Publishing (and being cited) in youtube, twitter, or facebook This question here  left me thinking that maybe I am too old and intolerant towards those things young people are doing.

I always think that academic publishing is peer-reviewed articles, or material that goes through some other academic filter, like a publisher or a conference board.

Are youtube, twitter, or facebook acceptable venues of academical work? Are they sources that can be safely ignored? Excepting the case pointed out by the respondent, which is that the object of the study is youtube, twitter, or facebook, obviously. In this case, it must be cited.

We prefer sources of different sorts for different reasons. Journals and conference proceedings that are printed on high-quality paper and bound professionally are considered archival. They have lasted for hundreds of years at least and may be found (even with difficulty) for generations. Online publishing of traditional-style articles provides easy and quick access, and properly converted to text, annotated, or indexed is highly searchable. Both of these modes are typically bound up with peer review in order to also provide some measures of quality, correctness, and authority, though no system of peer review is perfect.

Blogs, online videos, and social media appear to lack basically all of these features, but that doesn't make them unciteable. Given the choice between citing a video lecture of a professor demonstrating the proof of a theorem or a journal article where the same theorem is proved, cite the journal. But given only the video, the culture of academic publishing and writing is that you must cite it. If Terry Tao proves something new on his blog that relates to a paper you are working on, you should cite to it if your article is to be published before he can turn it into a traditional publication.

There's a hierarchy of sources with some disagreement to the ordering. But if there's something that you can point to which backs your point, proves your theorem, or demonstrates your idea, you have an obligation to consider it for citation. Different fields will have different standards for how compelling this obligation is. Pointing to a random blog to bolster your theory of the American Civil War probably won't pass muster in most History circles, but primary sources testifying to the fact you want to demonstrate usually will. In math or CS, the standards are probably a bit different.


I found a paper with a similar structure, method, and conclusions from an attendee of a conference I presented at. Is this plagiarism? Facts:

In 2019 I gave a presentation at an international conference. The paper, a systematic review of my field of study, was uploaded on the website of the conference.
One person in the audience approached me and asked me questions on the methodology of the paper.
A few months later, this person invited me to submit my paper to a journal that she was curating. I refused because my paper was already under review in another journal.
Yesterday, I found out that she has published a paper in her journal with the same structure, method, and conclusions of mine.

To be noted: the bibliometric datasets are slightly different, but the images are very similar. Also, the conclusions of her paper resemble mine.
Anyone doing a systematic review of the field of study would reach similar conclusions, but existing work with similar findings should be cited. My unpublished work was never cited or mentioned. Moreover, my study was the first one to do a quantitative thematic review. Now, her paper is the first one to do it.  I feel the novelty of my paper has been largely lost.
To be honest, this seems like a case of plagiarism. It is too convenient to copy the structure of an existing paper and change the wording to not make it look like plagiarism.
It can happen that similar papers get published at the same time. But her paper did not happen by chance. She copied my idea and decided to publish it before me.
I just find the behavior highly unprofessional, but I am not sure if copying the method, the topic, and the structure of a paper constitutes plagiarism. The fact that she never cited my unpublished work tells me that she had ill intentions. But maybe I am wrong. What do you think I should do? Can I ask the journal to retract the her paper?

(I agree with the comment from UJM.)
Since she was "curating" the journal, I guess that means it was a special issue, and there are other, permanent editors. You can approach them. I think if you do this carefully, there is not a great risk. What I mean by that is to focus on yourself: you have concerns that your paper is damaged by this. Don't speculate on her process or motivation.
If you are a student, obviously discuss it with your supervisor first.


What does MS in Pure or applied Math look in top PhD statistics application I know there is a thread related to this topic but I just want to know how does an MS in Pure Math or Applied Math look in a PhD Statistics application in top school (Ivy League, Stanford). I'm currently at the top 50-60 school in Math and I would like to know what a committee member of top PhD school look at me. Also, do you need to have research experience during master year since a lot of master program is intensively learning graduate courses in your first year. Thus, once you apply in the fall of second year in the Master program you might not have research experience or publication yet.
I also have research experience during my undergrad year, with a perfect GPA in math major. Not sure how the master will turn out but I just want to ask how would people view my PhD application if I apply (assuming I would do decent or pretty well during my first Master year)

I went from an MS in pure math to a PhD in statistics. My transition was just fine. Many doctoral programs in statistics, especially those at "elite" universities, tend to actually be rather math heavy. You will be well suited to pursue questions in mathematical statistics and probability theory. A robust understanding of linear algebra and real analysis are always helpful in statistics.

You will need to make sure that you have a background in at least a few things:

Be sure to perhaps take an introductory stats course if you can. This will allow you to learn the basics of the terminology.
Become competent in some programming languages. C++ is good. Python is good. R is great. You may struggle in some classes if you are completely inept at programming.
Try looking at the backgrounds of some of the students at your desired schools. LinkedIn or the school website can sometimes give you this information without excessive work.
As for research experience, every bit helps. It would maybe not be a disqualifier if you have no research, but you should look into how feasible it would be to join in on a project. This being said, the biggest thing a committee would look for would be potential to do quality research. This can be shown in more ways than just straight up research.

Also, may I second @astronat's thoughts on going directly to a PhD if you are so inclined? It's not a solution for everyone, but it can speed up the process of obtaining the terminal degree sometimes. Note that going directly for a PhD is more likely to allow you to obtain funding immediately for graduate school.


How to calculate total GMAT score? The maximum possible score is 800.

Divided by sections:

AWA: maximum is 6 (from 0 to 6);
Integrated reasoning: maximum is 8 (from 1 to 8);
Math: maximum is 60;
Verbal: maximum is 60.

If to summarize these maximum results in each section then we will have 134, but not 800.
What is the right way to calculate total GMAT score?

The total score (which ranges from 200 to 800 in 10-point increments) is a scaled combination of the quantitative and verbal scores.

There is no official "right way" to calculate the total score because the official conversion scale has not been made public. You can find various unofficial (estimated) conversion scales around the Internet - e.g. here, here, and here.


PhD in theoretical physics after dropping out of PhD program in Engineering? I am applying to US universities for PhD in theoretical physics (for Fall 2015). I was earlier an engineering undergraduate student from a reputed college in Asia with GPA of around 8.0 (on a scale of 10). Due to my research experience during undergraduate, I got scholarship to do my PhD in Europe at one of the top-30 universities in the world. But after two years into the graduate program and publishing one journal paper, I realized that I was only doing numerical methods which did not really suit me as I always wanted to do rigorous math and discover new physics. So I left this program (in good standing) to pursue theoretical physics research.

Immediately, I joined the topmost physics institute in my country for research in string theory, cosmology, general relativity. Within a year, I was able to produce three publications in top high energy physics journals like the Journal of High Energy Physics (JHEP) with my collaborators, who are well-known. So these collaborators have provided me good recommendations as well. Additionally, I have good GRE and GRE Physics scores.

My question is how an unconventional profile like mine will be seen by graduate admission committees at good US Universities. Would my engineering background (especially dropping out part) and lack of official physics coursework put me at disadvantage ? How much my four publications would help me in the process ?

Thanks

The only problem I can see with cases like yours is that some people may look at the file and think "This is someone who can't finish what they start."  It is essential for you to communicate in the statement of purpose why you left the old program and why you believe you will complete a new one.


What should I do if my advisor urges me to do a project that I have no interest or faith in? About a year ago when I was a first-year graduate student, my advisor wanted me to follow up on a project left behind by an honors student. I agreed because, at that time, I thought the topic was important and the findings were rather interesting. However, over the past year, I was busy with other projects and my qualifying exam, so this project was put on hold for almost a year. This summer, my advisor urges me to get it done as soon as possible.

I'd be more than happy to, had I not realized the original project is not methodologically sound. My RAs who re-coded the original data share the same feeling: The experimenter made various mistakes and was overly flexible, yet all data points entered into final analyses. I don't want to spend months chasing after effects that don't exist. Moreover, due to the complex study design, I can foresee what a nightmare it can be to build computational models in the future.

I suggested radical changes that make the experiment more rigorous and subsequent modeling efforts more tractable, but my advisor refused my proposal several times, arguing that making any changes will only delay the starting time. I feel stuck: On the one hand, I don't want to pursue this project as it is since it's most definitely going to fail; on the other, I don't have the courage (or "moral capitals") to defy my advisor because I have put off this project for so long. To make matters worse, I only have one advisor, so if our relationship deteriorates, I have no one else to turn to.

Any advice on what I should do is much appreciated!

Sometimes it is necessary to "bite the bullet" and demonstrate that the method doesn't work. But you need to provide clear and irrefutable evidence in a way that can actually convince people, not just a vague claim.

A classic example of the failure to do this is the Challenger explosion: all of the information needed to delay the launch was known, but because the engineers who had the data didn't present it in a clear manner–just a raw output of data—their supervisors overruled them. If they had come in with plots showing failure of the O-rings as a function of launch conditions, anyone could have recognized the danger of the situation.

So if your advisor is insisting, you probably need to demonstrate why his approach  is infeasible or he will continue to insist upon it.


How can anyone assess their own Phd application prior to actually applying to determine its weaknesses and figure out what to do next? How can an undergraduate student self-assess his/her PhD application prior to actually applying for PhD programs?

As prospective PhD students, we can generally compare ourselves to other students at our own school using our grades. We may also apply to internships or awards and, by acceptance rates of such programs, we may begin to understand how "good" we are as a possible Phd student candidate. In addition, we might try discussing our potential application with a professor, but even though we might be really good, the professor might be too busy or otherwise not give great feedback. In such a case, how can one self-assess himself/herself on how good is his s/he perceived as a prospective Phd student, determine his/her weaknesses, and figure out what to do next ?

Since students are admitted to such programs by people, and not by algorithms, you probably can't do it with any assurance. But note that the number of programs you target is very small and the number of potential applicants is very large. Thus, the competition is fierce. So, it doesn't depend on just you, but on the perceived quality of the others you compete with.

As Solar Mike suggests, the only way to know is to apply.

But one good way to get a fairly valid assessment without applying is to put together the materials needed for an application and ask one or two of your current professors to give you feedback on it. Do they see any missing parts? Can they suggest better ways to present yourself to a committee of their peers? ...

Some students with perfect GPAs get rejected from some programs because there just isn't room for everyone or they have other things in their record that makes them less of a "sure bet" for the committee.

On the other hand, there are plenty of other schools, not in your "top" category at which you can get a fine education and a firm foundation for a great academic career. Some schools have "niche" programs in certain sub fields that may be better suited to you and provide a better education that the top ten you suggest. You might also have a clearer path to completion at such schools.


Journal Club - How to encourage students to ask questions to the presenters (peers) We are running a journal club online due to the current COVID-19 situation. The students have to pick a paper and present it online to teachers and their peers. However, I would like to make the experience a bit more formative for the students. The main thing that is missing is an interaction among the presenters and the other students.

Do you have any advice on how to get the students to ask questions to their peers?

EDIT: This Journal club is part of a master's degree course and there is an evaluation of the journal club. However, we only evaluate the students for their presentations.

I found this question that is somehow related but not exactly what I am looking for.

Thanks!

I have taken part in two journal club formats that work well for maximizing student involvement, although whether they would lend themsevles well to assesement, I don't know.

In both cases the idea is to force everyone to read the paper, and engage with it, and minimise the workload for person "presenting". In neither case is there any powerpoints, or pre-rehearsed talking. The presentor is more of a facilitator.

Structure one: Figures presented at random

In this structure the person who picked the paper gives a brief introduction to the paper and why they picked it (no more than say 5 minutes). They then present the first figure.

Subsequent figures/tables are then presented by people selected at random (we roll a die). When I say "presented" I often mean "leads a discussion" - as there might be things in the figure the person chosen doesn't understand, has questions about, particularly since they didn't pcik the paper.

I find that this forces everyone to read and engage with the paper, but it doesn't force the discussion to go beyond what is in the figures.

Structure two: Everyone must ask a question

Again the paper selector introduces the paper briefly. We then go round the room and everyone has to say one thing they liked about the paper, one thing they didn't like, and one question/discussion point. The paper selector writes down the discussion points/questions, prioritises them and the leads a discussion with this as the agenda.


how to express my thought to my supervisor without being disrespectful? I applied to a not-so-well-recognized university for my PhD studies. The reason behind it was that one of my undergraduate professors moved to that university for some financial benefits.

I have been working in the research proposal for almost one year, and it got accepted. The problem is that I would like to continue with my studies, but I know that if I continue in that university I would not get many academic chances, and I will be obtaining my doctoral title just for the sake of getting the certificate and nothing more. Actually I would like to move forward to other more respected university with my research proposal. By the way this is my own work and is not related to any on going project from my supervisor.

How I can tell the professor that I would like to still have the professor's help in matters of getting recommendation letters? so I can move with my project to a more well-respected university? I just do not know how to mention that I feel that my academic future will be jeopardized if I decide to stay at this university. It's not a big deal for the professor, who already has a stable academic position.

How to deal with this situation? I do not want the professor to get pissed off with me or to burn any bridges.

My personal recommendation would be to say you're trying to complete your PhD with a university that specializes in your field of study/research. I would also recommend a certain level of honesty (not saying their school isn't as respected, just that you're trying to get into a school that is well known and respected for your specific pursuit.)

Most people working in education understand and respect the pursuit of knowledge, not that they aren't unhappy about losing people, but they either respect you, or they don't. Either way you must do what's best for you.


Which are the most relevant sources on the goals of university and their relation to its origins and evolution? During my university student life here in Brazil, I've heard and read different opinions about the goals of modern university, from "provide social justice" to "form an intellectual elite". That's why I'm looking for books or articles about the goals of present universities and the relation between those goals and the history of universities.

That's even more relevant now that I am a professor, because students commonly complain about having to study things that they consider irrelevant to themselves. I've been teaching "Physics for Agrarian Sciences", and that problem is bigger there because some students think they will not use that much Physics during their professional lives.

I tend to answer that some may not use it but others will, and that university is supposed to provide more knowledge than that directly applicable, due to its "high education" character. Otherwise, they could get some non-university technician degrees available at technical schools.

On the other hand, I'm not sure that my view of what a university is or should be is consistent with its origins and evolution.

Germany has had the model of the Humboldt ideals. Unfortunately, it has now become slowly eroded through the Bologna process of educational reform and unification in Europe. If you want details, these topics are important and influential and you should look up the terms Humboldt ideal and Bologna on the web.

However, in a nutshell, the Humboldt ideal is about educating enlightened citizens, both in terms of expanding one's personal horizon as well as contributing to society. It is a highly influential and (in my opinion) beneficial way of looking at university education.

Developing the personality of the students is the foremost goal of this way of thinking; for which, of course, the development of a skill set is an important, but not the only or ultimate component. Responsibility for the society at large is part of it, as well. Enlightenment means here that, of course, the individual can and should identify as an individual how to balance the different components.

The "elite" may be implied here, but should not be understood as a privilege rather than a responsibility and duty. Ultimately, the ideal would be that every single member of the society would belong to this elite in their individual responsibility for the world around them. Of course, this is illusory in reality, but it is clear that this is the goal to aspire to.

In short, being educated in the Humboldtian sense means that you understand the world around you, and you can meaningfully interact on things outside your immediate reach.

For people who are not interested in anything but their immediate agenda, my question would be why they are considering themselves at all "students" at "university". After all, "student" means "the zealous"; and "university" is not by chance related to "universal".


Can being a reviewer for a top journal improve my chances in PhD admissions? I have got an email of invitation to review a paper in a best journal of my field. I had a paper there and somewhere else almost in that field.

As I must invest serious time and attention to complete the review, I wanted to know if that does any advantage on improving my resumé for getting a better chance of acceptance and scholarship for my future PhD program abroad?
Basically, should I mention in my CV that I am a reviewer of that journal, when I am sending it to other universities?

P.S. I have graduated from M.Sc. two years ago.

Yes, this helps.

Regarding the CV, I've seen frequently that people include sections like "Other scientific activity" or "Community service" where there is subsection like "Referee for:" followed by a list of journals (sometimes even with numbers indicating how many reviews have been done). So you can make this service visible in your CV.

There is another way in which reviewing may help your career: If you write a sensible review for a relevant paper it will be read by at least one editor of the journal and it's safe to assume that this editor is a respected and reputable member of the community. In this way, writing good reviews helps to build your reputation (albeit slowly as not many people see your reviews with your name attached, but at least these are the "right" people).


Case-specific appropriateness of an erratum/corrigendum? Myself and my PhD supervisors recently published an article (climate science). One of the panels within a multi-panel Figure is a time-series with both a left-hand and right-hand y-axes. The axis labels have been inadvertently reversed and are hence wrong. However:

1) The relative changes of both time-series are so similar that the only way to visually discern them is by looking at axis value ranges (left-hand side extends to 100, right-hand side to 135). Further, the absolute values are not interpreted in any detail, and only the relative changes from one time slice to another matter in this case.

2) All raw data is correct and provided to the reader via DOI links. So if the data was to be plotted by an interested reader, it would be correct.

3) None of the manuscript text is affected whatsoever by the error (i.e. all data interpretation, conclusions, quoted values etc.) are correct.

Does the error above warrant a corrigendum?

This is a tricky dilemma for me as, on one hand, good scientific practice dictates there is not a choice, and any significant error should be fixed at the earliest opportunity. However, whether the error is significant is subjective... On the other hand, highlighting the error to readers via a corrigendum might be perceived as "sloppy", as this was supposed to be caught way before the proofing stage. I am a (barely) post-PhD researcher and do not want this to negatively affect my career unless it is necessary.

The easy answer is to ask the journal (after all, they're the ones who publish the corrigendum, and if you say "yes" while they say "no", their opinion overrules yours). Write to the editor who accepted your paper, or to the editor-in-chief, and see what they think.


Is it possible to move past bad decisions made during PhD and hope for a bright future if I do a good job in postdoc? I completed my PhD in mechanical engineering last year. It took me 5.5 years to complete it. I already held a master's degree previously albeit in a different research area. The main reason was my inability to understand the topic, develop ideas and carry out focused work during the first 2 years of PhD.

I got disinterested in my topic/research area early on in my PhD. This was mainly because I had to self learn many advanced topics which were not taught in my university. That made me less sure about my knowledge.

However, post 3rd year, I worked hard, got interested in the topic and published 2 papers in decent journals.

In addition, I did very few TAs during my PhD because I was unfocused during my first few years and couldn't invest time in any other activities.

Now, I am pursuing a postdoc with my PhD supervisor on a different approach to my PhD project which is interesting and will help me secure better positions later. I plan to use this time to publish 4-5 papers.

Will the ghost of my past bad decisions made during PhD haunt me and affect my future even if I do a focused and productive job in my postdoc?

First of all, congratulations for your achievements!

I did not a complete a PhD, not to mention a postdoc, but I had my own bad experiences during my academic and professional career.

From reading your question, it seems you have all conditions to succeed in this new stage of your life/career. Obviously, you had your low moments a few years ago, but you saw with your own eyes they can be overcome. I believe this could give you the extra confidence when facing obstacles later that you can spot them and know how to resolve them by yourself or with help from others.

Regarding obtaining future positions/jobs, I am confident PIs, universities and generally employers do no look that far in the past, but rather focus on the performance of people in recent years. In consequence, I believe you should keep a positive attitude and when the ghosts from the past appear realise they can be again defeated.


Applying deferment after offered admission for second time I am a university lecturer (say university A) that has been offered admission to university B's PhD program. This university B is a well-known university in Asia..and I have to say that this is truly a dream come true for me. I planned this for two years to pursue my PhD here and what an amazing feeling I had.

I should have started my study in August 2018, but I had asked for deferment to enroll in January 2019. This was due to a training I had to complete in uni A. I also told them that, according to the promised deadline, this training should be over in December 2018. I simply wrote this on my email. I was so worried uni B wouldn't permit this, but they did! I was incredibly happy to hear that and became even more excited to start my study..even more committed and fell in love more with uni B.

I was ready to wait for January 2019 and also for the training I would face soon. I was waiting for the news of the start of the training, and kept waiting. I waited..to the point where I realized that this training just wouldn't happen in December 2018 or before.

I was so sad. It's not that I couldn't leave this training. I mean, I could also reject the admission offer, right? It's just that I had to make this choice. If I were to leave this training, I would have quite a big consequence..roughly as big as what I would have for rejecting the offer from uni B.

However, I know for sure that the training SHOULD be given to me before July 2019 as the rule states so. Hence, now, I am trying to figure out how I can ask for my second deferment..now to August 2019. My effort and questions:

Instead of just email, I plan to ask rektor of uni A to back me up, and it seems positively this will happen. The rektor will send statement letter to uni B that explain my condition. I go this far because I just think clarification is needed and hopefully this will show my commitment to them. How do you think this will work?
Beside that, I am considering to also emphasize my commitment through my own letter. Here I would like to write that this deferment will be the last one I ask, and if I can't enroll in time, I will accept the consequences such as I can no longer pursue my PhD in this department, even in uni B. Will this do? I mean, am I doing too much, or this should indeed be done, or not enough? What would this letter be called? An agreement letter?

Advices are really appreciated.

If you have already been offered the position and it isn't contingent on the training, then just accept. You may miss "the training" for now, but that doesn't close you off from learning the material later.

There is no guarantee that the first university will ever get the job done and you have little influence and no control over that.

Note, I'm assuming here that you are the recipient of the training, not the trainer who is being depended on by others.


Are there major obstacles to completing a thesis Masters program if I'm not funded/working in a lab? I will be entering an MS program in engineering this fall. I was not offered any assistantships or fellowships/funding. I was accepted to other graduate programs with some funding but chose to go to my top choice of school.

I spoke to my academic advisor and they told me something very similar to 'most MS students here take out loans, complete a non-thesis program, and then go out into the real world and make a ton of money and pay them off.'

Given that I would also like to apply for PhD programs and external funding upon completion of the MS program: what obstacles, if any, will be associated with me choosing to complete the thesis program if I will not be working in a lab? Could this cause issues when I go to apply for fellowships/PhD programs?

It strongly depends on your school, your department and your topic. Ask your advisor and/or PhD student what is the policy of the department.

There are theses where student work for a lab or factory and the thesis is part of this work (optimisation tasks, design of custom experimental apparatus), there are also, mostly theoretical, theses that can be succesfully defended and continued in PhD without strong bond with the department.

There are also topics, ususaly narrow-focused, where student is not skilled enough to work for the lab. Or there may be legal issues.


Do Universities go through old assignmnets to check for plagiarism? I am new University student, in software engineering program.
I was FALSLY accused in plagiarism in my second semester and it resulted in a 0 on the assignment of course. I believe a student copied my code while on an online study group I initiated, but because I was pregnant and gave birth a couple of days after the accusation, I didn't have it in me to fight it, as I needed to appeal and the whole process would have taken probably a couple of months and I couldn't take the stress.

So I just took the punishment and "admitted" I plagiarized. Needless to say, it was the most stressful, terrifying time in my life, I thought my academic career is over for good. Of course, I learned from my mistake and  I stopped helping people through study sessions all togather as I have my family I need to think about, and as I have two babies and I am exhausted all the time it is very easy for me to not pay attention to things. But since then, I am absolutely traumatized and can't stop trying to think whether or not this might have happened to me before and I just happned to not get caught and the thought about this possibility is absolutly killing me and I find my self up at night thinking about it and it is really starting to destroy my life.

My question is, and it's only an hypothetical question as I only started with the study sessions that semster and stopped immediatly after being accused, what happens if god forbid someone coppied my code in a different course before and we just were not caught for some reason? do universities usually go back to check old submittions for plagiarism?

I am absolutly terrified, so much so that I am considering dropping out.
I know my fear is not rational but I can't control my thoughts and it's driving me crazy, I need some reasurance. I am terrified to work so hard for my degree, just to have it revoked by the university at a later point.

By the way, I take full responsiblity for my mistake, I realize that I should have never put myself in a position where I was at risk to accidently share my code with another student.

Don’t worry,

Just don’t do it or anything like it again.

You were punished for that infraction and they expect better of you now. As a lecturer I don’t go back through all old submissions as I don’t have time..

Just do your best from now on and don’t give up.

Best wishes.


Who cares about your PhD thesis? I'm pursuing a Ph.D. in a computer science-related field (more particularly, in Artificial Intelligence). During my studies, I was involved in several projects, some of them got published in top-tier conferences. I'm ought to submit my Ph.D. thesis this year and was wondering what's the role of theses these days in CS.

Generating a polished thesis would take at least two months. However, collecting the work we've already published into a huge Latex file with a shared (newly written) introduction and discussion would take one week. I believe I can use the spare time to advance my research even further or start new collaborations.

If that matters, my career plans are to start a postdoc position, followed by seeking an academic position.

So, is there any significant downside to hastily constructing a "sandwich thesis" as opposed to carefully polishing a cohesive document? Assume that my committee would accept both.

Who cares about your PhD thesis?

At least your supervisor and your examiners, and potentially anybody seeking to evaluate your work in the future.

The primary reason to be careful with your PhD thesis is to avoid giving a bad impression to your PhD committee. Even if the content is solid, it would be unfortunate to be given major corrections or a lower "cum laude" honor (depending on the local usage) just because a committee member felt that you didn't do much effort with the dissertation.

It is true that most dissertations are not going to be read by many people, but your PhD dissertation is going to be a quite important part of your profile for your whole academic career. A reviewer for a hiring committee might have a cursory look at it, a student considering working with you might be curious about it, etc. Of course it's unlikely to be a major issue, but is it really worth the risk? Even simply for yourself, isn't it worth spending a bit more time in order to have a document you can be proud of in the future?


Is it a bad idea to send an article under review as a writing sample? (faculty job application) I have a manuscript that is under review in a major journal which is a main result out of a few recent years of my research. When applying for faculty positions, I would like to send the draft as a part of my writing sample. But since the material is not yet published, I am not sure if it is a good idea.

What are the foreseeable disadvantages of sending an article in review to the faculty search committee?

My area is neuroscience / biomedical engineering.

Update: The paper got into a high-profile journal, and I got a job at a different place which did not require a writing sample.

First, From a legal point of view I do not think you will have any problems sending out a pre-review version of your manuscript since your have the intellectual rights to your own work. Usually most publishers' copyrights start when they have processed the material in some way but even then, if you are not using the material for any commercial purpose or for being reproduced publically, I cannot see any problem.

Then, I cannot really see any problems sending a pre-reveiw manuscript to a search committee unless it is of poor quality. Sending your work allows people to see what you are doing and a manuscript (in very good shape) will allow people to see your latest work in detail. Naturally a manuscript will not carry as much merit as a published paper since it has not been through peer review. But, if it is interesting, well written and in impeccable order you will be showing your skills in some way.

So it could provide a slight positive in a search situation if good but be very negative if bad and your judgement is what will be at stake.


Replying potential PhD supervisor with documents I applied for PhD at a University and receive a mail from the supervisor, he asked me to mail my cv and transcript. I am thinking to reply like this:

  Dear Professor XXX,

  Thank you for your reply.

  I have attached my grade sheet and resume, with references, to this email.

  Thanks for your consideration.

  YYY

Is it sufficient and decent?

Yes, this is sufficient and decent.

Only point I'd note is that if your transcript is not in English, be sure to include a translation. You might also need an explanation of what the grades actually mean (e.g. is your grade measured on a 4.0 scale, or on a 100-point scale?).


How important is the GRE for top engineering schools in the US? I am wondering how important is the general GRE exam for top 10 schools in the US in engineering? Do they use it as a factor to admit students or it can be only used for funding or none/both of them?

For engineering, the GRE is used primarily as a screening tool—and very weakly, at that. Having excellent letters of recommendation and a strong transcript can very easily overcome weak GRE scores, while a perfect GRE score won't save a candidate with a weak transcript or bad letters. Also, of the sections, the math section is probably given the most weight by admissions committees in engineering, since it's viewed as the most relevant.

As for funding, the only reason I could see the GRE being used is to "verify" English-speaking ability for teaching assistantships. I've never heard of the GRE being used to determine research funding.


Would my sister, who studies in England on a visa, suffer retaliation if she discloses Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? My sister studies at a university in England on a Tier 4 Visa, and her physician diagnosed her with Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) that is severely stigmatized and often judged a fake illness. Her CFS worsens when she lives alone in England - even after sleeping for 9 hours, by mid-afternoon, she becomes easily fatigued before she starts to study, after going to classes, cooking her own meals (she's vegan), and washing dishes.

1) She is considering disclosing her CFS to her university, but worries that the university would terminate her studies or expel her, because they may judge her too fatigued or weak to succeed in her studies from CFS.

2) Even if her university doesn't expel her, if they inform the UK Home Office of her CFS, then the Home Office may be the one to judge her as too fatigued to succeed, and terminate her visa and stop her from studying in England.

3) Moreover, the Home Office and the university would be sly enough not to state CFS as the reason because this may be illegal, but would invent some other reason to stop her studies.

I think your fears are misplaced. Universities only wish to know about disabilities in order to make allowances for students. By declaring the disability, your sister will enable the university to consider her condition if her condition causes her difficulty in meeting the course requirements. For example, if her condition means that she is unable to leave her accommodation to turn in coursework, she may be allowed to have a deadline extension. The alternative is that she misses a deadline, and the university believes this is due to poor time planning or laziness. This is what would lead to her being removed from her course. Informing the university about the disability in advance will explain the missed deadline, and could help ensure that she isn't removed from her course. Removing someone from their course simply for declaring a disability would be completely illegal.

With regards to the Home Office, I don't think the university has any duty or reason to inform them about disability. Regardless, the Home Office doesn't care about disability, only about your sister continuing to be enrolled on her course, and attending the pointless Tier 4 census. The Home Office has enough of a backlog of work already. They have absolutely no interest in removing your sister from the country for having a disability.

If your sister is still worried about informing the university authorities about her condition, she should certainly contact her student union. Most student unions have a disability officer who is elected from among the students to help and represent students with disabilities. They are independent from the university, and have no interest in informing anybody else about things that they are told in confidence. Talking to them might help allay your sister's fears.


Ill Recommender Gave Me Letter To Submit I'll be on the job market this year for teaching positions at very small schools or lecturer positions at large schools. I took a class about two years ago now that was focused on teaching pedagogy. It was great, and I had good rapport with my teacher. After the semester, I asked her if she would mind writing a recommendation letter for me in advance, despite almost two years until I would be on the job market. The intent was that I could contact her when I was actually on the market, and she would already have something prepared from when I was in more regular contact with her.

My professor did write me the letter. However, she also let me know that she had recently received a diagnosis for a debilitating illness that would be demanding her time and attention, and sent me the letter she completed. She's still alive, although on leave indefinitely from the school to concentrate on her health and spending time with family.

I'm wondering what the protocol is for whether I should use her letter or not, particularly given that many schools prefer to contact the letter writers directly. I come from a big research school, and while other professors would be a great testament to my character and research, none have any real awareness about my teaching. A few schools I'm considering applying to actually specifically ask for one letter that focuses on teaching.

Given how teaching-centric my job search is, I think her letter would be a great asset. But I'm not sure whether I should use it, and if so, the best way to get the letter to schools.

Note: This is for the US academic system.

This is always a very tough situation. Ideally if you had known of her sickness ahead of time, you could have asked her to use a dossier service (such as interfolio.com;  note that I have no connection with this service except being a user). She could send them a single letter and they would send this to other schools on your request. This way the contents of her letter would remain confidential from you.

It would have also been great if the letter contained language such as "I apologize for not sending a personalized letter but my current health conditions preclude me from doing so, please do not take this as any indication of my high regard for this candidate."

But this would have been an ideal situation. If she's still healthy and you have good relations, you can ask her if you can set up something with a dossier service (your university might have one itself) with a letter with an apology for generic language.

Otherwise, you could add a similar note to your list of references:

References

Prof. John Doe
Prof. Alice Smith
Prof. Jane Roe

Prof Jane Roe apologies that due to medical issues she is unable to send personalized letters. A signed generic letter will be sent with her sincerest apologies to the search committee. Verification of the contents of the letter may be made by contacting the department chair, Prof. Bob Ajar, at xxxxx@xxxx.edu

[Aside: I have used letters with similar language when I have been engaged in field research and unable to write personalized letters for my students. So it's not just for sickness but for other conditions where letter writing is difficult.]


Are there any strategies one must bear in mind when preparing proposals to decrease the chance of it being misunderstood? A research proposal for funding suffers the risk of outright rejection when read by panel members who are not familiar with the subject of the proposal. Are there any strategies one must bear in mind when preparing proposals to decrease the chance of it being misunderstood? Or, is there nothing we can do at all to influence this, apart from resubmitting if it is rejected, with the hope that it will fall into the hands of reviewers who will look at it favourably? Someone told me that as many as 50% of Nobel prize winners had their Nobel prize-winning research proposals rejected in the first place.

I am preparing my first proposal (it is actually the second, but I withdrew the first, so this one is technically my first), which will hopefully go through the whole process of review and acceptance/rejection.

In my organization, we address this challenge with two rounds of internal review before a proposal is submitted:

Pink Team: reviews the ideas and storyline of the proposal, typically as a fleshed-out outline but before significant effort has been invested in writing.  This is intended to identify major gaps and allow course corrections to be made before major effort is invested in writing.
Red Team: reviews a near-final draft document, reading in detail and checking for compliance with proposal requirements.

We'll typically use 2-4 people for these teams, of which one should have expertise in the material and one should not be an expert, in order to provide an outside perspective.  Often we'll use the same people for both teams.

Doing this makes proposals much stronger, but generally requires that you start them earlier, in order to be able to have time to really incorporate feedback.


Is doing a PhD a good way to develop a deeper understanding of quantitative finance and statistics? I work in business and mainly deal with quant finance and statistics + do a lot of programming to implement ideas from quant finance and statistics. I have a master of science in economics.

My problem is: whenever I am trying to dig deeper (by reading articles from scientific journals) to understand some theoretical foundations of a certain idea from statistics and quant finance (ranging from pricing of exotic options to kriging based methods) to modify and customize this idea for my situation, I discover that my knowledge of math is not enough to penetrate deeper in a subject.

Is it a sign that I need to get a PhD in quant finance/ statistics/ math or it would be an overkill and I better go for a less time consuming (bloody) option (if there is any)?

No, this is not a sign that you need a PhD. A PhD is to prove to other people that you can do novel research to a significant depth, with significant rigour.

What you want is to learn some mathematical techniques. Now, the only way to do that, is to practice using those techniques. You need some exercises that will take you from where you are now, to where you want to be. You need to do those exercises, and find out which ones you got wrong, and why you got them wrong; and then do them correctly.

A PhD isn't an efficient or cost-effective way to do that. But a taught  Masters degree (e.g. in Quant finance) might be. A free online course might be. A study-buddy who understands this stuff might be. A private tutor might be. Finding out which textbooks an appropriate Masters course uses, and working your own way through them, doing the exercises in each chapter, might be. The exact recipe will be whatever works for you. But what you need is to build up your toolkit of maths knowledge and skills, and you can only learn that by using those tools.


When do I need permission from website owners before data mining their pages for research? I want to use data mining to analyze some websites to understand the impact of the internet on health awareness and health concerns of people in my country. I hope to publish the results in a journal.

When do I need consent from websites owners? I may end up analyzing hundreds of websites.

When do I need consent from websites owners?

Under U.S.-like laws - you need this every time. In layman's terms, by default, you can look at public site areas and only look, no duplicating or storing, etc. Despite that even your browser does it freely, laws are convoluted here. If in a special agreement published on a site or in some other explicit form is not stated a permission for this usage, you should not do it. There also may be an explicit mark about public domain or a standard open-source license. But, even this public agreement isn't enough for your purposes.

Few of the potential problems:

Use protected by legal rights data isn't legal. (may be covered by a public
agreement or a written permission)
If you interfering with sites' availability via additional load, this may be a hostile act as well. (not only an admin's ban, this is a potential legal issue)
Even if the site owner allow it, you can break some    federal laws -
about personal data collection or something else, this is a question for a licensed lawyer. Also, more information needed for answer from this point of view.

So, yes, the written permission is the only legal way to dig somewhere and even this could be insufficient. People do sometimes their own similar projects without any permissions, maybe, because they think, this is too boring and slow to write some letters and do a legality research. However, you want to publish the results about work with thousands of thousands web pages. So, "cover your back" isn't a meaningless paranoidal phrase in your case. And this is only a few obvious legal concerns, also there're more ethical and technical problems with using web resources in not allowed by their owners ways.

If you just lightly ping every few seconds for checking availability of some serious sites, some of them just ban your bot after a while. Others log your activity and use the log if this will becomes a problem. I'd personally banned many harmful crawlers and filled a bunch of complains about unclear automatic requests which was loading resources dedicated for clients.


Bioinformatics jobs: is experience or education more desirable I'm a biology postdoc currently working in Data curation for a Bioinformatics institution. I am interested in becoming a Bioinformatician however I have absolutely zero experience both in terms of my education and research experience.

Due to many responsibilities I can't just leave work and start an MSc, as much as I'd like to, plus even if I found a part-time course I could attend it's a lot of money to spend. So my question is this, what is more important for employers hiring Bioinformaticians experience or education?

I was thinking that I could complete some of the online courses in programming, stats, bioinformatics etc. and then ask one of the researchers at my institute if I could be part of some bioinformatics projects which I could work on outside of work - my company is big on education and career development so I'm sure they would approve.

Alternatively I have noticed that I could do the online postgrad certificate in Bioinformatics or I could do an MSc by evening class in a University about 3hrs away. I'm not sure which course is more preferable for an employer, they both cost about the same amount of money though the online course would be easier to fit around work.

Any help you guys could give me would be fantastic and it'd be great to hear from bioinformaticians or employers who have hired bioinformaticians.

Thanks in advance,
Kate

This is really just repeat what @skymningen said in a comment.

When I was in your position I managed to secure a career development fellowship who specific purpose was to retrain lab postdocs to be bioinformaticians. It was a fantastic opportunity. But even then, this CDF involved very little class room education, and was mostly just about doing bioinformatics under the supervision of an expert.

However, almost no one I now interview for bioinformatics positions has a formal bioinformatics education. I'm generally looking for experience and a demonstrated enthusiasm to learn new approaches in a rigorous, thoughtful and independent manner.

Thus I would definitely recommend experience over formal training. Perhaps with one caveat: you will need the basics of programming in R and probably a scripting language, so I might invest some time in online courses teaching the most basic elements of these languages. I might also be tempted to do an online course in the basics of RNA-seq analysis, so that you can run a basic reads -> alignments -> counts -> differential expression pipeline.  But these things shouldn't take you more than a week of evenings each, nothing like a MSc.


Finding non-REU funding for my undergrad math students As a professor, I am sometimes asked to help undergrads (I'm currently at the University of Michigan) find funding for math research during the summer. In the past I have seen some get funding from the NSF REU program. The only problem with this is that it is only 8 weeks (At least at my school). Are there any other research grants that are given to undergrads that could last the entire summer?

I'd also ask around your department. Many universities have various summer research fellowships available. For example, one enterprising student in my lab found money through NASA that was administered through the physics department but also funded math, science, engineering, etc.

Also, most funding organizations are happy to "pad" a research grant with 1-2 undergrad research positions. I usually add these to my budget when submitting. While other areas get trimmed, the undergrad positions have never been a problem.


MS in Pure Maths to PhD in Statistics I currently am working on a MS in pure maths, but am interested in options for pursuing a PhD in a more applied field. Specifically I am interested in going on to graduate work in something like statistics. How hard would it be for me to go straight from an MS in pure math with only a very few courses in statistics to a PhD program in statistics?

I have some experience in probability with my research (random walks on finite groups). But outside of that, I am pretty inexperienced with applied math.

I think the main hurdle will not be the knowledge about statistics you'll bring. (As a trained mathematician you should be able to pick up new math quick enough.) The main hurdle could be to embrace a new kind of doing science and research.

In more applied math people sometimes think differently about problems than in pure math. Roughly speaking, one is much more open to adapt assumptions and requirements for some problems such that they become more simple theoretically, more suited computationally or otherwise more convenient. Since one usually works with things that are related to the real world and hence, somehow uncertain and noisy, it is often not useful to stick to every assumption but use some freedom in modeling. I heard the saying "All models are wrong." Well, true but this should not make you hesitate to work with models.

I've seen people changing from pure math to applied math who never could adopt to these principles (but also cases where there were no problems). If you think that you won't have problems with issues like I described, then things will turn out fine, I think.


Extending work without plagiarism I am working in a sub-field of computer science (deep learning), more specifically a particular application of LSTMs to learn simple functions. My work is building on the work of another researcher to an extent that I am using the same model, parameters and problem definition. I am writing a research paper based on my findings.

My work is different in the sense that I am introducing some different concepts from another area and trying to make a generalisation about the very nature of ANNs (using his work as an intermediary). And since his work is the only such publication till now, I am taking some things directly in my work eg. Problem Definition or Model.

So the question is whether it will count as plagiarism? If yes then how can I circumvent it as I have to write many things as it is, there's no other way to get around that as I am using them as it is.

Plagiarism is passing someone else's work off as your own. As long as your paper makes clear exactly what is new and what is borrowed from previous work, and cites the previous work accordingly, there is no danger of plagiarism.


Wearing a suit for a presentation and meeting with potential postdoc supervisor in Germany I'm visiting a German university (in one of the big cities) for a couple of days for the purpose of discussing a postdoc for myself. I work in maths.

I'm supposed to give a talk on one day for a research seminar and discuss with a potential advisor the next day.

Should I wear a suit for either of these events? I would have said no, but someone has told me that the Germans look down on "casual" clothes.

Speaking as a math professor in Germany, a suit is definitely not necessary, and might even be seen as overdoing it. (Caveat: things might be different in financial mathematics.) Most of my colleagues never wear a suit except for a few very formal occasions (meetings with the top administration, hearings for grants or evaluations, festive affairs).

In particular, if you are visiting for a job interview, they want to get a feel of how it would be to have you as a colleague -- if you come across as too stiff, that might not be in your interest. If you want to, you can wear a suit for your talk; nobody would complain, but you might get some amused smirks ("He's really keen on this job, isn't he?"). A research seminar of a group is usually a rather informal event (compared to, say, a faculty colloquium).

Of course, the main thing is that you feel comfortable, but if you're unsure what to wear, go "smart casual":

neutral jeans (no holes, not too baggy/tight) in blue or black (or chinos, if you prefer; jeans seem to be more common in Germany, though),
a nice dress shirt (i.e., with a collar, ideally ironed),
decent shoes (i.e., no dirty worn-out sneakers); for extra-smart, wear leather shoes,
no tie.

This will be appropriate for any occasion during your visit, and be seen (by those who look for such things) as making enough of an effort to avoid distracting (by being either under- or over-dressed).


Am I being a "mean" instructor, denying an extension on a take home exam I am currently teaching part time at a community college (in the US) and I have one student who is about 16, I think he is a senior in high school (at least he is about to graduate HS in the spring).  He is currently applying to MIT, Harvard, etc...  and he is taking my differential equations course. But he wants an extension on his take-home exam.

I gave my students their exam last Monday.  It was too hard... if anyone is interested in what "too hard" means, I can post it, but trust me, it was difficult... anyway, so I give them their exams back this past Monday (after our Thanksgiving break) and I tell them "give thanks, the exam is take-home now and due Wednesday".  He didn't show up for class that day (which when I was in HS was called being delinquent) and I told the class I would also make the announcement on our "online blackboard" so that anyone who missed would get the announcement.  I forgot to do this, and Wednesday I made the announcement that I forgot to post it Monday and so I said it was due Friday (this time I didn't forgot to post it online).

In any case, the student in question (and only one other student) weren't there Monday but did show up Wednesday.  He asked for me to make it due this coming Monday.  I told him that was not reasonable because the final is next Wednesday and I need to get the grading done in time plus I want to post solutions to the exam so they can study it to help them for their final (but I obviously can't do that if he hasn't submitted).  So their submissions are due in just about 1.5 hours and he is the only person who has yet to submit his exam.  This past Wednesday after class he said he wishes I would "work with him" because he has 7 other classes he's in (I think I'm remembering that correctly.... that's insane) and he has some winter concert he has to perform in for his school band and... he's never had a B ever... but in my class he has a C, many of my students by the way have A's.  I think he lacks maturity and I told him if he wants to go to MIT that he should act like an MIT student and quit complaining and get his work done.

Main Points:

I have a young student applying to MIT who is a dual credit student in my differential equations course.
He is complaining because he has a C in the class, but I feel he isn't putting in the appropriate work.
He claims there is a lot of work to do in high school and wants an extension on a take-home exam.
I disagree with his request for an extension, and I wonder if his request is reasonable and if I'm the person being unreasonable here.

You give a lot more information about the student than seems relevant to the question.  That the student is applying to MIT for instance is neither here nor there.

That your student is in high school may be slightly relevant.  It feels awkward to have a high school student in a college/university course when they are not doing well, because usually students (especially in mathematics) take such courses because they are too advanced or gifted for their high school programs, but that does not automatically make them prepared for college/university standards.  If you are an inexperienced instructor (and I think you are: more on that later) then it is a good idea to talk to colleagues to get some perspective on how high school students are typically dealt with.  This may well be different at a community college than at a research university, by the way.  I will say that my attitude in dealing with high school students in (research) university math courses is: if there are any special rules or dispensations that apply to them, these should be made clear at the time of their enrollment in the course.  In the absence of such rules, I try to treat high school students identically to all other students (keeping in mind that "all other students" is a large and inhomogeneous group).  I would certainly avoid talking to them in a way that would not be appropriate or respectful for an adult university student.  E.g. you write

  I think he lacks maturity and I told him if he wants to go to MIT that he should act like an MIT student and quit complaining and get his work done.

This sounds rather condescending to me.  As I said above, that the student wants to go to MIT is really not relevant to your course, and dragging that into the conversation is unhelpful.  By the way: telling someone to "act like an MIT student" presumes some involvement / affiliation with MIT on your part.  If you don't have that, what you say can come off as obnoxious.  I have taken classes at MIT (as a Harvard PhD student) and have some colleagues on the faculty there (for instance, I spoke there last month).  But I would not tell anyone to "act like an MIT student": while MIT students are in the aggregate very impressive, they are people, not stereotypes, and in my experience evince a wide range of behavior, including complaining.

Coming back to the matter at hand: honestly, what strikes me most is the way you are teaching your course.  Giving an exam which is too hard -- even much too hard -- is something that instructors do often, and it is not necessarily a problem but needs to be dealt with very carefully.  Turning an in-class exam into a take-home exam after it has been taken in class seems like a prohibitively poor idea to me.  If you are not sure about why, you may want to ask that as a separate question, since it would be helpful to get a range of responses about this.  By the way, I also find

  "give thanks, the exam is take-home now and due Wednesday".

to be a bit obnoxious.  A week after an exam was given, a student is expecting to receive their graded exam back again.  Coming into class on a Monday and learning that they are getting a "pop take-home exam" is something that a wide range of college/university students would not be thankful for.  Most students are very busy with a range of activities (academic, extracurricular, work, health, family...), and very busy people plan their schedules in advance.  Giving the exam back without a grade, asking the students to do it by the next class, and then forgetting to communicate that to students who missed that one class, is not great behavior on your part: honestly, it looks a bit lazy to me.
You say that you want to post the solutions in time to have the students study for the final.  That's good.  However, remember that you were the one who created the time crunch in the first place by making an exam you were so unhappy with so as to mess with it later.

Okay, what do I recommend?

You won't want to hear this, but: giving a take-home exam in an undergraduate math class in 2016 is probably a bad idea full-stop.  As a participant on math.stackexchange, you know well that your students can get solutions to even a way-too-difficult undergraduate differential equations class rapidly without leaving home.  I have colleagues at SLACs who feel confident that the majority of the students take the honor code seriously enough not to do this and feel that the cheating by a small minority of students is more than offset by the gain in learning from students who work through a carefully crafted take home exam.  When I was a postdoc, I had the experience of students cheating on a take-home exam (at a research university) and saw the poisonous effect their higher grades had on the morale of the other students, so for me even a small minority of cheaters is a high price to pay.  But this is not a carefully crafted take home exam: it's a too-hard in class exam.  And moreover it's a take home exam that was already given as an in-class exam.  Don't you think that many of the students spoke to each other about the exam afterwards?  And that a few of the students may have been interested enough to look up the answers online and/or talk to outsiders (e.g. more advanced students, tutors, instructors) about it?  I see no way to guarantee academic integrity in this situation.
You could make a different exam for your student and all other students who want to take it / can't solve the take home according to the deadline(s) that you rather precipitously announced.  Alternately, you could admit that the assessment coming from this midterm is not the greatest and just offer to drop everyone's lowest midterm grade.  In fact I usually drop the lowest midterm grade in my undergraduate classes conditionally on satisfactory performance on the final.  (And in fact I often don't announce it until near the end of the course, because I want all the students to take all the midterms.) I find that students are very happy with this, and since I too often give exams that are a bit more difficult than I had wanted, this ends up with course grades in the range that I want.


How can full-time lecturers find the time to prepare for lectures? This question is mostly out of curiosity (at least for the moment).  I have never taught full courses but I have had to substitute many times, usually for graduate level courses.  Preparing for a one hour lecture took me 2-6 hours.

I understand that full-time lecturers may be expected to teach 20 hours per week.  I cannot imagine how one could find the time to prepare.  How do they manage?

Also, what about a freshly hired lecturer?  Teaching a course for the first time should take considerably more preparation, creating an extreme workload with 16-20 hours teaching per week.

Two points:

Preparing for a lower division course takes much less time than preparing than preparing for a graduate level course for several reasons.  First, you presumably have much better knowledge of the material in the lower level course.  Second, you tend to present material at a slower rate in a lower level course.  Third, you should be using more active learning strategies (having the students do work in class) in a lower level course.  I've found that although it takes an hour or two to prepare for an hour long class in one of my graduate courses, when I've needed to substitute in a lower division course (e.g. calculus) for an instructor who is out sick, I can typically prepare for the class in about a half hour.
it's much easier to teach a class if you have taught the course in previous semesters, and its particularly easy if you're teaching multiple sections of the same course in a semester.  So, an instructor with a four course teaching load might actually be teaching three sections of one course and one section of a second course.  This is described as "four sections, with two preps."


Can I add non-cited reference to bibliography? I want to add non-cited references to bibliography for two reasons.

Sometimes, it is not clear whether I referred to it or not. Clearly, not only citing a statement is a citation, but also citing an idea is a citation. But if I didn't cite the ideas and if another idea comes across my mind, sometimes I can not sure my idea is inspired by the references or not. In that case, I want to add the references to bibliography.
There are some references I didn't cite but it would be useful for the readers.

May I feel free to add non-cited reference to bibliography?

Addition: Maybe I had to clarify I am in Mathematics field, and many authors add the references to bibliography as a "reference", not as a "cited writing". If I cited anything, then I will definitely notify the readers the citation specifically. However, is it not allowed to add some papers or books to bibliography that I just referred to?

If an idea or a statement is novel and it's appearing for the first time there is nothing to cite. Anything else needs to be cited. And don't add any citations in the bibliography which you are not citing in the text. Otherwise the reader will wonder why you didn't cite it.


What would you do if the author of a published CS article does not respond to code requests? Since reproducibility is a major principle or basic norm of scientific experiments, simulations, and computations, what would you do or what to do if the author of a published CS article does not respond to code requests?

Simply nothing, but trying to implement it yourself!
According to my experience, there would be four potential reasons because of which authors may refuse to share their code:
1- Their code needs to process some particular data that they are not allowed to share. Thus, the code by itself, without that specific data, does not reproduce the results of the paper. So, sharing the code does not fulfil any reproducibility purpose.
2- They feel that they may still release more "major" contributions of that code. Then, they would postpone the public release of the code until they feel that the code is milked enough, and they have run out of further remarkable ideas.
3- They may believe that if one is really interested in their work and the cultivation of ideas to expand its results, she herself codifies the paper since personal codification often leads to way deeper levels of understanding of what's behind a piece of code, rather than just running some already-cooked snippets.
4- They don't have further access to the code. Not everyone may keep a clone of her contributions on her personal hard drive depending on the policies of the academic or industrial body under which that code was written.


What to write in appeal for a rejected PhD application? I have applied for PhD scholarship in Computer science at a European university. My master is from Malaysia. Unfortunately, my application has not been selected (only 9 has been chosen among 116 applicants).

The email I received informs me that I can file an appeal form attached against the decision made by the committee. Although having a form is supposed to be helpful, I have not written such an appeal before and am not sure what to write. The form is one page (A4) and five lines of it starts with

  I expose

and I have to fill the five lines and other five lines start with

  And therefore, Kindly ask you for.

The question is, what should I write here? I have no idea about appeals and their justifications and consequences. The only thing I can add since my original application is that another paper has been published. I really believe I am very strong candidate for the program as it conforms exactly to my research area (which I had published two conference paper in).

My question is therefore, what and how to write in the two sections of the form if I decide to write an appeal?

You don't say why you are appealing the decision.  If only 9 out of 116 applicants got a scholarship, then it is overwhelmingly likely that they turned down many strong applicants.  Do you have a good reason to believe that your application is stronger than the 9 who received the scholarship?

I hope you're not under the impression that simply not having received an award is grounds for appealing the decision.  What if all 107 unsuccessful applicants appealed the decision?  The program would surely have to reconsider having an appeals process or perhaps even giving out the scholarships at all.


Is it hard to get an article published in a journal as an undergraduate? I'm an undergrad and I would like to publish in a research journal, specifically, ones about chemical pedagogy.

Is it hard to get an article published in a journal?

Are there any other venues which may be easier - i.e. do you know of any say magazines on chemical pedagogy or aimed toward chemistry educators? I'd imagine that the standards for publication in a magazine are lower than in a scientific journal.

Any advice for a beginner at writing and publishing?

I would imagine that your best bet is to talk to a faculty member about it. Find a faculty member who is also interested in the topic. They can probably give you good advice on this and may even be interested in co-authoring the paper with you (which is probably more realistic as an undergrad), and honestly going this route wouldn't be too bad for you since your name would then be associated with an expert on the subject, giving you more credibility.

One thing I've learned in college is that if you have an idea, talking to a faculty member about it can get you a lot of opportunities. And if you talk to someone and they can't help you, they can almost always refer you to someone else who can be of help.


Course on Moodle - how to download all student interactions? My institution uses Moodle as online learning platform. I am enthusiastic at Moodle capabilities, and suspect this had a positive effect on my class. Would like to prove it (or disprove it) by looking at all possible ways students interact with the platform. My understanding is that Moodle stores internally its data through a database powered by MongoDB. Anybody knows how to access that database directly? Would like to avoid having to gather all independent data piecs from separate GUI clicks.

For those with admin privileges in moodle they can access the log features to see anybody's activity in moodle. For a teacher this feature is available to see student activity at the course level only. The activity can be  viewed by student and or by the activity selected (forum, assignment, etc). The information provided isn't very deep. Just a time stamp with the student and what they did. However aggregating this info can provide some insights.


Reapplying to a PhD program while attending another one Let's say a person really wants to go to school X for his PhD, but he was not able to get admission in this round of applications. However, he has an offer from another school Y, where a person with strong ties to school X has agreed to be his advisor in case he attends Y. Is there any good strategy that he can use that will help him get into X, if he applies again next year?

At the same time he would still like to attend Y and do research with said person at Y in case X rejects him again. Applying as a transfer student doesn't seem like a very good option, since transfers happen in graduate school only in very special circumstances. Could applying as a freshman work out? Would admission committees view him more critically if they know he is already a graduate student at another institute?

I was able to transfer from Georgia Tech to MIT after a year. I initially went to GA Tech to study with a famous professor, who, once I got there, said that she was slated to move to Carnegie Mellon in 2 months. Nobody else at GA Tech was doing what I was interested in at the time, so I decided to go through the application process again. I re-used one of my rec writers from my app to GA Tech, and got 2 new rec letters from GA Tech profs I had worked with. I was able to do this because of a great program GA Tech had at the time (I hope they still do), wherein first-years do 3 mini-projects with 3 profs in their first semester. 2 of those profs provided recs, one of which had come from the MIT department I ultimately got accepted to.

To do something like this, you'll want to do the same and hit the ground running at University Y, starting research projects immediately despite your first-year courses. This will give you recs, and also give the admissions committee at X something new to consider.

One tricky thing is if/how to present your intentions to the profs you work with at X. If they know you're planning to jump ship, they'll be less invested in you. It's probably best if you don't come in saying that you'd like to leave for X ASAP.


What should I focus on before starting a research internship? I am a MS student. Recently I changed my topic and started working in quantum computation. I am  working on consequences of closed timelike curves. I was given a problem by my guide on the same topic. I right away jumped onto the problem without strengthening my basics of quantum information/computation. Yet after reading few research papers related to the topic I got the broad idea, though I could not get concrete results (I have few broad ideas on how to approach the problem, but I am stuck now). This summer I will pursue a research internship under a professor who is interested in related problems. Before going to the internship should I spend time strengthening my basics (as I had a lot of trivial questions while reading the papers) or should I focus on figuring out the solution to the problem?

This is my first time as a research intern and I don't know what the professor might expect of me: an almost complete solution to the problem or strong basics plus some ideas on how to approach the problem?

You should always make sure your basic understanding is at a very good level in any research project, particularly in the sciences. An important part of science and mathematics is being able to communicate your ideas in very simple terms. I think Einstein said that "if you cannot explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough." If all you can do is prove things but not explain what the results really mean or how they connect to the basic components of your field, then you're not really doing science or math - you're only shuffling around symbols on a page. It's a bit like a computer: computers can prove things about math (automatic theorem provers), but would you say they're doing math if they don't understand what it is that they are doing? All they do is shuffle symbols around and come to conclusions based on basic axioms inputted by the user.

This isn't to say that you shouldn't pick away at the problem immediately. You should maybe poke around and get an idea of how things go but if you are put on the spot and asked a basic question and you can't answer it, you'll look like you haven't done your due diligence. You're always going to have some gap in your understanding, even at the fundamental levels, but that doesn't excuse not having any understanding of the basics.

Here's another take: if you end up solving the problem you're given, your professor might ask you to write up a paper on the work to be submitted to Journal XYZ. If all you can do is explain the steps you took but not connect it to the things the reader knows, your paper will be completely dead in the water and will likely get shrugged off. A good paper has good results. A great paper has a very good narrative with good results that is very clear and understandable. Even if you don't write the introduction yourself, throughout the paper you will naturally connect results or ideas back to things others have done ("Our approach relates to this work by [authors] in such and such ways," or "Employing a common technique, we have..."). If you don't have a basic understanding of the things in your field, you can't make this connection for the reader (which forces them to hopefully come to this realization themself). This is not a skill you should expect to have immediately; it takes time to learn and hone this skill but it is an important aspect of paper writing.

A personal anecdote/cautionary tale: I started on my current project a few years ago in undergrad. At the time, I had a very rough understanding of advanced mathematics. I knew enough measure theory and functional analysis to vaguely understand ideas and basic proofs but not enough to know what are acceptable procedures and what are not. I neglected the basics - not because of my own doing, but lack of proper supervision - and ended up too focused on my project. It's a bit like putting blinders up: you won't have any understanding outside of your project and can't properly judge the validity of what you're doing. I was rearranging integrals like it was going out of style because I didn't know that I couldn't do that in my situation due to skipping the basics. I ended up with results but they were not acceptable proofs by any means. Since I was so focused on my project, I ended up not having much of an understanding of the basics and looked like a deer in headlights when people asked me about the basic, very technical details of the mathematics I should have been using. Since then, I've more than made up for all of those deficiencies but had I not unintentionally neglected the basics, I wouldn't have wasted so much time (read: years) doing stupid things that were not valid at all.


My paper got accepted; acquaintance's paper wasn't. Should I thank them? A week before submitting to a peer reviewed publication, me and an acquaintance exchanged drafts for comments. My acquaintance described my work as preliminary, listing many ways in which the work could improve. The tone was slightly harsh, but the comments were constructive. They seemed to be relatively confident about their paper.

My paper was accepted, but I heard that their paper was not. Should I thank my acquaintance? On the one hand it is courteous to do so, since they read a draft and helped me to improve. On the other hand, it could come across as schadenfreude if they are a bit on the sensitive side.

My paper was accepted, but I heard that their paper was not. Should I thank my acquaintance? On the one hand it is courteous to do so, since they read a draft and helped me to improve. On the other hand, it could come across as schadenfreude if they are a bit on the sensitive side.

Yes, please thank them. That your paper got accepted and theirs was not may or may not sting a bit, but that will be true independently of whether you thank them or not.

That being said, the protocol in such cases seems to be that they will approach you and congratulate you on your accepted paper, and this is a great time to heartfully thank them for their help and express that you are sorry about their paper being rejected.


What matters most for Grad school admissions ? Practical grades or Theory grades? My college separates theory and practical grades. I have poor grades in theory like I scores around 60 ~ 80 in most of my theory grades. But except two practical exams in which I scored between 80 to 90 I got above 90 in every single practical exam. Even in my Engineering thesis and cumulative viva I scored above 90.

Applying to grad schools is a costly process so I am thinking if I should choose colleges based on my practical grades or theory grades. I can only apply to 5 ~ 6 colleges at max. Maybe less too.

Practical exams are given 2 credits and theory exams around 3 to 4. Engineering thesis was for 8 credits and cumulative viva 2 credits.

One of the reasons I scored poorly in theory grades was cause 5% of marks is awarded based on the candidates attendance and I had below 40% all throughout my undergrad study. But its not mentioned in the grade cards though.

Edit: I am a computer science student.

I may be suggesting the obvious but it will depend on your program and your level.

For a course based masters program with a practical bent I would imagine they would look upon your grades favourably. These tend to include some sort of practical capstone project required to earn the degree. If it's thesis based, it would tend to imply some theoretical work.

For a PhD, expect theory. Really, why else would they be PhDs?

Further, most of the applications I've seen (and submitted) tend to speak to a well rounded applicant profile. They want to know about the work you've done, volunteer experience, publications, and your academic history.

But perhaps most importantly in your situation, they tend to want some form of personal statement outlining why you both want and deserve to be in a program. This would be your opportunity to convince them; much like a cover letter.

I'm in the western world however, and cant speak to institutions beyond that sphere.


Is referencing another PhD dissertation or Master's thesis a reasonable practice in a Master's thesis? Not much literature can be found on what I'm working on and it's all by the people I work with. Am I able to reference their work/text in my thesis or I should just stick to referencing material published in journals and conferences, however remote they might be and just get away with whatever's not published and not back them up?

Yes, you are able to reference their work in your text, as long as you make clear in the bibliography what type of document (master thesis, PhD thesis, Institution) it is.

However, i would not consider it to be ideal if your work critically depends on such references in the sense that a central assumption or starting point in your thesis breaks down if the reference provides false or incomplete results. Particularly in the case of master theses / dissertations it is not generally clear whether and to which extent they are peer-reviewed and what their overall trustworthiness is. With (accepted!) PhD theses things are better, as these normally go through a review process. Furthermore, for PhD theses i would expect that their main points have been published somewhere (conference or journal) and then you clearly should prefer these publications.


Nervous about my thesis results -how to decode my supervisor's email? I have been waiting for my PhD thesis results for a long time now. Last week, I sent an email to the university, asking for the results.

Few hours ago, my supervisor has sent me an email saying that she got a notifications that the examiner reports were ready, and once I get the official email, I should contact her on how to respond to them. When I asked her if the results were "OK or not"? She replied that she cannot disclose anything, but what she can say is that

  "the two examiners saw things very differently....."

Now, those 'dots' at the end and the different views from examiners made me very stressed; Especially, since there is no one at the university to answer phones, because of the COVID-19! I have faced many problems during my PhD, such as my supervisors having problems with each other, my main supervisor resigning from the university, etc! And I just want this nightmare to be finished!

Does someone here knows if my supervisor's reply means there is a major problem with the thesis or not?

Thanks in advance!

PS: The reason I am shocked, is that despite almost not receiving any major feedback from my supervisors, I managed to publish a 'best paper' in a relatively good conference, based on my thesis. So, I was confident that it will not come back with very bad reviews!
Now, I am starting to read the sentence as 'both reviewers saw things differently from me and my supervisor'! Going crazy here! :))

"Major problem" is premature. "Potential major problem" though - that's likely, depending on what the examiners are disagreeing about. It's possible your thesis is fatally flawed, but it's also possible one of the examiners is wrong.

Either way you can't do anything right now, so there's nothing to do except wait for the official email.


When to use inline versus displayed equations in a publication? On a publication (thesis, paper, other), when should I write an equation inline and when should it be separated and numbered from the text?

I've seen publications containing both styles, but I don't know if there is a rule to choose among them. My field is applied computer science.

A numbered equation always takes a separate line, so there is no question here — if you need to refer to some equation later in the text, it deserves a separate line and it needs a number.

If your equation is as long as a line, or even longer, then again — it should always be placed out-of-text.

To answer the rest of your question, we should think a little how we (e.g. your readers) read inline equations, and how we read equations on separate lines. First of all, inline equations merge into the text, and provide some smoothness (it is just like you speak and draw on a whiteboard at the same time). In contrast, equations of a separate line break the text (just like you write a long equation on a whiteboard and take a big pause to let your audience reflect on it).

If there are no pauses in the text, it is hard to comprehend. Too many pauses raise similar problems, because it becomes difficult to focus on the most important pieces then. My advice is to think about the role of each equation and put only the most important equations in a spotlight of a separate line.


Redundancy of letters of recommendation for scientific and mathematical majors I have recently finished my master’s in pure mathematics, and I wish to apply for PhD positions.

I had got the top grades of my classes (with a gpa of around 19.5 out of 20). Moreover, I am going to take a toefl test soon, and I think I will get a high grade.

However, the only issue in my doctoral applications is apparently the loathness of almost all of the university teachers who know me to write a letter of recommendation for me. On the other hand, every doctoral institution seems to require letters of recommendation.

Hence, my question specially to mathematics professors is, why do they require letters of recommendation when the level of mathematics (or a scientific discipline) of the applicant can be fairly determined by an interview?

Most universities want some independent advice about candidates. This should come from people who know the candidate and can attest to their suitability and likely successful outcome. It is hard to gauge that with material provided only by the candidate, even in an interview.

And there is more to graduate school (or a job, for that matter) than raw competence. There is a social aspect and so a desire to accept people who will get along well in the program or job. (That is why I asked the question in the comment, actually.)

But it is what it is, so in your case, you just need to live with it. I'm surprised that few teachers know you, actually. Think about others who can help. But I would keep trying with the three that you mention in the comment. Let them know of your need and the difficulty of finding others to help.


How to physically handle hundreds and hundreds of papers I have a bit of a meta-question about academics.

I am a graduate student and teaching assistant.  I often find myself flipping, organizing, and searching through stacks of hundreds and hundreds of sheets of paper, whether I'm grading, reading, or doing research.

I seem to have an issue where my hands get dry quickly, and I find myself licking the tips of my fingers to get better friction.  Sometimes I have to do this quite often, and I am wondering if there is a better way.  I tried using hand moisturizer, but that wears off.

Are there special gloves, lotions, or anything that can help with flipping through huge stacks of paper?

Some 20 years ago before all the electronics changed our ways of dealing with stuff, post and bank employees who had to deal with piles of paper (or banknotes) throughout day used a device which was essentially a piece of a wet sponge in a small bowl. They had this on the desk and whenever were about to touch paper, they would simply brush their fingers through it. Something like that could help you... To construct it, I would use a plastic travel-soap container and a small sponge for dishwashing.

Later edit: Indeed, this is what I had in mind.


Doing all the simulations and plotting, do I deserve an authorship? I, an electrical engineering undergraduate, am currently involved in a research project, wherein I help write all the codes, run all the simulations, and plot all the graphs.

The paper is about to be submitted soon. I am hesitating whether to mention my desire to be listed as a co-author to my advisor.

Admittedly, I have no contributions to the idea and the theoretical analysis, as those are a bit too complicated for an undergraduate, or at least for me myself.

However, I have done all the implementations of the ideas and plotted all the resulting graphs, which, I believe, will be put into the paper.

In such a case, do I deserve an authorship (maybe 3rd or 4th)? Or it is reasonable to just acknowledge me in the Acknowledgement paragraph at the end of the paper?

If I deserve one, should I bring this up now or wait until I have done all my work?

I am hesitating whether to mention my desire to be listed as a co-author to my advisor.

Please mention it to your advisor right away.

They may say, "You're right, you should be a co-author." Or, "Given your specific contributions, it wouldn't be appropriate to list you as a co-author, but you will be listed in the acknowledgements." Or they may say, "Given your current contributions you can't be a co-author, but if you also do XYZ for the paper before it is finished, then it would be appropriate for you to be 3rd author."

You may agree or disagree with their answer.

We can't really tell you definitely whether or not you should be a co-author. (We don't know enough about the content of the paper, or your contribution, and it wouldn't be appropriate for you to give that level of detail here.)

But, you should definitely talk to your advisor about it (preferably right away, and definitely before the paper is submitted).

Edit: The OP made the following comment -

  After digging out some info about the previous undergraduate students, I find all of them are not listed as authors. But they are indeed acknowledged in the paper.

If you think for some reason your advisor will be reluctant to include you as an author, you can do some preparation for your talk with them as follows. Then, if your advisor's first reaction is "I've never given authorship to an undergrad before," you are prepared to politely and non-combatively make a case to your advisor for why you think you merit authorship.

Check if your university or department has any formal policy on authorship. For example, here are three different policies.
If you have no university-specific guidelines, you can refer to the IEEE rules.
In either case, identify to yourself things you have done that you think qualify you for authorship according to the guidelines.

Then, if your advisor's first response is "No" and you disagree (after listening to the reasoning), you can present your side (which your advisor may or may not agree with).

Also, if your advisor's assessment is "No, you haven't done enough to warrant authorship," you can ask  "What else I can do before paper submission that will 'bump' my contribution up to authorship level?" I have had students in the past whose contribution to a paper didn't warrant authorship. In those cases, I told them: "Your current contributions do not merit authorship (only acknowledgement), but if you also do X, Y, Z, you will be an author."

(Note: I'm not advising any kind of escalation at this point - you don't even know yet what your advisor will say! But you may feel more comfortable with some kind of plan in mind for how to explain your contributions (as you understand them) to your advisor if advisor says "No" and you don't think advisor fully understands your side.)

In any event, talk to your advisor as soon as you can.