14
votes
Advisor-student collaboration (or lack thereof) and paper authorship in mathematics: how does it work?
As a preface, which might help explain the phenomena you observe, "grunt work" tends to have low status in mathematics. A solution to a problem that uses a large amount of "grunt work&...
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12
votes
Accepted
How can I avoid this unproductive pattern with my PhD supervisor?
Keep in mind that this is subjective, but here's my advice moving forward:
Point 0: Reframe your expectations
As a PhD student, you want to do independent research, with some guidance from your ...
11
votes
How do I mention low grades on the transcript due to genuine incompetence? (PhD Application)
As in Bryan Krause's answer, I don't believe your should bring up weak points (such as poor grades) unprompted. While I think you see "being honest about math incompetence" as a positive, it ...
11
votes
Advisor-student collaboration (or lack thereof) and paper authorship in mathematics: how does it work?
Just as another anecdotal data-point: (in the U.S., in math, at an R1) I view my job as PhD thesis advisor to be that of coach/mentor/educator/protector.
The "protector" part of my ...
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8
votes
How can I avoid this unproductive pattern with my PhD supervisor?
Obviously I'm not in the same room, so all I have is your description and interpretation of the (indeed unproductive) pattern/cycle. Here is my interpretation, especially since this is now the second ...
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8
votes
Advisor-student collaboration (or lack thereof) and paper authorship in mathematics: how does it work?
In pure math and some parts of CS there is a parallel, but the "do some calculations" part is, perhaps, more challenging than you describe. If an advisor suggests a problem (not a ...
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8
votes
What is the consequence on purposefully lying on grad-school application (town of birth)
You can typically read the consequences of lying on the admissions form itself. Here's an example.
The information supplied on this application is complete and true to the best of my knowledge. No ...
- 122k
7
votes
How do I mention low grades on the transcript due to genuine incompetence? (PhD Application)
I think you need a better understanding of why you underperformed in math before you complete your application, if only because you need to question your motivations in applying. Internalizing your ...
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6
votes
Do PhD degrees in Germany require government accreditation?
In general, education is federally organized in Germany and thus many decisions, laws and regulations are only valid for single Bundesländer (federal states). Although there are general rules and ...
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6
votes
How do I mention low grades on the transcript due to genuine incompetence? (PhD Application)
Computer science is a rather confusing degree, because there are areas of it which are very mathematical (formal verification, for example) and areas which aren't (human computer interaction is one ...
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5
votes
How to choose my first PhD students
I suggest that you start small (one student) and then see how that goes. If it works and you are comfortable with the current state, consider accepting another. (see below)
At the start, I'd suggest ...
- 345k
4
votes
Forgot to debrief participants on an old qualifier project. Can this error cause my qualifier project and poster I did on it to be revoked at all?
Debriefing is not a universal requirement in human subjects research. I have never written one in an IRB I have submitted.
This is what my investigator's manual says (but check yours; emphasis added):
...
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4
votes
How to publish independently in top journals?
They accept articles (and are lenient) to manuscripts that are from a lab whose PI has good relations with them.
How would you know? Do you have insider information as to how the journal makes ...
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3
votes
A potential postdoc PI contacted my Ph.D. advisor without asking me for the contact info. Is this common?
For me it’s 50/50 red flag. If you have officially provided list of references, then your potential postdoc PI should be contacting them first. If you haven’t provided contact details of your major ...
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2
votes
How bad will refusing to defend PhD look on industry-job applications?
From my own personal experience doing industry interviews, if you went ahead with this and I was aware of the circumstances of your departure from your PhD program, this would look horrendously bad. ...
2
votes
How to publish independently in top journals?
I'm not sure your question is entirely fair. You seem sure that only papers from "friendly" PIs and labs are even considered. I don't doubt that there is some bias at the top, but why are ...
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2
votes
What is the consequence on purposefully lying on grad-school application (town of birth)
You should strongly consider your motive for lying: if a person responsible for admissions is judging (not "evaluating," i.e they are forming a "like" or "dislike" ...
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2
votes
What is the consequence on purposefully lying on grad-school application (town of birth)
If Sam isn't a citizen, lying is likely to attract grief from whoever checks up on visas — most countries do remarkably little data-matching, but if someone does bother that's a glaring red flag, ...
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2
votes
How to publish independently in top journals?
The short answer is to do the kind of work that these top tier journals respect and publish. There's no easy formula, there's no recipe other than to publish that kind of work.
If you want to publish ...
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2
votes
In addition to naming three professors, should I mention that I am open to working with other professors in SOP?
Unlike some other places, in the US it is seldom necessary to specify professors. It is useful, however, to be flexible. You may need to specify some subfield of the overall field, but little else. If ...
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1
vote
Mentioning faculty in SOP while already mentioning them elsewhere in application
Use judgement. Not all redundancy is bad. If your goals are tied to one or the other of those professors then it might be worth it.
But I also suggest you stay flexible in choosing a research ...
- 345k
1
vote
How to publish independently in top journals?
This is and remains a complex issue. As said by others, writing and positioning a paper is a skill which takes a lot of practice to develop and where an extra set of eyes can help a lot. Even after ...
1
vote
How to publish independently in top journals?
Although I acknowledge that a second-year Ph.D. student may not be prepared to publish independently, the underlying question is still valid. Contemporary scientific publishing has significant ...
1
vote
A potential postdoc PI contacted my Ph.D. advisor without asking me for the contact info. Is this common?
Not a red flag. If I am looking to have someone join my group, get paid off my grant, etc., I have to do my due diligence and I am not going to ask permission to do it. The PhD advisor is the first ...
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1
vote
How to choose my first PhD students
I wish I could say I came up with this idea, but what my mentor did (not with me, he was my teacher since undergrad) with my coworker is he came up with an assignment for my coworker to do over the ...
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