How important is it to cite the URL in bibliographies?

Including URLs and DOIs can be very helpful. For many if not most articles, a search for the title in a search engine is adequate to locate the paper. Though searching for the title takes longer than clicking on the URL or DOI in the paper, so it's still not preferred in that case.

Further, I've been surprised by articles which are not easily available in Google Scholar but are online. I've made quite a few interlibrary loan requests, later finding out that the entire proceedings of the conference I wanted an article from was online via the professional society which organized the conference. Google Scholar does not capture everything online at the moment. Many researchers do not know how to use the services of their library, so having the URL of the conference paper can be very helpful for many researchers.

Unfortunately many journals and conferences have their own citation style which may not use URLs or DOIs, but when you have the option, I think you should use it. My policy is to include as much helpful information as I can, and that often means more obscure citation information like OCLC numbers and ISSNs (which librarians can use to locate print only items).


Is it acceptable to compare your experimental results with the claimed results from another paper?

In theory, if a result is published you can use it as is.

In practice, it is better to replicate it yourself. That way you can really make certain you are comparing like with like. Research often involves a very long chain of decisions that cannot all be published in an article. Good research documents that somewhere else, but it is easy for honest mistakes or omissions to seep in. So that way it could easily happen that Mr. X's design is subtly different from the design used in paper P, and the difference in result are due to that difference in design rather than the difference in method. You can rule that out by replicating the results in paper P yourself.


I feel that I cannot do original research unless I become really strong in the above mentioned subjects in mathematics. Is this claim correct?

If it is, then what would you do about it?  Probably, take one math class per semester, and in the summer too if possible, and do some additional reading on your own when classes are not in session.

If the claim is not correct... what harm would it do to strengthen your math skills, even if they turn out not to be essential for your field?


Disclose your possible conflict to the editor and let them decide. "I had no direct role in the submitted work but am currently collaborating with Drs. Moe, Curly, and Larry on separate projects on plumbing, eye protection, and suit integrity."

It may be that your field is narrow enough that the editor will prefer your mostly impartial review, or they may prefer to find another referee.

This suggestion of course assumes that you think you can offer a fair review whether or not you find the work suitable for publishing. If you think for any reason you would be unwilling to reject the work if it is poor because of your collaborations, you should not agree to review at all.


After publishing many articles in the last few years, why does my work have few citations?

You might want to calibrate your expectations.

What predicts how many citations you should expect?

Journal impact factor
Time since publication
Number of publications
Database used for counting citations

In rough terms, the journal impact factor can give you an idea of how many citations you can expect to receive per year for a given article. Note that this is based on the relevant database. Google Scholar citation counts tend to be two or three times larger from my experience. Note also that the distribution of article citation counts are highly skewed. So many will get fewer citations, but hopefully as you aggregate over a body of work, central limit theorem will kick in. So it's a reasonable guide to a benchmark  how many citations you should expect over the body of your work.

Note also, the time it takes people to build on your work. So if you publish something late in 2014, it will often take at least a year for people to notice and start incorporating into journal submissions and for those articles to be published.

The basic consequence of this is that if all your work has come out in the last 3 years, and therefore much of your work has come out in the last year, then you may have to wait a few years to see the citations accrue.

How to calculate expected citations

So let's do some basic math.

Mean impact factor: Based on your stated quartile impact factors, I'm going to guess that your average impact factor per article is around 0.8 (e.g., top quartile is around 2 or 3+; second quartile is around 1.5; third quartile is around 0.5, based on discipline it could be different).
Mean time since publication: I'll guess 1.5 years, i.e., half-way between 0 and 3 years.
Discounting self-citations: Impact factor does not discount self-citations, but you have. So let's say 20% of citations are self-citations, especially early on in an article's life.
Number of articles: you say 17

So a very rough estimate of expected number of citations is:

expected citations = mean IF * mean time since publication *
                       self-citation discount * number of articles
 = 0.8 * 1.5 * 0.8 * 17
 = 16.32 (i.e., 16 citations)

A few caveats:

If you are using Google Scholar as your metric, then you should multiply expectations by a factor 2 or 3 (so that gives you an expected citation count somewhere around 32 and 39).
You could  get a more refined estimate if you calculated expectations for each article separately and then summed the expectations.
There is quite a bit of uncertainty about the timing issue. For example, with impact factor, the first few months often don't count and sometimes differences between accepted versus online access versus published with page numbers might make a difference.

So actually, that does not look that different from what you have.

Also, note that in theory, you could stop doing research today, and the formula would predict that 15 years, you could expect about 160 citations. As with all things, this depends on various assumptions. But if you are comparing your citation count to senior researchers who have been publishing for 20 years, then you need to really understand the fundamental role of time passing in generating citations.

More generally, citation counts per article and even on aggregate can be quite noisy and the underlying distribution can be heavily skewed. So the difference between being above or below expectations may be whether you have one or two articles that have really taken off in terms of citations.

Take home messages

If you are a PhD student or early career research where the vast majority of your work has come out in the last two or three years, citations will generally look small. Citations just take time to accrue. And the number of citations an article accrue per year is quite noisy.
In the first couple of years after a publication comes out, the impact factor is probably a better predictor of how many citations it is likely to accrue per year.
Based on the assumptions above, publishing in an impact factor 3 journal will on average generate 3 times as many citations as an impact factor 1 article, and 6 times as many citations as impact factor 0.5 article. While this is all an on-average thing, the point is that it is quite possible that your your two Q1 publications are equivalent or more important than your 10 Q3 publications, from a citation generation perspective. So if you view things from an impact/citation perspective, then this can inform your understanding of the quality versus quantity trade-off when publishing your work.

Generating more citations

That said, if your goal is to generate citations from others, there are all sorts of things that you could be doing.

Try to do great work and publish in high impact publications. When evaluating a quantity versus quality trade-off, give a lot of weight to quality/impact.
Advertise your work at conferences and online.
Attend conferences and network so that people get to know who you are and what you are doing.

Other options that  may or may not go into grey territory:

Self-cite where appropriate. Some citations will come from others seeing how your work is being cited. By self-citing, you are providing a template, and further secondary exposure to your work.
Collaborate and co-author papers with leading figures in your field. When they publish without you, they may cite your co-authored work.
Think about what topics receive more citations and do work on that. Important review articles, meta-analyses, methodological papers with a clear recommendation, etc.


Is it ethical to submit the final version of a paper after acceptance when coauthor refuses to agree to submission?

I checked the authorship guidelines of the two most important computer science societies, IEEE and ACM. IEEE's guidelines have a clear answer to the question, although I wish it was a different one, given the unfair situation the post-doc has put you into:

  "Each individual named  as an author must approve the final version of the article as  accepted for publication, including the references." (Source: Sect. 6, "Author Responsibilities")

In the case of ACM, I didn't find a direct answer. The closest statement I found was the following:

  "Once a submission has been accepted, [...] ACM expects authors to speak with one voice even if there are multiple authors." (Source: "Processing of accepted works")

(Not a particularly helpful statement anyways: there are certainly situations where an individual author would behave ethically by not speaking for all authors, like whistleblowing).

In any case, you should look up the authorship guidelines of the journal where your paper was accepted - they might have yet another relevant policy for your case.


Can I resubmit my accepted paper after I withdraw it from the same journal?

That depends entirely on the journal itself. If the submission process is automated, you could just try and see what happens. But you could, and probably should, contact the editor for information, explaining the earlier withdrawal and why that isn't an issue at present.

But, I assume some journals wouldn't like to reconsider it. And take care that it isn't a predatory journal. They might want to accept it again, but you may have better options elsewhere.


On the continent, my understanding is that it’s considered part of “service duties” and thus while travel is (often) compensated for, your time is not.


The answer is strongly conditional on discipline and, to a lesser extent, country of origin. Conventions vary widely, as does the degree to which they are institutionalized. For instance, in some fields (e.g., Philosophy), co-authorship is not common and there is no convention about attribution, so absent an explicit note people are are likely to think the more senior author is the primary one. In Sociology, co-authorship is common and the convention is that the first author is the lead author unless there is a note indicating equal authorship. In Economics, co-authorship has become increasingly common over the past few decades but the convention is to list authors alphabetically, regardless of degree of contribution. In some fields the primary author may be determined by looking to see if there's a note specifying to whom correspondence should be directed, regardless of order of authorship on the paper.

Meanwhile in many lab-based science disciplines, where it's sole authorship that's rare, author order is governed by different norms. In some fields,  the first author is the one who is primarily responsible for the paper (what that means can vary, too), the last author is the lab head or primary grant-holder, and the order of authors in between is sometimes influenced by other norms. But other conventions exist, too. Knowing what they are and how to interpret them is part of one's socialization into a discipline.

To make things more complicated, some fields—or some journals, or some labs, or some individual authors—may have their own rules or conventions designed to clarify things by listing credit more explicitly. Even worse, there may be a kind of hermeneutics of author-order where people parcel out credit to different contributors regardless of order of authorship, as when someone says "Sure, X is the first author and Y helped him write it up but it's obvious the paper was Z's idea".

In your case, if your lab or unit is using a convention that's not standard in your field the most straightforward solution is to make a note of this in your articles. This isn't an ideal solution because papers will still be cited or referenced without people paying attention to your clarifying note, but there isn't much you can do about that.


Should the desire to go back to one's country after graduation be written in the statement of purpose?

Depending on your wording (and to a lesser extent on your discipline), I do not think this is problematic at all. Most public universities in the US are not directly concerned with the monetary investment in their students.

Rather, they are concerned with attracting motivated, high-quality graduate students along with an undergraduate student body that contains (and serves) many students from the state but also includes students from diverse backgrounds and with different life experiences.

You do not say in your question whether you are pursuing a graduate or undergraduate degree, but I think in either case it's fine. Having a plan to return to your home country is totally understandable, and speaks to both your motivation and long-term planning.

Furthermore, admissions committees understand that while you have this plan now, that things can happen over the course of years and that you plans you outline in your statement of purpose may change.

As multiple comments and answers indicate, this should not be the main focus of your statement of purpose and does not need to be belabored.

I agree with the comment that "patriotism" is not quite the right word for your preferences, and I think using that word (or some others) would seem strange or inappropriate in your statement, but in general, expressing a desire to eventually apply the skills you will be learning in your home country should not be a problem.


Colleague erroneously got a grade that is too high

Answering from an ethical perspective. The grade was entered in error, if the other student was unaware of a mistake they would have been morally fine, it is not their job to double check the grader's work.

But since they are aware of the mistake it is their obligation to inform the grader. By intentionally keeping that information from the grader they are deliberately breaking ethical rules. In addition, by telling you about it they are compounding the original wrong by making you a party to their original transgression.

Unfortunately your classmate has made you responsible for their behavior because now you have to choose between doing the right thing (reporting them since they will not step forward) or being silent.

I can't tell you the consequences of that choice, but possible consequences of turning them in are social rejection and possible consequences of staying silent include academic sanctions against you if it comes out that you knew and did nothing. Just remember, they chose to put you in this mess, and for that you owe them nothing.


Is a Research Assistant/Associate in UK equivalent to a Post Doctorate elsewhere?

Yes, postdoctoral positions in the UK are commonly advertised as research associates, research assistants, research fellows, teaching fellows (if the position focuses on teaching rather than research), etc.

You can normally judge the level of a position by the salary. A salary of between £28,000 and £35,000 will usually be a postdoctoral position (with the exact salary paid normally dependent on the candidate's experience). A higher salary would likely indicate a more senior or permanent position.

If you're unsure about the level of a position, it wouldn't hurt to send an email asking for clarification to the person advertising the job, or the department's research administrator.


Well, what I wrote was partly humor, partly serious:

  "I would like to thank: Prof. [my adviser] for his advice and support
  throughout the thesis work, Prof. [] for his patience as I
  mis-implemented his design, [] for his assistance in selecting
  components, the [lab and department] for computer time, [], whose
  Masters thesis provided the format I have adopted, the manufacturers
  of [caffeinated beverages] for their stimulating ideas, E. Gary Gygax
  for giving me something to kill, and the States of Alaska and
  Confusion."

I think you're overthinking this. Any polite statement crediting those who have made a significant contribution to the project will be fine.

Suggestion: see if your school maintains copies of past theses in their library, read through a few to see what other people have done, and adopt what seems useful from those.


Postdocs (Bioinformatics/NGS data science) from university of Toronto get Salary or stipend

Postdocs at the University of Toronto are employees.  Postdoctoral research fellows are unionised as part of CUPE 3902 Unit 5.  Although some agencies would like to treat postdocs as trainees, they are not.

The salaries at the University of Toronto for postdocs vary enormously, from less than $35k/year (in humanities) to over $70k/year (in computer science).  There is no general salary scale.


What visa is required for a TV-L PhD position in Germany

A student visa is definitely wrong (and something you can't fix afterwards!) You need a visa for a long-term stay that allows you to earn money; this is usually called a "national visa type D". This will allow multiple entries. Be aware that it will usually only be issued for three or six months (I've seen both), and you need to get the "real" visa for the full duration of the contract ("Aufenthaltserlaubnis") at the foreign office ("Ausländerbehörde") once you have arrived in Germany.

To get the visa, you need to provide some documentation about your employment in Germany; specifically,

date and place where the contract will be signed,
duration of the contract,
exact description of your position,
income.

The university should know about this and provide you a letter of confirmation
In your case, something like

  $NAME, born $BIRTHDAY, is supposed to be employed from $STARTING_DATE
  to $ENDING_DATE as a wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (TV-L E13) with
  65% of full working time at the $DEPARTMENT of $UNIVERSITY.

would suffice, since it's a standard position the embassy will be familiar with. You also need to present your Masters diploma to verify that you are qualified for the position.


Bench fees: typical procedure and rates for visiting students?

If somebody is going to charge me money for a service when I'm visiting an off-campus site (or even something on-campus), I want to know about it in advance. The first thing they should have mentioned in any sort of response—or post on a website—is that it's not a free service. Without such information, people can't make an informed decision whether or not the service is worth the cost.

So I would certainly question this invoice and its fairness. (As for the cost, that also seems a bit high, but I can't really comment on a "going rate" for such a service.)


How do you motivate collaborators to meet deadlines, when there is no financial incentives involved in their work?

Perhaps you are asking for more than can be delivered. The other person, I assume, has his own projects and deadlines and, perhaps, needs to put those first.

Incentives can be other than financial, of course, but perhaps the incentives important to the other person are all directed toward making progress on work more important to them than to you.

Trying to beat up on someone who has been valuable to you is a mistake, I think. Setting deadlines for someone who is neither your advisee nor your employee is likely to be fruitless.

What incentive can you offer. The carrot, not the stick.


Do I have a better chance for a PhD in a field I have research experience in or one I have had better courses on?

Apply for and do the PhD you actually want to do.

The skills gained by having research experience are generally subject transferable, so if you want to do theoretical computer science, explain what skills and knowledge your research experience in computational biology gave you that would be applicable to that field. It could even be something as simple as saying "my experience in researching x topic in computational biology got me interested in computer science as a field of research, which I want to explore further, focusing on theoretical topic y".

Don't try and game the system. Be honest about your interests and the experiences that have led you to them.


Determining student understanding of a question based on given answer

You are barking up the wrong tree.

I can’t speak for all instructors and graders (and it wouldn’t surprise me if your question gets closed for that reason), but, when I’m grading essay questions, I want to know: Can the student answer the question clearly and in a way that demonstrates mastery over the material?

That being what I’m looking for, most of what you listed is smoke and mirrors.

Sophistication of the language? That means nothing if the answer isn’t accurate. And if your answer is way off, you’ll sound like a pompous ass.
Length of their answer? Not necessarily. I appreciate depth much more than length. If an answer is long because it shows a deep understanding, that’s fine. If it’s just repeating the same facts over and over again, that can get annoying.
Use of meta language? Ah, that old trick. Throw enough buzzwords at an answer and hope one of them matches what I’m looking for. (A student tried that on me one time, and I wrote in the margins of the exam: “Your jedi mind tricks do not work on me.”)
Succinctness? That’s probably the only one that you listed that has a shot at impressing me, but it had better be a very good answer if you’re not going to say much.


How to persuade someone to not pursue a PhD just because they failed to find a job?

How about introducing your friend to PhD comics. At least someone who has read those and still goes for a PhD cannot say they haven't be warned.


Including a note to reviewers in a submission

When resubmitting a paper after rejection, many journals require the authors to provide a detailed response to reviewers, whether or not the paper is going to be assessed by the same reviewers.

Therefore, instead of including a note to explain the change, include a complete response to reviewers, even though the journal you are submitting to does not require it. It would be useful even if the reviewers are not the same, because it's quite likely that new reviewers will receive the initial comments.


There are several cases where PhDs do an MBA. Some of them are:

Bored of research as a whole.
Irritation with academia and poor scope in Industry.
Want to earn money.
For furthering responsibilities at the university where one is a professor. If you do some looking around, a high amount of Deans to have an MBA along with a PhD.


How and where can I seek help regarding research outside of my university?

Are there any universities in your area?  Problems like yours happen, and there are often kindly professors who will understand and take in academic refugees of various sorts, especially if what you are primarily looking for is advice and not funding.

In approaching a possible professor for advice, however, you need to make sure you're asking for an appropriate level of interaction.  Do not show up and say, "Please will you become the supervisor of somebody totally unknown to you on a possibly very time-consuming project?"  Have a particular specific question about something small that is your next step, and in the email you use to introduce yourself, ask if they would be willing to meet briefly to give some advice on that question or to if they could point you to somebody who would be better to talk to.

You need to be fairly independent and willing to get help and advice from many different people, if necessary.  You also need to understand that you will be generally the lowest priority of anybody that you talk to, and not feel discouraged if some people don't respond.


Are there laws preventing someone from collecting data not connected to a sanctioned research project?

Since you ask for legal advice, only a lawyer in the country in which you intend to do the research can really answer your question with authority.

However, the usual reason that it is useful to be part of a University or Firm when doing research, is that they normally employ lawyers that can answer these questions. Affiliation isn't essential, but good advice is. A university may (will in the US) have an office that will help assure that you don't overstep legal or ethical boundaries.

I would try to visit a local research institution and see if they can give you guidance on your proposal. There are some things you aren't allowed to ask human subjects and some restrictions on data use, etc., but these differ by country. Perhaps a local university publishes its guidelines and they may be available to you even when unaffiliated.

Different countries also are likely to have a bureau whose purpose is to publish legal and ethical advice to researchers. A local search may turn up the information you need.

But proceed cautiously in any research that involves human subjects in any way.


Is there a way to check for similarities within a single text?

This may not be the best solution, but there are lots of string alignment software packages readily available. Specifically, biological sequence alignment software is highly abundant. I actually did this once before using EMBOSS.

For many of these you'll need to convert your text to FASTA format, which I've written a script for:

#!/usr/bin/python2.7
import string
from sys import *
from Bio import SeqIO
from Bio.Seq import Seq
from Bio.SeqRecord import SeqRecord

def stripPunct(astr):
    #For now, only output letters to satisfy EMBOSS
    tmpstr = astr.translate(None, string.digits + string.punctuation + string.whitespace)
    #tmpstr = astr.translate(None, string.whitespace)
    return tmpstr

def main():
    txtfile1 = open(argv[1],"r")
    txtfile2 = open(argv[2],"r")
    txt1 = txtfile1.read()
    txt2 = txtfile2.read()
    txtfile1.close()
    txtfile2.close()

    txtstrip1 = stripPunct(txt1)
    txtstrip2 = stripPunct(txt2)
    seq1 = Seq(txtstrip1)
    seq2 = Seq(txtstrip2)
    rec1 = SeqRecord(seq1,id="FILE_ONE")
    rec2 = SeqRecord(seq2,id="FILE_TWO")
    out1 = open(".tmp1.fasta", "w")
    out2 = open(".tmp2.fasta", "w")
    SeqIO.write(rec1, out1, "fasta")
    SeqIO.write(rec2, out2, "fasta")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Here is what a matching alignment looks like:

My use case was slightly different, and I was comparing between two different but related manuscripts we'd written. For your purpose, you'll want to find a multiple sequence alignment package, since you'll want to find matches other than the best match (which would just be the entire document since you are comparing a document to itself).


How to negotiate a tenure-track assistant professor job offer in a very short time window?

While the decision to accept a tenure-track position is a big commitment, unless you have complicated requirements that were not discussed with the search committee/dean beforehand, it should be possible to make a decision on an offer within a few days.

  I want to seek any advice on the negotiation (e.g., start-up package,
  salary, starting date) if possible, given such a short time.

Think about your red lines and try to prioritize them: how much startup do you need, your preferred salary and starting date, teaching load, etc. and if the current offer doesn't meet these – you mention that there is not a lot of space for negotiation – you may prepare a counter-proposal asking for what you want but focus on the those points that are most important. If you cannot arrive at an offer that meets these requirements, politely decline the offer.

Of course, if you surprise your negotiating partner (dean, head of dept., etc.) with a request that they weren't aware of, such as the need to renovate/construct lab space or a two-body situation where you're looking to secure a position for your partner as well, it might be impossible to have an answer from the prospective employer's side within a few days (some requests might need to be escalated to senior management or discussed with other departments/faculties). Your employer will tell you this, and if they really want you, they'll give themselves and you more time to complete the negotiation.

Don't expect to be able to re-open a negotiation after you have signed an offer. If you do have second thoughts, your only alternative might be to walk away. If you accepted the offer but then, on reflection, decided it was not for you and decided not to actually start the job, you wouldn't be the first (or the last) person to do this. Unless there are penalties in a contract (read the fine print), there's not much a future employer can do to you if you decide to re-neg on the contract. Be aware though that in some circles walking away from an accepted offer could damage your reputation – your future colleagues will know you did it – so I do not really recommend this course of action.

Finally, you mention that you are being offered a position that is not the one you applied for, so if you have a complicated ask (see above), one negotiating strategy could be to ask to be re-considered for the other position (if it has a longer timeline). Above all, be polite and positive, and keep the door open for future opportunities if you think this one is not going to work out and you like the employer.


Why does a PhD take a longer time in some countries?

Many factors that vary systematically between countries may affect time to graduation.

Here is an incomplete list:

In the U.S., grad school starts with studying for an MA degree; in Europe, an MA is a prerequisite to joining grad school
whether or not PhD studies include classes
availability, generosity and length of funding, vs. necessity to earn a living while working on the PhD
incentives to delay graduation vs. incentives and opportunities to join the labor market as soon as possible
quality of supervision and extent of leeway to pursue own interests and potential dead ends.

I'm not aware of any empirical studies testing each factor's relevance.


My paper was accepted, but I found an error affecting all of the figures. What will happen next?

Though I don't have any prior experience with this, I agree that you should notify the editor and should explain to them how and why this mess happened. Also let then know that it was a mistake and as soon as you realized it, you let them know. Also let them know that you are ready if they want to have the paper reviewed again. I believe that they would understand the mistake and would not make a scene out of it. But yes, you have to choose your words carefully and should politely explain them the point and admit your mistake.


Writing References for a Weaker Candidate

Let me suggest a few things you might consider. The one thing you don't want to do, of course, is to explicitly compare them. Depend on the fact that an application is multi faceted and while letters are very important, so are other things.

I suggest that you first think about what would happen if it were turned around and you were receiving the letters. What would you want to know about each of them. What positive traits, especially, are you looking for and would want some assurance about. You might make a list, separately, for each candidate.

Next, I would write the two letters on different days, giving yourself a bit of time to let the first one settle out so that it isn't the freshest thing on your mind when you write the other.

Finally, I would write the letter for the "weaker", but still strong, student first. Say what you need to say about that student to best support the application. Be honest, of course, and stick to facts. What has this student done to make them a good candidate? How strongly do you feel about their future success? You don't need to send the letter yet, but set it aside.

Then after, a day (or so), think about the other student and write that letter. Don't refer to the first letter, but use the same criteria.

Ideally, the letters should be independent, but it is probably impossible to assure that completely. But give it a try. Use some technique in which you can think about each of them independently of the other. And if you would surely accept one or the other of the students, or both, into your own program, say that, but separately for each. That is the most important part of any recommendation, perhaps.


Why do top Indian Math grad school students leave for the US/UK?

Disclaimer: I'm European student at decent Math PhD program in the US.

Sorry, but it seems that I'm going to disillusion you...

  Question 1. So, why do these top students leave these exceptionally
  good schools that are at par with the elite US universities for a
  Ph.D. in Pure Maths?

Although I don't doubt that India have a couple of decent universities with relatively strong mathematics department, they are by no means "at par with the elite US universities". If they really were, I would expect crowds of applicants both from prospective grad students and faculty from Europe and North America to study/work there, but in fact there is quite opposite trend. You have mentioned "topmost schools like IISc, IISER's, TIFR", but without prior web searching I have absolutely no idea what all these abbreviations mean. The same true for overall level of Indian born mathematicians -- they are simply not on par with US, France, Russia and UK in math, just check recent and overall numbers of Fields medalists and ICM speakers. Please do not take it like something offensive, but realizing that is essentially an answer to your question.

  Question 2. What is something that Indian grad schools lack when it
  comes to theoretical Mathematics or in general that drives students
  out of India?

Just in my opinion, they lack

Transferable degree recognition and world renowned top notch researchers like I tried to elaborate above, that is crucial for graduate school, because grad school is essentially about research.
Job prospects after graduation. It goes without saying that Europe and especially North America region (US + Canada) have more attractive job market both in terms of available positions, research prospects and salary than India. In general relocating to grad school is easier than relocating to postdoc or faculty position, this is why Indian students willing to have a shot at American or European job market trying to get in local grad schools.


Evidence of Reviewing Scams in Major AI/ML Conferences?

The top AI/ML conferences like NIPS have something like 2500 reviewers. There will probably be some bad apples in there who engage in the sort of behavior you describe. However, I would be shocked if this is happening at a large scale. The conference organizers would take action if they were aware of any such activities.

It sounds like you have no evidence of this. Frankly, it sounds like a typical conspiracy theory. Perhaps someone wishes to explain why their papers never get in but those from X, Y and Z always do, and decides that X, Y, and Z must be colluding. The true explanation will be a lot more mundane -- it's probably just that certain groups and people have more experience and have learned the "tricks of the trade" needed to publish papers.


Plotting a return course for academia: publications

If the material in your dissertation can be adapted into articles that are suitable to submit for publication, then by all means do this.  Having articles submitted is certainly better than not having any, and if you have to try again in a year, hopefully some of them will be accepted by then.

Since the work was carried out at your PhD institution, you should list it as your academic affiliation, even though you are no longer a student there.  (But it wouldn't be a problem even if you didn't have any affiliation; that's not a requirement to publish, though people often seem to mistakenly think that it is.)

As for whether your time outside of academia can be considered a positive, it is up to you to make that case in your cover letter and application materials.  Explain how this experience has enriched your skills and how it will contribute to your effectiveness in the position you are applying for.


Teaching-oriented lectureship in a research-oriented university

It's conceivable that such a position would leave you enough time and energy to pursue research at some level of intensity, but it's impossible to say in general; the answer will vary by country, research field, university, and specific position.

Find someone who holds (or has held) this type of position at this university and ask them. Advice from this source is likely to be more disinterested and well-informed than you will get from someone associated with the group offering the position.
If this is impossible, ask someone associated with the group offering the position.


Can I study Fine Arts at the age of 26/27

Short answer: yes you can. The question should be: Should you?

Art is very difficult to live from. That's why many successful artists not only exhibit a significant dose of obsession, but ideally also some marketing skills, patience, strategic thinking, charisma. Yes, and luck, and not in small doses.

Note that one thing I didn't mention as requirement was talent - that, of course, goes without saying.

So, the prudent way is to keep your day job as a computer developer and develop your arts skills as a hobby and, when you have broken enough ground you will have some opportunities to participate at minor, later bigger exhibitions before deciding about taking the plunge.

Alternatively, you could consider taking advantage of your computer skills to combine your artistic ambition with computer-based art creation and/or marketing. There are quite a few artists who used the internet very successfully to become known and appreciated.

Doing a proper art degree, I suspect, would be more of interest for people going into art theory, art critic, museum curation, gallery management, and, especially if you start so late, I am not sure it is the right route for someone like you who seems to be interested in producing art rather than analysing/managing/marketing it - but of course, there may be very good arts schools in your potential target areas which would raise your levels of skills, we cannot judge that.

An alternative would be to find some arts master in your area and take lessons.

On the whole, leaving a paying day job for studying art is a very risky route. It's, of course, not impossible, but you need to be aware of the risks. Many artists end up not doing what they intended to do in the first place, even if they are very talented and have several of the skills above. By the time you finish your studies and decide that art does not work for you, your computer skills will be outdated, so this is what you have to take into account.

Good luck!


How important are reference letters when it comes to postdoc hiring decision? At what stage in the hiring process are they considered?

Many universities have mandatory requirements for letters of recommendation (LoR) for a postdoc position, and that's the main reason they ask you to submit LoR. There were some PI who interviewed me told me this and also told me that they wouldn't even care what my referees would write about me. They were willing to hire me immediately after they have three letters of recommendation. If you have solid credentials as a researcher, I think your LoR would not matter much. However, a terrible remark on a LoR would also significantly influence the hiring decision.


What to name a section at the end of thesis containing original material for future development?

If it's related to the ideas in the theses, then it sounds like a "future directions" subjection in "Summary and Conclusions."

If it's really not related at all, then it should go in a different paper.


Is scooping viewed negatively in the research community?

What you describe isn't "scooping". Scooping is where you publish something that someone else is currently working on before they are able to publish it. Usually this is done without knowing someone else is working on it, and is something that happens to you (you were scooped), and not usually used to describe action of the publishing author (unless they did it intentionally).
The issue with your research is that, if this is your only work, it could be seen to lack novelty; it is only incrementally building on other peoples' results. That would possibly be weighed negatively in grant applications, etc.
In other words, I think that your research could hypothetically be viewed as not especially notable if you were applying for postdoc or faculty positions (I haven't seen it, and you say it was published in top journals, so this isn't necessarily the case). But

I wouldn't call this "scooping" and
I don't think this should be an issue applying for graduate school. Having publications will only be seen as a positive thing, and if they are in top journals that will look very good. No one is expecting an undergraduate to be be publishing novel research as a condition to attend graduate school.


How do you earn opportunites to review journals or conference papers?

I'm going to address your question, but first, I have some issues with it generally:

  I think that one of the problems of most PhD students (and postDocs and researchers in general) nowadays is that they don't read scientific papers with a critical judgement. They often think that everything is right in a scientific paper; they're not used to doubting its content...

This is manifestly not true in my opinion. Indeed in my experience (and I've seen this shared by others), I've watched faculty members reign in students who had torn into a published paper for what were essentially minor methodological flaws that wouldn't change the substantive findings of the paper one way or the other. I think a far more common problem is "failing to see the forest from the trees".

  But, anyway, review opportunities for PhD students are not many.

They can be. I've reviewed 4 or 5 papers for journals in my time as a PhD student, and a disheartening number of conference abstracts.

  How does one solve this problem?

There are three ways I've gotten papers to review:

Your advisor puts in a good word for you. Essentially, a journal asks them to review a paper (or if they're an editor somewhere, a paper hits their pile) and they redirect it to you, either formally or informally.
Publish. All of the papers I've reviewed are in areas where I already have a well received publication, which bypasses the "Journals don't think PhD students are competent" problem.
Some conferences put out calls for reviewers. Keep an eye out and sign up.

  What would you suggest a PhD student who wants to do some review?

Publish. The strongest way I've ever ended up getting papers to review has been from papers I've published. Talk to your advisor. Look out for opportunities - I've seen at least three calls for reviewers in my time expressly open to students. This also gives you an experience being reviewed, which is important both for honing your own skills as a reviewer, and something you need to learn how to deal with.

  Are there any open-to-review journals where one could train oneself?

You don't need a journal to do this. One of the most useful things you can do to train is to get a faculty member to support a journal club where, in addition to presenting the paper, the student writes a critique in the style of a review. Not only does this force you to read the paper you're presenting more closely, but it will let you learn in a protected, mentored environment rather than "out in the wild".


Is it possible to submit paper to peer-reviewed journal without affiliation?

Yes it is possible to submit to almost all journals outwith affiliation. Just list yourself as an unaffiliated researcher. This answer covers well the additional hurdles you may have to jump (Who can submit papers to peer-reviewed journals?).


Where to define nomenclature in a proposal or dissertation?

I personally think the biggest consideration is how often the term or symbol is used. If it's used a lot, then a clear definition at the start is probably the best. The reader then knows where to look if they're unsure of the meaning rather than having to find the first place it's used, and it would be ridiculous to keep defining it every time you use it.

For things that are just used once, it may be more readable to define it at the point of use. The definition is only relevant for that little portion, so splitting the definition and use makes things, as you say, too much of an effort for the reader.

The question then is where to draw the line; at what point does a rarely used term become common enough to warrant being included in the nomenclature section? This is, I think, becomes a matter of preference. Personally, if a term were used in more than one section, I'd define it at the start. Though, if it really is only used twice, perhaps an in-place definition and a "recall that we define..." kind of sentence would read more smoothly.


This is certainly a question you need to explore with your supervisor. What they would accept or recommend is certainly important.

What an experienced researcher would do is one of the following, maybe both. First, they would be likely to consult with colleagues (not unlike your supervisor) and explore viable alternatives.

But, assuming that they have a secure appointment, such as tenure, they would do whatever most appealed to them. Of course, wisdom would suggest they keep their options open.

But you don't have the luxury of a secure appointment. Your supervisor's advice is needed and should probably be followed. They will also have advice on the probably effect on your career, if any.

Actually, I think you may be suffering from a common ailment: Buyer's Remorse. For most such situations, the feeling of regret goes away in time. If you are making progress toward a better future, you are probably doing the right thing. Don't let emotions get in the way of progress (easy to say, of course).


Is it ethical/lawful to recolor/scale the logos?

Logos are often trademarked, and therefore you are not free to recolor them according to whatever color scheme your template happens to use.

However, many companies and universities do have multiple versions of their logo available, for precisely this reason. You should contact your university's (or organization's) press office (or similar office) to see what is available, before toying with it yourself.


How difficult is it to switch majors going from a BA to MA/Phd?

In the US there is normally little problem in chaining fields after a BA/BS degree. It is very common. This is partly due to the general nature of the baccalaureate in the US. For example, a math or science major also has quite a few courses in the other as well as in the social sciences and humanities. And someone majoring in the humanities has an even broader view of that and the social sciences.

However, note that you may be missing a few things when you begin graduate study. This is normally covered by the advanced courses that you take starting out in either a masters or doctoral program. I think a change such as you desire wouldn't be a block at all.

But you will need to measure up on all of the other things such as GPA and letters of recommendation. Doing well in related courses will probably be considered.

But the only way to know for sure is to apply to a few programs and see what feedback you get.

Having been out of school for a while isn't necessarily a block, but if you have gotten rusty in your field, then you will have a harder time getting back into the groove. And letters may be harder to obtain, so try to reestablish contacts with professors before you apply. They can also give you advice.

Your statement of purpose in returning to study will probably be important.


Is it worth delving deep outside my field to revise a paper?

Do you have a colleague or someone else you can ask who is an expert in the field you need? It is possible that with expertise in the area the reviews are very minor and a one hour talk with the right person will enable you to do whatever the reviewer suggested. Even if some of the reviewers ideas do take a lot of work this should enable you to satisfy some of the reviewers requests and come up with a reason to not do the others. Finally, if some of the questions create new interesting projects this might be worth going into, especially with a new collaborateur.


Applying to summer research project, should I tell prof about mental health issues to explain poor grades last year?

If the lower grades belong to a specific time period, then it might be worthwhile to provide an explanation.  If they are scattered here and there through your first four semesters of college, then maybe not.  Keep in mind that many students have a bumpy start to college, and professors are used to that.

At this stage, perhaps you could leave it rather vague ("health problems") for now.  If you are accepted for the summer project, do mention that recently you were diagnosed and began treatment, so that your professor is aware of the general situation.  Also, if there are any specific accommodations you would find helpful during the summer project, let him know what those are.

Speaking of accommodations, if you are in the U.S., but don't have ADA accommodations (also known as 504 accommodations) set up, this would be something to consider looking into.  If you are interested, you could start by

looking at your college's office for students with disabilities web pages to see what documentation they require;
thinking about what accommodations would be most helpful for you.  Look around on the web at lists of accommodations some people have found helpful, to get some ideas.


Is membership in learned societies important in academic career?

Even in the U.S., it will depend very much on the field you're talking about - it differs widely even for fields that might be considered adjacent to each other.

For example, I'm an Epidemiologist. While professional memberships might rate a line or two on a CV (I use them as another way for people keyword searching for people 'like them' since I straddle a couple fields), and there definitely benefits to being a member and certain recognitions from societies might help in the "building a reputation" component of many tenure/promotion cases, there's not necessarily much listing of those unless it's a very big deal (AAAS Fellow, National Academy, etc.). My major professional society doesn't even have fellows, just the occasional award or committee position.

However, in academic medicine, where many of my collaborators are, this is very different. For example, it's very common for them to list "FXXX" or "FYYYY" as part of their "full" title, fellowship is a much bigger deal, and there is a clear application process.


I have two very good PhD offers. Is it worth to pay 30 USD to see US N&WR rankings?

No, it's not worth paying $30 for an extended list of rankings in a discipline. Why not use more productive factors, such as:

Who has the wider range of faculty working in areas that interest you?
Where would you like to live as a grad student (in a city, a small town, etc.)? Does region of the country matter?
How does your stipend compare to cost of living where you are?
Will you be close to potential collaborators?
Do you want to work in a small department or a large department?
What do your current faculty mentors and advisors think of the two departments?


What are secondary "visiting" positions?

A typical reason for these positions is that a person needs a formal affiliation with the "visited" university for some formal reason. This is particularly common for visiting positions at past institutions. These can be there to faciliate continued supervision of PhD students at the old instituation, or to keep existing grants. Grants can be a reason beyond this - eg by having a visiting position at some university, it may become possible to get travel there (or even to other places) paid for by a grant situated at that university.
In the short-term visiting positions can actually be just what they are called. The person may in fact visit the instituation for a while, sometimes with funding from the host institation (which would be acknowledged via such an affiliation). It can also be something mundane as needing some formal association with the host university to get a keycard or library access.
I assume that almost always the person receiving a visiting position will have a pre-existing strong relationship with either the institution or an academic at that place. There will be some formalities depending on the institution, but that is something people figure and sort out once the need arises.


What is the difference between PhDs in the US and Europe (in terms of employment)?

Geographically, the UK is between the Netherlands and the US. In many aspects, the system is something in-between. There has been a long debate in the UK for giving the status of full employment to PhD students or not. This is a brief list of pros and cons argued by both sides of the debate.

Note that these are not my opinion, and I am simply narrating what I recall. A quick search in the UK academic websites can provide sufficient resources.

Pros

An employed PhD has better work conditions and rights.
They have better reception in the society. For instance, when it
comes to renting a house, PhD students are considered students, and
most houses are not available to student tenants.

Cons

PhD stipend is tax-free, but upon employment, the salary is taxable.
The salary is lower than £32,000 (typical for postdocs), and
international students should pay around £15,000 tuition fee.
non-EEA students cannot get Tier 4 student visa and should apply for
a work visa.

In conclusion, there is not much difference in terms of academic experience.


Is there a correlation between GRE scores and family income?

According to this article on the Fair Test website,

  The GRE is particularly susceptible to the influence of socioeconomic class. ETS' own research has shown a strong relationship between family background and test scores. One study of applicants who scored between 750 and 800 on the exam found that only 4% of these high-scoring test-takers had fathers who had not completed high school; around half had fathers with bachelor's degrees or more, and of these, a whopping 90% had fathers with graduate or professional degrees. When family income was held constant, most of the test score differences between races disappeared or shrank dramatically.

The correlation between GRE scores and future academic success is much lower, according to the same source.

  The ability of the GRE to predict first-year graduate grades is incredibly weak, according to data from the test's manufacturer. In one ETS study of 12,000 test takers, the exam accounted for a mere 9% of the differences (or variation) among students' first-year grades.2 Undergraduate grades proved to be a stronger predictor of academic success, explaining 14% of the variation in graduate school grades. An independent non-ETS study found an even weaker relationship between test scores and academic achievement - just 6% of the variation in grades could be predicted by GRE scores.


ARC DECRA eligibility exemption: how to demonstrate unemployment?

To demonstrate unemployment for an ARC DECRA eligibility exemption you must provide a justification statement.

"Justification Statement: In no more than 3000 characters, please provide justification outlining the special circumstances in support of the Eligibility Exemption Request being submitted."
- Eligibility Exemption Request: Instructions to Applicants (491 KB PDF), pg 2.

This justification does not require details of why you were unemployed. It requires you to state that you were unemployed, that you were not able to undertake research during that period, and delineate how long that period of unemployment lasted.

That is, the ARC wants to know that you were unable to undertake research for the required time. It doesn't need to make a value judgement about why you were unemployed. You do not need to explain your personal reasons for being unemployed.

In answer to your second question: No, you do not have to write the whole DECRA grant application before knowing whether you are eligible or not. As the ARC Important Dates page says, eligibility exemption requests will open and close in January 2016. You will have an answer shortly after that, about two months before the ARC DECRA closing date on 22 March 2016.

However, as someone who helps applicants develop their applications, I would always advise an applicant to draft their application well before January. Leaving it to the last two months doesn't provide much time to write, review and revise your application.


Editorial perception/bias regarding preprints in bioinformatics

In my experience, preprints are the norm in bioinformatics. I do not know how journals perceive them, but these days I rarely read a new bioinformatics paper I have not already seen as a preprint. If a reputable journal has a bias against preprints, it cannot be very significant, because most papers I find interesting have preprints.


Advice on whether to pursue a PhD or not

So if you accept a PhD offer in the US, you can normally leave in the middle with a master's. This is better than enrolling in a master's program since you don't have to pay (in fact, you'll get paid a small stipend). I recommend researching your institution's policy on this.

If this is the case, you can begin your PhD program now and then decide in a few years whether to leave with the master's or finish the PhD. I do not know whether the PhD is a good investment in your long term financial plans, but I'm reasonably certain you will need more than a bachelor's.


Can I put online an accepted paper before the conference?

It doesn't say anything about the timing. My question is: may I put it online on my own website before the conference? And if yes, is that considered bad style?

As long as it does not say otherwise I would assume timing to not be an issue. That is, you are free to put the paper online before the conference, and indeed (at least in computer science) this is commonly done.


How to refer to the empirical study involved in the thesis?

If there is no ambiguity, "The Study" should do after the first instance. You could even say, at the first usage

  ...the empirical study of this thesis (The Study)...

This would make it a sort of keyword for the remainder of the thesis.

If there might be ambiguity, then The Present Study would probably be enough to clarify.


What do "AE", "EO", and "PROD" stand for in a journal submission system?

AE means Associate Editor: Responsible for communication with reviewers of a research manuscript.

EO means Editorial Office: The formal group/office comprising of Editor-in-Chief (EIC), and Editorial Assistants/Admin Assistants.

PROD means Production Department: Responsible for printing of articles post acceptance.


Is it a scientific misconduct to change a variable or a function name when citing a math paper?

It's certainly not a misconduct. Different authors use different notations. I've even seen different notations being used in papers from the same author. If the new name helps the reader understand what the function is supposed to do, or if it's a newer standard notation, then you are perfectly allowed to change it. In fact, I would encourage you to do so.
I would simply cite the work, write the formula and add a footnote on the lines of

¹ For consistency with the rest of the manuscript we renamed the function E in [1] as S.

Or

¹ Note that in [1] the function S is denoted as E.


Quitting undergraduate research internship

I think it would be a mistake to discuss your mental health. But you can more safely discuss the issues that might have led to it. It is natural to feel drained when family/relationship issues take so much mental and emotional effort.

The best thing, assuming you cannot continue, is to discuss the underlying issues with someone involved in the program. They might have some solutions for you that you don't see now, such as deferring your participation. Be sure to stress your interest in the program and your abilities, so that you have some positive things to say beyond any obstacles in your way.

If I were the person you talked to, I would try to find a way to make it possible. Your background suggests you would be the sort of person the PI would want to accommodate.

The comment of user scrappedcola also seems wise.


Are PhD students still employed by the University after their scholarships/fellowships have ended but they have not officially received their PhD?

In the UK, PhD students are not considered employees of the university at any point, before or after submission of thesis or expiration of funding.


Case-specific appropriateness of an erratum/corrigendum?

The easy answer is to ask the journal (after all, they're the ones who publish the corrigendum, and if you say "yes" while they say "no", their opinion overrules yours). Write to the editor who accepted your paper, or to the editor-in-chief, and see what they think.


Manuscript was accepted for publication but recommended with "Major revision"

I'm going to guess that, assuming this is a reputable publisher, that your "acceptance" was a bit tentative and that you need to satisfy the associate editor. You need to go over your manuscript with the comments in mind and make revisions that satisfy you and will hopefully satisfy her/him. Otherwise you might not get a happy result.

On the other hand, if it isn't a reputable publisher, then they will probably publish anything you give them so long as you pay the fees. But it is still preferable to make the editors happy.

I doubt that many would consider a letter indicating "acceptance" to be a contract and they can afford better lawyers than you can in any case.


From going to Japan for math, engineering, and Earth sciences conferences a number of times, expect that every Japanese participant is wearing a dark suit and a more or less colorless tie. (There are very few women in science in Japan, so I don't have a lot of experience in this regard.) This includes student workers -- also in suits. You -- and all of the other foreigners who didn't get this memo :-) -- will stick out of the crowd if you wear anything that has color, or just a light blazer. Depending on how many other foreigners are there, you will be ok, though, with an open neck button down shirt, dark pants, and a blazer.

You will find that you can really stick out of the crowd on the streets if you wear an outfit that is colorful. This may just be a pair of light  bluejeans and a dark jacket (nobody seems to be wearing light blue pants). You will really really stick out of the crowd if you walk from the train station to the hotel after a long flight with an orange or blue wind jacket and a reddish suitcase. I speak from experience :-)

I cannot hide there anyway, being tall and with medium brown hair. But whenever I go out there, I now usually wear gray or black slacks (or black jeans), and a black jacket. I can't get myself to wear a white shirt and dark tie, so I might have an off white or light blue button down.

Whatever you do, though, you will always be treated nicely. It's just a question of how "different" you want to be.


Which is a better combination for PhD recommendation letters?

Generally, doctoral programs are designed to produce researchers and academics in a given field. Given this, I suggest that you request letters of recommendation from the faculty members who can best speak to your ability to produce high-quality research. It sounds like you've been working with two professors who might be able to do that.
There are some caveats, though. You want the best possible letters of recommendation you can get. If these two professors with whom you have conducted research are willing to provide excellent LORs, then I'd suggest that you ask them for LORs. But if your relationship with them is strained or if you under-performed while working with them, then perhaps you'll have to look elsewhere.
I'm uncertain why a more "diverse approach" would be advantageous to you. Your LORs should speak to your ability to excel in a PhD program, your capacities for research and original thinking, the likelihood that you'll contribute to the department, and other qualifications.


In US universities, are the sport coaches typically considered tenured professors?

No, athletic coaches are generally not considered faculty and do not have tenure.  I've never heard of any place where they are.

The conditions of their employment would be based on whatever contract they negotiate with the university.  Typically the university would have the right to fire them for any reason, including poor performance of the team, but the contract might call for a severance payment in some cases.

(There could be small schools where someone is a professor and also an athletic coach.  In such cases I'd expect they would have tenure protections in their capacity as professor, but could be removed from the position of athletic coach at the university's discretion.)


Qualifications to be computer science undergrad TA?

Parts of the answer to your question vary wildly based on your university, and some are universal.

For the first kind, some universities/departments exclusively offer TAships to graduate students. In my university, the minimum requirement to apply in the CS department is to have completed the course.

As for the second kind, there's a kind of truism in teaching: to teach someone, you only need know more than them. So, really you just need to know what's being taught in that course well. Sure some curious students might ask beyond that, and if you don't know the answers to more advanced questions, that's perfectly OK - you're not a prof, you're there to help them understand the material in that course. Tell them what you know then direct them to where they can learn more.

Of course knowledge isn't enough to be a good TA, teaching is it's whole other science. To be able to explain things in basic terms to novices in a subject is an extremely underrated and rare skill. If you're gonna be a TA, you should work on this and things of this nature.

Overall, don't fret about if you have sufficient knowledge to be a TA - if they accept you, you can rest assured they won't hire someone who doesn't have the sufficient mastery of the subject. That only happens when they're forced to give grad students TA positions :)


Concerned about supervisor's poor level of knowledge on his students' research topics, and his reluctance to correct his knowledge - is this normal?

First thing: you are not alone. This kind of behaviour is very commom within the academia.

In order to pursue a graduate degree you have to accept that your path will be both restless and lonely! Restless because you will discover a whole new word, full of opportunities and overshoots. On the other hand, you are going to have a master degree, so you have to do your dissertation alone. Yes, you SHOULD count on your advisor help, for sure, but you are supposed to do most of the work by yourself!

You can face your advisor lack of knowledge as another challenge to be overcome and start to either join a lab with people doing similar work or, in the worst case, you have an endless remote source of information out here.

My greatest advice is for you to look up conferences within your field and be in contact with people that are doing similar work. It could help you a lot.


Will research experience in chemical engineering count when applying to grad school for biomedical engineering?

Your research experience counts!

Specifically, you are getting experience in the process of "doing research": finding a question, reading the literature, forming hypotheses and figuring out how to test them, etc. These are important skills, even moreso than (say) knowing your way around a specific instrument's console. Admission committees also know that your local options, especially as an undergrad, are limited. I did linguistics and computer science research as an undergrad, and then applied (successfully) to neuroscience programs.

If you can do well with your current work, I think you'll be good shape for grad school. You probably do want to address this change in your personal statement by briefly mentioning how/why your motivations changed and the skills you will bring to your new program. I talked a little about I saw machine learning techniques crash and burn on language/vision tasks, and wanted to understand how people/animals did so well with such lousy "hardware". I also mentioned that my existing training would let me analyze and model large datasets, like the ones I hoped to collect.

Finally, don't forget that some of your skills are "reusable" in biomedical engineering. The development of tracers for PET/SPECT involves a lot of chemistry, ditto for flourophores for microscopy. Process experience can help when building or using high-throughput screening systems. There's also a lot of interest in developing substrates that nerves, blood vessels, etc can grow on or are compatible with certain techniques.

This is all conditioned on you remaining somewhat interested in chemical engineering and doing well in your research+coursework. If your heart isn't in it and you're likely to do badly, I would certainly switch; I just don't think it's essential.

Good luck!


Couldn't attend IEEE Conference and unable to present my paper

I think it is likely that the answer in your case is "no", as IEEE has a clear no-show policy the organizers have to follow. Talk to them, but keep your expectations low.


What if in hindsight a Nobel Prize is wrongly awarded (for example, after the concerning theory has been proven wrong)?

Nothing happens. After all, many, many scientific papers are wrong, and many of them aren't recognized as such for a long time. It's often not fair to criticize the prizewinners this way either, since they can be very careful and competent scientists, they just weren't "lucky" enough for their life's work to be correct.

Perhaps the most clear-cut example hearkens all the way back to 1926, when Johannes Fibiger won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for "for his discovery of the Spiroptera carcinoma." In layman's terms, he found a tiny parasitic worm that causes cancer. Subsequent research conducted in the decades following his receipt of the award would show that though the worm definitely existed, its cancer-causing abilities were entirely nonexistent. So where did Fibiger go wrong?
Though widely respected and considered to be a careful and cautious researcher, Fibiger fell victim to improper controls and inadequate technology. To elucidate his hypothesized connection between parasites and gastric cancer in rodents, he fed mice and rats cockroaches infested with parasitic worms and observed what he thought were tumors grow inside the rodents' stomachs. Later studies would show that they were not tumors but lesions likely caused by vitamin A deficiency, which resulted from a poor diet.
It's hard to fault Fibiger or the Nobel Committee too much for this blunder. At the time, cancer was much, much more of a mystery than it is today, and Fibiger worked tirelessly to solve it, exploring all sorts of hypotheses, not just those involving parasites.

That said, I wouldn't put much weight into the argument that dark matter/dark energy don't exist. There've been many attempts to do away with one or either ever since the 1980s. Every now and then they make the media too. But standard dark matter theory has scored many significant successes to the point that Sean Carroll said in 2012 that "by now we’ve accumulated enough data to conclude that the universe cannot be explained solely by modifying gravity". The evidence for dark energy is less compelling, but still getting more compelling constantly. Until we know what they are people absolutely should work on alternatives to both of them! However, these papers come with big caveats about how likely they are to be wrong, which the media seldom mentions when they write about them. For example, the paper cited by the article you link dates to 2017, which is ample time for the community to process it, but Lambda-CDM remains the gold standard (i.e. the paper hasn't convinced the community and is most likely wrong).


What are the differences between the Statements of Purpose for Terminal Masters and Ph.Ds?

It depends on the differences between the MS and the PhD.

PhD programs are always research programs, so your statement of purpose is going to testify to your preparation for undertaking scholarship, your research interests, and your fit with the program in a research context. You'll name specific professors whose research interests align with yours; you might list some resources (like labs, archives, libraries, etc.) that the university has that make it a good fit for your work. Some students choose to say a little about their career goals and how the program will help you towards them, but there's really no need - if you're applying for a PhD program, professors will assume you want a research career (probably in academia).

If you are applying to a research-based MS that is designed to prepare scholars for further PhD student or for research-oriented careers, your statement probably won't be much different than a PhD statement. It may be advantageous to state that you want a research career and a PhD eventually for MS programs that explicitly state that they exist primarily to prepare students for the PhD.

However, if you are applying for a professional MS program, your statement will be a bit different. You still want to talk about experiences you've had that have prepared you for graduate study, but in addition to talking about research and some coursework, you also may want to mention professional non-academic prep (like work experience, internships, maybe even extracurriculars if they are highly relevant). You can still mention professors and research interests if you want, but it's not necessary. Instead, in the tailoring paragraph, you'll focus more on other resources that the university has - like close ties with employers, a co-op program, a specialization in your area, etc. And you'll want to close with a short statement about your career goals and how you think the program can help you reach those.

When I applied for graduate school, I applied to both PhD programs and master's programs in my field that were mostly for professional preparation. I used essentially the same template for both kinds of programs, but I put a little more emphasis on non-research resources at the prospective program and career preparation in the master's statements.


There is actually an entire field dedicated to answering the question about how to measure scholarly impact.

Two indices that you could probably compute by hand in a little bit of time are the h-index and the g-index.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-index

Also, if you are an author thinking about submitting a draft, and looking for a good journal in your field, one place to look is on Google Scholar. Go to scholar.google.com, then click on `metrics'. Google has auto calculated the h-index and g-index for the last five years of a lot of different journals in different fields. Generally speaking journals with higher h or g numbers are going to be better places to publish. (Not an ironclad rule, so check with a trusted advisor before sending something out, but a good rule of thumb)

If you are an editor of a journal and you want your journal indexed, then just write to the editor of Journal Citation Reports and ask about the process to be included. Be prepared for a lengthy wait though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Citation_Reports


What are typical rules for parallel academic appointments?

What types of rules are there regarding e.g. attendance,

Contractual: Attendance requirements are defined by employment contracts.

  affiliation in publications,

List both, since you are employed by both. Perhaps order affiliations by who paid for the work, or include an acknowledgement to the institute that funded the research.

  teaching,

Contractual

  PhD supervision,

Your institutes will likely have expectations, either explicit or implicit. You'll have your own expectations.

  committee membership,

Likely institutional expectations, e.g., you must serve on at least one committee.

  access to funding,

Apply using the most favourable institution

  lecturing responsibilities,

I don't understand this point.

  and salary

You can negotiate with each institute.

  I'd appreciate pointers to corresponding policies or regulations.

Institution specific.


Is it ethical for professors to ask graduate students to teach?

Since cultural differences may be important here: I'm in germany.

As you say, the teaching staff in academia learns teaching mostly in a form of training on the job.  Pedagogy training for university teaching staff is a rather recent advance here, and I'm not sure how widespread that is done (read: likely still rare).

Within that system, you have to start at some point: said professors would lack teaching experience if they had not started accumulating this experience as grad students.

Here, grad or PhD students start their "teachin career" by first teaching "low impact" courses: settings where bad teaching doesn't do too much harm.
E.g. a single experiment in a labwork practicum. Or a seminar that discusses homework (i.e. the excercises that all students should already be able to solve on their own). As they accumulate experience (also experience with oral presentations in general), they advance step by step: teaching internal seminars to the group, at some point teaching a single lecture for a colleague. Someone teaching a whole but still small course (typically on subjects related to their research specialization) is typically advanced postdoc/PI level. All these are still under the official supervision of the professor. Finally, teaching university courses without any supervision (i.e. in their own responsibility) is typically achieved after habilitation.

What about quality checks?
The professor stays responsible for the teaching. So while they can ask a grad student to help with the teaching, they must make sure that this teaching will be at an acceptable quality.


Is GitHub adequate for purposes of giving a manuscript a timestamp to protect against plagiarism?

Let's be scientists (It was fun to try out):
below is a small repository, where I first tried 'lol' to have a timestamp in the future ... doesn't work; but at least in 'history' I could backdate (bit unlikely that I authored s.th. in git 1980 ;-).

But at least the day that I pushed is set by github.com. In total, though, I wouldn't trust this scheme. ``I forgot to push but look at the authored date, I totally solved it years ago''.

Jul 15, 2014

history
2b5d4208aa Browse code
choener authored on Jan 1, 1980

lol
fc2a68a571 Browse code
choener authored just now

https://github.com/choener/lol/commits/master


Is it okay to include a graduated phd student as a reference in resume/C.V?

Yes, they can, but consider whether they're the best choice:
A referee needs to be your champion. A lab mate who you've never worked with probably can't do that, because they don't have a working relationship with you. Someone you've worked with can. (It's unclear which case applies here.)
Senior referees carry more clout than junior referees, so that's something to keep in mind.
Having referees from both industry and academia can be useful—it depends who the recipient is: A theoretician will surely be less interested in a referee from industry than someone more applied.


Should I become a reviewer for Math Reviews after leaving academia?

I'm a reviewer for Mathematical Reviews (now best known by its association with MathSciNet).  My experience has been:

I usually spend about 1-2 hours to read a paper and write the review.

I don't necessarily look to completely digest all the details of the paper, but I at least try to understand what the results are, why they are interesting, how they relate to previous work, and a general idea of the proof techniques.

Note that, unlike the pre-publication peer review process, you're not expected to check the correctness of the proof, nor to make a judgment on the paper's novelty or significance.
They want you to submit your review within about 6 weeks of being invited.
You can set your "queue size", i.e. the maximum number of papers you want to have at any one time, to whatever you want.  When you submit a review, you can expect to receive another invitation within a few days.
You can always decline a review invitation if you are temporarily too busy, or if the paper doesn't interest you or fit your expertise, and they will just send it to someone else.
You can specify your areas of interest (by MSC code) and they send you papers that appear to match your interests.  If your interests shift, or if you start getting a lot of papers that mystify you, you can make changes.
It's a very minor CV item even within academia, and probably even less outside.
You do get a little bit of extra visibility, since reviews are posted with your name, and seen by anyone who looks up the paper on MathSciNet.
You do get paid, sort of.  You receive 12 AMS Points for each review you submit.  Each AMS Point is worth $1 (USD) in credit toward purchases from the AMS (books, journal subscriptions, membership fees, etc).  So it maybe adds up to a couple of free books per year.
Also, if you review a book for them, you get to keep it.


Requirements for getting into a German physics MSc

This seems to be a common misconception: An MSc is not considered a graduate degree in Germany but the second part of an undergraduate study that prepares for the research-only PhD. As such, the universities are required by law to admit all applicants that satisfy the formal requirements as specified in the examination regulations (Prüfungsordnung in German). (The only exception is if the number of applicants exceeds the capacity of the department, which to my knowledge is not the case for physics in most places.)

These regulations vary somewhat between universities and disciplines (and even different courses of study within a discipline), so you really need to look at the one of the specific university you're interested in (or google Masters physics admission $UNIVERSITY, if you don't know enough German), but it boils down to holding a sufficiently successful Bachelor's degree that is reasonably similar to the one offered by that university. What this means depends on the course of study, but as a rough guideline

the degree must be recognized as equivalent to a Bachelor's in scope (number of credits, mostly 180 ECTS) and depth (university-level);
the transcript must show certain courses deemed crucial by the department (the regulations will contain the list of courses, whose contents can then be looked up in the Modulhandbuch);
the diploma must show a minimum grade (again, this will be given in the regulations; I've often seen 3.0 or better according to the German grading system which goes from 1.0 (best) to 4.0 (barely passing).)

In addition, you need to

show proficiency in the teaching language as given in the regulations (this could be either German, English, or both). Most regulations I've seen also explicitly require a German language certificate
for the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH).

Although these requirements will be checked on a purely formal level, there's usually some leeway in the proceedings; e.g, if you are missing some courses from point 2, you might be admitted under the condition that you catch up on them within the first year, and a grade worse than required by point 3 might be compensated for by a brief oral examination where you show that your academic performance from here on is likely to be better than in the past. (But it's important to stress that this is not required if you already meet all the formal requirements.)

As an example, you can look at the admissions page of the TU Munich (which is regarded as one of the more "professionalized", as these things go).


Referencing next section to avoid confusion

It is indeed fine to reference forwards in a document. If this weren't the case, knowing when to read a specific appendix would be very awkward... In some journals it's even the norm to provide some forward references in the introduction to explain how the rest of the paper will be organized.

Also see
Is it formal to inform readers that a point will be discussed later in the chapter?


Is it ethical to give (paid) private tutorials for a student in a module I am TA'ing?

Should I speak with the professor of the course myself about this?

I'd recommend telling the student you can't do it, and mentioning to the professor that you were asked but turned it down (to avoid any rumors).  There are massive issues here:

Being paid extra compromises your ability to grade the student's work.  It looks too much like a bribe, and the fact that the student will presumably stop paying you if the tutoring is ineffective (as measured by grades) creates an ongoing incentive to grade leniently or supply inappropriate degrees of help.  Even if you feel you can avoid bias, the apparent conflict of interest is so strong that other students will almost certainly be upset.  Think about it this way.  If the extra money doesn't matter to you and you have enough time, why not help the student for free?  The fact that money is changing hands at all indicates that the money matters to you (as it would for most people), and that is evidence of dangerous incentives.
It could look like you are extorting money from your students.  This is the flip side of the first point: in addition to your incentive to offer too much to those who pay extra, you now have an incentive to offer too little to those who don't hire you as a tutor.  Some students always grumble about how unhelpful their TA is (regardless of the facts), and you really don't want them speculating that your supposed unhelpfulness is intended to pressure them into paying for extra tutoring.
I'd bet this is a major violation of university rules.  Of course you'd have to look into your own case, but I'd be shocked if any university allowed course staff to accept paid tutoring from their students.

I'd be wary of asking the professor whether this is acceptable.  For most questions, asking can't hurt, but here the ethically questionable aspects are so strong that asking whether it is OK could look bad.  If you ask, you should be sure to make your understanding of the ethical issues clear, to avoid giving the impression that you think it's fine and just want to check whether the professor has any objections.

If the student needs a tutor, I'd recommend pointing him towards official university channels.  For example, perhaps your department maintains a list of students who would be willing to offer tutoring.  The important thing is to avoid any appearance of conflicts of interest.  Recommending hiring your friend instead of you is better than accepting the job yourself, but it could still look awkward.  (Students might wonder whether you were receiving a commission or kickback from your friend, or whether securing jobs for friends was enough of an incentive to influence your behavior.)


Is it feasible to become a paramedic full time and do a PhD in an unrelated field?

A does sound impossibly difficult to me.  The first few years of a masters/PhD sequence are usually based on coursework.  You will need to attend classes regularly on weekdays, which seems like it would probably be incompatible with a paramedic's work schedule.  Even beyond coursework, particularly in lab sciences, you may find that parts of your research have to be done on a particular schedule.

Moreover, at all stages of graduate study, you should expect that your coursework and/or research will require a time commitment at least comparable to a full time job (40 hours per week), likely substantially more.  Many graduate students struggle with the workload, even without added commitments.  Adding a full time job, especially one with as much stress, long hours, and sleep disruption as a paramedic must have, seems to me like a burden well beyond what any human could be expected to successfully bear.


How important is the choice of dissertation committee?

I can share my perspective as person who recently completely a PhD thesis (May 2015). I think that choice of members is something which should not be taken lightly. I would think about a couple of key components. Which members of the faculty have interests/experiences in areas which are potentially interested in pursuing the future? They could be useful in terms of networking in the future.  Are their members of the faculty who you have spoken to about your project in the past who might be able to bring a bit of familiarity to defense, this is potentially important in terms of them being able to write a stronger recommendation letter. I think the last thing to think about are the different components of your thesis and selecting members who can best ask you about the individual sections in your thesis.

Best!


Will reference letters from a researcher who does not have a Ph.D be valid?

You can, of course, request a reference letter from anyone. However, the point of having a reference letter is to speak to your ability to succeed in a research program. Because a PhD is a marker of having succeeded in the same program they're recommending you for, it is highly recommended that you get a letter from someone with a PhD.
If these researchers know you well, then their letters can be valuable, but you should make sure to get a letter from someone with a PhD, if you can.


I have been accepted to an event where a keynote lecturer is a plagiarist

What really matters here is what your goal is. Is your goal to: (A) cause there to be some sort of disciplinary action/reaction against this person; or (B) to make sure that your own name is not tarnished by association with this person in the future.

If you are hoping for (A) I believe that you have answered your own question. It does not appear that any action will be taken against this person based on anything you do in relation to this conference. The discipline is covering this up and everyone is going along with it and as an early career researcher, you are not influential enough to change this. It's sad, but it's true. However (B) is entirely possible for you. If you believe that one day this person will be publicly shamed and denounced fully by the discipline, it is not unreasonable for you to not want your name associated with theirs. This might mean withdrawing from the conference and specifically asking that your name be removed from any material online about the event. Indeed, you don't even need to say why you are pulling out of the event if that includes a risk that it will get back to the person in question.

In this situation, I think (B) is a reasonable concern and a reasonable reason to not speak at a conference. I also think that you are tangentially associated with this person so are unlikely to experience any negatives from speaking after them at the event. Ultimately, with risk of association low, it comes down to your own ethical stance and if you feel sharing a stage with this person violates that.


Colleague indirectly accusing me of plagiarism? Help?

I worry that you have a misunderstanding about plagiarism and what it means that you had an agreement about things you could use. Normally, plagiarism is pretty obvious on its face. The exception is when there is parallel work by people unknown to each other.

Even the latter can be complicated in situations where it is fairly clear that the writer should have known about the other work and ignored good research practice.

But having been given permission to use things doesn't give you permission to use them without citation. You still need to cite the source of anything you use that you didn't develop yourself.

So, if you did some work with others, and they think they have some claim to originality, so that you obviously know of their work, and they then find a paper of yours that has the work but no citation, it is pretty clearly plagiarism. Doing so accidentally or not understanding the rules is not a defense. You should know the rules and should adhere to them rigorously.

I don't claim this is what happened here, but it seems that others think it is. Your defense would be to show the citations or to make a claim of parallel, independent, work.

And they don't owe it to you to tell you before they make a claim. They need to be careful of false claims, of course.


MSc vs. BSc admission GPA for an application to a PhD program

Typically, grades in undergraduate work are weighted more heavily than grades in graduate work. This is because your graduate work in general is focused on the research you do and the papers you publish as opposed to merely classwork. However, this is not to say that the answer to your question is clearly black or white. Indeed, any reasonable school will look at all aspects of the applicants (grades in both undergrad and beyond, summer projects, research experience, letters of recommendation, etc) when deciding if they are a good fit for their program. There are no doubt countless examples of students whose grades differed from the other applicants, but were accepted anyway.

That being said, it's usually seen as a positive if your grades trend upwards near the end of undergraduate work and the beginning of graduate work. The idea is that if an applicant shows recent signs of improving, they (hopefully) are more likely to continue improving after joining the new program.

Finally, it's worth noting that different schools (and even different departments within a single school) handle their admissions process differently. As always with these types of specific questions, it's a good idea to ask the school's department directly about the matter. In particular, I'm sure that there's a contact in the CS department in Oxford you could email who could be able to answer this question directly.


Is it advisable to try and avoid attending a PhD program from a U.S. public university?

Should I avoid applying to public universities to do a math PhD and instead try to attend a privately funded school?

No, it doesn't make sense to decide anything at this level of granularity.  You are thinking about some of the right issues, but oversimplifying the situation too much when you boil it down to public vs. private universities.

Public vs. private is literally one bit of information, and your graduate school decisions should be based on far more information than that (if you change your mind based on this one bit, then you are either overreacting or suffering from a tremendous lack of information).

Before deciding where to apply, you should talk with people you know (faculty, other students) and look into different options online.  Once you have offers, you should investigate the programs that have admitted you much more thoroughly, including visiting in person as well as gathering whatever other information you can.

Facilities, faculty and student morale, and grad student funding are all factors that you should consider, but you should evaluate them based on the specifics of each program, rather than by jumping to conclusions based on whether it's a public university.  (Keep in mind that both public universities differ dramatically from each other, as do private universities.)  These factors may also be outweighed by others: Stanford is much better off financially than Berkeley is, but your mathematical interests could be a better fit for Berkeley.