How to get to pace in your first research project?

You started only two weeks ago. Relax. The others with whom you interact have played a role in this group for a much longer time. Nobody expects you to immediately replicate their experience.
You tell us how you asked a PhD student for help, and this student was very willing to help you. In fact, they helped you rightaway, and it led to the desired result. This is how a group is supposed to interact, so that is a nice thing. You then do not manage to replicate their solution independently. But you are a Bachelor student and they are a PhD. Don't worry! Ask the same person for help again! Tell them: "Many thanks for your help last time; it was incredibly inspiring. I tried to learn from it by replicating your steps, but I get stuck in place X or Y. Could you perhaps show me how it works?" This implies that you want to learn (by far the most important attribute of a Bachelor or even Master student in a research group), and that you understand parts of the solution the PhD student provided for you but not necessarily all of it. Again, this is an ideal way to fortify collaborations within the group: you show that the help was appreciated, didn't go unnoticed, and that you want to put in the effort to truly understand the solution.
Everybody in your group is there to learn. This holds for the Bachelor students, the Master students, and the PhD students. Do not expect yourself, as a Bachelor student, to instantly be on the PhD student level. Instead, show that you really want to become a part of the group, and that you really want to learn. Your instincts seem to be right to succeed in academia, but you should reframe them: not instantly understanding everything is not a problem, but a desire to learn is an enormous asset. Productivity is less important than a drive to improve yourself.


Is it okay to omit (one or multiple) middle names in a bibliography?

Bibliography entries should be faithful to the works to which they correspond: you should conform to the constraints of the style used by the journal, but you should not remove or add middle names or initials. The rationale for this is that doing otherwise makes it harder for readers to follow the citations back to the original literature if the names in the article are reported differently from the way they're indexed.

If the same author represented themselves differently in multiple works, that should be reflected in the bibliography entries, even if it makes things awkward for the author citing the works. If you feel you need to indicate that the authors are in fact the same individual, you may do so with a parenthetical comment.


How do I protect my research algorithm and findings from being infringed or stolen by anyone, including a professor of mine?

The best way to protect your research from someone else taking credit is to publish it first. Even then, someone with a stronger reputation or more recognition can attempt to take credit for it. This is a risk you take in research and which is made worse by working with a supervisor "with such a history of stealing others work."

The more public your contributions are, the less likely someone else can steal it from you. If you have multiple supervisors make sure they are all aware of your contributions. Maybe talk with them about finding a chance for you to present at a poster session, conference, or research forum. Their names will likely be on the project (and probably deserve to be) if they are your supervisors, but yours will too.


Appropriate ways to propose moving from a single to a joint appointment

As Nate Eldredge points out in the comments, there are two types of joint appointments:

With a courtesy appointment, you get the public recognition of having both titles (Professor of X and Professor of Y) and you can advise and teach in both departments.  However, administratively you have a primary department that pays your salary and sets your teaching/service duties.  The main drawback is that if you want to split your teaching between the departments, it may take some arranging.  [In my experience this can often be done, but it's not guaranteed by a courtesy appointment.]
With a fully joint appointment, the two departments split your salary and duties in some set fraction (usually, but not necessarily, 50-50).  This makes it easy to do substantial amounts of teaching in both departments, but it can mean a slightly higher service load, since a 50% appointment often doesn't really cut the number of meetings in half.  The biggest drawback of a joint appointment is having to keep both departments happy, especially if they disagree on how you should be spending your time.  [This is a real danger for tenure cases.]

If you'd like a courtesy appointment in another field, you need someone in that department to serve as a champion for your case.  You can sound out friends or mentors privately to try to convince someone to advocate for offering you such a position.  Once someone brings it up at a department meeting, you then need a good enough reputation that the department is happy to have you associated with it.  Ideally, you should be someone they would have loved to hire if you hadn't already joined another department; in practice, you can sometimes get away with a slightly weaker case than that, but you still need to look strong enough that there's no fear you'll hurt the department's reputation.  Once the department is behind you, there may also be some administrative hurdles (perhaps including letters of recommendation).

Switching to a genuine joint appointment is much trickier, since you need to convince the other department to start paying for you.  Why should they do that when they could offer you a courtesy appointment for free?  There are various possible answers, such as:

You're so famous that they'll cheerfully do whatever you want.
They really value you, and offering you this appointment will keep you from leaving.
You'll fill a role in the new department that they would have had to hire someone else for anyway (e.g., teaching certain classes).
There are deals being made behind the scenes.  If department Y takes over half your position, what might department X offer them in return?

If you want to bring this about, you'll need to spend some time crafting a compelling argument.  There are many directions you could go in, but ultimately it will depend on the department's needs.

As I mentioned above, tenure cases can be really tricky for joint appointments.  Both departments end up with a de facto veto, since if one turns you down the other isn't likely to be enthusiastic about coming up with the extra money to save your job (taking the other department's reject doesn't feel good).  Before tenure, I'd consider a courtesy appointment to be a much better idea.  Once you get tenure, you can then reevaluate and see what your options are.


Careers at the National Research Council of Italy and difference from the university system

First, CNR is a giant entity with a hundred units, spread across all Italy, and with about eight-nine thousand researchers. It is therefore quite different from a university.

Yes, there are public competitions. All available calls can be found here. These calls are also published, like all public calls in Italy for whatever position, in the Gazzetta Ufficiale 4ª Serie Speciale - Concorsi ed Esami (in Italian).
In principle, technologist and researcher are two different paths. A technologist is a kind of senior technician. However, the distinction between the two paths is frequently fuzzy. For researchers, the career progression is Researcher (equivalent to an Assistant Professor in the university system), Senior Researcher (equivalent to an Associate Professor), and Research Director (equivalent to a Full Professor). For technologists, the career progression is Technologist, Senior Technologist and Technologist Director. You move from one level to another through competitions. These are all permanent positions.
CNR staff does not have any teaching duties, because it's a research only institution. Some researchers, though, are also affiliated to universities (and some CNR units are hosted by universities) and may teach classes. The salary between CNR and universities is about the same. Within CNR, also the salary between technologists and researchers, at equal level, is about the same. You can find details about the gross salary in these tables, which are however quite hard to interpret. The salaries for researchers can be found from p. 3 of the linked document. According to my understanding, the levels (abbreviated Liv. in the document) correspond to the positions: Liv III, Researcher; Liv II, Senior Researcher; Liv I, Research Director. The fascia corresponds to the number of years of employment: one starts from 1ª fascia, then after three years moves to 2ª fascia, after five more years to 3ª fascia and so on (the number of years between each fascia is reported in this page).


Using the title of famous books as titles in presentations

It sounds like you want to use these titles to help build sort of a humorous narrative.  From a legal and ethical perspective, this is totally fine: you're using only a few words and in a manner that is clearly referencing the original in a transformative manner.

From a practical perspective, however, I would generally advise against this sort of humor in presentations.  The reason is twofold:

This sort of "cute" idea is often distracting from the main narrative.
Different people have different senses of humor, and this is especially true with the extremely diverse cultural range that you are likely to encounter in academia.  Thus, jokes are likely to fall flat with some parts of your audience.

Still, some people can make it work, and if you're a student giving a relatively low-stakes presentation, you should feel free to experiment.


How important is it that your PhD advisor is an experienced, well-known faculty member?

Just to give contrast with @Buffy's list of disadvantages:

new professors are often full of energy and enthusiasm
they will probably start with a small number of students, so you may get extra attention
they may have better rapport with you since it hasn't been long since they were graduate students themselves
the exact match of research area seems like a big bonus
as you suggest, the lack of prestige/ranking of your advisor is unlikely to be as big a deal when looking for teaching rather than research positions

The only disadvantage I see in addition to @Buffy's list is that a new faculty member might be a bit overwhelmed with all the new things they have to take on (teaching, admin, research, in addition to graduate advising).
All that said, IMO the most important characteristic of a graduate advisor is a good match in terms of personality/mentoring style/expectations. Hopefully you will have a chance to speak/interact with them more to find out about these things before choosing your supervisor.


On the market for TT faculty positions, is having my credit frozen a problem with University's background check?

I'm on the job market, and at least all the Universities in the US do (or will do) a background check on the tenure-track faculty candidates (not sure if schools from other countries do so for international applicants).

I’m not sure where you heard this, but if by “background check” you mean specifically something that includes a credit check (as your question seems to suggest), I’m pretty sure the statement is false. At my large university where until recently I was a department chair and was closely involved with hiring of several new faculty members, I am not aware of any practice of running credit checks on anyone; if it happened at all, it would be part of the paperwork an incoming faculty member has to go through after already receiving and accepting an offer, so would have no influence on any decision making at the department side. In other words, at least at my university this would not be a concern in connection with your tenure-track application.

Aside from my personal experience, the other reason why I’m pretty sure your assertion is false is that in many US states it is illegal to base hiring decisions on job candidates’ credit history. Thus in those states no sane hiring process would attempt to obtain such information prior to making an offer, and I can’t think of a good reason why it would make sense to obtain it after making an offer either.

Good luck with your job search.


Do “researcher degrees of freedom” invalidate my analysis?

Clearly report what you did and both results.  Readers will make up their own minds about the strength of the findings.

The situation that you have encountered is very common.  While testing a prior hypothesis with predefined methods is the right thing to do, in practice it is unavoidable that you will sometimes find problems that you need to correct after running an initial analysis.

Also, if your analysis produces an unexpected result, it is quite logical that this will lead to extra checking of what you have done, and further analyses to confirm it.

There's nothing wrong with doing extra things to refine the analysis. The problem would be refining the analysis and then failing to report on earlier versions.

A multiple testing correction would not typically be used for only two analyses.   Furthermore, it is a judgement call whether this counts as two tests or one.  If the second analysis was really the "correction" of something flawed, that is not quite the same as repeating two different but valid approaches.  And there is not a clear line as to when that becomes true.

In summary, there is no problem with what you have done, as long as you report it, but your concern with doing this the right way is a very good thing--please keep it up!  Inadequate reporting of this sort of thing is quite common, and it undermines the quality of scientific evidence.


How do I minimize the number of "unknown unknowns"?

If you wish to minimize the known unknowns, them you would have to explore more studies published in the area you are researching on. Your advisor, provided he is well versed on the topic, could help you out with this. On the other hand the unknown unknowns can only be discovered by exploring the topic yourself with extensive experimentation and see whether the concept has been published before. To know what is really unknown, you would have to know everything that is known.

Well that would be the holistic view. But coming to the practical view, the known unknowns would only point to the knowledge your thesis committee or reviewers know that you don't but aware of. And, unknown unknowns is more or less the same only that unaware of what they know.

So it would be better to understand the practical implications of your problem and not to get yourself stressed out too much.

Hope this helps.


Let's say a famous researcher contributed only a bit to a research project by a student, and the student could reasonably choose either to include or not include them as a coauthor.

The student doesn't get to choose, the student gets to invite: It's the famous researcher's decision as to whether they want to be a co-author, since they contributed a bit to [the] research project.

It seems that having a big name would increase viewership and perceived legitimacy of the paper, while having more coauthors also seems to diffuse the ownership of the work.

The benefits are significant, whilst the drawback of more authors is minimal (albeit, fields vary).


PhD application form, 1-2 word "relationship to you" for an instructor

As you've stated that you have only space for 1-2 words, this necessitates the description to be brief and to the point.

Suggestions are:

'Course Instructor' - or if possible, replace the word 'Course' with the actual course.

or just use 'Professor' (or whatever their rank is).


Should references part of CV only include names of the people who wrote recommendation letter to where the CV is going to be sent?

Edited for clarity, since the question in the title is somewhat opposite to that in the body: do not list all your references on your CV. Only the ones who have written or will write to that particular potential employer. To list everyone might give several unfortunate impressions. First, that the potential employer can contact any one of those references directly. Second, if the prospective employer has received letters from some, but not all, they may think something's wrong... and one form of this is to consider your application "incomplete", but not inform you, and you miss the opportunity.


How to deal with this rejection email from the journal Mathematics of Computation?

It is just a nice way to say no. Submit elsewhere.
This is called a desk reject; you will find more in this question What does the typical workflow of a journal look like? .
Note that Math Comp is one of the top journals in its field, so unless the paper was extremely good this was the expected outcome.


Can I request references from people in the program I'm applying to?

I think that would be a great idea: your references are supposed to be advocating for your ability to perform the work of the program, right? Well, who would know better than people running the program?

If one of the program faculty gets asked about you over coffee in the morning, and they say "Oh, AS2045? Yeah, he was in my undergrad classroom, and I think he'd be a great fit for our program, bring in a ton of good grants," then odds are, you're going to do well there.


I dislike this citation style for just this reason.

You can, however, get around it by turning the parenthetical citation into a phrase:

  A number of studies, including Smith1, have demonstrated that pigs can't fly.

More often, however, I see this being indicated implicitly by using more than one citation:

  A number of studies1-3 have demonstrated that pigs can't fly.


How frequently can you ask for a personal reference without being disrespectful?

How do I manage this without being disrespectful?

Just ask.  Ask at least a month before your first deadline.  (Ideally, your writers should be people who know you well enough not to be surprised by your request.)  If possible, ask in person.  Give them as much information as you can about where you're applying, including your complete application package — CV, statements, sample papers, names of your other references, everything.  Ask for feedback.  Listen.  If they agree to write you a letter, keep them regularly updated as your CV and application targets change.

Most importantly: Given your references a way to tell you which letters they've sent.  This could be as simple as "Please send me email when...", or a private Google doc listing your application targets and deadlines.  (From personal experience: Having a common Google doc for all your letter writers is particularly effective, since each writer can see when the other writers have sent their letters.)  Check regularly that your references are actually sending their letters, and bug them mercilessly if they haven't yet.  This is not being disrespectful; this is helping them to do the job they agreed to.

Finally, keep your references updated whenever you get an interview, get a job offer, or accept a position.  Don't forget to say thanks.

  How many requests in a given unit of time is too many, or harms my credibility?

That's entirely up the the individual writer.  But as Rex says, it's common for one applicant to apply for dozens of positions.  When I agree to be a reference for someone's faculty search, I generally expect to send letters to 30–50 different targets.  I can use (nearly-)identical letters for most targets, but inevitably there are major variations.  For example, tenure-track faculty positions, industrial research lab positions, and postdoc positions all require different letters, even when the applicant is applying to all three types of jobs.

Moreover, there is no standard mechanism for submitting letters.  Some places want letters submitted in parallel with the application; others ask automatically when the application is submitted; others ask only when the application passes an initial filtering stage.  Some places want letters by email; others use standard services like MathJobs; others use home-grown web pages; a rare few still require paper letters with wet signatures.

This is what agreeing to write a job letter means.  Most faculty already know this and won't agree to act as your reference unless they're willing to do this much work.  Still, just as it's important to ask "Can you write me a strong letter of recommendation?", it's important to be completely up-front about the scale of your request.


Can journals share information about your submission?

In general, no, journals cannot arbitrarily share your submission with others—at least not before it's been accepted.

However, they can share your submission with:

Reviewers, so that the peer-review process can be completed
Other staff members within the publisher, which can be useful when a paper is submitted to the "wrong" section of a journal, or to the wrong journal, but is otherwise acceptable for publication.

Once the paper has been accepted and appropriate copyrights assigned, though, they can do more or less whatever they normally do in their publication and advertising process.


Disclosure of academic dishonesty during background check for tenure track

The purpose of the background check is to find out if you are likely to abuse children on campus, assault your colleagues, or steal from the university.  It is not related to academic integrity.

Academic integrity is evaluated by reference checks and transcript checks.

Convictions are decided by law courts, not university committees.  You have a conviction if a judge or jury convicted you in a court.  This does not include university honor courts that are not part of the legal system.

  So how should I report this incident with my prospect employers?

You should report it if you are asked to do so.  You probably will not be.


What do conference organizers expect from an invited speaker?

Here's my take: as a plenary speaker, you will have an audience that is broader than those who may come to a minisymposium or parallel session, and consequently also have a less deep understanding of technical details of your particular field of work. They may also lack an understanding of the motivation for what you are doing: For things in my particular field, I know why people want to do them, but for other areas I often would like to know "why should I care" before I want to hear the details.

Consequently, the talks that I have often found to be a bit boring are those that really are just longer minisymposium talks. The ones I find interesting are those that explain to me the bigger context of a problem: where does it come from, what are the historical connections, were there dead ends in developing solutions, etc. Then show me how you approach the problem and where this leads. I also find it interesting to hear about open problems and ideas for future research -- an invited talk should not just be about the great results of the speaker, but also inspire others to work in this field.


Doing bad in undergraduate but good in a masters program

Sort of.

I was in exactly the situation you describe 20+ years ago.  My undergrad GPA was horrible (even restricted to computer science classes); my MS GPA was near-perfect; I got into Berkeley as a PhD student.  But I don't think the improvement in my grades was as important as the improvement in my letters.  My undergrad letters said "He's smart but lazy", which is the kiss of death.  My MS letters were much more positive.  Also, when I applied to Berkeley, I had some research results in submission, so my positive letters had some substance to draw on.

Also, I got very, very, very lucky.

Now, as a faculty member who reviews PhD applications, I would certainly look at the improvement in grades as a good sign.  But as I've mentioned elsewhere, above a certain threshold of "good enough", grades don't matter.  Especially since you're applying with a master's degree, your demonstrated research ability is much more important.


Is it realistic to prefer a non-tenure-track research position?

Background: Answering this as a biomedical researcher currently in a tenure-track position who definitely looked at some non-tenure, 100% soft money positions. One thing to note, there are also effectively 100% soft money tenure-track positions out there in the world. What a tenured, all-soft money position actually means is left as an exercise to the reader.

  Is it realistic to hope to spend my career as a research professor, or
  is this usually something people only do short-term?

There are people I know who spend their careers like this, and some of them are happy. But there are also a lot of people who either leave for tenure-track positions, or switch over to tenure-track in time. But it is a career path - indeed, one of my former departments has an entire structured program for these people to make a career out of it, including wrestling with how do you evaluate them for promotion, etc. Of the people who have left, there were two major complaints in my experience:

Instability, in terms of having yearly contracts, no salary support, etc.
Many departments restrict non-tenure track faculty in some ways - most commonly, deciding on tenure, but also potentially on hiring committees, advising, etc. Some people resented feeling like 2nd class faculty.

  Can I have reasonable job stability doing this by working
  collaboratively?

Ironically, the most stable people I know in these positions are essentially "super-postdocs", and not actually on lots of grants, but well supported by a single, large center-type grant.

I will say that, as someone who works very collaboratively, and is also in a position where one of the most common tracks forward is building up a somewhat piecemeal funding portfolio instead of a single "one-and-done R01", I don't find it particularly stable, or at all less stressful.

  Do research professors tend to be more or less stressed than
  tenure-track professors?

Depends on the position. The ones I knew who were funded as part of a center, core, etc. where whether or not the application failed wasn't particularly on their shoulders? Less stressed.

The ones trying to scramble to keep 10x 10% effort projects alive and going at the same time, while worrying if they'd get their contract renewed? Very stressed, because you can never get off the treadmill.

  If you have experience with this career path (or know people who are
  in this career path) is it something that you would recommend to
  others? Why or why not?

I ended up taking a tenure-track job, and choosing one with a fairly generous amount of hard money, and don't regret this at all.

If you can find someone who is willing to put you on a large, stable grant that can support a substantial % of your salary, even if it is technically hard money, that's a decent path I've seen some people enjoy immensely. But if you're expected to find and bring in all your own money? You're going to spend as much time, if not more, scrambling for funding, without the carrot of tenure at the end.

It also depends on why the position is not tenure-track. In some places, that's just the way things are - for example, in one institution, PhDs basically couldn't get tenure, so their positions were non-tenure track, but their contracts were for long periods. In that case? Not a red flag in my mind. In another, it felt very much like those faculty members were very-low commitment bets on the university's behalf, and if they didn't work out, they were disposable. That's not a position I'd want to be in.


Should academic experience from other domains be included on a CV?

If your undergraduate program requires a Bachelor's Thesis, graduate school admissions committees might expect to see it on your CV. Completely omitting your thesis in your CV might raise questions.

Your ability to do independent work is also important, even in another field. If your thesis work is not related to your graduate school field, I would mention it but not focus on it. (i.e., include the title and one sentence summarizing what you did). If your Bachelor's Thesis is publicly accessible (and it is a good thesis), citing it in your CV cannot hurt.


Recommenders for grad school applications have not submitted and deadline is imminent

You have done what you can, I think. Most likely it will turn out ok for two reasons.
First is that letters do tend to get written, even by procrastinators. And many professors are, indeed, procrastinators. But if you ping them three days in advance it is about all you can do.
Second is that the recipients also realize that professors are procrastinators and, being professors themselves will make some allowances in most (not all, alas) cases. The final decisions about things won't be made on the deadline dates and the staff will spend some time gathering things together for some future meeting. It is an easy task to add late arrivals.
They might not be so forgiving of the applicant as they are of each other, of course.
Relax for now. If it becomes a problem then the recipients will let you know an you will almost certainly get a chance to explain and correct it.


How to evaluate a paper with concurrent results

Based on the information you provide I would recommend acceptance. The result may not be new (but only by a short time lag), but the other papers authors are OK with the coincidence. The result is interesting (else you would not clearly accept on its own) so it's good to have two different proofs.

Your response to the editor can include your argument for acceptance in spite of the recent appearance of the same result independently.


Why have schools been discontinuing the practice of giving A+ grades?

The problem with A+ grades comes when your grades are evaluated by your next institution - next level of education. In some cases at least, an A+ from one institution will be treated exactly the same as an A from another that doesn't offer the "higher" grade. But this propagates down the scale. Your A- grades are now considered B+ grades.

Another way to look at it is that an institution that offers A+ grades may be considered to have a 4.5 top end, rather than 4.0 (I know this has happened historically), which scales every other grade accordingly.

Aside from the scaling problem is just the hassle of having to reinterpret every student's grades.


I assume you were approached by one of the main authors, rather than an editor. They can answer your question as they know something about what they want the book to be. You might even be able to get a draft of another chapter if the project is in progress. But there is too much variability for a general answer here. Perhaps the background you would provide is already covered elsewhere in the book, for example.

But it might also be that whatever you write as a first draft will need to be modified before it is accepted. You might have to do a lot of modifications so that the entire volume fits together properly.


Optimal configuration of a research group

I assume you are basing this on European model, so in my experience the groups based around some common interests are the strongest one because they have a vision that can lead group. Usually these are friends or couples, that succeed to attract funding making multidisciplinary team. In such a team everyone knows each roles and they keep each other back by making sure people are represented in publications in terms of authorship equally. I would suggest you to take a look on Research Gate lab profiles where you can see how members of particular lab are connected and what grants or projects they menage. In my opinion it is the best way to discover dynamic of a group and internal structure. Second things are Center of Excellences, they are now because of HORISONT2020 becoming more popular and are highly hierarchical. However primordial idea for their creation was done trough application of group or consortium of reaserchers and scientist, in there you can observe same things as in your question, however structure is maintained highly hierarchical. In my opinion best way to organise research group is around "friends and family" because you need to trust people in order to follow through with your agenda. I'm not saying that groups that are based around one person are bad, but due to increasing emphasis in academia on teaching, management and bureaucracy, alone PI in current European funding scheme structure can not survive.


Can you be a postdoc with funding from a private organization (vs. government funding)?

It is absolutely possible to have a postdoc funded by a private organization - there's nothing about a postdoc inherently tied to a particular type of funding. A couple ways this might happen:

As @Dexter mentions, there are private trusts and charitable organizations that fund research. This can occur either by funding a fellowship directly, or allowing funds from a grant to be used to hire a postdoc.
There are also commercial companies that have research grant programs in a number of fields. It's entirely possible to use the funding from one of these to pay for a postdoc.
A private university could directly pay for a postdoc - for example, as part of a professor's startup package.


First to answer your titular question:

  What is a TA called when he/she is in charge of organization?

Such a position does (in theory) not exist, as a TA as by definition supposed to "assist" somebody else and not run the show on her/his own (I am aware that this is not how it sometimes works in practice).

Generally, you need to keep in mind that title and scope of academic positions, especially regarding teaching, are quite different between US and Germany, so you will likely not be able to do an accurate 1-to-1 mapping. I would write "Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter" in the CV and explain what you actually did. Translating it to english is prone to confusion.

If you write TA, people will underestimate your responsibility in the course, if you write something like lecturer, people may infer that you already had a faculty position and will be confused by the perceived mismatch with the rest of your CV.


How to motivate students to complete work that I cannot frequently check?

The other answers are excellent. Without knowing your field or the nature of the workbook assignments, I'll give the following answer:

I have become a big fan of automated online homework systems (although I know some students hate them). If you happen to be in a field where these systems exist (e.g., Physics, Math, Chemistry--WebAssign, MyMathLab, etc.), consider this for a future semester.

The reason I bring up these systems is that (1) they provide a forcing function for the students to do the work, (2) the grading is automatic and immediate, (3) the better systems provide guidance on problem solving, and (4) the math-related problems can be randomized so students can't copy of another student's work (as easily...).

Ideas for your current system:

Do a cursory check of the books every week. By cursory, I mean "check that there is writing on the required pages," and give a check or not. This doesn't preclude them from not putting in much work, but at least they will see that you've got eyes on them each week.
Give them a daily 1-question quiz that is straight from the homework (if it is the kind of work that has "correct answers").
Reassess why it matters that they do the work, and lay it out to them plainly. Do the students who procrastinate on the homework really do more poorly with the material? If the answer isn't an emphatic "yes," then why do you care? If the answer is "yes," then lay this out to them on the first day of class: "I assign the workbook material because it helps you get a better grade in the class. It's up to you to do the work, and your grade will almost certainly reflect the amount of work you put into the workbooks. I don't collect it because I expect you to do it on your own, and it's your grade that matters." In the end, your job is to give them the tools to learn the material, and their job is to use those tools. At the collegiate level, you can expect them to take their education seriously. I.e., "You can lead a horse to water..."


How to select a publishing venue for interdisciplinary research?

The answer of jakebeal seems pretty good to me, but there is another option (to be considered with care, as the line between wise publishing and salami publishing is rather thin): to publish two papers in both A and B. The first paper would describe in depth the technique of the method and could assume knowledge in A; the second paper would assume the conclusion of the first paper (proofs and evidence and technical discussions being there) and would explain how good the method is for the B-problem you are considering, i.e. it would focus on the application of the method. The point of publishing two papers is that community B might have a hard time getting into the technical details of the A-heavy method, while you need to have them documented somewhere.

The first paper might only get published in a lesser venue if community A is not appealed to much by it, but I guess that if community B is excited by your work you might be able to publish the second paper in a first-tier journal or conference. And, as mentioned in a comment, it might be that you have a good starting point for a career in B -- one need not stay in the same field for 40 years, and switching can potentially happen anytime, given the opportunities.


Should an assistant professor negotiate for a larger yearly raise before receiving tenure?

Should a pre-tenure assistant professor actively seek to meet with the chair

Yes!

You should insist on meeting with your department chair at least once a year, if not once a semester, to discuss strengths and weaknesses in your evolving tenure case.  Make no mistake—your tenure case started evolving the moment you signed your offer letter.  If you are doing the right things to get tenure, you need to hear that.  If you are missing something important, you need to hear that as well.  Symmetrically, if you think things are going well, your chair needs to hear that, and if you think things are going badly, especially if something in the department is proving to be a burden, your chair needs to hear that, too.

  and ask/negotiate for a larger raise

Oh, I suppose, if you have good pitch.  You're not going to get a bigger raise just because you ask for it.


A US GPA is computed as an average of grades, mapped as follows:

A = 4
B = 3
C = 2
D = 1
F = 0

In some universities, there are interpolations between these:

A- = 3.67
B+ = 3.33

and so on for B-, C+ and so on.

I've heard of an A+ being awarded a 4.33, but that's not the case in my university where A is the maximum grade.

At least in my recollection, this maps non-linearly to the Indian CGPA system which is

A = 10
B = 8
C = 6
D = 4

Because of the non-linearity, you can't just for e.g divide your score by 2.5. Moreover, there are statistical normalizations that complicate the process. Personally, if possible, I'd just list the CGPA as is. Your transcripts will reveal the grade specifics, and that's more useful than just the summary number. I wouldn't trust the link you provided since they don't appear to provide any rationale for the mapping.

Separately I'd have a hard time seeing an Indian CGPA of 8.6 and considering it a 4.0. Even with grade inflation, that would be over optimistic.


Supervision without being a member of the research group

As far as I can tell, this is probably fine - it is definitely not a "polite rejection" unless you missed a lot of signs that the professor is too busy to work with you.

svavil's question is very relevant: if you are working on a broadly different topic than the rest of the research group, you wouldn't gain as much, and the research group wouldn't gain as much from you being there.

Even if you are close to the research group's topics, some professors will start beginning students off without the rest of the group. This way, early students can benefit from more focused attention, and the group meetings don't have to catch up the new students.  I think this approach is more often taken in theoretical/computational science groups.  As students move along, they are brought more into contact with the group.  [*caveat = this last is based on my experience in groups that are mostly PhD students, so not sure if Masters research is similar.]

There are two possible ways I could see this being bad (both of which happen, but are not the majority of cases):

1) The professor doesn't actually have time to work with you, and you will have trouble scheduling meetings with him, and making progress.

2) The professor is isolating you because he plans on harassing you, e.g. as mentioned re "independent studies":  http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2016/04/ban_the_independent_study.html


Do reviewers become biased about research papers written by authors of a previous low quality paper?

I would distinguish between two papers in parallel (as in your example) versus a history of bad papers.

If I'm seeing a good paper and a bad paper that share an author, and I don't yet know that author well, then the bad paper probably won't affect my opinion of the good paper too badly (unless we are talking really embarrassingly bad).  I'll have a mixed opinion, but I'm still forming it.

On the other hand, there are certainly some authors who have built up a history with me such that I see their paper and think: "Oh no, I hope they've learned from last time."


Professor deletes me from Skype contact list after Skype interview and promise to give offer. Could this be a rejection?

No. I don't think you should assume that this is a rejection.

Deleting you from Skype does not sound unusual. If they added you for a specific purpose and don't intend to be contacting you regularly then they may just want to avoid notifications popping up all the time about when you are logged on.
Professors are busy. A lack of email reply, especially at this time of year when they may be about to leave for the holidays (depending on where you are in the world), may simply mean they not have got around to replying to you.
It's possible that the department you are applying to has strict procedures about job/studentship offers, such that the professor is not allowed to give you certain information until it has been formally confirmed by the school. Depending on the exact questions you asked, the professor may feel that they need to wait for the proper process before getting in touch with you again.

Assuming that you have gone through an official application procedure, which it sounds like you have, you will get official notification at some point from the department as to whether or not you have been successful. As I said above, be aware that might be a bit delayed due to the holidays. But I don't think you should assume one way or the other until you get the confirmation.

Good luck!


I wrote a thesis for my undergraduate degree - it was published but not in a journal. Is it still relevant to cite?

If the research was original and academic, then I would say keep it in there if it's relevant to the role that you see yourself working in. If it was a team effort, make sure you cite it as such. Since it wasn't officially published, I'd suggest linking to it online (and hosting it somewhere if it isn't already hosted by your academic institution).

Of course, I'm not really authoritative on this type of thing, but if I were evaluating prospective employees, I'd love to be able to see relevant examples of their work even if they weren't formally published.


Visa interview: Will you return to your home country after your studies?

Why almost all students answer 'Yes'?

The host country is not looking to accept immigrants when allowing students to come pursue degrees on education visas.  Each country has their own system, standards and procedures for allowing immigrants in the country, and if you appear like you're trying to skip that by entering as a student they will deny your student visa application.


Whether to use numbers or abbreviated names as a citation style?

The two systems are equally good but used in different communities/journals etc. You therefore need to check what is normally used in your field and when submitting manuscripts, of course, check what the specific journal uses. The fact that you say "most journals use" indicates you are in a field that uses numbered or Vancouver style (author-number) references. The author-date, or Harvard-system, is used by most journals in my field.


Can you get hired where you received your phd?

Yes, but it is rare, for most schools.

It is usually frowned upon, however, the top schools have to hire from somewhere so it is common for them to at least swap graduates. My anecdotal evidence is that low ranked universities also tend to hire a higher proportion of their own students.

A notable exception is MIT, where 39% of the CS professors received their PhD degrees from there.

Table is from http://jeffhuang.com/computer_science_professors.html


Considering applying for a third PhD Program after having bad experiences in two

I guess I don't understand your dilemma. You have an offer. If it seems better than your current situation overall, you should consider taking it. Your age is not material to such questions. You will eventually be 50 and then 70, if you are lucky, no matter what your choice is now.

If you've been misused in the past, don't let it color your decisions.

But, make a list of the positives and negatives of each possibility and then choose what seems to be best.


Can a Ph.D student change his adviser, if he is supported by a Research Assistantship by the adviser upon admission (and possibly first year)?

It is usually possible, but plan for two things to happen:

[Almost certain] You will lose this RA-stipend. RAs are usually in the context of specific projects and under the supervision of specific advisors, so when you decide to work on an entirely different project with a different position (which is typically your right as a PhD student) you become ineligible to be funded in this way. You need to understand that most RAs come from projects, where a PI has promised to a funding agency or company that a certain project will be delivered within a time frame. If you then decide to work on something else, the PI needs to find another person to actually do the work that has been promised. Note that this does not necessarily mean that you won't have a stipend anymore, but it will likely need to be a different source (e.g., either a TA position or an RA sponsored
by your new advisor).
[Possible] There may be some fallout with the PI sponsoring the RA. I guess most people can accept that sometimes the first year shows that you are not an ideal fit and switching advisors is the best solution for everybody, but planning to switch all along when accepting the offer may understandably lead to some bad blood. In essence, you are trying to milk a year of funding out of a project you have no intention of actually contributing to long-term. Many people will find this highly disagreeable.


Excellence demands outstanding performance, topping the class. Mastery of the subject is required. Best marks are likely, but not necessary; good marks suffice. Outstanding performance goes beyond marks. For example, a broad understanding of a discipline's application to the world, being able to apply knowledge to real problems, a thesis fit for publication (i.e., advancing domain knowledge). A good student will achieve good marks, perhaps the best marks; an excellent student will achieve something beyond marks, such as the examples listed.


Received comments from reviewers with major revision. Is it worth pursuing?

As the comments point out, this is up to the editor. Nothing gets published without the editor's consent, and nothing gets rejected without the editor's approval either. Reviewers can say X, but it's ultimately just a recommendation that the editor can ignore.

In your case the editor said "If you are prepared to undertake the work required, I would be pleased to reconsider my decision." I recognize this phrase because it's the default one given by Editorial Manager every time the editor makes a decision (editors can edit the default email of course, but often don't). In other words, the editor for whatever reason has not expressed an opinion. This means there's still every chance your paper is accepted, and you might as well make the case for acceptance by revising it.

That said, you should address why the first reviewer's comments are not applicable. Give your reasons why the experiments can't be performed ("cannot be carried out at this stage" is not convincing). Based on your description I'd certainly stress that you are modelling an experimental process and you've already compared to published experiments; you could also say that doing the experiments yourself would require resources & time & expertise that you don't have (assuming it's true, of course). If you can't convince the reviewer, you might still convince the editor, who can after all see the other two reviewers' comments.


When applying for a phd, does a hiring committee cares about winning in various programming/data-mining contests?

Yes, they matter to PhD hiring committees, because they show potential.

I believe you should include such achievements in a "Distinctions" or "Awards" section in your CV.


Publishing an almost trivial paper to arxiv

Since you think of the work as trivial there is only one reason I can think of for publishing it. If, for some reason you need to make a reference to the material it contains, then it might be useful to have it in a public repository. Of course, you could, in most cases, make reference to the source material instead, or simply incorporate the work into something more significant. But if, for example, you want to void the problem of cross referencing between other papers this might be a good idea.

Otherwise, it might be better to sit on the result until you have something of substance.


I received an ESR Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship from low-rank university, should I accept it if I don't want to go into academia?

you say it very well:
"What motivates me are the research project, the fellowship, the partners within the ITN (involving other very high-rank universities), and my potential supervisor. I believe I could use all these opportunities to create a great network. Maybe, do a postdoc in a high-ranked uni afterward."
This is really what counts, more than the university ranking.
What counts is that you are passionate about your research project and you get the opportunity to meet and collaborate with great people in your field (your potential supervisor appears to be one of them).
In my view, you should take the offer.
All the best!


It depends on the university.  At mine you have to submit a "Letter of Intent" to the graduate office stating that you wish to continue on to another graduate degree in the university without having to file a formal application. I would talk to the department about how this process works, and your school's graduate office for more information - they may require another formal application, they may not.


Is there a comprehensive system for identifying course objectives?

Perhaps the closest thing to a system would be the objectives that were developed for the full curriculum?

An example from my area. In biology, a recent call encourages universities to be less focused on subdisciplines and more on core concepts and competencies. After many meetings, biologists settled on these:

Core concepts: evolution, structure and function, information flow, energy pathways, systems.

Competencies: application of the scientific method, quantitative reasoning, modeling and simulation, interdisciplinary connections, effective communication.

If I were writing out my learning objectives for the lecture on photosynthesis, I might list that photosynthesis fits into structure/function and energy pathways core concepts, and I would be motivated to include a discussion of a classic experiment so students can practice the scientific method and some calculations for students to apply quantitative reasoning.

I would imagine that history (or any other discipline) likely has a similar  list of important concepts plus important skills they want their students to have.


How to deal with fear of exams, perfectionism, and feeling inadequate?

It's natural to worry about exam scores, especially when a semester class only has a small number of exams. Discussing with a therapist is a good idea, however I did not see mentioned whether your anxiety is justified: how does your knowledge compare to the professor's expectations and to the average student in the class?
Can you visit the instructor during office hours to discuss your progress? That time is set aside to help students. Please don't feel bad about appearing to care about your grades. Grades often provide both the incentive for and assessment of understanding. Most instructors are happy to help students who are putting effort in, whether it is for an 'A' or genuine interest. Perhaps the professor can help you obtain past exams to practice on, or practice problems in a textbook, to self-assess your understanding.
Can you study with other students in the class? You could identify how your understanding compares to the class overall, and if other students understand better, studying with them can help you learn.
Ideally, by informally assessing your knowledge, you will identify whether you understand the concepts adequately. If your understanding is sufficient, then your anxiety is not justified, and your therapist can help you move past it. Otherwise, you will have identified topics in the class that you can work on to become better prepared for the exam.


Supervisors constantly rejecting my ideas. What to do?

When I was in medical devices we had lab books to support potential patent claims etc..
Write your ideas in a lab book.
If it happens again, you could try to say something like, 'I think I may have a communication issue.  I suggested this idea on xxx but it appears I may not have communicated the concept very well.  Perhaps I'm letting myself down in communicating my ideas very well.  If it happens again could you let me know so that I can better express myself.'
You've taken it on the chin, asked them for help in a non academic way and brought to attention your original idea.  Everytime they do it, you can remind them in this manner, they'll have to take you seriously eventually; if they continue to dismiss your ideas and then suggest them later, you'll have a strong record for challenging that behaviour etc..
Very importantly be respectful, they may just find it hard to understand you.


Can acing the upper level course compensate background of no basic course in graduate application

It would look slightly odd, but good grades in advanced courses would generally be seen as sufficient to show that you understand the material. In the end, graduate admission committees aren't so much interested in knowing how you acquired necessary background knowledge than knowing that you have it. How that is demonstrated is secondary, and acing upper level courses is certainly one acceptable way to do so.


What is the typical academic career path following a PhD in computer science?

From my experience, in the UK it tends to be one or two post doc positions and then on to a lectureship position. Comp Sci post docs here are usually between one and three years.

I get where you're coming from. After my Comp Sci PhD I went into an industry software developer role and 90% of the work just felt mundane. I'm now working for a startup company, which is much more challenging and interesting since the focus is on innovation and creation. That might be worth looking into as it's becoming quite common to find startups sprouting from universities seeking to turn their research into products.


A proper response to an interview question for PhD admission

Not a big deal? Along with general relativity, quantum mechanics is one of the main pillars of modern physics!

You are right that everyone who has done a BSc in physics will have learnt a bit of QM-- the problem is, not everyone will have done the same amount, or to the same level. They probably ask you this question so they can gauge exactly how much you have learnt and so where you stand in relation to your potential classmates.

A good way to answer the question would be to describe the QM you have learnt, and reference what textbooks you used, especially if they are the standard, well-known literature.


If I buy a research article, will I get any potential retraction statement or erratum free of charge?

I like the sentiment behind the question, but in my experience this depends entirely on the mechanics of the journal.  If they replace the older version of the paper by a newer, corrected version -- and one may well think that they should never do this for anything other than publication errors on their part -- then your access should convert to the new paper.  However if the corrigendum is a separate paper, then it's a separate paper: their online system doesn't know the difference and will charge you for it.

(It is not inevitably thus, of course, but journals would have to update the "sell pages" of their older papers to automatically point to the corrigendum, at least.  I have not seen this.  If anyone has, I'd be interested to know.)

One might regard this as the proof that buying journal papers individually out of your pocket is simply not a reasonable practice.  I certainly recommend against it.  If you need a paper and don't have institutional access to it: that's what friends / colleagues / collaborators / inter-library loans are for...


Why do so many PhDs choose to join academia instead of industry given the pay in academia is considerably lower and the workload is much heavier?

In CS field, an entry-level software engineer in top-tier tech
  companies (e.g. Google, Facebook, etc.) could earn as much as a
  20-year experience professor....Why do so many PhDs still choose to be a professor while they have the choice to go to the industry?

First, your assumption is wrong. Most PhDs end up in industry. I don't have any source but I think this is from 90 - 99%.

If you limit your question to the 1% - 10% that become professors, they are all very successful, i.e. they have plenty of papers, promising research direction, strong network etc etc. And there is a reason for their success: they have passion, and when you have passion, money is likely not the most important thing in life.

Except for machine learning, in most areas in CS, you need to stay in academia to do research. And there are many benefits that you can only have when working in academia.

You take credit for what you have done. Products in industry are developed by a large team, and nobody can take full credit for it. But researchers can take full credit for what they do in their papers.
Reputation: you are invited to give talk, become program committee members, etc etc, and everybody will know you. I would be excited to meet an author whose paper I have read. I'm not excited at all to meet a Google employee. (I'm living in Mountain View, a small city with 80,000 residents, but more than 20,000 Google employees)
Do interesting jobs. You always work on new things in research, while the majority of tasks of a software engineer are maintenance, fix bugs etc.

(I'm a software engineer if you are curious)


I regret declining a really good PhD offer. Can I ask if I can accept the offer after all?

Dude I am an old guy and here is my advice:

Never be shy to ask for things you don't know.
Accept the fact that you are an imperfect being. You made mistakes, and will make mistakes.
Be open to hear others views, and take moment to digest their words to fully understand their perspective.

Therefore it is totally normal to email the university back with full honesty and tell them that you changed your mind.

BUT before you do that, think twice, thrice or even more. You have already done a mistake for being too quick. Don't be too quick again. At least learn.

To me it seems that maybe you are unstable and change your mind too quickly. Let me blame you a bit: before deciding too quickly, why didn't you just email them back and simply ask "I would appreciate some time to think. Could you please let me know the deadline for my response? Thanks."?

Lesson #1 when you are at a point in time where you need to make a choice, usually the best decision to evaluate and perform is the following:

Evaluate if it's possible to postpone the decision (you might need to ask questions to ensure whether it's possible to postpone the decision).
If it's possible to postpone, then postpone it so that you have more time to think and make a better decision.

Of course, some times it is not possible to postpone a decision because time matters. That's why you need to first evaluate the possibility (or even more accurately: the cost associated with postponing it; if the cost is low, and the value from a more reliable decision is high, then dude postpone it!).


What affiliation to put on a research paper as a college student?

Normally, if you are a student, your affiliation will be the school / college / university that you attend (or if you have recently changed institutions, the one you attended when you did the work and wrote the paper).


Is there a service that can store and mail official transcripts from any school?

To my knowledge, there is no such service. Receiving universities want their copy to be certified correct by your university and sent in a sealed envelope such that you could not have easily tampered with it. No university is likely to trust anyone but the originating university to handle this process, so such a service has not been created. It would be very easy for some third party to allow you to create a transcript with whatever grades and courses you liked, and only through careful auditing could a university be able to trust that your records were properly transmitted. As such, it's easier, cheaper, and more reliable for the Registrar at each university to handle this on their own.


How to make transition from trade school to graduate degree?

A common piece of advice for situations like this is to apply to master's programs.

This will give you time to catch up on any background that you may be lacking and give you the chance to become more competitive for PhD programs by getting letters of rec, good grades, and research experience.


Why do some journals have anonymous editors?

However why should editors remain behind a veil of anonymity?

My educated guess is that these are the same reasons why peer-reviewers are anonymous:

An editor has to make potentially unpopular decisions, beginning with deciding about desk rejection over selecting the reviewers to making the final decision.
In fact, the editor usually has more power than a single reviewer.
These decisions should be made without fear of repercussions and similar, and editors do not want to pestered about negative decisions outside the journal’s channels.

By the way, all journals that I know to follow such a policy (which are almost all I know) also stop anonymising the editor in case of a positive decision, i.e., the acceptance is usually sent in the editor’s name and thus tells you who handled your paper.


Would the announcement of penalty for blank answers in a test improve the global results of the class?

Usually the system goes like this: Good answer = get some points, no answer = no points, wrong answer = negative points.

Note that by this system, students who don't study a part of the material do get penalized by not getting any points, is just that the penalty is not as big as by guessing the wrong answer.

I do believe that this system works well as it is and would be wrong to penalize blank answers. The catch is that the system has to be designed in such a way that the expected value for random guessing should be lower than the expected value for no answers.

Here is why I think why negative blanks would be wrong:
In theory, the goal of the tests is to test what the students know and what they don't know. By encouraging them to leave blanks when they don't know the answer it becomes clear even to them what they do not know and what they know.

Also, by forcing them to answer at random the grade of average and weak students becomes more a measure of luck than of knowledge. A weak student who guesses by luck 7 out of 12 answers will get more points than a student who doesn't know 6 answers but misses all 6 of them.

And if you think that this is not relevant, ask yourself the following question: would you trust your doctor if he passed his classes by guessing the answers? Would you trust him if he diagnoses by randomly guessing?

P.S. Just to clarify, the answer to your question depends by what you understand by "improved test results". For me the relevance of a test is to test the actual knowledge of the students, and a test result is good if there is a strong correlation between the knowledge and the result. In this sense, the test results would definitely not improve.

If by test results you understand the average score, then the scores would improve. But then, instead of doing this just give each student 100%, that would be the best test ever right? But then, the score of the "best test ever" would be completely irrelevant, and most likely useless (especially in the cases where the score is used for ranking i.e. admission, scholarships,..)


Can we first claim and then find the evidence when we write the literature review (i.e., using confirmatory technique)?

Claim -> evidence is a perfectly valid approach. It is just that evidence is not the same as only looking for supporting information, it means critically scrutinizing all aspects that speaks for or against the claim and then drawing an educated conclusion on whether the claim is good or not. In the end the "evidence" is the net outcome of positive and negative support to the claim. So to me the claim that one should come up for an idea an then look for support is either poorly phrased, leading to misunderstanding, or plainly bad.


Advisor to spend some funds to buy things that make group members feel better working at home. Is it selfish to request a tablet and stuff?

Surely these are precisely the sorts of things that your advisor envisaged buying when they offered to get "items to make you more productive or happy working at home"? A decent monitor (and keyboard, and mouse) for your laptop are fairly essential if you're going to be using it all day every day for the next N months. A tablet is perhaps a bit more of a luxury, but hardly excessive. Remember, as a fraction of the total cost of supporting a PhD student, an iPad is small change.

If you're concerned, phrase your email making it clear that you are presenting a list of suggestions rather than demands, as you're not sure how much money the advisor will want to spend.


Request Colleges internationally to let students participate in a survey

In many places (say, the US), there are laws that govern any sort of research with human subjects. This applies even to questionnaires. These laws differ widely from place to place and it is even possible that asking a question in some other country Y might have issues.

In the United States, universities have an IRB (Institutional Review Board) which will look at what you want to do and approve it or make suggestions about how to improve it within the law and ethical regulations.

Germany may well have similar laws and regulations.

Wherever you are, look to an IRB or a Research Office to obtain valid feedback on your plans. This will, perhaps, ease your approach to universities in other countries to obtain permission for your questionnaire.


Is it ok to publish a picture from a dataset without permission?

If you are publishing (like in a journal) then it is for commercial use, just not for your commercial use - the publishing company makes money off of your publication.  Therefore you need to get permission as stated in the agreement.

It is almost always a requirement that you get permission under these circumstances.  When it is not is when the licence explicitly says so and you are following the rules


Dealing with aggressive student suspected to be cheating

Report the student and his problem behavior to your honor council or academic conduct officer, as appropriate at your institution and let it be their problem.  At most schools, your responsibility as an instructor is to report suspected cases of misconduct, not to form a final judgement.


Does taking on an assistant professor position prevent me from doing post-docs later?

I'll have to guess a bit on this, never having heard of the situation before. I think you are wise to be worried, though. The intention of post docs is to provide research (sometimes also teaching) experience to people who have just finished their doctorates. Some positions will be explicit about that.

But even if you are technically eligible, I think a lot of people would wonder about you if you took that path. "Why is he leaving a regular position..." They might even question your qualifications since leaving an Assistant Professor position (in the US) often means that tenure was denied or the candidate assumed it would be. That isn't a good impression to leave, even if it is inaccurate.

Assistant professor may mean something different in your country, of course. But consider the "expected" career path of such a person in your decision.

On the other hand, it is also (US, again) possible to move from an Assistant Professor position at one university to a similar, regular, position at another. The new position might enable more research possibilities, especially if there is a larger, more active, faculty.


Bringing advisor into summer internship project

I think this situation seldom arises, so wouldn't call it typical. There might be university regulations that govern it, since your relationship to your advisor would change somewhat.
But I fear you are being a bit naive about the company's ownership of your results. It probably means that you can't publish without permission (and specific approval). It might mean, or imply, non-disclosure of what you learn. In the latter case, the company would need to establish a formal relationship with your advisor so that everyone understands and adheres to the ground rules.
I don't think there are problems necessarily, but you need to make sure that everybody in the process understands what is happening.


What to do when the organizers close the submission portal earlier than what was announced?

Expecting them to be checking their emails on a weekend is a bit presumptuous. It is Monday now in China, give them a chance to have a coffee, get through some admin, and then deal with their inbox. You may not be the only one emailing to complain.


Should I include the country when citing government agencies in APA?

My preference would be to just use "U.S." inline versus omission, spelling it out, or using parentheses.  Think this is adequate to give the information but is tight and doesn't look awkward.

I would use this both in text (for example funding acknowledgements) or citations.  Also spell out agencies.  Not CIA or BUPERS but whole name. Note, it is fine in normal conversation, emails, etc. to use the acronyms if context and audience make it clear [for example in a question here about U.S. specific funding agencies I could say "NSF" in an answer].  But not in peer reviewed literature heading out to the world.

P.s.  There is some fussiness about U.S. versus US.  I would stick with U.S. as the more traditional and common spelling. (But let copy editors do what they want--this is minutia.)  US is preferred in the context of the military and in some newer style guides.  U.S. is still more traditional in grammar texts, newspaper style guides, and civilian parts of U.S. government.


Is there an academic\ethical reason for omitting place names in environmental science papers?

I can think of a few reasons for which it might be sensible for names to be withheld, usually relating to not attracting large numbers of the public to a place. For example, a rare bird's nesting site, an endangered seal's haul-out area, or other places of delicate ecology.

However, it would seem reasonable for the authors to make the location known to other researchers on request, as otherwise there is no way to verify or reproduce their findings.


Can I use British English in an Australian conference paper?

My question is whether the paper should be "corrected" to Australian
  English as it is an Australian conference, or if "correct" UK English
  should be allowed from a UK writer?

British English is acceptable in US-based or other places conferences that do not use British English. Each conference writes their requireements in the Call for Papers. Mostly, international conferences require English. But it is unreasonable to require specific English. Even if it Australian-based conference. Any English is acceptable. Just be consistent in the whole text on the English you choose.


How to address the person being recommended in a recommendation letter?

I have seen both used in recommendation letters, regardless of the strength of the recommendation letter itself. I would, myself, recommend Dr. John Doe / Dr. Doe for most professional relationships, except when it is clear that you have formed a close professional relationship (PhD student, or long-term collaborator or post-doc). In case you go for the surname, I would still use the full name at the first mention:

  Dr. John Doe was a student of mine at the University of X, where I teach Y, …. He later joined my research group as a Masters, then PhD student. John is an extremely bright student, …

(Of course, that's merely an example and not a good letter wording, so do not look at the wording itself, only the use of names…)


What is the point of a lecture when you have a textbook?

I started writing a post about all the things I like to do that the book doesn't: offer an intuitive overview, a fresh perspective on the basics, etc.

Then I realized that of course, there's no reason that the book couldn't do these things. Most of them don't, but there's no fundamental reason not to. Everything I do in a lecture to help students see the subject from all sides could be translated to the book.

So I guess the main point of lectures is just that it's another medium. Yes you could learn from only one medium, but it goes faster if you use multiple media at the same time. Not just books and lectures: websites, games, audiobooks, documentaries, programming, role playing. Each medium has it's own slight advantages, and idiosyncracies. Even if the story is the same, the energy you have to put in, the mixture of senses you use, and the parts of your brain you activate are all different.

So what, specifically, are the benefits of the medium of a lecture? Here's what I can think of:

Obligation: You are expected to be there. It may be childish, but for a lot of students, it's difficult to work if someone isn't making them do it.
Interaction: It's not just that students are able to ask questions: lecturers can ask te audience a question too. And even if you're not the one answering, you're definitely checking in your head whether you know the answer, which means you're interacting with the material. A book can do this too, ask a reader to consider a question: but the sense of stress isn't there.
Intonation, rhythm and storytelling: A good speaker can hold the attention of an audience. If you're reading, you have to do all the work to keep the attention. The author simply has fewer tools to keep you interested.
Presence The fact that there's an actual person present in the same room as you, makes you sit up. This is a simple human convention. As most lecturers know, it's a convention that students find easy to dismiss, but the basic sense that you're in a room with another person still changes the energy.
Speaker guidance A good speaker will sense the energy of the room. This lets her change speed, take a break, or spend a bit longer on a subject if she notices the room isn't following along. This makes each lecture tailored to the audience. The smaller the audience, the more different the lecture from audience to audience.

Of course, it takes a special lecturer to understand these points and try to capitalize on them. Many don't and just follow the book.


Are wordcount limits only for first submission, or also for revised submissions?

Ok, there seems to be a consensus that it applies to both.


As far as pure mathematics, you are quite right: there are neither data nor experiments.

Drastically oversimplified, a mathematics research project goes like this:

Develop, or select from the existing literature, a mathematical statement ("conjecture") that you think will be of interest to other mathematicians, and whose truth or falsity is not known.  (For example, "There are infinitely many pairs of prime numbers that differ by 2.")  This is your problem.
Construct a mathematical proof (or disproof) of this statement.  See below.   This is the solution of the problem.
Write a paper explaining your proof, and submit it to a journal.  Peer reviewers will decide whether your problem is interesting and whether your solution is logically correct.  If so, it can be published, and the conjecture is now a theorem.

The following discussion will make much more sense to anyone who has tried to write mathematical proofs at any level, but I'll try an analogy.  A mathematical proof is often described as a chain of logical deductions, starting from something that is known (or generally agreed) to be true, and ending with the statement you are trying to prove.  Each link must be a logical consequence of the one before it.

For a very simple problem, a proof might have only one link: in that case one can often see the solution immediately.  This would normally not be interesting enough to publish on its own, though mathematics papers typically contain several such results ("lemmas") used as intermediate steps on the way to something more interesting.

So one is left to, as you say, "tackle it bit by bit".  You construct the chain a link at a time.  Maybe you start at the beginning (something that is already known to be true) and try to build toward the statement you want to prove.  Maybe you go the other way: from the desired statement, work backward toward something that is known.  Maybe you try to build free-standing lengths of chain in the middle and hope that you will later manage to link them together.  You need a certain amount of experience and intuition to guess which direction you should direct your chain to eventually get it where it needs to go.  There are generally lots of false starts and dead ends before you complete the chain. (If, indeed, you ever do.  Maybe you just get completely stuck, abandon the project, and find a new one to work on.  I suspect this happens to the vast majority of mathematics research projects that are ever started.)

Of course, you want to take advantage of work already done by other people: using their theorems to justify steps in your proof.  In an abstract sense, you are taking their chain and splicing it into your own.  But in mathematics, as in software design, copy-and-paste is a poor methodology for code reuse.  You don't repeat their proof; you just cite their paper and use their theorem.  In the software analogy, you link your program against their library.

You might also find a published theorem that doesn't prove exactly the piece you need, but whose proof can be adapted.  So this sometimes turns into the equivalent of copying and pasting someone else's code (giving them due credit, of course) but changing a few lines where needed.  More often the changes are more extensive and your version ends up looking like a reimplementation from scratch, which now supports the necessary extra features.

"Acceptable progress" is quite subjective and usually based on how interesting or useful your theorem is, compared to the existing body of knowledge.  In some cases, a theorem that looks like a very slight improvement on something previously known can be a huge breakthrough.  In other cases, a theorem could have all sorts of new results, but maybe they are not useful for proving further theorems that anyone finds interesting, and so nobody cares.

Now, through this whole process, here is what an outside observer actually sees you doing:

Search for books and papers.
Read them.
Stare into space for a while.
Scribble inscrutable symbols on a chalkboard.  (The symbols themselves are usually meaningful to other mathematicians, but at any given moment, the context in which they make sense may exist only in your head.)
Scribble similar inscrutable symbols on paper.
Use LaTeX to produce beautifully-typeset inscrutable symbols interspersed with incomprehensible technical terms, connected by lots of "therefore"s and "hence"s.
Loop until done.
Submit said beautifully-typeset gibberish to a journal.
Apply for funding.
Attend a conference, where you speak unintelligibly about your gibberish, and listen to others do the same about theirs.
Loop until emeritus, or perhaps until dead (in the sense of Erdős).


In most institutes Masters by Research means they had to take the core courses usual Master students are offered but they also produce a compulsory Masters thesis in order to earn their degree. However, I have that seen in most cases that they have to take lesser number of electives so that they have more time for research.

Edit: Also see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Research


Is it okay to write a cover letter with one more page

Yes, you can go over one page. In fact, most cover letters for faculty searches are 2 pages. Some people go over two pages, but I don’t think it is usually necessary.


Do US universities allow a professor to work in a brothel?

It's typical for US universities to require disclosure of certain types of outside activities due to concerns with conflicts of interest and to comply with federal guidelines:
https://www.unlv.edu/research/coi#guidelines
There are also typically clauses that don't allow outside activities to negatively impact work with the university.
I think it's likely that this would fall into a grey area where there is clearly no direct conflict of interest for the purposes for which such policies typically exist, but a broad interpretation could allow a professor to be removed if those outside activities were considered too much of a distraction. If students were aware of the other position or could be clients, that might be seen as more of a problem.
That might lead to a legal challenge but I'm not aware of any related legal cases related to brothel employment by professors, and broadly US employers have a lot of leeway in deciding who they employ. There is this story of a journalist-stripper-professor who was fired from her journalist position when her employer learned about her blog about stripping, but apparently not her lecturing position.
Note that having outside interactions with students doesn't need anything as potentially controversial as sex work. There are lots of ways students could potentially have a conflict of interest with a TA or professor if they have some financial relationship: if they hire them as a tutor, if they work at a bar/restaurant and are left a tip, if the students' parents buy the professor's house, all of these could raise a potential conflict of interest situation.


How does a recognized and well-known Professor help his students in getting an academic job?

This doesn't usually work that way. When your prof gets involved on your behalf, besides writing the most stellar recommendation letter they can, they're just going to pick up the phone and call if they know someone at the place you are applying. A personal recommendation beyond the usual stellar letter from someone trustworthy that you know can go a long way towards differentiating between otherwise equally viable candidates.


Can you do research at home, without being backed by a university? [electronics]

In the academia, degrees matter, being used as the main gatekeeping mechanism for identifying the pool of eligible applicants for positions at universities. Typically, the higher up you climb up the degree ladder (Master's, PhD) the more (and fancier) doors open.

In private industry, the majority of companies still require at least a bachelor's degree. So if you are considering working for a company at least for a short period of time to develop additional skills, I would highly recommend finishing a bachelor's degree. In some startups (especially Internet startups), you may be able to secure a position through networking with the founders (who sometimes themselves are dropouts).

But it sounds like you prefer to lay your own path in this life. I think you could make a living out of this by becoming an independent inventor, receiving and then either selling patents to corps or developing them into businesses on your own.

You could also work as independent consultant (formally, a sole proprietor) offering software and/or hardware engineering solutions to businesses. In this case, it is important to develop expertise in a fairly narrow niche, such as robot sensors, a programming language (e.g. Java), or a particular manufacturing process in a specific industry (e.g. programming car electronics for auto manufacturers). Typically, a way to develop such skills is to actually work for a company with a focus in this niche, then striking on your own.

To build up experience, also consider design competitions (e.g. dexigner.com/design-competitions). While some of these are for students affiliated with universities, others are open to anyone.

These options are not necessarily either/or, so you might be able to stitch a successful career and comfortable living by combining two or three of them at once, varying only the extent to which you allocate your time and energy to each of these pursuits. The most important thing is, to make sure you have fun no matter what you do. If it ain't fun, it ain't worth doing. You seem to have the talent and motivation to pursue your interests, which many people dream of but only a few have the guts to actually do. Good luck!


What is the best way to cite NCBI data for my paper?

The way to cite NCBI databases, services, and data is described by NCBI itself in an "NCBI Knowledgebase" post here: https://support.nlm.nih.gov/knowledgebase/article/KA-03391/en-us

In addition, NCBI provides a separate file with lots of examples:  ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/education/supportcenter/NCBI_services_citation_examples.txt

Don't guess, look it up !

(Archived permalink: https://web.archive.org/web/20181028213653/https://support.nlm.nih.gov/knowledgebase/article/KA-03391/en-us)


If tenured staff are virtually unsackable, why is the drive to find funding so strong?

In many departments, tenured professors can use bringing in external funds to the department as a means of "buying" their way out of some of their teaching and administrative commitments. Similarly, other departments might use additional committee assignments and teaching loads to "punish" people who don't bring in grants. They may also have less flexibility in selecting teaching assignments.

In other countries, such as Germany, a long-term shortage in funding can lead to the consequence of a chair not being "succeeded" when the holder retires; in that case, the institute (equivalent to a US group) the professor is in charge of is wound down rather than finding a new leader for the group.


If I were to ask a professor on sabbatical to consult with him on a paper I'm writing, would I be imposing on him?

No, I don't think it's rude at all.

A sabbatical is not meant as a complete vacation from work. Rather, it's a time for the professor to focus on scholarly work without the distraction of teaching or (usually) administrative duties.

I'd say that asking the professor to comment on your essay is definitely a scholarly activity, and so it's a reasonable request.

Of course, it's up to the professor whether he actually wants to do it or not, or if he has time to do it given his other activities. Don't be offended if he declines. Also keep in mind that many professors travel extensively during sabbaticals, or spend the entire time at another institution, so even if he is interested, he may not be able to meet with you in person - you may have to discuss it over email, Skype, etc.


Should I finish all work that I started before PhD graduation?

If you are not being paid, you should not be spending your time on a PhD.  You should tell your advisor you are not able to continue without financial support.

It is your advisor's job to recommend what you should include in your thesis.  Nobody who has not read your work will be able to advise you on this.

You want to keep the code you have written secret.  To determine if you can do this, you need to consult your university's intellectual property policy.  Very likely the policy says the university owns the rights to all your work, in which case you should hand it over.  In any case, keeping secrets when secrecy is not an ethical requirement is poor scientific practice.


Can I have two PhD supervisors from two different UK universities?

As the old saying goes, if you don't ask, you don't get. In my experience it's quite common to have an external supervisor on the team, either from another university or from an industrial partner. So you can certainly ask.
How you approach the topic may depend on how well you already know the potential supervisors. If you have already built up a relationship with one of them, you can easily broach the question in an email. Chances are that the two potential supervisors will already know each other, if they work in a similar field. (Of course there's a chance this could work to your disadvantage, if they know each other and don't get on.)
If you don't already have a rapport with one or other of them, I would ask for a video call to discuss the offer they have made you. Prepare a few different, relevant questions, both about the research ideas and the logistical aspects of the position. Then you can bring up the other supervisor, while clearly emphasising that ideally you would like to be split 50/50 between them, and benefit from both their inputs.
If they agree, great! Your university likely has some official mechanism to add external people to your supervisory team. If they don't agree, that's not so good for you, but you could still consider collaborating informally with one of them later on.
Finally, remember that research is very changeable, and what you think your thesis will be about now might be very different from what you actually end up finding and writing about. So don't worry too much if you find yourself going in direction C, D or E rather than A and B.


What is a good etiquette to correct a person using wrong title for me?

I would say this depends on context. When contacting academics, it is common to assume they all have a doctorate. A mass email (or mail-merged etc.) is therefore likely to use Dr. even for a PhD student on the list, because checking would take much more work. Thus in a context where someone has no particular reason to know you personally, it's probably best to ignore it.

On the other hand, if it's coming from someone who who might reasonably be expected to remember specific information about you as a person, I would be inclined to point it out. Personally I put things like that as a PS to an email, or similar, to try not to make a big deal out of it.

Edit: Another thought on the ethics side. I would agree that you should not allow people to continue acting on the assumption you have a PhD when that is not true. However, in many cases where this arises, it is not that the person specifically believes you have a PhD, but that they are not really thinking about it, or doesn't really care.


How much do graduate schools in Mathematics care about the Statement of Purpose?

[I have been on the faculty committee for Mathematics Graduate Admissions at the University of Georgia for seven admissions cycles, three times as the head of the committee.]

I view the statement of purpose as one of the least important parts of the application.  It is certainly a part that has very little correlation with acceptance.  In other words, if we look only at, say, the GRE scores or GPA of an application and see that they are extremely high (respectively, extremely low), we can significantly raise (respectively, significantly lower) the chance that that application will be accepted compared to the mean acceptance rate, but a really excellent or really awful personal statement does not change the probability appreciably unless further conditions are met.

Why is this?  The main reason is that, for a PhD student of (most likely theoretical, in our department) mathematics, good or bad statements of purpose correlate too weakly with the qualities for which we are trying to select.  Good writing skills are important, but because a "statement of purpose" is a genre with which most applicants are completely unfamiliar, how they write in this genre doesn't tell us that much about their general writing skills.  (Imagine that we asked them to contribute a haiku or sonnet instead.  That sounds ridiculous...but actually does give some idea of the situation.)

The majority of statements of purpose we get mostly try to convey the student's ardor for mathematics, beginning with an anecdote about how it was kindled at an early age.  They go on to say something about what kind of mathematics they want to study...and in most cases they will show that they don't really know.  As far as our reactions to this: (1) well, we want students who love mathematics, but that is shown better through anything other than how eloquently they write an essay about this love and (2) it is actually okay that most students of (again, mostly theoretical) mathematics have quite vague ideas about what they want to study.  My thesis for instance was on abelian surfaces with quaternionic multiplication.  This is a topic in arithmetic geometry, which is a subfield of number theory.  I believe that in my statement of purpose I said I wanted to do number theory.  Good guess!

I will come back later and say more about (1) Why most departments require a statement of purpose anyway and (2) What are some situations in which a statement of purpose becomes more important.  I wanted to leave an answer before the question got closed.  (It is a good question.)

Added: As Mark Meckes points out in the comments, I have already answered a similar question on this site.


Of course, it depends on how much teaching you would be doing, and how many hours a week it would take you, but generally, I would consider the following pros/cons points:

Pros:

Teaching might allow you to meet other people than those you are doing research with, and interaction with different people can be useful in terms of research (for instance, you can find a nice collaboration idea with a prof or another TA).
Teaching brings more immediate rewards (positive and negative) than research. When I was doing my PhD, I was also teaching (about 60 hours per year), and sometimes, when I was stuck with some research problems, it was a nice feeling to interact with students and to feel "productive".
Teaching is a good training to clearly explain ideas and concepts, which an important skill to write good papers.
Teaching provides you a different activity aside from research, and can help you focus (as you said yourself).
Teaching is good on a CV, and if you consider applying at some point to a lectureship/professorship position, then having done some teaching during your PhD can allow you to do some more research-oriented postdocs after (and thus get potentially more papers), so it's somehow a good time investment to do it when you're not expected to produce a huge amount of papers.

Cons:

Teaching takes some time, especially if you are teaching in a field where you are not an expert.
The downside of the immediate rewards is that sometimes, you can get frustrated because of the teaching, and that can have an impact on your research production.

In conclusion, I would say that being a TA has really clear and acknowledged benefits, as long as it does not take too much time on the research activity (I would say no more than a day per week during the official periods of teaching).


Decision after first round of peer review

Both options are possible. Sometimes editors handle minor revisions themselves, sometimes manuscripts are sent for a quick (hopefully) review to (some of) the reviewers.


How do judge the quality of your own PhD?

You can't.

Probably this is a bit strong, but I think that in general you can not grade or judge your own thesis or assess its quality in any way. You are hopefully very critical with yourself and this is good. Your advisor and others referees for your thesis can and will grade your thesis and should provide a report which you may be able to read (depending on the local regulations) . If you need a more detailed feedback, ask these people some time after your defense (not directly after your defense - after passing it's time to party...).