6 votes
Accepted

Do university departments take on additional faculty members for existing lab groups?

No. It is considered inefficient. The rare exception would be: When hiring a very famous faculty member (such as a Nobel Prize winner) the new faculty member may be promised the opportunity to hire ...
Anonymous Physicist's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Do all 3 recommendation letters carry equal weight?

No, they aren't all the same, but it depends on what they say, not the order they are listed or received. The best letters will come from people who say they have worked closely with you in some way, ...
Buffy's user avatar
  • 344k
4 votes

Do university departments take on additional faculty members for existing lab groups?

When you say "lab group," are you thinking of physical lab space with expensive equipment? A university would probably rather not dedicate the space to having 2 copies of e.g. a very large &...
civilstat's user avatar
  • 411
3 votes

Do university departments take on additional faculty members for existing lab groups?

Most university faculty hiring is to fill some perceived need. Mostly that would be bringing in new ideas to an existing group. As faculty near retirement, new people can keep the vitality of a ...
Buffy's user avatar
  • 344k
2 votes

Do university departments take on additional faculty members for existing lab groups?

Collecting and expanding on my comments on the question: Do university departments take on additional faculty members for existing lab groups? TL;DR: no, but faculty do sometimes hire Ph.D.s into ...
John Bollinger's user avatar
2 votes

sending good/bad rec letter without waiving my rights

In my recent (last 10-15 years') experience, in the U.S., in mathematics, there would simply be no way for anyone to inject an unsolicited letter into your application file. The way it works nowadays ...
paul garrett's user avatar
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1 vote

sending good/bad rec letter without waiving my rights

I'll focus on "bad" letters and communications. This might depend on the country's (or other political entity) laws and regulations, but it would be highly unethical for a professor to ...
Buffy's user avatar
  • 344k

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