143
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Why do most scientists think Brexit is bad for British science?
tl;dr: Although it is possible to have Brexit without British science suffering, this would require meaningful political support, and there is little to suggest that this will be forthcoming in the ...
- 18.9k
133
votes
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Giving a career talk in my old university, how prominently should I tell students my salary?
I agree with you. I feel the request to put your salary on a slide (on the first slide, no less!) is rather unexpected, and quite frankly does not speak highly about the professionalism of your ...
- 135k
101
votes
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Can my UK PhD permit me to use the title "Dr.-Ing." in Germany?
One important thing you need to know about the German Doktorgrad is (alongside other non-academic titles) that its use is restricted by federal law. Adding a Doktortitel to your name in public without ...
- 2,976
97
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If Brexit is bad for British science, why hasn't the rankings of British universities worsened?
Most of the papers that are being published right now were written pre-pandemic. Most of the researchers who might, long-term, decide to leave the UK or who now no longer consider coming to the UK are ...
- 91.2k
87
votes
Contacted by head of school regarding an issue - should I be worried?
I think you should be worried that you and your colleagues might have to go without pizza the rest of the semester if you've already (unknowingly) burned through the budget, and not much else.
You ...
- 105k
78
votes
Is it legal in the UK to aim for a certain percentage of women in a math department?
You are making the wrong assumption here that aiming for some minimum percentage of women would involve selecting a weaker women over a stronger man.
I am involved with running a conference series in ...
- 41.3k
75
votes
Is it inappropriate to contact my Master’s supervisor on Facebook or Instagram for a reference while she’s on maternity leave?
This is from an American perspective, not a British one, but absolutely do not message her on Facebook or Instagram! Especially if you have not been in touch for two years. I would never consider ...
- 29.2k
71
votes
Why is discrimination based on citizenship allowed in PhD funding in the UK?
I wrote a pretty extensive response on this a little while ago: here and also this may be slightly relevant.
The short version is: Because they can be, and because they have to be. UK universities ...
- 1,801
67
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Why do most scientists think Brexit is bad for British science?
In addition to the practical, and very important answers that others have already given I will make this point about the emotional impact.
I'm a UK citizen in academia, but a lot of my colleagues, ...
- 8,476
65
votes
UK faculty salaries are much lower than US – is there any upside?
I'll answer from the perspective of someone who has worked in both the UK and the US and also in Industry as well as academia during my lengthy career.
Although all the other answers and comment raise ...
- 16.9k
59
votes
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How rude is it for a grad student to be late to a professor's valedictory lecture?
However, by the time we arrived, we were more than 10 minutes late (the lecture would last for two hours)
I'm not British, but 10 minutes is not that late. I would not find it rude - in principle - ...
- 29.2k
57
votes
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Is there a way to improve my grade after graduation?
There's nothing you can do to change your grade on a completed degree. What you can do is do well in your job so that no one cares about your old grades, which it sounds like you've done. So ...
- 32.6k
55
votes
What should I do if the potential supervisor copied my email to another potential supervisor who has already rejected me?
I disagree that this is all that awkward: students are expected to correspond with multiple professors looking for a PhD position, and most of them will not have space for the student or will choose ...
- 105k
53
votes
Can a department revoke a degree, once granted by the university?
Absent plagiarism, fraud, or other academic sanction, it would be difficult to revoke an awarded degree. There would have to be strong evidence for doing so, and it’s not often attempted, in part ...
- 173k
53
votes
Can someone interview their sibling?
Interviewing a family member is not permitted. Yes, you should raise a complaint. Do it politely, of course. But in the end, you have to ask yourself whether or not a work group that would even try to ...
- 1,148
52
votes
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Is expanding the research of a group into machine learning as a PhD student risky?
I would ask about having a co-supervisor. Having access to esteemed DL researchers is great -- but they will have limited time/interest in helping you if you are not "formally" their student. If you ...
- 64.8k
50
votes
Why do most scientists think Brexit is bad for British science?
The EU organises and funds programmes such as Horizon 2020, the Erasmus programme, and Erasmus Mundus. None of those can be replaced by the UK government in isolation.
On a personal note. Why do I ...
- 42.4k
50
votes
UK faculty salaries are much lower than US – is there any upside?
I see with some of your comments to some of the offered answers that you consider the social benefits (healthcare and other forms of job security, life security), the community and safety (gun ...
- 11.3k
49
votes
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Reasons for an academic to need administrator rights on work computer
So far, I have only come across one reason for needing something close to administrator rights on a fixed department machine: using scientific software.
When you start using a new scientific piece of ...
- 14.8k
47
votes
If Brexit is bad for British science, why hasn't the rankings of British universities worsened?
British universities are not limited to Oxford, Cambridge and a bunch of other top50 ones. In cases like this, it is usually the bottom line which suffers the earliest (and the most overall). Oxford ...
- 8,359
46
votes
Two PhD's in different UK universities, simultaneously, part-time: absurd idea?
Andrew mostly covered why this is administratively impossible, but I think it's also worth addressing the misunderstanding of what a Ph.D. is embedded in this question. Pete Clark said it better than ...
- 21.7k
46
votes
Should I secretly record a meeting to prove I'm being discriminated against?
No.
Such action should be the very, very last resort, and only undertaken if you have taken legal advice on whether it is advisable to do so.
As a UK student, you should have support available to ...
- 1,934
46
votes
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Supervised a PhD to 90% of completion; take credit for 100%; what could go wrong?
On a generic CV, I would simply make a section of "Graduate students supervised and co-supervised", and include this student. In this context it wouldn't be necessary to go into detail about whether ...
- 132k
45
votes
I graduated with 1st class honours - do I add it to the letters after my name?
No. The class of a degree is not written in your post-nominal qualifications. You can add it in he educational details on your CV.
- 16.9k
41
votes
Why do most scientists think Brexit is bad for British science?
Just responding to the isolation part...
I am a non-EU postdoc working in UK. Postdocs have short contracts and visas are tied to contracts. I have recently got to 5 years and therefore residency ...
- 6,317
40
votes
What to do if I'm being bullied by students?
In short, the behaviour of your students is not acceptable - no matter how good or bad your teaching was.
If something like this were to happen at my university, I as vice dean for teaching would ...
- 13.1k
40
votes
UK faculty salaries are much lower than US – is there any upside?
My answer builds on excellent comments of Massimo Ortolano and Buffy.
You question stems from the assumption that high salary is what makes an occupation most attractive. Although it might be true for ...
- 53.7k
40
votes
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Weak student asking for reference for PhD place -UK
I am frequently in that situation, of being asked for a letter of reference by a mediocre student with good intentions (don't they all have good intentions?)
You already know your two options: (1) ...
- 10.9k
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