All Questions
43,087
questions
39
votes
2
answers
10k
views
What to do after being denied tenure?
What do you do if after 6 years of being an assistant professor, you come up for, and are denied tenure?
How hard is it to get a job in industry, when you are middle aged and have no relevant work ...
- 391
24
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What should a tenured professor do to move to a more research oriented school?
Much is written about how to get a job, but I've seen very little about how a professor with tenure (typically an associate or full professor) goes about changing schools. If a professor wants to ...
- 14.4k
9
votes
3
answers
3k
views
What are some proven methods for keeping track of research and programming in a lab notebook format?
Are there any proven methods for keeping a computer science lab notebook? What sort of stuff goes into a CS lab notebook, and what notation is used? Are there any reliable ELN methods, preferably ...
- 483
47
votes
1
answer
34k
views
How does a graduate program's admissions committee operate?
How does a typical graduate program's admissions committee operate? (In the US --- I understand that in Europe admissions are often structured differently.)
My mental model at the moment is several ...
- 2,443
45
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Writing papers in language X and translating to English vs. writing papers in English to begin with?
I'm working with a group in China, and we were discussing the following question, which I would like to ask here too:
Question: Is it better to write a paper in Chinese, then translate it into ...
- 1,149
104
votes
14
answers
413k
views
Assistant professor vs Associate professor [closed]
What's the difference between an associate professor and an assistant professor?
What can one of them do that the other can't? and which is a higher level? can any of them supervise a PhD student?
- 4,323
11
votes
2
answers
752
views
Is it legal in the US for a professor to publicly reveal a student's performance in PhD comprehensive exams?
Is it legal (for a faculty member) to publicly reveal a student's performance in PhD comprehensive exams? In the US, isn't this in violation of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of ...
- 339
18
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Tuning the PhD journey for Industry jobs
I have just started my PhD and although I love research and everything that accompanies it but I am put off by Academia a bit and would prefer an Industry job at the end of my PhD.
What can I do ...
user107
6
votes
1
answer
630
views
Is it harder to transition from Industry Research to Prof than PostDoc to Prof?
Assuming someone just received their PhD (in say, Computer Science) and chooses to step into Industry RnD rather than taking up a post doc, a year or two later, he/she realizes that Academia is where ...
user107
12
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Automatically building a database of forward and backward citations
My goal is to produce a graph showing the linkages (and lack there of) between several fields that share a common subproblem by showing who cites whom. There are many databases that show citations ...
- 229
24
votes
3
answers
795
views
What will happen to non open-access publications in the UK after 2014?
The UK recently decided that from 2014, all research papers supported by public funds must be published in open-access journals.
For instance, the Research Councils UK announced a new policy stating ...
user102
57
votes
5
answers
44k
views
Is Lambert Academic Publishing a reputable company?
I was contacted by the Acquisition editor of Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP) to publish my bachelor's thesis as a printed book. Is LAP any good? I have no idea about it; I have just heard that it's ...
- 945
16
votes
4
answers
619
views
Pros and cons on commenting on public review papers
Journals such as AMTD and ACPD contain an open discussion where anybody can comment on papers under review. The peer-reviewers are still anonymous, but other people commenting are not. If I'm reading ...
- 42.5k
12
votes
3
answers
366
views
Which bibliometrics index to trust more?
We've already discussed about which bibliometric indeces are diffused the most, and how they work.
We all know that, along the most common h-index, there are many other parameters deriving from it or ...
- 6,827
75
votes
9
answers
207k
views
Is transferring to another university an option for an unhappy PhD student?
I've heard of people transferring between graduate schools because of their advisor moving to another school and taking their students with them.
Do students ever transfer for other reasons? If a ...
- 2,091
16
votes
6
answers
8k
views
How do you ask for a raise?
Once you have a faculty job, how do you ask for a raise (beyond a yearly university-wide cost of living increase)? Is there any way to negotiate, short of soliciting outside offers? What should ...
- 161
22
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What is the likelihood of getting tenure?
What fraction of new assistant professors end up receiving tenure at the institution that they started at? This of course varies by field and rank, so please include the area and range of ranks you ...
- 221
23
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Should I assume that attendees have read my papers when I give a talk?
On occasion during talks, presenters will say, "as you know from reading my papers" or during a Q&A someone will say "you should know from my papers".
The above clearly seems inappropriate for ...
- 4,735
16
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Advice - MS in mathematics to increase competitiveness for PhD programs?
I am a senior maths major (computer science minor) who is pretty worried about the next step in my academic career. First, let me state that I'm about as sure as I can be that I want to get a PhD in ...
- 161
8
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Good practices for skipping chapters when reading
Assuming I am reading a textbook/paper or any kind of rich material and then there is a point where I feel that the chapter I am reading is unnecessary or insignificant (I can get back to it later if ...
user107
166
votes
18
answers
62k
views
What does first authorship really mean in field X?
In my field (theoretical computer science), authors of any paper are always listed alphabetically; our papers don't have "first authors". (Well... hardly ever.) In most other disciplines, ...
12
votes
3
answers
717
views
Tips for faculty members seeking administrative responsibilities
How does a faculty member seek administrative responsibilities in a Department? Do such positions come in a cycle only? Or should the faculty member make his/her willingness known in advance to the ...
- 22.8k
29
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What makes securing faculty positions difficult?
This question is an off-shoot from this one, where it has been agreed by most that securing faculty positions is difficult in general. I would like to know what exactly makes this so.
Though in ...
- 22.8k
69
votes
9
answers
221k
views
Flying with a poster tube as a hand luggage
I am flying to a conference, in which I am presenting a poster.
In principle there might be a problem, as the poster tube:
is a second piece of hand luggage,
it is longer than the limit allows.
...
- 26.1k
20
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Can I use contractions in my thesis?
I am writing my thesis (in Computer Science, if that's relevant) and I am thinking about the style, especially about using contractions.
I realize that thesis is a formal text and contractions like “...
- 584
5
votes
1
answer
851
views
How to get good recommendations in online courses?
I'm going to be starting a master's program soon that is all online. I have taken some online courses before at a community college, and the interaction with professors was rather limited. I'll be ...
- 153
15
votes
2
answers
5k
views
On giving gifts to LOR writers
Should one give gifts to those who one's close to, or those who one generally doesn't interact with very much?
If the professors who wrote my LORs seem reluctant to meet me again for some reason (not ...
- 10.8k
20
votes
1
answer
815
views
Choosing and training (admitted) PhD students for research
What do you expect from a PhD student before being an advisor for him? I mean do you expect from him to fully understand your papers and to be able to contribute your research from the first day or ...
- 261
6
votes
4
answers
8k
views
GRE Math Subject test for admission to statistics grad programs?
I am an international student from an unknown school with a sub 3.0 gpa. I am a CS major but I certainly have a deep interest for statistics grad programs. In the future I want to work on algoritmic ...
- 261
5
votes
1
answer
171
views
Where to publish Ph.D. related articles in the IT field
I am currently working on my Ph.D. with topic “Research of the current methods and technologies for web sites and web application development“. I have some articles that I would like to share(and also ...
- 159
9
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Can one's PhD work be an extension of their Masters research?
I am currently pursuing a Masters degree in Literature, and I see potential in further research on the current topic of my dissertation for a PhD in the future. I have been told that an Honours thesis ...
- 91
8
votes
1
answer
612
views
How common is faculty members changing jobs in the US?
Faculty members switch between universities for many reasons, but how often does this happen? Has there been any study/report on the frequency of job shifts and resignations in academia, especially in ...
- 22.8k
4
votes
6
answers
907
views
Apple or Thinkpads, buying for department
I'm asking this anonymously. Our department of computer science just received a donation to buy laptops for students. Major activity will be programming and languages used will be C/C++/Python/Perl/...
- 65
9
votes
3
answers
395
views
Should graduate study be done when you are not fully interested in the subject matter?
This question is somewhat broad, but this place seems like the best place to ask. I have been accepted for an information assurance program, but I am a computer science major and my main interest lies ...
- 425
9
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Entering into PhD program after having dropped out of bachelor's
When I was 23, I quit my computer science undergraduate studies at USC with only one semester worth of units left and a low (less than 3.0) GPA due to personal reasons. I just turned 30 and have ...
- 91
17
votes
3
answers
3k
views
When do you stop reading books cover to cover?
During my undergrad, we had a reading assignment (for most courses) which would nearly cover up the entire textbook including introductions, summaries, "did you know" and other such fluff material.
...
user107
11
votes
3
answers
307
views
How much tweaking of figure design (not content) can I postpone until the final figures are requested?
I have finished all of my manuscript revisions except for some minor details in the figure.
As I understand it, once the manuscript is accepted, a final draft of high resolution figures will be ...
- 3,275
19
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How to "cultivate" a postdoc position during PhD program?
Imagine you're a PhD student, and you found a research group, in another university, that you'd like to join for a PostDoc period.
You want to join that group because you really like their subjects, ...
- 6,827
10
votes
1
answer
656
views
Tips for useful note-making when learning by oneself
When I'm learning new material, it helps me if I take notes (I usually use emacs org-mode). I read on Xournal (annotating on the way) and Alt+Tab to emacs to punch in important points. My question is:
...
user107
12
votes
4
answers
2k
views
At what age do professors stop taking new students?
Assuming STEM, At what age do tenured professors stop taking new students?
I am a first year PhD student and have my eye on one professor who seems to be really interesting and I feel he finds me as ...
user107
7
votes
1
answer
509
views
BSc in CPSC or CIS: How will this affect Grad School applications (Stanford, UBC)?
I am trying to decide whether or not I should pursue an undergrad in Computer Science (link to curriculum)
or an undergrad in Computer Information Systems (link to curriculum).
Specifically, I'd be ...
- 131
57
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Popular proprietary program or obscure open source substitute for reproducible research?
For a long time, I had been using open source software for my work to make it reproducible. I believed that if I made my code open source and the software to run the code was also open source (or at ...
user107
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What are examples of appropriate journals to publish new mathematical conjectures?
The paper I want to publish is just a conjecture.
- 121
19
votes
3
answers
764
views
Were there changes in approaches to undergraduate education in the 1970s or 1980s?
I was recently reading some papers regarding bridging the gap between academia and industry, specifically in undergraduate computer science and software engineering programs. The papers I read were ...
- 386
19
votes
4
answers
797
views
Learning/Reviewing New Material Quickly
My question is : What is a time effective way to learn new material/ reviewing old material you don't completely remember?
Motivation:
For my research in Computer Science, I need lots of elements of ...
user107
9
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Engineers/Scientists to break into management consulting
Engineers and Scientists are probably not the kind of people management consulting companies look for. But I think many of such would be highly qualified and a good fit for management consulting ...
- 233
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Salary determinants for faculty at public schools in the US
A follow-up question to this as I feel it is very broad. For example, consider this link displaying the salaries at a particular department in a public school in US.
I see very wide variations within ...
- 22.8k
6
votes
3
answers
843
views
Is it compulsory to have a master's degree in computer science for research jobs?
I hold a bachelor's in computer applications. I have got my bachelor's degree from India. Now I want to get a job in research institutes or labs at Europe, USA or India. Will I need higher education ...
- 171
55
votes
10
answers
152k
views
After my PhD how much salary should I expect as a professor of computer science?
It's easy for me to find out salaries for tech-jobs but it seems Professor salaries are quite hush-hush. I really love to teach and would be more than willing to join academia. However, I may choose ...
- 1,102
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Thesis or a practicum at Masters Level - Computer Science
I am about to reach a stage in my masters where I'll have to make a choice of doing either a regular thesis or a practicum. A practicum is simply an alternative to thesis in which a student has to ...
- 323