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27,284 |
<p>I am studying computer science and I have money to pay for my university study, but I do not have money to spend on entertainment such as going to cinema with my friends in the weekend or upgrading my laptop. I have applied for a job at McDonald's. My shift is 4 days per week with 7 hours per day.</p>
<p>I am scared this would affect my grades. How can I balance my studies with the part-time work I must do in order to improve my living standards or afford a social life?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27288,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.nber.org/papers/w1742.pdf\">This study</a> suggests that employment outside the university (especially in excess of 25 hours per week) does have a negligible adverse effect on GPA, and a signigicant adverse effect on the probability of a student's continues enrollment. A second paper (<a href=\"http://www.nber.org/papers/w14006.pdf\">here</a>) suggests that hours worked <strong>do</strong> have a significant negative effect on student grades. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>...results show that an additional weekly work hour reduces current year GPA\n by about 0.011 points...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A personal anecdote: When I attended the mandatory freshman orientation seminar during my first semester as an undergrad, they recommended <em>no more than fifteen hours per week</em>, suggesting that anything more than that would tend to have a negative impact on our grades. I do not now recall whether they also provided references to back up their claims...</p>\n\n<p>Of course, this is a general guideline, and an individual student may well be able to handle more. I know some students who were somehow able to juggle a full course load, a full-time job, AND major family responsibility, but those paragons are very rare!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27308,
"author": "Nahkki",
"author_id": 18092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18092",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I worked full time for the first year and a half and part time for the remaining year and a half during my undergraduate career for Computer Science. It certainly meant that I had less time and flexibility but, ultimately, I think it made me more marketable and a bit better prepared for the working world than many of my peers. That's being said there's a fundamental difference between my work and your work - my work was within the realm of Computer Science. </p>\n\n<p>Having a job, any job, is a necessity for many students. I would recommend, though, trying to find a job that's going to benefit, even if in a small way, your studies. Many schools have IT departments that hire undergraduate students as part time help. Many schools have departments that have an independent IT department, separate from the main IT department. Research schools tend to have infrastructure related jobs and internships. University towns often have businesses that are happy to have future CS graduates working in their IT or programming departments. If you have been in school for a bit you should know some of your professors - there are often paid jobs in research labs all over campuses. They aren't advertised but good relationships with professors will open a lot of doors.</p>\n\n<p>I would try to get a job that's going to have long term benefit for you. Having a high level of confidence and comfort around IT business practices makes you a far more marketable computer scientist than someone who can code but is afraid to install an operating system(for example). Knowing the vocab and jargon will make you more marketable. Having a job, of any sort, with references will help when it comes time to start looking at what happens after you graduate.</p>\n\n<p>As to whether a part time job will effect your grades... it will at least a little. Instead of spending 40 hours on some projects, sometimes I only had the time and energy, a finite resource to be sure, to spend 30 hours. I ended up graduating with a very good GPA(honestly I think being involved in research affected my GPA more than my job.) But having a job, especially a challenging job, in addition to being in school will mean you will have to be more organized than many of your peers. It means you'll have to be on top of your school work and that last minute all nighters will be pretty detrimental.</p>\n\n<p>I don't think there's an all-inclusive answer for whether people should work during school. In my own hiring and looking-to-be-hired experience students who are employed during their schooling tend to be more reliable, more marketable and a more 'sure thing' than their counterparts who did not. But, as mentioned by J. Zimmerman in their excellent answer there are sacrifices involved. As a CS student I would be putting a lot of effort in moving beyond a 'mcjob' and into something at least slightly relevant.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27284",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20788/"
] |
27,298 |
<p>When I am reading papers, sometimes I see statements like </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Manuscript received October 29, 2012; accepted March 16, 2014.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Does this implies that the paper is directly accepted?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27299,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it should mean the paper was accepted with no substantive changes. Otherwise, it would say something like \"revised June 1, 2013\" in between the submission and acceptance dates. If there were several revisions, then only the final revision date is recorded.</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, journals can be a little sloppy about this and allow small changes (such as typo fixes or minor rewording) without such an indication. Perhaps they should be more careful, since following an unambiguous rule has its benefits. However, this doesn't seem to be considered a big deal if the changes aren't substantive.</p>\n\n<p>There might be some journals that never indicate revision dates. I think that would be pretty nonstandard, but there are a lot of journals out there and diverse practices in different fields, so it's hard to say for sure. (There are certainly journals that don't even show submission dates in the first place, but that's a different issue. The weird part would be highlighting the submission date while ignoring substantive revisions.)</p>\n\n<p>I've heard stories about journals asking authors to submit a revision as a new submission (see, for example, <a href=\"http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/tell-me-again-what-major-revisions-are/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this blog post</a>). In that case, the \"manuscript received October 29, 2012\" might be disguising the fact that there was an even earlier version (to make it look like the journal handled the paper more quickly). However, I've never seen any evidence of this myself, or heard these stories in mathematics.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27302,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not necessarily. Some journals only state dates for submission and acceptance. In such cases dates for revisions are not mentioned. Since it is not uncommon, at least in fields with which I am familiar, for papers to go through two (or sometimes more) revisions, a date for revision usually refers to only one, the first set of revisions.</p>\n\n<p>I can also confirm Anonymous Mathematician's notion that some journals only accept papers that receive minor revision and reject those with major, but with the explicit understanding the paper should be resubmitted once revised. This will officially shorten the times from submission to accept but is of course a questionable action to manipulate such statistics.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27298",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20800/"
] |
27,309 |
<p>I just came across a paper published in a journal (IF < 2), which has used a couple of images without mentioning the source. This itself is not necessarily a problem. But they seem to be from a commercial software product I'm familiar with (they haven't mentioned even the name of the software, though it generated the image), and based on my experience with this software, the image looks to me like it has been tampered with.</p>
<p>Specifically, it is an image where the software predicts properties of a compound which is used to verify the result. Now, let's say some parameter have a cutoff at 0.5% and they are getting 10.3%. To conform to their result they removed the '1', and it become '0.3%'. </p>
<p>Emails to the corresponding author came back empty.</p>
<p>Should I report that to the journal or leave it as it is (may ruin someone's career)?</p>
<p><strong>They have used the image to prove the result of the experiment.</strong> </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27311,
"author": "Nahkki",
"author_id": 18092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18092",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This could be a big deal and something you should report and, alternatively, it might not be a big deal or reportable. The difference comes in the context.</p>\n\n<p>Are the editted images presented as legitimate data or results that are the raw output of the experiments/research? By which do they say something like \"In image blah taken by an electron microscope you can see that the magical unicorn bonds have been created by our process.\" (Keeping in mind that I know nothing about bio-chem and 'magical unicorn bonds' is a stand in for some actual process). Or in CS something like \"Here you can see the robot we built\" Statements like this imply or outright state that the object or information in the image is not just representative data but actual results or output. Data like this should not be manipulated or edited except for clarity(circling a targeted area or adding minor labeling). </p>\n\n<p>The other kind of image is a bit rougher. These images can demonstrate what was expected to be seen, abstract output from the research, conceptual information. These kinds of images often are edited or manipulated. Sometimes as a demonstration of what was expected(\"We would expect magical unicorn bonds to appear after our procedure but instead....\") or as an explanation of something more abstract(\"the robot should follow the optimal path as shown here when it uses the stairs instead of running repeatedly into a wall\"). These are things that are no reportable. They can be in poor taste and they absolutely should be caught by reviewers if they imply results beyond the scope of the actual research. But, in some fields, these are the best way to demonstrate expectations, abstract information or background information.</p>\n\n<p>All that being said - when you say the image is from a \"commercial software\" that makes me wonder if you mean not that it was created with \"commercial software\" but is actually an image from some commercial source. In this case the image may be copyrighted and it may not be appropriate, at all, to use in this research. This will depend on the image, the source and the 'tampering'. As a counter example to this in the realm of computer vision every uses the standford bunny model in their publication. It's a thing. This is not inappropriate. Someone using an image from a text book, however, or a Google search that they do not own is inappropriate and should be first reported to the PI of the paper and, potentially, the publisher if no action is taken.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27321,
"author": "River_Otter",
"author_id": 20828,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20828",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>it may not be as bad as it seems. I often have to edit images from commercial software packages because the text is too small (or blurred) to read in the print version. Usually it's the axes that I have to fix because many packages make the fonts too small. The authors in this case may have simply overwritten with the same values, just in a larger text or (different/emphasizing font or color).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27345,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Manual alteration of figures aimed at deceiving readers (by fabricating, obfuscating, 'cherry picking' results, etc.) is a <strong>serious matter</strong>. It surprises me that people still try because it's very often quite easy to spot (other types of data fabrication are harder to catch). But it's sadly not uncommon, even in highly regarded journals and from researchers from reputable institutions. </p>\n\n<p>For life sciences, according to one of pubpeer's moderators in <a href=\"http://blog.pubpeer.com/?p=164#comment-1534840179\" rel=\"noreferrer\">a comment</a>: 'Most of the life science reports involve image manipulation - a good majority are gels, with a bunch of duplicated specimen images as well. […] we see sometimes on PubPeer […] things like doctored NMR spectra in chemistry.' The latest seems to be related to your observation, although it's outside my area of expertise.</p>\n\n<p>You can get a sense of the type of things that are reported on PubPeer reading <a href=\"https://pubpeer.com/publications/058CFA77EAF6D5E019D9902C6B3553\" rel=\"noreferrer\">this thread</a> among many others. As an example, a close examination of this figure shows the use of copy paste to fabricate data: </p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/NZito.jpg\" alt=\"faked data 1\"></p>\n\n<p>Or this one, initially published, not in your average pay-for-publish shady 'open access' journal, but in <em>Nature</em>, that has a rather obvious copy-pasted middle panel:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/XpxUR.png\" alt=\"faked data 2\"> </p>\n\n<p>(both the articles where retracted).</p>\n\n<p>In your position, your first reaction is totally appropriate. Here is what I think is the best course of action:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Contact the author(s)</strong> it is a good way of showing that you are concerned but not necessarily interested in public shaming. If the authors do not react, then: </li>\n<li><strong>Contact the publisher</strong> (mentioning that you already contacted the authors to no avail) as suggested by @alarge in a comment. If it's a reputable publisher, the issue will be taken very seriously.</li>\n<li>If all fails, you are left with public reporting of the issue, anonymously or not, via social media or the website listed above. Note that you are always at risk of putting yourself in trouble when reporting misconduct, the same as in any other field, so weight this risk if you intend to associate your name with the complaint.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>EDIT:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Should I report that to the journal or leave it as it is (may ruin\n someone's career)?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think that, as a scientist, you have a responsibility to report that sort of misconduct when you see it. What <em>may</em> ruin someone's career is their sloppy ethics, not your concern for integrity.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28889,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First you should discuss the matter with a trusted colleague or two to check that they agree with you. This is a heavy accusation and before doing anything you should check that you haven't missed anything and that there aren't other plausible explanations. You may very well be right, but it's also easy for one person to make an error without outside feedback.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27309",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19474/"
] |
27,313 |
<p>I am applying this winter for graduate school and I will finish undergrad this winter as well. Would it be unethical to take a full-time position with the intention to quit soon until I know whether I got accepted for graduate school or not? </p>
<p>I am considering this because if I didn't get accepted, I wouldn't have a gap until I start working, and the company would be a good brand which would certainly not harm my PhD application (but this shouldn't be a discussion on what prepares me good for graduate school). My plan is going back to industry after a PhD, so considering my reputation in the field or possible research jobs lateron in the same company, how could I reason my leave for getting a PhD? Or would you better decline the offer and wait for the admissions result?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27314,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It wouldn't be unethical for your boss to fire you 8 months after you take the job, if he wanted to. Labor is an exchange you and your employer enter into voluntarily. So, you shouldn't feel bad quitting after 8 months if you want to. It's not an ethical problem at all. It is more plausible to think there might be a <em>personal</em> problem if this is a small industry that you would plan to re-enter after finishing the degree. Don't tell your boss up front that you might quit in 8 months, that isn't any of his business. If you do accept an offer to do a phd somewhere, then you should tell him promptly, just as a matter of courtesy. This is to allow the company adequate time to find a replacement.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27315,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a counterpoint to Shane's answer, I would say it strongly depends on what you agree on (explicitly or implicitly) with the company.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If they are actively aware that you are looking into getting accepted for a PhD position (that is, you told them so), and they are ok with it, it is clearly fine.</li>\n<li>If they are not aware of it, I would say it largely depends on which job you are supposed to be doing. If it is one where the company is investing a lot of money into training you (e.g., a management trainee program, or they are ramping you up to work on their terribly complex main product), quitting after 8 months is of course still <em>legal</em>, but you should not be surprised if this company is not keen on working with you ever again.</li>\n<li>If they specifically tell you that they are expecting you to stay for the long haul and you lie to them (or, only very slightly better, don't tell them otherwise), the ethical question is pretty much undisputable in my book. Mind, you are still legally safe to quit, but I would argue it is definitely not ethical to do so.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27318,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
"author_id": 5614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5614",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No.</p>\n\n<p>You do work, you get paid. You owe your company what it says you owe in your contract. I very much assure you that your employer won't worry about going beyond their contractual obligations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27320,
"author": "5heikki",
"author_id": 20824,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20824",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could also try to find out if it's possible to do a PhD while working at the said company. This can be a much better option than going to a graduate school. Getting a proper salary while gaining work experience while completing a degree, it's pretty nice. The one downside is that you'll be probably doing a lot more than just the very specific stuff related to your degree. Well, it's not necessarily a bad thing..</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27313",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20106/"
] |
27,316 |
<p>I got two papers accepted in a decent IEEE conference. My current organisation (an industrial R&D lab) says that the conference fees are way too high and they would consider approval of funds only if we get a rebate for publication. </p>
<p>I have two questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Is it normal across the globe to ask for rebate?</li>
<li>Even if I do so, would it be considered professional? (The conference already has a discounted price for the second paper since authors are common in both.)</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27332,
"author": "DCTLib",
"author_id": 7390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7390",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As the commenters write, this is quite unusual.</p>\n\n<p>However, if the conference fees were not published before the paper submission deadline, you could try it out <em>if</em> you get the financial constraints imposed by your lab in writing. While strictly speaking, the organizers could consider this to be unprofessional, it is in that case still somewhat clear that the problem is not really your fault.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27335,
"author": "greenfingers",
"author_id": 15184,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15184",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is unusual and it is likely that the organizers would see it as unprofessional, especially if such request is coming from the industry.</p>\n\n<p>How valuable are these publication for your employer? You could try to speak with someone at a higher level and persuade them to pay the conference fees. Alternatively they can advise submitting the papers to another conference with fees they are willing to pay. Or if publishing benefits you more that the employer, you can perhaps cover the difference yourself.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27316",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2823/"
] |
27,328 |
<p>Let me summarize the complicated state of affairs, as follows:</p>
<p>This summer, I was cooperating with the other team in a spin off project, we decided to publish the results, so I prepared the paper. </p>
<p>In the authorship, I added my supervisor's name. I think it is usual because I am his student and whatever I've learned came from him.</p>
<p>But when the other team's supervisor saw this, he asked me to drop my supervisor's name from the list. I sense that this is not only because he is not involved in the project, but also because of some political issues. </p>
<p>Dropping my supervisor's name makes me feel bad, like betraying him.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27331,
"author": "299792458",
"author_id": 17534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17534",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Since you haven't explicitly mentioned which academic discipline this concerns, and as EnergyNumbers mentioned in the comment, different disciplines may have different conventions, I'll answer in terms of my discipline, (Theoretical) Physics. I would be horrified if it so turns out that things are any different in any other scientific discipline (at least)</em>. </p>\n\n<p>Whenever an article gets submitted for publication, one has to''accept'' a declaration that all those people who made significant contributions were (at least) offered co-authorship. If they decline to be an author, that's a different story. As PVAL mentioned above in a comment, it is academic dishonesty if someone is sitting in the author list without having contributed anything significant to the investigation. Even if you discount the ''<em>politics</em>'', as you mentioned, the other team is frowning because your supervisor is ''<em>not involved in the project</em>''. If that means that he only offered occasional advice, perhaps born out of his experience with doing similar things, (''<em>have you tried ...</em>'' variety), then the right place for him is in the acknowledgements section. Just mention, ''<em>we thank [his name] for helpful discussion/ inputs</em> ...'' etc. But if it means that you want to include his name only because ''<em>what I learned came from him</em>'', I'm afraid I have to point out that authorship is not a Christmas card. (By the same token, why not include your parents, or your spouse, or your high school teachers - you owe a lot to them also :P). It is WRONG to include any person who didn't contribute TO THE INVESTIGATION, howsoever highly regarded he may be in your personal life.</p>\n\n<p>But having said that, here's some seasoned advice - Go and talk to your supervisor in private and explain the situation. Ask <em>him</em> whether or not you should include him in the list, fighting opposition from the other co-authors. It is possible that he may have been in this situation before (<em>whichever side</em>), so he will show you the light. One-to-one dialogues go a long way in resolving these sort of harmless dilemmas.</p>\n\n<p>Besides, that will serve another purpose - you will <em>show</em> him that you ''<em>respect</em>'' him so much that you want to gift him authorship in an investigation that he hasn't contributed to at all :P. (I expect that any sensible man would decline in this situation). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27337,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, in many fields, it is very much expected that your supervisors' names will appear on papers written during your study, because in those fields, much of the substance of your work comes from your supervisors.</p>\n\n<p>You're right that politics can be involved too.</p>\n\n<p>Do bear in mind that different fields have very different conventions about what \"authorship\" means. Quite a few pharma trial papers have almost all their words written by ghost authors who do not appear at all in the list of authors. No doubt this will horrify some readers here who consider their own field's conventions to have some sort of objective purity, despite them being just as much a negotiated compromise as any other field's. In different academic disciplines, different types of contribution (data collection, analysis, writing, thinking, editing) may each earn co-authorship, acknowledgement, or money. Furthermore, the concepts of, meanings of and interpretations of <em>contributorship</em> and <em>attribution</em> within scientific publishing are in flux at the moment, evolving and trying out new forms - see <a href=\"http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2014/04/22/when-a-scholar-is-one-among-500-what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-author/\">discussions</a> at The Scholarly Kitchen and other places, .</p>\n\n<p>So don't get too hung up about some people's ideas of what being a named author means.</p>\n\n<p>Do discuss it with your supervisor(s). Find out what the conventions are for your field, and for your target journal in particular. And in general, don't add someone as author without having discussed it with them first.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 127221,
"author": "anon",
"author_id": 106105,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/106105",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>We get inspiration and ideas from all over the place, but authorship implies something more specific and tangible.</p>\n\n<p>If your supervisor did not make a contribution commensurate with authorship, he/she should not be named as an author (the fact of your being his/her student is irrelevant). If you feel compelled to acknowledge him/her, then use the <strong>Acknowledgements</strong> section or a footnote to do that (e.g.: \"I am grateful to Prof. Josephine Bloggs for her guidance and for brainstorming a few ideas relevant to this article. Her feedback helped me bring the conclusion into focus.\").</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 127224,
"author": "guest",
"author_id": 106076,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/106076",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In a theoretical world, I would favor cutting advisors from a lot of papers. In theory you make a contribution, not just management. But in reality, we know their role is often to raise funds and run a little kingdom. The level of contribution to the actual work would not merit authorship were they a student (or a manager in a company). </p>\n\n<p>However, we have to live with the practical world and in some fields, it is just expected that they get their names on there. Heck, it would probably hurt them with funding, promotions, etc. not to be listed. And I don't mean that in the sense of them getting something they don't deserve. I mean that in the sense that it is expected to see their names on the papers when looking at productivity of the \"kingdom\". </p>\n\n<p>This other project doesn't seem like they are paying for you (and yes, payment is not authorship...but in the practical world...it sort of is). Also you say the other project is a spinoff. That sounds separate, but still somehow connected. It's not like you finishing up a paper from before you got to your new posting.</p>\n\n<p>P.s. Please stop referring to yourself as a postgrad \"student\". Even though you are a peon, as a Ph.D., you are considered at least a worker, not a student. (Even the real students work more than they study, but that's a story for another day with many sad issues like workers comp for accidents.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27328",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20837/"
] |
27,330 |
<p>I have many contributions related to interviews in radio, TV, web magazines and print magazines, and would like to know the different ways it might be "cited" in a scientific CV. I was thinking about adding them at the end of my CV is some section called "dissemination of research results" or something like that.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27339,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"Media Appearances\" sounds better to me. Then I think I'd cite each appearance as if it were a conference talk:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"How to Solve the Problem of Evil,\" <em>WFUV Radio,</em> 29 February 1904.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>or</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Why I am So Clever,\" <em>The Today Show,</em> National Broadcasting Corporation, 9 August 1999.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Maybe insert some descriptive language if the citation is unclear.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27841,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h2>Interview section in your CV</h2>\n\n<p>If you have significant amount of interviews or you want to bring them in your CV, I did not find any special tip to bring interviews in a separate section; but you can open a section like <code>media appearance/interviews</code> and list your interviews in this section.</p>\n\n<h2>Citation style</h2>\n\n<p>By <a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?&q=interview%20citation\" rel=\"noreferrer\">googling your question</a>, I found many related links in which the citation of the interviews are clearly presented. I bring some of them here for you. One may find a good resource for citation of interviews in <a href=\"http://www.bibme.org\" rel=\"noreferrer\">bibme website</a>. In this website, you will find the format, examples and notes on correct citation.</p>\n\n<h2><a href=\"http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/MLA/interview\" rel=\"noreferrer\">MLA</a></h2>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>PUBLISHED/BROADCAST INTERVIEW:</strong><br>\n Last Name, First Name. Interview by First Name Last Name. Publication Information. Medium.</p>\n \n <p><strong>PERSONALLY CONDUCTED INTERVIEW:</strong><br>\n Last Name, First Name. Interview Type interview. Date Interviewed.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h2><a href=\"http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/Chicago/interview\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Chicago</a></h2>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>PUBLISHED INTERVIEW FROM PUBLICATION:</strong><br>\n Last Name, First Name. Interview with First Name Last Name. Publication Title. Publication Information.</p>\n \n <p><strong>PUBLISHED INTERVIEW FROM RADIO/TV PROGRAM:</strong><br>\n Last Name, First Name. Interview with First Name Last Name. Program Title. Network, Call letters, Date Interviewed.</p>\n \n <p><strong>UNPUBLISHED INTERVIEW:</strong><br>\n Last Name, First Name. Interview by First Name Last Name. Interview Type. Location, Date Interviewed.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h2><a href=\"http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/Turabian/interview\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Turabian</a></h2>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>UNPUBLISHED INTERVIEW:</strong> Last Name, First Name. Interview by First Name Last Name. Interview Type. Location, Date Interviewed.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h2><a href=\"http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/APA/interview\" rel=\"noreferrer\">APA</a></h2>\n\n<p>Although, in the above link, there is no guide for citing in APA format, as indicated <code>Interviews are not supported in bibliographies by APA. Please cite it as an in-text citation.</code>, but I have found the following guide in the <a href=\"http://www.apastyle.org\" rel=\"noreferrer\">apastyle</a> website for <a href=\"http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/cite-interview.aspx\" rel=\"noreferrer\">citation of interviews</a>.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>An interview is not considered recoverable data, so no reference to\n this is provided in the reference list. You may, however, cite the\n interview within the text as a personal communication.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h2>How to easily cite your documents?</h2>\n\n<p>By the way, I encourage you to use the softwares like <a href=\"http://jabref.sourceforge.net\" rel=\"noreferrer\">JabRef</a>, <a href=\"http://www.zotero.org\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Zotero</a> and <a href=\"http://endnote.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Endnote</a> to prepare your citations and resources. Also you may use some online websites like <a href=\"http://www.easybib.com/mla-format/interview-citation\" rel=\"noreferrer\">easybib</a> and <a href=\"http://citethisforme.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">citethisforme</a> for easier preparation of your citations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31509,
"author": "E1000t",
"author_id": 24130,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24130",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I advice you use this citing tool at <a href=\"http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/</a></p>\n\n<p>If it shows an error search for knightcite in their search bar...the tool helps you cite your work properly</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27330",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/284/"
] |
27,341 |
<p>This is borderline trivial, but in my attempt to publish my work in a public repository, I've found badges at the top of my <code>README.md</code> to be useful. For example, using <a href="https://zenodo.org/" rel="noreferrer">Zenodo</a>, I can create a badge that points to a proper DOI that looks like this:</p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11304" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://zenodo.org/badge/doi/10.5281/zenodo.11304.png" alt="DOI"></a>
<em>Encyclopedia of Finite Graphs</em></p>
<p>If I have a critical piece of code, I can publish <a href="http://docs.travis-ci.com/user/status-images/" rel="noreferrer"><code>Travis.CL</code></a> badges or <a href="https://coveralls.io/" rel="noreferrer"><code>Coveralls</code></a> for code coverage.</p>
<p>Is the an equivalent badge or icon I can use to visually indicate that the work has been published on the <a href="http://arxiv.org/" rel="noreferrer"><code>arXiv</code></a>?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27351,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think that there's any. As well, I think you want to make one visually matching the ones you already have.</p>\n\n<p>There's an XCF (GIMP) file for the arXiv community ad: <br> <a href=\"http://meta.math.stackexchange.com/a/11924/43247\">http://meta.math.stackexchange.com/a/11924/43247</a></p>\n\n<p>I think it could be helpful to you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27376,
"author": "Hooked",
"author_id": 253,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/253",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I found a service that can create custom badges: <a href=\"http://shields.io/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><code>shields.io</code></a>. Using the arXiv background color (Firebrick <code>#B31B1B</code>) I was able to create a badge that looked more or less \"official\". An example of their template and my specific use case:</p>\n\n<pre><code>http://img.shields.io/badge/<SUBJECT>-<STATUS>-<COLOR>.svg\nhttp://img.shields.io/badge/math.CO-arXiv%3A1408.3644-B31B1B.svg\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>After converting the svg to png for use on github, I got this:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://arxiv-web3.library.cornell.edu/abs/1408.3644\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/L1baw.png\" alt=\"1408.3644\"></a></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27341",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/253/"
] |
27,347 |
<p>I am preparing a lecture course for this semester and I am planning to teach from slides. I will consider these slides my notes for the course. However, the following points may also apply to handwritten notes that a lecturer might use as a reference.</p>
<p>I can see several advantages and disadvantages associated with providing the students with the notes for a given lecture prior to that lecture:</p>
<p>Advantages:</p>
<ul>
<li>Students have to write less (because the core of the material is already present), so more material can be covered;</li>
</ul>
<p>Disadvantages:</p>
<ul>
<li>Students may lose focus more easily when they have digital notes because they do not have to copy everything down (this was my experience as an undergrad);</li>
<li>Students may choose not to attend class because notes are available elsewhere (of course, they may choose to do so anyways...).</li>
</ul>
<p>One alternative I have considered is to distribute all of the notes relevant to an exam some suitable time period prior to that exam. However, this may reduce the effectiveness of the advantage, although it will mitigate to a certain extent the disadvantages. So, my question is as in the title: Is it common for professors to distribute digital notes to the class? If so, what methods are common?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27349,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it is common, at least at the freshman and sophomore level. In my experience, few professors provide digital notes (or digital copies of lecture slides) in the upper levels of undergrad teaching. </p>\n\n<p>I always appreciated those who did so, because I was usually able to take better notes due to not having to write as much. However, recall was usually not quite as good, for the same reason. (FWIW, I almost never skipped lecture, whether or not there were digital notes available). </p>\n\n<p>As for what methods are common, I've seen three main methods, mostly differing as to <em>when</em> the notes are made available to the students. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Post all slides at the beginning of the course. This has obvious shortcomings if you change your lecture slides in any way--and good teachers almost always do!</p></li>\n<li><p>Post shortly before the class session in which the material is presented. Either immediately before (< 4 hours) or several sessions in advance. This seems to work best, because students have time to print them out to take notes on, if that's what they prefer. You can also tweak your slides as needed without confusing your students. </p></li>\n<li><p>Post lecture slides immediately after class. This seems to me the least optimal, in that students cannot read the slides ahead of the lecture or use them to take notes on, but could potentially still use this as an excuse to not come to lecture. </p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27350,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I used to distribute slides before class, and found that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I now distribute them shortly after each class. I tell students to jot down important points during the class, but not to worry about things like lists because they'll have the slides available. I also suggest that they merge their classroom notes onto the slides. The ones who listen to me tend to do very well.</p>\n\n<p>I base my decision on the premise that learning should be effortful. I think, hope, and expect that providing slides after class is a compromise between no slides and slides before class.</p>\n\n<p>As an aside, I also record my lectures and make the podcasts available. I do that because I have students for whom English is a second language, and non-traditional students who are sometimes called away for work. I'm a little torn about the recordings because some students <em>do</em> try to use those as a substitute for coming to class. I console myself with the thought that they were destined to fail the course anyway and would do even without the recordings.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27353,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Different students have different needs. If you make notes available, students who benefit from not having notes have the option of not using them. If you do not make notes available, students who need them have no option.</p>\n\n<p>I write fairly slowly, and do not seem to be able to listen and think at the same time as writing. For me, needing to write notes during a lecture drastically reduces the benefit of being there - the only product is what I manage to write down of whatever was written on the board, with no gain in understanding until I study the notes and text book afterwards.</p>\n\n<p>You may have a student in your class who is not hearing what you are saying whenever they are writing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27358,
"author": "Fiona - myaccessible.website",
"author_id": 14745,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14745",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've seen lecturers print out copies of the slides, which the students would pick up as they entered the room, so they could make notes on them. </p>\n\n<p>It requires the students to attend, but you could also say that you can collect copies in your office if people can't make it. </p>\n\n<p>People sometimes picked up copies for friends, but it generally meant that people attended the lectures. It's really useful to have the slides to make notes on directly.</p>\n\n<p>Kills a lot of trees though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27359,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To answer the main question, yes it is common.</p>\n\n<p>I guess it's a matter of your personal idea of your role as a teacher. My approach is to do everything I can to make the material easily accessible to the students. Some students don't want/can't attend classes, they have their own priorities. </p>\n\n<p>Of course teachers are by no mean obliged to take these cases into consideration, and I'm perfectly fine with courses taught without anything else than the blackboard.</p>\n\n<p>But if <em>I create slides anyway</em>, I see <em>no sane reason</em> to restrict access to these before, during or after the courses are taught. I will also mention textbooks, articles and other sources I used to create the content.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27361,
"author": "Chris",
"author_id": 20857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20857",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the university that I attend, almost all of our professors provide digital notes. I believe this is a good practice because many students can't keep notes and comprehend what the professor says at the same time. As a countermeasure for the second disadvantage you mention, professors often give some extra techniques and explanations that are not included in the digital notes.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27362,
"author": "Matthew Leingang",
"author_id": 5701,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5701",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I last taught big lecture classes, I would distribute pre-class and post-class versions of my slides. </p>\n\n<p>The pre-class versions would go online the night before. They would have fewer steps worked out (I teach math), some solutions left blank for students to ponder in advance, and jokes subtracted. They would be laid out three slideframes to a letter-sized page, with ample space for annotation. So they could print them out and take them to class.</p>\n\n<p>The post-class versions would be the complete slideshow from class, with worked-out solutions, jokes, and errata included. They would go up at the end of the day of class (depending on how much I had to fix). They were not laid out to be printed; it was just one slide per page of PDF.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27369,
"author": "thomij",
"author_id": 20865,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20865",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know how common it is, but I can tell you that in the classes I teach (general chemistry), I use a combination of lecture slides and writing on the board. Here's a rough breakdown of my approach:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Approximately one slide per major concept, with very limited text (mostly definitions) and images/graphs to explain the concept. I make these available online (they can print before class if they want to)</li>\n<li>I write quick outline notes of major topics on the board before starting the section or chapter, then back-fill the details during the lecture, and give a review summary at the end.</li>\n<li>For problem-solving, I use one or more slides with an example and outlines of the steps, then demonstrate on the board using the same example. I follow that up with a different example, and finally have the students work through a problem on their own in class.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Using slides in this way works well for me because it allows me to spend less time writing and drawing on the board, and more time engaging students with discussion and question/answers. I think it helps the students as well - they are free to pay attention to what I'm saying, rather than just trying to copy down everything I write. Once they realize that they only need to write down the extra details, the lectures become more fun and I think they get more out of them. Since the slides are always available online, they can print them out whenever they like, or just look at them on their computers/tablets/phones.</p>\n\n<p>Writing the summary notes and outlines on the board helps me organize the lectures, keep things on track, and prepare the students to pay attention. It also gives those with less-well-developed note-taking skills a template to use.</p>\n\n<p>By combining the two, I think this approach addresses both of the disadvantages you brought up:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Students may lose focus more easily when they have digital notes because they do not have to copy everything down (this was my experience as an undergrad)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Since the outline summary notes are on the board, students have something to write down, and I can use their tendency to automatically copy whatever I write as way of getting their attention if they seem to be \"zoning out\"</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Students may choose not to attend class because notes are available elsewhere (of course, they may choose to do so anyways...)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Since the slides are mostly graphical illustrations with limited text, there is still an advantage to coming to class. I do want to point out that I believe it's part of my job as a teacher to make coming to class valuable for reasons besides just getting a copy of the notes, but, I recognize that for some students who are good at self-study, that might not be the case. I try to follow the textbook pretty closely, so students who can't make it to class for some reason are still able to catch up pretty easily between the book, my slides, and notes copied from classmates.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27371,
"author": "JiK",
"author_id": 13404,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13404",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some background: In Finnish universities the mentality usually is* that student should have the responsibility for their studies and learning (from what and how many courses to take each year to how to study course material). For example, it is very uncommon that attendance at lectures is mandatory, and even mandatory weekly exercises are not very common. In that sense, providing lecture notes has several advantages:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Students have to write less (because the core of the material is already present), so more material can be covered</li>\n<li>Students may focus [sic!] more easily when they have digital notes because they do not have to copy everything down (this was my experience as an undergrad)</li>\n<li>Students may choose not to attend class because notes are available elsewhere (of course, they may choose to do so anyways...)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>*or at least it has been in the recent past; some things seem to be changing</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Some lecturers provide the notes only after the lectures, because students are very good at pointing out typos and other mistakes in the material during the lectures. Some lecturers provide a preliminary version before the lectures, and a corrected version after the lectures. Some lecturers have completed the material on previous years and give everything at the start of the course. Some lecturers have completed the material on previous years and give material related to each lecture shortly before or after that lecture.</p>\n\n<p>Nowadays, at least in Aalto University, the material is almost always provided as PDF files (or other relevant format) using a web service provided by the university. In the past there was a very complicated system where the lecturer provided the material to a certain company from which a student then ordered the printed material which was then distributed to a folder which was maintained by an association of the students in the degree programme of the student; but for some reason that system was abolished a few years ago.</p>\n\n<p>The contents of the material given by the lecturer varies from a complete set of notes that is almost like a book, to bullet points listing what parts of the course book were covered during that lecture. Nevertheless, I think I've never taken a course where you wouldn't be able to study the material without attending the lectures.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>One alternative I have considered is to distribute all of the notes relevant to an exam just prior to that exam. However, this may reduce the effectiveness of the advantage, although it will mitigate to a certain extent the disadvantages. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I've never seen this happening. Some students have asked lecturers who don't provide extensive material during the course to do that before the exam, but most responses I have heard have the following points: Providing the lecture notes just before exam would encourage bulimic learning - that is, putting a lot of stuff in your head for a few days before the exam and quickly throwing it up during the exam without actually learning anything. Most students who don't want to attend lectures might still not attend if they know they will get the material anyway; by providing the notes so late you'd only harm their learning.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27390,
"author": "Silviu Burcea",
"author_id": 14834,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14834",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a student, I was more focused when the professor had the slides behind him because the slides were just a summary and he had the details. I was more concentrated because I haven't had to write down every single word so the lesson was more fluent.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27405,
"author": "marczellm",
"author_id": 12724,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12724",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a student, I am most comfortable and effective learning lecture notes that are provided in traditional book format (even if it isn't available on paper, but as a PDF).</p>\n\n<p>I have a very strong bad feeling towards slides that double as lecture notes. I believe the requirements for these two are so different, that when people merge the concepts, the result is equally bad as a slideset as lecture notes. When the whole material is crammed into slide format, aiming to provide all information the student has to learn, it has several possible disadvantages (all first hand experience):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Teacher reads the slides verbatim, rendering his/her presence meaningless.</li>\n<li>Teacher doesn't feel obligated to prepare for the lecture, because everything is on the slides (in extreme cases the slides are made by someone else and the teacher never prepares for the whole course).</li>\n<li>Teacher doesn't feel obligated to put proper effort into making the slides, because <em>\"I'm just making supplementary material\"</em>, resulting in quickly hacked together slides (examples include copy-pasted stuff alternating between first language and English, three complete courses with equations without defining any notations used, two complete courses with equations and no explanatory text at all).</li>\n<li>The slides are inherently not detailed enough to be a complete resource for the course, so students go to Google for additional resources, and sometimes what they find is completely wrong.</li>\n<li>The teacher's line of thinking may be so different from the students, that his/her idea of what should be on a slide results in slidesets that are incomprehensible and of absolutely no information to the students.</li>\n<li>Students are disengaged from the lecture because the slides are available online. Even committed students find it hard to pay attention.</li>\n<li>PowerPoint and similar software makes it easy to place randomly formatted random stuff at random places on the slide. A teacher with no visual/typographical sensitivity and/or proper knowledge of the software may easily create slides that are painful to even look at because of the messy and amateur layout and formatting. (Examples include a complete course in all caps, physics plots handdrawn in PowerPoint/MSPaint style, equations in plain text instead of the equation editor, source code listings in bullet points, etc.)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>My suggestion is, take the time needed to type proper lecture notes (maybe next summer) in proper sentences, with all the details etc., and let the slides contain only those pieces of information that you simply cannot present verbally or on the blackboard. An alternative to writing lecture notes is providing pointers to existing (text)books in which the material is already covered (maybe the very books you yourself use to prepare for the course).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27423,
"author": "Kate Gregory",
"author_id": 12693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12693",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I provide my slides. I give them to the bookstore to print as a \"course pack\" sold for a nominal amount (none of which goes to me) and if I change them during the year, I put them online for download right before (or in some cases, immediately after) class. I typically have a separate small deck with comments and diagrams and such that arise from marking an assignment or test. I don't upload these ever. In the first class I explain all of this to the students along with the following important announcement:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I can and will test you on material that was only covered verbally in class and is not written on these slides. You can and will lose marks for not knowing something that was only talked about during a lecture.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If I find myself putting the screen up to draw something on the blackboard, I take a note to add that diagram to the deck for next year. I find that drawing diagrams out is a great way to learn, but that most students will not do so - having a predrawn diagram helps them less than having one they drew, but more than having nothing, so I do it. Since I am teaching them how to make design decisions and record those decisions in the form of a diagram, the more examples they have the better.</p>\n\n<p>In over a decade, no student has ever objected to what I'm doing, though there have been some who (wrongly) thought it meant they could pass without coming to class. I also had a few in the early days who objected to my file formats, giving me the extra work of exporting each deck to PDF or HTML or whatever they could handle; that seems to have stopped although I still ask each year if anyone needs a different format.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27471,
"author": "Murphy",
"author_id": 16078,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16078",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Students may lose focus more easily when they have digital notes\n because they do not have to copy everything down (this was my\n experience as an undergrad)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I can either be writing down what you just said or I can be <em>thinking</em> about what you just said. Your choice. </p>\n\n<p>If you try to force students to scribble down everything while you're talking they're going to be thinking \"damn, where's my spare pen, this one is going dry\" not \"Hm. I wonder how that principle applies to....\" when you say something. </p>\n\n<p>You're dealing with adults, if they fail because they're overconfident, have bad judgement and think they don't need to attend class then they made that choice with their eyes open. </p>\n\n<p>By all means, warn them and recommend against doing so but refusing to make slides, handouts or pdfs available is just devaluing your class for the students who do attend. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27490,
"author": "David",
"author_id": 20473,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20473",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For large lecture classes I usually present the material on an overhead projector. I make the slides available to the students before the lecture, reduced to quarter size for convenience. Most of my colleagues do something similar.</p>\n\n<p>It's true that this may result in some students cutting lectures. I am usually quite up-front about this, and tell students in the first lecture that while it is up to them, trying to learn the subject from the lecture notes alone is the best way I know for the average student to fail the course: for most students it will be necessary to attend lectures, consider extra comments, explanations and examples which I may give, and most importantly of all, ask questions and engage with the subject.</p>\n\n<p>You can \"force\" students to attend lectures by withholding the notes, or by leaving gaps in them. I don't do this because I find it to be unacceptable behaviour: in effect, it treats students as children who must be manipulated \"for their own good\". I make it clear that I expect students to take a responsible, adult attitude towards their studies; the result is that most of them do.</p>\n\n<p>IMO this is so important that I'm going to paraphrase it in bold type: <strong>the vital thing to realise about students is that most of them are extremely cooperative</strong>. They want to learn: if you make it clear what you expect of them, you will usually get it without pulling any tricks like issuing incomplete notes.</p>\n\n<p>Finally we should ask (or perhaps we should have asked initially): what is the purpose of lectures and other classes? It is for the students to learn the subject (of course!). It is not an ego trip for the lecturer. If my students learn the subject then the course has been successful, even if the lectures have been half empty. (But if the lecturer demonstrates a concern for students and a dedication to teaching, then the lectures never will be half empty.)\n<hr>\nBTW, I may soon have to find an alternative for the overhead projector. Apparently my institution believes that such things are too old-fashioned to be tolerated in a modern, forward-thinking institution which never stands still, and is gradually withdrawing support for these ancient devices :-(</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27510,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my own undergraduate degree, I noticed a distinct positive correlation between professors who didn't make their slides available deliberately (\"so that you don't just skip the lectures and read the slides at home\") and professors whose teaching I would rate lower-than-average. One of these professors taught so badly that I skipped his lectures anyway and just read standard textbooks on the subject; I ended up with a top grade.</p>\n\n<p>I would speculate that teaching with the attidude that \"most students are here to learn with goodwill and I'm here to help them\" produces better teaching than the attitude that students are principally lazy and I'm here to force them to learn. I'm a researcher with occasional teaching duties myself now and I'm very strongly in favour of teaching materials always being available to download.</p>\n\n<p>Here are two arguments in favour of making slides available. First, what if a student misses one of your lectures due to illness, injury or because their train broke down on the way? (This is not a lame excuse - we had a cluster of genuine cases one summer when the trains couldn't cope with a heatwave.) Would you rather they were able to revise the lecture themselves with the slides, or not?</p>\n\n<p>Secondly, my experience during revision for exams is that even with notes of my own, slide printouts are incredibly helpful. Partly this is because a printout of a slide is a visual aid to jog your memory and remember how the thing on the slide worked; partly it's because you have two sets of \"notes\" (your own and the slides) which is better than one, partly it's because making notes on a slide with arrows pointing to the relevant parts is so much more effective when diagrams or pictures are involved than having to copy down the relevant points as text alone. If you have a complex diagram on a slide that you're explaining, do you want your students to be spending your lecture trying to copy it down, or do you want them to be paying attention to your explanation, safe in the knowledge that they can print out the diagram (or have already done so, and can annotate it without having to draw it first)? A rhetorical question, I know, but I think this point is important. Finally, everyone sometimes makes mistakes in their notes and being able to cross-check against the slides is very reassuring.</p>\n\n<p>I'd summarise by saying that for a motivated and good student, having the slides available allows them to use their revision time more effectively, and will lead to better results.</p>\n\n<p>There's one caveat here though. As discused in [1] and just about every \"how to give an effective presentation\" book and talk, the worst kind of slide is simply a list of bullet points with text to copy down; a really effective slide to support your teaching will have very little text and so be of limited use on its own for someone who has not attended your lecture. Some of my best professors had slides like this and provided us with extra \"lecture notes\" handouts; it's a standard I aim for in my own teaching when time allows. I leave you with the thought that if your slides are this good, and support your own teaching rather than holding a lecture in parallel to yours, you won't need to worry too much about students opting to stay at home and just read your slides in the first place.</p>\n\n<p>[1] <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17933/good-slide-design-for-teaching\">Good slide design for teaching?</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27548,
"author": "Norman Gray",
"author_id": 10983,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10983",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The first course I taught, about 15 years ago, was an advanced undergraduate introduction to General Relativity. The way I taught that (and currently teach it again) worked for me and apparently for the students. There are a variety of overlaps with points made in the other answers.</p>\n\n<p>The way it goes is:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>I've assembled detailed formal lecture notes, which have turned into a what I realise amounts to a short book! (feel free to <a href=\"http://purl.org/nxg/text/general-relativity\" rel=\"nofollow\">have a look</a> if you're at all interested). I distribute these in blocks before the relevant lectures. I request/advise the students to read ahead in these notes.</li>\n<li>The lecture I give is somewhat more informal than the written notes. It goes over the material in the same order, but skips some details, and says ‘it's a bit like...’ more often than the notes would. That is, the lecture itself is significantly distinct from the notes.</li>\n<li>I don't use powerpoint (or prepared acetate slides, before you ask), but I do use a document projector to display scribbled diagrams and mathematical derivations.</li>\n<li>I record the lectures, and make this available to the students as well.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So they've got lots of resources.</p>\n\n<p>The points that are relevant to the question here are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>This is well-known as a challenging course, but the students generally find the topic interesting and are motivated to work hard at it. That is, they <strong>are cooperating and trying to learn</strong>, and as others have pointed out, this is more important than anything else for the success of a course.</li>\n<li>This is a notationally intricate course, and I know from being on the opposite side of the lecturn that it's basically impossible to take accurate notes and actually pay attention to what's being said. I still tell them to take notes.</li>\n<li>I tell them that the topic only makes sense after the second time they do a course in it, but that the printed notes and the oral lecture count as two courses simultaneously! (to an educationalist I'd say something about ‘multi-modal learning ...<em>blah</em>... different learning styles ...<em>wibble</em>’). That, plus the recorded audio, cues them <strong>to take charge of how they approach the material</strong>, and to take a critical attitude to the available resources.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>As far as I'm aware (I don't check) they do all turn up to the lectures. That's nice, as it suggests I do myself have a pedagogical function being in the room. If they don't turn up then either they're going to fail the course, or else they're able enough that they can master it with their own resources – both are fine by me.</p>\n\n<p>The other course where I've used this approach was a pre-honours course, also regarded as somewhat challenging, but also with motivated students; also with a masters-level course which was a bit less interesting, but which could presume motivated students. It <em>might</em> not work so well with a service course, or a more bread-and-butter course.</p>\n\n<p>The last point being said, I do have general sympathy with the insistence that undergraduates are adults, who can damn well be given responsibility for their own learning. But that fine attitude might run into difficulties in a different institutional or course, or a different student body, or a different (pecuniary) relationship with the students. There are important factors lurking there.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27347",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7346/"
] |
27,360 |
<p>I recently signed a graduate student contract. I had outside funding for some time but recently became a normal research assistant (RA) again, so must have missed a contradictory clause when I signed a similar contract a few years ago.</p>
<p>I am a US citizen at a US university.</p>
<p>In the contract it explicitly states that graduate students "shall not work more than 20 hours per week on duties given by the advisor."</p>
<p>I have found similar language in other graduate student contracts at other universities, an example <a href="http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/catalog/assistantship_policies.htm">is here</a> (scroll down to <em>Duties and Time Commitments</em>). This example, however, states that RAs "shall not work on duties unrelated to research for more than 20 hours per week." My contract seems to imply the opposite.</p>
<p>This certainly applies in the first 2-3 years of a Ph.D., since class loads typically require enough effort that RA's will not have enough time to work more than 20 hours per week on research.</p>
<p>But, <strong>after a graduate student has completed all class requirements, why is this clause still included?</strong> </p>
<p><em>It is clearly contradictory, as I'm expected to work 40-50 hours per week on my research, especially when I have no more classes to take. I have signed a legal document explicitly promising that I will not work the hours needed to finish my dissertation in a timely fashion.</em></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27363,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this is just an issue of definition of \"what you must do to succeed in your academic program\" vs \"job duties\". A research assistant is a job, and as such it does not always pay you to be doing what you'd be doing anyway. Sometimes you have to do work or help your adviser in a way that does not directly relate to your own program or research whatsoever - and that's what you are being hired to do.</p>\n\n<p>When you get paid to be a research assistant and you end up working on your program and own actual research? This is awesome, and it's totally a bonus - but it's not what the agreement is designed to address.</p>\n\n<p>In the USA a research assistant is paid (often by hour or in a flat stipend), tuition remittance/assistance is sometimes provided, insurance might be paid for the student-worker, perks and opportunities can abound or be completely absent (sometimes you get paid to go to conferences or do your own home work, and sometimes it's basically your field's equivalent of cleaning out monkey cages), etc. In short, there is a compensation package that makes it worth your acceptance, and losing it would be unpleasant.</p>\n\n<p>However, on the other extreme if you work too much time on your RA/TA job you will not have enough time in the day to spend on classes or your own personal research. When you have no classes, then that means more time for your research work - not more time to work for the University.</p>\n\n<p>So, in conclusion your agreement does not limit your collaboration with your adviser or on your research - it limits your <strong>legally employed position's hourly requirements</strong>. Talk with your adviser, take his advice, work on research with them until the cows come home (though I suggest you get home before the cows because life's too short) - but if you are doing more than 20 hours of work a week to fulfill your RA/TA duties, something is wrong it needs to be addressed right away.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27375,
"author": "virmaior",
"author_id": 19769,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19769",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The basic answer is that as an RA or TA, you are still supposed to be a <strong>full-time student</strong>. Thus, the work contract for either specifically limits you to part-time work.</p>\n\n<p>What seems to be confusing you about your RAship is that your RAship is actually just a funding method in the case of your department. An RAship can include assisting a professor with her research in which case, such responsibility is capped at 20 hours a week so that you have the remainder of the week to work on your own research.</p>\n\n<p>The same applies with a TAship whether that includes sole teaching responsibility or not. The point is that the TAship is secondary from the university's perspective to you working on your own research and coursework and finishing the program.</p>\n\n<p>They care about completion rates and in most programs, you are no longer a fraction of a percentage point on that front but rather a single student failing to complete because of TAship or RAship will lower the numbers non-marginally.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27378,
"author": "Mike F",
"author_id": 20797,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20797",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you are working at a US University, they often do this in order to ensure that you are ineligible for benefits under the family and medical leave act (fmla). If you work over 1250 hours they have to provide you with additional benefits, which cost more than they are willing to pay for your labor.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/fmla.htm\">http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/fmla.htm</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27392,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In principle, an RA appointment is a job, in which you could be required to do what the phrase \"research assistant\" literally indicates --- assist a professor with his or her research. In the experimental sciences, that could include, for instance, maintenance work needed to keep the lab running properly. In pure mathematics (my field), what it means in practice is that you do your own research. So, officially, my Ph.D. students with RA appointments are assisting my research for up to 20 hours per week, even though in practice, what they're doing may have very little to do with my research and will mostly coincide with their thesis research. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27399,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For the US, another possible contributing factor is that international students (who compose a large share of PhDs in many programs) are legally allowed to work at most 20 hours a week while enrolled as a full-time student (typically on a F-1 visa). Note that one is legally considered a full-time student even when one is a candidate who isn't taking any classes! (An exception is during the summer, when international students are then allowed to work up to 40 hours a week.)</p>\n\n<p>Certainly this problem could be circumvented by having separate contracts for US citizens and non-US citizens. But then there'd be other problems (e.g. making things more complicated for the administrators, perceptions of inequality/discrimination). So perhaps it's just simpler for them to have one uniform contract, university-wide, for all the grad students.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27360",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4572/"
] |
27,364 |
<p>Say, in a particular field of science, method A or equipment B are the standard. Now I have invented method X or equipment Y which cost much less than A or B. </p>
<p>What are the necessary conditions, if any, that allow X and Y to be published as a journal paper? </p>
<p>(This question of course is loaded with my own assumption that originality in an academic research <em>does not</em> include cheaper price. I have long held this assumption from a simple fact that I have <em>never</em> encountered such thing as being cheaper being described in any background/introduction section in any journal articles I've read.)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27365,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that you miss a point in the word <em>original</em>: You have to present <em>original research</em>, not necessarily <em>original results</em>. If you found a cheaper method than anyone before, the research is obviously original, even if you didn't find out anything new.</p>\n\n<p>Example from other sciences: In maths, a new proof of an old theorem is original. In CS, a new algorithm which is just 10% faster than an old one is original. In medicine, a new treatment for the same disease is original. And so on and so forth.</p>\n\n<p>As well, even if your result is not better than the previous ones (slower algorithm, more expensive method), it can of course be original. It's just more questionable whether it's useful, sometimes it is, but you have to be quite convincing usually.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27366,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At least in life sciences, this could be publishable, depending on the details. In the end, what matters for publication is whether the paper is of interest to the scientific community.</p>\n\n<p>In some cases, cost can have huge consequences. For example, if you invent a method to easily sequence a human genome for 100 USD, that would greatly advance biomedical research and diagnostics, and you will get a very high-impact publication. You can read more <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$1,000_genome\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27368,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>What are the necessary conditions, if any, that allow X and Y to be published as a journal paper?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That the method or equipment is new and interesting. It is really as simple as that.</p>\n\n<p>It is completely ok if the improvement or motivation of your technique mostly lies in cost savings - that is common in many research communities. If the way how you achieved these cost savings is by applying simple technical optimisations, you will have problems publishing your results. On the other hand, if you reduced costs by fundamentally changing the way how your technique approaches things, or if you manage to reduce costs by orders of magnitude, journals will presumably be interested in how you achieved these results.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27397,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Original, in this context, means significantly different. The motivation of your study can be to develop a cheaper method, no problem with that, but the question of originality nothing to do with this. </p>\n\n<p>Original research only means that you do a non-trivial root that hasn't been explored yet. If you manage to be cheaper because you use a different effect or some non-trivial different element, then it is perfect for publication. If you manage to be cheaper, because you ordered your o-rings and screws from a cheaper online shop, then maybe it is not interesting for publication. Anything between I would try to publish: something that seems trivial for you or a gradual improvement, may be surprising or insightful for others.</p>\n\n<p>Two notes:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If it is a commercially viable method, you should really think about to <strong>patent it first before publication</strong>. Even a provisional patent is much better than nothing.</li>\n<li>At the end of the day, if your method will be widely used (because it is cheaper and practical), this will be a highly cited publication, even if you think your improvement is not significant from scientific point of view. Some of the most cited papers of all times are publications on software used in X-ray crystallography. 99.9% of people do not read those papers, do not understand those papers, and it may be that they just announce the implementation. Yet everyone who used them, cites them and do it rightly. So it is always better to publish, and then worry about if people like it.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27500,
"author": "peter",
"author_id": 17246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17246",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Aluminum used to be more valuable than gold or platinum - it was used<sup>1</sup> to cap the Washington Monument partly because of the rarity and value of aluminum back then (it's worth about $50 today). European monarchs would put out aluminum tableware - silver was for the common rich.</p>\n\n<p>The Hall–Héroult process changed all that and made aluminum one of the cheapest metals on the planet.</p>\n\n<p>Most everyone would agree that Hall and Héroult came up with something original, publishable and patentable. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27364",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20861/"
] |
27,377 |
<p>I have been dragged into an argument with someone who can't understand why millions are being raised to fund <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis">ALS</a> research (that's the "ice bucket challenge", love it or hate it). He doesn't get why research costs so much money because - and I genuinely quote - "<strong>it only takes time and effort</strong>".</p>
<p>My first instinct was to say "Are you being serious or just trying to wind me up?". But then I realized that maybe from an outsider's perspective, this might actually be difficult to understand. </p>
<p>So I am asking for points to make when explaining the cost of research to lay people, and how to articulate these points in a way they can identify with them.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27379,
"author": "Oneira",
"author_id": 20371,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20371",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>it only takes time and effort</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think the answer to the question is already there. It takes time and effort. So it means it takes at least the money to pay the people for a long time. And effort means you need a lot of people.</p>\n\n<p>More precisely, for medical research, reagents, animal model, clinical test are really expensive. Many different drugs need to be developed to have only one working in the end. Finally when a drug seems promising, you have to do year-long clinical tests, just to ensure patients safety.</p>\n\n<p>So time and effort == lot of money</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27380,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>People's salaries cost money. Given the overheads of running a business or university, plus the cost of fringe benefits like retirement and health insurance, you can basically double someone's salary to get the full cost of employing them (whether the number is directly charged or comes in through a national healthcare/retirement scheme). If their talent's are in demand, then companies may bid up salaries in order to attract them away from universities in order to try to make a profit on their labors. </p>\n\n<p>STEM talents are in demand. </p>\n\n<p>Therfore, each PhDed person who works on a project costs somewhere between $150,000 and $400,000 (salary is half that, recall) in a broad range of fields relevant to solving problems like ALS or cancer or other diseases.</p>\n\n<p>Research is hard. Most drugs don't pan out, so you need lots of people trying lots of different ones in order to develop some that do work.</p>\n\n<p>Mathematics is cheaper to pursue. That can literally be one person reading and scribbling and talking to colleagues until she has a breakthrough. These folks often get paid primarily to teach, but if they're willing to work on algorithms for companies or the government, then they are worth a lot, so salaries also get bid up.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27381,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it depends totally on the area of study. </p>\n\n<p>Like everybody mentioned already, only the human costs are already relatively high, and equipment for bio sciences is crazy expensive as well.</p>\n\n<p>Let's just make some estimates.</p>\n\n<p>An average neuroscience lab has at least one EEG machine, which for those levels cost between 30 and 70 thousand bucks. You need good computers, which usually range from 1500 to 2500 USD, at least one for each member, in a 5 person group. That is already ~100,000 USD only in basic equipment.</p>\n\n<p>You sometimes need to pay for your space in some universities, like a rent, having access to live animals to do experiments also costs about 2000 bucks per experiment for small animals, larger animals have all sorts of extra costs, I do not know, but having a chimpanzee should be costing a lab well over half a million bucks/ year to maintain and do experiments.</p>\n\n<p>Want an MRA to do functional scanning of the brain, first get a University that has one, also crazy expensive, then pay the rent. </p>\n\n<p>Conferences plus travel expenses is another sizeable chunk.</p>\n\n<p>Thanks to the ripoff that Academic publishing is, Universities pay hefty sums of money to get access to research journals.</p>\n\n<p>All of these costs are not even taking into account salaries for Professors, PostDocs, Grad Students, etc</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27382,
"author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten",
"author_id": 440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm an experimenter, so in addition to the cost of some highly trained people's salaries and benefits and the cost of keeping the lights on and the white boards cleaned there is equipment and consumables.</p>\n\n<p>Some of the equipment is precision kit. Lots of it are produced in small runs because only a few hundred sites in the whole world need that kind of stuff, so there is no economies of scale. Some of the consumables are pretty exotic and cost a whole heck of a lot.</p>\n\n<p>All of this applies perfectly well to the kind of research mentioned in the question, plus they have to deal with human subjects concerns and that doesn't come cheap either.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>And just because I like to talk about my work...</p>\n\n<p>Because I'm in big science, when it come time to stop tinkering around with prototypes and testbeds and get really serious we usually build a <em>one-of-a-kind</em> multi-ton detector with thousands or tens of thousands of instrumented channels. Giga-bytes per day data streams, massive computing infrastructure, hundreds of salaries and travel money.</p>\n\n<p>The question isn't <em>\"Why does it cost so much?\"</em> but <em>\"How do you expect us to get it done with so little?\"</em>. Then we go ahead and try because we're happy to have the chance to do it, even on a \"shoestring\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27403,
"author": "Ubiquitous",
"author_id": 6879,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6879",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Even in purely theoretical fields or fields without expensive lab costs, research is expensive.</p>\n\n<p>I think the root of the problem is that your friend seems to be measuring 'cost per result (e.g. cost to cure ALS)'. Most lay people probably don't understand what it means to learn something <em>truly</em> new about the world. Discovering something new is really, really, <em>really</em> hard—even for very intelligent people (remember Einstein's 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration). Thus, whilst it may be true that \"it only takes time and effort\", the amount of those things needed to achieve even minor progress is huge. To achieve a major breakthrough, like curing a disease or proving a major theorem, might take thousands of scholars working for years or even a century (see, e.g., the Poincaré conjecture).</p>\n\n<p>The cost to achieve one of these major 'results' is indeed large, but that is because they stand among the crowning achievements of mankind.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27417,
"author": "Jonathon Cowley-Thom",
"author_id": 20892,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20892",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The research group that I've been fortunate enough to work with as part of my Masters dissertation (Microelectronics) have recently received funding of £400,000. To me that sounded like an immense amount of money; but then I saw some invoices for how much it costs to repair and maintain the antiquated machinery they're forced to use. </p>\n\n<p>Plus, does your friend really not understand that \"time and effort\" cost money in and of themselves before you even start thinking about equipment and whatnot? Does he think that researchers don't need a salary because they are immune to starvation and the elements? US$1million would pay the salaries of 5 research assistants for 4 years; and those salaries are not exactly generous.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27421,
"author": "stonemetal",
"author_id": 20894,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20894",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would emphasize who's time and effort is involved, and how much of it is involved. It isn't like we have a couple of undergrad research assistants working on the problem so we can pay them next to nothing. ALS research occupies the time of teams of doctors. </p>\n\n<p>Second they seem to be underestimating the type and length of the work involved. It isn't like they can go over to CVS and say I have this prescription for this never before seen drug whip some up for me while I browse the magazine rack, or go to some medical supply store and order a never seen before medical device.</p>\n\n<p>Third, safety protocols, it isn't like they fabricate some new concoction in the lab then go jab it in some guy's arm like they do on TV. It takes a long time because they are actively trying to not kill people, and exercise an abundance of caution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27422,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To deal with this answer more generally, I would insist on using their own argument: <strong><em>nearly everything on earth is just a matter of time and effort.</em></strong> </p>\n\n<p>This includes everything from The Great Pyramids to battleships to cars, books to research, farming to mining. They are all products of the application of effort and time.</p>\n\n<p>The reason things cost money is not mostly because of the raw materials. With most things in life, the raw material is the easy part!</p>\n\n<p>I like farming/gardening as an example. Much of a garden or even a farm can be done with little to no raw materials. You need dirt, sure, but that stuff is everywhere! It isn't always good for growing, but you can fix that with time and effort to till, cultivate, amend with more cheap stuff (waste products and so on). Bugs? Squish them - time and effort. Seed? Harvest it wild, make your own selective cultivation to raise yield - time and effort.</p>\n\n<p>Unlike gardening, though, research isn't growing the same crops over and over again every season. With growing food, it often gets easier each year if you do it right - you learn what works and what doesn't, the soil can be made more fertile. But with research, once you have your product you don't get to just repeat the same process again and call it good. That wouldn't bring about a publishable result - no one cares if you \"discover electricity for the 40th time.\"</p>\n\n<p>When research is easy and quick, it gets done easily and quickly, and then there is no reason to do it again. The low hanging fruit gets picked, and it doesn't grow back!</p>\n\n<p>Therefore, we can expect research to get harder as we as a society learn more - more time, more effort per discovery is required. This means research should only get more and more expensive, while making and growing stuff should get cheaper and cheaper. Economics (research!) is more complicated than this of course.</p>\n\n<p>So let's talk about what else costs money. 'Stuff', raw materials, do cost money. Research needs labs and offices, electricity/fuel, and most need all sorts of special equipment and apparatus. Medical labs need stupid amounts of these, and everything costs so much money because research is picky - poisoning someone with an injection because you didn't spring for that stupidly expensive \"approved\" beaker instead of using a $1 drinking glass from the second-hand store that wasn't resistant to the chemical regents you used is generally frowned upon.</p>\n\n<p>And if a person thinks human time and effort should be free and people should not ask anything in exchange for their life dedication and work - why in blue blazes are you still talking with this person? Suddenly, a relevant XKCD:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/4pTBj.jpg\" alt=\"Unless that person is a Senator\"></p>\n\n<p>And if the Senator seriously thinks medical research - or any research - should be cheap or free...well, good luck to you in your noble fight, friend.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27425,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Beyond the cost of lab spaces, researchers, guinea pigs, machinery, and raw materials, I would like to add a few costs caused or worsened by the lack of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_science\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">open science</a> (a great <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWocYKqvhw\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">TED video about open science</a> if you aren't familiar with it):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Paid access to research articles</strong>. In addition to preventing the general public from having easy access to and contributing, it has two main consequences: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Universities must pay some insane amount of money to access publications, typically <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/29923/452\">a few millions USD yearly</a>.</li>\n<li>Even the most highly-ranked universities don't have access to all articles (far from it), which mean researchers sometimes waste time to try to get access to some papers. </li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><strong>Data sets unavailability or price</strong>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Unavailability: researchers sometime have to create their own data sets or abandon project ideas due to the unwillingness of others to share their data sets, because sharing data set might mean wasting some publication opportunities.</li>\n<li>Price: some researchers do share their data set, but but not free. For example, in the natural language processing community some of the key data sets are only available on the Linguistic Data Consortium website, which charges download.</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><strong>Unreleased source code</strong>. Many publications don't share their source code that was used for the article. A couple of reasons might explain the behavior: just like for data set, access to source code gives an edge over other researchers, who will have a harder time improving, amending, etc, the article. Also, the source code might be badly written and researchers can be embarrassed about it. It might be a way to avoid other people finding bugs in your code that invalidates some of your results. I asked <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/24490/452\">Are there any journals or conferences that take into account the availability and the quality of the source code when selecting the papers to publish?</a> one day, even in 2014 it is hard to find... Also, see <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/29137/452\">reference on availability of source code used in computer science research articles</a>: \"in computer science systems, out of 410 papers that were analyzed, only 85 has a link to source in the paper\". </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Too many articles due to overreliance on bibliometrics</strong> to assess researchers (grants, promotions, etc.), which push researchers to over-publish. I sometimes feel that I am a documentalist, trying to navigate my way through myriads of papers that are written in some unnecessarily complicated way with barely any contribution.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Lack of good, widely-used platforms to publicly comments on existing articles</strong>. E.g. if something is unclear in an article and a researcher spent his morning to understand, there is no good platform for him to leave a comment to help other future readers who will have the same understanding issue.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_bias\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Publication bias</a></strong>, which results from the fact that positive results have a much higher chance to be published than negative findings. This slows down research too: see the article <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1182327/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Why Most Published Research Findings Are False</a> or the TED video: <a href=\"http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_what_doctors_don_t_know_about_the_drugs_they_prescribe\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Ben Goldacre: What doctors don't know about the drugs they prescribe</a> (really worth watching if you don't know the extent of the problem). </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Page limit of the articles</strong> inherited from the Middle age where articles were printed and distributed through paper form (and charged $30 per article, without any dime going to the authors' pockets). This forces authors to chop off some of the information they would have liked to convey. How many times did you wonder how the authors performed some mathematical derivation? How many times did you wonder which parameters did the experimentalists used?</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All these inefficiencies cost money too. E.g. <a href=\"http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001747\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">How to Make More Published Research True</a>: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Currently, many published research findings are false or exaggerated,\n and <strong>an estimated 85% of research resources are wasted</strong>. (in biomedical research)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Some <a href=\"http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/02/13/publication-bias.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">key points</a> from the TED video <a href=\"http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_what_doctors_don_t_know_about_the_drugs_they_prescribe\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Ben Goldacre: What doctors don't know about the drugs they prescribe</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Former drug company researcher Glenn Begley looked at 53 papers in the\n world's top journals, and found that he and a team of scientists could\n NOT replicate 47 of the 53 published studies — all of which were\n considered important and valuable for the future of cancer treatments.</p>\n \n <p>Half of all clinical trials ever completed on the medical treatments\n currently in use have never been published in the medical literature.\n Trials with positive results for the test treatment are about twice as\n likely to be published, and this applies to both academic research and\n industry studies.> </p>\n \n <p>In 2010, three researchers from Harvard and Toronto identified all the\n published trials for five major classes of drugs, and then measured\n two key features: Were they positive, and were they funded by\n industry? Out of a total of 500 trials, 85 percent of the\n industry-funded studies were positive, compared to 50 percent of the\n government-funded trials.</p>\n \n <p>According to a 2011 study in the Journal of Medical Ethics,4 nearly 32\n percent of retracted papers were not noted as having been retracted by\n the journal in question, leaving the readers completely in the dark\n about the inaccuracies in those studies.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27427,
"author": "Martin Thoma",
"author_id": 4092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4092",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One part of the answer that was not mentioned so far is that <strong>highly skilled people want to get paid good</strong>. Or to phrase it differently: You will not find people with the skills you need to do research without paying them accordingly. Especially for pharmacy / medical studies you need a lot of man-hours of people who probably made a PhD at university. They spend a lot of their money to get to this point and they want to get paid accordingly.</p>\n\n<p>As those studies require - as already mentioned - a lot of time, you need to pay a lot of expensive man-hours.</p>\n\n<h2>Some numbers</h2>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The median education debt for indebted medical school graduates in 2012 was $170,000, and 86 percent of graduates report having education debt. Specifically the 2012 the median debt at graduation was $160,000 at public institutions and $190,000 at private institutions. (Source: <a href=\"http://gradschool.about.com/od/medicalschool/f/MedSchoolCost.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">How Much Does Medical School Cost?</a>)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27431,
"author": "Dancrumb",
"author_id": 20830,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20830",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could put in perspective by comparing it to other ventures.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, running Walmart \"cost\" around <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart\">$450bn last year</a>. Running IBM cost <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM\">$115bn last year</a>. Running Pfizer cost around <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer\">$20bn last year</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Now, compare this to the cost of finding the Higgs boson: around <a href=\"http://www.ibtimes.com/forbes-finding-higgs-boson-cost-1325-billion-721503\">~$13.25bn over the total time taken</a>. Hubble: around <a href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/499224main_JWST-ICRP_Report-FINAL.pdf\">$10bn up to 2010</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Scientific research is not cheap, but it's way cheaper than running a business and has much wider reaching impacts. What sticks in people's minds is that the money comes from \"funding\" and \"charity\" and that strikes them as \"waste\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27439,
"author": "Superbest",
"author_id": 244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Research does not necessarily cost a lot of money. Even today, some areas such as literature, philosophy and theoretical mathematics (non-computational) literally cost only as much as a desk, pen and paper. In theory. In practice, as many have already pointed out, even in these fields it can make sense to do a little cost-time trade-off.</p>\n\n<p>But what about the other fields? Since the question is about ALS, I will focus on more technology-heavy fields. I will also try to explain more the barriers to making the same research cost less, rather than try to guess what that particular researcher's budget was.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>You need to be associated with a university or institute, and they take a big cut out of your funding.</strong> A vast bulk of research is done by university professors. While on the face, you might think that such institute-affiliated researchers take a monthly salary, and then get money from the government on top to spend on their research, that isn't quite true. When you receive a grant, the university or institute takes a large amount of this, eg. 50% or even 80%. Part of this is probably just taken because the president wants a nice house. But it also pays for the electricity in your office, the electron microscope everyone gets to use, the salary of the janitor, the salary of the health and safety people whose approval is required by law for you to obtain restricted research chemicals, etc. You could save a lot of money by not being a university affiliated researcher, but you can't just up and go and do research from your garage - you must deal with a lot of bureaucracy unless you want to get fined or jailed, and you lose the very important benefit of easily being able to eat lunch with leading scientists and talk to them about science.</li>\n<li><strong>Materials are expensive.</strong> Others have explained in detail why consumables (chemicals, enzymes, single use sterile tools such as petri dishes) are expensive. A lot of these you could in theory make yourself. I know many biology labs who eschew modern kits and still use DIY methods from decades ago to save money - but it's a lot of work and introduces a lot of risk for error. Even then, some crucial reagents are simply impossible to manufacture if you don't have a large chemical plant. Think by analogy to computers: You can do a lot with DIY electronics, but nobody is going to be building an i7 out of scrap metal in their garage.</li>\n<li><strong>Equipment is very expensive.</strong> Even the simplest biological research equipment tends to run from thousands of dollars to hundred of thousands or even millions. Even something as basic as a centrifuge can run you <a href=\"http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/cls6758?lang=en&region=US\">two grand</a>, and you cannot do any molecular biology without one. If you want to do sequence based research (absolutely necessary for ALS), either you must buy a <a href=\"http://www.labx.com/v2/adsearch/detail3.cfm?adnumb=516494\">very expensive sequencer</a> or you must pay someone to run samples on theirs.</li>\n<li><strong>Scientists need to eat.</strong> Research isn't a hobby, it's a full-time job. Perhaps the professor's salary gets paid by the university - but often grad students and postdocs are paid from the grant money. All these people must be paid a salary, otherwise their landlord will kick them out and they will starve. It would be ridiculous to expect someone with a 40-hour job to do a few hours of research every weekend and get somewhere.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>With ALS and biology in particular, there are also some \"soft\" factors contributing to research costs: Firstly \"big data\" and high-throughput studies are currently in vogue, and both require expensive, specialized systems. Second, it is getting harder and harder to find problems that aren't expensive to solve.</p>\n\n<p>There are many studies which can be done for a $10.000 in reagents (which isn't a lot, other costs notwithstanding) over 1-3 years. Many labs already do this. But not every lab is this lucky.</p>\n\n<p>What happens if your disease has hundreds of variants which must be characterized by spending thousands on genotyping (it costs a few hundred per person, to cover things like cost of manufacturing the genotyping chip, cost of chemically preparing the sample, salary of people who do the specialized genotyping, and the profit margin of the genotyping company)? What happens if the protein that causes the disease must be purified using an extremely expensive chemical? What happens if the aberration that causes the disease is so microscopic, that you need a million dollar microscope to see it? What happens when the thing you study turns out to be so complex, that only a supercomputer (which are very expensive to have or use) can hope to make sense of the data? What happens when you are studying a very dangerous pathogen that will kill you unless you have a <a href=\"http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/4315093\">$100 million</a> BSL-4 lab that takes <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091111/full/462146a.html\">$2 million</a> every year to maintain?</p>\n\n<p>What's worse is that biology has been around for quite some time, and a lot of the questions that are \"cheap\" to answer have already been answered by someone else. Problems like ALS, which have stayed unsolved for decades, are unsolved for a reason: Sometimes it's just because nobody happened to be clever enough to come up with the right idea, but a lot of the time it's because the scale of research needed to attack them was prohibitively expensive. Now technology has advanced, and it is no longer prohibitive, but still expensive (meanwhile the technology affording that discount is itself not cheap).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>it only takes time and effort</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Certainly not. There is some research to which this applies in a trivial way, but a lot of important research is practically impossible without using the technological infrastructure built over the centuries of human history, and using that infrastructure is rarely free.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Why does research cost so much money?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>How much does he think it should cost? Based on the quote, I suspect it is $0. That's not gonna happen.</p>\n\n<p>It costs what it costs because that's what it costs. If you can come up with your own budget for a given study that is much smaller, yet still makes it feasible, go ahead. But just writing numbers on paper and asking why it doesn't cost this much is wishful thinking. You don't go to the car store and tell the guy you think his Ferrari \"ought\" to cost $32.27 because that's how much cash you happen to have in your pocket.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>points to make when explaining the cost of research to lay people</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The condensed version of the above is: Even smart people sometimes cannot solve a problem without buying expensive things. You cannot study moon rocks without buying an expensive rocket to go to the moon. You cannot study what's inside the atom without buying an expensive atom smasher. You cannot test a cancer drug if you don't have expensive cancer cell cultures to test it on.</p>\n\n<p>Science is not just sitting around in a room and philosophizing. You must also do experiments. The experiment's set up can sometimes get involved and complicated. Observing the outcome of the experiment can require specialized sensors or measurement tools. Processing the data gathered can require state of the art supercomputers.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>how to articulate these points in a way that they can identify with them.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\"You get what you pay for.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27470,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The other answers address the cost of actual research extensively enough, but there are, sadly, other aspects to consider. </p>\n\n<p>Academic research is, for the majority, funded by the government. That means that, although I have a high opinion of some government funding agencies, <strong>the decisions on how to spend the money is often political</strong>. As any other government organization, members of academia work in a loop to protect their interests and privileges.</p>\n\n<p>As a result, in addition to the natural amount of effort and money spent on endeavors and projects that turn out to be dead ends (these are actually useful to research as they rule out possibilities), there is a tremendous amount of money lost in generating heat.</p>\n\n<p>It's frequent to see faculty being hired because they are the spouse of another faculty, or because they have social traits that contribute to the 'diversity', grants being attributed hoping that the awardee will return the favor, funding being attributed to people on the basis of the number of publications instead of the quality of them (even more so now with the open-access movement and the subsequent logarithmic raise in paper count), etc. Not to mention cases (e.g. in medicine, socio-economics, history) where funding goes to promote the political agenda of the governing majority.</p>\n\n<p>At the end I think at least a good third of academic research is either marginally incremental, frankly redundant or even completely bogus. </p>\n\n<p>It should be noted that while these sums ('millions!') seem huge to us, the amount of money spent in academic research is typically a fraction of the government's budget.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27474,
"author": "kleineg",
"author_id": 10637,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10637",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First think about all of the other challenging and expensive endeavors we do. Running a business, building a bridge (or writing a computer program)... these were all done before by someone else. And if you are looking to build a bridge you are probably reading a book titled something like \"how to build a bridge\" and written by the last person to attempt what you are wanting to do.</p>\n\n<p>Research involves solving problems that are open, there is no book to read because it has not been done before. Now, you can gather a lot of materials from this person over here that had one idea that helps you, and that person over there. But these scattered resources are harder to find (I.E. in academia) and at the end of the day <em>you</em> are the one who needs to put it all together and build the very first bridge in existence.</p>\n\n<p>Now do us all a favor and put a whole bunch more money into safety testing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27577,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is well explained by an American expression: \"Time is money.\"</p>\n\n<p>You have to pay \"people\" for their time. And these are not random people, but highly trained and paid researchers making salaries, typically in the top 20-30 per cent of the population.</p>\n\n<p>Also, such researchers normally have to be supported on most projects by \"advanced\" scientific equipment, which also costs a lot of money.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27579,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One point to make is to realize that what is \"so much\" is a very relative term. If you see value in what is being produced then the cost may seem small and definitely \"worth it\". If you do not see the value, then of course the result is the opposite. It would be possible to go through, for example, public expenditures in government budgets and argue for military costs, for social benefit schemes, public health, public schools etc. and find similar disagreements. </p>\n\n<p>It is becoming popular in certain political circles to want research to be directly translated into profits within a short time span. Although there of course is nothing wrong with gaining profitable results many discoveries have only yielded such results long after the timing of the discovery. The spin-offs from discoveries are also often realized once the basic research has been done, for example as a result from unexpected discoveries. As the saying goes, \"If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't be science\".</p>\n\n<p>Hence, I think the view of \"cost so much\" is either a lack of perspective, or insight, or simply not finding the progress of any value. Having this view point is certainly valid but as many responses have already discussed, one must then argue what costs should or could be reduced. </p>\n\n<p>To call research inefficient is not sufficient. We can see that certain problems can be solved if sufficient finances are supplied over a sufficient period, take the US space program to put a person on the moon as an example. But, was that a cheap project? Obviously for some but not to others.</p>\n\n<p>If no time or effort was spent on anything, life would remain simple but hardly bearable, provided our intellectual development would occur spontaneously.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 81606,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, in academia most of the funds go into salaries and I feel like people who never employed anyone just don't know how expensive this is. Here in Austria 3 years of PhD cost the university around 110 000€ and a Postdoc (the more experienced researchers) is around 200 000€. So if you got 2 PhD Students and a PostDoc working for 3 years, and that's not a very large Project, it's around 420 000€ just salaries, but nothing happened yet. </p>\n\n<p>Now the other costs depend very much on the research topic and field, but in Chemistry you need to buy chemicals and also other supplies. They might be expensive or cheap, but for such a project you might have another 100 000€ of budget. keep in mind, that's only around 900€ a month for every researcher. Now I don't know if this would be a lot or not for something not familiar with Chemistry and I have to agree, that's not a bad budget but also not extremly large.</p>\n\n<p>Let's say that's it for this project and we don't need any new equipment or something like that. But now, at least in my country, there's also what they call \"overhead\", another 20% of that what's in the budget right now goes to the university. Why? Because they provide the infrastructure (HR people, non-scientific personell, electricity, equipment, labspace,...) which of course also produces cost. So this rather small project would be around 624 000€ with nearly 70% (420 000) just salaries.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 81616,
"author": "David",
"author_id": 62652,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62652",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Apparently your friend who says \"it only takes time and effort\" has never seen the proof that time=money. Since effort=time, it's clear that time=effort=money.</p>\n\n<p>In my field (computer science), grant support for a middling-size research project might last five years and provide support for two PI's, a postdoc, and two to four graduate students. Let's look at an example personnel budget. Note- you can find lots of NSF or NIH sample budgets online that illuminate this further.</p>\n\n<p>Assume both PI's ask for two months of summer support per year. If their base salary is $90,000 for a nine-month contract, then their base monthly salary is $10,000. Thus, if they both ask for two months, then that's $40,000 per year in base salary for the PI's.</p>\n\n<p>Then you add on PI fringe benefits costs. This money provides benefits like health care. Different universities have different fringe rates. But, let's say that our rate is 15%. Then we have an additional $40,000*.15 = $6,000 per year.</p>\n\n<p>Postdocs are similar, but they're paid full time to do research. They might have a base salary of $55,000 per year. Then their fringe benefits are $8250</p>\n\n<p>Now let's talk grad students. Let's say we have three graduate students. Each graduate student has a monthly stipend of $2,500- or $30,000 each / $90,000 combined per year. Then you charge fringe on those students, which is going to be slightly less, say 10%. Thus, the fringe for all three per year is $9,000.</p>\n\n<p>These are all the \"direct salary costs\". To recap, we have:</p>\n\n<pre><code> Salary + Fringe:\nPI 1: $20,000 + $3,000\nPI 2: $20,000 + $3,000\nPostdoc: $55,000 + $8,250\nGrad 1: $30,000 + $3,000\nGrad 2: $30,000 + $3,000\nGrad 3: $30,000 + $3,000\n--------------------------\nTotal: $185,000 + $23,250 = $208,250 per year\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>But, these are only the direct costs. All grants also include what are called \"indirect costs\", which are paid to the university and go towards things like building maintenance, utilities, and non-research-staff salaries. A pretty normal indirect cost rate is 50%. So then we also have:</p>\n\n<pre><code>Indirect Costs = 0.5 * Direct Costs\n$104,125 = 0.5 * $208,250\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Finally, our total yearly cost:</p>\n\n<pre><code>Total Cost = Direct Costs + Indirect Costs\n$312,375 = $208,250 + $104,125\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Just like when you go to the grocery and just throw stuff in the basket, it adds up a lot quicker than you think. Notice that all of this is just to support six people per year (two PhD PI's, one PhD postdoc, and three grad students). And this is just counting salaries, it doesn't include other costs like equipment, publication fees, or travel. </p>\n\n<p>The salary-only cost for a three year project under the above would be $937,125. The salary-only cost for a five year project would be $1,561,875. Note that the actual costs would be slightly higher in real life because of things like pay raises and cost of living adjustments. </p>\n\n<p>If you consider published papers to be the basic unit of academic research, then suppose that this project turns out 8 papers per year (which is reasonable but optimistic). The cost per published paper is then a little over $39,000 per paper. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27377",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20011/"
] |
27,385 |
<p>To make things simple, I am asking whether the rebuttal letter is starting with </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dear Editor and Reviewers</p>
</blockquote>
<p>or </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dear Reviewers</p>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27393,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally you address all letters to the editor (she/he is the contact person!) and if any part of your letter is relevant to a review, than you address them, too. In practice generally t means that in the main header I address on the editor, and when I answer the reviewers, I address them there. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27394,
"author": "Dmitry Savostyanov",
"author_id": 17418,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17418",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One thing to do is to write two documents:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>a short letter to the Editor, summarizing your rebuttal in a few sentences;</li>\n<li>a detailed Answer to Reviewers, including line-by-line response to all comments and suggestions of the Referees.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Note that the Editor not necessarily has enough time to read through all the detailed response him/her-self, but the presence of this document re-assures that the discussion between Authors and Referees is going in the right direction. If you experience problems addressing Referees' questions, or disagree with them significantly, you should mention this in the letter to the Editor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27396,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I usually address the editor since I don't ever communicate with the reviewers. However, I thank them for the report in the first sentence of the letter. I think that this corresponds well to the way how reports are written, because they are impersonal as well (they don't begin with <em>Dear authors</em>).</p>\n\n<p>However, In my opinion, while one should keep a good level of politeness, your paper won't be treated any better or worse if you write <em>Dear Editor and Reviewers</em> or just <em>Dear Editor</em>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27454,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The traditional review process is a communication between the editor, who have solicited reviewers to obtain critical peer review of the manuscript, and the author. As such you should respond to the editor and provide a response to the review comments by the reviewers. It is not likely the reviewers will see your response unless they agreed to re-review your revised version of the manuscript.</p>\n\n<p>Open review processes are gaining ground where the entire review process is open to the public. The Open Access publisher Copernicus has such a system where anyone can leave comments to the authors. The handling editor will also appoint official reviewers who's reviews will be posted publicly. In such a system the response to the reviewers (official reviewers as well as other who have left comments will also be posted publicly. In such a case the letter can be directed both to the editor and the reviewers since at least part of the review process has the form of a public discussion (Copernicus also calls their manuscript \"Discussions\".</p>\n\n<p>So in the traditional sense all communications will be with the editor but in the case of public discussion format review processes, the letter can be directed also to reviewers.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27385",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20877/"
] |
27,408 |
<p>Which section of a research paper should be written first? When I finally finish my analysis I begin to write the Methods section and the Results section. That is the first "block" of my writing. After that, I discuss it with co-authors (they are of course involved in the analysis, but at this stage they have the real results, graphs, and tables) and co-workers. Only after that do I begin to write the Discussion section and the Introduction. Is that right or is it better to write it in a different order? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27409,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There's no 'right' order. Starting where you feel able to do so is far better than not getting started. I usually write lots of sections concurrently, or start writing and work out what the sections are later.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, it will make your life somewhat easier if you can work roughly in order of dependencies, so you don't have to keep changing what you wrote earlier. From example, it might be helpful to write out some of your notation before you start using it. The introduction will often come late in the process for this reason. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27410,
"author": "DCTLib",
"author_id": 7390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7390",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This almost exclusively depends on the personal taste and habits of you and your co-authors.</p>\n\n<p>There are different types of writers and different types of projects. The order of writing has to be suitable for these. If you and your co-authors are absolutely certain that what you did already makes a nice and complete paper story, then writing the methodology and results first makes sense - you can adapt the introduction accordingly then. However, if the final scope of the paper is not 100% fixed already, writing the introduction first makes sense, so you can check whether your project-so-far actually reads complete. The literature review may then have some impact on your methodology section, so that you can make the distinction to previous work very clear.</p>\n\n<p>Edit-as-you-go style writers may also want to write the introduction first so that what is written so far is always in a clean state. For others (\"binge writers\" and writers that iteratively refine detailed plans) it may not really matter again, so the properties of the project can dictate the order of writing.</p>\n\n<p>There is a plethora of literature on successful academic writing, and different books will advise different approaches, so there is probably no unique answer to the question.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27413,
"author": "Penguin_Knight",
"author_id": 6450,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6450",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would just like to address this comment from the TC:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Everything is OK, I just heard one conversation that without a written\n hypothesis and proper literature review no one should start to write\n an article. I thing that this part belongs to the Introduction but it\n is possible to have it only in mind when I actually writing a paper\n and put it on it later. I´ve been just curious, how other people\n writing their papers.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The order Method > Results > Discussion > Introduction (let's call this the MRDI method) is extremely common in my field (biomedical). From what I can tell there is nothing wrong with it, though your comments are certainly worth discussing.</p>\n\n<p><strong>It's important to distinguish between conceptualizing and writing</strong></p>\n\n<p>Generally, the path from concept to manuscript is not linear or singular. Some phenomenon, questions, or challenges might have sparked us to gather some evidence and perform a hypothesis test. At that stage we might not have writing an introduction, but we would have already known the big three in the introduction section: what is known, what is not, and how can our work help here. So, in a way, your quoted comment seems to have mixed up \"research\" and \"writing.\" Yes, we may not have the introduction written first, but the big picture is already conceptualized, and recorded in some form not necessarily as a manuscript.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Hypothesis integrated analysis plan</strong></p>\n\n<p>As for the comment on written hypothesis. Again, I think the speaker mixed up \"research\" and \"writing\" or he/she was speaking to a group of very new science students. In my field, all analyses were based on hypotheses, and all procedures are predetermined. In a sense, if we come up with any results, it's already implied that hypothesis setting and analysis planning have already been completed.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Don't fuss over the real \"order\"</strong></p>\n\n<p>Personal experience: Don't sit down and think \"Okay, I am going to write the Discussion section and nothing else!\" When write, just let your thoughts flow, if later the materials deem more appropriate to be moved to Introduction, so be it.</p>\n\n<p>Same goes for Results section. Some people were very disciplinary about not to interpret any findings in the Results section. But I just write whatever I want in the draft, and then parse out the interpretive parts later. For me, thoughts are thoughts, they just come out like a chain of... sausages of different stuffing, for the lack of a better analogue. After I am done, I'll then go back to cut them up and categorize them. As time goes on I am getting better at churning out sausages of similar stuffing in one chain, but I have no desire to compartment my thought process like how writers compartment a research article.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27408",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19803/"
] |
27,411 |
<p>I have seen that the Scimago Journal Rank make a rank of journals that cover different topics and classified them into quartiles. For what I know conferences also made their proceedings books, but I was dubious if they could be compared agains journals like Scimago does. </p>
<p>I say this because I believe that journals have most ot the time a higher impact than conferences, and compare them side to side (journals and conference proceedings) it is not such a good idea.</p>
<p>The question that I have is if Scimago could be a good way to rank a conference impact, and also if there is another computer science conference ranking that uses the same quartile calculus as Scimago?</p>
<p>Any help?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27676,
"author": "BIOStheZerg",
"author_id": 14066,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14066",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This depends a lot on particular area. In some areas, proceedings of the best conferences are comparable with decent journals, while in others conferences are more social events. Computer Science in general is more a conference-oriented area, so proceedings usually have decent impact.</p>\n\n<p>To check it in particular subarea, if you have access to Scopus (other services probably have similar features), try the Analyze Journals tool, to compare some conferences and journals in your field. In my case (Computer Vision), the top conferences are beaten only by the top journals.</p>\n\n<p>For more info on different habits in different subareas I recommend:\n<em>Wainer, Eckmann, Goldenstein, Rocha: How Productivity and Impact Differ Across Computer Science Subareas. Communications of the ACM, 2013.</em></p>\n\n<p>edit: <strong>I just re-read your question and noticed your actual answer was about something else. There I can point you again to Scopus (which has both journals and top conferences) and their SJR/SNIP...</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34875,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is Scimago a good way to rank conference impact?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h2>No. It isn't.</h2>\n\n<p>At best, Scimago is a good way to obtain a modified \"PageRank\" of a publication in the graph of citations between Scopus-indexed publications in a three-year window, with each citation weighted by the similarity of the citing and cited publications, as measured by their common citation profiles.</p>\n\n<p>Even if you accept that Scimago's abstruse formula is an accurate indicator of \"impact\"—which is debatable for numerous reasons—neither the raw citation data nor the precise definition of \"cocitation profile\" (on which the formula depends) are available to independently verify Scimago's rankings.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, a few spot checks suggests that Scimago's coverage of major computer science conferences is spotty, and that the data it extracts from those conferences (even for relatively straightforward things like \"number of citeable documents\") is not particularly accurate.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27411",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144/"
] |
27,415 |
<p>At my Czech university where I study computer science (but I believe math and physics are organized the same way here), most courses have both lectures (professor presenting the topic to a large class) and "seminars" (TA giving exercises and homework to a smaller class).</p>
<p>I believe courses at US universities have different structure and that the term <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminar#Universities">"seminar"</a> has different meaning. But there has to be something like our "seminars", right? What is it called? How does it look like?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27416,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is often called a \"<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitation#Academic_recitation\">recitation section</a>\". </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27418,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally these are referred to as \"labs\" or \"discussion\" sections, as opposed to the \"lecture\" session. </p>\n\n<p>Giving an example from computer science, it is not uncommon for there to be a lecture session where the instructor (such as the professor) talks about the material, takes questions, etc. Then there is often a lab session, often held in a computer lab, where students can work on hands-on assignments, homework, and course projects. These can be staffed by the instructor/professor or by student teaching assistants, or held as an open lab where the room is reserved but no one conducts the session - students come and go and work as they please.</p>\n\n<p>In fields of communication, philosophy, and history, it is common that this lab session is replaced by a discussion session. The lecture is often of a mass variety, where the professor gives the talk to hundreds of students at a time. During the discussion session the professor or a student teaching assistant holds discussions, readings, gives out assignments, and various other similar tasks.</p>\n\n<p>In physics and biology, again there is often a lecture or mass lecture held by the professor, then sometimes both lab and discussion sessions may be held. Again the staffing and locations vary, but the general theme is the same.</p>\n\n<p>I have personally experienced these in a number of institutions in the US in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, philosophy, history, communications, art, computer science, and psychology...so it certainly seems to be a very common pattern.</p>\n\n<p>These non-lecture sections are almost always of a less-populated variety as well. If the class only has 20-30 students total, then the lab sections are of the same size. If the class is over 30, I have usually experienced lab and discussion sessions to be smaller, with as little as 12-20 students maximum - but this usually varies by room and lab availability and subject, and thus will vary by University, department, and subject.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27419,
"author": "nivag",
"author_id": 14115,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14115",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the Uk at least there are often tutorials which sound similar to what you describe. They consist of a small group of approx. 4-5 students with one tutor (generally a professor/lecturer/post-doc). The aim is to do exercises and go through problems the students are having with the course. Also you are often set homework for the tutorials.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know how common this system is in other parts of the world.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27442,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a variation on Bill Barth's answer, at my last institution, the local jargon was simply to refer to these class meetings as <em>section</em>. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I can't solve this homework problem, I'll ask my TA about it in section.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It may have been short for <em>recitation section</em> but I don't believe I ever heard the longer form. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27463,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 6984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6984",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At the institutions I've attended and taught at, these have been called \"section\" (I've never heard \"recitation section\"), \"tutorial\", \"discussion section\", \"TA session\"/\"TA section\", \"lab\", \"small group\", and \"studio\".</p>\n\n<p>Of these \"discussion section\" was the most common and, at my BA and PhD institutions, the official title for it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27415",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/323/"
] |
27,420 |
<p>This question is related to <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5236/how-to-improve-myself-as-a-lecturer">How to improve myself as a lecturer?</a>. However, being a PhD student, my main teaching obligation is leading recitations, i.e. sessions for groups of ~20 students that take place each week after a lecture and the content of the lecture should be revised mostly via exercises.</p>
<p>If you do not use the term "recitation session", please see a related question:
<a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27415/what-is-the-equivalent-of-european-seminar-in-us-universities">What is the equivalent of European "seminar" in US universities?</a></p>
<p>At my university (Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Czech Republic), in the mathematics/theoretical computer science classes, usually you have a 90 minute class where the recitation teacher reminds students of what was said in the lecture, hands out or writes exercises, and then, in shorter blocks, students go through the exercises and one student shows the solutions on a blackboard.</p>
<p>I'm not very fond of this structure and I would like to improve my classes with ideas that I cannot find at my university (where we usually do things the aforementioned way).</p>
<p>Some ideas that I've had in my previous years, which you can judge effectiveness of:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>handing out "cheat sheets" containing the entire course notes (with compact proofs) beforehand: usually useful, as lecturers rarely have such compact notes beforehand, but very time consuming.</p></li>
<li><p>trying to ask each student how he is faring and offer personal advice: when I was a student, I preferred this model, but it takes a lot of time to go around 20 people and shortly talk to each one; my students (in an exit questionnaire) argued that they want more exercises done per class, so time is of the essence.</p></li>
<li><p>allow group work during a class -- this seems natural to me (science is mostly done in groups) but often results in people not being able to perform as well in final exams. Plus I am not yet sure how to allow groupwork so that groups don't delegate the work to the one enthusiastic student in the group.</p></li>
<li><p>use text questionnaires through and after a session to find out what students would like; I am very happy with the information in those and will use those in the future but students of one university tend to suggest improvements which they have noticed at the same university (especially where it is expected to go to one university for the 3-year Bc. and 2-year Master's).</p></li>
<li><p>filming yourself (as was suggested in the lecturer's question) is definitely a valid option but I feel it won't help me as much with recitations, especially since (I believe) there are not many great recitation sessions publicly available on the internet.</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27496,
"author": "Jake Kaupp",
"author_id": 20903,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20903",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've been leading tutorials (much like your recitation sessions) and studio based learning sessions for 7 years as a TA, and have been teaching as a professor for 2 years. An effective way to improve teaching, at least for me, has been a keen interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Through delving into research I've radically changed my own viewpoint of what it means to be a teacher, and deepened my understanding as to how learning works.</p>\n\n<p>In my own teaching, I try to structure my classes around student centred, active-learning principles. I act more as a facilitator of learning, and have students actively discuss and work to achieve the objectives for a class. Rather than overtly lecture on a principle, I'll prepare readings for the students ahead of time then in the session have students discuss and reinforce the key elements of a principle through a realistic application, usually in small groups. They will all present their work and then discuss their approach and its merits. </p>\n\n<p>The above example is only one small and, to be honest, quite vague example of more active learning. The key is that the focus and effort should be on and from the student. There are many, many more great examples and other evidence-based effective teaching methods out there. One fantastic resource that I routinely read and recommend is:</p>\n\n<p>Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., & Lovett, M. C. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. [Link to this book on <a href=\"http://books.google.com/books?id=gu5qpi5aFDkC&lpg=PP1&dq=How%20Learning%20Works%3A%20Seven%20Research-Based%20Principles%20for%20Smart%20Teaching&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false\" rel=\"nofollow\">Google Books</a> and <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0470484101\" rel=\"nofollow\">Amazon]</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27624,
"author": "Adrienne",
"author_id": 13729,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13729",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've taught Biology discussion sections, and trained graduate students to teach. I'm a biology education researcher, so I am familiar with studies that measure student learning in different environments. I'd summarize good teaching as follows:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Find the student misconceptions.\nIf you are good at your subject, you likely have not struggled to learn it. Your biggest mystery is what do students not understand. Unfortunately, students don't have the meta-awareness to tell you, so you'll need to figure the misconceptions out together, at least for the first run-through of the course.</p></li>\n<li><p>Show students their misconceptions.\nBecause students don't know what they don't know, they often feel like they understand material that they actually do not. When you show them they don't understand, they are more eager to fix the problem.</p></li>\n<li><p>Give students an opportunity to learn.\nYour class activities will indeed include a lot of group work, because discussing a problem, asking questions and answering them keeps everyone improving right at the sticky points. The big secret to group work so that everyone stays busy? Groups must be only 2 or 3 students. And you'll be walking around and asking the quiet students what they have figured out, so there is no slacking.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Here is an example of how to make this work. It's copied from <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26219/what-to-do-in-recitation/26243#26243\">an earlier answer of mine</a>.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Look over the problem set the night before, and determine the easy ones from the hard ones. </li>\n<li>When students arrive, tell them to start work on a difficult problem. Plan on giving them 5-10 minutes -- whatever they need until many of them slow down. Walk around as they work and just see how they choose to work. </li>\n<li>After several are stuck, have them get into groups of three and compare their techniques and what they found difficult. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>(note: students hate group work because it is more painful than just listening. Most classes will try not getting into groups, or not really talking, just to see if they can get out of it. A cheerful forcefulness works well on American students)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Walk around again and ask questions like, \"Tell me how far you are. Can you show me a part that is difficult? Can you get out your lecture notes and find the section relevant to this problem?\" </li>\n<li>Usually at this point you will see a sticky point that more than one student is wrestling with. Now is a great time to pull everyone's attention back to the front of the room and you can work through that problem (or one similar) and answer questions for 5-10 minutes. </li>\n<li>Have students return to the problem and complete it. Then they can do a similar problem on their own to reinforce. </li>\n<li>Move on to the next topic and assign a new, difficult problem.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As you can see, this process shows both you and the students what they don't understand, and provides space and motivation to fix the problem. Because you're visiting the groups, they must produce. </p>\n\n<p>Things I wouldn't recommend for a recitation:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Making course notes or a study guide. Students should be making their own.</li>\n<li>More lecturing</li>\n<li>Questionnaires are fine, but again, students don't know what they don't know</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>We've actually posted an example of discussion work for biology here: <a href=\"http://vimeo.com/33801546\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://vimeo.com/33801546</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27420",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20891/"
] |
27,426 |
<p>If I am the TA for a class, what should I do if a student asks me a question which I can't answer? While "tell the truth and say you don't know" is one approach, are there other options?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27428,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I agree that honesty is the best policy, and it's too bad if you're in a situation in which you feel worried about admitting you don't know the answer. You shouldn't try to bluff, by pretending you know but don't have time to explain or by giving an intentionally vague answer. However, there are ways of handling it more smoothly than just saying \"I don't know\" and leaving it at that. Depending on the circumstances, you can say \"That's a really interesting question. I haven't thought about it, so I'll have to look into it, but let's talk about it in office hours.\" (Or you can promise to return to the topic in the next class meeting if it's really relevant to the course and everyone in the class will want to know the answer.) Or \"These issues can be complicated. I don't know the details off the top of my head, but the place I'd look them up is Reference Work X. I'd be happy to show you where to find it after class.\" Or \"That's a good question, but it's somewhat beyond the scope of this class. I'd be happy to investigate it with you outside of class.\"</p>\n\n<p>The key is to respect the student's desire to learn. If you avoid the question or give an answer you know is inadequate, then you're being deliberately unhelpful. If you just give up and admit defeat, then at least you're being honest, but the student still isn't finding out what he/she wanted to know. If you respond by pointing the student on the road to an answer, even if you can't supply it off the top of your head, then you've done everything that can be expected of you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52189,
"author": "Meh",
"author_id": 39032,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39032",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If that is course related Just tell them \"we will get there\", don't hurry. Go home find out the answer and give them answer the next day or so. :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52208,
"author": "Mike Ciaraldi",
"author_id": 39055,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39055",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm a professor, so I am expected to know the answers, but sometimes I don't. This often involves some minor detail in a programming language.</p>\n\n<p>So I usually say, \"That's a good question. I don't want to give a wrong answer, so let me think about that and get back to you.\" We use a course management system which includes a discussion board, so I will usually then add, \"I don't want to forget, so post that on the forum. That way everyone will see the answer.\" Then in the posted answer I try to explain how I found the information. I find this works well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 80515,
"author": "New teacher",
"author_id": 65416,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65416",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's happening a lot so in this situation I prefer to not saying I don't know the answer\" but I will say good question and let us think about it and we will discuss later </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 80519,
"author": "Sathyam",
"author_id": 24064,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24064",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I don't know the answer to your question at the moment, let us all try to find a\n solution together.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In that way, you are communicating the fact that there are always new ways to look at things and presented for the first time, it is difficult to answer.</p>\n\n<p>Then, you might well be in the same shoes as the questioner and other students and one logical way is to sit and solve it together. You could invite the whole class if you wish; a cooperative effort. The main idea is to try to find a way to tackle the problem before it dies away. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 161312,
"author": "Phil",
"author_id": 21815,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21815",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should say that you don't know the answer or did not prepare for answering it (especially if it is a question that is out of topic). Then you can either search for the answer with the student if you have time and it is appropriate. Or if you cannot at that moment, you can say that you will look for it and give the student some explanation by e-mail or next time. This is something that happens even to professors sometimes.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27426",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
27,430 |
<p>I would have thought the document and overall findings are to be a closely guarded secret until defense or publication, so you can imagine my horror that a hiring professor would ask if he can have a pdf of my dissertation. This is in the context of a job application, whilst he decides whether or not to invite me for an interview. I have already sent them the other standard documentation that was requested in the advert. Is his request as unorthodox as it seems to me?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27433,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It might depend on the field, but it strikes me as pretty normal to ask for the PhD thesis in the context of an academic job application.</p>\n\n<p>Your PhD thesis shows the quality of your research. Your PhD thesis shows the quality of your ability to <em>communicate</em> your research. Both are essential skills in (academic) research. Unless you already have many published papers — and it appears that you do not (or else why would it be secret?) — then your PhD thesis is the only document that can serve as evidence that you do possess those skills.</p>\n\n<p>If you are worried about results leaking, you can ask for the manuscript to be treated confidentially. If you are worried about the recruiter stealing and abusing your results, you might want to reconsider if you want to work there in the first place.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27434,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In a word, yes. It is very common for academic employers to want to know about a candidate's research in progress, and they often ask for research plans, unpublished manuscripts, reports on ongoing projects, etc. From the employer's point of view, they want to know as much as possible about what the candidate is doing, so as to evaluate the promise of their research program and their productivity. This is especially true for junior candidates who do not already have a large body of published work. So a request for a draft of a PhD thesis would not be out of line.</p>\n\n<p>When a candidate shares such material as part of their application, the hiring professor or committee has an ethical obligation to hold it in confidence. They should not circulate it beyond those people within the department who are involved in the hiring decision. Also, it would be ethically inappropriate for anyone with access to this material to exploit it for the gain of their own research program (e.g. by trying to solve the candidate's thesis problem before they do, or giving it to one of their own students). As the candidate, you have the right to expect that this will not happen.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, as a matter of practice, if you want the job, you don't have much choice but to give them what they ask. But I wouldn't see such a request as unusual or unreasonable, and I don't think you need worry about them using it unfairly. If you are still worried, you could send them the thesis along with a note saying \"since this is work in progress, I would ask that you keep it in confidence\".</p>\n\n<p>Also, I would say it's an exaggeration to say a thesis should be a \"closely guarded secret\" or to react with \"horror\" to a request to share it. It's generally prudent not to share unpublished work indiscriminately, but it's not as if it were missile launch codes. If there is something to be gained by sharing it with someone (e.g. useful input from an expert, a potential collaborator, a job) then often that's a good idea. It seems to be pretty common for people starting out in academia to overestimate the risks of people stealing their work: yes, there are horror stories, but in the long run, you usually have more to lose from excessive secrecy than from reasonable openness. Paranoia is generally not a helpful trait for an academic.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27455,
"author": "Relaxed",
"author_id": 11596,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11596",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know at least one country where it's a general requirement that you send two copies of your thesis for any application for an academic position (in a particular field). Very few recruiters have the time and inclination to actually read it but that's still a requirement. Theses are also all archived (on microfiches!) and can be ordered from any university library in the country.</p>\n\n<p>It's all a bit silly now because online repositories are much more practical than either copying thousands of pages or reading microfiches on a bulky machine but it underlines the fact that in principle a PhD thesis is a public document and one that (academic) recruiters might want to see.</p>\n\n<p>Also, a (completed) PhD thesis is a form of publication, even if you haven't put it out in the form of a book. Depending on the field, it's not as well regarded as journal papers but it would certainly establish your priority claim in the extremely unlikely even that someone would try to publish something based on it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27460,
"author": "Markus",
"author_id": 20928,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20928",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As others have said, it's not unusual.\nHowever, to answer those talking about paranoia; at my Uni, we used to have seminars where we discussed with other PhD students different aspects of our thesis. This was done with the explicit agreement that these discussion will remain in strict confidentiality, and we will not use each other's work. However, there were no written, signed documents to ensure this.\nSo after one such sessions where I was explaining a central point of my thesis, one of the fellow students, who was researching an entirely different subject, was quite interested and stayed on to discuss at length my thesis. I was flattered by the attention - only to find, a few months later, that he published a book containing, basically, all of my PhD thesis. I had to completely change my thesis, and although my tutor commented on the fact that the book contained what looked like my work, there was nothing I could do. The guy who stole my work is now a lecturer at the same University.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 62272,
"author": "guest",
"author_id": 48199,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48199",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>After recent experiences of my ideas stolen and authorship credit being stolen from me, I have become one of those people who overestimate risk. It is better to be safe than sorry. To help: seek advice reg. this situation with a trusted adviser/ graduate's guide/ free legal services of uni. This can also help to prepare a professional approach. </p>\n\n<p>Do you have an option to ask the recruiter to sign a form / letter / email communication that the unpublished thesis will be treated as confidential, and clarifying the extent of confidentiality. This cannot be an uncommon request, if you cite examples and state your worry in an upfront manner. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27430",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8507/"
] |
27,440 |
<p><strong>It seems to be accepted wisdom in the business world that reference letters for former employees should be extremely terse.</strong> They should confirm that the employee worked there, and essentially nothing else:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To whom it may concern: Ellen Ripley was employed by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from June 2137 to September 2139. Signed, C. Burke, manager."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The standard reasoning is that if the letter contains something unfavorable and the employee is turned down for a future job, they might sue their former company for libel, claiming the unfavorable statement was a lie which damaged their career. In order to avoid the possibility of such a legal battle (which, the reasoning goes, could be very expensive, even if the company wins), the company tells its managers to write letters with no content, so that there's no chance of them containing something actionable.</p>
<p>This question on Workplace Stack Exchange, <a href="https://workplace.stackexchange.com/q/226/26826">Is there any evidence that giving references for former employees is inherently risky?</a>, attests to this practice, and the answers provide some suggestion that the company's fears are justified.</p>
<p><strong>On the other hand, in academia, detailed and informative recommendation letters are the norm.</strong> They often run to multiple pages, and contain specific information about the candidate's history and activities at the institution, as well as the writer's (supposedly honest) subjective assessment of the candidate's strengths, weaknesses, and potential. This is not only common but effectively mandatory; a minimal recommendation letter of the kind described above would immediately consign the candidate's application to the nearest wastebasket. </p>
<p>This would seem to be just the sort of thing that fills corporate counsel with horror, yet we do it every day. No academic employer of mine has ever told me not to do so; for that matter, I can't say that I've ever received any official guidance, one way or the other, on writing recommendations. Nobody in academia seems to be concerned that writing a letter that could be construed as less than favorable could result in legal consequences. <strong>So how are we getting away with it?</strong></p>
<p>Are universities treated differently under the law, making them less vulnerable to such threats? Or do they willingly accept the legal risks in order to make the world a better place by providing actual information about their former students/employees? Or is everyone ignorant of the risk of trouble? Or is there something I have not thought of?</p>
<p>To forestall a couple of objections: I know that academics usually try to write only positive letters, and decline to write if they have nothing good to say, but that's evidently not enough in the corporate world. Anyway, candidates often end up damned by faint praise. Also, I know that we send letters in confidence, with the understanding that they won't be shown to the candidate, and sometimes this is backed by having the candidate sign a waiver, but I have to believe that a sufficiently determined and litigious candidate could get access anyway.</p>
<p>(I know this question may sound rhetorical, but I ask it in seriousness, and hope to learn something from the answers. My context is the US, but if things are substantially different in other places, that would be interesting to know as well.)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27441,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, <strong>yes</strong>, there is a major difference in how employees' and students' letters are handled. Applicants to US undergraduate and graduate programs are routinely asked to waive the right to see their letters of recommendation, and therefore the letter writers are free to speak in a much more candid manner and offer a frank appraisal of a candidate's positives and negatives.</p>\n\n<p>It's worth noting that this is often <strong>not</strong> the case outside the US, where students are often directly given letters of recommendation that are exactly of the bland and generic format you described above. These letters, as you can imagine, are essentially useless in describing a student's real qualifications, and consequently we give those letters very little weight in our deliberations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27443,
"author": "virmaior",
"author_id": 19769,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19769",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Japan, the recommendation letter is a 推薦状 [<em>suisenjyou</em>] and it will in all but the most Westernized schools be given to the student such that they can read it and stamped with the seal of the professor and possibly an official seal from the school. </p>\n\n<p>The purpose of this is slightly different than an American recommendation letter -- which is more of an appraisal of the student's abilities. By and large, the Japanese recommendation letter serves as an introduction / expression that the professor or teacher vouches for the student as someone trustworthy for the new job or school. It contains little information and not much detail on why the student would be recommended.</p>\n\n<p>It was quite the pain getting letters of this format from some of the Americans less aware of the existence of what to us is such a bizarre practice.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>I believe but cannot vouch that the practices are similar in Korea and China.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27459,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd guess part of the answer is that academics deal with the risk because they can't afford not to, because a reference serves a different purpose. </p>\n\n<p>In business, my understanding is that people are largely selected for jobs on things that can be measured and compared apart from references (such as formal qualifications, performance in aptitude tests, years of experience), and on things that the hiring committee is able to assess (such as answers at interview). </p>\n\n<p>While some of these play a part in academia, a large factor of hiring decisions is the applicant's research potential/demonstrated performance. This is sufficiently specialized and difficult to compare that the hiring committee cannot do that task entirely alone. They need additional experts to help make the judgements. Part of that can be done by sending papers to experts chosen by the panel, but part of it is done by receiving detailed references from people who are already familiar with the applicant's work (and so hopefully won't need to spend as much time to make a judgement).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27469,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My impression is that the difference is largely cultural. The academic community in the U.S. has developed a culture of relying on written letters of recommendation, and this practice has a lot of inherent stability. Someone considering suing knows that a questionable lawsuit would permanently ruin their career, in a way that wouldn't necessarily happen in the business world. (For one thing, academia is a much smaller, more tightly knit, and more philosophically coherent group.) If a student or job applicant did sue frivolously, then it would probably be cheaper to settle, but the university would not do so: proving a point would be a higher priority than saving money. (By contrast, for-profit businesses are less likely to make unnecessary expenditures to try to defend their principles.) University attorneys know that if they advised faculty not to write or require letters, everyone would ignore them and it would just hurt the university's reputation. The culture takes on a life of its own, regardless of the legal context.</p>\n\n<p>However, I believe U.S. legal precedents are actually pretty favorable for academic letters of recommendation. The key phrase is \"academic deference,\" which as I understand it is the theory that academic judgments are not subject to legal review because the courts aren't even capable of evaluating these judgments. (Of course I'm not a lawyer and so I'm probably at least overlooking subtleties.) You can sue for reasons like discrimination, but you can't successfully sue someone who made a good faith effort to judge your academic performance or potential on the grounds that you think they judged it wrong.</p>\n\n<p>The academic deference doctrine is based on a number of precedents, but it's somewhat controversial. For example, people argue that it makes it too easy to get away with discrimination (since it makes courts reluctant to examine evidence), and that lots of non-academic judgments are equally difficult to evaluate but don't have a special doctrine protecting them from review by the courts. See <a href=\"http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1365&context=bjell\">this article by Moss</a> for a review of the precedents and an argument against academic deference.</p>\n\n<p>Depending on the circumstances, there may also be other legal issues. For example, it's much harder to sue someone for libel based on their evaluation of your published scholarly work. In particular, you have to prove <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actual_malice\">actual malice</a> since publishing the work makes you a public figure for this purpose. In other words, it's not enough to prove that the evaluation was wrong; instead, you have to prove that they knew it was wrong or at least had reckless disregard for the truth. (See, for example, <a href=\"http://www.projectposner.org/case/1996/75F3d307\">Posner's wonderful opinion</a> on whether calling someone a crank is defamatory.) I believe this is much more clear cut and better established than academic deference is, but it is not relevant for unpublished work or other recommendation letter content.</p>\n\n<p>Returning to the cultural theme, it's also worth thinking about psychological factors. If I run a business, then my ex-employees could be applying for jobs at competitors, partners, or companies that are irrelevant to my interests. Among these possibilities, partner companies I'm actively working with are only a small fraction. The generic case is that I won't care about the new employer or will actively harbor ill will towards them. If a lawyer advises me that it's best not to say anything, I may seize on that excuse even aside from the lawsuit potential. By contrast, academia is a world in which we're all partners, and that feels very different. Universities do compete against each other in some ways, of course, but there's a much greater feeling of good will and cooperation than you see between most for-profit companies. It's no surprise that very different norms and practices have developed in a far less competitive environment.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27473,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe there is a very reasonable misunderstanding here - there is a difference in a \"verification of employment\", being used as a \"reference\", and a \"recommendation letter\". These all have their common uses, but they are handled very, very differently.</p>\n\n<h2>Verification of Employment (present or past)</h2>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>To whom it may concern: Ellen Ripley was employed by the\n Weyland-Yutani Corporation from June 2137 to September 2139. Signed,\n C. Burke, manager.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is a perfect example of the proper, commonly accepted response to a request for a verification of employment. This sort of letter is useful in a wide-variety of circumstances, including:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Proving your work/career history to an employer</li>\n<li>Verifying your job to a government agency or company (think insurance, banks, State benefits, etc)</li>\n<li>Qualifying for corporate discount/membership arrangements (cell phones, computers, credit unions, etc)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This is not at all to be construed as a letter of recommendation - it isn't one!</p>\n\n<p>There are cases where more information is requested, such as:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Is the employee eligible to be re-hired at the company</li>\n<li>How did the employment end - were they fired, quit, laid off?</li>\n<li>Salary verification (this is not the most common, but it is not unheard of and more commonly requested by banks and government agencies)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h2>Serving as a Reference</h2>\n\n<p>A employer or manager may be asked to serve as a reference, where a prospective employer might wish to call and speak with them personally and ask them various questions. What questions get asked, and any potential for legal action, depends upon what is said, documentation, and consequences. Most of the legal actions revolve around claims of libel or defamation. Note that in the US you are allowed to cherry pick your own reference to provide to a future/prospective employer. </p>\n\n<p>Sometimes this is requested by email or fax, in which case it is common to just treat it as little more than a verification of employment request. However, sometimes this is much more important than a mere verification - it depends upon the position, industry, recruiter, etc.</p>\n\n<h2>Letter of Recommendation</h2>\n\n<p>In industry a real letter of recommendation functions much more closely to how it is treated in academia. A person in a position to closely evaluate an employee is asked - almost exclusively by the employee - to provide such a letter. This is almost always requested from an immediate supervisor, manager, directory, or executive with a close working relationship with the employee.</p>\n\n<p>All the same rules apply. These are less common in industry, perhaps at least partly because they are rare and unexpected and because unsolicited opinions tend to be discounted and distrusted much more commonly than in academia. However, they can still come in handy.</p>\n\n<p>Fear of torts really isn't that big of a factor as far as I've seen, because a letter of recommendation is expected solely to be positive. I'm not aware of any case of a company suing another company because \"you said this guy was great and it turns out he was useless!\" It just isn't done.</p>\n\n<p>And an employee couldn't very successfully sue an employer for saying something nice about them; the USA may have a reputation for being litigious, but that's just ridiculous (not that it hasn't ever happened I'm sure, but it's obviously frivolous and very rare).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>To forestall a couple of objections: I know that academics usually try\n to write only positive letters, and decline to write if they have\n nothing good to say, but that's evidently not enough in the corporate\n world. Anyway, candidates often end up damned by faint praise.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Actually, in the corporate world this is almost exactly what happens. If an employer doesn't want to provide a real recommendation, they just provide a verification of employment. </p>\n\n<p>I've had recruiters contact previous/current bosses of mine (who I talked with in advance to ensure they would provide a useful reference rather than a mere verification of employment), and been told by the recruiter when such contacts were very positive. \"They really gave you a glowing review!\"</p>\n\n<p>Most good corporate bosses will be more than happy to say good things if they have a good opinion of you, and will accept any request of yours to share their opinion. If they get asked for a reference and they don't know you well or don't have a great opinion of you, they'll probably just not say very much - unless they hate you, in which case you really shouldn't have offered them as a reference!</p>\n\n<h2>How Does Academia Do It?</h2>\n\n<p>It's really much like the corporate world does it: they recognize that libel and defamation are in fact illegal, and so avoid even a potential appearance by avoiding saying negative things. They also realize that speaking poorly of others tends to reflect badly on you, too - so \"if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all\".</p>\n\n<p>And yes, you can be damned by faint praise. If you are looking for more than an entry-level job at a company and talk about what great work you did at your last place and how valuable you were, and then they talk to the reference you provided (probably your boss or a colleague) and all they'll say is you worked there, and maybe you were a nice person who was usually punctual? Yeah, that's not going to go well in any sector.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27524,
"author": "Floris",
"author_id": 15062,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15062",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In academia, publicly grading a student's performance is par for the course. After all, you get a GPA which is a very public (if often somewhat subjective) \"evaluation\" of your academic strength... Writing a few words that describe, in essence, where that grade came from, is a logical extension. From there, a full letter of recommendation is not much further.</p>\n\n<p>By contrast, employee evaluations are considered highly confidential; so from the outset, there are different approaches to the way a person's performance is evaluated and publicized. That difference seems to carry forward into the culture of recommendations.</p>\n\n<p>I have been a manager of people \"in industry\" for years, and ran into this problem from time to time. On a handful of occasions I have agreed to be a reference for people who used to work for me. Typically I have done this only for people who had already left my organization, with whom I had remained in touch, and who I would not be afraid to give a good recommendation. Typically those things tend to go hand in hand... and I know that for at least one of them, my recommendation made the difference for him getting his \"dream job\" (I know this, because 10 minutes after hanging up the phone to the HR department of his future employer, he called me to say he had just received a verbal offer, and that they mentioned that my reference had tipped the scale). For me, doing the right thing on occasions like that is more important than following recommendations of corporate lawyers... call me reckless.</p>\n\n<p>Update (quoting from <a href=\"http://www.aaup.org/issues/academic-freedom/professors-and-institutions\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.aaup.org/issues/academic-freedom/professors-and-institutions</a>):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The professional standard of academic freedom is defined by the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, which was developed by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. It is the fundamental statement on academic freedom for faculty in higher education. It has been endorsed by over 180 scholarly and professional organizations, and is incorporated into hundreds of college and university faculty handbooks. The 1940 Statement provides:</p>\n \n <blockquote>\n <p>College and university teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.\n AAUP, Policy Documents & Reports 3-4 (9th ed. 2001) (hereafter \"Redbook\").</p>\n </blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Further down this same (rather long) article, there are numerous instances of case law. I am quoting just one that seems to indicate that academic freedom and \"selection of faculty\" are intertwined - this would seem to give academics the freedom to write proper detailed references (protected by \"academic freedom\") since such references are used \"for the selection of faculty\":</p>\n\n<p>State v. Schmid, 84 N.J. 535 (1980), appeal dismissed sub. nom., Princeton Univ. v. Schmid, 455 U.S. 100 (1982)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Any direct governmental infringement of the freedom of teaching, learning, and investigation, is an assault upon the autonomy of institutions dedicated to academic freedom. In addition, <strong>universities perform functions, such as the selection of faculty, that are inexorably intertwined with the exercise of academic freedom.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think that last sentence is the reason \"we are getting away with it\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27549,
"author": "Ethan Bolker",
"author_id": 7018,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7018",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I always show a student (or colleague) the letter I've been asked to write - noting that although s/he has (almost always) waived the right to see the letter, I have not waived the right to show it. S/he can suggest edits, or even ask me not to send it (that's never happened).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27440",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010/"
] |
27,444 |
<p>I have recently submitted a 40 pages paper to a journal, say (A). After about 6 months, the editor let me know that several reviewers have declined to review my paper, and so he decided to reject the paper. He suggested that I submit my paper to a more specialized journal. Journal (A) is already a specialized journal and I only know 1 journal more specialized than (A), let's call it journal (B). So, one of my options is to submit my paper to journal (B) and accept the risk of a similar feedback from the editors of journal (B), of course after several months. </p>
<p>In the mean while, I think the main reason several reviewers declined to review my paper is that (1) my paper is relatively long, (2) My paper consists of two parts and each part addresses a different subject. Therefore, the set of reviewers who have expertise in both subjects and are willing to read and review my paper is very small. Due to these facts, it is very likely the editors of journal (B) face the same problem. So, as the second option, I am thinking of splitting my paper into two shorter papers each consisting only one subject of my original paper. Regarding this option, I can think of the following pros and cons:</p>
<p>Pros:</p>
<p>(i) There are a good number of experts in each subject and it is fairly easy to find a reviewer for each one of my shorter papers.</p>
<p>(ii) This facilitates the referee process of each paper and hopefully reduces its time period .</p>
<p>(iii) Two papers (each approximately 20 pages) look better than one paper (approximately 40 pages) in my CV. </p>
<p>Cons:</p>
<p>(a) The second part of my paper depends on the notations and results of the first part. So the reviewer of the second part may prefer to read and review the whole paper at once, or even worse he/she may call the paper containing the second part incomplete.</p>
<p>(b) Part of the motivation of the developments in the first part of my paper comes from my work in the second part. By separating these two parts, the reviewer of the first part can complain about the lack of enough motivations and justifications for my results. In my opinion, it is not a serious problem because I will explain the application of my works which is going to appear in the second paper. But I am not the person who makes the final decision and the reviewer may blame this and reject the paper.</p>
<p>(c) I can imagine that it would be a difficult path to follow the referee processes of two related papers simultaneously, because of the following reasons: It is possible that the opinions of reviewers of the shorter papers differ significantly. Or it is possible that these papers get refereed in two very different time periods. It is also possible that one of the papers gets accepted and the other one doesn't, which is a pretty ugly situation.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I have faced each of the above difficulties ((a), (b) and (c)) in my previous submissions and I know how they can ruin my papers. In fact, the main reason that I organized my results collectively in one paper was to avoid the above issues. But now that my paper has been rejected without any peer review, I am considering the option of splitting my results into two papers. So, I have the following questions to ask from people who have more experience and have been involved with similar situations (for instance as an editor or a referee):</p>
<p>(1) What do you think about the above pros and cons? Do you know any other pros and/or cons? And, is it a good idea to split my paper into two shorter papers?</p>
<p>(2) If it is advisable to split my paper into two papers, should I submit them to the same journal, (maybe same editor), or should I submit them to different journals according to the best editors who can handle my papers? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27448,
"author": "299792458",
"author_id": 17534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17534",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Well, in my opinion, the following fragment of your question outweighs everything else:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>(2) My paper consists of two parts and each part addresses a different subject. Therefore, the set of reviewers who have expertise in both subjects and are willing to read and review my paper is very small.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I appreciate that you are able to imagine the problem that will be faced by the journal editors. So, splitting into two is certainly not a bad idea in this case.</p>\n\n<p>I can mention some instances where this has been done in the past. In each of these cases, the problem wasn't as acute as yours (i.e. both could actually be reviewed by the same expert), but perhaps the authors chose to do this because of length considerations (or some other reason that I can't imagine). Also, in these cases, it wasn't a case of two different journals A and B - it was two sequential papers in the same journal. So, that creates an additional option for you, if you find it appropriate. <em>(The context here is Physics, but I'm sure this can be generalized to Maths, if <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4511/vahid-shirbisheh\">I'm right</a>!)</em></p>\n\n<p><strong>Example 1</strong>: <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman\" rel=\"noreferrer\">R. P. Feynman</a> was a charismatic Nobel Laureate (Nobel, 1965), as you probably know. Here are his two significant contributions to QED, appearing back to back in Physical Review:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.76.749\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Paper1</a>, <a href=\"http://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.76.769\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Paper2</a> (both are free pdfs officially, given their landmark status.)</p>\n\n<p>In particular, he began Paper 1 by writing:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This is the first of a set of papers dealing with the solution of problems in quantum electrodynamics.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and started Paper 2 with the sentence:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This paper should be considered as a direct continuation of the preceding one ...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>He had developed the formalism in the former and applied it to the problem in the latter. That makes a candidate for splitting into two. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Example 2</strong> Here are two papers by <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Coleman\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Sidney Coleman</a> which form the backbone of phenomenological effective Lagrangian method in low-energy Nuclear Physics. (These aren't free and I'm not sure you will be able to get past the paywall here!) </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.177.2239\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Paper 1</a>, <a href=\"http://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.177.2247\" rel=\"noreferrer\">paper 2</a>. </p>\n\n<p>Notice again, that they are consecutive papers in the same journal. The second paper also has an extra author, and that could be one reason for splitting into two. But once again, from the point of view of content, the general method was devised in paper 1 and applied to some context in paper 2. But here, the authors spent a section of paper 2 in explaining what they developed in Paper 1.</p>\n\n<p>Thus, long story cut short - it should be possible to go ahead and split into two parts. If they are consecutive, you can carry over everything directly, if not, spend a few sentences explaining your notation etc. </p>\n\n<p>PS - Congratulations for doing this sort of work which could put the editors into this type of a fix. That smells like a significant contribution to Maths, having applications elsewhere (other branches?), which is probably why you insist that it would be rare to find a referee who can ably judge both! </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27449,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This problem sounds either:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>bad editorial choice and poorly structure paper or</li>\n<li>two papers that were not split in time </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Generally a research program is not just growing like a blob, but follow some strategy, planing. If you split the two parts, you can briefly mention this strategy (even if it is retrospective) and the results of the other paper. It can be in the introduction and in discussion as well. Most journals allow to cite manuscripts under revision. If not, you can try to describe without citation that you had this and this motivation, and the results will be published soon. </p>\n\n<p>If you don't want to split the paper, you can restructure it as one part to subordinate to the other. Eg. if you you have some important technical detail in the first part you use in the second, but boring in itself, you put the details in an appendix or SI. It is pretty common practice, especially in older paper, and it helps the reader orient themselves around.</p>\n\n<p>Two notes:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Again, I would consult with the editor at first place. They are busy, but generally nice people, so he may comment more in detail about your worries about size and structure. You may have completely different reasons of rejection.</li>\n<li>You always can try to send out another journal (not necessarily more specialist) without much re-editing. Different journals have different expectations for length, structure, scope. </li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27450,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Allow me to quote from the code of practice of a journal in my field, which (IMO) should apply everywhere:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Fragmentation of research papers should be avoided. Authors who fragment their work into a series of papers must be able to justify doing so on the grounds that it enhances scientific communication.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The practice of splitting papers up into \"publons\" (or minimum publishable unit) <a href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/pr0505291\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">is a scourge</a>. Get rid of the \"two papers looks better than one\" adage in your mind. It's <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16985/should-i-publish-a-given-unit-of-work-in-more-smaller-papers-or-fewer-larger-pap\">not necessarily true</a>, and can be detrimental to the science.</p>\n\n<p>As it stands, you present no valid reason as to why splitting the papers up will improve how your work is communicated. Therefore, you shouldn't do so.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27451,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>(b) could be a serious problem, because the referee reading the first paper does not know how legitimate the promised application in the second paper is.</p>\n\n<p>If so, one option is to just follow the editors' advice, resubmit to the more specialized journal, and move on.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27444",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,447 |
<p>I have built a software that handles protein clustering data in specific format. It is able to draw several plots on that basis along with many other analyses. It has more options than its existing competitor. Should I just try to get it published as a software/technical issue, or try some<br>
case study data (research work on a logical data) produced by the software<br>
+<br>
the software,<br>
in a better journal?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27462,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 6984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6984",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my discipline (political science), one would typically do both. Write an applied article that uses the software for an actual research project and submit that to a substantive journal. Then, separately, describe the software and write it up for a software journal (e.g., Journal of Statistical Software, R Journal, etc.).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28070,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my field (Bioinformatics) you would need to test that the software works as intended. Many researchers use simulated data to evaluate performance under controlled conditions, and then apply the method to a case study to demonstrate its validity with real data. Although not explicitly required for (most?) journals, if I was reviewing your paper I would most likely request that you demonstrate its utility with real data. That, however, does not require a lengthly study, any appropriate dataset would suffice. That being said, if you include some real data some referees may ask you that you demonstrate your software in a broader set of (real) conditions. That has happened to me before- referees are insatiable :-)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27447",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6969/"
] |
27,465 |
<p>I am an undergraduate student in Mathematics and I think that I have discovered something significant in Mathematics. My friends and some professors to whom I have sent my ideas also confirmed its significance. They suggested me to write a paper on it. </p>
<p>But the problem is that being an undergraduate student in Mathematics, I don't know how to write a paper. Besides, the professors to whom I have sent my ideas weren't experts in this field and they have asked me to send my works to some experts in the field. But unfortunately I don't know anyone such and I see no point in assuming that even if my work is significant, they would give time to read it without dismissing it beforehand as a work of some crank. </p>
<p>So what should I do? Can some suggestions be provided? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27467,
"author": "Rein",
"author_id": 20939,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20939",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, Im not a mathematician but I am in a closely related field (CS)</p>\n\n<p>I work in the machine learning domain and sometimes I read mathematical papers to find hints of my problem so I think I may able to provide a little help.</p>\n\n<p>According to my experience, the most different part in Maths to the other domain is that, their main results, are always a collection of theorems or properties instead of experiments / methods.</p>\n\n<p>In most of the cases I saw people organize their paper in the following way:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Formulate the problem, provide some minimum facts that is nessasary for the readers to understand your contribution.</p></li>\n<li><p>List out your main results in layman terms.</p></li>\n<li><p>Write all the necessary lemmas and theorems that finally lead to your main results.</p></li>\n<li><p>QED!</p></li>\n<li><p>If available, some application examples.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27468,
"author": "DCTLib",
"author_id": 7390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7390",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Ask your professor to introduce you to a suitable expert.</strong></p>\n\n<p>If some of your professors think that your work is of substantial quality and probably novel, then they are surely fine with introducing you to some suitable researchers in the field. Note that, for example, a postdoc in the respective field may suffice. They should be willing to give your work the \"badge\" that in their oppinion, your work seems to have potential by writing that to the suitable researcher themselves. This should get rid of the problem that you describe in your second-last sentence: </p>\n\n<p>\"<em>But unfortunately I don't know anyone such and I see no point in assuming that even if my work is significant, they would give time to read it without dismissing it beforehand as a work of some crank.</em>\"</p>\n\n<p>Note that an experienced academic in the respective field can add a lot of value to your paper, including improving the accessibility and providing a more comprehensive literature survey. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27465",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,472 |
<p>Some — perhaps many — academics seem to be very careful in keeping unpublished work secret. It is not difficult to find anecdotes where academic ideas are stolen, such as in <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27460/1033">this post by @Markus</a>. Others, such as <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27434/1033">@NateEldredge in this post</a> write that <em>It seems to be pretty common for people starting out in academia to overestimate the risks of people stealing their work</em>. Personally, I'm rather at the other end of the spectrum, and I don't feel afraid that my ideas would be stolen. Perhaps I'm naïve.</p>
<p>Is there any research on the question: how common is academic theft, really? Such as surveys of people having experienced (or committed!) such theft according to an appropriate definition, possibly compared to peoples' perception as to the risks. It would be interesting to see if there are some facts to refer to. Perhaps it is field dependent?</p>
<p><em>(By academic theft, I am</em> not <em>talking about plagiarism, but rather about stealing research ideas before anything is published)</em></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27492,
"author": "Micah",
"author_id": 20956,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20956",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've been a graduate student (Masters at one school and PhD at another) and I have never seen the sort of thing you are describing. I am afraid <code>The Social Network</code> has made everyone paranoid about their ideas being stolen. The reality is that most ideas are difficult to steal, because implementing them might be time-consuming enough that the original person has a huge head start. The only time you should worry is if you think you have a GREAT idea that you think is easy to do once you think of it. You will probably know if this is possible.</p>\n\n<p>In reality though, there are a lot of smart people out there and if you are thinking of it, at least 1 other person has probably considered it. Its much more likely that you are recreating (or attempting something that doesn't work), but that might just be in my field (Neuroscience/Imaging). </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, I have found that it is pretty common for people to take credit for other peoples work, or use other peoples software without crediting, especially for grant applications. Again though, this might be unique to my field.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27498,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Stealing ideas is difficult because you have a victim you have stolen from and presumably they know (or will know) that you stole from them. </p>\n\n<p>Fraud is much more common, much easier to do, and much harder to prove—unless you do something really stupid like re-use the same image multiple times in various unrelated papers, something the people who get caught always seem to do. (Note 1)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hendrik_Sch%C3%B6n\">Jan Hendrik Schön</a> - Physics </li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruko_Obokata\">Haruko Obokata</a> - Biomedical sciences</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also common, as Yiuin states, is people (notably PIs and supervisors) taking the credit for their underlings'/minions' work. </p>\n\n<p><br>\n<br>\nNote 1: This means that the either all the frauds are stupid and re-use images and get caught, or that the frauds who don't re-use images are rarely caught. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27515,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not quite an answer, but too long for a comment. In order to quantify how common academic theft is, one needs to define theft. You attempt to define it as:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>By academic theft, I am not talking about plagiarism, but rather about stealing research ideas before anything is published</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Now consider the following scenario. Alice has been carrying out research on topic X on and off for years. She has a number of nice research findings that she hasn't gotten around to publishing and hasn't shared the findings with anyone. Alice finally decides to start focusing on topic X and publish her existing results. Unbeknownst to Alice, Bob has just started working on topic X as she begin trying to publish her results. I don't think anyone would argue that Alice has engaged in academic theft. The issue becomes what would have to change for Alice to have engaged in academic theft.</p>\n\n<p>What if Alice found out about Bob's intentions from Carol (or maybe Bob himself) and that changed Alice's research direction?</p>\n\n<p>What if Alice only starts doing the research after she hears about what Bob is doing?</p>\n\n<p>What if Bob presents a novel approach to topic X and Alice runs with the approach faster/further than Bob, but Alice is careful to always credit Bob with the new approach? What if Bob presented the new approach N years ago (choose your N)?</p>\n\n<p>In order to quantify how often academic theft occurs, one needs to define what theft is.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28963,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is there any research on the question: how common is academic theft, really? Such as surveys of people having experienced (or committed!) such theft according to an appropriate definition, possibly compared to peoples perception as to the risks. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>See the related articles:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>De Vries, Raymond, Melissa S. Anderson, and Brian C. Martinson. \"<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1483899/\">Normal misbehavior: Scientists talk about the ethics of research.</a>\" <em>Journal of empirical research on human research ethics: JERHRE</em> 1.1 (2006): 43.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Martinson, Brian C., Melissa S. Anderson, and Raymond De Vries. \"<a href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v435/n7043/full/435737a.html\">Scientists behaving badly.</a>\" <em>Nature</em> 435.7043 (2005): 737-738.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Among a sample of 3,247 NIH-funded scientists in the United States, asked about the behavior \"Using another's ideas without permission or giving due credit\":</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>1.4% said they themselves have engaged in this behavior within the last three years</li>\n<li>45.7% agreed with the statement, \"I have observed or had other direct evidence of this behavior among my professional colleagues including postdoctoral associates, within the last three years.\"</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Please read the article for methodology, limitations, etc.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27472",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033/"
] |
27,475 |
<p>Most top graduate programs require at least 3 recommendation letters. Do students who apply to such programs (and have a reasonable chance to get in) typically have such extensive research experience that they know three professors who can write in detail about their research? Or is it more common for such students to have some recommendation letters from faculty who can confirm that the applicant is competent (for example because they did very well in their class, won an award, ...) but with whom they have not worked much personally?</p>
<p>I understand it would be ideal to get all letters from faculty with whom you have worked closely on a research problem. But I wonder how commonly this actually happens, especially considering the fact that the final undergraduate year typically cannot be taken into account for applications in fall.</p>
<p>If it depends much on the discipline, I'm in physics.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27476,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, I don't think all that many students have <em>three</em> unique reference letters, all of whom can vouch for research ability. Two is quite common, as most undergraduates who pursue graduate degrees (at least in the sciences) do have some research experience at their home universities. Many of them also pursue a summer research project separate from their main undergraduate research project (or projects), providing another reference.</p>\n\n<p>But I do agree that the third letter usually comes from a non-research source. I wouldn't even necessarily expect a third research letter. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27477,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Which field are you in? In the humanities and social sciences, we expect letters from faculty you've taken seminars in, not just your thesis advisor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27485,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have reviewed PhD applications in Communication, Computer Science, HCI, and Informatics. I'll answer questions first:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is not typical, in my experience, for students who apply to programs to have three faculty write letters that speak directly about extensive first-hand experience working on research with the candidate.</li>\n<li>It is most common, in my experience, to have one or two letters from faculty with extensive first hand experience overseeing research (often a coauthor on a paper) and one or two letters from people who know the candidate somewhat less well.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>You don't need every letter to give a first hand description of your research experience. If you don't have <em>anybody</em> who talks about it, it will be a problem.</p>\n<p>You want letters from people that:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe your ability to do excellent research in the area or field you are applying.</li>\n<li>Explain how you are very smart, skilled, hardworking, generous, easy to work with, etc.</li>\n<li>Demonstrates enough history and experience with you that we can trust the opinions expressed in the letters to be informed and accurate.</li>\n<li>Are from colleagues whose opinions the letter recipient will know and respect.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Not every letter needs to do every one of these things. The important that the entire package convinces the reader that they're not taking a risk by accepting the student. Do what you can. If no one person can say everything, it's totally OK to the fact that you're turning in multiple letters to give a more full picture.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27475",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15755/"
] |
27,480 |
<p>This actually happened to my wife, but for the sake of simplicity I'll talk about it as if it happened to me.</p>
<p>I wrote a final exam for a university course last week, and a couple days ago I got my marks and the correct answers back. I disagreed with one of the questions I answered wrong, so I pulled out the textbook that was assigned to this course and found that it supports my answer. I sent an email to my prof with the page number and the exact quote from the textbook that supports my answer. His reply was (with slightly changed wording):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In class I said that <em>correct exam answer</em>... This is an issue with any text and shows why class is so vital: Texts rapidly go out of date or (such as the broad text used for this course) demonstrate a lack of depth. Lectures are usually much more up to date.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Keep in mind that this is an Archaeology class, which in my unprofessional opinion really doesn't "go out of date" all that quickly. The textbook is the assigned textbook for this course by the university. The online lecture notes posted by the prof make no mention of the disagreement. I was not present at the lecture.</p>
<p>Do professors have an obligation to recognize the assigned textbook as an authority in the context of the course? In my experience, when confronted with such a problem they typically go "Ok, fair enough, I'll give you the mark", but are they just being nice or are they supposed to do this? He's not a senior prof (not even PhD yet), so do you think going to his superior would help?</p>
<p>If I get this one extra mark it will bump me up 0.4 GPA for the course because I'm right at the cut-off. </p>
<p>Edit:
Since several people asked, the question was something like "Which Aztec god is the god of war and is associated with water". The book said one god, Huitzilopochtli, was the god of war, while Tlaloc was the god of fertility and rain. When studying for the exam, Huitzilopochtli stuck in my head as the god of war, so I picked him. The prof said that in class he mentioned that Tlaloc also had militaristic aspects.
<br>Note that I'm not saying the prof is wrong objectively, only that our book makes no mention of Tlaloc being war-like and instead makes emphasis on fertility and life, being a beneficial god, which seemed totally opposite to war. When I sent my email I explained that I picked Huitzilopochtli because the book lists only him as the war god, but that I recognize my answer is only half-right due to the water reference, and that I feel that Tlaloc is also only half-right since he's not a war god. <p> Also, the prof agreed with me that the book was misleading, but said that I should've come to the lecture. Hence my question here focusing on whether the book should have any authority without getting into the details of the question itself.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27482,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Do professors have an obligation to recognize the assigned textbook as an authority in the context of the course?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, there is no such obligation. It's a bad educational practice to choose a textbook that's seriously unreliable, but even good textbooks slowly go out of date, and they sometimes have a lack of detail or even outright errors as well. It's important for professors to try to be clear about any deficiencies the textbook has, for example by highlighting them in class. I provide a written list of any typos or other issues I am aware of (although I note that of course there may be others as well). However, there is no obligation to accept the textbook's version as a correct answer, and there are no specific rules about how things must be brought to the students' attention. It's entirely up to the lecturer's discretion.</p>\n\n<p>I would expect that many professors would be more flexible or accommodating than what happened in this instance, but not all of them. At least in the sort of universities I'm familiar with (in the U.S.), there's no way an administrator will change the grade under these circumstances if the faculty member who assigned it is unwilling to do so. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, it's not clear to me from what you say whether this person is a regular faculty member (due to the lack of a Ph.D.). If you are dealing with a teaching assistant, it could be worth asking the professor in charge of the whole course. This will probably upset the TA, but it might work (since the professor will want to maintain common policies among all the TAs assigning grades). Other than that, I don't see any recourse.</p>\n\n<p>Added in light of <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27483/\">Pete Clark's answer</a>: I'm assuming your answer is definitely wrong. I.e., either the textbook had an error in it or it's out of date regarding a clear scholarly consensus. On the other hand, if you can make a case that your answer is actually correct or accepted by serious researchers (not just that the textbook says it, but that authoritative and up to date scholarly sources agree), then you've got more of a basis for disputing the grade.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27483,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My opinion -- as a university teacher for four years pre-PhD and eleven years post -- is that your story is balanced precariously on the border between \"unfortunate\" and \"actionable\". What is to be done about this probably depends a lot on your national and local university culture, the culture of your department, and even on the judgment of your own instructor. </p>\n\n<p>Here is some advice about how to best deal with the situation:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I sent an email to my prof with the page number and the exact quote from the textbook that supports my answer.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That is already not the ideal strategy. This is a matter that requires some <em>discussion</em>, and email -- especially email exchanged between people who don't know each other well -- is not conducive to discussion but rather to one-sided statements of position, often of a nature which is more definitive, defensive or combative than a person would be in a face-to-face meeting. You should go to physically meet with your instructor. It is not too late to try to do so.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"In class I said that correct exam answer... This is an issue with any text and shows why class is so vital: Texts rapidly go out of date or (such as the broad text used for this course) demonstrate a lack of depth. Lectures are usually much more up to date.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That's a pretty good answer. If the textbook is incorrect, superficial or out-of-date on the point which was covered in the lecture, and if you did not attend the lecture, then you are showing that you did not receive and learn the information you were tested on.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Keep in mind that this is an Archaeology class, which in my unprofessional opinion really doesn't \"go out of date\" all that quickly.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Definitely don't say that again. This sentiment is indeed unprofessional. It is also ignorant and insulting: academia is about the progression of knowledge, not just keeping it preserved for posterity. Archaeology is no different from any other field in that manner.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The online lecture notes posted by the prof make no mention of the disagreement.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That is not definitive, but it makes me more sympathetic to your situation.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I was not present at the lecture.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That's bad. You have every right to expect that when you miss lectures you miss critical information. That's desirable, really: otherwise what's the point of lectures? By any chance did you contact the instructor and ask to be updated on what you missed? Did you get notes from some classmate that did not include this point? Either of these would mitigate your absence (the first more than the second). </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Do professors have an obligation to recognize the assigned textbook as an authority in the context of the course? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, of course not. On the contrary, they have the obligation to correct the textbook when they feel it is helpful and/or necessary to do so.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In my experience, when confronted with such a problem they typically go \"Ok, fair enough, I'll give you the mark\", but are they just being nice or are they supposed to do this?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I agree; \"I'll give you the mark\" is the more typical, nicer reaction. Not to do it is being a little callous, in my opinion. But it is unlikely that \"they are supposed to do this\", at least not officially. The instructor of a course has a certain amount of authority. This decision, although it may not be a \"nice\" one, seems to fall within that authority, at least in my experience.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He's not a senior prof (not even PhD yet), so do you think going to his superior would help?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>At most universities I'm familiar with, someone who does not have a PhD is not a \"professor\" at all. But that probably doesn't really matter: what matters whether he is the \"instructor of record\" or a \"teaching assistant\". (Probably: in some places, one does in practice have more or less classroom authority according to one's academic rank and seniority.)</p>\n\n<p>Yes, going to his superior might help. But you should think very carefully about this and have at least one face-to-face meeting with your instructor first. Before you do that:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Find out whether your answer was actually correct, or arguably correct.</strong></p>\n\n<p>If it is, you'll have much more of a leg to stand on. If it isn't, if push comes to shove...well, we mark the right answers right and the wrong answers wrong, don't we? Finally:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If I get this one extra mark it will bump me up 0.4 GPA for the course because I'm right at the cut-off. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is the line that tipped me over a bit into recommending that you pursue the matter at least a little further. It is one thing to mark a question wrong because it <em>is</em> wrong. It is another thing to stand on this to the extent that it lowers your final course grade. There's a proportionality issue here: yes, you were apparently wrong to go with your textbook rather than the instructor. But were you <em>that</em> wrong?</p>\n\n<p>It seems likely to me that some more senior personnel in the Archaeology department will feel the same way. If you can find such a person, then maybe they can influence your instructor. However, if you are very confrontational with your instructor then he may be inclined to stand on principle, even in the face of senior personnel. You really want to make changing the grade the easier, more palatable option for all involved.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27484,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>\"In class I said that correct exam answer... This is an issue with any text and shows why class is so vital: Texts rapidly go out of date or (such as the broad text used for this course) demonstrate a lack of depth. Lectures are usually much more up to date.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Well, your lecturer is right. Text books are sometimes factually wrong. If he indeed pointed out the error in class and you were not aware because you did not go to class, you can hardly blame the lecturer.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, most lecturers would probably be open for a sensible argument, but you should certainly approach it as a nicety or concession of the lecturer, not something that you can force by applying to some sort of obligation. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He's not a senior prof (not even PhD yet), so do you think going to his superior would help?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Rank doesn't really have a lot to do with it. Going to his superior (if such a person exists, which may depend on how your university works) <em>may</em> help, or kill your cause entirely. In my home university, complaining to the department head was generally a horrible idea. Department heads <em>never</em> decide against a lecturer in a case that is not a clear-cut violation of university policy. All you would do in this case is make the lecturer much more unsympathetic towards your cause. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27486,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Textbooks, even very good textbooks, can contain errors, even egregious errors. When that happens, I try very hard to emphasize the error and explain why something else is correct and the textbook is not. I'll probably mention it in two or more class sessions. For one book, I have an online errata sheet.</p>\n\n<p>I will not accept an incorrect answer on an exam, no matter what authority the examinee might bring forward. (But I will also consider that I might be the one who is wrong!)</p>\n\n<p>There are already several good answers to this question. I'm writing because you bring up the effect of this answer on your GPA. The goal of a university course is not a grade; the goal is mastery of the material. Master the material and the grade will take care of itself. You have your eye on the wrong goal.</p>\n\n<p>Unless it's already luminously obvious, go to the professor (in some universities, everyone in charge of a class is called \"professor\" regardless of academic rank), apologize for the email, and ask for help in understanding why the book's answer is not appropriate. That probably will not get you any slack on the exam in question, but you'll get at least one item right on the final exam!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27519,
"author": "Bill",
"author_id": 20980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20980",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>\"In class I said that correct exam answer... This is an issue with any text\n and shows why class is so vital: Texts rapidly go out of date or (such \n as the broad text used for this course) demonstrate a lack of depth. \n Lectures are usually much more up to date.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>All you need to know is right there in the professor's response.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>The professor covered the correction in the lecture. </li>\n<li>You missed the lecture.</li>\n<li>Therefore, you missed the question.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>That makes it officially, \"Your problem.\"</p>\n\n<p>The lesson is twofold:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Attend the lectures.</li>\n<li>Textbooks are not the ultimate authority.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27521,
"author": "Sverre",
"author_id": 11053,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11053",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm actually very surprised by the answers to this question.</p>\n\n<p>First, I think it's very bad form for a lecturer to deliberately include a question on an exam where the assigned textbook gets it wrong. I would certainly never do that.</p>\n\n<p>Second, if the lecturer thinks it's important that the students get the correct facts about this topic, (s)he should inform the students through a forum that all students are required to use (whether they use it or not), such as e-mail or a class website (I would do both, actually, just to make sure). Again, I think it's bad form and sloppy to think it suffices to just \"mention it in class\", <em>especially</em> if the lecturer intends to include it in the exam. All lecturers know that all students cannot make every single class, and I would think it's both unfair and childish to \"punish\" the students that didn't make that specific class in this way.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34479,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You've just learn two vital lessons: first, books are not holy texts that should be taken without doubt, and second, even if the lectures aren't obligatory, it's crucial to attend them if you want to get higher marks. Generally, that was on the lecture is more important than that, what's in the book, when it comes to the exam. University is not a school.</p>\n\n<p>Archeology is the topic very prone to change. We made some speculations about the past, based on limited hints. Any new discovery can make the whole book invalid (because some hypotesis, which was taken for granted, was overthrown by that discovery).</p>\n\n<p>What's more, after the details, it's not that the textbook is contradicting the lecture. The questions was about the war god associated with water, and according to your input, the book doesn't say that Huitzilopochtli was associated with water. In that case, it was the <strong>lack of depth</strong> (according to your professor) of the book that made your answer incorrect. </p>\n\n<p>So you were not on the lecture (or you were not paying attention), but you feel you deserves good grades anyway, and to proove that, you try to find some contraditions between the correct answers and the textbook, which are not there. Just learn from that lession and not think of university course as of school class with single 'correct' elementary book. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 108476,
"author": "zahbaz",
"author_id": 33269,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33269",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>If I get this one extra mark it will bump me up 0.4 GPA for the course.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'd say this is the only real impetus present. Without this, either the instructor or you ought to let the marks slide. Have you discussed with the instructor how this seemingly small matter can substantially affect your grade, chances for future scholarships, grad school apps, etc..?</p>\n\n<p>I say, ethically, the instructor was justified in their response, for the reasons that Pete lists. But you may as well schedule a face-to-face meeting and play your sympathy trump card.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 108723,
"author": "TOOGAM",
"author_id": 30772,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30772",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Presume the professor has power.</p>\n\n<p>In my first job as an instructor, here is my basic memory of what the department chair said to me:</p>\n\n<p>\"Here is the syllabus. You are required to talk about each of the items of the syllabus. Just talk about them for 2-5 minutes. Of course, talk about them more if you want, at your discretion. But our goal is to create students with high quality. Do whatever it takes.\"</p>\n\n<p>In fact, I did once use that strategy immensely. I was also required to give a final exam. However, the exam didn't actually need to be about subject material. When I found out that the course I had to teach was about Microsoft Internet Secure Accelerator, and I found out that this proprietary software had been discontinued in the marketplace for a couple of years, I spent 40 minutes covering the software, and then just took the course in a totally different direction which would actually be useful for students.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, I recall at a different institution where I learned that a math instructor was required to assign very specific problems from the text book, and the topic covered each day was assigned to her. So her department gave her no leeway whatsoever.</p>\n\n<p>You could try contacting a department chair or dean or whomever, but know that you're likely to be \"burning bridges\"/\"making enemies\" by doing such things, and it might not help you at all. Chances are that the dean of your college isn't going to care if you get a GPA that is 0.4 higher. (S)he will be more concerned about the ideas that you skipped class and that you are not responsibly accepting the consequences of your action. If this experience causes you to learn that you should do what is expected of you, such as showing up to class and paying attention to lectures, then that will likely be far more favorable for the chair/dean than worrying about your grade.</p>\n\n<p>If I were a dean and a student approached me about this, the best that the student might hope to get for is an \"I will look into it\". And I would be diligent enough to get the instructor's side of things. However, I would not be inclined to take the student's side and order the instructor to make a change. I would be far more inclined to want to show my fellow instructor that they have my full support.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, your instructors might not have full autonomy in assigning grades. For example, there might be a rule printed in the syllabus which says that exams will determine 40% of your grade, while quizzes will count as 25% of the grade, and remaining grade points may come from other items (like in-class assignments, participation, homework/research papers, etc.). Your instructor may or may not have full control over the syllabus. I would expect your instructor to be absolutely bound to whatever is written in the syllabus. However, if your instructor decides to make one quiz worth more than another quiz, that could be fully within the instructor's rights. And if an instructor wants to say that one question has multiple accepted answers, and that another answer isn't accepted, I would expect that may be (and probably is) fully within the rights of the instructor to determine.</p>\n\n<p>In a lot of ways, you don't have much power as a student. This is by design, as instructional institutions try to impose compliance to make sure that students can, naturally (from experience), easily adhere to certain professional expectations.</p>\n\n<p>To summarize a lot of the above: Exactly what your professor is allowed to do may vary a bit, but if you do not have something in writing, chances are pretty high that your instructor has full leeway to make lots of decisions, certainly including disagreeing with the textbook and deciding what answers to accept as correct. (I recall as a community college student when an instructor even dis-enrolled me from a class, I think even after a class had started.)</p>\n\n<p>And since the professor took an approach of defending a decision, and hasn't offered you any points yet, your bet bet is to seek points from some method other than getting points for your answer to that question. You are not likely to win this one.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27480",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20954/"
] |
27,487 |
<p>Since sept 2013, I have been doing a Masters in mathematical finance. Our course requires us to do an off-cycle internship of 5 months minimum (typically, from April to September).
During this internship, I'm supposed to do something that is at least remotely related to mathematics/finance, and at the end of the internship, I have to give a report of what I have done. The content of that report is supposed to contain actual mathematical researchs / developments / ideas, and is necessary for the obtention of my diploma.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, since my internship started I have been given absolutely no work fitting the requirements.
What I've actually been tasked to do is repetitive work consisting in using a software to process tons of record from a database, generating new records as output, and making sure the generated data is consistent. Whenever of these jobs fail I have to debug the software and propose a fix to make the job work. There is roughly ~50 millions records to be processed and the end goal is that all of them were processed correctly. As far as I can tell there is no way this will be done by the end of my internship, which is in 2 months.
What's worse is that the team I'm in is facing increasing pressure to have all these records processed soon, while the higher-ups are heavily implying that it is taking so long because we are slacking off. This is pretty annoying because I want to make a good impression and I'm working as good as possible, but at the same time I don't feel like it is worth the effort to work extra-hard on this, given how little recognition I get and given that I will leave before the positive consequences of my work can affect me.</p>
<p>What can I do in my situation ? I haven't started my internship report yet (I don't even know what subject I could do it on), and I know I will to do it on my own time. At the same time the repetitive nature of my work makes me pretty burned out and whenever I never feel like working on maths for several hours.</p>
<p><strong>TLDR: my 6 months internship that is supposed to be about mathematical finance is actually about doing extremely tedious work, and I have to complete a report by the end about all the mathematical research I'm supposed to have done.</strong></p>
<p>What would you do in that situation ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27488,
"author": "JuliandotNut",
"author_id": 11191,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11191",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two people who can help you</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Your immediate manager</li>\n<li>Your advisor (or tutor if you don't have one)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Talk to your manager first about the requirements stated by your university, and how to translate your work into a working paper or report worthy of submission in an academic institute. I am sure he will be of help.</p>\n\n<p>Then try talking to your advisor/tutor on whatever was discussed with your manager. He/She can advise you on planning your report.</p>\n\n<p>I had been into such a situation, and my advisor suggested a way to tweak my working to do some additional tests/work. That extra work made my work eligible for an academic report.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27489,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Talk to your manager about it again and then your adviser . Perhaps your adviser can suggest to the company that if this doesn't resolve itself they will do what they can to suggest students no longer intern there thus no longer providing free labor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27513,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The work you've done, while repetitive, <em>may well be relevant</em> to mathematics/finance. In order to answer this, you need to understand what the purpose of the task was, where the input data came from, and how the output is used. Your manager (or work colleagues) should be able to explain this to you, but you need to take the initiative to find out! An internship is a learning experience for you; if you're not asking questions, you're not learning.</p>\n\n<p>Then, if you still feel that this work is not relevant to maths/finance, talk to your advisor at the university. If they agree with your assessment, they will probably take steps to correct the problem. If it is too late to correct the problem, they can at least insure that this doesn't happen again, perhaps by speaking with the company, or even not allowing students to intern at that company again.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27487",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20989/"
] |
27,493 |
<p>As part of their job, professors have to take care of getting funding, prepare classes, advise students, fulfill administrative tasks and attend to various meetings/conferences.</p>
<p>How much time do professors have to carry out research on their own (i.e. excluding the above-mentioned tasks)? </p>
<p>I am especially interested in the field of computer science > machine learning, in the US, in an averaged-size university.</p>
<p>I am mostly looking for studies that try to quantify how much time professors have to carry out research on their own.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27494,
"author": "user20959",
"author_id": 20959,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20959",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer is going to vary greatly depending on whether the professor is in a tenure track, has already obtained tenure or is in a contingent/adjunct position. </p>\n\n<p>Besides these issues of rank, it also matters a great deal what kind of university/college we are talking about. If you're a tenure-track professor in the so-called \"R1\" institution, you will surely be spending significantly more time doing research than a non-tenure, contingent adjunct at a community college. </p>\n\n<p>The size of the university generally matters much less than individual and university rank. </p>\n\n<p>On top of all that, it often comes down to the individual professors' interests and ways they conceive of their career. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27497,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I found this small-scale, not randomly-sampled <a href=\"https://thebluereview.org/faculty-time-allocation/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">survey</a> from <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise_State_University\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Boise State University</a>:</p>\n\n<p>Warning:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>All charts below are from TAWKS Phase 1 Stats, initial survey of 30\n higher ed faculty from Boise State University. While findings are\n highly suggestive, they do not represent a random sample.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Answer to question:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Only 17 percent of the workweek was focused on research and 27 percent\n of weekend time.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Graphs:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/fZRJy.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/pUwP8.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/2S754.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Iznnx.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29940,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The <a href=\"http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">National Center for Education Statistics</a> in the United States surveys faculty of post-secondary institutions (see the <a href=\"http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/nsopf/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">National Study of Postsecondary Faculty</a> page for information on methodology). The most recently available data is from their 2004 survey, with 26,110 respondents across the United States.</p>\n\n<p>The NCES allows you to create custom tables from this dataset using the <a href=\"http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/powerstats/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">PowerStats</a> tool on their website. (You have to create an account to use the tool.) This is a valuable tool if you're interested in exploring these and other statistics.</p>\n\n<p>As per <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27494/11365\">user20959's answer</a>, time spent on research varies quite a lot by academic rank:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/00Ntm.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>and by institution type:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZGpOu.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27493",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
27,525 |
<p>Do students need books to learn in courses? For example, I found that books often contain some mistakes and therefore it is better for me to study those things on the Internet where I can concentrate on one thing, learn the best knows methods of that subject and then move to the next. Okay, that course wasn't really advanced.</p>
<p>But if you have to decide whether one should write a traditional book or editable lecture notes like in <a href="http://stacks.math.columbia.edu/" rel="nofollow">http://stacks.math.columbia.edu/</a>, which one would a lecturer choose?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27527,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depends on the class. I've been in classes where the handouts <em>were</em> a book -- a pre-publication version of a textbook that the professor was developing. In those cases, the handouts contained as much detail, and expressed it as clearly, as the final book would -- and luckily these were good instructors AND good writers, so the books were decent ones -- and the chapters were provided sufficiently far in advance of our needing them to permit reading ahead, so I didn't feel a need to consult other textbooks as well. </p>\n\n<p>If any of those requirements is not met -- if the notes cover only the material addressed in the lecture and homework, or if they aren't clear and complete and correct, or if they aren't provided in a more-than-timely manner -- then you probably do need a textbook to back them up. </p>\n\n<p>If in any doubt, you need to specify an alternative textbook or textbooks that students may optionally want to consult (which is good practice even when you do specify a primary text).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27530,
"author": "alpha1",
"author_id": 21001,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21001",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>No, Students don't need a book. They DO need good resources. </p>\n\n<p>Maybe its an eBook or a PDF compiled from your teaching notes or outline/slides (Hopefully cited well) and things like short stories needed for a language class can often be found online in their entirity, for free legally, when copyright has expired. </p>\n\n<p>For a language class, using a Sherlock Holmes story could prevent students from needing to buy a book as they're out of copyright. You can also look for material that is licensed as <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Creative Commons</a> which allows for free use, such as material from MIT open courseware, Khan Academy, and P2P Univerity. You can learn more about <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/education\" rel=\"nofollow\">Creative Commons for Education here</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Long story short, make good content, and use it legally, either by using stuff people have given to the public, or under doctrines such as Fair Use. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27532,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To answer your title question--<strong>Student do NOT need books, they just need quality resources.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The best option for this will vary depending on the subject, class size and teaching style (the latter more than the former), and the students' learning ability. For example, in a undergrad intro course filled with students of average ability, a standard textbook may be the best option, perhaps supplemented with a few additional resources (links to videos, papers, etc). However, when you are teaching an advanced course, with students who both know how to learn on their own and have some experience with the subject matter, a textbook may still be a good option (depending on your institution's policy, you may be required to assign on for the course), but students will learn more and better if you provide them with primary sources, seminal papers in the field, and thought-provoking position papers, in addition to the textbook. </p>\n\n<p>As for which a lecturer should do, </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>write a traditional book or editable lecture notes </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>that will depend on all the above factors, as well as individual talent and motivation. Not all faculty members will necesarily want to write a textbook, though almost all will write lecture ntoes. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27525",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20993/"
] |
27,528 |
<p>I am a PhD student in a social science field, and am on a teaching assistantship. My contract stipulates that TAs are to work no more than an average of 15 hours per week. </p>
<p>For my particular department, the past protocol was that 10 hours were devoted to teaching duties (class time, office hours, prepping, and grading), while the remaining five hours are devoted to research with an assigned faculty member. Overall, I do not think that is unreasonable. </p>
<p>However, that setup was determined when the PhD students mostly taught undergraduate courses. I have been assigned a graduate course, and have been told to expect an enrollment of "at least 30 students."</p>
<p>I have never taught before, at any level. I am also still taking a full-time course load of my own. </p>
<p>Does this seem like an unreasonably high expectation from the Dean and program director? Or am I just being a wimp?</p>
<p>I definitely want to teach, and I want to make sure that my students receive the best quality education from me that I can provide. And I would like to do this without sacrificing my own academic progress, nor what is remaining of my sanity.</p>
<p>Just curious to know what other people's experiences in this area have been. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27529,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It varies but what you've described does not sound unusual.</p>\n\n<p>In my social science department at a state research university, it's standard for graduate students without other support to have teaching and/or research responsibilities that include 20 hours a week of work and that can often involve teaching. This is in addition to taking classes on their own and/or doing research.</p>\n\n<p>In my own graduate studies at a business school, all students started with two years of full fellowship that meant no TA/RA requirements at all for the first two years.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27536,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I also believe this is not unusual (depends on your discipline though). Moreover, graduate classes have certain advantages, other than the ones already mentioned in the comments (such as more disciplined and capable students). The first one is, that you encounter a new pool of possible collaborators. You are a PHD student and those are possibly MSc students, so they may need to write a MSc thesis. By teaching this class (and doing it well) some of the students will be interested to work with you (on their MSc thesis), so you get to have collaborators / workforce basically for free. So, if you have some spare ideas that you cannot work at the moment, perhaps proposing a new MSc thesis is the way to go. Also, some times graduate courses may be graded strictly based on assignments, so you may recommend assignments helpful to your work, such as proposing to your students to write detailed literature overviews on the subjects that interest you.</p>\n\n<p>The other advantage of teaching in general, is this is something you need to master anyway if you want a job in Academia. So, the sooner the better. It is better to do it in a more protected environment (you are still a student so some mistakes due to inexperience are expected), instead of having to do it later. So, although the task assigned to you might seem overwhelming at first, it is best to do it, as soon as possible. Also you will realize that the second year you need to teach the same class (many times the same graduate student teaches the same course for more than one year) things will be much easier, since you will already have done the bulk of the work, in terms of preparation. Also, doing it while you still have course-work is a valuable learning experience, since you get to compare your teaching methods with the methods of the course you are enrolled in, so you may improve accordingly. </p>\n\n<p>Another subject that is not clear from your question is whether this course you are teaching is for one semester or an entire year. If it is for one semester and the next semester you do not get any other TA duties, it is very reasonable that for this semester you must devote more hours than the \"10 hours devoted to teaching\" that you are required to do. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27578,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is incredibly common for the number of hours devoted to teaching be woefully inadequate to deliver good instruction except possibly for highly seasoned instructors teaching the exact same course multiple times.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, I don't know any fair solution to this. You'll probably spend two or three times longer than the expected number of hours in order to do even an adequate job. From what I observe, people cope either by working far more than they're supposed to, or by delivering not-very-good instruction. It's a difficult spot to be in. (Alas, not the only difficult spot in academia.)</p>\n\n<p>The bright side is that if you're really interested in teaching and put in way more time than you're \"supposed\" to, next time it won't be as bad (you'll only have to put in somewhat more than you're supposed to), and if you do well you will both help your students and be known as someone who is a good teacher (good if you want to do more teaching).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27582,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm actually kind of shocked by the other answers saying this is normal. Maybe math and the social sciences are somehow different in this regard, but this sounds like an insane situation. I'm sure you're a wonderful person, and it sounds like you're trying your best, but it's totally unfair to the graduate students in your class to have them taught by someone with zero teaching experience. To me this seems like an enormous red flag about your department that they would do this. Where the hell are the faculty who should be teaching these courses?</p>\n\n<p>That said, I'm not sure I have a course of action to suggest beyond doing your best in the assigned class (especially since it's presumably starting up quite soon), but I agree with you that it's unreasonable.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27667,
"author": "bfoste01",
"author_id": 19610,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19610",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Doesn't seem unusual to me. Did you sign a contract? More importantly did someone in your department sign the contract. I find the term \"contract\" to be kind of meaningless in graduate school. We aren't unionized, so we're in the unfortunate position of needing to take the term contract to mean \"loose policy.\" </p>\n\n<p>Some students in my department were successful in the past in lobbying the chair for more pay due to more time spent working. Of course, this solution precludes that you'd be fine working that many hours for more pay. This doesn't seem to be the case? Therefore, the only reasonable thing to do is to adjust your mental and physical deliverables in accordance with the 15 hours. </p>\n\n<p>I'd be more upset about the 15 hours. That seems like a nice way for the University to get cheaper labor in terms of teaching the courses and for your advisor also to throw money your way for 5 hours, which unfortunately means you have expectations to deliver on that front. 5 hours for research I would imagine ends up being more like 10 or 15, most unpaid? </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27668,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is unusual, and probably disserves all parties, for a grad student to be assigned to teach a grad course, apart from considerations of alleged competence or not. For an advanced grad student to fill in for their advisor while the advisor goes to a conference is somewhat common in mathematics, in my experience, but that's not the same.</p>\n\n<p>I don't have a good sense of the situation for other disciplines, but in mathematics at my research university (and other places I've been) grad students might be assigned full responsibility for lower-division courses, but never for upper-division, much less graduate-level.</p>\n\n<p>It's not only the workload, and perhaps not even the issue of competence in the material, but of <em>mastery</em> of the material, so that reasonable questions from students could be answered authoritatively, instantly, etc. A grad student's opinion might be harder to consider \"authoritative\", not because one would presume that they don't know, but because they lack a track record and credentials to allow people to effortlessly trust their expertise. One <em>should</em> be able to effortlessly trust the expertise of people giving graduate-level courses, in my opinion.</p>\n\n<p>(And, yes, unfortunately, being \"on the faculty\", being \"old\", etc., are no guarantees of competence, much less expertise... I know...)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27528",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21000/"
] |
27,537 |
<p>In other words:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How do professors profit if a larger (rather than smaller) proportion of entering PhD students in their department complete their degree?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(At my department at least, it seems like the only benefit is "warm-glow altruism". A professor gains no more from having more students at her department complete their PhDs than I do by having fewer stray dogs in my town getting killed by traffic. A professor's career prospects does not seem in any way affected by whether 80% rather than just 50% of PhD students complete their degree. Not surprisingly, the completion rate, at least at my department, is closer to the latter.)</p>
<p>Note: <strong>I am not asking whether it is a good idea to give professors stronger incentives to increase PhD completion rate.</strong> Neither am I asking for suggestions as to how PhD completion rates can be increased. Rather, I am asking what the incentives at present are (granting of course that this varies from place to place).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27538,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>PhD is largely depend on the individual effort and skill of the graduate student, much more than the result of a student in lower educational levels. Therefore it is questionable how much credit should be given to the supervisor and the individual.</p>\n\n<p>Indirect intensives of being a good mentor is numerous from tenure track level, as it is mentioned in the comments. A strong prof-grad students relationship is also a very strong basis of future research networks for both the students and the professors. I saw several examples how a successful former graduate student can raise the reputation of a prof, and help in new cooperation. </p>\n\n<p>Direct incentives (head money? ) to the teacher to improve that rate would be counterproductive. PhD is not elementary school: it is not like pass or fail. Just because someone passed it, the career prospects doesn't get much better if it is not coupled with actually skills, good publications etc. So just pushing someone to pass when it is not deserved doesn't do any good to students neither. Even if the reason of failure is beyond the student, or the prof is unreasonably demanding, changing the lab and / or institutional level of protection of the student is much better solution i believe.</p>\n\n<p>Imagine this scenario: top notch laboratories can (should) have really challenging research topics. Big part of the research is however carried out by graduate students. Do we offer direct intensives to the professor to lower the level and bet on safe projects, just to have higher pass rates for his graduate students? Easy trick, yet at the end the student ends up with poor publication record and the once-prestigious lab lower its quality, too. It is not good to anyone. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27540,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If an advisee leaves without completing a Ph.D., then the advisor can end up feeling like the whole process was a waste of time, since the goal of strengthening the research area by training a future contributor was not achieved. That's not fair or reasonable: the education and experience may be useful for the advisee despite not culminating in a Ph.D., and the opportunity to try was itself valuable regardless of how it worked out. However, these feelings are relatively common, and the advisor's investment of time and effort becomes an incentive towards higher completion rates.</p>\n\n<p>This personal investment begins only when the student chooses an advisor, so the corresponding incentive is not relevant before that stage. On the other hand, spaces in graduate school are a limited and therefore valuable resource, so there is still an incentive for faculty not to waste them, even at the coursework stage.</p>\n\n<p>What makes this issue tricky is that nobody can agree on what the ideal completion rate should be. To a first approximation higher is better, but this isn't a universal principle, and a 100% completion rate would arguably mean you're doing something wrong. Over the course of a difficult five-year program aimed at a narrow career, some people will legitimately discover that there's something else they'd rather do instead, and others will be prevented from finishing by factors beyond their or the university's control. The only way to enforce a perfect completion rate would be to refuse to admit anyone who seemed like they might not finish and then bully all the students into finishing regardless of whether or how their circumstances had changed. For example, you would never take a risk by admitting someone who seemed like they deserved a chance, and you would never gracefully accept a student's change of plans. Ultimately, the fundamental difficulty is that we can't necessarily distinguish between reasonable attrition and inappropriate attrition caused by unsupportive practices, and this makes the whole issue contentious.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27556,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In France, labs are assessed by the <a href=\"http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agence_d'%C3%A9valuation_de_la_recherche_et_de_l'enseignement_sup%C3%A9rieur\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">AÉRES</a> (<a href=\"http://web.archive.org/web/20170426234442/https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agence_d'%C3%A9valuation_de_la_recherche_et_de_l'enseignement_sup%C3%A9rieur\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">mirror</a>) (~= Department of Evaluation of Research and Higher Education).</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http://www.aeres-evaluation.fr/Actualites/Communiques-dossiers-de-presse/L-AERES-publie-son-referentiel-des-criteres-d-evaluation-des-entites-de-recherche\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">evaluation criteria</a> (<a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20160608103201/http://www.aeres-evaluation.fr:80/Actualites/Communiques-dossiers-de-presse/L-AERES-publie-son-referentiel-des-criteres-d-evaluation-des-entites-de-recherche\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">mirror</a>) show that the AÉRES prefer labs where PhD students don't drop out too often.</p>\n\n<p>Since the AÉRES evaluation has an important impact, e.g. to get funding, professors have an incentive to increase the PhD completion rate (and they also have an incentive not to turn PhDs into some ever-lasting position: labs typically to try to graduate students in 3-4 years).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In the US - at least in my university - I'm not aware of any incentive, except that new PhD students will avoid professors who have the reputation of taking a while to graduate their students.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27572,
"author": "Nahkki",
"author_id": 18092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18092",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to answer the opposite question. What disincentives do professors have to increase the PhD completion rate in their department? I'm looking at the opposite of what you asked because I feel it will give us insight into your question.</p>\n\n<p>In some fields, which I can only talk directly about the one I am familiar with - Compute Science, having students complete their PhD in a timely matter isn't a focus unfortunatly. Professors who are already established may already have a little army of PhD grads out there citing their work and growing their PhD empire. Which means that current or recent crops of PhD students under that professor sometimes get stuck. Why? Unfortunately one thing that PhD students are is cheap(ish), reliable labor. </p>\n\n<p>A PhD student is going to work on the tasks or research set before them by their PI. They are going to do their best to complete that research - not just because it benefits their career but because failure in that arena may lead to disfavor or even being removed from their program. A professor can be assured that PhD students working under them will focus on their research of choice and will invariably cite or reference previous work done by the professor. Incidentally the PI is almost always an author on any paper that student publishes. </p>\n\n<p>That's a bit cynical, I'll admit. But even beyond the pure cynicism of authorship farms and indentured servitude is the basic truth that it takes time to train someone to do research work at a high level. If I have been researching creating artificial butterfly wings out of volatile polycarbonates(or whatever) then it's going to take at least a year, if not more, to get a student enough information, enough skill and enough confidence to wind them up and let them go on important research. </p>\n\n<p>Right now some of the other Academic posters are rolling their eyes. This sounds both incredibly cynical and a little bit tin foil hat ish. But the thing is... these are real problems that have been identified in at least a few schools I know of. You get some old, cranky, tenured professor who has dozens of students out in the world and who has gotten used to his or her status as king of the research mountain and all the sudden students start taking longer and longer to graduate. All the sudden that professor forgets what it was like to be a PhD student, trying to make a difference with your research and trying to get the heck out and graduate and only remembers that it's annoying and expensive to train a new PhD student and, btw, this student's producing pretty well and... well it would be more convenient if this trained student would stick around for a while. </p>\n\n<p>What is done about this? Some programs tie tenure positions with completion rates and timelines. This is problematic and, to be honest, I've heard people talk about it but I've never seen or heard of it in action.</p>\n\n<p>Some programs have a soft cap on the length of time a student can remain as a PhD student. I have seen this in action and I'm conflicted about it. On one hand, PhD students need to either graduate or leave the program eventually. But different fields can take different amounts of time to get results. Additionally, sometimes life just happens and the student who is moving along their degree runs into a snag(changes PIs, has a health emergency, just needs more time). The hope is that these soft caps are flexible enough to deal with these situations. The ways I have seen these soft caps(for lack of a better word) implemented is by having a fairly strict timelines for course work completion, having a deadline for committee selection(generally very early in the process) and having regular meetings between advisors(academic style advisors, not research advisors) and students. </p>\n\n<p>Although your answer states that you're not interested in what could or should be done in these situations I think it's valuable to say that: I think low PhD graduation rates are signs of an unhealthy department and unhealthy academic culture. They should be taken very seriously and the fix should never be the 'warm fuzzy glow' of graduating someone. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27589,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the United States, the National Research Council (<a href=\"http://www.nap.edu/rdp/\">http://www.nap.edu/rdp/</a>) regularly ranks university departments. One of the criteria by which departments (and thus universities) are ranked is the \"Average of Median Time to Degree\" with the presumption that lower is better. </p>\n\n<p>In my university, this results in the provost's office putting pressure on us to reduce our time to degree through a number of measures, some coercive and punitive. Most of the time, the coercion and punishment is directed towards the graduate students (i.e., after the sixth year they lose their rights to certain fellowships, they have to pay more for their gym and library memberships, etc.). </p>\n\n<p>But the department as a whole gets some attention. Our chair has been regularly sending out lists of our orphaned and missing ABD candidates (some now in their 12th year) and asking us to find and terminate them (either through graduating them, or formally asking them to leave the program). </p>\n\n<p>I've also been putting some pressure on my peers through the admissions system by suggesting (since they are my colleagues, I have no power) that people with many students on the books should refrain from taking on new students until they clear their backlog more a bit.</p>\n\n<p>I should note that I'm in anthropology where: 1) students tend to go into the field and disappear for quite sometime; 2) doctoral students are mostly useless to faculty for slave labor as most of us work individually and not in labs (with the exception of some of our archaeological / biological colleagues). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27622,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's a bit of an inaccurate presumption in the question itself, or anyway ambiguous wording. That is, some assumption of causality...?!?</p>\n\n<p>As a mathematician, I do not think of PhD students individually or collectively as assisting my research program so much as doing teaching work that I don't have to do. Even my own PhD students, while stimulating to talk to, do not \"help\" my research program. Perhaps this is contrary to mythology. Although more-experienced TAs (teaching assistants, in the U.S.) are generally better at their job due to that experience, that level of proficiency is attained within a year or two of beginning the role. That is, in my sort of situation, there is absolutely no motivation for faculty to delay completion of PhDs. Indeed, as @roboKaren comments, there is some pressure from higher-ups to improve \"stats\". (That is, in terms of TAs, we cycle them through at a certain rate, so there're always roughly the same number to do the TA work. Shortening or lengthening the cycle time would accomplish nothing, and we have no motivation to do so.)</p>\n\n<p>Is the supposed issue about people leaving the program? This is a very complicated question, considering that it might be entirely reasonable to leave a program if/when one discovers it's not what one thought. Should we brow-beat people to stay? Bribe them? True, being nasty to try to \"drive out weaklings\" is incivil, but I don't address that possibility.</p>\n\n<p>If the question is about the \"drop out rate\", then it is probably impossible to answer usefully. If it is about time-to-completion, some useful things can be said. </p>\n\n<p>This simplifies the question to two very different ones: about my interest in <em>colleagues'</em> students finishing faster/slower, and about my interest in <em>my</em> students finishing faster/slower. Apart from general humanitarian/professional-ethical concerns, I have no interest in the arc of other peoples' students, as it is really not my business. It is true that my perception (based substantially on two stints as Director of Grad Studies in Math) is that some PhD students and their advisors devolve into an unproductive, uncommunicative relationship, with \"blame\" not clearly assignable, but which creates enormous difficulties in completion. E.g., if either party is naturally non-verbal (despite the seeming ok-ness of this in math, ... which is not the case, actually), there is a potentially fatal problem. If there is a misunderstanding (from either side) about the context, origins, degree, and sense of the alleged \"novelty/progress\" of a thesis, this can be a huge obstacle.</p>\n\n<p>For my own students, I try to arrange a thesis project that will optimally \nuse the talent, energy, background, etc., in the time fully-funded by the department as TA (not counting on RAs (research assistantships), fellowships, etc). My thinking is that one's clock really, really starts once one is \"out the door\", so taking a sixth year instead of just five may be well worth it. But if/when someone says they want to finish more quickly, a suitable project can be chosen, up to a point: usually, there is a misunderstanding, a misguided prior belief that, indeed, somehow, faculty or departments are conniving to delay degree completion. :) \"If only they'd get out of my way so I could do my research...!?!\" ... overlooking the point that all the \"required\" stuff is meant to assist that (nevermind the common stylizations and distortions and misunderstandings).</p>\n\n<p>So: incentive for <em>quicker</em> completion than the funded period? None, on scientific and educational grounds. On bureaucratic grounds, there's an ever-hardening soft cap on funding, which is a good reason to get people out the door... even though this soft funding cap is meant in practice primarily to avoid funding \"eternal grad students\" who make a bit of progress but either can't finish a PhD-worthy project or who are unhire-able for some reason (e.g., inability to speak in English, in the U.S.).</p>\n\n<p>So, while my experience as Dir Grad Studies in Math made me unhappily aware of others' foibles, I don't think there's much motivation in mathematics for faculty to <em>delay</em> PhD graduations, and only a little to accelerate it. But faculty aren't the obstacle, in most cases. It's just that the U.S. undergrad system under-prepares people for grad school, so there're two or so years of basic coursework necessary to be even marginally literate, and then becoming aware of the basics of any fragment of modern mathematics can (obviously... though people in CompSci seem to have a radically different epistemological mythology) take a year or two. Unsurprisingly, quite a few people discover that \"math\" is not what they thought it was, given that U.S. coursework typically is at best very-early 20th century stuff, giving no inkling of mid-to-late 20th century stuff, apart from the not-really-contemporary-research, somewhat delusional (inevitably fairly contrived) \"REU\" (research experiences for undergrads) episodes. Given the popularity of REUs in the U.S., I'll not comment further on the alleged virtues-or-not... apart from agreeing that, yes, it is good to spend some time hanging out with other same-age kids who really like math, and not being in the usual stodgy classroom situation...</p>\n\n<p>So, if \"completion rate\" means completions-per-admission... well, that's a can-of-worms, all the more for programs (such as ours) which try to be imaginative in visualizing the success of some students who do not necessarily have the traditional trappings of \"success\", but seem to have sufficient interest and talent. Gambles! If we'd be taken to task for not gambling on sure things... ?!? And a similar analysis applies to length of time to completion: pressuring people or limiting them to finish more quickly could induce more \"failures\", rather than \"coerce\" faster success.</p>\n\n<p>Again, I feel that the question itself is predicated on a misunderstanding of why it is not so easy to get a PhD... but maybe I'm just old-and-tired. :)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27537",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,543 |
<p>Today I saw that one of my students in the class was looking very sad. He sat down at the end of class and he looked like he was in a bad mood. After all the students left the classroom I called him over. He told me that his mother has cancer. </p>
<p>I told him be strong and try to not think about it too much. But honestly, this was a big lie. How can I try to get him to not think too much of it?</p>
<p>What should I have said to him?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27545,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As an instructor, the best you can do is to offer your condolences and tell him to just ask you if he needs anything. For example, you could offer an extension on assignments. If he needs some time off from lectures, maybe a classmate who takes good lecture notes will agree to make a photocopy, or you could get the lectures to be recorded for him.</p>\n\n<p>Your university might also have a policy that allows students to withdraw from the course and receive a refund of fees without penalty to grades: it would be worth finding this out and advising your student if this is possible. Depending on the severity of the illness and how much it is affecting your student, he might wish to take fewer (or zero) courses for a while.</p>\n\n<p>If the course is nearly finished, perhaps an aegrotat (compassionate consideration) will be applicable to the final exam. But neither an illness in the family, nor a bereavement or any personal physical or mental health issue can excuse a student from having to learn the material and complete assessments in order to pass a course. He will still have to demonstrate mastery of most of the material.</p>\n\n<p>Just be compassionate, and as flexible as you feasibly can. Nobody could ask for more.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27559,
"author": "Flyto",
"author_id": 8394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I imagine that most universities will have policy on this, and professionals who are trained to help. Apart from \"find out the policy\", IMHO unless you know the student well personally <em>and are confident in your ability to deal with things like this</em> (which the fact that you are asking this question suggests you are not) then all you should do is express sympathy and, </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>ask whether they've told anybody else at the uni. If not, <strong>with their permission</strong>, consider informing whoever has overall responsibility for their academic progress (eg head of dept, director of studies, etc) </li>\n<li>make sure that the student is aware of whatever counseling services your institution offers</li>\n<li>research for your own info what arrangements can be made for extensions to deadlines, or consideration of circumstances when exams are marked, both for the current situation and in the event that the parent dies. </li>\n<li>make it clear to the student that allowances can be made (assuming this is the case), and that they should not be hesitant to speak to you if they feel that the situation is affecting their academic performance. No need to be specific for now - if the student is worried about this then just knowing that there are \"options\" may reduce the stress that they feel. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>NB I have no particular qualification to comment here; once again, your uni probably has people whose job it is. If in doubt, consult them. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27570,
"author": "chmullig",
"author_id": 6024,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6024",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You might encourage him to reach out to other resources at the university. I imagine your university has counseling or psychological services, a chaplain, and the student may have an assigned advisor who can help the student understand their options, and provide professionally trained support.</p>\n\n<p>I think the comments about offering certain accommodations, as you think appropriate, is generous and reasonable. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27576,
"author": "cuddlyable3",
"author_id": 21051,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21051",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's unhelpful to tell you the teacher what you \"should have said\" because there is no perfect recipe for what to say, if exactly the same situation should arise again which it won't. Your priority should be to acknowledge that your student gave you an answer which you understood. I advise not advising anything before you, or someone with time for closer discussion with the student, has identified an actual need. I would ask whether his mother is receiving treatment or tests. From the answer you will learn whether the student has good or uncertain information, without which you cannot know whether this is just an imaginary case of worry, an actual terminal cancer case or likely something in between. There are other good answers here aimed at helping the student complete or delay completing the class. An empathic response (that I learned from a doctor) to be used if and only if the student talks about his Mother's medical progress is \"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27600,
"author": "albert",
"author_id": 21078,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21078",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Its good that the student shared the problem,the best thing to do is to let the student know that the parent is not the only one with cancer and he shouldn't over think about it,its normal,it happens and most of all it can be controlled by a series of medical procedures,the student has to accept the fact because its not the end of everything after all,Just try to encourage him or her that the doctors are under control and the parent will be ok</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 51801,
"author": "Laura W",
"author_id": 38812,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38812",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I told him be strong and try to not think about it too much. But honestly, this was a big lie. How can I try to get him to not think too much of it?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is not your place. I was due to graduate top of my class back in 2005 before a tutor started to hand out unprofessional advice that she was not qualified to give. I stopped working altogether and couldn't graduate. The gap on my CV and the loss of my dad, plus not being able to graduate caused a lot of pain. I hope you keep it professional. You might be opening a can of worms by overstepping the mark and putting someone's life in a much worse place. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 80943,
"author": "NZKshatriya",
"author_id": 63231,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/63231",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My two cents: While a tragedy has befallen this student's family, the student must keep up his work.</p>\n\n<p>Part of life is learning how to deal with blows like this, and to keep moving though them.</p>\n\n<p>He will need to prioritize things in his life, in order to make sure that he fulfills his educational requirements, while also meeting familial expectations.</p>\n\n<p>Working on his education can actually be a way to take his mind off of his family situation, if he chooses to look at it that way, or he can see it as a burden, but in the end that is his choice to make.</p>\n\n<p>I think you did right to offer your condolences, but am not sure if there really is anything else you need to do as an instructor.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27543",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
27,553 |
<p>I am a PhD candidate currently preparing a manuscript for journal submission in the environmental modelling and engineering field. One of my authors is from China, and contributed some data and ideas for the methodology that I found quite useful. </p>
<p>This person wants to be the corresponding author for the study with the argument that being the corresponding author is the only way to secure future funding for the study in China/from Chinese sources. Yet he is no way in a position to explain and defend the study, as he wasn't really involved in modelling, analysis and writing, and has limited understanding regarding the main model functioning. </p>
<p>I have so far refused to let him be the corresponding author, but he is really putting pressure on me to be the corresponding author.</p>
<p>Can someone give me some pointers on why it is so important for a Chinese academic to be the corresponding author? Does his argument about funding generally hold true?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31007,
"author": "machnine",
"author_id": 23733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If he's just one of the many authors, this paper your are talking about is of 'no use' to him. He can't use it to claim rewards of any kinds (funding, awards etc) in China. However if he is the 'corresponding author' (or first author), he is able to claim that he played an important part in the paper and this IS his paper...He's not lying in saying \"...is the only way to secure future funding for the study in China/from Chinese sources...\" but do you want to let him do that?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 101333,
"author": "Scientist",
"author_id": 66782,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66782",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am currently a foreigner postdoc in Mainland China, and have been here since almost 2 years. I have discussed this specific matter with colleagues, and also often run in the same moral conflict. Therefore I hereby write from personal experience.</p>\n\n<p>The issue the OP puts forward boils down as, why should somebody who is unable answer any specific technical questions about a published study figure as a corresponding author?</p>\n\n<p>The practice of including supervisors as corresponding authors is widespread in China for a number of reasons. Still nowadays for many funding opportunities (and refunding & rewarding as well, concerning publication charges and prizes) the published status as corresponding author is a requirement. Moreover the corresponding author is regarded as higher in the hierarchy in the local strong leader & face culture. This is why this person is pushing to be listed as corresponding author, and also because pushing for short-term goals is also common practice in Mainland China. </p>\n\n<p>I have until now resisted against making \"honorary\" corresponding authors, but this frequently leads to a conflict. Not only in China, but here this is taken more seriously and may lead continued issues.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 110530,
"author": "Fei",
"author_id": 93394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/93394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have been doing research in China for 10 years now, and hopefully I can answer your question. When a candidate is being considered for a faculty job here, only those papers where he/she was a first author or corresponding author are counted. This is because there is a rampant abuse of honorary authorships, namely colleagues and students are added even though their contribution was minimal or none at all. As usual, instead of cracking down on the abusers, more rules and regulations are put in place. This is why in most papers published from China, there are around three to four first co-authors (whom contributed equally) along with four to six corresponding authors. The consensus is currently being upped another level where some institutions are not counting corresponding authors.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27553",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3915/"
] |
27,557 |
<p>I will defend my PhD thesis soon and I currently have a bunch of papers in a finalization phase. As first author of these papers, and as my work is funded with public money, I am very uncomfortable with the idea of giving my rights to a private editor, for ethical reasons. I would like to release my papers under a Creative Commons-like license or in the public domain (CC0?) but I want them to go through a peer-review process. </p>
<p>How can I do this? (And why do so few researchers seem to be concerned with these ethical problematics?) </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27563,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I will address two aspects of Creative-Commons licences seperately:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Open Access and not giving somewhat exclusive rights to a journal</strong></p>\n\n<p>The reason why journals do not give everybody access to their articles and want some exclusive rights on the article is that they need to pay their expenses (typesetters, copy editors, printing, maintaining editorial managemetent system, …) and do so by selling articles and issues (mostly to university libraries and similar). You can change or circumvent this by:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Publishing in an open-access journal. In this case, it’s usually you and not the reader who pays for the journal’s expenses. Since there is no need for the journal to get exclusive rights, you can usually publish the article under a Creative-Commons licence. Note that some funding agencies give you money exclusively for publication costs, which you can spend on this. Be aware though that <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/17379/7734\">there are more black than white sheep</a> in this field. Finally, the price of publication is debatable (but so is the price of pay-to-read journals).</p></li>\n<li><p>Nowadays, many journals offer pay-to-publish open-access options, which are like the above, just that your article is published in a classical journal instead of a pure open-access journal.</p></li>\n<li><p>Many journal allow the authors to disseminate preprints, e.g., via <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the ArXive</a>. Though they still get some exclusive rights to the article and there may be some restrictions, there is de facto open access to your article. SHERPA maintains <a href=\"http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">an extensive database</a> on what kind of preprint publication is allowed by which journal.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As to why researchers do not care more about this: The old publication system is an established structure which takes time to change. Theoretically, we could do with one central, globally funded open-access publication system (in particular by avoiding printing costs). Also note that in technologically inclined fields, publishing preprints is very common, so there already is open access to most publications and thus less incentive to change the system.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Allowing others to build upon your work</strong></p>\n\n<p>This aspect of the Creative-Commons licence mainly makes sense for works of art or widely used texts (such as licences), which somebody would actually want to directly build a work upon.</p>\n\n<p>Building your work directly on a <strong>research article</strong> would be a very unusual thing to do, as instead of modifying the original article, you would rather publish a comment or a new article citing this article. Do not forget that building upon the ideas of an article is allowed anyway (unless they are patented), it’s just building on the text or the figures, which would be changed by putting the article under a Creative-Commons licence. Finally, it would arguably be more harmful than useful, if anybody could publish an altered version of your paper, as this would lead to confusion for readers of work which cites your paper. </p>\n\n<p>With a <strong>review article</strong> it makes more sense to allow others to edit your article, which is the idea behind <a href=\"http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Main_Page\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Scholarpedia</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34637,
"author": "Aubrey",
"author_id": 26682,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26682",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me build upon excellent Wrzlprmft's answer, adding a few things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>there is a <em>de facto</em> open access standard license, and that is <strong>CC-BY</strong>. It is similar to public domain, and I'd strongly suggest not to use CC0, as you would waive also the <em>attribution</em> of your work. CC0 it is used for databases and data, where CC-BY licenses are trickier.</p></li>\n<li><p>institutional or disciplinary archives as ArXiv are heavily used in some academic communities (eg. math, high energy physics) but they do not provide peer review. It is customary within those communities to archive pre-prints. You should try to understand the customs in your very own community: it's very important if you want to make the best choice (and if you want to foster open access publishing in your discipline). </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As per your last question:\n<strong>why do so few researchers seem to be concerned with these ethical problematics?</strong></p>\n\n<p>Because their priority is their <strong>academic career</strong>. Academia is built on personal, scientific reputation, and the current system (with Impact Factor and other scientometric indicators) is completely unbalanced towards old, authoritative closed-access publications that provide the \"authority\" a young researcher needs to gain reputation between its peers. You need to publish a lot, and in reputable journals. You will advance, get grant, get tenure on your publication (and citation) record. </p>\n\n<p>Open access publishing (as a model) is relatively young, thus it is difficult for open access publications to gain the same reputation as those other journals; thus researchers don't want to publish there, thus the old, closed-access system survives. </p>\n\n<p>Often, the rational, selfish choice of the researcher is enough for the ethical choice to be bypassed. Ignorance of alternative models (and ignorance of the intrinsic flaws of the current closed access system) do the rest. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27557",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8457/"
] |
27,562 |
<p>While somewhat related to this <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27543/my-student-told-me-his-mother-has-cancer-what-do-i-do">recent question</a> but this situation is different in that my supervisor has over the recent months had unspecified health issues. It has not overly effected our relationship other than a bit of a delay in some of our emails. Without knowing exactly what is wrong it was conveyed at one of our meeting that it was not overly serious. In the last email I received it was noted by my advisor that their health was poorly over the summer.</p>
<p>As someone who has previously had a prolonged serious bout of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn%27s_disease" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Crohn's</a>, I can understand how poor health can impact on someone's life and would like to be able to make our professional relationship work in a mutually beneficial way. </p>
<p>So in a way my question is two-fold.</p>
<ol>
<li>Is it appropriate for me to sympathize/empathize with my supervisor about their health issue?</li>
<li>Should I ask them how they best wish to proceed when they may be ill in relation to submitting work etc.?</li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27568,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Since in a recent email your advisor has told you about the health issue, it is perfectly acceptable for you to sympathize/empathize with them and it would not be out of place to ask if you could do anything regarding your work to accommodate them. That said, if you feel uncomfortable raising the issue, you should be able to depend on your advisor being mature enough to tell you what he/she needs in terms of accommodations.</p>\n\n<p>If your advisor had not mentioned anything to you and you wish to sympathize/empathize with them, then you need to be more delicate.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27574,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depending on how much it slows down your research, how far you are from graduation and how bad the illness is, a common solution is to get a temporary or permanent co-advisor. As <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27568/15723\">StrongBad said</a>, your advisor should be mature enough to tell the students if it is necessary to do so (this actually happened a few weeks ago to a friend of mine), but illness can be treacherous (also happened during this summer...) so more risk-averse people might prefer to start looking for a co-advisor even before they are advised to. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27562",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12454/"
] |
27,581 |
<p>I want to improve my learning skills. Is there any advice or a good method for that? For example, I want to read an article or book and retain as much information possible. But sometimes I read and lose focus, or when I read I can't remember everything as well as I'd like to. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27907,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Short answer</strong> </p>\n\n<p>Practice! </p>\n\n<p><strong>Long answer</strong> Practice (smart)! The more time you spend being a student (studying, reading, summarizing, asking questions, taking notes, and pursuing answers) the better you will become at being a student. For more specific tips, check out <a href=\"http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/03/25/how-to-ace-your-finals-without-studying/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this article</a> by Scott Young. He focuses on methods that allow you to study smarter rather than harder. The key to this is to recognize that all knowledge is interrelated; everything connects to everything else, and therefore no learning is wasted. I find his tips and hints to be useful, though I cannot learn quite as efficiently as Young claims one should be able to. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27927,
"author": "Linasoll",
"author_id": 21131,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21131",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Something to look into is style of learning. For example, I'm a haptic learner, which means I learn best through doing. 'Doing' in this case can be a simple as making flashcards. On the other hand, I can try and read a text book all day, and I won't retain much at all. Therefore, 30 minutes of making and drilling flashcards is a much more efficient use of my time instead of an hour spent reading. </p>\n\n<p>Everyone learns slightly differently. If you learn best when you hear something, try recording the lectures and playing them back. If you are a visual learner, maybe look into plotting out lecture points on a white board. Honestly this is just something that you need play around with, though you'll find many ideas to get you started on the internet. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27581",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21060/"
] |
27,586 |
<p>I think this is an unspoken question in academia: how do you factor in the effort put forth by a student before taking your class? </p>
<p><em>I think the answer to this question has several consequences:</em> </p>
<ol>
<li><p>it presents accurate reflection of your teaching, </p></li>
<li><p>it presents more accurate reflection of the quality of work of a student </p></li>
</ol>
<p><em>It also addresses a more profound question:</em> </p>
<p>Is good educational outcome measured by grades a product of privilege or a measure of intelligence?</p>
<hr>
<p>Personal anecdote:</p>
<p>In my undergrad classes, I find for some courses the class will be divided into two camps - one who has done some work outside of the class (the ones who have a background), another who will try to learn the course material as the course progresses. </p>
<p>The results are vastly different. The ones who have done work outside of class will achieve higher grade across the board, are more motivated, ask extremely technical questions in classes, gets all the attention of the professor as the next "rising star", etc., whereas the other students who haven't had as much experience prior coming to class will try his/her hardest with uncertain outcomes and will tend to struggle a great deal more. </p>
<p>From my own observation, a course taught by a lecturer who uses less conventional course material seems to even out the grade much better than a lecturer who uses standard material - since in these cases, the advanced students are less able to predict what will show up on the exams. </p>
<p>This is most significant in computer science classes. Any computer, CS, programming classes will teach things in two folds: practical and theoretical. I find in many of my classes, a portion of the student will have a great deal of knowledge in the former, therefore significantly reducing his/her course load. How easy is it to ace an introduction to programming course if you already have years of experience in the language? These courses will always produce several students who go on doing interesting research or work at some big-name companies, and the lecturer will be praised as being effective at teaching. But it is so obvious to me, that the student - the one who has taken years of programming at middle to high school level, a summer course at another University... - is more advantaged in this area than a student who is just coming in to be acquainted with a field of study.</p>
<p>Hence, what is the ethics of preparing yourself for a course before it begins given such uneven playing field in today's academic setting? Will this be a mark of a motivated student who is genuinely interested to learn a subject or a student who is just trying to get ahead and earn good grades? Why should or shouldn't a student prepare himself for all the courses he will take one or two years down the road?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27587,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
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"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A student takes a course to prove he learned the stuff in the syllabus. He/she passes the course, and then has official certification that he knows that stuff.</p>\n\n<p>Who cares <em>when</em> he learned it?</p>\n\n<p>The trickiest part is keeping the course interesting for the high-flyers, without alienating the less able (or less knowledgeable) class members.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27603,
"author": "Ilmari Karonen",
"author_id": 496,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/496",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>IMO, there is no ethical problem with students preparing for a course in advance. As Moriarty notes in their answer, what matters is that the student learns the material, not <em>when</em> or <em>how</em> they learn it.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there are (at least) two actual problems that your question touches upon:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>the occasional problem of advanced (or self-taught) students taking beginner-level courses for \"easy credits\", and</p></li>\n<li><p>the practical problem of teaching a course for students with a highly variable baseline experience level.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>The first one <em>could</em> be considered unethical behavior in some circumstances. For example, let's say I'm a math major who decides to minor in biology, and the university happens to offer an \"introductory math for biologists\" course. If I was unscrupulous enough, and nothing specifically forbade me from doing so, I might be able to take that course and basically just show up for the exam, getting free biology credits for stuff I learned in first-year math.</p>\n\n<p>(In fact, I freely admit to having done something similar myself on occasion. For example, one of the last courses I took as an undergrad, to make up the credits I needed to graduate, was a first-year \"computer literacy\" class that basically consisted of learning how to use a web browser, e-mail and a word processor. As I had already completed a minor in computer science, as well as worked for several years as a full-time software developer, I hardly need to mention I did not find it much of a challenge. Still, it got me the three extra credit points of \"general studies\" that I needed.)</p>\n\n<p>It could also be argued that there is no problem: if you consider the credits to be awarded for knowing the material, then I clearly deserve them. On the other hand, if you consider the credits to be earned for <em>learning</em> something, then I clearly do not (as I <em>already got</em> credited for learning the same material once, back when I first learned it in math class).</p>\n\n<p>More generally, issues like this can occur any time an institute offers multiple introductory-level courses covering essentially the same material (but possibly from a different angle) and does not specifically forbid students from taking more than one of them. When that happens, a student can effectively learn the material once, but get credited for it <em>n</em> times, where <em>n</em> is the number of such overlapping courses they can find.</p>\n\n<p>The usual solution here is simply to try to find and close any such loopholes. Some possible methods for doing that include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>explicitly designating certain courses as equivalent to each other, so that a student can only receive credits for one of them, and</p></li>\n<li><p>restricting certain very basic introductory courses, like the \"math for biologists\" example I gave above, only to students actually majoring in the target field (here, biology).</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also, <em>if</em> students are going to commit such shenanigans anyway, it can be argued that they should be allowed to demonstrate their competence in a separate exam, so that they don't need to waste time and classroom space, and skew the grade distribution, by actually sitting in a class they don't need.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>As for the second problem I mentioned above, i.e. teaching a class where some students already know much more of the material than others, there are several distinct approaches that people may argue, depending on their general teaching philosophies. My personal suggestion, which <em>I'd consider</em> a \"moderate\" position, is to take a \"triage\" approach and mentally divide your students into distinct groups:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The <strong>advanced</strong> group consists of the students who already know much of the material, and just want to show their competence and get the official certificate for it. Some may be hoping to learn some interesting new tidbits, but they'll still pass the course even if they learn nothing new at all.</p></li>\n<li><p>The <strong>learning</strong> group consists of those students who actually more or less match the intended level of the course: they know the prerequisites reasonably well, and are reasonably capable learners, but don't yet know the material you'll be covering. In many (but not all) courses, this group will make up the majority of the students, and they're the ones you should adjust your teaching pace for.</p></li>\n<li><p>The <strong>struggling</strong> group consists of the students who lack some of the prerequisite knowledge the course assumes, or who are otherwise falling behind the rest of the class. They'll likely need remedial teaching to have any hope of passing the course. You should not have many students in this group; if you do, it may be sign that you're going too fast, and some of the students that <em>should</em> be in the \"learning\" group are falling behind.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>It can be a temptation to focus on the \"star\" students in the advanced group, since they're the best in class, have the most interesting questions (if any), and generally appear to offer the most reward for the least effort. They're also the ones most likely to end up as future grad students in your field, which makes focusing on them even more tempting.</p>\n\n<p>However, the advanced students are, by definition, <em>not</em> the ones the course is actually intended for, and they're not the ones you're really there to teach. Rather, your main goal with the advanced students (insofar as they come to class at all, rather than just taking the exam directly) is simply to <strong>ensure that they're not bored</strong>. There are several ways you can achieve this, such as:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>giving the advanced students additional bonus exercises or projects that go beyond the standard syllabus, or letting them pursue their own side projects;</p></li>\n<li><p>encouraging the more advanced students to help the less advanced ones;</p></li>\n<li><p>encouraging students to come see you outside class if they'd like to learn more about something that sparked their interest; and</p></li>\n<li><p>if you still cannot engage some students in class, letting them skip it if they already know the material.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>As for the struggling students, there is an argument to be made that you, ideally, shouldn't have <em>any</em>, and that even a single student falling behind is a sign that you should slow down until they can catch up. Essentially, this approach amounts to lumping the \"learning\" and \"struggling\" groups together, adjusting your pace to the tail end of that combined group, and treating any students who progress faster as \"advanced\".</p>\n\n<p>While there <em>is</em> some merit to this approach, it can also be taken too far. Especially in higher education, it is often simply not possible to set the pace by the slowest students in class, and still have enough time to cover all the material in the allotted time. Instead, as an alternative to simply letting these students fail, it may be more effective to set the in-class pace by the majority of the class, and to focus specific remedial efforts (such as individual tutoring, possibly by some of the more advanced students) on those that need it.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, even this won't always help, and sometimes you may simply have to let a student fail. In particular, it's important to learn to distinguish students who'd <em>like</em> to learn, but have a hard time doing so, from those who are simply too lazy or disinterested to learn. The former group can be helped; the latter cannot.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27605,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The goal of a university course is education on a particular topic. Students who study before the class are educating themselves on that topic. Students who don't study before the class are, hopefully, being educated by the teacher on that topic. Both of these things achieve the goal.</p>\n\n<p>Frankly, if you have even the slightest suspicion that it is unethical for your students to educate themselves, you are in the wrong place. There is no such thing as \"too educated\" in academia.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27625,
"author": "fgwaller",
"author_id": 21093,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21093",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the question can be greatly simplified:\n<BR>\n<strong>Should credits be awarded for effort or for knowledge?</strong>\n<BR>\nThe person who knows their stuff without having it picked up in class was obviously smart enough to pick up the stuff they needed to know on their own or before hand. Call that preparation, genius or whatever, if he or she knows their stuff, they deserve the credit, no matter how long, short, hard or easy they had to work to learn it.<BR>\nShould you give credit to someone who does not know what their doing, just because they put a lot of effort and time into it? I hope not! I do not want to be operated on by a doctor that put many years of hard work into NOT KNOWING their stuff, I rather get an operation from a self taught autistic savant that spend 3 Month reading and watching videos, acing all tests, never sitting in a single class!<BR>\nSure I admire people that put a lot of effort into learning something, because they can put that much effort into something, but when a job needs to be done, the only thing that counts is, who can do the job!<BR>\nIt's a shame that so many Universities require students to take nonsensical courses, which they have to pay a lot of money for, rather than giving them the option to just take the test. And why do Universities that allow you to just take the test want like 50% of the tuition from students that only come in once for the test. Quite an obscene payment for the time to take the test and correct it...<BR>\nDon't get me wrong, credit for effort is GREAT, ... in Kindergarten!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27626,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some parts of the implicit hypotheses of the question are misguided. First, courses are about the students, not about the teachers. The teachers may <em>give</em> the students something, but if the students already \"have too much\", this is the <em>opposite</em> of a \"problem\".</p>\n\n<p>Yes, it is a minor sociological problem to have highly motivated students in a room with unmotivated students. :) Hmmm. :)</p>\n\n<p>Also, a \"problem\" to have genuinely gifted students in a room with ... uh, maybe anyone who'll \"feel bad\" if they can't \"compete\"? But, wait, why is it a competition. Oh, yes, \"grades\". Hm. Rewind. Don't punish kids who're talented and who've taken initiative, and don't punish kids who're just \"doing the class\", either. Classes should not be a test of giftedness, (or else it's a rip-off), nor should they punish it.</p>\n\n<p>The notion that we can arrange to have student populations be homogeneous is ridiculous... btw.</p>\n\n<p>That is, the outcomes of inhomogeneity are inevitable. If the gifted kids, or kids who've read lotta books before, already know all the usual pranks, it's fine. Don't make up extra-perverse pranks to try to bring them down, and don't assign them extra classroom chores as <em>punishment</em> for doing well. That is, don't add perversities to the accidents of nature and society.</p>\n\n<p>When I was younger, I did often sign up for courses that I already felt I'd read about sufficiently to not feel at a disadvantage. Seemed reasonable to me. Not to mention that a sincere person might not feel constrained (as other answerers have mentioned) to wait to take a class to read the dang book. Srsly.</p>\n\n<p>Should unambitious students feel intimidated by the few students who've already read all the stuff, know much more? Uh... yes. Not that they should fear that their deficit from that level will be fatal, but, yes, that that level of function is possible and reasonable and <em>desirable</em>. Any program that makes precocity penalizable is criminally perverse: knowing more is good; knowing less is less good.</p>\n\n<p>One operational problem is that such stuff is not easily \"formalizable\" and \"institutionalizable\", but that should not be allowed to be an obstacle. It's possible to teach \"typical\" kids, and not torment them, without hassling exceptional kids. Obviously.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27629,
"author": "Yudhi W.",
"author_id": 21097,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21097",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Whats the difference of the student (say, X) who studied long before taking the course and the student (say, Y) who failed the course the first time and have to retake it in the next year?\nSeems to me that X is a better student than Y, because Y once failed the course. But in term of preparation before taking the course, both have them. And if any of them obtained an A grade in ethical way, that is, by doing their homework, and doing the tests correctly, I find there is no problem at all. We shouldn't discriminate either X,Y, or normal student in obtaining their credits/grades.</p>\n\n<p>As for whether credits should be awarded to effort or to knowledge, it is at the discretion of the professor/class, the professor might give grades partially on effort (homework, essay, or project) and partially on knowledge (test results). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27657,
"author": "kleineg",
"author_id": 10637,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10637",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is actually two good questions contained here but conflating the two would be a mistake. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>What to do about students who already have a lot of knowledge that would be covered in the course?</p></li>\n<li><p>Is there a socioeconomic problem with some people having more resources and therefor being more prepared.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The reason I split these questions is that it is entirely possible for a student to use public resources, or take classes in a way that they end up not challenged by a class. And depending on the motive there should be no problem with this. If I was interested in a topic I would probably do some amount of self study before enrolling in a college course (I have finished a B.S. and am working on a M.E.), I have also taken classes at the Master's level that were far less challenging for me simply because my Bachelor's was in Math. However, if I were to take a class that I knew all the material for just to get more credits or improve my grade there is an issue because I would be taking space and resources from people who would learn more from being there. So, there is no ethical problem for a student to self study because they love the material or so that they can maximize their return on the course... in fact we should encourage them. But taking a useless class in order to meet a metric is wasteful and denies resources to others.</p>\n\n<p>(For the next part my view is that of someone living in the U.S. but it is applicable widely)</p>\n\n<p>As for the second question, I agree that there is a socioeconomic issue with some students having the resources to be more prepared, my question is how to we mitigate this? I would suggest a combination of more free computer and book access, better schools and more activities outside of school being available. Personally as a father I am making an investment in my son by using my wealth to enrich my child's mental abilities, and that is perfectly fine. As a people we need to do better about erasing economic gaps and realizing social gaps are not gaps at all but opportunities to grow. So ethical? On a personal level yes, on a societal level no. Who is to blame? All of us... but all of us is also the solution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27674,
"author": "Marron Grosbek",
"author_id": 21126,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21126",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are cases in Academia where students are held to different standards based on preparation. At my university there were some classes in mid-level physics that were cross-listed as both undergraduate and graduate classes. Typically the students were graded on two curves, one curve for undergraduates biased by actual undergraduate scores, and a second curve for graduate students biased by actual grad student scores. I thought that this approach was both merciful and a decent solution to the \"different levels of preparation\" issue raised by Illegal Immigrant.</p>\n\n<p>When the differences between students are not easily catagorized as above, it becomes difficult to divide students into groups. This is a practical matter, not an ethical one. Unfortunately, practicalities often trump ethics in American society since Americans place a high value on simplicity and equal treatment. It is a real problem, but usually there is no admissible (constitutional) mitigation for the problem.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27707,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It doesn't directly apply, because it doesn't so come from prior prep work or experience, but during my doctoral program, there was a mandatory class that had two different groups in it - PhDs in that department, and PhDs outside it who, while fairly sophisticated, clearly lacked the same background in terms of coursework.</p>\n\n<p>How he handled this is to divide the course into \"tracks\". There was a modest, \"shooting for a B\" track, and a much more challenging \"shooting for an A\" track, with a hard mode \"shooting for the A+ track\" that actually had little effect besides drawing a certain sort of student, since the + in a grade doesn't even exist at that institution.</p>\n\n<p>The department majors were required to be on the A or A+ track, everyone else could choose. You might similarly be able to ask students to self-rate their familiarity with the subject, and strongly encourage those who rate themselves well to consider a more challenging track.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27827,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For our purposes, there are three types of students causing the concern: </p>\n\n<p>1) Students who have taken similar, or comparable-level courses and are \"repeating\" this course for a \"cheap\" grade.</p>\n\n<p>2) Students who have not taken comparable level courses but have \"boned up\" ahead of time.</p>\n\n<p>3) Students who have not done 1) or 2) but whose proficiency in computers give them a \"natural\" advantage.</p>\n\n<p>The ones we should be most concerned about are the students in the first category, the \"repeaters.\" That is solved by establishing course levels, to say the students who have passed courses at an equal or higher level cannot take this course.</p>\n\n<p>The students in category 2) don't provide much a worry. At one level, you want to applaud them for the \"eager beaver\" tactics, but at another level, it might not do them much good.That's because they are (probably) learning the book, or course, not the material. As you pointed out, introducing new material dissipates their advantage most of the time.</p>\n\n<p>The students in the third category are the ones you want to encourage. They are those whose general computer efficiency at work or playing computer games gives them an advantage in computer science, even if they haven't seen the material before. Why should that not be the case? Someone who has worked with hammers and nails and other tools will have an advantage in physics over someone who hasn't.</p>\n\n<p>Yale math professor Serge Lang would \"sort out\" his students on the first day of Calculus class, by giving an <em>algebra</em> quiz.It was one that everyone would \"pass,\" but some would do so faster than others, and those were the likely \"A\" students.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 135058,
"author": "Phil Miller",
"author_id": 21987,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21987",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ethics aside, as many people have noted that the concerns that arise aren't strictly ethics-dependent, there are practical issues to address.</p>\n\n<p>Harvey Mudd College saw this in a big way in its CS courses, particularly the introductory sequence. Historically, they had a required intro programming course that first-term freshman took unless they placed out via AP or local exam. This left a lot of students with substantial programming background mixed with students who had none. The class dynamics were broken in many ways from this. Students with experience could answer questions and complete assignments much more readily than those without. Students without would often get disheartened, feeling like they lacked talent in comparison, rather than recognizing the difference in background from their more advanced peers.</p>\n\n<p>They addressed this issue by separating incoming students into various streams until they either completed the intro course and went on to another major, or were on equal footing going into the CS-major coursework. The true intro course was split into sections between students with moderate experience, and those with little to none. Switching between them was made relatively accessible. Students with more experience to place out of the intro course, but not with all the material the school wanted them to have for the major, took an advanced intro course that covered the first in-major course's material, while those who took the plain intro would take that a second semester course covering just the more advanced material.</p>\n\n<p>The consequences of this were pretty huge. Gender parity in the CS major shot up, even faster than the rapid shift of the school's overall demographics. Enrollment in subsequent CS courses and the CS major increased among all groups of students.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 135078,
"author": "Boaty Mcboatface",
"author_id": 112033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/112033",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my honest opinion, this is more of a corollary to a fundamental systemic problem than an ethical one. The questions to be raised is why such students take those courses. There are few motivies I have personally witnessed.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>To get an easy grade</li>\n<li>The course is mandatory or a prerequisite with no way around it</li>\n<li>Students need to fit some numerical credit criteria and they don't want to take it</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All 3 of these reasons exhibit issues with how a university function. The universities seem to behave as if their priority is to give an \"equally\" measured certificate. Whether or not someone actually learns something seem to come second. This is not only universities' fault. Institutions of all sorts seem to use GPA as a significant measure of success. I have seen scholarships or university benefits where GPA was literally the main judging factor. This motivates people to not \"risk\" a lower grade in a more technical course when they can get an easy \"A\" by practically learning very few things.</p>\n\n<p>Another issue is that the exams are in many senses unfair. It is quite possible for one to get a worse letter grade than one should given their understanding. Because of the results mentioned and many others these people are encouraged to retake the course in order to improve their passing grade rather than taking follow up courses.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27586",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20070/"
] |
27,592 |
<p><strong>Intro</strong></p>
<p>For an upcoming project I have to get into a new topic of research which is not similar to anything I have worked so far. Furthermore, this project requires learning new programming language(s) and simulation environments. And in the end a software implementation and a final report has to be written</p>
<p><strong>About the topic</strong></p>
<p>The whole topic is about wireless mobile communication, the basics of communication technologies which are used in this topic are the same with the usual mobile wireless technologies I've learned before. However, the dynamics of the mobility are fairly different. The clustering algorithms used are not typical.</p>
<p><strong>The essential question</strong></p>
<p>How do I tackle such a situation, where multiple new things have to be learned before the final results are delivered. I separate the things I have to learn into </p>
<ul>
<li>Prerequisites: programming languages, simulation environment, relation between them and the topic basics</li>
<li>Main work: learning the essential elements of the topic and becoming fluent in them</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Past experiences</strong></p>
<p>In the past I have usually worked on research topics which I have fulfilled the prerequisites for. So, I would tackle the topic following these steps:</p>
<ol>
<li>Read broader literature: Surveys</li>
<li>Read literature about the specific problem</li>
<li>Implement if there is something to be done </li>
<li>Write final report</li>
</ol>
<p>In this case I am a bit <strong>lost</strong>. <em>I don't know where should I start from.</em> That's why I need help from more experienced researchers. Compared to the list I provided above, step 3 is quite more complicated in this case, as I am not familiar with the programming language.</p>
<p><strong>What I plan to do</strong></p>
<p>I want to follow the following steps in order to get into this topic</p>
<ol>
<li>Fulfill the prerequisites: get familiar with the required programming languages and simulation environments. Coupling between them etc. Do some exercises until I feel confident.</li>
<li>Start reading broad literature: Surveys</li>
<li>Focus on the specific problem: Read specific literature</li>
<li>Start implementation</li>
<li>Write the final report</li>
</ol>
<p>I am not quite sure if these steps are OK. Sometimes I get confused and I want to move <code>4 -> 2</code>, <code>2 -> 3</code>, <code>3 -> 4</code> and maybe parallelize something there with step <code>5</code>.</p>
<p>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I feel so overwhelmed by this topic and need urgent help :(.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27598,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>While your concern is perfectly valid (been there myself more than a few times), you should probably consider and accept that this is the way you are going to learn new things for most professional endeavors. This is how things work out of college; e.g. think about this: are you able to foresee what technologies and concepts are going to be required for your next project? And even if you could name them, could you set aside enough time for mastering them to be prepared for the next assignment?</p>\n\n<p>As I see it, you already have a sound plan, I would stick to it. I would, however, recommend that you not get too engaged in just familiarizing yourself with the new environment. Sure, take some time to get some grip on it, but once you are got the basics, I suggest proceeding with your plan. One major asset of your assignment is going to be your new acquired skills, but that mastery will come in small portions along the whole road of the project. I find it unlikely (for students and professionals alike) to be able to learn a new paradigm in a reasonable time, without some means to guide the effort, e.g. class projects, so, instead of trying to get to the bottom immediately, get the basics and learn the rest along the way.</p>\n\n<p>Other than that, as I said before, your plan is sound, just don't let the fear of the unknown overwhelm you into panic.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27614,
"author": "T K",
"author_id": 12656,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12656",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my (albeit limited) experience, depending on where you are in your career, you may want to search for a collaborator. When I was graduating, I had a project on the backburner that I didn't know how to tackle, so when I had a certain audience in job talks I'd try to send out dog-whistles about certain aspects of the research project to see if they could give me something back or be interested by the remarks. </p>\n\n<p>In the end, I got a brand-new collaborator (an expert on what I wanted to do) who really started to enjoy the project and is finding new things about the technique in which he's an expert. And the results ended up better than I ever could have hoped! Perhaps your PI may have friends that she/he trusts not to scoop you that you can confide the project in and then consequently have a new collaborator. </p>\n\n<p>Learning this new topic \"on the street\" as it may be would make this the most efficient way for you to learn and retain what you need for your research. This way you don't have to learn everything from the ground up which would take forever and your collaborator can tell help you figure out what you <em>need</em> to learn.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27617,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Learning a new programming language is probably the most straightforward part of this. Unless it's a <em>really</em> obscure language, there will be tutorials online and books to help you. If you already know one or two programming languages, learning a new one will usually not be difficult, and you can probably estimate for yourself how long it will take. However, if you're coming from a procedural programming background like C/C++, Java, Perl, PHP, VB, or most of the \"familiar\" languages, it will take more time to learn a functional programming language like Haskell.</p>\n\n<p>Make sure your learning is very focused. Don't try to learn the entire language (unless you want to), just learn enough to accomplish what you need to. I usually read a chapter or two of the book, then try to code up a bit of the functionality I need. When I get stuck, I read a bit more. Lather, rinse, repeat.</p>\n\n<p>Learning about the simulation environment may be easy or hard, depending on how well documented it is. If there isn't much documentation, but you can get a sample bit of code or configuration, then you can try making tiny changes to see what effect they have.</p>\n\n<p>As for learning about mobile/wireless communication, have you considered talking to a company in this field? Large telecomms companies usually have some connection to academia. If what you're doing has business potential for them, they may fund your research, lend you equipment, or at least offer some mentoring. Or if your project isn't relevant to traditional cellular networks, maybe think about what sort of business might benefit from this technology, and then ask them for some support.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27592",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9401/"
] |
27,594 |
<p>During my PhD it bothered me how much time my supervisor had to spend on writing proposals to get funding to do science, which in practice pretty much meant that he had no time to do science because he spent all that time in the time-consuming business of getting money.</p>
<p>As I was finishing my PhD and looked at postdoc opportunities, I wrote myself a project proposal for starting investigators in which I spent overall about one month (literature review, securing collaborators, writing itself, etc). This was very competitive and only one in every 100 applicants got funded - I did not get funding, although I made it to the interviews, which I was told meant I made it to the top 10%. I am not completely unsatisfied about the outcome because I gained experience and contacts, which eventually led me to being offered a postdoc position by one of the people I had included as collaborators. However, the whole process of putting the thing together meant I lost about one month that I could have spent doing science. It also made me realize that even writing a high quality proposal in which I had spent a lot of time working on the details would not necessarily lead to guaranteed success. If only 1% of applicants get funded it means that statistical noise alone is enough to push you out of the winners pool!</p>
<p>Now that I am a postdoc I have to spend some time helping my new boss with his proposals and in the near future (maybe in the next year) I will have to start applying to some competitive project money myself. Again, this means that I will not be doing research during that time and will spend a considerable amount of time trying to get that research funded.</p>
<p>How can this loss of productivity be quantified? Are there studies on how much less research is carried out because of the time spent on competitive hard-to-win grant calls?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27599,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this questions presupposes that you could do more research if you didn't have to write the proposals to get the money to fund your time. The reality of the situation is that there are more people that want to do research than can possibly be funded, so some system must be in place to decide. Competing for grants is the least bad system that we've been able to come up with. </p>\n\n<p>That being said, there are <a href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/09/research-shows-professors-work-long-hours-and-spend-much-day-meetings\">studies</a>. I think the bigger concern, however, is how much time is spent on report writing and other post-award administrative activity. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27601,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think the question is barking up the wrong tree, to mix metaphors.</p>\n\n<p>As you proceed through the researcher lifecycle (Ph.D. student -> postdoc -> professor), your responsibilities will change. For instance, one popular criterion for paper authorship in psychology is that one should have contributed to two out of the following four aspects of research:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Grant acquisition</li>\n<li>Data acquisition</li>\n<li>Data analysis</li>\n<li>Manuscript preparation</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>As a Ph.D. student, you will mainly work on 2-4. The postdoc will spend less time in the lab (point 2), more on 3-4... and he will also start working on grants (point 1). Finally, the professor will mainly focus on points 1 and 4, to a degree on 3. However, the bottom line is that all four activities are \"doing research\", since grants are just the way money is allocated to competing research groups nowadays. (Of course, one could argue that it would be better if funding were just distributed equally among researchers, but that seems to be a different question.)</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, in industry you could wonder how much time, money and energy is spent on marketing, pre-sales and sales activities and how all these resources could be much better spent on R&D, production and actually serving customers. But this would miss the point that without salespeople, there would not be any customers, nor money to spend on all the things the non-salespeople like to do. (And frequently, the conversion rate on business proposals is similar to the 1% you quote.)</p>\n\n<p>So: don't see writing grants as a drain on productivity. Writing (and getting) grants is how you get the money to do everything else in science.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27594",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14695/"
] |
27,596 |
<p>Earning a PhD help you learn tools and techniques in your field, and lets you become an expert in a very specific field of science. However, once you get your degree and try to enter the labor market, you're competing against people who are younger than you (i.e. recently graduated non-phd engineers) and may have actual work experience (i.e. non-phd engineers with a few years in the market).</p>
<p>There are, of course, some positions in which they cannot compete, including research and teaching position. Those are the minority, though... in most other fields it seems that holding a PhD is not as important as (for example) work experience.</p>
<p>So, I would like to know:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Is work experience more important than having a PhD in the many work environments?</p></li>
<li><p>What skills can I acquire/demonstrate during my PhD to become more "valuable" than a non-PhD candidate for the same job?</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27648,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This question is too broad, but I have a feeling it's a commonly asked one, so I'm going to try to answer it anyways.</p>\n\n<p>To address (what used to be) your second question first: holding a PhD does not make a job candidate any more desirable for the vast majority of positions. Indeed, it can be a factor against the candidate, as they will be perceived as more expensive. For positions where a less-qualified candidate could also fill the role, being overqualified is rarely a good thing. Jobs that are specifically looking for a PhD will typically state that in the requirements. For example, \"Masters required, PhD preferred\" is a common one in certain parts of the banking sector. However, for entry-level positions (data entry, lower-level analyst roles, etc), you may be at a disadvantage.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding your first question, though, you're being overly harsh on yourself. The process of earning a PhD is <em>significant</em> work experience; indeed, that's your main selling point when looking for your first job. Depending on what you did, you will have some or all of the following experience:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Identifying, clearly stating, and figuring out how to address a problem - this alone qualifies you to be a consultant at any large firm; this is all they do, all the time, for different clients</li>\n<li>Project management</li>\n<li>Advanced technical writing - your thesis, academic publications</li>\n<li>Communication skills - working through the peer-review process</li>\n<li>Public speaking - presenting at conferences</li>\n<li>Experimental design - your research project</li>\n<li>The art of researching - the simple knowledge of how to properly find articles, sources, etc</li>\n<li>...</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Even better, you've been doing all that for four years. You should be selling every single one of those points as hard as you can when you move to industry.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>EDIT: The above answer stands for the edited second question as well; as a graduate student, you will want to learn all of the above if you wish to enter the workforce. More specifically, though, almost industry positions seeking PhD candidates will apply to value the following three above most else:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Self-starter</strong> - shown in that you got your work done</li>\n<li><strong>Collaborative</strong> - demonstrated through <em>successful</em> collaborations with other researchers (successful = researched together, published together)</li>\n<li><strong>Good communication</strong> - demonstrated through publications, public speaking, conference presentations, teaching, etc.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>During the PhD, aim to do those things, and during your job search, emphasize all those traits in your resume and during interviews.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27666,
"author": "bfoste01",
"author_id": 19610,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19610",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the answer in large part depends on the kind of job you want to work when you have completed your degree. You mention that you do not know the kind of job that you want to work when you get out of a the program. This is unfortunate. A Ph.D. = specialization, a mistake many Ph.D. students make is to assume specialization = job. In fact, specialization can make it harder to find a job. If you're goal is to enter into industry than I think you have an interesting road to navigate. The job market will be kinder to you if you have a range of skills that you are really good at, the Ph.D. program is going to pull you in the opposite direction. You're wise to want to understand better what it is about getting a Ph.D. that will make you standout in the workforce, but you'd also be wise to look at some skills for your desired positions that you might not develop while in the Ph.D. program, and look to develop those too while you are in the program. For me these skills are computer science skills. For you these skills might be something different. </p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, unless you are in the hard sciences, and even then specialization can be a demon, having a Ph.D. might not mean all that much when stacked against someone with a Master's, wider breadth of skills and more industry experience when looking for industry job. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27596",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8539/"
] |
27,604 |
<p>I am doing my master thesis on wireless networking. I am working on the source code, which the writer of one of the articles provided to me.
Initially, I sent him an email and I asked him to send me his C++ source code . So he did. But the problem is, there was no documentation for his code and he is the only one that knows anything about this codebase. As a result, I totally depend on him. Last night I sent him an email and I asked him a question about his code and he replied to me very quickly, only three hours later. Probably, I will need his help again.</p>
<p>Before my last night's email and after spending one month working on his code, I saw minor progress to my work. But after yesterday's mail and his guidance, my work was significantly accelerated. I will probably need his help again maybe another two or three emails in a week. But I am afraid he will become angry with me for sending him a lot of emails. </p>
<p>So what should I do? Assume you are the source code programmer. Do you think he will become angry about my emails? Or he will be willing to help (since I will cite his article)? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27608,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Although your intentions are probably good, you seem to take advantage of the creator of the source code. He is not your personal debugger nor he must be the one writing the code for your thesis (especially for free). He has written a paper and he has given you his source code. That is all the information you need to know. Read his paper (or his paper slides if they are publicly available) a hundred times, till you know every little detail of it and then look at his code (another hundred times) until you correlate everything between the paper and the code. Of course this will be slower than sending him a couple of emails but it is YOUR thesis not his. Only when you do all this and still there are unanswered questions, then collect all the possible questions you might have (including queries about his code and his paper) and then send it him ONE email, with all your questions. Anything more than that is exploiting his kindness. This kind of back and forth emails with questions is one of the many reasons why many people are unwilling to share their codebase. </p>\n\n<p>Since he is probably a nice guy, you should consider that in the future you might collaborate with him or need his help. Being pushy or lazy (and delegating your work to him because you do not want spend 1-3 weeks refactoring or studying his code more carefully) is a sure way to burn bridges with him. And you really do not want to do that. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if after giving you access to his source code he understands (by your email) that you did everything humanly possible to understand his code and paper and just want some extra help, he will be willing to assist because: a) you seem to appreciate his work b) you seem to understand his time constraints c) you are also a smart, hard working guy worth collaborating with. And this is the message you need to convey.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27612,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Why not just ask him? He knows how busy he is, how interesting your project is for him, and how <em>dumb</em> (if any) your questions are. You can also offer to pay him back by writing a (partial) manual on his code, as you go on understanding it.</p>\n\n<p>If I was to receive this kind of email I would see that you are acknowledging my effort and trying to be respectful with my time. And maybe this will be good for me, forcing me to rethink aspects of the code, and make a mental note of doing better documentation in the future.</p>\n\n<p>Also, in that situation, I would greatly appreciate to be kept in the loop about your project. Even if I can't or won't help, I would like to see the the progress.</p>\n\n<p>A quick answer is usually a good sign, it means that he finds your questions interesting and not something you should have been able to figure out by yourself. In any case, if you want to make sure, you can ask someone that is roughly familiar with that code (probably your advisor), and see if the questions are indeed something you should have been able to figure out by yourself; and if you are not, they should teach you the techniques you are missing to do it.</p>\n\n<p>All this said, I have been given messy code to work with three times, and the three of them I ended up grabbing the paper and reimplementing it myself in a couple of days (and in two of them, the result was way better). Maybe your case is too big, but you should consider it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28253,
"author": "Faheem Mitha",
"author_id": 285,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/285",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To some extent I'm probably repeating what others have said here already. But in any case, here I go with my 2 cents.</p>\n\n<p>First, the situation you describe is actually quite unusual. In most cases where code is used in a publication, the code is not published, and if it is not published, it is often unobtainable from the authors. If they do provide it, they are not very likely to answer questions about it. For example, often the code is written by some junior person like a grad student, and once that person has departed, the senior authors, who are also the corresponding author, don't know anything specific about the code, because they have not actually written any of it. They may also no longer have a copy of it, if they ever did.</p>\n\n<p>So, you are already in a good situation, that someone is responding to you.</p>\n\n<p>Another thing to bear in mind is that academics like people to be interested in your work. Since your correspondent wrote the code, he is probably the main author of the work; people who write the code generally are. So, he may not mind answering questions about his work as long as they are not stupid. Avoid basic/general language-related questions which are not specific to the code, for example.</p>\n\n<p>As someone else said, if you want to know how he feels, why not ask him?\nSo, I'd suggest three concrete things.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Express your appreciation for the time he is spending replying to\nyou. Don't go overboard; a sentence or two is enough. But it is\nimportant to do so.</li>\n<li>If you interested/willing to have him as a co-author, ask him if he\nis interested in being a co-author. If he is not interested, or you\ndon't want him as a co-author, ask him permission to add him to the\nacknowedgements. You should certainly add him, if he agrees.</li>\n<li>Ask him if it is Ok to keep asking him occasional questions. Perhaps\noutline what and how much you expect to be asking him, if you have\nan idea, so he knows what to expect.</li>\n<li>This is going above and beyond, in some sense, but since you say his\ncode is not documented, document it, perhaps checking with him first\nabout how to do so, in case he has preferences. Then, send the\ndocumentation to him. That's a nice concrete way to show appreciation.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29461,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As someone who is often on the receiving end of such questions, my advice is:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>First and foremost, understand the theory behind the code before you go ask questions. Many of the questions that I get about my code reveal that the person with the question simply doesn't have basic background knowledge in optimization (e.g. \"what's a Cholesky factorization\") without which they couldn't possibly understand the code. </p></li>\n<li><p>Make sure that you have the latest version of the author's code. Don't use an earlier version. </p></li>\n<li><p>Understand how the software is licensed (if at all.) You will have to work within the terms of that license (e.g. the author might have put the code under the GPL, and your derivative work will also have to be GPL.) </p></li>\n<li><p>Don't complain about the quality of the code or features that it lacks. If it doesn't do what you need, ask ask the author whether this is possible within the current code, or by a simple extension or whether the algorithm fundamentally doesn't handle that case or whatever. Do not assume that what you want will be easy or even possible at all. Depending on the author's response, you might get a ready made solution, or you might get some information on how to modify the code, or you might get told that it isn't practical. </p></li>\n<li><p>If you're getting errors, then please provide the input data and output so that I can recreate the problem. Make an example that reproduces the problem as simply as possible rather than giving me all of your code. I will attempt to recreate the problem on my machine. </p></li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27604",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
27,609 |
<p>Of late I noticed that recent books or long articles tend to make a short summary before every set of paragraphs. For example, we might have:</p>
<p><strong>1. Introduction</strong></p>
<p>We so and so ...</p>
<p>Therefore, so and so ....</p>
<p><strong>What is so and so:</strong> Let us consider ...</p>
<p><strong>Properties of so and so:</strong> We notice that ...</p>
<p>where every boldfaced phrases is followed by a set of paragraphs. For a real example:
<a href="http://modular.math.washington.edu/edu/2011/581g/misc/Darmon-Diamond-Taylor-Fermats_Last_Theorem.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://modular.math.washington.edu/edu/2011/581g/misc/Darmon-Diamond-Taylor-Fermats_Last_Theorem.pdf</a></p>
<p>My questions are:</p>
<p>1) Is this style of writing really a trend? </p>
<p>2) Is it still a good idea if we are writing an article of moderate length such as a statement of purpose or a short report?</p>
<p>In my opinion, such style seems much more intelligible.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27610,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's probably not a trend, but if you like the style, your are free to mimic it. There are millions of scientific articles written every year. Tracking or finding trends in style in these articles is probably not worth it. It almost certainly varies among scientific communities and among what journals and conferences prefer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27611,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Ah, it's just LateX's <code>\\paragraph{}</code> command.</p>\n\n<p>It's not the most widespread style, but I think it's clearer, too, and I suggest you to go on using it.</p>\n\n<p>What problems could there be? I can only foresee issues with journal articles, if you encounter overzealous copy-editors. A good card to play is \"if your house style contains <code>\\paragraph{}</code>, I am using it\".</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27609",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
27,627 |
<p>I want to write a paper on Mobile Screens in HCI, as phones are getting uncomfortably big for users, I want to provide some solution to the big screen phones or how logically state that how small screen phones are suitable for the user.</p>
<p>Coming back to question, for the above-mentioned reason, I was going to make a survey of big phone screen users, and I was going to mention it in my paper, is it okay to mention brand names of phones and their specific products with images?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27631,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know about hardware, but in case you feel like mentioning some software (and hardware often comes with software...), beware that the EULA can prohibit researchers and scientists from explicitly using the names of their systems in academic papers. </p>\n\n<p>Oracle is notorious for that, they sued David DeWitt following some benchmarks he had published that mentioned Oracle, see <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_DeWitt\">the DeWitt Clause</a>. Luckily the University of Wisconsin supported him, but Oracle banned all Wisconsin alumni for a while.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27635,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although in some fields, this may be a problem, as <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27631/15723\">Franck Dernoncourt has explained</a>, in other fields, it is not only a good idea, but <em>expected</em>. For instance, in the laboratory sciences, you would normally list the vendors and suppliers who provided the \"raw materials\" being used, as well as, in many cases, the experimental apparatuses used to study them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27655,
"author": "nivag",
"author_id": 14115,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14115",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For cases of the type you mention I would probably recommend not naming the brands. The reason for this is that the manufacturer is unlikely to be happy if you say that their equipment is not very good (and they can't all be good or there is nothing to write about). This is particularly important if they have given you samples/equipment to use for research.</p>\n\n<p>The lab I'm at has done several comparisons of various software and microscopes for surface metrology and in all cases the equipment/software is just referred to as A, B, C etc. </p>\n\n<p>While from my point of view the reasons for doing this are purely maintaining good relations I expect there is a legal aspect too. I know we have received long loans/discounts on some instruments which presumably involves a contract saying we can't publish anything negative about the instrument.</p>\n\n<p>If a company has provided some equipment used in this sort of thing you may wish to put them in the acknowledgements. Although be aware this may de-anomimise you data. If very few people make an instrument of a certain type saying thanks to company X makes it obvious what it is. On the other hand knowledgeable readers could probably make an educated guess anyway.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27627",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21094/"
] |
27,628 |
<p>I am going to conduct a workshop on my research work and for that I need to show how it is done on the software. I want to know,</p>
<ul>
<li>Is it ok to display the proprietary software (through TeamViewer) from my university?</li>
<li>or Should I use screenshots?</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27630,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Generally speaking it is totally fine to use or demonstrate publicly (at a conference or elsewhere) some proprietary software. Many presenters use Microsoft Windows along with Microsoft PowerPoint, and nobody ever gets into trouble.</p>\n\n<p>That said, if you want to be 100% sure you need to peruse the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_license_agreement\">end-user license agreement (EULA)</a>, which is the contract that stipulates under which conditions the program might be used: this is the ultimate reference. For example, the EULA can prohibit researchers and scientists from explicitly using the names of their systems in a benchmark. (Oracle is notorious for that, they sued David DeWitt following some benchmarks he had published that mentioned Oracle, see <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_DeWitt\">the DeWitt Clause</a>).</p>\n\n<p>Beyond the EULA, one exception I can think of is if you have signed some confidentiality contract, which can happen when the software hasn't been released yet and the developers give you access to some pre-release version of it.</p>\n\n<p>Another exception is that if by \"show how it is done on the software\" you mean reverse engineer the software, then you might want to be careful: reverse engineering is <a href=\"http://lwn.net/Articles/134642/\">borderline</a>. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_license_agreement#Reverse_engineering\">E.g.</a> in the United States, EULA provisions can preempt the reverse engineering rights implied by fair use, c.f. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowers_v._Baystate_Technologies\">Bowers v. Baystate Technologies</a>.</p>\n\n<p>The last exception I can think of is video games: they can be seen as art, both for the graphic and the music. Just like you can't show a movie or broadcast music publicly in the general case (e.g. <a href=\"http://www.twitch.tv/\">Twitch</a> mutes some screencasts), video game publishers might use some similar arguments in court. That's very theoretical. </p>\n\n<p>All in all, if you're having some doubts, you might want to drop by the legal office in your University, because as any law 101 course says, the answer is always \"it depends\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27660,
"author": "Jukka Suomela",
"author_id": 351,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Screenshots are much better than a live demonstration.</p>\n\n<p>Too many things can go wrong with a live demonstration: Problems with the Internet connectivity at the conference, at your university, or anywhere between the two points. Servers being down for maintenance. Software crashing unexpectedly. Embarrassing user errors during the presentation. You cannot connect your own laptop to the video projector at the conference, and you need to resort to another computer that does not have the right software installed. Yearly software license expiring the same morning as you are supposed to give the talk. Wrong screen resolution for the software. Etc., etc.</p>\n\n<p>None of these reasons are related to copyrights. Of course <em>if</em> you can show screenshots you can also show the software itself.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27628",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19474/"
] |
27,638 |
<p>Say for example you are a new PhD student and realize that you hate doing research in your free time but you are more than willing to spend several hours in the morning to do research. Was your decision to become a PhD student right for you or not?</p>
<p>I'm asking because people are suggesting that "you have to be really passionate and curious about everything all the time"</p>
<p>what if you want to be curious during your work and just relax and have fun doing unrelated things when you have some free time in your hands?</p>
<p>I guess this indicates that you aren't really passionate, but what's the threshold for "being passionate enough for a PhD"?</p>
<p>These thoughts have really made me somewhat confused over my decision of going for a PhD. It's been a few weeks that I'm into this program and after reading a lot of stuff online addressing the question whether the PhD is right for you or not, I'm already starting to question my decision.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27639,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Having to be passionate and curious about everything all the time is a great recipe—for exhaustion. </p>\n\n<p>You should be curious and interested in the research that you want to do, and be motivated enough to keep going even (or perhaps <em>especially</em>) on days when things just don't work the way you want to. More importantly, it should be interesting enough to you that you're willing to put up with the failure that is a necessary component of successful research. But it's not necessary, or even practical or desirable, to spend every waking hour thinking about or doing research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27641,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are limited to \"several hours of research in the morning\" this is going to make completing a PhD in a reasonable amount of time difficult. While part time students can and do finish PhDs, it is a long and difficult road. If your interest in the research wanes over time such that several hours becomes a few hours, it is going to become an even longer and more difficult road which may cause a downwards spiral. While many students fail to carve out personal time, completing a PhD does not require you to not relax and have fun. One can be passionate about research and still take a break and relax.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27642,
"author": "Ana",
"author_id": 322,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My experience is that I was so exhausted from learning new things at the beginning of my PhD, that I couldn't take more in at some point in the day. I would read light literature, watch silly sitcoms, go out, do things completely unrelated to work. And I also worried because I saw that my supervisor and other 'real' scientists seem immersed in their topic more of the time.</p>\n\n<p>By the end of my PhD my fingers keep itching to write down ideas or look at data when I'm doing other stuff. It simply gets easier because there is less novelty to the work you're up against, and because you become more competent within your field. Once you feel that the knowledge you have can contribute to the field, it's a whole other ballgame. But that takes time, and it's really nothing to worry about when you're just beginning. Taking time off to do other things is still incredibly important of course - not only psychologically but also for work productivity - but the spontaneous, out of the blue research-related insights tend to increase in frequency over time. I don't think the number of hours you like to spend doing research right now can tell you all that much about what's to come. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27643,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The other answers already explain that no, you shouldn't be doing research all the time, with no time for breaks, relaxation and other interests. All this is quite correct.</p>\n\n<p>However, I am a bit unsure whether the stark dichotomy \"all research all the time\" versus \"a few hours in the morning\" is really helpful here. Maybe an answer to the following question is more helpful:</p>\n\n<p><em>Is doing a Ph.D. right for you if you plan on doing it as a 9-5 job, 40 hours per week?</em></p>\n\n<p>And there, I would be a bit more careful. Yes, there are people who can do a Ph.D. like a \"normal job\", at their desk at 9am sharp and dropping their pencils at 5pm. It is <em>possible</em>. However, my personal impression is that these people will avoid the typical Ph.D. burnout, but they will likely not be top performers. So my answer to the modified question above is:</p>\n\n<p>You will probably do fine with a 40 hour workweek, if you make sure to stay self-motivated. However, you should think deeply about just <em>why</em> you want to do a Ph.D... because unless you are uncommonly brilliant, you will likely not be productive enough to stay in academia and compete with people who routinely put in 50-60 hours per week. You may want to think about leaving academe with the Ph.D. and going into industry.</p>\n\n<p>Note that I am not saying \"40 hour Ph.D. students\" are lazy. However, if you can't work up the level of passion and commitment to your topic that makes you <em>want</em> to put in 50-60 hours per week often, then there will likely be someone else, and that someone else will have more publications five or ten years down the road.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27644,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since you're only a few weeks into your PhD programme I suspect you have a somewhat limited understanding of what research is and how varied it can be. I'll give you my perspective, as a PhD student.</p>\n\n<p>I think a lot depends on how excited you are about your topic. When I did my MSc, I was fortunate in being able to propose any topic I liked within a broad range of areas. So I ended up doing research developing some of my own ideas, with a lot of freedom to follow my own path. I got good results, and now I'm working on my PhD. I love it. I'm not sure how passionate I'd be about doing research based on or forking off of someone else's idea. But since it's my own \"baby\", I'm very passionate about it, and would do it for fun even if there wasn't a PhD at the end.</p>\n\n<p>But let me put this into perspective by pointing out that I'm not equally passionate about all parts of research. I actually enjoy writing, so I don't mind writing papers, but I wouldn't say I'm passionate about it. Sometimes I find paper writing tedious. I love thinking about my research, doing it, and talking about it. I do not love writing proposals; it gets easier over time, but it's not something I would do for fun. As for reading the literature, it depends on how well-written it is and how relevant it is to me. I don't mind it, and I recognise the value of it, but I'm not passionate about it. When I get home at the end of the day, I'm not tempted to read papers or write proposals.</p>\n\n<p>I found the first six months of my MSc to be a struggle, and I suspect most people do. I read papers, but found it very difficult to concentrate on what I was reading because the language was so stiff and formal. I spent too much time reading things that weren't that useful. I made false starts. Research is a skill that takes time to develop, and although others can help you, ultimately it's something you have to teach yourself.</p>\n\n<p>You're in the PhD programme now, so unless you're truly miserable, I suggest not to worry if it's right for you until you're further along, and have a broader picture of what research really is.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27651,
"author": "emmalgale",
"author_id": 12089,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12089",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I will also give my perspective as someone who is almost 3 years into a PhD in the UK.</p>\n\n<p>I am one of the unusual students in my department who treats my PhD time like a full time job. I come in at the same time every day (9:30 approx.) and leave between 5pm and 6pm every day. I very rarely do any work at home, because I need the time to spend doing other things. My partner works full time, so we have a routine during the week and like to spend time together in the evenings and on weekends. The only times I actively work at home are when I have deadlines coming up (i.e. progress report due, presentation to finish). That said, I quite often discuss my work with my partner, which can help me think. My supervisor is very strict, so I certainly wouldn't get away with being away from my office without permission from him.</p>\n\n<p>The first few months of a PhD isn't really indicative of what the rest of the time will be like. You will likely spend most of your time initially reading up on your research topic, which can be incredibly dull! Annoyingly, much of the scientific literature is written in a way that makes it hard to read, so when you are spending most of your day reading, you will find it difficult. </p>\n\n<p>Once you have settled into your PhD, you will spend most of your time doing other things. It does depend on your research area. I am in the climate field, so much of my time is spent doing data manipulation and analysis on large datasets. During my first 6 months, I was doing a lot of data collection and quality control. I was also learning a lot of programming skills that I required to be able to work with these datasets. I also took some time to go to skills courses offered to PhD students at my university. One course that was very useful in my first year was about literature searches - how to do effective searches and also how to record the information learnt while reading. I can go back to a paper I read 2 years ago, and not have to re-read it because of the notes I made every time I read a paper.</p>\n\n<p>Different universities provide different experiences, so you may get the opportunity to do some teaching (unfortunately I don't have that option). Attending a conference in your first year is a great experience, and something to work towards. I presented a poster of my research at my first conference, which was also a new skill learnt. </p>\n\n<p>I guess what I am trying to say is that you don't have to spend hundreds of hours per week working on your research to be a successful PhD researcher. On the other hand, you will need to do more than a couple of hours per day to be able to get your PhD in a reasonable amount of time. I am on course to finish mine in 3.5 years.\nDon't let your experience in the first few months put you off, as it will get better. If you still aren't enjoying it after 6 months to a year, then maybe reassess your decision.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27664,
"author": "bfoste01",
"author_id": 19610,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19610",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Full disclosure social science Ph.D. program. </p>\n\n<p>First weeks in a Ph.D. program... here's what's going on. </p>\n\n<p>You're in the hazing period of grad school. People are over-exagerating. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Your peers (cohort) are all hyper competitive with each other right now. There's still very much that need of many to show that they are the smartest person in the room. This usually comes from a place of insecurity (i.e., needing praise, not wanting to feel the impostor syndrome, etc.). Overtime, this will fade. Then it will become like most other working environments... there will be lots of honest water cooler talk, less competitiveness, etc. However, within your lab it will also mirror the corporate world, where your peers will agree with everything your boss says, fake knowing things they really don't know, and generally try and win favorability. </p></li>\n<li><p>Everyone needs to say how hard graduate school is and how much work it is in the beginning. It's a mantra that no one ever questions. You get the same kind of thing in corporate jobs. The truth is, I haven't found the work of it to be that hard at all! Sure, I've experienced lots of frustration in feeling held-up due to delays in feedback, new directions in the lab and a lack of face to face time with my advisor, but the work is quite easy. The people who do spend way too many hours of their life doing work I have found to be one of four types:</p>\n\n<p>1) Obsessed with perfection as a means for impressing. This is the typical OC type you surely have encountered through your entire life. </p>\n\n<p>2) Has no defining personal life that gives them sustenance outside of grad school. This is the student who will answer his/her's advisor's email 5 minutes after it arrives in his/her mailbox, as such sets the expectation that this is acceptable. Most students are like this their first year, but there will definitely be people around you that stay this way. </p>\n\n<p>3) Not very competent. When I arrived in graduate school I was really surprised at the amount of incompetence I saw in my peers. I'm certainly of average intelligence, but have always been a self-doer, so I wasn't expecting everyone be a genius. However, there's just a lot of incompetent people in the programs. Ironically, these are the ones that seem to fare the best in terms of getting through the program. I still scratch my head with this one. </p>\n\n<p>4) Inefficient. This can involve having poor time-management skills, but I find it's more about workflows. My peers spend a lot of time every week doing repetitive tasks that they could streamline and automate in so many different ways. My favorite was a student who needed to run a series of descriptive and regression analysis on newly available data every a week. The task literally took this person over 10 hours every week because this person manually entered everything into SPSS (a point and click statistical software). In 2 hours of research on simple coding skills this student could have learned how to automate nearly the entire process, and had the task finished in seconds. The fact that the advisor thought this was a good use of time is a whole other issue! The point is, I find that what my lab mates finish in 20 hours a week literally takes me under 5 hours to finish. <strong>Just work smart!</strong></p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Your question seems more about work-life balance. This applies in graduate school too. Let the program run your life, give up all the small things you do outside of school, and you'll be saying hello to depression in no time. </p>\n\n<p>Yes, you can have a life while being a Ph.D. student. In fact, I'd say as soon as the Graduate Program becomes how you describe yourself to others it's time to reevaluate your life. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35121,
"author": "James",
"author_id": 5958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5958",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have found that for some reason people really dislike it when other people do things for reasons that aren't \"noble\".</p>\n\n<p>I posted a question on here a while ago asking about doing a post-doc, and I said that the main reason I would want to do one is because it seems like it would be a fun way to spend my time for a few years. I got a lot of negative replies along the lines of \"If that's the reason you want to do a post-doc, you clearly aren't the type of person who should be doing one\" or \"I hope no one wastes research dollars on you\".</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, anyone who creates a start-up with the goal of \"getting rich\" is harassed. If they had pretended their real goal is to solve some great problem in the world in order to make it a better place, they would have gotten a lot of positive feedback instead.</p>\n\n<p>In the programming community, a lot of people say \"you're not a real programmer\" if you don't have side projects that you work on in your free time. How can you possibly be passionate about your work if you don't do it in your free time as well?</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, all of the above is a lot of baloney. Who cares what your motivation is. We're all going to be dead in the next hundred years, and the only thing that matters now is the tangible results you can provide to your employing agency. If I can produce high quality research publications in a post-doc that I'm doing for \"all the wrong reasons\", who cares? Life isn't fair; there are people who slave away and have little to show for their work, while others hit upon a lucky discovery with little effort and are set for life. If you would rather spend your free time drinking beer and socializing with friends instead of reading articles, but you're still able to make good progress on your PhD, who cares?</p>\n\n<p>I've found that most people who brag about working hard and being at the office all the time are normally wasting their time in other ways anyhow. Sure, they may be \"working\" 10 hours a day, but they're not actually accomplishing all that much.</p>\n\n<p>So I wouldn't let other students' opinions on whether you're \"passionate enough\" have any bearing on what you do with your life.</p>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT</strong>: Having said that, I will point out that <em>probabilistically</em>, those who are more curious and interested in their work will tend to do better than those who aren't. If you're forcing yourself to work 60 hours a week, you will <em>probably</em> not do as well as someone who has to stop themselves from working that many hours because they're having so much fun. For instance, I spend my research time performing molecular dynamics simulations, writing programs to analyze the data, and writing papers on the results. But then I spend my free time learning about quantum mechanics. Maybe what I do in my free time could somehow help my research; then again, maybe it won't. But I don't get burnt out, because I'm splitting my time up into divisions of what I can handle without anxiety.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27638",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20979/"
] |
27,647 |
<p>Organizing a conference is very <strong>difficult</strong> for a scientist, you have to have the right collaborators, to find the right venue, to spread the word, to advertise it, to send the call for papers, to receive the papers, to check them, to organize the lunchs and dinners, etc etc.</p>
<p><strong>All these tasks are very time-consuming</strong>, and stressful, and they will steal precious time to your scientific research activity, and also to your family/friends time.</p>
<p>So, why do people decide to organize conferences?</p>
<p><strong>What are the main benefits and advantages of running this complex and time-consuming activity?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27650,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd say the main benefits are prestige and honor. To be able to organize a serious conference, you got to, as you pointed out, have a non-trivial amount of connections and be a respectable and accomplished member of the scientific community. At that point in ones life, some people may decide to use their status to promote their scientific community. In my experience, conferences are connected with the institution the leading scientist is from. So that also may be a significant amount of finances the institution will receive from organizing a conference on a regular basis. So, by contributing so much to the institution, the scientist will certainly hold a more favorable position among his colleagues and the institution itself. Besides, there might as well be a financial compensation for the scientist's efforts, which I (perhaps naively) think is a rare occurrence, since I know of only one such practice. Finally, many conferences are inclined to naming an award in honor of their founder, usually posthumously. Therefore, when/if the prestige of the conference rises, so does the importance of the award, and that is generally a nice way to be remembered and honored once you pass away.</p>\n\n<p>So in a way, you organize a conference, because you can/want do demonstrate your ability to do so, i.e. proving the influential collaborators and accomplishments you acquired during your career. As awards you expect to be remembered and honored and to get satisfaction by the fact that you contributed significantly to your community.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27652,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>If everyone refused to organize conferences, we would have no conferences.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Yes, it's that obvious. The same goes for editing journals, refereeing papers, and most other <em>service</em> activities.</p>\n\n<p>The main result of a research conference is that it helps attendees do better research, to find and understand new ideas, and to disseminate their own research, etc. By organizing the conference, you are the facilitator of all that. Furthermore, you get to influence the direction of the conference -- what it will focus on, who the invited speakers will be, how it will be run, and so forth.</p>\n\n<p>Additionally, I would argue that academics are paid to organize conferences in the same way that <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/7571/81\">we are paid to referee papers</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, there are fringe benefits to you personally, including the prestige mentioned by @user3209815 -- you can list it on your CV under service activities. Frankly, this is not going to make or break your career, and you probably shouldn't be doing it early in your career, since (as you point out) it takes time away from things that may be more essential.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27653,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>It fills an acute need</h2>\n\n<p>Organizing a conference takes significant effort, but it also usually fills a need within a community. New conferences generally arise when some subfield or a geographic community within a field has a critical mass of research that they want to exchange, but that is poorly served by the existing options.</p>\n\n<p>If ten years ago the FooBar conference occasionally got papers like \"FooBaz is a nice new thing\" but now there are many FooBaz papers that get rejected with reason \"The paper is okay but outside the scope of FooBar\" then everyone in the FooBaz community would benefit from a specialized conference on FooBaz - and if it is a success, then it often gets repeated and turns into a [semi]yearly tradition.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to make progress in an emerging field, you are motivated to invest personal effort in making the field a success, to advertise your research and the related research that's growing out of it. If it's an estabilished field, then often you form some organization that unites the relevant scientists and is able to get funding and administrative resources for the explicit purpose of advancing that field - which involves organizing conferences.</p>\n\n<h2>It's a shared effort</h2>\n\n<p>I've actually never seen <strong><em>a</em></strong> scientist organizing a conference. Usually it would get managed by some university, institute or other organization (though through active initiative of their scientists) - it would piggyback on their existing administrative capacity. Similarly, organizing the papers and organizing the event is usually split among separate people so that the workload is manageable.</p>\n\n<p>Also, I've seen many conferences that get 'rotated' among the community. If a conference makes sense, then multiple research centres are interested, otherwise you can just make a local seminar. If organizing a conference requires your [institution] involvement only, say, every 6 years, then it's not so tedious to make it intractable.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27654,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Arranging conferences is very hard work. You need to be prepared to organize a meeting place, be a \"travel agent\" for visitors seeking information on how to get there etc. and then make sure things runs smoothly during the meeting. Of course more individuals will be involved in arranging a meeting, how many depends on the size. So unless you are a despot and can order people to work for you, I would say that arranging a meeting is not for prestige and honour without being well-deserved through sweat and tears (I am assuming you want the guests to enjoy a productive and comfortable meeting atmosphere).</p>\n\n<p>Arranging a meetings, from small workshops for tens of people to conferences for hundreds can be really rewarding. If you arrange for thousands you need to run things through a professional organizer, such as a conference centre. Even that can be rewarding but no less a lot of work. To be able to cope with the work load, which will likely start half a year to years before the meeting (depends on the size and format of the meeting), you need to have a good idea of what goals your meeting will have. For smaller meetings where all visitors are assembled for the entire meeting, you probably have a personal interest in the topics to be covered. In a larger meeting with many separate sessions, you and others in the organizing committee probably have invested interests in several different ones. In the end, successful meetings come from a deep interest from the organizers in having the meeting and its themes covered. At least in my field, I have never encountered anyone doing a conference just for glory and filling a CV. The benefits will definitely be there after a successful meeting but then, you have really deserved them.</p>\n\n<p>So, in my experience, organising meetings is really rewarding, it is hard work, but pays of scientifically and socially if the organisation is done well and visitors return with a sense of value from the experience.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27687,
"author": "TemplateRex",
"author_id": 18027,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18027",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Preamble</h2>\n\n<p>Having organized 3 different small-scale (~60 participants) events with international speakers on a variety of topics (one of which evolved into semi-annually workshop series), these are my personal rules of thumb for keeping it enjoyable (<strong>when done right it really is enjoyable!</strong>):</p>\n\n<h2>Separate the logistics from the contents</h2>\n\n<p>This is the hard part, and you are right to be dreadful about it. The solution: ask for help! For anything beyond 100 participants, you should consider hiring a professional conference organizer and forming a multi-person programm committee etc. For small-scale stuff, this is what I usally try to do.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Start <strong>on time</strong>: 6-12 months is a good range. Remember that academic speakers have teaching loads they need to navigate in their schedules.</p></li>\n<li><p>Secure a <strong>budget</strong> from your manager (professer of your research group, or dean of your department)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>it should cover speaker's travel reimbursements, catering and accomodation</li>\n<li>optionally: speaker's gifts (bottle of wine, book etc.), after-conference dinner</li>\n<li>for my events, $2K turned to be plenty (and there was no admission fee for participants!), and typically management won't think twice about it</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>find a good <strong>office manager</strong> / secretary to take care of the practicalities:\n<ul>\n<li>beforehand: managing the mailinglist of participants, travel arrangements of speakers</li>\n<li>during the day: name badges, coffee during breaks, drinks afterwards, printing handouts</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>find support in the <strong>IT department</strong> for website related stuff:\n<ul>\n<li>announcements, registration, publication of presentations</li>\n<li>live feed video is a whole different ball game (I have no experience with it, best left to the pros)</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>find at least <strong>one colleague</strong> willing to share the burden with you:\n<ul>\n<li>this really helps to cover each other's workload peaks (teaching, papers etc.)</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In my experience, asking people for help with such events is usually enthusiastically supplied. Especially office managers relish at the chance to break their daily routine and they will work wonders to get things done. Make sure to properly and publicly praise them at the closing of the event (e.g. give them flowers / small gift in front of the audience. Also invite them to the after-conference dinner).</p>\n\n<h2>Concentrate on the contents</h2>\n\n<p>The logistics out of the way (okay, you will need to periodically monitor people for their progress and potential hiccups, but that's no big deal), you can concentrate on what you do best: content!</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Find your <strong>niche</strong>: which unique gap in the world of conferences (both geographically and topic-wise) does your event fill?</li>\n<li>Define your <strong>audience</strong>: which people should attend and with what knowledge would you like them to return afterwards?</li>\n<li>Find good <strong>speakers</strong> \n<ul>\n<li>they should be <strong>familiar with</strong> -but not necessarily known to- the niche/audience that you are targetting (this depends a bit on your goal: getting the state-of-the-art from a world expert is different from getting an interesting and intellectually stimulating view on a topic from a relative outsider)</li>\n<li>you should have <strong>witnessed them present at least once</strong> (either on video or live)</li>\n<li>you would like to <strong>pick their brains</strong> afterwards (which is why after-conference dinners for speakers/organizers are so great: you get priviliged access to experts in the field, and they are usually in a great mood over a good meal / glass of wine)</li>\n<li>this is really the main benefit: <strong>close interaction with experts</strong>. If you are professionally competent and nice to talk to, they will form a good opinion of you and this might give you career opportunities (speaking invitations, job offers based on word-of-mouth etc.)</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>Find a good <strong>conference chair</strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>should be <strong>knowledgeable</strong> of the nice/audience</li>\n<li>should be <strong>firm but not a dominant</strong> personality so as to get a focussed but also lively discussion between audience and speakers</li>\n<li>you should have <strong>witnessed this person perform in that role</strong> at least once</li>\n<li>if you yourself fit the bill on all three accounts above, just put yourself into that role. It will give you great exposure to an audience and will be a rewarding experience. But don't force yourself into it for the exposure alone (e.g. because you are too shy or too dominant to facilitate discussions).</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><strong>Mingle with the audience</strong>: apart from the speakers, talking to people in the audience is also very rewarding. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Obviously you will have to check up some of the logistics but with good support there is usually enough time to talk to a few people during the coffee breaks or at the drinks afterwards. </li>\n<li>Even if you have no other role at the event, the fact that you are the organizer will register in people's minds and they will associate you to the topic of the day and this can lead to interesting future career opportunities (mostly small, like speaking invitations).</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The worst two things that ever happened to me were:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>a disappointing speaker (great-looking resume, nice phone interview before, but I had never watched that person speak and it was terrible, so now that's on the checklist)</li>\n<li>a last-minute cancellation by a speaker (you cannot really plan against it because no-one would like to be a reserve-speaker, luckily the speaker enlisted a co-author as a substitute and that turned out to be a good experience)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27689,
"author": "Alnitak",
"author_id": 21145,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21145",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One benefit that I haven't seen mentioned yet, and one of the major reasons I organised a conference:</p>\n\n<p>Once you've organised one, for the next few years after that, you have a good way to defend yourself against substantial pressure from colleagues to organise the next conference, on the grounds of it not being your turn, because you did it recently.</p>\n\n<p>How long your immunity lasts will depend on the size and frequency of the conferences you usually attend.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27647",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/379/"
] |
27,649 |
<p>We are currently trying to submit a comprehensive survey article I have been working on for a while as a journal paper. Some of the journals we're considering (I'm in Computer Science) require, for survey articles, submitting a 2-5 page <em>white paper</em> to the Editor-in-Chief, in order to evaluate the relevance of the proposed survey (upon which the EiC would either discourage or encourage the submission of a full survey):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Authors interested in submitting overview articles are required to consult first with the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of their Transactions of choice before submitting a white paper proposal. White papers are limited to 2-pages and should motivate the topic, justify the proposal, and include a list of relevant bibliography including any available tutorial or overview articles related to the subject matter. (...) The EiC solicits input from the Editorial Board on whether to encourage submission of a full paper.</p>
<p>(specific requirements example taken from: <a href="http://www.signalprocessingsociety.org/publications/overview-articles/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.signalprocessingsociety.org/publications/overview-articles/</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have found <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/11961/4249">some</a> <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1597/4249">questions</a> <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/10259/4249">on the topic</a> if white papers, but it looks to me like all of those are either concerning short standalone papers, or white papers for grants, which differs a bit from my situation.</p>
<p>Just to summarize, this white paper (2-5 pages, depending on the journal) is <em>not</em> ment to ever be published, but rather to help the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board in deciding on the relevance of the proposed survey. So, for me as the author, the goal of this white paper is to motivate the EiC to invite me to submit the full survey manuscript.</p>
<p>So, my question is <em>how to structure and what information to include in a white paper, meant as a proposal for publishing a longer survey paper</em>. Some specific questions I'm thinking about:</p>
<ul>
<li>Should I divide it into sections, similar to a regular (short) paper (introduction, discussion, etc.) or should it have some different, (specific or not) structure?</li>
<li>The reqirements mention including a <em>"list of relevant bibliography"</em>: as this is meant to be for an survey article, my complete list of bibliography is much larger that 2 pages. Do I just mention "related work" and omit the references used as sources for the survey from this white paper, or something similar to that?</li>
<li>Should I repeat some parts of the survey, or just include the motivation and explanation of the survey topic in this white paper?</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28404,
"author": "Pixiestik1",
"author_id": 17281,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17281",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>White papers are a great way to get noticed. Many universities also offer them as resources for current students as a way to gain insight to popular concerns within the area of expertise. </p>\n\n<p>Just look at: <em><a href=\"http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/news/publications/white-papers\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/news/publications/white-papers</a></em></p>\n\n<p>You want to make sure that the white paper gives insight or focus to the main thoughts of your subject, and that proper credits are given to any of the relevant discussion within your paper. If you do decide to include the focus on your survey, that would be ok. However, discussion on what the highlights are and not giving the survey the main focus, may lead to offers to have the survey published or have you give more in depth discussion of your findings. Hope this helps. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29683,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I understand your question correctly, the longer survey paper is mostly or entirely written already, right?</p>\n\n<p>The purpose of a presubmission like this is generally to help the editor decide if the topic is broad enough and well enough aligned to be of interest to a large fraction of the journal's audience.</p>\n\n<p>As such, the introductory material that you've written for your survey paper should be just what is needed: it should already give the scope of the survey, the motivation for it, and an outline of how the rest of the survey is structured.\nI would recommend clipping out your abstract and introduction, keeping its references, maybe adding a few other key references if your introduction was reference light, and sending that in.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, in your cover letter, you should say that this is exactly what you are doing. That will also let the editor know that this isn't a submission in advance of having written the manuscript, but an inquiry of whether to proceed with a fairly mature manuscript. Speaking as a sometime editor myself, that's very useful information.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27649",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4249/"
] |
27,659 |
<p><em>I'm not sure that this is the right exchange for this question. It asks about the possibilities of research in mathematics and computer science.</em></p>
<h2>Extended Background</h2>
<p>I am very interested in mathematics and theoretical computer science. Over the past few years I've gained lots of experience from math competitions, programming competitions, software development internships, and talking to professors, and I've learned that I do not enjoy writing code; I enjoy writing "beautiful" and elegant code in practice, just as I enjoy beautiful and elegant proofs in mathematics, but I do <em>not</em> enjoy writing hundreds of trivial imperative lines of code to make some company money. I've learned that I like to think critically about problems, and I like finding the quickest, most efficient, most elegant solutions. I enjoy the mathematical (or theoretical) side of computer science.</p>
<p>So, recently, after coding only with imperative languages my whole life, I discovered Haskell, a functional programming language. It is extremely close to mathematics: Everything is a function. Ideas are defined rather than executed; instead of giving a computer step-by-step instructions, the computer is given a definition. This discovery reaffirmed my passion for mathematics and the mathematical and theoretical side of computer science.</p>
<h2>Minimal Background/Question</h2>
<p>I've also been frequenting a website called <a href="http://projecteuler.net/">Project Euler</a>, which is filled with 450+ mathematics-based programming problems. This is essentially the epitome of my passion. I love solving these problems with Haskell (and sometimes, when I'm clever enough, with merely a pen and paper).</p>
<p>I know that many of the questions (if not all of them) have already been solved and researched in both the field of mathematics and the field of computer science, and hundreds of their variants have been as well. However, many of these problems were initially proposed and solved hundreds of years ago by mathematicians (such as Euler and Gauss), and most of the relatively newer problems were all proposed and solved by the 1980s.</p>
<p>So my question is, are there still problems like this that I can think about for a living? If so, which field and sub-field is closest to this type of research? If not, would I be involved in these problems by teaching and then introducing them to students of mine, or hosting competitions?</p>
<h2>TL;DR</h2>
<ul>
<li>Can I solve problems like <a href="http://projecteuler.net/problem=151">this one</a> as a career?</li>
<li>If this research isn't viable, would I be more involved with this type of problems by teaching and hosting competitions, etc?</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27661,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This may be a better question for Math.SE. That said...</p>\n\n<p>These sorts of problems fall in the category of <strong>contest math</strong>. Sometimes they are related to active areas of mathematical research (most often number theory, combinatorics, and geometry), but more often, current research deals with problems that are considerably more complex and can't be solved (or even stated) in a page or two. </p>\n\n<p>Note also that, at least in the US, there are very few people who get paid to do mathematics research full-time and exclusively. Most professional mathematics researchers are professors at colleges and universities, and their duties also include teaching and administration (to varying degrees).</p>\n\n<p>There is a recognized subculture of mathematicians interested in contest math. They may get involved in creating problems, organizing contests, and coaching students. At some universities, such activities may be considered a significant part of their research or \"scholarship\" duties, but they would normally be teaching regular math classes as well.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> Actually, there is a category of careers I had forgotten: intelligence. The NSA and its counterparts (GCHQ, etc) employ many thousands of mathematicians. Of course, it's hard for an outsider to know what goes on there, but it could be that their activities have more of a problem-solving flavor. At least they are not bound by the requirement that their work be publishable! The NSA has a well-known (and highly competitive) summer internship program for undergrads, the <a href=\"https://www.nsa.gov/careers/opportunities_4_u/students/undergraduate/dsp.shtml\">Director's Summer Program</a>, so that could be one way of testing those waters relatively early on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27671,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As @NateEldredge already explained, such easily-apprisable questions, most often arising in math contests, or as puzzles, are mostly not what could allow a person to make a living as an academic mathematician, except in cases of ultimate-extreme talent, perhaps.</p>\n\n<p>At least as idealized, academic mathematics aims to develop and validate viewpoints that clarify fundamental issues. \"Problem solving\" is significant, but is at the extreme end of the phenomenological aspects of the business. As Nate E. noted, most \"active\" questions in mathematics will not be easily understood by amateurs, or perhaps even by non-specialists. These questions are mostly not of the easily-apprisable sort... </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27682,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe @Mangara's comment is very relevant here: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Number theory, combinatorics and geometry (the areas Project Euler mainly draws from) actually have lots of accessible problems that are still unresolved.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Accessible here means that the problem can be easily explained. However, unresolved problems that anyone can understand tend to be <strong>extremely difficult</strong>. If they weren't, then someone would have solved them!</p>\n\n<p>Get a copy of Richard Guy's <a href=\"https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0387208607\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Unsolved Problems in Number Theory</a>. There you can find some problems that constitute \"real mathematical research\" but are more or less in the vein you describe.</p>\n\n<p>You can usually only (get paid to) do this research in a university, you have to be very talented to get a tenured job in these areas, and it's a long road. Also, due to the highly interconnected nature of mathematics, the techniques used to solve these problems are often vastly different from what you might expect -- for a famous example, see the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem via algebraic curves. So if you want to work in (say) number theory, you'll still need to learn deeply about and use other areas of mathematics.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27694,
"author": "Evgeni Sergeev",
"author_id": 14516,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14516",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here's the view from my vantage point:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The kind of interesting problems you can solve in 30 minutes to 7 days each (as found in mathematics olympiads, competitive programming contests, and which, by the way, have tremendous value by being fun for whoever gets into them and being accessible to large numbers of high-school students, as well as developing their mental capacities and practical skills), are typically not of interest to most professional mathematicians because they are considered too trivial. Research publications require more substance than a couple of observations and a direct application of some 100-year-old theorem. Also, you would drown in the task of citing the relevant literature.</p></li>\n<li><p>Therefore, as a professional research mathematician, if you want to keep your job, you will be effectively forced to find a frontier somewhere in some field and publish results which are very likely to be novel and well-received by journals. You can expect to meet lots of interesting sub-problems, but also lots of questions that frustratingly don't have easy answers. Also, the chances of this type of work making impact on some field external to mathematics are not great.</p></li>\n<li><p>Interesting sub-problems come up all the time in all sorts of other research, not just in mathematics. Even in programming jobs that are not considered research — sometimes a requirement says that certain aspects have to behave in a certain way and meet certain constraints, and naïve solutions turn out to not be good enough.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<h2>Putting it all together</h2>\n\n<p>To alter the question a bit, I think there is a wide selection of jobs where 10-30% of your time will be spent on solving interesting sub-problems. These are not restricted to research in mathematics. Very few jobs where this figure will be 100% (people do this on a volunteering basis, verifying problems for Codeforces, TopCoder, etc., not to mention actually competing just for the fun of it).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27659",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,669 |
<p>I usually spent an incredible amount of time answering the questions raised by reviewers when submitting research manuscripts to a journal. The length of the response is often longer than the paper itself. Such a process, albeit time consuming, has significantly improved the quality of the work. </p>
<p>Since there are many thoughts that can not be delivered in the paper, which are elaborated in the response of the reviewers, I am wondering whether it is good to upload the response online along with the paper? (e.g., research profile page) I think this will benefit the readers but am not sure what might be the consequences resulting from that? Do note that I don't have any clue as to the reviewers' identities.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27670,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You are free to post your response as you see fit, If you know who the reviewer(s) is/are then you may need to think twice about mentioning their name(s) since. I am not sure how you may be thinking of posting such comments but I assume you will rewrite them into some form of self-contained text. As such it would not be very different from a blog entry and so one suggestion would be to use a blog type web to add comments around your publications. You may also provide means for commenting on your papers and associated posts.</p>\n\n<p>But, in short, no problem posting your own thoughts but stay clear of adding the thoughts of others that may be given in a context other than open posts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27683,
"author": "299792458",
"author_id": 17534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17534",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>(I request that this answer may be viewed as an addendum to Pete's nice answer here, in light of Nate's comment above.)</em></p>\n\n<p>As Nate pointed out, most of the typical referee responses would be concerned with stuff that should enter the manuscript. So, assuming that all his useful suggestions were incorporated in the text itself, there isn't generally more meat from that conversation that could warrant a separate 'response log' to be uploaded anywhere (I'm assuming on arXiv, for example). </p>\n\n<p>But the impression that I get from the question is that, OP is inquiring about suggestions that go deeper than the above paragraph. In some cases, it is possible that referee queries stuff on the lines of </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How is <em>[a fact that you established on the basis of your calculation in the manuscript]</em> consistent with <em>[a sacred tenet, or a well-established or experimentally verified result]</em> ? Aren't the two incompatible because of <em>[some qualitative reasoning, devised by the referee]</em>?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The reasoning looks valid to you, so you sit down and calculate the implications of your calculation on the established fact, and find that the two are indeed compatible. Then, you identify a weakness in the qualitative reasoning, and let the referee know about this. Now, all this isn't worthy of being included in the text of your manuscript, since it is off-track from the overall theme of the work. Yet, this is a valuable piece of information, and is likely to help future readers because they may also reason this apparent contradiction. Responses of this kind are worthy of being put up. Occasionally, one encounters those one-page or two-page ''Comment on [a paper]'' sort of things on arXiv, so these can definitely be put up too. It doesn't necessarily have to be journal article manuscript always. </p>\n\n<p>Lastly, regarding acknowledging the referee, there are two options - either take their permission (ref - Pete's answer), or you simply acknowledge ''the anonymous referee'' for pointing it out, in case option 1 doesn't work out. I know some instances where this has been done in my field, but one example that I can find is <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140%2Fepja%2Fi2013-13072-1\">over here</a>. Sorry, there isn't any corresponding arXiv version for this, so if you can't access it directly, here's the relevant excerpt:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The author would like to thank the anonymous referee for making insightful comments which have been helpful in improving and updating the manuscript.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>But seriously, option 1 is the better option (why strip the poor guy of his due credit!). </p>\n\n<p>Hope that helps.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27669",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11444/"
] |
27,686 |
<p>I am doing my masters in the UK and at final stage of my dissertation. First I will have to confess that I regret that I selected this dissertation as it is something which I failed to get a clear idea about. I don't know if it is because I cannot understand the ideas that my supervisor is trying to communicate with me.</p>
<p>First my target was to implement an algorithm (I was given only a specific field and asked me to select an algorithm) using a language that I had never used before. I used to meet regularly and given research papers to read to clarify any doubt I had. There was no support in the implementation other than the research papers. Also no one to guide on the computer language I needed to use for the implementation. By June, I was stuck a little bit in the implementation and when I expressed some doubts, I was told there is not enough time for implementation now as I am not able to understand it so take an existing software which implemented the said algorithm and create some performance improvements.</p>
<p>I spent a lot of time, more than a month for just setting up the work environment and understanding how that software works. I am not very confident to speak out so I thought I will eventually get a hang of it. After a thorough research I realised that the said software is widely used all over the world and has been optimised in all possible ways already. But it was already too late and at the end I am left with almost nothing but some failed trials. Now the deadline to submit my masters dissertation is in a week and when I spoke to my supervisor about the limitations of the software and why I cannot optimise it last week, I was given a new research paper to read and asked to try their approach.</p>
<p>I learned a lot in this research, many algorithms, some new software, computer languages etc, but it was not focussed. I don't know what I will write in my report as the project is supposed to be a study with evaluation and testing to show as a proof to my conclusions. I have already written a literature review of 35 pages and about 10 pages about the software I am trying to optimise. I cannot submit just that and I don't think it is a good idea to continue new trials now as I may not be able to complete writing my report (which needs to be around 60-65 pages) with just one week left. I have distinction from the marks for my course units and all of the effort I took for an year will go in vain if I fail the dissertation as it has 50% weighting. What can I do to make sure I will pass my dissertation? Please advise.</p>
<p>NB: I know it is a long question, sorry about that. I felt I need to write the context to explain my situation.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Postscript:</h1>
<p>I continued and completed my thesis with all the failed trials. Added some sections in the thesis comparing the different approaches I tried, findings based the trials and some suggestions for future work. Even though I was paranoid till the results came out, I passed with distinction.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27670,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You are free to post your response as you see fit, If you know who the reviewer(s) is/are then you may need to think twice about mentioning their name(s) since. I am not sure how you may be thinking of posting such comments but I assume you will rewrite them into some form of self-contained text. As such it would not be very different from a blog entry and so one suggestion would be to use a blog type web to add comments around your publications. You may also provide means for commenting on your papers and associated posts.</p>\n\n<p>But, in short, no problem posting your own thoughts but stay clear of adding the thoughts of others that may be given in a context other than open posts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27683,
"author": "299792458",
"author_id": 17534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17534",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>(I request that this answer may be viewed as an addendum to Pete's nice answer here, in light of Nate's comment above.)</em></p>\n\n<p>As Nate pointed out, most of the typical referee responses would be concerned with stuff that should enter the manuscript. So, assuming that all his useful suggestions were incorporated in the text itself, there isn't generally more meat from that conversation that could warrant a separate 'response log' to be uploaded anywhere (I'm assuming on arXiv, for example). </p>\n\n<p>But the impression that I get from the question is that, OP is inquiring about suggestions that go deeper than the above paragraph. In some cases, it is possible that referee queries stuff on the lines of </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How is <em>[a fact that you established on the basis of your calculation in the manuscript]</em> consistent with <em>[a sacred tenet, or a well-established or experimentally verified result]</em> ? Aren't the two incompatible because of <em>[some qualitative reasoning, devised by the referee]</em>?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The reasoning looks valid to you, so you sit down and calculate the implications of your calculation on the established fact, and find that the two are indeed compatible. Then, you identify a weakness in the qualitative reasoning, and let the referee know about this. Now, all this isn't worthy of being included in the text of your manuscript, since it is off-track from the overall theme of the work. Yet, this is a valuable piece of information, and is likely to help future readers because they may also reason this apparent contradiction. Responses of this kind are worthy of being put up. Occasionally, one encounters those one-page or two-page ''Comment on [a paper]'' sort of things on arXiv, so these can definitely be put up too. It doesn't necessarily have to be journal article manuscript always. </p>\n\n<p>Lastly, regarding acknowledging the referee, there are two options - either take their permission (ref - Pete's answer), or you simply acknowledge ''the anonymous referee'' for pointing it out, in case option 1 doesn't work out. I know some instances where this has been done in my field, but one example that I can find is <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140%2Fepja%2Fi2013-13072-1\">over here</a>. Sorry, there isn't any corresponding arXiv version for this, so if you can't access it directly, here's the relevant excerpt:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The author would like to thank the anonymous referee for making insightful comments which have been helpful in improving and updating the manuscript.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>But seriously, option 1 is the better option (why strip the poor guy of his due credit!). </p>\n\n<p>Hope that helps.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27686",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21141/"
] |
27,690 |
<p>I am currently a B.Tech. student in India, and am applying for Master's courses in the U.S. I took the GRE exam a week ago.</p>
<p>Does having graduated from high school in the U.S., where English is the native language, count as certification that my English is good enough? Should I still take the TOEFL exam?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27693,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Every school words the requirements, if any, for the TOEFL a little differently. For example, <a href=\"http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/prospective_students/application_instructions_and_information.php\">Harvard GSAS</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Applicants whose native language is other than English and who do not hold the equivalent of a US Bachelor's degree from an institution at which English is the language of instruction must submit scores from the Internet based test (IBT) of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A quick look suggests that in general native language and the language of your Bachelor's degree is what matters and not the language of your high school.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27703,
"author": "Diya",
"author_id": 21156,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21156",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you are applying as an international student, you need TOEFL. It does not depend on you high school education. For international students, you will be considered as a non-native english speaker, so toefl is necessary. If you are applying as a domestic student (meanign you have citizenship/greencard), you dont need toefl.</p>\n\n<p>Anyways, toefl is a very easy exam!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27690",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21147/"
] |
27,695 |
<p>I am applying for a PhD program and I am in the process of choosing people for recommendation letters. Being someone in the final year of master's program (and not been involved with many people in research), one of my potential referee is my internship guide. I had worked with him closely for 3 months and a paper came out of the work.</p>
<p>He does not hold a PhD. He is not involved with research in a big way. He holds a Senior Manager post and possesses 20 years of experience. Although he can write a good recommendation letter, will it carry weight considering his background?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27697,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I am evaluating prospective PhD students I am looking for evidence of research potential. While someone might write a postive letter, unless it provides evidence of research potential (or in rare situations addresses a weak aspect of your application) it is not going to be a helpful letter.</p>\n\n<p>In general admission committees are going to question the ability of someone who has never been involved in research to assess research potential. So even if the letter talks about you research potential it may be discounted. The more of an unknown quantity the letter writer is, the more effort he/she is going to have to spend explaining how he/she can evaluate the person. Is is almost independent of the actual experience. Admissions committees often have hundreds of applications to look through and don't always spend the time they should evaluating everything.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27705,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would think at least twice about getting a letter of recommendation for admission to a PhD program in X from someone who does not themselves have a PhD in X or some closely related field. (No PhD at all is to my mind no worse than a PhD in a totally unrelated field.) The reason is that a grad school admission letter makes an argument that you (i) are a strong candidate for the program compared to the stream of candidates known to both the recommender and the readers in the department and (ii) will succeed in the program. Someone who does not have a PhD in a closely related field to X is simply much less convincing with regard to (ii) than the majority of people who do. One also worries about (i).</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, <em>all the letters</em> you get for admission to a PhD program should address (i) and (ii) and not too much else. Thus getting a letter from someone who directed a corporate internship you did or non-academic job you had or volunteer experience you have is a poor choice <em>unless</em> these experiences are directly, intimately related to (i) and (ii) above. For instance if you are applying to a PhD program in chemical engineering then if you worked for a chemical engineering firm and did research that academic chemical engineers find significant (so especially if you published any academic papers), then great: get a letter from someone there, whether they have a PhD in that field or not. Also, qualifications are correlated with credentials but not perfectly: everyone has their own example of a famous academic who happens not to have this or or that academic degree. If you are interested in a program on the border of mathematics and philosophy and can get a recommendation letter from <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Kripke\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Saul Kripke</a>, do it! Don't be deterred by the fact that he doesn't have a PhD: that would be ridiculous. </p>\n\n<p>Back to your situation. About your potential recommender, you write:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He does not hold a PhD. He is not involved with research in a big way. He holds a Senior Manager post and possesses 20 years of experience.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This does not sound like a good choice. By \"not being involved in research in a big way\", he cannot speak to your research potential as well as someone who is. Since he does not have a PhD, the readers will probably wonder about how trustworthy he is (relative to other writers) when he insists that you will be successful in a PhD program. Unless you have a good reason to believe that the faculty doing admissions will know this person personally and esteem him highly, I would avoid getting a letter from him. However, if you feel like he is uniquely well qualified to speak to issues (i) and (ii), then it might be worth trying to have him give information to a more traditionally appropriate letter writer.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27695",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21099/"
] |
27,699 |
<p>Can I go for Phd in USA, Canada, Australia or any other European country with my master's degree from a German <em>Fachhochschule</em>? I am planning to work for two years as a lecturer and researcher in my home country (Pakistan) and look for PhD fundings/admissions from there. I believe the experience gained during these two years will make my application stronger. </p>
<p>Secondly, is there something I should do before leaving Germany (extra courses for more CPs, degree recognition or any such thing)? I'm enrolled in 120 CP Master's degree with following division: </p>
<ul>
<li>Course work = 60 CP</li>
<li>Mandatory internship = 30 CP</li>
<li>Master Thesis = 30 CP </li>
</ul>
<p>Do universities from these regions require more CPs? I've heard this is the case for German technical universities.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23774/are-masters-degrees-from-german-universities-of-applied-sciences-fachhochschule?rq=1">question</a> is related but it is about PhD in Germany only.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27704,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In principle, there's no formal obstacle to applying to a US program, since almost all of them require only a bachelor's degree for admission. I similarly don't see a major problem with admissions to Canadian or other European universities, since you would have a master's degree and therefore have an \"equivalent\" degree, so long as you're staying in the same discipline (electrical engineering to electrical engineering); rules may be different if you're moving between fields (e.g., computer science to materials science).</p>\n\n<p>Where you may run into a problem in admissions is that as a <em>Fachhochschule</em>, your school may not have as strong an international profile as from <em>Hochschule</em> and other schools of equivalent rank in Europe. Consequently, the school you're applying to may not have ever had applicants from your <em>Fachhochschule</em>. Consequently, regardless of how good your profile and application are, you still represent an \"unknown\" quantity, and therefore there is a greater risk to the department by admitting you instead of someone from a school that is better familiar to the department to which you're applying. </p>\n\n<p>For non-European questions, the number of credit points aren't that important. For European admissions, there may be an issue regarding this, but that's really decided on a university-by-university basis, so you'll need to consult the individual schools you're interested in for guidance. However, taking additional credits beyond what is required for admission won't help you nearly as much as demonstrating research potential.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36935,
"author": "lastuser",
"author_id": 27926,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27926",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Refer to <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fachhochschule\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia</a>, the FachHochschulen in German - speaking countries play a role of institutes of vocational education. It is difficult to give a direct answer. The situation really depends on which PhD program at which University in the USA or other English - speaking countries to which you are going to submit your application. Basically, the admission committee there will investigate your profile, or they will have a professional third party to provide an objective investigation.</p>\n\n<p>In my humble opinion and experience, given a quite normal situation only in German speaking countries, a student holding MSc. or Diplom(FH) from an FH may be admitted directly in a Master program at a university, who is allowed to award Doctor degree. But that student will definitely required to take the examinations in core lectures in Bachelor program at that university. The universities in USA know this, very probably.</p>\n\n<p>I suggest a solution, that you will take a Master course at an internationally accredited university in your home country before you make a step further.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27699",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21152/"
] |
27,713 |
<p>I've heard that salary inversion is a problem in academia, and it happens when Universities continue to hire new and highly qualified people at higher and higher salaries, but they don't increase the salaries of the existing faculty at the same rates. </p>
<p>I want to ask - why is this actually a problem? Shouldn't salary be based on merit and qualifications, not how long you've sat at a particular desk?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27714,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think there are several issues.</p>\n\n<p>You might argue that salary \"should\" be based on merit and qualifications, but these are highly subjective and often evaluated by people within the university who have other vested interests, so there's a substantial risk that internal politics or other factors may not measure merit in a fair way. Given this, existing faculty may prefer a system that puts more weight on objective measures like seniority, and faculty have a lot of say in the administration of a university.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, new hires are not really paid based on their merit and qualifications either: they're paid their market price. The dean may not think that Assistant Professor A's qualifications really \"deserve\" a salary of $X, but if the job market is strong and that's what other institutions are paying similar candidates, she either pays him $X or she doesn't get to hire anyone this year.</p>\n\n<p>Then, suppose \nAssistant Professor B has been with the department for 3 years. Her qualifications are comparable to those of A, but she was hired in a year when the job market was weak, so she accepted a low salary offer $Y < $X. Since then has received a standard raise of a few percent per year, so her salary is still below A's. She could probably go back on the job market and find a job paying $X, but here she is well on her way to tenure, she has settled in the city with her family, her spouse has a job in the area, and they are disinclined to make another (possibly long-distance) move. Moreover, changing tenure-track jobs is always challenging (she would have to get letters from within her department, but if too many colleagues find out she is thinking about leaving, it will hurt her standing within the department). So she has limited mobility and no real leverage to negotiate for a higher salary.</p>\n\n<p>If she finds out A is making more than her, despite being similarly qualified, she will not be happy. Unhappy faculty who nonetheless have no interest in leaving is not a recipe for a well-functioning institution. And a dean who's in favor of correcting salary inversions will probably get Professor B's vote. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27716,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I want to ask - why is this actually a problem? Shouldn't salary be based on merit and qualifications, not how long you've sat at a particular desk?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, it should. But consider what happens if I've been sitting at a desk for ten years, doing hard work and feeling good about it, and one day you arrive, take the next desk, and have a higher salary than I do. It is hard for me not to feel:</p>\n\n<p>1) That my employer is less than grateful for my ten years of desk sitting, given that I (apparently; as you point out this does not logically follow) am being paid less than if I hadn't done any of it whatsoever.</p>\n\n<p>2) That maybe I have been sitting at the same desk for too long. It gives me the idea to follow your lead and earn more money by starting fresh at a new desk.</p>\n\n<p>Thus: although one can say that the market is the market and its invisible hand is totally amoral, in reality this amoral practice is bad for <em>morale</em>. And if you as an employer do happen to value the person who has been sitting there for ten years as much as the new guy you would hire -- or even if replacing the 10 year veteran would be disruptive to the workforce -- then you may have some interest in pushing back against this market force. The desk-sitters certainly will, and depending on their mobility, you may want to take their feelings into account. (In a sufficiently bad economy, maybe you can persuade them that they're looking at it wrong, and that instead they should be very happy about having ten years of steady employment.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27718,
"author": "Oneira",
"author_id": 20371,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20371",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the main issue in that is that you will drive your talent away and keep the left over if you do not make the correction.</p>\n\n<p>If the market is higher than a few years ago, if you do not correct the salaries, basically you encourage all the one that have salaries below market to look for new position. The best ones will succeed while the less good ones will fail. Results: you lose your best element and keeps the less good. </p>\n\n<p>Since academia has very little 'fixed' position the phenomena is less striking, but in a company (particularly in country where laying off is frowned upon) you get a concentration of some 'that cannot go somewhere else'. This is definitely not what you want.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27740,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Besides all the other great answers here, there is another reason that merit does not entirely govern salaries. Many universities have an annual period for \"merit\" raises which require little justification, saving raises for \"equity\" reasons for special cases. Since everyone is eligible for these so-called merit raises, almost everyone gets one (management being what it is). As such, institutions impose caps on departments that may limit merit raises to 2-3% per year over the department. Coupling that to the public nature of government employee salaries, you can see how these raises become little more than cost-of-living adjustments. On the other hand, departments have to recruit new hires against a competitive background market that may cause a new salary to be higher than a 2% annually compounded salary from 10 years ago. Thus, an inversion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27749,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Salary inversions are mostly a problem at public schools, where the state budget situation and state legislature have some control over whether there will be any raises at all. Due to inflation, this means that often all state employee salaries are shrinking in real terms. So, the longer you have the job the less you're paid no matter how much merit your work has. Hence salary inversions are not typically a result of younger profs having more merit, but rather the budget realities of working for a state government. Of course, there are other affects that can counteract this: many schools have funds specifically intended for reversing inversions, and many schools have automatic raises at tenure and/or promotion so that there are at least some raises that the state can't block.</p>\n\n<p>To summarize: salary inversions are a problem <em>precisely</em> because \"salary [should] be based on merit and qualifications, not how long you've sat at a particular desk.\" Inversions happen because given equal qualifications the person who has been at the job <em>less</em> time will be paid <em>more</em>.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27713",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20776/"
] |
27,723 |
<p>I have worked with my adviser for a few months as a graduate student. Everyone, including her other graduate students, seems to call her by her first name. She never expressed a preference to me, so I've been calling her "Dr. Smith". She signs her emails with her first name.</p>
<p>I am worried that I am being awkward. I don't mind calling her "Dr. Smith", but during meetings where other students are present, it would be jarring to call her "Dr. Smith" while other students use her first name in the same conversation. So far, I have managed to avoid this issue by choosing my words very strategically to avoid directly addressing my adviser at all.</p>
<p>I don't wish my adviser to think that I am making some sort of statement by being unnecessarily formal. On the other hand, I don't wish to appear too informal either. Apart from that, once you've addressed someone by their title for several months, unceremoniously switching to their first name out of the blue seems like it would be very strange.</p>
<p>Is there any tactful way of resolving this predicament, besides waiting and hoping for the adviser to express a preference? I am in the US.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27724,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If all her other grad students use her first name, you can too. It would be a very strange person who let some of her grad students use her first name and insisted on others using Dr Surname.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27726,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Excuse me, do you prefer me to call you Dr Smith or Ellen?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A polite question will solve all your doubts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27727,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Despite I think that your question is already answered in the other two related questions in this site (<a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10671/should-your-phd-students-call-you-by-your-first-name\">Should your PhD students call you by your first name?</a> and <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/25758/is-it-acceptable-for-me-an-undergrad-to-call-professors-and-other-research-pro/25761\">Is it acceptable for me (an undergrad) to call professors and other research professionals by their first names?</a>); I am posting my answer as follows.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Go back to the culture of the country in which you are studying. In some cultures, it is very normal to call a professor (also a boss, teacher, someone who is older, etc) by his first name. For instance, in my culture, it is very odd to call a professor by his first name because even students are sometimes called by their last name.</p></li>\n<li><p>Look at other students of your advisor who are in your level and see how they call her. If they call her by her first name, you can also call her by her first name too. You are a student too. What's the difference? But I advice you to look at the students at your level. Perhaps post-docs or PhDs call their advisor another way.</p></li>\n<li><p>Ask her directly and politely. Try not to complicate things for yourself. Ask her politely the way she prefers to be called. I remember when I wanted to write a professor's surname in an email and I was not sure how should I spell his name correctly, I asked him and he was happy to tell me the correct way of his name spelling.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27736,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I really don't think this is close to such a big issue as you seem to make it.</p>\n\n<p>What's really bothering me in your question is the following:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>So far, I have managed to avoid this issue by choosing my words very strategically to avoid directly addressing my adviser at all.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You are investing <strong>way</strong> too much effort into addressing this non-issue. As I see it, you have 3 options, all of them entirely valid:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Ask her, as <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27726/15723\">Davidmh says</a>.</li>\n<li>Silently switch to calling her by first name. Everybody does it, why wouldn't you?</li>\n<li>Go on calling her by last name, until specifically prompted by her to go for first name instead. You don't mind, she apparently does not mind, so why bother?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Literally all three are probably ok. Just decide for one option, and then start thinking about more important things (such as your research).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27737,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 20342,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20342",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't worry too much about it. If everyone else calls her by her first name, <em>and</em> she signs her emails with her first name, then she clearly doesn't mind being called by it.</p>\n\n<p>Switching suddenly to calling her by her first name will be far less awkward than avoiding addressing her at all.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27741,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>All other answers are correct. One note to add is that if you are coming from different cultures, it is possible that your advisor does in fact feel awkward about it, but is not very comfortable with stating so explicitly. So it's likely best to get this straightened out as soon as possible.</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise, this flowchart provides the answer ;-). On a more serious note, you seem to be in the situation that the student in the comic is. In my opinion, <strong>avoiding to address him/her at all is worse than either being too formal or too informal</strong>.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/w9QQJ.gif\" alt=\"Comic\">\n<br /><sup><em>Source: <a href=\"http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1153\" rel=\"noreferrer\">PhD Comics</a>.</em> <strong><em>Do not take seriously.</em></strong></sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27750,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can't imagine that someone who signs her e-mails to you with only her first name would object if you addressed her by her first name.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27751,
"author": "Joel Doonan-Ketteringham",
"author_id": 21198,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21198",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A person must never refer to there boss or somebody they work with who is in a higher position than you by their first name, if one of my employees called me by my first name, I would be deeply upset, it is unprofessional to use your bosses first name while talking to him/her, always use mr/dr/prof. [last name]!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27764,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
"author_id": 5614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5614",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Yes</strong></p>\n\n<p>Adults call other adults by their first names. You're an adult and she's an adult so you call her by her first name.</p>\n\n<p>(Cultural conventions vary by country but certainly in the anglophone nations, this holds true pretty well)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27765,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First criterion is \"fit in\". Do what others do.</p>\n\n<p>On another hand, from the opposite point, it may be worthwhile to think of whether you <em>want</em> to use honorific forms, however subtle, of address. One might not want to address one's grandmother exaggerately-familiarly, nor one's grandfather, nor father, nor mother, ... nor significant mentor?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27775,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's one other option that hasn't been mentioned: call her either one, depending on the situation. </p>\n\n<p>You've been calling her \"Dr. Smith,\" but, apparently, she has never said, \"Please, call me Linda.\" Therefore, she doesn't seem to mind being called Dr. Smith. </p>\n\n<p>In meetings, everyone else calls her \"Linda,\" but she doesn't seem to bristle, nor has she said, \"Will you please show some respect and stop calling me Linda!\" </p>\n\n<p>I interpret this to mean she is unfazed by either one. </p>\n\n<p>Nothing says you need to flip a switch, and always use \"Dr. Smith,\" or always use \"Linda.\" </p>\n\n<p>In meetings where everyone is calling her Linda, call her Linda. When you are in a one-on-one meeting in her office, call her Dr. Smith, if that's what you're more comfortable with. </p>\n\n<p>I work alongside several people I have a \"part-time first-name\" relationship with. I might call them by their first name in some situations, and use their more formal title in others. It depends largely on their rank and position, my rank and position, the formality of the meeting, and who else is in the room. </p>\n\n<p>Your advisor seems to be someone who doesn't mind either name. Be glad you're working with such an adaptable professor. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 58907,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>She signs her emails with her first name</em></p>\n\n<p><em>Everyone, including her other graduate students, seems to call her by her first name</em></p>\n\n<p>These are strong indications this person would be comfortable with you using her first name. But even if she says, either in response to a question, or on her own initiative, \"Pronce, please call me Mary,\" <em>you</em> may not be comfortable doing so, based on your own cultural upbringing. This happened to me. After finishing a Master's in the midwest, I moved to East coast, where I was the only one calling people Professor So-and-so. It took a few years for me to re-train myself.</p>\n\n<p>(Sample question you could pose: \"Do you have a preference about what name you go by with your students?\")</p>\n\n<p>But that's okay. I remember some advice given to me in Latin America when I was struggling with choosing between the formal and informal modes of address in Spanish: <strong>\"What matters isn't what you call the person, it's what you say, and <em>how you treat the person</em>.\"</strong></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27723",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21178/"
] |
27,728 |
<p>I am about to submit my first article to a peer-reviewed journal. I have basically already decided which one, but I have a shortlist and am still in principle considering my options. One of the questions I have is about the timetable for eventual publication. What should I expect? (In the long run, it probably won't make a large difference, but for me, right now, it would be nice to get something out the door this side of New Year if it is at all possible.)</p>
<p>I am puzzled by the lack of information about timetables and deadlines on the sites of these journals. I have looked at journals from related fields in the past and they all seem to be very secretive (or undecided?) about these things. Is this on purpose?</p>
<p>I guess I can infer something from previous publication dates -- a biannual which was last published in May might be slated for a next issue in November and probably have a deadline several weeks before that, which I probably won't make (it is now late August and the review process would apparently take several months). But why don't they simply put a date up front so authors won't have to fret?</p>
<p>Would it be out of line to email the editor of the journal and ask about the planned deadlines for the next couple of issues?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27729,
"author": "DCTLib",
"author_id": 7390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7390",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In most fields and for most journals, there is no time-table because <strong>it takes as long as it takes.</strong></p>\n\n<p>This means that after they receive your paper, they will send it out to a few referees, which have to be found first. How long finding referees takes is not under the control of the journal editors - they have to ask people until three of them said \"yes\".</p>\n\n<p>Then, the referees have to write the review. Typically, they have about 3 months of time for that, and a request for extension is almost always granted. So think of it more like 6 months. Exceptions apply here (e.g., for the journal \"Science\", who manage to enforce shorter reviewing times).</p>\n\n<p>Then your paper maybe accepted only conditional to changes. You do the changes within a month or so, and then reviewing starts again. So there goes another 3-6 months in addition to the time that the editor needs for organizing the process.</p>\n\n<p>This means that for most reputable journals, there is a long pipeline of papers in-progress and whenever they make a new issue that is not a special issue, they take some papers that already went through the process and publish them. There can be a substatial \"out-queue\" of these papers, which is why some publishers came up with the concept of already publishing \"done\" papers before the paper has a journal issue assigned (e.g., for Springer, this is called \"Online First\").</p>\n\n<p>As an example, in computer science, an overall time span of 1-3 years is common.</p>\n\n<p>As a bottom line, the time to publish can only be influenced by the journal editors up to a certain, small, degree, e.g., how swiftly the editor performs actions whenever there is something that she can do at the respective point in time. So publishing a time line would make little sense.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27730,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This will depend significantly on what your field is. For me, there would be no way anything other than a very short (and preferably very significant) paper would appear this year. For others a paper will be bordering on out-of-date by then (I'm told).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27742,
"author": "SimpleMan",
"author_id": 9019,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9019",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I personally use the information given in published papers (i.e. Elsevier journals provide dates for submission/submission after revision/acceptance or publication ). This can be somehow indicative yet I've personally experienced both ends of the spectrum (later/earlier than the average turnaround). </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27728",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20411/"
] |
27,731 |
<p>I have realised that my performance improves when I make my progress publicly accountable. For example, my jogging times improve and I lose more weight when I enter myself onto a public rankings list. I would imagine that my academic progress would also improve if I make my progress publicly visible. </p>
<p>I'm wondering what online rankings or any other publicly visible progress reports might be available in academia? I've heard of impact factors, but is there anything else? I'm sure there are people against turning academia into a competition, but I find some sort of competitive element really improves my performance.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27732,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can always compare the length of publication lists, e.g., using <a href=\"http://scholar.google.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Google Scholar</a>, <a href=\"http://www.researchgate.net/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">ResearchGate</a> or even your colleagues' homepages.</p>\n\n<p>Summaries of publications and their impact are (attempted to be) provided by the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">h-index</a> and similar measures. (Impact factors really pertain to journals, not researchers... but indices for researchers may take into account whether the researcher publishes in a low- or high-impact journal.)</p>\n\n<p>There can be, uh, <em>lively</em> discussions about the merits or not of such measures, especially in the context of hiring and remuneration decisions.</p>\n\n<p>One problem with using such measures for short- and medium-term motivation as you propose is the <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27728/journal-publishing-timetables\">lag between the work and the publication</a> - feedback is <em>far</em> too slow. If you are looking for motivation, you may want to check <a href=\"https://productivity.stackexchange.com/questions\">Productivity.SE.com</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27733,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some more ideas to complement StephanKolassa's answer.</p>\n\n<p>Another possible idea that crossed my mind multiple times in the past is making a <a href=\"https://trello.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Trello</a> board showing my papers in different columns according to their progress status, with a scale such as:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>0: preliminary idea, not clear if it will even work</li>\n<li>1: some experiments or theoretical work done, seems promising; will likely lead to a publication but lots of work needed</li>\n<li>2: most of the experiments/proofs ready, still to write down in coherent form</li>\n<li>3 draft mainly ready</li>\n<li>4 published as preprint and submitted</li>\n<li>5 first round of positive reviews, awaits modifications or already resubmitted</li>\n<li>6 published; congratulations!</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Other random ideas: if you are writing a long document such as a thesis or a book, you may want to publish online a graph tracking the number of pages written vs. time. Similarly with lines of code. If you are using git you can gather lots of statistics using <a href=\"http://gitstats.sourceforge.net/\" rel=\"nofollow\">GitStats</a> (<a href=\"http://gitstats.sourceforge.net/examples/viewgit/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">example</a>)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27739,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://academic.research.microsoft.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Microsoft Academic Search</a> maintains top-something lists of researchers in different fields (e.g., top-100 researchers in software engineering, top-20 researchers in WWW in the last 5 years, etc.). Clearly, you will only start showing up in these rankings after you already had some number of cited publications, so it is probably not useful for your PhD research. Also, as I have experienced myself, <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16303/how-does-microsoft-academic-search-generate-its-rankings\">the ranking is weird</a>, so I wouldn't say it is exactly a reliable way to measure your progress. Finally, it should be noted that the feedback achieved by these rankings is going to be <strong>very slow</strong>. In fact, you will (theoretically) see improvements in these rankings <strong>years</strong> after you wrote high-impact papers. It is not exactly that you can use it to track how good your last week was.</p>\n\n<p>You could also use <a href=\"http://scholar.google.ch\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Google Scholar</a> and compare your profile against profiles of other people of similar academic age or standing. The good thing here is that you should at least show up as soon as you have co-authored something. However, similar restrictions to above apply - progress will be very slow, and any comparison based on e.g., Google Scholar h-index will be a noisy heuristic at best.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27763,
"author": "fuesika",
"author_id": 21203,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21203",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As many answers already pointed out, academic progress is slow. Changes in comprehensive rankings will take their time. I assume this is the reason why people say that a person in academia must endure frustration and have tons of patience. On the other hand, humans seem to usually need a much more frequent feedback in order to actually motivate yourself.</p>\n\n<p><strong>I find one little trick particularly helpful: find colleagues that work on closely related topics. Share information and work together on the same project.</strong> Seeing someone else having success on his or her share of the work will surely make you want to contribute as well (if not more). I must admit, that this will only work, if everyone involved aims toward the success of the project. There are various ways of measuring, publishing, and rewarding progress in this case: the tool can be as simple as a progress bar on an intranet's webpage that steps along as milestones are reached, money for visiting a conference on the condition of a publication, or the already mentioned Trello board that just visualizes how the contributions of different people in your group help a project advance.</p>\n\n<p>Sharing information in a small study or work group breaks down the long-term progress into the small steps that academia actually enforces: idea, thinking, trial, and finally success or failure. Adding <em>discussion</em> at any state of this progress will help to uncover misunderstandings and sure failures faster than if you would work on your own. Linearizing your thoughts to actually tell them so someone enforces a clear picture in your head, again ruling out possibly overlooked details.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, swapping ideas will help everyone in your group gain insight and see the same world with different eyes. To every topic (how old and worn out it may be) there is a perspective or context that has not been considered yet. Finding out about these is something I found particularly motivating during my time of study. Keeping the discussion with colleagues and friends alive will surely help you with this.</p>\n\n<p><strong>My approach to answer your question is: choose a method of feedback that suits you and try to shorten the intervals. The method of feedback does not matter as much as the time you have to spend without.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Lastly, a small excursus: We have some source code for numerical computations that we share among the PhDs in our work group. It is always a bit frustrating to find oneself spending hours of debugging someone else's mess.. Recently, we started offering bounties (you know those coconut-chocolate-bars?) for bugs someone would find in someone else's source code. Now one has one more reason to watch out bugs on your own (to avoid spending a \"bounty\"). Moreover, the frustration is somewhat mitigated in case a bug is found since one receives a (small) compensation.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27731",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7159/"
] |
27,743 |
<p>A few months ago I reviewed my first paper. The authors submitted a major revision and I am asked to review the paper again. I received a long cover letter where my comments and the comments of two other anonymous reviewers have been answered.</p>
<p>The paper is relatively long (40 pages) so I am trying to avoid unnecessary work. Should I:</p>
<ol>
<li>Re-review the <strong>entire paper</strong> as if I saw it the first time,</li>
<li>Just check if <strong>all</strong> comments have been addressed, or</li>
<li>Just check if <strong>my</strong> comments have been addressed?</li>
</ol>
<p>I am afraid that if I just check the comments, it is possible that the authors have made some other changes, or that their changes might have broken the integrity of the paper as a whole. On the other hand if I re-review the entire paper it might be unfair to the authors.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27744,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 6984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6984",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is difficult and, to some extent, a matter of opinion. So, my opinion is this: Your job as reviewer is to identify problems and make critical comments that will improve a paper. In the first round, hopefully this is what you did. The editor then looks at these comments to decide whether to offer an opportunity for revision. In many (most?) journals, an offer of revision is a 85%+ chance of the paper eventually being published. So, when the paper comes back to you, it has already received a round of review and has already been deemed nearly ready for publication. You need to check to make sure that your comments and concerns have been adequately address. Particularly with major revisions, you also need to make sure that no significant new errors have been introduced. This can be a lot of work, but that is precisely your job; you put in effort now in hopes that others reviewing your paper given the same level of effort. If a paper addresses your concerns and introduces no new errors, your job is to recommend to the editor to publish the paper (possibly with minimal additional revisions to address new or lingering concerns).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27745,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When a major review has been requested, I think you really do need to go through the whole paper, for exactly the reasons you cite—the changes <em>you've</em> requested may conflict with the changes another reviewer has requested, and therefore the authors may have had to exercise significant discretion on which one to formally include in their revisions. Similarly, there may have been other changes that arose from your comments or those of your fellow reviewers. </p>\n\n<p>Minor reviews require a lower level of commitment, unless the authors have indicated more substantial changes have been made.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27761,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Anytime you are asked to review a paper, that is what you should do. If the editor asks you to provide feedback on how your own comments have been dealt with, then that is what you do. As aeismail states, the comments from several reviewers have been considered by the authors which means the paper is at least partially new. An example: it is not uncommon that reviewers opinions differ, which means authors have to decide what they believe is their preferred direction forward, following all points proposed by all reviewers may be impossible. As a reviewer you may then need to re-argue your view point and possibly find other ways to make these view points count. There are hence good reasons for making a second thorough review of a paper that has been given a major revision by the editors.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27743",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14651/"
] |
27,748 |
<p>Consider the following situation: a student has started a bachelor's/master's/PhD at a lesser-known university program but feels that he would benefit from a more prestigious institution with better professors, equipment, and learning environment.</p>
<p>He decides to apply for a bachelor's/master's/PhD (the same degree as his previous level) program at top schools, planning to abandon his current program if he is accepted.</p>
<p>Is this unusual or frowned upon? Is the fact that the applicant has already started a program likely to hurt the applicant's chances? (Do the answers to the above questions depend on the current level of the applicant?)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27753,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the US this is generally known as \"transferring\".</p>\n\n<p>At the undergraduate level it is very common, and institutions usually have standard procedures for admission, awarding credit for equivalent courses already taken, and so on. Students may transfer for a variety of reasons: to attend a more prestigious place, or to find a program that's a better fit for their interests, or just because they'd rather live in a different city. Transfer applicants are not necessarily advantaged or disadvantaged compared to new freshmen, though the applicant's record at their current institution will be taken into account.</p>\n\n<p>At the graduate level, it is less common, and tends to happen when a student is actively unhappy with their current program. It tends to be handled on a more <em>ad hoc</em> basis and it's hard to say whether such applicants are generally at an advantage or a disadvantage.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27756,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Speaking strictly from the US, this is defined as a being a \"transfer student\" and is extremely common. How common? Well, it's a federally reported statistic called \"Transfer-Out Rate\". I am fond of the <a href=\"http://www.collegeresults.org/default.aspx\">CollegeResults.org</a> tool, which defines this stat nicely (emphasis mine): </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The percentage of students who began in the 2006 cohort of first-time,\n full-time, bachelor's or equivalent degree-seeking freshmen at the\n institution and transferred to another school without earning a degree\n at the initial institution. <strong>Reporting of transfer data is optional for\n colleges and universities that do not consider preparing students for\n transfer as part of their mission.</strong> (IPEDS)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>For instance, The <a href=\"http://www.collegeresults.org/collegeprofile.aspx?institutionid=102094\">University of South Alabama</a> is reported as having about 16% of students transfer out to another institution before receiving a degree. The <a href=\"http://www.collegeresults.org/collegeprofile.aspx?institutionid=196088\">University at Buffalo</a> (New York) posts about a 20% transfer rate.</p>\n\n<p>So, as the write-up for the statistic suggests, some schools even offer specific degree tracks designed to transfer. In the state of Wisconsin, the entire \"technical college\" offers such programs. In Florida, these are called \"junior colleges\" and offer similar tracks.</p>\n\n<p>Even at Universities designed without this as their intent, there is always a percentage of people who transfer in and out at an undergraduate level. As Nate Eldredge points out, this is not nearly so common at higher levels, but it happens often enough and is hardly taboo.</p>\n\n<h2>The Upsides</h2>\n\n<p>Sometimes it is desirable to plan to transfer, such as getting started at a nearby location while you make preparations/plans to go elsewhere (I did this myself, starting in a tech school and applying to my target University just the next semester once I had family/work preparations in place). Many people spend 2-3 years at such colleges, taking all the classes they can towards their higher target degree (usually called \"general degree requirements\") - usually because it is more convenient and often vastly cheaper (a person can easily save tens of thousands of dollars in tuition this way). Class sizes are often smaller. The difficulty level of the material varies, but most \"introduction\" classes look a lot an awful lot alike after a while.</p>\n\n<h2>The Downsides</h2>\n\n<p>If you are looking to go onto higher degrees, especially to a PhD or competitive Masters program, recommendation letters and research experience (when possible) are highly desirable if not absolutely necessary. If you will only be at an institution for 2 years instead of 4-5, then you have a lot less time to find and build these connections! Surely you can do it, but I know I've personally found it took me about 2 years to find the right connections that seem to have \"stuck\" and suit me and what I want to do (after figuring out what I actually want to do, naturally). If I had completed most of the degree before coming to my present institution, this might mean I'd have missed out on such opportunities to do some real work with these people.</p>\n\n<p>Most institutions have requirements of \"credits done in residence\", so you can't just do 4/5ths of a degree at Podunk Clown School Of Higher Learning and transfer into Harvard for a semester and get your diploma. Which is unfortunate, because that sounds like it would make for a great B-movie.</p>\n\n<p>Some administrative complications can come into play too. If you decide to retake a course you did poorly on or failed in a previous semester, the rules about how to do this and whether or not it's possible vary depending on where you took the class. Retaking a class you took originally at School A is not always possible or straight-forward once you are in School B.</p>\n\n<p>How GPA is calculated also differs in this same way, as some institutions only calculate grades earned in residence, others combine them, some don't transfer 0 credit classes (like if you failed a class) and others transfer all grades even if they don't give you credit for the course towards your degree! </p>\n\n<p>The complexity can be a real head-ache sometimes, but they are generally annoyances to be overcome rather than deal-breakers.</p>\n\n<h2>Big Warning</h2>\n\n<p>Credits earned at one institution aren't automatically accepted anywhere else! Indeed, at some colleges they offer two versions of a class - one that is likely to transfer, and one that isn't; the one that can transfer costs more but is otherwise the same course! This can be a minefield, so if you want to make plans or consider transferring, talk with your target school's Admissions/Registration/Records and whoever would be in charge of a transcript evaluation first!</p>\n\n<p>This process varies hugely by US State and even between institutions within the state (even when they are State schools in the same system!), but suffice it to say that this is an extremely common problem in America and you have to be careful and plan accordingly. </p>\n\n<h2>Admissions Considerations</h2>\n\n<p>Finally, you asked about how this might effect perceptions of you in terms of admissions or otherwise. The most important thing I've seen is that once you've had a semester or two at any college, most colleges no longer put much weight into your high school grades, SAT scores, etc - if they even require them at all. So it is very common that people will not do great in high school, go to a local or otherwise non-competitive college for a few semesters, get really get good grades, and then apply to more competitive institutions. Most Universities understand that proven experience in a college setting is a far better predictor of academic success than any high school transcript or standardized test can possibly be, and then put little weight into anything they have to say. This can backfire on you, of course, if you didn't do well at your last program but did better in the past.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27748",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15142/"
] |
27,757 |
<p>Should I mention that I have Bipolar disorder in my statement of purpose and ask my lecturers to mention it in their letters of recommendation(I am doubtful that they will) ?</p>
<p>Bipolar disorder was a critical roadblock in my academic life man. When I was having maniac episode I was like "I am God, I don't need to study, I can clear this test without studying" or it just felt like I am overdosing on caffeine, I couldn't focus. When I was feeling depressed, I was just too withdrawn to study, I was almost suicidal. Either way, I was too emotional to do anything !</p>
<p>The aggregate GPA of my undergrad courses is 3.216 and the simple average of my last 4 semesters GPA is 3.106. It was in the last two years that I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I tell you its not easy managing meds and life. Most psychiatrists in India are idiots. Some of these psychiatrists even diagnosed me with adult ADD :| Its because of these drugs and incompetency of my shrinks that I feel my GPA dropped. Should I mention that too, cause in US I would even have access to better shrinks than here .. </p>
<p>My GRE score is 322/340. I honestly feel I could have got a much better GPA and GRE score without this disorder man. I even got highest grades in all my practical exams too.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27767,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would not put it in the statement of purpose as it is a forward looking document (what do you want to study, what qualifications do you have, why study at X university, etc.).</p>\n\n<p>If you must include it, then the <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32484/what-do-admission-committees-look-for-in-a-diversity-essay\">diversity statement</a> is a good place.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, I would recommend that <strong>you do not include it.</strong> You can mention that you “struggled with some health/personal issues” in college but are now prepared for university, but you do not need to give details beyond that. This is your health privacy at stake. You should talk to your letter writers to make sure they know they should not disclose your personal history without your permission.</p>\n\n<p>Once you are accepted, you can inquire about student health services and reasonable accommodation for your needs.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31868,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Probably not, and even from reading your question alone - with full respect to the legitimacy and seriousness of your illness - you are using it as an excuse. And in a grad school application, you are making an excuse for failing before you even start. That is not good.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes these personal facts make sense to share as part of a narrative of resilience or overcoming challenges, but you are not building that narrative right now. You need to convey that you understand the world cares more about outcome than handicaps, and, for instance, blaming psychiatrists in India, does not help.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27757",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15418/"
] |
27,762 |
<p>I am a second year PhD student in computer science. I see other students craving to find new problems, read papers and it's like they are enjoying it and when they find a problem, they spend endless hours trying to come up with a publishable results about it. </p>
<p>I talked to some people and they said, many times you get to like what you do, it's not that you always end up doing what you like - implying that this kind of excitement and motivation is something that can develop in time.</p>
<p>Can you give me some practical strategies that help towards gaining and maintaining a high level of excitement and motivation about research? What keeps researchers like those I described constantly interested and excited to do research?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27768,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I find that a good way (for me) to get excited about my research is to work with some inexperienced research students - high school and undergraduate students.</p>\n\n<p>Mentoring these students reminds me of the things that excited me about research when I first started: mainly, that we can come up with some problem that we think is interesting, that hasn't previously been solved, and then go ahead and <em>solve it</em>. I still think that is <em>so</em> cool, and seeing that reaction in my students reminds me all over again :) Also, I get to feel like an expert in this scenario, which helps makes me more excited about my work.</p>\n\n<p>Generally, I find that spending time with others who are passionate and excited encourages those feelings in me, too.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27770,
"author": "cloudraven",
"author_id": 13916,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13916",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well. I think something really important is to work on a problem that you are excited about. \nI find it more exciting when I can explain people what I am doing, but I have also seen people that get excited the more obscure the subject they are into, so it really depends on your personality. Still, it has to be something you are passionate about.</p>\n\n<p>It is not always possible to do that, especially on your first years when you are ramping up and are maybe following projects of more senior students or just working on whatever your advisor asked you to.</p>\n\n<p>Still, think on problems you consider important. Think of solutions, read papers you really liked. How could you do them better? Talk with your advisor about them. If you work on a problem that you just really enjoy talking about you will feel the passion.</p>\n\n<p>Talk to the senior students, they have been through that. Many of them will be happy to give you examples related to your specific area.</p>\n\n<p>Best of luck</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27771,
"author": "tripleee",
"author_id": 20411,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20411",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I am allowed to go into lifestyle coaching more than academic coaching, I think you should find what makes <em>you</em> tick. Academia is highly competitive and if you are feeling that you are not in the upper 50% now, perhaps you should take some time to consider your career choices.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes the truth hurts. Often, escaping the truth hurts more in the long run.</p>\n\n<p>Having said that, my own experience is that taking a bit of a time-out and working in another field briefly helped my motivation to come back and be grateful for being in a place I enjoy and feel I can prosper in.</p>\n\n<p>Also, I'm not saying there are not other success vectors. If you are top-notch at what you do and are just wondering how come another <em>mode</em> of research makes your colleagues tick, that's fine, and quite possibly an important asset in the long run.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27829,
"author": "Alex",
"author_id": 21251,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21251",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The three answers above are all great ideas. But I'd like to expand on two of these answers with a story from my own personal experience in finding what to do for research.</p>\n\n<p>If you're in the early stages of research but you're not that passionate about it, I would suggest looking for other research opportunities that inspire more passion. You may not want to switch your current focus or advisor (and at first, I didn't either), but it may very well be useful for you to explore, just to see if there might be some other arrangement that better motivates you.</p>\n\n<p>In short, you might try the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>find some aspect of life that you're very passionate about</li>\n<li>see if you can find some research project in your field that speaks to your passion </li>\n<li>find an advisor who is willing to work with you on such a project, and who fits your personality well enough for you to work with this person in an effective manner.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>While cloudraven suggests to look for specific problems, I'd take it a step back from that and say that you should first look for a topic of study that speaks to a passion of yours, even if that topic is not itself within computer science. First, it may not be obvious if you can connect it with your current field of study. However, you may be surprised at the ways people have studied this topic <em>using</em> computer science, or the ways in which people are <em>motivated</em> to study some aspect of computer science because of this topic. Then, once you've linked that passion to your field of study, it may not immediately be obvious what problems are still open that you can attack. This is fine - it will require some hard work to find a specific research path, and moreover formulating your own thesis problem will likely require a lot of help from an advisor. </p>\n\n<p>(Disclaimer: I'm an applied math grad student, so admittedly I may very well have a wider range of possibilities for research than students in other fields. Thus, taking a general life passion and researching it may well be easier for me than for you. However, computer science and applied math share a substantial overlap, so this advice may be somewhat relevant.)</p>\n\n<p>I had been working on a project with a very interesting theoretical aspect, but the physical application did not quite excite me enough to provide the drive I needed to get anywhere on my research. Also, I was working with a well-respected and talented advisor, but we didn't meet or communicate very often. This was in part because that year he was teaching and researching at another university, but also because he had a lot of students and was otherwise busy with work. In any case, I became his student under a mutual understanding between us that I would work in a very independent fashion. While at first I thought that such an arrangement was perfect for me, it gradually became more obvious that I needed more frequent, in-person meetings to stay motivated.</p>\n\n<p>And then I took a class on applied and harmonic computational analysis, a topic which is very much related to the field of music technology. I've always been a very musical person, and it's a really big passion for me. But I didn't realize that I could connect this passion with my field of study until I did a small research project for that class. People talk all the time about how music and math are related, but I never really heard much of people doing applied math projects that involved music until I actually went out myself and looked for these topics. </p>\n\n<p>(If you want to hear what the problem was that motivated me, well... I wanted to make a remix of a song, but I couldn't separate out the vocal track as I wanted. Eventually, this led me to discover the topic of <em>source separation</em>, which arises in not just music technology but also a surprising number of academic disciplines. From there, I started discovering many other different topics that I find to be pretty cool.)</p>\n\n<p>Since then, I've switched advisors and started some really fun, exciting projects. And I'm no longer nearly as worried as I used to be about whether I'm making enough progress, not only because of my passion for my project, but also because I check in weekly with my advisor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 41161,
"author": "Christopher Nelson ",
"author_id": 31358,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31358",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>at some point in my college, when I was to do my science project and my advisor, whose field of study was different from pure science, It was really hard to put in my passion to get it done. Not like the passion wasn't there, but we both had different passion in respect to my field of study.. I had to convince myself that I must go through, I had to develop the passion because I would have to defend how I design it. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27762",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14408/"
] |
27,769 |
<p>I am working on a paper in which we need to reference the meaning of english words as foundation for the analysis in the paper (we are categorizing situations using these words, and there is no method of categorizing these items, so no precedent). </p>
<p>Before internet, using the encyclopedia Britannica or merriam-webster dictionary was easy for referencing the book itself. These days, words and meanings change and are sometimes updated. Even more, looking online for a dictionary for finding a word returns many results. </p>
<p>When searching for oxford dictionary there are three results
<a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/</a>
<a href="http://www.oed.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.oed.com/</a>
<a href="http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/" rel="nofollow">http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/</a></p>
<p>Merriam webster:
<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.merriam-webster.com/</a></p>
<p>Cambridge:
<a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/" rel="nofollow">http://dictionary.cambridge.org/</a></p>
<p>The online dictionary:
<a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.thefreedictionary.com/</a></p>
<p>And of course wikipedia usually has some definition.</p>
<p>For example, if we categorize something as 'multi-' , In this dictionary: <a href="http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/multi" rel="nofollow">http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/multi</a> multi is "More than one". However, in this <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multi" rel="nofollow">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multi</a> , multi is "More than two". That is a huge difference in terminology.</p>
<p>Is there an academic standard for the age of online dictionaries? Have words just begun to mean different things and its futile to use dictionaries in this way?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27773,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.oed.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">www.oed.com</a> is the online version of the full, <em>official</em> Oxford English Dictionary. Requires a subscription (institutional or personal) to access. This is the site you should use whenever possible.</p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://www.oxforddictionaries.com</a> is an ad-supported version with some features cut. Avoid if you have subscription access to the full site (as any university should).</p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/</a> is, clearly, for learners of the English language. Use it as a guide for learning, sure - but not as a guide for writing papers.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The OED is <em>the</em> English dictionary to use. Other dictionaries are probably fine in all but the weirdest corner cases, but it helps to have some standardization.</p>\n\n<p>Your journal probably specifies its own preferences in this regard. Every publisher's \"guide for authors\" that I have seen tells you to defer to the OED. Sometimes you'll see specific instructions to use either British or American spellings, and you may specifically be told how to spell words that don't have a British or American \"standard\" spelling, such as <em>parametrize</em>. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27778,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.onelook.com/?w=multi-&ls=a\" rel=\"nofollow\">onelook.com</a> is a nice resource; it links to several online dictionaries from one convenient place. (Although it does not link to the OED, and I agree that the OED is both authoritative and reputable – more on that in a bit.)</p>\n\n<p>Still, words often have fuzzy meanings, and it's often good to cite a couple of reputable sources when establishing definitions. </p>\n\n<p>Your <em>multi-</em> example is a good one. When you find dictionaries have conflicting meanings of a word, it might be best to provide multiple definitions, and then declare which meaning you intend to use throughout your paper or thesis. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/multi-\" rel=\"nofollow\">Collins</a> has an interesting listing for <em>multi-</em>, in that it lists both of the meanings you allude to:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>multi-</strong><br>\n 1 many or much ⇒ <em>multiflorous</em>, <em>multimillion</em><br>\n 2 more than one ⇒ <em>multiparous</em>, <em>multistorey</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's also important to know what kind of dictionary you are citing, and what that dictionary's goal is. For example, some dictionaries list what they deem as primary meanings first, while others order a word's definitions based on how the word evolved. Others, like <a href=\"http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/american-english/multi?q=multi-\" rel=\"nofollow\">Cambridge Dictionary Online</a>, are designed to be a learner's dictionary; CDO's definitions are relatively basic, and geared more toward those who are learning English as a second language. Some online dictionaries are wikis, like <a href=\"http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/multi-?rdfrom=Multi-\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wiktionary</a>, which might be good for finding the most up-to-date slang usages, but are probably not the best sources to cite in scholarly works. </p>\n\n<p>The goal of the OED is a comprehensive, exhaustive list of usages, starting from the very early usages, and going to more contemporary. For example, looking up <em>multi-</em> in the OED yields 10 results; one of them begins with:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ol>\n <li>Forming parasynthetic adjectives, with the sense ‘more than one, several, many’. From the adjectives are formed adverbs (e.g. <em>multiserially</em>) and nouns (e.g. <em>multicellularity</em>). Some formations of this kind acquire a noun sense, as <em>multicore</em>, <em>multiengine</em>.</li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It then goes on to list dozens of examples, many of them rare or obsolete, along with references that stretch back as far as the 1700s, such as:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>multinodal</strong> adj. having many nodes.<br>\n 1839 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) i. ii. 160 <em>The multinodal cyme offers no fixed rule in the spirals of its nodes</em>.<br>\n 1902 Biometrika 1 264 <em>These maxima must arise from the mortality curve itself being multinodal</em>.<br>\n 1979 Cell & Tissue Res. 199 225 <em>Probit frequency analysis, a graphic method for determining whether a population is normally distributed, skewed, or multinodal</em>. </p>\n \n <p><strong>multinodate</strong> adj. rare = multinodal adj.<br>\n 1840 B. H. Smart Walker's Crit. Pronouncing Dict., <em>Multinodate, or Multinodous, many-knotted</em>.<br>\n 1979 Proc. Linn. Soc. New S. Wales 102 194 <em>Most often, on multinodate axes and particularly in large inflorescences, reduction in degree of branching does not occur alone</em>. </p>\n \n <p><strong>multinodous</strong> adj. [ < classical Latin multinōdus ( < multi- multi- comb. form + nōdus knot: see node n.) + -ous suffix] Obs. rare—0 = multinodal adj.<br>\n 1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II., <em>Multinodous, full of Knots</em>.<br>\n 1840 B. H. Smart Walker's Crit. Pronouncing Dict., <em>Multinodate, or Multinodous, many-knotted</em>.</p>\n \n <p><strong>multinodular</strong> adj. Med. characterized by or composed of a number of nodules.<br>\n 1900 W. A. N. Dorland Illustr. Med. Dict. 399/2 <em>Multinodular, composed of many nodules</em>.<br>\n 1924 F. de Quervain Goitre 33 <em>The fourth type is represented by the multinodular goitre with large nodules</em>. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In other words, it's one thing to say that the OED is the \"best\" dictionary to use, but it may be overkill in some instances. </p>\n\n<p>I'm active in some of the SE's English forums; I've found <a href=\"http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/multi\" rel=\"nofollow\">Macmillan</a> and <a href=\"http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/multi-\" rel=\"nofollow\">Collins</a> to be reputable, and I would trust them for scholarly work. Miriam-Webster is often regarded as reputable, too, but I tend to avoid their online edition, owing to the number of ads they splash on a screen (my computer often starts running slower as soon as I go to one of their pages). </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27769",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718/"
] |
27,776 |
<p>Let's say we have a thesis/scientific paper with a sectioning depth of three [chapter, section, subsection]. I already often wondered: </p>
<p><strong>Is it okay to have text outside of the lowest level, i. e. subsections?</strong></p>
<p>For instance giving the introduction to / overview of a chapter is that done right after the chapters headline (or sections headline) or in the first subsection appearing in the same chapter?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27777,
"author": "fuesika",
"author_id": 21203,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21203",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my point of view, the answer to your question depends on the content that you refer to by <em>introduction</em> and <em>overview</em> as well as the actual number of <em>sub-sections</em> to a respective level. I consider a <em>sub-section</em> to be an actual subsection as stated in your question as well as a section within a chapter.<br />\nThe actual content should always be placed within the respective sub-section. Sectioning is supposed to help a reader finding content of interest fast.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Kind of Introduction</strong><br />\nDepending what you aim to introduce (specialties of a method vs. a rather general field of study), the introduction should be placed within or outside of the sub-section.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Kind of Overview</strong><br />\nUsually, I would expect an overview to be outside of the specific sub-sections of content. One may say, that an <em>overview</em> works out to be the same as an introduction to a rather general field of study, cf. <em>Kind of Introduction</em>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Number of Sub-sections</strong><br />\nThe more different sub-sections you have with regard to a level, the more important I find an overview to interrelate these. Since I do not know which sub-sections to read a-priori, I expected an overview that sketches and relates the entire content right after the chapter/section heading. Depending on how interrelated the topics in your sub-sections actually are, this introduction/overview may be longer or shorter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27786,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>In my view, it is perfectly acceptable</strong>. It often helps readability, and logically it makes sense (a good example is the \"introduction before subsections\" that you cited).</p>\n\n<p>That said, <strong>some people hate it</strong>, and I have already encountered referees who wanted me to change it. I haven't been able to infer a reasonable motivation up to now, so I would be interested in reading arguments in its favor.</p>\n\n<p>Academic papers typically have no table of contents, so there is even less motivation for enforcing a strict tree-like structure.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27776",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21225/"
] |
27,779 |
<p>I am really frustrated, I have started my research for my master thesis 6 months ago and I have to submit the final draft after 2 months.</p>
<p>I was interested in a specific topic and I looked for a supervisor with the same research interests.</p>
<p>I was looking for something related to internet security (Botnet Detection); luckily, my supervisor gave me a research plan exactly about what I wanted to do. However, a month later and after I submitted the proposal and started to read deeply about the topic; I found that exactly the same research had already done by another two PhD students and what I was supposed to do was 100% repeating what they already had done 2 years ago.</p>
<p>I directly contacted my supervisor explaining to him the situation. I discovered that my research plan is exactly the same (word by word, someone copied from other). Moreover, the topic itself is very specific and is not easy to build or modify on it, he said "No problem, you just repeat it and we will try to slightly modify something.", then he added "If you can not do that, it is enough to repeat it." and I just agreed (trying to be positive and avoiding problems).</p>
<p>Now, after I started my writing I found myself repeating the same ideas and the same experiments, the same statements and the same conclusions. Later on, I discovered that this research supposed to be done by adviser with the group who already published the work and for some reasons they excluded him.</p>
<p>In short, the supervisor did not mention that this work is already published and did not mention that he was team member with them.</p>
<p>What I shall do?</p>
<p>Now I feel this work is 100% not original and I will not add and contribute anything. I am not feeling happy by wasting my time doing something like that.</p>
<p>Shall I escalate the story to the general adviser for master's students? Should I change the topic or should I continue and defend others work claiming that this is my own work?</p>
<p>I am not scared of rejecting my thesis, I am totally not satisfied about what I do write now. I am doing my masters to add something to my knowledge, experience and to feel really I will be one step a head.</p>
<p>Note: I work in industry field and I have no experience in academic and research fields.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27784,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Note that there is no way anyone knows about your precise situation, except you and your advisor, so I am making some wild guesses on what actually happened.</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps your advisor is hoping to have an efficient implementation of the ideas / algorithms already expressed on the past paper, with the notion that he (or you and him) may later build on your implementation to create something new. In order to create anything new, you have to compare with existing approaches and therefore you still have to implement previous methods. He has given you two options a) Try to expand the ideas of the past paper b) If you cannot do that, just creating a NEW implementation of the original paper is enough for him. This is a MSc thesis and not all MSc theses lead to publishable results. But it still seems like an important project and as such, it seems it could still turn out to be a good MSc thesis and you will have a lot to learn from it. </p>\n\n<p>So, your main problem is that you think that you cannot expand the original paper to new directions. But if you want to do research this is exactly what you are going to have to do. You should find a topic that interests you (\"<em>my supervisor gave a research plan exactly about what i want to do</em>\"), study previous literature (which you should have done before choosing the topic) and then expand on previous ideas. Note that since you have worked in industry, you may as well be a better programmer than those 2 PHD students and therefore your implementation might be much more efficient than theirs. This is still a significant contribution which may eventually be published.</p>\n\n<p>My advice: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Talk to your advisor and state your doubts and clarify the situation.</li>\n<li>Implement the paper's ideas as fast and efficient as possible </li>\n<li>Compare your implementation with the paper's results. You should at least aim for a more efficient implementation </li>\n<li>Check related literature that cites this paper. Is this paper, still state-of-the-art? <strong>Is this paper cited by anyone?</strong> This will show if this project has been picked up by anyone. If it is not, it is reasonable that your advisor wants to build upon the previous paper to further expand it. If someone has extended it or applied it to other use-cases, your assumption that it cannot be improved is wrong and you should think what you can do to further expand it. Either way, you will have an answer about how to proceed. </li>\n<li>Think of any other possible improvements, what else could be done better, in a more efficient way or how this idea could be used in other use-cases. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also, you have learnt a valuable lesson. What you want to do in research should correlate with what is already been done. You should study previous research very carefully and exhaustively. If you believe that previous works have already done everything to perfection (which BTW is rarely the case) then you should choose a new topic. Otherwise you are the one that should think what can be improved. I think you pretty much expected that your advisor had a new research idea waiting just for you and all you needed to do was just to implement it. But this was really an unrealistic expectation on your part. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27795,
"author": "Luke Oeding",
"author_id": 20776,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20776",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In mathematics it's often OK to have a master's thesis be expository, of course as long as it is clearly indicated that it is expository, and it is (of course) written in one's own words, well-referenced, etc. Usually in this case it's better if the expository work provides either a new proof of a known result, or a new perspective on the old result. </p>\n\n<p>I'm sorry if this doesn't answer the academic honesty concerns, but is there any way you can take this spin?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27828,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For a master's thesis it is nice but not completely essential to do something original. I'm sorry that it feels like you're rediscovering what is already known.</p>\n\n<p>Now that you're in that situation, though, the best option is likely to write your results as a <em>test</em> of the published results or a <em>comparison</em> between the published results and something else. For example, you can use different data, compare some aspect that wasn't covered before (resource usage?), write more of a review or try to get different other partial/possible solutions running to compare against. Is the other code open source? If not, open-source yours (assuming your advisor is okay with it). Are there missing steps that are important? Describe them well.</p>\n\n<p>Also, although it feels like a waste of time to repeat the same stuff (and often it is), there is a benefit to thoroughly testing out and verifying what is supposedly known. Just because something's published it isn't necessarily true or useful or accurate. In this case from what you've said it sounds like it is--but if you believe this was useful work for someone to have done, it is also useful for it to be independently verified, which you have done. I wish this were done more in academia, honestly. Too much poorly-verified and over-hyped stuff gets through. But it's hard to publish a paper saying, \"I checked important result X and yep!...it was right on target.\"</p>\n\n<p>It's harder to know what precisely to do about the academic honesty issue. You may wish to discreetly contact whoever is in charge of administrative ethics at your school (preferably some sort of grad student ethics advisor, so they can advise <em>you</em> on whether this sounds like a big problem). But if it's a problem it's a problem for your professor; I wouldn't let it derail your thesis unless absolutely necessary.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27779",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21228/"
] |
27,780 |
<p>I am scheduled to present part of my PhD research
at a conference in a few months.
This will be my first conference after graduating from my PhD.
I am now a postdoc at another university,
but my current adviser's policy is to fund conference travel
only for postdocs presenting research done by with him,
i.e. he would not fund my travel to this conference
to present research I had done during my PhD
which did not involve him.</p>
<p>Is it normal for a PhD adviser
to fund conference travel for graduated students,
if the students are presenting work they have done during their PhD?
If the graduated student had tenure-track jobs
and their own source of funding for conference travel,
then clearly the graduated student
would be expected to use his/her own funding.</p>
<p>However, in my case,
when I do not have funding for conference travel,
is it normal to expect my PhD adviser to provide funding?
I will ask my adviser about this directly,
but I was wondering if there is a standard expected behavior
for PhD advisers that generally applies in my situation.</p>
<p>If my PhD adviser is unable/unwilling to fund my travel,
is it unreasonable for me to say that I cannot attend the conference?
(I estimate the total cost of attending the conference to be ~$1K.)</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong>
I asked my PhD adviser whether he could fund my conference travel,
and he said yes immediately.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27783,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>One should always figure out the funding issues before submitting an abstract to a conference. Presenters withdrawing from a conference are a major headache to the conference organizers and it is unreasonable to expect them to reorganize the conference program because you did not figure out your travel plans (either timing or funding) in advanced. There are cases where there is nothing you can do (e.g., having a child), but in general when you submit an abstract you are committing yourself to presenting the work.</p>\n\n<p>As to who should fund your travel, the best would have been to ask when you submitted to the conference. There really isn't a standard for who should pay. The first issue is to determine if your PhD advisor or Post Doc Advisor has money that could be used to pay for your travel. They would have to have money that could, if they desired, be used to fund your travel, and be willing to fund your travel.</p>\n\n<p>I would ask both people and see what they say. No one is going to be offended by you asking. I wouldn't be surprised if both said no, but nor would I be surprised if both said yes.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27801,
"author": "Yodeller",
"author_id": 21247,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21247",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ask yourself who gets the benefit? Will your previous instutition as it is work related to your time there, or your present instuitution, or just you. To fund they will want to know it's going to be advantageous to them. You will need to convice them.\nOr, chat to someone else who is going to the confermce and arrange to sleep on their floor, cancel the hotel booking, miss the formal dinners and boldly wander into buffets to get them free. Still do the networking, present your paper and plan ahead next time.\nBut always remember that life can change overnight as it did for me, and ill health stopped both the conferences and my working - then who pays for a conference is a monor issue!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27805,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You might see if there are other sources of funding available from your current university. Commonly they do have some travel funding available for their researchers who don't have grant money, and you might be eligible. It might not cover everything, or there might be some sort of competitive application process, but it is worth checking. It may be administered through a unit called \"Office of Research\" or something like that.</p>\n\n<p>In my field it's pretty common for postdocs to be allotted some funding of their very own from the university, that they can spend on travel, etc. I assume if you had this, you wouldn't be asking the question, but it's just possible that if you didn't read fine print, you might have overlooked it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 86688,
"author": "S Bee",
"author_id": 70928,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/70928",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a PhD student, I disagree with some of the advice here. Students (and post doctoral fellows) can be pressured by their university/advisor to publish and present at conferences. At my university there were specific PhD sub Courses that had to be complete and this involved presenting at different level conferences. So essentially, you needed to at least submit papers to these conferences or else you would not get your PhD. In my case, I applied (submitted a paper) to an international conference and my paper was accepted. I soon wished it wasn't because my university did not cover all costs and going would cut into my own funds by about 1000 dollars. Do not blame students for backing out or for 'disrupting' a presenter list when the universities themselves often do not tell the students what 'conference travel' entails. To the person saying to sleep on floors etc, NO. Students should be able to say \"i do not wish to go\" without ANY PENALTY. simple. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27780",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8802/"
] |
27,781 |
<p>I am a European student applying for a PhD in mathematics in the US. Browsing the internet, I have come across quite a lot of American PhD applicants claiming that they have several years of research experience, or even publications. I am rather astonished because in Europe first research attempts normally begin when a student is writing his or her Master's thesis. On the other hand the level of mathematics taught in European undergrad programmes is typically higher than in the US an normally involves courses which are classed as graduate courses in the US. Therefore I would like to ask the following questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What does "undergraduate research" really mean in most cases? Original research, contribution to a senior mathematician's original research through some calculations/programming work, independent study of a difficult topic + a paper/report but without any original findings?</p></li>
<li><p>Am I right being skeptical that someone who has only taken some courses in linear algebra, real analysis, etc. is ready to do research?</p></li>
<li><p>US PhD programmes typically involve 2 years of taught courses and a qualifying exam prior to beginning the work on one's thesis, i.e. research proper. Is undergraduate research really an important prerequisite in the eyes of the admissions committee?</p></li>
<li><p>How common is it to have publications as an undergraduate in the US?</p></li>
<li><p>As a student coming from Europe, where there is little opportunity for undergrad research and it is generally not encouraged, is my application at an disadvantage? While I have not done any "undergrad research", I have done a lot of independent work. I have written a Bachelor's thesis, given talks at many seminars, and am now working on a Master's thesis which will hopefully contain some original results. Can this experience be regarded on a par with a US applicant's research experience?</p></li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27793,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To address a few of your points. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>There is no standard definition of undergraduate research. In many US universities one can graduate with a degree <em>without</em> doing an independent thesis, so in effect it is possible to obtain a bachelor's degree without having anything resembling \"research experience\". Therefore some people would be generous and count the research for bachelor's theses as \"undergraduate research\". For some people the phrase excludes theses but includes REU experiences, and for some only original research leading to publications count. </p>\n\n<p>It is not too unreasonable to expect that the work put into independent projects, even an undergraduate thesis that basically is just a review of existing results, can be beneficial to graduate research. </p></li>\n<li><p>Yes; but where did you get the idea that undergraduates only learn some linear algebra and real analysis? Combinatorics is a field in which the barrier to entry is somewhat lower, and is especially approachable to the Math Olympiad types; and discrete mathematics is certainly on the rise in the past decade or so in terms of undergraduate education. And many undergraduates do have quite a bit more under their belt than you seem to believe. </p>\n\n<p>Having worked in Europe for the past 5 years, I feel comfortable asserting that the claim </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>the level of mathematics taught in European undergrad programmes is typically higher than in the US an normally involves courses which are classed as graduate courses in the US.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>is not quite true. What is true is that the mathematics in European undergraduate programs often <em>start out</em> at a higher level and with more rigour, but at the advanced undergraduate level the US schools usually have caught up. (Note also that the US degrees are usually 4 years compared to 3 years in Europe, so they have a bit more time to build.) Couple that with the liberal arts tradition you'll often find elective classes at the top level of undergraduate education in the US which have no analogue at all in Europe. </p>\n\n<p>While it is certainly true that good European universities offer undergraduate courses that are at the level of graduate courses in mediocre US universities, the reverse swapping European/US is also true. </p></li>\n<li><p>It depends on the answer to (1). The rare individual who actually did original research and obtained publishable results will likely get some bonus points when the admission committee deliberates, but it is certainly not a norm and one is not expected to have done such necessarily. </p></li>\n<li><p>I don't have any statistics. Hearsay suggests that original research leading to something published in a research journal is somewhat rare. (Publications resulting from REU or similar programs, or publications in undergraduate journals are less rare.)</p></li>\n<li><p>If your master's thesis contains original results, then you are likely more than on par with the typical applicant to US PhD programs, in terms of research experience. </p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27798,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is undergraduate research really an important prerequisite in the eyes of the admissions committee?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's certainly not mandatory: every US graduate program in mathematics is willing to admit students who have not done original research or published a paper. On the other hand, having impressive accomplishments helps, and it's important to have letters of recommendation from faculty who have seen you engage deeply with something difficult. It's easier to get such a letter from a supervisor on a substantial independent project, but it doesn't have to be a research project. Your background as described in the question sounds strong, and I don't think you need to worry about a lack of research experience.</p>\n\n<p>The worrisome scenario is someone who has never focused on any question for more than a few hours. This is entirely possible for an undergraduate who hasn't written a thesis or worked on any comparable project. The problem is that doing mathematics on a long time scale is qualitatively different from short-term problem solving. It's psychologically different: you need to be patient and flexible, while still maintaining focus over months or years. Some people are effective and enthusiastic over short time scales but aren't temperamentally suited to research, and it can be a heavy blow to discover in graduate school that you don't enjoy this sort of work or have trouble focusing. Other people are intimidated by the idea of research and assume they would be worse at it than at short-term problem solving, while in fact they might be much better.</p>\n\n<p>So the key advantage of undergraduate research is that it gives students a chance to discover their preferences and talents, with faculty mentors who can judge their performance and vouch for it. On the other hand, there are other ways to achieve the same goals, and it's the goals that matter.</p>\n\n<p>Historically, the initial push for undergraduate research in the US was actually as a recruiting tool. The idea was that encouraging students to do research would help uncover people who should go to graduate school but might not have realized it (either from being underconfident or from not having had the opportunity to shine). REUs were not intended as a prerequisite for graduate school, but this view has become more common among applicants as the programs have become more popular.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What does \"undergraduate research\" really mean in most cases? Original research, contribution to a senior mathematician's original research through some calculations/programming work, independent study of a difficult topic + a paper/report but without any original findings?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Preferably one of the first two, and ideally the first, but it is sometimes used to refer to the third as well. Both applicants and supervisors have incentives to describe work as \"undergraduate research\" regardless of whether they intended or tried to do original research, in the hope that it will sound more impressive than just saying it was an independent project. This broader usage gets on my nerves, so I'd recommend against it, but it's widespread enough that there's not much risk of standing out as being misleading or manipulative.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How common is it to have publications as an undergraduate in the US?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's relatively common among those who attend an REU or similar research program, although the publications are not necessarily impressive in absolute terms (i.e., not taking into account that the authors are undergraduates). Publishing is rare among undergraduate students who have not participated in such a program.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27781",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21229/"
] |
27,782 |
<p>Could anyone kindly provide me with information about how <em>PhD international students</em> can be covered by health insurance in the US? : </p>
<p>Is it often granted by the University? </p>
<p>How much does it cost, on average (for the student and possibly spouse/children) and what does it cover?</p>
<p>Does "Obamacare" reform affect it anyhow?</p>
<p>I would appreciate any information. Thanks in advance.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27791,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is very university-specific. My university pays the health insurance for students who are appointed to a graduate research assistantship or TA-ship at the half-time (20 hours/week) level. Half-time is the minimum to get the insurance paid, the maximum time allowed for a graduate student to work, and the usual appointment for the vast majority of graduate students. To add a spouse is about $450/mo. I do not know how much children cost to add. The coverage varies all over the map because insurance varies so much by state, institution, and plan in the US. The plan at my institution is for medical care only. Vision and dental are separate and funded entirely by the employee (though they're pretty cheap).</p>\n\n<p>The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) may have changed this for some institutions which did not provide insurance options to grad students, but mine has for the last 20 years or so, so I don't really know.</p>\n\n<p>All of this information should be on the website of the university you want to attend. You may have to look in the section for employees rather than students, but it's usually there. Look for \"benefits\" as well as \"insurance\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27792,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A lot of universities do provide health insurance to enrolled students. </p>\n\n<p>For example:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.princeton.edu/uhs/student-insurance/student-health-plan/\">Princeton University's student health plan</a> is extended by default to all enrolled graduate students (the line about tuition payment is pro forma: if you are on a fellowship or on a teaching assistant/research assistant position your tuition is covered automatically and so the insurance costs you nothing out of pocket). One can also enroll dependents (spouse and children) as long as certain requirements are met. Dental insurance is not covered by default, as far as I know. </li>\n<li>A similar provision is offered by <a href=\"http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/students/insurance/SHIPEnrollment.shtml\">UC Berkeley</a>. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The coverage offered are specific to the insurance plans, and thus entirely dependent on the University. The Google search phrase \"< university name > graduate student health insurance\" is pretty good at returning the results for the universities you are interested in. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27782",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21049/"
] |
27,819 |
<p>How difficult is it to get an assistant professor position in a department (e.g., applied math) while you have a PhD degree from another area (e.g., electrical engineering)? Particularly, when you target only relatively good departments (top 20~30).</p>
<p>If it makes any difference, I am particularly thinking of becoming professor of applied math with an EE degree.</p>
<p><strong>update:</strong> I don't know exactly what constitutes <em>mathematical research</em> in the eyes of mathematicians, but I can say there are some really theoretical subjects needed in my research. For example random matrix theory and empirical processes are prevalent in my research area. However, in spite of my great interest, I haven't been able to (or prohibited from doing) work on purely theoretical part of the problems. So I mostly have applied the existing theoretical results. Developing optimization algorithms with provable convergence guarantees, perhaps in statistical sense of it, are also important in the area I worked in. However, I don't think optimization is considered an interesting area for mathematicians.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27820,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>How difficult it is to get a position in another field depends enormously on your specific interests and background. Moving from electrical engineering to applied mathematics may be pretty reasonable, since there are some research areas that are widely considered part of both fields, such as control theory. If you already work in the intersection, then you'll have some flexibility in your job search. You'll have a much tougher time if you're proposing to change your research interests, or if you work on a topic that is not commonly studied in applied math departments, even if it could be.</p>\n\n<p>A first test is whether you can find anyone with your background and interests in an applied math department. If you can't find anyone, then it may be difficult to become the first. (It could still be worth a try, but you shouldn't get your heart set on doing something unprecedented.) If you can find such people, then you have role models. At that point, you can start looking at the web pages and CVs of people who have made the transition. Where do they publish? How do they present themselves and their work? Can you see any differences from people working in electrical engineering? Of course you don't need to imitate these people too closely, but at least you'll have examples of what has been well received by applied math departments. Some things can be adjusted on short notice, while others take time. If you're a little further from fitting in, doing a postdoc in applied math may help bridge the gap.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27864,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The comments and the other answer have mainly addressed whether your research area would be a fit in an applied math department. Let's assume it is. <strong>There's another, equally important side to the equation. The willingness of a department to hire faculty with doctorates in other fields varies dramatically by the department and university</strong>, at least in my limited experience. This is more a question of culture than of science.</p>\n\n<p>First, at many universities applied math is just an unofficial group of faculty within a mathematics department. I think that your chances of getting hired into a mathematics department are very slim.</p>\n\n<p>Applied mathematics is a more interdisciplinary field, and is generally more open-minded culturally with respect to disciplinary boundaries, especially since many universities don't offer a degree in applied mathematics. But applied math is a small field and it's still true that in many departments your application is likely to be tossed out because of the name of your degree. I was a grad student during a faculty search at a prominent applied math department in the US, and I don't think they would ever have considered hiring someone with a degree outside of applied mathematics. In the <a href=\"http://cemse.kaust.edu.sa\" rel=\"nofollow\">University where I work now</a>, departmental boundaries are very thin and we have hired multiple faculty whose doctorate is in another field (though there was certainly resistance from some faculty).</p>\n\n<p>One way you can help yourself a lot is to get a recommendation letter from someone who is on the inside of the applied mathematics community. If, say, a <a href=\"http://fellows.siam.org/index.php?sort=last\" rel=\"nofollow\">SIAM fellow</a> says that you're truly an applied mathematician, you will immediately have street cred.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27819",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,825 |
<p>I am soon to finish my PhD and would love to do postdoctoral research (UK). However, for reasons I shan't go into, it is not viable for me to travel outside of my city and so I am unable to attend conferences/workshops/etc.</p>
<p>Is it feasible for me to obtain a postdoc position? Or do postdoc responsibilities necessarily entail travelling?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27826,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is somewhat field dependent, but your academic career could be much more challenging if your disability or other circumstances prevent you from traveling. You may need to travel to job interviews at the very least. Not attending conferences to present your research will reduce the visibility of your work, and so you will struggle to get your ideas well known in your field. This could reduce your job prospects. You will need to have your research products well-advertised on the web in order to have any name recognition. Your research may also have to be more ground-breaking in order to garner recognition. </p>\n\n<p>If, for example, you work in Computer Science, conference publications are typically the most prestigious, so the inability to travel to present your work may mean that it is not published. </p>\n\n<p>I don't mean to be too discouraging, but I think you should reevaluate whether or not you can make 1 or 2 trips per year in order to present your work. It may do wonders for how hard your career is otherwise. </p>\n\n<p>On the plus side, you might also try talking to some conference organizers before you submit your work about presenting your results via video conference. I was at a workshop this week where a presenter couldn't make it due to a last-minute problem with his flight, and he gave a great presentation via Google Hangouts. He wasn't there to network, but at least his presentation happened. If your reasons for not traveling are due to disability (including mental disabilities like social anxiety, agoraphobia, etc.), the country where the conference happens may require that they try to accommodate your needs. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 89858,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It seems your main challenges will be:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Getting some institute/person to hire you as a researcher despite this handicap (that is, assuming you're not hiding your situation).</li>\n<li>Getting to know and form relationships with people in your field.</li>\n<li>Collaborating with people without meeting them (unless they travel to where you are).</li>\n<li>Finding potential positions for after your your post-docs without having \"shown your face\" there, or to the people there.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In some fields these may be insurmountable. In most other fields their combination will make it extremely difficult - in my opinion - to be a successful researcher. So there's the question of whether you're interested in having what will quite possibly be a mediocre-at-best stint as a researcher.</p>\n\n<p>An exception to the above would be if you're in a group where there's good division of labor, with other people doing a lot of traveling, but also being gracious enough to make the connection between yourself and researchers/interested parties elsewhere so that you're at least partially present. In that case I suppose it's half-manageable.</p>\n\n<p>I can't speak to what primary researchers, or research groups/departments, will require of you; traveling may or may not be a strict requirement and it may or may not depend on the field of study and the country in which you work.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27825",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19470/"
] |
27,835 |
<p>Is there any good resource to figure out the track record of academic success of research lab’s alumni (e.g. how many of postdocs became a PI)?</p>
<p>I'm a grad student in the US who will finish PhD next spring, and I've just started to find a postdoc position. I realized it's crucial to find an postdoc advisor who has a good track record of alumni's getting job in academia, since I want to be a PI in the future.</p>
<p>It looks like many famous labs with big papers actually have too many postdocs and grad students so that not many of them have successful career. Productivity per person is diluted too much in those labs. I also doubt one's publication record is the only factor for success in getting a PI position as far as I hear from people around me. (Of course, I know that if you have a big paper in a big lab, that is the best way to get a position)</p>
<p>I am open to go to any country for work if the working environment is good. My field is biophysics with some flavor of materials science.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27866,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is not an answer to your question, so feel free to downvote me. But I'm going to answer the question you should have asked rather than the one you did ask. The implicit question here is</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Should I use a lab's track record of getting academic positions for its postdocs as a surrogate for what my own chances will be (if I take a postdoc in that lab)?</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In other words, the implied assumption is that if 50% of the postdocs from a given lab go on to get faculty positions, and if you go to that lab, then you will have a 50% chance of getting a faculty position. I believe this is poor statistical reasoning:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Averages are not very useful in predicting the outcome of a single realization.</li>\n<li>Some postdocs may not desire an academic position. Therefore, their failure to get one has no bearing on what you are trying to assess -- but it will skew the measure you are using.</li>\n<li>Labs may not have had enough postdocs to provide a statistically significant sample. For every PI, there was a <em>first</em> postdoc who got an academic position. Unless she was the first postdoc that PI ever had, she went in with 0% odds by your measure.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In deciding where to go, I think <strong>talking to the PI and to current and former postdocs</strong> will be much more useful to you than computing this statistic.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28038,
"author": "Korem",
"author_id": 17394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a suggestion regarding the assessment (the actual question), not saying if this is a good or bad idea, along the lines of what was done <a href=\"http://www.pipredictor.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>. </p>\n\n<p>Write some code that:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>From a certain paper database, say, pubmed - gets all the papers in which your prospective PI is the last author. This is a pretty good estimate of all the papers from his lab (he might have joint work with other PIs in which he's not last, but let's ignore these).</li>\n<li>Gets all first-third authors as prospective graduate students from his lab. We can't really tell (automatically) if they were postdocs, and let's assume that papers in which you weren't on the first three authors don't mean much to your chances of becoming a PI. You also want to limit those papers to be a few years old (so we can assume that they finished their time in said lab).</li>\n<li>Look for papers in which those prospective graduate students are last authors. This suggests that they've become PIs.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Now you can get an estimate of the number of PIs out of number of students that published papers for each lab.</p>\n\n<p>There are APIs to pubmed in many programming languages, and the researchers from the first link I posted have their <a href=\"https://github.com/omanor/PIPredictor\" rel=\"nofollow\">code in github</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28052,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One approach is to simply ask the potential post doc supervisors. That said, if I received a random email from someone asking how many of my post docs have gone on to get academic positions, I would probably ignore it. If however, that email came from someone I had previously talked to about doing a post doc with me, I would be happy to tell them about my past post docs and where they went. You should then talk to former members of the lab and see if the PI's view of the world matches their views. While a single descriptive statistic like percentage of students who went on to get academic positions might seem like it is easier to interpret, it likely only provides a portion of the story.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27835",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21286/"
] |
27,852 |
<p>Art history is an established academic discipline and you can do degrees at all levels in it. </p>
<p>Why is this the case? </p>
<p>Why isn't it considered a sub-discipline of history? It seems to stand separately as its own subject.</p>
<p>Why don't you get a BA in Music History, for example? I am sure people study music history, but its much less well known as a discipline than art history.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27854,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is interesting that you assume Art History as a sub-discipline of History. I am aware of many joint Art and Art History departments (either formally in the name or where the courses are taught) and also joint Art History and Anthropology departments, but I am not aware of any universities where Art Hisotry is taught as a sub-discipline of History. This is probably rooted in the fact that the visual analysis techiques used by Art Historians is essentially completely unrelated to the techniques used by Historians.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27856,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Music History as an area of study certainly exists. Whether under that name or not will depend on how a particular school arranges its departments. Your not having heard of it says more about your areas of interest than about academia.</p>\n\n<p>Other than that: as @StrongBad said, different tools and different techniques and different priorities, hence different departments. History of science, if someone specialized in that, would probably also be different from a normal History degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27857,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a complete outsider to this field, I might be completeley wrong, but I can guess one compelling reason: art history is the field one has to study to become a museum curator (other related jobs certainly exist): if one wants well curated collections in museums, then one needs to form curators and for this, specific research is certainly also needed. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 61607,
"author": "Arthistorian",
"author_id": 47470,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/47470",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Coming at this far after the OP, but as an art historian I felt compelled to reply.</p>\n\n<p>The reasons for the Art History's separation from History are myriad (political, pedagogical, philosophical, etc. etc. etc.). In general, art history is rooted in objects/visual materials, and requires training in the methodologies and historiography of visual analysis. Many of the tools of art historical work overlap with those of historians––we are informed by broader methodological shifts (psychoanalytical theory, feminism, postcolonial debates, etc.) and have our own set of theoretical paradigms that have extended beyond the realm of art history (<em>Bildwissenshaft</em>, formalism, iconology, etc.). It's a vast field that in recent decades has splintered into related disciplines (visual culture, visual studies). Depending on his or her methodology, an art historian could likely be as well-versed in the \"historical\" literature as the \"art historical\" literature in any particular area. Art historians are, I believe, departmentally separate (or often groups with studio art programs) due to the emphasis on object-based research and teaching. That said, art historical research requires the same level of rigor and sophistication as any other form of historical research.</p>\n\n<p>While many art historians choose to go the curatorial route, many who pursue advanced degrees stay in academia. Working in a cultural institution like an art museum requires a distinct set of skills from that of an academic. Some graduate programs in art history gear themselves more toward the curatorial route, while others are more focused on academic research.</p>\n\n<p>One element of art history that can, I think, be a bit confusing to the outsider is the interpretative element. Any strong analysis will be rooted in historical \"facts,\" but when examining a work of art, there's always going to be some measure of interpretation or speculation. Again, if a conclusion is not borne out by strong research, it will generally not be widely accepted. But the extent to which art historians think creatively about their objects of inquiry is one of the many reasons the field can, to me, be so invigorating.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 90954,
"author": "Gracesong24",
"author_id": 74851,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/74851",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As someone who is studying for a MA in History, but also taking classes and having a minor in Museum and Curatorial Studies (mainly focused on critical theory and art history), there is a difference in the two disciplines. As one of the above commenters said, there are many overlapping methods in research. But the historiography is very different. In the discipline of history, there is more of a focus on the social, cultural, political impacts. Visual art can be used to help understand and dissect the event more closely, but history is a study of causes that led up to the event. Art history is very different in the sense that art history can get very specific to the artist and the art movement. Art history also has a focus on aestheticism. Just as history can use visuals such as art works and the artist's life as a tool to understanding the period, an art historian can use the historical event and time period, the historical facts to understanding the piece as well as the artist or the art movement. In a way it's flipped. I believe that these two disciplines are very important in the field of humanities, but in a sense, it is important to distinguish between the two disciplines. But I am also a firm believer in learning both fields in order to enrich the study of history. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 90968,
"author": "sgf",
"author_id": 67258,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/67258",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Art history is about art and its history, just like Musicology is about music and its history. The only difference is that one has history in its name and the other doesn't.</p>\n\n<p>(As another example of the same thing, for a long time in my country biology ran under the name of \"natural history\". Nobody considered it a subfield of history.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27852",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15788/"
] |
27,855 |
<p>When writing the references at the end of my internship report, I needed to cite all the information that needs to be said about the scientific articles that I used while writing the report. But these articles, most of the time, do not mention the conference or journals in which they were presented nor their publication date. Is there a website in which one can have access to this kind of information about any scientific aticle? BTW, I am talking about the field of computer science.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27860,
"author": "Spiros",
"author_id": 13031,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13031",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://scopus.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Elsevier's Scopus</a> has pretty decent coverage and can also be used to create custom alerts that will email you when new manuscripts(s) matching a set of keywords (or authors) are found. With regards to proceedings it gets trickier as some times they do not get published by a source that gets captured by an aggregator (be it Google Scholar or Scopus or something else).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27877,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's rather unusual that the final version of a published research paper does not display the publication venue prominently on the first page of the paper. If you can't find anything there, try to remember where you got the manuscript from.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Did you download it from a website? The website should have contained all publication information.</li>\n<li>Did someone give it to you directly? Ask that person for details on the publication information.</li>\n<li>Is it copied out of a book? Try to find that book again.</li>\n<li>If you don't remember where it came from, you simply may want to try an internet search for the article's exact title and all authors - if there's anything to be found, that should come up among the top results.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In some cases, you may have obtained a manuscript which is not formally published yet. After following the above steps to ensure that no published version is available in the meantime, these manuscripts can be cited as \"Unpublished\", \"Technical report\", or \"Preprint\", together with the information how to find them (URL, University where they were prepared, or other) and the year they were written in.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29270,
"author": "DCTLib",
"author_id": 7390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7390",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Background:</strong> Many researchers put their articles for download on their personal web pages. As most publishers insist on not allowing the researcher to put the \"official\" version there, but rather only the self-made PDF, this leads to articles often not having the journal/conference information on the first page (as this would require changing the article a bit, which is a bit of work to be done). Also, self-archived versions often appear before the conference, so that page numbers can only be missing, and might not be updated later.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Actual Answer:</strong> For CS, a good strategy is to just type \"DBLP \" into your favorite search engine. Many papers nowadays are listed on the <a href=\"http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/\" rel=\"nofollow\">DBLP</a> page, which also allows you to just download the bibliographic information.</p>\n\n<p>If a paper is not listed on DBLP, just searching for the paper title often yields the publisher's page of the article, which should have the information available.</p>\n\n<p>If searching for the title does not yield any results, then the paper could be a limited circulation pre-print, which is stricly speaking not citeble. However, in such (hopefully few) cases, it makes sense to ask the person who gave you the article for bibliographic information.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27855",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19986/"
] |
27,862 |
<p>I am trying to list my publications in my curriculum vitae. But, because I have publications in three fields <em>x, y, z</em> of study such that <em>x</em> is my major and <em>y, z</em> are not, I am looking for how to best display them so that it can be emphasized that I have works in different areas.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27863,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Why not just make three lists of publications (one for each field) and place each with its own subheading under the general heading \"Publications\"?</p>\n\n<p>i.e.:</p>\n\n<h1>Publications</h1>\n\n<h3>Biology</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>pub 1</li>\n<li>pub 2</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Astronomy</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>pub 1</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Mathematics</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>pub 1</li>\n<li>pub 2</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27880,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27863/15723\">David Ketchesons answer</a>. One alternative is to keep a standard method such as by year, and create tags at the end.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>My Publication 1, Journal of Biology, 2013 <strong>[Biology]</strong></p>\n \n <p>My Publication 2, Journal of Mathematics, 2012 <strong>[Mathematics]</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This will make it easy to see your publications and may give faster accessibility to your career. For example, if you started in field X, and then went to field Y, and now you are at field Z, the chronological order will show tags at earlier publications with field X, and more recent at field Z. In the same way, if you want to show how you publish in different fields throughout your career, it will show the mix of fields through the chronological order.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27862",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
27,871 |
<p>I recently took an exam, and our professor told us that we should submit our question sheets since 2 other students in our class are going to take a make-up exam. We were also told that we were not allowed to talk about our exam while the other 2 are around. I presume this means that their exams are going to be identical to ours (For the sake of argument, let us assume that this is the case, and it is not in fact a strategy or something of our professor).</p>
<p>Our class is on weekdays (MWF for 1 section and TTh for another), but we had our exam on Saturday afternoon. Since we all have class on Saturday morning, it is okay to have an exam on Saturday afternoon since we would already be on campus. Apparently those doing the make-up exam have conflicts with their plans for Saturday afternoon which the professor accepts.</p>
<p>Essentially, we can't tell them the contents of the exam. Our professor claims that this is so as to not compromise the integrity of the exam.</p>
<p>So here's my first question:</p>
<p><strong>Is it fair to the students taking the exam earlier that the make-up exams are identical to the original?</strong></p>
<p>Expansion:</p>
<p>It seems to me that the fact that it is too easy for the two others to find out the exam questions should be reason enough for our professor to give a different and possibly even harder exam and that doing otherwise is in itself compromising the integrity of the exam.</p>
<p>If it's not compromising the integrity of the exam, why not just have the same exam every year and collect the question sheet from students (which, cmiiw, actually doesn't really do anything since we can just copy the questions on a bond paper and bring the bond paper home)?</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27872/when-is-it-wrong-to-look-at-previous-exams">See possibly related question.</a></strong></p>
<p>Second question:</p>
<p><strong>I seem to recall that department policy is that make-up exams are "generally" (exact word in undergrad syllabuses but not in our grad syllabuses which makes no mention of such) more difficult. If the answer to the first question above is yes, then does it follow that the "generally" should be removed?</strong></p>
<p>P.S. I truly cannot imagine how difficult it must be to a academic: research, teaching, consultation, conferences, etc. Thus, I am aware that it is no easy task for a teacher to just come up with a make-up exam, but nevertheless <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/188407/why-would-i-ever-create-a-new-exam-when-i-can-just-re-use-an-old-exam-and-then-a">for the sake of maintaining the integrity (maintain is not compromise?) of exams, I believe this should be done.</a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27875,
"author": "299792458",
"author_id": 17534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17534",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Assuming that your professor is <em>really</em> going to put forward the same questions in the re-exam (which I doubt he will), he's only saving his labor. There is no way he can ensure that out of all people who took the exam, not even a single person will disclose the contents to the two gentlemen. That's why, most sensible people in this situation would prefer to have a different set of questions over for exam no. 2. </p>\n\n<p>As regards the difficulty level, the reason why we have these kinds of exams is the following: suppose they missed on the original exam because of genuine medical circumstances - that can happen to anyone. There is generally a provision for this at most universities, i.e. show medical records and you can appear in a repeat exam. You might argue that if the record-demand (or the verification of record part) isn't too firm, there will always be people who will use this rule to buy some extra time to prepare. Assuming someone's not genuinely unwell, he would have gone half-prepared into the exam and would have fared badly. But because he 'bought' more time, he may be better prepared now, and therefore may fare better than what he would have originally. Perhaps, this reasoning prompts your comment, and I reckon you would expect your instructor to make the re-exam tougher than the original. But, you see, all possibilities need to be covered here. If someone was genuinely unwell, and hence missed out on the exam, there is a possibility that he may be well prepared for the exam, and would have done as well as you, if he could appear in the exam. But he couldn't, for reasons beyond his control. In this situation, if the instructor is deliberately increasing the difficulty level for the exam, it is unfair to the ill guy. Here, he certainly did not have the benefit of extra time, as the detractors were imagining. </p>\n\n<p>For this reason, sensible instructors will generally go for nearly the same difficulty level only - just to ensure that genuine cases don't get wronged. But of course, there has to be a different set of questions. Identical paper is absolutely wrong. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27886,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Whether identical make-up exams are fair depends on the circumstances. The key point is that you can't eliminate all potential for cheating: there are too many ways to cheat, and you can't even try to rule them all out without brutal and expensive oversight. Ultimately, you have to make a trade-off, in which you take some anti-cheating steps but stop focusing on cheating once you reach the point of diminishing returns. [For example, if you are really concerned about cheating, then you can't use take-home exams, and you'll have to police restroom visits very carefully for in-class exams. These steps might be sensible under some circumstances, but counterproductive in others.]</p>\n\n<p>So how does this apply to identical make-up exams? If you're teaching a required, low-level class to a large group of unenthusiastic students who desperately want good grades, then cheating sounds like a real worry, and giving the same exam twice would be a foolish decision. If you're teaching an advanced class to a small group of students you know and trust, then there may be no issue at all. Reasonable people could differ as to where to draw the line between these scenarios, and it depends on their judgment of the likelihood and consequences of cheating.</p>\n\n<p>There's more to this than laziness, although writing a second exam is certainly a pain. Instead, there's a trade-off between several effects. If you write a new exam, then you've eliminated the possibility of learning the questions from a classmate. However, there's no way to calibrate the exams perfectly, so you've introduced the possibility that the make-up exam was inadvertently easier or harder, and the students may feel stress or bitterness over this. Both the cheating and the differing difficulty are bad, and there's no way to completely eliminate them both, so you have to decide how much they worry you and balance between them.</p>\n\n<p>There are also matters of educational philosophy. I'm not fond of any approach that tells students I don't trust them or that challenges them to see if they can slip anything by me. That doesn't mean I won't take countermeasures against cheating, but it means I consider the countermeasures to be problematic in and of themselves, so I try to use them as sparingly as I reasonably can.</p>\n\n<p>In practice, how I design make-up exams differs from course to course. Sometimes I write a new exam from scratch (while allowing some possibility of overlap with the previous exam, so students can't be sure something <em>won't</em> be on the make-up just because it was on the original exam). In other cases, I just fiddle with some of the details or replace a few questions, while warning students not to discuss the exam until after the make-up exam.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding outcomes, I find that students who take similar make-up exams rarely do surprisingly well, and on average they do a little worse than I would have expected. Of course I don't know what's happening behind the scenes, and perhaps cheating saved them from scoring even lower. However, I'm at least confident that students aren't using this as an opportunity to rack up lots of undeserved points.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If it's not compromising the integrity of the exam, why not just have the same exam every year and collect the question sheet from students?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's not a matter of absolutes, but rather of how much the integrity is compromised and what the consequences are. Re-using the same exams every year offers much more scope and temptation for cheating than a single make-up exam does. The longer you re-use an exam, the more likely it is that unscrupulous students will piece together and circulate a list of questions, even if you collect the question sheets. If you do this for all the exams in the course, then the potential benefits of cheating are quite a bit higher than in just one make-up exam. (If I saw the same student repeatedly requesting make-up exams, I would wonder why and might become suspicious.) If the ease of cheating in every exam is known, then the course will attract dishonest students who might never have taken it otherwise. There's a big difference between possibly being able to learn about one exam if you convince someone else to help you cheat, and being able to learn about every exam by downloading a file from the internet. It's reasonable to draw a distinction between these scenarios.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27871",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21026/"
] |
27,872 |
<p>It is clear that if I study for an exam in 2014, then it should be okay to look at previous exams from the previous semester of 2014, exams from 2013, 2012, etc.</p>
<p><strong>First question: Is it wrong, however, to look at previous exams within the same semester?</strong></p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>Let's say there are two classes (9:30-10:30 MWF and 12-1:30 TTh) for a subject (S101). Say I am in the TTh class and I have a friend in the MWF class. My friend takes the S101 exam on Monday. I am to take the S101 exam on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Is it wrong for my friend and I to discuss the S101 exam after e takes the S101 exam and before I take the S101 exam?</p>
<p>Here is what I am thinking:</p>
<p>It should NOT be wrong because the S101 exam on Tuesday should be different from the S101 exam on Monday since professors should expect that students will discuss it among themselves. If the professor makes identical exams, then this is unfair to the MWF class who do not have as much information as the TTh class who easily obtain information from the ones in the MWF class who tell them.</p>
<p><strong>Second question</strong>:</p>
<p>Some of my friends say it is cheating while others do not. Our "Code of Academic Integrity" handbook makes no mention of such behavior or perhaps I misread it.</p>
<p><strong>If the CoAI in fact fails to mention it while doing such is wrong, can students be faulted for doing such?</strong></p>
<hr />
<p>Related:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27871/are-identical-make-up-exams-fair">Are Identical Make-up Exams Fair?</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46665/when-is-it-wrong-for-students-to-ask-about-previous-exams-known-to-change">When is it wrong for students to ask about previous exams known to change?</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/55303/why-is-it-unethical-to-share-the-contents-of-an-exam-with-students-who-havent-t">Why is it unethical to share the contents of an exam with students who haven't taken it yet?</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/37440/make-up-tests-should-i-alter-the-questions">Make Up Tests: Should I alter the questions?</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27874,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Do you have access to the exam in question? If you can \"legally\", e.g. download it from the subject's site, obtain it, then I see no reason why this would be wrong. On the other hand, you could have personal issues with it, i.e. personally consider it wrong, in which case you shouldn't look at it, even if you had the opportunity. I find this and similar kinds of dogmatically forced moral dilemmas in most cases very counterproductive, as I find it hard to believe that the staff would undermine the subject. So, if the staff is ok with it, i.e. makes it available and the CoAI makes no explicit mention of it, it isn't wrong. </p>\n\n<p>Finally, I'd like to advise you not to impose obstacles on yourself where none should exist by overthinking it, it wastes your time and energy. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27879,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A major principle of academic integrity is <strong>when in doubt, ask the professor</strong>. Academic integrity codes cannot cover all possible cases, and it's expected that all parties will act reasonably and request clarification when it is needed. You should <strong>not</strong> assume that \"everything not explicitly forbidden is permitted\", nor that \"it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.\" The answer to your second question is <strong>absolutely yes</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>The case you describe in your first question is sufficiently questionable that I don't think you should proceed without explicitly checking. There is certainly the potential for this to be unfair to the Monday students who don't have the option of talking to anyone before taking the exam. If several of your friends consider that this may be cheating, that's a clear warning sign.</p>\n\n<p>There are a few possibilities:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The professor hasn't thought of this issue.</p></li>\n<li><p>The professor has thought of it, and doesn't want students to do it, but is afraid that mentioning it will only encourage students who wouldn't otherwise have thought of it.</p></li>\n<li><p>The professor has thought of it, but thinks it goes without saying that this is inappropriate.</p></li>\n<li><p>The professor has thought of it, and has taken other steps to ensure that students can discuss the exam without inequity (e.g. giving completely different exams).</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In case 1, it would be inappropriate for you to take advantage of the professor's oversight. If you ask her about it, you might suggest that she make a policy and announce it explicitly.</p>\n\n<p>Case 2 is perhaps a questionable decision on the professor's part, but in any case, by asking, you protect yourself from inadvertently running afoul of integrity rules. See also Case 3.</p>\n\n<p>In Case 3, you also protect yourself by asking. Note that the university bodies that enforce academic integrity codes usually have no problem prosecuting students for doing things that they consider \"obviously\" inappropriate, even if no written rules explicitly forbid them. And since they are usually composed in large part of professors, they are likely to have a similar sense of what is \"obvious\" to your professor.</p>\n\n<p>In case 4, when you ask, you'll be told to go right ahead.</p>\n\n<p>My own practice in such cases is to write on the Monday exam \"You may not discuss this exam with anyone, not even to say whether it was easy or hard, until Tuesday at 1:30\". (In some cases I might weaken this to \"anyone who has not yet taken it\".) I do this even if the exams will be significantly different, partly because I feel that any differential in available information is a potential inequity, and partly so as not to tip my hand as to whether the exams will be similar or not. But as I said, you should not interpret the absence of such a warning as permission.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27913,
"author": "user541686",
"author_id": 1201,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1201",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the prof. hasn't set any rules explicitly, I think it's safe to say you can use a past exam if and only if it has been graded and the grades have been released.</p>\n<hr />\n<h3>Edit:</h3>\n<p>This was just a rule of thumb based on the premise that you won't see grades given until everyone has taken the exam. If your professor distributes grades before that then you need to wait until everyone has taken the exam.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27872",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21026/"
] |
27,882 |
<p>I found a relevant PhD supervisor who refused to supervise my PhD project by saying that he has no open position in his research group. Is it OK to mail him again and request to accept me as a student, because the work he is doing in his research group is extremely relevant for my research interests. I have received funding and just need space in a research group.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27883,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>You can always ask.</strong></p>\n\n<p>However, be prepared that the answer may easily be still \"no\". Direct funding is by no means the only resource that an advisor has to pour into a student. There is also the time investment of actually advising a student, assorted costs for overheads and utilities, as well as presumably some money to fund conference trips. This isn't even to speak of simple inter-personal matters, such as that the professor may feel that you are not a good fit for the lab culture.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27884,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>If</strong> you had already obtained funding prior to the first request, and the professor was aware of this, you have to seriously question why you were refused a position. Possible reasons are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The professor feels you won't fit in to the group or get along well with him as a supervisor.</li>\n<li>The professor doesn't have enough time to supervise another student. You don't want a supervisor that has no time for you.</li>\n<li>The professor doesn't want <em>another</em> student doing the stuff that you're doing. Maybe he wants to diversify into some different areas of your field.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Sure, you could ask him again (and perhaps you <em>should</em>, if you have only obtained funding after the first request). But you should also ask why you were rejected in the first place, because the answer to that question could tell you whether or not you are likely to enjoy your time in his research group.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27900,
"author": "Ben Voigt",
"author_id": 8705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8705",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In this case I think it's best to first ask for permission to ask. Now, I don't mean to break your request into multiple communications; that wastes everyone's time.</p>\n\n<p>But do start off with mentioning the additional funding and asking whether having funding makes any difference. That way you don't show a lack of respect for his earlier refusal. And if he can give you an answer just from that, he needn't waste his time reading further.</p>\n\n<p>Farther down you can lay out any other arguments, pleading, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27905,
"author": "Orion",
"author_id": 19732,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19732",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Assuming the funding is new information, I would ask for an appointment to discuss your situation and any concerns/hesitations the professor might have. Face-to-face meeting has advantage of a dialog that email lacks. You can ask for professor's concerns, express your enthusiasm, and perhaps come up with a partial solution. </p>\n\n<p>Some faculty is hesitant accepting students that they haven't worked with before (from a class), for example. If that is the case, you can either take a class, or ask to be admitted on a trial basis. Other times, faculty might not accept new students because they plan on leaving their current job or retiring.</p>\n\n<p>The solution for you will depend on the specific circumstances that you can only find out through a face-to-face, honest discussion. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27910,
"author": "user11788",
"author_id": 21348,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21348",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes you can and you should. Although the group may be full (which can be a good sign) showing persistence and motivation is a good sign for the group leader: they are often very much interested in a motivated student - after all, having groups from which no one finishes the PhD (as may happen with non-motivated students) is not a good thing for their personal results evaluation.</p>\n\n<p>I have a recent story for you: Päivi Rissanen - a former <em>psychiatry closed ward inmate</em> got finally, after a LOT of convincing a place under professor Antti Karisto (<a href=\"http://blogs.helsinki.fi/akaristo/in-english/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://blogs.helsinki.fi/akaristo/in-english/</a>) in the Department of Social Policy in University of Helsinki and will soon be a PhD, according to Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.</p>\n\n<p>A strong will may meld the world around it to its liking. Do it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27882",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21310/"
] |
27,891 |
<p>Is it 'a must' to state min/max values in addition to mean(+-std) when writing a publication?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27893,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, it's not a universal \"must.\" </p>\n\n<p>The statistics you should report in your publication depend on conventions in your discipline, the kind of data you are describing, your experimental methodology, and many, many other factors.</p>\n\n<p>Consult your advisor and/or similar publications in your discipline to find out more about what's expected for the kind of research <em>you</em> are doing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27899,
"author": "Penguin_Knight",
"author_id": 6450,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6450",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>No, SD and min/max are not bound to be reported together.</p>\n\n<p>If the variable is <em>normally distributed</em>, -3SD and 3SD will include about 99.7% of the readings, indirectly giving an approximate value for minimum and maximum. </p>\n\n<p>A concerning bad habit is reporting mean and SD without carefully checking if the distribution is approximately normal. For instance, if the variable is highly skewed (long tailed to either end,) then that interesting feature of -3SD and 3SD will disappear. In those cases, reporting median and inter-quartile range may be better if <em>you want to describe the central tendency</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Reporting minimum and maximum has its merit if you wish to highlight the presence or absence of extreme values. In most of the analytical scenarios, min and max don't share as much spot light as mean; whether to report them is really context-specific.</p>\n\n<p>There are a couple situations in which reporting min and max may be helpful:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You reported mean and SD already, but the variable is not normally distributed. (or alternately, report non-parametric summary such as median.)</li>\n<li>You use a measurement tool that is rather unfamiliar to the readers. For instance, you developed a life quality scale and the mean and SD of the sample is 17.2 (+/- 3.6)... but out of what range? In that case, reporting both sample min/max (the min/max you actually observed) and possible min/max (the min/max score the instrument can actually give) will be helpful.</li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27891",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15181/"
] |
27,892 |
<p>Is translating an article (that could be found written in a popular science magazine or online in a science blog or personal webpage say) for a public newspaper or an online blog ...etc, requires permission from the author? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27894,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Translations are considered a \"<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work\">derivative work</a>.\" Preparation of a derivative work is one of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright#Exclusive_rights\">exclusive rights attached to the copyright holder</a>.</p>\n\n<p>If the article you wish to publish is <em>not</em> in the public domain or under a license that allows preparation of derivative work, you must get permission from the copyright holder to translate it. (Unless one of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limitations_and_exceptions_to_copyright\">copyright exceptions</a> applies.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27915,
"author": "Ghanima",
"author_id": 21166,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21166",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Besides the very good answer given by ff524 it's noteworthy that national laws apply and that those differ significantly. No matter what - it's always a good idea to get permission from the copyright holder (most likely the author or the publisher).</p>\n\n<p>To give an example. German copyright law states the copyright as non transferable. So no matter how much the publisher would like to they cannot get the copyright from the author. However the publisher is usually granted an exclusive right of publication (at least for a limited amount of time). This license agreement between copyright holder and publisher might contain a clause concerning translations. So again the request for permission is necessary.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27892",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9547/"
] |
27,901 |
<p>In preparing my application to PhD programs I have the following question:</p>
<p>I have presented papers in two distinct large-scale local conferences. However, I am not sure how to list these on my CV in a verifiable way, since the conferences' websites and programs are not in English.</p>
<p>For journal papers I can simply provide the corresponding links, while for conference papers I have not come up with something helpful. </p>
<p>The difficulty thus lies in: How to convince the reader of my vita that these papers are conference papers? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27902,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Not everything on your CV needs to be verifiable via an Internet link. </p>\n\n<p>I have many items on my CV that would require some interaction with a human to verify: degrees I've earned, summer research students I've mentored, seminar talks I've given, classes I've taught, etc.</p>\n\n<p>As long as you can, on demand, provide contact information for someone who can confirm your presentation (e.g. conference organizer), I don't see why this is a concern.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to provide a link to the non-English conference program, go ahead; someone who is sufficiently motivated can surely get it translated.</p>\n\n<p>(I'm sure this goes without saying, but since I've seen a shocking number of CVs that say \"Presented at Conference X\" without further information I'll say it anyways: you must include the full details of each presentation, including its title, co-authors if there were any, full name of conference, date, and city.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27909,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a non-issue. Apart from anything else, almost none of the conference talks I've ever given is verifiable by following an internet link. The conference programmes invariably give the full author list of each paper and I don't recall any that has indicated which of them gave the talk.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27901",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
27,904 |
<p>In a "list of publications" (e.g. for a PhD thesis), should a conference paper which is published as "proceedings" in a peer-reviewed journal be categorized as a "journal article"?</p>
<p>(I'm from Liquid Crystals field.)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27906,
"author": "Miguel",
"author_id": 14695,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14695",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As long as you don't say anything that is not true, and do not go against your university's regulations, you can use the layout that you like the best.</p>\n\n<p>In my thesis I categorized publications into:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Peer-reviewed articles</li>\n<li>Conference talks</li>\n<li>Conference posters</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In \"Peer-reviewed articles\" I included any papers, including proceedings, that had been peer reviewed (i.e. I received an anonymous referee report for them). Anyone interested in reading my thesis will be familiar enough with the journals to know which ones are a conference proceedings venue. Certainly my thesis examiners were.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27908,
"author": "299792458",
"author_id": 17534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17534",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unless I'm missing something here, you mean the conference proceedings were published in the <em>conference series</em> of some journal. If this is the case, what is published is certainly peer-reviewed, but is certainly not a journal publication. A classic example in my field (Physics) is the <a href=\"http://iopscience.iop.org/0954-3899\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics</em></a>. But there is a clear line of demarcation here - whenever the proceedings of any conference get published with J. Phys., they are in the <a href=\"http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Journal of Physics :Conference Proceedings</em></a>. This leaves no ambiguity - what is published in the latter in certainly a conference proceeding and can't be classified as a journal article. (Actually, articles in the latter carry that identifier. e.g. have a look at <a href=\"http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/531/1/012001\" rel=\"nofollow\">this one</a>.) </p>\n\n<p>I appreciate your concern - the only precaution that one has to take here is, not to mention an article in a manner that gives a wrong impression. This is because the rigor of reviewing process is different for a journal article and a conference proceeding (in general). For example, if the same article gets loosely mentioned as a ''Journal of Physics article'', it is inappropriate because it gives the impression that it is a journal article. That's why people divide generally divide into categories - journal articles, conference proceedings, conference talks, ''poster presented and abstract published'' sort of a thing. </p>\n\n<p>But of course, if you clearly mention/ the same gets clearly mentioned via some identifier that the article in question is a conference article, there is no harm in putting it under the heading of peer-reviewed articles. It certainly <em>is</em> peer-reviewed. </p>\n\n<p>Hope that helps. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27911,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As counter-intuitive as it sounds, there is no absolute rule for what is considered a \"journal\" and what is considered \"conference proceedings\". In most cases the distinction is trivial. Most journals are not associated with a specific event, and paper submission and review are entirely unrelated from any conference or meeting. Contrary, most events have dedicated proceedings, which contain all and only the accompanying papers to the presented talks. </p>\n\n<p>However, there are curious cases where the line blurs. Some conference proceedings have self-styled themselves as \"journals\", presumably in an attempt to make their publications seem more important. A slightly different case is <a href=\"http://www.vldb.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">VLDB</a>, which basically does not do actual peer-review of conference submissions anymore. Instead, you submit to the VLDB journal, your submission gets the traditional journal peer-review process, and once a year the authors of all papers accepted in this year for the journal are invited to present their paper at the annual meeting.</p>\n\n<p>This is all to say that I think the \"clear line of demarcation\" isn't quite as clear as New_new_newbie says.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In a \"list of publications\" (e.g. for a PhD thesis), should a conference paper which is published as \"proceedings\" in a peer-reviewed journal be categorized as a \"journal article\"?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If it is called \"proceedings\", I would put it to the other conference papers. However, to be on the safe side, you can always just check how other authors of this conference are referring to their paper. Are they treating it as a conference talk, or a journal submission?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27916,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Allow me to disagree with @xLeitix.</p>\n\n<h2>No. It's a conference paper.</h2>\n\n<p>A paper qualifies as a \"journal publication\" if (and only if) it passes through the standard peer-review process for the journal in which the paper is published. If a paper is reviewed only by the program committee for a conference, it's a conference paper, even if the proceedings are published in a journal.</p>\n\n<p>As a particularly confusing example, consider <a href=\"http://www.siggraph.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">SIGGRAPH</a>, the flagship conference in computer graphics. For many many years, SIGGRAPH has published its proceedings as a standard issue of the journal <em>ACM Transactions on Graphics</em> (aka \"<em>TOG</em>\").</p>\n\n<p>SIGGRAPH accepts two types of papers: (1) direct submissions to the conference in response to the call for papers and (2) papers published in <em>TOG</em> in the last 12 months. Papers accepted from <em>TOG</em> are clearly journal publications, because they went through the standard <em>TOG</em> refereeing process. (Those papers are not republished in the proceedings issue of <em>TOG</em>, but they are listed in the \"table of contents\".) But direct submissions accepted by the program committee are <em>not</em> journal publications, because they did <em>not</em> go through the standard <em>TOG</em> refereeing process, even though they are published in <em>TOG</em>.</p>\n\n<p>The distinction is all the more confused by the facts that in the graphics community, \"SIGGRAPH paper\" is a <em>considerably</em> more valuable label than \"journal paper\", in part because the reviewing process for SIGGRAPH is (or has been historically) considered <em>more</em> rigorous than the refereeing process for graphics journals. </p>\n\n<p>Of course, the rest of the world doesn't share this preference—or perhaps more accurately, doesn't believe that anyone sane could have such a preference—which is <em>precisely</em> why SIGGRAPH publishes their proceedings in a journal. Put bluntly, the graphics community chose to defend itself against lazy scholars who value the imprimatur of a journal above the quality and impact of the work through deception. Or if you prefer a slightly less inflammatory term: camouflage.</p>\n\n<p>It's worth noting that <a href=\"http://www.acm.org/publications/policies/conference-proceedings-in-acm-journals\" rel=\"nofollow\">ACM now explicitly forbids conferences from publishing proceedings in an ACM journal</a>. (SIGGRAPH's practice is grandfathered.) But this doesn't stop non-ACM conferences like <a href=\"http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~LEY/db/conf/vldb/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">VLDB</a> from wearing similar camouflage.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27904",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21343/"
] |
27,918 |
<p>I'm writing an academic CV for a PhD application and they have asked for the standing of journals or conferences of published articles.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Research publications</strong></p>
<p>Include articles published or accepted for publication (with the three most significant marked with an asterisk). Please specify the publication details, your contribution as an author to multi-authored publications, plus the standing of the journal or conference.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm really not sure what they are looking for or how to express this. Is it the impact factor of the journal? And what about conference proceedings which don't have impact factors?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27920,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For applications to Australian universities, I suspect they want the ranking from the <a href=\"http://www.arc.gov.au/era/era_2010/archive/era_journal_list.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ranked Outlets list</a> produced by the Australian Research Council.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28025,
"author": "kjbartel",
"author_id": 19543,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19543",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Seems it isn't actually that important. I sent them an email to clarify and they replied: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Don’t worry too much about the standing of the journal or conference, as long as you list any publications and conferences that you have.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28056,
"author": "Prometheus",
"author_id": 9104,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9104",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Use something that the selection committee can easily verify. I would use <a href=\"http://scholar.google.co.in/citations?view_op=top_venues&hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow\">Google Scholar Metrics</a> and provide the h5-index and h5-median values. The good thing about Google Scholar is that it also automatically generates these numbers for most major conferences. Be sure to mention the following Google disclaimer in the footnote: </p>\n\n<p><em>\"Dates and citation counts are estimated and are determined automatically by a computer program.\"</em></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27918",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19543/"
] |
27,921 |
<p><strong>Intro:</strong> <code>R</code> is a open-source software tool for statistical analyses and graphics, which is heavily used in different science disciplines and which is becoming more and more popular (although it is already quite popular in many areas). In addition to the base version, people from all over the place develop so-called packages, upload them, for example, to CRAN, where they can be freely downloaded to use.</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> I am writing a manuscript for a peer-reviewed psychology journal and used a lot of <code>R</code> packages in my work. Of course, I want to and will cite <code>R</code> itself and the packages that I relied on heavily (e.g., to simulate or analyze data). However, I have also some packages, of which I used only a single, little function. For example, I used the <code>odd</code> function from the <code>gtools</code> package to determine whether an integer is odd or even. As far as I can see, the function is only a single line long, and I could have written it myself (but I didn't!). On the one hand, I want to give credit to these developers, on the other hand I don't want to blow up my reference list and confuse readers. So the question is, <strong>should I cite every single <code>R</code> package I used?</strong></p>
<p>BTW: Note that <code>R</code> has the nice function <code>citation("some package")</code> to access citation information provided by the package authors; see also <code>citation()</code> to cite <code>R</code> itself.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27922,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Overall, I would suggest you err on the side of rather citing too many packages (with version numbers, please!), although <code>odd</code> quite probably is a borderline case. I'd rationalize this tendency as a bit of balance for all the people who use packages extensively but do <em>not</em> cite them.</p>\n<p>In general, I would certainly cite anything that saved me a non-trivial amount of own work (as in, "I could have done this myself, but it would likely have cost me half a day").</p>\n<p>The length of your literature list should not really be a concern in the days of PDF publishing. And "we used R [3], packages foo [4] and bar [5] as well as multiple helper functions [6-10]" should not be too confusing to your readers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27993,
"author": "Sverre",
"author_id": 11053,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11053",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's no definite answer to this, but here's what I do.</p>\n<ol>\n<li>I cite R itself and the packages I need to perform the actual analysis I report in my paper. I do not cite packages I consider to provide various tools (graphic tools, mathematical tools, etc.). The line between these can be difficult to draw sometimes, of course.</li>\n<li>Always, always make your data and your code publicly available. You need to make sure that other people can replicate your result. Other people can also see there what packages you have used.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28000,
"author": "workerjoe",
"author_id": 21413,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21413",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Absolutely! Citations are free, and they are a blessing to the creators of those packages. Unless you're held to a strict page limit, there's no reason not to have a \"methods\" section in which you list all of the packages you used. It can be a single sentence. If you want to give pride of place to a few key packages that your work relied on, then give them a sentence each, but don't snub the others. Some day, you'll be happy when others cite <em>your</em> work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 66375,
"author": "ccoffman",
"author_id": 51895,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/51895",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>YES.</p>\n<p>There are lots of reasons to and no reasons not to (unless you're under some kind of strange space/ink constraint).</p>\n<p><strong>Here is an important and under-appreciated reason why:</strong></p>\n<p>Most of the people who make the kinds of R packages, in fact the people who made R itself, are <em>other academics</em>. Meaning: They didn't get paid specifically for the time they spent making lme4, ggplot2, stargazer etc. Software development is <em>very unappreciated</em> in academia. Imagine spending a lot of time writing and maintaining a package that is used by thousands of people in your field and then being asked by a tenure/promotion committee why you didn't write more papers or do more experiments. It's very difficult to get someone who isn't a user (or even a software-minded person) to properly appreciate the time and skill involved in making good software.</p>\n<p>The only way to convince university systems and leaders that the work you spent writing that software is to show them in a way they understand, that means <em>citations</em>. They're not going to care about your Stack Exchange reputation or how much juice you've got on GitHub, they need something Scopus can compute and they can itemize and count.</p>\n<p>Much of the workings of academia is based on <em>beans</em>. Much of the effort at universities is dedicated to counting and managing those beans. How many students are in your program, how many grants are awarded, how many Ph.D. defend, and how many papers are published and cited are all very important beans which decide who gets resources. It would be sad indeed if someone who wrote a useful R package didn't get the credit they're due and thus be allowed to make more wonderful tools. Imagine if Hadley hadn't started working for R-Studio, he might be standing in front of some committee someday asking him why he spent so much time writing "software" instead of "papers," or trying to explain why he can't take on a third course this semester because the dept chair doesn't understand that writing software is something that actually takes real time.</p>\n<p>Also consider this:\nMost scientific papers are cited fewer than 10 times, if ever. A reasonably useful R package is likely to impact many more people than any "real" publication, but that person gets no credit if you don't cite it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 163351,
"author": "Björn",
"author_id": 130163,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/130163",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ok I realize this thread is 6 years old. So sorry for digging it up. However, maybe my routine is helpful to somebody else as well.</p>\n<p>I usually do it pretty similar to Sverre, and cite in the main article R and the most important packages for my analyses. However, in addition I cite <strong>all packages</strong> in a table in the appendix with 4 columns (<em>packagename</em>, <em>version</em>, <em>maintainer</em>, <em>citation</em>).</p>\n<p>Here is a small but useful snippet for this purpose. It creates a data.frame with 3 of the 4 mentioned columns and a .bib file with the required citations. Some manual work is still required (e.g. copy the .csv table into your word / text program and import the .bib to your citation management tool) to finish the appendix.<br />\nThe snippet still saves me a lot of time.</p>\n<pre><code># Export Citations as Bibtex (.bib)\nwrite_bib(file="Bibliography of packages.bib")\n\n# Table (.csv) with all information on the packages\nappendix_packages <- data.frame(Packagename = character(),\n Version = character(),\n Maintainer = character())\n\nrequire(pacman)\nfor (pkg in p_loaded()){\n appendix_packages <- appendix_packages %>% add_row(\n Packagename = pkg,\n Version = as.character(packageVersion(pkg)),\n Maintainer = maintainer(pkg)\n )\n}\n\nwrite.csv(x = appendix_packages, file = "List_of_packages.csv", row.names = F)\n</code></pre>\n<h4>Edit August 2022</h4>\n<p>Disclosure I am the maintainer of the <code>datscience</code> R-package.\nAs I used this function so frequently, I also included the <code>Rcitation_appendix()</code> function in the datscience package: <a href=\"https://buedenbender.github.io/datscience/reference/Rcitation_appendix.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Documentation Website</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/Buedenbender/datscience/blob/HEAD/R/Rcitation_appendix.R\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Code</a><br />\n<strong>Usage:</strong></p>\n<pre><code>library(datscience)\nlibrary(lavaan)\nRcitation_appendix(filename="Appendix A - All R packages utilized.docx")\n</code></pre>\n<p>This creates a folder called 'Appendix' in the current directory and places two files in it, a .docx word file with the table and a .bib file for your reference manager. I later on manually enter the references in the most right column (Citation)\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/TxNkk.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/TxNkk.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\" /></a></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/08/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27921",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21216/"
] |
27,923 |
<p>A few months ago I attended a panel discussion on non-academic future careers for physics PhDs. The panel was made up of two senior physicists, a science communicator and freelance journalist, and a CEO of a finance corporation with a degree in physics. At some point I raised the question of whether the PhD program is functioning properly, and maybe we should do something about the PhD program before lecturing senior graduate students in theoretical physics on the importance of acquiring skills suitable for non-academic careers to get a job after grad school. To be more concrete, I referred to <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7343/full/472259b.html">a Nature article</a> that I had come across a few years earlier. The two physicist panelists blatantly dodged my question. The CEO, who I suppose had received his degree in early 2000s, added a comment along the lines that it is better to have more highly educated people in the society rather than fewer.</p>
<p>Are advisers hiring more graduate students to get more research done and compete better in getting grants, or there is an actual need for more PhDs, at least in natural sciences? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27928,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>EDIT: This answer doesn't address the question whether we need more PhDs. It's pretty clear we don't. Instead, it addresses the issue why faculty members are so reluctant to admit this.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not surprised at the dodge. There are enormous social and professional pressures on faculty members in the US to never ever admit that there are problems with their PhD programs. <a href=\"http://theprofessorisin.com/2014/01/24/graduate-student-shrimps-on-the-doctoral-barbie-the-view-from-tenure-a-guest-post/\">Here's</a> one such article explaining the reasoning from the point of view of a humanities department, but the issues seem comparable. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27932,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've discussed this topic with my advisor on several occasions. His rather logical viewpoint was that if there were a serious glut of PhD's in a given field, you would see this because there would be a spike in the unemployment rate of PhD's in those fields. At least in the natural sciences and engineering, there does not seem to be any evidence that PhD graduates aren't finding jobs. </p>\n\n<p>Certainly there is a glut of PhD's if the only possible destination were to remain in academia. However, especially for PhD's in so-called STEM fields, there are many other career options that do not involve staying in academia.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27933,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>We can make the same conversation for BSc or MSc degrees. There are probably many unemployed people with BSc degrees, as well. We cannot suggest that people should not go for higher education, because there are actually fewer jobs than university graduates.</p>\n\n<p>Your question seems to neglect an important, yet simple truth. That sometimes, certain people want to go for a higher degree, regardless of their job outcome. Education (PHD included) is more than filling resumes or getting a better job but a fulfillment in itself. In this sense, it is the same as learning to play the guitar. Does the world need a new guitar player? No it does not. But you do not learn the guitar to benefit society. You learn the guitar to benefit your soul. </p>\n\n<p>If the few lucky PHD holders manage to get the job they wanted that is fine. If they did not, at least they tried. Life is not linear and you cannot predict by your actions on what job you will land, even if you do everything perfectly. But at least, you must be provided with a chance to try. In that sense, it is better than there are actually more PHDs available than the available jobs for PHD holders. More people have access to an even higher education and that is (as aeismail said) a benefit in itself. </p>\n\n<p>So to directly answer your question: Do we need more PHDs? No, we don't. Would the world be a better place if you or I get a PHD? No, it won't. Would we get the job we want with a PHD? Probably not. But that does not mean that I must not have the right to do a PHD and try my chances. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27986,
"author": "user133536",
"author_id": 21415,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21415",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the middle ages, if you wanted to do scientific research, you had to pay yourself the career, meaning no salary, just living on your savings, which meant only the wealthiest could afford to dedicate their life to scientific research.</p>\n\n<p>That's why there were so few inventions and discoveries.</p>\n\n<p>In the renaissance, people become aware that there was 1,000 years of dark ages, and that science had been forgotten. They studied old classics and were able to re-create science. It was continued refinement of ideas by carefully testing them. But only the wealthier could afford.</p>\n\n<p>At the same time the ideas of the illustration were born. Men should be free. Ideas should be free. People should be free to express their ideas. Science advanced so much in 200 years that vapor machines were invented. Then the american revolution happened. Ten years later the French revolution happened.</p>\n\n<p>It was thought at the time that democracies could not exist, because Plato wrote in \"Res Publicae - The Republic\" that democracies would convert into demagogic governments, which meant that governments would invent enemies in order to keep in power and destroy democracy. Because of that several european countries wanted to re-conquer the americas. Americans decided to:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Educate their people for free.</li>\n<li>Have everyone have guns.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The result is that the USA has more than 200 years, but the education system is failing. The main reason is that sometime in the past it was decided to follow the \"no child left behind\" policy, which meant no selection in the public system, so the students are mingled, good and bad, and of course the good have no incentive to study, since the tests are dumbed down for the stupid.</p>\n\n<p>Do we need more PhDs?</p>\n\n<p>If that were the case, then PhDs would make a lot of money, at least following the economic theory. The only problem is that it is very hard to make money on science, and even if you do, it takes several decades of research, so it is a very expensive and very risky investment. No rational investor would invest in science. Only if the result of the research is already proven and you just need to produce the thing, sure, some investor would be interested. We can't call that science though.</p>\n\n<p>So I guess the answer is no. If you pursue a PhD is not for the money, but because you are interested in learning more about a subject. If you study computer science, maybe you go work for Google, Yahoo, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter and the like, and recover your investment of time and money, but otherwise it is a rather risky investment.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27923",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16184/"
] |
27,924 |
<p>Let's say I wrote a paper and got it accepted in a journal. Can I then give a talk on that paper at a conference? What are the relevant factors here? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27925,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This may depend on your field and its customs. In mathematics, it's totally acceptable and happens constantly. </p>\n\n<p>However, if the conference publishes proceedings (only a few math conferences do), you should not publish the same paper in the proceedings. Some people use the proceedings paper to write a \"survey article\" intended to give the reader a broad view of their work and other related developments in the field, but they would usually not consider this to be an original research paper.</p>\n\n<p>In other fields, where a conference talk is considered to be like a publication it its own right, this might not be acceptable.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27971,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It will depend very much on your field, and even the conference.</p>\n\n<p>As JeffE mentioned, some CS conferences will expressly forbid papers that are already published, because the conference is meant to disseminate new work.</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, some major medical conferences will have an embargo on the work until it is presented - this is often coordinated with the journal the work is being published in so that they go \"live\" the same day.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, many conferences in public health have presentations expressly about previously published research, or on a study or topic for which multiple papers have been published.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27992,
"author": "Sverre",
"author_id": 11053,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11053",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As others have mentioned, this might depend on the field. In my field (linguistics), I would say it's very uncommon to give a talk at a conference about something you've already published (a possible exception being invited talks).</p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't say it's frowned upon, though - it just doesn't happen. And it doesn't happen for good reasons:</p>\n\n<p>What is the point of giving a talk on something you've already published? You can't use comments and suggestions from the audience to improve your work, and why would the audience even listen to your talk when they can read your paper in a journal?</p>\n\n<p>Maybe people in other fields think differently about these things.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 172925,
"author": "Namrata",
"author_id": 144449,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/144449",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am from the Humanities (History), and I have increasingly heard that one should give talks only from published papers. I did not know that invited talks could emanate from published papers.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27924",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11251/"
] |
27,934 |
<p>My current strategy in my thesis and in papers is to write numbers less than 10 in words. For example, if I need to write the number 6, I write 'six'. Recently though, I've been thinking this strategy adds unnecessary complications. Is there any particular reason why numbers less than 10 should be written in words?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27935,
"author": "Alecos Papadopoulos",
"author_id": 8575,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8575",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have been taught, without justification, to write integer positive numbers from <strong>1</strong> up to and including <strong>10</strong> in words, and all the rest using numerical symbols. </p>\n\n<p>But this was a general rule, when I was learning my (native) language as a youngster. Nowadays, a sub-rule also appears somehow fitting to my eyes: the distinction between whether the number is used to count the cardinality of a collection, or to inform about the magnitude of an entity. </p>\n\n<p>I would write \"Let two firms engaged in oligopolistic competition\" rather than \"let <strong>2</strong> firms...\" (this is \"counting the cardinality of a collection\"). I would also write \"Let fifty firms...\" rather then \"Let <strong>50</strong> firms\"</p>\n\n<p>But, I would write \"the value of this parameter is set to <strong>6</strong>\", rather than \"... is set to six\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27937,
"author": "afaust",
"author_id": 21371,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21371",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I write numbers as words when they are used descriptively as part of the narrative, and with digits when they related to technical constants.</p>\n\n<p>For example: I have two conclusions to make. First, the coefficient of 1 for reward is the best one to use. Second, the algorithm takes 34 iterations to converge. </p>\n\n<p>But that's just my personal rule.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27941,
"author": "L Platts",
"author_id": 9117,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9117",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think it is an unnecessary complication, as long as you remember to be consistent. But it may not necessarily be appropriate for the document you're writing.</p>\n\n<p>In English non-technical contexts, the style is often to write out numbers from one to nine as words, and then from 10 onwards as numbers (this is style used by the Associated Press and in some cases the Chicago Manual of Style). The Chicago Manual of Style also alternatively prescribes writing out numbers from one to one hundred as words. In both style guides, numbers that begin a sentence should be written out as words and Chicago specifies that, if this is an unwieldy solution, then the sentence can be rephrased. The webpage <a href=\"http://www.apvschicago.com/2011/05/numbers-spell-out-or-use-numerals.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Numbers: Spell Out or Use Numerals? (Number Style 101)</a> provides a useful guide, which goes into greater detail on good style for numbers in general documents.</p>\n\n<p>However, you're likely writing a technical document, and as such, the guidelines are different, suggesting that numbers should be written with digits much more, with David A. McMurrey, author of <em>Processes in Technical Writing</em>, stating: 'You should use numerals, not words, when the number is a key value, an exact measurement value, or both. For example, in the sentence “Our computer backup system uses 4 mm tape” the numeral is in order.' The <a href=\"http://www.dailywritingtips.com/when-to-spell-out-numbers/\" rel=\"nofollow\">webpage</a> which was the source of this quote provides helpful guidelines.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27946,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many style manuals will have specific requirements regarding when to express a number as numerals or in words.</p>\n\n<h3>APA Style</h3>\n\n<p>The APA version 6 style manual has an entire section starting from 4.31 on how to present numbers in text.</p>\n\n<p>The manual does include a general rule that numbers 10 and above should be expressed as numerals, but there are a wide range of exceptions. </p>\n\n<p>Should be expressed as numerals</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Any number in an abstract </li>\n<li>Any number immediately preceding a unit of measurement (e.g. <code>3 kg</code>)</li>\n<li>Any number representing a statistical operation (e.g., <code>4 times as many people</code>)</li>\n<li>times, dates, ages, scores, and points, exact quantities of money, numerals as numerals</li>\n<li>numbers that indicate a place in a series (e.g., page numbers, Table 1, Table 2, etc.)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>There are also further exceptions for when numbers should be expressed in words</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Numbers at the start of a sentence or heading</li>\n<li>Common fractions</li>\n<li>Where the usage is common</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Why have the general rule to express numbers below 10 in words?</h3>\n\n<p>Compare the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I had 2 apples. </li>\n<li>I had two apples.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>and </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I had one-hundred and thirty-two choices.</li>\n<li>I had 132 choices</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>A few possible principles:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Numbers less than 10 are easy to read as words; Large numbers are difficult to read as words and easy to read as numerals.</li>\n<li>In general, conventions make life easier for writer and reader.</li>\n<li>There may be a slight disruption to the look of and reading of prose when interspersing numbers with words.</li>\n<li>A few numbers, particularly \"1\" (which looks a bit like \"I\") might introduce slight ambiguities.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27959,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Follow the style guide and the authors' guide for your publication</strong>. Almost all such guides for academic publications include guidelines for spelling, presenting numbers, and referencing. </p>\n\n<p>If in doubt, quickly scan through recent documents from the same series (so, if it's a thesis, flick through some recent theses; if it's a paper in a particular journal, have a quick read of that journal), and reproduce their formatting.</p>\n\n<p>After that, if still in doubt, ask your supervisor, advisor or editor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 53812,
"author": "vonbrand",
"author_id": 38135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38135",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends. I'd for example say \"the two above equations show that the value is 5\". If it is a number (result, a quantity like \"5 [km]\", ...) I use numerals; for \"narrative\" numbers up to ten or so, like \"two equations\" or \"nine people\", even up to twenty, I'd write them out. If the number comes from an equation or will be used in one, or be somehow be combined with others, I'd prefer numerals. But also consider that text is to be read as text, not as a mixture of text, symbols, and numbers. In case of doubt, write it out. Even \"a thousand repetitions of the experiment...\".</p>\n\n<p>In absence of some style guide (or red pencil by your advisor), don't worry too much.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27934",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7159/"
] |
27,936 |
<p>My advisor always keeps pointing out that I should have publications and I should keep working and stuff like that. Recently he's been saying that not all student will finish Ph.D. and you should be careful not to be kicked out. He has this notion that Ph.D. students should work more than 80 hours per week on regular basis and near deadlines even they should cut off from their sleep time. I get the idea that he wants to encourage me and I also know that as a Ph.D student I need to have publications.</p>
<p>Is this type of behavior common among most advisors? Is it common for Ph.D. students to be expected to not have a life and just work? And finally do all advisors keep threatening their students like this?</p>
<p>I'm currently a second year computer science student. I've been accepted by the department, not a specific faculty member. Also my funding is coming from TAship not his grant. I'm not sure if I should start looking for another advisor, because I'm not sure whether the behavior I have described is normal.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27938,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that your question is mainly <strong>opinion-based</strong>; because every faculty member has his own policy on advising PhD students and nothing seems to be correct/normal here. But, I answer your question from a student's perspective who is uncomfortable with his studying hours in his PhD program.</p>\n\n<p>If you feel uncomfortable with something in your studying program, you should solve it. The best solution is talking to your advisor.</p>\n\n<p>However, if working more than 80 hours/week is too much for you, you should think about solving it <em>as soon as possible</em>, because, you should work on your PhD project more than three years and when you are uncomfortable with that amount of work, after one or two years, you will face physical or even mental problems such as constant tiredness, depression, etc.</p>\n\n<p>Think about your preferences, abilities and expectations and decide whether you want to work with that advisor or you can find another faculty member who has more flexible working expectations from his students.</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, expecting higher working hours from a PhD student is not a bad advising policy. But, the point here is that the student should think about his abilities and whether he can work under extreme expectations or not. Some students prefer working more and some students prefer less demanding and more flexible studying hours.</p>\n\n<p>As far as you don't have any funding problem, before talking to your advisor; search carefully for another faculty member who's policies on advising PhD students meets your preferences. Talk to their students and when you have made your mind on changing to another advisor (after talking to them), talk to your current advisor and stop working with him.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27939,
"author": "Lev Reyzin",
"author_id": 10,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I'm sure some advisors do act this way. I don't think it's very common, but it does happen. It's more common for advisors to expect certain results than a particular hourly commitment, but all these things are a matter of extent.</p>\n\n<p>However, in trying to figure out whether to switch advisors, I think you're asking yourself the wrong question. The right question is: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What type of advising relationship works for you?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you feel energized, motivated, and happy under your current conditions, that's one thing. If you feel overburdened and miserable, then you should probably look for a different advisor. Even the most competitive Ph.D. programs have faculty who are not so demanding. You have to figure out what type of style works best for you and try to find an advisor who is a good match.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27944,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In answer to the question of \"Is this expectation usual,\" I offer the current state of the following <em>completely unscientific</em> survey from the <a href=\"http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2010/04/29/a-quick-question-for-the-scien/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Adventures in Ethics and Science</a> blog. </p>\n\n<p>The question asked is, \"My graduate advisor expects or requires me to work...\", and as of right now, 68/650 respondents (about 10.5%) report that they believe their advisor expects them to work more than 70 hours a week:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/df8LU.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>(Note that regardless of what expectations are, the research suggests that the overwhelming majority of graduate students do <em>not</em> work 80 hours a week. For example, a <a href=\"http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/.VAZAcaux3UY\" rel=\"noreferrer\">2003 study of Australian PhD students</a> found that 15.6% worked 50 or more hours per week. A <a href=\"https://www.learning.ox.ac.uk/media/global/wwwadminoxacuk/localsites/oxfordlearninginstitute/documents/overview/rsv/The_Research_Experience.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">survey of research students at Oxford</a> found that 28.8% worked 45 or more hours per week on research.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27978,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, this depends on the country. In some places, PhD students are considered workers, and have the social rights that come with it. I still work a few more hours than what my contract says, because it goes in my own benefit, but it would be illegal for my advisor to <em>force</em> me to work overtime (so, answering your question, no, here it is not normal).</p>\n\n<p>In other places, they don't, so they may be in principle allowed to demand as much as they want. But here we have a problem: double the hours doen't mean double output. In general, it is not true that working more hours you will get more results!</p>\n\n<p>The best argument to show this is that big tech companies, like Google and Yahoo, that are probably the closest thing to Academia in the industrial world, go to lengths to limit the overtime their engineers put in. Their beans are in the quality of the output, so they have done extensive and careful research, and it has one of the highest quality assurances: lots-of-money-reviewed.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, there are deadlines, and we have to put in extra hours; but then, you will get much better results if your team is not burned out.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> <a href=\"http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/12/working-hours\" rel=\"nofollow\">Here is a study</a> relating hours worked and productivity in a factory during the World War I. It appears that the productivity for this manual work scales linearly until it hits the roof at 50 h/week. It is remarkable that people working 72 h/week accomplished <em>exactly the same</em> as people working just two thirds of that.</p>\n\n<p>Without more data to support it, I conjecture that for intellectual creative work, the plateau is reached much earlier.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27979,
"author": "camelccc",
"author_id": 21409,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21409",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've certainly known advisers do this. Whenever I've tried working with anyone that has this type of policy, they have fallen into one of 2 categories.</p>\n\n<p>1) Advisers that expect a significant fraction of their students to land Tenure track faculty jobs in good institutions within about 2 years of graduating. Check the resume's of the groups prior alumni. If it is this sort of group, I'd likely suck it out and continue. If you have more prior students working as post-docs/adjuncts 4 years later than you do as tenure track faculty then the next category applies.</p>\n\n<p>2) Advisers that are unable to get anything done during the day, usually because they simply don't know what they are doing. Unfortunately this is more common than the previous category in my experience. Change groups now, you will learn little, it will be unpleasant if you continue, and you won't even be in a good situation at the end.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27981,
"author": "nico",
"author_id": 20926,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20926",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I will go as far as saying that 80 hours/week is definitely too much.</p>\n\n<p>80 hours/week means 11.4 hours/day, working weekends or 16 hours/day working Monday-Friday. </p>\n\n<p>Most contracts (and I assume you have one) state 35-40 hours/week (7-8/day not working weekends). However, this is generally just a \"placeholder\" when speaking of academic positions, where it is difficult to impose strict working hours. However, this does not mean that your supervisor can ask you to work an unreasonable amount of hours.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32003L0088:EN:HTML\">Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament</a> states that:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that, in\n keeping with the need to protect the safety and health of workers:</p>\n \n <p>(a) the period of weekly working time is limited by means of laws,\n regulations or administrative provisions or by collective agreements\n or agreements between the two sides of industry;</p>\n \n <p>(b) the average working time for each seven-day period, including\n overtime, does not exceed 48 hours.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is surely implemented <a href=\"https://www.gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours/overview\">in the UK</a>, <a href=\"http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1911.xhtml\">France</a>, and <a href=\"http://www.inps.it/portale/default.aspx?itemdir=6441\">Italy</a> (and I am sure most other EU states implemented the EU Directive).</p>\n\n<p>I would say that, as a PhD student, there could be exceptional instances where you would need to work 80 hours/week (e.g. close to a deadline) but, for your own sake, that should NOT become a habit, but should instead be a very exceptional situation.</p>\n\n<p>I have known people who had the \"feeling guilty because I am not in the lab on a Sunday afternoon\" syndrome. This is not healthy, and I hope for you that you do not reach that point. Working 80 hours/week means you'll soon become stressed, tired and overall less productive (as you will be more likely to make errors and will have to redo things several times). I know several people (unfortunately more than I would like to) who have had serious health problems because of this type of unreasonable request from their bosses.</p>\n\n<p>You can work 40 hours/week and publish good papers. There are plenty of good people in academia who publish in very good journals, but have a life, a family, and hobbies during their free time. Do not believe those who tell you that working 24/7 you will publish more, because they are just trying to exploit you. </p>\n\n<p>And always remember: just because you are passionate for your job that does not mean you should not have any right. You have the right to work reasonable hours, have the right to have holidays and you should be allowed to take them without having to beg or being considered lazy, and you should be reasonably paid. Just as in any other job. </p>\n\n<p>A little edit on what to do :</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Speak with your supervisor and explain the situation. Try to be reasonable and see if you can both work out a solution </li>\n<li>If no solution can be found, look for another supervisor. Try not to make a bad brake up with your old supervisor, just explain that you are not confortable with the situation and that you feel it's better for both of you if you change supervisor. </li>\n<li>If things get particularly bad, remember that the university has an HR office, that is there also to deal with these things.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28023,
"author": "Rob",
"author_id": 21446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21446",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes absolutely (advisors do expect 80+ hours a week). It's a terrible situation to be in, but what they want to see is productivity, which is not the same as throwing more hours at it. When I was in grad school I got that lecture constantly. Most people find that more than 50 hours is unhealthy and unsustainable. For a bit you can go 80 hours a week but not too long. But remember he wants productivity, not hours. He cares about publications, not about how long it takes you to generate the data and write it up. Try to look to the other successful, older grad students and figure out how much to work based on that. In grad school it's easy to get into a rythme and lose focus about what you are doing long term. Develop weekly, monthly, and quarterly plan (start from the quarterly plan). Grad school is all about time management and project management. Too often I got stuck for long periods of time in some shit that ended up not mattering at all; we all (all of my colleagues/classmates) wasted years this way. But just remember they care about the publication, not about you, not about your degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28075,
"author": "syntonicC",
"author_id": 21497,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21497",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, this varies by field and then it varies again by adviser. I am speaking from the perspective of biological sciences but I think what I have to say could apply in your circumstance.</p>\n\n<p>In my program, we are expected to teach (~7-8 hrs/wk), take classes (~8 hrs/wk), then spend the remaining time in the lab. This does not factor grading (easily 20 hrs/wk for lab classes unless you just do a bad job at it), studying for classes (~10 hrs/wk), and then attending meetings and seminars (~3 hrs/wk). Where does this leave time for research in the lab? My adviser expects me to spend 40 hours/wk in the lab which is difficult to do when you have so many other things to do as well and often not enough time to get it all done. The majority of my weeks end up being 60 hours of work during the Fall and Spring semesters because classes tend to mess up my planning for experiments. During the summer, I tend to average about 45-50 hours. But then the rest of my time is really spent in classes, teaching, grading, and studying. Bottom line - your weeks may be crazy because of other graduate school requirements making your work hours stretch as a result.</p>\n\n<p>I have talked to others extensively on the program. Many of them do not need to teach and their advisers tend to ask them to spend about 50-60 hours a week working. The other very common situation is that the adviser does not care so long as they are productive. There are many different management styles and I have had personal experience with both.</p>\n\n<p>A small percentage of advisers tend to ask for ridiculous hours and threaten their students but it's certainly not the norm. I know some people that enjoy or do not mind that lifestyle - research is their hobby and they love spending that much time on their work. Some advisers are the same way and have a hard time understanding others that do not share the same passion. If this lifestyle is not for you, I advise switching sooner than later. I switched advisers half-way through my PhD and I wish I had done it sooner.</p>\n\n<p>Summary: It's not the norm but it's not exactly rare either. If you can't handle this kind of lifestyle you should change while you still can.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35200,
"author": "David M W Powers",
"author_id": 6390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6390",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Short answer... \nI would <em>expect</em> PhD students to work 60-80 hours a week, but would not <em>require</em> it, and would not <em>advise</em> working more than 10-12 hours five or six days a week. Based on my experience, students that work less than 40 hours a week are likely not to make acceptable progress and submit, or will require an extension and/or not to achieve the publications required to assure award or career. Conversely, students that consistently work much more than 80 hours a week are likely to suffer (mental or physical) breakdowns. A 9-5 mentality is not a good fit for a researcher, but an around-the-clock focus is potentially fatal.</p>\n\n<p>It is normal for an advisor to expect that you'll be working of the order of 80 hour weeks <em>at times</em>, particularly if you are being paid to do research or teaching as well as undertaking a full time PhD. It is their responsibility to warn you if you are falling behind and liable to have your candidature cancelled.</p>\n\n<p>The long answer takes into account what research and a research career is all about, as well as expectations of university staff.</p>\n\n<p>A recent study by an Australian union found that, \"on average, academic staff work 50.7 hours per week over the whole year and of the 45% of professional and general staff that reported working uncompensated overtime, the average was 5.7 hours per week...</p>\n\n<p>Over three quarters of survey respondents (77.1%) indicated they worked these hours because they felt they needed to do so to ensure they performed their jobs satisfactorily and/or for fear of losing their job...\"</p>\n\n<p>See <a href=\"http://www.nteu.org.au/stateoftheuni\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.nteu.org.au/stateoftheuni</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27936",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14408/"
] |
27,940 |
<p>I am writing a paper, in which I must include a definition of a particular mathematical structure. It's a structure with which very few people would be familiar, thus I wish to include it verbatim, as opposed to citing it. Rewriting it in my own words would only obscure the meaning. Putting a long mathematical definition (perhaps half a page) in quotes looks bizarre and messes up the type setting. Is there a standard way to indicate the definition is cited, whilst avoiding any appearance of plagiarism? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27942,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Immediately before the definition, you could say \"Quoting verbatim from [source], we define a [whatever-it-is] as follows:\"</p>\n\n<p>That is, in general, thinking in terms of honesty/forthrightness is an excellent guide.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27948,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is common practice in mathematics. Definitions are not normally thought of as containing creative content, and if you need to use exactly the same definition as the previous paper, you use the same words. As far as I know, no mathematician considers this to be plagiarism of any kind, provided an appropriate citation is given. Quotation marks or block quotes are not used, because, as you say, it would look weird.</p>\n<p>Some phrases you might use:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We define, as in [4]:</p>\n<p>The following definition is taken from [4]:</p>\n<p>We follow [4] by defining:</p>\n<p>We use the definition from [4], which we include here for the reader's convenience:</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Then format the definition as you normally would. Minor paraphrases and spelling/grammar fixes that do not change the meaning are also fine. If you fix a typo that makes a mathematical difference (e.g. the original author wrote 2 but from context obviously meant 4) then you should point it out explicitly, but this is more for mathematical correctness than citation practice.</p>\n<p>Note that if you are publishing in a non-mathematics journal, standards might vary, and you might have to use quotes or otherwise format in some way that would look weird to a mathematician.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27953,
"author": "JRN",
"author_id": 64,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you define terms in a \"Definition\" environment, then you may state the reference after the heading. For example:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Definition 2</strong> (Noche, 2014). A real number <em>x</em> is said to be <em>small</em> if 0 < <em>x</em> < 1.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27940",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1202/"
] |
27,943 |
<p>Most journals have a peer review process, where there are several rounds of reviews and modifications over a single paper.</p>
<p>In my particular case, one of these reviews was, in my opinion, a bit over the top. In this case, the reviewer asked me to expand a set of equations that are explained in any undergrad numerical analysis book. It even has a very well described Wikipedia page. And the set of equations took an entire page of my paper.</p>
<p>Yet, my PI at the moment told me it was just better to comply and get the paper ready (it had already been accepted subject to these changes). </p>
<p>My new PI told me it seemed wrong to him, since it is a very basic set of equations and the fact that one reviewer is not familiarized with it, is not an excuse to break the rhythm of the paper, since suddenly a whole page of equations can do that for you in a paper.</p>
<p>He told me he would have fought it back. </p>
<p>What is the overall opinion in different fields with respect to this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27982,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From what I know (I am a mathematician with some publishing experience), it is perfectly okay to argue against a referee's demand, as soon as </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>you do it politely, and you explain your arguments in a non-conflictual way;</li>\n<li>you are ready to delay the final acceptance of your paper;</li>\n<li>you are ready to either ultimately accept the demand if the referee does not change her mind and the editor backs her up, or to get your paper ultimately rejected.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In the case you describe, I do not think that explaining your point of view would have turn the editor's mind right away. In a similar situation (a referee asked for some terminology to be changed into something more standard), with my coauthor we argued with success (our argument was that to date, no terminology existed for what we discussed, let alone standard terminology).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Added in edit:</strong> I forgot an important point; in many situation, including yours, you can find a middle ground that may be considered an acceptable answer to her query by the referee, and that avoid departing too much from your initial intention. For example, in your case, you can propose to add a precise reference giving the derivation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27984,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My experience in this regard, being in Epidemiology as a field and having both successfully and unsuccessfully pushed back against reviewers:</p>\n\n<p>You are best served arguing against a reviewers requests when you have clear, definitive case. This does not necessarily have to be \"the reviewer is wrong\" but can be \"This was done deliberately, and here is why...\"</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, this appears mostly in either the generation or interpretation of results. Stylistic arguments, such as the one you're currently considering, have less of a defensible \"Here is why this was the way it was...\"</p>\n\n<p>In your particular case, consider the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>While you might think the expansion of the equations is trivial, at least one person who is both sufficiently qualified and interested to agree to review your paper thinks it is better served fully fleshed out. For most papers, this actually represents a fair fraction of the total lifetime number of readers of the paper.</li>\n<li>A reader needing to expand your set of equations, and do so without error, also breaks the flow of the paper.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The fundamental question you should ask yourself is \"If I say 'No', and the editor replies with 'Thanks, but no thanks...' was it worth it?\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27943",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806/"
] |
27,949 |
<p>My boss is first author on several papers, and doesn't want to give a reprint to anyone unless he knows and approves the reason they want it. I know, I know. These reprint requests fall to me. How do I inquire why they want it, with an appearance of collegiality?</p>
<p>EDIT: By "reprint", I mean the PDF of a paper, requested from the author by someone who doesn't want to have to buy it at the journal website.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27950,
"author": "Mad Jack",
"author_id": 11192,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11192",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To the requester, you could say something like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>For my records, may I ask why you are requesting a reprint? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><sub> Though, I think a good follow-up question to ask here would be \"how do I tactfully tell my boss to field these reprint requests for themselves?\" :^) </sub></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27968,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A longish comment with a bit of answer near the end:</p>\n\n<p>Note that the sharing of actual journal-produced PDFs of the article may fall under the constraints of the Copyright Transfer Notice that you guys signed when you published the paper. Now, publishers often do not like it when you post the <em>published</em> version on your website, though most seem to be okay if you e-mail it to a few people here and there. But it is possible that your boss has been burned by an experience before. </p>\n\n<p>For example, if I were to send the e-print that I got from the publisher, which is watermarked with <em>my name and institution on it</em>, to a random Joe Schmoe, who then puts it into a BitTorrent collection and uploads to The Pirate Bay, whom do you think will be blamed by the Journal? </p>\n\n<p>So while I think your boss maybe slightly paranoid, I do not see it as more so than the healthy kind of paranoia that keeps non-profits like the EFF functioning: somebody has to think about the worst case scenario. </p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>All this is to say:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Check your copyright transfer agreement to make sure that you are allowed to share what the person is asking for. </li>\n<li>Check with your boss to see whether his reservations about sending digital reprints also extends to a pre-print (original manuscript before peer-review) or a post-print (the accepted manuscript after the peer-review rounds but before the proofs were prepared). It is quite possible that his policy is based on a quite literal reading of the copyright transfer agreement, and he just wants to prevent commercial use of the reprint. (If yes, <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27949/how-do-you-tactfully-inquire-why-a-person-wants-your-reprint#comment59805_27950\">go here</a>.) If not....</li>\n<li>... check whether the person sending the request is happy with a pre/post-print and if so, everyone is happy. If not, the ball is now in the court of the person making the request to explain why he or she wants the version of record and that only. </li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27949",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21374/"
] |
27,962 |
<p>I had unofficially agreed to start working on my thesis during September, with no concrete date being mentioned.</p>
<p>However there are two factors which might delay this date:</p>
<ol>
<li>Me not being available due to travelling until the end of the month</li>
<li>I don't feel confident about the programming task that has to be done during the thesis, so I want to take a little bit more time to work on some exercises</li>
</ol>
<p>The problem is that in case that I go there, they might request me to sign for the official thesis registration, which then will impose the deadline when I have to be completely done with all the thesis stuff. I don't want to do this, before being confident that I can proceed easily with the programming, because otherwise the period that I will spend doing some extra programming exercises will be eating from timeslot limited with the deadline.</p>
<p>My question is, should I inform the adviser about these developments, or should I shut up until I come back (and use another 10 days to do some extra exercises) and then go to his office and talk about the official thesis start?
Which situation would reflect best on me? I'm afraid I am causing too much communication overhead unnecessarily and somehow not respecting the time-frames I have agreed myself.</p>
<p>Reason to go to the advisor: I have already verbally promised that I will be around once September comes</p>
<p>Reason not to go: They may require me to sign the official thesis start.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27963,
"author": "Arno",
"author_id": 12047,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12047",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As a rule of thumb, if you tell someone you'll be doing stuff with them at time X, and then change your mind, let them know!</p>\n\n<p>More specifically, I would recommend an email such as:</p>\n\n<p>\"Dear Advisor,</p>\n\n<p>we had planned for me to start my thesis in September, but because of REASONS I'll only be able to start on October. I apologize bla bla\nIn the meantime, I'm planning to do EXERCISES. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions on how to prepare.\"</p>\n\n<p>I don't see a point in telling this to your advisor in person anyway, and this should keep you safe from being made to sign stuff.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27972,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This depends a lot on the personal stance of the advisor. Does he or she readily accommodate wishes by students, especially if they are comparably insignificant (delaying the start date by some 10 days) and seldom (it's not a perfect start to bring such an issue up right at the beginning of the thesis already, but if you don't come up with such requests every week, that may be fine).</p>\n\n<p>I would definitely suggest contacting the advisor, as just ignoring him or her and disappearing for some 10 days does certainly not make a good initial impression.</p>\n\n<p>As for the \"danger\" of being made to sign the start, I am not sure as to how realistic that is, given that you have concrete reasons (physical absence while travelling) for a (rather limited, less than two weeks!) delay - and I think it is unlikely the department or the advisor could be eager to force students that do not feel ready into starting their thesis (and thus provoke bad results). One issue <em>might</em> be that they have a certain rule concerning the maximum duration of preparation time before the official start, but if that is the case, that is all the more reason to talk to your advisor.</p>\n\n<p>Beside just telling the advisor about your wish for a slight delay, I suggest you go see him or her in person, as just writing an e-mail may express a rather lackadaisical attitude towards your thesis. At least, you could write an e-mail to the advisor, utter your wish to slightly delay the official start, and express that you're ready for a meeting where you can discuss that in detail. That should make it clear that you're not willing to sign the official start yet.</p>\n\n<p>One extra thing you might do to make your advisor extra-receptive about your request is being concrete about what you want to do in the additional ten days. Do not just mention \"some extra programming exercises\", but provide a concrete link or book title (or whatever else) that denotes a set of exercises you are planning to work through. Convey to your advisor that you really care, and that you don't just want 10 more days for idling, but that you have a concrete plan in mind, based upon which those 10 days would realistically make any difference concerning your current worries.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>As a side-note, if we abstract your question to what you asked in the title, \"Should I inform my thesis adviser about current situation?\", the answer should invariably be an unanimous <strong>YES</strong>.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27962",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9401/"
] |
27,965 |
<p>I'm a life sciences Ph.D. student preparing over the next few months to begin applying for a postdoctoral fellowship. Several of my potential advisors are on the coasts--California, Boston, Seattle--where the cost of living is quite high. Others are in the Midwest where the cost of living is much lower. I've lived a lot of places myself, so for the sake of argument we can assume I'd be equally happy moving to any of these places.</p>
<p>Although I don't want money to be a factor in this decision, I do have a wife and children and (insert salary here: $45,000 for example) allows a much different standard of living in the Midwest than Boston or Long Island. For those of you who received multiple postdoc offers--is this something that they take into account when setting your salary, or can I expect more or less flat offers across the nation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27969,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There is a wide variety in the range of post-doc salaries. In the biomedical sciences, the NIH's salary guidelines hold sway, as the NIH is the largest source of funding for such positions. So there's relatively little cost-of-living adjustments. </p>\n\n<p>However, I think many institutes set their own scale according to \"what the market will bear.\" Popular schools like MIT could pay somewhat less and still be competitive because of the \"prestige factor.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27973,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no fixed \"postdoc salary\", so by extension there is no way to inherently adjust for cost of living.</p>\n\n<p>The NIH postdoc salary level (which is probably the closest thing to a 'fixed' postdoc salary in the U.S.) is adjusted for years of experience, but isn't necessarily adjusted for cost of living. There are ways around this, for example institutions in very expensive parts of the country (New York comes to mind) may be able to provide subsidized housing to postdocs to help offset the expense of living there, but this is far from assured. They may also find additional \"pots\" of money, provided by the institution, non-NIH grants, etc. for which they can pay a postdoc more.</p>\n\n<p>But it's not the only factor under consideration - the institution may know they're in a position to not pay much because of the prestige and perceived career benefits, or on the flip side may need to pay more because they know they're potentially competing against private industry.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27977,
"author": "user3499545",
"author_id": 21407,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21407",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is not the most direct answer, but you might find the <a href=\"http://www.glassdoor.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">glassdoor website</a> useful. You can see salaries for postdocs by institution and see how locations you're considering might vary. It's hard to fix everything you might want while making the comparison, but I think it will be useful to you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28005,
"author": "Tom Church",
"author_id": 563,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/563",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Stanford University, whose housing market is in the top 2 or 3 worst in the country, sets a <a href=\"http://postdocs.stanford.edu/handbook/salary.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"minimum salary\">minimum salary</a> for postdocs. Currently, a beginning postdoc is guaranteed $44,310, which rises over time (e.g. to $51,830 in one's fifth year). <a href=\"http://postdocs.stanford.edu/handbook/costofliving.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"this page\">This page</a> states:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"The San Francisco Bay Area is an expensive region. ... Postdocs who are considering offers of appointment at Stanford are encouraged to consider the cost of living in this area in light of their lifestyle, needs, and where applicable, financial obligations towards spouses or family. ... The minimum funding levels for postdoctoral scholars at Stanford are perhaps the highest in the country for trainees, and they are designed to support a stipend-level income for a single trainee.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(We don't generally have postdocs in mathematics, so I can't say whether it's common for postdocs to be paid this minimum salary.)</p>\n\n<p>More generally, everyone in the administration is aware of, and concerned about, the problems that the housing market creates for postdocs. For example, a new program began two days ago through which postdocs are eligible to purchase highly-subsidized <a href=\"http://transportation.stanford.edu/alt_transportation/gopass-pilot-eligibility.php\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Caltrain passes\">Caltrain passes</a>; this program was designed specifically with the aim of mitigating the cost of living, by making it easier for postdocs to commute from more affordable towns in the area.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27965",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/154/"
] |
27,988 |
<p>I did some work as part of my final year undergraduate project and wrote a paper which has now been accepted at a conference. Though I am now working in the industry, I have listed my affiliation as my University because that is where I did my work as a student. So, for registering in the conference, do I have to pay the full registration fee (because I am currently not a student) or can I pay the student fee (because I did the work during my undergraduate days)?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27989,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h2>You're not a student now</h2>\n\n<p>The fees are based on the status of the participants, not the status of the papers. Often, organizers will require some evidence of student status (such as a current student ID) in order to be eligible for the reduced price.</p>\n\n<p>It may be reasonable to get the student fee if you're a student at the time of registration but graduate before the actual conference - as the process often takes multiple months, but if it's something earlier, then you're out of luck.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27998,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Conferences usually grant discounts to financially disadvantaged participants, such as students or attendees from developing countries, because they want to enable as many people as reasonably possible to attend the conference. From another point of view, discounts are a social redistribution of wealth, with the rich attendees supporting the poorer ones. In theory, the organisers could negotiate each of this discounts individually, as there usally are no constraints regarding this imposed by some higher authority¹. Of course, this would cost more time (and thus money) than it saves and thus you usually have discounts for certain groups, such as students.</p>\n\n<p>So, it’s up to the organisers whether they regard you as a student or not and to be really sure, you have to ask them. Given that falsely registering as a student could be considered fraud, you certainly should clarify the situation before doing this. However, you might want to take the reason behind those fees into account and just pay the undiscounted fee, if you are doing well financially, which also saves the organisers some time. On the other hand, if you aren’t, this might be worth mentioning when applying for a student discount, though you technically aren’t a student anymore.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup>\n¹ apart from anti-discrimination laws and similar\n</sup></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27988",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21420/"
] |
27,991 |
<p>In the field of <strong>Mechanical Engineering</strong>, when doing a PhD in a University but in <em>partnership</em> with a company, at some universities, an agreement is signed between the company and the university (or Laboratory) in which the company remains the owner of all files provided (e.g. geometries, meshes) as well as the results produced, but allows for publication of <em>most</em> of the results. The line drawn between what its supposed to be published and what remains strictly confidential is hard to draw and often depends on the company as well as the topic.</p>
<p>Usually, in order to preserve this confidentiality, researchers scale the figures to unknown values and do not provide geometries or mesh/material properties for example. I was wondering if this common practice in scientific publication can be applied when writing a PhD Thesis. Basically, are all results presented in a thesis supposed to be public and more importantly, <strong>is an independent/external researcher supposed to be able to reproduce all of the results ?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29686,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The standard for a Ph.D. thesis is simple and universal: it must make a contribution to the sum of human knowledge.</p>\n\n<p>As such, all results in a thesis should be public and presented in enough details to allow another researcher with sufficient background to reproduce them.</p>\n\n<p>It's fine for some of the work that you are doing to not be public, just so long as enough of the material is public to make up a Ph.D. thesis. For example, if you have figures scaled to unknown values or missing geometry information, then you need to ask: is there significant scientific value even without this information? For example, if the proprietary figure is an example of how a method was applied, that's probably OK as long as there are other forms of verification elsewhere. If the proprietary figure <em>is</em> the verification, however, and it's missing critical information, then that is not OK.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 122912,
"author": "Ian Sudbery",
"author_id": 82972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/82972",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer to this question is going to vary from university to university. At our university thesis can be placed on a restricted access list, and examiners made to sign confidentiality agreements. Agreements I have signed to specify a time limit on how long the thesis must be kept confidential, but do say that the commercial partner will indicate when they no longer need access to the thesis to be restricted. </p>\n\n<p>Once the thesis is published, it is entirely possible that materials that cannot be disclosed may have been used in the thesis. For example, one would not include code for proprietary routines, but would rather say \"the XXX function from the library provide by Blogs Ltd\". I guess it would then be up to the examiner to judge if enough information had been provided that they could judge the value of the work. It may be that, since the examiner has signed a confidentiality agreement they can be made privileged to information that other readers cannot. In my experience these issues are sorted out on a case by case discussion between the IP holder, the university and the examiner. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27991",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9665/"
] |
27,994 |
<p>In a book recently, I saw a reference to someone "reading law" at such and such a university in England. But I thought "reading law" was a way to bypass law school and still enter the law profession (after passing the bar I presume). Is that only in the United States? Any other countries?</p>
<p>Does England have a similar way to become a lawyer without going to college? Then what do they call it? </p>
<p>In the US, do persons who read law and then become lawyers get to put anything after their name? Obviously they would not be permitted to put J.D.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27996,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Some rightpondian can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think \"reading\" in this context is British for \"studying\", and it does usually imply university study. The person in question is most likely attending the equivalent of law school.</p>\n\n<p>In the US, lawyers typically write \"Esq.\" after their name, which doesn't really signify anything specific but is traditional. This doesn't have anything to do with degrees they may or may not have. (And even lawyers with a J.D. degree don't usually write J.D. after their names, nor use the title Dr.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 61350,
"author": "John Crow",
"author_id": 47212,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/47212",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a little old now, but I came across it and as a UK law student, I feel obliged to answer. Reading law in this context is exactly the same as studying law, and as someone else already mentioned, it is said by more 'well to do' students, not generally usual day to day conversation.</p>\n\n<p>The letters that would go after a qualified solicitor/ barrister (The two types of legal profession we have here in the UK), could be LLB, which is the degree itself they qualified with before going on to do either of the professional courses, or it could be simply whatever the highest degree level they have achieved so far.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 95186,
"author": "voices",
"author_id": 41388,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/41388",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You're right. <em>Reading the law</em> (in the US, at least) is practicing law (as an attorney, etc.) without a law degree. Passing the bar examination is still required; and in lieu of a law degree, some kind of tutelage, or apprenticeship is typically required. I believe it's no longer legal in most states.</p>\n\n<p>Despite this, the general consensus seems to be that the phrase is being used in a different context (in this instance).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27994",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21158/"
] |
28,009 |
<p>If someone <em>s</em> has a paper <em>p</em> published, and if <em>s</em> wants to write up a piece explaining the contents of <em>p</em>, then to what extent can <em>s</em> use the contents of <em>p</em>? Or, the person <em>s</em> has no right to mention the contents of <em>p</em>?</p>
<p>That is, if someone writes an article explaining the ideas in one of his published paper by rephrasing the published paper, then to what extent is such rephrasing legitimate?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28010,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It would be better to avoid the abbreviations 's' and 'p', which is probably why @ff524 was confused.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding the question I think it will depend on what you want to do with the material and the copyright conditions of the paper. Sometimes the copyright belongs to the publishers and each journal has specific guidelines for reproducing some content (even some allow to download figures in powerpoint format to be used for presentations under some conditions). Other times (e.g. open access journals), the copyright belongs to the authors. Either way, if in doubt the best would be to get in contact with the appropriate person.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, for journal club and similar activities, I use the material without asking. In conferences, when I want to highlight someone's else research, I may include a figure of their paper. In that case I always add the appropriate reference to the paper.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28014,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>From an ethical point of view, you must cite your original source appropriately. Clearly indicate </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>when you are using ideas, words, or figures from another work by citing the source </li>\n<li>when you use something verbatim (typically by putting it in quotation marks or blockquotes)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As long as you attribute your sources properly, there isn't really an ethical problem with excessive use of a source.</p>\n\n<p>From a legal perspective, it can be trickier. In summary,</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Copying large amounts of text verbatim: may violate copyright</li>\n<li>Copying small amounts of text verbatim, for academic purposes: typically allowed under <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use\">fair use</a>, though like everything legal, this varies by jurisdiction</li>\n<li>Paraphrasing text: does not violate copyright. The intellectual content of a paper is not subject to copyright (as opposed to the words used to present it, which are). </li>\n<li>Reusing figures: may violate copyright. Check the policy of the source's publisher.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>From a \"best practices\" standpoint, work that involves an <em>excessive</em> amount of paraphrasing is often lacking original intellectual content. Even if your work is expository, you're supposed to be adding some value for the reader, not just stating the content of the original source in other words. So be careful of this, too :)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28009",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
28,016 |
<p>As an example of a vote of no confidence, recently, the academic world has been shocked by the Salaita case at the University of Illinois. I happen to be a UIUC alumnus, so I guess I'm more concerned about the current state of affairs in my Alma Mater. So I just read an article on the web about the case: <a href="http://coreyrobin.com/2014/09/03/more-votes-of-no-confidence-a-weird-ad-and-a-declaration-of-a-non-emergency/" rel="noreferrer">More Votes of No Confidence, a Weird Ad, and a Declaration of a Non-Emergency</a>. The article states that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tonight, the major news out of the University of Illinois is that two more departments have taken votes of no confidence in the leadership of the UIUC: the department of history (nearly unanimous, I’m told) and the department of Latino and Latina Studies. The latter’s announcement reads:</p>
<p>The faculty of the Department of Latina/Latino Studies (LLS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign met on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 to discuss the University’s revocation of an offer of employment to Dr. Steven Salaita. We concluded that this revocation and the subsequent public statements by Chancellor Phyllis Wise, President Robert Easter, and the Board of Trustees about Dr. Salaita’s appointment demonstrate a clear disregard for the principles of academic freedom, free speech, and shared governance, as well as for established protocols for hiring, tenure, and promotion. The faculty of LLS therefore declares that we have no confidence in the leadership of the current Chancellor, President, and Board of Trustees.</p>
<p>That means that six departments have now voted no confidence, two of them fairly large departments, representing a significant number of faculty in the humanities. Word is that we should be expecting at least four more votes of no confidence by the end of the week, for a total of ten.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I know the best thing that can happen in the current state of affairs is that UIUC's own faculty boycott the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Phyllis Wise.</p>
<p>So my general question is, what are the implications of such a vote? What does a "vote of no confidence" really mean?</p>
<p><strong>EDIT</strong></p>
<p>As suggested by @MadJack, here's the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/education/illinois-university-prompts-outcry-for-revoking-job-offer-to-professor-in-wake-of-twitter-posts-on-israel.html" rel="noreferrer">New York Times article on the case of Salaita.</a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28017,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A \"vote of no confidence\" is much like a \"resolution\" passed by a parliamentary body—it's a statement of approved opinion, with very little legal impact. The only exception to this would occur if the voting body is in some way responsible for the appointment of the official in question, in which case such a vote could lead to removal. </p>\n\n<p>However, at the departmental level, such a vote has very little impact on the university as a whole.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28020,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A vote of no confidence is an entirely political move. It has no force on its own, but it may influence the opinion or behavior of others.</p>\n\n<p>When used effectively, votes of no confidence can influence the person in question to apologize or change their ways, or influence more powerful people (e.g. the board of governors/regents) to address the issue.</p>\n\n<p>When used ineffectively, votes of no confidence have no effect at all. (Well, they can still allow the people who voted to express their opinion.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28035,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The repercussions of a department's vote of no confidence hold no legal authority. They simply publicly voice the majority opinion of the faculty of the department.</p>\n\n<p>To further analyze in the context of the example you gave: These votes of no confidence are likely to embarrass the departments who publicly supported hiring this man whose public discourse can most nicely only be described as unprofessorial and unacademic. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-university-of-illinois-job-offer-tweet-israel-20140822-story.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">The Chicago Tribune's take on the administration's position said:</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In June and July, Salaita posted prolifically about the situation in\n Gaza, particularly about the children killed in the conflict. On June\n 20, soon after three Israelis were kidnapped and killed, he wrote:\n \"You may be too refined to say it, but I'm not: I wish all the\n (expletive) West Bank settlers would go missing.\" On July 22 he wrote:\n \"#Israel kills civilians faster than the speed of 4G.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Salaita's <a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/09/03/steven-salaita-more-than-just-an-obnoxious-tweeter/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">hateful words are not confined to Twitter</a>. He has found it prudent to scrub some of his online works, but they are <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20140904031712/https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62164677\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">still available via the Wayback machine</a>. </p>\n\n<p>We grant that academic freedom means that one can take nearly any position so long as one is respectful of others who disagree. His manner of speech and disrespect would have been quite a distraction for the entire university. Would he be respectful to the students under his instruction? Given his public record, would you take responsibility for placing him in this position?</p>\n\n<p>These comments are certainly against our <a href=\"https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1160/what-does-the-offensive-flag-mean-to-you/1162#1162\">principles for allowed commentary on Academia StackExchange</a>. </p>\n\n<p>Some may disagree with the way the decision was made. Perhaps the decision could have reached out to more stakeholders for consensus. The administration apparently didn't do that. Many university administrations have come under fire by stakeholder groups in the past for similar actions. It would have been better if the administration had more support. But they had made the decision and moved forward with it, and I don't see how they could have taken another path in a timely fashion. </p>\n\n<p>These votes of no confidence reflect the indignation by these departments in not being included in the decision making process. However, most bystanders will also (correctly) interpret them as a disagreement with the conclusion of the decision. If the departments agreed with the conclusion, this issue would not be raised. </p>\n\n<p>I personally think these votes are likely to lower the public's view of the departments just as much or more so than they lower the public's views on the administration. I also think the views of individuals will largely be colored by personal preferences in backing the interests of the parties that Salaita has been coarsely commenting on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28650,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The other answers noted that a vote of no confidence is generally not binding, but may have other outcomes. </p>\n\n<p>I would like to point out that even if an outcome that is desired by the faculty <em>is</em> achieved, it is generally impossible to show causality (i.e., that the outcome was a direct result of the vote).</p>\n\n<p>As an example, the end of the 2012-2013 academic year saw a <a href=\"http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2013/05/29/breaking-silver-school-of-social-work-shoots-down-no-confidence-vote/\" rel=\"nofollow\">series of no confidence votes</a> by faculty against New York University President John Sexton. The outcomes were as follows: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The College of Arts and Sciences; Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development; Gallatin School of Individualized Study; Tisch Asia; and Tisch School of the Arts passed votes of no confidence against the president.</li>\n<li>At the Silver School of Social Work, a vote was held but not passed</li>\n<li>The School of Law passed a vote of confidence in favor of the president</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>A few months later, in August 2013, the university's Board of Trustees <a href=\"http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2013/08/14/sexton-to-depart-after-2016-nyu-backtracks-on-vacation-home-loans/\" rel=\"nofollow\">announced</a> that Sexton would not continue beyond the end of his current contract. </p>\n\n<p>However, it's impossible to tell whether this is the result of the no-confidence votes, <a href=\"http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120817/greenwich-village/washington-square-village-residents-sue-nyu-for-development-plan\" rel=\"nofollow\">two</a> <a href=\"http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120926/greenwich-village/greenwich-village-groups-sue-city-stop-nyu-expansion\" rel=\"nofollow\">lawsuits</a>, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/nyregion/nyu-gives-stars-loans-for-summer-homes.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">negative media articles</a> about the university and its president, or (almost certainly) a combination of these and other factors.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28016",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19409/"
] |
28,026 |
<p>I frequently bring my own equipment to the classroom for student use. Some students forget my announcements to bring certain items. Some items are infrequently used or kept ready on standby when time permits or need to be carefully prepared beforehand. For these reasons, I provide my own equipment, rather than requiring students to bring them.</p>
<p>The problem is, the students are walking out the door with my stuff. By the end of the year, I must go out and buy everything again. Most items individually are cheap (~$1 each), so I do not think any administrator or security officer will pay attention when I complain, however, the quantities add up over time.</p>
<p>I am surprised to find such behavior among college freshmen. How should I deal with these thefts?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28027,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>That is a tricky situation. The overhead that would come from noting every student what he took and whether it was returned is annoying and unnecessary. I think the easiest way to handle this would be to point out to classes beforehand that stealing equipment is inappropriate (obviously) and that you would take measures to discourage such behavior. Those measures might include that the class, from which someone stole something, would be required from then on to supply its own equipment, i.e. would be banned from using yours. If students don't have the appropriate equipment ready, they can't participate in the exercises or get their grade diminished.</p>\n\n<p>The point is to relocate the burden to the collective, instead of carrying it yourself. Of course, in the end you will probably still have to pay for the missing equipment, since it is too small to pursue justice to great lengths, but I hope you'll get at least some small satisfaction.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28029,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think the students are stealing as much as forgetting to give back your supplies. I'd suggest helping them remember by bringing a jar that each students puts a dollar in when the supplies are handed out. In order to get their dollar back at the end of the class, they must return whatever they borrowed.</p>\n\n<p>I'd also get a label maker, and put something like \"If found, return to Prof -insert name and office here-.\" Make sure its gaudy and hard to miss. This will both discourage actual theft (which I do NOT think most of your students are doing), and provide bread-crumbs home if its found under a pizza box after 3 weeks (the more likely scenario).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28031,
"author": "CGCampbell",
"author_id": 14290,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14290",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Make yourself a note to say something to your class, 10 minutes before the end of your part in it (lecture, etc). \"Remember, I have brought these XXX's for your use in case you needed them, I really need them returned by the end of class.\"</p>\n\n<p>Modify as needed (i.e. turn 'end of class' into 'now' if needed)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28032,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I add an assignment in the grading system with a single point: \"returned all borrowed equipment.\"</p>\n\n<p>I don't actually use it in the calculations, but seeing it in the gradebook (which students can access) encourages compliance.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28033,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can see two solutions here:</p>\n\n<p><strong>1. Deter students from borrowing or walking away with equipment</strong></p>\n\n<p><em>If safety is not a concern</em>, you could require a shoe as a deposit. No student will get very far after class without realizing what they're missing. It will save you having to remind your students to return said items.</p>\n\n<p>You could also take a tally of all loaned items and release the class only when all have been returned.</p>\n\n<p>Another solution is for the replacement equipment to be clumsy, comical, or embarrassing. <a href=\"http://www.baronbob.com/images/products/giantcalc.jpg\">Giant calculators</a> might get the job done, but they won't be inadvertently taken out of class and you might not see many repeat customers. </p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, any deterrent besides loudly pronouncing at the end of the class <em>\"please return anything you have borrowed!\"</em>, or perhaps taking a tally, may be difficult to implement without giving a distinct <em>\"I don't trust you and am going to treat you all like children\"</em> impression.</p>\n\n<p><strong>2. Stop lending out equipment they are supposed to have.</strong></p>\n\n<p>A more cynical point of view is that university students should be intelligent, responsible, and well enough prepared to bring any equipment that is either listed as a course requirement to have, or is generally expected (e.g. a calculator, stationery).</p>\n\n<p>Your students are probably less likely to prepare properly for class <em>precisely because they know you have spare equipment</em>. If they're supposed to have their own stuff, make it the students' own problem if they forgot. They will only learn if failure carries consequences. If you abolish your loaning policy, I suspect the fraction of students coming properly prepared will quickly, and significantly, improve.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28041,
"author": "Michael",
"author_id": 21468,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21468",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Use accountability. Create a form with 2 identical halves, listing the name of the borrower and what they borrowed. When borrowing the item, they get half of the form, and you get half of the form. When returning the item, they give you their half of the form back with it, and you destroy both copies. Anyone who walks out without returning the item, place your half for safe keeping. If they need to borrow again and you have something with their name on it, deny them. There is an option to hold them financially liable, but IANAL. Make the policy clear in the syllabus.</p>\n\n<p>This is an Army solution to a much more serious equipment accountability issue than classroom supplies, but it works.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28044,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know many professors who lend things to the students such as books, their thesis hard copies, compact disks, etc; and they have a very simple way to track all the students who have borrowed things from them.</p>\n\n<p>Prepare one or two A4 size papers, write \"Borrowers List\" on top of it and every time you lend something to a student; ask him/her to write his name, the date he/she has borrowed it from you, the date he/she will give it back to you, his email and phone number and his signature.</p>\n\n<p>After the student has returned the borrowed thing to the professor, the student and professor, both, can sign under this paper that the borrower has returned it.</p>\n\n<p>This will have many benefits to the lender and the borrower, both.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The borrower will remember that he has signed his name when he has got something from the lender; so he will try to give back that thing to the owner as soon as possible to avoid any difficulties in future.</p></li>\n<li><p>When the professor asks for a signature from the student, he shows that he cares for his owning and it is important for him that the things he has borrowed should be brought back to the owner. Consequently, the student will do all his/her best to return that thing to the owner.</p></li>\n<li><p>The professor will have a list of his owning which are lent to the students, so he will never forget what is borrowed to whom. If the borrower does not return the thing, the professor can simply send him/her an email or text message to ask the student to return the thing he has borrowed.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28048,
"author": "Superbest",
"author_id": 244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The issue is that you give out equipment to your students, but they have little incentive to bring it back.</p>\n\n<p>As said above, you can create an incentive by making their grade dependent on whether they return them. The drawback is that you will have to keep careful track of equipment given out.</p>\n\n<p>You can minimize the bookkeeping somewhat by lending not on an ad hoc basis every class day, but only once at the beginning of the semester, and ask them to bring the items during or after the final. You can also print out little paper labels, and for every item lent to a student, write on the paper the item and name of the student. Keep the paper until item is returned. You can even make the students prepare these papers.</p>\n\n<p>You could \"lease\" the items to the students - sell them at cost, and offer to buy back when they are done. That way, you are fully insured against lost items. However, because of the money exchange involved, I suspect school administration will take issue.</p>\n\n<p>You can also use your attendance sheet: Require everyone to come to your desk and sign the sheet before leaving the class. Refuse to sign their row unless they produce all borrowed equipment, and consider them absent for that class if the items are not produced. The drawback is that end of class will become chaotic and take several minutes.</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, the best option is to not lend items at all. Simply tell the class that they will not be allowed to attend the class that day unless they bring the equipment. Emphasize that you intend to stringently enforce this rule. Everyone will always show up with the equipment.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28049,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Do present/absent check at the end of your class session.</h2>\n\n<p>When you lend something to your student, put a sign in front of his/her name in your student's names list. At the end of the class, when you read the student's names to see who is present and who is absent, when you see that s/he has a sign in front of his/her name; ask him/her to give that equipment back to you.</p>\n\n<p>If he does not return your equipment, do not accept his presence; until he returns it to you.</p>\n\n<p>Allocate a significant amount of your final assessment to the students presence and absence in your classes and this will require them to not only appear constantly in class sessions, but also be required to give your owning back to you.</p>\n\n<h2>Your key is their exam papers/assignments!</h2>\n\n<p>On top of your exam/assignment papers, write the things that the student is borrowing from you. For instance, somewhere under his name or student ID. Even you can prepare a white block in which you can write the <code>borrowed:</code> title and in front of it, you can always list the equipment you lend to your student.</p>\n\n<p>At the end of the exam/class session, when s/he gives the exam papers/copies back to you; check whether s/he has borrowed something from you or not and immediately ask him/her to return the borrowed equipment.</p>\n\n<p>If s/he is not returning the borrowed equipment, then you refuse to take his solved papers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28051,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 21481,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21481",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Speaking from my experience as a student only.</p>\n\n<p>The professors that were responsible for my courses as an engineering student varied in strictness, some were lending stuff to student who forgot to bring their own, some were very, very strict. The latter professors plainly stated that forgetting item x will make you unable to complete the laboration, and an uncompleted laboration meant failing the course until the next opportunity to do the laboration.</p>\n\n<p>Guess what, almost no student forgot to bring item x. Not only is this the right way because you won't have to bring item x, it also prepares student for the real world, were there won't be a professor doing your work, where stupid calculationg´errors because of negligence are as bad as not understanding the problem at all, etc. This principle should be applied across the board imo.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28061,
"author": "Laura Huysamen",
"author_id": 21486,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21486",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Unfortunately I do not have enough rep to write a comment on Moriarty's answer, but I think that it is most likely because of absent-mindedness in the part of the student. </p>\n\n<p>I wanted to comment the following idea if you're lending out something like pens: \nMy mother used to work with students who would need to come in, go through a long document and sign it before leaving. She would go through an enormous number of pens, as the students often just popped them back into their pockets by accident. </p>\n\n<p>She came across the idea of flower pens (gluing a big fake fabric flower to the end of the pen) and implemented it on the pens in her office, and she said that suddenly her pens stopped disappearing - since they were now tricky for the students to mistake them for their own, or accidentally stuff them in their pockets.</p>\n\n<p>Depending on equipment you could try other things (I imagine you could spray-paint some things in bright neon or shiny colours, attach big tags or tassles to the items) to make them stand out a little more. </p>\n\n<p>(A sample pen: <a href=\"http://ideasforfrenchclass.blogspot.com/2010/09/flower-pens.html\">http://ideasforfrenchclass.blogspot.com/2010/09/flower-pens.html</a>)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 130395,
"author": "Jennifer",
"author_id": 70345,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/70345",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Make them pay a dollar each time they borrow something <strong>and</strong> give them a token -- like a plastic poker chip -- with the equipment. When they come back with the something and the chip, give them their dollar back.</p>\n\n<p>Around these here parts, that's how they do it with beer mugs and such. No bookkeeping required!</p>\n\n<p>Make sure they know you're not offering to sell things for a dollar -- they <strong>must</strong> return it even if they're willing to not get their dollar back.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 130398,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is based on the assumption that it is accident, not deliberate theft. I think I may have one more of a certain type of USB cable than a remember buying, but if so have no idea where I got it from.</p>\n\n<p>Get some luggage tags, and stick on each one a label saying something like \"Property of Professor Village. If found, please return to <em>office</em>/<em>building</em>/<em>campus</em>.\"</p>\n\n<p>Attach one to each item. Tie, duct tape, or glue as appropriate for that item.</p>\n\n<p>Most students will remember to return the tagged items at the end of class. If not, next time they look through a backpack and notice the tag they will be reminded, and will also know how to return it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28026",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
28,039 |
<p>Background of person is: first year Phd student, no publications, no research grants, but I have received a fellowship for my first semester that paid my stipend and tuition, so should I list the total amount with stipend and tuition?</p>
<p>Also during my MS I was hired as an RA and received stipend+tuition? Can I list that as a total amount per year, or total amount for the two years, or should I separate the different amounts (tuition/stipend). Isn't this a fellowship/scholarship/grant of some sort since rarely do master students get this kind of RAship?</p>
<p>edit: while RA's are common in the US and the fact that they pay stipend/tuition is well known, in other countries people might think that if I list it only as a job they might not realize it also paid my tuition, which for foreign students in the US can be quite high. I want to convey the importance of this achievement and monetary importance to a crowd outside the USA.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28040,
"author": "aaragon",
"author_id": 19409,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19409",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>should I list the total amount with stipend and tuition?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, don't list this because it's irrelevant and sooner or later you'll remove it as your CV grows. You can just add it in the <code>Honors and Awards</code> section of your CV, but don't put numbers.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Also during my MS I was hired as an RA and received stipend+tuition? Can I list that as a total amount per year, or total amount for the two years, or should I separate the different amounts (tuition/stipend).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Same as before.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Isn't this a fellowship/scholarship/grant of some sort since rarely do master students get this kind of RAship?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In this case I would just put it under <code>Research Experience</code>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28042,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, one can include anything in a CV <em>as long as the \"target\" of the CV would be interested in it</em>. This raises the question why exactly you are now compiling a CV in the first place.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Are you looking to change programs? Apply for a grant? Just wanting to show off on your web page?</strong></p>\n\n<p>Whatever the answer to this is, ask yourself the question whether whoever is supposed to read the CV would really care about your funding sources. In most cases, I would assume that the answer to this is <em>no</em>, unless the funding sources are particularly competitive and known outside your university.</p>\n\n<p>Finally:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Isn't this a fellowship/scholarship/grant of some sort since rarely do master students get this kind of RAship?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Nope. If it's a RAship it's a RAship. That you got it earlier than others does not \"upgrade\" the prize in any way. Generally, resist the temptation to upsell your various prizes / grants / fellowships.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28043,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Although merit is certainly a factor in the hiring of research assistants, most people don't consider assistantships as \"grants or awards\". They are jobs. List them under \"Positions Held\" or \"Academic Appointments\" or the equivalent heading on your CV. Do not list your salary or the amount of your stipend - that's not anybody's business except you and your department.</p>\n\n<p>Some fellowships might be considered awards. They would usually be explicitly competitive in nature, and given by outside agencies. \"Named\" fellowships from endowed funds might also count, even if awarded by your department. But a research assistantship is not a fellowship.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28053,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I disagree with the other answers. At least in fields where a substantial number of students self fund their PhD, having any funding is a big deal. I think you should put the fellowships and their amounts, under \"grants and awards\", although it might be reasonable to change the title to something like \"funding\" or \"fellowships, grants, and awards\".</p>\n\n<p>While a departmental fellowship (or funding from someone else's grant) is not particularly prestigious, it is important. For example, a student with guaranteed money from his/her department or advisor has little incentive to apply for external money (and in many cases might even be ineligible). In evaluating students as potential post docs, I look at students who have had to self fund their studies very differently from those who have had funding. That said, it is important that you do not make too much of a departmental fellowship as it is generally the least prestigious type of funding you can get.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28039",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
] |
28,045 |
<p>I'm a fifth year pure mathematics student and after this year I should get a Master degree (I'm from Europe). As you might know, this should be the time I decide (or at least seriously start thinking about) whether I should pursue a PhD or go work in the industry.</p>
<p>My main problem with pursuing a PhD is that I haven't found any topic particularly interesting or passionate about, and I think I have quite a wide mathematical education. I can easily get into some area when I'm studying for exams and such, but nothing more than that. I have to admit that I'm indifferent regarding most stuff in my life. While I was in high school, I had interests in number theory and prime distribution, but that has slowly gone away.</p>
<p>Having said all that, I did somewhat enjoy tutoring/helping younger students and explaining stuff to them. I'd also like to think that I would enjoy doing research in mathematics, but not sure.</p>
<p>So my question is:
How should I find out what is the field of my interest (and whether it exists at all)? Is my lack of interest a red flag for pursuing a PhD? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28050,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is my lack of interest a red flag for pursuing a PhD?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, I think so. PhD programs are for people who are so passionate about an academic subject that they are willing to endure the <em>certainty</em> of a long, hard period of apprenticeship and training for the <em>possibility</em> of a secure, moderately well-paid lifelong career in that subject. </p>\n\n<p>In some academic fields, there is a good shot at parlaying a PhD into a lucrative career in business or industry. (In others, this is really not the case.) However, in the current job market there are few if any fields in which a PhD is a guaranteed paycheck. A student who knows that she wants to take her mathematical skills, for instance, to business/industry, would probably have an easier, more pleasant life by starting work with a bachelor's or a master's degree and building her career sooner rather than later. There are exceptions, but they would be better planned in advance: e.g., if you have a specific job in mind for which you specifically know having a PhD would be necessary or beneficial.</p>\n\n<p>There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking a subject and being good at it but not being passionate about it. You should then find what it is that you are passionate about. It need not be career-oriented: many, many people work to live rather than live to work. Just because you have a master's degree in mathematics does not mean that you need to pursue a career in which you use mathematics in any way! I hope you find your passion...whatever it is.</p>\n\n<p>Finally: one option that you haven't mentioned is to <em>teach</em> mathematics at the pre-university level. In the US, a master's degree in your subject area makes you competitive for very strong high school teaching jobs, e.g. at amazing public high schools in desirable cities or elite private institutions. The difference that an excellent school teacher can make has got to be at least as much as most academics, business people or industrialists. In the unlikely event that Europe has a glut of excellent high school teachers, please consider coming to the United States, as I assure you that we do not. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28069,
"author": "Glenn",
"author_id": 21496,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21496",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A lot of the comments and answers I see here are orthogonal to my experience. Subject matter? Career path? Both irrelevant. I entered graduate school with the intention of getting a Master's degree in Computer Science and left with a Ph.D. in Algebraic Geometry. That happened because I met an inspiring professor---he could have been doing almost anything technical and I would have chosen him, not the subject matter. I find my inspiration in people: Number Theory, Fluid Dynamics, Adaptive Algorithms---ist mir wurst, as they would say in Germany (I'm American). Working with a great professor trumps the subject matter.</p>\n\n<p>You have a strong technical education already. If you are looking for direction, take a cue from it: where is your life gradient pointing right now? Mapping out a career path is great for some folks, for others it is the death of serendipity. You never know. I chose my graduate school because my girlfriend attended it. The girlfriend didn't last, but the professor did. And (serendipity) I met my wife there.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28045",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21473/"
] |
28,054 |
<p>How do you respond to a reviewer who is very critical about your paper but from whose comments you can easily see that he/she has misunderstood the key concepts of the paper?</p>
<p>In my case, the first reviewer had no issues with the paper and suggested only a minor revision. But the second reviewer seems to have not spent too much time on understanding the paper. This reviewer's misunderstanding made the editor suggest a major revision of the paper.</p>
<p>In my response to the reviewer (not sent yet), I used the sentence "This comment completely misrepresent the methodology described in the paper." Is this too much?</p>
<p>UPDATE: I am glad to inform you all that after the second round of reviews, the paper was accepted with minor revisions. I followed the general advice given in the accepted answer for this post. Instead of being too defensive, I agreed in my response to the reviewer that the misunderstanding may be due to wording of certain sentences and changed them. Specifically, I used the following sentence:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"There seems to be a misunderstanding about the methodology, which we
hope to clear through our responses below and by revising the text in
the manuscript. Contrary to what the reviewer states, ..."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Hope this update helps someone in future.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28059,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>This comment completely misrepresent the methodology described in the paper.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>While it may be technically correct, it is unnecessarily undiplomatic (at least all by itself), as it implicitly places blame on the reviewer for not correctly understanding your paper. Again, if the respective points were made unmistakably clear in the paper (which is something that you can easily overestimate), this blame may be justified, but still you risk unnecessarily disgruntling the reviewer.</p>\n\n<p>I would suggest to assume in good faith that the reviewer did not fail to understand your paper due to incompetence or laziness, but because you failed to clarify a certain aspects. Try to improve your paper regarding the explanation of everything that the reviewer misunderstood and reply with something along the lines of:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This comment seems to be based on the assumption that we were proposing a method to transmogrify apples. However, the goal of our method is the transmogrification of bananas – an aspect, which we have failed to make sufficiently clear. We have amended our manuscript accordingly and now write: […]</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Do not worry, if the respective revision turns out to be only minor.</p>\n\n<p>To be prepared if the reviewer insists on his or her misunderstandings, I suggest to explicitly state in your response letter that something different is the case. This way you hopefully have some good argument for the editor in this case.</p>\n\n<p><sup>\nI once had a similar experience with a reviewer who criticised that we made several claims which were not supported by our studies. However, we never made any of these claims. In a first revision we reformulated a few sentences that the reviewer had presumably misunderstood and explicitly stated in the response letter that we did not make those claims. The reviewer criticised again that some of the same claims were unsupported. We responded again that we never made those claims and reformulated a handful of sentences. Then either the reviewer finally understood or the editor was fed up with this and the paper was accepted. In both cases, major revisions were requested.\n</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28073,
"author": "Nahkki",
"author_id": 18092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18092",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No one ever seems to talk about this but sometimes... reviewers are terrible.</p>\n\n<p>Not terrible like \"Ugh they made me revise my paper\" but terrible like \"Did this person even read the paper?\" I once had a paper where a reviewer made lengthy complaints about the terrible user studies and lack of clarity in user studies for an object. There were no user studies in our paper, there were several clear statements about how there were no user studies in the paper, the 'future work' section detailed the user study collaborations. It was a paper on the method of integrating physical and automated controls, not a paper on user studies. One of the reviewers just... lost the plot. I don't know if they read a different paper, I don't know if they wanted a different paper. The other two reviewers made some excellent revision suggestions which we followed. </p>\n\n<p>It wasn't the first time either. I can't speak for all fields or conferences, of course, but sometimes you just get a terrible review. Terrible not negative, terrible as in makes no sense. Sometimes you respond, sometimes you try to work it in and sometimes you just politely ignore the bits that make no sense. Some fields lend themselves to a wide variety of subject matter experts. Consider, for a moment, robotics. A submission to a robotics conference or journal could be about the mechanical engineering aspect, the automation(AI and Machine Learning) aspects, optimization, computer vision, sensor integration... No single person is going to be an expert in all of these things and some of the most interesting, to me, projects involve some blending of these subjects. It can be hard, then, to find a reviewer from the pool who best fits a submission.</p>\n\n<p>This is the case in many subfields in Computer Science, this may be the case in the field you are working in. When you're talking about research on the bleeding edge sometimes you're talking about stuff that has a limited or restricted audience and, thus, a limited or restricted reviewer pool. There are a fair amount of similar questions about academic research reviewers and reviews here. Typically the benefit of the doubt is given that the reviewer is bringing up legitimate complaints and, to be honest, that is the best policy for everyone to have. But sometimes it's ok to accept that a reviewer is totally out there and the review is unhelpful or inappropriate(in that it does not apply.) In those cases I would respond to the other reviews as appropriate and respond, tactfully, to the review in question with statements directly reflecting how the review does not apply to your work.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28054",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9104/"
] |
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