the article, there are sometimes small mistakes I'd like to fix, which were not introduced by them (i.e. they were already present in the accepted version of the manuscript).

Usually, the proofs are accompanied by instructions saying that extensive changes should not be introduced at that time, and any such changes would have to be approved by the editor (hence, I suppose, delaying publication). However, the limit is not very clear to me. What is considered extensive changes? In particular, what do you think of the following items (from my experience):

Slight changes in wording, to improve clarity
Updating a citation, because an “in press” or “ASAP” article now has page numbers
Adding an important (but not crucial) citation one had missed, in the introduction
Adding a citation to a paper that has been published since the manuscript was submitted; possibly adding a short sentence to the text

What I have done so far is change everything that I think should be changed to improve the paper (including all the above items), and let the typesetter decide whether he wanted to send it back to the editor. I never received any complaint or comment on my changes, which could indicate that it was the correct course of action.


texts: What to do about referral for student I would not recommend?

texts:
In my field (computer science), students often get jobs through referrals, where faculty members pass on the student's resume to someone employed at the company the student wants to work at. In an annual talk and throughout the year, I advise my students to use referrals if at all possible rather than applying online. I accept LinkedIn requests from my students and encourage them to ask me for referrals.

There is currently a student in our small program who has negatively impressed all of the professors he has taken classes from, as well as many of the students. He is not the weakest CS student, but, in my opinion, he is the worst at getting along with others and behaving professionally.

I am wondering what to do when he asks me to refer him to companies (which I expect him to do). In the past, when a weak student has asked for a referral, I have said that I don't think they're ready for the job in question [due to their technical level], recommended that they ask a different professor, or refer them without an explicit recommendation (e.g., "Jane Doe asked me to refer her to SlackJaw.") I am hesitant to do the latter for this student because I don't want to hurt my or my school's reputation by putting forward a candidate who behaves inappropriately. I also dread his reaction if I decline to refer him for a job. I expect that he would get angry and allege persecution. (I'm a tenured full professor, so my job wouldn't be in danger if he complained about me, but I'd rather not get in that situation.)

In any event, I don't want to hurt his chances of getting a job. I'm happy to give him job-seeking advice and help him with his resume, but I don't want to recommend him.

What should I do if he asks me for a referral?


texts:
In one course I got a lower than expected grade. If the professor wants, he can give me a non passing grade and this won't be on my transcript (non passing grades are not on our transcript). Of course I have to retake the course.

Many of our professors do it, but a few usually doesn't.

How I can polity ask him to give me a non passing grade?


texts: Is it permitted to quote something with informal language, like an interview excerpt with 'haha', in a thesis?

texts:
One of the interview excerpt I want to quote include "haha."

Is it permitted to quote an interview excerpt with 'haha' in a thesis?

I asked because it seems like it is too informal.


texts: The correlation between GPA in grad school and research ability

texts: In the US graduate universities, Ph.D. students have to take courses. Can a student with low GPA do good research? I think doing research is solving problems. If someone cannot solve a homework or an exam, how the person can even solve more complicated problems to publish?


texts: How to maximize the benefit of an exchange opportunity during PhD

texts:
My supervisor has asked me to stay in a lab in a foreign country for a few months. That lab has some collaboration with us but their research is actually not related to mine. I don't know why my supervisor asked me to go, but I think it would be a great chance to broaden my experience so I did not complaint.

Besides travelling around the city and knowing new friends, what should I prepare and what should I do there to utilize this opportunity to help my PhD? I hope this opportunity can both benefit me academically and personally.


texts: How to request transcript copies from universities in the Netherlands?

texts: In the US, one can request that the university from which one graduated to send copies of one's transcript to other universities (graduate admissions) or prospective employers. I would like to know what is the provision in the Netherlands, if one needs to send a copy of one's transcript to the university in the US.


texts: As a new faculty, I lack the knowledge of fundamentals in my field. What should be the course of action under my special circumstance?

texts:
Academics are supposed to be an expert in their field and should have a firm grasp on their subject of research. For example, my research is focused on Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and using finite volume method is my bread and butter. However due to various error in decision making, I never took a course on the subject. I just had an introductory course on transport phenomena and actual numerical method knowledge was acquired while pursuing research on a very practical basis.
My applied research involves using fluent software and I am able to produce decent publications using the software.
Now, as a faculty member, I am supposed to teach CFD to undergrad and graduate students.
How do I address my lack of structured fundamental knowledge on the topic? I will have to start teaching from next semester and I have the course material from a previous instructor, but I am clueless about half of the stuff as that never came across during my research. Also, it's mathematics heavy, I did not come across that in my research papers.
Do I take up the recommended book and study the entire thing, solving selected examples over the course of one month. Or any other way to expedite the process? Please advise.


texts: White supremacists marching at the University of Virginia – does this reflect the university’s attitude?

texts:
White supremacist groups have been marching down in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the University of Virginia (article).

Does this also in some ways reflect on the university itself for allowing the march to happen (see the disturbing photos in the linked NY Times article) and for all the subsequent violence to occur?


texts: Do professors frown upon students who don't take notes?

texts:
I am a math student and never take notes in class. I feel like I am offending the professors by not taking notes. In general, do professors like students to be "active" during class? I have never learned much by taking notes.

I see other graduate students furiously taking notes...and then I am afraid that professors may write that I am lazy in recommendation letters. So maybe I should just takes notes?


texts:
Is there any general advise on when better to submit a paper?

I mean, should one consider the seasonal differences in the way journals work.

Let's say, I have a manuscript ready to submit at the beginning of June. Would it make any sense to withhold it until the beginning of the new academic year as there is low chance the paper would be proceeded during the summer?


texts: If I submit a poster to ICDE, can I submit the full version of paper to another conference?

texts:
I received an opportunity to make a poster submission to ICDE, i.e. IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering. I want to know if I submitted the poster, can I submit the full version of paper, with almost the same content, but much extended, to another conference?

I found a similar question, but I look forward to a detailed answer for my specific question. That question discusses the general case for Computer Science. Its answer says for different domain, the rule is different. I hope to know the rule for ICDE, because the deadline is 4 days later and I have to make a decision on whether submitting the poster. If submitting the poster will disable me to submit the full paper to another conference, then I will cancel the submission. Otherwise I will make the poster submission.

Thank you all for helping me!


texts: Is calling a staff member "selfish" harassment?

texts: A faculty member wrote to a staff member that "you are selfish." The staff member wrote back to the faculty member asking for an explanation. The faculty member did not respond and wrote: "I would not respond to you any further." Is this harassment?