texts: Is there a UK PhD scholarship for international students that pays as much as a particular city's average annual salary?

texts:
After checking out PhD stipends offered by various UK universities, I've come to the conclusion that they are way below the average annual salary.

I realize now that this is normal. At Durham, for instance, the most competitive studentship is valued only at GBP 14,000+ annually.

Are there scholarships in the UK that pays as much as a particular city's average annual salary?

Are there scholarships that are as generous as Vanier (CAD 50,000 annually) and Trillium (CAD 40,000 annually) in Canada?


texts: How do I reference a conference paper that is due to be published later this year

texts: I am writing a paper that builds on a previous work. The previous work has been accepted at a conference and will be published as part of the proceedings, but it hasn't been published yet. Do I just reference it using the standard format for referencing unpublished works or not?


texts: Is it a breach of privacy to list the names of past interns and supervised students on your academic website?

texts: I've seen many personal web pages of (US/UK/EU) academics that have a list of all the PhD, MSc/BSc or internship students they've supervised before. Is this allowed or does it break privacy of the students?


texts: Can you "refer" an offer to another applicant?

texts:
Say I applied to two graduate programs: A and B, in which A is my preferred program. It turns out that I am admitted by both, so I will accept the offer from A and turn B down. I heard from a friend that in this case, I may "refer" the offer from B to someone I know who is waitlisted by B so that s/he can be admitted to B.

Is this practice common in the US? Additionally, can I refer the offer to someone who has been rejected? Searching online just gives me pages of results about "referral programs", which aren't very relevant.


texts: How to include a paper presented by someone else on CV

texts:
As part of a project (I work for a research org, not at a university) we submitted a paper (technically we actually submitted a panel, with our paper being one of the papers in the panel) to one of the big policy/social science conferences.

It was accepted and someone else on our team presented at the conference. I'm listed as the second author on both the actual presentation itself as well as the paper. There is no conference proceedings or anything for this conference, so it wasn't peer reviewed and isn't publicly available anywhere. But I'm an early career researcher and still hope to include it on my CV somewhere, because it is a major project and was at a prestigious conference.

One other factor may be that this project is unique in that it does not actually have a guaranteed report coming at the end (long story short, we're building a database of sorts). So there may be a future paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, but potentially not. What's the best way to list the conference stuff? Or should I really, really not include it?


texts:
I am looking to join a masters program for next year. Unfortunately, I've found that comparing masters programs is difficult since the information is not displayed the same way in every university page. My question is: what is the best method to search masters, gather their information and analyze so as to make the best choice?

Other questions about searching masters is the following one, which is directly relates to the previous one: does exist any webpage, document or reference sorting masters and giving unified information about them?


texts: How to protect my research rights when my proposal was stolen by my chair?

texts:
I am an assistant professor; submitted an internal grant proposal.  It had been rejected.  Meanwhile I realized that my Dept. chair submitted my proposal to an external grant (listed herself as PI and me as CO-PI); she has been recently awarded.

My chair was really brutal to protect herself in this matter: forced me to say that I asked her to do & she got a new IRB for the same proposal to put herself as PI. Definitely I needed to argue with her regarding her misbehavior.

Then today she informed that my appointment would not be renewed; so I am in the situation to leave right after developing the survey and collecting data (in the middle of the grant).

What should I do?  Is there any way I can protect my research rights?

Any advice will be truly appreciated!


texts: Geographic differences in bioethics and effect on experimental research in biology

texts:
Cultural heritage may have influenced views on life, consciousness, etc. Does it mean that bioethics is different in different countries? And does it mean that e.g. in  Israel (Jewish culture) it is possible to carry out experiments forbidden in India (Hindu culture)?

More generally: How do bioethics vary in different countries?


texts: Applying for graduate program, documentation advice needed?

texts: I am applying to the Masters of Management in Business Data Analytics field at University of Windsor Canada for the fall 21 intake. During the document upload process I ran into a document labeled as "Study Plan / Research Interest" which is a required document, I have tried contacting the graduate admission team about it since last week but haven't gotten any response yet and the deadline is March 1st. Any suggestions on what it might be are appreciated so incase I don't receive any confirmation from them I can provide something and submit application.


texts:
In scientific research there are a number of problems today:

Studies that aren't reproducible.
Studies and papers that are criticized for their methods, conclusions, or bias.
Industry-funded studies that are discounted due to accusation of conflict of interest.
Individuals and groups who are defensive of their work due to their personal and/or financial investment, and are inherently not open-minded toward critical feedback.
Even if researchers are open to critical feedback and scrutiny, it may still be infeasible to re-run a flawed study due to logistics, financial, and time limitations.

From my experience in engineering, arguably the most valuable ROI effort in a large project is getting early peer review before significant investment is made toward an approach.

If a group of peer reviewers had a chance to give their feedback on how a study was going to be performed, then the results are more likely to be valid, and the reviewers are more likely to accept whatever the results will be.

I am not a reseacher and am completely unfamiliar with the process of publishing a study or a paper.  However, the only peer review I have heard of is where only final results are reviewed.  I am curious:

Do journals, institutions, etc. have processes that require peer-review of initial proposals and procedures before a research study is allowed to commence?
If not, why not?

I suspect that such a process would have the potential to greatly increase the quality of studies, and prevent much wasted effort where studies are published that never gain acceptance (presumably due to quality problems but perhaps for non-technical reasons as well).  Curious to hear others' thoughts.


texts: How do professors get positions in multiple departments?

texts:
I will be applying to PhD programs in statistics this upcoming fall and I have noticed that at many institutions, the professors in the statistics department also hold positions in other departments such as CS or EE. I know that professors do interdisciplinary research, so they get experience in other fields, but how does a professor get this appointment? Do they apply or does the university award them after conducting research in the other field.

I am interested in doing research in statistical machine learning in graduate school and have extensive CS background on top on a math background. So I would love one day to be able to be a professor in say stats/CS department.


texts: Applying for post-doctoral fellowships whilst writing PhD thesis

texts: Is it acceptable to apply for post-doctoral fellowships in the UK whilst writing my PhD thesis?


texts:
I am an international, senior Economics and Mathematics major at middle-sized, private international university. I'm trying to finalize the list of schools to which I will apply (to Math PhD programs in Mathematical Physics), but I am finding it very difficult to contact professors given my unconventional background.

I know that I am not a candidate for admission at top-tier universities. For one, my major isn't either mathematics or physics, even though I have been taking physics and math courses for the last 2 years. Also, I'm sure the professors who will write my recommendation letters aren't very well-known either. I may get to work with a professor who has a good reputation in the US, though. Though this depends if the professor accepts me under his tutelage, since he left my current college some time ago. By the time I graduate, I would have taken a dozen physics courses; I'll be lighter on the mathematics side, though.

I'm not sure if I qualify to be considered as a candidate in the mathematics departments; I want my training to be like a mathematician, but I'd like to work on mathematical physics problems. So, I'm not sure how to gauge how fit I am for a department? To that end, I'd ideally like to email some professors, explaining my unconventional background, express interest in working under them, and get advice if I will be considered in their program.

What's the best way to structure such an email? Should I give an extended summary of my "situation"? Is it common to elicit "advice" from professors; we all know they don't have much time on their hands; do I need to read their papers to contact them before hand? Etc.


texts: My adviser is chairing a conference, as a PhD student how can I benefit from that

texts:
My adviser is chairing an upcoming conference and I am wondering as his PhD student how can I benefit from this opportunity?

Other than attending the conference itself and benefiting from that, I am interested in knowing if it is common for PhD students from the conference chair research group can:

review submitted papers
help with organizing the conference
help with anything else (I am not sure if there is anything else that PhD students can help with)


texts: Is there a manual of how to write an Introduction?

texts:
I was reading a Introduction in a Master's thesis, and this particular example appears to be overly lengthy.

Is there a consensus on how many points can be adequately addressed in an introduction? or a maximum number of pages? or is this question fully subjective?

The goal here is to learn more about best approaches to writing an introduction, regardless of content.


texts: Someone "reinvented" our algorithm, is there anything to do about that?

texts:
A couple of years ago, we have published a paper in a reputable IEEE conference in field A. Recently (two years later), a paper in field B solved the same problem with the exact same algorithm without mentioning our work (the problem is of value to both fields).

We have tried contacting the authors but they do not respond.

While I cannot know if they have seen our work or not, other works are already citing the new paper as the one that solved the problem (without mentioning us).

Is there anything we can do about this?


texts: Have there been studies of differences between journal paper authors and conference paper authors?

texts:
In research fields such as computer science, academic publication mostly happens at two kinds of venues: peer-reviewed journals, and peer-reviewed conferences. The main difference is that conferences usually require that some author presents the work at the conference and pays a registration fee for the conference, whereas journals do not.

One criticism of conference in this light is that they are not open to all academics: they exclude researchers in poorer countries and institutions which cannot afford the conference registration fee or trip, they discourage geographically remote authors for which attending a conference is complicated, they discourage people who for personal reasons cannot easily travel (caring for a child or family member, having a disability, etc.).

My question is: has there been any systematic study to estimate the magnitude of this effect? E.g., take the dataset of article metadata for articles and journals of various fields, and study if there are systematic differences in terms of the author's institutions, countries, gender, etc.


texts: What are the major informal obstacles students face when they go abroad for a research degree?

texts:
I have a completely introverted personality. I am seriously struggling with interpersonal relationships with my colleagues, to a point that I am actually at the brink of quitting my job. If I go abroad for a research degree, would there be any problem that may jeopardize my endeavor? My family is constantly warning me against leaving the current job and going abroad for a higher degree; they say that I will surely return without completing my course as soon as I face any rudeness, animosity, or harshness, be it from the adviser or the environment.

A relative of mine in the USA has told me that she has been experiencing harsh behaviors from her PhD adviser due to her religion. One of my cousins in France has complained that he can never get any attention from his instructors because of his ethnicity. He is in service with UN.


texts: Differences between the introduction of a sandwich thesis and a paper

texts:
I would like to know what are the main differences between the introductory part of a paper and of a thesis. My thesis would be a sandwich type, so I would have to wrap everything there.

Some of the differences are:

Longer in thesis.
Deeper in thesis. Extended definition of key terms, concepts and methodology in thesis.
Clear definition of the whole goal in thesis, whereas paper smaller goal.

To narrow the possible answers, I do research on the molecular aspects of the infection steps of a pathogenic swine bacteria. Also develop strategies to block infection by using vaccines.


texts: Why does editor reject when reviewers recommend acceptance?

texts:
I have recently received a response for a paper submission. The paper expanded on a conference presentation, and it was submitted to the journal special issue related to that conference.

All three reviewers recommended acceptance (one "definite accept", two with "minor changes") but the editors chose to reject the paper "in light of the reviews" without any additional reason.

Why might the editors have chosen to do this? Is it OK to ask them for an explanation of their reasoning, or even to ask them to reconsider?


texts: How do I politely ask a professor to contact another professor he knows to accept me as PhD student?

texts:
I sent an email to a professor for possible acceptance as a PhD student, but sometimes it takes too long to hear back.

I know another professor, that has a good knowledge (experience) with the first professor. Can I ask this second professor, in polite way, to contact the first one, and discuss with him whether to accept me as a student?

Is this possible? What should I say to the second professor?


texts: Whether to include a middle initial in author name on academic publications?

texts:
When a person is starting their academic career and submitting their first paper, they need to give some consideration to what their official academic name should be. Consistency across publications is an important principle. A common consideration is whether to include a middle initial in academic publications. Thus, I was interested in what general advice you would give to a PhD student or early career researcher deciding whether to include their middle initial in their author name on publications.

A few possible principles:

Always include a middle initial because it reduces the chance that your name will be the same as another academic (including cases where only initials are shown in references), or because it looks more distinguished.
Only include a middle initial if your name is common, because there is a simplicity in just having a first and last name that is desirable where possible.

So, in summary:

What general advice would you give to PhD students and early career researchers about whether to include a middle initial in their publication author name?
Would you give different advice depending on the name (e.g., John K. Smith compared to Ambrosia K. Hooperdinkel)?

Note that this is different to some related questions about (a) whether you can add a middle initial to previous publications (b) the importance of name consistency, (c) how to cite papers with inconsistent initials.


texts: How to overcome a much earlier academic dismissal from undergraduate program in graduate admissions?

texts:
I am an international student from Korea and I have a very serious question while I am preparing for graduate school admissions.

I graduated from two years college with 2.8 GPA. After that, I went to a 4 year institution but got dismissed within three semesters due to insufficient GPA. (I was taking more than 18 credits hours because of my greed and exhausted). After the dismissal experience, I went to another 4 years institution without transferring the classes that I took from the 2nd school bur 1st school and graduated from there with 3.87 GPA. In total, I spent two years in two years college, three semesters in the 2nd institution, and 2 years in the third institution.

Now, after some teaching experience while and after my undergraduate degree, I decided to continue and develop my academic career in order for more experience and more effective teaching in a graduate school.

My question is that as I alluded to above, I have a dismissal record from my past school, and this makes me quite scared. What can I do to be wise on my application regarding this fact?

(Please, don't say that I must lie or hide my record because I don't want to take that risk, also that was part of myself and moment that I could learn a lot.)


texts: How to explain things in the motivation section of a mathematical paper without proper definitions?

texts:
I want to start a chapter in my dissertation by motivating a mathematical operator by showing why it is interesting to look at it and what I can contribute to understand it better. However, I actually need to introduce some mathematical objects in order to correctly state everything.

I think it is a rather bad Idea to start first with a section of introducing the mathematical concepts (like measure theory) and then start the actual motivation. But if I do it opposite, then I am at a loss for words.

For example, in my motivation I would need to use a additive-finite measure space, a operator, the space of mu-integrable functions and a stochastic process.

How would you suggest to cope with such a situation?


texts: What does 'open position for bachelor project' actually mean?

texts:
I am third-year bachelor student currently seeking a research internship in Germany and I encounter many group websites that say something like: “We have positions for bachelor projects.” I am wondering whether this means that these projects are only intended for a thesis and suitable for final-year students about to graduate, or do they also welcome not-final-year undergrad students? (BTW, my discipline is physics, and I am not looking for position in my home institution).

I guess it’s gonna look stupid if I send an inquiry to the professor without figuring out this problem.


texts: What is your university's policy on course reductions for service on dissertation committees?

texts:
This is a question branching off of this one. I would like to judge how common it is for universities to give course reductions for service on dissertation committees.

Two questions:

Does your university offer such reductions for the advisor, readers, examiners?
How generous is the reduction? (1/3 of a course, 1/4 of a course, etc.)

Please include your discipline and location in the reply so we can get a more robust picture.

For instance: USA, Philosophy, 1/2 course for the dissertation advisor, 1/3 course for the readers, 0 for the examiners.


texts: What does it mean when an editor needs additional reviews despite a status of "reviews completed"?

texts:
I have submitted a paper to an Elsevier journal. After two weeks of required reviews completed status I have sent and E-mail to the editor. He replied:
Your paper is still under review. We need 1 or 2 more review comments and make the decision within a month.

So, I have to ask... What does he mean by we need 1 or 2 more review comments?
If the paper is still under review what is with the status of required reviews completed?


texts: Is it ethical to share the knowledge for free that I've learned at the university?

texts:
I can see an enormous amount of videos on Youtube about helping to learn high-level knowledge that is usually taught at universities. Even though I'm only at the beginning of the time I'm going to take at the university before graduating, I have a desire to teach what I've learnt to others - for free, through the internet.

I believe that knowledge is global and free; however, I think sharing my knowledge wouldn't be fair for my teachers, or any other university teachers and professors.

Is sharing this knowledge fair  - or ethical?


texts: Will one flawed grade outside of my major from my freshman year affect graduate school?

texts: I'm an English major and planning to apply to graduate schools. My freshman year I originally planned to be a bio major due to pressures from my family. I had to take chemistry and biology, which soon enough turned into a disaster. I dropped chem, but since I needed enough credits to be considered full time, I was forced to keep with bio. I ended up with a D- in the course. If it wasn't my freshman year, I honestly would have probably done better, but I was having a rough time settling into college with homesickness and depression. Aside from that one hiccup, however, the rest of my grades are As with a couple B+. So what I'm wondering is would that badly affect my application or even receiving scholarships?


texts: When is the best time to get permission for putting others figures in the paper? (Conference vs. Journal)

texts:
My basic question is, should I get copyright permission for a figure before submitting a paper?

However I realize there may be two different situations, and I'm not sure if they are different.

Should I get permission from original authors/journals before sending a paper for review or;
should I wait to get accepted and then ask for permission.

It seems to me that I should not waste peoples time for permission without being accepted first, but maybe the paper is stronger with figures.  For example, an image of a machine that the paper points out aesthetic features.

On the other hand, it seems to me bad to submit a manuscript or paper and after submission finding out there is no permission to use the figure or image, and taking it out of the paper after being accepted.


texts: How can I make my master's thesis more widely accessible online?

texts:
I published a master's thesis through some online system through my university. They said they would post it online, but I'm not able to find it online.

For a few months, it was hosted on my personal page on the university domain, so it was downloadable in Google Scholar, but that's no longer the case.

How can I make my paper more accessible to people searching for the topic? Is this a common thing to do?


texts: Dealing with conflicting deadlines for positions

texts:
It often happens to have misaligned deadlines. E.g. the deadline for accepting a temporary position (say, for a fixed duration research assistantship) is before, but not by much, than the interview for another position.

One cannot with confidence refuse the first option, due to the aleatory nature of the interview to come which offers a competing/somewhat better position.

What is a good way to deal with such situation?

Is it a good idea/possible/usual to ask an extension on the first deadline?

Should one attempt to accept the first with a warning that you have a pending interview at some later stage? Should this have been disclosed previously (but I guess this would have led to not receiving the offer in the first place)

How orrible and damaging is to take the interview and eventually bail on the first position after accepting?

Alternatively, it might be viable to go to the interview and state that you are currently busy and ask if it is possible to move the starting date of the RA after the first job is over?


texts: Job search advice for possible PhD dropout

texts:
I am considering dropping out of my PhD program, which I am halfway through (pre-proposal), and am applying to full-time jobs. My plan is to go on a leave-of-absence for a year, and afterwards either return and finish my PhD, or quit my program permanently. Even if I finish my PhD, I plan to leave academia, most likely for finance. I'm applying primarily to quantitative analyst positions to give myself a better idea of whether I want this as a long-term career. And, if I get a job and still enjoy it after a year, I plan to formalize my PhD dropout status.

I have a solid publication record in a very relevant area, so my research skill is an important part of how I'm selling myself. But I don't know how to discuss my current situation in my cover letters and interviews. The honest answer is a combination of burnout, personal/family circumstances, and cynicism over my research. But is saying this unprofessional? Also, should I leave out all discussion of my situation in my cover letters, and just wait for interviewers bring it up?


texts: Harvard referencing bibliography - must the year be in brackets?

texts:
Almost all Harvard referencing resources seem to teach that the reference in the list or bibliography should be:
Name, I. (2020). Title in italics. Place: Publisher.
However, Microsoft Word formats it without the brackets on the year, and uses a comma:
Name, I., 2020. Title in italics. Place: Publisher.
This discrepancy is seen on other citation builders, too. Citethisforme's 'Ultimate Guide' uses the brackets, but actually building a reference using the builder tool on that same website omits the brackets.
A completed citation using Citethisforme's citation builder.
My institution requires the brackets, but changing this behaviour in Microsoft Word means editing the Harvard style.xsl file's formatting for each and every type of reference, which would be very laborious.
Might it still be correct to format it without the brackets? Is without the brackets more common, and this is why Microsoft Word has chosen this format?


texts: Are there reasons to revoke my degree if I shared old notes with a current student who was caught plagiarizing my work?

texts:
I graduated university (UK University) a couple of years ago with a first. My friend is currently enrolled at the same university and was struggling with an assignment I had completed and still had a copy of. I let him have a look at it to help him but he ended up copying some of it and it was flagged by turnitin. The head of governance at the uni has emailed him and heavily implied that he knew that I gave him a copy of my assignment.
I spend the whole morning googling potential repercussions for a graduated student "colluding" and am now terrified that my degree might get revoked or my file will be tagged for misconduct.
Does anyone know what the repercussions could be??


texts: 'Reviews completed' what does this status mean in springer

texts: I have submitted revision of my paper at the end of last month and status changed from Reviewers assigned to under review and now since 6 days it is showing reviews completed. Anybody has experience with this kind?


texts: How to submit 'teaching evaluations' for a job application?

texts: Some jobs ask you to submit 'teaching evaluations'. Assuming the school doesn't have any preference for how I submit the materials, my issue is that I literally have hundreds of teaching evaluations - If I just send them all I know no one is going to look through them all, but if I do any sort of condensing I feel as though I will be clearly cherry picking the good comments. Any suggestions for making the most out of these materials in a job application?


texts: Check plagiarism before submitting to journal

texts:
Last year, I submitted a paper to the WISA2019 journal. Unfortunately it was rejected. So if I submit that paper to other journals, will Turnitin’s result show a high percentage of plagiarized material? I mean, my paper is already in Turnitin’s database (the WISA2019 editor checked papers by Turnitin).
As a student, if I check my new second paper by Turnitin in my professor’s class (he will give me the class id and enrollment key), will it increase the plagiarism result when I submit my new paper to a journal? The purpose is to know the plagiarism report before submitting to a scientific journal.
Are professors able to see every assignment submission that is submitted by the student? For example If I submit an essay the first time, then after resubmitting an edited essay, will the instructor be able to see the first essay which is erased by the "resubmitting process".


texts: How do the committees think of an international student who is exempt from the English admission requirement(TOEFL) but has poor GRE verbal score?

texts:
I am planing to apply for Ph.D programs in Mathematics in U.S.

Since I have studied in U.S. for two years and eligible for TOEFL waivers according to the websites of many math departments, I don't have to retake TOEFL in order to apply. But my GRE verbal score is between 150 and 155, which is less than many applicants who have never studied in English-speaking countries.

I wonder how do the committees think of my case when I don't send my TOEFL scores to the school? Can I increase my chances of being accepted by sending my good TOEFL scores(say 100+) to the math departments which don't require TOEFL scores for my case? Or the committees simply ignore the TOFEL scores sent to them when they know the applicant doesn't have to send them?


texts: My previous supervisor keeps asking me to review her papers. How to deal with this?

texts:
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher at some institute. My Ph.D. supervisor, from my former institute, keeps asking me to review papers that come to her for review. I am pretty sure that this is because I am good at a particular topic which is not her expertise. She has coauthored papers on the topic but she is not an expert there.

I have two problems with this. First, since I am not her student now, she should stop doing this; I am an independent researcher now. Second, I feel that this takes away credit from me. She could tell the journal that I am a better person to be a reviewer and this will benefit me since I am still young. Currently, I use my skills, time and energy to review papers for which she earns credits and I lose a chance for the same. Should I tell her this or is it normal in academics? If I should, how should I?


texts: Is it common for professors to use questions from the internet on an exam?

texts:
I'm in Western Europe doing a Master's degree, and I expected the education quality to be much higher then what I've seen in my previous school which was in the Middle East, but some professors here still do this (taking exam and exercise questions from the internet) and they don't seem to understand the subject very well.

Now how common is this in European and North American universities? Is it even considered an accepted practice?


texts: Guide for Undergraduate Research (trying to find a PDF document)

texts:
Some time ago, a friend showed to me a 3-4 page guide for undergraduate research, which was really good. However, now I am not able to find it online anymore (and do not know anymore, who showed me the document).
In brief, I am looking for a:

Three to five page guide / code-of-conduct for new prospective undergraduate researchers
The guide addressed all types of aspect (documentation of results, email etiquette)
PI was an evolutionary (?) biologist at a University of California-university (Santa Cruz possibly)

Does anyone know the guide/lab-homepage, that I am looking for?
PS: If anyone knows other useful guides from any other Lab homepage for new applicants (or FAQs), I would of course be interested too.


texts: How to respond to an unsolicited offer to publish work I have posted on arXiv?

texts:
Approximately one year ago, I submitted some of my research work to arXiv.

Recently, I got an email from Lambert Academic Publishing saying that they are interested in publishing this work and stating that their services are free of charge for authors.

I don't have much idea about different journals and publications. It would be great if someone can project the benefits of moving to publish in such academic publications. As arXiv already provides open access, is there any need of publishing somewhere else also?


texts: I cannot graduate from high school because the school is closed. Can I still start college or university?

texts:
I was recently accepted by a college or university.  I was planning on graduating from high school soon and then enrolling in college.  My high school has just announced that it will be closed for a reason such as the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic.  Will I still be able to start college?

(Question limited to students who are already admitted.)


texts: Any risks down the line choosing maths vs. stats PhD programme?

texts:
It seems funding for a PhD (at least in the UK) is a lot easier to get for a PhD in statistics rather then maths. Provided one can find a supervisor who has the background and research interestes that would allow one to keep extending ones pure mathematical toolbox are there any major risks in going for a PhD in stats ?

It seems to me that at any given stage there is a lot of flexibility with a degree in mathematics. (For instance people seem very open minded to let a maths MSc do a stats PhD). Is it justified to be worried about losing this flexibility if one opts for the PhD in stats rather then maths?

In particular I am worried about whether it is possible to transition back to the maths departement for a postdoctoral position or something equivalent. So essentially I want to know whether one will get branded to an extend that would make it difficult to go on and work in pure mathematics after the PhD.


texts: What rate of faculty turnover is healthy?

texts: What is considered a reasonable rate for faculty turnover in a "healthy" department? How much turnover is too much/little? Presumably the rates might depend on seniority. Does departmental turnover tell you anything about your colleagues?


texts: Would study materials from 2018 or 2019 be useless for the 2020 GRE? For example, I'm ordering the 5 lb Book of GRE Practice Questions by Manhattan Prep because it seems like the most comprehensive study guide, but it was published in 2018. (I haven't seen a later version.) However, would these problems be close enough to the ones on the 2020 GRE? I also have Kaplan's GRE Prep Plus from 2019.(I ended up not taking the test.) Again, is it beneficial to study from slightly older prep materials or is the material too dissimilar?


texts: How possible is it to do mathematical research outside academia?

texts:
Does anyone know if it is possible for a Ph.D. graduate of mathematics to successfully do research in his/her spare time?

The work environment and conditions in academia seem somewhat deplorable at the moment---no offence intended,  but that simply very much appears to be the case from an outsider's perspective---and it just strikes me that mathematics would surely be the subject most suited to Ph.D. graduates who don't want to go there, but still want to research, as "only pen and paper" are required.

If one were really, truly devoted...how much of a disadvantage would they have compared to someone who chose to stick it out?

Are seminars entirely barred?

Is it impossible to publish?

Collaborate?

How much (more) time would someone who stayed in academia have in a day to spend researching?

Also, what about people who have not got PhDs? I would think it's more or less impossible for them to contribute very much of value if they only have a Bachelor's or a Master's degree, but I really don't know.


texts: Should I correct a course assignment that I already presented? I'm not sure whether the professor will notice the error

texts:
In a subject of my master we did a team work (analyse a piece of data). All the teams deliver the slides for the presentation the same day even if we presented it in different days. This work is 40% of the subject's grade.

Two hours before our presentation, we found a big mistake in our analysis. Some plots showed incorrect axes if we did filter data correctly, either data wasn't correct or the plot. The data should be above 1 and in the graph the log in base 10 was below 0. We couldn't modify the presentation, so we presented as we intended before finding the error. Nobody (noticed) asked about the mistake. The professor did take notes about the presentation conclusions but were about ones (presumably) not affected by the error.

We couldn't find in two hours the source of the error although my guess is that is in one of the very first steps of filtering data or in the plotting process, and we were more nervous concerned about the presentation itself.

I am unsure how to proceed:

Should I correct the work?
It was my mistake I was the one creating the script to analyse the data and I am interested/curious in the correct results. First finding the error, then correcting and creating the slides/plots corrected could take 2 weeks.
Should I contact the professor after correcting the error?
From my point of view we have already presented it and we will receive our grade, from the presentation we did. I would be surprised if we had an appointment to present the corrected version. The next expected contact with this professor is on the final exam (60% of the grade).
How can these affect our/my grade?
I am afraid the professor finds out the mistake and we find out later that we have a low mark or if we send a corrected version our grade will also suffer from it.

I am aware of these other question but my work is not published, nor it will.


texts: Career options after Masters in mathematics outside academia

texts:
Basically, my background is the following: I was a very good student in a not so bad university in my bachelor, and now I'm doing alright (~ good student but not one of the best) in a very good university at Master's program in Europe. Obviously, mathematics gets harder and to be realistic it will not hurt to keep in mind career options outside academia after I finish my Master's, especially if one takes into account the current competition level in academia.

What scares me is the fact that I feel totally useless outside research. By that I mean I have no teaching experience at all, no classes in statistics, probability, applied mathematics, no programming skills(though I had one class in C programming 3 years ago which sucked and in addition I totally forgot it). Instead I have always been doing courses which are highly abstract like category theory, homotopy theory, algebraic geometry(most of the Hartshorne), topology and this list goes on. There is no way I can use outside academia/research anything I learned before, so I don't see any difference between me and a high school graduate.

Are there any options besides academia with my current background or realistically I'd better stick on academia to survive?

P.S. Even though I enjoy research, but recently it had started becoming tiring so I'm looking for a plan B. Next year which is final will be spent on writing thesis and there is no time to take any additional classes outside of my current research.


texts: Cover letter for job application to someone I have personally met

texts: I intend to apply for a postdoc position. The contact mentioned in the job advertisement, to whom I should address the cover letter, is someone I have personally met and talked to on a first-name basis (let's call him Dr John Doe). Therefore the natural form of address, for example in an e-mail, would be "Dear John". However, the cover letter for an job application is a formal document, so perhaps I should instead address him as "Dear Dr John Doe" or "Dear Dr Doe"? Thanks in advance!


texts: Should I do someone else's peer-review work?

texts:
My secondary advisor approached me; he is on the program committee of a conference and asked if I were willing to review a research paper that is in my avenue of research. The review is part of the peer-review process, to determine acceptance.

I accepted, but it turns out it he is planning to submit the review himself, just asking me to write it for him.

Should I protest? If they are my words, my name should be on the review. But I don't want to raise a ruckus if it materially doesn't matter anyway.

Do I gain any benefit if it is me who submits the review instead of him?


texts: Working with a supervisor who is not expert in my research field

texts:
I am a PhD student, and I am working with a supervisor who is not expert in my research field. I am wondering what I should do to remedy this.
When I just started out my PhD program, as I was applying for a major government scholarship, I approached my supervisor to give me some guidance on my general research path that I am expected to take through my PhD program, because I needed to write my research proposal to apply for the scholarship. My supervisor gave me a list of papers to read, and the papers were heavily oriented towards deep neural natural language processing models. So I assumed that my supervisor was heavily into the application of deep learning in natural language processing, and so I picked my research direction to be deep learning / natural language processing. I identified my specific research topic, ran the experiments, and my supervisor and I tried to submit my paper to a computational linguistics conference, which was rejected.
However, as I worked with my supervisor, I realized that  my supervisor's field of expertise is application of machine learning in open-ended questions in survey, and that he is not at all an expert in the deep neural language models. He in general lacks the knowledge in deep neural language modeling, and when I worked with him on my first publication, he was not able to provide any guidance/feedback on the design of my experiment or my general approach to the problem. Now I am scared that I picked a research direction that is too deviated from my supervisor's research, and I am keep wondering whether I have to tell my supervisor that I'd rather do the type of research that he is doing. I haven't talked to my supervisor about this, but I am getting an impression that he would most likely to suggest just continue working on the revision of my rejected paper.
Now I am a bit frustrated that my supervisor made me to read deep natural language processing papers when I applied for the scholarship. I think it would have been more reasonable for him to recommend me to read something that is related to his research, which is the statistical analysis of open ended survey questions. When I told him the type of research problem that I would like to work on, he encouraged me to pursue it, but I think it would have been much better if he stopped me at that stage.
Can I still be a successful PhD student if I pursue deep natural language processing on my own without getting much help from my supervisor? I feel very insecure because I suddenly feel like I am taking up on this all by myself without getting any guidance from anyone. Usually students who publish their paper at top computational linguistics conferences/journals are a part of natural lnaguage processing lab lead by a renowned professor in that field. I don't think I can compete against these students who are a part of active natural language processing lab.
Should I try finding external collaborator? or should I just tell my supervisor that I'd rather do the research that is closer from his domain? I feel like I am doomed and I am depressed. If I am to find an external collaborator, I am not sure how to do this since I do not have any personal contact in this field.
Any advice should be highly appreciated,
Thank you,


texts: When to transliterate words in foreign languages?

texts:
I'm writing a philosophy paper relying heavily on Aristotle and discussing several of his primary terms, including their etymologies. Therefore I say words like ἐντελέχεια and θεωρεῖν a lot. Since a fundamental premise of my essay is that we lack straightforward English equivalents for these words, and their etymologies give us important clues to their meanings, I have to leave them untranslated. But untranslated does not necessarily mean written out in an unfamiliar script---I could transliterate these words as entelekheia and theorein.

Other writers who share my views on translation go both ways on this. For instance Heidegger, in Basic Concepts of Aristotelian Philosophy, reproduces Greek script, while Christopher Long, in The Ethics of Ontology, transliterates. (Though obviously their audiences are very different.) My advisor has not expressed any preference on this matter.

Given this lack of deciding factors, what speaks for, and what speaks against, transliterating all the Greek words I use? Which audiences prefer one over the other? How would the decision to pursue publication (I will almost certainly not pursue this, but I am curious) change things?


texts: Is it appropriate to "cite" random conversations as the inspiration for a research direction?

texts:
In my research internship report, I'm mentioning a successful deep learning experiment. I performed it because another researcher told me it gave them good results for a similar problem.
I need to justify why I tried this, but I can't cite something un-published like this conversation. Is it appropriate to mention it in a footnote, like "according to other researchers, [...]"? Should I search for a citable source that says the same thing, or just drop the justification?


texts: Conditions for uploading IEEE publications to ArXiv

texts:
Having a paper accepted at an IEEE conference I would like to upload it to ArXiv. From the FAQ:

  Can an author post his manuscript on a preprint server such as ArXiv?
  Yes. The IEEE recognizes that many authors share their unpublished
  manuscripts on public sites. Once manuscripts have been accepted for
  publication by IEEE, an author is required to post an IEEE copyright
  notice on his preprint. Upon publication, the author must replace the
  preprint with either 1) the full citation to the IEEE work with
  Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) or a link to the paper’s abstract in
  IEEE Xplore, or 2) the accepted version only (not the IEEEpublished
  version), including the IEEE copyright notice and full citation, with
  a link to the final, published paper in IEEE Xplore.

I am not quite sure what this exactly means. I have the latex source for the document I submitted to the conference. What modifications do I have to make in detail?

Do I have to add an extra page with "IEEE copyright notice and full citation, with a link to the final, published paper in IEEE Xplore". Where can I find the IEEE copyright notice?

I suppose I am not allowed to change any of the content, but what about the template? Do I have to use the format I submitted to the conference?


texts: How would co-authoring a paper whose main subject isn't about what I'll do in the future help me?

texts:
So in the Summer, I was offered to work on a paper with a doctor at my local university. The main goal of the paper is to try and predict the amount of displacement when pressure is applied to a 3D-printed ball of titanium using machine learning. The thing is that the main focus of the paper is about 3D printing with titanium but machine learning is used to achieve some of the results that couldn't be simulated easily.

Fast forward a couple of months, my work ended and I did what I was supposed to do. The other day, the doctor I was working with called me and told me I did a good job and offered me to work on it during the school year as well. The thing is, I have to put quite a few hours into it and I go to school so I don't want to do it if it won't help me that much in the future. So my question is, how would working on this paper, which is mainly about something I won't do in the future, help me later?

By the way, I'm a freshman in high school.

Thank you so much in advance!


texts: Funding for applied mathematics postdoc - how does it work?

texts:
I am an applied mathematics Ph.D. student at the end of my Ph.D., looking for postdoc opportunities. My strategy has been to apply for different positions that are already funded. Now I am thinking about applying for funding myself.  It seems like a good way to gain independence as a researcher. But I am not sure how to go about it.  Here is how I think it works:

Send research proposals to different research groups, asking if they would be interested in the problems and providing a postdoc position if I can get funding.
If one of them agrees, I apply for funding. I suppose that it is normal to apply for the same funding at several places (?).
If I am lucky enough to get a grant, I then contact the research group and get the "position"

Is this the correct way to go about it?


texts: Is talking about quitting to your supervisor a point of no return?

texts:
I have been feeling miserable about my PhD degree situation for a bit of time, and I just started therapy. So far I've tried not to take drastic decisions such as quitting, because I know I am strongly influenced by my condition, but lately I can't think about anything else.

I wonder if it is possible to convert my contract in a research assistance, or what is a graceful way out so to continue deserving recommendation, or what is an adequate resign notice period, etc., but I know it would much better to finish the PhD degree, and so continue trying.

Is talking about quitting possibilities with your supervisor a point of no return?


texts: Can you use brand names in a research survey

texts: I a currently designing a research survey and would like to use company brand names such as 'Apple' for participants to rate their preferred organisational attributes against. Is this ethical?


texts: Inquiry about reference of dropout of grad school

texts: I studied briefly for a master's degree in economics at Boise State University, USA. After 4 weeks of first semester, I decided to drop all of my enrolled course because this program is not right for me at all. Consequently, I would like to ask you folks whether I should refer this incident in CV or SOP when I apply for master's degree in another university in the future, 3-4 years from now? For example applying MBA program in UK.


texts: Changing my field after having started my project for my thesis

texts: I am about a month off of starting my Honors year at university (essentially an extra undergrad year aimed at getting students ready for research) and since I was very eager to get into research, I went around my department 6 months ago asking for a supervisor and found a project joint by 2 professors whom I respect and are very strong in their respective fields. After spending the past few months bogged down in my classes I finally got around to researching the project only to find that while I thought I enjoyed the field I find it bland and uninteresting which has made me a bit depressed at the prospect of having to commit to this for a whole year after next month. As a result over the past few days I have been thinking of swapping to another field which I believe is more 'meaty' and that I would enjoy more (I am already on good terms with a supervisor for that field) but at the same time I don't know if it is a sort of academic suicide for me to drop this project and build bad blood between my previous supervisors as I respect them and have nothing personal against them (will it reflect badly on me for not having researched their fields well enough beforehand?). Essentially, is it possible for me to swap fields to something I actually enjoy while staying on good terms with everyone?


texts: Publish a paper with a coauthor not affiliated to a university

texts:
I am supervising a last year high-school student (a very advanced one) who is doing some kind of a research project. He does some numerical simulations on problems that I suggest. If everything goes well the results of these simulations should be rather interesting and could be submitted to a reasonable journal.

I have an affiliation with a renowned university but the student obviously does not yet have any. Next year he plans to enter university X (and probably he can do that).

The question: can I submit a paper with him as a coauthor, stating that he is affiliated to the university X? May it create some problems for the student if he choses to enter another university Y later?


texts: Stuctured vs Individual German doctoral program

texts:
I am looking for a Ph.D. in a German-speaking country in Europe.
I am looking at some possible institutes for applying on Ph.D. program.
Some offer "individual" and some "structured" doctoral programs, and some offer both.

My situation is that I do not come from academic environment, which means that I don't have contact with any potential supervisor. I guess that if you go directly from Master to Phd (in academic environment), you should have thesis subject, which means you apply for Individual doctorate.
Instead, I am coming from industrial environment, and I don't have yet thesis subject. I completed my Masters 2 years ago, and left academic circles.

My question is: why choose one of "structured" or "individual" over the other?
I believe that structured is "easier" if you don't have potential supervisor or thesis subject, but I would appreciate guidance from those who know this system better.


texts:
I cold emailed a lab I really wanted to work in and received a positive response. I had two phone calls with the PI and she seemed very responsive and said she thought I would be a good fit. They asked me to write a rough project proposal and organize a lab visit. She assured me that she would be able to respond within 24 hours regarding the proposal.

As I don't live in the US and am uncertain currently about when I would be available in the next few months, I asked in a follow up email if the lab visit was a necessary part of making a final decision -- I wasn't really clear if I was going to be offered the position. They also didn't mention if I would be reimbursed for the visit, and that's kind of important, but I stressed that I will do my best to organize it if it is part of the process. Also, if I'm not actually being offered the position, then I should know in case I should be applying for other positions.

Anyway, it's been more than a week after I sent the email and I haven't gotten a response. I even sent the proposal and haven't heard anything. I'm confused what happened, it seems like I did something wrong.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?


texts: Does adding professors' names in the acknowledgement section influence acceptance of a paper?

texts:
I'm working on a research paper and two well-known professors have reviewed and commented on the paper. They have also accepted that their names be mentioned in acknowledgments section.

My question is whether including the names of prominent researches would influence the acceptance of a paper by a journal?


texts: How to delete a duplicate google scholar account?

texts:
I have moved to another University and created a new google scholar account here.  However, my old account at the former university still shows up and I get "you have a duplicate account" message.

Here's the rub:  I am no longer at my old university so I CAN'T LOGIN to that old account in order to delete it.   Google takes me to an authentication page for the old university for me to login.

So, I'm wondering how to delete that phantom account?

Thanks!  -Karl


texts: Can I ask my advisor to drop authorship for a journal submission?

texts:
Update: I talked with my advisor about (1) the possibility of asking the editor about submitting our paper this journal X and (2) the possibility of me as the sole author to submit this paper. She said no and no :(

Background info: I am from the field of social science, and this paper is from my dissertation. My advisor provided funding for my dissertation ($9,000). My advisor has been very good to me. I just graduated last year and am now an assistant professor at another university.

I did plan to add my advisor as the second author of this paper, I also told her in an email I would like to submit this paper to X, the top journal of our field, and I attached the draft in this email.

Then I heard back from her yesterday with an edited version. In the comments, she told me not to submit to X because she is one of the associate editors which creates a conflict of interest--I emailed the editor to confirm and this is indeed the rule. This rule was not listed on the journal's website and my advisor did not tell me when I sent her the email saying I would like to submit to X journal.

I really want to submit to this X journal because I imagine it would help me a lot with my academic career. If I knew that any paper with associate editors as a co-author cannot be submitted to journal X, I would never send this paper to my advisor for comments.

I wonder if I can ask my advisor to withdraw her authorship and I will be the sole author for this paper so that I can submit to X. I am not sure how unethical my behavior can be? Or maintaining a good relationship with my advisor is more important than having a top journal publication? Any suggestions are appreciated!


texts: Name for journal article that was extended from a conference article?

texts: In some areas (e.g. CS) it seems acceptable for conference articles to be extended and published as journal articles. In such cases, what is the etiquette for choosing the journal article title? Can it be named the same (hence potentially leading to misunderstandings on which is which)? What are common practices for this?


texts:
I was asked to serve as a reviewer in a peer-review process.  I remarked some issues and suggested a minor revision to the editor.  Now I received the revision back and generally think the authors did a good job revising the manuscript. The field is psychology.

There is one issue that I was not sure about. That is, the authors changed their hypotheses between drafts. This has something to do with the way they treated their data. In the first draft, the experiment provided data from two instruments (very similar instruments) and were analysed separately. Hypotheses were formulated separately for the two instruments.

Now, in the 2nd draft the instruments were combined and the data treated as coming from one instrument. Hypotheses were adapted to these new circumstances, but also were partly contradictory to previous hypotheses because then, the authors expected some differential results from the two instruments.

I am not sure how to judge this. Is this a big issue or just a minor thing?  Why is it an issue at all?  I have a feeling that this not too uncommon in my field (psychology), I mean to treat hypothesis testing somewhat lax.  I believe that in grad school I learned that hypotheses have to be stated before conducting the experiment and cannot change. But I was googling a little about this topic and did not find anything that would indicate that post-hoc hypotheses are a bad thing.


texts: Is it worth it for me to try at this point?

texts:
Basically, I came into this university on a scholarship, doing their most prestigious undergraduate degree. For a variety of reasons including but not limited to depression and anxiety, I basically failed half my courses in my first year. Last semester, I took a 6 month break.

Right now, I have been kicked from that degree and have lost my scholarship, but I am really enjoying my schoolwork again. A lot of the problems that were plaguing me the past 1.5 years have been largely resolved. I have missed struggling with a difficult problem and/or the feeling I get when I finally understand something. Originally my passion was space and wanted to do something in that area (such as astrophysics). It was (maybe still is) a dream of mine to go into this field at a higher level after undergrad. When I came to university, I was ambitious and wanted to get into some Ivy League school for graduate school, or some top school for whichever field I chose.

I had lost that dream, but now I have found it again. I was wondering if it was worth pursuing and putting all my effort into it, or is it too late for me already with my terrible background?


texts: Why use 'advisor' or 'supervisor' instead of just 'collaborator'?

texts:
This bugs me a bit. I understand that technically the advisor or supervisor relationship may be a bit different from the more senior-level collaborations, but I can't help but think when I see people say "thanks to my supervisors/advisors for their help with this project" (i.e. on Twitter press-releases of research, at the beginning/end of presentations at conferences) that it is a bit infantilising... I am not suggesting it is a particularly important problem, but from many PhD students I know and from my own personal experience, the supervisor role can certainly be very much equivalent to normal collaboration between other academics. I think it makes a PhD student sound more independent and capable if they were to refer to their co-authors on papers published during their PhD as their collaborators - even if they are in fact their supervisor/advisor.
Keen to hear others thoughts!


texts: Where to include contact details in math paper

texts:
I recently submitted a paper to a math journal with standard latex formatting, but they sent an email back saying that the contact details for the corresponding author should be in the document itself. Where exactly does this mean? On the title page next to my name?

Right now it looks like this:

Title

First name Last name

April 14, 2014

Abstract

The rest of the paper then follows
...

References

[1] reference...

Where exactly should I include my email address?
I am the only author of this paper.


texts: Author order - seniority vs contribution

texts:
I have a manuscript (in the field of biomedical research) close to submission with four authors: me (as first author) (ME), my ex-boss (as senior author) (EB) and two more authors of which one is a very senior professor (SP) and the other one is a junior professor (JP).

The SP contributed considerably more than the JP. My question is now which order of the authors would be more appropriate:

ME, SP, JP, EB (higher contribution of SP means further to the front)
ME, JP, SP, EB (SP is more senior therefore closer to the senior author position (which is already occupied by EB) and it is not going to be a shared senior authorship)

I will of course ask them directly but I would like go get some opinions first ...

--------- EDIT --------

All authors are professors and independent PIs without a hierarchy between them.

--------- EDIT --------

We discussed it and decided for the option:

ME, SP, JP, EB


texts: Should a student mention about contacting a faculty in a SOP even if the faculty has not replied yet?

texts: In most cases it is advisable to contact faculty while applying to the graduate school. But not all professors reply to the emails and in most cases none of them reply to emails, so is it advisable to mention in the statement of purpose (SOP) that a faculty member was contacted even though no reply came from their side ?


texts: publishing papers vs. receiving Masters/PhD

texts:
I'm a software engineer with several years of industry experience.

If I got involved part-time in a research team and collaborate with them to publish several papers. Practically speaking what's the difference between that and actually receiving Masters/PhD ?

Mainly, What is the difference between somebody who got a PhD by publishing several papers and somebody who published several papers without even pursuing PhD ?

( Excuse my ignorance about these matters )


texts: What distinguishes acceptable use of a preprint server from unacceptable dual publication?

texts:
In answering this question, I wondered:
Many fields are now beginning to embrace preprint servers such as arXiv. Typically, authors upload a manuscript to the preprint server at the same time as they submit it to a journal. On the whole, this is seen as acceptable, and not as 'dual publication'.
On the other hand, submission of the same manuscript to two 'proper' journals simultaneously is (in all fields I know) regarded as serious misconduct.
Where, precisely, is the boundary between 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' conduct here? What distinguishes a 'preprint server' from a 'journal'? At first glance, one might say 'peer review'. However, journals come in many forms, including 'open review' (where the submitted manuscript is available for anyone to read and comment on immediately), and 'predatory' (where any submission can be accepted without review if you pay the fee). Similarly, many recognised preprint servers exercise some basic quality control on submissions.


texts: To what extent does the location of a conference impact the number of submissions?

texts:
Some conferences take place in locations that are considered to be more attractive than others to most people (e.g. UIST 2014 @ Hawaii). Some can be more easily accessible than others. Etc.

Is there any research/study/survey that looked at the impact of the location of a conference with regard to the number of paper/poster/etc. submissions?


texts: If someone would have obtained two MSc degrees from the same university , how do you put that on a business card?

texts: If someone would have obtained two MSc degrees from the same university for example MSc politics from UCL and MSc international relations from UCL too, how do you put that on a business card?


texts: Asking for a recommendation letter from an open source repository mentor

texts:
I wish to apply for an MS in a particular branch (a sub-field) of Computer Science at various US universities.

I have been working with a person on an open source repository for some time (about 5 months). That person is the owner of the repo and the work done in that repo is very much related to the branch I wish to apply for. I have made many significant contributions to the project. I might perhaps be one of the top 3 contributors of the repo. Me and that person have worked closely on several issues from time to time. He has, many times, especially asked my opinions on some of them. That person used to be a professor, but now works in the private sector.

Now, the problem is that, he is a celebrity in that branch of Computer Science. If you have ever ventured even a little in this branch, I am sure you have heard of him.

For my questions,

On the basis of my relationship with him as I have described above, is it alright if I ask him for a recommendation letter?
Is it necessary to have a student-professor or similar relationship to ask for a recommendation letter?
Considering the facts that he is famous, he knows me only through emails and my written code and tons of people would be asking him for recommendations each year, what are the chances that I'll get one from him?


texts: What is "call for nomination" for senior positions in university?

texts:
Job ads for senior executive positions in university always state Call for Nomination and Application.

Contrary to nomination for awards, the nominator cannot actually nominate the nominee, but just a useless introduction. The nominee should personally apply for the position. By the nomination, just the committee secretary asks the nominee to submit an application. Even without nomination, they normally send the call to many potential candidates to apply if they are interested.

My question is who should nominate who?

Nominator is a friend of nominee. Then, why he does not encourage his friend to apply by direct contacting him instead of the search committee to ask my friend to apply.
Nominator knows nominee from distance. First, why no contacting him directly. Second, why nominating someone qualified when we do not sure if he plans to leave his current job.

In general, I am curious if this nomination system has any effect on the recruitment process? If I think someone that I know is suitable for a position, I will inform him about the vacancy and encourage him to apply. Why should I ask the search committee to ask him to apply.

One may say that people are more interested to apply when they are invited, but we know that this is not a real invitation, as they invite anyone to apply, since the applications are reviewed together. Note that these jobs are not based on "nomination only".

EXAMPLES

In most cases, the job advertisement has a title of call for nominations and application, but in any case, there is an instruction for nomination along with application. Normally, nominations are accepted via email, while applications should be submitted online.

Dean, University of Virginia
Chancellor, University of Missouri System
President, Oakland University
President, University of Illinois
President, Southern Illinois University


texts: Is it common for advisers to have not understand a funded project?

texts:
I'm a graduate student in computer science engineering in South Korea.

My adviser (a professor) told members in my lab to write a proposal to get a fund (from government or a company). Finally, we got funded and started an R&D. In the project proposal document, my adviser has been listed as a chief of research (a director). And (unoffically) one of the lab members has been named as a chief of hands-on workers.

We have two meetings. One is a project meeting and discussion only with lab members. And another is a report meeting with a chief of hands-on workers and my adviser. In the report meeting, he reports the result of the project meeting. If there is any unresolved issue, he got mad.

A problem that I think is, my adviser has no idea of any knowledge related with the project, literally. The project requires a cutting edge theories and techniques, but his knowledge stays when he became a professor.
He just hunts a fund and if he got a fund, he doesn't care afterwards.

Thus, his anger does not help to resolve an issue. He doesn't know why the issue exists and why it is difficult to resolve. Even if we explain about it, that does not help, next week, he forgets and gets mad again. In the report meeting, we can't expect any helpful comment from my adviser.

Even worse is, when it is the time to report a result of the funded project to the funder, my adviser has to present the result and answer to questions. But as I said before, he has no idea of the project. So, we teach him about the project for a couple of weeks before the presentation. But do you think it will be effective teaching months-long R&D in a couple of weeks? No, the presentation goes bad and the next funding will be unclear.

Is all of this is due to lab members who are not smart enough? Okay, if it is a personal research, my adviser may not have enough knowledge than me. But, this is a lab project and he is a chief. Then, at least, he should have a similar, comparable level of knowledge with lab members, in my opinion.

Does this commonly happen in other labs, universities and countries.


texts: Is a cover letter required when enquiring about the potential to do a post doc in a lab when no position is advertised?

texts: Do I need to attach a cover letter when no position is advertised and I just want to ask about the opportunities in a potential lab? Or should I just briefly incorporate the cover letter into the email?


texts: Recommendation Letters with Research Professors

texts: I've been working on a research project this past few months under a professor's lab, but I've been mostly working with the professor's PhD students and other research assistants. I don't really meet the professor and have only talked to him basically once (at the start of the entire project). Is it a good idea to ask for a letter of recommendation from that professor? He's familiar with the overall output of our work, but he doesn't really know me on a personal level.


texts: My transcripts are not an accurate indication of my academic ability

texts: Can the absence of an official academic adviser in the department at which I finished my undergraduate studies be used in my graduate application to justify some deficiencies in my undergraduate grades transcripts?


texts: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions scholarship reserve list

texts: I applied for the Marie Curie Global Fellowship, and I was placed in the reserve list. Does anyone have experience of people placed in the reserve list who eventually got funded?


texts: Choice of Referee for Academic Job Application

texts:
I am preparing the application for an AP position at a local university. The documents I am required to submit include recommendation letters from three referees, who the university's website states should preferably be my ex-supervisor and/or employer. But altogether I have only two ex-supervisors in the past.

My question is, who could serve as an a alternative referee for me (other than ex-supervisor and employer)?

My understanding of the preference is someone who has worked with you for a relatively long period of time and therefore is in a position to speak on behalf of you. I had thought of my collaborators, but most of them work with me on a short-term. I have only one long-term collaborator, but he is from math dept. (I am an engineer).


texts: Contact a professor to agree a research proposal for a post doc position that he is advertising

texts:
I am a PhD candidate in computer science and I am looking for postdocs.

Surfing the web, I have found a post-doc opening that I find extremely interesting, but I do not know personally the PI of the group, nor my advisor does.

The opening asks for submitting 3 items: a CV, a cover letter and a research proposal.

Before writing a research proposal I would like to get in contact with the PI and try to understand their challenges and write something that would be meaningful for them, instead of going directly with a proposal that maybe is not of interest for them.

Which is the best way to approach a PI in this setting? Should I send him a mail with a CV and referee contacts even if this is not exactly an application, but is an informal query? Or should I go directly with the formal application?

Any experience to share?


texts: Getting a Postdoc, Dropping out of PhD for Greener Pastures (I hope), or else Staying Competitive in Current Position

texts:
I've seen similar questions on here before so I'm sorry if it's a duplicate or anything.

Frequently, I find myself in despair at my postdoc prospects as a result of the reputation of the university at which I am doing a PhD. It's ranked around 30-40th in the UK and, in some places, worse than 350th in the world.

I study Mathematics. In particular, I study a less popular version of group theory than average. So postdoctoral research fellowships are hard to come by as it is.

I could have gone to The University of St. Andrews for my PhD and in an area I prefer over my current one, had I not had a panic attack during my last exam in 2015. I kick myself over it most of the time. I still got the First required, only it was awarded the year later and the position had to start in 2015.

Compared to St. Andrews, my current university looks lame.

Sometimes, although mostly for my mental health, I have considered dropping out then applying to some other university, perhaps St. Andrews again, I don't know.

What's my question?

Well, this is not so much a question so far as it is a lament, I admit.

What I want to ask is this:

  What do I do to become a marketable mathematician? How do I get a postdoc?

Also . . .

  How do I let go of the "once in a lifetime" PhD position I could have had?

Any advice would be appreciated.


texts: How to parse "$70,000/yr for 9 months' employment payable over 12 months"?

texts:
I have received a job offer for a full-time contract position at a college in the US. The offer says that my salary will be $70,000/year for nine months’ employment payable over a period of twelve months. I received my offer not long ago, and although I will most likely accept the job, I didn't want to ask immediately about salary issues because I didn't want my first interaction after receiving the offer to be about money.

Since I am not familiar with university payment/hiring practices, which one of the following options is the correct one:

a) I will be employed for 9 months, then my salary will be ($70,000*9 months)/(12 months*1/year) =
$52,500/year
And since it is paid over 12-months, then my monthly salary before taxes will be $4,375/month.

b) Or is it simply $70,000/year paid over 12 months, that is, $5,833/month before taxes.

The wording of this is confusing and even my (non-US based) accountant is confused about what the salary will be.

Update: 7 days after posting this question, I have confirmed that the salary is $70k/year.


texts: Should I include my StackExchange profile in my CV?

texts:
I've been thinking that sometimes here on Stack Exchange, people make very good questions and give very good answers, in my case, I have learnt a lot from the community and when I post a question I try to make an effort to formulate it in a proper manner to avoid downvoting, so, when applying for a job or an academic position, would be correct to also make a reference of your Stack Exchange profile?
I believe that people that are hiring you, may have a better glimpse of you interests, what you know and what you don't know from the answers and questions that you make, so, is it a good idea to also show it?


texts: What are the advantages of writing a thesis with rMarkdown?

texts:
I think the question is self-explanatory but to add a bit of a background, I'll be starting my M.Sc. research quite soon and I want to create and maintain a workflow that allows me to devote my time to doing exploratory and inferential analysis, devoting my time to pondering on results, and assuring reproducibility.

With word processing tools like Microsoft Word, I fear I'd spend a great share of time focusing on editing and layout.

With that said, I'd like to know about your experience - bad or good - using rMarkdown to write your thesis? What were the advantages you felt by this choice, and what were the things that slowed you down?

In case you used an alternative "language" and are willing to share your reasons about your choice and how it went for you, please, go ahead.


texts: Advice on choosing a CS undergraduate thesis advisor (picking between 2 profs)?

texts:
I'm currently a college junior and looking to apply to grad school for CS in the fall. I'm currently choosing a thesis advisor for next year but would love some advice.
One of my options is a HCI professor who I've been working with since freshman year, but she'll be on sabbatical next year. She said she'd be willing to advise me, but I don't want to give her extra work while she's taking time off.
Another option is a professor who I haven't worked with before w/ a different research area (more systems focused), but I've heard really great things about her from other students. She also said she'd be happy to work with me, and I'm pretty interested in branching out/trying new things.
In terms of applying for grad school, will it strengthen my application to have worked with the same professor all throughout undergrad? Or is it good to show some variety of experiences? I'm having trouble because I'm also not sure which area of CS I want to pursue in the future, but it'll probably be something at the intersection of HCI and AI like Human-AI interaction or intelligence augmentation.
Any general tips/advice on how to handle this situation would be much appreciated. Thank you!


texts: Is it possible to be an intellectual/do research without the internet?

texts:
I've been studying linguistics for over a decade now. I've never taken a class, because there are no local colleges that offer a degree in linguistics. I didn't really care though, because I was able to find all I wanted online anyway. I could even talk to other people interested in linguistics.

However, the internet as of late has become increasingly useless. Boards are overrun with trolls which prevents any kind of sensible discussion, the web is filled with fake news and false information, and the number of sites seems to be decreasing. I keep coming up with things I want to research, but have no way to find the answer. If I ask anywhere, my thread just gets overrun with trolls that completely derail the discussion (and that includes this site, I regularly delete my profiles shortly after making them because I simply lose faith that I can ever get anything on having an account on this site).

I've tried to look up actual books, but linguistic books are quite expensive it turns out. And despite having over a dozen libraries in my home town, there's hardly any books in them that talk about linguistics.

I also had a problem doing any kind of research in a research class I just took. I only had a handful of websites I could really find reliable information on (one of them being pew research, which ended up being the one I went to 90% of the time). Its just impossible it seems to find anything that isn't overloaded with fake information, especially when it comes to anything even remotely political.

What I hate about this, is that I liked that I could be a linguist without spending thousands of dollars on a degree. Now it seems, that doing that simply isn't possible. And worse yet, I have no other way to learn about linguistics. I can't afford the books (and I'm not even 100% sure what I should be looking for, the only linguistic book I've ever really heard about was 'The World's Writing Systems by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright'), and there's no college anywhere near me that teaches it. If I can't find information on linguistics online, I just can't go anywhere else. And yes, I've looked on Project Gutenberg, but it only has two books, one of which was published in the 1880s, and the other in the 30s, by a guy that I know isn't 100% reliable (Edward Sapir, if you care).

It feels like I can't be an intellectual anymore. Without the internet, I would just be yet another back-woods hick that didn't know anything about anything. Its solely thanks to the internet that I know anything at all. Without out, I'm lost. I don't know where else I can turn to continue my studies. It seems that I'm destined to become what I would've been without the internet, just another uneducated local living in a pathetic back-water where there really isn't anything of significance. I don't know what I can do to avoid this...

edit: Just because I seem to having people telling me about European Universities: I don't live in Europe, I live in the US.


texts: Will an assistant professor take on new students at the end of their assistant professor “term” if they are unsure of whether they will get tenure?

texts: I’m wondering how well professors know whether they will get tenure or not, and if that will affect their decision to hire a new student? I figure that if a professor needs new students they wouldn’t just stop hiring students because they aren’t sure if they be able to continue at their institution, but then I’m not sure what would happen to the students should the professor be asked to leave the institution after their time as an assistant professor is up.


texts: F in a P/F class hurt my chances for grad school?

texts:
I'm an undergraduate studying computer science at a top-10 US university and have a decent GPA of around 3.7. A few semesters ago, I took a one hour/credit programming class just for the sake of filling up some time. The class only had a few assignments, so I took it easy since I was pass/failing the class. I made a poor decision of dropping one of the assignments and getting a horrible grade on the last assignment that I had thought done well on. As a result, I failed the course. I was going through a bit of a rough patch during this semester, and I've been a pretty good student in college (I have done well in all other coding/project classes other than this one). I've been involved in research for the past few years, and I want to apply for masters programs in the upcoming year or so.

I know for a fact that an F on any transcript will be a concerning factor. My question is, will this be more detrimental than I think it should be? I'm worried that such a slip up will prevent me from pursuing graduate school. Thanks!


texts: What are the first names of S. F. Buck? He/She has several publications 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. I tried to find the author on the pages listed and also in articles citing him/her, but in vain. General strategies on how to find first names are welcomed too.


texts:
I am going to graduate in mid-October from my M.Sc. in Economics and I am starting to think seriously to apply for a Ph.D. However, since I am still completing the writing of my thesis, I have not yet started to get informed in any way about the available programs and I did not fill any requirement in terms of GRE, language certifications and so on. Therefore, my idea would be to do some research work and to send my applications in fall 2018 (thus actually starting Ph.D. in September 2019).

Do you think this is meaningful? In my mind, trying to write a better thesis and get some other experience in research could be useful for the purpose of the application. But I am also worried that I am kind of losing one year with respect to my cohort of graduates, thus this could be seen as a symptom of uncertainty.

How an evaluation committee would consider this timing choice?


texts: What suggestions should I make when reviewing a poorly written paper?

texts:
Since I need a break from the reviewing...

Often in my field I review papers from researchers in Asia (reviews are not double blind) which are poorly written. By poorly written, I don't mean that the prose is not pleasing to the eye, that there are problems with how the writing flows, or that there are innocuous typos or spelling mistakes. Instead, the grammar used by the authors differs seriously from normal English, and often produces significant changes in the meaning of sentences.

Usually such papers are ultimately readable, but one has to go back and re-read sentences or paragraphs several times to infer the meaning (and this is with strong knowledge of the research area!), so I generally won't reject a paper solely for this reason. However, I would feel remiss in my duties as a reviewer if I didn't instruct the authors to improve this aspect of the paper. I'd like to provide helpful advice for the authors without just giving them a laundry list of the errors.

Typically I highlight a few places where I had significant trouble understanding what they actually meant to say, and suggest seeking a professional editor before publication.

Are these reasonable things to suggest?

What other suggestions can I make?


texts: Can too many credits force you to graduate early?

texts:
I'm about to enroll at a local university as a mathematics major, with a view to later transferring and studying engineering.

I can receive enough credits through AP, CLEP, and credit by exam to cover 1-2 years of study.
However, I'm unsure of how many years I would like to study at university.  Likely 3-4.  Could receiving enough credit for 2 years hurt my chances of being able to transfer and spend 4 years total at university?

I'm relying on federal grants and state and university scholarships to fund my study; could those be withdrawn if I have enough credits to graduate but choose not to?


texts: Our professor does not make any effort to engage with us

texts:
I don't know if this question is appropriate for this site, nevertheless, I will do my best to explain the situation. And I'm sorry if the title does not fit the question very well.

The thing is, one of our professors does not basically make any effort to engage with us in any way.

All his lectures look the same: he literally just reads his own lecture notes. And that's all. Well, he does scribble a few things on the blackboard, but basically, everything boils down to him reading his notes in a thorougly monotone voice for two to three hours.

He does not care whether we listen or not, nor whether we understand or not. When somebody tried to most politely suggest him that maybe it's not the most efficient method of teaching, he dismissed it, saying "that's how it works at the university".

None of our other lecturers do the same. They encourage us to take part in various activities related to their subjects, use different methods of presentation, but generally - they make an effort to actually teach us and (make us understand) maths, physics etc. The situation is especially dissatisfactory, as most of my group are really interested in the subject he teaches and his way of "teaching" is particularly discouraging for most of us.

My question is: is there any way we could - at least - try to change things a bit? I mean, make him actually teach us, not just come to class, read lecture notes and walk out? How should we approach this issue?


texts: What is the difference between tuition fees and enrolment fees? The University I'm planning to apply for MA studies, requires Non-EU students to pay 1500 euros per semester for tuition and 150 euros per semester for enrolment.


texts: When can a thesis get rejected or asked for a major revision?

texts:
I am planning to submit my thesis next month. I have 4 published SCI-indexed journals (Elsevier, Springer, IEEE transaction, World Scientific) and 2 more journals communicated (all first authors). My thesis is on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. The thesis will be sent to two external examiners about whom I will not know (Institute policy). I am fearing what will happen if my thesis somehow gets rejected (I do not know why I am so scared right now).

Should I be worried that my thesis may get rejected?

Also, what happens when the thesis gets major revision?

Do I have to do the corrections and send the thesis again?

When a reviewer is checking a thesis, usually what does he want in
it?

Does he read the entire thesis line by line?

Kindly share any incident of thesis rejections if you know of any, why it was rejected and how the person finally got his degree.


texts: Should I include my research interests in my CV? How?

texts: I don't have any publications yet and I never coauthored a paper.  My question is, should I put in my CV the list of publications I have read (publications of other authors, I mean) and list them under "Read publications" or it is meaningless?


texts: Should I signal to the department I'm rejecting a PhD offer from, that I may take their offer next year?

texts:
This is a follow up to this question I asked yesterday. Briefly, this is the situation:

I have two (US) PhD offers, I deferred admission offer from Uni A without guaranteed funding, but Uni B guaranteed that they'll defer my financial offer, but I should already accept the offer if I want that. Following the exchange in the comments of this question, I'm not accepting B's offer, but I already deferred A and I plan to go there if they offer me funding next year too (they probably will, but with this COVID-19 crisis, nothing is predictable).

Now I want to tell Uni B that I decided to go with Uni A, and deferred to next year. Should I tell them that they didn't guarantee my financial package for next year, and I may be open to an offer from Uni B as well next year? If I should, how should I pass that message to them? I know this may sound really bad to tell B that if A doesn't give me funding next year, I'll take your offer, but that's the truth, and I AM worried about not getting funding from A next year. So, should I somehow tell them that?


texts: Should I quit my job and travel the world before applying to PhD programs?

texts:
I plan to apply for PhD programs in foreign policy this upcoming year. It's a field I'm passionate about and something that, after much deliberation, I am positive I want to pursue. With that said, I'm currently in a field unrelated to politics/policy - having studied business in college. I have been working in this field for several years.

I've always dreamed of traveling the world, experiencing other cultures, and having some time to myself to learn a new language/write a book. In the past, I've always been a working hard in school or work to do these things for myself - and I'm sure I won't have the time upon starting a PhD program.

Thus, in a perfect world, I would like to quit my job, travel the world, and have the experience of a lifetime as soon as possible - for as long as possible - until the start of my PhD program. My main worry is that, in approx. 8 months when I apply for PhD programs, I will have to put 'unemployed' and attempt to explain to admissions what I've been up to for almost a year (as opposed to putting down a very good, well respected job - albeit one in a different field).

I want this experience of a lifetime but, at the same time, I don't want to jeopardize my chances at top programs. Some people I have consulted have said that taking on such an experience can actually be seen as unique and increase my chances of admission (though I am skeptical of that).

I am extremely grateful for any tips/advice. If anyone has familiarity with the admissions process of top PhD programs and how they would view someone with a current 'unemployed' status, please provide any insight you can.

Thanks so much!


texts: How to revise/resubmit a rejected article taking an unorthodox view

texts:
This question is similar to Overcoming Fear of Rejection, but not the same.

My experience in academia was teaching Computer Science for four years at a mostly liberal arts college, and that was 30 years ago.
I frankly found the world of work to provide more challenging intellectual stimulation, at least in the sort of practical issues I cared most about.

There are highly technical issues in software development that I and other practitioners have discovered that are quite orthogonal (to say the least) to the trend of publishing in those areas.
So when I try to publish it is hard to build much of a bibliography.
When I submit (through an online submittal process) I tend to get responses that vary in quality, but are generally negative.

I am tempted to revise, in such a way as to address the concerns raised by the better quality reviews.
I could buttress the claims with stronger mathematical arguments, but it's hard to tell if this would make the paper more or less approachable.

Then there's the question whether I should resubmit to the same journal.
There don't really seem to be any others at the same level of relevance to practitioners.

Sorry if this is a noobie question.


texts: Letters of Recommendation when applying afresh to a new PhD program

texts:
I'm currently enrolled in a PhD program in the US. Before picking up my master's degree, I'll be applying to a different PhD program that's more suited to my interests. I will be able to get two letters of recommendations from my undergraduate university and one letter of recommendation from my current graduate institution. Does this combination seem all right? If possible, I can get a second letter from my current graduate intuition as well, but I suspect that letter won't be very strong due to my not having done a lot of work with that faculty member.

Does this combination look all right?


texts: A student who asked me to write a rec letter seems to have committed academic dishonesty in my class, what do I do?

texts:
A student (let's call them A) in my class that I just finished teaching asked me to write them a recommendation letter. I said yes, and the first deadline is Dec 15, as they often are (FYI, I'm writing this post on the very early morning of Dec 14).
Unfortunately for the student, as I was grading the final exam, I noticed that A and another student (call them B) seem to have exactly the same wrong answers (their wrong answer was pretty unusual, and in my class of 100, they were the only ones to have these wrong answers).
I've actually been suspicious of B for a while, as B kept coming up with the correct answers without actually being able to justify their steps, and in fact, their work was often wrong up until the final answer.
Upon comparing A and B's exam papers, A's solutions were more or less clear, and I'm sure that A worked it out themselves. B, on the other hand, has solutions that are more or less like A's solutions, but there are so many critical typos and mistakes in notation (showing that B has no idea what is going on in the course) that it should be impossible for B to arrive at the correct answer. I think the errors were introduced because B was sneakily trying to change some letters and such to a different letter, and changing a sentence structure here and there, etc.
So, I suspect that A is actually a decent student, but for whatever reason, A let B copy their answers for the exams in the course (there were 3, all 3 exams were strikingly similar).
I'm planning to submit this case for an investigation, but this takes a while, possibly longer than a semester. My questions are:

Should I still write the recommendation letter? On one hand, if A turns out to be innocent (not possible in my heart, but innocent until proven guilty) then I'm screwing them over by declining to write a letter so close to the deadline. On the other hand, if A cheated, then since I was aware of this before writing this letter, I don't want to not mention it.
How would you confront the student?