All Questions
41,086
questions
18
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What role do professors on a graduate student's PhD committee serve?
Do they discuss the graduate student in meetings with each other? Or do they have any obligations to interact with the graduate student in other ways?
- 10.9k
7
votes
2
answers
333
views
Alphabetical author list in non-alphabetical journal
(A followup for this question)
Say your field's convention is to have alphabetical-ordered author list. What should you do when your work is accepted to a (multidisciplinary) journal in which the ...
- 7,414
12
votes
1
answer
970
views
Does a informative and clear professor webpage often increase the number of prospective PhD students who apply to work for the professor?
Here is what I would call a particularly informative and clear professor webpage.
Of course, it's not the most important thing (for me, personally, I mostly discovered professors through asking ...
- 10.9k
13
votes
3
answers
31k
views
How good are "For Dummies" books in Academic Study?
I am often faced with questions in areas which cross my boundaries of knowledge. For instance, as an engineer, sometimes I am needed to study the basics of Anatomy or something like that.
This might ...
user107
5
votes
3
answers
298
views
How often do graduate students help connect professors with each other?
I know that a couple of UChicago professors told me that, especially if a graduate student ends up co-advised with two professors. Maybe there's an additional factor too: maybe students actually have ...
- 10.9k
15
votes
6
answers
917
views
What happens to the reviews that people write for journal articles after they're sent back to the author?
Are they almost always kept confidential? Or is there protocol for sharing them?
- 10.9k
52
votes
3
answers
22k
views
What does author order indicate?
When you look at a paper, what order to you assume the authors are in? Most important/most work done first or alphabetical? In my group we usually use alphabetic order, but I've been wondering if that ...
- 5,230
62
votes
9
answers
48k
views
Doing research outside of academia, without a PhD?
I love learning and solving problems (I'm in math/ computer science) and I'm also very motivated. However, I don't have fantastic grades and so I don't expect to get into any top graduate program. ...
- 803
15
votes
3
answers
353
views
Can teaching help one's studies?
Most of the questions about teaching assistantship portray TA'ing as a waste of time that only damages research. Although I am not TA'ing this year I consider applying for a TA position next year, ...
- 7,414
23
votes
3
answers
22k
views
How do you make corrections to a published paper?
What's the best way to make corrections to a published paper? Should I amend the original paper and mention in a footnote (or similar) what was changed and why or prepare a completely separate ...
- 5,230
28
votes
6
answers
2k
views
When is it a good idea to let an academic department (or a professor) know that I have Asperger's (or ADD)?
With Asperger's, the trick is always when to explain it (in a non-awkward situation). I'd like to avoid mentioning it if possible, but it has gotten to the point that I only mention it after ...
- 10.9k
16
votes
7
answers
2k
views
What are some practices for getting a name change so that people can find me more easily?
For a similar thing, see this thread, where Jay Wacker managed to get people to call him by the name Jay even though he didn't need to get a legal name change. I'm not sure how to go about this though....
- 10.9k
8
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Is a self-taught person allowed to compete with other in a prize like Nobel Prize, Field Medal, etc?
If a person studies and/or does experiments at his/her own home or laboratory because of some reasons, is he/she still allowed to compete with others to get a prize like Nobel Prize, Field Medal, etc?
...
- 215
15
votes
1
answer
280
views
When should I tell a potential employer about a spousal accommodation?
The title sums it up: At what point during the interview/negotiations do you let a potential academic employer about spousal accommodations?
- 1,733
11
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to choose the most worthwhile research papers to define my thesis?
I'm a first year PhD student. I'm just reading background papers trying to find a topic for my thesis: my subject is turning around tree different elements (XML (as a tool), complex data, and the ...
- 461
38
votes
9
answers
2k
views
Scope for the role of peer reviewer
As a young scholar I frequently struggle with knowing the extent to which I should be critical of particular components of papers I am reviewing. I can formulate a rough hierarchy between major ...
- 3,541
25
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor in scientific literature
Tonight I was scrolling through my RSS aggregator (which includes subscriptions for several journals I follow) and the abstract for All Your Base: a fast and accurate probabilistic approach to base ...
- 1,267
7
votes
3
answers
308
views
Are there any online tools for student collaborative learning?
There are many disciplines where collaborative learning is the norm; group projects in engineering, working in pairs in bio & chem laboratories, writing papers in a variety of fields, and Team-...
- 109
8
votes
3
answers
159
views
Are university counseling services usually able to help with the professional troubles that PhD students face?
The thing with PhDs is that it often takes someone who knows the politics and people of the field in order to really understand (or help) a PhD student's troubles (if any arise). At the same time, ...
- 10.9k
11
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Where to continue my research-oriented studies after Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science?
I have a bachelor's degree in computer science. I am looking for an appropriate master program. I am interested in algorithms.
My question is not about where I should continue my education. My ...
- 477
11
votes
1
answer
244
views
Are there any students at the United Nations University?
The United Nations University (UNU) is an academic arm of the United Nations.
If I understood well, it is doing only research.
Are there any people who are actually enrolled as "students" there?
...
- 211
19
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How many weeks of break (per year) should a graduate student reasonably expect to have?
Here are the details for one of my schools so far:
At UChicago, my prospective adviser said that I should expect to have around a month off per year (probably 2 weeks in winter and 2 weeks in summer)....
- 10.9k
8
votes
2
answers
258
views
Software for managing departmental alumni relations [closed]
My department is looking for a CRM tool to manage its relationship with graduated students (either on BSc, MSc or PhD level). What we want to achieve:
Show our candidates that you can get a well ...
- 968
38
votes
7
answers
28k
views
What are the advantages and disadvantages to completing a Masters program before applying to a Ph. D program?
I've been considering applying to graduate school of some form or another in Mathematics. During my undergraduate years, I did decently on my undergraduate coursework (mostly A-s, some As, a B) but ...
- 381
11
votes
3
answers
315
views
Publishing a creative, important result – does it create any real finance opportunities (jobs, etc.)
I often fantasize that when I will get my work to successful end, then I will have new possibilities open – and that maybe I will even receive scientific job offers. The work is obtaining new ...
- 889
18
votes
2
answers
276
views
Historical data for success rate of grant/project applications?
Is there any publicly accessible information regarding the success rate of grant/project applications for science/technology and other research grant programs (e.g. NSF grants) and its variation over ...
- 376
28
votes
6
answers
5k
views
How do I find research groups that do work in field X?
What is the best way to go about to find a certain research group that do work in a specific field (e.g research groups doing empirical brain investigations but working from a dualistic perspective, ...
- 2,472
8
votes
3
answers
798
views
Selecting journal reviewers through cover letter
I was planning to use mdpi.com to submit a paper to "Entropy" journal. The journal perfectly matches the area that my paper covers. However, they require a cover letter to five reviewers selected by ...
- 889
31
votes
7
answers
14k
views
Is it advisable to put entire source of my thesis up on GitHub?
I've been using git for a while and now GitHub. I'm starting to write a master's thesis. Would it be a good idea to upload all the files to online public repositories? Does anyone have any experience ...
- 483
20
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is there an international taxonomy of academic titles/ranks?
Looking at the list of academic ranks on Wikipedia shows that the same academic rank/title can mean quite different things in different countries. For instant, a "research assistant" in the US can ...
user102
14
votes
4
answers
597
views
How to fruitfully utilize faculty-student orientation sessions at institutes you don't want to attend?
More than once, I have had (graduate school admissions) orientation sessions where the faculty of the institute introduce their fields, their research and what they expect from potential students (...
user107
12
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Any reason not to apply for funding as a grad student?
The question is hypothetical, but it came up in a conversation and I'd like to see if we can come up with a logical analysis and conclusion. For various reasons, graduate students might not be ...
user136
14
votes
3
answers
961
views
How do I specify I do not want to perform a specific type of research on my CV?
A couple of years back I did some research at a company in a field (Computational chemistry) that I am no longer interested in pursuing (To be blunt: I discovered that I dislike computational ...
- 273
8
votes
3
answers
500
views
Good source for pre PhD level papers/dissertations in Mathematics
I am looking for a good source to get my hands on some pre PhD level maths papers/dissertations, because I want to get a better feeling what is expected. (i.e. BSc and MSc Dissertations)
My ...
- 1,071
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Ph.D. in UK/Ireland as "Dipl.-Ing." from Germany
Is it feasible for an engineering student from Germany to get into a Ph.D. program in the UK/Ireland? Specifically, what should one keep in mind/try to accomplish in the last two years before ...
- 222
11
votes
2
answers
849
views
What are the consequences to the researcher in cases of academic fraud?
The purpose of this question is to attempt to generate a concise but comprehensive answer to the question, what happens to the researcher after fraud is discovered? I'm familiar with some consequences:...
- 48.1k
25
votes
5
answers
14k
views
What style questions should I ask potential graduate students interviewing for positions in my lab?
As a converse to this question, as a professor, I find it difficult to conduct a useful interview. What types of questions should I ask which would give me a good idea as to how (1) productive and (2) ...
- 48.1k
22
votes
6
answers
31k
views
What types of industry positions favor PhD over a masters?
I'm coming from a biomedical engineering background, and I'm noticing that almost all job postings ask for either an MS or a PhD, and from speaking with my friends with masters it seems that masters ...
- 48.1k
8
votes
3
answers
896
views
Is there a generally accepted format for submitting papers to journals?
I believe in Mathematics and Computer Science journals usually accept LaTeX documents. In fact, the AMS has a number of packages and document classes for just this purpose.
What about other ...
- 191
44
votes
7
answers
7k
views
Do journals in general have any kind of policy regarding papers submitted by someone without a research affiliation?
Assuming that there are no ethical or legal concerns involved, in general, how would academic journals handle research submitted from the general public (e.g., if a carpenter were to perform a study ...
- 2,472
8
votes
1
answer
428
views
How to assess the quality of a degree?
In my academic career, I have found that it is pretty difficult to assess the quality of a degree before enrolling. Usually only during the course of your study do you learn what the actual quality of ...
user216
16
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How much guidance should I reasonably expect from an MSc Thesis Supervisor
As part of my MSc I have to produce a Thesis/Dissertation which forms an integral part of the program and classification (roughly 1/4 - I imagine the subject can make a difference, so I should say ...
- 1,071
11
votes
4
answers
16k
views
Is it a good or bad idea to list declined fellowships (for a PhD program) on one's curriculum vitae?
E.g. as shown in the example here.
2011—Centennial Fellowship, Princeton University Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (accepted)
2011—Top Student Award, University of Washington (...
- 10.9k
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is it worth to switch from Bibsonomy to Mendeley?
What are the advantages of Mendeley over Bibsonomy?
Is it easy to migrate from Bibsonomy to Mendeley?
Does Mendeley offer equally powerful bibliography exportation?
In detail, the following ...
- 243
1
vote
4
answers
1k
views
What is the best career choice for a social psychology graduate?
I have a background in Psychology and Fine Arts. My passion lies with doing scientific research and making art. So ideally I would be able to do both, or use one to support the other. However, I've ...
user216
44
votes
1
answer
2k
views
When asking research-based questions, what are some good practices to maximize the rates at which people reply to emails?
Matthew Might has an excellent article on his website.
But what are some other good suggestions? One important thing is identification (some professors are simply happier to reply to emails than ...
- 10.9k
23
votes
5
answers
29k
views
What are some good practices when asking people to share their PowerPoint presentations from a conference/talk?
In many cases, they (understandably) don't reply (or they are uncomfortable with sharing them, as they often contain unpublished material). Also, I do this often, and don't want to be known as "the ...
- 10.9k
25
votes
4
answers
45k
views
What are some good questions to ask current graduate students when visiting schools?
For the record, I'm visiting the University of Chicago as an accepted PhD student (in the geophysical sciences) next week.
In particular, I'd especially appreciate creative questions that few other ...
- 10.9k
17
votes
6
answers
13k
views
What are some good writing tablets for taking notes that are heavy on math/physics? [closed]
For the record, I'd like something to replace notebooks. I'm accumulating more and more notebooks, and they're a pain to tug around everywhere. Plus, notebooks are easy to get lost (I've lost ...
- 10.9k
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Changing methods/ methodologies mid-project
Is changing research methods/ methodologies in the middle of running a research project a good thing? Are there any best practices for doing so?
Links to projects that document a methodological shift ...
- 111