How to reduce the load of professors writing recommendation letters for graduate school application?

You can reduce the amount of work the professor needs to do by following this excellent advice from Prof. David E. Keyes.  Here are some of the most relevant bits:

To ensure that such a writer is well primed to execute your reference efficiently, you should create a self-contained packet containing all the information the author will need to dispatch the reference in one sitting: (1) contact information for the recipient of the letter, (2) a description of the position and application closing date, (3) your own application essays and cover letter, (4) a resume, (5) relevant transcripts and scores, and (6) an explanation of the niche of the writer! It is very useful, as a reference writer, to receive a reminder along the following lines: "Professor Keyes, your letter will be the one that comments most authoritatively about my analytical ability, my promptness in completing projects, and my reasons for wanting to pursue X next fall. Remember that you gave me an A– in partial differential equations two years ago and it was your suggestion that led to my summer at Los Alamos with Y." You should provide this packet in both hard and soft copy. Writers of lots of references maintain files that may be hard or soft, or both, and you should make it easy for those writers to locate your files quickly for subsequent updating and future requests.
Some faculty write many dozens of letters of reference during peak months, and they may even ask candidates for sample text to be incorporated into letters, to ensure that they capture their niches. You should not be flustered at such a request, and should not be modest in complying. You should be aware, though, that your words will not pass directly into the delivered product; they will be used simply to get the author's juices flowing following the formulaic paragraphs of the letter.
To help maximize the time a writer has available for each candidate, you should complete the reference process as far as legally possible yourself. For hardcopy applications, this means printing out and filling in as many fields as possible, both about you and about the writer (title, affiliation, contact data). For reference letters collected online (the vast majority for positions filled by junior candidates), you can usually fill in each writer's basic contact information. Such streamlining is always appreciated and leads to fewer errors and faster completion.

I don't think something like Interfolio would help, because the last thing you should do is force the professor to learn to use a new tool just so he/she can write a letter for you.


UK MSc vs MEng when applying for PhD and Chartered Engineer

From my experience of the systems in the UK and Canada:

Yes, MSc is usually a 2-year research based postgraduate degree in North America.
No, MEng is also a 2-year postgraduate degree in North America. It is usually a taught masters degree - which means it is mainly based on coursework. In my experience a UK MEng is not usually considered a postgraduate degree as it is common for engineering programs to 'include' the MEng as part of the course (University of Cambridge Undergraduate Engineering)
Not exactly, while a UK MEng is often one additional year after the BEng making the time roughly equivalent to a Canada/US Bachelors degree. It is difficult to compare them as the systems are quite different (the difference becomes irrelevant after a few years of working in industry). A UK MEng would certainly not be equivalent to a 2-year research based MSc in North America (which doesn't really exist in the UK).
Are you sure you can be Chartered with a BEng? I believe you usually need a masters level qualification (What do I need to do for Chartered Engineer (CEng) professional registration?). Although there are routes that don't require a Masters level qualification, that is the typical route. I assume by 'USA engineering courses membership' you mean in order to apply for an engineering license in the USA? In which case, this varies for each state. You would need to check the requirements for the state your are interested in (varies for each Provence in Canada also). In Canada I believe you would meet the academic requirements with the BEng (PEng Academic Requirements - Ontario)
Usually you need a 2-year research based masters degree (MSc) to apply for a PhD in North America. Although this could vary depending on the school.


Working on a methodology different from advisor's expertise. How to proceed?

A PhD is a learning experience, so don't worry about stepping out into a new domain. It's also not uncommon for the supervisor to not be familiar with all the research methods you use, since the field has changed a lot since they were engaged in active research.
I understand that this seems daunting, but try to find a support ecosystem where you can get practical tips on day-to-day technical support. There are good resources available online, and very often you are expected to find those out by yourself.
If the supervisor is otherwise good and has a good track record, I suggest you continue with her and give it a shot with an open mind.
Finally, having dabbled in all the areas/tools you mentioned, I have to say I strongly agree with your supervisor, especially from an applied research perspective. In the long run, the effort will probably be well worth it.


Lost Interest in Electrical Engineering. Still have a Math degree to complete. What to do?

Statistics/probability/data analysis is also a reasonable path to consider, and is a good bit more general than financial math, which you might also decide you don't like down the road.

Paul Graham (of Lisp fame) says that you should try to stay "upstream" with regard to your choices. To put it more concretely, you should not specialise too quickly, and try to keep your options open.

Statistics/probability/data analysis is a very marketable choice these days, and will still leave the door open to financial math if you still want to pursue it a bit later.

However, aside from ISI there aren't really any good places in India to learn statistics. And I don't think India has much of a statistics research community. You'll have to go somewhere else.

An autobiographical snippet: I got a PhD from a Statistics Dept in applied probability. The degree was supposed to be in financial math, as it happens. I was trying to study it, but didn't really make any headway. So my degree wound up being about something that was originally supposed to assist with the financial math. As you can see, things don't always go the way one had planned. So, bear in mind, you might like the subject now, but whether it will like you and things will work out, that is a separate question. It's a question of commitment.


How can I find out whether I am permitted to re-use an online questionnaire in my own research?

The script doesn't seem to have a license but says, "question.cgi is a free script for administering user interface usability questionnaires on the web." In other places on the page you linked to, the authors encourage reuse. If you are unsure or unclear, you can contact the authors.


What do you say to a professor/potential advisor when you accept the offer from their school?

Your suggestion is good. I don't think it needs more. One option, though, would be an additional sentence asking if there are any papers or sources that you can or should examine in the short term.

But thanks is all you really need.


How do you do “research” as a fresh PhD student?

This might be simplified but I hope it's useful. You can think of the research process as consisting of 4 steps.
Step 1. Setting your topic
Here you will define your topic, understand the research landscape (the tops and valleys, the things that are important and those ideas that have been discarded).
A key activity here includes formulating your research questions. It's important to note that the research questions shouldn't answer themselves, why else would you undertake the research? :D Also, do not assume the very thing that you are trying to answer ("Why is X a better solution for developing Y" assumes that X is better to begin with).
There is no shortcut to understanding your topic, you need to read, and read a lot. If you're merely interested in understanding the research field, focusing on systematic literature reviews is the best way to go. These are papers that summarize the state of the literature for a given field.
Step 2. Locate information about your topic
In order to "do research" you will need to have access to research databases. Most likely, your university will have access to some of the larger databases, such as Web of Science, Scopus etc. Google Scholar aggregates research papers from a wide array of sources and is a good starting point (there are some concerns with it which I shouldn't skip over, but it's nonetheless a useful tool).
Sometime a book written for laymen could be a good place to begin, even though that book may not be authoritative, they are usually easier to digest than your average journal paper. It may seem silly, but Youtube and Podcasts are a good source for understanding a specific research field, but not particularly useful for citation purposes.
Step 3. Analyze/Evaluate information
Once you have scoped through the research literature, you will need to evaluate your sources and distinguish between primary and secondary sources.
Step 4. Write and take notes
Write! Always write even when you're not suppose to write. Writing a lot will help you. My advise is to set a writing quote (e.g. 300 words/day) and then meet that quota everyday. The text might not be the best starting out, but eventually you should be able to edit the text and make it better (or discard the parts that are not needed). Also: take a lot of notes! Mental notes. Notes on paper. Notes on the screen. Notes while walking.
Step 5. Keep and organize sources
Cite your sources and be sure to use a good reference management software for that purpose. Zotero is Open Source and easy to use but there are many others to choose from as well.
The five steps above will be true for virtually any research field. The remainder will differ a lot depending on your field (quantitative/qualitative research, empirical data vs other forms of data collection etc...)


Using an English or French presentation to a French talk?

I would put the presentation into French, for two basic reasons:

just to make sure that when you glance at the screen any word triggers a train of thought in French
the audience also has the French ppt to look at matching what they hear from you.

I understand that the thesis is in English, but they won't necessarily open that until after depending on the questions - which they have probably already prepared...

Also, anytime I have to listen to one language and read a second (and I have a DUT to go with my BEng Hons) I always change to comparing the errors in expression / translation and loose the real message.

So, go with French ppt & language and BEST OF LUCK - you will be fine.

Autrement dit : Bonne chance Chef !!


Why do some universities not provide marking schemes for mock exams?

The materials provided to students should benefit their learning. It is not clear, how the marking scheme would help student to understand the actual material. Knowing the marking scheme can help a student to prepare to a particular exam without learning all the curriculum (e.g. by focusing on what is assessed). This is known as surface learning, and is often considered as bad practice.


How to improve student seminar presentations and seminar papers

This sounds exactly like the situation we are experiencing at our university as well. We have improved the situation by forcing the students to write papers and similar texts every semester (starting from semester 1), in different settings, and we're giving detailed feedback afterwards. In our first and second semesters we are using this setting for one course:

Students can select one topic and prepare it in a group of three (the idea is to mix people so they can give feedback within their group). We emphasize that everyone will receive a grade based on personal efforts and success, and there is no group bonus / malus.
They will present the topic in a group of three (20 min presentation + 10 min discussion)
We are giving a 3h presentation on scientific writing.
They have to give their paper outline to their supervisor after about 3 weeks. The quality of feedback depends on the effort put into the structure. If they hand in "Introduction, Main Section, Conclusion", they will receive a "correct, but good luck" ;-).
They shall hand in a first version after about 50% of the course. This version will be discussed in a personal feedback session of one hour by a scientific journalist
At ~3/4, they have to submit their "pre-final" version to a conference management system.
Everyone is now switching roles and becomes a reviewer. Every reviewer has to review two papers. The quality of reviews is part of the final grade.
After the reviews. the groups have one more week to finish the final paper submission.

As said, we are following this highly intensive approach in semesters 1 & 2. In the subsequent semesters, we are having other settings, but we force them to write every semester. It seems to bear some fruits since the quality improves over time, but it's clear that we can't fully repair what went wrong during school...


Has anything changed about the "default" arXiv perpetual license?

The ArXiv default license has not changed (as can be seen in the version history on the license page, and by comparing its text using the internet archive wayback machine to jump back to 2012).

The following is my speculation on why the wording was changed: It used to be that publishing under a creative commons (CC) license (which are the alternatives on ArXiv) was basically unheard of, and so putting your paper on ArXiv under CC meant that you basically had no chance to submit it anywhere else anymore, since the copyright agreements of the publishers weren't compatible with CC.

Today, publishing under CC is still not extremely common, but at least an option in many fields (sometimes by paying an optional fee for Open Access, sometimes by default in Open Access journals). So, telling people to choose the default license was no longer as important. I assume that this is the rationale behind de-emphasizing the default license.

I would still recommend to go with the minimal license unless you know what you are doing - even if you publish it somewhere else under creative commons, it will not negatively impact you to have it on ArXiv using the default license.


How do I avoid or get past the post-orals slump?

The most urgent thing to do is to take a short vacation and celebrate. Go do something fun, unrelated to your research. If you live near a beach and the weather is nice, sit on the beach with a non-technical book. Go to any local tourist attraction. Eat a nice dinner with friends. Watch a movie.

A few days delay will not cost much, but could bring enormous benefits in your readiness to get on with the next steps.


How to read a textbook for distance learning coursework - do I need to work on fact recall, or is understanding enough?

It might helpful to change the question slightly, into

  What is the purpose of writing a textbook?

Usually a textbook is written to lay out a fairly well codified body of knowledge about a topic. The "well codified" part is important: it's expected that this body of knowledge has some lasting value. The textbook is also written (hopefully) in a way that *teaches this knowledge, as opposed to merely dumping it out.

To me it sounds like the book you're reading is of the second kind (a dump of facts). Such a textbook is better treated as a reference book, like a dictionary. No one reads a dictionary (unless they're trying to pass the GRE or win a spelling bee :)), but they will refer to it to get the meanings of words.

Similarly, with a book that describes 35 problem solving methods, maybe reading it cover to cover isn't the best strategy. Rather, you should focus on a few techniques (or even one) and try to understand that well. Then put the book away and revisit it from time to time.

So to answer your question:

  A textbook can be a collection of facts, but often it's more than
  that: it's a path through the facts that provides a structure with
  which to process the facts. The goal of reading (and learning) is to
  acquire both the facts AND the structure. The facts will be easier to
  remember if you have the structure in place, and the structure makes
  more sense with the facts as examples.


What to do about collaborators & co-authors who fail to understand authorship & plagiarism?

What do you all think?
On the surface, I don't think this is plagiarism.  When a group of people  author a paper, imho the entire group can be considered the originators of the ideas in that paper.  Basic professional etiquette (as well as any co-author situations I've been fortunate to be in) is that each author, when speaking about the ideas, typically says, "We" did such-and-such, or "we" had this idea.  In my experience, many high quality authors, out of modesty, or an abundance of honesty, will often credit their co-authors for many of the ideas.  But unless a person specifically says "this-and-such was my idea" when indeed it wasn't, then I don't think this is plagiarism, but rather as you put it a matter of "basic professional etiquette."

What would provoke 2 co-authors to do this?
Could be anything from a simple lack of social skills and/or social awareness, to major ego subterfuge and game playing.  Depends on the personalities.

Am I correct in my assessment of the issues of authorship and plagiarism?
As I said above, I personally wouldn't label this plagiarism, but rather a lack of professional etiquette -- unless they outright state that your ideas were their own.  In my opinion, if they use the word "We" (and at some point state the names of who "we" are) then they are entitled to do that, by dint of being co-authors together, even if it was your idea.

What strategies would you recommend for addressing co-authors and collaborators who don't understand what I consider to be basic professional etiquette, but also have a motive that appears to be more devious?
Discuss with them, as you have, and if that gets you nowhere, chalk it up as a life lesson and avoid working with that person in the future.  Unless it has a true consequence of facts harming your career (in which case you may want to seek legal advice).  But if it's just your pride that has been hurt, because the other person is unprofessional or petty, then remember the phrase, "Every dog has his day."  Move on, a let fate take care of them.

One co author appears to be more sincere and apologetic but the other one, I think the one who submitted the proposal appears cold, and indifferent.  Trust your gut; perhaps avoid all interactions with the "cold and indifferent" one in the future.

One comment that you mentioned but didn't specifically ask about: You mentioned that they didn't reference the unpublished paper, but only the ideas.  Imo this is also unprofessional.  I was taught to reference every source, even if it is unpublished work (just say so).  My graduate adviser impressed this on me years ago, as a strong ethical concept.  I had made some statements in my dissertation that everyone in the field regarded as completely common knowledge (but possibly someone outside of the field would not know), and he made me go back and find the original paper from the 1950s and reference it.  So I have taken it on as an ethical imperative: don't make statements or present ideas without referencing where they came from.  If you agree, then perhaps you may want to convince the co-authors to mention the unpublished work.


Where to find journal impact factors stripped of self-citation?

Update from March 2016: it seems like ISI Knowledge offers citation counts with person-level self-citations taken out. Any of that should be treated as experimental, of course. Don't know if this could work for a journal.

I don't think any of the existing systems take out the self-citations. The publishers and journals are not interested in seeing reduced impact factors, so few editorial boards and fewer yet commercial publishers would be interested in anybody producing such rankings. If a discipline has its independent referencing and citations systems, they might be interested in such more objective analysis -- e.g., economists have their CitEc (Citations in Economics), a part of RePEc (Research Papers in Economics), which does track self-citations (see the 2012 Nobel prize winners, Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley as examples... the first one has as many self-citations as the second one, total citations). I would venture a guess that mathematicians might have a similar system. But I doubt that natural or social sciences do.

The high impact journals are obviously important for publishing, getting good academic jobs and getting tenured. However, impact factor may only tell a part of the story, and some disciplines have reputable journals that may not have the highest possible IFs. Let me take again economics as an example that I am familiar with. In most US departments, you'd get tenured if you have a paper in either American Economics Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, or Econometrica. (The QJE is often said to mostly publish MIT and Harvard folks.) AER is only 19th in this list of impact factors (which may be as good as any other list that's not password protected by ISI), and I have never heard about some of these journals. The AER's impact factor of 2.5 is not even funny for a biologist seeking Science or Nature publications, though -- the impact factors of the latter are what, 30 or so?

I work in industry and tend to care little about the journals outside of my area (statistics); generally, statistics journals tend to have IFs between 0.25 and 4. The reality of my particular field (survey research) is that people just submit their paper to proceedings of the annual conferences and move on with their paying projects, and don't have the time to BS back and forth with the reviewers. There are people in academia who need to publish-or-perish, so you would see some typical academic papers with rather small contributions to the knowledge, but their authors either have their own time or slave labor force grad students to write these up.

As a guiding rule of what journals to avoid, you can start with commercially published journals and respect the professional organizations publish their journals themselves, without Wiley or Elsevier grabbing them as a source of income... although I can imagine that coercive citations is what the editorial boards insist on, which may or may not correlate strongly with who publishes a given journal. I have received requests to cite the given journal more (this is a problem for disciplines with an overproduction of journals fighting each other; again, in my industry, there are probably four or five decent ones, and they don't need to fight), but tended to ignore them.


Can I do experiments on humans without a degree?

It is possible to get IRB reviews without an academic affiliation.  Commercial IRBs (companies that, for a fee, review trials for third parties) exist; that's one way that industry manages to perform clinical trials.

  Commercial IRBs have multiplied in recent decades, reviewing and passing proposals for profit. Their creation was spurred partly by an explosion of industry-sponsored clinical trials, but they are increasingly passed business from academic centres, to relieve overstretched in-house ethics committees. There are now dozens of these companies and they will see potential business in the proposed shift to single-IRB oversight of multi-site trials.

--Who watches the watchmen? Nature, 2011

Some of these IRBs are listed at the Consortium of Independent Review Boards (CIRB).

The absence of a graduate degree and of academic affiliation don't prevent you from publishing either, although they may present some complications during the process.  There are other questions in Academia SE that discuss this:

Does one need to be affiliated with a university to publish papers?
How do I go about publishing a paper without a university affiliation?


How to go about contacting an author regarding questions on their research?

Send them a brief, polite email. Brief because nobody has time to read huge walls of text from strangers; polite because you want them to help you.


Submit Similar Content to Two Conferences

Actually, think, rather, in terms of how much is unique in the two papers. If each has sufficient novelty and each is independently interesting, then you should be fine.

This is a judgement call, of course, and it might be best to make it a bit conservatively so that no one thinks you are just padding a CV. Likewise, ask yourself if people would think that you just split things that should be said together into two papers for padding the CV.

And remember that it is your judgement call to make, but others will make it also.

In the example you cite, of course, it seems as if one paper is focused on an application and the other on methodology. That seems (to an outsider like myself) to be fine, especially if a deep explanation of the methodology is both interesting on its own and not essential to the application.


When should an editor use reviewers recommended by authors of a submitted manuscript?

The way the preferred reviewers are used varies. Some go by these suggestions whole-heartedly while others do not. I lean towards the latter since my experience with some preferred names is less than favourable.

In my experience names listed can be good. I usually double check to see if persons seem affiliated in some way and if they do I avoid appointing them. As a rule, however, I try to find persons independently and based on my own experience. I tend to use the preferred names as back-ups unless my preference and the authors coincide.

The reason for my slight aversion towards the preferred is that some authors tend to list friends and other persons who are obviously close to the authors. I have seen many low quality reviews come out from such reviewers an clearly at a rate very different from independently chosen reviewers. Judging what is too close is not easy and sometimes it may be justified if, for example, the topic is such that local knowledge comes into play. For the reason of uncertainty I therefore try to at least mix them up so that one is chosen by me independently and the other is selected from the authors suggestions.

So, try to assess the quality of the preferred reviewers and at least try to find some to complement a preferred reviewer will be my advice.

It is also common that authors list non-preferred reviewers. I always stay clear of such reviewers since I do not know what lies beneath the sentiment.


Why do faculty use two different email addresses?

As Andy Putman points out in his comment, the two addresses often go to the same place.  Even if there are two different accounts, it's common to forward e-mail from one to the other (or to a third account).  Nobody uses both accounts independently unless they have some idiosyncratic reason to do so.

The existence of two addresses is not nearly as universal as you suggest.  You don't usually see english.university.edu or art-history.university.edu in e-mail addresses, for example.  The departments that do have special addresses (such as CS or math) often ran their own mail servers long before university-wide servers were common.  Some still do, because they don't like the way the university servers are run or don't trust them to be reliable, while others simply provide aliases for the university servers.  Either way, getting rid of the departmental addresses would be disruptive, so they are likely to exist for the foreseeable future.


Publish an article in the journal in which one is an associate editor

It is not normal, but it can happen. Usually under such circumstances the article is handled by a different editor, and the submitting editor is treated as would any other person submitting to the journal.

Also note that a paper can be submitted to a journal like Physical Review Letters, and them get transferred to another journal where the conflict could be created. (This happened to a colleague.)


How important is primary authorship in judging someone's research contributions?

Your focus needs to be on accomplishing significant work, and then receiving appropriate credit for that work.  Number of papers is often a reflection of that, but is not, ultimately, the metric on which you will be judged by anybody who is actually thinking of hiring you.  More distant reviewers of various sorts (e.g., for a grant or a tenure case) are more likely to apply publication-based metrics out of a lack of knowledge or imagination.  Anybody who is considering hiring you, however, should be less interested in what your rank order in authorship is and more interested in what you have accomplished (which is partially reflected by author order).

For example, in your question about comparing a candidate with middle authorships vs. first authorships, I would want to know what, exactly, either candidate had done.  Did the first author candidate actually conceive the work and do most of the writing, or were they just acting as a lab tech on behalf of the more senior authors?  Was the middle-author candidate just along for the ride, or was it a complicated project where their contribution was critical, but others happened to be more critical.

Thus, in a statement of purpose or other self-presentation, I look for a candidate to be saying, "I accomplished all of these things (as reflected by these publications)", rather than simply "I have all of these publications."


Supervisor asking me to list a co-author who has literally done nothing

Based on what you have said, this seems to be a clear ethical violation.
I would send an email to your supervisor asking him/her if X has had a chance to look at section Y. This will force them to either state yes or no as to if X participated. Play dumb if you have to.

Hi [Supervisor]
Has X had a chance to look at section Y in the project? As I remember, we discussed adding X as an author as long as X verified the results of section Y. I just want to be sure that I get the right authorship on this paper.
Thanks, Mahkoe

Getting written directions from your supervisor on this will document any unethical behavior that he/she is suggesting you participate in. Your supervisor will have to either directly tell you to add X even though they have not contributed to the paper, or they will be leveraged into conceding that X does not deserve authorship and should not be added.
If your supervisor still insists that X be given credit in spite of doing nothing, you have a few options:

You can seek out the advice of your department chair or graduate coordinator.
You can refuse to put X in as an author and make your supervisor mad with you.
You can comply with your supervisor and chalk it up to yet another predatory, manipulative adviser taking advantage of students.

You decision here depends significantly on how receptive your department is to students and how much you are willing to risk losing if your supervisor tries to retaliate. I am understanding of the fact that you may or may not really have the leverage to directly turn your supervisor down on his/her demands. Such is the life of a student in academia. A small number of professors know you have no clout and routinely take advantage of students in these situations. And sometimes, it is better for your own sanity and career to let X and your supervisor commit ethical violations and publish your paper without further grief.


Consequences for a tenured person of not getting grants

In the US, once you have tenure it is difficult to get fired other than for misconduct and hard even then. But, you don't need to get annual raises or further advances in rank unless you are seen as a contributor. What constitutes contribution depends on the institution. For some, grants are very important. For a few, they outweigh all else, partly because they fund students. But not all institutions are like that. For some, grants are nice but not essential.

But, whatever the mission of the institution, not contributing will leave you in a bit of a dead end with little chance to choose courses or committees, etc.

While it may be possible to have a 30+ year career without doing more than the minimum, you will likely still be earning at the end about what you were at the start.

Moreover, department heads, have subtle ways to punish you, by assigning you things that you won't really like doing. And who knows where your office will be.


I want to do a PhD but I think I need more supervision. Should I be more direct in setting up more frequent meetings with my PhD supervisor?

If I understand it correctly, your funding comes from one source, but your doctoral studies are somewhat (at least) independent of that.
You need to satisfy your PI and others in your funding stream that your work is good, but since this isn't a permanent position, your primary focus should be on a productive relationship with your PhD supervisor.
So, yes, frequent meetings with the supervisor but without neglecting the others, unless you can find a different funding stream.
Focus, primarily, on long term goals. If the job in the lab supports that, all the better, but the degree is primary.


Why is B or B− the minimum passing grade for most graduate courses in US?

In some sense grading may be "easier", but it's also just that the effective grading range is compressed, and that grades per se matter less than in undergraduate classes.

In many graduate programs, getting a grade lower than B (or even A-) is considered a warning that you need to seriously knuckle down and start doing better.  To take a random example, UIUC has a campuswide minimum GPA of 2.75 (B-), but most departments set higher minimums (as high as 3.25, or B+) Here's a relevant quote from an old grad school blog post:

  My first semester in grad school, my M.A. advisor laid it out for to me: "If you get a B in a grad school class, you should ask the professor whether you should consider dropping out of the program. If you get a C, don't bother asking."

What this means is that the range of grades in grad school is effectively compressed, going from A to C instead of A to F.  Getting a C in a grad school class is, in many cases, practically equivalent to getting an F in an undergraduate class.  This grade inflation probably has historical roots in a sort of academic politeness in which it became considered more and more insulting or embarrassing to give someone low grades.

However, it's not as significant as it may seem, because grades are typically much less important in grad school than in undergrad.  In grad school (especially PhD programs) you are working much more closely with faculty and they monitor your progress at a much finer grain.  It's not just about getting a good grade, but about conducting research, making progress on your degree milestones (e.g., writing an MA thesis or PhD dissertation), and so forth.

In grad school, your class grades are meant to be not just an evaluation of your performance in that class, but a signal as to whether you are developing the skills necessary to succeed in the program as a whole.  It would be unusual (probably unthinkable) for a grad program to suddenly give someone the boot simply because their GPA dropped too low; rather, a series of low grades will lead to increasing concern from the faculty, with meetings, emails, etc., gradually escalating from "Is everything ok?" to "You need to start working harder" to "Get your act together or else".

I've known grad students who received multiple grades in the B range, and this is what happened to them; they were subjected to increasing pressure from the faculty, with increasingly more explicit suggestions that they could be kicked out of the program if they didn't improve their performance.

That said, it is true that in some cases grading in grad school can be "easier" than in undergrad.  My personal experience has been that in some cases faculty members are willing to be somewhat more flexible on grades as related to the actual course content, as long as they are satisfied that you got what you personally needed from the class.  For instance, if you are specializing in Topic X and you take a requred class in Topic Y intended to broaden your background, the professor may give you an A even if your paper in the class is only adequate, if the professor understands that that is not your specialization and you don't need to fully master it in order to succeed.  The flip side of this is that if you take a class in Topic X (your specialty), the professor may hold you to a far more exacting standard, knowing that you really must be on top of that material.


Does telling students to take notes in high school really help them learn better?

The lecture is a very inefficient method of training.  Passive, linear, etc.  Working problems, reading texts, doing examinations is much more active and time-efficient.

If you really want to get max value out of a lecture, read the text ahead and work the exercises ahead.  The lecture then is refresher and an alternate viewpoint.  Your notes will only be of something unexpected (as the text is available and familiar for expected things).

P.s.  Of course, this as on oft written on topic and a Google search and review of the results would be a more active way to analyze it.  Rather than asking here or some other answer site.  Sort of analogous to the student in lecture, no?


Why does the status "under peer review" change to "Awaiting Reviewer selection" after 2 months?

They might simply look for an additional reviewer. Sometimes this happens, e.g. if the editor couldn't make a decision based on the reports of the two initial reviewers. You could also write to the editor and ask what is going on.


Is there any system that enables online office hours?

Yes there are multiple systems; for instance blackboard collaborate (previously Elluminate), which would require your institution to have a license. Blackboard Collaborate is a Web conference tool (video, speech, text, white board, screen sharing etc) which is can be integrated with the Blackboard Learning System. However, it is not necessarily bound to it, and you can get a licences, and use it, without the Blackboard Learning System. You can even get a 30-day trial; http://try.bbcollaborate.com/trial/register.go

More off these systems exists, often bounded to or provided by sellers of Learning Management Systems (LMS), also known as e-Learning Systems. However there are also systems which are either used without LMS (as also is the case with Blacboard Collaborate) and systems which can be used with, for instance, Microsoft Sharepoint (such as Adobe Connect, which can also be used stand alone).

It would be helpful if OP could answer which Learning System (and possible other products) his/her institution uses. As this could indicate what is available. If OP would answer this question this answer will be edited if this would lead to new information.


I have turned myself into an incompetent researcher. I have screwed up my career, now I would like some advice how I can recover?

It is likely that only someone familiar with your field and your portfolio can really help you assess your options. But since you asked for advice, I will offer some observations:

You spent about half your post looking backwards (all the way to undergrad). This is not productive. Instead, look forwards. Where do you want to go? What is the next step?
When considering "where do you want to go," I recommend you consider all your options. Many people who have never left the university tend to make only superficial inquiries into career options outside of the university.
For a research career, the biggest concrete problem is your poor track record in research. Note, I am assuming that your research record is truly poor as you say, though self-assessment can be very difficult. The academic job market is brutal even for well-qualified candidates, so a poor research record may close some doors, at least temporarily.
I'm not sure what you mean by "I find requirements for...graduate-level coursework. I have none." I'm very skeptical. In my experience (granted, I'm in the US), it is very unusual for anyone to care about your coursework once you have a PhD. Second, you do have a graduate-level coursework, though you don't think the courses were sufficiently rigorous.
A PhD certifies that you can do research without supervision -- this includes learning new skills. So, your self-studying seems like a good option. Another good option would be to redirect your focus onto areas which are a better match for your interests and skills. Which brings us back to the bolded questions.


Will MCS be worth it for a Computer Science graduate?

A MCS...is a taught degree...with no thesis or research. Although research experience isn't a prerequisite for a PhD, it helps and it enables you to decide whether you really want to pursue a PhD.


Processing of GRE subject scores at the institution

Different departments often fetch the GRE scores from the central repository of the Graduate school, would which be fed by official scores from ETS.

So, if the program has declared the GRE score as either mandatory or optional material, the score will be sent there, automatically, from the graduate school.


Is it common to have a personal copy of one’s own PhD thesis?

Absolutely! I had 5 copies bound - Me, my supervisor, my parents and two for the library (these last two were a requirement).


Can I apply for a second PhD position in Germany?

You may write another thesis, however, you will not be able to be employed on a limited-time contract in this capacity again due to the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz. So doing a second PhD means doing it without any financial support (unless you are able to get a scholarship, but all funding sources I know of require that it's your first time).

ETA: Based on comments and the other answer, you may actually be allowed to continue on a limited-time contract still for 4 years plus the length of your maternity leaves. In this case it seems possible to complete another PhD in this time if you can get another position.

However, if it's only the lack of time/distraction of children that lead to your current thesis not being where you want it to be yet, it would seem more worthwhile to invest the time to improve it. Unless you have significant issues with your current advisor/lab that you didn't mention, there's no reason to think your results would suddenly be so much nicer the second time around!


Is there a Post-doctorate Equivalent for an ABD (All-But-Dissertation) status?

The fundamental misconception is that there can be "someone who did all the work but did not finish their thesis".  The thesis is the focus of a Ph.D. program, while coursework and other requirements are nothing but preparation for the thesis and are of negligible importance in comparison.  Postdoctoral positions are meant to give people a chance to deepen their research experience beyond what they achieved while writing a thesis.  If they haven't written a thesis, then they haven't completed graduate school and do not yet need to move beyond it.

Occasionally people do begin a postdoctoral position without yet having received a Ph.D.  This happens when they have completed their doctoral research but have not yet graduated, for example because their institution awards degrees at only a couple of times each year.  I've never heard of someone starting a postdoc if their thesis wasn't at least nearing completion, and I think it's so unlikely that it's not even worth looking into (although I can't conclusively rule it out).

Although postdocs per se are not the right program for this, one could reasonably ask whether there is anything else.  There are plenty of postdocs intended to help recent Ph.D. graduates gain additional experience, but are there any programs aimed at helping students who are struggling to finish their degrees (perhaps for reasons beyond their control) become successful and productive researchers?

Unfortunately, I don't know of any.  The general feeling is that this is the responsibility of the department you are studying in.  They know better than anyone else what you have accomplished so far and what your future potential is.  If they have faith in you, then they can help you try to find additional funding, transition to another advisor, or whatever might be appropriate.  If they don't have faith in you, then it will be difficult to convince outsiders to take up your case.  It could happen in theory (if, say, a faculty member somewhere else is impressed with you and helps you transfer), but I don't think it's likely.  Looking outside your current department/university will be seen as a sign that they have given up on you, and unfortunately that will tend to put other institutions off.


Would this situation be considered plagiarism? - humanities assignment

It is hard for me to see plagiarism here, since you say you used the professor's definition, which is clearly known to both of you.
Of course, it is up to the professor to judge and if the rules are ver strict then perhaps you will be called to account for it.
But you did the right thing in informing the professor of the issue. I'll just have to guess that you are safe.


How does the American PhD system works for foreign students?

In most fields, US PhDs can start right after a bachelor's degree. Some incoming US students will have masters degrees, either because they've been uncertain about their career path and or because they pursue a masters to get more experience to make their applications look better (especially if their undergraduate research experience is lacking).
Because US PhDs usually start right after a BS/BA, they are typically longer than the European variety; 5 years is common, though for some fields they can be much longer, up to 10 years.
Coming in with a European masters (or a US masters, for that matter), there is not typically anything that will allow you to complete the US PhD faster than normal. There might be cases where you can skip some coursework, but that will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Funding can sometimes be more difficult for foreign students unless their own government provides support, since some funding sources are not available to international students (especially fellowships from the US government). Other funding is available to all (most TAs, sometimes with a more strict language requirement, many RAs and PAs; check with programs you want to apply to about their funding availability).
Many programs and universities will have information for potential incoming international graduate students, you should search the websites for individual schools/programs you are interested in. Some of this additional information will cover things like visa requirements (including funding) and language proficiency. An example from my own institution is here: https://grad.wisc.edu/international-students/
As far as PhDs as a job, I'm less familiar with Italy but have seen the German system explained often here: US PhDs are not jobs like German ones are. That said, almost all US PhD students (and especially in STEM) have some sort of funded position that includes a stipend, and typically this comes with tuition remission, so you take home a (modest) income to pay expenses, while not paying tuition. Other students are on fellowships or traineeships that specifically fund a students' education and include a stipend.
For some fields, these are usually Research Assistant positions, where you work on a research project for pay (sometimes this is the same as your PhD thesis, sometimes not - again, depends on field and circumstance), or Teaching Assistant positions, where you teach or help teach a course or two. Programs typically guarantee some sort of funding for X years; if you take longer, you could possibly find yourself without funding (the likelihood of this depends on the field; I don't know about theoretical physics but my educated guess would be that there are enough TA positions in physics that as long as you're willing to teach you'd find a TA spot). There are also cases where someone might do an unfunded/self-funded PhD - unless you (or your family) are independently wealthy I would strongly advise against this (you will find other Q&A here about it).


My advice for "typical" students seeking a Ph.D. degree is that you should not pay tuition for the degree and that you should receive assistantship or fellowship funding to compensate you for the time you spend working as a research/teaching trainee with a faculty advisor or advisors.

Reputable doctoral programs have access to one or both of the following types of assistantship funding: teaching assistantships funded by the department, college, or university; and/or research assistantships funded by individual faculty or sometimes by the department. Fellowship funding might come from the university or from external sources.

If a department or faculty advisor has not committed funding for your Ph.D., then this means that other students (new or continuing) have been selected for funding ahead of you. When they tell you that you might receive funding if things go well, it usually also means that either someone else must leave the program unexpectedly early or that they will commit some of next year's funding to you instead of to an applicant in next year's cycle. This sometimes does work out but puts all of the financial risk on you, the student. This is not fair. For this reason, my department does not allow unfunded Ph.D. students. Do not take an unfunded offer of Ph.D. admission.


I have defended my PhD thesis yesterday. Can I ask a committee member for his feedback on my answers during question-answer session?

This would depend somewhat on your general relationship with him. If he is relatively anonymous to you then it probably isn't worth the effort and you won't get the feedback you want.

But if you know one another well, through coursework or other research (etc.) then it might well be worth a sit-down. You may have some misunderstandings and he may be able to help you clear them up. He may be able to point to directions for study or research. There are a lot of things.

But if you approach it right, you also show respect for him and his ideas and that can lead to a better long-term relationship that might be profitable.

And, it isn't especially uncommon that a committee member (even several) haven't read your thesis. A common question from committee members to advisors just before or after the defense is "You're sure this is ok, Jack/Jill?". The advisor nods affirmatively and all is well.


Will similarity index in an unpublished yet accepted conference paper count after its journal version appeared online

While I think your intentions were good, you seem to have made a bit of a mess of it. I can't predict what a journal or conference would do about retracting acceptance, but if there is apparent self-plagiarism, they might decide to do that.

It is hard to say exactly what you should do now to protect yourself and also get everything published. What you should have done earlier, however, is to cite the earlier papers, even if not yet published, in any later ones. That citation makes any self plagiarism charge impossible.

I'll not again that the purpose of avoiding self plagiarism is to allow readers of your work to trace what they read back to the original source of the ideas, including the complete context of the earlier papers. To cite an unpublished work that has been submitted, just mark the citation as "to appear".

I don't know if it is possible to work with the various editors at this point to provide updated versions that correct the issue. If they allow that, then you should come out ok and also get the various papers published as usual. You should probably alert them immediately of the issue, providing an explanation (and maybe an apology for your misunderstanding), as well as corrected versions.

It would probably be good if you contact them before they make any decisions, but I can't say for sure. Their automated systems have already flagged your work.

For completeness, note that if you have no intention of publishing some work, then you don't need to cite it. Treat it as nothing more than an early draft of the later work.


Got a distinction, but only because of some exceptionally high marks - is this a disadvantage?

I do not know what discipline you are in. However, in the programs I served on with PhD programs (health and social sciences), we would first weed out those who didn't make the minimum criteria (which your distinction seems to put you ahead of). Then, we would look at which candidates make the best fit for our program. For instance, if your high A grades are in areas of focus in the PhD program, that might make you still very competitive. However, if the Bs and C were in coursework related to the PhD program, but the A's were in areas less relevant, that might hurt. The committee would also most likely assess for fit for the writing and research requirements for their program as well as if there is an appropriate advisor for you there. If the programs require writing samples and/or personal statements, this is where you can make up for that. Typically, though, admitting students to a PhD program is often more about just their transcripts. Good luck!


Materials & methods in multi-phase experiment

Unless you are specifically precluded by the regulations of your institution, in your thesis there is typically great latitude to present material in whatever form you find clearest.

As such, if you think that it is clearer to separate each method into its own sub-section, you should do so.  Likewise, if you have separated materials and methods cookbook-style and you think it is clearer to say a measurement one rather than twice, then let clarity of presentation be your guide.  If your readers or your institutional regulations disagree with you, however, then you will likely need to change to a form that they prefer.


When to follow up for recommendation letter

I'd wait until about 5-7 days before the due date, and then send a polite email reminding them that the letters are due, and offering to have the links to the forms resent if they need it.

There is a balance between being "pushy", and sending them a reminder too late for them to avoid feeling time pressure if they haven't written it.  I try to stay on top of things, but if I forget, I would prefer to receive notification more than a day or two before the due date.

Of course, if there's a situation such as "rolling admissions", where an on-time submission can still be a bad thing, I'd ping them earlier --- but a situation such as that should never come up, as you would have let them know that an early letter was really necessary at the time you made the original requests.

It might be a good habit, when sending them the "thank you for agreeing to write me a letter" message, to say something like "unless you ask me not too, I'll send out a reminder about a week before the due date".


What is an "author's novelty file" in journals?

It sounds like the journal wants you to identify in what manner your paper has expanded the state of knowledge in your field. Have you contributed a new experimental method? Or perhaps you've provided new insights into some sort of phenomenon, or measured data for a new material, or so on. These contributions should be collected in this "novelty file."


As a new grad student, should I put Masters or PhD on my resume?

To a first-order, you should say what is actually true. If you enrolled into a Master's program and that's the program you are in now, you should not try to indicate you are really a PhD student.

Past that, though, how exactly you state something which is otherwise true - how specific versus how vague, for instance - is a reflection of what you are using your resume or CV to actually do. If you are applying for an employment position, you should understand there is no such thing as a singular "resume/CV" - but a variety of versions which are all true, but emphasize different things and are more/less clear about some things, depending on the desired position. You are trying to tell useful story, and what's useful to someone hiring a staff researcher vs. an entry-level technician can be very different things.

Sometimes you'll want to be specific, such as when your education is a very specific and useful fit for the position, where'd you'd say something like, "I earned my Masters's in Basket Weaving and am currently working on my PhD in the sub-field of Applied Stained Wicker Fabrication Techniques." In a job where the details aren't so relevant, to save space you might just say "I'm a graduate student in commercial art."

But to reiterate, the reality of your program at your school is important to what you say. If your program has 2 years of coursework that is like a Master's program, but they have not explicitly granted you a Master's degree (you could not ask them for a physical copy of it because they haven't granted you one), then do not imply or say you have a Master's degree. If your program is for a Master's degree and then they technically choose or allow students to continue on to a PhD program, don't just say you are in a PhD program if you aren't. Other than for general reasons of honesty, you'd be one question away from needing to say something like, "well, technically..." and then you'll have to back-track and look like you could just be making up everything you've said.


Electronics Engineer Doing a Bachelor Thesis in Physics

There are two major issues here: on the one hand there is learning and mastering a topic, on the other hand there is writing a thesis merely.

For the former: quantum mechanics is a very delicate subject that requires a deep understanding of classical physics and analytical mechanics, not to mention mathematical methods as theory of operators on Hilbert spaces and differential equations. Learning quantum mechanics is also about understanding quantum mechanics: it is already difficult for people in the field and it will especially be for whom is from the outside. Moreover, there are different sub-topics areas that you may be involved in, and they may differ from what you have read around (quantum mechanics is not what people think it is).

You will certainly finish writing your thesis successfully, but that does not mean you will have majored and understood the topic well enough to continue doing research about it. A thesis on quantum mechanics is useful if you want to continue investigating the subject in your further career (as, for example, trying to switch to a master's degree in a more related physics area, like nuclear or solid matter physics, or even theoretical physics). Most depends on what you are planning to do afterwards. If you will continue on the engineering side it is advisable to work on a topic that will get you a job as engineer, eventually, otherwise you are going to end up with a science salad without being expert in either field, neither physics nor electronics, since you could have invested your bachelor thesis time otherwise.

This said, do apply for it. It is always good to at least have the possibility to decide, rather than regretting not to have applied; in addition, always go for whatever makes you feel passionate.


When should I give up on hearing back from a potential PhD supervisor?

It might have just slipped through the cracks. Politely follow up and let him know that his position is your first choice. Include whatever attachments you sent the first time so that he doesn't have to hunt for them. If you don't hear back in a few days, move on.


What practicable alternative do I have to not fly around the globe to present a poster/pollute environment?

If you want to build a strong career and be noticed internationally, then you probably have little choice but to attend international conferences in the present situation.

Longer term, however, you can try to work toward a world of virtual conferences rather than ones requiring physical presence, though these have tradeoffs. But the current and future communication technologies will make them more practical as time goes on.

But, there are other things to consider than just the carbon-cost of air travel. First, the plane will fly anyway even if you aren't on it. Collective political action can work toward a world with less air travel, of course, but an individual has little real effect. The carbon cost of air travel is amortized over a large number of people, of course, and if they don't fly they still don't have zero carbon usage. Depending on your normal activities and travel (to work, say) needs, a week long conference across the pond may not cost you much in carbon, if there is little travel at the conference site and things are centralized.

But if you do travel, there are things you can do to better utilize the benefits of the costs you incur. Making arrangements before you go to work with international colleagues for a few days before or after the conference helps amortize the cost over a larger set of activities, chaining the cost/benefit ratio.

You can, of course, think globally about your carbon usage and find other ways to reduce your footprint so that, even as an individual, you have a minimal negative impact.

Also, communication technologies aren't carbon-free. The trade-off computations are very complex, in fact. I just read a report that says that streaming movies, for example, has a higher carbon footprint that pressing and distributing DVDs due to the energy required by servers (a continuous cost) vs the pressing/distribution cost (discrete).

Our climate issues are a result of bad choices by society as a whole, making better solutions difficult or impossible to employ by individuals. An individual has little effect, especially if they are conscious of the problems and take steps to limit personal use where possible, but also to demand better overall solutions of governments and other large institutions.


Contact information on CV and cover letter for US mathematics postdoc applicants

As you probably know, your communication with search committees will almost certainly be via email until late in the process. So as long as you use an email address that you will retain access to through the spring, there's not much chance of a communication breakdown.

In fact, you would probably be fine not listing a physical address at all. But since it looks slightly weird not to have a mailing address, go ahead and use your address at your current institution. You will still officially be a student there at the time the applications are submitted, so there's nothing even arguably improper.


Can I publish a paper in a good journal without having an academic position?

Variants of this question have been asked many times.

No, you do not need to have an academic position or be enrolled in a university to publish in journals.
You can prevent plagiarism (or at least make it easily detectable) by posting a preprint of your paper on arXiv. This establishes that you are the first person to come up with the idea.
It's doable, but rare.


Take the coach, stay overnight and pay your own expenses; forget this flap ever happened; do your best in the interview.  Keep in mind that the office staff who arranges for travel is probably overworked, and has NOTHING to do with hiring decisions, and will have almost nothing to do with you once you are working there.  Focus on figuring out if the job is a good fit for you -- read up about the department or whatever before you go, think about how you can make a contribution to their efforts, and how you will convince them of that.  And enjoy your trip.  Even if this is not the place you end up working, the interview will be valuable experience for you in your job search.


Graduate School Offer of Acceptance Due Dates in the US?

As noted by @NateEldredge in a comment, almost (and I only say "almost" because even one exception would preclude saying "all") every university in the US admitting students to a biomedical sciences PhD program does so based on the April 15 resolution:

  Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15 and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution or a link to the URL should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer.

This means that you will not have to accept any offer prior to April 15th, and that no accepted offer is binding until after April 15th (though it would still be impolite to accept and then withdraw, so this should only be done in extreme circumstances). The explicit purpose of this resolution is to not allow universities to pressure students to accept an offer before other schools are done presenting their own offers.

Once you know for sure which offer you want to accept (and no earlier), however, it's good to accept as soon as possible and let other institutions know you will not be attending - this can let them extend offers to people on their waitlist and therefore gives those waitlisted applicants more choice.


What are the chances of getting an academic position year after completion of PhD?

You could consider working as a lecturer (with a lower income) to at least get the teaching experience needed, and then you could do some research through the department and some as an independent researcher.


Having just had a piece accepted for publication in the journal, albeit without having received copies or even mention of any reviews, I decided to ask the editorial assistant, Alicia Black, whether submissions to Notes and Queries undergo peer review.  This is her response in full:

  N&Q is a peer reviewed journal.  Your Query has been reviewed, though Queries do not always need a detailed review.


Editor rejected manuscript claiming it is similar to a not-yet-published manuscript (that I haven't seen). How to proceed?

I don't think there is any point in writing to the EiC, if you don't want to actually appeal the decision.  I would simply send a note to the AE who handled the paper:

  Thank you for handling my paper.  I accept your decision.  I would simply like to state that the results in my paper were obtained independently, and I had no previous knowledge of the unpublished manuscript mentioned by Reviewer #4.  I will look forward to reading and citing this paper when it becomes publicly available.

Then submit your paper somewhere else, quickly (though after making any revisions suggested by these reviewers).  I would be inclined to include a comment to the new journal's editor, saying that you have heard there is a paper under review somewhere with similar results, but you have been unable to obtain a copy of the paper or any further information about it.  You could also emphasize that you have obtained your results independently of any other reseacher / group.


Should I continue reviewing a paper after having discovered plagiarised content in it?

Don't bother with more analysis, there is no point, since the paper should be withdrawn or rejected because of the plagiarism (if it isn't decline further review for this journal). Write a brief report along the lines

The manuscript contains 7 pages which are almost verbatim copied from < plagiarized paper >. In view of this I refrain from any further analysis as I expect you to reject the manuscript.

You should also check, whether the paper has already been published as a preprint (e.g. on arXiv) and if so inform the editor and suggest him to require the authors to withdraw from there too (I know of a case where this happened) but you may also contact arXiv directly (to protect your anynomity don't contact the authors or make your knowledge public).


Effect of offensive speech online on grad student life

It's hard to answer without knowing the specifics of what they post. However, it could be very damaging if it comes out. There's a large amount of online mob mentality that has the potential to ruin anyone's life. It doesn't help that many news sites are more than happy to write a story about minor Internet drama, which often gets even more people to talk about it.

I can see two ways this could be damaging to your friend's graduate career:

Professors will want to protect their own reputation and might avoid working with your friend if they're seen as provocative or "bad" by others. Being someone's graduate adviser is an important relationship and some people will avoid associating themselves with your friend.
Some students might avoid taking classes from someone they see as "unsafe" or antagonistic. If they complain, your friend might not be given any TA positions by the school.

Could it be damaging to their post-graduate career? Certainly. There are countless articles about people who made one mistake or had a joke take out of context and now find it hard to find a job. Take a look at this article about a girl who took a "funny" picture at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:

  Life was inundated with emails demanding their jobs, so Lindsey was called into work. But she wasn’t allowed inside the building. Her boss met her in the car park and told her to hand over her keys. “Literally overnight, everything I knew and loved was gone,” Lindsey said. And that’s when she fell into a depression, became an insomniac, and barely left home for a year.

One bad Facebook joke and she loses her job. You also have "Donglegate," Michael Richards, Justine Sacco, etc. The Internet is a scary place.

Or maybe your friend never gets caught or no one ever cares and it all turns out fine. Who knows?


Can one without a single paper on a topic write a review paper about it?

The simple and short answer is Yes!
You have the freedom to try and publish anything you want, assuming the publisher is accepting it.
Now the long answer. Your concern is that since you do not have any expertise in this area you might do a poor job. This concern is valid and indeed there are high chances that you will do a poor job. But there is no rule written in stone that you cannot write a good review if you spend sufficient time and effort in learning about the new area.
Let us also explore a few more questions.
Why do we need to write review articles and if you get it published, will it be useful?
Review articles help many researchers in understanding the state-of-the-art in their field of research and sometimes new researchers actually start by writing review articles, in the first year of their PhD. And some of them end up doing a decent job with that.
Review articles are of a different nature. Some of them are written by experts in a field to make it more popular and they try to include reviews of articles written by their collaborators with the goal of improving their citations. I believe your goal nobler and you should carry on with it.
I am from the field of computer science and I just wrote a blog reviewing vaccinology 3.0 and how data science is enabling it. While doing this review I learnt a number of important concepts regarding vaccines and my review are also useful for an audience which is of similar background.
Since you are writing a more formal review you have more responsibility but with proper care and hard work you should be able to do a good job. Moreover, you will always get feedback from the reviewers which will help you a lot in further improving your understanding of the field.
Best of luck!


Can I publish an improved variation of a prior method or/and the results I found using it?

Incremental improvement of research methods is a major part of the purpose of academic research, so yes, an improved variation of an existing method is absolutely a publishable result.  From your description of the research, it appears that you have undertaken a comparison of predictive accuracy for the original method and your variation, and this has good results.

Make sure your paper gives a good introduction and literature review, with a fair summary of existing methods and your points of departure for these methods. It is okay to put your method forward as being superior to the original method it is varying (assuming you can back this up with predictive results or other relevant evidence), but obviously you would write this in a way that is respectful towards the progenitor of the original method.  There is nothing offensive to a researcher in taking a method they have developed and varying it to improve its performance.  As long as you are not unduly critical of the original research, I see no reason that your research would set you in conflict with the original researcher of the method.  It is probably even worth listing the author of the original model as a suggested referee for your own paper.


Is recommendation a must for getting PhD admission in Australia

The short answer is yes. You're not going to get PhD admission virtually anywhere in the world without letters of recommendation.

But there's something more important: your approach is wrong. You should not start by contacting professors directly. First, find out if the university has a centralized PhD program (these centralized programs are very common in the US, for example). As far as I'm aware, Australian unviersities do not, but if they do then contacting professors individually is just inappropriate and a waste of time; you should apply to join those.

If they don't then you should find out if they're recruiting PhD students. They might have a webpage with a list of possible projects for example. If they do then you want to check those projects out and make sure you're interested before contacting them.

Here's an example of how to get a PhD position in astronomy at the Australian National University. After Googling for this, you should land at this webpage for the RSAA. You can see what topics are being studied there. You can also find a link to a list of potential projects, sortable by the level of study. Restricting the search to only PhD-level projects, the first result as of time of writing is this one on 3D modelling of nearby galaxies by Dr. Brent Groves, with a short description of what is involved. If you like the project, then you can email Dr. Brent Groves with your CV, motivation statements, thoughtful questions about the project (if any), and ask him if he's willing to supervise you. If you've read Dr. Brent Grove's work and have a suggestion for a potential project, you could write that too. If you just send your CV and "thesis" (what's this?) without any apparent knowledge on what Dr. Brent Groves is doing, he's likely to just ignore you.


Why do people not seem to consider private grants in favor of small public ones?

I'm not sure if this "answers" the question, but my belief is that people apply for grants for a combination of one of two reasons:

they want the money itself
they want the record of succeeding in getting the money.

While true of both public and private money, part of the prestige is that grants put their money where their mouths are. And public ones -- especially with longer histories can bank on those names (whether the banking is always warranted is of  course another question).

Your point is vis-a-vis 1 and could be restated as (A) more money is available through other means or (B) the amount of work vs. amount of money is a bad deal.

But the defense of pursuing famous public grants centers around 2. These public funding sources are (A) well-known, (B) perceived to have solid review processes, and (C) they are seen as prestigious because of (A) and (B), which should also make them (D) highly  competitive.

These features tend to make them attractive for career purposes. This is especially true when the quality of research is being evaluated by people who are not in the same field. I've got no idea what the Annual Peanut Factory Conference C's level is, but that the Snickers grant comes with $10,000,000 or even $1000 tells me that nut researchers would have competed to get it, and that you getting it means something.

In Japan for instance, Kakenhi from the government and how much you've gotten is a metric for getting jobs. In the USA, having gotten NSF or DOE grants can also help you in the future to get better positions or money.


How to answer interview question what did you do undergrad dissertation (for phd interview)

There are several ways to approach this. What your interviewers want to get from that question is how you present something that you (should) know well.

You could just tell them in a very dry manner the goal of the work and what your results were. That will only show them that you did some research and you probably know what you did.

What is probably more impressive is to tell them what kinds of problems you solved and what tools you used to do it (programming, cooperation with other people, trial and error, etc.). From that they will get a glimpse of your work ethics and how excited you are about your work.


What incentives do supervisors get for supervising undergraduate projects?

Sometimes undergraduate projects can form an extended talent scouting, looking for good matches of personality and interests for future graduate students.


Can I ask for a faster reply from graduate school?

You can ask, but it is unlikely that you will get a decision and maybe not even a reply. Processes will be followed in fairness to all candidates.
Rules probably prevent any early decision in most places.


How to start a collaborative online research project?

I think one of the best collaborative mathematical websites is here on Stack Exchange; take a look at Mathematics on Stack Exchange to see how many different mathematical questions are posted with various topics and many professionals and mathematicians also collaborate in this site so the user can easilly can learn many mathematical things, find many professional answers and become familiar with new mathematical topics as well. Even by just reading the questions and answers on that site, the user gets familiar with many mathematical topics. It is helpful indeed, at least for me. I strongly encourage you to take a look at that website and enjoy mathematics.


Am I burning bridges if I am applying for an internship which I am likely to turn down even if I am accepted?

Generally, you should not apply for a position you have no intention of accepting. I find it is unethical to do so; others may see it as merely impolite or even not a problem at all.
That doesn't seem to be the case here - you're applying and would take the offer if it's given to you and you don't have another better choice (better means better for you, not "more prestigious institution"), but might choose another offer if it's presented to you.
There's nothing ethically wrong with this action. Is it possible someone would take your rejection of an offer as a snub and react negatively to your applications in the future? Sure, there are people all over who make judgments on people for reasons they should not. However, that wouldn't be you burning a bridge, it would be someone else acting vindictively towards you. More likely no one will even remember if you apply again in the future.
Adding from Noah Snyder's comment, when you do get an offer you want to take, you should withdraw from other applications and decline other offers as soon as you have confirmed acceptance of the offer you prefer. It is rude to delay or remain in consideration for positions you will not take.


Letters of recommendation -- from postdoc or professor? Both?

Realistically, your acceptance into a good doctoral program will depend on an assessment of your probability of success in research. Funding might depend a bit on other things as well, but not the acceptance itself. Normally that would suggest professors are to be strongly preferred.
In your case, however, the post doc has some knowledge of your research potential and that is very important to get on the record.
If you can send four letters, then send them all. If you can only send three then you need to balance what people are going to write so that you can get a complete and positive picture of your research potential. Whether "diversity" helps or not comes back to what they will say about your likely success with research in your own field. But there is little downside when people praise you and your work.
The fact that you have some experience as a TA will only give them some confidence that you will work out as a TA provided you are accepted. It will have little effect, or none, on the acceptance potential.


FERPA alternative for German universities

According to the German Datenschutzgesetz and several state laws, it is forbidden to use private cloud services for storage of personal data. If you are at a university with access to ZENDAS, you can get a review of dropdox here.

A local server is fine, as long as you contact your local "Datenschutzbeauftragten" and announce the service. (S)he might have a form to fill in to evaluate the data security issues resulting from your installation.

Tehre is no specific rule for universities, but the general rules from the German Datenschutzgesetz apply for universities as well.

Platforms like moodle might breake existing German laws, it depends on the configuration of such systems (especially the tracing of activities is a problem).


As a session chair, how to familiarise oneself with the pronunciation of speakers' names?

When I am chairing a session, I always check a few minutes beforehand to ensure that all of the speakers are there.  That's also a good time to check on  pronunciation of names.  Just say something like:

  Can you please say your name for me? I'd like to pronounce it right when I introduce you.

Then it will be fresh in your mind, there'll be a decent chance of getting it right, and the speaker will know that you cared to consult them and try, even if you do end up screwing it up.


I will give the answer I have given a million times already on this forum: Communicate.

If you're unsure whether or not you processing the data will yield a co-authorship, write an email asking exactly this before you do the data processing. If the other side is an experienced researcher, then they will understand that as a postdoc you have many obligations to juggle and that you need to spend your time on things that will yield publications.

If you're unsure whether or not you will be expected to share your code, write an email asking exactly this before you start working with them. They may ask for it, and in that case you will have to discuss with them under what conditions you would be willing to do that. Or they may not even want your code and simply be happy to rely on you this time and in future times to do the data analysis in return for co-authorship.

In both cases, you can spend your day worrying and speculating, but you will never know the answer unless you simply ask what's on your mind. Communicate!


Definitions of IEEE RAS review "dimensions"

These terms all appear to be rather standard fare for aspects of interest in a technical peer review, so I think following any general peer review criteria (such as in this guide) would be a good start to your review.

Regarding the specific distinctions you've mentioned, you might consider trying to define the terms yourself and then reaching out to the editor for clarification (providing your inferred definitions as a starting point). Based on my own experience, I interpret the terms as follows:

Relevance to field: is the topic of the paper relevant to other researchers in this field? i.e. is the problem addressed by the authors of interest to the readers of this journal (or members of this society, whatever)?
Relevance of applications: are the applications of the presented work of interest to current practitioners in this field? Consider where the contribution(s) of the paper might be useful in practice, and if those applications are relevant given the state of the field.
Technical soundness: are the methods and analyses employed in this work appropriate for the problem, mathematically and logically valid, and properly executed?
Thoroughness or results: have the authors explored or addressed all of the relevant facets of the problem, or has something important been overlooked?


I like the idea of reminding people calling your package's citation to cite also (at least the important) packages you package relies on. (I even remind people of the citation function in my package's startup message).

However, for the actual implementation I see two viable ways. The less obtrusive and very easy to implement one would be to print a message
Please do not forget citing "biomaRt" and "grasp2db" as well as they really do the work for myPackage..

The second possibility would be to call citation ("biomaRt") and citation ("grasp2db") as part of your citation function. However, this may be less trivial than it seems as citation() is not only about printing the relevant information but it also generates citation objects. Thus, you'd probably want to assemble and return a list of bibEntrys.
The non-trivial point is that IIRC some bibliography functions ignore all but the first bibEntry for a package - while others don't and in addition, you'd want to avoid duplicate entries which users would get who automatically collect citation ()s of all loaded or attached packages.
Also, depending on how many packages your package depends on, the output of your citation () may be long and cluttered.

=> I'd probably go with printing a simple reminder.


When it comes to copy and paste, I'd certainly have a bad feeling. Paraphrasing/rewriting is the least you can do. In general, citing own publications is common practice. Citing your own publication in your bachelor thesis is therefore, in my opinion, completely okay.

Since the research published in your paper is actually part of your thesis, everything should be fine. But in your thesis you should be able to give even more detail than in a conference paper. That way you can reference your paper, showing that you published successfully, and then show your findings to a bigger extent.

Good luck with your thesis!

Edit: Almost forgot about your first advisor: Talk to him/her! There is no reason to feel bad for asking. Ask your second advisor for advice on how to talk to your first advisor.


Why don't we still have a good eInk reader device for research papers?

There are so many people in academia.

This is the crux: there really aren't. The kind of scale necessary to make electronic devices profitable is much larger than academia. There are about 2.5 million graduate students in the US, according to a quick google search. The sony e-reader sold about 800,000 devices and is considered a failure. About 20% of US consumers own an e-reader at all, but they might not like your specific device enough to spend $200 on it (graduate students are poorer than the average consumer, too). The likelihood that a device targeted at such a narrow market would approach anything like the necessary sales is very low.


Are not published workshop papers considered in similarity check for an extended journal paper?

Just water it down for the conference.  Basically do a version of your slides.  Also all they (likely) need now for the meeting is your abstract.  Send that in and figure out paper later.


Does a low score in mathematics on transcripts affect graduate admissions? (CS PhD USA)

In the US a doctoral application is based on a variety of things, including GPA and individual course grades in a major field of study. But letters of recommendation are much more important here than in some other places. They need to be from people who know you well and will attest to the high probability of your success.
You also need a good Statement of Purpose, stating your short and longer term goals and how you are prepared to achieve them.
But getting a MS in the US is probably not going to be an advantage for you since it is unlikely to come with any funding, though doctoral study (as a TA) normally does.
My advice would be to apply to several universities for doctoral programs. Make the search fairly broad, not just concentrated in the top ranked schools. But the admission committees will look at everything and some good things might help to overcome some other not as good things.


Can I use map, fold, filter in publications?

If you are writing to a computer science audience who would be expected to have a some knowledge of functional programming, then yes, these sorts of basic elements are quite reasonable to assume knowledge of.

If you are writing to an audience without such background knowledge, then you will need to explain what they are (and give a reference for more information) before you use them.


Reapplying for a PhD with a Master's degree

Since you, in part, ask how much this type of thing is frowned upon, I can provide a data point (or at least an anecdote). For the purposes of this question/answer I am going to pretend there is an absolute ranking of all U.S. PhD programs in my area (since you are concerned about moving to a "top" school).

The first PhD program I entered was one that does not even appear on the listed of schools that I typically see ranked by various reports. So let's say for my absolute ranking of grad schools that my first program was ranked not even in the top 100.

After a year (or 1.5 years) in this first program, I decided I did not want to get my PhD from there, so I applied to other schools. In the statement that I gave my advisor to help him write me a letter of recommendation, I included 2 reasons that I wanted to leave, which were basically the following

The program I was in did not match my interests. Basically the department was more applied-oriented (almost exclusively so) than I wanted to be.
I basically said that I wasn't a great undergraduate and that now that I had some successful grad courses under my belt, I wanted to re-apply to grad school and get to a better school.

After reading this statement, my advisor said almost verbatim,

"Please tell me you have not shown this to anyone else. You can't show this to anyone else without removing [item 2. from above]."

The major moral here is that there are reasons for switching PhD programs that will be perceived as legitimate, but prestige may not be one of them. I came from a liberal arts background with not much knowledge of the different types of research, and learned after a year in grad school that I was not in a location that would support my research interests. This is perfectly reasonable (in my opinion), and it was also plausible, given the department I was in.

I don't know anything about your field, but I imagine that if you enter a rather top-notch* program like Minnesota and then want to go to a different school to somehow start your actual PhD, I think you will cartainly have to explain your reasons for switching.

You want to go to the higher-ranked school for prestige? Probably this reason will not be well received.

You couldn't find a match for any of your research interests in Minnesota's department? Well, Minnesota is a great department that many tenure-track seeking new PhD's would love to work in. If you can't be a successful researcher there, what kind of researcher are you?

Of course I'm inventing the answers to these questions, and there are many reason's one might switch grad schools. But the point is that you should have a good (by some measure) reason for switching grad programs. If such a reason exists, I think there is nothing negative about changing programs, and I doubt getting into your second program will be more difficult with your Minnesota Masters degree.

*I'm assuming this department is perceived as top-notch based only on jakebeal's comment to the question.


What counts the most for admission to a MSc : Erasmus programme or summer school / research programme?

Erasmus program is evaluated in sense that you are capable of living and working in new surrounding and that you can integrate easily and adapt faster to school system of given country ( host university). This mean that your advantage in overcoming so called "cultural shock" and that you will not spent you MSc with loosing your time and nerves in adapting.
but EP  is not crucial and never been, many students that I know, enrolled in MSc without Erasmus experience,
If you want to pursue research oriented program ( which I highly doubt it exist in EU as a part of international MSc program, excluding UK) then Summer research program is desirable. I need to warn you, that quality of that research program and advisor on host institution needs to be appropriate.

As someone who been on both, erasmus and sumer research, I benefited more from summer research program, but I can thank to my advisor on that institution, also there are many examples where students found out that erasmus were more valuable experience than SRP, they felt like lab technicians during SRP. This you should avoid. Contact and inform well before going to that institution. I guess it is individual experience and each department or university that are in programs are not valued the same.


Effects of Game-based Learning on Motivation for Learning

I'm a higher ed instructional designer. Our industry is beginning to integrate serious games(a term that seems to be replacing educational games) and the principles of gamification into our courses, particularly those that are online. We know that K-12 students are using Learning Management Systems, mobile devices, and games to learn (whether formally or informally), so we are getting ready for them.

On gaming versus studying: A well-designed serious game and/or gameified learning environment IS studying. Instructional designers like myself who are present on a team developing a gamified online unit of instruction or course are there to ensure that pedagogical best practices are embedded in the content. I can't really answer a generalized statement about higher or lower incentives/motivation because no specific audience has been defined. Individuals, and their reaction to different types of curriculum, vary.


Can I use informal sources (particularly online sources)?

If your paper is on "real-world implementations of Bluetooth LE" then mailing lists on implementations of Bluetooth LE and manufacturers' documentation of Bluetooth LE products are your primary sources.  This is akin to e.g., a historian using Napoleon's informal personal correspondence as a source for information on his world.

Of course, you should consider where these sources come from in how you use them. If you read on a mailing list or forum,

  Bluetooth LE is the worst thing ever. Mine never works!

you would not use it as a factual source to conclude that Bluetooth LE is terrible. You certainly could use it as a source to indicate that some users have experienced frustration with early implementations of Bluetooth LE. (I cite bug tickets often in my own papers.)

Bad use of informal source:

  Bluetooth LE is not a good technology [1].

[1] "Let's all complain about Bluetooth LE here," Bluetooth User Forum, posted April 1 2104, http:/bluetoothforum/lets-complain, retrieved April 25 2014.

Good use of informal source as a primary source:

  Bluetooth LE users have expressed frustration with the technology [1].

[1] "Let's all complain about Bluetooth LE here," Bluetooth User Forum, posted April 1 2104, http:/bluetoothforum/lets-complain, retrieved April 25 2014.


What statistics should I disclose when giving grades to students?

I would suggest a mean, a standard deviation and some bands, e.g. Fail (<10), 10 - 15, 15 -20. Quartiles would also help, but two quartiles below the mean are not helpful. That should be more than enough. Personally, I discuss but do not report the percentage that fails and the maximum.