Questions tagged [application]
This tag refers to the application process for an academic course or an academic employment.
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How can I recover professionally from being a crank?
Three years ago I got kicked out of graduate school in physics. I was suffering from mental illness, which led me to believe I made a huge discovery in physics. But my advisor kept saying that what I ...
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Should I answer this question about diversity?
There is an optional prompt on my PhD application:
censoredSchoolName University regards the diversity of its graduate
student body as an important factor in serving the educational mission
of ...
user84325
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What does it mean if a professor asks you to draft his reference letter for you?
This question is, honestly speaking, probably somewhat opinion-based, but I still want to give a shot.
A professor acceded to my invitation of writing a reference letter for me. Nevertheless, unlike ...
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Is it considered normal to publish job offers inviting candidates to apply based on their gender and/or race in academia?
I was browsing PhD position offers in Europe on different websites and I was quite surprised to find that several offers contained sentences such as
University of X value equality and diversity. We ...
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Choosing research ideas to include in a statement of purpose
The internet is littered with information on what makes a good SOP, but I would like to ask a specific question regarding mentioning one's research interests in SOP.
What points should a student keep ...
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Should I explain that I cannot finish my current master due to religious discrimination when applying for another graduate program?
I am currently enrolled in a master’s program in the Middle East, which does not seem to be possible to finish / worth finishing for various reasons. The main problem is the lack of research ...
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How to politely respond to generic emails requesting a PhD/job in my lab? Without wasting too much time
As I transition to faculty, I have increasingly gotten requests from people who want to do PhD's with me or want postdocs in my lab.
Often these emails are extremely generic and don't suggest they ...
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Why does a UK university need to know my sexual orientation and religion?
I want to apply to a postdoc position at a UK based University.
They want me to fill a "Equal Opportunities Data" form with questions about my marital status, sexual orientation, religion and race. ...
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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 ...
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How to evaluate potential advisers on grounds other than their research/publications?
While accepting an offer to grad school, one is basically entering into a lasting relationship with one's adviser - most likely, someone whom the applicant has never met before, and the only exposure ...
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Should I waive my right to view my recommendation letters?
Most graduate applications provide a choice for applicants to view their recommendation letters at a later date. There is a mention of some US mandate alongside.
Is it a better option to forgo this ...
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How to handle not having my PhD advisor as a reference?
I received my PhD in 2009 and my adviser will not provide a good recommendation for me. This is mostly because we have fundamentally different approaches to science, and in retrospect I see that I ...
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I know that there is a preselected candidate for a position to be filled at my department. What should I do?
There is a rather attractive position to be filled at my department. The heads of department are already quite sure about who should fill this position. Jobs being filled with preselected candidates ...
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Will flat earth society membership affect my graduate school application?
Just to be clear: no, I don't believe in the flat earth theory.
However, a few years ago, I thought that the flat earth society forum is a good place to practice my debating skills and to have fun. ...
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How to find a good topic for a PhD research proposal?
In many countries an application for a PhD position includes a written research proposal, so my questions is what are some advises/strategies to come up with a good topic/idea for a PhD research ...
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Graduate school admission with a degree in a different field
Can I be admitted to graduate school in a different field from my degree? Specific cases include:
If I've taken plenty of advanced courses in field X in the process of completing a degree in another ...
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Letter writer snapped at my reminder email. What can I do in the future to prevent this, and should I still accept his letter?
I sent a reminder email one day before the due date for a couple of my applications to grad school. It said something along the lines of
This is just a reminder that first due dates are tomorrow: [...
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Dismissed from PhD program and reapplying; how to answer question about dismissal?
My story is that the research in my department did not match with my background. I worked hard and my GPA is 3.5+, but the research topic was hard to develop. Unfortunately, I was dismissed from the ...
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Do my articles published in local newspapers count as publications?
I'm applying to Columbia's journalism school and it asked me if I have any publications. Since I worked as a reporter before for the local newspaper, and I did write a few headline stories, I thought ...
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Unsolicited CVs from grad school applicants - ignore or try to help?
I am a graduate student in physics and every other month or so I get an e-mail from someone who wants a grad school or even postdoc position. These e-mails often start out "Dear Professor (my name)," (...
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How to judge a Ph.D. applicant that arrives "out of thin air"
I just received an email from a student from a distant country, asking me to accept him as a Ph.D. student. I do not know this person, his advisors, his references or even the university he studied in....
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Details an applicant should include/exclude in an introductory letter to a prospective grad school adviser?
I'm applying for graduate school (PhD in computer science), and I'm considering writing to faculty whose research areas match with what I intend to pursue, to understand:
Whether they'd be looking ...
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I missed an application deadline, but it wasn't entirely my fault. How can I still be considered?
About a week ago, I went to submit the application for the mathematics PhD program at one of my top choice schools. The form told me I had missed the deadline, which was December 15th. I had January ...
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Photo requirement on CV?
I came across an advertisement of an academic position (in Europe) that states explicitly:
Application package should include:
(1) a complete curriculum vitae (with a photo), (...)
I have ...
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Value of light-to-none peer reviewed pay-to-publish articles
I have been approached by an international student about doing a PhD with me. As an MSc student in his home country he has published 3 articles in pay-to-publish venues, that are known to have little ...
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I made a major (criminal) mistake in college and the whole faculty knows about it, but I graduated. Might they admit me for grad school?
I’m looking to apply for my MCS at a well-known North-American university – the same university where I completed my BCS with honors. My grades are good, more than sufficient to get into an MCS ...
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Why do some universities charge an application fee?
In the high competition of admission in top universities, it is common that every applicant must send lots of applications to different universities/programs to get approval for a PhD program.
Some ...
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Should I disclose academic misconduct on a grad application?
I am applying to a master's programs right now and am in a bind.
My professor accused me of academic misconduct in one of my undergraduate classes. After I submitted my assignment I had asked a ...
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How much detail to include in first email to potential PhD supervisor?
First, I must mention that I found these questions helpful:
Prospective PhD contacts potential supervisor but receives no answer after 2-3 emails, what to do?
What to do when emails to a potential ...
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How bad will refusing to defend PhD look on industry-job applications?
I have been a PhD student (Pure Mathematics) for the full PhD time in my country (a northern European country) and am very vexed with my supervisor and the department I have worked in.
Education is ...
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Will anybody actually read your research and teaching statements?
When applying to faculty jobs, how much weight is given to your research/teaching statements? Talking with a few folks on admissions committees at Very Good Departments in Big Research Universities, ...
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Why do American universities have so many general education courses?
Americans spend 12 years in school which is more than in many places, yet, when they come to university, they continue to study a general education program that may be unrelated to their major.
My ...
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How should I investigate and respond to a potentially false claim of a publication in the CV of an applicant?
I was reviewing an application for a grant and found out that one of the applicants has included a publication on his CV that does not exist in the journal. It was supposedly published several years ...
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How do academics make money from applying their research?
There are a lot of very smart people in academia. They are at the front of human knowledge and push it further. Obviously, the research that comes out of academia is very new. My question is who ...
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Accepted by European university, rejected by all American ones I applied to? Possible reasons?
I've been wondering this for a while.
I'm currently doing the first year of my PhD in Frankfurt. Originally from New Zealand.
I'm not complaining about my situation but if anyone asks me I'll ...
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How do I deal with diverse interests when applying for a PhD program?
I have a master's degree in Computer Science. I have applied to PhD programs, and decisions are trickling in. I may soon have to choose between two or more PhD programs. I am outside of the US.
...
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My post-doc is ending and I am applying to faculty positions. In the mean time, does being unemployed look better than taking an industry job?
I am doing my first postdoc in pure mathematics, which will come to an end in four months. I have been applying for numerous positions, of course, but to no avail. It is about time (has been some ...
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How to remove gender bias from an academic job search?
I overheard some professors discussing the next round of hiring at my university and several were concerned about gender bias possibly playing an issue in the hiring process. An initial thought is to ...
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Crippling anxiety when writing grant applications
I find it very difficult to make strong research proposals, where I am trying to convince the audience that my proposal is important (possibly more important than the other applicants'). I write "...
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Applying for a postdoc. Should I mention that I completed my PhD with no supervision?
I'm hopefully in the last half a year or so of my Ph.D. in a subfield of mathematics/theoretical physics and am considering applying for a postdoc within the next three months.
My supervisor works (...
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Should I simplify my writing in a foreign country?
As a native English speaker studying in the Netherlands, I often find myself writing (not published) English papers for a Dutch audience, and I worry I'm alienating my superiors with my writing.
I ...
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How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
This is a special community wiki 'canonical' question that aggregates advice on a frequently-asked question. See this meta discussion. Please feel free to edit this question to improve it.
Please give ...
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"Upgrading" PhD
I have recently read many questions about doing a second PhD and (to my surprise) most people consider it a bad move. Also - it looks like some universities (for example Berkeley) even have formal ...
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Can I hide my bachelor and master degrees in CV when I apply for a PhD position?
I have 1 Bachelors degree and 2 Masters degrees. They are in different subjects, not closely related. I am now planning to apply for a PhD program.
Question: Do you think that I can only mention the ...
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For undergraduates, is publishing "weak" research better than not publishing?
As an undergraduate student, I have worked on some projects for my own interest, and recently a professor said that one of these works can be published (in a Elsevier journal with impact factor of ...
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What to include for a strong research statement for a faculty position?
An application for a faculty position normally needs a strong research statement, but what is included in a good research statement?
Highlighting the past successful research projects evidenced by
...
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I asked for a graduate student position from a professor. He replied "welcome". What does that mean?
I emailed a professor, saying I'm looking for a position. I introduced myself and wrote about experiences that I thought would be relevant to his work. I read on his website that he was recruiting ...
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Professor wrote me a letter of recommendation, but sent it to both me and the institute
So after all these crazy days of trying to finish my application and encouraging professors to finish the letters of recommendations (LORs) for me, there is the next thing - my professor sent the ...
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How should I fill the "First name" and "Last name" in an application if I have two given names and two last names?
How should I fill this information if I have more than one given name and more than one last name?
For example, if my name is Juan Eduardo González Rodríguez. I have 2 given names: "Juan" ...
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Can a blind person do a post-doc in the humanities?
I’m about to finish my PhD in Sociology. I’m from Pakistan, and I’m totally blind. My PhD research was quite interdisciplinary. I studied factors influencing environmental concern about environmental ...
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