Would being a teaching assistant influence your research?

A 20 hour per week teaching assistantship is fairly common in the US.  In some departments TAs actually work less than the full 20 hours per week, while in other departments the actual work load really is 20 hours per week (of classroom teaching, preparation for teaching, grading, office hours, etc.)  This varies somewhat by discipline and across universities.  In mathematics, TAs traditionally have heavy workloads.  From what I know, the patterns are fairly similar in Australia, but you would have to determine how things actually work in the department where you will be studying.

Yes, having to work an actual load of 20 hours per week as a TA will slow down your research compared with a Research Assistantship (20 hours per week working on your thesis and closely related projects) or a fellowship (no work requirement.)  However, it does pay you, and the experience in teaching can be valuable.

Students working as TAs often take fewer courses per semester than students on fellowships.  For example, a TA might take 9 credit hours of courses while a student on fellowship might take 15 credit hours.


How much will dropping out of a Master's program hurt job prospects?

I would stick it out and get the best grades I can.  I would try to monitor my stress level and do things I enjoy as well.  The important thing is to finish things in a clean way and not let yourself get to the point where you drop everything and leave.

The job market is extremely competitive these days.  A master's degree can have a big effect on what pay you receive and how far you can go in certain industries.  You might not feel like a master's degree is worth it now, but you might want to go back to school for a different degree or even to complete the same degree.  It's hard to predict what the situation will be for you in 5 years or 10 years.  Bad grades now can restrict your possibilities for years to come.  Who knows? You might be thinking about getting an MBA in a prestigious program in 10 years and find yourself stuck having to explain some bad grades from years before.

Your first one or two years of work, people might ask about your GPA as well, and leaving the graduate school off might be tricky as it might leave gaps in your employment.  Although, I have seen it work to just not put what year you got your undergraduate degree.


Should a very competitive person pursue a career in academia after getting a PhD?

I don't see the problem. You are hardly alone in having the qualities you described -- academia is full of very competitive people, and competitiveness is also the reason why many of those people are highly driven to work hard and excel at what they do, and therefore to some extent the reason why it is such a fun and interesting place.

I understand that you are worried that being overly competitive will make you perpetually frustrated and unhappy, since no matter howsuccessful you become there will always be people who are yet more successful than you. To the extent that that's true, it will also be true outside of academia in any environment you are likely to end up in as a talented and highly educated person, unless your alternative plan is to give up all ambitions and pursue a lackluster life managing a bagel store or something similar. And honestly, given your description of yourself, I really don't see you doing that. So you're stuck with your ambitions, like it or not, and academia is as good a place as any to be a person with such traits.


Alphabetical author list in non-alphabetical journal

If it's a well-known journal like Nature, then I would follow their convention. Everybody who reads the article will assume that you do.


This is not a complete fix, but you can edit how your name and articles appear in your Scholar profile. Starting from your main Scholar page, you click on the article, and then there is a pop-up box; in the top right corner there is a pencil icon which will allow you to edit the list of authors.
However, I don't think this actually changes Scholar's underlying database. I keep hoping the algorithm will figure it out at some point :)


Should I be concerned about the validity of my degree if my peers in other educational systems seem to have more difficult exams?

Comparing different educational systems is frequently a futile exercise. Learning is like hiking to the top of a mountain from different trails: all of them lead to the same top, but one can be very steep at the beginning, a second one can have its steepest segment halfway to the top and a third one can have a final wall that needs an expert climber. Different educational systems can choose different paths according to different intermediate objectives.
Though it's true that some people prefer a certain type of trail with respect to another, and that along certain trails one can find more people with whom to share the joys and sorrows of hiking (learning), arriving to the top depends only on your efforts.
Now you are at the beginning of your trail. It's too early to decide whether it's a good trail or not: start hiking and enjoy the landscape, and if you think that the trail is not enough steep for your training, try to jog or run uphill. In other words, challenge yourself: you will learn much much more.

An anecdote about the appropriateness of certain steep starts. When I was a sophomore (2nd year) studying electronic engineering we had a mandatory class called Rational Mechanics, about Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics. The exam consisted in a set of problems on mechanical systems to be solved with those two formalisms, a home project in which we had to develop a numerical solver with different techniques (in Pascal), and a viva where we had to prove various theorems. It was a tough exam at the sophomore level, but mostly because no one could really get the grasp of it. I somehow managed to tunnel through the exam, even with a decent grade.
Two years later I attended a class on quantum mechanics. The first lecture the professor said something like: "Quantum mechanics is based on Hamiltonian mechanics, and since you already know it we can proceed quickly". I then timidly raised my hand and said "Er... no one in this room has the faintest idea of what Hamiltonian mechanics is. Yes, we passed the exam two years ago, but really... could you please give us a refresher?". She was astonished, but then agreed to spend a few lectures on Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics. I integrated her lectures with a classic book, and since then those topics have been among my favourites.
The above example is to say that sometimes a tough exam at the beginning is just a misplaced exam, because some topics require a certain level of scientific maturity to be properly understood.


Is an MLA citation needed for a broad description of a poem's theme?

In general, it's always a good idea to cite your sources. This can especially be the case with older poetry, where there are often differences in spelling, punctuation, and layout between different editions of the same poem.

So, at the first mention of a literary work, whether it's a direct quotation or an indirect reference, it's probably a good idea to cite the specific version of the poem you're writing about. This will make life easier for everybody involved. You would cite the overall poem, usually as a publication in a larger source, and follow the specific guidelines of whatever style manual the publication you are writing for (or the school you are attending) is using.

For example:

  Poetovsky, R. "Sonnet 100" in Every Sonnet Ever Written by Anybody, ed. John Smith. Random Publisher, Some City (2000).

Then, if you go on to cite the poem again, you can refer to the specific lines as needed; general statements probably wouldn't need to be cited.


Sharing research-related codes and datasets: Split them, or share them together on a single platform?

Each platform has its uses, so it's best to use both GitHub for your code and a scientific data archival repository, such as Zenodo, for your code and data.
GitHub allows you to share your code in a manner that encourages collaboration through stars, issues, forks, pull requests, and notifications.  So definitely put a copy of your code there.  However, GitHub isn't designed to ensure the permanence of the hosted repositories. For example, one can always entirely remove a repository through GitHub's interface and also delete or modify old code with a Git force push.  In the longer term, we can't know that the company controlling GitHub (it used to be GitHub, now it's Microsoft) will continue to operate it in a way that serves science.  Consider how many corporate products and services have disappeared or changed tack over the past twenty years, even things coming out of large established companies, such as Google (check this list) or Sun Microsystems after it got acquired by Oracle (Java and Solaris licensing).
Consequently, for a better guarantee of your work's permanence and availability to future scientists you should also put your data and code on a scientific data repository, such as Zenodo.  This will associate a DOI with your deposited artifacts, which will permanently link to the corresponding version.  (Once you upload something to Zenodo, there's almost no possibility to undo the action.)  GitHub and Zenodo even offer you the ability to archive a specific GitHub version to Zenodo.
If the volume of the data is large or it is likely to be often used on its own, then split it from the code, and upload each on Zenodo as a separate dataset.  Zenodo allows you to link the two (and also the GitHub repository) with the "Related Identifiers" metadata.  You can use the Compiles and Compiled by identifiers for linking code with data, and the Supplement to identifier to link your GitHub repository.
For an example of a split associated with a large dataset consider this dataset regarding the lifetime of code lines (3.7GB), the associated software, and the software's GitHub repository. For example of a split associated with an independently usable dataset consider this list of repositories created by enterprises and the associated replication package.
If the volume of the data is modest, it's fine (or perhaps better) to combine the two in a single Zenodo upload, as is the case in this package regarding the completion of Wikipedia links.


Arxiving accepted manuscript after publication in Elsevier/IEEE/etc

I do not have a definitive answer, but I have considered the matter and came to the conclusion that you can only update an already arXived preprint, not arXive it fresh after publication. Note that as far as Elsevier is concerned, this is a recent change, which happened when they revised their whole copyright agreement. Thus decade long habits may not apply anymore. Or maybe they do, because if there is one clear thing, it is that Elsevier's policy has been significantly obfuscated.

However, there are some countries (France shall join them soon) where by law, one can post their postprints on a repository after an embargo whatever the copyright agreement says. Many publishers also allow this (but embargoes are several years long for some Elsevier journals, if I remember well).


Admission for a PhD position in a Sweden university

You heard wrong. You 1) don't need to know Swedish professors personally to be admitted (although it helps of course), and 2) you don't need to have achieved more than what PhD students need to graduate. About #1, it's the same as elsewhere. If you know the professor personally - and there are ways to do this other than studying in Sweden, you can for example email them or speak to them at conferences - then that's good because they have firsthand knowledge of you. For the same reason if your recommendation letters are written by people who the professor knows personally, that's also helpful. But you don't have to have these personal contacts, and having them doesn't guarantee admission; they're only helpful. As for #2, if it is ever true, you'd be an exceptionally qualified applicant.

Finally about the PS: applicants with a BS degree typically have taken a lot of courses, and have some research experience. That could for example include a final-year project (also known as an Honours project in some places), summer research programs, or various internships. If these leads to published papers then so much the better, although it often does not. What really matters out of these projects is that you've worked directly with a more senior academic who'll become one of your recommendation letter writers. Impress her, and you'll have a much stronger application.


Student discount on international conferences for non-matriculated students

You're a PhD student, so, yes, you can register for the student discount.*

*Ultimately, conferences make their own rules, so this may not apply to every conference. In such cases, just ask the organisers.


Statistically which fields have higher probability of Grad School acceptance? What about tenure track opportunities?

Universities commonly publish acceptance rates (or you can call and ask their admissions office) as it is a common measuring stick in academics. You might be able to aggregate this information on a ranking website like US News World Report graduate school rankings.

Generally, fields with more funding are going to have more opportunities for funded students, more opportunity for postdocs, and more opportunity for grant funding later in an academic career. Individual fields often have a single publication that tracks relevant statistics about graduate admissions, graduations, attrition, job placement, salary, etc. For example, in computer science we have the Taulbee Survey, which gives all this data.

Graduation rate is studied more comprehensively under the name "attrition rate" or "completion rate". Generally STEM fields have a higher completion rate than humanities and soft sciences. Slide 7 breaks it down by field in the following link:

http://www.phdcompletion.org/resources/cgsnsf2008_sowell.pdf


Is it good to leave hyperref activated on a conference paper?

Yes, with a caveat: make sure that the hyperrefs don't include any information that can't be gleaned from the text itself. For example, a common mistake is to use \href to hide a URL, as in:
Our tool is available online \href{http://www.github.com/some/repo/}{here}.

This is acceptable on websites but not in a paper because if the paper is printed, the URL is not visible and impossible to recover.
Similarly, this is bad:
As we showed \hypertarget{page1sec2}{earlier}, every Foo Bar is a Foo Baz

since it only displays the text "earlier", so an offline reader will have trouble following the backward reference.
Generally, tools like cleveref (\Cref / \cref) do a better job of displaying something that is readable both in text and in interactive form.


How do I thank a professor for choosing me as his PhD student (via email)?

How should I thank her for admitting me?

Just like you would phrase any other similar email, within or outside of academia. There is no need to overthink this. There is no specific protocol for that, and no need for a special "thank you" email (although an answer that acknowledges that you have received the mail and are still interested in the position is definitely advisable).

Dear XXX,

I am very happy to hear this, and I am looking forward to working with you.

Can you please advise me on what the next steps for me are?

All the best,
Mahsa Gamiji

As a quick sidenote to all those expressing disbelief that a single professor may have decided to accept or reject a PhD candidate: This is how it works in most places in Europe. Don't assume that admission to PhD school is organized the same as in the US everywhere.


I got my MS online - How do I ask profs for a LoR?

Given that every encounter you've had with your professors thus far has been online, I would suggest just biting the bullet and e-mailing asking for that letter of recommendation. I presume you built a rapport up with them during your masters programme? You could even say that you look forward to finally meeting them at the conference.

I don't think you need to worry about it particularly given, from what you said, you've done well in coursework and actually achieved the Masters. Don't worry about it, after all, the worst they can say is no, and that's very unlikely.

As for the research project: go and smash it and get yourself another recommendation so you can move confidently into a PhD programme!


What questions should I ask a PI in a PhD interview?

Well, depending on the your topic but 1 min per slide seems the norm. However, for a presentation with a possible PhD, you might get a way with less number of slides for more details/discussion (maybe neglect literature review or discuss it while transitioning between slides) since he is familiar with the topic (I'm assuming so). Keep in mind that when I met my current advisor, I met him in a conference and we talked for few minutes (he asked me very detailed questions (2 questions)). so I'm building my answer based on my case.

Regarding your second question, maybe you can ask regarding what equipment do they have in the lab. How many students do s/he have? Do you get to work with the advisor directly? Or senior/post docs and rarely meet him/her? Will you be fully funded (if applicable)? Will be an RA or a TA or both?


Is it okay to use the same footnote with exact same words in two different chapters of a thesis?

Your question is predicated on the largely false assumption that there are detailed, sentence-level rules about what is and is not accepted in "academic writing".  There are no such rules.  Writing is a creative activity.  Use whatever words, footnotes, and anything else most clearly express your ideas.

If you are writing a thesis, check your institution's rules for theses. But I doubt they will include anything this specific.


Which grants to acknowledge, for papers written over a long period of time?

While it might seem over the top, it also seems to be good politics if you want to keep funders happy and the old lucre flowing your way, even if slowly.

I assume that you are talking about five or so grants, not twenty or more. Try to work up a short paragraph you can include in your work that mentions each agency, at least. If there aren't too many you could probably mention the grants by name instead of just the agencies, especially for the larger ones.

But the rules were set when you accepted the money. It is best to follow them.

It might be good, as a matter of practice, to separate out which grant supports which paper, specifically, though it is a bit hard if you haven't made it a regular practice. But you might be able to reconstruct a timeline from the dates grants were effective and the start of any research project, just by looking at the dates of early versions of paper drafts and correspondence with coauthors on the ideas.

And some of the grant requests likely mentioned specific lines of inquiry that the grant would support. Knowing what you wrote then should help you determine which papers should credit those grants.


General advice for A-level students wanting to pursue quantum physics

Look at the subjects required by a university that offers Quantum Physics and that you'd like to attend. Study the subjects they require.

You'll perhaps be surprised that universities don't require all the subjects you've listed. These subjects are nonetheless useful, they just aren't absolutely necessary, moreover, universities know that students have limited study time. Important aspects of subjects that you don't study will be covered at university. (Furthermore, you can study any aspects that you consider important, but aren't covered.)


For physics, google scholar and Inspire prove to be the best option(Inspire also list the "cited by" section, where you can see where an idea in a paper was applied/extended, and is very useful from this point of view, since for most journals this section require a subscription). These two also includes new papers which in high energy physics appear first on arxiv. However, for other sciences, different search engines are expected.


Advisor's/University's rights in the PhD/MSc alumni's research projects and publications

I am currently returning now to a thread of work that I started as a PhD student many years ago, but have not had opportunity to work on since then. I will not be including my advisors as authors on the new papers that result, because the work goes beyond anything that we worked on or discussed during that project. So there's no direct overlap there, and thus they have no intellectual investment in the project.

I would argue that you would continue to include the advisors if they are actively collaborating with you on the current work that you're publishing—or if the original work that you're publishing was done while you were under their supervision.

Of course, you do need to cite the previous work that you've done on the topic as part of placing the work in its appropriate context within the larger experience. You should also be notifying your advisors of your recent work because it's the smart thing to do—you should always keep mentors apprised of your ongoing research activities!


Is it a good idea to continue a PhD with an advisor who doesn't really know your field?

judging nobody knows the area except you and your advisor seems
a strong statement to me specially if you just started doing research
(this April ).

I am quite sure there are other folks working on the same topic or
something really close to it. Those are your potential advisors.

Taking into account that you just started and he's a world class
expert, I believe the best thing is to approach your advisor asking
for help. Ask him to suggest some names to you.  He certainly
knows other academics and can even approach them asking for a PhD
position for you (have you looked to his co-authors list in DBLP for
example? ). I have heard several cases where advisors help their
students secure PhD positions in other institutions.
Take a breadth view over other's research. Attend their seminars. You
might see their work interesting as well.
DO NOT LOSE YOUR ADVISOR. keep in touch with him and try to be his student even outside academia!


scientific plotting software like Excel with more functionality without coding?

You can look at some online services such as Plotly, which works with Excel, R, etc.


What does “senior graduate student” mean in this context?

When talking about undergraduate studies, "senior" has a specific meaning in the US system, i.e. a student in their last year of a bachelor's degree.  But there isn't a specific meaning in the context of graduate studies; here "senior" just has the generic meaning of "more advanced, more experienced".  Of course, this is relative.

In the context you mention, referring to "postdoctoral scientists or senior PhD students", it seems clear to me that they mean a PhD student who is, at least, in the second half of their studies.  US PhD programs usually involve 2-3 years of advanced coursework, followed by dissertation research.  This program seems to be intended for students in the research stage, and it will likely expect that the students have a base of advanced knowledge in the relevant subfield.

From your description, I don't think you are eligible for this program.


Transferring to a Top-10 PhD program in Theoretical Physics from a Top-50 program in US for better job prospects in Academia?

Well, better is better, in academia just as anywhere else.  Certainly if you got admitted to a Top 10 program and a Top 50 program then all other things being equal you should enroll in the Top 10 program.  (In fact, even things being only mildly unequal, you should enroll in the Top 10 program.  You should seriously consider the Top 50 program only for serious personal considerations -- e.g. if because you are caring for a family member, you cannot leave your hometown -- or because you have a preternaturally good fit with a particular faculty member.)

But that's not what you're asking; you're asking about transferring later to a top program, which presumably means that you have not yet been admitted to one.  That is not a good plan.  The competition to get into the very top PhD programs is of a roughly similar level of difficulty as the competition to get a post-PhD academic job.  The main difference is that the former competition is more cut-and-dried whereas the latter competition has great amounts of uncertainty and randomness.  In other words, it's actually pretty easy to make most admissions decisions at top ten places: there are certain agreed upon metrics that most or all graduate programs take into account, and the top programs pick from the top applicants according to these metrics.

This has the following important implication: if you applied to the top programs in year N and didn't get into any, it is very difficult to transfer into them in year N + 1, N+2,...The idea of "transferring from one graduate program to another" is already not very standard, and when it is done it is often done to deal with a problem rather than by virtue of exceptional success.  The one exception is that it is common for one to transfer from a master's program to a PhD program.  However, in many STEM fields in the US, the best students just enroll into a PhD program straightaway: their undergraduate preparation is just as good -- or more often, better -- than what American students graduating with master's degrees get.  (In other parts of the world, a separate master's program may in fact be mandatory, so things are a bit different.)  Most American STEM master's programs that I know of are "PhD lite": they are for students are either not as strong, not as prepared, not as committed, or some combination thereof as the PhD students, so getting a master's degree is -- relative to the desired goal of transferring to a top place -- no great distinction.

To be able to transfer from a top 50 HEP program to a top 10 one, you would have to do some truly excellent research at the beginning of your career.  Transferring out of a program in which you've had such sterling success is worth some second thoughts, but if you did this work largely or entirely on your own and the continuation of it would be aided by transferring to a top program: OK, do it.  However, this is very rare, and if you do something that great, then you're on your way to success independently of your transfer plans.

I think that if you spend the first few years in your PhD program with the express goal of transferring out as soon as you can, there is a substantial risk of that showing through as a lack of commitment to your current program, which could really work against you.

  I mean, is [there] any huge advantage in the academic job market to be at a Top-10 school compared to a Top-50 school ?

It is an advantage, yes.  The advantage can be overcome by your own work, and if you want a very distinguished post-PhD academic job, then getting a PhD at an absolutely top program with a world-famous advisor is not a golden ticket.  (I know this as well as anyone: feel free to look up my academic past.)  If you go to a top program and do "about average" there, then you will probably not get a top academic job because you will not be getting the top drawer recommendation letter from your famous advisor.  However, that same advisor could help you out getting placed at a lesser institution, or the pedigree of the institution could help (a lot, in some cases) if you wanted to get a non-academic job.  Better is better.

  I have earlier worked with Professors who graduated from such top schools and they say that famous advisors are like "King-Makers" who get their students well placed in academia after PhD since they have influence in the field.

The people that the King-Makers make kings were doing pretty well on their own.  A truly eminent advisor can probably place some of their students in very good positions.  But not all of them.  The important thing to remember is that the quality of your own research -- as perceived by the academic community -- is what will get you or not get you an elite academic job.  If your work is superior, it is superior no matter where you are, and the community will recognize that.  If your work isn't that good but is still strong by the standards of the top institution, then having an eminent advisor really comes in handy.  If your work is not as good as many other students of that advisor, then you are not going to get a big career boost.  In some situations, having an advisor who is still well known and recognized by the community champion you as they have never championed a student before, could work out better.

  Also, is it ethically good to change schools like this ?

I see no ethical problem with changing schools in this way (although as ever there are more and less gracious ways to proceed); leaving a program for a much better one is easy to understand and I think few people will hold it against you.  But as I said above, effecting this kind of change is just very unlikely;
the real concern is what will happen to you while you are angling for it.  If you are just working that much harder to do your best work: great, and great whether you transfer or not.  But don't make plans or behave in a way which will only payoff if you transfer.  E.g. you might reason that merely doing well in the coursework and qualifying exams is not going to be nearly enough to allow you to transfer to a top program (correct) so that instead you should blow off your coursework while you try to solve the hardest problems in the field (disaster).  Learn to grow where you're planted.


How much professional assistance can I receive on an undergraduate capstone design project without cheating?

I have not asked my professor directly about this yet (there's still time, though!) since I've been afraid of self-incriminating and that I may be asked to remove the code which would put me back to my major snag that I can't solve.

There is not a lot of guidance that we can give you on this question as outsiders.  Your professor is the one who has set the assignment, and he/she is the proper person to determine what level of assistance is allowed while meeting the learning/assessment goals of the assignment.  In cases like these, where you have doubt over the allowable scope for assistance, you need to speak to your professor for guidance.  Since you have already received assistance, this conversation will involve disclosure of previous assistance, so you should be open to the possibility that you may have to discard some of that work.

The other issue here is the importance of learning how things work.  If you have been provided with code by an outside professional that solves some problem in your assignment, then you need to take the time to understand how and why that code solves the problem.  You say that if you are asked to remove the code then that will put you back to a point where you can't solve the problem.  This suggests to me that you don't actually understand what that code is doing, and so it is not appropriate for you to use it in your assignment.  The best approach here would be to take the time to learn the reasoning behind the code that was used, and why it works to solve your problem.  Once you understand this, it should not be a major problem if you had to remove that code and write your own replacement code in a different form.


Organization tips for a newcomer to academic learning

The way to succeed doesn't depend a lot on which university you attend, nor does the field you want to study, though the specifics differ a lot. The key to it is to understand how the human brain works.

First, every learner is different and some things are easier and some are harder for different people. Hardly anyone, however, will actually learn anything by seeing or hearing or reading it just once. The brain works through repetition and requires actually physical changes. New synapses must be established between neurons and that takes reinforcement to have any chance of retaining new information and skills in long term memory. See The Art of Changing the Brain by James E Zull for the scientific explanation.

So, the key, in a field like language or history is to look at a lot of issues and write about them. It is the writing that provides the reinforcement, not the "looking". Write a lot of short papers, poems, speculations, whatever. In mathematics, you solve a lot of similar problems. In CS you write a lot of programs. But the learning has to be active - producing something - not just passively consuming it.

But, the brain can be misled. You can reinforce the wrong thing. You also need to avoid that. So, in addition to reinforcement to learn, you also need feedback. Someone has to look at whatever you produce and give you some idea about its correctness and, hopefully, its implications. This happens in most face-to-face courses, though sometimes ineffectively, if the prof focuses too much on grading rather than more effective feedback.

If my understanding of OU is still accurate, then note that it isn't just an online information broadcaster. In addition to extremely well produced material they depend (or did, at least) on students having contact with local tutors to ask questions and such. Thus, the system there is designed to give you good information, as well as to provide you a way to do the reinforcement (exercises) and get feedback (comments, questions, ...).

For a self learner who doesn't have a guide about both what and how to learn it is a bit harder. In a purely online "course" the information may be available, but there may be nothing that forces you into reinforcement mode and nothing at all to give you feedback. The self-learner has to organize those on their own. I think OU is pretty good about that, but it takes your own dedication to make it work.

Caveat. I'm not, and never was, associated with OU, but have worked with some faculty there on unrelated projects in the past. My information isn't especially current.


Should you mention previous rejections when resubmitting a paper? What is common practice?

Regarding your arguments for: 1. and 3. seem to be more like "axioms" than arguments.  1. in particular seems almost to be begging the question.  As for 3., journals have (increasingly!) long lists of requirements for authors, some of them serious but also others that those "in the know" know that they may safely ignore: e.g. many journals ask that you submit papers in their own template, but there's no good reason for that, most papers that I've written or refereed do not do that, and no one cares.  So the negation of 3. seems more reasonable to me: if journals wanted you to provide this information, they would ask for it.  (Maybe you are trying to argue that they should ask for it.  Interesting, but a different question, I think.)

Argument 2. is much more pertinent: if the referee's careful opinion is that your paper is valuable and deserves to be published in a research journal but just not in the journal that you have submitted to, one can indeed save a lot of people's time by carrying over the same referee to a different journal.  If you want to do this, it seems best to ask the editor of journal A to get in touch with journal B.  I've done this both as an author and as the carry-over referee.

But this is an option that the author gets to choose to exercise or not.  In terms of the current practices, this is certainly true and I don't think anyone expects otherwise.  Again, it is interesting to argue about whether it should be true....and yes, I think it should.  The refereeing system is not strong on incorporating "responses to referees": when authors write back to the editors pointing out factual mistakes in a referee report, they are often told something like "I am inclined to believe you and that is most regrettable.  You should definitely resubmit your paper to another journal of similar stature.  Best of luck."  Very often the referee acts not only as the jury but also the judge and the executioner in the current system.  But for a paper whose work is agreed to be correct and novel -- or for which this evaluation was not even made -- then fundamentally, "not good enough for a journal like X" is nothing but an informed opinion.  If that opinion is a sound one, a different referee will probably come to it independently.  If it isn't, then I think the author has every right to start out fresh.

Let me also say that as a frequent referee, I do not feel the desire to know the provenance of the paper, and I don't think that would help me with my decision.  I already have what I think is probably too much information at my disposal: namely the author's identity and thus their professional reputation, my personal view of them, and so forth.  Being a good referee doesn't mean taking all possible information into account; it means taking exactly the right information into account to evaluate the paper on its own merits.

In the course of arguing against the "arguments for", it seems that I have espoused some of the arguments against: 2. and 3.  I hope these arguments have been shown to be more convincing.  (Arguments against 1. and 4. do not seem very compelling to me.)


How can I get feedback for my work in math if I'm not in academia?

Nowadays, you can get feedback and answers to questions from places like MathStackExchange, and MathOverflow. Most of the responses are (in my observation) either entirely competent or quickly corrected by others. Good quality control. No, that wouldn't be the same as having a good advisor (ideally a world-class scholar on your subject) that you talk to in person every week. Still, these sites can give guidance.

Also, quite a few of the more-senior people who like to contribute to such sites may be amenable to direct email contact, etc.

(Grad school is not about "taking notes in lectures" per se, but is about having access to the informal observations of very good mathematicians, and being able to ask them questions immediately, in the moment.)


I have accepted a PhD offer. When to contact potential supervisors?

The matter of when to meet or talk to your POI is definitely subjective, but in my personal opinion there's no harm in keeping in touch, if you expect to have a relationship with this professor in the future. I think that creating a dialogue with this faculty and discussing potential research projects as an incoming student rather than a prospective student places you in a very different position, and is better than blindly looking at her papers, etc. If nothing else, she may be able to guide you to other faculty as she learns more about you and your interest, and doesn't see a good fit.

Of course, none of this is concrete, but from my experience it was useful to informally keep in touch with POIs across the board and see where I would head in the future, both academically and at jobs.


How do schools have the same number of each week day?

Make up days at the end of semester

The solution that I saw used is that for certain subjects, where one of "their" days fell on a holiday, the semester was one week longer, i.e. the break was shorter. Your described solution was not considered feasible - transferring a Friday class to Wednesday would fail because (a) there would be some students who have also chosen the Wednesday class and would have to be in two places at once; (b) there might be also a similar collision for lecturers who teach multiple classes and (c) there weren't enough facilities to host all the usual Wednesday classes plus all the usual Friday classes at once.

Skip them

Another reasonable possibility is to reduce the number of lectures. If it's known well in advance, it's no problem for a lecturer to take a course that usually is split in 14 lectures and teach it in 13 - and they can shift part of that material to extra reading and homework in the "empty" week where the lecture doesn't happen but students do have the rest of the week available.


How to edit name on existing publications after a name change?

I am afraid that you can't easily change the name on a published article. Publishing is (at least theoretically) still done on print, so there is simply no way to change the physical journal once it has been sent to university libraries all over the world. Even for more important issues such as plagiarism or factually incorrect data, only an errata is issued, or the paper is marked as "retracted".

What you can do instead is advertising the double name on your webpage and CV, and ensuring that the academic databases (such as Web of Science and Scopus) correctly recognize and handle your name change, marking all of your papers as written by a single author. You will probably need to notify them using the "contact us" functions on their websites.

Several authors in the same situation choose to keep the old name also on new papers; this makes it simpler for other researchers to recognize you, at the price of using a name that you might have disowned and now consider a relic from the past. In practice, there is no requirement that your academical nom de plume coincides with the one that is written on your ID and that you use on legal papers, so you are free to sign your papers using a different version of it. Once you choose this route, however, it will be more practical if you consistently use the old name also when attending conferences.

If you are simply getting married, then signing your papers with both surnames is probably the easiest option. (I realize that probably you have already considered and discarded this option, but I thought it more appropriate to include it in my answer anyway.)


Poor Master's grade but demonstrably passionate about the field- do I stand a chance of getting a funded PhD place?

The obvious answers is: ask (University of Sheffield, not us) informally whether a (formal) application has any chances of success.

From my own experience in the UK, that answer depends (1) on which agency is funding the PhD studentship and (2) on any (additional) rules applied by the University/Department. AFAIK, research-council funded studentships in the UK require a minimum grade of 2.1 (upper second) in (any) undergraduate degree (but exceptions may be possible, I'm not sure). So if prior to said master course (where I assume you only obtained a 3) you managed that, this would be fine (I know a PhD student in a UK Physics Dept, who obtained only a 2.2 in UG Physics from Oxford, but has previously graduated with a first in architecture, which sufficied to satisfy the rule).


Some large institutions maintain platforms for such tasks: some of them are restricted to their members, others have a more liberal policy. For example, the French CNRS (largest national research institute) has developed SciencesConf.org. It fulfills your requirements, except for the forum (which, as far as I can tell, is rather unusual for conferences to have).


How can I tell a professor that I don't want to join his group? (science major)

It sounds like you have not made any sort of commitment, so if that is the case then there should be absolutely no hard feelings by simply writing a polite email saying that you have decided not to do research with him.

If you wish to elucidate the reason, just say you don't feel that you'd fit in well with the group. He'll understand. You should not feel obligated to come up with an elaborate explanation.

It's hard to tell without more information on the course you speak of. If it's an ad-hoc, informal course taught by the professor himself then I can see how the investment of time may only be worthwhile for his own students. If it's a proper course that you pay fees for and earn credits, then perhaps it is reasonable to ask if you can still do it.


For a future in physics, should I pursue a dual major as opposed to just taking extra physics courses in mathematics degree?

(Speaking from the perspective of a US grad student who did double major, but who has no direct experience working on a grad admissions committee.)

  if it would behoove me to pursue a dual major as opposed to just taking extra physics courses

In general, the extra degree itself probably isn't much added value for what you want to do. You have your statement of purpose and the rest of your application to show what specific knowledge, skills, and interest you have. Grad schools will look at your transcript, seeing every course you took anyway. If you take enough physics courses, it shouldn't really matter what your diploma says. And by the time you finish grad school, your undergrad major will be even less important to people.

The question is how much is enough physics? I don't have any course descriptions to work with, but "Principles of Physics" sounds like a survey course for non-physicists, the kind of thing you won't learn anything useful from. If you want to do research in physics, you'll need a graduate-level understanding of physics, and for that you'll need plenty of undergraduate-level physics. You should have at least a core foundation of

special relativity,
classical mechanics (Lagrangians and Hamiltonians),
electromagnetism,
statistical mechanics, and
quantum mechanics

by the time you finish undergrad. Now since you are planning to do primarily math for the PhD there might be some flexibility in that you can hold off on some of this until grad school, but note you will still need even more physics knowledge to do research. If you don't know any physics discovered in the last 100 years, there's no way you can discover anything new, and all the subjects I listed are at least 100 years old.

To be sure, some math is very useful for physics. But just knowing differential geometry doesn't mean you know general relativity, and particle physics is more than just the pure group theory you'll see in a math course.

On the topic of labs: I've met a fair number of student mathematicians-interested-in-physics who say labs aren't important for what they want to do. That might be true for what I would call a mathematical physicist, but I don't believe it for theoretical physics. Some exposure to a laboratory setting is important for knowing what physics really is. This is based on my own experiences, as well as advice I got from my (Nobel-prize-winning, theoretical physicist) undergrad adviser. The thing is, undergrad physics courses are unfortunately largely doable with blind symbol manipulation. Those who are good at it (and mathematicians usually are) often end up thinking physics is just easier, less abstract math. But physics is an empirical science, which math most certainly isn't. A (well-organized) lab will show you how much more there is to thinking like a physicist than solving the Schrödinger equation with yet another potential. And if it turns out thinking like a physicist isn't your cup of tea, it's better to find that out earlier.

In summary: Decide what classes you want to take, keeping in mind that you'll need a number of actual physics courses, taught by physicists, if you want to do physics proper (rather than, say, prove pure math theorems deemed important by those with more of a connection to physics). If that list of classes is a superset of the physics requirements, sure, do the extra major -- if nothing else it might impress an industry recruiter should your career go in that direction. If it isn't a superset, just take the physics courses of interest and skip the extra major.


Supervisor announced he's going to present my work without asking permission, how can I get credited without damaging my career?

You should initially react positively.  It is part of a supervisor's job to promote the student's work.  Possibly this is what the supervisor is trying to do, but the supervisor failed to explain what is going on.


Since this is an organization outside of your university, maybe talk to the organization first and find out what's what?

You should have been given some sort of contact when they first awarded you the scholarship, so I would go back to that person via email (to give them a chance to respond) or phone them directly if the timing is more urgent.

If you know any of the other recipients, I would recommend combining your efforts together or seeing if they've already taken some steps to find out what's going on.


How can I tell if I'm making enough progress when working remotely?

Yes, you should raise this issue, both with the advisor and with the university administration. Students need some feedback on their work and it is the university's responsibility to provide a way for that to happen. They need to provide the channels and you need to find a way to use them.

But things are in a bit of chaos now, of course, and effective response can be slow to occur.

Virtual seminars are possible using simple or sophisticated software. Perhaps you can set up (or the university can) a group of students and a professor or two willing to have an online session regularly. It isn't the same as face to face, but it can keep you engaged.

But at a minimum, write a lot and note where you have problems. Ask a lot of questions, but make sure they are pretty focused. Share what you write with your advisor, by email or by posting it somewhere.

Ask your advisor directly how you are doing and ask explicitly for next steps. You will most likely get suggestions about reading. Take a lot of notes on the readings and note things that puzzle you. Ask about them.

If you are starting the research phase of the degree it is normally a fairly solitary effort in any case, but the advisor should be willing to review and respond to your efforts and your questions.


How to Cite Hardware in Scientific Articles?

There is a line to be drawn regarding which things that you used get to be cited.

What deserves to be cited/mentioned?

The experimental hardware? A mention definitely, but a bibliography entry--probably not.
The PC you conducted measurements on? If the PC specs are relevant, yes. Again, why would you need to add a bibliography entry for that? If it is specifically mentioned that hardware need to be specified, then supply basic information like: Desktop PC with Intel Core i7 Processor (4x 2.0 GHz) and 4 GB DDR4 RAM.
The digital camera you took pictures with? Nobody mentions that.
Edit: Apparently, sometimes people do, as salehgeek pointed out in his comment. As for the other points, I was talking about my field (engineering). I have never seen anyone mention the camera they photographed their samples with, but some may do that. Personally, I find it superfluous.
The software you used for processing the results? If it does something special (e.g. a simulation tool) yes, but nobody cites Word, Excel or LaTeX in their papers.

In my field (engineering) the machines get mentioned in the experimental part (manufacturer, model). Sometimes exact settings on the machine are provided. Instruction manuals, manufacturer documents/websites are almost never in the bibliography.

The best way for you to know what is accepted is to read related articles and see what the majority does. If it fits with your journal's guidelines, do that.


Method and content in selecting a social science dissertation project

If I understand your question, it sounds like you would prefer to identify a topic or research question of interest, but feel pressure to ensure that question fits with a specific statistical technique.

Your dissertation project is about showing that you are capable of conducting research, but it is still under the guidance of your adviser. If they want you to use a certain technique, then that's part of the training process. Once you're an independent researcher you may decide to approach the issue differently, but I'm not sure there's anything inherently dishonest in this process.

One option is to identify the key components needed to use that technique (x number of variables, access to a large population database, etc.), pick a broad topic or research question you want to answer, and then look for datasets that will allow you to address some aspect of that question. This way, you can identify the topic and theoretical justification for why it is worth studying, while leaving room to narrow your eventual research question based on the available data which matches this technique.

Keep in mind that as a student you are still learning these techniques and how to integrate them with your research questions. Also, the authors you mentioned  likely have years of experience in their field. It's possible they've reached a point where they think of/tailor their research questions to fit within a specific statistical framework, even if they aren't aware of it. (Imagine if the statistical technique you used for every study was regression; eventually, you would probably begin thinking of research questions in terms of regression). Perhaps by working with these methods and then identifying the specific question, you'll gain the flexibility to "reverse-engineer" the process when you have more experience.


What are some faculty positions focused purely on research in Europe?

Surely, yes. For example, institutes of Max Planck Society in Germany are primarily research focused. They offer positions of various levels (postdocs, group leaders, professors) which can be 100% research (i.e. there is an opportunity but no duty to teach).


(a) Benefits: You mentioned the biggest one, i.e. knowledge, exposure and an updated idea of trends in the field. Besides this, the major factor is generating/maintaining goodwill with the person who sent it to you for subreview. This is an intangible benefit which could multiply in ways that are hard to predict.

(b) When is it not worth it: Probably once you have defended your PhD. You may prefer to review directly. Definitely once you're in a faculty position, unless you do it as a favour to someone.


About putting affiliation on a paper or not

Affiliations are about finding and positively identifying you, as well as also understanding your approach to the problem.
For example (and this is a real case), I would put much less stock in linguistics papers authored by people in the economics department than linguistics.
In the US and Canada, institutions derive so little value from having their name as your affiliation, I don't personally see much of a point in not putting the institutions you're currently at to "stick it to them." In any case, having a real affiliation looks much better than "Independent Scholar" (perhaps unfortunately).
Commenters indicate this is different in other systems, which I'm not qualified to address. Nonetheless, I would err on the side of including them; not only because of your quote below, but for the benefit of the community and improving your own credibility.

besides having access to some database of my field and access to journal papers

This is not nothing. I would recommend putting the colleges you currently teach at. If they no longer employ you at the final check, take them off.


If I don't know whether a staff member has a PhD, should I address her as Dr. in my emails?

I always use Dr. ______  whenever I am e-mailing someone at a university and do not know if they have a doctorate.

If they do have a doctorate, I haven't insulted them.
If they don't, they chuckle and are pleased.


Will I be considered as a very rude person if I call my teacher to check an urgent email

I think you have made a mistake sending him so many E-mails.
Nevertheless, its always okay to call someone and ask something politely (If the prof. C is sane you should be okay).


How to compose mathematical papers in engineering conferences?

Yes, it is considered good form, in mathematics, to have at least a sentence to introduce 'named' theorems, lemmas and definitions and navigate the reader through the results. And an "introduction" section --- you can dispense with the conclusions.

Sometimes in this kind of venues you are allowed to put the proofs of your theorems and lemmas in an appendix (which doesn't count against your page limit). Ask the organizers if it is the case.

If not, then leave everything as it is; it seems that you have no better solution (assuming that you have already tried to save as much vertical space as you can).


It seems to me that you have a common misconception about the nature of scientific publications.  You talk about somebody wanting to "present a paper" and "an interesting idea," but you do not mention what this is intended to accomplish.  This sounds to me like you're thinking about the publication as an end in and of itself, or as a way of making scientists listen to your ideas.  Neither of these is the case.

Scientific publications are, ultimately, about communication.  They are part of a long, slow dialogue within a community, and peer-review is a filtering process by which a sub-community attempts to determine "Is this piece of work substantial enough to consider taking seriously?"

If you just want to get your ideas out there, you don't need peer reviewed publication.  You can disseminate ideas through many different types of media, and if your writing is well-presented and interesting enough to others, you can draw attention and affect the scientific world without any need for peer review or even credibility (more's the pity).

If, on the other hand, you want to make scientists listen to your ideas, peer reviewed publication won't do that either.  Most scientific publications are barely read and never cited.  To have an impact on scientists, you need to figure out how to speak their language and how to participate in the community and its conversation in a way that relates to what other scientists are thinking about.

Honestly, this is really hard.  It's not because science is closed and wants to keep outsiders away: some sub-communities certainly hold such attitudes, but usually there are other related communities that are quite open and welcoming of newcomers.  Mostly, though, it's hard because you have to prove that, out of all the vast number of ideas floating by every day, your ideas are the ones that are worth the time and energy to consider carefully.  Doing that requires gathering strong and objective evidence, presenting that evidence in a clear and compelling manner, and placing it in the context of the larger dialogue in the community with which are you attempting to communicate.  All of those are difficult, and if a paper fails on any of them, it is likely to be rejected and/or ignored, because the people reading it won't understand why it's worth paying attention to.

Now, what does exacerbate the difficulty of getting involved in science is the difficulty of getting at some sections of the literature.  High-cost subscription-only journals can make it impossible for outsiders to access key parts of the ongoing conversation, thus making it much more difficult for them to participate.  Some parts of the scientific community have taken good steps towards addressing that (e.g., physics and math), while others are generally quite terrible.  If you're dealing with one of the latter, then many scientists will still gladly share pre-print copies of their articles, but it does make things much harder.


How common are shortlist notifications for math postdocs?

It's not common to officially notify applicants that they are on a short list.  If you find out, it will probably be via backchannel communications through your advisor.  That's the best way to gather information, since your advisor's contacts may be more open with him/her than they would be with you, and your advisor can put in a good word for you at the same time.


Seeing as symbolic math tools are very common nowadays, how acceptable is it to skip calculations in manuscripts?

It's always been normal not to write out long but straightforward calculations in a scientific paper. If there are certain intermediate steps in the calculation that are of interest for their own sake, show them.

  will it be frowned upon, even if I specify which software I use and even provide code?

If the calculation is something that can be straightforwardly (but tediously) verified by anyone with knowledge of the field, then I don't see any point in saying what software you used or supplying source code. The reason to give this type of information would be if there was something in the software that could be nontrivial, controversial, etc., so that other people with knowledge of the state of the art might not get the same answer you did.


Referencing opinions that are visible in Google search results?

In my field, it is common to see this type of thing in the "related work" section of a paper. And it is almost always accompanied by citations. What is "overkill" and why are you afraid of it? Citations don't clutter a paper that much that you have to be afraid of including them.
Think of it this way, if a entry-level graduate student was reading your paper, and didn't know exactly what region modelling meant, it would be helpful to have a single paper to go to that provides a description. Especially if there is any ambiguity among terms, you can clear up what you mean by "region modelling" by simply including a reference.


How can I evaluate the chances of my paper being accepted by a journal?

However, my supervisor is not very familiar with the field I'm in

This may not necessarily be a bad thing. Having your article read by someone who's an expert in this specific field can give you another valuable point of view.

  One way I can think of is contacting the authors of papers I cited, and ask their feedback. But most of them are established professors and I'm afraid I can't get too much help in this aspect.

Wrong wrong wrong! Many PhD students suspect that established professors will not care about their work, which is a symptom of the impostor syndrome. If you work is relevant and important in the field, they would be delighted to see it. Talking to established professors is an excellent way for experts in the field to read your work and give valuable feedback. If your program really solves a problem they have, they will use, cite it, and promote your own career.

  Is there any other alternatives? I truly believe I have made something
  useful, but getting them published is a really tiring process

Submit the work. If you think it's good enough, go for it. It will go through peer review where it will be assessed by knowledgeable people in the field, providing feedback (both positive and negative). You should have no fear that someone will steal your work because it's already out there on GitHub.

.


What would be the best way to convince a professor to waive late submission penalties?

Professors will say no by default to all such requests, but a lot of the time they secretly want to say yes, so you need to help them help you by providing all the relevant context, being logical and reasonable, and generally convince them that you are worthy of their attention and understanding.
Here is my attempt at a draft email.

Dear Professor xyz,
my name is ZYX, I’m a student in your Programming for Programmers class. I submitted the first class project one day late on February 17 and as a result you imposed a 20% late submission penalty, which reduced my project grade from 18/20 to 14/20.
I know that this penalty is in the course policies and accept that there is a good reason for such penalties and that you have the right to decide such things. But I wonder if you considered that such a high penalty may be unreasonably harsh? I am an excellent student and have worked very hard to maintain an overall GPA of A+ in the program. Because of the penalty it seems almost certain that my final grade for the class will end up lower than what my performance would merit without the penalty, which in turn would lower my overall GPA and future academic and career chances. The consequences seem disproportionate relative to the one time mistake of submitting an assignment late by just one day.
I therefore want to ask respectfully if you might consider waiving or at least reducing the penalty for this late submission.
I do sincerely apologize for the late submission, and for not contacting you in advance of the deadline to request an extension (something that in hindsight I obviously should have done when I realized I was going to be late). Normally I am very good at keeping up with my workload, but back in February, because of a research internship I was doing at [name of company], which required me to commute back and forth between [name of city 1] and [name of city 2] and took up a lot of my time and energy, my commitments ended up piling up in an unexpected way, which caused me to fall a little behind and miss the deadline. I nonetheless worked diligently to catch up and ended up managing to submit what I think you’ll agree is a high quality project the next day.
Thanks for your consideration. I hope you understand my anxiety and do not think less of me for making this request. In this difficult period when students like me are facing an uncertain job market and other unusual difficulties related to the COVID-19 crisis, we could use a bit of leniency.
Regards,
ZYX


Feasibility and procedure for getting graduate admission in CS with non-CS-related engineering background?

Yes, it is possible to get an admission for MS or PhD in a US university having studied Bachelor degree in 'Non Circuit" field. This is more true if you have strong drive, skills and suitable projects, seminars, publications to support the same. However, to get into the top 20s would be a special case though not impossible.

Try approaching professors from top universities in CS showing them your credentials. If you are able to convince a professor, the battle is more or less won.

One of my friend did his Bachelor in Civil Engg. from a reasonably good non-US university but got admission in Electrical Engg. in a US university of medium rank.


How can I get useful feedback when collaborating on research proposals?

Answer 1:

Ask for explicit feedback (maybe after the deadline is passed and crunch time is over). Giving feedback on your work is part of the implicit deal that a senior person enters when enlisting the help of a PhD student on things like that.

Answer 2:

In addition, re-engineer what they did to your text. You sent a full page of content and little of it made the cut. That is valuable information: apparently your text was, for one reason or another, not suitable. Read very carefully what the seniors decided to write instead: did they focus on different aspects? is their writing more polished in terms of language? is the tone different? was your original draft not aligned well enough with the rest of the proposal? is there anything else that reads notably different?

What I did when I was learning the ropes (actually, I still do this sometimes when I work with somebody better than me at grant writing) is to very carefully re-construct how they build their argument, what they write, and what they don't write. If in doubt, I ask them directly, but I feel the exercise of figuring this out myself is a better learning experience than simply asking for feedback.

Another thing to keep in mind of this happens regularly is that maybe you need to ask more, or better, questions before starting to write the text. If the PI asks you to write about related work, discuss in advance what fields you should cover and in what detail. If you should describe a specific work package, run your thoughts on what it should entail briefly by the PI before writing it all down. A quick meeting is usually more productive than multiple iterations of text writing, and being efficient is usually very important when writing a grant.

Finally, figure out whether anything related to your text actually made the cut. Sometimes, one just finds out when putting it all together that a specific section that sounded like a good idea during planning simply does not fit the proposal after all (for content or space restriction reasons). This is unfortunate, but still happens sometimes. In that case, maybe your writing was perfect, but your section simply still did not make the cut. In this case, move on.


Should I write my name with an already gained bachelor title in another bachelor thesis?

The good news is that it doesn't matter. Very few people will read the thesis. If it is normative in your country to add B.Sc after a name, then you have the right to add it wherever you choose. This is not normative in the US or UK, where I have worked. However, there's no requirement that all titles be used, even in formal contexts. In sum: you can choose.


How reliable is GoogleScholar for judging the status of a researcher?

You should probably consider Scopus. It has author profiles for most published academics. Many universities subscribe to the database (so check your university library). It also provides greater curation both of publications (i.e., what gets listed on an author's profile) and of publications that can give rise to citations. With a single click you will get various publication and citation estimates (e.g., total publications, total citations, h-index, citation indices excluding self-citations, etc.).

You occasionally have to be careful with academics who have variations in names (e.g., married names; with and without middle initials combined with changes in institution). If they have not merged their records, then sometimes an academic can be split over two or more author profiles.

So, if you want to for example rank all the academics in a given department, then Scopus is going to be easier to use.

If you do want to use Google Scholar, you could use PublishOrPerish. It is free software that interfaces with Google Scholar. This can be used with authors who do not have a profile. That said, if their name is common, then it can be fiddly.


What are some good questions to ask current graduate students when visiting schools?

You'll want to get a sense of their feelings for:

The graduate program

Easy to work with regarding customizing the program to their specific needs (i.e., taking courses outside their specific area if necessary)?
How easy/difficult was the process for joining a lab?
Have they found the staff easy/hard to work with?

The advisor

Attitude towards students (respectful/distant/slavedriver)
Presence in the lab (micromanager/occasional presence/absentee)
How organized is the research?

The university as a research institution

Easy collaboration between departments (in their opinion)?
Availability of course offerings (from their experience)?

The city as a place to live


How do I turn the acceptance offer down gently?

Before you turn it down, you should tell the school that offered you only half tuition that you have an offer from the another school (its OK to name it) that offers you full tuition. Mention that you prefer the offer from them (i.e., the half-tuition school) but that it will be financially hard for you to make it work.

There's a chance that the school that offered you a smaller package will be able to match the other in order to get you. If not, they'll understand why you eventually turn down their offer and they won't hold it against you.


Pre-submission enquiry taking a long time

Keep in mind that many faculty members (like myself) are still on Holiday Break and may not be checking e-mail as often as they would if the semester was in session.

That being said: I would wait until January 21st (which is typically the latest date for a semester to start) and reach out to the editor again (politely, of course).

If you still do not hear anything back, I see no problem in moving onto the next journal. After all, if you do not hear anything back, is this the type of journal you would actually like to submit your manuscript to? It doesn't give me confidence that the journal's review timeline is much better.


How to get started with PhD dissertation? (Management & Humanities)

Start writing now, every day. Put down any ideas you have.  Don't try to plan the whole project from the start. Don't wait to write until after the literature review, or after the fieldwork. Your daily writing will move the work along even though only a small part of it may end up in the finished dissertation.
Edit in response to comments.
Writing "even before you have anything to write about" is valuable because it can help you sharpen the particular questions you want to ask/research. You can speculate about what you expect to find (but be honest when you finally see the data). If you start writing every day  you can develop a writing addiction that will serve you well as the dissertation deadline nears.
You can rough out a version of the conceptual framework now and  refine it as you see more literature, and as your fieldwork plans develop. Don't think of the project as a sequence of distinct stages, even if the final written dissertation has that structure.
This is the short form of what my wife Joan Bolker recommends in her book
Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day.
(This answer may be flagged or deleted as the blatant product promotion it is. I hope not, since many students have profited from this advice. I haven't included a link to the title so you have to work a bit if you want to get the book. That may make a moderator hesitate before deleting.)


How should I communicate that I do not hold the views expressed in a paper I wrote

I would precede my paper by a strong explanatory note disassociating myself from the views expressed in the paper, in boldface and surrounded by a big black frame. For extra clarity and safety, I would then quote verbatim the assignment that the project is fulfilling, before starting the actual paper. E.g.:

  Confessions of a cannibal
  Final project for Philosophy 101
  [your name]

  Explanatory note: the views in the essay below are written in the context of a final project assignment for the course Philosophy 101. They are fictional and do not represent the author's actual views on cannibalism or on any other subject.

  Project assignment: "Write a 4000-word essay written from the point of view of a cannibal living in New York City in the year 1987. Discuss the narrator's views and opinions on cannibalism and other topics of interest."

  [body of the essay]

I should note that you say "To an external observer it may not be clear that I am not allowed to disagree with the premise of the prompt." It's not clear to me if you mean that you are not allowed to include an explanatory note of this type, or even to quote the assignment text. If that's what you meant, I'd have to say that forbidding you from including such explanatory text would in my opinion be tantamount to requiring you to actually pretend to be a cannibal (or other such person with unsavory views), which would be a highly unethical requirement. In the face of such a restriction, I would frankly refuse to hand in such an assignment, and take the matter up with the instructor and/or higher university authorities.


Trying to volunteer as a research assistant post-Master's and not having any success so far

It's probably going to be a bit difficult to get a professor to agree to take you on as a "volunteer," because they see it (in my personal experience) as a time-sink from what they're really trying to accomplish, which is train students, teach, get grants, and publish. This is especially the case for a potential "part-time" student, since research generally requires full-time focus to make good progress.

If you really wanted to pursue that path, I would recommend using your network. Do you have someone from your MS program who might be willing to write a rec letter to a colleague they know reasonably well? With a good introduction to pave the way, you are more likely to at least get a first conversation. Another avenue would be to get involved in your local chapter of your relevant academic society like IEEE. That might take some time, but would eventually be likely to lead somewhere in terms of opening doors to local researchers.

Finally, even if you don't get accepted on your first try, it's not a waste of time to at least try applying to your program of interest. Can't you consider some of your current work experience as "research experience"? Surely your work as a MS-grad isn't purely rote data entry or something. Maybe you have some patents or other quantifiable work products that could stand in for publications? If not, would you be willing to accept an MS position at the same institution that might get your foot in the door for a later transition to PhD?


How do I improve my rewriting and editing skills?

I recently posted a lengthy answer for a similar question a few days ago, the essence of which was to separate what you're going to say from how you're going to say it.

If you've done this for a paper, you can edit it focussing on writing style alone. This is a good way of avoiding the "big changes" you mentioned in your question: You will have made all these before actually formulating the text.  As a consequence, you should also know precisely what it is you are trying to say in each paragraph.

Iteratively refining a text can get you stuck in dead ends, e.g. if you choose a certain formulation and then can't make it sound right. One thing I often do when I get suck with a paragraph or chunk of text that I don't know how to fix, is to just delete it and rewrite it.

If you get stuck on the specific formulations themselves, i.e. you don't know how to re-write a certain paragraph, you could try explaining it (remember that you know what you want to say, but not how to say it) out loud to an imaginary listener.

Reading a paragraph out loud is a good way of forcing yourself to re-read it. It's also a great way of checking if something sounds silly or is not really comprehensible.

Update

If you're having trouble reading to yourself, you may want to try pairing-up with a colleague or co-author, and reading parts of the paper to each other. Granted, this may feel a bit awkward, but just look at it as editing the paper together. Working in pairs is known to improve motivation and productivity, and will basically force you to concentrate on the task at hand.

If you have problems concentrating in general, I can give you a few tips from my own experience:

Break down your editing into short bursts of at most an hour, and focus only on a part of the paper, e.g. the abstract, a figure, or any specific section.
The first few hours in the morning are the most productive for me. Try to find out where your own "best time" is.
Coffee. In certain cases, the caffeine can help you focus.


Is there an affordable way for non-students to subscribe to multi-journals/archives?

Many papers are freely available on authors' websites, and preprint servers (use search engine to find those).
Write to the authors, asking for copies. Majority of academics are happy when their work is read, and will send you a copy.
Your public library might subscribe to more than you suspect. Check it out. When I was a student in a community college, my local public library subscribed to JSTOR for example.
Become a student or an academic again :-)


Is it okay to keep a "Thank you" slide before references?

Don't even think about going through seven slides of references. Put them in a separate handout or web link. Make the thank you slide the last (or next to last, if you are going to ask for questions).

If you want the references on slides so you have just one document, put them at the end and don't visit them.

Addition: Many commenters note that "thank you"  might not be the best way to end your presentation. Consider verbal thanks and just your conclusions on the final slide, perhaps with a request for questions.


How do Academic Journals protect against empirical results given by bugs?

Journals never make any guarantees regarding the validity of the content published in them, though this may seem to be implied. Ideally, errors are caught during the review process. Note that this problem is not specific to programming bugs, subtle errors can occur in all kinds of settings including physical experiments. It is important to always be critical about any results in any article, even highly cited articles in top journals (though these are less likely to be wrong, they still might be).

Letters to the editor are not uncommon in my domain when questionable results are published. In a worst case scenario, published papers can get retracted after the validity of their results has been formally rejected. Retractions for this reason seem to be fairly rare, though.

This is one of the reasons why reproducible results are so important. If several independent researchers seem to reach similar conclusions, they are likely correct.


Is it ethical for a professor to get a graduate student to complete a manuscript peer review that the professor has been assigned?

Is it ethical to a professor to accept a manuscript for review, and then have a graduate student referee it?

Though commonplace in some fields (or among some professors), the practice of passing the review to a student, without the agreement of the editor, is utterly unethical for at least two reasons:

The editor expects a review from that specific expert s/he required, not from a ghost one.
The work of the student would not be credited.

Moreover, in some cases, publishers ask to treat the manuscript as confidential, and in that case passing it to someone else can be considered as a breach of confidentiality.

The proper way to handle this passage is the following: the professor should write to the editor refusing the review and suggesting the student (or any other person) as a possible substitute, possibly outlining the credentials of this person to serve as reviewer. Then, the editor will decide what to do with this piece of information: either pass the review to the suggested reviewer or choose another reviewer.


I'll suggest a couple of things here.

First, and most important, if this is a new thing for you, or if it has developed recently then find a doctor. Go to a specialist in Neurology. You may need to get a brain scan. This is especially important if you are young, but also worthwhile if you aren't. There are some degenerative brain diseases that you want to know about early on.

The other, totally unrelated, is that if you are under a lot of stress, say in your work, then your brain, even if completely "normal" might not be working efficiently and your immediate concerns might be interfering with recall of things in long term memory. There are a lot of things that I know, and I know that I know them and haven't forgotten them, but it takes me a lot of effort to recall them. I try to lead a stress free life but the modern world makes that difficult.

Stress can be a killer, actually. If this is your issue you need to find ways to reduce it to a manageable level. One way is to do regular physical activity. Evan better is to do some physical activity that also engages your brain in a way different from your work or normal life. The physical activity gets your blood flowing and oxygenated, and the change in brain activity also can reduce stress. Some university departments field, say, softball teams. Many universities have athletic facilities open to faculty and all students.

I've assumed here that this is not an issue of not being able to recall things you've learned thoroughly. If that isn't the case and you are still a bit shaky on the knowledge, as students normally are, then it is more a question of reinforcing your knowledge through practice and engagement with the material. That is a different issue altogether, of course.

Someone, a regular writer here, made and deleted a comment that you depend less on memory and keep important things in notebooks. I agree somewhat with that, especially in the sense that creating notebooks is, itself, a reinforcement of what you know and want to remember. Perhaps that writer will come back and fill out an answer.

Also note that, as my doctor explained to me, forgetting and lack of recall are not the same problem, though they seem to be.


The big reason for anonymous peer review is to allow the reviewers to speak their mind without fear of the authors taking revenge. Even if it's easy to identify, retaliation can happen: it's already decently common for authors to get angry when their paper is rejected for reasons they do not agree with (example). Even if the authors don't retaliate this obviously, future relations with the reviewer can easily be strained: for example, say the author and reviewer communicate several times and eventually the author decides that the reviewer's an idiot and submits elsewhere. If the author later finds themselves reviewing the reviewer's grant proposal, it will be hard for the author to remain objective.

Another issue with non-anonymous peer review is, the signature of a senior person as a reviewer can carry the implied threat of "do what I say or I will crush you". The consequences can be unpleasant for the authors, especially if they're junior. Example.

Yet another issue with non-anonymous peer review is that it's not clearly advantageous. There is no strong evidence that open peer review improves review quality (or makes it worse for that matter). Instead there was an immediate negative effect in that more people decline to review. If it's the case that there's no advantage, then implementing a fix seems rather unnecessary.


Have you used such grading policy in your teaching?

The version we use in my calculus class says that we drop the lowest score out of homeworks and midterms. There are 4 midterms, worth 15% each, and the homeworks are worth a total of 15%. The rest is decided by the final. When calculating the final grade, we drop the lowest score out of the midterms and homeworks, and calculate the grade as if each is worth 75/4 % instead.

Some students (the ones who read the syllabus) that have good scores on the first three tests and the homeworks elect to not take the fourth test. Other (less wise) students put all their faith in tests and don't do any homeworks. Most students still do all the homeworks and take all tests.

We think of it as a way to allow the students to have one bad day, without destroying their grade in the course.


Can I include a copyright notice in my paper?

Of the three listed I am only truly familiar with Chicago style, which if you are writing on military tactics is the style you are likely using, and that is the only style which has significant discussion of copyright notices.

There is nothing against copyright notices in the Chicago style. In fact, the University of Chicago—the publisher the Chicago Style—requires a copyright notice in their dissertations. Notably, however, dissertations are formally published, in contrast with course papers.

That said, as pointed out in the comments, it is not necessary, since it is under copyright without a notice. It is pretentious and even a little insulting, since the unnecessary copyright notice implies that you think that A) your ideas are so good and B) that your readers/advisors/colleagues are of such a low moral character that might steal them but for this little notice you put on it. It is also well outside the norm for anything not formally published, and will look weird.

The only exception to this would be if you are intending to distribute your work under a separate license, or if something you use in your paper is under a copyright or a license which requires a notification. For example, some of the Creative Commons licenses require notification if you use some of the licensed materials. It will still look a little strange, but people will understand, since it is legal stuff.


Poor Grade in First Real Analysis Course

A poor grade in a single course (especially in your second year) is unlikely to have a lot of effect on your application most places. But it isn't an indicator of success. When you apply for grad school or a job you need to indicate in the application process that you are an excellent candidate for success going forward. Poor grades don't help you. If managing proofs is really your issue then it will be hard to be a success in mathematics no matter what the field.

On the other hand, insight into mathematical structures isn't uniform across disciplines. I was great in analysis and topology but marginal (at best) in abstract algebra. I could follow along OK, but had no real insight into the big ideas.

Analysis can be pretty important in statistics, of course, and probably also in numerical analysis. But much less so in most of CS.

But, there is tremendous competition for slots in doctoral studies. You will be competing with a lot of people with better grades. That doesn't necessarily make you worse overall, but you need to make the case that you are the one for whom they can easily predict success. Make it so.


Should I include high school details in Grad School Resume?

I have to disagree slightly with the stark "No" answers.

Only when those details provide evidence of your potential for research.

Some information about your high-school experience may shed light on your research potential.  Certainly you would want to mention winning the Intel Science Talent Search or the International Olympiad in Informatics, or describe the peer-reviewed research papers you published as a high school student.

But your high school grades?  No, leave them off.


What to do when graduate admissions haven't gone well?

Do you want to go to industry or academia?

Turning down a scholarship to reserve the money for someone more "enthusiastic about it" sounds at odds with "my idea was to ... be academician [sic]".

If you want to work in industry, unless it's for some deep part of, for example, Google or AT&T, I would recommend getting a Master's wherever and begin getting real-world experience.

If you want to be an academic (and so almost absolutely need a PhD) then you should find people from Turkey who did something like what you are trying to do and get in contact with/ emulate them.

At the risk of being provocative and with the caveat that I doubt this is the main issue, your message gives the sense that money is an issue. It is for many of us- but consider if you conveyed that in an unproductive way as you tried to get admissions to graduate school. Some in academia are touchy about that.


Considering prospective grad schools; professor whose research interests me most may be visiting professor elsewhere currently, how to handle this?

There is no point in guessing.  Contact the professor directly.  Express your interest in working with him, and ask if he is planning to be back at the "home" university next year (or whenever you'd be starting), and if he would be looking to take on graduate students.

A likely scenario is that he is visiting the other university while on sabbatical, which would typically last one year or less.  However, there are many other possible scenarios and no way to know the true situation without asking.


Is transferring to another university an option for an unhappy PhD student?

Mathematics

Let me specify that by transferring, I mean moving to another university in the middle of a graduate program.  Switching universities between undergrad and grad or between a master's degree and a Ph.D. is very different.  Basically, those are the only mainstream opportunities to move, and anything else will require an exception.

Transferring is certainly not unheard of, but there are some serious caveats:

It's difficult to transfer to a substantially more prestigious department.  It can happen, but the admissions committee will be very skeptical, and it's just not going to work out unless the application is outstanding.  In particular, many committee members specifically do not want to reward rolling the dice again and seeing what happens, so for transfers the question is not "Does this application look better than our weaker students?" but rather "Is this application so obviously wonderful that we would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we accepted someone else instead?"
Expressing any unhappiness will make it much harder to transfer.  You may think you'll be happy at the new school, but they will worry about ending up with an unhappy, unproductive grad student on their hands.  And they are right to worry about that: the best predictor of future happiness is past happiness, and many unhappy people have unrealistic beliefs about what would make them happy.
It's hard to transfer once you start seriously working on a thesis.  If your work isn't going well, then that's a reason not to accept you.  If your work is going well, then that's a reason you should continue working with your current advisor.  Unless your advisor has died or left, it will be tough to convince anyone you are a good candidate for transferring.
No matter why you say you want to transfer, there will be some suspicion that your goal is to end up in a stronger department or a more desirable location.  If you have another reason, you'll have to make a powerful argument for it.

  I've heard of people transferring between graduate schools because of their advisor moving to another school and taking their students with them.

Sometimes they transfer officially, and sometimes they still get degrees from the previous school but complete their theses while in residence at the new school.  The latter is generally easy to arrange when an advisor moves.


How to protect the timeline of my project when the supervisor is not willing to negotiate anything?

You are still 7 months off. Work hard, but don't overwork yourself. 3 months before the deadline, re-evaluate where you are are: either you will catch up, or more likely, you will fall even further behind. If first, great, you win, if second, you now have a much better leverage to force descope of the project. Go to your advisor and say: ok I've been working really hard for 5 months, this is what we got, this is what we didn't and it was due to these unforeseen circumstances. Then make it absolutely clear that you plan to leave after 3 more months due to a job offered and that it is hard to buy food with no salary. She will probably huff and puff, whatever, at worst your grade won't be perfect, but then again, if you have a job lined up, it shouldn't matter. Whatever you plan to do after that job will be judged more on that job than on your (possibly) mediocre grade.


Recommendation Letter from a non-PhD referee

I would think at least twice about getting a letter of recommendation for admission to a PhD program in X from someone who does not themselves have a PhD in X or some closely related field.  (No PhD at all is to my mind no worse than a PhD in a totally unrelated field.)  The reason is that a grad school admission letter makes an argument that you (i) are a strong candidate for the program compared to the stream of candidates known to both the recommender and the readers in the department and (ii) will succeed in the program.  Someone who does not have a PhD in a closely related field to X is simply much less convincing with regard to (ii) than the majority of people who do.  One also worries about (i).

In my experience, all the letters you get for admission to a PhD program should address (i) and (ii) and not too much else.  Thus getting a letter from someone who directed a corporate internship you did or non-academic job you had or volunteer experience you have is a poor choice unless these experiences are directly, intimately related to (i) and (ii) above.  For instance if you are applying to a PhD program in chemical engineering then if you worked for a chemical engineering firm and did research that academic chemical engineers find significant (so especially if you published any academic papers), then great: get a letter from someone there, whether they have a PhD in that field or not.  Also, qualifications are correlated with credentials but not perfectly: everyone has their own example of a famous academic who happens not to have this or or that academic degree.  If you are interested in a program on the border of mathematics and philosophy and can get a recommendation letter from Saul Kripke, do it!  Don't be deterred by the fact that he doesn't have a PhD: that would be ridiculous.

Back to your situation.  About your potential recommender, you write:

  He does not hold a PhD. He is not involved with research in a big way. He holds a Senior Manager post and possesses 20 years of experience.

This does not sound like a good choice.  By "not being involved in research in a big way", he cannot speak to your research potential as well as someone who is.  Since he does not have a PhD, the readers will probably wonder about how trustworthy he is (relative to other writers) when he insists that you will be successful in a PhD program.  Unless you have a good reason to believe that the faculty doing admissions will know this person personally and esteem him highly, I would avoid getting a letter from him.  However, if you feel like he is uniquely well qualified to speak to issues (i) and (ii), then it might be worth trying to have him give information to a more traditionally appropriate letter writer.


What type of lawyer (criminal, civil, family, etc.) would I need to help me deal with issues of academic misconduct?

Now that you've supplied sufficient information, the answer to your question seems fairly clearly spelled out within the university's own policy documents:

Section 6.6 shows that the decision-making process is not just a single professor "screwing you over," but rather:

a determination of academic misconduct shall be decided
by the Department Chair/Program Director based on a discussion between the student, the
instructor, and the Department Chair/Program Director, as well as a review of the evidence

At some point, it leaves the department and ends up in the hands of a Dean, who also meets with the students. The full details of the process are spelled out in Section 7.

If the student is unhappy, they have a right to appeal to a Senate Student Appeals Board (Section 8), which seems a peer body rather than a faculty body.  The full details of that process are spelled out in another linked document.

This looks like a pretty typical set of checks and balances: the individual professor is involved, but the key decision-making is not done by that professor or even within the department, and the faculty is in turn checked by appeals to a body of students.
Now, if your professor, the department head, the involved dean, and the student board are all convinced that you are guilty, you've got a more serious problem on your hands. Getting outside legal help might be warranted, but based on what you've written here, it seems like it's also quite plausible that you've either committed an offense and don't understand why it's an offense, or else that you've done yourself a disservice in the process by alienating people who might otherwise have helped.