My university changed my bachelor course. What can I do?

First of all, I'm afraid that there is no legal wrongdoing on your schools end, although I think that you are feeling very betrayed and having received a great injustice. (But I'm not a lawyer, although I think this isn't the path you should try. The Netherlands doesn't have a big 'suing culture' and trying immediately this might make more people hostile than you'd want to.)

I also think that this is a normal feeling to have in your situation. However, I also think that you have to try and find some constructive manner to solve your problem, not try to get revenge and escalate things.

So, if you aren't already, calm down. Talk to some friends or family, explain and relax. Just drop the issue for a moment if you have to, I first want you to be calm before you continue reading. Oh and if you're having feelings of depression, get professional help. There are people from the GGZ (Dutch psychological health service) who can help you, no strings attached, immediately if nessecary. (outside of office hours, call your practitioner (=huisarts) or their 'huisartsenpost'. They'll know what to do) Try to be calm. Okay?

Good, I hope that you are now calm if you weren't already. I think that you should talk to people and calmly explain your problems. Try to give good arguments, but be sure that you don't come over as too angry. Try to make it sound like you understand the school position but nevertheless dislike the decision. (This can be a lie. It is a useful lie. To get people to listen, tell them what they want to hear. Try making them believe your on their side, even if you aren't.) A good argument would be the ratings (I believe those are from the national student monitor, yes?)

If you think there are still people at the university worth talking too, talk to them. If not, I have a list of other people you can consider worth talking too. It might be a good idea if there are faculty members agreeing with you that the program currently is 'ruined', so to speak to ask how they can help or for other advice.

So, who can or should you contact outside your school? A list of possibilities is the following:

'education conflicts' This site seems exactly what you need. Try this one first.
The national ombudsman. Although these are mainly about government issues, the role of this institute is to assist citizens in mediating with potential issue with the government. I'm sure they can redirect you somewhere useful if they can't help you themselves
(WARNING: this choice may escalate matters, try others first!) If (and only if) the previous fail, you can consider taking the matter to local or national politics, asking questions to the Minister or the quality committee that should test the quality of all schools and hence prevent such awful incidents like this.
DO NOT TAKE LEGAL ACTION. Unless..., you have discussed this with any or all of the above instances and they think this may be a good idea. (Perhaps you want monetary compensation for being forced to prolong your studies as a result of this or for the money you paid the school for education of lesser quality than you have expected) If truly think this is a good idea and you do want to do this, try to organize it with as many people as possible, as this allows you to pool your resources (and increase the weight of your problems) to prepare better to face someone in court.

I hope you have some idea of what to do. Remember, stay calm and act cool. The Netherlands is a country of arguing and making concessions (i.e. 'polderen'), if you're willing to give something, others are likely willing to make concessions on their behalf. You want to avoid legal action, but it may be needed. But this is something that should be calmly thought about. Not rashly.

If you want to talk to someone about this topic, you can do so in chat (I will be available mostly until reasonable Dutch 'bedtimes')

Finally, I will give my opinion on why this whole mess could happen and what (in general) could (perhaps should) be done to prevent this. You may find this comforting. Feel free to quote me on this. (I will keep my pseudonymity, however)

First of all, if it works, don't fix it! Seriously! In my opinion, the entire Dutch education system has contracted a nasty disease. A sickly obsession to change everything every 5 years or so. This happens at all education levels. 'Oh what a great method from other countries that are rated so much better by rankings X and Y'

Second, if you really want to (socially) experiment, allow the experiment to fail. Really, there is no guarantee that stuff from other places works, you have to try it out first. Don't change your entire education system, change a single couse. Or even better, create an elective (i.e. free to choose) course that attracts enthusiastic students and be sure to have very close feedback to see what works and what fails. The educational systems are forced to do so much bullshit that is being dropped down from the idea-tanks above. (see the 'rekentoets', for a fairly recent example. Why make an additional exam if you don't make time or money for additional training? Why are people in education this stupid? I mean, you don't think people get more skilled because of a single test?)

Finally, it is a very bad idea to change something in current cohorts, as this breaks the trust and expectations of those students. This should become illegal if it isn't already. In my university, some parts have been radically changed. However, this was only implemented for new students, who were aware of the changes. Additionally, there was about a 4 year 'grace period' in which 'old courses' were still given and could be completed, for the students who like to take 7 years to complete their bachelors. This is fine. Even if the school messes up completely, the damage is minimal. The content can be immediately 'reverted', so to speak.

I like to finish with saying that I really feel sorry for your situation and truly hope this will end well for you and your fellow students. Although you may not like it now, it is ok to take a bit longer on your studies, as long as your doing something useful and something you enjoy. You'll be able to enter the job market if you are capable. You could even just drop out. No shame in that, but don't feel pressured to do so. In the end, what matters is that you make the right choices and do act on your emotions. Take care. As I said earlier, I'm willing to talk or listen in chat.


How do I cite one technical report from a project collection?

Some departments or institutes have their own technical report series that are published online much like a journal. If yours is like this, then you should be able to come up with a citation format that reflects it. How are your tech reports published and archived?


Selecting license for personal professional site's content

For licensing personal content, you almost certainly want to either use one of the Creative Commons licenses or else declare your content All Rights Reserved.  There is actually not one, but seven Creative Commons licenses, which span a wide range of preferred usages (here is a handy tool for choosing a license to use), and the licenses are  well-maintained and highly compatible with themselves and others, even internationally and in complex remixes.

In general, then, if you want your content to be shareable, you should choose a Creative Commons license, and if you want it to not be shareable, your should declare it All Rights Reserved.  Alternate licenses for shareable contents are generally not as compatible, well-maintained, or well-understood by others as the Creative Commons family, and thus will generally be no better (and often worse) for sharing.  Alternate licenses for non-sharable content are generally intended to support particular commercialization relationships, and would be negotiated when such a relationship is being established.

Of this set of options, for a personal website, I would generally recommend CC-BY.  This is the most lightweight and flexible sharing arrangement, and thus generally allows the most potential for increased personal visibility (attribution is always required).  If you're planning to put up major works that you think others will want to publish commercially, then you might want to consider using All Rights Reserved for those works, but probably not for small works or for the web pages that contain them: at an early stage of your career, attention and credibility will be much more valuable than the largely non-existent possibility of some sort of royalties.


Are theses done in industry (French CIFRE) a disadvantage in academia?

From personal experience, and from an academic perspective, CIFRE theses are a mixed bag. In some cases the company is essentially not involved at all in the thesis (e.g., they have no clue how to get involved, and are just doing it for tax optimization purposes, to keep a link with the university/school, or even out of courtesy to them or in exchange for other favors) and then the CIFRE thesis is basically funding for a normal PhD thesis with a company involved on paper (and then you'd better have good supervision on the academic side, like for a normal thesis). In other cases, the company sees the CIFRE mechanism as a way to get access to cheap qualified labor, and overload the student with work which is not always in their best interest (e.g., not publishable), at the expense of their doctoral work.

The expectations around the mechanism are also very different from student to student. Sometimes the student really wants to work at a company, and just wants a PhD to improve their career prospects. Sometimes the student really wants to do academic research, and this is mostly a way to secure funding (which might even be proposed by the academic advisor in they are collaborating already with the company). Sometimes there's real scientific value in a mixed project involving both academia and a company: that's the ideal case, but pretty rare. Sometimes the student is someone from industry which is already used to a high (aka, non-academic) salary and a corresponding cost of living, and the CIFRE mechanism is one way for them to do a PhD without giving up on their current salary. And of course sometimes the reason is that the student is not ready to choose between an academic or industrial career and wants to do something "in the middle" to keep as many options open as possible.

I don't know so much about this mechanism but from what I've heard, I would recommend:

Discussing with the academic advisor and company advisor to clarify expectations: are they thinking that they would work together with you, or that you would spend your time between them, which kind of ratio, does the company have precise tasks for you that would be useful to them, which role would they take, etc.?
Being wary about PhD topics that crucially require input from the company (e.g., if your PhD is about analyzing company data, but the company isn't really committed to working with you on this, you could be stuck)
Probably making sure that you like what the company is doing and would like working with them, even for non-research stuff; or at least clarifying that you won't have to spend too much time on this if you don't want to.
Choosing your academic advisor and topic carefully, unless you really plan to do most of your work at the company and don't intend to continue in academia afterwards.

Good luck!


Whether you were paid or unpaid is a matter of compensation, which is not something a reviewing committee would care about. All that's important is that your credentials were strong enough to earn you the internship. Whether you were paid or not is irrelevant to the strength of your credentials.


Is it wrong to cite a source I did not use?

Ask yourself: why did the Professor put this requirement?

It is almost certainly not just to make your life difficult.

A more likely explanation is that your professor wants you to not only provide your own analysis, but to back your analysis up with others' research and analysis.

So if you were to cite a source without using it, your mark won't likely go up, because your arguments are no better supported. Any good marker will see this. So if you're trying to increase your grade, you should add a source, and incorporate it into your arguments. In any case, I suspect your paper needs work to meet your professor's expectations.


Does arXiv prevent your work from getting scooped, or the opposite?

Preprint services prevent scooping.
Every preprint service puts a date stamp on every document that is published there (and in many cases a DOI as well). That's an effectively unmodifiable record of the time when something went live, at which point nobody can republish your result elsewhere with an earlier date stamp with any reputable publisher.
That said, preprints will not prevent competition for the generation of follow-on research based on a result, nor will it prevent somebody from claiming independent discovery of the same result. Those, however, are just a normal part of doing business in science.


Can applicants answer faculty campus interview questions while checking their notes?

Given the tags, I assuming you are talking about interviewing for a faculty position. (Not that it really matters; my answer would be the same for a graduate interview).

In general:

Having some notes that you look at between interviews -- e.g. on the research of each faculty member who you will meet -- is just fine and probably a good idea. I'd just try to look at them unobtrusively, e.g. in the bathroom rather than while walking across campus with the chair.
I would consider it extremely strange if a faculty candidate turned to notes or to the web to answer a question that I had just asked. Even thinking about the interview as an exam indicates a substantial misunderstanding about the process. You certainly should know things like your own research plans, the names of your collaborators, how you like to teach, etc.
There is an exception, though. If a candidate wants to show me something about her research, a laptop, tablet, or even printed paper can be quite useful. I've had applicants use a tablet to very good effect in answering questions about their work. Not because they don't remember -- that would be the kiss of death -- but because the tablet allows them to call up figures and illustrations that allow them to better explain the findings to me and/or go beyond what was printed in their papers.


Maintaining a conference advertisement list

Most hosting providers offer mailing list management facilities as part of the hosting.  For example, Dreamhost, which I use for hosting my personal domain (mekki.ca), provides announcement & discussion lists that can be configured with granular permissions such that multiple people can administer them.  They will be associated with the domain in question.

As such, it's usually attached to the conference website (most hosting providers provide something similar, so contact the hosting provider of your conference's website for details).  Since you are already paying for the domain name and hosting of the conference website, there are usually no additional fees for the list management, and anyone who could access the conference website should be able to receive the list emails as well (i.e., China, etc.).

(Full disclosure: The first Dreamhost link is a referral link.  If you sign up for services, I get a small credit.)


Should I use abbreviations for university names while writing my Statement of Purpose?

The first time write out the entire name and put the abbreviation in brackets, then use the abbreviated form forward

e.g. I am writing in application for graduate studies at the University of Toronto (UofT)..... UofT would be the best choice because....


Have you considered asking the PhD supervisors if they do have funding? UK universities rarely have a pool of funds for PhD students. These would have to come from a funding programme, where potentially your supervisor has applied to and has got the funding for the PhD position.
It might be a good idea to ask all three of them, not only to see if there would be the opportunity to develop funding applications, but also see whether they have anything in the works for next year. Funding depending on the programme and situation may apply differently to EU citizens post-Brexit. However no one will be able to tell you accurately. At least for Scotland, the Scottish government has promised that funding for EU citizens will remain the same for 2019.


Is it legal to use tourist visa waiver for academic visits?

Each country might have different rules, but in the example you're considering, you can benefit from the US Visa Waiver program for business purposes if you would qualify for a Business Visitor Visa (B-1):

Lecturer or speaker: No salary or income from a U.S. based company/entity, other than expenses incidental to the visit. If honorarium will be received, activities can last no longer than nine days at any single institution or organization; payment must be offered by an institution or organization described in INA 212(q); honorarium is for services conducted for the benefit of the institution or entity; and visa applicant will not have accepted such payment or expenses from more than five institutions or organizations over the last six months.
Researcher: Independent research, no salary/income from a U.S. based source, or benefit to U.S. institution.

Researchers who receive US payment should apply for a  Temporary Worker (H-1B) Visa or Exchange Visitor (J) Visa.
So, to answer your first question: if the guest is paid (other than an honorarium, and in addition to have his/her expenses covered), then travelling on the visa waiver program is theoretically illegal. Otherwise, if could be legal. Check with the legal team at the US institution.
About whether it happens in practice, I doubt you'll find plenty of people who are happy to claim they are doing something illegal.


To do another Master's, already holding a PhD

Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman!

Sorry, but you walked into that joke. Actually, such an application would occur so infrequently that it might result in a few chuckles. But I don't think it would have a lot of effect. But certainly not a big advantage.

In fact, people, including myself, will wonder why a person would bother. After all, the applicant can study and learn effectively and evidenced by the doctorate, so what is the need of a formal program. It might be a disadvantage in some places where the available slots are limited and people would feel they should be given to someone who needs the training more.

On the other hand, if a lab needs particular skills that you have, they might be interested, just for that.

Thus, it is impossible to say in general as local needs/beliefs will dominate such a situation.


I wouldn't bother to explain a break this short on your CV directly. I would instead just have a "canned" response ready when people ask you about it that puts a spin on it to look as good as possible. Something like:

"I wanted to make sure that I stayed in the field that I wanted to be in, and proper opportunities can be hard to come by, and short-lived. I applied for over 90 post-doc positions over that time, but decided that I wanted to make sure that I was open if the right opportunity came along, so I didn't take other work. Instead, I lent extra support to my partner as they started a new position, and made sure that the applications that I put out were top-notch."

Based on your question and comment, none of that is likely dishonest, it's just a nice and clean way to describe what happened in your life during that time. They really just want to make sure you didn't get bored in your field, but seems like you stayed engaged and dedicated to your field, so I wouldn't see it as a problem.


What rights does an editor of a scientific book have? Can he add references/citations to a chapter written by other authors?

An editor can ask for coherence. He can also throw out the chapter if there are omissions that he thinks are critical. He can, in that vein, request that references be included.

But the responsibility on the article lies with the authors, and so the editor can never modify the content of the article without their approval; he must ask their permission. This falls out side of his "jurisdiction" (exceptions can exist in commercial publication/scriptwriting where the rights on the material may not fully lie with the concrete author).

Imagine the extreme case of the editor quoting some crank papers under the author's name.

In the concrete case, OP should consider:

whether the citations are, content-wise, appropriate and acceptable or not;
if they are acceptable, whether OP wishes to place the matter of the unauthorised addition on the table;
if OP decides to put them on the table, whether they would withdraw the article if the editor's justification is unsatisfactory.

Depending on the responses, OP may consider to

withdraw the article; or
insist on the references being removed; or
accept the references and not work again with this editor in the future; or
accept the references as a welcome addition to the paper.


How can TAs encourage institution to use different administrative software

The university started asking senior staff and students their opinions about some of this teaching software.

One thing you might do to figure out who, specifically, is behind this request. Did you see the e-mail by which this request was made? Whose name is on it?

In my opinion, it is fine to send an e-mail to this person and write something like the following:

  Dear Dr. So-and-So,

  I learned that the university is conducting a survey of its senior staff and students about Software X. I am a [your job title], so I was not included in the survey, but I use this software frequently and would welcome the chance to share my opinions. Could I please participate in the survey, and if so then how?

  Thank you very much.

Your message might be ignored, but it might not be. I have learned that some (not all university administrators are receptive to this sort of request.


Tenured professor’s husband convicted of a drugs-trafficking felony – are there any career implications?

This is a question which can only the respective university can answer. (I assume in my answer that the police has not proven involvement of the professor in the drug thing.)

Ideally (and most likely also by law, but you do not specify your location), husband and wife (or husband and husband, wife and wife) are treated as two separate people -- if one does a crime, it does not mean that both are involved. That the professor is not involved should also be the default assumption of the university unless the police proved otherwise.

Of course, people often talk and make decisions which are not backed up by the law. It may be of course that there are implications for the professor -- most likely, it's not explicitly said that they are connected to the drug thing.

For implications outside of the university, the same holds. Ideally, nobody treats the prof differently, but people sometimes do.


Submitting article to journal where I committed misconduct

If you have done things to repair your reputation, there might not be an issue. But you can always submit and then see what happens. If you have been banned by the journal you are likely to get a terse reply.
How you would react to a summary rejection is another issue. You might try to assure the editors that things are different now and hope that people will understand, in your case, that people can learn and change. If you have a respected colleague who can serve as your advocate in such an exchange with an editor it might help.
Apologies and assurance that you are producing valid and valuable stuff is more likely to be effective, I think, than excuses. Accept what you did and hope people can accept that you can (and have) changed.
Ideally, the focus will be on the work you produce and not on you. But it is hard to guarantee that, depending on the nature of the past transgression. Expect people to be wary, at least.


Appeal the grade in oral exam in Germany

Here's my experience with oral exams in Germany:

Ask the professor to explain to you how they arrived at the grade, and what they'd expected you to say for a better grade.
Maybe more important about this than the grade you got now is what you can learn for future oral exams.
(When I asked the "lemon squeezing professor" below, he explained that from the grades I got in the labwork exam he was examining "for a top mark", and would not waste time asking me easy questions about the lecture but that he examined my ability to draw field-specific conclusions on the basis but outside what was explicitly discussed in the lecture... wow...)

The burocratic trail corresponds to the importance of the exam. Oral exams with only 1 student + 1 examiner and no paper trail typically end up contributing low percentages to the final grade for the semester and even lower percentages to your Bachelor/Master grades. The next more important ones already had a 2nd observer (usually PhD student or postdoc) though still without protocol.
Everything of higher importance (including legally relevant exams) is done with someone writing a protocol, and in some cases even audio records are taken. This is done exactly in case there is dispute about the grading.

Rather than complaining about the grade in order to get a better grade, I've only met students who asked to have their grade lowered to "failed" so they could re-take the exam.

For the "low importance" oral exams I've been involved with, a complaint would usually have resulted in the offer to have another exam which for sure would have someone writing a protocol.

Back when I was studying, for the low-importance exams in many cases it would have been possible to retake them the next semester/year (sometimes even the high-importance ones, under certain conditions). However, I've never met anyone who did care sufficiently to do so.

As always, the exam regulations of your department are what matters. You need to look them up and/or ask at the exam office.

Grades are submitted to the exam office, and the professor thus cannot easily change the grade. Thus, the risk of getting your grade lowered if you complain to the professor is small. But so is your chance to get it raised: both will likely need a (very) formal procedure with you, the professor and the exam office.

A professor "can give any grades they want[ed]" only in the sense any public servant in government administration can do anything they want to an application/procedure you filed there: professors in Germany are public servants  and exams are one of their public servant duties. Violations of these duties are considered quite serious in general (they took an oath to fulfil these duties).
(Which does not mean that unfair grading does not happen - but it does mean that if you file a complaint about unfair treatment in an exam, that is a serious accusation)

One thing you may consider for future exams: as students, we were allowed to "bring a friend", who would then automatically be a potential witness. If there's a problem with the professor's grading, such a potential witness may make the whole procedure more fair already by just being there.
This happened very rarely, but I remember a professor recommending this for an entirely different reason: so that the friend can find out what kind of exam to expect. I.e., they recommended that we look for someone who'd be comfortable taking us along before doing the exam ourselves.

A last thing is to bear in mind that the perceived difficulty of question and your difficulty of answers may not predict well even a rather objectively justified grade. There are (legitimate) differences in the style how different professors approach the task of examining. Some will ask everyone questions on a similar level of difficulty and then consider the answers, others adjust the difficulty of the question according to preliminary grades and previous answers (I found it extremely hard to judge as a student how such an exam went - but I do know since how a lemon must feel after sqeezing. Got 1,3 btw.)


Can she use this letter for registration in another university for post-graduate studies or finding jobs as a teacher?

Yes, but, whether it will be accepted depends on the recipient. You could check with the recipient to be sure.


Words don't have a fixed meaning, and dictionaries only follow usage here. That is what is happening here.

The “classical” meaning of methodology is (my own words): a branch of epistemology that studies scientific methods, i.e. the systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied in science. (Epistemology, in turn, is a branch of philosophy dealing with knowledge).

This classical meaning is what the eponym Wikipedia article discusses (WP being an encyclopedia, not a dictionary, it doesn't have to list all meanings of a given word). It's also what one of the Merriam-Webster definitions says:

  the analysis of the principles or procedures of inquiry in a particular field

Now, language evolves, and in addition to this “classical” meaning of methodology (which is, in that sense, a mass noun), a second meaning is developing. This new meaning is “a collection of methods used in conjunction”, as you noted.

Now, as with every language evolution, some people complain about it (and the Wikipedia article on Methodology is clearly written from this point of view; see “Methodology as a buzzword” section). The Wiktionary article goes on to say:

  Etymologically, methodology refers to the study of methods. Thus the use of methodology as a synonym for methods (or other simple terms such as means, technique, or procedure) is proscribed as both inaccurate and pretentious.

Well, sod them to Hades! It is clear that this newer meaning is abundantly used in the academic literature these days, and can thus be considered acceptable.

(If you've never seen it, this wonderful tirade by Stephen Fry should cure you of prescriptivism. It is delightful to hear… “They're no more guardians of language than the Kennel Club is the guardian of dogkind.”)


Is contacting this expert in the field something acceptable or would it be discourteous?

Yes, you can ask and you might get a reply, or not. If you demonstrate that you "have done your homework" and have some knowledge and not just interest then you will stand a better chance of success. What (or who) have you read? What have you explored? What ideas have you tried and failed with?

You can certainly state that you are looking for a research problem suitable for a dissertation and that you are coming up short. You can ask for guidance on where to search (additional papers to be read, people to contact...).

However, it is unlikely that a problem will be dropped in your lap. If you were able to attend a seminar with the author's group you might be able to do better. And be aware that a "problem" quickly thrown out may not be suitable as it may end up trivial or impossible. Such things are often approached only gradually.

But it isn't discourteous to ask as long as you can show that your search isn't just a random one.

But in general, also be prepared to work on a few problems before you come up with the one that leads to success. Even an unsuccessful attempt can teach you how to be more successful with the next one.


I will share some information with you, based on two things you mentioned:

  a) You said your advisor is very aggressive and loves to make racist jokes

  b) You suspect your advisor soured your postdoc application through negative remarks to your prospective employer

This sounds like a situation which might be investigatable by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), if your PhD institution receives any federal funds.

If you decide you would like this investigated by OCR, you would need to file a complaint within 6 months of becoming aware of alleged discrimination.  A complaint of this kind can be filed by an individual working alone without a lawyer.

You might be able to find a lawyer would would help you with the complaint pro bono (free) or with a reduced cost.

It would be helpful to cite as much specific information about (a) as possible.  However, you can send the complaint letter quickly and then submit more specific information subsequently.  It can be helpful to file these complaints quickly rather than not quickly, because some regional OCR offices are extremely backed up.

If OCR feels that your complaint letter fits with their purview, and meets some other basic requirements, but your letter doesn't include specific information such as dates of incidents and descriptions of incidents, then you will be asked to provide specifics.

If you want to learn more about this: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html

The part I feel most unsure about is the employment aspect.  However, the How-To page I linked to mentions

  Some of the civil rights laws enforced by OCR also extend to employment.

Each university has an office that addresses discrimination issues, so you could in principle bring the issue to them.  However, many people have found it more effective to either go ahead and file with OCR, or draft an OCR complaint and share the draft with the institution (as a draft).

Alternatively, you could instead try an informal approach: make an appointment with a department administrator and share your concern.  The response you get could help you decide about next steps.  Here's a relatively gentle way of starting such a conversation:

  I had a job interview that seemed to be going great --until suddenly it wasn't going great any more.  I'd like to get some constructive feedback so that I can do better in subsequent interviews.  But it would be awkward for me to ask my advisor directly for feedback.  (Answer truthfully but with a very neutral tone if you're asked why.)  Can you help facilitate me getting some constructive feedback from Prof. So-and-So (your advisor)?

If you're part of a graduate student union, it might be helpful to bring the problem to them to see if they can provide support.

**11/25 additional notes 11/25:

Your university may have an all-purpose grievance procedure that can be used in general situations, even when there's no alleged racial discrimination.
In the answer I wrote yesterday I was only providing information.  Now I'll provide a couple of strategy notes.  If I were in your shoes I would probably start with the informal approach I outlined yesterday, and try to keep it in the department.  I'd avoid using any language that might alarm the department administration, and keep the tone very calm and neutral.  But at the same time, I'd be working quietly on collecting evidence and witnesses, and starting to draft a complaint.  Putting the facts down on paper can be an extremely useful exercise.
I recommend that you avoid escalating your concern beyond your department.  But if your university chooses to do so, I'd recommend you do one of the following, pretty quickly:

(a) find an ally or a lawyer

(b) submit a complaint to OCR

(c) submit a draft OCR complaint to your university

Reason: some universities play hard ball.  It would be safest to protect yourself in case your university turns out to be one of those.

If I had strong evidence for the racism allegations, and did not have an ally or a lawyer, I would likely go with (c).  A draft complaint could give you some useful leverage.  When OCR investigates, it requires that the university submit a lot of documentary evidence (both about your particular situation, and also about its policies and procedures), and it conducts interviews.  Institutions generally find this onerous and often would prefer to resolve the potential complainant's concerns pretty quickly, in order to prevent an OCR complaint from being filed.

Note that filing an OCR complaint provides protection against retaliation.

Note also that it can be a frustratingly slow process.  Therefore it would be good to try to get your goals clear before you talk to anyone.  I imagine your goals at this point are

Graduate
Get a post-doc

I hope you find a good administrator in your department.


Same as you would a normal in-line item, only you'd mention at the end that you were a member of a group name. You can also mention role.

John Doe Award of Excellence, Annual Competition of Cooking Tasty Foods in Somewhere, AA on 1 Jan 1999, as head chef of Team Mashed Potatoes


Personal repercussions for those who actively ignore review requests?

It seems this editor has a problem with their workflow of inviting reviewers, a very common problem:

The editor is recruiting reviewers via "opt-out" when "opt-in" would be more appropriate.

If the reviewers were asked to indicate willingness to perform a review prior to actually doing the review, then the editor could detect "ignores" of both types and find willing reviewers much more quickly.  Consequences for agreeing to perform a review and then not submitting a timely report would be appropriate.

But there is nothing unethical about ignoring a review request.  The potential reviewer is under no obligation to take any action at the behest of the editor -- it is fully reasonable to treat unsolicited requests as spam.  And it would be unethical for the editor to take any negative action against the unresponsive potential reviewer who has never accepted the task in the first place.

Of course, the story is different for reviewers who have agreed in advance to performing a certain number of reviews.  But the workflow should still be based on positive acknowledgement that the materials for review are received.  The only difference is the editor's action subsequent to not hearing back -- in case the reviewer has previously committed to accepting a certain number of review tasks per year, then the editor can try a different contact method instead of assigning a different reviewer.

The bottom line is that opt-out sucks.


I cannot talk about general customs, but for whatever it’s worth, a major conference in my field is held in a ski resort, off-season. This has two advantages:

This is what the resort does to survive during the warm seasons. Therefore I presume that it may be a relatively cheap option.
Except for hiking, there is nothing to do there. With conferences held in cities, it often happens that attendants take some time off to do some sightseeing or similar. Here, getting to the next (touristically boring) city requires you to rent a car and takes one hour. Therefore, the conference gets more attention.


Masters in US or (Masters + MPhil) in UK

In terms of PhD admission prospects, both the UK and US have top quality schools with international renown. However, if you're planning to study PhD in the US, having a masters in the same country can help in creating more relevant connections between other researchers, and therefore affecting your chances for PhD admission.

In terms of program structure, there are differences like you mentioned. However, even US institutions start off with a more course-heavy workload and gradually move on to a more research-focused program (second year). Also, getting familiar with basic research concepts and ideas early on (as with US programs) is not necessarily a bad thing and you shouldn't worry much because there are many cases like you who have come from a non-CS background. If you get accepted, the department is well-aware of your background and potential capabilities

EDIT: Empirically, UK institutions offer less funding options especially at the masters level. Even at the PhD level, most of the funding I've came across are offered as partial awards that don't cover the full tuition and living costs. It is still possible to obtain full funding at a UK institution, but overall, funding is usually an important factor in deciding your place of study


Does not taking Vector calc in undergrad (US) affect my chances for grad school application

In the US, at least, the boundary between admission and refusal for graduate school is nowhere near that narrow. Your program will be looked at overall for indicators of success in the program you are entering. If you can show that nearly everything in your application materials is evidence of future success then the details (within reason) matter less.

Moreover, most beginning grad students in the US, take coursework as well as start to think about research. Your advisor might (strongly) recommend, at that point, that you take some course(s).

But some courses will help more than others to indicate your success, though it is probably more important that you do well in which ever course you take.


Transitioning from Electrical Engineering to Applied Physics/Material Science

I won't comment on Europe.  The difference between a PhD in electrical engineering, applied physics, or solid state physics is often very small.  There is no reason not to try switching between those fields when you start your PhD.
To successfully apply for a PhD program, you should fill gaps in your knowledge.  You will likely need to obtain a good Physics GRE score and pass qualifying exams for programs in the US.  Exact practices vary, but you'll find most students have gaps in their knowledge that they need to fill.  Also, many of the students will have forgotten quite a bit of that material before they finish their PhDs.


Should I mention in statement of purpose that my undergrad degree is in a different field because my parents wanted me to do it?

Do not say:

  "I did engineering undergraduate because my parents made me."

Why?
Because you are applying for graduate school. The admissions committee wants to see adults. Referring to your parents (at all) makes it seem like you are not independent -- that your parents run your life. Whether or not they do, it does not benefit you to give such an impression. You don't want to put the idea in their heads, whether or not it is true now (or then).

I suggest, if your really must mention it at all, something along the lines of:

  "My time as a Engineering undergraduate has made clear to me my true desires. While engineering is a interesting and worthy subject, my passion is for mathematical side I saw during my studies."


9 years too late to ask for letter of support?

It's not too long, but the student should attach an unofficial transcript, a photo and perhaps something else that might jog the professor's memory.

One email is not enough.  Wait a month and try again.  Professors get busy and sometimes something slips between the cracks.


Should I cite the latest edition of a book?

Cite the edition of the book you used, as new editions may contain the same text, paragraph or example but on a different page.


Would it be a poor choice to focus on disability in both my personal history statement and diversity fellowship response?

The two sections are read by two different (if sometimes overlapping) committees. The personal history will be read by the general admissions committee. They might note issues of diversity and disability which can lead to a fellowship, but if there is a separate question for that -- they may assume that that information will be duplicated there. Still, if your disability played a significant role in shaping who you are as an academic -- the kinds of questions and approaches, or the empathy you bring to particular subjects or students -- I would include it in your personal history statement as that will speak to your motivation for study.

The diversity / disability fellowship question is also important. There are many small fellowships in the UC system and faculty try very hard to ensure that students get every penny they can -- but this is only possible if students self-declare. I would not feel shy about repeating any information in the diversity fellowship response -- again, you want to ensure that you have the funds to study what you want to study.


Do schools/departments ever evaluate their own admissions process?

This practice is not frequent, and it is rarely systematic and rigorous.  However, from a decision-making perspective, this has been given attention by Robyn Dawes, who was a very well-known psychologist at Carnegia Mellon.  Here is one of his papers on the topic, which has been cited about 500 times (per Google Scholar). Some recent evaluations have been published, but relative to the total number of admissions committees that exist across all graduate schools, I can confidently say it is not many.

Dawes, R. M. (1971). A case study of graduate admissions: Application of three principles of human decision making. American Psychologist, 26(2), 180.


Is it a good or bad idea to list declined fellowships (for a PhD program) on one's curriculum vitae?

Bad idea. If you turn down an award (or an acceptance to a univeristy, etc), you don't get to reap the benefits of that award.

No one cares about the universities you could have gone to or the fellowship programs you could have worked for, they care about what you have actually done and that is all you should include on your CV/resume. Period.

To me, the resume linked to above reads "I had no one else edit or evaluate my resume before I posted it online."


Should I mention being enrolled in distance course currently as a backup option in application form?

The basic rule of thumb is this: if you're actively involved in something at the time of application, then you should mention it. If you're tentatively enrolled (for example, you've been offered admission, but have not yet officially registered), then it doesn't actually count, and you need not mention it.


Undergrad thesis supervisor rejected request for LOR - how will this look on grad apps?

It's generally a good idea to have at least one reference from a research supervisor. It's sounds like you have one, possibly two, such references, so that is no issue. Given that you've only worked with your current supervisor for a few months (and haven't even submitted your proposal yet), I don't think the lack of a letter from her will be suspicious.

In terms of the options you list:

As far as I know, getting extensions on grad school apps is not really done.
You could wait until the next cycle, but that seems extreme.
Rather, I would just proceed with your application as-is, clearly indicating that your primary research mentor was [the person who wrote your letter] and that you only recently started working with [the person who didn't].


For graduate admissions, is it better to attend a well-known undergrad program with advanced coursework or one where I can write a bachelors' thesis?

If I were you, I would try to move to B based on the assumption that B is better than A and A is probably less recognizable in the US than B schools.

You are right that research potential is an important factor the admission committees of top schools will pay attention to. However, bachelor thesis is not the only way to show that you can do research. You can do research papers with professors' supervision at school B if you want.

I suggest B since you can learn a lot more in B than in A. Building the foundations during undergrad stage is more important than doing research prematurely.

When you apply graduate schools, you need to provide GPA, GRE/TOEFL scores, recommendation letters and any evidence that you can do research.  One of the first things the admission committee will look at is your transcript to determine if you are competent in math. If you stay in A, all you can show is basic to intermediate level math courses. Given that all other conditions will be equal, i.e. you'll get the same GRE/TOEFL scores, about the same recommendation letters (I am not too sure about that), the only thing you can use to beat other applicants is your very good quality bachelor thesis. But, how can you write a very good thesis without having solid math knowledge?

Thus, I am suggesting B. I do understand how tough is the admission exam in that part of the world. It's bloody. Good luck!


Does it make sense to let a colleague know about his repeated misspelling?

Let it go, while the typo is limited to emails. Emails are frequently written hastily and certain typos can be common or made on purpose to type less, or even for fun (I do sometimes this in my language, to mimic certain dialectal expressions).
If, instead, the typo appears in, for instance, a paper or other public document you're jointly writing, then correct it as you would correct any other typo in the paper.


In reviewing papers for journals or conferences, what should one do if one is not fully knowledgeable in the specific area the paper addresses?

First off, "fully" is a very relative word, somewhere between expert and novice which makes a specific answer difficult at best. Editors try to identify persons they believe can provide a good constructive review of the manuscript in question. If that is the case, you are viewed as having that expertise. Note that it is not uncommon that an editor appoints experts with different specialities to cover different aspects of a manuscript. It is the responsibility of an editor to select reviewers with care to make sure a manuscript is scrutinized fairly and by peer "experts".

Now this system is not fool-proof and it is therefore the responsibility of a reviewer to decline to review if they think they are not in a position to take on such a review. There are of course many other reasons to decline but that is a different story. So in your case, you need to figure out based on the information you have received, if you have the background to provide input on all or significant parts of the manuscript in the request. When taking on the first reviews in a career, you may ask your advisor or peers about the task but remember, the fact that you have been asked is not necessarily something that is open information (in for example double-blind reviews where anonymity is requested).

So, think about how you can contribute. If you do not see that you can provide input, decline. Otherwise, take on the review. Reviewing is an integral part of academia and getting started is necessary at some point. It can also be quite rewarding since you can gain insights ito new science as well as ways to (or not to) disseminate science.


Can I patent work after I have published a paper about it?

No.

You can only patent material that has not been publicly disseminated, and publication certainly counts as public dissemination.  In many jurisdictions, you lose the ability to patent immediately after doing so.  In other jurisdictions, like the United States, there is a one-year grace period, but it sounds like that has elapsed for you as well.


I would suggest you try education first. Point the other student to the paper you found and remind them that copying without citation is plagiarism. Perhaps they just aren't yet aware of the academic rules if they are new at this. But, say that had it gotten into the paper it would reflect badly on everyone.

If you get pushback, rather than an apology, then you can think about reporting it to your own advisor. Let them take if further if needed.

My answer would probably be different if there were an advisor-advisee relationship between you. But for people not your supervisor you can try a low-key approach first.


What are the mechanics of negotiating a faculty job offer?

I'll assume this is for a permanent, not a temporary or part time position.

Unfortunately, there is no general advice that would be applicable everywhere. The US doesn't have a national system for such things, nor even one that applies to any single State. You may have a lot of flexibility or very little. But if the offer lays out a lot of things then you probably have less wiggle-room than if it only says a bit.

But you may get at least a promise that they will try to accommodate the needs of a new member of the faculty. Not too many preparations is a good thing to talk about and most universities will probably try to do that anyway, but it is hard to guarantee. Funding for travel is another thing to explore. But, you may not get any guarantees.

On the other hand, nearly everywhere will have an interest in bringing on a new member of the faculty smoothly and not inundating them with scut work. You might get a pass on committee assignments for a while. You might get a "promise" that you can teach in your specialty. But, depending on the size of the place and its main focus, the constraints may be strong. A large place with a research focus and lots of TAs probably finds it easier.

I was once at a top university where a lot of things were arranged around helping a young newcomer to the faculty advance her research agenda by inviting post-docs whom she favored. I was very impressed that the "old codgers" on the faculty were so supportive of a new person. But this is, I think, an outlier. Not every place can or will be so accommodating.

I also once negotiated a promise that the university would cover rather extensive international travel. I swapped a bit of salary for that, but everyone came out happy in the end.

If you want to negotiate, it is very useful if you can do it in person, probably with the program chair or even a Dean. If you can be flexible about some things, then, perhaps they can be flexible about others. Deans often have some pot of money they can use for such things. They also have a bit more flexibility with "bending" policies.

At the other end of the scale, I doubt that very many offers are "take it as is, or leave it." They will talk to you, nearly everywhere.

Yes, after you come to an agreement, a contract needs to be signed spelling out everything. You will probably only have a short time in which to sign and return it.


Why are language test scores requirements sometimes higher for undergraduate than graduate admission?

While I don't know what exactly went into these decision making processes, here are some relevant factors (some more likely than others):

As mentioned in the comments, undergraduates need to take a wide range of classes (e.g., gen eds) including classes which may involve a serious amount of reading, writing and/or verbal interactions.  So undergraduates need pretty well-rounded English skills.
For graduate studies, one can often get by with a much more narrow range of English proficiency depending on the field.  For instance, less language skills are needed to follow a mathematical lecture than one about politics.  My school has higher TOEFL requirements for certain graduate programs (e.g., business administration and political science) than the general grad college requirement.  A more flexible policy makes sense for grad programs.
While some grad students may have teaching duties, there can be separate English proficiency requirements for this.  My school does this, and international grad students just grade rather than teach until the English requirements are met.
By allowing grad programs lower standards of English, one can get a larger pool of international grad student applications.  (Both increasing the fees obtained and improving one's chances of getting academically stronger international grad students.  If we really want a specific student with poor TOEFL scores, we can petition the grad college to waive the language requirement for them, but if the student just looks at the online requirements, they may not apply in the first place.)
Having higher English requirements for undergrads may make a school seem more selective (this may be factored into college rankings, but the grad student requirements may not be).  Related to this, in the current age colleges are evaluated by student success rates (e.g., pass/fail,  retention and graduation rates).  Colleges may feel/have evidence that international students with lower TOEFL scores have lower success rates, and not want to take chances on them.
Higher TOEFL requirements may boost enrollments in the university's ESL program if there is one.


What are the benefits and drawbacks of timed online exams?

Ultimately, there must be some time limit, since the results must be submitted to be graded before the end of the course. For many courses in the humanities, the 'exam' is instead a paper to be worked on over a period of time (perhaps a week) and turned in by a given time. I suspect this is not what you are looking for.

Instead, you are asking about an on-line exam given to the full class (or group) of students, where they accomplish the exercise in one sitting of some length. So, what should that length be? Traditional in-class exams are limited by the length of the class period, since some students may have a class directly afterwards. The final exam schedules that I have experienced also allot a fixed time interval, usually several hours. Again, different students with different class schedules may have other exams to get to. At the institutions I attended there were also appeal processes if a student had too many exams scheduled in a given time. For instance, each day in finals week had 3 exam slots, and you did not have to take 3 in a given day - they would move one for you. But each slot was a fixed length to make sure there was time to decompress, eat, do a quick review, and then get to the next exam. It was strictly forbidden for an instructor to go beyond the fixed time.

So, while you may feel that you want to give your students lots of time (just why I don't know - fit the material to a fixed time that one can reasonably expect students to work straight through), they have other demands on their time. By being 'nice' to your students you are in essence being greedy by taking away their time to meet other classes' obligations. Discuss with your registrar. Even in these unusual times, don't be a burden on your students.


Alternatives to Google Scholar for citation / lit search / BibTex entries?

Paid options: Scopus (bibtex export) and Web of Science (bibtex export)

Free option: Microsoft Academic Search (bibtex export).


How to get specific guidance from busy advisor?

Your advisor will not solve your problem - at least it is very unlikely! Digging very deep in the specifics of such a simulation is something a person in such a position just don't have the time to - and sometimes even not the detailed knowledge, e.g. regarding frameworks used, implementation details etc.!

One question you should adress is: Will (s)he accept negative results? If you can describe all steps you did, explain why things did not work as planned, do you still have a chance for a good grade? If "yes", then really everything is fine, you "just" have to work hard and document all your attempts.

If "no", you should try to get help from a graduate student or post-doc working in a similar field. But still keep your advisor updated about everything you do.


Things to do (to the extent allowed by the terms of the grant)

Buy work laptops or other equipment.
Visit someone, send a student to visit someone, or invite a guest.
Depending on how quick the "quickly" is, go to a conference or organize a small workshop, or a summer/winter school.
Hold a networking event with your research group, or together with another group of possible collaborators, possible or actual.
If you have suitable publications, buy golden open access for one of them.

Things not to do

Try to get the money to yourself (except NSF grants in USA and summer salary). Try to keep it for later. Try to use it on something out of scope of the grant, like personal benefits without scientific value.


How to survive in a small field where unethical senior professors on major editorial boards abuse their power?

There are two different possibilities about what's going on here, and I think it's important to consider both of them:

There might really be a small power network dominating your field and stealing your ideas.
You might not be as significant as you think you are.

I won't speculate on which it is, since we don't have enough information to judge.  I will note, however, that complaining about stolen ideas is a red flag, since in science execution typically matters much more than idea, and complaints about stolen ideas are often associated with cranks.

It is definitely the case, however, that fields can indeed be strongly effected by small cabals (see, for example, Nicolas Bourbaki) and that credit for significant work can be stolen (e.g., Rosalind Franklin, Jocelyn Bell).  So let us presume that is the case, and consider what your options are.  Here, I see three basic paths available to you:

Fight the power: Unless you have rather definitive proof, this will likely result in lots of pain and frustration for you with little gain.
Lower your sights: Lots of good work is published in not-quite-so-high-impact journals that are still quite solid and respectable.  You can also get rid of all fear of having your ideas stolen by embracing the culture of preprints (e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv).  If you love what you are doing and you are doing good work, you can still have a solid career in this way, even if it is not as high-profile as you might like.
Change fields: Most fields of science are not dominated by small exclusive cabals.  If the subject is not terribly important to you, changing fields might allow you to have a more "normal" scientific career.

Which of these paths is best for you, given the particulars of your desires and your situation, only you can judge for yourself.


Have I embarassed my supervisors by solving a problem that a PhD student in my group was working on without success?

First, if you haven't already, I suggest you have a discussion with your advisor about what to do with the result.  Is it worth writing up?  Is it worth trying to publish or try to go further?  If so, you should write it up and make sure there are no errors, and hopefully your advisor will be willing to help check over this.

  Is it possible they will try to bully me out of first-authorship to protect the reputation of the PhD student?

Anything it possible, but nothing you have said gives any indication anyone else thinks they should be a co-author for this result, assuming it is publishable.  It's common in math that a problem seems difficult from one perspective, but is easy from another.  This can always be a little embarrassing, but usually it's no big deal if you're dealing with reasonable mathematicians.  However, it may mean (for a variety of possible reasons) that the problem is less interesting to them than originally thought, and this could be part of what you're sensing.  I've often gotten excited about discovering things, only to realize later that they weren't so novel, or been interested in problems because I thought my methods could solve them then lost interest when I found out other methods are much better.

Anyway, hopefully an open chat with your advisor about this will clear things up.  I would not mention the PhD student in this discussion, just focus on the questions in my first paragraph.

Edit: I forgot to say, your situation may indicate that this department might not be your best option for a PhD (there may be a trend of weak grad students or not-on-the-ball advisors).


What to do when my course-mates are making up research results for a class paper?

First of all the term partner is a bit confusing here, are you talking about course-mates or colleagues?

Otherwise ask yourself whether or not you want to be associated with forgery, regardless of whether or not you intend to enjoy the fruits of the action. As an analogy, would it be OK to help with forging counterfeit money just because you don't intend to use the fake money to buy anything with it?

Then there are different levels of taking distance from the act; you can either:

blow the whistle on the data-forgery, which is what I would strongly advocate for if this work is supposed to be published on a peer-review journal, or
just ask to have your name removed from the report if it's just coursework. That way you avoid having a fallout with your "partners" and still maintain some level of plausible deniability.

The first option is important in the case of a scientific publication, because data forgery on a publication is not only cheating and ethically wrong, but also is potentially harmful to others who might try on to build on your research results. That aspect is obviously not as important if the paper in question is just a hand-in assignment for some course at the uni.

The second option isn't really the most ethical alternative, and might still be problematic (e.g. if someone questions why you insist on being removed from authors list).

Bottomline is you can't have your cake and eat it at the same time.


Learn to say I don't know. Practice how to gracefully say "Thanks for asking about that. I don't know but I will look into that." Do it to a mirror, make it look like it's your right to not know something, not a crime or even a weakness. After the meeting, go check the facts and then follow up with an e-mail.

Google it right there. It's getting more and more common and socially acceptable for anyone just to whip out a handheld device (smart phone, iPad, etc.) and Google it. If you're not sure about that, do ask "I don't know but would you mind if I search for it now?" Search phrase like "GDP [Country's name]" will actually result in a nice trend graph in Google, like this one for Vietnam. It would take less than 5 seconds; much shorter than time taken by people to apologize.

Prepare some fact sheets. If your work is heavily related with countries, consider printing out some fact sheets like the one on CIA the World Factbook and bring that with you. Similar devices like tip sheets or cheat sheets for basic information like formulas or acronyms will also be useful. The process of preparing them can also serve as a revision.

Use bookmarks and highlighter. If you are carrying some reports with you, use those write-on bookmark stickers to mark the potentially useful charts and tables.

Ask yourself why, for 5 times. While preparing your major arguments, you may consider a technique of asking yourself why for 5 times. For example, you have picked Haiti as your target country, why? It's a poor developing country, why? Because its GDP per capita is only US$820, why is that low? It's at 157th as of 2007. So on, so forth. This technique can help you think about unexpected questions, and also come up with strategies to deal with the "So what?" questions.

Knowing small details is not as important as knowing the big picture. Contingent on the last point, for research  (in my opinion) it's more important to know the big picture: rationale, theory or theoretical framework, pros and cons of methods, validity and reliability of the results, and what these all add to the literature or application. While planning for the research meeting, it's most crucial that you having given these components a good thought and be able to justify your interpretation and decision. Random statistics can come later.

Recalling small details is not as important as discerning pattern and anomaly. As the use of mobile Internet browser becomes more prominent, getting random details and facts is no longer our burden. Instead of using our precious brain power to memorize trivial little facts, it'd be more useful to tightly incorporate critically asking questions while going through the data, noticing patterns and exceptions, and synthesizing more questions or speculations.

Deduce it right there. Sometimes, the audience may not be expecting a perfect answer but rather a "guesstimate." Simply saying like "the GDP is likely low, it's the poorest country in the west hemisphere" can already address part of the question. If you really have no clue, it'd still be great if you can suggest how someone can get that information: "I'm really not sure about that, but I'd look for that in the US Census 2010 Fact Finder online."

While I do notice that you're also asking for advices on how to organize one's research. I don't think I can answer that given how little I know about your work, personality, and affinity to technology. Great research can be done with just a shoebox, index cards, a pencil, and an eraser; it can also be done with a state-of-the-art computer, various software packages, and cloud storage. It's likely something you need to discuss with your supervisors and other experienced researchers, and take and practice what is likely to be useful to you.


What is the appropriate salutation for non-technical university staff in India?

You can use Dear Sir.
I know students and research scholars use Respected Sir in case they address professors but Dear Sir will work in all cases.
Using Hello or Hi in a formal letter is frowned upon in an Indian university.


Evaluating and negotiating a start-up package

Every department is different.  Everything I'll write is specific to my (top 5 CS, public, RU/VH) department.  And while I know quite a bit about the process of hiring new faculty, I do not know the precise details of any recent startup packages (except for salaries, which are public).  My department head manages all startup negotiations directly.

Our formal startup package is a bag of cash (formally: "unrestricted funds").  New assistant professors can spend that money to pay their own summer salary, support students, but equipment, pay for travel, and so on, in the hopefully brief period before they have active research grants.  Precisely how and when they spend the money is up to them.  Moreover, this money does not "expire"; I still have a bit of money in my 15-year-old startup account.  Again, I don't have an exact figure, but I'd guess somewhere in the low six figures.

Our teaching loads are already low — 1 course per semester — but there are courses, and there are courses.  The de facto standard is for our assistant profs to teach mostly smaller graduate courses (in part to attract students), with at least one semester without teaching in the first two years (to work on research and grant proposals).  However, it is important for assistant profs to teach a few required undergrad classes before tenure.  We usually pair new instructors with more experienced faculty the first time they teach such a class.  I don't know how much of this is formally described in our offer letters.

The other department that offered me a job n years ago had much more restricted startup package.  They asked me to give them an itemized budget listing specific equipment (which they would buy for me), a specific number of student semesters, specific dollars for travel, and so on.  At the time, I found this approach unreasonably inflexible, but it's much more understandable now because...

At least at my university, startup packages in each department are funded by indirect cost recovery from grants originating in that department — a small fraction of every grant I obtain goes to CS startup packages.  Thus, departments with more grant activity can offer larger and more flexible startup packages.  This is orthogonal to faculty salaries, which (at least at my university) are paid entirely out of state money, making them much less flexible.

  Second, what types of changes are reasonable to negotiate? Can I ask for more summer salary support while still conveying to them my desire to obtain grant funding as quickly as possible? The offer already includes a reduced teaching load for the first few years --- is it also reasonable to ask for an extra semester off prior to a tenure review?

It's perfectly reasonable to ask for anything, as long as you understand that the answer may be no.  Do not be afraid to ask stupid questions.  Everybody knows that you're new and don't understand the department's budgeting constraints and standards.  That assumption of naïveté gives you the freedom to ask for things you think are "obviously" unreasonable.  They probably are unreasonable, but they might not be.

Also, remember that if you're already negotiating startup packages, the department has already decided that they want to hire you.  That decision requires developing consensus among the faculty, getting approval from upper administration (not just for hiring you but possibly for hiring anyone), and filling out a metric buttload of HR forms.  (Warning: Some universities still use imperial buttloads.)  There is almost nothing you can ask that will change their minds about the basic offer.

Don't worry about giving the impression that you're not interested in applying for grants.  Any such impression will vanish the moment you actually start applying for grants!  (Which is soon, right?)

Finally, the best way to find out what's reasonable is to ask the other assistant professors in your target department about their startup packages.  Just straight-up ask them.  They won't all answer, but some will.


Non-binary, more modern alternative to "Dear Sir/Madam"

I would suggest something along the lines of:

  Dear Admissions Committee,

or

  Dear Department of (STEM),

etc. You can usually find what a particular department/program/etc is called from their website. Avoid addressing the "Department of Chemical Engineering" as the "Engineering Department"; it would be most polite to use their own phrasing because it shows you've paid some attention and aren't sending out a copy-pasted letter to everyone.

For another example, I just randomly looked at a particular department, the "Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology" at the University of Cambridge; for their "MBE"  program they have a "contact" page that says to "please send an email to the MBE Office": in that case I'd simply address the email:

  Dear MBE Office,

For any of the above, you can also omit the "Dear".

In a comment, @DanRomik suggests modifying the salutations to refer to particular groups of people (like "committee" does) rather than abstract departments: examples include: “Dear MBE program administrators”, “Dear MBE office team”. I think that's perfectly fine, too, if you find that more logical.


Pure vs Applied maths, and combinatorics, in American universities

If you come here for "general advice", I am afraid you'll be disappointed.

You should choose based on the people there. For each school you apply to, look through both the applied and pure departments and see where the mathematicians who work in combinatorics fit in. Most large research universities will list their faculty by research interest, or have dedicated research group webpages. For example, based on this page you probably do not want to apply to Princeton's pure math program.

Note that many schools do not, at least on the graduate admission level, differentiate so strictly about going into applied versus pure mathematics.

(For choosing the school, since you already have research experience, you should look up articles which you find interesting and find out where those authors currently reside.)
It really depends on the school. If a school has no combinatorialist in its pure maths department, and you apply there with an intention of studying combinatorics, your chance of admission is practically 0. Similarly in reverse if all the combinatorics is done in the pure maths department for the school you are applying to.

There is no "one size fits all" solution.
This again depends on the school. Some schools allow it, some schools don't. In many departments it is expected that you find an advisor from within the department and do your dissertation research on a subject that your advisor is interested in and/or an expert on. In other departments more leeway are given to students interested in more interdisciplinary subjects to be jointly advised by two advisors (possibly from different departments with different expertise). But remember, if you are going for a PhD you will need to find an advisor in any case. Shoehorning yourself into a situation where it maybe difficult to find a professor in your own department who is willing to advise you is, in my view, generally not recommended.
This again depends on the individual policies for the schools. Some departments have very strict requirements on what the students must learn for their comprehensive exams; some, not so much. Most schools with graduate programs have very clearly written information on their websites about what is expected in their degree plans. For example, here's Harvard's version for the Applied Maths degree, though it seems they are a little bit short on the exact details.

The only "general advice" I can give is this:

  Don't apply to graduate schools blindly, especially since you have a confirmed research interest. Do your homework and find the experts with whom you would like to study, and apply to study with them. Write to them in advance to confirm that they are interested in taking on students, and possibly solicit advice about other possible individuals if they are not.

A good research school may not be strong in the field of research you want to do. Always, always check before applying.


What would be the acceptable procedure (if any) for creating a Google Scholar page for someone else?

The pages for Feynman, Einstein, and others (probably including Freud) were set up manually by the team behind Google Scholar back before the service launched in 2011, as evidenced by this blog post. Without their access, I believe you need to provide an (possibly fake) email address, as done for Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell, see this question. I would, however, suggest you not to attempt creating a profile for any living person besides yourself (including Karplus) without their consent. Them not having a profile could, after all, be an active choice.


Should I go ahead with presenting incomplete results and partially unverified conclusions in conference?

You should not present results that you know are false:

It could lead to others wasting lots of time and money trying to replicate or build on your results. This makes it unethical to knowingly present results with errors (without disclosing the errors).
You could make a fool of yourself (and your co-workers): there is a good chance that someone will notice, or ask a question that you cannot answer because you presented erroneous results.
Lying is (almost) never a good idea.

There are three things you can do:

Present only the first part of the results, and explain what you are still planning to validate the results. This is probably the best option, especially because you stated in the comments that the first part by itself is interesting and new. Work does not have to be finished or perfect to be interesting.

Present the results with the error, but clearly explain where the error is and why the mistake was made: others may learn from this, and the talk could be very interesting if this is done well and if the error itself is interesting enough. Whether this works depends a lot on your specific case and your presentation skills.

Withdraw your talk. This is the best option if there is reason to believe that others may replicate or complete your work before you can do so yourself. While unlikely, it has happened before, and is worth considering when presenting unfinished work.

Finally: The best advice can be given by your advisor, who is (or can be made) aware of the details of your work, type of conference, etc. You contacted the them by email but they have not responded. Maybe try a phonecall?


I think that, as such, your question is a wee bit narrow and not specifically related to academia. There is, however, a deeper related question which I believe is worth answering:

  What language services are worth considering for research articles, for non-native speakers (or native speakers with subpar writing skills)?

This is the question I will try to answer below.

Translation software or online services: under no circumstances.
Spellchecking software: good to catch typos, pluralization errors, and the like. Worthless for any other use.
Grammar checking software: grammar checking modules of nonspecialized software (say, MS Word) is useless. Specialized software is little less than useless, and typically fails to grasp the more complicated sentence structures that are somewhat typical of academic writing.
Thesaurus: now that's a useful tool. One of the limitations of non-native speaker is that even if our vocabulary is quite broad, we typically have a much more restricted “active” lexicon (that which we use spontaneously). Thus, our language often sounds dull or unvaried. A thesaurus is a good tool to make you say “yeah, I could have thought of using ‘monotonous’ instead of ‘unvaried’”. To me personally, this is one of the most precious tools.
Real-life or online discussion fora: of course, our sister site English Language & Usage comes to mind here. Also, remember that you can also ask advice from native speaker friends or colleagues… that invited professor whom you showed the town around on his first week-end will probably be happy to give you a helping hand over coffee on a particular paragraph you have trouble with.
Proofreader or other comprehensive language service: sometime necessary. If you feel your English level is preventing you from getting the recognition your work deserves, this is a good money investment in the short term.
Translater: to be avoided unless your English is really, really poor. Technical translators who really understand your field will be very hard to find, unless you have colleagues who would like to moonlight :)  Non-technical translators are to be avoided, as their translations are very unreliable.

The bold items above correspond to the combination of tools I use myself. Note that I consider my own level of English to be quite decent for a non-native speaker… whether it is an excess of self-esteem you can judge for yourself ;-)


Let's say it was a big enough contribution to require a citation. You could cite the MathOverflow post, as Massimo Ortolano suggests, especially if the entire conversation was generative, and it would be worthwhile for readers to visit.
However, linking to a pseudonym is not going to be clear or able to be attributed to that scholar. While William Sealy Gosset stuck to a pseudonym, he also had a non-academic job to protect.
There are citation formats for message board postings, etc. in various citation systems, as shown here for MLA from Purdue's Online Writing Lab:

Include screen names as author names when author name is not known. If both names are known, place the author’s name in brackets.
Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site, Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL. Date of access.
Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008, boardgamegeek.com/thread/343929/best-strategy-fenced-pastures-vs-max-number-rooms. Accessed 5 Apr. 2009

The best practice is to use both screen name and real name, "if known."
HOWEVER. I think the best practice, instead of violating pseudonymity, would be to send an email to the academic email address of the person you believe this is. Say that you are interested in citing this, and wonder if they would prefer this to be cited with both names, as "personal communication" with their academic name, as some closely related work they had on a blog post under their academic name, etc.
If the person declines to confirm that they are this person, you can ask in a MathOverflow chat or as a comment to that answer whether/how that user would like to be cited.
If you are truly hoping to honor and thank them--especially if it is an acknowledgement rather than a citation--then give them the courtesy of having some say in how they are recognized and whether their pseudonym becomes published knowledge.

EDIT specific to MathOverflow: MathOverflow is indeed cited fairly often, and it appears that most of the top citations are to real names, according to a Google Scholar search. One could avoid (newly) revealing the person's identity by searching to see if the person's real name is already associated with MathOverflow on Google Scholar, check the post to see if it's the same username/permanent identifier, and if so, cite in the same way the previous person did.
Discrete Lizard offers a Meta MathOverflow post dealing with a very similar issue, which suggests leaving a comment asking, and/or asking moderators to send a message to the user and ask. Finally, Peter Taylor mentions that the norm on MathOverflow is to use real names, such that many of the user names already reveal one's identity.


Which GPA (cumulative or major) is more important for graduate admissions in the US?

First of all, remember that GPA is more of a negative filter than a positive filter.
If you do not have an excellent GPA in your relevant major, then you are definitely going to have trouble getting admitted.  The GPA outside of your relevant major is less important, but it will still raise major questions if you have, say, all As in major and all Fs outside.


What exactly does a citation alert from Google scholar mean?

There are several types of Scholar Alert, which basically boil down to:

We found one of your articles
We found some articles that you should read
We found somebody citing your articles

When you get one that says "New citations to my articles", that's the one you're looking for.  In that email, the articles listed in it are the ones that cite you, not which articles of yours ones being cited (you have to figure that bit out for yourself).


How to become a professional design researcher?

I think that a Ph.D. program in human-computer interaction (HCI), such as this one, or a Ph.D. program in information systems with HCI specialization would be among the right routes toward your goal. Potentially, depending on what areas you're interested in, a degree, certification, postgraduate program or, even, a set of MOOCs in information architecture or information science might be a feasible option. An important point: unless you want to teach HCI at a university level, you can also IMHO consider trying to get your foot in the door without earning a Ph.D. degree - with enough knowledge and right skills, obtaining which should be doable, if you can self-study well.

In regard to performing research temporarily on your own, you can get a lot of ideas by searching for and analyzing information on past and current research projects, small and big, by individual researchers or small groups (review existing literature - peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, etc.; consider joining special interest groups (SIGs); visit relevant websites and blogs; consider professional networking by interest) as well as large and well-known research labs and divisions, such as MIT Media Lab and Human -Computer Interaction Institute at CMU. Good luck!


Can I claim my assignment solutions as mini projects in my resume?

Unless your resume format is prescribed by some external entity, then you can put pretty much anything you want on it. But, don't oversell these as they were all, I assume, a year or less in duration.
And again, unless you are required to use a specific format for some reason, there is no reason for a "Project" item.
Just be clear and honest in any CV.
But perhaps you mean that your institute requires you to produce such a thing for graduation and they set the format. In that case, seek guidance locally about what is accepted and what is not.


Is citing only high-impact articles in my publication ethical?

No, omitting work you know to be relevant simply because its publication venue does not have as high an impact factor is not ethical.

The purpose of citations is to point your reader to the relevant additional literature, give credit to the work that came before you, and position your work in the broader space.  Indexing the most prominent venues (and thereby reinforcing their prominence) is not one of their purposes.

If you read the paper, and it materially impacted your work, you should cite it. And you should cite other papers that are relevant.  You don't have to cite every thing that has ever been written on the topic (and as Googlebot mentioned, review articles are a great thing to cite), but quality of individual papers, not prestige of their publication venue, should be the deciding criteria.

  This is refutable by saying "Interesting work always gets cited and gets popular, irrelevant of the journals impact factor."

I do not believe that refutation, but even if it were true, it would not be true if authors approached citation as you are proposing.


Is it possible to complete a PhD program early to leave it with a masters?

Most U.K. universities don't give out MA/MS degrees to PhD applicants because most U.K. universities assume you already have one (or are an exceptional student). In contrast virtually every PhD program in the US will award you an MA/MS if you leave after two years. This is because there's no expectation of having a masters and so the first two years of a US PhD are pretty similar to a masters program.

Some UK universities will give you an MPhil if you leave early, but that's very different from a MA/MS degree. An MPhil is still an advanced research degree and if you split post-graduate degrees into "things that are approximately MA's" and "things that are approximately PhDs" it falls into the later category. Wikipedia says:

  The Master of Philosophy (abbr. M.Phil. or MPhil, sometimes Ph.M.; Latin Magister Philosophiae or Philosophiae Magister) is an advanced postgraduate research degree. The prerequisites required for a Master of Philosophy degree make it the most advanced research degree before the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D. or D.Phil.).1 An M.Phil. is in most cases thesis-only, and is regarded as a senior or second master's degree, standing between a taught Master's and a Ph.D.[2] An M.Phil. may be awarded to graduate students after completing several years of original research, but before the defence of a dissertation, and can serve as a provisional enrollment for a Ph.D.

As always, it depends on the specific policies of the university though.


They are essentially fixed nation-wide, apart from a minor portion of local taxes.
Here are the tables for my university. Labels are in Italian, but "Costo a.l. Amm." means "gross yearly salary", and "tempo pieno" means "full-time". You get a raise every three years.


How to properly write a brand, corporations in my report?

The approach I take is to look at (1) how the organization formats the name and (2) how other researchers write it. It doesn't make sense to make up your own formatting for it (unless maybe the formatting is just excessive).

Usually those two match, so in your case I would write it as PSpice.


Format for student "résumé" for capstone projects?

In the end, I decided to go with a functional résumé.

The benefits were:

The students could tailor the academic course list to those relevant to their projects.
The students could emphasize some of their background interests that were also relevant.

The downsides were:

Some students didn't "get" the idea of a functional résumé and needed several iterations to achieve one.
Some students had much more relevant experience and more relevant courses than others, which reflected badly on the students with little relevant experience or coursework.

Though both of these downsides led to teachable things, which is part of the aim of the capstone project.

Because I wanted to show all of the résumés on a projection screen, I chose the following non-standard format to show them  in one page.


From PhDs: the tortuous truth:

Overall, 21% of respondents said they had personally experienced
harassment or discrimination, and the same proportion reported
experiencing bullying. One-quarter of respondents who identified as
female reported personally experiencing harassment or discrimination
compared with 16% of those identifying as men. The highest rates of
harassment or discrimination (24%) were reported in North America, and
the lowest (18%) came from Australasia.
...
In the survey, 57% of students who said they had experienced bullying reported feeling unable to discuss their situation without fear of personal repercussions.

From A message for mentors from dissatisfied graduate students:

In the survey, 21% of respondents reported experiencing discrimination or harassment. The same percentage also reported bullying. Of those, nearly half said that their supervisor was the perpetrator

It looks like, by the numbers, 1 in 10 PhD students will be harassed or abused in some way by their supervisor. Anecdotally I think that abusive advisors burn through students at a higher rate that normal advisors, so I'd actually guess about 5% of PhD advisors are a serious problem.
I will note that your experience will vary wildly based on gender and race. You are much more likely to find that inappropriate or abusive behavior from faculty as a woman, for example. It's hard to generalize because an advisor who is perfect for male students may be abusive to female or non-binary students.
That said, the abusive part of academia is smaller than the part that isn't abusive, but will apologize for it and gaslight victims into silence. That's the fraction I'd be more interested in quantifying.


Do reviewers really not know the identity of authors in fields that frequently use arXiv?

It is in fact often easy for a reviewer to find out who an author is, unless the author is quite  new to publishing and has not uploaded the  paper to arXiv.
Sometimes it is hard not to know even without a search since the author may be building on their previous work so the list of references will be a giveaway even if the the text doesn't refer to "my previous work in [reference]".
That said, refraining from such a search is implicit in the unwritten contract between the reviewer and the editor.
I hope and suspect most reviewers honor that contract.


Could one become a successful researcher by writing some really good papers while being outside academia?

My impression is that the likelihood of this is proportional to how theoretical the field that you have in mind is. In math or theoretical physics, it's at least imaginable for an outsider to produce an important new discovery. In High Energy Physics the idea alone seems outlandish.

That said, even in math the ratio of cranks (deluded amateurs who are convinced they have made an important discovery without having actually done so) to actual amateur geniuses is almost infinite to one. If you want to do research, in any field, the winning strategy is to study under a respected member of the community and learn how to produce, evaluate, and communicate your ideas in this way.


Apply for PhD with low undergrad GPA and good grad GPA

I recently applied for a PhD Position in Germany (and got it) with a very good M.Sc. but a much worse B.Sc. My professor did ask about my bad grades in the B.Sc., but in the end being honest and saying I was lazy, but feel more fit in the area then my grades might tell. This is in engineering. In the end my grades didn't matter too much, because my professor knew me from my master's thesis already.

That being said, with a very good grad GPA you will probably have good chances to at least be invited to an interview. At that point your grades don't matter that much, because you can tell them about your skilsl yourself and explain your undergrad GPA if you must. I think many people here in Germany are less focussed on the actual grades than on the person and how they sell themselves. I am not saying grades don't matter, they are certainly looked at, but if you overcame the first hurdle, it is up to you to close the deal.

TL;DR: There is a chance. But you can only know for sure if you apply!


According to the APA:

  Do not cite standard office software (e.g. Word, Excel) or programming
  languages. Provide references only for specialized software.

    Ludwig, T. (2002). PsychInquiry [computer software]. New York: Worth.`

  Software that is downloaded from a Web site should provide the
  software’s version and year when available.

    Hayes, B., Tesar, B., & Zuraw, K. (2003). OTSoft: Optimality Theory
    Software (Version 2.1) [Software]. Available from
    http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/otsoft/

The IEEE style is almost identical. (I'd reproduce it here, but it's in a stupid flash file which doesn't support copy/paste.)

That being said, I notice that you cited software for parsing and understanding regular expressions. While there is no official rule that I know of for acknowledging software, it is typically only used for software crucial to the development efforts (i.e., an analysis tool). To bring a somewhat extreme example, while everyone uses some form of operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), no one cites their operating system. Recall the purpose of citations; to enable others to understand your frame of reference and replicate your work. You should only cite tools that are specialized to your research that others would need to continue your research.

Additionally, I've seen many neuroscience papers where some software is listed but not cited (e.g., the Matlab reference here). This is typically done for tools developed outside of an academic environment. Here, Matlab is a non-academic commercial, but both SPM and Fieldtrip were developed using grant money, and both specify exactly how they should be cited in publications (e.g., Fieldtrip; I can't find SPM's now).


Do UK students' unions remove you as a member once you finish your programme?

Yes, because membership is conditional on you being a student - this is usually in their constitution - and they won't receive any block grant from the university for you.
If you want to remain a member, most unions/associations will offer various levels of life membership for a small fee, which will usually allow you access to the bars, sometimes the sports facilities etc, but not usually AGM attendance or voting rights.


Can I apply for a PhD in the United States with a 3-year undergraduate degree from Italy?

Many universities in the US have policies that prevent students with a 3 year bachelor's degree from applying for graduate admission.  To get into one of those programs you would have to complete at least one more year of study before being admitted to the graduate program.