Existence of regional bias in peer review and how to deal with it

Is there concrete evidence out there to suggest that such discrimination at peer-review happens?

Yes, there is. This is the most famous example, having been cited (as of time of writing) 1167 times. The author took 12 already-published papers written by authors from prestigious and productive American institutions, changed the names, added fictitious institutions, and resubmitted them to the same journal. Three of the resubmitted papers were detected. Of the remaining nine, eight were rejected for serious methodological flaws.

There're a lot of possible explanations for this, of course. One could simply be that peer review is random. Another is that methods have improved since the original publication, so the claim of serious methodological flaws is justified. Or perhaps it's just bias. It's for you to interpret.

Here's another article that deals with bias in peer review explicitly. Three of the biases investigated are prestige bias, affiliation bias, and nationality bias. There is some sign of bias, but as is typical in the social sciences, nothing is clear-cut.

  How can we deal with this kind of problems (for example, potentially submitting to journals that follow double blind reviews, etc.)

I don't think there's any good option unfortunately. Double-blind peer review simply isn't very common right now, and it's not easy to submit to one anyway (you will have to modify your paper, anonymizing any self-references). Triple-blind peer review would be even better, but there are even fewer journals that practice that. Unless and until these become more common, you'll probably have to put up with it.


Should there be a space between a value and the units used?

If there is a standard in academic typesetting¹ and typesetting in general, it is to use a narrow space, i.e.:

  With space: 10 mA; without space: 10mA; with narrow space: 10 mA

The most suitable Unicode character for this is U+202F (narrow no-break space). This is also the default setting of the LaTeX packages units and siunitx.
The SI Standard says (p. 47):

  a space is always used to separate the unit from the number.

However, it does not specify the width of the space. But at least, using no space at all is against this standard.
As for readability, I am not aware of any studies on this, so I can only give you my informed opinion. Consider the following examples (I use a picture to ensure that we are seeing the same thing and to be able to employ justified text):

In the first sentence, no space is used. This makes it take longer to identify the unit as it merges with the numbers, in particular with long numbers.

In the second sentence, a full space is used. Units are now read as individual words because that’s how our brain is trained to read full spaces. As our brain is also trained to process words one by one, it will first read and process 192.34 and then continue with K. In the third sentence, where narrow spaces are used, our brain is more likely to process the 192.34 K in one chunk and we also do not have the same problems as in the first sentence.

Finally, consider the list in the second and third sentence (1 Ω, 2 Ω and 3 Ω). With a full space it becomes more difficult for our brains to group what is written into individual items, as, e.g., the first Ω has almost the same distance from the preceding 1 than from the 2 that follows it. With a narrow space, this is easier.

Thus, using a narrow space is a compromise to have number and unit to be seperated less than words but more than the individual digits of the number.

¹ Some journals do not seem to care to make their publications consistent in this respect.


Getting a job and quitting PhD at university in UK

You say "no one needs to know about my PhD drop as my official graduation took place in 2018" but surely your CV would indicate that your Master's finished in 2017.

Anyway: I can't advise you on whether it is a good idea or not to drop your PhD for industry, since that is a very personal decision. However, I would note that in most UK universities that I know of (and almost certainly in a Russell Group university), the first year of a PhD has a kind of "probationary" status, at the end of which a student would be upgraded to "confirmed" status if all parties are satisfied with the student's progress. Therefore, withdrawing/transferring within the first 10-12 months is a bit easier and less problematic than doing it after 12 months; if the people in your department are sufficiently mature and professional, then they should accept that you have genuine reasons for your change of path.

You also ask how long you have to inform the university of your withdrawal. I would say that you should talk to someone ASAP - if you are not confident doing this with your supervisor, you should try to find the "Postgraduate Tutor" or similar person for your department, or even approach someone in the Faculty of Science. They can advise about practical matters such as terminating your registration as a student - universities nowadays have to be more machine-like in dealing with changes of registration.

BTW, you don't specify if there would be any issues about e.g. immigration status. I am assuming that there are no such issues, since the people who offered you the job should have discussed this with you; but if you are on any kind of visa or study permit then withdrawing from the PhD would affect this, and you would need to talk with the prospective employers about what to do.


Are there instances of papers the first parts of whose colon-wise titles are questions?

There are plenty of articles that have a title in the format "Question? Answer/Suggestion", however, without colon.
I'm pretty sure that you cannot have a colon following a question mark, given a question mark indicates the end of a sentence (same as full stop and exclamation mark).
See also this question on english.se: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/51485/sentences-ending-with-both-a-colon-and-a-question-mark


What sort of professional boundary should I set with other students when I am a grader for a class I will be taking?

Actually, I think the best course of action would be for you to decline this offer. You have different personal relationships with different people in the class and it will be difficult to put aside all of your unconscious feelings and grade in a completely unbiased manner. It also opens the possibility of your friends putting pressure on you, which you can resist, but which could become uncomfortable.

An exception would be for grading that is purely objective, not requiring any analysis or judgement of the quality of the answers, such as mechanically recording the answers in multiple choice questions.

However, if blind grading could be arranged so that you grade paper not knowing who wrote them, then my reservations would probably disappear.

Blind grading would leave you free to interact normally with study groups and would lessen or remove any pressure that could be applied against you.

At a minimum bring up such concerns with the professor and point out the uncomfortable position it puts you in.

Perhaps there is a possibility that you help out the prof by grading a different class and suggesting you grade this one in a future offering.


Methods for finding graduate programs for specific areas of research

Look at affiliations in papers.

When I was looking for a PhD position, I systematically did an extensive literature survey. I didn't really read the articles, looked mostly at the abstracts, but I particularly looked at affiliations. At the time, I simply wrote down all academic institutes I found that were in Europe. In a more extended version, one could somehow assign a score based on the number of papers coming from a certain institution and the impact of each paper.

The big advantage of this is that one will find mostly groups doing active research in the field. Whether we want it or not, published peer-reviewed papers are (at least in my field, atmospheric sciences) the method for determining impact. I won't find groups that fail to publish using this method, but I probably don't want to do my PhD there anyway, so nothing is lost from my perspective.

For my PhD I ended up staying exactly where I already was, but now I'm about to do the same for finding institutes with a post-doc. It's one degree more complicated now because of the two-body problem, but even there: my significant other and I both make such a list, then we'll plot them on a map and look at pairs that are close to each other. But it all starts with:

Look at affiliations in papers.


Ask for funding before or after applying

Your question really contains two parts: about funding and about what to do with the email. @vonbrand already answered the funding part, so I will answer the other half:

This is really a rather common reply. If you apply for the fall 2016, you will likely take courses for the first year, so you're looking for someone who may start to be your adviser in the fall 2017 -- two years from now. I have no idea how my funding situation will look like that far out, nor whether I will gain or lose any graduate students until then. In other words, I cannot promise that (i) I will be able to support anyone financially this far out, (ii) I will have the mental and time capacity to  accept more graduate students this far out. At least in the US (and likely in Canada), you can't generally expect to have an adviser lined up before you even apply to a graduate program -- you have to apply and accept admission to a department in the hope that when you need one, an adviser will materialize.


Is it advisable to add an appendix section in a review paper?

If the paper has been refereed and the referee has not suggested adding an appendix, you should not do Option 2 (or at least you need to get a permission from the handling editor/referee). If the paper has not been refereed yet, you can do whatever you and your co-authors want. Option 1 (publishing a 1-page separate paper) is bad.


How should I handle an abusive research mentor as an undergrad?

How close are you to graduation? You have basically three paths here:

Stop working with your advisor. Depending on how bad it has gotten, escalating levels of this solution could be trying to get another member of your advisor's group to take over working with you so you have to see him less, to find a new advisor to continue your current work, to take a semester of mental health leave and start over on a new project afterwards, or even to drop out.
Try to make your advisor behave better. You know your advisor best and can better judge what he would be likely to respond to. Maybe if you just told him "Please don't call me an idiot," he would stop. Maybe if you could get the ear of a sympathetic member of your faculty, they could take your advisor aside and tell them to be more gentle. If your university offers counseling, maybe a counselor could help you raise the subject with him and negotiate some rules for how to work together. Maybe you can raise a formal complaint somewhere (dean, ombudsman?). (The last one will probably torpedo your chances of good recommendation letters, but might let you graduate without having to take more abuse.)
Tough it out. If it's only a few more weeks, maybe deciding that you choose to take it just a little bit longer because you think that the rewards (graduation, recommendation letters) are worth it helps you get through it. This also needs a good support network. Talking things through with a therapist or counselor can help distance yourself emotionally from your advisor's comments. Let your friends console you. Seek affirmation from other places: are there any other activities where you are doing well? Classes that you are excelling at? A hobby that produces things you can be proud of?

No matter which option you ultimately choose, I encourage you to at least informally talk to a university counselor and whoever handles complaints to be aware of all your options. For each of the options, what process exists? What are the upsides/downsides? Make a list, and then make a deliberate decision. Sometimes, even just knowing that you could leave and do something else but are actively choosing to stay in your current situation for now because you feel the recommendation letters are worth it makes all the difference.


Using first person in literature recommendations in a masters thesis?

Unless there is some reason to specifically avoid it (e.g., your have an advisor who absolutely won't tolerate it), feel free to use the first person and "I" statements in lieu of traditional academic language like "the author" or a strict adherence to the passive voice. Your readers presumably already know you are the author. Anything you can do to improve their comprehension of your work is worth doing. Plus, as this editorial in Nature suggests, "Personal language builds a connection to the reader and helps, ultimately, to persuade".

As for the literature suggestions, a separate section for providing some brief background explanations may be helpful. You can use such a section to include context along with references to the further reading.


You can probably say something like: "A popular CAD* program treats the problem as follows...". Then use the footnote to explain that the program won't or can't be named for legal or other reasons.

In other words, give a generic description but say that it is a specific example meeting that description. Don't give the impression that all do, unless you have evidence of it.


Include conference papers with/without proceedings in CV

On my CV, I have a section called Conference Papers, where I highlight the papers for which I gave the talk by underlining my name in the list of authors. You can definitely list these papers, as you contributed to them. Drawing positive attention to the papers you did present probably gives a better impression than highlighting papers you did not present.

Another way to list the conference papers once they have appeared in a journal (or are accepted), is to simply add a note to the journal publication with the conference information.

The customs for conferences with and without proceedings vary. Some researchers separate these into different categories, while others do not make this distinction. Essentially, it's up to you. Researchers who are familiar with your field will know the relative merits of these venues regardless.

Disclaimer: I'm in theoretical computer science, where conference papers count as publications. Fields that place less value on conferences might have other customs.


How to politely turn down an on-site faculty interview offer

Dear [name of person you were communicating with],
I have an update about my job search. Since we last talked I‘ve received a tenure track job offer from another institution, and have accepted it. Consequently, I am withdrawing my application at your department, and am cancelling my upcoming interview with you and your colleagues.
I do very much appreciate that you considered me for the position, and hope that we will have occasion to meet in the future.
Sincerely,
[your name]

P.S. Congrats on the job!!!


Aside from working on a manuscript, what activities can help improve scientific writing skills?

First, don't be too hard on yourself. There are many scientists who struggle to write clearly and concisely. Additionally, some of your writing skills may be hidden strengths. For instance, being able to communicate complex scientific ideas to your readers through allegories can be very valuable.

Still, there are certain activities and resources that can be helpful. The following are standard texts in my graduate program for improving writing skills:

Gopen, G. D. (2004). The sense of structure: writing from the
reader's perspective. Longman.
Gopen, G. D. (2004). Expectations: Teaching writing from a reader's
perspective. Pearson Longman.
Gopen, G. D., & Swan, J. A. (1990). The science of scientific
writing. American Scientist,78(6), 550-558.
Silvia, P. J. (2007). How to write a lot: A practical guide to
productive academic writing. American Psychological Association.
Zeiger, M. (2000). Essentials of writing biomedical research papers -
2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill.

I attended one of Gopen's writing seminars on my campus several years ago and found it to be very helpful. It made me radically re-think how I organize my writing and has helped me streamline my papers. His "The sense of structure" is an excellent starting text, while "Expectations" provides more supplemental information. Gopen & Swan (1990) will give you a nice overview of his technique. Silvia's book is given to all students when they enter the program. It's short, well-written, and covers not only writing well, but writing efficiently. Zeiger's book, like Gopen's, is more about the mechanics of writing and will help you clarify and shorten your writing.

In addition to these texts, I've found three techniques that have improved my writing.

"Kill your darlings"

Start by writing your initial draft of a paper in whatever style seems most fluid for you. Don't worry about reducing your length or verbosity at this point; that will probably hinder your flow of thought and slow the writing process. Once you've written the first draft you can worry about cutting for length and clarity. Next, take that first, raw, overly-expository draft of your paper and cut it by 20% of its length. I prefer to do this by word count, but you can do it by page length. Let it sit for a day or two, then cut the second draft by 20% of its current length. You can continue this exercise until you hit a roadblock and feel you can cut no more, but I usually go through at least three cycles. At this point, if you are able, give the paper to a close friend or classmate and ask them to cut 20%. Often, they aren't as married to certain phrasings and they are able to do this readily! Granted, 20% is an arbitrary number, but the point is to learn how to reduce the volume of your writing gradually. Overtime you'll be surprised how much more natural this will become. A quick google search can provide you with examples of common words and phrases that are generally unnecessary in writing, providing you with a starting point for this task.

Keep a "Look Book" of well-written articles

I have a folder on my computer where I keep articles or pieces of writing that are particularly well-written. These are often instances where complex ideas were explained clearly and succinctly. I especially earmark any examples that pertain directly to my area of study. When I feel stuck writing a particular section or paragraph, I look back at these examples for inspiration.

Write using active voice

This suggestion is a bit contentious. Traditionally, scientific students have been encouraged to write in the passive voice, and some faculty and journals still require this convention. In recent years, the scientific community has begun to acknowledge the benefits of writing in an active voice (Hudson, 2013). Active voice is generally clearer and is often more concise. If your program will allow it, this can be an effective way to reduce the complexity of your writing while maintaining your meaning.

Additional Citations

Hudson, R. (2013). The Struggle with Voice in Scientific Writing.
Journal of Chemical Education, 90(12), 1580-1580.
Wickman, Forrest. (2013). Who really said you should "kill your
darlings"? Retrieved from:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/10/18/_kill_your_darlings_writing_advice_what_writer_really_said_to_murder_your.html


Do Chinese universities offer CS/CSE Masters programs taught in English?

If you just search for the universities, you will see that each of them has specific guidelines regarding your proficiency in Chinese.

For Tsinghua university, here is what I find : http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/publish/then/5975/index.html , but I can't find anything about HSK requirements. My guess is that if the courses are taught in English, you are more likely to be asked to provided your TOEFL scores instead.

Now you might want to look at other universities, you should get all the information you need on their websites.

So, yes, Chinese universites do have CS Masters programs in English, and it appears that they don't required HSK (but you should contact the International Office of each university to be sure of that).


It is worth the time to revise and resubmit if the referee recommends final rejection?

Unless you have some indication from the editor that your paper is still going to be entertained if you resubmit, I would not send it back to the same journal.  Most of the time, the editor will provide you with a bit of additional guidance, besides what is stated in the verbatim referee report.  This should be your guide to whether resubmission would be worth the time.  If the editor suggests that you might be able to overcome the referee's criticisms, and you think that you can, then go ahead and make the changes and send it back.  If the referee says the paper is being rejected, then you ought to start looking for a different publication venue.

If the editor's own comments do not address the status of the paper specifically (and this does happen; the Physical Review journals often send the author the referees' reports without any additional guidance from the editor about whether acceptance is likely the next time around), I would presume that editor is tacitly concurring with whatever recommendation is in the reviewer's report.  In your case, if the editor is effectively silent, I think you should just move on to another journal.


Should I share a scan of my published paper with an academic in my field?

Of course send the post-print. Why does it matter that it doesn't have the right page numbers? Presumably, your colleague wants to assign it to his class because of its content, not because of its page numbers! Send a note with what the proper citation information would be, in case anyone wants to cite it, or better yet just write that on the top of the document ("Please cite this work as: ...").


How to politely, mildly, and tactfully ask for a minor revision before the presentation of the conference paper?

I'm no journal editor, but the following seems like it would do the trick:

  Are you accepting any revisions on accepted manuscripts? I've noticed a few stylistic things that I'd like to fix (nothing that impacts the results or the page count).


Yes, you can submit, but if you are concerned about fairness, as seems obviously true since you are asking, then you may need to leave all reviewing to others.
You might, however, also consult the wider conference committee to see if they have any reservations or suggestions.
But such workshops are intended for a relatively small group of very interested people, of whom you are one. And it is hard, in such groups, to guarantee that no reviewer knows the author.
If you are, however, a very senior academic, you might also consider not submitting and leaving the floor open to the less experienced.


how does faculty search committee judge a research scientist applying for a tenure-track position

I don't see any reason based on what you have said to make any distinction between the two candidates. Not all post docs are a golden ticket.

How much research counts at all depends on the institution, with it being only somewhat important at prestigious teaching colleges and the end all at top research institutions. I'll assume you are seeking a job at a research sort of place, R1 or R2 in the US.

Depending on the field and specialty, people may have to depend on just counting things like papers and citations and looking at the reputation of journals and such. That might be the case if you were bringing something truly new to a department. But in other places, one or two of the faculty might actually read one or two of your papers, especially if you will be joining a specialized research seminar and especially so if you are joining a specialized lab with a clear focus. They will need to work with you and so need some sense about what you can do specifically.

Do they judge them fairly? That is a harder question. Apples often have to be compared to oranges (kumquats) and a judgement call is often made. Sometimes, I've seen the senior faculty do a bit of horse trading. I'll vote for Sue Supersmart this round, but want your support for someone for my group in the next. It can actually be much more cooperative than that sounds, actually.


How to write research results when some study participants dropped out?

It is a very bad thing to remove people who dropped out from your data set.  The problem is that you do not know whether dropping out is correlated with the effect that you are studying.

For an extreme example, consider a study on the effect of being shot at on soccer ability.  In round 1, people play soccer, then they get shot at randomly with a gun that might or might not hit them, then they play round 2 of soccer, then they get shot at again, and then they play round 3 of soccer.  Of course, anybody who actually gets hit when they are shot will probably drop out.  If you eliminate those people, you will vastly underestimate how badly soccer players are affected by people shooting at them.

This may seem like a rather extreme example, but things very much like it happen frequently in biomedical or psychological studies, just with less obvious causal connections.

Report exactly what happened, and take the missing people into account when you are computing your effect size.  If you need help on the technical aspects of that, you should ask on Cross-Validated.SE.


Citing Data That Was Compiled From Many Sources and Then Summarized? (Updated)

What you have described is your data collection procedure, so I would put it in that subsection (within a methodology section). Describe the procedure of creating the combined dataset clearly, in a way that another researcher would be able to reproduce it.
There you can refer to all your sources, directly in the text, even though it is extensive. Then you should add the reference for each published dataset they've used to construct the large dataset in the reference list (which should be in the APA-handbook, see https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/data-set-references). I would not reference in the form of a self-reference to what is basically the current work.


Can research experience in one subject area be relevant to applying to a master's in a different subject area?

Of course the best scenario would be that you can prove you are capable of independent or supervised research activity in the field of interest of those organizing the master.

However, in my perspective field competence is not the only important element, as methodological competence and evidence of successful research endeavors is also crucial.

Personally, as a mentor of dozen of trainees at different levels in medicine, cardiology, and biostatistics, I like most those people who can do stuff independently or with limited supervision, somewhat irrespective of the topic of interest.

So, if you can prove you can achieve in research (or any other similarly challenging field) with limited supervision, then even if you are applying for something off topic with your prior experience, you're still a potentially appealing candidate.


Where to draw the line for authorship for a software-announcement paper?

As the discussion underneath this post shows, there is no set of established guidelines within a single subfield, let alone across all academia, as to where to draw the line.

A different, not unrelated question: what are you trying to achieve with this paper?

If it's about trying to properly apportion credit for the work done in producing the software, then this is a hard problem: there's the work of the FORCE11 Software Citation Group and their paper. But as the software grows and changes, you're going to have to keep making these decisions.

If it's about growing a community around the software, to improve it, get more people to use it and contribute, then there's a thoughtful post here. That's about much more than just a paper, but notes many problems with giving the proper credit when a software project is updated and the members of the community change.

My opinion, for what it's worth: the more broadly you extend authorship invitations, and the more broadly you're seen to do so, the more likely you are to get community buy-in and future support. By making clear expectations about concrete contributions to the paper-writing process itself, you may reduce conflicts around the free-rider problem.


Is it worth it for me to try at this point?

I think this is a simple answer.

Stop thinking and start doing.

If you want a graduate degree at an Ivy League school and a successful academic career (perhaps even in the field of astrophysics), then pull your socks up, set definite, measurable and realistic goals and start achieving them. The path will not be easy but always remember that you are not the first and neither will you be the last.

Note that a graduate degree at an Ivy League school and a successful academic career are not necessarily mutually inclusive. To do one does not mean that you will do the other and neither does it mean that there is a causal relationship between the two.

Personal anecdote:

I had a rather forgettable start to my academic career as well. I recovered enough to get myself admitted to an "Ivy League" graduate program. I am still on my journey and I dare say the destination is years away. Not everyone is a rising star. Some folks are late bloomers.

I reiterate again. To achieve your dreams, just keep trying sincerely and honestly. It will happen in due time.


Is there a Ronin alternative in Europe? How to be an independent scientist in the EU?

IGDORE is based in Sweden and registered as a non-profit. From what they say the latter makes them eligible for certain Swedish and EU grants.


First of all you mentioned that you already finished your bachelors. In Germany this is normally considered a "berufsqualifizierender Abschluss" which means that with your B.Sc./B.Eng. (at least "on paper") you are considered a trained professional capable of doing a job related to your field of study. So nothing "pretentious" about that.

When I was in the same stage (B.Sc. finished, M.Sc. in progress, also in Germany) I also had no business card and in hindsight it was bad to not have any. I was very often asked for a card at conferences or after presenting our work to potential or current industry partners. One older guy at a conference in Germany even got a little "angry" at me when i couldn´t give him contact information in form of a card because he thought it was unprofessional for students not to have one.

As suggested in an other answer just keep it simple (just your name, kind of your bachelors, department and contact info). Maybe your university even has a template or guidelines for it.
And if you worry to be seen as pretentious, just don´t spread them like flyers but wait for people to ask for them.


Can the university force me to share my courses publicly online? I want to use my course material to write a book in the future

Can I rightfully refuse to use the school's platform?

TL;DR: legally, probably not, but you are still more or less in the right according to the norms of academia.

Longer answer:

This isn’t so much about rights in the legal sense. The underlying context is that there is a longstanding tradition in academia that faculty own the rights to written (and other) media they create as part of their work. This is the case in the US where these rights are pretty universally respected as far as I’m aware, and in many other countries, and is true despite the fact that legally, in the US at least, employers in general can (and, outside of academia, generally do) assert ownership of all intellectual property generated by employees in a work context.

In other words, academic institutions have quite intentionally and explicitly given up some of the legal ownership rights they are in principle entitled to. As far as I understand, the guiding philosophy here is that faculty exercise a lot more freedom and control over what kind of materials they produce compared to employees in other sectors. That means the work is regarded as being of a more personal, creative nature, and it was decided long ago that that should mean that faculty would be the owners of the work. (Note: I am talking specifically about copyright; for other forms of IP like patent rights, a quite different philosophy and different policies typically apply.)

Coming back to your question: I think you are quite right to be concerned. Your university is at the very least showing itself as somewhat deaf to these very old and well-established ideas. But can you “rightfully refuse”? Legally, that’s less clear. But it would be quite reasonable to express a concern. At my university the administration has provided reassurance to faculty that their copyright over teaching materials would be respected during the COVID-19 crisis, and we were given quite specific explanations on how our rights would be balanced against the need to deliver our teaching remotely, including providing recordings, what steps we can take to prevent students from sharing our materials, and more. Perhaps by raising the issue you and your colleagues can push your own administration to also think this through a bit more.

Let me finish by encouraging you to also adopt a more flexible and tolerant mindset. All of us are called upon these days to get out of our comfort zone and appear in online videos and recordings, use online platforms with awful records on privacy, and generally engage in activities that in normal times we might consider distasteful and privacy-violating. We do this with the understanding that exceptional times call for exceptional measures, and that the highest priority right now is to keep the lights on at our institutions. As I said, I think your concern is reasonable and probably you can reach some sensible understanding with your administration about your class materials. But while you discuss the issue with them, try to keep some perspective and not make yourself too much of a pain in the butt. As important and valid as this is, people do have worse things to worry about these days.


Undergraduate recitation/discussion session: when is it (not) counted as a credit hour?

Just add a couple more points that may be more applicable to you as a committee member.

Usually, most academic degrees granted by universities are accredited by some overseeing organizations. These organizations evaluate the school's syllabus, infrastructure, and other personal and academic factors, and determine if they would continue their acknowledgement of the degree's representativeness. You can scout around and see if your department has some of these accreditation processes, and learn more about the missions and criteria of those overseeing organization.

Second, check your school's and department's mission/value statements. When proposing a new course, these statements would come handy as a supporting point. Similarly, if your department has a good academic competency checklist, you can also refer to that list, and evaluate if, overall, your institute's degree is enabling these competencies, and if a discussion-type course can further strengthen so.

Third, understand the process of approving a course. This process varies school by school. However, most often there should be a committee (probably called curriculum and academic committee, etc.) that meets regularly to approve new courses or remove old courses. Ask if you can sit in one of those meetings and learn how the process happens. Meeting with the chairperson or secretary would also be helpful.

Fourth, if you happen to be a student representative, don't forget to use your connection to solicit students' ideas. Be very present and actively seek inputs (even it means standing out at a large lecture and ask them to fill in your online survey, etc.)

All these should give a good preparation.

Now, your question is difficult to answer because it does not just depend of school, but also is an evolutionary process of its own within each of the schools. A credit-counting discussion course might be a result of an informal journal club started a couple decades ago... likewise, a current informal discussion could be a remnant of a credit-counting course many years ago which was crowded out by expanded syllabus or was cancelled due to constant under-enrollment. You'd have to check with some more senior faculty members to understand the ins and outs. And here, knowing the school culture and history would help.


Lost my passion and interest in what I used to love

A senior professor I am acquainted with once uttered, "In choosing one's career, the point is not to find what you like most; the point is to find what you dislike least." I find it wise and would like to share it with you.

I would say you may first study a field you dislike least at the present stage and at the same time try to search what truly interests you.


How can I transition from industry to academia without having a college degree?

If recognition is your key desire, academia will only be marginally better for you than your current situation. Just because your name is on a paper, doesn't mean anyone is going to care about your work.

I feel like there's a couple of threads in your question outside of recognition though. I'll make some comments where I can.

To transition into academia and start working on your own ideas you'll need to probably start a degree program. Masters and PhD programs, more than anything, are training programs on "how to work on stuff".

It seems obvious right now that you have hundreds of ideas and the skills to pursue them -- but the academic context is a bit different. Research typically fits into a larger context than a single project, and you'll need to  be able to sell your ideas to people who are experts in the area; most research projects that aren't 'consumer' oriented produce papers, not projects, so you'll need to learn how to write papers. The requirement for evidence is (or at least ought to be) high, which means that you'll need to learn what kind of evidence you have for your hypothesis, how to gather it, how to present it. All of this, the politics, the nitty-gritty of putting together a paper, is what you ought to get from a degree program. You can try to do some of this on your own to be sure, but it's not an easy ride.
If you want to get a feeling for what working in academia is like, without getting the degree, I'd seriously look into the possibility of becoming a programmer for a university. This helps you get a feel for what the work, environment, people are like. It could be that if you find the right project, your influence will be sufficient that you can get the recognition you want, without having to get the degree.
Reading your question, I get the feeling of a grass-is-greener illusion. One thing that might be worth considering is: How much of the problem just your job? Could you find work at another company, in another niche, doing some other kind of programming that could be better for you? I feel like you could get 99% of your desired outcome not from academia, but from a job change. Maybe you need to go deeper into the stack; work with a company that builds the web technology you use. Maybe you need to go higher in the stack; start building client applications to the web technology you use. Maybe you need to get away from the web... perhaps start looking at transitioning into games, or hardware, or.... the list is endless.


My personal views and my research work kind of collide. What can I do?

The fact that some projects lead nowhere is natural to research. That is not "wastage", it's investment. If something works, it can be scaled up and benefit humankind. You can try and concentrate on projects where, if successful, it will save energy, optimize water, etc.
I suggest it is legitimate to waste material and energy to develop these to viable directions, because it will save orders of magnitude more than you waste now. So, I do not necessarily see a contradiction in finding good topics that correlate with your lifestyle/philosophy.
As for defense research, that's quite a different matter. If you really do not believe in defense work, there is no way you can justify to yourself to do it. To take the advocatus diaboli: some people may say that it is in the nature of things that there are less than friendly actors around in the world; neutral and even friendly relations can sour to a point where it is essential to have the country you generally agree to live in the military option at least in the hope that its use will not be necessary.
But if you are strictly opposed to this, either as fundamental principle of non-violence, or because you believe that with all lofty aspirations, the military-industrial complex and/or the political echelon has too many ulterior motives, then I do not see a possibility to reconcile your private beliefs with defense-related work.
The argument of people effectively supporting an activity they fundamentally disagree with by offering a "critical" perspective is not something you can easily get away with, unless you live in a dictatorship and have no reasonably good other choices. And there, being "critical" means being subversive.
To use a similar picture: If you like the taste of steaks and want to protect animals, there is a contradiction; unfortunately, that means that the best you can do at this point are vegan steak replacements. The ones I know are so yucky that it's better to identify genuinely vegan food that does not pretend it's something else.
Standing up to principles requires sacrifice - not always, but more often than not.


Who might lose a job in academia due to covid19?

Of all the examples you name, I think only those on annual contracts have much of any risk and I think that is small. The world isn't actually ending. Universities still have their mission(s): Teaching, Research, Service. That won't change unless the disruptions are much worse than are now foreseen or even likely.

Course delivery is being affected, but hasn't ended. Research goes on, though interrupted/slowed in some fields for safety. Funding for research is still in place and will probably continue. It will be a boon for some (biomedical) research.

Some marginal colleges will be in trouble. Think Walden University from the Doonesbury comic, but they were in trouble before this began. Tenure Track professors are unlikely to be affected because they represent the future of the university, not some disposable resource. Postdocs have contracts and funding in place for the most part, often by grants.

There is even a chance that the current disruption will increase the need for faculty in the short term.

But for long term effects we need to see how the hundreds to thousands of variables now in play work out over time. And it will take time since universities have quite a bit of built-in inertia. Whether "cheap online degrees" have any actual value is something yet to be determined. And they may not be as cheap as you think. Some online programs are extremely expensive to create. And the issue of the actual qualifications of those who take them is important and, perhaps, doubtful.

But even if a university were to try to deliver such a "cheap" degree there is the question of still needing to do research and that requires highly qualified personnel. There isn't a "cheap online research path" that has and likelihood of success.

Diploma mills have a poor history, being more associated with exploitation than with excellence.

Relax. Stay healthy. Do a good job. Climate change is a bigger risk than what we are going through in the current months.

Some people normally employed by colleges are at risk, of course. The people who clean the dormitories and prepare meals for resident students, for example. Lots of service jobs are at risk. Likewise, there are lots of small businesses in college towns that are at risk of failure, leaving their employees (including students) without resources.


I have found a mistake on someone's code published online: what is the protocol?

Now that I have found the problem what is the protocol for highlighting this, is emailing the author necessary?

It isn't necessary, but it is the right thing to do, if you don't, you're responsible for causing others set backs that will waste them a considerable amount of time.


Adding an Author After paper got accepted in a conference?

I think that in almost all cases this would be fine. But you should contact the conference (or program) committee chair immediately to get confirmation. Better to do it early than to be disappointed later.

This would especially be possible if the conference gives you a chance to revise the paper after review and comments by reviewers. Many do this.


I wanted to apply PhD in Clinical Psychology, but my research activities and research interests are a bit different

I don't know anything about your own educational system and I can't speak for "the West" in general, but in the US you shouldn't have any particular difficulty, other things being equal. In fact, having some research experience in the general psychology area would likely be treated as a plus no matter what the focus.

In the US, it is possible, in general to be accepted into doctoral programs with only an undergraduate education and very little if any research experience. You also don't, in general, need to specify a specialty on entry, but choose one during the first years. Such programs normally have some course work to fill in gaps.

The path, for the US, actually, is to apply to programs that interest  you, or, at least, contact departments at such institutions and discuss your qualifications and interests.

The European system is different, and I'll let other speak about it. But I will guess that the research process isn't vastly different between the experience you have and the degree you seek. That is an important asset. That process can be widely applied and tailored to specific areas.


How do I cite a product that cannot be sourced commercially

In your list of materials, you can just add a parenthetical after identifying the product and the manufacturer.  Something like "(not yet commercially available, but obtained by special arrangement)" should be fine.


Do all authors contribute to a reviewer response or only the main authors?

The authors can arrange this however they want. If they all want to work on it actively, that's fine. If they'd rather agree to have one person write the response and then send it to the other authors for approval, that's fine too. All that matters is that everyone approves. Unlike the paper itself, it's not necessary that all authors make a significant contribution.

It's impossible to give any general advice on length: in some cases a short response is sufficient, in other cases you might have to write more to express what you need to say. But conciseness is generally desirable; nobody likes to read unnecessary text that doesn't add anything.


How to find a practical part for a master thesis in IT (Blockchain)

You go around organisations and ask them about what they would be interested. Having a network is a huge benefit here.
You look into the introductions of the academic papers. See what real-life problems are recent articles talking about.

Basically those two. It does not need to be that good of an application, because it is even customary that the applications are stupid (simple) in academia. Real-life has all those legal issues like information security, confidentiality and such that you may not wish to be bothered with.

EDIT: Also real-life corporations are extremely unwilling to reveal their data, but also the intent of entering a market. An academic version is not even nearly ready business. I have seen applied math papers about how well the food and wine work together done for chemical corporation. You can guess that the end-project the theory was made for had only a little to do with wine and food.


Publish a paper with flaws, improve it, or let it go?

My thoughts on

How do you decide whether work is worth salvaging?

I think a better question is how to salvage, not how to decide whether to salvage.
You even suggest some possibilities

If the referees' reports suggest changes that you think make sense
then the review process is working. Make the changes and resubmit,
there or elsewhere.
Clean up some obvious bad places and post as a preprint.
Incorporate the good parts in another project.
Some dead ends should be acknowledged as such - and published. See What to do when you spend several months working on an idea that fails in a masters thesis?
Maybe the referees were right to reject. I have two manuscripts from
years ago that I never reworked or resubmitted.


Will my student insurance in US, as an international student cover my pre-existing ileostomy caused due to Crohn's disease?

You will find that insurance in the US isn't nearly as comprehensive as that of many other countries. Neither is there any universal health system in the US. So, this is a question that you need to explore separately with each university you might attend.

My best guess, however, is that you will be disappointed most places. In the absence of clear statements from individual universities, assume the worst.

Europe, including some non EU countries have good coverage, but even there you need to know whether it is available to non-citizen residents and students. It will vary, but the chances there seem better.

But, to be clear, the health care system is quite good: doctors and such. It is the health insurance system that is brutal, and the two are quite distinct.


how should I describe my status in job applications? I have just passed my PhD oral defence

I would just write:  "Ph.D. completed, to be awarded [month, year]."


How do I add in an already existing GPA into my cumulative GPA?

A cumulative GPA is the final GPA from a single university, college, or school, not from all of them.

While it may be tempting to "raise" the GPA from a particular university by incorporating better results from another school, you will also be lowering the GPA from the school where you did better.

Admissions officers or committees are interested in how you did at each separate school, particularly if you can show increasing cumulative GPAs over time.

  Generally, students' computation or renormalization of their own GPAs
  is viewed as at-best-irrelevant by most interested parties, or, worse,
  as deception or manipulation. Let your transcripts speak for
  themselves. - paul garrett


Professors meeting undergrads in social events

It would certainly be unreasonable to expect professors to leave a church because the church also has undergraduates in it.

What you're describing isn't really what's usually called a conflict of interest: the professor doesn't actually stand to gain in any concrete way by giving the student better grades.  What you're concerned about is bias, which is a real, but generally lesser, problem.  It's basically unavoidable to have some potential bias involving students - professors will inevitably end up with students who they know from outside school, or who are identifiably the children of a colleague or administrator or donor, or who we just find ourselves naturally liking (or disliking).

It is the responsibility of a professor to avoid letting this bias turn into favoritism, or even the appearance of favoritism, but the usual approach to this is to have clear standards and try to grade blindly (without knowing whose work we're grading), not to try to eliminate all possible sources of bias.


Why does Switzerland prevent foreign students from studying medicine?

In Switzerland, access to medicine, dentistry and veterinary is limited due to high demand (also for Swiss students). The test for admission is called Numerus clauses and it was introduced because the capacity of the universities are too low and demand too high. Basically they are allowed to test students if demand is more than 20% above capacity.

Regarding the information about foreign students, this does not seem to be the case. On the University of Zurich website (in German http://www.med.uzh.ch/Medizinstudium/humanmedizinstudium.html ) they state that everybody, Swiss and foreigners, have to take the test but in principle foreign students can study medicine at a Swiss university (at least according to UZH):

  Zum Medizinstudium sind Schweizerinnen und Schweizer sowie Ausländerinnen und Ausländer, die bestimmte Zulassungskriterien erfüllen müssen, zugelassen


What are some specific benefits of having my name as a coauthor on a research paper as an undergrad?

Could this help me get into a better grad school (rather-- master's
  program) than I would otherwise be able to (pretty average GPA, to be
  honest)? Help secure some funding? etc

Yes, it can help you with all those things and more (including non-academia-related things like applying for a job in industry). Generally speaking, being a coauthor of a published paper in mathematics says good things about you and your math/STEM/academic/research abilities in any context in which someone would care about those abilities.

However, it's important to take things in perspective and understand that "just" the fact of your being a coauthor on a single paper will not make a huge difference in and of itself. E.g., a grad school or fellowship candidate with no publications can easily "beat" a candidate who has a publication if the former has other good things going for them (a better GPA, better recommendations etc) that the latter doesn't. What I would say matters a lot more is not just being a coauthor, but what you actually did to deserve being a coauthor. If you do an unusually good job on the project, this can translate to excellent recommendations, which will carry a far greater weight in a grad school application than the mere coauthorship line on your CV. If you were just a code monkey who did low quality work, the coauthorship would still be of some value but would overall not be worth very much.

Finally, I should mention that you seem to think that work that's "pretty purely computational" is less important or creative than other sorts of math research, but that is not universally true (although it may be true in specific instances). Even in a computational project there may still be a lot of room for creativity, and a chance to excel in all kinds of unexpected ways. Who knows, you may end up having an idea for a cool optimization that would extend the computational range of the algorithm enough to enable you to discover an amazing new phenomenon your collaborators did not even suspect existed (such things have happened many times). Besides, understanding complicated mathematical constructions well enough to translate them into code can be a highly nontrivial challenge. You would also get to experience the thrill of doing mathematical research and taking a part in the discovery of new knowledge, learn about working collaboratively with others, and probably derive many other benefits from the experience. So, to summarize, I would not scoff at the opportunity to take part in such a project. Doing it just for the paper coauthorship would probably be a bad idea, but doing it for the experience and knowledge you will gain, plus the chance of a coauthorship, seem like excellent reasons to me.


Getting into PhD programme when having not the best grades due to personal issues

In Germany even some renowned research institutes mention in the job offers that people with at least grade B should be encouraged to apply for a position. So I don't see here a major problem for you. No one looks on your pre-diploma grades, this is now different with the bachelor AND master degree. But you have to make a presentation of your diploma work for the job interview. I don't know what speaks against adding results that you worked out after that thesis to make the work more impressive, as you didn't have as much time as other students with a scholarship or rich parents and were forced to work besides your diploma work, especially as the diploma needs 12 months in germany. If they want you to send them your diplom pdf, than of course you have to look for another group.

The major problem I see is that you wrote your thesis now 3 years ago, and 2-2.5 years is also a deadline I saw several times in such german PhD job offers, as after some time you simply loose knowledge.

Nonetheless you should try it, write a few dozen applications and look how much invitations for a job interview you get and in what fields, but be clear what your motivation is. Your question does sound to me like you a bored and desperated in your current job, that is not the best reason for a Prof. to hire you, you should show interest in a specific topic, related to your diploma work would make your motivation to do a PhD more credible to me.


Why is my Google Scholar profile not in English language when I search my name in Google?

There is no language associated with a profile. Anyone who searches for your profile from Google Scholar when logged in will see it in the language they have specified in their own settings. This only changes the language of the UI, and does not affect the content (publications, etc.) in your profile.
In addition to this, Google's search results are personalized. For some reason, Google's search algorithm seems to have decided that the Indonesian version of your profile is the most relevant to your account and location. This need not be the same version that appears in the search results when someone else, using a different account at a different location, searches for it, and there is no way for you to influence this.
So, there is no problem here that needs to be fixed, and changing how the search results appear to you, even if possible, would not have any effect on how it appears to others.


What makes a good reference letter for a junior faculty position

Disclaimer: I have not served on a faculty hiring committee, so this answer is not based on first-hand experience. What is expected of a recommendation letter also greatly depends on the field, country, and whether the department is teaching-focused or research-focused and how "elite" it is.

Academic recommendation letters are quite different from non-academic reference letters.
A good academic recommendation letter should be detailed. Simply saying "spore234 was my student and they were the most smartest, and hardest working student ever" is not going to cut it. In particular, it should discuss your research, its significance, and what you contributed to each project. This is particularly important if your research is collaborative -- recommendation letters can elucidate what you contributed relative to your coauthors. It should also discuss teaching and service if applicable.

That is probably why your supervisor is asking you for a draft -- you are more familiar with your work than she/he is and can thus provide more detail. Hopefully your supervisor will heavily edit your draft (please encourage her/him to do so), but you can help provide details to include in it. Don't underestimate how little your supervisor may remember about what exactly you contributed to this or that project, or even what the project was. By drafting the letter, you are providing a reminder.

Furthermore, recommendation letters sometimes include a comparison to other students. E.g., "I have advised 10 PhD students during my career and spore234's research contributions would place her in the top two. Spore234 is comparable to my former student X, who has gone on to a successful career as a now-tenured faculty at the University of Y." This is still a subjective assessment, but it's a more precise way to express an opinion than simply spouting superlatives. (I would be hesitant to draft such a paragraph about myself, but perhaps you can let your supervisor fill in the blanks.)

Of course, a recommendation letter should also include the usual pleasantries, some detail about the recommender and how they know the subject, and some forward-looking discussion of future potential.


While my elsevier in press article shows up on the journal website, it has not appeared in Google Scholar after a week

Google Scholar updates on its own unpredictable schedule, based on whatever sort of web-crawling and internal processing schedules Google happens to be running with it.  Sometimes I find that it updates almost immediately, other times not for more than a month.

In short: don't worry about it.  If it's on the website of a reputable publisher, then it will show up sooner or later, and usually within just a couple weeks of publishing.


When do recommenders get asked for references? How do they get asked?

You should contact your potential references now.  You need their permission to list them as references before you submit any applications.

  Does the application system request their reference letter as soon as I apply?

Every department is different.  Some do, some don't.

  Does every application requires a reference letter, or do my references only get asked by the system if the application seems promising?

Every department is different.  Some ask for letters for every candidate; some only request letters for candidates that satisfy minimal qualifications (like having a PhD); some only request letters for candidates that pass a more rigorous initial screening; some may even wait until after interviews.  My department automatically asks for letters for all minimally-qualified untenured candidates, but we only request letters for tenured applicants when we decide we want to interview them.

  Or should I email each of my references directly after I apply to request their recommendation letter, and if so, where do I tell them to send it?

Every department is different.  Some will tell you to ask your references to send letters when you apply.  Most departments will ask for contact information and request letters directly from your references.

In any case, each department will provide their own instructions.  Follow them.

I've recommended the following protocol to my students for several years.  When you decide to apply, you create a shared spreadsheet (on Google Docs, for example) with one row for each application target, and columns listing the university, department, a link to the ad, instructions for submitting letters (as supplied by the department), submission deadlines, and each of your references.  Ask each of your references to indicate in their column of the  spreadsheet (1) when anyone asks them for a letter, and (2) when they have actually submitted a letter.  That way, you can keep track of the status of your applications and letters, your references have a unified record of where and when they need to send letters, and your references can be properly (but not too publicly) embarrassed if miss a deadline.


Is it possible for a scientific article to lose citations?

Google Scholar's citation counts are based on the number of citations found by Google's web-crawler. They tend to fluctuate up and down a little. This is usually either because documents such as internal reports or theses disappear from their authors' websites, or because Google's algorithms identify certain documents as duplicates of one another and 'merges' them.


When you are doing a second round review, do you read other reviewers' comments? Why?

I do read the other reports, and other reviewers should too.  A few reasons:

If the editor has an author's response letter and two reviews, and the three documents say different things, then the editor will be very confused.  If I see the other reviewer and the author disagree, then I try to be a tie-breaker to help the editor.
Authors are not in a place where they can convincingly say the other reviewer is wrong.  If I see that the other reviewer has made a mistake, I can point it out much more effectively than the authors because I am a neutral party.  Ideally, editors would be able to do this, but they have limited time.
By reading other reviewers' comments, I can learn to be a better reviewer.


Should I translate experimental materials for my thesis?

Providing both the original and the translation would satisfy everyone.


PhD dissertation different from master thesis; What might I be able to do about methodology?

If you are accepted into a PhD program, you should consider your dissertation topic to be independent of, and separate from your masters thesis topic. A PhD dissertation is fundamentally different from a Masters thesis.  A PhD dissertation is expected to make a new contribution to research (however small), whereas a Masters thesis is a summary and application of existing research.  PhD dissertations are a deeper dive into a topic or research questions, and an attempt to shed new light on the topic or questions.

You may have a Masters thesis that leads naturally into a deeper investigation as a PhD dissertation.  Or not. You should focus your attention on the topics and questions that motivate your interest in a PhD.  What are the core, unanswered questions?  Which of these questions can you, with your skills and interests, address with some chance of success?

Leave behind the details of your Masters thesis.  Focus on what you have learned in the process, and what new skills or capabilities you have.  Now, with these insights, you should engage with surveys of research in your field -- those describing the unsolved problems or most critical questions.  How does your experience, education, and interests lead you to engage with these unsolved problems or critical questions?


How can a US student (who does not hold UK citizenship) get a funded PhD in Engineering at Oxford/Cambridge?

I can only explain how funding happens at UCL since this is where I'm located. Oxford and Cambridge will have their own specific sources of funding. All UK universities have this in common, though: PhD positions in Engineering are primarily funded via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The EPSRC imposes very tight rules to ensure it spends its money only on locals:

you must be able to stay indefinitely in the UK
you must have continuously resided in the UK in the past 3 years
you must have done so for purposes other than full-time education (though I'm unsure if that rule is actively enforced)

In rare cases, universities are allowed to spend some of their EPSRC money on foreigners. The Doctoral Training Centers I know about in UCL have one or two scholarships available to all.

Now getting into the specifics of UCL where I study. There are other types of funding available:

UCL Graduate Resource Scheme: tuition fees + £15.5k for 3-4 years, but extremely competitive
Discretionary departmental funding: depends on department, also covers tuition + stipend for 3-4 years
Special scholarships: some scholarships are available on specific topics by scientific societies or for specific populations (e.g. women in computer science). You'll usually find a run-down of such opportunities on each department's application website as well as dedicated scholarship search sites.
Lecturer/Professor money: case-by-case, but at least covers a £15.5k stipend as this is the minimum required for surviving in London. The money can come from industrial partners, FP7 programmes, EPSRC projet grants... This is probably the most common source of funding for non-UK students.
Part-time research: that's not very common but totally possible, you can do your PhD part-time and have a job to support you. You'll still be expected to spend half of your time on your PhD so the job ought to be part-time too, and you should not attempt this under £16k a year post-tax (income tax and council tax). Being a TA does not pay well enough (£4-5k a year at most, if you teach a lot).

You should expect most sources of funding not to cover your tuition fees, which amount to roughly £4000 a year. In any case, in UK universities the application process is completely decoupled from the funding process, so you should apply and get accepted on academic merit before your proposed supervisor starts looking into funding, and the availability (or absence thereof) of funding does not affect the admission decision at all.


Should I cite a concept I have already cited earlier?

This is hard to answer precisely without seeing your entire document.  In general, I'd say if it is very obvious what you are talking about, then you do not need to cite again.  The problem is that what is "obvious" to one person is not obvious to another.  Especially it can be hard for you to know if it is obvious or not because you are too close to it.  One suggest is to have a friend or other graduate student read the whole paper, and then ask them for an opinion.  Or, just err on the side of slightly more citations.


Is it good practice to let students consult their text materials during exams?

I take a compromise approach to the problem of bringing materials to an exam. I allow students to bring one or two sheets' worth of notes that they have prepared themselves. No magnifying glasses or other "reading aids" other than standard prescription glasses are allowed, so they can't simply photoreduce a whole bunch of pages and then use it—it's something they have to hand write or copy themselves.

Such an approach forces students to prepare the material, but still gives them some flexibility not to have to commit everything to memory (Is that sign positive or negative? Is that denominator regular volume or molar volume?).


A generic academic reference from a random professor vs. strong reference from my Technical Authority at work?

No, actually, in this case I think that the strong reference from work would strengthen your application.  (It would be different if you didn't have two strong academic references.)

I took the approach you propose.


Should a student be penalized for using a theorem outside of the curriculum?

This depends on what is announced in the syllabus and on the kind of test.

If the syllabus explicitly says that tests should be solved using the course material only, then, yes, any answer using anything else than course material is not totally correct and should get deductions. If the syllabus does not say so, the answer is not so clear anymore.

If the test is kind of a final exam on the whole course where the students are tested on the whole subject, than I (and this is a personal opinion) would not deduct anything if the proof is technically correct, whatever tools have been used (unless the problem says "solve this with this method"). However, in an intermediate test it may well be that the instructor wants the students to show that a certain technique can be applied or a certain concept can be used. Going beyond the course material spoils this idea and (again, personal opinion) one may deduct points, although it would be much better if these policy has been stated beforehand.

The above should answer the question "Why could points be deducted?" but not the "Should points be deducted?". I think the answer to the latter question is really opinion based (and may be a question for matheducators.stackexchange.com).

As a side remark on "How would someone be able to use a theorem correctly if he doesn't know its proof?" I (and I guess most other working mathematicians) do that all the time. I would not get anywhere without using theorems of which I haven't even dare to read to proof. Some examples from outside my field: People use Fermat's last theorem, the "Kepler conjecture" (also a theorem now), the four-color theorem, the "10,000 pages theorem" on the classification of finite simple groups, the Poincare conjecture (proven as special case of the geometrization theorem)…


Should I use my university's letterhead for abstract for a potential talk?

I wouldn't bother: if the school at which you're talking wants to advertise it, they will want to put it on their own letterhead to avoid confusion. They will probably reformat it to fit whatever their in-house style is, so it's best to just write it in a standard plain-text format (judging by your usename, LaTeX).


I would not recommend listing non-merit scholarships on an application unless the admissions office requires it for some reason.  They are simply orthogonal to your intellectual achievements, and thus do not generally belong on a C.V.

Note, however, that some non-merit scholarships do come with accompanying jobs, e.g., via work-study programs.  It may be appropriate to list such employment on your C.V. if it has anything to do with the goal you are aiming at.


What to do when you spot a paper on arXiv with the same essential material as yours?

It seems to me that the best answer is some combination of 1. and 2.  Because you submitted the paper for review before the other work -- call it paper X -- appeared on the arxiv, the community will readily believe that your work does not rely on paper X.  (At first I wrote "completely clear that your work does not rely", but that's too strong: it's possible that you had some prior contact with the authors of paper X and learned about their work before it was published.  But from your description that didn't actually happen, so no problem there.)

So you are in a fortunate situation: because you submitted the work to the conference before the arxiv posting, you have established your independent priority.  The fact that the report hasn't come back yet has nothing to do with that.  With respect to the submission, it would be reasonable to just wait for the report -- I am assuming that since it is a conference, it will come back within a month or so?  If your paper is accepted, then you should include in the published version and also in your conference talk the information that similar (or the same...) work was independently done in paper X.

However it would be a good idea to write immediately to the authors of paper X and let them know about your work.  If you are in a field where the conference paper will be supplemented by a later journal paper, then depending upon the degree of similarity you may want to consider a joint publication.  If not, then your journal papers should cocite each other: this establishes that "you both have priority", which is certainly possible, and then both works should be publishable.  (But in my opinion a joint paper is the better option if the work is very similar: does the community need two versions of the same work?  Can everyone be counted on to know about and value the two works equally?  Better to join forces: that seals it.)  Depending upon the response you receive and the timing it might be a good idea to post your submission to the arxiv as well, with a note explaining the chronology.

I disagree with both 3. and 4.  First, it does not matter who did the work chronologically first but rather that each work was done independently and before the other was published.  There does not need to be a "winner" and a "loser" here: you can both "win".  It is good that research communities operate in this way, much better than your option 4.: no one has control over which referee report comes back first or which paper goes to press first or anything like that, so if this were the standard it would be at the very least quite unfair and in fact open to all kinds of ethical issues and abuses.

Note: One of the comments asks whether the work was stolen.  It seems that the only plausible way for this to happen is for there to be some collusion between the authors of paper X and either the conference organizers or the chosen referees of your paper.  This type of behavior is in my experience extremely rare, so I don't want to address it in my answer.


Can it be disadvantageous to actively publish in completely different fields?

I've served as a referee on grant proposals to large public-sector research funding bodies on a couple of occasions.  If a PI had demonstrated the ability to achieve peer-reviewed publications in another discipline as well as in the discipline most directly related to the proposed research, I would be inclined to view that favourably.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that every referee feels the same.


my first authorship paper from my PhD was changed at last minute to a co-authorship... is it gonna affect in any way my career?

The title and body-text of your question do not match. The former describes the change of authorship as "last minute" whilst the latter says that the paper was developed from your drafts "almost a year later".

Also, could you clarify what you mean by "second first co-author"? Is that a euphemism for "second author"?

Anyhow, there is a big difference between:

a complete paper having the authorship order changed unilaterally by the corresponding author at the time of submission (which is what "last minute" would imply); and
a draft paper being developed and completed by a new co-author, who is then given precedence over the person who wrote the original draft (which is what the body of your question implies).

If §1 applies, then the person who acted unilaterally acted improperly (even if the authorship order does warrant change, the change should be done transparently).

If §2 applies, then, based on the information available, the situation amounts to a dispute rather than to misconduct. In some circumstances, it may be perfectly reasonable for a person who turned a draft into a complete paper worthy of publication to take precedence over the person who wrote the draft originally. Without knowing the details of the case, it is difficult to say who is in the right.

Your options:

A) complain to the editor/publisher (be prepared to provide detailed evidence to substantiate your argument, such as the drafts with their original timestamps) -- possible outcomes include nothing happening (if the editor/publisher disagrees with your claims), change of authorship order, addition or removal of co-authors, or retraction of the paper;
B) (may require you to have attempted §C already) complain to the university's research conduct office or equivalent (as with §A, be prepared to provide detailed evidence) -- possible outcomes as per §A, plus possibility of disciplinary action if the university considers serious misconduct to have taken place;
C) complain to the corresponding author (you may want suggest that it was oversight rather than out of malice... it is possible that, with the distance of time, your contribution was forgotten unintentionally) -- possible outcomes as per §A, although if any changes are made to the author list, the corresponding author will then have to convince the editor/publisher that the changes should be made (editors do not permit changes without justification, in order to prevent "gift authorship");
D) engage legal counsel and complain through the courts: IANAL, but a likely argument would be that your moral rights (specifically, the "right of paternity": that is, to be recognised as the creator of a work) were not recognised properly (if, moreover, you have not assigned copyright to the university, you may be able to sue for copyright infringement).


What is my responsibility to my lab after I graduate?

Here's a way of approaching the ethical aspect of this: how important would it be for you, if you were in the middle of your degree, that a recent grad's files were left in a big mess?  Would that affect the finances of the group, because of the files eating up a lot of storage space?  Would your work be more difficult or time consuming, with needed files being hard to find?  Would you have to take some time away from studies and research in order to try to put the recent grad's files in order, for the good of the group?  Would it be difficult for another member of the group to figure out what was what, in the recent grad's absence?

I wonder if you could ask for payment for at least part of the extra time you'd be putting in.


Industrial Engineering is to be better with computer engineering and mathematics department or mechanical engineerring?

Caveat:IANAIE and this answer might ignore aspects of IE in Europe.

This is an interesting question, but industrial engineering gets bunched up with mechanical engineering more often than not, and IMO that is more appropriate.

The reasons are as follows:

(1) The one part of IE that seems like a better fit to Math is Operations Research / Optimization, but in reality that fit is not a very good one.
OR researchers mostly publish in applied math journals (SIAM ***) which is not (ok, this is controversial) what gets actual mathematicians excited.
I'd say it bears the same relation to mainstream math as statistics: Closely related but a discipline which, having been motivated by applications, has taken a very different path. Also, OR folk typically do not call themselves mathematicians.

(2) Ok, even if you somehow shoehorn the OR guys into Math or CS, the rest of IE just does not fit into CS or math or even any other science department.

Manufacturing, for instance, is a heavily applied field and often considered an area of mechanical engineering. Many Mechanical Engineering departments have their own manufacturing groups. ME and IE are linked like conjoined twins, with people moving from one to the other at all stages (as faculty, as postdocs, as grad students). How would justify moving manufacturing to Math?

(3) Other areas of IE, like production engineering and human factors / ergonomics are even more distant from Math and CS, if that is possible.

(4) Moreover, you'll notice that students need a sound mechanical engineering background to succeed in most areas of IE: A pure math or CS background is not likely to be as helpful. (They're better off knowing machine design, solid mechanics and heat transfer than measure theory or complexity theory, at least in the beginning LOL).
In many IE programs, students are taught courses in Optimization Techniques, Linear and Dynamic Programming and so on. In grad school they might even prefer the more rigorous versions of these courses.

So in conclusion I'd say IE belongs in engineering, as a separate department if possible, but with Mechanical engineering if not.


My hardware can't run the code I need for my research

It should really be the responsibility of your professor to secure the required equipment to successfully complete your project; it's not quite right on his part to demand that you pay for any part out of your own pocket. Typically, a laptop is cheap relative to the professor's grant whereas it is unrealistic to expect a student to pay 1k to 2k. After all, the work you do is probably for a project that your advisor has funding for, and it's as much to his benefit as yours to successfully complete it. If he requests you to pay, it seems like he's talking advantage of his students.


Do US universities validate your degree before making an offer?

Some universities do, some don't. For those that do, it is not because of suspicion on the part of the search committee that you don't really hold a degree. The academic world is small enough that we rely on mutual trust for many things: presumably the committee members know some of the people who wrote your letters of recommendation. However, especially for public institutions, there are often various rules and regulations that must be followed, paperwork to be filled, and other details to process. The fact that you have a degree from a foreign university is probably slowing things down, as the admin staff may not be used to dealing with it. On se débrouille.
If you really like, you can email the search chair, asking if there have been any updates, as you are anxious to get a firm offer in hand. Also, remember, a verbal offer is worth the paper it is written on. Until you have signed a contract, you are still on the job market and you should be acting as such (e.g. applying for jobs, attending interviews, etc). However, as you've said, there's a lot of uncertainty. So... Relax. Take a walk. Write that paper you've been procrastinating on. Enjoy the long French evenings.


Will once turning down Master's admission impact a PhD application in the same department

I think it would be highly unlikely that they would disadvantage you, unless you are applying to a truly small and petty department. The small part is really key here: for most departments of any size, you would likely be one among potentially dozens to hundreds of applicants. That they would even remember your name on a later admissions from an MS application would be unlikely, unless they already felt you were someone special (which wouldn't hurt you).


Careers in computer science without maths

I depends on what you mean by a career. For a low level position with not a lot of chance for advancement it would be possible. But almost all CS fields require some fairly deep understanding of at least some parts of mathematics. As user vonbrand notes it is mostly not calculus, though even that can help.

But one of the big ideas in CS is being able to separate the "simple" algorithms from those that will actually work in practice. You can go a ways with only standard and well known practice, but you won't be in a very good position to make advancements, even in a "career" in programming.

But some parts of CS require more maths than others. User Interface design, for example, and Human Factors, are more concerned with psychology and physiology than maths. But Algorithms, Machine Learning, Operating Systems, and lots of others, depend on being able to think in some of the same ways that a mathematician does. Logical, rather than empirical, evidence, can be fundamental.

The other problem, as you probably already know is that most education programs in CS have quite a lot of required maths. If you don't do well in those courses, your overall record may not be strong enough to advance.

So, perhaps you just need to find a way to deal with learning the maths you need. Tutors can help, especially if they are wise enough to evaluate where your blocks are. Some students need to repeat a lot of things they "should have learned" at an earlier stage, but didn't. A good tutor can help you get past such things, but it might require special insight into learning and into what is most important. But it also takes work (lots of it) on your part.

And, more important than specific mathematical "facts" is a mathematical way of approaching a problem.


Is there an Advantage to have a Teaching Statement with References

You should cite your sources.
It is good you have read the education literature.
This will not make a big difference.


What tools do you use to manage writing co-authored papers?

The best option is Github I believe. But it pretty much depends on what do you use for writing papers? Do you use LaTeX or other typing softwares like Microsoft Word or LibreOffice which is the free and open source cousin of Microsoft Word. If you use LaTeX, which I recommend it personally and probably many other people here too, you could create a repository in Github and put your tex files as well as bibliography files and then simply you could share that repository among your collaborators. The reason why I like LaTeX instead of using Microsoft Word is that tex files by themselves are human readable files in comparison to binary .doc files. As a result, you could track and maintain your version control for your paper like a code. Otherwise it's not easy and trivial to track binary files (e.g. .doc files) by Github or other version control softwares (e.g. Data Version Control (DVC)) Also, it is possible to link that repository to OverLeaf and that makes sharing/writing much easier. But for more accurate solution in order to fulfill your needs you need to mention what is your main writing software for preparing papers.


What should I do to get into a PhD in Mathematics in Europe without a thesis in my BSc and MSc?

First - do you think I'd have any chance without doing some sort of independent research before applying to a PhD?

Possibly. However, it would likely involve you finding some "angle" on the basis of which you can strike up a relationship with a prospective supervisor, who could promote/sponsor your Ph.D. candidacy.

But there's a deeper issue here:

Why do you want to enter a Ph.D. program?

Hopefully, you have some subject you are interested in studying. If that is not the case, and your motivation is to simply get the title and the piece of paper - then you should seriously reconsider. Working on a PhD without focused motivation is not just exceedingly difficult, but also exasperating. You may well find yourself in the middle of it, two or three years from now, grabbing your head by your hands and asking "What was I thinking? Why in blazes am I even doing this?" - and not having a good answer.

So, do consider some independent research, or even going into industry doing something you are interested in, but with a mind to sketch out relevant mathematical challenges to study more deeply in academia. These are my suggestions for filling the gap.

  my top choices are Germany, Switzerland, UK, and France

Once you find something relevant to research, locate relevant research groups in that field (in those countries or elsewhere), and talk to them.


Is it fair to offer students a last-minute extension to finish a test?

As I've mentioned elsewhere on this site, students often seem to think in terms of "fairness", but upon sufficiently intense scrutiny the concept is so fuzzily defined that it may well be that the only "fair" grading scheme is to give all students the same grade...an outcome which would certainly be unacceptable to many students.  Moreover:

Ultimately, it will come down to the students who have better time management skills rather than those who really know better answers.

Any way of administrating a course favors students with certain incidental skills over others.  Giving a prearranged, timed exam favors students with sufficiently good time management skills over students with very poor ones.  And not only that, the students who live "on-campus" are advantaged over commuter students.  Students who have a watch can look at it, whereas others need to twist around in their seats to look at the clock in the back of the room [if there is one], and so forth.
Every seasoned instructor I know would agree that most exams test subject-unspecific study skills as well as "real knowledge".  Not to be too much of a downer, but the idea that a student has a well-defined "real knowledge" is a convenient reification, something that modern academic culture must believe in approximately in order to function but which it is dangerous to take too seriously.
The real issue is to design the exam experience so as to test a reasonable set of skills, weighted in a reasonable way.  There is no universal way to do this: it is better to be as explicit as possible about what skill set you want your exams to test and look to see if they do what you wanted.
Anyway, a better question is: is this a good practice?  I think the answer is no, at least in many situations.  Here are two obvious issues:

An announcement which occurs five minutes before the end of an exam may come too late for students who have already left the exam.

Unless the cohort of students taking the exam has the identical academic schedule [this is prohibitively unlikely in many graduate programs at American universities], it is very unlikely that every student will actually be able to stay for the extra hour.

I would describe the above two issues as concerning "fairness".  Any student who did not get the extra hour for either reason would have a very legitimate complaint.

I am personally against this kind of offerings because it feels like they do more harm than good and reflects poorly on the professor's planning.

I agree that it reflects poorly on the professor's planning.  Whether it will do more harm than good to the students' performance depends on the exam and the students.  I agree that many or most students would find the experience of learning that they have 50% more time at the very end of an exam stressful, and many would be resentful that they would have used their time differently had they known this information at the beginning of the exam.
In summary: unfair?  Yes, if certain things happen, otherwise maybe not.  A good practice?  No, I don't think so.  It sounds like a rather inexperienced / sloppy instructor to me, honestly.


Convince professor to allow submitting paper?

There's a few separate things to consider here. I'll try to cover each succinctly.

Your advisor probably (hopefully?) knows the field well. They should have a good idea of what would and wouldn't be accepted. I'm sure they will have been in a similar situation in the past, and have experience of it. Therefore their view on the matter is perhaps important from the angle of experience and subject knowledge.

It may be that your advisor simply doesn't feel comfortable publishing the work as it stands. As a professor, there is a lot of pressure to publish high quality works. As academia is highly competitive (at least in some disciplines), perhaps your advisor is worried about publishing ongoing work at an early stage for fear of giving a competitor an advantage? This isn't a negative remark as to them, rather them looking out for both your interests (as you wouldn't want someone to snatch this away from under you).
Having a discussion about the situation (as I believe you began) is important in these situations.

Perhaps this is discipline specific, but you could maybe approach the subject by suggesting a recent results track (or ongoing work) in a conference? Often these are good places to sound out ideas and seek feedback or potential input or collaboration. You would definitely want the active support of your advisor for this though, since they would likely be the one paying the conference fee and travel expenses.

It may be that your advisor simply doesn't feel the work/results so far are good enough, or that the experimental procedure (if applicable) was suitable, given the early stages of the work. I know of situations in the past where (for right or wrong, that's a whole separate debate), advisors have told students to remove their name from a submission if they were going to insist in submitting it. While that's hopefully not the case here, it often is an indication of the advisor's feelings on the matter, in them saying they don't wish to be associated with the work.

I would suggest you perhaps approach the subject with your advisor along the lines of point 2 - perhaps suggest a recent results or ongoing result track at a smaller conference? You would hopefully then be able to discuss the advantages or disadvantages of submitting for publication. I can't comment on the offer to do the writing yourself, as that was how I worked anyway, but I'm well aware this is probably disciple specific.
At the end of the day, your advisor will probably make a recommendation as to how to proceed. Remember they likely have a fairly good idea what will and won't be accepted for a conference or journal, and perhaps simply want to save you the time in preparing a manuscript for what they feel is inevitable rejection. So talk to your advisor, and perhaps propose a destination with a suitable recent results or ongoing work track?


Is it common to cite information from a think tank into one's literature review?

Your literature review should include relevant research around your topic. If the paper is just a policy statement, you can ignore it. But if it is based on research by the think-tank you could include it. However, it would be good to indicate a caveat in some way, perhaps just by having a separate section, perhaps with a clear statement.

Some think-tank research isn't really research at all, of course, but just the gathering of one-sided support for an already decided on position. The caveat given for papers of that sort should be strong IMO. But, since that isn't research in any sense, but just propaganda, you can ignore it with a clear conscience.

But for a direct answer, I doubt that this is very common except in some fields in which think-tanks generally do valid research. Though a thesis based on the analysis of propaganda would probably be an exception to this rule.


What you are describing is possible, however unlikely.

To receive grant funding, you need to work (otherwise youd be stealing). The vast majority of grant funds are tethered to a location and 24/7 remote work is not a reasonable request. This difficulty is compounded by the narrow time window that im perceiving in your question, finding that appointment is a challenge.

The more likely solution here is to make the travel part of your graduate program itself. Apply to a program 'locally', and target a different laboratory of your choice. Then, fully disclose your plans to graduate at the local program, and collaborate with the distant lab. Collaboration could be in the form of materials/facilities usage, etc. For example, summering at a lab for whatever reason. You could even make the case to your new primary adviser that you simply want to learn spanish during your career because it will make you a better scientist (thats a big sell).

This will be a little tricky and will definitely require far more investigating than just applying to a graduate program. But, tethering to the 'primary' graduate program is both possible and productive. this approach relies less on luck.

You cant get around the fact you have to work AND also find that work.

Alternatively, there are plenty of opportunities to pursue research appointments at far off, beautiful destinations (e.g. http://www.bios.edu/#!/who-we-are). These are typically farther down the research spectrum, and will contribute to your research career in a different (i.e. less) fashion. I myself held several appointments previous to grad school, and they were the best experiences of my life. the appointments are much easier to come by. however, i do not consider all of them to be part of my "science career".