Questions tagged [working-time]
Questions pertaining to number of hours worked, work schedules, vacation time, sabbaticals, etc. in relation to training and careers in academia
105
questions
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0answers
212 views
Convert coursera courses to ECTs
TL:DR version: I took some Coursera courses, I want to know how many credits they are worth by the institution backing it up (as well as how many credits a semester they offer, preferably, in the ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
What's a realistic workload per blackboard hour for teachers during the semester?
There is this excellent thread about teaching workloads across the world on Academia SE: Is 100 hours per year of teaching a heavy load for a lecturer?
I would now like to continue this discussion ...
57
votes
13answers
14k views
Does academia have a lazy work culture?
I'm a rising sophomore at a top US university, and I've become really fascinated with the world of academia over the past year -- so much so that I'm considering doing a PhD after I graduate and ...
3
votes
2answers
743 views
Chinese Mathematics Education [closed]
I often wonder about Mathematics Education in China, particularly at the late high school and undergraduate level.
In the US, a typical undergraduate math degree will include
lower division:
1-2 ...
47
votes
5answers
15k views
Is it acceptable to use working hours to read general interest books?
Every year are published around a dozen of books directly related to my research. By directly I mean on the same topics of my research, normally by authors I am familiar with, and potential reference ...
1
vote
2answers
98 views
Organization tips for a newcomer to academic learning
I missed my chance to attend university when everyone else did and I'm out of school for seven years.
Now I'd like to get a degree (BA History & English) through the Open University.
I've never ...
3
votes
2answers
705 views
Workload of PhD in US/Europe/Canada [closed]
I am a Masters student applying for PhD in computer science to various universities in the US/Europe/Canada. I wanted to know about the workload in general which we will have while pursuing it in ...
-2
votes
1answer
320 views
Professor requiring volunteer work
I am in a US graduate program and our professor has made a requirement that we have to participate in a program called VITA. It is a volunteer tax aid program for low-income individuals. As a ...
30
votes
6answers
8k views
Is it normal for PhD students to do much “non research” work?
Background: At my current institution I haven't even officially started my PhD yet, meaning I am not even enlisted as a PhD student. I have my bachelor’s and master’s already, and this is in Germany ...
23
votes
2answers
3k views
Is it moral to propose work that's already partly done?
Academia involves a lot of proposals and approvals and it can save effort to combine them. A grant including work that's already been started is easier to satisfy. The applications I receive for ...
8
votes
4answers
506 views
What are some strategies to deal with perfectionism?
In my writing, teaching and research, I always do much more than I should. I produce excellent work, but it's always late because I seem to be incapable of scaling back my (unrealistically high) ...
4
votes
3answers
480 views
Would being a teaching assistant influence your research?
I see that a TA position requires 20h every week which almost equals 2.5 days workload. Wouldn't that be too heavy for a Ph.D. student? If I don't do the TA, I could save the time to do high-quality ...
2
votes
1answer
73 views
Are there statistics for the share of work which is put into planning, performing, analyzing and documenting of an experiment? [closed]
I was wondering if there are statistics of the ratio of effort (or time) for the different steps in experimental research?
Given that all the work which needs to be done to start (literature review, ...
70
votes
10answers
12k views
Stay in academia or become professor without overworking, is it possible?
I am referring more to young scientists after the PhD than professors, although I am also wondering about people with a stable position.
I see many people overworking themselves, burning-out, being ...
24
votes
3answers
3k views
Can I work on old manuscripts using personal time?
I submitted few manuscripts to some journals during my PhD and moved to other institute for postdoc (full-time) in few months before. Now one manuscript has come for revision and other manuscripts may ...
0
votes
1answer
738 views
Vacation Days of Assistant Professor in Canada [closed]
I may apply for an Assistant Professor (AP) position at York University in Toronto, Canada. Since I live in Europe, I would like to know how many vacation days are available in this position. For ...
6
votes
2answers
338 views
How to deal with leftover work after changing employer?
In the academic world, how is work generally handled that has not been finished when an official contract ends? This is, I imagine, more the rule than the exception, for example when papers were ...
6
votes
4answers
678 views
Relearning how to work (becoming much more efficient). Is it even possible?
I’ve been considering a career in academia ever since I was an undergrad. I’m turning 30 this year. I think I should either get to it (PhD and beyond) or give it up once and for all.
The key source ...
-1
votes
2answers
330 views
Informing bosses that I finish my job in 10 hours / week [closed]
This question made me think about my situation.
After different academic jobs, I took a tenure-track position that I can typically do in 10 hours/week. With the extra time I do hobbies or am with my ...
1
vote
3answers
2k views
Is it possible to pursue a PhD while working full time and living in another country?
I work full time as a Chief Operating Officer for a company and would like to pursue a PhD and study the population I am working with (women workers in fisheries).
I have been researching different ...
4
votes
1answer
588 views
How should I ask my PhD advisor to let me work remotely…permanently?
My wife plans to graduate in a few months. I have 1-2 years left before I defend and graduate. I'd like to move away with my wife so we can stay together.
My work is entirely on a computer, so ...
7
votes
2answers
4k views
What are the working hours for full time PhD students in Germany?
What are the working hours per week for full time PhD students in Germany? Also, how many holidays are granted in a year? How is the work-life balance for full time PhD students? Thanks!
12
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2answers
571 views
In U.S. universities, do male professors get paternity leave?
Do American universities typically help male professors transition into fatherhood by offering (paid) paternity leave? If so, what is the standard amount of paid time off that is offered?
Feel ...
2
votes
0answers
364 views
How to calculate person months for postdoc proposal when planning to work full time on multiple work packages? [closed]
I am currently in the process of preparing my proposal for a postdoc position. In specific parts of the proposal I need to refer to person months for each work package. I will be the project ...
1
vote
2answers
550 views
How do I ask / inform my supervisor that I need to take a day off?
I just recently got a job as a research assistant over the holiday (which will later turn into an unpaid independent study project). Before hiring me for the job, my supervisor asked me if I would be ...
30
votes
7answers
8k views
Countries where lecture duration does not exceed one hour
Most (probably all) universities attribute to each subject a fixed number of credits, which in turn are [most of the time] related to the time spent in classes.
In Brazil, the majority of courses ...
2
votes
1answer
317 views
How much does rigor and time commitment of a math PhD correlate to prestige of the program? [closed]
My question is the extent to which the prestige and rank of a PhD in mathematics correspond to the rigor of the program. I'm absolutely not worried about working hard, but I'm recently married and I ...
88
votes
21answers
34k views
Is 8:00 AM an unreasonable time to meet with my graduate students and post-doc?
I am a recently graduated PhD, but for the past few years I have been on an 8:00-16:30 schedule with a lunch break at noon. I arrive between 7:45-8:00 and get started immediately.
Now I am on as a ...
3
votes
3answers
319 views
Is it common for higher education institutions to offer sabbatical periods for administrative / support staff?
Occurred to me that some office-based private for-profit companies offer the opportunity of sabbatical periods to their staff.
Do most higher education institutions offer sabbatical periods for ...
2
votes
2answers
243 views
How to work on a joint math paper effectively? [closed]
Now, I am working on a joint paper with some collaborators. The research is about mathematics.
This is my first experience of working in collaboration.
Another author has sent a manuscript about our ...
-3
votes
1answer
1k views
How much time for writing a 6.000 words paper? [closed]
How much time should I take into account for writing a 6.000 words (captions and references included) academic paper, considering that the analysis has been completed?
Thanks
5
votes
3answers
703 views
PhD student where TA work leaves little time for PhD. Is it even worth it to finish this PhD?
Background: I started a PhD in a CS-oriented field about 8 months ago, after completing my masters. At the very start, I was given a lot of duties besides my PhD project, such as responsibility for ...
38
votes
4answers
5k views
How to increase the productivity of undergraduate research assistants?
I supervise a few undergraduates doing independent study and internships in Computer Science. Some of their tasks are to assist me with various back-burner research projects. I can offer them college ...
21
votes
1answer
3k views
Do professors in the STEM fields at U.S. universities get summers off?
A question asked on this site discusses how professors earn their summer salary:
How do professors choose their summer salary?
My question is: are professors whose research is supported by external ...
19
votes
5answers
5k views
Why do PIs say no to students working during grad studies?
Professors in my department frown upon students working (part-time or full-time) during their MSc or PhD. Even extra TA hours are looked down upon...
The rent on-campus is ~$950/month and we are paid ...
20
votes
3answers
4k views
Submit paper before or after going on holidays?
Context: As PhD candidate, I'll have my first journal paper ready to submit around July 15th. My lab will be closed due to summer break for 5 weeks from July 23rd to August 29th. I will not work full-...
5
votes
2answers
828 views
What is normal pay in U.S. for RAship in STEM field?
I am a PhD student in statistics/math in the U.S. I go to a large, state run institution. I am currently hired for the summer as a research assistant for a professor.
On the department website, an ...
1
vote
2answers
975 views
How do you organize your academic papers? [duplicate]
I have nearly 1750 papers in PDF on one folder, all pertaining to medical research. What's the best way to organize them? I have thought about creating one folder for every subject/sub-category, but I ...
2
votes
1answer
522 views
Is it feasible to become a paramedic full time and do a PhD in an unrelated field? [closed]
Do you think this is reasonable?
I am graduating with a BSc in neuroscience next year. I would like to be a paramedic for a little while (throughout my 20's) before switching careers and becoming a ...
91
votes
8answers
42k views
Is it true that PhD students need to work 10-12 hours a day every day to be productive?
I hear a lot of people brag or complain about how many hours they have to work for their PhD. Is this the norm? And if so is this really a wise choice to make? Do students really 'work' during this ...
1
vote
1answer
129 views
Trends on time spent studying over the the past few decades, for students outside the US
Is there any research/study/survey/dataset that looked at the trends on the time students spent on studying, over the the past few decades in different countries in the world (aside from the USA)?
I ...
42
votes
8answers
10k views
Why has the time spent studying declined so sharply in the United States over the the past few decades?
I read on https://www.aei.org/publication/leisure-college-usa/ :
Study time for full-time students at four-year colleges in the United States fell from twenty-four hours per week in 1961 to ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views
Is it okay for a PhD student to go on holidays in breaks? [duplicate]
I am a first year STEM PhD student in a US university, but I come from a different country. I took a couple of weeks off in this winter break to travel within the US, as it was too expensive to visit ...
41
votes
5answers
15k views
Why doesn't the academic year start on January first?
The academic year starts somewhere in the middle of the normal calendar year in almost all schools. Even if the courses are divided into semesters, the Fall term is essentially considered to be the ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
Is it better to do undergraduate research in the summer, or during the school year?
Also, if an undergrad does research during the school year, are they expected to be as productive as someone working during the summer? Do professors calibrate their opinions of students to account ...
25
votes
3answers
1k views
How to efficiently plan holidays in academia?
It is holiday season, so I thought of re-considering my ways of holiday planning.
As a student, holidays in academia are somewhat shaped by the semester breaks and the lecture-free period. Working ...
35
votes
12answers
8k views
My undergraduate research advisor pressures me to work more hours than I want to, but I don't want to risk ruining the relationship. How to proceed?
I am burned out and exhausted and need a place to rant and get advice. =(
I am an undergraduate student majoring in Information Systems who was hired a few months ago to work in a Human-Computer ...
23
votes
3answers
2k views
“Taking summers off” and the impact on tenure decisions
Assume there is a young tenure-track professor on a 9-month salary who is a good instructor and manages to get research published at an appropriate pace during the school year for tenure consideration....
1
vote
2answers
3k views
As a lab assistant, how many hours per week am I expected to be helping out? [closed]
I am in my third year of computer engineering studies, and was offered a position as lab assistant in the electronics lab. I am oriented towards software, so I'm not exactly interested in the subject ...
63
votes
5answers
11k views
Is it normal for professors to not have families or not spend time with their families over the holidays, due to pressure of work?
My sister is a professor. I was visiting her over Thanksgiving break and my father (who is also a professor) told me not to hang out with her because she had a grant proposal due. Is this normal for ...
