Supervisor delays publication over style questions for years – can I remove him from the authors list? I did my PhD four years back. I was funded from my home country and I have done all the work. I started writing papers before submitting my thesis.

I am sending my supervisor drafts every year until now. Altogether I have now done 32 drafts. Since last year alone, I have rewritten my paper 12 times but he still is not happy to submit it and not willing to make any changes by himself. He is even not letting me to show it to the reviewers.

My supervisor is a lecturer and I was his first PhD student. I acquired the opinion of two professors (one of them is my 2nd supervisor and is a co-author) recently about the quaility of paper and they recommended to send it to a good journal (impact factor of 10 and above). After many years of struggle my supervisor wished to publish it in a journal with an impact factor less than 1. Above all he is not willing to pay publication costs and he is not allowing me to try for good journal. I am the one who did all the work, who paid for work, who wrote paper and who is paying for publication costs and i am not allowed to try any good journal.

One thing about his recomened changes: He did not ask repeating any experiments, redoing any analysis or revisiting any conclusions. It’s only text style that is being changed over last four years.
I contacted the university services and they told me that I don’t qualify for university help as they only cover two years post PhD duration.

What can I do now? Can I publish my work without him as co author. Can I just acknowlege him for hosting me and remove his name from the author list?

Can I just acknowledge him for hosting me and remove his name from the author list?

Probably not.  If he deserves to be an author based on his intellectual contributions to the paper, then it would be unethical to deny him authorship based on being difficult to work with.  He presumably thinks he deserves to be an author, or he wouldn't have spent years going over the drafts with you, and you apparently thought he deserved authorship at the beginning of the process.

Theoretically, you could declare that you have changed your mind and now think he never met the criteria for authorship.  That would be risky: he'll presumably be angry, and you'll need to have a very persuasive argument regarding authorship to avoid major damage to your career.  You should not try this unless you are certain that you are right and that the community will agree with you.  Would you make the same decision if your supervisor were cooperative and easy to work with?  If not, then you have no grounds for removing him as an author.

  I acquired the opinion of two professors (one of them is my 2nd supervisor and is a co-author) recently about the quality of paper and they recommended to send it to a good journal (impact factor of 10 and above). After many years of struggle my supervisor wished to publish it in a journal with an impact factor less than 1.

Why aren't all the coauthors discussing this matter together?  That sounds like how the issue of where to submit should be resolved.  You can start an e-mail discussion or schedule a phone call, everyone can make a case for where they'd like to submit the paper, and then you can debate the issue.  Hopefully you are all reasonable people and can come to some sort of agreement.

If this doesn't happen, then hopefully your other coauthor will decide that your supervisor is being unreasonable and will be willing to have a private discussion with him and try to get him to behave better.  On the other hand, if your other coauthor doesn't think your supervisor is being unreasonable, then you probably won't get anywhere with your complaints.

I'd consider doing the following:

Send it to publication with him not on the author's list. Somewhere in the paper (beginning, or end, or what not) just say what happened: "Person X contributed to this work to the degree of meriting consideration as one of its authors, but does not agree with this form of presentation and/or with the choice of venue, hence he is not listed as an author. For details please contact the authors and/or Person X at personx@somewhere.org" . Also mention this point in the submission notes.

It's perfectly fair, I believe; nobody can accuse you of doing anything underhanded; and, well, it's the truth, right?`

Notes:

This is a suggestion which can be put in the practice despite the supervisor's objection. If you can reach some agreement with him, that's another story.
If your advisor says "hey, if you sent it, why didn't you make me an author?" - then just do that. There's always enough time for this before publication. Just make sure to inform him soon enough (e.g. on acceptance).


Why is it that adjunct faculty positions pay so little? There's been a series of articles recently [1,2,3,4,5] that basically decry the dismal working conditions of adjunct faculty.

I would like to ask: Why do these positions pay so little? Is it because there is a vast amount of oversupply of teachers? Is it because the Universities have such a diverse range of topics to cover that they cannot afford to hire full-time instructors to cover these courses? Is it because there is decreasing income and funding for academic institutions?

I am curious about what conditions led to this situation where adjunct professors are paid so little.

The adjunct model seems to be predicated on an assumption that most adjunct faculty are presumed to be employed somewhere else. It's supposed to be a win-win: the institution gets a qualified expert with current, out-of-the-ivory-tower experience; the adjunct gets a chance to scratch a teaching itch, or to work with the university. All this happens for a modest compensation – which turns out to be a bargain for the university, and a little extra pocket money for the adjunct.

I didn't read all five of the articles you linked to in your question, but I did look through three of them. They seemed to be focusing on the depressing conditions for those who are trying to make a full-time living through a collection of part-time teaching assignments. I don't think that's the way the system was ever intended to operate.

Where I teach, I'm an adjunct, and I love the perks. I get to use the campus gym, and I get access to campus library resources. I have a passion for teaching, but I don't get to do much teaching at my full-time job. The extra money hasn't made me wealthy, but it's led to a few lifestyle improvements and splurges for my family. $9,000 isn't enough to live off of, but it goes a long way when you want to renovate a kitchen, take a vacation, or help pay for a wedding.

Moreover, where I teach (a state university in the U.S.), the adjunct rates are not set by the department. The going rate is the going rate, take it or leave it.

My brother once asked me how much my adjunct job paid per hour, if I factored in prep time and grading time. I told him that I never bothered to calculate that, but it didn't matter, because I enjoyed my duties too much to give it up. I'm fortunate in that I'm not doing this for the money, so even the relatively low pay is very much appreciated. I enjoy the challenges of teaching, the chance to experiment with new pedagogies, and the chance to make an impact on the future.

Let me put it this way: Teaching two nights a week for fifteen weeks? $3,000. Staying up until midnight grading final exams? Zero extra dollars. Getting an email from a student from two years ago, telling you about how she's using stuff from your class at her new job? Priceless.

Schools are not really focused on teaching, per se: universities want to be recognized for research. Research faculty do not want to teach undergrads, they want to work with doctoral students (& get more publications!) But a doctoral program is costly, it eats the revenues produced by undergrads.  Schools need big undergrad programs that can be run relatively cheaply to pay the big salaries of research faculty who really don't want to teach at all.   This system probably exists because school administrators essentially worked their way up the ranks via research, not by teaching & not with their management/administrative skills (administrators who are good managers and/or good motivators are a bonus..not essential to the position).  Once you understand that Universities are really about self-promotion of research and the status that comes from research publications (even if only within the academic community itself) you'll understand that the adjunct (low paid) faculty are absolutely essential.   Providing that someone will accept the low wages, there is no reason to pay more.


Should I give professor gift at the beginning of my PhD? I will be in a PhD program in Germany in which the first year of the program consists of only studying courses under several different professors.

Some people suggested me that I should give gift to the professors with whom I had interview with at the beginning of my PhD. Should I do it? Would it be misunderstood as bribing?

I would prefer not get a gift from someone that is dependent on me. I don't want to end up in a situation of perceived (by the person receiving the gift, giving the gift, or by an outsider) bribery. I realize that in many cases it is an innocent show of appreciation, but just saying (or writing) "thank you" will achieve the same goal without the risk of it being perceived the wrong way.

Yes!
I recommend gifts such as your attention, ideas of your own and questions...lots of questions. No physical gifts though, those aren't necessary.


Is it ethical to seek a PhD program if you suspect you may want only a Masters? I'm considering a PhD or Master's in engineering in the US, and I haven't really decided which makes the most sense for me. There are many questions and answers here that mention leaving a PhD program with a Master's and how it's not a "failure" or "dropping out", but it occurs to me: what effect does this have on a person's adviser/professors?

What about references, future relationships, etc? Is it taken negatively or as an insult, or cutting ties, to bow out with the lower degree?

What prompted this question is that a few programs that most interest me state explicitly that there is very little funding available for Masters students (so you are mostly expected to pay your own way), but full funding and additional opportunities are available for those admitted to a PhD program. The way they are worded, they seem extremely interested in good PhD candidates, and not at all interested in Masters students.

I'm not considering seeking a PhD solely to get a Masters/funding, because that's just outright dishonest and I wouldn't stomach such deceit. But, what might the ethics be of not being certain whether you want a PhD or a Masters, but applying for a PhD program?

If one's adviser and/or program and/or professors are explicitly harmed by having someone complete their Masters requirements, then I'd be much more hesitant to even consider a PhD application unless I was certain that's what I wanted. If being unsure is considered normal and the "harm" caused by bowing out of the program with a Masters not so great, then that would certainly ease things the other direction.

To be clear, these departments also specifically suggest you pick Masters OR PhD, and generally discourage you from applying to both. Thus my quandary!

My background comes from Biology so I don't know the details of engineering graduate programs. However, a graduate student is a significant financial investment for the graduate program and advisor. For the student it is the time and emotional investment. Graduate programs that offer funding i.e. stipend and tuition waivers to PhD students do so because it will take the student 4-7 years of full-time+ work to complete their courses and dissertation work. They are typically expected to devote all of their time towards their degree and are discouraged from outside employment. Thus the stipend to cover living expenses.

A MS program is typically 2-3 years and varies in requirements from program to program, ranging from just coursework to coursework plus thesis.

The learning curve is steep for someone who has no previous research experience and the time and money that is spent getting the student up to a productive level is significant. In our program, PhD students typically advance to candidacy around the time that a MS student would be finishing the program. Before this time the PhD student and the MS student are working under comparable conditions. This is also the time that if a PhD student were to not be meeting minimum expectations then they would be denied candidacy and exit with a MS degree.

There is less pressure for a PhD student to begin a project that will result in their dissertation early on because they have more time. MS students must find an advisor immediately upon entering the program and thus begin generating something meaningful if they are to complete and defend a thesis. The body of work is much smaller than a PhD student and is typically just a demonstration of their advanced breadth of knowledge in the field.

Many advisors in my program view MS students as an extra pair of hands and receive less attention when it comes to mentoring. Their projects will often be small offshoots of a bigger project that a PhD student or post-doc is working on. You must understand that they are treated differently from the beginning not because of discrimination but because research projects take a long time to develop and often meaningful results do not come until a few years of work, which is too long for a MS student.

For you particular situation, I would say if you are unsure about which program is right for you I would say take some extra time to figure that out. Whether that means get a job in the area you are interested or something else. Just be sure if you sign up for a PhD that you really want to do it. It is a difficult and really trying path, not for the half-hearted. Even for those who are extremely passionate about their work will question their place there and consider quitting during the bad times. Going into a graduate program with a clear focus and interest (PhD or MS) will make things go much smoother. Do not expect to show up and someone tell you what to do, or you may spend 6 months to a year just floating along trying to find your way.

Now selfishly speaking you are right, you could enter the program as a PhD student and feel it out, but in my opinion I would discourage you from doing that. You will likely waste your time and take longer to get your MS than you would if you went in from the beginning knowing you wanted an MS. You also risk soiling relationships that you could otherwise depend on to help you later in your career. Who knows if the advisor you picked will be angry that you left the lab with a MS when they were expecting a full 5-7 years of work out of you. The people I know who quit their PhD program often quit because the tough times made them realize they liked the idea of having a PhD but didn't really understand what it was going to take to get one. Make sure you know exactly what to expect.

Lastly, whatever you decide, pick an advisor very carefully. Advisors like bosses all have a range a personalities. Some are jerks that will call you during dinner time or saturday afternoon asking to meet with you. Some you will consider filing a missing persons report because you haven't been able to get ahold of them in 2 months. Make sure whoever you end up working with goes well with you.

I think the idea of waiting and getting a job is problematic for many fields, especially "hard" ones like math or physics. I just wouldn't want my mind to be all fuzzy and have forgotten what I learned throughout college. This is certainly done successfully quite often, but if you plan on at least getting a Master's, I don't see the use in waiting and atrophying/backtracking. On the ethical question, I think you have to ask that to yourself and find what your moral code is (I am a nihilist). Maybe philosophy.stackexchange could help you with this! What is unclear to me is whether someone like you who feels somewhat unsure is even less likely at all to graduate with a PhD than someone who goes in thinking R1 Tenure or death. Your waffling MIGHT even be a sign of mental health (a GOOD thing) is what I'm getting at. I'd say screw it and act rationally, take what I could.


Can I ask an author to send me his ebook? I'm working on my research paper. My subject is quite original and I even had difficulties to find a supervisor. In short, I found a fairly recent book on the Internet (2017), which is exactly what I am looking for, but it is not available in the libraries of my country. Could I ask the author to send it to me by email or even to send me some chapters?

Certainly you can ask. There is nothing wrong with that. If you explain a bit about your use and the restrictions you face it might make it more likely that the author might try to help you.

But the author might not be able to comply with your request due to contractual arrangements with the publisher (if any). So, you might get a reply that starts out "Sorry, but..."

On the other hand, I'm surprised that libraries don't have access. I would guess that if you take your request to the librarian him/herself, you might learn that copies of nearly everything can be borrowed. Librarians have a vast, legal, network of sources for academic/scientific works. Even my town library, which has no formal relationships, can find just about anything I need, though the sources are usually all in this country.

But there are no ethical issues about asking. Etiquette only requires politeness and being honest about your needs.

If the book is that important to your research, you should be willing to buy it from a store or online retailer. If the book is not on sale, it may be reasonable to ask the author where/how you can buy it.


Can human subjects be paid using a researcher's personal funds? I want to conduct some research and will apply for IRB approval. But, finding money to offer incentives for respondents may be difficult. I do not mind using personal funds as the total amount is very low.

Is there any ethical issue with using personal funds for research?
Do you know of any IRB related regulations that address the above issue?

If it matters I am at a US educational institution.

I've sat on an IRB panel and we've never been concerned about the source of funds for participant gift-cards.

p.s. Note I'm an ethnographic fieldworker and I often buy small gifts for the families and individuals who participate in my projects. It's too much of a pain to pay for these out of my research account (why do you want 15 stuffed bears and keychains?) so I buy them out of pocket.

I would like to supplement everyone's excellent answers by saying that sometimes, especially in social science experiments, the choice of incentive is very important. Importantly, the choice of funding source has also been explored somewhat in research methodology literature.

An influential paper in this regard is linked here (paywall) and here (free!) A brief summary of this paper is that, it takes 3 popular incentive choices (in social science for experiments) and looks at the choice of said incentive versus data collection and sampling. These incentives are cash, gift certificate via snail mail and gift certificate via email. The results indicate the cash might be the most effective incentive structure in similar experiments.

In response to a comment, I would state that does exist a relationship between the funding source and incentive choice. In one of our previous projects, where the funding came from a "named" foundation, we had a condition to use funding for participant recruitment in a very specific way.

Disclaimer: The first author is my previous adviser.


I still don't know my exact research question but I know I don't like the ideas my advisor pushes me to work on an publish asap. What are my options? I'm three months into a fully-funded PhD programme, following on from an integrated Masters and two years in industry. I should also say upfront that after seeing more what academic research is around, I feel lukewarm at most about academia in general - which definitely contributes to any dissatisfaction I feel.

While I'm broadly interested in the subject matter of my advisor's field (I switched to work with him after my Masters), I don't feel too keen on exploring the exact research directions he pointed me towards. That being said I still haven't clarified to myself what my dream research question would be. I know what themes I'm interested in, but even though they reside in the same general field as my advisor's work, they don't match his desired themes (It's like we are both interested in cooking but I'm a vegetarian and he is keen on catering for this new hot bbq rib joint.)

So on one hand I have an advisor urging me to jump into this idea I'm not interested in, and putting pressure to find a conference to publish anything ASAP (because the idea involves a recently hot buzzword). On the other hand I'm three months into this and I still don't know what it is that I would like to research really and I'm questioning whether doing a PhD makes sense at all. Both of this sides of the problem are incredibly stressful and exert really negative effect on my mental health.

Is it abnormal / bad / embarrassing to still not know one's research question this far into the PhD programme? Would it be bad / embarrassing / disrespectful to turn down my advisor's idea even though I don't have my own to offer in exchange, and ask for more time for 'reading around'?

From an outside perspective, you are just getting started. Three months is just a warm up period. One part of me wants to advise that the doctoral study period is limited and you should do what you need to do to get through it and move on to other things. The other part wants to advise that it isn't fun to work on something you aren't interested in for a few years. Dilemma.

But, if you intend to stay with this advisor, I suggest, pretty strongly, that you take his advice. He has more experience and a wider view than you do. It would be fine, in my view, to ask for more time to find a mutually acceptable problem to work on, but if you get push-back, I think you either need to yield or find someone else to work with. But, it may be that you can come up with an idea that he has some interest and competence in quickly enough that it works out.

You will get the best help from your advisor, assuming you need it, if you work on a problem he is also invested in. It is possible, but harder, to work alone, but you still need his approval at the end of the day. If you can get by with minimal help and final approval, you can probably make a go of it, though it will likely take longer than if you have strong help.

But you should look, also, to see if there is another local advisor available who has more compatible interests. You also want an advisor who will support your future career. Fighting with him won't get you that.

Is it abnormal / bad / embarrassing to still not know one's research question this far into the PhD programme?

You're working as a student. Your role is to learn not to publish. Publication is secondary to your studies, and no university can force you that. You don't even need a paper for your degree. You're not paid as a post-docs, your advisor or your university is in no position to force anything.

3 months is a short, learning a topic deeply at the PhD level generally take
much longer.


How to best address authorship issues with PI? I am a postdoc working with the same supervisor who supervised my PhD thesis. During my PhD time, it was tacitly assumed that my work is his work too. It went as far as me doing the entire planning and execution of a paper and writing the first draft, while he later looked over the draft and made suggestions on what to expand and what to change. None of the suggestions were fleshed out. Yet we are the only two authors on this paper and he wrote in the author contributions footnote that he and I both conceived of the study, I did the experiments, and both wrote the paper.
Since the paper used some of his data as well as experiments funded by a grant given to him, I obviously cannot publish anything on my own.
However, now, in my postdoc function at the same institution, I find myself in a situation where a PhD student and I are doing a lot of work for a paper and there are two professors involved. My advisor and another professor.
The current paper grew out of another study for which I did all the experiments and coding with a lot of input from the other professor (not my advisor), while the advisor wrote the first draft. My advisor ended up as the first author, even though only the initial idea of working on the topic was his, but he barely contributed to the design of the study, nor does he understand the statistics used or the experimental design.
In this follow-up paper it is, once more, tacitly understood that my advisor will be first author and the other professor the senior author. The work, meanwhile, is done by the PhD student and me with some input and supervision from the other professor.
Is it possible to somehow broach this inequality in my/our position without destroying one's future?
Additionally, I'm getting more and more messages that sound like I'll be part of more papers where I'm clearly the only person doing all the work. Is it normal to have the lab leader as a senior author even though he doesn't contribute any work, nor any meaningful feedback (simply because the methods are not accessible to him)?
And also I've been getting signals that sound like if I publish my own work, not using the data gathered at work, I'd still have to run it by my PI, and possibly have him as a co-author. This last part is particularly disturbing. Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? How do you discuss these things?

Your supervisor's conduct is blatantly unethical.  The current relationship is harming your career.  You need to find a new job.

I agree that having the professor as the first author seems wildly inappropriate. However, this can sometimes be the case in countries with labs that have a "lab head" and many young faculty underneath them. As many countries and schools only consider papers on which faculty are first or corresponding author in advancement and evaluation, it sets up perverse incentives for faculty to insist on first or corresponding authorship where it isn't deserved by most journals' ethical standards. If this is the case and is likely to remain so, then I agree with SolarMike's comments to find a new position if possible.
You don't say in your question what your relationship is like with the main advisor. Could you discuss this situation with them directly? If so, I would take a some time to cool off and make sure you aren't as dismissive of their contributions as you are in your question. Rather acknowledge their advising and support, but suggest that you and the PhD student be the co-first authors, while the professor and the other advisor be the co-corresponding authors. This would be the way we would untangle this Gordian knot in my institution.
Regarding including senior authors who may be distant from the day-to-day of running the experiments (but still qualify for authorship due to setting the directions, securing lab funding, etc.), this depends strongly on the customs in your field. Some fields go alphabetically, some have the "advisor" as the 2nd author, others the advisor is as the last author. However, the advisor is typically always included, even if their contributions were minor. Don't forget their funds paid your salary and the PhD students, got the equipment and whatnot for the lab, and other things without which the research would have remained an idea on a drawing board.
Regarding publishing papers entirely on your own, again this may be field and country-dependent, but I personally don't see anything "disturbing" about the advisor insisting on looking it over. This is standard practice in industry, for example, and your contract with the university may even say something to this effect. All of your intellectual output, even that created "on the side", typically belongs to the employer, who, at their discretion may choose whether or not to exercise their right to ownership if it's truly outside the bounds of your normal duties. As a post-doc you're not hired on a 9-to-5 basis, and as the bulk of the work is intellectual, there's no easy way to disentangle what ideas were developed "on the clock" versus developed on your own time.


Emailing potential supervisors in the US before submitting application I'm applying to PhD programs this year. How common is it to email potential supervisors before submitting my application, asking if they have a spot available? Could this improve my chances of admission? I've heard that this is the norm in European countries. What about in the US?
I have a masters degree (Mathematics) and know roughly the area of research I'm interested in.

As @Buffy comments, the other answers do not seem so accurate about R1 and R2 grad math departments in the U.S. That is, funding is mostly as Teaching Assistants, administered through the department, not by individuals, and funding-and-admission decisions are also made at a department level, by a committee.
Yes, having a faculty person ardently promoting your case to the admissions committee is definitely a good thing, but is not necessarily decisive, depending on that faculty person's record of following through (or not), mentoring, etc.
Yes, asking faculty ... not whether they "have a spot", but... whether they are currently taking PhD students can be a relevant question. Both people with lots of students already, or who aim to retire very soon, might say that they are not currently taking more PhD/research students. It would obviously be useful to know that, rather than show up and be negatively surprised.
In any case, as other people have commented, do NOT write generic emails with a huge bcc list. Take the trouble to address people by name (!!!), at the very least! And if you describe your own interest as X, which is not much connected to what the faculty person does, don't email them at all.
True, people seem to often "reckon" that sending inaccurate emails to people is harmless, because they can just delete them. It's not that I myself keep a grudge list of people who've sent me spammish emails... but it is fairly antisocial to spam people, in my opinion.

Yes, this is very common in the U.S. If you play your cards right, you will already have a pretty good idea which institution(s) will accept your application when you apply. In some cases you may get an informal offer before applying if you go this route. This has been my experience.
Contacting potential advisors / program chairs before applying for a doctoral program in the US tends to be more popular for PhDs and other research-based degrees. This is far less common for practice-based or professional doctoral degrees (especially for those degree programs in which the relationship with one's advisor isn't important). It helps to explain your research interests and to find someone whose interests align with yours...but flexibility will also serve you.
If funding comes into play (it should for a PhD program), getting to know a department and potential advisors becomes even more important. Departments want to know who they're investing in. Will you likely "stick it out" and finish the program? Do your interests align closely enough with theirs? Is funding available for your tuition AND living stipend AND research costs? Can the department trust you to teach a few undergraduate courses (or labs). Will you be pleasant enough to work with for several years?
I've gone multiple routes. In round #1 (2008) I never received interest from the PhD programs to which I blindly applied. Several programs that I contacted in 2010-2011 ("interesting" economic times) were quick to tell me that no funding was available for the following year (or probably the next). That, of course, saved time and lots of application fees. As I researched my options, I spoke with several potential advisors by email, phone, and in person (via campus visits that I set up). This ultimately led to two "informal" offers with funding. I formally applied after that point to those two universities and only those two. (Even with an informal offer...you still need the formal offer in writing before making a decision.) I'm glad I did so many phone calls and in-person visits. I eliminated several possibilities just based on these conversations. Faculty websites aren't always accurate and up-to-date. :-)
On the other hand, a few years ago when I applied for my EdD program (dissertation-based program but no funding offered) I sent a short email to the program director expressing my interest. She set up a Zoom interview with me and we discussed my research interests and professional goals. I was accepted and then assigned to a dissertation advisor. This process was much more streamlined, but the department was also much larger than my previous PhD program. And, with no funding offered, the department wasn't taking on the level of risk that a traditional PhD program would.


How do I ensure I'll be able to claim authorship over a math proof, as an amateur math student? I found proof for an open math problem. I know it likely has flaws, but I can't catch any and I'd like to put the proof out for revision. But without losing the credit for it, in case it turns out to be correct.
The thing is I'm just a math student and I have no experience publishing math papers or anything.
I've already checked a post here with the same question I'm asking, in which many people recommended talking first with a mentor or a trustworthy teacher, but I've never had a relationship with a teacher. And currently, I'm not seeing my teachers in person, because I'm in quarantine and my classes are virtual. Moreover, it would be really embarrassing for me to talk about this with people I know, especially if they rapidly find a mistake in the proof. I fear they'd think I'm silly for even considering the possibility I may have proven something no mathematician has been able to prove before. So I don't want to share this with anyone I know unless the proof is reviewed by expert mathematicians and I'm fully sure it's correct or at least seems to be.
Finally, as you may have noticed, English isn't my native language, so I don't know how I could manage to write down this proof in English. I'm not familiar with the math language and notation used in English.
I want an English version because once the proof is published, I'd like to send it to important mathematicians for revision and I don't know important mathematicians who speak my language.

Moreover, it would be really embarrassing to me to talk about this with people I know, especially if they rapidly find a mistake in the proof. I fear they'd think I'm silly for even considering the possibility I may have proven something no mathematician has been able to prove before

My advice for this concern is to propose your work as an attempt rather than conclusive. It is normal and okay for attempts to fail: most do. If you reduce your expectations publicly to those that you hold privately, there is little cost to failure and substantial benefit to success. Ask others to find errors in your work, and be humble.
If they can find no errors, they will be sufficiently impressed. If they do find errors, you can be appreciative and they will feel useful for having found and taught you something and you need not be embarrassed, only thankful.

Write up a rough draft of the proof, create a public Github repository, and upload the pdf. The Github commit history functions as a publicly-verifiable timestamp. Yet you can always delete the repository if the proof turns out to be wrong. Your work doesn't yet belong on Arxiv, and such uploads are hard to take down.


How do I convince professors that I have enough math for the PhD position? It has been a month since I received the rejection email. I gave it a long thought for a month, about whether to pursue another try at the position, while applying for other PhD and job opportunities. I would still like to give it a shot, and the following email is what I am about to send. Please let me know if it sounds okay :) I took out the part pleading for a lower position (i.e. research assistant), as some comments pointed out that it sounded too desperate.

Dear Prof. A,
Despite my big disappointment about the decision, I would still like to thank you for taking your time to consider my candidacy and getting back to me with the result.
It took me some time to get back to you, because I just could not get over how much I find this project ideal for my research interests.  Hence, after a long thought, I decided to make my last attempt in convincing you to reconsider my candidacy for the position.
While I acknowledge that the "Z" project is a challenge, I also see it as a great opportunity to hone my mathematical training. I have proven records of success in facing such a challenge: I did not have solid mathematical or programming background for the Y master program. However, I put in a lot of efforts both prior to and during the program to thrive in mathematically rigorous courseworks (on my own and with the help of a mathematics professor affiliated with the Y program, Prof. X) and successfully completed a computational modelling project for my thesis. I am more than willing to do the same for the "Z" project, and I feel confident from the previous academic experience that I will not disappoint you if given a chance.
You could also provide me a test problem/project, with which you can gauge my abilities to work on the project.
In case you decide not to reconsider my candidacy, I would like to thank you anyways for the consideration and the close call again. I will remain dedicated to obtaining a PhD degree in the field of decision making under uncertainty and hope to meet you some day in a conference.

Below is the rejection email I've got last month:

"...Unfortunately, I can not bring you good news. Among all candidates you were the one with the highest scientific ambitions which really set you a part from the rest. However, our concern remained that your mathematical training is not enough for the specific problem that is subject of this position. We wish you all the best and especially that you keep up your inspiring passion for science...
P.S. If that helps you somehow: We finally concluded that none of the other available candidates fulfilled all necessary requirements and hence the position remains open."

This was my initial reaction to the rejection email:

I really want to work on this project! Is it a good idea to tell them that I am willing to go down the hard road? (e.g. taking online math courses or working as an intern/assistant at their lab before the PhD studies to meet the mathematical requirements for the position)? Also, should I make a case that my master's program was in fact mathematically rigorous by outlining the course syllabi and requirements? I have already sent them a transcript for this purpose, but I feel that listing only course names and grades do not really tell them much about what kind of and how rigorous math I worked with.

Thanks for adding the text of the message you received.  The text makes it clear that this is a rejection, and it should be understood as final.  There is no point in following up to try to convince the professor that you should get the position; it will only annoy them.

The best thing you can do with this information is to improve your applications for other positions in the future.  It suggests that you need to improve your mathematics background if applying for positions like this one, and/or to review your application materials to make sure that they clearly demonstrate your preparation.

What you could do is to write them a (very) positive email outlining that you would see this position as a great chance to up your math skills and that is your dream position and that you are willing to put lots of time into improving your math (already before you actually start the position) and that you have not only succeeded before in doing difficult things but you have actually thrived in them (+example(s)) and if they would give you this chance you will not disappoint them.

Changes might be slim but worth a short - let us know how it went!

--- EDIT ---

Based on the comments below "dream position" used as phrase might be a little bit over the top but your email should transport the message that it is your dream position without explicitly mentioning it.


Are college students forbidden from sharing their grades with other students? I am currently in an anatomy class and had an issue. I and three other students worked on an 18 page packet together. We had the same answers since we worked on it as a group.

However, two of us received a 35/50, one of us had a 50/50 and the other had a 30/50. When we asked the teacher why we got different grades, we were scolded for sharing grades with each other and told we were not allowed to.

I can't seem to find this anywhere in our welcome packet or any paperwork and I was wondering, are we really not allowed to tell other students our own grades?

I have a lifetime of experience in academia in the US, and in all of my experience your instructor's claim is completely without merit.  There is no regulation or cultural norm that requires students to keep their grades confidential from other students.  Moreover, comparing assignments or exams for learning purposes and/or to confirm that the grades have been assigned fairly is a very common practice among American students: at any American institution I would assume students have a "right" to do so unless given explicit information to the contrary.

So, bottom line: there is a very good chance that what the instructor has told you is bogus.  What should you do about it?  I would begin by politely asking your instructor whether there is any written confidentiality agreement that you are subject to.  If he says yes: good to know!  If he says no: I would seek aid from someone at your institution.  Good places to start are (i) your faculty advisor or (ii) your student ombudsperson.  Eventually you may want to speak to the department head and/or the relevant dean, but I would proceed carefully and get as much advice as possible rather than escalate too quickly.  It is very likely that you are in the right here, as others should recognize without your needing to press too hard or further antagonize your instructor.  (Someone at an American institution who says this to a student is likely to be well towards the "unreasonable" end of the spectrum, so I would try not to hand them an excuse to retaliate against you.)

Good luck.

Just wanted to throw in my .02:

Whether your professor is correct depends on two things:
1) As others have stated, college/university policy.
2) The legality of said policy. In the United States, any attempt by a public college to regulate the speech of its students is technically illegal, as such colleges are government entities. Private colleges are another matter.


Is it okay for a reviewer to share an under review manuscript with their colleagues? In a research meeting I mentioned I was doing some peer-review for a conference and disclosed the general topic it was about, without any further details. Immediately my colleagues demanded I disclose information about details of the paper, authors, and they even suggested I should share the paper with them immediately, and they swore "they would not share it with anyone".

I refused and said this was unethical behavior. They all got really angry and took it personally, saying that sharing a manuscript under review was completely normal and ethical, and even recommended and the problem was simply that I did not "trust them".

What is your experience with this? What are your thoughts?

Do not share this manuscript.

It is one thing for you to solicit input, under an agreement of confidentiality, when you recognize there is another expert who can help with the review.

It is totally different when someone demands that you share it, not because you are getting help with the review, but for their own edification.  The manuscript is confidential.  Keep it that way!

Your collegues complained, among other things, that your unwillingness to share the paper demonstrated distrust on your part --- and well it should.  Had you been willing to share the paper without permission, you would have been giving the author reason to distrust you.  Your collegues demonstrated remarkably unethical behavior and, to refute their claim, have proven they cannot be trusted.


I slept with my advisor's daughter and she is blackmailing me now. What can I do? I am doing a PhD in the US. I am in my mid-twenties and will graduate next spring. My advisor was very good and nice to me. He invited me to have dinner at his home many times and then I met his daughter. I did not realize at the beginning but she told me she had a crush on me. I have known her for some years now. She is above the age of consent.

I went to a party last week and had an extra couple of beers and I could not resist her. I am here alone and had not been with a woman in two years until then.

Now she wants to start a relationship with me and is threatening to tell her father, who is my PhD advisor, that I seduced her if I do not agree.

This is a very difficult situation for me because I do not want my advisor to think I took advantage of his daughter and the trust he has in me.

Also, I do not have time for a relationship. I just want to finish writing my thesis and then graduate.

Aside from those issues, I would love to date that girl: she is cute and hot. In normal circumstances, for me it is extremely difficult to get a girl. I am like Leonard from the Big Bang Theory TV show.

I do not know what to do. I just want to graduate and go home. But she is threatening me.

What should I do?  What should I tell my advisor? I do not want him to feel betrayed and that I took advantage of his daughter. She is the one that came to me because under normal circumstances I cannot get a girl. But also I do not want her reputation to be damaged.

I tried explaining that to her but she told me I got sex and I want to get away with it. I am afraid and worried.

Some additional information: There is no way I could have seduced her. I am not good with women.

I do not know what happened. As I can remember, I had very few interactions with her. Never shared anything but a few encounters in social meetings. That is all. And then she tells me she has feelings for me. I did nothing to get into that situation. I was invited to a party and then she appeared. I had a couple of extra beers and she offered to take me home and there she jumped over me and kissed me and I could not resist. I had been a very long time without sex.

I am very worried and scared.

First off, you haven’t committed a crime (assuming she was above the age of consent) and you haven’t engaged in academic misconduct (since there is only an indirect academic relationship between you). However, the fact that she is threatening/blackmailing you is very concerning. The fact that she is your advisor’s daughter makes things more complicated, but being threatened or blackmailed by a sexual partner would be deeply concerning in any circumstance.

I do not know the exact nature of the threats or blackmail, but I would not engage in a relationship with someone who is threatening or blackmailing me. Only you know the exact situation, but your choice of words rings alarm bells. My primary concern in your situation would be worrying about whether she will make worse threats — e.g., false rape accusations. That would be much worse than a spat with your advisor.

If I were in your situation, I would try to record my conversations with her so that I have some evidence to protect myself if she does carry out her threats. Save text messages and get a voice recorder app on your phone. (Check the laws on recording conversations in your state first.) The only thing other than “he said, she said” you have to defend yourself is such evidence.

Maybe I'm misreading the situation from your question, but your choice of words "threatening" and "blackmail" is concerning. And there is no harm in trying to protect yourself from possible future accusations. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

This is not a complete answer, but I think you should worry about being threatened/blackmailed before you worry about dealing with your advisor.

In terms of dealing with your advisor, two (conflicting) points: Generally, honesty is the best policy (as Buffy's answer emphasizes), but she is an adult and her father has no automatic "right" to know about her sex life, and there is a good chance both of you would prefer him not to know (as Nicole's answer suggests).

In terms of dealing with her: It sounds like you are still on speaking terms with her and you should absolutely try to talk things through with her. Treat her with respect and acknowledge her feelings. (See Geoffrey’s answer.)

tl;dr: Tell your advisor right now.

You have several concerns, not necessarily in order of significance:

Your advisor's reaction (and the danger to your PhD)
Your own feelings/interests in the proto-relationship with the daughter
The daughter's feelings/interests in the proto-relationship

None of these is a trivial concern, but I'd say the greatest cause of fear and concern here is that they are all entangled, intricated with each other, making it emotionally difficult to approach any one of them.

My suggestion is to extricate the first one from the other two, while mitigating it or addressing it completely.

Your advisor - her father - will find out sooner or later. In fact, it is highly likely he'll find out before you graduate, and quite likely he'll find out very soon. It is far better for him to find out from you than from anyone else. Also, considering the fact that it was legal, consentual (you would say so, and she hasn't complained to her father, so he will believe you), and did not involve academic misconduct - he may be somewhat upset, but he will absolutely not be upset enough to hurt your PhD. Your relationship might suffer, or it might not - but this will happen regardless, since like I said - he will find out.

Tell him that you had not told him so far because you were afraid he will be angry and this will hurt your relationship, but that this was the wrong choice for you, for him and for his daughter. If he reacts favorably, consider even asking him for advice regarding how to deal with the fact that you will likely be leaving, and thus believe you cannot pursue a relationship with his daughter - something he might understand while she does not.

PS - If you are willing to entertain the possibility of maintaining the relationship until you leave at least, the daughter might be willing to tell her father together with you. That way is even better, because it would make him feel that nothing has gone on behind his back. Note that she might be at least as upset about what she perceive as cowardly behavior than about the fact that you might not be toghether after you leave.


Ideal contents of a reference letter for PhDs seeking industry jobs The majority of PhD holders do not stay on in academia, but rather move on to jobs in industry far away from the area of their PhDs. Given that the content of the PhD is not directly relevant (the common wisdom is that a PhD holder has "learned how to learn"), what should one include in reference letters for an academic applying for industry jobs? What qualities are those in industry looking for? Does the answer vary for newly minted PhDs vs more experienced researchers?

There are a lot of examples of recomendation letters in Internet for both, industry and academia. So, you can take any of them and present your skills and experience in the corresponding way.


Handwritten presentation slides? Since it takes a lot of time to type presentations out using Beamer, PowerPoint, etc. (I need lots of equations) I have been thinking of shifting to handwritten slides (example).

Does anyone here have experience with handwritten slides that are not "transparencies"? What hardware/software will I need to prepare slides like these?

I see essentially two possibilities:

Write out your slides on paper, then scan them.
Get a Tablet & Pen combination and write directly "to your computer". I don't have experience with hand-writing slides this way, but I recently acquired a Wacom Intuos Pen which you could use for this. It has the additional benefit that you can use it in web conferences to write on a shared web whiteboard (this is the use case I personally got it for).

In case 1, you can scan your notes directly to PDF and present them. If you want to mix "classical" slides with your handwritten slides, you will need to mix PowerPoint or Beamer slides with graphics files containing your handwritten slides. You may need to experiment a bit with what picture format works best here, in terms of both file size and graphics quality.

In case 2, you can create PowerPoint presentations and write directly into the presentation with your Pen, which makes integrating "classical" and handwritten slides quite a bit easier.

digitalboard.salmonjoy.com

I had recently developed this website which can convert your handwritten notes into a presentable form. This is 100% free. A lot of teachers, specially those who has to deal with many equations and formulas, are using this
It is very simple and quick.
Here's a video where I explain what is DigitalBoard and how to use it - https://youtu.be/kFme3ebYh3I

Hope this will be helpful


A potential PhD supervisor wants me to visit campus for an interview before I know if I'm accepted I've been in correspondence via email with a potential PhD supervisor who has agreed to take me on. After a few emails back and forth and polishing my proposal with his guidance I submitted my application per his instructions. He suggested we interview after I submitted my application. It's been a little over 2 weeks since I submitted. He suggested either a Skype interview or a visit to the campus. Visiting the campus would mean I would have to book some plane tickets. They're relatively cheap since it's within the UK but I'm also on a budget and don't know if I'm going to get accepted or if the interview is required for a decision on my application. I suggested a Skype interview and then during the interview we could arrange a visit on campus but he countered with an offer to just visit the campus during the last week of the month. I was confused so I agreed I could visit campus but asked for him to clarify or provide some guidance on the application process and never heard back from him. I still haven't bought plane tickets and am not sure how to interpret this series of events. Should I just explain my situation to him and ask for a Skype interview? When I agreed on a visit I told him when I would be able to fly out but haven't heard anything so I'm really not sure about buying plane tickets. It all seemed like things were going along smoothly but now I'm very confused. Any suggestions?

The solution here is honesty and candor. You should explain that you would like to visit the campus, but that your financial situation doesn't allow it at the moment. Any reasonable person would either drop the suggestion of a campus visit, or find some money to pay for your travel expenses. Any other reaction would be a red flag.

Actual travel would be unreasonable to ask for (but not, perhaps, if it was all taking place within the greater London area). On the other hand, I would consider a skype conversation to be reasonable. You can go into much more depth on specific topics a lot easier than in an exchange of emails.


What Problems Are Applied Mathematicians Concerned With? I have been doing some looking around to try and learn a little bit more about what applied mathematicians work on in a more general sense and think that I could benefit from a question posted here. Research in applied mathematics seems to be something like a 'jack of all trades' type of discipline in which applied mathematicians can work across many different and seemingly unconnected fields that could benefit from mathematical modelling. But, modelling in a specific field seems to me to be the role of the domain specialist.
Then, what is the utility of an applied mathematician when domain specialists would (should?) be the people who tackle, solve, and model the problems related to their field of expertise? Where do applied mathematicians fit into the research puzzle where domain experts do not?

I am mostly going by your title question and your clarification from the comment. Because as it turns out, the only field most applied mathematicians add knowledge to is applied mathematics itself, only then someone else to apply this knowledge to something later, so there is a lot of internal stuff going on. But more about that later. First let me tackle the part of applied mathematics that is "exposed" to the sciences. (By which I choose to mean everything except maths for sake of simplicity)
What do applied mathematicians do with respect to sciences?
If you want to apply mathematics to something, there are essentially two (oversimplified) steps:

Write down a model of your problem. (e.g. differential equations, graphs, minimization problems, etc.)
Extract useful information from your model using maths. (e.g. find solutions, universal properties, minimizers, numerical approximations etc.)

People from the sciences¹ are certainly good at the first step, and they are taught a bit about the second step during their education or pick something up in practice. But that is generally restricted to some standard methods. In contrast think of applied mathematicians as kind of the opposite of this. The model a mathematician writes down might be a bit rudimentary and not be most realistic one, but he'll certainly know some more advanced mathematical trickeries to extract some additional predictions from it. And of course as lifetimes are limited, it is basically impossible for someone to get into the full depths of both sides.
Now one would think that this would lead to a clear division of labour. But what muddies the waters is that there are many models and not all of them are created equal. There are many models that may look reasonable but that are mathematically ill-posed, rendering their predictions useless.² There are also many models that look simple and are of interest to scientists, but where extracting mathematical information is impossibly difficult, while a less straightforward looking model might be easier to solve. (And for the converse, there are many mathematical toy-models with interesting theorems but no real applications).
People who focus on this would generally fall under the heading of mathematical modelling. But that is only a small part of applied mathematics.
What problems are applied mathematicians concerned with?
Contrary to your question, a lot people in applied mathematics don't deal with specific real world problems at all. Rather than that they work on improving the methods used for problems. These can be ways to prove certain classes of theorems and make predictions or they can be algorithms to numerically solve problems. Both are completely different but kind of have the same function for the sake of this discussion.
The important point is that the good methods are application agnostic. I don't want to prove a new theorem for each new application and I don't want my numerical algorithm to only work for a specific equation (there are some exceptions but those are by necessity, not by choice). So while many may look to some application as an inspiration or put it in the paper as an example, that is not their focus.
Notes:
¹As a sidenote, you called them "domain specialists", but that isn't a good distinction, as this is true for both sides. Applied mathematics splits in many domains and each mathematician will only be a specialist in one or two of them (e.g. statistics, or partial differential equations or, certain numerical methods etc.). They just might feel like "jacks of all trades" to you, because each of those domains will have some applications in almost all sciences, but they are still rather specific and fundamentally useless if the problem needs a different subfield of methods. Think of the two as orthogonal to each other.
²If a model M has no solutions, the sentence "Every solution to the model M fulfills property X" is true for any X.

Cryptography seems to be a mathematical applied field since many centuries.
And today, computer science can be thought of a mathematical applied field.
(e.g. is abstract interpretation or machine learning some applied math, or just computer science)
Was Alan Turing a mathematician or a computer scientist?
Is this paper about math or about computer science?


Can I hide the fact that I dropped a PhD program when I apply for another PhD? I am an international grad student in the US. I would like to quit the PhD program(mathematics) in where I spent 2 years without "any degree" for some reasons. I am in the status prior to the research. If I want to apply for another PhD in other universities, will leaving the fact that I dropped a PhD program without a degree off make serious problems?  Does it make some legal, ethical, moral trouble in the academia?

Lastly I just wonder whether, if I am admitted to another grad-school, the department will track or check my previous academic record by inquiry VISA status, SSN, or the other ways.

According to the FERPA(Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act) act, can I control my educational records myself? I asked about this to some schools, they said, even if it's true, the school can also have the right to require the student's educational record in the case of application to the school.

If I got a degree in a school, I also think I should put the fact in the application.
But should I write my all post undergraduate record in my PhD application even if I didn't get any degree and just quit?

Most (all?) universities in the US require that you mention all the schools you attended on your application, regardless of whether you obtained a degree from them. Omitting any school is a violation of the rules and, if discovered, could be grounds for rescinding a potential admission offer, even long after it has been granted.

In other countries, it varies.

It's not a big deal.  If they ask you why you want to change schools (programs), just say the other program wasn't a good fit, and then enthuse about the program you want to enroll in.  No matter how bad things were there, resist the temptation to say anything that might display bitterness.  It's okay to sound critical, as long as you don't project an image of someone who doesn't like to collaborate.

Unless your grades are embarrassing, you should submit a transcript from the institution where you studied for two years.  Those two years of study make you a stronger candidate!


Citation of the table or illustration made by myself I wanted to state the source of the illustration I made by myself. The illustration shows the structure of the company, which is based on my research and a number of other sources. What is the best way to state the source? Can I just write Author or is there a better alternative?

There are three options:

1) It is yours and you made it from scratch especially for this publication. You do not need to cite anything. If reviewers or the editor ask, mention that it is yours.

2) It is yours and you based it on some other illustration X that was published by someone else. Then mention that you based it on X and cite X.

3) It is yours and you published it before. If you are sure you are allowed to re-publish it by the original publisher then cite the original publication. If you are not 100% sure, consult the original publisher about their rules for re-publishing figures.

If it's yours, there is no need for citation!

If it was published before, you should cite the first publication of it (of course while respecting all copyright rules as always when you are using illustrations).


How to effectively deal with Imposter Syndrome and feelings of inadequacy: "I've somehow convinced everyone that I'm actually good at this" Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon wherein an individual is convinced that they do not deserve the success that they have achieved despite (perhaps extensive) empirical evidence to the contrary.  Some people with imposter syndrome doubt their own ability level. For me, this usually manifests in the thought:

I've somehow convinced everyone into believing that I'm actually good at this.

followed by the horrifying notion that eventually I'll be found out and my world will collapse.
I believe that the imposter syndrome is not uncommon in academia. I'm interested to know how other people here have experienced and dealt with it.

In particular, I'm looking for actual tactics that someone might
use to combat imposter syndrome.

Why I asked this question:
Beyond the obvious reason that this is something I have struggled with for many years and only recently gotten a handle on myself, there's also some evidence that merely realizing that other people experience imposter syndrome helps fellow imposters. As a grad student, I've managed to meet a fair number of people who are in their own struggles with imposter syndrome; however, the tactics and self-trickery that have helped me don't always speak to them and perhaps someone else's methods might.

I found two practices helped me a lot:

Reinforce what you know. The biggest problem with being an academic surrounded by other academics is that you're constantly being confronted by things you don't know. Even worse, it often seems like everyone else knows something that you don't know.
You don't need me to tell you how demoralizing that is. The fight is to go back and review what you do know, and reinforce your expertise in your subject area. Most academics are polyglots; choose some random thing you've studied, learned, or even just considered previously, and review it every now and then. It'll help you view the progress you're making.

Engage non-academics. You don't realize how much you know until you talk to the other 99.99% of people who don't know what you know. (Confusing sentence...) Write blogs, offer to give visiting lectures at a school or workplace, work as an intern or consultant in industry, champion a political cause related to your research. There are so many ways you can make use of your knowledge, and doing so will definitely help massage your ego which has been bruised by many semesters of feeling inadequate.

The more productive question may be, "Is the present situation better with me or without me?"  If you believe your participation is actually detrimental, step aside... but in most cases you'll realize that, whether or not you're the Platonic Ideal of whatever you're striving to be, the situation is still better with you there making that effort.

In other words, worry more about the world and less about yourself.  Like paranoia, self-doubt is itself inherently somewhat narcissistic.

Or to put it another way: That which we would become we must first impersonate.  Viewed in that light imposture isn't necessarily such a bad thing.  We all have to fake it till we make it.  And a robust appreciation of our ignorance is the foundation of wisdom.


Are academic papers required to have specific sections I've seen that academic papers tend to have the sections Abstract, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Acknowledgements, and Literature Cited.  My question is if I wanted to publish an academic paper would it need to have these specific sections or could I have a different set of sections from the ones mentioned depending on the contents of my paper?

That depends on where you want to publish. Some journals are strict on requiring a specific structure, e.g. IMRAD, or on the naming of sections, while others are more freeform. As a general rule, read any "Guide to authors"/"Author information" or just try to follow the structure used in recent papers published in the venue of interest.

Have a look at a few papers in a few journals in your field. Probably will be illuminating.


Stuck with an advisor who is unprofessional I'm a Masters student in computer science. My current advisor is completely un-professional. He doesn't only write bad letters of recommendations for his students in order to keep them working for him, he even wrote bad letters of recommendations for students who did not ask him for these letters. I think this is egregious. I don't really know why. It might be psychiatric issues. Now, he is the only one in my school doing research. I don't know how to deal with it. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Run away! The most important thing to success in your graduate education is your desire to succeed and your advisors desire for you to succeed. I've had friends and family with advisors who were immoral or emotionally unstable, and they are much happier now that they switched institutions/advisers or left the field entirely.

In computer science you can build a reputation without your advisor. Get on github and start contributing to open source projects related to your interests. Go to conferences and network.

People probably know this guy is not honest and discount his letters (assuming what you say is true).


How to establish a relationship with a department head as an undergraduate? I am an undergraduate who is line for a first author publication in a field I absolutely love, and want to continue my research in the same department. At my school there is a program, I have heard of, that would allow me to get my masters as an undergraduate, and the paperwork requires a signature from the department head. I don't want to appear as sycophantic a-hole, I come from a very economically disadvantaged background. I am paying for my school, want to continue my research, and eventually obtain a PhD. Basically, I need to know any good suggestions of how to establish a relationship with the department head. I know email is an option to contact the department head, but she doesn't know me. I have emailed another professor, I said hello to and know his childhood friend, who has been in the same department for 15 years to see if we could get coffee and talk with him about this matter to see if he could introduce me to the department head. Any suggestions of knowing how to connect/establish a relationship with the department head?
Best

It's possible that you are misunderstanding what the signature of a department head implies or requires. In general, signatures are used to ensure that policies and procedures have been appropriately followed. Save for unfortunate cases where resources are solely allocated due to rather extreme corruption (beyond anything I've personally encountered), you don't have to have some sort of deep personal history or relationship just to take part in an existing publicly advertised academic program.

The most common way this comes up is a form that requires two signatures - one from your advisor (or other faculty member relevant to the request), and one from the head of the department. The advisor/faculty member is usually the one responsible for making sure you meet all the program requirements, and believes you should have the request indicated by the form authorized. Then the signature from the head of the department is generally just a bureaucratic formality, and the department head's job (often delegated to an assistant) is to ensure you qualify, etc (making sure the faculty member did their job correctly), maybe ask a few questions or require supporting paper work if applicable (if it's routine they won't even do that), and then sign. And off you go!

To see what is truly required to get into your school's program, you'll need to look up further information about it on the website - if one exists (it may not have useful info), and talk with whoever administers the program. You might also just go to your department office and ask the assistant for more information about the program. You can just say, "I read about the program where you can work towards a masters while you are an undergrad - how can I find out more about this program?"

You can then find out if the program is a competitive application process, are there certain qualifications you need before applying to the program (such as completing a certain number of courses, having a certain GPA, meeting with a graduate advisor, etc), and all the other details you might want to know about to decide if the program is right for you and how you can join. It could be as simple as ask to join, give your transcript to the assistant and they will have the chair sign, and you are in (so long as you pay the bills, which might increase to be a part of that program). But you won't know until you talk directly to the appropriate staff members - no need for scheming just yet!

the paperwork requires a signature from the department head. I  ... I need to know ... how to establish a relationship with the department head.

No you don't. Don't try to establish a relationship with her; trying to do so will likely hurt your chances of being accepted to anything.

However, if there's some program or award you think you might be considered for, and the department head has some discretion about awarding it, you could write her a letter (not an email - a letter; and not a short note - a letter) describing your background, your achievements so far, your interests and your plans, and requesting whatever you're asking for - even if you're not nominally eligible.

As a side note,

  At my school there is a program, I have heard of, that would allow me to get my masters as an undergraduate

I might not be in academia in the same country as you, but - this might not be a good idea. I can't be certain with more information but my default assumption would be that either this is a scam, or it doesn't mean what it supposedly means.


Software to create repositories of students' software projects I want to be able to store the software projects my students submit so I can catch plagiarism. Some students copy work from previous years and it would be really helpful if I could find a way to store all projects so I could compare.

My university currently uses moodle but I can't find a way to create a project repository to detect plagiarism. (We do have the JPlag detection system but that only works for projects submitted under one particular group (assignment)).

Any ideas?

I and my university have used MOSS (Measure of Software Similarity) by Stanford (theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss) - I'm not sure of its effectiveness to detect slight modifications, but it seems to be the standard of most university CS programs.

A software program can be coded in multiple ways, which renders plagiarism softwares impossible to detect similar projects/files. Students often change the variables, method names, comments, etc.

In case somebody simply copies a project without a single modification, It can be detected by jPlag. But in case of slight modifications, it is impossible for such softwares to detect plagiarism. Maybe in future AI can prove this whole thing possible.


I am uncomfortable about students taking pictures of the blackboard, because I don't like appearing in them It seems to be the trend that fewer and fewer students take notes in class. Lately, and particularly this semester, for some reason, I have been noticing that several students take pictures of the blackboards with their phones in lieu of taking notes.

While I'm not necessarily against this, if it helps them focus on class, I'm uncomfortable about being in a million pictures by these students. I'd like to speak up, but it's already a few weeks into the semester, and I don't want to make the students feel uncomfortable either. Is there anything that I can do to resolve this without creating discomfort on either side?

Perhaps you could make an announcement that just before erasing the board, you will pause for a moment to allow pictures to be taken, while you stand out of the way so as not to obstruct the shot.  You can ask photographers to wait until that time, and to please compose their shots to exclude you if necessary.

It looks to me that this is a topic in the "feeling good education" which, I believe is not education at all (more like sale of diplomas for big money and nothing to show for it), so I should not be commenting. But I do anyway.
First, many instructors/departments/universities do not permit phones or other electronic devices in the classroom. A student who comes to class to tap on his electronic device is not only disrespectful (why not wide open a newspaper and read it in front of your prof) but is rather disinterested in the subject as well. Second, students need to learn how to take notes, since that way they stay engaged, they learn to discriminate the important from less important and so on. Just because you can snap a photo, does not mean it is useful to you. Third, they are copying copyrighted material and that is a no-no, for mass consumption, such as youtube or like postings they end up at. Lastly classroom is not generally considered to be a public space, even at public universities (just consult numerous court cases) and therefore you do not have a freehand in taking photos of people without their permission. Finally, this is mostly caused by indecisive instructor. You are there to set the tone and establish the rules, not to worry about "hurt feelings" but to make sure you have classroom atmosphere conducive to learning and teaching effectively.


Is it ethical to limit marks based upon past performance? A professor has a habit of starting oral examinations by asking for or looking up grade averages and grades from other subjects and then taking them heavily into account when evaluating the student in question. For example, I was allowed to be even considered to get an A in Real Analysis III, because I got an A in Real Analysis II and had a good overall grade average.

Is it ethical or helpful to ever consider student's performance outside the course? If not, what about subjects tightly interconnected? But then, most mathematics is interconnected in one way or another...

What you describe is, in my opinion, horribly unethical!

Yes, past performance is often a predictor of present performance, but there are so many other factors involved as well.  What if a student did poorly before because of any number of reasons, but have since stepped up their work, caught up, and really mastered the material?  Or what if the student has been focusing heavily on this subject and has consequently fared more poorly in another subject?

It is manifestly stupid and counter to the entire notion of education to ignore good work by a student in one location simply because the student did bad work in another course or another time.  Ethical violations are a different matter---it is reasonable to be suspicious of a student with a history of cheating---but grading a student poorly for having the audacity to exceed expectations is a rank betrayal of the most basic responsibilities of an educator.

This scenario is ambiguous.there could well be and ethical abuse that the instructor is not doing his/her job, but the use of past performance as one input in the grade decision is not inherently an ethical abuse, depending on how one understands grades.

There is not widespread agreement about what grades measure.

Depending on whom you ask, grades might measure:

how much a student learned in a course
how much a student knows at the end of the course
how much effort a student put into a course
how well students complied wth course procedures
what a student is capable of doing at the end of the course

And these comparisons could be relative to a fixed standard, or relative to other students in the class ("on a curve").

All of the above have been used in courses I have seen. I'm afraid it seems that grades in a course mean whatever the institution or instructor define them to mean. There are some practices that would be widely condemned as abusive, but grading based on total proficiency and using past achievement as part of that assessment seems to be to be within the realm of defensible practices.

If the standard is an absolute level of proficiency in a body of material, past work in the field is a helpful piece of information about a student's likely level of proficiency. In other words, if a grade in course N is intended to reflect how well a student can do tasks x and y, and tasks x and y require skills from course N-1, then it seems reasonable to use this information.

This is not how I would advocate grading, by the way, but it seems to fall within the universe of acceptable practices. If a professor believed that the only way s/he were comfortable asserting that a student attained the level of proficiency s/he believed warranted an "A" grade were if the student previously demonstrated mastery at the "A" level of prerequisite course material, and also had high overall mastery of other material as demonstrated by a high GPA, this decision strikes me as unfortunate but not unethical.

I would hope an instructor would allow other ways to demonstrate that mastery besides grades in a previous class; this example was unclear whether that was the case. When the instructor told the OP that an A was only in consideration because of past performance, I do not know if this was a general requirement, or the specifics of this case based on other assessments in this class.

If the instructor views grades as a certification to the student's future instructors, employers, clients, etc of the Instructor's assessment of the student's proficiency with course material (far from the only meaning given to grades, but one widely accepted one), then this can be justified as ONE input in the grade decision. Given the set of observations about the student (exams, projects, homework, etc), how likely is it that the student has at least (excellent/good/fair/poor) mastery of course material? If the goal is to give the hugest grade the instructor an justify with confidence level x, past performance is an I out that adds information to the decision function.

If the instructor based grades ONLY on what the OP described, that would be shirking the responsibility of the instructor. If the instructor said that the student's work in this course alone was not enough to definitively convince the instructor that the student was at an "A" level of mastery of course material, but that work combined with evidence of the student's past work raised the confidence level enough to justify certifying to future encountered of the student that the student mastered the course subject, that could be ethical.


Computer Science Publications: conference vs journal on application form I'm a UK post-doc working in Computer Science -- specifically, Computer Vision and Robotics. For the next stage in my career, I'm aiming to apply for some very competitive post-doctoral research fellowships. Reading through the application guidelines, they list the metrics which are used to judge each candidate's ability.

Now, two of these metrics are related to publications. The first of these, is called "Number of peer-reviewed papers (not including conference papers)". The second of these is called "Number of papers presented at conferences". My understanding of the reason for this, is that in most academic fields, conferences papers are often not peer-reviewed, sometimes exist only as an abstract in written form, and are generally considered to be inferior to journal papers.

However, in my field of Computer Vision and Robotics, conference papers are in fact the dominant medium for publication. Typically, a conference publication consists of an 8-page paper, which is thoroughly peer reviewed by a number of reviewers, together with a rebuttal stage. The acceptance rates for these papers range from around 20% to around 40%. My peers and I always publish our work as a conference paper first, and then sometimes combine a couple of conferences papers into a journal paper. However, these journal papers are almost always just an extension of a conference paper, and usually act as an archive rather than the release of your latest research.

Therefore, in my field, conference papers are far more common than journal papers, and often have lower acceptance rates than journals. For example, I only have one journal paper, but I have eight first-authored conference papers, and this would be considered a good CV.

So, my question is, how should I fill out the application form for this fellowship? If I abide by the strict wording, then it will appear as if I only have one "serious" publication. However, if I put all my publications in the first section (number of peer-reviewed papers), then this will technically be incorrect, because most of them are conference papers. The fellowship I am applying for covers all areas of engineering, and I do not want my application to appear weaker than it actually is.

Thanks!

Discuss this with the contact person for the fellowship.

Pretty much every job posting and funding call has a contact person listed, who you can call or email to actually discuss what they are looking for. This is an underutilised resource.

If you talk to this person you can find out the best way to fill out the form, and it is also a great way to alert them to this issue, put you on the map as a candidate, and find out anything else about what they are looking for in this fellowship.

ObViously, you should follow the rules: put your journal publications under the "Number of peer-reviewed papers (not including conference papers)" section, and the conference papers under the conference section paper, but add a line stating something like *Please notice that in my field (computer science) conference proceedings publications have the same value of the journal publications.

Then, from tomorro, stop publishing in conference proceedings, and start to publish ONLY in journals.


Dismissed from PhD due to disability-related misconduct: how to answer question about dismissal? I committed plagiarism at the end of my PhD. My psychiatrist found that the plagiarism is related to a psychiatric disorder (mental health problem). I have published many papers in top journals and this behavior was clearly out of character.

I was asked to voluntarily withdraw from my PhD program. However, I have a psychiatric explanation, and I have a psychiatrist who can vouch that my mental health issues have been resolved and there should be no further incidents in the future.

After taking time off to get treated and to recover, now I am considering applying to PhD programs again.

However, I am facing a question from most universities that I am applying to. Is there any hope for a student who committed misconduct that is related to a disability?

I am nervous about this application. Can anyone help me figure out how to deal with this issue in a proper way?

It's not easy to understand how a mental health issue can lead to plagiarism, and it's less clear still how a medical practitioner could reach the conclusion that a specific instance of plagiarism was a consequence of a mental health issue. Unless those things can be documented and explained in a credible way, it is unlikely people will overlook the circumstance.

If people can be convinced that the plagiarism was a consequence of a mental health issue beyond the plagiarist's control there remains the issue of convincing them that it will not be repeated. Since plagiarism is professionally unacceptable, its cause, while relevant in a moral sense, is not relevant in a practical sense; someone who plagiarizes cannot work as an academic professional, whether or not that person is morally responsible for the plagiarism. Consequently, even people who have accepted the difficult to believe claim that the plagiarist could not control committing the past plagiarism will have to be convinced that he/she can always control him/herself in the future.

Summary: people have to be convinced the plagiarism resulted from a mental health issue, and people have to be convinced that the mental health issue will not recur. Convincing an admissions committee of either seems difficult. There are many people trying to get into PhD programs, and those deciding on admissions generally are reluctant to dedicate resources to candidates who they judge to be at risk of not completing the program. The slightest hint of a lack of forthrightness or an unwillingness to accept responsibility is likely to condemn the application of a candidate who has already failed to complete a PhD program for the reasons described.

In an ideal world, authorities would try to psychoanalyze a criminal and treat him and release him, rather than putting him in a place that messes him further : irrespective of whether he was responsible for his twisted mind, eg substance abuse or whether it was something else , eg. messed up childhood , substance abuse by mom in pregnancy etc. However my friend the world is not an ideal place. It that were true , you wouldn't be running after pHD degree.
I am by not inferring you are a criminal, just providing analogous example. If your records do not talk about plagiarism , you just need to come up with an explanation. If not , you can still contribute to the world with your intelligence. Your degree shouldn't affect your earning if you really want to make money. And a lot of people with less wealth are often more loved and respected. A person who makes 100 times the average doesn't always do so because he has 100 times the intellect or EQ or risk taking ability. On the contrary he probably connects less with people, uses them more and is going to be forever unhappy because of his lack of empathy.
I only wish you good luck and hope you still help the world with your abilities.


How important is your undergraduate degree when it comes to graduate admissions at top universities? Let's say I have an undergraduate degree from a top university in my country which is, however, not renowned around the world. Does this have a negative impact on my chances of getting into a good graduate school?

Next year I will be a high school senior and I am thinking about where to go for undergraduate studies. The two options I have are:

Attending a top programme in my country, Romania, which doesn't make any of the university rankings, but is nevertheless really well regarded in my country.
Trying to get into some top 100-200 programmes in European universities which theoretically give me better chances to get into a top-tier graduate programme. This would be harder for me due to the financial costs (attending any university in my country would be a lot more cheaper).

I want to know your view on whether option 1 or 2 would boost or damage my chances of getting into a top graduate programme in North America or Europe.

The school at which you got your undergraduate degree plays a huge role in your competitiveness on the grad school market. It is hard to give specific advice without knowing what country you are talking about, but purely numerically, for the vast majority of all countries worldwide, having top results and top references from the best university in that country will not get you into any of the top US or UK universities. The gulf between the undergrad programmes can be gigantic, and in some places you will just not develop your potential, almost regardless of how talented you are.

As I say, it is hard to be more specific without more information. Certainly, league tables mean almost nothing, and there are countries whose universities don't feature in league tables but offer solid education. If you live in such a country, then you are still relying on your grad admissions committee knowing it.

Edit: I have seen extremely strong students from Romania doing their undergraduate at top European universities (specifically in mathematics), and then getting into top Ph.D. programs in Europe; I do not recall having seen graduate students at top universities who did their undergraduate in Romania. That by itself does not mean much, after all it is a very small sample anyway.

If I read in a reference letter for a graduate programme that somebody was in the top 10% of their cohort at Bucharest, I would take that endorsement seriously. On the other hand, if you study there, you will have to be aware that the students that you see around you will not be representative of the competition that you will be facing when applying for the top graduate programmes, while if you are at Cambridge, or Bonn, say, then the best in your year are likely to actually be the primary candidates for the best Ph.D. programmes.

My view is that the main advantage of studying at the top places is not necessarily that they objectively offer the best education, but that you will be surrounded by very hard working and ambitious students, and that in turn will push you to develop your own full potential. If you manage to surround yourself with such a peer group at your university of choice in Romania, you will be fine. It's just that at the top places you will not have to look very hard to find such people. On the other hand Cambridge, say, is a much more expensive option than Bucharest. If you have the money, I would go for it; if not, then don't worry and just go to a top programme in Romania.

Super important. I got a 2.2 in my undergrad 22 years ago. With experience I was accepted at a top university after entrance exams 2 years ago. Even though I now have a Distinction at MA level to win phd funding I still need a 2.1 or first in undergrad. I'm now doing a phd at a low rank university.


No response from Professor; how should I remind him about writing a recommendation for me? I'm applying to a BS/MS program and I'm gathering recommendations. I'm an international student from China and I was transferred to my current college last year.

Two weeks ago, I went to see my professor during his office hours to ask if he could write me a recommendation letter. He agreed and told me to email him.

I sent my request a week later and it was just a general email asking for recommendation (without mentioning when I'd visited him).

I still haven't got a response from that professor. It's possible that the professor didn't recognize me in the email, since I sent that only one week after going to his office.

Should I leave him a reminder in a follow-up email? Or should I do so in person?

I would send an email along these lines (taken from Cindy Au on Quora):

  Dear Professor [Professor's name],

  The deadline for submitting letter of recommendation for [name of
  program/ fellowship] is quickly approaching. I would like to
  inquire if there is still any document I can supply to make your
  writing easier in addition to what we discussed during office hours 2 weeks ago.

  I understand that this is a very hectic time in the school year and
  thus can't thank you enough for your time and support.

  Respectfully yours,

  [Your name + ideally a link to some website containing your photo]

Here is a useful hack for emails in academia:

Email your professor with a subject line about his research. Pick something about their research that intrigues you and ask a pointed question.

Then remind them you are also waiting for their response regarding writing a letter of recommendation. The professor may have decision paralysis when weighing other tasks they have against writing a letter. They may not have even closely read your request. They may have thought about getting to it later, but later may never be. Try this solution as it will get them to read your email. It's better if you do a bit of research regarding their work to make it sincere.


Does it make sense to get a second M.Sc. while pursuing a PhD? The situation: You did your B.Sc. and M.Sc. in CS with focus on subfield X1 and are now pursuing a PhD in subfield X2. There is a Masters program in subfield X2 available where you do your PhD that offers courses that allow you to advance in this subfield (which is pretty new to you).

Does it make sense to get a second M.Sc. while pursuing a PhD if the courses of the Masters program will be beneficial to your PhD work?
Subquestion: Do you think it is even feasible to do this based on your experience?

The geographic context is Europe/Germany so a PhD does not include course work. A Masters (at a university of applied sciences) takes 3 semesters full time with the possibility to double that time when doing it part time.

In Germany, as has already been pointed out, the Master's degree is a prerequisite for enrolling in PhD "studies." It should also be pointed out that in the German system, PhD students are Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter (research employees), so it is expected that they would devote all of their time to research activities. Enrolling in a second master's program would run contrary to those expectations, unless you are only a part-time employee (and receive a correspondingly reduced salary). That said, it is possible to sit in on additional classes as a listener. (And generally this is required if you are coming from a foreign country!)

Many PHd programs include a masters with them. So if you enroll in universtiy X and get Phd DD, you will earn Ms DD on your way to getting the PHd. A Phd without a dissertation is essentially a masters degree (when you compare the coursework).