Questions tagged [two-body-problem]
For questions about the "two-body problem" in academia, which refers to the challenges partners in a committed relationship (particularly those in academia) face in obtaining jobs at the same university or within a reasonable commuting distance from each other.
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Couple applying faculty position to the same department/university
Let say a couple is applying the tenure-track positions in the same university. Question:
What would be the difference from normal faculty application?
a. Should they submit the application ...
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Best Practices for Contacting a Potential Postdoc Supervisor When Planning to Accompany Spouse Abroad
My spouse will soon start an internship in the US, and we are exploring options for me to join her. The financial limitations of her stipend mean that I would need to secure employment to support our ...
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Is it unethical to not disclose relationship when applying to same group
My girlfriend and I are applying to the same PhD program and are interested in the same group. The group is quite small and it is likely that we will be working together a lot, I am unsure if ...
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Job prospects at ill-fitting university?
My fiance and I are trying to find jobs in the same city within a specific region due to family. My partner is a physician, I am an academic - recent PhD graduate now post-doc'ing abroad for 1 year. ...
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Do you have to be married for spousal hire?
My partner and I are both in academia - he is a medical fellow and I am a PhD candidate in biology. It looks like I'm going to be defending in about a year or two and he will likely be finishing his ...
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Is doing a postdoc at the same university career suicide: A two-body problem
I have read from multiple sources that doing a postdoc in the same university as a PhD is not ideal. It is heavily encouraged to go elsewhere once graduating. Furthermore, often one applies to many ...
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Having kids in the US with both parents doing a PhD
My wife and I are international students planning on applying for PhD programs in the US (at nearby universities, post-bachelor's, stat/AI/ML area). We would like to know how manageable it would be to ...
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Attending grad school in US or Canada with a dependent spouse
I am finishing up my undergraduate degree in mathematics in my home country and expect to apply for PhD studies in statistics in the US (I am also willing to consider Canadian options but more on this ...
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What is the long-term professional status of a spousal hire?
I have some questions about the process of spousal hires, particularly in US academia.
As I understand it, the system is as follows: when two married academics Ann and Bob enter the job market, they ...
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Faculty job negotiation - dual career and salary [closed]
I received a phone call from the department chair informing me that they are willing to give me an offer. Then, he sent me the startup sheet and asked me to send them my comments. This sheet contains ...
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PhD advisor switching schools wants me to go with him
I'm a 4th year PhD Student in engineering in the US. I'm in school #19 (ranking). My advisor is moving to #4, and wants me to go with him (promises no delay on time to graduation.) There are no other ...
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Big life decision: move to a different country to pursue PhD, or stay with my significant other and do my PhD at my undergrad institution? [closed]
I have been agonizing over a decision regarding where I should pursue my PhD in theoretical chemistry. My choices are as follows: university A (US) has the best department in the world for my area of ...
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Offer for a great (but too long) postdoc and a girlfriend in another country
I am in the shortlist for a postdoc at a great place and I highly admire my future mentor. He will try to argue for my application in front of the hiring committee in a few days.
The only concern I ...
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Relocating to a new city for postdoc when you have a partner [closed]
I recently applied and interviewed for a post doc position in a leading scientific institution in Australia.
I never thought I'd get the position, and the reason why I interviewed was to get more ...
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Is dating other PhD students a terrible idea if I want to stay in academia longterm? [closed]
In his book “Good work if you can get it: How to succeed in academia”, Jason Brennan advises aspiring academics against dating other PhD students while on graduate school.
Of course, I know that ...
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Master and PhD Track Program in Russia for a Couple [closed]
I'm in a dilemma. I'm an international student. My wife and I are accepted and will attend to a master's program in mathematics. The university is located in Moscow, Russia. The university has subject ...
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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 ...
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When is it appropriate to ask for spousal hire?
I got a tenure-track academic offer in the US.
However, I recently found out that in the US there is this concept of spousal hire, that I can use. I saw several questions related to this but no one is ...
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two body problem - tenure track and PhD
My partner is currently interviewing for tenure track positions. I am a first year PhD students and We would ideally like to be in the same city. Ideally I would like to find a co-superviser to ...
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Post-doc for two (two-body problem): How to search, apply, and improve our chances?
My significant other and I are doing our PhDs in physics, and we both want to continue in academia and to stay together.
He did his masters in a first-world country and I did mine in a third-world ...
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Whether to indicate "job sharing" option in application
I am applying for a job that in the call mentions that the university supports "job sharing and advancement of dual-career couples". My partner and I are applying both to that position (we ...
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Two body problem in academia in the US
My question in about the general situation in the US universities related to the two body problem.
My impression from what I have heard is that most of American universities are located in small ...
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How feasible is a remote postdoc in Mathematics? [duplicate]
I will be graduating this year with a PhD in mathematics. My research background is in analysis in a top 20 program in the US. However, my family situation is such that I can't uproot my family any ...
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How to mention that we are applying as a couple? [duplicate]
My wife and I are applying to US universities for master's and PhD programmes. We both have a electrical engg. degree and are applying to the same department. However we would like to get into the ...
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Applying same graduation school with my girlfriend, is it ethical?
Me and my girlfriend are currently studying in the same university and same department. We both applied couple of master's degree programs abroad.
One of the programs is in both our interest and she ...
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Proper resignation date based on relocation date for spouse
I'm an assistant professor at a large public University, and I'm planning to make the move into industry for a variety of reasons.
My spouse is also an academic and has accepted a position in a ...
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In a new job; is it OK to recommend a partner for a job search?
I just started a new job teaching at a university last September; because of that, I’m also in a long-distance relationship. (We’re not married or even engaged at this point.) My partner is also in my ...
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Re-posted faculty position. Worth waiting? (and two-body problem...) [closed]
I applied for a faculty position at a state research (not so intensive) school in June. Since the position requires both a clinical degree and a research degree, their application pool is not likely ...
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Husband and wife publishing together - Problem for tenure-track jobs?
My husband and I work in the same research area (of theoretical computer science). We were in the same PhD program and even had the same advisor. We are a great collaboration team, and really enjoy ...
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Spousal hire for girlfriend in US university
I got a tenure-track academic offer in the US.
I am wondering how common/likely is to get the University to do a non-academic spousal hire for my girlfriend.
All the documents provided by my ...
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Should I mention in my statement of purpose that I am applying because of my girlfriend [duplicate]
I am applying to a university for a PhD position because my girlfriend is a PhD student there. Our affair is quite serious and it is almost surely going to convert into a marriage. We might even get ...
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How should I approach job materials for a lateral move entirely for two-body reasons?
I am a tenure track assistant professor at a liberal arts college. I Iike my job quite a bit, but it is located in an impoverished, rural area. My partner works in the nearest large city, 2.5 hours ...
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Mention two-body-problem in PhD applications? If so, where?
My significant other and I finish our master degrees at the same time and thus we are applying for PhD programmes at the same time. One major factor of accepting a potential offer would be if we could ...
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What would be different between two years of graduate admissions?
A bit of background to contextualize:
So I'm in a bit of a two-body problem with both me and my wife interested in applying for programs in the near future. Mine would be five-year-plus program and ...
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How do you think about volunteering helpers and two-body problem for PhD
I am an international student and I just got the offer of a very good D.Phil. program in an elite university in the UK. My only concern is the "two-body problem", i.e., I have to get involved into a ...
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How to politely inform potential PhD supervisor that I must wait before responding to an offer? (Two-body problem)
I am a physics student in the UK.
A university (university A) has made me a PhD offer. The email from admissions was very clear that there is a 30-day time limit on this offer. As it happens I am ...
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Fiancée has a position lined up, but none of the universities in the area are hiring. What else can I do to get an academic position in the area?
I find myself in an unfortunate two-body problem situation. My fiancée got two offers earlier this year, one a post doc and the other a tenure track position. She deferred the tenure track for a year ...
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Wife: advantage or drawback when asking for visiting student position?
My wife and I are both PhD candidate in major-but-not-elite French universities. We study in completely different fields.
She got a visiting student position in the US for 1 semester as of January ...
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Applying early as a postdoc + two-body problem
A recent question asked about applying for tenure-track jobs before the end of a postdoc. I'm in a similar position, also in math, and would like to ask the same question with an additional twist.
I'...
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Why and how to go to the US for a PhD-exchange semester?
Context: My wife and I are both PhD candidates in good-but-not-major eastern European universities, aiming to defend our theses in fall 2017 (i.e., in 15 months). She works in accounting, whereas my ...
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As an ambitious female PhD student, should I avoid dating people? [closed]
I am a female PhD student, studying computer science at a top school in the heart of Silicon Valley. I have a wonderful boyfriend who probably never wants to leave the Bay Area because he is (a) a ...
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How can I gracefully exit my current post-doc position for a new one?
I'm a post-doctoral research fellow and I've just been offered another post-doc position at another university. I still have a year and a half left on my original contract, but it's not going as well ...
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How to approach the dean and/or provost about a years-old two-body problem?
Both my wife and I are scientists in the same field. Approximately 4 years ago she accepted a tenure-track position, and in what seemed like a good opportunity at the time, we both decided it was a ...
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Trailing spouse postdoc
My husband has accepted a postdoc position in a city in Australia with two great institutions where I think I'll have a good shot at securing a postdoc for myself. I have some great connections to ...
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How common is spousal hire (academic or non-academic) in the Australia/New Zealand system?
I am an academic with hoping for an offer at an Oceania university. I want to know how common in this system is it to ask the university to give my spouse a job? It is common and often successful in ...
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Is it OK to mention a two-body problem during a tenure-track interview, if getting the job would actually resolve the problem?
I'm having an upcoming phone interview for a tenure-track position and I expect that I will be asked the usual "Why would you want to work here?" question. Apart from reasons relating to the research ...
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When during the application process should a candidate mention that their spouse is also looking for a job
When during the application process should a candidate say that their spouse is also looking for a job?
The issue of academic spouses who want to find employment close enough to live together is ...
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How to discuss job search with your advisor when your career plans differ from what your advisor wants you to do?
I'm on the job market this fall (will earn my Ph.D. this spring), and have culled a list of open positions I would like to apply for. I'd like to talk to my advisor about this soon in regards to ...
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Should an applicant to an university mention that her spouse is currently a student in the same University, as part of her SOP?
While writing one's Statement of Purpose for applying to a grad program, should one mention that her spouse is also a grad student in the same university? What are the pro's and con's of that approach ...
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Applying for postdocs: mention two-body problem in cover letter?
My spouse and I are both finishing Ph.D's in math and applying for math postdocs in the US. We work in different areas of math, but there are many departments in which both are prominently represented....
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