texts: Should I explicitly remind people to include my name in the acknowledgement?

texts:
I am a research assistant. I've helped a PhD student from another department throughout her studies by providing and maintaining human cells for her project. She's now about to published, and I'm not sure she would acknowledge my contribution in her papers. Is it acceptable to remind her to acknowledge me?

Including my name would be good for my future graduate school applications and interviews.


texts: Should I talk about research done in a different field from the department I apply to?

texts:
As is, I am applying to CS grad school even though I studied math in undergrad and all my research is in math.
The question is, in my personal statement, how sensible is it to talk in depth about my math research?

Seemingly pro? : Grad schools want to see "research potential" and talking about publishing as a undergrad should help me.
Seemingly con: My CS interests as far afield from my math research so it doesn't seem to make much sense babbling about something unrelated to the field I want to go into. But if this is the case, I don't have much to write about for my POS.


texts: Answering "Why are you applying to our university?"-type question in the statement of purpose

texts:
When applying to Masters programs, most institutions ask a "Why are you applying to our university?"-type question to be answered in the statement of purpose.

Let's assume that one applicant is really interested in one institution because it seems to have a great program (from the educational point of view), amazing structures and research centers, one specific research group made of a few strong professors with fascinating interests which are compatible with the ones of the applicant (although not perfectly the same), prestige, and also a nice location.

  In such a situation, what points should one keep in mind when
  answering "Why are you applying to our university?"?

Indeed, many words of praise of the institution and the faculty -- although well-deserved -- might be seen (in my opinion) by some either as "just flatteries" in some sense or as "superfluous obviousness".

  So what is actually expected from this question? And what is its main purpose?

For instance, is it actually  mostly a way to see if the applicant's research interests overlap with those of the faculty?


texts: How to respond to intentional lack of citation?

texts:
I work in a field that heavily uses arxiv.org and posts papers before submitting them to journals, so it's common for people to send a citation request when they see a preprint that they think has overlooked their work. I do this pretty rarely, because I think it's often abused by people looking to pad their citation count by asking for citations from work that's only marginally related. Still, when I see work that very closely resembles something I've done, I generally send an email.

My question is what to do when a paper appears that is very closely related to my work, has not cited me, and it was clearly intentional. In this case one of the authors had a previous paper that followed up on--and cited--one of my papers, so I know they were aware of my work in the past. Furthermore, in their current paper they use a technical term that I introduced. There is no possible way that they could have written their current paper without being aware of its close relationship to my work, but they haven't cited my papers.

In this context, the usual email of the form "I have read your interesting new paper and wanted to make you aware of my related work" would be so disingenuous as to be ridiculous: they are clearly already aware of my related work. I can only conclude that they have intentionally chosen not to cite it. All of my encounters with these authors in the past have been friendly, at least from my perspective, so I can't imagine any interpersonal conflict that's behind the omission.

A similar thing happened to me once before when some authors wrote a paper that had enormous overlap with one of my papers, which they cited, and they corrected, in passing, a minor technical mistake that didn't change any significant conclusions. Subsequently they built a minor industry on this work but never again referred to my previous work, with the result that their papers that were only a very minor improvement on mine have been cited several hundred times more than my paper has. So I may be overly touchy about this sort of possibility.

At the moment I'm inclined to do nothing, because any message I could imagine sending them would come across as either disingenuous or combative. But I wonder if anyone has a suggestion for dealing with this situation.


texts: How to deal with alma mater pushing crack science?

texts:
I am aware that in US there is controversial support of facilitated communication and every public is dealing with a different kind of process.

The European university and faculty where I finished my BSc are very good and respected.
However, they have begun to push an agenda against an industry project due to environmental concerns. More specifically, the student association opposes the project and tenure-track staff and lecturers from the biology and ecology departments started to support this cause.
All of this is not based on evidence.

How can I stop and intervene in the matter of my alma mater? This is reputation-damaging as it not appropriate for an educational, academic, and research institution to spread such non-sensical ideas.


texts: Is ethical to rewrite tutor work and submit it?

texts:
I hired a tutor to help me with a programming task (he did the whole assignment for me) a few days ago, but instead of submitting his own work to my professor, I changed the code from him into mine (I rewrote the codes from him into something else, I modified functions, I changed the code structure, and I tried to make sure the similarity of his work and mine was nearly zero, and when I checked the similarity report the similarity was low about 10-15%)).
Is my action considered as cheating or academic dishonesty?


texts: What can I do when my transcripts have mistakes?

texts:
My transcripts contain a mistake on the grade I took for a course. I applied before two months to change me the grade but the process is slow. Until now nothing has changed and I need to apply for graduate programs. What should I do? How should I inform them that this grade is wrong and the official transcripts will contain the appropriate number. What GPA should I write in the online form? This with the wrong grade or the right one (calculated by me).

More information:

This mistake was not my fault, it was the professor who accidentally wrote a "D" instead of an "A-". I have contacted him after I noticed it on the online system, but it is a long process to change a grade in my university. Two months have passed already and they told my that the grade will be changed before Christmas, but the deadlines are soon and I need to find a way to inform them. The case is that, in most courses, I have "A" and,  in a few of them,  "B". I am applying to very competitive courses and this might ruin my chances of getting admitted.


texts: Will a recommender know if I don't submit an application?

texts:
I'm applying to grad school, and I have 3 wonderful recommenders. The problem is this: I realized that I didn't notify my third recommender that I would require another recommendation letter (I added on a last application rather last minute). They have already left the country for research over break, and I honestly feel that it would hurt our relationship if I asked them at such late notice (as it quite frankly should). On the other hand, I would look incredibly ill-prepared if I admitted my predicament to my other recommenders.

Is it worse to notify them that I won't be submitting that application now or simply not mention it?

Unlike the other programs I'm applying to, none of my recommenders know anyone at this college, so I doubt they'd find out quickly on their own.


texts: How to apply with past postdoc or PhD positions which did not result in publications or recommendation letters due to conflict with supervisor?

texts:
To make the long story short, at the end of my PhD (Just 3 months before my viva), I realized that my PhD supervisor is liar and totally dishonest, probably he has his own reasons, but this is what I realized. I talked to the head of the department to quit my PhD and I was told it is better to finish it, as it is too late. He asked why I did not report the problem sooner and I replied that even I could not imagine this situation one year ago. My supervisor and I are from same country, but he is a professor at a European university.

I decided to talk to my supervisor, but the discussion was too strong and I told him he is not eligible to be a teacher (professor), because he is not an honest person; the most important criterion for being a teacher.

Any way, he did not support me to get a reasonable postdoctoral position and as a result, I ended up finding myself in one of the very well developed East Asian countries. The PI was a young scientist without proper experience (we were his first group members). He assigned me a computational project and when I asked him what we are looking for, he said just do what I have asked you, run the simulation and at the end you will realize. Repeatedly I talked to him and told him there is nothing special in this simulation and we should carefully know what we are looking for before pushing the enter key and running the simulation, but he insisted to running the simulation. I asked him to change the project, but he refused.

I have finished the extremely heavy simulation, which took 1 year, analyzed the data and extracted what I could extract from the simulation. I presented the results and it was clear that there was nothing interesting in the simulation. He said “you are postdoc and you should think about what you are going to do”. I was aware of the fact that in East Asian culture I should not criticize my PI, but I believe in science community we can and we must do that. Science means working with the facts and reality. After a couple of more wrong information and recommendations that he gave me, I eventually told him he was wrong. It triggered a personal war between us and he fired me – after two years of hard work without any publications.

I was lucky enough to a new position in Southern hemisphere. Now whenever I look for a new job, I am asked for 2–3 letters of recommendation and specially some of them asking for letter from my PhD supervisor.

How can I handle this situation? What should I say when I apply for a job? Should I mention the conflicts or does it make the situation worse? Should I say that I only have one letter of recommendation? What should I say about my low number of publications?

I should mention that at each stage I have changed my research field; my PhD and the postdocs all are different topics in physics.


texts: Is it possible to obtain a Master's degree without Bachelor's degree?

texts:
I have worked as translator for more than seven years in the industry. I have a background in cuisine for more than ten years. Now I would like to add an graduate degree related to Tourism, Hotel and Event Management to my professional experience.

Can I enroll in such a masters program without first acquiring a Bachelors degree?


texts: Is it helpful to get credit for an independent study project?

texts:
Suppose a college senior has made arrangements to do an independent study project with a professor, in order to learn more about a particular topic, with guidance.  When it comes to the graduate admissions scrutiny of the transcript, are there any advantages to getting credit for the independent study, as opposed to keeping things informal?  Note that an independent study course would not count toward the gpa.

If you want more context, see this question.


texts: Inability to develop myself when working with strong co-author

texts:
I've been working with a (very good) co-author in the past. He is better than me at some things, and I'm better than him at others, so working together is great and fun. However, because he is good at X, when I work with him, it just usually turns out that I don't get to develop my skills at working on X (simply because he's faster and can get there before me when I'm still stumbling). I guess in the short run this is fine (because the papers come out faster), but it worries me in the long run.
And, because co-authoring is so fun, I don't get to work on things that I personally really like, because the other thing is taking up all my time.
So, is it possible to work with a co-author and develop my skills, without ignoring my own projects?


texts:
Once upon a time... A paper was submitted to a journal with the consent and knowledge of all co-authors. During the revision process, one of the co-authors (X) demanded co-authorship in the articles of other co-authors (Y and Z). This request was denied, as X did not meet the requirements of co-authorship in those papers. As an answer, X refused to allow the article to go forward, until one of the co-authors (N) being excluded. X explained this decision by questioning the contribution of N to the research. What might be a diplomatic and professional solution, if N and X are both valid co-authors? Can X cut the whole paper?
All characters and other entities appearing in this question are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons or other real-life entities is purely coincidental.


texts: How often should one evaluate a plan for an academic career?

texts:
I'm about to start my PhD. I feel I should try to plan my academic career; or set some general goals at least. The time line could be something like 5-15 years. The first years are easy to plan: study this, study that, publish a few papers etc. It gets more difficult to make plans beyond receiving the PhD. I think that if I don't know where I want to go with my degree, it becomes difficult to make decisions during the coming years: when to say yes, and when to say no. I know I don't want to just end up somewhere doing what other people think I should be doing.

How do you plan your career? How frequently do you update your plan and/or check have you progressed as you planned?


texts: How safe is it to provide my credit card information to an admissions office?

texts:
Recently, I got admission to a PhD program in the United States. And they have prepared my I-20 and the other documents to send me by mail.

They have offered me to provide them my credit card number and expiration date so they can send the documents by express service. They also offered a free regular service too.

How safe is it to provide my card information to an admission team? I know, probably, they will not misuse it, but do they protect it afterward too?
Do they have any obligations for the protection of the information.

Is it a common offer in all the USA?


texts: How can you get to do a Short Oral Presentation at the International Congress of Mathematicians?

texts:
I am wondering, how hard or competitive is it to obtain a slot for short oral presentation(20-minute talk) at the International Congress of Mathematicians?

Generally, how many slots are allotted for such presentation?


texts: Will I get docked for including a source in my bibliography which I didn't end up using in my actual paper?

texts: I accidentally included a source in my bib, that I didn't end up using in my paper. So basically it included a pointless source that has no info or quote included in the paper. Will this look bad or will I get docked for it?


texts:
Do British universities expect the research PhD applicant to know research methods before they write application proposal?

I studied research methods in the masters but it has been sometime now. Do I have to revisit research methods or can I present the proposal as if I have not studied research methods before?


texts: Difference of professor salaries between different department in the United States

texts: Is there any research/study/survey/... that looked at the difference of professor salaries between different department in the United States?


texts: How much freedom do mathematics ph.d. students usually have in choosing a topic for their thesis in the U.S?

texts:
I'm in a bit of a conundrum at the moment, since my real research interests (constructive type theory, proof theory, categorical logic) are only actively studied at a handful of places in the U.S, and for the most part those tend to be top schools.

Thus, I'm wondering if I don't get into one of said schools, would it still be possible for me to write my thesis in one of my areas of interest even if it is not directly related to any of the faculty's research interests? How much leeway do you have there?

For example, if I get into a school that has a good logic group, even if the research interests of the professors there is, say, more in set theory, would I still likely be able to do my thesis on type theory? What about at a school that doesn't even have a solid logic program?


texts: Recently I have been interviewed and gone through a writing task for phd position in Sweden. After that, My supervisors told me that they hope to show their labs and city to me in a visit to Sweden and they like to here my research intrest in a presentation ( that is optional).They will cover travel and accomadation. I am not from the Europe and from east Asia. They already send a invitation letter to me indicating the visit and saying I am one of the top candidates for position and therefore they would like to invite me for the arrangements of position. I could not understand this. Will they offer position for me? Anyone have experience?, thanks in advance.


texts: What do PhD admission officers look for when evaluating an undergraduate thesis? (CS)

texts:
Background:

Undergrad CS Student (Junior year)
I have a few problem statements in mind for my undergrad thesis.

I have 2 semi-novel ideas (extension works) and 1 novel Idea for my undergrad thesis. All 3 will be separate chapters. I mostly won't be able to complete my experimentation for the novel idea before sending out my applications (for PhD CS in The US) and the other 2 will likely be only accepted in b-tier conferences.
Main question: Is that okay for an undergrad thesis? Do doctoral admissions committees expect only tier-1 conference work?
Other notes:

All 3 papers, I am the first author but there will be 3 other authors.
It only indirectly aligns with my interests which ill will be mentioning in my SOP for the PhD Application.
I have done (and am doing) other major projects. The sole purpose of this work was to carry forward with my interest.


texts: How are university departments receiving corporate funding?

texts:
I learned in class that some departments of universities, such as the medical departments, receive funding from corporation that bypass the university administrators, such that the research finding can be used for the profit of the corporations.

I also read that similar mechanism is influencing the curriculum-design of computer science. I want to know how exactly would a corporation fund the research of a department, computer science in particular.

The following is my baseless conjecture on how the interactions works, even though it's probably nonsense, I think it may help you understand the kind of answer I am looking for:
A certain corporation wants a new technology for its products, say phones, it asks the administrator of a university whether the latter wants funding for its computer science department. The administrator thinks that if some funding for computer science is handled by the corp., then more fund can be distributed to other things, and so approves this funding. The department uses the funding to do research, but the research is what the corp. asks them to do. When the department found a novel method of making phone computers, but instead of getting a patent, the department gives the patent to the corp. which uses it for its products


texts:
Some of the deliverables of a project I'm working on are of a private nature (due to commercial reasons) and will not be released to the public. Would it be acceptable for a (conference or) workshop paper to reference one of those deliverables?

To give some more background, part of an algorithm on my paper is based on work described on one of those private documents. I need to acknowledge that somehow.


texts: I believe my department is failing to enforce standards in doctoral examinations. How to proceed?

texts:
I have witnessed multiple doctoral examinations at my (top-10 rated) university in which the student did not, in my opinion, demonstrate the required level of knowledge and understanding under questioning but was awarded the degree anyway. The committee consists of the advising professor, usually one or two additional professors (one of whom may have been a co-advisor), and the professor that chairs the doctoral examination committee in the department.

I suspect that the degrees are awarded at least partially out of expediency because failing the student after admitting him/her to the examination would be unfair to the student and indicate a failure by the advisor and be embarrassing to both, especially because the examination is open to the public (so other students as well as friends and family are present).

In addition, I believe that choosing one examiner to be a co-advising professor is a blatant conflict of interest, since failing the student would also amount to a failure of the co-advisor and is therefore not in his/her interest. The third examiner is sometimes selected by the advisor strategically from a pool of  current or former collaborators.

Finally, I get the impression that the chair of the doctoral examination committee defers to the recommendation of the advisor and does not serve as an additional arbiter of standards for the department (as I assume would be his/her duty), again out of expediency, because if he/she did refuse to sign the departmental forms, it would create a conflict and presumably a lot of additional work.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way about the situation, but so far nobody, to my knowledge, has spoken out. I'm inclined to speak out anonymously because I find the lack of enforcing  standards to be embarrassing and sickening, especially given the rating of my university. Speaking out, even anonymously, could create problems for me, which is why the best way forward is unclear to me.

Does anybody have any recommendations about how best to proceed? Are my expectations unrealistic?

Edit: One commenter asked me to be more specific about what I thought they lack. Briefly put, they all struggled to answer questions about the problems they investigated. These questions required nothing more than a fundamental understanding of the relevant physical processes. Some of the required understanding is part of MSc courses and would not have been acquired as part of the PhD research itself. What troubles me is that rather than continuing to question the student, the committee members seemed to be going out of their way to give clues and avoiding pushing the student too far in the sense of making the deficiencies too obvious.


texts: Hiding my first GRE scores from university

texts: I'm going to start applying to universities from 1st Dec onwards. In my 1st attempt of GRE, I scored 300. I'll planning to give my 2nd attempt on 21st November. I don't want to show my previous attempt score to universities and I'll receive my 2nd attempt scores around 5th December. Is it possible hide my 1st attempt score and pretend I haven't given GRE and fill my application form on 1st Dec. And on 5th Dec, when I get my score card (of 2nd attempt), I'll send it to the university pretending that was my 1st attempt. Is it possible to hide my 1st attempt score and send the GRE score after university deadline?


texts: Why do Math journals provide you with LaTeX class files and instructions and they also advise you not to spend time typesetting the paper?

texts: This is what I don't understand. Journals provide you with LaTeX class files and instructions and they also advise not to spend time typesetting the paper into the exact format of the journal. What does this mean? I don't know if this applies to all journals or to most of them.


texts:
This may be off-topic here; if so, I'd appreciate suggestions for where else to post it.

I recently got into a disagreement with someone regarding Ben Carson, the  neurosurgeon who has recently become a prominent figure in American politics, and is said to be considering a run for the Presidency.  The other person in this disagreement referred to Carson as a "scientist".  I thought that label seemed wrong.  Without question he is an accomplished neurosurgeon, perhaps one of the greatest living, and he definitely has many, many publications.  But somehow the "scientist" label felt off-key to me, and those publications don't seem to me to be "research" as much as they are clinical reports.

I know the words "scientist" and "research" don't have hard-and-fast definitions, and I certainly don't want to cast aspersions on the applied sciences. Nor do I want this thread to fixate solely on the individual that inspired it.  I'm really interested in the more general issue that is in the title of the question:  Is it correct to refer to a neurosurgeon with many scholarly publications as a "scientist"?


texts: if an academic writer critiques your study using an approach you are not familiar with, should you bother responding?

texts:
I came across an article claiming that 82 percent of peer-reviewed publications in Humanities are not even cited once, let alone read by the general public. What's more interesting is that the increased specialization in contemporary Humanities further narrows down the target readers of academic publications to such an extent that these publications become inaccessible to most other professors.

This leads me to my question: if an academic writer critiques your study using an approach you are not familiar with or do not understand, should you bother responding to the criticism?

Say, for example, that philosophy professor A published an article explaining "right" and "wrong" using traditional conceptual analysis. Philosophy professor B, who specializes in mathematics, critiqued her paper by employing formal models. Assuming that philosopher A does not specialize in math, should she bother responding to the criticism?


texts: Is there a list of the largest academic journal publishers, ordered by the number of journals they publish?

texts:
One can manually browse through scholarly publishers' websites and see the number of journals they publish, such as:

Elsevier: ca. 4.330 journals
SAGE: ca. 1.200 journals
Inderscience: ca. 430 journals
Cambridge University Press: ca. 380 journals
Emerald: ca. 350 journals
Hindawi: ca. 230 journals
MDPI: ca. 200 journals

However, a manual search risks leaving out certain publishers, is prone to mistakes, and is quite time-consuming.
I would thus like to know: Is there already a comprehensive list of large academic journal publishers ordered by the number of journals they publish?
EDIT: I am not intending to crowdsource a full list here; such an approach would be flawed as well. The background for my question is that I would need precise data about academic journal publishers for a specific analysis, and before I go on to design a time-consuming data-collection method, I wanted to ask this question here.


texts: How to interest a researcher in a topic (social science)?

texts:
I have created a thesis related to the objective utility and evaluation of art.  It is based on many years of personal experience in the arts, as well as many years of study into the philosophy of aesthetics.

I believe this thesis could be tested quantitatively by a trained social scientist, and that the results would hold both scientific and commercial interest.

Is there any possibility an academic researcher (either a grad student or a professor) might take on research on a thesis he or she didn't originate?  If so, what would be the best route to connect with that person, and how would the idea need to be presented (and/or what preliminary work would need to be completed first)?


texts: Visiting a research lab as an undergraduate?

texts:
Some context:

I'm an engineering undergraduate student seriously considering doing a masters degree in a japanese university once I complete my current degree (in two years)
In the next month or so, I will be travelling abroad for a small vacation in Japan.

Would it be wrong to ask researchers I would be interested in working with to visit their lab and discuss their research despite my lack of experience?

Considering that the scholarships available to me require early applications, it's very likely that I'll have to start applying in less than a year so having some contacts overseas would be a great bonus for me.


texts: My manuscript status says "18 reviewers invited." Is it a bad sign if that many reviewers were invited to review my manuscript?

texts: So far, that is the only information given to me by the journal.  I have no idea if all 18 reviewers were invited at the same time, or if one at a time.  In either cause, is this a bad sign, something like a looming possibility that the editor might eventually reject my manuscript if they can't find any reviewer to go thru my work?


texts: If I wrote a textbook, or other form of academic material, is it okay to use problems found online?

texts:
Lets say I decided to write a small textbook, similar to how people have all sorts of "Learn to Program" books, but for other subjects like Calc, Chemistry, or similar. If I used examples problems, say from https://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/ProblemsList.html
or
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/CalcI.aspx

(for calc, popular sites used for practice)

Would it be legal to just copy paste those problems (not the whole webpage but pick and choosing certain problems) in the book?

The reason Im asking is because Ive seen a few books like this, and always wondered if they had to come up with problems on their own, or if they pulled from a bank. Obviously lots of calc problems are similar to eachother, or the exact same, so I figure there is no copyright on any given problem, but I wasnt sure how it worked. Interested to find out!


texts:
I've started using Mendeley and noticed that the automatically generated references don't always standardize - for example sometimes a doi would show up, but sometimes not. I try checking the info to make sure that all that's needed is in there when I import documents.

Due to this I've started typing in citations by hand. But I would still like to use the handy citation so it doesn't interrupt my flow. Has anyone had this problem? Is there something else I should do?


texts: Update a preprint on ResearchGate to conference publication after acceptance

texts: Is there a way to update a preprint on ResearchGate to the published conference version including accepted conference information etc.? I have not found a straightforward way to do this, I don't think deleting the preprint and replacing it with the conference version is a good solution especially if the preprint already has followers, comments etc.


texts: Missing ECTS requirements, still trying to apply, should I mention it on my motivation letter?

texts:
A summary of my situation :

I am currently applying to ETH Zurich in their Data Science and Computer Science programs
I did my first year of undergrad as a Music Major, and my 2nd and 3rd year as a Computer Science Major
My 3rd year average grade is 18.7 / 20 ( 93% ) ranked 1st
My 2nd year average grade is 18.04 / 20 ( 90% ) ranked 1st
The 3rd year school has a better reputation than the 2nd year school.

Because of my music major, I'm missing about half of the ECTS needed in the Computer Science program. I am missing more ECTS than "allowed". I would like to know if I should mention it in my cover letter? I could say something along the lines of " I know I am missing some requirements, but I am willing to catch up on the subjects where I lack knowledge provided I can attend the lectures provided at ETHZ. As you can see I transitioned from a Music Major to a Computer Science without problem despite lacking fundamentals knowledge "

What should I do?


texts:
I'm a PhD student at a reputed institution and in my 4th year now. I'm researching in the domain of information security & privacy.
I've got a number of good conference publications (4 conferences) but not in top conferences.
I attempted for the top conference (S&P or ACM CCS - their workshops as well) but my papers got rejected.
I'm writing my dissertation now, however, I still have this unsatisfied feeling that my work is not really good, it may have been the imposter syndrome. I feel that my work doesn't look as good as other people's (PhD students) work who are working in the same domain. I've got a few questions maybe some experienced researchers who have gone through can answer.

How do you know your PhD work is strong work?
How to gain confidence in your PhD work?
How to know if the main idea of PhD work is a good one? (How to
get rid of this feeling?)

Thank you for your help! :)


texts:
I currently teach part-time at a Canadian technical college. Over the past few years I've applied to full professorship openings in my department, while they require at least a masters degree preference is given to PhDs.

Each time I've been beaten out by PhD applicants, including those who are fresh out of school, and upon speaking with HR they've said that there is a lot of pressure on them to hire PhDs, and that if I have any PhD even loosely related to my field then they'd be happy to make me a full time offer.

Taking 4-6 years off of my academic career, and my full-time work seems like it would be a huge set back, and a huge financial burden. But, I can't seem to find any part-time or distance education PhD's that do provide funding/research funding/TA work.

I thought I'd see if anyone here has any insights or advice?


texts:
I am writing my first research paper in field of computer applications and artificial intelligence. I have following doubts, please answer them to help me out..

a) When explaining my research, do I need to include the whole code or just algorithms ?

b) Do I have to upload my code somewhere so that people can verify my research and give link of that code in my paper ?

c) I don't know any professor very well. Is it required to get it read by somebody because I am still an undergraduate ?

Any other suggestion from your experience ??


texts: In a PhD dissertation, can one copy the structure of the acknowledgment section from their own or from someone else's prior work?

texts:
In the acknowledge of a thesis, we thank all the people who helped our research. E.g.

"First of all I thank xxx, for xxx throughout my Ph.D. period."

For my master thesis's acknowledge, I tried very hard to rephrase the sentences to avoid repeating others' similar ones.

This time, I need to write my PhD thesis's acknowledge. I have download around 10 copies of other's acknowledges. I find it really difficult to work out a sentence structure that is different from all of them.

I mean the peoples we thank are different, but the reasons or the phrases representing how we should thank them are similar among all thesis.

I just wonder if I can stop struggling with rephrasing the sentence structure, and copy & mix the sentences from my and others' acknowledges and just replace the people's names?

Is this an acceptable behaviors? Is this plagiarism or self-plagiarism?

I just think there are so many theses with acknowledges. You probably would never be able to work out an unique sentence structure. You will be similar to others anyway. So why not just copy, mix and change names?


texts: When applying to grad school, where should I discuss my medical issues that led to poor grades during my first two years?

texts:
I graduated this December from a major public university with a major in social services. I received a 3.02. I have about four Ws on my transcript and two FS, and quite a few Cs. Two semesters in my early years of school I did very poorly due to a medical issue I was dealing with. When you look at my past 4 semesters though I have done quite well and clearly have an upward trajectory of increasing my gpa each year. Would you write an extra statement to the admissions team stating why you received those bad grades those 2 semesters or put it in your personal statement of intent....or just let it slide and hope for the best. I was dealing with extreme dizziness and neurological symptoms due to undiagnosed hypothyroidism at the time.
Other than that I have multiple internships, practicum experiences, and volunteer work, and will be receiving great letters of recommendation. I am applying to a Counseling Master's Program and do believe this will help a lot!


texts: Can pre-print be published as "working paper" after the peer reviewed and revised manuscript has been accepted for publication by the journal?

texts:
A colleague wishes to publish a pre-print as a "working paper" after the revised manuscript has gone through the peer review process and accepted for publication.

The rationale is that firstly, there is a long wait (over a year) until the manuscript is published by the journal; and, secondly, the publisher allows the author to deposit the pre-print at any time in an institutional repository.

My question is: Is a working paper series an "institutional repository"? Shouldn't the pre-print be submitted to the working paper series prior to peer review and journal acceptance?


texts:
I have just graduated from a masters degree in information systems, and I'm due to begin a role at a large IT consultancy firm in 6 months time.

For the interim I have arranged a period of desk research with one of my old professors. I cannot go into specifics but to give you a taster my research will be around small/medium IT firm strategies.

I will of course receive direction from my professor on the detail, but some general advice for someone wanting to shift into an appropriate mindset for being effective at desk research would be very helpful.

What strategies would you use to tackle a desk research role?


texts: How do I get a citation dataset with full text articles in PDF format?

texts:
I am doing research in text mining. For that I need a dataset which contain full text PDFs of research paper articles, and all articles should be related with each other in terms of citing. There are citation network datasets available which contain only metadata of papers, but with this I also want those full text articles in PDF format.

What should I do to get such dataset?


texts:
During the last term, I recorded at least 50 cases of student plagiarism. The most common cases were students copying and pasting paragraphs verbatim from various Web sites, assembling them together, and calling it their essay.

I took what I thought were sufficient steps to inform students of what was not allowed:

I posted the rules in the syllabus, on the course Web site, and listed relevant rules in the instructions for larger projects.
I issued spoken warnings in class regularly, occasionally showed some examples of such submissions, and also showed students some of the steps I took to catch the plagiarism.

I also set what I thought were strict enough consequences so that students know it is better to do nothing at all than to cheat:

20% grade loss (from their entire grade) per infraction, no matter the value of the assignment (most assignments were only worth ~5%).

Note, these are policies I established from the very first day of the class, and carried through the whole term. Yet, even in the final weeks, I continued to catch copied work and failed a lot of students.

What further steps can I take to reduce this problem?


texts: Recommended Level of Japanese for PhD in internet privacy and computer science in Japan

texts:
I am in a process of preparation for applying for a MEXT scholarship in order to continue my Master Thesis in end-to-end encryption over chat-rooms.

Also in order to be able to communicate I am also learning Japanese and I gave the N5 examination. Even though there are Japanese Lessons for Research Students, what the recommended Level of Japanese In order to be able to safely communicate with the professor and research colleagues;

Is English pretty much favoured in Japanese Universities?


texts: Rediscovery of calculus in 1994: what should have happened to that paper?

texts:
There's a well-known paper in academic circles that features a rediscovery of the trapezoidal rule for numerical integration by a medical researcher:

  “A Mathematical Model for the Determination of Total Area Under Glucose Tolerance and Other Metabolic Curves”, Mary M. Tai, Diabetes Care, 1994, 17, 152–154.

I think the paper's only figure says it all:

You can find comments on many blogs about it, most of them along the lines of “turns out calculus was invented in 1994”. I think it truly is a bit sad that the paper made it past the researcher, her immediate colleagues and friends, a Yale professor of electrical engineering who is thanked for “his expert review”, and most importantly reviewers, without someone giving the author a hint.

In my opinion, the most optimistic view is to see it as an educational paper: the method is not new, but that particular medical community didn't know about it, so it was worth publishing. However, that is not what the paper states: the author clearly presents the method as new and names it after her.

Okay, I think I have explained the context. My question is: after that peer-review failure was exposed, what should have happened to the paper? What happened is that the same journal published a series of comments on the paper, and a reply by the author to the comments. Was that the correct/ethical way of handling the issue, as an editor? Or should the paper have been retracted?


texts: I am nominated to Community Contribution Award. Should university financially support my travel?

texts:
I have been nominated for a community contribution award. I was thrilled to be considered for this award. The conference also has workshops hardcoded to my research.

However, while discussing with my supervisor, he seemed hesitant that my travel could be financially supported, and he said if it a publication, it would be better.

He asked to send him email, it seems disappointing his reaction seemed disappointing. He said you cannot travel to all-conference, although I did not travel to any conferences since my PhD start?

My question: Should program financially support my travel to present at workshop plus being award nominee?


texts: How do I approach a supervisor who seems to be unconcerned with my projected end date?

texts:
I am a Master's student two years into my degree and am planning to defend in the next few months. My supervisor is generally condescending and discouraging which unfortunately seems to be quite common for student-supervisor relationship. Until now, I've taken things in stride and have kept my head down, but as I get closer to the date that I'm hoping to finish, it seems he is continually putting up more and more barriers to actually finishing. When I push back or gently suggest alternatives he gets more and more difficult to work with.

Without going into too much detail, I now have a complete draft of my thesis that I would like to have him read for feedback and edits but instead of going through the whole thesis, he wants to go through each section back and forth until it's "as good as possible" and then move on to the next.

As he tends to take a week or two to make edits and he refuses to look at other sections while I'm working on his edits, it seems as though he wants this to take as long as possible. He has recently lost funding and I am no longer receiving funding from him so I'm wondering if it's in his best interest to have me around as long as possible. I understand two weeks can actually be a good turn-over for edits, but in context with other issues we've had, this just another in a growing resistance to any progress being made.

How can I best address this situation to ensure I can defend in a timely matter? I'd rather not go to the department head because I think she'll be obligated to take action as he has had other formal complaints made against him recently.

I've spoken with a committee member who has suggested I reiterate my goals and timeline for defense but this is something I do regularly and I don't think it will help in this instance.

Edit to add information from comments:

We have made numerous calendars and schedules that seem to go by the wayside the minute they're made. I suspect that having me on as a student is an advantage for him at this point, as he has no funding to secure new students and no longer has to fund me. The longer he holds onto me, the longer he can avoid pressure from the department to take on new students, projects, etc.


texts: Making the most of having two group affiliations

texts:
I am co-supervised by two PIs and I am spending half my time each week in one lab and the other half in the other lab.

My question is, how can I make the most of this situation? What are the pitfalls? How does this differ from being supervised by one person and therefore spending all of one's time in one lab?

I am a PhD student, but I suppose this could also apply to post-docs. If it matters, my field is biology.


texts: How to find less-competitive faculty positions in the US universities?

texts:
I plan to move to the US, and thus, looking for a less-competitive faculty position to start there. Later, I can find better jobs, but at this stage, I just need to find a position.

For an outsider, all the job ads are similar. How can I find which job is less-competitive.

As an example, is it really less-competitive to apply for a faculty position in Alaska or less-interesting states (due to geographical reasons, I do not know which).

NOTE: This is the additional question separated from my previous question, as advised by a moderator.


texts: How to write an email to your Masters advisor asking for PhD position?

texts:
I recently finished my Masters in Urban Planning in Belgium (Bachelor in Architecture) and I am looking into continuing for a PhD in the same university with the same professor who supervised my Masters thesis. I am, however, a bit lost on how formal or informal the email should be. He recently sent me positive comments about my thesis paper and I feel he would be a good supervisor for extending my research with the Phd. Can anyone offer some advise on how I the email structure should be?

Thank you!


texts: Does it make sense to get an LLM in preparation for "law school?"

texts:
Someone I know thinks he wants to go to law school and pursue a career in law. One way for him to "find out" is to pursue a one-year LLM degree after graduating college. He has two reasons for feeling this way.

1) Some of his older friends have started, then "aborted" law school programs. Going for an LLM instead of a J.D. would put only one year at risk instead of three. Of course, if he later decides to pursue a J.D., he would have spent four years in law school. Which leads to the second point:

The LLM would enable him to take some, not all, of a first year law program, such as legal writing, contracts, and property, as well as some electives to discover his areas of interest. Given the rigors of a law school program, that would lighten the burden of going for a J.D.later on.

Would pursuing the LLM at a state school (where he is getting a 3.8 GPA) help or hurt my friend if he later decided to pursue a full blown J.D. law program at a good private law school? His idea is "soften up" a law program, but he fears that with a master's degree, he will be held to a "higher standard" for admission.


texts: Writing a letter of recommendation for a mediocre student

texts:
A former student has asked me to write a letter of recommendation.  I am always quite happy to do so -- but in this case it's hard to find much to say.  The student took two classes with me and earned B's in both; moreover, both classes were large lectures, so it was more or less impossible to notice most individual students' participation or abilities.  I would really like to help but I am not sure what I can write other than a description of the courses the student took and a report on his grades, which were fairly close to the median in both cases. Any suggestions on what else I can say?

Edit:  Since a few people have asked, the letter is (in this case) for a one-semester study abroad program in Manchester.  I have no idea how competitive admissions are, but it's not like grad school or a job.


texts: Is it okay to send a gentle reminder to professor

texts: I sent an email to some professor about a month back for some research paper. He reply to me that he will scan the research paper and send me in few weeks. I think he has forget to send the scanned document. Should I send him a gentle reminder?


texts: Can I refuse a stipend during a PhD program?

texts:
I was admitted to a US PhD program (in computer science, if that matters) with fellowship + stipend.

I am getting a separate stipend from my government (which is higher than the university stipend), but they forbid me from getting an additional stipend from the university.

Is it OK to ask the university to just pay for my tuition (with the fellowship), and refuse the stipend?


texts: What to write in an award nomination letter about your supervisor?

texts:
An international society is accepting nominations for an yearly award for young principal investigators in our scientific research field, and I would like to nominate my supervisor.

I have to write a nomination letter about him.

The rules about this letter state:

  "Your personal assessment of nominee's contributions to our scientific
  research field deserving of this distinguished award, including major
  scientific contributions, up to ten references to publications, and
  other contributions to the field that demonstrate this nominee is
  deserving of this award"

I never wrote such letters so I don't know how to start...
I think I should start by talking about the deliverables (scientific softwares and papers) he released in his career, and their impact in our field. Is this correct?

Then should I acknowledge about his career achievements as well?

Should I call attention to the quantity and quality of his publications (e.g. "He published many papers on Nature journal, etc")?
Should I mention the other awards and honours he got in his career?

What do the scientific award organizers want to read in my letter?

I want him to win!


texts: Have any academic superstars succeeded in a subject while disliking it?

texts:
This question is limited to only academic subjects that exist in internationally recognised universities (eg: exclude celebrities and Internet sensations), and is inspired by a discussion with a teenage family member who questions the maxim that interest is most important for deciding your academic subject: are there any academic luminaries who succeeded in a subject that they (secretely or not) despise?

For example, has any Nobel Laureate or Rolf Schock winner despised the subject in which he/she won, or has any Fields Medallist despised maths?


texts: Do professors in Germany have other payment than their standard salary?

texts: I checked the salary scale for a W3 professorship position in Germany. The annual income is about 75K Euro which seems pretty low for someone managing about 20 people. Is there any other payment beside the base salary? For example, some additional payment from DFG/EU projects or for supervising students?


texts: Easy (funded PhD) vs Hard Path (Unfunded MS)

texts:
Notes:

I want to do PhD
I understand that ranking doesn't say much and that the professor and the research is what is
important
AOI - Area of Interest
This question is not personal nor opinionated and can be useful to a variety of students stuck in a similar or comparable decision point.

Due to having a low UGPA (2.8), I applied to MS programs (USA) in BME (neuroengineering) in hopes of boosting myself to a PhD program that does research in my exact AOI (Unis - stanford, jhu, rice, harvard). Luckily during my application, a professor that I talked with asked me to switch to PhD since he was interested in my profile. At the end I got an offer from the university for PhD and fully funded (note that this university is ranked >150 in usnews). The only issue with this PhD opportunity is that the advisor is new (though decently connected) and does not have translational research.

Now I have also got a MS offer from a top 50 university, not funded and private (so I need a loan). Now my question is this- should I take the easy, financial free option which does research in my AOI but doesn't have much prestige and enough funding to do translational research. Or should I take the hard path and go into that competitive university (top 50), secure a high GPA and do good research to get recommendations from leaders in the field; but this option will be tough and will either be successful or will lead to failure. While the former will lead to success but will be at a much lower level when compared to the success that I get from PhD after masters.


texts: Software to make illustrative videos explaining a research topic

texts:
What are some good (preferably open-source) software for making illustrative videos to explain one's research? I am currently looking for software to make a small video on my research topic that could complement presentation slides. The video may not delve into all technical details, but should summarise all technical content in a compact and entertaining way.

One source that I know of is Videoscribe (sample video), but I have not tried it yet. Are there other/better alternatives, especially open-source?


texts: Are there any researcher digital identification services or directories, similar to ORCID and ResearcherID?

texts: Are there any general (not field-specific) researcher digital identification services or directories, similar to ORCID and ResearcherID?


texts: Should I use lighter or heavier paper for my printed dissertation?

texts:
My university requires one to submit a printed copy of the dissertation. The paper has to be 100% cotton, white, and 20- to 24 lb weight.

Since I have a choice in the weight of the paper, my question is if there are any advantages to one weight over the other.


texts: Can journals decide to refuse previously approved publications conditional to minor revisions?

texts:
I assisted a professor in writing a paper and it got accepted in a journal with minor reviews. I did the modifications I was asked to address and have been waiting on the professor the rest of the time. I've done friendly reminders once or twice to ask what's going on with the paper but decided to drop the ball as I know they are quite busy. This publication is also obviously more important for me as I don't have anything out there yet, so I'm not so surprised it's probably sitting on a hard drive somewhere. We have a great relationship and there will be opportunities for more publications later on. Still, it was a lot of work for me so I'm keeping my hopes up and the topic can change quickly.

If we do end up submitting the revised paper, can the journal turn it down at a later date on the basis that the delays have been too long? Do journals usually have explicit rules with regards to delays for re-submitting after reviews?


texts: I'm currently a graduate student that conducts the labs for a statistics course. The labs themselves only form a part of the course and the other part consists of lectures where they get a theoretical background of the subject. I'm not sure what I should put as my job title, since I'm both an adjunct tutor and lab demonstrator of sorts.


texts: Appropriate salutation for female German full professor

texts:
I'm buying a desk nameplate for a full professor (in USA) who is female and of German origin. I'd like to have this nameplate follow the conventional salutation someone would use in Germany for a female at the highest academic rank.

Please note it is not important if using desk nameplates in Germany is customary or not. But if you're in Germany and have seen these in academia, I'd be interested in knowing how they're formatted. This answer is helpful but does not directly address how I should print this on a nameplate.

Assume the individual is called Joan A. Smith, Ph.D.

Prof. J. A. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor Smith
Joan A. Smith, Ph.D. (with "professor" written underneath)
etc?

What would be the most appropriate (German) way of engraving this item?


texts: I want to join IEEE community by purchasing IEEE student membership. On the check-out page there is a field for entering promotion code which offers discount. How can I receive a promotion code?


texts: What is the best practice to mention "conference presentations" in CV

texts:
I'm going to apply to a graduate program which asks me to declare my conference presentations in my CV.

I have 9 proceeding papers, 8 of which are presented by myself, and I have another section in my CV, called "publications", in which the papers are meticulously cited.

Now, I am thinking of the best approach to mentioning my presentations, which can be some references to the publications section of the CV without rewriting complete information of each paper (such as its title, venue, etc.) as the following:

Publications:

9 - Me, et al., "the title 9", venue, pp., 20XX,

8 - Me, et al., "the title 8", venue, pp., 20XX,

.
.
.

1 - Me, et al., "the title 1", venue, pp., 20XX,

Presentations:

Sept. 20XX - Presenter of the 9th Proceeding Paper, venue 9,

Sept. 20XX - Presenter of the 7th Proceeding Paper, venue 7,

.
.
.

Sept. 20XX - Presenter of the 1st Proceeding Paper, venue 1,

I'm wondering whether this kind of referring is the etiquette and is kinda professional or I better rewrite information of all papers again.


texts: I noticed an error in a graded exam during office hours. Should I give the student the lower grade?

texts:
You are a professor. A student comes to you with a question on an exam they have taken and received back. The student wrote 5 as the answer to a question, and they want to defend why 5 is a correct answer and they should receive full marks. Their argument is invalid, but you notice that the answer was misread as 9 and the student was given partial credit (5 is entirely incorrect and they should have received zero credit). Do you regrade the question, giving the student zero points, or do you leave it alone?

Arguments for regrading the question:

It would be unfair to the other students to give this student marks they did not earn.
Pursuing accurate grading is what is important and is the objective of the course.

Arguments for leaving the question alone:

The student came forward with a good-faith intention to learn why their argument wasn't correct, and shouldn't be penalized - this would break an implicit contract, and encourage students to not seek further feedback.
The unfairness actually stems from the misgrade itself, and there isn't anything wrong with leaving the misgrade alone now that it already exists. After all, if the student hadn't come forward, the misgrade would still have been left alone.


texts: Collaboration with other researchers except supervisors

texts:
I am wondering if it is ethical and acceptable that a Ph.D. student receiving fund and RA from a university and a Prof collaborates on a topic with other researchers and professors (other universities)?
In this situation, should we inform our supervisors?


texts: What are the best criteria to take into account when creating groups of students, to maximize their efficiency?

texts: This is my first post to the community. I am currently researching on the criteria that make grouping of students as efficient as possible. There are many methods that a professor in an international university program could use to sort the groups of students in class. Nationality, age, educational background, GPA so far, age, level of interest on the course, genre, combinations of them etc. I am creating this post, to try and gather all the opinions on what criteria you use in your classrooms to make your groups as efficient as possible and if you have tried any different scenarios of grouping, what are the results you came across?


texts: What effects (if any) do audited undergraduate courses have on graduate admissions?

texts:
I'm an engineering undergraduate, and my university doesn't require me to take any math courses past the standard calculus sequence and differential equations. The field I am interested in entering in grad school is slightly math-intensive, to the point that it requires more math than what I have taken. At this time, I have two years left to graduate, and I'll be taking about 17-18 hours each semester until then, so it would be very difficult me to tack on an extra math course. I was considering simply officially auditing one, so that it appears on my transcript and so that I at least have some exposure to the subject.

My question is: will this have any positive benefits while I'm applying to graduate school? Or would the admissions committee assume that I didn't learn as much as someone who actually took the course, and take it with a grain of salt that I know the material?

On a related note: what about if the course I audited was on directly in my major? Would that be beneficial (if it were, say, a graduate-level course)?


texts: Should I ask a journal for provided peer review when a corresponding author will not share communications?

texts:
This question stems from a broader question at:

How to deal with corresponding authors not sharing submission steps? (E.g. Peer reviews & Decisions)

I often run into the uncomfortable situation where a corresponding author will not share details about received peer review and editorial decisions. I am not sure how common such a situation is, and what is the best procedure to follow.

This happened where I was not the first author however I did much (if not most) of the writing and data analysis. Therefore I feel more than just entitled to read and discuss reviewers' comments. At least once I was left with the impression that no strict peer review actually took place (on a paper where the PI was friends with the handling editor).

I was wondering whether it would be appropriate if I directly contacted the journal seeking to receive the provided peer review and editorial decision. (After requesting and being ignored by both the first & corresponding author(s)).


texts: Is it legal for a university to post a copy of a copyrighted (pay for access) journal article?

texts:
Extensively using Google Scholar, I've realized that most of the articles belonging to  publishers that limit access to material (i.e. ACM, IEEE, Elsevier) also have PDF versions available for free, and these files usually are hosted by universities or other aggregators like ResearchGate.

Is it legal for the university/organization to host a copy of an article, if this has been published on a conference or journal with paid access? Does it matter if the authors of the article belong to that university/organization?


texts: Where should I place my figure if it will break essay layout?

texts:
I've been struggling with the placement of a figure in my essay (using APA style if that helps). Basically, I reference it in a paragraph that is fairly close to the bottom of the page, but probably has about 5 more lines until the bottom. The problem is, I want to put the figure below the paragraph, but it would be too small to fit in the five lines, but if I move it to the next page then the gap looks too big!
Is there a correct way to go about this? Should I put it after the next paragraph so there is no space? Should I put it above the paragraph where I first reference it?
Thanks! Here is a screenshot of what I have at the moment:


texts: Harvard citation style: Is it "...as mentioned in Author (year)..." or "...as mentioned in (Author, year)"?

texts:
I know that you can distinguish two ways of referencing scientific work in the Harvard (or author-year) citation style:

You cite the idea or work in general:
"Recently, a new approach for SOME STUFF was demonstrated for the first time (Author, year)."

You cite the author:
"Recently, Author (year) demonstrated SOME STUFF for the first time."

However, what is the correct way, if you want to state that something was mentioned in a certain work?
"...as explained in Author (year)..." or "...as explained in (Author, year)..."?
My personal opinion would be the second option, because the idea is not located "in" the author, but "in" the work he published. But in our group opinions differ strongly on this one. Can anyone provide a reliable and authoritative resource?


texts: Submitting feedback to hiring committee on job candidates -- stay positive or say negative things too?

texts:
As they do every year, my department is running multiple searches for faculty hires. After all the talks for a given position, the committee solicits feedback on the job candidates.

When submitting feedback on job candidates to a committee is it best to say good things about the candidates you liked and stay silent on the ones you didn't like? Or should I submit comments with both the good and the bad?

Ex. 1 -- Just positive: "Candidate A's talk was impressive in the ways that it does x, y, z. Their work is great....etc." The letter ends there, and I do not mention anything negative about Candidate B

Ex. 2 -- Positive and negative: "Candidate A's talk was impressive in the ways that it does x, y, z. Their work is great....etc. I was less enthusiastic about Candidate B's talk. I found the theory and empirics a bit fuzzy...etc."

The people on the committee are my peers and will assess me in the future through reference letters,  tenure letters, informal channels, etc. I am not sure what professional etiquette is for feedback on potential hires, and how negative comments will reflect on the writer.

Note: I am a PhD candidate in political science, although I hope that this questions is relevant to grad students and faculty.


texts: Post-graduate publication, adviser is not in my field

texts:
I finished my PhD degree last year. I had a bad experience with my adviser over the 4 years. He treated me like a technician. He used the data I collected and analyzed to publish with his post-doc in a top journal. They just put "personal communication" in the paper when they used my analytical method. Then, my name was under the acknowledgement section. I even never be communicated regarding of their manuscript producing process. I found it out based on randomly reading papers online.

In addition, he insulted me when I was in his lab. He tried to threat me for rescheduling my wedding date.

Now, my adviser pretend nothing happened in the past. He keeps chasing me for publishing one of my PhD chapters with him. I have a full-time job now. I just keep ignoring his emails. However, one of my committee member told me that he has been bugged by my adviser for my latest information. He wants me to talk to my adviser even I don't want to publish with him.

Could anyone give me advice?

Thanks.


texts: What does the envelope sign after the author name mean?

texts:
I'm in the process of writing a paper for an upcoming conference. The conference provides a LaTeX template which can be found here: Information for Authors of Springer Computer Science Proceedings.

Looking at the proceedings of the previous years I noticed a little envelope after the name of the first authors.

However, I was not able to figure out what it means. So my question is what is the meaning of the little envelope after the name of the first author?


texts: Is the knowledge gained from a masters conversion course suitable for pursuing a PhD?

texts:
I am looking for advice on applying for a Phd in Software Engineering/ Human-Computer Interaction. I am currently working as a software developer and interested in pursuing an academic career in Computing at university level. I have recently completed a Masters degree in Computing with a Pass last year, however I have a 2:1 undergraduate degree in Graphic Design.

I feel that the subject knowledge I have only gained on my Masters may be less adequate compared to a 3 year undergraduate degree to pursue a Phd. Would my current knowledge and experience be suitable to apply for a Phd in Computing or would it be beneficial to undertake another/ specific course before applying?


texts: Requesting review of short proof by professor

texts:
I'm a student enrolled in an university in Italy. I'm currently taking a course on probability theory, but the way is it taught is, whilst very good, not very thorough; I mean that in class some of the most difficult part are skipped. As such, I'm studying those part on the book by myself. Since this is a completely new topic for me, I often wonder if I'm understanding the proofs correctly, and if I'm able to correctly apply the theorems.

For this reason I sent an email to my professor, kindly asking to review a short proof (that I've written in latex, so it was pretty and all) specifying that I wasn't sure if all the operations and the theorems employed were indeed well used. The professor did not answer my mail.

My question is, was I wrong with sending the email in the first place? Is it bad etiquette to do so? I especially don't want to appear like some sort of "smart aleck" or anything, I am honestly trying to understand the topic. Of course I don't mind that the professor didn't reply, I know he must be pretty busy. On the other hand, I also have the feeling that if I can't get any feedback I may as well study the books by myself. What is even the point of being enrolled in the university then?

I hope someone with experience (maybe a professor!) can share their thoughts.


texts: Should I list declined fellowships/grants on my CV?

texts:
This question is similar to the following question:

Is it a good or bad idea to list declined fellowships (for a PhD program) on one's curriculum vitae?

Whereas that question focuses on fellowships for a grad program, I am asking about including other competitive fellowships and/or grants — those awarded after acceptance to a PhD program — in the CV.

Examples of these awards could include:

Travel grants
Research fellowships (e.g. NESSF, NSF, Early Career)
Research grants

Many will wonder why somebody might decline these awards after being nominated or applying for them. Possibilities could include schedule conflicts, conflicts of interest, and more. (This question is agnostic to the reasons for declining the award, though a follow-up question could be to ask when one should explain why the award was declined on one's CV....)


texts: The Downsides of Doing Undergraduate, Masters, PhD at the same institution

texts:
A bit of background: I attend University A. I have done all of my studying so far at University A. I completed my undergraduate degree in Faculty 1, I will complete my masters in Faculty 2, and I am considering applying to do a masters (track to PhD) in Faculty 3 to study a new field. (I can clarify the field jumping if needed, but not sure if it's necessary)

I understand that if somebody started out in chemistry, for example, that doing an undergraduate, masters, and a PhD at the same institution could have some career downsides (smaller network, access to the same resources, etc). In this case, it seems clear to me that there is an added benefit of doing a PhD at another institution.

In my case, however, I have been in multiple faculties within the same institution. If I were to apply and do a masters/PhD in a different faculty at my university (University A) then it's not as clear to me what the potential downsides would be for an academic career after the PhD.

So I am curious what the opportunity cost of pursuing a new field at the same institution is, and ultimately, having finished ones entire academic career at one institution.


texts: What to do when a manuscript is still under review after 14 months? withdraw?

texts:
I have submitted a manuscript to a journal, but after 14 months they have not given me any answer while I have sent email to them many times. Now, What can I do?

(I only received  a revision 12 months ago, and after I sent the revise version of the manuscript, I have not received any response. Also, a mailed them many times to everyone who I can find his/her email,  but no response. It's current status is under review.)


texts:
I just finished a five years bachelor study from university A, and started a Master+PhD in university B.

Given that I took several master courses during the bachelor, I would only need to take one course more and write a thesis (which I can do based on the one I wrote for the bachelor) to obtain a master from university A.
Moreover, despite the fact of being separated physically, they offered me the opportunity to finish the master while doing the PhD in university B.

I think it is a good idea to do this given that I already have much of the work done, and it would enhance my knowledge. My question is,

  Should I let university B know about this?

When I talk about letting the university know, I mean my advisor.
I think I could do it without letting him know because it would be like one of my "free time activities" (and the research is independent between the universities, it's not like I'm using some knowledge from university B to obtain a degree from university A), but given that it is a research-like activity, I think it is a good idea to let him know. However, I'm not sure how he could take it.

What would you do in this situation?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Where and how to search for research problems?

texts:
Where and how can an independent researcher search for research problems in a paticular field, assuming that a person doesn't have direct contacts with anyone knowleageable about that field?

And once you get a research problem , how can you get an idea about the approximate time that will be required to solve that problem? My area of interest is mathematics.


texts: Should I describe failed iterations in methodology?

texts:
I'm currently writing my Master's thesis in machine learning.

My understanding of academic papers are that you describe what you did in methodology section and what the outcome was in the results section.

But my problem is that the research was very iterative, meaning that the results from early experiments made med tweak the parameters and the algorithm until the results finally could tell me something about my original research question.

Should I describe this process in the methodology and show the results of the earlier experiments, or would it be better to only describe what was done in the final experiment? And if the first alternative is better, should I describe the results of the early experiments in the methodology since they shaped the parameters of the later experiments?


texts: How was higher education done before the university system?

texts: I know the university system as it is understood today dates at least as far back as the 13th century or perhaps even to the time of Charlemagne, Alcuin of York, et al., but how was higher education handled before universities? Was it by private tutoring?


texts: Why are language test scores requirements sometimes higher for undergraduate than graduate admission?

texts:
I’ve been searching for the graduate requirements of some university. As regards the language test scores, TOEFL>90 or IELTS>7 are necessary. However, I stumbled upon undergraduate requirements: TOEFL>100 (>25 each) or IELTS>7.5.

In my opinion, graduate studies are more complex thus require higher levels/skills, so what could be reasons that the graduate scores are lower than the undergraduate ones?


texts: How can I create a google scholar profile without publicaitons?

texts:
I'm currently doing my master's in physics. I have written a few articles which are yet to be communicated. But I'm graduating within 3 months due to which I will lose my institute email ID. And since the creation of a profile on google scholar mandates an institution ID as well as articles, Im at a loss. I have done a minor project due to which I have a minor thesis document at hand and I have seen scholar profiles where the first publication kept on it is not published in any journal but instead was a thesis report. Is there anyway I could use my minor thesis to open a google scholar profile? It would be nice if I could know where to upload my thesis so that it would be searchable on google scholar.
Thanks in advance!


texts: Is it appropriate to submit a previously presented workshop paper to a peer-reviewed journal?

texts:
I have a paper that was presented at an NRC workshop and was not peer reviewed.  Moreover, although this work is accessible at an NRC website, it is clear from reading the literature that search engines do not discover the paper and no one is aware of its existence.

Is it ethical to submit this paper to a peer-reviewed journal for publication?


texts: When you cite a paper, is it a good idea to email the cited author(s)?

texts:
Inspired from this question, I think the reverse can be an interesting discussion so I will set up an artificial example.

Suppose I cite XYZ in a published or under review paper. I am not affiliated or have had past contact with the author(s), so we are personally unknown to each other. This can also include a passing chat in a conference/ seminar, but certainly not something regular or memorable. For ease, let us assume that the citation is of some importance, i.e. it is a key paper and my work relies on it, or the results/ methodology are related. This, therefore, excludes "lit review" or "professional/ courtesy/ standard" citations. My intentions are honest: I genuinely intend to say "thank you, your work is good and it helped me a lot, feel free to contact me in the future" and do not intend to trade citations, disguise a suggestion (Trojan horse) or have a hidden agenda. I would be happy to discuss further, or end up working with XYZ in the future, but the purpose of the email is not that.

Given the above, is it good practice to politely email, Tweet or PM the author(s) with something along the the following lines?

  I found your paper XYZ to be interesting and relevant to my work, and I cited it in my recent paper ABC. My paper is related to yours in Way 1, Way 2 and Way 3. I believe you would be happy to know that a colleague found your work to be useful and I took the liberty of contacting you. Please consider me open for future contact and feel free to email me with any thoughts you may have.

If yes, when is that true? Conversely, under which circumstances can such an email be seen as unprofessional, impolite or suspicious? Are such emails considered sound academic/ professional practice, or is there a danger to be misunderstood, appear offensive or seen as having other intentions? Basically, is it a good idea or will it backfire spectacularly?


texts: Are there many countries in which universities pay PhD students a wage comparable to a basic job in industry?

texts:
I should soon complete my masters degree in engineering and have decided to apply for a PhD after I finish.

An issue I face is that I cannot afford to not receive a wage that I could for example get by going into industry. So far I have been very fortunate to study for free in Scotland and Switzerland - and during my time in Switzerland it became apparent that the PhD students not only didn't have to pay fees but in fact were employed as staff of the University and received a good wage. As a comparison in Scotland you would normally have your doctorate fees covered by the project funding but would only receive a modest stipend on which it would be a real struggle to get by upon fully depending on circumstance. Further, in other countries, I know it is normal to pay your fees for doing the PhD and receive no stipend whatsoever.

My question is: are there many other countries in which, as you do in Switzerland, you receive a staff wage comparable to a wage you would receive from going straight into a job in industry? The only other countries I'm aware of in which this is the culture are Denmark and Sweden.


texts: Is it counterproductive to read very long text books during an MSc program?

texts:
One of the professors for my MSc in Computer Science told me that students should not read textbooks that have more than (around) 250 pages during the 4-month semesters of coursework. The reason is, according to him, that a 4-month semester is a limited time to study and successfully pass all the courses. Trying to read big/heavy textbooks is nothing but a waste of time, and it reduces the chance of getting good grades.
Have you ever heard about this theory before? Is this theory very popular at your university?


texts: I just found out about a better methodology after already writing thesis - how should I prepare for my defense in 3 weeks?

texts:
I have written a thesis that seeks to analyze the ideological thinking of a newspaper through its editorials in a political situation during a certain period of time. I couldn’t count on my Thesis Advisor and I have written my thesis by myself.

My methodology is simple. In short, I made a compilation of information about the problem, then I selected 20 meaningful dates during the political climate in question, so I had a sample of 20 editorials: 1 per each meaningful date. Then, after checking out the editorials I found 8 units of analysis and made a Content Analysis to find the expressions used on the editorials.  That's how I found the newspaper’s judgments, attitudes and attributes about diverse events and characters (important people) related to the political situation. These represent the variables or categories that would demonstrate the newspaper’s ideological posture.

Nevertheless, after applying this methodology (contents analysis) in my thesis, I read about Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). This is the most appropriate method to analyze the ideological thinking of a newspaper. Even that, my Advisor approved my thesis and I must defend it in three weeks. I am afraid that in my defense someone asked me why I used Content Analysis instead of ACD, being my thesis a qualitative investigation. I do not know how to answer appropriately. I would like to read your opinions and recommendations, my friends.


texts: What advantages and disadvantages should I consider in deciding whether to publish my academic book traditionally or self-publish?

texts:
I am an amateur mathematician. I am writing a research monograph in the field of abstract mathematics (general topology, specifically).

Should I publish it traditionally or self-publish?

There are many benefits of self-publishing (e.g with Lulu) an academic work:

No need to tremble awaiting my book to be rejected by a peer review. No responses like "first publish in articles, only then make a book". I am in full control what I want to publish.
I don't pay the publisher 80-90% of my revenue. (This also may make AdWords marketing of my book profitable and thus I can do a rather huge advertisement of my book myself using AdWords. I suspect, this may over-perform traditional publishers in the number of sales.)
I am in a full control of my book. No forced need to change something, if an editor's opinion differs from my own.
No need to convert it to LaTeX, I can use my preferred software such as TeXmacs.
The book goes into Amazon and other distribution channels anyway.

I can pay a professional scientific editor to edit my book for paid, as a kind of business investment.

Peer review is intended to choose which books are published and which are not. I can do fine without peer review, allowing the buyers of my book to decide for themselves.

Well, a potential buyer may prefer books published by a big publisher, but it (in my opinion) can be well replaced with big red letters "Edited and checked for errors by professor XXX."

Drawbacks which I know:

It may not be as good for my academic carrier as traditional academic publishing. (It does not matter for me anyway, as I am not a professional academic.)
Not sure if my book goes into university libraries (please comment on this issue).

I've pointed many benefits of self-publishing. What are drawbacks (except of pointed by me)?

And one more specific question: Is the number of books sold if using a traditional publisher, likely to greatly overperform the number of books sold if self-publishing? If yes, why?


texts: Should I ask permission of my co-authors when republishing an article?

texts:
In the university that I am working, which is more technically than research oriented, they want me to publish one of my past articles in a faculty magazine that they are planning to print. I have chosen one from the IEEE, and I have read that they have that possibility. I would like to know if I should mention that to my other co-authors or is it not necessary?

Thanks for your help


texts: How can a PhD holder safely negotiate the salary level for a TVL E13 position?

texts:
Unlike the question Safely negotiate a salary for a PhD offer - Germany where the goal was to negotiate the % of the salary of a PhD position, my post instead focuses on the specific level (Stufe) of a 100% TVL E13 position offered to a PhD holder.
Additional details:

The field is CS. So, AFAIK first-year PhD students usually start at Stufe 1 of a 100% TVL E13. So, it seems unfair to let a postdoc start at that level too.
My PhD has not been obtained in Germany, but I spent slightly more than three years working on very similar topics/responsibilities as the ones envisioned in the new position.
I have no competing offers with a higher level.

How can I safely negotiate a higher level/Stufe if the human resources put me on the first level? Do I need support from the new professor? Or the PhD advisor (though not in Germany)?
I have read here that this is likely to depend on HR, but if some of you have some tips, they would be more than welcome.
PS: I have also checked this, this and this. But they do not answer the question of how to negotiate, especially if one's PhD is not from Germany.


texts: I have a degree but it isn't actually what it looks like it is. How do I list it on my CV?

texts:
Due to various department sortings and organizations, I have a degree that is, functionally, a computer science degree but because it belonged to the College of Mathematics, the degree is formally "Mathematics".

Unfortunately this leads to many employers thinking that I have a mathematics background when the reality is far from this: I don't think like a mathematician or particularly enjoy its work.

Is there something I can do with my CV to reduce this bias? Is it as simple as changing "Mathematics" to "Computer science" even if it isn't the official title of the degree? Are there other options?


texts: Not sure if a postdoc is for me. Terrible at quantitative methods

texts:
I am a finishing PhD student in the field of cognitive neuroscience. During my PhD program I was underperforming than anyone else in my department (in my belief at least). Although I liked research, or at least some aspects of it, I had become so emotionally exhausted in the absence of support in many respects, and recently just wanted to leave academia as soon as I finish the degree. So, when I had started applying for postdoctoral positions in the last winter, thinking that I should at least give it a shot, I never ever expected that any reasonably-minded PI would show an interest in hiring me after looking at my CV. But surprisingly, several PIs wanted to interview me and I even got a few offers. (BTW I hope this can encourage some people who are depressed and discouraged just like I have been. I was in terrible shape in past years and needed medication at some point).

So, right now, I am considering the job offers thinking whether I really want to take up this opportunity. At the back of my mind I want to become successful again as an academic researcher although I am still feeling tired. I guess I like research in general, but I also have a serious math/stat anxiety, which is terrible. I did not have a solid training on math or stat in college (wasn't a STEM major) nor did I have experience as an RA or so like other people. I know that these are all lame excuses after all the years in the doctoral program. I am a very slow learner when it comes to quantitative aspects, and my advisor was not being really helpful in many aspects.

I think my strength as a researcher is that I can generate interesting and creative ideas. According to my advisor my works are creative. Also, I like to read others' papers and think about them in my head. I also like to write. Those things come naturally to me, although other people might also feel that way, and having a great skill set in coding and analyzing might be a lot more precious these days. Anyways, with all the job offers that I have to decide soon, I find myself worrying about whether I would be able to quickly pick things up in the new place, which is not a good sign. I will do my absolute best to strengthen my math and programming skills if I decide to give it another shot, but I am not sure if these things can be overcome. Also at this point, I might as well be happy outside academia.

I would like to hear what other people think about this situation. Thank you!

I am adding this after reading some comments below. Sorry if this was not general enough and considered off-topic. I am new to this StackExchange site and still figuring how to use it. My question, at a more general level, would be whether postdoctoral training can improve one's poor quantitative skills, especially given the fast pace of research that is required of a postdoc.
Thank you for all the great comments so far.


texts: Left off four publications and counting by old PI? What to do?

texts:
I had worked in a research position before moving to my current job.  While working there I synthesised numerous compounds and developed the methodologies to do so, I sent these off to a number of collaborators in large quantities.

I have now found out that around four papers have been published using the materials that I prepared and sent off enabling the work.  However, on all publications.. in which my old PI is on.. it states in acknowledgements synthesised by her.. She never set foot in the lab never mind having the ability to make or synthesise them! I also still get regular messages from 'her' staff asking me for help on how to do work in which she has laid out the claim she is the world expert... they cant prepare the compounds since I have left.

Its getting a bit sickening now seeing this happening multiple times and being completely cut off and complete credit stolen, not even an acknowledgement.

Is there any thing I can do?

Many Thanks


texts: How to prepare for first year university after college diploma?

texts:
This will be my first year attending university after obtaining an advanced diploma from a local college. I will be going into first year Computer Science in September and graduated this year with a diploma for Computer Systems Technology.

I am concerned about the first year courses however. First year Computer Science requires Chemistry 1, Algebra 1, Calculus 1, Discrete Mathematics 1 as well as the comp sci courses. It's been 3 years since I've had to do any higher level math and chemistry and I'm not sure how I'll adapt to the different learning style and intensity of university.

How can I prepare myself for these courses and university over the summer?


texts: Professor wrote me a recommendation; I need another one with short notice but he hasn't replied

texts:
About a month ago I asked a professor for a letter of recommendation with 2 weeks notice, he agreed and wrote it. I found out about another opportunity but the deadline is tomorrow; I sent him an email Tuesday night asking if he could write me a letter of recommendation again but he hasn't replied. Could he possibly not be willing to write me another recommendation?

He doesn't have office hours until tomorrow at 2:00 which seems really late to be bringing it up to him. But, I don't want to bother him by sending him another email in case he's ignoring my request on purpose.


texts: Getting to assist in the course of your choice during TAship

texts:
I am an incoming Graduate Student on a TAship.

I have completed the course in my undergraduation and am currently working on a project in the same area.
I wish to know what else can be done to improving my chances of securing TAship in the preferred course.

Is it advisable to express one's enthusiasm in the subject with the professor?


texts: Writing a letter of recommendation as a graduate student

texts:
I am a MA student who frequently works with undergraduates on projects. One student has asked me if I can write her a letter of recommendation for graduate school. Are there any risks to me submitting a letter, as opposed to her finding a faculty member (who likely would not be in the same field as her interests)? For graduate school applications how much does the position of the person writing a recommendation letter matter, as opposed to his/her academic familiarity with the student? I have already advised her to check with the programs she is applying to in case they have requirements.

Edit: I realize I left this unclear before-- she has two tenured professors willing to write letters. If I agreed to, I would be the third letter. The department is small, so there might not be too many options for an additional letter.


texts: Is there a multi-supervisor multi-author PhD thesis culture anywhere in the world?

texts: Current PhD training culture involves supervisor student relationship, atleast at my institute. There is a risk associated with single point failures that might arise as a result of testing a hypothesis that might result in a "failure" during a PhD. The reasons can be from lazy student, inept supervision, optimistic problem. This results in finally rushing to a hodge podge thesis. Due to the current science attaining interdisciplinary nature, are there examples of multi author multi supervisor thesis being undertaken anywhere in the world?


texts: How appropriate or common is it to recommend referees for your paper?

texts:
I sometimes receive review requests that says the authors have recommended me, and I know them in person but I have no COI, so I do my best to objectively evaluate their paper. Also, I do suspect some labs might be recommending me as I always end up reviewing their papers (or maybe the editor thinks I am a good fit, I don't know).
When I submit however, I feel this is not very appropriate. I don't mind reviewing for others who recommended me but I don't recommend anyone because I don't think it is ethical, but I have been having problems with the reviewers simply not having adequate expertise on the field, though they are quite arrogant so in the end I receive reviews that are low-quality (and I mean this, they are not just mean reviews or anything, I mean reviews that are technically dead wrong that they don't get the scope, methodology not even what problem is being solved) How common is it to recommend referees for your paper? Am I missing something?


texts: Search for authors on Google Scholar by their field of study and country

texts:
On Google Scholar, you can do an author search based on keywords. For example, if I find an author who has "Robotics" as a keyword, and I click on that keyword, it lists all the authors with that keyword, in order of the number of citations.

What I would like to do, is see that same list, but:

1) Only for authors in my country

And:

2) By combining it with another keyword, e.g. all the authors who have "Robotics" and "Machine Learning".

Is this kind of advanced author search possible?


texts: is it ethical for a supervisor to exert pressure on a student because he is doing a project with a company?

texts:
I am currently a first year master student. My supervisor is having a project with a car company and this work was mainly assigned to a Phd student in my lab who volunteered for it. During the work, my professor got a side ideal from that project and assigned it for me as my master thesis topic. But for some reason, my supervisor keep exerting pressure and pushing me to run his deadline with the company and his demand is sometime ridiculously impossible to achieve. And after couple months, I realized that if I continued doing this topic, I might have to postpone my graduation. I am paying my study expense from a student loan with 0% of interest, and the provider only give me the loan within 2 years. And I am feeling that my supervisor is dictating me to do free work for him instead of guiding me to get my master degree.
What should I do in this situation?


texts: Can research project scholarship offers ever get retracted?

texts:
I got an offer (written) for a research project scholarship, emailed the supervisor about the start date and they asked me to come in mid December.

I sent an email back confirming that I can start on that date. In the same email I asked them where I should meet them on the said date.

I might be overly paranoid of losing my scholarship, but it's been over a week and they have not replied.

Do professors ever have second thoughts about a potential research student that they've basically already confirmed that they will be working with? I know that they may just be busy, and my question was trivial, but would it be smart to give them another nudge?