texts: Which is better to stay in shared house or university accommodation?

texts:
I will be a postgraduate student from this Oct in UK and looking for accommodation.
I would like to know pros and cons of shared house and accommodation provided by the University.
Thank you in advance!


texts:
A simple question:

Is there a way to get a specific issue of a journal as a printed copy?

I do not want a subscription, I just want printed copies of a very limited number of issues, mainly from "Econometrica", "Games and Economic Behaviour" and "American Economic Review".


texts: How to know if my research problem is interesting or not?

texts:
I have completed my masters in mathematics. I want to pursue PhD in mathematics. I want to frame a research question and write papers in my field.

But some  questions are bothering me:

How does one know that a research problem is interesting and after solving it, one will be able to publish in a good journal?
I know the famous journals in my field. But after reading them, how will I decide myself which problem will be beneficial to solve?
Also I have seen there are lots of unsolved problems given at the end of a paper in a journal.
If I don't understand or find any interesting problem should I try to solve the problems given at the end of a paper?
Does it mean the problems stated at the end of a paper are interesting that's why they are stated as problems?


texts: Are there software libraries or registries like ASCL.net for other fields in the physical sciences, Physics in particular?

texts:
The question Roadmap and possible pitfalls for a first-time software author to publish a paper on a Python package? explains the road I've started on. I just noticed that Skyfield, a software package I use has a link on Astrophysics Source Code Library: https://ascl.net/1907.024 (see this also).
For other fields in the physical sciences (and in particular in Physics) are there source code libraries or registries providing a similar service to how ASCL.net describes itself?

About the ASCL
Much of scientific progress now hinges on the reliability, falsifiability and reproducibility of computer source codes. Astrophysics in particular is a discipline that today leads other sciences in making useful scientific components freely available online, including data, abstracts, preprints, and fully published papers, yet even today many astrophysics source codes remain hidden from public view.
The Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL)... takes an active approach to sharing astrophysical source code. ASCL's editors seek out both new and old peer-reviewed papers that describe methods or experiments that involve the development or use of source code, and add entries for the found codes to the library. This approach ensures that source codes are added without requiring authors to actively submit them, resulting in a comprehensive listing that covers a significant number of the astrophysics source codes used in peer-reviewed studies.
The ASCL established an advisory committee in 2011 to provide input and guide its development and expansion. ASCL source codes have been used to generate results published in or submitted to a refereed journal and are available for examination via a download site.

While ASCL "...seek(s) out both new and old peer-reviewed papers that describe methods or experiments that involve the development or use of source code..." answers could certainly describe a source code library or registry where authors would submit contributions themselves. For example Github and PyPI are already discussed in the linked question above, but they could certainly be listed again as part of an answer.
note: I'm not at all sure how important or necessary it is for me to know the answer to this question, perspective on how this would fit into my "roadmap" is welcome as well.


texts: Confusing accusations and mixed messages with lecturer, what can I do to resolve this?

texts:
I am an undergraduate student in my final year on a Computer Science course. Every week I assist in a 2nd year (undergraduate) class that I took last year on programming. The programming class covers a range of languages, tools and topics, and is divided between a number of lecturing staff. There is one other assistant other than myself who helps in the class.
As an assistant in the practical sessions of these classes, I will often be chatted by students on Teams (course is currently virutal due to lockdown) for help in completing the practical work. I help by:

Giving links to related work (such as Mozilla/specific library documentation/stackoverflow)
Explaining tasks that are too complicated
Look over (but not add anything) to student's code
Giving broken down explainations of how to complete a programming task in technical language (eg.- "You gonna need to write a function that adds x to y...")
I should stress that I never give away answers or actually type any code myself.

I am currently unsure of what to do with the current lecturer in this class as they are giving me alot of mixed messages, these including:

Asking where students are when only a third of the class shows up to the virtual teaching and lab sessions.
Asking not to share code with students, even when they can see that I have not given any code to the student (when the conversation is in the main module chat.)
Questioning why I'm spending a significant amount of time helping an individual student who is stuck and needs help. In this case (which has happened a few times) I leave the main call, go into a private call and do a 1-2-1 with the student.

I have gathered a consensus from a number of students that a good number do not appreciate his teaching style a great deal (he tends to read off the slides he has produced and rarely gives live demonstrations.) I have generally not given my opinion on this lecturer, even though I share similar sentiment from being taught by this lecturer in other classes. What is the message this lecturer is giving and what can I do?
(It should also be noted that I have a good working relationship with the head of department, who is also my tutor, and he was the previous lecturer on this module I assist in. I get the impression that my assistance is appreciated when the HoD was teaching.)


texts: how to avoid to being blamed of self-plagiarism in this case?

texts:
We have the following "weird" situation in the institution that I am currently working on. We have a master´s degree in CS that requires that the students present a thesis or a research article so that ourinstitution could grant them their MSc title. The background of the situation is the following:

a) Some students had published an article or had an acceptance letter, from a conference or journal, related to their MSc research. This situation has occurred, in some cases, just when they had finished the compulsory courses.

b) It is required from our institution that all the master´s students must present a public dissertation of their research work, this is commendatory to do it for grant them the MSc title. After this dissertation, the student should submit their research work, article o thesis, to be stored in the public repository of our institution.

The problem that we are facing now is how to avoid that one student who had his research work, accepted or published, before it has been put on our institutional repository or vice versa to be blamed of self-plagiarism. For example:

A student X has decided to submit its research work when he is about or just finished his master´s courses. The publication get accepted so it appears in the web page of the conference or journal in which he has submitted his work. This student X need to make the public dissertation and put his paper on our institutional repository, in this part we see two probable outcomes:

a) Somebody could blame the student that he has put, in our repository, a research work that has already been submitted; so it is a case of self-plagiarism.

b) Let´s suppose that the journal or the conference proceedings suffer from a delay, which usually happens when the proceedings are published by a third party, so this student X makes his public dissertation and his research work is put on our public repository. Then one person from the conference or journal could say that this person has made self-plagiarism because the work has already been published in another repository.

How to deal with this situation?

Thanks


texts: Does it look bad if I publish an IEEE journal article without "Member, IEEE" next to my name?

texts: I am the second author of three, and the only one who does not have an active membership.  I have little need for the other services provided by IEEE, as I already have access to XPLORE through my work.


texts: "If multiple papers are accepted for presentation, each paper requires a separate registration fee." -> Why?

texts:
I have seen several conferences that specify:

  If multiple papers are accepted for presentation, each paper requires a separate registration fee.

Why? Is that purely financially motivated (e.g. an author with 2 submissions may cause another potential attendee not to come, or cost of submitting the paper to the publisher), or does it aim to reduce multiple submissions from the same author? Are there other reasons?


texts: How to fruitfully utilize faculty-student orientation sessions at institutes you don't want to attend?

texts:
More than once, I have had (graduate school admissions) orientation sessions where the faculty of the institute introduce their fields, their research and what they expect from potential students (Among other things).

At places I am interested in, this is a useful exercise. However, there are often places which I don't wish to study at but have a few good professors doing some really good work with great knowledge of the field and awesome intuition.

How does one fully exploit an opportunity to interact with good professors from institutes you are not interested in attending?

This is very different from a research conference for obvious reasons.

Further,

If I am not interested in that institute but wanted the opinion of one of the professors about another institute/lab (the ones I am interested in attending), is that a taboo?
How does one stay in touch with such contacts where your only excuse to mail is to ask a question? I really want to be on email terms. I have read and understood their work but what is it that should be the content of mails written to them? It doesn't make sense to simply send them emails saying that I read your paper or I attended your talk.

(Please feel free to edit this question in any amount if necessary)


texts: Switching from Computer Science to Historical Linguistics for Master's degree

texts:
I am a 19 year-old student in my second semester of my junior year of a Computer Science degree. I graduate in May 2020, but I would like to make the switch in postgrad to historical linguistics (not computational).

My long-term goal is to work in academia, hopefully as a professor. I want to eventually get a Ph.D, but I know there are several steps I need to take first.

I have no debt, and I'm willing to take on loans (within reason) to help pay for what's next, and work to pay it off over time. I'm on a scholarship for my tuition, and I work on campus to save extra money. I have a few thousand at hand to tide me over for a bit after I graduate.

I'm bringing all this up because I would like some advice. If I were jumping into computational linguistics, I might be able to apply directly for a postgrad program, but that's not really what I want to do. Would it be more reasonable to seek a second Bachelor's in linguistics, and then look at doctoral programs later? I am willing to do that. However, my school doesn't offer a linguistics degree, so I'd have to go to a different college for it. Do most colleges allow students who've already earned a degree to go back in for another at the same level? I'll only be 20 when I enter again.

Or is there a better path?

Thank you all for reading.


texts: How to find relevant and new open research topics?

texts:
How can one find relevant and new open research topics?

When working on my PhD thesis, I find it hard to find open questions in my very specific research area. Which approach do you take to find new and relevant topics?


texts:
This isn't an ideal SE site to ask this question, but I haven't found a better one. Please suggest one if you feel different.

In a "list of tables", what is the accepted convention for the page number for tables that flow over more than one page?

Word and Latex appear to default to the page on which the caption begins, but when the caption is below the table, it doesn't feel natural to me.


texts: How much weight does previous research experience carry for an admit to MS in computer science?

texts: I don’t have publications from research projects or internships. However, my letters of recommendation may state about my research experience. I am applying to universities in the USA. I have all the coursework prerequisites.


texts: How to work effectively with an unpredictable advisor?

texts:
I'm not sure if many grad students face these struggles, as my advisor is in no way abusive or "bad". In fact, she is extremely nice, but just very unpredictable at times. For instance, the same request or question will elicit a very different response depending on the day, and that's really confusing to navigate. I think predictability is kind of key to any type of managerial work.

In addition, she will also play her cards to get what she want. For instance, the advisor I thought I will have through her actions/words during the rotation period, is different from the advisor I ended up getting (little time to talk about my project now, and doesn't seem to care). This happened again when she was trying to have me stay on longer for a project. I wrote a research proposal, but once she realized I was staying, there was attitude change again. Meetings were post-phoned to the point that we never actually discussed any part of the proposal after two months. Now I'm having second thoughts about the whole thing, but would it seem immature to back out of it now? In general, I can't figure out if this is acceptable behaviour, and if I'm just not learning the best way of handling it.


texts: How direct should I be in my email to a potential Msc advisor?

texts: In an email to a potential masters supervisor, should I ask to "speak" with the professor / researcher as opposed to instantly asking for her/him to supervise me during graduate school? For instance, should I mention that I find his/her research is interesting and I would like to speak to him/her about it? Or, should I just "cut to the chase" and ask if they could supervise my studies? I have heard conflicting opinions on this topic.


texts: Disagreement with supervisor regarding sending an erratum

texts:
I have a paper that is accepted and published in a journal. After it was accepted I realized that some of the errors were calculated in a wrong manner and hence they appeared around 1.5 times smaller in the paper (this was due to a wrong advice that my advisor gave me). I was busy at the moment however later, when the paper was published, I managed to recalculate the errors and realize their difference. I told my supervisor about it and sent the new results to him. Although he seems to admit that his advice was wrong he is opposing my idea to send an erratum to the journal. Here is his argument:

The differences are minimal and do not change the conclusion or the main point of the paper. (Although the actual errors are 1.5 times the reported ones, they are still small because the reported ones are small too)
We have to change many parts of the paper and not only one place.
It will put us and the journal in a bad situation.
I am neither the first person nor the last person who has done a mistake in his paper.
Our code and dataset are public.

I have had serious arguments with my supervisor in the past. The last time it got to the point that he ordered me to do as he says. This makes me worried if I push him harder I will ruin my relationship with him.

What are your thoughts about this situation? What is the right thing to do in your opinion?


texts:
Could a teacher or the university be legally liable in this situation? In which countries? Could the teacher be reprimanded by the university?
The situation is the following: A teacher wants to show students that what's legal is not always ethically right. As an example, the teacher tells the students that to free slaves was illegal. Therefore, the teacher says, sometimes to break the law would be the right thing to do. So the teacher is literally and directly telling the students that sometimes the right thing to do might be to break the law.


texts: Is a software-simulated experiment enough?

texts:
My ideal experiment to test my hypothesis would involve launching a large apparatus into deep space - and would cost millions of dollars, which I dont have.

Instead, if I develop a software model/simulation to test my hypothesis, is this an acceptable alternative? (in order for my ideas to be published and accepted by the scientific community).


texts: Is there any benefit applying before the deadline?

texts:
From what I have seen, academic position usually have 1-2 months deadline.
I know that for non-academic positions if a suitable candidate is found, the position may be filled in advance.

Does applying one month or some weeks before give particular advantages? Is it risky to apply close to the deadline?


texts: My paper was under review for two days and now is 'Awaiting AE Recommendation'. What does this indicate?

texts: I submitted a research paper to a journal. After one day the status was EA assignment pending and after two more days it was under review. But only after two days under review the status changed to “Awaiting AE Recommendation”. Can anybody please tell me what does it indicate?


texts: How to deal with a labmate using my method without credit?

texts:
So, I have made a presentation on my thesis at my workplace (a lab where I am a postdoc at), people make presentations on their current work so it is meant to be a meeting where we know each other's work and can collaborate etc.

So this person takes my method and idea (as in application relating dataset and on exactly what problem to solve) and he announces he will basically do the same for his work (on the same and a similar dataset) only a week after. I gave him hints that the work is identically the same and I could lend the code if he wants to and we could work together, he warded off all attempts, I have given hints to our advisor too but he is like Idk.

Today he announces that he has good results (though he still needs to implement another part).

Meanwhile I did send my paper to a journal and it said I needed more testing (major revision) but since it is a different affiliation I can not do an extensive testing on my own using the new lab resources, besides my code is not well optimized, so I was thinking on using another framework to re-implement it.

MY POINT is, shouldn't HE offer to work with me in this case? Shouldn't our advisor meddle and put us to work together? It is true that anyone, anywhere in the world could do the same thing and publish -but- we are in the same lab and he clearly just snitched off my idea. If I were in his place, I would definitely offer to work together.

How can I deal with this, especially since I feel I will look like I am the "difficult" person. In my previous lab, people were really ethical about this, once you use someone's idea, especially if it is a whole paper kind of work, you include them in paper.


texts:
So, a bit of background: I went straight from my bachelor's to a PhD with the supervisor I had for my BSc. However, I have decided I'd like to instead do an MSc at a different university.

My question is: how do I put this in my CV. Can I put 'Research Assistant' under the Employment section? And how should I approach my supervisor in terms of asking her to be a referee?


texts: What is the weight on the applicant's personality for tenure?

texts:
Assume that someone is an excellent researcher (many awards and at least 7-8 publications a year) and a very good teacher but he is not "liked" by some of the tenured faculty in the department (due to differences in opinions on how things should go or how decisions should be taken regarding different matters in the department).

Shouldn't being an excellent researcher and a very good teacher outweigh any social issues?


texts: Can I get admitted to a master's program at top European university with an average GPA?

texts:
I study business economics, and I would like to study abroad in Denmark, precisely in Aarhus.
I've already talked with the staff via email, and despite the fact that they are a top university in Europe in the area of business, administration / management and finance, they have no restrictions on intake, taking in consideration only ECTS and English score.
Why do they do that? Can I be sure of  passing the selection criteria for admission  if I have an average or not excellent GPA (example: 3.0, 3.3)?


texts: How to correctly mention people in a PhD thesis?

texts:
I'm currently looking for some advise concerning the correct way of mentioning people (i.e. inventors or scientists) in a (PhD) thesis. To clarify, I'm looking for a good way of phrasing "Method X was invented by Y". Which of the following sentences - if any - would be the best way?

Method X was invented by Doe
Method X was invented by John Doe
Method X was invented by John Doe (12 March 1899 - 22 April 1956)
Method X was invented by the Russian mathmatician and writer John Doe (12 March 1899 - 22 April 1956)

Personally, I think that it's appropriate to give some background (i.e. birth and death dates) for each newly introduced person. However, this might maybe be considered a bit too elaborated for a technical thesis.


texts:
We are looking for a solution to manage our literature (citations and corresponding PDFs) in our workgroup (~15 persons). Everybody should have read-write access, so a solution having a shared library would be the best for us.

Which workflows do other groups use for a common literature management? We've checked out EndNote, Reference Manager and Mendeley so far, but are not happy with the "workgroup" options these softwares provide.


texts:
I am really looking for some very open-mind answers here.
So here is the scenario. I have finished my undergraduation in Visual Communication Design from a premiere institute from my country. I couldn't get a chance to make it for post-graduation or further for any phd program, due to some health and financial issues.
But I have been working on a research paper that I started as a project during my design school days, that would come under psychology, art and design.
Given the fact, that I currently donot have much chance in terms of further formal education, what can I do best? I have been working on the research for few years now and would want to continue without any hesitation but what are my options as an independent researcher? Can I apply for phd programs later in life without a masters degree if my research is good enough? Can I send my papers to conference to get reviewed by people from the field?
What are the resources available for someone like me? What are the platforms where I can interact with other researchers?

Initially I was very upset about the situation, but now I think I have decided to do something about it. And I am looking for answers to make things better or rather find a direction, to make the best when life gives you lemons.


texts: I am looking for a way to remotely teach a class

texts:
So I am a single individual and do not have access to any university schemes related to my issue.
I would like to be able to use my wacom device (an pen that allows me to write down on the computer) so that I am able to handwrite equations etc to my students.
I also need to be able to conference with more than one student, but typically less than five.
Last but not least while video conferencing I want to be able to handwrite (like in a blackboard) so that all the students will be able to see in real time what I am handwriting on the "blackboard"
If possible (but not necessary in case it excludes solutions you may have in mind) I would like that black board to be interactive so that students can draw on it as well.
Also since I am a single individual the software or service has either to be free or at a "consumer service" price I am not able to spent e.g 300$ a month for such a service.


texts: Publishing a work; not sure what should I do

texts:
I did a research project for a class. It was a simple idea but I checked literature and no one had applied that method  to that problem before. My method uses a bit of heuristic type stuff. If no one thought of it before is it because it is a bad method or should I publish? Having the name of my instructor is a problem; must it always be on a paper? What if I am instructed not to publish? My instructor is quite busy  and has no intention to deal with the issue and does not read projects so I can't really rely on him to judge.

I want to send it to a conference as the quality of it would not be very high. Should I wait until I have improved my skills for publishing in a respected conference or try to make it published at some other place, like 1st, 2nd 3rd IEEE on foobar of foos type conferences as a starter?


texts: How do I specify I do not want to perform a specific type of research on my CV?

texts:
A couple of years back I did some research at a company in a field (Computational chemistry) that I am no longer interested in pursuing (To be blunt: I discovered that I dislike computational chemistry, and lack a certain numerical intuition needed to interpret the results). As I have this and a number of computer science classes on my CV several jobs I have applied for have added computational chemistry to my duties, which leaves me in the unpleasant position of explaining that I'd rather not do that type of research. (See edit below for an explanation of the process)

I'd rather not take that experience off my CV, as it explains why my undergraduate degree is taking so long (I was working for a semester instead of taking classes), and my supervisor did offer me a good reference letter, since I was a good worker, despite the fact I didn't get great results. Also, to be frank, I'm an undergrad and would like to list it to stand out from the crowd a bit: Relevant work experience is much rarer then good marks.

Is there a way I can include that position on my CV, but specify that I'd rather not peruse that field of research? Perhaps as a footnote or a comment intside that description of the job that 'This is a field of research I am no longer interested in perusing'?

EDIT: An explanation of how applying for summer jobs tends to work in my experience:
I'm an undergraduate chemistry major applying to be a research assistant over the summer. The general process for this is you find a professor doing the type of research you want, and email them your coverletter and CV. If they like you then they either hire you, or apply for a grant to get funding to hire you. Formal or informal interviews can take place at any time during this process, depending on how the professor likes to operate. Formal job descriptions are usually only placed on the grant after the student applies, it isn't listed on the profs website beforehand. Therefore I've applied to several synthetic chemistry groups then been either told I'll be expected to do some modelling as part of my job, or asked if I would be willing to do such research: The second option isn't so bad, but the first is rather awarded to explain, doubly so if I'm not told of this until after the grant is already awarded.


texts: NSF mathematics postdoctoral fellowship: how to indicate U.S. citizenship status

texts:
I'm currently preparing to submit my NSF mathematics postdoctoral fellowship application, with deadline tomorrow on October 17. You must be a U.S. citizen (or permanent resident, etc.) to apply. There is a line on the application to indicate this:

  CITIZENSHIP (check one)
  __ US Citizen or National ___ Permanent Resident ___Foreign National(give country: )

In what I believe to be the relevant part of the application (the page Application Form), there is a field which reads:

  I. Citizenship status:      Do not wish to provide

without any way to modify this.

There is an advisory listed on the NSF Fastlane main page, dated Oct. 1, which reads:

  The Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships solicitation (NSF 16-558) requires proposers to indicate U.S. citizenship status; however, the ability to update this information is no longer functional. Proposals that are not compliant with solicitation requirements may be returned without review. Please email rgov@nsf.gov or contact the FastLane Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188.

This is rather cryptic. It seems to say that me not being able to update citizenship status on the application is in fact what everybody is experiencing. On the other hand, it also seems to indicate that nevertheless it is important to indicate U.S. citizenship status, and that my application may be rejected immediately without this information.

I'd naturally prefer not to have my application rejected for technicalities. Is anyone else going through the same issue right now? If so, what is the right way to address it? Is there a way to update citizenship status? Or is this matter inconsequential?


texts: Relationship between PhD applicant and recommender

texts:
I am applying for PhD programs and most of them ask for my relationship to my recommenders. Two of my recommenders are my undergrad thesis research advisors, so I just put "thesis research advisor" for those, but I am having trouble describing the last one.
The third recommender is the PI on a research project I worked on. I only met him a couple times though, and I didn't work directly for him; I worked with one of the grad students. Since the grad student knows me much better, she is helping the PI write my recommendation letter (we thought it would be best to have the PI submit the letter since grad programs usually prefer or require that letters come from professors).
How would I describe this relationship to the PI? Is "research advisor" still acceptable even though I didn't work with him?


texts: Plagiarism-checker to prevent self-plagiarism

texts:
I am working on my PhD thesis and have to write a monograph based on my publications. To prevent that I plagiarize myself, I came up with the idea to automatically check my thesis against my publications.

Is there already a tool for this work-flow?

  Input: PDf of thesis and a pile of PDFs;
  Output: annotated PDF of thesis.


texts: How should I display my MPhys degree on my CV?

texts:
I am creating my CV for PhD applications in astroparticle physics. In my education section I decided to include only my university education, so my MPhys Physics degree.

Should I split it in 2 sections where I state my first 3-year marks and then in a 4th year mark or just leave it as MPhys Physics and my total average till now?

Also should I include all my experiments (which involved several sessions of labs and a long report)?

Lastly, what would be the best option if I have no previous experience of a job?


texts: To what extent do grades matter when applying to graduate school in mathematics?

texts:
I understand that applying to competitive pure math PhD programs in mathematics in the US/UK definitely requires good grades (A or above) in most math courses - but I'm wondering how bad is it if I have one or two B's or C's? Are there other factors that can help me shadow my not-so-good grades while applying? (of course, only in 1 or 2 courses).
In particular, the course that didn't go so well for me this fall is a second course in Linear Algebra, and I ask this since I am a little worried about the situation.


texts: Conference issue >> Rejected paper is still in the database/submitted

texts:
Last year I submitted a paper in a local IEEE conference. The paper was rejected. This year I have a plan to submit the modified version of the paper in another conference. When I checked the file in Turnitin, I found that it is already been submitted in that conference by that university. The university put the file in their repository.

I emailed the organizing committee and they gave the following reply

  “Since, it was (university_name) who organized the ICCIT, and the original paper was checked through (university_name) account for ICCIT, that is why the matching shows (university_name) name there. It is standard practice that if one submitted a paper to any conference and it is checked in the TurnItIn, then it should be in the repository.
  You may inform the other conference (where you are submitting) that this paper was once submitted to ICCIT at (university_name) and it was rejected. You may send them the rejection notification of ICCIT as the proof.”

This means I always need to inform the conference committee with a separate email that I submitted the paper previously and this paper was rejected. And Turnitin will always give me reply that it is a plagiarized work.
Please share your opinion and suggest me what can I do.


texts:
During a statistical analysis of a study, I found an interesting relationship between two variables that was not part of the original hypothesis. It is, however, clinically interesting and I want to report it in the study.

I've never seen a medical study in which authors admitted to data dredging although I do know it's prevalent. I'm confident enough in my study and methods that I'm willing to admit to it.

What would be the best way to do so in a manuscript? Would I include all the information of the dredged variable such as p-values and confidence intervals, but put a note that this hypothesis is based on the data?


texts: Are master's degrees in the US mostly meant to prepare you for a Ph.D?

texts:
I am a Canadian undergraduate student intending to get a master's degree, but not intending to get a Ph.D.

A Canadian graduate student told me that master's degree in the US are really only designed for people desiring to get a Ph.D.

Is there any truth to this statement? Do masters degrees in the US put significantly more emphasis on preparation for a Ph.D than in other countries?


texts:
I'm currently writing up my Masters Dissertation and in one of my sections I have translated an article that was written in German. To the best of my knowledge no current translation of this specific article exists.

My question is this; what is the best way to add commentary/remarks to what has been translated without disrupting the flow of the translation?

For example

foo bar foo bar foo bar and is given by
<insert equation here>
where ......

I'd like to add a comment along the lines of

foo bar foo bar foo bar and is given by
<insert equation here>
{comment on how he managed to derive said equation because it's not obvious}
where ......

Initially I thought that perhaps it's better to comment on them in the footnote as suggested here. However, it means some footnotes are going to be half a page and ruin the flow of the translation.

Any ideas or feedback is greatly appreciated

Regards

Kendall


texts:
I am currently in the process of applying for PhDs. My question is whether it is frowned upon to have done a degree in a subject completely unrelated to my main studies. I just completed two masters at top universities concurrently, one in biology and the other in English literature. I did the literature degree to please my parents, my real passion is in biology. I steered my English degree somewhat towards the biology by writing my dissertation on the representation of tropical diseases in literature. I am wondering whether I should list this degree on my CV or just leave it off? I thought that it might prove how hard-working I am to do two masters concurrently. I also scored the highest mark out of my class in my biology master, so the other master did not affect my primary  master.

Any advice would be appreciated.


texts: How can I express my motivation to join a Masters program if I have no experience in the area?

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I am planning to apply to a specific master program in Finance. I do not have any experience in Finance and have never worked in any project related to Finance. But I am very interested to study it because I want to enlarge my research area (which is in signal processing) and have more job opportunities in the future. I really believe that I can excel in the program if I study it.

Can you please help me in writing two or three sentences that can motivate my interest to a program although that I have no work experience on it? I am trying to write a cover letter and I need your help.


texts: How long before PhD graduation should I start applying for post-doc positions?

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My earliest PhD graduation date is 10 months away. Funding permits me to stay 1–3 months longer, so the final date is still uncertain.

It is never too early to make contacts for possible post-docs. But how long in advance is too early to formally apply to post-doc job openings or funding opportunities? Depending on the bureaucracy, the path from applying to starting can probably be anything from a week up to a year — someone I know is applying with ESA which had the opening advertised in August, application deadline in October, will have interviews in December/January, and the commencement of work only in September, 13 months after the initial job advertisement. My personal guess is that the long time between interviews and starting is to create a level playing field between those who do and those who don't need to go through a visa application procedure.

If I'm too early in applying for a post-doc, a hosting institution might prefer someone who can start earlier and where the graduation date is more certain. For example, in my case the graduation date is still uncertain, so there is a risk in accepting even if they are willing to wait. Project funding might also require the money to be spent rather soon.

If I wait too long, there might be a considerable period where I'm between jobs. Having a long (>6 months) period between jobs is a disadvantage for me. Maybe it's also a disadvantage for a hosting institution (I'm not sure).

How do I find the balance? For example, considering the duration of funding and visa applications, does it make sense to apply e.g. 8 months in advance? Or is it in any case virtually inevitable to have at least several months before my PhD graduation and the start of a post-doc?


texts: Recommendations for maths courses choice to study AI

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I study computer science at the Charles University. The undergraduate study (baccalaureate) in "general computer science" programme provides several focus areas, which are followed by corresponding programmes in the graduate study (master). I chose to go for mathematical linguistics in the undergraduate and artificial intelligence (Probably with machine learning focus, but I'm not sure yet.) in the graduate study.

My problem is: There are some mandatory maths courses and some optional. Some of the optional ones are recommended, but not for specific focus areas. So I wanted to ask for some advice on which areas of mathematics are recommended for this area.

Most courses are split into multiple semesters and completing only the first few is usually mandatory, continuation of the other ones is optional. So far (first year of undergraduate), I have completed these mandatory courses:

Mathematical analysis I, II
Discrete mathematics (Continues as Combinatorics and Graphs.)
Combinatorics and Graphs I
Linear algebra I, II (No more courses available, only applications in computer graphics etc.)

Mandatory courses for next years:

Probability and Statistics
Propositional & Predicate logic
Algebra I

List of some available optional courses:

Mathematical analysis III
Combinatorics and Graphs II
Set theory
Numerical mathematics
Algebra II


texts: What value does one derive by doing research as an undergrad vs spending that time in coursework/projects

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For background, I'm currently enrolled in the honors college for both my majors (CS and Econ) in my university. Honors for each major means that I have to take 1-2 courses per major where the only focus is research.
While my "main" major is CS (the one I spend the most time on, will use for jobs later), I'm not sure I want to do honors there. I could be taking grad courses that go deeper into topics that interest me and can do research on the side (ie as part of a prof's group) without those credits.
For Econ, I'm more concerned. I've heard it's more important for an Econ student to do honors and it would be much more difficult for me to do research without the designated courses. However, I don't plan on going to grad school for Econ as of right now (I'm thinking about doing an MBA/masters in CS if it helps). Furthermore, basically every place I apply to doesn't care whether I've done honors or not.
I joined for the learning and experiencing research in undergrad, but it seems difficult to justify when the same time/credit hours can be spent doing something else that would be more applicable to jobs (ex. taking a grad lvl deep learning course).
How would I go about evaluating whether the honors is worth it in either major? What value does one derive by doing research as an undergrad?


texts: Good thinker, bad problem solver in graduate school?

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I was curious, what is academia's perspective on the following type of student, assuming that the student is well qualified via research experience, letters of recommendation, grades, GRE, passion, and other things CV related:

The student is very, very good at asking innovative questions and proposing difficult questions that others have not thought about, that is they can see the current landscape of their field and understand it really well. However, innately, they are not a good problem SOLVER. They can pretty much do a minute portion of problem solving in research, but it's something akin to hinting (ambiguous solutions that need a third party to think hard about implementation). They can solve solve problems as per their curricula (and thus get a high GPA), but not unsolved problems in academia. Moreover, it helps that they are a brilliant communicator and writer.

The reason why I ask is because I have a friend who fits the description above. That friend is heavily, heavily revered by his PI who absolutely loves him. One of the primary reasons is because my friend's questions have been the basis for many grants (which he also writes with the consultation of my professor), resulting in a large influx of funding for my professor. The professor, as a thinker, would be qualitatively put as "above average", and is a hybrid between a thinker and a doer. Everyone else in the lab is a lab technician, and there are a couple of postdocs. What's interesting is that the lab has really good chemistry. My friend comes up with an idea, runs it by the PI. The PI, who has insight checks it off or guns the idea down depending on the context. The PI also proposes solutions. Next, the technicians and postdocs who are highly skilled in procedure and are the tangible hands that make the results happen in real life as per the instructions of the PI. The PI admits that they don't have the innate vision to ask these questions, but given the questions can crank out a solution with the lab technicians. It's a little scary to think that for the past 2 years, an undergraduate has been the mind behind pretty much all of the sub-experiments and directions of my institution's top labs by funding and results. The PI has received tenure as a result. What's interesting is, by speculation, no one can survive without the other. Well, the PI could technically survive, but would be reduced to doing his previous projects. However, without an army of skilled labor and a PI as an intermediary, my friend cannot get anything done. My friend wants to move to a different institution for pedigree as he receives an advanced degree. My friend is an abysmal doer, and cannot learn at an appreciable rate.

By abysmal doer, I mean (by his own admission), sometimes clumsy with the hands, sometimes randomly lacks motivation, and when focused, is "slow" in picking up a step by step procedure. For example, we took an upper level chemistry course together for a science elective. He can easily explain PCR on paper and orally, with much deeper insight and implications than a textbook, so you know he's not memorizing. But come in the lab, he looks totally clueless and out of place, looks at the reagents like they're foreign substances.

Outside of being a theoretician (for example a theoretical physicist, something my friend ironically does not want to pursue), can my friend survive in graduate school?


texts: What do teaching faculty do during semester breaks?

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I'm specifically asking about full-time teaching staff (unlike part-time teaching staff such as professors, who as I understand it can just spend more time on research during semester breaks).

I understand US universities pay their professors only 9 months a year, which effectively means they're free to do whatever they want in the remaining 3 months. Does this apply to lecturers too? If so, since professors acquire funding so they can continue to draw a salary during these 3 months, do lecturers also have funding targets? In that case, are they even full-time teaching staff (since they also have to do research to actually acquire funding)?

What about non-US universities where staff are paid for the entire year?

From what I know about high school, there are some duties that teachers must do during the semester breaks (such as grade exam papers & discuss what to teach next year), but they are few. Once these duties are done then teachers have no duties - they don't have to show up to school - so they usually take the chance to go on holiday. However, at least in the high school I studied in, these periods are short - there's a maximum of 2 months of teaching downtime in the academic year (this neglects the afore-mentioned time taken to grade exam papers etc), which is well below the downtime at university. Surely lecturers don't just go on holiday for 3 months (they must run out of annual leave)? But if they don't go on holiday, what do they do?


texts: Minor Revision with suggestion of an alternative proof by reviewer

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I submitted a paper to a mathematical journal, and recently received a Minor Revision decision from the Editor. One of the reviewers suggested an alternative and much simpler proof to my main theorem. The suggested proof greatly shortens my paper. Now, I am in a dilemma.

1) Should I retain my original proof, which I must admit in hindsight, was overly complicated? And then simply acknowledge the reviewer...

2) Should I write down the shorter and simpler proof suggested by the reviewer, and explicitly mention in the acknowledgemnts that I have used one of the reviewers' proofs?

The reason I ask is that I am worried whether going with Option 2 reduces the value/contributions of my paper (the revised one is not my proof after all!), although the Theorem and its implications stand nonetheless. Do I have a better chance of acceptance with Option 1? Is not seeing a simpler proof a ground for rejection of the paper? Any suggestions are welcome (since its a minor revision, it's due in a couple of weeks)!!


texts:
I am 30 and work for an IT company in Germany as a software developer.

I did B.Sc. in Mathematics (pure) and M.Sc. in Computer Science. Since then I've occasionally spent time with solving math problems or learning new topics.

I've long been dreaming of doing a PhD in Mathematics and I'm especially interested in the Analysis.

If I had financial freedom I would've started a full-time PhD right now but it's not possible, since I'm financially responsible for my own family and for my parents.

At my current job I have a 6-hour schedule, which means that I'd have about 3 hours in the morning and about 2-3 hours in the evening to work on my dissertation. On the weekends I'd be able to give another 10 hours combined. So this makes about ~35 hours per week that I can carve out.

In Germany there is a public (and the largest) University of Hagen, which offers onsite and remote education. It specifically focuses on people, who might not have the possibility to be onsite. It is about 2h of driving from me, so I'd be able to go there from time to time.

Has anyone had experience with that University and what you think of the feasibility of my plan? I understand that it'd be impossible to finish the studies in a regular time of 3 years. I'm talking more of 5-6 years of work.

Almost forgot to mention. I'm also willing to spend about 3 hours / day while in vacation or on holidays with no exceptions.

Another thing that I thought of is going with the dissertation while saving some money in that time and then taking a leave of absence at work for about 1 year while surviving on that money (maybe even combining it with a scholarship if that is possible).

So if it goes well, I'd definitely accelerate in the end by switching to full-time for 1 year and finalizing the work.


texts: Is it acceptable to refer to theories to support an argument?

texts:
In my field, education, there are many named theories, for e.g., the “Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model”, which educators often talk about and debate.

While writing various graduate papers, my professors have often asked me to cite various named theories to support my arguments. Can theories generally be used to support arguments? Are theories more than just names for ideas? Can any person coin a new theory, or is there some process by which a theory gains recognition and support before it is deemed a “theory”? Can I really cite theories to add support to my papers?


texts: submitting two papers (the second depends on the first) simultaneously to the same journal?

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I have two studies that are related to each other (The second paper depends on the first one, but it is another study.) I want to submit them simultaneously to the same journal.

Is this acceptable? should I notify the editor in the cover letter that I have 2 papers?


texts: Should I mention the name of a professor on my resume if I'm not getting a recommendation letter from him?

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I did research with a professor for one year, however I will probably not ask him for a recommendation letter. This is for PhD admissions.

I've put the research experience on my resume, and it feels right to include his name, because that's how I've seen it always done for undergraduate research experiences. Will it look weird to have his name on my CV but not have a recommendation letter from him?


texts: How should a student address a professor in a letter of recommendation?

texts:
I am a graduate student in Computer Science, and I recently received an email from my department requesting that I write a letter of recommendation for a professor who is being considered for a promotion. The letter requests that I address the professor's teaching abilities, as well as my experiences in regards to conducting research with the professor. It is also likely that the professor specifically listed me as a person to write a letter of recommendation.

I have a very positive relationship with this professor, and plan on writing an absolutely stellar letter on his/her behalf. However, I am unsure of how to address the professor in the letter.

This professor strongly prefers that students address him/her by his/her first name. This is part of what makes this professor so great: s/he is able to come down to a student's level, and is excellent at communicating complex topics because of it. With that in mind, I would prefer to use his/her first name in my letter as I think it communicates part of the "charm" that I want to convey in regards to his/her teaching ability. On the other hand, I don't want to come across as disrespectful to the committee who will be reading my letter, nor do I want the committee to take my letter less seriously.

My question is: can and should I address the professor by his/her first name when writing this letter of recommendation, or should I address him/her as "Professor Xyz"? It may be worth noting that most professors in my department choose to be addressed by students on a first name basis, though in their request for a letter, the professor was referred to by their proper title (Professor Xyz).


texts:
I am a young student. However, I do have a lot of curiosity and am very hard-working and will try my best to work with others and try my best to learn new things.

I have been reading Security Papers on Arxiv a lot (I am also confident with my knowledge) and conducting my own tests on security systems. I have got far with it and feel I am able to understand most of the papers in a certain field in security programming very clearly. I have also tested my skills across the field by helping out in certain forums and I feel I am worthy enough to start learning research techniques from professors or even help out trivially in research.

I am very interested in the field. I would just LOVE to research in it.
How can I get a mentor?


texts: How to acknowledge ideas/clue/discussions on StackExchange?

texts: Sometimes a thread on StackExchange could help your research. A technical problem, an inspiring discussion or even an idea. How can I acknowledge this kind of contribution? (considering that many users on SE do not use real name and it is very difficult to reach them privately) Has anyone done that?


texts: How can I remove myself from a project I'm unable to complete?

texts:
I'm in my first lab and while working on my main project the opportunity came up to help another senior researcher with theirs. It seemed like simple tasks at first, but I'm now convinced that this will take way too long to figure out and it is taking significant time away from my main project. How do I proceed?

TL;DR: Bit off more than I can chew, how do I amicably inform my supervisors without seeming too incompetent?


texts: Postdoc application: Should I mention who I'd like to work with?

texts:
Some postdoc applications specifically mention who the principal investigator. However, other positions don't have a PI; the postdoc is being hired to join the research group in general and, while there's an expectation the candidate will collaborate with group members, there's nobody who is going to be the "boss." Typically these positions just say "the candidate will join the research group X of Professors A, B and C, working on topics such as..."
When applying to this second type of position, should I mention in my cover letter which professor(s) I'd like to work the most with? Something like "I am particularly keen to collaborate with Prof. B, as we share interests in..."
On one hand, doing this shows I'm personalizing the application to the position and that I put some effort thinking whether I'm suitable for it. On the other, it could be seen as being inflexible ("I want to work with Prof. B and nobody else!") and naming names might be perceived as tacky.


texts: Assistant professor position in USA (9 months). Is it badly seen to spend the summer to work at distance in my home country?

texts:
I will start soon an Assistant professor position in USA in Engineering. During the first 2 years the summer is paid. From the third I hope to get funded with grants. Is it badly seen if I spend the summer to work at distance in my home country?

EDIT: I will have 2 PhD students in the start-up, mine will be a computing lab so 99% percent of things and supervising can be done remotely.


texts: Presentation of Research Hypotheses (APA 6th)

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How is the research hypotheses presented in a qualitative research?

For example, the statement of the problem is stated this way:

The study generally aims to -----. Specifically, it seeks to find answers to the following questions:

Now, I'm wondering how a research hypotheses should be presented


texts: Etiquette for seeking collaboration via E-Mail?

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I work on a certain topic on the theoretical side and just came across a publication that I think would be a nice starting point for collaboration with an experimental lab (developmental biology).

I am a second-year student in Europe and my supervisor does not know anyone in the other lab. The question title mentions e-mail specifically as I don't expect to run into these people at conferences or any other occasion.

What are common rules and guidelines you follow when contacting someone for the first time about stuff that they work on and you feel excited about?

How do some of you that are contacted by people like me react to their attempts? And what are aspects to these requests that trigger interest on your part?


texts: How can a I check plagiarism free of cost before submitting my research paper?

texts:
My graduate school doesn't offer TurnIt facility.
All tools available online charge money.
How can a I check plagiarism free of cost before submitting my research paper ?


texts:
I would like to pursue a PhD in CS (in Europe). I have ended my master's degree like two years ago (also in Europe) and I have 4 publications in the area. Actually I am working in the industry so I have left the academic world. The question that I have is how to address a potential supervisor (which in most cases I have not known in person):

Should I sent him/her my CV straightforward and ask for possible open research topics in which he/she needs PhD students?
Should I ask him/her some assignment or task to prove that I have the enough background to fit into his research group?

I am actually very worried about how to manage this situation, it is not so easy in this time to get PhD positions in some countries.

Any advice?


texts: "With editor" status for 2 months: is it normal?

texts:
I'm a bit worried because one of my papers have been more than 2 months "with editor" status. It's a science journal (field: drug residue, food), from a famous editorial and impact factor 3.3. I'm used to 48h desk reject and I was wondering about the options of being so long with this status 1) very busy editor 2) my paper was forgotten 3) there is a mistake on the website

Oh, normally we have the option to send an e-mail to the assigned editor, but in this case there is only "view your submission".

Edit:

At the end it took 2 months but... We are under review!


texts: Should I invest more time on old problems or new problems?

texts:
I am PhD works in theory of computational maths. I am currently after my mid stage. I have written and submitted two papers ( one paper per year) and currently working on one and these days I am full of ideas, but the problem is to publish a high quality research. Please note that I don't work in a team due lack of people which I am the only who is working most of the time. Here are few questions

If the submitted paper gets rejected, should I work on them more or should just publish them in some low tier journal? Now I am more mature to picking new research problem which seems to me more significant then previous one, so to me it appears that I should invest more time in new problems
If I publish ( low tier) the submitted paper with one more than I can claim my PhD, but that work seems to me less significant. So I will get my PhD early but less quality research. I am not even sure with a longer PhD I will be surely able to publish in top conferences.

The one more problem is I have now problems as well as ideas but energy is low and also workforce is not there. What to do?


texts: Plural or singular in CV section titles?

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In a CV for graduate school application, should one use plural or singular for the section titles? My main confusions are at

Research Experience or Research Experiences
Publication or Publications (more than one paper listed)
Education or Educations (two universities listed)
Honor & Award or Honors & Awards (more than one award listed)


texts:
Some US universities ban first-year graduate students from working outside TA/RA.

How can US universities check whether graduate students work outside TA/RA?


texts: My supervisor is going to leave to work at another university before I finish my thesis. I'm not sure how this process works. Will this cause problems with me graduating?


texts: I hate taking lectures, can I still survive in academia?

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I'm 3rd Physics & Mathematics student and I almost hate both taking and attending lectures; it is not because of the content, but rather the way how it is done; I don't like sitting in uncomfortable in a crowded room for 50 min. unstopped.

To explain what I mean, let me describe an "ideal" learning environment for me, which was what I had during this last winter break - it was like a paradise.

I was studying Quantum Mechanics from the video recordings of a graduate course taught by one of my professors and I was watching them in my home with my pyjamas. While watching the lectures, if I didn't understand something, I would stop and think on about it, make some research, check out the book that I was using etc. and (after all those tries) if I still couldn't find it, I would take notes and think on it for days while I was still making progress through the course material. With this way, in a single day, I was watching almost 4 hours of lectures and taking detailed notes of those lectures (which were actually taking much more time than watching the lectures). That experience was like a paradise for me; I was progressing at my own pace, taking breaks whenever I feel I need it. There was no worry of any grade; I was doing this in a "holiday" just because I wanted to learn quantum mechanics, not because I needed to pass an exam.

But if I were to learn QM by taking a course from the university, most of the time, I would be forced to take the course from a single professor with a curriculum s/he prepared - not I chose - and most probably I wouldn't like his/her teaching (let's say I am a bit picky). Moreover, even though I would be the active student in the class, at some point during the lecture I stop thinking on what is being taught and that would make me sleepy. Also, I would have to take good grades from that course, so there would also be the grade-anxiety. And the list goes on and on, but you get the point.

Now, considering the fact that even most of Phd/Master's programs have some course loads, and even as a professor one needs to give lectures, can I, being such a person, survive in academia? or should I just look for other alternative career options?

I mean I love Science, but just don't like some of "formal" practices, such described above.

Just a side note: I actually like teaching things, but not giving lectures to a whole lot of people; I mean I have a friend who asks me lots of questions, and I love answering & discussing those with, but giving lectures is totally a different experience, which I despise.

Edit: There is no requirement that forces me to attend the lectures, but when I take lectures, I have to "learn" the notation / the content of the materials the instructor is teaching. In terms of what I want to learn and when I want to learn, just not attending the lectures does not solve the problem.


texts:
I have searched the literature and I'm now have all the papers I need.

I'm reading the papers at the moment in order to write a lit review. I would like to know some strategies to read them, should I read them from first page to last page? or should I read specific sections only?


texts: Is success due to hard work sustainable in academic research?

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I am a physics master's student hoping to pursue physics research by doing PhD, post-doc, etc., following the standard path. To put it straight, how far can sheer hard work take one in academia until it becomes impractical and affects one's personal life?(in terms of research quality and quantity)

To anyone who is interested to know why I ask this, please read further:

Since high school, I have been working super hard to succeed and have managed to reach my goals and actually do things which I didn't think was possible(personally) a few years back. I am in one of the best places in my country to study physics, have (what I consider) good grades and some great research experience through which I  even got to travel to different country. However, this has been mainly due to my hard work and my professors/guides  looking at my hard work doing favors by giving great recommendations, calling up other professors for me to work with etc. I have almost consistently put in at-least 10hours per day(including weekends) since my high school and there is literally no way I would achieve any of this without putting in this much time.

Until a few years back I thought this is the way but now I starting to reconsider. I am starting to believe this is impractical in the long run in research where I put in over 12hours of hard work with moderate intelligence. I have seen some of my classmates who are obscenely smart and the only way I can even come close to their level(in terms of grades) is by sitting in library the whole day. I do not know how far this hard work can take me and even if I it does is it practical. But if I stop putting this much work my grades will definitely go down and I would be letting down my professors. But to do well I feel like I have to put more effort the more I go forward.


texts: Why do so many publication venues have their own citation styles?

texts:
I have noticed that it seems like every other conference has it's own citation style; even in the same field, or subfield.
Or at least each provide their own bibtex style (.BST) file.

Are they actually different styles?
Is there a historical reason for this?
Is there a ongoing practical reason for it today?

(I am in Computer Science. I am not sure if this is field dependent)


texts: Is it common for professors in France/Europe to accept students for PhD positions but ask them to arrange their own funding?

texts:
I completed master's of mathematics in Asia in June 2020. I had written to some professors for PhD positions in number theory in December 2019 . One of the professors in France said yes to me but he said that I should look for other sources of funding as his university didn't have PhD funding at that time. So, I began to look for some funding options but I missed applying for a funding opportunity that is open to anyone whose university would be in that region of France. (I came across on it on web at a date after last date).
Then there was a scholarship application from my country and I began applying for it in mid-March of 2020 but for that a confirmation letter from my prospective guide was required that I was selected for the PhD program. When asked for the letter, the professor didn't reply to my emails, but I can understand that happening due to COVID.
So, then I thought that I would apply to Europe again in December and began studying more topics to improve my knowledge and didn't contacted that professor.
My questions:

Is it common in French universities that a professor says yes for PhD but tells the student to look for funding opportunities by himself?

Is it common in European universities that a professor says yes for PhD but tells the student to look for funding opportunities by himself?

Please guide!


texts: Ethics of the mention of Nazi weaponry for a computational physics task

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A colleague of mine and me are organizing a 3-day preparation course for undergrad students to prepare them for their upcoming lecture about computational physics (the course in about 1.5 months).
This course takes place at a German university.

The third day of this course will involve a "do-it-yourself-day" where the students can choose between different projects to do.
We are in the process of creating these projects.
Usually, we are creating them independently of each other and uploading them to our course-site and inform each other we added a new project. Sometimes we'll also talk about them to discuss specific tasks etc.

So I made a project to calculate the trajectory of an artillery from the WWII.
It's perfect for an academic task because it has a high velocity and goes high into the atmosphere so the students must do the calculation with air friction and height effects like decreasing temperature and pressure.
I almost completed this project to be ready to be uploaded but my colleague has moral concerns since its a weapon and was used by the Nazis.

I don't have that many concerns since its a purely academic approach to this and it's not like we are calculating how much damage it can do. Also, the approaches used to solve this task are not so unlike the approach to get a space shuttle again safe to Earth (which is much more complicated though since I didn't choose it) for example.

Q: Are his concerns justified and should I abandon this project?

(I'd also be glad to new proposals, it should be fast and go high to use friction and height effect.)


texts: How to track the papers that cited one specific paper

texts:
Problem

In order to understand a paper better, someone suggested reading the commentary of a paper X first before actually reading the original paper. However, this seems to be a nontrivial task since there is no easy way to forward-track papers that cite one specific paper (i.e. paper X) while backward-tracking is straightforward.

More generally, is there tool/service that could build citation graph of a pool of papers, which might be one way to do both forward and backward tracking.


texts: Does a senior area editor supervise a country or a region?

texts: What area is being referred to in the title senior area editor? Is it a country or a region that may include more than one country?


texts: How many levels of sub-citations are appropriate?

texts:
I'm writing my Thesis and I found a brilliant book that helps me write it in a coherent manner. Consider this:

The author, Smith,  talks about Approach XYZ and writes:

  XYZ is about ..., first used by [1], that has more or less four common
  themes, theme A [2], theme B [3], theme C [4] and theme D [5].

So in my Thesis i say.

  We will align with XYZ. As explained by Smith [0] (For whom we
  assign the reference [0] for the purpose of this question), there
  are four themes, and they are relevant to our study because bla bla
  bla. [2][3][4][5].

So my question is this.

Do I need to cite everyone? Or would citing Smith, who in turn cited everyone be sufficient?

Or is there no clear cut line? Perhaps I only need to cite those themes where I go beyond what Smith writes in his book or how they are affecting me directly?


texts: Assignment extensions for no apparent reasons (USA)

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I recently started teaching activities in an American institution.

I have had a couple of students asking for extensions for problem sets / project deadlines for medical or family reasons, which is obviously acceptable. More unexpectedly, other students asked for extensions because they also had problem sets, quizzes and projects due for other classes during the same period (end of semester). Note that there is a buffer period between classes and exams, so we are not talking about conflicts with finals here.

I studied in a different country, in a notoriously work-intensive institution, so the idea that having homework for class X would somehow be an excuse to turn in homework late for class Y simply never occurred to me. I feel that no class should have priority over other classes - if it was the case, differences in credits would reflect that (my class is not a "small one" with little credit). Yes, sometimes students have a lot of work - but is it not part of real life too? On the other hand, the fact that students made these requests so openly makes me think that it might be normal here in the US, and I wouldn't want to be more strict than the local standards.

Is there any kind of norm regarding what is considered as an acceptable reason to ask for an extension?


texts: Mention engagement for mentally disordered people in application?

texts:
Im not sure if I am right on academia so please forward this topic to another page if necessary.

A friend of mine is writing her application for a job in research, e.g. studies about medications, diseases etc. Though she has lots of experience and a very good degree (diploma + master thesis) in public health it is not easy for her to find a job.

To increase her chance for an interview she thought about to mention her high engagement for mentally disordered people. She founded a self-help group at the university which is well established and has several dozen members. She does it almost by herself in her leisure time after university and sideline. She herself is not handicapped but has therapies running, but nothing which speaks against working regularly. On the one hand she could point out that she has a high level of soft skills and does a lot work voluntarily. But the problem then is how would an employer react about these facts? Wouldn't he think she has problems herself and therefore isn't a suitable candidate?

I think it isn't good either to mention only vague information about this. What should she do?


texts: Why is there a need for design science in a computer science department?

texts: Recently, "design science" has become a popular term in my university department, which is a department of computer science. For example, many current PhD students write in their theses that they are adopting a design science paradigm, typically referring to Herbert Simon's "The Sciences of the Artificial (1970), and Peffers et al. "A Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems Research" (2007), among others. Why is there a need for using the term "design science" in a computer science department? Isn't computer science in itself enough? Is this a trend among other computer science departments, or is it confined to my own department only?


texts: Is it ethical for students to consume Adderall during university courses, if they don't have ADHD?

texts:
Assume a student in the United States who has access to Adderall despite not suffering from ADHD. Would it be ethical for them to take the drug during their studies?

Assume that the school is within the United States. When answering only the academic side of things should be taken into account – I am fully aware that taking a drug without a proper prescription is illegal.


texts: How do we properly include and cite a set of equations from another paper?

texts:
When writing a paper which applies some known method to a new problem, for completeness we may need to summarize that method, probably as a section on its own.

In the paper where it was first proposed, the method was described in a set of equations. In my case, I need to include some of these equations, because I need to refer to them in the subsequent part of my paper.

Currently I write something like the following:

  We apply the X method [citation], which we shall summarize below, to describe ...

and then comes the equations, interspersed with some texts, which are paraphrased from the originals.

How do we give the proper attribution to the paper in which the method was first described, without giving the impression that some of the equations are our own? Is the above sufficient? Including [citation] before every equation seems awkward, since all of these equations are from a single paper.


texts: How can I get the key to my professor's lab?

texts:
I am a undergraduate student working with an awesome lab director from whom I've learnt a LOT. He is a very knowledgeable and energetic person, and is generally available for help. The lab atmosphere is full of helpful grad and PhD students.

Even though I have been working for over three years with him, he is unwilling to give me the key. Says that I should contact the other senior lab members, and ask for them to open the door.

An issue that came up today that made me vent off some steam on the Academia StackExchange. Instead of going home, I stayed after my morning class so that I could go to the lab and get some research done. However, no one was in the lab. I called my lab mates, but they either had work, had their key taken from them, wasn't answering, had gone on a trip... You get the idea. I ended up investigating the lab equipment of an adjacent lab.

This isn't the first time either. One time I had arranged with two people to come the next day: neither came nor informed me. This is especially inconvenient when the lab is on a remote section of the campus.

I have explained the situation to him, more than one. Once, he said that he would give me the key, but only if I came to the lab more often. I explained that as a human I do get tired and need rest: as much as I love research, I don't want burnout either. I'll add that several times I wanted to go to university, but since no one answered the phone, I headed off to another university to study. In the evening, I was able to contact him, but he called me lazy and only doing stuff that wanted.

How can I approach my professor about this? And more importantly, what is it that I am doing wrong? I don't need the key per se, but I do want to perform research. And for that, the lab needs to be open. While the lab mates are helpful, I do understand that they have a life. I cannot force them to come at 7 in the morning only to open the door for me, can I?

I'll add that my work has led to two conference proceedings and both me and my professor are optimistic that it will lead to a high-impact article. This wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for my professor's help and guidance.


texts: Should I use a pen name or pseudonym on my papers as a form of semi-anonymity?

texts:
This question is very nearly a duplicate to "Taking an academic pseudonym?", however, my name is already sufficiently unique, and I am wondering if it makes sense to use a pseudonym even if I don't need to? (Perhaps this is too subjective for stackexchange...)

I have a (potentially unfounded and/or irrational) fear of publishing on my official name, which is also the name I use in social situations. This is partly since I am at-present "un-Google-able" and I'd very much like to stay that way. I'm thinking about this a lot now since I am soon going to publish my first paper, and I know that it's important to have a consistent academic identity.

Suppose my full name is "Sheldon Lee Cooper", and I normally go by "Sheldon Cooper". I've been thinking I could publish under "Lee Cooper", and then Googling "Sheldon Cooper" would still return no results. I'd use "Lee Cooper" on my academic webpage too, and I would ask to submit my PhD under this name also.

Alternatively I could publish under "Sheldon Lee". (As in this answer.)

This is like Tony Hoare, who's full name is Charles Antony Richard Hoare. Note that Googling "Charles Hoare" gives very different search results.

My academic research is focused on a niche area of (pure) mathematics, so am I being irrational in wanting to remain somewhat anonymous on the internet? Should I acknowledge that publishing niche mathematics is unlikely to harm my reputation and just publish under my legal name as-is? Or does it makes sense to publish under my middle and last name, or even an entirely unique pseudonym? What are the advantages and disadvantages either way?

Some related questions I've seen on academia.stackexchange include:

Pen name similar with real name: Zu Yangzu instead of Zu Yang for papers
This is about having a unique name. My name is sufficiently unique in either variation.

Is it possible to be known in academia by a different name?
Short answer: Yes.

If I publish under a pseudonym, can I still take credit for my work?
Short answer: Probably yes, though not fully anonymous in that case. This will become your academic identity.

Separating academic identity from social identity
My scenario differers in that I currently have no Google results, and if I publish under my own name then that will become my Google results. If I take up publishing erotic novels then I am in a position to do that under a pen name that doesn't conflict. So I don't already have a different identity conflicting, as the author of this question does.

Choosing my name as an author when publishing a scientific paper, can I use my “unofficial” first name?

What are reasonable alternatives to changing your name for academic publishing when you have a common surname?

Taking an academic pseudonym?
This is very similar to my question, the key difference being that the author has the motivation of avoiding confusion with other people who have a similar name. My only motivation is fear of being Googled easily (in a non-academic context). Is that fear irrational?


texts: Can a UK research council-funded PhD change direction to fall outside the scope of the RC?

texts:
I am in my first year of a four year PhD programme in the UK. It's through an interdisciplinary doctoral training centre (DTC), and is funded by the EPSRC (who funds a certain number of places at the DTC, who then accepted my application and so granted me the funding). So the funding is administered by my university, but it comes from EPSRC and I am still bound by their funding rules.

This year I am undertaking a number of relatively short research projects, and in September I will submit a project proposal for the remaining three years. It has been stressed many times by my programme directors that the main project must fall within EPSRC's remit, and that the proposal will likely be checked by the EPSRC. For my short projects I have been careful to satisfy this requirement and have made direct reference to EPSRC guidelines in my proposals to ensure that I stay within the remit.

My question is this: suppose I submit a project proposal which gets approved by the EPSRC and I start the project sincerely intending to follow through on my proposal. But over the course of the project various unforeseen issues and distractions the project changes, and moves into an area not covered by my funding research council. Will this cause me problems down the line? Or once I've cleared the hurdle of the project proposal, will I be in the clear, funding-wise?


texts: What are the most important criteria to consider when hiring postdocs for a research group?

texts:
One of the most important challenges that academics will face is group management. Although this takes many forms for graduate students, undergraduate assistants, and so on, I believe postdocs are a fairly "universal"—a professor hires a postdoc specifically for his group.

However, it's not necessarily clear what qualities to look for in a postdoc.

Does it make a difference if it's your group's first or second postdoc, versus the n'th postdoc?
How much weight should one give to letters of recommendation?
How do you analyze a publication record, especially when towards the end of the PhD, many papers are often still unpublished and therefore "embargoed?"
Are there any criteria that applies specifically to postdocs that might not be considered in, say, hiring for industry or business?


texts: What is a 'yield rate'? Do graduate department seats go unfilled?

texts:
This link states that the university has a yield rate (acceptance rate) of 40%. Does that mean 60% of seats are not filled at the end of cycle?

Or does it mean university makes more offers than seats present and 40% corresponds to seats the university has?


texts: Statement of Purpose-How specific it should be?

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I have a doubt regarding the Statement of Purpose for grad school.

Toward the end of the essay, should I specify the list of professors who I am interested to work with? For example:

"...Since research in this field is very active in Dr. A's, Dr. B’s, Dr. C’s groups at XXX University, I would like to apply to your program..."

My concern is: though doing so may indicate that I have read about the professors and their works (which is a plus I suppose), it is risky at the same time. What if Dr.[A-C] are not able to accept more people to their labs? Will the admission committee automatically disqualify my application in this case?

Hence, I would love to hear more advices from you of how to play it safe: whether such specifications are needed, and how to phrase them properly.

Thanks!


texts: Should I reject a specific historic fact and not include it in my work? Advice needed on reliability of source

texts:
I'm working on a chemistry paper about the Belousov-Zhabotinsky-reaction (a chemical oscillator).

I included some information about the history of that oscillation reaction, in particular about Boris Pavlovich Belousov and Anatol Markovich Zhabotinskii.

Boris Belousov was the first to discover the Belousov-Zhabotinsky-reaction (BZ-reaction), whilst Zhabotinsky later continued Belousovs research. See also this question.

In the paper 'An Analysis of the Belousov-Zhabotinskii Reaction' I read the following:

  Boris Pavlovich Belousov was born in Russia during the 19th century
  and was one of five children. His older brother first interested
  Belousov in science while constructing an explosive to assasinate the
  Czar. (It should be noted that they were unsuccessful in this
  attempt.)

I'm trying to check the fact if it is true that Belousov become interested in science because of constructing an explosive with his brother. I searched on the internet, but can't find an other source that confirms or denies this. Neither does the paper where I read this give sources for the claim.

On Google I can only sporadic find a link to a website that (presumably) says it, but I've (till now) always encountered 404-pages, so I've not been able to thoroughly check it.

Should I reject this and not include it in my work?

Or is it acceptable to use it, if I include the source correctly?

Something like:

  According to ...., Belousov became interested in science when
  constructing an explosive with his brother to assassinate the czar.


texts: What is the proper way to deal self plagiarism?

texts:
Couple of months ago i've checked plagiarism of one of my research work in turnitin.
I've reused the same research work in order enhancement it. When i checked new assignment again in turnitin with different class ID it shows similarity index from old one. I've changed my university and as per its rule it can not accept new assignment with such similarity index.
How can i deal with this issue?


texts: Why would recommender not submit letter to some schools?

texts: My recommender received the list of schools I would be applying to months in advance. She submitted 7 out of 10 letters and then just disappeared: ignores emails and notifications from schools. Why would anyone agree to write a letter and then do that? I have months of research experience under her indirect supervision and took her class too. She does know I have more than 3 referees though...


texts: How open should I be with my PhD supervisor about the problems in my personal life?

texts:
My marriage has been going through some problems in the last year which has affected my PhD. My supervisor has been very understanding and was keen for me not to interrupt and granted me a two month extension on my upgrade paper.

Last week my wife walked out. She came back but this totally put me off my studies. I was supposed to hand in a paper - an optional paper since this was for a journal submission - but I haven't even drafted it and the draft was due tomorrow.

My supervisor knows I have been having marriage problems but she doesn't know any details. Also she doesn't talk about her personal life much and I don't know if she's the kind of person who would be receptive to such details, so I have so far withheld them. Should I tell her my wife walked out? At the moment I have just said there was an incident. She also knows that I have been diagnosed with symptoms of moderate/severe depression, but I thought it best that she knew this since it could affect my work.

Should I carry on being vague or should I test the water and treat her like an intelligent adult and give her more context and details of my issues? Or should I just keep the personal stuff as separate as possible?


texts: Software for snowballing (data mining) academic papers

texts:
Snowballing is a methods of data mining. In this method, a literature contains references. By using some keyword/keywords I would like extract those papers alone. I would again go to the references of the extracted papers and then using keyword/keywords, I would extract few more papers. This goes on and on till I converge.

I would like know is there any stand-alone software for this?


texts: Can an outsider use university facilities for a technical discussion group?

texts:
As one with significant interest and some knowledge in the subfield of computer architecture, living reasonably close to a university, the idea of organizing and facilitating a discussion/reading group in this subject area came to mind.

Would a university be open to the use of its facilities for such an activity offered by someone with no official affiliation with the university?

(Holding such on-campus seems likely to be convenient for the most likely participants but such is not necessary.)

Also, what would be the best way to present such to faculty and students?

While I do not anticipate being ready to offer to organize such a group any time soon, such might be something to look forward to.


texts: How to manage relationship with post-doc supervisor when applying for a tenure-track position one year before post-doc ends?

texts:
I currently hold a post-doctoral position in the UK, which is 3 years long, and I am in my second year. I am wondering how bad would it look for my employer if I apply for a lectureship post that I just saw announced and caught my interest? They ask for my current employer as a reference, so there is a slight chance they will contact them.

I am not sure how it would look, considering that I supposedly signed up for a 3 years job, and would be leaving a year earlier. I don't want them to think that I don't like my current place or anything like that. If I do get that other job, it wouldn't be too terrible even if they don't like it. But there is also a great chance that I won't get the job and will stay in my current position for another year.

EDIT: this is my second post-doc position.


texts: Why are academic institutions now looking to judge their students in multiple choice questions tests?

texts:
Multiple choice questions are nowadays very common in many of the world's institutes. Particularly in entrance tests, they use multiple choice testing.
Why are these academic institutions now looking to judge their students using multiple choice tests?


texts: Are young researchers at various universities held to the same standard?

texts:
Let's say that Candidate A is at University X, working in the same field as Candidate B, who is at University Y. University Y has lots of faculty working in that area, and an active seminar. Candidate A collaborates with one other faculty member at University X. All the top mathematicians regularly give talks at University Y, which is considered top 5 in that area of academia. Candidate A is hard-working and  just as driven as Candidate B but doesn't get to interact with scholars as much as Candidate B. Candidate B has an easier time with research than Candidate A as a result, and publishes more papers of better quality than Candidate A.

When hiring committees or program directors judge Candidates A and B, Candidate B comes across as better, although Candidate B had a lot more advantages. Are those advantages considered when it comes to getting grants or job interviews? Or is it basically a losing battle for Candidate A?


texts: Is starting with the abstract and conclusion an efficient reading approach for writing a literature review?

texts:
I'm writing a literature review at the moment. I have many many papers to read and I don't have that much time (just one month).

What I do is reading the abstract and then the conclusion and from the conclusion I see what were the key findings and then look them up in the paper and see some details.

Is that good way or should I read them cover to cover?


texts: Will auditing impact graduate school admissions?

texts: I am in my last semester as an undergraduate and in a class in a field that I do not consider myself knowledgeable (but interested). I fear that I will be stressing rather than learning. The audited class will be a part of my final transcript, it will not appear until I am done with the class. I am also applying to graduate schools this semester, will this impact me? (It is not a part of my major, it relates to my minor, but I have fufilled the requirements for my minor so it is still an extra class, and as an auditor I do all the work (tests and assignments) and come to every class because I want to learn)


texts: Can faculty in the United States get access to your grades without your explicit consent?

texts:
Note: This question is aimed at "in general, in the United States, given the laws (including FERPA) and typical practices of US Universities".

I'm wondering if my schools' departmental advisers can give my grades to faculty members without my permission. Say a faculty member is talking to the department advisers about me. What is standard procedure here?


texts: How should I ask for library services for literature review?

texts:
Early on the research planning process, I would like to make use of the services offered by public libraries. Including online library services, what is the best way they could help a student researcher who is currently preparing a research proposal for a specialization?

Would it be wise to send them an email or give them a phone call, so that they could come up with a list of possibly useful and related research papers at their disposal?


texts: PhD with no prior research experience, how?

texts:
I am an IT post graduate (with no thesis but project) from IT industry and I have practical experience of about 10 years in the industry. I want to carry a PhD research in a subject related to IT field. Practically and theoretically, I know the subject very well, but I don’t have any prior real research experience or any publications. But I have studied some theoretical subjects on research methodologies, statistics etc. during my university learning. But I found that most the universities have “research experience” as prerequisite or requirements to start or to be eligible for PhD research.

So, what can I do to fulfill that? (Off-course other than doing another research just to be eligible). Any ideas or suggestions?

Is there any chance of getting accepted without prior research experience? Should I keep on trying(esp in US and Australia)?

I have seen some doing PhD after their undergrad. I have master degree and I am confident that I will be able to manage things with in those 3-4 years as it’s not that I don’t research at all. It’s just that I don’t have something to show now.

Any suggestions?


texts: After my PhD supervisor left, I was assigned to a new PI who has little experience in my area

texts:
I am halfway through my PhD (given 3-year contract) and I feel I'm in my worst phase. The PI (let's call this PI X) who recruited me as a PhD student left my institute for a better position somewhere. Before X left, X assigned us (Ph.D. students under X) to a new PI in our department who is not yet all experienced in the work I'm doing. Once in a while X is talking to me through skype but now X seems to be mainly interested in authorship of the work we have done together and also a project we planned to do.

The main problem I'm facing now is, I don't have anyone to give me feedback on the analysis/interpretations I'm making from the data. If I don't get any critical comments/feedback on my work, I'm feeling I'm not learning anything new. And, this will also be a problem in the long run, when I make my work into a manuscript. Our department head, who recruited X seems to care about the situation but I didn't discuss it with him. As I have this new PI (who is also recruited by dept. head), if I discuss the situation with the department head, things will get more complicated. I know as a PhD student, I should be more independent but if I don't get enough feedback on my work, how can I improve my critical thinking.

Any suggestions on how to deal with the situation is greatly appreciated. I can provide any additional information if required.

Thank you.


texts: If someone scores quite high on the GRE, how and where would they list it? Or would they even list it at all?


texts: Do universities prefer not to hire their own PhD graduates in faculty positions?

texts:
I have heard that universities tend not to hire people who earned their PhD there for professorships (tenured or not). (I've read this question, but it's about postdocs: Is it normal that research institutes do not hire their own PhDs for postdoc positions?)

If one graduated from a university, and then did a few turns as a postdoc or non-tenured professor, would a university/department still be disinclined to hire them 10 years post-graduation?

I know there's a lot of factors that go into hiring professors, as well as many reasons to go to different universities/institutes (addressed in the linked question), so I'm mostly curious about this specific truism I've heard.

Although I live in the U.S., I'm curious about North American and European practices (so as not to invalidate answers already given).


texts: Affiliation and address when writing under a pseudonym

texts:
Quite a few threads have already discussed the issue of publishing articles under a pseudonym, such as

Is pseudonymous publication ethical?

If I publish under a pseudonym, can I still take credit for my work?

among others.  My question is:  with journal submission being what it is today, what should one write under e.g. "Address" and "Affiliation" when writing under a pseudonym?  For most journals, one has to write something in that field.