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[ { "answer_id": 1671, "author": "hnltraveler", "author_id": 782, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/782", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It would not consider the request rude, as long as you have a reasonable justification for needing to wear headphones during class (which you do). How you might approach your professor and whether he'll accommodate your request may depend on where you're located and whether your jurisdiction provides protections for individuals with disabilities.</p>\n\n<p>In the United States, for example, individuals with disabilities are protected though the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which require colleges and universities (amongst other organizations) to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities—in your case, needing to wear headphones in class would be considered a reasonable accommodation (although this might depend on the subject of the course—in a woodworking course where headphones would pose a threat to safety, for example, it would likely not be a reasonable accommodation).</p>\n\n<p>There are also proper channels a student needs to go through to request medical accommodations—initial requests should not go directly to the professor. Universities and colleges will have a centralized student disabilities office that handles requests for disability accommodations and it is this office that will require documentation of a disability and determine what accommodations a professor will be required to provide. They will then send a form to your professors indicating what accommodations they need to give you. Because of ADA and health privacy laws, the disability office will not tell your professor what your disability is and your professor is not allowed to ask you what your disability is. </p>\n\n<p>Although this answer is very much local to the United States, similar protections may exist in other countries as well. Rather than approaching your professors directly, consider asking your university's student advising office, student life office or health clinic whether professors will provide accommodations for disability (you shouldn't need to tell them what your disability is). They will then be able to point you to resources that will work with you to find solutions.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2078, "author": "smrech", "author_id": 1097, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1097", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you are in the United States, I would suggest you identify the office on your campus that services students with disabilities. That office can formally write you an accommodation for your disability, which you can share with your professors. By law, professors must follow the accommodations that have been created for you by the office on your campus that services students with disabilities. You do not have disclose your disability to your professors, but you do need to provide them with documentation.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9852, "author": "Joe", "author_id": 3969, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3969", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I believe the <em>request</em> certainly isn't rude - I'd almost consider it your responsiblity to let teaching staff know the best way for you learn. How much effort the teaching staff put into servicing the request is dependent on the policies in place at your own institution. </p>\n\n<p>Where I work, we'd co-ordinate with the educational support office, who would have met with you in the first instances, worked at the best process, and come to us with some recommendations (so they are looking after things like assessments and reports and the like). </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 64160, "author": "Autistic", "author_id": 48579, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48579", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Its not rude to ask and that is supported by the previous answers .If you are at a real university that has real exams that have candidate numbers on them and are moderated by lecturers at different universities then when you pass a paper you are just as good or just as bad as anybody else .I had a tutor to help me when I was repeating a course that I specialised in repeating .Over 20 years later when my tutor became a senior lecturer I let news of my learning disability slip .I passed and thought that If I had told the UNI would have things been any different .I dont think so because why should they make allowances for me .</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 68621, "author": "thebishopofcalc", "author_id": 54015, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/54015", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To be honest, I have a student who has not reported any ADA-qualifying issue who requested (and got) permission from me to wear gun-range over-ear noise-blockers during exams (we're both very Southern, so all clichés aside, it's easy for both of us to tell that these cheap cans are not in any way specially augmented in a secretive way). I don't see that self-creating a silent zone is in any way inappropriate, it isn't disturbing others, and she made the issue far easier to deal with than she would have had she actually decided to pursue the matter as a potential ADA issue.</p>\n\n<p>But <em>yes</em>, if you feel that an accommodation might help ameliorate your federally protected condition, then by all means, pursue it!</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1668", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/918/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1679, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is a difficult issue to deal with. You are correct in stating that (in some disciplines) this can be a significant problem, but as a graduate student, it may be hard for you to argue your case that the project will lead to a dead end.</p>\n\n<p>I see two possible solutions:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>If you have a good relationship with your advisor, speak with him about your concerns. He may admit that he's not sure where the project will lead, but he will likely be willing to give you the background as to why he's interested in the project, and where it will lead you. These types of projects are also good opportunities to ask your advisor to introduce you to collaborators with whom you can complete the project, as he's only tangentially interested.</p></li>\n<li><p>If your advisor likely won't listen to you, then put in the month or three to do the necessary background research to prove your case. Look up the references, research previous findings, contact others who have worked in the field. One of two things will happen: (1) you will change your mind, or (2) you'll build a strong case to present to your advisor as to why this research is not worth yours or his time. If at that point he still wants you to work on the project, then either he has political motivations or he's just being unreasonable, both of which are indicative of larger problems which you should deal with.</p></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1868, "author": "D.W.", "author_id": 705, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>This will depend upon your relationship with your advisor. Does your advisor solicit your opinions on projects? Does he/she project openness about projects? Does he/she give you several options of projects? Does he/she ask for your suggestions?</p>\n\n<p>If yes, then I think you can have a frank conversation with your advisor. Mention your concerns politely, and ask your advisor for their thoughts on those issues. Maybe your advisor has already given them thought and has some reasons to think it's a better project than you realize, and can explain to you. Maybe your advisor thinks highly of you and has handed you a long-shot high-risk high-reward problem, on the idea that you might just solve it, and if you do, you'll hit a home run. Or, maybe the concerns haven't occurred to your advisor and that might lead to a fruitful discussion about how to deal with the challenges, or might lead to a change in your project. It's also possible your advisor might have good advice about how to mitigate the risks you are most concerned about.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, one piece of advice I got from <em>my</em> advisor was: be ambitious, reach high, but also design your research to \"fail fast\". Think proactively about what are the most likely ways that the research might fail, and then try to order your work so that if the project is going to fail, you discover that fact as quickly as possible. That's not always easy to arrange, but your advisor might have helpful suggestions for you.</p>\n\n<p>If your advisor doesn't seem likely to welcome discussion about which project to work on, you can still raise these issues, but you may need to be even more deferential and careful about how you raise them.</p>\n\n<p>Some things to avoid: Be very careful to avoid sounding like you are whining. Faculty put a lot of effort and thought into trying to find good projects for their students, and it can be very challenging (you want to find something that they have the skills to succeed at and that they have a chance of completing successfully; but on the other hand, you want to choose an ambitious project which if successful will lead to a good publication, which often means it is hard to know in advance whether the project will succeed or not). My experience is that many students tend to be a bit critical and \"picky\" about projects, so be careful not to sound ungrateful.</p>\n\n<p>Also be careful not to be too arrogant. Your advisor probably has a lot of experience with research, whereas you are just learning. Therefore, your judgement may be a bit off.</p>\n\n<p>Also, keep in mind that it is expected that many research projects fail. Therefore, you have to be willing to take risks and take on research projects where you're not sure whether you will succeed, and you have to give 'em a good try. You should expect that perhaps 50% of your research projects will be failures, or at least will succeed in the way you initially envisioned. If all of your research projects are a success, either you should maybe consider taking on harder problems, or else you are very lucky to have an amazing advisor.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, remember that it is important that any research project you take on relate to shared interests. You want the project to be something your advisor is excited about; if your advisor is unenthused, nothing good can come of it. So if you've noticed that your interests seem to be a different than the things your advisor is excited about, your advisor may be trying to thread the needle of finding something of mutual interest.</p>\n\n<p>One last thought: if you think your project sucks, one constructive way to move forward is to try to identify a better research project and propose it to your advisor. If it is truly promising, and if it is in an area of interest to your advisor, he/she might get excited by your idea and encourage you to run with it. Just be careful: since you don't have as much experience as your advisor, you don't have as reliable a judgement about what constitutes a promising project and what doesn't.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2297, "author": "Andrei", "author_id": 1203, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1203", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The answer is far simpler than these. There is exactly one rule to follow: do what will get you to graduate sooner. If the problem your adviser has asked you to tackle isn't going to become a chapter in your dissertation, say \"no\". A good adviser will direct you in such a way that you make progress to defending your dissertation. A poor adviser will try to get as much cheap labor out of you as he can before your funding runs out. </p>\n\n<p>Don't let your doctoral adviser take advantage of you.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1678", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1681, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 7, "selected": true, "text": "<p>While its not mandatory to wear a suit for a faculty interview, it doesn't hurt, and may actually be expected in certain disciplines. Best to ask around beforehand. I've never heard of a dress code for student visit, but something semi-formal doesn't hurt. </p>\n\n<p>As a general principle, it doesn't hurt to be more dressed up than necessary. The reverse can often be embarrassing. But as with most such thing, the departmental culture is the most important factor. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1683, "author": "410 gone", "author_id": 96, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The only single right answer is that <strong>it varies</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>However, there are methods that you can use to establish what the right answer might be in the particular case you have in mind.</p>\n\n<p>Here's my method.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>As with pretty much all human contact, <strong>the person you meet will have norms and expectations</strong>, conditioned by their culture, their quirks, the organisation they work in, the physical location of the organisation, your gender, their gender, your age, their age, and so on.</p></li>\n<li><p>There is no general answer as to what those norms and expectations are, so <strong>research the specific person, organisation and country</strong>.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That's half the story. The other half is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>what impact do you want to have</strong>?</li>\n<li><strong>Do you want to meet their expectations, or challenge them?</strong> The latter is high risk, but with potentially high reward.</li>\n<li><strong>How do you want to project yourself to them</strong>?</li>\n<li><strong>How strong is your position</strong> - are you going from a position of strength, or one of weakness?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And <strong>if in doubt, wear the clothes that are smart clothes within the business world (rather than the academic world) in your own culture.</strong></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1685, "author": "linac", "author_id": 921, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/921", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you know who the person(s) you will meet with are, try to find photographs of them on their faculty pages.</p>\n\n<p>The way they want to be seen by other people is usually pretty close to what they expect of you.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10367, "author": "user7302", "author_id": 7302, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7302", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The best advice for any interview dress code is, one standard of dress higher than what you would be wearing if you got the job. eg if jeans and a t-shirt is what most people wear around the office, then business trousers and a shirt is fine for the interview. If its business trousers and a shirt, then for the interview a suit and tie. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 37017, "author": "RoboKaren", "author_id": 14885, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>At the SLAC where I used to teach, there was a circulating story of a job candidate who showed up in a t-shirt and jeans. They were summarily shown the door. </p>\n\n<p>This is even though it was a pretty casual place -- I wore a t-shirt and jeans most days during the warmer months. </p>\n\n<p>Dressing nice without looking like you are going to a funeral, the prom, or a beach party is the tricky thing -- especially for women. Men can wear a dress shirt, necktie, and casual sports coat. Women have fewer dressy options so we tend to default to pantsuits.</p>\n\n<p>Final thoughts:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Dressing more formally than is the norm means that you misread the university climate <em>or</em> that you might have been nervous and overcompensated. </p></li>\n<li><p>Dressing less formally than is the norm means that you misread the university climate <em>or</em> that you might not being thinking seriously about the position. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Given the dangers of the latter, it's clear that dressing too formal is safer than dressing too informal.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 37049, "author": "Vivek Shende", "author_id": 28000, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28000", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>First of all, I'd be unlikely to ever evaluate someone based on what they wore for an interview. But second of all, insofar as I did, more points go to the dressed down person than the dressed up one -- after all, people who dress up might expect me to do the same, and I most certainly do not want my department to become a place where there's any pressure to look \"professional\".</p>\n\n<p>Though to be fair, I followed the above advice of \"one step up from usual\" when I went to interviews myself -- my daily wear is a tee-shirt and jeans, so for interviews a I wore a shirt-with-buttons and jeans.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1680", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1681, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 7, "selected": true, "text": "<p>While its not mandatory to wear a suit for a faculty interview, it doesn't hurt, and may actually be expected in certain disciplines. Best to ask around beforehand. I've never heard of a dress code for student visit, but something semi-formal doesn't hurt. </p>\n\n<p>As a general principle, it doesn't hurt to be more dressed up than necessary. The reverse can often be embarrassing. But as with most such thing, the departmental culture is the most important factor. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1683, "author": "410 gone", "author_id": 96, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The only single right answer is that <strong>it varies</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>However, there are methods that you can use to establish what the right answer might be in the particular case you have in mind.</p>\n\n<p>Here's my method.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>As with pretty much all human contact, <strong>the person you meet will have norms and expectations</strong>, conditioned by their culture, their quirks, the organisation they work in, the physical location of the organisation, your gender, their gender, your age, their age, and so on.</p></li>\n<li><p>There is no general answer as to what those norms and expectations are, so <strong>research the specific person, organisation and country</strong>.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That's half the story. The other half is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>what impact do you want to have</strong>?</li>\n<li><strong>Do you want to meet their expectations, or challenge them?</strong> The latter is high risk, but with potentially high reward.</li>\n<li><strong>How do you want to project yourself to them</strong>?</li>\n<li><strong>How strong is your position</strong> - are you going from a position of strength, or one of weakness?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And <strong>if in doubt, wear the clothes that are smart clothes within the business world (rather than the academic world) in your own culture.</strong></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1685, "author": "linac", "author_id": 921, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/921", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you know who the person(s) you will meet with are, try to find photographs of them on their faculty pages.</p>\n\n<p>The way they want to be seen by other people is usually pretty close to what they expect of you.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10367, "author": "user7302", "author_id": 7302, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7302", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The best advice for any interview dress code is, one standard of dress higher than what you would be wearing if you got the job. eg if jeans and a t-shirt is what most people wear around the office, then business trousers and a shirt is fine for the interview. If its business trousers and a shirt, then for the interview a suit and tie. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 37017, "author": "RoboKaren", "author_id": 14885, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>At the SLAC where I used to teach, there was a circulating story of a job candidate who showed up in a t-shirt and jeans. They were summarily shown the door. </p>\n\n<p>This is even though it was a pretty casual place -- I wore a t-shirt and jeans most days during the warmer months. </p>\n\n<p>Dressing nice without looking like you are going to a funeral, the prom, or a beach party is the tricky thing -- especially for women. Men can wear a dress shirt, necktie, and casual sports coat. Women have fewer dressy options so we tend to default to pantsuits.</p>\n\n<p>Final thoughts:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Dressing more formally than is the norm means that you misread the university climate <em>or</em> that you might have been nervous and overcompensated. </p></li>\n<li><p>Dressing less formally than is the norm means that you misread the university climate <em>or</em> that you might not being thinking seriously about the position. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Given the dangers of the latter, it's clear that dressing too formal is safer than dressing too informal.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 37049, "author": "Vivek Shende", "author_id": 28000, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28000", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>First of all, I'd be unlikely to ever evaluate someone based on what they wore for an interview. But second of all, insofar as I did, more points go to the dressed down person than the dressed up one -- after all, people who dress up might expect me to do the same, and I most certainly do not want my department to become a place where there's any pressure to look \"professional\".</p>\n\n<p>Though to be fair, I followed the above advice of \"one step up from usual\" when I went to interviews myself -- my daily wear is a tee-shirt and jeans, so for interviews a I wore a shirt-with-buttons and jeans.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1682", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/704/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1687, "author": "Ben Norris", "author_id": 924, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It took me six months to gather the courage to talk to my research adviser when I was stuck on a project that I knew would \"never\" work. I should not have waited so long. The conversation we had was very helpful, got me back on track, and, more importantly, got me off the project. </p>\n\n<p>If you are in the same place for more than two or three weeks, its time to have a frank discussion with your research adviser. It's unlikely that he or she knows that you are stuck. The best case scenario is that you have a plan to get unstuck. The worst case scenario is that you are no better off. If you already have a committee, then your next step is to go to the other committee members for help.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1688, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 7, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I find that grad students always wait too long to ask for help, either out of fear of looking \"stupid\", or out of inexperience, or out of a misplaced sense of stubbornness. If you've spent a few weeks on something and you're thoroughly stuck, then you should absolutely ask someone (advisor, other students, anyone with knowledge). You'd be surprised at how often you were merely barking up the wrong tree, or just didn't know a very important fact or reference, or just had to reformulate the question differently. All of this takes experience, and that's what an advisor is supposed to provide. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1689, "author": "Steve P", "author_id": 315, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/315", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It really depends on your advisor's personality, your history of asking for help, the timing of the project, etc. The way in which you ask is also relevant. If you are generally a person who works autonomously and feel you can approach your advisor in a professional (non whiny, non needy) way, most advisors will be happy to help. If you're just afraid to dig in and get your hands dirty (which it sounds you are not), your advisor will probably be less interested in leading you through the process. And there is everything in the middle.</p>\n\n<p>It also depends on whether it's your advisor's project and your project is part of a greater whole; if by delaying too much you are going to slow other people, you should definitely lean on the side of asking for help earlier. However, if you are working on your own idea, you should probably work longer before asking for help. You may also find that you are as much (or more) an expert on the topic than your advisor, so the advisor may not know the answer and may be hoping you'll be the one to figure it out.</p>\n\n<p>There are no general rules. But if you can show that you can figure things out on your own, your advisor may see that as a positive thing and give you a better recommendation for it. On the other hand, if she/he sees you as so stubborn about asking help that you work inefficiently that could be a bad mark.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1690, "author": "Memming", "author_id": 386, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/386", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I do analytical/computational work daily, and I talk to my colleagues quite frequently. Just showing the derivations I made so far to someone often helps me spot my own mistakes, and get new ideas to attack the problem. Your colleagues will often have better understanding of certain subjects that you didn't think would matter for your problem. I guess it depends on your personality (I have highly collaborative), but I would say ask within a day from the moment you got stuck. If someone ends up helping you solve the problem, you will learn from that experience anyways.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1691, "author": "Nobody", "author_id": 546, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>My answer is in two parts.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When to ask other grad students or other researchers for help?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The answer is, anytime. There is nothing to be afraid of asking questions to your office mates, researchers across the doorway or even online. However, they may or may not be able to offer much help because they may not know exactly what you're working on.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When to ask your advisor for help?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The answer is, when you're ready to ask meaningful questions. You don't want your advisor to say why didn't you ask for help sooner. Nor you wanted him to accuse you not working hard enough. If you have meaningful questions and you're stuck for a while - how long is that \"a while\" usually is a few weeks(long enough to be considered long), you should approach him/her and say you're stuck. Your advisor is there to answer your questions. That's what an advisor is. If you already spend a few weeks on a problem, he would be glad to help you.</p>\n\n<p>You gain more understanding of your research when you try to figure out how to ask questions which make sense because you have to organize your thoughts before asking. Then you're closer to the bottom of it.</p>\n\n<p>However, if you really want to figure it out by yourself for some reasons, you can consider giving yourself a few months. In this case, you would at least let your advisor know you're onto something so that he knows you're making progress. Don't forget he is your advisor. He is on your side !</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1704, "author": "David Ketcheson", "author_id": 81, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You should ask whenever you're stuck. And, as mathematician Peter Sarnak said, \"Doing research ... most of the time one is stuck.\"</p>\n\n<p>You should always be talking to people about what you're working on. You shouldn't be asking them to solve the problem for you, but you should be asking if they know of relevant techniques that might work on your problem.</p>\n\n<p>You should certainly ask your advisor for help every time you meet with him/her. Again, don't ask them to solve the problem for you. Instead, ask whether you should pursue strategy X or technique Y. This can save you a lot of time (but they might be wrong, too).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 3650, "author": "Per Alexandersson", "author_id": 2794, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2794", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I constantly discuss my work with my colleges all the time,\nnot only may I get some helpful pointers or references, but asking/staring the question helps me in the solving process, similar to <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging\" rel=\"nofollow\">Rubber duck debugging</a>.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1686", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1703, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As suggested in the comments above, the answer will depend on whom you are targeting.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>If you are a professor targeting graduate students in a new field, I would just list the new field as an interest on your webpage, with links to your few papers. It should be enough to indicate to potential graduate students that if they have an interest in this field you would be more than happy to work with them.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you are a professor targeting grant agencies, then just write grants targeted at whatever field you're interested in. Note that, if you have a poor publication record in the field of interest, it may be a good idea to find a strong collaborator or co-PI (if applicable in your field) to boost the likelihood of acceptance.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you are a post-doc looking for new positions, I think it's pretty widely accepted that your interests will and should be changing. I would indicate it explicitly on your CV in your objective statement (assuming you have one) that you're interested in branching out, and again in the cover letter. Regarding your previous research, just list it under \"experience\"; the reader will understand based on your resume, cover letter, and the fact you're applying to jobs in different fields that this was intentional. As you stated, there is a not-insignificant chance that your lack of publications in the new field will negatively impact your application.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you're a student, then you barely <em>have</em> research interests; you just have the research you've worked on for 2+ years, which you did so you could earn a PhD. Your colleagues will recognize that you're still familiarizing yourself with the field. Unless the shift is so substantial that none of your previous expertise would be useful, I wouldn't even bother to mention shifting interests; it's healthy and expected.</p></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1711, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>CVs usually have a line for research interests, and you can put whatever you want there. Similarly for a website. But if you're in a position to be evaluated based on your CV, be careful - you could be asked about these interests and you should have something to say. </p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, if you're really interested in an area you'll start publishing in it and that will then be reflected in your publication list. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2761, "author": "Dan C", "author_id": 1069, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I find that <strong>few of my research opportunities come from what I put on my CV or website</strong>. I think much more <strong>they come through my personal network</strong>. If I'm invited to speak in a conference session, it's usually because the organizers know me, know my work, or (occasionally) know my PhD adviser (even though I finished more than 5 years ago). When I'm asked to referee a paper, it's often because my work is cited in the paper. One time I decided to go to a workshop in an area where I had not worked much. Not long after I committed to the workshop, one of the organizers asked me to referee a paper on that topic.</p>\n\n<p>All of that is to say, that I don't think what I list on my CV among my \"research interests\" contributes much to my research opportunities. So, <strong>if you want to generate more opportunities</strong>, what should you do? <strong>Go to conferences</strong>. If you have work to talk about, great. If not, go to sessions on the areas you want to move into. <strong>Ask good questions. Talk with the people you meet there</strong> about possible research and workshops, or what's the next big thing in the area.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1695", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1706, "author": "Bravo", "author_id": 411, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I do agree that asking creative questions in assignments and exam papers is quite a challenge. (Doffing my hat off to all profs who do that regularly.) Some of my thoughts:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Different wording</strong>: The web may be a huge repository, but that should not be a limiting factor when it comes to questions. For example, consider the topic of probability. The basic stuff a student requires to know is limited enough to be taught in detail in the classroom, but the applications are innumerable and so are the questions that could be asked in probability.</li>\n<li><strong>Grouping questions</strong>: Often the sort of questions that I find are the most difficult (and the most useful) are the ones where there is a single question with a number of interconnected sections, each of which draw from a different concept taught in class. Such questions require genuine understanding, and solution manuals and SE sites may not be of real help.</li>\n<li><strong>Research-based</strong>: I would also appreciate questions where the faculty has included a small fragment of their own research (proving a small lemma, for example). This also gives the students a peek into the research of the professor's lab.</li>\n<li><strong>Using WWW constructively</strong>: Yes, the web can play a dampener to assignment marks, but ultimately if the student uses it constructively to learn stuff, why should one discourage it? One solution could be to give google-able assignment questions, conduct a mini-test in class on those questions and mark the students based on the performance in this test. This is a better solution than home assignments where submission without learning is a possibility.</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1719, "author": "Joanna Bryson", "author_id": 384, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/384", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I don't think this is too much of a problem in courses where students have to build and demonstrate something.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I teach first year, second semester programming. We set three weird courseworks that aggregate together to make a nethack like game. No one will have precisely this game on the web. Of course they can take advantage of code libraries from the web (in fact, I have a lecture teaching them to do just that when we get to GUIs). But that's a lot of what they'll be doing in the \"real world\" as well, so that's fine as long as it's acknowledged.</p></li>\n<li><p>I also teach a final year AI / Cognitive Systems course. Here it's even easier to set weird questions that aren't available on the web, e.g. replicating recent results or using new versions of research software (though either of these can be hazardous and therefore time consuming. Good TAs that test assignments in advance are a necessity!)</p></li>\n<li><p>Material that they <em>can</em> just look up but you want them to know by heart for some reason doesn't belong on assignments, it belongs in exams. </p></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1724, "author": "Pete L. Clark", "author_id": 938, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is certainly an important question. Here are some of my own thoughts on it:</p>\n\n<p><b>Having the regular homework consist of questions that the students do, in principle, have access to on the web is not necessarily problematic.</b></p>\n\n<p>For example, I recently finished teaching a year-long course out of Michael Spivak's acclaimed <em>Calculus</em> text. At the beginning of the year I found that I was able to freely download the solutions manual. I told the students that the solutions manual was available online and that it was their job to look at it from sparingly to never. In fact they did a good job of this: the amount of time that they spent <em>coming to me instead</em>, sometimes more than once per problem, and the amount of effort and verbiage that most of them put into their homework strongly suggests that they hardly ever consulted the answer book. (I remember one instance in which a student freely admitted that she had cited the answer book for a single problem, which I found most impressive.) It also helps that the answer book is on the terse side and the grader was very picky and detail-oriented. Finally, the grades they were receiving on their homework were not such a large determining factor in their course grade so as to tempt students to cheat. This I think is an important point in undergraduate classes: make the homework be worth a not completely negligible percentage of the course grade -- say, 15% - 20% -- but grade it generously enough and/or drop enough problem sets so that the students can see that (i) they need to spend significant time and effort on the homework and (ii) the homework that they themselves can do and turn in is earning them good enough grades.</p>\n\n<p><b>It takes some skill to successfully use the web to answer your questions. The average young university student does not find the web the miraculous, Borges-ian answer book that those of us who have spent years studying our subject and honing our google-fu do.</b></p>\n\n<p>If you hang out at a subject-oriented SE site like math.SE, you will be surprised how many students ask questions for which your tempted first answer is to include a link to a wikipedia article. But these questioners often clarify that they don't understand the wikipedia article / weren't looking at the right part of it / didn't understand why it answered their questions (in cases where it is immediately clear to the trained eye that it does). It's easy to forget how fragile your knowledge and understanding is when you first start out learning a discipline. </p>\n\n<p>This has several implications for undergraduate teaching. (One of them, relatively little explored, is that we should probably be <i>teaching</i> our students how to search for information on the web. This is certainly an important skill...) One implication is that two questions which the instructor will regard as \"isomorphic\" (for the non math people: essentially the same, but perhaps superficially different) will not necessarily be regarded so by the students. For instance, when teaching (non-honors) freshman calculus class one can use webwork/webassign to give students various problems. Often these problems are generated from a much smaller class of template problems with some parameters randomized for each individual student. This is already enough difference to prevent students from easily doing each other's homework. But if you take things one level higher, then you'll see that most of what we ask students to do in freshman / sophomore level classes is to be able to solve a type of problem given a certain template. As a calculus instructor, I no longer have to think of \"new\" min-max or related rates problems: the internet has plenty of them. A student who combs the internet trying to get hints on which min-max problem is going to be on the test is quickly going to find out that if she can solve all five sample problems appearing on any one webpage or problem set then she can solve most of the problems that are likely to appear on the exam. </p>\n\n<p><b>The best way to generate unique questions and coursework is to take a unique approach to the course.</b></p>\n\n<p>When I teach courses at the advanced undergraduate level and beyond, I often type up my own lecture notes, which leads me to present at least some of the material in a different / new / nonstandard way. Having done that, it is easy to ask questions which are nonstandard. And any given undergraduate course (at least in mathematics, but I'd be surprised if other subjects were much different in this regard) can be taught in many different new / nonstandard ways. </p>\n\n<p>With regard to what I said above, whenever I do something in my course or course notes which I think is \"new\", I then go the internet to see to what extent it is actually new. More than half of the time I can find something which I recognize as being an essentially equivalent idea or approach...but again, what seems \"isomorphic\" to me probably will not seem that way to a student first learning the material. A lot of times I find the past precedent in some article or note published up to fifty years ago. I am pretty sure the students are not reading such things at all: if they were motivated to try to do so in order to get a jump on assignments, that would be fantastic!</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1725, "author": "JRN", "author_id": 64, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>(My answer applies to fields of study that have been around for some time. So it doesn't apply to, say, computer programming classes that use a recently created computer language.)</p>\n\n<p>Go to a library and look at an old textbook with problems and solutions; the older, the better. (Anything before 1980 should do.) Chances are the contents of these references will not be on the internet (unless they have been recently revised). The problem with this is that, to imply that you were not the one who created the problem, you might need to cite where you got it.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1769, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Here's what I do (or at least try to do) in my algorithms classes:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Make homework useful.</strong> The whole point of homework is to help the students master the course material. Students learn by <em>doing</em>, not by passively reading or listening. So I try to choose homework problems that exercise the insights and skills that I want the students to master. (Among other things, this means keeping busywork to a minimum.) If a student \"writes\" their homework solutions using Google and a stapler, they've robbed themselves of an opportunity to learn; all else being equal, that student will do worse on the exams.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Give homework relatively little weight</strong> in the final course grade, usually 30%, with the other 70% from exams. I'd make the homework worth 0% if I thought the students would still do it. See the previous point.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong><em>Tell</em> the students that homework is useful.</strong> Many students think of homework primarily as a vehicle for points, not as a tool for learning. This is not entirely unreasonable—in some classes, homework <em>is</em> primarily a vehicle for points. Better warn them early!</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Include new questions in each homework assignment and exam.</strong> Because I want to sleep occasionally, I regularly recycle homework problems from previous semesters, but if I recycle too much or too quickly, students <em>don't</em> learn the material as well. (Whether they <em>should</em> learn the material as well is immaterial.) Coming up with new useful problems is <em>really</em> hard, even if \"new\" just means \"I haven't used it before\". I scour through a <em>lot</em> of textbooks and papers and web pages; if you teach algorithms, I have mined your web page for homework problems. Still, I don't always succeed. (On the other hand, failure sometimes suggests <a href=\"https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/34/how-hard-is-unshuffling-a-string\">interesting</a> <a href=\"https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/6356/super-mario-galaxy-problem\">research</a> <a href=\"https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/1962/is-it-np-hard-to-play-international-draughts-correctly\">problems</a>.)</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/2eFr9.jpg\" alt=\"READ ALL THE THINGS\"></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Insist on ethical scholarship:</strong> proper citation of all sources, and no verbatim copying of anything. Within those minimal constraints, students can use whatever source they want, and can collaborate with whoever they want, with no penalty. In particular, students are welcome to use my official solutions from past semesters, if they can find them, as long as they cite them and don't just parrot them back to me. Breaking this rule has harsher consequences than not doing the homework at all.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Homework presentations.</strong> I used to ask students to present their homework solutions three times a semester, instead of submitting a writeup. Here's the whiteboard, you have ten minutes per problem. A single question like \"But what about the empty string?\" or \"Why did you split the cases that way?\" usually reveals students who didn't work out the solutions themselves. Sadly, growing classes and shrinking TA budgets make this impossible now.</p></li>\n<li><strong>Remind the students that the course staff also uses Google.</strong> (Remember, we're already scouring the web for new homework problems!) And we have all the old textbooks, and their solution manuals. And we read StackExchange. And we have all the official homework solutions from past semesters, because, you know, we wrote them. (I really wish I didn't have to say that last bit, but more than one student has submitted my own homework solutions, typos and all.)</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 30073, "author": "Alan D.", "author_id": 20525, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20525", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>For those who are multilingual, one solution to the problem (i.e. specifically, the problem that students might google the assignment and come across the same exercise online) it is to use material originally put out there in a different language, say French, Spanish, etc.\nStudents may speak other languages, of course, but it's less likely that they'll come across it.</p>\n\n<p>I did this to get material for exams. I wanted to make sure they hadn't practiced on the exact same problem off the Web. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 54594, "author": "Luke Oeding", "author_id": 20776, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20776", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It seems like we are in a continuing arms race of finding questions, assigning them before they become obsolete due to over-use. The weird thing, is that even if a question is now obsolete because it's been asked and answered too many times and the answers are all available on the web, it doesn't mean that the question is bad. We shouldn't replace material just because it was used before. That's like telling people to do their job in the most difficult way possible because other people have already done it the easy way. </p>\n\n<p>Maybe we should swap the usage of time. 100% of class time will be spent solving problems, and 100% of homework time will be spent scouring the web, textbooks, etc. to read about new material. Has anyone tried this method?</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1705", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1710, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are two main reasons: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>as a \"sanity check\" to make sure that the student you've admitted is really the student you thought they were; and</li>\n<li>as a weed-out tool, in case you've admitted more students than you have spots for in PhD projects in a given department.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Both purposes are significant. The second is the more unfortunate, and could generally be reduced through better selection processes and through better deployment of teaching and research resources and funding within a department. The former use is equally important, in that it makes sure that students don't try to \"coast\" their way through what the department believes is its core curriculum that students need to know.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1714, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are two types of qualifying/preliminary exams, those that cover graduate or undergraduate topics. I assume you are just talking about the latter (while in my experience the former is a little more common).</p>\n\n<p>As I see it, the big reason for preliminary exams on undergraduate material is that many students haven't actually mastered this material to a professional standard. At less prestigious schools, many students won't have received straight A's (or the equivalent in other grading systems), so they had gaps or weaknesses in their understanding, and unless they took more advanced courses in the same area they may never have filled those gaps. Furthermore, it's possible to get excellent grades without true mastery, and students sometimes forget things they knew while taking a course.</p>\n\n<p>The preliminary exam sends a message of \"OK, you're in grad school now, and as a professional you're expected to know this material cold. If you have any doubts about your mastery of it, now is the time to study carefully.\" The few students who don't need to study suffer little harm from the exams, and the students who do need to study benefit from the studying.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1715, "author": "Pete L. Clark", "author_id": 938, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>This answer serves mainly to corroborate @Anonymous Mathematician's answer.</p>\n\n<p>As she says, the most important thing to realize is that there are two different kinds of exams that go under the name \"prelims / quals\". The first of these generally:</p>\n\n<p>(i) tests undergraduate material<br>\n(ii) is administered soon after arrival in the graduate program<br>\n(iii) used to be used for preliminary weed-out purposes but is now -- at least, in most programs I know about -- used almost entirely for diagnostic purposes.</p>\n\n<p>Probably (iii) is most important: once upon a time, many graduate programs -- even excellent ones, like Berkeley (in fact, especially Berkeley) -- admitted lots of students, as in up to 50% more than were expected to finish. The idea was to give a large group of people, including those with less than sterling (or ivy) pedigrees, a fair shot. Then after a small amount of time in the program -- maybe a year or less -- they would take a \"prelim\" exam, and a significant portion would fail and leave. </p>\n\n<p>This is no longer the way graduate programs work (at least not in North America, which is what I am primarily familiar with, but to the best of my meager knowledge they don't work that way in other parts of the world either). We pay much closer attention to each student we admit now than in the scenario above, and further our program is judged on retention and completion rates. A graduate program in 2012 who dismissed a third or more of its incoming class every year would look disastrously bad by these sorts of metrics. So this \"weedout prelim\" is, as far as I know, a thing of the past.</p>\n\n<p>In the graduate program at UGA we still give a \"prelim exam\" to all entering graduate students, but as I said above we use it almost entirely for diagnostic purposes. In fact we have a certain graduate course designed entirely for students who didn't do well on the prelim, whose purpose is to shore up their undergraduate knowledge ASAP. Other than being encouraged to take this course, there are no direct consequences of failing the prelim (in fact, I'm not sure that one \"passes\" or \"fails\" the prelim in any technical sense).</p>\n\n<p>In contrast, most of the \"qualifying exams\" that you hear graduate students talking about are something entirely different. They:</p>\n\n<p>(i) test graduate level material; in particular, most students do not enter equipped with the knowledge to pass most qualifying exams.<br>\n(ii) occupy students' attention for a while: in our program, students have up to three years to pass their qualifying exams.<br>\n(iii) really must be passed in order for students to advance in the program, in most cases.</p>\n\n<p>I hope this answers your question. Let me say though that the scores on the \"prelim\" exam -- i.e., the undergraduate level exam that I mentioned first -- are often all over the place. All of our entering students have at least an undergraduate degree in mathematics. So, unfortunately, no, an undergraduate degree in mathematics is <em>not</em> a guarantee of ability to do undergraduate level mathematics...at least not to the satisfaction of a decent mathematics graduate program. (And a student who does poorly on this entering prelim may yet succeed in doing PhD level mathematics a little later on: that is, the fault often seems to lie with the undergraduate program more than the student.) </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1718, "author": "Ben Norris", "author_id": 924, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I concur with @Pete L. Clark and @Anonymous Mathematiciar. These exams have names that suggest the darker purposes in their pasts, but they are mainly used as administrative tools by graduate departments.</p>\n\n<p>At the graduate school I attended for chemistry, we took \"placement exams\". These exams happen for three reasons:</p>\n\n<p>1) to provide the department with a common baseline, as we all did not likely take exactly the same GRE on exactly the same day. Particularly, this provided a means to directly compare the national students with the foreign students.</p>\n\n<p>2) to identify deficiencies, as @Pete L. Clark and @Anonymous Mathematiciar have indicated. In chemistry, the smaller schools occasionally cannot offer courses in all five disciplines: organic, inorganic, analytical, physical, and biochemistry. Rather than punish those students for attending small liberal arts schools, many Ph.D. programs accept them on the premise that they may have to take an undergraduate course to fill in the gaps.</p>\n\n<p>3) to select TAs. All first year graduate students in my chemistry program had to TA undergraduate labs. The placement exams determined which course you got to TA. The highest scorers on the organic chemistry exam were TAs for organic chemistry labs. The highest scorers on the analytic chemistry exam were TAs for analytical chemistry labs, and so on.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1707", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1717, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Of course. If there's a medical reason for it and the student can produce an appropriate doctor's certificate or what not. You would need to check the regulations.</p>\n\n<p>It probably depends on what sort of mask it is. If the mask is distracting for other students or plain silly, then I can imagine that it is reasonable to object to it. So, 'halloween mask' may not be the best description of an appropriate mask. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1733, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You will definitely need to check regulations regarding the wearing of costumes that conceal one's appearance. For example, in France it's <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ban_on_face_covering\">forbidden by law to conceal one's face in public space</a>, including in universities (and it's made explicit in universities' by-laws). While there's normally allowances made for legitimate medical reasons, there will definitely be limits. \"Halloween-style\" costumes and masks will probably be disallowed.</p>\n\n<p>One additional comment not mentioned in Dave's answer is that in cases of laboratories and other \"practical\" exercises, such costumes may be disallowed for legal and protective reasons. You will need to talk with the appropriate staff about any accommodations that can be made. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1741, "author": "Alexander Serebrenik", "author_id": 882, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/882", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In general, I second Dave's answer. There is one point, however. During exams students have to identify themselves, and this is commonly done by showing some identification document (e.g., student id) to the person in charge. Wearing a mask would likely be interpreted as a failure to identify yourself, unless identification is possible in some other way. As a rule, failing to identify yourself at our university means that the lecturer is not allowed to grade the exam. However, if wearing a mask is required due to a medical condition, the student can notify the examination board <em>before the exam</em> that can decide to deviate from the identification rule and oblige the lecturer to grade the exam.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1716", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/939/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1723, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>One piece of <strong>advice-I-would-not-follow</strong> is to submit the paper to a lower quality conference. This could really be a waste of time if the conference is of very low quality, and if you are really proud of the work, do not do this. In the end, this may even look like a black spot on your CV. </p>\n\n<p>What are you doing this weekend? Maybe canceling those plans and using the time to obtain the additional results. Then improve the paper based on the reviewer comments (evenings and other weekends) and resubmit to the next suitable venue.</p>\n\n<p>Another alternative is to get help, either from a colleague or maybe even an undergraduate, if it is easy enough to the him/her how to run your experiments. Reward them with co-authorship, even if they haven't written a word of the paper. (This won't hurt you any.)</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, you cannot get something for nothing. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1736, "author": "Benoît Kloeckner", "author_id": 946, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I guess we work on fairly different domains, because spending significantly more than <em>two days</em> to improve a paper seems negligible to me (writing one good paper a year is already good for me!), even if I agree it would mean submit to another venue in your case. If the referee is right in his or her demands, you should afford to spend a time at least one order below the time already invested in the paper.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1722", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1729, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The quality of the university and the quality of the theses produced are not perfectly correlated. You are just as likely to end up with a \"nothing special\" thesis at a Cambridge as at a Random State University. The criterion for awarding a PhD is the completion of an independent and original contribution to the field of knowledge one is studying. There is no requirement that it be \"groundbreaking.\" </p>\n\n<p>That said, given that the \"top\" universities also tend to have superior resources available to students, the likelihood that a \"nothing special\" thesis will be accepted <em>by the advisor</em> as suitable for a PhD thesis is also somewhat mitigated as a result. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16822, "author": "Peter Jansson", "author_id": 4394, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The quality of a thesis depends on several factors, the PhD student, the advisor and the work environment of the department where they work. th ePhD student should do the work and come up with own ideas and drive the work forward, more so towards the end than early on. the advisor, in most cases have established the basic research questions for the project in which the student works. The advisor also has a responsibility to facilitate understanding of the scientific method, ethics and plain knowledge to the student through the advisory role. The department may or may not have resources to provide a good work environment which includes size of collaborating research groups, lab space etc. </p>\n\n<p>From this view it may be likely that a top tier university has more funding, has attracted \"better\" (however you wish to define that) scientists and lastly may attract better students (at least from the perspective of competitive application processes). It is, however, clear that these ingredients may not necessarily lead to success but it would not be a wide stretch of the imagination to say that basic conditions may be better and that this is reflected in the theses produced.</p>\n\n<p>The bottom line, however, is that a good research environment is more likely to produce better work than just top tier ranking. In some cases bad luck may lead to poorer output, for example if the ice samples from Antarctica on which you completely rely for your work melt in a freezer accident. The question that remains is to what extent good research environments are determined by tier ranking.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1726", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/926/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1728, "author": "Lars Kotthoff", "author_id": 12, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In principle yes, although the procedure will be different from university to university. Just emailing your instructor and asking for some additional clarification/justification (and maybe mentioning that you aren't satisfied with the grade) is definitely going to be fine though.</p>\n\n<p>If the instructor declines to change the grade and you are still not satisfied, your next point of call would probably the course coordinator or director of studies. If your school has a handbook or a set of policies or something like that, they should tell you what to do in this case.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1730, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>While it is possible to <em>try</em>, I suspect such efforts are unlikely to succeed. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>In an \"objectively\" graded class, such as in mathematics, engineering, and the sciences, where answers are either right or wrong, the only guaranteed way to get a grade changed is to show conclusive evidence that a mis-grading has occurred: an answer was marked wrong when it was correct, or at least ambiguous. </p></li>\n<li><p>In more \"subjective\" classes, which are typical in the arts and humanities, an <em>ex post facto</em> change of grade is not going to be received well. If the student was worried about performance in the class, such concerns should have first been lodged <em>during</em> the class. In this way, improved performance could be seen and taken into account at the time of the original grading. Afterwards, there's no way to do this and not come across as \"grade-grubbing,\" which is considered to be in poor taste, and earns you a bad reputation with the faculty. </p></li>\n<li><p>Moreover, at many schools, once a final grade has been submitted to the registrar, it is <strong>only</strong> possible to change it as a result of clerical errors. \"Judgment\" issues cannot be taken into account. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That said, if a <strong>legitimate</strong> grading error has occurred, the faculty is <strong>obligated</strong> to correct it, as this affects your permanent record.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1735, "author": "Benoît Kloeckner", "author_id": 946, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A student sure can ask for re-grading, but he or she should have strong evidence that what was graded was better than perceived by the grader. It is a very bad idea to try argue how the teacher should be grading (e.g., asking her or him to grade according to what work you claimed you provided rather than the quality of your homework or exam). These questions are up to the teaching teams, not up to the students, and yes that makes the situation rather unbalanced. What you can do about this is to ask for a general change in suitable meetings if they exist.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, I would like to point out two things :</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>most of the time, grading is not for acknowledging good effort, but to measure if the student understood enough of the class to have a decent chance in the next one (at least in fields where classes depend strongly one on another, like in mathematics);</li>\n<li>my experience tells me that students that consider they understand well but do poor exams in fact understand much more shallowly than they think, and their grades should be taken as an indication that the way they work is probably not good enough.</li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1738, "author": "Sylvain Peyronnet", "author_id": 43, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You can surely ask for a change. And if there is a clear mis-grading this must be fixed. This happens frequently: for instance, this year I did forget to grade the last page of the exam of one of my ~100 students...</p>\n\n<p>But this is the only case when grades may be subject to a change. Grading performance is the only way to apply consistently the same grading process to all the students. And, BTW, this is what will be done in real life. Let's say you are a plumber, you work hard, you truly try to understand how to connect pipes, but you make careless mistake because you don't pay attention to details and you let a lot of leaks in your customers houses. Do you think you will be paid by your customers? </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1759, "author": "Ronald", "author_id": 691, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/691", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>First, <strong><em>I can support your idea a little</em></strong>:</p>\n\n<p>An exam or assignment is not always the best way to judge a student's understanding - although it is the easiest and most practical.</p>\n\n<p>An education system might reasonably have some way for a student to demonstrate their clear knowledge and understanding of what is being taught outside the examination or assignment. If there are objective standards that can be proven by the student, this takes away the variability from the examination room or particular assignment and student's/instructor's differing interpretation of the assignment requirements.</p>\n\n<p>It might be, then, that your instructor is willing to consider regrading, if you can provide suitable evidence outside the exam that you understood and can apply the material at a level higher than you did in the exam.</p>\n\n<p>However, <strong><em>I think this is very unlikely to happen in practice</em></strong>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>There is a serious ethical issue here: all the students should have the same opportunity that you do. You should not receive special treatment just because you personally appeal to the instructor. (The other students may not have the opportunity to personally appeal, or may not realise that it makes a difference). The criteria for grading should be equal and obvious to all students. If an appeal process is possible, then ethically all students must be made aware of the possibility. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>[Aside: In your case, if there is an available appeal process, you can follow it with no problem: if you meet the criteria]</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Exams and assignments are typically designed to test your understanding in an effective way. They may not be ideal, but usually they are the only good and practical way of testing - there is unlikely to be a good alternative proof you can offer the instructor.</p></li>\n<li><p>An instructor's time is precious: it is likely they have spent significant time writing an assignment that suitably tests the material, and significant time in marking, and will not be willing to spend more time to listen to this complaint.</p></li>\n<li><p>It's likely that avoiding \"careless mistakes\" is part of the test - the grade should depend partly on whether the student understands the material well enough to avoid commonly-made mistakes. So, if you feel you have made careless mistakes, it shows that - probably - you did not understand the material well enough to check and avoid these in a timely manner.</p></li>\n<li><p>The amount of work you did, or effort you put in, should not really be relevant to the grading. You must show understanding, not effort. (Although, effort should be necessary - it is not what's being tested)</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I understand the argument that there is no harm in asking, but I do not expect that this type of request would be well received by the instructor (neither, by your fellow students). </p>\n\n<p>It's plausible that asking for a regrade would harm your professional reputation with the instructor, and your personal reputation amongst fellow students. </p>\n\n<p>I recommend that you consider asking for a retest instead.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 37699, "author": "Ben Bitdiddle", "author_id": 24384, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You can, but it's a dumb idea. Good students are generally above fighting for grades (unless the instructor lost an entire page of the student's exam or there was some other clear-cut error that involved a large number of points). If you argue for a better grade, you risk coming off as</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>A bad student</li>\n<li>Annoying</li>\n<li>Someone who cares about gaming the system more than mastering the material</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I strongly suggest you find a friend who is doing well in the class and ask if you can see his old homeworks. Then you can infer what level of detail is appropriate for your future assignments.</p>\n\n<p>This is especially important if your homeworks involve rigorous proofs, because if you don't prove everything in detail there's a good chance that your proof is completely wrong. If you're having trouble with proof-based questions it's important that you master that art now so you don't have the same problems in future classes.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 79167, "author": "user7019377", "author_id": 63386, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/63386", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You can get grades changed if you have a good reason, something tangible. In addition, you need to be a skilled negotiator and diplomat. It is easy to offend the professor in such situations. You want to avoid formal procedures if at all possible.</p>\n\n<p>I have gotten at least 10 grades (sometimes assignments, sometimes exams) changed upwards during my studies in spite of an official policy to do that only for clerical errors. Reasons include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Ambiguous wording in multiple choice exams that make my answer correct. This one is the easiest to negotiate for.</li>\n<li>The answer that the professor expected based on what was seen in class is incorrect or at least incomplete in light of more recent scientific discoveries that I cited in my answer. Especially during undergrad years, this is not expected of students and can be overlooked when it happens. It was usually the TA who gave the bad grade and the professors easily overrule them in such cases.</li>\n<li>I used an approach that makes the question easier to answer than the professor expected. It is quite tricky to negotiate that working smart is better than working hard, but it can be done.</li>\n<li>Once a professor accused me of plagiarism and told me to be happy with an F instead of a formal procedure for cheating because \"my paper is too good to be true\". I challenged him on the spot to ask me difficult questions about the topic and see for himself. He changed my F to an A+.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Most of these negotiations only work if you are an excellent student I think. The professor needs to feel that you are very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject before opening up to your request. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1727", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/218/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1734, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Is it possible? Yes. Will it definitely happen? It's hard to say for any particular individual. </p>\n\n<p>There are definitely people graduating with PhD's in robotics or AI that go on to jobs in industry—I even know a few. However, your ability to find a suitable job will depend on many factors both within your control—such as the quality of your PhD thesis, your letters of recommendation, and your ability to \"sell\" your work—as well as a number of factors you can't control—such as the economic state at the time of your graduation.</p>\n\n<p>But, in general, getting a PhD shouldn't prevent you from getting an R&amp;D job after graduation.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1742, "author": "Bravo", "author_id": 411, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You need to think about two questions, essentially.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why do I need a PhD?</strong> - Do you really want to contribute something special to the field? Unlike M.tech where you are guaranteed a degree after two years, things are a lot more uncertain in a PhD, so unless you have the drive, it could be very difficult.</li>\n<li><strong>What is the nature of work of doctorates in your field?</strong> - This is much more important than knowing if you will get a job after PhD. Do try to contact people who are in good places in the industry and form an idea about the nature of their job. If you are enthused by that and you feel an industrial research position is where you seek to be, then go ahead.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>A PhD from a top institution can never be \"worthless\". You learn some set of skills that are difficult to pick up if you are elsewhere, so that's a huge plus. </p>\n\n<p>TL,DR: If you are happy being a skilful software or embedded systems engineer, then you are better off building your experience in the industry; if you really desire to contribute to the field as a researcher, PhD is a must, so hurry up with the formalities.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1757, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>One way to answer your question is this. Identify the top few places you'd like to work at (regardless of degree). Look at the people doing the kind of work you'd enjoy doing, and then see what professional degrees they have, and what their trajectory has been. That will give you a sense of what kind of training is required for industrial R&amp;D in robotics. </p>\n\n<p>At least in CS I can say that having a Ph.D doesn't hurt in R&amp;D labs, and it garners a modicum of authority/respect that helps in the corporate world, and might even be necessary for career advancement. Whether this is true for robotics as well depends on the research you do above. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 15352, "author": "James", "author_id": 10487, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10487", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>no of course a phd wont help you at all why would any R&amp;D firm want a educated person on their team; i am almost certain that you knew the answer when you typed the question. if it is worth it to you then do it for yourself regardless of the degrees you hold your ability to market yourself within the community of practice you want to enter will be the test</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 59071, "author": "zos", "author_id": 45188, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45188", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>get the industrial research job first.\nvolunteer if you have to get a break.\nthen do a PhD as an add on. </p>\n\n<p>job or interests should drive the education then you will learn it with context and purpose.</p>\n\n<p>research and knowledge creation is something you must do all the time daily. if not you are not a researcher.\ngather the tools and expertise as you go.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1731", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/945/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1747, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I don't think there's anything \"special\" that's unique to applying to academia that a graduate student can do to increase the odds of becoming a professor in the long run, particularly if one is going to do a postdoc later on.</p>\n\n<p>The two areas that <em>might</em> help are: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Gain teaching experience that goes beyond the standard \"recitation section\" leader—that is, into actual lecturing and other forms of direct interaction with students, as well as formulation of assignments and examinations. This might make a difference at schools which are more teaching-oriented rather than research-oriented.</p></li>\n<li><p>Formulate a well-defined scope for your future research activities, and also develop the tentative outlines for the first few projects that you'd start in that field. This is an essential part of any professorial application, and the sooner you start working on it, the more polished it will be when you're ready to apply for positions when the time comes.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Beyond that, what makes someone a good candidate for a postdoc are essentially the same qualities that will help in being a good candidate for a professorship later on. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2035, "author": "Dan C", "author_id": 1069, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think the single thing that most helped me get a tenure-track job was that during my postdoc I <strong>gave lots of talks</strong> at conferences and in seminars at other schools (something like 30 talks in 2 years, including those I gave at my postdoc institution). First, this helped a lot with networking. Second, and perhaps more important, all this experience gave me a ton of confidence in my ability to give good talks. That confidence spilled over into the rest of my interviews, which was generally a very good thing.\nI didn't really start giving many talks until during my postdoc, but in retrospect, I wish I'd given many more in grad school.</p>\n\n<p>All grad students know that if you want a job in academia you should publish lots of good papers. But many of them don't grasp the value of learning to communicate clearly and to publicize their work. During my postdoc, I set aside 2 or 3 weeks to learn how to draw good pictures to go into my talks, and I think that skill has really improved their subsequent quality. Personally, I do everything using beamer and tikz (presentation packages for latex). However, your specific tool is not so important. Ask around and find a tool that is widely used and supported by folks in your research area, then invest the time to learn to use it well.</p>\n\n<p>The second really important thing you can do is <strong>network</strong>. When I was in grad school, I had no concept of how important networking is for a career in academia (in fact, almost any job). Many of my papers have grown out of conversations that started at a conference. Once people know you, they invite you to speak (at their school or at a conference session they're organizing). As you get to know more of the key researchers in your area, you find it easier to keep up with important new developments (which better inform your research, etc.).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2039, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<ol>\n<li><p>Do awesome research.</p></li>\n<li><p>Publish it.</p></li>\n<li><p>Get famous people to rave about it.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Everything else is noise.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2048, "author": "Aron Ahmadia", "author_id": 404, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/404", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm in your field, and I'm a bit later in the game than you are, as I completed my PhD in 2010. Here's some advice, in increasing order of importance.</p>\n\n<p>A very good way to get a feel for what it takes to land faculty positions is to take a look at the departments you would like to work at in the future and scope out the Assistant Professors. Many of them will have their CVs and Teaching and Research Statements updated to when they applied for the position. </p>\n\n<p>You will need to cultivate several strong letters of reference, hopefully by working with some of the bigger names in your field.</p>\n\n<p>Try to go to a few job talks, as this will also give you a sense of what a strong research agenda looks like, both in terms of accomplished work and future directions.</p>\n\n<p>You will need some teaching experience, but being a great classroom teacher will not get you a job if your research portfolio is weak unless you are going to a school that focuses on undergraduate education.</p>\n\n<p>Computational Science is a bit of a funny field, as we live at the intersection of several very different fields: physics, mathematics, computer science, and usually some scientific application. These fields all have their own rules for hiring and promotion, and this is important to understand, because you will almost certainly land in a department that is <em>not</em> titled Computational Science.</p>\n\n<p>You need to <strong>statistically</strong> look good, because the members of the hiring committee will have almost no other grounds for justification besides what is written in your hiring application. This means you will absolutely need a good number of high-quality journal publications, preferably at least 5, when you apply for a faculty position. Conference papers only count for a Computer Science department, and you may need twice as many to be considered in that direction. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1743", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1745, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think it's considered more of a courtesy rather than a requirement to credit someone who has developed a problem, provided that there is no new technical content introduced in the problem. On the other hand, however, if one is to use a problem in a problem set or examination completely unchanged, then some citation of the original source is certainly recommendable, as otherwise one is guilty of a copyright violation.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1755, "author": "Ben Norris", "author_id": 924, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is a thorny issue. It comes down to copyright and license, and, particularly, what is and isn't copyrightable. If the problem is not copyrightable, then you can do whatever you wish. If the problem is copyrightable, you should assume it is copyrighted, which means you can't use it unless you have a licence to do so. The only way you are guarantee that you have a licence is to use that book in your course. If you require your students to purchase the book, then they are purchasing the license to use all of that content. You can then use the same content with them. Even providing a reference is not good enough if the material is copyrighted, and you don't have the licence.</p>\n\n<p>If the problem is fundamental or factual, then it's probably not copyrightable unless there is something peculiar about the wording. Thrse questions can be complex. For example, the following would not be copyrightable:</p>\n\n<p>What is the derivative of x3 + 4x?</p>\n\n<p>What is the major product of the reaction between calcium carbonate and sulfuric acid?</p>\n\n<p>Write the time-independent wavefunction for the electron in a ground state hydrogen atom. Then, provide the eigenvalues for this wavefunction with the kinetic energy operator.</p>\n\n<p>Draw a simple set of supply and demand curves for a generic free market for a manufactured product. Describe or draw the effects of each of the following changes on the market: 1) discovery of a cheaper method of production, 2) closing of a plant, 3) government enforcement of a maximum price.</p>\n\n<p>I'm having trouble coming up with a question that is copyrightable. Feel free to add one to my answer.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1756, "author": "Robert McDonald", "author_id": 952, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/952", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm a textbook author. I agree that it's hard to formulate a cut-and-dried answer to your question. One criterion to consider: If a colleague would compliment you on a copied problem or question because it was particularly clever or insightful, you should probably consider a citation. Stated differently, if you're getting academic credit (even if informal) for the contribution, cite the source. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 3184, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Does anyone know of any written document indicating whether or not it\n is considered unethical to copy a published problem and put it in an\n exam or an assignment without citing it?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I know of no document that addresses examinations and assignments directly but reusing someone else's words or ideas is plagiarism. It doesn't matter the source, purpose, or intent. For teaching materials I think there is a little leeway in that plagiarism may be unintentional. I am sure that some the examples I use in my teaching ,that I think are my ideas, are in fact someone else's. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 3199, "author": "Stat-R", "author_id": 453, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/453", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I am trying to give a point of view different from what some of the answers.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Citation</strong> is generally associated with new, <em>clever</em> or original creations. But sometimes it is very hard to know the origin. What if the author him/herself does not cite some examples or questions taken from someone else. How do you know they had the original idea? Often questions are borrowed modified and then presented. Should we take the credit for them or not? We learn some techniques of setting good and relevant <em>problems</em> from someone else and then we create new ones. Should we cite them? </p>\n\n<p>What I mean to say is that it may not be practical and possible and even clear if we need to cite and I agree this may not always be the case. I guess that is why none of us has come across any such documents and guidelines.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1744", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1749, "author": "Ran G.", "author_id": 324, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/324", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It seems you already know the answer -- it depends on the paper (your level of interest), the co-authors (their ability to work alone) and your time. There are no rules. I saw both advisors that spend a lot of time in technical discussions and advisors that hardly spend time to read the paper. Both were good advisors INHO.</p>\n\n<p>I would say the role of the advisor is like the role of the head-chef in a fancy restaurant: <em>Quality Assurance</em>. If the cooks make great food, all you need to do is to clean the crumbs off the plate before it goes out. If the cooks messed the food up, you need to return the plate back to them and tell them that the fish is still raw; the chicken is blend; and the correct way to do Flambé is by lighting up 95% alcohol rather than 5%-alc beer. Demonstrations are always appreciated.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1750, "author": "Pedro", "author_id": 495, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/495", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Writing \"good\" papers is an integral part of being a good academic, and therefore it is, in my opinion, something that supervisors <em>should</em> teach their students. </p>\n\n<p>This means you should be <strong>active in teaching them how to write</strong>, and less active in the actual writing itself.</p>\n\n<p>Struggling is part of any learning process, provided they are struggling with writing, and not with your reviews. The best you can do is to provide the student with clear goals of how the paper should look, how it should be structured and what it should contain. Looking back at my own first papers, I usually started writing before knowing exactly what the bottom line, e.g. the take-home message, should be. Discussing a plan of the paper, both with regards to content and the writing process, with the student before letting him/her write it is probably a good idea.</p>\n\n<p>When reviewing the manuscript, I think it's important to provide clear, consistent and constructive criticism. Specifically:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>Clear</em>: If you don't like a sentence, paragraph, figure or table (don't forget these latter two!), make sure you tell the student <em>exactly</em> what you don't like about it. This may require putting intuition aside and thinking through why you're not happy with it.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Consistent</em>: Avoid editing ping-pong that lead to the same paragraph being re-written 20 times back and forth. It's probably a good idea to keep copies of previous iterations with your own comments. This also helps the students if you can tell them they've done a good job fixing things from the previous iteration.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Constructive</em>: This is kind of obvious, but I can't be reminded of it often enough.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Deadlines are a bummer, but they're as much part of the academic process as the writing itself, so the best you can do is to teach your students to prepare for them adequately, i.e. plan ahead.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Addendum</strong></p>\n\n<p>As for authorship, in my opinion, teaching a student to write a paper in no way qualifies as co-authorship. It's part of your job as an academic. Co-authorship is something that arises out of having contributed significantly to the <em>contents</em> of the paper.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1771, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>One strategy for teaching students about the writing process is to get them involved in projects/papers being written by the professor or by more advanced researchers of the professor's group (post docs or 3rd or 4th year students in European system), and over time gradually increase the amount of responsibility that the student has. This works in groups where people are collaborating on the same thing. For a computer science example, you can imagine that people in the lab are developing the same software system.</p>\n\n<p>Start by getting a first year PhD student working with a more advanced researcher. The research is not wholly done by the new student, but the student should be involved in all steps of the process. The new student can learn mostly by observation (watching the paper grow), contributing about 10% of the total effort.</p>\n\n<p>Writing of the next paper could follow more or less the same pattern, except that the new student should take a more active role, say 25%. </p>\n\n<p>For the third paper, give the new student the lead, and keep the more experienced researchers around helping and contributing, but make sure that they do not take over, and let the student work at his/her own pace. Whenever the student gets stuck, the more experience researcher could help move things forwards, to avoid the work stagnating. On this paper the student could do 60-70% of the work, and most of the writing.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, let the student take the main responsibility on a paper and have the more experienced researchers contributing only comments and encouragement. </p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Doing things in this way requires a bit of bootstrapping, as you need to have multiple papers on the go, written by multiple people, but all around the same topic, but it could work with a single student-single professor set up.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1746", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1754, "author": "Alexander Serebrenik", "author_id": 882, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/882", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>At our university (the Netherlands) students are actively involved in group projects and as a part of the preparation to these projects they get some training on how to give talks, how to negotiate, how to organize/chair meetings, etc.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1776, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>During one's university life as an undergraduate, there are many opportunities to improve one's social skills and confidence as an adult. These range from the various sporting and political clubs students can join, through volunteer activities students can participate in, through coaching activities (of more junior students or even high school), all the way to activities like having a few drinks in the uni bar (soda, for US students). During the summer, one can participate in <em>spring break</em>-style activities or get an internship at a law firm. </p>\n\n<p>All of these activities, I dare say, help shape a student into a person. There's no assessment, no assignments, no grades, but such is the school of hard knocks.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1778, "author": "Piotr Migdal", "author_id": 49, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I heard that there where some (highly wanted) trials in Potsdam (maybe somewhere else):</p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/studium/soft_skills/soft_skills_colloquium.html?L=1\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Soft Skills Colloquium, Hasso Plattner Institut, Potsdam</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/01/09/us-flirting-odd-idUSTRE5085DE20090109\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Computer geeks learn to flirt</a> (Reuters):</li>\n</ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Even the most quirky of computer nerds can learn to flirt with finesse thanks to a new &quot;flirting course&quot; being offered to budding IT engineers at Potsdam University south of Berlin.</p>\n<p>The 440 students enrolled in the master's degree course will learn how to write flirtatious text messages and emails, impress people at parties and cope with rejection.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>To name the (alleged) reasons, why university courses in social skills are so rare:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>many social skills can't be easily fitted into a course scheme,</li>\n<li>there is a common belief (with which I strongly disagree) that there is no such need (as its to late (not necessary) or people will learn it automatically (a wishful thinking)),</li>\n<li>there may be a huge difference in initial social skill levels (from one where no course is needed to one, when a course won't change things),</li>\n<li>teaching social skills may be difficult, as many things are very culturally- and context-dependent.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Personally, I regret that there were no social skills courses at my university (so I had to learn from books, mostly - undergraduate psychology). For me, as for many other STEM students, it was (relatively) easier to learn technical material &quot;in the natural way&quot;, than social skills.</p>\n<p>However, social skills (as any other skills), are the best to be honed in practice (at least after). There are many opportunities, e.g.:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>teamwork on any project (scientific or &quot;just for fun&quot;),</li>\n<li>running a students' chapter or club,</li>\n<li>organizing trips, excursions, movie nights, parties, ...,</li>\n<li>organizing a students' conference.</li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1752", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/950/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1764, "author": "Paul", "author_id": 931, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If a professor finds your comments insightful and valuable, he/she would take the initiative to request your opinion or collaborate with you on a project. If not, they won't make an effort and may keep silent about it to be polite or outright request that you not give your opinion. Just keep in mind though... Some professors may regard your comments as being a bit ostentation or arrogant... I know, because I've been there and done that myself :)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1766, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>From my perspective, even a good question at a department colloquium will make a student stand out. Often, a student will ask a question or make a comment that I've thought about but didn't bother to mention. That is also something that catches the eye. Ultimately I think that Bravo's point is a good one: just try to think about the problem and comment if something comes to mind. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1774, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Very very carefully.</strong> One of the important aspects of being a PhD student is learning how to think critically. Turning that critical eye on a colleague, and even worse on an advisor, can be a real disaster. The key is for the student to be able to provide his/her insight into the issues without putting the colleague on guard.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1786, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The same way any other researcher would make meaningful comments or suggestions regarding a colleague's work. By having real insight, and presenting it carefully and respectfully.</p>\n\n<p>(And I agree with all the other answers.)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1787, "author": "Ben Norris", "author_id": 924, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The other answers make good suggestions for the asking of questions or posing ideas to professors. Most professors are open to questions and new ideas. I personally love it when my students come to me with something that I hadn't thought of before. As for getting recognition, it depends on the relationship between the Ph.D. student and the professor. </p>\n\n<p>If you, as a grad student, ask a poignant question at a visiting professor's lecture, and then the professor returns and gets his or her group working on the matter, the you will very likely not receive any further communication about the matter. You will, however, be able to determine if your question had an effect when the publication came out. If nothing else, you can have that warm little feeling that something came of your question.</p>\n\n<p>If you, as a senior graduate student, pitch something to your adviser that is relevant to your project, your adviser should listen. At some point you know more about your project than your adviser does. I pitched many things to my adviser over the years. Sometimes I was shot down, and then did them anyway. One of my questions, however, transformed the direction of my thesis work. I started and finished a whole new project in my last year based on an idea I pitched. </p>\n\n<p>Senior graduate students weighing in on other projects going on in their group also tend to get listened to, and occasionally acknowledged in the publication for \"helpful discussions.\" Yes, sometimes those names are graduate students. For one example I know of, see the acknowledgements in <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja102670n\">this article</a>. \"The authors would like to thank... ...Mr. Benjamin N. Norris for helpful discussions.\"</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1762", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1765, "author": "Bravo", "author_id": 411, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p><em>I mean if I was a very smart researcher, and discovered something that no-one has known before, then first thing for me would be to create a company and sell it.</em></p>\n\n<p>Come on, do you even think it is so easy for someone to start a company and start making money? The skills needed to make a product (corporate world) are different from those necessary to create an idea (academia). A simple well-thought out, well-exposited algorithm may bring plaudits in academia, but in the industry you need to implement the algorithm as a small part of a large system, subject it to rigorous testing, find people to market the product and suitable customers to buy, etc. And then there is the whole HR team which has to do its thing...</p>\n\n<p><strong>Patents</strong> are the way to go if you have to make money from a smart idea in the academia. (<strong>EDIT</strong>: Generally, both the University and the inventor share equitably the royalties and other income arising out of inventions <a href=\"http://www.nyu.edu/about/policies-guidelines-compliance/policies-and-guidelines/patents-policy-statement.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">developed under University auspices</a>.)</p>\n\n<p>Professors do engage themselves in collaborative work with the industry; at times, they are funded by the university for setting up small companies (see <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/792/entrepreneurial-opportunities-for-faculty-members\">this question</a>.). The lifestyles of people in the academia and the industry are vastly different; for one, professors have much more freedom with respect to timings than in the industry and afford greater time for their family - not a bad thing in exchange for money, after all.</p>\n\n<p>Successful researchers in academia are unlikely to quibble about low income compared to people in the industry. Happiness versus money is a concave function - beyond a point, more money is unlikely to make one happier. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1795, "author": "Sylvain Peyronnet", "author_id": 43, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There is a lot of reasons leading to the fact that academics don't necessarily start a business each time they have an idea that seems to work:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>There is a very long and difficult (technical) path from an idea that works to a product. Finding the good persons for following that path is generally painful, and an error-prone process.</li>\n<li>There is a very long and difficult (marketing) path from product to money. Marketing and sales are two difficult jobs, where academics are not (most of the time) very gifted. Moreover, it may be hard to convince good marketers or salespeople to go with you in your adventure.</li>\n<li>Not all academics want more money. If my purpose was to earn more money, I would have originally chosen an other job. As a friend of mine say, if you want to be rich with high probability, start a pizzeria, then another one, then another one, ...</li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1796, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>From my experience, most researchers who choose to make money do so in one of two ways:</p>\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Entrepreneurship.</strong> Take whatever you've found with your research and start a business somehow marketing it. This is a common path, as you are the expert in your field, and you can bring it to market in ways that no one else can.</p>\n<p>Many researchers do not follow this path, though, because the skills and interests required to run a successful business are oftentimes very different from the skills required to become a successful researcher. Anecdotally, the majority of researchers I've met were <em>not</em> interested in bringing their findings to market in any way; they just wanted to perform research and not have the headaches of running a business. Note also that you will have to inform the university about your business, and you will have to deal with the conflict of interest problems that arise because your research affects your business.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p><strong>Consulting.</strong> This is a much easier path, and is performed by many researchers in a variety of fields. It is unlikely you will strike it rich doing consulting, but it can bring in a significant amount of extra cash.</p>\n<p>A subcategory of this is <strong>legal consulting.</strong> I put this separately simply because it's consulting of a completely different nature that most business consulting. Depending on your field, you may be able to be called in as an expert witness in a legal case, which can also bring in extra cash. This is less common, simply because of fewer opportunities.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1807, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Consulting is a common way to make more money. Universities in the Us have some kind of policy saying that you can consult for x days a month (x being less than 5, or 2-3). If you find a consulting gig, you can then charge them whatever hourly rate the market can bear, and augment your income that way. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 43041, "author": "Virtual Visiting Professor", "author_id": 32738, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32738", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Many Academicians are working in other parts of the globe but selling their research paper by writing their affiliation of Middle east countries or Turkey. This way they get opportunity to get money each paper from affiliated (virtual) institutions and also opportunity to visit being so called visiting faculty. Please see King Saud University, Abdul Aziz University, Çankaya University, Atilim University, Ankara and many more! </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1763", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/477/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1770, "author": "Alexander Serebrenik", "author_id": 882, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/882", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>This will heavily depend on the specific country you are talking about. We have a so-called <a href=\"http://www.tue.nl/en/innovation/tue-innovation-lab/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Innovation Lab</a> that aims at encouraging \"entrepreneurship and innovation by identifying, supporting and providing guidance for potential high-tech startups and spin-off companies originating at TU/e.\" Specifically, they guide researchers along the entire process: from checking whether the idea can be patented to actually establishing a startup / spin-off company.</p>\n\n<p>With respect to copyright: lion's share of our research is being published so there can be no problems for companies to use the ideas presented in scientific papers. Using <em>unpublished</em> results might be more tricky but I can imagine that the university will agree to formally keep copyright and allow the company to benefit from it under some restricted conditions.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16374, "author": "Peteris", "author_id": 10730, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The university cannot claim ownership of the company as such, however, they can claim ownership of some intellectual property without which the company is worthless.</p>\n\n<p>The only way how it could gain ownership of company shares is if you make a copyright/patent licencing deal which would include those shares as part of the compensation.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1767", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/477/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1777, "author": "Andy W", "author_id": 3, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The only hard and fast advice I have been given in general is to not spend more time grading than the person did writing the essay. Note in most instances you shouldn't spend anywhere near that amount of time, but in general you should be cognisant that grading essays is an arduous task, and for a size like 60 it certainly shouldn't be done in one day (I don't know anyone who grades that many by themselves to be frank, all classes of that size I am familiar with have TA(s)). </p>\n\n<p>Other elements will impact how long the grading takes. Such as are you grading all of the exams by yourself or are there other professors/teaching assistants grading exams. If there are multiple people sometimes it is necessary to have a collaborative meeting, and even co-grade several essays to make sure you are being consistent.</p>\n\n<p>For essays people typically make rubrics with which to grade, and this focuses the content for your review (as well as makes expectations explicit to students). The more focused the rubric the easier your task of grading becomes. The only other advice I would give is I typically read all of the essays once, making small comments, marks and notes for myself, and then go back through a second time and grade the papers. This obviously adds more time to grading though.</p>\n\n<p>Not being able to give students feedback is awful for learning, so I would suggest (if possible) you at least keep notes for yourself and/or keep copies of the essays for a short period. Thus if a student requests feedback it will be possible to give them some.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1792, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I don't work in a field with essay exams, but I do ask my students to write proofs, so maybe my advice is still useful.</p>\n\n<p>TAs at my university are contractually limited to at most 20 hours of work per week. You have 60 exams to grade in one week; that suggests an absolute limit of 20 minutes per exam. Since each exam has three essays, I would aim to spend <strong>at most 5 minutes per essay</strong>. It'll probably take longer at first, especially if you also have to develop a rubric, but you'll get faster as you work through the pile. Aiming for 5 minutes leaves you lots of slack.</p>\n\n<p>Also, I strongly recommend grading vertically—grading all of essay #1 before reading anyone's essay #2—instead of horizontally—finishing each student before starting the next.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 13851, "author": "Peter Jansson", "author_id": 4394, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The answer by Andy W discusses the role of Rubrics, which I think is key to simplify grading. They provide better understanding for both expectations and evaluation from the student's perspective.</p>\n\n<p>To add to that, one method that I find works in many situations to reduce grading is to gather students after the exam and discuss the answers in session. This way I can express the points I consider important for a good answer. I realize this cannot always be accommodated in the schedule of courses and exams. But, students appreciate the opportunity to ask questions etc. The grading can then be done quicker since I can refer to what was mentioned in session rather than making many detailed comments. The comments necessary will then be more of a summary connecting to the rubrics and how the answer fills (or not) these criteria.</p>\n\n<p>To say how much time is needed for the grading is difficult in detail but I believe significant reductions can be made, including post-grading discussions with students.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 13864, "author": "Samuel Russell", "author_id": 4429, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4429", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In the humanities 4000-5000wd an hour for commented responses on essays. Two to three times as fast for commentless grading of essays.</p>\n\n<p>This is a \"work norm\" ala Taylorism, but it hasn't been subject to speed up as far as I've seen (unlike the head count in tutorials work norm, for example).</p>\n\n<p>Source: Australian system, multiple essay based departments' work cultures amongst permanent members of staff; and multiple rounds of multiple sites of collective contract negotiations with casual employees; as a Trade Unionist and department level administrator with previous pay responsibility.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1772", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1784, "author": "Pete L. Clark", "author_id": 938, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I don't know, but here's a possibly useful tip: when I get sent latex style files and complicated instructions for how to format my (accepted) paper, I usually try right away to get these files to work and to format things in the way asked of me...for up to half an hour. If at the end of half an hour (or slightly less if I am feeling impatient that day) the task is not yet finished, I generally give up and say that I wasn't able to get the style files to work. In almost all cases, the editor in question asked no further questions and gladly did the formatting himself.</p>\n\n<p>The exception was a note I submitted to the American Mathematical Monthly, where they were extremely picky and passive aggressive about the changes they wanted made. After at least six (not an exaggeration!) emails from a secretary of the form \"For some reason you still haven't included your references in the proper format...\" I lost my cool a little, gave them blanket permission to format the (three page!) paper however they wanted, and requested that they leave me out of it. Which they did, and the note appeared a few months ago. </p>\n\n<p>Moral: this is one of those tasks that will expand to take up as much time as you let it. Given that most journals have professionals who will devote further time to typesetting your paper after you sign off on it anyway, why not sign off on it sooner rather than later?</p>\n\n<p>Let me add as a counterpoint that there are some smaller, internet based journals where most of the nuts and bolts work is done by a single person, who is working hard to put out the product rapidly and well (example: the Journal of Integer Sequences). In fact I seem to recall that Prof. Shallit of JIS spent some time reformatting my accepted JIS manuscript, which then got electronically published within a few days of its final acceptance. He really went above and beyond, and if I have it over again I will do more on my own side. </p>\n\n<p><b>Added</b>: Looking back at your question, I worry that I may have misinterpreted it: are you asking about the initial submission of the paper? Definitely do not mess with any style files or publication instructions before your paper gets accepted. I agree that \"instructions for authors\" pages seem ambiguous on this point, but in all of my experience authors, editors and referees have a common understanding: <strong>first we decide whether we want to publish the paper, then we worry about its format and type-setting</strong>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1785, "author": "Robert McDonald", "author_id": 952, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/952", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The instruction not to typeset means that you should not worry about the appearance of your manuscript over and above what the style file provides. Don't worry about strange page breaks, overfull hboxes, and floats that end up in the wrong place. Fixing these would be examples of what the publisher means by \"typesetting\". Any fixes you make will almost certainly be removed by the publisher once the manuscript is final and being prepped for publication, so you will have wasted your time and made extra work for the publisher. You do want your manuscript to be readable using the publisher-provided style file, and you should probably be judicious about adding packages to your document. (Ideally the publisher will give guidance on this.) </p>\n\n<p>I agree with Pete L. Clark that you shouldn't worry about this issue at all until your paper is accepted. Journals should provide clearer instructions about this.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1782", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/960/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1789, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p><em>This entire answer is US-centric, since I have no clue how other countries work. This is not to say that I know the US system that well - but rather that it's the only system I know at all.</em></p>\n\n<p>Public universities work differently from private universities. Public universities usually have pay scales and these are often public since professors are considered state employees (yes, my salary is public knowledge). So you can start digging around there. Usually there's a range within which you can hope to negotiate: moving out of that range is beyond even the power of the university to authorize. </p>\n\n<p>Private universities usually have more flexibility and it might be harder to get the range of salaries. But if you get an offer you can ask around to get a sense of the ballpark. </p>\n\n<p>As for what a reasonable range is, getting data is very discipline-specific. For CS, the CRA puts out stats fairly regularly and there's the Taulbee survey. For other disciplines, there might be something similar. </p>\n\n<p>Salaries in academia at least at tenure-track level are less flexible in general. Probably the best way to get to the top of the permissible range is to have another offer. Other than that it's hard. Often, the things that are most easily negotiated are other parts of the startup package. Which is not to say that you shouldn't negotiate salary - but unlike in industry, it's less likely to be as beneficial. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1791, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p><em>This answer applies to Belgium, or perhaps just Flanders.</em></p>\n\n<p>Academics are public servants, so the pay scales are fixed. The only thing that is flexible is where on the scale you start. This is then based on the number of years of relevant experience, which is often counted as the number of years after your masters. They will probably apply some tricks to bump it down a notch or two, while appearing generous. No room for negotiation, though.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1797, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In the UK/England, the scale is fixed. There is a \"London allowance\" which, again is fixed, that I believe is not counted as salary for tax and pension purposes. Your salary increases ~2.5% for each point on the scale you move up.</p>\n\n<p>Each university sets the starting point at which they appoint lecturers (assistant prof equivalent) as well as the maximum point you can progress to without promotion. There is some variation in this range across universities, but within a university it is fixed. I think most universities/departments appoint new lecturers at a 2 points above the bottom of the scale. Sometimes you can negotiate to move up another point or two.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10538, "author": "Samuel Russell", "author_id": 4429, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4429", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This answer applies to Australia.</p>\n\n<p>Base pay rates are set by a Federal \"Award\" which fundamentally covers all academics working in Australia. An employer and employee can privately negotiate an above award wage or condition, but this is never done (employer resistance).</p>\n\n<p>Most academics are covered by a site specific Enterprise Bargaining Agreement negotiated by the union (NTEU) and the employer. This sets graded minimums based on the career phase of the academic, and covers all kinds of academic labour from casual tutor through to professor (a terminal, demonstrated high research output position with field leadership responsibilities). The persons not covered under this are management. The employer is generally unwilling to negotiate variations except for professors and management. Each pay rank has an internal series of steps (Lecturer step 1, step 2, step 3, etc.) representing increases in income based on years of service.</p>\n\n<p>While academics of all disciplines are paid the same at the same grade, the Enterprise Bargaining Agreements vary from site to site, so academics at one University in Melbourne will be paid less than another in Canberra but more than another in Sydney.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10540, "author": "Jukka Suomela", "author_id": 351, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The <strong><a href=\"http://www.eui.eu/ProgrammesAndFellowships/AcademicCareersObservatory/AcademicCareersbyCountry/Index.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">Academic Careers Observatory</a></strong> may be a helpful resource, especially for the European countries.</p>\n\n<p>For example, their information on the <strong><a href=\"http://www.eui.eu/ProgrammesAndFellowships/AcademicCareersObservatory/AcademicCareersbyCountry/Finland.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">Finnish</a></strong> salary system is fairly accurate: there is a non-negotiable fixed base salary level that depends on your job title, but on top of that there is up to 46% extra that is determined based on your personal performance (i.e., there is a lot of room for negotiation, at least if you can show that you are actually doing your job exceptionally well).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10541, "author": "Dirk", "author_id": 529, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/529", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p><em>Here is an answer for Germany.</em></p>\n\n<p>In Germany there are three different types of professor salaries: <a href=\"http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besoldungsordnung_W\">W1, W2 and W3</a> (unfortunately there is no English Wikipedia site...).</p>\n\n<p>For W2 and W3 the salary is negotiable. In fact, the base salaries have been lowered when the W-system has been introduced (some 10 year ago or so) but there is now the opportunity to have variable bonuses. These bonuses can be obtained by various means and the precise procedure varies from state to state and even from university to university. Basically, one needs to show that one is a high performer, for example in research (having big grants, a lot of publications,...) or in teaching. Moreover, there is a raise for extensive service (e.g. for being the dean). You can expect a raise for sure if you get an external offer for a position which is at least equally good. I think that there are statistics about the average bonus a W2 or W3 professor gets but I can't find one right now. I am not aware of an upper bound for the total bonus and I think the bonus can get higher than 50% of the base salary.</p>\n\n<p>For W1 professors (junior professors) the situation is different. Basically there are no bonuses but there can be exceptions. One needs to show different things and especially that the position could not be filled otherwise. Moreover, the maximum bonus is at 10%.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10565, "author": "mako", "author_id": 5962, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>First: <em>Yes</em>, salaries are negotiable.</p>\n\n<p>The specifics of how much you can negotiate for will depend on a lot of things including flexibility on the institutions end and the amount of leverage you have in the negotiation (e.g., Do you have other offers? what else are you asking for? etc).</p>\n\n<p>Ask around for details on other offers. I've seen folks on the <a href=\"http://academicjobs.wikia.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Academic Jobs Wiki</a> sharing details about offers and startup packages to give folks an idea of what is possible to negotiate for. Professional organizations will often publish these statistics as well.</p>\n\n<p>One useful data point: Many public schools, at least in the US, are subject to public record laws. I know of people who downloaded the full database of salaries from public universities they had offers from, created the subset all the people with the title of the job they were offered, and used those data as a way of getting a sense of the range they could negotiate for.</p>\n\n<p>One piece of advice I got early on was useful: If you are never told \"no,\" you didn't ask for enough. So don't be afraid to ask. Of course, always be <em>deeply</em> respectful in the process and keep in mind their own limits and abilities. Your negotiating partners are your future colleagues and a good working environment is worth more than whatever you hope to gain in a rough back and forth over a few thousand bucks.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 47661, "author": "Phil", "author_id": 21815, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21815", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This answer applies to Canada.</p>\n\n<p>There is generally a fixed pay scale in Canada. But you can always try to negotiate and sometimes it works. Especially, if someone moves from a faculty position to another university and the salary would be lower, then that person should negotiate to keep at least the same salary (the salary should not decrease). Besides, some top level professors may negotiate to get application for a research chair or that the university also hire their husband/spouse at the same university. This has been done in some cases. You can also negotiate to try to get a permanent position, etc. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1788", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1814, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The acknowledgements are the only part of the dissertation where you are writing as <em>yourself</em> instead of the Impartial Professional Narrator. Just relax and be honest. (Yes, that can be hard, especially after so many years of writing as Impartial Professional Narrator.) </p>\n\n<p>Don't worry too much about writing it the right way. Just be yourself. <em>Of course</em> your acknowledgements will sound trite to the average reader, but you're not writing to the average reader; you're writing to your mentors, colleagues, friends, and family, who will value the sentiment far more than the specific words.</p>\n\n<p>And don't forget to send a copy of your dissertation to each of the people you acknowledge, <em>especially</em> your family.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16828, "author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX", "author_id": 725, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'd like to add one more point to JeffE's answer - though I have no idea how localized this is:</p>\n\n<p>Over here, the \"I-did-the-work-myself\" declaration contains a phrase that noone but those named in the acknowledgements did help with the work.\nSo in addition to thanking all the people whom you like to thank for moral support etc. (where forgetting someone would be impolite, but usually not have any further consequences), it is <em>legally</em> important not to forget anyone who helped with the work. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 18022, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To mirror JeffE's answer: Your Acknowledgements section is for <em>you</em>. And possibly the small number of people who will actually look at your dissertation cover to cover. Write it in your own voice, and write it the way you want to write it.</p>\n\n<p>For reference, this is mine, with identifying information removed:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I would like to gratefully acknowledge the guidance, support and\n encouragement of my doctoral advisor, Dr. Chair, and the members of\n my committee during my time at University, as well as Dr. Helpful for her\n continued mentorship and collaboration, and for logging many miles\n between City A, City B and City C while on my\n committee. </p>\n \n <p>My gratitude extends to Dr. Data and Dr. AnswersMyQuestions\n at Nearby Institution for their enthusiasm and willingness to provide both\n data and clinical expertise, to Expert for references and advice\n about Topic and to my friends at University for many hours\n of mutual support, complaining and insightful discussions in the\n student room. </p>\n \n <p>This dissertation would not have been possible without\n funding from the FUNDING AGENCIES. </p>\n \n <p>Finally, I would like to thank the makers of Dr. Pepper and the members of the\n StackOverflow and CrossValidated communities for their invaluable\n assistance in many a late-night coding session.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, it's a little flippant, but in my opinion something in a dissertation should be, and to quote the Rifleman's Creed: There are many like it, but this one is mine.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1798", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/967/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1800, "author": "DavideChicco.it", "author_id": 379, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/379", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In my opinion, I'd suggest these (in order of importance): </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>hard-working attitude</li>\n<li>public speaking</li>\n<li>ability to manage personal relationships</li>\n<li>ability to work in independently</li>\n<li>ability to work in team</li>\n<li>creative skills and ability to formulate new problems and ideas</li>\n<li>ability to accept &amp; learn from criticism</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Do you agree with this list?</p>\n\n<p>Would you add something?</p>\n\n<p>Would you change the position of something?</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1801, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I broadly agree with Davide's answer above, but I would move the list around somewhat:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Tier 1:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Self motivating</li>\n<li>Communication, broadly-defined</li>\n<li>Ability to stay focused on a single task for multiple months &amp; years</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p>Tier 2:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Work on a team</li>\n<li>Creative, curious personality</li>\n<li>Strong writing skills</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p>Tier 3:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Learn from criticism</li>\n<li>Personable</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><strong>Tier 1</strong> skills are, in my mind, absolutely required to be a researcher. The inability of any of those will preclude you from doing your work (i.e., unable to communicate means unable to publish; unable to stay focused for long periods of time means unable to complete research projects &amp; grants.) <strong>Tier 2</strong> skills will turn a good researcher into a great researcher. Technically speaking, researchers don't need to be good team members, but having that skill will greatly improve your academic worth and potential. <strong>Tier 3</strong> will improve your worth to yourself and others as a researcher. There are probably a bunch here that I missed and should have included.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1866, "author": "D.W.", "author_id": 705, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You didn't say what kind of graduate program you are talking about. The admissions criteria for a Master's program are very different than for a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>Here's what the top-three admissions criteria look like for admission to a research-oriented PhD program:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Evidence of research ability.</li>\n<li>Evidence of research ability.</li>\n<li>Evidence of research ability.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So, if evidence of research ability is so important, how is it judged? Well, there are several ways that applicants can demonstrate research ability:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Demonstrate prior success at research. For example, participated in one or more prior research projects that led to a publication at a peer-reviewed place. This is usually the strongest evidence.</p></li>\n<li><p>Show prior experience with research, with evidence that it went well or that future research will likely be a success. For example, participated in one or more prior research projects, which did not lead to a publication, but the letters of reference state have positive things to say about the applicant's research ability, and the letter-writers are credible on this. This is next-best.</p></li>\n<li><p>Show great intelligence and technical ability, as well as passion/motivation. Here we are talking about indirect measures of research ability. One of the strongest ways is to excel in technical classes. Admissions committees will also look at the motivation/drive (what does the applicant want to study? why? is the applicant driven to do research? why?), at written and other communication skills, and other factors.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Of the materials in the application packet, I could prioritize which are most important:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Publications. If you have publications, include them. Admissions committees will often read the publications, look to see where they are published, etc.</p></li>\n<li><p>Letters of reference. Strong letters of recommendation can be very valuable. They need to come from credible people who are well-calibrated about what it takes to be successful in a Ph.D. program, and they should be as strong as possible about the applicant's research potential and other abilities.</p></li>\n<li><p>Classes. Great grades in relevant courses is helpful. The courses also need to provide adequate preparation for the Ph.D. program.</p></li>\n<li><p>Essays. The personal essays should be thoughtful, well-written, demonstrate the applicant's interest in research and goals for Ph.D. study. Admissions committees will read to see whether the essays seem well-informed about the field the applicant wants to join. They'll also try to figure out the applicant's most likely interests, to see if they are a good match for the faculty in the department who are looking to advise new Ph.D. students.</p></li>\n<li><p>Other materials. The rest of your application packages (e.g., GRE scores) are of lesser importance. They're more likely to get you rejected, or raise a red flag that causes the committee to look more closely at the rest of your application packet, than they are get you accepted. It is semi-important to demonstrate communication skills; if you cannot communicate clearly in the language of instruction at the university, then you may not be able to serve as a teaching assistant, which means the school may not have a way to fund you, which is very bad. Also, advisors are more likely to want to work with someone who has good written English than someone who will need to learn how to write clearly.</p></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1867, "author": "Hauser", "author_id": 213, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/213", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I will add some further unmentioned skills I value highly and miss among many students <strong>in the age of internet and information overload</strong>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>googling/filtering, <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/455/213\">knowing &amp; using search operators</a>, especially for finding literature. Seems obvious, but I see so many students lacking basic search and internet skills that this is my #1</li>\n<li>knowledge management, meaning <a href=\"https://productivity.stackexchange.com/questions/580/what-future-proof-software-for-building-managing-a-personal-big-knowledge-base\">future-proof</a> saving and <a href=\"https://productivity.stackexchange.com/a/1600/560\">organizing</a> of your knowledge and <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/456/213\">bibliography</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://productivity.stackexchange.com/a/737/560\">keeping up with academic publications</a></li>\n<li>critical thinking (logic, fallacies, cognitive bias, problem solving), history and philosophy of science (Popper &amp; Kuhn), </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Being a scientist means to study further and learn your whole life, more than in any other job, where most of soft skills named in other answers apply too (work hard, in team, motivation ...). Also I think curiosity and creativity are rather personal traits than trainable skills. If you don't have them, consider choosing another job.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1799", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/379/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1813, "author": "IS Prof", "author_id": 970, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/970", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I think it depends in large part on what the research is. Some fields lend themselves more readily to real-life application, while others like, say, theoretical physics, are a long way from being used by industry.</p>\n\n<p>It also depends on the researcher. I am a firm believer in the \"<a href=\"http://www.borders.arizona.edu/cms/last-research-mile\">Last Research Mile</a>\" principle (disclosure: the man who wrote that is my advisor). The premise of the Last Research Mile is that a big part of doing research is taking it all the way through to implementation. Doing the early research provides a good start, but lots of important lessons, including research lessons, are learned as the idea is carried through to execution. I'm studying in an Information Systems program, and so my research is in business, computers, and people. While it would be easy to do the basic research and move on to another topic, I think it is important to continue to push and test the idea even in its implementation phases.</p>\n\n<p>As a result of following the Last Research Mile principle, my advisor has created at least one company that sells the product of decades of his research. Many lessons were learned, and many publications resulted because of those lessons throughout the whole process.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1815, "author": "Alexander Serebrenik", "author_id": 882, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/882", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>We have a <a href=\"http://www.laquso.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">lab</a> within our department that \"...takes state-of-the-art methods, techniques, and tools on software product quality analysis developed during more fundamental/strategic research... and applies, validates, and deploys these in industry and government.\"</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1804", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/477/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1808, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Because we're having too much fun doing research to waste our time making mere money.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Lots of professors <em>do</em> start companies based on their research. Especially in engineering, entrepreneurship is one of the signs of a healthy department. But starting and running a company is a tremendous amount of work, requiring a <em>very</em> different set of skills than being a successful academic researcher. Brilliant and novel ideas, even the tiny minority that are marketable <em>in principle</em>, are neither necessary nor sufficient to maintain a successful business. Business plans are just the beginning.</p>\n\n<p>Also, the metrics for success are very different. Put baldly, academic research is successful if and only if your peers like it; a business is successful if and only if it makes money. Academics tend to be more narcissistic than greedy. As evidence: most faculty in science and engineering could easily double their annual salaries simply by leaving academia for industry. If money were our primary motivation, we wouldn't be academics in the first place.</p>\n\n<p>There's also a closely related issue of openness. Academic research is (in principle) entirely public; academic researchers publish their ideas for other people to use, adapt, modify, and apply in ways that are completely out of their control. Businesses, on the other hand, keep tighter control of their best ideas, either hiding them behind non-disclosure agreements or locking their use behind patents, lest some competitor use them to gain an advantage. If you're an academic researcher, someone else using your ideas (usually) helps you; if you're a business, someone else using your ideas (usually) hurts you. For academic researchers used to the unfettered exchange of ideas, the secrecy required for a successful business can be incredibly stifling, if not offensive.</p>\n\n<p>Or maybe that's just me.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1809, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There's more to life than making money... teaching students, grading exams, obtaining funding, being away from your family to present papers at conferences, correcting appallingly written research papers, reviewing similarly appalling papers, trying to get promoted.... It's a laugh a minute and we wouldn't change it for the world. </p>\n\n<p>And it puts bread on the table.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1811, "author": "Sylvain Peyronnet", "author_id": 43, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I did that in the past (now it's my brother turn ;)), and trust me, you don't start a company for the money, you do it because you think it will be fun, and that maybe you will provide something that will change the world (or at least something). Sometimes it's work, sometimes not. In fact, most of the time you will work a tremendous number of hours, for a salary (if you are lucky) that will be just the average salary of an average guy. And at the end you can end up totally broke.</p>\n\n<p>Almost 10 years after this experience, I don't regret it, but this is a completely different work than research, and for me this is less fun than research. However, being in the shareholders of a company, and just be there for giving advice is both interesting and fun, because all the \"boring\" work is done by others.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1812, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>This question seems to be based on a misconception, namely that professors start companies substantially less frequently than they could or should.</p>\n\n<p>The vast majority of professors, even in fairly applied areas like computer science (compared with literature, say), are simply not in a position to start companies based on their research. You need a viable business plan, and they don't grow on trees. Specifically, even really profound research with many practical applications usually just doesn't have obvious commercial potential as a stand-alone business, since it won't be clear how to monetize it. Of course, there are exceptions, and plenty of important businesses were started by faculty, but only a small fraction of professors could do this successfully.</p>\n\n<p>Here's another way of looking at it. There's no reason why a business based on a professor's research needs to be founded by the professor. If you see someone with great ideas, you can buy the rights to the ideas and found your own company. If professors were missing a lot of wonderful opportunities to found companies, then you'd expect entrepreneurs to step in and do it, but that doesn't happen very often either.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, this is why we have academic research. The stuff that leads to obvious business plans could easily be funded by industry. By contrast, one of the reasons why academia includes research is to make sure work that can't easily be sold doesn't get neglected.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1824, "author": "dmh", "author_id": 941, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/941", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>One thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet is intellectual property rights. As an academic, you generally share intellectual property rights with the institution you are affiliated with, at least insofar as royalties must be shared. See <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1763/how-do-academics-make-money-from-applying-their-research\">How do academics make money from applying their research?</a> for a related question with some more information on this and related subjects.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16372, "author": "Peteris", "author_id": 10730, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>For any given concept or niche, there is often a huge gap between the time when it's interesting to research that topic, and when it's mature enough to commercialize. </p>\n\n<p>No matter if we're talking about new hardware, new chemical processes or new AI algorithms, there tends to be a decade or two between the point where there are major unresearched and novel parts of the problem, and where it's profitable to scale it as a business; and the problems you need to solve in order to demonstrate a proof of concept are very different from the type of problems you need to solve to make it cheap, predictable and attractive to consumers.</p>\n\n<p>Most researchers are (and should be) working on areas that are far too bleeding edge to be commercialized yet. Most new product development is working on technologies that are already too mature and 'boring' to generate significant publishable research. </p>\n\n<p>In essence, if you see a new 'bleeding edge technology' product in any area, there probably is a 10-20 year old academic paper describing the concept with an implementation that sort-of works if the stars are right, takes impractical effort to make, and practical use requires complementary things that aren't available yet. After some time... the prerequisites have commoditized, someone else has driven the costs down, and you can implement a lot of time in polishing the concept in order to build and sell it - but most researchers would rather research new things than polish the 'old' ones for consumption.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1806", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/477/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1817, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In most cases you will not take all of your vacation days and work more than the required number of hours, so it shouldn't really matter. As a post-doc, you should ask your advisor.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1821, "author": "Steve P", "author_id": 315, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/315", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You should ask your advisor, but it is reasonable for an advisor to allow you time (potentially several weeks or months) to essentially be away from the lab and your research in order to interview for jobs. In my opinion, this is a concession that is reasonable to give as a reward for hard work during previous phases of an advisee's research. If not, the advisor likely does not have the advisee's interests in mind. That could come back to bite him/her later when attempting to find new advisees.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you're spending a lot of extra leisure time on the trips that is not part of the interview, then it should probably be considered vacation time.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1816", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/344/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1817, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In most cases you will not take all of your vacation days and work more than the required number of hours, so it shouldn't really matter. As a post-doc, you should ask your advisor.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1821, "author": "Steve P", "author_id": 315, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/315", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You should ask your advisor, but it is reasonable for an advisor to allow you time (potentially several weeks or months) to essentially be away from the lab and your research in order to interview for jobs. In my opinion, this is a concession that is reasonable to give as a reward for hard work during previous phases of an advisee's research. If not, the advisor likely does not have the advisee's interests in mind. That could come back to bite him/her later when attempting to find new advisees.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you're spending a lot of extra leisure time on the trips that is not part of the interview, then it should probably be considered vacation time.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1820", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/978/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1817, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In most cases you will not take all of your vacation days and work more than the required number of hours, so it shouldn't really matter. As a post-doc, you should ask your advisor.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1821, "author": "Steve P", "author_id": 315, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/315", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You should ask your advisor, but it is reasonable for an advisor to allow you time (potentially several weeks or months) to essentially be away from the lab and your research in order to interview for jobs. In my opinion, this is a concession that is reasonable to give as a reward for hard work during previous phases of an advisee's research. If not, the advisor likely does not have the advisee's interests in mind. That could come back to bite him/her later when attempting to find new advisees.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you're spending a lot of extra leisure time on the trips that is not part of the interview, then it should probably be considered vacation time.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1826", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/982/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1856, "author": "Paul", "author_id": 931, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Its not the grade that you get that determines gets you the job. It's your ability to apply what you have learned to new and challenging fields that ultimately determines your qualification for a job. This is best measured not by grades, but by the quality (and possibly quantity) of publications. In rare circumstances, as @aeismail suggests, employers look closely at your GPA. I do not believe this is the norm though. Most institutions that employ the highly educated look more highly upon strong letters of recommendation and publication history. As long as you have that, you should not have any problems with this grade on your record.</p>\n\n<p>The ultimate impact of your \"D\" really depends on the policy of your school. As @BenNorris indicates, some graduate programs have a minimum performance requirement such that a low grade in a class may impact your retention in your program. It is best to speak with your advisor, the graduate chair, and possibly even your department chair to discuss the circumstances surrounding your performance, how it will impact your retention, and if there is anything you can do about it. Immediate dismissal is extremely rare. Most institutions place the student on probation (and may make you repeat the course in question). </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 74870, "author": "getting_swindled", "author_id": 60074, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/60074", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It depends on where you live. In the US, most tech companies weight GPA low (but still relevant). There's only a soft correlation between GPA and performance. That being said, it doesn't give you an excuse to slack off.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, for PhDs most people assume that you have bad grades as you're focusing on research.</p>\n\n<p>With both these facts, I hope you will not worry about it.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1832", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/989/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1841, "author": "Community", "author_id": -1, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>There are several cases where PhDs do an MBA. Some of them are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Bored of research as a whole.</li>\n<li>Irritation with academia and poor scope in Industry.</li>\n<li>Want to earn money.</li>\n<li>For furthering responsibilities at the university where one is a professor. If you do some looking around, a high amount of Deans to have an MBA along with a PhD.</li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1851, "author": "ayush", "author_id": 989, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/989", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No degree ever goes waste. Most people with PhD and MBA acquire director positions in companies.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 15322, "author": "Nontuthuko Mgabhi", "author_id": 10461, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10461", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A qualification regardless of level and field of study is never a waste, one needs to realize how to use it wisely and appropriately. As we navigate life we shift perspective and interests, our education choices therefore need to reflect this. Ph.D provides sound research focus, MBA provides sound business and leadership focus. The two combined is a great and electrifying combination. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 31160, "author": "Reed -SE is a Fish on Dry Land", "author_id": 23868, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23868", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>PhD = specialist in a subject, research skills, critical mind\nMBA = Broad generalist, management, problem solving</p>\n\n<p>The focus and scope is not the same. \nAlso like it was said most researchers who want to climb the ladder need to take the management track which often require an MBA. Put simply an MD is an MD but a hospital manager needs to be an MD and MBA. </p>\n\n<p>Also to teach at a business school other than math or economics you normally need an MBA. Best is a Phd/MBA but while a lowly MBA can teach that is not usually the case for a PhD.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1834", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1838, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Normally someone who holds the rank of a professor already has an earned doctorate, so there really isn't any need for additional qualifications. It's not really clear to me why a faculty member would then want to go on to pursue an additional degree. To my mind, it would be one of those warning signs that they're not entirely serious about working in their given field, and might choose to move on to \"greener pastures\" in a few years.</p>\n\n<p>So, in short, I don't think there's any real advantage in a professor obtaining an additional degree.</p>\n\n<p>However, if one is a lecturer or adjunct, then returning for a further degree <em>in the field in which one is working</em> makes sense from a career perspective. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1839, "author": "Community", "author_id": -1, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In France, it is possible, in particular in order to get the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habilitation\">\"Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR)\"</a>, which is a degree one can get after a PhD, and that demonstrates the ability to fully supervise a PhD student. \nIt is required in order to apply for a full professorship position. </p>\n\n<p>In order to get the HDR, the lecturer must write a thesis and defend it in front of a committee, and needs to enroll in a university (and therefore is a student), usually the one where she is working (but I don't think it is required). Note that for the HDR, there is no class or lectures to attend, only the thesis to write. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1850, "author": "Jeromy Anglim", "author_id": 62, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I've seen a few examples of people getting other qualifications in the Australian context:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Some universities require or encourage lecturers to get a qualification (perhaps a diploma) related to higher education teaching. These courses are often provided by the employing university.</li>\n<li>Some academics want to expand their skill set; doing a formal qualification is one way of doing this. It really depends on circumstances and personal goals. Often an academic has a choice between self-study or doing a formal qualification. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In general life, many people do a degree part-time while they work full-time. If you are still able to perform your duties at your job, then there typically wont be any issue with the study. </p>\n\n<p>Of course, if you need some time off from your job to attend classes, then in most jobs you would typically want the support of your supervisor. \nIn an academic context, if the study is related to your research or teaching, then a supervisor (e.g., a Head of Department) is likely to give such support. Furthermore, most academics have a high degree of autonomy in how they spend their time, such that no one is keeping track of when they go off campus, whether that be to attend a colloquium, collaborate with other researchers, or do a little study somewhere else.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1835", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1837, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 7, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Generally you cannot get two PhDs in the same field. One could get a second PhD in a second field.</p>\n\n<p>People who want to do research in multiple fields or in a multidisciplinary topic or wish to change fields may obtain multiple PhDs. Alternatively, as you suggest, people who want to remain students forever do that.</p>\n\n<p>The main downside of doing multiple PhDs is that people may not see that you are moving on with your career. There is a career after getting your PhD, and obtaining a PhD is a small step along that career path. Hovering around getting multiple PhDs would be akin to getting multiple bachelor degrees. People may see you as a permanent student, not someone growing into a mature researcher.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8119, "author": "Murat Taskaynatan", "author_id": 6081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6081", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Most universities in the US prohibit awarding of duplicate or comparable degrees. For instance; one might have earned a PhD in Management from Papua New Guinea University, and planning to earn another PhD in Management from Yale. In this particular case, Yale won't admit that student. Similarly, HBS, NYU Stern, Berkeley Haas MBA program FAQ sections clearly state that they won't accept students who already hold an MBA degree from another institution. </p>\n\n<p>\"University policy prohibits awarding of duplicate degrees. If you have an MBA or comparable degree from an institute of higher education, your application will be ineligible for consideration.\"</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/faq.html\">http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/faq.html</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11235, "author": "Essie", "author_id": 7797, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7797", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think it really depends on what the person actually wants to do with the two different degrees. For example if someone has both a PhD in chemisty and biology to become a biochemist, their understanding of the subject would be much more versatile. It is absolutely not nessesary by any means, but it would just depend on the person and how many angles they want to approach a subject; some people prefer more than one way of looking at something. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 47018, "author": "Bongani Dladla", "author_id": 35748, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/35748", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Most schools don't like duplicate degrees, especially ones in the United State. Schools in Africa or the UK usually allow it.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201312/22012/news_item_22012.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">I know a Professor that had 5 doctorates (not honorary doctorates).</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Professor Blight (PrEng) was an A-Rated researcher who held five doctoral degrees, and who was considered as one of the world’s leading thinkers in Geotechnical Engineering. He held BSc(Eng) and MSc(Eng) qualifications from Wits. He completed his PhD in Soil Mechanics and his DSc(Eng) in Geotechnical Engineering at London University, before returning to Wits. In 1985, he obtained his DSc(Eng) in Materials Engineering from Wits and another DSc(Eng) qualification from the University of Cape Town. In 2001, he obtained a D.Eng, degree from Wits focusing on the Application of Research in Practice.</p>\n \n <p>With over 330 papers published in accredited journals, Professor Blight was internationally renowned as a researcher of the highest standing around the world. He was well published internationally and the author or co-author of several books.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 51359, "author": "h34", "author_id": 38437, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38437", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In answer to this part of the question:</p>\n\n<p>\"<i>Could a professor working in a university write up a thesis and submit it to his department to earn a second doctorate?</i>\"</p>\n\n<p>Where that is allowed he would need to have been registered as a PhD student for the required period of time, which in many British institutions is three years if the research is full-time and longer if it isn't. Universities can't just dole out PhDs at the drop of a hat. The department and probably the higher degrees committee would also want to know in what framework he had carried out the research. I think he would have to do it outside of what he gets paid to do as a professor.</p>\n\n<p>I am not sure how easy it would be to get round the requirement that a PhD student should have an appointed supervisor during those three years either. Of course he may not wish to do that, but if he did there might possibly be a way at some institutions.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1836", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1842, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Not a particularity helpful answer, but ...</p>\n\n<p>No, it does not happen at all institutes, but it does happen at many. In some cases it is official and in other cases it is unofficial.</p>\n\n<p>As an applicant you should assume that the entire time you are on campus is part of the interview including any drinks/meals.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1843, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Graduate students will almost certainly not be part of the official committee. However, as Daniel stated, they will may be asked about their feelings about a given applicant to the graduate program.</p>\n\n<p>When applying to join a lab, it is very common for individual lab professors to consult the postdocs/graduate students in the lab regarding candidates.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1844, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In our department, we employ the help of grad students (through the grad student committee) to assist with rating institutions (especially in countries that have seen a proliferation of colleges in recent years). We don't usually let students read things like reference letters, since that gets into confidentiality issues. </p>\n\n<p>If the applicant knows people at the department, then we often get informal feedback. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1852, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>My department's graduate admissions committee <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/917/who-typically-serves-on-a-graduate-school-admissions-committee/929#929\">officially includes senior graduate students</a>. And yes, we specifically ask student committee members for opinions about applicants from their home countries. We sometimes also solicit unofficial \"over-coffee\" opinions if a student knows an applicant (or letter writer!) personally but isn't on the committee.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1840", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1842, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Not a particularity helpful answer, but ...</p>\n\n<p>No, it does not happen at all institutes, but it does happen at many. In some cases it is official and in other cases it is unofficial.</p>\n\n<p>As an applicant you should assume that the entire time you are on campus is part of the interview including any drinks/meals.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1843, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Graduate students will almost certainly not be part of the official committee. However, as Daniel stated, they will may be asked about their feelings about a given applicant to the graduate program.</p>\n\n<p>When applying to join a lab, it is very common for individual lab professors to consult the postdocs/graduate students in the lab regarding candidates.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1844, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In our department, we employ the help of grad students (through the grad student committee) to assist with rating institutions (especially in countries that have seen a proliferation of colleges in recent years). We don't usually let students read things like reference letters, since that gets into confidentiality issues. </p>\n\n<p>If the applicant knows people at the department, then we often get informal feedback. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1852, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>My department's graduate admissions committee <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/917/who-typically-serves-on-a-graduate-school-admissions-committee/929#929\">officially includes senior graduate students</a>. And yes, we specifically ask student committee members for opinions about applicants from their home countries. We sometimes also solicit unofficial \"over-coffee\" opinions if a student knows an applicant (or letter writer!) personally but isn't on the committee.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1848", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/989/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1871, "author": "TCSGrad", "author_id": 79, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/79", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Unless the paper to be published is plagiarized from a different source, I can't think of a case where a publication (in <em>any</em> field, even if its not related to your future field of research) would affect your career negatively in any way. Sure, if the quality/stature of the venue where this is published is not too high, few would take this paper seriously, but even then, it would be better than no publications at all (seeing that you are just completing a Bachelor's degree - my advice would have been completely different had you been a grad student, where the expectations are a lot higher).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1872, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In short, unless there are ethical concerns, which is unlikely to be the case in computer science, then I'd say <em>no</em>. If you get some paper published as a Bachelor student, this demonstrates your ability to do research, which is what people in charge of admissions are interested in. If the paper gets accepted at a good venue, then this is even better.</p>\n\n<p>At the current stage of your career, your main concern should be getting into a good graduate program. After you write more papers, better ones on the topic you choose, no one will even worry about that first paper.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1874, "author": "Benoît Kloeckner", "author_id": 946, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I somewhat disagree with the previous answers. I think it is largely improbable that publishing a paper would harm your career, but it could if, for example, it is really poor and someone happens to read it. </p>\n\n<p>Eykanal in a comment to Dave Clarke said that \"no one would consider holding you accountable for the content of the paper\"; I recall that there is a important trend to insist that <em>all authors of a paper should be accountable for its content</em>.</p>\n\n<p>The fact that you do not want to pursue in the direction of the paper is completely harmless, though. There is really no problem working in different areas, the only thing to be careful about is not to spread oneself efforts too much, but this does not apply here.</p>\n\n<p>So the main issue is (a); here I would say that it can be difficult to judge the quality of a result, especially for an undergraduate, and I would advise to trust your advisor. So it is really, really unlikely that co-authoring this paper could do any kind of harm to your career; in fact it could do more harm to decline this opportunity, since your advisor would probably not understand and you will probably need his or her recommendation.</p>\n\n<p>At the end, I do not disagree that much with other answerers; but I would be less general in my statements.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1875, "author": "410 gone", "author_id": 96, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Yes</strong>, participating in a research paper <strong>could</strong> harm your reputation/career.</p>\n\n<p><strong>But</strong> it's very unlikely, as long as you take basic precautions:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Avoid quack journals, crank journals, and the like</li>\n<li>Avoid ethical breaches (plagiarism, fraudulent data)</li>\n<li>Avoid co-authoring with known cranks</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As to your specific issue: \"I'm not convinced of the quality of the suggested solution.\" - if it does indeed solve the problem, then publishing is fine. If it may not, then you need to work things through with your co-author until you agree on whether or not it does solve the problem.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7762, "author": "Mohamed Khamis", "author_id": 703, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/703", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Short answer, it is very unlikely that it will hurt you.</p>\n\n<p>If you submit a paper to a conference, you get to see the reviews that will tell you what needs to be improved or not. If in the end it was accepted while being a low quality paper, it is the conference committee's problem not yours.</p>\n\n<p>In researchers' profiles, you can write down: \"Selected publications\" instead of putting the whole list. Most of the time people will just appreciate that you've written a paper, and even more so if it is at a reputable conference. No one has the time to read the paper unless he/she is actually interested in the topic. There's no sort of \"Hall of Shame\" for publications. </p>\n\n<p>You will learn, that's for sure. It is very unlikely that it will hurt you.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 79981, "author": "einpoklum", "author_id": 7319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Minimum conditions for ensuring this - or any other - paper doesn't hurt your career:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The research findings must be sound.</strong> don't get tempted into writing, or being listed as a co-author for, papers presenting research when you're \"not convinced about the quality\" of the research findings; or 'fluffy' papers which don't really present much at all; or mere rehashes of other results etc.</li>\n<li><strong>The paper must be relatively well-written</strong> - both in terms of language and in terms of structure and narrative flow. Now, I say 'relatively' because this is often hard to get right with the pressure of time and page limits; and with English not being the native language of most researches. So, readers will be somewhat tolerant about this point - but if you write something that is just very hard to follow, or in very poor English, that doesn't reflect well on you.</li>\n<li><p><strong>Unfortunately, attention must be paid to the venue of publication.</strong> I must first qualify that... obviously some publications are more highly-regarded w.r.t. their filtering process and the typical quality of articles they carry, and some less so. The thing is, I believe one should not assume that if a paper is published in a 'weaker' journal, that necessarily means it's bad - and if someone is evaluating your qualifications as an academic they should bother to skim the paper itself and make up their own mind. That doesn't always/often happen, so people may well judge your work by looking at where you've published. Of course, this is not something binary (\"good\" journals and \"bad\" journals, or conferences) - but having mostly obscure venues in your list of publications does reflect poorly on you, and in some fields I guess there are venues you should actively avoid even at the price of no publication.</p>\n\n<p>Having said all that - for your first publication, as long as it's not a disreputable venue, it doesn't matter much. Most people \"start out small\".</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The last point, about venues, is also a sort of a safety guarantee for you: If you submit a paper to a conference or journal with a good peer-review process, and you're accepted, then it's highly likely that your paper is actually pretty good, and even more likely that it will reflect favorably on you (the converse is not necessarily true of course; lots of good papers get rejected).</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1869", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1001/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1881, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Powerpoint. There are <em>hundreds</em> of PowerPoint poster templates available online, many of them are good, and it is one of the standard formats people accept — and can be exported to PDF for easy post-conference distribution.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1882, "author": "Ran G.", "author_id": 324, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/324", "pm_score": 6, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I haven't written a poster yet, but if you're a Latex savvy, there are plenty of packages that allow you to design posters.</p>\n\n<p>See related questions: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/341/2061\">\"How to create posters using LaTeX\"</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/45213/2061\">\"What can you tell me about poster design and typography in LaTeX?\"</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/41209/2061\">\"Conference Announcement Poster\"</a></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1883, "author": "bobthejoe", "author_id": 319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I would like to avoid bringing this question into the subjective situation but I'm personally a fan of Adobe Illustrator as it combines the speed and ease of ppt (but not as quick and dirty) but it provides much more control. If you save the files as *.SVG or *.PS files, you can get really into the details and obtain a WYSIWYG level of detail. Plus, if you're aiming to print your poster, it becomes much easier to switch between RGB and CMYK color.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1885, "author": "akid", "author_id": 339, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/339", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Publisher\">Microsoft Publisher</a> is quite easy to use if you're used to work with MS Office already (especially Powerpoint). It helps you with some basic checks, e.g. that images you include have sufficient resolution, you're working in the correct color space, ...</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1886, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>For completeness, Apple's <a href=\"http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/\">Pages</a> has quite a few nice poster layouts.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1890, "author": "Sylvain Peyronnet", "author_id": 43, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As always, if you are on a mac, you can use the combo omnigraffle + latexit.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1891, "author": "torbenl", "author_id": 1014, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1014", "pm_score": 6, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I would recommend <a href=\"http://inkscape.org/\">Inkscape</a>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>vector graphics</li>\n<li>powerful</li>\n<li>free</li>\n<li>intuitive</li>\n<li>cross platform</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1894, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In general there are a number of different distinct workflows that lead to a poster. Each workflow has a number of software implementations. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Word Processor (Word, Pages, OpenOffice Writer)</li>\n<li>Presentation Software (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, Impress)</li>\n<li>Vector Graphics (e.g., Illustrator, Inkscape, OpenOffice Draw)</li>\n<li>Desktop Publishing (e.g. Publisher, In Design)</li>\n<li>LaTeX</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>There are advatages/disadvatages to each category and to each piece of software within a category. For making a poster, the differences within a category are much smaller than the differences across categories.</p>\n\n<p>Word processors are probbaly the weakest for layout, but are likely the software you are most familair with. Presentation software is a little stronger on the layout and also something you are likely familiar with. Vector graphic programs are really strong on the layout, but take a lot of fiddling. Most academic work doesn't require extensive use of a vector graphics program, so most people are not familiar. There is little added benefit of learning one. Desktop publishing software is really designed for making posters and other complicated layout (think magazines and brochures). There is almost no reason for most academics to master a desktop publishing software. LaTeX is an \"oddball\" you can use it for everything and it is well suited for both simple layouts and complicated layouts. The learning curve is pretty steep.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1979, "author": "RoflcoptrException", "author_id": 121, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/121", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I want to add an additional tool that I always use:</p>\n\n<p>Adobe InDesign</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 13740, "author": "metasequoia", "author_id": 4226, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4226", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>For your use case, I'd go with M PowerPoint. I have spent anywhere from 4 to 16 hours on posters, depending on the level of detail.</p>\n\n<p>My progression through poster design software went as follows:</p>\n\n<p>M PowerPoint - easy to use, basic layout a breeze, limited in typographical tools</p>\n\n<p>M Publisher - more layout tools, still easy to use coming from a M Suite background</p>\n\n<p>Illustrator - fully featured vector graphics, more control of print/graphics settings, more layout options, harder to learn (but worth it for stunning posters, IMO) </p>\n\n<p>Latex - tried, but didn't fit my use case very well. I needed more interactive control of design elements and the basic templates looked quite drab.</p>\n\n<p>Future - perhaps InDesign, which may add some typesetting features that Illustrator lacks. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 14288, "author": "Medlock Perlman", "author_id": 9616, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9616", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I've just used Microsoft Publisher to turn an 8-slide PowerPoint presentation into an A2 poster for a medical conference. </p>\n\n<p>I copied each slide into Publisher and then blew them up to 140% and distributed and aligned them. I added a blue frame, then saved it to PDF for the print shop. </p>\n\n<p>This is probably the best and easiest way to turn an existing PowerPoint presentation into a large poster for professional use. </p>\n\n<p>PowerPoint is very easy to use, but I would recommend using proper publishing software for actual publishing work. PowerPoint gets used too often for things it isn't good at. There's loads of great free and open source (and indeed paid-for/proprietary) software out there - don't limit yourself to trying to do everything with the basic Microsoft Office suite. </p>\n\n<p>(Publisher is also part of Office but it's a proper DTP package.)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 88851, "author": "einpoklum", "author_id": 7319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I've used <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visio\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Microsoft Visio</a> to create posters before.</p>\n\n<p>Its original intent is the creation of flowcharts, technical drawings, simple floor plans etc. It's much better at this kind of diagramming than Powerpoint - but offers a bit less \"design hand-holding\". On the other hand, it's not as bare-bones Inkscape - but allows for less fine-tuned messing with the graphics, or at least makes it more complicated.</p>\n\n<p>Sorry for recommending closed-source software, but - it's also an option.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 88855, "author": "Dylan Richard Muir", "author_id": 19984, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19984", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I use a combination of Adobe InDesign and Illustrator. You should use software designed for page layout, not something coopted for that purpose. Please don't use PowerPoint or Latex — PowerPoint is difficult to use with many many objects on a single slide, and really isn't designed for page layout. Latex shouldn't be used by anyone, unless you have so many equations in your document that nothing else will do.</p>\n\n<p>I export figures into .AI or .SVG and use InDesign to lay out the poster. This doesn't take very long, and you can set up styles to ensure consistent formatting across the poster.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 106878, "author": "Pont", "author_id": 32532, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32532", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I recommend the free and open-source desktop publishing program <strong><a href=\"https://www.scribus.net/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Scribus</a></strong>, available for a wide variety of operating systems including Windows, Mac, and Linux. Unlike many of the programs suggested here, Scribus is specifically focused on tasks relevant to poster production: layout, typesetting, and high-quality printed output. For example, Scribus includes a \"Preflight verifier\" to warn you about potential problems with your exported PDF file <em>before</em> you waste €40 on a messed-up A0 colour print. I've used Scribus for several conference posters and it's always produced good results. These days I personally tend to use LaTeX with the <a href=\"https://ctan.org/pkg/tikzposter?lang=en\" rel=\"noreferrer\">tikzposter</a> package, but I know that some people prefer interactive, WYSIWYG tools for poster design -- and in those cases, Scribus would be my first choice.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 106908, "author": "Clément", "author_id": 19627, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19627", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are various templates to create poster using markdown*, cf. the list at <a href=\"https://gist.github.com/Pakillo/4854e5d760351206084f6be8abe476b2\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://gist.github.com/Pakillo/4854e5d760351206084f6be8abe476b2</a>: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/odeleongt/flexdashboard-poster\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/odeleongt/flexdashboard-poster</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/odeleongt/postr\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/odeleongt/postr</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/bbucior/drposter\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/bbucior/drposter</a> </li>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/mathematicalcoffee/beamerposter-rmarkdown-example\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/mathematicalcoffee/beamerposter-rmarkdown-example</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/jhollist/markdownPoster\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/jhollist/markdownPoster</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/BenBarnard/pdfposter\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/BenBarnard/pdfposter</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That first template allows to go from a human-readable code like</p>\n\n<pre><code>## Row 2 {data-height=75}\n\n### **Methods**\n\n#### Workflow\n\n**Dependencies**\n\nThis poster template dependes on the following R packages\n\n- rmarkdown [@rmarkdown]\n- flexdashboard [@flexdashboard]\n- webshot [@webshot]\n\nTo use `scripts/generic-content.R` you will need a GNU/Linux system\nand a working installation of `imagemagick`.\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>to a poster like</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/MABpi.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/MABpi.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>* : If you are not familiar with this tool, <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Markdown</a> is a lightweight markup language that starts to be used everywhere: as you may have noticed, <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/\">https://academia.stackexchange.com/</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/</a>, various forum and a large community of software developer has started using it or supporting it to some extend. It is easy to learn and intuitive.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1880", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1893, "author": "Alexander Serebrenik", "author_id": 882, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/882", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>My guess would be Business -> Industrial and labor relations -> Organizational </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1898, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Any of the four categories you suggest would make sense.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>On a related note, for exactly this reason, I would recommend against a category-based classification system, as many fields of research are significantly cross-disciplinary. Depending on your field, you'll end up having to cross-reference your article a lot.</p>\n\n<p>I would rather suggest a tag-based method, where you devise an intelligent tagging scheme and simply tag each paper as necessary. This way, you get the benefits of categorization, combined with the ability to cross-categorize by simply adding another tag. You can add as many tags make sense and ensure that you can find the paper again later, which, at the end of the day, is the whole point of the system. Additionally, many bibliography programs support tags references out of the box.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1901, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There is no such thing as a</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>a foolproof set of categories to put each document in</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>With paper documents the document had to \"live\" in a single locations and therefore needed a primary category/label/tag. You then had lots of different indexes that would allow you to find the document from multiple places. You often had to walk to a different library to collect the document. This system was/is inefficient and problematic.</p>\n\n<p>Electronic documents can \"live\" in multiple places. The concept of assigning a single primary category to an electronic document is dated and silly. You should either modify the file directly to add helpful metadata or create a database that lets you externally create searchable metadata. This then allows you to easily search for the document, and related documents.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 44216, "author": "Philip", "author_id": 32906, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32906", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The metaproblem here is that the OP has clearly invested a lot of intellectual energy trying to find the “right place” to store documents by some objective standard. <strong>But the only “right place” is the one that maximizes your probability of finding stuff when you need it.</strong>\n(This could be an early warning sign of excess rigidity in problem solving more generally. Always think of the big picture.)</p>\n\n<p>If you created an imaginary new academic discipline called <em>zigamazoo</em> and stored all the <em>GTD</em> and similar productivity materials there, would that be a ridiculous name? Of course. Would it be effective? I’ll bet it would. </p>\n\n<p>I’d actually call it <em>personal productivity</em> and make it a peer of the other academic disciplines. I’d probably remember that when I went to look for it. If cross-references would be helpful under topics like psychology, I’d add them, but they’re probably superfluous. You’ll remember you created a (rare!) top-level heading for this.</p>\n\n<p>Why on earth would you care whether it's under the right academic discipline as long as you can find it?</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1884", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1011/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1888, "author": "Willie Wong", "author_id": 94, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Not necessarily. With the way that some departments are rapidly running out of physical real estate, they may even appreciate students who chose to work in their dormitories, homes, or libraries. (Of course, there is a barrier where one's work needs to be able to be performed at those locales, which of course rules out lab-based works in the experimental sciences.) </p>\n\n<p>When I was a graduate student the department actually sent out an e-mail to all students asking students who intend to work mainly from somewhere apart from the department building to <em>declare their intention</em> so that they can more efficiently assign (the very limited) office spaces. But this was in a math department and eccentricity seems to be more tolerated there. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1889, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The answer is it depends - both on the student and the culture of the department.</p>\n\n<p>There are of course some situations where working from home is impossible - graduate programs that are heavily lab based come to mind. Below is a summarization of my thoughts from a more data analysis driven field, having done both.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Positives</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Lots of departments these days don't <em>have</em> lots of graduate student space. While some labs might have dedicated bench space, and there may be an RA/TA office or two, there's not \"a place\" where students can work anyway, which makes \"is it bad to work from home\" something of a moot point.</li>\n<li>Working from home benefits certain work styles. If you're the kind of person who prefers to work in a spread out, sprawling fashion, with multiple monitors, tons of stacks of paper, and a whiteboard or two, that's just not feasible in most grad student offices, even when they do exist. And when the only spaces that exist are transient ones, like shared desks or cubicles, library study areas etc. you also can't customize your work space at all - and expensive textbooks and laptops are theft bait.</li>\n<li>It facilitates more flexible schedules. Universities tend to be closed at 3:00 AM. I tend to do my best work at around that time. This seems to be relatively common in academia, and as academia seems to promote an \"always working\" lifestyle, having a single centralized space you have access to 24 hours a day is nice.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Negatives</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You do lose out on departmental interactions somewhat. The concern about missing seminars is I think a bit of a non-issue. Those are easy to miss when you're working <em>on site</em>, and can be attended with just a little bit of diligence on the part of someone working from home. What I've found missing more is the transient, passing in the hallways interactions. I realized, for example, one day that I had gone several weeks without talking to anyone about my field. That's not good. It also does some harm to cross-polination and ideas from unexpected places.</li>\n<li>It can get lonely. Seriously, this seems to be a major challenge. It's possible, and the workload sometimes promotes, just disappearing into a cave.</li>\n<li>It's possible to get distracted, as it always is working from home. \"Real life\" has infinitely many things to take care of, and its much easier to defend \"work time\" if you're at an office. But then unless you have an <em>office</em> its easy to get distracted in a department where your friends and colleagues are around.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Overall, I wouldn't say its bad. I know successful academics who work almost entirely in their office, and who work almost entirely from home. I'd say the best way to promote on-site work, if a university is trying to accomplish that, is not to focus on the bad parts of working from home, but on addressing what makes it appealing. I finally moved entirely to a working from home setup because I got tired of \"work\" involving camping out in cramped spaces, without the materials I needed, fighting for power outlets.</p>\n\n<p>As for whether or not your physical presence is <em>important to the department</em> - it depends on the department. I've known some who don't care as long as you show up to what you need to, and others that absolutely want you there, and subtly penalize those who aren't around.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1895, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As this relates to students, I feel it is extremely bad to work from home regularly. Being a grad student is not about being efficient, or even learning to be efficient. It is about learning your subject area and making contacts. Working from home means you miss interactions with your colleagues. You will be judged by your senior collegauges both in terms of your productivity and percieved work ethic. No department sets out to hire people who they know will predominately work from home.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1887", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1902, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>First of all, good for you in getting the internship. Now that you're there, some suggestions for what to do, broadly and specifically:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Meet people with similar backgrounds to yourself. Find out what they do, what skills they value, what skills they wish they had.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you're in a large company, talk to people in other parts of the business, see what they do. You may find positions in other parts of the company that interest you that you weren't even aware of.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you're in a large company, talk to managers, see what they desire in people like you. They'll already be slightly impressed that you thought to talk to them. Learn what they do, what skills they like. It can help you guide your career later on.</p></li>\n<li><p>Learn new skills &amp; hone old ones. This is a good time to see which of your skills are marketable and which aren't. Get really good at the marketable ones.</p></li>\n<li><p>Use the opportunity to reach out to people in similar positions at different companies and see what they're doing. If you don't know people at other companies, ask around; your new coworkers should have friends they can put you in phone/email contact with, and you can take it from there.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Above all, try to do a really good job. Internships can often lead to full-time employment, so you want to impress.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1905, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Let me add two important items to eykanal's great answer:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Do awesome research.</strong> If you want an academic career, you can't ever <em>not</em> do this. A good internship is not a vacation from research; it's an opportunity to broaden your research portfolio.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Cultivate references for your future job search.</strong> Find, work with, and impress people whose interests overlap yours <em>and</em> whose opinions are valued in the academic research community. These people may work at the company, or they may be visitors.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>When it comes time to look for an academic job, your application will be <em>significantly</em> stronger if you have recommendation letters from and publications with people who don't work at your home institution. In fact, if your CV lists an internship, but you don't have a letter from or paper with someone at your hosting company, that gap will raise a (small) red flag with recruiting committees.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1896", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/324/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1899, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Yes. It is certainly okay. Indeed, general practice when writing a PhD thesis is to produce a number of publications that add up to the thesis, whether directly (using staples) or by a good deal of massage. Some published material may be omitted and some additional material may be included. There's no reason why this shouldn't apply to a Master's thesis, too.</p>\n\n<p>It is a good idea to cite the paper in the thesis (if the paper has been accepted for publication) and the thesis in the paper, if possible.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1903, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>While reusing material is typically done there are three concerns.</p>\n\n<p>The first is citation. If it is in press or published at the time you submit the thesis, I would cite it. I wouldn't bother citing manuscripts that are in preparation/under review/in revision.</p>\n\n<p>The second issue is copyright. Many journals and some universities require you to give up copyright control. Most make concessions, especially for articles, less so for book projects. You need to check and read the rules.</p>\n\n<p>The third is being scoop. Putting your stuff in the public domain is important, but it also puts you are risk. Someone might independently build on your research publish your second chapter before you or conduct follow up research which reveals a huge hole in your research.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1908, "author": "Nate Eldredge", "author_id": 1010, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Yes, this is very common. Indeed, theses are often verbatim copies of one or more published or submitted papers.</p>\n\n<p>I would say you should cite the conference paper, listing it as \"Submitted\". You should also check with your university's thesis guidelines. It is very likely they will tell you how to cite work that is/will be published elsewhere.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1936, "author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX", "author_id": 725, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>While many universities accept sandwitch theses, the only thing that can give you the right answer are the <strong>examination regulations</strong> you're subject to.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>There are cases when parts of thesis work are not allowed to be published (in an article) though that can also create difficulties with the regulations.</p></li>\n<li><p>Usually the university will want to get a paper out of the work in addition to the thesis. So the content being published is usually seen positive.</p></li>\n<li><p>However, they may still not accept verbatim copy of large parts of the text but expect you to rewrite it so that your thesis is one \"unbroken\" piece of text written by you yourself.</p></li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1897", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/413/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1912, "author": "Gopi", "author_id": 87, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/87", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>There are many things that could be useful for the web presence of a research group, namely:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A brief presentation of the aims of this research group</li>\n<li>The members of this working group (past and currents) with a link to their homepage</li>\n<li>a list of publications by this research group</li>\n<li>if there are working groups organized by this research group (for instance a presentation every two weeks by one of the member of the work done)</li>\n<li>Other results such as software ...</li>\n<li>Maybe a link to the people funding this research group, a little advertisement never hurts.</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1917, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To add to Gopi's answer, </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>A list of lab alumni and optionally where they currently are working, it can help lend credibility to the lab (\"look at how awesome we are, former postdocs from our lab are now working at MIT\")</p></li>\n<li><p>In the publications section, I would add downloadable PDFs of your papers, as that's the most common reason people will be visiting your website</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Regarding your mention of content for the lab specifically (i.e., an intranet), we had such a page in our lab, and we used it solely to distribute (and keep historical records of) papers discussed in lab meetings.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2828, "author": "David Ketcheson", "author_id": 81, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In addition to the components listed by eykanal and Gopi, my group webpage includes pages for</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Software developed by the group</li>\n<li>Open positions (Ph.D. studentships and post-docs) available within the group.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>These things could be maintained on my personal webpage (as PI), but I consider the group to be more than just \"people who happen to be working with Prof. X\".</p>\n\n<p>In case it is helpful to have an example, here's mine: <a href=\"http://numerics.kaust.edu.sa/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://numerics.kaust.edu.sa/</a>. I could give other examples of group sites I think are better than mine, but I don't know if they would like me advertising them as such.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1911", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1914, "author": "Alexander Serebrenik", "author_id": 882, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/882", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>In general, this would depend on the style prescribed by your publisher (journal, conference, etc.) For instance, <a href=\"http://reganmian.net/blog/2010/05/06/how-to-cite-chinese-sources-in-chicago-style/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">a blog post cites the Chicago style manual</a> explains how one should go about sources in Chinese and Japanese:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>10.108: Inclusion of original characters</strong></p>\n<p>Chinese and Japanese characters, immediately following the romanized version of the item they represent, are sometimes necessary to help readers identify references cited or terms used. They are largely confined to bibliographies and glossaries. Where needed in running text, they may be enclosed in parentheses. Computer technology has made it much easier than it used to be to typeset words in non-Latin alphabets.</p>\n<p>Hua Linfu 華林甫, “Qingdai yilai Sanxia diqu shuihan zaihai de chubu yanjiu” 清代以來三峽地區水旱災害的初步硏究 [A preliminary study of floods and droughts in the Three Gorges region since the Qing dynasty], Zhongguo shehui kexue 中國社會科學 1 (1999): 168–79 . . .</p>\n<p>Harry Harootunian and Sakai Naoki, “Nihon kenkyū to bunka kenkyū” 日本研究と文化研究, Shisō 思想 7 (July 1997): 4–53.</p>\n<p>That year the first assembly of the national Diet was held and the Imperial Rescript on Education (kyōiku chokugo 敎育勅語) issued.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>And:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>11.89: Titles of Japanese and Chinese works Chapter Contents / Languages Usually Transliterated (or Romanized) / Chinese and Japanese</strong></p>\n<p>As in English, titles of books and periodicals are italicized, and\ntitles of articles are set in roman and enclosed in quotation marks\n(see 8.156–201). The first word of a romanized title is always\ncapitalized, as are many proper nouns (especially in Japanese).</p>\n<p>Chen Shiqi, <em>Mingdai guan shougongye de yanjiu</em> [Studies on\ngovernment-operated handicrafts during the Ming dynasty], . . .</p>\n<p>Hua Linfu, “<em>Qingdai yilai Sanxia diqu shuihan zaihai de chubu yanjiu</em>” [A\npreliminary study of floods and droughts in the Three Gorges region\nsince the Qing dynasty], <em>Zhongguo shehui kexue</em> 1 (1999): 168–79.</p>\n<p>Okamoto Yoshitomo, <em>Jūrokuseiki Nichi-Ō kōtsūshi no kenkyū</em> [Study of\nthe intercourse between Japan and Europe during the sixteenth\ncentury], . . .</p>\n<p>Akiyama Kenzō, “Goresu wa Ryūkyūjin de aru” [The Gores\nare Ryūkyūans], <em>Shigaku-Zasshi</em> (or <em>Shigaku Zasshi</em>) . . .</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>In summary, in Chicago style the format for article title is: transliterated/Romanized version (in double quotes), original script version, and English translation (in square brackets). The format for Hua author names and journal titles is: transliterated/Romanized version followed by original script version, with no English translation.</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/pdf/harvard_citing_and_referencing_guide_2007.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Harvard style and reference guide</a> requires a translation, followed by the original name:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Milani, F. (2001) The Phantom of the Opera. [Le Fantome De L’Opera] Paris, LeRoux.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>In <a href=\"https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/08/apples-to-%D7%AA%D7%A4%D7%97%D7%99%D7%9D.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">APA Style</a>, the order is reversed: translation goes last, transliteration goes first, and the original script is not used:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Motoki, S. (Producer), &amp; Kurosawa, A. (Director). (1954). <em>Shichinin no samurai</em> [Seven samurai; motion picture]. Japan: Toho.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 12069, "author": "Peter Jansson", "author_id": 4394, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I will just add to good Alexander Serebrenik's answer. The main point of references is to provide traceable sources to information. This means the translation of the title and journal are key. The title provides insights into the content of the paper and the journal makes it traceable. All journals have different \"standards\" for how to do this in detail. It is also common that articles in French, German, and/or Spanish are not translated (again local \"rules\"). It is not common to see, for example, cyrillic in references, instead translitteration seems to be the most common. Again, there should be \"rules\" about this in each journal and so the best appraoch is to contact the journal editor and ask if no explicit information is available.</p>\n\n<p>Here is an example of how journals may wish to see the references:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Author(s), year. Title in original language (if possible) [Title translated into English]. Publication name in original language (if possible) [Publication name translated into English]. Volume/issue/page information (according to type of publication). [In ‘language’]</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and as an example:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Krenke, A.N. and Khodakov, V.G., 1966. O svyasi povercknostnogo tayaniya lednikov s temperaturoy vozdukha [On the relationship between melt of glaciers and air temperature]. Materialy Glyatsiologicheskikh Issledovaniy [Data of Glaciological Studies], 12. 153–163. [In Russian]</p>\n</blockquote>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1913", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/413/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1916, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As an international candidate you need to think about what your scores mean. I think percentile rank, as opposed to GPA or raw percentage is what is important. In the US a 65.9 would be very bad and I would guess that in the US 75% of the students have a GPA of 3.0 or above and 10% have a GPA of 3.6 or above. In many European countries a 59.9 would be a borderline 2:1 and put you in the 50th percentile.</p>\n\n<p>It sounds like you think your Masters work would be in the top 10%. That is very good. With a little help (both in your letter and by your recommendation writers) schools will figure this out.</p>\n\n<p>One solid piece of previous research is really all that is need to get into a PhD program. 40,000 words is huge. You may want to work on shortening it so you can present it as a paper and send it as a writing sample if English is not your first language.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 14899, "author": "user2953982", "author_id": 10100, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10100", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Your GRE scores would be very important, in this case. For a writing sample, a term paper in linguistics would be better than your MA thesis, given its length. Your writing sample should show your linguistics knowledge, if you're applying to linguistics programs.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1915", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1024/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1920, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I don't recall ever having received such an e-mail as an editor, so it's not standard (let alone mandatory), but I wouldn't be unhappy to receive one. I doubt anyone would care enough to make it worth the effort, but it could be a nice gesture if you feel inclined.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1925, "author": "JRN", "author_id": 64, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I believe that if you feel the rejection was unjustified and you do not plan to submit to that journal again, you do not need to reply.</p>\n\n<p>But if you feel the rejection was justified, you plan to submit to that journal again, or you were helped by the comments and suggestions of the referees, then I would recommend that you write an e-mail thanking the editor and the referees for their time and effort.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1928, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think it is reasonable to thank editors that keep you up to date, solicit reviews in a timely manner, and provide an understandable overview of the reviews. Unfortunately, the number of good editors is small, so I would caution against thanking editors for merely acting as editor. The benefits are small while the potential cost is huge. It is so atypical that you run the risk of the editor thinking you are whining.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1919", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/456/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1924, "author": "Jeromy Anglim", "author_id": 62, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>In APA style, you can write, (e.g., <a href=\"http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/apa.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">see this APA tutorial</a>)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Featherstone et al 1900 (as cited in Thomas and Cullen 2002)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Of course, in general you should try your best to read the original and cite the original directly.</p>\n\n<p>Someone in the comments asked:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"In such case do I need to list original paper also in reference section or only the recent one I am referring to?\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The reference to the original article is the more important reference to include, but you should include both in your reference list. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1927, "author": "DavideChicco.it", "author_id": 379, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/379", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you cannot get that paper, you <strong>should not</strong> cite it.</p>\n\n<p>What is a citation? The word <em>citation</em> comes from Latin verb <em>cio</em> (past participle: <em>citum</em>) that means <em>to call somebody</em>, <em>to invite somebody</em>, or preferably <strong>to demand someone to give his own testimony</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>So, in your case, if you would like to cite that paper, that means that you invite that paper to give its own testimony. But <strong>if it's not available</strong>, how could it do it?</p>\n\n<p>Simply, <strong>it can't</strong>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 63382, "author": "Katt", "author_id": 49194, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49194", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you are using a quote from author A that author B is citing, you would go ahead and use the quote from author A and cite it like this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Blah blah, blahblahblah, blah blah blah-blah blah (qtd. in Author B 65).</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 120614, "author": "Martin", "author_id": 101134, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/101134", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The following is with regards to Chicago Style as of 11/25/2018\n14.260: Citations taken from secondary sources \nChapter Contents / Special Types of References / Citations Taken from Secondary Sources \nTo cite a source from a secondary source (“quoted in . . .”) is generally to be discouraged, since authors are expected to have examined the works they cite. If an original source is unavailable, however, both the original and the secondary source must be listed.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1922", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1030/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1929, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You need to define topic first. At the macro level, all topics fall under \"knowledge\", or some such nonsense, and at the micro level, every published paper and book is on a different topic.</p>\n\n<p>You could use the different doctoral degrees as pretty broad topics. This would give you a list like philosophy (PhD), medicine (MD), science (ScD), etc. A less coarse division would be \"schools/College\". This would give you a list like School/College of Arts, School/College of Humanities, School/College of Medicine, School/College of Science, etc. A finer division would be departments and institutes within a School/College. A still finer would be research groups within departments. This of course leads to individuals within groups and finally publications by individuals.</p>\n\n<p>University websites would provide all the information you need, although not in a format that is easy to search and retrieve.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1947, "author": "Piotr Migdal", "author_id": 49, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A good starting place may be: <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_disciplines\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_disciplines</a>, with the links there, esp. restricting to specific disciplines (e.g. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biology_disciplines\" rel=\"noreferrer\">List of biology disciplines</a>); for each field of science, usually there are a few different official classifications of sub-disciplines (e.g. <a href=\"http://www.aip.org/pacs/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS)</a>).</p>\n\n<p>However, bear in mind that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>there is no universal classification, </li>\n<li>some are constructed for different purposes, with differently 'catching' subfields and their intersections,</li>\n<li>there are many synonyms, e.g. 'biological chemistry = biochemistry',</li>\n<li>for may there may be historical bias (i.e. divisions which were useful 10 year ago, but not are out-of-date),</li>\n<li>some classifications use descriptive names (one sentence or more), some - 1-3 word tags,</li>\n<li>many classifications are hierarchical.</li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1923", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1031/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1942, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>An American using \"Dr.\" and \"Ph. D.\" in the same title is double-counting, just as if a German were to use \"Dr.rer.nat.\" and \"Dr.\" </p>\n\n<p>That said, if you're going to use multiple titles, you should probably be consistent and list the PhD as one of those degrees.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 3014, "author": "subsub", "author_id": 1557, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1557", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>My interpretation of \"gleichzeitige Führung\" is that they \"decorate\" the same mentioning of your name. So at least in Bavaria the Dr/PhD for German/English cards should be legal even if on the same side (assuming there is no other conditions that prohibit the use of Dr), but the option with different versions of the same title in different lines would be not. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 19070, "author": "Geir Ove Myhr", "author_id": 13938, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13938", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If I am not mistaken, you may decorate your name with \"Dr. Dr.\" if you have two PhD degrees. Writing \"Dr. Firstname Lastname, PhD\" would probably also indicate two degrees, e.g. one from Germany and one from the UK.</p>\n\n<p>PS: The information letter is no longer available, so I have not read that.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 22097, "author": "user16201", "author_id": 16201, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16201", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>well, I read it as </p>\n\n<p>you can either use Dr. without anything at the end (that is \"translating\" it to German) </p>\n\n<p>or </p>\n\n<p>you use the version which is legally correct in the country of origin (where you received the PhD). This seems to be the only viable option in terms of EU law. </p>\n\n<p>Which then leave the issue how the PhD should be used in the country of origin eg the UK. </p>\n\n<p>This is not really easy to answer. Because you find it in different ways: \nas \"Dr. Xxxx\" or as \"Xxxx, PhD\" or as \"Dr Xxxx, PhD\". </p>\n\n<p>I couldn't find any legal document that provides any further guidance on this matter, the only thing I found is a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority.</p>\n\n<p>In this case the body ruled that the Dr Xxxx, PhD in the context of web-page with a medical content would suggest that Dr means that the person would be a medical Dr. However, as such the Advertising Standards Authority sees the usage of Dr Xxxx, PhD not as misleading. here the link: <a href=\"http://asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2012/11/Dr-Alyssa-Burns_Hill/SHP_ADJ_194636.aspx#.U5R6q9qKCAU\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2012/11/Dr-Alyssa-Burns_Hill/SHP_ADJ_194636.aspx#.U5R6q9qKCAU</a>....</p>\n\n<p>And then there is the Committee of Advertising Practice which states that :\"it is likely to be acceptable for advertisers who possess a relevant PhD or doctorate (of sufficient length and intensity) to call themselves “Dr” provided they use the suffix “PhD” to clarify the type of qualification they hold and that the general context does not imply they are medically qualified.\"</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.cap.org.uk/Advice-Training-on-the-rules/Advice-Online-Database/Use-of-the-term-Dr-PhD.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.cap.org.uk/Advice-Training-on-the-rules/Advice-Online-Database/Use-of-the-term-Dr-PhD.aspx</a></p>\n\n<p>So I think the question is whether there is any legal convention in the UK about how one should or should not use the title. </p>\n\n<p>But to be honest, I doubt that something like that exists. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 183479, "author": "imtaar", "author_id": 152998, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/152998", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>My son is Ph.D. from Technical University of Munich (TUM). He writes &quot;Dr. Firstname Middlename Lastname&quot;</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1930", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/168/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1940, "author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten", "author_id": 440, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In many particle physics journals the answer is they do <em>nothing</em>. You deliver a latex source file that uses their class and figures that meet their standards or they send it back.</p>\n\n<p>And in all truth, I <em>like</em> it that way.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1941, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>For many years, the standard on the part of journals is to do <em>absolutely nothing</em> with respect to journal articles. Essentially all of the work in terms of preparation falls on the authors. Previously, figures had to be \"camera-ready\"; now, they \"just\" have to be publication quality. The journal production staff will not do anything, except potentially change the size of the graphic to better fit the column space.</p>\n\n<p>You should check with the journal about the regulations on acceptable graphics; they should have them available for your review on their website. If there are questions about the use of graphics outside of those guidelines, send an email to the journal office.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1933", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/258/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1939, "author": "bobthejoe", "author_id": 319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To supplement Nate's comments, what I have usually seen is \"personal communication\". The poster isn't yet peer-reviewed and if it has yet to be written up as a manuscript and you can't cite it as a paper that is \"in press\", \"personal communication\" is a good substitute.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1955, "author": "hnltraveler", "author_id": 782, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/782", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The specifics of the citation would depend on the citation style you are using. I am most familiar with Chicago style. To cite the presentation you've linked to in <strong>Chicago</strong> style, I would put:</p>\n\n<p>David Ferreira, et al., \"Climate of an Earth-like Aquaplanet: the high-obliquity case and the tidally-locked case\" (presentation, Exoclimes 2012, Aspen, CO, January 16–20, 2012), accessed June 8, 2012, <a href=\"http://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/exoclimes/2012/pdf/talks/Day02_Ferreira.pdf\">http://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/exoclimes/2012/pdf/talks/Day02_Ferreira.pdf</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Following these guidelines: <a href=\"http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/08/\">http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/08/</a></p>\n\n<p>For APA style, you would only cite a presentation in a reference list if there is a tangible remnant (\"recoverable data\") of the presentation (e.g., slides posted on a website). The citation would look like:</p>\n\n<p>Ferreira, D., Marshall, J., O'Gorman, P., Seager, S. &amp; Lau, H. (January 2012). <em>Climate of an Earth-Like Aquaplanet: the high-obliquity case and the tidally-locked case.</em> Paper presented at Exoclimes 2012, Aspen, Co. </p>\n\n<p>For more examples in APA citation, look here: <a href=\"http://citationonline.net/CitationHelp/csg04-manuscripts-apa.htm#53\">http://citationonline.net/CitationHelp/csg04-manuscripts-apa.htm#53</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 66358, "author": "Franck Dernoncourt", "author_id": 452, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It turns out that one commonly used weight update strategies for neural networks, RMSProp, was first introduced in a <a href=\"https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=rmsprop+&amp;btnG=&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C22\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">slide</a>:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/3ejl2.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/3ejl2.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p>Given the number of citations, it should give you plenty of examples on how to cite a slide.</p>\n\n<p>One common citation format:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>T. Tieleman and G. Hinton. Lecture 6.5-rmsprop: Divide\n the gradient by a running average of its recent magnitude.\n COURSERA: Neural Networks for Machine Learning, 4,\n 2012.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1937", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1945, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It seems like you are worried about it, so you might want to ask your advisor to do the intro. PIs generally appreciate getting a a heads-up on good potential postdocs.</p>\n\n<p>I think it would make a better impression if you were comfortable to do it yourself. I would start off pretty light by sending the PI an electronic \"reprint\" of something related to a conference you attended/are attending. Something like: \"I was hoping to meet you at the basket weaving conference, but I didn't see you. I have attached my poster/talk/reprint.\" This works for either a recent past conference or an upcoming conference. For an upcoming conference, if they have an abstract tailor the email appropriately.</p>\n\n<p>Hopefully the PI responds, but if not, then go a little harder. Send them your CV and tell them you are looking for a post doc.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1946, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>One thing that sometimes works is the following: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Hi, I'm so and so, working with Prof. X on topic Y (my webpage). I was\n going to be in the area during (vague period) and was wondering if I\n might stop by to chat with your group about your fascinating work in\n Y'.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>While this is a little passive-aggressive, I've found that more often than not, they'll ask you to give a talk, and even if not, you might get a chance to meet with the lab folks, which is the real purpose in any case. Make sure that the PI is around though. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1949, "author": "Ana", "author_id": 322, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm also doing a PhD and have a 'target institution' for a post-doc. I visited it already, but my supervisor knew the guy there and he made first contact. </p>\n\n<p>I got the impression that it's common practice to have people from other labs just visit, and that the stuff you can do while there is entirely flexible. My visit (two weeks) consisted of me sitting at a computer surrounded by local lab members, doing my own work, and talking to all of them about their work during lunch breaks. I also arranged to do a joint experiment with the PI there, which will now become part of my PhD, and we roughly agreed on a research design while I was there. I didn't mention the post-doc idea yet, as I think it's best if I prove my worth through this joint experiment first. </p>\n\n<p>On the first day there, I was asked if I would give a talk (which I did). I could even choose how big an audience would be invited.</p>\n\n<p>While visiting, I also discovered another lab at the same university, which does related stuff to mine. I just e-mailed them, saying I'm in town (from lab so-and-so) and asking if I could come talk to them a bit. I googled their web page and came up with a few names of people I told them I'd like to talk to, although I didn't know much about any of their work. I did not ask to talk to the big names, in that lab, just PhD students and post-docs. What did they do? They immediately asked me to give a talk (which I did). </p>\n\n<p>Overall, my impression is that this is standard practice. People like to hear about related work. I would suggest that you just e-mail someone there, tell them you find their stuff interesting (it's best to mention some specific result of theirs, so that they see you're really into it), tell them you're working on something similar and ask whether you could visit their lab. I would guess that you'll end up giving a talk. You can also suggest it yourself, once you've established communication and exchanged a few e-mails.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16022, "author": "nagniemerg", "author_id": 11084, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11084", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I was just at the JMMs in Baltimore and was out to lunch with a past supervisor. We eventually had several people join us, one from a nice Middle Eastern Country (which I had also incidentally applied to and he recalled my name ... which is nice!).</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, he made a specific point to indicate to me (and the others at our table) that their department had some funding to bring in some candidates for talks.</p>\n\n<p>I know that this question was more for how to get invited to a talk at a specific institution, but there are many ways that this can happen!</p>\n\n<p>I think you're best bet is indeed representing yourself. It shows initiative. Especially if you've met the person at the conferences / talks within your community. The other thing is that if you ask them in person, or mention something in passing, they might make an offer to have you come visit and talk. Otherwise, a nice polite email indicating you would like to talk at some point would be good.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1944", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1951, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Reviewing grant proposals as a student is tricky, at least in some fields. The NSF is highly unlikely to ask a grad student to review proposals (it might theoretically be possible for a brilliant student who is almost done with their Ph.D., but I've never heard of it happening). Furthermore, faculty are not allowed to show proposals they have been asked to review to their students (it may sometimes happen, but it's breaking explicit rules regarding confidentiality). Overall, in pure math grad students basically never review grant proposals. I can't speak for other fields, but I'm skeptical that grad students ever play a major role in reviewing proposals.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, I'd recommend asking your advisor to see the other side of the process. They could share their own proposals, and perhaps even reviews of those proposals or drafts of upcoming proposals. They could also ask collaborators whether they had any proposals they would be willing to share. This isn't quite the same as reviewing proposals yourself, but it could still give you valuable experience with how grant applications work.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1954, "author": "bobthejoe", "author_id": 319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Receiving an invitation to help out at a NSF or NIH study session is highly unlikely and logistically difficult. However, I would try to get involved with study sessions for an University driven call for proposals. Alternatively, you could get involved with a course that does a mock grant proposal as part of its coursework. I just submitted a mock proposal recently and I'm sure that the TAs will be forced to look over my work and get practice in the process.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5859, "author": "D.W.", "author_id": 705, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You can't get experience serving on a grant proposal review panel as a grad student. Sorry; that's just how it works.</p>\n\n<p><em>However</em>, there <em>are</em> other ways to get experience with the grant proposal process. The number-one way: talk to your advisor/PI and ask them. In particular, ask them if you can be involved with the next grant proposal they write. Ask them how you can help. Maybe you can read a draft and offer comments. Maybe you can brainstorm with them. Maybe they can outline a piece of it and you can try writing a draft of a section.</p>\n\n<p>Also, you can ask to see copies of past proposals they've submitted (both funded and unfunded). After you read the proposals, you can ask your advisor for his/her own assessment of the proposal, and even ask to see the reviews of those submissions from review panel, compare to your own assessment, and use this feedback to improve your knowledge.</p>\n\n<p>Quals proposals are another great form of practice at this sort of thing; they require some similar skills. Spend time on your quals proposal and try to make it outstanding. Read other great quals proposals. Offer to give feedback to your fellow students on their quals proposals. Learn as much as you can from that process, as some of those lessons will carry over to help you write better grant proposals. Similarly, getting good at writing a research statement (for a job application or a fellowship application) is a useful skill that has some overlap at formulating and writing grant proposals. Of course, these are not the same as proposal-writing, but the experience will serve you well.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1950", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1957, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I am afraid that professors may write that I am lazy in recommendation letters.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I can assure you that there is no reason to be afraid of that. That is just not something that would ever get written in a letter. Not taking notes might lead to a poor first impression, but it is your knowledge of the subject (something like your grade, but not exactly) that influences letters.</p>\n\n<p>When I am teaching, I don't pay attention to if people are taking notes or not. I do pay attention to if students are paying attention. As long as you can remember the things you need to remember, then you do not need to write them down.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1958, "author": "Paul", "author_id": 931, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Use whatever study habits you need to succeed. Your performance on assessments will make more of an impression than how you absorb the material. If you can perform well without notetaking and your professor recognizes it, he/she will more likely be very impressed with you.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1962, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Sometimes I wish students would stop taking notes and actually think about what I'm saying. I provide the lecture notes before/after class anyway...</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2417, "author": "cjr", "author_id": 1253, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1253", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm a math professor. (I have taught at Stanford and several other universities.)</p>\n\n<p>I prefer that my students do not take notes during my lectures.\nBefore the lecture, browse through the relevant chapter of the text book.\nDuring the lecture, focus on what your professor says. Taking notes will just distract you, and make it harder for you to follow the lecture.\nAfter the lecture, read the textbook carefully. It is much more well written than any notes would be.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2532, "author": "paul garrett", "author_id": 980, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>For very standard, orthodox material based on a textbook, it is reasonable to not take notes and do as much engaged, active thinking-or-questioning during a lecture. One should be alert to insights (hopefully!) from the person in the front of the room, and from others, so a bit of note-writing about the peripheral things is to be expected.</p>\n\n<p>For advanced courses, and for seminars based only loosely on publicly-available material, or actually intended to be _explications_of_ otherwise-opaque material, the task is to <em>both</em> take as many notes as possible (even if/when printed material is provided), <em>and</em> think as much as remaining resources allow, because without notes the words spoken and written will mostly vanish. Here I overlook the possibility that one's memory is so excellent and so practiced that one truly can perfectly remember things one does not understand. The latter possibility is very important to cultivate, but this question wouldn't have arisen at all if that were already in reach.</p>\n\n<p>And, yes, in advanced courses and seminars, although I've gotten over the surprise, I am baffled at the claim that people can't usefully take notes. The usual claim is that by not taking notes they think about the material in real time. This would be great if it were usefully true, but I find that my students do not have total recall... so that mostly they have neither notes nor recollection.</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps the main practical trick to learn is to be able to write, very fast, without looking at the paper, and be able to \"copy\" the visual layout of the blackboard (whiteboard, whatever) without necessarily stopping listening to the audio. Yes, this does require a lot of effort, but, hopefully, it gains something.</p>\n\n<p>Belated Edit: thinking about (perceptions of the idea of) \"learning styles\"... If the material in a class is truly available in many places, and the instructor has no insights to offer, is just rehearsing it for those too passive to do it themselves, well, sure, note-taking is a dubious ritual. But, as my biased language was entirely meant to communicate, there's no operational issue there. There is of course the risk that the students fail to appreciate that the instructor offers genuinely new insights, but nevermind. A much more serious issue arises if we're talking about more-advanced graduate-level material. Of course, once again, if the lectures are mere quotations from a standard text or extant notes, with no \"added value\", ... sure, scant need to write anything down. <em>However</em>, and I think this is the interesting and most dangerous case, if, heaven willing, your instructor is really an expert with hard-to-objectify understanding of significant things, one should expect to fail to understand, or seem to understand but actually fail, or ... so having a written transcript to study later and deconstruct is incredibly useful.</p>\n\n<p>That is, in the interesting/serious/dangerous situations, it's not about \"learning styles\", but about preservation of information per se. All my experience indicates that students misjudge the cut-off for this, too, so, ...</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 6157, "author": "Lukasz Madon", "author_id": 4556, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4556", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>One of my professors forbid to take notes during the lecture, unless it helps you learn and memorize during the lecture. The slides were available online.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1956", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1040/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1970, "author": "Henry", "author_id": 8, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>As some comments note, answers will vary dramatically by field, but it seems better to have a bunch of answers for different fields to one question, instead of having people ask the same question a dozen times for different fields.</p>\n\n<p>For math, if you're talking about a completed, submitted paper that hasn't been published yet (say, because it's still being refereed), you should feel free to talk about it; the submission date proves your claim on the result, so it can't really be stolen at this stage. (Also, you already put it on the arXiv, so it's already public, right?)</p>\n\n<p>Suppose you're still writing the paper, but the results are completely solid. There are good reasons to tell people about the result: you may be want to discuss ideas for how to build on your paper, you may want to give people a head's up that the theorem is coming---say, so they can use it to prove things themselves, and you may want to establish a partial claim on the result in case someone else is doing the same thing. There are also good reasons not to tell people: even though you're really awfully sure the result is solid, there might still be mistakes; routinely announcing results well in advance of the paper can negatively affect your reputation; someone could use your ideas to write their own paper faster. (There's an interesting phenomenon where once people know a theorem is true, it becomes easier to solve; sometimes a problem is open for a long time, and then abruptly solved multiple times in a short period.)</p>\n\n<p>Taking these together, I'd advise not to announce a result until the paper's finished unless there's a strong reason to do so. This is particularly true early in your career, when it's more likely that you'll mistakenly believe a proof was really-definitely-totally finished. (I was given this advice when I was in grad school, and while I haven't followed it 100% of the time, I've never regretted following it.)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1973, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This will really, really depend on the field you're coming from - or even the sub-field. Take two examples:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Mathematical epidemiology: If I present a paper with a nice infectious disease model, with the equations, the parameter values, and some numerical results, but I haven't tackled anything analytical yet, you could very well - if you could get all that down - beat me to publication.</li>\n<li>Observational epidemiology: I could tell you everything about my study but, without access to the raw data, you'd have to go find your own multi-year hospital acquired infection cohort to study. Good luck with that. And if you <em>still</em> beat me to the punch? Well, I probably deserve that.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Generally speaking, for in-progress stuff, I present enough for people to know what I'm doing, comment on it, etc., but not enough to fully replicate the experiment without coming to me for more information. For example, some folks I'm working with struggled with whether or not to present a theoretical result without its implementation done yet, because someone <em>could</em> scoop us with the implementation. We decided for the audience I was presenting to, that was...unlikely. For another audience? They'd get the theory in broad strokes, but without enough information that the theory alone is enough of a springboard to run with the paper.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1977, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I say give all the details and don't hold anything back. Most researchers do not want to enter a first to publish race from that far back. People tend to work on similar topics so getting scooped is bound to happen. This doesn't mean your ideas were \"stolen\". I think you are less likely to get scooped if you let people know everything you have done and where you are going. This lets people get out of your way or approach you about collaboration.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1966", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1971, "author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten", "author_id": 440, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Many journal formats (and the arXiv) indicate a \"corresponding author\". That's the person you'll want to contact.</p>\n\n<p>Doing so isn't a everyday occurrence, but it does happen.</p>\n\n<p>In some fields access to the data may be covered by agreements to keep it confidential for a certain period of time (or until first publication). These agreement often specify the answer to the authorship question as well.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1974, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>This will, as it seems nearly all questions on this site, vary based on field. My answer applies to Epidemiology and medical research only. Your mileage may vary.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>It is <em>very</em> common for this to happen in my field. There has been an increasing emphasis on using meta-analysis and systematic reviews to summarize bodies of work, and with those there is almost <em>always</em> a need for some more information, raw data, etc. to come from study authors. It's fairly routine now. They may not say \"yes\" for a number of reasons. One may be that they're working on their own projects in a similar direction. But there are others - that privacy laws prohibit releasing data to just anyone or their funding dictates similarly is a fairly common one. So be prepared for \"no\".</p></li>\n<li><p>As for the authorship question, it likely depends on the extent of your data request. Generally, if you're just asking for a few numbers that go into a reported value, then in all likelihood, an acknowledgement is more than sufficient. If, on the other hand, you're asking for access to the raw data from their 5 year, many thousands of dollars cohort study? You're likely going to have a member of their study team be an author on your paper, and there will be far more extensive approval processes than just \"Sure, .csv file is attached.\"</p></li>\n<li><p>\"If my model (without fits to specific data) is in a pre-print state then should I send a pre-print to the authors I contact? What if the pre-print points out weaknesses in their approach to modeling similar problems?\" For the initial contact, I'd suggest it isn't necessary, because what you're really trying to find out is \"Is the release possible\". At later stages, I would expect to see what you were doing, either in a full explanation, or as a pre-print. As to your \"What if?\" question - so what if it does? Science is about improving the methods we use.</p></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5218, "author": "Jez", "author_id": 358, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/358", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This may or may not be helpful in this case, but you may be able to persuade them to publish the data separately, in a dedicated data journal or other data archive. Depending on the field, they may already have done so (some UK funders, for example, are starting to require this as a condition of funding).</p>\n\n<p>This gives you the additional option to give credit by citing the dataset directly as well as relevant papers, and also opens up the possibility that others will use and cite the data as well, bringing more prestige to the original researchers.</p>\n\n<p>Currently, some researchers are open to this type of data publication, while others are not, so your mileage may vary.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to find data to reuse, or to suggest somewhere for them to deposit, there are some lists of archives available to look through, such as the <a href=\"http://www.datacite.org/repolist\" rel=\"noreferrer\">DataCite repository list</a> and <a href=\"http://databib.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Databib</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 82219, "author": "BioGeo", "author_id": 62976, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62976", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I talk about biological sciences, but this can probably apply elsewhere. In theory, the moment a set of analysis is published, the data associated with it should also be public or available for:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Other researchers who want to use them</li>\n<li>Other researchers who want to evaluate (i.e. repeat) the experiments and verify the initial findings.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So, in principle, if the publication does not have a link to the public data, then you could contact the journal and complain. Of course it depends on the data, but dna sequencing or protein analysis data are usually available. There might be legal or other limitations for patient, medical or other types of data.</p>\n\n<p>This is the formal way.</p>\n\n<p><em>There are some exceptions: The data are public but no publication is out yet. Because of policy they want/have to provide the data to the public, but the publication is in preparation. In this case you cannot use the data and you have to contact the PI to see how your analysis comes in conflict (or not) with theirs. Every institution has different guidelines.</em></p>\n\n<p>Back to the initial issue, in reality, you might find resistance in getting access to the raw data of a published work (which, as I said it shouldn't be the case if the data are not sensitive, because anyone should be able to evaluate and validate their analysis).</p>\n\n<p>You have two options: Check publicly available data (depending on your field - I can propose some in biological sciences I'm familiar to, if needed) and work your models on them. That would be easier for you, as you could avoid peculiar situations.</p>\n\n<p>Contact the authors and propose a collaboration to do a different type of analysis than theirs (with your model) on those data. They would be happy to collaborate with you and they might even provide some insights on your analysis that would make it even better.</p>\n\n<p>To the initial questions: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>I would say that it's common. It's more common to look directly at the public repositories and see data that are already published. The collaboration proposal might be a safer approach (in terms of results and good relationship and future collaborations)</p></li>\n<li><p>They might be expecting to be invited. It depends on the terms of the collaboration. In any case, it should be agreed upon on the beginning, so you can avoid the frustration at the time of publication (and after you have spent time on working on the data).</p></li>\n<li><p>I'm not familiar, but if you go for a collaboration, then it makes sense to explain your method at the first meeting. If you just need the data, or you take the data from a public repository, you don't have to send anything.</p></li>\n</ol>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1967", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1969, "author": "Willie Wong", "author_id": 94, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<ol>\n<li><p>Yes. I took both German and French. I was already fairly comfortable with French from having studied it in high school and in university, so I'll write about German instead. I prepared for my German language exam by going on to the <a href=\"http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/en/\">GDZ server</a> (a program to retroactively digitise documents, including a lot of classical mathematics papers) and downloading some papers in mathematical analysis (my field, sort of) from around the 1950s to 60s (when still a lot of the papers were published in German). I then went to the library and borrowed the copy of <a href=\"http://books.google.ch/books/about/German_English_mathematics_dictionary.html?id=fBYgAAAAIAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y\">Hyman's German-English Mathematics Dictionary</a> (for the nouns) and a copy of a normal German-English dictionary (for the verbs) and sat myself down and started translating word by word. After about a month I translated about 30 pages or so of math papers (and at the same time learned about uniform spaces), and proceeded to take my exam. </p></li>\n<li><p>Not much. I have absolutely no conversational German, and only very rarely do I have to look something up in German that I cannot find a write-up in another language. (So far twice only, one a slightly obscure result in algebraic lattices that the only reference I could find is to a paper in the 30s.) (French on the other hand has been useful; mostly because the abovementioned \"write-up in another language\" often turned out to be in French.) Given how much I've found French to be useful for me, I'm sure that if I had actually properly learned the language, German would be just about as useful. Conversely, if you don't really learn the foreign language, you will probably be able to get by through other means in this day and age. </p></li>\n<li><p>The canonical place to find French papers to read is <a href=\"http://www.numdam.org/?lang=fr\">NUMDAM</a>. Of course, for practice, you can also check out Bourbaki from the library; it may be slightly less intimidating to start working first on the language by reading something whose mathematics at least you are familiar with. </p></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1972, "author": "Paul", "author_id": 931, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think the main purpose of learning another language in the PhD program is to be able to explain your research in that language if necessary. At my former institution, the language exam covered reading and writing about mathematics in french or russian. It would be best to investigate your institution's policy about the exam and their requirements for the PhD degree. That will determine what and how you need to study for that exam. </p>\n\n<p>While I've never had to write a technical paper in another language, knowing these other languages has certainly increased my ability to network with experts from around the world. That's the true value of learning languages: being able to connect with others on another level. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1968", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/948/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1976, "author": "Nobody", "author_id": 546, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>First of all, I think OP's situation is not that specific. Many international students in US are facing the same. Just that his is very extreme - his advisor wants to kick him out. In that regard, I agree with JeffE's comment. OP's advisor is not friendly at all, he probably needs to run.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Now, to answer the question. It all depends on how much you want to be an academic.</p>\n\n<p>To continue what you're doing right now, I think you hurt your current and future academic career. Your industry job is demanding, particularly since you need your employer to sponsor your H1B visa. You have to work very hard. You can't devote yourself to your research unless your job is directly related to your dissertation. You are still publishing papers. I believe you can even publish more and better papers if you do research full time.</p>\n\n<p>If you quit your current job, the H1B will be gone. But, you can concentrate on your research. You might become a great academic.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you continue your industry job, you will get H1B visa and everything to make your American dream come true. But, how about your dream to be a great academic? Didn't you want to be a scholar when you went to US to study?</p>\n\n<p>It's June now. Too late to change school. I would talk to the advisor if I were you. Explain to him your situation. Maybe it's just misunderstanding between you and him. He may not know what you really want and need. If it doesn't work, change the advisor. If you can't do that either, you'll have to make a tough choice.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1978, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It is completely inappropriate for an advisor to send an email like that. The email makes it clear that this is an advisor that you should steer clear of. At a minimum a change in advisor is required. I would also approach the department head about the email. Faculty need to know that they need to behave better.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1982, "author": "bobthejoe", "author_id": 319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is a fairly common experience at my university given the large volumes of EE and CS PhD students who take a \"leave of absence\" and slack off on their PhD research to do trivial things like starting Google and Yahoo. Here is what I've learned from their experiences:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Your University may offer you some protection while your H1B visa gets worked out. Typically, students can take a 1 year deferment, stay on status as a student, work for their company, and wait for their visa status to change.</li>\n<li>Take the leave of absence. The \"part-time\" status is a lose-lose scenario for you, your advisor, and your company. You're wasting your time by being inefficient, your advisor is probably still paying for all of you despite your \"part-time\" status, and your company isn't getting your full mental investment.</li>\n<li>For EE and CS PhD students, their goal was to get a US-based job and with it, legal status. For the majority of them, the PhD wouldn't add much since they would essentially be doing the exact same work. However, if you're in an industry where that isn't the case, maybe I would be a bit more concerned about giving up the PhD. </li>\n<li>That being said, you have a job and it sounds like the company wants to keep you if they are talking about the H1B process with you.</li>\n<li>Finally, you're a 2nd year grad student. You have a long long way to go if you want that PhD and it just so happens that you have an advisor in the way.</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1986, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Don't walk. Run.</strong></p>\n\n<p>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1975", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1047/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1981, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As a general rule, if your current degree program is not serving your needs/goals, then yes, you absolutely should look for other options. Hopefully the research experience you've gained in your current program will prove helpful in the future.</p>\n\n<p>That said, you need to be careful in applying to a new program. A PhD application from a student already in a PhD program raises a red flag, especially if they are already fairly far into the program. Obviously the current program isn't working out for the student, but does that indicate a problem with the student (uh-oh), a problem with their advisor (but then why not change advisors?), a problem with the program as a whole (but then do we really want a student that was admitted to a dysfunctional program?), or something else? And even if there isn't a problem, why should we give a slot to someone who already has one elsewhere, instead of giving a new student a chance?</p>\n\n<p>The best way to ameliorate these concerns, in my experience, is to get strong and supportive recommendation letters from the faculty in your current department. You also need to tell a convincing and <em>positive</em> story about why you want to move (for example: a shift in research interests that does not match the strengths of your current program). One thing you absolutely <em>cannot</em> write is \"I want to move because my current program just isn't good enough.\"</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 31360, "author": "Rob", "author_id": 21446, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21446", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think as a bio PhD there is no shame to saying that \"gee this journey is not going to end well\", early into the journey (or even late). I discovered after a very long (which is normal) time as a grad student, when I finally did get out with my PhD, the job prospects were pretty bad and getting worse, and this is from a top institution. So after a long period of post-docing i finally gave up on the field alltogether, after sinking 13 or 14 years into it. I am now in IT and making far more, doing far more, and I get to see my family far more. I have done much more in 5 years than I could have done in a lifetime in academia. It just wasn't for me. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1980", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1048/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1984, "author": "Nate Eldredge", "author_id": 1010, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Your institution almost certainly has a policy on this, and an office dedicated to administering it. You should consult them. If you really think this is serious, you should also consult an intellectual property attorney rather than relying on the babblings of some goofball from the Internet (e.g. me).</p>\n\n<p>In the US, <em>employees</em> of a university are commonly required to sign an agreement that the university has an interest in any patent or other profitable invention that they develop in the course of their work. The agreement usually specifies that the royalties and other profits are to be split between the university and the inventor.</p>\n\n<p>I have not heard of this being required of students, and if you had signed one, you would presumably know. However, if your advisor had a significant part in the project, he or she may have some rights in it as a matter of law (and the university in turn would get a share of your advisor's, per their agreement).</p>\n\n<p>Note that it may be relevant where the funding for the project came from, and what if any financial support you received from the university.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1988, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Would I have all rights for selling this product or since my professor is essentially guiding me and assisting me in my research, does he/she own a part of it as well?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is a very difficult and touchy question. You need to talk to your supervisor as early as possible. Many students drastically underestimate the supervisor's contribution. Starting your graduate studies with the idea is very different from developing the idea in conjunction with your supervisor.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 90412, "author": "Sascha", "author_id": 53466, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53466", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Regardless of how the legal situation is, discuss it with you supervisor in a friendly way to figure out </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>if he wants to put stones in your way, even for the things which you legally could sell. (Even if you may win a lawsuit, financing a lawsuit before you actually sell products could be a problem)</p></li>\n<li><p>if he is plainly supportive of the idea and helps you without own interest</p></li>\n<li><p>if he like to give you recommendation for a company/group working on these topics</p></li>\n<li><p>if he would like to create a company with you (in that case you would have continued access to the research)</p></li>\n<li><p>if some technology is already patented for some applications or if parts of the materials you used were obtained under an NDA.</p></li>\n<li><p>if there is a competitor (e.g. another student of his/people he knows in the field)</p></li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1983", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1051/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 1984, "author": "Nate Eldredge", "author_id": 1010, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Your institution almost certainly has a policy on this, and an office dedicated to administering it. You should consult them. If you really think this is serious, you should also consult an intellectual property attorney rather than relying on the babblings of some goofball from the Internet (e.g. me).</p>\n\n<p>In the US, <em>employees</em> of a university are commonly required to sign an agreement that the university has an interest in any patent or other profitable invention that they develop in the course of their work. The agreement usually specifies that the royalties and other profits are to be split between the university and the inventor.</p>\n\n<p>I have not heard of this being required of students, and if you had signed one, you would presumably know. However, if your advisor had a significant part in the project, he or she may have some rights in it as a matter of law (and the university in turn would get a share of your advisor's, per their agreement).</p>\n\n<p>Note that it may be relevant where the funding for the project came from, and what if any financial support you received from the university.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 1988, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Would I have all rights for selling this product or since my professor is essentially guiding me and assisting me in my research, does he/she own a part of it as well?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is a very difficult and touchy question. You need to talk to your supervisor as early as possible. Many students drastically underestimate the supervisor's contribution. Starting your graduate studies with the idea is very different from developing the idea in conjunction with your supervisor.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 90412, "author": "Sascha", "author_id": 53466, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53466", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Regardless of how the legal situation is, discuss it with you supervisor in a friendly way to figure out </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>if he wants to put stones in your way, even for the things which you legally could sell. (Even if you may win a lawsuit, financing a lawsuit before you actually sell products could be a problem)</p></li>\n<li><p>if he is plainly supportive of the idea and helps you without own interest</p></li>\n<li><p>if he like to give you recommendation for a company/group working on these topics</p></li>\n<li><p>if he would like to create a company with you (in that case you would have continued access to the research)</p></li>\n<li><p>if some technology is already patented for some applications or if parts of the materials you used were obtained under an NDA.</p></li>\n<li><p>if there is a competitor (e.g. another student of his/people he knows in the field)</p></li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1994", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1048/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2005, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>As a general rule of thumb, if the position you are applying for (1) has the term \"researcher\" or something similar in the position title and (2) requires a PhD (or research masters), definitely send the academic one. The fact they're looking for PhDs means they're interested in research experience, and your academic CV will highlight that much better than your industry one.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, it is an industry position, so I would do my best to keep the resume two pages, and offer to send the full CV on request. Definitely include \"Selected Publications\" and \"Selected Oral Presentations\" sections, but keep it short.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>One extra idea for consideration: I sent my (academic) resume to an industry position, and they sent it back asking for a short (one to three) sentence blurb describing each of my projects (at the time, my resume included work as a research assistant, graduate student, and post-doc). I ended up using that format for all the jobs I applied to, since most people have no idea what \"Temporal Dynamics of the Cortico-limbic System\" actually means. It's a good way to help them actually get a feel for what you accomplished and what your skills are.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2006, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I didn't really change my CV for industrial research positions versus academia, but I did tailor my research statement a fair bit. As I recently explained to a student, industrial research labs are often more interested in your skills, and academic positions are more interested in your contributions to an area (<em>all these statements are \"on average\"</em>). That might indicate ways to modify your CV ? maybe have a blurb highlighting your interests/skills up front for the industry position ? </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1998", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2000, "author": "Alexander Serebrenik", "author_id": 882, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/882", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Here in the Netherlands it is relatively common to appoint somebody as a professor for one day a week. For instance, one of the colleagues is 4 days a week at our university and 1 day a week at a different university. Another colleague is 4 days a week working for a company, and works at the university only on Mondays. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2002, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The situation I've seen most often is that a professor will hold a primary appointment at school A, where they have a lab and complete their research. Often for reasons related to collaboration, school B will then give the professor an appointment in a related if not identical department. If the professor also teaches a few courses at school C, they will likely be granted an adjunct position there as well.</p>\n\n<p>This was my setup when I was in graduate school; I was a grad student in bioengineering at <a href=\"http://www.pitt.edu/\">U Pitt</a>, and I had a secondary appointment at <a href=\"http://www.cmu.edu\">CMU</a> due to both lab collaborations and my being registered in a <a href=\"http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/\">certificate program</a> there.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2004, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Another common scenario happens when a professor leaves university X for university Y, but still has grants and PhD students at university X. In that situation, it's fairly common for university X to keep the faculty member on the books without pay, possibly with the word \"adjunct\" added to their title, so that the students and the grants that pay them don't have to move from X to Y. (And to simplify the paperwork if the professor changes their mind and moves back to X.)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2015, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In addition to the excellent answers given above, here are some reasons I've seen for professors to get an appointment at a different university (or to retain an appointment when they moved):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>They're a major part of a center at University A, and University A really doesn't want 'Co-Director of the A Center for Really Important Research' to be listed as a faculty member elsewhere.</li>\n<li>Weird university tradition. For example, my university automatically gives all outside readers on a dissertation committee an appointment at the school. It's utterly meaningless, but technically its a thing.</li>\n<li>Collaboration, grants, etc. are sometimes easier if everyone is technically faculty at the same school, and schools will sometimes bring in a professor from another nearby university to \"shore up\" a program, allow for easier mentorship if a professor keeps appearing on grad student committees, etc.</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2091, "author": "Tal Fishman", "author_id": 111, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/111", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A common scenario I've observed is where University A offers a job to a professor at University B, a far less prestigious and well-connected institution, but the professor and his/her family wish to remain in the location of University B for personal reasons. If the professor is good enough, University A may agree to a half-time or similar arrangement, where the professor is only on-campus for one semester per year (usually 4 months).</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1999", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2003, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>It varies greatly. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>There are the fixed deadline places, for which there are deadlines starting from Nov 15 or thereabouts, all the way upto Jan 15.</li>\n<li>There are also places with rolling deadlines, where it's better to apply early. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In general, you should have your materials ready to go in the beginning/middle of November and that should take care of most deadlines. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2007, "author": "InquilineKea", "author_id": 77, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It depends on what program it is.</p>\n\n<p>Most top ecology and biology programs have deadlines in early December.</p>\n\n<p>Most top-20 physics and astronomy programs (excluding Columbia) have deadlines on December 15th. Columbia's deadlines are usually on the first few days of January. Mid-tier astronomy programs tend to have deadlines around January 15.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there are weaker programs in Physics (like Montana State and Kansas) that have deadlines that go well into Spring.</p>\n\n<p>======</p>\n\n<p>As for most strong Earth/Atmospheric/Planetary science programs - they primarily have deadlines in late December and early January. </p>\n\n<p>(E.g. for this year for EAPS programs - deadlines were Stanford in mid-December, Berkeley on Dec 19, Harvard/Princeton on Dec 31, Caltech on Jan 1, Yale on Jan 2, Columbia on Jan 4, MIT on Jan 5, Chicago on Jan 9, UWash+Brown on Jan 15, and Cornell on Feb. 1st).</p>\n\n<p>As for my case, I was utterly unprepared until mid-December.</p>\n\n<p>I didn't take my General GREs until mid-December (though I took the Biology GRE in mid-October and the Physics GRE in mid-November - those two dates are the two subject GRE test dates in autumn), and only asked for LORs in mid-December (I managed to get them all in by January 2, but a couple of professors said that they wouldn't be able to write me LORs because they would be traveling during late December - I was fortunate to have many options to choose from though). Then I didn't start on my personal statement until the last two weeks of December (and I went through like 7-8 proofreaders). So the result was that I missed the Harvard/Princeton deadline and barely made the Caltech deadline with a crappy essay. Everything past January 2 was fine though.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2020, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The situation also depends a bit on if you're looking for financial support in the form of fellowships. If so, then you need to be a bit ahead of the schedule for applying to the graduate departments directly—some fellowship programs, including the NSF, typically have deadlines in November. </p>\n\n<p>However, in general, if the school does not do \"rolling admissions,\" then the deadline will be somewhere in December or early January, with decisions given in February or early March, and a decision expected usually by May 1. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2001", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1043/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2003, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>It varies greatly. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>There are the fixed deadline places, for which there are deadlines starting from Nov 15 or thereabouts, all the way upto Jan 15.</li>\n<li>There are also places with rolling deadlines, where it's better to apply early. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In general, you should have your materials ready to go in the beginning/middle of November and that should take care of most deadlines. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2007, "author": "InquilineKea", "author_id": 77, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It depends on what program it is.</p>\n\n<p>Most top ecology and biology programs have deadlines in early December.</p>\n\n<p>Most top-20 physics and astronomy programs (excluding Columbia) have deadlines on December 15th. Columbia's deadlines are usually on the first few days of January. Mid-tier astronomy programs tend to have deadlines around January 15.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there are weaker programs in Physics (like Montana State and Kansas) that have deadlines that go well into Spring.</p>\n\n<p>======</p>\n\n<p>As for most strong Earth/Atmospheric/Planetary science programs - they primarily have deadlines in late December and early January. </p>\n\n<p>(E.g. for this year for EAPS programs - deadlines were Stanford in mid-December, Berkeley on Dec 19, Harvard/Princeton on Dec 31, Caltech on Jan 1, Yale on Jan 2, Columbia on Jan 4, MIT on Jan 5, Chicago on Jan 9, UWash+Brown on Jan 15, and Cornell on Feb. 1st).</p>\n\n<p>As for my case, I was utterly unprepared until mid-December.</p>\n\n<p>I didn't take my General GREs until mid-December (though I took the Biology GRE in mid-October and the Physics GRE in mid-November - those two dates are the two subject GRE test dates in autumn), and only asked for LORs in mid-December (I managed to get them all in by January 2, but a couple of professors said that they wouldn't be able to write me LORs because they would be traveling during late December - I was fortunate to have many options to choose from though). Then I didn't start on my personal statement until the last two weeks of December (and I went through like 7-8 proofreaders). So the result was that I missed the Harvard/Princeton deadline and barely made the Caltech deadline with a crappy essay. Everything past January 2 was fine though.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2020, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The situation also depends a bit on if you're looking for financial support in the form of fellowships. If so, then you need to be a bit ahead of the schedule for applying to the graduate departments directly—some fellowship programs, including the NSF, typically have deadlines in November. </p>\n\n<p>However, in general, if the school does not do \"rolling admissions,\" then the deadline will be somewhere in December or early January, with decisions given in February or early March, and a decision expected usually by May 1. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2009", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2021, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I find that when I'm working on research in the office, at least with the door open, I often get interrupted and am generally less productive.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You need to redefine productive. Having your door open will increase the time it takes to get a manuscript out, but that is not the only thing that defines productivity. Time spent improving your teaching evals (e.g., by meeting with students) and being visible to your colleagues IS time well spent.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2023, "author": "DQdlM", "author_id": 248, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/248", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think the basic guideline is the perception that you give. The actual time you spend in and out of your office is less important than whether your colleagues feel like you are an active member of the department and your students feel like you are accessible.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>For your colleagues, I would be conscious of the times and events that seem to build cohesion in your department and make sure you are present for those. This can be informal things like having lunch together. Or more formal things like departmental seminars.</p></li>\n<li><p>For your students, I would set consistent and clearly defined office hours and always be available during those times (even if you don't have a student scheduled). You will need to make sure that these office hours are distributed such that most of your students can utilize some of them and be prepared to be somewhat flexible for students that have consistent conflicts.</p></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2025, "author": "Nate Eldredge", "author_id": 1010, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You may be able to mollify your students a bit by paying attention to your wording. Saying \"I can't meet with you on Tuesday because that's my day for research\" makes the student feel like a low priority. Saying \"I'm afraid I can't meet on Tuesday, but how about Wednesday?\" helps convey that the student is important to you and you would like to meet with them when you can. I think accessibility is as much about perception as reality.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2026, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are a few issues here: one is dealing with students, and one is general \"visibility\". </p>\n\n<p>For the first, I can understand student unhappiness if you give them office hours but wish to meet outside the allotted time. They have constraints as well and probably don't have a lot of free time to meet with you :). Maybe, since you're concerned about distractons, you can pack all \"distracting\" activities into a single day and do your office hours on that day ? Alternately, do you prefer to work at home or at a cafe ? If the latter, you could always do your office hours and then disappear. </p>\n\n<p>For the second, I think the issue is a little overrated. As dQdM points out, the issue is whether you're perceived as being active and a \"good citizen\". The former can be achieved by responding to email promptly and the latter by your usual service responsibilities. </p>\n\n<p>A bit of perspective: I came to academia from a research lab. In a lab, people are usually around all the time, and I was shocked when I came to academia to see how few faculty were around in the office at any given time. So I don't think your absence might even be noticed that much :)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2028, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I think it's important to set boundaries with students, with colleagues, and with yourself about when and where you're available for meetings. It's also important to find environments that most effectively support different types of work, and give yourself permission to use them.</p>\n\n<p>Like you, when I'm in my office, I <em>expect</em> to be interrupted; so when I'm working at my desk, I can only productively work on tasks that survive interruption. Put bluntly, the office is where I have meetings; if I need to think, I find a whiteboard in an empty conference room; if I need to write, I go to a coffee shop. (Suresh is correct; I am in a coffee shop <em>right now</em>.) As Daniel says, all three places allow for productive work, but of very different types. Even in the computer science building, for small meetings where I don't want to be interrupted, I prefer to go to the <em>other</em> person's office. And because my undergraduate office hours are occasionally <em>very</em> popular (especially right before exams), I don't hold them in my actual office, but in a larger room down the hall with couches and whiteboards.</p>\n\n<p>You express two points of concern, which I'll exaggerate:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>My students won't like me if I'm not available on their schedule.</strong> I agree with DQdlM and Nate. Spread out your office hours to fit as many students' schedules as possible, be in your office (or \"office\") for every minute of office hours even if nobody shows up, and be willing to offer <em>occasional</em> off-schedule meetings. It might help to announce <em>in your syllabus</em> times that you're willing to schedule sporadic meetings. (\"I'm also available for occasional meetings Tuesday or Thursday afternoons; send me email to set up an appointment!\") Consider moving (not adding) your office hours if student demand doesn't match your announced schedule. But then stick to your guns. Yes, some students will be unhappy, but that's inevitable; don't take it personally. Your availability outside regular office hours will <em>not</em> be the most significant bit in your student evaluations.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>My colleagues won't like me if they don't see me in my office.</strong> I agree with DQdlM and Suresh here. Yes, it's important to be visible and active citizen of your department; that's not the same thing as being constantly on call. The amount of time you spend at your desk will <em>not</em> be the most significant bit in your tenure evaluation. The danger is not that nobody sees you in your office, but that nobody knows what you're doing. Give regular talks to your colleagues <em>and their PhD students</em> showing off the results of your out-of-office effort. Go to faculty meetings, and <em>occasionally</em> offer an opinion. (Careful, that gun is loaded.) Attend seminars, <em>especially</em> for faculty candidates, <em>and ask questions</em>. If there is a regular departmental social event (\"Tea\" in many math departments), be there. And so on.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Finally, I <em>strongly</em> encourage you to raise these concerns with your department chair or your senior faculty mentors. (You <em>do</em> have a senior faculty mentor, don't you? If not, find one!) They can help you navigate your department culture far better than Some Guy On The Intertubes.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2036, "author": "Jay", "author_id": 1076, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1076", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>When you announce your office hours to the class at the beginning of the term display a chart that includes all reasonable hours but no marks. Point to a particular time and ask, \"If I choose this hour how many people will not be able to come to this office hour?\" If lots of students raise their hands, say \"That's not one of my office hours.\" If a lot of students indicate they can go mark it as an office hour. Repeat this process, perhaps rearranging previously chosen hours until every student can go to at least one office hour. If you are also available by appointment at other times It should solve a lot of problems. Also at the beginning of the the first day of class you will create a favorable impression. Before you do this you should have a very good idea of time when you do not want office hours.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2019", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2024, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>No, you cannot. Until the paper is publicly available you cannot show it to anyone nor even acknowledge its existence. The only slight exception I would make is that if a colleague was going to pursue similar/identical research, I would tell them they might want to contact the author. I would assume that this would result in my identity as a reviewer being revealed.</p>\n\n<p>Your options are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Submit your manuscript as is, but add the citation as soon as it become public.</li>\n<li>Reveal your identity as a reviewer and ask the author for a preprint.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Option 1 is reasonable since you believe the existence of the paper is not critical to your paper. Option 2 is okay, but remember the reviewers of you manuscript will not have easy access to the cited material.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2027, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You can't cite the paper till it's in print or somewhere publicly available. As for sharing with your colleague, I think there are degrees. If the colleague is sitting in your office and you show them a hard copy, that's less of a problem than emailing a copy to a colleague (remote or local) which I would not do. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 28984, "author": "ppapakon", "author_id": 22231, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22231", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Since the paper will appear soon (it's been accepted!) and it is not essential for the <em>present</em> article, why not follow StrongBads' advice, namely submit your article as is, and add the citation in the proofs. Discussing the future with your collaborator can wait a couple of weeks. </p>\n\n<p>Since you sound in a big hurry, I will elaborate in another direction now. </p>\n\n<p>I have always been very adamant about keeping reviewer information confidential. Other people... not: in my discipline (theoretical physics) people have told me that they reviewed my paper or (worse) the paper of somebody else. In short, it is not unheard of to reveal such information, especially when the outcome is acceptance. Is it good for the trade? That's another topic for discussion. </p>\n\n<p>So if you are in a HUGE hurry to discuss with your colleague you may follow Suresh above: if your colleague is not in a different city and you trust each other, you may decide to share the confidential information <em>confidentially</em>, which is to say, just show them the article which you in fact judged positively, discuss it, destroy the evidence. (I've seen that too, and without the destruction-of-the-evidence part.) </p>\n\n<p>Though I personally would just wait... </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2022", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2030, "author": "abatkai", "author_id": 31, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Depends probably on the rules at your institution. At many places actually this is the usual custom. Ask your adviser. </p>\n\n<p>If you write out the correct references so that everybody who reads knows that this part can be found in that paper, then it is never plagiarism. See also the <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/149/what-is-a-sandwich-thesis\">\"Sandwich thesis\"</a> question mentioned in the comment by <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3/andy-w\">Andy W</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2031, "author": "Ben Norris", "author_id": 924, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Supplementing the answer from abatkai:\nThe rules likely vary by field also. In chemistry, converting previously published papers into a <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/149/what-is-a-sandwich-thesis\">Sandwich Thesis</a> is generally accepted and commonplace. My thesis contained a chapter that was prefaced &quot;Portions of this chapter were previously published as (citation), and have been reproduced with permission. Copyright is held by (publisher of the journal).&quot; This was followed by further copyright information and the statement required by the publisher. My institution also required that I submit paperwork in support of my use of published and copyrighted material.</p>\n<p>In addition to consulting your adviser and your institution, you should consult the journals in which you publish. Many have policies in place for this. For example, from the American Chemical Society's <a href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/page/copyright/journals/faqs.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">copyright faq</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The current ACS Journal Publishing Agreement covers several permitted uses by authors... Permitted uses of all versions include:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use in theses and collections of your own work</li>\n</ul>\n</blockquote>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2029", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2037, "author": "Joe Kington", "author_id": 169, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/169", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>\"Quality\" is very subjective. Impact factor is a good measure of how often articles in a journal are cited, but this doesn't necessarily directly relate to \"quality\".</p>\n\n<p>Many journals with a narrow focus will have relatively low impact factors, but are still considered very \"high quality\" (i.e. prestigious to publish in) journals.</p>\n\n<p>As an example, in the geosciences, the Journal of Structural Geology is a much more prestigious (and harder to publish in) journal than, say, Tectonophysics (just to pick another Elseviver journal), but it has a lower impact factor.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2038, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<h2><strong>No.</strong></h2>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>To answer Paul's comment:</p>\n\n<p>The title of the post asks about journals. For a well-worn list of criticisms of Impact Factor as an indicator of journal quality, see <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_factor#Criticisms\">the Wikipedia article</a> and the sources it cites. In many disciplines, important papers receive most of their citations <a href=\"http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/IMU/Report/CitationStatistics.pdf\">well outside the IF's two-year window</a>. Raw citation data can be manipulated by editorial policies, some more <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coercive_citation\">nefarious</a> than <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1475651/?tool=pmcentrez\">others</a>, or even by <a href=\"http://classic.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57500/\">individual papers</a>. Thomson-Reuters' calculations of Impact Factor are <a href=\"http://jcb.rupress.org/content/179/6/1091.full\">not reproducible</a>, even using their own citation data. Et cetera ad nauseam. But most importantly: <strong>Having lots of citations is not the same thing as quality.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The body of the post asks about journal articles. Impact Factor is (roughly) the average number of citations to all papers published by a journal in a given time window. Even if it were a reliable measure of <em>average</em> quality (which it isn't), it would say nothing at all about the quality of any <em>individual</em> paper.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2044, "author": "Artem Kaznatcheev", "author_id": 66, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If the other two answers haven't made this obvious. The answer is <strong>no</strong>, but it can be taken even further than what the above answers suggests. <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.4328\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">We can study this!</a></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/L0KoZ.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>The above image is the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_determination\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">coefficient of determination</a> between the impact factor of journals and the 2-year citation rate of their papers from 1902 to 2009, for all natural and medical sciences journals. Basically this means that even if all you care about is the number of citations you get then even then the impact factors of journals is starting to matter less and less.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, what matters is how influential your ideas are and not how much they are cited, <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1020/66\">but we don't really a have a good metric for that.</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2045, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The editors of <em>Epidemiology</em> (a very good journal), recently had <a href=\"http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2012/07000/We_Are_Number_One_But_Nobody_Cares_That_s_Good.1.aspx\">an editorial</a> about this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Most major epidemiology journals, including ours, have seen a steady\n rise in their impact factors during recent years. At the same time,\n the relative rank of these journals changes from year to year. Such\n changes are unlikely to represent true annual changes in these\n journals' relative quality. We think the various epidemiology journals\n are indeed different, and they deserve to be evaluated and compared.\n But we're happier when such assessments are based on matters of\n substance, such as editorial policies, quality of reviews, quality of\n editing, efficiency in the processing of manuscripts, and the (real)\n impact of the journal on the field.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Said editorial also has links to several others in that journal critiquing the notion of the Impact Factor, and its scientific merit (or lack thereof).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2054, "author": "Jeromy Anglim", "author_id": 62, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Clearly, people here don't seem to like the idea that impact factor would be used to evaluate journal quality. I'm not a big fan of impact factor either. It can be gamed (and the degree to which it is gamed will increase as greater importance is placed on it). It also becomes particularly problematic when you compare across disciplines with different citation practices and citation half-lives. Furthermore, there's also the risk that people start using impact factor to evaluate article quality, which is a lot more questionable.</p>\n\n<p>That said, within a discipline, I generally find that better journals have higher impact factors. It's not perfect. But there is a strong correlation. There's also research that shows very high correlations between various indices of journal quality including peer ratings, impact factor, and various other citation based indicators. </p>\n\n<p>So in short, <strong>within a field, impact factor is one of many variables that typically correlates highly with journal quality</strong>. If you know nothing about the quality of a journal, you'll know more about it by looking at its impact factor. However, \nThat shouldn't stop you from looking at other and most likely better indicators of journal quality (e.g., what is your own evaluation of the content published in the journal in recent years). </p>\n\n<p>It is also really important to ask yourself why you want to evaluate journal quality. Is it to select a journal? to reward, promote, or hire academics? Using impact factor in these cases can be problematic for a wide variety of reasons, but these are separate issues. </p>\n\n<p>Here's one article that I found providing empirical evidence by Saha et al (2003). To quote the abstract:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Objectives: Impact factor, an index based on the frequency with which\n a journal's articles are cited in scientific publications, is a\n putative marker of journal quality. However, empiric studies on impact\n factor's validity as an indicator of quality are lacking. The authors\n assessed the validity of impact factor as a measure of quality for\n general medical journals by testing its association with journal\n quality as rated by clinical practitioners and researchers.</p>\n \n <p>Methods: We surveyed physicians specializing in internal medicine in\n the United States, randomly sampled from the American Medical\n Association's Physician Masterfile (practitioner group, n = 113) and\n from a list of graduates from a national postdoctoral training program\n in clinical and health services research (research group, n = 151).\n Respondents rated the quality of nine general medical journals, and we\n assessed the correlation between these ratings and the journals'\n impact factors.</p>\n \n <p>Results: The correlation between impact factor and physicians' ratings\n of journal quality was strong (r2 = 0.82, P = 0.001). The correlation\n was higher for the research group (r2 = 0.83, P = 0.001) than for the\n practitioner group (r2 = 0.62, P = 0.01).</p>\n \n <p>Conclusions: Impact factor may be a reasonable indicator of quality\n for general medical journals.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h3>References</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Saha, S., Saint, S. &amp; Christakis, D.A. (2003). Impact factor: a valid measure of journal quality?. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 91, 42. <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC141186/\">PDF</a></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 68578, "author": "IgotiT", "author_id": 54013, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/54013", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I have seen that in term of citation of an article you will notice that in most of the cases that an article has been cited many times by author himself in his other research articles or by his students and sometime by his/her colleagues without attaching any real importance of citation. The geographical location of citation also does matter, suppose for an example, if author from certain country receives 10 citation from 10 different countries then these 10 citations would be more important than 10 citations from single country. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2034", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/675/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2050, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You should definitely take into account quality of life in either position. Also, you should keep in mind that in the academic world, it is looked upon favorably to move around for your training.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2051, "author": "Dan C", "author_id": 1069, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>One big advantage of changing schools is that you meet new people. Most people have a few things they're really good at. By meeting new people, you get to learn the new things that <em>they</em> are really good at. More generally, you get to experience the culture of a different place and group of people (both academically and socially). This helps to give you a more developed sense of what is normal (reasonable to expect), and likely will expose you to new insights. All else being (close to) equal, I suggest that you move.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2090, "author": "Tal Fishman", "author_id": 111, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/111", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In addition to Dan's comments recommending you move, I would add that if your goal is to obtain an academic job, it will help you to have more people familiar with your work. Aside from a few schools and fields, such as MIT and engineering, it almost always makes sense to move, particularly if the quality of the program is substantively similar.</p>\n\n<p>Moving schools also improves the signal sent by your education. Having more good schools on your CV sends the signal that multiple independent parties deemed you worthy of acceptance. If you stay on at the same school, it may not be clear to someone who first reads your CV whether you were accepted into the PhD to start or whether it involved an independent admissions process.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 55410, "author": "Cape Code", "author_id": 10643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Depending on the country you're from, moving to Switzerland for a PhD might be an immediate improvement in your living standards, and that is certainly a good reason. It might also bring you on the spot to take advantage of the stronger hiring prospects in the industry, especially for engineers, mathematicians, biologists. But, from a strictly academic point of view, there are a few other things to consider.</p>\n\n<p>It's true that there are world-class universities in Switzerland, some regularly appear at the top of international rankings. But there are also several mid-tier, \"me too\" institutions that surf on the popularity of the big ones.</p>\n\n<p>If you ultimately plan for an academic career, <strong>the strength and international visibility of the group</strong> is likely to be more important than changing school/country. It's true that it's tacitly almost a must to have some sort of international stay in your CV but there are other less risky occasions for that than a PhD (e.g. a postdoc). A PhD is a big investment in efforts, time and money so go where the good science is.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 55414, "author": "Fábio Dias", "author_id": 41208, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/41208", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Go. Even if it is going to be harder, smaller pay, etc.</p>\n\n<p>Science is about diversity. You need new academic experiences. It will greatly improve both you and your work. Even if it doesn't really work.</p>\n\n<p>Further, every time I see a CV that only lists one institution, bs+ms+phd, I think \"meh\". And I know that doesn't really help in selection processes for postdoc/professors.</p>\n\n<p>I'm saying all that based on my personal experience. It wasn't easy, I had all types of issues, didn't publish much, but it was worth it.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2049", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1080/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2053, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You should check the guidelines from your university. I'd assume that they would have requirements for the order. If not, I always prefer the acknowledgements should come first, that way the non-scientific stuff is out of the way.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 3639, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Actually, under normal circumstances, I would expect the abstract to be as close to the front of a thesis as possible. The reason for this is to make the job of cataloging and searching easier. Abstracts of theses are indexed by services such as <a href=\"http://proquest.umi.com\">ProQuest</a>, and having to wade through additional pages of material makes their work harder. </p>\n\n<p>That said, scientifics is correct in that you should follow whatever regulations your university has. But in general, in the absence of such guidelines, I would put the abstract <em>before</em> the acknowledgments—readers want to know as soon as possible if they should bother to read the rest of your thesis. Burying it after the front matter makes it less likely for them to invest the time.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 3647, "author": "F'x", "author_id": 2700, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Just adding my two cents: around me, people commonly print out and bind their thesis in such a way that <strong>the one-page abstract is on the back cover</strong>. I think it makes a lot of sense, and allows one to get an idea of what the thesis is about without flipping pages (literally).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 147996, "author": "Onesmus Kamwara", "author_id": 123002, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/123002", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I would prefer to put acknowledgement before the Abstract so that I will be done with the preliminaries first, so that when one reads Abstract he will have started looking at the actual content. To me acknowledgement coming between the Abstract and the introduction is a disruption. But the guidelines of the University are to be followed.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2052", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/703/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2056, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>My guess is it's someone setting up a bot to try and get research articles for free. Once your paper is published, the copyright is owned by the journal. Unless you paid for open access, you are breaking the copyright by sharing the article. In addition, you are probably also breaking the terms of the subscription to the journal your university has.</p>\n\n<p><strong>In other words, ignore the email!</strong></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2060, "author": "Sylvain Peyronnet", "author_id": 43, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I don't even think this is for harvesting papers. My guess: it is to validate email addresses so that actual spam campaigns can achieve a better return on investment.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2065, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The worst case of responding is a little more spam, so I would respond. I often find myself in a culture slash between what I consider rude and students consider acceptable email behavior. It wouldn't surprise me if a number of students were prepping for an exam and all wanted your paper.</p>\n\n<p>As for the paper phishing bot, it seems like it would be more efficient to use student library access to download papers (automatically) than to collect them via email.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8994, "author": "Federico Poloni", "author_id": 958, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The beginning and the end of your account contradict each other, so I do not understand if you got this message many times, from several different addresses, or once or twice, from the same person. </p>\n\n<p>In the first case, it definitely seems a spam-like behavior.</p>\n\n<p>In the second, it could be a honest message from a grad student with poor English knowledge. Check if the names are compatible with this explanation; if so,\nI would definitely answer. It could even earn you a citation. :)</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2055", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2058, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In my experience I think the accepted practice is searching the peer-reviewed literature in your field. I'm not saying results published on websites/MSE, etc. aren't valid, they just aren't part of the expected search. Anyways, I don't think peer-reviewed journals would react well to web citations.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2059, "author": "Artem Kaznatcheev", "author_id": 66, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is a question of academic honesty and due diligence.</p>\n\n<p>If you did not arrive at the result yourself, but got it from someone else (either on SE or a homeless man on the street) then it is your responsibility to not claim credit for the result. Of course, in the case of the homeless man you can get away with claiming credit, and in most cases for SE, too. However, it is simply not honest.</p>\n\n<p>If you arrived at the result by yourself, then as a research you should provide due diligence and check if the result is already known. This usually consists of checking the standard sources (i.e. published papers, books) and the communities which you are a part of. \"Folklore\" in mathematics is vast, and MO, math.SE, and cstheory are all becoming part of it. If you are aware that others arrived at a result before you then you should mention it in your paper (either with a full citation, if applicable, or with an acknowledgement). </p>\n\n<p>However, just like you are not expected to search the back-log of every journal ever published, you don't have to scour the whole internet, either. If you want precedent of this: consider all the results that were published independently in the west and the soviet union during the Cold War. It would have been unreasonable of the scholars on both sides to be fully aware of the work of the others.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2061, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>As best I understand it, the clarified question is this: if you are writing a paper and find a posting on the internet that contains ideas on your problem (which may or may not be correct, may be difficult to understand, and in any case do not seem to constitute a complete solution), then should you cite it? Let's assume you are making no use of the ideas, since if you are then you obviously need to cite the posting (regardless of whether you developed the ideas independently).</p>\n\n<p>In general, you must cite it anyway. Of course, there are exceptions. If it's obviously crackpot work, then you are free to dismiss it as worthless. (Andrew Wiles didn't need to cite thousands of crackpot \"proofs\" of Fermat's Last Theorem.) If it's really only tangentially related to the problem you are working on, then it may not be relevant enough to cite. However, it absolutely <em>does not matter at all</em> whether the work is peer reviewed or formally published, who wrote it or what their credentials are, whether it is complete, how easy it is to find, or whether it is difficult to understand.</p>\n\n<p>You don't have to endorse it, and citing a paper does not in any way indicate that you feel it is correct. If you rely on the paper, then that's an endorsement, but mentioning it is not. For example, you could write \"Several authors have studied this problem, including...\" and give citations to them. Then readers can decide for themselves what to make of these contributions. They will understand from the form of your citation that you feel these works are closely enough related to be worth citing, but not important enough to your paper to discuss in detail. You can also say something more skeptical if warranted.</p>\n\n<p>One reason you don't see these sorts of citations very often is that this situation doesn't often arise. (I've never seen a post on mathoverflow or math.stackexchange that I felt I should cite in one of my papers.) And even when it does arise, the citation may be as a personal communication rather than giving a URL. (It's much better to give a more detailed citation, so other people can find and learn from or evaluate the posting, but I guess an uninformative citation is better than none at all.)</p>\n\n<p>As for due diligence in searching for prior work, there's no simple rule. You should search everywhere you feel there might plausibly be something to find, and you should consult with experts on anything you feel unsure of. It's certainly impossible to search the entire academic literature, let alone the entire internet, so you'll be forced to make compromises compared with an ideal world. For most purposes, non-academic internet sites will not be relevant enough to be worth searching carefully, but I guess it depends on the situation.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2062, "author": "Noah Snyder", "author_id": 25, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think due diligence in searching the literature includes:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Talking to at least one expert in the field</li>\n<li>Looking through the bibliographies of any major papers closely related to your paper to see if any of the titles look relevant.</li>\n<li>Searching on google scholar or something similar for papers which cite any papers closely related to your paper.</li>\n<li>Searching on google for some of the key terms in your paper.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>The last of these would pick up math.SE, but also often picks up lecture notes, slides, wikis, and other things which would not come up through more traditional academic sources. If you find something clearly relevant then you should cite it. Furthermore, you should do these things before getting too far into a project.</p>\n<p>That said, no matter how much due diligence you do, you're going to miss stuff sometimes. 5 years after <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1007/s000170050074\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">my first paper</a> was published, it was pointed out to me that Osterle gave the same argument in Seminaire Bourbaki (1987/8:165–186). More recently, one of the 3 main results in <a href=\"https://arxiv.org/abs/1007.2240\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this paper</a> follows from a 15 year old result of Popa. Searching what's known is incredibly hard even if you try your best. But that's no reason not to try your best.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2057", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/163/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2064, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm not sure whether this is on topic, but I'll answer anyway. </p>\n\n<p>It looks like you have time management problems. Sure, it is interesting to learn as much as possible about a topic and study it deeply, but ultimately, you have assignments and exams to complete. To a large degree you should be optimizing your time usage to do as well as possible in these.</p>\n\n<p>One way to determine whether you have learned enough is to attempt a lot of exercises. See how far you get with them. If you cannot do them, then this helps identify holes in your knowledge. Read about that particular topic. If there are things you don't understand while learning about the topic, work backwards and try to fill in those gaps.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2066, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is what I found worked for me throughout my undergrad career and continues to work in my graduate career:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Read the chapter focusing on the main ideas (not the details) before lecture.</li>\n<li>Take great notes in lecture.</li>\n<li>After lecture is done on a chapter, go back and re-read in more detail and make an outline combining the information in the book with what was presented in lecture.</li>\n<li>Do all the assigned homework problems, going back to your outline as necessary.</li>\n<li>If you have time, do the rest of the problems.</li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2069, "author": "Dan C", "author_id": 1069, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You may be interested to know that this problem doesn't go away when you finish classes. It's easy to struggle with the same question when you're doing research. Simply put, <strong>you don't have time to learn everything</strong>. You need to estimate how important a topic will be to your future studies (and future research). </p>\n\n<p>Similar to what you're describing, I feel a sense of security when I can reproduce the details of all the relevant proofs. However, taking this approach to everything I learn is simply infeasible. Perhaps you can take comfort in telling yourself that for the stuff that is most important, you'll reread it later and learn it in more detail. The difficulty is that right now you most likely can't really tell which material will be most important (to you). </p>\n\n<p>As I continue to listen to talks and read more papers (or take more classes, at an earlier stage of my career), I watch for which ideas keep coming up. When I hear about a topic repeatedly, I often become convinced that it's really worth learning in depth. In the time between first seeing a topic and finally sitting down to really understand it, I'm also likely to learn about many connections to other areas, which give me more motivation. In addition, I often grow in intellectual maturity, which makes it much easier to grasp ideas that were quite challenging the first time around.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2063", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/325/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2068, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I did it initially so that I would have a nice paper copy of my paper. In principle I could hand these out to my colleagues and other people who were interested in my work.</p>\n\n<p>This is rather out-dated these days. You can just send interested parties a pdf and they can read it on their iPad. Save the trees.</p>\n\n<p>I don't see any reason at all to actually pay for reprints. You have a copy already, right?</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2083, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In the 20 years since I published my first paper, I have been asked for actual paper reprints exactly three times: Twice by researchers, who each asked for one paper by <em>sending a postcard</em>, and once by my tenure committee, who required paper copies of everything I'd ever published. In the latter case, it was much easier to just download and print new copies than to hunt for the official reprints, which are still hding somewhere in the back of some disused filing cabinet. (My university finally stopped requiring tenure applicants to kill forests about two years after I got tenure.)</p>\n\n<p>So I'm gonna go with <strong>NO, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to get paper reprints.</strong></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2865, "author": "Raphael", "author_id": 1419, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1419", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The answer to this question depends on which timeframe you are concerned with, and how optimistic you are about modern technology.</p>\n\n<p>Finding copies of old, paywalled papers can be a problem. Nowadays, most papers are freely available on the web or at least in preprint form from the author's sites. DOI provides a robust way to link to them, even if the actual storage place should change. As the other answers state, <em>you</em> have probably no use for prints <em>now</em> (or in the near future).</p>\n\n<p>However, what happens in the remote future? Once you stop caring -- maybe you switch career or (eventually) die -- the situation is similar with old papers today: readers are at the mercy of publishers. Is your paper still paywalled? Is the publisher still there? Has some search engine cached a version? Can PDF still be read on modern devices? In the worst case, your paper is practically inaccessible.</p>\n\n<p>Does an archived paper copy help? Depends. There is no way any one place keeps hard copies of everything published. You can give your students and close colleagues hard copies for their own use, and maybe they keep so that maybe even in 50 years, an interested student who can not access your paper (easily) can get a copy from their professor that has undiluted value.</p>\n\n<p>For example, Flajolet died. I am certain my boss (who works in closely related field) knew whom to ask for his academic remains. My boss has himself inherited all the paper accumulated and written by his late advisor (one of which I actually retrieved from the archive to check out for an answer on cs.SE; because it was impossible to find on the webs). This is stuff that does not exist on the web, but in real-world networks. For such, paper is important. Maybe that model is doomed given our technological advances, but I have the feeling that it will have its place for some time at least.</p>\n\n<p>As far as I know, the issue of how we can keep our rapidly accumulating mass of data and knowledge at all and also accessible and organised over time is unsolved. It may be useful to keep that in mind.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2866, "author": "Federico Poloni", "author_id": 958, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In Italy, when you apply for a position, you often have to send together with the paperwork one to three dead-tree copies of your $N$ best papers (or sometimes even of <em>everything</em> you have published).</p>\n\n<p>This can easily amount to several hundred pages; multiply it by the number of positions you will apply for. It may be costly and troublesome to print them from a university printer. And, you know, printers are always low on toner the day before the deadline. </p>\n\n<p>So in this case reprints are handy to have. I assume Italy is not the only country where this happens.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 80713, "author": "James", "author_id": 65567, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65567", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Many of these answers look rather unimaginative a few years down the track, and are obviously provided mainly by mathmos and scientists. With the proliferation of digItal and documents circulated by email, your pdf is less likely than ever before to be read. In my experience - having ordered and posted (yes posted) paper offprints - I had a greater response from recipients than if I'd sent a pdf, which people now routinely ignore. Offprints are handsome and suggest thoughtfulness. Save the electronic copy for your promotion application.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2067", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2072, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you have some money to spend, <a href=\"http://www.gotomeeting.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">GoToMeeting</a> will hands down make your collaborations feel as if they are in person. You can have a meeting with video, screen sharing, etc. and I believe they have a 30 day free trial.</p>\n\n<p>If you are looking to go the free route, try out <a href=\"http://www.dropbox.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Dropbox</a> for sharing drafts. It will automatically keep version history and it eliminates all the emails. You could also hold meetings over <a href=\"http://www.skype.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Skype</a>, however, it is only free for two video feeds.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2073, "author": "Zenon", "author_id": 257, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/257", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A good <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revision_control\">Revision Control</a>!! I use <a href=\"http://git-scm.com/\">Git</a> coupled with <a href=\"http://github.com\">github</a> being an efficient way (and free) to share and complete a collaboration, especially for <code>code</code> and <code>latex</code> files. </p>\n\n<p>Else, google docs is also free, allows to multiple persons to edit the same file at the same time, and you see who is doing what. You can do most \"Microsoft Word\" formats and things. You have also have as service free video-conference and chat.</p>\n\n<p>I highly <strong>discourage</strong> <code>Dropbox</code> to share files edited per <strong>more than one person</strong>. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2075, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>One of the hardest parts of remote collaboration is making sure everyone is on the same page. Agreeing on work flow in advance is critical. To me the most important thing is that everyone has a good understanding of the roles and expectations of the individuals. A good timeline, that is flexible, is also very useful. Agreeing upon software, programming, and writing style issues at the outset is also useful.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2076, "author": "Jaroslava Kubatova", "author_id": 1095, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1095", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>We use virtual world Second Life for team meetings. It is fun and we feel like we have traditional F2F meeting. We deal with the research of virtual team management. Some of our findings are available in my <a href=\"http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jaroslava_Kubatova2/\" rel=\"nofollow\">publications</a> </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 26998, "author": "andreas", "author_id": 20529, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20529", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I am in a mixed group of wet lab and dry lab (bioinformatics) people, and preferences are very different (Word vs. LaTeX), but the last three papers we have written in Google Docs. It has quite some benefits.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Use of Google Docs is free, you just need an G+ account</li>\n<li>Every one has immediate access to it</li>\n<li>You can write the manuscript collaboratively in realtime. You see the cursor positions of the other blinking. </li>\n<li>Since June 2014 Google Docs has \"track changes\". </li>\n<li>You can also easily exchange files (even huge files with Google Drive)</li>\n<li>No need to send multiple MS Word files around the globe and merge them afterwards</li>\n<li>Inserting references and formatting the bibliography works perfectly with Paperpile. Also collaborators that do not have Paperpile installed see all the references and citations properly formatted.</li>\n<li>Google Docs has excellent MS Word and PDF export. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As of writing the current free storage in Google Drive is 15 GB for regular users. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2071", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2077, "author": "Community", "author_id": -1, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I doubt the minimum is rigid and there is a room for lot of considerations.\nI'd like to point you to a specific example (IISc). Although the points are opinions of a single person, my conversations with people at IISc have yielded similar opinions.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://sites.google.com/site/giridharmadras/aboutme2\" rel=\"nofollow\">Prof. Giridhar Madras</a>(Did his PhD from TAMU in &lt;3 years!) has an <a href=\"http://giridharmadras.blogspot.in/\" rel=\"nofollow\">excellent blog</a> dedicated to IISc/IITs and some excellent articles for prospective faculty.</p>\n\n<p>He points to <a href=\"https://sites.google.com/site/newfacultyiisc/recruitment\" rel=\"nofollow\">one page that he authored about recruitments in IISc</a> from which I'd like to quote a few points:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Technically, there is no age bar and no limit to the experience a candidate may have, but with increasing years of experience, candidates must be considered for correspondingly higher appointments. Though IISc has recruited faculty from 27 to 37 years old at the assistant professor level, the median age of recruitment would be around 30.</p></li>\n<li><p>Begin making your enquiries at least one year before you actually want to move. The time taken to acknowledge an application vary from department to department, depending on the chairperson. If this happens, find someone you may know in the department and request them to check with the chairperson of the department. After an application is acknowledged, try to arrange an informal visit with a seminar. You can indicate that you are planning a trip to India in the month of X and would be happy to give a talk/seminar at that time. In your conversation with the chairperson, state the time frame you want to join the institute. Normally, chairpersons will arrange your talk. Besides the talk, a visit with all faculty will also be arranged. Talk to all faculty and make your research sound interesting to them. Talk about your doctoral and postdoctoral research, your future plans and how you plan to distinguish yourself from your advisors. If possible, explain why you think you will fit into the department. Also, there is nothing wrong in stating that you have applied to more than one place and your preferences depending on the offers. </p></li>\n<li><p>The suggested timeline is as follows: Apply to several institutes at month X. Follow up and try to get an acknowledgment by month X+1 or X+2. Then, send an email saying that you are visiting India in X+3 month and would like to give a seminar. Try to schedule as many seminars in many institutes in that month. After the seminar, inform them you are willing to return around X+6 months, which will require them to make a quick decision. You can return after X+12 months because the institutes will give you time to join. Please note that each department in IIT/IISc receives at least around 30 to 40 applications per position. Simply applying by email and expecting a detailed response is foolhardy. Unless the applicant shows repeated interest (followed by a visit to give a seminar), it is unlikely that the application will be considered seriously.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The Civil dept at IISc has an <a href=\"http://civil.iisc.ernet.in/facultypositions-faq.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">informal FAQ</a> for it's recruitments.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2079, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>There are no universal rules regarding employment status and being hired at US universities. In some fields, such as engineering, graduate students may be hired before they have completed <em>any</em> post-graduate professional experience. In contrast, in departments such as physics, it may be required to complete several post-doctoral appointments before being considered for faculty positions.</p>\n\n<p>There are some general guidelines, however:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>In less \"applied\" STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, more time is generally required in academic positions before earning a full-time faculty position.</li>\n<li>In more \"applied\" fields, the time spent is reduced. Unfortunately, in some cases, although industrial experience is often seen as a good thing, it also has a tendency to make it difficult to jump back into a research field—unless one has been employed in an industrial research capacity.</li>\n<li>In humanities fields, it's very difficult of to be able to continue to a faculty position after leaving academia. </li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2074", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2084, "author": "bobthejoe", "author_id": 319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Find a different supervisor. Maybe a very bored grad student. If that doesn't work work on a different aspect of the project until you hit another deadend.</p>\n\n<p>However, it sounds like you've tried both so there is always finding a new supervisor and a new project when you do finally go to grad school.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2085, "author": "Bravo", "author_id": 411, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You say you have learnt a lot, so you need not feel guilty. You do not think your work is publication-worthy yourself, and you also are leaving for grad school - so the only solution is to move on.</p>\n\n<p>Make a neat report explaining your work. Even if it is not publishable, you could include it in your resume as a \"<strong>technical report</strong>.\" From the tone of your question, this seems to be the only way out.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2086, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>One potential idea is to submit the work and get your degree and head off to grad school. Keep the work that you have done in a bottom drawer for a few months or a year. Then pull it out again and reassess whether it is any good or not. If it is good, then polish it up and submit it somewhere. If it is not good, then you've lost nothing.</p>\n\n<p>It's not uncommon to do unpublishable work at the undergraduate level. Don't worry about it and don't be hard on yourself.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2089, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To me it sounds like you don't really communicate with your supervisors — that is key to research, even with an independent project. Especially with undergrad research, your supervisor is there to help guide you on your project. With graduate school so close, make sure you conclude with a good meeting with your supervisors.</p>\n\n<p>Also, take this as a learning experience for two things:\n1. Research doesn't always work...in fact, it fails more often than it works. If the answers were apparent and easy, it wouldn't be research.\n2. Communication with your supervisor/advisor is KEY!</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2082", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2088, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As a second year grad student in chemistry, I would say the two most important factors are if there are multiple professors you could see yourself working for and if you feel like you could spend the next 5+ years of your life at the school/in the area. You are going to be stressed out with work, so you want to enjoy where you're living.</p>\n\n<p>I haven't heard of any US chemistry PhD grad programs that don't pay tuition + insurance + stipend, so I don't think that's much of a worry (I would, however, make sure you get all that).</p>\n\n<p>The renown of the school and success of past alumni is actually less important than you'd think. Grad school is all about your research advisor and your research (i.e. a better professor at a lower tier school is better than the other way around).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 55854, "author": "Akg", "author_id": 42358, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/42358", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Prestige</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Prestige is basically the currency of the academic world. And in the current, grimmer-than-death job market for physical sciences, the prestige of the institution you got your PhD from <strong>is the main factor</strong> in your post-PhD success, or absence thereof.</p>\n\n<p>It might sound stupid, unfair and cynical. Because <strong>it is</strong>. Your success should be proportional to your own value, hard-work and scientific output. But with 200 to 300 graduates applying for every opening position, even in third-class colleges and small firms, <strong>the prestige of your last-attended institution is the actual cut-off</strong>. I have personally met people sitting in hiring committees who openly admitted that any application from someone who didn't graduate from a top-10 US programme or EU equivalent (Oxford, Cambridge, ETH) will go straight to the bin without further reading. Only after this first filter has been applied will they actually start going through your publications, letters of recommendation and actual personal achievements. </p>\n\n<p>So yes, all in all, working for an awesome group in a second-class university might trump working in a mediocre group from an Ivy League. But <strong>nothing</strong> trumps working in an awesome group in a top-tier university, like dozens, not to say hundreds of graduate students do every year. <strong>Those same students you will be faced against when applying for jobs and post-docs</strong>. So in today's gigantic <em>battle royale</em> of a job market, where less than 10% science graduates actually land a tenure-track position, if you don't have the full package, you don't stand a chance. That's just how it is.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, I simply wouldn't do a PhD in physical sciences again. And if I did, I certainly wouldn't even consider doing one out of the top-10 programmes of your field. It simply isn't worth your time in terms of employability. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2087", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2093, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Being invited to present a paper or give a keynote is an honour. It shows that the community recognizes your work. Of course, it is also a way to further advertise your work, or to reflect on what you have done. Generally, the audience is larger for invited speakers. </p>\n\n<p>One accepts the invitation if one has time and prestige of the conference matches one's reputation. If you have a small reputation, an invited talk at a workshop is an honour. If you are super-famous, you'll tend to only accept invitations to prestigious events.</p>\n\n<p>The cost may depend on how much money the conference has in its budget, which will often depend on the sponsors. Sometimes the conference will waive the registration fee, often they may provide accommodation also, and sometimes they may even cover airfare. Bigger conferences will be able to cover more of the costs. Small workshops may not be able to cover any of the costs.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2094, "author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX", "author_id": 725, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In addition to Dave Clarke's answer: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I get quite a lot of \"invitations\" from <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/101/how-do-you-judge-the-quality-of-a-journal\">scam journals</a>, which I ignore.</p></li>\n<li><p>Most of the conferences I attend now publish their \"proceedings\" as a special issue of one of the relevant journals, and they undergo the usual peer-review. I'd expect that this is true too for the proceedings paper belonging to an invited talk.<br>\nHowever, many of the invited lectures are actually more lecturing(*) than presenting the very newest work. So the work presented there usually is already published.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>(*) I like it if invited and keynote lectures are actually teaching. It's like an oral review paper, and I think it is a good idea to have an overview and common starting level for hearing the more specialized talks that follow.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2097, "author": "Dan C", "author_id": 1069, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You asked whether there is any merit to presenting an invited paper other than advertising your work. <strong>Yes.</strong> What you really want, more than people getting excited about a particular paper you write, is for them to <strong>get excited about you</strong>. You want to be viewed as a valuable member of your community, whatever community you choose that to be. </p>\n\n<p>So partly your talk is an advertisement for your work, but more than that, your talk is an advertisement for you, the helpful guy or gal that you are. It increases your visibility, but it's your job to follow up on the opportunities this visibility creates for you. Talk with people. Listen. Really listen to what they're saying (and don't just wait for your turn to talk again). Remember names. Start building your network. Sometimes the most useful thing you'll do at a conference is to grab a beer with new friends, after the talks finish for the day. One key to building a successful network is really trying to help your contacts as much as trying to help yourself. (If you have more questions on networking, I'll be happy to share my thoughts, but I'll stop now for fear of drifting too far off topic.)</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2092", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2232, "author": "Matthew G.", "author_id": 1165, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think it's going to depend vastly on what kind of position you want to be headed into, and how deep down the rabbit hole you wish to go. </p>\n\n<p>The one thing I would say you ought to focus on is fundamentals: No matter what kind of work you end up doing, be it programming business processes or pursuing a PhD, getting your fundamentals straight will pay dividends over and over again. Courses in algorithms, software engineering, computer architecture, each will give you a different view into the work you do, no matter where you're doing it. A CS undergraduate degree would be a good choice, especially if grad studies is where you want to go after. I understand they vary in quality though, so that's something to bear in mind. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 46930, "author": "Ellen Spertus", "author_id": 269, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/269", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I teach in the <a href=\"http://www.mills.edu/academics/graduate/cs/program/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">post-bac CS program at Mills College</a>, which is aimed at people (like you) who have earned a bachelor's degree in a field other than CS and want to transition into CS, most in order to go into software engineering (although we also <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/46929/269\">prepare students for PhD programs</a> and teaching). </p>\n\n<p>While not quick or cheap, post-bac programs are usually a better choice than a second bachelor's degree, since students don't have to take anything other than CS and related math courses, and many of your peers will be in a similar position to yours.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 46981, "author": "Brett", "author_id": 35718, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/35718", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Depending on what you are aiming for (i.e. working at a tech. company versus being a professor) you may have enough qualifications already.</p>\n\n<p>The programming industry is still an industry that is extremely forgiving to those who do not have \"qualifications\" but who can do the necessary work. This is likely due to the age of the industry and the cross-disciplinary nature.</p>\n\n<p>If you feel you need more traditional preparation sites like <a href=\"http://coursera.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">Coursera</a> and others that provide Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC's) are a great place to get some CS courses and you can take some \"Intro\" courses and more advanced ones for free (paid certificates are also available). Also working on real open source projects (<a href=\"http://github.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Github</a> is one place to start looking for them) that align with your interests and skills will proved that you are capable and be a great resume item.</p>\n\n<p>From what you have written I think that you are just as well off spending time finding a company that needs the skills you already have (if you are a hobbyist you likely know at lest one language pretty well) and practicing the skills you do have.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2095", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1102/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2101, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No, final decisions take a while. It is not the fault of the program, but rather an issue of funding. Programs tend to initially reject very few applicants. An applicant that seems weak on \"paper\" might get accepted if their proposal fits into a very narrow funding scheme that no other applicants are eligible for. There is no global rank order of the applicants, but rather the \"best\" applicant for each funding scheme is identified. Programs generally construct strategies which lead to the most funding. The strategy is constantly revised when the program finds out about successful/unsuccessful funding applications and whether the applicant accepts the acceptance. Basically the whole system is a nightmare for everyone.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2117, "author": "Robert Long", "author_id": 979, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/979", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect a timely response, however it seems to be the case that many graduate schools are overwhelmed with applications and underestimate the time it takes to deal with them. A slightly more cynical view would be that many graduate school admin departments are understaffed and don't have the resources to cater for expected number of applicants. In my case I submitted my application on 28 Feb and was informed that interviews would take place \"during the week of the 19 March\". This date came and went and I assumed I had not been successful, so I called the Faculty Graduate Office the following week and was informed that the process was taking longer than expected but I would be notified of the status in due course. On 5 April I received an email saying I had been selected for interview and \"we will contact you shortly with an interview date and time\". On 25 April I was given the interview date (for the middle of May).</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend that you just call them and ask to know the status.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2099", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/141/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2102, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm located in Belgium in a computer science department. Recent positions that I've advertised have had between 3 and 30 applicants, depending on the topic. Most applicants were poor or hard to assess (from countries we have little experience with). </p>\n\n<p>We currently have 8 positions open and are not expecting to get 8 good candidates.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2103, "author": "Ana", "author_id": 322, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>There was over 80 for the position I applied for a few years ago, at a Dutch neuroscience institute with a good reputation. I imagine there would be more at world famous universities in the US. I hear that most of the time, most applicants aren't that good, even the top 10% who make it to the interview. In my case the best candidate got the position, and the one ranked second (me) got an offer for a position later on... so in the end it was one out of 40. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2104, "author": "scientifics", "author_id": 1081, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1081", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It really depends on the school and the program. For example, most big US universities that have chemistry PhD programs take ~50 new graduate students every year, so I can't imagine there are <em>too</em> many applications for each spot...</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2107, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I wonder if the OP is asking a more Euro-specific question ? In the US you don't apply for a single position - rather there's a large pool of applications for a small set of \"slots\". In contrast to the answer by @scientifics above, in CS it's not uncommon to see over 500 applications for around 15-20 slots. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2108, "author": "InquilineKea", "author_id": 77, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/77", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>For Physics (and some Astronomy) PhD programs, you can find out a lot of the information about acceptance rates and total # of applicants from the <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0735409668\" rel=\"nofollow\">AIP graduate handbook</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Much of the same information is found at www.­gradschoolshoppe­r.­com, which is somehow down today...</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2112, "author": "Thraupidae", "author_id": 1106, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1106", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The University of Minnesota is one of few institutions that makes their admissions statistics publicly available <a href=\"https://apps.grad.umn.edu/programs/select_program.aspx?l=t\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://apps.grad.umn.edu/programs/select_program.aspx?l=t</a> (choose a field and press the \"Program Statistics\" radio button) </p>\n\n<p>I pulled the info from my field (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and you can see that it varies from year to year but the mean is around 80. Here is the site for the EEB program: <a href=\"http://gradpub.grad.umn.edu/data/stats/ad/1124400.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://gradpub.grad.umn.edu/data/stats/ad/1124400.html</a></p>\n\n<p>In general, at least in the US, more and more people are applying to grad school since it is viewed as a viable alternative to the weak job market. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 43477, "author": "mort", "author_id": 13427, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13427", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The PhD market in CS in Austria is very much a buyers market. I know from at least two professors (both are very well known in their respective fields; one of them is a real \"big name\" in algorithms) that they have problems finding (reasonable good and motivated) PhD students. As a well doing Master's student (not a genius, they tend to go to the US or UK), I was offered several PhD positions.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 184915, "author": "TimRias", "author_id": 108889, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/108889", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I have been part of the selection process of several high profile European research institutes in physics. For recent calls we received somewhere in the 150-200 applications for a handful of PhD positions (say 5).</p>\n<p>For concurrent application rounds at different institutes in different countries but in the same field, I saw somewhere between 30% and 50% overlap in the candidate pools.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 184966, "author": "Marisol Valverde", "author_id": 156131, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/156131", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As mentioned before, in some US universities every year there is a cohort of new students entering a given PhD program (cohort size can vary a lot even between departments of the same university). At Cornell University, in the life science departments (e.g. Ecology &amp; Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Plant Sciences, etc) applications received per year can be ~ 100- 150, and cohorts are usually around 10 students per year.</p>\n<p>Although the question of &quot;if things have gotten more competitive&quot; in the last decade might be department/school dependent- here are two websites of universities showing their admission stats over the past years- with overall number of applications seemingly going up:</p>\n<p>Cornell University Doctorate programs: <a href=\"https://tableau.cornell.edu/t/PublicContent/views/TheOneDashboard/TheOneDashboard?%3Aorigin=card_share_link&amp;%3Aembed=y\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://tableau.cornell.edu/t/PublicContent/views/TheOneDashboard/TheOneDashboard?%3Aorigin=card_share_link&amp;%3Aembed=y</a></p>\n<p>University of Chicago: <a href=\"https://provost.uchicago.edu/initiatives/phd-program-data\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://provost.uchicago.edu/initiatives/phd-program-data</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2100", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/141/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2118, "author": "David Ketcheson", "author_id": 81, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I don't think there is a meaningful answer to this question that is helpful across all US math departments and advisors. There is too much variation in what is expected. You need to find out what your committee expects.</p>\n\n<p>That said, if I had to answer without knowing your department or committee, I would recommend trying to focus on the big picture but making sure that you spend most of your time explaining your contribution to that big picture. That's certainly what you'll want to do for job talks, which you're presumably also giving around now.</p>\n\n<p>If the committee is concerned about your understanding of the technical parts of the proofs, they can ask you in the closed exam following the public talk.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2127, "author": "KReiser", "author_id": 934, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/934", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Two general suggestions which can overrule anything else I'm going to say: Ask your advisor about the talk! Practice your presentation with your advisor, if that's alright with them.</p>\n\n<p>In general, you should not give details of proofs unless pressed; even then, you should be careful. Proving real theorems in talks (even thesis defenses) is hard, time consuming, and generally of minimal benefit to the audience. You should instead try to give the general picture of what you've done.</p>\n\n<p>Some other good resources for communicating math are:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ams.org/notices/200709/tx070901136p.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ams.org/notices/200709/tx070901136p.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ams.org/profession/leaders/workshops/gcoll.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ams.org/profession/leaders/workshops/gcoll.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>Neither are specifically about the thesis defense, but are general resources for math talks. I've found them both helpful at various points.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2105", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1104/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2109, "author": "bobthejoe", "author_id": 319, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Students change advisors all the time for all sorts of reasons. While it is important that advisors and advisees have to recognize that they are supposed to work on improving their relationships and fight through tension, sometimes it just doesn't work out or will not work out in the long term. I've changed advisors and during that process, I found several other students who have gone through the same experience.</p>\n\n<p>It is important to recognize that this does happen for better or for worse and it is important for you to do what is necessary to do what is best for you. Despite what you would think, people (even academics) don't really put much weight on seeing someone change careers or direction so you shouldn't worry about such things being regarded as suspicious.</p>\n\n<p>The first step would be to find a set of people that you can rely on for rational advice since this will likely be an emotional transition. Parents and close friends come to mind but also finding an older student, administrative staff, and understanding professors will be key. In my case, my co-advisor and one of my committee members were resources in addition to several senior graduate students who had changed advisors.</p>\n\n<p>The second would be to start to find a new advisor. If you get along with your current advisor, he would make good suggestions, if you're switching behind his back, probably not so much. As you a mid-PhD student, you now have a much better understanding of what type of advisor/mentee relationship you want and you can narrow down advisors based on that reputation. During my search, I got in touch with senior students first asking them able advising styles (and availability of funding). Only after that initial conversation did I meet with the advisor themselves. Despite what you would think, advisors actually like picking up/stealing veteran graduate students from other advisors due to the expertise that they may add to the discussion.</p>\n\n<p>Finally is the administrative side. You chair will have to know about this and your committee will likely be restructured. People don't have to know the reason why you've changed (my current advisor still doesn't know). If possible, try not to burn any bridges since you will likely need his (his/her for other people reading this) signature at somepoint on your thesis. Try to keep things professional since this really is a career based move rather than something personal although it really is.</p>\n\n<p>The best news is that everyone I've known who have changed advisors are/were really happy about their new sitatuion. It's just a very stressful transition but it really wasn't as stressful as I was expecting.</p>\n\n<p>(edit) I've noticed this about eykanal's answer regarding the timing. Yes, it is inevitably that you will lose some time especially if you're in the thesis writing stage of your career. However, if you're an earlier student in the dissertation/research phase (I was in my 3rd year), I didn't feel like I lost much time. Most of the first years of grad school are \"wasted\" relearning learning and taking classes. Especially in the sciences, most of the early years is developing various soft-skills and competence which isn't lost when you change advisors/research projects. Furthermore, spending an extra year to reconfigure a PhD is probably better than falling into ABD purgatory.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2110, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are many reasons students may switch advisors during the course of their postdoc, so I would not worry too much about the statement is says about you. Given the situation you described, you could simply state that as you progressed through your research your interests diverged, and that would be both truthful and tactful.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding finding another advisor, I would try the following:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Talk to your department chair. He/she may be able to help you find other people in your university whose interests align with yours.</li>\n<li>Talk directly with other professors. Let them know that you're interested in their research, and are interested in joining their lab.</li>\n<li>Look to switch universities and start everything from scratch.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Do note that, no matter what route you choose, you will have lost a significant amount of time; your new advisor will almost certainly want you to do things you haven't yet done, and will not fully value some things you already have done.</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, I would definitely recommend meeting with your advisor more frequently to avoid such situations in the future.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2106", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1105/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2145, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://womeninscience.nih.gov/nihwide/index.asp\">NIH</a> and <a href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5383\">NSF</a> have efforts to encourage women to enter, and stay in, biomedical sciences (NIH) and science and engineering (NSF) careers. I am not sure to what extent these efforts are evidenced based. I am not aware of to what extent the IEEE, DOD, etc. have formalized their \"inclusion\" efforts.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 54163, "author": "Fomite", "author_id": 118, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I imagine actual studies will be few and far between - they'd be difficult to conduct, and I suspect the reasons behind many of the outcomes would be near impossible to establish with a degree of certainty. For example, if a woman leaves academia because she got saddled with tons of committee work, student advising and other activities, and is denied tenure, was she just unproductive? Did she get saddled with those duties <em>because</em> she is a woman?</p>\n\n<p>Beyond funding initiatives, which StrongBad discussed a bit, I think there are some very serious \"quality of life\" considerations that impact the retention of women in academia:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"Mommy Tracking\" (A \"mommy track\" is when a woman is put on a particular career trajectory as a result of having, or planning to have children. While it may involve flexible work arrangements, it is often at the expense of her professional career and may involve limited advancement opportunities, being regarded as \"less serious about research\", etc.) While now notorious enough that it ought to be a thing of the past, penalizing female academics for having children - or the possibility that they <em>might</em> have children - forces women to make a Family vs. Career choice that most male academics never have to make. Faced with this dilemma, some female academics will choose family, resulting in a higher attrition rate among women. Worse, some promotion committees, etc., will effectively make the choice <em>for</em> them.<a href=\"http://workplaceflexibility.org/images/uploads/program_papers/mason_-_keeping_women_in_the_science_pipeline.pdf\">This report</a> goes over some of this. </li>\n<li>For those female academics who do have children, consider providing things like breastfeeding rooms or daycare at major conferences. </li>\n<li>Actively questioning our own implicit biases. If your field has a large number of women in it (like my own), the panels at conferences, the awardees, society officers, etc. should have a fairly large number of women in them. Even for fields with less women in them - if 10% of your field is female, but <em>none</em> of your invited speakers for a major conference are, that might indicate some implicit bias in how people construct panels, think about the luminaries in their field, etc. Looking at things like panel composition and asking \"Do we have any women? If not, why not?\" is a useful exercise. Note this is <em>not</em> a quota system. The answer may be that no women applied for an award this year. Or that everyone who published on this aspect of a subfield this year happened to be a man. But it also might not be. This kind of thing will impact both the careers of the women chosen, but also allow women who are junior in the field to see \"people like them\" as big names in the field, which has been shown to be important.</li>\n<li>Stemming from the above, avoid tokenism. The female faculty you <em>do</em> have shouldn't have higher burdens of committee work, etc. because \"We need a woman on the X committee and you're the only one\" while their male colleagues are left free to do research.</li>\n<li>Make academia <em>unfriendly</em> to sexist statements. Actually speak up when you hear them. Don't dismiss it as \"Oh, X doesn't have any social skills, but they're a brilliant researcher...\" when it's driving away other brilliant researchers who don't want to be treated as if they are sex objects (unwelcome flirting, comments on their appearance, etc), or have their accomplishments and contributions dismissed because of their gender.</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 54171, "author": "AMR", "author_id": 38587, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38587", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Studies of the nature you are referring to are often published by The National Academies Press. While the print versions must be purchased, NAP provides Electronic Versions in PDF form or online reading for free.</p>\n\n<p>This study, <a href=\"http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11741\">Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering</a> is slightly dated as it was published in 2007, but likely is just as relevant today.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12062/gender-differences-at-critical-transitions-in-the-careers-of-science-engineering-and-mathematics-faculty\">Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty</a> is from 2010 and deals with the differences in career tracks between men and women in the sciences</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18556/seeking-solutions-maximizing-american-talent-by-advancing-women-of-color\">Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia</a> from 2013 explores the specific challenges that women of color face and explores recommendations to promote inclusion in that community.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11624/to-recruit-and-advance-women-students-and-faculty-in-science\">To Recruit and Advance: Women Students and Faculty</a> from 2006 discuss best practices on how to attract women to STEM roles in academia.</p>\n\n<p>Some of these are a few hundred pages, so there is a substantial amount of material to get you started. I hope that you find these helpful.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 54545, "author": "aparente001", "author_id": 32436, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I like this very much: <a href=\"http://www.aauw.org/research/why-so-few/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics</a>, published by the American Association of University Women (AAUW).</p>\n\n<p>There's the full report and some succinct versions, including a power point presentation. On each slide showing a graph, there are several Do's highlighted on the right with animation. Excellent, very helpful.</p>\n\n<p>My pet peeve, the lack of opportunities for girls to play with three-dimensional construction toys, gets prominent mention.</p>\n\n<p>(The implicit bias questionnaire they linked to was <em>weird!</em>)</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2113", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1108/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2116, "author": "Speldosa", "author_id": 141, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/141", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<p>This is of course always hard to protect oneself from. However, I would say the best way to ensure that your research proposal hasn't been investigated before is to get in contact with an expert in the field and ask him or her this.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, you should investigate the topic thoroughly before approaching the expert. One tip to do this is by using a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_index\">citation index</a>. This enables you to track how a certain paper has been cited, meaning you can follow the trail and more effectevly find out what has been done. For example, if you have located an old seminal paper in your field, finding out which papers have referenced this one should give you a fair chanse of finding what you're looking for.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2121, "author": "Artem Kaznatcheev", "author_id": 66, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As an undergraduate doing research, <strong>your primary goal is to learn</strong> and publishing is secondary. Of course, publishing your results and going through all the associated things for the first time is part of the learning. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with spending your undergraduate years rediscovering something. To bring up a particularly relevant example for today: Alan Turing was elected a fellow of King's College in 1935 (at the end of his undergrad) by proving the central limit theorem. He failed to notice that it was already proved in 1922. I am sure he learned a lot from it.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, you have to be prepared to rediscover. If you are not it can be very discouraging. From a <em>person experience</em>, when I was an undergrad preparing my first first-author paper for submission I ended up finding previous work that had shown almost the same results 3 years prior. I had spent a lot of time rediscovering the ideas and writing my paper and it was a pretty devastating blow. My supervisor's words of encouragement: \"Don't worry, at least we know we're on the right track\". </p>\n\n<p>He was right, and I was able to learn a lot from the experience (eventually leading to other publications). The particular paper in question sat in the back of my filesystem for a while, but I returned to it 2 years later with fresh eyes to discover that it was not as derivative as I had originally judged it and even this paper ended up being published (with some modifications) at a conference.</p>\n\n<p>Another adviser takes the idea of rediscovery even further. When we move into new territory on a project, he will suggest some directions knowing that the relevant theorems have been proved already. He will tell me: \"this result has been proven, but don't look it up, you will arrive at it on your own and then we will both be able to understand it better\". This approach works very well in math-like fields since you have the advantage of knowing what you are going after as true, but still get to experience all the joy of (re-)discovery and the lessons you learn along the way. Something that is often not obvious from just reading somebody else's paper.</p>\n\n<p>As an undergrad, don't worry about accidentally working on something that has been done. Concentrate on learning as much as you can!</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 3047, "author": "ElCid", "author_id": 1520, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1520", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>My answer is probably hidden in the previous ones but I'll give it a go anyways:</p>\n\n<p>1) <strong>never assume that you discovered a completely new field</strong>: if there's something that I learned in my research years is to be humble. Maybe soeone starts very boldly thinking that they're the best researchers in the <em>world</em>, but for sure everybody at some point realises that the field is populated by experts, who know a great deal of things in the area. So in the case of finding out others sharing your ideas, humbly try and learn from them; in the (exceptional) case of really finding out a new research avenue, humbly start collaborating with others because you won't make any difference to the field only working by yourself.</p>\n\n<p>2) <strong>similar ideas do not prevent you from engaging on the same topic</strong>: this is very common, and I've seen it happening a lot of times. Researchers become depressed when they see that something similar to their ideas has been published already. I think that what happens there is that you find something related, and even if you did not do the work, tend to believe that you would have done <em>exactly</em> the same steps. It's only when you engage directly with the problem that you discover that you would tackle it (slightly or vastly) differently: that gives you a lot of <em>potency</em> in my opinion, and it's a very good exercise. Take an existing problem, which has been tackled already, and give it your spin.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 77200, "author": "Armatus", "author_id": 754, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/754", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Several years down the line, I'm now be able to answer this question myself: <strong>you can't exclude it</strong>, and this isn't limited to academic topics. People will disclose what research, products, startups or concepts they are working on at conferences, competitions, social events,... but you can never know whether they're working on something and intentionally not disclosing it. Internet research is the closest you can get, supplemented by asking people who know the field you're interested in.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 77209, "author": "Nikey Mike", "author_id": 51566, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/51566", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Nowadays, people usually submit the preprints for the papers on arxiv. Hence, if you have an idea you can search the databases(arxiv and different research engines such as inspires in physics, for other topics I believe it would be different) by different combinations of words and see if someone else explored that particular idea. You shouldn't be bothered by the novelty of an idea. Suppose you have an idea and you work on it, the outcome would be in general very personal. Even if someone proved a known result and therefore can not publish this result since it has been published before, what one gained in the precess is more than just an idea. In the process of exploring an idea, one develops the techniques which are necessary of creating/observing/exploring ideas in the field, and in no time a new idea which hasn't been explored before comes in. \nIn the end, don't bother with this problems, just go ahead with the research.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2115", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/754/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2123, "author": "Dave Clarke", "author_id": 643, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Patents are about owning and protecting an idea to make money from it in the future.</p>\n\n<p>Papers are about advancing science. A paper lays claim to an idea, but anyone else is allowed to build on that idea without having to pay royalties. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2125, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To add to Dave Clarke's answer: Even in the rare cases when a publishable result is also patentable, filing for a patent is a serious amount of work. Filing a patent application costs thousands of dollars; submitting a paper is free. Filling a successful patent requires <em>very</em> specific and formal language, which is not the same as the specific and formal language used to communicate with other researchers. Why should we spend all that extra effort for <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/1808/65\">so little reward</a>?</p>\n\n<p><em>Or Someone else picks up my theory, develops it further and gets a patent? How would the situation be then? What should I do under such a situation?</em></p>\n\n<p>You should cite the patent in your tenure case as iron-clad evidence that your research has real-world impact. Congratulations!</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2126, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<blockquote>\n <p>not all, but many papers (that are accepted and published) are based on ideas that can be patented as well</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is a misconception. Even in engineering, only a small minority of papers contain ideas worth patenting. The further you get from engineering, the smaller this fraction gets.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>So, why is that there is no system in which a person can apply for a publishing a paper and also getting the idea patented at the same time?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You can indeed do both things in parallel, but not via the same process. Publishing a paper is an academic process, whereas filing a patent application is a legal process, and the two things just don't overlap very much.</p>\n\n<p>It's kind of like asking why you can't write your dissertation and apply for jobs via the same process. You can certainly work on both at the same time, and there is a relationship between them, but fundamentally they aren't the same thing.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it possible that I publish a paper, do not get it patented and during that time someone else patents my work in his name?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, it's not possible. Well, technically someone could try, but they would be wasting their time, since your paper would serve as \"prior art\" that would invalidate the patent.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Or someone else picks up my theory, develops it further and gets a patent? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That could happen, whether or not you file for a patent. They would own the intellectual property rights to the extension of your work, but not to your work itself.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2122", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2129, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is a very difficult question to answer, since there are so many disciplines and so many programs at so many universities, all of which have their own rules.</p>\n\n<p>But in general, the standard master's program (or coursework phase of a doctoral program) is designed to take someone who has a bachelor's degree <em>in the same field</em> and bring them up to a level of competence sufficient to pursue graduate-level research in that field. Very little allowances, if any, are made for people coming from other disciplines and programs, and they're certainly not designed for someone starting with no knowledge whatsoever. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2131, "author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten", "author_id": 440, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>They are coming to <em>grad</em> school, not some hand-holding, jolly the kids along, summer program. </p>\n\n<p>It is assumed that if students arrive with a deficiency they will take the necessary remedial classes (often that means getting in with the upper-division undergrads) and if you have forgotten something they will do the necessary boning up.</p>\n\n<p>They will be boning up on things from time to time for the rest of their lives, after all. Might as well get in some practice in school.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2143, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I agree with @aeismail's and @dmckee's answers, but let me add a different spin:</p>\n\n<p>Students are admitted to strong PhD programs not on the basis of how much or what they <em>know</em>, but rather on their potential for successful research. Every program admits students from all over the world, who may or may not have undergraduate degrees in exactly the same field. Beyond a few fundamental concepts, it is not reasonable to assume that incoming graduate students have <em>any</em> specific prior knowledge. </p>\n\n<p>That said, most courses for PhD students are generally taught <em>as if</em> the students have a strong undergraduate background in the same field. The definition of \"strong undergraduate background\" depends <em>strongly</em> on the graduate program; the expectations at the top PhD programs are generally extremely high. More importantly, <strong>PhD students in top departments are expected to have the intellectual maturity to recognize and correct weaknesses in their background</strong>, even if the missing material is <em>not</em> normally covered in a strong undergraduate program.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Also:</strong> Courses are arguably the <em>least</em> important part of any PhD program.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2144, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In my experience it is not uncommon for first year grad classes to share a syllabus (and lectures) with an undergraduate class. The grad class often has some additional assignments (e.g., an extra or longer paper or additional problems in homework assignments).</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2128", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2132, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are two issues here: what do advisors want, and what can they observe? In principle, I think most would choose Person 1 over Person 2, if they knew all the facts. However, this choice will not typically arise in practice, because they won't be able to verify the \"thirst for knowledge and good grasping power\".</p>\n\n<p>Classroom performance, no matter how excellent, is generally not sufficient for admission to a strong graduate school. The problem is that lots of students get excellent grades, and these grades are only loosely correlated with research ability. The only way to stand out is to do something that's fundamentally more impressive than doing well in courses; this could be a research project, or a substantial exposition, or coding, or any number of other things. Research has some advantages, since that's what you're aiming to do in grad school, but it's by no means necessary. However, if you don't do any research, then you'd better have some other way of demonstrating your talent.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if Person 1 has done no research, but wrote a beautiful, 80-page undergraduate thesis giving an exposition of forcing and the continuum hypothesis, then that might count for more than most undergraduate research projects. On the other hand, if Person 1 can point to nothing concrete except course grades, then that will likely be a problem.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2135, "author": "David Ketcheson", "author_id": 81, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>From your question, I'm guessing that you're coming from the American system (or similar) in which it is common for students intending to pursue the Ph.D. to start in the MS program at the same school. While they are completing MS requirements, they try to find an advisor and a research project for the Ph.D.</p>\n\n<p>I think that often the advisor will expect the student to start a project and demonstrate some competence and progress while the student is still TA'ing and taking classes. That way the advisor can measure the student's capability before committing to funding. I typically give a student some material to read and ask them to implement and test some existing algorithm, in order to help the student get started and to test the student's capability for research. The most important thing is the ability to rapidly understand new ideas well enough to implement them from scratch.</p>\n\n<p>Coursework is not sufficient to get you a research position, but it can certainly disqualify you. Usually prospective RAs have taken or are taking my (graduate-level) class, and I won't consider taking them on unless they get at least an A-.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2130", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2132, "author": "Anonymous Mathematician", "author_id": 612, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are two issues here: what do advisors want, and what can they observe? In principle, I think most would choose Person 1 over Person 2, if they knew all the facts. However, this choice will not typically arise in practice, because they won't be able to verify the \"thirst for knowledge and good grasping power\".</p>\n\n<p>Classroom performance, no matter how excellent, is generally not sufficient for admission to a strong graduate school. The problem is that lots of students get excellent grades, and these grades are only loosely correlated with research ability. The only way to stand out is to do something that's fundamentally more impressive than doing well in courses; this could be a research project, or a substantial exposition, or coding, or any number of other things. Research has some advantages, since that's what you're aiming to do in grad school, but it's by no means necessary. However, if you don't do any research, then you'd better have some other way of demonstrating your talent.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if Person 1 has done no research, but wrote a beautiful, 80-page undergraduate thesis giving an exposition of forcing and the continuum hypothesis, then that might count for more than most undergraduate research projects. On the other hand, if Person 1 can point to nothing concrete except course grades, then that will likely be a problem.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2135, "author": "David Ketcheson", "author_id": 81, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>From your question, I'm guessing that you're coming from the American system (or similar) in which it is common for students intending to pursue the Ph.D. to start in the MS program at the same school. While they are completing MS requirements, they try to find an advisor and a research project for the Ph.D.</p>\n\n<p>I think that often the advisor will expect the student to start a project and demonstrate some competence and progress while the student is still TA'ing and taking classes. That way the advisor can measure the student's capability before committing to funding. I typically give a student some material to read and ask them to implement and test some existing algorithm, in order to help the student get started and to test the student's capability for research. The most important thing is the ability to rapidly understand new ideas well enough to implement them from scratch.</p>\n\n<p>Coursework is not sufficient to get you a research position, but it can certainly disqualify you. Usually prospective RAs have taken or are taking my (graduate-level) class, and I won't consider taking them on unless they get at least an A-.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2134", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/894/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2138, "author": "stupidity", "author_id": 1078, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1078", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Yes, Elsevier publishing group provides professional language services, like editing. You can find about it <a href=\"http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageediting/index.cfm\">here</a> </p>\n\n<p>I also found <a href=\"https://wordy.com/\">this website</a> which looks good, and it's cheaper and quicker, I think. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2160, "author": "Roaring Fish", "author_id": 864, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/864", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Being a native speaker does not mean they are a good proof-reader. In fact, most are far from it.</p>\n\n<p>Your spelling- and grammar-checkers should pick up most of the horrors, and the common 'tricks' of pushing the text to one side for a few days and reading from the end to the beginning will probably allow you to catch the rest yourself.</p>\n\n<p>If your articles are for publication, the editor or sub-editors will tidy up the details if the text is basically sound. A thesis generally needs only to be clearly readable - nobody is going to pull you up for ending a sentence with a preposition or using 'that' instead of 'which'.</p>\n\n<p>For your CV... try a professional CV writer, or one of the many CV templates available on-line. Go to the the university ones though, to avoid the scammers.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2614, "author": "Dan C", "author_id": 1069, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Learning all the nuances of a second language can be overwhelming. Fortunately, when writing in a technical field, often the vocabulary needed for your paper is a tiny subset of the whole language. However, I recommend that when you get the chance you ask native speakers (or others who write clear, precise prose) to explain the motivation behind their decisions. One good resource that does this is <a href=\"http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~west/grammar.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Grammar According to West</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2618, "author": "Piotr Migdal", "author_id": 49, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are professional translators who offer editing and proofreading of scientific articles.</p>\n\n<p>Just google it (the good thing that they don't need to be nearby).</p>\n\n<p>Once I tried such service and I was happy (and the reviewers as well). And even a bit surprised, as I had some doubts if such service can work for scientific texts, full of jargon and complex ideas.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, to start with, the article needs to be decent enough - readable (even if with some grammatical errors). Otherwise you need someone to write it with you, not only correct.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2137", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/141/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2157, "author": "atiretoo", "author_id": 1116, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1116", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I think what you are asking can be carried out using Web of Science. I used address == \"Canada\" for the past 5 years, and immediately had published records for 241, 711 articles! You can ask for a citation report, which provides the information that Scimago has at the top. I think the issue you'll face is the sheer volume of data you're asking for. Even limiting the category to \"ecology\" (my field) yields over 3000 articles. </p>\n\n<p>Of course, this answer won't be much use if your university doesn't have access to WoS. </p>\n\n<p>The other thought I had was using Harzing's Publish or Perish (http://www.harzing.com/index.htm) which uses Google Scholar data. I tried a direct google scholar search, but can't immediately see how to limit it to articles <em>published</em> by people in the country as opposed to being about the country. </p>\n\n<p>I hadn't heard of Microsoft Academic Search (see comment by Gopi) - so I had a look. The short answer is yes, it will show you publications by geographic region, but you have to go in by institution. You can get a google scholar like list of papers - and export those in various formats, but I only found the export option at the level of individual author. \nFor example, Université du Burundi has 16 publications by 5 authors, with an H-index of 4. \nPretty cool map though. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2184, "author": "Bravo", "author_id": 411, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Adding to Gopi's comment, here's a snapshot of <a href=\"http://academic.research.microsoft.com/AcademicMap\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Academic map</a> at work. I could only see the cumulative publication count in every field; but from the highlight of a few Indian universities I doubt if any quality measure has been considered at all. Also it lacks the cumulative country statistic and the citation counts you ask for.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/ryuui.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2139", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/249/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2159, "author": "David Ketcheson", "author_id": 81, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81", "pm_score": 7, "selected": true, "text": "<p>First, you should probably publish in the same venues that you read and cite. Presumably those are reputable.</p>\n\n<p>Now to describe low-quality vanity publishers. Two essential characteristics are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The publication of very low quality material. This is usually immediately recognizable to any expert. Sometimes it's obvious to anyone; for example, <a href=\"http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=2210&amp;JournalID=160\">read this abstract</a>.</p></li>\n<li><p>A business model in which the author (rather than the reader) pays the publisher. Of course, this by itself isn't necessarily indicative of a low-quality publisher (think PLoS). But low-quality publishers can't make money off of subscriptions, since they provide no content of value.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Additional common characteristics of such publishers are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Mass e-mails (spam) to academics, especially when the recipients include researchers in unrelated fields. These e-mails may request submission of conference presentations, papers, or book manuscripts, or may contain invitations to journal editorial boards.</li>\n<li>A high number of prominent typographical errors in text attributable to the publisher. For instance, at the beginning of <a href=\"http://www.benthamscience.com/open/tonumj/articles/V004/1TONUMJ.pdf\">this article</a> \"abstract\" is mistakenly spelled \"abstarct\".</li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 117449, "author": "Nemo", "author_id": 32575, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32575", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There is an established framework for researchers: <a href=\"https://thinkchecksubmit.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Think. Check. Submit.</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ol>\n <li><strong>Think</strong>: Are you submitting your research to a trusted journal? Is it the right journal for your work?</li>\n <li><strong>Check</strong>: Use our <a href=\"http://thinkchecksubmit.org/check/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">check list</a> to assess the journal.</li>\n <li><strong>Submit</strong> Only if you can answer \"yes\" to the questions on our <a href=\"http://thinkchecksubmit.org/submit/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">check list</a>.</li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The resource is <a href=\"https://blog.doaj.org/2018/12/19/survey-reveals-need-for-good-guidance-about-trustworthy-places-to-publish-research/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">available in over 40 languages</a> as of 2018. If you want a more personal summary of such criteria, see <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/83776/32575\">qsp on why you don't need a list</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Note that an analysis of the numbers shows that <em><a href=\"http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2018/09/25/the-problem-of-predatory-publishing-remains-a-relatively-small-one-and-should-not-be-allowed-to-defame-open-access/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">The \"problem\" of predatory publishing remains a relatively small one and should not be allowed to defame open access</a></em>. Researchers are generally smart enough to not fall in obvious traps; what's left is mostly problems with peer review which exist anywhere, but mostly in journals with scarce transparency.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 159343, "author": "Clément", "author_id": 19627, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19627", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p><em>In addition to</em> <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/2159/19627\">the answer already offered</a>, you can use a tool such as the one developed by <a href=\"https://explore.lib.uliege.be/discovery/search?vid=32ULG_INST:ULIEGE\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">ULiège Library</a> to help you in your decision.</p>\n<p>Their tool, <a href=\"https://app.lib.uliege.be/compass-to-publish/test\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>Compass to Publish</em></a>, &quot;uses a criteria-based evaluation to quantify the degree of authenticity of open access journals requiring or hiding article processing charges.&quot;</p>\n<p>Even if you don't use their plat-form, their set of criteria / tests can be extremely useful to guide your judgment.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<h1>What are the criteria?</h1>\n<p><em>Compass to Publish</em> uses an evaluation method based on 26 criteria which take the form of questions. These criteria and questions are the\nresult of the critical and analytical work of the <a href=\"https://app.lib.uliege.be/compass-to-publish/pages/9/About\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">team\nbehind</a>\n<em><a href=\"https://app.lib.uliege.be/compass-to-publish/pages/9/About\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Compass to Publish</a></em>,\nwho have* *examined the practices of a significant number of predatory\njournals and publishers. This examination was then followed by a\nqualitative survey and selection of criteria developed by trusted\nlists and directories, as well as checklists for the identification of\npredatory journals, including:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>the <a href=\"https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">&quot;Transparency and best practice&quot; checklist of the Directory\nof Open Access Journals</a>\n(DOAJ) and the <a href=\"https://doaj.org/apply/guide/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">basic criteria for inclusion in the\nDOAJ</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11019-016-9740-3\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the list of criteria for the identification of predatory journals\ndeveloped by Eriksson &amp;\nHelgesson (2016)</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://blog.cabells.com/2019/03/20/predatoryreport-criteria-v1-1/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the v.1.1 criteria version for the identification of predatory\njournals developed by Cabells (a for-profit\ncompany)</a></li>\n</ul>\n<p>Looking at the full range of these criteria, we only retained those\nthat are:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>truly incriminating and easy to check to ensure user-friendliness;</li>\n<li>sufficiently relevant and clear;</li>\n<li>easy to use and check for users.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Some information regarding journal policies and procedures can be very\nhard and/or time-consuming to verify. We deliberately decided not to\ninclude this type of criteria in the evaluation process in an effort\nto ensure user-friendliness.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 168198, "author": "Bjarte Lund", "author_id": 134502, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/134502", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I suggest another approach: You have already performed a literature review for your introduction. What journals are your references published in? Have you ever cited a paper in the journal you are thinking about submitting to?</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2158", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2163, "author": "eykanal", "author_id": 73, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<ol>\n<li><p>Never use the solution manual before trying everything else; talk to friends, visit the professor, go to class and listen (!), check the internet. Once you use the solution manual for a problem, the potential gain from that problem is significantly and irrecoverably reduced.</p></li>\n<li><p>Use the solution manual to check your work. (Duh.)</p></li>\n<li><p>For problems you aren't planning on solving, you can use the solutions manual to create flashcards and other learning aides (if the course material is anemable to such a construct).</p></li>\n<li><p>If you have a friend/roommate/spouse/trained monkey who can compare your answers to the manual for you, such that you don't actually read through the manual, that may be useful for certain topics.</p></li>\n<li><p>You can make some good money selling it when the semester is over :)</p></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2166, "author": "JeffE", "author_id": 65, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Ignore it and write a new one.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Looking at the solution manual is <em>not</em> useful; it only gives you <em>answers</em>. The point of homework isn't the answers, but the struggle to find them.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 107733, "author": "NoVa", "author_id": 84548, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/84548", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<blockquote>\n<ol>\n<li><p>Attempt the problem on your own first.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>Use outside resources and your own research to try and answer the question.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n</blockquote>\n<p>If you get stuck and can't do it on your own without a little guidance, use outside resources to read about the problem, look through other examples to get an idea of the general procedure, and get a better grasp of what the final answer should actually look like.</p>\n<p>Personally, I don't like asking a professor for help or going to my TA's office hours unless I absolutely cannot figure out the problem on my own. So the next step might deviate from other people's opinions on how to use solutions manuals.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>Use the solution manual as a quick hint as to the next step.</li>\n</ol>\n</blockquote>\n<p>If you make it through some of the problem and get stuck somewhere, and you cannot find any kind of answer online or in the textbook, then use the solution manual to give you a quick hint as to how you should proceed. It's sometimes useful to see how the book author approached an integration or some weird algebraic step. If you make it to step three, then step four is the critical part of this method.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>Use the hint you just took as an opportunity to further your understanding. Work through similar examples outside of the actual homework problem (in the case of a math problem), use a keyword in the solution to read about that step (in the case of a physics problem), etc. Do further research on that particular step, so that when you encounter a similar problem in the future, you will know exactly what to do.</li>\n</ol>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Don't just write down the solution and move on, learn from it to deepen your understanding of the problem. After using the solutions manual and not making any progress on understanding the problem, or that particular step, then I use the following step.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>Go to a professor or your TA's office hours to ask the question and get a one-on-one dialogue going about your misconception, why your attempt failed, and/or why the author of the solution did that particular step.</li>\n</ol>\n</blockquote>\n<p>For a mathematics question, I typically ask them on math.stackexchange.com first, as I usually get a great response within minutes of my post. For a physics or other technical/theoretical questions, I found it best to discuss them with someone.</p>\n<p>By going through the steps as I have listed them above, I have found that by the time I go to a professor or TA, I can explain the issue I'm having and convey it without stumbling over myself. It taught me to figure out the issue I'm having exactly and to be able to ask a very specific question, rather than going to a professor and asking some vague question about an assigned homework problem and looking for them to give me the solution.</p>\n<p>Apologies for the novel, I hope this helps.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 161921, "author": "guest", "author_id": 134537, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/134537", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Don't just read the solutions. This is counterproductive. Work the problems yourself.</p>\n<p>However, after finishing, use the answer (not the worked solution) as a check. It is psychologically reinforcing to have a feedback loop and know that you did it right.</p>\n<p>If you were wrong, rework the problem. Often the reason will have been a minor calculational mistake (in STEM). You will usually be able to fix this on your own (without even seeing the detailed solution) just by being more careful. If not, sometimes the format of the answer will suggest a more conceptual thing that you missed or prompt you to relook at the textbook description/examples. This is crucial, that you fully redo even &quot;dumb mistake&quot; attempts. Doing this means you won't make them again. It's like music or sports. If you make a mistake, do it over. Do the entire exercise, not just the part you messed up.</p>\n<p>In the few cases where the above is not sufficient, look at the actual worked solution to see how they do it. But STILL. Then put the manual down and rework the missed problem yourself. You need to actually practice the solution process. Not just read it. Even though it seems hokey, it will help your learning, versus reading and saying &quot;OK, that was the trick&quot;.</p>\n<p>I do disagree with other answers that say you should prioritize outreach to friends, Chegg, instructors, SE, before checking the solution manual. It is a tool for you and is extremely convenient for the disciplined drilling problem solver. I would reserve that sort of personalized outreach for when you are baffled by the written solution itself. (Keep a written list and then see your instructor with them.)</p>\n<p>But absolutely do use the disciplined drill, check, repeat (if wrong) method that I espouse above.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2161", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2172, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Yes, it is possible to publish a paper on model analysis. I would treat this like any other situation in which I wanted to use someone else's \"data\". Generally, it would be the owner of the data (in this case the developer of the model) that would do the analysis. In the absence of an analysis that I need (or want, or think would be interesting), I would contact the owner(s)/developer(s) and see if they have plans for a similar analysis or would like to collaborate.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 79826, "author": "Harsh", "author_id": 64783, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64783", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Yes, <a href=\"https://conference.scipy.org/proceedings/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://conference.scipy.org/proceedings/</a> annually publishes papers related to scientific softwares. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2162", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2168, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In general, the more concrete your essay is—and the more it shows that you've thought through your plans and potential options at the school to which you are applying—the more strongly it will be considered.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, if you're pursuing an unconventional path, such as applying for psychology but also going for an MFA in design, then you'll probably want to make that clear from the very outset. Otherwise you run the risk of the faculty—which normally makes admissions decisions at the graduate level—thinking you've hoodwinked them somehow. When that happens, that can make your life very uncomfortable.</p>\n\n<p>So you should mention your full degree plans including, if possible, professors from both departments.</p>\n\n<p><em>However</em>, when it comes to writing the essay for admission, that depends a lot on the specific program you're applying to. If you are applying only for a master's program in psychology, then you should talk primarily about psychology-related topics. Your proposed work in design should amplify your psychology work, but not dominate it. On the other hand, if you're applying directly to the PhD program, and the MFA is an integral part of your plans, then you need to explain that at the outset, and should indicate what goals you'll achieve in the MFA that will help you with your PhD. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 24218, "author": "MrMeritology", "author_id": 17564, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I disagree with <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53/aeismail\">aeismail</a>, but with some qualifications.</p>\n\n<p>Generally, I encourage you to lay out your goals and overall plan, including both MFA and PhD. It's vital that you convey your <em>thought process and justification</em> for this plan, not just the plan. Is this an impulse? Or has it been many years in the making? Why does this plan suit <em>you</em> with your unique skills, capabilities, and disposition? Why does this plan fit the University and department that you are applying for? What about this plan is well known and what is uncertain and unknown?</p>\n\n<p>For example, you should be able to answer this critical question: Why bother with the MFA first? Why not just enter an interdisciplinary PhD program now? What does the combination give you that neither, alone, would provide?</p>\n\n<p>Have you evaluated the many Design Schools (D-Schools) at major universities? Stanford, MIT, and many others have these. If a PhD from these D-Schools won't meet your needs, explain why.</p>\n\n<p>In all of this, what you are really communicating to the committee is what is <em>unique about you</em> for MFA and <em>how you will be successful</em> in the MFA program.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>The qualification is that admissions criteria and process is very different for Masters vs. PhD. In Masters programs, no one cares whether you will be a valuable member of the academic research community. What they care about is: can you succeed in the course work (and thesis or capstone project, if required), and will you be a valuable contributor as member of the community of students. In PhD in Psychology, admissions is nearly always determined by whether you are the most attractive research assistant for one of the professors, given their interests and funding.</p>\n\n<p>Therefore, when you write your Masters application, you need to emphasize how your preparation and previous academic work set you up for success in course work and engagement with other students.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2167", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1119/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2170, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Resources like <a href=\"http://www.isiknowledge.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Web of Knowledge</a> should have information on the DOI's for any titles that have them available (which should be \"all of them\" for anything that's been published in the last few years).</p>\n\n<p>Tools like <a href=\"http://www.mekentosj.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Papers</a> or <a href=\"http://www.mendeley.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mendeley</a> should also be able to \"harvest\" DOI's for published papers.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2171, "author": "atiretoo", "author_id": 1116, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1116", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>So you can do this easily using e.g. Web of Science, and probably other bibliographic databases available through your library. </p>\n\n<p>If that isn't an option, a little google search lead me to the <a href=\"http://www.doi.org/faq.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">DOI website FAQ</a>, and question 3 is yours. There are 8 registration agencies for DOI, and no single way to search across DOI using document metadata. I tested the free <a href=\"http://www.crossref.org/guestquery/\" rel=\"nofollow\">crossref service</a> and it was unable to find one of my articles because that journal doesn't use the crossref agency. One of the other agencies has that information, but you might have to search all of them to find it. </p>\n\n<p>Finally, I tried Google Scholar, which will work if the article in question has reference information available online. That depends on the publisher. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2735, "author": "David LeBauer", "author_id": 258, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/258", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Reposted from <a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9711539/reverse-lookup-digital-object-identifier-given-table-of-citations/9795971#9795971\">StackOverflow</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <h2>Here are three options</h2>\n \n <h3>CSV upload to <a href=\"http://www.crossref.org\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">crossref.org</a></h3>\n \n <p>CrossRef allows you to upload the linked csv directly, and then\n performs a text query here: <a href=\"http://www.crossref.org/stqUpload/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.crossref.org/stqUpload/</a></p>\n \n <p>However, only 18 of the 250 queries (~7%) returned a doi.</p>\n \n <h3>XML Query</h3>\n \n <p>Based on the <a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/a/9711893/199217\">answer on SO by Brian\n Diggs</a>, here an attempt\n that does 95% of the work - toward writing the xml-based query, it\n still has a few bugs that require some deletion using <code>sed</code>. But the\n biggest problem that my \"session timed out\" when the query was\n submitted.</p>\n \n <p>the xml syntax includes an option to use fuzzy matching.</p>\n \n <p>the doiquery.xml contains the template text in @Brians answer; the\n citations.csv is linked above. (using R, a sample csv can be found on\n I have posted the first few lines of the table on <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ai_PDCcY5g2JdGN0VGxCd2NsNk5aQ0puUGlQZGczRkE&amp;output=html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">google\n docs</a>,\n or the <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ai_PDCcY5g2JdGN0VGxCd2NsNk5aQ0puUGlQZGczRkE&amp;output=csv\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">csv\n version</a>\n (not all records have a doi))</p>\n\n<pre><code>library(XML)\ndoiquery.xml &lt;- xmlTreeParse('doiquery.xml')\n\nquery &lt;- doiquery.xml$doc$children$query_batch[[\"body\"]]\n\ncitations &lt;- read.csv(\"citations.csv\")\n\nnew.query &lt;- function(citation, query = query){\n xmlValue(query[[\"author\"]]) &lt;- as.character(citation$author)\n xmlValue(query[[\"year\"]]) &lt;- as.character(citation$year)\n xmlValue(query[[\"article_title\"]][[\"text\"]]) &lt;- citation$title\n xmlValue(query[[\"journal_title\"]]) &lt;- citation$journal\n return(query)\n}\n\n\nfor (i in 1:nrow(citations)){\n q &lt;- addChildren(q, add.query(citations[i,]))\n}\naxml &lt;- addChildren(doiquery.xml$doc$children$query_batch, q )\n\nsaveXML(axml, file = 'foo.xml')\n</code></pre>\n \n <h2>CSV to XML Converter</h2>\n \n <p>Creativyst software provides a web based <a href=\"http://www.creativyst.com/cgi-bin/Prod/15/eg/csv2xml.pl\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">CSV to\n XML</a>\n converter. </p>\n \n <p>Steps: </p>\n \n <ol>\n <li>Enter columnames in ElementID's field,</li>\n <li>\"document\" in DocID field</li>\n <li>\"query\" in RowID field</li>\n <li>Copy / paste csv in \"Input CSV file\".</li>\n <li>Click Convert</li>\n </ol>\n \n <p>Also, see this related question:\n <a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9880808/shell-script-to-parse-csv-to-an-xml-query\">https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9880808/shell-script-to-parse-csv-to-an-xml-query</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 42642, "author": "knb", "author_id": 31688, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31688", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Easier, code-free:</p>\n\n<p>At this time, on the <a href=\"http://www.crossref.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">CrossRef homepage</a>, there is a text-input field \"Metadata search\". It says:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Search CrossRef's database of 71 million records for authors, titles,\n DOIs, ORCIDs, ISSNs, FundRefs, license URIs, etc. You can even paste\n entire references into the search box and discover their DOIs.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I have tried it out only for one DOI of which I happen to know that a record exists in the crossref database.</p>\n\n<p>You can also use the <a href=\"http://search.crossref.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">CrossRef search site</a> and paste the title of the paper there.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 80899, "author": "jsta", "author_id": 65730, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65730", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The <code>R</code> package <a href=\"https://github.com/ropensci/fulltext\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">fulltext</a> allows you to search DOI's given a title:</p>\n\n<pre><code>library(fulltext)\nres1 &lt;- ft_search(query = \"Estimating Summer Nutrient Concentrations in\n Northeastern Lakes from SPARROW\", from = \"plos\")\nres1 &lt;- ft_links(res1)\nres1$plos$ids\n</code></pre>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>[1] \"10.1371/journal.pone.0081457\" \"10.1371/journal.pone.0030492\" \"10.1371/journal.pone.0049220\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 185526, "author": "J.T.", "author_id": 141571, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/141571", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Update in 2022: Easiest for me was using the website, where you can just copy and paste your references: <a href=\"https://search.crossref.org/references\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://search.crossref.org/references</a></p>\n<p>I also looked at a few python libraries to interact with the crossref REST API, e.g.,</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://pypi.org/project/habanero/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://pypi.org/project/habanero/</a></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://gitlab.com/crossref/crossref_commons_py\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://gitlab.com/crossref/crossref_commons_py</a></p>\n<p>The libraries were easy to use in general, but it was not straight forward how to get the DOI based on a title and there were not really any good examples for this task.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 186668, "author": "Masmm", "author_id": 158250, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/158250", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As J. Schneider <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185526/158250\">mentions</a>, you can use &quot;works&quot; field query from crossref api. (<a href=\"https://api.crossref.org/swagger-ui/index.html#/Works/get_works\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">take a look at Richard Feynman example</a>). It returns a JSON file. You can extract DOI from it.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 190800, "author": "Wolfgang Fahl", "author_id": 116159, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/116159", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As the author of <a href=\"https://github.com/WolfgangFahl/pysotsog\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">pysotsog</a> I am recommending that library. It searches wikidata at this time and will use other bibliographic databases such as crossref, dblp, library catalogs and so on in the future it's intended to use general search engines as well. The concept is to be a specific search engine for scientific content see <a href=\"https://wiki.bitplan.com/index.php/Pysotsog#Search_strategy\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">sotsog search strategy</a>.</p>\n<p>Here is a command line example for the title &quot;We Need a Magna Carta for the Internet&quot; by Tim Berners-Lee with the DOI doi=10.1111/NPQU.11475.</p>\n<pre><code>sotsog We Need a Magna Carta for the Internet\nWe Need a Magna Carta for the Internet(Q55693402):✅\nPaper ➞ We Need a Magna Carta for the Internet:\n wikiDataId=http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q55693402\n doi=10.1111/NPQU.11475\n publication_date=2014-07-01 00:00:00\nopening https://scholia.toolforge.org/work/Q55693402 in browser\n</code></pre>\n<p>There is also a demo available at <a href=\"http://sotsog.bitplan.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://sotsog.bitplan.com</a>\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/LKUh8.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/LKUh8.png\" alt=\"Screenshot\" /></a> which points to the <a href=\"https://scholia.toolforge.org/work/Q55693402\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">scholia page</a> of the relevant article.</p>\n<p>In simple cases like the one above you can directly search wikidata and use the <a href=\"https://www.npmjs.com/package/wikibase-cli\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">wikibase-cli</a> command line tools for it by searching for the <a href=\"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P356\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">DOI</a> property.</p>\n<p>First step - find the paper wikidata entry with a full text search</p>\n<pre><code>wd search We Need a Magna Carta for the Internet\nQ55693402 We Need a Magna Carta for the Internet\n</code></pre>\n<p>Query the DOI</p>\n<pre><code>wd query -s Q55693402 -p P356\n10.1111/NPQU.11475\n</code></pre>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2169", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/453/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2174, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are many formal roles that generally fall under the category of \"post-doc\": </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The simplest is as a post-Ph.D researcher working with a faculty mentor and doing their own research</li>\n<li>Some postdocs have a role as \"lab manager\": they help with advising students.</li>\n<li>In addition, if given an appropriate title, a postdoc (as \"visiting/research faculty\") can write their own grants or collaborate on grants that might support them.</li>\n<li>The limit of the above is a pure soft-money position that is not \"supervised\" by a faculty member. Such faculty are also often called 'research faculty', and may be many years away from a Ph.D</li>\n<li>In wetlabs, a postdoc role might also be as a lab technician or lab manager, handling supplies, tech work (making knockout mice for example). </li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2176, "author": "Community", "author_id": -1, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In addition to Suresh's answer, I'd say that a postdoc is no longer a student. A PhD student is expected to demonstrate that she can do research, and this is sanctioned by the PhD degree. A postdoc is rather expected to demonstrate that she can be trusted with a permanent academic position. </p>\n\n<p>In my field, postdoc positions usually denote fixed-term positions (between 1 and 3 years) with limited \"official\" administrative responsibilities (i.e. no involvement in the long-term management of the department). Most postdocs are usually funded on some project, which implies some concrete duties w.r.t. to the project (such as taking care of the \"deliverables\"). Some are more like \"fellowships\", where the applicant must come up with her own research agenda. \nBut there is no common basis, and it can varies greatly from one position to another. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2177, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To quote (jokingly) a rather blunt friend of mine, a post-doctoral fellow is \"someone who has a Ph.D. but is still nobody.\" I don't quite subscribe to so dismal a view, but it usually means someone who hasn't achieved full independence yet (inasmuch as they still have at least a nominal advisor). </p>\n\n<p>I expect a postdoctoral fellow in my group to be a competent researcher who doesn't need much instruction on the basics of <em>how</em> to do research, but might need some training on the particular skills needed in my group. She should be capable of taking over virtually any duty in the group, and would be expected to take on some of the duties that would be associated with being a professor (or staff member in a research lab somewhere). That would mean being responsible for supervising undergraduates doing research projects, occasionally covering lectures, and being responsible for supervising the lab (purchasing equipment, and so on).</p>\n\n<p>That said, the post-doctoral fellow would not be left entirely to her own devices: since she is still effectively in a training situation, she would be given help and advanced notice. I would not just surprise her with duties; they would be assigned per mutual agreement, and always with a specific purpose in mind. (In other words, I am not simply \"dumping\" duties on the post-doc.)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2181, "author": "Ben Norris", "author_id": 924, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924", "pm_score": 5, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This answer is a bit different from the others. The other answers deal with what a postdoc <strong>is</strong>. My answer describes the difference between the roles of grad students and postdocs in two ways.</p>\n\n<p>The first distinction is this: A graduate student is an <strong>apprentice</strong>, while a postdoc is a <strong>journeyman</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>The academic system in which a student earns a doctorate and eventually becomes an academic is based on the apprenticeship system. </p>\n\n<p>The graduate student is the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship\">apprentice </a>. The graduate student is learning his or her craft from the adviser (master). The graduate student hones his or her research skills performing the research of the adviser. Completion of the PhD defense signals that the student has completed the apprenticeship.</p>\n\n<p>The post-doctoral fellow is the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman\">journeyman</a>, one who has completed training in the basic skills, but is not yet considered a master. To this end, the postdoc seeks out other masters to learn from. Since the postdoc is not an apprentice, the postdoc is given more freedom to design and implement his or her project. The postdoc is also expected to be able to work with minimal oversight from the adviser. A postdoc journeyman becomes a master upon successfully securing his or her own academic position.</p>\n\n<p>The second distinction is in terms of classification and compensation. At most US institutions, the graduate student is a <strong>student</strong>. The grad student may receive a stipend and benefits, but someone pays tuition for that student. A postdoc is an <strong>employee</strong> who receives a salary and benefits. No money is paid back to the institution by (or on behalf of) the postdoc. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2272, "author": "Stefano Borini", "author_id": 5, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A postdoc is also someone that needs to be hired by academia to do a task, that is, a contractor for academia. I am a scientific programmer, but I am hired as a postdoc because that's the only kind of contract they can give in academia. I publish no papers, have no interest in an academic career, and I have no other duties other than coding (or at least that would be the plan).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5587, "author": "user244795", "author_id": 1352, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1352", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>At some universities, a <a href=\"http://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2012/06/29/postdoctoral-researchers%E2%80%94facts-trends-and-gaps/\">Post-Doctoral Fellow</a> is a different title than a Post-Doctoral Researcher due to <a href=\"http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-033.html\">federal regulations in the USA</a>. </p>\n\n<p>The <strong>Post-Doctoral Fellow</strong> is paid through a different funding mechanism (e.g., NRSA training grants) and is not considered an employee (thus is excluded from health insurance and retirement benefits) and is treated more like a student (may take classes or do a clinical residency; receives a non-negotiable stipend which is <a href=\"http://www.postdocs.cornell.edu/tax-issues\">not ordinary income</a>). There may be a citizenship requirement for this funding mechanism.</p>\n\n<p>The <strong>Post-Doctoral Researcher</strong> is an employee (qualifies for benefits but does not take classes or receive training). It may be easier to deal with visa requirements through this position. </p>\n\n<p>In both cases, postdocs do research. Neither is guaranteed to advance your career to being a professor, but <a href=\"http://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2012/06/22/so-what-does-the-biomedical-research-workforce-look-like/\">pretty much everyone has to do it</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 23898, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 4, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Thanks to the recent PhD Comics, I have a link to a pretty definitive definition\n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/i05rT.gif\" alt=\"PhD Comics post doc definition\">.</p>\n\n<p>The NIH link is: <a href=\"http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/all_personnel_report_faq.htm#774\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/all_personnel_report_faq.htm#774</a></p>\n\n<p>This links to a letter to the US National Postdoctoral Association: <a href=\"http://grants.nih.gov/training/Reed_Letter.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://grants.nih.gov/training/Reed_Letter.pdf</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 23910, "author": "A Jack", "author_id": 15616, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15616", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<blockquote>\n <p>\"Whatever else they may be, postdoctorates are one of the greatest bargains in the US economy. Where else can one hire Ph.D.s, whose training and smarts put them among the best and brightest in the world, to work 60 hours a week for $30,000 to $40,000 a year, with limited benefits and little power to influence their working conditions and pay?\" -- Richard Freeman, <em>Thanks for the Great Postdoc Bargain</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2002_08_30/nodoi.4149859741665864757\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2002_08_30/nodoi.4149859741665864757</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 52707, "author": "medievalmatt", "author_id": 39549, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39549", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In some cases, postdocs are seen as a means to shuffle newly-minted PhD's into \"alt-ac\" careers. I just came off of one such postdoc myself. Since the postdoc was very programming/data/technology centered, and I actually went back to school to get out of programming, it didn't really take with me.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2173", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/379/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 2191, "author": "Suresh", "author_id": 346, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Advisors understand that students are fishing around - that's normal. What's less common (but possible) is students fishing around in wildly different areas. Just keep in mind that either an advisor is going to see something in you that will motivate them to try and convince you to work with them, or they'll view you as someone who needs to make up their mind first, and won't spend too much time thinking about you. </p>\n\n<p>In that respect, matching up with an advisor is more like dating than an job interview, at least in the US :)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2195, "author": "Ben Norris", "author_id": 924, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The adviser already knows that you are not 100% committed to his or her research group. If the system lets students choose, then the advisers know the rules. The faculty in that department very likely made those rules. They know that you are considering other advisers. </p>\n\n<p>It is never rude to consider other advisers. Some programs even require it. My graduate program required that I interview at least three potential advisers and rank them. The faculty would then be informed of the list of students who chose each faculty member at the first choice <em>only</em>. Faculty had to fill open positions from this first. </p>\n\n<p>This system was implemented by the faculty a few years previous, when they became dissatisfied with an approach that left matching entirely up to students and faculty meeting and getting along. Faculty would then choose their favorites from all interested students. Usually, this meant that a small number of students were not chosen at all, which was not acceptable. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 2202, "author": "aeismail", "author_id": 53, "author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Ben Norris is basically correct—as advisors, we know that students have multiple options for choosing advisors, particularly in setups where the students pick advisors after their arrival. Therefore, we won't (or at least shouldn't) take it personally when someone tells us they're considering other advisors.</p>\n\n<p>In general, however, you should also remember that these processes are often <em>double-sided</em>: in case of competition, the advisors also have a choice in who they want as their top choice. If you are overly hesitant, the advisor may choose another candidate who is more certain as a top choice. So, you should be honest if you're not immediately \"sold\" on working for a particular advisor, but don't be so negative as to make the advisor look elsewhere.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2179", "https://academia.stackexchange.com", "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]