What are the minimum contributions required for co-authorship

Short answer: free authorship, also known as gift authorship, is a clear violation of research and publication ethics. The limit between “small contribution” and “no contribution” is not, however, easily defined; different fields put it at different levels.

I don't think the answer actually states that. It lists a series of contributions that are, in some field, considered important enough to warrant (in some combinations) authorship on resulting papers:

  they get grant money, they train you to use the lab, they train you to do statistics... or they might make suggestions for the research design, the main theoretical focus of the presentation / manuscript

All journals (or publishers) have policies or guidelines on how authorship should be determined. In all cases, it involves significant scientific or technical contributions to the work published. Authorship determination has to be weighted in each individual case, as no two situations are identical (and not simple rule of thumb can encompass all possible situations, as Peter Jansson highlights).

There are so many ways in which people can contribute to an intellectual work, such as a research project and academic papers. It happens that different fields of research have different habits in authorship determination, giving more or less weight to different types of contributions. My own background is in physics and chemistry, where authorship tend to be more generous that, say, computer science or mathematics. I'll thus argue two examples of what you (and some fields) may consider dubious basis for authorship, but which in my field would be considered fairly standard:

Getting funding. In this age, getting funding most often requires writing a grant proposal for a specific research program, with good and novel ideas, and convincing a tough crowd of other scientists (in a competitive environment) that your program is a good use of taxpayers' money. Thus, in most cases, the person who provides the funding also provides a clear scientific contribution: they identified an important problem to be solved, and provided a general framework for solving it. That's an important part of research! Identifying the right question to ask yourself is half of the job, it is known. (Yeah, I'm trying my hand at Dothraki style in academic context. By the way, thank you for reading so far down my answer.)
Supervising. Whether or not the supervisor actually provided the student with the research project in the first place, supervision implies guidance of the student, which is definitely a scientific contribution. The supervisor will, in many cases, provide a broader view of the field and ideas for related problems relevant to the research, scientific background, and advice on how to use one's research time most efficiently. All of that is highly valuable, and contributes to the publication.

(I've read somewhere “but the supervisor is paid for this, it's his job, so he shouldn't be awarded authorship” — that's plain stupid, pretty much everyone gets paid to do research, thus by that argument most papers would be authorless.)

In both cases, funding and supervising imply scientific contributions, which are the reason for authorship.


As long as you recognize that the prof isn't a mental health professional and don't expect her to go beyond her expertise, it would be fine to ask her for help. Especially if what you want is help in finding a proper therapist.

Professors (many, at least) try to be helpful and supportive in such situations, even though solutions are beyond them.

But it is probably a mistake to overload your relationship with her with personal issues. Separating the personal from the professional is normally the right course.

However, your university may also have an office that provides personal support and might also be helpful in finding a compatible advisor.

Finally, if sexual abuse is an issue, then you should think about other avenues so that it stops. Again, the university may be able to help if it is related to actions taken there.


What qualifies as a first generation college student?

This is an extremely reasonable question, and the short answer is: what qualifies a student as almost any 'special box' in academic forms is a bureaucratic nightmare of conflicting interests, fuzzy or non-existent definitions, and what can in the end amount to guesswork - to the point that in the end the answer is that it depends on who's asking. There are apparently no less than three definitions provided used by the Department of Education. It's a mess.

Ultimately the only answer I can give is to check with the organization you are filling out forms with (University or otherwise) to clarify what they mean. It seems like common undergraduate admission apps use the definition of birth/biological parent having ever attained a college degree, but undergraduate admissions is generally off-topic here, so I'd still advise you to check with someone like an admission's officer or official program materials to see what their definition actually is. This is true for all future readers, as this technical definition may change in the future.

Note that for scholarship or diversity statement-related purposes, regardless of the technical definitions used, you are encouraged to mention your specific background in your own words, so you are not restricted to exactly what they mean by their terms.

I realize translating academese/legalese of this sort is a challenge generally, but this happens to be an area that is unusually difficult because there is no settled consensus and the definition of terms, and how they are used as decision factors, remains a hotly debated political topic (all the way to The Supreme Court, in fact).

Good luck in your educational journey!


Is it customary to discuss novel idea in front of doctoral review committee?

I have been faculty in a program that did something like this. But the presentations were more open. Other doctoral students and many involved faculty.

Ideally it shouldn't be a problem. People should be able to give candidates advice after seeing what they are working on and thinking about.

However, if it is a problem, and you have reason to fear people will steal ideas and develop them before you can, then you are in the wrong university with the wrong faculty and I advise you to make a fast exit. It is really an unethical atmosphere if this does happen.

Back when I was a grad student we had a small seminar with a few students and some faculty. There were only six or so of us. But we discussed things pretty openly. There was no problem and no fear that there could be a problem.


At least for me, writing a research plan was very useful for my actual research. I found this article helpful: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2002_07_26/nodoi.4611149009600202486

The book "A PhD is not enough" has some good advice for writing research plans as well.

The introductory chapters to the book "An Introduction to Scientific Research" by E. Bright Wilson will probably be helpful to you too. Specifically the advice on literature searches is good. Start with general accounts (encyclopedias or survey articles), and then move to research papers. Advice from experts in your field is usually (but not always) helpful. Applying new methods to old problems can be fruitful, although in the long run it is better to be problem oriented; ie to aim to attack specific problems by whatever means necessary.

Polya has several books on problem solving that are quite good, but fairly general. "How to Solve It" is definitely worth reading, and "On Mathematical Discovery" is very interesting as well. You should definitely look at the first chapter of "Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning"---it's short and free on archive.org.

Another general piece of advice when carrying out your plan is to try to make a minimum working example/prototype. Avoid prematurely optimizing and instead cut the shortest path towards something that works. (Think like this: to get to high ground, always walk in the steepest direction; to prioritize the steps in your plan, look for the fuzziest parts, or the parts that would kill your argument.)

You'll probably waste a lot of time and explore a lot of dead ends, although later on that experience might prove useful.

If you feel aimless, try to discipline yourself to use a notebook and state your hypothesis explicitly, then record the essential facts of your plan to test your hypothesis/solve your problem etc. It's important to record your intentions and try to make your hypotheses explicit, so that you don't keep exploring the same dead end. Pretend you're doing lab work, even if you're not.

Anyway, these are a few things that I found helpful from time to time. Good luck! Keep at it :)


First and foremost your mental/physical health is the most important thing. I was in your situation as well, and did my studies away from home. Here are my thoughts hope it can help you:

Temporary break: It might be the case that you are just exhausted yourself. What about a short break? You could have a honest conversation with your supervisor and take a break.
PhD is not a silver bullet to all of your life problems: I see in your question that you are suggesting that "you are wasting time" or "bad social life". So is it the PhD or you? Are you organized and keep room for your social interactions? Or the PhD itself is stressing out to a point that you need to stick to your desk. You need to take control of your life, with or without PhD, we all have personal traits that might be good or bad; but this is what is life about. You need to learn and grow and create a life you want to be in.
Supervisor Issue: Based on your question, I doubt that it is your supervisor, but if you feel the need; you can always have a discussion with the head of your research group about your supervisor.
Schedule your Holidays: It seems your boyfriend is not with you and this is sad to you, so you could always schedule your holidays around the year.
Do Exercise: This is important, to keep you motivated; keep yourself in shape; go for a walk, go to your university gym. This will help you in physically and mentally.
Leaving PhD: After all these, if you still think you don't like research and/or PhD; then leave your PhD; it is your life and journey.


How important are independent undergrad projects in grad school applications for CS?

The short answer, at least in my opinion, is definitely to do the independent project if you're considering graduate school. But an important consideration is making sure it contributes to a strong application package.

If you chose to take the additional classes, their grades would be reflected on your transcript and in your GPA, and so there would be an objective measure of how you had mastered their content and in so doing had become a better candidate for admission.

If you do the independent project, you want to consider carefully how its results will be communicated so as to strengthen your application package. You might at some point discuss this with the project supervisor. If publishable output is a possibility, that's great, but I'm assuming that's unlikely. But if things go well (AFTER it's established that things are going well), you should approach your supervisor about providing a reference letter that you can include with your applications. You don't want to just have that project listed in your application alongside all your other classes; you want to be able to demonstrate how doing independent research as an undergrad made you more likely to succeed as a graduate student (thereby making it easier for the admissions committees to justify offering you a place in their incoming class).


Can I submit my mark sheets as academic transcripts?

Most universities realize final grades aren't available, and will usually accept an partial transcript showing what's been completed up until that time.

However, not all programs will be willing to accept "unofficial" transcripts such as grade sheets and printouts from the registrar's office. If there's a concern on this point, you should contact the specific departments and programs to which you're  applying and ask them for guidance.


How difficult is it to get an academic position in applied mathematics when your PhD is in electrical engineering?

How difficult it is to get a position in another field depends enormously on your specific interests and background.  Moving from electrical engineering to applied mathematics may be pretty reasonable, since there are some research areas that are widely considered part of both fields, such as control theory.  If you already work in the intersection, then you'll have some flexibility in your job search.  You'll have a much tougher time if you're proposing to change your research interests, or if you work on a topic that is not commonly studied in applied math departments, even if it could be.

A first test is whether you can find anyone with your background and interests in an applied math department.  If you can't find anyone, then it may be difficult to become the first.  (It could still be worth a try, but you shouldn't get your heart set on doing something unprecedented.)  If you can find such people, then you have role models.  At that point, you can start looking at the web pages and CVs of people who have made the transition.  Where do they publish?  How do they present themselves and their work?  Can you see any differences from people working in electrical engineering?  Of course you don't need to imitate these people too closely, but at least you'll have examples of what has been well received by applied math departments.  Some things can be adjusted on short notice, while others take time.  If you're a little further from fitting in, doing a postdoc in applied math may help bridge the gap.


Where to publish Ph.D. related articles in the IT field

First of all, you can of course submit your papers to regular conferences/workshops. Usually, you can have the choice between regular papers, short papers or posters (the last two categories are sometimes merged). You need to be careful whether the accepted papers will be published in the proceedings (sometimes short papers/posters are not), otherwise it might not count as a publication for your course.

Some conferences also organize a doctoral symposium, which is reserved for PhD students. It can be a good opportunity to attend a selective conference, and to do some networking with other students.

In order to know which conferences are the most suitable for you, the better option is to ask your advisors, they should know about that. You can also search on the web for "call for papers" with some keywords corresponding to your research field.


What options do I have when a journal refuses my paper based on 1/3 review by a non-relevant referee?

Half-joking, half-serious:

Next time you're having some beers with some trusted colleagues, tell this story and gripe about this particular journal. For one, it will blow off some steam. (Caveat: I wouldn't recommend complaining to people you don't know well, at least if you are junior.)

Moreover, in the long run, this is how reputations are built or lost. If your colleagues are as upset by your story as you are, then they might tell it to others, avoid publishing in this journal, and/or decline referee requests from this journal's editors. (Conversely, if your colleagues think you're being unreasonable, you might get some useful advice.)

This would have only a minor effect of course, but it would do more than contacting the publisher: in the long run, authors hold all the cards, as a journal is only as good as the papers that get submitted to it.


Do I have to cite sources for my opinion when it was formed by reading other people's opinions? (undergraduate)

I would reexamine what you mean by "agree with my opinion." Consider for example:

Einstein proposed the Theory of Relativity, which has been widely accepted by the scientific community and has withstood a battery of experimental tests over the last century [cite]. I agree that this theory is correct.

This last sentence is a little bit ridiculous -- your opinion is altogether irrelevant (unless you are an esteemed physicist). The is true in other fields -- saying you, as a student (or even me, as a professional in a different field), agree or disagree with Mark Twain or Charles Darwin or Thomas Aquinas is almost comical.
On the other hand, facts are facts regardless of who says them, and you are entitled to an "academic opinion" even now. So consider, instead, this much stronger paragraph:

Newton's laws of kinematics were widely accepted for hundreds of years, and have been experimentally verified many times [cite, cite, cite]. However, Einstein's recent work argues that Newtonian kinematics does not apply at very high speeds [cite]. Recent work with cathode rays [cite] seems to support Einstein's findings.

So in this case, you are clearly arguing that Einstein is correct and Newton is wrong (i.e., "your opinion" is that you "agree" with Einstein), but you do it with facts and logical reasoning, without ever mentioning "agreement" or "opinions."
Now you had asked specifically about making a choice -- what to do when experts disagree. Even in these cases, you can present your analysis without ever mentioning "agreement" or "opinions." Consider:

"Jones argues A [cite] while Smith argues B [cite]. While there is no clear answer, Adams makes a compelling case for B [cite], noting that _. Indeed, in light of Adams' arguments (particularly his ontological argument), Jones' position seems wholly untenable.

In the above, it is clear that you "agree" with Adams and Smith, and your claim that Adams' case is "compelling" is very much an opinion (one that you will need to defend in the paper). But you never use the words "opinion" or "agree," and the citations take care of themselves.
Nor are you limited to discussing others' ideas; you can also raise your own ideas:

"Jones argues A [cite] while Smith argues B [cite]. While there is no clear answer, the only verifiable evidence is the exponentially rising CO2 levels. Recent results [cite] have only strengthened this body of evidence. Given the extraordinary success of this prediction, Smith's position seems superior to that of Jones.

In the second and third sentences above, you are presenting your own, novel ideas or analysis, and there is no need to cite anyone. Again, you are very clearly agreeing with Smith, and you very clearly have an opinion, but you never use those words, and the citations take care of themselves.


Could writing a survey of the state-of-the-art in my field compensate for my lack of publications?

(I don't know anything about business school, nor much about academia outside of the US)

Three reactions:

Professors never have enough time. I seriously doubt they would be eager to read a long, unsolicited report from someone they don't know.
Further, a "review" type publication is not really research experience --  understanding a concept is different than being able to come up with and test new ideas.
On the other hand, if you do know what you're doing, a "review" of a certain field can be a nice service to the community. You could write it and submit it to a journal/conference or just post it on the arXiv. Then you would have a publication that you can list (depending on your timeline).

Assuming the goal is to get admitted, the best thing to do would be to get some research experience by working for a professor. If that's impossible, and if you really are qualified to do so, writing a "review" for publication couldn't hurt -- though it's a lot of work and will likely have only a little impact.


Publishing the same results at multiple conferences

Ask the conference organizers.

The ethics of multiple presentation, parallel submission, and multiple publication vary from field to field, and even from venue to venue within any field.  Only the conference organizers (aka program committee or steering committee) can answer definitively whether they would encourage, allow, accept, discourage, or forbid speakers to present results that have been presented before.

If the conference has an explicit call for submissions, read it carefully; it may include specific language addressing this issue.

One thing you should absolutely not do is attempt to hide the fact that you've presented this result before.  Do not seek forgiveness instead of permission.  Even if the submission policy clearly allows you to submit a previously presented result, you should make its presentation history clear when you submit.  If the organizers accept your submission even with this data in hand, you're clear!


Should I mention reimbursements for financial expenditures when first contacting tentative speakers for a workshop?

If you intend to cover expenses, I would suggest saying so up front.
Some invited talks cover expenses and some do not, so it's important information to include.

You've presumably picked these speakers to invite because you really want them there.  Stating in the invitation letter that you will cover expenses will let them clearly know how much you value their presence.  In particular:

Senior scientists, who often get a lot more invitations than they can accept, will know to take you seriously because you are actually offering to pay their expenses, and they are much more likely to say yes.
Young scientists, who often have had few such experiences, will likely feel flattered and important and be very likely to say yes.

Don't make a big deal out of it (that could make you look inexperienced and desperate); just note towards the bottom of the invitation that you will cover all reasonable travel expenses. That is signal enough.


I looked at the website of the American Economic Review and indeed they do not offer online purchase of single issues. What I would do in such an instance is contact the journal directly, preferably by calling them over the phone. Email inquiries about isolated requests of single issues notoriously tend to end up on the bottom of the endless pile. A simple phone call will likely provide you with the information you are after.

Also, I've obtained copies of dated issues on eBay and Amazon. Often a university's library empties its stock once in a while and their items appear on the market. This concerns older issues of course.

As a last, but worthy shot - Simply type in the specifics of the journal issue on Google and see what happens. Play around a little bit with notations (full journal title, abbreviated title, include the publisher, or not, etcetera).


What can I do about my institution taking a long time to correct a mistake in my transcript?

Wait

You should do nothing. The universities made a mistake and claim to be fixing it. Unless you have a reason to believe they will not fix it, then you should do nothing but wait.

Mistakes happen and it is unfortunate.

If you have a reason to believe the universities are not honest and will not fix the issue, then you should edit that reason into the question.


I don't think you have any right to restrict the usage of your publications. You might retain the original copyright (or your publisher will), and thus prevent that anyone else (including the army) can publish your work on their behalf, but you can't prevent someone to use your idea just because it's published.

A legal possibility could be to file a patent protecting your approach, but I'm not sure if it covers all usage or only commercial usages (in which case the army could use it as long as they are not making money out of it). You might want to check this with AskPatent.

You could also not publish it, and it could be possible to ask your university to consider your thesis as confidential (I've seen some cases where a thesis was confidential, when some companies were involved in them), but your advisor might not agree.


Citing works in a list without having read them

There are two answers that are not logically exclusive:

When you cite something, you should be reasonably certain that the source pertains to the situation and that you are representing its information accurately.
Many scholars cite materials they have not read closely, have read in parts, or that they have read through another source.

Usually, you need to read or at least consult a source in order to verify that your understanding of the source is correct.

For example, in my field (English), I read most texts I cite, since many texts are primary or archival sources that I interpret closely, or secondary sources that I engage with directly. I need a high level of understanding to respond to other scholars directly. However, there are some secondary sources that provide minor support to what I write. I skim, reading enough to understand the argument or to find the chapter or section I needed. I've never cited a source without at least looking at it.

In many STEM fields, the tendency is to cite more and with infrequent quotation. Especially in introductions or literature reviews, providing a representation of available knowledge is more important than responding to an individual author or argument. For many of these sources, the texts may have been read or skimmed, in whole or in part. For an article, they may only read the abstract and the results. How close they read those sources often depends on the level of specificity in their reference. Is it one of several works on a rat behavior, or are you indicating a specific result? At a minimum, I'd expect such authors to look at the source, even if they don't read in full.

In whatever field you're in, the presumption is that the cited fact or argument is accurate. So you are responsible for certifying that the information is accurate. If you use the source extensively, you should read it. If you use the source quickly, you should at least look at it and double-check its credibility, even if you don't read it in full. Don't rely on secondary summary alone. The Office of Research Integrity (a unit of HHS) has this advice in an article titled "Citing Sources that Were Not Read or Thoroughly Understood":

  The reader should note, however, that there might be instances in which the practice of citing sources that were not read may be acceptable. For example, an author may simply wish to point out a well-known discovery or theory and provide the reader with the original citation. When this is done without misleading the reader into believing that the author read the paper detailing the discovery and is thoroughly acquainted with its contents, then no real harm is done. For example, in a paper on intelligence testing I may want to refer the reader to the psychometric properties of the X test and write: “for a review of validity of reliability of X test see reference Y”. Although I am clearly aware that reference Y reviews validity and reliability for various intelligence tests, including test X, my citation of this work does not imply that I have read and processed its contents. I am merely aware that relevant material may be found in that reference and point the reader to it. However, if in a different paper I were to write that “Smith (1879) studied the effects of X on Y and concluded that X is as important as Z and both are critical causal variables in the incidence of Y” such a statement strongly suggests that my summary of the study is, in fact, based on my reading of that paper.

ORI rightly points out that whether and how closely you need to read it relates directly to whether I'm claiming an author addresses a general topic or whether I am specifying a result. If I'm doing the latter, I had better ensure with my own eyes that I've seen and understood that result. That is why they provide this general guideline:

  GUIDELINE 18: Generally, when describing others’ work, do not cite an original paper if you are only relying on a secondary summary of that paper. Doing so is a deceptive practice, reflects poor scholarly standards, and can lead to a flawed description of the work described.


How hard is it to get paid to do PhD in the US as an international student in engineering?

In engineering, the primary source of support for international PhD students in the US is:

10.4% via teaching assistantships
71.7% via research assistantships or traineeships
11.5% via fellowships or grants
Small portion via other sources (e.g. self funded, employer funded).

Source: Survey of Earned Doctorates, TABLE 35. Doctorate recipients' primary source of financial support, by broad field of study, sex, citizenship status, ethnicity, and race: 2014

In STEM fields in the US, both US citizen and international PhD students are generally offered admission with funding, which will be provided via teaching assistantships, research assistantships, or some combination of the above. US STEM PhD offers that don't come with funding are generally not worth accepting. So it's not about specifically trying to get funding, it's about getting a real offer of admissions (which should come with funding).


What, if any, are the quantifiable differences between a rhectoric/communication PhD from an English vs a Communcation department?

Yes. These two departments are very  different, and social scientists (and business employers)  will certainly think the English department version is inferior. I'm not in either field, but when I look at the research done by faculty in the Communication department on my campus, very little of it would be done by anyone associated with an English department. Communication departments study topics like implications of new Internet-based communication methods (Facebook, etc.) on stability of authoritarian regimes. AFAIK English departments would not be interested in such topics.

When looking at any department for a PhD, spend a fair amount of time looking at publications from its faculty.
The fact that you  might be interested in an online PhD suggests you are not planning on a conventional academic career, but rather want to pick up specific skills. What skills will you learn that have value in the job market? For technical communication, many employers will be looking for  people familiar with IT and digital media of all kinds. Words are often only a  portion of the communication content, so you need a department that looks way beyond text.

It's possible that there are some Communication programs inside English departments that are not at all like conventional English departments.  Perhaps I am biased - but most of the people  interviewing you for jobs after graduation will have similar biases.

I welcome contrary responses.


Role of positions' geographical diversity in (US) academic career perspectives

If you are just talking about the geographical role, rather than comparing things like great position at a world renowned foreign university versus a two-bit US institution, then it is true that it can be harder to get a US tenure-track position coming from foreign university.  The main reasons are (i) smaller schools are often less willing to fly in overseas applicants for interviews and (ii) (for positions with teaching experience expectations) it's advantageous for candidates to have experience teaching in a system comparable to the American one.  See also this recent answer from RoboKaren.  Another possible concern is that you get involved in some research niche which is popular, say only in Europe or Asia, but not the US, but this can also happen at US institutions.

That said, you shouldn't take these concerns too seriously if you find a position that you like, and these concerns don't play too much of a role for research universities.  However, consider the possibility that you may need to do another postdoc in the US/Canada to improve your chances of getting jobs at smaller schools where this may be an issue.

Addendum: The above was just in answer to the bold question, but not to the issue in the text about whether it is in some way beneficial to go abroad, say strictly for diversity reasons.  Here there seems to be negligible benefit, all other factors being equal, as the US already has a diverse amount of resesarch, and one can still learn from and even collaborate with foreign colleagues (at least in many fields) thanks to travel and modern technology.


Is it acceptable to mark off or comment on someone's presentation based on their non-standard English accent?

There are two ways to interpret the issue that is being raised. One is that the people simply have accents and not completely correct grammar in spoken English... but not to the point that it seriously impedes intelligibility. The other is that their English is so poor that it does greatly impede intelligibility.

The former is of little consequence, of course. The latter is a serious problem, in fact. It's not about bias for/against languages/nationalities, but about the context in which one operates. If one cannot communicate effectively, that's a minus. Even if/when people are "understanding", it's still not a plus, but a minus. Overcoming such an impediment should have a pretty high priority... as opposed to simply believing that such an issue solves itself in time. In particular, this will not happen for people whose English is sufficiently compromised that they spend nearly all waking hours with their fellow speakers, and thereby never practice the local language (as Dir. of Grad. Studies in Math. at my university on two different occasions, and participating in such issues for 35+ years, I've seen many cases).

In particular, outside of super-special cases, it serves no grad student well to have English be an obstacle. It will significantly obstruct their hiring on teaching-communication grounds, if nothing else. And, unavoidably, it reduces the impact of their portrayal of their research work.


Retake the math GRE... as a grad student, preparing to transfer?

Among elite and maybe even top-20-or-so math grad schools, many use the math subject test GRE as an easy, automated filter... even while recognizing to some degree that it doesn't really test what we'd like... because even after applying that slightly unreasonable filter, there are still enough good candidates.

So, yes, if you have a really-mediocre score, there would be advantages in re-taking.

But/and, as in comments, letters of recommendation are far more important once you've gotten past some initial filtering. The letters should be from people who can be believed to understand what a serious grad program in math is about, e.g., by having gone through one themselves, and they should say that you'll excel.

Meanwhile, in contrast to undergrad institutions, there really is no notion of "transferring" to another grad program in math. Nothing gets easier. You will be expected to have excelled in the year you've spent already, which it seems you have. You'd not get to really compete directly with people with fresh B.S. degrees, since, in effect, "performance/showing-potential" is prorated on what chances you've had, how much time you've had, to demonstrate it. This is reasonable, in many regards.

In summary: yes, re-take the GRE, to overcome initial filters. After that, it's about letters of recommendation, and (for me) your personal statement. That is, explaining that you got a late start (which can easily happen to sensible people) can account for some things. True, some admissions committee people might be looking for people who've "always known" that they wanted to do mathematics, but that can't be helped.


Are you required to trace back information on a subject to first publication for a citation on it?

I (as a mathematician) would use one of three options:

cite the most recent paper. This is what I do when I only need a reference to the topic and no particular result in detail; ideally, the most recent paper is a survey (or sometimes I pick the most recent survey), this way I can skip a lot of references in my own article saying, "see [xyz], and the references therein." This somehow implies that the contribution of my paper is related, but it is nowhere necessary to know the exact details of the results of that source.
cite the original source. This is rare in my case, because over the years people have added so much knowledge that citing the original works seems to be a bit out of date. I only do this when I really want to stress that this origin is important for my work in particular. As I said, this rarely happens. I am pretty sure that many people who cite the original source have never read the original source and just cite it "because you cite it."
cite some other paper(s) "from the tree" (as you call it). This is what I usually need and do, mainly because I need to refer to several different details from different sources. Then I have a reason for referring to an "inner node in the reference tree" (neither root nor leave), and I would only do that if I can give a reason, either only to myself, or even write in my own paper why I pick this particular reference.


How to manage an interview by videoconference?

Since I do much of my work by video link, I have some experience with the problems of conducting business over video-conference.

For permission, in universities it will generally be fine as long as you aren't disrupting the work of others.  If there is any rule regulating video, you should be aware of it (e.g., some non-university research institutions don't allow video-conference at all, and make very certain their researchers know).

For quality, I would guess that their actual requirement is not HD, but that they want to be able to read your expression as you talk. Here, the primary limitation is not your camera, but your network connection. The built-in camera for your computer or any cheap webcam will generally produce much higher quality video than you can transmit effectively.  Things to do to ensure a good connection:

Use a wired link (e.g., EtherNet) rather than wireless if possible, as your connection is likely to be better and more stable.
Use headphones and a microphone (cheap earbuds with a built-in mike will do): the headphones will prevent echo from your speakers, and the microphone ensures consistent pickup of your voice.
Different software provides different quality tradeoffs optimal for different connections:

Professional videoconferencing hardware (e.g., PolyCom), is nice if your institution has a room and you can get help using it.  Its learning curve is a pain, and it's not any better quality than...
High-end videoconferencing software (I've had good experience with BlueJeans), provides a fantastic quality connection but has brutal demands for bandwidth and processor power.  If I use it for more than ~2 hours on my laptop, it overheats.  Note that you don't have to buy this software: generally, only the meeting organizer needs to, and you can connect via a web link that they send you.
Skype is good for mid-grade connections: it provides nice video when given a consistently good link, but degrades badly if the link is inconsistent.
Google Hangouts is good for low-grace connections: its video quality is never particularly good, but it will get something through.

The most important thing is the high-bandwidth link: with a good enough link, Skype is generally sufficient within a continent.  For very long distance connections (where the limitation is lag and undersea cables) you may want to use higher grade software. If you can't get access to a place that gives a strong connection, arrange the connection for a time when you are likely to have little competition with others for bandwidth.  Early morning is generally best: during the day work activities consume bandwidth, and in the evening people are watching video.


Why are some courses described as "seminars"?

It depends on where you are located. In many english-speaking countries the word 'seminar' refers to a research talk.

In german universities a seminar is a particular type of course in which students are assigned some topic on which they have to prepare a report or a presentation or both (usually). Almost universally one aim of such a course is to let students develop their presentation skills and to give them an opportunity to engage with the literature.


Am I likely to be perceived as less successful if I start as an assistant professor at age 40?

I would say it depends. In the following question, JeffE resoundingly stated that age does not play into the decision whether to appoint somebody for an academic position. Yet, ETH Zurich (one of the world's premiere institutions in the technical sciences) even publicly states that they will rather not hire an assistant professor older than 35 (see the information box on the right).

Pragmatically, you may be a bit out of the norm. This may give you a small edge in some cases, and may be a small disadvantage in others. For every academic that is concerned about your age, there will be another one that values your industrial experience. I would say, if age is the only thing holding you back, then go and apply for assistant professor positions.

  Leaving a job in a research lab to start as an associate professor would in a way seem like a starting all over again.

Assistant professor isn't the same as associate professor. Both are not the same as "starting all over". In practice, in most places I have seen, professors on all levels are able to work quite independently, so none should be seen as an entry-level job. Assistant professor may be entry-level in terms of professorships, but it is actually a quite senior position in the wider context of academia.


What is a wise way and the right timing to inform a professor that supported you of your rejection?

I think: if I inform the professor right after I am aware of the decision, then I may hurt his/her feeling, because he/she was for me; if I inform him/her later, then the same concern takes place and I cannot justify why I procrastinated letting him/her know it.

You shouldn't worry about this at all:

Faculty members generally aren't particularly emotionally invested in these decisions.  For the students involved, they feel (and in fact are) incredibly weighty, but faculty members are involved in dozens of cases per year, so they get some good news and some bad news and it all averages out emotionally.
Even if this professor is unusually emotionally invested in the outcome, delaying reporting the result won't make it better.  They might end up feeling unhappy with the unfairness of life or the poor decision-making skills of whoever turned down your application, but they won't be upset with or disappointed in you, so there's no reason to worry or delay.

I'd recommend just letting your letter writers know when you find out, without stressing out about when or how you tell them.  You could just forward the rejection e-mail with a brief note (such as the "Many thanks for your support; unfortunately I did not succeed." suggested by iayork).


What to do when finding difficulty in resuming study?

Invoking Occam's razor here, the likelihood that someone is out to get you personally is probably lower than the likelihood that someone is just being lazy and/or slow to respond to email. Before lawyering up—a serious escalation—consider calling on the phone or even visiting the administrative office to see what's up. (I didn't get from your post as to whether you're in country or not.)

Regarding your comment about you having left the country—"absent but failed to let the office know"—that may be a serious offense on your part. If you studentship was terminated there's a good chance that you violated one of the policies of the university with your unreported leave and they terminated you for that. Email is easy to ignore; use other methods of communication to get in touch and verify what happened.

Lastly, make sure that someone is checking your mail at your registered place of residence in the country in question. If you're out of the country, they may have been trying to get in touch with you but you aren't aware of it.


Are papers presented special sessions regarded inferior?

Is this a co-located conference/workshop? Based on what I've been told by my adviser/post-docs (I'm also first-year CPE PhD), these types of places aren't where you want the bulk of your research going. You're better off aiming for a higher quality paper at the main conference - it looks better on a CV, and it's far more prestigious.


Should an undergraduate applying for academic internships switch to a multi-page CV from a one-page resume?

CV's are used more for people who have more experience in academia - as it includes publications, awards, grants, etc. As someone who is still an undergraduate student, I can't imagine that your resume should be more than 1 page - usually it is 1 page per 10 years of experience. I would suggest going through your resume and take out bullet points that could be considered "fluff". Stuff like "demonstrated leadership" and "increase efficiency within the department" do not show any actual accomplishments. However, it would not be a bad idea to have a CV on hand. As you probably know, resumes should be tailored specifically to each job, so I would highly recommend that you keep a master resume that details all your accomplishments at each job, and maybe have the "fluff" in there, but when you apply for a job, make a copy of that resume and tailor it specifically to the job.


Am I harming myself by doing a PhD in a less prestigious university than where I did my MSc if I don't want to stay in academia?

I don't think anyone will care, especially in industry, unless they are graduates of that more prestigious university and feel a superior attitude about it and let that overwhelm their interest for qualified candidates who can do the job they are hiring for (in which case you probably don't want to work for them anyways).

This all assumes that the lesser university is still a good research and learning environment and still lets you pursue your research goals. In the question you linked, that wasn't clear.

What might be important is that you have an answer to "why did you choose to get a PhD at this university?" which may or may not carry an additional implication of "...and why not at more fancy school?" You have an answer already (emphasis mine):

  Instead, I enrolled on an MRes + PhD programme ... in a subject I thought I was far more interested in.

That said, the networking potential of a particularly well-known school can't be understated. Still, it seems you already made up your mind. I wouldn't worry too much about that decision now that you've made it. You may be able to tap into your old networks from the previous institution when needed for a job, assuming people from that institution also move toward the industry you are interested in.


Should I anglicise foreign names of people/places/organizations in my research?

For anything that's not written in the Latin alphabet, use the standard transliteration from the relevant alphabet (e.g., "Vladimir Putin", not "Владимир Путин"). For people's names written in the Latin alphabet, keep the accents if possible. For place names, if there is a standard Anglicization, use that (e.g., "Cologne" rather than "Köln", "Istanbul" rather than "İstanbul"); otherwise, keep the accents (e.g., "Lübeck" and "Şanlıurfa").


Extra time when time is of the essence (U.S.)

Do current accommodation policies recognize a "special kind of tests"
  where "time is of the essence" and requests for extra time from
  students with disabilities can legally be turned down?

No.

For example, where I am, instructors receive a form simply saying, "Student X has a right to double time on exams". There is no sub-categorization made to that right, and no channel for instructors to pick or choose whether to honor it.


Sending multiple revisions to editor/referee

(a) No, I don't have similar tendencies. When I submit a paper for publication, I'm so relieved to have finished it (usually much later than I had planned) that I usually ignore it until I get the referee's report.  I usually have plenty of other tasks that need my attention because I had postponed them while finishing the paper. (b) As a referee, I don't mind getting an improved version of the paper provided it comes with clear information about where the changes are. I don't want to check the part of the paper that I've already read (and my notes on that part) against the new version just to find that nothing has changed in that part.


Making sure I'm in good terms with peer researchers and not making enemies

Starting a collaboration comes with commitments. If you work together with someone, you cannot just walk away, because the other members of the team have invested a serious amount of work, which might depend on your contribution. So usually the only thing you could do is to finish the project and avoiding starting a new one. The latter might be difficult, because people trying to exploit you can prove quite clingy. However, as I read your question, you are in a easier situation:

  In addition, we found out recently that there are other papers that solve this problem or part of this problem in a very similar way.

Face it, your project is dead. You might get a publication by applying your method to some variation of the problem, but this is neither good science nor good for your career in the long run. So cut your losses and do something else. Ending the project can also be used as a pretext for ending the collaboration, which apparently did not work out.

While you are certainly right that scientists are as selfish and petty as everyone else, quite often both sides in such a conflict feel exploited by the other side. If you tell your collaborator every idea that comes to your mind, while s/he thinks things through before communicating, s/he will think that you leave all the hard work to him/her, while you will feel starved of necessary information. So a collaboration can end in a disaster, even if all people involved behaved exactly as they expected the others to behave.


It's not really about if you have mentioned the work before (don't get confused by the instructions), but that the work itself was done before.  So stick with the past tense for the situation here.

In general*, the past tense is safer than present or future.  Probably 95%+ of the time you should be in past tense when writing a technical report.  And if debating, past or present (either might work), you are usually better off going with the past.  Only do the present or future if you know what you are doing as a writer and have a strong reason to change the tense.

*Caveat.


Do papers ever get published posthumously?

The paper

  Radcliffe, J. M. "Some properties of coherent spin states." Journal of Physics A: General Physics 4.3 (1971): 313

was submitted in 1970, published in 1971, and contains the following:

At the time of writing this post, the paper has 951 Google citations.

There is no hint as to the date of the passing of Prof. Radcliffe but it is the only publication by this author on MathSciNet; it is entirely possible that Prof. Radcliffe could have published in Journals not covered by MathSciNet.  The Mathematical Genealogy project contains references to a single John Radcliffe who graduated from University of London in 1967, but the general area of the thesis and the aforementioned work do not match very well.

Anyways, this is clearly an example of posthumous publication not done in collaboration.


Resource for learning about research funding system in the UK/Europe

Without any experience, and without knowing your nationality (from EU or not) and your publication track; I would recommend to ask from the institute you will be working for any available fundings. Most UK universities do provide some fundings for various projects they are involved in. The best way to do this is to ask your research group manager for any recommendation.


Do universities keep your college application materials, if you are rejected?

This would depend on many things, including the laws of the country in which the University is situated. I assume that in some places it is mandatory and others forbidden. In those places without such laws it probably is determined locally by the University itself.

I believe that in the US, many, if not most, college applications now are done electronically through an agency or organization with the applicant determining who can obtain the materials. For example, see https://www.commonapp.org. In such a case, the organization likely retains the materials, subject to the law, of course.

If you have a specific worry, about a specific University, you could ask them and get the correct answer, of course.


Should I Disclose Mental Health Conditions to a Potential Advisor Before Applying to the Program?

I fear flying.

Nearly all PhD students go to conferences.  They usually go there by flying.  There is no way to hide that you fear flying.  Therefore, I suggest disclosing so that your advisor can arrange for your to participate in conferences without flying.  Disclose before you enroll, and find out if your advisor can help you be successful before you enroll.

Should you disclose before you apply?  It depends.  If you can disclose in a way that shows you will be successful in the program (e.g. "Following treatment, my symptoms are improving so I expect my future achievements will be better than my past achievements...") that may increase your chances of admission.  Show you have a plan for success.  If you disclose and indicate you cannot be successful in the program, then you probably will not be admitted.  But why would you apply if you cannot be successful?

Anecdote:  One of my colleagues disclosed a fear of flying to me when he was a PhD student.  He is now an assistant professor.  He does fly from time to time.


I think both. Scanning lists of applicants within the electronic system, only the info entered is visible. Only when looking more fully at an individual file (as opposed to scanning aggregate lists of applicants) is the "custom" information visible. So it's good to take the trouble to be sure that the "entered" information is accurate, otherwise the CV itself may never be seen, etc.


Ws on transcript affecting admission to engineering masters?

While it is impossible to know what is in the minds of an admissions committee, I would think a few W's shouldn't matter much as long as your GRE scores are strong and your letters are positive. However, I would consider briefly addressing those withdrawals in your personal statement in a positive way (ie, you preferred another course vs you hating a course).

Basing this on a brief stint on a medical school admissions board in the USA.


How to tell a professor you've changed your mind?

As others have said, keep it short and straightforward. Like this:

Dear Professor,
Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, this list of courses is far longer than I expected. Given my other commitments, I'll probably not be able to pursue this further. Still, your response was very helpful in making an informed decision, thanks for taking the time.
--Name


How Might The Pedagogy Of A PhD Supervisor Differ From That Of An MSc Supervisor

I think that one of the largest differences between advisement of a PhD student and a MSc student is found in what the end goal of the degree in question is.

In my field (Math/CS), most MSc students are trying to augment their undergraduate education with a bit more experience and higher level topics. It is an extension of the undergraduate education. Yes, there is a research component, but that is not usually the main focus of the degree in my opinion. The focus is more on application of advanced concepts in an existing sphere of solutions.

On the other hand, a PhD student needs to learn to be an independent researcher. They need to be able to develop new and novel techniques, all with decreasing levels of guidance as they progress through the program.

Advisement of the respective degree programs would follow what I have outlined above. A MSc student should be aided in augmenting their existing knowledge; a PhD student should be guided towards independently led research.


How do I check the indexing of journals in databases?

Google Scholar is not a normal indexing service, in the sense that it does attempt to index only "trusted sources." You should be somewhat wary of any publication venue that advertises itself as being indexed by Google Scholar, since this is practically meaningless.

For INSPEC and many other indexing services, the service itself may have a list of indexed journals which you can find on their website. (See here for INSPEC's, for example.)

If your institution subscribes to the indexing service, you can check yourself if the journal is indexed there.


How to gain skills in project management?

Time management: I recommend to everyone the book Getting things done by David Allen. It is briefly summarized in different YouTube videos and is about personal organization and stressfree productivity.

Project management: For project management and a good visualization of your process (e.g. of publishing a paper) you might want to look into IT Kanban and use a real Kanban board or a software like Trello. If you work in a team on that project, look into Scrum. Also, shared calendars are helpful (e.g. Google calendar).

People management: For teams, it could make sense to use a team collaboration tool like Slack (or Mattermost).


Do graduate schools dislike when students take 5 years in undergrad?

You want to make a double major program, I don't know the issues in your university but here they still finish their own undergraduate degree in time and took their diploma, and in their extra year solely took courses of double major. So actually no extra year in the curriculum as a result.
Still, graduate schools demand explanations for an extra year. I have finished Chemistry (4 years) in 6 years in my university. First 2 years are simply filled with N/A or FF grades of retaken courses. I was unable to attend my classes and even most of the exams due to the economic reasons. Most of the time I had worked in places with more than 40 hours in a week, and sometimes 17 hours a day for most of the week.

In short, if you prove to graduate schools you applied, that you have an extra year not because of incompetence or other serious lackings, but due to living conditions or meaningful academic reasons; they will tolerate that. However, be wary of some schools which count your retaken/replaced courses as another course in your curriculum, so in their way of calculating your GPA might be worse.


Is it common for students to complain directly to deans, or for deans to review faculty's message to students?

As a tenure-track person who presumably has the goal of making tenure, you must fall in line with what your dean has prescribed as behavior commensurate with one of their department instructors. If you feel the student has violated some part of the institution's enrollment agreement or your syllabus, these violations should be enumerated for your dean. However, if the dean is talking about tone and messaging, then this is likely an issue of your dean feeling like one of their tenure-track folks are not falling in line with what is expected of a tenured professor at your institution.

This question--and any answer, frankly--is very specific to your institution and your dean's management style, unfortunately. At the end of the day, if you want to make tenure, you need to consider that your dean will be a powerful voice during tenure review. Even if you don't intend to speak to your students in the way that you feel runs counter to your personal understanding of best practices, I think anyone else would recommend that a tenure-track person ought to focus on behavior and strategies that would more likely result in a positive tenure review.

That means, unfortunately, that you must start sanding down parts of your puzzle pieces so that they're fit with the existing puzzle.


First try vs second try for PhD Qualifying Exam

It depends on how common it is for people to fail. In my department, somewhere between a third and one half of people fail on first attempt (but will utimately pass it). They use the first attempt to get a feel for the level of preparedness, and may choose to take it in a semester when they have covered the basic classes, but maybe not the last one in the sequence yet.

If so many people fail, then there is no stigma attached to failing (and we don't consider it negatively either). I would ask how that looks in your department.


To resubmit a rejected paper or to choose another journal? How to decide?

The main point to consider is probably that of success. The relevant questions here are:

Can you address the justified criticism?
Can you convince the editor or even the reviewers that the unjustified criticism is really unjustified?
Do you think that you can convince the editor to consult the opinion of yet another referee?
How much of the rejection is based on predominantly opinionated aspects, such as relevance and scope (e.g., “not enough physics”)? Apart from some exceptional cases (e.g., if you can actually add something to the manuscript that increases the relevance), such criticism is difficult to address.
Are the reviews criticising the same or different aspects?

Some examples:

You have three reports. All criticise a lack of relevance. They may or may not criticise other aspects. – Resubmitting is very likely a waste of time. Lack of relevance is a killer argument and most of the time, swaying a referee means convincing them that they erred in their assessment, which even in academia few people are capable of admitting. And you probably have to sway at least two referees. Moreover you have to convince the editor that you properly addressed the issues, so there will even be another round of review. It’s unlikely that the editor will consult additional referees.
You have two reports. The first one only criticises the lack of relevance but has no other major point of criticism. The second one finds the manuscript relevant but strongly criticises a technical aspect, which you can address. – The second referee can probably be easily satisfied. Unless the first referee has overlooked something essential, it will be difficult to sway them. However, the referees are one-to-one on this matter and by addressing it, you may convince the editor. Another possibility is that the editor consults the opinion of a third referee.
You have two reports. Both are negative but outrageously sloppy: For example, they criticise claims you never made, base their criticisms on misunderstandings they could not possibly have noticed as such or ask you to discuss alternative approaches which you did already discuss. – You can easily address the criticism and possibly sway a referee that is more awake during the second round. If you make your case clear, you may also convince the editor to consult new referees.

Another aspect to consider is that of time:

If at least some referees will be used again in the second round of review, this round is usually going to be faster, as it reduces or eliminates the time spent on finding appropriate referees and waiting for referees that decline to review. Moreover a referee that is already familiar with a manuscript needs less time to review it.
If you manage to convince the editor that some of the referees from the first round were not properly doing their job, this may lead to a speed-up of the next round.
If a major hurdle is the editor accepting your rebuttal, you waste little time if you fail, as such a decision usually happens quite quickly.
Depending on the constraints of alternative journals, submitting your manuscript there may require some rewriting work.

Therefore, even if you consider a resubmission to be less likely to succeed than a submission to the next journal, it may result in the least average time to publication.

Finally, you have to consider the number of journals that exist on the desired level and that are appropriate for your manuscript in terms of scope, length and possible other constraints. If there are only few such journals, you are more likely to exhaust your options and thus resubmitting is more likely to be worth the effort and time.


How do you deal with many many authors for many sections and equally many subsections in a collection?

In most cases, one of the following possibilities would be appropriate:

Cite the whole book, e.g., like this:

  A. Smith and B. Doe (editors.), Recent Advances on Synthetic Materials (Springer, New York, 2014)

Your citation manager should provide a data type for this (in BibTeX this is BOOK). In this case, you only give the editors and not every single author.

You should only cite a whole collection for purposes of providing a broader scope for your work, e.g., in the introduction.
Cite one article, e.g., like this:

  C. Foo and D. Bar, Synthetic Materials and You, in Recent Advances on Synthetic Materials, edited by A. Smith and B. Doe (Springer, New York, 2014), pp. 123–145.

Again, your citation manager should provide a data type for this (in BibTeX this is INCOLLECTION). In this case you give the authors of the relevant section and the editors (depending on the journal style).

This is what you should do if you are referencing a result or similar from an article in this collection.

  If you were to take on the task to incorporate every author for his/hers contribution, how would you do that?

Even if I somewhat came to the conclusion that (contrary to the above) citing every author were appropriate, I would not implement this, simply because no journal, supervisor, etc. will print or accept such a citation and it would be a waste of time.


Can I apply for a masters degree in Canada with a three years bachelors degree from India?

In most international universities the requirements for admission generally specify that the candidate should have passed out of a recognised institution with an undergraduate degree and do not impose the duration of the undergraduate course. However if there is an age barrier you can do an internship for a year.

It is very unusual for universities to question the duration of the undergraduate course, please verify your source and you should always contact the admissions office of the universities through email to enquire about such matters, after all they are here to help and most enquiries will get a response within 24 hours.


Is a Master Student ready to be a Review Editor?

A Review Editor is a relatively low-stakes position, particularly if the journal already boasts some degree of prestige. Most journals publish various genres of scholarship. The title here refers to one of the lesser-known classifications of peer-reviewed publication: book reviews.

In similar fashion, academic conferences comprise various kinds of panels and time slots. You may be invited to share your extensive and fascinating original research in a ninety-minute panel discussion wherein you are the sole presenter. Or you may be accepted to the conference in combination, grouped into a panel with three other academics whose research aims match yours, or because your various conclusions seem to inform one another, or because all four of these hypothetical research efforts will likely appeal to a common audience segment (for example, an analysis of a budding marijuana industry may fit nicely paneled together with an exploration of the hidden meaning in children's cartoons). Some dedicated scholar will accept an offer to keynote the event, an honorary and certain center of attention. And some presenters will merely stand in the hallway with posters that compress their meaningful researches into two thousand square inches.

For peer-reviewed journals, book reviews are the poster boards of our publication-dependent life. Some scholars publish original research; others synthesize previous scholarship, often applying common wisdoms from earlier eras in analysis of some recent event or phenomenon. Some scholars read lengthy academic texts from other scholars--noticed works that show early indication of high impact--and review the book along a pretty standard range of criteria. The review editor (typically there's only one) offers copy edit and review for these submissions and recommends a certain number of them for inclusion in the journal's upcoming volume. (I hope no former or current reviewers of academic texts feel slighted here; I certainly intend no insult.)

Of course, your question was, "Is a master's student ready...?"

I suppose that depends on the student. I've met more than one instructor who began teaching university courses before completing undergraduate study. (No, seriously. Singly-assigned as instructor of record and paid a lecturer's wage.) If this response has helped you garner a sense of what you'd be stepping into, and if that doesn't sound dull, or terrifying, or somehow jointly meaningful and thankless, then give it a go. Sometimes I worry I'm too afraid of not winning some award or notoriety at a task and I let thoughts of prestige or career steal away interesting opportunities.

If it were me, I'd take it. I don't think I would spend too much time considering the offer an honor, but I think I could probably collate the reviews of impressive books and assess them according to a rubric that's already been hashed out for me. Then I'd see if I could somehow parlay it into earned credit toward my degree.


What do you need to work in administration at universities?

Usually you apply for these types of bottom- and mid-tier positions through the human resources (HR) departments of the universities. This is the same in the UK or the USA.

If you search on the HR website, they will give jobs and the requirements for those jobs. For example, the first example below is a job posting that I pulled from the University of Illinois HR department's website. You will note that it requires a high-school degree or GED. This is rather typical. When I last hired a staff person, we required an Associates degree or equivalent work experience. The "equivalent work experience" allows us to hire people without an AA degree if we feel that they have enough skills even without the credentials.

The second example below is from Cambridge University in the UK. It notes that you must have at least A levels for this position.

Note that many universities in the USA have union contracts for their clerical and technical staff. This makes applying for jobs as an outsider very difficult because the union contracts usually stipulate that jobs are first filled from job pool candidates (i.e., union members). This may likely be true for the UK as well.


Polite message for my supervisors who do unfair things that would totally leads me to lose my study

If things are as you describe there is likely no help for you on this site. Ultimately, you need to make your supervisor(s) happy with your work.

I can see elements of misfeasance (lack of doing the job properly) here, but we can't solve that. An email, even if polite, isn't going to solve your problems.

If you believe that your advisor hasn't properly guided you and is now abandoning you, then you need to deal with that locally. Either by working out a better (closer) relationship with the advisor or making an appropriate complaint to local authorities.

But even if you make a successful complaint, it won't get you any closer to a degree and might get you farther away.

The question I would want to ask of the advisor is about what you need to do to earn the doctorate. If you can get a plan, a written plan, and it is reasonable, then just do that and move on.

You attribute bad motives to both of your advisors. That may be true, but it may also be a problem. If the second advisor is just "devil's advocate" it can actually strengthen your work, as long as that is all it is. Saying that your advisor doesn't want a written record may be true, but if true is a serious allegation. If I were adjudicating your case, I would question that sort of statement.

Look first for a path to completion. If that is impossible, then an MS/MA may be all you can reasonably achieve in this situation. If it allows you to go on afterwards it may be good enough, though clearly not ideal. But find out, if you can, what it would take to make the advisors happy. Make sure it is clear and in writing.


Slides for 30 min~1 hr Skype tenure track application interview

Before we decide to bring faculty candidates to on campus interviews, we would like the search committee or department head to have met the candidate before. This used to happen primarily at the major conferences in our field for any candidates that we did not already know. Now it can sometimes happen alternatively in videoconference interviews. These will generally last about 30 minutes, but are planned a bit longer in case things go really well.

You should absolutely not have slides prepared, and you should not be tempted to refer to slides to answer questions. The goal here is to see how you interact spontaneously with other academics, how you talk about your research, how you talk about your career goals, etc. We are absolutely not interested in a canned presentation. In fact, we would prefer that your answers do not sound too well "rehearsed" or "coached" at all!


First year Math PhD student; My problem solving skill has been completely atrophied and continues to decline

I think it’s not a coincidence that the timing of this decline matches up with the pandemic.  A lot of people are really struggling right now, I feel like I can’t do math as well as I could a year ago.  In this post it sounds like you’re being really hard on yourself.  Counterintuitively I think a big part of what might help is being more compassionate with yourself.  It’s ok that you’re struggling, and it’s ok to just not solve some of the problems.  Research math mostly involves failing to solve problems most of the time, so it’s really ok to just not answer some of the questions and get used to that feeling and be kind to yourself because they’re hard problems.  You can always come back to those problems next year.  I guess what I’m saying is that you also want to develop the skill of giving up on a problems as well as the skill of solving them.  The former is perhaps more valuable in research than the latter.


How to approach a student with bad hygiene?

I think honesty is the best policy.

We had a pupil at school who also had a really bad hygiene issue, his body odor was horrendous. As an example, once another pupil squirted yogurt at him and it got in his hair, it was still there days later!

It turned out he had no sense of smell. A teacher noticed the problem and told him directly 'I think you have a bit of a body odor problem, most people shower every other day' Or words to those effect.

It turned out that he was actually grateful (after the initial embarrassment of course) and to this day his friend will gently remind him if he is a bit smelly.

If you feel a bit uncomfortable saying it directly maybe you could try to find out more about his home life. Surely his parents would tell him to shower more?

There could be a benefit on both sides if you tell him directly, it may make it clearer that you are his teacher and he is the pupil, it will probably reinstate some boundaries and reduce/stop the unwanted interaction.

Obviously I don't recommend saying it in front of anyone and I can see a problem with you calling him into your office alone, but there is bound to be a time when you happen to be alone together such as after class or something. Or you could wait until he brings up the subject about having low self-esteem, you could also have this conversation with your colleague who has previously spoke to him and maybe they could broach the subject with him. But as said above by having the conversation yourself you may eliminate any romantic feelings and reinstate the teacher-pupil relationship.

Also you have to remember that your role as a teacher is to make sure you give every pupil all you can for them to succeed. His poor hygiene is in no doubt holding him back and will do so in the future; can you imagine if he turned up to a interview like this? If he was struggling in class or under-performing on his projects you would pull him to one side and have a word with him, so pulling him to one side and having a word about his hygiene/odor is really no different when you get over the initial embarrassment.


Can I pay for an exam greater than A-level in the UK?

Speaking about education in the UK generally, the answer is probably no. The A-level exams correspond to qualification level 3, and anything above A-levels is considered higher education: bachelor degrees cover Levels 4-6, master degree is level 7, and doctorate is level 8. I do not know any HE provider in the UK awarding HE degrees by examination only.

Having said that, the Open University provides many courses using distance learning, which do not require students to attend the campus, except for a couple of short periods each year.


What is the standard scientific conference poster size and quality?

Conferences should tell you what poster size you should use - the ideal poster size is 'one that will fit on the poster area assigned to you by the conference, without being too small'.

Normal paper is a bit lightweight for travel, most of my conference posters have been printed on thicker paper (which may have been photo paper; generally, I've just gone to the campus printing facility and asked them to print the poster, with no input from me as to what material the poster should be printed on). I've seen a few posters printed on flex, and while it's something of an unusual choice in my field, I can see the benefits in storage and transportation.


Can I get in trouble if I submit my own paper as a sole author while employed as a research fellow?

As @Richard Erickson said in a comment, the answer is specific to your university and your contract. Here's the steps I would take if I were in your shoes:

Firstly, read your employment contract. What you're looking for is any language about intellectual property and the results of research. In the comments you mention patents and profits from patents, but that's irrelevant here. If it is specific to patents then it doesn't apply to anything that's not a patent, such as a conference paper. Assuming your contract doesn't unambiguously say that the university owns the IP...

Secondly, go talk to your university legal department. Do not cast this as a dispute. Simply tell them that you were reading your employment contract and wanted clarification about what the university's policy around IP is. Inquire over email, or get them to send you an email confirming their position if you wish to talk in person. If they tell you that their position is that you own the IP to your work, then you're golden. If they tell you that their position is that you don't and you think that your contract doesn't support that claim...

Thirdly, consider hiring a lawyer. This can be expensive and can be a massive waste of time if you're wrong about your contract (lay people generally are, compared to lawyers). Deciding if this is a worthwhile step is a personal decision based on a lot of factors I don't know.

If your university owns the IP, you're likely stuck. Your manager is most likely the person who the university has selected to approve you publishing things, and that seems like a non-starter. If he has a boss who reads your work and is "really in charge" then it might be the boss, but whether you're likely to get anywhere going around your manager depends a lot on the social dynamic.

It's also possible that you can get him to disavow the IP, but I don't really know enough about the details of contracts to comment much on that.


Part-time work and extra-curriculars on Master's application CV to explain an average GPA?

Your GPA is already just one metric that may be considered in an admissions process. If you're asking whether your extracurricular activity (employment included) will be considered enough to counteract a lower-than-expected GPA, then the answer is likely No, as it's much easier to compare applicants using quantifiable values than in terms of time spent on non-academic pursuits.

Perhaps the more important consideration is how the outside activities and work influenced your development as a student. Some of these can already go on your CV, especially if your work has any relation to your studies at all. Sometimes it's enough just to prove you can accomplish self-defined goals or learn quickly. Any accomplishments you can note on your CV can be helpful. Noting that you've been part of a sports team won't directly account for a low GPA but it hopefully improved you as a person - if it has occupied such a large part of your time that you believe you would have had a higher GPA otherwise, then perhaps it's worth mentioning elsewhere in an application, such as the cover letter.

The extra-curriculars don't matter on their own, but if they're relevant to who you are, they may be selling points on a grad school application. Your accomplishments as a student will still be the primary focus.

See also this previous question: Do non-academic extra curricular activities matter for grad school applications?


What courses should I count when calculating my GPA in major?

If no specific guidance is otherwise provided, I would include additional courses in the same department as the major. The reason for this is that anybody looking over your transcript will assume that, unless the course is clearly marked as a graduate course, it's probably a requirement for your major.

That said, we're also not likely to check your math unless there's a gross error, and we're not likely to sweat a few hundredths of a point difference.


If a reviewer comments that the overall writing needs to be improved will they reject if some errors remain?

First:  If you know your paper has grammatical or spelling errors, you must fix them before you submit the paper.  Otherwise, you risk wasting the editor and peer reviewers' time, which would be unethical.  Remember they are volunteers with other responsibilities.
If you did submit a paper that was perfect except for spelling and minor grammar errors, it usually would not be rejected.  Most journals make their decisions based on research content, not cosmetics.  Most journals employ a copyeditor to fix cosmetic errors the authors cannot fix.


Effective reviewing in top tier Computer Science conferences

Anecdotal evidence: IEEE ICDM used to demand that all reviewers hold doctor titles, so there were no PhD students in the Program Committee. Then, in one particular year, all PC members were asked to review 17 papers (instead of the promised, and usual at ICDM, batch size of 8-10 papers), in a reviewing period of 16 days (including weekends). That did not lead to high-quality reviews either, and as additional fallout damage, several PC members declined the invitation for next year's ICDM, amplifying the problem.

I am not aware of any reasonable solution from the point of view of conference organizers:

If we put criteria on reviewers, then fewer reviewers will be available, so the available reviewers must each do more work, which reduces their availability for other conferences.
IJCAI this year asked their area chairs to rather aggressively desk reject papers: about half of all papers were filtered out before reviewing even begun. This decreases the load on PC members, but increases the load on area chairs, and it will inevitably increase the already unacceptably high variance inherent in the reviewing process: not all desk rejected papers will have deserved to be desk rejected, which is very unfair on those authors.
ICLR does open reviewing, which means that reviews and reviewer identities are published on the internet. Since people know that their name will be available along with the review they wrote, only those people that know that they can invest a substantial amount of time will accept a reviewing invitation. This means that the reviewer pool will be smaller, which increases the load on individual PC members...
If a conference were to monitor the performance of reviewers, and would somehow* manage to evaluate the quality of the reviews, then what? Suppose that PC members do a bad job. Do you kick them out? Then we have even fewer PC members to complete the job next year, increasing the load on the other PC members...

*how would we do this, though? Should the area chairs assess this? That would massively increase the workload of area chairs, which is probably not a good idea given the overload problems the rest of this post outlines.

As a scientist who tries to publish papers, I see two solutions on how to deal with the problem:

Grow a thick skin when receiving conference reviews and trust that in the long run, the bias towards good papers will outweigh the variance in individual conference decisions.
Submit your paper to a journal instead; if your papers gets an unjust bad review for a journal, you can at least discuss with the editor.


Will working with a less involved supervisor hurt a student's career?

The minimum you need from an advisor is to (a) sign your dissertation, and (b) write you a good letter of recommendation. Everything else can be helpful, but whether it occurs or not depends on too many things like personality, time, field, etc.

Whether a "helpful" or "hands off" advisor is better for you depends, again on a lot of things, but primarily on you and your field. But that really only matters up to the point at which the dissertation is ready to be signed and submitted. Some people, actually, have a better grasp of their research problem than their advisor and don't need any assistance. Others work closely together with the advisor on carrying forward on the research. Either can work, either can fail.

A close "working" relationship can fail if the advisor dominates the student too much, not leaving them time to develop proper insights in the field, or forcing them into work on something the student doesn't find interesting.

The only serious problem arises when the student truly needs help and the advisor is unable or unwilling to give it. There are quite a few questions on this site exploring that problem.

But you would like your advisor to be "hands on" for a few years after you finish your degree to help you along with your career. This can be in writing letters, of course, but also in introducing you to her/his circle of contacts, perhaps at conferences and meetings. That is when it can really count.

Ultimately, if you want to succeed, especially in academia, you need to become your own guide and to be able to guide others. An advisor can help bring you to that point either by helping you directly, or by just letting you work and then giving you feedback so you don't get too far off course.

My own advisor was helpful when he needed to be, but otherwise let me explore the problems I was working on in math.


Is it ethical to submit to a journal if I know the editor-in-chief?

There are no ethical concerns about submitting. If there are any ethical concerns, they are completely on the other side. The editor should make some arrangements so that people are treated fairly in the interest of good scholarship. The normal way would be for them to pass all decisions about your paper to someone else.
Editors know a lot of people. Being named an editor shouldn't close out opportunities for those you know and have worked with. But care should be taken so that the process is fair and transparent.
Stepping aside also avoids the possibility that you will blame your "friend" if the paper isn't accepted.


How to deal with email unresponsiveness?

Adapt the communications structure to the situation at hand.

A request for a video/call conference should be sent alone, especially if your researcher seems to disdain long e-mails. In the 1st such live communication, clarify with him whether it will be pointless to send him long e-mails, and whether instead you will communicate live, mainly through video/call conferences.


This will vary by institution.

Post-doctoral fellow, at least in the US, is almost always a temporary position to bridge between grad school and a faculty position. Some funding agencies (and therefore some universities) require that post-docs received their PhDs within the past 7 years.

Research associate can mean almost anything. At MIT, senior research associates:

  "possess a demonstrated research competence equal to that of a tenured faculty member...Appointments are of indefinite duration and are to be reviewed within every five-year period"

So, a potentially permanent, but untenured research position with qualifications parallel to the tenure track. In other contexts, this can be a temporary position granted at any level.


Reusing content in papers, conference preceedings and lecture notes

Research ethics: At least around mathematics, self-plagiarism is defined much more narrowly than plagiarism. Essentially, in order to self-plagiarize, you have to write a paper that contains no new results whatsoever (compared to your older work); just having some overlap is not a problem. Verbatim self-repetition is not regarded as problematic (although it will make people think you are lazy or a bad writer) as long as it does not pretend to be new material. Repeating research papers in lecture notes or textbooks is not considered wrong.

Some even take the point of view that publishing the same result many times (first sloppily, then better, then really well) is legitimate; see Rota's "Publish the Same Result Several Times" advice. (Note: This advice is probably controversial, particularly these days, when there are few "obscure" journals, and when there is no reason to publish a crappy draft when you can just post it on the arXiv. But a second publication that subsumes and improves on a previous paper won't usually be considered improper. Also, you can publish a draft of ongoing research in conference proceedings and then re-publish it in a proper paper; that's what conferences are for.)

Copyright: There is, as always, a noticeable disconnect between what is legally required and what is actually done. In terms of the former, there may well be problems. In terms of the latter, you shouldn't worry. Unless you copy and republish a whole book, no one will sue you. (And even annoyances such as takedown requests to your university tend to be rare -- and don't always correlate with actual breaches of copyright.) Academics disregard copyright six ways from Sunday; if they suddenly started to care, research and teaching would probably slow down to a grind for a year or so until the most important sources are rewritten and published as open content. You should almost always ask yourself "what will the reader think", not "what will Elsevier think", at least if you are planning to get hired by academics rather than by Elsevier :)


Etiquette for a very short lab visit by a PhD student?

Ask your supervisor for some advise, he knows his former colleague and can probably give you some insight into how to "get the most" out of your visit.


What are the important questions to ask during an interview for an adjunct lecturer position?

Some other things you may want to ask, but unfortunately will probably be able to guess the answers to by yourself:

What is the compensation per period/credit? (I waited to ask this until after the whole interview, and it turned out to be so far below minimum wage I almost laughed when he said it. Thank goodness I caught myself.)
What is a typical class size? (To know how much grading you'll have.)
Do you have any materials from previous lecturers that I can use? (Save prep time)
Will I have access to a TA/student grader?
Are these traditional or non-traditional students? (You may be able to infer the student commitment to your classes with this answer)

It would also be a good time to ask about resources, parking, if you get an office or anything, and other administrivia.


Is a PhD useful if you are interested in a career as a staff researcher, not leader of your own research lab?

Looking at your situation, I would say that if you have no intention of teaching and no interest in conducting your own research, a doctorate may not be the best use of your time. It might be better to earn your BS and get some experience under your belt.

That said, a PhD might help open doors in some really cool labs / companies / universities. There may be some jobs that require the terminal degree.


Is second authorship good for an undergraduate student planning for masters admit?

Any research experience is good for an undergraduate in the US, and likely elsewhere. Don't worry about author order too much yet. The doctoral student probably has a good claim on first authorship in any case.
But a publication on your CV is definitely a positive thing. Most people in the US start a MS or PhD with little or no real research experience.


Cite or reformulate perfectly formulated sentences?

Yes, you should use quotation marks for direct quotes unless you use some other clearly expressed convention for quotes. Bolding doesn't naturally imply quoting. With quotes you may still want to bold the text, or not.
Also, your "citation" is a bit weak if it only points to the book and not to a particular place within the book.


What are the consequences if I cut ties with my former PhD supervisor?

ad 1) Once you have graduated and you are not employed in the lab anymore nobody can force you to do work.

That being said there are a few options for you that might be interesting (but it depends what you actually want):

If you are interested in a publication record then agree with your
former PhD supervisor that you co-author all papers you gave support
for (even if it was only an email or two).
If you are interested in    the financial aspects then write him a
friendly email saying that you    would be happy to further help if
you are being employed an paid by    him (e.g. on an hourly basis using standard market freelancer rates).

ad 2) He will not be happy (but this is not your problem). If you do not plan any further academic career there shouldn't be any real consequence. If you plan an academic career then (1) see the first point above (2) he might be on certain panels about funding/positions etc (3) he might be reviewer (4) he might have friends in points 2 and 3. But if you do not plan to continue in academia then these points do not matter to you.

In any case I would recommend not to just stop answering but write him a clear email with whatever decision you make (and then stop answering if you want).


I'm not familiar with such a tool. But, if you reading an article on a scientific website such as http://www.sciencedirect.com/, a list of recommended or related papers will appear on the right hand side. Some of these recommended papers are very related, cited or been cited by the article you are reading. Google Scholar will list all papers that have cited a certain that too. I hope this helps.


Should I take consent before listing referee names?

No. You do not need consent from them. There is no convention to do that.
Usually, the whole peer review process is an anonymous one, with the selection of reviewers occuring at the editors' full discretion. The editors have various channels to find suitable reviewers, and they usually do not tell the reviewers (nor the authors) how they came across them.


Because of past conflicts, I don't believe my advisor will write me a good LOR for postdoc positions. What should I do?

Once it became clear that you were not going to follow your advisor's advice on important issues, it might have been better to switch advisors to one you could work with. Instead, you continued, in effect, without an advisor. The limited meeting time, slow e-mail response, and requiring you to draft the LOR all suggest to me an attitude of "Why waste my time giving advice that won't be taken anyway?".

You cannot be sure he is lying about having other people draft their own LOR unless you have talked with every person for whom he has ever sent one. He may feel he knows some students well enough to write an LOR from scratch, but needs a draft for others.

The best you can do at this point is to write what you consider to be a reasonable LOR and give it to your non-advisor.


Do Nature journals wrongly claim copyright in their published pdfs?

Given its position on the page, and in light of the details you posted, I suppose (as is speculated above) that the copyright applies to the document presentation, not its content. Of course, IANAL, and you might very well learn more at the law.SE.


When to make thesis available for public access?

Unless your university has a policy that explicitly forbids it (which would be very strange), you should feel free to post your thesis online as soon as it has been officially submitted and accepted.


How to prepare for the job market during a (pure math) PhD

Here are a few things that might benefit both your PhD and your preparation for the job search:

Communicate with your advisor. Setting goals and making plans with your advisor will help align how you measure the success of your graduate experience. You can also report to your advisor about your progress towards these goals; accountability goes a long way. Finally, your advisor can help you prepare for and find a job in industry, but only if they know that's what you want to do!
Code and compute. If you don't know how to code, take some courses and learn how. If you do know how to code, keep improving your abilities. Computing is a valuable skill for research, since examples will help you make sense of new ideas and constructions. In industry, computing will be invaluable. As a mathematician, employers will want to hire you for your analytical skills. These skills will be much more useful to them if you are comfortable gathering, producing, analyzing, and communicating data that they care about.
Connect. If you have the opportunity, do an internship in industry. You may find things that you like or dislike about working outside academia, and you may gain new insights into your academic work. You should also try networking. For better or worse, who you know makes a big difference in finding jobs. Your advisor might have some contacts in industry, or your university might have an employment center that can help you with this.

As an aside, even low-dimensional topology might not be as far removed from applications as you might think. Differential geometry and algebraic topology both have applications to data analytics and machine learning. Depending on your exact specialty, topological data analysis could be an opportunity for you to apply ideas from your PhD to finance or whatever industry you decide to join.