Which scholarships should be on my CV? I am dressing up my CV for graduate school admissions (Asian studies). I have included my merit-based scholarships in "Awards." However, is it also appropriate to list scholarships that I have been awarded that are judged based on financial need? Most of those also judge academic merit as a factor (though it is given less weight based on financial aid), and some of the need-based ones are considered competitive due to the ratio of awards to applicants.

I guess what I'm worried about is, does it disclose too much information about my financial situation--information which could bias an admissions committee against me?

I would not recommend listing non-merit scholarships on an application unless the admissions office requires it for some reason.  They are simply orthogonal to your intellectual achievements, and thus do not generally belong on a C.V.

Note, however, that some non-merit scholarships do come with accompanying jobs, e.g., via work-study programs.  It may be appropriate to list such employment on your C.V. if it has anything to do with the goal you are aiming at.


Is writing an expository paper helpful for math PhD admission? I'm applying for math PhD programs this year. I'm a junior at UCB, and I've taken standard grad math courses such as algebraic geometry in the last year. This year I'm taking grad seminars and topics courses, and the topics covered this semester include geometric rep theory, symplectic field theory, TQFT and microlocal sheaf theory. I have no time to do any meaningful research on them until the December, and I have no previous research experience. However, I'll have given ten expository talks related to them since the last year until the end of this semester. I made a slide for one of them, but I have nothing to submit other than that, as I used blackboard in most talks.

To complement my lack of research experience, should I write an expository paper on a topic of my interest? Or is there anything else more effective for admission? I can write an expository paper within this semester, but I personally prefer studying recent topics to be up-to-date than writing such papers, which is often time-consuming.

An expository paper is useful in the abstract, but how much it will actually help you depends on the circumstances.

The basic problem is that if you hand a random mathematician an expository paper on microlocal sheaf theory, they won't know what to make of it.  Is it even correct?  Is it plagiarized?  Is it completely routine (closely following standard sources), or does it show creativity in the organization or explanations?  Unless the reader has real expertise, they won't be able to judge it without a lot of time and effort, and there's a real chance that nobody on the admissions committee will have that expertise.  If everything goes well, they'll forward your paper to an expert who will give them an informed judgment.  But if that expert turns out to be busy or disorganized, your paper may fall through the cracks and end up not counting for much with the admissions committee.

You can get around this by making sure at least one of your letters of recommendation discusses the paper.  If the recommender can vouch for the quality and originality of the paper, then that will mean a lot.  Of course this means you have to convince someone to take a serious look at it, but your chances of doing this are at least as high as the admissions committee's.

If you are writing the paper under the supervision of a faculty member who is happy to read it and write a letter of recommendation, then that's great.  I'm not sure I'd recommend just writing one on your own, however.  It could work out well, but there's a risk of not getting much admissions benefit from it, so this would make sense only if you feel writing the paper would be a rewarding activity even aside from graduate admissions.

If you've already given talks that will be discussed in your letters, then that could be good enough.  An expository paper comes across as more serious and convincing than just some talks, but not necessarily enough so to justify the extra work.


How much salary can I expect as a physics post doc in the Netherlands? I am considering a post doc in the Netherlands.  I am a bit spoiled -- currently doing a post doc in the US with a salary of about $75000.  I found a PI in the Netherlands whose project sounds very interesting and it seems like I may be able to have a bit of freedom in forming collaborations.  But the PI had quoted a salary of 2000 euros (he didn't actually know, but just took a guess when I asked him to estimate).  Though I currently have no better offers, this sounds like too big a step backwards that I am wondering if I should spend more effort searching for other jobs.

I would like to negotiate a better salary when I interview with the PI.  Is 2000 Euros reasonable?  I saw a post with a salary table.  But I'm not sure where on the scale I fall.  Should I be a E10-1 because this will be my first year on this particular job?  Or can I hope for a E10-4 because this will be my fourth year as a post-doc?  Is there any way I can supplement my salary by applying for external grants? (I guess there are few of those for non-EU citizens...)  I have a husband and school-age children, and since I am not sure whether my husband will be able to have income, I want to be able cover our necessary living expenses with my salary/benefits so I can concentrate on working.

You can expect rather more than that.

10/0 corresponds to a second year PhD student (functieschaal P). A postdoc typically goes on somewhere around 10-5, plus a point per year. So you might hope to be somewhere around 10-8.
To get your annual salary, multiply these numbers by 14: 12 months plus two bonus payments. Don't ask me why.
Coming from abroad you are probably eligible to be paid under the "30% rule", where you get the first 30% of your salary tax free.

Thus, after tax you can expect to get something in the region of €35-40k ($48-55k). Be aware that living costs may be higher than you're used to in the US.

Of course, you shouldn't rely on this information: talk to the HR department. But the situation isn't as bad as you fear!


A paper was published with material from my thesis without my knowledge: Correction or Retraction? I have completed M.tech and submitted my thesis. A year later I realized my thesis was used to publish an article which was a replica of a section of the thesis. Even the values were the same. I was shocked and contacted my supervisor/Guide and the other author to which they responded that it was not a preplanned act. I requested a correction as it was my work. Still, they were unwilling and told me that they won't. I contacted the editor and requested for addition and provided proof(thesis). The journal editors withdrew the article.

I then published a book based on my thesis. Again after a year, I found out that they had published two more articles merely taken from my thesis as such! All this while they didn't even bother to add me as the author.

I feel this is highly unethical and despite the fact that it was my work they didn't add my name at all! One of the journals replied that they agree that the article was taken from my thesis and there was significant overlap, they can provide a correction in the author list or retract the article.

I am confused should I accept the correction as suggested or go for retraction? If I go for correction will they continue this? Should I retract? will it affect them badly?

SORRY for making it lengthy, please forgive and thanks for reading guys. Please advise.

edit:
 If I chose to retract but still want to publish papers (from the thesis with reference to the pre-published book) will this retraction affect my publication?

edit2:
These papers were published by a pHD student(1st author) & my supervisor/guide as the second author. Thanks for the replies, As of now the article is not yet retracted. The Journal editors suggest to either opt for correction or retraction. They told will inform Institute if I chose to retract.

edit3:
Thank you all for the answers the paper had been retracted but unfortunately, another paper had been published by the same authors with the same issue. Hoping I could get the strength to continue this fight, which is going on like forever!!
requested for plagiarism check of new one

See note and caveat at the end.

I suggest that you have a retraction done. You didn't participate directly in the preparation of the offending paper, so adding you as an author is a bit fishy. Moreover, adding you would connect you to people who seem to have no ethical boundaries. I'd guess that you don't want that association.

If the retraction is issued, especially with an explanation, it will be a warning to the others not to continue to abuse you and your work.

Once retracted, you should be free to use your own work in any (legal) way you choose. Especially since any copyright assignment by the others would be cancelled as well, since they had no right to issue it.

When I wrote the above, my assumption was that the "other" authors here were not personally known to the OP. Clarification has made that assumption false.

So, let me add, primarily for others who might, in future, wind up in a similar situation that it can be extremely dangerous to one's career to accuse your advisor of wrongdoing. My normal advice in such situations is to try to work with the advisor long enough and politely enough so that you can get away and out from under any influence they might have over your career. The exceptions might be for the case in which the transgression is extremely blatant and for the case in which the person has already developed an independent career. The first case is still dangerous, of course, but necessity may require it. In that case, however, you need allies so that you don't become the focus of hate directed by a powerful person. Another way to say it is to take a long view about your career. Any given paper is only a small pert of your reputation. Optimize for the future, not necessarily for the present.

I think the OP here, however, is already in the second situation, having shown independence and development past the degree. I'll therefore leave my original answer in place.

Note that the ethics is the same, whether the transgressions are by people known to you or not. But self preservation is often necessary for a young researcher until that certain level of independence is achieved.


Recommendation letter from supervisor in this case? During most of my undergrad I have spent a lot of time working in a research center where my mother is director.

During this time I worked with her and many of the researchers there.

Of course, I cannot ask for a recommendation from my mother because we are related. Would it be OK to ask for a recommendation from one of the other researchers on the center I worked with?

To clarify, this is a public center and while my mother is higher in hierarchy than them, she is an employee too, as she don't own the center.

You can definitely ask a recommendation letter to other researchers. Try to get the most experienced of the ones your worked with to write it, if you did a good job, that should be no problem.


'Virtual' postdoc (in math) Assume that a given postdoctoral position does not require teaching/laboratory.

  Are there postdoc positions for someone who wishes to stay in his/her country and just be in touch with the post-doc advisor by e-mail or/and Skype?

Perhaps communicating only by e-mail may be slightly annoying for some people, so I also suggested Skype.

In my opinion (but correct me if I am wrong), there should be no difference between live meetings and Skype meetings.

Remark: Truly, I am asking about a post-doc position in mathematics, but I guess that my question is also relevant for other fields.

Edit: I wish to thank all the people answering (or commenting on) my question.

In person and Skype are completely different. Writing math that you can both see becomes a challenge (in person, it's called a blackboard). I get up to fetch a book: communication is lost. Meeting takes longer than expected and it'd be nice to continue talking over lunch? Very difficult with Skype. More than two people in a meeting? Complete nightmare.

And a postdoc position is not just about talking with your supervisor every now and then. IMO, that's just a recipe for having a terrible time. You are expected to participate in your department's life. This means going to seminars, talk with people who you don't collaborate with, etc. Impossible if you are restricted to formal Skype meetings with your supervisor. Let's say you have a quick question about something you're reading. Are you going to call your supervisor about it? Or go to the office next door and ask, maybe even someone else, like another postdoc or a PhD student who works on the same kind of topic?

What you are describing is a research collaboration with someone else. You check up every now and then for status updates. It's not what most people envision when they think of a postdoc.


PhD Rejections - What to do? I was rejected from all of my top choice schools and am still waiting to hear back from my other schools. The top two being Southern Methodist University and Baylor University. Honestly, I feel horrid about myself and know that my GRE Subject (Math) exam was terrible, but know that everything else about my application was very strong.

My advisor has told me that I should retake the exams and apply again which makes me take a year off of school. I graduate May 2019 with my Masters in math so I would apply again in Fall 2019 and hear back Spring 2020.

I am wanting advice on how I should view these rejections because at the moment I am extremely sad about it. Additionally, how do schools view students reapplying after a rejection?

First things first: don't feel bad. I was among the top three students in my country and I still got rejected by all the top schools I applied to for undergraduate study. It's a great big world out there with lots of highly intelligent, highly motivated students with excellent applications, and it's only going to get more competitive the higher up you go in academia.

Second: now is not the time to worry about what you might have done differently because it'll just make you feel worse. But in six months' time, if you're still unaffiliated and want to apply again, then would be a good time to read the paragraph below.

  Remember that you can't just apply to top schools. You could easily be rejected everywhere. You should also apply to schools which you are confident you'll be accepted in, as well as schools which are 50-50. Then, come decision time, you'll at least be able to go somewhere and not have a gap year to fill. "Somewhere" might not be as good as "dream school", but it's still better than "nowhere".

Third: what to do next is the most pressing thing to figure out. Doing nothing is not ideal - that makes you a burden to your caregivers. If money is at all a concern for you, I advocate getting a job. You might not be able to commit for very long (although you can delay grad school for two years or more too) but you still might be able find a temporary job. Working has many great advantages that can change your perception of grad school completely. At the very least, you'll be on a more solid footing financially when you attend.

If money isn't a concern to you, and you're dead set on doing PhD studies, then you can use the intervening year to learn more mathematics. For example you could stay put at your current institution for a year taking extra masters-level courses that you didn't take because of time constraints. You could do an extra research project with your current supervisor. You could look up the job requirements for jobs you want to do, and take the year to self-study those. You can do all these while preparing for another attempt at the Math GRE. You could even take the gap year to travel the world, which like getting a job will be a transformative experience that will teach you things you cannot learn at a university. See this related question for more suggestions.

In short, getting admitted to a PhD program isn't everything. Shake of the disappointment of having been rejected at all your top choices and you'll find there're lots of things you can do, not all of which might be related to studying but will nonetheless lead to personal growth.


How should I insist to be the first author? First, some context. I'm a MSc student and I'm going to defend my thesis soon. The current plan is to submit the results of the thesis in two conferences: a less relevant result, which I'll call A, and a more relevant one, which I'll call B. So far so good, but here's the (typical) problem: who gets to be the first author? Me or my advisor?
Other answers to similar problems recommend a dialogue approach. I've already tried this, where I've written an email manifesting my interest in being the first author and why. The answer was that I could the the first author on result A, but he'd likely be the one in result B. Honestly, based on what I've read, I think my contributions for the work are weighty enough to justify my stance, and I'll try to persuade my adviser to change his point of view. Thus, my question is not whether or not I should talk to him (I already know I will) but how to make him change is view of the situation.
Below are some reasons why I think I should be considered the first author. Feel free to comment them or even disagree. If at the end of this there is strong evidence on why I should be just a co-author, I'll have no problem in changing my mind. Also, this pertains the result B, since there is not any contention about result A.

The paper will be an "enhanced" version of my thesis. What I mean is that the work will be basically the same, but with some extra simulations for which I didn't have time to complete by the thesis deadline.

As a consequence of 1., the text was written by me. However, my adviser has read it and provided feedback. The writing on the paper might have more contributions on his part, but most of the writing will still be me.

His argument is that the idea and the preparatory work came from his side. To be clear, he provided the topic (for which I applied and was accepted) and already had some literature review done. Also, some other previous theses were meant to provide results for this one (e.g. building of a database, or the study of a certain phenomenon). In the end, I used the database and cited some general results. However, most studies were in a non-applicable range for my work, so I had to devise an alternative (the result A that I mentioned above).

I can see where his argument comes from. That being said, it is also true that I significantly expanded his initial literature review and provided most of the work. He provided the initial setup and possibles issues, and gave me some tips and guidelines throughout the work (meetings normally twice a month, and sometimes emails in between), but never a definite solution. From there, I'd consider his feedback, research some more and try to provide closure to open questions. Some of these were pointed by him, some by me during the work. All the simulation work and required inputs (except the database mentioned in 3.) was either done by me or adapted from other sources (third party).

Of course he had a part to play here. I probably wouldn't be finishing my thesis on this specific topic if it weren't for him. That being said, I feel like that's what an adviser should do. His guidance was important, and I'm not trying to neglect that, but is it really enough to warrant him the first author spot?

Another important aspect to mention is that currently, we're on amiable terms and I'd like to keep it that way (as much as possible). Partly because it is always good to foster connections, but also because I haven't defended my thesis yet and he'll be on the jury. If this publication makes it through, this might be an important step in starting my career, so I want to fight some more.
Also, neither of us is having an imposing speech. What I mean by that is that nothing is set in stone, and there's still room for changes. At least, that was the idea I got from his speech patterns.
Disclaimer: Some journals do order authors by name. If this was the case, I wouldn't even be asking this question. However, the conference/journal we're targeting clearly distinguishes between first and second author.

Insist may be the wrong approach. Given your #3 and #4 above, he may have a valid claim on it. You can ask, of course, and you can appeal to his "better nature" that it will boost your future prospects. That might be a win.
But if you balance off his good will and support against first authorship of a single paper it may turn to your profit to yield if he insists. Your first work, especially at the masters level, will, hopefully not be your best. It is a plus in your column no matter where you land in the authorship order. And if you trade it for a better and more enthusiastic letter of recommendation for your next steps it may be worth some sacrifice.
But there is a bit more to it here, since this is a conference paper and hopefully the conference will give you a chance to expand your circle of contacts. But that, too, might depend on having his good will.
Think strategically and for the long term. Don't compromise long term benefit for a short term "win".


Referencing opinions that are visible in Google search results? I have this problem that I write:
"Image segmentation methods include region growing, region modelling and mathematical morphology"
These I can discover to exist in papers on image segmenting by doing a Google search. But I find it difficult to find a source that I could cite as for a "definition of image segmentation". And I'm not sure if this is even necessary. And if I would reference, say three papers just in order to prove that these are image segmentation methods, then it would seem overkill.

In my field, it is common to see this type of thing in the "related work" section of a paper. And it is almost always accompanied by citations. What is "overkill" and why are you afraid of it? Citations don't clutter a paper that much that you have to be afraid of including them.
Think of it this way, if a entry-level graduate student was reading your paper, and didn't know exactly what region modelling meant, it would be helpful to have a single paper to go to that provides a description. Especially if there is any ambiguity among terms, you can clear up what you mean by "region modelling" by simply including a reference.


What is the circumstances will the Editor consider rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted? We have a medical paper under revision and we hope to be accepted soon.

In submitted version, last author is head of department and who is the one who had the original idea. He proposed to be first author after acceptance.

But current first author has done the most work. We are preparing to write a letter to journal.

Is there any ethical issue in changing author order as I mentioned above?
Under what circumstances will the Editor consider rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted?

I do not think that the editor will have an issue as long as all other authors (or even corresponding author) have approved the change. To be honest, it is not up to him who to include, omit or lay the order of authors. After all, he is an editor who (most likely) does not know who contributed the most and who did not! To be honest, I have been in a similar situation, and there was not an problem at all.

Ethically speaking, why does the dept. head want to make this change now (giving that the 1st author has done most of the work)? And why he agreed to be the last author at the first place?  Why is he changing the order after the paper has been accepted?

I understand that a lot of politics take place in determining authorship order. Unfortunately, in most cases, the person with the most influence tend to get stuff his/her way! But, I do not think that this is ethically right.


Is it common practice to insert images at the top of a page? This is not a question about how to insert images at the top, but rather asking whether or not this is common practice.

The template I've received from my university automatically inserts figures at the top of a page if no other flags are given using \begin{figure}[t] as default.

Personally, I find it a bit awkward to be introduced to a certain image before reading about the respective explanation within the text. But I got a feeling that top-positioned images are the way one usually writes LaTeX documents.

At the end of the day, it's a question about preference, but I really want to know which of the two following is "the way to go": Left or right?

You are asking a question about page layout. What is common may not be what is best for readers to understand. One of the issues with having a picture in the middle of text is that you often end up with a few lines of text above or below the figure. As a consequence, the eye often has difficulty distinguishing between what's part of the figure and what's part of the regular flow of text. That's particularly awkward if it's just one, two, or three lines of text. This does not happen if you put figures at the top or the bottom of the page, and consequently that's what most style guides recommend.


Is it possible for an international masters student to get into teaching role in US Universities on completion I am from india. I have a strong desire to pursue Masters in Computer Science in USA. I enjoy academia. However, I am sure that I do not want to pursue a Phd and also not attracted towards an IT Career.

I understand that teaching positions are mostly reserved for full-time Phd holders and is getting increasingly tough. So how difficult it will be, post MS, for an international applicant to secure a full time instructor job? I do not want an adjunct position as I can't survive travelling from university to university. What other degrees/certificates can help tip the scales in my favour?

I have seen certain Master students get a faculty position in the university itself where they completed the course.

I understand that teaching positions are mostly reserved for Full time Phd Holders and is getting increasingly tough. So how difficult it will be, post MS, for an international applicant to secure a full time instructor job.

In the US, community colleges (i.e., two-year colleges) sometimes hire faculty with master's degrees.  At four-year colleges and universities, it's basically impossible to get a regular faculty position without a Ph.D.  (It might theoretically be possible, but only under extraordinary circumstances, for example a pioneering industrial researcher who never completed a Ph.D.)

So that means you would have to target community colleges.  How difficult that would be depends on the circumstances, and it's important not to assume it's easy to get such a job just because the institution is less prestigious.  I don't think you'll be able to get a full-time instructor position without some prior teaching experience, since you'll need to demonstrate your teaching abilities.

Being an international applicant shouldn't be a big deal overall (assuming you have authorization to work in the U.S.; see Paul Garrett's comment below), but it may come up in several ways, such as English proficiency.  The most annoying may be that teaching experience is other countries is sometimes not taken as seriously.  It can be difficult for evaluate for people unfamiliar with the system it took place in, and it may involve students who are very different from typical U.S. college students.

  I have seen certain Master students get a faculty position in the uni itself where they completed the course.

I've never seen that happen for a regular faculty position in the U.S.  Occasionally, a master's student may be kept around for a while as an adjunct to teach low-level courses nobody else wants to teach, but this is generally not a well-paid or respected position.  Someone with truly exceptional teaching skills might be retained long-term in a position with a title like "senior lecturer with security of employment" (not a regular faculty member but reasonably paid and without fear of abruptly being fired), but there are not many such positions and they are not easy to get.

  What other degrees/certificates can help tip the scales in my favour?

I don't think any other degree or certificate will play an important role.  If you find an opening for which the hiring committee genuinely doesn't care about having a Ph.D., then teaching effectiveness will be the primary criterion.  Any evidence of excellent teaching will be helpful, but other degrees or certificates are not generally a compelling form of evidence.


Professor not replying to emails My professor assigned a final paper due the 12th, and while our exam period extends to the 23rd of December, all my exams were scheduled on the 11th and 12th and a couple before. As this was one of my more interesting classes, I asked the professor if I could have a couple days' extension, because I'd rather not rush the paper but actually engage with the sources. While some might prefer to get on break early, having back-to-back final exams is extremely exhausting, and having them spread out would be much preferred in my eyes. So I explained the circumstances and requested an extension (well in advance) but never got a response. After a couple days passed, I tried again to no avail. I have emailed the professor before and they responded but now seem to be ignoring me. I was one of the only 3 students to have perfect attendance out of a class of about 50, so I thought they would understand my genuine interest. Also, I know 3 other students who got like two week extensions on earlier papers, so I thought it should be fine. Any idea on how to proceed?

Assume your professor is busy and that your request is denied since it hasn't been accepted.

Turn your paper in on time.

If you didn't turn it in and your deadline has already passed, you've made a really bad mistake. Finish it absolutely as soon as possible and beg for forgiveness. It doesn't matter if someone else was granted an extension at some time, you were not granted one this time.


Double PhD: is it really worth it? Is it possible to have a double PhD even if the university you are originally applying for doesn't focus on this category? A double PhD is not the same thing as two PhDs. For example, the medical school at the University of Groningen describes its double PhD program as follows:

  A Double Degree (DD) PhD means that you will obtain your PhD degree from two different institutions, i.e. a double diploma, sometimes also referred to as a "dual award". A double degree (two diplomas, each of which issued by a single university) should not be confused with a "joint degree" (one diploma issued by multiple institutions).

I'm applying for a PhD position on a university and it does not have a explicit double PhD program (although I know there are some people on another field that held a double PhD from this same university). However, this double PhD degree would be very helpful to me considering my future plans.

From this, I was wondering: could I receive a double PhD if I find a second advisor from another university? Or the universities need to be associated upfront? In this case, if the university I'm apply on does not have an explicit double PhD program, it is possible (for legal issues of diploma printing) to just associate with another university?

My second question is: for an advisor, what is the advantages of having a part-time student? For last, the thesis needs to be approved for both universities... how this happens? I would have to present for both?

First, a note for those who are not familiar with the terms. In general, double degree or joint degree are degrees awarded by two different universities within a student mobility agreement. They do not refer to the pursue of two independent degrees, as described in this question.

At the Master's level the tradition of double degrees is well established within the EU, and has been going on for more than twenty years, probably 30, since the establishment of the Erasmus programme. Currently, the major EU programme supporting joint degrees is the Erasmus Mundus. The Erasmus+ guide, p. 109, describes the framework of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master degree. Of course, individual universities can set up joint degrees outside of this programme, especially when one of the partner universities is outside the EU.

At the PhD level things are much less established. As far as I know, the idea of a double PhD degree has emerged only in the last 3-4 years. Before, it was totally unheard of, at least in my country (Italy). Though students are usually encouraged -- and funded -- to spend a period abroad (typically from 6 months to 1 year), this is done within an agreement between two research groups, and not at the university level (though it should be approved by the PhD programme committee).

Usually, to obtain a double PhD degree a student should follow a shared path between two partnering universities. For instance, the two universities might agree that the student shall spend two consecutive years in one university under the supervision of X, and two other consecutive years in the second university under the supervision of Y; that the coursework should be divided equally between the two universities; that the student should defend their thesis in front of a joint committee (or in front of two committees separately); etc.

Since at the PhD level things are much less established with respect to the Master's, I will answer on the basis of my experience: I have a student who is pursuing a double PhD degree; one who initially asked me to do that; and I know a couple of other students from other advisors who are pursuing it.

None of the universities I know of have an explicit double-degree programme for PhDs. In fact, the double degree is usually proposed by a student who thinks, in this way, to strengthen their PhD or to facilitate the immigration in another country. This means that the double degree should be set up on a case-by-case basis, which usually brings about a bureaucratic nightmare, especially for the PhD schools and the advisors. This nightmare comes from the fact that different countries, even within the same region (e.g., EU), have different requirements for what concerns programme duration, funding, coursework, publications and assessment, and finding an agreement is quite complicated.

For instance, if the PhD in one country has a duration of 3 years, and it is funded for that period, who is going to pay for an additional year in a country where the "standard" PhD duration is of 4 years? If there is an ongoing collaboration between two groups it might not be that difficult to find the money, but it could be almost impossible to set up such an agreement out of the box.

As I said, in my experience, the double degree is usually proposed by a student who thinks to strengthen their PhD. I strongly disagree with this premise, and I usually discourage my students from such an idea. A double degree is not stronger than a single one done working hard and with a good publication record. Then, whether it can facilitate or not immigration to another country is questionable: I don't think that, to date, there is sufficient statistics to know this.

As for your last questions:

  for an advisor, what is the advantages of having a part-time student?

There is an advantage if there is a collaboration between two groups, otherwise there is really no advantage.

  For last, the thesis needs to be approved for both universities... how this happens? I would have to present for both?

These details are really decided on a case-by-case basis, and sometimes the outcome depends on whether one university wants to appear stronger than the other and impose its criteria.


Is it inappropriate for a student to attend their mentor's dissertation defense? I'm an undergraduate student at a research one university. My former instructor and current research mentor is defending their dissertation soon. I asked if I could attend and they said they would be fine with it.

My primary interest in doing so is to see how the defense process works for when I attend graduate school. I am also just genuinely interested in supporting them since we both research the same material and they've been incredibly encouraging and helpful to me.

I know defenses are open to the public, but, in your opinion, would a student attending your defense add more stress or disrupt the process? I just want to make sure I'm not making anything more difficult for them or overstepping a boundary, even though they say they are totally okay with me attending.

It's fine. As you say, these are open to the public, and it's common for family members, department members, and friends to attend. Since you perhaps are not "firmly" in any of these categories, asking whether it's okay to attend is probably a good idea -- but you've already done this and been given the green light. Enjoy.


Would I be able to do a PHD without having a bachelor or master degree I have finished my high school and did 1 year program of FOUNDATION IN BUSINESS. I left my degree (BBA/Accounts and Finance) after completing 2nd semester. Now I have done an online 3 months course and certified in digital marketing, and also certified in another online course of Fundamental of Digital Marketing from Google. Now, I am going to have another online course of Digital Marketing for 7 weeks from London Int'l Studies and Research Center. Now I have a plan to start my PHD in Digital Marketing.

Would I be able to start my PHD on the basis of these certificates? I will be glad to hear advice from you.

You would have to have something in your background and resume that appeals to someone like me, a tenured professor of CS (now retired, though). I have to say that, from what you say, I would be very skeptical. You would need to find some way to convince (people like) me that you actually have the skills, not just "certificates".

The problem is that when you take a standard course of study from a university, people understand what that means. We have a basic trust of colleagues elsewhere that if they say you are ready then (a) they have personally evaluated you in some way and (b) you meet their own standards of excellence, which are probably similar to my own. With online courses it is very difficult to be able to say the same thing. What, in particular, does it mean that you have such a certificate. It could be worthless and mean nothing more than that you paid for a course, whether you gained anything from it or not. It is hard for people to evaluate how much actual expertise you gained through practice and how much feedback you got on your work. How high was the quality of whatever work you did?

That isn't to say that you don't have the required expertise, but certificates alone, from commercial businesses especially, aren't proof that you do.

So, to be successful, you will need some way to convince people of the quality of something that is different from what traditional students are able to do. If you can do that, then you will have a chance. But many of us will be very skeptical.

And one problem is that if you have a slot in a doctoral program, then someone else doesn't. It isn't an unlimited resources. Your road isn't impossible, but it is definitely uphill.

However, if you can establish a personal/professional relationship to a faculty member at a doctoral institution and convince them of your expertise, the road might (might) get easier.


Should I optimize the content of a first page of a research statement (risking typography)? The usual entirely-true cliche is that most people on the
  postdoc-hiring committee will not themselves read beyond the first
  page or so of the whole thing, so you should be sure to make your big
  points, of course necessarily in rough terms, just on that first page From Mathoverflow

My ideal first page for a RS, I thought, should not be a dense text (maybe that is secondary, but it is not appealing), and so is to use for the document a 10 pt font size. I might be wrong. Should I really optimize it so that more statements fit there?

What if my most impressive result would be a graph?

I think the spirit of the statement above is not to overwhelm or overload a hiring committee, because they do not have the time to go through everything thoroughly and are probably reading many research statements.

You need to make your key points stand out and make it as easy to read as possible. Make it something they want to read if you can. Think of this as more like writing a newspaper article than a science article - the most interesting stuff goes first, follow up with details further into the text if needed.


Is this a correct way of using a literature review in a thesis? I'm writing a thesis and I'm supposed to find existing mechanisms about a topic.

The literature review papers can be called B and the primary literature B uses is called A.

I have found 2 literature reviews [B] that cover more than 30 state of the art mechanisms and I use their papers to list all the mechanisms. I basically mention all the mechanisms they mention and explain them briefly, and of course I give credit to the [B] papers. And those mechanisms I want to test out my self I will go to the primary source [A] to write in more depth about them and give credit to the [A] papers.

I have listed more than 30 mechanisms. If I were not to use these [B] articles I'd have to go trough 30+ [A] papers and basically recreate [B] papers and recreate a redundant literature review of said mechanisms that already exist in earlier papers.

Is this the correct way of using a literature review, or should I read it, and use the original [A]? I will later take the ones that fit my domain and make my own review. So I use existing reviews and use the primary sources [A] to make my own review.

Shouldn't I rather look at the reviews and then go directly to the
  sources[A] and derive valuable information in the way I interpret it?

Yes. You need to read anything that you cite, and you should read the original articles.

But if the review articles were helpful to you, you should cite them too. For example, the review article [B] might compare techniques used in two of the original [A] papers. You might want to cite that comparison in [B].

  I have listed more than 30 mechanisms. If I were not to use these [B]
  articles I'd have to go trough 30+ [A] papers and basically recreate
  [B] papers and recreate a redundant literature review of said
  mechanisms that already exist in earlier papers.

Do use the review articles; they can help you and save you a lot of time. Without the review article, it would probably taken you a lot of time to figure out which [A] articles are relevant to your research, and to see how they relate to each other. Also, the people who write review articles tend to be experts in their field, so you're getting an expert opinion on what the state of the art is on a particular topic at the time the review was written.

You do still have to read the original articles, summarise them, and draw your own conclusions. And you should check for any important developments in the field that were published after the review article. But it's not nearly as much work as doing a literature review from scratch.


Is social media helpful for research dissemination? Is there any quantitative evidence that using social media helps academics disseminate their research results?  What about the cost-effectiveness of social media?

My guess is that search engines are much more important than social media, and take less effort?

An article from 2014 "Do highly cited researchers successfully use the web?" suggests that most of the most prolifically cited researchers do not have extensive social presences.

At the same time, studies also show that using the social web can improve hit counts somewhat, which suggests overall that using social media can influence research, but may not have an enormous impact.

Now you'll have to excuse me while I go create a Twitter account for my research group. . . .


How to revoke my old paper from a fake journal (waset.org)? It was like more than 6 years ago, I was an undergrad senior in a south asian university, we did not have much internet connectivity back then.

I wanted to publish something on a journal/conference to get a feedback on my undergrad thesis (I was curious to know about the quality of my work) and submitted a paper to one of the journals listed on that notorious waset.org.

I was young and novice, above all, I had no idea that people could do such a scam with intellectual issues like "research papers", anyway.

but the thing is that when I search my name on a web search engine (google, duck-duck-go etc.), that biggest mistake of my life still comes up on the first page, I am now near the end of my PhD and looking for an academic/research job. So, I wanted to communicate with them so that I can request them to revoke my paper.

However, their site does not provide any specific contact address/person to whom I can discuss with.

I have no wish to resubmit that to any other place, after 7 years now I can understand that my undergrad thesis work was too "trivial" to be "published".

Is there anyone who is in the similar situation? and is there any way to retract the paper from waset.org ?

any pointer will be greatly appreciated.

Apology: I am feeling very uneasy to share the link of my paper, but their website is provided.

I think there is something you can do to help yourself in this situation.

You could contact Google and ask if they would remove this particular search hit from their cache. As a result your paper will not come up when people search your name in Google. Of course your paper will still exist in their server but I think that a major part of the potential damage can be avoided since I would believe that people do not intentionally go the predator publishers website to search anyones articles.

Here are the instructions to contact Google: https://support.google.com/websearch/troubleshooter/3111061?hl=en


Confusion on whom to get letter of recommendation from I'm working as a research assistant in a mechatronics lab. My research and work is largely based on designing circuits, robotics and programming. My PI also works on mechatronics. But I've also worked with two other professors. For one of them, I had to develop circuits for electrochemical studies and for the latter, I worked in a clean room for photolithography. But their fields ( chemistry and MEMS packaging respectively) are way different from the field I want to apply for ( mechatronics and robotics). Will it affect my application if I use a letter of recommendation from them, since their primary field of research is different from mine?

If your ability in developing circuits for electrochemical studies sheds light on how good you would be designing circuits for mechatronics (and I suspect it does), definitely get a letter from them.
If all the professor can say that addresses your ability in mechatronics is "he was smart, diligent, and careful," then that's certainly better than no letter, but you might be better off with a letter from somebody closer to your field, even if you haven't worked directly with them.


Do I have to change the article name when it is the extended version of my published paper? I'm submitting the extended version of my published conference paper to a journal that has a special issue specifically related to that conference.
Besides adding 30% of more material to the article (as the computer science routine), do I have to change the article name?

On one hand, everything is the same besides having more experiments and more formulations or extra explanations, and it is obvious that the article and the paper are the same works.
on the other hand, how people may decide to cite which one later on?

Usually, there is no formal requirement that the title has to be changed. In fact, if the journal paper is just the long version of the conference paper, I would recommend not to change it, so that the connection between the two papers is obvious to people who see the paper in a list of references.

As soon as the journal version of the paper has appeared, it is generally assumed that this is the version that should be read and cited, rather than the shorter conference version. By keeping the title unchanged, you tell readers that there is no need to read the earlier one as well.


Live Lecture Technology I am trying to come up with a method to live broadcast my lectures to parties connected to the internet.  Up to now, I have been using FaceTime to transmit my work on a whiteboard.  This method works, but the quality is lacking.

The crux is I do not want to record "my person," but rather what I write on some surface.  This previously asked question (Device for writing a lecture with a stylus for video lecture recording) solves the problem for non-live transmission.  That is, for the previously answered question, the individual records and subsequently uploads the lecture.  I would like to do something similar, but live-transmit the lecture.  Does anyone have a reasonable method by which they do this?

My ideal solution would be something like an interactive pen display (e.g., http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11314&cs_id=1131401&p_id=12076) which could somehow be transmitted in real-time.  The software side of this is where I get iffy.  (Also, I am running a mac.)

Another solution could surely come from a document camera, but again the software leaves me dry.

To summarize:  I am looking for a hardware/mac-based software solution to live transmit document-based lectures over the internet.

This is a really really late answer (5 years late) but a natural solution seems to me to be to use OBS, open broadcast software. I believe it was developed for people who wanted to stream themselves playing video games. So it will certainly grab content from your computer and broadcast it. Personally I have only used it to record in the past.

Note that I have no connection to OBS and it is free!


How to deal with a nosy fellow graduate student? There is another graduate student at my school working in the same area as me that is extremely nosy about my work. His curiosity definitely goes beyond the normal amount of "What are you working on?" chit-chat that I have with other graduate students. He frequently asks me to list exactly (his words) which papers I'm reading. If I walk past him in the hallway holding a book or a paper under my arm, he'll (very obviously) contort his neck to see what it is. If I'm working somewhere public, he'll walk up to the table and start reading what I'm working on.

This may sound silly, but I really feel like my privacy is being violated. I think this guy's behavior is creepy and rude. I could never imagine doing any of the things I listed above. What I do with my time is my business and no one else’s, and what other people do with their time is not my business. How can I deal with this guy without appearing unfriendly?

I don't want to appear unfriendly because this other graduate student works in the same area as me and I don't want to burn any bridges. In my very short time in academia, I have also never witnessed anyone acting unfriendly. I have no idea what is appropriate or how to calibrate my response. It is also difficult because the other student is not the same nationality as me, so maybe there are cultural things that I don't understand.

I can't merge my accounts to comment. I am indeed a woman.

In my experience, when it comes to dealing with people with boundary problems, you have to talk to them (in private).

This isn't nice (it might come off as unfriendly), this isn't fair (you just want to do your work, not deal with this issue), but it's the best course of action -- both for your job satisfaction and (in the long run) for the other person (if he can learn from feedback).

Framing the conversation is going to be difficult -- I'd suggest "I" statements ("I notice that you look at my material ...") and framing the issue as your perception ("I perceive this as nosy. I'd like to talk about my work, but I see this behavior as an intrusion of my privacy."). Given that probably most people would consider his behavior as "nosy", you might even point out that other people might regard this kind of behavior badly too. Hmm, just stick to describing the behavior and avoid making judgments about the person. You can change behavior, you can't (easily) change the person.

(Note: I might be biased here. I recently tried to solve a boundary problem via non-verbal communication, only to notice -- again -- that people with boundary problems don't notice non-verbal cues (correctly or at all). If they did, they would not have crossed boundaries in the first place. So non-verbal "cues" are either overlooked, ignored, or they react in the opposite direction of the desired effect. For example, they notice that a person is distancing himself from them, so they move in even closer. Addressing the issue verbally is anything but easy but I think it's the way to go.)


Research on career path after tenure denial? I am looking for a study on the career path of professors after they are denied tenure.

Specifically, what percentage of these

get a tenured or tenure-track position at another institution?
get a non-tenure-track position in academia?
get a job related to their field of study outside of academia?
leave the field altogether?
other?

I am asking out of curiosity, so I'd be happy with answers that refer to a study in any context (country, field, etc.).

This is a reference-request question:  I am looking for answers that briefly summarize the results of a study on this subject, with a reference to said study.

I am not looking for answers from anecdotal evidence not supported by a study or citation (we already have some of those here).

I am also not looking for answers explaining why such a study is unlikely to exist, or why it should not be trusted if it did.

In the German academic system, assistant professor positions were introduced only in 2002. Recently, there have been studies evaluating how well these positions have been established, and how it affects the career paths of junior researchers. One example is a project by the Center for Higher Education (CHE), which is described here (in German unfortunately): http://www.che.de/cms/?getObject=260&PK_Projekt=1292&strAction=show. Scrolling down to publications shows references to articles where data from this study have been published (again only in German).

One difficulty in interpreting this data with respect to your question is that tenure track positions are rare in Germany (an estimate I remember, but don't have a reference for now, is that 10 % of assistant professor positions are tenure track). On the one hand, that means that "being denied tenure" is almost the norm for these positions. On the other hand, it's also possible that professors become tenured even though they haven't been on a formally tenure track position.

Also, the statistical population for this study are persons who have been assistant professors in the past, not only those who have been denied tenure. Thus, the study does not give directly the percentages for all the positions in your question, and some data (e.g. field of study) was not collected or published, but still, the results can be used to estimate some of these percentages. So let's get to the key conclusions that can be drawn:

For 1., 85 % of former assistant professors have a tenured professor position now (either through tenure track or at another institution)
For 2., 6 % of all former assistant professors have a non-tenured academic position
Summarizing 3. - 5., 9 % have a position outside academia.


How can I express my motivation to join a Masters program if I have no experience in the area? I am planning to apply to a specific master program in Finance. I do not have any experience in Finance and have never worked in any project related to Finance. But I am very interested to study it because I want to enlarge my research area (which is in signal processing) and have more job opportunities in the future. I really believe that I can excel in the program if I study it.

Can you please help me in writing two or three sentences that can motivate my interest to a program although that I have no work experience on it? I am trying to write a cover letter and I need your help.

I assume that the new area isn't just a random choice. Think about what it was about that area that drew you to it and say some things about that. It would also be good to work in a bit about how your background and training makes this a natural trajectory for you. If you have read papers in the new area and find them interesting and think you can contribute to the ideas there, say something about that.

Even your statement here that you want to broaden your horizons is positive, but, alone, it is worth only a little.


Advantages and disadvantages of doing a PostDoc Maybe the answer to this question varies depending on the field of study. I am asking it from an Engineering perspective. I am currently enrolled in a PhD program in Mechanical Engineering (carried out with an industrial partner) and would like to join a research department in the aeronautical/aerospace industry.

For PhD students in a similar situation, what would you consider to be the main advantages (and disadvantages) of doing a Post-Doc ? Should you target a better ranked university than where you did your PhD, same level or lower ? or should you rather join industry straight after finishing the PhD ?

Feel free to share your thoughts and experience. There's probably multiple answers to this question.

I have a situation somewhat related to yours: I did a PhD in engineering with an industrial partner, and I'm now a post-doc researcher in a reputable university. It sounds, when you say 'doing a postdoc', that you have the impression that it is the logical 'next level' in the sequence: bachelors - masters - PhD - … but it is not.

There are no 'advantages' or 'disadvantages' in being a postdoc researcher for a while. It's just that, with some rare exceptions, you will not get a faculty position right after you graduate from your PhD.

The time spent as a postdoc is usually the time where you gain experience, hopefully make your peers aware of your existence, publish (or finish publishing) the chapters of your PhD thesis and maybe that study that you feel will make you stand out, etc. in other words: giving yourself the pedigree that will make you interesting for an academic hiring committee.

Since you have no intentions of becoming a professor, there are no real reason to 'do a postdoc', unless there aren't any other options (which I assume is not the case for you, as an engineer with experience in translational research/industry).


What is the grammatical number of an inline citation? Which of the following is correct?

a) Johnson et al. (2010) prove that all snow is yellow.
b) Johnson et al. (2010) proves that all snow is yellow.

I suppose the question boils down to whether I'm citing the authors or their paper. If the paper is the subject of the sentence, it's singular (b). If the authors are the subject, then it's plural (a).

I personally am comfortable with both ways, for exactly the reasons that you give: it's entirely reasonable to refer to either the authors or the paper.  The important thing is to be consistent with your usage throughout a manuscript, else your readers may wonder why you feel it appropriate to refer to some authors directly but not others.


Should I cite a statement as coming from in journal article or from the related PhD thesis? I frequently come across PhD dissertations that have spawned multiple journal papers, either while the author was working towards their Ph.D. or after completion. My field is not one with "stapler" dissertations that merely collate a number of papers, so there are often differences between the details of the paper and those of the dissertation.

However, often there are claims/statements/arguments that are present in both sources, so which should I prefer to reference? Should I cite the earlier reference? The later one? Or are there other issues I should consider?

Personally, I tend to prefer to cite the most recent work, as it is likely to be the most updated and correct.  There is also a good argument to be made for citing the peer-reviewed version (as long as it isn't too much older).

In general, however, if the two sources are very similar it doesn't matter much which one you cite. There is also no particular need to cite more than one, and I tend to feel it's better to cite only one when the material is basically the same, so that it doesn't look like you're claiming more support than actually exists.


Citing in undergraduate thesis I am presently working on my undergraduate thesis in mathematics. My work consists mainly of analyzing a handful of sources, internalizing proofs and methods and then fleshing out the rough outline given to me by my advisor. To a large extent I am simply trying to grasp what was done in other sources, and then doing the same thing myself, adding my own twist.

How do I cite or refer to the sources I am using? In which places is it appropriate?

For instance, if I include a theorem from some source, internalize the proof strategy and then formulate a proof without peeking at the source, should I mention the source of the theorem?

I am now halfway done and have only 3 citations.

How do I cite or refer to the sources I am using?

Different institutions/publishers prefer different citation styles, there is a whole range to choose from. Popular ones include IEEE, MLA, Chicago, Elsevier, etc. You ought to refer your thesis writing guidelines as mentioned by your institution or ask your advisor for further clarifications on this one.

  In which places is it appropriate?

If you understand why citing is important, you would know that you ought to cite every source you refer. Especially considering that your academic thesis is work you claim as your own, you ought to differentiate between what comes from you and what comes from others.

  If I include a theorem from some source, internalize the proof strategy and then formulate a proof without peeking at the source, should I mention the source of the theorem?

Yes, you should. The theorem proof may be yours but the theorem itself isn't. As @JeffE suggested, cite the original source of the theorem, if you could find it. Otherwise, search for another secondary, yet credible and accessible, source of information that would point to your theorem.


1 PhD student, 2 institutions...1 of them completely closed to talking I want to get some advice about this difficult situation concerning one of my PhD students.

Some time ago I wrote already about my status: I am assistant professor in Germany and very recently I got an offer for another permanent position abroad. I accepted it and in some weeks I will move there.

The problem I have is the following: my PhD student is paid from my personal grant that will be lost the time I will move (let me say that until very recently I didn't know that I could not move this grant, in part because I was not well advised. So now I do not have margin of negotiation with my new institution). However, I have had an agreement with the Department of the old institution and they will pay him from the remaining money of this personal project that I won in a competitive way (namely, this is not money from the department, strictly speaking).

The problem goes when I propose to the department a cotutoring: this means that I would be the advisor in my new location, and the head of my group (who completely agrees) to be the second advisor here. There are plenty of agreement between universities (at least in Europe) on this form, and in my new affiliation they are very happy about this idea and they have already provided the general agreement they use.

The problem comes from my previous institution: they just say NO from administration, and they do not give any other choice for this. So: what should I do? This seems to me very unhelpful, even more considering that the money will finish at the end of the year and a coadvising would help on the search of extra money.

Also, this would mean that officially they are proposing me to "forget" of being his official PhD advisor (after 1,5 years of work, which is half of the PhD this is unfair from their part towards me...).

How should I deal with this situation?

Let me mention that the main idea for this coadvising was that in this way we could ask for funding in a coadvising setting. This is necessary as in some months the money will be gone, and we need to get extra money for him to finish (6 months- 1 year)

Thank you

I find your question a bit negative. It appears that you are blaming your current university for not giving you more support as you leave for your new university. Further, and potentially more problematic, is that you appear to be treating the student like a pawn. Have you asked the student what they want? Comments like

  after 1,5 years of work, which is half of the PhD this is unfair from their part towards me...

it is also extremely unfair of you to leave a student hanging out to dry halfway through a PhD. This is a student's worst nightmare.
I think it is important to realize that first and foremost, you screwed up. You did not adequately negotiate, prior to signing a contract, appropriate support for your current student. It surprises me that you are switching from one permanent position to another, yet you did not manage to secure enough startup funds to support a PhD student for 1.5 years.

To an extent, your new department is not being supportive. While you screwed up and did not realize that some of your grant money could not come with you, they are not willing to cover a student for 1.5 years. This is potentially problematic. Do you really want to work for a department that will not cover for you when you make mistakes?

Your current department has done nothing wrong as far as I can tell. Potentially, they were not as clear as they could have been about the grant funding, but you do not tell us much about that. Your current department needs to look out for its faculty and students. Paying for a student to work at another university is generally not in the best interest of the department. This is especially true if there are adequate supervisors in the current department.

Moving forward, I would suggest you talk to the student. Find out what the student wants. They might want to move completely to the new department. Similarly, they might want to cut ties with you. Maybe they want you as a co-supervisor. Once you know what the student wants, you, and to an extent you and the student, can ask for it. As for you, expecting to get anything "back" from the student and the time spent supervising the student, is a little unrealistic in this situation.


How to narrow down a research topic in mathematics? I would like to work on a research project in my particular field of mathematics. While I'm familiar with the area in general, I'm having a bit of trouble choosing an inquiry narrow enough to be productive. There are lists of open questions, but open questions are generally open for a reason, and I don't have the luxury of spending a decade on a single narrow problem. (This is also the sort of thing one normally picks up in grad school, but my advisor handed me a list of problems he found in a paper somewhere and insisted that I choose among them. Also, I don't have access to any sort of mentor or other useful figure to steer me in a useful direction.)

How do I go from "I want to learn about X" or "It seems like there's a useful connection between X and Y" to some specific, publishable result?

I would like to avoid--- to the extent that one can with something as unpredictable as research--- going down an alley that turns out to be trivial or intractable.

Short Answer Don't be too picky at first, learn about others' work; try to come up with some problem <-> solution pairs; and then you shall find your own path; when writing them down.

Longer Answer

Fun Fact: Publishable results are based on published results and some more. You need to do 'the some more' part, and know the 'published results'. So:

1. High Rank Publications and their citations: Find the best publications in the area of your work, and see how they solve the problems and how the present their results and who they cited; and read and learn them as well.

2. Narrow Down More and More When Writing Down: Ok, now after reading some papers/journals/books, you want to write something. Here we do the following:

2.1 Problem and Solution (Potential): You might ask what problem I want to work on? Well the one you know how to solve! I might go and write a code generator and say: "well, it is fast and 'efficient'". How do I know? Well I don't know! I need to check it with others. So, we go to the next phase:

2.2 Evaluation and Background Checks: You start evaluation of your work by others' approach (and write about it). Must likely your approach is not good enough, so you go back to he first step and update this one.

2.3 Introduction and Evaluation Now you know what you are talking about, you write the introduction and conclusion about it.

Then Boom! you have a paper, that could be published. Find a conference/journal and hope for the best!


Significance of Summer Schools in CV When applying for PhD in US or EU, do universities give any importance to the summer schools (7 days/15 days) candidate has attended? I mean, are the summer schools a worthy addition to the CV?

If you did something relevant that relates to the PhD position you are applying to, then it should be fine to include it in the CV.


PhD Advisor to Stop Funding Me I am going into my 4th year PhD in a STEM field.  I am my advisor's first student.  While things started off okay and the research had been interesting, my advisor developed a tendency to switch projects on me without allowing either of us to really troubleshoot what went wrong with the previous project.  These actions have made it difficult to come up with meaningful consistency as well as the results that I would deem adequate for someone in my year as a PhD.  I do have one paper in my name, but its subject was not in the research application I was interested in, and was instead in a totally different field (and a very useless one).  I honestly don't see anyone referencing that paper.

So basically, I do not have control over my research project.  I started off doing what I thought would take me in the direction of my goals post-grad, but my advisor's inconsistency has made that impossible.  I understand that plans will unexpectedly change, but the whole scope of my research now is ultimately completely different and uninteresting.  For instance, I presented at a conference, and the conference's theme was of something I was deeply interested in, and the abstract I had originally submitted was related to it.  However, come time for the actual conference, my advisor had switched projects on me, and what I presented was nothing at all related to the session of that day.  I was quite embarrassed, and I could tell during my talk that others weren't really interested in what I had to offer.

To make matters more fun, my advisor will "remind" me that my project is mine.  In other words, any failure is my own, not hers.  Also, when I go to ask questions regarding the fundamentals of the work she has in mind, she will take my inquiries as a personal attack.  This behavior discourages me from communicating with her altogether.  The past few years feel like a textbook definition of Gaslighting as well as Incompetence.  (As a related example, my advisor had given me permission to get an internship during my first year, but then changed her mind when I went out and actually got an offer.)

So, now my other big program is that my advisor told me that I would have to graduate next Spring 2020, as she would not be able to fund me longer than that.  However, I do not have a story to defend, and I would be hesitant to present the data I've gathered these past few years.  Furthermore, I do not know what I could do post-grad, because what I want to do would require experience in the fields that I was originally in (not to mention I have no internship/field experience..).

Should I stick with it and see what happens?  I would hate for 3+ years to go down the drain.  Should I try and find my own funding, and is that really my responsibility at this point?  Could I be wrong in that it is not unusual for projects to totally shift their scopes, and I should just deal with that reality?

I do want to remain in good relations with my advisor.  I just don't know how to best express my desires and ideas without feeling like I am setting off my PI's short fuse.  While I regret not taking action sooner, I really thought these small details weren't that big of a deal.  Added up, however, I realize that I have some larger issues to work with, which is why I post here to see if there are any thoughts I should consider.  I wish I could be more upfront, but confrontation is difficult for me.  I now understand that is a skill I need to work on.

Thank you in advance for your time,

The situation you described is very unfortunate, and, if your description of your advisor's behavior is accurate, not entirely your fault. It is true that sometimes projects don't work out and students need to learn to take responsibility for their own projects, it is also the responsibility of an advisor to guide the project to fruition, one way or another. Most good ideas will not result in a paper without at least one to two years of work, and you end up in a futile cycle if you are constantly changing directions at the first sight of any trouble.

Your current situation is untenable. If you continue with it you will graduate with very little to show for and a difficult time finding a good post-doc or industrial position. If you want to stick with your advisor, you need to have a difficult conversation with her, in a non-confrontational manner, to lay out your concerns and the pattern of inconsistency that resulted in low productivity. Ideally the meeting will produce a plan to make better use of the remaining time you have to maximize your research output and prepare for your next job. But behavior change is hard, and if your advisor is as short-tempered as you say, negotiating a different relationship with her may be next to impossible, and any behavior change may be only temporary. Alternatively you should consider switching to a different lab, which will result in delay to your graduation and people may be hesitant to take you in at this stage of your PhD. Lastly there is always the option of dropping out. It is a difficult decision given what you've already invested. But if it becomes clear that the past time investment can no longer be salvaged the smart thing is to move on; maybe use the time instead to gain some industrial experience that will serve you better down the road?

Ultimately it is a hard decision that strangers on the internet cannot make for you. Nevertheless you should explore these options, perhaps simultaneously, and think through and prepare for the possible outcomes. Good luck.


Open book exam tomorrow but the file with the questions are open to everyone already I was going through the files on canvas of my course, then I saw a file called like Examination_(coursename)_2021 and was like "it's probably the practice". I opened it and it seemed like the actual exam, so I sent a message to course group like is this the actual exam? It seems like it is and they asked me to share it with them, which I did. Then I started thinking I should tell my professor that I have access to the questions. I also checked if other people in my class could find the file which they did. So now I'm kind of lost, obviously, I want to do well on the exam but also I don't feel good about it. Although the exam is tomorrow and it is an open book exam, I feel like I should tell my professor just because now my mind isn't focused on the exam at all, I feel I am morally obligated to tell them. Though I would have to tell everyone in my group that I told the professor which I don't think they would be happy about because I asked them if I should tell the professor and they already said no. Another reason I'm worried is that the professor might be able to see when I first viewed the questions, which was a day before, I'm just so lost about what I should do.
Edit:
I think I will tell my professor. However, now I don't know if I should tell the people in my class or just keep it anonymous. I'm worried that if I don't tell my class, some people will only have prepared for the questions and not for the actual course. I definitely regret sharing the exam with the people in my class now, it would've been much easier to have told my professor, if I hadn't shared the questions with the people in my class.
Edit 2:
So I did send an email yesterday and apparently, it was just a past exam from another year. So it's all good. I just completed the actual exam today and feel quite good about it. Thank you to everyone who helped give advice!!

Tell your professor.  I don't know whether Canvas keeps logs such as you describe, but it doesn't make any difference.  Your feeling of moral obligation is correct. You are obligated to tell your professor.
Here is some general advice.  Author John D. MacDonald has one of his characters say, approximately, "In the case of any ethical decision, the thing you least want to do is probably the right choice."  (Quoted from memory, which is why it's approximate.  I think Benedict De Spinoza wrote something similar.)


In computer science, which place should corresponding author be listed? My supervisor, a master student and I just drafted and submitted a paper. My supervisor is the corresponding author and I want to put him as the last author. But he wants second place and the master student last.
I thought the last author is the default corresponding author. I am just curious how would people tell who is the corresponding author on the paper? Should I put some special mark on his name? And one of my friends was once put into the last author. Then he could sometimes receive emails who mistakenly recognize him as a professor. But he is just help run some experiments and contributed least to that paper.

In computer science, there is generally no straightforward connection between corresponding authorship and authorship order. There are even some fields, especially in Theoretical CS, where alphabetical ordering is the default. In other fields, seniority of authors (which is correlated to corresponding authorship, as the most senior author is usually most likely to keep his affiliation) can be a criterion for the ordering. But that's just one possible criterion among others (like, specifically, the amount of contribution).

In some conferences/journals, the corresponding author is explicitly highlighted in the author list (e.g., Springer LNCS series). In others (most IEEE/ACM-based ones), there is no explicit concept of corresponding author. The lead author (first author) can then be assumed to be the primary contact person.


Will self funding a PhD hurt employment chances? I am thinking of self funding a PhD in Applied Mathematics at either the University of Oxford or Cambridge. Would employers, both for academic (postdoc etc) and industry (research) jobs think less of a PhD holder if he or she is self funded?

E.g. Would they feel that because I failed to secure funding for their PhD, I am inferior to students who did? Although I am planning to self fund to UK schools, it would be nice to hear about views from across the pond (USA) as well.

There's nothing on your CV that needs to indicate exactly how you were supported during your Ph.D. In fact, if you were self-funded, and managed to get an occasional fellowship or other form of support, that's a plus !

All a recruiting committee should (and does) care about post-PhD is the quality of your work (for faculty positions there are additional issues). No one cares about how you were paid to do that work.


Is there a database of granted and declined funding proposals available with abstracts? I´m looking for a database of granted and declined scientific funding proposals. The applications should contain an identifier of the subject as well as the semantic components of the application and be available for download. The area of applications does not matter.
I have already found the website of the National Science Foundation (NSF). In my opinion, there are only the granted applications. In addition, I find in the database only the application, but not the announcement.

Thanks in advance.

Proposals are usually submitted with the expectation of confidentiality. A database of proposals by a funder is therefore unlikely.

Some people choose to publish their grant proposals at time of submissions (me included; RIO Journal is the only place I know that does this).


Should I take courses that are not directly part of my research topic? I've received conflicting advice as to whether I should choose my coursework based on my research topic or not. The main pro usually is that I'll quickly be able to get up to speed on my research. The con is usually that there are so many other courses that I could take, in which I could learn topics I may not ever have a chance to formally learn, and given the constant need to hunt for funding, I may never have a chance to put aside and study in-depth again. Any definitive answers to this topic?

I don't think a "definitive" answer is possible, but the following is based on personal experience and observation of many other students.

If your advisor is okay with it, take as many courses as you can in things that interest you and are in the realm of your discipline.  As an applied math grad student, one of the best things I did was to take a graduate course in optimization from the CS department, even though I thought it had nothing to do with my thesis (in numerical discretization of PDEs).  It ended up being crucial and allowing me to publish at least one paper that I never would have written if I hadn't taken that course.  I also took courses in things like astrophysics, quantum mechanics, and turbulence; I don't use those things much but I can converse with scientists in those fields, which is often useful.

Of course, I didn't take, say, philosophy or Italian or business management courses -- stick to courses related to your field.  And make sure that whoever is paying you is okay with it.


Can I publish without affiliation? Can I publish without affiliation ? Now I am not associated with any university and i want to publish one publication . Is there solution of this problem ?

You certainly can publish without an official affiliation. One of the advantages of the anonymous peer-reviewing is that reviewers should be concerned only about the content; Not the author information. Even if it's not an anonymous submission, your name and affiliation should have nothing to do with the quality of your submission.

I have seen affiliations like this:

Author Name
Independent Researcher
author email.

Some even with only the name and email address.


Cover letter and feelings - use or avoid A couple of cover letter use:

I believe that I could ..
I am confident
I am very interested

What do you think about them? Should they be mentioned with evidences or avoid since they are feelings and may indicate uncertainty?

Personally, I think your sentence fragments all suggest both a lack of evidence and a lack of confidence.  But more importantly, I think you're simply asking the wrong question.

Instead of focusing on the detailed language of your cover letter, focus on the content.  Who are you?  What have you done?  What makes you an asset to your target departments?  Instead of expressing your interests, demonstrate your accomplishments and your vision.  Instead of stating your beliefs or your confidence, show the reader clear evidence of your expertise and your impact.  Show, don't tell.

The advice that I give my own students and colleagues when they apply for graduate school or for jobs or for tenure is to aim for the next target.

Graduate applications should not say "Please admit me" but rather "I will become an independent researcher.  Let me get on with it."
Thesis proposals should not say "Please let me pass" but rather "I will have a strong PhD thesis. Let me get on with it."
Thesis defenses should not say "Please let me graduate" but rather  "I will get an academic job. Let me get on with it."
Job talks should not say "Please hire me" but rather "I will get tenure. Let me get on with it."
Tenure packages should not say "Please give me tenure" but rather "I will be a full professor. Let me get on with it."

And the way each application should "say" its message is not by stating your interest or belief or intention or confidence that you'll pass the next stage, but by presenting clear and compelling evidence that you'll pass the next stage.  And of course you never want to actually suggest the impatience implicit in the phrase "Let me get on with it"; rather, you want to convince your audience to let you get on with it.

Don't try to convince that reader that you believe that you'll be successful.  Make the reader believe that you'll be successful.  Show the reader that you will be successful.


Should I send my mediocre test scores if it's not compulsory to do so? I want to apply for a scholarship, but my TOEFL score is 81 and I think it is not good enough. Sending language proficiency scores is not compulsory for scholarship application but it is encouraged. I am indecisive to send it. What is your idea?

In general, test scores are only used as the minimum requirement for the scholarship. High scores don't help but a score much below median would likely hurt you. If your application statement was well-written and your other materials (letters, grades) were good, I wouldn't worry. If the accompanying materials were weak, then you have much bigger things to worry about than your TOEFL.


How to deal with a student found seeking an answer to a coursework question online? I have just found that a student has posted one of their assignment questions on a forum and is seeking help in getting a solution.

I have a good idea who the student is, but no definitive proof. How would you handle this situation?

Identify the offline equivalent of the observed behavior, and then act as you would normally. Remember, that the burden of proof for academic dishonesty likely resides with you. This includes verifying that the poster is indeed the student you accuse.

I find this situation to be pretty common: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/2753/how-to-derive-partial-gas-equation. Most stackexchanges have a homework policy. I would consider homework questions posted to stackexchanges to be no worse than asking students who have taken the course before you or asking another professor. How you deal with it is up to you.

What would your response be if you saw a student collaborating on the problem in a study group? How do you respond if you find out that your student asked another instructor or a grad student in your department for help? If you learn the student worked on that problem with his/her tutor? If the student looked up the answer in the textbook or the solutions manual? All of these are common and to varying degrees accepted (if not liked).

I would guess your irritation over this is somewhere more than the student asking one of your colleagues (who being nice will actually do the problem) and somewhat less than the student stealing another student's answer. Identify the offline equivalent, and then behave as you would normally.

EDIT - I missed the last part of the question.

  I have a good idea who the student is, but no definitive proof. How would you handle this situation?

If you do not have proof, then suck it up and let it go - this time. Next time put something in your syllabus. Either write a pretty severe sounding policy that exists to deter the behavior (because your policy will be basically unenforceable), or write harder questions and encourage them to use online forums with the caveat that they document all of their interaction. The second option shifts the burden of good behavior to your students.


How much does a publisher charge authors if they want to make their book open access? Is there any research/study/survey that looked at how much publishers charge authors if they want to make their books (textbooks or research books) open access?

I am most interested in the field of computer science, and English-speaking venues, but interested in other field and languages as well.

For SpringerOpen to publish an open access book, author fees vary according to page length, where 525 words = 1 page, and costs start about €7,000.

One option to publish a book for free would be to self-publish it using the open-source, free Open Monograph Press software.


Presentation - citations on the title? How uncommon or weird is it to put my citations in a powerpoint slide at the title ? I really want to put the citations in the slide and not only at the very end.

Slides are different beasts from papers and the style should match the medium. For example, we usually enumerate equations in papers, but shall we do it on slides? Clearly, readers can not go back until the presenter himself does it, so why wasting space on numbers in the first place?

Applying it to your example: why would you need [1]? Simply put reference if you feel it's needed. Or symbolise, [Kingma et al 2015].


Should a post-doc let his boss know before applying for a short term funding involving working in another location There are some fundings which support early-career researcher by letting him to work/visit another institute/university for few months. Those fundings normally pay for travel and accommodation expenses (not living expenses) and require a candidate to be affliated of one organisation, e.g. to be a post-doc.

My question is that if a researcher who wants to apply for those fundings should let his boss, whose funding is paying his salary, know before applying or after knowing that his application is successful.

Absolutely let them know before you apply. At my university, postdocs can't PI projects without a special exception from the university anyway, so you would need a support letter from your boss to apply in the first place. These kinds of rules probably don't apply to the kind of funding you are seeking since the money will go to you directly rather than being funneled through your current institution. However, if you are going to leave the group for a few months during your time there, your current boss needs to know this. Also, they should be glad to have you go and spend time with another group where you will undoubtedly get additional training and/or facilitate connections between your current group and the remote one. As such, your current boss might be able to help you write the funding application.


Prioritizing subject matter of future PhD versus university and professor In your opinion, which is more important when deciding where to do a PhD?

Choosing a top-tier university with a brilliant professor who is an excellent mentor or choosing a decidedly average university with a professor who you do not know the quality of their mentorship, but the subject matter is naturally more interesting to you?

Some people are fairly agnostic about their choice of dissertation topic and are happy learning to become interested in whatever interests their advisor. The fact that you are posting this question suggests that you are not one of those people.

You'll be happier, do better work, and set your career in the right direction if you pick an area that genuinely interests you. It's true that an advisor's prestige has a lot of currency, but it's not worth so much that it makes sense to sacrifice what you feel is best for you in the long run. Grad school is tough enough without the stress of added friction.


IRB (Institutional review board) : Do journals ever check? Does anyone ever check? I've got a project underway that involves human subjects, and I got IRB (Wikipedia Link) approval.  I'm thinking about my next project while working on this one.  I'd like to collect some exploratory data for the next one, and potentially make use of it in any resultant publications.  Nothing involves any real risks to respondents, so I feel that there are no ethical constraints binding me.

But as a practical matter, will anyone ever check that any findings were pre-approved by an IRB to be looked-for?  What might the consequences of ignoring IRB be?

This is social science.

I have never heard of a journal checking for IRB approval. However, as @xLeitix notes, your university may care very much, since doing studies on humans without IRB approval may get it into legal issues.

And I personally know of one case where departmental colleagues initiated a scientific audit of a professor, requiring her to dig up all documentation (filled-in questionnaiers, raw data, ... and IRB approvals) for some studies they were concerned about. Everything checked out all right, but if the IRB approvals had not been there, the PI would have been in very deep doo-doo.

So: get your IRB approval, and make sure it's safe and sound, with scans and electronic backup. Keep it for the requisite number of years, even after the study has ended and been published. Inquire of your university how long that is. Given today's cost of storage, I would keep the scan around indefinitely.


Teaching statement: should I say something about Master's theses supervision? I have a quick question. Is it usual to include a few lines on undergraduate/master theses supervision in a teaching statement? I see it as not really teaching in the traditional meaning of the word, however it is related to students. I have only supervised two Master's students, and put this in my CV; I don't know what hiring committees would like to know about this.

(By the way, this is for a tenure-track appplication in mathematics.)

Yes, I would certainly mention it, especially when applying to schools where undergraduate research is a focus, or those that have a thesis-based masters program.

The "teaching statement" doesn't have to be limited to classroom teaching; it is reasonable to mention any activities related to educating students.


Is it acceptable to be listed as an author based only on technical assitance? I am a PhD student in bioinformatics/computational biology. A year or two ago I helped a fellow student using a software package she needed for creating a certain type of figures for her project. This week I got an email from that student asking if I wish to be listed as an author in a paper she is submitting in which she used these figures.

Other than helping to get her started with this software package and maybe helping her a bit with improving her code otherwise, I made no contribution to that project and in fact had only a very vague idea what she was working on until I saw the manuscript this week. I estimate that at most I dedicated 5-10 hours  to the whole thing.

So my dilemma is if such a minor contribution justifies me being listed as an author.

On the one hand, I have invested very little in this student in terms of time and effort, and was not involved at all in her research process per se.

On the other hand, I did invest a considerable amount of time learning to work with the said software for my own project (totally unrelated to hers) so I think there was some kind of knowledge/skill transfer involved that may have saved her some time.

If it matters, the paper has four authors other then me: the student that I helped, her two supervisors, and another PhD student who to my understanding was much more involved than me in this project.

I'm looking forward to hearing your perspective, O wise ones.

The criteria for authorship may somehow vary by discipline. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) stipulates four criteria that must be met if someone is to deserve authorship.

  Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
  AND
  Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the
  work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

The ICMJE guideline further states that contributors fulfilling only less than four of the criteria should not be listed as authors but should be acknowledged.

A COPE discussion document about authorship also raises authorship criteria that are considered in different disciplines.

You may decide whether you qualify to be listed as an author based on the different guidelines available, probably based on the one closest to your discipline.


What does "awaiting EIC decision" mean when it occurs immediately after "awaiting reviewer selection"? I submitted a paper to a top journal last week. At first, the status showed "awaiting AE recommendation". A few days ago, it was changed to "awaiting reviewer selection". So I thought it passed the associate editor's evaluation and now they were looking for reviewers. Even yesterday the status was still "awaiting reviewer selection", but today it was changed to "awaiting EIC decision". What does this mean? Does this mean that the AE changed his/her mind and recommended to desk reject my paper and put forth his/her recommendation to the editor?

Sometimes tracking systems do not work very well and a change of status could mean nothing. Since I am a pessimist person I would give the same interpretation as you, but it is impossible to know. The wait is frightening but in this case is all what we have. Good luck!