Questions tagged [communication]
Questions about how to communicate with others appropriately and professionally; communication etiquette.
351
questions
2
votes
1answer
237 views
How do I request my teacher to stop apologizing and being too nice when correcting my mistakes?
I have a teacher who honestly is a bit over the top. I like her teaching skills and appreciate being in her class. Sometimes, though, when I'm having a debate with her, she disagrees with me.
Me: ...
15
votes
7answers
10k views
How should I reply to an email from a student who took a test and failed, and promises to do better?
Below is an email I received from a student whom I'm giving Spanish lessons to. He took a assessment test and failed it. I received this email (which I've attached below) from him today, and I'm not ...
2
votes
1answer
168 views
Balance between spending time on research and preparing for presentations
Recently I noticed that whenever I have presentations to give, I end up spending quite a lot of time preparing for them. I imagine perfecting presentations takes time for everybody. But probably I ...
2
votes
2answers
195 views
How to respond when a professor compliments you via email?
In a certain STEM graduate course, my professor made a claim and provided an solution without showing any derivations. After doing this, he mentioned that the students should derive the solution at ...
63
votes
14answers
13k views
What is the best practice to deal with students who sit in the back and laugh at other students' questions?
Term just started and I think every class does have some students who sit in the back (which is totally fine) but sometimes are challenging to deal with when they show some disrespect towards other ...
5
votes
1answer
494 views
How to ask for letter of recommendation without giving the impression you want to leave the group?
I am a final year PhD student and given the competition and burden of finding a PostDoc position, I want to try to apply to some positions early on. At this stage I am satisfied with the group and ...
0
votes
0answers
78 views
How to start working independently in a project?
It has been two months since I joined in this new project. I have put to work along with another postdoc researcher. Now we both have been asked to set a pipeline for sequencing analysis. This person ...
1
vote
1answer
176 views
Email from one after-PhD-scientist to another after-PhD-scientist. Private or institutional email address?
Suppose I (a senior postdoc in Europe) write an email to another not-student scientist (a postdoc or a professor also in Europe) that does not know me nor directly nor by publications. I am either ...
49
votes
17answers
12k views
If I ask a question that turns out to be something basic I'm missing can it damage my reputation?
I'm a PhD student and I'm getting started in the field I want to work on after I finish my PhD. There were some very important works done by a very experienced researcher and collaborators that I've ...
1
vote
2answers
215 views
When to switch from "Hello/Dear Professor X" to "Hi X" in email [duplicate]
I am just starting a PhD, and I have been in contact with the supervisor for about 3 months now, that means before the interview so you can assume I was SUPER polite when emailing him!
Since then, I ...
20
votes
6answers
12k views
My interview went well but at the end the interviewer said "All the best for your future endeavours". What does it mean?
I was interviewed for an academic job where I pretty much answered all the questions and the interviewer seemed positive. He even shared his contacts for further questions and said there would be more ...
42
votes
4answers
15k views
Misgendered by senior academic in email to people I don't know
I am a PhD student, and also trans (MtF, she/her). I've recently done some work with a research group based at the same institute as me, and this has led to me being CC'd in a few emails to various ...
8
votes
6answers
5k views
Advisor will not write a recommendation letter for me to participate in a conference
There is a leading conference that will take place in Jan 2022. Graduate students are encouraged to present a poster about their thesis work, however, the slots are limited so a recommendation letter ...
3
votes
0answers
91 views
How to get published research covered by science magazines so as to promote the research among the community?
I am a researcher in the early stage of my career with a few publications. I work on High Energy Physics and published papers in top ranked journals with relatively high h-index. My query is regarding ...
4
votes
6answers
709 views
Is this way of writing e-mails to professors asking for funded PhD positions to work under their supervision good?
I am a person in an Asian country who plans to write to professors in Europe for a PhD position in Math for the session of 2022. I know Europe has a lot of countries and is certainly not a uniform ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
What channels do people use to challenge or provide criticism for newly developed theories?
I currently not in academia, but I am an undergraduate alumnus with no graduate experience.
What are the normal processes for academics to challenge each other’s theories or findings, or to support ...
1
vote
1answer
320 views
How to deal with professor who is ignoring my questions? [duplicate]
I am studying data mining in a college in Nepal. In Nepal, students and teachers communicate using Facebook Messenger. Teachers don't share email, and are instead friends with students on Facebook.
I ...
5
votes
4answers
339 views
How to get feedback from my supervisor about me
I'm a first year PhD student in mathematics. One day I was having some conversation with my supervisor and we got to a point where he casually mentioned about his other students and said that one of ...
18
votes
2answers
3k views
How do I deal with a collaborator who stopped working at the final stage of a research project?
I am a graduate student who started to collaborate with a postdoc last year on a research project which we both came up with. During the past year we had several discussions about this project. I ...
46
votes
6answers
9k views
Regret after not being able to solve a problem that my supervisor did easily
I'm a first year PhD student and I was asked to think about a problem last week and I tried to work out some examples, did some computations, but I wasn't successful. Basically, I didn't really make ...
24
votes
8answers
10k views
First-time teaching PhD students make course assignment way too demanding for a new lecture
I'm attending a graduate lecture at a university in Europe. Two lecturers, both PhD students, are giving their first lecture. One of the PhD students is senior and another just recently enrolled in ...
8
votes
3answers
394 views
I am about to apply for a tenure-track position close to my spouse's workplace. How do I reflect my intent wisely in the cover letter?
I currently hold a TT position at school A. My spouse's job (not in academia) is at a 4 hours commute from school A. We underestimated the hassle it would bring when I accepted the position at School ...
14
votes
6answers
5k views
Can I use a fake email address for asking simple questions to experts?
I am a postdoc in math. From time to time, I have some simple questions, which I believe most graduate students know in their field. So, I email specialists to ask them. I sometimes noticed that ...
3
votes
1answer
153 views
Telling supervisor we need to wait before publishing
I am a PhD student and my supervisor absolutely wants me to publish an article with results from my master's thesis (done 2 years ago). I started writing the paper, but the more I write, the more I ...
2
votes
1answer
182 views
Wrote a paper, supervisor couldn't respond
I wrote a paper based on research done with my supervisor, and sent it to them.
They haven't yet confirmed they saw it. It's been some time, and I sent a followup.
What happens if they never reply? I ...
3
votes
1answer
329 views
Telling my supervisor I'm unhappy
An update to yesterday's post.
A mixture of events has caused me to lose interest in my PhD project. I started on the back of losing a close family member which really didn't give me a good start.
...
15
votes
4answers
6k views
Getting married abroad on August 21st, job begins on August 23rd. What do I do?
I just completed my Ph.D. and have recently been offered a lecturer position in a university. The first day of classes is on August 23rd, and I am getting married abroad in Europe on August 21st. The ...
1
vote
1answer
342 views
Is it absolutely necessary for a researcher to have an institutional email?
I was creating a researchgate account and it says it wouldn't let me in if I can't provide institutional email.
I do research in an University and I don't have any Institutional email. But the way ...
3
votes
2answers
582 views
My PI publicly humiliated my colleague. I want to report the incident but don't have a recording. What should I do?
Background: I am a PhD student in my final year, and I'm writing my thesis now. My PI (not a professor) is in his late 40's and is generally kind in public. However, he is often moody, and I feel he ...
2
votes
1answer
100 views
Should response to an email of accepted article with some comments
I received an email from one journal telling me that my paper will be accepted if I consider all the comments from the reviewer. They did not ask me to write a response to the reviewer as the comments ...
20
votes
3answers
5k views
Cold emailing another grad student at your institution to ask a question
I’m stuck in my research (I'm a PhD student) with a task/question that neither I nor my advisor are knowledgeable about (we are looking for vendors of a niche item and have had very little success in ...
68
votes
16answers
17k views
Why did I receive a negative response from a professor when emailing about course content and prerequisites of a course I am considering taking?
I wrote the following email to a professor (I've removed any personal or specific details):
Dear Prof. Last name,
Hope this email finds you well.
I am Name, an undergraduate in the mathematics ...
2
votes
1answer
437 views
Can my school fire me on the grounds that I have applied to another school?
I'm in the middle of a 4-year Ph.D. program on a full scholarship, in a foreign country. Due to expertise issues, lack of community, and other reasons I have decided that this program is not suitable ...
1
vote
1answer
145 views
Getting an extra advisor late in my PhD
TLDR: what's the smoothest way of getting a professor as a third advisor in the penultimate year of my PhD without offending my current advisors?
(Note: I know I am lucky and this is not a big problem,...
0
votes
0answers
81 views
A measure implementation from my group deviates from an official implementation
In my master's thesis work, I am using several algorithmic measures to assess the difference between conditions.
One measure in particular is important to predict 'quality'. This may sound weird in ...
1
vote
1answer
122 views
Is it Okay to Appear Constantly as Offline but Reply Back Instantly? [closed]
On apps such as Mattermost, there are the following online status symbols:
To be honest, I don't (i) like and (ii) want people to know on which times I'm online, and on which times I'm not. I feel ...
17
votes
11answers
11k views
Is it impolite to not reply back during the weekend?
When someone writes to me while I am online during the weekend (a student or a colleague), is it impolite to not reply back, especially when they can see that I am online (on Mattermost for example or ...
5
votes
1answer
985 views
How to ask my former PhD supervisor to stay away from me and do not contact my prospective new PhD supervisor?
There are a long list of stories about the issues with my PhD supervisor here in Academia.SE (see it here but these are not the only ones). So, I'm not going to repeat why I'm leaving my current ...
-1
votes
1answer
152 views
What kind of mailing lists do academics use? [closed]
I have to create a mailing list. One of those kinds that are used in academia, with just one address through which anybody can share an email with everybody included in the mailing list. I've searched ...
17
votes
6answers
5k views
My previous university email account got hacked and spam messages were sent to many people. What should I do?
I am having serious trouble with my previous university email account (Office365), provided by the university where I finished my master’s studies last year (I am currently pursuing a PhD at another ...
4
votes
1answer
290 views
Professor submitted my letter of recommendation after I removed him
I had sent a reminder to the professor for submitting my letter of recommendation about two days before the deadline, but he didn't reply to me. He was highly unresponsive after initially agreeing. As ...
3
votes
2answers
317 views
Struggling with Lab Dynamics and Mental Health
I am currently pursuing a master's degree and I am one of two students working on one project. This project takes a team science approach to answering a question, which normally one would find ...
11
votes
3answers
967 views
How to deal with incommunicable co-author
The background: In the grand area of Mathematics in which I do research, there is a famous Professor, let us call him 'A', who started a joint project with another younger colleague, let
us call him '...
25
votes
7answers
6k views
I found that a method I was hoping to publish is already known. What would be a proper way to retract emails sent to professors asking for help?
Continuation of this post.
Basically, I emailed a publisher and two profs, asking for help on a paper I had written but not submitted. Turns out the method was not as novel as I thought, as an MSE ...
21
votes
11answers
11k views
How should I consider a possibly rude reply from a potential PhD advisor?
I am in my first semester of my applied math PhD program in the United States. The professor (potential PhD advisor) of the course I am auditing has replied to my question about the schedule for the ...
20
votes
4answers
7k views
Doing a PhD at a famous football school: how can I ask for time off to attend games?
Consider a famous football school in the U.S., for example Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Auburn, and Ohio State.
I am doing a PhD in a STEM field at one of these schools, and on 6 or 7 ...
-1
votes
1answer
135 views
How to resolve current situation with a lecturer that comes across as overly critical/abrasive? [closed]
I am currently in my final year of a Computer Science degree in which there is a database module, and the first large-scale assignment is in progress. The Lecturer that has led most of the classes has ...
0
votes
1answer
279 views
Interacting with Non-academics: How to Not Compromise One's Rigor? [closed]
This is a question about interacting with other people (in particular, non-academics). Hopefully, this is a common-enough problem that it is appropriate for this community.
I consider myself an (...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
How should I write an appropiate email for a PhD position? [duplicate]
I am a graduated Master's student from Asia and really want to take a PhD position in Canada, America or Germany. My English language skills are good but I don't have an IELTS degree. Some of my ...
1
vote
0answers
100 views
How to handle unresponsive ex-supervisor on the submission of an article?
During my master's, I had done a project which yielded some interesting results that I and my supervisor started to write up. I moved to a different university (and country) for my PhD and kept ...
