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14,488 | <p>I recently applied for an academic job that did not request letters of recommendation at the time of application, but only a list of potential references. I just now received an email from the search committee chair that I had made it to the "short list" and to please contact my references to arrange for my letters to be sent. I thought that a "short list" was the list of people who were going to be flown out for an in-person interview, but it seems that the "short list" in this context just means "the list of candidates whose letters of reference we'd like to see". Is there an agreed-upon definition of "short list" that I'm missing?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14489,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Nope, there's no widely agreed upon definition of \"short list\". Sometimes a committee draws up an official short list, while sometimes people informally talk about a short list based on who is being seriously considered even if there's no official list. Sometimes the short list consists of the people being interviewed, sometimes it's the people for whom letters are being requested, and sometimes it's in between. Things can get more complicated when there are several forms of interviews (e.g., interviews at an annual meeting vs. fly-ins). Sometimes a reference to the short list is a meaningless pleasantry meant to soften the blow of rejection when a committee member knows an applicant personally. Ultimately, the only thing you can say for sure is that it's better to be on the short list than off it. Beyond that, you have to guess from context or ask for clarification.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14525,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"The short list\" doesn't have an agreed upon meaning besides \"The list that's shorter than the long list\" in my experience.</p>\n\n<p>In some places, it does mean the people they're intending to interview, but not necessarily. In your case, since they've been kind enough not to waste the time of (potentially) hundreds of people writing letters for candidates that never stood a chance, it might actually <em>mean</em> what you thought it meant, just that there's an additional step between \"We like him\" and \"Fly him out\". Namely, get letters of recommendation before they spend airfare, department time and resources etc. for someone who has some hidden flaw that will come out in the letters. So the intent might be there, but with an added bit of due diligence.</p>\n\n<p>It might also be that they have a \"short list\" and then a \"shorter list\", which would be the scenario you're assuming.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14526,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your interpretation is similar to how things work at my institution. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>We scrutinize the applications and filter them</li>\n<li>For the filtered set, we ask for letters of recommendation (this is the stage you appear to be at). We do this because it takes work to track down the letter writers, and we don't want to invest the effort unless the candidate has some chance of making it to the next phase.</li>\n<li>We go through the letters very carefully, solicit extral informal feedback if necessary, and then develop a (partial) interview list. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>We don't necessarily tell candidates that they've reached phase 2, and in some universities there's no step 1, so it's not always clear what \"asking for letters\" really means. In your case, since the department explicitly mentioned a short list, you've likely passed a plausibility filter (which is good!), but you can't draw any further inference from it. </p>\n\n<p>From the department's point of view, this is also a way to make you excited and motivated to push your letter writers into action (so it saves them effort :))</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14530,
"author": "Stephen Montgomery-Smith",
"author_id": 9806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9806",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Being on a short list does not necessarily mean that they are going to interview you. It costs them quite a bit to fly you out and put you up in a hotel for a few days. But it is very possible that candidates ahead of you will ultimately turn the job down. And at some point they may well consider you, and fly you out.</p>\n\n<p>Quite likely, also, they haven't decided who they are going to call for an interview, and they want to read the letters to get an idea of who they want to interview.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, these decisions may be based upon things beyond your control, or your talents. For example, they might be looking for candidates with a very specific skill set, and you might not be a good fit. Or there might be some internal politics in the department - perhaps one person really wants to hire you, and another really wants to hire someone else. It's all out of your control.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14488",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9774/"
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|
14,494 | <p>I am writing a paper that describes a programming language that I am developing as part of my PhD. I think that writing the paper using an example can greatly improve how the paper is understood. Is there a "standard" example that is used in programming languages paper? A set of examples?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15962,
"author": "OBu",
"author_id": 10941,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10941",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It would be helpful to learn about the specific strengths of your language, since good examples should illustrate its strengths (yes, this is more a meta-answer, but maybe exactly what you should be looking for).</p>\n\n<p><em>The</em> standard example is printing \"Hello World\"; everything else depends on the language and its features. E.g. you might want to demonstrate simple database queries, easy list processing, recursion, string manipulation, logic deduction, complex mathematics, ...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31848,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The biggest problem that you face when writing a programming language paper is explaining why the world needs another programming language, rather than a library or an API or something of the sort.</p>\n\n<p>I would thus recommend skipping \"standard\" examples such as \"Hello world\" and recursive factorials entirely, and instead going straight to a set of minimal examples that illustrate the <em>value</em> of the new language. Only in the case of a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_(programming_language)\">particularly extreme langauge</a> will the standard examples be necessary to help understand the scientific concepts.</p>\n\n<p>Note that <em>documenting</em> a programming language is an entirely different matter.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/03 | [
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|
14,498 | <p>I am a master student in mathematics studying in Europe and I am applying to several graduate schools in the USA. They aren't all Top 10 in these dubious rankings, but I am applying to Harvard, Northwestern and Rutgers. </p>
<p>Currently, in the first paragraph of my letter of motivation (=letter of intent, statement of purpose, personal statement, ...) I explain how I overcame a big slump (=phase in which I had not much motivation to learn maths) which I went through after completing my bachelor, so roughly 1 year ago.
I mention it because this was an important experience to me, and as a result I feel like a more mature mathematician, and I am now confident that I want to do maths in my life. </p>
<p>However, I read that one should never put negative things about oneself in the letter of motivation, so right now I'm having doubts. </p>
<p>Could people on the admission committee consider having gone through a slump a negative point? Do they only want to hear how awesome I was my entire life?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14506,
"author": "penelope",
"author_id": 4249,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4249",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Actually, I kind of disagree with <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9488/the-hiary\">@TheHiary</a>... I don't think you should put negative statements about yourself in your cover letter.</p>\n<p>While they do not want to only hear how awesome you would be, they do want to hear <strong>how, and why, you would be totally awesome working for/with them</strong>. You can look up some tips and guidelines about writing a cover letter here: <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/13574/4249\">A good motivation letter</a>.</p>\n<p>I also think that any half-page story has no place in your cover letter. <strong>It should be fairly short, clear and memorable/striking</strong>. I was suggested two pages maximum. One page is better.</p>\n<p>But, <strong>if it was an important experience for you as a potential researcher, there's definitely place for it in your cover letter,</strong> <em>just not directly</em>. <br />\nWhat you should include, however, is:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p>what helped you get back your motivation</p>\n<p>(you can say that e.g. a project made you "rediscover your love of science" without explicitly saying that you lost it for a while)</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>how your approach to research has changed in a positive manner</p>\n<p>(e.g. working on the team project made me realize how important and helpful peer input, informal discussions and exchanging ideas was for my productivity)</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>how your vision of science/yourself changed after that</p>\n<p>(e.g. working with Professor X. what made me secure in my opinion that I want a career as a researcher)</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>basically, any positive result of your experience is worth mentioning, but I would rather mention just what triggered the positive change of attitude instead of motivation-less period before</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 26259,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, having observed graduate education in mathematics for a long time, very many people encounter their own period(s) of extreme disheartenment _in_grad_school_, for the obvious reasons of the challenges, but also for having not thought through the level of commitment to the enterprise that's required to make it work, and how delayed the gratification may be.</p>\n\n<p>(So to a large degree it's not <em>whether</em> one has an episode, but <em>when</em>, and what happens afterward...)</p>\n\n<p>Thus, if portrayed well, acknowledging such an experience already weathered could be a big plus, if the net was that you have a clearer purpose and clearer interest in mathematics, etc.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe this oughtn't be the first point you make, and not in the cover letter, just toward the end of the personal statement... so if anyone is interested to read that far, they may also be interested in your remarks. In fact, thinking it's worth reading statements of purpose may be well-correlated with sympathy and interest in your having worked-through a bad period.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 191656,
"author": "user156207",
"author_id": 156207,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/156207",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Youll hear a lot of "rules" in presentation and writing. There are no real rules, only guidelines.</p>\n<p>For this question specifically the guideline is:\nIf you take your audience to depths, definitely bring them back to end a higher point. Do not end in the depths. If you experienced hardship, it has to be the second act in your story arc. The story must include how you learned and grew and are now a different, better person.</p>\n<p>Always leave the audience feeling better at the end. Your goal is not to inform, but to enhance the audience. (Informing is a good route to making the audience feel better but thats a different conversation)</p>\n<p>This might be tricky in a short letter, but youre talented. Im sure it can be done. I personally would stick with a purely upward story arc in this specific scenario, but saying it cant be done is false.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14498",
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|
14,502 | <p>I am an undergraduate student who wants to do research in computer graphics field. I would like to know how a computer science masters degree and a computer graphics and Game Technology (goes with similar names at different universities) would affect my future Ph.D. applications and career, upon graduating from the masters program.</p>
<p>At this point I should also mention that some of the "Computer Graphics and ..." master programs are 1 year long. (No thesis I assume?)</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14510,
"author": "Wesley Bland",
"author_id": 8503,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8503",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It really depends on what sort of research you want to do. I know people who I work with in scientific visualization that have Computer Science degrees and that's probably the best thing for their kind of work. They use computer graphics, but most of their work is more related to computer science. If you're going to go the route of Computer Science but are interested in graphics, make sure you pick a program that offers enough education in that area (good coursework, professor interested in the research, etc.) and take plenty of Math, possibly even another Master's degree.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure what kind of PhD work you would do in Computer Graphics outside of scientific visualization (though I'm sure there's some of which I'm unaware), but it sounds like the kinds of programs at which you're looking are more focused on people who are using the Master's program as an end goal to go into the computer games industry. I'd be wary of those programs if you're trying to move into a Ph. D. later as they may not be relevant to the kind of program where you'd be applying in another year or two.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14512,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd look at this a little like a wager on where you want to go in the future. </p>\n\n<p>If you'd like to do a PhD in the future, then focus on the fundamentals will pay off. I can't think of a single PhD that wouldn't benefit from stronger research and math skills. Especially if you want to go on to a PhD, ensure that you're getting the background in research --- typically this will mean a focus on thesis based programs. </p>\n\n<p>If you're unsure of where you want to go afterwards, be aware, that a good master's program in Computer Science, is unlikely to close any doors for you, whereas a focus on Computer Graphics may mean that it's more difficult to make the transition into a different field later should you decide it's not for you. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14515,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you think you might pursue a PhD later, it's a <strong>very</strong> bad idea to pursue a one-year master's degree without a thesis, no matter what it's called. PhD admissions committees tend to consider all applicants with master's degrees together as one equivalence class (because it's difficult to remember the exact details of hundreds of different master's degrees). You will be directly competing with other applicants who took more time doing <em>and publishing</em> research during the first full year master's program, before applying at in their third semester. Students in one-year master's programs would apply after only two or three months in their program, which (for most mortals) is not enough time to do any significant research, much less publish it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 66881,
"author": "mephisto",
"author_id": 52365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52365",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You've not said anything about where it is studied. A handful of \"ivy league\" comp sci labs are the parking place where old ARPANET pioneers end up, and those might pass on useful undocumented procedures to their best students. It is not by chance that the collection of protocols and permission changing routines used in an annual \"The Facebook\" were all in one place at one time. </p>\n\n<p>At an upgraded sixth form college who've decided to rebrand their media studies and colouring-in creche staff as \"computer graphics\", you won't find out nearly as much as at a specialist massively-parrallel programming satellite of ATI reasearch division located at MIT. Look up \"Jeff Garzic\".</p>\n\n<p>What I'm saying is; look at industry links. ex-Bell labs:MIT. google:stanford, facebook:harvard and so on, and avoid anywhere which has no useful spinoff to swap interesting comp sci information with. Define your interests and strengths, and choose from that where to apply to.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14502",
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|
14,504 | <p>I teach a course in academic writing covering the writing aspects, the very basics of research skills, such as referencing works, plus related college skills. At this point in the term, quite a number of foreign students have begun to express frustration:</p>
<ul>
<li>Some wish they can organize their papers in more “creative” ways.</li>
<li>Some want to share their feelings and personal experiences.</li>
<li>Some see the style guide rules as overly pedantic or finicky.</li>
</ul>
<p>They don't like the many “restrictions” dictating how they should gather information and organize and present their ideas.</p>
<p>I compiled a short list explaining why such strict conventions are necessary:</p>
<ul>
<li>Predictably-organized writing helps readers to access information quickly.</li>
<li>The various research procedures generally raises the quality of the work, so others can benefit from the ideas presented.</li>
</ul>
<p>Most of these students, however, have no intention of ever becoming “academics”, and maybe they don't care so much benefiting readers. They just want to get a degree and get a good job.</p>
<p>Can I help them to see some personal benefit to learning all of these conventions?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14507,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The points you list are key, and a good starting point. I am not sure you need to add to that list but rather expand on the points to set them in a wider perspective. </p>\n\n<p>There are several misconceptions that needs discussing. There is the idea that academic (scientific) writing is complicated and uses difficult language. Well, it does not have to be, and really should not be. With the huge onslaught of information, we must all learn how to express ourselves concisely and clearly. This is an art that requires training, not only in science but also in writing. Regardless of which sort of work we have, assuming communication is part of it, we need to be able to get our points across. Hence it is key to impress on students the importance of learning to write well. So point at the goals: being able to present information in a way that it can be understood by the intended recipients. You then need to be able to take complicated issues and express them clearly and in language that can be understood. Understanding terminology and concepts is the basis for being able to explain them and making necessary simplifications. Badly written reports will not serve the author, the company (equivalent) the author works for, or the recipients who need the information. I therefore think it is important to make these wider perspectives clear to students.</p>\n\n<p>Companies usually have very strict rules for how reports should be written and formatted. Getting used to following such instructions may seem like a limitation, but understanding the necessity is a good preparation for the work place. With commercial reports come legal aspects that puts much restriction on how to express oneself. Learning about such rules and restrictions is therefore a key to become a successful contributor in the future, inside and outside of academia.</p>\n\n<p>The fact that most (if not all) employers look for people who are good at presenting information, written as well as in speech should be emphasized (often included in social skills). These skills require much training and a solid foundation to build on. Courses in scientific writing and presentation as well as term papers and other reports (including a final thesis) are all parts of this education. </p>\n\n<p>So, in the end, I am totally convinced that skills such as these will make a difference when applying for jobs. We just need to point out the fact. Getting feedback from employers about the necessity for these skills to share with the students is very valuable. Some students have better basic skills than others but none are good at writing concisely and clearly without the training we can provide. It is also important to make students understand that in the longer term they will have to develop their own skills, not just take whatever is served and think it is enough. It is a life-long learning experience which requires solid a foundation. and that is what we can offer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14514,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>Some wish they can organize their papers in more “creative” ways.</li>\n <li>Some want to share their feelings and personal experiences. </li>\n <li>Some see the style guide rules as overly pedantic or finicky.</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm not sure why there are \"rules\" about organizing papers, and what's wrong with more \"creative\" approaches. As for style guides, they are often overly pedantic and finicky, and in any case are mostly appropriate for an actual publication. </p>\n\n<p>It's possible you're referring instead to the way to organize a paper (in terms of introductions, related work, methods, discussion, and so on). In which case you can explain the particular roles these components serve, while emphasizing that these components achieve a certain purpose and if that purpose can be achieved using other methods, there's nothing wrong with it. </p>\n\n<p>As for sharing feelings and personal experiences, it's common for students with little experience of writing formally to confuse the \"what\" with the \"how\", because they're focused so intently on the \"how\". One way to help them is to identify places where they're spending too much space on process words, and ask them to describe the outcomes instead. In other words, their goal should be to describe WHAT was done, rather than WHO did it, in order to ensure that the process can be repeated by someone else. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14516,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would encourage a peer-exchange assignment that is not marked. Each student writes a technical paper (or maybe a short technical paper), and then each student has to read every other person's paper and then \"mark\" them on a scale of criteria such as \"clarity of presentation\" and \"I was able to decipher the main ideas of the paper\" and \"This paper was easy to read\" and \"I clearly understood the technical contributions of this paper\".</p>\n\n<p>After they finish that with others' papers, then they should go back and read their own paper, and then mark their own paper. (I would also recommend in parallel that you or other markers also mark the paper to \"check\" that the marks given to the particular paper are not outrageously out of line).</p>\n\n<p>By comparing their own work with those of others, they will get exposure to a large number of different writing styles, get constructive feedback, and a large portion of the class marking will be done for you as well. With so many papers to read, many of them will start getting a feeling of what works, what doesn't, what they skip, what they absorb, and so forth. </p>\n\n<p>I wish I could say that I thought of this all by myself, but many of the ideas were mentioned in a talk by <a href=\"http://d.ucsd.edu/srk/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Scott Klemmer</a> about innovation and evaluating innovation in a massively open course situation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14550,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Consider emphasizing the potential personal benefits that come with good communications skills:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Organizing information in an easily accessible manner makes others more likely to read your writing and follow your thoughts.</li>\n<li>Presenting ideas concisely helps make your idea more accessible, and therefore make it more likely that the reader will actually understand your point.</li>\n<li>Presenting methodology along with your idea demonstrates transparency, showing that you have nothing to hide, making you appear trustworthy.</li>\n<li>Citing other people's work has two benefits: Firstly, it demonstrates your knowledge scope by showing that you're familiar with the literature, and secondly, it improves your standing with the people you cited, as it shows them you found their work useful.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All of these apply to academia, but apply equally to all other areas of life. I used to work in academia, and I know work in operations for a health care company doing analytics. I use all of the above when I write white papers, and I have seen numerous times how following these guidelines helps others understand, appreciate, and build upon your work.</p>\n\n<p>By emphasizing these points you may be able to better connect with your students.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/12/03 | [
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14,505 | <p>I have written a paper (only internally marked) and I have a title:</p>
<p>"GCR2: A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside an Enigma". </p>
<p>This was initially a Winston Churchill quote about Russia (after the colon anyway). However, it seems silly to reference it directly in the title and I have been looking around on the web and cannot find how to reference something that only appears in the title.</p>
<p>Any guidance or links to websites will be very helpful (although I couldn't find any!)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14508,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No-one would expect a reference in the title. There are a few alternatives you can consider. </p>\n\n<p>The simple one would be to add \"(Winston Churchill)\" after the quote in the title. </p>\n\n<p>A better option in my opinion, is to start the introduction with the same quote built into an explanatory sentence and then add the reference there. After all, the quote must have a significant meaning for your work, otherwise it would not form the title. I am not sure what the \"GCR2\" stands for but in general one should avoid abbreviations in the title. </p>\n\n<p>A third possibility is to rewrite the title to something more explicit. you can have the quote as the main title followed by a subtitle that explains the significance. Different field have different ways of handling such titles so I cannot say what would be suitable for you. The title should draw attention to your work and make readers decide whether the work is worth reading. For me it has no meaning and although I am in a different field, I think that is a sign that the construct is not optimal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 125173,
"author": "Andrés E. Caicedo",
"author_id": 6038,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6038",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Leave the title as you suggest, </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>GCR2: A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside an Enigma</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>without any citations or quotation marks, or any mention to Churchill or any of it. In the introduction of the paper, however, make sure to mention where appropriate the quote, and to give the appropriate reference(s) to it.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, do not try to add footnotes, or references to the title. Any of it would result in turning a clever choice of title into something very confusing, which may further lead to unintentional mistakes when others try to reference your paper. </p>\n\n<p>(Truth be told, I imagine --hope-- a referee would ask you to change the title if you tried to include footnotes or the like.)</p>\n\n<p>If you are worried that you are not giving due credit to Churchill (hehe) or somesuch, don't. Your introduction will hopefully clarify all of it. </p>\n\n<p>In fact, if your title were something like \"To be or not to be. Of proteins and men\", where what you quote or reference is essentially universally known, I would suggest not to bother explaining it anywhere, as it could be perceived as you suggesting your readers would not understand it otherwise, and they in turn may react negatively to such a suggestion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 125174,
"author": "guest",
"author_id": 104627,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/104627",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ol>\n<li><p>I think that phrase is so trite that it almost doesn't need a citation. </p></li>\n<li><p>All that said, if you want to avoid the ugly of an endnote in the title, you could use the phrase in the first para or so of the intro (not the abstract) and then put an endnote citation on that first usage. This also has the benefit of cluing in the unwashed towards the beginning of your paper (and making the smarty pants pat themselves on the back).</p>\n\n<p>For example: \"In 1952, Winston Churchill penned the famous quote \"blabla\" to describe the secretive Soviet Union.(endnote number1) In recent years, GCR2 has drawn the interest, and frustration, of researchers trying to understand how it [does whatever it does]. This review will describe the major recent findings and remaining questions for this critical protein [or whatever it is].\" </p></li>\n<li><p>In some other case, I could even imagine just adding the citation number superscript to the title.</p></li>\n<li><p>I advise not to weight a title down with (Winston Churchill). Titles should be strong and brief. Don't weigh a title down with a parenthetical. That's worse than the ugly superscript number.</p></li>\n<li><p>While I love the quote, you could also consider to kill it in the title. There is a point of view in science writing (and all writing) that you should find whatever you did that you think is cute and kill it. Note, I'm not endorsing this...I like a little \"juice\". But it is an option. However, it does work very well for the title of an oral talk (where a little \"tease\" is helpful).</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 125178,
"author": "zibadawa timmy",
"author_id": 19768,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19768",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is not unheard of, though it's fairly uncommon.</p>\n\n<p>My favorite example, which may give you some insights on how others have handled their desire to use a reference for a title (especially if you can access the published version):</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0408106\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">One Ring to Rule Them All ... and in the Darkness Bind Them?</a></p>\n\n<p>The authors quickly explain why the plain meaning of the two references are relevant (they were studying \"black rings\", and there was \"one\" that basically governed things; and black holes and bound states were discussed, hence the second part), and there's a footnote in the acknowledgments/funding disavowing any association with the Tolkien estate.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14505",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9778/"
]
|
14,511 | <p>I have recently submitted a paper to arXiv, but the arXiv moderators put my paper in status "on hold", because they have to make a decision on the right classification for the paper. </p>
<p>To those who have experienced a similar situation, how long did it take before they made a decision and published the paper on the arXiv? I just want to have an idea of how long I will have to wait. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15323,
"author": "Espanta",
"author_id": 6393,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6393",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had the same experience with arxiv and it took only 1-2 days after they change my paper track. However, they mentioned it may take up to several days. The arxiv helps says</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>On Hold</p>\n \n <p>Your submission was identified by arXiv administrators or moderators\n as needing further attention.</p>\n \n <p>Submissions may be put on hold for a variety of reasons, ranging from\n questions about proper classification, pending moderator approval,\n presentation issues, copyrighted PDF, etc., to editorial concerns.\n Most of these do not require any further input from the submitter and\n will be dealt with in due course. arXiv urges submitters to be\n patient. Due to the large volume of submissions, it may take several\n days before a resolution is reached.</p>\n \n <p>Note that oversize submissions are automatically put on hold, and this\n is one particular circumstance in which submitters should follow up\n with arXiv administrators.</p>\n \n <p>Submissions in this status will not expire. Authors must not create a\n new submission with the same content when a pending submission is on\n hold.</p>\n \n <p>Please be sure to include the submission identifier of the form\n submit/NNNNNNN when contacting arXiv administrators.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>wait for few more days and send them an email. They are quick in response.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 95294,
"author": "Martin",
"author_id": 10640,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10640",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sending an email to ask when to expect publication will trigger a standard response from arxiv.org that looks like this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Your submission is currently on hold pending a decision by our\n volunteer moderators. The \"hold\" status merely indicates that one or\n more of the moderators need additional time to consider your article. </p>\n \n <p>Due to the volume of mail arXiv receives, we are not able to provide\n regular status updates. Upon resolution, your submission will be\n deposited in arXiv, or we will contact you with further information.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Seems that long waiting times can occur particularly when volunteer moderators are in holidays. I received this answer several times during summer while my submission had \"on hold\" status for more than two weeks...</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14511",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9781/"
]
|
14,513 | <p>I finished some experiments on classification and I am now preparing for a <strong>presentation</strong>. </p>
<p>The experiment yields data which will then be manually verified to determine if the data is correct or incorrect. The experiment is run a total of 10 times and the output for each run is the amount of hits ("Yes") or misses ("No"). In the end, I have this complex table:</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/05W60.jpg" alt="exp-data"></p>
<ul>
<li>What is the best way to present this kind of complex tables? </li>
<li>If applicable (as in my example), should I present normalized data?</li>
<li>If applicable (as in my example), should I present average values?</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14517,
"author": "long",
"author_id": 8969,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8969",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I believe visual representation is nearly always a much better way to present data-intensive information. However, it may depend on your audience, and the depth of analysis you go into with your results.\nIf you are repeating each experiment <em>n</em> times, it would be most useful, in the least, to present the average result (the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean\">mean</a>), along with a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_deviation\">standard deviation</a>. There are many different ways to visually represent your data, but whatever method you use must be able to deliver the main points you need to convey clearly. To help you decide on the best form of presentation of data, here a couple of suggestions:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Ask yourself what the main message is that you need to deliver from this data, and focus on a delivery style (graph, table, list, whatever) that <em>best delivers that main message</em> (and not all the other stuff) </li>\n<li>Reduce the number of variables you need to display to reduce distractions from that main message. So you wouldn't need to display results from 10 repeats of an experiment when you can just show the average result for that experiment.</li>\n<li>Remember that in the majority of cases, a picture tells a thousand words.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As an aside, regarding your statement <em>\"The experiment yields data which will then be manually verified to determine if the data is correct or incorrect.\"</em> Always believe your data. Your data is always correct. You just have to come up with the explanations for why the data is as it is. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14519,
"author": "non-numeric_argument",
"author_id": 8067,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8067",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are going to show frequency data as yours with more than 4x4 cells in a presentation, I would generally recommend to use graphs instead of tables. Either you spend much time explaining such a big table or you will leave your audience with the feeling that they just saw something they did not have time to really understand.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/res/tablevsgraph/res-tablevsgraph.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">LabWrite Guide</a> by NC State and the paper <a href=\"http://www.princeton.edu/~jkastell/tables2graphs.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">\"Using Graphs Instead of Tables in Political Science\"</a> by Jonathan Kastellec and Eduardo Leoni provide some ideas for graphs substituting tables.</p>\n\n<p>Note that there is a closely related question about <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3059/book-recommendations-for-information-visualization\">Book recommendations for information visualization?</a>.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14513",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9782/"
]
|
14,520 | <p>Can I publish my technical paper on more than one publishing sites? The paper content is the same while only the formats differ. I am the author of the paper.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14524,
"author": "John Percival Hackworth",
"author_id": 9797,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9797",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Short answer : No.</p>\n\n<p>Long answer: Only under certain circumstances where you have explicit permission to do so. Be aware that even if you have permission to do so, there are many folks who take an extremely dim view of multiple publishing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14527,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only formal process that I'm aware of is the reprint mechanism. You publish a piece of work. Sometime later, editors of a compendium or collection wish to take your article and reprint it. In that case, the original publishers have to approve this (as well as you of course). </p>\n\n<p>More commonly, papers published in a peer-reviewed venue might also appear in a Ph.D dissertation in some form. Here again, there's some form of copyright approval needed for it to happen. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14520",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9793/"
]
|
14,529 | <p>I am a relatively young faculty member. I was asked to provide a reference for a student of mine so he is admitted in a PhD program in Sciences in UK. The student is probably one of the best students I had in a couple of years in terms of academic potential. I firmly believe he will do well as he is bright and hard-working. </p>
<p>I have to fill in an online form rating him. My problem is that the form's scaling is very strong.
How can I honestly say that someone was <code>outstanding</code> (3%) and not <code>exceptional</code> (1%)? Even the third most positive option is <code>unusually good</code> (rated at 10%) which I feel as a characterization in itself should be <em>strong enough</em> for someone to be at least considered for a PhD. </p>
<p>My classes are never above 40 to 45 students and I believe that simply "lumping" all the students from my past couple of years in one sample is ineffective and unreasonable. I would probably be unable to single out one of my students as the single best student I've ever had so that I can place him in the top 1% interval with certainty and not top 3%.</p>
<p>As I said, I want to support him and I worry that simply putting him down as <code>outstanding</code> would harm him as other referees might be tempted to "max out" everything. On the other hand simply rating him as <code>exceptional</code> in almost all aspects would be just grade-inflation.</p>
<p>Could someone provide me with some advice on the matter and what they would do? The scaling I have come across before topped at 5% which I found reasonable but here this not the case.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14531,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The question of gauging inflation in these situations is both serious and important. It affects peoples' lives!</p>\n\n<p>The difficult task of the letter writer is to visualize what other letter-writers will say, their degree of effusiveness. \"Being brutally honest\" is obviously stupid and naive to the point of destructiveness.</p>\n\n<p>The operational issue is about achieving the desired effect. And, in particular, if your recommendee is fairly exceptional, it would be a grievous error to praise them \"modestly\". Yes, the problem is to discriminate between \"fairly exceptional\" and \"exceptional\" and \"truly exceptional\". And these are not things that can be rationally discussed about young people by committees...</p>\n\n<p>Thus, consider the noise in the system into which you put your information...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14555,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Suppose I am in your position,</p>\n\n<p>I have a student and I have to rate him. The rating in my mind is top <strong>2</strong>%. I need to make a choice between top 1% and top 3% when I fill in the rating form.</p>\n\n<p>I would choose top 1% for the following reasons,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>There is really no significant difference between 1% and 2% or between 2% and 3%. I only know his past performance well. I can only firmly believe his future will be bright (I am not a superman. I cannot predict the future.). <strong>I want to give him top 1% rating because I want to let him have a better chance to succeed.</strong> I know top 1% is a little bit grade inflation. But, this is not my fault - there is no place for my real rating, that is, top 2%. I would not feel guity for the inflation.\n I would not know what others will do. I am just performing my duty as his professor.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14724,
"author": "user9957",
"author_id": 9957,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9957",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, find out, independently of course, what percentile, 1 2 5, this \"science\" committee requires for admission into their hallowed PhD programme, and give them what they want. Of <em>course</em> your students are in the top k% -- why would be recommending them otherwise?</p>\n\n<p>Second, and this is very important for the future of our planet, you need to convince the world that this \"science\" committee is made up of complete idiots, hypocrates, clowns, and fools who are doing all they can to help aggravate the UK's STEM crisis.</p>\n\n<p>(OK, I'm being a wee bit cynical, but I provide this as a separate answer because I fear the other folks, while sympathetic to your plight, just have not come down hard enough on the ridiculously high \"standards\" that are being set.)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14529",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9805/"
]
|
14,534 | <p>I plan to apply for USA universities. Is there any difference between the number of PhD opportunities in spring and fall semesters? I mean in which semester do I have a better chance to be approved?</p>
<p>In my country application for spring semester is not so usual. What about USA?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14538,
"author": "Andy W",
"author_id": 3,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>All institutions I know of in the US have <em>deadlines</em> for submitting applications to the doctoral program. The earliest ones I remember were in December, and the later ones were in early spring. </p>\n\n<p>Your chances of being accepted are zero if you submit after the deadline, and if you submitted early it would be at best annoying. So long story short just follow the rules of the institution to which you are applying.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14539,
"author": "Prospects",
"author_id": 8940,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8940",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most universities offer Doctoral admissions exclusively in fall semester (once a year). Deadlines for applications are typically in December. For more detailed information, you should check the particular department's webpage.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14534",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9761/"
]
|
14,536 | <p>This recent question <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14529/how-high-should-i-rate-a-good-student-for-phd-admission">How high should I rate a good student for PhD admission?</a> is just an example of how puzzling the problem of writing reference letters is.</p>
<p>One knows that there is inflation in the field, so they feel they have to adapt, but it is not clear how much inflation is appropriate and when it is too much. Negative comments are often omitted, and this gives the evaluators less data.</p>
<p>There is an analogous problem when refereeing papers, or serving as anonymous referees for research proposals and grants. This seems to be a flaw which is implicit in the evaluation method. Apart from this voluntary inflation bias, there is also an involuntary component: if I ask you to evaluate your research field/colleague/student is, you will unconsciously feel biased towards it/him/her.</p>
<p><strong>Is this perceived as a big problem?</strong> If so, <strong>why is there no attempt to obtain more reliable results?</strong> Some possible strategies, although difficult to apply, spring to my mind:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>if there are enough data points for the recommender, normalize everything and "grade on a curve".</p></li>
<li><p>don't ask "how good X is?"; give them two paper/applicants/projects to evaluate, and ask "which one is better, X or Y?". This makes it more difficult to find good referees, because they have to be familiar with two of the persons/projects under evaluations.</p></li>
<li><p>force the evaluators to provide at least 3 positive and 3 negative points, the most outstanding ones. This won't affect the inflation bias, but at least it provides some more data on the negative aspects.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I have seriously considered writing a standard addendum to enclose to my letters and reports, stating that I realize how biased and unreliable these things are, I am in a difficult position giving an absolute score on a scale that is totally unknown to me and the other evaluators, and I'd really feel more comfortable with a comparison-based evaluation system. <strong>Would this be appropriate, or raise some eyebrows on the trustworthyness of my evaluations</strong>?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14547,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I suggest that an academic committee, sitting in consideration of an applicant to their PhD programme, would very likely view your addendum as being an honest attempt to preserve your set of professional ethics with regard to fairly ranking the applicant.</p>\n\n<p>I do not think that the academic committee would doubt your trustworthiness. However, I expect that the committee would view whatever ranking you provided on the Good/Great/Excellent/Outstanding/Genius scale in light of your action of submitting your addendum. </p>\n\n<p>Therefore the committee are not going to doubt your ability to rank the applicant, but are going to doubt the veracity of your ranking on the artificial scale. </p>\n\n<p>However, I would hope that any sensible academic committee is going to be aware of the problem that we are discussing here and are therefore going to take a scaled single-valued ranking of any applicant with a massive grain of salt. They must know that a single value rank is going to be useless when judging the suitability of an applicant for a PhD programme.</p>\n\n<p>Thus I would hope that, with or without your addendum, a sensible academic committee would take very little notice of the single value ranking and pay much more attention to the substantive letters of recommendation.</p>\n\n<p>The addition of your addendum would not, I think, damage the applicant's application before a reasonable academic committee, as it wouldn't be news to the committee that such single-valued rankings are untrustworthy. To a reasonable academic committee, your actions of submitting the addendum might prompt others to do the same, and the practice of demanding a single-value metric abandoned over time. To an academic committee that places great store in such single-value metrics, your addendum sets out your concerns and presumably instructs the committee how you the single-value ranking is to be interpreted.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14608,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I wouldn't worry too much about it. Good schools will rely primarily on the content of your letter. Focus on writing a helpful letter. Include comparisons to other students who you have worked with in the past, where possible. That will enable people to calibrate your letter.</p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't don't worry too much about the numeric scores. Good schools won't pay too much attention to the numeric scores, if you've done a good job with the body of the letter and written a detailed, helpful letter with plenty of concrete specifics. Any school that puts more weight on the numeric score than the body of the letter is just screwing themselves by using bad decision-making processes. You can't do anything about that; you can't fix other peoples' bad judgement. All you can do is do the right thing when it is under your control, and leave it at that.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14536",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958/"
]
|
14,540 | <p>I am an undergraduate student in Canada doing a double degree concurrently, a B.Sc (Bachelors of Science) and a B.Eng (Bacehlors of Engineering) over 5 years. (8 years down to three at the price of my sanity? Sure haha!).</p>
<p>My Major in Science is Physics, and my Discipline in Engineering is Electrical/Computer. </p>
<p>When it comes to picking my masters, I have three options:</p>
<ul>
<li>M.Sc (Science, thesis based)</li>
<li>M.A.Sc (Applied Science, thesis based)*</li>
<li>M.Eng ( Engineering, project based)</li>
</ul>
<p>From knowing nearly nothing about these, I think the M.A.Sc sounds right for me, sort of a "middle ground".</p>
<p>I want to go on study quantum computers, specifically to apply the principles of quantum field theory to microprocessors and develop quantum computing hardware and software.
(I work as a computer programmer alongside my studies, and I've been a professional polyglot programmer since I was 16, and a hobbyist since I was 11)</p>
<p>My question is, which masters would help me more on a path to a Ph.D, and eventually to a job in academia? </p>
<p>A fellow undergrad suggested I do a double-masters to compliment the double-degree, is this possible? Would it be useful to me at all?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14543,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>When it comes to picking my masters, I have three options:</p>\n \n <p>M.Sc (Science, thesis based)\n M.A.Sc (Applied Science, thesis based)*\n M.Eng ( Engineering, project based)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The letters in your masters degree do not matter. In other words, you'll never see an M.Sc. or an M.Eng. specifically asked for in an application call ... you'll only ever see \"Masters\". As such, your degree could be called an M.Xk.Cd. and nobody would really care. It's the topic and quality of your masters matters most! </p>\n\n<p>If you want to work on quantum computing, then you should look for a good masters programme in either Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a relevant field of Mathematics. These are typically M.Sc. or M.Eng. courses (again, not that the letters matter!). </p>\n\n<p>A research masters is usually preferable, in that you may even get a publication or two which will help with PhD applications ... or you may continue in the masters programme and graduate into a PhD programme if you are happy with your supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>On a side note, I would encourage you to be flexible in your interests. You quote \"quantum computing\" as an interest but it can often be unfeasible to get a PhD you like in a really specific area. I think at this stage it's important for you to decide what discipline you want to pursue (Comp. Sci., Maths, Physics, etc.). Having a sub-field in mind is great, but don't plan your future <em>too</em> rigidly around that.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A fellow undergrad suggested I do a double-masters to compliment the double-degree, is this possible? Would it be useful to me at all?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Of course it would be useful. :) </p>\n\n<p>But as to whether it would be worth your time, I would say absolutely not. See (1).</p>\n\n<pre><code>(1) Masters + 0.5 × PhD ≫ 2 × Masters\n</code></pre>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14551,
"author": "Artem Kaznatcheev",
"author_id": 66,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You have picked a nice area for having a wide background. <strong>Most theoretical quantum computing positions usually ask for experience in at least two of Physics, Computer Science, or Mathematics</strong>, so you are in good company. Don't pigeonhole yourself into one discipline if you are planning to be a theorist. More applied and experimental work usually requires a single background in the specific methodology used, and usually comes from Physics, Chemistry, or some type of Engineering. It is common for <a href=\"https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/q/2323/1037\">strong quantum programs</a> to have professors of background in various fields, and in that case you will usually decided the letters after your M. based on the department/faculty of your preferred supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>First, check if your undergraduate school offers a straight-to-Masters program, since that might be a viable option for you. I know that at McGill you can now get a Masters at the end of 5 years, instead of doing just a Bachelors, I am not sure how it is at Dalhousie. Ask your professors.</p>\n\n<p>In Canada, your best bet for a Masters will be at the <a href=\"http://iqc.uwaterloo.ca/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Institute for Quantum Computing</a> in Waterloo. They have one of the strongest and largest quantum computing/information programs in the world (and definitely the strongest and largest in Canada). If you browse their website, you will see that <strong>you can get any of M.Sc, M.Math, or M.Eng as your degree</strong> with departments ranging from: Applied Mathematics (2 profs), Chemistry (2 profs), Combinatorics & Optimization (4 profs), Computer Science (2 profs), Electrical & Computer Engineering (3 profs), Physics & Astronomy (7 profs + 3 assistant profs). I think all of the programs are thesis based, and students are expected to produce original research. I would base you department choice based on potential supervisors (you will have to list who you prefer as supervisor during your application) and what sort of non-quantum courses you like (since you will be expected to take some non-quantum related courses in your department).</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind, that <strong>in the USA, it is not customary to sit for a separate Masters before your PhD</strong>, so consider applying straight to PhD with your choice of supervisor determining the department. The <a href=\"http://www.iqi.caltech.edu/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">IQI at CalTech</a> is a good choice, I know that John Preskill has an interest in the intersection of quantum field theory and quantum computing; note that most other work in quantum computing doesn't use QFT and concentrates on the non-relativistic limit. Make sure to do a little bit of work in quantum computing during your undergrad before you make your Masters/PhD decision, to make sure you have an idea for the lay of the land. A lot of people don't have a good grasp of what research in quantum computing will look like when they first say they are interested.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14540",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9828/"
]
|
14,548 | <p>I am a Master's student who is mentoring a recent graduate through a research project in the same field (of astronomy). He is a very good <em>student</em>, but struggles with one of the realities of being an astronomer - coding. Right now, he is just running code others have written, but despite my strong suggestion that he start learning the language, still asks for my help on even the most elementary of problems. His confidence in using computers is lacking, and if he continues in the field it will become a serious hindrance.</p>
<p>I did provide a very high level of assistance early on, but this was mostly due to a couple of bugs in setting my own code up on his computer. In later stages of this research project, he is going to need to write some basic code of his own, so I feel we're getting to the stage where we need to establish a greater level of independence. </p>
<p>One of the key points of difference between a student and a researcher is that a researcher solves their own problems. It is the job of a mentor and supervisor to <em>assist</em> in that, but I feel that my mentee still feels entitled that I should solve his problems for him (I only solved "his" problems before because a bug in code that I wrote is <em>my</em> responsibility). It's time to start taking a more hands-off approach: I'm happy to give advice on how he might solve a problem, but it's his responsibility to sit down and implement that idea.</p>
<p>How should I approach this problem - (a) with my mentee, and (b) with our supervising professor (we have the same supervisor)?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14549,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> I am a current PhD student and speak from personal experience as one who has guided both masters as well as undergraduate students.</p>\n\n<p>Learning how to code appropriately takes skill, time and confidence (among other things). My strategy for this while mentoring students is as follows:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Develop a small project which will have some significant coding component in it but will still add to the overall project. Lay out the coding expectations and deliverables very clearly. Don't start with something too difficult.</p></li>\n<li><p>Consider using version control tools (such as git) to manage your mentee's code. Be very clear about what languages/libraries etc. you plan to use and how this code will add to the project.</p></li>\n<li><p>Lay out a timeline with your mentee with very specific coding expectations.</p></li>\n<li><p>Achieve each small component with your mentee. Guide (but <strong>don't</strong> spoonfeed/handhold) your mentee. Make sure that he/she codes everything by him/herself.</p></li>\n<li><p>Give him/her a small reward. (coffee/sugary thingy/beer) This always makes my students very happy. :)</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In my experience, once a mentee has achieved a small project by him/herself, they are usually quick and eager to move onto the next objective. I use this to ramp up the difficulty level slowly but surely.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding the second part of your question, I would definitely keep your supervisor/adviser in the loop regarding this. He/She may have much better suggestions than any that I have to offer here.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14552,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One of the more difficult tasks of the mentor is to assess current skill levels, set milestones accordingly, and ensure that the student has the necessary resources (and capabilities) to improve his skills.</p>\n\n<p>At your admission, he is a novice coder, if that. Are you setting expectations too high? Does he have the right resources to learn how to code? There are lots of books/websites/youtube videos/whatever that teach coding; is he aware of these tools? Does he know how to use his IDE? Having watched my wife learn to code as a graduate student, I learned that the ability to represent a theoretical solution in software is a skill that takes a lot of time to develop. He may just need time.</p>\n\n<p>Having said that, if you've done all that and he's still not making any progress (after sufficient time... say, two to four months), then you may have to recommend that he take time off from working on your research until he becomes a more proficient coder.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14564,
"author": "Faheem Mitha",
"author_id": 285,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/285",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some relevant questions. What is the computational background of your student? Has he ever done any coding before? If so, what languages? What is his general computer literacy? What language are you trying to get him to use? You just write \"learning the language\". Programming languages vary greatly in their difficulty for someone without experience.</p>\n\n<p>The first programming language I ever tried to learn was C, in the middle of an already busy semester as a grad student, for a course in numerical analysis, in 1997. I used the famous book by Kernighan and Ritchie. I had zero experience of programming at that time, and in hindsight it was a crazy thing to try to do. The instructor didn't offer any programming help; neither did anyone else. I think the instructor was a fan of Fortran. :-) At that time online forums were probably in their infancy. In any case, it never occurred to me to try and use them. There were easier languages to use even in 1997. For example Python 1 existed at the time, though I don't know how usable it was. Anyway, I think I came last in the programming assignments - I think I didn't hand the last one or two assignments out of sheer exhaustion.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately the culture in academia with respect to programming and related computer work is very much - toss people in at the deep end and let them sink or swim. This is caused by several factors - often the instructors/senior people are very ignorant. Second, there is a feeling that programming languages are too trivial to teach people and they should just pick it up themselves.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I think, depending on what language you are trying to get your student to learn - consider having him learn something easier and more user friendly. I recommend Python. Have him do some simple exercises and gradually warm up to something more difficult. A language like C/C++/Fortran is probably easier to learn once one has learnt some programming in a language that does not require things like compilation and manual memory management. These days there are many resources online to help the novice programmer - point him to some of them. E.g. Stack Overflow. Also, tell him to give high priority to learning version control. I recommend Mercurial. Git is probably fine, but it gives even experienced people a headache. It might be quite scary for an inexperienced person.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14597,
"author": "StasK",
"author_id": 739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/739",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since you are not a professional programmer yourself, it is a poor idea to have you teach programming to your mentee. He should take a real programming course with Python or Ruby or Java, be that online (EdX is offering a <a href=\"https://www.edx.org/course/harvardx/harvardx-cs50x-introduction-computer-1022\" rel=\"nofollow\">computer science</a> course starting Jan 1, 2014), or with a real instructor at your home school. That way, he won't learn your errors (which you admit you make), and will learn the professional tools like the <a href=\"http://hgbook.red-bean.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">revision control</a> which I think Faheem Mitha mentioned.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101013/full/467775a.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Poor programming skills</a> among scientists is an unseen, but a real impediment to reproducibility of research, its soundness, and eventually scientific progress.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17529,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The other answers assume that the mentoring relationship can be saved, and that there are specific actions you can take to help the mentee. I want to add that sometimes, that isn't the case.</p>\n\n<p>As a PhD student who is the main \"experimentalist\" in my group, I mentor many other students (grad, undergrad, even high school summer research students). Some are very good, some are very bad. </p>\n\n<p>Also, like mmh, I mentored 6 or 7 grad students when I myself was an undergrad (because I was more experienced with the particular project). </p>\n\n<p><strong>Mentoring students is hard when you are yourself a student</strong>, especially when your mentees are officially at a \"higher level\" (of study) than you. </p>\n\n<p>Unlike the official faculty advisor, you don't have the ability to enforce consequences for the student's poor performance. Sometimes you feel that the mentee isn't putting as much effort into the mentoring relationship as they would if the mentor was a professor. A student mentor is more approachable than a faculty mentor, which can be good (mentee feels more comfortable asking questions and admitting weaknesses!) or bad (mentee doesn't respect and value mentor's time because he's \"only\" a student!) depending on the mentor and mentee personalities.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, unlike a faculty mentor, you have the distinct advantage that <strong>the student is really not your responsibility.</strong> If you feel the mentoring relationship is not working out, you can always say the following to the faculty member who <strong>is responsible for the student:</strong></p>\n\n<p><strong>\"I've been spending a lot of time working with X and I feel like it's not really a productive mentoring relationship. He is taking up a lot of my time, without putting in the effort that he would need to learn what I can teach him, and then become more independent. Please find someone else to work with him to get him up to speed.\"</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17637,
"author": "Emme",
"author_id": 12532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12532",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since your supervisor put you in this mentoring position, you need to let her/him know that you've run into this issue with the mentee. Then have the conversation with the mentee that \"It's time to start taking a more hands-off approach: I'm happy to give advice on how he might solve a problem, but it's his responsibility to sit down and implement that idea.\" (your words are perfect!)</p>\n\n<p>I supervise Higher Ed grad students - some are eager to work independently, others not so much. Be consistent with your expectations with all mentees you supervise. Help him by directing him to resources that will help him and set a weekly time to meet where you both go over progress made. You're not the one learning here, the effort is required from the one doing the learning. Be nice, but be firm.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14548",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562/"
]
|
14,553 | <p>I am currently in the second year of my post-doctoral fellowship. My PI will be moving to a new university in ~9 months.</p>
<p>As the story of the potential move developed, I was honest with my PI during discussions and told him that it was likely that I would go with him if he left, but it was never discussed in detail.</p>
<p>Now that more specifics are known, it is time to talk details. I would like to negotiate for an upward move to a research associate position. I believe this would be fair considering I'm sure I will "lose" some amount of research time while the new lab is getting set-up. However, I'm worried about negotiations because a) this is not a "new" job, just a continuation of my fellowship at a new location with the same boss, b) I've already indicated that I would like to move to the new location, and c) my resume has not yet reached a point that I am able to strike out on my own for any other upward job move (though, I can probably make a lateral move to another post-doc, that is not ideal).</p>
<p>My questions are:</p>
<p><strong>Is it reasonable to ask for a title promotion in this situation? Or do I have no room for negotiation?</strong></p>
<p><strong>What else should I add to the negotiations in order to help my career progress to the best of its ability during a transition to a new university in another state?</strong></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14554,
"author": "Jesper",
"author_id": 1399,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1399",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it's reasonable to at least ask for the title bump. What do you have to lose? Administrators are more familiar with this situation than you might expect. It's essentially a case of the worst they can say is \"no\" when it comes to giving you a revised position/title. It likely comes down to their budget and/or the budget of your PI and whether their faculty see you fitting in there longer term. Remember they may see you as an asset and someone they wish to also \"pluck\" from your current university, which ultimately makes the plucking university look better overall as far as reputation stuff goes. </p>\n\n<p>I recently witnessed a very similar scenario in my department, where a faculty member left and took his lab with him, including two PhD students and a post-doc. The faculty member (not the post-doc) negotiated with the new department to get his post-doc a research professor position. So it does happen. So you may not be the one who should be doing the negotiating directly, this might fall on your PI to negotiate for you. Also, in this situation the negotiation happened after the faculty member had accepted the offer, so the negotiations can still occur after the initial offer is accepted by the PI. Remember this is the honeymoon phase between the administrators in this new department and your PI, so they may do whatever it takes to make him happy (for now) including whatever he asks for on your behalf. Or they could say no, but I don't think anyone is offended and even expects this.</p>\n\n<p>Another consideration might be whether you wish to stay with this PI long-term or not? Prior to him telling you he was departing, did you see yourself working with him beyond your current post-doc? These university moves are common and can shake you up when you are caught in the middle. It's a very important time to keep your career goals in sight.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14558,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it is more than reasonable to ask for a \"bump\", but you may want to reconsider moving. The way I see it is you are currently in your 2nd year as a post doc and the move isn't for 9 months so at the time of the move you would be approaching 3 years as a post doc in the same lab. This is getting to be a long time and you do not want to lose the time associated with the lab move to move to a new lab for a year. You need to make the move to the new lab desirable enough that you want to stay for 2+ years. The reason you may want to reconsider the move is that you would be effectively doing 2 post docs in the same lab instead of 2 labs. This means less of a chance to learn new things (both technical and interpersonal skills) and meet new colleagues (specifically ones who can write letters of reference for you and help you get the next job).</p>\n\n<p>If you chose to stay, the argument for a bump is that (1) this would effectively be your second post doc, and (2) you would be taking a hit in your research associated with the move and need additional support to over come that. The reason keeping you is advantageous to your PI is continuity and the ability to get started quicker. Finally there is the issue that the PI probably has a start up package so can actually afford a bump (both salary and resources).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 16020,
"author": "nagniemerg",
"author_id": 11084,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11084",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depending on the relationship you have with your PI, I would think it would be general to assume that there will be quite a bit of work / research / papers (however you want to define work apart from the integral of a force curve over the distance) to do after the completion of your current postdoc.</p>\n\n<p>I would think it would be more reasonable to go somewhere else for your second post-doc position at a lateral position as you will be extending your contact base for people to work with and because the work under the previous fellowship will probably still continue (at some level).</p>\n\n<p>I would think that a title would not be of any import, unless you can come up with something that would be reasonable and continue on past your time there, i.e. the beginnings of some type of endowed post-doc chair and some associated name to go with it. Even going from post-doc to say 'Research Assistant Professor' would be fine.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14553",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9842/"
]
|
14,561 | <p>I have seen that some researchers in my field, that is Computer Science, do this:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>They publish a paper, for example titled "The use of the Fourier transform for problem X". The paper gets accepted.</p></li>
<li><p>Then after a while they have another paper titled "The use of the Fourier transform for solving the problem X under these constraints". I read the paper and I see this is the same as before with only the title changed a little bit and published in another conference.</p></li>
<li><p>Again, the same paper in another language "l'uso della trasformata di Fourier...", which has the same content, but submitted to a local conference</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Is this alright? For me it just seems that it should only be put like one publication under their CVs and not "resell" the idea over and over. I have this question because they had asked me to translate one of my papers to a local conference, but I do not consider that to be like a new publication. Should I translate and claim a new publication?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14562,
"author": "Aaron",
"author_id": 1228,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1228",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In computer science, papers are published in archival conferences, which makes things a little confusing. (In many other fields, papers are published in journals, and conferences are just for giving talks -- you can only publish a paper once, but you can give a talk about it many times). </p>\n\n<p>a) It is unethical, in violation of the rules of the venue, and an incredibly stupid idea to publish the same paper more than once in an archival conference. This is self plagiarism, and is a serious academic offense. </p>\n\n<p>b) On the other hand, in computer science there are also non-archival workshops to which people are invited to give talks. (These are more like the \"conferences\" in other fields). It is fine to give a talk at such a venue about a paper that has been previously published elsewhere. </p>\n\n<p>Your question seems to be whether you personally should commit unethical and stupid act a). I would advise against it. (It is unethical for obvious reasons. It is stupid because anyone who seriously considers your publication record will be sure to spot such a move, and you will not be able to get a reasonable academic job). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14567,
"author": "Pat",
"author_id": 7061,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7061",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For the detail you've provided, it's difficult to tell.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Self plagarism is a big no-no, obviously.</li>\n<li>However, when you're building on previously published work (e.g. by adding constraints), there's almost certainly going to be overlap.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I think what I'd look for is as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Does the new work provide a meaningful contribution? (E.g. is solving the problem with constraints tricky to do, or does it give unexpected results?) This will depend on the field, and the standards of the conference.</li>\n<li><em>Is the previously published paper cited by the new work</em>? You don't specify whether this is the case or not in your question, and I think it's critical.</li>\n<li>Are large portions of the text lifted verbatim? If the author is continuing with prior work there's bound to be some crossover (there's only so many ways you can clearly describe a problem using standard terminology, after all, and that's before we consider page limits), but it shouldn't be a cut&paste job. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If they pass all that then it's probably ok, even if the paper isn't exactly wonderful - but chances are then, if it's making it through the review stage then it's probably been submitted to a less prestigious conference, and people will pick up on that.</p>\n\n<p>With regard to translating a paper for a local conference, it's not an issue I've ever faced and I'm a lot less sure about what the accepted etiquette is. My gut feeling though is the key test would be whether anyone is being mislead as to what's happened. Off the top of my head this including the local conference organisers, the conference that published the original version of the paper, any funding bodies who might ask how many papers you've published, and the people later reading your CV. If you're deceiving any of them in the way you present the publication, or even leaving an unreasonable opportunity for them to misunderstand, then no, don't. Otherwise, I can't see a reason to object.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14580,
"author": "Samuel Russell",
"author_id": 4429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4429",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Such a paper can be published, but it should not be treated as a new research output. Using the Australian HERDC specifications for research publications at 9.1 a publication is characterised by:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>substantial scholarly activity, as evidenced by discussion of the relevant literature, an \n awareness of the history and antecedents of work described, and provided in a format \n which allows a reader to trace sources of the work, including through citations and \n footnotes </li>\n <li>originality (i.e. not a compilation of existing works. See important notes below regarding \n the treatment of scholarly editions and scholarly translations) </li>\n <li>[...]</li>\n <li>increasing the stock of knowledge [...]</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>When dealing with papers, a new paper on a theme must still \"increase the stock of knowledge\" by \"substantial scholarly activity\" and be \"original\". Adding a new case study may fit the bill. Using a new technique of analysis may fit the bill. A new theoretical context may fit the bill. \"Substantiveness\" would be indicated by the portion of the work that is \"original.\" If the original component would fly as a paper by itself, in the sense that the component of the paper that is original scholarly contribution to knowledge is reportable as research by itself; then it is fine. My dictum when dealing with these is \"new evidence?\" \"new analysis?\" \"new conclusion?.\" If it meets one of these, originality has been met, and probably substantial scholarly activity.</p>\n\n<p>Authors have a separate responsibility in terms of IP and copyright agreements that they may have previously made, and obviously have ethical obligations to cite prior works.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14561",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144/"
]
|
14,563 | <p>I am currently applying for several post-doctoral positions. For these applications I have to prepare a research document in which I present my current research and my future projects in a limited amount of pages (typically not more than 4 or 5). But there is two possible organisations of ideas:</p>
<ul>
<li>1) A first approach would be to present first my past and current
research topics and then my future projects. </li>
<li>2) A second approach consists in a thematic organization in which I present for each topic
my past and current research and what I plan to do in this topic in
the future. Some topics can be only past/current and some other only
long-term project.</li>
</ul>
<p>What is the best organization ?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14562,
"author": "Aaron",
"author_id": 1228,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1228",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In computer science, papers are published in archival conferences, which makes things a little confusing. (In many other fields, papers are published in journals, and conferences are just for giving talks -- you can only publish a paper once, but you can give a talk about it many times). </p>\n\n<p>a) It is unethical, in violation of the rules of the venue, and an incredibly stupid idea to publish the same paper more than once in an archival conference. This is self plagiarism, and is a serious academic offense. </p>\n\n<p>b) On the other hand, in computer science there are also non-archival workshops to which people are invited to give talks. (These are more like the \"conferences\" in other fields). It is fine to give a talk at such a venue about a paper that has been previously published elsewhere. </p>\n\n<p>Your question seems to be whether you personally should commit unethical and stupid act a). I would advise against it. (It is unethical for obvious reasons. It is stupid because anyone who seriously considers your publication record will be sure to spot such a move, and you will not be able to get a reasonable academic job). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14567,
"author": "Pat",
"author_id": 7061,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7061",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For the detail you've provided, it's difficult to tell.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Self plagarism is a big no-no, obviously.</li>\n<li>However, when you're building on previously published work (e.g. by adding constraints), there's almost certainly going to be overlap.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I think what I'd look for is as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Does the new work provide a meaningful contribution? (E.g. is solving the problem with constraints tricky to do, or does it give unexpected results?) This will depend on the field, and the standards of the conference.</li>\n<li><em>Is the previously published paper cited by the new work</em>? You don't specify whether this is the case or not in your question, and I think it's critical.</li>\n<li>Are large portions of the text lifted verbatim? If the author is continuing with prior work there's bound to be some crossover (there's only so many ways you can clearly describe a problem using standard terminology, after all, and that's before we consider page limits), but it shouldn't be a cut&paste job. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If they pass all that then it's probably ok, even if the paper isn't exactly wonderful - but chances are then, if it's making it through the review stage then it's probably been submitted to a less prestigious conference, and people will pick up on that.</p>\n\n<p>With regard to translating a paper for a local conference, it's not an issue I've ever faced and I'm a lot less sure about what the accepted etiquette is. My gut feeling though is the key test would be whether anyone is being mislead as to what's happened. Off the top of my head this including the local conference organisers, the conference that published the original version of the paper, any funding bodies who might ask how many papers you've published, and the people later reading your CV. If you're deceiving any of them in the way you present the publication, or even leaving an unreasonable opportunity for them to misunderstand, then no, don't. Otherwise, I can't see a reason to object.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14580,
"author": "Samuel Russell",
"author_id": 4429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4429",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Such a paper can be published, but it should not be treated as a new research output. Using the Australian HERDC specifications for research publications at 9.1 a publication is characterised by:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>substantial scholarly activity, as evidenced by discussion of the relevant literature, an \n awareness of the history and antecedents of work described, and provided in a format \n which allows a reader to trace sources of the work, including through citations and \n footnotes </li>\n <li>originality (i.e. not a compilation of existing works. See important notes below regarding \n the treatment of scholarly editions and scholarly translations) </li>\n <li>[...]</li>\n <li>increasing the stock of knowledge [...]</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>When dealing with papers, a new paper on a theme must still \"increase the stock of knowledge\" by \"substantial scholarly activity\" and be \"original\". Adding a new case study may fit the bill. Using a new technique of analysis may fit the bill. A new theoretical context may fit the bill. \"Substantiveness\" would be indicated by the portion of the work that is \"original.\" If the original component would fly as a paper by itself, in the sense that the component of the paper that is original scholarly contribution to knowledge is reportable as research by itself; then it is fine. My dictum when dealing with these is \"new evidence?\" \"new analysis?\" \"new conclusion?.\" If it meets one of these, originality has been met, and probably substantial scholarly activity.</p>\n\n<p>Authors have a separate responsibility in terms of IP and copyright agreements that they may have previously made, and obviously have ethical obligations to cite prior works.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14563",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8457/"
]
|
14,565 | <p>I wrote an article containing quite a lot of maths using latex. I want to submit this paper to a given journal. However, submission guideline explicitly states that
all submissions must be done in word format. I am a bit confused about such a specification and really feel unconfortable to reedit everything in word. Some companies seem to offer convertor or online conversion. Maybe some of you have already experienced some of them and can give me some feedback and advices.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14566,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can sympathize with your situation but unfortunately there is not much you can do if the journal explicitly asks for Word files except to provide them. As was stated in a comment you can (and should) contact the journal to ask about the use of LaTeX. Most large publishers handle LaTeX but the individual journals (editors) may not be aware of this and may not use LaTeX themselves so as to see the benefits. I doubt anyone would change their local policy based on one manuscript but if they are not aware that people wish to submit LaTeX files, nothing will ever change.</p>\n\n<p>If you ask editors about LaTeX, remember to also ask them about formats for supplying equations. In some cases, journals accept the built in so-called equation editor in Word and in some cases they may request equations as graphics. They should however, have some standard way of handling such, since I assume your manuscript cannot be the only one they ever published that includes equations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14570,
"author": "Andy W",
"author_id": 3,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've used <a href=\"http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/\">pandoc</a> for this problem previously and it worked pretty well. Problems I have encountered are;</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Multi-line equations (e.g. <code>align</code> or <code>matrix</code> environments) are not converted correctly to word. (I don't think there is an equivalent of <code>align</code> in word).</li>\n<li>Converted all citations to the ones within parentheses (much more minor a fix).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Last publication I did this because I got so frustrated with the journal (it would accept and compile my Latex file, but gave no instructions about what packages I could use nor any instructions on how to get the bibliography to compile - and emailing for three weeks with the staff did not help). But it only took me a few hours to convert the paper (that publication had minimal math though). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 186569,
"author": "Samuel Saari",
"author_id": 158135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/158135",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try <a href=\"https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/pdf-to-word\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Adobe's pdf-to-word converter</a>. Apart from some issues with equations, works extremely well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 186570,
"author": "Scott Seidman",
"author_id": 20457,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20457",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For quite some time, Word has allowed equations to be entered in LaTex. It shouldn't be a big deal to handle all your equations in one session, and get your paper out the door. A good text editor like notepad++ would be a big help.</p>\n<p>You might also look to see if there is any tool in the OpenOffice or LibreOffice suites that might help.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14565",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9851/"
]
|
14,572 | <p>I have to ask you this. I am applying for my Masters in CS in US universities. I am very much interested in Artificial Intelligence, but some of my friends said that it would be very difficult for me to learn AI as I have no overview about the course in my undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me if I can easily learn by putting some effort on learning AI. I am very much interested in that course.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14573,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know about the US, but in some schools in Canada you can be admitted to a CS Graduate degree without prior background in an interest area. You'd have to take background courses to get yourself up to speed, possibly in excess of the bare-minimum program requirements, but it should be doable. </p>\n\n<p>For AI specifically, ensure that the schools you're applying to have enough background in the topic, and that there are supervisors and supervisory capacity for you. Look for undergraduate courses in topics that interest you, as they may form part of your background studies. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14574,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my experience, many graduate courses do not require prior knowledge about the specific subject being taught, only background knowledge. Alternatively, they may require only minimal knowledge that you could teach yourself very quickly. But it is worth checking specific courses - naturally some would be more advanced.</p>\n\n<p>For something like machine learning, the relevant background would probably be algorithms, probability, linear algebra and maybe some calculus/optimization.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14572",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9855/"
]
|
14,576 | <p>I am trying to compare PhD training programs of different universities, institutes and departments in my field of interest. One of the comparisons I made is where did the previous students go after they finished their PhDs; how many papers did they write during their PhDs; and how much are they cited 1-2 years after completing their PhDs.</p>
<p>Now, comparing the citations counts is difficult. They vary quite a bit. How many times should a successful young scientist be cited 1-2 years after completing his or her PhD? How about an average one? What is the minimum number to be able to continue in academia? I understand that exact numbers are difficult to provide but I would guess you senior scientists can provide good estimates.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14577,
"author": "Doru Constantin",
"author_id": 9221,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9221",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe your first two criteria are far more relevant than the third one. Two years after the defence is too early to evaluate scientists based on citations. Moreover, the average number of citations varies a lot from one field (or even subfield) to another.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14579,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I believe that scientometric indicators of scientific productivity and impact are at best, limited if the overall objective is to compare different college, departments, universities, institutes, centers (or any other academic organization) in one discipline. This is coming from someone who has had rigorous training in bibliometrics/informetrics/scientometrics.</p>\n\n<p>This is because there are massive variations in citation patterns <strong><em>within</em></strong> a particular field. This is especially pertinent if the field is rather interdisciplinary. Note though that in any given field, there is a general level of agreement among scholars in that field which departments are \"<em>better</em>\" than some other ones.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), critical theorists and ethnographers get, on an average lower numbers of citations per article published than say, ubiquitous computing folks. </p>\n\n<p>However, purely on an <strong><em>exploratory</em></strong> basis, there could be several ways of looking at departments:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Where are graduate students from a particular department publishing in?</strong> \n<em>Are they consistently publishing in top tier venues?</em> e.g. In core HCI, I would look at <a href=\"http://chi2014.acm.org/\">CHI</a>/<a href=\"http://cscw.acm.org/\">CSCW</a> conferences. When considering, the subfield of usable privacy, I would, in addition, look at <a href=\"http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2013/\">SOUPS</a>/<a href=\"http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/securityandprivacy\">IEEE Privacy & Security</a>.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Among these publications, are they receiving best paper awards or best paper nominations?</strong></p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Where are students from these departments being placed on a consistent basis?</strong> Are they being placed in industry or academia? Where, specifically? Google or a no-name startup? Are they getting tenure track positions or primarily post doctoral fellowships? Which other departments?</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Are some of these students recipients of prestigious fellowships during their doctoral studies?</strong> e.g. <a href=\"http://www.nsfgrfp.org/\">NSF Graduate Research Fellowship</a> or <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/academics\">Facebook Fellowship</a>? How many?</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Bibliometric Indicators:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Average number of peer reviewed articles? (full journal and conference papers)</li>\n<li>Average number of citations per article?</li>\n<li>Co-authorship network analysis (which gives a nice idea of collaboration networks)</li>\n<li>Average number of student grants received or otherwise?</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>You can go on and on and on.</p>\n\n<p>The idea is that, there is always some way to standardize or normalize any given construct. Sometimes, that is an useful approach. But, strict adherence to bibliometric indicators at many times, <strong>make you mistake the noise for the actual signal</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Consider the bigger picture and use metrics to buttress your concerns. That might be a more holistic approach.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14581,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>You should decide on your PhD institution by the quality of the tenured faculty, not their students.</em> Great students make great co-workers, but it's the quality of your supervisor that can make (or break!) you. If you have good relationships with faculty at your current institution, you should ask them what, in their opinion, are the best departments to apply to.</p>\n\n<p>You should review the publications of faculty members you would like to be supervised by, to see if their research interests you. The papers that are first-authored by the faculty member (they are still active in research and don't spend all their time supervising and teaching, right?) will be particularly useful in this regard.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14582,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although this approach to measuring is plausible, I fear it is not what you want. Although of course things vary by field, the <em>papercount</em> per se, or even \"impact factor\", or ... any other easily-measurable thing is not quite what will affect things.</p>\n\n<p>At least in mathematics (my field), a smaller number of very-good papers is much better than a large number of irrelevant papers. One might imagine that this would be measured by \"impact factor\", but it is absolutely not reliably so. As an extreme case, consider what happens when an important problem is finally and definitively solved: there may be fewer follow-ups, fewer citations, simply because there's little more to say.</p>\n\n<p>And there's time-lag: I have many examples of 10-20 year (and longer) delays before people widely realized the interest of a given paper. Srsly, surely we're not trying so much to be of-the-moment-celebrities, but to make a long-term impact. </p>\n\n<p>One could go on-and-on about the unreliability of appealing-but-fatally-flawed metrics... but the real point is that a less objectifiable judgement is necessary to evaluate the \"merits\" of a program. Stats on the students is probably not quite what you'd want, even though it might seem to be. E.g., at more elite places, there is vastly greater variance among students... so the \"outcomes\" are harder to interpret meaningfully... and, for you yourself, what those other kids did or didn't do is operationally irrelevant:</p>\n\n<p>That is, <em>your</em> level-of-performance, that causes (or doesn't) respected experts to commend you to their peers, is what will get you a job, or not. The \"published papers\" thing is a <em>side-effect</em>.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14576",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9857/"
]
|
14,586 | <p>I'm wondering how I should put my internship experiences in my Statement of Purpose for Master program. The internship experiences (mainly building java web applications) are not quite related to my research interests like distributed systems, real-time computing, etc.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14641,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Any relevant experience is valid subject matter for an application for a program of study. </p>\n\n<p>In your case, your internship experiences are well within the same field of endeavour and I would include them, if space allows. </p>\n\n<p>A researcher who has a particular interest in developing a java web application to interface with a real-time computing solution, might therefore be very interested in your particular skill set. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14679,
"author": "Steve P.",
"author_id": 8022,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8022",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While I think that any relevant work experience should definitely be included in your resume or cv, I am not sure if its place is in the statement of purpose.</p>\n\n<p>If your internship in some way inspired you to get your master's degree or to pursue a certain area of interest, then I would include it; however, mentioning it for the sake of mentioning it doesn't make sense to me.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14717,
"author": "Ashish M",
"author_id": 9970,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9970",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well It really doesn't matter much whether your research subjects are related to what you have done internships in!</p>\n\n<p>To make it more clear. Internships depicts that you are inclined and willing to work along with your regular curriculum. <strong>I would suggest you to relate your internship with research subjects.</strong> As we all know that all subjects in Computer Science are inter- related so try to find out any open source concept that you can relate to or willing to work for it. This much is enough. No doubt Research is most important aspect for admissions but you should know to combine it with your life. Give small Instances (backed with Proofs) where you can prove your point. Speaking about Number of years to show for experience is all depends on your profile, show max possible and make sure that you have salary slips.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14586",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9862/"
]
|
14,593 | <p>I am currently doing Algebra in a college in India. The professor asks students to note down solved examples in class, and then poses the very same questions in the tests. </p>
<p>I don't go to class for these very reasons. Hence, I end up writing alternate proofs for such problems. The professor is incompetent to the extent that he does not understand proofs written by an undergrad, and gives me zero on all those answers. </p>
<p>When applying for grad school, I will have bad grades in Algebra and other math subjects (I suspect). How do I convey the this to the Admissions committee when applying for a PhD?</p>
<p>I believe this is relevant to a lot of students studying in the sub-continent.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14595,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unfortunately, this is a classic no-win situation. If you protest about instructors being incompetent, you may come across as someone too eager to assign blame for mistakes to someone else. If you say nothing, then your record may be dismissed out of hand (given how important algebra is in the undergraduate math curriculum). You also don't want to admit that you're skipping class.</p>\n\n<p>I think your best bet may be to take your chances with the poor grade in algebra, but then follow the advice <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/324/how-do-you-get-a-bad-transcript-past-ph-d-admissions\">suggested for other people with weak transcripts</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14598,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If someone else is teaching algebra next semester/year, just drop the class. Cultivate a competent faculty mentor that you respect and trust. Listen to them. Meanwhile, <strong>document everything</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>If there are really no competent, trustworthy faculty in your department, do everything you can to move. In that case, sadly, your department is a diploma mill, and even with the best grades in the world, you're unlikely to get into a good graduate program.</p>\n\n<p>If you can't drop out or move, at least stop skipping class; you're just giving your instructor a legitimate excuse to dock your grade. Yes, it's childish, but your grades are more important than your pride.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The professor is incompetent to the extent that he does not understand proofs written by an undergrad</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Careful. I also do not understand many proofs written by undergrads. But in most cases, that lack of understanding is not due to <strong>my</strong> incompetence.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14604,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a supplement to aeismail's and JeffE's excellent answers.</p>\n\n<p>I understand it may be hard to drop the class or move to another class for some reasons. For your best interests, it's better to follow the instructor for now.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The professor is incompetent to the extent that he does not understand proofs written by an undergrad.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I have a suggestion for you. Sign in to our sister site <a href=\"https://math.stackexchange.com/\">Math SE</a>. Present your proofs. See what people think. After you verify your proofs, you'll know your professor is incompetent or not.</p>\n\n<p>If your professor is indeed incompetent, you should seriously consider dropping the class. You don't want to waste your precious time. However, if it turns out that you do have serious flaws in your proof, I would listen to my professor if I were you.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14593",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9873/"
]
|
14,599 | <p>I have stumbled upon a paper that is very related to my field of research and after reading and discussing it with my supervisor, I found some issues in the paper that I need more information about, such as the data set they used.</p>
<p>When I sent them an email (their emails are university email accounts) I received a failure notice telling me that these emails have been discontinued.</p>
<p>What is the protocol that I should follow to pass my inquires to them?</p>
<p>I have found one of the author's LinkedIn account, from it I know his current working place, can I contact the company asking them for his contact information? And I have already sent him a connection request containing a brief message of my intentions.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14601,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There's no particular \"protocol\"; just try to find some other way to contact them.</p>\n\n<p>I would try:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Google the author's names.</p></li>\n<li><p>Look for more recent publications by the same author(s); see if they list updated email addresses.</p></li>\n<li><p>LinkedIn was a good idea.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you have found the author's employer, see if you can find his contact info on their website; or contact someone else at the company and ask.</p></li>\n<li><p>Some professional societies maintain a database with contact information for all members. For instance, mathematics has the <a href=\"https://www.ams.org/cml/\">Combined Membership List</a>.</p></li>\n<li><p>Contact someone at the previous employer and ask if they have current contact info.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14617,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would like to add one point of note to the other answer:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Do check if the first author is still in academia.</strong></p>\n\n<p>It is quite possible that the first author wrote the paper as a PhD student, and has since left academia. Quite probably, if he/she has left academia, he/she will not have time or want to make time to address the issue. When this is the case, probably their supervisor is also on the paper, and might still be in academia. In this case, contact the supervisor or another co-author.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14599",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9488/"
]
|
14,602 | <p>Application forms for graduate school usually contain some vague statements regarding the extents of usage of one's social security number.
Some people believe that educational records at other institutes are private information and the universities should have access to the educational records that <em>the applicant</em> would disclose to them ONLY. (Regardless of potential consequences and/or ethical justification for actions of either party.)</p>
<p>My question is, having the applicant's social security number, can schools see which schools/programs the applicant has attended, for how long, and the courses that were taken in the past? If so, is this a common practice? That is, do graduate offices commonly check with social security information to make sure that the records from each previously attended institute is included in the application?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14611,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I believe your question is really about the existence of some sort of central database where all student records can be searched, if one has a key like a Social Security Number (SSN).</p>\n\n<p>I do not believe any such system exists as I have never heard of it and if it did exist, it would likely run afoul of FERPA mentioned in the comments.</p>\n\n<p>Basically, the only way one school would know you were at another school is if you (or someone else) tells them. Having your SSN does allow people to find out information from you but that is mostly from credit reporting agencies. If you borrow money from the school and they report it to the agencies, someone might be able to find out some information that way, but I can't imagine they would find out the program you were in.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14612,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer provided by earthling is excellent. I would like to tackle this question from another angle.</p>\n\n<p>I don't believe any school will purposedly leak or illegally obtain student information. You are in the US. You are protected under FERPA.</p>\n\n<p>However, accidents always happen. For example, what if one of the professors in the school you previously attended just transferred to the school you are applying. He would know you were in another school and the program you were in. Or your current advisor met with your former advisor in a conference. Academia is a small world.</p>\n\n<p>I would not worry about the SSN issue if I were you. Just focus on your application and your study. Put aside your past. Pursue the future.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14602",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8289/"
]
|
14,606 | <p>I am bachelors of commerce from a not known university. I am going to take economics masters from India's top institute. I will take higher math courses as well. What else should I do to get in top 10 economics program ? (Are there any chances for me?)</p>
<p>Also can you please suggest some masters economics program which enrolls commerce undergrad?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14607,
"author": "cc7768",
"author_id": 9882,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9882",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>(If I had more rep then this probably would have been a comment not an answer, sorry). That is a very hard question to answer without you providing much information.</p>\n\n<p>Generally getting into a top 10 economics program is already a semi random process because so many applicants are so well qualified. It requires a high GPA in hard courses, good recommendation letters, etc... That being said, there are a lot of students from India who end up placing very well.</p>\n\n<p>A website where you might get more opinions is <a href=\"http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/</a> . They have a general format for how to submit your profile, look at a few and check it out. Might help you know where you stand (They also have old archives of student profiles with results).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14892,
"author": "Hedge Fund",
"author_id": 10098,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10098",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I will say the highest probability course of action, but nobody has a guaranteed entrance into a top 10 program. \n1. Practice the GRE extensively. If you score 800 in math that will help. Verbal score is not a hindrance if everything else is right, but if you score above 95% in verbal that will show.\n2. Get in touch with professors in the top 10 programs, especially some that might have connections to you either through your schools, country, or area of interest. Start an intelligent conversation with them. Show them how interested you are in working with them. For this you will have to do thorough research on their work, but it is the best way of showing how badly you want to work with them.\n3. Get excellent grades and develop relationships with your current professors to obtain the best letters of reference possible.</p>\n\n<p>In summary, people tend to focus on the quantitative and the impartial, a typical economist bias, but develop personal relationships can pay off in putting you ahead of the curve.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 20459,
"author": "Rob Donnelly",
"author_id": 9701,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9701",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an international applicant, I would recommend against getting a masters from anywhere except one of the top (1-3) schools in your country. A master's from university in the top 30 in the US or one of the top schools in UK/Canada are also options.</p>\n\n<p>If you are not yet competitive for a top master's program, I would suggest trying to get a job as an economics research assistant, ideally with a well known professor. This has the advantage also of giving you a better look at what economics research looks like first hand, which is closer to what you'd be doing as a PhD student and professor than your classes in a masters program.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately to be competitive for a top 10 school, you absolutely need a high GPA and GRE, and then on top of that you need letters of recommendation from at least 1 or 2 professors that are respected in the field, ideally who have a track record of placing students at top PhD programs. Even then there seems to be a lot of noise in the system about who gets accepted where.</p>\n\n<p>I posted it in a comment above, but to reiterate, I think this is very good advice. <a href=\"http://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/athey/gradadvising.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/athey/gradadvising.html</a></p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14606",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9881/"
]
|
14,615 | <p>I am a PhD student in an applied science subject at a UK university, part way through my first year. I have two supervisors: 'A' is a senior professor, and 'B' is a PDRA. Most of my work is centred around a large multi-university project. A is the PI on this project, and most of B's time is spent on it. B and I often work together on the same problems.</p>
<p>B has recently informed us that she is pregnant and will be going on maternity leave next year. By that point I will be a few months into year 2 of my PhD. </p>
<p>A has told me that that there is a possibility that, if I am willing, my PhD could be put on hold for the duration of A's maternity leave, and I could be employed as a RA to cover the work that she would have been doing.</p>
<p>My initial thought is that if this comes to pass, it would be a win/win: It would provide continuity for the project, and give me more experience and more time around the subject before my funding runs out. While the work that I would be doing would be slightly different to my PhD topic, it would be relevant and closely related.</p>
<p>My question is: What potential pitfalls are there here? What questions should I ask if this is formally proposed? What pros & cons can you see?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14619,
"author": "DeadlyDan",
"author_id": 9888,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9888",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes this is a slippery slope you are mounting! </p>\n\n<p>It would be better for you to keep on your PhD on track, taking a year out to do other research may end up being a complete waste of time for your PhD. It wouldn't be so bad if it was a 6 month absence but a year is a long time to be dropping your tools. I did my PhD full-time over 4 years in Computer Eng. and I needed those full 4 years to get the job done. </p>\n\n<p>I'd ask if you can continue on your PhD track and get your supervisor A to take full charge for the year - just coordinate your plan with supervisor B before she leaves.</p>\n\n<p>That said if your fairly young and can afford to spend a full year on a different subject matter then good for you! Personally I'd try to finish your PhD research goals ASAP</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14622,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know your field, so my answer might be wrong.</p>\n\n<p>It seems to me that taking this opportunity runs the risk of a small lifetime earnings hit (since there's a good chance that it means you would spend an extra year at PD salary rather than TT or industry salary), but that beyond that it would only help you career-wise. Especially since this year wouldn't count against your clock. That is, compared to your peers graduating at the same time as you, you'll have more experience, more publications, and experience with more projects.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14636,
"author": "pierrebordeaux",
"author_id": 9906,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9906",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Having been in a similar situation at least once before, I would say the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Your priority should be the rapid completion of your PhD;</li>\n<li>The family circumstances of colleagues or machinations of your dept's internal labour market are irrelevant to your career;</li>\n<li>Don't be flattered into \"helping out\" by the temporary prestige of a salaried RAship;</li>\n<li>Universities are infamous for their exploitation of PhD students and are ruthless in the substitution of permanent salaried posts with FTCs (fixed term contracts).</li>\n<li>Be aware that your supervisor may attach a higher priority to delivering a project they are contractually responsible for as PI, than to facilitating the early completion of your PhD and thus your exit to an independent career;</li>\n<li>The early completion of your PhD will give you mobility in the job market, rendering the internal labour market irrelevant;</li>\n<li>If you aspire to a career in UK academia, now is the time to strategize and position yourself for REF2020. Unless some dramatic shift in hiring practices takes place, your next employer will only be interested in your PhD (tick), publication history and REF-ability for 2020.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I apologise if any of what I say sounds miserably pessimistic; but academia has become ruthlessly competitive and I would advise putting self-preservation ahead of any internal loyalties. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 104702,
"author": "GamerPhile",
"author_id": 88239,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/88239",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Pros:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>More experience. Remember, experience is almost always a benefit. You'll instantly be more recruitable.</li>\n<li>You'll get paid. This should help with the student debt and/or living expenses in the future.</li>\n<li>You'll get in the good graces of the university. You never know when this might come in handy.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Cons:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You will graduate later than your peers. </li>\n<li>It may take awhile before B comes back from her maternity leave.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If I were you, I would first check to see how long B will be gone. If it's less than a year, I would go for it. Over a year, and it'll be up to you. Good luck!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14615",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8394/"
]
|
14,618 | <p>What is the prime motivation/incentive for people to supervise undergraduate projects? Students want the degree obviously, but what do the supervisors get? Is there some incentive? Are undergraduate supervisors paid per project as well?
I am an undergraduate computer science student. We mostly make applications and computer programs as final year projects.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14620,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sometimes undergraduate projects can form an extended talent scouting, looking for good matches of personality and interests for future graduate students.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14621,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In community/junior colleges, faculty members may be offered a small fee for supervising student's honors projects. In my experience, most of those who agree to do this put in far more work than would be covered by the stipend. Although some may agree to supervise projects just because they are expected to, most do so because they enjoy working individually with motivated and talented students.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14623,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Beyond a general desire to train students to be good researchers, a few of the benefits of undergraduate supervision for the academic include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Workload:</strong> Some departments have a workload model with various degrees of formality. In such models, supervising undergraduate projects would count towards an overall workload. Thus, if you preferred supervising undergraduate projects to some other tasks such as teaching or various service roles, you could do a little more. In a similar way there might be a default expectation that each member of academic staff take on a certain number of undergraduate students. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Facilitating research:</strong> Some undergraduate research is publishable. Thus, the research can contribute to the academic's research track record. Obviously undergraduate students don't usually have the research skills of a PhD student and the time frame is shorter. That said, with proper design of projects and some work by the supervisor, it's often possible to get a publishable research project or perhaps a piece of a publishable project. In other cases, merely supervising a project keeps the supervisor thinking about a project.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Identifying potential doctoral students:</strong> It provides an opportunity to get to know a student and identify those with particular research talents. Such students may consider doing a PhD.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14618",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9887/"
]
|
14,625 | <p>As we all know, during our higher-education careers there have been many professors who have assigned academic papers that require a minimum word or page count in some shape or form. </p>
<p>Personally, I feel this simply forces students to create “fluff” in their papers. I can understand creating a maximum word count (this makes students sift out what they feel is relevant to answering the prompt of the paper) whereas a minimum word count encourages one to think more broadly about how to go about the prompt. In some situations this is good – perhaps the instructor expects evidence or more critical thinking – but in most situations this will only lead students to find more evidence to reaffirm their claim (which is not very useful if you can prove your claim with less evidence) or create “fluff” in their paper in order to meet the requirement.</p>
<p>I found a <a href="http://michellerafter.com/2012/10/08/everything-you-need-to-know-about-word-counts-but-were-too-afraid-to-ask/" rel="noreferrer">blog post</a> about word counts for people writing stories/articles but this is in the professional world (not academic) and doesn’t actually have statistics, but it does give some interesting perspective.</p>
<p><strong>I want to know if there are any statistics or studies that prove specifying a minimum word-count is beneficial or hurtful in academic paper writing? Does it vary based on subject?</strong> Perhaps instructors can give their experience and/or thoughts on this?</p>
<p><strong>So far there have been answers of people’s experiences which is extremely beneficial and I encourage more of them. Inevitably though, I am hoping to accept an answer that has a case study or any research relevant to this topic.</strong></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14627,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree that providing a minimum word count promotes fluff. I have often used an approximate number of pages (12 pt double spaced) expected together with a minimum number of references. The reason for providing anything, is that students ask how much they need to write. </p>\n\n<p>The question from the students is the key, as I see it. They do not know what constitutes good scientific writing and tend to try to quantify knowledge as \"number of pages to be read to the exam\" and similar quantities they can relate to. How this should be translated into what we usually are looking for \"quality\" is not at all clear to them, nor us in most cases! This has made we think more about the training throughout the education and how to get the message of \"quality\" across. I, unfortunately, do not have a patented solution but believe that organized writing exercises throughout the education is necessary. The problem is that most if not everyone in the education have to synchronize exercises across course boundaries in order to build understanding of academic writing among the students, starting with simpler exercises and leading towards essays. </p>\n\n<p>Part of the writing task should also be a clear goal providing a goal for the writing exercise, other than a ten page requirement. what are the goals? to write ten pages? To quickly gather some information on a topic? To handle references correctly? To write concisely? The list can be extended substantially. The goals need to be made clear and then one must have a clear picture of what one expects out of all these goals because a different number of them can be satisfied at different levels of an education.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14628,
"author": "Captain Stack",
"author_id": 9898,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9898",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me start by saying I'm an undergraduate, so take me as seriously as you feel I deserve. I've TA'd for a 200-level class with a fair amount of writing, which meant grading lots of papers, and dealing with students who need to have a word/length requirement to be happy. I also have worked in journalism both as a writer and editor (again, college paper), so I've done lots of writing, and spent a lot of time working with writers on their articles.</p>\n\n<p>In class, length is seen as a good thing, while in journalism, it's seen almost as a bad thing (due to space requirements). Dealing with tight space constraints was very tough for me at first, but after doing it for a few years I've learned to write compact stuff. You write better when every word is a gift. You really think about what you can cover in a given space, and how to give every word as much impact as possible. You think about structure more, knowing you won't have room re-summarize later, and you don't bring up anything that's not essential to what you're writing. It's harder, but it makes you better.</p>\n\n<p>Giving long length requirements seemed to have the opposite effect. Topics diverge, and structure can easily be ignored. Writing/syntax is encouraged to be verbose. I see many writers come onto staff used to writing they do in class, and what I've noticed is that their writing often lacks clarity and purpose. </p>\n\n<p>Most of what I do as an editor/teacher is ask questions like, \"What exactly are you trying to say?\" and \"Explain this to me like I'm a 5-year-old.\" I find that this really helps, and that good writing follows good and clear ideas. This is regardless of the length of assignment, but I think having limited space forces students to do this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14630,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>As we all know, during our higher education careers it is inevitable to be assigned \n essays or academic papers that require a minimum word-count. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I do not agree with your premise here. For my undergraduate and graduate students I rarely include a minimum word count. I do include a maximum word count (which students often want extended) for the reason you wrote: Encourage students to write concisely.</p>\n\n<p>Minimum word counts do promote the things we want to avoid. Writing the same information with fewer words give greater power to the writing so encouraging students to do the opposite does not really do what I want to do.</p>\n\n<p>That said, I do find that I have to be VERY clear with my students that writing too little can cause them to fail. I explain that when it comes to word count, there is a maximum, say 3,000 words, but no minimum. If they can show they understand everything they should understand in 500 words, great! However, unless they are an exceptional writer, they should expect to fail if they submit too little.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14635,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally, I try and provide enough room between the minimum and maximum word counts to accommodate both verbose and terse writers. I use word counts to provide a guide as to the scope and depth I want in the assignment. Generally, the students who stretch out/tighten up their writing to stay within the minimum/maximum range have bigger issues than just being overly verbose or terse.</p>\n\n<p>I would probably see better writing if I let students use their natural length, but generally my writing assignments are about learning a topic in breadth (long assignment) or focusing on a key issue (short assignment).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14650,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, you don't specify in which area you are. I certainly know that in <strong>mathematics</strong> and <strong>theoretical computer science</strong>, only a very weird professor would enforce a minimal length on a solution of a problem (which is a typical assignment: to solve a problem). You simply assign a problem and you think to yourself: \"This should be for 2 or 3 pages of proof.\" To your surprise, the student writes a 10-line proof in a way in which you never treated the problem before (and maybe no one else either)!</p>\n\n<p>So you never put a lower bound on the length of the solution, for the above reason. You can put a upper bound so that the student \"can't simply list all possibilities\", but even that is not necessary; however, it still of course makes sense if you have many students and a lack of time.</p>\n\n<p><em>N.B.: One of my favourite scientific paper has 5 pages including abstract and references, and shortens a proof that was previously ~20 pages. Isn't that beautiful?</em></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17466,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Whether a minimum length is justified depends on the purpose of the assignment. For a typical problem set, of course it would be ridiculous. The purpose is to solve the problems, and a short solution is even better than a long solution. However, I sometimes assign term papers to teach students about technical writing. Writing a very short essay would defeat the whole purpose of gaining writing experience (and writing one perfect paragraph is very different from writing twenty good pages, in terms of the level of organization and skills required). In these assignments, the students are given quite a bit of choice regarding the topic, and I offer guidance and feedback. If the paper is not long enough, then either it's poorly written or the topic was too narrow, and the student should figure this out early enough that the topic can be broadened if necessary. I'm not sympathetic if someone says \"I started writing my twelve-page paper the night before it was due and discovered that I could only think of four pages to say on this topic.\" [Of course precise rules are silly, and I make it clear that there's a little flexibility. I wouldn't penalize someone for turning in eleven pages with no fluff, while twelve pages with a lot of fluff would count as bad writing.]</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 100152,
"author": "Jim Mullins",
"author_id": 84156,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/84156",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Minimum word requirements can encourage fluff, but they can also encourage greater research and more depth to the writing. Fluff comes from the students who would rather not have to write anything in the first place. At least that has been my experience. The minimum word requirement is not always successful in accomplishing this. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/09 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14625",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9893/"
]
|
14,629 | <p>I have been working in a big-shot multi-national corporation as a developer for two years now, with a possible future as a software architect in some eight to ten years.</p>
<p>Now I want to enroll in a PhD program. I am planning to quit my job and join some university for PhD programs. Now most of the universities needs some research papers, of which I have none. They also require recommendations from professors, however I have already quit college two years back and don't have a working relationship with those professors. </p>
<p>How should I secure letters of recommendation? Will a letter of recommendation from my manager help? Does academia really care about professionals wanting to enter back into the world of higher education again? Will I be able to apply to competitive universities with my profile?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14631,
"author": "Layla",
"author_id": 6144,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe you really should give it a try, but of course it depends on the field of CS that you are going to apply to. So try to check a field of specialization that is closely related to the one that you have been working, eg. Software Engineering.</p>\n\n<p>Also here it depends to which university are you going to aim for. A certain number of them require that you have already a master's degree in CS; some of them can choose you directly to do PhD studies being just a bachelor, but that usually happens to students that got at least one or two publications in a respected peer conference or journal (that is for the admission committee to check it up if you have research skills). The last point is not a must, but it is important. I have talked a few days ago with a Professor in one renowned university in the North America area, and he mentioned me that the admission committee in his faculty is getting more strict each year, and now to have publications is really a must (apart of a MSc degree of course).</p>\n\n<p>In any case give it a try, and do not forget to say in your cover letter your research interests and why you really want to pursue a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14632,
"author": "Erik Westlund",
"author_id": 9904,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9904",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not a computer science guy, so I don't really have experience with the norms of a CS department in a university. But I can give this general advice:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>If you want to do a PhD, you should at the very least: 1) know you enjoy research; and, preferably, 2) have specific research problems you really want to work on. <strong>Don't enter a PhD program if you don't like to research.</strong> If you're not sure, start with a master's in a program that has a history of allowing master's students to graduate into PhD programs and in-so-doing take advantage of their master's coursework.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>References: get them from people who make you look good and make sure your letter-writers know what makes a good grad school letter of recommendation.</strong> If you have a good manager who can attest to your capabilities as a learner, sure, have him or her write a letter. However, not all managers are going to know what graduate schools are looking for -- so educate the writer. Grad schools want people who can learn and work independently above all. Emphasize that. And, of course, if you are interested in a certain kind of research, make sure your letter-writer knows that and can comment about it!</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>The personal statement matters.</strong> In your post here you mentioned your strengths (professional experience at a good firm) and weaknesses (disconnected from academia, non-academic references). Be straightforward about those in your personal statement. More importantly, use the personal statement to discuss what you want to research, why, and your prior experience in the area. Furthermore, explain why you are a good fit for the department...</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Fit</strong>. You need to fit in at your department. This basically means you should apply to programs where you can have an appropriate mentor who is an expert in what you want to study, or expert enough to guide you along. Do not just apply to any-old program, or a program with a good name. Read through the department web site, figure out the kind of work they are doing, and contact possible mentors/advisors with questions that show your interest and help you decide if the program is a good fit. Having prior rapport with the faculty will help you, and if the department knows you <strong>want to be there</strong>, this will bump you up a little in the stack of applications. Of course, having good credentials and clear research interests is what makes for a successful application, but departments don't want to waste giving offers and potential funding to candidates who are unlikely to attend the program should they be admitted.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Hope this helps.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/09 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14629",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9899/"
]
|
14,647 | <p>What citation style allows the author to reference sources with superscript numbers?</p>
<p>I'm at the very edge of my page limit. I'm allowed to use any citation style. I need something concise that can point to the relevant works I've listed on the works-cited page. </p>
<p>Anyone have any suggestions?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14631,
"author": "Layla",
"author_id": 6144,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe you really should give it a try, but of course it depends on the field of CS that you are going to apply to. So try to check a field of specialization that is closely related to the one that you have been working, eg. Software Engineering.</p>\n\n<p>Also here it depends to which university are you going to aim for. A certain number of them require that you have already a master's degree in CS; some of them can choose you directly to do PhD studies being just a bachelor, but that usually happens to students that got at least one or two publications in a respected peer conference or journal (that is for the admission committee to check it up if you have research skills). The last point is not a must, but it is important. I have talked a few days ago with a Professor in one renowned university in the North America area, and he mentioned me that the admission committee in his faculty is getting more strict each year, and now to have publications is really a must (apart of a MSc degree of course).</p>\n\n<p>In any case give it a try, and do not forget to say in your cover letter your research interests and why you really want to pursue a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14632,
"author": "Erik Westlund",
"author_id": 9904,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9904",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not a computer science guy, so I don't really have experience with the norms of a CS department in a university. But I can give this general advice:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>If you want to do a PhD, you should at the very least: 1) know you enjoy research; and, preferably, 2) have specific research problems you really want to work on. <strong>Don't enter a PhD program if you don't like to research.</strong> If you're not sure, start with a master's in a program that has a history of allowing master's students to graduate into PhD programs and in-so-doing take advantage of their master's coursework.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>References: get them from people who make you look good and make sure your letter-writers know what makes a good grad school letter of recommendation.</strong> If you have a good manager who can attest to your capabilities as a learner, sure, have him or her write a letter. However, not all managers are going to know what graduate schools are looking for -- so educate the writer. Grad schools want people who can learn and work independently above all. Emphasize that. And, of course, if you are interested in a certain kind of research, make sure your letter-writer knows that and can comment about it!</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>The personal statement matters.</strong> In your post here you mentioned your strengths (professional experience at a good firm) and weaknesses (disconnected from academia, non-academic references). Be straightforward about those in your personal statement. More importantly, use the personal statement to discuss what you want to research, why, and your prior experience in the area. Furthermore, explain why you are a good fit for the department...</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Fit</strong>. You need to fit in at your department. This basically means you should apply to programs where you can have an appropriate mentor who is an expert in what you want to study, or expert enough to guide you along. Do not just apply to any-old program, or a program with a good name. Read through the department web site, figure out the kind of work they are doing, and contact possible mentors/advisors with questions that show your interest and help you decide if the program is a good fit. Having prior rapport with the faculty will help you, and if the department knows you <strong>want to be there</strong>, this will bump you up a little in the stack of applications. Of course, having good credentials and clear research interests is what makes for a successful application, but departments don't want to waste giving offers and potential funding to candidates who are unlikely to attend the program should they be admitted.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Hope this helps.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14647",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9263/"
]
|
14,651 | <p>I submitted my paper to a reputed journal two days ago. I got a mail from the editor saying that I need to complete other forms (copyright etc) after he finishes screening. However,I hadn't received my supervisor's approval when I submitted the paper. Now my supervisor has got back to me saying that I should withdraw my paper. Currently the status is "Not Assigned." Do I need to send a withdrawal letter? Or I can wait for the screening result? If I don't pass screen, do I still need to send a withdrawal letter?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14653,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, you need to withdraw the paper from formal consideration. This is the only way to stop the process once it's begun. This also actually helps you with later submissions. If the paper is submitted and rejected, then you may have to specify this to other journals that ask about the previous history of the manuscript. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14665,
"author": "Stylize",
"author_id": 3966,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3966",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You need to withdraw ASAP. Submitting papers without a co-authors consent is considered scientific misconduct. It can have SERIOUS consequences for your career!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14674,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on whether your supervisor is one of the authors/co-authors or not.</p>\n\n<p>If your supervisor is one of the authors of the paper, submitting the paper without all the authors' consent is unethical. You should send the editor a letter to withdraw it.</p>\n\n<p>If you wait until the paper passes the screen process, you are wasting the editor's precious time. If you withdraw it now, he can then proceed to other papers on his desk.</p>\n\n<p>If you are the only author of the paper, I am not sure why you need your supervisor's approval to submit the paper. It would be up to you to withdraw or not.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14651",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920/"
]
|
14,658 | <p>I'm starting a new program in the spring and one of the first things that we will be tasked with is the creation of a 'XYZ Learning Contract'. After a bit of digging in the search engines I see that there is a pretty broad spectrum of thought on the value and composition of learning contracts. Having never dealt with them before I find myself wondering:</p>
<ul>
<li>How common are they?</li>
<li>If the contracts can be, and some sources say - should be, modified then how is obligation and adherence managed?</li>
<li>Following on to the last question, how are they enforced?</li>
</ul>
<p>I understand that every department is going to be different and that an advisor's milage may vary but I'm also curious if there is some general consensus on learning contracts among those that have had to deal with them. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15097,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2><strong>Are Learning Contracts Common?</strong></h2>\n\n<p>I have earned over 169 undergraduate credit hours and earned a Masters degree from decent state schools (in Florida). I have also taught at some small business schools in NYC. I have never seen learning contracts in practice. I would venture to guess that they are uncommon, although <a href=\"http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=%22learning+contracts%22&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=\" rel=\"nofollow\">one may find reference to them in academic literature.</a> I would also venture to guess that the reason that they are uncommon is that they would require a great deal of individual attention per student from the institution offering them.</p>\n\n<h2>About Contracts</h2>\n\n<p>Legal contracts while having set components have many possibilities of variation, and I would expect learning contracts to be no different. <a href=\"http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Elements+of+a+Contract\" rel=\"nofollow\">For example, legal contracts require competent parties, legal subject matter, meeting of the minds, offer and acceptance, consideration, etc...</a></p>\n\n<p>Some relevant aspects of legal contracts:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Legal Subject Matter</strong></p>\n\n<p>The subject of the learning would have to be restricted to the scope of the institution's design for offering the contract. It is important that the contract should be as specific as possible in this regard</p>\n\n<p><strong>Offer and Acceptance</strong></p>\n\n<p>One party should propose the terms, likely the student, and another party would have to accept, likely an advisor on behalf of the institution. When one party accepts the other's terms, we then have a contract.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Performance</strong></p>\n\n<p>The terms should be clearly stated. For example:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Deadline, degree of flexibility allowed</li>\n<li>If keeping a journal and/or writing a paper, Quantity of Content</li>\n<li>If keeping a time-sheet, degree of completeness, terms for making up missed times</li>\n<li>Subject Matter, scope boundaries</li>\n<li>The institutional representative who will determine completeness</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Consideration</strong></p>\n\n<p>There is consideration, i.e., compensation, for the one obliged to complete the contract (the student), if considered to have performed, as meeting one of the terms of completion of perhaps a series of hurdles towards earning a certificate or degree.</p>\n\n<h2><strong>Modification</strong></h2>\n\n<p>On the question of Modification, if the original agreed-upon terms allow for future modification, then so be it. There would likely be an expected period after which the two parties would assess the progress, and then determine if the terms of the agreement should be adjusted. If no agreement can be reached, the original agreement will remain in place.</p>\n\n<h2><strong>Enforcement of Performance</strong></h2>\n\n<p>If the terms of the agreement are reached, then the contract can be fulfilled. That is, when the student delivers evidence of their learning, likely contingent on an assessment agreeing that it is good delivery, the institution can deliver their consideration. </p>\n\n<h2>Conclusion</h2>\n\n<p>These contracts do not appear to be common (if we exclude academic codes of conduct). They can be modified by agreement, but terms for their modification should be clearly stated prior to the performance period to properly manage expectations. Enforcement is managed by the terms of the contract, likely that the institution has to agree that the student's evidence of learning is sufficient to merit verification that they have performed.</p>\n\n<p>My impression, although unevidenced, is that students with learning contracts tailored to their educational goals would be more likely motivated to focus more on the objective of learning than those checking off boxes in a standardized curriculum.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15124,
"author": "cabad",
"author_id": 7978,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7978",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've seen learning contracts been suggested for two types of situations:</p>\n\n<p>1) As a motivational tool, to make students realize that there are things that they want to learn to accomplish their career goals. The idea is that once the student realizes that what (s)he is being taught in particular course is important for them, (s)he should be more motivated to make an effort in learning the material because it is really in his/her best interest to do so. In this type of situations, it seems to be that the enforcement is very soft/flexible.</p>\n\n<p>2) To ensure fair, non-subjective grading of students in independent studies, research programs and internship programs. Departments undergoing accreditation programs (like ABET) tend to do this because they need to prove/show that there is consistent grading, that the students know what is expected of them, and that they know their grading criteria. These learning contracts are obviously more strictly enforced, but it is up to any individual department implementing this to decide whether they can be modified on-the-go to adjust to unexpected challenges that may arise during the semester.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, though, it doesn't matter if they are \"typically\" very strictly enforced or not, because you should not care about the general/average case; you should care about your particular institution and we cannot know what their policy on learning contracts is. Just ask them. I am sure they'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15160,
"author": "Tuula",
"author_id": 10314,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10314",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Started to think on our concept of \"learning plan\", which sounds bit light-weight version of the learning contract of the original question(?)</p>\n\n<p><em>Commonality:</em> In our universities everyone has the opportunity & obligation to do a (short) personal study plan (and this applies to all student levels). One example here: <a href=\"http://www.helsinki.fi/socialsciences/studying/new/HOPS.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.helsinki.fi/socialsciences/studying/new/HOPS.html</a> . Each university/department/professor might had some small differences of the content, but basically it was a self-made \"project plan\" for year(s)/goal ahead. </p>\n\n<p><em>Obligation & Adherence</em>: \nPersonally, I think making the plan was really useful as it helped to outline the schedule and requirements, and helped to think how to get all done. However, main drive was assumed to come from student herself - the desire to advance in timely manner. </p>\n\n<p><em>Enforce</em>: (?) One enforcer is/was to obtain a certain minimum quantity of credits that had to be done per year to get the student benefits. Anyhow, I think our system relies mostly on the students' personal drive. It's relatively hard to get to desired faculty, so most of those who get in won't waste the opportunity.</p>\n\n<p>Anyhow it's bit tricky - one can has \"perfect\" study plan, but still studying can get stuck, for one reason or another...</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14658",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5760/"
]
|
14,660 | <p>Many journals, especially in the life sciences, offer the possibility to submit results as as a brief communication.</p>
<p>I'm wondering when to choose this way of publishing. If I don't have enough results for a large paper because it used to be a "hobby project" that should be put to an end, but the results are interesting and I want to publish them, should I opt for a brief communication?</p>
<p><strong>How do I choose between this form of publication and an article?</strong></p>
<p>This includes the question of how small a "real" article can be.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14670,
"author": "Jeremy Miles",
"author_id": 6495,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6495",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The answer is often that you submit an article, and the journal says \"We might accept this if you can make it a brief communication, which means 1 table, and X words\". (Where X is a relatively small number.</p>\n\n<p>Write the article and see if it naturally fits into their criterion for brief communication. If it does, submit it as such, if not, submit it as an article. The length of a 'real' article depends on the journal, but I've had a lot of papers rejected and this only happened once because the article was too short.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14709,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The Journal of Neuroscience has this web page\n<a href=\"http://www.jneurosci.org/site/misc/ifa_bc.xhtml\" rel=\"nofollow\">Brief Communications</a></p>\n\n<p>It does explicitly say,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Brief Communications are short research articles intended to present <strong>exciting</strong> findings that will have a <strong>major impact</strong> in neuroscience. Brief Communications are limited to <strong>4,500 words</strong>. <strong>. . .</strong> may include <strong>no more than 4</strong> figures, tables, multimedia, and/or 3D models, <strong>. . .</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Please ask the editors of that journal for more details.</p>\n\n<p>Also, the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journal_of_Neuroscience\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wiki page</a> for that journal says,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>some issues of the journal contain articles in the following sections:\n Brief Communications <strong>. . .</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I guess it means not every issue publishes brief communications. </p>\n\n<p><em>Disclaimer: My research area is not life science and I am not affiliated with Journal of Neuroscience.</em></p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14660",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3885/"
]
|
14,661 | <p>I am used to European university system and I don't know much about how things are working overseas.</p>
<p>I already hold a Bachelor degree and a Master degree. I will soon be looking for a PhD. If I am not mistaken, in the USA, someone directly jumps from a Bachelor degree to graduates studies which include a Master degree + a PhD, is it correct? Is it also the way it works in Canada (Vancouver, UBC)? Is it possible to make a PhD in Canada without having to take time for the Master degree? </p>
<p>I read somewhere that a Canadian PhD last between 4 and 7 years. Does it include the Master degree? If yes, how much time does the PhD only represents? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14662,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Canada is different from the USA, in that direct entry for a PhD after a bachelors degree is rare. The typical path is a bachelors, followed by two year masters, followed by four to five years for a PhD. </p>\n\n<p>As far as I know, no typical Canadian PhD program also grants a masters, as in Canada, it's sort of implied that you already had one going into the PhD. </p>\n\n<p>This is of course, based on my understanding of the sciences: Humanities and Engineering may vary. </p>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT</strong>: One note about courses: Course requirements vary dramatically from program to program, university to university. Some will require relatively few courses, others, many more. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14747,
"author": "Tyler",
"author_id": 6292,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6292",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I completed a PhD in Canada. I started in a MSc program, but after one year transferred into the PhD without completing the MSc. My total length of graduate studies was 5 years. This is not uncommon in biology at the schools I've been associated with. I'm not sure if you can technically apply directly to the PhD, but many students enter the MSc program with the expectation that they will transfer after one year, so it amounts to the same thing.</p>\n\n<p>In my experience Canadian schools with a PhD program also grant MSc degrees in the same program. There are schools that only offer MSc without PhD though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14748,
"author": "Mangara",
"author_id": 8185,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8185",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I started a Canadian PhD program after completing a European Master's program. This is the typical progression in Canada; the combined Master's-PhD programs are the exception, not the norm. PhD programs typically take between 3 and 5 years. The exact length depends mostly on how quickly your research progresses.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there are significant differences between Canadian and European PhD programs:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Most Canadian PhD programs require you to take some courses. In my case, I had to take 3 graduate classes in various disciplines.</li>\n<li><strong>You are not an employee</strong> of the university. You do not get a salary from the university for being a PhD student, and instead have to pay quite hefty tuition fees. You should make sure that your funding is enough to cover the tuition and living expenses. This funding can include salary from TA (Teaching Assistant) or RA (Research Assistant) work for the university, scholarships, and money from your supervisor's grant.</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14661",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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]
|
14,663 | <p>Can two people, a professor and a graduate student, sign a recommendation letter? The concern here is that the professor knows little about the student and the graduate student knows all about the student.</p>
<p>My concern here is that if the professor is contacted, he will not be able to provide further information, where as if I was listed as the primary contact: I could.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14664,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can have more than one person sign a recommendation letter. I had one letter signed by two people. But it is unusual. My understanding is that the usual approach in your situation would be for the graduate student to help write the letter, but only the professor to sign it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14668,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Like Noah, I had a situation where two advisors co-signed a letter of recommendation. I should mention that the people reviewing the letter found this an unusual situation—and had claimed that they had not seen that in twenty years of reading recommendation letters. So this is definitely not standard practice. I suspect it would be memorable, but I am not sure it would be actually useful.</p>\n\n<p>However, the difference was that my two co-signers were equal in rank. Your situation has a professor with a graduate student providing most of the insights. I suspect you will need to have the professor adapt the graduate student's comments, and then sign the letter. In the case where feedback is needed, the professor would then need to get the relevant details from the graduate student. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14663",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
14,671 | <p>There is a two year gap after finishing my Master's degree and I am applying to graduate schools in the same field. This time has spent on immigration and then unemployment, tutoring physics, and a job not directly related to my field. But I have been following new research on the topics that I was interested in, without being supervised or any serious research. </p>
<p>My questions is, what should I mostly emphasize on in order to explain the gap most effectively: My teaching experience (indicating interest in teaching the field), Having a job and paying for my family expenses (indicating maturity), or that I was following the current research on topics of interest (indicating persistence)?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14672,
"author": "Erik Westlund",
"author_id": 9904,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9904",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can mention all three. The trick is to make these parts of your CV look like \"features,\" not \"bugs.\" It sounds like you have an idea of what to do there. I don't think it would hurt to mention that this slight detour, while being slightly off the path to graduate school, has only convinced you that graduate school was the right place for you.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, no one ever got into a good program by saying \"I really want to be there!\" I was in a similar situation when applying to PhD programs -- I was teaching high school, which was good, but my background was not directly inline with what some PhD programs were looking for. I emailed some faculty about what to do to bolster my application, and one suggestion was to go ahead and do some academic writing on my own and use that as part of my application. I'm not sure if that's possible for you, but it's something to consider. If that work is high quality, shows that you are up-to-date on the state of your field, and actively thinking about workable research topics, that will surely impress admissions committees.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14673,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I presume you are applying to PhD programs. If I were you, I would emphasize</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I was following the current research on topics of interest </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>since research will be the primary task for PhD students.</p>\n\n<p>Teaching experience should be also mentioned so that they would know you can be a TA.</p>\n\n<p>Other things are not directly related to SoP. You can mention them briefly in your CV in case they wonder what you have been doing.</p>\n\n<p>Good Luck!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14671",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8289/"
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|
14,693 | <p>I am writing a University Dissertation proposal on Big Data. I have recently received my feedback and while there are good, constructive points one of the main issues in the marking is it is "too descriptive". I do not understand what this means really, when we are talking about a literature review how can it not be descriptive - you are talking about what has already been found.</p>
<p>The exact feedback is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Your literature review is overwhelmingly descriptive in character and its needs more of a critical edge, evaluating the main contributions to the literature. Having a critical edge is essential, if you want to achieve a high mark in the final dissertation. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So the question is: What is descriptive writing and what is critical writing, preferably with examples?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14694,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The difference between descriptive writing and critical writing is much like the difference between a newspaper report and an opinion column. </p>\n\n<p><em>Descriptive</em> writing is the act of reporting on what's in the literature: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Smith found that when X occurred Y and Z also happened.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><em>Critical</em> writing analyzes what has been done, and takes note of trends, as well as possibly offering feedback on the overall quality of the research: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Smith found X occurred in the presence of Y and Z, as did Jones. However, Doe has demonstrated that Y and Z normally occur in conjunction with one another, so it is not clear if X actually influences Y and Z, or if it is an independent effect.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>What you can see from the above is that critical writing does require some descriptive writing, but it goes well beyond it in terms of the depth of analysis. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14697,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To extend aeismail's comment slightly, a good critical analysis will not only summarize and critique findings, but also extrapolate conclusions from multiple studies to support/disprove current theories. Each individual paper provides evidence to some small piece of the overall puzzle; a good review will tie together many related (and some unrelated) papers to build an argument towards a general conclusion, using the individual research findings as support for their argument.</p>\n\n<p>Note that the individual results are almost expected to contradict each other. You can frequently have a batch of papers supporting theory A, and a second set of papers supporting theory B. This should be noted and identified as well; these are the current trends in your field of research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14700,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Echoing what others have said, while reviewing the literature, you need not only summarize findings. That's what \"Descriptive\" means in this context - not that your writing shouldn't describe current findings, but that your writing <em>only</em> describes current findings, without any analysis, criticism or synthesis.</p>\n\n<p>For example, I once wrote a review on the reasons why a particular disease follows a particular seasonal pattern. A purely descriptive review would have described the various theories as to why this phenomena exists, and stopped there. Instead, I evaluated the extended evidence for each (i.e. for X to be true, Y must also be true. We have no evidence that Y is true, which puts X on shakey ground), identified which were mutually incompatible, and suggested which might actually be describing the same mechanism in two different forms.</p>\n\n<p>What your evaluators are looking for, in all likelihood, is not merely a listing of the current thought in the field, but work that shows you are <em>interacting</em> with that work. That you think someone might be wrong - or are at least critically evaluating what is currently being written. That you can extend where the field is going in unique directions based on what's been done before, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14710,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would like to tackle this question from another angle for you.</p>\n\n<p>You have done <em>a literature review</em> for the <strong>dissertation proposal</strong>. You report your findings from those literature after you study them, so you have descriptive writings in the proposal.</p>\n\n<p>But, <strong>what do you propose to research</strong>? Have you discovered anything? Have you challenged the existing literature? What do you want to research? Why do you want to research that topic? What are your arguments? What would be your own approaches? Why would your approach work? Etc.</p>\n\n<p>Those are the things they are looking for. They want you to have <em>critical edge</em> in the proposal.</p>\n\n<p>I found a link from University of Leicester about <a href=\"http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing-resources/critical-writing\">What is critical writing</a> very helpful, at least to me. It contains several sections, What is critical writing? What is descriptive writing? The difference between descriptive writing and critical writing, examples and other useful information.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14693",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9945/"
]
|
14,695 | <p>I have to start writing my thesis. My topic for research is work life balance in IT sector - a comparative analysis of male & female IT professionals in Pune.</p>
<p>I need help in writing the first introduction chapter. what all should be included in this chapter & what should not?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14696,
"author": "grauwulf",
"author_id": 5760,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5760",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Talk to your advisor and look into student services provided by your university. The department should have pretty clear guidance on document structure and format. You will also learn a lot by reading some of the dissertations of previous (successful) candidates. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14703,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As has been mentioned - look at previous candidates' theses, and ask what is expected by your advisor. The introduction contents will vary between disciplines.</p>\n\n<p>What I included in my (successful) PhD thesis is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Brief outline of the topic and subtopics being covered in the PhD.</li>\n<li>A rationale as to why the project is an important addition to the current body of knowledge.</li>\n<li>The main objectives of thesis and a brief overview of how these would be achieved.</li>\n<li>A hypothesis.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Note: it is important thatyou check to see if this or any format is acceptable and expected from your faculty.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 16457,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An introduction should funnel the reader from the wider perspective, in which your study is part, to the formulation of your thesis theme or question(s). This means you need to establish the wider perspective where your work improves our knowledge as well as identifying the gap in knowledge where your work attempts solution(s). In terms of writing this can be accomplished in several ways, although similar content-wise.</p>\n\n<p>In a short research paper you start out by writing about the wider perspective leading into identification of and statements about a gap of knowledge where your paper fits. You follow up by reviewing the literature to establish what is known in detail and perhaps highlighting the identified gaps. You may finish off by recapping your work and the main conclusion to the gap(s) identified earlier. Some prefer not to do so in the introduction; a matter of taste or tradition.</p>\n\n<p>You can write your introduction in the way just described as a long chapter (due to the literature review) but you can also choose to split the text into several chapters. You would then have a chapter called introduction which will only contain the wider perspective and identification of a gap in knowledge. Sometimes it can be useful to add a short chapter detailing the aims of the thesis where you can expand on the questions based on the identified gap. You then follow up with a chapter called \"background\" or something more descriptive, but which contains the literature review.</p>\n\n<p>Since all theses are different, some may have one question to solve, some may have several and somewhat disparate around a main theme, the way to write the introduction will have to be adjusted. for the former case the main template can be followed but in the case of several research questions around a theme some adjustments are needed. Exactly how to solve this is difficult to say since it depends on the type of questions and how they are tied together. But, it is necessary to make sure the place of each question in the greater scheme of things is known and that the literature review clearly shows what is known about each topic. This can in an extreme case mean to have a single short introduction of the major perspective and then have sections for each of the questions, almost like a set of papers (if it is not built from papers/manuscripts); each complete with introduction, methods, results and discussion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 16491,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In a lot of PhD dissertations, the introduction consists of material that would have been learned in a graduate course in your subfield. For example, the introduction to mine was a presentation of some basic ideas about low-energy nuclear structure that would have been contained in a graduate course in nuclear physics. Such an introduction is one of the least useful pieces of writing you'll ever do. Only a very small number of people will ever read it, and of those, only an even smaller number will learn anything from it. The text it contains will not be usable in a paper published in s journal. The only people who will benefit from it are maybe 2 or 3 people on your committee who are not in your subfield, and those people could just as easily read some other treatment of the topic. For these reasons, you should either not write such a chapter at all, or make it extremely brief. The whole concept of a PhD dissertation is a bizarre anachronism, and if your university offers an alternative, such as stapling together a set of published papers, you should take it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14695",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9947/"
]
|
14,698 | <p>If my university position is entirely funded by grant funds can I write for another grant while being funded by another grant?</p>
<p>More specifically the individual is a project coordinator hired by grant funds to manage a grant, not a faculty member or student. Can this person spend time writing another grant when the project coordinators entire position is grant funded , no appropriated funds used. A PI on the grant has asked the individual to start working on another grant during the regular hours, not outside the designated 40 hour work week. Thus, the real ethical issue can a faculty PI of a grant request a project coordinator to work on another grant</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14713,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes and no. While most (possibly all) funding agencies will not allow you to work more than 100% of your time on a single grant, most universities will allow you to allocate more than 100% of your time (e.g., up to 125% or so) which is reasonable given a full time job is nominally a 40 hour week and 50 hours is not unheard of. This means that you are not using your time that is funded by the grant to apply for another grant, but rather some of that \"extra\" time. The key thing is that you need to make sure you still accomplish what you set out to do in the grant that is currently funding the majority of your time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 173831,
"author": "fioc",
"author_id": 145242,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/145242",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my limited experience, I think this varies depending on the field. It seems to me that it is done quite often in the humanities. When I myself did it, working on the grant proposal also helped me progressing in the original project I was working on, so I did have something to show for that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 173884,
"author": "Lodinn",
"author_id": 145124,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/145124",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my (obviously limited) experience it 100% depends on grant rules and, to an extent, local "grant culture".</p>\n<p>It is common for people participating in 2-3 grants at any given time in here - and, obviously, getting paid from them. There are no limitations or expectations on work time listed in the grant rules - just that you properly attribute the results and list funding in publications. I'm yet to see a "a person holding X position in the grant must work a full 40 hour week on this project only" requirement. "One person can not lead more than one grant at a time" is common, though (and even then usually limits it to the given grant agency).</p>\n<p>Main reason why this setup isn't unethical per se is that grants are not like full-time jobs - people are not getting paid to further the field in some abstract sense over time. Instead, they have ideas, list them in a proposal, work on them using grant funds and get evaluated. If you hire workers to build a house and set a deadline one year in the future, you have a certain agreement, and it should not bother you whether they work only on your project in that time or do ten more, long as your house is built properly.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14698",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9949/"
]
|
14,699 | <p><strong>Background:</strong></p>
<p>I'm a non-US undergrad majoring in Computer Science. I will have published a couple of research papers in a few months before I graduate, have worked on a couple of research-based academic projects, made some significant contributions to a big FOSS project, have done an internship from a small US startup, and a project in a big company (the size of Microsoft, Yahoo) - kind of a university-company mentorship. I intend to pursue my Ph.D from a US university.</p>
<p><strong>3 questions:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><p>If I join a US startup after relocating to US, work there (coding work - PHP, Python, iOS development) for a year or two before taking the GRE test and applying to MS/Ph.D programmes, will it increase my chances? I really want to work at a startup and want to found my own.</p></li>
<li><p>What if the work at the startup is based on data analysis and machine learning (along the lines of which I intend to pursue my Ph.D)?</p></li>
<li><p>Also, does having already founded a small startup (supposing I've got an investor or two too) help my chances in gaining admission? Considering I will co-found my own startup anyway someday, for sure.</p></li>
</ol>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14702,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The answer to all of these questions and more is going to be: Maybe. </p>\n\n<p>Experience will help, but testimonial in the form of reference letters will be better. If you work at this company and it gets you a dynamite reference letter, testifying to your skill, it may help you. On the flip side, for a PhD, skill may not be sufficient--- for a PhD your research background (what you already <em>have</em>) may be much more important than the work experience. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 26348,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In answer to your three questions:</p>\n\n<p>1) Working at a startup shouldn't hurt, and may help your application if it supports the part about \"wanting to found my own.\" </p>\n\n<p>2) Sure, the more relevant your work is to your proposed course of study, the better (all other things equal). Just don't get trapped in a lot of \"mickey mouse\" work in data processing.</p>\n\n<p>3) Most universities pride themselves on training \"leaders\" in the field, and \"tech founder\" (to some fundraisers) sounds like \"future large alumni donor.\"</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14699",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9953/"
]
|
14,706 | <p>After I completed my PhD program, during which I published one refereed paper, I applied for several academic positions.
For a while, my two main thesis advisers agreed to write letters of recommendation, but after a few couple of years, one of them told me he would no longer recommend me because I had not published enough. He even admitted that it was not his job to judge my publication record -- potential employers could do that -- but until I published again, he wouldn't recommend me.</p>
<p>I do admit that I should have published more during my PhD program, but I was always under the impression that my publishing would begin after I had got a relevant job. During the period between graduation and being refused a recommendation, I'd been a consultant, a college teacher and unemployed. I could have published on my own but, after the delay, I felt hindered by being unemployed and rather "burned out" after the thesis writing process. Catch-22? Even more ironic is the fact that I had asked my thesis advisers if I could submit my thesis in the form of a series of published papers (this was allowed under the rules), instead of as an unpublished monograph, and both said no!</p>
<p>Don't thesis advisers have a duty to both encourage candidates to publish and to recommend them for academic positions? At the same time, is it right that universities expect job applicants to already have publications before they arrive? What could I have done, other than publish as an independent after the fact? It is hard not to feel very bitter about the whole PhD process.</p>
<p><strong>Addendum</strong>
Since it was not yet listed, I add <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/635/how-to-handle-not-having-my-phd-advisor-as-a-reference?rq=1">How to handle not having my PhD advisor as a reference?</a> is a related question.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14707,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Don't thesis advisers have a duty to both encourage candidates to publish...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Many Universities prefer, or require, that a thesis be in the form of an expository monograph, which is absolutely different to several papers stapled together. If that is the case at your University, don't interpret your supervisor's adherence to this as discouraging you to publish.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>...and to recommend them for academic positions?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A thesis adviser does not have an obligation to <em>recommend</em> a student for a position. Arguably they have an obligation to write a reference letter, but that letter should contain the adviser's honest and confidential opinion of your suitability for the job.</p>\n\n<p>I would encourage you to still try to publish, as good references from your thesis supervisors are a huge help if that will win them over. If you publish your thesis results years later, this well help show that you are serious about getting back in the game.</p>\n\n<p>You will <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5127/in-the-absence-of-strong-references-on-which-things-should-i-focus-so-that-i-ca\"><em>need</em> to prove</a> that you are an excellent researcher to get an academic job. If you cannot get <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9341/how-do-i-make-sure-i-get-strong-recommendation-letters-for-faculty-positions\">strong letters</a> from your supervisory faculty, good publications become even more necessary.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14708,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is a tricky situation, and it's hard to interpret it without more information. Thesis advisors certainly have an obligation to help their former students within reason and to recommend them for appropriate positions. An advisor who gives up too quickly on a student is an unsupportive jerk at best (and it's easy to think of much worse descriptions). On the other hand, nobody has an obligation to recommend a candidate they cannot honestly support. Telling someone that is really awkward, especially when it's their own student, but the alternatives are writing a dishonest letter or writing a letter that undermines the candidate's chances, neither of which is any better.</p>\n\n<p>Based on what you've written, there's no way of telling whether your advisor is a jerk or the two of you are just caught in an awkward situation. I'd recommend asking your advisor some key questions:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Are there other positions you could apply for that might be a better fit for your background and accomplishments so far?</p></li>\n<li><p>Based on your unpublished work, how could you prepare a good paper as quickly and efficiently as possible?</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Hopefully you'll get encouraging and useful answers. If you and your advisor can work out a plan that satisfies both of you, then that's great. If not, you may have to give up on your advisor and apply with letters from other people. That's far from ideal (the first thing everyone will ask is why your advisor didn't write a letter), but it can work if you get strong enough letters.</p>\n\n<p>Of course publishing would help with getting strong letters. Ultimately, I'd bet that publishing another paper or two is in your best interests, regardless of the situation with your advisor. I can understand that it's upsetting to feel forced into publishing on your own, with no job in your field and no guarantee of getting one in the future. However, it's probably a worthwhile investment of your time, and it's a valuable contribution to the academic community in any case (so regardless of what happens, it's something you can be proud of).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27584,
"author": "joshan rodrigues",
"author_id": 21063,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21063",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>That a thesis advisor refuses to recommend a former student exposes the underlying tensions inherent during the supervisory process, or differences in what constitutes the core research question. The tensions are not exposed until after the student graduates. In my case, my supervisor used me as an \"unpaid research assistant for three years\" and sent my twenty texts to translate from a Southeast Asian language to English without even acknowledging my contribution to the research. He even stymied my PhD thesis submission by saying that my progress was marginal, even though I had finished 84% of the thesis six months before submission. I later realised that my supervisor was stymying my attempts to establish my credentials as a TA, soon after I would submit my thesis. He kept egging me to go back to India (he is incidentally Australian) and my thesis was undertaken in Australia. </p>\n\n<p>Three weeks before I graduated my supervisor told me not to keep my hopes too high in the job market. I smelt that something was fishy and requested him to write a general letter of recommendation. My hair stood still on both ends when he commented adversely ion my social skills. I then decided not to solicit letters of recommendation from my primary supervisor. I instead, request letters from academics who are well-disposed to me. Of course, my supervisor's adversarial stance has affected my fortunes so far but I will never give up. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27590,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Recommendations are a method for discrimination</h2>\n\n<p>The only reason why recommendations exist is to discriminate potential candidates - to have some information that is correlated with the candidate being better or worse. If everyone gets a good recommendation, or even a recommendation as such, then the whole process would be useless, so everyone getting recommended is definitely not a reasonable goal. If an advisor sincerely believes that a candidate is weak, then the only ethical action is to give a clearly weak recommendation or no recommendation at all.</p>\n\n<h2>What to do if you don't get good recommendations</h2>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Become better - identify your weak spots and fix them. It depends on the field, but 1 paper during PhD and 0 papers in a few years after that sounds like a strong indicator that the candidate isn't doing solid independent research and thus can't be recommended. This can be fixed in the obvious way by doing such research.</p></li>\n<li><p>Communicate your good things - if you have done solid work, then it needs to be communicated and shown in order to be appreciated. If you've done anything useful and worthwile, then you should get that published. This, coincidentally, seems to be exactly what the advisor suggested.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 51355,
"author": "Danilo Janune",
"author_id": 38421,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38421",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Demanding publication record in order to write a recommendation letter has no point at all to me.</p>\n\n<p>Let us give an extreme example: someone publishes in Cell by his/her third year in graduate school and publishes again in Nature when he/she finishes the graduate program. This guy will not need a recommendation letter at all.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, imagine a hard-working fellow who is acknowledgeable, knows the field in depth and is good at designing experiments, but got unlucky because the biology of his/her hypothesis was not what he/she, neither the supervisor, were expecting and, because of that, did not publish in a high grade journal or did not publish in a fast pace. This fellow is the guy who needs someone to state his/her qualities and to be vouched for. The recommendation letter is redundant for people with high grade publications, whereas it is usually essential for people without them.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/12 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14706",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9957/"
]
|
14,711 | <p>I have presented recently in one of IEEE computer science conferences. My paper's main contributions was optimizing an algorithm to achieve 3.5X times speed up. Now, I am planning to submit another paper to one of Springer's journals with IF 0.7. However, the only new contribution here is I optimized the gain to be 4.5X in addition to theoretical comparison between the algorithm and other 3 algorithms to justify why I have chosen this algorithm to be improved. The paper has been re-written completely and I am aware of the plagiarism issue. However, I am still concerned, is that contribution sufficient to make my paper qualified? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14712,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Let the editors and/or reviewers decide whether the new contribution is sufficient. Mention that you extend previous work. It may be wise to be explicit about the novelties with regards to the previous work in the cover letter.</p>\n\n<p>In case the original paper was published in conference proceedings (e.g. not just a talk), it is very important that you cite it. When you do that, there can be no claim that you are attempting to recycle existing material without anyone noticing (self-plagiarism).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 124152,
"author": "thissentenceisfalse",
"author_id": 103838,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/103838",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is possible that your paper be rejected because it is not novel. This depends on the discipline, the paper, the editors, and the reviewers. However, extending a conference paper into a journal paper is not uncommon.</p>\n\n<p>If I write a conference paper that I would like to later publish in a peer-reviewed journal, I take a different approach on the conference paper. I always say in the conference abstract something like \"this paper details preliminary results of our analysis\", and I make sure to not to provide all the details or all the results in the paper. I can provide more details in the conference presentation to make a strong story, if they are available at the time of the conference.</p>\n\n<p>In the cover letter when submitting the peer-reviewed paper, I say something like \"preliminary results of this study were presented at _____\". And ALWAYS cite the conference paper. You could also state how the submitted paper is different/improved/expanded/corrected from the conference paper in both the journal article and the cover letter at submission.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/12 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14711",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6416/"
]
|
14,729 | <p>There's been a series of articles recently [<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/11/adjunct-faculty_n_4255139.html">1</a>,<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Adjunct-Project-Shows-Wide/136439/">2</a>,<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/real-money-with-alivelshi/Real-Money-Blog/2013/10/15/poor-working-conditionsforadjunctprofessorsleavestudentsshortcha.html">3</a>,<a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/09/22/224946206/adjunct-professor-dies-destitute-then-sparks-debate">4</a>,<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/adjunct-professor-death-190047241.html">5</a>] that basically decry the dismal working conditions of adjunct faculty.</p>
<p>I would like to ask: Why do these positions pay so little? Is it because there is a vast amount of oversupply of teachers? Is it because the Universities have such a diverse range of topics to cover that they cannot afford to hire full-time instructors to cover these courses? Is it because there is decreasing income and funding for academic institutions?</p>
<p>I am curious about what conditions led to this situation where adjunct professors are paid so little.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14731,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe the answer is simply one of supply and demand. As you mentioned in your question, there is an oversupply of those willing to teach. As the old saying goes, those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. While this saying does not represent my feelings I did find it a quite typical American perception toward the teaching profession.</p>\n\n<p>Years ago I taught as an adjunct in the US. The hourly rate (just for teaching hours, forget prep, marking, etc.) was so low that I could make literally four times as much working in 'the real world.' The math was quite easy to see. They needed someone with lower skills than I had and while I could do the job, so could most others.</p>\n\n<p>As you can imagine, I didn't stay in that situation long. I stopped teaching at universities and focused on the private sector. Those whom I taught alongside felt like they were lucky to have their opportunities (I clearly felt differently).</p>\n\n<p>If you scan websites for teachers (e.g., the Chronicle, etc.) you can see countless posts of teachers complaining that some other teacher took their job. Sometimes it is a full time teacher who wants extra money so they pick up adjuncting at another school. This constant oversupply naturally pushes rates down.</p>\n\n<p>So, why would schools pay more than they need to? Out of the goodness of their hearts? In the US, sadly, teachers are not valued. If you look at Europe or Asia, (average) teachers actually make quite a nice living because they are valued for the dual-professionals that they are (subject matter and pedogogy).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14732,
"author": "Paul",
"author_id": 931,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, adjunct faculty are employed <em>part-time</em>, and thus cannot be paid at the same rate as <em>full-time</em> faculty. Often a university department has a set allocation for the number of full-time faculty it can employ, based on <em>predicted</em> enrollment. So, adjunct faculty pick up the slack, as needed, based on <em>actual</em> enrollment. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14733,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to other useful comments and answers: in my context, of mathematics... : yes, only a very small fraction of \"adjunct\" teaching is done because of lack of expertise of \"regular faculty\". Examples would often be \"financial math\" or \"actuarial math\". Far more typically, adjuncts teach very low level math. Now, on one hand, while the mathematics itself is very easy, reaching the audience is non-trivial. Full of pre-existing neuroses, etc. Although the typical adjunct teaching such things has very modest mathematical ability, that is more than sufficient, and, typically, such a person's ability to \"connect\" to \"normal\" kids who're \"having trouble with math\" is greater than that of talented mathematicians. (Tho' not always.) </p>\n\n<p>True, \"The Market\" observes that there are many more people able to do this than the number of jobs, so the pay is depressed. It doesn't help that there is a mythology in (academic?) mathematics that teaching itself is something anyone can do, perhaps after one has lost the \"zip\" to \"do research\". All the more ridiculous that this mythology exists among people who's teaching is awful, at every level, their whole life. Luckily, their job description emphasizes \"research\".</p>\n\n<p>But the mythology, seemingly confirmed by The Market, marginalizes (non-specialty) adjuncts. At my current institution, none of the (non-specialty) adjuncts has a Ph.D., which further reduces their status.</p>\n\n<p>And then there is the current budget squeeze on universities... Everything has to be done more efficiently, etc. Departments' supply budgets are cannibalized to pay for office staff, etc. It is crazy. Night-school classes, once paid for through separate budget lines, have been \"in-loaded\", so have to be covered by departments often with the same budget as before (!) So, hardly the time to think about equity for people who're willing to \"work cheap\".</p>\n\n<p>The AAUP has long argued for better treatment of \"adjunct faculty\", but harsher economic times are not fertile grounds...</p>\n\n<p>For that matter, often the real competition for adjuncts is grad students as Teaching Assistants, who are \"more expensive\" if their tuition is included in the package. Thus, at best, adjuncts have some incentive to keep their pay below that of grad students + tuition. A crazy dynamic.</p>\n\n<p>It is true that the volatility of enrollments gives management incentive to find a way to avoid liability... but in the dim past there was simply consistent excess capacity, not so much a population willing to absorb that volatility!</p>\n\n<p>Nowadays, upper echelons of the university almost make it against-the-rules to cushion people (other than tenured faculty) against volatility... </p>\n\n<p>Not a happy situation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14750,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The adjunct model seems to be predicated on an assumption that most adjunct faculty are presumed to be employed somewhere else. It's supposed to be a win-win: the institution gets a qualified expert with current, out-of-the-ivory-tower experience; the adjunct gets a chance to scratch a teaching itch, or to work with the university. All this happens for a modest compensation – which turns out to be a bargain for the university, and a little extra pocket money for the adjunct.</p>\n\n<p>I didn't read all five of the articles you linked to in your question, but I did look through three of them. They seemed to be focusing on the depressing conditions for those who are trying to make a full-time living through a collection of part-time teaching assignments. I don't think that's the way the system was ever intended to operate.</p>\n\n<p>Where I teach, I'm an adjunct, and I love the perks. I get to use the campus gym, and I get access to campus library resources. I have a passion for teaching, but I don't get to do much teaching at my full-time job. The extra money hasn't made me wealthy, but it's led to a few lifestyle improvements and splurges for my family. $9,000 isn't enough to live off of, but it goes a long way when you want to renovate a kitchen, take a vacation, or help pay for a wedding. </p>\n\n<p>Moreover, where I teach (a state university in the U.S.), the adjunct rates are not set by the department. The going rate is the going rate, take it or leave it. </p>\n\n<p>My brother once asked me how much my adjunct job paid per hour, if I factored in prep time and grading time. I told him that I never bothered to calculate that, but it didn't matter, because I enjoyed my duties too much to give it up. I'm fortunate in that I'm not doing this for the money, so even the relatively low pay is very much appreciated. I enjoy the challenges of teaching, the chance to experiment with new pedagogies, and the chance to make an impact on the future. </p>\n\n<p>Let me put it this way: Teaching two nights a week for fifteen weeks? <em>$3,000</em>. Staying up until midnight grading final exams? <em>Zero extra dollars.</em> Getting an email from a student from two years ago, telling you about how she's using stuff from your class at her new job? <em>Priceless</em>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15999,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer to this question probably varies quite a bit from one institution to another, although there would be some things in common.</p>\n\n<p>I'm tenured at a community college in California. Here are the main factors that I think explain why adjunct faculty at my school are paid less:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Full-time faculty are unionized and have a fairly effective union. Adjuct faculty do not have effective union representation.</p></li>\n<li><p>Full-time faculty have many duties that adjuncts do not. They keep scheduled office hours, go to division meetings, perform miscellaneous contractual duties such as sitting in the bleachers at graduation, and do committee work (hiring committees, faculty senate, curriculum, ...). I teach science, so part of my work involves helping to keep our lab curriculum going (retiring old labs and developing new ones, participating in discussions of what equipment to buy, ...).</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it because there is a vast amount of oversupply of teachers?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>At a community college, I don't think supply and demand have much explanatory value. We don't do research at a community college. Part-timers have to do the same classroom work as teachers, and the non-classroom work doesn't require any special qualifications. Therefore the supply is the pretty much the same in both cases. Supply and demand may explain more at fancy research universities, where tenured jobs require exceptional creativity and research ability.</p>\n\n<p>In addition to the rational reasons I listed above, there are probably many irrational ones. For example, community colleges may simply be emulating fancy research universities, or the structure may have become \"baked in\" as part of how society is organized.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it because there is decreasing income and funding for academic institutions?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't think this works as an explanation, at least here in the US. The use of adjunct faculty arose between about 1950 and 1970, and I don't think it's changed much in the last 40 years. The period of 1950-70 was not a period of disinvestment in education in the US; on the contrary, that period saw a huge increase in the amount of money flowing through higher education.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19015,
"author": "buddy",
"author_id": 13890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13890",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The model of why adjunct positions are needed is two Ideas: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>real world, practitioner, industry background to augment academic background of PhD TT (or, just as often, master's degree, at the time this model was crafted) faculty;</li>\n<li>sporadic need.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The facts though are that</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>applies to regularly needed faculty (instructor with legal practice teaches course in tort law)</li>\n<li>applies to faculty who make use only of academic training but are used for overflow (freshman composition).</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The bundling of these two ideas together is because they both mean dramatically reduced cost and commitment on the part of the institution, something that the tenure system makes all but impossible. That's how the adjunct position \"augments\" the value of the \"regular\" (at one time, majority) faculty.\n\"Win-win\" was a subterfuge from the beginning. The \"misuse\" of adjunct positions was there from the beginning, willfully, but only now gets greater attention because of numbers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 20217,
"author": "StillLearning",
"author_id": 14879,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14879",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Schools are not really focused on teaching, per se: universities want to be recognized for research. Research faculty do not want to teach undergrads, they want to work with doctoral students (& get more publications!) But a doctoral program is costly, it eats the revenues produced by undergrads. Schools need big undergrad programs that can be run relatively cheaply to pay the big salaries of research faculty who really don't want to teach at all. This system probably exists because school administrators essentially worked their way up the ranks via research, not by teaching & not with their management/administrative skills (administrators who are good managers and/or good motivators are a bonus..not essential to the position). Once you understand that Universities are really about self-promotion of research and the status that comes from research publications (even if only within the academic community itself) you'll understand that the adjunct (low paid) faculty are absolutely essential. Providing that someone will accept the low wages, there is no reason to pay more. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 23953,
"author": "user17889",
"author_id": 17889,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17889",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Because they can.</p>\n\n<p>If universities had difficulty finding adjuncts, they'd pay more, but they don't. Sadly, it's all about supply and demand. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31225,
"author": "Scott",
"author_id": 23917,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23917",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Supply and demand can't be ignored in answering this question. If there was not a sufficient number of persons willing to take these positions at such ridiculously low pay, then we would not see what we are seeing. That does not mean less willingness to take the job would mean higher paid adjuncts as it could also mean more full-timers and fewer adjunct. However, there are factors beyond pure supply and demand that also play a role. If it was pure supply and demand, and given that a large number of those teaching as adjunct want very much to become full-time tenure track teachers, then we would see tenure track positions also paying very little. All faculty would receive very low pay and the pay difference between tenure track and adjunct would not be so pronounced. Many adjunct want to be tenure track teachers and are therefor willing to endure the low pay for years, paying their \"dues\", in the hope that the next full-time position will be theirs. The pay differential itself bolsters this desire and pushes up the supply of adjuncts. Also, when the general public looks at professors, they look at full-timers and see someone who makes an OK living; adjuncts are most often not consider as part of the faculty and so get hidden away. Wittingly or not, adjuncts can be exploited without creating a \"black mark\" for the college. It is also true that adjunct tend to not be well represented by unions. In California, most are part of a union. It's usually the same union that represents the full-time faculty. But the leadership and majority membership of these unions are full-time faculty. Colleges have learned to suppress union efforts to improve adjunct pay by offering instead to improve full-time pay. Such offers, attractive to the majority of the union voters, tend to be supported by the union. So, with adequate teacher supply, a system has evolved that feeds on itself to push up full-time pay, and suppress adjunct pay.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36393,
"author": "W. Hess",
"author_id": 27496,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27496",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The reason adjuncts are paid so little is that colleges and universities have become businesses and have adopted the neoclassical economic and neoliberal political positions that encourage the exploitation of workers. (Neoclassical economics and neoliberal policies are not mere labels but specific ideologies that emphasize markets, competition, and individual freedom while failing to regard any collective or communal responsibility. See Harvey, <em>A Brief Introduction to Neoliberalism</em> Oxford UP, 2007) If you want fulltime work in a college or university, go into administration. Administrations have ballooned in the last 30 years. (Can I be so radical to suggest that if the money that had gone into administration had gone into teaching, the problems with student success might not be as severe. But then, do we really want everyone educated to their highest potential?)</p>\n\n<p>Adjuncts, those who teach the most courses and hope for fulltime work, represent the roughly 25% of the workforce that work part time because full time work is no longer available. In other words, being an adjunct merely reflects a pattern consistent with general employment market. Further, U.S. Labor law encourages policies that make all employment at the will of the employer. Fulltime faculty have annual or multi-year contracts. Adjuncts are also contract employees, but only for the specific academic term. </p>\n\n<p>The deeper reason for adjuncts and low adjunct compensation is that education has become a commodity and thus, like factory workers, education in merely inculcating content. You can see how this flies in the face of reams of pedagogical research. There is in the mind of a politician voting on an annual or bi-annual state budget little qualitative judgment about what is needed in a classroom. In Virginia, where I live, the state legislature has failed in the past 20 years to raised college and university funding to meet the growth in enrollment. Even the Democratic governor, elected in 2013, has made sharp cuts in education funding requiring similar cuts in course offerings and adjunct employment. The funding formula twenty years ago where I teach had the state paying 80% of the cost with the student paying 20%. The formula is now the opposite: 20% state and 80% student. </p>\n\n<p>Thus, adjuncts are low paid workers because what they do and who they are is devalued. We are going back to a place in American culture where education and the educated are suspect. We collectively talk a good game about the value and importance of education, but we have lost a deeper sense of what it means to be educated. I often mentally compare being an adjunct to being a medieval monastic or an 18th century journeyman who lack the cultural capital to establish their place in the world.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37155,
"author": "Terry",
"author_id": 28071,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28071",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My wife is an adjunct teacher at a state university. She is paid $3,000 to teach a class that meets twice a week for 15 weeks in Earth Science. That's usually 30 classes divided into $3,000 = $100 per 1 hour 45 minute class. So... she makes about $57 an hour. How is that \"getting paid very little?\" Now... many people want to tell me that she has to grade homework and tests outside of those hours, answer emails etc. Well there are many professions that have to take their job home with them too. (Real Estate Brokers get emails and calls and have showings and open houses on weekends to name one. Or getting ahead in the corporate world for me has involved after hours extra work, usually more than she has to.) The problem isn't that adjunct teachers get paid so little, it is that they work so few hours. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43151,
"author": "Maky M.",
"author_id": 32812,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32812",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Adjuncts get paid little because there are enough adjuncts to go for a dime per dozen. The abuse that adjuncts are subjected to is borderline bizarre - in some places front-desk secretaries or assistants are treated with more importance than an adjunct instructor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47644,
"author": "OnlyFoolsWorkasAdjuncts",
"author_id": 36199,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/36199",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>All this analysis isn't necessary though impressive. The answer is greed.</p>\n\n<p>The pay disparity between the adjuncts and full-time faculty/administrators is so wide, it should embarrass them until you understand it HAS to be in order for them to get their high salaries. If the adjuncts get paid less than minimum wage for hours worked, they can give themselves higher salaries.</p>\n\n<p>\"It takes three of you to pay my salary\" is an exact quote from a retiring\nfull-time community college faculty member who just came out and said this to us in the break room. His salary at retirement? $128,000. </p>\n\n<p>It's pretty simple and comes down to just about what everything comes down to in this country---greed.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/12 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14729",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944/"
]
|
14,734 | <p>ACM now offers authors of published papers a choice of two copyright licenses: the "traditional" <a href="https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/publications/copyreleaseproc-8-16.pdf" rel="noreferrer">ACM Copyright Transfer Agreement</a> or the <a href="https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/publications/acm-publicenseagreement.pdf" rel="noreferrer">ACM Publishing License</a>.</p>
<p>How should I choose between these two licenses? What are the advantages and disadvantages to the authors of each license?</p>
<p>I care a lot about maximizing the ability of others to read the paper (e.g., maximizing my ability to make my paper available on my web page, institutional repository, etc.); are there any relevant differences between the two licenses that affects this consideration? Are there any other important differences between the licenses that authors might care about?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14736,
"author": "Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson",
"author_id": 519,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/519",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First off, please note that IANAL.</p>\n\n<p>That said, the <strong>Copyright Transfer Agreement</strong> is what ACM used to be doing to everyone: when you publish with the ACM, you transfer your copyright to them, and thus lose ownership of your creative work. The ACM has been receiving criticism for this as the Open Access movement has gained momentum.</p>\n\n<p>The <strong>Publishing License</strong> seems to be their response to this criticism: with the Publishing license, you retain copyright yourself, and instead grant ACM a specified list of rights:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>An exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable and sublicenseable license to publish, reproduce and distribute the work in any way they feel like — including to hand these right on to other parties.</li>\n<li>A non-exclusive permission to publish, reproduce and distribute any software, artistic images and auxiliary materials.</li>\n<li>These rights “infects” any <strong>minor revisions</strong> (derivative work with less than 25% new substantive material).</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I don't actually know what the exact implications here will be — the conditions are restrictive, but the copyright remains with the author.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14794,
"author": "user10007",
"author_id": 10007,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10007",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are three options with transferring authors rights to ACM:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Open Access</strong> that requires paying >$1k.</li>\n<li><strong>Publishing license</strong> means <strong>copyright license</strong> except that the author continues to hold copyright.</li>\n<li>\"Traditional\" <strong>copyright license</strong>.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Everyone author wants to have its paper as more distributed and open as possible without any <em>paywall</em> which directly leads to more citations and so on.</p>\n\n<p>We can remove all money barriers with <strong>option #1</strong> (Open Access). </p>\n\n<p><strong>Option #3</strong> transfers absolutely all rights to ACM: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Plus</strong>: let's imagine that someone publish your paper with its own name. In that case ACM guaranties that it will defend against this situation, not you.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Minus</strong>: ACM can do anything it wants with your work, say, just delete. Or something more interesting as <a href=\"http://r6.ca/blog/20110930T012533Z.html\">The ACM and Me article</a> says: \"<em>Imagine what happens if in the future the ACM goes bankrupt. Creditors could become copyright trolls, sweeping the internet for illegal exchanges of ACM owned papers by academics</em>\".</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Option #2</strong> transfers not all rights, only an exclusive licence to publish, reproduce and distribute the work. But in this case \"... which gives ACM the right but not the obligation to defend the work against improper use by third parties\".</p>\n\n<p><strong>NOTE</strong>: Each option allows authors to \"<em>Post the Accepted Version of the Work on (1) the Author’s home page, (2) the Owner’s institutional repository, or (3) any repository legally mandated by an agency funding the research on which the Work is based.</em>\" </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 82355,
"author": "avandeursen",
"author_id": 66773,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66773",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Casey Fiesler has addressed this question in her blog post \"ACM Publication & Copyright\", at <a href=\"https://medium.com/@cfiesler/acm-copyright-licenses-which-should-you-choose-and-how-do-you-handle-third-party-material-dbe87be8b57c\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://medium.com/@cfiesler/acm-copyright-licenses-which-should-you-choose-and-how-do-you-handle-third-party-material-dbe87be8b57c</a> (originally written in 2014, updated in 2018).</p>\n\n<p>Her post analyzes all three options, and her own summary is as follows:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>My typical tweet-sized response is: “License. No reason to transfer your copyright.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 86560,
"author": "Mitar",
"author_id": 15765,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15765",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.acm.org/publications/policies/copyright-policy#permanent%20rights\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Reading now the list of permanent rights</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Post the Accepted Version of the Work on (1) the Author's home page, (2) the Owner's institutional repository, (3) any repository legally mandated by an agency funding the research on which the Work is based, and (4) any non-commercial repository or aggregation that does not duplicate ACM tables of contents, i.e., whose patterns of links do not substantially duplicate an ACM-copyrighted volume or issue. Non-commercial repositories are here understood as repositories owned by non-profit organizations that do not charge a fee for accessing deposited articles and that do not sell advertising or otherwise profit from serving articles.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think this (especially option (4)) means that one can post accepted versions to arXiv and like, even when transferring copyright to ACM, or giving them an exclusive license. Based on answers above, it seems also that option (4) is a newer one.</p>\n\n<p>Some more information is available also in <a href=\"http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/search.php?id=21&fIDnum=|&mode=simple&la=en&format=full\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">SHERPA/RoMEO publisher copyright policies & self-archiving index</a>.</p>\n\n<p>They ask to put a statement similar to the following in such case:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"© {Owner/Author | ACM} {Year}. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in {Source Publication}, <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/</a>{number}.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The tricky thing is how to put this notice in. I had to change <code>acmcopyright.sty</code>.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14734",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705/"
]
|
14,735 | <p>I'm organizing a conference and we have the option to set up the seating either around multiple tables ie a wedding arrangement or in the classroom style. There are benefits to either strategy but the way I see it, the tabular format allows people to put their stuff down and relax. On the other hand, the classroom style creates a much better learning environment for people to actually pay attention to a talk and creates a more cozy impression for the speaker.</p>
<p>I'm curious, what do people typically expect out of a conference and what is the ideal scenario for a one day conference? Does it make a difference if it's a bunch of students or a bunch of of professors?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14737,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since it's a one-day conference, I'm assuming it's a little more relaxed than a powerhouse 3-day affair. But even then, I think the classroom format is a little more appropriate. Here's what happens with the table format:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>either people will have to move chairs around to see the speaker, in which case you've effectively created a classroom format with much less desk space. </li>\n<li>or people start talking to each other and ignoring the speaker. I've seen this happen in particular at business meetings, where arguably it's less important to listen closely, but the level of noise created is still annoying. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Either way, it's not serving its purpose. By all means use the table format for the coffee area or break spots. But I don't think it makes sense for the conference itself. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14740,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Different seating arrangements are best suited for different types of conferences. Auditorium style seating is best for listing to talks. For conferences that are built around breakout sessions then tables large enough for the size of the group are best. For conferences that are built around posters, small tables are the way to go. Ideally you decide how you want your conference to work and then find a venue that supports it, practically you find a venue that you can reserve and tailor the conference to fit the venue.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14735",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319/"
]
|
14,741 | <p>I recently came across this query on a LinkedIn group. The exact query was:
"Does anyone know if there are journals in image/signal processing, CV or related ares, which have no page limitation and have ok/reasonable reputation? I have a theoretical paper which has 50 page." </p>
<p>Online journals could theoretically have no page limits but they still end up having limits/bounds. Why is it so? </p>
<p>Are there any such journals which allow for publishing of large sized papers?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14745,
"author": "Bitwise",
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"pm_score": 1,
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"text": "<p>In biology there are some journals that allow very long papers. These journals are typically online-only.</p>\n\n<p>One example of such a journal is Biology Direct: <a href=\"http://www.biologydirect.com/content/pdf/1745-6150-5-7.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> is an example with 78 pages. I remember seeing a 200-page paper in Biology Direct, but can't find it right now.</p>\n\n<p>I wonder what the motivation is for someone to publish such long papers in this manner.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14753,
"author": "Mike McCoy",
"author_id": 8932,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8932",
"pm_score": 2,
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"text": "<p>For a long theory paper in image/signal processing, you could try <a href=\"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=18\" rel=\"nofollow\">IEEE Transactions on Information Theory</a>. The papers typically run about 20 pages, but <a href=\"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=57199&punumber=18\" rel=\"nofollow\">this classic</a> runs 45 pages. Note that the two-column format can condense a one-column draft by 25% or more. </p>\n\n<p>Trans IT is a very well-regarded journal in my field, with regular contributions from math-y engineers, statisticians, and engineer-y mathematicians. To quote the aims and scope (emphasis mine):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The IEEE Transactions on Information Theory publishes papers concerned with the transmission, processing, and utilization of information. While the boundaries of acceptable subject matter are intentionally not sharply delimited, its scope currently includes Shannon theory, coding theory and techniques, data compression, sequences, <strong>signal processing</strong>, detection and estimation, pattern recognition, learning and inference, communications and communication networks, complexity and cryptography, and quantum information theory and coding. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory papers <strong>normally contain a strong conceptual and/or analytical contribution.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The \"strong conceptual and/or analytical contribution\" means theorems and proofs; don't submit here if your paper doesn't have these. I couldn't find any stated page limit, but if your work is unnecessarily long for its contribution, the reviewers will definitely complain.</p>\n\n<p>Another option is the <a href=\"http://www.siam.org/journals/siims/policy.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">SIAM Journal on Imaging Science</a>. There is no hard-and-fast page limit there, but the policies do state that \"papers exceeding 30 journal pages, excluding the supplementary material, will be reviewed more closely to ensure that the excess is fully justified.\"</p>\n\n<p>For both of these journals, expect a very rigorous review cycle. I suspect that, unless the results are earth-shattering, you will still hear complaints about the length. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14741",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3983/"
]
|
14,743 | <p>Some journals have their own bibliography styles (bst) for BibTeX.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If a journal does not have its own bibliography style, am I supposed to include the content of the bbl-file into the tex-file I am sending? Or can I send the bib-file instead?</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Many journals offer LaTeX-templates showing the style of the article. (This is almost always true if a journal recommends using its own document class.) In some case I have seen that this template contains BibTeX style (.bst file). But in other cases BibTeX was not used in the template, instead it was shown what the preferred formatting of references looks like.</p>
<p>I know that if I were the person who has to do the final typesetting from the sources submitted by an author to conform the style of the journal, I would prefer to have the BibTeX-file. (It is easier to simply change the formatting of references by changing the choice of BibTeX style than changing each separate entry manually.)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If a journal does not explicitly mention the recommended BibTeX style, what would be preferable way to submit the paper? Should I send both, TeX source and BibTeX file, so that editor can change the references using BibTeX style of their choice, or should I simply send the TeX-file, where I include also the bibliography generated by BibTeX. (And, if necessary, I modify it manually to be in the style required by the journal.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(So far I have done the latter, but I am not sure whether it was the correct choice.)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14744,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most journals do not have the resources (read time) to handle lots of auxiliary files in submissions. Unless the journal clearly specifies they want bibliographies provided as a <code>.bib</code>-file and has a fixed <code>.bst</code> style file, you should not provide LaTeX based manuscript that way. What you can do is to run your final version yourself and then manually include the resulting <code>.bbl</code> bibliography in your manuscript so that content and bibliography is included in the same file (see e.g., <a href=\"https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/52368/19384\">How can I insert by .bib file into my .tex file?</a> on TeX.sx). The <code>.bbl</code> file contains all references in the common <code>\\bibitem[]{}</code> format. Alternatively you can of course use the <code>\\bibitem</code> form directly when you write the paper. If you do not have a bibliography style file for the specific journal, it would be simple to use one that yields a similar format and then manually correct the details that may differ in the <code>.bbl</code> file.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14746,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd send the <code>.tex</code> and <code>.bib</code> file, which seems by far the most logical thing to do, to both you and me at least. On explicit request I'll grudgingly provide the <code>.bbl</code> file.</p>\n\n<p>This should make things easier for them, as you correctly suggest. It is easy and fast to convert a <code>.bib</code> to a <code>.bbl</code>, but the other way round is impossible.</p>\n\n<p>If the journal has a workflow that can't handle <code>.bib</code> files, that seems their problem and not mine. They are the professional publishers who charge for the \"added value\" of the professional typesetting and printing service, right?</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14743",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/648/"
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|
14,754 | <p>After reading <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/14741/2692">this question</a>, and specifically <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/14745/2692">this answer</a>, I find myself wondering why someone would publish an extremely long paper, for example 200 pages, instead of publishing as a book.</p>
<p>I was always under the impression that publishing a book was more prestigious than publishing articles so <strong>why would someone write something with the quantity to be a book and prefer to publish it as a journal article?</strong> Are there hidden benefits of publishing as an article over publishing as a book?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14756,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As always, it depends. First of all,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>publishing a book was more prestigious than publishing articles</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>depends on the area. In parts of the humanities, writing a book is an almost-necessary condition for tenure, but in my area of CS, a book is viewed as best as a waste of time pre-tenure. </p>\n\n<p>In terms of absolute prestige, books and articles serve different purposes. Even a 200 page article might be a technical exposition of a single result. Witness for example the ongoing series of articles on graph minors in mathematics. A book often tries to distill and put in perspective a body of work, and (sometimes) might have educational components like exercises/problems. </p>\n\n<p>A well-written book gives you some cachet as an expert in an area, but a seminal journal article can do the same. It really depends on what purpose you expect the document to serve.</p>\n\n<p>A final point. A book (even a technical one) may not be peer-reviewed in the same way as an article. Indeed, it's not common in my area to have brand new research appear first in a book (I'm excluding simple observations and recasting of results). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14762,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This depends on a number of factors (the field, the scope of the work, and the reputation of the publisher), but a book often summarizes the current state of a field, while an article adds something new to the state of the field. </p>\n\n<p>So, one of these (the book) estabishes you as a subject matter expert, while the other (the article) establishes you as a subject matter pioneer. In institutions where research is highly valued, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find more prestige associated with article publication.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there are exceptions, of course: A textbook that becomes recognized as a standard in the discipline might garner more prestige than an article in some lightweight publication. Unless the book happens to be based mostly on your own research, though, it's easy to see why a textbook might not gain you too much reputation in an environment striving to be known for their cutting-edge research. One is more forward-looking while the other is more backward-reaching.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14754",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692/"
]
|
14,755 | <p>I am about to do a Ph.D. in applied Mathematics/Theoretical Computer Science. The organization I'm going into is not a university, but a research institute in Europe. I'd like to assess my prospects after the completion of the Ph.D. So I would like to know how my Ph.D. would appear to potential employers. Will I be sidelined because I'm not from an esteemed university in the US, or will the actual contribution or my thesis be what I'm evaluated on? Will the former overshadow the good work I may have done and detract from it?<br>
I thank you for your answers.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15131,
"author": "StrongBad",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two issues here. The first is the importance of the institute you get your PhD from being a University. This is a non factor as nobody cares about if you get your PhD from a research institute or a university. The second issue is the reputation of the place you get your PhD from. This has some importance, but your supervisor and the quality of the PhD are generally more important.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15144,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your PhD will be worth exactly as much as the PhDs obtained from other universities. In fact, research institutes have many excellent professors, and they are probably better in terms of the quality of the faculty than many second-tier universities.</p>\n\n<p>However, you will have one serious flaw in your postdoctoral applications; namely, you will have zero teaching experience. Unless you are one of the best in your graduating year, teaching experience is absolutely necessary, and in the US, you need a letter of recommendation addressing your teaching. So in that regard, your prospects are not so good.</p>\n\n<p>But just write a great thesis, and you will be fine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15151,
"author": "Dikran Marsupial",
"author_id": 2827,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2827",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For any job where a PhD is actually necessary, it is the quality of your work that is important (it is you that they want to hire, not your supervisor or institution! ;o). In particular, if you have good papers published in top journals, that ought to count for a lot more than the university where you study, as it is likely your ability to produce top quality journal papers for which you will be hired.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14755",
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|
14,760 | <p>I am a fresh PhD student and I need to choose an advisor to guide my research. Currently I find it difficult to choose. </p>
<p>One professor's current project pretty well matches my previous research experience. Although I would not say I am interested in it, at least I don't hate it. But I find most of his students will need 7 years to graduate the PhD program under his advisement. The speed of this professor's life is really slow. The most important thing is that he rarely gives his students constructive suggestions when they confront problems in the research. I know a PhD needs to have the ability to conduct experiments independently, but some kind of guidance is necessary.</p>
<p>As for the other professor, his project is really exciting and he published many papers with high impact factors. It is not that related to my previous experience but it may use some of the techniques I used before. I like it but some of my friends told me this professor is really picky and tough. With him as an advisor it may be difficult to get job after graduation. </p>
<p>Currently I am working with the first professor. I try my best to make myself get interested in the work, but I am still hesitant.</p>
<p><em>What advisor should I choose to achieve a satisfying research experience?</em></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14761,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ultimately, I would choose to work on what I'm interested in rather than what I have experience in, assuming that you have enough background to follow your interests (but in a 7 year PhD program, you'll have time to learn the techniques you'll need) and that there is a future for you after completing the program.</p>\n\n<p>(Learning how to use capital letters and to punctuate your sentences properly will also help in the future.) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14766,
"author": "Dnuorg Spu",
"author_id": 9538,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9538",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Always, always, always pick the advisor who is less of a jerk. Doing so serves numerous purposes:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>The project will be more enjoyable, because you're not working with a jerk.</li>\n<li>If the initial project doesn't work out it will be easier to switch to a new topic, because you're not working with a jerk.</li>\n<li>Even if the whole <em>program</em> doesn't work out, it will be easier to get support for switching labs/schools/careers, because you're not working with a jerk.</li>\n<li>It means fewer talented students will pick jerks as advisors, which will (hopefully) help weed out jerk advisors.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In short: talk to the students. Make sure you're not signing up to work with a jerk.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 51189,
"author": "Prof. Santa Claus",
"author_id": 35582,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/35582",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A Professor here. In general, you want to go with the Prof. who is research active. If a supervisor doesn't provide constructive feedback, that simply means he/she doesn't care, has no idea how to do research and don't know the area. That means you're on your own. If you're lucky, you'll learn how to swim and churn out passable work.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, the 'tough' Prof. produces world class work (based on your description). This is 'normal'. Simply look at the best chefs in the world. Do you think they sacrifice quality? Their name goes out with every dish/paper! Same principle applies. So if you want, and have the capability, to play with the best, then the tough Prof. should be the one. For sure, it'll be a baptism of fire, but if you're capable, you'll find yourself running with the best. More importantly, you'll learn why they are the best; their secret: they care very very ... much about their work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 51252,
"author": "vonbrand",
"author_id": 38135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38135",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One friend started doing a PhD under a world-renowned star, and gave up something like a year later. He told me he met his advisor twice, once when agreeing to the thesis and once crossed him casually in an aisle. As star he was elsewhere most of the time. He switched to a \"second tier\" advisor, and was very happy with his decision.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14760",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9983/"
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|
14,764 | <p>I am a foreign student and currently applying to several PhD programs in the US. My GPA in the 6th semester was a lot disappointing, and pulled down my overall GPA and ranking significantly. The reason is that I got pregnant, by accident. I want to explain this situation in my statement of purpose or address an email to the admission committee, so I want to know how Americans, especially professors, will normally react to this explanation? Will they regard it as understandable mistake or unforgivable sin?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14765,
"author": "Dnuorg Spu",
"author_id": 9538,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9538",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to side-step this question by simply saying: in PhD admissions, grades are not nearly as important as one might think. Far more important are 1. your letters of recommendation and 2. tangible evidence that you are capable of being creative and productive in a research environment (e.g., class projects, publications if you have them, etc.). One semester of bad grades is not going to kill your application, especially if the rest of your grades are strong.</p>\n\n<p>Some even broader advice is: draw attention to the good rather than the bad. Compare the two statements:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>(A)</strong> <em>\"Despite my poor performance in area X, I believe that I am still a strong candidate for the program in (your field of study).\"</em></p></li>\n<li><p><strong>(B)</strong> <em>\"My strong performance in area Y demonstrates that I am well prepared for a research career in (your field of study).\"</em></p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Both statements communicate the same idea (\"I am qualified\"), but <strong>(B)</strong> draws attention to the good, whereas <strong>(A)</strong> draws attention to the bad. Don't draw attention to the bad. If people think something is bad, they'll think it's bad no matter what you say about it. Get them focused on the good stuff instead.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14767,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I fully agree with Dnuorg Spu's answer (emphasize strengths, not perceived weaknesses), but it could be worth a brief, vague mention of this issue somewhere in your application. For example, something along the lines of \"You'll notice that my grades dipped briefly during my 6th semester before returning to normal. This was due to a personal issue that has been resolved.\" The idea is to reassure the admissions committee that it's not a sign of flakiness or ongoing difficulties. I'm not sure whether such a statement makes a real difference, but at least you would be stating on the record that your 6th semester was anomalous for a reason unlikely to be repeated. Hopefully your 7th semester grades will be available to the committee and will demonstrate that you are back to normal.</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend against going into more detail than this, however. There's too much of a risk of distracting people, since the whole topic (young mothers raising children, adoption, abortion, etc.) is emotionally charged, especially in the U.S. You don't want this issue to be the most attention-getting or memorable part of your application. It would probably not hurt your chances, but what happened is none of the committee's business and the details are not relevant for whether you should be admitted, so it's safest to keep the discussion focused on academics.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14764",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9998/"
]
|
14,768 | <p>Quoth the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle">Wikipedia</a>:</p>
<p><em>"The Peter Principle is a proposition that states that the members of an organization where promotion is based on achievement, success, and merit will eventually be promoted beyond their level of ability. The principle is commonly phrased, 'Employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence.'"</em></p>
<p>In academia, we have a tendency to promote brilliant and productive young researchers (e.g., grad students and postdocs) into positions with a large management component (i.e., assistant professors who must run a research group). God willing, I will get promoted. But during my PhD,</p>
<p><em><strong>I was not trained as a manager!</em></strong></p>
<p>The conventional wisdom is: it doesn't matter! No professor ever took management training, and, hey, everything "works out" in the end. The main problem I have with that statement are the quotes around "works out." I have seen friends suffer through horrible, painful, sad grad school experiences as a result of having advisors who are brilliant researchers and <em>terrible</em> managers. Likewise, the advisor suffers because she/he is investing time/energy/money in a student that doesn't produce anything. So my question is</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do I avoid becoming a terrible manager?</strong></p>
<p>In particular, what kinds of activities have you seen successful leaders of large-ish research groups engage in? Did they take training specifically targeted at managing groups? Read certain books? Talk about it a lot with senior colleagues? Make lots of posts on academia.stackexchange? Or did they really all just fly by the seat of their pants, and let natural selection take its course?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14773,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Short answer: Know when to turn down a promotion offer. </p>\n\n<p>In the meantime, seek out mentorship opportunities, and learn what you can. Does your institution have a faculty development office? See what kinds of workshops they offer. Not all of that is about teaching techniques. If the faculty development office doesn't plan to offer any kind of training on managing a research group, request that they do so. Faculty development offices are often underutilized on campus, and if the people running that office are worth their salt, they will go out of their way to give you the assistance you are requesting.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14778,
"author": "Faheem Mitha",
"author_id": 285,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/285",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Based on my experience with faculty, if you care about managing well, and don't want to be a bad manager, you are already doing better than many people. Again, in my experience, the worst offenders along these lines are those who think they are God's gift to their graduate students and postdocs, and cannot bear to hear any criticism. </p>\n\n<p>So, if you want to do a good job managing: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Keep caring about doing a good job and encourage constructive\ncriticism/suggestions.</p></li>\n<li><p>In particular, talk to the people you are managing, and find out\nwhat they think. Lots of junior people are scared to even give\nconstructive advice to their seniors, because they don't know if it\nwill adversely affect them. It is obvious to say that you can often\nlearn a great deal from the people around you, but people sometimes\nforget that this is very much true of the junior people you work\nwith as well.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>This is only tangentially relevant, but <a href=\"http://mdzlog.alcor.net/2013/11/07/management-a-rant/\">this blog post by Matt Zimmerman</a> is quite good.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14784,
"author": "Alecos Papadopoulos",
"author_id": 8575,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8575",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since this is a site about academia, I believe it is worth pointing out that Management as we perceive it today, has no more than a 60-70 years history as a body of knowledge which is (attempted to) be systematically taught (it started out as in-house seminars in General Electric corporation), and even less history as an academic, research discipline. Of course texts about leadership are scattered throughout human history -but they are more of a deontological nature, focusing on how a leader \"should be\" rather than on how they can help the reader be that leader.<br>\nThis does not mean that being trained as a manager is worthless -there <em>are</em> general conclusions about Management that seem to stand the test of time, of activity field, and even the test of culture.<br>\nFrom my 20-years experience as a manager, I have two pieces of advice for someone inexperienced like you say you are:<br>\na) Be available<br>\nb) Criticize the act and not the (professional or personal) character.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14787,
"author": "BSteinhurst",
"author_id": 7561,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7561",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are worried that you aren't trained to manage the humans under your direction go to Human Resources and ask them what \"early management development\" support they offer. These are the type of afternoon or day long seminars on things like employment guidelines, university policies about being the supervisor for a bunch of people. You would be surprised how useful it can be to understand how departments like Accounts Payable work (reimbursements come much faster when the paperwork is done the first time). There should also be opportunities for them to help you develop the kind of workplace leadership skills that you may feel need sharpening because they aren't the same as research leadership skills. </p>\n\n<p>One thing though, most of the development opportunities will be focused mainly on staff, not faculty. But once you start talking about managing employees much of it carries over. Of course, simply talking with other folks who have run large groups before. But always press them for specifics of what they wish they had not done. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14789,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's a great question and one that is not asked often enough, inside or outside of academia.</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, all first time managers suck at it. Likely you will too. Don't be disheartened, just understand that proper management technique has a large artistic component and you just have to learn by doing (and usually by making mistakes).</p>\n\n<p>I do not think this is a good excuse to turn down the job. If you take a management job later you will still likely start off as a poor manager. That said, starting too young will make it more difficult (on you and on those you manage) simply because of less life-experience.</p>\n\n<p>The key is to be open minded and, as teachers always tell students, read more. In your case, read as much as you can. There are so many great management books out there from very well respected writers (Drucker, Covey, etc.). Read, experience, reflect. As you learn you will be more competent and that is, in the end, how you avoid the Peter Principle.</p>\n\n<p>Another key I had always thought relevant to avoiding the Peter Principle was that you should never accept a job that you cannot already do 50% of. The same is true when recruiting - never offer a position to someone unless they can already do at least 50% of the job.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14799,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me add a few scattered points to the answers that are already here.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>First of all, I'm not sure your question is about Peter Principle. As I understand it, the Peter Principle is about ending up with a position that you cannot and <em>will never be able to</em> cope with. I think this is very different from not being a good manager because you're just at the stage to start learning management skills.<br>\nFrom that point of view, there's nothing wrong with trying to learn management. If you are afraid that management isn't your thing, make sure you have a way out at least every once in a while. This also means that you need to stay at the top of your 'primary' profession (I consider full-time management a different profession!).</p></li>\n<li><p>Find yourself a good mentor. Personally, I'm lucky: in one of my former positions I had an exceptionally good leader. We're still on good terms, and I know where I can ask for advise on leading. I do so, too.<br>\nOf course it helps if the mentor is from academia, too. But this is not necessary. Look around not only with colleagues but also with friends, acquaintances etc. </p></li>\n<li><p>Maybe your partner or a good friend is in a similar situation, and you could discuss and reflect every once in a while what you've encountered.</p></li>\n<li><p>Side note: There's a saying that on average a human needs to exercise a profession 10 to 15 years to arrive at the top of the personal performance in that profession. I think this also applies to management, though there are counter-examples. All in all, it means that your first students will suffer from your lack of experience. </p></li>\n<li><p>However, I try to be open with students about the fact that I'm learning these skills, and also when I don't know how to teach them something. As others have already said, being aware of the potential problem is probably already more than half of the solution: It is one of those points where those who are concerned would not need to be concerned, and those who aren't probably should be. </p>\n\n<p>If you are open about learning your part, it is easier for students to give you the feedback you need. It is your step to <em>mutual</em> openness.<br>\nIn my culture (German) it is up to the senior (position) to offer the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E2%80%93V_distinction#German\" rel=\"nofollow\">Du</a>. Likewise, I think the supervisor should make the first step in being open about the soft skills. If this is about criticizing your leadership, you'll normally have to repeat this several times until a mutual level of trust is established that allows students to give you feedback.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>=> Look around you what is going on. Try to find out what goes well and why, and what went wrong and why. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>A bad enemy of learning these skills is being assigned too many students, and being assigned students where you did not participate at all in the application/selection process (I'm in a close-to-academia institution, but with us, students have to apply for research topics.) IMHO this can lead to serious trouble between the supervisor and the students, and backfires already in the mid-future (some improved skills pay off very quickly I think).<br>\nI'd like to encourage you: keep fighting that your needs (time, space, ...) for improving these skills will be met somehow.<br>\nOf course, one also needs to learn how to cope with the more difficult situations... </p></li>\n<li><p>Last but not least, probably you did have <em>some</em> training on this: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Likely, you have been looking already after undergrad/practicum students.</li>\n<li>Possibly, you have (unofficially?) supervised Bachelor's / Master's theses already. Or at least helped with the supervision.</li>\n<li>Likely, you have been attending meetings already.<br>\nPossibly, you have already been leading meetings. </li>\n<li>Possibly, you have been in charge already. For sure, for your thesis. Maybe also for other projects.</li>\n<li>Also, you probably have by now some experience in managing the managers. ;-)</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Disclaimer: I'm not in a management position. Though I try to learn it while working in my primary profession. I actually think switching over to management too early too much is a waste of all the training and learning. Personally, I want to see some fruits of the highly productive phase that I think I've reached now after some 10 years in my profession -- I like that far too much to leave it completely for management. But I see that it is basically impossible to be a good group leader and do substantial amounts of scientific work yourself. So I try to slow down the changing sides to management. On the other hand, I've done quite a bit of leading students behind the scenes. And I've been responsible for several projects on a volunteering basis.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14768",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9538/"
]
|
14,777 | <p>I was recently admitted to few universities for my master's program and I narrowed the university of my choice down to two. The options are:</p>
<p>Option 1: A Mid-ranked public university in US (around #160 among the US National Universities,around #500 in World ranking ), where the potential supervisor is believed to be a good fit for me</p>
<p>Option 2: A top ranked university in US, here I am mostly going after the prestige, but supervisor is not as good as the university mentioned in Option 1.</p>
<p>If I am planning to get a job directly after my master's (i.e. without doing PhD, although I might go back to school for PhD after gaining some work experiences on my belt), which option would you take? I have very good GPA from my undergrad years (4.0), and my parents want me to take the second option, but the first option is considerably more affordable and plus I like the fact that the first university has a good potential supervisor...</p>
<p>any thoughts are welcome</p>
<p>:)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14782,
"author": "Armin Mustafa",
"author_id": 9136,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9136",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I understand your point,</p>\n\n<p>Now the question comes since the option 2 is a top ranked university there is a very slight chance the supervisor will be really bad because they have some minimum standards for their faculties etc.</p>\n\n<p>Now since you are planning to directly go for a job I would suggest you to go with option 2 definitely, since companies will definitely give weight-age to the rank of the university.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14785,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Go for option 2. </p>\n\n<p>When it comes to an MSc the role of your supervisor is less important than that in a PhD. Yes, you have to do some research (not always) and working with a \"great guy\" if far better than working with an \"OK guy\", but remember you are doing an MSc and planning to go to industry. People will care more about your grades than your research potential (short-sighted but true in my experience). </p>\n\n<p>In addition, being in a more prestigious institution opens you more avenues; it will be a better selling point 5 years down the line and the top-ranked US university will probably have a better alumni network than a mid-rank public university. </p>\n\n<p>In general, MSc studies are a way to <em>buy</em> some credentials to use either in the job market or as stepping stone to move to a better institution for your PhD than the one you are already. Get the best possible.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14777",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9861/"
]
|
14,779 | <p>I wonder if anyone in graduate school in mathematics had managed to improve considerably his/her speed of problem solving.
I had failed to get my PhD pass and obtained only Master Pass on my qualifiers. I have been trying to increase speed of solving problems but alas, achieved only slight improvement. I know that most problems on these exams are manageable and may be few are hard. Problems of similar level of difficulty would take me days or even weeks of solving. Any suggestions and especially real life examples of improving problem solving speed would be highly appreciated.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14780,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think speed of problem solving is a criteria for graduate school in mathematics. You're doing research and inventing new mathematics, and that usually requires slowing down, not speeding up. If you're in a graduate program where not solving problems quickly leads to failure, I'd say you're not in the right program. </p>\n\n<p>This is not to say that slower is better. If you're unable to solve problems relating to your subject area, that might point to deeper problems. But <em>speed</em> of problem solving should never be a goal (unless you're competing in a math competition like the Putnam)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14781,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Success in well-designed qualifying exams in mathematics will depend very little on \"problem-solving\" speed or talent, but, rather, will depend on whether you've already done problems nearly identical to the problems which appear.</p>\n\n<p>That is, as you observe, it would be prohibitively slow to \"solve\" many of those problems \"in real time\". Thus, that is not the expectation. Rather, the \"test\" is whether examinees have studied sufficiently broadly so as to have seen examples resembling the instances occurring in the given exam.</p>\n\n<p>And, no, it's not about \"memorization\", either, which tends to be insufficiently flexible to allow easy adaptation to slightly changed situations.</p>\n\n<p>So, really, it's not about \"speeding up in problem-solving\", but to be able to merely \"remember\" instead of \"solving\".</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14779",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9726/"
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|
14,783 | <p>Suppose multiple students have asked me for letters of recommendation to the same graduate department in the US. Am I expected to explicitly compare the students to one another? Am I supposed to do this in both letters (assuming they haven't been submitted yet)? Do I need to explicitly state a preference for one over the other, or can I just get away with listing relative strengths and weaknesses (for instance, "X is stronger academically, but Y has more research experience and is a stronger programmer")?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14788,
"author": "Tasawer Khan",
"author_id": 5995,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5995",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While writing recommendation letters, you can write about each applicant's strengths. \nYou do not need to compare them to each other, but you can say whether you consider them in to 10%, 20% etc (some schools explicitly ask for this information). </p>\n\n<p>More than one student can be in the top 10%, for example. If you have a good formula to calculate this, you should just follow that. It will make your letters easy and consistent. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14797,
"author": "Andy W",
"author_id": 3,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While I agree the students are competing they can still both get in! Especially if we are only talking two students applying to a cohort. Schools will remember students from particular institutions, and more quality students is a good thing as it suggests they were better prepped for grad school.</p>\n\n<p>On the flipside, I fail to see how providing potentially disparaging remarks (even if indirectly in saying I would choose A over B) provides help to the student getting the positive hand. That is, if you say <code>A is a better student than B</code> I don't see how this helps A against any of the other competition applying to the program besides over the B individual. Your creating a false dichotomy in doing so.</p>\n\n<p>IMO the letters should really be orthogonal to one another (that is A's actions should have no bearing on B's letter) and you should focus on the individual in the recommendation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14875,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Since each individual student is asking for a letter of recommendation it would be appropriate to approach each letter as an individual task and not implicitly cross-reference between the letters by making comparisons. Direct comparisons between the specific students should not be made. It is after all the person or committee admitting the students to the program that will make decisions who may fit the best and their criteria may not be the same as yours. It is, however, reasonable to make implicit comparisons such as ranking each in relative terms to, say, all students you have encountered or some other frame of reference. This way each student is compared to a group and not each other. This is what one commonly does anyway.</p>\n\n<p>I can imagine that you may get a request for more details by the person/committee if there is a difficulty in separating students. You could if you are willing, add a comment to the fact that you are willing to answer any questions that may arise during the process regarding the student in question.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14783",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53/"
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|
14,792 | <p>There are two loosely related questions here:</p>
<ol>
<li>What is done about academics who do not do any research anymore?</li>
<li>What is done about academics who teach badly enough that it shows up?</li>
</ol>
<p>I insist that I am asking what <strong>is</strong> done, in your department or institution (or in your country if it is uniform). I'll ask a separate question about what <strong>should</strong> be done. I would also like to distinguish between status (e.g. if you are talking about tenured faculty, please say so), and I am mostly but not only interested in tenured faculty.</p>
<p><strong>Added:</strong> implicit in the question, as was mentioned in an answer, is the way an institution measures the research and teaching activities. Answers are welcome to describe the way these are measured to decide whether to take action, but please stick to what <em>is</em> actually done.</p>
<p>To give a little context, from 2009 there are recurring discussions about the teaching duty of academics in France, and whether it should be adapted to their achievements. I would like to have a broader view of the various answers actually given around the world to this issue.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14795,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer to both your questions will, from my perspective, be \"not much\". So this answer describes the view from my local point. </p>\n\n<p>As a basis, university positions in my realm are teaching positions, 70% teaching and 30% for admin, personal development and research. The 30% is very quickly consumed by everything but research. On top of that one can \"buy\" oneself out of teaching so that the research time essentially is based on soft money. If you do not do research well, then no money comes in and your teaching load increases towards the 70%. So as long as you do your job in some way there is no mechanism for \"correcting\" a lack of research. On the other hand senior academics often get involved in higher and higher level administrative work at university, governmental, etc. level so a lack of research as such may be replaced by benefits gained in other ways. But, basically, a lack of research simply means teaching more.</p>\n\n<p>If your teaching is very poor there is not much that can be done. Employment laws are very strong. The only way to sack a person would be if they, for example, drink at work, or blatantly refuse to accept orders from the \"boss\" (head of department etc.). It is also possible to remove someone if it can be shown that there is no need for whatever profile the person was employed under. I really cannot provide a detailed description of employment laws here but they make sacking people a difficult way out. Persons failing with teaching will most likely first be placed to do other duties. I have experience with one such person and it is hard to find tasks where this person can function and contribute.</p>\n\n<p>So the \"not much\" is largely explained by employment laws in \"my\" case. The problem cases, which do not easily contribute in alternative ways, will cause lots of work for the department to find ways in which they can be made productive to the department. This will be successful in most cases but not so in the odd case.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14800,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is true that it's very difficult to fire someone based on \"bad\" teaching or \"bad scientific results\". However, in some countries and institutions, an evaluation/audit by an external comitee is done on the level of institutes, departments, but for each person seperately as well. If this comittee concludes that a person is not worth the position, the head of the institute can fire him.</p>\n\n<p>However, this applies only to a small number of places, and even then people don't get fired as much as they should, IMHO.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14803,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Before quibbling with some of the implicit hypotheses of the question: In my observation in the U.S. at top-20 places over the last 30+ years, official steps are rarely taken against post-tenure faculty on grounds that their \"research\" is in decline, much less that their \"teaching/mentoring\" may be in decline (if it ever was good). </p>\n\n<p>In a few cases, teaching loads have been informally increased, or service loads informally increased, but often the dynamic that led to decline in research or teaching causes people to be unable to take up other responsibilities reliably.</p>\n\n<p>In principle, in many places in the U.S. now there is \"post-tenure review\", pushed onto faculty by administration. But this is viewed by faculty as unsavory and contrary to the spirit of things. In particular, short of gross malfeasance, an excellent research and teaching record for some decades is viewed as earning a spot until one chooses to retire, rather than being forced out either unofficially or officially.</p>\n\n<p>This does partly return me to questioning some implicit hypotheses of the question, namely, the short-term measurability of \"research\" and/or \"teaching\", and even the desirability of taking short-term samples. For that matter, foolishly idealistic though it may be, isn't the idea of \"tenure\" that one has indeed earned a spot, and one now has license to exercise one's own judgement, rather than be constantly and indefinitely concerned about external critiques?</p>\n\n<p>Nevertheless, of course, administrations do tend to create ever-greater pressure to do more with fewer resources, thus indirectly pressuring faculty to \"do something about\" the (relatively few) faculty who are \"not helpful\". But I think most of us recognize that this is a potentially dangerously subjective question...</p>\n\n<p>In the U.S., again, even faculty acknowledged to be \"unhelpful\" are not railroaded out, somewhat on the same grounds that we think of \"free speech\" as including, as a matter of principle, speech that we disagree with, etc.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/12/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14792",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946/"
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|
14,796 | <p>I had worked on a computer vision problem three years ago, drafted a journal paper and submitted it to a top-tier journal. My rebuttal to the reviewers answered most of their concerns except "more results required" comment, so got rejected. By then I had changed jobs, but wanted to get this paper published, so quickly made some changes and submitted to another journal, after two rounds of to-fro with the reviewers, the editor rejected it saying, "come back with more results". I don't have access to data as I have changed jobs, so "more results" is out of question.</p>
<p>I am now toying with the idea of getting this paper published in an open-access journal (where I believe, my chances of getting it published is high) or Arvix.org.</p>
<p>Should I go for a low-quality open-access journal or arXiv.org? I want my work to be out there. It may not be award-winning work but it's research and I want it out there.</p>
<p>How does publishing in a low-quality open-access journal (or arXiv) affect a candidate's chances when applying for a job? I know some people who hire use a point system i.e. A-grade journal = 5 points, etc. Do they have a "negative point system" for low-quality open-access journals?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14804,
"author": "Dirk",
"author_id": 529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/529",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First: Put your paper on the arxiv. It's a preprint server. Then the work is \"out there\" and you are still free to submit it to any reasonable journal (as noted in the comments, not every journal takes papers that are already on a preprint server, so check that in advance). So my short answer is: do both.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46410,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 31579,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31579",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Are your results only reproducible on one specific data set (the one you no longer have access to)?</p>\n\n<p>If \"more results required\" is the comment you got from two different journals, I suggest you try to provide exactly that. Of course it's understood that having access to a suitable data is not always easy, yet often a requirement. Hence I think it would be worthwhile if you could try to get your hands on <em>a different</em> data collection on which you can perform further experiments. Also, if you repeat the ones you already did on the first data set, this can only strengthen your results.</p>\n\n<p>This may be a lot of work, but remember, if your findings cannot be applied to anything but a data set that almost nobody has access to (including you), then there's little value to your results.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14796",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
14,801 | <p>I am a graduate student of Industrial Engineering at a US university. The IE grad department has about 11 graduate level courses listed in their catalog. However, insofar they have offered only 2 of those courses. One in fall, and one for the upcoming spring semester. </p>
<p>I spoke with students who are graduating this year learned that they have been in the same situation. The department has been offering the same two courses repeatedly for the past couple of years. Courses with which my interests align aren't being offered at all. With no choice, I am having to take up undergrad courses (one level lower) to keep up with credit requirements. I wanted to know whom I could approach in such situations. Who should I contact? </p>
<p>My options are limited since I am an international student. Moreover, my tuition fees are higher, and for that cost, I feel my educational needs aren't being met justly.</p>
<p>How can I approach this problem? What are the possible solutions? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14802,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In most science-technology-mathematics-engineering departments in the U.S., there are many more courses in the catalog than are offered in any year. There are typically pressures (from above, or from faculty) to offer fewer, rather than more, courses, so things may default to reduced graduate course offerings. Nevertheless, if many grad students explicitly request (to the department) a given course, this greatly increases the chances it'll be offered. Certainly if you don't ask, things will probably continue to be the same.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68551,
"author": "thebishopofcalc",
"author_id": 54015,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/54015",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A couple of other possibilities come to mind, particularly with my experience at a couple of smaller universities that are <em>marginally</em> terminal-degree-granting, but only by the narrowest of number-of-degrees-awarded margins:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The courses may be listed in the catalog only because of past offerings, largely driven by the highly specialized expertise of a faculty member no longer at the university (to wit, I would have been <em>less</em> impressed had a university tried to force a <em>non</em>-expert in African history to teach a highly specific course in one particular focus of African history, and more impressed that they were tacitly admitting their (hopefully temporary) shortcomings), but cannot reasonably be offered at the present time while that niche in the department is re-filled.</p></li>\n<li><p>That shortcoming may in fact be so acute as to be threatening your department's graduate-degree-granting status--that they are keenly aware that they need more graduate courses in your discipline, may even be aware that there is a widespread desire by students to take them--but the department may in fact be in danger of withdrawing this particular graduate degree from the list of available options. Given the long pattern of unavailability you have described, it could hardly be considered inappropriate to make inquiries with the chairman about the long-term future of the department and/or this particular degree, especially given the time you have already invested with no (apparent) warnings of what thin ice your career plans may be treading on.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Of course, it's also true that we're overlooking one incidental but critical issue regarding the graduate curriculum: no student has an automatic right to a full plate of courses \"that align with their interests.\" It's loverly when it happens, but we've all had to take courses that didn't especially thrill us while waiting for the chance to take those that did.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/12/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14801",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1058/"
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|
14,805 | <p>I am thinking of pursuing a degree in Biostatistics (instead of just Statistics).
I am wondering if such decision will limit my career prospect to the field of Biostatistics. Is it feasible to think that somebody with a Biostatistics degree can work as, say, a quantitative social researcher or a data miner? The reason why I am considering Biostatistics program is because I get to take an epidemiology course, which to me sounds interesting. However at the same time I don't want to limit my career prospect strictly to the field of biostatistics....</p>
<p>thank you :)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14808,
"author": "CJK",
"author_id": 10022,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10022",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm assuming you have a math background? If so, I would say go with regular stats and see if you can gear your course of study more towards the medical side of things (by taking a course in epidemiology or other medically related courses, and doing a research project in the biomedical field). I think you will leave more doors open this way. I think that Biostats is generally geared more towards biomedical research. You collaborate with doctors and scientists. Taking statistics would allow you to go this route if you desire, but also leave doors open to the quantitative social research/data mining that you mentioned in your post. Then again, take what I say with a grain of salt. Do more research on each subject to find out what is best for you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14816,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There is no single right answer. There is value in specialisation, and value in generalisation.</p>\n\n<p>To do statistics well, domain knowledge is crucial. So, if your work is to be in, say, health epidemiology, then the more knowledge you have of how health interventions are measured, and the causal patterns, the better a statistician you can be.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, tools developed by health epidemiologists are now being used in other fields (for example, this <a href=\"http://energy-epidemiology.info/\" rel=\"nofollow\">energy epidemiology programme</a> that I'm involved with), so the analytic skills are portable - but you will need to pick up knowledge in any domain you move into.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe you need to base your decision on whether you want the first job or two after you finish the Masters to be in biostatistics. If you study biostatistics, then you'll have some domain knowledge, your analytic skills will be best directed to the right tools, and if it's designed well, the Masters will give you some opportunity to network with potential future employers: it will have guest lecturers from such institutions, and it will have a research component that you can do in partnership with one.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14805",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9861/"
]
|
14,806 | <p>As I was reading today an article from Nature I was wondering: Does anybody know what's the difference between article and letter in the Nature Journal?</p>
<p>The blog of Nature points out the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Articles</strong> are original reports whose conclusions represent a substantial advance in understanding of an important problem and have immediate, far-reaching implications.</p>
<p><strong>Letters</strong> are short reports of original research focused on an outstanding finding whose importance means that it will be of interest to scientists in other fields.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Source:
<a href="http://blogs.nature.com/nautilus/2009/12/difference_between_nature_arti.html" rel="noreferrer">http://blogs.nature.com/nautilus/2009/12/difference_between_nature_arti.html</a></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14811,
"author": "Ran G.",
"author_id": 324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/324",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>They have a difference in the allowed length, and the importance of the results. Articles are longer and supposed to have \"far-reaching implications\". In other words, no chance to get an article unless you revealed that the moon is actually made of cheese or the like.</p>\n\n<p>Letters are shorter, yet still very prestigious.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 155355,
"author": "h.engstrom",
"author_id": 129513,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/129513",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In case anyone like me is trying to find information about this now, Nature has retired the shorter letter format (though they may still have it for their subsidiary journals e.g. Nature Astronomy).</p>\n<p>For more information see doi: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03167-2\" rel=\"noreferrer\">10.1038/d41586-019-03167-2</a>.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14806",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10020/"
]
|
14,810 | <p>Why do American universities want official GRE/TOEFL scores before admission? It seems to be a waste of time and money for prospective applicants. They can easily use the scores claimed by students in first stages and ask them official scores after admission. </p>
<p>On the other hand ETS can send official scores directly to universities electrically via Internet without additional cost.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14815,
"author": "Jill Clover",
"author_id": 6962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You suggest that your grade-reporting method is better.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>They can easily use the scores claimed by students in first stages and\n ask them official scores after admission.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It is true that you will save your money by self-report the score. And some univeristy, say Iowa state U, adopt such policy. However, it will cause trouble for the university because some students may report wrong score due to various reasons. If the university find out an admitted students have reported wrong score, they face a dilemma: continue to admit him? or admit others?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14827,
"author": "Sylvain Peyronnet",
"author_id": 43,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The cost of processing applications is very high. The policy of asking applicants to pay something for applying may sound inequitable, but it ensures that nobody will apply \"just for fun\".</p>\n\n<p>In a private university where I worked years ago, the simple fact of asking for the payment of the stamps (roughly 5 euros) used to send the results of the process lowered the number of applications by more than 20%, without lowering the quality of the top applications. This is a huge saving on the cost of the process.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14828,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The problem is that many students will resort to cheating, if necessary, to secure admission to graduate school. Just about any method or loophole that can be exploited will be. For instance, when I was an undergraduate in the 90's, one of the graduate departments stopped admitting students from China for several years because they had multiple instances where applicants had stand-ins for interviews to determine their English skills. Similarly, at my current school, we have recently had a rash of applications come in with faked English competency certificates. </p>\n\n<p>Therefore, American graduate schools (and programs in other countries which ask for test scores) are increasingly (although not exclusively) relying on officially submitted documents. Scores reported directly from the College Board would presumably be less likely to be subject to manipulation. </p>\n\n<p>As far as why not just ask for a paper copy: American departments usually only have one admissions cycle per year. Therefore, admitting someone who is ineligible because of fraudulent documents usually means denying someone else who is qualified the ability to be admitted. Therefore, schools want to know that the students are officially eligible <em>before</em> they are admitted, and will not hold up the process until later. Schools that do rolling admissions likely do not have this problem, and could perhaps use the method you have suggested. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14864,
"author": "Ashish M",
"author_id": 9970,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9970",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Almost all universities have admission process for Fall/spring every year. Considering the fact that thousands of NON-US students apply to Universities; It is practically impossible for individual university to ask for student's GRE/TOEFL score directly to ETS or take from it. Let us consider cases to understand it in totality.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Case (A) Student sends his/her score [No involvement of ETS]</strong></p>\n\n<p>Student can send Whatever Score He/She wishes. Suppose that Score got accepted and is Fake. If the same University receives 100 such applications then it would be tedious task not only for the universities but also for the ETS management. 100 applications is small number for that particular University but What about ETS??? ETS is the only authority that issues official score. There are 100 more such university in US. If ETS starts replying to 100*100 such fake request; we can easily imagine the man power that could be needed. <strong>The most important point here to remember is TIME. Every university has a time limit for considering applications. If ETS Starts evaluating all such Queries;it will be a chaos.</strong> </p>\n\n<p><strong>Case (B) Student sends his/her score [ involvement of ETS]</strong></p>\n\n<p>As ETS is already involved right from the first step then there is no chance of fake score getting reported to university and the whole Process is transparent and efficient.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Finally Why will ETS not send the Score Electronically to respective University ?</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Suppose you request to send the Score Electronically to University of your choice. If ETS allows this for free then there are 100% chance that you or anyone will send it all universities as the cost is NULL. In order to avoid Denial of Service to the students that really deserve admission this becomes necessary to keep such a system that currently Exists</strong> </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14871,
"author": "Prince Of Persia",
"author_id": 9761,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9761",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As all of us know this is only a game to gather money from poor applicant. The application fee of American universities are high enough to prevent non-serious applicant from sending application. </p>\n\n<p>ETS can provide for each student a secret key. The student enters such key in application system. The university can use the key to retrieve the authentic scores of each applicant, if it is necessary. This is just one possible solution among a lot of other practical hassle-free approachs. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14873,
"author": "Xiaolei Zhu",
"author_id": 9542,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9542",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You would think that it will save you a lot of money if the school ask for official school only if they have intention to admit you, and it shouldn't be difficult to do for the grad schools.</p>\n\n<p>Well, indeed this can be done, and is being done by a lot of programs. However there are complications and many programs don't do it that way.</p>\n\n<p>First of all, <strong>you get four scores to be sent out for free when you take the test</strong>. Even if you apply to as many as 10 schools, that may be enough to cover all the schools that do ask for official GRE/TOEFL scores upfront. This is intended to be a primary channel through which you are reporting your scores. It will be a significant cost if you apply for 30 schools, but I don't really see the point of doing that. Of course, that would require you to do your homework early and figure out which school to send your scores to. </p>\n\n<p>Second, that adds one more phase of admission process. You have to understand that by easing your financial burden (which isn't even the main cost of application anyways. just think about how much application fees and tests would cost you.), schools have to put in more work, with no apparent gain on their part. </p>\n\n<p>If your financial constraints are preventing you sending the scores, you can always write a letter to the program you are applying for. <strong>As an international graduate student, I can tell you that many institutions did give me waiver for official scores before admission, and some even waived application fees entirely.</strong></p>\n\n<p>At last, in some universities, there are two separate entities that are processing these applications: the graduate school and the department. Sometimes the graduate school have minimum requirement policies for GRE or TOEFL scores and until you can prove your eligibility, your application cannot even be transferred to the department, where the decision is actually made. If that is the case, it would be impossible to waive unofficial score until admission.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 55506,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It would not, in the long term, save any money. ETS funds its operations by charging for various aspects of testing, and they have found out how much money they can charge, on average, per student for various types of tests.</p>\n\n<p>If the average number of test reports requested per student dropped, they would increase one or both of the base cost of the test or the cost per additional report to compensate.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14810",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9761/"
]
|
14,813 | <p>I'm a graduate student in theoretical particle physics, where the standard is that all author lists are alphabetized. However, even in other disciplines of physics, it's quite common for author lists to be ordered by the amount of the contribution. At some point I will probably be judged by people who are not entirely familiar with the standards of particle theory, and even if they are they probably have subconscious biases towards earlier authors.</p>
<p>I also happen to have a last name that's around the middle of the alphabet. I can feasibly find an advisor whose name is after mine, but the most natural choices (including my current advisor) all happen to be before mine alphabetically. My current choice makes me a bit worried because most of his other students also have names before mine alphabetically. I'll probably have a number of publications with other people in the group, and it's not unlikely that I'll be the last author on most or all of these.</p>
<p>Is this something that I should be seriously worried about? (My heart tells me no, but my brain isn't sure.) Will I have much more trouble in the future than comparable candidates who are listed earlier? Or is it a fairly small effect which is much less significant than choosing a good advisor in the long term?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14814,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have no idea about its credibility, and I'm certainly not trying to discourage Zhang's or Zyskowski's out there. But you might find this article interesting:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/089533006776526085\">L. Einav, L. Yariv. What's in a Surname? The Effects of Surname Initials on Academic Success. <em>Journal of Economic Perspectives</em>, <strong>20</strong> (2006), 175-187.</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We present evidence that a variety of proxies for success in the U.S. economics labor market (tenure at highly ranked schools, fellowship in the Econometric Society, and to a lesser extent, Nobel Prize and Clark Medal winnings) are correlated with surname initials, favoring economists with surname initials earlier in the alphabet. These patterns persist even when controlling for country of origin, ethnicity, and religion. We suspect that these effects are related to the existing norm in economics prescribing alphabetical ordering of authors’ credits. Indeed, there is no significant correlation between surname initials and tenure at departments of psychology, where authors are credited roughly according to their intellectual contribution. The economics market participants seem to react to this phenomenon. Analyzing publications in the top economics journals since 1980, we note two consistent patterns: authors participating in projects with more than three authors have significantly earlier surname initials, and authors writing papers in which the order of credits is non-alphabetical have significantly higher surname initials.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's absurd and ludicrous to take this kind of bias into account when choosing your advisor, though...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14818,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Yes, there is a subtle unconscious bias. Even in a field where author names are <em>always</em> alphabetical, papers will be cited in talks as <em>Author1 et al</em>, so if you happen to be Author1 your name will be slightly more disseminated.</p>\n\n<p>Is it true? <em>Yes</em>. Is it fair? <em>No</em>, not entirely. Is it a big deal? <em>No</em>. Should you change your advisor as a workaround? <strong>No</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>The best way to overcome this bias is going to conferences and getting your face and name known to other people in the field. So it won't matter if your name is Aardvark or Zwingli, because people will know you anyway and know that you did some respectable work.</p>\n\n<p>Another thing you can do to reduce the impact of this bias on your CV is adding a statement on the lines of the following sentence that I put in mine:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"As is <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/profession/leaders/culture/CultureStatement04.pdf\">common practice</a> in mathematics, the author order is usually alphabetical and does not reflect a difference in contribution. \"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(by the way, I can relate: I have been alphabetically last author on 86% of my joint papers).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14820,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Based on my own experience, even if your last name comes before your advisor's, your own research community will regard any joint work with your advisor to be primarily your advisor's work, despite your advisor's protests to the contrary, until you start publishing independently. The <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_effect\">Matthew Effect</a> is a <em>much</em> more significant than your position in the alphabet.</p>\n\n<p>(My name comes before my advisor's, and I've advised students with names before mine and others after mine. I work in a field that orders authors alphabetically.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14821,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I work in a field [chemistry] where historically (before academic search engines), the advisor's name was always first, since that was probably the person you had the best chance of identifying when you went to your local library and sat down with the print version of chemical abstracts.</p>\n\n<p>The modern practice is to list authors by intellectual contribution (which usually puts the adviser last, but not always). To add to the confusion, some advisers still operate by the older method.</p>\n\n<p>Many journals now want a statement of author contributions to appear in the text. This type of statement removes any ambiguity over who did what, and resolves both the author ordering problem and the sadly still recurring vanity author problem.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>For example: B.N.N. designed the synthesis and prepared key intermediate 1. J.V.V. prepared derivatives A and B. B.N.N. and J.J.V. characterized the compounds. H.G.T. and A.B.C. coded and compiled the computational models. B.N.N. and H.G.T. designed the study and wrote the manuscript. </p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14831,
"author": "halfbit",
"author_id": 10049,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10049",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes it will. The problem is not the alphabet, it's the advisor and others, the readers. I am not at my library so I can't link to the psychologic rules behind it.</p>\n\n<p><em>but</em></p>\n\n<p>as you asked 'Is this something that I should be seriously worried about?' the point is, you can't avoid the problem - live with your (his/her) name (hair color, size and, and, and), and think about doing the best ... </p>\n\n<p>You can't avoid psychological problems, so better not to take care, if you can't change it. </p>\n\n<p>I answer with a tautology: Take an advisor who is good.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14846,
"author": "wonderich",
"author_id": 9222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9222",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Think about: </p>\n\n<p><strong>Frank Wilczek,\nEdward Witten, \nAthony Zee,\nBruno Zumino, \nBarton Zwiebach.</strong> etc.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Their last names initials are W or Z.</strong></p>\n\n<p>(They are in HEP theoretical physics, particle physics, like you.)</p>\n\n<p>They hardly get anything for the authorship sorting. But they are doing fantastic well outstanding. They are hired by TOP institutes. Keep their names in your mind. Keep it up.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14813",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6055/"
]
|
14,817 | <p><strong>Situation</strong></p>
<p>Students have three weeks to write a little application (UI, some logic, event handling, persist data to a file). They are given one page with some requirements (input). They are supposed to hand in a compilable and running application (output). No software documentation required.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong></p>
<p>How would you grade a software project? What criteria would you use? Can you give examples?</p>
<p><strong>Idea</strong></p>
<p>There are a few areas that seem important to me.</p>
<ol>
<li>Are all the given requirements implemented?</li>
<li>Is error handling implemented or does the application crash when the user inputs invalid data?</li>
<li>Does the user interface look good, is it usable?</li>
<li>Is the code well structured?
<ul>
<li>Each class in a separate file</li>
<li>Small methods which do one single task</li>
<li>Public methods are documented</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Can I save the data, quit the application, restart it again, and all the data is reloaded?</li>
</ol>
<p>Those criteria are very vague, I know. For each of the above criteria, I don't know when to give an A and when to give an F. Any suggestions to improve the criteria and any suggestions on how to grade it?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14819,
"author": "mac389",
"author_id": 28,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Grading depends on the level of the students. The younger the student the more beneficial it is to be explicit in your grading policy. In an introductory class the grade is paramount for many people who may be taking that class to fulfill a requirement. In upper level undergraduate or graduate classes, grades seem like more of a curious administrative requirement. </p>\n\n<p>For introductory classes one approach is to enumerate your requirements and give equal weight to all of them. The OP gives five domains. Give each 20 points. I assume that somewhere you specify what the \"given requirements\" are and what you mean by \"error handling\". (Are students expected to write custom error classes?)</p>\n\n<p>If a domain has further divisions, such as #4, then divide that domain's points equally among the subdivisions. In this case 7,7,6. </p>\n\n<p>This makes an explicit enough grading criteria that heads off undergraduate complaints about a biased system while giving the more motivated students something to do beyond writing code that checks off boxes. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14829,
"author": "Sylvain Peyronnet",
"author_id": 43,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My policy, my 2 cents:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Part of the grading corresponds to the expectation of the \"customer\". if this project is considered as an actual development project in industry, does it deserves that the customer is paying its full price. For instance, I will give 10 points (over 20) for that criteria. If the software fulfil all the requirements then the student is awarded the 10 points, otherwise he/she starts losing some of the points.</li>\n<li>Part of the grading is for the quality of the code (structure, naming of variable, algorithmic aspects, etc.). I give 5 points at max here.</li>\n<li>The rest is for the tasks around the code: modeling, UML stuff, reports, etc. The last 5 points can be found here.</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14817",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10026/"
]
|
14,833 | <p>I'm currently in the first year of a six year bachelor's degree aiming for astrophysics. The course is a home/distance learning setup run by the Open University. While I am enjoying it thoroughly, I am aware of the academic politics that can dog professional science. So my question is thus: Upon soldiering on with the degree, then masters, and then PhD, will I be taken seriously within a professional setting given my inability to reference a leading university for my education? Will the format for my studying be "pitied"? </p>
<p><em>Edit:</em> I suppose a bit more info may help. I'm 27,wife, 2 children, and I currently work as a full time chef, and self employed part time IT technician. I flunked my GCSEs, with no further education. The past 3 years have been a revelation for me, and I have discovered a before unexperienced love for academia; specifically, physics and astronomy. Last year I completed a 1 year OU maths brush up course, which at the time I really struggled with. This year I had a bout of madness and took the plunge for a BSc degree in astronomy. I am now loving the math within the physics so far (yet to hit calculus though!)</p>
<p>PhD, and even masters, is a long way off. Also, since this original post I've improved my understanding of what a PhD actually entails. So I realise that if I get there, it may well not have anything to do with the OU! </p>
<hr>
<p>It occurs to me that a lot of my initial queries could have been avoided with a better understanding of the educational and qualification system itself. I now have a greater appreciation as to what a PhD actually <em>is</em>, realising that its a long way off and not necessarily needed for a fulfilling career in research.</p>
<p>I think trying to repair my broken education and fight my way into a worthwhile (and productive!) career is enough of challenge at the moment. There will be plenty of time later for worries concerning doctorates.</p>
<p>It is good to hear that there is at least an open mind towards distance educated professionals. </p>
<p>As has been said, if you've got it, you've got it - you just have to be ready to prove it.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14835,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is true that open universities / distance learning institutions are not taken equally seriously, even if sometimes the work is harder due to the vast number of exercises. Still, in research it is mainly what you publish (and where) and what you are really capable of doing. In this sense, the sky is always the only limit a) if you have the ability and b) work extremely hard regardless of initial studies. </p>\n\n<p>You are also too young to worry about PHDs, MSCs, since you do not know if spending your time studying is more fun to you than working and getting some real money from some real job (after graduating). So, do the best you can for now, keep your grades up and your eyes open and towards the end of your study you will know what you want to do. If you are really good, you will find your way.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14865,
"author": "tom",
"author_id": 10076,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10076",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My own experience of having an open university degree (computer science) is that \"it depends on who you talk to\". Some people value the degree highly, others put it at the bottom of the pile. I've found that the longer I've held it (ten years now!) the more value it seems to have accrued. This could be to the fact it becomes less and less relevant where your studied the more experience you build or the fact that it's become a more accepted route of study since I gained it. </p>\n\n<p>Disclaimer: I work in academia, but am not an academic. I currently work for a big academic institution and they perfectly happy with my degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15083,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h2><strong>Distance-learning students report retaining and applying less than face-to-face students</strong></h2>\n\n<p>Students overwhelmingly report retaining and applying less from online courses versus face-to-face courses.</p>\n\n<pre><code>http://74.220.215.89/~businfm5/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2012-ABC-Waner.pdf\n</code></pre>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ588152\">However, this may be due to a difference in factors other than distance learning.</a></p>\n\n<p>Irrespective of why, there is an overall perception of lower value created.</p>\n\n<h2><strong>Distance learning creates value, and may still be the best option for many students</strong></h2>\n\n<p>Some students live far from institutions that offer degrees in their desired fields. Sometimes the closest institution of higher learning may be 100's of miles away. Even if there is an institution nearby, it may not be well suited to the students' abilities. Distance learning provides students with options they would not otherwise have.</p>\n\n<h2><strong>Is distance learning taken seriously?</strong></h2>\n\n<p>Distance learning is not as respected as face-to-face learning. However, it may provide credentials that otherwise would not be available to successful people who carry gravitas that they have earned through means other than that education.</p>\n\n<p>If you want your education to be taken as seriously as possible, you should prefer getting your degree at a brick-and-mortar institution and attending classes in person.</p>\n\n<p>If the institutional gravitas is of less importance than going through the course of study and earning the degree itself, perhaps if you require the knowledge gained or the credential on your resume to advance in your job, then the distance learning aspect is of lesser importance.</p>\n\n<h2><strong>But <em>should</em> distance learning be taken seriously?</strong></h2>\n\n<p>Some distance learners may prefer distance learning because of an inability to stick to the deadlines required in face-to-face classes, and perhaps they perceive the classes as easier to succeed in than a local school. </p>\n\n<p>Others might not have local options available, or their lifestyle (perhaps as caretakers or providers) requires the flexibility that distance learning offers.</p>\n\n<p>It is best not to paint all distance-learners with a broad brush. There is a great deal of heterogeneity in the distance-learning population, and although they have chosen to earn a degree that is known to carry less weight than a face-to-face, each should be evaluated on an individual basis, taking into consideration the reasons and circumstances under which the degree was earned. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15103,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>IMO, distance learning does not have a huge effect on a PhD. People in your field will know enough to judge you by your work, and many PhD students spend semesters away from their home institutions, or away from their advisors, and they turn out just fine.</p>\n\n<p>The worrying part is your bachelor's degree -- in the US, PhD admission is competitive (at least on the top level; I am not sure what the competition is like in the lower-level universities), and the fact that you won't know any of your letter writers personally is already going to hurt you A LOT, as there is no way your letters are going to be as strong as the ones for the students who attended universities.</p>\n\n<p>I do not think that you are an American, so it is possible that distance learning is considered pretty prestigious in your country, and you have some contact with the professors. But if I were you, I would trade the possible prestige that is associated with your distance-learning university, for a lesser university close to home that I can attend in person. You would get better grades, and better letters that way.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14833",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10055/"
]
|
14,834 | <p>As a computer engineering student, I think this is the right place to ask for help about my career. Well I am in my sophomore year at one of the leading university in Turkey. I want to specialize in information security. However, I want to clarify something. "I have been - and always shall be" an average student. My student life has never been so bright but I have enough passion and resources to be an ethical hacker. Sometimes I think what they teach us in the university is waste of time. People can learn coding, operating systems, network, database etc. from the internet. So here is my question: Should I quit my university and stay behind the doors,do what I love, for a long time or waste two more years with the pressure of everything you do or don't will be graded?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14836,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's always a very personal decision as to whether you're going to stay on with university education. I fear this question may be closed as opinion based, but I'll take a stab at giving some suggestions.</p>\n\n<p>I think there's a number of factors you're going to have to keep in mind when you make these kinds of decisions: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>It has to be acknowledged that large swathes of the computer science/engineering skillset can be self-taught or learned through MOOCs, and project contributions. However, one needs to keep in mind their own personality when considering self-learning. Historically I was a terrible autodidact, simply because my personality worked depth-first, which is a terrible way to get started in a new topic. University helped me a lot by forcing me to prune my search trees so I could actually learn the topics at hand! </p></li>\n<li><p>Universities aren't always just what they teach. Faculty can be important resources for guiding one down productive paths and avoiding getting stuck on solved problems. Mentorship and the possibility for great guidance should be carefully evaluated when considering leaving. If you aren't seeing mentorship and guidance, consider how much of this is the environment, and how much is <em>you</em>. An alternative to dropping out entirely might be to transition into an institution that is better suited to your interests. </p></li>\n<li><p>Credentials may not mean anything. However, sometimes they can open doors for you that might be closed, or subject to hurdles without the credentials. It's going to be highly specific depending on what kind of work you want to do in what field, but needs to be considered. </p></li>\n<li><p>Ultimately, <strong>you need to know where your desires lie</strong>, and plan the best way to get them. It could be well that going indie is going to get you to your desired career faster --- or it could nuke the possibility of achieving them.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><strong>ETA</strong>: Oh and about pressure: If you think the pressure <em>in</em> university is a lot, you're going to be surprised about what it takes to succeed <strong>outside</strong> university. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14837,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You are wrong. You are so wrong you do not even understand it. Why? Some examples:</p>\n\n<p>You need to write a fast app. You need to know the data structures for the right job (trees, lists, hash maps). You want to write a database app. You should know which fields to index and which not. You want to do some geospatial app. You need to know the correct indexing (R-tree). It is very hard to know these things on your own. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>What you can find in the internet: how to do a hash map in C++ </p></li>\n<li><p>What you cannot find in the internet: why you need a hash map in the first place and so-on. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So, finish your studies and you will understand later why those studies were useful.</p>\n\n<p>If you are so good you think you are at coding (which you probably are not unless you get paid for it and others agree), you still do not want to have a technical manager who knows less than you but has the degree (you do not have). So, you will need the degree anyway.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14842,
"author": "long",
"author_id": 8969,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8969",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You need to understand that a University degree (assuming it is a degree course you are enrolled in) does not attempt to teach you all the skills you need in order to be successful in your chosen career. What it does do is give a good grounding in your chosen area, but more importantly, provide evidence of your ability to apply yourself and achieve a widely recognized level of accreditation. If you are after courses that provide more specific vocational skills, and there are plenty of these in the computer science industry, it may be that you should search for a better suited program. These types of courses are usually shorter and more intensive than a degree course.</p>\n\n<p>Whether your university degree will be useful to you will depend very much on what you intend to do with your career. </p>\n\n<p>If you plan to design and develop your own software systems or products, and then fight to have your products recognized on the global market, and build your reputation from scratch, then a degree may not be much use to you. There are <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates\">some</a> <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak\">examples</a> of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs\">success</a> stories of people who dropped out of, or never went to, university, so nobody can tell you it can't be done. But I think you will need to be extremely good, and lucky, to be able to do that. You may also need to have a back-up plan in the meantime in order to put food on the table.</p>\n\n<p><em><strong>However</em></strong>, if you ever plan to work for somebody, or a company that does not know of your reputation and amazing ability, then you will need to somehow demonstrate that. A degree is the first step towards demonstrating to those who are likely to employ you that you have been able to apply yourself in a recognized mainstream course of learning and been able to reach recognized benchmark standards. Once in your job, you will then be expected to learn the specifics of that position, and what better way to show that you are able to learn and apply knowledge than to have a piece of paper from a university to show that you can. It will be a nationally (and in many cases, and importantly not all cases, internationally) recognized accreditation. Once you have embarked on your career, it will be the references from previous employers that will vouch for your ability, and the degree will matter less. </p>\n\n<p>What I would be asking myself as a prospective employer is whether someone who claims to have passion and ability to access resources, but lacks the application and commitment to successfully complete their degree is the right person to employ in my team.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14843,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You sound like you're an independent worker, who dislikes and just is not suited for the structured learning style of University courses. Fair enough, there are many others like you. It doesn't mean you won't benefit from a University degree, it just makes it a little tougher to get there.</p>\n\n<p>I'm like that too, yet now that I am doing research and am free of undergraduate classes I'm enjoying myself a lot more. But you still need that knowledge and those skills gained from those courses, even if you don't like it.</p>\n\n<p>Being able to teach yourself is a fantastic ability, but a University degree will give you solid ground to stand on with regards to your employability. You will look a lot more desirable to an employer if you have a degree, <em>and</em> considerable personal achievements to back it up.</p>\n\n<p>The only people who I would even consider advising to not go to University are those who:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>aren't bright enough,</li>\n<li>are passionate about something that doesn't benefit from a degree,</li>\n<li>or who genuinely cannot afford it.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You're neither. Not only will a degree give you a significant boost early in your career, but you'll probably gain more skills and knowledge than you think you will.</p>\n\n<p><em>Stick with it</em>. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14834",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10056/"
]
|
14,839 | <p>I have done a three months independent research at a national lab in US with guidance from a scientist who was working there, but he is very busy and not much time is left to ask him to write a recommendation letter (RL) since the application deadline is coming.
I want to include this experience in my SOP, and wonder, in general, how is the reaction of graduate admission committees to research experience which is not backed up by a RL?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14840,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You need a letter from the senior person under whom you did the work! If you don't have one, this is like getting a <em>bad</em> letter. People know that they have this responsibility to junior people, so, although, yes, it involves some work on their part, it would be irresponsible to shirk it. You need that letter, I think, or people will wonder...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14841,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One of the duties of a researcher who takes on a mentor role is to write letters of recommendation for his students. Your advisor will understand this responsibility. You may want to read the answers to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1452/points-to-remember-when-having-to-write-recommendation-letter-yourself?rq=1\">this question regarding writing your own recommendation letter</a>, as this may be relevant to your situation, but you should <em>always</em> be willing to ask for a letter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14844,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I believe the research experience with a national lab would be very helpful to your graduate school application. You should do your best to ask that senior scientist to write the recommendation letter for you. And he should understand it's part of his job to write recommendation letters.</p>\n\n<p>In the worst case he will never have time to write the letter, my suggestion is to ask the human resource department of the lab to write a letter to <strong>certify that you had worked at that lab</strong>. This is, of course, not the recommendation letter. But, at least the certification letter proves that you did work there. How the admission commitee will react is another story. You have no control over it. You just need to do your best!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/17 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14839",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8289/"
]
|
14,845 | <p>During the compilation of thesis (MSc or PhD) in a case we wanted to include some program codes as chapters:</p>
<p>We prefer to put <code>heading</code> to all program codes everywhere they appear as complete source to clarify the license. Is it nice to do so? Any other solutions?</p>
<p>Something like this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>3.1.1 Loop</strong><br>
...text...<br>
<code>-------</code><br>
<em><code>Copyright 2013 Coder, ... !this part</code></em><br>
<code>-------</code><br>
<code>function loop(...) result (...)</code><br>
<code>some code</code><br>
<code>-------</code><br>
...text...</p>
</blockquote>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14847,
"author": "Tasawer Khan",
"author_id": 5995,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5995",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should add source codes scarcely and when it is interesting to add the code. <strong>Loop</strong> does not sound one of the interesting headings. In those cases you should include source code as figures and discuss them in your text. </p>\n\n<p>in other cases, you can give complete source codes in appendix or in a CD/DVD as an attachment. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14848,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my own experience and this would depend on your university's guidelines, a summary of the main algorithms of the code ought to be included - specifically with what each algorithm does, what's its significance, how it functions and how it links with the other parts.</p>\n\n<p>In my recently completed and peer reviewed PhD thesis, I also included example 'snippets' or bits of code and included a flowchart of how the program as a whole works, linking all the described algorithms.</p>\n\n<p>I was advised to write chapter subtitles with the context of each algorithm.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14867,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you want the code itself out there, put it up on GitHub or BitBucket.</p>\n\n<p>As to the thesis itself, it depends on the pedagogical value --- some algorithms are worth including as code themselves: where the specifics of the language and environment matter. Others are best included as <a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3aLatex-algorithm2e-if-else.png\" rel=\"nofollow\">pseudo-code</a>. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/17 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14845",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10062/"
]
|
14,855 | <p>I was working towards converting to a PhD but was unsure of what research I would do. Suddenly an idea striked my mind and I discussed it with my advisor. He doesn't have much experience in that exact field but has been in the area for around 6 months. </p>
<p>He said that he thinks that idea is feasible but doesn't know what would be the approach, and not sure whether the results would be positive in terms of PhD because there several parallel domains. Moreover, literature doesn't have much details on that exact topic. And my literature survey (pretty limited though) has only enhanced my confusion. Probably because my idea deals with application of a recent class of techniques to optimize a problem. </p>
<p>Is it worth to convert to a PhD with such an idea ?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14857,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not sure there's a correct answer here, but I would recommend against it. The goal of your PhD research is twofold:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Introduce you to the world of Academia</li>\n<li>Earn you a PhD</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>By choosing your topic to be something completely exploratory, you put (2) at risk; the research may not pan out, or may be much more difficult than you think, or may be infeasible for technical reasons, or whatever, and your PhD would be at risk.</p>\n\n<p>However, to reiterate, this is a function of the specific topic at hand, your risk appetite, your advisor's skillset and risk appetite, and your willingness to restart your research partway through your program. Take all that into account when making your decision.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14859,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I like <strong>eykanal</strong>'s answer, and I would add this: I know many people who changed the topic after one year of their thesis, and if they put enough effort into it, they still finished in time (being <4 years here).</p>\n\n<p>What I mean, if you start working on one problem and you finish solving another one, you still can graduate and get your PhD. However, depending on your subject, this might be more difficult: for us \"theoreticians\" who work in an office it's simple, for people who do complicated experiments it's of course much more difficult or even impossible.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14861,
"author": "Bill Nace",
"author_id": 5762,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5762",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is exactly how most of the really great PhD students I've seen have all started. Working on a problem with unknowns is a process called \"research.\" </p>\n\n<p>Clearly, you are going to have to find some collaborators with more experience in the field than your advisor, but that's part of the process as well. Hopefully, your advisor can assist with networking / introductions / etc. The support of your advisor will be critical (as it is for all PhD students).</p>\n\n<p>The trick is to make sure you have a backup plan and a way to convert to it if necessary. Don't spend three years mucking around if you're not making progress. But, spending 6 months investigating if there is something there -- that's well worth it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14896,
"author": "Armin Mustafa",
"author_id": 9136,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9136",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<pre><code>Converting to PhD should not be dependent on an idea, I think.\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>If you want to do PhD then go for it. If one idea does not work other will. That's what research is all about. </p>\n\n<p>Apart from taking up that idea further:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Your supervisor does not have enough experience in that field that\nmeans you are entering at your own risk. </li>\n<li>Do a good 2-3 months detailed literature survey to understand it better and then take a call.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14903,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While research is inherently risky, there are two red flags:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He said that he thinks that idea is feasible <strong>but doesn't know what would be the approach</strong>, and not sure whether the results would be positive in terms of PhD because <strong>there several parallel domains</strong>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>What this tells me is that your advisor does not have the specialization to attack this particular idea that you are proposing; moreover, there are other areas of research that may be examining the problem that you are discussing.</p>\n\n<p>There are a number of potential issues that come across from this:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>You don't have an advisor who's familiar with the area, so you have to spend more time (either doing your own related work, or finding other faculty/collaborators) to discover the appropriate methods. Instead of having your advisor go, \"Use this equipment and this research method\", now you have to possibly discover what the method is and then acquire equipment for it. You will make mistakes numerous times because no one is there to help you avoid common mistakes. This makes your results take longer and uses more money.</p></li>\n<li><p>If there are parallel domains, then there is a risk that the results that you and your advisor find from the work (that most likely took a long time because people are unfamiliar with the method) are possibly not as significant or as important as they first seem because this other area's already identified them first. Others familiar with the area might ask, \"Why didn't you look at XYZ and ABC first?\" and reject the paper. As a result, it will take additionally more time to familiarize yourself with these parallel domains in order to identify that what you're doing is important, relevant, and novel.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I think personally that (1) is a much greater risk than (2). Most people never come into an area with knowledge of what's there, so surveying related work, talking to people, and learning about the research area is usually work that has to be done anyway, but (1) can be very deadly. (1) and (2) in combination can be very dangerous, since it might indicate that your advisor simply doesn't have a lot of interest in Method (1) and in Result (2) - which means that your project might end up with less priority, less input, and less money. And all of that results in less papers and less impact.</p>\n\n<p>Less papers, less impact means less opportunity to do important, meaningful work (and fewer job opportunities).</p>\n\n<p>Thus, it does depend partly on what your personal goals are. If you do want to pursue this path for the sake of expanding your knowledge and the knowledge of the world at large, then one possibility would be to switch advisors or to find out who's doing this work in parallel domains and collaborate closely with one of these other researchers so you can get technical knowledge from those people.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/17 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14855",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2823/"
]
|
14,877 | <p>Most papers do not specify a separate license for the source code, so presumably it would be licensed under the same terms as the rest of the paper. Typically, this means that the copyright lies with the publisher. Then,</p>
<ul>
<li>As a reader, do I need permission from the publisher to use source code contained in journal articles?</li>
<li>Would using the source code be considered fair use in the US? What about countries that do not have comparable laws?</li>
<li>As an author, what should I do if I want the code I publish to be freely usable by others?</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14881,
"author": "Espanta",
"author_id": 6393,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6393",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the codes available in papers are provided as materials for several purposes, including</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Help reviewers and journal's board to efficiently evaluate the work and identify its technical merit.</li>\n<li>Enable readers to better grasp the algorithm/method proposed</li>\n<li>Enable researchers to utilize the code in their future research to avoid duplication</li>\n<li>Help (novice) researchers to play with the code for educational benefits</li>\n<li>Provide opportunity to peers to further improve the proposal</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>However, you may contact the author(s) if the want to use the code for</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Commercializing the algorithm/method </li>\n<li>Use the code for activities that generates money</li>\n<li>Register patent using available contents</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In my institute, I see lots supervisor ask their master students to read recent papers and identify a small research problem to alleviate during their project work. Students either use the given code or contact the authors for code, which authors usually provide the code.</p>\n\n<p>So, I think you don't need to explicitly state the code copyright in the paper. But, if you are really interested to do that, you can have a footnote in the first page allowing readers to utilize the code in full, if the EiC does not mind.</p>\n\n<p>Hope it helps</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14897,
"author": "Armin Mustafa",
"author_id": 9136,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9136",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Most of codes are free if you use it for research purpose, you just\n need to include right citations</p>\n \n <p>If a code is commercial or GPL license then you need permission, for\n that you can contact the author directly and discuss the same</p>\n \n <p>If you want your code to be freely available just make it open source\n licensed that's it.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Each country has different rules for patents and stuff, so be careful where the code is available etc. So discussion with author is the best thing to do. The license is usually specified on the website where you get the code from and also in the .cpp or .h files header.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14877",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8185/"
]
|
14,878 | <p>Is it beneficial/harmful to get a letter from a research supervisor who was not satisfied with my work? (I wasn't interested in that topic, but I kept working in the lab for the money). </p>
<p>Or forget about that and instead focus on people who were satisfied with my research experience only? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14880,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Talk with your advisor about this. Depending on your relationship with your advisor, you may still be able to get a decent letter. Use the following formula:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Decent letter > No letter > Bad letter</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If your advisor cannot write you a decent letter you will have to find someone else who is. Do note that not having a letter from your advisor will be a huge red flag; you will have to come to any interview with a ready explanation as to why your advisor did not feel comfortable recommending you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14893,
"author": "Armin Mustafa",
"author_id": 9136,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9136",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Get a reference letter from your supervisor. Inspite of the fact that the letter may not be that great, it plays an important role.</p>\n\n<p>But apart from that OK letter, you can also get a very good letter from the people who were satisfied with you.</p>\n\n<p>So in the end you will have two letters with you to show and will give a fair opinion about you.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14878",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8289/"
]
|
14,879 | <p>Why do some graduate schools require an employment history for their application forms? Additionally, is it likely that they verify said history via one's social security number?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14890,
"author": "Steve P.",
"author_id": 8022,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8022",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Why do some graduate schools want to have employment history on\n graduate school application forms?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I can think of a few things:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>If you're not coming directly from undergrad, they want to know what work you've been doing. In some cases, it may be entirely irrelevant, but nonetheless, they ask. While references are typically obtained from academic institutions, if you've been in industry for a while, one of your recommendations may come from your employer...</li>\n<li>If you are coming directly from undergrad, you may still have been employed during school or have completed some number of internships. Again, while they may not be relevant, there's no reason not to ask, especially if they can positively affect your application.</li>\n<li>Either way, employment, depending on what you did, could demonstrate responsibility, leadership, potentially research ability, etc.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it likely that they verify it with SSN?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This almost seems like you're trying to determine if they can catch you in a lie--they do not need a SSN to do that. Don't fabricate anything.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14895,
"author": "Armin Mustafa",
"author_id": 9136,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9136",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is unlikely that something will be verified but still its best for you not to write anything which is not true.</p>\n\n<p>And your employment history tells a lot about you, here is a list of some points apart from those mentioned before:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It shows that you have the capability to handle industry environment</li>\n<li>If its a really good company then it shows your excellence because you got through a very difficult interview process</li>\n<li>It shows your communication skills and people management skills</li>\n<li>It shows your ability in analytic tools also.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So it will be good if you mention all your employment history, be it in a education institute.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14879",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8289/"
]
|
14,882 | <p>Before submitting a manuscript to a journal, it is fairly common at least in my field (psychology) to circulate the manuscript in a limited way to a small number of people who are experts in the area and/or who would be willing and able to provide useful comments, for the purpose of soliciting their feedback and suggestions for improving the manuscript before submitting it for formal peer review.</p>
<p>However it seems that this could lead to a tricky situation if the editor of the journal ends up asking some of those same people who provided feedback to serve as reviewers for the paper, since they will have already read the paper and in a sense "reviewed" it one time already.</p>
<p>So I have two questions about this:</p>
<ol>
<li>From the perspective of a person who has been asked by the authors to provide comments, and then later asked by a journal editor to review that same paper for publication: what is your policy, or your perception of the common policy, for what do to here? Do you decline to review the paper because you've already seen it? Do you agree to review the paper, but perhaps provide many of the same comments verbatim as before (at least for the parts of the paper that were not changed), and perhaps let the editor know that you've read it before? Or do you see your prior reading of the paper as totally irrelevant and just approach the review fresh and as normal?</li>
<li>From the strategic perspective of the authors of the paper, is it better to ask for comments from people who you know are likely to be asked later to review the paper? Or is it better to avoid sending the paper to these people, and instead send it to people who are not as likely to be asked to review the paper but could still provide useful feedback?</li>
</ol>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14883,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are two aspects to this question: what should happen and what actually happens. Soliciting comments on a manuscript is of course perfectly fine and a useful endeavour. As you state problems may arise if persons commenting on the manuscript is asked to review it. Such a person should simply decline to review the paper when requested. It is thus possible that such a person reviews the paper anyway but then the problem is between the reviewer and the editor, that is beyond your reach. What you can do to simplify for an editor is to list persons who have commented on the manuscript. It will then be up to the editor to decide what becomes a breach of objectivity.</p>\n\n<p>If your topic is narrow enough that the number of possible reviewers are limited, you need to consider if you \"use up\" potential reviewers in the process. Again, I think being open about who has commented on the paper in your correspondence should allow the editor to find good reviewers. Just because you avoid soliciting someone's opinion does not mean the editor will ask that person for a review so assessing such effects is difficult and generalized answers of little use. Knowing the field and potential problems is the only way to assess pros and cons.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14884,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Why would this necessarily be a concern? If they reviewed your work positively in the past, it's only logical for them to keep that evaluation.</p>\n\n<p>What you should be more worried about is the fact that those individuals who you would probably go to to get a presubmission evaluation might have a bias towards you based on their (presumably somewhat close) relationship to you, which could make it harder to give objective advice.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14885,
"author": "venergiac",
"author_id": 9456,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9456",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my humble opinion, if there are no conflicts of interest (same university or funding), the referee should inform the editor that is already in contact with the author and let him choose.\nIn any case, consider that many journals require authors to indicate qualified referees and the scientific community is a forum for discussion.\nIn conclusion, be transparent, fair and honest, but do not make choices instead of the publisher.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 23398,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see no problem with refereeing a paper after I've commented on it to the author. I would tell the author what (if anything) I think would improve the paper, and I would tell the editor whether I think it's appropriate for the particular journal and if so then what (if anything) would improve the paper. There have been cases where an editor asked me to referee a paper and wrote, in his cover message, that he knew (because of acknowledgements) that I'd already read the paper, so it should be easy for me to referee.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 103066,
"author": "Scientist",
"author_id": 66782,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66782",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this is a trivial situation and should involve no conflicts given everyone is being honest, e.g. acknowledging contributions. \nMy answers:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Normally as a reviewer I will decline to review while stating I have already evaluated the manuscript before. While directing the editor to read the acknowledgments section, which should s/he ought to have done prior to choosing reviewers. Depending on the case I may accept but I will disclose of my name and of the fact that I had discussed the paper before with the authors, as ought to had been disclosed of in the acknowledgments section.</p></li>\n<li><p>As an author I will invite some colleague to give opinions, acknowledge his/her contribution, and will not suggest this person as a reviewer. I assume the editor will actually read the manuscript and heed the acknowledgments section prior to choosing reviewers, and trust whoever takes it up to do their job correctly.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 103072,
"author": "Michael Greinecker",
"author_id": 1588,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1588",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The job of a reviewer is mainly to advise the editor on what to do with a manuscript. From the point of view of an editor, picking someone who has already read the manuscript will shorten turnaround (which is a big thing in some fields) because they need less additional time to read the paper and are likely competent to do so. Since editors rely on this advice, editors should be able to trust referees. They may consider it more likely that people in the acknowledgment section are close to the authors and potentially biased, but this is less of an issue if we talk about renowned people in the field who value their reputation highly and that are not obviously personally connected to the author. </p>\n\n<p>A potentially serious problem is that anonymity is harder to keep, since raising the same points that have been raised before might, if these points are very specific or unique, make it clear who the referee is. This is the only reason why I might decline refereeing a paper I've commented on before. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14882",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3906/"
]
|
14,886 | <p>I'm reporting on an engineering project that is in its early phases. Therefore, there are no results, but there is already a quite detailed plan on how the problems in the project can be conquered. Now I was asked to present the project at a conference. I want to present the current state, but I'm not sure how to structure a conclusion as there is no result, and I can't evaulate, if the planned methods will be successful. Still I believe presenting the intended methods will bring value to the community. </p>
<p>How do you conclude a project presentation that doesn't have any results but already has a quite concrete and detailed plan? What content could I provide? Or can one just not provide a conclusion in a paper? That seems a bit unbalanced...</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14887,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What goes into the <strong>conclusions</strong> section in a paper is a bit field-specific. I am doing research in computer science (services / software engineering), and oftentimes, the conclusions are basically the place where you summarize the main points of your paper. It is not <em>required</em> in my field that the conclusions contain hard data / findings. If the paper is of more positional nature (a roadmap paper, a \"Towards ...\" paper, etc.), the conclusions will be more of an outlook on the challenges ahead.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14888,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the <strong>conclusion of a paper</strong> and the <strong>conclusion of a project</strong> are two different things.</p>\n\n<p>In my view, the conclusion of a paper is the summary of the paper while the conclusion of a project is the end results of the project. Your paper has the current state and the future plan of the project. These can be the conclusion of the paper. They are not necessarily the conclusion of the project.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't feel comfortable with having \"Conclusion\" section in your paper without stating the true conclusion of the project, my suggestion is to write a \"\"Summary\" or \"Future Outlook\" section at the end of the paper. This is a personal taste, in my opinion.</p>\n\n<p>There are many papers without \"Conclusion\" section either by authors' choice or the final conclusive results for the problem/conjecture were not obtained yet at the time the paper was written.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14891,
"author": "Trylks",
"author_id": 7571,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7571",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The paper is about an analysis that has been performed to address some challenges and fulfill some objectives. The result of the analysis is a plan.</p>\n\n<p>The plan should fulfill the objectives, it should be fault tolerant, it should consider the possible risks that may materialize during the project or it should do whatever it should do and it should be like whatever it should be (I don't know the specific details about the objectives and the analysis).</p>\n\n<p>In any case, the conclusion should be that the plan fulfills the objectives that were set for the design of such a plan. If it doesn't then you should try to do the plan again, because that would mean it's wrong. I guess it's right, that's the main conclusion and that's the reason to publish a paper.</p>\n\n<p>If after the project you find out it was wrong, then that could be a good reason to write another paper. With lessons learned, mistakes, etc. so that nobody else makes the same mistakes (we should make some progress in the state of the art of mistakes as well ;-) )</p>\n\n<p>PD: Future lines are not exactly conclusions, a conclusion is something that ends. Every end implies a new beginning, and thus future lines (imminent beginnings) are included in this section, but let me note they are two different things (and opposite to a great extent).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14898,
"author": "user2953982",
"author_id": 10100,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10100",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could include information about metrics for success, what a solution might look like, future directions, etc. And then the conclusions for the paper would summarize what you presented, rather than what you're going to do.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14886",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8549/"
]
|
14,900 | <p>This might seems like a silly question, but I don't understand why grad schools ask for GRE score on the application form. In almost all instances, they also require official score to be sent to them before they even start reading application anyway. So is there a reason why they ask for self-reporting of those score?</p>
<p>Also, is there any harm in not putting the score into the application? As in let's say the GRE being taken too late, and the score is not known at the time of application.</p>
<p>(talking about both revised general and subject score)</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14901,
"author": "Ab Caballero",
"author_id": 10102,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10102",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In most cases, the GRE scores go the the university admissions department, not to the department in which you are enrolling for graduate study. The graduate adviser will read your application and determine whether or not to accept you (your GRE score is one of the metrics that he/she will use). If you are accepted by the department, then the University orders all the official paperwork for verification. If you have the scores, i would put them on the application. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14928,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It's to make the application form easier to review. That way, all the fields on the application form can be printed in one handy package, which could then be sent to a program chair for easy review. </p>\n\n<p>No one in the admissions office wants to have to gather and collate transcripts, GRE reports, and other application information into one printout (or file) just to be able to send the package somewhere for review. Moreover, when reviewing, no one wants to shuffle through a bunch of papers just to find the information they are looking for. This way, GRE scores are always right there on the left-hand side, in Box 10.</p>\n\n<p>In a word, it's for the sake of convenience. It's much easier on everyone at the university if you simply type your GRE scores into an application form where you are already typing so much other pertinent information. </p>\n\n<p>As for why you have to submit the official results, too, that's simply to verify the scores you self-reported. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14900",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10101/"
]
|
14,902 | <p>I am a student of comparative politics currently considering what specific topic I want for my Master's Thesis. On the basis of the choice, the university will allocate an appropriate professor - given that they understand the choice of course. However, the boundaries for topics are mainly limited by the field and the length; 80-100 pages. As such, I am unsure how wide or narrow I should aim to be with the thesis.</p>
<p>I have a general idea for the topic, and a fairly good understanding of the field, but the length is an abstract I find hard to deal with. Basically, how much should I limit myself in the scope and use of selected theory and empirical content?</p>
<p>Of course, this varies between universities and fields, but some general guidelines on determining how to go about determining what can reasonably be achieved with a year of writing for a Master's Thesis would be appreciated.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14904,
"author": "Steve P.",
"author_id": 8022,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8022",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I'm not sure if this applies to all subject domains, but in computer science, most of the <strong>Master's Theses</strong> that I have seen were quite broad. They gave an overview of the subject and a more detailed analysis of whatever subtopic the author chose to cover. </p>\n\n<p>Most of them had little empirical content. From what I can tell, the goal is to analyze a few works related to one's topic and formulate several salient questions that could be addressed in the future. </p>\n\n<p>To reiterate, a master's thesis differs from a PhD dissertation in that the goal is not to provide novel content, but to show that one has a good understanding of the material, is comfortable with analyzing current or previous research, and that one has the ability to come up with new, exciting ideas to build upon said research. </p>\n\n<p>To determine what is reasonable, you should consult with an advisor, I do not think that you can answer this question without already having some sort of topic in mind. On that note, if possible, I think that providing insights is far more important than reviewing topics that most people in the field are already familiar with. So, if you have enough content, you could easily cut some of the overview and concentrate more on your ideas, which if good, would look more impressive. </p>\n\n<p>With respect to \"selected theory\" vs \"empirical content,\" I think that's entirely up to you. Whatever serves your thesis better is what I would incorporate into it. This probably seems like a very hand-wavy answer, but it really does depend on exactly what questions/issues that you're attempting to address. I may be wrong, but I doubt that there's any sort of formula that dictates how much of either you should use.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 75578,
"author": "user296844",
"author_id": 18207,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18207",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For comparative politics, the thesis' content should have a healthy empirical content. (As opposed to, say, political theory.) The thesis is basically the answer to a question. At your level (master's), it helps if it addresses a pointed research question in the field.</p>\n\n<p>If you feel this is strainedly narrowing your general knowledge, then congratulations: that's the goal in my book.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14902",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10103/"
]
|
14,921 | <p>I'm not a native speaker. However, I'm doing my PhD in an English country and I read Academic papers which are in English. How can I improve my English from those papers? Any ideas? Although sometimes those papers are not written by native English speakers and may still have problems. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14923,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The old adage is: \"the language of science is bad English\" (and at least in computer science it is 100% true). That being said, I have known PhD students who have failed mainly because of their lacking English language skills – they had ideas, but they could not communicate them to anybody, and they could not write them down in a paper for the life of them. You need decent English to write any paper, and you need pretty good English to write papers at top venues.</p>\n\n<p>You ask how to improve your language skills <strong>from reading papers</strong>. I would say, you can't do that effectively at all. Clearly, reading anything written in English will help you to some extent, but if you feel like you need to improve your English, taking <strong>one or more (good) courses in technical English</strong> will help you more than reading through a few dozen papers.</p>\n\n<p>However, there is one language-related skill that reading papers for is really useful – if you are setting out to write the first or one of your first papers of your own, nothing beats analyzing existing papers (at the same conference, in the same journal) to find out how papers in these venues are usually structured. This gets you started much faster than drafting something only for your advisor to tear it apart.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14929,
"author": "penelope",
"author_id": 4249,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4249",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While I understand that there's a big difference between scientific and day-to-day language, I actually think you need both to succeed in academia.</p>\n\n<p>While you do need to excel in research (e.g. publish papers, communicate ideas), only the \"top level\" will be done in pure scientific and formal language: writing papers and scientific presentations. A lot comes from communicating your ideas, either in formal and informal settings. The \"level\" of English varies from setting to setting: at some point, you would not want to host a prominent researcher in your country, and take him to lunch only to realize you do not know how to translate the menu.</p>\n\n<p>That said, I think you need to improve your English overall, and the best way to do it is to expose yourself to the language as much as you find comfortable:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>if you usually <strong>read</strong> (non-scientific literature), <strong>switch</strong> from your native language <strong>to English</strong></li>\n<li>when watching <strong>movies/TV shows</strong>, don't go for the dubbed versions: go for the <strong>original language</strong>, first with the subtitles in your language, then in English, and then no subtitles at all</li>\n<li>try and find yourself in <strong>social situations where English is the main spoken language</strong>. <strong>Listen</strong> to people and <strong>talk</strong> to them. I saw a big change in a lot of people in just a few months from this.</li>\n<li>take a <strong>course</strong>, possibly in technical English</li>\n<li>specific terminology and style of writing will come in time, with immersion in your field, but it is okay to <strong>use a dictionary</strong> for rare terms</li>\n<li><em>in addition to just using a dictionary</em> (translations are not always stellar), <a href=\"http://thesaurus.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><strong>use Thesaurus</strong></a> to find synonyms and antonyms. It is also useful when you know the correct word, but you feel your writing is too repetitive</li>\n<li>have some kind of <strong>spell checker</strong> activated when you type (not only your papers, but also your posts, chats and e-mails), use it whenever it tells you that you misspelled the word, and <strong>try to remember your mistakes</strong></li>\n<li>start using an <strong>English-English dictionary</strong>, as often as you can when you come across an unknown word. For me, just typing <em>\"define:whatever\"</em> in Google works just fine.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14933,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to other good observations... : the idiosyncrasies of English are not easily codified in \"rules\", so considerable familiarity with <em>many</em> good examples of standard use, to allow faithful <em>mimicry</em>, (in addition to more formal study and hearing-experience) is surely helpful.</p>\n\n<p>That is, rather than \"composing\" in a vacuum (worst of all translating into English...), it is very convenient to be able to <em>recall</em> already-vetted phrases and wording-choices and simply re-use them.</p>\n\n<p>This is especially true with regard to \"articles\" \"a\", \"an\", \"the\", or their absence, and related seemingly-innocent modifiers. Also, verb tenses.</p>\n\n<p>Thus: imitation from good models.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14956,
"author": "Ahmad",
"author_id": 7651,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7651",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Reading good papers from your field would improve to some extend your technical language specifically the style and structure in your field. I recommend you to read a few good books about writing science and manuscripts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15785,
"author": "user10815",
"author_id": 10815,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10815",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ol>\n<li><p>Participate in discussions strictly related to academic papers. </p></li>\n<li><p>Don't read only - be active in your discussions and write as much as you can (you can make errors but you will self-eliminate them with more practice).</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 89443,
"author": "Alex",
"author_id": 73476,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73476",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The exercise is to learn English by writing. Take a few paragraphs from Academic paper. Print the text and then write it by hand. Check if you have any errors? No errors? Then take another piece of paper and hide the side of printed text so that you can't see two letters at the end of each line. Write the whole text again. Check for errors? No errors? Move the sheet further and repeat. Have an error? Start from the beginning. Write the text looking at a printed one. Then add a sheet of paper on a side and write again and re-check for errors. No errors - move paper further. If you experience a mistake you need to start from very beginning! Eventually you should be able to write the text by looking at one letter of each line only and then the whole text by memory without any mistakes. Congrats! Do the same for second time next day. Once you complete second text, re-write first one too. Check for mistakes in both. Got a mistake? Start from text 1! Now you do that for 10 text and you will be shocked! </p>\n\n<p>Another thing you need to do is to practice writing sentences. Take any phrase that has a new structure to you (e.g. from the academic paper) and write it down. Then write again. Repeat this 10 times. Then change one word using a <a href=\"https://www.powerthesaurus.org\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">thesaurus</a>. And write 10 times again. Change the same word again and write re-phrased sentence 10 times. Repeat this task for each word. This practice will allow to learn the limited range of rules that are used in English sentences.</p>\n\n<p>Surely you may check English grammar from time to time if you really want to know why something is like that, however don't spend too much time doing it. You will become bored and overloaded with information very soon.\nHappy learning!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14921",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10112/"
]
|
14,925 | <p>In statement of purpose for applying to a PhD program, is it good to mention about learning from some professor's lecture notes and books (not papers, because don't get to read them yet), and finding them helpful?
Will it make the statement more personal and therefore good?</p>
<p>Or is it better not to say so, and rather to keep the essay short?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14932,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On the whole, indication of awareness, of taking initiative, is a very strong positive.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if one attempts to do this artificially, to \"create an impression\", there is risk of \"looking silly\", to say the least. For example, do not try to mass-produce in an afternoon \"awareness of Prof. X's notes and papers\" for Prof. Xs at a dozen+ different schools to which you're applying. Such things tend to result in extreme superficiality, and inevitably some silly errors, such as referring to Prof. Y at University Z while purportedly addressing the admissions committee at Univ. W about Prof. X. Good for a laugh at your expense, sure, but, ... :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14934,
"author": "Dnuorg Spu",
"author_id": 9538,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9538",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You do not want to convey the message, <em>\"I am applying to your school because I think Professor X is great.\"</em> Everybody knows Professor X is great. That's why they hired her.</p>\n\n<p>The question is, why should they want <strong>you?</strong></p>\n\n<p>A message you do want to convey is, <em>\"I am applying to your school because my research goals are well-aligned with existing interests in the department.\"</em> If you can incorporate Professor X's notes and books into that story, great. Otherwise, leave them out of it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14925",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/218/"
]
|
14,926 | <p>I am currently hired as a research track scientist not funded directly by the university. As part of my contract agreement, I am required to secure my own funding in order to remain hired. However, government funding has dried up <em>drastically</em> over the last few years, and my best and just about only shot is to seek private sponsorships. A brief conversation with the department chair has confirmed that the department doesn't really care too much about the source of funding as much as whether I can get sufficient funding or not.</p>
<p>Given all of this, does anyone have any suggestions for a list of private individuals or organizations willing to fund basic research in theoretical physics without any <em>immediate</em> practical applications? How should I go about contacting such private sponsors, and what is the proper protocol for asking them for money? It appears most funders in the private sector care mostly about getting short term commercial monetary returns from what they prefer to call an "investment" instead of funding. How can I encourage them to think about longer term benefits which might take as many as a few generations to reap?</p>
<p>In my experience, sarcastic remarks along the lines of Benjamin Franklin's "What's the use of a newborn baby?" or Michael Faraday's "One day you may tax it." go on very badly to people in the private sector.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15107,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Funding from industry is generally going to be tied to the ability for them to leverage it into profit. Funding from non-profits are not always interested in making money, but they ant to be able to leverage it into profit, donations, or press. Generally you need to talk to potential finders about their interests and tailor your research to meet their needs and wants.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 16628,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Step in their shoes and figure out what <em>they</em> would be gaining from giving money to you. The question is not only about the benefits as such, but <em>who</em> will benefit. 'One day you may tax it' may be actually reasonable to a large government, but it is absolute nonsense to a private company, who will NOT be able to tax it when other companies use it. \"What's the use of a newborn baby\" also implies that the adult will be useful - but it will NOT be useful to the company unless they can own & control that long-future result.</p>\n\n<p>In general, if you want to get industry funding for research where the results cannot be commercialized in the short term, then anyway your results have to be valuable from <em>them in particular</em>, rather than the whole industry including their competitors. So if it's too early to produce a commercial product/process, at the very least the end result should be some protected IP - usually patents - that would be a property of the funding organization.</p>\n\n<p>If it's an investment, then take a look at how large the return benefit would be, when would that be, and how likely it is that it will/won't work out. If it's a 'sponsorship', well, sponsorships generally are a PR/marketing issue - in order for that to work out, the company needs your research and/or your name to be visible and known (not to academia but to their customers), so that they'd get some marketing benefit by their customers seeing (a lot of) their association with you and/or your research topic. It sometimes happens (for example, with high-end audio products; or IBM's Watson project is a case of such PR), but it's clearly not an option for most researchers.</p>\n\n<p>An alternative might be private philantrophists - but that is based on individual relations, connections to very rich individuals, and your PR ability to convinve them that your research is so valuable to the world. Looking at how some other researchers have achieved such funding, it generally requires writing a popular book or a few of them, and years of public promotion of your research direction and ideas; that seed tends to grow into an ability to fundraise for continuing such research.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14926",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10113/"
]
|
14,930 | <blockquote>
<p>Longer monographs should have an odd number of chapters [the
Internet,1700-xxxx].</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Does this rule also apply for papers? I've got a paper with four chapters and I'm wondering if I should make it five. I could split up the outlook & conclusion part, but that would result in two really short sections.</p>
<p>What does the style police suggest?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14931,
"author": "Benedikt Bauer",
"author_id": 10039,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10039",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think that any style guide or policy (besides maybe some journal about aesthetics in writing) will force you to an odd or even number of sections or chapters. A scientific text should get the number of chapters it needs and not a number that fits aesthetic principles–basically you write it to tell the scientific community about your findings and not to please them.</p>\n\n<p>If you manage to write a scientific paper in <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Haiku</a> form, this will be nice but it may also make some referee think you don't take your research serious enough. More or less the same holds for odd or even chapters. If you force the text to fit a certain number of chapters by dividing a chapter into two pieces, the reviewers might also consider <em>that</em> bad style.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14936,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's something of a story that \"having an odd number of chapters in your thesis\" will make it more likely to get past the committee, or something like that. For example, in <a href=\"http://www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/c.clack/phd.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">this personal website about theses</a>, the author states that \"Chapter headings - use 7 or 9! An odd number of (total) chapters gives a balanced appearance to the work (CC has a reference to back this up).\"</p>\n\n<p>I confess that I heard this as well when I was writing. I didn't end up structuring my thesis as a result of that advice but I heard it too. In the end, there's a 50% chance that your paper will have an odd number of chapters after you structure it. :)</p>\n\n<p>Since I cannot find any other substantive evidence (other than the UCL link above) about the number of chapters in a thesis I must conclude that, at best, the effect of the number of chapters on the quality of a thesis is unknown; ostensibly, the odd or evenness of chapters having no effect would probably apply to scientific papers and scientific journal articles as well. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14942,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You write as many chapters as you need in order to get your message across. this applies to all types of writing, papers, reports or theses. I am sure some people might avoid 13 chapters or whatever number they feel unsettled about, but that will not have anything to do with scientific writing. Likewise there is nothing that says any form of scientific writing needs a certain number of chapters. That said, the Introduction-Methods-Results-and-Discussion (IMRaD) format, which forms the basis for most scientific papers, leads to four main chapters and in addition an abstract and a Conclusions chapter. Again, this is because it is a standard logical form not a \"magic\" number.</p>\n\n<p>There are, however, many other typographical rules that influence the formatting of pages and chapters. For example, a chapter should start on an odd page number to follow traditional rules. There are thus many aspects of typesetting that influences the format of printed text but not the number of chapters.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14930",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8549/"
]
|
14,935 | <p>In the beginning of a research program students (like me) may be lazy or find things hard and do things that make their supervisors get angry such as not completing specific job in the right time. They may be strongly criticized by their supervisors and their supervisors may get an idea that these students are not good enough. How can students change this idea that is in the head of their supervisors? What should they do?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14937,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The same way you would change anyone's perception of you for any other reason: Prove them wrong. </p>\n\n<p>If you started out lazy, then kick yourself into high gear: Get tasks done ahead of time; predict future work, and get it done before it's asked for. Turn out quality work at a high pace. This sounds hard <strong>because it is</strong>. Unfortunately, you may have burned good-will at this point, and you need to rebuild it. </p>\n\n<p>If you found things hard, or found that the supervisors expectations of velocity were unreasonable, discuss it with your supervisor. Discuss what background she may not know you have missed, discuss how you spent your time, and why things didn't get done fast enough.</p>\n\n<p>Key here is the relationship. Your relationship sounds like it's on rocky ground, and if you're in it for another 3-5 <em>years</em>, then don't underestimate how much effort you're going to need to making sure that relationship doesn't break down. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14938,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>... and, if your supervisor is an experienced, mature person, while they may have been irritated by sub-par \"performance\", such things should not completely surprise them. People in grad school are in a transition time in life, not only regarding the stresses of grad school, etc., and have not yet \"arrived\" themselves at the mature professional state they will (hopefully) reach. In particular, helping people <em>get</em> to that state is part of a supervisor's job with grad students (and probably any senior person in any professional situation).</p>\n\n<p>So, while it's not good to have under-performed to the extent of setting-off your supervisor, and not a \"good start\", there should be much room for \"forgiveness\", if you can take a lesson from such a scenario, etc.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14935",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10112/"
]
|
14,946 | <p>Recently, alongside my day job (high school teacher), I have been taking up casual short-term research assistant jobs - these are not only paid, but also include me being a co-author of the paper(s) that result.</p>
<p>On my CV, I would like to have all this information, what would be an effective means to include all achievements of these projects?</p>
<p>I am hoping for specific examples if people have done this before.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14948,
"author": "Dee",
"author_id": 6534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6534",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For HR specialists reading your CV there will be important not just employment history, but also another perspectives of your CV. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>a project history you have done or participated, then they need to know short one simple sentence of project description and your role on the project.</li>\n<li>publications you have made or co-author. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If this is significant enough, put this to the Overview, what should be on the front page of your CV. Overview generally should contain teasers for the rest of CV. How many projects, how many publications, etc. </p>\n\n<p>Take an example of different perspectives for example from Linked-in portal, which are: Overview, Employment history, Project history, Personal initiatives, language skills, Certifications, Courses, Skills, Education, Recommendations, Publications, Organization membership, Prizes, Academical Results, Patents, etc. Order is up to your priorities. </p>\n\n<p>Example: So, I can imagine you could have Overview, Education, Project history, Academical results and Publications in top order.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14957,
"author": "woodbine",
"author_id": 10154,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10154",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ol>\n<li><p>Detail the employer and your role, make clear that your work was part-time or casual. </p></li>\n<li><p>Indicate that you contributed to a number of reports, perhaps even citing the number of reports that you contributed to. </p></li>\n<li><p>Make a specific reference to any reports that are appropriate to the job you're applying for.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14959,
"author": "vy32",
"author_id": 8518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8518",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In order to answer your question, you need to first understand <em>who your CV is written for</em>. If your CV is for you, and you are simply trying to document what you did, then you can simply list each research involvement as something like:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>January 2014--July 2014</strong> Research volunteer, Dr. Bigwig's lab. Collected samples from subjects and ran computer simulations. Contributed to 5 publications.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Ideally, you will also be able to list the publications to which you contribute. </p>\n\n<p>If you are building the CV because you want to actually use it for something (getting a raise, getting another job, going back to school, etc.), then you should seek to formalize your relationship with the lab:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Do you have a title? If not, ask for one. Since you say you are being paid, you probably have one already. You should know the title and list it.</p></li>\n<li><p>List the dates of the appointment. Typically they are for a year or a few years, even if you are only being paid for a small fraction of that.</p></li>\n<li><p>Since you are currently a high school teacher, you may wish to list your research appointments in a different section of your CV than your teaching appointments.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Good luck.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14946",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
14,951 | <p>I am a international student in a ivy league school under J1 visa ( i can work only in school). I am now working as a researcher after I got the degree. I did sign the contract that I will work for 2 years with funding. The contract said that I will work mainly for one particular project but I also have work with any other works that the school want too. </p>
<p>My adviser has two funding project in his hand. One is a cellphone project and another one is a Darpa project. In the beginning, I worked with a cellphone project. This project is something plan to be commercialized and funding by private investors. There were two people mainly working on this cellphone project, me and my friend. We both have separated funding from different sources to work on this project. After I had finish the project ( 6 months), I was moved to work in the Darpa project, with another team. My friend who I worked with in a cellphone project is still working in the final part and marketing it (also continue to find money from investors). </p>
<p>One day, my cellphone-project friend's funding were all gone ( he started this work one year before me). His fund is about two years and he cannot find the investors to put more money in his cellphone. Then this is my problem because I am not a main person in both the cellphone and the Darpa project. My adviser want to move my money to support my friend and want me to quit (because no need for my programming skill anymore, programming part is done). He started by telling me that I watched YouTube in the lab. (He did see me once that I listened to the music while I was programming). He told me that no one in the lab watch YouTube, everybody just read paper for relaxing. (All of my friends watch YouTube and Facebook, trust me). Then he continued with I am not eager to improve me code and make it faster. He told me that all PhD, researcher will eager to make it very fast. ( I programmed something is called SIFT and the speed is the best I can do, due to the nature of the algorithm ).. Anyway, 3 months ago he told me the speed is good enough for this work, that's why I didn't improve it. He told me that I have a problem in communication ( I asked him could you give me some examples about the communication problem, then he changed the topics). </p>
<p>Since I am holding J1 visa, If he kicked me out, I have to go back with nothing. I feel this is very unfair. When he asked me to work, it is very nice. However when I completed the work, he want to kick me out and get the money back. I have no idea what to do? What should I do after this? I feel really bad about my adviser.</p>
<p>PS: my professor is the member of the start-up-company of the cellphone project. but I am not, I am just a reseacher</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14954,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The situation sounds both contentious and untenable, which are signs that you need to start escalating your concerns. </p>\n\n<p>If you've tried speaking to your supervisor and it didn't go well, or if you aren't comfortable speaking to them, then go to the department head, ombudsperson, or chair; There's always someone (usually multiple someones) to handle conflict between student and supervisor. You're going to need to show the history of the situation, and how it's gone wrong. </p>\n\n<p>Sit down before that meeting, and make your case for yourself: Show the requirements of the program, how you're fulfilling them, the changes your supervisor wants, and why they must not be done. </p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Edited: Actually, I realize now, I'm not entirely clear. Is this your academic supervisor, or your workplace supervisor, or are these two one-and-the-same? </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15018,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>OK, well, you have a problem. By the terms of your appointment, you are entitled to stay for the 24-month period. The faculty you're working with made a commitment to support you for 24 months, and generally speaking, it is his duty to do so. However, that's not the whole story. You also have an implicit obligation to do good research that advances his interests as well. And, depending on your goals, you probably also need his intellectual support and mentorship to achieve many of the benefits of a visiting scholar position. So, you need to work out a mutually satisfactory resolution with him. This is more a situation for interpersonal negotiation and compromise than a situation where standing on your rights and thumping the table is going to help you.</p>\n\n<p>You might need to make some compromises, compared to how you thought this position was going to work out. To help with that, to begin, you should start asking yourself some hard questions and figure out what your goals are. What are your career goals after you finish this position? What would you like to achieve? Are you looking to get a good reference letter from the faculty you are currently working with? Are you looking to strengthen your c.v. with a stronger publication record? Do you think you can do good research on your own, with no mentorship, collaboration, or support from your faculty member? What kind of job are you looking for after you finish? Are you looking for a research position, or for an industry position? Can you make productive use of the next 16 months (in a way that will help your longer-term career prospects)? How strongly do you feel that you want to stay in the current position for the full 24 months if you have no support and no interest from your existing faculty member? The answers will determine how you act at this point.</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that there might be no perfect solution to your situation, so your job at this point is to try to guide things to the least-bad outcome that is at all feasible. To do that, you absolutely must know what your priorities are and what your \"nice-to-have's\" are.</p>\n\n<p>I can see a couple of possible options for you:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>You could sit down and have a frank talk with the faculty you are working for. You could say, look, you offered me a 24-month position, you made a commitment, now it is your obligation to fulfill it. You can be polite but firm. However, this might not win you any friends, so if you were hoping for a good reference letter from this faculty member or collaboration and mentorship for continuing research, you might be out of luck, and you could be stuck in a toxic environment for the next 16 months. If you take this tack, you are basically offering the faculty member nothing positive in return, so the best plausible outcome is that the faculty member honors his commitment and ignores you for the rest of your appointment. The worst outcome is that the faculty tries to find some way to screw you.</p></li>\n<li><p>Alternatively, you could try to understand better your faculty member's situation and then try to find a way to make yourself valuable to him. Personally, I think this is probably a much more promising direction. You can always fall back to the \"you have an obligation\" option above if this fails.</p>\n\n<p>From your position his actions might appear arbitrary and capricious, but there is probably a logic behind them from his perspective. You could try to understand what is motivating your faculty mentor and then use that to see what you can offer him. For instance, maybe he is under tight pressure to see results, and you are not contributing in the way he had hoped. Keep in mind that you are biased; you might feel like you did an awesome job and met all of his expectations, but he might not feel that way. Or, his goals might have changed. So, you could try to understand his perspective, and then figure out how to make yourself valuable to him. Basically, look for a way to make this a win-win situation.</p>\n\n<p>You say the faculty seems more interested in working with your friend right now. Well, that's a valuable clue. Maybe your friend is making contributions in some way that you aren't. Have you considered trying to find a way that you can contribute, that your faculty member would value and that would make him eager to keep working with you and make supporting you a priority for him? Have you tried asking some questions to probe about that? His needs can change over time. There's an unwritten assumption, when you join someone's group, that you will act as a team: that you will both act in each others' best interests. In particular, this is not a zero-sum situation (or it should not be); if you're doing things right, when you do great work, it should benefit both you and your faculty. You need to be flexible. If your faculty member's needs change, you might need to change your focus and your energy to support his direction. If your faculty member's needs have changed and you are not adapting to make yourself a valuable member of the team as his goals change, then that could explain his reaction.</p>\n\n<p>You say your faculty has a DARPA contract, and that contract continues, but you are not a main person on that project. Well, have you considered trying to make yourself a main person? Have you considered making yourself indispensable to that project or finding a way so that you can make major contributions to the success of that project? This is not something that is appointed or handed out; what makes you a main person is not a title that someone else hands to you, but rather your own independent action. In the research world, people typically aren't going to tell you what to do. Instead, they're expecting you to identify a way you can be valuable to the project, and then go do it. You're a smart person; I'm sure you can find a way to make a contribution to that project that they will find helpful, and that will be beneficial to your career. Go do that a couple of times, and before you know it, you <em>will</em> be a main person on that project, not because anyone else decided you are, but because you decided to become one and you put in the energy and hard work to be.</p>\n\n<p>From your question, we only get your perspective, not that of your faculty member's perspective. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't fully appreciated your faculty member's perspective yet.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Overall, my advice is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Enter this with a willingness to compromise and change. Adapt. Be prepared to find a compromise with your faculty member. Don't start from the position that you're entitled to a great working situation; you may be, but realistically, at this point, that kind of attitude won't help you attain one. Open your mind to compromise solutions you might not have previously considered, even if you have to accept something that's less than ideal from your perspective.</p></li>\n<li><p>Find someone else you trust (a secondary mentor, another faculty member, something like that) and talk to them about the situation. Ask them for advice. Respect what they are telling you: be a good listener (if you find yourself arguing with them, time to back off and listen and try to understand what they are telling you). See if this can get you any additional information about what might be motivating your faculty or ways you might be able to resolve the situation. You're in an Ivy League school; odds are that someone else in your department cares about visiting scholars.</p></li>\n<li><p>Go talk to your advisor. Ask questions. Listen. Empathize. Try to find a win-win outcome that both of you can feel like offers something positive. You can be frank and honest that your relationship seems to have gotten off on a bad foot and you'd like to work out a way to improve the relationship and find a way to be useful to him that also benefits your career. Ask him for help crafting a performance improvement plan that from his perspective would help you do a better job of meeting his expectations.</p>\n\n<p>Do not start from a position that you are entitled to his enthusiasm. Do not accuse or argue. This is not a confrontation or a debate; this is a negotiation. You start by trying to gather information and understand your faculty member's perspective better. When you understand his logic and motivations, then you can try to brainstorm together ways that you can change your behavior in a way that benefits both of you (especially him). What you can offer is your willingness to devote your time and energy to work on problems that are relevant to his needs, and your flexibility and willingness to change. Maybe after having this kind of conversation, you will find some new project or new focus that both of you will be excited and enthusiastic about. Or, failing that, maybe you can find some compromise solution that is tolerable for both of you: maybe neither of you walk away exactly excited about the collaboration, but you can both live with it.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Your job at this point is to make the best of the situation. Realize that the resolution might not be perfect. Sometimes, that's life. You just have to roll with the punches and work with what you've got.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14951",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10149/"
]
|
14,961 | <p>I am about to start planning my bachelor's thesis in computational linguistics, and I'm looking into how I can make the process as smooth as possible. So far, I've found that using some sort of version control system for keeping track of one's changes seems like a good idea. I've also started collecting papers using Zotero for easily exporting to BibLaTeX and keeping notes. </p>
<p>But those are only tools. What I'm most uncertain about is the actual writing process, especially since my native language isn't English. Is there a collection of common mistakes I could benefit from reading, or other every day tips and tricks? Anything, really!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14966,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is a pretty broad question, but if you are looking for a general guide on how to write there have been a number of books suggested to me.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1852338024\" rel=\"nofollow\">Writing for Computer Science (Zobel)</a> This is a decent book on explaining the principles on why and how you should write computer science articles. It's very computer science specific, with a bit more emphasis toward databases and operating systems, but I think it's applicable to most technical fields (of which computational linguistics should fall into).</p>\n\n<p>I like this one because it's a general guide to writing that outlines the process and the structure.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/020530902X\" rel=\"nofollow\">Elements of Style (Strunk and White)</a> A commonly-recommended book that a lot of people swear by but I found it a bit too low-level for my liking and actually had a hard time finishing it. A professor described it as \"too prescriptive\".</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/020137921X\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bugs in Writing (Dupre)</a> This is an okay book as a reference manual for improving your prose, but isn't a good guide for figuring out the writing process. There's good advice in this book (and it's actually rather fun to flip through just to learn about various style points) but can be difficult to use as an actual guide.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0226899152\" rel=\"nofollow\">Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Williams)</a> I've gotten through a few parts of this book and it gives very specific advice on how to proceed on improving your writing, especially explaining specifically how to introduce ideas in paragraphs, how to flow them together to create longer manuscripts, and how to restructure and correct text so the main ideas come through. As I surmised, it is in fact very analytical and detailed and does describe the rationales behind its recommendations. I think this book is a great resource for those who have some words written, who know they have to make their writing \"flow better\" or \"more clear\" but aren't really sure how to do it. It appears to be an especially valuable book for the \"second pass\" through anything, where you have written down your initial ideas in part-writing, part bullets, and are trying to convert it into a real readable piece of work. (Previously, I wrote: This book was JUST recommended to me and I haven't read it, but it is apparently very analytical and detailed, and outlines the rationales behind why one should write in the way it discusses. In fact, I think there a jab at the Elements of Style in this book where the author laments that \"Be clear\" is GREAT advice. We all KNOW that. The real problem is, \"How is it that I can actually implement 'be clear' in my writing?\" However, I haven't gotten far enough to comment on it yet.)</p>\n\n<p>So there's a little about what to read. As for what you should know? Well, that's a more difficult question :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15617,
"author": "user2953982",
"author_id": 10100,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10100",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Best thing you can do is have a well defined topic. Since you don't mention that in your question, I don't know if you have a research topic/question yet. In my experience, that's by far the most crucial thing in having a thesis go smoothly. The student who know what they want to work on usually have everything fall into place.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14961",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10157/"
]
|
14,962 | <p>Is it possible to do this? If I find a research group/researcher working on something I like and I just want to do my thesis there. Is it necessary that </p>
<ol>
<li>I have to go there as an exchange student OR</li>
<li>I will have to enroll in their masters program?</li>
</ol>
<p>I suppose the only way to do what I am asking about it via an exchange program,but is there any other way?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14989,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This depends strongly upon what university you're attending now, and where you want to do your research. For instance, in Germany, students are allowed to do a master's thesis anywhere in the world, but they are responsible for organizing this themselves. Other schools and departments in other countries may have more restrictive policies. </p>\n\n<p>An exchange program may or may not be necessary, but this is entirely dependent on the specific policies of both the school you're attending <em>and</em> the school or institute you'd like to do your thesis work at. The best guidance I can give you is to first ask the graduate students' office or \"graduate officer\" of your current department to ask what the relevant regulations are for your home institute. Then talk to the other institute. Of course, start such a process well in advance of when you want to do the thesis work; a semester at the minimum, a year is more strongly recommended, as it may take several months to organize the required paperwork and visas (if you're planning on traveling abroad to do the thesis).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15479,
"author": "strpeter",
"author_id": 10574,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10574",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Exchange student</h2>\n\n<p>I am writing my masters thesis as an exchange student at another university but it is not necessary to enrol as a student at the other university (like aeismail mentioned). If you need a scholarship then you might want to look for a possibility as an exchange student but it has also additional advantages to go as an exchange student. You get informed by the student administration of the university about several topics. </p>\n\n<h2>Compatibility</h2>\n\n<p>The most important thing is to ask first at your study administration/students office and afterward to find a supervisor for discussing with him the next steps. The thesis has to be compatible with your home universities restrictions. </p>\n\n<h2>Where to search</h2>\n\n<p>You can then search for a compatible thesis and research topic. \nIt depends on the university how they publish the open postions, research projects and theses topics.\nMost research groups have their own homepage where they publish open positions or topics for a research project/thesis. You can also write them a polite email to ask for an project you are interested in.</p>\n\n<h2>Alternative places</h2>\n\n<p>There are also some independent institutes or even companies that provide writing a Masters or even PhD thesis (dependent on your field of research) on behalf of them. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14962",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10158/"
]
|
14,963 | <p>Is there a website where a list is maintained and constantly updated for undergrads/graduate students looking for internships/competitions/conferences in whatsoever field?</p>
<p>Such a website will be an invaluable resource!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14969,
"author": "user47277",
"author_id": 6771,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6771",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Though it may be outdated now, my father and now myself are both part of AIESEC\n<a href=\"https://www.aiesec.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.aiesec.org/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15109,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At the global field independent level the answer is no. At the national field specific level the answer is often no, but some countries have reasonable systems. In the UK jobs.ac.uk handles many academic jobs, but internships, competitors, and conferences are not particularly related.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15976,
"author": "Global_Girl",
"author_id": 11044,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11044",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think there is one particular site that lists different internships, but you can defintiely look into joining listserves and organizations for you industry. For example, I work in international education and I joined NAFSA as well as their email listserv to learn more about industry trends, internships, and job openings. On an international level, you can check out websites like Go Overseas.com for a list of all international internship providers with reviews and website links. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14963",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10158/"
]
|
14,964 | <p>I am wondering if there is a stigma attached to holding too many soft-money positions when looking for a tenure-track position in the area of computer science.</p>
<p>In computer science, postdoc positions were uncommon, but after the Dot-com bust and a general trend toward not hiring tenure-track faculty in the early 2000s, there are now many more postdoc positions in that discipline.</p>
<p>Do people who hold too many postdocs (or too long of a postdoc) get disadvantaged? Do they acquire a stigma of "This person can't hold a tenure-track job" or "This person bounces around too much" or "This person can't do independent research and relies too much on soft money"?</p>
<p>I know of a handful of faculty members who have been hired after multiple postdocs and visiting faculty positions so it seems that it isn't a permanent roadblock, but it could be a path I might not want to go down just in case it is.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14978,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are multiple simultaneous trends which are working against one another:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The number of PhD recipients is growing at a much faster rate than the number of available tenure-track positions.</li>\n<li>More and more locations have been instituting term limits on the length of postdoctoral positions.</li>\n<li>Hiring committees are not as receptive to applicants who have done too many postdoctoral positions.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This leads to a lot of challenges for many academic aspirants. Personally, my impression is that the dangers are as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Remaining in any single postdoctoral position for more than about three years. </li>\n<li>Accepting more than two postdoctoral assignments.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Once either of those thresholds have been crossed, I think it starts to hurt an applicant later in their career. The exception to this might be \"research professorships\" and \"staff scientist\" positions that are seen to be more permanent than a postdoctoral position. Even in these positions, however, there is always the challenge that it can be difficult to transition to a different position afterwards.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14979,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In computer science, it's not yet common for people to be doing multipe postdocs before acquiring a faculty position. It's more common to see someone doing a single postdoc (or a virtual postdoc by working in an industrial lab). So it's hard to say whether there is a stigma or not. If anything, I suspect that having a postdoc might improve one's chances at getting an interview at department, assuming that the candidate has used the postdoc to </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>beef up their resume</li>\n<li>establish connections (and letters of reference) with well known researchers</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As a general matter though, if someone appears to have gone through a series of postdocs, I might at least wonder why. But I'm sympathetic to the vagaries of the job market and might not think more of it if the candidate looks promising in other respects. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15177,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My feeling is that multiple postdoc positions are harder on yourself than the others. Most people fully understand that a lot of the tenure-track selection that goes on can be somewhat random, and that the job market fluctuates. So I think that simply by being unlucky, you can get stuck with many postdoc positions.</p>\n\n<p>However, my experience is that most people who go through multiple postdocs eventually get tired of the itinerant lifestyle of an academic. CS postdocs have enormous earning potential, and at some point, they get sick of it, and accept an industry-level job (higher pay, living in a great city, the settled-down grownup lifestyle, etc.) I mean, can you imagine being a postdoc for ten years?</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14964",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944/"
]
|
14,967 | <p>While browsing the web-sites of various German universities I have come across the term "<a href="http://www.informatik.uni-kl.de/en/studium/studiengaenge/bm-inf/how_to_apply.ma/">restricted admission</a>". What does it mean?</p>
<p>Do German universities discriminate students on the basis of their age?</p>
<p>Is there anything called "unrestricted admission"? If so, what does that mean?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14970,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In Germany, access to universities is regulated by the <strong>Numerus Clausus</strong> system, which basically says that the number of students admitted to any given programme at a university can be either <strong>unrestricted</strong> or <strong>restricted to a fixed number of students</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>For an unrestricted programme, students just need to fulfill the basic formal criteria (they need a german <strong>Abitur</strong>, or an equivalent). For most restricted programmes on bachelor level, prospective students need to apply and are then ranked based solely on their Abitur grades (plus a few exceptions for corner cases, foreign students with no german Abitur, etc.). For restricted master level programmes, many universities (including, apparently, TU Kaiserslautern, as linked by the original poster above) have adopted a more US-style admission system, which is based not only on previous grades but also on letters of recommendation, statements of interest, interviews, etc. TU Kaiserslautern also has its selection procedure <a href=\"http://www.informatik.uni-kl.de/en/studium/studiengaenge/bm-inf/how_to_apply.ma/auswahl/\">online</a>. This will vary per university, though.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: to answer your subquestion (which I happened to have missed the first time around):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Do German universities discriminate students on the basis of their age?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, not in general, and certainly not officially.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 49294,
"author": "André Kleinschmidt",
"author_id": 36613,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/36613",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On your subquestion:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Do German universities discriminate students on the basis of their age?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't know any public state universitiy that does it, but in some cases privately founded institutions of higher education admit only persons up to a maximum age.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>One example I found is the Hasso-Plattner-Institut (HPI), a institute that offers bachelor-, master-, and doctoral degrees in cooperation with the University of Potsdam.</p>\n\n<p>At the <a href=\"http://hpi.de/school-of-design-thinking/studierende/bewerbung.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">applicants information page</a> one can read:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Offen für <strong>alle Studierende unter 35 Jahren</strong>, die entweder in einem <strong>Bachelor‑, Master‑, Diplom- oder Promotionsstudium immatrikuliert</strong> sind oder ihr Studium <strong>vor weniger als einem Jahr</strong> abgeschlossen haben. [Open to all students under age 35, who either are enrolled in a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral program or have completed their studies less than one year ago.]</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><em>May the community add more examples in the comments. They can be added to the answer.</em></p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14967",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
14,968 | <p>I am doing undergraduate in engineering but I want a transition to humanities for masters (history, anthropology). </p>
<p>How do I do this?<br>
Should I take prerequisite courses at a community college or through online/distance education? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15111,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This really depends on the country. In the US, most undergraduate programs offer enough flexibility to take a lot of electives. You can also extend you studies by a semester to pick up additional prerequisite classes. In the UK, there is generally not enough flexibility to take electives and you cannot easily extend your studies. Further, you likely would not have the prerequisite A-level classes to get into a humanities program. It a probably best to go talk to someone in the relevant department at your university for advice.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 24481,
"author": "socialsciencedoc",
"author_id": 11154,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11154",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>While I think the other way around (transitioning from the humanities to the sciences) might be harder, if you can demonstrate that you are serious and prepared to undertake graduate training in the humanities, it is definitely doable. </p>\n\n<p>In my sociology department (PhD track, we didn't have a separate MA program and most entered straight after undergraduate school), many of my colleagues did not have any sociology training. While most of them came from related fields of economics, political science, and psychology, there were people with math and physics backgrounds and these were sometimes the people who were doing the most innovative and interdisciplinary work. The selection committee was fine with accepting them as long as their proposed research area fit with the department faculty's research and they showed promise as a sociologist. </p>\n\n<p>While a degree in the field isn't necessary, make sure you address how you have been working to fill the gap you have on your CV. A personal statement will be a good place to address this. In addition, you can take additional courses, read as many works in your proposed field, and try to have a well developed study plan to give confidence to the committee that you are as competitive as the other candidates. It might be a good idea to also build contacts with professors in schools that you are applying for and go talk to them to see if they will be interested in working with you. If you plan to specialise in a society other than where you are based in (especially in case of anthropology), make sure you demonstrate regional expertise, language skills, knowledge of the society, or maybe work and/or living experience. Also, since those departments (in case of a PhD program) will likely ask for a writing sample, start working on one well in advance so the committee can see that you can indeed to the work in the proposed field. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38754,
"author": "scrappedcola",
"author_id": 8972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8972",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would suggest choosing either anthropology or history as they are fairly distinct areas of study when you get past the surface of things. If you haven't already picked a minor in either history or anthropology. This way you can see if it's a passing fancy or something you are serious in. </p>\n\n<p>If it turns out you are then you will be part way there for the second degree. You may depending, on how far in you are, be able to dual degree in engineering and history/anthropology. If you can't dual degree but you took the minor you will then probably have enough to go on to appear like a good match for most schools you may apply to for graduate studies. You will also have the side of not having to go through as many lower undergrad classes to catch up with the mainstream majors. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38755,
"author": "Jonathan Kenigson",
"author_id": 29239,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29239",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Briefly speaking, your odds of getting admitted to a program of distinction (necessary for any academic job prospects) is low unless:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You have an excellent GRE score (absolutely required);</li>\n<li>You have substantial coursework (30+ credits at minimum) in advanced humanities subjects with excellent grades;</li>\n<li>You have an especially polished writing sample and excellent references from leading professors in your desired field;</li>\n<li>Perhaps, you have published work.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Remember, in humanities, admittance to a truly outstanding program is required for even limited career prospects. Do not settle for a lower ranked program. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14968",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10161/"
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|
14,971 | <p>A couple semesters after beginning my PhD program (in the US), I was dismissed from the program because:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My GPA was slightly below the program's minimum (after being on academic probation for one semester already).</p></li>
<li><p>After months of work as an RA in a research group, at the end of the semester, my adviser informed me that he was not satisfied with my research and would not continue to fund me.</p></li>
<li><p>After that, the department was not willing to hire me as a TA, because TA funding was seen as an "interim" measure, and having a new adviser was necessary to continue in the program.</p></li>
<li><p>I couldn't find a new research adviser because everybody would freak out about my GPA.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>However, I have done very well on exams, and I had a great GRE score. What are my options now? Applying again? What could I say about my messed up situation in applications? What if I applied to another school?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14972,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This answer is going to sting, but it's how I read the situation based on what you've written here. It sounds like there is something going on that you haven't addressed.</p>\n\n<p>If a department wanted to keep someone who they felt was a promising student, who they thought could contribute with good work, I think they'd find a way to waive the GPA for another term, seeing that it's so close to the threshold. On the other hand, if they felt like a student was not worth keeping, they might be relieved that the student's GPA fell below the specified threshold, so they could use it as grounds for dismissal from the program.</p>\n\n<p>As for the lab reports, there's a difference between being <em>late</em> and being <em>unreliable</em>. One is a fact, and the other is a perception. You emphasize the fact, but I suspect it's the perception that is behind their unwillingness to rehire.</p>\n\n<p>As for the GRE score, those scores used to measure potential <em>from an admissions perspective</em>. Once you're in the program, GRE scores become pretty much meaningless; from that point on, you're judged by the work you do at the institution. (The fact that you even mention it makes me wonder if you have a habit of overestimating your own value in a way that annoys your professors and your peers.)</p>\n\n<p>As for your options, I wouldn't recommend reapplying. That's an uphill battle; they seem to be sending pretty clear signals that they'd rather be done with you. That leaves transferring somewhere else. Given that your GPA is so close to 3.0, I'll bet you could find a school willing to accept you as a transfer student; however, they might have second thoughts based on some of the reasons for your departure. I would be very careful about who I listed as a reference from the school that is dismissing you now. </p>\n\n<p>You might want to look in the mirror, and try to more accurately assess why you are being let go. As I mentioned, I think it has to do with intangible qualities such as personality, reliability, and teamwork – things that are hard to quantify, but easy to spot notice once you start working alongside someone, especially in an environment where the goal is to achieve a complex and long-term endeavor. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14977,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I realized that a PhD program was not working out for me for various reasons. They were trying to get me to transfer to their Masters program. I decided a more generalist Masters in my home town would be preferable because continuing where I was would only continue the difficulties I faced. My old cohort is now facing the publish or perish monster while teaching undergrad students at State schools across the country.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes you need to take one step back to take two steps forward. In the end, you get that PhD, and it's publish or perish. Your ability to publish will be greatly hindered if you've been struggling along the way.</p>\n\n<p>Take a step back and get a fresher perspective. Maybe earning a Masters in applied mathematics or another applied science that has requirements that would create a record of academic success instead of failure would give you a firmer foundation on which to earn your PhD, perhaps at a better school. While you're doing that, you can keep the bigger picture in mind, do more self-studies, and build a toolbox of skills that would help you succeed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14983,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I agree with the points in J.R.'s answer. I'd like to specifically address your question: \"What if I re-apply to another school and hide my records in this school?\"</p>\n\n<p><strong>This is a very bad idea.</strong> As pointed out in J.R.'s comment, most departments will require as part of your application that you list all schools you have attended, and send your transcripts. It would be unethical to omit your current program, and judging from your comments on J.R.'s answer about copied homework, ethical behavior is very important to you (which I commend). And on a purely practical level, it's extremely risky; if you get caught, it may very well end your career in physics and academia.</p>\n\n<p>It is true that in the US, federal privacy laws prohibit your current institution (let's call it University X) from releasing your education records without your permission. However, these rules do not apply to so-called \"directory information\", which include your name and dates of attendance. If University Y calls up University X and asks if you have ever attended there, X will tell them. They won't tell them how you did while you were there or why you left, but Y will know that you falsified your application. So if anyone at Y ever suspects that you attended X, they can verify it.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't mention X in your application, Y may not think to do this. But if they eventually find out (and they probably will, see below), you'll be kicked out of the program and the years you spent at Y will have been wasted. If you received a fellowship or tuition waiver, you could potentially be required to pay it back. If you make it to graduation but they find out later, your degree could be revoked; this will probably get you fired from whatever job you hold by then. Basically, once this becomes known, your professional career will be over. It's a Sword of Damocles.</p>\n\n<p>And it's going to be very hard to ensure that nobody at Y ever finds out you were at X. Interview questions: \"So what were you doing for the two years after your bachelor's?\" You'll have to never mention your time there or anyone you knew at X in any conversation with advisors, professors, or fellow students. And the academic world is small: there's a very good chance that your advisor or someone else at Y knows someone at X, and your name could easily come up in casual conversation. \"Hey, I saw your new paper with your student user10165; I guess he's come a long way since his time with us at X.\" </p>\n\n<p>Summary: <strong>Don't do this.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14994,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As everybody can tell, you are emotionally stressed.</p>\n\n<p>My first advice to you, <strong>calm down!</strong>. This is not the end of the world. You still have options.</p>\n\n<p>You can go to industry if you want although I think you prefer not. You still have the passion for Academia since you are asking this question on this site. So, I am not going to suggest that.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to stay in Academia, others have given you excellent answers. I am not going to repeat them. I want to point out things others may have missed.</p>\n\n<p>First, you have to admit that you messed it up. How to re-enter Academia is your question. I think you'll have to look for the schools in the next lower tier. Transferring to a school of the same tier may not be possible at this time. For example, if you are in the top 20, apply to the top 50. I think you have the chance. If you still don't get to top 50, go to top 100. There is a will, there is a way!</p>\n\n<p>Go to your advisor and tell him you would like to transfer to another school. Tell him that you made a mistake and want to restart your academic career somewhere else. He will be glad to help you to transfer because he has some responsibility to fulfill. At least, you were his student.</p>\n\n<p>Again, calm down. Being emotional will not help you. Find another school is your first priority. Good luck!</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit</strong></p>\n\n<p>Let me address your specific issues here,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>And what to tell about my messed up situation in applications? Is it recommended to apply to other schools without mentioning that I had attended this one?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Your question boils down to, <strong>Can I erase my past?</strong></p>\n\n<p>My answer is no. You can't. The key is the recommendation letters. Whom do you go to for those letters? The people who knew you during your undergraduate days? They know you were in your current school. Are they going to wonder what happened to you in the past couple of years? In these days, information travels fast. A couple of e-mails between your undergrad prof. and the profs. in your current school will reveal everything. Get help from your current school to transfer to another school is the practical solution.</p>\n\n<p><strong>End of edit</strong></p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14971",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10165/"
]
|
14,986 | <p>PhD students usually go through a specific topic in depth for several years: understand it and contribute to its literature. Some topics are multidiscipline by nature. Thus, while studying, students may find nice contribution opportunities in not-directly related areas to their research problem. </p>
<p>is it better to be goal-driven (i.e focus on the thesis problem alone) or opportunity-driven (i.e spend your PhD in different problems you encounter in this topic)? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14987,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although naturally the details of the landscape differ from subject to subject, here is my picture from mathematics:</p>\n\n<p>In addition to the obvious point that one should \"both\" stay focused on a long-term project <em>and</em> be alert to incidental opportunities, I would claim that the <em>best</em> kind of thesis projects (and projects in general) are those that help <em>create</em> incidental opportunities along the way to a worthwhile large-scale goal.</p>\n\n<p>(This in addition to \"educational\" benefits of well-conceived projects.)</p>\n\n<p>The obvious hazard is to get distracted from a reliable, long-term project by too-speculative \"cooler\" possibilities one encounters along the way. The hazards here are like \"... but don't quit your day job\" as advice to aspiring rock stars, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14988,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Graduate students should be somewhat opportunistic. How far afield from their \"home base\" they should travel, however, is a different question that depends upon the expectations of their field, and what is allowed by the terms of their appointment.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, a student who is entirely supported by a professor's research grant to study a particular topic will have a much harder time justifying spending lots of time on external problems that may be interesting but might not be covered by the grant in question. If such an arrangement is desired, then some sort of negotiation with the faculty member is probably needed to make sure everything is handled in above-board manner.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, someone who is entirely supported by external fellowships that do not have funding \"strings\" attached is much more likely to be free to pursue whatever opportunities may present themselves.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14986",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532/"
]
|
14,990 | <p>In computer science, and probably other disciplines as well, it is common to end every paper with a "future research" section. I always wondered what is the utility of this section. In particular:</p>
<p>A. How common is it, that a question from a "future research" section is actually researched by the <em>same</em> research group?</p>
<p>B. How common is it, that a question from a "future research" section inspires future research by <em>other</em> research groups?</p>
<p>Both these questions can be studied quantitatively, even semi-automatically, by comparing the contents of "future research" sections to the titles and abstracts of papers published in a later date. Has such a research been done?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14991,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I cannot provide a quantitative answer, but from my personal experience I can say that these are often questions that the the same group will study.</p>\n\n<p>Consider that due to the publication process, at the time the paper is published the research is often much more advanced than the results published in the paper. For this reason, the researchers may wish to add \"future research questions\" regarding what they are currently working on (and may even have some preliminary results on). In this way they \"set up\" the conceptual continuity and importance of their current work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15013,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The existing answers are good. Let me just add one more phenomenom I've seen in my area: it is not uncommon for the \"future research\" section to contain ideas that the authors don't plan to follow up on, but they think might be interesting. Maybe they hope to inspire other researchers. Maybe they're just curious, but don't have time to continue to pursue those questions.</p>\n\n<p>Occasionally, the future work section is used by authors to respond to criticism that \"you should have done experiment X\" from reviewers. Adding a sentence to the future work section is an easy way to respond to the reviewer and be able to claim you've acted on their comment in some way: it lets the authors respond to the reviewer comment with something like: \"our future work section makes clear that we didn't do experiment X and we consider it out of scope for this paper, but we agree it would be interesting, and we've added it to the future work section\". You can form your own opinion about whether you think this is a good phenomenom or not; I'm just reporting on what I've seen. Sometimes I've even seen authors include this kind of statement in the future work section of a submitted paper, as a preemptive innoculation against comments the authors anticipate getting from reviewers. I don't know whether it is really effective, but you can keep this in mind when you read future work sections. Occasionally this additional perspective may help you understand better why sometimes stuff gets written in the future work section.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14990",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/787/"
]
|
14,992 | <p>There are two main opinions about originality and contribution of ISI (journals which are indexed and listed in <a href="http://thomsonreuters.com/journal-citation-reports/">JCR report</a> by Thomson Routers)* survey/review journal articles compared to original articles in ISI journals. Some scientists consider survey papers lacking originality while others think the opposite especially for survey articles presenting the state-of-the-art and research challenges. So, I am wondering, in general, which type of article has the most impact on an applicant's success when applying for a postdoc or tenure track position; survey or original article? </p>
<p>*It was asked earlier, so it is wise to put its meaning for clarity.
-Certainly having both of them is the best, but among these two which one has more impact.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15001,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's no simple answer to this question, because there are a lot of variables left undefined. I think this is what we can call an example of a \"false dichotomy.\" For instance, consider the following examples from physics:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>A first-author \"original\" publication in a journal such as <em>Physica A</em> might not be as useful as a first-author review paper in <em>Reviews of Modern Physics</em>.</p></li>\n<li><p>Being third author on a review paper in <em>Reviews of Modern Physics</em> might not be as useful as first author on a paper in <em>Physical Review Letters</em>.</p></li>\n<li><p>The stage in one's career also makes a difference in some fields: a postdoc might not be asked to do a review in some fields, but might in others. (Tenure-track professors are a separate category in this respect.)</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So I think there are a lot of issues to be considered in this process. However, if one is a postdoc, this is also a conversation to have with one's research supervisor. In general, such articles would be written with their involvement and participation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15011,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally, for the most selective positions, original research is more important. If you apply for a top-tier tenure-track faculty position, the conversation will focus on questions like: What has their contribution been to the field? How impactful has it been? What are their prospects for future contributions?</p>\n\n<p>Survey articles can sometimes have an impact on a field (e.g., if they reframe a problem in a new way or present new connections), but most commonly, they don't offer a major new contribution. As such, it is unlikely that they will be considered a major contribution. For a typical job candidate, when people ask about their contribution, the first answer will typically be original research they were involved in. I'm not saying this is a hard-and-fast rule, and I'm not saying survey articles are pointless (not by a long shot!), but I think it is rare for a candidate to be hired on the basis of a survey article; usually, candidates are hired because of their novel research contributions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29145,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It would be quite unusual to write a survey article in a field where you have not already made significant original contributions yourself. Indeed, I would suggest that <strong>if you have not worked in an area already for several years, you probably do not have the perspective and depth of knowledge to write an influential review paper</strong>. It's not impossible, of course, especially if you have more experienced co-authors.</p>\n\n<p>In order to get a post-doc or assistant professor position, you will need to have made significant original research contributions to your field. Writing an influential review article is often most beneficial later on (e.g., when you're evaluated for tenure) because such papers tend to be highly cited and administrators who don't know your field will give a lot of weight to citation counts.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14992",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6393/"
]
|
14,997 | <p>I have asked my advisers this question recently (since in a year or so, I expect to go on the job market) and received a variety of answers, specific to the USA. Very generally, as I understand, with reference to the US, there seem to be jobs which are either primarily research based (R1 universities) or primary teaching based (liberal arts colleges).</p>
<p>I understand that in either case, you are expected to do some amount of teaching and some amount of research but the focus varies depending on the university. In my university, research is <em>generally</em> seen to have more importance than teaching.</p>
<p>I was wondering, specifically with reference to the whole world, whether there are academic jobs where teaching and research are <strong><em>both</em></strong> given equal importance.</p>
<p>I am very interested in discipline and country variations in this.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 14999,
"author": "BSteinhurst",
"author_id": 7561,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7561",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As a TT at a small liberal arts college let me just say that to gain tenure I have to do both. In my field this amounts to having five or six new articles or a book before tenure. There is a very large spectrum of liberal arts colleges and the top end (figure top 100) all claim that research active professors are better able to teach up to date content in their field and to better demonstrate to their students why the field is exciting and worth studying. (By `all' I mean I do not know of a counter example.)</p>\n\n<p>At the very top end of the liberal arts spectrum you have schools that give their professors R1 teaching loads and more funding. The only thing they would lack are the graduate students. Sure at the lower end of the spectrum are places that only expect teaching. Then there are the community colleges which openly admit they are teaching only institutions but they acknowledge that their mission is distinct. </p>\n\n<p>Another section of schools I'd suggest you could take a look at are the second tier state schools, places like CSU Pamona, or University of Central Florida. These are not flagships and focus more on teaching than R1s but you still have to be research active to get tenure. </p>\n\n<p>Next time you go to a conference, chat up those folks who seem to be pre-tenure and ask them what their institutions demand. The US is a country with other 4000 colleges and universities. They do not form a linear order from liberal arts colleges to R1 universities. So as always, the situation is more complex than you might think at first. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15000,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The basic problem is that you have \"research institutions\" and \"teaching institutions.\" As a result of this, most schools have a pre-selected bias toward placing either research or teaching as the primary metric in determining tenure.</p>\n\n<p>As BSteinhurst indicates above, at most schools you do have to do both teaching and research. The difference is that in the \"minor\" area the standards are considerably lower. At a school such as MIT or Harvard, for instance, significant teaching credentials before tenure is awarded is not necessarily looked on favorably by all departments, as that is considered a potential sign that too much time is being spent on teaching relative to academic activities. Similarly, I doubt that faculty members at liberal arts colleges are expected to bring in large amounts of research grants or publish multiple papers per year in high-quality peer-reviewed journals. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15010,
"author": "Zach H",
"author_id": 8857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8857",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not sure what would constitute valuing teaching and research equally. As best I can tell, every department at every school has it's minimum standards in each category. If you are seeking institutions with high standards for both, I would second BSteinhurst and Noah Snyder's referral to top liberal arts colleges. There are many outstanding faculty at liberal arts colleges, and I am aware of a few faculty advising doctorates at nearby research universities. As an extreme example, Bryn Mawr's math department has a PhD program despite being at a liberal arts college. Additionally, there are research oriented institutions that pay more than lip service to teaching. In particular, Dartmouth and Wesleyan come to mind as having this reputation. This can also vary a great deal from department to department, even within the same institution. You may discover that certain departments in your area value teaching or research to an unexpected degree, relative to institution-wide standards.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14997",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429/"
]
|
15,005 | <p>I'm a Computer Science PhD student in a US university. Recently, I worked on a problem and wrote a paper. When I asked my advisor to submit the paper to a good journal (such as IEEE Trans. on Computers), he became upset with me and forced me to submit the paper in a very poor quality open access journal. I need good publications to get a faculty position after PhD. Now I'm thinking to work on some other areas on computer science simultaneously with my PhD dissertation so that I can publish my work in a good journal without including my advisor's name. Can I publish my own work (not my dissertation work) as a PhD student without including my advisor's name?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15006,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I doubt that any PhD-level scientist in the United States is \"too stupid to understand your research,\" as you claim. Furthermore, you don't have anything other than your own beliefs that the work that you're doing is of sufficient quality for a high-impact journal like <em>IEEE Transactions</em>. Why do you believe the results are significant enough for that?</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, have you actually made an attempt to include your research advisor as part of your active research planning process, or have you decided he can't help you? Again, as you said, he's a senior member of the department, which means he probably has many more years of experience as a researcher than you do.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, trying to do multiple projects at once will lengthen your stay relative to focusing on one stream of research. Therefore, I would strongly recommend that you first try to mend the relationship with your current advisor before trying to jump into a course of action that will in the long run likely cause you more harm than good. </p>\n\n<p>Now, all that said, if you can't switch advisors, then you have to deal with the one you have. That means, for now, trying to deal with the situation as it currently stands. For instance, you could ask why the paper you wrote couldn't be submitted to the better journals you wanted, and what you would need to do so that the next paper can be submitted. <strong>Get this in writing.</strong> Then, this will give you additional ammunition, particularly if what he demand is unreasonable. And with respect to the situation of asking other researchers what they think of the quality of the paper: next time around, when the paper is ready to go out, ask your advisor if you can send it out to some of his colleagues in the field as well as your sources, and solicit their opinion about where it should be published.</p>\n\n<p>Another concern here: where is your thesis committee in all of this? If your work is of sufficient quality to merit publication in better journals than the one you're submitting to, then they may be able to get your advisor to cooperate with such a strategy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15012,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think there are actually two questions here. Firstly, the question you explicitly asked:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Can I publish my own work(not my dissertation work) as a PhD student without including my advisor's name ?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, of course you can. Assuming it will be of high quality, it will be accepted. That being said, it is somewhat unlikely that you will be able to generate first-class research completely on your own, without a professor or at least a more senior student or postdoc to help you get started. A problem might be that if you decide to submit to a conference, your advisor may refuse to pay for your conference trip. However, from your previous posts I understand that you work in a field where publications happen mainly through journals, so presumably that is not a big issue.</p>\n\n<p>However, I think you also have a second question that you did not explicitly ask:</p>\n\n<p><em>Will publishing alone, behind the back of my advisor, help me get a faculty position?</em> (this is assuming that you are indeed able to get some good publications accepted without help)</p>\n\n<p>Not at all. You will need a glowing reference letter from your advisor to have a shot at any reasonable tenure track. Communicating explicitly or implicitly that you decided that your advisor was an \"idiot\" and hence took matters into your own hands will <strong>not</strong> in any way reflect positively on you in a hiring process. Hiring committees, by and large, tend to be risk-averse, and your story has a big flashing warning light all over it. <strong>What you will need to do to get out of this is transfer, to a different professor or to a different programme</strong>. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59276,
"author": "user45383",
"author_id": 45383,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45383",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it is absolutes fine. You can publish your research independently. I my self have such an experience. When it comes to individual opinion or perspective articles, sometimes this may contradict your advisor's viewpoint (in my case, it did and he turned down my paper from submission). But I took a chance in submitting and to all our surprise the paper has been cited well. After all, only change is permanent. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15005",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10201/"
]
|
15,016 | <p>For PhD applications, I have mentioned that I am interested in some research areas. Besides, I am thinking about mentioning some professors' names, so that it shows I have read their websites and I am not just sending out generic statements applicable to many schools.</p>
<p>But is it good to mention some professors' names in the statement of purpose, if I don't know them personally? In what cases is it good, and in what cases it isn't?</p>
<p>For example, is it good to only mention </p>
<ul>
<li>those whose research directions are aligned with my research interests, or/and</li>
<li>those whose books or notes I have heard of, or better, might have read some parts of, or/and</li>
<li>those who are already established and famous (such as having certain titles), or/and</li>
<li>those that are directing the PhD graduate programs, or/and</li>
<li>those that are heads of the departments? </li>
</ul>
<p>What will other professors who are not mentioned think? How will you do, if it were you?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15017,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm bewildered that anyone might think this was a good idea. It's gauche.</p>\n\n<p>Mentioning a professor's name doesn't show you've read their website. And showing you've read a professor's website doesn't really say much anyway.</p>\n\n<p>Namedropping? Leave it out.</p>\n\n<p>And as for mentioning books you have heard of: surely now you are joking. Just in case you are not: that's beyond gauche, it's crass.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15025,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your statement of purpose should be specific to <em>yourself and your research interests</em>, first. Mention names only when the owner's work is both relevant and pertinent to your research interests. As JeffE stated, </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you try to craft the bulk of your statements to different professors in different departments, the result will be much shallower, and therefore much less persuasive, than if you describe your own well-developed research interests.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Your statement of purpose should paint a persuasive and intriguing picture of who you are, and should not be a hodgepodge of famous names and those whom you want to impress. You are trying to sell yourself and your ideas. Mention those whose work you have both read and found relevant to your research (and perhaps cited in your own work), but avoid name-dropping solely for the sake of impressing those who may read your SOP. That said, you <em>should</em> tailor your statement of purpose to the specific department you are applying to. This may include mention of the work of individuals in the department, or those whose work has informed their research. How much of this you should do is a judgement call on your part, and you should lean away from appearing to name-drop for the sake of making an impression.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 140895,
"author": "S.R",
"author_id": 116855,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/116855",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can certainly mention professor's names that you don't know personally, but have relevant research. Many professors in top schools especially rely more on the application pool that comes from the admissions committee. If you pass that step then your application will be handed to the specific professor you have mentioned. Of course knowing them brings a benefit, but it is not the only way to get their attention. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15016",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/218/"
]
|
15,019 | <p>I have received offers from a few graduate schools to interview in the coming months, but there are only so many February weekends available and two schools already have the same interview weekend. I accepted the first one when the invitation arrived, and now the second has arrived. Both are top choices in my book, so it's hard to drop one. </p>
<p>What can be done about conflicting interview dates for science grad school? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15020,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This happened to me when I was interviewing for graduate schools—two different schools offered only one weekend per year, and picked the same weekend. However, a number of students had the same problem, and contacted them. As a result, the departments in question agreed to \"share\" the weekend, with part of the time spent at one school, and then part at the other. </p>\n\n<p>If the schools are not geographically close, and you have no way to split the weekend in such a manner, then you should contact the schools in question, to let them know that you have a scheduling conflict. In some cases—particularly if the department is large—they may be able to schedule you to visit on another date. To some extent, such a visit might be even more useful than the scheduled group visit, because you get to see what the department is actually like when they're <em>not</em> trying to impress everyone! </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15026,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I absolutely agree with Aeismail. </p>\n\n<p>Contact one or both of the schools, TELL THEM you have a conflict for the proposed date, and ask if you can reschedule. </p>\n\n<p>They know you're talking to other schools. They know you have a life and/or a job. You aren't the only one who is going to have to make this request. This isn't the only day when they're going to be scheduling interviews.</p>\n\n<p>Note that the same answer will apply when interviewing for Real World jobs. Or indeed for most things. Simply being honest with people and asking if they can work with you to solve a problem is almost always the best approach.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15019",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10021/"
]
|
15,024 | <p>I taught a Business Communications course that brashly asserted that good presentations follow the 7x7 rule (max 7 lines of text per slide, max 7 words per line). I also "learned" this in my undergraduate communications courses at a fairly decent state university (and in some MBA prerequisite work). </p>
<p>I see docs online at <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/courses/6200/extras/PPT_Design_Delivery_students.pdf">Columbia</a> (<a href="http://www.yale.edu/engineering/eng-info/msg00750.html">and</a>, <a href="http://www.sc.edu/cte/guide/powerpoint/">other</a>, <a href="http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/Effective_visuals/132.html">sources - this one linked to by MIT...</a>)that hold forth in the same manner.</p>
<p>I did find <a href="http://www.uab.edu/Communicationstudies/humancommunication/11.2.5.pdf">this bit of research that may give some credence to the above doctrine</a>, although it failed to reject the null hypothesis, that there is no difference in number of lines per slide, in favor of the idea that retention was better for 5 lines per slide versus 10. (But it's still <em>something</em>, some kind of evidence, right?)</p>
<p><strong>So if the evidence is spare and specious, why are we reciting it like it's the gospel truth?</strong></p>
<p>In industry (and to a lesser extent in graduate level education) we sometimes see vast amounts of information contained in single slides, and it is unclear what is the specific downside of this, particularly when well-warranted (i.e. the visible whole paints an important picture that would otherwise not be seen viewed at finer granularity, slide by slide). </p>
<p>A lot of information is packed into those slides, but I print them off one or two to a page. Decks don't get much bigger than a dozen or so pages, and the information I'm particularly interested in may be packed into one or two slides. And the audience is fairly sophisticated, whereas the accepted introductory wisdom might be targeted to more average audiences.</p>
<p><strong>So the question is, are these heuristics worth sticking to? Or are they artificial constructs designed to give criteria for ranking the ability of neophytes to follow instructions?</strong></p>
<p>Or are they a little of both?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15040,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>All axiomatic principles with respect to presentations should be taken with a heavy dose of salt, not just a pinch.</p>\n\n<p>The important issue at hand is that you need to communicate your information to an audience effectively. Putting too much text on a slide makes audiences read the slide, and possibly tune out your elucidations and elaborations of the material on the slide. Similarly, putting too many graphs on the same slide causes the same problem—there's too much to focus on, so you get \"lost\" in the course of the talk, which again is entirely unhelpful.</p>\n\n<p>Principles such as the \"7 x 7\" guideline are an attempt to balance between having too much and too little information on a slide. They're useful as rough guidelines, but need not be treated as strict rules to follow.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15046,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Note:</strong> I have never heard of the 7X7 rule.</p>\n\n<p>Increasingly, I find that in my area (HCI/usable privacy), there are few actual words on each slides. Rather, points are made with images, visualizations, animations, videos and sound clips.</p>\n\n<p>I have never heard any of my advisers, fellow colleagues and other academic acquaintances in the greater areas of computing and information science ever mention this rule. Rather, the objective has always been to get your point across in the minimum number of slides as possible.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15051,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Style guidelines have some merits in balancing between too much (typically) and too little content per slide. If you find yourself consistently having way more content per slide, you can probably improve. These kinds of things are also very domain-specific, so your mileage may vary.</p>\n\n<p><strong>That said...</strong></p>\n\n<p>We routinely use slides that violate this \"rule\". Clearly a wall of text won't help your audience in any way, but restricting yourself to such formats for no particular reason won't magically make presentations better either. </p>\n\n<p>I prefer slides with some more content over going back and forth between slides (while it may make sense for the presenter, it is terribly confusing to watch). Sometimes you simply need to include a fair amount of information on a single slide to be able to associate different bits and pieces. </p>\n\n<p>Additionally, I despise what I like to call <em>Blitz</em>-slides, which contain so little content that they only last 5-10 seconds before moving on. I'm starting to see this often, particularly by non-scientists (though I may be biased). <em>Less isn't always more</em>. For me, a good slide contains enough material to let the audience ponder about the matter, whatever it may be, to kindle their interest in what the presenter has to say.</p>\n\n<p>The best validation is to present slides for someone who hasn't helped in making them as a test prior to the actual presentation (<em>far</em> better than style concerns such as X words with maximally Y characters on Z lines).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15024",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518/"
]
|
15,027 | <p>I'm a third-year computer engineering PhD student. My dissertation topic is re-configurable caches (computer architecture) and my supervisor is a very nice person. I have four publications with him in well-known conferences in my area. But currently I'm in a weird situation. In my 2nd year I fell in love with computational neuroscience and started working on it with another professor in my university simultaneously with my PhD research. Obviously my PhD supervisor encouraged me. Recently I got two high-impact journal publications as a first author on cognitive neuroscience. I am very happy with my dissertation topic but also want to include my neuroscience papers in my résumé. I would like to try for faculty positions after the PhD. Do you think my résumé can create confusion among potential recruiters or will it show multidisciplinary research interests? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15029,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am in a similar situation (atmospheric physics and education), I was advised to include them all in my resume. A caveat that I was give is that the majority of papers be in the area that you wish to pursue as a career, but by writing in 2 areas, this can open up more opportunities for you.</p>\n\n<p>The reason I was given was that all the papers demonstrate, as you have said in your question, strong interdisciplinary research skills. Additionally, all papers show that you are capable of writing research that contributes something new - with this, it does not necessarily matter that they are from different disciplines.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15030,
"author": "SimpleMan",
"author_id": 9019,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9019",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I strongly agree with the latter. I am in a similar situation right now (change of plans regarding my Ph.D topic, even field if you like),I was strongly encouraged by my supervisors to publish a journal paper in my previous field (which I did eventually). I can understand your fear of having an impression of jack of all trades-master of none, but if you've managed to publish good papers in both fields, it actually shows you've mastered (or in the process of mastering) both, which in turn means you can conduct your research in an independent manner and contribute to existing knowledge. I reckon academics as well as industrial parties would acknowledge this fact if you include that in your CV.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15031,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only real danger you will have with prospective employers (presuming that you look for a postdoc before your faculty search) is that a potential advisor might be concerned that if you aren't engrossed in their research, you will seek out opportunities in other areas. If it's their money that's supporting your time, then you'd be expected to devote your effort to the line of research you've been hired to do, not what you'd like to do.</p>\n\n<p>This is something that you'd have to explain in your cover letter in any case. But you'll need to explain—as you have—that your lateral move was encouraged and done with the support of your current advisor. Otherwise, it could be a concern.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15039,
"author": "bmike",
"author_id": 10235,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10235",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would disagree with one premise that underlies your question and state flatly and unequivocally that it doesn't matter one bit what <em>most employers</em> may think. Whether you choose to go deep in one research area or publish widely is something you can resolve by looking at what you want to do in life and weighing your current opportunities to make the most of them. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Why would you care about any employer that is so confused about your studies that they don't take the time to understand deeply your unique talents as someone who delayed entering the workforce to complete a PhD?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Now, you might have some soul searching to do to figure out why you are choosing to frame this current research time allocation dilemma in terms of nebulous \"future employer\" impressions, but try to look closer to now as opposed to what you think might look superficially good to others but ultimately not reinforce who you wish to become. If you have identified a small set of high likelihood employers and they generally prefer breadth or depth, then now you have an interesting question if you want to maximize your chances with this narrow set of employers.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, only you can decide if ruling out some employers due to their views is a feature or a bug in your plans for your degree.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15027",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10203/"
]
|
15,035 | <p>I'm part of a trade group that's looking to hire a professor to write a whitepaper on our industry. We plan to release and promote the study to help people understand our business. What's the best way to do that? Find a professor in our niche and reach out to them directly? Or do you go through the department chair or some other means? Are professors generally receptive to this sort of for-profit work? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15038,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are several issues at work here.</p>\n\n<p>The biggest issue here is credibility. The fact that you want to hire someone to write a study of the industry creates a conflict of interest: since you are paying the bills for such a paper, then presumably there won't be anything significant which could be construed as either negative or critical of your industry. </p>\n\n<p>Compounding the matter is that you then want to publicize the study you have paid for, which makes the credibility issue that much more serious for the faculty member in question. </p>\n\n<p>Any professor whose opinion on this might actually mean something would likely not want to touch such a project with a ten-foot pole, because this doesn't pass the \"smell test.\" </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15047,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, some professors are available for consultancy work. Find one or two in your specialty, and approach them: some universities have directories of experts listed by subject, to help you identify suitable researchers. You'll find they're typically lower-priced than the equivalent grade of management consultant, as well as doing better work.</p>\n\n<p>However.</p>\n\n<p>Though you're paying the piper, you won't be calling the tune (with the exception of a handful of rogues).</p>\n\n<p>Which means that they'll publish what they find. It is highly likely that there will be some of it you don't like, which will mean you won't want to publicise the final report. They will write one or more papers based on what they've found, and if the university's legal team has done its job properly, you'll have no say in the content of those papers, nor how the university promotes them, so it will be out of your control.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to learn something about your industry from an academic angle, you will get your money's worth, subject to real data being available. Academics are sometimes able to get access to information that others could not, precisely because of the pressures on them to remain independent and treat data impartially. However, the fact that you're funding them may impair their access.</p>\n\n<p>Do bear in mind that an academic will typically put a lot of work into describing the uncertainties: so on first skim, the impression you'll get from the report is that it mostly says \"we don't know this, and we can't know that; there are indications of those. More research is required\". The report may take some digesting, as a lot of academics are very experienced at writing, but surprisingly few write lucidly and accessibly. </p>\n\n<p>If you're looking for promotional material, this really is the wrong tack.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 100446,
"author": "Dr. Thomas C. King",
"author_id": 47391,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/47391",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Instead of hiring a person for a single white-paper, you could submit a call for project proposals, if your funding permits. Here is an example of <a href=\"https://research.fb.com/programs/research-awards/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Facebook doing this</a>.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to make a general project proposal call or one that is topic-specific, then the key way to \"get it out there\" would be via mailing-lists. You can also directly contact research facilitators, whose job it is to help staff write, submit, and manage research proposals. There are research facilitators at many universities, institutes, and departments.</p>\n\n<p>The advantage is that projects may be proposed on topics you didn't think were important to your industry and you'd get more research.</p>\n\n<p>Others have highlighted the conflict-of-interest angle in asking for a whitepaper. That conflict-of-interest can also exist with corporate or industry-funded projects. But in both cases that isn't necessarily the case. The project I am currently on is funded by a company, but we have academic independence.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 100524,
"author": "Dave Harris",
"author_id": 65735,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65735",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Bear with me for a minute, there is a logic to the exposition I am about to make.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I'm part of a trade group that's looking to hire a professor to write a whitepaper on our industry. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In my experience of this, it would imply heavy competition within your industry, but with no value in branding. For example, there is a great value to promoting the beef industry, but no value in promoting the beef of the Bar-X Ranch, except maybe locally as a source of fresh, locally grown beef.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We plan to release and promote the study to help people understand our business. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>My experience of this is that the industry, maybe for the first time, is having public relations problems and people are so disconnected from the industry that the perceptions of the industry may not align with the facts. Hence, hiring a professor may allow some credibility to the idea that people are misunderstanding the reality that is being lived.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What's the best way to do that? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Having a professor explain it through a whitepaper that is picked up by the press implies the professor would be asked to be interviewed on television. There are two problems with this tactic. The first is that the tobacco industry tried this and America has been a bit jaded ever since. If the professor had spontaneously produced research, not funded by the industry, and if it were newsworthy, you would have free PR. Professors are valued as experts because they do not get paid to produce research or disclose the conflicts of interest in their writing so that the reader can discount it.</p>\n\n<p>It is possible, however, that someone is already producing your PR work right now and you just do not know about it.</p>\n\n<p>If your industry is large enough, there is almost certainly at least one university that teaches it as a class. I teach industry specific courses from time to time. Others do too. In fact, just about everyone does.</p>\n\n<p>You need to search for someone who already teaches what you need explained. They fit the criteria of \"doing it for free.\" They may not be saying what you want said, but they are talking about you. You can search for courses at universities by restricting your searches to .edu and making sure you include the word \"syllabus.\" Then you can see what is being taught and what books and articles they are using.</p>\n\n<p>From that list, and it is probably a small list, you can look to see what they are talking about. Then, instead of funding a whitepaper, fund an online class and get it put on YouTube. You could then ask the instructor you chose to be sure to cover some topics because you feel that all sides are not being explained. If they are a legitimate academic, they will bring out all sides.</p>\n\n<p>A sequence of videos is also nice because they will come up in searches by those who are actually interested. Videos are nice because you can ignore the parts of the topic you don't want to know about, whereas you have to read the entire white paper.</p>\n\n<p>Once you have narrowed down the list of professors who cover your field explicitly, you could then reach out to them. For some professors, they are so underwater that you could offer any amount of money and they couldn't take it. For others, the opportunity to fund something they are going to do without you will give them a boost in income, maybe give the institution some extra exposure, and create the opportunity for future work.</p>\n\n<p>If you are in a very narrow field, such a the makers of cheddar cheese, the people teaching it who are any good would be teaching it as part of a larger class on either dairy production or agricultural products, or they are not so good and will just teach you how to make cheese as in an extension class. This isn't to say they are bad at their job, but they do not need to understand the industry to teach a hobbyist how to make cheddar.</p>\n\n<p>If you are in a narrow field, then look at who is publishing research on your field in the academic papers. Any academic librarian could help you figure out what papers are out there and who is producing them. It will take a lot of papers to start figuring out who the luminary or luminaries in the field are, but I can almost guarantee you that they exist.</p>\n\n<p>A whitepaper is probably the wrong way to go. Also, if your industry has opponents then the opponent can now see a lecture on the topic and have someone to contact to see why they are teaching such wrongheaded ideas, even if those wrongheaded ideas are factually true.</p>\n\n<p>People can see through whitepapers done as cheerleading for an industry, but if it is a legitimate lecture on the topic, then it should work. The bigger issue on your side is making sure everyone has \"clean hands,\" or it will not work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 100527,
"author": "Leon Meier",
"author_id": 56935,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/56935",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are caveats.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Check the level of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_readiness_level\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">industrial readiness</a>. Academia is often working on level which does not pay off yet or at all, and it's legitimate for them, while you are working on a level which has to pay off. You have to find the Golden middle.</p></li>\n<li><p>Depending on his/her contract, a professor might not be allowed to do some extra job legally above his/her 40 hours per week or so. You should find one that offers consultancy as a business outside of his/her regular hours.</p></li>\n<li><p>When professors are not working for their institutions but for you, they are not acting as professors in their duty. Therefore, in the strict sense of the word, they should not sign the paper as \"Prof. Smith\" or put the institution's name there; the best they can do is to sign off as \"Dr. Smith\", \"Mr./Ms. Smith\", \"Jack/Jane Smith\" in the paper's title page without the institution's name. The paper might not get the weight you wanted.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you are o.k. with that, find the person and hire him/her. As others said, some professors even offer consultancy services in their free time.</p>\n\n<p>If not, you should establish an academic-industrial cooperation which would allow the professor to do his/her proper academic job that would also correspond with your interests. The <em>terms</em> of such a collaboration are highly country-dependent; you should really check the country's specifics.</p>\n\n<p>Now how to find such a chap? As a start, go through the websites of several nearby institutions and write a few e-mails asking directly what you want. Then take it from there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 106770,
"author": "user161158",
"author_id": 50377,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/50377",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ask the professor to collect together the most respected opinions on the question and summarize their results for you. Don't tell them anything that would make it seem that you want one particular answer.</p>\n\n<p>Problem solved. (Unless someone just can't take a solution as an answer.)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15035",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10232/"
]
|
15,041 | <p>I am a math PhD student and on the postdoc job market for the first time. I would like to know how job offer (hopefully) comes and what I should keep in mind in accepting the offers. I am interested in the US job market.</p>
<p>The first question is: When do most job offers go around? I am aware of the <a href="http://www.ams.org/profession/employment-services/deadline-coordination/deadline-coordination">earliest deadline</a> (most math department agreed with this).
So I think the early offers go around in January and only the best people get an offer in January. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me about your experience. </p>
<p>Is it appropriate to ask about my application after a certain time? I think once one accepts an offer, one cannot decline the offer. So I may want to send inquiry to the school I want to work for before accepting the offer from some other schools. </p>
<p>I also heard of short lists (for assistant professorship). Could anyone explain how short lists work (I have only vague idea of what they are)? And are there short lists for postdoc positions?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 15044,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can at least comment on the \"short list\" phenomenon—the other areas are outside of my purview. </p>\n\n<p>A \"short list\" is the list of finalists for a position. These are the candidates who are invited to the campus for a formal interview. However, it can also refer to the final ranked list of candidates to determine in what order they will be invited to accept the position being offered.</p>\n\n<p>In general, short lists are restricted to faculty positions and \"competitive\" postdoctoral fellowships (such as the named fellowships at the US Department of Energy national laboratories, and at most mathematics departments as well) that are done at a departmental level. For a traditional postdoctoral vacancy, no such list is likely to exist, because hiring is done by the professor whose grant is supporting the position. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15045,
"author": "Lev Reyzin",
"author_id": 10,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here are my two cents (I am faculty in a math department, and I've served on postdoc recruiting committees):</p>\n\n<p>Most math postdocs are department-wide competitive positions (e.g. \"RAP\"). More rarely they are attached to specific profs on specific grants. This answer addresses the former case:</p>\n\n<p>Offers do go out as early as late January but the process extends well into February and even March. I've heard of people getting offers even later, once the landscape has \"settled\" more. </p>\n\n<p>A short list is an internal list of top candidates, so that if one rejects a postdoc offer, it's easier to decide whom to give an offer to next (by only considering people from the short list). Offers are not always given in order starting from the \"best\" candidate -- as you can imagine there is some game theory involved on both sides.</p>\n\n<p>It's definitely appropriate to contact places upon getting an offer. You can write: \"Dear [X], I got an offer from [Y] but would prefer to go to [X] instead. I have a deadline of ...\". Lots of things often get decided under such circumstances. And you can send such an email to multiple places. I wouldn't do it to toy around, but only write to places you genuinely prefer over [Y].</p>\n\n<p>Until you accept an offer, you can feel free to try to drag out the deadline, contact other places you prefer more, etc. Universities try to get the best postdocs they can, and students try to get the best positions they can. Everyone understands this is how it works. But once you accept an offer, you can't really change your mind.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15147,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here's a little more detail about timing of math postdocs offers, since that seems to be a particular focus of this question. What I'll describe applies only to research-oriented postdoctoral positions offered by mathematics departments in the U.S. Tenure-track jobs and anything teaching-focused are on a somewhat different schedule, and positions outside the U.S. may be totally different.</p>\n\n<p>Everything is synchronized by the <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/profession/employment-services/deadline-coordination/deadline-coordination\">AMS common deadline</a>, because most or all of the top candidates (depending on how strict your definition of \"top\" is) will have accepted offers by then. In particular, just about every position will have been offered to someone by then, but many of those offers will be turned down. Most departments will not set an earlier deadline than the AMS deadline, but they nevertheless encourage earlier decisions if possible. When a position is turned down, a competent department will try to make another offer as quickly as they can. Who gets the next offer depends not just on relative rankings of candidates, but also on factors such as research specialty and game-theoretic issues such as perceived likelihood of accepting the offer. Administrative dysfunction may limit how quickly offers can be made, but it's not uncommon for a department to go through several rounds of offers in January.</p>\n\n<p>In practice, it seems to work out more or less as follows:</p>\n\n<p>A few people get offers in December, but this is rather unusual. You shouldn't worry at all if you have no offers as of January 1.</p>\n\n<p>The people perceived as top candidates generally start to get offers in early January. If you make it a couple of weeks into January with no offers, then you probably aren't going to end up getting tons of offers, but you shouldn't feel discouraged. All you need is one offer you're happy with.</p>\n\n<p>As January progresses, more and more offers are made. Quite a few candidates, but certainly not all, will get an offer in the second half of January.</p>\n\n<p>If you do get an offer, you should immediately do two things. First, you should withdraw any applications to (or turn down offers from) places you are no longer interested in, so they don't waste time and so you don't tie up offers someone else is waiting for. It's reasonable to hold onto several offers at once if you genuinely can't decide between them, but you do this only when truly necessary. Second, you should write to any departments you would prefer to your current offers to let them know about your upcoming deadline. The competition may increase their interest in you, and in any case they need to know they'll miss their chance at you if they don't move fast enough.</p>\n\n<p>If you haven't yet received an offer, the second half of January is a good time to make inquiries. You can do this yourself, but it's sometimes better if your advisor looks into it. (All you can do is express interest, but your advisor can put in a good word for you and try to find out how things are going through back channels.)</p>\n\n<p>As the AMS deadline approaches, there's a flurry of activity. Many offers are turned down or accepted around then, and departments are eager to get their favorite candidates before they accept another job, so there's a lot of turn-over for offers.</p>\n\n<p>If you make it past the first week in February without an offer, it's a bad sign. It's certainly not a disaster, and plenty of strong mathematicians have gotten offers later than that. However, this is the point at which you need to start taking action, with your advisor's help. You need to figure out which positions are still open, and make sure they are aware that you are still interested. It's really useful if your advisor can work his/her contacts to help figure out what might still be a possibility and to make sure you don't fall through the cracks.</p>\n\n<p>The more times passes, the more you need to actively search for a job, rather than just waiting to see what happens. If you hit March, then you're in trouble. You can still find a job then, but you need to be open to possibilities you weren't originally hoping for. For example, there are often late job postings for unpredictable openings, such as a temporary replacement for someone on sabbatical or leave. In March, you should be applying for every new opening you would be willing to take (and you should have a backup plan for what happens if you don't get a job at all, to help you decide where to draw the line). This is also a good time to review options with your advisor. Could you delay graduation for a year, or spend the next year as a lecturer?</p>\n\n<p>I don't mean for this to sound discouraging. It's certainly possible to get a job quite late in the season, and you might even get lucky and find a really good job. However, I think it's worth having an overview of what the plausible outcomes are at each stage.</p>\n\n<p>TL;DR: If you are hoping for a research-oriented postdoc in math, don't worry until late January, worry somewhat in February, and worry a lot in March (but don't panic).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/12/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15041",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10237/"
]
|
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