texts: Should I take class time to explain software?

texts:
I'm teaching a course that introduces linguistic field methods. We have fewer lectures than a typical 3-credit course, but the students have ‘lab’ sessions eliciting data from speakers, and they're expected to work a lot on their own.

Analyzing the data requires the use of specific linguistics software. The software doesn't teach concepts; it's just helpful for analysis. In the past, some instructors have taken lecture time to introduce this software, but that has always rubbed me the wrong way:

I found such demonstrations tedious to watch as a student, and tedious to teach as an instructor.
Most students seem to be able to figure it out on their own; for the others, there are succinct instructional videos, and there are office hours.
Teaching students how to use software just doesn't feel like university education to me. I would much prefer to talk about bigger picture issues—e.g., database technology or data portability in general, rather than how to use one particular piece of software.

Computer work has always been easy for me, and I recognize that I may underestimate how difficult it is to learn new software. I wonder if anyone has a sense of how much computer competence we can expect of the ‘average’ student.

I am also curious whether my intuition about the content of university education is appropriate. This is a practicum, after all.


texts: Should I state membership in a professional society in authors' list?

texts:
I am one of the five authors in a paper about to be submitted.
Some of us stated in the affiliation their membership in a certain chemical society closely related to both the subject of the paper and the target journal itself (electrochemistry). I am member of a different chemical society not really germane to that field.

Should I state my membership in such society ?


texts: bibtex entries for versions of the c++ standard

texts:
Where can I find BibTeX entries that help me cite a version of the C++ standard? In a paper I discuss the necessity of trailing return types, which became available in C++11. I want to be able to cite this version of the standard.

I came across a post on this site here. Adam Erickson's answer provides a link to this page which appears to have entries for all versions of the standard. However, I wonder

if these are "outdated" in some sense because a few of the links are dead; and
which citation I should use (e.g. "ISO:2011:IIIa" or "ISO:2011:IIIb" or ...).


texts: Should you always report to faculty with equal or higher rank?

texts: We're restructuring but the new org chart has me reporting to an associate prof, instead of an equal-ranked full professor.  Is this defamatory or typical?


texts: Could giving an alternative approach to proving an established result be worthy of publication?

texts:
(I don't believe this is a duplicate to Can I publish a paper with new proof but the same result?, because not only am I using a different proof, but also an axiomatisation that could perhaps be seen as controversial)
I am a post graduate student of pure mathematics that hasn't published anything yet.
Hypothetically, let's say that there's an established result in mathematics that was stated and proven using a popular axiomatisation.
Let's say that if you state and prove the same result using a different (non-standard) axiomatisation, then the result becomes (perhaps debatably) more elegant.
Is it possible for paper like this to be worthy of publication?
If so, are there any specific journals that you think might be more likely to accept such a paper?
Slightly more detail:
The established result uses ZFC as axiomatisation, my approach uses ZFC + Atoms as axiomatisation. The result that I'm restating and reproving concerns general mathematical structures.


texts: How much does a publisher charge authors if they want to make their book open access?

texts:
Is there any research/study/survey that looked at how much publishers charge authors if they want to make their books (textbooks or research books) open access?

I am most interested in the field of computer science, and English-speaking venues, but interested in other field and languages as well.


texts: How important are my grades to the rest of my PhD career?

texts: Speaking to the faculty in my program, I've noticed that they seem to evaluate themselves and others using two criterion: (1) publication quality and quantity, and (2) ability to obtain grant money. No one discusses grades or performance in graduate school classes. Even when potential faculty candidates come around, this doesn't seem to be emphasized at all. What role do grades play in my PhD career?


texts: Temporary position in Academic Institution vs. Postdoc research after PhD

texts:
After completion of my PhD, there are two options open for me: one is temporary positions in academic institutions and other is Postdoc.
I see that most of the regular faculty jobs require a minimum of three years of research or teaching experience. Thus, for getting a regular job, I need have three years in hand.

I joined as a temporary position in one institute, and the period is over now. As I have experienced, there is little scope of doing research in a temporary position and heavy academic load (such as teaching classes 4-6 hours daily) causes a lack of time for research. Also, getting a regular supervision for students is tough because it is a temporary position. Despite this, I worked hard after office hours, and published a couple of research papers in top journals and conferences in collaboration with some foreign researchers. It drains out a lots of energy to balance between job search, teaching class, and publishing papers with lack of research facilities.

In contrast, I think that it might be better to move into a postdoc.
So, how good or bad is it to do a postdoc of 2-3 years duration, with the aim of getting good publications and good jobs in academic institutions?


texts:
Some conference is asking me to:

Please enter the Semantic Scholar IDs of everyone who may be biased in reviewing your submission. These should include people like supervisors, family members, intimate friends, and students.

That's a pain to do it manually. How can I quickly retrieve the Semantic Scholar IDs of all my co-authors? (e.g., programmatically or some other tricks)
(I know that the set {"people like supervisors, family members, intimate friends, and students"} is slightly different from {"my co-authors"} but that's good enough for me.)


texts: How to assess the impact of an academic paper in the industry

texts:
Assessing the impact of an academic paper on other academics can be done (with its pros and cons) using the number of citations the paper attracts. For more detailed information on how the paper influenced the citing work, one can read the citing paper, visit the authors' webpages and even email them. All of this is made possible by the fact that most (successful) academic works result in the public, searchable, dissemination of that work.

However, how can I assess the impact a paper has on industry? Industrial work, which results in products rather than papers, will usually not leave an easily identifiable trail connecting it to the previous work on which it builds up. But funding agencies put emphasis on reutilisation of academic results for industrial applications. Recently, we got a consulting job because a semiconductors company came by a paper I wrote a couple of years ago and decided to hire us to advise them on how to build their production process. In my next application for research funding I can use this contract to exemplify how my research is useful for industry. But what about all the other companies that are using our results and we don't know about? Is there a way to estimate this impact?


texts: Writing a Personal Statement (Mathematics Ph.D Programs)

texts:
I am beginning to plan for graduate school. I will be applying to many Ph.D programs and a few Masters programs as a backup plan (all pure mathematics).

I am starting to think about how to write my personal statement. I am seeking advice regarding the process of writing a personal statement . I am mostly curious about what people usually talk about in these things. I obviously want to convey my interest and potential in mathematics research. But my problem is: I do not have the mathematical background to have an idea what I want to specialize in. I know that this hurts my chances at being competitive. My undergraduate degree has simply not exposed me to enough mathematics.

I appreciate any advice - relevant to my concerns or just advice in general.

Thank you.


texts: How to reduce negative consequence for the person I plagiarized my assignment from?

texts: Due to some personal reasons, I didn't get to complete my semester end project. So I copied my friend's project and submitted it without major changes (I know I was a fool to do that). Now we are caught and my TA told us that both of our scores will be zero. I have begged the TA to give my friend his score, at least. I don't know what is going to happen. I am obviously going to fail this class, but I don't want my friend to fail it because of me. What should I do?


texts: Evaluating an opportunity for undergrad thesis in computer science

texts:
I am a pre-final year undergrad student of computer science. I am interested in getting into research. I have already done some research, but it has not been very formal, and I have not been able to devote a lot of time to it due to college coursework.

In my final year of college, my university allows me to pursue my undergrad thesis at any university / research institute where I can find a professor willing to advise me. I have been able to find such a professor in Germany, who is willing to advise me for 8 months, and his group is very relevant to the kind of research I want to pursue in future.

However, the problem is that the institute is not very well known, at least in my country. But the Google Scholar profile of the professor is decent enough. The group in which I'll be working does seem to be doing good work, although the project assigned to me currently is one on which just a single researcher is working. Also, what surprised me a little was that the researcher is just a master, she doesn't even have a PhD yet. But the work being done by her seems to be good enough and state-of-the-art.

Another criterion by which people suggested I can judge the state of a project is the funding. If a project is well-funded, it probably means it is in good shape and is going somewhere. Well, I don't know about the funding of the project exactly, but they are offering me quite a large stipend which points to the fact that they are not exactly low on funding. Also, many of my friends have applied for theses abroad and have found that obtaining a funded position for an undergrad is very hard. Considering I have a well-funded position is probably a good sign then, right?

How else can I go about evaluating this opportunity? Are the things mentioned above important to factor into this decision? Any other points I should consider?


texts: Do teaching an advance course helps in evaluation and tenure?

texts: Do teaching an advance course helps in promotion or it does not matter?


texts: Characterization of the lifespan of an academic paper

texts:
Every paper has a life-span that could be measured by the time difference between the publication date and the date of the "last" citation (if one exists). Of course, it is not possible for one to predict when the last citation would be, since it is theoretically possible for a paper published 50 years ago with 0 citations till date to be cited by someone tomorrow.

But the basic idea is: given citation information till date, is there a way to characterize the life-span of an academic publication? Is this a concept that has been studied before?


texts: Is it possible to write publication with a BSc student co-author?

texts:
I am an associate professor in a department, mostly focusing on progressive topics related to spatial applications of artificial intelligence.

Besides my research projects, I have innovative and novel ideas, with I just don't have time to deal. If students interested to work with me, I used to give them ideas like that.

They can present their results (under my consultation/supervision) i.e., in a Student Conference at the university. But according to our university licensing, consulting does not lead to any authorship for the mentor.

If I think in the long-term, there is a good chance they will leave the university after a BSc (or even MSc) thesis. In that case, my shared (sometimes novel) ideas get stuck. Since I won't publish their 'managed' contribution to the research, it's a moral thing for me.

So I was thinking, instead of (or beside) draining them to the Student Conference, I should motivate them to write journal or conference paper, where copyrights are better solved, I can be a senior, last co-author.

But I am afraid that journals/papers don't support BSc student authors that much. Am I right? Are there journals/papers where the acceptance rate doesn't depend that much on the authors' affiliation?
Do you have any hint, feedback on this idea?


texts: Stay at university for summer or apply for other research programs?

texts:
I am currently a 3rd year undergrad who assists with research at my current university. I have been working on a project since September 2019, and the PI says it is possible to get a publication with further work (though I know the project is still relatively new now). Should I assist with research in this lab for the summer, or apply to other programs like REUs?

I received the opportunity to attend a REU last summer but chose an internship instead. For reference, I am hoping to attend a medical school in the future - I hope it's ok for me to post on this academia stack exchange since it is research-related. Thank you for reading!


texts: Is the professor allowed to force all of his students to retake the final

texts: So my friends professor had his class take the final last week, but the problem was that the whole final was online even with all the answers, but he didn't find out till today and he is making everyone of his students retake it, and it got me wondering if that is legal and fair for the students who had already taken the final. My friend goes to Brooklyn College.


texts: Are admissions offers sent after the April 15 deadline?

texts: Do Universities in the US send admission offers after 15th April? If so, how many offers do they make?


texts: Effects of Game-based Learning on Motivation for Learning

texts:
I found many studies discovering the impact of game-based learning on motivation for learning.

For example, these papers

You can also find a summary of them in this book chapter.

However, it is still unclear to me if this motivation is for entertainment or for learning. I was wondering if there is any study showing that students who are adapted to this method of learning have a higher motivation to pursue learning in other forms. My concern is about long-term effects of this method of learning. What is the intrinsic reaction of K-12 students who have adapted to game-based learning when they start higher education in which game-based learning is not provided? Will they have a higher incentive to study? or a lower incentive, because they prefer to play games rather than studying?


texts: Will there by any copyright issue if we decide to add ACM Computing Classification System to our theses?

texts:
Let us say that we decide to use ACM Computing Classification System in the undergraduate and graduate theses from our department. These theses belong to the field of Computer Science and Engineering.

Will there by any copyright issues from ACM side?

There is an ACM Chapter in our department.


texts:
I recently got a reject & resubmit which usually would not bother me too much, however, this case is a bit special:
The specific journal runs a single-blind peer review process. One review was very positive and the other one was extremely negative (if not to say rude). The AE and SE also provided their own comments and decided "reject with merit". Which is ok, however, there is scant evidence that the negative review has been done by my former phd supervisor. As indicated by the rude review we did not separate after my graduation in a good way.
The problem is: I do not know how to proceed from this point. How do i make sure that i will get a fair and (more important) ethical review process after re-submission? I'm also not sure how common it is to ask the authors for a decision about the resubmission (incl. a concrete time horizon) after rejection (note it is a top trier journal).
According to the peer-review process i should have no idea about the reviewers. However, it is not always too difficult to figure out (in particular if the particular research area is small and you have worked for years for a specific memeber).
Many thanks in advance!


texts: Is it hard to start a PhD programme after leaving to work in industry?

texts:
Currently I'm finishing my master program in computing. I need to decide between going to industry and starting a PhD programme. Having worked a bit with research and industry I prefer the former so far, however I wouldn't like to close my career paths.

Is it hard to resume education after working in industry (assuming 'ideal' conditions such as work related to chosen field, good master project from good university etc.)?


texts: What to do if authors don't respond to my serious concerns about their paper?

texts:
I recently read a paper that conducted an experiment, analyzed it, and reached a conclusion. However, the way they conducted the analysis is seriously flawed and cannot be used to support the conclusion.

As far as I can tell, the experiment is valid and only the analysis is problematic. Thus the paper can be rewritten, although the conclusion may completely change.

The paper is published in a highly-reputable and prestigious scientific journal. The authors are all senior researchers at reputable institutions.
It's a bit of a surprise that this flaw got past the authors and peer review. I suspect that, because the conclusion confirms what many people already believe, the analysis was not scrutinized too closely. I only became suspicious of it because the measured effect was too strong. The analysis is also reasonably complex and the flaw is somewhat subtle.

I contacted all three authors by email and explained the problem with their analysis. I did by best to phrase the email appropriately.

A month later, I have received no response to my email. What would be a reasonable course for further action? Options include:

Send the authors a follow-up email. (If so, what should I say to get the message across?)
Contact the journal with my concerns.
Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)
Do nothing. (I think the paper is too important.)


texts: Can I ask the Associate Editor of a journal for an update on a paper I refereed?

texts:
I wrote a referee report for a paper and recommended a minor revision. This was in December 2019 and I have not heard from the associate editor regarding the fate of this paper.
Is it inappropriate for me to request an update on the status of the paper? Whether it was rejected outright or whether a revision is in the making?


texts: How to ask "Do you have any projects for me?" to a professor (who is not your own advisor)

texts:
Suppose that you already have an advisor and an ongoing project. Suppose that you are willing to get a "side gig" and that there is a professor you know at your school who is working in an area that interests you (which is not your main area of interest though).

How do you preface and then ask in a professional way the following question:

  "Do you have any projects on which I could work under your supervision/with your collaboration?"

Basically, it is about asking for a small "side" thesis project to a professor who is not your advisor.


texts: Will publishing a paper hinder graduate admissions if errors are discovered?

texts:
I believe I have developed a formal proof for an unsolved conjecture in mathematics; however, I'm not yet enrolled in university and I know maybe one individual who could check my proof.

Should I still submit this paper to a journal and risk it being published and then later errors being discovered? Furthermore, would an incorrect paper hinder admission to graduate schools? It's not that I would be upset about being wrong, it certainly wouldn't be the first time I was ever wrong. I just wouldn't want those errors to ruin my future. I wouldn't be concerned if the paper was denied by the journal because the error wouldn't be publicized.

I'm confident that my method is rigorous and proves the conjecture. However, I know the likelihood of errors being present is almost certain.

The overall question is: If I submit a paper to a journal and it is published, but later errors are found, will that hinder admissions to graduate school; or is that just a risk one takes in sharing research?

Note: I don't expect that the proof is wrong, I truly believe that it is correct. However, I must consider the event that it is proven incorrect.


texts: How to respond in the rebuttal phase when the reviewer's concern is a blind review issue?

texts:
I recently received the reviewers' feedback for my paper and I need to respond them in their questions in the rebuttal phase.
One reviewer (who also gave me a weak reject) mentioned that one of my references infringes the blind-review policy of the conference.

Well, I cited my paper Y, which is recently accepted in the upcoming conference X, without using my name, but I mentioned the name of the paper and the conference as well. I was confident that the final notifications would be announced before the conference X takes place, however, i didn't consider the fact that conferences would announce their accepted papers on their website 1-2 months prior to the conference! :D

I think the reviewer tried to investigate further and went to the program of that conference and searched for paper Y to find the name of the authors!

I do not know what to respond regarding this comment to avoid my paper from being rejected by the PC and also to satisfy the reviewer's concern?!


texts: Negotiating Part-Time Lecturer in Germany

texts:
I am interviewing for a part-time (50%) program-lead/lecturer position at a university in Germany. The position is to set up and lecture on a new master's degree program. I will be finding more out at the interview, but I suspect that very little groundwork has been laid yet and the job of this position for the next year will be to create the program basically from scratch and recruit a cohort of students and teach at least one class on it when it starts in 2020.

I like the idea of the position, but I think that it is probably not really a 50% time position (i.e. it will take more than 20 hours a week to do this job). I have already asked the professor that listed the position about the chances of it increasing to 100% time, which he said would only happen if there was external funding but he also noted that I would have to negotiate my step on the pay scale with HR directly. This implies to me that any negotiations about the position will be with HR.

Anyone familiar with German academic postings, what is the culture around negotiating positions? Obviously I've applied to the job, but I also know that I think this is a job that will need more than 20 hours a week to do. I would prefer to negotiate to at least 66% time, but alternatively I would accept the position so long as I was placed at step 3 or 4 on the scale (which I've read is quite hard to get done).

Does anyone have any thoughts on how HR will respond to asking to increase the part-time position from 50% to 66%?


texts: How to Direct the Reader to the Background and Terminology Section?

texts:
While writing a thesis, suppose that, one wants to inform the reader that he/she needs to have a basic knowledge of some topic to understand the following.

If the term is explained in Background and Terminology, how should I say this?

  For the readers who are not familiar with the term blah-blah, we
  explain it in detail in Section 1.2.

or

  We strongly encourage our readers to read Section 1.2 to obtain
  information about blah-blah.

or, what else?


texts: Are patents included in literature reviews?

texts:
I'm writing a literature review on synthesis and biological activity of some organic compounds, and half the references I found on SciFinder are patents. Are patents typically included in literature reviews of this sort?
Thank you!


texts: Early submission of graduate school application

texts: I may have a reason to submit my application as much as three months before the deadline. I am wondering if this would significantly hinder the odds of admission?


texts: Literature on path from industry (STEM, not CS) to academia

texts:
I got my PhD 5 years ago and went straight to industry. Currently in industry and loving it, I'm in 30s.
At some point I want to move back to academia. I think sharing industry experience and helping students with networking in industry is what is badly missing in the current STEM academia. That's what I was missing form my adviser and heard lots of students are missing.
I plan to return to academia in my 50s.
Are there anything to read to prepare myself for this? Any blogs/books/personal experience is greatly appreciated!
Questions in the comments:

Are you doing research in industry?

Yes, R&D.

What aspects do you think you need to prepare for?

How to bring money in and interact with colleagues (professors), I guess.


texts: Putting link of full text of paper in Google Scholar

texts:
I have several papers in IEEE Xplore. I have uploaded their pre-print versions in academia.edu. But when I search in Google Scholar, I can't find the links of those I uploaded in academia.

What should I do to show up the link of my free papers alongside with the original published ones in Google Scholar search? Where should I upload the free versions?
I am an undergrad student and I do not have any official website/e-mail.


texts: Lot of time an energy spent on a field and lab based Master's thesis but subsequently ignored

texts:
I am (was) a mature student with 20 years previous commercial experience

Over the course of two extensive field trips plus lab work during my Masters degree I developed and promoted some interesting and contemporary ideas and methods in ecology. There were certainly aspects of originality and practical use.

Of course in my literature review I examined state-of-the-art and the relevance of my work within that.

At the time I was trying to obtain more buy-in and interest from my supervisor and the course supervisor. The response was luke warm to say the least. In fact I was led to believe that there was very little value in my work by a course director - which definitely put me off - although I was committed to what I thought was a great direction.

I would also say there are/were publishing opportunities - but as a busy Masters student it is difficult to start this, without contributions from some supervisor or other.

Subsequently (within a couple of months of thesis completion) I found out that in fact there was actually a massive interest in this topic, at the university (and elsewhere) . When I found this - I held a meeting with an academic (in a different dept, as this was a cross-department interest) - indeed it turns out that there was funding applied for , for the very topic. But I didn't hear from this academic again , I felt (rightly or wrongly) that they wanted to pick my brains rather than establish any co-operation

Now the university are running a full scale promotion and research in this field
 - indeed it is becoming a flagship concept.

I am frustrated that there seems to be no acknowledgement of my work. In one sense I understand that as soon as you are not a student at that university - then there is no obligation to involve you in any way. However I also feel that there is a sense in which the 'push to publish' has led them to be non-collaborative in this work now. And it would be naive to think that departments are not competitive, especially when there is interesting new work involved.

However I would have liked  to have been involved at some level, whether that is through acknowledgement - or further collaborative opportunities (as post university I am keen to get involved, whether as a consultant, or in further independet research which I have been working on). In fact the work they are engaged in now supposedly involves the commercialisation of the topic.

I would say that I am extremely amenable to co-operation (I work with lots of stakeholders in the work that I did previously) and avoid pointless conflicts

My specific questions are
Should there be any acknowledgement of the work that I have done?
Should I be disgruntled for having my work ignored?
What could be done to alleviate this?


texts: Is there a conflict of interest between me and the university if I get paid on teaching others how to apply for the PhD positions in my university?

texts:
I am a Ph.D. student. An application agent company approached me and ask if I could be a casual consulter on their platform and give some advice to the students who want to apply for the Ph.D. position in my country. Usually, there will be only 5 or 6 hours of workload a month and they pay 5000 dollars a year. The work is about that I teach them how to apply, like what they should focus on, when to write the emails to the professors, how to write the emails to get the professor's attention, where to search the useful information about the opening PhD positions. And the agent also asked me whether I could write the personal statement or even upload the application materials for their students. I refused as I think this might be inappropriate. I am a PhD student who wants to do causal work and earn some extra money but not a real application agent. But consultation work seems to be fine. I also see some Ph.D. students from universities even like Oxford doing the paperwork writing. I guess they pay a lot if you do such kinds of work.

There are quite a lot of such companies. If you pay enough, they could deal with almost everything including paperwork writing, resume refinement, etc. for you during the application. I have already seen dozens of PhDs on their website. Some work on paperwork and some just work on consultation. Most of the PhDs’ major is English literature. I received a lot of emails from such companies. Usually I would ignore them except this one promised me that I could just do the consultation. Writing the personal statement for the others could be really annoying.

I think it is interesting as I could know some potential PhDs in my field and also I could get paid. But I just want to know if this involves some kind of conflict of interest as maybe I would help others apply for my own university in the future.


texts: Split paper into two, one was accepted, is it fine to negotiate the rejected paper to be accepted?

texts:
I had a paper ready for journal publication, but decided to break it into 2 conference papers and submitted them to a conference.
Now, one of them is accepted but the other one is rejected! The thing is, the 2 papers are related and I think they should be published together. The paper which is rejected, had 3 reviewers. One accepted it, one weak-accepted and the other one rejected it. The two who accepted it, marked it as innovative, highly useful and relevant. (All 3 reviewers mentioned they are highly confident on being able to judge my paper)
Now, can I write to the conference and tell them to review the paper or argue with them that the paper could be accepted based on points made by the two reviewers?
PS: I had to break them into two papers because of the page limit. Furthermore, it makes more sense for them to be published together since they are parts of a single framework. However, this doesn't mean that one cannot be published without the other; as I mentioned, I believe publishing them together just makes more sense. Moreover, I was very confident that both will be accepted!


texts: Prob/Stats Teaching talk (tenure-track interview)

texts:
I have a tenure-track interview in a prob/stats department (my research area is quantitative finance), and part of the process is a 30-minute teaching talk:

"...demonstration of how you typically teach a class of undergraduates, or a discussion of your teaching methods, or more ideally a combination of these two. The topic is up to you, but we suggest something aimed at a first or second year student. You are welcome to demonstrate a variety of innovations in teaching methods..."

I have some teaching experience, but I have not given a teaching talk before. I'm trying to choose a topic and find a way to structure my talk, what to avoid, etc. Any suggestions?


texts: Reworking a Homework Project to Publish as Research

texts:
During the final year of my Undergraduate degree, I did a literature review as part of a technical writing class to answer a relevant question in Mathematics Education.

I would like to rework the paper (to make it more geared toward the research community) and submit it for publication in a Math Education journal that accepts literature reviews. I would like to do this because

I believe it would contribute to the field--the question is important, and there aren't any current, comprehensive literature reviews about it (that I know of, and I have spent many hours searching)
I am applying to graduate school soon and I would like to do education research during graduate school

I have two questions:

Are there any problems with my plan--legally, culturally, or otherwise? I have already spent a long time looking through my former Universities' policies, and I can't find any policies disallowing it.
If I submit the paper, do I list the University I was at when I did the work as my affiliation?


texts: I have an issue with one of my teachers and a chance to address it, but they're writing me a letter of rec. Should I address it?

texts:
I'm trying to transfer, I'm a good student and one of my teachers is writing me what I assume will be a fantastic letter.
I am in an upper undergrad level (200+) CS course with this teacher. We had a group project, and without going into too much detail, I was discouraged from intellectual exploration and feel like I was put into a box.
We're submitting our individual write ups, so I have the opportunity to address my feelings about the project. What I wrote is strongly worded but I feel like it gives a fair assessment of what my problem was.

Is this a bad idea? I will feel awful if I have to let this slide without saying something about it, but I also strongly dislike my institution and want to do what I have to do in order to transfer. Should I include my assessment or should I hold off until after I apply?


texts: PhD applications and explaining poor results

texts: I had a couple of bouts of depression during my masters degree which resulted in very bad grades. Is it a good or bad idea to mention this in PhD applications to explain my grades?


texts:
I recently sent an email to a professor asking him about an administrative problem I was having, but after I'd hit the send button, I realized I'd forgot to say: "Sorry to bother you" or something of that sort in the beginning...
Now I'm wondering is that considered impolite? Shoud you apologize to professors for bothering them or does that just make you sound phony?  I greeted him with"Dear Professor X", told him who I was, asked the question, and thanked him in advance.
He answered my question and all, but I'm just asking for future reference.


texts: Restricting details in privacy-related research to prevent abuse

texts:
I'm starting to do research in machine learning on sensitive datasets, which sometimes seems like a double-edged sword. For instance, some projects involve showing how a company/organization/government can infer sensitive information about you and abuse it. I feel that this has to be published as it may already be abused somewhere or will be soon. At the same time, if I publish too many details then some corporations etc. may find it easy to implement and start abusing.

Do some conferences/journals accept papers that have scarce details on some parts of the modeling such that it may hinder abuse? It should be noted that while the code may be sent to the reviewers for a check, the data is sometimes of a sensitive nature such that it cannot be handed over.


texts: How to tell my adviser that I want to change our focus?

texts:
I'm currently an undergraduate mathematics student in my final semester. I plan to start a master's program in mathematics at the same university with an adviser that I did research with last summer.

I meet regularly with the adviser. He has stated that his goal is to help me go to a great PhD program, and the best way he sees to do that is to pump out publications, presentations, etc.

However, it seems that we are pursuing publication opportunities at the expense of understanding. He is giving me projects to work on that are frankly above my head. I spend hours and hours trying to find a bug in code that I didn't write about a subject I haven't studied. The time I spend debugging could potentially be spent more productively learning the fundamentals of our field. My approach has always been to understand a topic from the ground up, but he wants me to be able to work with PhD level code because it's the best way to get a publication.

I know that publications are essential. I want to eventually publish something, but not before I have built my own essential knowledge foundation of our field. Learning the topics thoroughly is more important to me than making a publication, and it seems to me that if one strives to truly understand and advance their field, then publications will come much more easily.

I plan on communicating this to him as clearly as possible. I have also drawn up a one-page document detailing my goals for my final semester as an undergraduate, my vision for my master's degree, and what I am looking for in the advisee-adviser relationship. I plan on delivering this document to him and using it as a guide for our discussion. Yes, I am willing to compromise on some points.

Of course, I understand that I can't just have everything my way. But I haven't started grad school yet, and now is the best time to cement the type of experience that I will have. As far as I can see, the cards are in my hands. If my adviser is adamantly against my approach, he can drop me, and I will go to grad school somewhere else.

Well, I wish I had a better question to sum all this up. What are your thoughts?

Edit: I am studying applied mathematics, computation, high performance computing in the United States.


texts: How much time/effort should I put into writing a reference letter for an application for a Master's program?

texts:
I taught a large introductory undergraduate course
in the most recent Fall semester (Sept to Dec 2017).
An exchange student who took the course
asked me to write a reference letter
for her application to a Master's program.

I spent a bit of time looking through the webpage of the Master's program,
and I found the following information:

  Step 1 - Online Application

  The admissions process starts upon submission of the online application along with the relevant documents.

  At this stage, the following documents will be requested:

  (other documents not relevant to me as a reference letter writer)
  Any other documents in English that you think may enrich your application, such as a motivation letter or reference letter

Based on the information that I found,
it appears that a reference letter is not required,
and is only marginally helpful.
Because I am busy,
I don't want to put any more time into writing the letter than needed.

Questions:

How much time/effort should I put into writing a reference letter
for this former student's application for a Master's program?
Should I feel bad if I send her a quick and simple letter?


texts: Would a good AP Calculus exam score help for admission to mathematics graduate programs?

texts: I have had a privilege of knowing what concerns the admission committee about my applicant's file for pure math degree. As of right now, the most significant concern expressed was my weak performance on the GRE subject test (in math.) My question is, would the committee care about the perfect performance on AP Calculus tests, AB and BC? Could it somehow help to mitigate the less-than-appealing GRE math score?


texts: Changing supervisors in graduate program

texts:
Suppose that a student joins a graduate program with supervisor A. The supervisor has a bad reputation in the research group with a history of not caring for his students, e.g. professor goes to sabbatical on a regular basis and does not skype with his students, replies to emails from students in 5 minutes, does not help students with their coursework, expects students to comment on his research work, expects students to be independent, etc.

Incidentally, after a few months, he becomes more interested in the research interests of supervisor B in the same research group.

In this case, it is standard procedure for the student to be officially co-supervised by both supervisors A and B even though the student's projects are all supervised by supervisor B.

Now consider an alternative scenario. The student becomes more interested in the research interests of supervisors B and C.

In this case, is it standard procedure for the student to be officially co-supervised by supervisors B and C? In other words, does the student leave supervisor A completely?

How common is the second scenario in graduate programs?

Does the switch leave a bad impression of professors (in the research group) on the student?


texts: Climbing the ∞ university well - Theoretical Physics

texts:
I'm an MPhys student who almost finished his undergraduate. I'm doing a masters in theoretical physics next year, probably at Kings College London. I have been rejected by Imperial and Cambridge(Part III).

Keeping in mind that theoretical physics is one of the most competitive academic fields, is there any chance of being accepted in top universities(UK or US) with such a masters degree? How high should my grades be in order to have a fair chance of being accepted at top 10 universities?

I would really like to do my Phd in a top university so that I could maximise my chances of getting a good postdoc position. More than that, I really love theoretical physics and I'd be VERY happy if I could contribute in world leading theoretical research in fundamental physics.

Edit: Especially for people with similar past experience, I would really appreciate your input.


texts: Are sleep stations on-campus effective in promoting productivity of students?

texts:
Several universities in the United States have begun setting up areas (usually in the library) for students to rest, ideally for those doing all-nighters. Its purpose is to help its students cope with the lack of sleep.  Not much has been said about its effectivity.

The student government of our university has been discussing employing the same concept  on-campus. I would like to know if this is a good idea or if it is more likely to promote a culture of lethargy.


texts: Coming from an unknown university, is it possible to publish a good research paper in a good journal?

texts: Suppose someone is pursuing PhD in mathematics from a third class university and their supervisor has little knowledge about their own field. Is it possible to publish a good research paper in good journal?


texts: research statement for assistant professorship (W1, pure mathematics in Germany)

texts: What should a research statement for an application for an assistant professorship (W1, Juniorprofessor) contain (pure mathematics in Germany)? How long should it be?


texts: What exactly happens when a department head is contacted about a specific instructor in a specific course?

texts:
Related, but not what  I'm getting at

In one of my courses at a University, I overheard some of my classmates talking before a very difficult test (we knew it was going to be hard beforehand based upon the practice exam). The students were assuring each other that the department head "knows about the [stuff] going on [in this course]."

Apparently, several of them emailed or were planning to email the department head claiming, among other things, that the course material was too hard (grad level), the professor wasn't doing a good job, etc...

DISCLAIMER: I personally believe these claims are bunk. If any of these students actually attended the class on a regular basis, they may find themselves in a better position, IMHO.

My question is this: What, if anything, might the department head reasonably do? I ask because he's certainly getting a skewed, although loud, representation of the course. Our professor is new to the University, and I think is undeserving of such remarks.

EDIT:
Changed asking what the department head might reasonably do so that an answer doesn't have to read his mind. :) @thecomments


texts: Do superficially encouraging statements within rejection letters for faculty job applications mean anything?

texts:
Over the past few years, I have written a lot of job applications for permanent academic positions. None of these have been successful. I have been interviewed a few times, but mostly I have received either no reply or a very standard rejection letter.
A handful of the rejection letters contain some kind of statement seeming to imply that although they don't want to interview me, the committee did like my application to some extent. For example, here's a sentence from one such letter I recently received (emphasis mine):

We received many excellent applications and although the search committee was impressed with your credentials, we have decided your application will not be advanced for further consideration at this time.

My question is: does this statement, and other ones like it, mean anything or is it just a bit of fluff inserted for politeness?
To put it in another way: should I infer from this that the committee actually was impressed with my credentials and that they sent this reply to only a subset of candidates they rejected? Or is this likely to just be part of a totally generic rejection letter and I should therefore infer nothing?


texts: How do the grades of higher degrees equate with undergraduate qualifications, in terms of quality of work?

texts:
How do the grades of higher degrees math up with undergraduate qualifications, in terms of quality of work? I'm in the UK. At my current institution, where I'm sitting an MA

70+ -- Distinction
60+ -- Merit
50+ -- Pass
< 50 -- Fail

At undergraduate, again in the UK

70 -- 1st
60+ -- 2.i
50+ -- 2.ii
40+ -- Pass

I would very much like to know if the standard of work matches up to the same percentiles, in the UK. So, not how well someone is doing on the course, but if an undergraduate dissertation could be handed in and get the same mark on a Masters. This seems unlikely, of course.


texts: Is it possible to do a PhD in Environmental Policy and Economics if I do not have an academic background in Economics?

texts:
Is it possible to do a PhD in Environmental Policy and Economics if I do not have an academic background in Economics (except for two papers in my graduate prog. one on Environmental economics and the other on Resource Economics which, I feel were very watered down)? I have an Graduate degree in Environmental Studies and undergraduate degrees in Biotechnology and Law. I am very interested in pursing a PhD involving Environmental Policy; and Economics I feel is an integral part of the discourse.
What can I do to overcome my lack of a degree/ course on Economics in my academics career so far? Will writing papers that uses Economic theories and concepts help me in getting accepted for a PhD position?
Will I have to pursue another graduate degree in Economics?
I am from India, where education is very compartmentalized and not generally interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary (with few exceptions).


texts: Is there a free (as in freedom) alternative to Publons

texts:
I have just reviewed for a journal that allows me to transfer my information to Publons. It seems Publons is a relatively new thing with limited uptake. It also seems like the type of thing that would be better suited to be managed by a non-profit in a free (at least as in freedom and possibly as in beer) sense.

Is there a free competitor to Publons? If not, what data should I be keeping regarding my reviews such that if at a later date I wish to upload them to Publons, or a competitor, I can?


texts: Is it wrong to cite your own definition of a concept in thesis viva-voce presentation

texts:
Recently, I defended my PhD thesis in the final viva-voce session. Post the presentation, one of the panel members questioned that I should not have stated my own definition of a particular concept. The panel member suggested that I should have rather given a industry-standard definition for that particular concept.
This makes me think and wonder that Why I should not suggest my own definition of the concept. After all the definition was published by an high impact journal and has been cited many times.  By the way, I understand what they meant. And my PhD supervisor too did not raise this as a concern when I sent them the presentation for checking.
My contention here is, I have worked in this area for several years and I do not get the right to cite my definition for my own viva.


texts: How is a PhD applicant's potential as a researcher evaluated?

texts:
I have been approaching PhD applications under these assumptions:

The focus is mostly on the letters of recommendation.
Every admitted applicant has several letters that make a convincing argument that the he would be an extremely successful researcher in the given field.
These letters are only credible if they are from reputable professional researchers who know the applicant well.

But how much evidence is necessary to show that the applicant would be a successful researcher? First, what does the recommendation letter author need to see in the student to make that argument sincerely, and how much interaction is necessary before the author knows the student well enough to make that judgment? Second, what evidence does the admissions committee need to read in order to believe that argument?

(I am studying computer science in the US, if it makes a difference.)


texts: "Thank you" notes after giving a seminar talk

texts:
I am just finishing my PhD and I have now been on the job market and started to speak at many universities. I have realized it is a time commitment for a person to host a seminar speaker and am really grateful for the experiences that many of my hosts have given me at these universities. For this reason, I have made a policy of sending thank you notes to those that host me when I visit another university's seminar.  These notes that I write typically just say thank you for taking time to host me and funding my visit (if they funded it). It also thanks them for their input and questions about my work if they gave me a useful idea. One of my colleagues has told me this is odd, so I wanted to ask:

Is writing thank you notes to someone for inviting me to speak and hosting me at their university overkill? Is there any negative outcome that can happen from doing this?


texts: Writing affiliation as a high school student

texts:
I want to send an article to a math journal. As with many others, that journal wants a cover letter, which should include the author's affiliation.

I'm still a high school student and my school isn't in the U.S.
How should I write my affiliation?

My school's name is hard to translate to english, should I write its name as in my language? And, when I'm writing my school's adress, should I write it as in my language?

(If you see a grammar mistake and edit it, that would make me really happy.)


texts:
A clinical trial paper published in one of the most prestigious medical journals (The Lancet) was found by the readers to be using fabricated data. This paper had a huge effect in the world like canceling a lot of similar clinical trials in the world including a clinical trial by the World Health Organisation.
Do medical journals require the authors to upload their raw data in addition to the manuscript?


texts: Should one disclose "red flags" when contacting a potential supervisor?

texts: If one has a "red flag" in their history (in terms of non-academic issues), is it best to disclose it to a potential supervisor? This can apply to any type of situation (a conflict with a faculty member, another student, a mental health issue that affected one's behavior etc.) Obviously, one wouldn't want to disclose something minor when the supervisor/university probably wouldn't hear about it anyway; I'm referring to situations that reach administration and that might be mentioned in a "letter of recommendation" (or when there might not be any letters from one's dept. etc.)?


texts:
I was checking a paper that was posted on Twitter where everyone seemed to be so enthusiastic about, so I had a short check on it. Here is the first line:

Post-Cartesian frameworks, including developments within the embodied
and enactive cognitive sciences, complex systems science, and
dialogical approaches to cognition, strongly emphasize the inherently
indeterminable nature of the person and the inextricably entangled
relationship between person, other, and technology.

And it goes on with:

Automation, on the one hand, is something that is achieved once a
given process is complete, that is, it is understood, and discrete
such that it can be implemented from a set beginning to a set finish
reliably. People and social systems, on the other hand, are
partially-open, always becoming, and inherently unfinalizable
(Bakhtin, 1984). Automation as complete understanding, therefore,
stands at odds with human behaviour, which is inherently incomplete,
making machine classification and prediction futile.

Is it me, or is this paper obscurely written? And why didn't anyone seemingly notice it, given that it was both peer-reviewed and published? Why were people so enthusiastic about it, instead of admitting they just didn't have a clue of what it is about (or at least to understand the arguments presented in the paper)?
Why is there still so much academic gibberish?
Related link: http://www.skeptophilia.com/2014/02/academic-gibberish.html
Edit:
My mistake! It might not be peer reviewed. But I'm still wondering if this is very common in academia, or if it is dependent from field to field?


texts: How much time do professors have to do research on their own?

texts:
As part of their job, professors have to take care of getting funding, prepare classes, advise students, fulfill administrative tasks and attend to various meetings/conferences.

How much time do professors have to carry out research on their own (i.e. excluding the above-mentioned tasks)?

I am especially interested in the field of computer science > machine learning, in the US, in an averaged-size university.

I am mostly looking for studies that try to quantify how much time professors have to carry out research on their own.


texts: TA talks to others about students, what to do?

texts:
I am an undergraduate student at a university in the US.

Unfortunately, I have a concern regarding one TA of a class I took this past year. This individual insults other students in the university during his TA session, and I also found out from other people that this TA has been talking to other people (not just the professor and TAs for the class) about people's grades in the class.

My question is, is it within my power to lodge a formal yet anonymous complaint that will be taken seriously about this?

I am concerned about my identity becoming known because this TA is a strong student, and seems to have a lot of power in the department (and is close with the professor teaching the class).


texts: Should papers peer reviews be done publicly?

texts:
Three reviewers assessed my paper and all of them rejected it (weak reject), and to be honest I am not so mad about the rejection. One of the reviewers gave really good feedback and his arguments about rejecting it were correct.

But: The other two reviewers gave comments that were really wrong.
For example one of them said that my paper was short, but my paper had exactly the maximum allowed number of pages. Also his English was terrible and he was saying that the paper was written in bad English. I am not a native English speaker but my supervisor is, and he corrected all of my mistakes before submitting the paper.

Also the third reviewer made some claims (referring to my citations) that were wrong (so he didn't even read the papers that "supported" his arguments). I took the time and reread all of the papers that he referred to and all of his claims are false.

Lastly all of the reviewers gave completely different reasons for rejecting the paper which also seemed really weird to me.

I was thinking to complain to the conference but my supervisor suggested we shouldn't because we would just waste our time.

So my question is shouldn't peer reviews were public and is there any good reason that they are not?


texts: UK university salary scales confusion -- advertised job pay seems very low, any ideas why?

texts:
I've just seen a job advertised by a London university for a job similar to mine but as senior lecturer. I'm confused because the bottom end of the salary listed is lower than what I am currently on as just a lecturer, and I'm not in London so this is without any kind of London weighting.

The only way it could possibly be worth me applying is if they started me at the top end of the scale they suggest. But that's unlikely to happen, isn't it?

I thought the salary scales of UK universities were quite similar, but this suggests there are huge differences.

I don't quite understand why anyone would apply for this job that pays less than jobs outside London, which is a much more expensive place to live.

Thoughts?


texts: How to write a personal statement if I change my interest?

texts:
I was interested in deep learning and devoted most of my undergraduate time to it. However, as I learn more about this field, I discover it does not fit me: I hate tuning parameters and doing experiments. Developing concrete and explainable applications seems more appealing to me.

I am about to apply for grad schools in CS and the personal statements become a headache. I what to apply for professional programs but all my experiences are in AI.

If I don't write about them, I have nothing to say except for mundane course projects. If I write about them, how can I explain why I choose a program for future SDE? Should I do intern works for the time being and postpone my application to next year?

I am also considering programs that do not have a clear orientation to work or research. Should I focus on one topic, post two topics in a parallel manner, or, discuss my changed mind in my PS? I am afraid that changing mind would be considered as a lack of resolution and reliability.


texts: European Ph.D. student salary range web site

texts:
Is there any web site that shows average Ph.D. student salaries in European countries, and also information about living cost and so on?

update: what about France and Germany?


texts: Rejected from conference on misunderstood claims

texts:
I have recently had a paper rejected with 2 Accepts and 1 Reject from a CORE A* conference. I did understand the risks of being rejected when I made the submission, the problem is that I got back some set of reviews that are not applicable (let alone constructive) to my work. The 2 Accepts qualified the work as being solid and that it exhibits a high novelty degree, while the rejection was based on some misunderstandings on the reviewer's behalf, which led to "Syntactically complete work but with limited contribution" and "Novelty unclear" rank. Unfortunately, the 2 accept reviewers did not argue enough to support the paper, and the PC chairs considered that one reject outweighs the two accepts, so the outcome was a negative one.

Now, my question is: how likely is it to send back an email to the PC chairs and explain why we think the rejection feedback is not applicable to our work as it is based on some claims that we don't make in the paper (and that the reviewer thought we made) and get an answer back? Could submission outcomes change if they notice the reviews are based on incorrect claims? Or is it more likely to be ignored?


texts: Are generalized recommendation letters bad?

texts:
Sometimes online application systems ask for uploading recommendation letters as supplementary documents (scanned copies). In this case, it is possible to get general recommendation letters (addressed as To Whom It May Concern) and submit them for different applications.

Is it bad to submit a recommendation letter, which has not been addressed for a specific application? Assume that the content will be the same.
If it is OK, is it bad to attach some recommendation letters for an application when it is not requested?


texts: Under what circumstances would a lecturer 'bump up' a student to pass?

texts:
When would someone marking papers (lecturer, etc.) bump a student from just below pass up to the pass line? Do teachers consider things like attendance?

Regardless of the consideration (attendance, participation, etc.) for giving a student a better grade than they deserve, what is the justification?


texts: Is it polite to send an email to check if a proposal has been submitted?

texts:
A few months ago I prepared the proposal for a national postdoctoral fellowship, and I would like to check if it has been successfully submitted (the guest institution had a deadline we -my possible supervisor and I- weren't aware of until it passed). Do you think an email like the one below is a polite (and not overformal) request for news? Thanks.

  Dear Prof. ZZ,

  I just wanted to check whether you had a chance to submit the XX Fellowship proposal we prepared (an internal deadline of the University of YY popped up at the last moment).


texts: What is the best way to list code snippets in a undergraduate thesis?

texts:
For some reason I am having difficulty figuring out a good way to list code snippets in my undergrad thesis. My project is on development of some software and I've thought about doing this.

Algorithm 1 - description of what the code does

But then I realize algorithm really isn't the right word. I've thought about using the word procedure but then again I don't know if declared classes count as procedures. Can someone offer some advice?


texts: Web of Science; any way to get the "Published Items in Each Year" numeric data?

texts:
If you perform a search in Web of Science there is an option to create a "citation report";

This provides charts of citations each year, and the number of papers published each year;

Is there any way I can get the numbers used to draw the "Published Items in Each Year" graph?


texts: Asking for reversing my decision after declining a PhD offer

texts:
I received a great PhD offer from University A (in the US) and after a very hard time making decision, I ended up not accepting it for family reasons and instead I accepted an offer from University B (not in the US) (because if I go to A, I most probably wouldn't be able to visit my family at all for 5 years, whereas I'll have the option to do that with my current choice, B). I explained this reason to the department chair after declining the offer and expressed my regrets for this issue stopping me from doing my PhD at A in a field I always dreamt about.

Now, over a month after April 15, a few things has happened that I regret what I did, and I really want to change my decision and tolerate those years of distance from my family but go to A:

Perhaps most importantly, the 2-body problem: My partner just
got an amazing offer near A, and while she may also get an almost
equally-amazing offer from somewhere near B, the one near A would be still more tempting for her.
My realization evolved. A is a world top-10 in the field, but
that field is a field I have very little background in! I always
dreamt about working in that field, but never thought I could actually do
that and spent my entire academic life in a different field.
So, I think I was still confused about the opportunity I was given,
didn't quite appreciate it, and frankly, was very scared. This is
while B, a top-tier in the world in my undergrad field, is an
institution I always knew and it wasn't hard to fully appreciate the
offer from there. In the past month, my understanding about myself
and my situation has evolved, and I regret my decision.

My questions:

Would it be acceptable if I contact the department at A again and explain these two reasons and ask if they could still take me in?! It's been so long since 4/15, but I think there's a chance they didn't actually fill in all the available spots for the position as I declined on 4/15. Would I destroy my reputation among the academics at A if I do ask if I could reverse my decision now? I'm afraid I may sound immature and unable of making a decision (which is obviously not too wrong, I did have issues, and was indeed too slow in getting to know myself from the time I received the unexpected offer until 4/15).
If you think I can ask for reconsideration, who should I contact and is it better to emphasize on point 1 or 2?


texts: Found reply for a research application from 2 months ago in my junk mail

texts:
I am a third year undergraduate biology major student.

At the beginning of this quarter, I sent out a bunch of emails looking for research opportunities. I heard back from some of them and got a position.
But today when I checked the junk mail, I found a reply from a lab that I am really interested in. The professor replied me two months ago and asked for my transcript.

I am wondering should I reply this email directly with my transcript and apologise for the late.
Or should I send him another email and apply again?

Thanks for any suggestions.


texts: What is considered cheating in an open book exam?

texts:
A common belief is that open book exams reduces cheating since all the information that a student would wish to look up is already with them. Open book exam therefore tests a person's knowledge and organization rather than memorization.

However, a textbook is not merely a set of references written by distinguished authors in size 12 fonts and high quality paper, it could also be used as a set of notes for students to scribe onto, whatever in his fancy.

This becomes highly problematic in courses where the material is often repeated year after year, such as computer science or computer hardware courses where students are not expected to remember say commands, or highly specialized mathematical formulas. In these cases, students will just jot down the solution to past term paper i.e. all the questions from 1997 - 2014, and do a compare and match when they receive their actual exam paper. After which, answers that belong to similar question will simply be jotted down. 100% accuracy with zero understanding.

This happens so frequently, I am completely confused by the very definition of an open book exam. Are students allowed to jot down notes (such as the solutions to past paper) in their textbooks in an open exam? What is considered cheating in an open text book exam??


texts: I am currently a senior in college who got accepted into a math PhD program in the US. This semester I slack off a little bit and as a result, I might get a B and B- in two math courses (I got an A in the third math class). Is it possible that the school will rescind my offer, given that the two courses that I got a B and B- are math courses?


texts: Undergraduate research in math, but no research paper, will this hurt me in graduate admissions?

texts:
I will be applying for admission into graduate school in Fall 2016.

I did research with a professor last summer in mathematical biology. I have presented that research at a two conferences and have presented a poster at three. However, my professor did not require me to write a research paper.

With respect to a graduate program in mathematics, would this hurt my chances of being admitted?

Thank you.

EDIT: I was following a timeline my professor created for me and writing a paper was not on it.


texts: Should each substantive chapter of a thesis have its own literature review in addition to the main literature review chapter?

texts:
I am a PhD candidate in the school of enginerering.
This question is about my dissertation literature review.

Through my review of past dissertations, I see three styles of literature review. One is a single literature chapter which has the past theories. The second, and most common due to the style of publishing three journal papers, has the literature review separated into each of the contribution to knowledge chapters  (typically three chapters). The least common is a hybrid with the single literature review chapter plus literature reviews in each contribution chapter (looks like it was a three paper but did not get published so modified into a single paper dissertation).

To remind the reader and/or allow for self contained chapters, should each contribution chapter have a literature review? What should the chapter literature reviews contain? Should each chapter have a literature review even if it is repetitive from the main literature review chapter? Is it just the underpinning theories in the chapter literature reviews?


texts: What is the advantage of m·s^(-1) over m/s?

texts:
It's everywhere, but no matter who I ask I can never get a straight answer, only "I don't know"s. What is the advantage of using multiplication and negative powers over just using division when writing out units, as in the question title. Granted, in most cases they use superscript rather than how I formatted it in the title, but my phone keyboard would not let me do that.

I don't have a problem reading units written this way, but it just seems inefficient as it uses more characters and makes it more difficult for "regular people" to follow. I'm suspecting it's nothing more than a style choice, possibly because it looks "more scientific".


texts: Getting a physics PhD from Cambridge with self funding?

texts:
I will probably not be able to secure any funding. I can self fund the costs, but I heard that this is looked down upon and most advisors would not want to spend time with me as I am inferior to others who have gotten funding which will hurt the quality of my research and publications.
Is this true? Will self funding my PhD make it harder for me to find advisors and will I be looked down upon/ produce worse publications?
I know that similar questions exist, but I am mainly asking if advisors will be less willingly to become my advisors if I am self funded (do they think students who got funding have more potential than those that did not refuse funding)?


texts: Can I use the work in my journal/conference publications as chapters in my dissertation?

texts: At my institution, I am required to publish four papers in addition to my PhD thesis.  Of course my planned papers are related to my dissertation project, but I'm not sure if it could be considered academic dishonesty / plagiarism to use these works to form part of my dissertation.  I'm not thinking about copying them word for word, but I was hoping that I can include summarized versions of those works as chapters in my dissertation.  Is this a common practice or would this be considered self-plagiarism?  Should my dissertation work be completely separate from those other publications?


texts: What is the correct year to use in the reference list?

texts:
I am wondering what would be the correct year to use for this book?:

http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/9195

On the page it says 2014, and on google scholar I see that other people have used 2014. But inside the book as can be seen here

link,

it says copyright 2015. What year should I put for it?


texts: As a TA, what should I do about an error in the professor's lecture that I repeated in the lecture notes?

texts:
Here is the somewhat awkward situation.

I am a TA for a class that I have never taken before.  The professor (probably) knows this, but I don't think the students have caught on, since it is a lower-division class and as a graduate student I have significantly more mathematical maturity than most of them.

As a TA, I am responsible for preparing the lecture notes for the class.  A different TA is responsible for grading assignments.

A few weeks ago, the professor made a (small) mistake in his lecture, and I transcribed the error onto the lecture notes without realizing it was a mistake.

Recently we had a midterm, and the other TA noticed that a lot of the students were making the same mistake.  The other TA recognized it was wrong and is now docking points for the error, even though I told him there was a mistake in the lecture notes.

What should I do?  I think the students will be mad when they hear about this, and if I tell the professor, he might get mad at me for preparing bad lecture notes.

Edit: It was the kind of error that would be confusing after the lecture, but hard to spot during the lecture.  Basically he used a matrix where he should have used the matrix's transpose.  And in the example problem he solved on the board, the matrix was a diagonal matrix, so it made no difference.  But the matrix on the midterm wasn't.


texts:
Can an advisor suddenly say one day - "I have decided not to advise you anymore"?

Thanks!


texts: Switch fields from Physics to Electrical Engineering in US: MSc vs BSc?

texts:
My brother wants to switch to Electrical Engineering and possibly do a Master's degree (with thesis). He also has a BSc and MSc degree in physics but not much formal training in EE (except some basic electronics, solid-state physics and advanced electromagnetism courses).

Since the most important factor in grad school applications is research, he has tried to contact professors and labs so many times for even non-paid internships, with no results. The other option is to apply to BSc degree or just about any MSc degrees in order to take the prerequisite courses.

How should he proceed? What are some advantages or disadvantages of getting a BSc in EE (using some credits from the previous degree) vs doing a Master's program in EE with thesis that accept him and take the prerequisites courses?


texts: What are the arguments for "reviewers see each other's identities" conference reviews?

texts:
I have recently accepted to review for a machine learning conference. It's a conference with chairs, area chairs (AC), and then reviewers who are managed by the AC's.

This conference is double-blind, with a rebuttal phase, and what follows was never mentioned in the invitation to review, the review instructions, nor on the website of the conference. But regardless of this, I would like to understand what could be the rationale for it:

reviewers are assigned papers. Each paper is assigned to an AC, and reviewed by 3-4 different reviewers. Reviewers do not know the identity of the authors.
each reviewer sends their reviews
the authors get the reviews (do not know the reviewers' identities, nor the AC's), and write a rebuttal
the reviewers are given the rebuttal for the paper (still do not see the authors' identities), and see the other reviews. Moreover, they now also see the identities of the other reviewers for the paper. (The authors still of course do not know these.)
the reviewers (managed by the AC, whose identity is also known to the reviewers, discuss and update their reviews in light of the rebuttal and the other reviewers' reviews and comments.

Now, I do not understand the point of the part I emphasized, and it seems to me it breaks a key premise of peer review (even single-blind). Namely, now you have implicit and explicit pressure among reviewers.

  What are the arguments for this? ("This" being: divulging the identities of the reviewers to the other reviewers of the same paper -- not only to the AC)


texts: Job portal of US universities: when is the application status updated?

texts:
I recently submitted applications for tenure track positions to several US universities via their online job systems (https://jobs.xxx.edu/).

Last week I got a feedback from one of the schools that my application would no longer be considered. However, a week later, the status of my application on the portal is still "under review".

This raises a question for me: after the department has decided to reject the application, how soon is the status in the online system updated?

I want to know that because I have not received a feedback from the other schools I applied, and am wondering if it's possible that the department has already decided to reject but the portal was not updated?


texts: How to obtain a percentile ranking for a journal? (i.e., top 30%; 30% to 50%)

texts:
My institution ranks scientific achievement according to some criteria when evaluating promotions, positions, etc. for its subjects (students, grad students, personnel, etc.) This is done by a rule book that is specified in the form of a bylaw and is administered by the ministry of science, therefore it is not local to my institution, but applied nationwide.
The passage about SCI journal publications states that journals are divided into three groups:

eminent international journals - a journal that in its subject ranks in the top 30% journals in ISI list publications
outstanding international journals - the same but for <30% and >50%
international journals - the same for <50%

The difference in "points" awarded for publications in each of the categories is rather large. I was wondering how I could determine which journals fall into a criterium from above?

I talked to the administrative service, but got no satisfying answer, i.e. there is no list of journals (which is understandable, as there are far too many subjects). They told me something along the lines: "These things will be evaluated when the time comes", which is, of course, not at least satisfactory to me.
I talked also briefly with the head of the department and he told me that he never really gave it much thought, I should publish in journals that suit me, the higher the impact factor and prestige the better of course, but in the end it isn't that much of an imperative, and that I should let the "politicians" and administrators worry about those tiny matters. I would, however, still like to know which journals I should favorite.

PS: the rule book naturally specifies similar criteria for various scientific publications (conferences, patents, books, etc.), but since I'm working on my first article to be submitted to a journal and I still haven't decided which journal, I would like to take things like this into account


texts: While the issue of being the first or the corresponding author is China has been discussed in this forum, the significance of the senior author, or final author has not been addressed. We are working on an abstract, and determining the author order. As I am in the USA where senior authorship is an honor, determining if this would be win-win, Chinese senior author as corresponding author, and the US author as senior/last author. Anyone out there know about this topic?


texts: Is a GPA of 3+/ 3.3+ but below 3.5 considered good for scholarships in Europe and the U.S?

texts:
I am an undergraduate Physics student at a well-reputed university in my country. My aim is to get a Master's scholarship in Europe (preferably in Germany) or the U.S. Although I have a 3+ GPA and I have heard that it is good but I am really worried and fear that I might not be able to earn a scholarship.
I have two questions:

Is a GPA of 3+/ 3.3+ but below 3.5 considered good when applying for scholarships?

What other factors besides GPA matter?


texts: Who grades the mathematics phd comprehensive exams?

texts: Is it a committee of professors, or is it one professor -- whomever wrote the exams?


texts: How would the UK leaving the EU affect academia and PhD admission?

texts:
Will all European applicants count as ‘international students’ then?
Are there any proposals on this yet? I am finishing my BA in two years and was considering applying to the UK, but am worried now that I will have to pay international fees.


texts: Do I have to be affiliated with an institution to publish on arXiv? Is arXiv the right place to put it?

texts: I'm a high schooler who recently found a derivation of a trigonometric function over complex numbers. I typed it up as a LaTeX paper and know it's probably not publishable to an actual journal. I'm deciding if I should publish it to arXiv and when I tried registering as a user it asked for my affiliation. Is an affiliation necessary to register and publish? Is it even worth trying to publish?


texts: What does "percentile' mean in this recommendation portal?

texts:
I am a final year student and applying to graduate schools in the USA for Fall 2016. Recently, a professor was filling out my recommendation section in a college's admission portal.

In that portal, there was a question asking to rate the student in terms of intellect, communication ability, and such other things based on 'percentile' in class. The options were 1%, 5%, 10% and 50%. My teacher selected 50% as a higher percentile means better ranking in class. My current class ranking is 2/60 and I am worried about it. Did my teacher do the correct thing or should she have chosen the first option(1%)?

Edit (15 Nov 2018): Well this question is almost 3 years old now. Got a notification from this recently so wanted to thank all the people who answered back then. I did ask my teacher to send the correct data and consequently got in one of the Ivy Leagues in the fall of 2016. So good, baby baby..


texts: Which edition/version should I use for citations with page numbers

texts: How do I cite a very old and well-known book which has multiple editions and reprints, various editors, facsimile reprints, and a recent paperback version, plus it's even available free online, again at more than one site. The text I want to cite is common to all of them so that's not an issue but I'd like to be able to give page numbers in the standard way. I don't know which edition to cite. The actual copy I've been using is a hardback 1970s reprint of a 1900s edition from the university library but it's not necessarily easy for others to find.


texts: Using data in second study w/o consulting all authors

texts:
I just submitted an article using data from another study that was done together with a colleague. I am (technically) the first author of the first study, though we are equally credited first authors and we did refine the first study’s design together, though it was my idea and I wrote the software that eventually performed the data collection. I did say that the data came from our original study and cited it in the second.

He is upset as I did not ask him for permission to use the data from our joint project (I could probably still tell the journal to add him to the acknowledgements). But, he also wants to be credited as an author, even though he did not contribute to the current study. Does using data from a previous joint project warrant his authorship?


texts: Thesis: what is the difference between discussion and conclusion?

texts:
I am currently writing my bachelor thesis and I would like to have a clear definition of discussion and conclusion. Preferably including a distinction between the discussion and the conclusion part.

As far as I've understood the conclusion introduces the research question (again) and supplies the a (final?!) summary of ideas / solutions as well as an evaluation of the solutions...leading to the acceptance or refusal of (research) hypotheses. No new information is given, no examples are made, no issues interpreted.

In contrast to this the discussion starts with the results right away, highlights the best results, describes the contribution / purpose of the thesis and so on. Therefore less general than conclusion; more like a detailed view on the results and keeping in mind the specific topic.

Is this right?

Can someone supply a more descriptive or formal definition?

How can we determine which texts really fit to discussion or conclusion? For example, describing the contribution in the discussion needs to somehow mention the problem, that instantly leads to the idea behind the whole thing and here we are: writing conclusion stuff into the discussion :/

Note: I'm working/writing in a STEM-discipline (would suspect that things are really different in STEM fields compared to, for example, philosophy?!)


texts: How do I find the most cited authors given one or more MESH terms?

texts:
I would like to be able to give some academic database (like pubmed) a list of MESH terms (MESH: Medical Subject Headings created by the National Library of Medicine), then select papers by authors who have received the most citations. Either in total (all work) or within the scope of the papers I pulled up using the given MESH terms.

Is this possible?


texts: Asking for Editor comments even before submitting to the journal, Is it ethical?

texts:
I had written a manuscript and had got it verified by a Professor (as it was closely related to some of his work) who said it was correct. I later came to know that he is also an editor of a reputed journal. So I Wrote to him (the Editor of a journal (math)), asking to comment about suitability of the manuscript for that journal, even before submitting to the journal, is it ethical? and not something frowned upon?

PS : I have not submitted to that Journal.


texts: Is it advisable to add an appendix section in a review paper?

texts:
Background: There is an untapped aspect of a domain which I am currently writing a review paper in. The review paper is encompassing the domain in general.
I want to add a short one page proposal of that "untapped aspect" so as to carry forward future research. I plan to add this in the review.
Options

Should I just leave it out of the review and draft that as a separate paper with personal experimentation?
Should I add it as a appendix in our paper? (no experimentation).

Should I go for option 1 or 2?
Note: There is no page limit and appendixes are allowed in the journal.


texts: What is a TA called when he/she is in charge of organization?

texts:
I am a non-native speaker and writing my cv. In my subject (mathematics), there are small exercise groups where you have to grade the students' homework and discuss it with them; some are hold by students; some by PhD students or postdocs.

What are the correct terms if you have done the following things:

You are a (PhD) student student holding the exercise group, grading homework, but nothing more.
You are the one who is in charge of organization, i.e., you design questions for homework and the exam, you make announcements, moderate the meeting of those people having an exercise group (see 1), but you don't have an own exercise group.
Same as 2, but you have an own exercise group.
The course is so small that there is only one exercise group. You are holding this group and are in charge of the organization.

Thank you very much!


texts: Is a scholar whose work contributes substantially to my proposed project a suitable arm's length referee?

texts:
I am submitting a postdoctoral application that requires an external arm's length referee to write an evaluation of the proposal to be submitted with the application. The referee should be an acknowledged specialist in the proposed area of research. I am thinking of asking a scholar who I have only met once at a conference and have no other connections with. This scholar has contributed substantial theoretical and empirical insights to my topic, and accordingly I draw on their work heavily in my proposal. In particular, I adopt a theoretical framework that they have helped develop in my field and suggest that I am advancing a study conducted by this person.
If this person agrees to serve in this role, could this reliance raise concerns to the multi-disciplinary  selection committee? In particular, I worry that the committee may think that I have biased the referee in my favour by relying strongly on their contributions, and specifically advancing their theoretical and empirical work.
Thanks for your time!


texts: Is better to make your own image or utilise the cited paper's image in a review?

texts:
Background: I am writing a review paper and have cited a paper who's model I want to include in the review.
Question: Is it better to create a picture which denotes my own understanding of the model or just copy (and cite in the caption) and add the same image as used in that paper?
I am asking because I have seen good reviews re-use the same image and just cite that paper.


texts: Grad Application: Research Experience without Letter of Recommendation

texts:
I am in the process of applying for graduate school, and I have some past research experience during summer. I am not planning to get a letter of recommendation from the supervisor whom I worked with during that term. (I had been recommended to join their group by another professor, and I joined bluntly without any interest on the subject, and further I had no background education on the topic. As a result, I believe that I did not leave a good impression.)

My question is, would it be bad to include this experience in my CV without a LOR from that specific supervisor?

It was mentioned in here by StrongBad that it is not a good sign, if so should I remove that experience from my CV?


texts: I'm scheduled to graduate next week but my professor has gone MIA due to a death in the family... what can I do?

texts:
Next week I'm scheduled to graduate from a major university. One of the required courses that I've taken over the past semester is an independent research study with a single professor.

Throughout this process I've mostly worked on my own, however, with the semester nearing its conclusion, I now need to present my research and receive a grade on my efforts.

Well, over the past five to six days, my professor hasn't been on campus and is for all intents and purposes unreachable. Of the few emails I've sent him he's only responded to one, saying that he's had a death in the family and that he'll get in touch with me the next day (which is now today but he's still yet to do so and it's currently 8pm). The death in the family happened at least last weekend, since when I tried visiting his office on Tuesday another professor told me he was out of the office due to said occurrence.

I consulted my advisor and he recommended that I send a follow up email [tonight] mentioning my concern, and that if he doesn't respond within a few hours to send another follow up email but this time with the chair of the department cc'ed.

My question is, is there anything else I can do to push this professor to respond to me and to set up a time to conclude my research project? What happens if he doesn't issue me a grade? I absolutely have to graduate this semester for a number of reasons that I won't go into; but, it would absolutely be devastating to my current plans in life, finances, etc.

I've been told that it's not within the powers of the chair to actually do something about this, just nudge the professor in the right direction, but, does the dean of the college have some kind of influence in my graduating?

My mentor for this project does instruct other courses, so, I'm kind of guessing he'll be back on campus next week to proctor his final(s)... but, I could also very well see another professor filling in for him.

Does anyone have experience with / knowledge about this? I'm kind of starting to freak out and so I thought I'd consult the masses.

Thanks in advance and sorry if any of this was ranty.

UPDATE: This afternoon I met with the chair of that department, and, about five minutes into the meeting my professor showed up in the door of the room! He was there to drop off a folder of papers for other students from his other courses to pick up, and to tell the chair that he was back on campus.

At that same time, my professor told me that he would just grade me on the results of the project that I had previously submitted to him, along with the presentation I made.

It truly was complete luck [on my part] that my professor showed up at the same time that I was there. And, the conversation between me and the chair didn't get far enough for him to tell me what my options would be; so, I can't update you all regarding what my university's policy / way of handling this would be.

Thanks again for all the comments/advice.


texts: Is it reasonable to mention being shortlisted for a prize in CV?

texts: The Open Mind Prize, and presumably many other prizes in mathematics and different fields, makes the list of a few (in this case: three) nominees public before the prize is awarded. Suppose that a person was among the shortlist of nominees but was not awarded the prize. Is it reasonable to mention this on their CV? On one hand, being on the shortlist is presumably a form of recognition. On the other hand, being nominated but not winning may be seen as negative.


texts: Whether to avoid collaborating with an academic because it would prevent them from being a reviewer on your post-doctoral research fellow application

texts:
I'm applying for a post-doctoral research fellowship in the UK, and a key part of the application is finding academic collaborators for the research. I already have two strong international collaborators, but I would also like a UK collaborator.

Now, one potential person -- let's say Prof. X -- would be a great collaboration, but they are also the person who is closest to my line of work in the UK. This means there is a good chance that they would be chosen for peer-review of my proposal, and I am confident they would give me a high score because I know that they think highly of me. Of course, if they are listed as a collaborator, they will not be asked to review.

Given this, I'm wondering whether it is better to take Prof. X as a collaborator to boost the quality of my application, or leave them out because there is a good chance they may be a reviewer and give me a high score. What do you think?


texts: What to do when your research interest changes to a new topic half way into your PHD?

texts:
I had started my PHD last year on a topic that has several interesting problem to solve in the area, however I don't find the problem interesting enough to spend 4 to 5 years. As time went by and I came across a new problem through my course work and interactions with various professors. I have started liking a different topic that is not very related to the original.

What would be a wise thing to do in such situation? Is it a common situation (changing topics midway)?


texts: How to maintain a good relationship with advisor when there is no need for it but I want it?

texts:
I want a good relationship with my advisor. But he is very busy with his projects and I am very busy with my master thesis as well. It is very clear to me where my project is going, I just need time to get it done. So basically, for now I don't need to meet my advisor and he doesn't have time anyways. For technical questions I can always ask some PhD students from him and I work usually at home.

I guess emailing once a month with updates would only overload his email address. Do you have any other ideas how to keep a good relationship with my advisor although there is no direct need for it? No matter how good of an advising this is, what can I do to make a good relationship?


texts: Journal vs conference publications when looking for a job in in computer science

texts:
I'm currently a post doc in theoretical computer science and I have a double digit number of conference publications, about half of which are at so called "tier 1" conferences (SODA,STOC,...). Unfortunately I only have 1 journal publication so far, mainly due to coauthors dragging their feet.

Will the lack of journal publications have a great impact when applying for a faculty job in cs-theory at some point, and is it advisable to try to up this number before applying? Or is this fully compensated by having sufficiently many conference papers?