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44,061 |
<p>So, this is a question that I do not know much about. I might get called on not having done a ton of research on graduate school, but I am really curious about this. I am an undergraduate student of mathematics and I am certainly planning on pursuing a graduate degree. I have looked at the top schools of math and they are certainly what one would expect: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc.</p>
<p>My issue is this: Academically, I was a late bloomer. I did not take high school seriously because it was annoying and elementary. Where I grew up, my school did not offer much in terms of AP classes or other opportunities. So, the only thing I excelled at naturally was math classes. Of course, they were extremely easy and required almost no effort on my part, which is what made me leery in terms of taking college level classes. I figured that I was good at high school classes because they are simple, but college level will be a different story. </p>
<p>I was wrong. In university, the gap was wider. Once I became adjusted, I actually enjoyed mathematics because it was so much more abstract and complex. This caused me to do rather large amounts of independent research in graduate level topics (topology, analytic number theory, analysis, etc). My only issue is that I am not in a competitive environment, really. The students are not top-notch, and don't share the same drive that I have. This is why I feel like being at the top of the class is not really an accomplishment, since I am not doing anything that any undergraduate at MIT, Harvard, Yale, etc, couldn't do.</p>
<p>My question that I pose here is this:</p>
<p>How good do I really need to be?</p>
<p>I have a passion for mathematics and for the most part, I seem to be talented at it. In terms of GPA, I have maintained a 4.0 with little effort just because I typically have already covered the material in the class on my own. However, there is a voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me that I only stand out because I am at a school that is not top tier, ivy league.</p>
<p>What does a graduate student at a top tier school look like? In my mind, I see someone that has been publishing papers since their teens, and was at the level I'm at now coming out of high school (I am a rising senior at the moment). Is this true? Am I being realistic? I am concerned because I would love to apply to some of these schools (and to get in is my dream!) but I honestly don't even know what level I am at in comparison to the rest of their applicants. I would hate to get shot down almost instantly because I am a joke in their eyes. </p>
<p>Sorry if this was a bit of a ramble. The question boils down to the title really, the rest is just elaboration for those that are interested. Thanks!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44071,
"author": "Cameron Williams",
"author_id": 7796,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7796",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From what you have said about yourself, I think you're very well prepared for graduate school at a very good institution. There are always a few incredibly bright, very young mathematicians that fit the image you have in your mind of students at top tier universities. I know of a few myself. However a very large number of math graduate students are much like you (and I).</p>\n\n<p>I had a very strong affinity for math as a young child but grew up in one of the <em>worst</em> academic environments in the US. A highly nontrivial amount of students in my area didn't graduate high school, even fewer went to college and fewer then even went to universities that were not the crappy local universities. I lucked out because one of the best high schools in the nation was in my area yet I didn't feel very challenged and more or less coasted along and didn't try. Ended up with a GPA of about 3.0 at the time of graduation. I even spectacularly failed statistics with a 40 or so from lack of effort.</p>\n\n<p>Undergrad rolled around. I flourished in the environment: took lots of math classes, took plenty of courses outside my degree to broaden my horizon, did lots of research, but like you I was a big fish in a small pond. I felt similar to you - that I only looked good in comparison to all of the others. I <em>almost</em> had a 4.0 in math and had a 3.8 overall with a couple of years of research under my belt. When it came time for grad school applications, I cast a bit of a wide net, but got rejected from a lot of universities. (This was largely my fault since I seemed to mess something up on <em>every</em> application. Having not really done undergraduate applications, I was a bit overwhelmed and scatterbrained.) I actually got into my top choice university which surprised me a lot.</p>\n\n<p>When I started my master's, I did notice that there was a bit of a gulf between me and the other students once I got there. My undergraduate institution didn't have nearly the course selection or resources that the other students had. However in terms of math capability, I was at least middle of the pack; so while I had a bit of a learning curve and some growing pains, I think I ended up being one of the stronger master's students because I fully dedicated myself and didn't give up. I <em>did</em> spend a ridiculous amount of time in my office the first semester, though. I went to school around 9:30 in the morning and went home at midnight many days.</p>\n\n<p>For all of it, I grew incredibly and am doing quite well in my PhD program. Coursework is a cinch now, research is going well and I'm writing up a couple of papers which I hope to submit in the not-too-distant future. With your background and love for mathematics, I think you'll be in a much better position than I was in terms of applications. Your GPA is better, you seem much more fluent in many areas of mathematics and are much more mathematically mature. The biggest factor in determining your success (outside of pure genius - which is incredibly uncommon, even amongst mathematicians!) is your unwillingness to give up. Even if you're slightly weaker than some of your future fellow graduate students right now, once you get there, all of those disparities will quickly melt away if you put in the time and effort. Where you came from <em>does not</em> have to dictate where you end up. You are more than your past if you allow yourself to be.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Here is some general off-topic advice regarding grad school since you seem to be lacking in advising: just because you want to go to a top tier university and get in to one <em>does not</em> mean you should necessarily go. For undergrad, this is not the case; if you get into MIT, Stanford, Harvard, etc. and have the financial means, you should definitely go as it is a great opportunity and can directly impact your future. At the graduate level, things are so much more nuanced. (For example, the reputation of the university doesn't directly dictate your future success provided that you put in 100%. In the internet age, it is much easier to do really meaningful research and network with top researchers at any respected university since you have access to all of the information you want.)</p>\n\n<p>When you apply, you are not applying to the university more than you are applying to a professor (or professors) or at least this is the philosophy I think one should have. You should have an idea of what kind of things you want to pursue for research and you should look to those people who do research in that direction. I don't mean to say that you need to know exactly the project you want to do but have a rough idea of the field you are interested in, say commutative algebra or functional analysis or harmonic analysis. If you apply to a university in which no one really pursues what interests you, you're going to be without a future advisor or you'll have to settle for second best. Applying to a graduate program just because of prestige doesn't guarantee success or happiness. Granted, at the top universities, this tends not to be an issue as they have very broad reach but it is something to be wary about. Just because it is a great university or great department <em>does not</em> mean it is a great fit for you.</p>\n\n<p>There are also other factors to consider when applying to schools: Could you deal with the super competitive atmosphere (or alternatively the extremely laid back atmosphere)? Could you stand to live there for four to six years, e.g. if you're from a very hot climate, could you survive the very harsh winters in upstate NY or if you're from upstate NY, could you handle a Texas summer? If you cannot see yourself being happy with (or tolerating) a lot of these extra-academic aspects of where you are, you might want to reconsider.</p>\n\n<p>A PhD is very demanding and can be soul-crushing at times. You'll often run into really difficult road blocks in coursework or research and if everything else in your life makes you miserable as well, you're going to have a really bad time. Your mental health is very important. You will be pushed to the extreme at times and in many ways throughout your PhD and your environment shouldn't amplify this. If you're having a tough time in research, the weather is absolutely miserable and you cannot stand your fellow graduates for whatever reason, your mental wellness might take a turn for the worst. I have seen this happen first hand and it is really unfortunate. These are not things academic advisors often tell students who wish to do graduate school because they are easy to overlook, but it is something to keep in mind. Hopefully this has been helpful.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44080,
"author": "Mark Joshi",
"author_id": 29181,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29181",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>well I'm an MIT pure math PhD. I published my first paper when I was 27 : a couple of years after getting the PhD! Very few people has published anything before their PhD and their first paper generally was from their thesis.</p>\n\n<p>If you have actually done some original research, write it up and get some advice from a professor at your school regarding publishing it. Being published is a massive help in grad school applications. </p>\n\n<p>My general rule is only do a maths phd if you have a calling for it. It sounds like you do. I treated most of Grad School like a job -- go in around 9, take a break for lunch, go home around 6pm. Work hard during those hours. Enjoy your evenings and weekends.</p>\n\n<p>High quality institutions do help your career so apply and if you get in, go and visit. If you don't like the atmosphere, go elsewhere. Certainly when I was at MIT the atmosphere was collegial rather than competitive. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44092,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me offer some perspective from an admissions point of view. What's important, for graduate studies, is your preparation, talent, motivation and work ethic. How will a committee assess this? If you go through a bunch of advanced courses with all A's from a top school, unless something is really wrong with your application, you'll get into a top school because the admissions people know the quality of the program you went through. </p>\n\n<p>The main problem with coming from a small/unknown school (and I also did myself, so I'm sympathetic) is that it is harder to evaluate your preparation and talent, so to get into top programs there needs to be something in your application to gauge you against other applicants. Being able to do this is also helpful for personally knowing how you stack up with students coming out of top schools. Here are some suggestions:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Even if you're not at a great school, you probably have some professors who got their PhDs from top schools. They will have a sense of how you compare to students from top schools. Consequently, they will be able to give you informed advice about what kind of schools you should apply to, and be able to write in their recommendation letters things like \"Rellek is comparable to the better students I've known at at Ivy League Institute, Inc.\" Note: recommendation letters are particularly important when you come from an unknown school.</li>\n<li>If you've done things like summer programs with students from all over, your experience there can help gauge you against other students. (So it's natural to ask someone from one of these programs for a letter.)</li>\n<li>If you've written research papers or typed up notes on advanced topics, you can make them available (say on a personal webpage), so interested committee members have the option of taking a look.</li>\n<li>Consider applying to some backup schools and/or master's programs as backups. After a master's at a good school, you will be easy to compare with top students around the country.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>As a final comment, it's true that to get into Harvard or Princeton, you should to be exceptional (or really lucky), but you merely need to be good and show promise to get into a top 10 school. I remember I was surprised when I found out most grad students I met at top 10 schools weren't \"superstars\" (some are, of course, but that's not par for the course).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 148294,
"author": "Ryan James Carson",
"author_id": 123306,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/123306",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you state on your letter of purpose what you have stated here, it will be regarded highly, because the admissions officer will see the passion that you have, and that has more relevance than anything.</p>\n<p>Opportunity doesn’t knock. If it knocks, it knocks on the inside.</p>\n<p>You.... are opportunity… You create it</p>\n<p>And...You are what you believe.</p>\n<p>That is what sets you apart, and, that is what\nyou need to let these Ivy League admissions people know.</p>\n<p>That is what I did...</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44061",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33513/"
] |
44,065 |
<p>I am a computer science student from India. I noticed that most of the résumés and thesis papers etc. I see are written in LaTeX. </p>
<p>If I write my résumé in Word (say) rather than LaTeX, will it have a negative affect when I apply to graduate schools in the U.S.? </p>
<p>If not, then should I even learn LaTeX for my future academic prospects? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44066,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No. Almost no one cares. You should learn LaTeX if you intend to work mathematics and will need to write up your work. It's much simpler to typeset formulas in LaTeX than MS Word, and it's also free. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44084,
"author": "dtldarek",
"author_id": 12061,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12061",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In a math-heavy area the ability to use LaTeX certainly matters, yet it's just another skill. In other words, if your resume says that you are familiar with LaTeX, then you don't need to prove it by typesetting your document in it.</p>\n\n<p>However, for two candidates that are equivalent but for LaTeX familiarity, in a math-heavy area I would certainly pick the one with the skill. Working with the other on a paper will probably be a nuisance at first, wasting valuable time. Moreover, how in the world he/she survived with no familiarity of LaTeX until now? It's a bit like being a programmer and not using a version control.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong></p>\n\n<p>Just to make it clear (your friends do use LaTeX, so I'm assuming math-heavy field):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>If it is a big burden, then don't sweat it, the possible advantage will be small, other factors will matter much more.</li>\n<li>Nice resume from Word is better that an ugly resume from LaTeX (in particular if it screams \"I can't use LaTeX\").</li>\n<li>Having a nice resume in LaTeX won't hurt, so if it is not a big issue, why not? You could ask your friends to help you (it shouldn't take more than ~2h).</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I hope this helps :-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44093,
"author": "optimal control",
"author_id": 24694,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24694",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it does not matter so much but the only thing is that it looks more classy than Word documents. Also, you avoid the possibility of file extension issues as your compiled file is already a PDF. If you use Word, possibly, you should convert your file to PDF.</p>\n\n<p>Not really to answer to your question but you can use LyX or find an already made LaTeX template and do it easily. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44095,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I use LaTeX to typeset my resume <em>and</em> my business card. I have typeset it once, and I can go back and modify the content, and as long as I like the overall shape of the document, and I don't have any spelling errors, I know my document is completely free of formatting consistency problems. </p>\n\n<p>Any small change will be immediately applied to all of the appropriate content.</p>\n\n<p>It also allows me to comment out sections and make comments in the source of the document that I use to tell years-older me why I did what I did.</p>\n\n<p>To me, as a LaTeX user, meeting another such user immediately puts them at a higher level than a non-user. To contrast with Barth's answer, with a flat-out, \"No.\" I would say it's a positive signal consistent with the idea that you can make an investment in learning something, even if not directly related to your discipline, with clear long-run payoffs, and ceteris paribus, I'd rather work with you than someone else with otherwise identical attributes.</p>\n\n<p>But <em>I</em> personally value diversity in learning, whereas PhD programs prefer focus. </p>\n\n<p>Overall, it <em>would</em> be a <strong>weak</strong> signal and I would not do it simply because you think it makes you look good. Rather, do it because of all the payoffs I mentioned above. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44104,
"author": "Aaron",
"author_id": 1228,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1228",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To play devils advocate, let me answer <strong>yes</strong>. Of course LaTeX knowledge doesn't imply any other kind of skill, but the two do seem to correlate in mathematical fields, because almost all serious research is typeset in LaTeX. </p>\n\n<p>See Scott Aaronson's 10 tips for detecting if a claimed mathematical breakthrough is wrong (in particular, see #1): <a href=\"http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=304\">http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=304</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44126,
"author": "Matt Young",
"author_id": 14769,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14769",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm an Electrical Engineer that left academia for industry, and typeset my resume in LaTeX. Other than the ease of getting the formatting exactly as you want, there is another benefit: version control. I keep it in Git. All changes are committed no matter how minor. Since .tex files are ASCII, I can diff any two versions I choose. I also have different branches, for example, a grad school application version, and an industry job search version.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44130,
"author": "tripleee",
"author_id": 20411,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20411",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Avoid transmitting either of the following messages;</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"This is my first LaTeX document ever\"</li>\n<li>\"This is my first Word document ever\"</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>... or the morally equivalent \"This isn't my first <em>(X)</em> document ever, but I have not improved (much) since then\".</p>\n\n<p>Other than that, a matter of taste.</p>\n\n<p>This may seem like a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the other answers here fail to address the very real possibility that if you suddenly switch to LaTeX, the outcome will be catastrophic not because of LaTeX, but because you need to learn it before you try to use it. The same holds for Word, and some people seem never to learn. Once you're past the \"I almost managed to hurt myself with my typesetting software\" stage, whatever you use is probably good enough. (There's \"probably\" because we cannot predict what sort of nut will be on the reading end. There will be people who care more than they should.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44147,
"author": "Afunakwa",
"author_id": 33597,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33597",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you should learn latex, regardless of how you intend to write your résumé. As mentioned in other answers, it makes writing math a lot easier, and a lot faster than anything else I've worked with. For academia, it also facilitates writing indexes, sources and basically everything that gravitates around your main narrative.</p>\n\n<p>I would certainly recommend it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44150,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Bill Barth says that <em>no one cares</em>. And this is true – it doesn't matter what program you use. But I should elaborate that presentation does still matter – you should take care in preparing the document.</p>\n\n<p>Simply using the default layout of <em>any</em> typesetting program is generally a bad idea. The formatting is probably not ideal for the purpose, and I have no great love for Calibri and Computer Modern. Sloppy, default formatting may give a bad impression.</p>\n\n<p>Just take the time to carefully design your document layout, and if you want to look a little more distinctive, pick a sensible font such as Palatino or Latin Modern Sans.</p>\n\n<p>If you put a little care into presenting your CV, it should be virtually impossible (without looking at the PDF metadata) to tell which program you used for typesetting. The unique features of LaTeX like <code>microtype</code> are not something that people will notice or care about when reading a CV. The <code>moderncv</code> package for LaTeX provides some good CV templates, and I suspect there are plenty available for Word as well that look just as good.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44194,
"author": "WoJ",
"author_id": 15446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15446",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In average, it does not matter if the content is well-formed and understandable. The latter, by far, is more important.</p>\n\n<p>In opposition to the majority of the answers, <strong>I</strong> find resumes written in LaTeX to be bland. The applicant took a template, wrote the content and printed it out. Please note that I emphasized the \"I\". </p>\n\n<p>It is strictly a matter of taste of the one who will be at the receiving end. Some people like the standardized, repetitive style (it is often simpler when you go though 1000 resumes) - others are attracted by the slightly more elaborate one which stands out in the heap.</p>\n\n<p>How you present the resume does matter. Since you are just starting I would go for something close to a standard in your field and add some sight deviation so that it catches the eye of the reviewer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44205,
"author": "Sverre",
"author_id": 11053,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11053",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What's important for your CV is that it has an informative layout and that it's easy to read. On top of that, it certainly helps if it looks \"nice\", whatever that means.</p>\n\n<p>What software you used to create a good-looking CV is entirely irrelevant. I've seen bad-looking CVs and documents written in LaTeX, and I've seen beautiful CVs and documents written in Word. Don't think for a second that an ugly or bland CV in LaTeX will help you in any way.</p>\n\n<p>Focus on creating a good layout for your CV, and use whatever software you think is best suited for you to reach that goal.</p>\n\n<p>As an example from real life, I don't think many people would be able to tell from a print-out of <a href=\"http://folk.uio.no/sverrej/cv/stausland.johnsen_cv.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">my CV</a> that it was written in LaTeX and not in Word, and I don't think anyone cares either way.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44551,
"author": "arober11",
"author_id": 4151,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4151",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you're worried simply spend an hour or two playing with <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LyX\" rel=\"nofollow\">Lyx</a>, or one of the other <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_TeX_editors\" rel=\"nofollow\">TeX</a> editors. It won't take long to pick up the basics / create a TeX variant of the document. </p>\n\n<p>I suggest starting with a GUI based editor, as I personally found it far easier to play in WYSIWYG mode, and then peek at the resulting markup than: RTFM, play in vi, compile and eventually use a Dvi Viewer of your choice to verify the results.</p>\n\n<p>It's a shame <a href=\"http://www.mw-software.com/icon-tech/Products/TechWriter/TechWriter%20pro.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">TechWriter</a> was never ported, as 20+ years back it was by far the best TeX based editor around.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44065",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31973/"
] |
44,078 |
<p>Principal investigators (P.I.s) are not immune to things like traffic accidents, fatal diseases, or acts of terrorism. </p>
<p>Is it common to have contingency plans as to what will happen with funding, experiments, PhD supervision, and everything else that a P.I. is supposed to be responsible for? And if so, what do these plans look like?</p>
<p>[Full disclosure: I'm asking this because I personally have had a close encounter with death in the middle of a project I'm a co-P.I. of.]</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44082,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>No. The nice thing about most academic departments is that the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor\">bus factor</a> is fairly high such that if an individual PI is incapacitated, there is generally enough slack in the system to compensate.</p>\n\n<p>Most funding bodies allow for contingencies. They understand that things happen and that the funding often affects people other than the PI. In the case of the death of a PI, the funder would likely allow for a change in PI to take place. If there is not a single PI who has the required administrative and scientific experiences, co-PIs can be appointed (e.g., someone who has managed grants before and a post-doc who understands the research).</p>\n\n<p>Experiments being run by PhD students, post docs, and RAs, would likely continue unchanged. Experiments being run directly by the PI would probably cease immediately unless there were ethical concerns (think a drug trial). In these cases there is probably someone else involved or a contingency plan in place.</p>\n\n<p>Supervision of PhD students would likely be covered by someone else on the thesis committee.</p>\n\n<p>Teaching and committee responsibilities would simply be reassigned. Immediate teaching duties will often be given to a post doc or graduate student.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44099,
"author": "zeldredge",
"author_id": 30837,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30837",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have seen this happen--we had a professor at my undergraduate institution die of cancer. This is a little different, I suppose, because it was not sudden and so arrangements could be made. In this instance, his PhD student(s?) were allowed to continue their project in a group that did similar work. Mind you, this was a student near graduation. I suspect a newer grad student would probably not have been far enough along in their project to see it through to the end, and may have ended up making a bigger shift.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44102,
"author": "Ana",
"author_id": 322,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At the institute where I did my PhD (in the Netherlands), a contingency plan was made at the outset. A PI doing similar work signed a form saying he was ready to take over supervising me if my own PI was unable to for any reason. I don't know how common it is for educational institutions to have such a policy. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44078",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12314/"
] |
44,083 |
<p>A week ago In one of my classes I e-mail the professor and asked to reschedule one of my quizzes due to illness generated from sleep deprivation, she accepted and was highly considerate of my situation.</p>
<p>Now, due to my intense anxiety & stress of exams (to perform excellently) and lack of sleep for the last couple of days as well, my body is failing me and now I woke up to dizziness (fainting/falling sensation), fluctuating irregular heartbeat, and confusing feeling I can't focus on my work at all... </p>
<p>I'm going to the clinic as soon as it opens in a few hours and the exam is also in a few hours, I feel as if the professor will not believe me but as I visit the clinic to be sure this is not serious, I will ask for a medical note. Will my professor tolerate this again? In our syllabus an exam can be re-scheduled for medical emergencies. I believe this is a medical concern. </p>
<p>I maxed out my body for school too much, trying to do well and sleeping less (creating "more time").</p>
<p>Bear with the writing, I'm not in a perfect mental state... </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44086,
"author": "mort",
"author_id": 13427,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13427",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Go to the hospital <strong>NOW</strong> and worry about the exam and your professor later.</p>\n\n<p>If you tell your professor that you had to go to the hospital, she'll most likely just accept that. Of course, you can ask for that note nevertheless, just in case. </p>\n\n<p>Once you are ok again, think about how you can reduce stress and get enough sleep regularly. On the long run, constant lack of sleep and stress will hurt you (even more than it already did so far). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44087,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are extenuating circumstances that prevent you from preparing for an exam and there are extenuating circumstances that prevent you from taking an exam. Those that prevent you from preparing for the exam, but still allow you to take the exam, should be discussed with the instructor as soon as possible. Circumstances that prevent you from taking the exam should also be discussed with the instructor as soon as possible. In some cases the discussion could happen prior to the exam, while in others, the discussion will obviously have to happen after the exam.</p>\n\n<p>What the instructor is willing to \"tolerate\" is irrelevant. Students need to do what they can do. If you cannot prepare, but can take the exam, then you take the exam unprepared and then follow the procedure for extenuating circumstances that do not allow you to prepare. If you cannot take the exam, then you follow the procedure for extenuating circumstances that prevent you from taking the exam.</p>\n\n<p>The outcome of having an extenuating circumstance that results in you missing an exam might mean you get a zero on the exam, but there is nothing you can do about it. There are many situations where a relatively healthy individual is experiencing symptoms that the recommend course of action is a visit to the ER. The decision on extenuating circumstances will hopefully not depend on what was actually wrong with you, but rather the symptoms that lead you to miss the exam. If you do not feel the condition would be exacerbated by a few hours delay, then it is not clear how you can justify not taking the exam.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44088,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This sounds like a potentially long-term problem that could affect all your courses. You should probably bring this up with the people in charge of your degree programme, rather than trying to arrange things each professor individually. Your university's disability office should also be able to help and give advice.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44097,
"author": "anaximander",
"author_id": 7901,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7901",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Any academic institution worth bothering with will have a procedure in place to take this sort of thing in their stride. Hand them any sort of legitimate document from someone with medical qualification, and the system should take care of you. Whether or not your professor is prepared to \"tolerate\" it is irrelevant; the procedure defines what sort of considerations you'll get, and the professor is required to abide by that.</p>\n\n<p>The point of a system like this is to prevent the sort of worry you seem to be suffering from. It's not in anyone's interests for students to be ignoring potential health concerns for fear of academic reprisals, so the system is designed to protect you academically as well as medically. The rule is simple: health comes first, and the academia will make reasonable effort to fit around that.</p>\n\n<p>I developed migraines, chest pains and spiking blood pressure in the middle of my final year of university. I ended up seeing multiple doctors and getting prescribed meds that could leave me unable to focus on <em>anything</em>, let alone my dissertation or exam revision. My advice to you is a combination of what I did, and what I wish I'd done:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Work only when you feel able to work effectively.</strong><br>\n This goes for any scenario, even just minor sleep deprivation. You'll get further by not having to go back and fix mistakes you made while tired, ill, or otherwise not thinking clearly.</li>\n<li><strong>Get to a doctor as soon as possible.</strong><br>\nTwo reasons: it's on record that you're seeking medical advice so that you can't be accused of making it up later (it's rare, but better to be covered) and it stops the problem going on any longer than it has to. Many health things are easier to fix if you catch them early.</li>\n<li><strong>Let the faculty know.</strong><br>\nTell them that you feel unable to work because of health concerns, that you have a doctor's appointment, and you'll keep them posted. Again, it's easier if you don't pull it out of nowhere right before a deadline. Sometimes that's unavoidable, but if you can avoid it, it helps. If they understand why you're absent and they see you being conscientious about it, they're more likely to overlook a brief absence if the doctors tell you it's nothing. They tend to be much less accepting of unexplained disappearances.</li>\n<li><strong>Follow medical advice to the letter.</strong><br>\nDon't worry about the work you may be missing: if a doctor says you shouldn't, then don't. <em>The qualification is less important than your health</em>.</li>\n<li><strong>Keep the faculty advised.</strong><br>\nYou don't have to be too specific; feel free to say generic things like \"taking medication\" rather than \"antidepressants\", for example. They only need to know the bits that directly impact them; you don't need to tell them anything you'd rather keep confidential as long as they know whether you're able to attend lectures, do your coursework, sit exams etc. Phrases like \"unpleasant side effects\" and \"not feeling up to it\" can cover a lot without giving them details.</li>\n<li><strong>Make reasonable effort to meet them halfway once you're well again.</strong><br>\nA little goodwill goes a long way, and once you're healthy again it doesn't hurt to offer things like catch-up work, meeting with professors to discuss your options, that sort of thing.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In the end, this all boils down to one thing: health first, then work. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44083",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33526/"
] |
44,089 |
<p>One of my friends (a math graduate student from my department) didn't work hard during his undergraduate studies, and his GPA was, naturally, low. He barely (and with some luck) got into grad school, where he works harder.</p>
<p>The problem is that as it seems, most of the professors have a very bad impression of him, both because some of them had him in their classes, and because our department is relatively small and professors exchange a lot of information and opinions about students.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that his reputation is not (just) of someone who is not hard-working (that would have been easier to fix, perhaps), but at least some of the professors simply don't consider him as smart or talented enough, and that is based solely on courses he participated in -- neither of those professors had any actual mathematical interaction or deep conversation with him, except for his advisor (who knows he wasn't serious enough about his studies) and perhaps a few others, who seem to have a somewhat better opinion of him than most.</p>
<p>Is there a way for this student to change the impression people have of him? From your experience, do people really change their impression of someone, once new information is presented (or are they likely to still think of him as not smart enough to be a mathematician, but who manages to go through grad school with hard work)?</p>
<p>This question might be related, <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14935/how-to-change-the-idea-that-supervsiors-got-about-you">How to change the idea that supervsiors got about you?</a> however I find the situation different: First of all, an advisor has a lot of interaction with the student, so he is likely to notice a change. Also, in the case of my friend, the advisor does believe in his potential, but probably doesn't share his thoughts with people since he's not one of those who talk about students with others, and mostly keeps to himself.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44091,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Your friend needs to involve himself in department life. If he is just as invisible as his supervisor, no other professor is going to change their opinion unless they somehow get a new impression (or forget who he was).</p>\n\n<p>One of the best things your friend could do is to give a department seminar if he has some interesting results to present. Make sure that it is well written and rehearsed! He should also chat with professors during social occasions, turn up at department talks and ask interesting questions; things like that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44106,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Absolutely! Some of my worst students have made serious efforts to turn things around and I always make it a point to recognize that. I wasn't exactly the greatest undergraduate myself, and that can be true for any number of reasons -- some of which might not have a single thing to do with how \"lazy\" someone is. Honestly, I'd rather see a good student work hard to turn things around than watch a great student coast and rest on his/her laurels.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44109,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a suggestion that may help: Your friend could go to one of the professors that has a poor opinion of him, and ask for something (e.g., can you recommend a good book for learning X). In the conversation, your friend should mention that he's been working a lot harder in grad school and is enjoying it.</p>\n\n<p>Life tip: In general, when you have a bad relationship with someone, it often helps to ask a favour of them. That may sound strange, but I believe there's solid psychological research behind it. Supposedly once we've done a favour for someone, we deal with the cognitive dissonance (I did a favour for someone I don't like) by deciding that the person we did a favour for isn't so bad after all. However, that explanation feels a bit manipulative to me. The way I prefer to think of it is that by asking a favour of someone, I am making myself vulnerable (they may say \"no\"), which reduces some of the tension in the relationship. It works especially well if the favour you're asking for implicitly acknowledges that you're trying to improve the relationship. (E.g., the very fact that you're asking for advice from this professor suggests that you take your studies more seriously now.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44089",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15928/"
] |
44,100 |
<p>I obtain many of my reading sources from online, instead of form a hardcopy in the library, even for books or book sections. The APA citation requirements for citing printed books and citing e-books are different. If my source IS indeed an e-book, I wonder whether I should really cite e-books according to the e-book citation requirement, which includes URL and all kinds of extra information than citing a printed book. Can I just cite it as if it is from a printed book?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44103,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The purpose of the different citation information for e-books is to deal with the fact that some purely electronic books are much more mutable that electronic books. </p>\n\n<p>In your case, however, you are dealing with a persistent, expected immutable document that just happens to have been delivered to you in a more efficient manner. Therefore, it is appropriate to cite it as an ordinary book, just as when you are citing a journal article, you don't have to say whether you obtained a paper copy or a PDF.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44111,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Do not take it for granted that different versions of a book are identical.</p>\n\n<p>Either cite the version you've used, or use the version you want to cite.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44100",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32015/"
] |
44,107 |
<p>I am a student from India and I have been reading a lot about graduate admissions in US lately. I have read in some article that an average(below average) applicant from the "maybe" pile is moved to an "accepted" pile when their resumes contain something like "hiked in Himalayas".</p>
<p>Now I realize that it is a great achievement but it does not correlate with the capacity to publish quality research papers at all. So how do universities measure the applicants future in academic prospects?</p>
<p>P.S. Sorry, I do not have the link of the article. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44110,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've never seen a graduate admissions committee take anything like this at all seriously, and I would certainly not recommend it as a strategy for getting into grad school. If anything, emphasizing irrelevant experience makes applicants look clueless and may hurt their chances of admission.</p>\n\n<p>But I agree that you can read all sorts of strange things in discussions of graduate admissions on the internet. Some commentary is by people who simply don't know what they're talking about, but some is by faculty who have actually served on admissions committees. The best explanation I can give is that certain faculty are just eccentric. If you gather opinions from enough professors, you'll presumably find people who honestly believe that some non-academic experiences (such as hiking in the Himalayas) are so formative or telling that they are enough by themselves to salvage an otherwise mediocre application. I haven't run across this particular opinion myself, but I've certainly worked with admissions committee members whose judgments differed from the rest of the committee's in other ways.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44115,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that you are making a mistake in how you are interpreting the <a href=\"http://matt.might.net/articles/how-to-apply-and-get-in-to-graduate-school-in-science-mathematics-engineering-or-computer-science/\">Matt Might article</a> that others have dug up in the comments. You say:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>average(below average) applicant from the \"maybe\" pile is moved to an \"accepted\" pile</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you read the earlier part of the article on the mathematics of graduate admissions, though, you'll see that's almost certainly not what's going on. The pool of good applications for graduate schools is pretty deep, and University of Utah is a good school that will draw a lot of good applicants. Anybody in this professor's \"Maybe\" pile is probably not an average applicant, but a rather above-average applicant, and the extra tidbit is a tie-breaker that nudges them ahead of other good applicants.</p>\n\n<p>In other words: there's probably a whole lot of academic promise already shown, and the \"Hiking the Himalayas\" bit is a somewhat different dimension that resonates with this particular highly opinionated professor. Another professor might just as easily look at that and say, \"Now there's a person who won't be happy in the lab all day!\"</p>\n\n<p>And that goes back to what I see as one of the key messages early in the article: \"The most important advice from this book is to get in touch with your potential advisor before you apply.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44137,
"author": "Katheryn",
"author_id": 33584,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33584",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, kudos that you are thinking so hard about your application! :-D</p>\n\n<p>My guess is that you should put down in your resume <em>anything</em> that you feel qualifies you for the job in question. I tend to shy away from putting hobbies in, but if they brand you in a way you want to appear for the job in question, I think it could help to add them! </p>\n\n<p>I would say \"hiking in the Himalayas\" could show that you have: An adventurous spirit, determination, an ability to think \"out of the box\", a well-balanced life...lots of positive qualities that look good in a graduate student! :-) Whatever brands you as the kind of person that would do well in that job. If you're a home baker, it could show that you: have an experimental streak, are settled and comfortable with yourself, or are a nourishing, supportive person. </p>\n\n<p>I liked the previous answer saying that different qualities will appeal to different professors, and it helps if you know them. But ultimately, be yourself and think about the \"fit\" between your intrinsic qualities and the job you're applying for, and fit them together. </p>\n\n<p>All the best with finding your position!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44107",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31973/"
] |
44,112 |
<p>I am a graduate student in English working on my final paper for a class. I was assigned a particular author to write on, but about halfway through the semester another student wanted to write on that author so I agreed to write on a different author. I had already read some articles on this second author so I thought I would be able to come up with a good paper topic. I thought I had come up with a good idea for a thesis, but as I did my research, I found that my thesis contained essentially the same idea as a supporting argument expressed in one of the articles I had read. I expressed my concern to my professor as I began working on my paper; he read the first few pages and said he did not see a problem. I have cited the author's statements and ideas that I feel coincide with mine, but I still have a troubled conscience -- I feel that my ideas are not sufficiently my own and that my thesis is far too similar to the arguments in this article. It is too late for me to start on another paper, but I'm not sure that I can in good conscience turn in this paper. If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44117,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From your description, it doesn't sound like a question of <em>plagiarism</em> (you say you're referencing the relevant paper, and I assume you're either paraphrasing it or using quotation marks as appropriate), but a possible lack of <em>novelty</em>. Lack of novelty is more of an issue when you're trying to publish in a journal or present at a conference. Usually class assignments don't have to be novel; they just have to reflect your own work. If your professor is satisfied, I don't think you have a problem. I would do my best to extend the ideas from the other paper, i.e. add something to their analysis.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44118,
"author": "gnometorule",
"author_id": 4384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4384",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think your concern reflects well on you (as does agreeing to let someone else take your first choice), but the way I read your question is that (1) you formed an opinion what to write, then (2) discovered in other secondary literature that someone else agrees with you, and had already made supporting arguments similar to yours. </p>\n\n<p>That's not plagiarism. It just means that your work is less novel than you'd probably hoped. As your professor considers it adequate for purposes of your class, you should be fine. </p>\n\n<p>I'd shy away from reading more of that source though to make it less likely to be subconsciously influenced by their reasoning. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44160,
"author": "confused",
"author_id": 32010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32010",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know this paper probably does not have the rigor of an academic journal publication but in many disciplines it is common to include a section reviewing relevant publications and how they relate to your work. </p>\n\n<p>Perhaps you could include a small section in your paper reviewing other papers and highlighting the difference between those papers and yours (even if the differences may be small) or how your work builds and improves upon the other papers.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44112",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33555/"
] |
44,113 |
<p>At my school, I see some professors, associate and higher, teach only 1 course per semester while others, assistants and full, teach 3 or 4 per semester. Some semesters, the ones teaching only one course may teach an upper PhD level course, while other semesters they'll teach a junior or senior level undergrad course, but it's never more than 1 course. Meanwhile, the ones teaching 3 or 4 teach all levels of undergrad and grad.</p>
<p><strong>Why is this?</strong></p>
<p>Do professors earn less salary if they teach less courses?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44114,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depending on the department, the rules can be very different, but here are some things that I have seen that can lead to teaching reduction from a theoretical teaching load that is the same across the board:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><em>New faculty</em>. Think of it as both a hiring bonus and a humanitarian \"you are still settling in so we won't burden you too much.\" </li>\n<li><em>Super big shot</em>. Some \"research stars\" can negotiate their way to a semi-permanently reduced teaching load; this is on the theory that their name recognition and the research grants that they can supposedly bring in will benefit the department greatly, and that in theory it is more cost effective to let them spend more time in research and less time teaching. </li>\n<li><em>Grant buy-out</em>. Certain schools operate on a system where faculty can buy out of their teaching load by obtaining sufficiently large or prestigious research grants. </li>\n<li><em>Other service</em>. Professors taking on administrative duties (chair, director of graduate/undergraduate studies, for example) get reduced teaching loads on the principle that they are serving the department in other capacities. </li>\n<li><em>Student mentoring</em>. Some departments have established exchange rates of X graduating PhD students = 1 course, and Y undergraduate research students = 1 course to encourage participation in student research. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Also, some people just love to teach. While professorial contracts usually state a minimum teaching load, I have not seen a case where a maximum teaching load is prescribed. </p>\n\n<p>In addition, at many departments the teaching is, by design, not equal across the board. Many universities hire special teaching faculty or adjunct professors. Sometimes these hires (temporary or not) do not have different sounding academic titles. Whereas research faculty typically have teaching loads of about 3 courses per year, the teaching faculty are contractually obliged to teach 6 to 8 per year (and many adjuncts are paid \"per course\" so the more they teach the closer to a living wage they earn). You cannot always tell from their titles in which category the professor is hired. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44138,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The other answer hits the main points, but here are some supplementary points.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Grant buy-outs are not so common in math, from my experience. However some departments will provide teaching reductions for getting grants, or for some departments where there is more of a split between research/teaching and teaching-only, just being \"research active.\" </li>\n<li>Some departments provide teaching credits for extra teaching work, so one get course reductions for this, in addition to administrative service or student mentoring mentioned in the other example. (E.g., if the normal load is 6 credits/semester but you teach 2 4-credit courses, you get 2 credits in the bank.)</li>\n<li>Sometimes one can do more teaching in one semester to free up another semester.</li>\n<li>One might teach more for extra pay.</li>\n<li>I think this is rare, but I know one department which will let faculty teach less in a semester for lower pay. I think the intent is akin to that of a sabbatical program, but at least one person uses it quite regularly.</li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44113",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24194/"
] |
44,120 |
<p>Is a three years bachelors degree in Commerce and three years bachelors degree in Law from India termed to be equivalent to have a four years graduate degree from the US?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44121,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many universities in the US will not admit students from India (or other commonwealth countries) with 3 year bachelors degrees into graduate programs. In such cases the expectation is that students will have either completed an honors year or gotten a master's degree before applying to the graduate program in the US. In this sense, a 3 year bachelors degree from India is often not considered to be equivalent to a four year bachelors degree. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44131,
"author": "user",
"author_id": 31973,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31973",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>US does not have centralized rules about such things. It's in the hand of each university how they want to handle it. </p>\n\n<p>Very few US universities will admit students with a 3 year bachelors from India. You can check that by writing a mail to the admissions office of the respective university.</p>\n\n<p>Majority of the universities however will not accept the 3 year bachelors. For these universities, you will have to complete 16 years of formal education(10+2+4). This means that <strong>you will either have to complete a masters degree or some additional one year degree</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Note that most of the B-schools accept Indian 3 year bachelors nevertheless.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 125485,
"author": "Aryan",
"author_id": 104877,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/104877",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>IISc, IITs etc have BSc/ MSc (Only very few Indian university can offer BS/ MS after proofing that their name will not create any contradiction, like ISI is offering MS(QE), MS(QMS) and MS(LIS), BS/ MS is reserve for Bachelor/ Master of Surgery) degrees equivalent to BTech/ BS/ MTech/ MS, Which are four year Degrees, In addition IITs also conduct MSc programme through JAM, Which are equivalent to traditional MSc degrees.\nMost of the tier one US Uni doesn't consider 3 year degrees for postgraduate admission in general circumstances (I know some guys who made their appearance in PhD program of Stanford/ Pennsylvania/ Harvard with 3 years degree from ISI) but more than 80% of Uni do accept 3years degree, provided that student has studied in a college having A++ NAAC Grade(3.5+ cgpa) and scored more than 60% or 6.5/7.5 cgpa on 10/9 scale.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44120",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33565/"
] |
44,122 |
<p>College admissions in the U.S. takes into account many factors that are rarely considered in other countries and seem unrelated to academics. For example, legacy status (children of alumni may be given preference), athletics, extracurricular activities, etc. Why do these nonacademic criteria play a larger role in the U.S. than they do elsewhere?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44124,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
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"text": "<p>Many of your questions are difficult to answer without a larger industry/history lesson, but you can find much of that information by searching for it.</p>\n\n<p>As for your actual question, why do schools care about non-academic things;</p>\n\n<p>There are many reasons, but these 'non-academic' things are what makes well rounded people that are likely to succeed. Leaving the country and helping people in need is just one of many ways to show that your mind is broader, which helps creative thinking, which helps problem solving, which helps you to succeed. </p>\n\n<p>The act of doing something non-academic in a group setting shows ability to work cooperatively. It shows a diverse background, which is regarded as important by many prominent institutions because diversity in academic settings helps improve educational experiences.</p>\n\n<p>In essence, your question is the same as \"Why do undergraduate students in Engineering need to take non-engineering classes?\" If you don't know the answer, im sure you can find other posts about this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44127,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
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"text": "<p>As with any complicated social phenomenon, there is no simple and conclusive answer. However, here are two important factors:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The U.S. didn't have world-class universities until the 20th century. Even ones that are world-famous today (such as Harvard or Yale) did not particularly impress 19th century Europeans. These universities had started out as vocational schools for pastors and gradually turned into finishing schools for the elite, but they weren't scholarly powerhouses. In the early 20th century, there started to be more academic competition for admission. This was very upsetting to the traditional students (largely wealthy young men from prep schools), who didn't want to be around too many Jews or other minorities or to have to compete with nerds for grades. One tactic universities used in response was quotas for Jews, but the Nazis made that look bad. Leading U.S. universities then moved on in the 1930's to develop other methods to ensure that they could pick whichever students they wanted. For example, geographic diversity (you should take students from Kansas to avoid having too many New Yorkers), preferences for children of alumni, athletic recruitment (you really need a strong lacrosse team and fencing team), well roundedness (students should study hard but not be too nerdy), extracurricular activities, etc. Jerome Karabel has documented this history in his book <a href=\"http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Chosen.html?id=1Nf3FxMIEB8C\">The Chosen</a>.</p></li>\n<li><p>What is Harvard's purpose in educating students? People often imagine the goal is to educate smart people, and that corruption is the only explanation for why Harvard would deliberately admit a wealthy applicant over someone more talented but poor. However, this is thinking about it completely wrong. Harvard's primary goal isn't to educate smart people, but rather to have an impact on the world by educating influential people. They want to educate the people who are going to grow up to become leaders of all sorts (social, political, commercial, academic, etc.), and while they are happy to help shape who becomes a leader, they know perfectly well that wealth and privilege play a major role. When Harvard admits someone whose wealth exceeds his intellectual talents, it's because they want to help set the national agenda by providing this person's education. From this perspective, all the strange admissions criteria are an excuse for Harvard to select whoever they feel has the most potential to change the world, taking into account all aspects of their talents and background.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So what about other universities? The first axiom of higher education in the U.S. is that everybody imitates the most prestigious universities. If Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are doing something, then everyone else will follow. Not necessarily in exactly the same way: different universities may employ very different criteria for admission, thanks to different goals regarding who they want to educate. But they almost all use the same basic framework for what information is relevant to their decision.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44132,
"author": "DVK",
"author_id": 20300,
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"text": "<p>I'll answer the less-obvious point that other answers so far missed:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li><em>Colleges practice sport recruiting, whereby athletes are recruited by the colleges for their athletic promise, over other applicants who might be more qualified in terms of academics.</em></li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The reason for this is that most US colleges are funded in large part by college Alumni donating money.</p>\n\n<p>And college Alumni donate more money if the college has a successful sports team(s).</p>\n\n<p>Here's one study showing causation</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/03/report-finds-alumni-giving-among-other-areas-correlated-football-success\">https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/03/report-finds-alumni-giving-among-other-areas-correlated-football-success</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Anderson’s report found that for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams -- teams that compete during the season and are potentially eligible for postseason bowl games -- winning football games increases alumni athletic donations, enhances academic reputation, increases the number of applicants and in-state students, reduces acceptance rates and raises average incoming SAT scores.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Please note that the other benefits are also somewhat explainable - college athletics is pretty visible in US culture, and therefore a university's brand among possible applicants is raised significantly - a LOT more people can name top NCAA winners than top colleges with best biology superstar professor.</p>\n\n<p>A totally unrelated reason is tradition - USA has a very long tradition that sound body is a big plus for a sound mind (it's not a uniquely USA thing, of course - the same idea was held from Ancient Greece to Russia to modern scientific studies results). As such, a good student was always expected to be able to do athletics for well-roundedness.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Interestingly, the \"legacy\" point also is influenced the same monetary way - a wealthy Alumni is more likely to donate to the college if their family member, especially offspring, will attend.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44133,
"author": "Emerson",
"author_id": 33579,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33579",
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"text": "<h2>Extra-Curriculars</h2>\n\n<p>There are a few reasons why US Colleges make some of these selection criteria. Having extra curricular activities shows a number of potentially important things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>the ability to juggle more than just school (I can volunteer and play a sport on top of keeping my grades</li>\n<li>travel can indicate a wider range of interesting experiences</li>\n<li>Interesting students will do interesting things, which can be good for recruitment</li>\n<li>Being successful in a variety of areas indicates a general ability to succeed better than being successful in only one (and Universities here gain prestige by having successful alumni).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Something worth noting - in most places in the world University is about specializing. You take one subject, gain mastery in it, move on to work in that subject. In the US this is not the case. We value a \"broad\" education where you are required to study many subjects that have little to do with your major - in fact many people do not decide their majors until a year or two in (we feel this creates \"well-rounded\" people). As a result students who have evidence of non-academic achievements can be favored over those who focused their efforts (especially if both candidates have comparable grades).</p>\n\n<h2>Affirmative Action</h2>\n\n<p>You highlight on \"quotas\" (often referred to here as \"Affirmative Action\"). Ultimately it is a political issue. The idea is to ensure fairness. At one point (basically any time before 1970) a perfectly qualified black woman would be passed over in preference for a white male. Rules (and often laws) were enacted to say that women (and other minorities) needed to be fairly represented in the school (and business) - the quota was the way to ensure the school would look at the non-preferred candidates. Legally Affirmative Action is not discrimination, and in many jurisdictions it is still legally mandated.</p>\n\n<p>Whether the practice is discrimination or not is highly subjective (to my incredibly intelligent mother who likely got a chance at earning her BS and MS in Computer Science <strong>only</strong> because Duke had to let women in for their \"quota\" it was not discrimination).</p>\n\n<h2>Finances</h2>\n\n<p>(Disclaimer, there is a large amount of politics in the discussion over what is \"necessary spending\" for universities in the US, and the high cost of tuition)</p>\n\n<p>The rest of your questions are actually talking about the same point. I am not familiar with universities in India, but in many places in the world universities are fundamentally part of the state - the state either directly runs the institution, or it subsidizes most to all of the cost for the students attending.</p>\n\n<p>In the US there are a few state sponsored schools, but individual US States get to determine the amount of support those schools get, and most schools are not well funded in the state's budget. In addition there are a large number of private schools that do not receive any funding (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, etc.). For most schools in the US, they have to fund their own budgets. These budgets include facility/maintenance fees (paint, lights, utilities, etc.), staff pay (student, faculty, and non-faculty employees), expansion to the campus, and all the other things the school pays for (e.g. having a gym, hosting symposiums, etc.).</p>\n\n<p>Tuition is very high ($20000+ per <em>year</em> is pretty common), but even still is often not enough to cover the budget. Thus the school relies on other things to pull in revenue - research grants can help, but are earmarked for specific projects and do not help with general budget goals. The two other major sources of income Universities can get are donations, and \"event fees\".</p>\n\n<p>Donations often come from alumni who are grateful for their success. The school does not want to upset great donors - nor potential future donors - and will give preferential treatment to children of alumni as a result.</p>\n\n<p>\"Event Fees\" can come from a number of things (e.g. hosting a conference/symposium, putting on a play or concert, etc.), but in general Universities believe that Sporting activities bring in the most money (for the rest of this I will assume that is true, even though there is evidence that is not always the case). Sporting events bring in money through a few avenues:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>More donations from fervent supporters of the school's teams</li>\n<li>Ticket sales</li>\n<li>Merchandise sales</li>\n<li>Advertising</li>\n<li>Concessions</li>\n<li>Some competitions pay winning teams in some way</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Because the schools with the best teams get the strongest support and thus the most income from all of those avenues, schools do what they can to ensure their teams are the best. Sometimes the best athletes are exceptional academically, but more often they are not. Since the school wants the best athletes they will provide scholarships and admission to candidates who might have been disqualified academically.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44190,
"author": "Elliot Gorokhovsky",
"author_id": 24649,
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"text": "<p>My dad was admitted to the university in Novisibiersk in the late sixties, which was indesputably one of the top three technical universities in Russia. He said the only admission criterion was an exam with olympiad-level math questions, which kids studied for all through high school much like some American kids study for the USAMO etc. </p>\n\n<p>Now, the reason I mention this is because he said the reason why admissions here are different not only from Russia but from most of the rest of the world is because in other countries, the students study to serve the state, while in America, the universities provide education as a service to students.</p>\n\n<p>In most other countries, a student is accepted on the basis of the expected value he can bring to society if he is given the appropriate educational opportunity, and then his education is subsidized on the expectation that by studying he can improve the general economy of the state. </p>\n\n<p>However, in America the state pays little (especially for private schools) because education is not a service the individual is doing so he can better the state: it's a service being given to the individual so he can better himself. Even when the government expands measures to pay for student loans etc. the main motivation is to aid poor people in improving themselves, not aiding smart people in improving the state. There isn't anything inherently wrong with this, it's just different and perhaps less efficient. </p>\n\n<p>So that's why American schools don't care so much about academics: they don't care as much about how you do because they aren't investing in you. In fact, you're investing in them, and the return on that investment is an education you can use to get a better job. So they take into account criteria related to how much you'll improve their image, how much you'll be likely to donate later in life, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44202,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
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"text": "<p>One further point that I haven't seen yet in the other answers relates to a general philosophy of education. </p>\n\n<p>My impression is that in many countries, the philosophy of education is centered around the development of technical skills. In the United States, however, it is often held that the primary purpose of education is to develop a creative and insightful mind. </p>\n\n<p>This philosophy is reflected in the \"breadth\" or \"common core\" requirements that appear at many universities, which assume that a student cannot be considered \"well educated\" unless they have been taught to think in ways other than is preferred by by their discipline. For example, as an undergraduate at MIT, I was required to take classes from a range of scientific disciplines (math, biology, physics, chemistry), and also a humanities course in every semester, as well as doing a humanities focus entirely unrelated to my major.</p>\n\n<p>This notion that intellectual \"breadth\" is as important as intellectual \"depth\" seems to play a strong role in the way in which admissions are handled for US undergraduates. Whether it is truly a good or bad thing is something there is currently no clear answer to, but some have argued that this philosophy may be an important contributor to the highly successful US \"startup\" and small business culture.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44209,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
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"text": "<p>Specific example of why this is considered: MIT has been known to turn down people with top grades when there's evidence that they will deal very poorly with no longer being at the top of their class. Someone who can draw good grades and sustain extracurricular activities is more likely to survive in that environment than someone who got those grades by doing nothing but study.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44211,
"author": "flndrsql",
"author_id": 33652,
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"text": "<p>I always assumed parents would complain that their precious child was not being measured accurately if admissions criteria did not include ridiculous things like hiking in the Himalayas.</p>\n\n<p>But there’s also not really any choice. As a current college student in a fairly elite college with fairly elite stats, I of all people know that high-school GPAs and the SAT are meaningless for college success. A lot of high schools, like inner city or rural schools, produce kids with high GPAs and the inability to do basic math. The SAT is something you can study maybe three weeks for and get a full score on. The most impressive thing I can see on a resume is doing well in Math Olympiad or high-school programming/robotics contests. That is not something available to everyone.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, colleges need to separate kids somehow, and the basic criteria, like GPA and standardized test scores are just not adequate. So they turn to feel-good things like trips to Nepal. It’s almost not the college’s fault... except they could imitate the Asian system and administer their own personal examinations for entrance. That would make a lot more sense, but you would have to refer to my first comment about over-sensitive parents and college administrators as for why that would not work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44290,
"author": "jls",
"author_id": 33691,
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"text": "<p>Extra curricular activities indicate levels of involvement and discipline that grades alone don't always reflect. If two students have equivalent grades and equivalent coursework, it's more impressive if one student was able to do that while participating in a sport, a music group, and volunteering while the other student did not have these additional time constraints. A university would likely see a student with strong extracurricular involvement as one who would be more likely to be involved in activities in college, which can benefit the school by improving its image (\"look at our students giving back to the community\") or through research (the \"do it all\" types may be more likely to participate in undergrad research). Colleges like well-rounded students, and having extracurricular involvement shows well-roundedness.</p>\n\n<p>Legacy students...that's an entirely different matter in my opinion. That may be more to appease the alumni parents who might donate. Also, if the parents are alums, the kid may be more likely to matriculate (because colleges want a high matriculation rate among accepted students) and be successful (if the parents were able to graduate, the kid probably would as well).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44297,
"author": "JVNick",
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"text": "<p>I think a lot of the other answers here have some good points, but I think the most important thing you need to remember about universities in America is that they are BUSINESSES. Education is the primary service that they provide, but they are also selling things like prestige (how good does your University degree look on your resume/CV?), contacts/networking, sports programs (many professional athletes start at colleges that have top-notch sports teams), etc.</p>\n\n<p>My guess is that the United States probably has more universities than any other country and therefore has the most competition amongst them than in other countries. A university's admissions \"formula\" is like a food company's recipe or a technology company's patents - it provides a competitive advantage (hopefully) and is constantly reviewed and tweaked in an effort to maximize profits.</p>\n\n<p>When looked at through the eyes of a business looking to maximize profit, it's pretty obvious why legacy students, promising student athletes, minorities and foreigners, etc are admitted - it all ultimately leads to more revenue over time.</p>\n\n<p>Some examples:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Endowments are the #1 source of funding for universities. Harvard's is around $35B (yes, that's BILLION) while Yale's is around $25B. Thus it's obvious why sons and daughters of alumni are given preferential treatment in admissions.</li>\n<li>College sports is BIG business. Recruiting and admitting talented student athletes is a no-brainer for universities.</li>\n<li>Part of the \"university business\" is hiring and keeping the best professors. Famous people like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Cornell West can teach anywhere they want. I bet they don't want to teach at a university with a homogenous (i.e., dull) student body. Professors are also very liberal and therefore support initiatives like affirmative action. Also, they want to go where the money is!!</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Like I said, other people have some good points, but having received my undergraduate degree from Harvard and my master's degree from New York University I've seen firsthand how these educational institutions are just like any other business in America.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44313,
"author": "Stephan Branczyk",
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"text": "<p>In the US, it all comes down to decentralized control and funding.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Education is primarily a State and local responsibility in the United\n States. </p>\n \n <p><a href=\"http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">[source]</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is actually a consequence of the US constitution which limits the reach of the Federal government in States affairs. Even in the few instances where some Federal funds are allocated to education, the Federal government will usually disburse those funds and leave the implementation details to the States themselves.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It is States and communities, as well as public and private\n organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges,\n develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and\n graduation. The structure of education finance in America reflects\n this predominant State and local role.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">[source]</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In other words, there is not one single academic standard that runs across the entire United States and there is not a single standard way to measure the abilities of students. One could say that the SAT and the ACT are such standards, but those are not government-sponsored, nor government-mandated, they're just private and proprietary products owned and licensed by the companies that developed them, and those tests are just partial bandaid solutions that have evolved over time as a direct result of not having standards in the first place. </p>\n\n<p>In any case, even if academic abilities could be measured accurately, there is still the issue of which entities and special interests are funding the University. If it's a particular State, it wants the children of its electorates (this is usually written in their charter). If it's private donors, then it means they want their children and the children of their friends to be accepted (that's also written in their charter, but instead of using the word \"nepotism\", the euphemism \"legacy\" is used instead). If it's the military (through the ROTC, or the GI Bill), it wants its recruits and its veterans and/or their dependents to be accepted by the schools it funds (keep this in mind if you ever want to become a Medical Doctor and don't have the best absolute grades for it). </p>\n\n<p>If a University was started by funds from a particular religion, or if it is supported by local politicians, or by local private interests, that are predominantly one religion, then it will tend to favor members from that particular religion. The same goes for Universities that practice racial discrimination (whether be it the negative kind of discrimination and preferential nepotism, or affirmative action which is supposed to correct past discrimination and past nepotism). </p>\n\n<p>And if a University depends on the funds from college sports, either franchising, rebroadcasting rights, increased publicity, and/or increased donations from Alumni, then it will do its very best to recruit athletes for its sports teams through its admission process. </p>\n\n<p>In the US, professional sports leagues are government-backed monopolies (exempt from anti-trust regulations). Those sports leagues artificially limit the number of teams they allow to very low numbers (at least compared to our population size). And semi-professional college leagues end up filling the gaps left by professional leagues, except that schools are legally required not to pay their athletes (except for tuition and expense reimbursements), thus creating a real bargain for each school. </p>\n\n<p>Also on the athletic side of things, even if you're not good enough to play on a college league for a University, having attended school both in France and in the US, I'll disagree with you and say that athleticism probably has a bigger role in France than in the US. The French school system has a standardized and a rigorous way of testing high school students for general physical education, which will figure as a part of their Baccalauréat and therefore indirectly be a part of the overall criteria used for University admissions. But physical education in the US is largely dependent on the particular high school you attended. In California, where I attended, it was basically a joke (and thus can not be relied on for University admissions, unless you took sports as extracurricular activities, thus this would explain why they would want you to list those extracurricular sports on college applications). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 115429,
"author": "Community",
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"text": "<p>Because it is a way for universities to discriminate students while keeping plausible deniability.</p>\n\n<p>Universities in the US have a history of discrimination. After WW1, universities were faced with an influx of immigrant students, in particular Jewish students. To \"cope\" with this, they started by creating quotas of students (again, in particular, Jewish students). This soon became unacceptable for obvious reasons. This is when universities started to introduce more unusual criteria when evaluating incoming students, such as \"geographic diversity\", \"character\", and \"familial ascendancy\". This in particular included so-called \"legacy\" criteria, where students were given a bonus if their parents went to the same university.</p>\n\n<p>A key point in all this is that the universities never reveal how much weight they give to each criterion. This makes for a completely opaque selection system. A student can never be sure <em>why</em> they were rejected. They can rationalize it by thinking that their \"extracurricular\" activities were not good enough. But how would they know? It may be another, less tasteful criterion that prevented them from getting in, such as who knows who, where there parents studied, the personal biases of the selection committee regarding ethnicity and religion, and so on.</p>\n\n<p>In practice, this is simply a way for the elite to remain the elite. For example, at Harvard, 29% of students had a parent who went to Harvard. (Think about it; this number is insane.) More than half the students come from the 10% richest families. Students from the 1% richest families are as many as students from the 60% poorest. Students from minorities account for 12.5% of candidates, and 6.7% of accepted students. A study found that in the top 10 US universities, being a \"son of\" (a former student) gave you the same increase in chances as a 160 points boost on your SAT. In 2011, another study found that in the top 30 universities, children of former students had 45 points more in chances of being accepted (i.e. if based on qualifications the student had 40% chances of being accepted, then their \"legacy\" means that they actually have 85% of being accepted).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Note that unfortunately this is not limited to the USA. This year's changes in undergrad admissions in France are starting to implement similar ideas, although on a smaller scale, and some universities try to be open about the weight assigned to each criterion. I would not be surprised if this happened in other countries too.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>A lot of the information in this answer comes from <a href=\"https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2018/06/KAHLENBERG/58772\" rel=\"noreferrer\">this article</a> written by <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kahlenberg\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Richard Kahlenberg</a>. The article is not freely accessible and is written in French, but below is the (freely accessible) list of references used in the article, most in English.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>(1) Michael Lind, « Legacy preferences in a democratic republic »,\n dans Richard D. Kahlenberg (sous la dir. de), Affirmative Action for\n the Rich, op. cit.</p>\n \n <p>(2) Jessica M. Wang et Brian P. Yu, « Meet the class of 2021 », The\n Harvard Crimson, 2017.</p>\n \n <p>(3) Richard V. Reeves, Dream Hoarders : How the American Upper Middle\n Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and\n What to Do About It, Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC,\n 2017. Lire également « Classe sans risque », Le Monde diplomatique, octobre 2017.</p>\n \n <p>(4) Cf. Daniel Golden, The Price of Admission : How America’s Ruling\n Class Buys Its Way Into Elite Colleges — and Who Gets Left Outside the\n Gates, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2007.</p>\n \n <p>(5) John Brittain et Eric L. Bloom, « Admitting the truth : the effect\n of affirmative action, legacy preferences and the meritocratic ideal\n on students of color in college admissions », dans Affirmative Action\n for the Rich, op. cit.</p>\n \n <p>(6) Thomas J. Espenshade, Chang Y. Chung et Joan L. Walling, «\n Admission preferences for minority students, athletes, and legacies at\n elite universities » (PDF), Social Science Quarterly, vol. 85, n° 5,\n Hoboken (New Jersey), décembre 2004.</p>\n \n <p>(7) Michael Hurwitz, « The impact of legacy status on undergraduate\n admissions at elite colleges and universities », Economics of\n Education Review, vol. 30, n° 3, Amsterdam, juin 2011.</p>\n \n <p>(8) Steve D. Shadowen, Sozi Pedro Tulante et Shara L. Alpern, « No\n distinctions except those which merit originates : the unlawfulness of\n legacy preferences in public and private universities », Santa Clara\n Law Review, vol. 49, n° 1, 2009.</p>\n \n <p>(9) Thomas R. Dye, Who’s Running America ? The Obama Reign, Paradigm\n Publishers, Boulder (Colorado), 2014.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 115502,
"author": "John Slegers",
"author_id": 37939,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/37939",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9646/najib-idrissi\">Najib Idrissi</a> pointed out, nonacademic criteria play a large role in the admissions process in the US, because it is a way for universities to discriminate students while keeping plausible deniability. It is a common misconception, however, that it's mostly rich White men who benefit from this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Perhaps the most detailed statistical research into the actual\n admissions practices of American universities has been conducted by\n Princeton sociology professor Thomas J. Espenshade and his colleagues,\n whose results were summarized in his 2009 book No Longer Separate, Not\n Yet Equal, co-authored with Alexandria Walton Radford. Their findings\n provide an empirical look at the individual factors that dramatically\n raise or lower the likelihood of acceptance into the leading American\n universities which select the next generation of our national elites.</p>\n \n <p>The research certainly supports the widespread perception that\n non-academic factors play a major role in the process, including\n athletic ability and “legacy” status. But as we saw earlier, even more\n significant are racial factors, with black ancestry being worth the\n equivalent of 310 points, Hispanics gaining 130 points, and Asian\n students being penalized by 140 points, all relative to white\n applicants on the 1600 point Math and Reading SAT scale.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Here's how it typically works:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Consider the case of Tiffany Wang, a Chinese immigrant student raised\n in the Silicon Valley area, where her father worked as an engineer.\n Although English was not her first language, her SAT scores were over\n 100 points above the Wesleyan average, and she ranked as a National\n Merit Scholarship semifinalist, putting her in the top 0.5 percent of\n high school students (not the top 2 percent as Steinberg mistakenly\n claims). Nevertheless, the admissions officer rated her just so-so in\n academics, and seemed far more positively impressed by her ethnic\n activism in the local school’s Asian-American club. Ultimately, he\n stamped her with a “Reject,” but later admitted to Steinberg that she\n might have been admitted if he had been aware of the enormous time and\n effort she had spent campaigning against the death penalty, a\n political cause near and dear to his own heart. Somehow I suspect that\n a student who boasted of leadership in pro-death penalty activism\n among his extracurriculars might have fared rather worse in this\n process. And presumably for similar reasons, Tiffany was also rejected\n by all her other prestigious college choices, including Yale, Penn,\n Duke, and Wellesley, an outcome which greatly surprised and\n disappointed her immigrant father.</p>\n \n <p>There was also the case of half-Brazilian Julianna Bentes, with slight\n black ancestry, who came from a middle-class family and attended on a\n partial scholarship one of America’s most elite prep schools, whose\n annual tuition now tops $30,000; her SAT scores were somewhat higher\n than Tiffany’s, and she was an excellent dancer. The combination of\n her academic ability, dancing talent, and “multiracial” background\n ranked her as one of America’s top college recruitment prospects,\n gaining her admission and generous financial packages from Harvard,\n Yale, Stanford and every other elite university to which she applied,\n including the University of Chicago’s most prestigious academic\n scholarship award and a personal opportunity to meet Chelsea Clinton\n while visiting Stanford, which she did, before ultimately selecting\n Yale.</p>\n \n <p>Finally, there was the case of Becca Jannol, a girl from a very\n affluent Jewish family near Beverly Hills, who attended the same elite\n prep school as Julianna, but with her parents paying the full annual\n tuition. Despite her every possible advantage, including test-prep\n courses and retaking the exam, her SAT scores were some 240 points\n lower on the 1600 point scale, placing her toward the bottom of the\n Wesleyan range, while her application essay focused on the\n philosophical challenges she encountered when she was suspended for\n illegal drug use. But she was a great favorite of her prep school\n counselor, who was an old college friend of the Wesleyan admissions\n officer, and using his discretion, he stamped her “Admit.” Her dismal\n academic record then caused this initial decision to be overturned by\n a unanimous vote of the other members of the full admissions\n committee, but he refused to give up, and moved heaven and earth to\n gain her a spot, even offering to rescind the admissions of one or\n more already selected applicants to create a place for her. Eventually\n he got her shifted from the Reject category to wait-list status, after\n which he secretly moved her folder to the very top of the large\n waiting list pile.</p>\n \n <p>In the end “connections” triumphed, and she received admission to\n Wesleyan, although she turned it down in favor of an offer from more\n prestigious Cornell, which she had obtained through similar means. But\n at Cornell, she found herself “miserable,” hating the classes and\n saying she “didn’t see the usefulness of [her] being there.” However,\n her poor academic ability proved no hindrance, since the same\n administrator who had arranged her admission also wrangled her a quick\n entrance into a special “honors program” he personally ran, containing\n just 40 of the 3500 students in her year. This exempted her from all\n academic graduation requirements, apparently including classes or\n tests, thereby allowing her to spend her four college years mostly\n traveling around the world while working on a so-called “special\n project.” After graduation, she eventually took a job at her father’s\n successful law firm, thereby realizing her obvious potential as a\n member of America’s ruling Ivy League elite, or in her own words, as\n being one of “the best of the best.”</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44122",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33568/"
] |
44,139 |
<p>I am currently studying at an university in Europe (undergraduate, first year)and would like to transfer (next year or in two years) to an university in UK. UCAS requires a reference to accompany your application.</p>
<p>I have a very successful academic career, I have taken all exams of my year and also some of my next years, and have obtained the highest mark ("cum laude") in almost all of them. The reason for transferring, therefore, is to get into a more challenging university.</p>
<p>Is it appropriate to ask a professor of my current university for a reference letter, given that it will be used as part of an application to another university?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44140,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h2>Yes!</h2>\n\n<p>In fact, it would be inappropriate <strong>not</strong> to ask at least one professor at your current university for a reference letter, as direct evidence of your success.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 57367,
"author": "dwoz",
"author_id": 38642,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38642",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No professor is going to be \"upset\" that you're forsaking them. They just don't have any position in it, and so the answer is an overwhelming YES.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44139",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33588/"
] |
44,143 |
<p>I am getting closer to the end of Ph.D. studies and in some months I expect to stop the research to seriously work on the thesis. My supervisor has two other students working on slightly different fields than mine. He is involved in many projects and loves to help other people.</p>
<p>I think he trust me deeply, sometimes he tells me about his issues with his other students/people he is following and when I have chance to attend their seminars I understand that they require much more supervision than I do.</p>
<p>We keep talking, off course, but in the last months he welcomed every my initiative without critics. I prepared three conference papers and he basically only corrected few typos, while other people gave me more constructive comments (together with compliments) that boosted the quality of the papers. Getting closer to my defense I would expect a bit "stronger" supervision, maybe some suggestions on how to polish my work. Overall, I am still a student, not an independent researcher. I am worried that at a certain point he may examine my work with more attention, spotting some bad holes and that this may happen too late to properly fill them.</p>
<p>This doubt is stressing me quite much and I think that is also starting to have some negative impact on my productivity. Should I somehow address this issue to him?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44154,
"author": "T K",
"author_id": 12656,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12656",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some advisors have a style of viewing supervision the same way ER doctors look at treatment. The key word is triage. Where there's a need to make things okay, he/she will be there. My advisor had the same viewpoint as he was very busy with other work and saw our meetings more as a checking-in as a friend than supervision. I thought that when all the other students graduated, he'd give me the same amount of time as they got, but that was untrue. He continued with the same amount.</p>\n\n<p>I asked him about this at the end, and he just said there weren't many crises (there was exactly one, in which he met me within 8 hours to make a game plan with me). Rest assured that your advisor probably is allowing you to create your own research programme and become independent earlier than usually scheduled. This will help your letter from him. From having more of a mentoring friend instead of being strongly supervised, I had an easy transition to postdoc, which is basically how your advisor is treating you now. In my fourth year, I felt almost abandoned. A year into my postdoc, I see that my advisor was the best advisor I could have asked for. </p>\n\n<p>Seems like you're doing great as an independent researcher and your advisor will give you his input if needed but is curious what you'll come up with on your own. A loose leash is a good thing if you're self-motivated.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44201,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You most definitely still need strong supervision, it is just that the type of supervision that you need is shifting. From what you have written, it sounds like you are following a very typical trajectory for a strong graduate student. </p>\n\n<p>Early on, you needed help at a technical level, in order to building basic research skills. Now, however, you need coaching on how to make the transition from student to independent researcher. Learning self-assessment as a researcher and having a <em>reasonable</em> degree of confidence in your self-assessment (not too high or too low) are important skills to develop in the range from late graduate school through postdoc and early PI years. </p>\n\n<p>You speak about worrying that your advisor will spot bad holes in your work. Where do you think they might be? If you reflect carefully, I am certain that you will find that your feelings are not uniform across your work, but that there are some parts that you are more confident or less confident about. This judgement is something that is important for you to build skill and confidence in, and will also help you to ask for help in a more focused and effective manner (e.g., \"Can you check my narrative in Section 3\" or \"I'm a little worried about this part of this proof\").</p>\n\n<p>This is something that is totally reasonable for you to ask for help with from your advisor. To do this, I would recommend that you shift from asking for a general \"review all of this work\" to instead asking for a second opinion on your judgement of which things are reasonable to worry about and which are under control. It's also entirely reasonable to get feedback from other mentors and peers, not just now but throughout your career: more perspectives are often better, especially as you are preparing to leave the nest and fly on your own.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44143",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33593/"
] |
44,152 |
<p>A comment on <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44122/why-do-undergraduate-admissions-in-the-u-s-take-into-account-nonacademic-criteri/44132?noredirect=1#comment98485_44122">this question on undergraduate admissions</a> notes that a good college might get 10x more applicants <em>who all have the maximum possible grade point average</em>, than the college can admit. <em>(The rest of my question is based on the assumption that is is actually true. If it is not, my question might be based on an incorrect premise.)</em> Coming from The Netherlands, this sounds strange to me. We have a standardised test at the end of secondary school, and few people score average grades higher than 8/10 (passing is 6/10), with people scoring 10.0/10 being practically nonexistent (I seem to recall reading about one such student in the newspaper many years ago). The overall average is <a href="http://www.nu.nl/eindexamens/3419226/scholieren-halen-gemiddeld-zes-examens.html" rel="noreferrer">6.4/10</a> for the school category granting admittance to university. For universities I don't have hard numbers but I would be surprised if more than 1 in 30 students score 10.0/10 in undergraduate introductory calculus. Most students seem to score mostly around 6–7/10, which I believe would translate to E–D in the American system, but I'm not sure. Grades 6–10 are passing grades, grades 1–5 are failing grades. My question is for pre-university tests though, the ones that are used to test if people should be admitted to university.</p>
<p>Why is there so much grade inflation in the USA? Is there no standardised testing for whatever tests are used to establish the grades used for undergraduate admissions? This system would make it very hard for Dutch students to gain admission to American universities, because getting the maximum average grade is virtually unheard of.</p>
<p>See also: <em><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/38679/1033">Do price and value of degrees correlate much?</a></em></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44155,
"author": "Roger Fan",
"author_id": 20375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20375",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are a couple standardized tests used for undergraduate admissions that are generally taken near the end of high school. The <a href=\"http://www.actstudent.org/\">ACT</a> and the <a href=\"https://sat.collegeboard.org/home\">SAT</a> are the most common ones.<sup>1</sup> However, they are only part of the admissions package, and a relatively small part at that (varies by school, but my guess is they get a weight of around 25% or less at most schools).</p>\n\n<p>There are many reasons not to base admissions solely on a single standardized test.<sup>2</sup> One of the biggest is simply that standardized test scores often test studying and resources as much as they test intelligence and preparation. There's already a huge industry built around SAT-specific test preparation, and it's very difficult to argue that this extremely-targeted studying is doing anything beneficial for most student's academic preparation.</p>\n\n<p>Also, keep in mind that the US is a much larger country than European countries, and there is a high amount of geographical mobility among the upper-/middle-class. Undergraduate enrollment in the US is <a href=\"http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98\">around 18 million</a>; that's larger than the entire population of The Netherlands. Because there is a huge prestige factor in going to a top school, almost all of the top students from that huge population will apply to the same 5-10 top colleges in the US. Even if the distribution of scores is the same as a European country, the much larger applicant pool means that top schools are inevitably going to be swamped with near-perfect applications.</p>\n\n<p><sup>1: The number of perfect SAT scores is actually quite low (I am less familiar with the ACT). In 2014, there were only 583 perfect scores out of 1.6 million test-takers. Though if you consider only the two more-important sections, there were 1,922 perfect CR+M scores. Even considering scores that are basically perfect (say, 1550+), less than half of 1% of test-takers reach that level. <a href=\"http://research.collegeboard.org/content/sat-data-tables\">Source</a>. However, that 0.5% translates into Harvard getting probably 5,000 applicants with 1550+ scores, which is already over 3x their regular incoming class.<br>\n2: The <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardized_test#Disadvantages_and_criticism\">wikipedia article</a> talks briefly about some of them, but there's a huge literature debating the advantages and disadvantages.</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44157,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While not directly an answer to either the titular question, or even the statement that there are 10 applicants with perfect GPAs and SATs for every spot, I think the answer is that you do not need a perfect GPA and SAT to get into a top school. For example <a href=\"http://features.thecrimson.com/2013/frosh-survey/admissions.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Harvard</a> publishes self reported GRE and SAT scores of incoming students. While some have perfect, or near perfect, scores on both, there are tails, not very long, but tails none the less. There seems to be many more students with 4.0 GPAs than perfect scores on the SAT.</p>\n\n<p>While GPA inflation likely exists, a <a href=\"http://www.collegeboard.com/html/academicTracker-howtoconvert.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">4.0 GPA is only a 93% average</a> so is not a perfect score. This means you can in fact get a 4.0 GPA with B's (or even lower) in a handful of classes if you offset them by getting g A+'s in other classes. You can also get a 4.0 without ever getting a top grade of A+.</p>\n\n<p>The SATs may also be inflated, but they are <a href=\"https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/sat/sat-percentile-ranks-crit-reading-math-writing-2014.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">standardized</a>. The mean score in each of the three categories is around 500/800 with a minimum scores of 200. Less than 1% get over a 780, and only about 5% get over a 700 in any one category. Presumably less than 5% have a composite score less than 2100/2400. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44188,
"author": "Lynn",
"author_id": 33628,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33628",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you're comparing apples and oranges. Grade point average (GPA) is a reflection of a student's average academic performance across all their classes. It is not based on a single standardized test, and \"maximum GPA\" does not imply perfect test results.</p>\n\n<p>Setting that aside, though, you're also running into a difference in grading philosophy. <a href=\"https://www.nuffic.nl/en/library/grading-systems-in-the-netherlands-the-united-states-and-the-united-kingdom.pdf/view\">This article</a> compares the grading systems in the US, UK, and Netherlands. Quoting from there:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When the 1 through to 10 scale was officially introduced [in the Nethherlands] back to the late 19th\n century, it was decided that a 10 should only be awarded in cases of absolute perfection. Furthermore, as at the time it was felt to be almost blasphemous for mere mortals to be judging what constituted absolute perfection, a 10 was hardly ever awarded. A 9 was considered to be only a slightly less impossible goal to reach.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In contrast, getting a top mark of \"A\" in a US class only requires you to answer 90% of the exam questions correctly, and often accounts for things like attendance, class participation, and more. This is eminently achievable.</p>\n\n<p>Grades in the US are often <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grading_on_a_curve\">normalized</a>, with the <strong>top 10%</strong> of students being awarded an \"A\" grade<sup>(1)</sup>. In contrast, a 10/10 in the Netherlands represents the <strong>top 0.1%</strong> of students.</p>\n\n<p>Based on the conversion tables in that article, I'd say a \"maximum GPA\" in the US would be roughly equivalent to an \"8\" in the Netherlands.</p>\n\n<p>So I wouldn't say that the grades are <em>inflated</em> in the US, per se, just that they're defined differently.</p>\n\n<p><sub>(1) There is some evidence of true <a href=\"http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/04/19/average-high-school-gpas-increased-since-1990\">grade inflation</a> in the US in recent years, but I don't think that's relevant to the disparity between the US and the Netherlands systems.</sub></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44191,
"author": "Miguel",
"author_id": 14695,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14695",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While this is not a proper answer to your question, it applies to the part regarding what happens when you want to compare grades between countries. Consider it an extended comment.</p>\n\n<p>Non-standarization of grades is a huge source of unfairness, in particular in Europe where the common job market it atomized into many sub-systems (countries), each with their own long standing tradition of grading. I have first hand experience with the university grading systems in Spain, Italy and Ireland (so this does not apply to undergrad bachelors admissions, but perhaps masters and doctoral). I now work in a Finnish university but I am not familiar with how the grading is done.</p>\n\n<p>In Spain the grading is 0-10, with 5 being a pass. Anyone scoring above 8 average would be rare. However a passing grade then translates non linearly to a 1-4 scale, where the number of 4s is actually limited per year and subject to the willingness of the teacher to give. What is more, every time you fail an exam this lowers your average, so if you fail once then get say a 6.5/10 on the next exam this will get you a 0.5/4 on the final grade.</p>\n\n<p>In Italy the grading is 0-30 with 18 being a pass. However I observed in my one year in an Italian university that one can actually negotiate their grade with the teacher and if they're not happy simply repeat until they get a grade they're happy with. Any decent student will thus finish with averages above 26/30 and even higher averages in the 28s or 29s are not that uncommon.</p>\n\n<p>In Ireland it matters whether you get \"first class honors\" or not, which I think in practice means getting above 7.5/10 average or so. First class honors will e.g. grant you access to a PhD program skipping the masters. Failing students is a bit regarded as \"not nice\" in Ireland, and as a matter of fact any good student putting some effort will finish with a first class degree.</p>\n\n<p>The three systems above work in their respective countries because people understand how the grading is done and how that reflects on the student's abilities. Whether any of them is inflated is irrelevant within the country because the same bias applies to every student. The issue is when we try to compare students who come from different systems, in particular in the context of the unified European market. I myself had quite a bit of trouble with my admission to an Irish university for a PhD, since my grades were in the Spanish non-linear system. This meant that even if I was a strong student I was put on \"probation\" for a year so I could prove that I could get a PhD despite what my \"poor\" grades indicated.</p>\n\n<p>I think a) standarization of grades or b) official homologation of grades taking into account the countries traditions and renormalization are in great need in Europe.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44197,
"author": "Brian Z",
"author_id": 9298,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9298",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An obvious reason for the exceptional degree of grade inflation in US high schools is that the public school system is extremely decentralized. Different local school systems are each funded not so much according to the number of students they have (as I imagine would be the case in a civilized country like the Netherlands) but according to the property values in their local community. This means that in any given area, neighboring school districts are in competition with each other. When there is a perception that a community has \"good schools\", more families will move there. This perception will in turn help to elevate property values, and therefore to increase the revenue base available to fund the schools. </p>\n\n<p>Here is an interesting illustration from Farifax County in the state of Virginia, as <a href=\"http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1874266,00.html\">reported in Time magazine</a>.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Residents of the high-powered Washington suburb have been battling the school district's tough grading practices; chief among their complaints is that a score of 93% gets recorded as a lowly B+. After forming an official protest group called Fairgrade last year and goading the school board into voting on whether to ease the standards, parents marshaled 10,000 signatures online and on Jan. 22 gathered nearly 500 supporters to help plead their case. After two hours of debate, the school board passed a resolution, a move critics consider a defeat in the war on grade inflation. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>[...]</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The vote is good news for local business leaders who have joined the Fairgrade effort, warning that families worried about their kids getting into good colleges may move out of the county if the school district doesn't change its grading system. Talk of a possible exodus killing off businesses and destroying property values sounds a tad melodramatic, but given the tanking market and ongoing credit crunch, it's no wonder people are trying to do everything they can to shore up the local economy. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So there you have it. The article points out that this is getting worse as the trend in university admissions is to emphasize grades more and standardized tests less. It says that \"75 districts in 12 states have relaxed their grading standards since 2005.\" This wouldn't even be an option in most countries and if it were there would not be the same economic incentives to do it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44204,
"author": "Tad",
"author_id": 33645,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33645",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think you can conclude, at least based solely on the observation that universities are seeing more applicants with high GPAs than they can admit, that the problem is grade inflation. Another possibility is that the effect is due to students applying to so many colleges. According to <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/nyregion/applications-by-the-dozen-as-anxious-students-hedge-college-bets.html?_r=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">this survey</a>, the number of students applying to at least 7 colleges has tripled since 1990. There are a number of potential causes for this, but that discussion is probably out of scope for the discussion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44207,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>By "grade inflation," I think you are really asking why are the grading scales so different. I don't have much supporting evidence for this, but I suspect a large part of it is due to the American individualistic and consumer culture, with a penchant for heaping praise and awards on students (see also <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/41264/19607\">this question</a>, and the first link in Lynn's answer) and being effusive in recommendation letters. The consumer culture part is related to economic incentives mentioned in Brian Z's answer.</p>\n<p>Another factor to consider, which I don't think has been mentioned before, is that the student population is <strong>extremely heterogeneous</strong>. I suspect there was a historical trend of higher grade averages in US than Europe even when the US population was not as varied as it is now, but I think the diversity in population (e.g., many students who don't speak English as a first language, or have supportive homes) pushes schools and teachers to be more "forgiving" with grades to give the kids with disadvantages more encouragement and a better chance to catch up. (This is not to suggest US academics is even close to being equal opportunity, sadly.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44152",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033/"
] |
44,156 |
<p>I am currently a postdoc in a US University (I'm French). </p>
<p>I am in between astrophysics and computer science. </p>
<p>My work is currently funded by NSF (work related to the Dark Energy Survey).</p>
<p>Are there some program/award/grant out there I could apply to, to gain some autonomy (additional funding I could use in the way I want to for travel expenses/collaborations/organizing workshop). </p>
<p>Because my problem is that most program I've found are either for PhD students or for professors. What about post-docs?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44158,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Due to their (traditionally) short terms, postdocs are usually limited in what they can apply for. There are <a href=\"https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5291\" rel=\"nofollow\">NSF Postdoctoral Fellowhips</a> in your area, as well as almost every other area NSF funds. The other funding agencies in the US (DoE, NIH, etc.) also have fellowships available for postdocs. You should search the Internet more carefully for other opportunities.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, whatever grant is funding your work almost certainly has travel funding included in it. Have you talked with your supervisor or PI about the kind of travel you'd like to do? You should.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44199,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Addressing the organization part of your question, there are NSF grants specifically targeted to support conference and workshop organization. To get one of those, you will likely need support from your PI, but these can be fairly fast and relatively easy to get.</p>\n\n<p>An easier and cheaper way to organize workshops in many cases, however, is to attach them to an existing large event in your field. This has the advantage that it can be easier to get the people you want to come, because they are likely to already be coming to the main event, and often the costs are covered entirely by the main event.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44156",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8457/"
] |
44,159 |
<p>As stated by the title, I want to know what a researcher in his early career, i.e., having not had any graduated PhD student yet, can do to attract good candidates. The reason I am asking this question is because PhD applicants usually look for supervisors who have many successful PhD students.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44161,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Presuming you have some way to fund their work, and you have positions to offer, I suggest you start by recruiting bright undergrads from your upper-division courses. Get them involved in your research before they graduate. Offer them positions as PhD students before they apply everywhere else*. I was so excited by my PhD supervisor's work (our work really), the lab environment, and the place where I was living, that I didn't want to apply anywhere but where I already was. </p>\n\n<p>Some people will object that students should move around between their undergrad and PhD, and there's some merit to these arguments, but if you have funding and can't recruit, you may want to think outside the box a bit. If you don't have any money, or your department won't give you any positions (or whatever the system is at your university), get some!</p>\n\n<p>If you want to recruit from outside, keep publishing. Publish in the best places you can. Become a hot shot. Advertise openings on your website and at the end of your conference talks (if that's acceptable in your field). Be aggressive about finding good students. </p>\n\n<p>*: If they do want to apply elsewhere, write them the best letter you can and wish them well. Maybe they'll stay anyway. Don't be one of those profs with a reputation for trying to control the lives of your students by refusing to write recommendation letters!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44163,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Adding to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/44161/4140\">Bill Barth's excellent answer</a>:</p>\n\n<p>Become known to other professors. Bright undergrads who may want to switch places for their graduate studies may ask their professors for good places... so be known to those professors so they can recommend you! (After all, few undergrads already have enough of an overview of the field to know an up-and-coming junior professor.)</p>\n\n<p>Collaborate with people outside your institution. Become active in your scientific organization. Volunteer for program committees. Write good reviews. Offer to review for other things than journals/conferences, e.g., if a conference you attend awards travel grants to students.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, all this is a lot of work, especially since you have your career to jump-start. But to be honest, forging connections <em>now</em> may be a much better investment of your time in the long run than yet another paper - both to attract bright grad students and in other respects.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>EDIT: so, the above addresses attracting grad students \"in general\". What about attracting <em>good</em> grad students?</p>\n\n<p>First, get <em>enough</em> applicants. If you have three applications for every position you can fund, you have the luxury of picking the best applicant. Fill your <a href=\"http://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/stages-of-the-sales-funnel/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">sales funnel</a> with enough candidates!</p>\n\n<p>Second, see the above advice. Once someone approaches you and says you were recommended by professor so-and-so, you can deduce something, at least to some degree. If you know that so-and-so is good in his field and you have a good relationship with him, you likely can trust the candidate that so-and-so sent your way not to be a total loss. It makes sense for someone at the early stages of his career to give a little more weight to this kind of signal than later on, after you have had your share of Ph.D. students. You will likely end up with some better, some worse students over the course of your career, and you will learn what to look out for in a candidate - but you don't have that kind of experience yet.</p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: work on your relationships.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44171,
"author": "Kevin",
"author_id": 33618,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33618",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Adding to Bill and Stephan's answers. There are many good PhD students who aren't just looking for advisers with massive reputations. Some sense of personal connection can go a long way in attracting students. Volunteer to teach introductory level grad courses and commit yourself to being responsive to your students. You will develop a following of people willing to pass up the opportunity to work with a more prestigious adviser for an adviser that has demonstrated a commitment to his students.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44175,
"author": "TimeVariant",
"author_id": 20298,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20298",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>All the answers above are good, but there is one more important thing I have learned from observing the woes of some colleagues who need graduate students. [Good ones, of course; no one that I know is actively seeking not-so-good ones!] </p>\n\n<p>Good research! Ph.D. students are attracted to good and interesting topics. I have a colleague who thinks he is doing wonderful work but privately many colleagues are not surprised he's having trouble attracting students. Masters students have different goals and shorter timelines.</p>\n\n<p>In my experience ultimately it has less to do with personality (exceptions, of course) and / or the stage of career you're at (early, mid or late). Students might come visit for the decor, the ambience, the attractive appetizers, but they stay only for the main course!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44176,
"author": "Chemist391",
"author_id": 33559,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33559",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I joined a new advisor's lab; he was in his second year as a PI when I joined, and there was only one other graduate student. I am now in my third year and we have six graduate students, one postdoc, and potentially three new postdocs on the way. We have done very well in terms of funding so far. The plural of anecdote is not data, but perhaps this will be of some help. I nearly joined a more established professor's lab, but decided to go with the new professor for these reasons, not necessarily in any order:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Other faculty spoke highly of him.</li>\n<li>Older graduate students who had taken a class from him spoke very highly of him.</li>\n<li>The prospect of helping to build a new lab excited me.</li>\n<li>He was <em>excited</em> about his research. </li>\n<li>He had several interesting research projects available, with clear and understandable 3-minute summaries of each.</li>\n<li>He comes across as intelligent, capable, passionate, kind.</li>\n<li>In my first interaction with him, he handed me a paper containing the description of an experiment, and asked me to draw out the physical diagrams of how the system should respond to the experiment. He then pushed and challenged me for about two hours, and I wound up learning a lot. This gave me the impression that he would push me to become the best scientist I could be, while aiming to teach me along the way. I haven't been disappointed. </li>\n<li>I wasn't worried about depth of knowledge after this interaction, but he went out of his way to mention that as a member of a new lab, I would be forced to gain a great breadth of knowledge and skills, as well. This was a plus for me.</li>\n<li>The senior graduate student assured me that it was incredibly easy to schedule one-on-one time with the advisor, but that he did not micromanage.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Students interested in working for a new advisor will be looking for, among other things, a challenge, greater personal attention from their advisor, and interesting research. You might during the first few years feel a lot of anxiety about publishing, but you should hopefully be able to keep that anxiety in check to allow your students to grow and climb the learning curve for the first few years before putting them under too much undue pressure. You don't want to earn the reputation of the nervous overly-demanding associate professor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44185,
"author": "marcman",
"author_id": 11819,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11819",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From the perspective someone who recently went through the PhD application process, I'd say that the best way to recruit good PhD students is to <em>recruit</em> good PhD students.</p>\n\n<p>While I make no judgment as to whether or not I fall in the \"good PhD student\" set, I can say that my experience (and from what I've heard--most people's experiences are) was extremely opaque. The best way to convince someone to work with you is to make them feel like <em>you</em> want to work with <em>them</em>. There's nothing wrong with reaching out to students whose applications look promising in advance. In fact, most of the faculty I heard from before decisions were younger faculty. They often arranged informal Skype conversations with them and any current students they had, and they brainstormed interesting ideas for research projects that met our mutual interests. As an applicant, this made those groups much more appealing, as it seemed that the professors were excited to work <em>with</em> me rather than me work <em>for</em> them.</p>\n\n<p>Then again, this answer is more specific to the US system where departments tend to make decisions about candidates rather than specific professors. I believe in Europe it's a bit different.</p>\n\n<p>I would also say that if you're concerned about students choosing more established professors over you, maybe approach this the way some borderline applicants do: find the diamonds in the rough. That is, find the students that might be passed over by more prestigious/experience professors for one reason or another, but have some promise to them. This is kind of a hard thing to quantify, but sometimes a raw applicant can become your best PhD student (and similarly a new/young professor can be the best advisor).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44222,
"author": "Terry Price",
"author_id": 33656,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33656",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, the other way of looking at it would be the 'Theory Y' approach.</p>\n\n<p>Instead of thinking 'what do I need to do to attract good PhD students', think 'what do I need to do to GROW good PhD students?'</p>\n\n<p>Consider that how someone comes to you is relatively insignificant compared to what you can make them in five years. (especially at typical PhD age)</p>\n\n<p>I knew a guy who was an executive at one of the largest companies in the country, and he told me \"give me a rag-tag bunch of misfits, a project, and nine months, and I'll give experts, specialists, and a completed project\"</p>\n\n<p>I think the important thing is you have to have people that are willing to change, even if it means loosing face.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44424,
"author": "Mohamed Khamis",
"author_id": 703,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/703",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Given my scholarship I was relatively free to choose my PhD supervisor. What drew me to my current supervisor, is that although he is young he has an awesome <strong>publication list</strong>! this gave me the impression that</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>he is a successful researcher, </li>\n<li>his work meets the standards of top conferences in our field and </li>\n<li>I'll learn a lot from him. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>These three points were enough to make me go through a long and risky procedure with my scholarship provider, in order to transfer to my current supervisor's department. It all worked well and indeed I am thankful that I work with him now. </p>\n\n<p>So I would say, focus on advertising yourself and your work. His personal homepage was always updated with his most recent projects and publications, his name appeared everywhere when I searched for his research area, and his work was cited a lot.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44159",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12635/"
] |
44,166 |
<p>We have had a couple of papers rejected from conferences quite a while ago, and we now would like to post them in arXiv. We are considering indicating on the paper which conference it was rejected from, mostly to state when the paper was actually written (we are also writing a new paper with additional results). Is this an acceptable practice?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44167,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What would be the purpose to the reader to state which conference it was rejected by? If the idea of a paper is to transmit information to a reader, then what you write should be guided by this fundamental principle, and everything that is not relevant to the reader should be omitted.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44168,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, you should not do that. Rejections are not to be advertised. Everyone who will read the paper will be prejudiced against it and you simply do not want that. After all, many papers are initially rejected before being accepted at a suitable venue. You want other people to know when your work got finally accepted and not the other way around. </p>\n\n<p>If you want to establish the initial date of the paper, next time I would suggest to upload immediately after rejection and after addressing the reviewers' comment that lead to your rejection. This way, you have a better paper uploaded, you establish priority before submitting to the next conference and you can cite your work in subsequent publications.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44177,
"author": "E.P.",
"author_id": 820,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/820",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's no real reason why you <em>can't</em>. Unless the conference organizers explicitly asked you to agree to a nondisclosure agreement, which would be very surprising indeed, there's nothing stopping you from doing it. The conference organizers will probably be weirded out by it but little more.</p>\n\n<p>There's also no reason why you <em>should</em>. Nothing sets negative expectations like you saying \"Hi! Here's a paper that [respected academic committee] found unsatisfying.\" It sets a negative tone that will be very hard to undo with the paper, for no benefit at all.</p>\n\n<p>Think instead of <em>why</em> you want to do this. Is it to associate the paper with the conference? That will simply not work. Is it to indicate the sort of area you think the paper belongs to? There's a much better way: say it directly, most importantly by your choice of arXiv category, keywords, and abstract.</p>\n\n<p>If what you want is to indicate when the paper was written, simply say that! Add a single line, in small font, below the abstract (or a comment to the arXiv submission) saying </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This paper was written on -----, with minor revisions before the arXiv submission on -----.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you ever need to actually prove this, say, because of a priority dispute, you can then contact the conference so they can confirm it.</p>\n\n<p>If what you want is some form of authoritative datestamp on the date the manuscript was written, it won't work and it is not the right metric anyway. It is not a credible way to establish priority as it is still your say-so; very little other than confirmation from the conference will really convince outsiders that your claim is in fact true.</p>\n\n<p>More importantly, the date that really matters for the academic community is the date the manuscript was made public. If you write a result but then sit on it for a year, no one can make use of that result. As far as other researchers go, the result does not exist until you upload it, so even if you can prove that you discovered independently from some other group that published before you uploaded but after you wrote the manuscript, they still get the credit because they made the result available.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44166",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33601/"
] |
44,173 |
<p>I've read that after you "pass" the first year of your Ph.D.program you can either continue normally or stop and get a masters degree.</p>
<p>What procedure should one follow in the latter case? Do you get any official document (diploma, certificate) and if so, does this document have any value?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44167,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What would be the purpose to the reader to state which conference it was rejected by? If the idea of a paper is to transmit information to a reader, then what you write should be guided by this fundamental principle, and everything that is not relevant to the reader should be omitted.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44168,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, you should not do that. Rejections are not to be advertised. Everyone who will read the paper will be prejudiced against it and you simply do not want that. After all, many papers are initially rejected before being accepted at a suitable venue. You want other people to know when your work got finally accepted and not the other way around. </p>\n\n<p>If you want to establish the initial date of the paper, next time I would suggest to upload immediately after rejection and after addressing the reviewers' comment that lead to your rejection. This way, you have a better paper uploaded, you establish priority before submitting to the next conference and you can cite your work in subsequent publications.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44177,
"author": "E.P.",
"author_id": 820,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/820",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's no real reason why you <em>can't</em>. Unless the conference organizers explicitly asked you to agree to a nondisclosure agreement, which would be very surprising indeed, there's nothing stopping you from doing it. The conference organizers will probably be weirded out by it but little more.</p>\n\n<p>There's also no reason why you <em>should</em>. Nothing sets negative expectations like you saying \"Hi! Here's a paper that [respected academic committee] found unsatisfying.\" It sets a negative tone that will be very hard to undo with the paper, for no benefit at all.</p>\n\n<p>Think instead of <em>why</em> you want to do this. Is it to associate the paper with the conference? That will simply not work. Is it to indicate the sort of area you think the paper belongs to? There's a much better way: say it directly, most importantly by your choice of arXiv category, keywords, and abstract.</p>\n\n<p>If what you want is to indicate when the paper was written, simply say that! Add a single line, in small font, below the abstract (or a comment to the arXiv submission) saying </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This paper was written on -----, with minor revisions before the arXiv submission on -----.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you ever need to actually prove this, say, because of a priority dispute, you can then contact the conference so they can confirm it.</p>\n\n<p>If what you want is some form of authoritative datestamp on the date the manuscript was written, it won't work and it is not the right metric anyway. It is not a credible way to establish priority as it is still your say-so; very little other than confirmation from the conference will really convince outsiders that your claim is in fact true.</p>\n\n<p>More importantly, the date that really matters for the academic community is the date the manuscript was made public. If you write a result but then sit on it for a year, no one can make use of that result. As far as other researchers go, the result does not exist until you upload it, so even if you can prove that you discovered independently from some other group that published before you uploaded but after you wrote the manuscript, they still get the credit because they made the result available.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44173",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33237/"
] |
44,183 |
<p>I am a high school student so I don't know much about academia, but I would like to clear up some confusion I have over research in mathematics. Please excuse my naivite/ignorance on this topic. </p>
<p>I get the impression that mathematics research at the graduate and post-doc level is hard. It could take months of getting nowhere before you make some progress on a problem, and depending on how good you are and the difficulty level of the problem, you could go an entire year without publishing any papers. I get the impression that proving interesting or important results is even harder and is really only for the best - the real mathematicians. By important I mean results that will be noticeably useful to other researchers in the field. </p>
<p>I am guessing that not every person who gets a PhD and goes into research is good enough to prove interesting or important results, and I'm guessing that the percentage of PhD's who go into research and who will become successful mathematicians is less than 50%. I'm wondering what do these people do? If they can't publish enough papers and they aren't successful in solving any problems, they can't continue like this forever right? I mean at some point the university they are employed by will reject them? Do these people leave academia entirely and go into industry, or switch fields into physics or something like that? </p>
<p>Please let me know if my understanding is correct. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44186,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many people who complete PhD's in mathematics end up leaving academia within a few years after completing the degree. Many others settle into teaching oriented positions at community colleges, four year colleges and regional comprehensive universities where they typically end up publishing little or no research. A small percentage of all PhD's in mathematics end up as tenured faculty in research universities (much less than 20%) and even among these mathematicians at research universities there is huge variability in research productivity (e.g. as measured by papers published per year) and impact (e.g. as measured by citations of these papers.) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44187,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's true that not every person who gets a PhD has a successful academic research career, but I want to emphasize that that is different from being a successful mathematician. Many people who get PhDs want to go to work in industry/govt or some more applied field, and many people who get PhDs want to focus primarily on teaching. This does not mean they are automatically not successful, or couldn't be successful academic research mathematicians if they wanted to. (I know many very talented researchers who have gone to industry, or into teaching--not because they couldn't do research, but because they preferred something else--and ended up quite happy. Occasionally people will come back to academic research also.)</p>\n\n<p>Incidentally, there is some survey data on jobs PhD's get, e.g., <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/profession/data/annual-survey/2013Survey-NewDoctorates-Report\">The Annual Survey of the Mathematical Sciences</a>. For instance, Table E.6 says in 2012 848 new PhDs took academic positions and 456 took govt/business/industry positions. This is out of 1843 PhDs awarded with about 9% unknown employment status and 4-5% unemployed at the time. (<strong>Edited:</strong> According to Table E.7, 600 of those academic positions are postdocs, not tenure-track, but those on the research track will almost certainly do a postdoc first.) So it may be that a majority of PhDs are successful in a broader sense (I don't know about long-term data or job fulfillment).</p>\n\n<p>PS I know this isn't the kind of answer you were looking for, but you can see Brian's answer for that. I just wanted to clear up a possible misconception.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Added:</strong> I just saw <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/notices/201505/rnoti-p533.pdf\">this data</a> in the most recent Notices issue, which says that recently a little recently there have been about 850/year tenure-track positions filled in the US in math or stat/biostat. This suggests most people who stay in academia right after their PhD have a good chance a getting a permanent position.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44189,
"author": "Zarrax",
"author_id": 30688,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30688",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A lot depends on what you consider to be interesting or important results. A lot of research gets used by others and could be reasonably called noticeably useful to other researchers. Often there will be several people working in a subfield of math and they will use each others' work in various respects. Other times there will be a hot field with a lot of things to discover, and many mathematicians will be picking up the \"low-hanging fruit\" and publishing results that will be used. It is still true that key developments that become major tools for other mathematicians are usually done by leading mathematicians, sometimes in collaboration with students or non-leading mathematicians, but this is fully consistent with the above.</p>\n\n<p>As for the fate of mathematicians who don't become research mathematicians.. there are thousands of colleges in the US that need professors and most of them don't really emphasize research. Many also go into industry, such as the NSA or government labs. Some become actuaries and others go into finance. Others become computer programmers and can end out being quite good at that. And there are various perhaps unexpected directions some choose to go in. For example, I know of not one but two who went to top-notch law schools and became lawyers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44192,
"author": "Andre Wildberg",
"author_id": 33631,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33631",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this boils down to the question of how to become/be/stay successful in science.</p>\n\n<p>First of all success can be defined in many ways. If we just disregard the field of mathematics here for a second and look at the whole natural science branch, being successful is always a difficult trade off between good science and quick and dirty publications.</p>\n\n<p>Without a good portion of time investment, there will never be any good science down the line (You may get lucky and profit from the time your PI has spend on her/his field, formulating a genius thesis though, but that's just underlining the importance of time investment).</p>\n\n<p>As a matter of fact, a good portion of basic ground breaking discoveries have already been made. As time/research goes by things get more and more complicated and intertwined. That is true for Math, Physics, Biology and Chemistry, as for any other field.</p>\n\n<p>That does not mean that there are no new things that can be discovered, but the pool of new insights gets deeper and deeper as research goes on (solving one problem just opens a new space of many more new problems, harder to solve than the initial). If you want to publish new amazing research you have to stand on a lot of giant's shoulders, and being that far away from the ground makes the air dangerously thin.</p>\n\n<p>New ideas are needed for new success stories.\nNowadays, these ideas are coming from inter-field communications (cross branch collaborations), where e.g. math talks to physics, taking insights from biology, which has borrowed from chemistry and so on. That again needs time.</p>\n\n<p>IMHO, bottom line, it's very naive to assume a publishing rate stays the same, with the same astonishing impact, over time.\nThere has to be a slow down. So taking that as a measurement of success, as appealing as it may be, is flawed.</p>\n\n<p>Luckily, everyone has to deal with this, and as a mathematician, assuming you love what you do, you have a very analytical brain, which is, to say the least, a good starting point for being \"successful\" in anything you do.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44234,
"author": "Jakub Konieczny",
"author_id": 7328,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7328",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It should perhaps be noted that in mathematics there are a <em>lot</em> of problems to consider. If you're a high school student it perhaps does not feel this way to you, but it's really so (I know I didn't feel that way until about the time I was finishing my undergrad). As mathematics develops, new objects get defined - and new questions become possible. </p>\n\n<p>In addition to <em>interesting</em> problems, there is also an endless supply of... other problems. Of course, there is no good definition of interesting, and it varies a lot depending on who you talk to.</p>\n\n<p>In any case, there are much more problems than the really good mathematicians can hope to solve, so there is enough work for the others as well. There are even a lot of problems that the \"experts\" basically know how to solve, but they never really bothered (it would seem that those whose position is fairly secure care more about quality than quantity). There are many universities where people can get a fairly permanent (research or teaching) position without publishing ground-breaking research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44235,
"author": "Mark Joshi",
"author_id": 29181,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29181",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>in the past, a lot of maths phds who found that academia wasn't for them went into banking and became quantitative analysts or "quants". They then got paid several multiples of an academic salary.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44295,
"author": "Keith",
"author_id": 15586,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15586",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Having completed PhD, with or without a post doc, you are a trained mathematician. </p>\n\n<p>Disregarding having found any new results, one should hopefully have the ability to understand existing results.</p>\n\n<p>This means one can apply mathematics (as opposed to research applied mathematics) in a number of fields, be it banking, IT, defense or many other fields.</p>\n\n<p>There is an additional key skill required: an ability to translate a real world problem into a mathematical format. This is in itself usually the most challenging part of being a working applied mathematician.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44298,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Terry Tao (a famous mathematician) has a good answer to this question. The following excerpt goes to the heart of the matter, and you should <a href=\"https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/does-one-have-to-be-a-genius-to-do-maths/\">read the whole post</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>even if one dismisses the notion of genius, it is still the case that at any given point in time, some mathematicians are faster, more experienced, more knowledgeable, more efficient, more careful, or more creative than others. This does not imply, though, that only the “best” mathematicians should do mathematics; this is the common error of mistaking absolute advantage for comparative advantage. The number of interesting mathematical research areas and problems to work on is vast – far more than can be covered in detail just by the “best” mathematicians, and sometimes the set of tools or ideas that you have will find something that other good mathematicians have overlooked, especially given that even the greatest mathematicians still have weaknesses in some aspects of mathematical research. As long as you have education, interest, and a reasonable amount of talent, there will be some part of mathematics where you can make a solid and useful contribution.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44967,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I get the impression that mathematics research at the graduate and post-doc level is hard. It could take months of getting nowhere before you make some progress on a problem, and depending on how good you are and the difficulty level of the problem, you could go an entire year without publishing any papers. I get the impression that proving interesting or important results is even harder and is really only for the best - the real mathematicians. By important I mean results that will be noticeably useful to other researchers in the field.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>To a great extent, one could say that this is true in any of the STEM fields.</p>\n\n<p>It is not true of some of the social sciences. I have read some truly awful theses in the field of education. And those people got doctorates based on that drivel!</p>\n\n<p>By the way, your description seems to me to fit pure math more precisely than applied math.</p>\n\n<p>It is natural to feel some uncertainty -- will I be good enough? Will I cut the mustard?</p>\n\n<p>Fortunately, the path from high school towards the PhD is one that can be adjusted each semester. It's not necessary to pick the exact path and then stick to it no matter what!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 159917,
"author": "Jordan S.",
"author_id": 130746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/130746",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Very astute question from someone who at the time of asking it was only a high school student!</p>\n<p>Mathematical research is indeed difficult, and even overcoming this rigor, there is a good percentage of chance that your work depends on. Being at the right place at the right time, making the right mental connections (possibly even before someone else has beaten you to the theorem), etc.</p>\n<p>I have the perspective of someone who started out as an engineer in training, fell in love with pure mathematics, completed a Ph.D. at a very respectable public school, did not get a postdoctoral position, and ended up in a rather unenviable adjunct instructor position at a community college in Illinois. Six years and many minimum wage jobs later, I decided to go back to engineering, as it is a much more rewarding career, and to undergo post-math Ph.D. graduate-level training. In these six years, I worked on mathematics in places unusual under extreme hardship, even at times living in a vehicle, on (a) theorem(s). Ten years after I was introduced to the problem, I found a <em>partial</em> solution and feel very proud!.. albeit with less than $2000 in my bank account.</p>\n<p>This is what happens if your research isn't there in time for an academic job and when you have a pathological obsession with proving theorems.\nWhether you would like something like that, I don't know... but there is that "career path".</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44183",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33575/"
] |
44,213 |
<p>If you change your name, can you list both names as authors?</p>
<p>For example, consider a PhD student named John Doe who after finishing his PhD undergoes a sex change and name change to Jane Doe before starting a postdoc. After the sex change Jane continues to work on a project that she started as a PhD student. Assume that the authors on the resulting paper are the PhD advisor, the postdoc advisor and Jane/John Doe. Can both Jane and John be listed? What happens if Jane never worked on the project, can she be the author or does it have to be John?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44214,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This would be a much more common situation if you just asked about name changes after marriage, which is a very common thing for women in the western world (at least). There are lots of strategies here, but some women choose to keep their \"academic\" name the same even if the name they use in the rest of the world changes. This keeps the continuity of their name for citation counting purposes, professional recognition, and other aspects of an academic career. Others choose not to change their name at all. And others just deal with the change. I don't think anyone puts both their names, and I don't think many journals would accept it.</p>\n\n<p>If you search the internet, there's plenty of articles with advice and stories about what women who married between their first and subsequent publications did and should do.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44220,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is indeed a weird question, though not an uninteresting one.</p>\n\n<p>Fundamentally a name is a pointer to a person, of a formalized and official sort, but of course for every person there are multiple phrases that point to them. Any article byline gives a mapping to the set of objects named, and the idea that perhaps this function need not or should not be one-to-one is a very curious one. I don't know a general principle to invoke from which to deduce the \"injectivity of authorial bylines\", but multiple names pointing to the same person would be highly nonstandard and powerfully confusing to many. </p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure what to make of the fact that your example of a name change is motivated by a sex change. Name changes are common occurrences for people of all genders, and the percentage of name changes which are motivated by issues of gender identity and/or sex changes is very small. The largest percentage is surely when people (not just women, though still more women than men) get married, and then comes people who have moved from one part of the world to another where their name is difficult to pronounce, written in a different alphabet, sounds like something undesirable in the language of their new home, and so forth. Also papers published in one language are often translated into another, with the effect that e.g. many Russian authors are known by several moderately different names in the anglophone academic community. Adding a clarifying note that say that multiple spellings point to the same person could be helpful. In <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.3055\">this recent preprint</a> the byline is \"Yuri G. Zarhin (Zarkhin)\", which is perhaps the closest thing I've seen to the practice you're asking about.</p>\n\n<p>However, there are nuances in your question that suggest the sex change example is not accidental: you actually mean to consider deeper issues of personal identity. In other words, what if beyond changing their name, someone considers themself to actually be <strong>a different person</strong>? I get this for instance from</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What happens if Jane never worked on the project, can she be the author or does it have to be John?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The obvious answer is \"What are you talking about? Jane Doe and John Doe are <em>the same person</em>. So of course Jane worked on the project. The fact that the name 'Jane' was not applied to this person while she was working on the project is totally irrelevant.\" However, it could be that Jane feels that she is really a different person from John. Maybe she arranges [illegally, perhaps; I don't know how this works] to get a new social security number and otherwise systematically denies and delinks her new identity from her old one. In that case it could be meaningful -- even critical -- to her that Jane didn't work on the project, rather John did. However, though Jane's perspective is a highly interesting one, it is not going to hold up in the practicalities of an academic career, as she presumably wants to regard John's training and credentials as her own. If she tries to make a CV of Jane Doe's work only, she is going to at best confuse everyone and more likely shoot herself in the foot. </p>\n\n<p>It would be worth hearing from a transgendered academic [I am not one] for more nuances about this. My understanding is that the above exigencies essentially require them to explain carefully in their CV that they have changed their name from John Doe to Jane Doe and thus cannot professionally behave like they are two different people. If you are including the identity \"John Doe = Jane Doe\" anyway, then if it has deep personal significance to you to list yourself as John Doe on a paper that you worked on while you were John Doe even though you now sign all your papers Jane Doe, you can make that choice (and certainly it is <em>your</em> choice: the idea of anyone else telling you what to do here is somewhere between cruel and absurd). What you cannot do is list both John Doe and Jane Doe as authors. Well, not unless you wish to be truly transgressive: perhaps there are some areas of academia in which the jarring, confusing nature of such a byline would be viewed positively.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44335,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Name changes are quite common among both sexes for reasons other than sex change or marriage. Apart from the reasons mentioned in the previous answers, I have come across people who have changed their name after a parental divorce, deciding to use the last name of the mother.</p>\n\n<p>Irrespective of the reason for name change, the process I think would remain the same for all practical purposes. Definitely, there is no question of both names being included as that would establish John and Jane two different individuals, while in fact, they are the same person.</p>\n\n<p>Additionally, while a footnote that explains the name change would suffice in a publication, I feel a copy of a legal document establishing the name change should be submitted to the journal. That would make the disclosure complete and would prove that John and Jane are the same person. In my country, usually an affidavit is done to legalize a name change. I'm not sure how it is is other countries, but I strongly feel some such document should be produced as evidence.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68974,
"author": "Rebecca J. Stones",
"author_id": 8469,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8469",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>TL;DR</strong>: A transgender woman is unlikely to want her dead name in a publication. You can safely assume Jane wants to publish under \"Jane\" and under no other name. In the unlikely event that this is wrong, she's not going to be upset about her co-author thinking she would like to publish under her real name.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Allow me to offer my perspective (sorry, I didn't see the question earlier). I no longer consider myself transgender, but I've \"been there\".</p>\n\n<p>Please accept that there is no \"John\". Jane has been falsely imprisoned in a male gender role since birth. <strong>Every time Jane is referred to by her dead name, she will think that she is not welcome, that people don't want her to exist, and she may even contemplate suicide.</strong> (Every time I've asked a transgender person about suicide, they have described detailed plans for how they would kill themselves.)</p>\n\n<p>If you insist on deadnaming her, don't be surprised if she dumps the project, and severs contact with you. Other possibilities are jumping in front of a train, or filing a complaint of discrimination. (If people did this to me, I would catch a taxi to the airport, move to a new city/country and start a new life/career outside of academia. I have organized my life so that I can do this at any moment. However, I'm fortunate to have found a work environment where this is not an issue, and I'm now a very loyal employee [unwilling to leave even if somewhere else offered me a far higher salary].)</p>\n\n<p>The best analogy I've found to explain how deadnaming feels: <strong>Imagine a husband referring to his wife by his ex-girlfriend's name, and then, when she gets angry, he tells her it's easier for him to refer to her by his ex's name, and that she's overreacting.</strong> His wife was never that person. Jane was never that person either.</p>\n\n<p>From most transgender peoples' perspective, there is no \"sex change\" (it's one of many misleading terms non-transgender people use to describe transgender people [other popular ones include \"woman trapped in a man's body\" (instead of \"woman\") and \"preferred name\" (instead of \"name\")]). There's possibly a moment of realization (\"Huh. I'm a girl.\") followed by negotiating a pathway to being accepted in society as one's true gender (or a sufficiently close approximation to make life liveable). Often this involves adopting a gender-appropriate name, which will help her fit in and be one of the girls. <strong>Irrespective of which forms she's filled in, and irrespective of other people's opinions, Jane's name is Jane</strong> (until she says otherwise).</p>\n\n<p>Jane may undergo medical procedures to correct her bodily mismatches (which are very expensive, probably will be the most physically painful experiences in her life, and might make her incapable of having children). She endures this partly to stop people mistaking her for a man; to live as Jane in every aspect of her life. <strong>Jane suffers greatly for the sake of being called Jane.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Jane will also be aware that <strong>if she refers to herself using her dead name, it gives others an excuse to follow suit</strong>. And when others see people deadnaming her, they think it's okay too, and it grows out of control quickly. (For this reason, I <em>never</em> use my dead name. Anyone who uses it is doing so against my will---they are backstabbing me. I have both threatened to sue or file a human rights complaint against those who have used it against my will.)</p>\n\n<p>Being transgender should also be considered in a medical context---<strong>it's intimate and confidential, and not something she will want immortalized on permanent documents</strong>. However, one medical aspect is important to be aware of here: the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-life_experience_%28transgender%29\" rel=\"noreferrer\">real-life test</a>. International guidelines for treatment of transgender people require that patients live a life consistent with their stipulated gender (the phrase is \"consistent, insistent, and persistent\"). As such, <strong>it's important for her to publish under the name \"Jane\" to access medical care</strong>, which is probably more important to her than the publication itself. (As it was for me. As another example, I deliberately stood at the front of <a href=\"http://sms.victoria.ac.nz/foswiki/pub/Events/ACCMCC/WebHome/accmcc-group.jpg\" rel=\"noreferrer\">this conference photo</a> so I could later use it for the real-life test.)</p>\n\n<p>With the above in mind, <strong>the idea that Jane would want that other word on a publication is preposterous to me</strong>. It would be a huge step backwards in life.</p>\n\n<p>(<em>Caveat</em>: Transgender people are a diverse group, so there is no universal narrative.)</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Some comments about Pete L. Clark's answer:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I'm not aware of a transgender person who considers themselves as a different person after transitioning (although they might use something along the lines of \"the person I was\" metaphorically). The typical transgender narrative is that they are <em>affirming</em> their gender; something along the lines of \"I was always a girl, but was mistaken for a boy at birth\". Some transgender people actually consider themselves as a different gender than prior to transitioning (which might be because of different interpretations of the word \"gender\"), but not a different person.</p></li>\n<li><p>The ability to correct one's documents varies from document to document, state to state, country to country, and fluctuates with who's running the country/state you were born in, live in, or are a citizen of. While messy, it's perfectly legal. Keep in mind, however:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Transgender people tend to value who someone is, rather than what's written on documents, and</li>\n<li><p>There's also no such thing as e.g. \"legally a woman\": in a court of law, you are whatever the judge says you are. Outside of a court of law, it's ordinary for transgender people to have mismatches between their gender, driver's licence, passport, and birth certificate.</p>\n\n<p>[I find it amusing when lawmakers talk about how simple it is to tell who's a man and who's a woman, then proceed to propose laws with definitions of \"man\" and \"woman\" inconsistent with the definitions in laws proposed by other lawmakers who also talk about how simple it is to tell who's a man and who's a woman. (99% of the time it is easy, and these definitions are consistent, but there's some exceptions, and this is what transgender people are---the exceptions.)]</p></li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p>Transgender people often avoid transitioning until the point where they become suicidal, where the choice becomes \"transition or kill myself\". <strong>They have no choice but to accept the consequences of transitioning, no matter how severe.</strong> They have likely accepted a host of negatives to live an authentic life, including a constant fear of being physically attacked, being arrested arbitrarily (and being raped in a gender-mismatched jail [along with <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_people_in_prison#Physical_and_sexual_abuse\" rel=\"noreferrer\">forced prostitution</a>]), being rejected by their families and religious groups, becoming homeless and having to turn to sex work to survive, unwanted sexual advances (trans people are often considered fetish objects, rather than human beings), and so on. <strong>Jane is probably unconcerned other people's momentary confusion about which papers she's authored</strong>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>By transitioning, Jane has accepted a lower chance at getting a job, and a lower salary if she does get it, all to live an authentic life.</strong> Her identity (who she is as a person) is more valuable to her than her career. Some of my stories:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I'm fairly sure I was turned down for a job for no other reason than my gender. The rejection letter was inaccurate, and I was even told I could not even give a seminar at that institution. While prior to transitioning, the professor would email me and be happy for me to visit (where I once gave a seminar), they have not returned my emails in about 3 years.</p></li>\n<li><p>I was accepted for some short-term contract work. Admin requested my documents, but since they weren't corrected at that stage, I refused to supply them citing privacy reasons. They said that if I didn't supply the documents, I would be given a \"without PhD qualifications\" salary, to which I agreed explaining that my privacy was more important to me than money, but they eventually put me on the \"with PhD qualifications\" salary anyway.</p></li>\n<li><p>My work under my dead name is listed on separate MathSciNet, Google Scholar, math.SE, etc., pages.</p></li>\n<li><p>I had two (or maybe three?) papers in the \"minor revisions\" stage when I transitioned. It took me something like six months to actually make those changes. As the corresponding author of one paper, this is what I wrote to the journal editor:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I must apologize about this, as the delay [was] caused largely by myself (not my co-authors) due to personal reasons (which will be apparent from my change of name).</p>\n \n <p>I've attached the relevant documents to this email. Please let me know if there's anything else required. Also please forgive me for not using the [submission system] to respond; I do not wish to use that account.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The editor asked me to create a new account, which I did, and the paper was transferred there. Noone said anything about the name.</p></li>\n<li><p>I had a grant under my dead name. After transitioning, I claimed reimbursement for conference travel on that grant, and I was asked for proof of the change of name (a \"linking document\"), which I refused citing privacy reasons and told them not to worry about the reimbursement. They apologized for asking, and reimbursed me without the document.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>There's workarounds in a lot of instances</strong>. It's not as bad as you might think. E.g. I've been publishing a lot recently, attempting to bury my dead-name publications; when applying for a job, I first email someone on the panel who I know from conferences; on my CV and website, I list surnames only; and here's a snippet from an email to someone I'll visit next week, who previously didn't know about my transition:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Hi [collaborator],</p>\n \n <p>Hopefully you remember me (and can figure out\n who this is---perhaps ask [another collaborator] if there's any\n confusion).</p>\n \n <p>Anyway, I'm thinking of going to the Design Theory conference in\n Istanbul... [snip]</p>\n \n <p>Many thanks,</p>\n \n <p>Rebecca Stones</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Many people have no difficulty with this. I'm starting to get emails about papers published under my dead name, but addressed to me. Journal editors are somehow still sending me referee requests. I've had two professors say they would write me letters of recommendation, which I've actually had to turn down (I guess they perceived me as having difficulty obtaining these).</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And in response to some of the comments:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The idea of adding a footnote \"previously known as John Doe\" is just as preposterous to me as adding a dead name co-author (I would sooner write \"I have genital herpes\" as a footnote than my equivalent).</p></li>\n<li><p>\"If Jane didn't work on the project as Jane...\" \"What if, for example, John Doe's work on this project...\" There is only Jane; there is only Jane's work. Please try to stop clinging onto the imaginary person, and see the real person.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44213",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] |
44,215 |
<p>I have been accepted into Cornell for M.Eng in Biomedical Engineering. I had originally applied for an MS but since they've stopped enrolling students for MS I got into M.Eng which is an industry oriented course. I would like to get a PhD eventually in the field. Will going for an industry oriented course (M.Eng) over a research course end my hopes of getting a good PhD admit?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44226,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the United States, the distinction between MS and M.Eng is not terribly large. An MS is typically a somewhat more \"heavy\" course than an M.Eng, but the distinction is unlikely to matter to any significant degree for US Ph.D. admissions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44282,
"author": "somerandomdude",
"author_id": 31255,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31255",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally speaking, the main difference between an M.Eng and an M.S. is in research. An M.Eng is usually a course-based degree and usually does not involve any research. There is often some sort of \"project\" course which students will be required to take for credit, but that is still far from research.\nAn M.S would usually involve a research project and thesis, and it would give you exposure to the type of work a PhD student would be doing. That being said, many schools also offer course-based M.S. programs, so the name of the degree does not really mean much.</p>\n\n<p>I would not recommend enrolling in an M.Eng program if you wish to study for PhD. In the U.S. in many schools having a master's degree is not a requirement for getting into a PhD program. I would advise you to inquire whether it's possible to be admitted to the PhD program at Cornell instead of the M.Eng.</p>\n\n<p>For schools, the advantage of admitting students without master's degrees to PhD programs is that they will be around longer and probably have more time to do good work. In the case that the student doesn't quite meet up to their expectations, the can arrange for the student to leave with a M.S. halfway through the program. This to some extent compensates for the risk involved in admitting an undergrad (since they will likely not have much research experience).</p>\n\n<p>M.S. students on the other hand have research experience. They have also written a thesis and possibly some papers. This gives the admission committee better insight into the applicants capabilities. Furthermore, a student with an M.S. degree will likely need less time to get started on their research and will not need to take as many courses, so they will probably hit the ground running once they enter the graduate program.</p>\n\n<p>A student with an M.Eng degree will have a shorter PhD than the students coming in with B.S. degrees but will not have the experience the students with M.S. degrees have. So they will be at a disadvantage compared to both groups. Because of this admission to a \"top 10\" school would be a bit more difficult with an M.Eng degree.</p>\n\n<p>Another thing to consider is that if your goal is a top 10 school, many of them give priority for PhD admission to students already pursuing M.S. degrees at their school. These are typically the schools which require master's degrees for PhD admission (such as Stanford and MIT).</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44215",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15098/"
] |
44,217 |
<p>In the U.S., colleges typically don't use entrance exams to select students. For test results they rely instead on standardized tests like the SAT or ACT. I heard that the top technical math/science schools in Russia administer entrance exams which are similar to math Olympiads. I am wondering: is this a Russian thing or do universities in other countries use difficult problem-solving/Olympiad tests like this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44250,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Another bit of anedoctal evidence from my experience: in Italy, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuola_Normale_Superiore_di_Pisa\" rel=\"nofollow\">Scuola Normale Superiore</a> (a very highly-rated honors boarding college for the hard sciences and the humanities) uses <a href=\"http://www.sns.it/didattica/ammissione_ordinario/proveesame/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Olympiad-like problems</a> for its admission tests in mathematics and physics for bachelor and master students.</p>\n\n<p>Up to a few years ago, admissions to the university-funded PhD positions in mathematics in many Italian universities also required solving Putnam-style exercises. <a href=\"https://www.math.unifi.it/node/56\" rel=\"nofollow\">Example 1</a> <a href=\"http://www.unipi.it/studenti/offerta/dottorat/test/index.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Example 2</a>.</p>\n\n<p><em>(All problems in the links are in Italian, sorry for that).</em></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44254,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Japan, many universities have their own entrance exams. For the entrance exams for mathematics that I've seen, there are several challenging problems (maybe about 5) to be solved in about 2-3 hours. For instance, <a href=\"http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/content/400010479.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">here is a recent exam from Tokyo University</a> (this is the math exam for science students--humanities students get a different exam). If you're a bit rusty on your Japanese, it's 2.5 hours for 6 problems.</p>\n\n<p>Entrance exams in other east Asian countries are reputedly difficult also, but I haven't seen those exams to compare. Maybe someone else can comment on that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44289,
"author": "hyperkahler",
"author_id": 32959,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32959",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Actually, today's Russian entrance exams are quite as standardized as in many places abroad. Besides this, state exam in mathematics not only contains the part, filled with test questions, but also staffed with an extra one, \nwhere contestants are required to write down all the solutions in details. It's not an obligatory - it's possible to pass the exam without solving this part, but it's impossible to gain a result, which would be sufficient to be accepted to the undergraduate programs in technical universities. </p>\n\n<p>Moreover, regarding olympiads, for the last years some universities tend to organise their own olympiads, results of which are always taken into accout in the process of application. In most cases, the contests' problems looks like classical entrance exam ones, which inherited traditions from the past times. Although, some olympiads enable \ncontestants to solve difficult problems( IMO style), which require a strong background and sufficient level of training. (such as Moscow Mathematical Olympiad or the Russian Mathematical Olympiad).</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44217",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33567/"
] |
44,218 |
<p>The <a href="https://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts"><em>Manager Tools</em> and <em>Career Tools</em> series of podcasts</a> are industry-oriented, but I find great value in them as I retool for an academic career. I was never a manager in my industry career, but the communication skills and practical understanding of organizations imparted are gold. </p>
<p>For example, my adviser does regular 1:1s with his students and places a big emphasis on giving and receiving feedback, both <em>MT</em> fundamentals. Some other concepts apply less directly--for example, delegation of tasks as project leader where no one is my actual "direct report". Academic politics differ from industry politics, but fundamental principles (relationship power!) carry over.</p>
<p>It makes me wonder if there's some podcast series or (only slightly less desirable) Web site to help academics improve communications and ability to navigate organizational politics. I'll see what I find with <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=communication%20skills%20for%20academics">obvious Google searches</a> but I wonder if anyone out there has some favorites to recommend.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 49392,
"author": "Mark",
"author_id": 26460,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26460",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most academics don't bother with this type of stuff because they don't care. Research is the number one priority and who has time to listen to a podcast that isn't a relevant talk about their research where they can ask a question that shows how smart they are.</p>\n\n<p>The only people who care about politics and management styles are the few who are looking to move into the Administrative side. Perhaps there is someone who wastes time looking up how to be a good dean. Or maybe I should say how to be the type of Dean that the Provost wants you to be.</p>\n\n<p>You should check out the Chronicle for articles on such stuff. I'm not sure if they have podcasts. <a href=\"http://chronicle.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://chronicle.com</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 51516,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I spent a little while searching around various podcast directories for something like this, and came up blank. I suspect the main cause is that running a lab is really not that much different from running any other group of people, and the difference between PIs/advisors and managers really isn't that big. Because of that, anyone looking for podcasts on running a lab can look to any of a number of management podcasts and follow the advice there. If you're a <em>bad</em> advisor, you don't care anyways, so you're not looking for advice.</p>\n\n<p>That said, I was surprised that I wasn't able to find <em>any</em> podcasts focusing on being an academic, rather than about the topic of academia itself. (I did find <a href=\"http://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/practical-productivity-in-academia-podcast/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this one episode</a> of <a href=\"http://teachinginhighered.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this university-level teaching podcast</a>, but that seems to have been a one-off episode.) Interestingly enough, <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/academia/comments/3balbk/looking_for_bookspodcastsother_media_on/\" rel=\"nofollow\">someone recently posted a very similar question on reddit</a>, with no good answers other than \"Check out <a href=\"http://chronicle.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">chronicle.com</a>.\" I'm starting to suspect that the answer to your original question is \"no\".</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44218",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32906/"
] |
44,227 |
<p>My question has to do with whether my responsibilities as a reviewer also includes copyediting duties.</p>
<p>I am in the midst of reviewing a manuscript for a mid-tier applied health sciences journal. While the topic is potentially important, the manuscript is poorly written and the methods used were simply inadequate to answer the research question. The manuscript read like a first draft, rather than something that has undergone some degree of polishing and internal review before being sent out to the journal. Given a manuscript laden with spelling and grammatical errors, awkward sentence construction, and incomplete ideas, how detailed should reviews be for very bad manuscripts? Is it my job to "copyedit" (correct the grammar, spelling, etc.) the manuscript, or should my constructive criticism be focused on improving the big picture issues, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Whether the authors convinced me that the study was timely or necessary. (No.) </li>
<li>Whether the methods were appropriate for the research question. (No.) </li>
<li>Whether the authors' conclusions were supported by the data they presented. (No.)</li>
</ul>
<p>My annotated hard copy of the manuscript is full of comments in the margins about spelling errors and awkward sentences, which can be found every 2 or 3 sentences. I am of course more than happy to put in the review, but at the same time, I do not want to "embarrass" the authors by essentially saying that they do not know how to write.</p>
<p>I am curious to hear others' experiences with bad manuscripts and how they have handled them.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44228,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I view my job as a reviewer to be about triage and the \"first order\" issues with the manuscript. Thus, for a very good manuscript, I will point out minor copy-editing issues, because those are the first-order issues remaining. For a not-so-good manuscript, I will note if the manuscript needs language editing but focus on the scientific issues instead, because any specifics of copyediting are likely to be obsoleted in any case by the larger repairs that are necessary.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44229,
"author": "user6726",
"author_id": 28972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28972",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not bother with detailed comments about writing <em>unless</em> there is reasonable hope that the submission could be made publishable. Even then, the main reason to include comments about writing is to make clear to the author to what extent the paper is unintelligible as written. Although it is (in some fields) traditional to list all of the punctuation, grammar and spelling errors, this is a waste of your time. I've frequently had to give very detailed comments on writing because the author had valuable material that should be made available, but they had no idea how to communicate effectively. In those instances where I've understood the point, I will take the time to explain why A is a better way to put it than B. But if the venue has a single-revision policy and the paper is a clear reject, then there is little point, unless you are encouraging the author to try again with a different journal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44230,
"author": "Philip",
"author_id": 32906,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32906",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here are some intuitive thoughts: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>No, no one expects you to copyedit</li>\n<li>Your primary duty is to help protect the integrity of literature in your field. Therefore, as user6726 suggested, if the paper is hopeless, there's nothing there that should occupy a lot of your time.</li>\n<li>However, as a good citizen of your scholarly community, it would be good to \"pay it forward\" by giving some sort of actionable feedback that will help the authors to improve not just this paper but in general. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So, my recommendation would be to give <em>brief</em>, actionable feedback (maybe one or two paragraphs), focused on the biggest shortcomings that could be corrected in the authors' future work. A sentence or two for each of your bullet points would be quite adequate.</p>\n\n<p>Wise authors will heed your terse feedback and improve; other authors don't care, so don't benefit from the attention you're giving them.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Meta-point</strong>: If you're marking up the hard copy as much as you say, and you're not the authors' English composition instructor, then you're also not using your time optimally.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44291,
"author": "scrollex",
"author_id": 33692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33692",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>By the time that an article arrives for peer-review, I've come to expect that it's been thoroughly edited by the authors. If it hasn't — and this is especially true considering that you're offering your time freely as a reviewer — comment that the manuscript, as it stands, needs major linguistic fine-tuning in the relevant sections, and suggest that authors re-submit once they've ironed those out. That way, you don't waste your time on work you really oughtn't be doing (I agree with Philip's reply, here), and are streamlining the process by giving a quick reply. </p>\n\n<p>I've spent time working in both academia, and for a service which helps foreign researchers get their manuscripts ready for publication in English journals (we've also had people send in other academic manuscripts, just for general edits). It was pretty common to have academics reach out to us to help edit their work after receiving a \"you should consult a scientific publication editing service\" comment from the peer-reviewers. Most of the time these comments would also include a critique of the methodology/analyses/etc., but I don't think that you're obligated to do so if the writing is so poor that you're struggling to understand what's going on. </p>\n\n<p>Lest this read like a sly advertisement, the editing job sucked, and I hated doing such mind-numbing garbage on the daily; unfortunately, that was my job, and I had to do it. As a reviewer, you don't have to. There are enough problems with the academic publishing system without making peer-reviewers play copy editor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 45648,
"author": "user168715",
"author_id": 5596,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5596",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I stopped pointing out spelling and grammar errors midway through grad school. These days I'll give a one-sentence summary of the state of the writing, with an exhortation to do a thorough editing pass if necessary.</p>\n\n<p>I'll make exceptions for errors that critically affect the science presented in the paper or the conclusions, such as</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>typos in mathematical formulas;</li>\n<li>sentences that say the opposite of what the authors likely meant;</li>\n<li>technical terms that have been misused;</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>etc.</p>\n\n<p>If a paper is unintelligible I will carefully read it twice (in case later parts of the paper clarify earlier sections) before giving up and skipping parts I don't understand (and noting as much in my review).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 92892,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You wrote that \"the methods used were simply inadequate to answer the research question.\" Unless I've misunderstood that statement, it looks like a sufficient reason to reject the paper regardless of any other problems. So, if I were reviewing such a paper, my report would begin by explaining why the methods are inadequate. Then I'd say something like \"In view of this inadequacy of the methods, I recommend that the paper be rejected.\" After that, I'd mention, as a secondary issue, the defects of the writing. I'd probably include a few examples and then say that there are a great many similar examples.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 102715,
"author": "Scientist",
"author_id": 66782,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66782",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I find these the quickest to review, but I usually blame on the editor to have passed them on. (A desk rejection would have been in place if issues are so apparent.)</p>\n\n<p>What I do is it write a short comment stating that the study is not clearly written, followed by trivial examples. I do not attempt to correct anything. Finally I state 1-2 main shortcomings in the Methods, and wrap it up. Should take 40 mins in total.</p>\n\n<p>(Disclosure: Since lately I have been avoiding giving a clear recommendation of the kind Accept/Reject unless forced because I think ideally an Editor should take that decision based on his/her own impression in view of the reviewers' reports. Too many editors nowadays just fish out recommendations to add up.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44227",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33657/"
] |
44,236 |
<p>I've been asking around my department recently for opportunities assisting with research (I'm in electrical engineering). Some of my professors work in labs, but others do largely computer-based work. The computer-based work interests me more. </p>
<p>I understand research experience is very important when applying to grad school. What do graduate admissions committees really consider "research", though? Is it working in a lab? Is it "contributing to some certain extent to a research project?" Is it simply helping out a professor with his research? Is more independent-study type work considered research? Or is it necessary to be actively helping a professor with their research program?</p>
<p>As an undergraduate sophomore, I'm really not in a position to do groundbreaking research. What's considered a good research experience for me?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44239,
"author": "userABC123",
"author_id": 32873,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32873",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is more independent-study type work considered research? Or is it necessary to be actively helping a professor with their research program?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In my experience, it's best to be actively interacting with a professor. But in most cases it's unlikely you'll be actively assisting with their research programs (they have usually have graduate students/postdocs for that). </p>\n\n<p>You could be given either a small project related to their funded work or possibly some crazy idea they're unwilling to let a grad student spend time on. Or anything in between.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What do graduate admissions committees really consider \"research\", though?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you can do any work that results in something published in a journal or conference, or even a poster, will be very valuable for graduate school admissions. It doesn't matter if that work is lab or computer-based. (Better yet if you can prove (with a publication/poster) that you can do both \"wet\" and \"dry\" lab work.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>As an undergraduate sophomore, I'm really not in a position to do groundbreaking research. What's considered a good research experience for me?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>When I was a junior I emailed every professor in the department. Two responded and I ended up doing \"independent research credits\" with one of them. It worked out really well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44240,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Pretty much all of the things that you list count as research. The best possible thing would be to end up as the first author of a publication, but that is rare. In general, anything that gives you some experience with the process of research and demonstrates that you are able to contribute to it is a good thing. </p>\n\n<p>More to the point: anything that will cause your <em>professor</em> to feel they can honestly write about what excellent potential you have to become a researcher is good.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44275,
"author": "Wolgast",
"author_id": 33549,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33549",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my university the faculties of medicine, pharmaceutics and physiotherapy have a 'position' you can acquire called student-researcher. This is classified as a course and you get credits for it. The purpose is to spend and work at least 20 days in a research lab during the summer holidays (and eventually during the school year). All you have to do is pass your classes and contact a professor who conducts research in your field of interest. Usually for the day-to-day you will be supervised by one of his PhD students. There are not many students that participate, even though it is highly regarded at our university (although it's popularity is increasing). In some cases student-researchers will end up being co-author to a publication and very rarely even first author. There is also an abstract competition and seminar organised for participants. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://med.kuleuven.be/nl/geneeskunde/student-onderzoeker\" rel=\"nofollow\">Here</a> is the link to the site. Even though it is in Dutch, if you would want more information you could run it through a translator or ask me in a comment.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44236",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21694/"
] |
44,242 |
<p>My Department – Physics – is preparing to modernise its entire syllabus at all levels, from undergraduate through to graduate courses. We are looking at what material should be taught, as well as methods for teaching that material. This will be a significant, multi-year project.</p>
<p>I have found plenty of accounts of how others have changed a single course, or a few courses. However I’ve not come across an account of a department changing its whole programme of study, root and branch, in the manner we are contemplating. </p>
<p>Do you know of any physics – or similar – departments/schools which have gone through such a major renovation? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44244,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's not physics, but a cousin at least: if I remember correctly, the MIT Mechanical Engineering department went through a major restructuring of its courses about 10-15 years ago, in which they changed nearly the entire undergraduate curriculum. I can't find any material about it online, but you may be able to to contact people who were involved to find out more.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44256,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You might want to take a look at Germany (and possibly other countries an Europe). Due to the Bologna reform, physics departments (and many other ones) were forced to switch their curriculum from the old diploma system to a bachelor–master system somewhere around 2005 (the exact year depends on the university).</p>\n\n<p>At least my university used this for some restructuring of the contents and, e.g., did the following (just to give you an idea):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Introduced separate math courses for physicists (before, students of physics and mathematics attended the same courses).</li>\n<li>Introduced special courses each for IT, presentations and numerics (before, students were supposed to learn this by themselves on the way or when they actually needed it)</li>\n<li>Moved theoretical mechanics and electrodynamics one semester earlier.</li>\n<li>Merged the courses on atomic physics and condensed-matter physics as well as the courses on nuclear and particle physics.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Other universities might have undergone even more radical changes.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44277,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My answer is only tangentially related to your question, but you may want to see if there are documents produced by some of the relevant professional organizations that outline how a modern curriculum should look like. For example, in Computer Science, this is the normative document: <a href=\"https://www.acm.org/education/CS2013-final-report.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.acm.org/education/CS2013-final-report.pdf</a> . If such a document existed for physics, it might very well make your task vastly simpler because at least it already outlines what most of your courses should be about.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44242",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424/"
] |
44,245 |
<p>I am an undergraduate student working for a professor this summer. Up to this point, I have referred to the professor as Dr. LastName. I have met his research group; his graduate and PhD students refer to him by his first name. Moreover, he signs his emails to me with his first name.</p>
<p>Is it acceptable to ask, through email, how he would like to be addressed? Or is it proper etiquette to wait for him to correct me? I would prefer to ask him in person, but I will not be seeing him for several weeks. </p>
<p>For example, in an email: "I have noticed that you sign your emails as 'FirstName'. Would you prefer that I address you as 'FirstName'?"</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44252,
"author": "Frames Catherine White",
"author_id": 8513,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8513",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, \nit is completely acceptable to ask how you should refer to someone via email.</p>\n\n<p>In fact, I think I still have the email I sent to my supervisor.\nHere is the (edited) last line of one of my early emails while sorting out our first meeting:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I should also ask, what is your prefered form of address? Would you\n prefer I address you as Dr. L'astnamé, or by first name, or in some other\n way?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The response was:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Regarding forms of address I think Dr. L'astnamé will be fine</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and so that is what I called him all through my undergrad project, as a short-term research assistant under him, and now into my Ph.D.</p>\n\n<p>I'm sure he will tell me if he would like me to change.\nIt is generally acceptable to ask people matters of etiquette concerning them.\n(Life would be hard if asking what was polite was normally impolite.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44257,
"author": "damian",
"author_id": 27812,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27812",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In contrast to other answers voiced here, to me, signing a mail with {Firstname} is a clear indication that one can address the sender by {Firstname}. It would be unreasonable for the prof signing with {Firstname} to expect otherwise. I don't agree with the \"always better to play safe\"-advice, as I strongly believe in that an academic discussion should be based on arguments, not on status. If I expected my students to call me in a formal way, then I would have to address them in a more formal way as well (at least, that's what I feel). When I indicate that I as prof feel comfortable with the informal route (which I do by signing my mails in this way), there is no reason not to accept that offer.\nHaving said that, it is of course highly dependent on culture and language.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44270,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is almost never impolite to ask how to be polite.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44272,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Interesting question... Let's put aside <em>opinions</em> and try to list the <em>facts</em>:</p>\n\n<h3>1. Variability</h3>\n\n<p>The preferred for of addressing a prof, much like anyone else, will vary immensely. It ultimately depends on many factors like: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>culture in that country ... </li>\n<li>and in the country of origin, if the prof in question has a different background </li>\n<li>culture in that particular faculty/department (usually less formality/honourifics in Maths/CS/Physics etc)</li>\n<li>how down-to-earth that particular person is</li>\n<li>...</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>2. Uncertainty</h3>\n\n<p>If you don't know something regarding another person, you essentially need to acquire that piece of information. It won't magically dawn on you... So your options are either to ask that person, or to ask someone else that knows this person. </p>\n\n<p>The risk is, if you ask another person, you might be making the assumption that the person you ask has a different level of relationship with the prof. It might be so that the grad student you ask \"goes way back\" with the prof, and while they might be on a first name basis, you might not have the same grounds to stand on.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>Bottomline:</strong> If you don't ask you can't know the right way to address the person. Noone can really blame you for asking how to refer to a person, especially if they are at a higher position than you, implicitly or explicitly. </p>\n\n<p>You might be considered unnecessarily formal, or stiff, but still it's better than making an assumption and making a rude mistake, especially if the person in question comes from a culture where titles are taken very seriously. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44245",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33670/"
] |
44,259 |
<p>Can someone explain the difference between <em>hypothesis, thesis statement</em> and <em>research goal</em> based on an example?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44389,
"author": "MrMeritology",
"author_id": 17564,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had this same question recently and did some research on it. The definitions I found weren't consistent, but from them I derived the following.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Thesis statement</strong> -- A definitive statement about the way the world (or your system of interest) works, especially what is most important in causing or influencing the behavior of the system.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Family expectations has primary significance on the performance in college for Latino girls in the Western US\" is an example of a thesis statement.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Research goal</strong> -- Expresses what you hope to learn or shed light on in your research. Specifically, the goal should specify what <em>type</em> of results you are hoping to achieve. It contextualizes your work in relation to other research, especially theory. It also feeds into your choice of method.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"My research goal is to develop a theoretical model of cultural influence on college performance, contextualized by gender and ethnicity\" is an example of a research goal.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Hypotheses</strong> -- What <em>specific</em> conditions or relations do you aim to test or evaluate in your research. Any research that does not include a method for hypothesis testing should <em>not</em> claim to test hypotheses. A hypothesis statement must be specific enough that it is testable by the methods you choose, and also it should be falsifiable -- i.e. it is clear what evidence might prove the hypothesis false, and such evidence should be plausible and possible.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Low family expectations has a detrimental effect on the college completion rate and time-to-complete for high-achieving Latino girls\" is an example of a hypothesis statement.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Notice how there are specific, testable conditions and metrics -- \"college completion rates\" and \"time-to-complete\". These conditions should appear as metrics in your research methods -- i.e. instruments and analysis methods.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 110595,
"author": "Vwede Ohworho",
"author_id": 93437,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/93437",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A thesis statement usually helps guide the research paper. It is a short sentence or summary containing the central idea of the research paper. It helps a reader have a clear glimpse of what the paper is about. </p>\n\n<p>The Hypothesis statement comes in different format but with the intent to help prove or disprove a phenomenon. The hypothesis can help defend, support, explain or disprove, argue against the thesis statement.Usually the hypothesis measures specific issues or variables-two or more and therefore should be testable. The thesis statement creates a background while the hypothesis creates a means to measure the interrelationship.</p>\n\n<p>The research goal takes a look into the future of your study or research paper. |It tries to help you state what the outcomes you seek to achieve by the research work. With a research goal you can set specific milestones to accomplish at the end of the research work.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44259",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22440/"
] |
44,260 |
<p>I'm teaching an advanced undergraduate computer science course that requires a 5-7 page term paper worth about 20% of the student's grade. </p>
<p>The class has several international students, and some of them do not have a strong command of the English language. Clearly, these students are at a disadvantage when it comes to this assignment.</p>
<p>To complicate matters, the course is part of the university's "integrated writing" curriculum, so, according to university policy, the quality of the writing must be evaluated as part of the grading process. </p>
<p>I'm trying to devise a fair scheme where non-native English speakers are not graded as stringently as native English speakers, yet not have the grading be so lenient for non-natives that it becomes unfair in the other direction. </p>
<p>I've already decided that some criteria can be graded on equal footing (such as overall paper organization, and the quality of the overall research), while others (such as word selection and sentence structure) can be looked at on more of a two-tier scale. </p>
<p>I'm wondering if anyone here as dealt with this dilemma before and, if so, how they might have approached this problem.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44261,
"author": "damian",
"author_id": 27812,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27812",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I teach at a Dutch university, where undergraduate teaching is in Dutch, gradudate teaching in English. We thus deal with grading non-natives on a daily basis and have a general policy of being more lenient when it concerns non-natives. For example, in our thesis guidelines, it is explicitly stated that a thesis has to be faultless, but it specifies that for non-natives, it should be near-faultless. In practice, this translates to allowing a higher number of spelling and grammar mistakes, and, as in you suggest in your question as well, is independent from structure and organization of the text.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44262,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Grade everyone the same on things like word choice and sentence structure, but make that portion of the grade a small part of the overall grade for the paper. (If you are in the United States, you will find students who are the product of U.S. high schools with limited vocabulary and no idea of sentence structure.)</p>\n\n<p>Edit: If you <em>don't</em> grade everyone on the same scale, you will inevitably get complaints. I'd argue that what is important (for learning) to students in your class is the formative feedback on their writing, not the specific number of points. If the dean complains, 'splain that you teach computer science.</p>\n\n<p><em>{Time passes}</em> As Damian has said in the comments, you will need a grading rubric that assigns relatively low points to word choice and sentence structure, more points to overall organization, still more points to quality of research, etc. Then you'll need to show how the overall grade was computed, using the rubric. To repeat myself, the formative comments you make, particularly on word choice, sentence structure, etc. will be more important to learning than the actual points.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44276,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to what others have already said, it may be worth differentiating between \"writing\" and \"composition\". My best guess is that your university's writing courses are actually mostly geared toward \"composition\" -- i.e., towards producing documents with a coherent structure, introduction, conclusions, etc, and that have a consistent narrative that develops ideas and arguments. This is independent of word choice, size of vocabulary, correctness of grammar, etc (or at least largely independent as long as the poor command of language does not affect the ability to understand the text).</p>\n\n<p>You may therefore want to develop a rubrik that weighs composition more heavily than word choices, grammar, or spelling.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44279,
"author": "Martin Argerami",
"author_id": 542,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/542",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As a non-native English speaker who teaches mathematics in an English-speaking university in Canada, I have little sympathy for the English struggles of international students. In my experience, most of the students who have big struggles with the language are those who bought the TOEFL result instead of learning. The students who are really committed come a year earlier to take English full-time, and they don't have major issues when they start their specific studies. </p>\n\n<p>Now, to address your specific question, in 13 years teaching here I never had reason (nor interest) to take marks off because of grammar. I will reduce the grade when I read nonsense, but that happens with Canadian-born students too. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44260",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780/"
] |
44,263 |
<p>How can a search be made at google-scholars, Scopus etc for only patents?</p>
<p>I want to search patents on a given topic or a set of keywords, but the results mostly include papers. Where I have to scan through all the results manually to reach a patent.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44264,
"author": "Mad Jack",
"author_id": 11192,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11192",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>To search for patents only, <a href=\"http://www.google.com/patents/\">Google Patent Search</a>, rather than Google Scholar, is the right tool for the job.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44311,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>European Patent Office has a really nice tool called <a href=\"http://worldwide.espacenet.com/advancedSearch?locale=en_EP\">Espacenet</a>, which allows you to make worldwide searches. I have linked the advanced search option, but there are simpler search forms as well.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44263",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14747/"
] |
44,267 |
<p>Suppose that a certain school is very popular for its computer courses, but its non-computer related courses are virtually unknown. Is it possible for that school to have only one or few students finishing, say, a degree in economics?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44269,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Possible but uncommon.</p>\n\n<p>The liberal-arts departments at MIT, for example, generally only have one or two students actually planning to get a degree in that area (usually, of course, as a double degree alongside something in the sciences or engineering.) Friend of a friend was the sole music major at one point. Small department since it isn't the school's primary focus, but I'm told the professors are excellent and of course you get a heck of a lot of attention from them. Of course first you need to get into MIT.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44278,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At the smallest colleges it is common. There might be zero students enrolled in some subjects beyond the general education level. Advanced programs can still be available as individual instruction or in collaboration with another institution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44312,
"author": "dbmag9",
"author_id": 6899,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6899",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is, to my knowledge, currently one undergraduate reading Jewish Studies at Oxford, so yes, it's very possible. More commonly, where a university enables courses to be combined for a joint honours degree, someone taking an unusual combination of subjects may well be the only one in that situation (and hence the only one to obtain a degree in <em>X and Y</em>).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44336,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is also possible if a particular college has just started a discipline that is relatively unknown to many people. They might be wishing to promote this field, but since the discipline is not yet very popular, it might not get adequate number of students.</p>\n\n<p>Also happens with offbeat combinations, especially in small colleges. A friend of mine from pure humanities had taken up mathematics as an optional subject and there were just three students in her class. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44462,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is possible even in bigger universities, as some allows you do create your own degree if you make a reasonable petition, why you need it and why you think this degree is different from the already existing one. Note that in a credit-based education system it is possible to create a new degree without extra costs, assuming that student goes to already existing classes, only she/he has a unique combination of requirements for graduation. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44267",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33677/"
] |
44,271 |
<p>I have some research papers in PDF format that are actually scanned (and then OCRed) instead of being the original PDF. Some are so badly created that text cannot be properly searched inside. </p>
<p>For example <a href="http://www.aaai.org/Papers/AIPS/1994/AIPS94-037.pdf" rel="nofollow">this paper</a> published in 1994 is all about advanced computer technology and there is no proper digital copy. This <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.196.7474&rep=rep1&type=pdf" rel="nofollow">extended report</a> related to the above paper is even more horribly digitized.</p>
<p><em>edit: I am unable to access the actual <a href="http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=239773&preflayout=tabs" rel="nofollow">horribly scanned paper</a>. That extended report also had issues in copying.</em> </p>
<p>Why is that? Why are some computer-science publications, which are not even so old, not available in a proper digital format?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44273,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In many cases, even through the early 2000's, publishers produced print journals using older type setting systems and did not produce PDFs of the papers for online publication. Once the papers were type set for printing, the publisher might have discarded all of the files associated with the papers or they might have just kept a file containing a print-ready image of the paper. </p>\n\n<p>Many journals had old material of this sort dating back decades. Since it would take a huge effort to type-set all of those older papers again, journal publishers have settled for simply scanning the earlier papers (or retrieving saved images of the papers) and then publishing the images of the papers online. </p>\n\n<p>Using optical character recognition (OCR) is one way to extract the text from these images. However, OCR isn't 100% accurate, and in any case it can't preserve all of the formatting of the paper. Thus OCR text from a scanned image of a published paper may be somewhat useful for indexing, but it really isn't equivalent to having the original document as a text PDF. </p>\n\n<p>A different issue is that you may have received a copy of a paper from someone other than the publisher. For example, if you made an inter library loan request to get a copy of a paper, it's possible that someone at another university library scanned a printed copy of the paper and sent that scan to you. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44274,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>PDF is a younger format than you think it is, having only been invented in 1993. Before that, documents would have been in PostScript at best. Many things you might think are OCR are actually bad PS conversions: it is very hard to unscramble the PS egg in some cases. The first linked paper appears to be of that type.</p>\n\n<p>For others where is no version even that good, it is simply that the cost of a better conversion is higher than the value per old paper. Maybe this will change someday, but right now the high quality OCR systems have higher priorities.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44271",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22332/"
] |
44,280 |
<p>I'm from the US but I work as an engineer in the UK. In the US, part-time engineering PhD students at high-profile universities are possible, but rare and usually limited to special cases. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>In the UK, it seems nearly every school has a part-time PhD option. How does a part-time engineering PhD at elite schools [Oxford, Imperial, Cambridge, UCL] work? </p></li>
<li><p>Is it possible to work full-time and obtain and obtain a part-time PhD at these elite schools? </p></li>
<li><p>What are your chances of being admitted to these top programs as a part-time PhD student (I'd assume there would be a bias against part time students)?</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44308,
"author": "mbatchkarov",
"author_id": 13685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13685",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Full-time PhD student here (my office mate is part-time).</p>\n\n<p>As you say, many universities will have a part-time program. It probably is possible to work full-time and do research part time, but it will be even more challenging than usual. PhDs tend to work best if you immerse yourself fully and spend your energy exclusively on research (especially if you want to have some spare time). My friend finds it difficult to balance a 20 hour workweek and a part-time research position. I've never met anyone who has a full-time job on top of the PhD.</p>\n\n<p>Re funding: AFAIK grants are typically used for full-time studentships. In my group, we have often broken down a full-time position into two part-time ones, but only for postdoctoral researchers. I guess the assumption is at a postdoc level people will be better at juggling all their commitments. My supervisor won't admit to it, but I reckon he would prefer one full-time student as opposed to two part-time ones, as the former is more likely to complete.</p>\n\n<p>EDIT: I spoke to my supervisor. If your day job is related to the research and is likely to help you (as opposed to holding you back), he said he would consider it a plus.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44314,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Two big differences between US and UK PhD programs are that full time UK programs are designed to be 3 years (with a pretty hard limit at 4 years) and many students, even in engineering and science, are not funded.</p>\n\n<p>Admissions to UK PhD programs, even the top programs, is significantly easier than in the US. Ignoring funding for a moment, admissions in the UK is almost entirely dependent on finding a willing supervisor, while in the US having a supervisor is not generally enough to gain admissions. So if you can find a supervisor who is willing to take you on as a part time PhD student, your chances of getting in are pretty good.</p>\n\n<p>Funding is a whole different story. Externally funded studentships in the UK are generally for full time students and departments generally do not like to commit themselves to 6 years. That said, tuition and fees in the UK can be much cheaper and self funding a UK PhD is much more common.</p>\n\n<p>In terms of finishing, I think a part time student in the UK has advantages that part time students in the US do not. Full time students in the UK lose their funding after 3 years and must be finished by 4 years while part time students have at least 6 years to finish. As some aspects of the PhD cannot be rushed, there are times were working less for longer is a definite advantage. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44344,
"author": "gman",
"author_id": 12454,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12454",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am a part-time masters(but will be switching to PhD part-time) in Ireland, where conditions are broadly similar to the UK. </p>\n\n<p>I found no bias against me as a part-time student as my application process was exactly the same as if I was a full-time student. </p>\n\n<p>Part-time PhDs will normally have the same criteria as the full-time one but you will in general get double the time to finish it. One thing to watch out for is that a potential supervisor is fully aware of the lengthier time-frame to possible completion. </p>\n\n<p>Just from my own experience, on working full-time and doing post-graduate study. It can be done but it is hard. I have a nine to five job. I'm lucky in that my work place is a 10 minute walk from my university where I have a desk in a post-graduate research centre. I would generally start about 6 and finish around ten or eleven. There are also full days done at the weekend. I think even with everything going perfectly you are a least committing to 4-5 years. I'm in the Humanities so holidays/vacations are now trips to archives for research! </p>\n\n<p>In relation to funding, as noted in the other answers, it is near impossible to get tuition fees funded. You may also be able to apply for some internal grants within the university you study in. I have been able to receive some funding from within my university from a travel bursary to help fund my research trips. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44280",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33684/"
] |
44,283 |
<p>I am not sure if this holds true everywhere, but here in Germany you only get two attemps at getting your PhD. I am currently wondering at which point it counts towards those two attempts. If I were to start a position and quit during the first few weeks, would it still count?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44285,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you are conflating the issue of being a <em>Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter</em> (research personnel) with that of receiving a PhD. It is possible to work in a \"research\" position for an extended period of time without being part of a PhD process, so such positions obviously would not count towards \"two attempts.\"</p>\n\n<p>In addition, it is entirely possible that people might have to move or change positions because of personal circumstances (health, parental leave, or the two-body problem, among other reasons). Restricting people to two \"shots\" in this manner would be unfair.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, I believe what you are referring to is the rule that there are at most two attempts at the <em>thesis defense.</em> If you fail the first one, then you must wait for a prescribed period of time (but not longer than another period of time), and attempt again to defend your thesis. If the second attempt fails, then you are not allowed further attempts. (However, if you work with your advisor, there shouldn't be a problem here, as you shouldn't be allowed to hold a defense if there's a substantial risk of failure!)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44287,
"author": "gnometorule",
"author_id": 4384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4384",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I don't think this is quite true in Germany either - or at least not in the generality that I read into your question. </p>\n\n<p>Here is <a href=\"https://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/fb7/promotionsordnung_vom_01.06.2010.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">example 1</a> (Promotionsordnung (PhD bylaws) for psychology and sport, Muenster), and another randomly selected <a href=\"http://www.math-nat-fakultaet.uni-bonn.de/Wob/images/33630625.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">example 2</a> (Promotionsordnung math, Bonn). Both stipulate much more restrictive conditions that relate to your question. They somewhat overlap, but not completely - so there is also no uniform answer for Germany. Simply stepping away from a PhD early on would not be a problem in either case. The restrictions on the number of attempts to be successfully awarded a PhD are as follows: </p>\n\n<p>Example 1: you get one and one only attempt to resubmit a declined thesis, and to re-take the oral defense each </p>\n\n<p>Example 2: no restrictions are mentioned on the number of failed thesis attempts. You get one attempt to re-take a failed defense </p>\n\n<p>In particular given that even these two sources don't agree, you just need to pull your program's Promotionsordnung, and confirm which rules apply to you. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44283",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33688/"
] |
44,296 |
<p>I have done some research on this, but I still don't know what is carried out in a workshop. What activities are arranged? How are they different from conferences?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44306,
"author": "Gimelist",
"author_id": 22213,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22213",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most workshops are there to teach you a skill, or set of skills. While a conference is mostly about passively listening to talks and reading posters, in a workshop you are actively engaged in doing something.</p>\n\n<p>This can be learning a new piece of software, learning a mathematical method, how to use a specific machinery or an instrument, etc. There are also going to be talks about the subject: theory, applications and possible more.</p>\n\n<p>Not all workshops are like that - I've been in a one day \"workshop\" where all we did was sit in a lecture hall listening to people talk about a common topic. In an ideal workshop you would hopefully be actively doing something.</p>\n\n<p>Also, in conferences you are usually able (and expected) to present something, be it a talk or a poster. In workshop this is rarely the case, and the agenda is predetermined.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44307,
"author": "Tobias Kildetoft",
"author_id": 12592,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12592",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sometimes, a workshop is just a conference, but the organizers decided to call it a workshop instead for one reason or another.</p>\n\n<p>So while a lot of people will have some idea of what the difference should be, in practice the difference can be non-existent, so one will need to look at the details of each individual conference or workshop to decide which will be of interest.</p>\n\n<p>(Note that my entire experience is from mathematics, so it might be different in other fields).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44309,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In CS subfields related to HCI and related topics of communication between users and software, a workshop is almost the same as a conference, that is, there are speakers who give talks about their papers. However, the following differences can be observed:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Organisational:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A workshop lasts just one or half a day.</li>\n<li>A workshop is \"embedded\" into a conference; it doesn't take place on its own, but it takes place at the day before or after the main conference. Sometimes, conference registration includes workshop registration.</li>\n<li>The audience tends to be much smaller. This is partially because often, several workshops are scheduled at the same time, and partially, because not all conference guests attend any workshops (especially when the workshop needs to be registered and paid for separately). In any case, it is not untypical for smaller workshops to have just a handful of attendees, each of which will present something.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Contents:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>There is less of an expectation of presenting fully finished work. Work in progress, or results based on a preliminary study, are usually accepted, if not explicitly invited.</li>\n<li>Likewise, remarks about future work can be a bit more central than in normal talks, as the workshop may prove as an opportunity to find collaborators who would like to help tackle the suggestions for future work.</li>\n<li>While conference sessions typically feature an opportunity for questions and answers on every single paper right after each talk, workshops sometimes schedule an additional (sometimes considerable in duration) wrap-up discussion that is supposed to provide some time for discussing everything that was presented during the workshop, identifying common issues and chances, and possibly developing ideas for further work together.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44320,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The reason why it is difficult to tell what workshops are about is because it is a catch-all category that many different types of academic meeting are labelled as. To illustrate, let me give examples of the nature of some of the events that I have attended in the last two years that all use the same word \"workshop\" to describe themselves:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A \"baby conference\" attached to a full-size conference, where the small meeting simply isn't large enough to meet on its own yet.</li>\n<li>A project meeting for researchers who are all funded by the same large grant</li>\n<li>A planning and discussion session aimed at helping determine the direction of a field</li>\n<li>A joint industry/academia fact-finding meeting sponsored by an industry consortium</li>\n<li>A specialty conference attended by around 100 people</li>\n<li>A premier conference attended by several hundred people</li>\n<li>A working meeting by a standards development group</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The length of these meetings ranged from a single afternoon to a full week. Their programs ranged from nothing but loosely structured discussion to a full-on tightly packed conference schedule. The level of peer review ranged from non-applicable to minimal to full-on single-blind review and revision.</p>\n\n<p>In short: a workshop is whatever it wants to be, and different ones serve different purposes in the academic ecosystem.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44332,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A workshop is designed to teach something or develop a specific skill while an academic conference is about presenting original research and getting feedback from peers. A workshop doesn't necessarily have to present original research; it is directed more towards teaching and learning in an interactive environment. Active participation from attendees is encouraged in a workshop, and small activities are often conducted to keep the participants engaged. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 57691,
"author": "Col S K Mahapatra",
"author_id": 43926,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43926",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A Workshop is as the name suggests a shop where we work to produce some products. Here the participants are workers, the methodology used like presentation of papers, question answer sessions, group discussions, debates, group and individual problem solving sessions are the tools/machinery in a workshop. The theme proposed by the organisers is the raw-material and the recommendations/models and answers arrived at is the finished product. \nCol SK Mahapatra</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 66481,
"author": "Ryan Deschamps",
"author_id": 51997,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/51997",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A conference literally means \"bring together\" so it's just a big meeting of people. In professional life, a conference usually means going to presentations and meeting colleagues. Academic conferences usually mean that you write a paper and receive feedback to make it more publishable.</p>\n\n<p>A workshop can be a conference (because it also \"brings together\") but as the name implies, it is about using a space as a place to build something hands-on. In the academic case, this typically means new research skills, improving papers, building knowledge and inevitably defending a research position because academics like to fight over ideas and theories. The upshot is that because you are building rather than presenting, it is quite common to see papers in very draft mode or even just some data looking for ideas on analysis. You are meant to help people learn by working collaboratively.</p>\n\n<p>Other \"conferences\" include: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>A Symposium is based on Greek drinking parties, but usually means a number of people try to answer a common question (drinking comes later). It is popular in the humanities.</li>\n<li>Colloquium/Seminar is mostly an opportunity to discuss a topic.</li>\n<li>A panel is a series of speeches, often moderated by a master of ceremonies.</li>\n<li>A \"camp\" uses <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology\" rel=\"nofollow\">Open Space technology</a> to moderate informal sessions about just about anything under a common theme.</li>\n<li>A \"hackathon\" in the academic world usually involves trying to come up with a research question and a way to answer it in a short period of time.</li>\n<li>A roundtable involves different experts all having equal time to discuss a particular topic.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Other ideas and definitions about <a href=\"http://port.modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/different-types-conferences.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">types of conferences</a> are available online as well.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44296",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14250/"
] |
44,300 |
<p>I have a Masters Degree in Computer Science from India.
I have been working in IT sector from last 10 years
From last 5 years I am working in US
I am very much interested in Teaching Undergrads(Bachelors Degree) at College.
I am not aware of Education /Degree/Credentials needed to teach at College Level in US. Can someone kindly let me know how to go about this. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44325,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not aware of any officially required qualifications for teaching higher education. While often universities \"require\" supervisors, committee members, and examiners of PhD students to have a PhD, these can often be waived if the person in question holds another comparable degree (e.g., ScD or MFA) or has sufficient experience.</p>\n\n<p>From a practical standpoint, to be competitive for a full time teaching positions in the US, you will likely need a PhD, or the equivalent terminal degree in your field. Individuals without a terminal degree and lots of work experience can sometimes teach individual classes in their area of speciality. Even at community colleges, a PhD is a desirable qualification that improves your chances of getting a job.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44363,
"author": "justsomecollegestudent",
"author_id": 33739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33739",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It seems like with your qualifications you could get a job teaching an adjunct class, and possibly get a full time job at a community college. I personally have seen many professors without PHD's at my college, but they are generally in charge of teaching courses like Microsoft office or beginner level Networking and Hardware repair. It depends on what you want to teach, if you're looking for a career as a professor at a 4 year university in Computer Science / Computer Engineering you will probably need a PHD to be competitive. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44300",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33700/"
] |
44,301 |
<p>I recently defended my Ph.D. dissertation (Information Systems) and now it's time to apply for some positions. While I would love to stay in academia, my current highest priority is to find a good job in IT and/or management consulting. Since I've designed my coursework with partial industry (consulting) focus in mind, most of the courses that I've taken during my Ph.D. program are very relevant to potential work in a consulting environment. I've read <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/5961/12391">this related question</a>, but it has only academic focus, hence my question.</p>
<p>Currently I'm working on converting my former resume into two CV variants: one, focused on industry/consulting (updated and improved resume), and another, focused on academia (CV per se). My strategy is to include (mention) the relevant (practically, full) Ph.D.-level coursework into the industry/consulting CV variant and exclude that information from the academic one. <strong>What do you think of this strategy?</strong> Also, I'm <strong>interested whether it is beneficial</strong> to include my master's level coursework into the industry-focused CV. Any other advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44303,
"author": "gnometorule",
"author_id": 4384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4384",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My first job after my PhD was as a consultant. I suggest being selective with respect to what, and how much of your coursework to include. </p>\n\n<p>Your degree speaks for your potential, and there is little use adding too much detail that is implied by it (in particular if you graduated from a reputable school). You want your CV to be <em>one page only</em>, so don't clutter it. </p>\n\n<p>Begin with a brief executive summary, which generically could read like \"Information system PhD with strong skills in (insert - say, system programming/data analysis/...) and communication (from X years as a teaching assistant).\" Find something jazzy that you think fits you. </p>\n\n<p>You can add relevant course work experience in a \"skills\" section, as appropriate, and further add anything valuable under \"awards and honors\" (if nothing else fits, don't shy away from mentioning performing well/near top/top of class in course work). It's also ok to maybe highlight some particularly relevant coursework (with grades). It would definitely help if your thesis work (which you should summarize) could be linked to the typical consulting job (bringing structure where little was before). At the bottom of the page, add three academic references if any of your faculty might be known in industry. </p>\n\n<p>Two more points: I don't remember what the person's job name and description was, but in my case, I found someone at my school who proof-read my CV with lots of feedback (my initial version sucked badly). Secondly, you tend to read to de-emphasize your academic background in industry (eg, \"list it after professional experience\"), but this is simply not true for at least 2-5 years, depending, as your PhD will stay your greatest achievement for a while.</p>\n\n<p>Take it with a grain of salt as I've been out of this for a while. Best of luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44318,
"author": "PatW",
"author_id": 7357,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7357",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The structure of a CV might differ from a country to another, but the <em>real</em> goal of a CV is always the same: to get you a job interview (and not to describe yourself).</p>\n\n<p>As a result, for an industry CV, everything that is in favor of you getting the job interview can be helpful in your application and coursework definitively should be included. Whether you want to add them in the \"Education\" or \"Skills\" section is up to you but keep in mind that you must stay concise (e.g., just give a list of <em>intelligible</em> coursework titles). If some of them are particularly relevant to the job, you can add further details but the cover letter might be a more appropriate place for that.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, about adding or omitting the coursework in an academic CV, just ask yourself the same question: Will it help me to get an interview? So you might want to consider if the skills (technical, management, etc...) developed in the coursework are pertinent for doing or conducting the research and teaching aspects of an academic position.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44319,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is more than one type of industry, and you should adapt your presentation accordingly. One major flag is whether they ask for a CV or a resume, and you may want to explicitly clarify which.</p>\n\n<p>Industrial jobs with a strong R&D component (such as at the company where I work) will often want a CV. For those jobs, keep the full academic CV, but also add in a \"Skills\" section near the top where you can talk about what else you learned that's not reflected well by the publications, etc. on the rest of your CV. Don't bother listing individual course names---the reader probably won't be able to meaningfully evaluate them---but your goal here is to demonstrate the breadth and flexibility that is likely to be necessary in the broader scientific community.</p>\n\n<p>Other jobs are more \"normal industry\" and just want to know about your job-relevant skills, and will want a resume. Don't give them a CV, give them a 1-page resume, summarizing your skills, goals, etc. They too will likely not care about the individual classes, but rather what you can claim as skills as a result of having taken them.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12391/"
] |
44,310 |
<p>In my language, name structure are different to Western names, and they have a lot of diacritics. To make it less confusing and easier to use for international work, we usually "transliterate" it to a non-diacritics version and reorder the position of components. The problem is, for different people, they will choose different way to change. For example, in my language, the name <em>Nguyễn Ví Dụ</em> will have these kinds of transliterate (I'm not going to list all "combinations"):</p>
<ul>
<li>Du Nguyen</li>
<li>Nguyen VD</li>
<li>NV Du</li>
<li>Du NV</li>
<li>or keep using Nguyễn Ví Dụ</li>
</ul>
<p>Since the complexity of how a name is formed in the language is large, I can't really say which kind of "transliteration" is better than the others (it may even depend on the policy of the journals). And honestly, I don't think this is a problem to <strong>the authors</strong> if they decide to use a particular "transliteration". I know that I should keep those names as they are when citing the authors because that's how they get the credits.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> However, when I list some authors (say in my CV), one will easily notice the differences between how the names represented. If the reader doesn't really care about that, that's fine, but if they do, I don't know if they will have bad impression? For worse, three professors who wrote LORs for me referred my name in three different ways, same as how they write their names. And I myself have decided to <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43859/how-to-cite-titles-in-latin-based-languages-that-use-many-diacritics#comment97729_43860">just write my name as it is</a>, which will make my application has four representations of my name. Should I worry about this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44315,
"author": "gnometorule",
"author_id": 4384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think this will make a bad impression with anyone. If this <em>were</em> to make a <em>bad impression</em> on someone, then you'd probably not want to work for that person. </p>\n\n<p>In particular in the U.S. (but mostly in all Western countries at least), nowadays, it doesn't matter which name you choose. What matters is that you decide on one name, and stick to it. If you don't, you create unnecessary confusion and, at least until you'd be well-established, a never-ending need to clarify simple things.</p>\n\n<p>If it's not too late, I would consider discussing this with your letter writers, and ask them to kindly all use whichever name you decide on. If it is too late to ask them, but you haven't sent anything out yet, do as the comment suggests and add a few explanatory words to your cover letter. And if you've already sent your application out, I wouldn't worry too much about the name issue. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44338,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Among those names you listed, the only place for concern about confusion is that the second representation (Nguyen VD) is not obviously the same as the the third and fourth (NV Du or Du NV). Now in your question you seem to have a couple of concerns.</p>\n\n<p>1) You're worried about authors' names on your CV (I guess in your list of publications). Here the only likely concern should be for it to be clear which author you are. If you're in a field like math, where author order doesn't matter, you don't even need to list your name, just say \"(with ...)\" to list your coauthors. Otherwise, it's normal to list names as they appear on the paper. If you want, you can take some liberties by expanding to full names or adding diacritics as long as it is easy to identify the author list on the published paper with that on your CV. If for some reason it is still not clear which author you are (e.g., if other authors have some abbreviated name which might be yours), you can highlight your name on each paper (e.g., with an asterisk or use a different color).</p>\n\n<p>2) For your LORs, it's common that different professors refer to people in different ways. Since these will be LORs for you, there should be no confusion of who they're referring to, as long as it's reasonably related to your name on your application. Also, if you list them as references, enter their names in their preferred format is reasonable, at least if you are writing in free form (e.g., you're not given certain spaces for family name versus given name). The committee will then see that the way you entered their names matches with the way they wrote their own names on their letters.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44343,
"author": "Jez",
"author_id": 358,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/358",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's only part of the solution, but you could look at <a href=\"http://orcid.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">ORCID</a>, which gives you a unique ID to link together all of your publications etc. regardless of the exact form of your name you use. Use isn't widespread yet, but more and more publishers are starting to adopt it, as are increasing numbers of research institutions (at least in the UK).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44347,
"author": "Sverre",
"author_id": 11053,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11053",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's not entirely clear to me what your worry or question is.</p>\n\n<p>In your first question, you mention that \"when I list some authors (say in my CV), one will easily notice the differences between how the names represented.\" But why would you as a Vietnamese person order the names of other Vietnamese people in multiple different ways in your own CV?</p>\n\n<p>In your second question, you say that \"three professors who wrote LORs for me refered me in three different names\". But the only reason they did that must be that you failed to inform them how you wanted your name to be rendered (in English, I presume?).</p>\n\n<p>My suggestion to you is to mention at the top of your CV (and on your website) that in the East Asian tradition, your name (using the same example name as you did) is rendered as Nguyễn Ví Dụ (family name - middle name - given name), but in the Western tradition, it is rendered as Dụ Ví Nguyễn (given name - middle name - family name). Once you just mention that Nguyễn is the family name, no one should have any difficulties figuring out how to refer to you.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44310",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341/"
] |
44,326 |
<p>My graduation ceremony is coming up in a few months,
and I have the option of buying or renting a graduation cap and gown.</p>
<p>I will be starting an assistant professor job this year, so I suspect (but am not sure) that I will need to wear the dress at graduation ceremonies at my new institution.</p>
<p>If I were to buy the graduation dress, would I ever need to wear it again?</p>
<p><strong>Location:</strong> My new job will be in an Asian university.</p>
<p><strong>What I did</strong> I asked a colleague at the institution where I will be working,
and he told me that indeed, I could rent a gown for free
if I were to attend a graduation ceremony.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44327,
"author": "Ian",
"author_id": 22000,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22000",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't bother. It's over 10 years since my ceremony, I've been in academia all that time, and I've never seen the need. I've also seen very few faculty with their own robes. For graduation most institutions I know of will organize robe hire (and pay for it), so there's not even that incentive.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44328,
"author": "Aru Ray",
"author_id": 948,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/948",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Different institutions have different policies on robes for faculty members at graduations, although most will arrange for robes for faculty who do not have their own. However, if you take advantage of this option, you might not get much choice in your regalia - so if the institution that you are graduating from has its own particular design for regalia that you love, it might be worth getting your own. I have heard that there are institutions who will require that all faculty members wear the same design of regalia for graduation ceremonies, in which case spending a lot of money on a non-traditional set - which you then cannot wear at commencements - would be less than optimal. </p>\n\n<p>Since you have an assistant professor job lined up, you could just ask someone at your new institution what the policies are there. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44329,
"author": "GEdgar",
"author_id": 4484,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4484",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I bought my Harvard doctoral robes in 1973. And I have worn them a few times over the years. Probably fewer than 10 times. Deans and higher administrators probably attend many more of these events.</p>\n\n<p>At Ohio State, a representative group of faculty attends each commencement ceremony. You can wear your own robe, or our department had a few generic robes for use by those do not have one. Of course I would always be noticeable in my crimson robe among all the black.</p>\n\n<p>The robe is made of some synthetic fabric, and should be dry cleaned, not just stuffed in a washing machine. I only needed that once: we were in a procession walking through the rain.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44330,
"author": "Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩",
"author_id": 26708,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26708",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As noted in the comment, the location might change our opinion of the problem, however I will make notes from my experience.</p>\n\n<p>When I graduated with my first degree I hired a gown as I could not see the value of owning one and knew I would study for higher degrees, and perhaps I could buy one later in my career. I received my second degree in-absentia because I knew that I would graduate again with a third degree in due course.</p>\n\n<p>Now I attend ceremonies on a regular basis my institution can provide my gown for any formalities. Someone really parsimonious might say that you never need to buy a gown. </p>\n\n<p>However, I have great regret not getting the earlier gowns. Time has changed things in a way I could not predict when I was making the decisions. The gown from my first university was designed by the hippest fashion designer of the 1960s. It was real 1960s cool in colour, shape and cut. No black gowns and mortarboards for them. As the institution matured they felt hip fashion icons of the 1960s were no longer cool and switched to plain black gowns and mortarboards. Now, in present times, it is <em>impossible</em> to source the original gowns. They are collectors items that rarely come on eBay and go for huge prices. All the original graduates, like me, now realise what a fantastic item they missed and want to get them. (Because, today, they look quite fantastic again).</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bkrp4.jpg\" alt=\"The Computer Science Class of 1976\"><br>\nThe Computer Science Class of 1976 - Note the curved Hats</p>\n\n<p>The gowns from my second university, which some of my colleagues own, have changed in quality over the ages. When I graduated they were made by fine tailors from excellent cloth with fine silks and quality trimmings. Today they are polyester and so forth and mass produced identically to all the other university gowns.</p>\n\n<p>My rented gown just does not impress half as much as the originals that others wear at these fine ceremonies.</p>\n\n<p>Only you can know how fine are the gowns that you could buy. No one can know what the future brings.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44331,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the biggest question will be whether or not you are required by your department head, dean, provost, or university head to attend some number of graduation ceremonies every year. There has been a push at my university to get faculty attendance up at these events, and they require a cap and gown. As such, and with the increased attendance, there probably aren't enough loaner robes to go around, so at least some faculty need to buy their own.</p>\n\n<p>Now, since you're still a presumably poor student, why don't you rent your robe for your own graduation and then get the lay of the land when you get to your new university? There's some lost money, but in the long run it will seem small in comparison to the sunk cost of buying a robe that it turns out you don't need. You can always buy one next year at your new university (even in the style of the one you graduated from) once you get there and find out if it's worthwhile.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44339,
"author": "user3697176",
"author_id": 31433,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31433",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I actually wish I had. (At this particular stage in my life it seems no longer necessary, but fifteen, twenty years ago I seriously contemplated it --- and then promptly procrastinated.)</p>\n\n<p>It probably does not make much sense to buy one just for your own graduation (I didn't even attend mine), but if you intend to make a career in academia, you will likely be expected to attend commencement ceremonies for your students. Sure, you can rent a gown once or twice a year, but the rentals are all so uniform, and your institution may not even offer the degree you were awarded, so the colors are all wrong, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44385,
"author": "Jyrki Lahtonen",
"author_id": 17484,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17484",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I got my doctorate I bought the whole set - gown+hood+octagonal hat. The friendly people at the ND admin building overseeing the orders strongly advised me to also rent one for the commencement festivities. Their reasons: A) the fully tailored robe would not be done in time, B) there's the risk of getting champagne poured all over the robe at the commencement party. They exaggerated item B, but item A was compelling enough.</p>\n\n<p>During the last 25 years I have needed to wear the set less than ten times at various academic festivities: At the defences of my own grad students (in these parts they are very formal occasions in comparison to US) when I've been presiding the event. And elsewhere in doctoral defences as an opponent / external examiner / whatever. This is not too often, so the argument that it's wasted money is not without merit. However, getting extensive use of it was not on top of my list of reasons for buying the doctoral outfit in the first place. It has always also been a souvenir / memorabilia and also a uniform / badge of rank.</p>\n\n<p>And I still get sentimental every time I dig out the gown, dust it and put it on. Also, because it's different from our local norm academic white tie + top hat outfit, my robe always attracts some positive comments. I'm too vain to fully ignore those :-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52312,
"author": "Lg78",
"author_id": 39184,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39184",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I didn't attend my final graduation and didn't see the reason to buy a gown with so many other expenses adding up moving to my tenure track job. However, I quickly found out that at my new institution, I had to wear regalia for freshman convocation, 1-2 commencements, and now a few other special events, and at $60-$75 each for rentals, I paid the same amount renting as I ended up paying for my decent (but admittedly bargain basement) doctoral hood/gown. I also splurged for the cool soft hat because I hadn't seen the fancy flock of seagulls option of the poster above. Until today, I hadn't regretted that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 185800,
"author": "Micah Walter",
"author_id": 17557,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17557",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The best point at which to make the transition from renting to buying is when you get tenure, if you are in a tenure-track position: it means that you're likely in this for the long haul, and don't have to deal with the expensive and frustrating logistics of renting anymore. Before that point, there's always the possibility you'll leave and go to industry, or something of that sort.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44326",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8802/"
] |
44,333 |
<p>I'm doing my PhD in computer science and am working in computer vision. I have come up with an algorithm that my supervisors consider to be promising and publishable. It took me a long time to get these results.</p>
<p>Now the thing is that I have to compare my code to other recent papers tackling the same issue. Which I understand is very necessary as to show how my work compares to previous work. My supervisors want me to compare against at least 4 or 5 other recent papers.</p>
<p>The problem is that the database I am using is very recent and no journal papers have till yet used it. So the other solution left for me is to read the journal papers, understand it and try to implement their code.</p>
<p>This will definitely take way too long and in my opinion waste a lot of time. These journal papers are very advanced (obviously) and implementing their results on my own will take up a lot of my time whose only sole purpose is to get a result.</p>
<p>One solution would be to email the authors and ask politely for their source code, but I found out that many authors don't reply.</p>
<p>This question <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26159/can-i-request-the-code-behind-a-research-paper-from-the-author">Can I request the code behind a research paper from the author?</a> stated that they were more likely to get a response if they promised to add that author as a co-author in their paper. I do not want to do that as that would be being dishonest as I see no sense in adding the author to my paper just because I compared my work against his, and if I am to compare against 5 papers then that will be a <em>very</em> long list of authors.</p>
<p>Maybe I am asking for something that is frowned upon. Or maybe not asking in the right manner?</p>
<p>I emailed the authors and asked for their code solely to test their work on my database for comparison purposes, which gets no replies. Am I doing something wrong?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44345,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I'm doing my PhD in computer science\n This will definitely take way too long and in my opinion waste a lot\n of time</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Well, that is what a PHD in CS in experimental algorithms and areas is all about. You must prepare your algorithm, implement it, implement previous works and compare your work with them. So, how much time it will take you it is of no interest to anyone else but you and your supervisor. So, this line of argument is naive.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>One solution would be to email the authors and ask politely for their\n source code</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, but it not the only one. You could ask for their datasets and run your algorithm on their datasets, instead of making yet another dataset. Moreover, experimental algorithm communities have well-known benchmark instances and all related papers work on them for easy comparison of results. Why do you need to build yet another dataset? It is OK to use this extra dataset AFTER you tested your algorithm on those community benchmark instances. You could also send your datasets to your \"competitors\" and ask them to run their experiments on your datasets and just give you their results. Prepare you experiments relatively to older papers, notify them of your PC specs (and provide alternatives PC configuration - you probably have different PCs on your lab) and tell them to repeat all your suggested experiments on an PC close to your suggested specs. </p>\n\n<p>If you like so much to share code, you can also send them the source code of yours, provide explanation how to compile it and use it and then let them run experiments on their PCs and give you the relative results to their work. I know that this thought probably never crossed your mind. Why? \"<em>They might steal my work, how do I know they will give me correct results, it is too much work to do so, I don't trust them with my src code</em>\". And now you know why people do not want to share their code. </p>\n\n<p>But you also probably forgot the most easy way out of your problem. Let your supervisor contact the first author AND the rest of the authors. Unless you are an exceptional PHD student with many amazing papers you are practically Mr Nobody and people will easily brush off your requests. It is harder to do so to your supervisor (unless he is Mr Nobody as well). Usually people do not want to say NO to future reviewers, collaborators and respected members of the community. Also it is important to CC all paper authors. The first author (PHD student) might be protective of his code and hide your request from his supervisor. If you CC the supervisor, he might be forced to share his code or at least reply.</p>\n\n<p>Last but not least: Be nice when asking.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 83994,
"author": "justastudent",
"author_id": 68335,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/68335",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Reproducibility in computer science is an important area for improvement. It is reasonable to expect authors to to make source code available for algorithms that they present. I've heard that some journals and conferences are putting pressure on authors to make source code publicly available (although I haven't personally encountered that). </p>\n\n<p>In my experience, most scientists do make their source code available. Not doing so both casts serious doubt on the legitimacy of their result, and is counter to the normal premise of public-sphere science. It's also pretty tough to to justify, since sharing source code has no cost associated to it.</p>\n\n<p>Being a PhD in computer science is most assuredly <em>not</em> about re-implementing existing algorithms, except maybe for pedagogical reasons. You're right that it's a waste of time. There is simply no good reason to do it when the code could be hosted on github for free!</p>\n\n<p>A good strategy is as follows.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Start with the corresponding author, or first author. Tell them what you're doing, that you intend to cite their work, and that you'd like to benchmark your method against theirs. Do be cordial, and feel free to tell them what you like about their work. Most likely they're a cool person.</li>\n<li>If they don't respond after a reasonable delay, say a week, send essentially the same email to the entire authors list, explain that you're having some trouble getting in contact with the corresponding author, and inquire about who is in the position to speak on behalf of the group. This has yet to fail for me.</li>\n<li>They should provide their source code at this point. If they don't, it's fair game to inquire as to why not. Since it's published work, there's sort of a premise that they should make it available except if there's something really making that a problem. It's pretty fishy if they don't. You can also remind them that you wouldn't want to make any mistake while implementing their work, so that the comparison is legitimate.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Don't worry about being a \"nobody\". The idea that a researcher should only respond to high-status people is just ridiculous. What you do need to be aware of, however, is that a prominent researcher can receive a lot of incoming communication. If they're professional, they'll have set up triaging for that. The best thing to do is make it <em>easy</em> for them to respond, and they will probably be pleased to help you, a student, which they once were.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44333",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11689/"
] |
44,348 |
<p>If I have taken an idea or quote from somewhere I will of course reference it properly.<br>
However my question is every time I mention someone e.g
'Joe Bloggs said..."
do I need to reference every time I mention that person if I have referenced him at least once?</p>
<p>Or if I say 'this proof is given by xyz book'
if I have ready referenced xyz book do I need to reference it every-time I mention the name of the book?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44349,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In short: <strong>Yes.</strong> For every quote or idea that is not your own, this must be made clear to the reader. However, depending on the citation style, this does not always need to be in the form of “Joe Bloggs said” (which I have never seen in academic literature anyway), but may, e.g., just happen via a foot- or endnote.</p>\n<p>If you are intensively quoting somebody or following another work, it may be feasible to have one sentence explaining to what a citation applies:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The following overview of discombobulation techniques is based on Bloggs et al. (1987).</p>\n<p>Unless noted otherwise, all quotes in this section are from Bloggs et al. (1987). [this requires that quotes are visible as such]</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>This meets the above requirement.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 51614,
"author": "Matt",
"author_id": 15762,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15762",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not sure I completely agree. Citations should indicate which ideas are not yours and provide pointers to the original sources of those ideas and one should strive to make sure they do that. However, they're not a magic incantation that needs to accompany every non-original thought and walls of citations are often difficult to read. </p>\n\n<p>Consider a paragraph like this*:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Johns, Jacobs, Jingleheimer, and Schmidt (2015, p. 15) state that \"the\n weather is going to be good today\", a claim supported by several other\n experts as well. (Jones, 2015; Xu, 2015b p. 9). However, we argue\n claims like \"the weather is going to be good today\" are meaningless in\n New England, where the conditions change rapidly and unexpectedly.\n Relying on a claim about how the 'weather is going to be today' for the entire day may cause the listener all sorts of discomfort.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Repeating the entire 50-character citation** three times in three sentences would not add much value. The phrasing and punctuation clearly indicate what Jones and colleagues thought and, at the first mention, the citation is right there if the reader wants to follow up on it. However, there are two important caveats. </p>\n\n<p>Books--and even papers--aren't necessarily read from beginning to end. To ensure that the goals of the citation are achieved, you need to ensure that anyone reading the uncited or \"informally-cited\" parts encounters the citation too. People are unlikely to pluck a sentence from the middle of a paragraph, but they might skip from section to section or paragraph to paragraph, so the citation should be repeated anew in each section/paragraph/figure legend. You may have a bit more latitude if the text is <em>clearly</em> a critique of one specific work: if the document is entitled \"A critique of 'X, Y, and Z, 1995'\", don't pepper every other sentence\nwith the full citation***.</p>\n\n<p>Citing something for one fact/idea/quote also doesn't \"absolve\" you of the need to cite them for a second fact/idea/quote, even from the same document. The reader may not know that Johns and colleagues also made predictions about the stock market and the fifth race at Belmont. </p>\n\n<p>In summary, make sure that it's clear which ideas are your own and which are borrowed, and indicate where the borrowed ideas may be found. Once you've done that, make the text as readable as you can.</p>\n\n<p><hr>\n* Example cribbed from a now-closed question on the same topic.</p>\n\n<p>** Some citation styles do have a \"short form\" for subsequent mentions of the same work. That certainly helps here too.</p>\n\n<p>*** Though you may want to be more liberal if the repeated citations include useful information (e.g., a page number).</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44348",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33359/"
] |
44,356 |
<p>I'm about to graduate and would like to give my research mentor a book as a gift. It is common in my institute (which is in the US) to give professors gifts as students graduate. However, the problem is my research mentor last year became the dean of the college, and I'm not sure if there is a different set of rules for the administrators than for the faculty. So is it okay for me to give a gift to the dean? Would it make a difference if I do it before or after my graduation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44357,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it's fine. It doesn't matter when you do it. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44369,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I don't think the fact that your research mentor is the dean changes the issue. The only minor thing might be that the dean may be even more concerned that they follow official university policy.</p>\n\n<p>Thus, all the general questions about buying a gift for your supervisor would apply:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28149/is-it-appropriate-to-buy-a-thank-you-gift-for-a-phd-supervisor\">Is it appropriate to buy a "thank you" gift for a PhD supervisor?</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32327/is-it-standard-for-graduate-students-to-get-gifts-for-their-advisors\">Is it standard for graduate students to get gifts for their advisors?</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The core issue from my perspective is that you want to avoid a conflict of interest for the advisor. Thus, I would wait to give a gift at least until after you have passed your thesis.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, it is important that the gift is not too expensive. Many universities have policies about gifts over a certain value having to be declared or are even forbidden. Furthermore, if the gift is expensive, it has greater potential to be seen as creating a conflict of interest. Related to this principle is the idea that the gift should be a small token of appreciation and, in no way, should it represent a form of payment.</p>\n\n<p>Also, as you suggest, custom and policy can vary between universities. So that should be a good guide to what is reasonable.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44356",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16049/"
] |
44,365 |
<p>This question was motivated by a desire to have a clean set of terms to describe the life cycle of a manuscript from draft to publication from the perspective of the author.</p>
<p>I could say: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am "revising" my paper and "resubmitting" it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Obviously, this could apply to (a) the situation where you have submitted a paper and been given the option to submit an updated manuscript (i.e., a revise and resubmit); or (b) you received a rejection letter and you are improving the manuscript with the intention of resubmitting the manuscript to a new journal.</p>
<p>I was wondering what concise language can be used to distinguish these two types of revising and resubmitting?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44390,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I personally tend to distinguish these words as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"Revise\" and \"Resubmit\" are reserved exclusively for updating a manuscript with the same journal.</li>\n<li>Shifting to another journal is \"Editing\" and \"Submitting again\"</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44588,
"author": "Danny Ruijters",
"author_id": 28830,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28830",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A submission to a new journal is considered a fresh start. So in that case, you would speak of 'a submission', regardless whether an earlier version of the manuscript was rejected at another journal.</p>\n\n<p>A revision (of a manuscript) always refers to an earlier version, and is to be used exclusively in a context where the earlier version is known. So you can discuss a revision with your co-authors (even when that was submitted to a different venue), but towards a new journal you would not do that for an unpublished work, since they are unaware (and typically also not interested) that it might have been rejected elsewhere.</p>\n\n<p>In case that you hand in a extended version of a conference article, then you might speak of a revision (but it would be better to just call it an 'extended version'), since the earlier version is publicly available.</p>\n\n<p>Only when submitting a reworked version to the same journal, you would speak of a 'resubmission'.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44590,
"author": "Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩",
"author_id": 26708,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26708",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My concept of a lifecyle. I've used a diagram to disambiguate the terms rather than using sentences. </p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/t0LNP.jpg\" alt=\"Paper Lifecycle\"></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44365",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62/"
] |
44,367 |
<p>I had a really reputable person write me a recommendation letter for colleges. He told me that he wrote the best recommendation letter in his life. He told me that the recommendation letter hints that I'm the next Steve Jobs and that I'm enlightened etc. </p>
<p>I waived my right to view the letter. I was accepted at many colleges. Now, I think as the recommendation letter is very strong and from a reputable person: it may help me in my future elsewhere.</p>
<p>I really want to see what he wrote. Is it okay to ask the college where I am accepted to give me a copy of the recommendation letter? Otherwise, is it okay to ask the professor who wrote the recommendation letter to send me a copy?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44368,
"author": "Philip",
"author_id": 32906,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32906",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, you waived the right to view it so I would be surprised if the college where you were accepted would disclose its contents. Why do you want to see it? I wouldn't do this out of idle curiosity.</p>\n\n<p>But when you say, \"it may help me in my future elsewhere,\" perhaps you mean that you'd like a general letter of recommendation from the prof, which might have more or less the same content as this particular letter. If you ever weren't able to reach the prof in the future, having a general letter of recommendation might be of some marginal value. So I think it's reasonable to ask if you're on good terms with him, although I would frame it in that way (as a request for a general letter). </p>\n\n<p>All he can do is say no, and as long as you're not rude or demanding, it's hard to imagine this request negatively affecting your relationship to any meaningful degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44371,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Why would you ask to see the letter? If the professor in question tells you it was extremely strong, I presume you believe him. Asking to see one's letter after waiving the right to do so is a strange request, and doing so conveys an ignorance of or insensitivity to the norms of the profession. </p>\n\n<p>I would be taken aback if someone asked me this, and would also feel very uncomfortable either refusing or agreeing. Why strain what seems to be a very positive relationship? It is certainly not worth doing so simply for the idle pleasure of reading flattering things about oneself written in another's hand. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44406,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Its pretty normal to waive your right to see a recommendation letter. That way the recommender can say honest things without worrying if you'll ever read it. If you have a good enough rapport with the recommender, you would probably have the best luck asking him for a copy. Realize this request will be view as highly unusual at the least.</p>\n\n<p>Realize he may say no, and don't pester him or the university you've been accepted to if he doesn't want you reading it. Even if you don't get to see it, you should thank him for helping you get into the college(s) of your choice.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44412,
"author": "Zibbobz",
"author_id": 23717,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23717",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can ask, but it is unusual for a student to ask to see their confidential recommendation letter, and the person who wrote the letter is under no obligation to show you the contents of their letter. </p>\n\n<p>Recommendation letters, even ones that are glowingly positive, can contain extremely sensitive and personal information, and as such it is rare for the contents of the recommendation letter to be shown at any point to the person being recommended. </p>\n\n<p>If you're interested in what positive things this person had to say about you, a better avenue of getting those answers is to <em>ask the person directly</em>. Explain the purpose of your question - whether it's for 'selling yourself' in the future for job interviews/resumes, or if it's just simple curiosity or something else - and have a candid talk with the person. </p>\n\n<p>The worst that could happen is that they'll politely decline to comment, and that's okay. Sometimes it's much easier to talk about a person anonymously than it is directly, and while your curiosity is understandable, if they want their feelings to be private, you should respect that. </p>\n\n<p>And of course, you should thank him for writing the letter in the first place - it's a fairly significant thing he did for you. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44367",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33742/"
] |
44,374 |
<p>Open any research article and it is littered with citations. I’ve recently been wondering what is expected of us when citing the literature:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Are we expected to cite every reference relevant to our research article?</p></li>
<li><p>Are we expected to cite only the “best” references relevant to our research article, where <em>best</em> can be defined as the papers which have appeared in the best journals or papers that are most cited?</p></li>
<li><p>Do neither of the above apply? Are we simply expected to cite any paper relevant to our research article, just as long as we have cited <em>something</em> that supports/is related to our argument?</p></li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44377,
"author": "Arno",
"author_id": 12047,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12047",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are (in rough approximation) three reasons for citations:</p>\n\n<p><strong>1. Giving credit</strong></p>\n\n<p>If our paper builds on other papers, if we have taken any ideas from anywhere else, if anyone did something we are doing before, etc, we <em>have</em> to cite them. Questions such as \"Is this peer-reviewed?\" or \"Is this accessible?\" do not matter in this category.</p>\n\n<p><strong>2. For proof/evidence</strong></p>\n\n<p>Often we will claim that something is true without establishing its truth within our paper. Then we need to refer to other work for this. </p>\n\n<p>Here, selectitivity makes sense: Citing someones blogpost claiming that X causes Y is not going to me particularly impressive. Citing a mathematical proof written in English available online in a journal is better than referring to a thesis written in an obscure language only availbale in hardcopy at some particular university (although do not forget 1.: if the thesis is prior, we may have to cite both). In sciences, it makes sense to some extent to cite multiple independent sources, less so in mathematics.</p>\n\n<p><strong>3. Providing context</strong></p>\n\n<p>We also cite to provide the broader context our research fits into. Some citations may have a \"If you liked this paper, you may also like the following\"-flavour. Here we have more or less full freedom what we want to cite. Pointing to one well-written survey article may be much better than citing 25 individual paper without much comment.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44378,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your references should allow the reader to understand the state of the field you are making a contribution to, as well as to place your contribution in the wider context. So you can't really give hard-and-fast rules. It will very much depend on your particular field and your paper itself.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, you should cite everything that is relevant... but the question is how you define \"relevance\". Don't cite everything that has appeared in your field. But <em>do</em> cite references that specifically pertain to your specific question - these are certainly relevant.</p>\n\n<p>The \"best\" references will probably correlate with having appeared in good journals and having been heavily cited. But you need to find a good balance between the relevance of the content and the impact of a potential reference. If you find a very pertinent article in an obscure journal, by all means cite it.</p>\n\n<p>And of course, if you have taken ideas from the literature, you need to give credit where it is due.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44386,
"author": "MrMeritology",
"author_id": 17564,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Contrary to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12047/arno\">Arno</a>, I would say that <strong>the primary purpose for citations is to give readers links to papers and books that your work builds on, depends on, or contradicts</strong>. This is related to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12047/arno\">Arno's</a> #3 \"Context\", but sharper. It is not just that these papers and books provide context for your work. These other works provide details or foundations that your work does not. These other works provide theoretical or empirical foundations that your work does not. These other works examine cases or conditions that your work does not. Or maybe these other works present an alternative method, an alternative formulation, or a different theory. </p>\n\n<p>Properly done, citations in the text provide the reader with <strong><em>all</em></strong> the links to related literature that allows them to understand and judge your paper, both the specifics and the general topics and questions. Without these citations, readers will not be able to judge the merit or significance of your paper.</p>\n\n<p>Besides this purpose: yes, context is important. Yes, giving due credit is important. Yes, providing proof or evidence is important. Just not as important as what I just described.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44387,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>References are there to provide a clear path to the sources for the information you use in your article, nothing else. One of the criteria we put on scientific output is reproducibility and in order to be able to verify statements you need to provide the sources clearly. This means that it should be possible to double check your use, or misuse, of earlier work in building towards your new findings.</p>\n\n<p>There are ways in which the system is misused. Some people refer mostly to their own work. It is possible that ones own work is important but it is rather an exception for most. Along the same lines, it is possible that people excessively use particular authors as reference where other references would be just as good or better. The list can go on. </p>\n\n<p>In the end, the knowledgeable scientist will have a fair grasp of the field and quite quickly see if key work is missing in a manuscript, during, for example, review and thus spot potential weaknesses in the structure of arguments. So the references are there to provide a clear trace of information used so that the use of the information can be verified.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44398,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are a few quality answers already (I specifically second <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/44387/5674\">Peter Jansson's answer</a>), but I wanted to give a more practical perspective. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Are we expected to cite every reference relevant to our research\n article?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This would not be practical, or <strong>realistic</strong>, in many fields. I for instance work with data analysis in cancer research. The amount of \"relevant\" work published every month is absurdly large, so much so that even if I read and only read, everyday I would not be able to maintain a thorough grasp of the literature. </p>\n\n<p>In some other field, where the problem formulation is well-framed, and the boundaries more clear-cut, this might be a more feasible expectation.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Are we expected to cite only the “best” references relevant to our\n research article, where best can be defined as the papers which have\n appeared in the best journals or papers that are most cited?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Interesting you take up this question of \"best articles\" vs articles in \"best journals\". There is some <strong>selection bias</strong> here, also known as \"<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_rich_get_richer_(statistics)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">rich get richer</a>\" phenomenon, giving rise to a Power Law distribution among citations.</p>\n\n<p>Articles published in high impact journals <strong><em>usually</em></strong> reach more people, tend to be written by more renowned scientists in the field. Also people have a tendency to find new reading material based on the number of citation an article gets. Alternatively, the chance of \"finding\" an article is increased by the number of other articles citing that paper. So the more renowned a particular study, the more renowned it will get. </p>\n\n<p>There's little you (or I) can do about that, sadly. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Do neither of the above apply? Are we simply expected to cite any\n paper relevant to our research article, just as long as we have cited\n something that supports/is related to our argument?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You <strong>should</strong> cite the papers where you get your prior information from. Simply put; you use a particular finding from another article, you cite them. Using prior knowledge might be (and usually is) applicable in multiple scenarios (note that below is <strong>not</strong> an exhaustive list):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You help make a case in your introduction: e.g. by giving statistics, or portraying the current state of the field (a.k.a <em>paying your dues</em>)</li>\n<li>You refer to a particular method, protocol, instrument etc in your Materials & Methods</li>\n<li>You back up your findings, or their implications, by citing similar findings by independent researches supporting your findings (or interpretation of them), typically in Discussion part of your paper.</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44374",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7159/"
] |
44,382 |
<p>Is there any possibility that I could be awarded a Ph.D. degree based on my work or life experience and good educational background?</p>
<p>Can you guide me to any institution offering such Ph.D.s?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44384,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ph.D.s and other academic titles and degrees awarded for \"work experience\", \"life experience\" and so on are products of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_mill\">diploma mills</a>. You pay a lot of money (thousands of USD) for a piece of paper that is completely worthless.</p>\n\n<p>Employers know these worthless \"titles\". Such a \"Ph.D.\" will not help you get a better job, and it will in particular not help you in an academic career. Instead, using such a \"degree\" in an application will brand you as naive at best or a fraud at worst.</p>\n\n<p>Depending on your jurisdiction, using a \"degree\" \"awarded\" by a non-accredited institution, as these diploma mills usually are, may be illegal.</p>\n\n<p>Nobody here will direct you to an institution that engages in such practices.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44393,
"author": "fileunderwater",
"author_id": 7223,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7223",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many universities award honorary degrees, such as a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_degree\">honorary doctorate</a>. These are not PhDs, but might still be relevant to your question. I have often seen these types of degrees being awarded to people that have contributed a lot to a scientific field from outside of academia (but sometimes for far less, also see this wiki-section on <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_degree#Controversy\">controversies</a> over honorary titles), usually for work that has been connected to the awarding university. Since they are awarded for many different types of contributions, the formal criteria for when to award them is also relatively vague. In all cases I know of, they are also awarded based on external nominations, and not self-nomination. Finally, recipients should usually not use the <em>PhD</em> or <em>Dr</em> titles. An honorary doctorate definately do not carry the same academic weight as a PhD, but can sometimes still be valuable, especially if they are from a reputable institution. As an example, <a href=\"http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/traditions/prizes/honorary-doctorates/\">this page</a> provides further information on how the title of honorary doctor is used in Sweden (in this case at Uppsala University).</p>\n\n<p>Also note that besides \"legitimate\" honorary degrees from reputable universities, some fraudulent insititutions or diploma mills also use the same title for their degrees.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44399,
"author": "tea4two",
"author_id": 9692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not as such... at least from a reputable university. I have known a few people to gain a PhD without having to do a full PhD program. However, these people have undertaken a sufficient body of work themselves that, with some additional work, would qualify for a PhD. The people I am thinking of are all 50+, and have had long-term jobs in their field of study. They have already been working alongside academics in the Universities during their career, often contributing to research being produced. They have also had to attend some classes, put together a thesis (which itself requires significant work), do their PhD defence, and any other course requirements. This process still takes years. </p>\n\n<p>On a side note, I would wonder why you want a PhD without putting in the work. Part of the PhD experience is the joy (and at times pitfalls) of conducting your own research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44403,
"author": "Sathish",
"author_id": 33763,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33763",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, you won't get a Ph.D. degree with just work experience. You need to contribute to the community by producing journal articles and research papers. So as long as you have significantly contributed to the academic or social environment and the university recognizes your talent, yes you can get a Ph.D. on successful review of your publication.</p>\n\n<p>Note: Ph.D. award is given for your contribution alone, not as a company or as a team.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44414,
"author": "Steve Jessop",
"author_id": 11440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11440",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the UK, there is such a thing as a \"PhD by publication/portfolio/published work\". This requires firstly that your \"work or life experience\" has generated novel work of academic value comparable to that of a doctoral thesis. Depending on subject, this might mean publications in academic journals, or non-academic publication of research you've done in industry. If you're in an artsy subject, then sometimes you can get a PhD by publication of literature, fine art, architecture, and so on, that meets the institution's criteria of making a substantial contribution to the field.</p>\n\n<p>It may additionally require substantial new work to review and tie together your existing published work, or at least to put it in the correct context.</p>\n\n<p>This doesn't seem to be so much of a thing in the USA. That might be because the USA doesn't take the same view as the UK that the sole qualification for a PhD is a satisfactory thesis. US universities typically have other requirements in their doctoral programs, passing certain courses and whatnot, that are considered part of the qualifying criteria. They might be disinclined to let you skip that part. Or it might just be that US institutions don't consider it a worthwhile use of their time...</p>\n\n<p>So, your options depend primarily on what country you're interested in, you'll have to check out the situation wherever you are in the world. If you have done work of the right kind and sufficient value, and can work with a university in the UK, then just search \"PhD by publication\" to find examples of institutions that offer them. Many but not all reputable institutions do.</p>\n\n<p>Unless you count on the one hand honorary doctorates, or on the other hand worthless qualifications from unaccredited diploma mills, nowhere can you get a PhD for \"life experience\". PhDs are for <em>doing research</em>, they aren't an assessment of your educational background, and certainly are not for having interesting or educational things happen to you ;-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44420,
"author": "Max Murphy",
"author_id": 29337,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29337",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do know one chap who, being interested in a certain piece of technology that he uses at work, approached an academic at a reputable university and asked whether he could do research on it. The academic agreed and the last time I spoke to the chap he had been working on his PhD for three years, whilst carrying on his job, and it was going well. That is a case where work experience and original research were very close but the PhD, if granted, will still have been earned with original research.</p>\n\n<p>A PhD is not like a master's degree - that is just a statement that the person in question has mastered a subject and could, in principle, be awarded simply by examination. In my opinion mastering a subject is undervalued in the academic community but that is another matter. A PhD should be awarded for original research only, but how and where you do that research should be open to flexibility, as in the case of my acquaintance.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44421,
"author": "smischke1",
"author_id": 33780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33780",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A Ph.D. is not awarded for just knowing a certain body of knowledge or taking a specific number of courses. You must perform and document original research and defend it. Also, a Ph.D. is not lost if one does not continue doing research (although one's reputation as a scholar might be lost). Because of ethical conduct (plagiarism, falsification of data), a very small number of Ph.D.s have been revoked. I believe this can be done only by the University that originally awarded it. Anyone else can just fire or shame the miscreant.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44382",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33756/"
] |
44,392 |
<p>Especially in the the more experimental subfields of computer science like systems, how often are results faked? If there is no verification process for any code used, do researchers sometimes fake results to save time?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44395,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Nobody knows. Unless someone tries to reproduce the results and cannot, there's not ever even going to be a challenge to the results. Direct reproduction in CS and similar fields is generally done in papers that extend older results or propose a new method. To my knowledge, we do not see a lot of retractions based on these kinds of studies, so I'd say the rate of faking is low. </p>\n\n<p>Retraction Watch's <a href=\"http://retractionwatch.com/category/computer-science/\">CS section</a> has about 15 articles in it, but most of them appear to be about retractions for plagiarism not for faking results. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44396,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me split my answer into two sub-areas: reputable venues and crap venues.</p>\n\n<p>In reputable venues, it is just as possible for somebody to commit fraud (or <a href=\"http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2010/11/24/the-9-circles-of-scientific-hell/\">any of the other deadly sins of science</a>) in experimental computer science as in any other experimental science. It also appears to be quite rare, because there is usually pretty clear observability and a pretty clear relationship between theory and practice in computer science (unlike, say, certain subfields of biology) and so fraud would often be relatively easy to detect. More to the point, however, the risk/reward tradeoff is terrible: one detected incident will likely destroy a career.</p>\n\n<p>In crap venues, there might well be constant fraud---but who cares? If they'll accept <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/news/publishers-withdraw-more-than-120-gibberish-papers-1.14763\">machine-generated papers</a>, they might accept anything, and I'm probably not going to cite it or even look at it in any case.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44397,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=academic+fraud+rate&oq=academic+fraud+rate&aqs=chrome..69i57.4743j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=scientific+misconduct+rates\">There are quite a few interesting articles on the topic of fraud rates</a>. I didn't see anything specific to computer science, but the general sense is that it's very difficult to determine.</p>\n\n<p>It's very tough to actually detect fraud. Most cases (that I'm familiar with, at least) involve someone falsifying data in a highly active field and publishing earth-shattering results that turn out to be false. As was said in other answers, detecting the fraud requires attempting to reproduce the results, failing, and then determining that the problem is on the other end.</p>\n\n<p>With that said, there aren't many good proxy measures of fraud. Retractions are a start, but they're far and few between. We can almost be certain that not all fraud is retracted. Surveys can be used but they're also notoriously inaccurate. There really aren't many other ways to measure that would actually provide a useful metric.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44392",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
44,413 |
<p>I am a psychology undergrad student. I am currently working on a project that will be submitted for publication later this year. However, the project I am working on is in the sub-field of psychology that is not of my interest (environmental psychology). I am planning to apply for PhD programs in social/personality psych. (Sadly I didn't get a chance to conduct a research project in that field.)</p>
<p>Although my publication could be a strong evidence for my research potential, my concern is that this publication is irrelevant to my research of interest. Thus, how can I convince the grad school that I am a good candidate for the social/personality field?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44416,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Even if your publication were in physics or economics or any other field, it would still be a positive component of your application. When I look at graduate applications, a publication record--while not essential--is valuable because it signals the following: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Interest in doing research</li>\n<li>Initiative to get into a lab and work on a project</li>\n<li>Familiarity with what primary research is actually like</li>\n<li>A close enough relationship to a faculty mentor for me to pay particular attention to that mentor's letter of recommendation</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All of these hold in your case.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44423,
"author": "smischke1",
"author_id": 33780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33780",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Publications in completely different fields have certainly helped me throughout my career, starting with a totally irrelevant one I did as an undergrad. All decent research utilizes the scientific method. All data analysis utilizes standard approaches. And people judging you always are concerned about you willingness and ability to complete the task; i.e. to publish your results. If you box yourself into one small area, you will not progress as much. Everything changes, and you need to be able to change with it and expand your interests and abilities.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44413",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33477/"
] |
44,417 |
<p>When applying to grad school, is it a good idea to mention professors you want to work with? For example, "I am applying to this program because University X has leading experts in the field Y, such as Professor Z. I studied some of Professor Z's papers and would like to learn more about this particular topic in field Y." </p>
<p>EDIT: In addition, what if I were to email Professor Z to ask if he is taking students (in order to avoid an awkward situation where the Prof is leaving/not taking students)? For example, "Dear Prof. Z, I am applying to University X for grad school and I am interested in field Y. I am wondering if you are taking any students at this time, or if there are other researchers in field Y that are taking students?"
Also, is it normal/not awkward for a math phd applicant to email a professor?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44418,
"author": "vadim123",
"author_id": 7222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7222",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This practice is likely, on average, to help more than it hurts. It does mark you as somewhat more knowledgeable than the typical applicant, and somewhat more focused. It also ties your name to Professor Z's. Should Professor Z want you as a student, and should he or she be able to exert influence, that will give your application a huge likelihood of admission. </p>\n\n<p>However, if Professor Z is politically unpopular or hated in the department (or by the admissions committee), this may actually hurt your application. Further, if Professor Z is unimpressed with your file, then you might be rejected even if otherwise you would be accepted.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Mentioning a research area can only help, provided that the department is actually strong in that area.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44422,
"author": "smischke1",
"author_id": 33780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33780",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It might help, but should be worded very carefully. You would not want to exclude other opportunities in the program that you may not be aware of. I recommend that you first be very familiar with the program before stating any target that might appear to be exclusive. Professor Z may not have any openings for graduate students, whereas Professor Y might be looking for one. But if Professor Y thinks you would not be happy in his group, he will pass over you and choose someone who appears to be a better fit. And that would deprive you of both a spot in a prestigious department, and a chance to collaborate with Professor Z. If I were going to name-drop, I would drop more than one name.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44417",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7310/"
] |
44,426 |
<p>A few months ago, I submitted a paper to a journal, and received a "can be published if such-and-such issues are addressed properly". I know who one of the reviewers (the one that wrote the most helpful review, in fact) is, largely because he decided to reveal his name in the review. In a couple of weeks, I'll happen to be in the vicinity of his university (this is serendipitous; I had already planned this trip before I knew he would be one of the reviewers). </p>
<p>Is it acceptable to contact him, tell him I'm the author of that paper he reviewed, and ask him if he has time for a meeting to discuss how I am addressing his comments? I have no shame in admitting that I am considering doing this to ensure that he is happy with my amendments to the paper, which in turn should make the second round of reviewing go more smoothly.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44429,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This should depend on the journal policy. Both you as an author and the reviewer are bound by the rules the journal has in place with respect to the publication process. While it sounds like you are meeting with the reviewer solely for the purpose of improving the paper but it may come across as going out of one's way to others. To be on the safe side, I would suggest you contact the journal editor before organizing such a meeting. With a sign-off from the editor, you can be sure that you are playing a fair game. I would also keep co-authors in the loop if any.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44436,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think there is nothing inherently wrong with contacting the reviewer given that he has volunteered his name (and uncommon but commendable step). That said, you need to remain aware that that doesn't make her your friend and collaborator. Her duty is still to critically evaluate your paper. So, contacting or meeting her to discuss specific points of the critique seems fair game to me. But, asking how best to improve the paper, running ideas by her, asking for suggestions on how to address points best, etc, makes for an awkward conversation since you are putting the other person into a conflict of interest: helping you vs remaining impartial.</p>\n\n<p>In other words, if you do end up having a longer conversation it would certainly be useful to have a frank conversation up front in which you lay out what you want to ask, and to offer right away that you don't think that she has any obligation to answer or help you with it. </p>\n\n<p>If I was the reviewer, I would probably decline to meet, precisely because I'd like to avoid the conflict. But it takes a bit of experience to see a conflict of interest coming before you get yourself into it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44541,
"author": "fileunderwater",
"author_id": 7223,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7223",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think communications should go through the handling editor, for two reasons:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Since you plan to resubmit the manuscript, the same reviewer will probably be used to evaluate the manuscript again, and the editor will then rely on the reviewer as an independent agent without any conflict of interest. Therefore, communications should go through the editor, so that he/she is aware of how you have discussed the manuscript.</li>\n<li>It \"shields\" the reviewer at the initial stage. The reviewer's responsibilities lie with the journal/editor at the moment, and the reviewer shouldn't have to deal with author requests if he/she doesn't want to. If the reviewer chooses to contact you after initial request throught the editor, that is another thing.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Because of point 1, I think meeting in person is bad idea, even after initial contact through the editor. I also honestly do not see the point of meeting in person, considering the conflict-of-interest this can introduce - if the reviewer's comments are unclear, so that you are uncertain on how to proceed, you can request a clarification from the editor.</p>\n\n<p>The journal probably has a policy on how authors and reviewers can/should interact, so you should contact the editor either way, before approaching the reviewer.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44426",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12314/"
] |
44,438 |
<p>I am a PhD student in computer science: is it worth spending time organizing a contest for a conference (e.g. a shared task for a conference in natural language processing)? I think that would be a great experience to have, and fits very well my research interests, but I am afraid it might slow down my research and therefore delay my graduation date.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44659,
"author": "user30295",
"author_id": 15478,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15478",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Often in graduate school there are an abundance of neat opportunities and experiences; it can be difficult to decide which tasks to pursue. You'll need to consider the short and long-term career benefits of organizing the conference, as well as how it will be viewed within your program. In regards to short term career development, this may be an opportunity to provide an academic service activity for the conference, though there are often less labor-intensive ways to add that type of experience to your CV. However, if you're interested in a career in management or administration and want to gain experience in developing or implementing organizational activities, this might be a valuable long-term experience. Also, if the group task will result in data that you can later use for publications or products, it may be worth the investment; it may even serve as a unique research opportunity. </p>\n\n<p>Whether you pursue this activity will likely also depend on whether your mentor is supportive. If you are concerned that this might delay your research and your graduation date, you will need to decide not only if you can live with pushing back graduation, but if your mentor or program will support that as well. If you are able to pitch this opportunity in terms of career development benefits, products, or even positive publicity your mentor or program may be supportive. They may even provide you with some undergraduate assistance to reduce the burden of coordinating the event. Before you have that discussion, make sure you have a clear picture of the pros and cons, as well as what (minimal) supports would allow you to take advantage of the opportunity at the lowest possible economic, time, and labor costs. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 63552,
"author": "stjep",
"author_id": 49358,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49358",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To add to the other answers here, you will frequently be encouraged to \"contribute back\" during your graduate training. The idea here is that you are giving back to the institution, and you can potentially list these activities on your CV.</p>\n\n<p>The issue with this is that you're already giving to the institution. You're producing research and/or teaching, and you're much cheaper labour than anybody else (postdocs, professors), and require much less training and supervision for how much you do contribute. So, you really don't owe the university or department your time.</p>\n\n<p>As for adding other activities to your CV, there is some benefit to this, but it is incredibly minimal and short-lived. No amount of other activity is going to replace a single paper, irregardless of where you are in the authorship list. A paper where you are author #19 out of 20 is still better than organising a dozen things. Once you move on beyond graduate school, the other activities that are expected of you change, and you'll find that your grad school volunteering isn't so impressive. You'll be expected to review papers or serve on committees, and not so much organising contests.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 63570,
"author": "vonbrand",
"author_id": 38135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38135",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>User30295's answer covers most of the \"hard\" considerations. I'll add some \"soft\" ones here.</p>\n\n<p>First of all, organizing such a meeting will put you in contact with lots of people \"who are somebody\" in your research area. It is a stellar opportunity to get known. Such contacts will be invaluable if you later get stuck and need the right hint to overcome a thorny patch in your thesis (and later work!). You will also presumably meet (and work with) lots of other students. You will have first-hand access to some cutting-edge research.</p>\n\n<p>But keep in mind that organizing such a meeting will also mean that just for the talks you are most interested in, you <em>will</em> be called away to solve some dumb foulup (yes, Murphy's law is unrelentless). And to be remembered as \"the brilliant organizer of that contest that ran like silk in 2016, and who solved my domestic problems promptly\" is more important than a talk or three.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44438",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20581/"
] |
44,440 |
<p>In terms of judging a doctoral program--and possibly also relevant for postdoc-ships(?)--which is the more important consideration, who your advisor is or the institution at which you study?</p>
<p>Obviously both are important, but when it comes down to it, which should weigh more heavily?</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<p>Professor Alpha is a premiere name in the field, but he's set up at Southern State University, an otherwise middling school. Perhaps he's there because he's a big fish in a small pond and gets carte blanche and limitless resources to do what he wants. His graduate students are thus treated similarly.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Professor Beta is a new, unproven professor at Top University, a world-renowned, leading institution. He personally may not have the resources and freedom as Professor Alpha, but he's at an institution whose name carries weight. Therefore the school certainly has the capacity for the same, if not more, resources, but access for Professor Beta's grad students will be more limited as they must be shared with other professors' groups.</p>
<p>Assuming all else is equally appealing (funding, location, research topics, etc), which offer do you choose, or which program would you hold in higher regard?</p>
<p>(The situation doesn't have to be so stark as like Harvard vs. Middle-Of-Nowhere University, but it makes the point clearer.)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44443,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Obviously one needs a competent advisor with whom one is compatible. But assuming that both professors qualify, <strong>I think what matters most is the quality of the students who will be your peers</strong>. You need to surround yourself with students who, from day 1, expect nothing less of themselves than to produce novel scientific research of the highest caliber, present it at top meetings, publish it in top journals, and forth. Ultimately you will learn more from your peers than from your advisor. A sufficiently talented and ambitious cohort will hold the bar high for you and push you to excel whereas a sufficiently talentless and unambitious cohort will help you make excuses for your own failures to reach your potential. </p>\n\n<p>In my experience, top schools with top graduate programs have the sorts of students you want to surround yourself with. Second tier regional programs may, but I have yet to see it. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44747,
"author": "Rover Eye",
"author_id": 33988,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33988",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I personally think that your rapport with your supervisor is of primary importance, and I personally didn't care to choose my PhD by university when I got the opportunity. (Assuming that both your options are offering what you want from a PhD in terms of subject and skill sets.)</p>\n\n<p>As a final year student in biomedical sciences, what I have mostly found is the following:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Money</strong></p>\n\n<p>Your supervisor should be able to fund you, and your experiments fully. You should not come to a situation where you are choosing the second best option (especially in biology) because of the lack of funds. This will ruin the quality of your thesis.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Go-to guy</strong></p>\n\n<p>You should have a supervisor or a post doc in the lab who will be able to help you when you initially start out to answer your stupid questions. There will be many, and you'll need to find some one in the lab who is friendly enough, and patient enough to answer them. You'll know them when you see them. And of course, the other members of the lab do make a difference. See what they are like.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Higher up or lower down?</strong></p>\n\n<p>You should need to ask yourself, how high up the totem pole you want your supervisor. Remember, the higher up they are (especially professors) the lesser you are likely to meet them on a regular basis, and most probably have lost touch with bench experience. On the other hand, profs have better connections and their recommendation carry weight.</p>\n\n<p>The argument for university preference goes like this:\nIf your prof doesn't have his own lab, and relies on community equipment, then you must go to a university which has the money to spend. Otherwise the choice of university is mostly trivial.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44749,
"author": "pjsofts",
"author_id": 33992,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33992",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The most important thing is your adviser. Obviously you're not looking for a label, you want to do some valuable stuff in your PhD period. \nThe professor in middle-of-nowhere university has the vision that's needed and can make you the researcher you need to be.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44757,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here are some additions to the other answers.</p>\n\n<p>First, since I don't know how you've made your assessments of A & B, a couple of things you should look into if you haven't already:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Look up what kinds of jobs the former students of Professor Alpha got. If almost all of them got truly great jobs, then working with him seems like a safe (though not necessarily the better) choice. If not, maybe you should reconsider his pull in the field. (But if not, one factor is that his students may not be as strong on average as those at a better university--still this is bad for you as in Corvus's answer.)</li>\n<li>Check to see if Professor Beta was hired as an assistant professor or associate professor. At many top departments, it's really hard to get tenure, but they hire more established people they are sure of at the associate leve. So if Beta was highered as an associate professor, then it's safe to say Beta is \"proven.\"</li>\n<li>If you have professors in this field, ask them for their opinion.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In addition, the other answers don't seem to address your <strong>job prospects</strong> after getting your degree at one of these universities. For your question, \"which university would you hold in higher regard?\", if I were reviewing an application for a job application without specific knowledge of the professors, I would hold the higher ranked university in higher regard. If you're looking for a research job, and you have a positive answer to point 1 above, then it shouldn't be a problem as enough people in your area will know how good Professor Alpha and his students are. But if you're applying for more teaching-oriented positions, or positions in industry, then graduating from Better Name University can help you. (It's not just the name, but other factors as well: more contact with more talented people, etc. See <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/90/19607\">this related question</a>.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84840,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A very small answer, in addition to other good observations: I do claim that a particular analogy is relevant. Namely, would you want to have good parents but live in an unpleasant town, or bad parents but live in a nice town (if one imagines that \"nice town\" can truly make sense if one has bad parents).</p>\n\n<p>Yes, if your penchant is for complete commodification of the whole process, then the parental/familial thing can be scoffed-at. But I'd recommend against going too far in that attitude.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44440",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11819/"
] |
44,446 |
<p>I am a first-year PhD program at a certain top-10 graduate school in my field on the East Coast. I wish to transfer to a certain top-10 graduate school in my field on the West Coast.</p>
<p>I have been dealing with health issues that have made living a normal life in addition to carrying out my academic duties quite difficult. While I haven't allowed it to affect my performance at all, my life has become a living hell. I wish to transfer to the West Coast school because it is about 10 minutes away from home and I will be able to live at home with my parents which will be a huge support to me and my health and make it easier for me to perform my duties. In addition my doctors actually suspect that the "harsher" weather may be worsening my condition (and anecdotally I always do seem better when on the West Coast). I have no qualms about getting the required recommendations.</p>
<p>Complicating matters: The West Coast school was my first choice all along, but I was rejected. I accepted a position at the East Coast school hoping my health problems (started in undergrad) would be resolved, but they have not gone away. I do not want to disclose these health problems for fear that they may hurt my application. However, I don't have a really good reason to transfer without that, unless I make up something about departmental fit which is really not true since my current department is honestly a pretty good fit too.</p>
<p>Advice?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44482,
"author": "gnometorule",
"author_id": 4384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4384",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In virtually every case, trying to transfer out of PhD program A to join PhD program B because you were unhappy in A is a bad idea, and unlikely to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2498/is-transferring-to-another-university-an-option-for-an-unhappy-phd-student\">be easy</a>. The linked, old question discusses several scenarios in its answers.</p>\n\n<p>There are legitimate reasons, some of them <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/43705/10220\">obvious</a>. While I understand why one would want to, changing for location, as per your title, is not one. Changing to improve a serious health condition, on the other hand, is one. </p>\n\n<p>So I don't see how you can reasonably hope to transfer without disclosing your health condition. Add the compounding factor that you were declined in the past by program B. Given that you are very early in your career at A, I cannot see how, minus health conditions that could qualify you for spots set aside specifically to aid in like cases, their decision would be different so soon after. </p>\n\n<p>If transferring really matters that much, you should consider opening up about whatever issue(s) you are dealing with - to your current faculty first, but also to the receiving faculty. Your current faculty will appreciate to hear a non-academic reason for your desire to leave, and if you're lucky, one or some of them will fully support you as they buy into your explanation. Given the earlier refusal, you'll need strong letters from A, and even then this still strikes me as a long shot. But you can always try if your life at A is making you that miserable as your health is failing. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44492,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To the OP: I feel for you and wish you the best of luck. </p>\n\n<p>I know several people that have transferred to a different Ph.D. program after beginning one. In some cases this involved them substantially exceeding expectations at the program from which they transferred. In other cases, such as when they moved for geographic or personal reasons, or because they were not happy with their first Ph.D. program, usually this involved transferring to a department that they would have likely been admitted to in the first place.</p>\n\n<p>Are there any schools which are not quite as prestigious, but still strong and a good fit for you both research-wise and geographically? If so, applying to them might be a good idea. (In addition to your chosen West Coast school -- I doubt your odds are good but they're probably not zero).</p>\n\n<p>Finally --- a word of caution --- you don't say whether you'll eventually be seeking academic employment or not, but the academic job market is quite difficult for everyone, even for graduates of top ten schools. In particular it requires a lot of geographic flexibility and many people end up in locations other than where they would like to live. </p>\n\n<p>I hate to discourage anyone from getting a Ph.D., but you might think ahead and make sure that you plan for a career which will allow you geographic flexibility, if you believe that your health will require it.</p>\n\n<p>Best wishes to you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44517,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with the other answers. Transferring would be very difficult unless you: 1) made such a name for yourself in your first year that you are now a superstar in your field; or 2) are stepping down in level considerably from university A to B. In either case, you would need a strong letter of recommendation from your current faculty.</p>\n\n<p>There are some other options to consider:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Taking a medical leave of absence to recuperate</p></li>\n<li><p>In some fields (and even then, depending on the whims of your advisor), you are only required to be in residence during your coursework. Once you've done that, you can do your dissertation fieldwork and write-up in another location.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>That being said, you should know that you will have very little choice in which geographical locale you will be able to find entry-level academic jobs and include this in your calculations about what you want to do with your life.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44446",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33794/"
] |
44,447 |
<p>If a graduate student or postdoc develops or plays a large role in developing an idea (this could be anything from a new experimental method or new code for running simulations), what's supposed to happen when they move to a new institution? </p>
<p>Can they use these ideas on their own after the move, share them with their new PI/colleagues, use them to get their own funding? I assume the answer is generally yes, but</p>
<ol>
<li>what if the idea is unpublished with the original group? </li>
<li>does it depend on the idea, code/scripts vs. less tangible ideas?</li>
</ol>
<p>Just not sure what's the normal protocol or if I'm assuming incorrectly.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44482,
"author": "gnometorule",
"author_id": 4384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4384",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In virtually every case, trying to transfer out of PhD program A to join PhD program B because you were unhappy in A is a bad idea, and unlikely to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2498/is-transferring-to-another-university-an-option-for-an-unhappy-phd-student\">be easy</a>. The linked, old question discusses several scenarios in its answers.</p>\n\n<p>There are legitimate reasons, some of them <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/43705/10220\">obvious</a>. While I understand why one would want to, changing for location, as per your title, is not one. Changing to improve a serious health condition, on the other hand, is one. </p>\n\n<p>So I don't see how you can reasonably hope to transfer without disclosing your health condition. Add the compounding factor that you were declined in the past by program B. Given that you are very early in your career at A, I cannot see how, minus health conditions that could qualify you for spots set aside specifically to aid in like cases, their decision would be different so soon after. </p>\n\n<p>If transferring really matters that much, you should consider opening up about whatever issue(s) you are dealing with - to your current faculty first, but also to the receiving faculty. Your current faculty will appreciate to hear a non-academic reason for your desire to leave, and if you're lucky, one or some of them will fully support you as they buy into your explanation. Given the earlier refusal, you'll need strong letters from A, and even then this still strikes me as a long shot. But you can always try if your life at A is making you that miserable as your health is failing. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44492,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To the OP: I feel for you and wish you the best of luck. </p>\n\n<p>I know several people that have transferred to a different Ph.D. program after beginning one. In some cases this involved them substantially exceeding expectations at the program from which they transferred. In other cases, such as when they moved for geographic or personal reasons, or because they were not happy with their first Ph.D. program, usually this involved transferring to a department that they would have likely been admitted to in the first place.</p>\n\n<p>Are there any schools which are not quite as prestigious, but still strong and a good fit for you both research-wise and geographically? If so, applying to them might be a good idea. (In addition to your chosen West Coast school -- I doubt your odds are good but they're probably not zero).</p>\n\n<p>Finally --- a word of caution --- you don't say whether you'll eventually be seeking academic employment or not, but the academic job market is quite difficult for everyone, even for graduates of top ten schools. In particular it requires a lot of geographic flexibility and many people end up in locations other than where they would like to live. </p>\n\n<p>I hate to discourage anyone from getting a Ph.D., but you might think ahead and make sure that you plan for a career which will allow you geographic flexibility, if you believe that your health will require it.</p>\n\n<p>Best wishes to you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44517,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with the other answers. Transferring would be very difficult unless you: 1) made such a name for yourself in your first year that you are now a superstar in your field; or 2) are stepping down in level considerably from university A to B. In either case, you would need a strong letter of recommendation from your current faculty.</p>\n\n<p>There are some other options to consider:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Taking a medical leave of absence to recuperate</p></li>\n<li><p>In some fields (and even then, depending on the whims of your advisor), you are only required to be in residence during your coursework. Once you've done that, you can do your dissertation fieldwork and write-up in another location.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>That being said, you should know that you will have very little choice in which geographical locale you will be able to find entry-level academic jobs and include this in your calculations about what you want to do with your life.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44447",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32873/"
] |
44,455 |
<p>In a paper, there is an Acknowledgements section, in which I can thank everyone that helped me along the way. But what do I do in a 15-minute presentation (e.g. in a non-archival conference)? I do want to thank the people that helped me, both for my and for their benefit (in case they may be sitting in the audience, or viewing the talk later in video).</p>
<p>How can I thank/acknowledge people during a short presentation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44456,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can put such acknowledgements on the very last slide, which will stay up while you field questions after your presentation (unless you need to flip back to a specific slide to answer a question).</p>\n\n<p>Don't recite every single name in a presentation. Just end your talk like this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped me in this project.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Then look expectantly at the session chair, who should lead the applause and ask for questions, while everyone who is interested can read your acknowledgements on the slide.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44458,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's common practise to have an Acknowledgements slide, at the very end, before you take any questions. </p>\n\n<p>I disagree with Stephan about the certainty with which he recommends clumping up everyone. While it is rather cumbersome and time-consuming to list everyone, you could single out a couple of people, especially if you have done collaborative work, where some people ran samples, did analysis etc <strong>for</strong> you. </p>\n\n<p>I mean something along the lines of (the stuff in parentheses are spoken, not written out): </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <h3>Acknowledgements</h3>\n \n <p><strong>Your supervisors group</strong></p>\n \n <p>Steve Smith (for his work on 2D gels) </p>\n \n <p>Barbara McDonald (for her help in data analysis) </p>\n \n <p>Colleagues at the group</p>\n \n <p><strong>Other group</strong> </p>\n \n <p>Zack Muckerberg (for ...) </p>\n \n <p>Muckerberg's boss (for the possibility to collaborate) </p>\n \n <p>Other collaborators</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44464,
"author": "Julian",
"author_id": 31896,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31896",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As Stephan and posdef already wrote, a (short or long) acknowledgement page at the end of the talk is the standard you see on conferences/talks.\nHowever I saw a few, who had a short acknowledgement as one of the first slides or at the start of the chapters of their hour long talk. </p>\n\n<p>This was quite interesting, since you directly saw, who was responsible for the work and the presenter (in this case the group leader/professor) didn't sound like he did all the work. </p>\n\n<p>Also, you can end on your summary page. The end of the talk is often times the most interesting and memorable part, which is why the summary in the end is quite an intriguing point. And the summary will stay to start the discussion and give the hearer again an overview of your talk.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44472,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to the other answers: don't forget to put your funders on your acknowledgements slides!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44490,
"author": "zeldredge",
"author_id": 30837,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30837",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Something I see very frequently is an acknowledgements slide that consists of, for instance, a group photo (if the people you want to acknowledge are in your research group). Then particular faces may be circled/labeled. Decent way of showing \"hey, these people!\" without necessarily having just a list.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44455",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/787/"
] |
44,459 |
<p>In Europe it is somewhat common to apply directly to professors for a PhD project at any time of the year. Specially in chemical engineering, bioprocessing, process engineering, material science and similar areas.</p>
<p>Assuming you are currently writing your master thesis (usually takes 1 semester), how early should you start applying for PhD's?</p>
<p>I found this related question <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22032/apply-for-phd-before-finishing-my-masters-degree">Apply for PhD before finishing my Master's degree</a> , however it deals with applying to US PhDs while doing a EU Master.</p>
<p>My doubt is about applying to EU PhDs while finishing a EU master.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44460,
"author": "mort",
"author_id": 13427,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13427",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>In Europe it is somewhat common to apply directly to professors for a PhD project</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I cannot speak for the whole of Europe (and I think you'd get better answers if you'd narrow down your question) but at least in Austria it is usually required that you apply directly to professors; you can only enroll at the university for the PhD program if a professor is willing to advise you (there are other ways, e.g., if you enroll in a graduate school type program; but they aren't all that common).</p>\n\n<p>I know that in several (central) European countries, at least in Computer Science, it is very common to approach the potential future advisor before applying formally. A formal application is nonetheless necessary, since you will usually be employed by the university. In some cases, open positions are only announced once the professor has found a suitable candidate - so there might be (and there usually are) opportunities even if there are no listed open positions. If the professor already knows you (from courses or a thesis project) it shouldn't be a problem to talk about PhD opportunities. If the professor doesn't know you, it shouldn't be a problem either; but you should be able to show real interest in the subject.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44465,
"author": "optimal control",
"author_id": 24694,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24694",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't really know the procedure for all countries but in France, the universities give priority to their own graduate students, especially concerning the scholarship. So, it is always better to do a MSc degree to be safe. \nAlso, as mort said, it is mainly the professor who decide to enroll you in PhD. If a professor accepts your PhD project, it would be fine I think.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44468,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's nothing wrong with planning ahead, noone would blame you for not finishing your degree before applying. </p>\n\n<p>However if you want them to take you seriously, and consider you for a position they might have, you kinda need to be not too far away from a speculative starting day. For that reason I'd say more than 6 months before graduation might be not optimal. </p>\n\n<p>Also consider that in some countries, Sweden being one, PhD positions are full-time employment positions and they are announced publicly (even if a candidate is already present). From an employer's (or PI's) point-of-view, they need to show that they have the resources for the full-time employment, and that it's much difficult to \"get rid of\" someone, if the working dynamics aren't optimal, once a candidate is recruited. </p>\n\n<p>What that means is that there are usually short-term, project assistant/worker positions that are meant to be \"testing the water\" for both parties (mine was about 8-9 months). It could also be so that the PI is waiting to hear from a funding agency for funds, and doesn't have the liberty to recruit immediately.</p>\n\n<p>Such a \"test period\" is useful for the PI to check whether or not a candidate has what the job/project demands (academically and personally), and for the candidate it's a great chance to see the group dynamics, have a feel for how it is to work with that PI and his/her group, to work on that particular project. </p>\n\n<p>So if the PI you contact does not immediately \"accept\" you for a position but instead offers a short-term position with the possibility of a full-term commitment, don't get dismayed :)</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44459",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32446/"
] |
44,461 |
<p>I'm a 3rd year PhD student of Computer Science in the UK and I was considering joining the IEEE-CIS and/or ACM as a student member. As much as the annual memberships in both are very reasonably priced, I was wondering if there was any point subscribing to both and whether if anybody who signed up for both would recommend one over the other and suggest me some key factors to consider before becoming a member in these (or in general, other such societies).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44463,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is not a complete answer as I never cared for any of the services related to membership in either of the listed societies and never read their (in some cases, many and frequent) e-mails.</p>\n\n<p>My only reason for signing up in the first place, and in fact a response to your question</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I was wondering if there was any point subscribing to both</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>is that members get discounts on the registration fees of conferences organized by the respective society. Thus, if you attend several IEEE conferences and several ACM conferences in one year, you can save some of the money from whichever source your conference travels are paid by becoming a member of both societies.</p>\n\n<p>In such a case, at least if the initial registration + the discounted conference fee is at most as high as the normal conference fee, you may also have the option to get your registration fee for the respective society reimbursed, as you are actively saving money for the funding organization.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44470,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm a fairly continuous member of the IEEE and an off and on member of the ACM. Both of them tend to bundle membership with conference fees, such that most conferences have a \"registration + membership\" cost that is lower than \"non-member registration.\" As such there is rarely a point in <em>not</em> being a member, if you're going to a conference sponsored by the organization. I happen to go to an IEEE conference quite regularly, but not so much ACM conferences, and thus my membership trends.</p>\n\n<p>Beyond that, both have nice magazines they send you (IEEE Spectrum vs. CACM), and various member services that I'm sure some people take advantage of.</p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: join whoever you go to conferences with, and whether that's neither, one, or both, it's fine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44484,
"author": "reirab",
"author_id": 12999,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12999",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Yes, there is a reason to be a member of both. Aside from the conference discounts mentioned by the other answers, student members get access to the digital libraries with membership in each organization. This has been the only reason that I've been a member of either for the last few years. If you're doing active research in Computer Science, you will very likely be needing access to a lot of articles from both the IEEEXplore digital library and the ACM Digital Library.</p>\n\n<p>Student members of ACM get full access to the ACM Digital Library. Student members of the IEEE Computer Society get limited access to the IEEEXplore digital library and discounted access to other IEEE publications. Note that in the case of IEEE, as far as I know, this only applies to the Computer Society, not IEEE as a whole.</p>\n\n<p>As O.R.Mapper mentioned in a comment, many universities provide access to the ACM Digital Library and IEEEXplore through their libraries. In my experience, however, these were more annoying/less reliable to use, at least from off-campus, though I'm sure this will vary from one university to the next. More importantly, however, at least in my case, the subset of IEEEXplore material available through the university library's subscription was not the same as the subset available through the IEEE Computer Society's student membership. The library had a journals-only subscription, while the student membership material was mostly from conferences. As such, they were actually mostly complementary.</p>\n\n<p>Additionally, student members of ACM can get free downloads of much of Microsoft's software (via <a href=\"https://www.dreamspark.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">DreamSpark</a>, formerly known as MSDN Academic Alliance.) This is obviously a huge benefit that pays for the ACM membership several times over with just one download. I'm not sure what's currently offered there, but I've gotten professional versions of Visual Studio and Windows 7 as well as Enterprise versions of SQL Server and Windows Server there in the past. Note that, being free, this software comes with the caveat that it can only be used for personal or academic purposes, not commercial purposes, however, the licenses don't expire when you graduate.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44495,
"author": "arober11",
"author_id": 4151,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4151",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your academic career has taken you through any of the better universities, you may have an alumni membership that offers free lifetime access to the respective on-line libraries, even if your current institution has no agreement in place. </p>\n\n<p>It's been a few years, but the ACM did offer a fairly broad selection of CBT courses, but the content of the few I looked at was fairly basic, and as full of typos as wot something I'd tapped wud contain. </p>\n\n<p>Neither are UK based, so won't offer the: networking / talk / seminar options student BCS membership grants. So essentially it's a choice as to whether you'd prefer an @acm.org or @ieee.org email forwarding address and the complementry branded coffee mug, if they still offer them, you'll get for the money.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44497,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was a full member of both IEEE and ACM in the past year (2014). I tend to like ACM. The CACM seems to have better quality articles and they are more CS-ish compared to IEEE which I felt are more CompEng-ish. I also prefer ACM because they send more meaningful mails and less spam compared to IEEE. For instance, ACM will send you a customized list of articles based on your interests.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44461",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12201/"
] |
44,476 |
<p>Is it convenient to include in your CV papers that have not been cited at all along several years?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44479,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Convenient? No. Appropriate? Yes.</p>\n\n<p>Unless you are at a point in your career where you can release an impressive \"selected publications\" CV, your CV is expected to contain everything that you have ever published. That includes publications that nobody has cited and even ones that you are embarrassed by in retrospect. I've certainly got some of those in my CV (we were all grad students once), and I simply trust that they will be drowned out by all of the good work that has been done since.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44519,
"author": "Craig Welch",
"author_id": 33839,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33839",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it is. Your cv is about you, not about the people who cite you. It will give the reader an opportunity to see how you write, how you think. And what you have done over the years.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44476",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
44,483 |
<p>I am currently using Google Scholar to receive alerts (emails) for new publications in my field. However, <em>to my understanding</em> (I might be wrong) Google Scholar doesn't allow to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Use regular expression
<ul>
<li>might very useful for looking at variants (noun, adjective, adverb) of the word of interest</li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>Indicate the field where the matching pattern should be found</p>
<ul>
<li><em>author name</em>: if you write the name of an author, you just get all the paper that (s)he publish and all the papers that cite him/her. Also, if the author has a short and common name such as <code>Do</code> then, Google Scholar will basically send tons of articles.</li>
<li><em>title</em>: If I am looking for a concept that is used in a whole lot of different papers but only few papers really work on it such as the word <code>evolution</code> for example, then it would be useful to be able to ask for publications that contain the word <code>evolution</code> in the title only.</li>
<li><em>Journal</em>: Well... because we all have our favourite journals.</li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>Use AND and OR statements</p>
<ul>
<li>Such as for example: Give me all new publications which author is <code>John Smith</code> AND where the word <code>action potential</code> is present in the title OR the article has <code>neurophysiology</code> as a keyword. Something like <code>author: John Smith AND (title: action potential OR keyword: neurophysiology)</code></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>There are probably various algorithms that can be found online that would allow one to receive alerts for new publications. Can you give me recommendations of what (and why) is best to use for receiving alerts?</p>
<hr>
<p>FYI: My field is evolutionary biology and more precisely theoretical population genetics. I am particularly bothered by the fact that I am working on the concept of robustness in evolutionary developmental biology but the word robustness has meaning in so many different sciences and I just receive tons of alerts that are no relevant to my work.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44501,
"author": "Andrew",
"author_id": 27825,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27825",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The two large commercial bibliographic services come pretty close:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://webofscience.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Web of Science</a> can handle alerts with boolean searching - it couldn't exactly replicate this as it can't search keywords only, however. (It has a generalised \"topic\" which searches title/abstract/keywords). Leaving off the author element, there's about 1050 results for 2014.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.scopus.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Scopus</a> can run this exact search. It has a somewhat broader scope than Web of Science - so 1930 hits for 2014.</p>\n\n<p>Both are, unfortunately, (expensive) subscription services. But your institution may well pay for them ...</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>edit</strong> - UBC does indeed pay for Web of Science, so give it a shot and see if you like it! You probably want, in advanced search, something like <code>TI=(action potential) OR TS=(neurophysiology)</code></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44556,
"author": "ryanpattison",
"author_id": 24948,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24948",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are a few things Google Scholar can handle, for example here is a query that can be made into an alert and is similar to what you gave as an example:</p>\n\n<p><code>author:\"John Smith\" (intitle:\"action potential\" OR neurophysiology)</code></p>\n\n<p>To get all the results from a particular author (with or without articles that cite their work) you can search the author, click on his/her name in one of the results and there will be a \"Follow\" button on the profile page to get email alerts.</p>\n\n<p>If you click the drop-down in the search box you can fill out the advanced search form to make complicated queries and at the bottom of the search results there is a \"create an alert\" link, but this option seems to disappear if you specify a journal.</p>\n\n<p>As for using regular expressions, hopefully most of your queries can be solved by using OR, e.g. <code>(color OR colour)</code></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44483",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9928/"
] |
44,485 |
<p>Say a PhD student has a salary paid through a RA/TA or a fellowships but said student has no money for conferences, lab experiments, or to visit another lab for a few months to develop an important part of the thesis.</p>
<p>Should the student pay for these expenses out of his personal money? Is this acceptable, or should the student cut down on the project or change project to accommodate with the budget restrictions? </p>
<p>EDIT: Think of students from small departments and from countries where research money is little to non existent </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44486,
"author": "user3697176",
"author_id": 31433,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31433",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Does the student <em>want</em> to pay for the expenses out of his own funds?</p>\n\n<p>It is a fact of life that resources are tight, but dissemination of research and networking are important components of a PhD program, and any supervisor worth his/her salt will build some travel into the budget. (I would expect that there should be at least two regional conferences and one major international conference over the course of the project.) Beyond that, you'd have to be pretty sure that the expense will be worth it, before you incur it. There usually is money to be found, internally, externally, even through a visiting position at the off-site lab you mentioned. Be creative, negotiate, but be selective also. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44487,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"Should\" is a hard word here. I certainly never paid for these things, but my supervisor was well funded, and so I didn't have to worry about it. At the other end, I think a student certainly \"can\" pay for these things out of their own pocket. My recommendation for travel would be to avoid this by pursuing departmental, university, and conference-specific travel funds. </p>\n\n<p>I can't imagine it being reasonable for a student to purchase lab equipment. It's often expected that you'll have your own laptop, but workstations, servers, and compute clusters should be provided by someone else. Same for microscopes, reagents, glassware, and everything in between.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44499,
"author": "Stephanie",
"author_id": 32695,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32695",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Remember that some people fund their entire PhD out of their own pocket so there is no 'should' answer. If someone is in this situation, they should first discuss this with their supervisor who will have the best advice on whether there is any available money. \nThere are no rules against students funding this themselves but many simply wouldn't apply for programs without that kind of support or would not be able to afford that. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44506,
"author": "user49483",
"author_id": 30768,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30768",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are plenty of grants available to grad students, especially for conference travel. Have a look at the societies in your field. If they offer grants for travel or research expenses then join them. I'd say my ROI for the money I've paid to join societies as a grad student is > 2000%. These are rarely competitive from my experience. Often the society running the conference will offer funding for students to attend the conference. Sometimes funding is only available to those from low GDP countries, so being from a low GDP country can actually help.</p>\n\n<p>Then there are plenty of other organisations that offer grants without having to join or pay to join. Some offer money for research expenses and short trips to visit other institutions. You should be able to find most of these by searching online.</p>\n\n<p>It also looks good on your CV when you have a long list of (small) grants as a grad student.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44485",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
] |
44,488 |
<p>Paper submissions always put weight on our resume, specifically for students who are applying for a Ph.D. Conference papers are different from journal papers, at least in few cases. Which one puts more weight on our resume? For example, if two students have same level of qualifications except one student has a journal paper and the other one has a conference paper, which one gets higher priority?</p>
<p>I'm a computer science graduate, very much interested in publishing a paper. I just wanted to know the pros and cons of paper submission, and more specifically the advantages of journal paper vs. conference paper. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44491,
"author": "user3697176",
"author_id": 31433,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31433",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only downside to submitting papers is submitting too many. Not only does it require time to write them, if they are of bad quality you will ultimately gain the reputation of a crank or troll.</p>\n\n<p>In terms of journal versus conference, the trade-off is not clear-cut. You want exposure, so you want your paper to be seen, read and cited by as many people as possible. </p>\n\n<p>A good journal (recognizable by a high \"impact factor\" --- however subjective and error-prone that measure might be) gives you the most exposure. Papers published there also tend to be of higher quality than conference papers because the review process is more thorough. </p>\n\n<p>Conference papers, on the other hand, usually let you present your ideas to an audience that self-selected for interest. Networking opportunities at conferences also increase your exposure and that of your paper. </p>\n\n<p>Bad journals, finally, (and unfortunately there seem to be more and more of those) can actually damage your reputation. The reviewing is shoddy, nobody reads them, your paper won't get cited, and it will be tainted by association.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44496,
"author": "user3780968",
"author_id": 32158,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32158",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Computer science is a bit of a special case, in that high-profile conferences can be even better than high-profile journals.\n<a href=\"https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/conferences-vs-journals.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Here's an in-depth discussion.</a></p>\n\n<p>But it's still important to get journal publications because the rest of the scientific community (including perhaps the chair of your department) tends to believe they're better.</p>\n\n<p>Now this distinction is only important once you have a few publications already. </p>\n\n<p>Also, one of the advantages of conferences is that they have set deadlines and processing times, constrained by the conference dates, whereas journal submissions can take months and months to be processed. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44502,
"author": "marcman",
"author_id": 11819,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11819",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My understanding is that, similar to user3780968's answer, CS is a different animal than other areas. But even within CS it may differ. In some of the newer, more applied areas--particularly those in the AI-related fields--conferences are generally better, if only because those fields are evolving so rapidly. In more theoretical work, especially theoretical fields that have been well studied for decades (complexity theory comes to mind here), journals may be a better bet.</p>\n\n<p>Part of the usefulness of conferences is that they generally accept fewer submissions and they allow you to present your work to your colleagues. This is like a PR campaign. In a fast innovating area, even the best ideas can be overshadowed by mediocre ones if they are not picked up on by the community at large (a la <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videotape_format_war\" rel=\"nofollow\">VHS and Betamax</a>). In a journal, you may end up on page 945 and nobody will know unless they are looking for your specific topic.</p>\n\n<p>The way I view it is: if your work is novel in a rapidly growing/changing area, conferences are your best bet to get your ideas out there and known now. If that's not the case, then there is nothing wrong with publishing in a prestigious journal. It really just comes down to the circumstances of the topic at hand.</p>\n\n<p>All that being said, it's still important to make sure the conferences you are publishing in are good ones. Otherwise, no matter the field, a top journal should probably take precedence.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44508,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no such thing as a <em>generic</em> comparison of conference vs. journal in computer science. Both conferences and journals range across a wide spectrum of quality, and so the individual conference and individual journal is what will make all the difference. Moreover, the judgement in some cases is likely to be quite subjective by field as well, based on the opinions that particular PIs have of other sub-disciplines. Bottom line: you can get conferences and journals that are both of very high quality and high respect in a great many parts of computer science.</p>\n\n<p>So, how should you decide? My main criteria is the nature of the work. When I have a relatively terse work, it is suitable for a conference, which typically have strict page limits. When a work is much more lengthy, it should go to a journal instead.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 85031,
"author": "Frank Hopkins",
"author_id": 69345,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/69345",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In CS neither is by itself better or worth more than the other. And I think it's sad, if that is the case in other fields (because it implies judgement of content by superficial criteria). What matters is this:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Does the conference/journal fit your topic</li>\n<li>How esteemed is the conference in its field (or the field you want to work in long-term, if your paper is cross-field work)</li>\n<li>Can you make your paper good enough to get accepted</li>\n<li>How well do the journal/conference's technical requirements (number of pages, code to provide, ...) fit for your work</li>\n<li>When is the dead-line, can you make a good enough version till then</li>\n<li>Can you obtain funding to get to the conference location (journals may win this)</li>\n<li>(Are you happy with the publishing rules of the journal/conference?)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Most of those are also taken into account when people assess you and your scientific qualifications. For instance, if you publish a paper in the totally wrong journal for your topic, this may raise some eyebrows, more likely in a negative than positive way: It could potentially be interpreted as trying to dodge the tougher competition in your field; or as indication that you had no clue what you were doing; or that some other contribution from a co-author of that other field was way more important than yours etc.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44488",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29401/"
] |
44,493 |
<p>My husband received an acceptance letter in February to get his Ph.D. in History. We are in the US. When he e-mailed to the funding department asking what else he needed, the funding department said they had everything.</p>
<p>Now in April he e-mailed to the Department where he supposedly is going to do his Ph.D. to ask about registration, start day, etc., and the president of the department answered saying he is not hopeful about securing his fellowship line at the moment, and the funding they have now will cover the currently enrolled students and if he has something left, he will not know until august. But classes start in August and we have to move 700 miles away!</p>
<p>Is there something we can do after my husband has been accepted but with no funding?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44498,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If they did not say they had funding at the time of the offer, then it is quite likely they do not have funding now. This is especially true in the humanities. Cases where the offer include a statement about funding generally mean the department has funding, but it is not unheard of for things to happen. Generally statements about funding include lots of conditional clauses protecting the department in case things fall through. In the humanities funding for a PhD is much harder to get. It is worth asking about the possibility of teaching.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44512,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You note that this involves a humanities department at an American university, so my answer is that this kind of bare-bones offer is unfortunately all too common -- especially at state universities. </p>\n\n<p>At these places, your letter of admission is just that -- admission into the graduate program. Your admission letter has to explicitly offer a financial package which might include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>a waiver for tuition and fees</li>\n<li>a graduate stipend (independent of teaching, or tied to teaching)</li>\n<li>offer of teaching or research fellowships (either guaranteed or ad hoc)</li>\n<li>internal fellowships</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If this isn't the case, you would be liable for not only your own living expenses, but for any tuition and fees that are charged. At some places, this might be quite a lot of money given that you might be treated as an out-of-state student and charged tuition and fees accordingly.</p>\n\n<p>At this stage, it's difficult for any of us to recommend what to do. It seems you have several options:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Accept the situation and prepare for the financial difficulty of doing graduate work while working at the same time or taking out loans.</p></li>\n<li><p>Withdrawing from the program (and perhaps reapplying to the same or other programs next year in the hope of a better offer).</p></li>\n<li><p>Waiting for the other offers and either accepting an offer with a better package or trying to leverage them against your original school for more money</p></li>\n<li><p>Writing to the graduate director or your prospective advisor and plead your case.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>All of these carry very real risks, so proceed with caution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 138924,
"author": "Philly",
"author_id": 115125,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/115125",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just a clarification for some of the above answers, from an American faculty member in the humanities. </p>\n\n<p>Funding in the humanities (like everywhere else in the academy) is a contractual matter. In my experience, all funding offers are processed by a graduate school or other university-level office, not the individual department. Letters are sent early in the admissions process, signed by a representative of the university. Once the student signs and returns the contract, it will not be withdrawn (assuming you are dealing with a respectable university). </p>\n\n<p>Department admissions committees make decisions about who to offer funding to. It is frequently true that there is less funding available in humanities and social science departments than other graduate programs in many state universities. But we <em>do not make funding offers without actually having the funding lines available</em>. Obviously, that would be highly unethical because there is so much at stake for the student, as the OP notes.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44493",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33817/"
] |
44,500 |
<p>I was reading a conference paper relevant to my area of study, and I found it interesting - they did what I was planning to do anyways, and had some extremely promising results.</p>
<p>Now, I don't really believe their claims, as the success seems a bit extreme (300-400x speed up for an algorithm by switching from CPU to GPU). It feels like they compared optimized GPU code to an unoptimized CPU algorithm. Nevertheless, I am in general a reasonable person, so I wanted to see what they did and how they did it.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the paper is very vague on the implementation used. There is a snippet of pseudocode that doesn't really share anything new (it is obvious). I emailed the authors and asked them for source code, if at all possible. The first author replied to me, and provided a GitHub link. The code in the repository is undocumented, and isn't exactly for the implementation I asked about anyways. It is for another implementation they did (also distributed computing).</p>
<p>I tried contacting the author with some questions, but he has never responded to me again... So that link has not been successful.</p>
<p>The paper doesn't have many citations, and all of them but one are self-references. I haven't found evidence that anyone built on these findings so far.</p>
<p>So: I figured I would just move ahead with my idea and not rely on their implementation. <strong>However, do I need to address this paper somehow in my thesis?</strong> I assume so - the committee could ask me about it, and how my work is different. But how can I compare my work to something else that I have no source code for? Do I take their word for it and compare my results to their published results? Am I allowed to criticize work that provides no supporting code? Probably not...</p>
<p>Should I pester the authors some more? They are probably sick of me by now.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44509,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In your thesis, I think it should be safe to say something along the lines of </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"John Doe et. al. claim in [22] that the algorithm would run 400X faster with their implementation, however, the details are unclear.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and leave it there. If you are asked more about it in your defense, you may politely state that you tried to approach the authors for more information but could not get it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44530,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First off, let me give you some context and help you set expectations. It's very common in computer science that authors are not willing to share their code (for any number of reasons). I'm not saying this is a good thing; I'm just saying this is how it is.</p>\n\n<p>If they gave you a pointer to a Github repository containing their code, that is far above average. You should consider yourself lucky to have their code. Undocumented? Par for the course -- it's research code, you're lucky that they're giving you their code at all. Now if the code they sent is you is not the code they used for this paper, but code for something entirely different, that's a different matter -- then the code may not be useful. However, the question is not entirely clear on this point, so I'm not in a position to judge how relevant what they sent you was.</p>\n\n<p>If they sent you their code for this paper, and if it's highly relevant to your thesis, you should study it carefully. It's your job to be an expert in this area. You need to study their paper and their code to understand the basis for those results, and see if you can replicate them. You need to make every effort to try to understand what's going on with that paper. If someone asks you about it and you respond that you asked for their code but the code they gave you had no documentation so you didn't look at it, that's not going to look good.</p>\n\n<p>Second, regardless of whether they sent you the code, you probably should be trying to reproduce their results, if there is enough detail in the paper to understand what they did, and if it's highly relevant to your thesis.</p>\n\n<p>Now if they didn't send you the code for the paper, and if the paper doesn't include enough information to reproduce their results, then the best you can do is mention in your thesis that \"Smith et al claim to achieve a 400x speedup using a GPU [1], however some details of their approach do not seem to be publicly available.\" and leave it at that.</p>\n\n<p>Finally: You should be talking to your research advisor about this. This is what your advisor is for. Talk to him/her. He/she will likely have useful advice for you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44542,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Attempt to replicate</h2>\n\n<p>If the topic is within the area that you're deeply studying, then it could be reasonable to attempt to replicate the results of their paper, even if (or especially because) the source is not available. The approach is described in the paper, as are the expected performance results. Where the details are vague, fill them in reasonably - after all, you're claiming to be an expert of the area as well. If they don't document relevant details (e.g. the hardware used), document these details for <em>your</em> replication as they might explain any notable differences.</p>\n\n<p>If the replication results are significantly different than their claims, then this result may be publishable separately; if the results are comparable with theirs then it goes against your current expectations and fixes a potential flaw in your thesis. So either way the replication results would contribute to your goals.</p>\n\n<p>In general, for a thesis direction \"approach Y to achieve X\" it's quite reasonable to [re]implement or review + re-test + verify multiple other approaches for achieving X, not just your 'in-house' approach. Having good quality open source implementations of other approaches makes this job easier, but <em>not</em> having such implementations doesn't mean that this job can be skipped.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44500",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23924/"
] |
44,518 |
<p>For one of my class projects, the teacher coded the entire solution, then took out a few sections that we are supposed to complete for our assignment. This incomplete code was distributed to the class as a starting point. When he was writing the solution, he used <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revision_control">source control</a>. He forgot to delete his repository, so all of his commits are there... You can checkout the commits to get the full solution. I don't think he is aware of it, because he hasn't brought it up in class.</p>
<p>I found this while I was working on my solution. Once I found it, it was difficult to find a different path to the solution. I think my solution is dissimilar, but I feel I am playing a dangerous game here.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what I should do here. I could choose to not tell him and hope they don't catch it, or I could choose to tell him and basically admit I had access to the solution while I was working on it.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44520,
"author": "marcman",
"author_id": 11819,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11819",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Send him a polite email explaining that, while you completed the assignment on your own (which I am assuming to be true), by stumbling upon the solutions in advance you had a hard time doing anything different. Professors are people--he should recognize his mistake and appreciate that you were forthcoming. Chances are he'll reassign the project or discount its weight toward your grade and just tell people to review it anyway because you need to know the material. The sooner you say something the better though. Indeed, after a while it may look like you were trying to hide it from him.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44521,
"author": "zeldredge",
"author_id": 30837,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30837",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should tell him. It's going to be a headache for him when he finds out, so you may as well give him a heads up. Tell him you've gotten a solution which is similar but that does contain original thought and see what he says. Best case, he'll be appreciative of your honesty. Basically the way I see it is you have one path that's ethically sketchy and one that's a good thing to do (because, again, he'll have to deal with this). So, you know. Do the right thing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44536,
"author": "Walter A",
"author_id": 33851,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33851",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Part of finding a solution for a problem is taking a small amount of time looking for known solutions in available resources. The teacher should not only appreciate your honesty, but also your effort to look for existing solutions and reusing the best parts of it.<br>\nYou did a good job and could tell him that you did some research during the development and found that a similar solution to yours was found in the source control history.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44537,
"author": "Serafim",
"author_id": 33848,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33848",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am a retired university teacher and have made similar mistakes a couple of times during my 32 years at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.\nEach time, be it on a written exam, or on a home assignment, it was rapidly discovered, mainly because students realized it would cause a problem when grading the results.\nSo, if you don't report it to the teacher, someone else most probably will and all those who took advantage will stick out in a bad manner.\nDo tell him.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44538,
"author": "user33853",
"author_id": 33853,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33853",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To be honest I don't know if there is anything you can do at this point. You have completed your assignment and as a fellow student I feel like once you know the answer, its hard to unseen the answer and forget about it and come up with a new one. And if you do tell the teacher about this, most students will probably have realized this too and the sneaky ones will probably have copied it and stored it somewhere before redistributing it again (believe me, and I am probably one of the sneaky ones). So yeah if you do tell him, I don't think it changes anything to be honest. I have a feeling my answer is a bad one.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44545,
"author": "TheReply",
"author_id": 33864,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33864",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Tell him. Failing to do so may result in dire repercussions for your academic career. But don't panic, honesty is always appreciated.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44599,
"author": "Wes",
"author_id": 33906,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33906",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Tell him. Your integrity is worth more than any pass mark. If your teacher isn't teaching you that, then he isn't worth jack.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44647,
"author": "Rikki",
"author_id": 12230,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12230",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, tell the teacher. It's just the <em>right</em> thing to do.</p>\n\n<p>If for some reason you need a self-serving reason: the teacher will immediately realise that your solution is exactly the same as theirs, the whole assignment will have to be reset and you and everyone else will have to do another piece of work. Tell them now so it can be rectified, it's better for everyone.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44518",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33838/"
] |
44,524 |
<p>I have read the Springer <a href="http://www.springer.com/?SGWID=4-102-45-154182-0">copyrights</a> and <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/open-access/authors-rights/self-archiving-policy/2124">self-archiving policy</a>, but they are a bit confusing. For example in the first of them, you may find this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Author may self-archive an author-created version of his/her Contribution on his/her own website and/or the repository of Author’s department or faculty.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And here is the quote from the second source:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Authors may self-archive the author’s accepted manuscript of their articles on their own websites. Authors may also deposit this version of the article in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later. He/ she may not use the publisher's version (the final article), which is posted on SpringerLink and other Springer websites, for the purpose of self-archiving or deposit. Furthermore, the author may only post his/her version provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be provided by inserting the DOI number of the article in the following sentence: “The final publication is available at Springer via <a href="http://dx.doi.org/[insert">http://dx.doi.org/[insert</a> DOI]”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Do I understand correctly that I can put my own version of the manuscript at my own (or my institute's) website immediately after acceptance, but I can submit it to arXiv only 12 months later after official publication? If so, it seems to me it doesn't make sense. If the manuscript is made publicly available just after acceptance at my own website, why cannot it be made publicly available at the same time at arXiv?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44528,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here's a <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42792/how-can-springer-and-wiley-put-a-12-month-embargo-on-posting-post-review-revisio\">closely related question</a>. </p>\n\n<p>And yes, I think it's a bizarre and inexcusable policy--I was so shocked when I realized that they are demanding this that I asked the question linked above. </p>\n\n<p>I am not a lawyer but it is not clear to me why you could not submit to the arXiv prior to signing the copyright transfer agreement. In the absence of a contract with Springer, I cannot see how they can possibly have any say over what you do with your manuscript. They can refuse to take manuscript that is posted on the arXiv, and they can refuse to do business with you again -- but if you haven't signed a contract, you cannot have violated one. </p>\n\n<p>That said, they leave open a loophole big enough to drive a train through, and seem to me that they do so deliberately. From their policy right after the part you quoted:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Prior versions of the article published on non-commercial pre-print servers like arXiv.org can remain on these servers and/or can be updated with the author’s accepted version. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So it seems to me (again not a lawyer) that provided that you post to the arXiv pre-submission, you are welcome to update it with the accepted version without waiting the 12 months after publication. That seems the obvious course of action, especially given all of the reasons to post to the arXiv at submission time anyway. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44534,
"author": "Andrew",
"author_id": 27825,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27825",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The short answer is: yes, staggered posting rights like this are very common - many journals distinguish between your own website, your institutional repository, and a broader repository (eg arXiv, pubmed), with different rules about what version of the article can be posted and when; some have also begun to provide a special category for sites like ResearchGate. </p>\n\n<p>The underlying answer -</p>\n\n<p><strong>Why on earth do they do this?</strong></p>\n\n<p>On the one hand, this doesn't make sense - the PDF is the PDF and once it's picked up by a search engine, it's going to be readable wherever it's hosted. But consider it in terms of discoverability and scale:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>one hundred papers from the journal on one hundred obscure personal sites;</li>\n<li>one hundred papers from the journal on twenty well-organised institutional sites; or</li>\n<li>one hundred papers from the journal on one disciplinary repository</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>From a publisher's perspective, the first option is not something to worry about, while the second & particularly third options look quite scary. Remember, what they really don't want is everyone saying \"great, we can get this all from arXiv, cancel next year's subscription please\". So an embargo period gets attached to the repository copies - many journals (most prominently PNAS) manage fine on a subscription basis while still making older papers freely accessible after a year or two, and so it's well-understood that allowing delayed access in one form or another will not ruin the subscription income.</p>\n\n<p>Now, mass cancellation because of self-deposited papers being available instantly is a bit of a bogeyman. No-one's really shown it would happen on a large scale (and indeed arXiv suggests otherwise); library budgets are not (yet) squeezed enough that we've had to start thinking seriously about it; and in any case \"big deal\" subscription models often make it impractical to cancel specific titles. But it's looming as the threat and most publishers simply don't want to risk it... so they produce very conservative guidance on what you're allowed to do, and work from there.</p>\n\n<p>Over the past few years, many of these publisher limits have loosened slightly as they discover the sky didn't fall, which I suppose is something. At the time of writing, at a very loose generalisation, policies for non-medical scientific journals are mostly converging along the lines of \"accepted MS immediately on your own site, accepted MS in a repository after a year, publisher/proof PDF never\", but there are a thousand variations.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44524",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25216/"
] |
44,529 |
<p>I am working towards my PhD for 2.5 years now. A few of the students who joined after me under my advisor have recently published in top-tier conferences. Though I have worked pretty closely with them and mostly have been involved in troubleshooting their problems while they were conducting experiments or studying for those papers. </p>
<p>I am very happy for them and have nothing against them, but when I see that I don't have a single publication to my name, I get a bit depressed. Earlier, this used to give me motivation and my killer instinct just made me work harder. But as the time has passed, I feel demotivated. My advisor still considers me amongst his best students. Mostly, I didn't publish my work till now because I didn't find it doing justification to my expectations. And I wanted to send it to a top-tier journal which would require extensive evaluation and mathematical rigor, which I am still working upon. </p>
<p>Is it common to be intimidated by such such situations and what is the best way to overcome the feeling that you haven't done anything. </p>
<p>Note: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>I have a lot work but unable to overcome this feeling when every few months, someone gets a paper accepted to a conference. </p></li>
<li><p>I am reluctant in sending papers to conferences since I am a self sponsored student and also not full time. So I want to utilize the funds available to me judiciously. The conferences won't fund me since there's a rider of being a full time student. </p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44533,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First off: if you are not a full time student, it's natural that you will take longer than others (who I presume <em>are</em> full time students). Don't feel too pressured by this.</p>\n\n<p>Second, if you are involved with your colleagues' papers, should you be a coauthor on them? Especially if this took time you would otherwise have spent on your own projects?</p>\n\n<p>Most importantly, have you discussed your specific problem with your advisor? It appears like getting a publication accepted would be helpful to your peace of mind. Your question has a faint whiff of perfectionism, which may prevent you from submitting and publishing. Your advisor would be the logical person to discuss this with. He should have a good understanding of the expectations in your specific field. If he considers you one of his best students, this is a good starting point!</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend that you write your advisor an email along these lines:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Recently, some other students in our group got accepted in upper tier\n conferences. I am extremely happy for them, and this motivates me\n immensely to follow their lead. I would like to get something accepted\n in a comparable venue soon. However, I feel unsure of what level of\n quality is sufficient for publication - at what point do I stop\n polishing and submit?</p>\n \n <p>Could we have a meeting in which we discuss some of my current\n projects and work out what I still need to do to get a manuscript into\n submittable form, ideally with a time plan? Thank you!</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Finally, I assume you have already read and taken to heart <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/2219/4140\">this canonical question</a>, right?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44547,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I assume you are in computer science, since you are talking about top-tier conferences. So, I am going to talk from a pure CS perspective, since in CS in order to get a PHD you need to have publications. </p>\n\n<p>First of all, do not let your ego get in the way of you getting a PHD. For getting a CS PHD, you need a critical mass of good and solid publications. That means a sufficient number (not just one) of good to excellent papers. According to the <a href=\"http://www.core.edu.au/index.php/conference-rankings\" rel=\"nofollow\">CORE conference ranking</a>: </p>\n\n<pre><code>Conferences are assigned to one of the following categories:\n\n - A* - flagship conference, a leading venue in a discipline area \n - A - excellent conference, and highly respected in a discipline area \n - B - good conference, and well regarded in a discipline area \n - C - other ranked conference venues that meet minimum standards\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>I know many people who took a CS PHD and went to successful careers afterward that during the duration of their PHD did not have any A* conference publication. Instead they had 1-2 A publications, a couple of Bs and some additional workshop / demo / poster publications. IMHO this is the most realistic plan for actually getting a good CS PHD and get it relatively fast. So, although it is good to aim high, you should know that getting an A* conference publication (VLDB, SIGMOD, FOCS, SODA) is not simply possible for all CS PHD students (and certainly not necessary) during their PHD duration. </p>\n\n<p>In this sense, aiming for that one perfect publication that would take 4 years to write is counter-productive for you, because: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If it gets rejected you start from null </li>\n<li>It is not enough to get you a PHD, because you cannot have a CS PHD thesis of 30 pages </li>\n<li>Everyone will assume that it is your supervisor's doing if you cannot follow through with equally good publications </li>\n<li>If you are Mr. Nobody in single-bind conferences, it will be harder for your work to be accepted initially, since nobody knows you or trusts you </li>\n<li>It is very difficult to do so, because writing a paper of this magnitude needs experience and this kind of experience can come only after writing many good papers and many rejection / resubmission circles for mere mortals like us (unless you are Terens Tao)</li>\n<li>If the paper is that good, it really does not make that difference where it was submitted. I know seminal papers presented in B-conferences with 300 - 1000 citations and papers in A* conference that nobody cites.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also, your plan of sending to a journal is even worse, since it might take a year before it gets accepted and in the meantime many other people could catch up with you. And even if you did write this excellent paper, it will take some time for that publication to take off and be known and until then what? You will have finished a PHD with a citation number of less than 10. This is also bad on all counts.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, putting out consistently good-solid publications in respectable A or B conferences on a frequency of 1-2 papers per year, means that in 3-5 years of your PHD, you may have 4-8 good publications and:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>People will know you for you (and not your supervisor) because you have\nproven yourself consistently by producing good papers on regular intervals</li>\n<li>You will have gained better experience on how to actually write good papers and sell your ideas better</li>\n<li>You will have a better citation index, due to your citing your work\nand other people citing it because the related community knows and respects you</li>\n<li>You will get review requests that will inform you faster on the current state-of-the-art</li>\n<li>You will find faster external collaborators which means even more good papers for you.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In a nutshell, my advice is: If your work has produced good-solid results, wrap it up and publish it, instead of aiming for perfection. Once your first work is out, everything else will be on its way. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44550,
"author": "Blaisorblade",
"author_id": 8966,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8966",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As other have mentioned, you sound like a perfectionist. This probably won't surprise you.</p>\n\n<p>You might not be aware that perfectionism can be a problem, and it's an endemic one among researchers — it's a common obstacle to getting a PhD. The pattern matches your description: you set yourself excessively high standards, you miss them so they make your life worse, yet you keep attached to those standards, and ultimately you achieve worse results, both for motivations problems, and because you for instance self-censor your work, or work too much, or both.</p>\n\n<p>I've had the same problem, and I've been recommended reading this self-help material. Of course, it's up to you to decide whether you recognize yourself in this pattern.\n<a href=\"http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/infopax.cfm?Info_ID=52\">http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/infopax.cfm?Info_ID=52</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44529",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2823/"
] |
44,555 |
<p>I almost didn't get my BS degree because I have never successfully tolerated a foreign language course. My most recent attempt was no exception. I paced about in front of the building trying unsuccessfully to force myself to enter the classroom. Surely this represents a severe defect of my character, but I maintain that an alternate teaching strategy would make success possible for someone like me. An extreme social phobia of this type is rare (<2%). There will never be a house reform because those who gravitate to teaching language are extroverted, and communication is a social activity. so there is little basis for empathy. This is something that I need to figure out, because I learned that the math PhD program requires fourth-semester proficiency. I am sure that the masses love this ubiquitous type of social teaching philosophy, and that the best way to handle statistical anomalies is to tell them to "get over themselves" and "get with the program". This is what I have tried to do, so much against my nature. Language is the only department where this is a problem for me. The format is always the same.</p>
<p>How can someone with a debilitating social phobia get through a foreign language course?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44559,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, social phobia is not a character defect. It is a recognized medical condition. You are not worth less as a human being if you suffer from a phobia.</p>\n\n<p>Next, depending on your school, you may be able to get a medical exemption from certain requirements. You may want to discuss this with your local student services. (By email if meeting people in person is impossible to you.)</p>\n\n<p>However, <em>I would strongly advise against this approach</em>. You will need to interact with people after leaving college, too, so avoiding the problem is not a good strategy in the long run. Instead, I would recommend that you actively work on this issue.</p>\n\n<p>The good news is that social phobia is very amenable to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The accepted form of therapy is a desensitization approach, where you will progressively learn to tolerate being around people.</p>\n\n<p>No, this will not be easy. You will need to work on your disability. You will encounter setbacks. But your student services should again be able to point you towards resources and therapists that can help you. And there is no better time for doing this therapy than now, when you have a more-or-less flexible schedule, and before you hit the job market, where social phobia will be an <em>enormous</em> problem - regardless of which career you want to pursue.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44561,
"author": "Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩",
"author_id": 26708,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26708",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not aware of your location, but I can comment on the position in the UK. If a student (or academic or researcher) declares a disability to their institution then (together with clinicians or other appropriate evidence and an assessment of need) they are required by law (Disability Discrimination in Education) to make provision and adjustments (except for where the adjustment would be unreasonable). Only the courts can rule what is reasonable or not.</p>\n\n<p>However, an individual may choose to keep their condition private, in which case the institution has no obligations until the point of disclosure. Privacy law overrides disability law in such cases.</p>\n\n<p>I have responsibilities for students with alternate needs in my subject area, and this includes students with social phobia conditions. Some as extreme as you describe.</p>\n\n<p>We have, for example, conducted oral examinations and tutorial using skype between two adjacent rooms so that the student does not have to share a space or be overlooked by another person.</p>\n\n<p>It can be done, if there is a will and a motivation to do it on behalf of the institution.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> however I also strongly concur with Stephan's answer. When a student has declared they are offered help and support. In particular CBT and other therapies are very helpful in putting students and staff in better positions for employment and promotion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44565,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One alternative is to take an online course. There are many MOOCs that offer foreign language courses. You may then try and solve assignments and take exam of the real course to get the credit. Of course this will require some convincing to the authorities that you would like to skip attending because of the phobia. I should add that you may want to consider seeking therapy for your condition. I have heard positive stories of therapies working, even the rare cases as you describe.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44587,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 33892,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33892",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>... I paced about in front of the building trying unsuccessfully to force myself to enter the classroom. ...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'll be honest with you. If you cannot get over yourself and force yourself to face your fears, there's little point in getting your degree, since you're extremely unlikely to land a job that requires a degree in which you could function.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't want to quit, my advice is to deliberately seek out social occasions as often as possible. Face your fears and try to desensitise yourself to your phobia. It will be hard, but it's the only way.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44555",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
44,562 |
<p>After completing my dissertation proposal, I got data from a company for my idea. After that, I was searching to find an advisor for my dissertation.</p>
<p>I talked with an assistant professor. Let's call him Alex. He asked me to send all of the collected literature and the proposal to him. A few days later, he informed me that he could not accept me as his student.</p>
<p>I found another professor (Bob) and then began to work with him. However, my advisor forced me to give up the proposal without any clear reasons. So I needed to give it up because for a month, he kept asking me to find a different topic.</p>
<p>About 2 years later after the time, I found that my advisor and his former student (Carol) had been working on my proposal topic and began to submit several papers.</p>
<p>The story was that: His former student was in a <strong>relationship</strong> with Alex, whom I initially contacted before starting to work with Bob. Alex sent my stuffs to Carol and she contacted Bob to ask for his help to develop the idea.</p>
<p>Such a thing happened one more time as well. Carol was unable to find a topic and so Bob had provided my research ideas to her again.</p>
<p>This Fall, Carol tenure will be under review. I'd like to send a letter to dean of the department to inform this. However, I am unsure how to do that effectively. I appreciate any suggestions on this.</p>
<p>By the way, I do not work with Bob anymore. I had a chance to talk about this matter with Alex. He said that he just shared the proposal with Carol because it was an interesting idea. He did not know the other stuffs and why and how she worked with Bob. Finally, Bob said that it happened because Carol brought the idea to him before I met him.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44566,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Pragmatically, your best solution might be to just move on with your life. Not all wrongs have a good remedy.</p>\n\n<p>It's not entirely clear from what you said about whether C did anything wrong, or whether it's directly relevant to C's tenure case. But even if C did something wrong, it might be hard to prove it, as it will be full of \"he-said-she-saids\" and \"C should have known\" and so on. (For instance, how will you prove that C knew that the ideas were improperly shared/appropriated from your proposal? How will you prove that your ideas are substantial enough that you should have been a co-author?)</p>\n\n<p>And even if you were to prove it, there's a non-trivial risk that your standing in your community will suffer. You could become known as \"hard to work with\". Given how the process works, it's a near-certainty that if you were to send a letter to the dean complaining about this, word <em>will</em> get out.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, there's a good chance that your best response is to simply move on with your life. When a collaboration with someone goes bad, the most effective remedy is often simply to not work with them again. Yes, it sucks, but that's life. The best strategy is to learn to be resilient, bounce back, and keep doing good science. Do good science, and people will come to respect you. Don't worry too much about others; focus on yourself, on being the best person and the best scientist you can be. It's natural to be angry and upset; my advice on that is to find a sympathetic friend and tell them how you're feeling -- take a moment to get it out of your system... and then move on.</p>\n\n<p>Caveat: This answer is speculative. It's unlikely we'll be able to give you definitive advice, given the level of detail in your question. It will be difficult to give conclusive answers to your situation with any degree of certainty; only someone with detailed knowledge of the specific situation you're in can help you. Therefore, if you still have doubts, I suggest finding a senior member of the field who you trust and respect and talk privately with them to solicit their advice.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44583,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Move on and move far.. </p>\n\n<p>First of all, an idea is nothing in science. I know everything says the opposite in lecture rooms, but in practice an idea is just idea. When you work out someone's idea yourself (eg as a graduate student or a postdoc told by your prof), working on the details for several years, building up a whole research topic and writing several papers from a 5 min vague description that someone gave you - you will feel the same.</p>\n\n<p>Second, it is very unlikely that a dean would even raise his/her eyebow, whatever you do. Unethical what A, B and C did if your description true? Yes. Happens often in science? Oh, you bet. Can you prove it? Do you have labnotes, with proper time-stamps and signature showing you made any preliminary work? Your story also contains a lot of allegations, juicy details, you cannot prove half of it and also makes A, B, C deny even parts of the story. </p>\n\n<p>Can you argue that it is such an important issue that should automatically nill a tenure, or at least worth some serious disciplinary action? Even if you would have some evident, you have to prove some malicious happened, not an accidental negligence, so I hardly think. Also, there is a high chance that your dean / most professor in any disciplinary committee would share my opinion on the first point, even if you don't think so.</p>\n\n<p>Third, and idea is just an idea. If you don't have 10 new every day, don't go to science. You may lost a couple of weeks (days?) of work, but going into battle for this will earn you nothing. Learn to keep a distance from people with questionable reputation.</p>\n\n<p>Remark: anyone with a \"-1\" is welcome to actually comment or argue</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44584,
"author": "Salvador Dali",
"author_id": 7096,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7096",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In two of the answers, people just suggest you to move further and forget about what happened. I disagree with it and think that if you truly believe that people took advantage of you (in my answer I assume that you described the situation in a correct way), you should stood up for yourself and be firm.</p>\n\n<p>I do agree with D.W.'s answer that your chances are not high, and not all wrongs have a good remedy, but I think that you have to report it because: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>how the next potential students of A and B know that they are not people who should be trusted?</li>\n<li>when you hear a shot and a sound of breaking glass in the night you call a police, not because you think that your information is enough to find a culprit, but because you do not want this behavior to continue. Whether they will be able to find a person who did it and whether it is really worth of opening a crime case is not your responsibility.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Sorry, but I am unable to give you a suggestion as to how approach this situation, but please do not give up.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 180738,
"author": "Trunk",
"author_id": 104446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/104446",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I really feel for you.\nTwo or three well-positioned academic donkeys get an insightful - and potentially career-making - idea from someone else. First its value is denied. And then they just steal it from the submitter.</p>\n<p>Proving that intellectual larceny occurred is almost impossible. And even where possible, university managements are more likely to protect the wrongdoing professor as they set more store on avoiding bad publicity than on vindicating truth.</p>\n<p>Bring a witness (preferably one of the opposite sex, for social perspective) and seek a short meeting with the university rector/provost/president.\nWithout sitting down, briefly state the situation and leave details of the sinning department and professor with your host.</p>\n<p>Then walk out promptly.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/04/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44562",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33874/"
] |
44,574 |
<p>A friend of mine who is a CS grad student at a US university took a class in which the students were given an extra hour on a two-hour exam. The trouble is that this offer was made in the last five minutes when the professor realized the students were not able to finish answering all questions.</p>
<p>I am personally against this kind of offerings because it feels like they do more harm than good and reflects poorly on the professor's planning. Students plan their approach to solving a test based on the available time and often speed up in the last hour or 45 minutes to complete as much as possible. This certainly degrades the quality of the answers. Now when there is a sudden offer of extra time, many students will be confused on how to make use of this time. Ultimately, it will come down to the students who have better time management skills rather than those who really know better answers.</p>
<p>So, the question is: Is the practice fair and if not what a student can do about it?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44577,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As I've mentioned elsewhere on this site, students often seem to think in terms of "fairness", but upon sufficiently intense scrutiny the concept is so fuzzily defined that it may well be that the only "fair" grading scheme is to give all students the same grade...an outcome which would certainly be unacceptable to many students. Moreover:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Ultimately, it will come down to the students who have better time management skills rather than those who really know better answers.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Any way of administrating a course favors students with certain incidental skills over others. Giving a prearranged, timed exam favors students with sufficiently good time management skills over students with very poor ones. And not only that, the students who live "on-campus" are advantaged over commuter students. Students who have a watch can look at it, whereas others need to twist around in their seats to look at the clock in the back of the room [if there is one], and so forth.</p>\n<p>Every seasoned instructor I know would agree that most exams test subject-unspecific study skills as well as "real knowledge". Not to be too much of a downer, but the idea that a student has a well-defined "real knowledge" is a convenient reification, something that modern academic culture must believe in <em>approximately</em> in order to function but which it is dangerous to take <em>too</em> seriously.</p>\n<p>The real issue is to design the exam experience so as to test a reasonable set of skills, weighted in a reasonable way. There is no universal way to do this: it is better to be as explicit as possible about what skill set you want your exams to test and look to see if they do what you wanted.</p>\n<p>Anyway, a better question is: is this a good practice? I think the answer is <strong>no</strong>, at least in many situations. Here are two obvious issues:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><p>An announcement which occurs five minutes before the end of an exam may come too late for students who have already left the exam.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>Unless the cohort of students taking the exam has the identical academic schedule [this is prohibitively unlikely in many graduate programs at American universities], it is very unlikely that every student will actually be able to stay for the extra hour.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</blockquote>\n<p>I would describe the above two issues as concerning "fairness". Any student who did not get the extra hour for either reason would have a very legitimate complaint.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I am personally against this kind of offerings because it feels like they do more harm than good and reflects poorly on the professor's planning.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>I agree that it reflects poorly on the professor's planning. Whether it will do more harm than good to the students' performance depends on the exam and the students. I agree that many or most students would find the experience of learning that they have 50% more time at the very end of an exam stressful, and many would be resentful that they would have used their time differently had they known this information at the beginning of the exam.</p>\n<p>In summary: unfair? Yes, if certain things happen, otherwise maybe not. A good practice? No, I don't think so. It sounds like a rather inexperienced / sloppy instructor to me, honestly.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44578,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My main concern would be whether all students really had the opportunity to take a extra hour. What about students who had something scheduled immediately following the regular exam time, such as another exam? This would certainly be unfair to them.</p>\n\n<p>However, if the schedule was such that all students were available for the extra hour, this situation, although it's not ideal, is not one I would characterize as unfair, and I don't think a student would get very far trying to do anything about it. All students had the same opportunities. Any test is naturally going to have different impacts on students depending on their learning habits and test strategies, so saying it disproportionately helped or harmed students depending on their knowledge or strategies is not a sufficient objection.</p>\n\n<p>You are right in a sense that it reflects the professor's poor planning. Ideally the exam would have been designed such that most students could finish in the originally allotted time. However, many students don't realize that this is much easier said than done. As a professor, occasionally your estimate of an exam's difficulty or length is way off, and you have to do damage control. There are only imperfect solutions to this, and adding extra time, if possible, is among them. I'd say this is a judgment call for the professor, who should take this issue into account when assigning course grades.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44585,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As already hinted at in the other answers, timed written exams¹ (and every other examination method) are inherently incapable of fully fairly assessing the qualities of interest in a student, as they will always also assess exam-writing skills, psychological robustness, time-management skills and similar. This does however not mean that one should not try to make them as fair as possible.</p>\n\n<p>An important part of this includes having fixed conditions for the exam and informing every student about them beforehand, so they know what they are up to. Changing these conditions without a good reason¹ can <em>avoidably</em> increase the importance of skills that are not of interest. Moreover, it is likely to favour those who have exam-relevant skills anyway (and thus have an unfair advantage through the choice of the examination mode anyway, if you so wish). For example:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Many students mentally prepare themselves for the exact exam conditions and changing them favours students who can adapt. The latter are mostly students who are not nervous about exams and thus advantaged anyway.</li>\n<li>There are several strategies to go through an exam, for example: Trying to attribute equal time to each task, risking leaving tasks half-finished; taking the easy tasks first; taking the more difficult tasks first and so on. Ideally (i.e., for an exam that is well adjusted to the given time), all these strategies are equally good in outcome; in a regular real situation, some of them are favourable, but at least you can decide the best strategy depending on your skills and psychology; radically changing the rules during the exam may strongly favour one strategy and thus give an advantage to those students who chose it (more or less at random).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Perhaps the above comes more clear with a different, more drastic example:<br>\nWhen I studied, one of the central and most difficult exams was looking like this: ⅔ of the points were attributed to Topic A; ⅓ of the points were attributed to Topic B; ½ of the points were required to pass; there were no grades. Given this situation, there were several viable, but entirely different strategies to approach this exam, e.g.:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If you were good in Topic A, you could entirely focus on it and try to pass the exam without ever addressing Topic B.</li>\n<li>If you were good in Topic B, you could focus on Topic B and then try to obtain the rest of the points from easy tasks on Topic A.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>When I took this exam, the tasks for Topic A were ridiculously difficult (but in such a way that you would not notice until after investing some time into the task), while the tasks for Topic B were rather easy². As a result, only one person or so would have passed the exam with the above conditions and the passing threshold was lowered to ¼ of the points. Due to the latter, the exam became passable by means of topic B alone and in fact many students passed by overly focussing on topic B, i.e., by pursuing a strategy that could be regarded as bad under the original conditions. Students who focussed on Topic A were strongly disadvantaged though. Moreover, even if you were equally good in both topics, you were randomly advantaged if you started with topic B, since most tasks of topic A were mostly a waste of time (but you could not tell without doing them).</p>\n\n<p>Of course the situation described above is different from yours, but I hope that it illustrates how a strong change to the exam conditions can introduce additional, avoidable unfairness. In your example, I particularly see the following problem: Students who alloted an equal portion of the original time to each task are disadvantaged from those who only worked on selected tasks. The latter can just use the additional time to continue with the remaining tasks, while the former have to revisit their existing solutions, which is more error-prone and takes more time as they have to work themselves into the task again and correct existing stuff. Arguably, adjusting the grading scheme would have been the more fair solution.</p>\n\n<p>So, to sum it up, I would regard the change that you described to be unfair in the sense that it poses an avoidable increase to the importance of non-relevant skills and luck. However, you should keep in mind that any other way of damage control with a badly posed exam would have the same effect and the most fair solution would have been not to change anything (probably resulting in disproportionately bad grades or failing rates).\nAs stated <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44574/is-it-fair-to-offer-students-a-last-minute-extension-to-finish-a-test#comment99453_44574\">in a comment by O. R. Mapper</a>, some universities do not allow for such changes, probably for exactly that reason.\nAt my university, this is usually addressed by not fixing the grading scheme, so students know beforehand <em>how</em> damage control is going to happen (though even this may lead to unfairness in extreme situations such as my example).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup>\n¹ For example an external cause such as an unforseen and unavoidable major noise disturbance.<br>\n² To give you an idea: Despite being far more concise, the sample solutions for Topic A were ten times as long as those for Topic B.\n</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44586,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This kind of extension is unfair, even if given to all students and even if all students are able to spend an extra hour in the room. It is unfair because it affects students differently based on an arbitrary criterion.</p>\n\n<p>Suppose that Alice and Bob could have written perfect answers to the two-hour exam in three hours and they both realised that right at the start. Knowing she only had two hours, Alice decided to write perfect answers to two thirds of the questions, whereas Bob decided to answer all the questions but in a sketchy way that would score about two-thirds of the marks. When it is announced that there is a surprise extra hour, Alice can just use that time to write perfect answers to the last third of the exam but it is essentially impossible for Bob to rewrite his sketchy answers into full answers.</p>\n\n<p>So, based on an essentially arbitrary decision they made at the start of the exam, two students who would have both scored 100% if allowed three hours from the start end up scoring 100% and, say, 75%. That is not fair.</p>\n\n<p>It's also very unlikely that all the students can stay the extra hour. And what do you do about that student who has another exam starting an hour after your exam finishes? He has to do choose between disadvantaging himself in your exam by leaving early or disadvantaging himself in the other exam by not having a break before it and not being able to eat lunch.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44618,
"author": "Jeff",
"author_id": 33924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33924",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm surprised so many people think that's fundamentally unfair; I've had professors add time to a test on several occasions that seemed to make the test <em>more</em> fair.</p>\n\n<p>Example: one of my physics professors (in a Thermodynamics class) always scheduled our midterms (3 of them) for 7-9 pm on Thursday nights to make sure it didn't interfere with class schedules. He once added an hour to the end of a test because we were slower than he expected, and he did so with only a few minutes left. His reasoning was that he <em>made</em> us set aside two hours to guarantee that we could finish it <em>if we studied hard enough</em>, but he didn't care if we needed extra time to prove we could figure the material out -- <strong>the test was about what we knew and could solve, not how quickly we could do it</strong>. So if you couldn't stay the extra time, it wasn't his problem -- you would've done fine if you'd studied as much as he recommended, and you knew in advance what topics the test was covering. Basically, it was your own fault if you did poorly in the initial two hours, and not his problem if you needed more time but had to leave. In that case, it absolutely <em>was</em> a case of the class not studying enough -- we readily admitted it -- and it was up to the individual whether they wanted to use the time to review their work, finish/improve partial answers, or start problems they hadn't yet gotten to (or leave without using the extra time).</p>\n\n<p>As for everyone complaining about people who'd already left: either they were already done with the test and satisfied with their answers (if I don't want to use my last ten minutes, why would I use an extra hour?) or they had no idea what they were doing so they gave up and left early. Either way, it's not the prof's fault. Example: another physics professor (in a Quantum Mechanics class) made a typo on a midterm once, making the problem unsolvable. Nobody pointed this out to him until we had twenty minutes left on a two-hour test, by which time several people had already left. He told us what the question <em>should</em> have been, and gave us an extra half-hour to make up for time we may have wasted on his mistake. Someone asked what he would do for the students who left early, and he responded that either they: figured out the typo for themselves, solved the problem, and left (unlikely); applied very incorrect math to wrongly solve the problem, thus demonstrating they had no idea what they were doing anyway; or they gave up early, in which case it wasn't his fault that they chose to forfeit their remaining time (and who would give up early if they thought they knew the material?). In no situation was it his problem that they weren't there to benefit from another student identifying the typo, so he wasn't going to give them more time. If they didn't have time to stay, it wasn't his fault -- as in the previous example, students who knew the material well enough never should've needed that much time to begin with.</p>\n\n<p>I <em>do</em> see a problem in non-STEM fields, or on short-answer/essay tests. That would be unfair since it would give some students more time to proofread and otherwise analyze their answers when there never should've been a time management issue in the first place. But when the test is all about <em>do you understand these math/science concepts well enough to apply them?</em>, extending the time allowed for an exam can be very fair.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44622,
"author": "henning",
"author_id": 31917,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31917",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I presume, a fair exam is an exam that does not violate student's legitimate expectations.</p>\n\n<p>An important expectation is that the same rules apply to everybody. On the one hand, the extension violates this expectation. As other have pointed out:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It privileges students with bad time management</li>\n<li>It privileges students who are able to actually stay longer (and have no following appointments etc.)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>On the other hand, it is also a legitimate expectation that an exam not be excessively difficult, that is, it should be doable as long the students have understood the material. If students fail the exam, then because they have been badly prepared, not because the exam was badly planned (for example by being too extensive).</p>\n\n<p>If the professor realizes too late that the exam is too extensive, she is caught in a dilemma. Both granting and not granting the time-extension is unfair. Off the top of my head, I can think of two ways around this:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Schedule another session with all students to finish the exam (although there's still the time-management issue)</li>\n<li>Be more lenient when grading the exam (this is probably the best solution)</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44725,
"author": "Rich T-K",
"author_id": 33980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The rules for a test as well as projects should be made before the test and not changed during the test. That being said, time limits on tests should only hold a portion of the tests overall value and the primary value should be placed on the answer. If the grader feels the test was poorly constructed, adjustment should be made during the grading process to assign the grade on the quality of the answer. And re-test if necessary. Education is first about learning, where punctuality is a desire of the wealthy. Edison took his time on the light bulb or he likely would have finished on time and we'd still be in the dark more than we are today. </p>\n\n<p>As I don't have a good enough reputation I'll comment on <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938/pete-l-clark\">Professor Clark's</a> comment here in my edit.\nI was once told \"You can write the history of the world on a postage stamp. To do a descent job of it would likely take as long.\" Unless there is unlimited time or the grade is based solely on the quality of answer, the allotted time for a test governs the quality of the answer. By changing the time available to turn in the test at any given time after the test has begun, the instructor hasn't really changed the original test, rather he/she has created a second test and the combined tests should be graded accordingly. For the most part, our brains are stupid like computers, they work simply on available inputs. As inputs change, they do their best to re-factor. I don't believe many instructors, other than those in theatre, instruct on improvisation, which would be adjustments to inputs similar to an extension of time for a test. Maybe there is more value there - Teaching how to improvise!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44574",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103/"
] |
44,575 |
<p>I work as a software developer in industry, but I like to read various academic papers to get exposure to ideas that may benefit my work. I may not apply exactly the technique described in a single paper, but my work is certainly influenced by the ideas I've encountered. My question, though, is what is the proper way to provide attribution for the papers that have influenced my work?</p>
<p>If the product of my work were an academic paper, the rules would be quite clear, but here I'm making a product that is ultimately my employer's IP, for which the implementation details may even be considered trade secrets. I'm struggling to find the proper ethical reconciliation between my professional obligations and the spirit of academia that favors free dissemination of knowledge in the hope that it encourages more of the same in return. I don't want to steal anyone's work, but neither do I want to shut myself off from valuable lines of thought.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44579,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You don't need to do anything. Academic journals are published for the betterment of mankind. If you acquired said articles legally, then you are entitled to use their contents within your corporation as you see fit as long as you do not directly copy and distribute text or software code that is under copyright without a license. If you reimplement an algorithm described in a paper, you are fine. The only problem may come if you try to implement something covered under a patent (like the RSA patent), but these kinds of things are not typically published in journals these days.</p>\n\n<p>There are more reasons that academic publish than encouraging more published work. When I publish, I hope that my ideas are used by any and all to fulfill their own goals. When I want specific kinds of returns on my work, I will choose other avenues of dissemination than publishing in conferences and journals. </p>\n\n<p>There's no ethical issue here, in my opinion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44591,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Using published work is not stealing it, so rest easy on that score. This is particularly the case with algorithms, which in theory cannot be patented though <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patent\" rel=\"nofollow\">the practice is a bit muddier</a>. You are also not bound by the formal stricture of citation, because you are not writing a scientific paper.</p>\n\n<p>As a practical matter, however, you should provide citations. The reason you should provide citations is because an idea obtained from a scientific paper generally has some subtlety to it, and somebody going over the code needs to know that there's some precise reasons that it's set up in the way that it is---whether that's a co-worker who's never read the paper, or you in six months when you've forgotten its details.</p>\n\n<p>So put citation-style references in the comments relevant to the code. For example, if it's an algorithm, put it in the class file that implements the algorithm; if it's an architectural idea, put it in the README that describes the architecture choices you have made. Give the next programmer a trail back to the source of the ideas so that they are less likely to accidentally break everything by \"improving\" something to violate a subtlety of the work that is being applied.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44575",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12747/"
] |
44,594 |
<p>I have written an article in the field of Information Systems and I would like to publish it in a journal. I downloaded the Scimago journal rank, and decided to publish in a journal called <a href="http://www.jatit.org/index.php">Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology</a>. This journal appears to be in the quartile Q3 of Scimago, but one thing that caught my attention is that they publish three volumes per month. Each accepted submission must pay a cost of 300 USD.</p>
<p>When I was searching for the reputation of this journal, I found that it is listed in the famous or infamous Beall’s list. My questions are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Why does this journal appear on Scimago if it is a predatory one?</li>
<li>Would it be a good idea to publish in it?</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44597,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Beall's list is grounds for high suspicion, not a ban. In the case of this particular journal, it looks like not a very good journal, but not an obvious scam. Google Scholar finds a number of articles with moderate citations, and on first inspection they don't look like metric gaming, so it looks like it wouldn't be a black mark on one's record. </p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: probably legit, but if you've done good work isn't there somewhere better than you can publish it?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44601,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see several red flags, which don't prove the journal is bad but make me very suspicious. At the very least, the journal is run in an eccentric way.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>At the bottom of the <a href=\"http://www.jatit.org/Editorial_Board.php\" rel=\"noreferrer\">editorial board page</a>, it says \"You can join the elite panel of JATIT as member technical editorial board if you hold a PhD in computing and have at-least 10 publications in International Journals/Conferences. Please drop your CV at managing_editor at jatit.org. Members lists and requests are reviewed at the end of every year in regional advisory panel meeting.\" Of course this doesn't guarantee everyone who applies will be accepted, but it strongly suggests that they feel a PhD and ten papers is a reasonable criterion for being an editor. No mainstream journal takes such an approach, and it raises the question of why they would do this. One possibility is that the publisher wants to publish as many papers as they can (to increase profits) and is willing to accept just about any editor who might help with that.</p></li>\n<li><p>The papers show that copyright is held by JATIT & LLS, which is worrisome given the publication fee. It's common for open access journals to charge a fee but make the paper available under an open license (typically a Creative Commons license) for free distribution and use by anyone. Instead, JATIT owns the papers and can put whatever restrictions they like on them (including changing their policies in the future, for example to put the papers behind a paywall). They don't seem to be abusing this power, but they could if they wanted to. I see no good reason for this approach. It suggests that the publisher either doesn't know how gold open access journals generally work or is deliberately taking a different approach, and both possibilities are worrisome.</p></li>\n<li><p>When I flip through the <a href=\"http://www.jatit.org/volumes.php\" rel=\"noreferrer\">published papers</a>, they look very diverse in topics and approaches. Is the editorial board capable of handling such diverse papers? I don't know, but I doubt it: it's really difficult to handle a submission that falls outside your area of expertise. The easiest way is to apply low standards, which I'd bet is what happens here.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Some journals clearly look fraudulent when examined carefully, and there's no evidence that anyone is actually trying to run a real journal. That's not the impression I get from JATIT. If I had to guess based on admittedly insufficient information, I'd guess that the editors are trying to run a real journal while the publisher is trying to make money (which is not bad in itself but creates a bias towards publishing lousy papers).</p>\n\n<p>As for whether it's a good idea to publish there, one big issue is how it would look. When I see a paper listed in an unknown journal on someone's CV, the first thing I wonder about is what the worse papers published there are like. (Do they regularly publish junk, or does publishing there demonstrate that your paper meets a respectable professional standard?) When you flip through JATIT, do you see papers that look worse that you think yours is? If so, I'd be wary about publishing there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 76082,
"author": "Latin boy",
"author_id": 61163,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/61163",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Legit journals charge open access fees to make your article available in order to get more citations. My University has $3000 dlls a year grant for open access publications, it is cheaper to our university to pay fees than having to subscribe to paid journals. JATIT is legit, I have published few articles there, it is also listed in the <a href=\"http://www.arc.gov.au/era-2015-submitted-journal-list\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Australian ERA Journal list</a>. It is indexed by Scopus that is the minimum standard for credible journals. JATIT is a low ranked journal but credible enough. To those people that ask why should we pay money for a low ranked journal, the issue is time, many journals take two years to get something published while JATIT can get your publication published in 3 to 6 months. Many of us are on a time clock for tenure and cannot afford to wait 3 years for a publication so we rather pay. Also, we need citations and low ranked closed access journal generates hardly any citation. </p>\n\n<p>In few words, JATIT is OK but I wouldn't bank only on this journal to get tenure. It is fine to have few articles from this low-ranked journal but you need better to be considered a credible researcher.</p>\n\n<p>Our University does not use Beall's list, the main criteria for evaluation is indexed by SCOPUS at least but preferably by ISI Thompson rueters. The Beall list is very biased, JATIT is in Pakistan so anything that comes from India, Pakistan, China, etc., that charges money goes to this list right away disregarding indexes, impact factors, etc.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44594",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144/"
] |
44,595 |
<p>I just graduated in aeronautical engineering (master of science) at the Polytechnic of Milan. In the Italian university system, students who finish their major get a final grade that that goes from 66 to 110 (plus honors). In my particular case, I got a 103/110.</p>
<p>Since I am writing my resume/CV in English, <strong>I would like to convert my Italian final grade to the American (GPA?) and U.K system</strong>. </p>
<p>Can anyone suggest me what conversion I should follow?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44598,
"author": "Tony Albano",
"author_id": 33904,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33904",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To be most accurate, you'd need to convert grades at the course level, weighting by credit hours, where, e.g., a strong grade in a longer course is worth more than it is in a shorter course. You could also ignore credit hours, or assume they're roughly the same across courses.</p>\n\n<p>Either way, one approach is to convert the course grade or final grade on the Italian scale to a simple proportion of points earned over points available. You can convert to GPA based on the proportions for each score in the four-point scale. Wikipedia shows this conversion table for percentage to letter grade and grade point:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_the_United_States\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_the_United_States</a></p>\n\n<p>Once you convert your Italian points to a proportion or percentage you should then be able to convert to any other grading system. There are apps online that will run the conversions for you. Here's one to try:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.foreigncredits.com/Resources/GPA-Calculator/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.foreigncredits.com/Resources/GPA-Calculator/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44603,
"author": "MJeffryes",
"author_id": 31487,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31487",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For the UK system, a first class degree is <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification#International_comparisons\" rel=\"nofollow\">generally awarded to those who achieve over 70% of the maximum mark</a>. I think having got 103/110 you can safely conclude your degree is equivalent to a UK first. On the other hand, I think you could probably just explain how the grading works (perhaps in your cover letter) and anyone would understand that this is an excellent mark.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44621,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Don't even try.</h2>\n\n<p>There is no \"American grading system\". There is a fairly common 0.0-4.0 scale for \"grade-point averages\", but the meanings of those GPA differ significantly among different US universities, among different departments at the same university, and in some cases, even between different instructors of the same course.</p>\n\n<p>The only reasonable way to judge what Italian grades say about your potential for graduate study is to compare them against other Italian grades.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44693,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would not do a conversion, I would just give your score and the total possible score, as you did in your question.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 56724,
"author": "user3574984",
"author_id": 42948,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/42948",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've been through this for a while, searched official sites and so on, and I came to the conclusion that Italian <strong>grades are underestimated in the UK</strong>. I explain you why.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Note:</strong> for <em>simplicity</em> I will speak about exam grades since the graduation score in Italy is given by the average converted in 110th plus a <em>variable score</em> (depending both on the university and the course). </p>\n\n<p>Both in USA and UK, scores are in percentage.</p>\n\n<p><strong>UK:</strong> </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>First class (1st): 70-100% </li>\n<li>Upper second (2.1): 60-69% </li>\n<li>Lower second (2.2): 50-59% </li>\n<li>Third (3rd): 40-49%</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>US:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A (4.0): 93-100%</li>\n<li>A− (3.67): 90-92% </li>\n<li>B+ (3.33): 87-89% </li>\n<li>B (3.0): 83-86% </li>\n<li>B− (2.67): 80-82%</li>\n<li>C+ (2.33): 77-79%</li>\n<li>C (2.0): 70-76%</li>\n<li>D (1.0): 60-69%</li>\n<li>F (0.0): 0-59%</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Now to Italy. Italy has exams votes in 30th, the minimum is 18/30 and the maximum is 30/30 plus honors. So it is:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Italy</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A-, A, A+ (Excellent): 27-30/30 and 30/30 plus honors</li>\n<li>B-, B, B+ (Good): 24-26/30</li>\n<li>C-, C, C+ (Satisfactory): 21-23/30</li>\n<li>D-, D, D+ (Barely passing): 18-20/30</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Now, if you convert in percentages like the US system (as both have minimum at 60%) you get:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A (Excellent): 90%-100%</li>\n<li>B (Good): 80%-89%</li>\n<li>C (Satisfactory): 70%-79%</li>\n<li>D (Barely passing): 60%-69%</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That <strong>makes sense</strong>, right? In fact, if you convert between IT and US, you get the percentages above. <em>But what happens if you convert IT to UK?</em></p>\n\n<p>Well, it's kinda funny. As I said before, <em>final score is made from the conversion in 110th PLUS a variable score</em>. Now, let's pretend for a moment that you just have to convert the vote in 110th, according to math you have:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A (Excellent): 99-110/110</li>\n<li>B (Good): 88-98/110</li>\n<li>C (Satisfactory): 77-87/110</li>\n<li>D (Barely passing): 60-76/110</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I want to remark again that the score is lower than it should, because you should add points for your graduation. For my university, the points added were between 1 and 3, but other universities gives more or less points.</p>\n\n<p>If you check requirements to enroll to an university, for example Manchester, you are required a score of <strong>100/110</strong> (link below).</p>\n\n<p>If you are from USA, you are required a <strong>GPA of 3.0</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Too bad that if you convert from IT to US, you get that a <strong>GPA of 3.0 you need 25/30 or 89/110</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>If you are from UK you need a 2:1, which is the correct translation for the US score but not for the IT.</p>\n\n<p><em>Nice job UK.</em></p>\n\n<p>Requirements for Italian students: <a href=\"http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/country-specific-information/italy.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/country-specific-information/italy.htm</a></p>\n\n<p>Requirements for USA students: <a href=\"http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/country-specific-information/usa.htm?page=2\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/country-specific-information/usa.htm?page=2</a></p>\n\n<p>Requirements for UK students: <a href=\"http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/english-education-system/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/english-education-system/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 138031,
"author": "Filipa Torrão",
"author_id": 114721,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/114721",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What most people fail to understand is that a 70% in the UK scale does not mean you only got 70% of the exam correct. A score above 70% is something outstanding that very few people manage to achieve, that's why it's considered equivalent to much higher percentages in other countries. If you get everything correct on an exam you will get a 69% (happened to me). To get a score higher than 70, you have to not only answer the questions perfectly correctly but also insert new knowledge into your answers that you obtained from reading outside the course material. I have experience in both the portuguese and British system and I can tell you that a 70 on the UK scale is not your typical 70%. I would say it is equivalent to a 90% in the portuguese scale. Therefore, I don't think it's unfair that they ask for higher requirements for students from other countries.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 142072,
"author": "decode",
"author_id": 117758,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/117758",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The Italian equivalent of 2:1 is actually 100/110 - 104/110 according to Ca' Foscari University's website.</p>\n\n<p>However, in the University of Torino, a 2:1 (3.5-4.49 on a 5 point scale), translates to 70% - 89% on the 100th and 77-98 on the 110th. I was denied admission because I didn't score 90% on the 100th or 100 on the 110th. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.unive.it/pag/fileadmin/user_upload/inglese/pdf/Instructions_grade_conversion_cumulative_percentages.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.unive.it/pag/fileadmin/user_upload/inglese/pdf/Instructions_grade_conversion_cumulative_percentages.pdf</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 152308,
"author": "William Wallace",
"author_id": 126823,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/126823",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it is impossible to do the conversion. UK universities don't value students with a foreign bachelor's degree as much as those that obtained one at another UK university. Some universities only accept students with a 110/110 grade, which is much harder to obtain than a First (you only need an average of 70%). They underestimate grades from Dutch universities such as TU Delft, which is arguably better than any engineering university in the UK.</p>\n<p>The grades vary a lot from university to university. For instance, at my university, the Polytechnic of Turin, the average grade for my course last year was 97.1 for a Bachelor's degree. In another Italian university, it was 101.3. Also, in response to another comment, "38% of the graduates get 105/100 or more" - that takes into account master courses where it is easier to earn a higher grade.\nEdit: I see that some people were upset but having studied in both countries I have a better understanding than most.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44595",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33903/"
] |
44,600 |
<p>Of all the statistical factors that are used for judging publication record, the h-index seems to be the most commonly used</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index" rel="noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> says</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hirsch suggested (with large error bars) that, for physicists, a value for h of about
12 might be typical for advancement to tenure (associate professor) at
major research universities. A value of about 18 could mean a full
professorship, 15–20 could mean a fellowship in the American Physical
Society.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am an organic chemistry with an h-index of 16. I assume physics should be similar to (organic) chemistry. I am now applying for a tenure-track position.<br>
I mean to be overqualified for research funds, academic and scientific honors, etc. </p>
<h3>Questions</h3>
<ul>
<li>How important is the Hirsch index (h-index)? </li>
<li>How much is the h-index really relied upon?</li>
<li>Can the h-index be used to categorize yourself? </li>
<li>Can I really set a goal that by reaching h-index 20, I am at the level of fellows of my professional society?</li>
<li>Can the h-index be used to indicate whether I am ahead of my rivals?</li>
<li>Can we claim something by h-index or is it just a number?</li>
<li>What should be the h-index of assistant/associate/full professor in chemistry to be a leader of his own rank? </li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44602,
"author": "Andrew",
"author_id": 27825,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27825",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As with all bibliometrics, the h-index is indicative at best. There is no magic number that says \"now give this person a promotion\", but if you have an h-index twice that of your colleagues, it might suggest something interesting.</p>\n\n<p>If you really want to use the h-index to see how you compare to other organic chemists, why not look at the h-index of your colleagues, collaborators, or of researchers at the department you're applying to? You will already have a sense of their relative position, you'll be familiar with their work, and it'll help you get a sense of what the h-index might mean in your specific field - as well as the amount it varies between individuals you'd think of as comparable.</p>\n\n<p>(Make sure to calculate all h-indexes using the same citation data, though. You'll get confusing results if some use Web of Science data and some Google Scholar...)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44608,
"author": "Mohamed Khamis",
"author_id": 703,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/703",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Indeed it differs from one field to another. \nI think the only way you can know how high an h-index of a successful academic should be, is to examine the h-index of academics that you already know to be successful. </p>\n\n<p>As for the logic behind the h-index, from <a href=\"http://mkhamis.com/blog/whats-an-h-index/\">http://mkhamis.com/blog/whats-an-h-index/</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>So why is this a better way to evaluate the impact of an academic or a venue than simply counting the number of publications or the number of citations? Well, if it was based on the number of publications, you could just publish a lot of papers at venues that accept everything.. If it was based on the number of citations, you could have 1k citations because of a small contribution to someone else’s paper, that resulted in you being a co-author. In the latter situation, it could be that your impact is not strong after all, perhaps the rest of your publications have very few citations (or none). If that was your only publication, your h-index would be 1. </p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44610,
"author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten",
"author_id": 440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm in physics. I hit an h (as computed by inSpire) of 16 while I was still a postdoc, and I was running low compared to my colleagues in the same sub-field (experimental particle physics) whose careers were going ahead faster than mine. On the other hand, most of my theory colleagues at a similar place in their careers were far behind me in h.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Lessons:</strong> (A) It might have meaning in comparing two people in essentially the same sub-discipline, but you simply can't make comparisons across narrowly constructed field boundaries. (B) The numbers in the Wikipedia article are too tightly constrained and not broadly applicable.</p>\n\n<p>If you insist on using bibliometrics to compare candidates you <em>need</em> to rate each one in terms of their progress relative their peers as closely defined as possible. That is a lot of work, so it is not for lazy people. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44645,
"author": "Chris H",
"author_id": 8494,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8494",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The first giveaway is \"<strong>with large error bars</strong>\". The implication is that there's a weak correlation between career advancement and h-index. Even quite closely related fields will have different publishing patterns, for example:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The typical size of groups working on a project (~length of author list affecting number of papers published per author)</li>\n<li>Whether the journal(s) most popular in the field prefer a few long papers or quick publication of results (affecting the number of papers per project)</li>\n<li>Those journals' authorship standards.</li>\n<li>The typical referencing style of a discipline -- every related piece of work, just those actively discussed or somewhere in between. This may also be affected by reviewers' expectations/demands and is likely to lead to more citations in work on the boundary of disciplines.</li>\n<li>How well-indexed the main publications are in your field, by a particular tool (Mine differs significantly depending on whether I ask Google scholar or ResearcherID. This is in a field where journals are the main route to publication. It may indicate how reliable the calculation is.)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So h-index <em>should be</em> closer to a game than a benchmark, and therefore <em>should be</em> of little-to-no relevance in hiring decisions. Besides, the more widely these sorts of index are relied upon, the more people will get onto author lists, and the more self/buddy citations will occur. I don;t mean anything that clearly crosses ethical boundaries, just the error margin in whether someone's contribution is worthy of authorship or citation.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44600",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33880/"
] |
44,609 |
<p>I have recently been offered a position for a "postdoc" (fixed term level A position) in Australia. </p>
<p>In the British/Australian (and European) academic systems, career progression is very different from the United States, as outlined in this <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/16687/4572">answer</a>. </p>
<p>In my field (a subset of engineering) we have an authorship order for publications based on contribution level, with the last author being the PI/Advisor of the lab (receiving a lot of credit in the process). </p>
<p>In the British/Australian systems, there is an <em>expectation to informally supervise a few students</em> for post docs. I have been informed that I will be expected to help supervise or actually supervise students and perhaps obtain my own funding as well. In the US most post docs in my field exclusively focus on research, and nearly always get first author.</p>
<p>Additionally, if I'm moved to a B and/or C level academic (sort of like assistant and associate professor respectively here in the US) this supervision and funding responsibility will increase. This part is similar to the United States for a tenure track associate professor.</p>
<p>The difference between the US and the UK/AUS systems is that at the B academic level, I still would not be a professor, and I would have a PI above me. This brings up the authorship question...</p>
<p><strong>Given the different structure between the two systems, does the UK/AUS system dilute the competitiveness and career advancement of junior academics in the UK/AUS system, especially if they intend to migrate back to the US academic system?</strong></p>
<p>The reason that I ask is because in the US, once you are an assistant professor, you will get last author on any papers produced by your lab, but in the UK/AUS system, there may be a professor in charge of junior academics (assistant and associate professor equivalents) who would instead receive last author. This then dilutes the rating of the junior academics among their peers, because they become a middle author instead of the last author.</p>
<p>If this isn't the actual practice, please correct me.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44678,
"author": "user49483",
"author_id": 30768,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30768",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Academics in Australia are usually on temporary contracts or on continuing contracts. Levels, however, don't directly relate to job permanency in Australia. For example, it's possible for an experienced postdoc (temporary, employed on PI's grant) to be paid at level B (starting rate is typically level A; step 6) and it's also possible for an academic to be appointed at level B for a continuing position (similar to tenure track). Although some level Bs will be on continuing positions, it's also possible for an academic at level C to not have a continuing appointment (e.g. a Future Fellow whose dept. has not committed to support him/her after the fellowship runs out). Yet they are still at level C because that is the appropriate level for their career stage (i.e. IF they had a permanent position, they would be appointed at level C). Most of these people, however, can leverage such a fellowship into a continuing position and start their own lab. This is similar to starting a tenure track position in the USA.</p>\n\n<p>I think it's best to think of levels as representing <em>career stage</em> not the type of job (i.e. the level does not determine whether an academic is on a temporary or permanent contract, especially at levels A/B). You don't rise through the levels from a temporary contract to a permanent position - you must separately apply for a continuing position. This is analogous to how postdocs must apply for tenure track positions in the USA.</p>\n\n<p>With regards to authorship, I think this is very group dependent. Typically postdocs run their own research and get first author while also supervising honours/PhD students and getting a second/middle author paper for that work. The way you describe this in your question (postdocs getting middle author papers but few/no first author papers) does not fit with my experience in Australia but it might occur in some groups. You could, however, find groups like this anywhere in the world. This is something you need to discuss with your potential advisor. </p>\n\n<p>Note: this post has been heavily edited from the initial version to address questions in the comments.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44683,
"author": "o4tlulz",
"author_id": 6978,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6978",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>The difference between the US and the UK/AUS systems is that at the B\n academic level, I still would not be a professor, and I would have a\n PI above me.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This largely depends on the type of appointment you get.</p>\n\n<p>Since your appointment is a fixed term position, it means that the funding for the position probably comes from a research project and there is a PI (probably a professor or an associate professor) who is managing it / acquired the funding. This would make you a Research Associate and your position is pretty much tied to this person who manages the funding and I would not be surprised if he/she is the last author of the publications.</p>\n\n<p>At the same time, Level B is the appointment level for a Lecturer in an academic position, teaching only (quite rare) or combined teaching & research (most probable). At this appointment, where you are also expected to teach throughout the semester, you are part of the operating fund of the School - Faculty and you will not have someone as a direct supervisor except the Head of School. You will probably have others in the same broad area of expertise but not someone as the PI in the previous case. </p>\n\n<p>Also levels are used mainly for salary and promotions. Your initial appointment is at Level A, Step 6 (A6) and each year you move one step to A7 and A8. After that you have to apply for a promotion and move to Level B. </p>\n\n<p>These are, in a broad sense, the dynamics of level B appointments (you are either \"research\" or \"academic\") and this will probably define authorship. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44609",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4572/"
] |
44,611 |
<p>I've recently published a paper. It's available online, but not published on hard copies yet. What should I do If I find out that there is a typo (repeated many times) in a recently published paper of mine at Elsevier?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44613,
"author": "Matt",
"author_id": 14548,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14548",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Contact the editor you worked with and let them know. They will advise you of your options and hopefully work with you to update the online version and (if possible) either delay or fix the print version.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44619,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two pieces of information missing in your question, but it might be better to consider each case anyway, so that my answer might help others. The first thing is whether the typo may lead to misinterpretation of your work, is an error in formulas, or anything that will harm the scientific meaning of your work. The second thing is whether you or the publisher introduced it.</p>\n\n<p><strong>If the typo is not misleading in any way</strong> (e.g. embarrassing but harmless spelling error), it is probably not worth doing much, whoever made the mistake. If the preprint version of your article is on your web page or on a repository, you should ensure it is free from the typo, and you might want to point out that the published version has this typo, but I would not see the point of going further than that.</p>\n\n<p><strong>If the typo is actually harmful</strong>, may cause misinterpretation of your work or may make it partly unintelligible, then who made the error is more important. In any case, contact the publisher and the chief editor to see how to handle it. Of course, if you did the error, you have to be apologetic while if the publisher did, you can be more demanding. The most probable outcome is that an errata will be issued. Most journals have only one version of each article, and thus cannot afford to change anything between electronic publication and print publication; however strange it may seem I saw many errata being printed in the same issue than the article they correct. Maybe electronic born journal are in a position to handle this better.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>For the story, my very first article got published (both electronically and in print) with a repeated \"typo\": half a dozen of $n/2$ and $(n+1)/2$ where replaced by $n^2$ and $(n+1)^2$. I realized that when I received the offprints, and could not believe it. I knew I did not made the mistake, but at first I thought I did not checked the galley proofs closely enough. It turned out that the typos where introduced <em>after</em> the galley proofs. This made a strong case, and a corrected version of the article was reprinted entirely in a subsequent issue. </p>\n\n<p>I think it fair to mention that the publisher was Springer, but I have heard similar horror stories from most big, expensive commercial publishers.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44611",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33921/"
] |
44,620 |
<p>These days, many scholarly journals are emerging. Since they are not famous or high impact, they look for less famous scientists to fill their editorial board. This scheme fits many mid-level professors who are satisfied with their routine job, and just need some scientific recognition for official purpose.</p>
<p>However, if you have a big plan for your future, will you join the editorial boards of these journals? When you become a renowned scientist and joined famous journals, will you regret this past decision? Or this is a community service, and we should help new journals too? (Renowned scientists are busy, young scientists should take the job.)
In other words, can serving a low-quality journal as a member of its editorial board be considered as a weak point in your academic career?</p>
<p>I am moreover interested in the case, if a journal is listed on Beall’s list of predatory publishers.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44623,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can think of many reasons to become involved with legitimate even if currently lower-tier journals. For example, you may find the editorial experience a useful way to network. You may gain better insight into the publishing process. If a journal launches in exactly your specialty, where no journal existed before, you may have every reason to contribute to making it a success--and it may not stay lower-tier. These positions may not look great on your CV, but should not be an embarrassment either. The main issue comes down to how much time it is wise to devote to such endeavors. </p>\n\n<p>However, I cannot see any advantage to becoming affiliated with a predatory <a href=\"http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/\">Beall's list</a> journal. Even if a few top-notch people have agreed by mistake to serve on the ed board (or have been listed without their permission, as sometimes is the case), having your name there makes you look inexperienced or gullible. Few if any of these journals are going to persist in the long term, so it is not like you're getting in early on a good thing. Listing editorial positions with these journals on your CV simply suggests you have nothing more positive to describe. And finally, these journals are exploitative of science and of scientists. Why would you wish to lend your name to that? </p>\n\n<p><strong>Disclosure</strong>: I am on the editorial boards of three journals, all open access: two top-tier and one mid-tier (from a top university press) that I would like to see become top-tier. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44625,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Joining an editorial board is a form of endorsement as well as a service to the community. You should never become an editor unless:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>You understand how the publisher and journal operate, and you have good reason to believe the operations are competent and professional in every way.</p></li>\n<li><p>You know the other editors, at least by reputation, and are certain that they are actively engaged in running an academically respectable journal. In particular, you have talked with other editors about how the journal is doing and what is involved in joining the editorial board.</p></li>\n<li><p>You honestly believe that publishing papers in this journal is good for the research community as well as the authors (and no well-informed person could describe it as junk, corrupt, predatory, or exploitative).</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you know enough to be sure all three conditions hold, then it doesn't matter what Beall says. If anyone questions the respectability of the journal, you can convince them they are wrong. Over time, the reputation should improve.</p>\n\n<p>If you aren't sure, then you need to investigate further. You have no business joining the editorial board of a journal you aren't prepared to endorse. (I'd even go so far as to say it's unethical to lend your reputation to a journal that doesn't deserve it.) If the journal is predatory, then being an editor will look bad.</p>\n\n<p>When I've joined editorial boards for journals I know well as a reader and author, I've still had discussions about expectations for editors and how the journal works from the inside. Becoming an editor is a substantial decision that should be based on careful consideration. Nobody will be offended if you have questions or just want to talk. (At least, if they are offended, then you shouldn't trust them.)</p>\n\n<p>There's also the question of whether becoming an editor of a low-prestige journal looks bad, assuming it's not predatory but just publishes below-average papers. One key question is whether the journal publishes papers you are interested in, papers you or other people you respect consider worth reading and citing (even if they aren't exciting or important papers). If so, then being an editor sounds worthwhile. If not, then what's the point of being an editor? If the papers aren't worth reading, then listing it on your CV risks making people think \"This person either has low standards or is willing to do pointless work just in order to be an editor.\" That's not a disaster, but it's not a particularly flattering assessment.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44752,
"author": "user33995",
"author_id": 33995,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33995",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it's bad. I was invited to join the editorial board of a journal. I looked up the other people on the board, many of them well-respected scholars. So, I agreed. The first paper they asked me to review was a surprise -- I learned that the journal did not practice blind reviewing. Then I learned that the publisher is on Beall's list. I immediately resigned, and was relieved to be removed from the board and the website. I also removed all reference to it from my CV.</p>\n\n<p>It's pretty well known these days that these predatory journals are proliferating. They have a terrible reputation among scholars, their editorial practices are shady, and there is no benefit to being associated with them. In fact, it will hurt you. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44620",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33880/"
] |
44,632 |
<p>I received a mail today from Academia.edu (a site I wasn't previously aware of), asking me to confirm that I co-authored a paper with a colleague.</p>
<p>Having looked into it a little it sounds like it might be a useful site - the idea of a "social network for scientists" is one I've seen the need for in the past. However, partly due to bad experiences with the seemingly similar ResearchGate, I'm also skeptical.* Without signing up for an academia.edu account the site doesn't offer much information, so I would like the following information:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What specific features does academia.edu offer to its users?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it genuinely useful for any of the following purposes (each of which seems genuinely needed)</p>
<ol>
<li>as a platform for networking with academics</li>
<li>for discovering relevant research</li>
<li>as an effective system for post-publication peer review</li>
<li>for organising references among a small team of people working on a project</li>
</ol></li>
<li><p>Will it send out mails to my colleagues without my express and explicit permission? (I.e. are the mails I received today the result of a deliberate action by my colleague, who is aware that I will be emailed and wishes me to join the site; or are they essentially spam from a social networking site aggressively trying to expand its user base?)</p></li>
<li><p>It's clear from its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academia.edu" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia page</a> that it's a private, venture-capital funded company. What is its business model?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In short, is this a site that has some genuine utility for academics, or should I just ignore it?</p>
<p><sub>*I've never signed up for ResearchGate but I regularly receive spam from it purporting to be from my colleagues, who aren't aware that it's being sent on their behalf. I would be mortified if my senior colleagues received such mails claiming to be from me, so I won't touch it with a barge pole.</sub></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44708,
"author": "Andy W",
"author_id": 3,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Having an Academia.edu account (which I'm pretty sure I've had for around 2+ years), I can say that I am not real satisfied with the service. My particular field in social science has a relatively small online footprint, and I thought Academia.edu may be starting to have a big growth when I signed up, but it still has never really caught on with any more than a small minority of my field. This point will come up again in my responses, in that if Academia.edu has more infiltration into your field it could work slightly better.</p>\n\n<p>So for 1, you can peruse the site and see for yourself. Basically a profile page where you can post your CV and other links if you wish, and then upload pre-prints. You can then assign tags of interest to follow for yourself, and follow specific colleagues. Using these links, it has a front page feature, similar to Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn, but the page is filled with pre-prints of people in your network and of the tags you follow. </p>\n\n<p>The upload of papers is pretty wide open (there is no quality checking), and I've seen people starting to upload syllabi as well. I've stopped uploading pre-prints because of the crazy <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/16050/3\">terms of service</a>. Unfortunately, some anecdotal evidence of my papers suggests that their promotion of papers across the network (and with search indexing) is less rigorous when you don't upload an actual pre-print. Also I've always been a bit annoyed I can't just upload a bibtext snippet to fill in the meta-data.</p>\n\n<p>For 2.1 and 2.2 it would work better if there were more uptake in the field. IMO conferences work pretty well for 2.1, and Google scholar works pretty well for 2.2.</p>\n\n<p>2.3, post publication peer-review is no, it does not offer comments on particular papers. 2.4, managing a bibliography among a research group is no as well (see <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/854/3\">these responses</a> to that question). It does offer a bare-bones email type system, but that is obviously no better than email to begin with.</p>\n\n<p>3, I don't know specifically. When you have co-authors you do need to verify them.</p>\n\n<p>4, I don't know - it is similar in functionality to LinkedIn and Facebook, so I presume the same type of business model just a different user base.</p>\n\n<p>In retrospect I would not have signed up for an account. I'm happy with posting pre-prints to SSRN, and there are similar sites for a variety of different <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/84/3\">disciplines</a>. If you want a barebones free personal online website it kind of works for that, but I enjoy having a free wordpress blog that does the job and I have much more control over the content and format of the site. Google scholar works quite well for finding content. Strong networking ties in my experience happen more in conferences and just naturally being in the field over a time period. \"Friending\" someone on Academia.edu is a bit superficial. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52282,
"author": "Cosima",
"author_id": 39153,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39153",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, Academia.edu is useful mostly for [2] - discovering relevant research. [1] happens mostly through participating in feedback sessions for unpublished manuscripts. Definitely not for [3] and [4], as they are not supported.</p>\n\n<p>Usefulness for discovery comes in 3 ways: </p>\n\n<p>a) The <strong>home News feed</strong>: you will find out about:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>publications of people you follow;</p></li>\n<li><p>papers read by several of the \"people connected to you\" (those you follow and also their followees), or papers recommended by one person connected to you;</p></li>\n<li><p>activity in manuscript feedback sessions. Of course, the quality of the feed will depend directly on how many people you follow and how relevant they are for you. If you follow people whom you know but about whose research you don't care much then your feed will be boring, especially because the 'people connected to you' that they will introduce will be even less relevant to you. Just follow people you really want to know about.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>b) Navigating through <strong>topics</strong> of interest: each topic allows one to see a list of researchers who follow that topic and, more interestingly for me at least, to see a list of papers recently posted under that topic. Keep in mind that topics are user-defined, thus there may be several similar formulations for each subject that you would consider following (such as \"humor\", \"humour\", \"humor studies\", \"humour research\", etc); it is best to follow them all, as they have partially overlapping communities.</p>\n\n<p>c) Mixed <strong>text-author search</strong>: jumping from texts to their author's profile, then to other texts by the same author or her co-authors, and so on. \nUnlike Google Scholar, where one searches and navigates in a universe of ranked text lists and interlinked texts, Academia.edu introduces the researcher profile as a \"bridge\" that connects different publications. It is up to you how much you will enjoy this new mode of transport, so to say. </p>\n\n<p>I find it useful to check publications from authors I like, publications I would most likely not have found through a keyword-directed search on Google Scholar. While you could also use Google Scholar profiles to this effect, I find that Academia.edu is more pleasant to look at and also has more opportunities to connect texts with author profiles as you scroll in the news feed or in various lists. For me this <strong>text-author jump</strong> is the most useful feature of Academia.edu. </p>\n\n<p>d) Last but not least, I find it energizing to look at texts which have been recently written or read by a living person. It gives a <strong>human touch</strong> to the entire enterprise. Of course, it also anchors literature searchers firmly in the here-and-now at the expense of past decades and centuries, so this is something I have to compensate for.</p>\n\n<p>This sort of discovery works best, I think, for publications which are not in a very specific niche of keywords which you already master and you can search for in Google Scholar. For me, it works for publications that depart somehow from my pattern - eiter by nuancing the topic, or going meta to reflect on methods and the philosophy of the enterprise, or taking a diverging theoretical stance which I do not usually tap into, and so on. This gives me some space for serendipity in extending my scope of thinking. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52283,
"author": "Ana",
"author_id": 322,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I distrust it for an entirely different reason. I once wanted to download a paper, and could only do it if I signed up. I signed up by logging on with my facebook account... Well, academia.edu took my profile information, and, without me knowing it, created an academia profile. With my picture, publications it could find via search engines, and a list of interests that were half right and half ridiculous. I'm a neuroscientist; it listed me as being interested in marketing, among other things. I only discovered this profile about a month later. </p>\n\n<p>Apart from it being entirely unprofessional, I simply do not trust information that is on there, as I have first-hand experience that information on me was wrong. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 54337,
"author": "gena",
"author_id": 41109,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/41109",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had an email from academia.edu asking me to confirm that I am a co-author of a paper (\"XY tagged you as a co-author on a paper\"). So I asked the other \"author\" what it was about since I did not recall writing such a paper with him. He had no idea either, Conclusion: something fishy....</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 57371,
"author": "user43647",
"author_id": 43647,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43647",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I also had an email from academia.edu asking me to confirm that I am a co-author of a paper (\"XY tagged you as a co-author on a paper\"). I was not 'brave' enough to open the email but could see that the topic was poles apart from any research I might ever have done, so will just delete the email.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 102243,
"author": "GEdgar",
"author_id": 4484,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4484",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The next issue of the <a href=\"https://chronicle.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em></a> has a piece on academia.edu ... the blurb for it:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The academy has always been a hothouse of invidious comparison. This website makes it worse.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 102246,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 44249,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/44249",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>No. Academia.edu is academic spam.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The unsolicited emails I received from academia.edu had absolutely nothing to do with my research. They sent me a weekly digest of utterly random papers that I did not recognize, but they seemed to think might interest me. They also sometimes asked me to confirm a coauthor. This was either someone I didn't know, or someone I did know who made the mistake of using their \"service\" and thereby unwittingly spammed their coauthors. They do host content, which I guess is a legitimate service, but they generally <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/71699/44249\">insist that people sign in</a> to view it, which makes it more annoying than useful.</p>\n\n<p>I clicked the unsubscribe link in their emails and it asked me to create an account in order to unsubscribe! (Is that even <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003#Unsubscribe_compliance\" rel=\"noreferrer\">legal</a>?) To me, this is a clear sign that they are not operating in good faith. I think they are spammers, plain and simple.</p>\n\n<p>By the way, if you want to unsubscribe from their communications, email the CEO at <code>[email protected]</code> as well as <code>[email protected]</code>. That worked for me.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44632",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1534/"
] |
44,633 |
<p>The question is not a arising in my capacity as an academic. I was recently reading a book, and I came across a claim that seemed dubious; so I wanted to find out whether it was accurate. I thought of contacting the author, but then I disovered that the author had been dead for a few years.</p>
<p>My question is, what is the appropriate thing to do in such a case, where the author is the only one who has the information necessary to verify a claim, and yet the author is deceased? Assuming you cared about it enough, would you contact the family of the author, to see if they had notes the author had used in writing the book, or is that impolite? What else can be done? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44641,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Dealing with a claim by a dead author is exactly like dealing with a claim by a live author who isn't answering emails. Or, for that matter, dealing with a claim by an author who is answering emails, but not to your satisfaction.</p>\n\n<p>In science, no single statement is the end of the story. If a statement can be backed up, then it should be backed up by some combination of other scholars and the universe at large. If you can't find sufficient justification in the text, or the sources, or other scholars working in the same area, then it is appropriate for you to treat the statement as an unjustified assertion.</p>\n\n<p>That doesn't mean it's wrong... but it does mean that you shouldn't depend on it to be correct.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44657,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Assuming you cared about it enough, would you contact the family of the author, to see if they had notes the author had used in writing the book, or is that impolite?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's implausible that the author's files are well-organized and clear enough that a non-expert family member could easily answer your question. And unless the answer is dreadfully important, it seems inappropriate to ask whether you could fly into town and spend hours/days searching through any files the family possesses. (One can accumulate a large number of boxes of papers over the course of a career.) That could make sense if you were working on a major project about the author and the family was eager to help, but for an isolated question it feels like far too much of an imposition on the family.</p>\n\n<p>If the family felt the files were likely to be of continuing academic or historical interest, then they may have donated them to a university library or archive (most likely at the university the author worked at, if any). I'd start by doing web searches to try to find out. If you can't find out online, you could enquire at the most likely university library.</p>\n\n<p>Before trying to track down the author's files, it's worth convincing yourself that there's no other way to get an answer. For example, maybe the author is alluding to something well known among a certain community, or maybe the author supplied more details in a different publication. You could try ask online (e.g., on a suitable stack exchange site) and see what happens.</p>\n\n<p>If the author worked with a collaborator or had a student who specialized in this topic, then they would be natural people to ask. You could also try asking another expert (e-mailing someone out of the blue will come across best if you give an explanation of how you have tried and failed to find the answer).</p>\n\n<p>If nobody else knows and the author's files weren't formally archived anywhere, then I'm not sure how much more you can do. The author's information may simply be lost and will have to be reconstructed from scratch.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59891,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is a very good case of this in Korea. A researcher had written a paper, claiming to have found a 3rd system, the Primo Vascular System, which can carry cancer and other things. They were able to dye it and trace it. </p>\n\n<p>However, he died, and no one else knew what he was doing. His paper also did not explain well enough for anyone to recreate it. </p>\n\n<p>So how do you deal with it? As Anonymous Mathematician points out, unless you consider this a monumental breakthrough, there is little you can do. In South Korea, Universities and Funding agencies agreed with someone (maybe like you), that it is worth millions of dollars to invest in recreating this system. </p>\n\n<p>Reference: <a href=\"http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/587827/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/587827/</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44633",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33935/"
] |
44,637 |
<p>I am currently writing a paper on accessibility and I am talking about some companies in my report. How do I write a company name, product or otherwise when the word is not spelled correctly?</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I went to ToysR’us at the weekend.<br>
I visited the Change4Life website.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is it acceptable to just write it as normal, or should you put the word in italics or quotation marks?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44638,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Usually, the journal’s copy editor will have an opinion on this. My personal guideline is to adapt the spelling as much to a regular one as possible without diminuishing the identifiability of the name.</p>\n\n<p>Thus, <em>Toys R Us</em> stays like this (because, at least I would have to think am moment about who <em>Toys Are Us</em> is), and <em>Change4Life</em> becomes <em>Change 4 Life</em> ore stays as it is. However, <em>BIG STUFF INC</em> becomes <em>Big Stuff Inc.,</em> and <em>etechnicks</em> becomes <em>Etechnicks</em> or possibly <em>eTechnicks,</em> and <em>Ovəя!†he!†0p!!!</em> becomes <em>Over The Top.</em> In particular, there should be a capital letter at the beginning of the word or at least near it and only there (unless it is a real abbrevation), so it can be easily identified as a proper name, hence this is the function of capitalisation in the English (and almost every other) orthography.</p>\n\n<p>For further reading, I recommended: <a href=\"http://www.theslot.com/caps.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Editors’ enemies</a> and <a href=\"http://www.theslot.com/webnames.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">‘But FUNKY!!!web!!!DUDES.com is their trademark!’</a>.</p>\n\n<p>As for italics and quotation marks, I would not treat such names different from others. If you follow the above rules, they should be identifiable as proper names through capitalisation, which should be sufficient.¹ If the journal’s style reqires you to italicise company names or equip them with quotation marks, that’s another story.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup>\n¹ I only italicised the names in the above, because I was talking about the names, not the companies.\n</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44639,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I challenge your contention that these things are spelled incorrectly. When you write 'Toys \"R\" Us' you are <em>correctly</em> spelling a proper noun. Names are signifiers, and the entity who controls the name controls how it is correctly spelled. I would not have told my high school friend whose last name was \"Tomson\" that his name was spelled wrong just because for most people it was spelled \"Thompson.\" Likewise, 'Toys \"R\" Us' has chosen a particular spelling for its title, and that's the correct name.</p>\n\n<p>So now comes the question of how to communicate such titles, and here, I see four basic cases:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Just use it as written, and count on people to understand: not great with Toys\"R\"Us since quotes are semantically loaded, but fine for a well-understood \"misspelling\" like <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol\">Google</a>.</li>\n<li>Often, there are commonly used variants that are simpler. If you say Toys R Us, people will know what you are talking about even without the quotes, so its OK. Same with <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_%28musician%29#1991.E2.80.9394:_The_New_Power_Generation.2C_Diamonds_and_Pearls_and_name_change\">the artist formerly known as Prince</a>. If you say Toys Are Us, however, you've gone a step too far and \"corrected\" the name into something incorrect.</li>\n<li>Put it in quotes, like I did in the first paragraph: 'Toys\"R\"Us' (here I made the unusual choice of single quotes because of the presence of double quotes in the name).</li>\n<li>If you think it is still strange enough that you think people will think you misspelled it, you can add [sic] afterwards, as in \"Tomson [sic]\"</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I don't like italics, as a solution, personally, since I generally see italics used for emphasis or for definition, and neither is the case here.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44665,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For published work, this is for the journal to decide. For your own writing, <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Trademarks\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Wikipedia's guidelines</a> seem sensible. They distinguish the name of the company from the company's preferred orthography.</p>\n\n<p>A company, just like a person, is free to choose the spelling of its name. If I want to call myself Dayvydd (I don't), I can do: you're welcome to tell me that that spelling is unusual but, if I choose it as my name, it is my name and it is correct by definition.</p>\n\n<p>A company is also free to brand itself using unusual typography: for example, unusual letter cases, miscellanous symbols and so on. This is a sort of watered-down logo: you wouldn't include a full-blown logo in running text and there's no particular reason to use one of these almost-logos. So, use ordinary capitalization and replace any weird unpronounced symbols with the normal one (\"Macy's\", not \"macy<sup>*</sup>s\"; \"Seven\", not \"se7en\") but don't replace pronounced symbols with words (\"Phones4U\", not \"Phones For You\"; \"Toys R Us\" but not \"Toys [backwards-R] Us\" or \"Toys Are Us\").</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44637",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19797/"
] |
44,640 |
<p>Many scientific journals accept only black & white articles.</p>
<p>Does this mean that only monochrome (black and white only) articles or also grayscale (gray is OK) article are OK?</p>
<p>The same question holds for books.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44642,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a confession to make. I absolutely ignore it when a publication tells me they want grey-scale or black and white.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, they want it because somebody is going to put something on some dead trees, they're going to be cheap about it and not use color, and somebody might actually pick up a dead tree and see my mangled image. But either they're also going to put it in a PDF, or else I'm going to put a pre-print in a PDF and that PDF is going to go online in all its radiant rainbow glory, and <em>that</em> is what people will actually read.</p>\n\n<p>So [CENSORED] monochrome. That is so 20th century.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44648,
"author": "Chris H",
"author_id": 8494,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8494",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general some degree of half-toning will be used, meaning that a limited set of grey scales can be output in the printed journal, so figures supplied in greyscale should come out in greyscale. Figures supplied in colour may (i) upset the editorial staff or software (extra hassle for you); (ii) be chargeable (to avoid this you may have to resubmit figures, extra hassle); (iii) reduce to greyscale rather inconsistently with what you expect. So if you submit colour figures (and I generally do), you may as well go for good clear distinctions between data sets, and print B&W yourself to check.</p>\n\n<p>It is very possible (and in some cases required) to produce most figures in a way which either doesn't hinder the B&W reader too much, while still aiding the reader who works in colour. Two examples: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>lines on a graph can be dashed etc. as well as coloured, with colours chosen to render different shades of grey.</li>\n<li>colour maps can easily be chosen to be continuous and <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotonic_function\">monotonic</a> -- though this isn't usually the default. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Both of these approaches are a small step towards helping colour-blind readers as well.</p>\n\n<p>You can't assume your readers will work on screen -- an interesting paper may want to be annotated (I've not yet found a pdf-markup solution that comes close to pen&paper for this). Paper copies are also easier on public transport unless you have a very good and large tablet. It's also not uncommon for B&W printing to be easier (less far to go the the printer) and much cheaper (or uncounted and essentially free) than colour.</p>\n\n<p>Much of this was going to be a comment presenting the opposite point of view to @jakebeal, but another couple of sentences made it an answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44701,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, off: I am not sure that many only accept monochrome or B/W (usually implying grey-scale) figures since trends quite some time are for digital publication only (where colour or B/W, technically, is an irrelevant question).</p>\n\n<p>The question about true Black and White versus grey scale is a matter of technique. In the analog days of printing grey-scale images had to be rasterized and this may have been a problem for some reproducing grey-scale illustrations. Today rasterization is done digitally within the printing process and should not pose any problem. It is therefore relatively safe to say that providing grey-scale illustrations will be fine. As I stated above B/W includes grey-scale nowadays and since quite a long time back.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44640",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1637/"
] |
44,644 |
<p>Okay, first off let me provide an overview of my educational past:</p>
<p>Just as any kid I went through school, and then high school with an integrated prep course for getting into a top notch college in my country. I should admit, I <strong>loved</strong> my subjects (physics, chemistry, math and biology). The faculty was great. I showed a lot of enthusiasm and my then teacher appreciated it.</p>
<p>However, naturally at that age I had many obstacles: Peer pressure, very few friends, was bullied, and I was pretty desperate to get into the social atmosphere (The cool group, the small talk, back stabs, etc.)
So, that bad habit stuck on to me (that is, always trying to pretend, so as to be accepted socially). And it has got in the way of my personal life, and behaviorally I feel like I'm really messed up in some way.</p>
<p>I got into the 7th best college in my country. I did not take a bridge year. I was pretty confident about getting into the Electronics and Communications branch, and I did.</p>
<p>I've learned a lot in college, met people with a varied persona, read a lot, and also learned that there can be a wide set of career paths one can choose nowadays.</p>
<p>I have varied interests that I'm good at: Art painting, murals, sketching, fashion design, stitching, singing, acting, impersonating famous scenes from movies, or people in real life (like some of my very comical faculties).</p>
<p>I'm now completing my 3rd year in college and I don't like it here, or at least in this branch. That said, I do like some subjects like DSP, Embedded system design, mechatronics, but I can't imagine this as my long term career! Everybody around me is talking about and praising this industry: "Oh, the amazing technology", "This wonderful company", "the internship opportunities", etc. I'm so confused, I'm just slipping into something I don't like! And I have a burning desire to try my hand at something in the arts (acting, theatre, and fashion design).</p>
<p>I've hinted about my displeasure with the current state of things to my parents, but I have never told them anything about my "plan" for life.
My parents are overprotective of me. They feel the need to know everything about me. I am pretty open with them about most thing, but it gets annoying when I see my father's hidden dissatisfaction on my refusal to his suggestion about going to the US for MS or for MBA. In addition, when I spend my free time sketching, stitching, or graphic designing, an hour later, artfully, my parents would ask me something like: "Don't you have assignments to do", "don't you have exams in a week", or "how do your friends get 9 point grades?". Sometimes my college faculties say stuff like, "You're so good at this subject, why are your grades just mediocre?" When it comes to my career, it's up to me. I don't like anybody to push me into their version of "secure", "high-paying", but non-adventurous, and routine career.</p>
<p>All hell breaks loose in the house when there is a discussion about "what do you want to do in life?"</p>
<p>Honestly, my parents are not very happy at the thought of me going into the film industry or fashion, and I don't stand up for myself, afraid that I might fail if I go down that path, afraid in the end they were right and I would be the family example of a "ruined career" girl in the relative's gossips.</p>
<p>But this thing has been on my mind for too long, my grades are going up and down. I decided that I would write my GRE, go to the states, join some college. But in the meantime, experiment with my passion, and then when things are right, drop out. There would be no worry about satisfying the expectations of my parents there. I would be independent!</p>
<p>But then, what is the practicality of all this?</p>
<p>Would it be too late, keeping in mind the current state of cut-throat competition?</p>
<p>Would it affect my career, whatever it may be, if I take a gap year or a 6 month gap to travel alone and discover myself and my passions after college?</p>
<p>I've asked this question to a few people, even the college counselor, but everybody says that's a crazy idea!</p>
<p>What should I do ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44649,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most people who are trying for theater or fashion careers need a \"day job\" that pays the rent and buys the food unless and until their preferred career takes off. For a lot of them, it is a minimum wage job. You can make it much better paid than that if you play your cards right.</p>\n\n<p>I suggest concentrating on your studies until you have your degree. Look for a day job in your degree field, but in whatever city you can reach that has the best opportunities for the alternative careers you are interested in. Look for a part time film or fashion job that you can work evenings and/or weekends.</p>\n\n<p>Take advantage of having a more highly paid day job to save as much money as you possibly can from the combined income. As your career advances, you may want to do things like moving to a different city without having a new day job already lined up. Having a year or so of minimal expenses in the bank would make that easier.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44667,
"author": "user31815",
"author_id": 31815,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31815",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn't stop you from doing anything at all.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Richard Feynman.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I have personally used and found the last part about \"minimum required\" very true.</p>\n\n<p>It is natural for your parents to worry over you and desire a good life for you - one better than they lived. And it is also natural for you to worry <em>about their worrying about you</em> since you, like any other individual, aspire to live life on your own terms.</p>\n\n<p>There can be a win-win solution like Patricia Shanahan suggested. And I would advise you to try it out. If you join a good university or even a company you might get a bit of chance around to experiment with stand up comedy like Diane Spencer(Check her out on YouTube!) does while having a \"day job\". This can be applied varyingly in other fields that you wish to explore once you find the right cultural scene at your place. </p>\n\n<p>Now, regarding your fears about your parents trying to \"control\" you through a relative or some other such devices, you have to decide to draw a line and speak up for yourself and let them know what you like or don't like and what your dreams are. They might worry overtly for a day or two but it is better than \"betraying\" them later. Sit down and tell them that you wish to explore your other interests. If they oppose tooth and nail, do it anyways! Covertly, if required.</p>\n\n<p>I had a bit of similar situation in my life and I explained it as \"If an eagle doesn't let the eaglets fly out of it's nest, they would never learn to fly. It is better that I disappoint you right now rather than blaming you for everything that goes wrong with my life just because I couldn't put my heart into what you advised for my career and life.\"</p>\n\n<p>But I am an Indian inspired by a movie called 3 Idiots (especially the photographer guy), so the cultural disclaimers apply :)</p>\n\n<p><strong>PS</strong>: You should give this a read. <a href=\"http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html\">\"How to do what you love\" by Paul Graham</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44644",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33908/"
] |
44,651 |
<p>Can I be admitted to graduate school in a different field from my degree? Specific cases include:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If I've taken plenty of advanced courses in field X in the process of completing a degree in another field, can I apply to graduate school in X?</p></li>
<li><p>What if I haven't taken many courses in X, but I have acquired a good grasp of X through self-study or working in a related field?</p></li>
<li><p>What if I've never studied X, but I have done very well in an unrelated field? Could I be admitted to graduate school in X on the basis of general intellectual promise, and then make up the missing background after enrollment?</p></li>
</ol>
<p><em>Note that this question is an attempt to provide a comprehensive answer, to avoid the need for a profusion of field-specific questions on this topic (see the associated <a href="https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1725/can-i-apply-to-field-x-with-an-undergraduate-degree-in-y-type-questions">meta question</a>). Please feel free to edit the question or answer to improve them.</em></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44652,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Graduate programs care far more about your background and preparation than about which field is listed on your degree. Even if the application requirements list a degree in X as a prerequisite, the department will very likely make an exception if you have a degree in another field but can demonstrate that your background is equivalent. How likely this is depends on which of the three cases listed above you are in:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Extensive formal study of X puts you in good shape. You should discuss this issue in your statement of purpose and make sure your letters of recommendation address it. Letters from people in field X who say your background is appropriate would be more convincing than letters from those in other fields.</p></li>\n<li><p>The overall strategy is the same as in the previous case, but you'll have to work harder to make a compelling argument for admission. It's certainly possible to get admitted, but the rest of your application will have to be convincing enough to make up for not having courses in X on your transcript. When you request letters of recommendation from faculty in field X, you should specifically ask whether they are prepared to endorse your background as sufficient for admission (to avoid getting letters along the lines of \"this applicant is smart and hard working, but I don't know much about their background and preparation\"), and you should strategize with them about how you can present your background in the best possible light.</p></li>\n<li><p>It's unlikely that you can be admitted at this point, for two reasons. One is that many people think they would like to study a field that's new to them, only to discover that it's more difficult or less interesting than they had expected. The other reason is that time in graduate school is a limited resource, and it's inefficient to use it to study prerequisites. You would generally be allowed to fill in a few gaps in your background, but not to begin studying the field from scratch. Instead, if you want to change fields you can begin by taking individual courses at a local university. It's also sometimes possible to enroll in post-baccalaureate programs aimed at helping people change fields (but the availability of such programs varies, depending on the field and location).</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>There is a notable exception to #3, and that is the handful of fields where there <em>is</em> no meaningful pre-graduate coursework in those fields. For example, there are vanishingly few undergraduate programs in epidemiology, and as such there is very little expectation that you have taken specific coursework, and nearly the entire admitted graduate class will be \"switchers\" of some form or another. In these cases, what is likely most helpful is to be able to articulate how your present program and course of study has led you to be interested in, and prepared for, further coursework in that field.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44654,
"author": "Drecate",
"author_id": 16049,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16049",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would like to add to the other answers the fact that the ease with which you can jump to a different field in graduate school depends on the nature of your new field. One factor to consider is how interdisciplinary your new field is. Some traditional fields, such as mathematics, physics, and to a lesser extent chemistry, have a fairly strict hierarchy in that you must take certain courses in certain order so as to understand the field. Thus it would be more difficult to convince the admission committee that you are a good fit if you have very little formal training in the field. On the other hand, fields such as biophysics, neuroscience, etc., are very interdisciplinary. Neuroscience programs, for example, will usually be happy to admit majors from math, physics, chemistry, biology, psychology and computer science, to just list a few. In this case, even if your official major is not neuroscience, your chance is not significantly worse than someone who does have a major in neuroscience (this of course also depends on your other credentials such as relevant research experience).</p>\n\n<p>Another factor to consider is the structure of the Ph.D. programs in your country and in your new field. In some cases, such as biology or many European countries, you are required to select an advisor from the very beginning of the program, whereas other programs, such as in mathematics in the US, you do not have such requirements and you are admitted into the program first and select your advisor only one or two years later. In fields that require you to pick an advisor from the beginning, having a different undergrad major may be less disadvantageous if, for example, you personally know (or your advisor personally knows) the professor that you will want to work with. Alternatively, you may be better off applying to programs that do not require a specific advisor if you do not have a specific commitment in the new field.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44651",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612/"
] |
44,656 |
<p>I am writing my thesis, and during my work, my advisor supplied me with some confidential documents that he still has from his previous work. Part of my work is based on these documents and I am unable to cite them because they are confidential. My advisor says that I can use them without citation because they are not available to public, but I am afraid using them without citation might be considered plagiarism and may come to hunt me me in the future. </p>
<p>What to do in this case ? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44658,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What to do in this case is <strong>EXTREMELY</strong> dependent on the exact nature of the documents involved, and particularly on who declared them confidential and why. You need to talk about this in detail with your advisor and understand the situation extremely carefully, because otherwise <strong>citation may be the least of your concerns.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Let me outline a few of the scenarios that you might be facing here:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Your advisor may have supplied you with classified information, making you complicit in a serious crime and subject to high fines and a possible long prison term.</li>\n<li>The information might controlled under other legal regulations, such as privacy legislation, insider trading, international arms control. These are far-reaching laws that can interact with lots of bits of science you might not think relate. Once again, potential criminal prosecution unless the information is carefully managed / abstracted / de-identified in a way acceptable to the agencies that enforce these regulations.</li>\n<li>The information might be related to patents, trade secrets, or other IP not yet fully disclosed, in which case you might end up on the receiving end of a civil lawsuit unless appropriate permissions are obtained.</li>\n<li>The information might be related to something that another group is planning to publish on first, and it has been disclosed to your advisor with the understanding that they get to publish first and not be scooped. In this case, you need to coordinate publications schedules.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Many other situations might apply as well. In some of these situations, some form of citation or acknowledgement is appropriate. In others, the information must be carefully \"fuzzed\" and citation is inappropriate or even illegal. The details cannot be guessed without a thorough understanding of the exact nature of the information and how you are using it.</p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: go have a long heart-to-heart with your advisor and work out exactly what is the nature of the confidential information and what is the appropriate way in which traces of it should be handled in your thesis.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44660,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You cannot use ideas, data, or wording without indicating their source. If they are based on a document you are not allowed to cite, then you have a major problem. (Note that you can cite documents that are not available to the public. That's certainly problematic, because other people can't verify or use the source, but it's different from not citing anything.)</p>\n\n<p>Theoretically, you could attribute ideas or quotes to an anonymous source if the source approves but asks not to be named. That would be exceedingly unconventional, and I don't think I've ever seen it done in an academic paper, but it would at least be intellectually honest and avoid giving the impression that the ideas were yours. The same is true in principle for data, although it's not clear why readers would trust data from an anonymous source.</p>\n\n<p>What worries me about your question is that you say your advisor still has confidential documents from his previous work. Maybe I'm reading too much into your description, but it sounds like the reason your advisor will not let you cite them is that he is not allowed to share them with you (and he may not even be allowed to possess or use them himself). If that's the case, then the whole project sounds unethical. It might be justified in some rare circumstances, for example involving whistleblowers or similar leaks, but outside of these cases, you cannot use confidential documents without explicit permission.</p>\n\n<p>In any case, there is certainly no principle that says you can use documents without citation if they are not available to the public. Either you have misunderstood your advisor or he is wrong on this point.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44656",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18244/"
] |
44,668 |
<p>I recently presented a poster at an undergraduate research conference, and they are now soliciting write-ups for the conference proceedings. I was surprised at their <a href="http://urp.unca.edu/sites/urp.unca.edu/files/NCUR_Paper_Example.pdf" rel="nofollow">formatting guidelines</a>, specifically the requirement that all sub-headings be lower case. Ex.:</p>
<pre><code>1. Main Heading
1.1 this is a secondary heading
1.1.2 this is a tertiary heading
</code></pre>
<p>I have never seen this convention. I've always thought the preferred style for sub-headings is to either use the same capitalization format as for main headings, or capitalize the first letter of the first word.</p>
<p>I find this all-lower case format to be unprofessional-looking, and was wondering: is this a common convention, and if so, what is the underlying rationale?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44675,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have never in my academic life seen this convention: I have always seen lower-level sub-headings follow exactly the same convention as higher-level headings.</p>\n\n<p>Do what they tell you to do (the world has lots of strange Official Requirements for Our Unique And Special Snowflake Publication Venue), but I wouldn't worry about it for anywhere else in life.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44700,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The basic rule for all publications is to follow the guide-lines to the point. In this case it seems that the conference is expecting what used to be called \"camera-ready\" manuscripts, i.e. manuscripts that are \"published\" as is and not going through additional formatting by the conference organisation. With journals, the guidelines usually concern the formatting of a manuscript which later undergoes additional formatting before being published.</p>\n\n<p>In any case, just follow the guidelines to the point. You would be surprised by how many fail to do so and you may even end up putting a smile on the recipients face.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44668",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33950/"
] |
44,670 |
<p>Suppose someone publishes a survey paper in some journal on a topic where a lot of work is still going on. A lot of new interesting works are expected to be published every year on this topic. Is it a good idea to upload a version of the survey on Arxiv and keep on updating it? In that case, should the Arxiv version contain a note that an earlier version was published in so-and-so journal?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44671,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd say yes, the paper would be valuable for the community, and yes (it must cite the published version).</p>\n\n<p>It would be a good idea to include some kind of version information in the title or on the title page, so that people can cite the version of your survey they use. This could be a simple as adding the subtitle \"Version of May 2015\" and change that whenever you produce a new version. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44672,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is it a good idea to upload a version of the survey on Arxiv and keep on updating it?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's worth doing if you have the time and energy, but it's unconventional. There are some continuously updated survey papers (such as the <a href=\"http://www.combinatorics.org/issue/view/Surveys\">dynamic surveys</a> in the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics), but the usual expectation is that a survey represents a snapshot in time. As a career matter, writing a second survey on recent results a few years later may get you more attention and credit than updating your original survey. Continuous updates can be especially useful if they are timely and the field is particularly hot, but they have their own limitations in a rapidly developing field (the original organization may weigh you down if you stick too closely to it).</p>\n\n<p>From my perspective, the trickiest aspect is what to tell people. If you silently update the paper, it won't attract as many readers as announcing that everyone should check back for periodic updates. (And the whole purpose is to inform the community, so getting readers is important.) On the other hand, it's difficult to commit to regular updates, and it's nice to avoid issues such as whether other authors should be unhappy that their latest results haven't made it into the survey yet.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In that case, should the Arxiv version contain a note that an earlier version was published in so-and-so journal?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you update the arXiv version of a paper after publication, it's critically important to be clear about how it relates with the published version. Otherwise you risk confusing and upsetting your readers.</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend against removing anything from the survey over time. It would still be accessible via past versions on the arXiv for those who know to look there, but it's annoying to send a student to learn about X in Arani's survey and have them report back that it's not covered.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44670",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7004/"
] |
44,680 |
<p>Please pardon my somewhat peculiar case, I hope this is still a question useful to others.</p>
<p>After school I became an undergrad but paused studying after a few semesters of university to work full time. During the several years I was employed, I also became co-author of three papers, two of which were were with a <a href="http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/">"potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access publisher"</a>.</p>
<p>At the time I was not aware journals like that even existed, and as a professor and two doctors were also authors, I would never have imagined this could be an issue. As I am now a university student again and learned about this, I obviously regret my decision to participate. I am not sure how my mistake will be judged by others, and how far-reaching the consequences are, this is why I am asking here.</p>
<p>To be honest, I think it, while bad, was no terrible blunder, as I was "only" an employee at the time (though an undergrad before that). Also, I suspect most future employers would probably not even recognize my mistake.</p>
<p>Clearly it is different if I were to pursue an academic career. Are past flaws of this kind forgivable - and if so, should I (actively) point out that I made a mistake and will avoid it in the future?</p>
<p>Annotation: Many people claimed (elsewhere) that the journal in question did no peer-review. This was not the case for me, as we always had a list of (content) issues to address, usually by 4 to 6 reviewers.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44684,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>While publishing in a predatory journal doesn't help your CV, I don't see this as anything near a fatal mistake even if you are pursuing a career in academia. The main cost is just the wasted time and effort and the fact that you could have gotten credit for these papers if published elsewhere.</p>\n\n<p>Given that you were at such an early career stage when you wrote these papers, it seems that you can readily be forgiven for falling victim to a predator publisher. Tricking people in this way is, after all, often a component of their business model. When I see a professor publishing repeatedly in these journals, that suggests he or she is trying to pull something over on someone. When I see an undergrad or someone straight out of undergrad doing so, I feel badly for the student and angry at the publisher.</p>\n\n<p>I would simply list these papers on your CV and move on. They're part of your publication record, so you can't really omit them in good faith -- but nor do you need to beat yourself up over it. If someone asks, be forthcoming both about the fact that this journal is questionable and about the way that you ended up publishing there. </p>\n\n<p>You haven't done anything terrible. You've been exploited, and maybe if someone is a harsh judge he will think this makes you look a little silly. But in your situation I don't think most people would hold that against you. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 45020,
"author": "Jen",
"author_id": 20178,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20178",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Almost always you sign the rights over to the journal when you publish. Now, imagine you are a phD student, publishing his or her's graduate life to this one journal. You find out it's a scam, and now your work is published in a scam journal and you have no rights to your own work anymore. This is where the big problem with those scam journals come from. Not that they were published per say, but that you now have no legal claim to your own research.</p>\n\n<p>It doesn't sound like that's your case. As others have said, list them on your CV, and that's that. If anyone asks, you can tell them what you told us. It certainly isn't a stigma or a black hole of academia. Though, I would highly advise you in the future to be more cautious and to only work with those in academia/ research who are more knowledgeable on this topic. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44680",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5640/"
] |
44,687 |
<p>Let's say you are at the pub and random layperson asks you the question: "So I heard you did a PhD. What was it on?"</p>
<p>What do you do if your PhD was in pure maths. What techniques can you use that will convey to them what you did in your research, and that it was important?</p>
<p>What sort of techniques do people use in the <a href="http://threeminutethesis.org/">three minute thesis competition?</a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44690,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you can give them a semi-real-world example of the kind of problem that your work will help solve, that's probably as much as most of them really want. If you're far enough out into the abstract mathematical philosophy that you really can't do that, see if you can come up with a brief description of what question (or kind of question) you're trying to answer. It doesn't have to be complete; most folks just want to have some general sense of what area you're working in... just as you would probably be satisfied to know that I'm working on IBM's new generation of server software without wanting all the gory details.</p>\n\n<p>They can always ask for more detail if they have the interest and background to appreciate it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44697,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could say that you got your PhD in the art of thinking. You used logic, and you put together existing ideas in new ways. If the person asks, Oh, was it in philosophy? You could say, not really, it was more mathematical. If that's a conversation stopper... then you'll be glad you didn't waste your time saying anything meaningful. If the person lights up when you say \"mathematical,\" then you know you can have a satisfying conversation.</p>\n\n<p>Or maybe you could say that you were working with novel mathematical tools for analyzing certain types of problems, and that you were concerned with establishing theoretical underpinnings.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44717,
"author": "Zach H",
"author_id": 8857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8857",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This questions will vary greatly depending on your research area. Many people in applied fields will have no more issue than any other scientist, while those working in, say, algebraic geometry tend to have a tougher road. That said, here are a few principles I have found helpful:</p>\n\n<p>1) Find the <strong>smallest question</strong> that captures the <strong>key idea</strong>. You don't have to explain your particular problem, so much as give a flavor of the sort of question you work on. For example, in Schubert calculus, everyone always leads with the question \"Here are four lines in space. How many lines intersect all four of them?\", even for other mathematicians! You can then allude to higher dimensions, broadly say how your work ties in (or just assert that it does!), and so on.</p>\n\n<p>2) <strong>Return to the specific</strong>. Use vivid metaphors as a way to overcome abstraction. For example, I often describe a permutation as a row of line dances, and a simple transposition as two people dosey-do-ing to swap places. Now I can talk about the dancer's motivation as motivating my questions, and it somehow seems less arbitrary. Providing something tangible to visualize helps a great deal. This is completely at odds with the usual mode of mathematical communication, where we wish to abstract away every specificity.</p>\n\n<p>3) <strong>Inject narrative</strong>. Talk about the history. Mention peoples names, and say what they did. Give a scope of the human endeavor that is (a) mathematics, (b) your field and (c) your specific problem. \"Littlewood and Richardson came up with a rule for multiplying these polynomials (Schur functions) in the 1930's, and said the proof follows from 'simple combinatorics', which they thought beneath them to do. Forty years later, Schutzenberger finally figured out how to do the simple stuff, after many failed attempts by famous mathematicians, some of which were published!\" It would here be appropriate to mention some details about Schutzenberger's fascinating life.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: Explain why <strong>you</strong> care! Talk about how you came to the problem, your motivations (beyond glory) for solving it, why you think it's worthwhile.</p>\n\n<p>4) Create opportunities for <strong>dialogue</strong>. Obviously this only applies to someone who is genuinely curious, as opposed to being polite. If you provide the over-arching perspective (1) and provide a specific and familiar framework (2), your listener will have a framework they can use to start asking questions. Metaphors will be abused, and their limits exposed, but that's okay. At the end of it all, someone might call you a \"math detective\".</p>\n\n<p>5) Be willing to <strong>sacrifice</strong> a little (or a lot) of <strong>accuracy</strong>. It's okay to describe the overall thrust of your area, rather than the particular question that you work on. It's okay to give a wishy-washy description of something that glosses over many complications. Despite working in the field that most prizes accuracy, mathematicians regularly gloss over subtle issues with each other. The standard should be <strong>much</strong> lower when dealing with non-mathematicians. Seriously, it's okay!</p>\n\n<p>6) <strong>Steal shamelessly</strong> from others in your field. Read popular accounts of your area, or ask other people how they try to describe things. If you work in the Langlands program, read Ed Frenkel's book and see how he tackles this challenge. Look at the \"What is a...\" series in Notices of the AMS. In general, people seem averse to doing this across academia, but everyone benefits if you can use the best exposition, regardless of whether or not it is original to you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44774,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think my comment directly answers the question, but voting so far seems to say it's important enough it's probably worth saving:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In my experience, people mostly believe there's no way to do maths research, because it's all already done. They also think we spend our time on either very big numbers or very long equations. I therefore think that anything that helps them understand the nature of mathematics is worthwhile, even if it doesn't directly answer the question.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44687",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33959/"
] |
44,694 |
<p>I have recently defended my Ph.D. dissertation and submitted it to my graduate school's <strong>e-repository</strong> of scholarly works as well as to the <strong>ProQuest</strong> database. I have not heard yet from ProQuest about the respective publication, but my work appeared blazingly fast in my school's repository, which is great, as I already can cite it in my CV and elsewhere, where appropriate.</p>
<p>As I understand the terminology in the area, dissertation or thesis, submitted to ProQuest (or another scholarly database, for that matter) is referred to as <em>published</em>. On the other hand, the same document, submitted to university's e-repository or similar archive, is referred to as <em>unpublished</em>. Also, while I expect the ProQuest to assign a DOI to my work, my university's e-repository doesn't seem to include this step. Considering all the above-mentioned information, I am curious about the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What is the optimal strategy for maintaining and citing both <strong>unpublished</strong> and <strong>published</strong> versions of my dissertation? Since the published (ProQuest) version will not be available to people, lacking access to ProQuest, does it make sense to maintain and cite both versions, so that other interested people will be able to access and cite the unpublished version?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the optimal strategy for <strong>assigning DOI</strong> to my dissertation report (either to both versions, or to the unpublished, if ProQuest will assign DOI to the published one)?</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44702,
"author": "Andrew",
"author_id": 27825,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27825",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You should avoid citing it twice, because it's the same work (think of it as a book published by two different publishers - you wouldn't cite both versions). Whether you prefer to cite it with a ProQuest DOI or with a link to the university repository is up to you, though possibly a given journal may have an opinion on which they prefer. Depending on how formal the citation style is, you could do something like:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Bleckh, A (2015). <strong><em>ProQuest citation; DOI</em></strong>. Copy available from [repository]</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>which would let you use both access methods.</p>\n\n<p>For DOIs, it's unlikely that your repository will assign a DOI to their version - most repositories aren't set up to issue DOIs. The repository is intended as an alternative way to access it rather than a different publication, and so material hosted by a repository tends to give the bibliographic details of the \"real version\" rather than provide their own.</p>\n\n<p>(Also, I'm not sure what you mean by \"maintaining\" - are you envisaging updating it over time? This would be quite unusual for a doctoral thesis...)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 49671,
"author": "Thomas Arildsen",
"author_id": 6924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6924",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regarding strategy for assigning a DOI, my personal preference is to use my university library's repository for that. I prefer to use my own university's repository as the canonical source of bibliographic information about my publications to remain maximally in control of it. My university library happens to be able to assign DOIs. I realise that not all repositories do this and in that case, I would recommend using a repository such as <a href=\"http://figshare.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">figshare</a> or <a href=\"https://zenodo.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">Zenodo</a> because they provide open access to the published material and you retain your copyright. It seems ProQuest offers the latter but not the former.\nA special case where one has to be careful is if you do not own the copyright to all of your thesis. This was the case for my own thesis which consists partly of papers for which Springer and IEEE own the copyright. They allowed publication on my university's own repository but I could only post the introduction on figshare, because that implied <a href=\"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_license\" rel=\"nofollow\">CC-BY</a> licensing. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44694",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12391/"
] |
44,695 |
<p>Dear Academic SE advisers,</p>
<p>I am a college sophomore in US with double majors in mathematics and microbiology. My algorithmic biology research got me passionate about the number theory and analysis, and I have been pursuing a mathematics major starting on this Spring semester. I have been independently self-studying the number theory textbooks written by Niven/Zuckerman/Montgomery, Apostol, and Ireland/Rosen on this semester. As this semester progressed, I discovered that I am more interested in the pure mathematics than applied aspects (computational biology, cryptography, etc.). I want to pursue a career as analytic number theorist and prove the Collatz conjecture and Erdos-Straus conjecture. </p>
<p>I have been thinking about doing the number-theory research on my university (research university; huge mathematics department). I have been self-studying the NT by myself and also regularly attending the professional and graduate seminars on number theory but I did not do any pure mathematics research as an undergraduate. Should I visit NT professors in my university and ask them about if I can do undergraduate research under them? If research is not possible (perhaps due to my lacking maturity), should I request of doing independent reading under them and later proceed with the research? How should I ask them? What should I address? If even independent reading is not desirable to them, what should I ask to them or do in my own? </p>
<p>As for my mathematical background, I have been taking Calculus II (computational) and discrete mathematics. I will be taking calculus III (vector calc.) on Summer, followed by Analysis I, Probability, Theoretical Linear Algebra on Fall 2015. As for my self-studying on this semester, I have been studying NT textbooks (mentioned above), proof methodologies, and basic linear algebra. </p>
<p>Thank you very much for your time, and I look forward to your advice!</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>PK</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44763,
"author": "Dinosaur",
"author_id": 32937,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32937",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While it is possible for a highly competent mathematician to dole out a doable problem for an undergraduate to solve over the summer, empirical data has proven otherwise - i.e., it's rather hard for an undergrad to prove anything original in number theory if only given a few weeks during the summer.</p>\n\n<p>For an REU in NT, it might be more realistic to expect to read some interesting topics in number theory or perform some numerical analysis. Take it as a bonus if you obtain any original result.</p>\n\n<p>Number theory is known to be a very difficult topic to get into. Before you decide to commit, take courses in complex analysis and abstract algebra. They are crucial if you want to read more advanced texts in number theory.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44767,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Should I visit NT professors in my university and ask them about if I can do undergraduate research under them? If research is not possible (perhaps due to my lacking maturity), should I request of doing independent reading under them and later proceed with the research? How should I ask them? What should I address? If even independent reading is not desirable to them, what should I ask to them or do in my own?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Don't be shy. Go talk to some professors! You can start the conversation by telling them what books you've been working with, and ask for some academic advising. This means the professor will go over your plan (which courses to take, when, and in what order) with you. The professor will likely confirm the wisdom of the tentative plan you came up with -- and then the conversation will blossom from there. A professor may make some specific suggestions for coursework and/or independent study. But maybe you should wait until you've got more coursework under your belt before proposing a research project. (Still, someone may surprise you!)</p>\n\n<p>You can start with a short email saying that you have fallen in love with number theory, and would like to make an appointment for some academic advising.</p>\n\n<p>It is always a pleasure when two people who love the same thing get together for a chat. You have nothing to fear.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44785,
"author": "Aru Ray",
"author_id": 948,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/948",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This depends a bit on where you are. You mention that you are at a large research university, presumably with a large graduate program - in these places I expect that it is pretty rare for an undergraduate to do research directly with a faculty member unless they are exceptionally talented. Faculty members have their own research programs and their own graduate students to direct, and coming up with interesting yet tractable problems is hard! However, it can't hurt to ask. Since you've been regularly attending seminars, you should know who the regular attendees are - send an email to someone to set up a meeting to chat (or drop by an open office hour), tell them what you've told us, and ask if they have any suggestions for what you should do next. Sending the email first gives them the chance to think about your meeting ahead of time, and if they're not interested they could just send an email back saying so. As for what exactly to ask, I would recommend just asking for suggestions and see what they come up with. If they don't seem inclined to do so, asking for suggestions on what to read/which courses to take is a good plan. </p>\n\n<p>In a smaller liberal arts place, perhaps surprisingly, there are more opportunities for undergraduate research, and just generally more opportunities for interacting with faculty members. </p>\n\n<p>However, there are other opportunities to get into research other than working directly with faculty. In a large research university, there are probably lots of graduate students and postdocs (who probably also attend the same seminars as you). They, particularly if they are interested in a more teaching-focused direction, might be willing to talk to you on some regular basis about your readings. (I recently heard of the <a href=\"http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~may/VIGRE/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">University of Chicago Directed Reading program</a>, which sounds pretty cool.)</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, I know that you mentioned you wanted to do research at your own institution, but I'd like to ask you to reconsider. There are several summer research opportunities in mathematics, and they are a fantastic opportunity not only to learn math and get the experience of tackling a problem on your own (or in a small group), it's also good to just meet other people at your stage in life with similar interests, as well as mathematicians from other universities. If you're curious, here is <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/programs/students/emp-reu\" rel=\"noreferrer\">a list of summer REUs</a> (REU stands for Research Experiences for Undergraduates). </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44695",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33964/"
] |
44,707 |
<p>I am about to submit a paper to a respected math journal. In this paper I solved a conjecture that was raised by a member of the editorial board (and this is one of the main reasons I chose this journal).</p>
<p>When submitting, I need to choose a member of the editorial board to handle my submission. Given his relation to this paper, is it OK if I list this person as the requested handling editor? Or does this cause some problem?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44710,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it is OK. There's certainly no conflict from my external perspective, and if they decide that there is a conflict, the person in question can either decline the assignment or otherwise pass it off to a different editor at the journal. No one is going to get you in trouble for requesting this editor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44715,
"author": "GEdgar",
"author_id": 4484,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4484",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In fact, I think that is the best choice! That guy is likely to know more about the subject, and be aware of previous attempted solutions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44716,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From an economical point of view, chosing this editor seems pretty reasonable. He is probably experienced with the field and thus probably best suited for selecting referees or may even decide to review the paper himself (and then probably hand the paper over to another editor). In both cases and on average, this speeds up the review process and raises the quality of the reviews.</p>\n\n<p>However, the editor may be biased regarding the importance of your work, which however is no real issue if the work is clearly over the journal’s relevance threshold. Moreover, the editor may overprioritise it and be more lenient towards it. All of this is in your favour and I would argue that dealing with this is the editor’s or some supervising editor’s job and not yours. One could however also argue that you should select another editor for this reason.</p>\n\n<p>Just selecting another editor may however also have negative repercussions, as editor that raised your conjecture may feel omitted or you may be regarded as having been sloppy when choosing the editor and thus wasting the editors’ time.</p>\n\n<p>Thus I would suggest to elaborate either decision of the editor in one brief sentence in the letter to the editor (or the journal’s equivalent), for example:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Note that we did not choose X as a handling editor because we already suggested him as a referee. </p>\n \n <p>Note that we did not choose X as a handling editor to avoid conflicts of interest.</p>\n \n <p>Should our choice of X as a handling editor be regarded to cause conflicts of interest, we kindly ask the journal to choose another editor.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44707",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33973/"
] |
44,712 |
<p>I'm currently studying for a computer science Masters degree in a top UK university and I wish to pursue a career in academia by getting a Ph.D. degree. I got perfect coursework grades, however, I didn't do well in my exams which count for 90% of the total grade in every course. Unfortunately, I'm 90% confirmed that I'll fail one of the courses and even if I resit it I'll only graduate with an overall pass due to the department's regulations related to failed courses. My current thesis supervisor, who also supervised my research course last semester, is very pleased with my work and offered me a Ph.D. position in a newly funded project. However the department's regulations admit only distinction holders, especially students graduating from the same department. </p>
<p>Is there any chance of me being admitted or is it impossible for a "pass" Master holder to continue their studies?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44714,
"author": "Layla",
"author_id": 6144,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your thesis supervisor has offered you a Ph.D position and the project is a newly funded one, then you are very likely to be accepted. I have seen that figure in a couple of top universities in Europe in which what counted more was the acceptance of the professor who will agree to supervise you. The other stuff, e.g. submission of grades and certificates from your M.Sc. is just administrative stuff. Try not to lose that opportunity and start talking with your future supervisor about your research work plan for your Phd studies, and funding (which I suppose you are entitled also for that) in case that you need it.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44718,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You need to talk with your thesis supervisor to find out whether the department's regulations are \"hard\" or \"soft.\" Many departments have clear regulations which are \"soft\" in the sense that they can have small exceptions made if a professor can make a case for why such an exception should be made. This is very often the case, and if this is the case for your department and your supervisor wants you as a Ph.D. student, then you are fine.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, however, a department will not allow such leniency for its professors. If this is the case, and your supervisor wants you as a Ph.D. student, then they should also be able to advise you on what to do to try to get yourself into compliance with the regulations.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44712",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22926/"
] |
44,713 |
<p>This college, which I will not name here, specializes in computer-related programs, which makes its other courses, like political science, unpopular among student applicants. In one instance, the social science department only had three students who graduated with a degree in politics. Because of the very small student population, the school only had two political science professors who handled all the major subjects. Would you say that this is sub par college?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44736,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can't comment about the unnamed college you are describing, because you haven't given enough information to make a judgment. But the answer to the question in the title is simply</p>\n<h1>No.</h1>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44738,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think when you are talking about departments with only two permanent faculty that the teaching and research opportunities are necessarily sub-par. While even top departments have gaps in their expertise and some off-topic teaching is inevitable, with only two faculty members there are going to be substantial gaps in expertise. It is not even clear to me how two members of faculty can develop and maintain a complete curriculum.</p>\n\n<p>Further, with only two members of faculty, a substantial amount of teaching will either be done by adjunct faculty, who will be essentially unsupervised, or in other departments. Both cases, I think reduce the quality of education.</p>\n\n<p>With only two members of faculty, there will also be limited chances for gaining research experience.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44739,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you're talking about MIT or Caltech, then the answer would be that their degrees in the humanities and social sciences are equally as respectable as those from any other colleges and universities in terms of graduate admissions (in social sciences/humanities).</p>\n\n<p>Part of this is that we realize that folks who fall out of the mainstream at these schools merit some attention. It takes more of an effort and commitment to do sociology at MIT than it would at U-Michigan. For example, in order to get the credits to graduate, you've also undoubtedly taken courses in that discipline that were offered outside of that institution -- in MIT's case, you'd be taking classes at Harvard/Radcliffe. That takes dedication and forethought. </p>\n\n<p>Finally, we realize that students choose their undergraduate institutions based on limited knowledge and choice. We weight their accomplishments based on what they were able to do with the resources that they had.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44713",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33677/"
] |
44,728 |
<p>Recently, the <a href="http://blogs.plos.org/everyone/2015/05/01/plos-one-update-peer-review-investigation/#.VUO6vdTtlT0.twitter">single-blind peer-review process</a> failed to appropriately deal with highly sexist comments. An anonymous reviewer provided a sexist review and the Academic Editor forwarded it on. They have since blacklisted the reviewer and asked the Academic Editor to step down. While I think that blind peer review provides useful protection for reviewers, are Academic Editors generally provided anonymity? Further, is there any precedence for when a journal should reveal the name of a reviewer?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44731,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>While I think that blind peer review provides useful protection for reviewers, are Academic Editors generally provided anonymity?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In my experience this is rare but not unheard of. For example, the <a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/site/authors/guidelines.xhtml\">PNAS submission guidelines</a> specify that the editor handling the paper will remain anonymous until the paper is accepted. Presumably this is meant to protect editors from retribution over a rejected paper. I'm not convinced this is necessary, but the existence of these policies indicates that someone must care.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Further, is there any precedence for when a journal should reveal the name of a reviewer?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm not aware of any policy that allows journals to reveal the name of a reviewer without the reviewer's consent. It could be reasonable in a case like this, but I wouldn't want to be in charge of writing a policy delineating when it is or isn't allowed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44743,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Anonymity, when used for any scientific role, is intended to make it easier for people to conduct honest scientific assessments. It is not intended to be a shield from which to attack with impunity.</p>\n\n<p>In business, there is a concept of \"<a href=\"http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/personal-liability-piercing-corporate-veil-33006.html\">piercing the corporate veil</a>,\" in which the shielding of corporate liability limits is removed in cases of gross misconduct. Likewise, I think that it is reasonable to pierce the veil of scientific anonymity in cases of gross misconduct. This recent case of \"please add a male author\" is one such; others could include abusive personal attacks or plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure that exact boundaries of such a policy would need to be spelled out in advance: simply saying \"anonymity may be breached in cases of gross misconduct\" may be sufficient.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44728",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] |
44,732 |
<p>When publishing a paper, some researchers publish the source code used for the paper.</p>
<p>Is there any research/study/survey/... that looked at how much effort do researchers take to publish their source code? I.e. how many hours do researchers take to publish the source code for a given paper?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44734,
"author": "rmounce",
"author_id": 651,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/651",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This isn't a peer-reviewed article, but nonetheless it's worth linking to because it specifically addresses your question, albeit as an n=1 case:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://brunalab.org/blog/2014/09/04/the-opportunity-cost-of-my-openscience-was-35-hours-690/\">Bruna, E. 2014 THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF MY #OPENSCIENCE WAS 36 HOURS + $690</a></p>\n\n<p>In this blog post, a biologist Emilio Bruna states it took <strong>about 25 hours</strong> of his time to appropriately document his code (associated with a research paper) to make it good enough for open source release on github.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44748,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a significant number of papers where we make the (nontrivial) code available through various means. Examples are here:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.dealii.org/8.2.1/doxygen/deal.II/step_42.html\">https://www.dealii.org/8.2.1/doxygen/deal.II/step_42.html</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.dealii.org/8.2.1/doxygen/deal.II/step_43.html\">https://www.dealii.org/8.2.1/doxygen/deal.II/step_43.html</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://aspect.dealii.org\">http://aspect.dealii.org</a></li>\n<li>As well as individual algorithms and data structures used in deal.II that are discussed in a few of the papers referenced here: <a href=\"http://dealii.org/publications.html#details\">http://dealii.org/publications.html#details</a> .</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In all of these cases, documenting the code adequately to make it suitable for publication along with the paper was part of writing the code (like for all significant code, documenting should be part of writing it) and would likely have taken at least 2 days in the case of the tutorials, and maybe 4-8 hours in the case of some of the specific codes and algorithms. It's something one should do anyway, but even if one doesn't, doing it is not usually an overwhelming effort.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, this would not apply to a code like ASPECT for which writing the documentation (such as the 230 page manual) is an effort that likely represents month of work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44766,
"author": "Kevin",
"author_id": 6030,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6030",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a study that analyzes whether computer science papers include source code that makes it easy to reproduce their results.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://reproducibility.cs.arizona.edu/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://reproducibility.cs.arizona.edu/</a></p>\n\n<p>The study found that out of 601 papers analyzed, 139 included source code that could be obtained without contacting the authors, and the study's researchers were able to email authors to get the source code for an additional 87 papers.</p>\n\n<p>Of the 226 papers the authors obtained source code for, they were able to configure and run the source code within half an hour on 130 papers, without contacting the authors on an additional 64 papers, and after contacting the authors on a further 23 papers. For 9 papers, the study's researchers could not run the source code at all.</p>\n\n<p>These results don't show how much time researchers spend on making their source code available, but it does show how frequently papers are published with accompanying source code and what quality that source code tends to be.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1277/pll\">PLL</a> made <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44732/how-much-effort-do-researchers-take-to-publish-their-source-code/44766#comment100954_44766\">an excellent comment</a>. I'd like to add it to my answer in case it disappears later:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Just to summarise: <strong>the overall success rate should be seen as 217 out of 402</strong>. Of the full sample of 608, 206 were excluded for some reason or another --- e.g. their results weren't based on code in the first place. 402 were left that <em>should</em> have contained code.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44779,
"author": "Konrad Höffner",
"author_id": 7324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7324",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I disagree with your premise that it actually takes any effort at all.</p>\n\n<p>Version control is needed anyways for collaboration with your coauthors, as backup and for version history, which GitHub, BitBucket and SourceForge offer for free. </p>\n\n<p>Writing good code is necessary so hat your colleagues can understand what you are doing and even if it is a one-person project you need to understand it half a year later.</p>\n\n<p>There are even additional benefits:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>increased acceptance chance of publications</li>\n<li>bug reports through issue tracking help with development</li>\n<li>increased exposure and more citations </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So you only hurt yourself if you don't publish your source code which means there is actually negative effort, all things considered.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44732",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
44,737 |
<p>In some fields of research, huge collaborations are the norm. This is especially true in experimental high-energy physics.</p>
<p>Say I'm evaluating someone's resume, and that person is transitioning out of one of these fields into something else, such as a career in industry or teaching. I'm not a specialist in that field, and I'm not familiar with current research in it except at a very broad level. How do I tell whether this person was any good at what they did? I can do a literature search on the person's name, but that will just pop up a bunch of papers where the list of authors looks like this: "The XYZ Collaboration: A. Aarons, J. Abelson, ... [183 additional authors not shown]"</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44750,
"author": "MrMeritology",
"author_id": 17564,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have two answers.</p>\n\n<p>First, if the person in of interest has many publications with a diverse range of coauthors, then you <em>might</em> be able to glean some insights by looking at the overall pattern. For example, you might be able to determine this person's areas of specialization and perhaps their focus in research. But these inferences depend on having papers that are sufficiently diverse that you can isolate interesting patterns that are common to all of them, but otherwise uncommon.</p>\n\n<p>My second answer is that you probably can't derive any useful information from the fact that a person has been part of a very large collaboration team. Instead, you need more detailed and context specific information about their tasks, responsibilities, and performance. This might come from seeing their specific work products, from their performance reviews or recommendations from their supervisor or peers, or similar.</p>\n\n<p>In a way, this is no different than the situation in industry where you might know that a person is employed at a National Lab, and maybe that they are part of XYZ Department, working on ABC Projects. You can't really tell much from that information about their individual role or individual performance.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44753,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Years ago, I was on the college executive committee when we had to decide whether a certain experimental physicist should be promoted (to tenure, if I remember correctly). Her papers were of the sort you describe, huge collaborations that gave us no information about the extent and quality of her contribution to the project. But that information was provided, in considerable detail, by the letters from external reviewers. (Here \"external\" means outside our university. In cases like this, the college waives its usual rule that so-and-so many letters must come from people who are not among the candidate's co-authors, because essentially everyone who has real information about the candidate's contribution is a co-author.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44781,
"author": "Doru Constantin",
"author_id": 9221,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9221",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I heard that the number of presentations they give (check e.g. <a href=\"https://indico.cern.ch/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Indico</a>) is a better indicator than the number of papers.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44737",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
44,770 |
<p>I've noticed that this idea of a "meal plan" among students is pretty common in the US. Usually this involves:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Some amount of money (e.g. "flex dollars") that can be spent on any food (or sometimes even other things) that the student desires, provided that the student spends this money on certain on-campus locations.</p></li>
<li><p>The student may get a fixed number of "meal swipes" for eating at the dining hall.</p></li>
<li><p>This is all paid for in-advance by students, often as part of a "room and board" fee.</p></li>
<li><p>Some universities even require students to purchase such a plan if the student lives in certain parts of university housing, even at some urban universities where there might be more dining options. (I have heard students claim that it would cost the same amount of money as a meal plan to eat at neighbourhood restaurants.)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I have also seen some version of this in Canadian schools: for instance, there was a complaint circulating about poor dining hall management at <a href="https://imgur.com/a/7Zhhy/embed#1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Memorial University</a>, which alludes to a required meal plan. Generally speaking, as a student, it seems that such meal plans are chiefly used by undergraduates, although I've also seen graduate students eat at the dining hall.</p>
<p>I suspect that this system is specific to North America, although I'm not completely sure. For instance, I saw <a href="https://studyabroad.colorado.edu/_customtags/ct_FileRetrieve.cfm?File_ID=34662" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this document</a>, which stated that the Hebrew University doesn't carry meal plans. I've noticed that university cafeterias in Hong Kong make students pay for food with actual cash when they get their meal, even if there are occasional loyalty schemes (of the same variety that might appear at any fast-food restaurant) or discounted items (where things are much cheaper than they would be off-campus). From a quick glance, HKU and HKUST's housing websites appear to make no mention of any sort of "meal plan". (Meanwhile, the University of Chicago's housing website has a page for residential dining.)</p>
<p>Thus: <strong>is the meal plan system (where students pay in <em>advance</em> for dining hall meals and potentially other on-campus perks) a chiefly North American thing?</strong> For obvious reasons, I would assume that it would be more common in heavily non-commuter universities (which perhaps dominate the US and Canada more than the rest of the world), but I'm wondering if this is <em>generally</em> true, even if we take the commuter/non-commuter thing into account.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44773,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is not unique to North America and the idea of a meal plan exists in the UK. In the UK halls (i.e., dorms) are either self-catered or catered. Catered halls usually provide breakfast and dinner and in some cases either lunch, a boxed lunch, or points that can be spent on campus.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44775,
"author": "fkraiem",
"author_id": 12864,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12864",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no such thing either in my native France or in Japan where I am currently located. You pay for your on-campus meals either in cash or using a prepaid e-money card, and it is certainly not required to eat on campus. (I suspect that introducing such a requirement would lead to massive protests.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44776,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am still not entirely sure about the boundary of \"meal plans\", but, based on the discussion in the comments, I will answer based on this partial question by the OP:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I'm interested in is whether not paying an advance lump sum for regular meals is really as common outside of North America</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>As far as I know, German universities usually have no meal plans, if that means signing up (let alone being obliged to sign up) for a contract that equals a certain amount of vouchers specifically for getting meals (and possibly other paid-for services).</p>\n\n<p>Usually, on-campus lunchrooms are run by student service organizations that are separate entities from the universities. These organizations are partly subsidized from tax money, and partly funded based on a solidarity fee that has to be paid by <em>every</em> enrolled student every semester (e.g. €60). As a result, meals in such on-campus lunchrooms (which often really just offer lunch, and only from Mon to Fri) can be bought at a \"normal\" price (comparable to <em>very</em> cheap restaurants, e.g. around €4 to €5 for one main dish) by guests, while anyone connected to the university gets a certain discount (e.g. there might be two discount levels, one for students (e.g. roughly €2 to €2.50 for one main dish), one for employees). This buying of meals, however, is spontaneous and can be repeated as often as desired, i.e. there is not a fixed amount of previously ordered coupons, and the transaction for the discounted price takes place only then and there in the lunchroom.</p>\n\n<p>So, in a way, students have to pay beforehand, but it's not a payment that is 1:1 mapped to meals. Your mileage may vary on whether to consider that a \"meal plan\"-like system.</p>\n\n<p><em>The prices are examples that fit for some German universities, but certainly not all. I have added them to convey a rough idea of the extent of discounts and total payments.</em></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44777,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 34012,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34012",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think forcing students to spend part of their money on campus would be illegal where I live (and in most of the western world). I'm actually kind of surprised this is still going on in the US, especially given the US protests against the truck system in the late 1800s and early 1900s.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44770",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
44,780 |
<p>I just completed my senior year. I have been accepted to a grad school (say University X). </p>
<p><strong>CASE A</strong>: I am quite familiar with the fact that one shouldn't change grad schools during a PhD. It is highly frowned upon and regarded skeptically. However my case is somewhat different.</p>
<p>I want to reapply for some PhD programs next year (fall). But, at the same time, I don't want to lose the only PhD seat I've got. So, I was thinking about whether I can go to University X this fall and apply for next fall (applications start this year's August). </p>
<p>If I get accepted, I would simply move to the other university. I obviously won't need any recommendation from professors of University X. It would be as though I had simply applied as an undergrad who waited one more year.</p>
<p>But my worry is, will this be considered as Case A? I am worried because if it is, then I may end up screwing up my relationship with the entire academia. When applying, I would be in the 1st semester of a PhD, which is not really a big deal. I wouldn't have any advisor at that point and would simply be taking a few classes.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44783,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't see anything inherently wrong with changing PhD programs sufficiently early and with good cause. I do, however, find it wrong to be secretive and conspirative about it. In other words, you should by no means lie that you were previously (or currently) engaged in a PhD program at University X. Also, you should be prepared to answer the admittance committee why you are transferring. I would say, that \"yours is a better program\" is not enough, you should present a more compelling reason (i.e. a particular research interest and desire to cooperate with some particular faculty at the new uni) and be able to back it up.</p>\n\n<p>You are probably worried what University X will do when they find out about your application. Well, chances are, if you are not assigned to a specific project with a specific mentor (you say you are not) or you don't receive any funding, they wouldn't care that much.</p>\n\n<p>If you are worried, that if you mentioned University X, they would contact someone there to inquire about you, that could happen, even without a mentor.</p>\n\n<p>In short, lying to the new institution is very bad and could hurt your chances tremendously. Deceit is usually (with negligible exceptions) the death sentence in academia. The new institution could even not only refuse to admit you, but also contact University X and tell them about your misconduct. Now that, would mean nothing but trouble for you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44793,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One key point: you don't mention anywhere in your question <strong>why</strong> you want to transfer. Because you say \"some PhD programs\", I gather you don't have a specific other program in mind, and I can only assume that you don't have some compelling personal reason to do so (e.g. living in a certain city so as to care for a family member) but rather are simply trying to trade up.</p>\n\n<p>Most students who enroll at programs which are not the top ones in their field would like to (or should like to!) move to better ones if they could, but because transferring programs is a fair amount of inconvenience for everyone, the threshold for doing so is rather high. If you want to get into a better PhD program in year N+1 than you did in year N, then it would be reasonable to have a better application. </p>\n\n<p>Trying to improve your application while newly enrolled in a PhD program is a bad idea. First of all, as everyone else has said, <strong>of course you must disclose the fact that you are currently enrolled in a PhD program if you are applying to a different one</strong>. The idea that you think otherwise is a bit alarming, not because this is such an evil thing to do but it shows how far away you are from understanding academic culture. Do you think that no one will find out that you are currently in a PhD program?!? Think again: likely all of your recommendation letters will mention this, for instance. </p>\n\n<p>Moreover, the first semester of being a PhD student is a tough time to build your application: no one at your new program knows you very well (or at all), you haven't done anything much, and more than likely you are just absorbing the culture shock of a new environment and are not in a position to show superiority (and in fact most first year PhD students are fairly inept compared to other PhD students in the program: I know I was). This phenomenon comes up when first year PhD students try to reapply for certain graduate fellowships (like an NSF fellowship) that they were also eligible for as a graduating undergraduate: they have to get a mix of recommendation letters from faculty at their old university who probably have nothing new or better to say about them than the previous time around and from faculty at their new university who have trouble saying more than \"Mr. X is a student in our PhD program -- isn't he? I'm pretty sure.\" </p>\n\n<p>My advice is to do one of the following things.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Ask the university who accepted you whether you can defer for a year. It is much better to ask this question up front than for them to find out later from someone else that you are trying to trade up. It is a fairly good bet that you will be able to do it: I would much rather enroll a student a year later if in that intervening year they figured out that they really want to come.</p></li>\n<li><p>Enroll in a non-PhD program either there or somewhere else: a non-degree program or a <strong>master's program</strong>. In the American system, getting a non-terminal master's degree is essentially the culturally accepted version of the kind of academic laundering that you seek to do. This is probably two years rather than just one year, and if you play your cards right you can actually improve your application and profile in that time. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44807,
"author": "Yonian",
"author_id": 34030,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34030",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Getting a PhD from a decent institution takes lots of time and effort. Unless you are working on a project that highly motivates you the experience will be more difficult and unpleasant that it is worth.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't feel compelled to devote an important chunk of your life to investigating a particular dissertation subject, then the Master's degree route makes a lot of sense. You should be better able to choose a research project after a year or two in an academic department.</p>\n\n<p>You need to look for the best place to pursue answers to academic questions that will keep you motivated for the next 5-7 years. And if you get to the point where you are choosing advisors, don't fail to find out everything you can about them from their former students. </p>\n\n<p>If you can honestly tell a recruiter that it is your heart's desire to investigate so-and-so with Professor X then that will make you a much more attractive candidate. You will be able to honestly say that because you will have read all his/her papers on some subject area and you can think of nothing else you would rather do than help find answers to the remaining open questions. Spending years in grad school to get a PhD without being properly motivated is a recipe for misery.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44780",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34018/"
] |
44,784 |
<p>I want to start a chapter in my dissertation by motivating a mathematical operator by showing why it is interesting to look at it and what I can contribute to understand it better. However, I actually need to introduce some mathematical objects in order to correctly state everything.</p>
<p>I think it is a rather bad Idea to start first with a section of introducing the mathematical concepts (like measure theory) and then start the actual motivation. But if I do it opposite, then I am at a loss for words.</p>
<p>For example, in my motivation I would need to use a additive-finite measure space, a operator, the space of mu-integrable functions and a stochastic process. </p>
<p>How would you suggest to cope with such a situation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44790,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you go deeply enough into measure theory and stochastic processes to actually write your dissertation about it, it is safe to assume that readers will be familiar with common concepts. So just assume that people understand what you write about. Do some handwaving if necessary (\"we examine an interesting class of operators that are distinguished in that...\").</p>\n\n<p>Worry less about correctness than about telling a good story. After all, this is a motivational section. Don't include any definitions, or no more than one if it is <em>utterly</em> necessary. (And then, if you find that a definition <em>is</em> necessary in an introduction section, I'd argue that you probably need to revisit what you want to write in that section, until the definition is <em>not</em> necessary any more.)</p>\n\n<p>Worry about correctness in the main body of your chapter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44791,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When I was a Ph.D. student working on my own dissertation, I went to the university writing center for help and had a revelatory experience. The person working with me sat down with the first page of my introduction and effectively dissected it to identify the problems without understanding any of my technical jargon. They did this by reading aloud as we discussed, substituting blank/nonsense words for every piece of jargon, e.g.:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Here we apply method X to determine whether adjective thingies can be made to wibble.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This type of substitution forces you to step back from the technical world that you have dedicated so much time and love to, and understand your narrative---or lack thereof. </p>\n\n<p>In your motivation, you need to take a couple of steps back and ask: why does anybody care about <em>additive-finite measure space</em> (\"frobs\") and how it relates to the <em>space of mu-integrable functions</em> (\"greebit-space\") or a <em>stochastic process</em> (\"wibbling\").</p>\n\n<p>You didn't pick these elements at random. There must be some reason why you picked them and how they relate to the bigger community. Are they intended to solve a puzzle that a lot of people care about? Or a small piece of such a puzzle? Do they unite two sets of concepts that people thought were different? Will they help understand string theory or give better tools for interpreting MRI imaging?</p>\n\n<p>You want to be able to write something like this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>People have wondered about how to better understand frobs ever since Richard Feynman first used them to pick the locks in Los Alamos. Although X, Y, and Z attempts have been made, none of them got very far because they were all green-colored. In this dissertation, I examine an alternate path, reducing the problem of frobs to the simpler system of greebit-space by means of an innovative application of wibbling. These results bring us one step closer to solving the problem of frobs, and how they can be better used to quickly and cheaply pick locks.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Now, what I've written is pure gibberish, and your motivation will almost certainly be much longer. The point, however, is this: your goal in a motivation section is to <em>motivate</em> by explaining that there is a problem that people care about and that you have an approach that gives at least a piece of the solution. Explain it in a way that your jargon can just be placeholders in the reader's mind, and it will be fine to leave the complex definitions for later.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44794,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to other good points made in the other answers, I think too often people overlook the question of the actual, likely audience/readership for a piece of technical writing. For example, it is unlikely that anyone without at least a rudimentary knowledge of your general subject would look at your thesis at all, so you can safely use the standard, basic terminology to give an introduction and overview of a given chapter. That is, it is not useful to imagine that you are explaining \"from scratch\" to someone who's completely unacquainted with the topic under discussion, since the reality would be that they'd not instantly assimilate \"definitions\" in any case.</p>\n\n<p>In other words, contrary to what we sometimes may imagine, there is a <em>context</em> in which we write, and that context is most often richer than we acknowledge. Thus, the work is not to re-establish the basic context, but to make <em>larger</em> points. That is, as in the other answers, I don't want to hear delicate (and possibly pointless) semantic distinctions about word-use, but, rather, about <em>why</em> you are doing what you're doing, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44801,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I encounter this problem, I write the introduction as if the readers knew the concepts that I mention, but I include a parenthetical comment or a footnote, after such a concept, along the lines of \"This and other concepts used in the introduction will be defined in Section 2.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 118406,
"author": "Captain Emacs",
"author_id": 45857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45857",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Mathematicians have a tendency to train to hide away they tracks they used to take to get to their goal (apologies to Simon Singh). This means that motivation is the thing they have been trained <em>not</em> to give. As compensation, they give examples, ranging from trivial to realistic to absurd following the definitions. </p>\n\n<p>This is the situation on the ground. The reason is that mathematical objects are often obtained by so many steps of abstraction of originally natural-world concepts that their real-world origin is often obscured or very difficult to intuit (think the - very compact - definition of topology).</p>\n\n<p>Therefore, it is useful to the reader to \"recreate\" the bridge to reality (which is often possible) and explain which of reality's features are required and which ones are discarded. Measure theory is not so bad in that respect. Basically, you are talking about a kind of \"volume\". In \"nice\" spaces, such a vector spaces, you could consider n-forms as volumes (almost literally), but if the space gets nastier, without a concept of tangent spaces and the associated structure, you have to look at which permits you to extend this concept to suitably selected subsets of your space. My favourite to asking the question what you miss if you have no measure is to respond with the Banach-Tarski paradox.</p>\n\n<p>Now the game can also be played on a higher level if you talk to mathematicians who know already a lot of things. You now need to explain how <em>your</em> concepts will fit into what <em>they</em> already know. So, a group theorist may be motivated to look at semigroups by explaining which axioms you drop (and why). Or which phenomenon motivated your definition of semigroup (for instance attempting to model non-invertible operations). </p>\n\n<p><strong>In short:</strong> the point is to explain and to motivate what concepts and phenomena in \"the universe of the reader\" corresponds to properties discarded or generalised (abstractions) or newly studied phenomena in your universe.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 118421,
"author": "T_M",
"author_id": 80521,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/80521",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's a delicate balance. You say:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>...in order to correctly state everything.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>But why are you correctly stating everything if its just a motiational discussion? So you see you have a balancing act whereby you need to give up a little bit of space on the side of correctly stating everything in order to gain some space on the side of being able to flexibly discuss the concepts, ideas, history etc. </p>\n\n<p>This is actually really hard and usually takes much more experience than it did to solve the research problem in the first place. So I think its common for e.g. a graduating PhD student to have the technical knowledge to solve the problem but to find it difficult to articulate where the problem lies within a much bigger field of inquiry. </p>\n\n<p>As you gain more experience you will know <em>when and how to lie</em>. And you will also know much better what counts as standard. When you've just spent years learning the basics of a research field you often feel like things need definitions that don't really. Other experienced mathematicians are probably more comfortable than you think with not fully understanding every detail/remembering every definition but kind of vaguely knowing what such and such an object X is and vaguely what it does and just more or less getting the idea until the later point at which you define everytihng. </p>\n\n<p>To try to give one piece of practical advice: Look for ways to not tell too big a lie. Find places you can say that 'an object X is essentially an object Y together with a parameterization of its involutions' (or whatever) where object Y is something you a sure is more standard.</p>\n\n<p>One example that comes to mind from my education is distributions. I heard both of the following vagueries:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Distributions are generalized functions.(\"OK right so I should think of them like functions\")</li>\n<li>Distributions are like the abstract <em>dual</em> to functions. You pair a distribution with a function to get a number. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This confused me when I was younger. But after some experience I guess you know the ways in which these are both true and you get that <em>different contexts call for different lies</em>. </p>\n\n<p>The readers who don't know the stuff well will essentially have no choice but to just swallow the lies. Then you get worried about the readers who <em>do</em> know the stuff well. Because then when you tell a lie, they might get offended, like \"gah this writer has oversimplified and left out the crucial essence of object X; how will anyone get the important content from watered down motivational discussion!?\" So like I said, it's a balancing act.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44784",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21266/"
] |
44,786 |
<p>What strategies do you use to remember papers that you read?
I usually take notes, but when after a while I look at the notes, I don't remember most of the details. So I have to go back to the original paper and read many sections once again.
Are there better strategies for remembering key points from papers you read for a longer time? I am mostly talking about CS and Math papers in which details can be very easily forgotten.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44806,
"author": "Mitchell Carroll",
"author_id": 22204,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22204",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a CS major and programmer who has to look at Java's API for most anything past <code>System.out.println()</code>, I have learned that memorization can almost hurt more than it helps in CS. That pertaining to programming itself, and not to research and papers, my strategy for remembering information I read is to do an exercise pertaining to the information soon after, if not immediately after or even during, I read it. For example, if I'm reading about amortized analysis, I always have the associated homework or practice problems next to me, working on them as I read. I find that memorization is almost a self-defeating goal, as memorization for its own sake almost always fades away quickly for me, where if I apply knowledge or information soon after taking in information, it helps me to more completely digest the information and it begins to become second nature.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44808,
"author": "Tim",
"author_id": 12703,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12703",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I get much more from a paper if I do a few things:</p>\n\n<p>First, I try to connect it with the research program it comes from. One of my advisors is really incredible at giving a brief bio of almost any researcher in the field including their PhD advisor, the topics that interest them, where they might have done a postdoc, who their collaborators are, etc. All this stuff can seem kind of tangential until you start to see the connections between researchers and programs. At that point, it becomes an extra associative dimension to help you recall the research itself.</p>\n\n<p>Second, I try to work in a discussion of every important paper I read with an advisor. When I'm approaching a deadline and reading a lot this doesn't work, but in more relaxed periods I try to set a plan in advance (e.g. 'Next week let's talk about these three hippocampal modeling papers') so that I know as I'm reading I am going to need to remember both big ideas and technical details. Talking through the paper lets you relate it to other ideas in the field, compare and contrast, expand upon the ideas, and critique things. All of these are good on their own, but also useful because they offer more associative threads to tie the paper into a web of knowledge.</p>\n\n<p>I'm sure there are other strategies. For really important ideas, Mitchell Carroll's answer probably is best, since you need to work through them on your own to fully understand the subtleties.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44813,
"author": "Scaevola",
"author_id": 34037,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34037",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I try to give a brief summary to every article I read. I highlight and make notes on the paper and transfer this from analogue to digital with Mendeley.</p>\n\n<p>In Mendeley there is a 'notes' section, where I post notes about the article. This includes:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Hypothesis</li>\n<li>Interesting methods</li>\n<li>Important conclusions</li>\n<li>Thoughts for the future</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Maybe this is something you can use as well? This is in medicine/biology by the way, more concept based than math based..</p>\n\n<p>EDIT: Here is my full list (which I never manage to fill in completely, but it helps):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Complete citation: \n Key Words: \n General subject: \n Specific subject:</p>\n \n <p>Hypothesis:</p>\n \n <p>Methodology: Result(s):</p>\n \n <p>Summary of key points:</p>\n \n <p>Context (how this article relates to other work in the field; how it\n ties in with key issues and findings by others, including yourself):</p>\n \n <p>Significance (to the field; in relation to your own work):</p>\n \n <p>Important Figures and/or Tables (brief description; page number):</p>\n \n <p>Cited References to follow up on (cite those obviously related to your\n topic AND any papers frequently cited by others because those works\n may well prove to be essential as you develop your own work):</p>\n \n <p>Other Comments:</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44814,
"author": "AdamHarries",
"author_id": 20909,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20909",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The advice I was given by my supervisor is to write about a paragraph on each of the four following points for each paper you read (note, this is from a very CS perspective):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>What's the context for the paper</strong>, in other words, what is the issue that the paper's trying to tackle, and what's the prior work in the area, or the work that the paper's trying to build off. For word published as parts of bigger projects, what's the overall aim of the project, and how does the paper fit in. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>What's the key contribution of the paper</strong>, i.e. what is the central idea, or improvement that the paper presents over the state of the art. I (personally) find this one of the more important sections (especially in terms of remembering papers later), as this is where you need to really hone in on what the code idea behind the paper is, without all the extraneous implementation detail/proofs/arguments.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Criticisms of the work</strong>, no research is perfect! I'm personally terrible at looking back at papers I've read with rose tinted glasses, leading to a little bit of imposter syndrome. Having a list of criticisms of the paper can help to dull that, as well as providing a good counterbalance to the \"key contribution\" section.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Any other thoughts</strong>. As the purposes of the four points is to help remember the paper later, it's also important to make a note of what you personally thought while reading the paper. Really liked a sidenote they made? Make a note of it. Found an corner case you don't think they cover properly? Make a note of it - you could turn it into research later! </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I usually find that I take about 10 minutes writing notes on each paper, along with about the amount of text that I've written for this answer. Your mileage as to how much you want to say about each paper may vary however.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44818,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Take notes. Information passed though brain to hand, especially if you take the time to think about it and rephrase, ask additional questions, etc., is a bit more likely to be remembered. Reading it aloud, \"in character\", also sometimes worked for me but requires privacy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44861,
"author": "Chris H",
"author_id": 8494,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8494",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Expect to go back to the original for matters of substance, otherwise a 1-bit error in your recollection could make you suffer (e.g. changing the sign in an equation). </p>\n\n<p>Concentrate only on remembering the major author(s) and affiliation (easy way to mention it to someone else), how you would find it again, and the key new stuff (for you) which you should find in the abstract. If there's an important equation/algorithm/method etc. then you will want to write it down, but that's not so much <em>remembering a paper</em> as learning something new <em>from the starting point of a paper</em>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> I should note that I vastly prefer reading papers on paper and can therefore make margin notes and file particularly interesting ones.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44910,
"author": "10100111001",
"author_id": 34112,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34112",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here's some good rules of thumb I saw (or did I hear it? :) ) and remembered (amazingly enough). Can't remember where though...:</p>\n\n<pre><code>What you hear, you forget,\nwhat you see, you remember,\nwhat you do, you understand.\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>\"Jokes\" aside, what worked best for me at least while studying and trying to remember things was to try and explain/retell to someone who really is not in your field.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, a sibling or parent etc. The hardest part is to get them to agree to it, but hey no one said education was cheap (sacrifices and returned favors are to be expected in some cases). Perhaps they may put you to the same use for their similar needs :) </p>\n\n<p>It is easier if you can incorporate your theory into what would be a really exciting example for the person in mind. Trying to Re-tell something advanced in an understandable and exciting way to someone who does not know very much about your field does <em>Wonders</em> (at least it did for me).</p>\n\n<p>Because when you have read a paper -> written notes -> finished the exercises -> feeling you \"basically understand\" what you've studied, the final nail in the memory-coffin is to teach what you think you've learned.</p>\n\n<p>Because once you have managed to successfully explain to someone else (which may take time but is kind of very fun as well and very well spent time!) you will probably have twisted and tried to anser questions, finding alternative ways to explain, simplify, and come up with real-world examples to make the counterpart get some kind of feeling (if not fully understand it, which may not be expected of course), that you quickly realize which parts you had to check up in the book/papers again.</p>\n\n<p>This is no easy task but it is very funny (I think so at least, like to teach and learn) and my heasd usually got really tired afterwards (you know \"tired\" like when being up late studying and suddenly the brain gets \"high\" and youtube clips suddenly become very funny and all). This is because it puts your brain to hard work during quite some time, but the key is that it one likes it so it is fine and the brain will remember more than one may imagine.</p>\n\n<p>I shall not share my whole life story, but I can tell you that this was without doubt the most effective (and probably efficient) way for me to not only remember, but more importantly to also understand and get new perspectives on the subject.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 160733,
"author": "Samuel",
"author_id": 133465,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/133465",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The main reason why people forget what they read is the lack of rehearsal.\nI used a notebook to keep track of the important notes I've read.\nSome apps are also great for that: i.e. Evernote, Readult or any note taker.\nWhile on the road (for example, on my way to the office) - I know always take time to scan through my notes, to keep them in my head.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44786",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14408/"
] |
44,792 |
<p>Some people have reasons to want their identity protected from a Google search, such as a dangerous stalker ex-spouse.</p>
<p>When you become a grad student, assistant professor, etc. at a university, and if the university wants to put your name on their website (directory, course catalog, departmental page, to name a few), can you refuse it or have them at least put out a pseudonym instead, assuming you have been publishing or contributing to articles (or intend to) with that pseudonym?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44826,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you have to accept the reality that this is not practically possible. Your name will appear on dozens of websites in various ways -- your own website, your department's website, the university's website for news and announcements, the university's class catalog for the current and previous years, the university's records of external grants funded, the university's accreditation reports that include publication lists, your university's open records disclosures of state employee salaries to open websites, etc etc etc. This will, in all practicality, involve dozens of people who take your name from electronic databases, paper records, payroll systems. Many websites will be automatically generated as well from electronic databases. Even if state law gives you the right to opt out of something like this, you will almost certainly find it impossible to actually do so in practice given that you have no idea where all your name is listed and who to contact to get it removed or changed. You also have to balance this with the university's very reasonable interest in allowing students to find information (such as teaching schedule, website, course information, etc) about their teacher.</p>\n\n<p>I don't really think you have any other options than legally change your name permanently.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44830,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is commonly done in several types of cases:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>by women who want to retain using their maiden name professionally while switching their legal name to their husbands</p></li>\n<li><p>by students from countries who have taken a hostile stance towards the United States and who want to protect their extended families back in their home country</p></li>\n<li><p>By foreigners with impossibly long (from an American standpoint) first or last names or who use non-mainstream variations on their name</p></li>\n<li><p>By faculty who go by their middle names or nicknames not their formal first names</p></li>\n<li><p>By aforementioned stalking victims</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you are at a large enough institution, they are prepared to handle these types of situations. My (large enough) institution has the following:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Fields in the university directory database that allow for 'nicknames' to take the place of names. Because all of our e-mails are [email protected], this allows for e-mails to arrive properly.</p></li>\n<li><p>Flags in the university directory that particular information should not be publicly released. One can prevent the listing altogether if you choose. </p></li>\n<li><p>The only other place where names would appear would be the faculty/staff/student website, which is under departmental control and easily changed.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>One of the doctoral students that I work for is from one of the aforementioned hostile countries and you will not find any web presence for her on the departmental website.</p>\n\n<p>This gets trickier when you are faculty, as students need to enroll in your courses and you need to publish. I would recommend in this case either a full legal name change or pushing your university/department to recognize a pseudonym. It helps greatly if you have a common last name and only need to modify your first name. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/05/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44792",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34020/"
] |
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