How to find the most related publications for a batch?

What you are asking for might be possible by writing your own program (e.g. in Python) to access the Google Scholar API.  In fact it would make a good assignment for a Python programming / Text processing class. But unless you are a programmer with extra time on your hands, you shouldn't attempt it.

For what it's worth, I almost never use "related articles" feature of Google Scholar.  The few times I did use it, there wasn't always such a close relationship, and it certainly didn't bring up the articles that I saw as most related.

I don't think there's any substitute for reading the papers, at least the important ones, to find the most salient related papers.  I do this both through direct citations and also by finding key terms that I use for new Google Scholar searches.


Is it appropriate to give feedback to instructor about final exam?

The personalities of professors vary wildly, so you may want to first consider if your professor would be open to feedback about the exam. Also, make sure that you aren't the only or one of a few students who made such mistakes. For instance, is it possible that you missed some content or communication about the exam? If you are on the same page as others, you have a stronger case.

If you feel like giving feedback is beneficial, make sure that you express it constructively and professionally. Some professors may dismiss feedback that simply comes across as "This wasn't fair." For instance, explaining that "many students who studied were confused by some of the communication about how to approach the exam. Is it possible to have a review sheet provided for the next exam?" Or "I studied and followed instructions on the exam, but am confused about how I missed some things that were discussed before the exam. Can you help me understand where I went wrong or how to better prepare next time?" This is less confrontational and helps open a difficult dialogue.

I hope this helps!


How to handle a student's public speaking anxiety when teaching a class that requires presentations?

Fear of speaking in public is common. It is one of the major symptoms of social phobia. I'll work on the assumption that your student has diagnosed or undiagnosed SP (I used to work on SP data.)

SP is very amenable to classical cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). You are a teacher, not a therapist. I would counsel against "rolling your own" therapy program. Instead, refer the student to on-campus counseling and strongly encourage her to seek professional help. As others write, the need to present will not go away; neither at college nor at the workplace. And college is probably the best place to start therapy. To repeat: this is a good point in time to start working on this; encourage your student to do so with a therapist.

So, that's the long-term answer I'd give. However, even if CBT frequently shows effects rather quickly in SP, your student will likely not have progressed far enough in her therapy to actually present her paper by the time she should. So you will likely need to make some kind of accommodation. I'd recommend that you contact your university's student service. There likely are some sort of guidelines on how to deal with such an issue - you probably are not the first professor to be confronted with this.

If you are afraid of getting a reputation as a professor who can be swayed, there are different ways around this:

You could require an official diagnosis of SP, or whatever doctor's communication your local privacy laws permit. In this, you could let yourself be guided by what kind of paperwork is required for a student to skip and retake an exam for medical reasons. (Student services could again be helpful here.)
You could make sure that the "alternative assignment" is not a bonus, but does add significant work to the student's workload. I personally would be careful here, since you don't want to penalize her for her disability.

That said, if the student does take your recommendation and starts therapy, it is quite possible that her therapist would assign making at least some kind of presentation as a piece of "homework" for her. Apart from possible confidentiality issues (your student may opt for waiving these, so you could talk directly to her therapist), this could allow you to help her much more than just doing a short-term fix. It may be worthwhile pointing this out to her. After all, you are willing to go to an effort to help her - her next professor or her employer may be less accommodating.


It's totally fine.  I commend your efficiency.

It would not be fine if you submitted two similar talks, or if you submitted a talk under someone else's name so that you could pretend to fill in for them.


Contemplating about a second PhD in statistics/machine learning

As other people already stated, multiple PhD's is almost certainly not a good idea. How to transition into machine learning depends on where you want to work:

academia, you can try to get a postdoc position in machine learning, in that way you can build your career by writing publications and get up to speed with machine learning during your postdoc research. This could be problematic as you might have to compete with people that have a PhD in machine learning. But this can be overcome during the interview stage.
industry, you can simply apply to entry level machine learning positions (look for data science positions) and take it from there. Once you convince a company that you are a worthwhile addition, you can learn the ropes on the job.

In general, I would recommend already getting up-to-speed a bit in machine learning, try some online tutorials, etc. This can really help in securing a new position in either academia or industry.


Is it a good idea to provide course detail in teaching statement?

Probably a matter of opinion, but I would suggest focusing on more general things overall, though you could say that you have well developed ideas for a course in X and in Y. But I think that the teaching statement needs to focus on your teaching philosophy and expertise, rather than details.
I say this because what you suggest seems to make you too narrowly focused. The chances are that you will need to teach other courses, including elementary courses as part of your job.
If you mention the courses and are prepared to talk more deeply when asked, I think it would be better than to give the detail at the expense of other things.
The exception would be if the position itself is focused on the areas of those courses. But still, don't neglect the general/philosophical  part of the statement.


Medical student being cut out of a project by fellow unbeknownst to supervisor

You should tell your supervisor you were disappointed there was not more work for you to do.  This will ensure your supervisor knows your viewpoint.  There's no need to suggest that the fellow was deliberately preventing you from contributing.  It's not clear what the fellow's motivations were, so it is hard to be sure if they should be discussed.  Stick to your own actions, which are directly relevant to your reputation.


What are the 'objective circumstances' that one young researcher should take into account when choosing a research topic?

There is no "optimal coice". Getting "good" results, and recommendations does certainly not only depend on the choice of the topic, but more on yourself and your motivation. And that is the point. If all possibilities seem to be equal I would apply for the group in which I feel most welcome. It is so important to be in an environment in which you are allowed and encouraged to fail often (and early); where people leave titles at the door; where you can build on ideas of others and people dare to be wild and have fun !

Forget the results and, the recommendation afterwards. Do what you like to do, together with people you like and the results will be good automatically. You will find opportunities for future projects you never thought of yet. And to be honest, I do not think an undergraduate research project will change your life. Explore your style of work, your weak and strong sides and be open for ideas. I would not expect too much at this stage ("in terms of mathematical results achieved").

OK, that was a statement based on my personal opinion, but it is based on my personal experience as a PhD.


Professor expressed interest in collaboration, but remains unresponsive and unreliable. How to proceed?

So he says he's interested but acts like he's not?  Then you are probably not very high on his priority list.  You could e-mail him again after a week or two, but it probably won't get a different outcome. I'd suggest you move on.


Results published by others first in parallel. Is my work still publishable?

Get personalized advice from a professor at your college. It sounds like your current problem is not publishable anymore since you've been preempted. Still, there could be a way to spin it so that it's still publishable (the fact that you're using it in a different field is a good sign), and if so a professor at your college who can examine the problem and the proof firsthand is the best-positioned person to help.


How does Google Scholar rank coauthor list?

The coauthors are ranked by relevance, and the exact definition of relevance probably changes over time. Papers and citations are obviously important factors. Google may also consider other factors such as the age (or age distribution) of the citations or the overall ranking of the coauthor among all researchers. The ranking of A in the coauthor list of B might also be influenced by the ranking of B in the coauthor list of A.

In my profile, a coauthor with 2 shared papers (20+3 citations) is ranked higher than a coauthor with 3 shared papers (9+3+0 citations). This person is ranked higher than another coauthor with 1 shared paper (35 citations), who is in turn ranked higher than another person with 2 shared papers (5+3 citations). You could produce a ranking like this with a weighted sum of the number of papers and the number of citations, but that's probably not the whole story.

It's good to remember that Google is a search/advertising company. Ranking pieces of information by relevance is their core business. They won't disclose the exact details of the rankings, as those details are important trade secrets. Google also keeps changing the details, as advertisers and websites would otherwise learn to game the system, making the rankings less useful.


Replying the rejection email from Professor

There is no reply needed from you to them.

Move on to your other applications.


You seem a bit confused.  The SAT/ACT is a test that most American students take to get into an undergraduate program.  Once you are in an undergraduate program these scores become irrelevant (except possibly if you want to transfer to a different one), and they definitively become irrelevant once you have an undergraduate degree.

The exam that most students take for American graduate programs is the GRE.  Having said that it is indeed quite similar to the SAT: in fact, the last time I looked the quantitative section was almost identical.  If you do not do well on timed tests in general then realistically I don't think the GRE will be much different.  (But it is probably worth a try...)

Whether you can get into a graduate program without taking the GREs depends mostly on whether the GREs are a required part of the application.  For many types of graduate programs (still in the US, of course; the GRE doesn't exist elsewhere) the GRE will be widely required, e.g. if you are in the arts or sciences.  For other types of graduate programs, maybe less so, but they may also have their own exams.  Anyway, you should just browse the webpages of programs of interest to you: they'll tell you whether the GRE (or some other test) is required.


What percentage of applicants on a wait list for masters program generally get accepted?

The answers to your questions depend on the university/department, but are all reasonable questions to ask. It would be perfectly reasonable to send an email along the lines of

  Thank you for letting me know about the wait listing decision. I understand how competitive the admissions process is. I wanted to let you know that XXX is my top choice and if offered a place I would accept it immediately. As I have also received an offer from YYY that I need to respond to by April 15, would you mind if I checked on my status closer to the deadline?

This will hopefully open a dialog and they might say something like "given your place on the wait list it is unlikely we will know anything prior to the deadline" or "given your place in the wait list the picture should be a lot clearer closer to the deadline.


Do I have to do research at the college I am attending to get into a good grad school?

In short, the answer is no, it doesn't matter where your research experience is.

If anything, I would say that it is more beneficial to have experience outside your undergraduate institution than inside, as this gives you the opportunity to meet many more potential collaborators, exposes you to new ideas and different research cultures and will hopefully give you a wider knowledge of your subject and academia in general.

However, if you're intending to continue at your current institution as a postgraduate student, then it would be wise to try and do some kind of research project (your course may require a final year dissertation, thesis, project or similar) with a current member of staff. This means you get to know them and more importantly, they get to know you and will remember your name when your application for postgraduate studies lands on their desk.

If a professor already knows you as a hardworking, reliable undergraduate from that summer project you did with them, they're much more likely to take you on in the expectation you will also be a hardworking, reliable postgraduate (in comparison to the stranger's application next to yours on their desk). Even if you don't intend to apply at the same institution for postgraduate studies, having a supervisor who can write you a strong reference is always a bonus.

Make the most of any research opportunity you get, and good luck with your studies (cosmology is a good choice!).


How hard is it to change a (sub-)field right after starting a CS PhD?

If this is for the US, then there is plenty of time after acceptance to a doctoral program to choose a specialty, assuming you start with just a BS/BA degree. The early couple of years are course rich to get you prepared for qualifying exams. This gives you a chance to see advanced material in a number of specialties and also get acquainted with several faculty members.
If you take advantage of that, and establish a few relationships, then, by the time comps/quals roll around you will be in a good position to choose some narrow specialty and work with an advisor to find a suitable problem.
Other places the system and expectations might be quite different, but if you are now an undergraduate it is probably too early to choose. I studied mathematics and started grad school with an interest in both Analysis and Topology. I might have jumped either way, but wound up in Analysis. But both of those are still pretty broad. Both have several subfields.
An advantage of choosing (rather) late is that you get a chance to evaluate the faculty for their likely support for your studies. I started with a poor advisor, but finished with a really great one.


How to find a university without min. GPA requirement for Master degree (any state/US)?

Most universities usually require a work experience of 2 years if you don't meet their GPA. I see your GPA is not bad and I don't know what you're waiting for because you already overdid the experience part by going all the way to 6 years. You should apply asap and the only worry is to make sure that your application is superb


Authorship on a manuscript that has gone through significant changes

I agree with the answer by @BrookeMcKnight.

I would add that, importantly, even if you have made substantial changes, it is your responsibility to reach out to your coauthors and afford them to opportunity to contribute further to the updated manuscript, otherwise you are somewhat stealing the authorship from them.

They may prefer to substantially edit what you have done, to provide minor comments, they may disagree entirely with publication and ask for major revisions or for their name to be dropped, etc - the key is that your responsibility is to give them the opportunity to participate and make those decisions. Their initial contributions did not expire over the 3.5 years the manuscript sat unworked on.


I would do it per paper, unless the paper is extremely long and some abbreviations are defined (and used) in the start, but not used again until 20 or 30 pages later.

It's okay to remind a reader what the abbreviations mean, but avoid annoying the reader by being overly and unnecessarily repetitive.


When there are multiple ISBNs, which should be reported in a reference list?

ISBN numbers for a specific book vary between countries/regions and is thus not altogether very useful in international publications. When referencing a book, it is not customary to list ISBN-numbers, partly for the reason just stated. Instead you should be able to find a doi (digital object identifier) number, at least if the book is relatively new. There is otherwise no general rules about including such numbers in reference lists. With books the fields that must (or at least should be included are author(s)/editor(s), year of publication, title, publisher and place for the publisher (City).


Phd Student here: Where is the line between free labor abuse vs....whatever the "good" version of free labor is?

I am very sympathetic to your supervisor, so my discussion here will be biased. Good supervisors are not given much recognition nor appreciated much by the system. The system seems to reward poor supervisors by giving them time to do more research.

Could this be a quid-pro-quo situation? It is clear that menial tasks are out of line, and there is a line between exploitation and also asking for assistance. Especially, so she can spend more time to do more for you and her students, providing responsive feedback etc. So the issue is whether you feel appreciated enough right now? And how much time you are spending for her and her agendas. How much of her agenda lines up with your future goals and aspirations? Try to align your agenda and activities so you are not feeling exploited but part of her team.

Despite all this, if your agenda is not aligning, then speak up and try to set boundaries. Realise that your time and access may deteriorate to the bare minimum that other supervisors seem to give? May not necessarily be as retaliation but rather as the result of her time being reduced as well for "menial tasks". Some people really struggle with "menial tasks" and changing focus can be a struggle for those people who prefer conceptual and more abstract work.


Suitability of top UK graduate programs, compared to US ones

I'm not sure about master's degrees, but there are a few important differences between US and UK doctorates.

Duration. UK doctorates can be (and most often are) as short as 3 years. There are now 4-year degrees (the so-called 1+3 degrees), which combine master's degree and doctorates much like the US programmes, but normal 3-year doctorates are still the norm. US doctorates take at least 5 years to complete, and you can often exit with a master's degree. One of the downsides of the shorter doctorates in the UK is that the number of papers you publish during your doctorate will be typically less than the number of publications of someone who had 5 to 8 years to complete their doctorate.

Funding: Unlike undergraduate and master's degrees, which have been turned into a business, where universities are all too happy to accept international applicants who pay exorbitant amounts of money (at least 2 times the fees of UK/EU students), the situation in the UK with doctorates is quite different. Since doctoral candidates are getting paid, the funding is typically reserved for UK/EU students because the funding body is British/European. There are, of course, funding opportunities for international students, but they are much rarer and competitive. This answer may be of interest to you. I think the US funding bodies are more generous with their funding.

Application: The application process is also very different. In the US, as far as I know, you apply to a department and you don't have to decide on a topic or supervisor for some time. And even then, it's easier to switch topics/supervisors. However, in the UK, when applying for doctorates, you need to write a research proposal and preferably to have already identified a supervisor who can supervise you. Some places even require you to have a supervisor who has agreed to supervise you to support your application. And if your funding is tied up to a supervisor, good luck trying to switch supervisors.

Content: UK doctorates are very focused. There is no coursework, no TAing if you are properly funded (unless you want to), or any of that. Just full-time research on a topic you've already chosen.


Can I ask for a "general" letter of recommendation?

No, you can't. Here are some reasons that this would not be a reasonable request [in the US].

Your professor is not going to show you the letter, so they will need to send it to every internship, job, or grad school themselves. Therefore there is no benefit to them to having a letter "on reserve".
Letters are written very differently for internships and industry positions than for grad school applications, so a general letter does not make sense.
There is no reason for a professor to waste their time writing a letter now that might not be used at all.
There is no reason to write a letter that will be outdated. It is unlikely that a letter based on a freshman class would be useful for grad school applications, for example.

Instead, what you can do is ask your professor "I don't have a position in mind right now, but would you be willing and able to write me a strong letter of recommendation in the future for internships, jobs, REUs, or eventually grad school?" If they say yes, say something like "Thank you,  in that case I would like to use your letter when I do. Is there anything I can do, now or then, to make it easier to write?" This gives them a chance to let you know what they need (what materials, how much advance notice, how much reminding); it also gives them a chance to make notes to themselves about your performance, to remind themselves when they do go to write the letter.

(You asked "...or are rec letters supposed to be tailored to specific applications?" In my field almost everyone writes just one letter for grad school applications, there aren't usually different letters for different schools; however letters for REUs or internships would be very different.)

It's wise of you to start thinking about this now, and you'll be glad to know you have someone who can write you a strong letter; they just won't write it until there is actually a position you're applying for (and not until the night before the deadline, if I'm any example).


Do I need to request permission to cite a "personal communication" in a publication?

I think we don't even need to consider permission in order to resolve this question.  The more fundamental question is this: how do you know that "personal communication" is the right citation and not a publication?

Your colleague may have been passing on information that they or somebody else had already published.  Even if it was not published when the colleague spoke to you, it may have been published (or at least submitted) as part of some manuscript since.  It may also have been communicated to you in confidence---you would hopefully remember if this was the case, but in some cases it may be easy to forget, e.g., if it was said during a UK meeting held under Chatham House Rule or at a Gordon Conference.

I would thus recommend contacting the colleague to ask what the appropriate citation for the information is.  At that point, the colleague can make an appropriate judgement and either point you to a standard citation, tell you to cite as personal communication, or request that you not publish the information.


What should a student look for in an undergraduate thesis topic/supervisor?

I am in math, and have some experience with undergrad research (from both sides), and there are lots of different ways you could have a good experience with undergrad research.  What would be good for you will depend a lot on your individual situation (mathematical maturity, background, independence, etc) and your goals (do you want to get a paper out of it? just get some research experience? learn something new? help your case for grad schools?).

For getting into a good grad school, what's most important is how well prepared you are in terms of background and how much potential you show.  This is evidenced by your transcript and recommendation letters.  Doing novel research or writing a paper is much less important (unless it's much more impressive than typical undergrad math research).  (Note: many undergrad theses in math are just an exposition of an important topic.  Some of these are very good.)  So in terms of grad school, the most important thing out of this project will probably be (1) what you learn, and (2) the impression you make on your supervisor, who should write you a recommendation.
For being able to get a paper out of it, research is never certain, but it's important that the project is well thought out beforehand.  More open-ended projects may sound interesting, and teach you a lot, but may not be conducive to having a finished project in the time available.  I generally find ones that involve some calcutions/computation have a higher rate of "success," in the sense you should at least be able to do the calculations, whereas projects that require you to develop some theory may just leave you completely stumped.  (Though some types of theoretical projects where you can follow the method of another paper closely also have high rates of success.  Conversely, try to stay away from projects of the form "look for pattern in this data.")  Hopefully you can get a sense of how well thought out the project is from the description; also knowing how successful the supervisor was with previous students may suggest this person gives high-percentage or low-percentage success problems (but if you're more concerned about grad school, where the students went for grad school is more important than if they published papers).
For learning things (which helps with grad school), a project where you have to learn some theory (even if just to do computations) is better.
Both to make progress and to learn things, an accessible advisor (say is willing to meet you once a week or so) is better.

Apart from that, I would say put some value in your general impression from talking to the potential supervisor.  If you have a chance to talk to former students of the supervisor, that could also be useful.


I don't know what to say when meeting the supervisor after he has suggested me to leave the research group

This adviser is doing you a favor. He is telling you at the very early stage of your PhD that you're not cut for it according to his standards. That sounds harsh and that's why I think the funding argument is merely a diplomatic excuse.

Imagine if he had told you the same thing after 2.5 years, or failed you at the defense (if that still happens).

I have no ways of knowing whether he is right or wrong, but that is irrelevant anyway: he doesn't want you to get a PhD under his supervision, hence you won't get it. Your only viable option is to leave.

For your discussion, ask more details about what you could improve, or what other path he would suggest for you. He is in no way obligated to answer but it might be helpful to you. Based on what he tells you, you might get an idea of what can be next for you: switching group, taking additional education, switching field of research, looking for opportunities outside academia, etc. That is not something we can help with without knowing you and your work.


Is non-degree studies a viable path to a master's degree?

The things hindering you would be both your level of preparation in required subjects and the level of competition in any place that you apply to.
If you are missing certain courses then you can probably use non-degree status to make up and get a formal transcript. For repeating courses you have, it might work out as well, provided that you do much better. But if you have adequate knowledge even with low grades it might be better to take more advanced courses rather than repeat.
A medical diagnosis shouldn't impede you in any way in the US. There are laws protecting people with conditions, including privacy laws.
But, you can proceed in parallel, actually, signing up for a course or two as a non-degree student while also applying to a few masters programs to see how you fare. The more competitive the program, the lower the chance of admission, of course.
Another option is to just talk to an admissions counsellor at a place you'd like to attend and see what they recommend. They might have you correspond with a math prof. But, in general, the more information you get the better off you will be. Don't proceed down a particular path based on assumptions.


Is it ok to contact multiple potential supervisors?

Yes, you can contact several. But before you contact anyone, make sure that your interests and background align with their specialties. If your letter states that you are exploring your alternatives and seeking an advisor, rather than specifically asking if they will be your advisor, it will be easier for you to "disappoint" one or more of them by choosing another, assuming you get a lot of interest. "I'm interested in potentially being your student and ..."

If it is possible for you to actually visit the institution, you could try to have face to face visits with some of the faculty. Try to visit them in roughly the same order of your interest in them and if you "hit it off" with one, you are done.


How to deal with an unprepared professor?

One important thing about higher education is that in general nobody else than you takes responsibility for your learning. So if you decide to learn the material from books/other resources this should be fine. However, teachers/lecturers are still responsible to deliver good lectures. So the teachers set the stage to learn, but you can learn in any way you like.

That said, it still makes sense to try to improve the teaching. You write that the problems are external to the professor. This should make it easier to approach him. For example you don't have to say "I would like more explanation and better answers to our questions" but you can ask for additional material where you can find answers to your questions.

However, if you think that the assignment of this professor to this class was in general a bad decision (due to, for example, lack of expertise, lack of time, too many other commitments…) you can bring this up to people in the department who are responsible. However, it is important to focus on facts and describing the situation in neutral, non-judgemental terms.


How to get lab resources back from a post-doc who resigned while on vacation and not coming back?

The issues you are describing of misappropriation of university equipment, research data and unearned salary, rise to a level of seriousness that a rank and file faculty member is not equipped to deal with and will not typically be expected to deal with. It is time to call in the cavalry — by which I mean, the matter should be referred (probably through your advisor’s department chair) to the university legal counsel or similar office. They will take appropriate steps, starting with sending the absconding postdoc a threatening letter, and ending with who knows what (in theory, a police report and/or civil lawsuit, although given the negligible economic value of the misappropriated items and the difficulty of proving outright theft, I’m guessing not much legal action will come of the whole business).

Of course, I’m hoping that the postdoc will listen to reason and return what he has wrongfully taken, but in any case, if your advisor hands the matter over to the university authorities, and cooperates with the resulting follow-up actions, then even if the items are not returned, your advisor will be in a good position to explain to their funding agency and collaborators that they tried in good faith to fix the problem, and the embarrassment and damage to their professional relationships will be kept to a (probably negligible) minimum.

Good luck!


What to do when I think a published paper displays academic misconduct?

Let me congratulate you for seeing a publication practice that you suspect is fishy and taking the trouble to inquire about it.  This is something that contemporary academia really needs: we are self-policing, so when we let these things slide it is as though we are sitting back and watching a robbery take place from the comfort of our squad car.

Here are my reactions to your story.

You make a very compelling argument that the authors of [B] should have known better than to try to publish their paper.  The details you provided do not yet compel me to believe that the authors did so deliberately or with malicious intent.  Math papers are hard to read: just because you cite one theorem from a paper does not necessarily mean that you are aware of the other theorems in the paper (you "should be", whatever that means, but that's not the same thing at all) and just because you come across an equivalent version of a theorem does not necessarily mean that you see that it's equivalent.  Rather recently I got sent a draft of a paper that contained three theorems.  They looked interesting, so I read more deeply.  It turned out that two of the three theorems were not new.  How did I find that out?  By reading the papers cited in the bibliography!  But one of the papers was written in a manner where it was a little puzzle to decode every single result (and the author did not shy away from stating more general theorems with more complicated statements; I can't argue with that, but it certainly does make the paper harder to read).  The point of the story is that the people who sent me this paper were not bozos: the third result was very nice, and I have just written a paper with them that builds on it.  Or here is an even more personal example: in my PhD thesis I combined work of Ogg with more recent work (of Ribet and others) in order to determine whether certain Shimura curves had points over Q_p.  I didn't write these results up right away, and when I looked back at them a couple of years later I had to reread the paper of Ogg to refresh myself on what he had done.  I was surprised to see that one of the theorems from my thesis was already proven in Ogg's paper!  My proof was not the same as Ogg's, but neither was it "better" in any clear way.  This may not be that different from what you're describing.  These things do happen.
Divining the authors' true motivations does not seem to be your job as a self-deputized academic policeman (if it is, you have an awfully hard job).  What matters is that a paper got published that doesn't do anything new and that in fact cites the paper that majorizes it.  That's bad no matter what the authors were thinking...but when you look at it that way, doesn't a lot of the blame rest with the journal's handling of the paper?  It seems like a referee who was a true expert in the literature or honest and conscientious enough to track down the citation should certainly have caught this issue and prevented the publication of the paper.  The journal looks bad just as the authors do.  If they are really not being responsive to this, they look even worse.

It seems more likely that the journal is looking into this but doing so slowly (this involves a lot of delicate conversations, including with the authors of the paper), and in the meantime they are not doing a good job of assuring you that they are actually doing something.  You say that the matter got referred to the managing editor.  If you have waited what you think is a reasonable amount of time and not gotten any further response, by all means take it up directly with the managing editor.  It would be pretty surprising if you didn't get at least an acknowledgment of the issue from him/her within a few days.  If you really hear nothing back, then waiting a week or so and sending a followup email conveying the fact that a total lack of response is only going to make you have to do more yourself to deal with the situation seems in order.

That "more" would involve talking publicly about the situation: e.g. bringing it up to other mathematicians you know and, depending upon the importance, raising the issue on a site like MathOverflow, putting something about this on your own webpage, writing a letter to the editor to some other journal, and so forth.

Finally, let me say that proper police work here may require giving up your anonymity.  I think you should be willing to do so if it comes to that.  In your comment you say that you are "[s]eriously" worried about getting a mailbomb from the authors.  Seriously seriously?  You think that some ethically questionable mathematicians are likely to commit a violent felony??  I find that hard to believe, but if it's really true you need to contact the actual police.


Should I report my GPA on applications for an MA if it is not required?

If you think it is better than average, volunteer it (if there is a convenient free text field).  If average or worse than average, don't volunteer it.


How to verify authenticity of submitted assignments

I'm going to give you an answer you may not want to hear: it isn't worth it for a class that big.

The pedagogue in me doesn't like my own answer, but as they say, you have to choose your battles, and I believe there are more important issues when teaching a class that large than to worry about catching the homework cheaters. Mitigation can include reducing the impact that homework has on the overall grade (but this leads to other issues, such as students wondering why homework is necessary if it isn't worth much in the final grade).
Another (probably less successful) method is to instill the fear of [insert deity of choice] into your students when it comes to cheating. If you do catch a cheater, make an example of that person that the other students won't forget -- I threaten to fail any cheater instantly if I can prove they cheated in any way, and I say it as matter-of-factly as I can on the first day of class: "Look, if I catch you cheating, I'll fail you, end of story."

If you have a balanced set of assignments that includes in-class exams, then poor performance on exams should produce final grades that indicate that the student hasn't learned the material.

If you can work out the oral exam, that might help balance out any poor knowledge, but beware that some students are absolutely terrified of oral exams, and they might know the knowledge as well as anyone else on paper but not be able to perform out loud.

I suggest not losing sleep over a few cheaters in a class that big, and to ensure that you're giving good assignments that are challenging and provide a good means for learning the material.


How does Microsoft Academic Search generate its rankings?

how does Microsoft Academic Search actually generate rankings?

Since Microsoft Academic Search, like Google Scholar, is a proprietary vertical search engine and its algorithms and ranking systems are not open source, you're unlikely to get a detailed "how" answer unless a disgruntled former Microsoft employee decides to chime in.

Microsoft Academic Search does make some details of its rankings and results system available, however. This page offers a basic explanation of the search engine's approach. For both Microsoft and Google, citations play a major part in search result rankings, which has subjected academic search engines to criticism in the past. As the Academic Search page above indicates,

  the information associated with Microsoft Academic Search author profiles is derived from the tens of millions of scholarly publications that are currently indexed by Microsoft Academic Search. Most of these publications have reference lists that Microsoft processes. The indexed publications and reference lists help create a snapshot of individual authors' publication history, productivity, and impact. As more content is indexed within Microsoft Academic Search, the accuracy and completeness of the author profile data improves.

Because Academic Search rankings can be distorted by factors including citation counts, incomplete publication indexes, and the field rating system you mentioned, it will inevitably produce some inaccurate results.

Speculation alert: it seems to me that the lion's share of ranking is accomplished through automatic citation list analysis, which is not necessarily a good indicator of

Prominence in one's field,
Number of publications (instead, it seems to emphasize how often a publication is cited elsewhere).

Finally, Academic Search is still in Beta, and I suspect that their rapidly growing index may not always be in perfect step with their ranking algorithms - in my personal experience with the search engine, there do seem to be cases of highly-ranked scholars or papers suddenly plummeting, then re-appearing again, which I assume is a consequence of ranking algorithm tinkering.


How to provide English translation of non-English words scattered in a thesis

If you provide a glossary of terms at the end of the thesis, then you only need one footnote, at the first Italian word, to point readers to the glossary. If the first usage of any Italian term is also written in italics, then the reader is prompted to consult the glossary if needed.


Is it appropriate to give a student personal advice?

Bachelor's students can know little about the outside world. Many may not have even done simple things like pay bills. Furthermore, in most countries they have either gone direct from high school to college, or direct to college after 1 year to travel or improve an entrance exam score.

You should lead with a disclaimer, and proceed to tell them at least 2 sides to their problem. Honestly, the advice you give will comprise of things they would not easily or never imagine themselves (in a short timeframe). It's either your advice or the aggregate advice from the internet. You will be one data point, but a credible one. Sometimes just advising (or encouraging) someone to actually bring their issue to the appropriate person is the push they need.

If you are constantly sought out for advice, I think it shows your opinion and life experiences are trusted. Considering the personal matters, I highly doubt the same students are asking more than 1 other professor. Be wise. Share your wisdom.


Conference submission along with submitting to arXiv

The way journals handle arXiv submissions depends entirely on the journal. Generally, it should be allowed since arXiv is a well established service. The only way to know for sure is to read the FAQ/Terms and Conditions or ask the publisher/editor.


Margin spacing on graduate school applications (PhD) in the US

Whenever in doubt in such situations, it is always best to err on the side of fewer words. You do risk annoying the reader (who will see that your margins are smaller than the margins on the others they are reading), and you are assuming that the reader will actually finish reading your longer statement. Page limits are there to guard readers' time, and if they only have x minutes to devote to each statement, your longer statement will not be as thoroughly read and digested. Yes, they should probably have word limits to get around this margin problem (my Uni works with word limits, not page limits, for this reason), but you do risk diluting the time they spend thinking about you.

While I know you think your three experiences are so significant that they each deserve extensive treatment, being concise about important things is part of academia. For example, I recently had less than a page to display how my research background is world-leading enough to warrant being awarded €1.5million. You are given 2 pages only to describe why you want to go to graduate school. Having to express important things in little space isn't going to go away as you progress with your academic career; as time passes, more info goes in less space.


Should such CS coursework be subject to plagiarism?

This is basically a request for opinions because there isn't a general answer to the definition of plagarism in coding. Borrowing code is a huge part of learning how to code!

That said here are my guidelines for myself:

make choices you're comfortable with.

If it feels wrong it probably is. You should be willing to openly stand by every decision and every google search.

add comments with sources throughout your code.

This will make things way easier just from a coding perspective and if you're accused of plagarism, makes it easier to argue that you were not intending to do so.

In particular, I link to stack exchange answers that were helpful, especially to questions I asked.

you could even put a link to this thread in your submission code somewhere so that you can demonstrate that you clearly thought about academic honesty.

Intent matters a lot in plagiarism at a grad or post grad level. It's when things are getting published that it becomes much more objective.


Automatically updating ORCID, etc, from arXiv?

Google scholar will add anything it finds to your profile automatically. Usually it is more necessary to clean up (e.g. if a name of a preprint does not match the published version exactly) than to add more.
ORCID only lists papers that are published by journals - no preprints. But it also does this automatically (and does a good job - you can help if you use your ORCID during submission).
I don't know about research gate.


Applications for tenure are typically evaluated based on

Research
Teaching
Service

Some institutions will solicit comments from students when they are evaluating teaching.  Commonly students' teaching evaluations are considered as well.  How strongly different factors are weighted depends on the institution.


Difference between public and private university education

Well, by definition, the difference is how much funding comes from the state government, but public universities do still get a good amount from donations.  But in my experience, there are qualitative differences in the educational environment at public versus private schools.  It's hard to explain these generally, as there's still a lot of variation among public schools or private schools, but here's my attempt at a few of these differences:

The student demographics are often markedly different.  For instance, private universities tend to be more expensive, thus public universities tend to be more attractive to students with less financial means.  There are some articles about how students in certain socio-economic classes are disadvantaged at going to places like Harvard.  Peer interactions generally play an important role in your education.
Private universities tend to be either small liberal arts colleges or elite research institutions.  Most state universities do not try to give a "liberal arts experierence," though of course some are more committed to teaching versus research than others.
The top state universities tend to be rather large, where as many top private schools are very small.  This makes a difference if you're looking for a small school with a more "personal touch."
There are also some private schools with religious affiliations, which may or may not be noticable in the education.  In general, private schools have more freedom in how they do things.


Do professors change their impression of a previously bad student?

Your friend needs to involve himself in department life. If he is just as invisible as his supervisor, no other professor is going to change their opinion unless they somehow get a new impression (or forget who he was).

One of the best things your friend could do is to give a department seminar if he has some interesting results to present. Make sure that it is well written and rehearsed! He should also chat with professors during social occasions, turn up at department talks and ask interesting questions; things like that.


Dealing with anxiety about answering questions during presentations

There are other questions about "imposter syndrome" on this Stack, it might be useful to look through them because some of what you describe might fit into that area.
Besides that, I think the best way to feel better about answering questions during presentations is to do it a lot. Seek out opportunities to present to a "friendly audience", and ask that they challenge you with questions. Talk about your research informally with fellow students in your area. Do all of this in English, in case you typically use another language in those contexts.
You can also try to plan ahead for certain questions or areas of questions, and even make slides to respond to those questions ahead of time if they are asked. Generally I wouldn't suggest purposefully leaving information out to prompt certain questions, but it is rare that you can fit every single caveat and counterexample and piece of background into a talk.
If you can't figure out what question someone is asking, try to ask it back to them, even if you are off the mark or don't get it exactly right - that's usually more productive than just asking someone to repeat. I see native English speakers including everyone from students to full professors have trouble understanding what someone is asking about all the time - it's quite normal. Also, questions asked during a talk aren't like exam questions where a grader is judging your answer based on some rubric for that specific question. Usually the asker is hoping to get you to elaborate on something, so even if all you can pick up is a key word you can repeat back a possible question based on that key word, or just start elaborating on that area. I'm also a fan of being honest with language difficulties. I would never think less of someone who just gave an entire talk in their non-native language but doesn't understand a particular word or phrase I used.
Lastly, I don't think academia is nearly as "judging" as you may think it is. Especially when you are presenting your own work, know that you are the best expert in the world in your own work. PhD-level research does build on what has been done before, but ultimately if it's research worth doing as a PhD student it is pushing some boundary of knowledge. You're the only person who has yet crossed that particular boundary, and the whole point of giving an academic presentation is to bring your colleagues up to speed.


Why are honorary degrees awarded to celebrities?

The "degree" part of "honorary degree" is largely irrelevant.  Honorary degrees are simply honors bestowed by a university, and they are considered degrees just because degrees are what universities hand out: a degree is the one distinction not available elsewhere in society.  Honorary degrees do not necessarily have anything to do with study or recognize any scholarly accomplishments, even in the loosest sense.  (This is true both historically and today.  There has never been any strong connection between honorary degrees and scholarship.)  Scholars can be awarded honorary degrees, but so can anyone else.

In particular, politicians, donors, and celebrities are sometimes honored by universities for entirely non-academic reasons.  For example, in the United States a university typically awards an honorary degree to the primary speaker at its graduation ceremony, who is chosen for fame and speaking skills.  The speaker might be a distinguished scholar or might have no scholarly credentials whatsoever, but an honorary degree will be awarded either way.

There's nothing wrong with this, and there's no reason why universities should restrict their honors to scholars.  The only strange part is calling the honor a degree, but in practice people who care about such things know it's not a real degree.  Honorary degree recipients occasionally take the degree part too seriously (by bragging about it or insisting on being called "doctor"), but that just serves to make them look foolish.


Backlog as a measure of difficulty of submission

The backlog of papers refers to those in the pipeline already accepted for publication. If there is a bigger backlog, it can mean a longer wait before it actually is published after being accepted for publication. There would be only a small correlation, if any, between that and the "difficulty of submission"; do you really mean difficulty of getting a paper accepted for publication?


Pursuing integrated master’s and PhD in business

The typical college cycle
The typical college cycle works like this:

Start with a high-school diploma or equivalent.

Do 2-years of undergraduate education; some get an Associate's degree for it.

Do another 2-years of undergraduate education; most get a Bachelor's for it.

Do 2-years of graduate education; many get a Master's for it.

Do a few years of PhD work; successful students get a PhD for it.

It sounds like your friend's done Steps (1) and (2), and now they want to do Steps (4) and (5).
Your friend's atypical situation: rejoining the cycle & skipping a step
Your friend's situation is atypical in two ways:

They want to skip Step (3).

There's a significant gap between the earlier and later steps.

Skipping Step (3) is a tricky proposition.   Basically, they'd need to find a grad school that will accept their application despite not having done Step (3), which won't be something all would be willing to do.
Unfortunately, doing Step (3) would probably require repeating Step (2) as well.  It's probably unfair, but that's how the system currently works in most places; undergraduate continuation is lost after about 5 years.
Potential approaches to achieving this goal
This seems to leave them with four tactics that might work depending on the locality and a lot of happenstance:

Option 1:  Repeat Step (2) by enrolling as an undergraduate, then go through the process from there.

Option 2:  Re-enter the process at Step (3) by finding an undergraduate program that'll accept the prior Associate's.  This may be unlikely.

Option 3:  Skip ahead to Step (4) by finding a graduate program that'll overlook the absence of a Bachelor's, perhaps by arguing that 35-years of experience is a supplement.

Option 4:  Enroll in an MBA program instead, then try to re-enter the typical college cycle at Step (4) or Step (5) with an MBA in-hand.

Option (1) might not be interesting to your friend, since it'd involve doing an extra 4 years of full-time college work before starting with the Master's/PhD program that they want to do.
Option (2) would be tricky, primarily since it'd probably be hard to find an undergrad institution that'd accept an Associate's from that long ago.  Additionally, it'd still involve an additional 2 years of full-time college work before starting with the Master's/PhD program that they want to do.
Option (3) would probably be what your friend would like most.  However, the Master's-level classes might be a bit hard for someone who's been out of academia for so long, plus a lot of graduate programs might spurn their application in the absence of a Bachelor's.
Option (4) seems more plausible than some of the others because MBA programs tend to value work experience far more than typical Master's programs, so it'd probably be easier for them to get in.  However, MBA's are typically terminal degrees; I don't know if there're combined MBA/PhD programs.  That said, a Business PhD program might be inclined to accept an applicant with an MBA, or else an MBA might qualify them to enter a traditional Master's/PhD program.


My university's policy is to consider only the most recent grade for a failed course that has been retaken, how should I declare my GPA?

You should declare the GPA that is written on your transcript and provide the transcript. You should not compute the GPA yourself. This would only introduce confusion. If someone asks, you can simply give the explanation you just gave us. You can even preemptively include an explanation somewhere in your application, with the simple explanation you wrote.


How do I use internet comments in my research?

You would generally need to use a class of research that is indeed considered qualitative. I think the most common method would be "coding", and if you search for "qualitative coding" you should find a wide-variety of helpful primers such as this one.

A more detailed guideline on how to do this type of research would not be on-topic here, but with the right search terms you should be able to find a wealth of guides from a variety of different fields. However, no resource you find will be an adequate replacement for getting to know your own field and how  things are done there by carefully reading the method sections of papers in your area that ideally use similar methodology. If you draw up a provisional plan for what to do (creating your own sample data to go with it can be helpful here), you should have it reviewed by a suitable advisor/researcher in your area to help you understand how things are generally done in your area, and to help you identify problems and misunderstandings in your plans.


Is it common that you can't finish the exam questions during PhD study?

This is completely dependent on the course and instructor.

Yes, I have taken exams where it definitely wasn't possible for anyone to finish. The professors either gave us more time or only graded the problems we attempted.

Talk to the instructor about your concerns!


Can one submit overlapping grant proposals?

From your description, there is too much overlap.
One option is to figure out how to split off pieces of the project that can be done in parallel.  I’ve currently got a CAREER award that focuses on a core theoretical topic, a standard NSF grant (with a collaborator) that focuses on how this theory interacts with non-ideal physics and measurement, and am part of a team on a third (special-program) NSF grant for which my responsibility is using the theory as a framework to guide my collaborators’ hardware development.
The work on each of these grants drives forward my overall research agenda, but is distinct enough from the others that there is no conflict on the grants.
Definitely talk with your program manager as you develop your proposals —they can give you feedback as to whether they agree that your ideas are distinct before you put in the full proposal effort (and having a good relationship with them is always a good idea in any case).


How contribution in "data analysis" and "data interpretation" are different, for a scientific paper?

I agree that the boundaries are not quite clear in that it is impossible to analyse a set of data without giving some sort of interpretation to them at the same time.

The requirement however doesn't mean that you have to identify a single author for each contribution. For example, you can say that author A contributed to data acquisition, author B to both data analysis and interpretation.

In an experiment, data acquisition can simply mean running the tests without processing the data into more meaningful plots or graphs. The latter falls into the category of data analysis. Discussing what the data mean comes into interpretation. While interpretation cannot be absent in any analysis, and so I cannot imagine an author contributing to analysis but not to interpretation, the reverse may be possible. An author can contribute to interpretation without contributing to analysis.


What is meant by a "permanent working paper"?

Without knowing what the paper is, it's hard to tell, but here is a situation where that might make sense:
Many permanent organizations -- say, the National Labs in the United States, NASA, or large research organization in other countries -- have an archive for papers that might not be research-y enough to be published in journals, but are still useful to be kept in a permanent archive. Think articles that provide very specific data about the aerodynamics of a particular wing shape that someone has investigated in the 1960s. Or an evaluation of certain materials to build a nuclear reactor. These are in essence the outcomes of engineering work, not of research, and are often not published in research journals.
These archives go by different names. "Permanent working paper" is one of the names that one could use for this. The point is that they are "working papers" in the sense that someone is "working with the data shown therein", and they are "permanent" in the sense that this is not work in progress.


Asking a question in SE might be considered a breach of anonymity?

I think there's two parts to the question, one about anonymity, one about content.

In terms of anonymity, it's unlikely that your paper would be rejected, at least in my field (which is not math/CS). While papers are submitted anonymously, in reality, reviewers sometimes have a good idea of who the author is. A reviewer can recognize the submission's subject area and approach from other work you've published/presented, or be tipped off by little things like the citation of an unpublished thesis (which likely only the author would know about). If reviewers think they know the author, and there's a conflict of interest, they contact the editor; if they don't see a conflict of interest that would bias them toward or against who they think is the author, they just review it. That's been my experience at least.

In terms of content, it's a bit dicier. I know this isn't something you're asking about, but I figured I'd address it for completeness sake. I assume that you're referring to questions that are fairly small, narrow, and specific, and whose answers don't make up the core of your paper. If so, no problem. But an editor or reviewers might take issue with you using answers you get here as your own, especially if they're central to your argument. You probably know that already, and I've never seen it occur in any blind review I've done, but I feel better including this caveat in my answer to your main question.


Someone "reinvented" our algorithm, is there anything to do about that?

The place to start, if the authors don't respond, is to contact the editors of the journals that published both papers - or at least the editor of the other - pointing out the issue and giving references.

Perhaps nothing improper has happened, but you can at least ask for a note/erratum posted with the other paper so that you get more visibility.

I doubt that you can get more than that, but if you start there, at least, you can get proper recognition.

Parallel work is pretty common. Not recognizing something similar if it appears in another field seems pretty natural. Maybe something worse, but hard to know. Contacting their editor may get them to contact you, one hopes.

BTW, the reason for contacting your own editor is that they might also get involved in a solution.


Stay in academia or become professor without overworking, is it possible?

This is a bit opinion-based, but I'll offer my own personal take on an answer in the hopes that it might be useful; at least parts of what I wrote below seem pretty generally applicable to me.

  Is it possible to survive/remain in academia by working normal hours (8-9 hours per day) without working evenings, weekends, holidays, without feeling guilty about taking a 2-3 weeks vacation?

Short answer: no (except for the part about feeling guilty for taking a vacation, which is something I never had a problem with).

Medium-length answer: this question is based on a false premise, and simply doesn't make sense to most professors. "No" is an approximate answer, but a full answer requires a longer discussion to explain why neither "no" nor "yes" really make sense as answers, and why even though "no" is an approximate answer, it doesn't really have the negative meaning that you think it has.

Long answer: people in academia do work hard, sometimes very hard, but in my experience, the thing that many people looking into academia from the outside often fail to see is that what you call "working", we call "living" (and what you call "overworking" we might call "living a bit more intensely than usual, but still generally having a good time"). What you call "making sacrifices" we call "finding our work so fulfilling that we pay less attention to some other aspects of life than most other people do".

In other words, for a professor the "work/life" dichotomy is a lot more blurry than it is for people in (some) other professions, to the extent that it is often a completely nonexistent or nonsensical distinction. If I'm at the beach on a weekend and I'm reading a math paper or thinking about a research problem, am I doing "work"? If I'm traveling to a conference in an exotic city and using some of the time to explore the local sights and culture, am I "working", or am I on "vacation"? I don't know, and honestly after doing this for a while you start to realize that these questions simply make no sense. Most professors simply don't make the distinction between "life" and "work" that much of our culture obsesses about. They don't ask themselves these questions about how to "survive in academia" while only "working normal hours", since most of the time they are just too busy doing something they enjoy. Yes, they probably do end up doing what other people would regard as "work" for more than the usual 8-9 hours a day, five days a week and during times (holidays and weekends) when other people might regard it as abhorrent to do "work". But by and large, they don't perceive this as a negative thing (or at least, not as negatively as your question makes it out to be; I'll admit it can be a mild annoyance at times).

Coming back to my short, approximate answer of "no": basically it seems to me that you're asking the wrong question. If you are the kind of person who really wants to punch in at 9 a.m., punch out at 5 p.m. every weekday and go home to do other things and not even think about work until the next day, I'm pretty confident that academia is not for you. But most people who are smart enough to make it in academia are not wired that way.* The real question you should be asking is "can I be in academia and have a fulfilled life in which I'm happy to get out of bed each morning, get to do really exciting stuff a large chunk of the time, and in which I work hard (sometimes very hard) but still have a reasonable amount of time left over for other things that matter to me?"

The answer to that question is, quite definitely, Yes.

* (Added on edit:) to clarify, with this comment I am not expressing an opinion that a decision to leave academia says anything about how smart (or how anything else) someone is. I most certainly do not hold such an opinion. See the discussion in the comments.

———

Second edit: The comments, along with a few negative votes on my answer, are making me strongly suspect that I’ve given offense to some people who are perceiving my “smart enough ... not wired that way” comment as an elitist sentiment to the effect that if you are a person who is “wired that way” — that is, cares about having free time, work-life balance, raising a family etc — then you are “not smart enough”. Let me emphasize again that that’s not what I believe and not what I meant to imply. I actually care about all of those things myself, and don’t think caring about them is inconsistent with working hard (even sometimes very hard) or with being very passionate about your work. Nor do I think academia is the only place where one can have a fulfilled career; there are in fact many workplaces and professions with quite similar characteristics, and obviously there are many extremely smart people pursuing careers in such places and professions.

Finally, as I said at the beginning of my answer, it represents my own opinion and my own personal take on OP’s question. I make no claims that this represents anything near a universal truth.


Could it hurt my grad school application if I state a secondary research interest in which I have little experience?

I seriously doubt it will make much difference. You say you primarily want to work on Y, and your research experience is in Y, so you'll be judged as "a prospective Y student." If applying X to Y is a reasonable thing to do, then saying you're interested in X shouldn't hurt you at all. But without any real background in X, it also probably won't help you much.


Taking a risk working with a new professor? (Math Grad School)

As valuable as your professional connections and mentors are and will be in your career, please do not rely on other people or university rankings to shape your oncoming accomplishments. The responsibility in how successful your future in research will be depends on you-- how well you understand theory and can apply it, which academic and career risks you're willing to take, and the quality of the relationships you cultivate in your field. You may want to also consider more than just the potential mentor's Rolodex and publications portfolio. Is he/she professional? Genuine and authentic? Veracious? Objective? To help you make a better choice, what-if this-- if the person (that you described above) were you post-PhD, would you want you to be your chair? Much success to you.


CV contents for application for professorship positions in Germany

In Germany you usually have data/place of birth and martial status on your CV and it is also common to have the number of children there. Also a portrait photo is not uncommon, though not necessary.
You should state your academic career, i.e. where you got your degrees, who has been your supervisor and when you graduated (give BSc, MSc and PhD).
Academic and other employments (where did you do postdocs, internships and such)
A list of grants.
Other scientific activities such as service for the community, public outreach, acting as a referee for journals.
(Invited) talks you gave (may be a selection)
Lectures you gave, possibly your graduate students

That's what I had on my CV when I applied for Junior professorships. Was about five pages without list of publications (which can be included in the CV, by the way).


How to take the endorsement request for arXiv?

First of all

  The mail to me was also cc-ed to some big persons in top-ranked universities.

For me this would already be a red flag and result in not endorsing them. The Arχiv explicitly instructs you not to spam when seeking endorsement:

  Please note, however, that it is inappropriate to email large numbers of potential endorsers at once, or to repeatedly email the same endorser with a request for endorsement.

Endorsing somebody you do not know

Endorsing somebody you do not know is somewhat equivalent to saying that the article would pass the initial check of some (reputable) journal, i.e., with endorsing you confirm:

That the article adheres to basic standards of scientific writing.
The article is not complete bogus (e.g. neglecting well-established facts).

From the Arχiv’s help pages:

  We don't expect you to read the paper in detail, or verify that the work is correct, but you should check that the paper is appropriate for the subject area. You should not endorse the author if the author is unfamiliar with the basic facts of the field, or if the work is entirely disconnected with current work in the area.

Endorsing somebody you know

  Is it somewhat based on the hypothesis that if you know a person A and you have already published in arXiv before, then the work of A is also publishable in arXiv.

Not exactly; it is based on the assumption that if you have published on the Arχiv and know person A, you are qualified to judge whether person A is likely to attempt to publish sub-standard content on the Arχiv. If you know person A and also know that person A is not remotely capable of proper scientific writing (and research), you should not endorse them. For example, you should probably not endorse the ghost-healer who happens to live next to you.

Explicitly not endorsing somebody

It may be helpful to explicitly not endorse (instead of doing nothing) if you think that somebody should not be allowed to publish on the Arχiv. Otherwise some sloppy endorser may unilaterally allow them to do so.

If you do not want to endorse somebody, you have to select either “I do know […] personally” or “I have read the paper […] intends to submit” (at least this was the case half a year ago), even if neither applies and you refuse endorsement due to them spamming their endorsement request, publishing in predatory journals, or similar. (This was confirmed to me by the Arχiv when I had this problem.)


References for PhD Application: Is reputation or personal relationship more important?

Remember, the main issue in the letters of recommendation is testifying to your aptitude as a researcher. Being well-known gives the letter somewhat more weight, but being able to comment in depth on your abilities can counter or outweigh the "big name" factor.

However, enthusiasm in writing the letter is also an important factor. Someone who doesn't immediately agree to writing a letter of recommendation for you is probably someone you do not want writing a letter at all. So, I would consider asking both A and B if they would be willing to write a letter. If both agree to write them, then I would use your long-term goal as an additional "screen." If you're primarily interested in a teaching career, I might lean towards using B a bit more than A, and vice versa for a research career.


How to sign copyright form in ManuscriptCentral website

Just write your name and surname in the signature field, and select the date. That's it.


How to handle a common misconception when writing a Master's thesis?

I agree that option 2. is not good. If you want to mention the misconception but avoid shaming anybody, you can write something like

  "While the belief in the 1980s and 1990 was … it was proven in […] that in fact…"

That way, no one is blamed. If, however, you feel that you need to explicitly mention that still some people follow the old belief, you should back this up by citations and I don't see a way around option 3.


Why are most people so intellectually uncurious

The OP seems to imply that it is a kind of moral failing to not be curious about everything. Plokavian's answer is good for covering why many people simply do not have the time to be curious, but I think that their answer fails to cover two points: 1) people in academia who are, to a certain extent, paid to be curious; and 2) why should everyone need to be scientifically curious?

People in Academia

What do you think drives people to pursue graduate studies in the first place? There are many factors, but in my experience curiosity is one of the top factors.

In applied science I have met researchers who study the patterns that water drops form when they land on a surface. They openly admitted that they have no idea what application it could be used for, but they thought it was interesting so they spent some time investigating it. In other words: purely out of curiosity. Even in areas of research where the application is clear, a lot of research seems to start with the question "I wonder what would happen if...?". That is, curiosity. Why would they care how a computer works? They have other things that they find more interesting that they would rather spend their time on.

Why do people need to be scientifically curious?

The OP seems to define curiosity as a desire to understand how things work, such as technology or physical phenomena and seems to conflate curiosity with intellectual stimulation. But there are many ways to be intellectually stimulated without being curious about how everything works from a scientific perspective.

Consider engineering (my field). I know many students who left their undergrad to work in industry. Of course some of them only pursued the degree for a good stable job (nothing wrong with that!) but many others derived great satisfaction (dare I say, intellectual stimulation) from solving problems. To them, a computer is not necessarily something that needs to be understood down to its finest workings. Instead, a computer might be a tool in a big project that is working towards solving a problem for a client. It is the pursuit of the solution that drives them, not a need to understand how all of their tools work.

Consider a doctor trying to decide on the best treatment for a patient (often many patients). It is a complex problem that requires a significant amount of intellect. The doctor draws satisfaction from solving the problem and restoring health to their patients.

Consider an artist (not necessarily my forte!). They may want to explore new ways of expressing ideas or emotions. Exploration of any kind is fundamentally an act of curiosity. They may be curious about how people react to a piece of performance art. They may be trying to solve a problem of how to abstract concepts or objects to their simplest forms (see abstract art).

Finally, some people simply have other priorities in life. It is not a moral failing on their part! We need scientists and engineers and mathematicians and doctors and artists and many others who push forwards in their fields in the name of intellectual stimulation. But there is much more to society than that!


What are the benefits/detriments to graduate students joining unions?

I went to graduate school in mathematics at a university with a TA union. I think the main effect was to level off graduate student compensation across disciplines -- so, the union was apparently a great boon to those in the humanities, but I heard that compensation for math TA's would likely be higher if not for the union.

Another benefit to the union was that it instilled (for many) a sense of camaraderie and common cause. Union events were fun, and they served beer. It was a good way to get to know your fellow graduate students.

The main disadvantage was that dues had to be paid, around $200 a year (most of which went straight to the AFT). This is not a lot, but on our salary it did mean something. Dues were mandatory, even if you opted out of the union -- although state politicians have since seen to it that this is no longer true.

Another potential disadvantage is that union dues went (in part) to political contributions to union-friendly politicians. I didn't mind, but this tended to alienate graduate students who were more politically conservative than me.

There was occasional heated rhetoric when I was there, and even more after I left, but overall the union didn't seem to do much good or harm. Mostly, I remember the beer.


How to adress failed PhD project from last year to gain admission at same University for Master's Degree?

I think that the best way to go about it would be to just be up-front with that you've been enrolled Before and that the loss of a close family member forced you to abandon the project. It all depends on the person on the other end going through the applications, it can go either way.

In any case i believe that NOT telling them about this has the chance of biting you in the future, so best just disclose it.


Is it ethical for authors to reference another paper, but not cite it formally, because they consider it unscientific?

As editor I would not accept this in a publication. If it is published it should be referenced. Yes, it bumps the references for the authors and yes, bad science may attract a fair amount of citations for all the right?/wrong? reasons. But, it is not up to the authors to decide how referencing should be made, journals have guidelines that should be followed. Having the citation properly referenced makes it easier for others to find the article and see it for themselves.

Furthermore, from another point of view the statement that something is "unscientific" is not appropriate either. It is an opinion. The cited paper can be unscientific but the academic way to show this is not to just say it but to prove it.

Your quote is a specific case, of which I know nothing, so the reply concerns the general case but I would react if I saw something like that in a paper I edit and I would ask the authors to stick to facts.

One last point is that if a paper is really bad, then it should be considered for retraction. That is how scientifically extremely poor, bordering on dangerous, papers are handled.


What to do if I don't understand the related work?

The thing that strikes me most about your question is "the topic and goal are the same as mine". If this is the case, then those papers are intimately related to yours, and you will want to understand them for your own good. Granted you might not have the time - it is a Masters thesis after all. However, you'll still want to compare and contrast their results against yours. After all, a big question to answer is "is my method better than theirs?" and you cannot answer that question without knowing how the methods stack up.

You don't have to fully understand another work to write about it, but you might not be able to go into much detail: for example "Alice and Bob (2019) have also studied this problem using [method], but they ran into [issue] which we do not have" is perfectly fine. Nonetheless, with ten intimately related papers I think you will want to discuss this with your supervisor. That's a lot of related work, and your professor might already be aware of some/most of them. He might give you direction on which papers to write about, which to read in more detail, and so on.


Should equations be formatted in scientific notation?

The specific publication you are submitting your paper to may have specific rules for formatting. If not, be consistent and use your consistency to maximize clarity. Is it crucially important that your reader understand the difference between 0.002782 and 0.000278? If so, scientific notation may be helpful. Otherwise, all those extra zeroes may be fine where they are.


First paper, conference feedback - at all if rejected?

You can expect to get feedback in any case. Typically, more feedback is provided if the contribution is rejected, as long as it actually underwent peer review. There is the possibility of getting "desk rejected" by the organizer before even being technically reviewed. This usually happens if the paper is either clearly out of scope or very far from the standards set by the conference. However, if your advisor signed off on your paper the probability of a desk reject should be very low.

The quality of the feedback that you receive may vary quite a bit, though. This largely depends on the conference: some tend to provide pages and pages of reviewer comments, while other (typically weaker) conferences only send back a few paragraphs of, often unhelpful, generalities. In any case, you should not rely on peer reviews as your primary method of getting feedback on your work - having your advisor or senior colleagues read your manuscript and sitting down one-on-one with you will in most cases give you more direct and more actionable feedback.


How can I best use my time as a Mathematical sciences PhD student in the UK

As a recently-started science PhD student myself, I can recommend:

The Research Student’s Guide To Success
Pat Cryer
Pub Open University Press, 2006
ISBN: 0 335 22117 3


How to deal with the fear of missing out?

This is a downside of working in a "hot" area. But it is also why you have an advisor to guide you. In reality you can't do everything and your research will be (should be) deep and narrow. Therefore a lot of the stuff flying around you just isn't especially relevant to your research, provided that it is properly grounded.

Focus and treat all the other stuff as noise. Once you get some research published you can think about broader issues and where you want to take you next deep dive.

Don't completely ignore the general work going on, but don't be overly concerned if others are picking apples in the same orchard. Only get worried if it seems like others are making progress on your problem faster than you are. Your advisor should be able to help with this. But nothing is guaranteed. There is a lot of parallel work going on in hot areas.


How are years of experience counted for determining level on salary scale for a Netherlands postdoc?

I'm post-doc'ing at CWI now; it's not a university but I'm sure it's the same pay scale - I'm also on scale 10. What I can tell you is:

Your slot/rank on the scale is, AFAICT and as @Niko suggests, equal to SOME_CONSTANT + calculated years of experience after the conclusion of your PhD. It doesn't matter what happened before you concluded your PhD. However, I got started on level 9, having only 3 years of calculated experience. So I can't verify that SOME_CONSTANT = 5. Or maybe it's an NWO-vs-universities thing.
The calculation of the number of years of experience is to some extent negotiable. In my case, I got my 3 years in industry after my PhD counted as 3 years of experience; and it was not clear from the get-go that this would indeed be the case.

Finally, I've not actually read it, but perhaps the collective employment agreement for Dutch universities has the official wording on this matter. (I've linked to the 2015-2016 version but I don't think this point has changed.)


Is admission standard for math PhD significantly higher than that for physics PhD?

This is an attempt to gather some data supporting or refuting your hypothesis (or rather a slightly different one).  Ideally, we would like a direct comparison of admission rates at top places, but I could only find limited data on admissions rates, so let me start elsewhere.  At any rate, some of this data may be of interest.

The annual number of bachelor's degrees in physics is about 8000.
From the AMS's annual survey, this number for math is about 28,000.  This suggests there may be a lot more PhD program applicants for math.  However, I don't have data separating out which math degrees are on a math ed track (or similarly for physics, though I guess the numbers are much greater for math ed), and these people are unlikely to pursue PhDs.

What about actual numbers of PhD students?  I didn't see 1st year PhD numbers in physics for recent years but this slightly dated data puts it around 3000 new grad students in physics/astronomy (with about 93% aiming for PhDs), whereas the AMS annual survey has around 3600, and around 5000 if you include masters programs.  (Stats and biostats is separate with around 2000, I guess including masters.)  These statistics also say the number of physics versus math phd's awarded in recent years are pretty similar (about 1500-1600 for physics compared to 1400 for math).  So there may be many more "potential" PhD applicants in math, but both math and physics students seem to compete for roughly the same number of slots in grad programs.  (I don't know about how many of the PhD enrollments were domestic BS/BA holders, but we might guess the numbers are comparable as about 54% of enrollments were US citizens.)

So the above data tenuously supports your hypothesis.  Can we check this with some actual admission rates?

For physics schools, this website has grad school admission rates.  For top schools, the admissions rate seems to be around 10-15% (though Penn State seems to be an anomaly).  Unfortunately, I don't know such a nice tool for math schools, but a few math departments mention their admission rates. Northwestern is around 17% (about the same as for their physics program, 16.4%).  Notre Dame's is around 20% (a little lower than their 26% for physics).

These were all I could easily find and I'm afraid it's not enough to make any real conclusions, but I might speculate that top math phd programs are only somewhat more competitive than top physics ones if at all.  (And in terms of undergrad research experience, I would guess that's more common in physics than in math.)

Edit: One qualitative issue for why you're seeing what you're seeing could be that top schools in math get lots of applications and if an admissions committee isn't familiar with a department, it doesn't know how to evaluate a transcript or the letters of recommendation from there, so it will tend to play it safe and accept students from places it's more familiar with.  This is one reason why it's very helpful for students at small, relatively unknown schools to do programs like REUs (or a master's first) where a letter writer from there can compare you with a wide range of students.  That said, I know many people who have gone straight from small, relatively unknown schools directly to top math PhD programs.


What is the difference between a Teaching Philosophy and a Teaching Statement?

One of the confusing aspects of the various fields of academics is that within one field there can be many terms that essentially mean the same thing. People may try to state that there is a difference but normally the differences are so minor that it is essentially hair-splitting.

The difference between a "teaching philosophy" and "teaching statement" is basically the second word used in both terms. If there is more difference then this it is so nuanced that the average person would fail to notice.


Publishing graph of unpublished work in paper

You can state that " according to the (or based on yet) unpublished data collected in our lab or by xxx .....". It is widely used with no problem. (I am assuming you got permission from your advisor)


Recommendation letter from a professor who knows me for a short amount of time

The problem is that I need a recommendation letter from my professor who would know me only for 4-6 months. Does that make the letter less credible?

Less credible than what?

A letter from someone who doesn't know you as well isn't less credible, but it may be less substantive.  As @jakebeal says, a professor who knows you longer  can write a more substantial letter, all else being equal, simply because they've had time to do more things with you.  Credibility is more a function of the reputation and experience of the letter-writer.  (Are they successful researchers? Do they know the field well? Do they have past experience with students or the caliber your program is looking for?)

But these comparisons only makes sense if you are choosing between two potential references, one of whom knows you longer than the other.  I don't think that's your current dilemma.

You should collect the strongest recommendations you can.  If the strongest recommendations you can find come from professors that you only know for a few months, then that is what you should submit.  Whether some other hypothetical letters might be stronger is irrelevant—you go to war with the army you have.

  I don't want my application to be dismissed on the grounds that the professor doesn't know me very well.

It won't be.

Most graduate programs in the US require multiple recommendation letters, but very few undergraduates have the opportunity, ability, or interest to work directly with multiple faculty for multiple years.  So not surprisingly, a significant majority of recommendation letters are written by faculty who only know the applicants for a few months.  In particular, most of the graduate-school recommendation letters I've written are for students I'd only known for a few months.  This is normal and expected.

What really matters is the substance of the letter, not the duration of your relationship with the writer.


Confusion over choosing title/role while applying for a position

Best answer from Dimitry. Yes include your duties, but stress the research part. Avoid using sentances like " I accomplished this or that" and don't try to impress people by using too many technical terms. Remember that the brightest people have the ability to explain the most complex terms elequently in laymans terms.


Is it reasonable to keep rejecting postdoc offers to honor your part of the agreement with a professor for another postdoc?

Your life is yours, and your primary responsibility is to yourself. If it makes you happier to work for one person, then it's totally reasonable to decline amazing offers to make yourself happy.
Some thoughts:

Also, he also put extra effort (invited for chat, feedback and opening a postdoc that I can apply for)

This not really extra effort to the degree you should consider it affecting your decision. This is pretty standard, even if providing feedback was a nice extra step from him. Certainly not worth deciding the future course of your life over.

My guts tells me to honor your part of the agreement and wait for the professor, especially that we've established that first personal contract and he has a good impression of me.

The agreement is when the papers are signed. Yes, it's a little rude to verbally agree and then renege. But a university would not blink to say "oh sorry, we can't offer that job," and move on with no regard to how this affected your life. Sure, the prof you interviewed with might be sad, but in the end, they are out of an employee, and you are out of income.

After some thinking, I decided to reject the offer and wait for the professor's postdoc to be advertised

I would not have done this. Trust me, a professor asking for a job posting is far from a guarantee it's going to happen. Hold on to all offers, and if it comes down to it and you have two offers in hand, wanting a response, and there's still no job posting, then  you can ask them when it's going to be posted, and ask your other offers for extensions.
Don't turn down any job you'd really take until they have given you a deadline. Then, yes, you can make the decision to take the guaranteed offer, or to gamble on another position. In the end, if the professor couldn't get a position up in time for you, that's their fault.