Datasets:

---

flax-sentence-embeddings

/

stackexchange_title_body_jsonl

like 0

Follow

Flax-sentence-embeddings 28

[ "Is experience as a Lecturer in Europe/UK considered relevant in Indian inst. (IIT/IIIT/NIT) for Assistant Professor positions in CS?", "Is a Lecturer in the UK or Europe considered pretty much the same as an Assistant Professor in the US, considering the fact that this Lecturer position involves teaching, research and service?\n\nDo Indian institutions (IIT/IIIT/NIT) consider the experience as a Lecturer in Europe or the UK equivalent to the US for Assistant Professor positions in CS?" ]

[ "united-states", "united-kingdom", "assistant-professor", "lecturer", "india" ]

[ "Can you get a Mathematics PhD if you're an engineer?", "I'm a Software Engineering and Mathematics student. And I'll probably get my engineering degree much sooner than my Maths degree (I'm not sure I'll get it, but I'll try, as Eng. takes a lot of time off my day).\n\nSo, my question is pretty simple: Can an engineer get a Maths doctorate?\n\nFor further details, my engineering course has pretty basic maths stuff: Calculus, a bit of logic, introductory number theory, graph theory, some numerical analysis, etc.\n\nHowever, I'm enrolled in a pure maths course which covers pretty 'advanced' stuff, will it matter that I passed these subjects even if I don't get my math degree?\n\nE: Please consider reopening this question, I've added details that may be relevant to this particular scenario." ]

[ "phd", "mathematics", "changing-fields", "engineering" ]

[ "What are the negative effects to the first author when adding coauthors?", "There are many questions on this site which involve authorship disputes and ethicality. \n\nIn fact, there are often people who are greatly distressed when their contributions to a paper are \"lesser\" than they expected, for whatever reason. This could range from having a co-first author added, or having other secondary authors added to the authorship list. Another famous example woudl be the Alpher-Bethe-Gamow paper regarding Big Bang nucleogenesis, where the first author Alpher greatly resented the addition of Bethe to the authorship list. \n\nHowever, I do not understand why adding co-authors would be a bad idea. Surely, the fact that you were helped by another person means that they should be co-authors on the paper, as long as they made significant intellectual contributions. \n\nNone of the fields mentioned in this question regarding authorship norms had any explanation of the potential detrimental effects additional authors have to the first author. \n\nWhat, then, are the possible negative effects that the first author can suffer if other authors are added to the paper?\n\nNote: I do not intend to ask regarding issues where the original author is removed from consideration, only those where the first author is kept, but other coauthors are added to the authorship list." ]

[ "publications", "journals", "authorship" ]

[ "Reference manager that sorts by number of citations", "This question is related to: How to sort search results from SCOPUS or Web of Knowledge by number of citation in a specific field?\nbut a little bit different.\n\nIs there a citation manager that keeps number of citations current for articles that are found in common databases? I have looked at popular ones like Mendeley, ReadCube, and others but haven't seen this feature.\n\nI think that if number of citations was a field in a manager database, it would probably be easily sortable." ]

[ "citations", "software", "bibliometrics", "reference-managers" ]

[ "What do I do if I feel there are many things which need to be learnt to do my research?", "I am a second year PhD student in probability from the UK. I enjoy what I do, but here is a problem:\n\nas I dig deep into my study, I realize I have to read a lot of stuff I do not fully understand and they often arise in fields of study which are not probability, but related areas: e.g. PDE theory, functional analysis.\n\nI have a basic understandings about some of these things, sometimes I might even feel I have enough to get by, but I am unsatisfied. This is perhaps due to the fact I never studied some of these topics as an undergraduate, but to be fair, no one told me an understanding of PDE theory is very useful to probability (I even think this only depends on what you do)\n\nI do want to know more and previously I tried to attend multiple courses in a term to make up for some of this - this was not effective. Going to 1 or 2 courses a term is fine, but doing any more is a big drain of time if I want to fully understand the material lecture. \n\nSo have others experienced this? What is the best way of getting around this?" ]

[ "research-process" ]

[ "Should I put reading group coordination / participation on CV?", "I am an active participant in an academic reading group. I am co-coordinator, meaning I help pick topics, schedule talks, coordinate food, update the website, send emails, etc. I've also presented a couple times when we can't get presenters at the last minute. I think a link on my website is fine, but does this activity warrant a place on an academic CV?\n\n(EDIT: I'm a second-year PhD student if that matters.)" ]

[ "cv", "extracurricular" ]

[ "How to improve self-learning as a PhD student?", "As a doctoral student, you take some classes, but most of what you do needs material that you must gather from papers, conferences, and other sources. With limited possibilities for communication with authors and such, what's the best way to learn these necessary concepts?\n\nFor example, I read a paper (from a big name publication) presenting a novel approach to SVMs with new constraints on the objective function. The description of the optimization was vague, but I needed to use this technique for my own work and my optimization skills are limited at best. I'm sure to a reviewer with the right expertise, the description was fine though.\n\nAs a PhD student, one can only take so many courses in so many subjects. Nevertheless, some things (like optimization theory in the above example) are not exactly easily self-taught, and surely not in a few weeks.\n\nSo I ask you, what is the best strategy to fill these gaps without devoting entire courses to the subject?\n\nAdditionally, how do you do that without just learning things piecemeal? Learning something useful for a hyper-specific case is essentially worthless once circumstances change. How do you balance the need to know both these hyper-specific examples and the more general ideas while doing this gap-filling?" ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "learning" ]

[ "How to remove a co-author from an article published on arXiv?", "I have published an article on arXiv. I associated person X as co-author whereas he didn't contribute at any step of the paper. Note that he is not registered as owner of the article on arXiv and I didn't give him the password to access as author.\n\nWhen I wanted to submit the paper to a journal, X began to do some harassment. After that, I decided to remove his name from the article on arXiv.\n\nQuestions: How can I remove a co-author from an article published on arXiv? Can he claim that he is the co-author on arXiv or for a journal submission?" ]

[ "publications", "journals", "arxiv" ]

[ "What is a professor called who teaches only one class and who works in the industry during the day-a visiting professor still?", "She teaches a class at night and she works in the industry during the day. She has a PhD though. \n\nIs this still called a \"Visiting professor\" (which I thought meant you were permanently employed at another university as opposed to a job)? \n\nMoreover, is there a distinction made between a visiting assistant professor vs visiting associate professor vs just visiting professor?" ]

[ "phd", "graduate-admissions", "titles", "assistant-professor", "associate-professor" ]

[ "Fiancée has a position lined up, but none of the universities in the area are hiring. What else can I do to get an academic position in the area?", "I find myself in an unfortunate two-body problem situation. My fiancée got two offers earlier this year, one a post doc and the other a tenure track position. She deferred the tenure track for a year and is currently halfway through her post doc. The university she got the tenure track position from was happy to do this for her so she could broaden her teaching and research skills.\n\nI am a PhD student who is finishing up in May, but I find myself not having many good options for employment. The area in which she got the tenure track position is very small and there are not many options for people with a math PhD outside of working for one of the universities. Obviously I knew this already. However, none of them are hiring for this coming year.\n\nThe two body problem in academia is a classic problem and it's not one that is easily remedied. I'd really hate to be a lecturer because that's a really rough lifestyle and I have a lot of research I want to do. I have at least three or four papers lined up for the next year or so in addition to one I have published, two that I have submitted, and another I'm submitting in the next week or two. I'm starting to feel a lot of dread about this. What should I do (or even my fiancée do) to get an academic position for the fall (ideally in the area she will be in)?" ]

[ "mathematics", "job-search", "two-body-problem" ]

[ "Should I correct a single trivial typo in a submitted manuscript after they rejected the first submission for having too many typos?", "I sent a paper to a journal and they replied that there were many typos that needed to be corrected. I tried my best to fix these errors, and, after reading the paper numerous times, I resubmitted the paper. Now, however, I found a trivial typo in a comment. My question is : should I wait for their response or tell them about this typo now?" ]

[ "publications", "journals", "editors", "errors-erratum" ]

[ "How to motivate students to complete low-point homework?", "I teach a course consisting of about 50 assignments. These include readings, many short writing assignments, and group projects. Additionally, students complete 2 large projects as the mid-term and final, entirely covering all of the material.\n\nI noticed many students skipped lots of homework. Some skipped 6 weeks of work completely. I assumed the workload was too high, but I surveyed those who did the work and nobody reported spending more than 2-3 hours per week. Some students had determined that each assignment had such a low value, they did not bother to complete the work. These students all did very poorly on the final.\n\nMy supervisor will not be happy to find that I am failing 25% of the students. For future terms, how can I motivate students to complete everything?" ]

[ "teaching", "grades", "motivation", "homework" ]

[ "All three of my professors asked me to write the first draft of my Letter of Recommendation.", "I just finished writing for one of them but I still have two more to write. Though my interactions with all three of them have been on different occasions, there are still limited things I can write about myself without overdoing things.\nI am just not sure how should I approach writing the rest two? Should I just repeat everything I wrote in the first one?\nI am quite sure they will add/remove a couple of lines only. So if I just copy the contents, they will look all the same. If I don't then I fear I will miss important points about myself." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "professors", "recommendation-letter" ]

[ "TVöD pay scale for 1st year PhD in Bayern", "In my contract, it says salary is according to \"TVöD level 13\". Can anyone tell me which table belongs to this category from all the tables in öffentlicher-dienst.info. There are many TVöD tables and I don't know which one is mine.\n\nMy tax class is 1 and working hours is full time and position is in Bayern. \n\nThanks for the help in advance!!" ]

[ "phd", "germany", "salary" ]

[ "How can I switch from an MBA to a Masters program in a different subject?", "I am an international student currently enrolled in a MBA program. This is my first semester here and I want to transfer to a different program in a different college. I have a 3-year BSC (Honors) in computing but my grades weren't great. I want to transfer to a MS in Computer Science. However, it seems that most programs require me to have taken certain classes like data structures and statistics, which were not offered in my bachelors program. My plan is to transfer from my MBA program to a bachelors program, take those classes, and then take the GRE and apply for MS. Is that possible? What other options do I have?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "masters", "computer-science", "transfer-student" ]

[ "Software that skips pauses in lecture recordings", "I enjoy listening to lectures at 1.5x speed because I retain the same amount of information while saving time. I find that 2x speed is usually too fast except when the speaker pauses. I'm curious if there is a video playback software that plays at 1.5x speed, and skips pauses at 2x speed. A pause could be any stop (or substantial decrease) in audio for 1-2 seconds while the same image is displayed on screen." ]

[ "online-learning", "learning", "lecture-notes" ]

[ "Are there any careers in psychology, where you don't have to interact with people, for most time?", "I am a psychology student, just finished my BA. I like the subject psychology, but i just don't like interacting with people. I would prefer to work alone. I wouldn't mind once in a while interactions such as once a month but being around people everyday is too draining." ]

[ "career-path", "job-search", "psychology" ]

[ "What's behind the teen prodigies inventing things?", "Every once in a while you see a headline similar to \"17 year old student finds a cure for cancer!\". Here are some examples too.\n\nWhat's behind this? I find it hard to believe that a teenager without any academic education (or minimal education) can solve a problem that many experienced, well-funded, scientists have been working on for years. Or make a technological breakthrough that billion dollar international tech firms could not reach by themselves.\n\nAre they really teen prodigies with brilliant minds or are they working in a team of people who know what they are doing that actually do all the work?" ]

[ "science" ]

[ "If I delay my graduation for one semester and get accepted to a Phd program, can the submission be delayed?", "I'm in my third year, and I was originally planning to graduate end of my 5th year, but now I changed my plans, I'm going to graduate at the end of my 4th year.However, there is a pair of courses called Turkish I and Turkish II that every students needs to take in Turkey in any university, and I didn't take the first one the fall semester. Now, the next fall semester, I'm going to study abroad for one semester with Erasmus (hopefully). \n\nIf I apply for a Phd program next year, and get accepted, at the end of my fourth year, practically I'm a graduated, expect officially I still need to take Turkish I course, which I'm hoping that I can take it in the summer term at the end of my 4th year (or maybe the fall semester of my 5th year). In such a case, is it possible for my submission to be delayed for one semester ? What are my options in this case ?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "undergraduate", "graduation" ]

[ "Is it useful to add excerpts from teaching evaluations in a teaching statement?", "Is it useful to add excerpts from teaching evaluations in a teaching statement included in a faculty application?\n\nA fair amount of teaching statements seem to contain some, but since excerpts are typically cherry picked I wonder whether the admission committee cares about them." ]

[ "faculty-application", "course-evaluation", "teaching-statement" ]

[ "What should i do if my college refused to issue me a degree after paying off my debt?", "I'm an African American. I had all my degrees here in the United States, my Bsc and my two masters degrees. Guess what? I was refused a diploma for my EMBA bcos i couldn't pay a just bal of $1050 on my student account. Of course it was \"pay from the pocket option\". I paid off the outstanding balance yet i could obtain my diploma because i did not apply for a graduation at the year i completed my program. Therefore, i was told my diploma will be dated current yrs (2 years after) despite i took graduation foto and attended the graduation ceremony. I'm still confuse i can be denied of my diploma even after paying off the balance. I'm in search of a lawyer who can help me with this case. Why will this college refuse to issue me a diploma stating the year i complete the course after paying off? As for the graduation application, i did sunmitted it of which i called their attention to check the email. Unfortunately, the school said they can not retrieve two years back email of a student. Can you imagine?\nWhat should i do if my college refused to issue me a degree after paying off my debt?\n Pls i need your advice on this issue folks. Thnks" ]

[ "graduation" ]

[ "Is there a chance for a new university in another country to accept my passed courses/classes?", "I'm looking to transfer to another university in another country - University of Geneva.\n\nIs there a chance that they will accept my passed classes in homeland university as all/most of my classes are the same with the one I'm willing to transfer?\n\nI'm looking to finish the last year in University of Geneva.\n\nThanks" ]

[ "university", "transfer-student" ]

[ "Viability: Physics undergrad to Neuroscience/Psychology PhD?", "I'm currently an undergraduate physics major entering my senior year in Fall 2017. However, I've had a change of interests and I wish to pursue something along the lines of psychology or neuroscience for graduate school. I've only had the scantest formal psychology education, but I do have a 4.0/4.0 overall GPA in my favor (as a different major, but I've also consistently done well in my humanities electives).\n\nHow viable is such a transition from the point of view of a potential PhD advisor in these two fields? I know that there is cross-pollination across fields such as physics and engineering, but do PhD programs in neuroscience, for example, offer similar leeway?\n\nPS: I should also mention that I'm an international student studying in the US, and I would also want to do a PhD strictly within the US." ]

[ "graduate-school", "united-states", "physics", "psychology" ]

[ "Sharing Code In thesis", "My question is about sharing code in my thesis. I ran simulations using ready data in my field from a book. After that, I compared the results with those from the book. Do I need to share my code or is sharing it optional? Because I already explained the methodology that I used for my thesis. \nLooking forward to your answer. I tried to find a proper answer but I couldn't find it." ]

[ "thesis", "code" ]

[ "Citing a work authored by “A. Smith with B. Jones”", "I have a book, for simplicity’s sake let’s say it’s written by “A. Smith with B. Jones”. Note the with, not and. This how the authorship is credited both on the cover and inside the book.\n\nThis is because one of the writers did by far the majority of the work. So, how should I cite it? I am considering the following options:\n\n\nIn-text citation:\n\n\n (Smith & Jones, p. 11) \n \n (Smith with Jones, p. 11)\n\nReference:\n\n\n Smith, A. & B. Jones 2020. A book's title. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. \n \n Smith A. with B. Jones 2020. A book's title. Chicago: University of Chicago Press." ]

[ "authorship", "citation-style" ]

[ "How to speak fluent English being a mathematics teacher?", "I am an assistant professor of mathematics (and pursuing in service Ph.D in mathematics ) a non native English speaker. I was not bad at English during my school days. Gradually, my effeciancy in speaking English seems to have gone down badly through years of pursuing mathematics (a dry subject without language). How do i improve myself now with minimum time and effort?" ]

[ "mathematics", "language" ]

[ "How to recruit strong REU (undergrad research) students from other institutions?", "Occasionally we find ourselves with some REU (research experience for undergraduates) money in hand for summer research on a particular project. This funding is allocated for undergraduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents to gain research experience. \n\nSometimes we can not find eligible students at our own institution who are both qualified and interested in working on the project, and we would like to recruit some strong candidates from other institutions. (Or, even if we do have qualified students locally, we want to give opportunities to qualified students at other institutions.) \n\nHowever, we are not an \"REU site\" with a regular program in place for recruiting undergrads, handling applications, etc. Rather, we sometimes apply for and receive \"REU supplement\" funding for a particular project. Then we are left with a recruiting problem.\n\nHow does one go about finding and recruiting strong undergraduate students from other institutions, when there's no pipeline in place?" ]

[ "research-undergraduate", "recruiting" ]

[ "Improving chances of selection into a course at university", "I am currently entering my third year at university, unfortunately my grades in the second year were lower second honours (which places me in the bottom 40 percentile) putting me at a disadvantage when picking my major subject module for this upcoming year.\n\nWe are not asked to submit a CV or attend an interview for admission into major subjects for the third year.\n\nStudents who pick a specific major subject are also asked to pick a minor subject - selection for minors is usually not deemed to be competitive. However, it turns out the minor subject I have chosen (entrepreneurship) was actually over subscribed and thus allocation has been delayed for the course organisers to make a choice as to which students are selected.\n\nFor the past two years at university I have spent a lot of time getting involved in, and reaching elected executive positions within entrepreneurship societies and groups (very rare for an undergraduate).\n\nI feel like if the course organisers were to know about my additional interest, I would easily be accepted into the course. Every other student I know (in my academic year) does not show an active interest in entrepreneurship except for a few who only picked the course as a minor subject.\n\nHowever I believe the course organisers are forced to make their decision based on grades alone, this may result in my rejection.\n\nWould it be acceptable for me to email the course organiser and explain my situation (and interest in his course) or would that be deemed as an unfair attempt to skew the decision making in my favour?\n\nEDIT: As well as undergrads studying my subject the course is open to other undergraduates (in other subjects) MBA and Ph.D students. Making it difficult for the course organisers to make a decision based on grades alone (as many MBA or Ph.D students will have received their honours at a different university where the honours system cannot be objectively compared)." ]

[ "undergraduate" ]

[ "Difficulty with advisor's specialty", "I'm a PhD student, nearing the first half of my PhD.\n\nThe domain my advisor works in is not really something I love, and I'm more interested in different subjects.\nI see now that I didn't invest enough time studying what she does, and it's starting to bite me back.\nI didn't study her subject that much because I sort of tried to stay close to stuff I'm more comfortable with, and this results in me not doing much advanced stuff, and not getting results.\nBut I often regret that what I'm doing with her is not my cup of tea, and try to find ways, or dream of finding ways, to do stuff that's closer to my heart.\n\nI think the situation I'm in right now is kind of a \"worse of both worlds\", since I think I don't have the full gains of being right in the domain of my advisor, she can't help as much, and we can't really collaborate as much as if I were doing exactly what she does. \n\nMy main fear is that I will spend my time doing stuff that I don't really care for, while losing sight from what I would hope to do.\n\nI'm essentially asking the following question:\n\n\n Should I bite the bullet and invest myself fully in doing what my advisor does, or try to reduce damage by trying to change direction somehow?\n\n\nThe pros and cons that I see are the following:\n\nPros:\n\n\nThere is hope that were I to really invest myself in her discipline, I might come to enjoy it (I have the fuzzy idea that everything can become fun if you go far enough).\nAlso, maybe I could still direct it in directions closer to my heart (same problems, but approach it the way I like).\nEven though I might not like it, maybe once I got a result or two, I could feel OK-er about trying to change subjects, have more liberty.\nIt might be that the subjects I fancy from my position would actually be too hard, or boring once I started working on them.\n\n\nCons:\n\n\nBig time investment, with risks that it doesn't pay off in terms of results, and enjoyment.\nI'm not that good of a researcher, so it might be that I spend my PhD doing that, and find no time later to work on stuff I enjoy more.\n\n\nedit: My position so far is quite strongly on the \"bite the bullet\" side since it seems that's the option that would be least regrettable, and I have a pretty good relation with my advisor." ]

[ "phd" ]

[ "Is it ethical for a journal to cancel an accepted review request when they have obtained sufficient number of reviews to make a decision?", "Is it ethical for a journal to cancel an accepted review request when they have obtained sufficient number of reviews to make a decision?\n\nThis happened to me recently and I think this is not the first time. They set a deadline for submitting the review, and sent a reminder. I did not reply, as I felt that I should be able to meet the deadline and even if I couldn't, it should not be a problem to submit my review slightly later. I am in the midst of reviewing this paper, and have spent some time on it, when suddenly they told me that my review is no longer needed. \n\nI cannot know for sure if the way they work is as I described above, but that seems to be the case. \n\n\n\nEdit:\nSorry my mistake, they had actually sent only one reminder, not a few reminders, as I stated earlier.\n\nUpdate:\nThis is from the cancellation email I received earlier (note that I had accepted their request to review the paper less than a month ago): \n\n\n We have now received sufficient peer-review reports from other\n referees and would like to cancel our request for you to review the\n following manuscript:\n \n ...\n \n However, if you have already started your report, please forward any\n valuable comments you have as soon as possible. We apologize for any\n inconvenience this may cause and hope that we will be able to call on\n you to review for ... in the future.\n\n\nSince I have started reviewing the paper, I wrote to them saying that I would like to send my review as soon as possible. The journal agreed to accept my review. In their reply, they say\n\n\n Since we have received enough review reports and have processed this\n manuscript further, the link to submit your review report was closed\n automatically. We have reopened the link for you.\n\n\nI finished my review today and just submitted it to them. I could see from their system that there are two other reviewers, and both of them recommended minor revision. \n\nI know that I should have informed them if I missed the deadline, but other journals seem to be OK with this. I think a 2-3 week deadline that this particular publisher gave is a bit short. In my field, 3 months from submission to acceptance is really fast. The average is more like half a year. Some can take more than a year.\n\nAdditional point: \nIn this journal/publisher, communication with reviewers are not handled by the editor." ]

[ "peer-review" ]

[ "In a PhD program of study, what does \"emphasis on descriptive material\" mean?", "For example, an interdisciplinary PhD program that I am reading about says this about their program:\n\n\"The program differs from the regular departmental offerings in science mainly by its interdisciplinary approach and emphasis on mathematics and physics, with less emphasis on descriptive material from any one discipline.\"\n\nWhat does descriptive material mean here?" ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "graduate-school", "interdisciplinary" ]

[ "What is the \"books received\" section in journals?", "What is the \"books received\" section in journals? Is it the books that will be reviewed later on, or the ones that were not reviewed? Who can send their books to the \"books received\" section, and what's the point of it?" ]

[ "journals", "books" ]

[ "Is there any way to detect high tech (e.g. cell-phone assisted) academic dishonesty?", "Over the last few years, our university has seen a rise in high-tech academic dishonesty. We have a no electronics policy, except calculators when needed (even those now are provided by the school, and personal calculators are not allowed). However, students still sneak cell phones into the exam and use them in a very inconspicuous way. \n\nWe have had students take pictures (presumably with a cell phone) during an exam and have someone outside the room sending them back solutions. We have had them communicate with classmates somewhere else in the room (some have been caught this way giving the right answers to the wrong exam). We have had numerous students using their phones to store notes, copies of old exam solutions, etc., and use them as an aid during the exam (this is the most common). \n\nWe have caught some students, but I know it is a small fraction. Students will tell us they see cell phone use routinely during exams, but don't want to squeal on classmates because of anticipated reprisal. Our instructors are quite vigilant in watching the classroom, but it is very difficult to watch 30 to 70 students constantly. (Larger classes have multiple proctors.) Instructors have been informed of the classic cues as well. Our penalties are stiff (first offense, F in the course, second offense, student gets the boot from the school). However, students are still getting away with high-tech cheating. \n\nMy question is, does anyone have any sure fire ways of identifying students attempting to use cell phones or other high-tech cheating devices during exams? I'm looking for methods, electronic sniffers, etc." ]

[ "exams", "cheating", "technology" ]

[ "Editor asks for π to be written in roman", "My paper is accepted at MNRAS and in the stage of editing.\nThere is a section where I wrote an equation using the Greek letter π as to indicate the mathematical constant π.\nThe editor wrote:\n\nAuthor: When used to mean the numerical value 3.14, the Greek letter pi must always be written in roman. Please check all the notations throughout the text carefully\n\nI think this request is canned, so I doubt there is any typo or similar here.\nWhat exactly is π in roman? Shouldn't it be written in Greek? Is it a mistake of the editor or a misunderstanding from my side?" ]

[ "mathematics", "journals", "formatting" ]

[ "Am I obligated to finish my post-doc term before starting my tenure-track job?", "I am currently a postdoc at a research university. I had originally intended to stay at my postdoc for two years, and this was the understanding I had with my postdoc adviser.\n\nHowever, I decided to speculatively apply for a few faculty jobs, intending to defer any offers for a year. I have now obtained a faculty job offer to start at the end of one year of my postdoc.\n\nAfter much reflection, I believe that it is better for my family life not to ask for a deferral and to start the faculty job earlier.\nIn the event that I take the faculty job offer,\nI still intend to continue and finish the research work\nwhich I have started with my postdoc adviser,\nso I will not be hurting my adviser by starting but not finishing my postdoc work.\n\nQuestion: Do I have an ethical obligation to stay at my postdoc for two years, because that was my initial plan and was what I told my postdoc adviser?\nShould I expect him to be understanding when I choose what is best for my family? \n\nThe following timeline may explain the sequence of events more clearly:\n\n\nMarch 2014 I was applying for postdocs, and I told my potential postdoc advisor that I was intending to stay for two years at the university if he were to give me an offer.\nApril 2014 I was hired with a one-year contract starting August 2014. My adviser explains that there is a good chance my contract will be renewed at the end of the year.\nSept 2014 I decide to apply opportunistically for a few faculty positions just in case I can get a good offer, and intend to ask for a deferral, so that I would only start my faculty job in August 2016.\nI told my postdoc adviser that I was applying opportunistically only for a few jobs,\nand that if I got a job offer, I would ask for a deferral.\nJan 2015 I get a faculty job offer to start in August 2015.\nBy this time I changed my mind and feel that starting in 2015 is better for me and my family.\n\n\nAdditional relevant details:\n\n\nMy research area is applied mathematics,\nso the only requirements for my research are\na decent computer and an Internet connection.\nI can collaborate productively with my postdoc adviser effectively\neven if I am not physically in the same location as he is.\nI did tell my postdoc adviser that I received a job offer.\nHowever, my postdoc contract has not yet been renewed for the second year,\nand we have not yet had a conversation about when to renew the contract." ]

[ "job-search", "postdocs" ]

[ "My supervisor does not believe my abilities", "I am a third year PhD student, I have got a problem with my supervisor, that I think I cannot continue working with him.\nMy problem is that he keeps insisting this fact that I need to switch from PhD to Msc. He thinks always negatively about my personality and my abilities. My supervisor was nearly 1 year on sabbatical, and I had no support during 1 year, and this is only 4 months that he has come back from sabbatical. Although he admits that I had good progress, but he keeps treating me negatively. I have reached to this conclusion that I need to change my supervisor. I cannot work with a supervisor who keeps thinking about me negatively. How should I deal with this?" ]

[ "phd" ]

[ "Can I submit application on the deadline?", "If grad schools says the deadline is Jan. 15th, do I have to submit application before Jan. 15th? Or I can still submit on Jan. 15th?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "application", "deadlines" ]

[ "What is the most effective and efficient method of searching multiple journals for multiple keywords?", "My goal is to find articles related to invasive species management on a monthly basis. I have a list of species for my region (i.e keywords) and a list of journals. Although I enjoy combing through new issues of each journal, I'm wondering if there is a more automated, and less time consuming method.\n\nI've tried using Boolean operators in Google Scholar, but this limits the search to 2019 (not monthly) and isn't journal specific. I have also explored some programs (e.g. Stork), with limited results.\n\nAny insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks!" ]

[ "google-scholar", "literature-search" ]

[ "How to act as an editor?", "I have been on both the author and the referee sides, but I was wondering how editors approach their task. In particular, to what level of detail do you read the paper you assign to referees, and when (i.e. before or after receiving the reviews)?" ]

[ "publications", "peer-review", "editors" ]

[ "Printing a poster near a conference location at a cheap price", "For travel convenience, I prefer to print posters near the conference location. How can I efficiently look for the best poster printing price near a conference location?\n\n(In my experience, conference organizers sometime point to a printing business, but they typically tend to be not price optimized, far from it)" ]

[ "conference", "poster" ]

[ "Wrong font used for statement of purpose and résumé", "I used wrong font for my statement of purpose, rather than the one prescribed under the department’s specifications. Will this hamper my chances of admission into that university?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "statement-of-purpose", "formatting" ]

[ "Research paper - translated plagiarism?", "I'm writing a research paper in my native language, Serbian, on a specific electrical engineering and applied mathematics topic. Moreover, there are two published papers in English that hold much of the information I need.\n\nNow, the topic itself is quite new and is unknown in Serbia, and consequently at my university. My plan is to sum up the results of the two papers, further expand on the theory behind it (which is only arbitrarily mentioned in the English papers), and finally encapsulate the whole idea. \n\nSo, strictly speaking, I won't be doing any original research, in terms of experiments or mathematical breakthroughs, but rather synopsize and provide a desired perspective on a modern topic that is novel to my national academic environment. \n\n\n\nQ: If I reference the two English papers and their authors at the end of the paper, do I commit plagiarism? \n\nFor example, if I see a nice sentence in one of the papers, and I translate it into my paper, are the references at the end enough for crediting the author?\n\nFinally, is using the pictures from the two papers (with referencing them naturally) accepted practice? Or do I need to get the authors' permission to use them? \n\n\n\nFurthermore, does my paper still hold some kind of value, even though it doesn't provide original results? At the very least, it introduces a new, and very interesting topic to my faculty, and is generally a field I'm interested in researching, and eventually achieving some real and relevant results." ]

[ "publications", "plagiarism", "translations" ]

[ "What is the proper way to ask a professor to be your PhD supervisor?", "I sent an e-mail to a professor that I did undergraduate research about 9-10 years ago wondering if he could write a letter of recommendation. He replied saying that he didn't think he would have anything meaningful to say, which is completely understandable. I didn't really do any publication with the undergraduate research, but I did something that he called a sanity-check, which was work on a coding assignment on developing a Distributed File System using FUSE. The idea was that if an undergrad can do it, then the grad students should be able to do it. \n\nHe also asked if I submitted anything to him. I sent a reply on two e-books I published. One of the e-books was referenced in a Russian Defcon (I didn't write it in Russian). I also sent him a link to my blog. After that, I asked if he could be a Ph.D supervisor. \n\nI should have asked here before sending him the e-mail though. I'm not really sure if this is the appropriate way to go about finding a Ph.D supervisor." ]

[ "phd" ]

[ "Who owns the intellectual property for work you do on weekends?", "I am an academic at a UK university and have been asked to do some consultancy work for a company who wants to own all the IP for that work. I would only do this work on the weekends. Would my university have some claim over this IP? My university's written rules only say that the ownership of all inventions will be determined by Section 39 of the Patents Act 1977. This, on the face of it, seems to suggest they wouldn't have any rights over the IP.\n\nI am reluctant to ask my university until I am clear what the right answer is as their initial reaction to all enquiries is just to say no.\n\nSection 39 Patents Act 1977\n\n\n (1) Notwithstanding anything in any rule of law, an invention made by\n an employee shall, as between him and his employer, be taken to belong\n to his employer for the purposes of this Act and all other purposes\n if—\n \n (a) it was made in the course of the normal duties of the employee or\n in the course of duties falling outside his normal duties, but\n specifically assigned to him, and the circumstances in either case\n were such that an invention might reasonably be expected to result\n from the carrying out of his duties; or\n \n (b) the invention was made in the course of the duties of the employee\n and, at the time of making the invention, because of the nature of his\n duties and the particular responsibilities arising from the nature of\n his duties he had a special obligation to further the interests of the\n employer’s undertaking.\n \n (2) Any other invention made by an employee shall, as between him and\n his employer, be taken for those purposes to belong to the employee.\n \n (3) Where by virtue of this section an invention belongs, as\n between him and his employer, to an employee, nothing done—\n \n (a) by or on behalf of the employee or any person claiming under him\n for the purposes of pursuing an application for a patent, or\n \n (b) by any person for the purpose of performing or working the\n invention,\n \n shall be taken to infringe any copyright or design right to which, as\n between him and his employer, his employer is entitled in any model or\n document relating to the invention." ]

[ "intellectual-property", "united-kingdom", "legal-issues" ]

[ "Undergraduate visiting student advantages", "I have been recruited by a professor on a well-known university in the US east coast for a visiting student program during the summer (it's an only-research program). Since this program isn't an all-costs paid one, I'm deciding if I should go.\n\nWhich are the advantages of being a visiting student? How can this help to have a better graduate application even if I apply to a different department (from this program's department) but at the same university? How does the impact differs from a REU? \n\nI've read this Quora reference, but I want to have an insight from this particular forum. Thanks in advance.\n\nBtw, I'm a foreign student." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "research-undergraduate", "visiting" ]

[ "Dear PIs: How can a new hire politely probe you for details?", "How can a new postdoc joining a lab probe their PIs for more information concerning the project they are going to be working on, what skills they need to acquire to prepare for the job, ..." ]

[ "postdocs", "job-search", "job" ]

[ "What do I need to include in a tenure-track assistant professor job application cover letter?", "I am currently applying for tenure-track assistant professor jobs.\nOne of the positions requires me to submit a cover letter,\nin addition to a CV, research statement, and teaching statement.\n(The application is online)\nI am thinking of writing the following:\n\n\n October 1, 2014\n \n Dear faculty committee\n \n I wish to apply for the faculty position\n in the Department of Mathematics\n at Stanford University.\n Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at\n the University of California at Berkeley\n in the Department of Mathematics\n under the supervision of Dr. James Moriarty.\n \n Enclosed are my curriculum vitae, teaching and research statements,\n and two research papers.\n Please do not hesitate to contact me if further information is needed. \n \n Yours truly, \n John Watson \n Department of Mathematics \n University of California at Berkeley \n 123 4th Street, Box 5678 \n Berkeley, CA 12345-6789 \n (123) 456-7890\n\n\n\nWhat is the purpose of the cover letter?\nIs it just to indicate what are the documents included in the application?\nI ask this because most of the other positions for which I am applying\ndon't require a cover letter.\nShould I include a brief summary of my research interests and teaching experience, one paragraph each, in the cover letter?\n\n\nEdit:\nIn reality, I am not in the field of mathematics,\nnor am I a postdoctoral fellow at Berkeley.\nThe details in my cover letter are fictitious\nand meant only to illustrate the structure of the cover letter\nwhich I will write." ]

[ "tenure-track", "faculty-application" ]

[ "When and why did journal article titles become descriptive, rather than creatively allusive?", "In 1926, the article titled “On a certain minimal problem” was published. Nobody could guess what it was about, from the title alone.\n\nNowadays, one may expect something more descriptive, such as \"Workspace Augmentation of Photon Impingement Through Impurities Removal\".\n\nI'd be interested when and why did the titles change, from the allusive style of the early 20th century, to the descriptive titles of today.\n\nWas it a gradual change? Was it prompted by some notable event or influence? Was there a period when journal articles (or \"letters\" as it was then) did not have titles?" ]

[ "journals", "academic-history" ]

[ "Is it good to join industry in middle of phd?", "I am a third year phd student. I got an offer for an industrial job which is very tempting. The salary is competitive and much higher than my phd salary. I already worked there as an intern, so I know the environment. The only problem is that I am involved in multiple projects in my phd. If I leave the group, someone has to take over those tasks, but there is no such a person in our group yet. What is your suggestion?" ]

[ "phd", "career-path", "industry", "degree", "salary" ]

[ "Etiquette/social norms for a grad student toward a faculty going on sabbatical", "I took a class with a professor and really liked his teaching. Since then, we've had several conversations and I've gone to him for advice once. While I don't work with him and I don't know if he'd necessarily consider me a friend, I do feel like we've had a number of positive interactions.\n\nHe's going on sabbatical within the next few months, and I'm (crossed fingers) on track to graduate this next May, which means that there's a fairly high probability that I will be gone before he returns.\n\nIt feels premature to be saying goodbye to him now, around a year before I'm (possibly) leaving. If I graduate on time and he isn't back, do I just shoot him an e-mail which seems a little impersonal? Leave a handwritten note in his mailbox? Or is that really weird? \n\nIs there a standard way of saying goodbye when I know there's a decent chance that I won't get to do it in-person a year from now? Or is it just normal that professors don't expect/aren't surprised when students they know are gone when they come back?" ]

[ "graduate-school", "etiquette", "sabbatical" ]

[ "How can I justify my skills against the required person specification?", "I am applying for a faculty position. My academic career so far was very straightforward, which is well reflected in my CV. The job advertisement instructs that applicants should explain how they meet the requirements specified in the job description. One item in almost any faculty job is\n\n\nstrong communication skills\n\n\nI understand the importance of communication for a faculty position, but what can I say about my communication skills? What sort of evidence can justify my skills?" ]

[ "faculty-application" ]

[ "Getting the results of an arXiv keyword search in my email", "I'm not sure if this question would be more appropriate here or on SO. My hope is that someone has already had this need and found a solution. \n\nPeriodically, I search for a specific research topic on arXiv. Unfortunately it doesn't correspond to a specific arXiv subject: papers of interest can be found under very different subjects, since it's somewhat multidisciplinary. Currently, arXiv only supports sending periodic emails concerning either an entire archive, or one or more subjects inside an archive. There's no way I know of to receive only the results of a specific keyword search. However, I've heard of someone who has been able to get that, but I couldn't get them to explain me what they did. \n\nHave you ever had this need? Did you find a solution?" ]

[ "arxiv", "online-publication" ]

[ "How should I choose which graduate programs to apply to for the PhD?", "This fall I will be an senior mathematics major at a small public liberal arts university. I'm trying to finalize the list of schools to which I will apply (to PhD programs in pure math), but I am finding it somewhat difficult. I know that I am not a candidate for admission at top-tier universities. My school is relatively unknown outside of its state, and the professors who will write my recommendation letters aren't very well-known either (although they do publish somewhat frequently in their respective fields). I have taken two semesters of abstract algebra, one semester of real analysis, and two semesters of topology, and received an A in all. By the time I graduate I'll have taken another semester in real analysis and a course in complex analysis, plus several other applied and discrete math classes. I haven't taken any graduate courses since my school doesn't offer them, but I have completed a research project with one of my professors in the area of math which I hope to study in grad school. My GPA is around 3.85.\n\nI think (and please correct me if I am wrong) that I should focus on applying to \"mid-tier\" programs, but I find it very difficult to determine which programs are at this level. I know that one student from my school was accepted at a program ranked in the 40's by the U.S. News math grad school rankings. \n\nEssentially, my question is this: Do the U.S. News rankings accurately reflect the selectivity of programs, and if so, is there some point in the rankings at which schools become \"mid-tier\" or at which I would be competitive for admission?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "mathematics" ]

[ "In APA style, How should rough financial numbers be written?", "If I have approximately five million dollars, should it be written as such? Or is one of the following more appropriate?\n\n\n5 million dollars\n$5 million\n$5,000,000\n\n\n4.31e stipulates:\n\n\n Use numerals to express numbers that represent time, dates, ages, scores and points on a scale, exact sums\n of money, and numerals as numerals.\n\n\n(emphasis mine)\n\nAs this isn't an exact sum, I might be more inclined to spell it out. This would also play along with the exception listed right below 4.31e:\n\n\n Exception: Use words for approximations of numbers of days, months, and years\n (e.g., about three months ago).\n\n\nIs there another option I'm not considering? Is this addressed somewhere else in the guide?" ]

[ "writing", "writing-style" ]

[ "What can be done to bridge the gap between amateur and professional mathematicians?", "I am an amateur mathematician. I have trained myself on math-related websites and other resources. However, the lack of technical knowledge, methods, and sociological culture usually shared by professional mathematicians has prevented me from going further and publishing rigorous and interesting results.\n\nMany amateurs, often outside areas where universities are easy to reach, face the same hurdles. I know a lot of them are cranks but not all of them are: some have extremely good computational skills, an extremely original vision of maths and sometimes a lot of time on their hands.\n\nWhat can be done to bridge this gap between amateurs and professionals? How can we give amateurs the codes and techniques needed to enrich the corpus of mathematical results with new, fresh and interesting contributions?\n\nFor example, could retired professions create a free resource that links universities and labs to amateurs? In this way, the retired professionals could act as \"pre-referees,\" teaching the amateurs how to write a paper, and collaborating on the research itself? There could even be a magazine in which publications resulting from this are published." ]

[ "mathematics", "independent-researcher" ]

[ "The title of a book is different in the catalogue and on the cover. How do I cite it?", "I would like to cite a chapter from a book which is listed in the catalogue as Attosecond and XUV Spectroscopy: Ultrafast Dynamics and Spectroscopy (Wiley, 2014, edited by Thomas Schultz and Marc Vrakking), found here at the Wiley site and here on Amazon. I'm somewhat confused about how exactly to cite this book, since if you look at the cover...\n\n\n\n... the title is different. To add to the confusion,\n\n\nthe book is listed under the catalogue title (Spectroscopy) in multiple library catalogues and most google search results,\nbut not everywhere, including WorldCat and several Wiley pages;\nthe citing articles on Google Scholar are split about 50/50 on both (with Google Scholar correctly recognizing both forms as citations to the same resource!),\nsome of them even switching sides;\nthe title page has the same title as the cover; and\neach book chapter has a footer with the cover title (Physics).\n\n\nMy question is: how do I cite this book? Given that pretty much every rule of libraryness seems to have melted down, do I just choose whatever I find sexier and forget about it all?" ]

[ "citations" ]

[ "Teaching a student (as a TA) when there is flirting, etc. and mutual interest", "I am a graduate student with an assistantship. I met an undergraduate and we hit it off (talking about sex, but not sex with each other). But now I assist a class with her (and I'm not good at hiding my feelings) and she is very flirty. She also put her hand on my arm outside of class (which was welcome). I am performing my job, but I am worried that if things go bad with us she'll claim sexual harrassment. What should I do?" ]

[ "interpersonal-issues", "teaching-assistant", "sexual-misconduct" ]

[ "Whether to use numbers or abbreviated names as a citation style?", "Many papers use numbered references (e.g.: [1], [2]). Is this considered a good style or even a rule or would it be acceptable to use abbreviated names of the authors and year of publication (e.g. [Smith09] for J. Smith, 2009)? I find the abbreviated name reference style a lot more informative as after a while of reading papers on a given topic it’s usually easy to identify the cited publication without the need to look at the full bibliography. I have seen this style used in books and some editorials but it is not common." ]

[ "publications", "journals", "citations" ]

[ "What to do if my GRE is too low but application deadline close?", "I have a GRE score on hand but it is too low for the universities I am applying to and the deadlines are very near.\n\nI am thinking of sending the application now with the current low score and I booked a slot to retake the GRE. Can I send an email to the university again to consider my new scores?" ]

[ "graduate-school", "application", "gre", "deadlines" ]

[ "Mathematical creativity: better a high profile or a \"laid back\" department?", "It seems that high profile universities are not the most enjoyable work environment to be in.\nEven though big institutions attract big names and grant money, it seems to me that the pressure to perform leaves everybody, from the undergraduates to the professors, overworked. On the other hand, the idea of less prestigious university is attracting me for the, perhaps overly romantic idea, that as passionate people could be working in these institutions. \n\nI am thinking: perhaps moving out of a big institution to a smaller one could increase quality of academic life, as well as creativity. But surely quality of science need not be inversely proportional to department enjoyability?\n\n-Is this a realistic expectation?\n\n-Does this depend on the research interest?\n\n-Does achieving a PhD in an impressive institution open many doors that would otherwise remain close (for example, being able to be an independent researcher)?\n\nAdditonal info:\n\nI have graduated from a MSci in Theoretical Physics in a big London university, and I am currently doing a MSc in Applied Mathematics there. Interests were fairly broad and decided to prolong my taught education to \"taste\" more subjects.\n I love Physics and Maths almost as much as air, but I am a bit concerned with the dullness of my current environment. I haven't been to other universities, or know many passionate people from other universities, so I have not had the chance to ask these questions to many people." ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "independent-researcher", "work-life-balance" ]

[ "Article waiting for AE assignment for too long?", "I have submitted two articles to a journal. One of them got accepted within 10 days, but the status for the other one has been "Awaiting AE assignment" for 15 days now. The journal says on average they take 30 days to make a decision on a paper. Should I contact the journal about the status and why it's not changing? Is it possible that they forgot my article? And would sending a reminder have a negative impact on the decision of the journal?\nThanks." ]

[ "paper-submission" ]

[ "How to address the recruiting committee in a cover letter in case the recepient is not an individual to the best of your knowledge?", "Specializing the question\nWho to address on the cover letter?,\nlet's assume that you apply for a tenure-track position in the US in computer science, that the job announcement has no particular individual listed, and that Google/Bing/Yahoo led you to, say, "recruiting committee" (as opposed to "search team"). Then, which opening would be proper:\n\nTo Whom It May Concern\n\nor\n\nDear Recruiting Committee\n\nor\n\nTo the Recruiting Committee\n\nor\n\nDear Representative of the Recruiting Committee\n\nor\n\nDear Ladies and Gentlemen\n\n?\nHow about the punctuation after the opening? No punctuation, a comma, or a colon? I.e.:\n\n〈Whatever opening〉\n〈Whatever opening〉,\n〈Whatever opening〉:\n\nAll are o.k. according to the broad English grammar, but, in academia things might be more special." ]

[ "computer-science", "united-states", "tenure-track", "application-cover-letter" ]

[ "PhD defence announcement", "What information should contain a (A4-sized, landscape-oriented) poster announcing a PhD defence? What idioms, jargon or style is usually used? Could you provide some models or examples?" ]

[ "phd", "communication", "defense", "announcements" ]

[ "Research Proposal topic for Master's", "I'm a Computer Science graduate and gonna apply for Masters this year. I was thinking about my research proposal (or rather a problem statement) to submit during the application process and I had a rather different problem in mind than the ones I see on internet. My topic is not based on a real life problem but rather about my musings of a fictional world (lets just say its an anime). So my question is, is it okay to submit a research proposal that doesn't address a real problem but rather entertains the musings of a nerdy fan, and how we can use machine learning / AI for that?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "research-proposal" ]

[ "Using \"Smith et al\" when another Smith is also referenced", "My name is John Smith and I'm writing a paper. In the discussion of the existing literature, I cite quite a few papers from another team, including many whose first author was a David Smith. I usually write this using heavily the “et al” style:\n\n\n Einstein et al. first established in 1976 a possible plan for eradicating world hunger by massive beet culture in Antartica,1 but it took 20 years before Wiles et al. clearly delineated the challenges of such a prospect.2 The earlier analyses, by Smith et al.,3–7 held the narrow view that climate3–5 and transportation issues6–7 would be the limiting factors, forgetting to address the marketing aspects and negative implications on consumer image of the brand. In this paper, we present …\n\n\n(the journal style calls for superscript numbers for citations)\n\nNow, it seems somewhat likely that the reader may think the Smith from “Smith et al.” may actually be me. How should I help avoid this?\n\n\nNot worrying about it.\nUse first name or initial, “David Smith et al.” or “D. Smith et al.”\nChoosing another author, like the last author, as in “Professor et al.”?\nSome other formulation?" ]

[ "publications", "writing" ]

[ "What is/are the most important thing(s) you wish that you have known/done before considering to apply to a PhD", "I wonder what your thoughts are on the above subject" ]

[ "phd" ]

[ "What could my postdoctoral advisor do, now that he knows that I started looking for positions in industry?", "I'm a non-EU postdoctoral researcher in Europe who recently started looking for company jobs. I just informed my advisor that. He asked me where, and I said the name of the same city we are in, because that's my most preferred choice. Now, my postdoc is till the end of the year (if not renewed), and I know that I've the right to leave at any time I like with probably a one month's notice. \n\nI initially intended to tell him only after getting an offer, but I felt he should know it in any case, because if I leave abruptly in a month, that'd be a sudden blow on him.\n\nHe didn't say much, except asking when I'm looking to join. I said I didn't get any offer yet, and plan to finish what I started, if the company allows that. My only fear is: can my postdoctoral advisor try to sack me because of this? Did I just make a mistake? Our relation is okay (not superb), and I report regularly to him.\n\nWhat would you do if you were a postdoctoral advisor in this situation? Thanks a lot!\n\nEDIT: Okay he had a small chat with me just now. He told me that if I find a job soon, he's okay if I start immediately, he'd not have anything against it. The reason being that he thinks the project might take longer than a year, and he himself isn't sure about the funding status for the next year yet.\n\nSo it seems not to be a bad sign yet." ]

[ "job-search", "postdocs", "job", "industry" ]

[ "Subject selection for PhD in Mathematics", "I had taken up courses related to PDE like Advanced Functional Analysis and I am facing difficulty with it and hence I am confused and I am not able to understand which subject to take up for PhD.\nCan anyone give a Ranking of Topics in Mathematics in order of difficulty ( could range from Algebra , Analysis ,Geometry, Combinatorics anything) and how much saturated they are in terms of research problems?\nThank you very much in advance." ]

[ "phd", "mathematics", "research-topic", "ranking" ]

[ "Alternatives to Google Scholar, dblp to measure scientific impact of a research article?", "Are there any cross-platform websites to measure scientific impact of any research article? I am aware of dblp, Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search. Recently, ResearchGate is quite popular. However, all these are not optimal in several aspects.\n\nFor example, Google Scholar is a good platform for citation index, particularly h-index of any author; dblp is intended for most authentic, however lacks in the timely updating. ResearchGate seems to be updated mostly by individual scholars. I know that it is not possible to find a comprehensive database with authentic information contained. Thus, the criteria may be as follows: timely manner, self citation exclusion, information entered by authors or robot cross-checked by any person, and most importantly free access to scholars. (Scopus is not free.)" ]

[ "publications", "bibliometrics", "google-scholar", "impact-factor" ]

[ "Citations needed when using textbooks to write lecture notes/slides?", "so basically I have recently started to teach my own course for the first time. In the past, I mainly taught professors in the department that were on leave etc and they normally supplied me with their teaching materials, so this is the first time I am completely writing my own notes/lecture slides.\n\nNow, I am teaching a history survey course and when writing lecture notes/slides, I have mainly relied on the course textbook and a few secondary sources. The question now is whether I need to provide references at all if I use the work of others in this context? I do not copy anything verbatim of course and also dont claim anywhere that what is on the slides is my original work. However, while I normally rely on several sources for my lecture slides, at times several slides in a row more or less summarise a few pages from the textbook/another source. Would I be expected to give a reference for this? [I should add that I do provide references if I borrow a whole chart etc. from a book].\n\nI have to say that at least in the humanities and in my own career as a student and teacher, I have never seen such references. In fact, a criticism of students about some of my former professors was that they basically just go through the textbook in lectures. So, unless I am missing something, my guess is that I dont have to provide references [I dont mean what would be ethically \"perfect\" but rather what is accepted practice in academia]. However, now that I am doing it myself, I thought I could ask here just to make sure." ]

[ "ethics", "teaching", "lecture" ]

[ "Elsevier Journal waiting time after review process", "I have submitted a revised manuscript that has been \"under review\" again for the past 7 months. After a long wait, I have written a polite email to editor inquiring about a long delay in the revised review once I got positive reviews and minor corrections. It has been almost 3 weeks the Editor did not even replied to my email and still the status is the same. Any suggestions How long I should wait? or is it normal a practice by PHYSICA A journal of Elsevier?" ]

[ "publications", "paper-submission", "elsevier" ]

[ "In a thesis, is it appropriate to allude to results obtained later on?", "I am writing a math thesis.\n\nI want to provide a result in chapter 2, but formally prove this result in chapter 8. This is because I am introducing a bunch of definitions in between these chapters and they cannot be moved in front of or within chapter 2.\n\nCan I say something like, \"as we will see in chapter 8, this result in chapter 2 is true\"? In other words, can you allude to the proof of a result that will be given only later in the thesis?\n\nI don't feel like it is good practice because it sorts of destroys the \"surprise factor\", and it also makes the reader jump 100 pages to see the result. How should I handle this?" ]

[ "thesis", "mathematics", "writing" ]

[ "Submitting a crude working paper in a Ph.D. application", "I'm applying to math Ph.D. programs which usually give the option of uploading a sample of some original work. Very recently I have produced some of my first serious results but I haven't yet had the time to write them up anywhere near the standards of publication (and doing so isn't an option since I only have a few days before the big Dec. 15 deadline). For example I'm missing proofs of lemmas, there is no explanatory text in between the math, etc.\n\nMy question is whether I have anything to gain by submitting something like a very rough working paper. I'm not sure if it's essential because my statement of purpose contains a brief account of the results and techniques. Also I expect the professor who advised it will validate that it is good work in his recommendation." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "mathematics" ]

[ "Should I cite myself in my PhD proposal?", "I am writing a research proposal for a PhD, and I am referring to my earlier research, which is published in a scientific journal. Should I cite myself? It feels a little preposterous, but I can imagine it could be good to provide the full reference. I do provide it in my CV as well. \nAn additional reason I thought it would be good to cite my paper is because I am making the claim that it built on the work of a professor from the department I am applying to, and I figured providing a reference - with DOI - to my paper would be the best way to back that claim up. \n\nThank you in advance for the advice, I really appreciate it." ]

[ "phd", "citations", "research-proposal" ]

[ "How to express dissension as a grad TA while maintaining professionalism", "I have a problem with the courses I'm TAing. I am a math PhD student at a large (supposedly good) state university where the lower-division math classes are taught in the \"discussion section\" format (i.e. students go to a big lecture with clickers three days a week, and attend 30ish person sized recitation with a TA once a week). I teach three of these recitations.\n\nWhen I first came here several years ago, I was shocked by the low quality of the courses I was assigned to. This was supposed to be a good school, yet the students are treated without respect, held to no standards, and come out knowing virtually nothing. Furthermore, there are strict limitations imposed on TAs, to the point where I feel that I am being actively prevented from teaching anything to my students. A breaking point came for me recently when my course coordinator made it mandatory for us to assign online quizzes through a third party \"online instructional application,\" instead of administering handwritten quizzes in class. I have very strong objections to this, for multiple reasons that I could elaborate on, but they are not the point of this post.\n\nThe point is, I feel gross. I'm being forced to teach in a way that I find unethical and unreasonable, and every attempt that I have made to bring up an issue in the past has been met with complete inflexibility. It seems to be the culture of the department to dismiss the opinions of its graduate students.\n\nI don't know how else to state my objections. I know I'm not in charge, and I don't want to be unprofessional, but I want to be heard. I have given serious thought to resigning with a public letter. However, even with that sacrifice, I'm not sure anyone would listen.\n\nIs there anything I can do? How should I handle this situation?" ]

[ "teaching-assistant" ]

[ "Effect of bland cover letter for journal submission in biology", "I'm not used to writing covering letters for journal submissions, and I believe this is pretty standard in maths. However, I got into a conversation with a friend in biology, who said they expect to write about a page explaining why the paper is so great.\n\nTo me this seems an unhelpful practice: a paper should be judged by the quality of the paper, not by the quality of some other document.\n\nWe came round to the question:\n\n\n How would an editor of a biology journal react to a paper submitted with a covering letter that amounted to 'here it is'?" ]

[ "journals", "paper-submission", "editors", "biology" ]

[ "Temporary job etiquette", "My current appointment will be over in about 1.5 months, and I have been approached by a faculty member asking wether I would be interested in working (paid) on a different project for a couple of months more. After sending them my CV and relevant material, how long should I wait before asking if the opportunity exists or not? I need to arrange the practical details (housing, ...)" ]

[ "postdocs" ]

[ "Will it be a bad move for Master's to do summer internship in industry when trying to pursue a PhD program?", "Currently, I am in second semester of Master's program in Computer Science and Engineering. Even though I am yet undecided, I lean a little bit more towards pursuing PhD program rather than getting into industry.\n\nMany people tell me that research experience is the only factor in getting accepted to PhD. The problem is that I have a summer internship offer from an established industry, and I do not have any professors that will accept me as a summer research intern at this time.\n\nPersonally, I do want to try out the internship to see what it is like, possibly helping me decide whether to definitely pursue PhD or look for more industry options. However, as of now, I feel that it will be a bad move in terms of applying for PhD next semester, where I will probably lack research experience that other candidates might have. Meanwhile, I am trying to build research experience through course projects and directed research within academic semesters.\n\nHow much adverse impact will it have in PhD application if I were to choose summer internship at the industry?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "research-process", "masters", "internship" ]

[ "The route for a 2nd year physics PhD student to have a career as a data scientist", "I am a 2nd year PhD student in physics. Tenure-track positions are highly competitive and I do not love research enough to pursue it as a life career. Since I like programming and playing with data, I want to have a job as a data scientist after finishing my degree. I read some success stories of people who got degrees in Physics but works as data scientists but the people are from top universities like UC Berkely, Stanford, etc...\nSo my question is how doable it is for someone who only gets Physics degree from the low-rank university to find a job as a data scientist. What is the plan for the next years when I am still in my PhD program? What should I learn? How should I have real projects and internships to work on? Will working unpaid in a research lab about data analysis in my current university help?" ]

[ "career-path", "physics", "data", "changing-fields", "early-career" ]

[ "Asking for a reference years in advance?", "I am currently an undergrad and while I am attracted by research and a career in academia, I am on scholarship with a government body in my country and am contractually obligated to complete a 6 year bond in the civil service. I am allowed to complete a Masters degree before then, but not a PhD.\n\nWhile I have accepted the fact that I won't be able to take the time-tested Bachelors-Masters-PhD route, I still think that there might be a chance that I might want to apply for a PhD program 6 years later, long after I graduate from university.\n\nHowever, I'm worried about my ability to produce strong academic references by then, especially since my professors would probably have forgotten about me. Would it be appropriate for me to ask my professors to write a reference for me now, while my abilities are still fresh in their minds, so that when I do decide to apply they would only need to make minor adjustments? (And if I do this, should I request to keep the letters myself, or should they be the ones safekeeping them for me?)\n\nIt seems a little weird to ask for a reference so far in advance, especially since I don't know for sure if I would be returning to academia. Would I be better off asking them for a references only when I do decide to apply, possibly years down the road? I might perhaps try to keep in contact with them over the years so they don't forget me, though I'm not too sure how this might be done." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "reference-request" ]

[ "Inquiring about PhD status and mentioning standing offers", "I have a PhD few admission offers from some universities. My first choice school didn't make its decision yet, or maybe didn't post it online yet.\n\nIs it OK to send an email asking about application status and explaining that I have other standing offers which I have to make decisions about quickly?\n\nWould this have any negative impact on my application?" ]

[ "phd", "application", "email" ]

[ "Are there universities that consider it academic misconduct for students to publish material created by faculty?", "Please read the bold text before answering.\n\nA colleague has shown me that one of his students has posted exam questions with answers , and prior assignments with answers to a commercial web site intended to communicate such material to other students. Sadly, I am the chair of the university's Honor Council and the question of whether these actions rise to the level of academic misconduct has landed in my lap.\n\nAlso sadly, I am ill-equipped to have an opinion. Almost every assignment I've given in the last ten years is available on the public web and I return assignments with critiques. I give pen-and-paper tests and return them to the students, then go over the questions and give the correct answers in class. There are thousands of copies of my old exams around, many of them with answers that were either correct to begin with or corrected post facto. I am sure there are fat binders in fraternity and sorority houses with that material.\n\nI can get all legalistic and ask, \"Well... did you tell him not to do that?\" In fact, I am in the process of finding that out. I am pretty sure that widespread commercial distribution of questions with answers is bad. My concern is whether contributing this information to such a web site rises to the level of academic misconduct.\n\nSo, here is a question that has an answer rather than leading to discussion: Are there universities that prohibit students from contributing material created by the faculty, such as exams or assignments, to commercial web sites the purpose of which is supplying that material to other students? If so, how is that prohibition worded and how is it enforced?\n\nSeptember 10: This has been edited by several people, and several people have added tags. I've just edited it myself to remove the word \"cheaters\" from the description of the commercial web sites involved in this case, and which are in general the subject of the question. I've also deleted most of the tags, leaving only \"ethics\" and \"policy.\"\n\nNovember 15: Thanks for the responses. After a certain amount of back and forth, my institution has adopted the following (voluntary) syllabus language: \"Some lecture slides, notes, or exercises used in this course may be the property of the textbook publisher or other third parties. All other course material, including but not limited to slides developed by the instructor(s), the syllabus, assignments, course notes, course recordings (whether audio or video) and examinations or quizzes are the property of the University or of the individual instructor who developed them. Students are free to use this material for study and learning, and for discussion with others, including those who may not be in this class, unless the instructor imposes more stringent requirements. Republishing or redistributing this material, including uploading it to web sites or linking to it through services like iTunes, violates the rights of the copyright holder and is prohibited. There are civil and criminal penalties for copyright violation. Publishing or redistributing this material in a way that might give others an unfair advantage in this or future courses may subject you to penalties for academic misconduct.\" [emphasis in the original]\n\nDecember 8, 2017: I just received a request from someone at another institution to use the language above. Although it was adopted by my institution, I wrote it, and I now contribute it to the public domain. Use it as-is or modified, with no need to attribute it or otherwise give credit." ]

[ "ethics", "policy" ]

[ "How to acknowledge a translator on a letter of recommendation?", "I have written a letter of recommendation for a student who is applying to study abroad (we are in the USA, she is applying to study in Spain). The institution she is applying to requested that letters be submitted in Spanish; since I do not speak or write Spanish fluently, I asked a close friend (a native speaker of Spanish) to translate the letter for me.\n\nMy question is how to indicate this properly on the letter. My current plan is to add, just below my signature, the phrase \"Traducido por ___________\" and then the translator's name. Is that the right way to handle this, or is there something else I should be doing?" ]

[ "recommendation-letter", "translations" ]

[ "How can I make the introduction of a paper more \"scientific\" and less \"popular\"?", "I am a master's student about to start writing my thesis. After I wrote my research proposal, my advisor said that when I write my thesis, I should make it less \"popular\" (I believe he referred mainly to the introduction, where I presented the field and the subject in a rather detailed manner and broke it down in a way that average people could understand why I am proposing to do this research) and more \"dry\" and \"scientific\". \n\nSo I'm assuming he means that I should strive to direct the text to experts (as scientific publications usually are), and not begin from the very beginning of the subject and not \"build up\" the introduction too slowly.\n\nThe problem is that I always feel that I DO need to explain the background when starting to write a new piece, as each text stands on its own and should be complete in itself. I need to find some way to set the stage on one hand, but not too tediously on the other hand. I guess this is part of the art of writing, which develops through experience, but I was hoping someone here could offer some helpful ideas to achieve this.\n\nI found this question and its answers related to my question and interesting to read, but that doesn't answer my question." ]

[ "publications", "writing-style" ]

[ "Can one's primary motivation be learning, instead of research, if he is applying for a masters program (instead of a PhD program)?", "I am applying for masters in computer science programs in North America. In my statement of purpose, I am planning to talk about broadening my knowledge about the field and applying this knowledge to other specific academic fields, as well as learning how to do research in computer science.\n\nBut I am not sure if this is a good idea for writing a statement of purpose. Had this been a PhD application, I am sure that this would be a bad idea, since PhD is all about research and in the statement of purpose for a PhD application, you should talk about your potential for valuable research by showing your previous research experiences, etc.\n\nHowever, I am applying for masters and I don't have any proper previous research experience. Hence, I cannot talk about my potential to do research by showing my previous research experiences (since I don't have any). Hence, I am planning to talk about my ambition to broaden my knowledge about the field and apply this knowledge to other specific fields in academia.\n\nWould this be a good idea to put in a statement of purpose that will stand out? Or should I better talk more about doing research?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "research-process", "masters" ]

[ "How to get reviewed (undergraduate student's work/research)", "I am an undergraduate student (final year, Computer Science). I am interested in research. I have worked and progressed (I believe) on a specific problem, namely graph isomorphism. Instructors in my department are not interested in that topic. I have contacted them a couple of times, and they did not reject my work nor confirm it. How can I proceed now, i.e., how can I get reviewed to confirm or verify my work?\n\nEdit 1: The answer below by pjs36 seems to be\"personal\" (pointing my poor writing skill), but the answer should be general. I may have this problem, others might not have. So, what one can do to get reviewed by others?" ]

[ "computer-science", "undergraduate", "research-undergraduate" ]

[ "Behavior with other grad students", "The University I joined as a new grad student treats grad students as both students and employees. So I am confused whether I should behave as a professional colleague or a fellow student with other grad students? I have noticed informal atmosphere within the department(people even use curses in general while talking to professors) but again, sometimes they become very formal and rather act stiff. I am confused." ]

[ "ethics" ]

[ "Can I apply for a masters degree in Canada with a three years bachelors degree from India?", "I have a three years bachelors degree from a university in India(Top 10 by NIRF ranking). I want to do my masters in Canada but I have heard that a 4 years bachelor's degree is required.\nThe thing is, my 3 years bachelor's degree has the same amount of credit compared to a 4 years bachelor's degree. So in this case, am I eligible or not?" ]

[ "degree", "international-students", "bachelor", "canada" ]

[ "How should an educational institute woo good faculty?", "What steps must an educational institution wanting to recruit good faculty take? There is a cycle in the academia: \n\n\nGood doctorates from top universities invariably join other top universities as faculty members. \nGood students aspire to study in top universities under excellent faculty members.\n\n\nSuppose a new educational institution or department springs up and desires to set up a top-quality group, how does it break into this cycle? I suppose this could take some years, but is money-power the only thing that could be wielded by the institute to achieve its end?" ]

[ "professors", "administration", "recruiting" ]

[ "Can a department disallow a student-advisor pairing in order to distribute PhD students evenly among faculty?", "When a department enrolls x number of students based on the capacity of the department and its professors, the ideal desire is fair distribution of PhD students among faculty members. However, students are attracted to attractive professors (by different factors such as fame, personality, etc), and there should be less or no request for some faculty members. \n\nAssuming a student and advisor mutually agree that they would like to work together, but the department would rather have the student work with another faculty member who is short on PhD students. Can the department limit the number of students that may work with each faculty member, so that new PhD students will be distributed among faculty?\n\nIn a hypothetical situation, there are 10 PhD students, and 10 faculty members. Can the department set the limit of one PhD student per faculty to ideally distribute the students among faculty members? \n\nNote: This question is not about the cases in which a candidate specifically apply for working under supervision of a specific professor (due to the admission system or funding source)." ]

[ "phd", "advisor" ]

[ "How not to lose confidence in front of supervisor?", "I have been working on my doctoral thesis with a very well known professor in the field. I am going to finish 1 year of my study with him. As usual, we have been meeting every week at least once on the problem.\n\nProblem: No matter how much I do prepare about the possible discussion on any topic, I have been losing confidence in front of him almost in every discussion. This is probably has something to do with me thinking that I am not capable of working with him. My standard is not that much. I don't know whether is this normal? How do I get over this problem? Sometimes, I can't even speak properly when he sends me to the whiteboard for any explanation. This is weird. I feel really bad after that. I keep messing up discussions. However, he gives me time. Can I get a few suggestion on this?\n\nNote: English, which is not my native language, is the language of communication during these discussions." ]

[ "phd", "advisor", "emotional-responses" ]

[ "How long it takes for GRE score to be delivered to graduate school?", "I would like to know how long it takes for a General computer based GRE score to be delivered to graduate school in US. Some graduate schools mention do not take GRE later than specific date so I am wondering does it really take long time to send the score online?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "gre", "deadlines" ]

[ "What is the etiquette for repeatedly emailing questions to an author whose work I'm building on?", "I am doing my master thesis on wireless networking. I am working on the source code, which the writer of one of the articles provided to me.\nInitially, I sent him an email and I asked him to send me his C++ source code . So he did. But the problem is, there was no documentation for his code and he is the only one that knows anything about this codebase. As a result, I totally depend on him. Last night I sent him an email and I asked him a question about his code and he replied to me very quickly, only three hours later. Probably, I will need his help again.\n\nBefore my last night's email and after spending one month working on his code, I saw minor progress to my work. But after yesterday's mail and his guidance, my work was significantly accelerated. I will probably need his help again maybe another two or three emails in a week. But I am afraid he will become angry with me for sending him a lot of emails. \n\nSo what should I do? Assume you are the source code programmer. Do you think he will become angry about my emails? Or he will be willing to help (since I will cite his article)?" ]

[ "etiquette", "email" ]

[ "What is the academic approach when the supervisor attacks student's religion?", "What is the academic approach when your supervisor goes off-topic? In other words, what is the academic reaction for a PhD student when his supervisor starts attacking the student's religion? \n\nI must say the fact that I'm an international student coming from a different culture. I looked over his publications/current students and everything seemed to be fine. He even interviewed me for admission and everything went fine.\nWhen I started my degree and first met him, I thought we would discuss research oriented projects but surprisingly the meeting took another direction when he started discussing with me my religion beliefs and how do I view the world!\n\nDiscuting this was the start. In several subsequent occasions, he started to tell me what he sees good to me and why my culture is a bad one .\n\nRight after the interview, I was thinking about withdrawing from the program and finding another supervisor in another school (Yes I answered him in an honest and polite way what I belief).\n\nI have nothing against him and he is a very kind professor but I feel I'm not comfortable in his environment. Now, I'm planning to go somewhere else. If it counts, I pay my tuition fees and he pays me nothing. \n\nThe question is: What to do when your supervisor goes off-topic and discuss your personal issues? Not only this but also send you several emails about it." ]

[ "phd", "advisor", "religious-issues" ]

[ "Do professors work through all the homework problems they assign to students?", "I'm wondering if this is case especially for time-consuming work like programming problems in computer science spanning several thousand lines of code. \n\nOr when a professor teaches a new course they are not intimately familiar with e.g. did not take it during undergrad.\n\nFor professors that don't do this, how (if at all possible) do they address homework concerns during office hours? Is it recommended for professors to know the ins and outs of all problems they assign?" ]

[ "professors", "homework" ]

[ "If a PhD student is working slowly on a project, is it bad form to give the project to another student?", "I think my advisor may have done this to me. Initially he hired a master's student to \"help me\" with the project and he told me I would be supervising him. But now he wants the master's student to work on core parts of the project, and he says that since I will be busy this summer, the master's student might be the primary person working on the project.\n\nI am thinking of quitting the project because it looks like I am being replaced. Am I overreacting here?" ]

[ "advisor" ]

[ "Find articles that have certain keywords in supplementary material", "I currently use Scopus or ISI Web of Science when looking for articles containing certain keywords in title or abstract, etc. But now I need to find articles that have certain keywords in the supplemetary material, any ideas about it?" ]

[ "publications", "literature-search", "supporting-information" ]

[ "For each of these cases which is the designation that best describes my role in class", "Since I've finished my PhD I've been asked to perform some teaching duties. These duties correspond roughly to the three cases I describe below briefly.\n\n1) So in this one course I was responsible for preparing the contents for classes which were mostly theory on the course subject. I would hand out problem assignments each week,I would discuss them with the students in class but not solve them. In the department I was the only one responsible for teaching this course.\n\n2) On this other course I was responsible for solving problems in class for students. There were other professors teaching the course. Namely, theory. \n\n3) Finally, on this other course I had to supervise students while they conducted some experiments in lab.\n\nFor each of these cases which is the designation that best describes my role in class? For example, in 3) I would say that the best designation that describes my role in class is \"lab instructor\"." ]

[ "teaching", "teaching-assistant" ]

[ "Why do some individuals who are productive PhD students at leading Western institutions, then publish infrequently as faculty in their home country?", "I am a computer science student from Turkey. While I was checking the websites and publications of various CS Professors in Turkey for my future studies, I noticed a strange trend. (Excluding minor exceptions)\n\nUsually, these professors hold a Ph.D from leading western institutions, and during their Ph.D they have published papers at extremely competitive top venues, like ICCV, ICDM, ICML and other places depending on their research interests. But, after returning back to Turkey and starting in an academic position, they can't even get their papers published in second tier venues.\n\nSo, what might be the reason for this ? If these people can publish during their Ph.D then why can't they do now ? Also, CS is not a field where extremely expensive lab equipment is required. So why are these people unsuccesful at publishing in top conferences/journals ?" ]

[ "publications", "career-path", "professors", "academic-life" ]

[ "Submission changed to a different status, but with the same explanation as the previous status", "(this line is added later ) : The length of the paper is only 3 pages.\nSoon After Submission\n\nArticle Status: Reviewing\nYour paper is being reviewed by the journal’s editors and you will be contacted as soon as we have news.\n\nAfter a month changed to\n\nArticle Status: Under Review\nYour paper is being reviewed by the journal’s editors and you will be contacted as soon as we have news." ]

[ "peer-review", "journals", "journal-workflow" ]