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[ "How many hours a day on Mathematics as a successful student?", "My motivation to ask this question actually comes from here, receiving negative reactions for 12 hours a day or even 7 hours spending time on Mathematics.\n\nA person usually spends 4.5 years to accomplish a BSc plus a MSc coursework. Books that I found to study in pages (BSc+MSc) approx. are: \n\n\nCalculus (760)\nAlgebra (450+940)\nTopology (510+540)\nAnalytical Geo (210)\nReal Analysis (610+520)\nODE (440)\nComplex Analysis (480+350)\nDifferential Geo (510+420)\nLogic (260)\nNumber Theory (480)\nPDE (320)\nTotal: 7800 pages. \n\n\nSupposing spending 30 min per page of studying and 2 hours per page of exercises, so it takes (4/5)×7800×0.5+(1/5)×7800×2 = 6240 hours = 5.5 hours a day in 4.5 years (excl. Sat+Sun) for a student. \n\nThe problem is: \n\n1- I think that a Mathematics student has to learn more than I have listed, for example other subjects in Mathematics. \n\n2- a Mathematics student has to spend on other than studying texts, like attending classes, other courses (e.g. computer) as well. \n\nHow a typical university student in Mathematics spends a few hours in average on studying and knows a lot Mathematics and is able to start research, which I am not capable of? It's a paradox, or maybe I am not smart as other? \n\nThank you. \n\nPS I am not officially a uni student yet, but I had to spend 12 h/d on average to study the mentioned books which I am pretty sure are less than what a uni student covers in their studies." ]

[ "masters", "mathematics", "time-management", "working-time", "bachelor" ]

[ "Why are Iranian universities ranked better than Turkish universities?", "The following is the Times Higher Education world university ranking 2021:\n\nAccording to this ranking, Iranian universities rank higher than that of Turkey.\nIs there any specific reason, given that Iran is under sanction for years, and almost disconnected from the western world. On the other hand, Turkey is well-connected to the EU and Bologna process?" ]

[ "ranking", "iran", "turkey" ]

[ "In a revision, is it essential to address editor comments, even if they misrepresent a reviewer comment?", "We recently received a \"revision\" notification for a submission in a good journal. The reviewers raised a few valid concerns. In addition to the reviews, the notification e-mail also contained a summary by the editor. The editor asked us to make a change which was not explicitly requested by any of the reviewers, but could be read as a wrong interpretation of one particular reviewer comment. Performing the change would take a substantial amount of work.\n\nWould we hurt our chances if we didn't address the editor's summary, including the comment?" ]

[ "journals", "peer-review", "paper-submission", "editors" ]

[ "In Canada, Is it more likely for faculty members to allocate funds for a PhD applicant than a master's applicant?", "I am currently applying to a Masters degree in neuroscience (McGill, in Canada). In order to get in, I have to contact an advisor that is willing to fund my studies. If I fail to do so, I cannot enter the program. (This is apparently common in Canada.)\n\nI have already contacted two possible advisors but neither of them responded positively, arguing they had no positions available. \n\nSpeaking with a friend researcher, he told me that it is less likely to get an advisor (and funding) for a Masters degree (even though the university is asking me to do so) and that I should better apply for the PhD program because researchers are not interested in investing money in a Master student. \n\nIs this true? Do researchers reject master's degree prospective students because they do not want to invest money in them? \n\nThank you." ]

[ "phd", "graduate-admissions", "masters", "funding", "canada" ]

[ "Second master and phd in math after phd in mechanical engineering", "I'm currently finishing a PhD in mechanical engineering at a top 20 european university. However, during my PhD I realized that woking or even conducting research as a mechanical engineer is not something I'd like to do. My primary interests are in maths (partial differential equations) and theoretical physics (quantum mechanics, special and general relativity). These are topics that I've always found interesting and wanted to learn. \n\nI want to get a master in math because what I'm missing is the mathematics needed to understand the theoretical physics problems. Moreover, I've always enjoyed (the small amount of) math and always wished to do more. I used a (probably not worth mentioning) small amount of applied math in my PhD, which is about numerical simulations using the finite element method in a self written code. Other than that I have no mathematical preparation but I have a master in mech. eng. with a good final grade.\n\nI would like to restudy but starting over with a bachelor degree seems a bit too much and it would probably be too expensive. My questions are:\n\n1) Can I get admitted into a masters program in mathematics at a good european University (preferably in Germany or France since these countries have very low tuition fees). It would be ok (as most probably needed) if I had to catch up by tacking additional bachelor courses, no matter how many.\n\n2) What are my chances of being accepted for a PhD in mathematics if the master goes well?\n\n3) How negative will it be for an academic career to have a second master and (possibly second PhD) degree?" ]

[ "phd", "masters", "mathematics", "physics", "second-degree" ]

[ "Is it conventional to point out harmless typos in mathematical derivations in lecture notes?", "I am on a physics course. Often I struggle with following mathematical derivations, so I aim to scrutinize them very carefully to make sure I understand them. Sometimes I find mistakes in the lecture notes, which are harmless from the overall point of view (ie we get the same result, it won't affect subsequent lines). Nevertheless, they are wrong. Ie instead of writing J(x) (J as a function of x), lecture notes contain Jx, ie function of J times x. We mean the former, and later use the former interpretation. Or: writing exp(0-), where 0- is the limit of x as x approaches 0 from below, while the right thing which follows from the previous lines would be exp(-0-). Of course these are equal so not much harm done, but it is still wrong. Or when on the lecture it is said that "do check this at home you will get X", and I go home and check it and the answer is not X, that seems to be problematic. Almost noone bothers to check though, so it doesn't seem to be a big issue.\nMy usual reaction to this is to write a kind email to the professor to point these out. I thought it is useful for both of us, he gets to correct a typo, or I get to learn something new in case it is not a typo & I am wrong. I noticed though that this is not something common to do. Once I checked this on a course, and more than half of the entries on the list of erratum in lecture notes are the things I have pointed out. Am I a weirdo and I should stop pointing these out, or this is normal behaviour?" ]

[ "mathematics", "lecture-notes", "lecture" ]

[ "First paper, conference feedback - at all if rejected?", "I'm from industry and have submitted my first article to a conference. What can I expect from a conference? would they give me feedback only if I'm chosen. Will I also get detailed feedback if I'm rejected? or will they only say \"sorry in this occasion we have decided to go for other more relevant papers to your area but thanks for writing.\" Does this vary significantly according to the conference, location e.g. American vs Continent? The conference is European if that helps.\n\nNote:\nI'm from industry so unfortunately I don't have an advisor and my colleagues don't value innovation (impact for future) as much as impact for now. So this is my best bet to get any feedback at all." ]

[ "industry", "feedback" ]

[ "How good are Harvard undergrads?", "I Studied Computer Science Engineering in India from an average private institute. \n\nI wanted to and I still do want to become a great programmer. I have seen \"The Social Network\"(facebook) built and come to life right in front of my eyes. He was in his sophomore when he dropped out of college. \n\nI don't know what they teach in Harvard in the very first year but over in India they teach C, C++ in the first two semesters . The curriculum revolved around learning basic syntax, functions, operators, pointers and ends up on files. C++ syllabus has somewhat of object oriented language pedagogy (few extra terms - inheritance, polymorphism etc.) . The problems which we were solving were those of .. writing area of triangle, towers of hanoi. Following these two semesters we studied data structures. \n\nI don't see how a person can go on from his sophomore into building such a vast social network. I understand, he was a Harvard student, that must have meant something. \n\nBut exactly how much ahead are they, compared to an \"average Indian\"? \n\nIs it something to do with the course over there? or the problems they practice or the environment or the individual's efforts ? \n\nAnd how much time is it going to take for an \"Average Indian\" to reach that level?" ]

[ "computer-science", "undergraduate" ]

[ "What is the difference between permanent faculty positions in the UK and tenured faculty positions in the US/Canada?", "Is there any technical as well as practical differences between the two academic positions, one being a permanent faculty position in the UK (or Australia/NZ and other similar systems) and the other being a tenured position in the US/Canadian universities?\nI believe most things may come down to the instances when they can be fired. While this question (Would tenured professors who are charged with a crime generally be fired?) addresses this aspect for the US/Canadian system, I don't know a comparison among different systems.\nEdit: My question is different than US statute of Higher Education System because that question refers to the authorities and rules in different countries that grant professorships. My question is regarding the actual (technical and practical) differences between 'permanent' and 'tenured' faculty members in different systems." ]

[ "professors", "tenure-track" ]

[ "Funding opportunities as a guest researcher in the US", "I have an opportunity for a monthlong stay this summer in a laboratory in the US. I am looking for funding sources that would be available for such a stay. \n\nLooking at the NSF website, I couldn't find anything. \n\nDoes anybody know of any opportunities?" ]

[ "funding", "united-states", "visiting" ]

[ "How to avoid European bias in science history teaching?", "I'm a new lecturer. Part of my course (one lecture) teaches the origins of our scientific understanding of the solar system. I talk about the ancient Greeks, the preservation of their work by eastern scholars, the Renaissance, Copernicus, Kepler, De Brahe, Galileo, Newton, etc. Much like how I was taught, and also following the course text (that I inherited).\nIn some student feedback I have been accused of giving the impression that everything was discovered or worked out by white European men. It's made me feel very lazy. I want to improve and avoid giving this impression. But firstly, how should I respond?" ]

[ "teaching", "science", "feedback" ]

[ "Getting peer review for research without submitting to conference or journal", "Is there a way to get your research article peer reviewed without submitting to a conference or journal?\nI am imagining something like openreview.net or even some private peer review system since you would most probably publish that article later in a conference/journal.\nNote I work in computer science mainly Machine Learning" ]

[ "peer-review" ]

[ "Do professors in the STEM fields at U.S. universities get summers off?", "A question asked on this site discusses how professors earn their summer salary:\n\nHow do professors choose their summer salary?\n\nMy question is: are professors whose research is supported by external grants, e.g., the NSF grants, obligated to work during the summer, when they collect their summer salary? Or is the summer salary essentially free money, and professors resume their funded research in the fall semester?\n\nWhat about during the month-long winter break that occurs between the fall and spring semesters?" ]

[ "professors", "united-states", "working-time" ]

[ "What's the meaning of \"Topics in ... \"?", "I have seen some courses in the university that start with "Topics in this ... Topics in that ...", I have also seen some books that use that word "Topics in Algebraic Graph Theory", "Topics in Structural Graph Theory", so, I've been thinking, what is the difference beetween a book of "Algebraic Graph Theory" and one of "Topics in Algebraic Graph Theory"?, What is the meaning of the word "Topic" in academia context?" ]

[ "books", "lecture-notes", "lecture" ]

[ "How to respond to exploding PhD job offer in Europe", "A few days back I had a second interview with a European university on a project that I really liked. I have also another offer from a Canadian university and am still waiting for 5 other universities for a decision. \n\n2 Hours after the interview I got the PhD job offer. The very next day I received another email from the department head asking me for a response for the offer I received less than 24 hours earlier.\n\nWhile I really like the project and the people, I can not make a decision this quickly. I asked him to give me until the the beginning of next week and he agreed. Even by then, I cannot make an educated decisions because there are FIVE decisions that I didn't receive yet.\n\nWhat would be a good thing to tell the professor by the the time I have to give my answer? I there anything that I can do to have more time before making this decisions ?" ]

[ "phd", "graduate-admissions" ]

[ "How can I prevent students from writing answers on an assignment, then claiming I didn't see their answer?", "What is a good way to prevent students from writing an answer after you hand back a graded assignment (exam/homework) and claiming that you did not see their answer? \n\nIt is clear to me that this particular student even used a different pen for their answer, and I am 100% sure that the answer was not there. I would have seen it, and I even remember double checking to see whether the answer was there.\n\nThis is the second time this has happened to me in this semester (different students), and both times I am sure that they wrote the answer afterwards and are trying to gain more points." ]

[ "ethics", "teaching", "professors", "undergraduate", "cheating" ]

[ "Access to student records/grades", "Is it common practice within colleges/universities to allow all faculty within a division access to all student records within that same division? (i.e., all Health Science faculty having access to all Health Science student records)\nWouldn't this violate FERPA?" ]

[ "united-states", "students", "privacy" ]

[ "Preface requirements concerning acknowledgement", "I am curious to know what the preface requirements are for bachelor and master theses. Are you legally (or morally) required to use the full names of the people included in the acknowledgements?\n\nDoes anyone know?" ]

[ "acknowledgement" ]

[ "Does it matter where you go to undergraduate if you want to get into a good grad school?", "I graduated high school with a good GPA that could have gotten me into some better schools. However, my parents did not have the money to pay the college tuition as well as the room and board costs. I had to stay and commute to the nearest college which is Kent State University for a BA in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) with a minor in Japanese. I'm currently in my sophomore year and doing very well. I'm holding a 3.5 GPA average right now. My question is: does going to a less prestigious school such as Kent State affect me for getting into top graduate programs such as Ivy Leagues or other colleges that are at the top of the lists when it comes to my graduate program that I want to attend?" ]

[ "graduate-school", "undergraduate" ]

[ "Why would a grad school make admission offers prior to the deadline?", "The University of Illinois physics PhD deadline is January 15th. When I submitted on January 1st I got an email confirming submission and it included the following:\n\n\n \"Committee reviews will begin immediately after the application deadline, January 15 for Fall term. Admissions decisions are typically completed by March 15 for Fall admission. Decisions will be sent to you via e-mail.\"\n\n\nHowever, the GradCafe results board shows that multiple applicants received offers within days of applying. \n\nThe more I think about it, the more this doesn't make sense for the program to do. Aren't they missing out on potentially more qualified applicants who are busy and haven't applied yet (deadline isn't for another 5 days)? What if these offers they are sending out BEFORE the deadline are accepted? They are reducing the number of spots in their program." ]

[ "graduate-admissions" ]

[ "Software for managing departmental alumni relations", "My department is looking for a CRM tool to manage its relationship with graduated students (either on BSc, MSc or PhD level). What we want to achieve: \n\n\nShow our candidates that you can get a well paid work after graduating Physics in Poland (they don't believe such positions exist)\nAllow our department to track careers of out students and possibly change study program to better fulfill their needs\nGain input from former students\nAllow current and former students to view/apply for job opportunities (people from our department who start a company often look for people with similar education level)\n\n\nAll these use cases are more or less practiced now, but mainly using emails.\n\nI was wondering what are established practices, particularly in Western Universities (since Polish ones tend to lag somewhat, especially when it comes to such problems). Do your departments do any kind of alumni tracking? If yes, what tools do you use? If not, why not?" ]

[ "industry", "software", "community", "alumni" ]

[ "What are the benefits/detriments to graduate students joining unions?", "The graduate students at my university (a relatively large state school in the US) are considering joining a union. To help decide whether to sign a union card in support of joining the union, I'm interested in more information about how unions have helped graduate students at other universities. What are some improvements to graduate life gained by graduate students at other universities upon joining a union?\n\nI'm also interested in information about how unions have hurt graduate students at other universities. What are some detriments to graduate life caused by graduate students joining a union?\n\nI'm primarily interested in student-body-wide benefits/detriments, instead of student-specific or faculty/administrator-specific claims (e.g. \"my advisor treated me better with the union behind me\" or \"my students have stopped working since they joined a union\" is not what I'm looking for)." ]

[ "graduate-school", "students", "labor-union" ]

[ "How long should a cover letter be when asked to include statements of teaching philosophy and research interests?", "I am a PhD graduate applying for teaching (assistant professor) positions at smaller liberal arts colleges. I understand that generally cover letters should not exceed 1 page, especially when applying to large research universities. However, are longer letters acceptable when applying to smaller schools? Again, the job posting requests that statements of teaching philosophy and research interests be included directly in the letter. If more than 1 page is ok, how long is appropriate?" ]

[ "writing", "job-search", "application-cover-letter", "teaching-statement" ]

[ "How to refer to a methodology that consists of jumping from reference to reference?", "I got a paper accepted for a data science conference. It has a more \"philosophical\" tone and does not talk about any concrete method from data science, but more about how data science should be conducted.\n\nOne reviewer criticized the lack of methodology in my paper. What I actually did was going to Google Scholar, look for a recent review paper about the topic, and then swinging from reference to reference until I had a good argument. The argument itself was commended by the reviewer.\n\nHow can I address the reviewer's criticism?" ]

[ "writing", "methodology" ]

[ "How to deal with an uncommunicative advisor?", "So I have an advisor who seems to be kind of peculiar. He is quite famous in his field and has good reputation.\n\nHowever, his way of working with students is more like waiting for him to come up with ideas for students. And since he has \"good taste\", he is always aiming for big goals which makes it take a lot longer to formulate any concrete project.\n\nResearch ideas from students are usually discarded. It's been over a year and I still don't have a research project. Also, for papers that he thinks aren't that important, he will ask his student to write it up and rarely take his time to read the paper or provide suggestions for revising which means that students have to wait a long time to get anything published.\n\nThe other funny thing is that he almost never replies back to his students' emails and rarely helps his students in finding postdoc positions. How do I work with this kind of advisor and is it a good idea to switch advisors?" ]

[ "publications", "advisor", "academic-life" ]

[ "I may leave a postdoc for industry after 6 months for health/family reasons...is it ok?", "I have started a postdoc far away from home overseas, away from my family and with quite a large time difference. The original idea was for my wife to move over after obtaining a work visa, although this is appearing to be very difficult since the country I am in has an extremely slow process in granting work permits and many places are refusing to grant her one due to \"legal reasons\". The other option was to join right away as a family member, however there are two problems with that: 1. The pay isn't a huge amount to support us both and 2. Becoming a resident is such a slow process, she may have to wait up to a year before she can start working. That aspect of it is looking very glim at this point.\n\nA couple months in and my mental health is suffering greatly (I have a long history of mental health that I have struggled with, but managed to obtain a PhD and get quite a good number of publications). I can cope in the short term, but I am concerned for my health. I always wanted to do some more research in the field I am interested in (physics), however I am pretty certain I won't be following the academic route forever. In my heart of hearts, it does not seem worth it to be this far away from family and struggling like this - it has become much more important that I thought.\n\nHas anybody experienced this situation before? If it does not appear to have changed in the next couple of months (my wife doesn't get a job, my health doesn't improve), I would plan to give 1 months notice (as per contract) and return home, hoping I do not burn any bridges along the way. My PI already knows the trouble I have in relocating my wife over here, and he has even tried to help. Ultimately, I will be honest and give these reasons upfront because it is the right thing to do. On returning back home, I would plan to make the move into industry." ]

[ "postdocs", "academic-life", "health" ]

[ "Is it a good idea to use Interfolio service for tenure track applications?", "What do job search committees for tenure track jobs think of applicants using a service like interfolio? Using such a service, you don't have to bug recommenders for each place you apply and, instead, enter a special email address generated by interfolio on application forms.\n\nIs this a good idea?" ]

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

[ "What is the difference between the two Doctoral Degrees in South Africa: PhD and Doctor of Literature and Philosophy (D.Lit et. Phil)?", "What is the difference between the two Doctoral Degrees in South Africa: PhD and Doctor of Literature and Philosophy (D.Lit et. Phil)? \n\nWhere these degrees equal? What is the history behind this differentiation?" ]

[ "africa" ]

[ "How to find collaborators for just writing and formatting manuscripts", "In our research group we do many things, but have little time for writing papers. Sometimes things like formatting the manuscript for some specific journal or just writing the intro and methods sections can be very easy things if what you do is almost always the same, or you just need to rewrite some parts from one paper to other. This is always (from my opinion) straightforward but needs lots of time. Therefore I started to wonder how could I find people for just writing and formatting manuscript 100% of the time. How would you do this?\n\nP.S. I remember some years ago there were some websites where programmers could interchange between them \"services\" for free, for instance one would write some C# code if the other one could do a website for the other. Do something like this exist for academics where the services are \"writing papers\", \"formatting grants\", \"getting bibliography\", etc." ]

[ "writing", "paper-submission", "formatting" ]

[ "Citing someone directly with additional information in footnote", "I would like to directly quote some sentences of another author who uses a word A which is a synonym for a word B I'm using in my text. Note: I would like to use my word B as the word A is very rare.\n\nSo I placed the text of the author into quotation marks and a footnote at the word A stating that in the following the word B will be used in my text. At the end of the quotation I put the source of the quote.\n\nIs that correct or could it be misinterpreted as a footnote of the text I'm quoting? Should I add e.g. \"Authors note:\" before my footnote text?" ]

[ "citations", "quotation" ]

[ "I have a perfect GPA from 2nd year on wards, but a horrible first year... How badly will this affect PhD admission?", "I have BSc in Mathematics, and will finish my BSc (Hons) in Statistics soon. \n\nIn my first year of my degree I failed one course, got a C, two B- and one A+. This was when I was lazy and generally being an idiot. I really regret this.\n\nIn my second year I got all A+ including the course I failed the previous year. I got all A or A+ for the remainder of my undergrad. I've completed 5 of the required 8 courses for my honours with A+ and expect to get A+ in the remaining three.\n\nI want to get into a decent university (top 50 qs hopefully) for a PhD program. I am worried that my extremely poor performance in my first year will ruin this for me. Will they be willing to look past this since I got my grades up, or will they just bin my application?\n\nI also got deans list every year after second year, top of my year in statistics, and another honours scholarship if that makes any difference." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "graduate-school", "application", "grades" ]

[ "Conference is on the Yom Kippur holiday", "After doing well at science fair, I started working with an extremely nice professor at the local university who encouraged me to submit my work to the relevant conference. I was rejected at large, but accepted to one of the workshops. The workshop is the day before the conference. The professor reviewed my paper twice, probably taking him a half hour or hour total (it's a short paper). He also told the conference he would shepherd me, which kind of puts his name on all of this. However, looking at the calendar to plan my flight etc, I noticed the workshop is on the day of Yom Kippur! I am not that religious, and if this was some huge event for me I could possibly make an exception, but I'm not sure if presenting my mediocre work (the work is good for a high school student, but really lame for an actual conference) to the few people who will come to the presentation supersedes such a holiday. Also, after being rejected I didn't really want to go anyway, since I won't understand most of the presentations and I feel they only accepted me to the workshop to encourage me since I'm a student.\n\nHow do I talk with the professor and the conference/workshop about my problem? It is completely my fault!\n\nSide note: who schedules an academic event on Yom Kippur? That's like scheduling it on Christmas or Easter!\n\nFollow-up: I decided to go. I'm just not sure what it's like submitting to a workshop of a conference but not the conference at large." ]

[ "conference", "communication", "religious-issues" ]

[ "What does undergraduate tuition fund, and how does this differ between public universities and private universities in the U.S.?", "Does undergraduate tuition help fund professor salaries? Does it help fund graduate student salaries, especially if the grad students are TAs? What about lab facilities?" ]

[ "university", "funding", "united-states", "tuition" ]

[ "When is it appropriate for a PhD student to discuss personal problems affecting his productivity with his advisor?", "I had a very difficult personal problem. My head was not in the right place, and outside of getting through my administrative duties, my brain just couldn't function the right way to run wet lab experiments and come up with good research ideas. As a result, I did not work as much as I should have, and when I did I was all over the place. I concealed my emotional pain pretty well, and put up a good face while in the office/lab, so no one suspected personal problems, but my work definitely suffered. My parent's illness looks to be getting better now and after some counseling I feel like my life is back on track. \n\nHowever, I feel like it is possible that my advisor's opinion of me has greatly declined due to my lack of productivity in the past. Would telling your advisor about personal problems, after they are over, with the intent of the advisor understanding a lack of productivity be appropriate? Would doing so just sound like excuses and make things worse? I assume it would have probably been better if I had mentioned it back when I was going through the problems, but is it a good idea to mention it now, or just cut my losses, work hard and hope he forgets about those unproductive years. \n\nSo my question is. When is it appropriate to bring up personal problems with an advisor? In this case and in general?" ]

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

[ "Is it unwise to contact the professor directly before getting admitted to a program in US?", "In his answer of Details an applicant should include/exclude in an introductory letter to a prospective grad school adviser?, aeismail says\n\n\n If the program in question is in the US, for instance, you should probably never contact the professor directly until after you've been admitted into the program in question. Since admissions decisions are handled centrally, it's just a waste of time.\n\n\nNow I'm surprised with this, and I think I'm not the only one. For many times, not only in this site, but also in real-life examples in my university, I have seen that my friends get accepted through contacting professors beforehand, and those professors are helpful and willing to get you through the adcom. Recall it back, they don't go to US, but I don't think US should be an exception.\n\nWhy is it an exception? Why do the \"admissions decisions are handled centrally\", unlike other universities in the world, where the weight of the professors is heavier? Isn't that sorting the applications by score not good as checking their ability directly through interview? And who is the most suitable interviewer, if not the one who will advise you in the future?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "professors", "united-states", "interview" ]

[ "What to call paragraph in relevant work chapter that explains relation to own thesis/research?", "My second supervisor suggested that I add a final paragraph in my Relevant Work chapter which essentially explains why the discussed work is related to my own. I wrote the paragraph which explains this but also how my work differed from the discussed literature.\n\nWhat should I call it? I stand at \"Relation to my work\" at the moment.\n\nIf more info is needed, please let me know." ]

[ "titles", "literature-review" ]

[ "Should remote teaching sessions be shorter than classroom sessions?", "In normal years, when I teach in a physical classroom, I teach in sessions of ~90 minutes, with ~30 minutes break.\nThis year, all teaching is done via Zoom (in real-time), and I wonder whether I should split each lesson into a larger number of shorter sessions, for example, split each 90+30 session into two 45+15 sessions.\nOn one hand, students are used to the standard 90+30 sessions; changing it might confuse them. Some students may e.g. forget coming back after the break, and this may cause a waste of time after breaks.\nOn the other hand, in remote learning, it is much harder for students to focus, so maybe they need more breaks.\nIs there any research / experience regarding the optimal length of a remote real-time teaching session? Is it indeed shorter than classroom teaching session, and by how much?" ]

[ "online-learning", "covid-19", "lecture-teaching-method", "video-conference" ]

[ "Research on technology enhanced learning?", "The discourse about teaching seems to be dominated recently by the idea of technology enhanced learning. I have been talking a lot with colleagues about that and there seems to be some kind of consensus that the usage of technology is most of the times beneficial.\n\nIt also seems that many take this route in order to make their lectures interesting and load the with interesting \"stuff\" (animations, videos, etc).\n\nI am very sceptical about this and I am kind of worried that making lectures \"too interesting\" can be a problem. I tend to think that students need to pace themselves and if you drag them along your lecture they end up remembering nothing.\n\nIs there any serious research done on this? Do we understand the effects that fast-paced interesting lectures have on learning? Is there any research-based list of good and bad practices?" ]

[ "teaching", "technology" ]

[ "Can you apply for a faculty position via a recruiting agency?", "I came across some job advertisements for faculty positions that stated\n\n\n Strictly No Agencies\n\n\nThis implies that some agencies apply on behalf of the applicants. Is it common? Is it possible at all? I mean do open positions without the above statement accept applications sent by agencies rather than the applicant?\n\nI know that the recruitment for senior industry positions is outsourced and handled by agencies, but this should be a different case." ]

[ "job-search", "job", "faculty-application" ]

[ "Research on career path after tenure denial?", "I am looking for a study on the career path of professors after they are denied tenure. \n\nSpecifically, what percentage of these \n\n\nget a tenured or tenure-track position at another institution? \nget a non-tenure-track position in academia? \nget a job related to their field of study outside of academia?\nleave the field altogether?\nother?\n\n\nI am asking out of curiosity, so I'd be happy with answers that refer to a study in any context (country, field, etc.).\n\n\n\nThis is a reference-request question: I am looking for answers that briefly summarize the results of a study on this subject, with a reference to said study. \n\nI am not looking for answers from anecdotal evidence not supported by a study or citation (we already have some of those here). \n\nI am also not looking for answers explaining why such a study is unlikely to exist, or why it should not be trusted if it did." ]

[ "career-path", "professors", "tenure-track", "rejection", "reference-request" ]

[ "Tanked the GRE Writing section, should I retake before applying to CS Ph.D.?", "I am looking into applying to a computer science ph.D program. I have 94% and up in the Quantitative and Verbal section but have tanked the writing section with a 17% (score of 3).\n\nI am currently a master student (3.85 GPA) the program is ranked at around 55 in the US, should have great letters of recommendation, but I will not publish my research until after application deadlines. So I would have only one publication at a great conference but as a second author.\n\nShould I retake the GRE?\n\nThank you very much" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "computer-science", "gre" ]

[ "Is being a good teacher a bad thing at a research intensive university?", "In Do student reviews of teachers matter?, there are a couple of comments which suggest that being labeled a \"good teacher\" is a bad thing at a research intensive university. I have heard this in the past, but have always thought it was based on the fact that you wanted to be known for your research as opposed to your teaching. In other words that you want to be known as a \"good researcher\" as opposed to a good teacher. The way the comments are used in that question it sounds like you should in fact strive to be known as a \"bad teacher\".\n\nIs it bad to be known as a good teacher? Is it good to be known as a bad teacher?" ]

[ "teaching" ]

[ "Could I list the conference that I didn't attend in the PhD application system even I got my paper accepted?", "I am applying for a Ph.D. position in a university. Their system required me to fill in the conferences I attended. \nI published my paper on one conference although I didn't attend it personally for some reasons. My advisor went on my behalf. However, if I denied that I had attended that conference, the system doesn't even allow me to upload my paper. I think the paper is an important proof of my research ability.\nWhat should I do? Should I just pretend I attended it. I don't even think they will really check about this thing." ]

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

[ "Changing MSc supervisor late in the game", "I am considering asking another professor to be my thesis advisor. My situation differs from that of other question-askers in that:\n\n\nI am in a position where I have done enough research to write my thesis and be done in a couple of months.\nMy relationship with my current advisor, while rough at times, in generally good. \n\n\nSo why do I want to switch? \n\nI feel that my research topic is a dead end. This wouldn't really bother me too much except that my particular topic turns out to be interesting to very few people (the number one complaint by reviewers). The result is that despite achieving good results, we have been having trouble publishing at the general and more influential conferences. \n\nWhen I began my project I thought it was interesting, but no longer think this, partially because of reviewer feed-back, but more because of my expanding knowledge of the field. \n\nadditional context: I also feel that the work is quite trivial in that what I did to achieve good results is what anyone in the hotter subfields would do. The reason that it wasn't done before is that the method wasn't known/understood by my advisor (or tried by others in the relatively small community). \n\nOn the other hand, I have worked on another project in one of my classes that is not only more interesting to me, but is part of a much 'hotter' subfield. \n\nI guess I am concerned with attaching my name to a thesis that few people will care about when I can potentially work on something else with much more interest. Not only that, but the latter project is in the area where I would like to do a PhD. \n\nI don't mind that switching would add upwards of a year to my program. Rather, I am hesitant to make this move for the following reasons:\n\nI don't want to do something that will harm my current advisor. I also don't want to piss this person off as they are my main reference for the past two years of work. Is switching likely to have either of these effects? \n\nThe professor I would like to switch to is very new and I don't want to put him in a position that might cause him to come into conflict with my current advisor. How likely is this?\n\nAny advice on the above questions would be great. I just don't have the experience to know if my concerns are valid." ]

[ "advisor", "supervision" ]

[ "What to do if the corresponding author is presumably dead?", "I need further information on a botany paper I found on jstor which is from the 1920s. So I am assuming the workers wouldn't still be alive. Sadly, there has no work been done in recent times on the subject. \n\nWhat is to be done if I require further/supplementary information if the corresponding author doesn't exist?" ]

[ "authorship", "correspondence" ]

[ "How to demonstrate mastery of courses not taken during undergraduation", "In this answer, Anonymous Mathematician says, \"You need to demonstrate that you have mastered the undergraduate material that is less relevant for computer science. For example, mathematical analysis along the lines of Rudin's Principles of Mathematical Analysis\" \n\nHow can I demonstrate I have mastered materials from Rudin's Principles of Mathematical Analysis or Artin's Algebra for admission in grad school?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "undergraduate" ]

[ "want to teach but not do research", "In Mathematics, where every university teacher is expected to do research I find it very difficult to do research without any motive. I keep thinking \"this is a useless thing\" If there are like minded people around to discuss problems which interests me, I do enjoy it, but alone I find no motive to do research The kind of mathematics I do do not have any practical applications, and those branches of mathematics which have applications do not interest me much.\nWhy are math faculty made to do research as mostly they are useless work? I like university level teaching and am good at it But a worse teacher who publishes papers have a greater chance of getting teaching jobs than a good teacher who does not do research" ]

[ "research-process", "teaching", "mathematics" ]

[ "Becoming an Engineer with a Math degree", "I'm not sure if this is entirely the correct stack exchange for my question, but the career stack exchange seemed to have a different focus from what I'm looking for. My question is: Can I work in engineering (Aerospace), specifically in modeling/simulation/analysis, without an engineering degree? \n\nThere is a fair bit of background for this question so be warned. I am sophomore Aerospace engineering student currently working through my 4th semester. I'm taking 16 credit hours. My classes are fairly challenging for me, as would be expected, but I can and do get A's in them so far. I work for an Aerospace engineering company for about 30 hours a week with school, I've been with this company for about a month. I've been hired on as year-round intern to do (obviously basic) modeling and data analysis. My problem is that I really like doing the modeling/data analysis, and in school I have a hard time caring about my non-math and non-numerical methods classes. If I switched to a math major, I would have a halved class load, and I would be able to take only courses on modeling and data analysis. \n\nThe obvious solution here would be for me to switch to CS, but every time I import 'system' into Python I die a little bit. Its not something I personally enjoy, so I would like to avoid that if possible. Basically, I want to focus on becoming more skilled at what I enjoy doing without doing unnecessary work. But I don't know if I can continue doing what I enjoy in my future career without a degree that says \"Engineering\" on it. I don't have enough information to make this decision so I'm hoping for advice from those that do. ." ]

[ "mathematics", "engineering", "early-career" ]

[ "Which to cite: Review and Survey papers or Research papers?", "Review papers are long papers gathering the results of various researches and have many conclusions. When I want to address an issue or a conclusion about something should I repeatedly cite a Review paper and use points in that paper or I'd better find important papers on that topic and cite them?" ]

[ "publications", "citations" ]

[ "Advisor writing bulk/entire student thesis", "I am forced to write this question as I believe it is unethical and needs to be addressed in my faculty. I suspect a faculty member in my university has the habit of writing his master's degree students' thesis (for free or for a fee). I believe he does that for a fee. A colleague has mentioned this before but that colleague isn't a board member so I can't really take his word officially. I noticed that for several thesis I examined for the examination board, his students have very solid thesis but would have you questioning their abilities during oral presentations. Some colleagues think it's stage fright but I believe it is more than that. This faculty member always requests that corrections for the thesis be mailed to him to "pass to his student". I think he's just doing the corrections and submitting final copy. This faculty member taught me in my undergraduate years in the same faculty and I heard some stories of his shady dealings with students then.\nQuestion: How can something like this be investigated since there are no mechanism in place to limit what a supervisor contributes to his students' thesis? It is difficult to get the students to testify as this is what most of them would want by default." ]

[ "thesis", "advisor", "ethics" ]

[ "Applied Math or Computer Science for graduate school", "I am a 4th-year student about to finish my math and computer science programs (double major). I have taken both pure math courses and computer science courses and I find myself more interested in math. However, many have told me that computer science may be a better option if I want to find a job in non-academic area.\n1. Should I go to graduate for applied math or computer science?\n2. Does it matter which path I choose if my ultimate goal is to find a job in the industry, considering I will have a computer science bachelor's degree?\n3. Am I going to be ok in graduate school if all the math courses I have taken are pure math" ]

[ "career-path" ]

[ "How is the salary of professors and researchers in medicine?", "For university-level researchers and professors, is the salary higher in the medical fields than in other fields? I suppose attracting physicians to teach may be harder, because they can usually get high payments working as physicians. Where can I find data about this in Europe, Australia, Canada and US?" ]

[ "research-process", "professors", "salary", "statistics", "medicine" ]

[ "Are there any good strategies for conveying the true significance of the results that look obvious post factum?", "In nearly any field there is a number of important results which look obvious to experts post factum but somehow are not that easy to come by in the first place (e.g. in mathematics some important definitions look exactly like this). Unfortunately, this apparent post factum simplicity makes conveying the importance of the idea to expert audience (and in particular to the journals' editors and referees) very difficult. To make things worse, sometimes the author is unable to illustrate the application of the idea by sufficiently striking examples. \n\n\n The question is whether it is possible (and if yes, how) to mitigate this apparent post factum simplicity in the talks and research articles, i.e., what can be done to adequately convey the significance of \"post-factum-obvious\" results to the audience and, in particular, to get these results to the journals they truly deserve?\n\n\nI am particularly interested in the advice applicable to mathematics/mathematical physics but the suggestions suitable for other fields are very welcome too, as the situation in question does not seem to be all that field-specific." ]

[ "journals", "writing", "peer-review" ]

[ "How does one keep herself updated with new research without forgetting older results?", "The title is fairly generic in nature, so I'm trying to elaborate in the body. I'm interested in answers pertaining to Theoretical Computer Science (TCS), but I'm certain the question would be equally relevant in fields which have been around for more than a couple of decades, and hence I hope to get responses from researchers in other disciplines as well!\n\nWhat I'm trying to understand is how researchers (who have been working for quite sometime) in any specialized field (like TCS) keep track of results that have already been published - not just seminal results, but also results which have a lesser (but not insignificant) impact on the field but were published years or decades before. At the same time, one has to keep track of results being published in (at least) the notable conferences in the current year as well, in order to absorb the new ideas presented there and incorporate/extend them in one's own work.\n\nI find it kind of incredible to believe that all of the above is possible without any kind of disciplined approach to reading and subsequent assimilation of the ideas on a regular basis - which is why I'm asking members of academia about their experiences/practices on this. In particular:\n\n\nHow frequently (if at all) do you revisit \"classic\" results?\nDo you keep written/electronic notes on a regular basis to keep track of continuing progress in a field (say, for instance, inapproximability results for geometric problems) - or do you prefer to keep it all in your mind?\nTo keep track of current state of art, do you only attend/read Tier-I conferences, or do you get useful ideas from results published in Tier-II/III conferences as well?\nWhat kind of time/resources would you typically set aside for reading, as opposed to working on a problem?\n\n\nIn short, I'm trying to find what kind of things would you expect a top researcher to \"know\" off the top of his head, and at what level of depth - and how would you go trying to maintain that level of perception over the years?\n\n(I understand that the question IS subjective, but I'm hoping that it satisfies the guidelines for a \"good subjective\" question!)" ]

[ "graduate-school", "research-process", "career-path", "productivity" ]

[ "How do I move forward after working with a toxic academic supervisor?", "How do I move forward after working with a toxic academic supervisor who ruined my all job opportunities by giving negative referrals, when my next job is asking referee report from him?\nIf anyone has gone through a similar experience and survived, would love to hear how you survived." ]

[ "graduate-school", "postdocs", "career-path", "academic-life", "early-career" ]

[ "Sending a second follow-up email for a potential PhD position", "Four weeks ago I contacted the department of the University to ask whether there are PhD positions open. They emailed me some questions I needed to fill in and said that they will review my application and let me know if they have something available for me as soon as possible. After two weeks, I sent a follow-up email asking if there was already some news about my application, but they didn't respond.\nNow, two weeks after that follow-up email, I still haven't heard anything. Is it okay to send a second follow-up email? How should I formulate it? I don't want to seem annoying and intrusive. On the one hand, I'm willing to be patient as I really want to pursue a PhD at that faculty, but on the other hand, if they don't offer me a position, I need to start looking for other positions as soon as possible." ]

[ "phd", "graduate-admissions", "graduate-school", "email" ]

[ "Getting a job in industrial math with only a Masters?", "Is it possible to get a job in industrial mathematics with a Masters in math but no work experience and no PhD. Or would one be limited to only nonresearch industrial math jobs?\n\nHow about the type of jobs listed here: http://www.siam.org/careers/thinking/solve.php\n?" ]

[ "career-path", "industry" ]

[ "Master in Germany after 3 years bachelor degree", "I've completed my 3 years bachelor degree in B.Sc.Hons in Computing from Nepal affiliated to London Metropolitan University and i am planning to do Ms in Germany. Am i eligible to enroll directly in master program in Germany?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "masters", "germany" ]

[ "How to reuse a figure from a patent? Is it free to reuse?", "I recently came across a journal article that included and referenced a figure (photograph) from a US patent. I found the patent, and I would like to use the same figure, and I'm wondering who the copyright holder is. Might it be free to use since the patent itself is public, or do I need to ask around until I find the copyright holder?" ]

[ "citations", "graphics", "patents" ]

[ "When suggesting referee names, where do you draw the line for conflict of interest?", "Journal submission guidelines in my field typically require the submitting author to provide the editor with a list of potential referees. The journal guidelines ask to suggest people with whom we have no collaboration, no joint publications and no conflict of interest.\n\nGiven how competitive academic research is, I sometimes wonder how conservative one should be in choosing potential referees. After a long career, if I am to exclude all people whom I have collaborated with over time, there will be few experts left qualified to judge the work! On the other hand, someone with whom I am just starting a project with, and has nothing published with me so far, would not be seen as a violation by the editor, yet would not be rally fair (if we work together, he has a vested interest in my success).\n\nSo, I am asking here what guidelines or principles can be proposed in this gray area." ]

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

[ "find papers that are based on another paper", "There is a paper on my field that I like very much(machine vision). I have implemented the solution it proposes and it works well (not flawless obviously). \nHowever this paper was published in 1991. \nIs there a way that I can search relevant and more recent papers that use this paper as its basis?? -I mean it is rather easy to the opposite, just check the references, but how about the other way?)\n\n(Talking more specialized jargon, this papers deals with one (of many) ways to implement a machine vision operation. I like this method rather than others, and I would like to find papers that propose improvements to this method-rather than go to other direction)" ]

[ "publications" ]

[ "Is it reasonable for me to expect an official and timely response to my PhD application?", "I recently applied for a PhD position with a major university in Europe. However, I haven't heard back from them even though the dates for the interviews have passed. This somewhat provoces me since I've put a lot of work into my application (it feels disrespectful to not get back to me) and since it makes me unsure whether I have been rejected or merely forgotten. I've already got a response (possibly automately generated) that my application was received by them." ]

[ "phd", "application" ]

[ "What to do if asked to write a letter of recommendation for a weak candidate?", "How should a professor proceed when a student or colleague asks for a letter of recommendation and the professor does not have a high opinion of that person?" ]

[ "recommendation-letter" ]

[ "Is it recommended to invest in stocks as a typical broke graduate students?", "I openly admit that I am financial illiterate and for most of my life neither know about nor cared about investing. I am currently doing research in a field that is tangentially, but not exactly related to financial mathematics (say physics: a lot of Brownian motions and what not going on). \n\nWhat has gotten me interested is over time is that I've met many people (who are much younger than me, like 19 years old right out of highschool) who are investing in stocks WHILE doing research. In fact, they appear to know a lot more than I do, which makes me feel a bit self-conscious and inadequate.\n\nWhat has prevented me from doing the same:\n\n\nBasically no family member or close connections who can guide me. Not born with a silver spoon. \nResearch is a lot of work and requires dedicated focus. Can't imagine rushing a deadline while managing my assets. \nI literally have not taken a single course in finance, and assumed it would be easy given my extensive graduate school level math background. But I have no idea where to get started. \nNo money. This is one of the key reason. I am your typical 20s something scholarship-living graduate student in North America. If I am investing anything it is my TA stipend or my scholarship itself (which I will need to pay back at the end of the semester). I literally do not have any other income source and cannot even take a hit of a few hundred dollars. \n\n\n1, 2, 3 I can fix, but I am worried about 4. \n\nIs there any advice on stock investments during your grad school for people who have tried their hands, especially if you were living as a low-paid graduate student like me?\n\nIs it possible to achieve a balance between research, life and managing your finances?" ]

[ "graduate-school", "funding", "academic-life", "work-life-balance", "economics" ]

[ "Appropriate response to sexual misconduct 'joke' made against an academic", "This happened quite recently to a friend and colleague of mine.\n\nAnother colleague made an off-hand 'joke' about a friend (an academic) potentially behaving inappropriately with his students. This was said in front of my friend's students (over 20) and within hearing range of his students, as my friend heard them laughing soon after the 'joke' was said (his own students apparently had shocked looks on their faces).\n\nThe situation was that he was setting up an experiment demonstration that required the lights turned off and curtains drawn (physics - lasers). Understandably, my friend was very angry, hurt and terribly embarrassed and could not bare to even look at his colleague who 'triumphantly went back to his own class' soon after.\n\nJust a point I want to make here, the reason I am saying 'joke' in inverted commas, is because this kind of infantile rubbish can and does cause unwarranted mud to stick - and is potentially a lot more damaging for male teachers/lecturers. Also, it is a lame, disgusting, low-brow attempt at humour. (I have been a butt of a joke like that myself a few years ago and it inadvertently caused quite a bit of trouble, despite being 100% innocent and proven so).\n\nThere is no question of his innocence of any wrong doing, and being the true professional, he redirected his students back to the demonstration and completed the lesson.\n\nHe is the kind of person that does not like to make waves and does not like to make a fuss.\n\nIn summary:\n\n\nLecturer X about to start his class requiring the lights to be off and curtains drawn for an experiment. Lecturer Y comes in unannounced and made the 'joke' about X potentially doing something inappropriate with the students in the darkness. This was in front of both X's and Y's students.\nLecturer Y went back to his class.\nLecturer X was justifiably insulted, but continued his lesson.\n\n\nWhat course of action should he (Lecturer X) do? Particularly to protect himself from any potential future trouble regarding allegations etc from this 'joke'? (Which as I said, can occur)." ]

[ "ethics", "sexual-misconduct" ]

[ "Isn't the job prospect in theoretical/mathematical physics too bad to justify doing a PhD in it?", "Almost every theoretical physicist (string theorists) that I meet tells me that it makes no sense to try do a PhD. in these subjects since there are simply no jobs available and things are only going to get worse for those seeking faculty jobs 8-10 years from now." ]

[ "graduate-school", "job", "physics" ]

[ "PhD Application, Mention of published Papers", "I am considering applying to a university for a Ph.D. The university wants to know about papers I published - I heard that traditionally the first author (of e.g. 4) is often considered the main one. \n\nI published 3 papers - I did have guidance by a Professor on how to choose a structure, but in the end I wrote it on my own. For some \"internal\" reasons, the university did not allow me to put my name first - and there were other names (next to my Prof's) added as well. \n\nOn each paper there are now 4-5 names and my name is either 2nd or 3rd place. \n\n\nHow do I convey that I am the main author? \nHow do I convey that I did the work? \n\n\nI dont want to deny the effort of my Prof guiding me and helping me with questions, but I also dont want to make it sound like it was \"a collaborative effort\" by all authors. \nBasically, I dont want to sound like a jackass." ]

[ "publications", "phd" ]

[ "PI wants to add a new author who I think doesn't deserve to be added", "I have worked with a professor on a project where I produced some results from running experiments and analysing the data, now the professor is asking a new student to redo my experiments with the promise of adding the student's name to the publication we already submitted to a conference and is currently under review.\n\nI wasn't told of the reason why a new student was brought to the project but if I have to guess it would be to validate the results.\n\nI feel that the new student shouldn't be added as an author as he is repeating what I have already done. Is my feeling correct/justified? Should I approach the professor with this concern? Or should I keep it to myself?" ]

[ "publications", "conference", "computer-science", "authorship", "collaboration" ]

[ "Is it important to get a job at a top university?", "My postdoc was very successful, and now I got a tenure-track offer in a mid-level university. My supervisor suggests if I stay with him for one more years or two, I might be able to get a tenure track position in top universities (say, MIT, Harvard, ...).\n\nI can establish my research and group in any reasonable environment. Is it really that important to be in top universities? Is it worth of waiting?" ]

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

[ "What is the exact meaning of a deadline for conference paper submission?", "If I see on an IEEE conference webpage that the deadline is set to the 30th of March (for example) what does that exactly mean? Does it mean the submission system will not accept any submission after 11:59pm on March 30th?" ]

[ "paper-submission" ]

[ "How would you rate the UK Open University's math BSc programme relative to prestigious ones?", "The Open University has a "BSc Honours" degree in mathematics, having its programme of study described here. The courses, divided into modules, are grouped there and listed by three stages roughly corresponding to years of study.\nTo me it looks like an applied mathematics curriculum, but I could be wrong about that.\nWhat would be your take, if you are intimately familiar with other mathematics BSc programmes and perhaps even with this particular one? Are there key aspects you find neglected in this programme?" ]

[ "mathematics", "united-kingdom", "degree", "bachelor" ]

[ "Is it ethically unsound to accept a graduate admission offer then later withdraw?", "Note: Similar questions exist on ASE but those pertain to funded programs. \n\nI have been admitted to an outstanding MS program and waitlisted for admission to another outstanding MS program. Both are unfunded. The first's response deadline is 04/15, and the second said they may not be able to let me know the final decision before then. While the first program is outstanding, I find better fit in second program (mainly research interest, location, and tuition rate). My question is: would it be ethically unsound to accept the first offer prior to the 04/05 deadline, and if I find out thereafter that I am accepted to the second one, decline the first? Since there is no funding involved (as in a Ph.D. program) I would not feel as bad about it." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "ethics", "withdraw" ]

[ "What are the pros and cons of having multiple co-advisors during a PhD?", "Can you have more than one co-advisor as well ? I yet have to check with my department but wanted to see the pros and cons of it. \n\nI did read this but wanted to see if someone else has opinions as well ?" ]

[ "phd" ]

[ "Should I avoid using footnotes in a statement of purpose?", "I intend to use some footnotes (in a restricted manner) in my statement of purpose for PhD applications, but I am not sure if doing so is suitable.\n\nThough I cannot see any reason against doing so, for safety I still want to ask here for the advices from more experienced you." ]

[ "phd", "graduate-admissions", "application", "statement-of-purpose", "writing-style" ]

[ "I haven't received the support promised in my funding letter. What should I do?", "It has been 4 months that I have started my master's degree in North America. I got my funding letter from my supervisor when I was in my home country, in my letter it was written that I will be a fully funded student. Now I am here and he does not pay that amount money. even for my first semester, I paid all of my expenses and tuition fee from my pocket. I finished those amount of money that I brought from my home country. now my supervisor does not pay properly. Life became difficult for me, even the university restricted my access to add and drop due to the hold. I am a good student who cares about studying, I hate thinking about money and tuition fee. I am not the guy who can study and do research like this. My prof pays other classmates more than me. This situation really disappoints me and overwhelmingly hard for me. Several times my parents wanted to send money but I did not let them. (transferring money is difficult from my home country.)\nI feel like crying these days and I could not stop it.\nDo you have any recommendation or sample letter? how can I make him understand?\n\n+edited: I tried to talk my classmates about this issue. But when I am explaining this issue to them they think that there is something wrong with me and my classmates do not offer any collaboration with me such as publishing something or studying together. This payment issue affected my self-confidence completely." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "research-process", "graduate-school", "professors" ]

[ "Question on academic integrity and using summaries", "I was taking a philosophy class, which met twice weekly. Assignments for each class consisted of reading select passages from different philosophical works. In addition to the selected passages, our teacher provided recommended secondary literature/commentaries to help navigate the texts and provide different perspectives.\n\nIn regards to the readings, due to various (mostly health-related) reasons, I often fell behind. This, for the most part, was not an issue, as the essay assignments for the class concerned very specific sections of the texts. In writing these, then, what I would do was consult both online summaries of the relevant sections and peruse the relevant sections from the texts myself.\n\nCome the final exam (for which we were provided the questions ahead of time), while I was initially concerned that my having fallen behind would hurt me, it turned out that most of the questions I could answer based on what I already knew. As I was preparing for the final question, however, I realized that I needed to really understand one section of a book that I hadn't read; this was the night before the exam. This section was really dense, so while I tried for a time, and got partway through it, I decided it would be more prudent to consult one of the recommended commentaries in order to understand what the philosopher was saying. While I was doing this, I tried a few more times to make it through the actual text again, but I didn't get that much further. The secondary sources clarified the argument the philosopher was making, and I used what I'd learnt to finish my answer. Ultimately, the information I'd gleaned from the secondary source took up only a small part of my final answer. \n\nAt the time, I felt a pang that maybe I was doing something unscrupulous, and thus that I should just rely solely on the primary text. Would it be wrong, I asked myself, to rely predominately on the secondary text given my minimal understanding of the primary text? But I also knew that I had somewhat of a history of compulsive, irrational guilt which had affected my performance in the past, and thus I was more determined not to let this hurt my performance on the exam, so I did end up using the secondary source.\n\nAfter the exam, I later informed the teacher that in preparing for the final, I had consulted online/secondary sources that provided some information/ideas which I hadn't taken from the text, and he replied that this was completely fine. I realized, however, that I hadn't said specifically that I hadn't made it through the relevant section completely and with trying to understand it fully, and that maybe I should've actually clarified this as well.\n\nThe crux of my dilemma, then, is to what extent I should have read/comprehended the original text before relying on secondary texts/summaries. Generally speaking, throughout the course, while I relied a lot on secondary sources/summaries, I made efforts to read the actual texts as well. For the final, however, I tried to read the actual texts, and did to an extent, but understood it only superficially, and ultimately the bulk of my understanding came from the secondary texts/summaries. Moreover, as I was reading the primary text, I felt a bit that I was only doing it so that I could subsequently turn to the secondary text without reservations—i.e., without relying on the secondary text entirely without having read the primary text at all. It's worth noting as well that the secondary source I consulted predominately in answering this question was recommended by the teacher, and to my knowledge it was never stated explicitly that we could only use secondary commentaries after having read the primary texts.\n\nI'm wondering whether I should feel bad about this going forward. I've come to the conclusion that, while at worst this may have been a minor infraction, it isn't worth feeling bad about and I shouldn't let this hang over me at all going forward, nor should I attempt to further clarify this situation with my teacher, especially given that the class is over." ]

[ "academic-life" ]

[ "My PhD defense is next week and I am having negative thoughts about my work and knowledge. Any advice on how to tackle this?", "I am presenting my PhD thesis in front of my committee next week and I feel that I have just not done enough. My work is simple and I also feel that I have poor theoretical foundations and am going to be an embarrassment when quizzed by my committee.\n\nI am not feeling confident about presenting my research and I am finding it extremely difficult pushing away negative thoughts like (I feel I have not done enough or I am not theoretically strong enough for doing my PhD on my research field).\n\nI am revising theoretical stuff (related to my thesis work) that I studied in my first year of PhD, but I am not able to push out the feeling of guilt and the impending doom.\n\nAny advice on how to tackle this?" ]

[ "phd", "thesis-committee", "defense" ]

[ "How to evaluate the skills that students build while getting to the answer?", "We are running a hands-on laboratory that is part of a larger electric circuits course. I've been doing a review of our lab manuals and am realizing that there is a large discrepancy between what we are asking students to submit about the lab and what we hope they will learn in the lab. \n\nFor example, one of the key skills we want the students to gain in lab 1 is to be able to look at a circuit diagram, identify the physical components on their bench that correspond to the symbols in the diagram, and appropriately wire up the circuit. In the lab manual, we just ask them \"what is the voltage across X?\" The problem there is that whether it takes them an hour or a minute, or whether a TA gave them excessive help or they did it on their own, is not captured at all in the evaluation. However, asking them to describe their process or something like that often results in vague answers that aren't much help.\n\nIt seems to me that we need a way to evaluate the skills as much as the end result. What are some strategies for doing such an evaluation?" ]

[ "teaching", "assessment" ]

[ "References in Executive Summary?", "When writing a Deliverable for the European Commission I'm commanded to include an Executive Summary at the top of the document. This Executive Summary includes the main outcomes of the research done for the Deliverable, including what I've read from others research.\n\nOf course anything I've learnt is formally referenced, and by style decision I have to employ APA style. Should I put the cites and references in the Executive Summary as well?\n\nPROS:\n\n\nIf by any reason the executive summary is separated from the real\ndocument, it is stated clearly that I don't pretend to pass any\nothers insights as mine.\n\n\nCONS:\n\n\nThe Executive Summary occupies nearly one and a half pages more\n(APA!)\nExtensive citing makes the reading slower, and more difficult if you're not used to read academic papers.\n\n\nSo I'm worried to make the Executive Summary unuseful by adding too much formalism.\nAny experiences on that?" ]

[ "publications", "abstract", "review-articles" ]

[ "Appropriate to thank examiners?", "I have just completed a research degree. By the rules of my university, my dissertation was examined by two outside examiners, whose identities were kept secret from me during the examination process. Now that I have received my results, my supervisor has told me who the examiners were (this was permitted by university rules and the consent of the examiners).\n\nIs it appropriate to send them each an email thanking them for their efforts?" ]

[ "etiquette", "ethics" ]

[ "In a class with both graduate and undergraduate students, is it normal for a single grading curve to be applied for both groups?", "I took a class with graduate students as an undergraduate student. The grading was on a curve and combined (as in graduate students were graded along with undergraduate students).\n\nIs this normal in US universities as well? Won't the undergraduate students have a disadvantage competing against graduate students (pursuing 2nd year of Masters/PhD) for a good grade.\n\nWhat ended up was:\n\n1 A Grade\n\n12 B Grades (7 of which went to graduate Students and 5 to undergraduate students)\n\n20 C Grades\n\n10 D Grades\n\n3 E Grades\n\nFor a class of 25 graduate students and 21 undergraduate students." ]

[ "undergraduate", "coursework", "grading" ]

[ "Is it suitable for an MS student to ask teaching faculty for a recommendation letter for PhD applications?", "During my masters degree, I was a teaching assistant for undergraduate course 'X' two times. The professors in charge of the course are titled 'Senior Lecturer' - they are not research faculty.\n\nHow would my PhD application look if I had a recommendation letter from one of them? \n\nBear in mind:\n\n\nI have worked extensively with them: meetings, created lecture content, handled student issues, etc. \nI have two other LoR's from research faculty.\nThe other options I have (for my third LoR) are: Undergraduate faculty (from a different country) or graduate faculty who's courses I took, but did not interact very significantly. \n\n\nThanks!" ]

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

[ "Rephrasing and Reproducing some part of the Introduction of a Research publication without citing that publication. Is it plagiarism?", "I want to rephrase and reproduce some part of the Introduction of a Research publication without giving citation to that publication. Will it be considered an act of plagiarism ?? I am not using and citing any result or any table and figure of the publication." ]

[ "publications", "plagiarism", "introduction" ]

[ "What to do when university has not yet reimbursed travel costs for a job interview?", "A few months ago, I visited a university for a tenure-track interview in computer science. Before my visit, I received an interview policy sheet from HR stating all the usual things (economy flight fare, etc). After the interview, I was told by HR that I need to mail them my original receipts, which I did instantly upon my return home. \n\nAfter a few weeks, I inquired regarding the reimbursement and was told that my receipts hadn't been received yet. However, the tracking service (I had used registered mail) did indicate that they had been delivered and, after a second inquiry, HR confirmed that they should have been received at their university but aren't to be found anywhere and reiterated that they need the original receipts to reimburse me.\n\nThis was 3 weeks ago and my subsequent enquiries have been met with silence. I did receive a job offer but, also having received another offer, accepted a position elsewhere and informed the university about my decision. \n\n\n Is there anything I can/should do about this? \n\n\nTo be frank, the university is overseas and taking the probably very expensive legal route is not an option for me. That said, the interview expenses are in the range of 1.2k USD and thus non-negligible for me." ]

[ "job-search", "faculty-application", "interview", "international" ]

[ "Will an advisor schedule a PhD defense just to get rid of an underperformed student?", "Last week, my PhD advisor commented that I can postpone my thesis defense for couple of months if I was not ready to defend. However, I was adamant of completing my defense this year. As a result, my advisor has scheduled my defense for december and I have few weeks to prepare.\n\nNow, on second thought, I was wondering that probably her suggesting the postponing of defense was a way to tell me that I am not going to pass the defense.\n\nIn that case, is it possible that the advisor thinks that I am unsuitable for PhD defense and she just wants to pass the onus of passing on the judgement about my qualifications/research output to the committee. Probably she doesn't want any confrontations with me but doesn't approve of my research work either.\n\nIs it possible that she aggreed to defense scheduling to get rid of an underperforming student?\n\nI am in Canada." ]

[ "phd", "thesis-committee", "defense" ]

[ "What can be done to improve mental health in academia: more research into mental health of academics or better preventative measures?", "I am speaking from my experiences with mental health in academia:\n\nAfter being a grad student and a postdoc for several years, I developed severe mental health issues (after being completely healthy in my youth, as far as I can tell).\nMy friends (around eight people who I knew well) who were graduate students or postdocs at the same time have experienced terrible mental health problems/breakdowns (such as bipolar disorder, psychosis, suicidal tendencies, needing to take a year off work, being placed into a mental hospital for some time, forgetting to eat).\nThree other grad students I knew developed severe illnesses (unknown physical illnesses for two of them and an instance of extreme anxiety for the third one) that are not compatible with working and they have been unemployed since then.\nA professor and another postdoc I met can only function when they are taking heavy doses of antidepressants (the professor in fact tends to experience prolonged periods of time when he is not able to function at all). As far as I know, all these people developed their mental health problems after being in academia for some time. In addition to these, I have heard many more people in academia talking non-specifically about often going through periods of depression, which is frequently accompanied by inability to work.\n\nI am wondering what can be done to improve this situation.\n\nShould there be more research into mental health in academia, especially among grad students and postdocs?\nShould there be more preventative measures that can ensure better coping of junior academics with mental health difficulties that are likely to befall them? (During my years in academia, I received virtually no specific information or training that could help me to prevent mental health problems).\n\nNote: I see a lot of interest and comments/upvotes even though the question has been closed for being opinion-based. If you are interested in this question and have at least 3000 reputation on this website, please vote to re-open it (apparently I already have at least two votes to re-open, and I need five to re-open it)! Also, feel free to leave any comments (comments are still open, even though a question cannot accept answers while it's closed). In particular, please use comments to suggest ways to reformulate/change this question so that it can be posted as a new question on this website which is less likely to be closed for being opinion-based. I am also interested in any suggestions for other suitable Internet forums where this or similar questions can be asked successfully." ]

[ "health" ]

[ "Can I get into a US CSE PhD if I don't have a good CGPA?", "I am currently pursuing Masters (M.Tech) in CSE from IIT Madras. But my Master's CGPA is not so good. It is around 6.1 in out of 10 scale. Scoring here in IITs is really really difficult. I have an interest in research though my final year thesis is not yet published and chances of it being published in a Top Tier conference is very less according to my advisor. So is there any chance that I can get into at least top 100 US schools for PhD in CSE and even in interdisciplinary fields if possible?\nI have a very good Bachelor's CGPA of around 9.2 out of 10 scale.\nInstead of USA what other options do I have? And what about the funding? Any help will be GREAT as I am eager to do a PhD, rather than joining a job.\nAnd last of all, does IIT tag matter?" ]

[ "phd", "graduate-admissions", "united-states", "grades" ]

[ "What does a textbook look like while you are writing it?", "I've entertained the idea of writing a textbook for several years now. The idea has taken several forms - a set of course notes that I provide as pdf, a text that is printed at my institution, or possibly a text that I propose to a publisher and (hopefully) get accepted.\n\nThis question is a practical one - when writing a textbook, what format is it in? Is it just a big MSWord file? Separate files? Is there a specific \"textbook editor\" that people use? For example, in books with separate sections for examples, callouts, definitions etc, I can't imagine doing that sort of layout on my own. My guess is that the publisher figures that out for you. However, the author has to indicate \"box X goes here\" doesn't he? How does that work?\n\nEdit: for clarity, the text will be used in a professional communications course for technical disciplines such as engineering." ]

[ "books" ]

[ "Academia research vs. industry research (computer science)", "After finishing my PhD in Computer Science (machine learning) and after several years as a university lecturer, I decided to transition from academia to industry. As a result of that, I have been working one year for a company, doing applied research.\n\nIn my latest performance review, my supervisor pointed out that my only negative point was that I still had an academic mindset towards research, and that I should be able to get better at what he called \"risk analysis\". He defined risk analysis as the skill of assessing in advance the potential benefits/drawbacks for the company of a given method/technique/algorithm. The aim of that is to be able to rapidly discard methods that are supposed to not solve the company's problems without having to waste too much time on implementing them.\n\nI was wondering whether any learning resource exists (book, online course/resources) that may help me to acquire such a skill. More generally, any recommended reading about computer science research in industry would be much appreciated." ]

[ "computer-science", "industry" ]

[ "How do we get our Journal indexed?", "We are publishing a Journal titled Chettinad Health City Medical Journal. It is a Quarterly double blind peer reviewed international journal. How do we get it indexed?" ]

[ "indexing" ]

[ "What is the difference in research culture between a University of X and a X University of Technology?", "In various parts of Europe (even in Israel) I see that there are two types of universities:\n\n\nUniversity of 'X'\n'X' University of Technology\n\n\nwhere X is the name of a city.\n\nThe main difference I discovered is: #2 offers more jobs in the industry, but #1 offers more research opportunity. \n\nDo they follow different types of cultures in terms of teaching and research? Do they follow different quality standards?" ]

[ "research-process", "university" ]

[ "Can I use British English in an Australian conference paper?", "I have written a peer-reviewed paper for an Australian academic conference. The reviews are favourable with a number of small and helpful suggestions. However, one reviewer has criticised the use of the word \"amongst\", saying it is archaic and should not therefore be used in a technical paper. \n\nIn British English, \"amongst\" is more commonly used in everyday and technical language, and to my (British) ear, it fits better than the alternative \"among\" in the context that I have used it. In fact, it was introduced to the language more recently. However, in US English, it is less often used and could be considered archaic. Australian English has many similarities with American English, so it may be considered archaic there too.\nMy question is whether the paper should be \"corrected\" to Australian English as it is an Australian conference, or if \"correct\" UK English should be allowed from a UK writer?\n\nI am not trying to pick a fight, and the acceptance of the paper is not at stake - this is merely a suggestion from the reviewer - but I am interested in what would be considered the correct approach." ]

[ "peer-review", "conference", "language", "australia" ]

[ "How to deal with exam performances that do not reflect my abilities?", "I'm an undergrad student in TAU for mathematics. \nI failed two classes I took on the first semester so I had to repeat them. unfortunately, I failed again. I got 48 on one exam as you need to get 55 to pass, which is at the moment fairly enough for me.\n\nHow do I deal with repetitive failure like this, as I know these grades do not reflect my knowledge and my abilities? \nI'm not interested in changing my major as I love what I'm studying and I know that I could be good at that, but I need to overcome this obstacles and I don't know what else I could be doing." ]

[ "mathematics", "exams", "learning" ]

[ "Can I write in my SOP that I want to join labs which aren't belonged to the department I apply?", "I want to work on a research which requires both field A and field B. On the school I want to pursue, both lab X and X' from department A work on A+B. If possible, I'd like to work in both lab because there is some niches in both lab X and X' will be needed on my proposed research. \n\nHowever, I would like to apply to department B because I don't want to limit myself inside a field. I want to broaden my knowledge as much as I can, before concentrating on my thesis. I don't think that this approach is bad.\n\nBeing said that, is there anything that I should be aware of when writing the SOP to department B? Would mention about the labs which aren't belonged to the department harm me in some ways? Or should I just apply to department A? Is there any harm if in my SOP there is a paragraph saying that I want to learn more about B (than A)?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "statement-of-purpose", "collaboration", "multidisciplinary" ]

[ "À la carte graduate courses", "I can get a small raise if I earn 7 more graduate units from an accredited school. I have no intention of earning another degree, and I could be happy with either online or in-person work. How to go about it?\n\nI could apply to some Master's program, get accepted, enroll, and then not finish the degree, but this seems dishonest, plus I might have to take their introductory courses instead of my own choices. Would some other approach do better? Do accredited universities ever offer graduate courses à la carte?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "salary" ]

[ "Physics dissertation: Do I give a reference every time I mention a certain piece of work?", "I'm currently writing my BSc Physics dissertation and I'm using LaTeX with BibTeX so the format of the references is all correct, but there are a number of other papers that I talk about at several points throughout the paper. When referencing one of these papers do I need to include a reference each time I mention it?\n\nExample:\n\n\n Throughout this paper I will adopt values for cosmological parameters\n obtained by the Planck Collaboration [1].\n\n\nand later on in the paper...\n\n\n ... there have been numerous projects attempting to measure features\n of the CMB including the COBE satellite [2], the WMAP [3] and, more\n recently, the Planck Collaboration ([1]?)." ]

[ "citations", "thesis" ]

[ "My supervisor is making me work on something that is not my PhD project. What should I do?", "My PhD project is a very little part of a big study that my supervisor is currently running. I am already four months into my PhD and I just have a 3 years position to finish my thesis. So far I haven’t worked in my PhD topic because I’m helping her with other aspects of this big study. She says doing that is working on my project, however she asks me to write and do research in things that are not really going to be on my thesis. And during all our meetings so far, we haven’t really discussed my topic, the chapters of my thesis, my research questions, the literature I should be looking at, or the instruments I need for answering my research questions What should I do??" ]

[ "phd", "ethics", "advisor", "interpersonal-issues" ]

[ "Are there any practical reasons at keeping record of my past university work?", "After graduating from university is there a practical reason I would want to keep record of my previous assignments? I have a hard-drive full of them. Are there more practical reasons I don't see other than the sentimental value?" ]

[ "coursework" ]

[ "What are \"Numerically Weighted Transcripts\"?", "I was reading about a postgraduate scholarship. As part of application for the scholarship, a \"numerically weighted\" transcript is required.\n\nThis is what my B.S. trancript looks like:\n(A part of my transcript HERE)\n\nIt shows, on a single page, all the courses taken in all the semesters, Letter Grades (LG) and Grade Points (GP) secured in the courses, Credit Hours (CHr) of the courses, all my re-attempts, as well as GPA secured in the semesters, and final CGPA --- i.e. absolutely no information is hidden.\nNow my question is:\n\nIs this what a \"numerically weighted academic transcript\" is; as required for the scholarship?" ]

[ "funding", "australia" ]

[ "Whom should I send the email to? The Principal Investigator or the postdoc who have done the work?", "A postdoc has published some works that I am interested in. I have some questions about the work, and I would like to share some idea about the topic. \n\nIs it considered polite to send the email to the postdoc and CC his PI? If I email the PI only, I might have to wait for a long time. However, the postdoc could not even be in the city. So I am not sure what is the best and politest practice." ]

[ "etiquette", "professors", "email" ]