texts: Where should I look to see if any funding is available for an industry-based research to attend and present at academic conference?

texts:
I am an industry-based researcher, which means that that I am not attached to any university or school. The research I do is basic and sector-based and some of them (as pointed out to me in this forum) is not even research per se (e.g. manuals and codes).

Notwithstanding this, I am always keen to engage in 'formal' research and I submit abstracts/proposals occasionally to conferences organised by universities/others where I can present my work. This is, of course, from a practical point of view which has certain advantages because it tells what works and what doesn't in the real world.

I have been accepted to present at a few conferences but I am discovering (to my surprise) that there is no financial assistance available to speakers (travel, accommodation and even registration). These expenses amount to thousands of dollars and are beyond my reach. It is also outside the scope of my profession so cannot be covered by my employer.

I am wondering what forms of assistance (if any) are available to assist non-academic researchers present their work to a wider audience?

Note: I checked with the conference organisers and they said there is no financial assistance available.


texts: Is there any good reason to write "it is easy to see"?

texts:
Many academic papers, particularly in mathematics and similar fields, use the phrase "it is easy to see that..." (e.g. in a mathematical proof). I never understood why this sentence is used. Such a sentence is inaccurate at best, since it is not easy for everyone to see; maybe it is easy for the author or some of the readers, but there are certainly readers to whom it is not easy.
Authors often try to shorten their paper as much as possible, so it is not clear why they would lengthen their paper by an inaccurate sentence.

Is there any good reason for an author to use this phrase?


texts: Is it illegal or unethical to use plotting and graphics styles that mimic those from newspapers and websites?

texts:
I am a researcher and publish my findings in academic journals, websites/blogs, and social media. The results often involve plots and other graphics, and I try to make them as attractive as possible.

Publications such as NYT, FT, The Economist, ... have characteristic (and pretty imo) styles for plots that many people like and try to mimic. One particular example is fivethirtyeight, with their style being even integrated as a style in matplotlib.

I wonder what is the stance about this topic in the data science community and academia. Is it okay to get inspired by someone's design of graphics and follow it?

I am not sure whether a plotting style can be protected and patented (and can you get sued for re-using it), but if not: is it unethical to mimic plot styles from others?

Another thing that may complicate things further is that when one publishes in academic journals, often the copyright of the content is transferred to the publisher.


texts:
I've recently been offered a research contract in a UK University within a Mathematics and Statistics department. I've been trying to get into Mathematical research for a long time, but in the mean time to continue research, publish, and so on, and to pay the bills I've had to take research based academic jobs in a varied number of departments in a number of Universities from Engineering to Sociology ! My background is Computer Science, in which I have a PhD.

My question is: Is it likely that a UK University would permit staff to study a part-time PhD in a new field within the department, e.g. Mathematics. If so, would fees be wavered? Or would this not be allowed since I already have a PhD in Computer Science. I've had a rocky road to Maths, for one reason or another, and had to take jobs I sometimes felt divergent to where I really wanted to go, so it would be nice to "tidy up" the loose ends.


texts: What to do when professor denies authoring an extremely negative letter of recommendation?

texts:
I asked a professor for letters of recommendation for 7 universities. I was able to view his review for one particular university and it was extremely, unnecessarily negative.

When I confronted him, he denied submitting this review. However, on comparing the negative letter and the actual letter that he forwarded, I found that the first paragraph of the letters are the same except that the adjectives are all negative. I have no way of knowing if it was him who submitted this. If so, there is a possibility all the universities received this negative letter.

What do I do?


texts: Why do some authors seem to ignore reviewer comments?

texts:
For example a review might say:

This paper is acceptable if the following comments are addressed:

In section two, change "this is a topy" into "this is a typo"
Instead of writing "Log" for the natural logarithm, write "Ln". This issue is present in sections two, three and four.
In section four, [do some serious work].

Then when the revision arrives, the authors make some attempt to address point 3 but completely do not address points 1 and 2, even though they're not controversial.
Why do some authors do this? I certainly do not want to Ctrl + F "Log" and list where all occurrences of it are when the authors can do that just as easily (besides, even if I do that, it often goes unfixed anyway). On the other hand, outright not fixing these issues when they've been pointed out seems pretty rude.
In my experience it seems that authors from India do this especially often, but I have no idea why this would be the case.


texts: If I had an average Bachelor degree and a year of working experience can I apply for a Master's Program?

texts: I have a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering and my GPA is 2.6/4 (German scale, so it was like 2.9/4 in American GPA), mainly due to years of depressions and a bad break up. If I picked up work for a year or two in software development, is there a chance (and if it so, how far it is) to get accepted for a Master in Data Science in the US/Canada?


texts: The "why it matters" of a research proposal

texts:
I have heard from academics in various fields that the usefulness of their research is not always immediately clear, but sometimes, a piece of research will inadvertently become important at some point in the future.

If this is true, i.e. if the usefulness of a research idea is not immediately clear, how could one write a convincing research proposal when a research proposal is supposed to address the importance of the idea? Does one resort to generic lines such as "to expand our understanding of x, y, and z"?


texts: Leaving PhD program to apply for industry job - better to apply while still officially enrolled?

texts:
I am going into the fourth year of a PhD program and my research, which is in a STEM field, has clear applications in the tech industry.

I have my Master's degree, but have decided not to finish the PhD.

Is it important to be enrolled while applying for jobs rather than be unemployed?  Will the people hiring view me differently?

Note: being enrolled brings some significant demands on my time.


texts: Do policy papers count as research papers in a cv?

texts: In the fields of International Studies or Politcal Science is very common to read and write policy papers, or analysis, rather than research papers. Do they have the same weight in a cv? Are research papers considered more relevant and serious than policy papers?


texts:
Observation. After reading bios of many successful scholars I have come to the conclusion that bs/ms/phd students, who eventually succeed in their research, work on the same problems as their supervisors (usually continuing older works of the supervisors). Which makes me think that the adviser plays the crucial role of the success of a beginner researcher.

Background. During last two years of studies I tried to do some research. I approached a prof who I considered among the most active researches on the faculty, not very young / not old, who's research was in the field (some branch of cs|applied mathematics) which I was and still am interested in. He proposed me several topics and I picked one. I tried to produce the result and failed. The difficulty was that: first, I lacked some necessary knowledge, there was no actual "problem", rather "try to get some theoretical result, connected to a certain algorithm". It was very frustrating experience because neither I understood why the topic is important (so I had no real passion) nor the prof had anything particular in mind and was not researching that topic so I was unable to get any research skill from collaboration.
Next year I have chosen another topic with same prof (I thought that the topic was to blame) with almost the same result.
So I don't have any successful research experience yet. For this reason instead of applying to a PhD program directly I have decided to do a Research Masters (in Europe). No that I am in the first year of masters I want to do some research.

The question. I am not sure if the problem lies with me or I am just having a bad luck with advisers. I believe that there are geniuses who can do self-motived research on their own and who do not actually need an adviser. Is it the case for other students too? How can I actually have a research experience which fits my level?


texts: Should conference papers in computer science contain full proofs, and should these be checked by reviewers?

texts:
I am a mathematician. In my subject, the normal means of disseminating research is to write it up with full and detailed proofs of the main results, which are then typically subjected to a rigourous peer-review process which can often take several years.

Much of my work, however, has an overlap with theoretical computer science, and I am often asked to referee articles sent to computer science conferences, which sometimes seem to me to have a slightly less rigourous review process. Therefore I have the following questions:

As a reviewer, should I insist that CS conference papers contain full proofs of their main results?
Should referees of conference papers actually check these proofs before accepting an article for publication?

These questions stem from a number of bad reviewing experiences I've had recently (as reviewer), in which I've rejected papers for basically a lack of rigour. One, which was submitted to a highly reputable conference, contained about ten additional pages of key proofs in a technical appendix, which was to be consulted ''at the reviewer's discretion'', and which would not have formed part of the final article. I rejected this on the basis that not only were the proofs themselves highly suspect (obviously grounds enough), but that the reader would never have had access to them and would have had to take everything on trust!

However, it turned out that I was the only reviewer who had these issues. The others were not only happy to have the main technical content of the paper relegated to a disposable appendix, but had not even bothered reading it! Eventually the paper did get rejected, but only after a fair amount of arguing on my part.

This is not by any means my only experience of this kind of attitude in computer science peer-reviewing (which would be frankly unthinkable in mathematics), but it illustrates the kind of problems I have as a reviewer.

I understand that there are cultural differences here, and that the speed of the conference system has its merits, so I am wondering whether I am being unfair to judge this system by the standards of rigour one normally expects from mathematical journals?


texts: Requesting a favor from student for giving recommendation letters

texts: Can I ask/ insist a bright undergraduate student (who is having similar areas of interest) to work under me for his final year project period and try to come up with a scientific publication in favor for giving him recommendation letters for internships?


texts: possibility of changing the corresponding author in IEEE transaction

texts:
Is it possible to assign one of the other authors as corresponding author in IEEE transactions during the peer review (i.e. changing the corr author) by any reason? If yes, at which stages it is possible? Is it possible when a paper received the A.Q (Accepted with mandatory minor revisions) status?
If not, is it possible to add the second corresponding author at any stage of peer review?


texts:
I am writing a paper and I have a table outlining the percentage change of results in different conditions.  For example:

Condition A: 5%
Condition B: -7%

Essentially, I want to show that Condition A saw an increase with my method and Condition B saw a decrease.  However, my adviser recommended against negative percentages, saying a percentage should always be positive.  What is a proper way to format this?


texts: Research Scientist vs Staff Scientist in US academia

texts: I am wondering what is the difference between a Research Scientist and a Staff Scientist in the US academia. Are these positions like a senior postdoc?


texts: How to report an author who doesn't share the last name but had similar first name as mine, is adding my articles in his profile on google scholar?

texts: Recently, I got to know that a person who doesn't share the last name but had a similar first name as mine, is adding my articles in his profile. Ironically, my most recent published article didn't appear in my profile, but it already appears in his profile. When I inquired and requested him to remove my articles from his profile, he just ignores my emails. How to handle is the situation? I found his LinkedIn profile, should I contact his school? How one can trust the "google scholar profile" of a researcher; especially if it's that simple to add other person's work and there is no way to report or flag fraud etc. This man has 8000+ citation; who knows he is adding other people articles, maybe to achieve some short term goals.


texts: Pros and cons of a PhD in material science for someone passionate about research

texts:
I am a material science Masters graduate i have a double bachelor degree and double Masters degree (From 3 countries) now i am working at a reputable automotive company. However, My passion is in research, I tried many times to get a PhD with no luck (in Germany and parts in europe). until i gave up and started working in the industry.

My questions are: If i want to work in research (and not necessary continue in the academic track). Does it make sense to still try and get a PhD?

If i want to go back to industry again, Will my PhD title affect my chances to go back in the industry and will i have to stick to academic career?

Would it be just easier to get a job at a research company/facility and just work there without a PhD degree?

I keep hearing mixed opinions about all the questions i asked. I would really love to hear feedback particularly from with a background in material science


texts: Is it acceptable to put the blame on an instructor during an oral exam for a mistake?

texts:
During class, I asked my instructor about a certain thing that didn't make sense to me. Basically, there was a problem that I couldn't figure out how to solve using the methods we've studied. The instructor told me that the problem couldn't be solved using those methods. As this aligned with my own suspicion, I took her word on it and moved on.

During the oral exam, I was talking about this, and said that the problem was not solvable. The examinator said that it is solvable using those methods, and he explained how.

My response was "ah, I see, that makes sense", and then we kept on discussing.

But now, after the exam, I am thinking whether it would've been acceptable of me to just "put the blame" on the instructor by saying that I got the wrong information from her?

On one hand, that is the truth, and by telling them this, I might avoid being held responsible for a mistake that wasn't entirely my fault.

On the other hand, and this is how I felt during the exam, it felt to me out of order to bring up the instructor in the exam. She wasn't there to defend herself, so it seemed wrong to talk about her "behind her back", so to speak.


texts: I've been gathering information about the GRE mathematics subject test. Going over most of the tets available at this link, I see that to get a scaled score of, say, 800+, one now need a higher raw score on the newer tests compared to the older tests. This naturally led me to infer that perhaps the exams of recent years have become easier, making the curve shift toward the right of the range. However, the following link mentions that the subject tests have actually become harder! I was hoping if someone could expound on this issue. If the subject tests have become harder, why does one need to a larger raw score to get the same scaled score.


texts: Is it unethical to expect one's PhD students to work after graduation without compensation? Should graduates ask for compensation for work?

texts:
My thesis advisor expects me to 1) write the paper rebuttal and 2) finish any remaining experiments by coming in on the weekends, for free. I am now working full-time in industry, and no longer being paid by him. Is this ethical?

Part 2 of my question:
I would be happy to do this if it had been my fault that we didn't submit my paper until the week I graduated. However, my history with this advisor has been:

1 year before Jan graduation date: We agreed that in 1 year I could graduate given the finishing of certain key experiments. He also insisted that I be here for the rebuttal of the paper after its been submitted.
During this year, we agreed that I was on track for this.
3 months before Jan graduation date: I brought up my Jan graduation again, and he protested saying it would take longer than I thought to write, submit, and wait for revisions to come back (different than being on track like we had agreed I was!)
I of course was dissapointed that he didn't tell me this sooner, that I wasn't on track. I relented to a compromise where I graduate in March instead of Jan.
Dec: All of the key experiments had been completed and I insisted on submitting in Jan or by the end of jan so that I could still be here for the rebuttal (3 months to write, submit, and get reviews back). He agreed that would be enough time.
Jan: He now wanted me to do several more, additional experiments for the paper. I tried, but the experiments were not going well. I kept trying to mention that the paper needed to be submitted. He relented, and we ended up submitting at the end of March.

Now, he doesnt even have the time to give me feedback on a draft of the rebuttal until after I put everything together (meaning I may be wasting my time on things that he will ultimately throw out or veto)

Therefore, I feel he has fanagled things so that he can get the most value out of me without regard for me as a person, and that includes this new period of being asked to do work with no mention of pay. Is this unethical and should I ask him to pay me for my work on the rebuttal?


texts: Changing proposed project post-acceptance

texts:
I recently applied for a research based degree and I have indeed been offered admission (with funding), scheduled to start this fall.

Prior to my acceptance, I had an interview with my prospective advisor and we both seemed to have similar interests, so they recommended me for admission. Most of the funding is indeed coming from the supervisor rather than the department.

The supervisor is a newly-hired assistant professor, just starting out and building up the group from scratch, so I didn't really have much information regarding the available projects and research directions they intend to pursue other than a short summary. We discussed a possible proposed project and even potential collaborations with other groups in the department (one of the potential collaborators was also present during the interview). I was definitely happy with the project and was looking forward to working on it, but I wouldn't say that it was perfectly 100% aligned with what I had hoped to work on. I accepted the offer and that was that. The offer letter mentions that I will be under the supervision of this professor, so that seems set in stone (no complaints so far).

Recently, this professor launched a website for the new group (came across it by chance), complete with a detailed list of all the projects they want to pursue and is still actively recruiting. On reading more about these projects, there is one in particular which I would be very excited to work on (significantly more than my 'proposed' project).

My question is, would it be OK to contact this professor now and to perhaps intimate to them or suggest that I would prefer to work on one of the other projects listed? Or to maybe influence the direction of my proposed project?

I am hesitant because I don't want to come across as indecisive and scatterbrained, and I do understand that the professor might be recruiting certain students with certain skills to work on specific projects, so I do get why my this request might upset the professor. I don't want them to feel that I conned them into accepting me on a false premise. At the same time, I would really rather work on this other project and would like to signal this to them as early as possible, before it is 'taken' by another student.

Should I initiate this discussion now? Or should I maybe wait till I arrive in the fall? Is it even too premature to be worrying about such things? Am I over-thinking this perhaps?

Would appreciate any input. Thanks.


texts: Is it looked down upon to do a second PhD (vs a postdoc)?

texts:
In January, I started my third year of a computer science PhD.  My goal has always been to balance "X" and computer science ("X" being a non-engineering subject), and I thought I could do that at my current institution while officially getting my computer science degree.  Unfortunately, I underestimated the extent to which I'd be required to work on my advisor's agenda (he is strictly a machine learning person), so, while I've gotten a few minor papers in computer science + "X" workshops, I haven't been able to pursue the research agenda that I particularly care about.  In addition, I realized I really need a more deep study of "X" than I realized, and potentially than of CS.

The way I see it, I have three viable options:

Leave this summer with a terminal masters in CS, find a temporary job as a software engineer or whatever I can manage for a year, and apply to "X" degrees this fall, to start in Sept. 2021.  This doesn't sound too bad, but I'd risk not getting into "X" and ending up with no PhD and hence no chance at a faculty position (which I want).
Continue publishing workshop papers on the side, and try to get a postdoc in "X" in a few years. My worry is that if I skip doing a PhD concentrated on my desired research topic (which is fairly specific and isn't something people are currently working on), I'll never get a chance to explore it fully, and that I'd only be able to get mediocre postdoc positions if I'm applying to a field I don't know enough about.
Get a PhD in CS as fast as I can, and then head straight to the start of another PhD in "X".  I like the idea of having a PhD in my back pocket, and this way I would have a lot of time to develop my research agenda, but I'm nervous that admissions committees would look down on someone who was "collecting degrees."

Any advice?

Also, for clarification: My desired research agenda in "X" has nothing to do with machine learning, so, while I can try to merge interests while a CS student, I believe it would be fairly superficial and only for the purpose of leaning my resume in that direction.

Edit: "X" is a humanities field that generally shares very little with CS except among a very few "computational X-ers"


texts: Does one need to be affiliated with a university to publish papers?

texts: Assume you have already completed your undergrad and have been working for a number of years. Does one need to be part of a university or a learning institution to publish papers?


texts: Ethics of spending research money on food and meetings

texts:
I assume this varies from different universities/research institutes/countries, however, is there a general percentage or ethical rule on how much money from a grant can or should be spent on food and meetings?  When I was a graduate student I didn't need to deal with this too much, but also never really saw any of my advisors going out to nice dinners or having meals with people on research funds, granted, they did do it with the internal budgets of the institute.

My current situation had me get a grant for around 20,000 USD, the project is 8 months, and was asked to list how much money I will spend on food and meetings.  I had always thought of this to be inappropriate as research money should be for research.  Am I over thinking it and this is a normal practice?  I was told 1k of the 20k could be for food, but asked for 200 instead, out of my own thinking of what should be appropriate for giving students or interns coffee  (this is separate than the money reserved for travelling to conferences).


texts: Should we input Chinese characters in a table of summarizing vernacular names in a Scientific Paper? or only write in Pinyin

texts: I got a comment from a reviewer  who suggested that i should remove Chinese character in the table which shows different names of a plant from different countries. Actually i typed pinyin( Chinese character), namely Ding Cao(丁草). I saw several published papers do the same thing. But i have no academic proof or authentic documents so far. So please share or give some consultancies if someone encountered. Thanks very much.


texts: Have applied to, and been rejected from, a number of PhD positions; are they really so difficult to get?

texts:
I am a student who graduated with a Master from a German university in April this year, majored in materials science, willing to further pursue a PHD degree in a European university (or possibly a university in the USA if I can not get anything in the EU). I have already applied to a certain amount of universities´ PHD studentship programs.

I admit that there hardly are positions exactly fitting the thesis work and research activity I had in my Master study program, because materials science is a very diverse and gargantuan subject. Each different university has its own research preference and inclination. Sometimes you may say you can find between 20%-40% overlap with your past experiences, including the similarity of research content, or the techniques being used. So I tried to apply to all of them, the replies were mostly like this: "You can not fit the best of criteria.."  It has been several months, there is still no slight improvement of my application.

My GPA is 3.4/4 (no publications so far), but according to the PhD advertisements I have viewed, some universities have rules about the basic grade requirement you need to have for PhD enrollment, some do not have. The universities I had finished my Master and Bachelor study have certain reputation in their own region or country. My Master degree is Master of science(M.Sc.), Master thesis is about metal-oxide nanostructures synthesis and its application (basically using different approach trying and trying again, compare the final results), on the one hand I am afraid of the simple and even boring thesis work could give people wrong impression about my research experiences that is poor and rudimentary, Professor will have some doubts about whether I am truly quantifying to do some sophisticated PhD work, on the other hand, if I stick to doing metal-oxide fabrication research or related in my PhD study, you need to have solid background in chemistry, which also is what I am lack of.

Unfortunately I do not have too much contact with my professor (thesis advisor) except having some discusses related to my Master thesis, because our group is very big one and each PhD student is responsible for supervising master students for their thesis work, so Professor could have time and energy doing other things, I only asked my professor for recommendation letter once, maybe I also need his suggestion about my applications.

After I have accepted some rejected letters, I started to think which kind of project could fit my profile, not only I can be accepted by them but I can also enjoy my project and stretch my muscle, doing some useful in materials science field.

Sometimes I am confounded by various projects and their fancy names offered in the webpages, and do not know what to do next. but I still  have a dream about one day I could leave my fingerprints on the TEM machine and my thoughts on the scientific papers.If you are a PHD student (have successful application experiences) majored in materials science or related area, I kindly ask for suggestion (any suggestion and any opinions will be useful to me).


texts: Can I publish a survey-paper on a broader subject of a technology instead of narrow approach?

texts:
Can I write a survey on a 'Broader' subject of a technology, discussing how literature has discussed the technology, instead of a particular aspect?

For example in 'cellular communication for vehicles' there can be a number of ways to explore the field, including 'implementation challenges', 'Resource allocation', 'security', 'coding', 'vehicle-to-infrastructure communication'...and the list goes on.

Is it necessary that I present the survey on any one of this narrowed field. During my Ph.D. I have read a lot about almost all of these topics, can I combine them into a survey on the lines of "Survey of communication technology in Vehicles" etc. which details all these aspects?


texts: How to ask the editor of a journal whether our manuscript fits the scope or not

texts:
I am interested in submitting a manuscript to a certain scientific journal, because it is well ranked. The problem is that I am not sure if my manuscript totally meets the topics and requirements (e.g. lenght, etc.) of the journal.

I would like to send a letter to the editor of the journal in order to find out whether or not they believe my paper can be interesting to the readers and may fit the scope and conditions of the journal.

I have been told that, in cases like this, this option is better than just submitting the manuscript and getting it rejected.

So, my question is: Could you recommend me a letter model to this purpose?

In addition, in this similar question: [ When is it appropriate to contact the editor before submission to avoid rejection without review? ] they talk about even sending the whole manuscript to the editor in this pre-submission step! Actually, I was thinking of not even including the abstract of my work (but just a description) in this letter to the editor. Should I really include it?


texts: Why do some US universities have "Electrical Engineering" and "Computer Engineering" vs. "Electrical Engineering and Computer Science" departments?

texts:
When I started searching for a graduate programs that fits my research interests in the United States, I noticed that some universities have separate "Computer Engineering" and "Electrical Engineering" departments, while other universities have a combined department "Electrical engineering and Computer science".

Why do some universities choose to divide or combine these disciplines?


texts:
I wonder whether it is possible to bulk download all papers stored in Sci-Hub.

I am aware of the questions:

Is there a more user-friendly way to download multiple articles from arXiv?
Bulk download of arXiv (or other publication data set) with metadata AND citations

but they focus on arXiv.

Cross-posted question on Open Data (not encouraged by Stack Exchange policy): Bulk download Sci-Hub papers


texts: How to tailor a CV for travel grant applications

texts:
Can anyone advise on how to tailor a CV for travel grant applications?

I've seen a number of computer science conferences and workshops where the application for travel grants consists of simply sending your CV.

Is there anything that one can do specifically for this type of application?


texts: Justifying past dropping out in statement of purpose letter

texts:
I was a PhD student for 2-years. during this time, I did not get along with my adviser, who was psychologically abusive towards me. He left me no chance but to drop out because the situation was intolerable, and working with him was counter-productive.

I am thinking of going back to school as I have not given up on working towards my goal. In my Statement of Purpose (SOP) letter, Do I need to mention/elaborate on the reasons that made me drop out? If so, what is the best way to express them without hurting my chance of getting an admission?

Thanks!


texts: Is it normal that what I studied in my bachelor's and master's is rarely useful to my PhD?

texts:
Short version: Do you expect your knowledge in previous degrees to play a big part in your PhD?

Just to give you a bit of my background, I studied maths in my previous degrees and I am also doing maths in my PhD (trying to solve some kind of discrete optimisation problem). All in the UK, by the way.

Now some of you probably know that it's usually hard (NP-hard, if you like) to solve discrete optimisation problems. I got to learn some of them in my previous degrees and found them really fun and enjoyable, probably because I could understand how to solve them and why such and such methods work. (Well I guess it's obvious that they would only teach me "easy" problems at that stage.)

I know that I am expected to learn new things during a PhD, but since I started my PhD, I have been feeling that I rarely get to use what I studied before to tackle my research. It's like I started from zero again. Anything I learned before doesn't seem to be useful and I had to learn new techniques from scratch. All this made me wonder that I probably chose a wrong topic because I have almost zero knowledge to do this topic.

Have you ever had a similar feeling? Is it just another normal PhD life? I'm just no longer sure if I made the right decision to do this particular topic (or even to do a PhD).

Edit: I tried to think about this again and realised that I shouldn't have asked "how normal is it?", but rather "has anyone else experienced this and how did you deal with it?"


texts: PhD Admissions Importance: Research vs. Grades

texts:
I have read and been told that research is the single most important factor for applying for PhD programs in STEM fields. But, I also hear that GPA and GRE scores are the first cutting point for adcoms.

What is actually more important, grades or research? Will committees look at applicants with low GPAs?

In my scenario, I have a ~3.4 GPA overall, ~3.7 in Major (CS). This is not stellar. But what I do have is 1 first-author conference publication (Best Paper Award at conference) and 1 first-author journal publication as a Junior, with more other work/papers in progress. And my GREs are 158V/170Q/4.5W.

I'm very interested in top schools, but I'm worried my GPA will hold me back.

Will admissions throw away my application at sight of my GPA? Or will they take the time to review my whole application?


texts: Job requires recommendation letters from Senior Research Scientists - who is eligible to write letters?

texts:
I am wondering who are treated as Senior Research Scientists?
Whether or not Assistant Professors, PostDocs, Project Scientists are treated as Senior Research Scientists?

I am asking this because I need couple of recommendation letters to make an application for tenure track scientist position. I am asked to take these recommendations from Senior Research Scientists.


texts: I'm currently writing my IB Extended Essay in physics. I wonder how I can define variables in a formal way. I originally used a triple bar (e.g. "F≡buoyant force"). However, I'm not sure if this is formal or even correct. What is an academic and formal way to define variables?


texts: How would we identify a better measure of academic productivity?

texts:
Measures of academic productivity, like the h-index, m-index, i10-index are useful but imperfect. Their imperfections are more than an abstract concern. Hiring committees consider them in determining how the applicant stands in relation to his peers. The weight committees give to these numbers varies, especially with newer metrics.

How do we know which measurement of scientific productivity is the most accurate? This question suggests that no measure is accepted as generally accurate. The h-index has a retrospective validation for some fields. Have studies tracked a cohort of scientists over time to compare the ability of these measurements to predict who received a tenure-track appointment in the next five years? (I realize that is not everyone's goal. It is one that tenure committees care about.)


texts: For a first printing of an edition, should the Print year or the Copyright year be cited as the publication date?

texts:
I need some help determining the proper publication date to cite a book (a textbook). It is the 8th edition of the textbook, Print 01, Print year 2016, the Copyright year is 2017. Should the print year or the copyright year be cited as the proper publication date? Does it matter if the copyright date is in the future (for reference, this question is being asked in 2016). I understand that the copyright date is pushed as far forward as the publisher can get away with to maximize the copyrighted period.

I realize this is similar to a couple other questions, such as What determines the copyright year for a publication? but I think it is a bit different in that those questions deal with multiple copyright dates or a print date that is after the copyright date.

The textbook is:

Evans, J.R. (2016 or 2017?). Quality and Performance Excellence, 8th edition, Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

ISBN is 1-305-66222-9


texts: Writing out numbers in ranges: between 5 and 50 or between five and 50?

texts:
In a manuscript, when defining a specific range that starts below ten and ends bigger than ten, is it written as numerals for all, for the number below ten or all in numerals?

Example:

  We detected between 5 and 58 genes.

or

  We detected between five and 58 genes.

Previous discussions on this topic don't really answer this specific case
When and why should you write numbers less than 10 in words?


texts:
I am in the process of submitting my PhD thesis, and have been offered a 1yr post-doc role at my current institution. If it matters, I am in UK and work in applied mathematics at a well-known faculty.

My question relates to "traditional" career paths after the initial post-doc, or more specifically what are good reasons (or the only reason) for embarking on post-doc research? The reason I am asking this question is because I switched from industry (after 5 years experience) to research in order to carry out my PhD, which happens to be on a topic relevant to both industry and academia. So I have come to research and academia in a bit of a backwards way.

Like many other researchers, I found thesis work hard-going and throughout much of my PhD assumed I would simply slip back into industry after completion. But as my thesis began to reach the closing stages, and I reflect upon my work, I realised that there are numerous aspects of research that I genuinely enjoy, and value. But I do not know if this is a good enough reason to continue with post-doc research.

Thinking beyond my current offer, during my investigations for post-doc roles I have been struck by how transient, or temporary, many roles are (at least in my area). So my question is what are the traditional "end goal(s)" of a series of temporary post-doc positions? Am I correct in thinking that I should only be doing this if I fully intend on seeking a full-time salaried academic position? How long does this take, and what is the "success rate" of post-doc to full-time academic?

The thought of job-hunting every year, or few years, for the next X years seems quite...daunting. And I worry that if there is a high chance I will return to industry in X years time (for whatever reason) - then I probably need to factor that in to my decision making now.


texts: Is it a good idea to publish a complete open-access solutions manual to accompany my open-access textbook?

texts:
It will likely be several years (probably more) before I write a textbook, but it's something I've been finding myself pondering in the back of my mind recently.

I would like to distribute my book à la Lienhard; that is, freely available on a website. Additionally, I would like to distribute complete solutions to the exercises therein through the same medium. However, I wonder if

educators might not adopt the book because the exercise solutions are easily found, and/or
students might not get the most out of the book because the exercise solutions are easily found.

If I distribute the exercises in .tex format, like LeVeque, the first point could be mitigated by allowing instructors to customize them more easily. To the second point, I did about as well in classes where solutions were provided with the problems (and the problems weren't graded) as I did in ones with solutions provided after the due date. But I'm sure that won't be true for everyone, and I know that there are other factors.

So I pose to the educators and students on this site whether it would be a good idea to freely provide complete solutions to my freely provided textbook.

Note: I see this question as related, but it doesn't address the specific case of having a one-stop shop for solutions for entire sets of problems that is updated and cross-referenced correctly (i.e., no web searching required). Perhaps this question is even closer, but it doesn't address open-access resources.


texts: Impact of type of institution (public vs. private) on long-term tenure track career perspectives

texts: I am curious about to what degree and how, if any, type of educational institution (public vs. private) has an impact on long-term career perspectives in academia (with eventual target of a tenure-track faculty member). For the purposes of this question, please assume we are talking mostly about educational institutions in the U.S. with a very high research activity per Carnegie Classification.


texts: Should I do a doctorate straight after my master or work for a while first?

texts:
I have a BSc in Software Engineering, and I am now doing an MS in Software Engineering (taking more advanced courses and such).

Once I am done with my MS I would like to do a PhD in a software engineering related research topic, but I am not sure if I should get a job for a few years after my MS - or jump straight into a PhD?

With regards to long term goals I do not think I will want to do full-time teaching but I would like to do some part-time teaching (at University level, not picky about graduate vs undergraduate) alongside a professional career.

At this point I am not considering the monetary aspect of a PhD vs. a job. I would simply like to know if one approach is academically and professionally better than the other.

Thank you.

EDITIdeally, I would like to work with new, cutting edge technologies, and be an "expert" in my field - hence why I thought of doing a PhD. I would love to perform research as long as I can then apply the results in an industrial setting. At this moment I do not think I am interested in a pure research career.

EDIT 2
Thanks to everyone for their answers, it'l help me a lot. This isn't really a right/wrong answer question so unless an answer gets a huge amount of upvotes I won't be picking an answer.

I guess I should also add what I am currently leaning towards.
Bearing in mind I still have one year to make up my mind, right now I am thinking about one, maximum two, years of work then back to school for a PhD.
...but time will tell!


texts: Minor revision changed to major revision

texts:
I submitted to a journal, in which I got a minor revision. In the minor revision, I was asked to do nothing other than to include a future research direction in the end after the conclusion. I submitted with the minor revision two days ago and today, I got a mail saying that a major revision is suggested.
The mail reads as follows:

Thanks for submitting your paper to this special issue. Please add a section after introduction for literature review. The current quality of paper is not sufficient to publish on the journal. Please include most recent literature as well.
You will need to state the research motivation at the beginning and conclude the research questions in the end.

Now, I am not asked to do anything regarding the analysis part or anything. I already have stated the research questions in the manuscript. I also don't understand what it means, "current quality is not sufficient."
Is this usual? Any advice on how to deal this?
Update: My paper got accepted. Woah..!


texts: Bibliography format with multiple citations from same book? (APA)

texts:
I'm writing a paper where I've included multiple citations from a book, each citation is not a direct quote from the text but rather a in-text citation.
According to APA guidelines, these citations should be at the end of the paraphrased text such as:

  My text here blob blob blob (Rubin, 2013).

Since these citations do not include page numbers (direct quotes do, according to APA guidelines) and I have three (so far) when I insert a bibliography with Word these look like this:

  Rubin, K. S. (2013). Essential SCRUM. Ann Arbor, United States of America: Addison Wesley.
  Rubin, K. S. (2013). Essential SCRUM. Ann Arbor, United States of America: Addison Wesley.
  Rubin, K. S. (2013). Essential SCRUM. Ann Arbor, United States of America: Addison Wesley.

So, my question is: Is it okay to have these duplicate entries in the list of references/bibliography at the end of the document or should I add the page number to both in-text citations and references, even though they're not direct quotes within the document but in-text citations instead. I hope that makes sense.


texts: Time taken by department to offer the admission decision

texts:
How much time does it take for getting the admission decision after all the required documents are submitted at a university that offers admissions on Rolling Basis? I had my application and all required douments submitted before 10 days for Fall 2015. Also, my appliacation has been forwarded to the department before a week. How much time should it take for the department to review my application?

Thank you.


texts: How to address a reader and a postdoctoral research assistant?

texts: I want to send an email to two people. One of them is a reader in India and the other is a postdoctoral research assistant in Germany. I do not know how to address each of them at the start of the email - “Dear Professor", "Dear Dr.” or what?


texts:
I'm applying to a PhD program in Biostatistics. Two years ago I was member of a team crew hired by the United Nations to write a report on security. This report was published last year and has my name on it in the Statistics section. A summary of the report is publicly available.

I am considering including this report as a publication but I am concerned that an admissions officer may think that I am inflating my CV.

Should I include this report as a publication on my CV?


texts: Will dropping out of a masters make it harder to get accepted to a masters in another field?

texts:
I'm first year master's student in Iran, but I'm not happy with my field and my university. I want to apply for a new master's program in field of my interest and in europe, say Germany for example. To do that I have to drop my current education. But I worry that dropping my current master's would have bad effects on my application for new master's program. Any idea what should I do?
Thanks in advance.


texts: How can I communicate that the word limit prevents you from elaborating something in an essay?

texts:
Let's posit:

You're a university student. I don't posit degree level; you can be undergraduate or postgraduate.
You must not overstep the essay's word limit, whatever it is. You lose marks if you overstep.
Your word limit is too short to elaborate an argument or idea.

How do academics write that the word limit precludes elaboration? Is this common or professional? Something like

The word limit prevents me elaborating this idea.

I cannot elaborate this argument here given the word limit.

Or is this stupid? Will the professor already know the word limit precluded you from elaboration?


texts: Are postdoctoral scholars considered students or researchers in other countries?

texts:
I am currently working under a post-PhD (postdoc) scholarship. In my country (Argentina) I am usually considered still a student (although it's kind of a gray area).

In other countries, would I qualify as a student or as a researcher?


texts: Prepared exam essay matches published example

texts:
My son (3rd yr zoology in the UK) has an exam tomorrow, in which the task is to write an essay on the history of a(ny) branch of science. The idea is that the students can research and prepare their essay in advance and in the exam write it down from memory.

Now, my son has prepared his essay (on a subject obvious given his degree) only to find out less than 48h before the exam (tomorrow morning) that his topic is identical to that of an example essay published by the department online (but of which he was unaware) and which is quite similar to his. Obviously, if now writing his essay as intended, it will come across as plagiarised.

Q1: So what can he do?
Q2: What should the lecture do (a) if informed/asked by the student or (b) if not informed by the student, but finding the coincidence upon marking?
Q3: Can the marker simply assume plagiarism or do they have to prove it?


texts: In Germany, is it possible to get a professorship in the same university where you earned a PhD?

texts: I did my PhD in a German university. I heard that it is not legally allowed to be professor in the same university. However, I see also some counterexamples in our field. Is this true? If so, why some people could still stay in the same university?


texts: Tools for data organising and processing

texts:
Suppose we perform experiments with input parameters (temperature, humidity, processing time...) and collect resulting data (thickness, structure, mech. properties...).

Is there a tool (or set of tools) to organize, process and export data from such experiments?

Key features are:

Structured files decomposition (raw text files).
Basic math operations.
Filter and sort by given parameters (show/export data from samples treated at given temperature and humidity for various times).
Generating tables with given parameters and list of "constants" (table of times, mech. properties and thicknesses and list containing temperature, humidity...).
Vector graphics output and/or output suitable for MATLAB (graph of thickness as function of time).
Automated (or easy-to-create) LaTeX output (report sheet).

If not, any idea, hint or recommendation how to create it is appreciated. Right now I'm thinking of a spreadsheet (Excel) as core database and MATLAB as the processor (filters, sorting, graphics).


texts: In-text citation for research paper. How to look for a "source" when a reference is an article on a website?

texts:
I am an I.T. student and currently working on my capstone project it is equivalent to research paper or thesis for some college courses. I usually do an in-text citation using APA style. For example:

  According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA
  style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

As you can see at the last part (p. 199) that is the "source". At least, that is what I understand from my professor's explanation.

Since almost of my reference are taken from websites particularly an article which have no pages on it. My question is, how should I put a source in my research paper if a website have no pages?

I already do my research about this problem, but it is still very vague to me.


texts: Resolving dependency on a senior colleague before deadline

texts:
(Disclaimer: While this question pertains to interpersonal issues in a working environment, I feel it is better suited to this SE than Workplace because of it being in the context of a lack of formal responsibility/hierarchy in an academic environment)

Background

The deadline for the camera-ready version of a publication and conference registration is in seven days; In order to finalize the publication, I need to specify information regarding licensing of the primary data (it is literally an HTML field which I have to fill out in order to submit the paper; It is not "just" some legal requirement).

I do not have the experience to decide what licensing is applicable to the type of data I need to license, the hosting setup for the data which will ultimately be in place, and the country/countries involved (I don't even know what countries would have jurisdiction). However, this would in theory not be a problem, because a tenured member of staff, who also said they would settle the issues regarding hosting, said they would "look into it". This person is otherwise not related to the publication or project.

Problem

The problem now is that I have been regularly asking the person who offered to deal with licensing issues about the status of the issue for two months now, with the frequency and seriousness of the contact increasing (first it was an occasional e-mail, then more e-mails, then physically finding said person and asking them in person). However, now I have almost no time left, and I still have no resolution to the issues described above.

I do not doubt the person's "trustworthiness" since they are a senior member of faculty in a small department and I know neither this department nor the person very well. Nevertheless, I cannot trust that this person will magically do what I asked of them one hour before the deadline because the stakes are too high. How can I resolve my dependency on this person before the hard deadline, i.e. how can I get them to do what they said they would do when I cannot do it myself and don't have time to find someone else who can? The person is neither my supervisor nor formally part of any project I am working on, so I have absolutely no way of formally resolving this.


texts: When is the right time to quit, if at all (2-year Master's)?

texts:
I am five weeks into a two-year MS program in statistics at a public university in the US. To be honest, I do not think my graduate program was the right choice for me. I am struggling a lot with the work. I do not find my instructors helpful in class or in office hours; what is taught in class is difficult to relate to the homework and is often a different focus than what's in our textbook.
Although I want to do more data science/research analysis work as a career, I picked a program that included both applied and theoretical courses because I thought the theory was good to know. But now the theoretical side feels like a burden. I still like stats, and I'm not sure if my unhappiness is my particular graduate program or being in grad school at all.
The question is, how soon is "too soon" to know to quit, and is there any way to tell if I would be happy or not in another, more applied program? I have spoken with my parents (who are funding my graduate education) and we are all agreed that I should at least finish out this semester. Do I quit then and look for jobs? Do I wait until the end of next semester and see if different professors make a difference, and if not, go to a different program or get a job? Or is it silly to do half of it and not finish the MS?


texts: How strange is it (as an undergrad) to email a professor from another institution about possibly working in their lab?

texts:
I'm at a relatively small Liberal Arts College (top 25, so not "bad", just relatively small) and there are limited opportunities for research in the field I am interested in: behavioral science of resource consumption.

How strange would it be to email a professor from another undergrad institution, asking if I can work in their lab over the summer?


texts:
I want to apply for a PhD in computer science. My end goal is to become a professor and teach at a university. I have interests in data structures, algorithms, networks and programming languages. I would love to apply for a PhD in algorithms but cannot figure out a research topic.

Can some one please suggest how should I go about it? I don't mind if I get into a PhD program in a field other than algorithms as the final goal is to teach.

Thanks a ton!


texts:
In a research paper, according to MLA standards, if I cite an author on page 259 in one paragraph (Author, 259), and 3 paragraphs later cite the same author from the same book but from a different page (Author, 628), how should the works cited entries look? Do I need two separate entries for each citation, or can I make one entry and put pages 259-628 in the works cited listing?

For example, if I write in a paper that "Saturn has many rings (de Pater and Lissauer, 457)" and in another part of the paper say that "the age of Saturn's rings is unknown (de Pater and Lissauer, 484)".

How would the works cited listing look with the page numbers? Would I put in 457-484 (457 through 484), or 457, 484 (457 and 484)?


texts: Reviewers want me to cite their barely related papers

texts:
I recently sent a paper to a journal which has now been reviewed by 2 reviewers. Both of them have some good points that I should change. However, both reviewers also suggest to include specific papers to "enhance" my paper.

However: These papers are barely related to my paper.

In case of reviewer 1 the whole research group of the papers suggested by this reviewer is identical for each paper.
In case of reviewer 2 five papers have been suggested. Even though different authors are listed two identical authors appear on each of these papers. Sometimes as a first author, sometimes not. But it seems obvious to me that one of these two authors must be reviewer 2.

I don't know how to deal with that. Should I write the editor? Should I ignore their suggestions? Should I include at least one of these references to make them happy? Their general opinion about our paper was good.


texts: Will marking on graduate application that I'd like to be considered for admission without funding hurt my chances of receiving funding?

texts: One of the graduate schools I'm applying to asks if I would like to be considered for admission even if they can't fund me. Would it hurt my chances of receiving funding if I checked "yes?"


texts: What to do when you found something new, but don’t have motive/application to justify it?

texts:
Last year one of my TAs (a Ph.D. scholar) gave a problem to my undergraduate class, I found the problem very interesting and devoted a lot of time to it. Eventually, I developed a model with my TA along the line of the problem and wrote a paper on it. We believe the model will provide a new dimension to the concerned topic.

Now the paper has been rejected twice by two reputed journals. Along with some minor issues (that can be easily rectified), they’ve pointed out a lack of motive/ applicability in the real world as the major issue. Now I can’t decide what steps I should take; these are some alternatives that I can think of:

Leave that problem statement.
Wait for some solid motive. But till when?
Go with some minor journal or conference.
Other steps that I am not aware of.

The problem statement is in computer science. Apart from this, I am working on another problem statement and due to stillness in this problem, my time and attention are being divided unnecessarily.

What steps can I take?


texts: How many students are typical for an advisor?

texts:
I am an undergraduate student in China, majoring in chemistry. I am now considering which advisors would be most suitable for my future research.

Actually, I have been working in a professor's lab since over a year at my university and I am interested in their research topics. What concerns me is that he recruits many students. He is the only professor in our group with over 10 graduate students, expected to increase to 14–16 students next year (depending on whether I join this lab). I am hesitant because I unsure whether he would have the time to provide me guidance with so many students.

How many students are typical for a professor?

[EDIT]

Our group typically hosts 1-2 undergraduates per year.


texts:
I finally realized that there is a term for the situation I am in,"burned out". What can I do to recover from a short term burnout?

I am at the the last four months of my MSc program and I haven't started my thesis yet. The reason was complicated, the MSc program was quite different from the one I had in mind. So, from the start I felt I was wasting my time by continuing at the program. The only reason I didn't quit is because the scholarship is sponsored by the company I used to work. I am still their employee and I am expected to join them once I finished.

If I quit, I wouldn't get promotion not to mention the "he wasn't able to graduate" rumor. Besides, I am supposed to serve three years as a pay back for the scholarship they gave me.

Despite my adviser's genuine effort to help, I am not able to pull myself and do something. I continually failed to see my adviser despite having an appointment with him.  The only thing that crossed my mind for months as a solution is SUICIDE. I am deeply stressed and have presumably stress initiated headache that lasts for weeks.

What would you do if you were in my position?


texts:
I'm sorry if this a wrong place to post this question but I don't know where to ask.

I'm a medical student from Alexandria, Egypt. By next year I'll have completed the pre-clinical phase of the program and I'm wondering if I can study the clinical phase in Germany (Germany has the same program arrangement)

Is there a test that l can take to study the clinical phase directly without having to start all over ?


texts: Send introductory email to foreign university professor ahead of classes

texts:
Some of my college classmates and I will be studying for one semester at a foreign university in Belgium. To give context, we are Italian Erasmus students on an exchange program traveling to a foreign country that speaks Dutch/Flemish, although the classes will be partially or fully in English.

I would like to know if you think it’s a good idea to send an email to each professor of the courses we’ll be taking a few weeks in advance with the goals of

introducing ourselves
establishing a direct line and open of communication
asking if there’s anything we should review before classes start
saying we’re very happy to attend their course and look forward to learning from everyone
making sure they are aware of our arrival and therefore possibly prepare English material for us

Do you think this a good idea or should we just present ourselves on the first day of classes? Should I send it myself or cc my classmates? I just want to make sure this is going to be a great experience for everyone.


texts: How can I evaluate the chances of my paper being accepted by a journal?

texts:
I have been making an integrated approach and its program on modelling the joint distribution of wind speed and direction (https://github.com/cqcn1991/Wind-Speed-Analysis). And I'm trying to publish a paper to get more attention on it.

However, my supervisor is not very familiar with the field I'm in, and I want some realistic and honest feedback on my work and whether it will be accepted by my target submitting papers. And if not, how can I improve my work to increase the chance.

One way I can think of is contacting the authors of papers I cited, and ask their feedback. But most of them are established professors and I'm afraid I can't get too much help in this aspect. Is there any other alternatives? I truly believe I have made something useful, but getting them published is a really tiring process.


texts: Is it appropriate to email a professor during summer for a difficult question?

texts:
Tl; dr : Does a math professor get annoyed or think of it as a waste of time if he is emailed a difficult math question from an undergraduate student whom he is fairly acquianted with? Or is he ok with it?

I am currently an undergraduate at an U.S. university. I have taken two math courses with a pretty renowned (though not world-famous, though I might be wrong) and super-nice (i.e. very kind and skillful both in teaching and in math itself) professor in the past, got A's on both, and am also decently acquianted with the professor (I went to lots of office hours while taking the course). I am self-studying a math topic (set theory) he should be very familiar with (he is a tenured logic professor, and logic and set theory often go hand in hand). I recently came across a question on the math topic that's hard to answer, and wanted to email the professor about how to solve the problem. However, I am afriad that the professor might think of my question as a nuisance  / waste of his time, especially since he might well be busy (he's tenured professor at a university that is ranked wihin top 5 in the world in mathematical logic, so he might have lots of conferences/research/meetings/etc). I don't want to be a bother for him in any way, but I think he can help me solve this rather difficult question. Should I email him or not? The last time I took a course with him was like February 2018...

In general, how do professors react to this? If you are a professor (who is not someone who doesn't care about students) please comment below. Are they annoyed, or are they ok with it/delighted? What if they are busy?

Please gear this toward summer! Lots of people may relax during summer so it might be different... Also I am not sure if this is relevant but he doesn't have a family (i.e. single) and is like age 42 or something...

I emailed a different professor once about a math question and his reaction seemed to be "I'm annoyed".. I actually wrote an email to another professor and he was like "I would be able to answer you if I am on campus but sorry I'm not and writing math via email is too much so I can't answer you"... Are these reactions generic or are they exceptional?


texts: What's the point in a "list of figures"?

texts:
What is the point in a "list of figures" in the following cases?

Masters thesis
Ph.D. thesis
Academic (text)books


texts: My professor has told me he will be the corresponding author. Will it hurt my future career?

texts:
I recently got acceptance in an SCI journal, and my professor has told me that he will be a corresponding author (CA) even though I have done almost all the work.

Does not being the corresponding author hurt my chances, as I am looking to start an academic career very soon. Should I ask my professor to be the CA instead?

My professor is a real nice guy and has taught me a lot, but I am concerned in this case. Any suggestions?

Edit: My field is Electrical Engineering and Computer Networks specifically.


texts: What is considered "completed work" for a conference submission

texts:
I was looking at submitting to a conference where the call says:

  completed work only

Q1: Now what exactly is considered completed work here?

That I have already submitted that paper to journals and put a pre-print/working paper version of it online?
That it is a complete write-up (i.e. not just an extended abstract) but still rough on the edges and missing some precisions?

or

Is that completely up to the organizers and I should have emailed them yesterday to enquire?

Background: Said conference is in the field of Economics/Finance if it makes any difference. There is also a poster session and job market candidates are encouraged to submit which makes me hope that also a not-so-complete "completed work" of mine might be suitable to be submitted. Submissions will be subject to a double-blind review process.

Q2: If I do decide to submit such an "almost-completed work" is it fine to try anyways and worst case I do not get accepted or is that considered bad style and will irritate the organizers and reviewers?


texts: How to answer questions *honestly* about some professors from Visit Days students?

texts:
We are having Visit Days soon, and we (current grads) are expected to have one-on-one conversations with visiting students with research interests closest to ours. One typical question we get, "How is Prof. X? What is it like working with them?".

As a current grad, I can see the names of the visiting students along with the professors who are their top choices for advisor, and several students have listed two professors I've tried to work with in the past (they had been my top choices when I joined this university).

These professors are great researchers, but, in my opinion, not good at all as advisors. I am not going into details because that'll end up being a rant, which isn't the point here. But my view is strongly shared by all my group peers who had, at some point, tried to work with these professors (due to their fame as researchers).

Because nobody had warned me before  I started working with these professors, I ended up wasting two years in grad school, in my opinion, a very, very high price to pay. I would like to be very honest with the visiting students. At the same time, my field is quite close-knit, with all top professors collaborating with those at other places. If these visiting students end up not joining us, I'd not want them to remember me as the person who bad-mouthed these famous researchers.

How can I honestly answer questions about these professors without coming across as bitter (which I admittedly still am)? If I just state the facts, well, even those are going to be coloured by my viewpoint, and will therefore be biased.


texts: How does a professor know when a research project will get expected results?

texts:
I read that "One difficulty with research problems is that it is hard/impossible to know if the problem is easy or not" or when it can be solved. So how a graduate-research student (i.e., PhD or MRe) knows what to pick as his/her work, and/or how can his/her professor 'predict' it? Because if one knows if it is possible or easy to solve then he/she likely knows also how to solve the problem, hence it is no longer an open question.

If professors can't decide the period of time a project to be finished, how they risk tuition paid by students or scholarships granted?

EDIT - My intention is mostly on Pure Mathematics.


texts: Why don't typical US colleges offer more online courses?

texts:
Why don't typical US colleges offer more online courses so that all of the classes could be taken online?

Online courses are cheaper, more profitable and more efficient to produce quantity of student(which translate into more people can be educated); students don't have to spend time traveling to classes. Students could simply hand in homework online and colleges can just open up a lot of computer labs for the students to take exams in exchange and lay off some lower quality professors. Also, students can have more time to themselves to interact privately on the computer and all formal discussions can take place within the class online.

Also, the government would be able to pay less financial aid and students would have the convenience of learning the class material on a cell phone.

The most importantly,students can join a reputable college outside of thier home city and able to save the charge of dormitory

Also, isn't that it is better to eliminate the high cost private college by competition and let more low cost public university survive by let our government became richer from giving away less financial aid?


texts: Ask about my undergraduate research internship

texts:
I’m planning to apply for an internship. There is a professor who represents the school who asked me to submit some necessary documents. He wanted me write a detailed paper about the project I am interested in, and then he will choose the host supervisor for me.

Before that, I checked the list of professors for this school, and I noticed a professor whose main project is about antimicrobial biochemistry. I want to work with this group, but I am worried about whether or not he will accept any students this year.

At any rate: this “antimicrobial” topic is my favorite, but I do not know any details about what the project entails. How do I write this type of paper? Does he want expect a full proposal? What should I do?


texts: Career in applied mathematics after MS in abstract mathematics?

texts:
For someone who is more interested in applied mathematics than abstract, which degree should one pursue in order to have a career in applied mathematics, considering he/she has pursued an MS in abstract mathematics?
Is it advisable, considering that the person does not know much of the basics of applied mathematics?


texts: I should have left my PhD when I had the chance. Now 5 years in, I don't know what I going to do?

texts:
I joined my materials engineering PhD in 2015. I had to change my research topic to a different one as the funding scenario had changed. I was not happy but I thought I would come to terms with the topic if I spent some more time. I started enjoying the topic once I started getting results and presenting at conferences. However, as my research was different than what my lab mates were doing, I had no idea about the future prospects.
I had my first paper in my 3rd year. Now in my 5th year, though I have been productive over the past years, I still can't see my career prospects. I should have left my PhD when my topic got changed. Now, I dont know what I am supposed to do.
5th year is too late to leave my PhD. I am writing my thesis and I am sure I can get the degree in the next 5 months, but what after that? I can't wrap my head around this. I like my research field, but I don't love it. I want to do something exciting but I won't be getting anything.


texts: I'm applying for a Master's program - can I include manually calculated GPA

texts: I'm applying for a Master's program and I would like to indicate that my GPA in the last two years of college has improved greatly and that my major GPA is high. However, my official transcript does not report major GPA or the GPA in my last two years. I want to manually calculate these two GPAs using the scale and key provided by my university and I will make a note saying that these numbers are not on my official transcript. Is that acceptable? I don't want the admissions committees to think that I'm trying to mislead intentionally, neither do I want to be viewed negatively for providing information that is not verifiable. Of course, I will include the GPA on my official transcript.


texts: In Moodle, how to submit student evaluation without assignments

texts:
I'm trying to configure (the online Virtual Learning Environment) Moodle in such a way that a teacher can submit a daily evaluation for his/her students without having assignments. I'm building this Moodle for Kindergartens and would like to keep track of the progress of the students without the students actually submitting an assignment.

I can't seem to find a way to grade without an assignment.

Any thoughts?


texts: Discussing an unpublished approach of a former team member

texts:
I started my research as a PhD student a few years ago. I was assigned to researcher X's team and had to assist him in finding a solution as the project got stuck. However, X was not able to implement his approach properly and, after some time, I doubted that the solution's concept would work out at all. Nevertheless, X demanded that we continue following his approach.

After a few months, there was still no progress and people started getting disappointed. X got into severe and dirty conflicts (on a personal level) with his other team members. Conflicts escalated and finally X (and another guy) were removed from the project and forced to quit.

I continued working on X's approach for several more weeks. Since my work was not controlled by X, I was looking at the proposed solution more critically. I came across severe conceptual errors and also some implementation errors. I had to discard the current solution and started working on a completely new approach (not related to X's approach). After several more weeks, I finished the implementation and it was working quite well.

Now I am outlining my PhD thesis. One of the topics is my approach to solving the aforementioned problem. However, my approach is not that straightforward, compared to X's approach. It is more complex and expensive. Therefore I need to justify in my thesis, why I decided to use MY approach and NOT X's approach. I can show this his approach does not work. Therefore, I have to describe his approach, show the implementation and present some of the results. Unfortunately, nothing has been published by him. I would be the first to present his approach - this feels uncomfortable. In the department there is a huge fear of retaliation (e.g., accusations of scientific misconduct), since X was forced to quit. We know that he monitors our publications. I need to handle this at low risk without reducing the quality of my thesis.

My options are:

Leaving out X's approach in the thesis completely. I do not like this, since I invested a lot of work/time and, what is even more, my thesis appears to be not comprehensive without it. It's especially interesting for the reader to know, why X's approach (the most obvious one) does not work. Leaving it out reduces the quality of the thesis and creates open questions which remain unanswered (e.g., why I am using such a complex approach, could I not simply do X's method). However, this solution has no risk.
Describing X's approach without mentioning X. One argued that I had done enough work on it so I should just leave his name out. I do not like this at all as this is ethically not correct.
Describing X's approach and clearly attributing it to X (altogether on 2 or 3 pages). I would include an explanation of conceptual issues, leaving out implementation errors (=no personal blaming). That would be my preferred method, however, I am still publishing and discussing his (unpublished) approach. Is this acceptable or does it expose me to some risk?

I would like to use the third option. Is this acceptable or do other/better solutions for such a situation exist?


texts: Conference fee and travel costs for invited speaker

texts: I am invited as a speaker to a international conference to present a published paper. I want to ask if is it usual to not pay the conference fee and the hotel? Should I ask them via email?


texts:
I recently read an article suggesting that you should write in the same way that you would talk. I agree with the ideas but I wonder how much it applies to formal venues like journal publications where you would very rarely find colloquial language (I'm not talking about using humour as in this question: How much informal writing should there be in a research article?)

When writing research papers I try to stick to the science and keep it as simple to read/understand as possible. I often use simple sentences in my writing. However, I often come across papers that are overly verbose and use complex compounded sentences that, for me, are difficult to follow. I've come to associate complex sentence structure with "correct" scientific reporting, and anything less complex as too informal/colloquial

I'm beginning to wonder whether I'm just a bad writer and if its just something I need to spend time working on.

How do you figure out the correct balance? Is there room for "writing like you talk" in journal publications?

My worry is that colloquial language would come across as unprofessional, leading either to a rejection (or at least a much lengthier review process), and/or a dent in my reputation as a researcher

I'm in the field of (cognitive) psychology if that makes a difference


texts: Who should recommend applicants for administrative positions?

texts:
In a related question, Who should write a recommendation letter?, I came to the conclusion that letters of recommendation should be written by academics in the same field who knows the applicant's work, though, they may not know the applicant in person.

I wonder who should be named as references when applying for a senior administrative job such as dean, vice president, provost, president? In this case, the search committee should be interested in the applicant's skills for administrative tasks, rather than achievements in his or her academic discipline.

For example, a dean is applying for a provost position. Shouldn't the references be persons who have been directly involved in the applicant's role as dean in his current position?


texts:
A few months ago, I was asked to review a paper. The result of the review process was a "Revise".

So now I was asked again to read the revised version of the paper. But now I can only select "Accept Review" or "Decline Review".

Does this mean that the paper will be reviewed again with other reviewers?


texts: Can a student apply for a new PhD (in the US or UK) while he is currently enrolled into a PhD (in the US)?

texts:
A physics student is currently enrolled in a PhD program in the US, 1.5 years into yet. After few months he will have received his MSc degree and will start working on his thesis. While his physics department is relatively strong, he is unhappy (perhaps even disappointed) because his very sub-field of interest is particularly weak and researchers in this sub-field very rarely publish decent papers.

He's seriously considering starting again from scratch and apply for a new place where people are stronger at his field. Can he apply while still being enrolled in his PhD?

How much negativity does the fact that he plans to drop the current PhD add to his application?

Is it better to apply to UK universities, since in US he will be required to repeat the coursework?


texts:
I am citing a figure I have taken from a journal. In my figure legend do I only include the number citation or do I need to state the figure is taken from somewhere else?

i.e Figure shows a cat [1]

or

Figure shows a cat. Taken from [1]

Thanks!


texts: What do I do if my advisor made a mistake?

texts:
I am a first year masters student and I am just beginning my research project. I had to send a protocol out to my committee and they all have to approve it before I begin the project. The protocol is basically a document that states, step by step, how I will be completing the project. It will be published once my committee reviews it.

I have went through several drafts of my protocol and my advisor has reviewed and edited each draft. So the one I sent out to my committee was the good copy. I told all my committee members that I would like it back within 2 weeks. My advisor is out of the country for 3 weeks, but she just sent me her comments on my protocol last night. However, she ended up reviewing one of my old drafts again. I double-checked the email I sent her, and I definitely sent her the good copy I wanted reviewed.

I'm not really sure where to go from here. Should I explain her mistake to her? Or just send her the good copy and say I revised it?


texts: How to handle a bib source with no author?

texts:
I am writing a paper in English and have a couple of sources that have no author. In German there would be the abbreviation o.V. standing for ohne Verfasser which translates to no author in those cases.

How is this handled in English papers? Would an appropriate translation be n.a. standing for no author? Is there a way in Latex to automatically put something in place by just providing a bib entry without an author?

Instead of:

@online{cloud-ide04,
    author = {n.a.},
    title = {codeanywhere},
    publisher = {Codeanywhere, Inc.},
    urldate = {2018-03-26},
    url = {https://codeanywhere.com/}
}

Rather do:

@online{cloud-ide04,
    title = {codeanywhere},
    publisher = {Codeanywhere, Inc.},
    urldate = {2018-03-26},
    url = {https://codeanywhere.com/}
}


texts: How do top graduate programs in mathematics verify the validity of an enrolee's undergraduate degree from abroad? E.g. IUM in Russia

texts:
Even if the title might seem self-explanatory, I would ask you to read the entire post to understand what exactly I'm trying to understand here.

I'm from Russian Federation. We don't have a lot of departments in pure mathematics. Most of those undergraduate programs named "mathematics" are actually aimed at people who wish to teach mathematics to engineers/IT/finance people or those who themselves wish to get into engineering, IT or finance. Actually, when I say "we don't have a lot" I mean we have two and a half. No exaggeration here. My explanation is actually a bit oversimplified, but I hope you understand what I meant to say.

The funny thing is that the most renown for the quality of pure mathematics students russian school is called Independent University of Moscow. They offer free education with entrance based on how you perform during the process of education itself. It has no entrance exams, everyone can attend lectures at first, but to get the status of a "student" you must do well in a first three mandatory courses. Why did I called the situtation the "funny thing"? The reason it's degree is not recongized as an official undergraduate degree in Russian Federation. So, being called Independent University of Moscow, it doesn't an official university status in Russia.

What I wish to understand is how top graduate schools in mathematics would treat a candidate with such a diploma. From what I understand, it has a good reputation in mathematics. Many people from there were accepted to the best graduate schools in mathematics all over the world. For example, Harvard, MIT. Some of those even had their IUM "degree" as the their only degree. That is, they didn't have any official russian undergraduate degree in any field.

But IUM doesn't have a lot of alumni. So, those might look like some special cases, even expections. Besides, all recent IUM graduates had an other, an official degree from other russian university. And the latest case I know of with a man being accepted to MIT with only IUM diploma is dated 2006. Even if such a practice was approprite in US before, it might have changed now. I'm not sure.

That said, I understand there were exceptional cases of enrolee's being admitted to top graduate school (in US) without any degree at all, based on their exceptional recommendations or their research. I know at least three of such people (all from my country, they applied in nineteen-eighties/nineteen-nineties to Harvard and MIT). What I'm trying to understand is how do graduate schools treat the lack of the official status of a foreign school with it being a strong place with strong students and strong professors. Another nuance I'm thinking is that it is a school from abroad. I'm not even sure how to US departments verify the validity of one's undergraduate/masters degree if it's not from US or EU.

Of course, what I'm asking is about pure bureaucratic procedures. I absolutely understand that to have a chance in getting into top graduate school in mathematics you must have exceptional credentials: recommendations of renown professors or even your own research articles. But, say, one has it (for example, you can get those things during a successful process of getting a "degree" at IUM, that's the reason it has so little of alumni). But how would graduate schools treat such a potential strong candidate if his degree is not official in the country where it was obtained?


texts: If a paper or software is released to the public, can the university still file a patent?

texts:
It is my understanding that patents can be invalidated if there is prior art to the technique at hand; DJB has a piece that would suggest that this way authors can inadvertently invalidate their own patents, if not being careful with information disclosure.

http://cr.yp.to/patents/us/4200770.html

  Diffie disclosed the idea of public-key cryptography at a conference
  in June 1976. Diffie and Hellman also distributed preprints of their
  ``New Directions in Cryptography'' paper, which disclosed the
  Diffie-Hellman system, at that conference and by mail. For example,
  Mike Matyas received a copy in August 1976. The patent was filed in
  September 1977.

  Under United States case law, a document has been published if it
  ``has been disseminated or otherwise made available to the extent that
  persons interested and ordinarily skilled in the subject matter or
  art, exercising reasonable diligence, can locate it.'' A patent is
  automatically invalid if the patented invention was published more
  than a year before the patent's filing date.

  It appears, therefore, that the Diffie-Hellman-Merkle patent was
  invalid. In the subsequent court case MIT v. Fortia, another patent
  was invalidated for the same reason: the inventor handed out six
  copies of a preprint at a conference fourteen months before applying
  for the patent.

How does this work in the general case?  Is it important that in both examples a whole year has passed between the publishing and the patent application?

Is it necessary for a significant amount of time to pass between the publishing of a paper, and the patent application, for the patent to be subsequently declared invalid?

Specifically, if one's university explicitly claims that it has no interest in one's copyrighted work (whether books, articles or software), and no interest in any part of any revenue from such copyrights, but that patent revenue sharing and disclosure to the university of the patentable ideas is mandatory (IU), can one get around of any future claims for patents by simply releasing everything open-source and publishing all pre-prints before the university's patent office can get their hand on any of the research?


texts: How best to present publications in different areas on a CV?

texts: I am trying to list my publications in my curriculum vitae. But, because I have publications in three fields x, y, z of study such that x is my major and y, z are not, I am looking for how to best display them so that it can be emphasized that I have works in different areas.


texts: What to do when a prospective PhD supervisor doesn't follow up after an initial positive response?

texts:
A few days back I emailed a potential supervisor in one of the Top schools in Computer Science. To my surprise I got an instant reply from him mentioning that I should apply and he has funding for research assistants like me. He also mentioned a few questions about research topics so to follow up I sent him the answer and asked his opinion. However I didn't hear from him after that. Here I would like to mention that questions were not to test me but just general research questions which he is interested in, and my reply was also more like a discussion and asking his opinion. Now I am confused what I can get from this, and also should I ask him somehow to have Skype interview? He is really a great professor and has his own funding so may be he can even effect committee decision.

Thanks.


texts: Academic journals aimed at publishing work by high school students

texts:
I'm a sixth form student, and one day I would like to call myself an academic.

Do you know of any academic journals that are specifically for students, or would accept work from a student? I would be very much interested to hear about an organisation that does this.

Thanks.


texts: How to judge the reputation of a potential advisor or research group for good quality research for PhD?

texts:
I am planning my PhD and am applying to various labs and professors.

I am getting positive responses, but I am having trouble making a decision as to which lab to go for. How can I judge the quality of research of a group? What parameters shall be kept in mind while making a decision? I usually look for relevant research interests.


texts: Teaching Robotics to Mechanical Engineering Students Vs Electrical Engineering Students

texts:
My background is in electrical engineering. I have taught robotics to electrical, electronics and CS students. This time I have to teach robotics to mechanical engineering students. How do I keep the interest level high in the class?

I am afraid the concept of programming (microcontrollers), and electronics will lower their interest. But I think programming is a must for them as well.

Any suggestions how to proceed, go in depth, and keep the interest level high? Should there be much difference between the syllabi of the two trades?


texts: Can auditing students attend consultation hours?

texts:
Assume a university allows students to audit classes informally, so they're not enrolled and don't pay, but they attend classes anyway. Obviously, no one has obligation to allow these students to attend anything and therefore doesn't even have the obligation to check their exams and such.

In case this is relevant, my intention is for math classes.

(12 hours ago, I was rejected for a math PhD program, and the professor told me I could audit. I told the professor that 6 months ago I asked the math department if I could, but it said no. The professor told me "Don't ask; just go!" The professor suggested I audit some classes and try to do some of the classwork. I didn't think of many questions about this, but I think I won't go since the commute is 4 hours by train or 70 us dollars by taxi, and I can ask all my questions on stackexchange anyway. Thank God for the Internet)

I don't think students really learn from just attending the classes even if they ask questions in class. Exams of course are great ways to learn, but what I had in mind is asking further questions either during the professor's consultation hours or in further auditing the teaching assistant's tutorial classes.

It sounds like the questions of auditing students in class, tutorial or consultations is taking up time that could instead be used for the registered students, but I think anyone who speaks up is making a contribution by asking something anyone could wonder. Therefore, the professor or teaching assistant could clarify to the rest of the class before anyone else would ask, which actually saves time.

(I don't want to first ask the professor because it might be disrespectful if the answer is a definite no anywhere in the world. If the answer here is maybe/yes/double check with the university/go ahead and ask the professor/"Don't go; just ask", then I will be inclined to ask the professor)


texts: A lecturer is hard to understand, what to do?

texts:
I have a lecturer at university that I find very hard to understand. My lectures are taught in English, but my lecturer is of East Asian origin, and English is not his first language.

I find the lectures incredibly hard to follow, just trying to understand what is being said requires a substantial effort, and I find the material is challenging in any case.

There is no textbook for the course, but we are given printouts of the lecture slides that are used in the lectures (six to each side of an A4 page). While the lecture slides do contain the material, they don't explain it like a good lecturer would.

I've spoken to my tutor about the course, telling him that I find it very hard to follow the lecturers. Many of my peers feel a similar way to how I do.

Finally, let me point out that I bear the lecturer no ill will; I just want to do well on the course.


texts: How to send an email to a well-known professor for a possible PhD student position?

texts:
I am applying for graduate physics and I was wondering to work with a well-known professor in Caltech. He is a pioneer in the field that I am interested in. I have a kinda outstanding background, however, I am not sure if the professor is looking for exotic genius students who have completed their master at 18 or something! In this sense, I am very ordinary. How should I send an email to the professor and finally understand if I have any chance to do my PhD under his supervision or not?

P.S. I just want to know how one should contact a professor to make themselves sure that whether the professor is willing to accept them as a graduate student. I do not ask please decide on behalf of me.


texts: Bragging about previous funded PhD position to acquire another?

texts:
I am in the process of leaving a funded PhD position and apply elsewhere. There was a lot of competition for the position, and the benefits were good (being employed by the university), but things didn't work out (mainly I want to pursue research that is not being done in my first university).

Could it be useful to brag about how I got a competetive PhD position in my application to other places? My first university is not famous, but I did come in the top 5% of over hundred applicants.


texts: Is there difference between value of Scopus- or ISI-indexed paper in gaining acceptance for PhD?


texts: Reference formulas in non-English text books

texts:
In a mathematical paper, is it wise to refer to formulas in a non-English (here: German) text book, under the conditions that:

the text book is standard in its language region
all English text books lack the desired presentation

In my case, I am concerend about some formulas from vector analysis, which not too difficult, but American text books do not seem to feature these formulas.


texts: While looking for research jobs in industry, I noticed that some companies over both, research positions and postdoc positions. What exactly is a postdoc position in industry and how is it different from a research position that requires a PhD? Is it just that you spend your postdoc years in a company instead of academia?


texts: Do we mention the work that we did ourselves while giving a research proposal?

texts:
A university has asked for a research proposal of around 200-250 words in length.

I have done some work on it myself and hence I want to propose that same project for research. Should I mention about the work that I did or should I just present an abstract?