Should self-citations be excluded when calculating the h-index?

First and foremost, I recommend reading the related question: "Why is it said that judging a paper by citation count is a bad idea?"  That question may help relieve some of your concern about the importance of having an answer for this question.

Now, turning to H-index: to the best of my knowledge, there is no consensus as to whether self-citations should count or not count.  Saying whether self-citations are included might be useful, but then it would also be useful to know quite a bit more about how the database for computing an H-index is being constructed.

My own thinking on pros and cons goes as follows:

Omitting self-citations means you get a clearer picture of whether other people are paying attention to one's work.
Self-citation is also entirely appropriate and legitimate and at moderate levels can be a good indicator of a healthy and ongoing research program.
Defining self-citation is not entirely obvious, when co-authors are taken into account.  Consider the following: if A and B co-author a paper, and then B cites the paper, should that count as a self-citation for A too?  It's not A who is citing, but the citation still might be "discounted."
Finally, precise values of H-index are not very valuable in any case, since bibliometrics are not very good at evaluating scientific impact.

Given all of these things, I personally think the best thing to do is to count self-citation in H-index and mark it clearly as such.


How can I get a second review of my grades?

You can petition the head of the department/program if you think that your professor has a conflict of interest and can apparently not be fair in grading your class. But you have to be prepared for the department head to then ask the professor what his opinion on the issue is -- and in all likelihood, the professor will say that nothing untoward is going on and that he/she can be unbiased and fair.

In other words, if you're asking for the judge to be removed from the trial, you better have evidence. For example, you probably want to make sure that other students can corroborate your claims.

I'm saying this because as professors, we see students claim all the time that they are treated unfairly -- but in the vast majority of the cases, they're just not very good students. So expect that just making such a claim will, alone, not get you very far. You'll have to have evidence.


Summer plans for first year computer science grad student?

This will obviously vary by country and subject.

I'm not familiar with the idea of graduate students taking summer off from study. That's OK for undergraduates, but not for higher degrees. A multi-year higher degree is a full-on commitment, and doesn't leave time, space or energy for summer jobs.

But I'm going to take a leap here, and read a little more into your question than you've written. Now, this may apply to you, or it may not. It will apply to someone in the future who reads this question and might have asked the same thing themselves. It sounds like you're questioning whether you should be continuing this further degree, or getting out there into the workforce.

So, it's time for you to review, with your advisory / supervisory team, and with your trusted friends / family, whether to continue the degree, or to join this company as a full-time employee.

Only you know what your reasons were for starting a higher degree.

But if it was to help you land the sort of job you're now being offered, then perhaps it's already served its purpose - in which case, you're done with it.

If it was for much longer-term reasons, if it has to be done now rather than later in life, if it's the love of pure research, if you're considering a career in academia rather than industry - then your research degree is much bigger and more important than this job offer.


Impact on transferring and graduating early for graduate school admissions

Disclaimer: I am a PhD student with some outside knowledge (as an applicant) and some inside knowledge (admissions committee student member) on an average doctoral admissions process.

There are a number of factors which affect a candidates acceptance (or conversely, rejection) into a PhD program. They are standardized test scores, GPA, research experience, publications, letters of recommendation and the personal statement.

In my opinion, from what I have seen your numbers (GRE and GPA) don't do a good job of getting you in but can keep you out. What this means is that you have to clear whatever internal cut-offs there are. This can be subjective or objective depending upon the department, the field and the university. For instance, this could be 3.5 in one department in one field or could be 3.8 in another department in another field in another university. Standards can also be relaxed for candidates with exceptional research records and letters of recommendation written by trusted researchers.

The most important factors which matter are previous, relevant research experience, letters of recommendation, personal statement and publications. Some optimum combination of this must convince the admissions committee that you are worth admitting.

In fact, I would venture to say that there isn't much of an impact in graduating early or transferring to and from different programs. Focus on selecting whether a research career is right for you and what field you actually want to get into for graduate school.

The second part of your question is a little broad as I have noted in a comment. If you search this platform, you will find numerous relevant advice from folks much more knowledgeable than me. There are different approaches here. Some people just know what field they want to get into from the very outset. Others (like me) bounce around in different fields until one feels very right to them. Yet others get into a masters degree program to try out a discipline in terms of exploring research before committing to a full time PhD program.


Which PhD program should I choose, a top three program without any guarantee of funding or a top 50 with full funding?

Accept the funded offer.

There is (I think) a general consensus on this site that the quality of your own research as a PhD student matters much more in the long run than the reputation of the university you're at. A PhD is stressful enough without you having to worry about money as well (food, rent, bills, tuition- the list goes on).

The only advantage I can see in attending a top "name brand" university (for example, Oxford or Cambridge) is if you leave academia for an industry job, where the name of the university is likely more familiar to a prospective employer than the name of your supervisor.


3 years into my phd program, want to shift to theoretical physics

You can find many areas in microelectronics which are closely related to the condensed matter physics (i.e: Electronic band structure, semiconductor, Conductors,  Superconductor, Ferroelectric, etc). My recommendation is to find a specific field in condensed matter that is also interesting for your supervisors, and pursue your PhD.

In your case, moving to another department is just burning two years.


How did modern western post-secondary education become tied up with research and publications?

Ca. the 17th century, typically research, teaching, and religion were the functions of a European university. For example, when Isaac Newton wanted to become a professor at Cambridge, he asked the king for a special dispensation to be excused from taking holy orders. He was expected to teach as well as doing research, but was apparently such a bad teacher that he often lectured to an empty room.

During this period publication was not as emphasized as it is today. There were no academic journals in the modern sense. People communicated their results directly to their students, by letters to their peers, and sometimes by writing books. In some fields, such as alchemy, secrecy was the norm.

Presumably the reason that research, teaching, and religion were all linked was that the system evolved from medieval institutions, in which the literate class consisted mostly of monks. Part of their job was to preserve knowledge.

I think the more modern, liberal, and secular model is what's known as the German university model. It dates to the 19th century and was influenced by personalities like Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm von Humboldt. I think this was also the era when modern academic journals began to appear, and this was an important, positive development.

Some more modern phenomena in the US are research supported by grants from the central government; land-grant colleges; the delegation of a large amount of undergraduate teaching to part-time faculty; and the creation of community colleges, which have only teaching as their mission, not research.


How to write the introduction of a stapler PhD thesis?

As a comment says, this really is a question for your supervisor. I'm assuming it was your supervisor's idea to put your three papers together in the thesis, so perhaps they have suggestions on how to make them fit together.
If it was your initiative, check with your supervisor first. They might propose to leave out one of the papers so that the resulting thesis will be more homogeneous (at the expense of being shorter).
My thesis included only some of the publications I did during my PhD, those that were part of a larger project. In the meantime I did other things which have not been included in there.
Otherwise try to find a common denominator to all the papers, no matter how far it is, write a section about it, and then specialize to the topics at hand. I suppose there has to be a common denominator of some sort, but I'm not an expert in your specific field.


Can i go to university without finished high school?

I'm sorry but no, you can't. Every respectable university requires a high-school diploma (or equivalent degree) for students to enroll. Exceptions are extremely rare and apply only to highly gifted students in certain subjects.

However, you can self-study in your free time with more advanced textbooks and online courses. If your home-town has a university, you may be able to attend some lectures as a guest, without being formally enrolled.


How should I cite or reference books when I'm trying to compile a book (from other sources) for a specific course at my college?

This isn't exactly an answer, but should help you find the answer. In the US, we have the concept of Fair Use of copyrighted works. It contains the idea that some educational uses are valid in spite of copyrights but there are limitations. India doesn't subscribe to that doctrine, but has, instead the concept of Fair Dealing which seems to be more precise in what it allows and it differs from country to country.

I point to both of these ideas, since some of what you wish to use might be covered by US law, but I'm not a lawyer and can't say. But both doctrines (I believe) are a matter of civil law, which implies potential lawsuits, not criminal law. But beyond legal doctrine, there is also the issue of your professional reputation.

Unless your college is very small they probably have an office that has access to lawyers skilled in intellectual property law. You should try to contact that office and ask them about the requirements and what are your proper actions.

It may be that you need to seek permission from at least some of the publishers holding copyrights. If that is the case, then they will tell you how the work you copy should be cited. It will probably include a copyright notice as well as the citation. For those you can use under Fair Dealing, it would be advisable to note the copyrights.

I assume that some copyright holders will give you permission for things you can't do freely but will charge something per copy. This can be passed to students or absorbed by the college, I assume.

I'll note that your proposal has the effect of reducing the demand for the works you copy. That is a major consideration under Fair Use, and may or may not be under Fair Dealing. And selling a composed book to students might be another consideration in the law, rather than making it available without cost.

There is, however, another possibility that may fit your need or not. Some large publishers will publish several books on a general subject and some of them are willing to create a custom textbook containing chapters from several different books. These can be sold to students, though I doubt they are cheap.


Buy a server or cloud computing for a new lab?

Local servers are likely to be substantially cheaper and also faster to access the data over LAN rather than the internet for data on that scale (just for a quick count from AWS you're looking at $2400 per month if you ignore the deep-storage options that are not appropriate for data in-use; for the same price you could pay for local servers in a couple months with the same capacity).

Given similar choices, the labs I've worked in have always opted for local storage, but we also utilize cloud options for sharing data both for personal use (i.e., having access at work and home) and between other labs. However, this is only a subset of the data, for example data extracted or summarized from raw data.


Have textbook writers really read all the literature in their bibliography?

Yes, an author will presumably have read all the material, but not "in the preparation of the book". Typically, if you write a book, you already are in expert in the area and you have read, at one point or another, most of the seminal work in your field, so you don't need to read everything in detail again when writing the book.

I should also point out that "hundreds of sources" really isn't that much. I am a comparatively junior researcher, and my "standard bibtex file" which contains papers I regularly cite already contains multiple hundred entries (and of course I have read all of these at some point - not always in great depth, though).


Guiding a mentee towards greater independence

Disclaimer: I am a current PhD student and speak from personal experience as one who has guided both masters as well as undergraduate students.

Learning how to code appropriately takes skill, time and confidence (among other things). My strategy for this while mentoring students is as follows:

Develop a small project which will have some significant coding component in it but will still add to the overall project. Lay out the coding expectations and deliverables very clearly. Don't start with something too difficult.
Consider using version control tools (such as git) to manage your mentee's code. Be very clear about what languages/libraries etc. you plan to use and how this code will add to the project.
Lay out a timeline with your mentee with very specific coding expectations.
Achieve each small component with your mentee. Guide (but don't spoonfeed/handhold) your mentee. Make sure that he/she codes everything by him/herself.
Give him/her a small reward. (coffee/sugary thingy/beer) This always makes my students very happy. :)

In my experience, once a mentee has achieved a small project by him/herself, they are usually quick and eager to move onto the next objective. I use this to ramp up the difficulty level slowly but surely.

Regarding the second part of your question, I would definitely keep your supervisor/adviser in the loop regarding this. He/She may have much better suggestions than any that I have to offer here.


In the bibliography, you can cite a manual as a publication, e.g.,
Intel (2016) Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual: Instruction Set Reference, A-Z, Volume 2 (2A, 2B, 2C & 2D).
In the main body, cite the relevant chapters, e.g., \cite[Chapter~3]{IntelManual}. Use the @manual tag in your BibTex file.


Is it possible to accrue vacation hours during graduate study as a research assistant (GRA)?

The answer is: it depends.

The biggest factor is where you're a graduate student. For instance, graduate students in Germany receive up to six weeks of vacation per year, while graduate students in the US may only get two weeks' vacation per year, if even that much.

However, I think that in the US, where policies are a bit less generous, the real deciding factor is your graduate advisor. I think that reasonable graduate advisors will permit students to take off a few weeks per year (especially since most of them might do so themselves!), provided that you make sure it doesn't conflict with any major deadlines or events in your group. For instance, asking to take substantial vacation time just before your first big conference is probably inadvisable. But time during the holidays or during a relatively "quiet" time in your group (whenever that happens to be) would probably be OK.


How do I impress my prospective grad advisor? (first meeting)

After recently meeting with dozens of potential advisers in multiple institutions and departments over the last year, my advice is to try to get yourself out of the mindset of merely trying to impress them. Sure, you need to put your best foot forward, but there's something about academia that it's important to understand: there is a massive amount of variability between individuals, departments, institutions, and fields, in a huge variety of ways. What is impressive to one person can be off-putting to others, or a sign of a bad match.

One bad meeting isn't enough data to determine anything, but more importantly, this might have actually been a really great meeting, because you found someone who might be very unpleasant to work with because they are not supportive of your goals - short-term and long-term - at all. That's a terrible match, and finding that out is great.

As a personal example, I was talking with one prospective advisor and told them about my long-term vision (10-20 year career goals), and the response was that it's important not to be too ambitious, and basically that most people never do work that has much of an impact so you shouldn't aim so high.

I gave a similar talk and explanation of my long-term career goals to another potential advisor, and their response was that they were extremely surprised I had developed such a clear vision of what I wanted to do and had the maturity to think about the long-term, and they thought it was really great and they were very positive and enthusiastic about talking about how to make it happen. They even gave constructive criticism on how to connect short-term goals to long-term ones, what to do to get started right away, etc.

One plan, two completely different responses. And you know what? That's OK. This is why people say it's so important to be honest about your interests - don't trick your way into a relationship that will be bad for you!

To ask about desire to go to academia vs industry, this is another issue of fit. When I talked with some people about wanting to be an academic, they actually talked at length about how competitive the markets are, how much better the pay in industry is, are you sure you don't just want to get a job, etc. Other people volunteered that "it is not our job to decide where you want go to for you - it is our job to help you make your dreams happen". And yet others were extremely supportive, realistic, but talked about what kind of strategy would be necessary to make it happen, how to prepare, asked to make sure I really understood what I was aiming for, etc.

In my experience, this was partly a factor of department, and partly an individual factor. Some programs and/or advisors place the majority of their people into academia (60-80% is not unheard of), and they are proud of that fact, sometimes even flat out saying on their website that is the goal of their program. Other places place more on the order of <10% into academia - so why on earth would they have an issue with people going into industry, and if you wanted to go into academia shouldn't you prefer a different department?

What To Do Different

I did detect a few things I might suggest you adjust, though. One is how to talk about your goals. "Go into industry" is a common phrase, but it also suggests you don't really have an idea why you want to go to grad school or do after. You might be more specific, such as how you want to contribute your developing expertise within a R&D department to develop drugs with less side-effects, or to fight aging, etc - whatever suits your interests. If you are also open to other ideas, say that too!

If you say you just want to learn an instrument, that might sound too limited, depending on what you were naming. Going to grad school to learn to use a centrifuge might sound unambitious. Learning how to do advanced gene sequencing and interpret genetic-based drug interaction models - that just sounds a bit more developed, but you again should focus on what you care about.

What if you just honestly don't know? I have found the best result is to say what you have explored. Something like, "Well, I've explored anti-aging treatments, and degenerative diseases, and infectious outbreak analysis, and I've actually really enjoyed it all so I'm having trouble deciding. I'm open to trying a few different approaches and subjects in this field, as I've so enjoyed the work I've had the opportunity to do so far." You can note limited opportunities to explore, etc. This is all honest, just a bit more useful and interesting than "I dunno".

Above all, keep at it! I suggest meeting with over a dozen people, if you can possibly manage it, even outside your immediate field of interest if necessary. Focus on learning from the interactions and having a mutually interesting exchange - and don't jump to conclusions on too few data points.


To enroll in to a PhD Program at the age of 65

The realistic answer is: you can enroll in a PhD program at age 65. However, you are highly unlikely to get a tenure-track professorship after finishing a PhD program at that age. The big reason for this is that you're already above the retirement age, and many schools do have rules about how old you can be and still advise students. Moreover, you probably wouldn't represent a good "long-term investment."

On the other hand, you may be able to obtain a position as a part-time lecturer or adjunct faculty—in other words, for positions where you are not directly supervising PhD candidates.


Computer science degree vs. post-bachelor computer science certificate

There are two issues: whether it will be a formal barrier (i.e., you'll be screened out before anyone ever looks at your application carefully) and whether it will impress people.

For graduate school applications, there's no way you'll be officially screened out for this reason.  There are several programs aimed at encouraging post-baccalaureate certificates to help women enter computer science.  They attract excellent students, so grad schools are happy to see these applications; furthermore, if any grad school ever turned down applicants with such a background just because they had no "real" degree in CS, they'd be in big trouble on gender equity grounds.  So you have nothing to worry about there: grad schools are aware of these certificates and willing to consider applicants with them.

Of course, there are still issues of people's personal reactions, for example how rigorous or extensive they think the program is.  It presumably depends on the program, and also perhaps on which courses you take within the program.  If take you challenging courses and do well in them, ideally do some sort of project with a faculty supervisor, and get strong letters of recommendation, then you should be in good shape for grad school applications.  As a sanity check, you should ask about the placement record of previous students in the program: without some reason to think otherwise, you can expect you would end up somewhere in that range.  If they all do well, that's a very good sign; if some but not all do, then you need to make sure you end up in that top group.

As for industry, CS hiring is much less credential-driven than some branches of engineering (where there are more regulatory or liability issues).  If you can demonstrate talent and skill, then nobody will really care what your degree is in (except sometimes for research jobs that require a Ph.D.).  There are some tricky issues: for example, some of the top tech companies get enormous numbers of applications and have to filter them rather brutally.  However, even there the filtering is more often by prestige (did you get impressive grades at a top university) rather than the field the degree is in.


Is it bad practice to submit the entire manuscript for an initial book proposal to a publisher?

Did you follow the book proposal guidelines for Springer? It does not include sending the entire manuscript but does include items like:

Author
Author CV
Any other contributors (include CVs)?
Who's the audience including undergraduate or graduate
What book do you see as the main competitor?
3-4 paragraphs describing the contents of the book
Unique Selling Points (why should someone buy this book)
etc.

Note: I'm not sure that I've linked to the book proposal guidelines for your area, but they surely exist.

Second Note: Geremia provided a link to the book series webpage. Poking around on the page and tracing links, I did find a general manuscript preparation page, but nothing on what the proposal should look like. I maintain that unless they tell you explicitly to send the entire manuscript, you should send a brief proposal or even a query ("are there guidelines I should follow?") to the editor first.

Based on blogs and articles that I've read by fiction editors and agents, not following published guidelines for a submission is one of the top pet peeves and a quick way for your submission to get deleted or tossed in the recycle bin.


As a PhD student, can my name be included in a research grant to protect my ideas?

While it depends on your region as well as the specific grant to which your colleagues are applying, I think you are approaching this issue the wrong way.

It is true that after working very hard on a certain field, subject or method, we may become overly attached to the ideas that we generate. However, if you are not willing to accept (and even embrace the fact) that other people are so interested in your work that they are using it and, more importantly, submitting grants on it, why are you even concerned about publishing what you do?

More importantly, they should (and likely already have, given that they are asking for your help to write the proposal) realize that you are possibly one of the most capable persons to work alongside with them on the topic, given that it was you who initially proposed the idea. You can benefit from their grant by collaborating with them -- perhaps by providing guidance to the students who they are willing to hire to work on something you value important!

As someone who collaborates with many other people who work on ideas that I initially generated, here's how I would approach the issue. Tell them which particular research directions you would like to work on yourself (perhaps as a part of their grant, trusting that they will fund you if the grant is funded), and offer your expertise to them on additional directions that they can have other people working on. On those latter papers perhaps you won't be the first author, but you may collect papers as second, third, etc, as well as see your ideas grow into a fruitful research.

Honestly, ideas are cheap. Most students and faculty have a dozen a week. Execution is expensive, and that's the part they are willing to do. I don't see a reason why you shouldn't help them.


Asking for Recommendation Letters for Multiple Grad School Applications

I'm going to give an answer based on my experience in the US, so it may not be applicable in other countries but:

Whether your recommenders use a generic letter is not a decision you get to make. You tell them where to send the letter, but at least in the US, you do not get to see it, and all you know about it's content is what they tell you.  I would let them use their judgement about how to personalize it, though if there is something you think would particularly important at one school vs. another, it's a good idea to mention this to them.
Similarly, when they write the letter is not something you have control over.  In all grad school applications I've seen, the application is electronic and the recommender directly submits via a link that's generated when you fill out your application.  They'll know when the deadline is, and will probably be annoyed if you try to insist that they write their letter months before the deadline.  If you're applying to a place that still uses paper, submitting the application months before the deadline when your paper application isn't there is just asking for trouble.

What does make sense is to write your recommenders now, and say "I wanted to let you know that I'll be applying for graduate school in November, and I was hoping you would be willing to write me a recommendation.  I wanted to let you know relatively early since I know that by fall it will have been a while since I graduated." Don't hesitate to remind them about interactions you've had, or about anything you think would look good in the letter.  Professors often have to write many such letters, and if you put your good qualities at their fingertips, they're more likely to end up in the letter.

EDIT: Looking this over, I think I could have been a little more concise.  Providing your recommenders with info is a very good idea; that's why I suggest that you do email them now.  They can write a better letter if they know what you plan to do and if you remind/tell them about your accomplishments, etc. But when you ask someone for a recommendation, you can't really micromanage.  You need to say where the letter needs to go and when the deadline is, but there's not much else you have control over.  It is unfortunate that memories fade (though they'll fade less if you give a reminder of your existence now), but that's how it goes.  That's just the price you pay if you don't apply to a Ph.D. right as you finish your degree.


What benefits are there to university alumni mentoring undergraduate students?

What can a mentor gain from the mentor/mentee relationship?

Altruistic answers:

Passing on learned knowledge and lessons is a hallmark of a society. What you learned as a student, employee, employer, citizen, etc. is important so that once your brain and the brains of others in your generation are pushing up daisies, the knowledge isn't lost, and repeating mistakes can be avoided. Many people consider this a satisfying endeavor.
As a role model, you can demonstrate moral, ethical, compassionate, etc. strategies for using the education you got from the school. Knowing that you've led someone down an ethical path is a good feeling.
You can act as a sounding board for your mentee's questions about your field, and for the types of questions that don't routinely come up in class. There is a certain satisfaction in being able to answer questions based on your experience.
There might be new ideas that your mentee knows about your field that you can learn from. While you pass on your wisdom, you also have the opportunity to learn some of the new ideas that are being taught today.

Less altruistic answers:

Depending on your field, having been a mentor looks good on a resume or in an interview.
In your case, you'll gain points with your former professor, who might be more inclined to write you a good letter of recommendation some day.

Decidedly bad answers:

Steer the kid in the wrong direction, and that's one less competitor!
You might get your lab cleaned because "it builds character."
In academia, if your mentee has good ideas, you can steal them and publish the results yourself.


Extended scientific abstract: should it include full results?

If the organisers required an extended abstract to assign a prize, try to make their job easier. :)

I would include a specific section called Results or Preliminary Results in which you gently introduce some of the most significant results you obtained so far: objective/numerical evidences that your work is reliable, has reached a mature stage to deserve a prize.


What could count toward financial requirements for UK student visa applications?

This can be found on the current guidance document issued by UKVI for student visas. The guidance explains the money can be yours or your parents and should be:

cash funds in the bank (this includes savings accounts and current accounts even when notice must be given); or
a loan letter (the loan must be provided by your national government, state or regional government, or by a government sponsored student loan company or be part of an academic or educational loans scheme); or
official financial or government sponsorship available to you.

It continues stating:

  Other accounts or financial instruments such as shares, bonds, overdrafts, credit cards and pension funds are not acceptable, regardless of notice period.

Of course, you should really make sure to look at the latest guidance document in full.


Is it possible to get an ISSN number for an online journal from an other country?

Check the website/contact info with the specific agency, since I think this varies a lot. If I'm not mistaken, we got a Brazilian ISSN for a publication of papers resulting from the undegrad research program in my uni and it was all done by mail...

You can find the info for the agencies here http://www.issn.org/services/requesting-an-issn/


How to treat the results of symbolic computations in a paper?

In an engineering paper, it's not appropriate to have lengthy, non-novel symbolic computations in the body of the article. The requirement however, is that your readers are able to reproduce it in some way. Here are a few options:

Write all symbolic computations formally in an appendix to the paper.
If you obtained the results with a software (free or commercial), give the exact name and version of the software you used together with all the necessary parameters you used in the methods section. I don't think there is anything to be 'guilty' about using a faster, controlled way of solving maths providing you know what you are doing.
If you obtained the results with a piece of code, make it available in some ways (like a public repository or your institution's website). This can sometimes also be done by submitting it to the journal with your article, but few engineering journals host code.

This being said, it's very uncommon to see symbolic maths solved with software in the engineering literature (I don't think I ever read it in any paper). Generally either the concept is well-documented and does not warrant a formal proof in the context (e.g. don't copy the Fourier theorem every time you do an FFT) or it's application-specific and should be written formally.


Is it appropriate to contact a journal editor when they have already decided to accept a paper you refereed?

As I have now heard back from the associate editor, I can give an answer to my own question.

The editor was quite appreciative of my note.  Here is what he wrote back to me:

  Thank you for your note. I am sorry that we did not realize that the authors have not satisfactorily answered to the criticism in your second report. If you can send us quickly a note that we can forward to the authors, we will have them take it into account before proceeding with publication.

I quickly put together a detailed explanation of what was still wrong with the manuscript and sent it back to the editor.  I'm not sure precisely how things will proceed from here, but I am gratified that I apparently did the right thing.


How do the advantages of a flipped classroom overcome timing issues?

First, I should note that the details of how people implement things that get called a "flipped classroom" seem to vary wildly, so my answers will be based on the version I've taught, and to a lesser extend the ones I seen my colleagues teach or heard them describe.

  Having the students watch a lecture offline would mean they have to ask questions about that lecture without context and they would not have the answer to the question before watching the rest of the lecture. I would expect this to lead to lower understanding.

In my opinion, the inability to ask questions on the spot is indeed a drawback.  But there are substantial benefits that mitigate this.  Most importantly, many students don't ask questions in lectures when they should.  One of the major reasons is that they can't produce questions fast enough to keep up with the lecture; by the time they realize they're confused and formulate a question, the topic has moved on.  In that sense, for many students a video is no different from a live lecture in this respect.

And with a video, students can watch at their own pace, which can include pausing the video to formulate a question (and possibly even get it answered) before continuing, or rewatching the video after the question has been answered.

Overall, moving lectures out of face time is one of the main benefits of a flipped classroom: most lectures aren't all that interactive---few questions get asked, and only by a few students, so the value added by the interaction is low.  It's not zero, so the goal of a flipped classroom had better be to replace the lectures with a more valuable use of that time.

  Similarly, having the students work through the homework problems in the presence of the lecturer/tutor would substantially reduce the number and/or length and/or difficulty of the homework questions simply due to available time. A typical homework question set would take several hours to work through and usually have a couple of relatively simple questions that lead up to questions requiring deeper understanding. I would be concerned that running a flipped classroom would mean those deeper understanding questions would never be attempted and/or discussed.

Every flipped classroom version I've seen also has out of class homework.  They have the simpler questions take place out of class, and have at least some of the deeper ones take place in class.  Furthermore, most of them try to make the deeper questions more deep than the ones that would have been asked in the corresponding lecture class, or if not, they at least demand that students engage more with the deep questions.

Indeed, this point is one of the main goals of flipped classrooms: with the instructor (and possibly TAs present), it becomes reasonable to demand more (and different) things of students because there's help available on the spot.

In my lecture classes, for instance, I usually find that there's very poor engagement on the deeper homework questions.  A non-trivial fraction of students skip them (since they're generally not that big a fraction of the homework grade), and a large number of students don't take them seriously---they either scribble nonsense for partial credit, or it's clear that they've worked in groups and essentially copied an answer they don't understand from the one person in the group who got it.

In a flipped classroom, there was much less of this: the students sat there and worked through the hard problems, thought about them, and struggled with them the way they needed to, because I was there to make sure they did.


Changing field for PhD - How much do I need to know before I start talking to advisers/applying?

First of all, do you have enough time to change your topic? If so, I would strongly recommend to talk to your supervisor first. If he/she knows you and your abilities, he/she can guide you on choosing a topic; you can finish up and get a PhD. Second of all, with a good help of your supervisor and your commitment you can finish a PhD.

Note on "Scary Parts": Nothing is scary!. I myself had no idea about a subset of computing semantics, and it felt like jumping from an airplane when I started to learn about it. However, at the end of the learning period, I realized why I was so afraid? Don't be scared, it will take your focus away, on doing your job. Your new slogan should be: Keep calm and learn!


What exactly happens when a department head is contacted about a specific instructor in a specific course?

Expanding on my comment to make it an answer.

Department chairs deal with this all the time, and have to figure out which complaints are legit and which are students complaining as an excuse. I've seen several courses of action.

Do nothing. If the student's complaints don't seem reasonable or seem out of character for that instructor, it's a waste of time to worry about it.
Meet with the student to find out more information. I've seen this happen when a complaint is delivered by email, but at my university it's rare because most student feedback happens via anonymous surveys at the end of the semester.
If it's a one-time event, talk with the instructor involved. Students provide one side of the story; an instructor might provide a different side. I had this happen when a student complained about my grading of an assignment -- turns out they had received a mandatory 0 for plagiarism and were hoping a complaint would get them a better grade. If the complaint is that the material or exams are too hard, it would be appropriate for the chair to review the material (perhaps with a professor familiar with the subject). For example, my courses have a course co-ordinator who could impartially review any questions about my lectures, assignments, tests, or grading.
If it's a pattern of legitimate complaints, the chair can take either mentoring or disciplinary actions as allowed by the university. My university has a faculty mentoring program where other faculty members will sit in on classes and offer help with improving teaching styles. Non-tenured faculty can also be progressively disciplined in a number of ways -- tenured faculty are obviously harder to discipline. Ideally someone doesn't get tenure if they have obvious problems in the classroom, but we all know it does happen. I've seen department chairs "punish" tenured faculty by giving them less desirable teaching assignments, but it also doesn't seem really effective.

Ultimately, it's going to be a combination of how credible the complaint is, how many complaints there have been, how motivated the chair is, and what options are legally available to the chair.


Referring to non-enumerated (sub)sections of a paper

I would recommend simply saying it directly, like, "in the previous section" or "in the following section."  You can also refer to a section by content, e.g., "in the review of prior work" or "in our discussion of results."


I haven't done any research, completed any projects or summer
  programs.

That's okay.  You've only just finished your second year of undergraduate studies.

  I haven't done any outside reading so I don't really know much about
  any particular subject.

That can be remedied!  How about taking some summer classes in a community college, in a branch of science that intrigues you?

  I've been a little apprehensive when talking with professors.

You're going to need a bit more chutzpah in order to get your money's worth out of college and graduate studies!  Perhaps you could transition into feeling more comfortable with professors' office hour visits by focusing primarily on visiting the office hours held by grad student teaching assistants for the time being.

It is very common for second year students to be hit hard with an appreciation of how little they know.  Try to ride this storm of self-doubt while reminding yourself of that fact.

It would be great if you could find one or more mentors, either on your own or through a matching-up program.  The mentor might be a faculty member who serves as your undergraduate advisor -- the person who checks your proposed schedule and advises you about what courses to take next year, etc.

Edit 5/20

There are several ways to break the ice.

Ask for some undergraduate advising -- s/he will check your unofficial transcript against your proposed schedule for next semester.  Make sure you have this conversation in this person's office, not over email, because what we want to happen is for the professor's natural mentoring instincts to kick in, so that one thing leads to another.

In the experimental sciences, one can ask for a tour of his/her lab.  You might want to ask your question over at Mathematics Education as well.

Spend some time reading the research descriptions of the faculty in your department, to see whose area intrigues you, then take a look at some of their papers.  When you find one that gets you intellectually excited, make an appointment like this:  Dear Professor So-and-so, I've been reading your "title of paper", and wonder if I could make an appointment to come in and talk with you about this area of research?"  Or something like that.  Researchers love to talk with people about their work.

To get matched up through a formal matching up program, you need to look closely at your department's website, or ask your department administration if there is such a thing.

During the school year, attend lots of seminars.  Be bold about chatting with grad students over cookies afterwards.  If no one is bringing cookies, juice and paper cups, bring some!


Should I reject a request if I've already reviewed many papers from the same author recently?

You don't say whether you've recommended the papers for acceptance or rejection.

If you've recommended them for rejection (but nevertheless you view the work as being a reasonable specimen of the form, i.e., not egregiously flawed or crankish), then I think your idea to spread the opinions around is a good one.  Sometimes I get sent a paper for which I think "I don't value this paper much, but so far as I know someone else really could."  In that situation I often decline to referee it.

If you've recommended both of them for acceptance: well, you would think the same argument should apply, but I don't find it as compelling!  Rather than declining to referee, you could just continue to read carefully and not assume the work is good because you found the prior work to be good.  And if you really have a clear idea that the author is consistently doing good work -- there's no conflict of interest there!  By consistently recommending their work for publication, you are helping them out but also the field.

  Is “I’ve already reviewed many papers from the same author recently” a valid reason to refuse?

I think so, yes.  In fact almost anything is a valid reason to refuse in the current climate: so many papers are being written and processed at this point in time that anyone person has to limit their involvement.  Editors are getting turned down by referees all the time.  If you decline, do it quickly and suggest other possible referees, in all my experience they won't bat an eye.  As to

  Is there any good way to decide how many is too many?

I think it has to come down to your own judgment, because (of course, right?) this also depends on your other professional responsibilities.  As has been discussed on this site before, try to apply golden-rule considerations to your general refereeing policy.

Having said all that, I did want to make one counterargument: in all parts of mathematics in which I am familiar (which ranges from very theoretical to very moderately applied), refereeing papers takes a long time in part because the task truly is very intellectually demanding.  For a given paper, there are a number of people whose expertise is so unusually close to the topic of the paper that they can evaluate it much more easily and quickly than most other experts in the same area.  In many parts of mathematics, this number is very small -- sometimes, unfortunately, it is zero.  If you are part of a cohort that has unusual facility and ease with the author's work, then maybe you can do in a day or week what some other (expert) mathematician would take months to do.  In that case you should think again before declining, it seems to me.


Can I update the search of a systematic review at revision?

Since it is undergoing peer review again, in general, you should be able to include the new papers.  If you do this, though, highlight both the new papers and the changes to your conclusions in your author response / revision note, so that the reviewers know to pay particular attention to them and give them proper review - if you don't, they might not notice, and skip over important things because they think they already reviewed it.
It's common for reviewers to ask for new analyses or even experiments in revision, so this seems like a relatively normal kind of update in a revision cycle.
If in doubt, e-mail the managing editor.  One way to do that productively is to make a specific proposal - e.g. include the new papers and highlight in the author response letter - and ask if that is an appropriate way to handle the situation for their journal.
A note that doesn't seem applicable to your specific situation, but may help others finding this answer: the exception to this is when you get what many journals call a "Minor Revision" decision, where only the editor will see the revisions - it won't go back out to reviewers. In such a situation, I would contact the managing editor and notify them of the situation.  They may be able to handle the revision as a "Major Revision" and get reviews for it.


Including critical feedback about a course on exam paper

A note in your exam will most likely be disregarded.  There are a number of channels for feedback, this will vary according to university.  Feedback forms at the end of the course is the most common but you can reach out to your faculty administration and they should be able to provide you a form.

You can also try to approach your professor directly: be courteous and to the point.  Remember that they're probably overloaded and they're doing the best they can in the circumstances.

Having said all this.  I have to say that most university courses are meant to be introductory courses.  That is the purpose is to give you an overview of the basic theory and the possibilities in a given subject. No course will ever be complete, even if you take advanced courses.

In practical courses such as the one you mention your best bet is practical experience: by yourself, through an internship, etc.  This is something you can do (by yourself) now that you have been given the overview at the course.


Can I publish multiple papers with same methodology but different topics?

In general, the test for whether a result is publishable is whether it advances the state of human knowledge.

Thus, if X is a new approach that contributes to knowledge about Problem 1, then it could readily be published in either a methodology-centric venue or a problem-centric venue.  If X is applied to produce new knowledge about Problem 2, then that's less interesting from a methodology perspective (though it may still be interesting, depending on circumstances), but absolutely relevant for Problem 2.

So if the approach really is useful for learning about lots of different types of cancer, it's potentially publishable for each type.  At some point, though, generalization becomes more interesting, and it would be appropriate to write a (much higher impact) paper on the applicability of the approach for learning about all cancers.


Should I provide an opinion on a graduate school candidate without being asked by the candidate?

It does not make a difference whether your review would be positive or negative, and it is your duty to keep your discussions about the student confidential. Should you choose to review their application, you should not tell the student or anyone not involved in the process that you are doing so.

You are being asked to help your university, or maybe just a professor who trusts you, to help with their admissions and hiring process. You should take it seriously and give an honest review if you can. If you don't feel like you can be objective in your review (maybe the student is a friend or colleague), then you should decline to do so. But I don't feel like there's an ethical issue in the applicant not knowing that you've been asked about them.


How to deal with multiple affiliations as an author?

I'm professor at a university, which pays my bills, and I'm also affiliated with another institution, without any money involved. I do as in 2: I put always first my university affiliation and second the other affiliation for papers in collaboration.

It should be noted that in the recent past I had to fight with a journal because the copy editor arbitrarily changed the order of affiliations just to compact the list of affiliations.


Can a "maitre de conferences" be called "professor"?

This is a very general answer, so for your case you may wish to wait for an answer specific to the French system.

My opinion is that you should never 'translate' someone else's title in this way. You said that a maitre de conference 'deserves' to be called professor. However, the title 'professor' is not a value judgement on a person, it's just a job title.

In the US, this job title is used quite liberally. Outside the US, the title is often restricted to the most senior staff. In the UK, for example, the job positions of lecturer and reader are equivalent to a US associate professor and full professorship respectively. So a maitre de conference wouldn't be equivalent to a professorship in the UK. If you call a maitre de conference a professor, will you also title British lecturers and readers 'professor'?

Many scientists work at institutions which are not universities, and hence, cannot be professors unless they have also have a university appointment. For example, even the director of a Max Planck Institute is not (automatically) a professor. Are academics employed in such institutions also to be upgraded to professor?

It would be strange to invent a professor title in any of these cases. At best, it will cause bemusement, at worst they will think that you haven't properly researched their background.


PhD in Europe without scholarship from non-European homeland

I only know the situation in Germany:

In order to get a visa, you are required to show that you can fund your PhD study. Either by scholarship, salary, or your personal means.

Usually, at least in CS, PhD students are employees of the university. You don't sign a contract that you are going to do a PhD, instead, you sign a contract that you will work for the university, "and you will be supported for doing a PhD". Your salary will be more than enough to support yourself (and thus for visa regulations).

However, it is also possible to do an external PhD. In this case you will not be an employee, rather a PhD student. What you need would be to find a professor who is willing to advise your work. In this case, you might get some scholarship from institutions like DAAD.


Informing my supervisor of discrepancy in the results

In my opinion, it is absolutely essential that you are completely open about this.

If you cannot reproduce his results, at least one (possibly both) of the following are true:

You are doing something wrong. You are a student and he is your supervisor. It's his job to help you if you are doing something wrong. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It's better to be delayed with correct results, than on time with wrong results.
He was doing something wrong. Don't be afraid! You are not accusing him of anything unethical (*). If his previous results or his understanding are genuinely in error, he should be very interested in knowing this, and grateful if you discover such an error.

(*) If you do suspect unethical behaviour, the question is entirely different and better asked separately.


In my first year of a research postdoc in math, I think I may want a teaching-only career. How should I prepare for the job search?

Not as a complete answer, but as information the questioner and others might find useful:

At an R1 U.S. university, for example, it would be difficult for a postdoc to make a transition to a longer-term lecturer or even adjunct... if only because those positions are spoken-for, and quite competitive in a certain localized sense, which happens (in my observation here in Minneapolis) to not be entirely bad, insofar as there is tacit (which is bad) recognition (which is good) of seniority and experience and such things.

A few faculty may be "outraged" that you "betray" the "research Grail" by deciding as you have, but you have to write that off. Most faculty will be very understanding that you've "achieved clarity", for whatever reason. They will also understand that you need to be able to document teaching and pedagogy and mentoring. NB, it's not just "teaching", but a larger thing, "pedagogy", and a somewhat-different thing, "mentoring". Senior-projects, participation in REUs, and similar, are relevant.

And, somewhat nonsensically, an unfortunate fraction of the up-scale four-year colleges have created the concept that "undergrads do research", so you should be careful to not over-promote any potential disaffection with (actual?) research in your job apps. That is, the spin in those cases would have to be that you've had some epiphany about preaching to the masses about . You'll not want to play that stunt for serious undergrad teaching places, though, because they'll probably think you don't understand (the) reality. :)

So, yes, actively discuss with your faculty there, and actively arrange to have people (faculty) have some acquaintance with the broader range of your activities. NB, "not just teaching", but pedagogy, mentoring, ... maybe outreach... The sane people will be understanding, if maybe not very interested personally, and some should be interested enough to help you document your efforts (presuming you make them!) in the directions you want to claim you care about.


Professor creates assignment making students advocate for a bill being presented to Congress. Is this legal?

Can a professor do this? Is this legal? Or a violation of students' First amendment?

You are 100% correct to be concerned. No, the professor most certainly cannot do such a thing; his behavior is deeply unethical and a blatant abuse of his authority. I am not a lawyer and can't comment about legality, but for a professor to coerce students to express political opinions they may not hold would certainly violate longstanding traditions of academic freedom and freedom of speech. Honestly, while the behavior may well be illegal, it is in any case bad enough that in my opinion you have more than enough ammunition to fight it even without resorting to legal arguments, so I don't think legality even necessarily matters that much.

As for how to respond, I think the emails you sent to the deans are a good start. Basically you need to alert some sensible people at your school (I am sure there are some) to what's going on and get their help with stopping the professor from sending out the fraudulent letters -- these could be student union representatives, the department chair, an ombudsperson, or all of the above. You can even consider contacting some local journalists and/or state legislators, although I would advise keeping things within the campus for starters.

In the meantime, while you are waiting for help to arrive, I would advise you to do the letter-writing assignment as you were asked and submit it by the deadline, but following the guidelines in my answer to this question regarding how to prevent the opinions you are being forced to express from being attributed to you against your will - that is, do not sign the letter, and preface it with a disclaimer in big bold letters and a verbatim quote of the assignment. The point of this is that the professor can reasonably ask you to write a letter where you advocate beliefs you may disagree with if he sincerely believes that that promotes the learning objectives of the course he is teaching, so it would be prudent of you to complete that part of the assignment in order to not get a failing grade and maintain the high moral ground in any battles that lie ahead; however, I do not believe that he has the authority to force you to pretend to endorse the letter's content. It would also be a good idea to seek legal advice, for example on law.se and/or by talking to an actual lawyer. Good luck!

————

Edit, added a bit later: It’s fascinating to me that this is taking place in the context of a course called Leadership in Pharmacy. It seems to me that by fighting this injustice you are showing a much greater understanding of what leadership is (and will likely learn much more valuable lessons about leadership) than either the professor or those among your fellow classmates who will follow the professor’s instructions without questioning them. Please allow me to congratulate you on your good sense and initiative. In my book you have already earned an A+.

————-

Also, as others have said in the comments, do come back and add an update to your question later to report on how the situation resolved itself. Further edit, added in response to OP’s update of the question: Since it looks like you won’t be getting the cooperation of the professor, I suggest continuing to send emails to draw attention to the situation. The key is to recruit allies who will be in a position to get the professor to see how unacceptable his behavior is. Some specific ideas I can think of are:

Write an email to the department chair, dean and the university general counsel in which you describe the behavior, explain why you believe it violates university policy (and why it’s illegal if you think you can substantiate such a claim). Describe your conversation with the professor and its unsatisfactory outcome, and ask for their intervention. Consider adding a threat, either explicit or veiled, that you will contact the media if no action is taken.
Alternatively and/or at the same time, try to find some classmates who are upset about what’s happening. If a good number of students band together and begin to voice loud dissatisfaction in emails to the department and university administration and/or social media, the university will be compelled to act. That will also reduce the risk that you will be singled out for retaliation.
Use social media. A single tweet or short blog post may be all it takes to attract some serious public and media attention to the story.
Get a lawyer. Official-looking letters bearing a signature ending with “Esq.” are a hell of a lot more scary to university officials than an email from an undergraduate and will command immediate respect.

As before, I think it’s advisable to try resolving the situation quietly without attracting attention from outside the campus if possible, since that carries the least risk to you of retaliation or somehow being dragged into a serious public scandal that you have no wish to be a part of. However, it seems that you are fast approaching a point where you have exhausted your options within the campus and it may well be beneficial to seek more public attention, so going public should be an option to consider seriously, while keeping in mind that that means a higher level of commitment and risk of disruption to your life.

One final piece of advice: in all your communications with university officials and/or the media, keep your tone neutral and factual. Describe facts (“this is a violation of university policy XYZ”), not opinions (“this is an outrage”, “I am deeply offended”, “the professor is behaving unethically”, etc), and let people draw their own conclusions. The facts are (very, very) strongly on your side here, and are your greatest weapon.


If the company really needed so much working ideas on their product, they should hire a professional, not expecting them from a master student. Stick this thought in your brain, and then proceed. During thesis&internship you should demonstrate independt thinking, but you are still a student.
You can ask your professor a meeting asking bout the opportunity of continuing this (painful) experience with the advisor or to try a new start with a different company (would be an issue for you to graduate 6 months later? what is at stake that prevent you from restarting the thesis internship?).
You can put all the points you mentioned here in a neutral way (i.e. "he said that I can't find so many ideas and the ones that I found are not working" == "they expect to have new and working ideas from the university", or "my supervisor in company isn't helpful so much" == "we could not build an effective working relation").
Regarding the 5 ideas: you do not need to believe in them, and they cannot possibly be all productive ideas (if you had 5 bright, productive ideas, you would not be rotting working in such environment, you know this ... and even your supervisor would know that). So dig yourself in the library, look at the conference proceedings of biggest conferences related to the thesis subject, pick the ideas making claims you can barely understand, present them.


As a teaching-assistant, how can I avoid repetitive teaching?

An answer looking at the bigger picture:

Stop teaching the same class all the time!

If you've taught the same class so often that you can reuse your material without thinking about it much, then it's time to branch out next semester and teach something else.  Teaching a variety of classes is more fun and rewarding (as they say, the best way to learn a subject is to teach it, so this way you learn more subjects).  It is valuable experience for an academic or teaching career, and showing a breadth of teaching experience can be helpful in a job search.

Maybe your department just keeps assigning you this course and you assume you have no choice.  Try just asking to be assigned something else - contact whoever is in charge of those assignments and ask what else might be available.  Of course you might not get what you want, since making teaching assignments is always complicated and requires many constraints to be satisfied, but there's a good chance of having your preferences at least taken into account.  If you don't get what you want this semester, you might have a better chance in a future semester as they try to make it up to you.


When and how should the content of courses in a sequence overlap?

Actually, there may be an entirely valid pedagogical reason for this. If some of your students come with little background, say in programming, then they need to get experience with it to be successful later. I assume these early courses are heavy, at least, in programming.

It turns out that people learn, primarily from reinforcement and feedback. That means repeating things, to some extent, so that lessons are deeply learned and insight arises from both practice and the feedback that ensues.

Many students come to a CS degree already having learned quite a lot about programming, though they may also have misconceptions. But the A course is likely intended to take the other, relatively inexperienced, students up to the level of those with a programming background earlier. Thus, students start B at more or less the same level of skill and insight, making that course easier to deliver and making more students successful.

But taking out the overlap would probably be a mistake and give worse results, as students would, then, get less reinforcement of those topics. You don't learn something by seeing it only once. And it is harder to learn a lot of topics if the first time you experience it, it is in a sophisticated context. Introducing important topics gently and then reinforcing them later is a learning technique that many people use. It is called a Spiral Approach, where each turn of the spiral takes you deeper into the topic.


How should I put my funding history in CV/cover letter?

This will vary greatly by field so look at examples of CVs in your field. In general, it is very common to list the title, the start/end dates, the agency, the amount and your role in the grant on your CV. In some fields, it's also acceptable to list unawarded grants (we all know that obtaining funding can be a bit of a gamble - so many departments like to see that you're trying). I've never heard of funding being listed in the cover letter - but, again, that may be something specific to your field.


Endowed professorship typically are the result of a large donation of money to the university that allows them to fully fund a position in perpetuity based on the earnings on the initial donation. This is generally much larger than what an individual can bring in from external sources. If you manage to bring in that type of income, you will likely have little problem obtaining a permanent position.

I am aware of one independently wealthy individual who made a large enough donation to establish his own professorship. Basically he spent a small fraction of his wealth (which would be a large fraction of the wealth of most academics) to become a full professor with minimal teaching and service duties. His research was funded from his charitable foundation and I believe the foundation paid the standard overhead rates. He was reasonably productive throughout his entire career and probably could have obtained a professorship without using his personal wealth, but given the competitive nature of the job market and limited availability of positions, probably not at the institution of his choosing.


Should I report an instance of nepotism - misconduct in favour of sexual partner?

This could go very wrong for you. If you go around and tell people what you told us here this could be considered as defamation of the professor and I wouldn't be surprised if he outright sues you.
The questions you should ask yourself:

Can you prove that they indeed had a sexual relationship?
Are the other students of the professor indeed more skilled than the student he promoted?
If yes, can you prove this in any legal sense or is this just your personal opinion?

Especially if you think you are one of those more skilled students I would be very careful, this can backfire horribly. Bad performance in her PhD certainly is not enough to prove 2. There are a lot of people who don't perform well in their PhD and didn't sleep with their advisor. And even if the professor and the student are a couple now, this is in no way proof that they slept with one another during the time the professor advised the student and less so proof that he promoted her for sexual and not academic reasons.
Academia is always very concerned with integrity. Is it ethical to sleep with his students and betray ones wife? Of course not. But you shouldn't just think about some academic code of conduct the professor may or may not have broken, but about the very real legal implications you may face. You are risking a lawsuit in pursuing this further and your personal gain is absolutely zero.
If this would be taking place in Germany, then relevant for the discussion is the following paragraph:

Section 186 Malicious gossip (üble Nachrede)
Whoever asserts or disseminates a fact about another person which is
suitable for degrading that person or negatively affecting public
opinion about that person, unless this fact can be proved to be true,
incurs a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or
a fine and, if the offence was committed publicly or by disseminating
material (section 11 (3)), a penalty of imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years or a fine.

If you insist to pursue this issue, I would strongly advise you not to mention the affair. Go to the board and tell them you think there may be a conflict of interest in the award of scholarship XY. Don't accuse the student and the professor of having had an affair, you can't say this for certain. As Buffy points out it is highly likely that the board already knows about the issue anyways - Leave it up to them to make the conclusions.


What is the best "last slide" in a thesis presentation?

The last slide will typically be seen for some minutes after you finished talking – until you jump to some other slide for addressing a question. This is something that you should use. If you ended your talk with a summary (which is a good thing in most cases), leaving that slide gives the audience opportunity to reflect on your talk, remember what they wanted to ask a question about, or just let your central messages sink in. If they do not want to do this, but focus on the questions, they are not distracted by anything new that you didn’t talk about.

The main exception is if you find it difficult to orally convey that the talk has finished – in that case a thank you slide or an any questions? slide may be the lesser evil and save you from a few seconds of awkward silence that everybody needs to realise your talk is over. Note that you can use such a slide as a backup behind your summary slide – if you manage to finish your talk on the summary slide, the audience never gets to see it. If you botch it, you can quickly jump to the summary slide.

In most situations, however, I consider thank you slides and any questions? slides pointless, as they do not tell the audience anything new and are things that you or the chair have to say. A quote would distract the audience from the questions – unless you are going to read it, but then the quote has to really fit the occasion. Your contact information does not need an entire slide and can usually be fitted on the bottom of the summary slide.

Finally note that on some rare occasions, the following order of slides may work:

main talk with main results
summary and outlook
one or two appetiser slides illustrating first steps into what you just announced as future work, e.g., to show that you paved the way for something interesting.

In this case, you can either jump back to the summary slide or stay on your last appetizer slide – depending on what is more attractive.


I'm feeling discouraged after getting tenure; should I quit?

Many faculty get post-tenure blues. There are several causes:

Burnout: You've been running at full speed for almost 30 years (k-12; college; grad school; post-docs; tenure track). Your brain needs a rest. It's perfectly acceptable for you to take a break. Many faculty have post-tenure slumps.
Survivor's guilt: Many of your grad peers didn't get jobs, you might have seen other faculty not make tenure. The tenuring process can seem capricious. You've just been through the sausage machine and you didn't like what you saw.
Imposter syndrome: Related to the above, you can't quite believe that you made it and you're doubting yourself. Were you really qualified to make it? Maybe there was a mistake in your file that they might catch?
Fear of commitment: You look at the other tenured faculty and are deathly afraid that you're now committed to be with them for the next 30 years. Oh god, what have you done. Your dreams of leaving academia and opening a bookstore-cafe by the waters of Lake Michigan are maybe just that, dreams.
Fresh fish: At many places, newly tenured faculty are fresh fish for burdensome committee assignments. e.g.: No one really wants to be the MA grad advisor but it has to be filled by a senior faculty member, thus the 'new guy' gets it. Some senior colleagues may actually tell you that you "owe" them because they "gave" you tenure. Bollycocks. You earned your tenure. You owe no one. Just try to remember the 'just say no' skills that you had as junior faculty and wriggle out of any and all commitments until you can figure out which ones you can tolerate.
Peter Principle: The Peter Principle ("people rise to their level of incompetence") is often misunderstood. It's not that you are incompetent, it's that you've been competent in one domain but promoted to a higher domain than where you've shown competence. Associate and full professors often have to do much more administrative work and intrauniversity politics than assistant/untenured faculty. When you're tenured, work becomes less fun and more bureaucratic.  And you wondered why your senior faculty were all sourpusses. Key to your sanity here is to remain in domains that you're passionate about (teaching, basic research, etc.) and enter into new domains only on your own terms. For example, if the provost wants you to be chair of XYZ onerous committee, then you need $x research funds or to go to y conference or get z course relief (h/t to J and Captain Emacs).
Paradise Syndrome also known as the dog who actually caught the car syndrome. You've been working so hard for so many years for something you finally achieved and suddenly you don't know what to do with it. You have to come up with new life goals and purpose for living (thx Pharap).

The most important thing to remember is that they can't fire you without serious cause. Take a break, say no, piss some people off by not taking on work. Let your brain stretch. Go kayaking. Work on your bucket list. And then after that, try to remember what made you so passionate about your field.

Finally, if you really, really, really want to quit and you can't take sabbatical or get a grant to buy you out for a semester then: take an unpaid leave. The provost should be willing to work with you - if not, you can use FMLA or sick leave if you can get your doctor to agree you need time off. It's better than quitting as it leaves you with your Plan A when you recover.


How should I use a five-minute presentation at the beginning of an academic job interview?

Five minutes is pretty long, so I would at least ask your interviewers if they expect you to cover completely new ground.  I don't know if academia is much different to the real world, but in the real world quite often the interviewers haven't done their homework and going back over previous ground is not unusual.  Not only that they may have reviewed so many people that they think you are someone else.  Often they think they have the star candidate in front of them and the worst thing you can do is let them know otherwise


Who cares about your PhD thesis?

At least your supervisor and your examiners, and potentially anybody seeking to evaluate your work in the future.

The primary reason to be careful with your PhD thesis is to avoid giving a bad impression to your PhD committee. Even if the content is solid, it would be unfortunate to be given major corrections or a lower "cum laude" honor (depending on the local usage) just because a committee member felt that you didn't do much effort with the dissertation.

It is true that most dissertations are not going to be read by many people, but your PhD dissertation is going to be a quite important part of your profile for your whole academic career. A reviewer for a hiring committee might have a cursory look at it, a student considering working with you might be curious about it, etc. Of course it's unlikely to be a major issue, but is it really worth the risk? Even simply for yourself, isn't it worth spending a bit more time in order to have a document you can be proud of in the future?


What happens when a closed form solution to a research problem is not possible?

Most real world problems don't have closed-form solutions. Somehow, we manage.

You write:

  the close-form analytical solution to this problem is not possible

If the impossibility of a closed-form analytic solution is in itself a new result, then that may well be a publishable result. If you can also find an efficient method to get a numerical (approximate) solution, that's either a heavier-weight first paper (combined with the proof of the non-existence of closed-form solution), or it's a second paper in its own right.

You then wrote:

  OR the solution is too complicated.

If there may be a closed-form analytical solution, but it's just too complicated for you to find, then that's an entirely different matter. In which case, you've got nothing to publish. Just a very hard problem that you can either persevere with, or you can stop working on it for a while, and go do something more promising. There's no harm in stopping working on it for a while. Just keep the problem in the back of your mind, along with a handful of other unsolved problems: and every time you learn a new heuristic, algorithm, or solution pattern (or an enhancement to an old one), then try to apply it to the unsolved problems you've been storing up (kudos to the late Richard Feynman for this).


Recommended depth of mathematics for PhD in machine learning

Here is a somewhat different bit of advice. If you are about to apply, and your background is strong enough to get accepted and find a suitable advisor, then just do that now. Let the rest follow.

There is a lot of mathematics that can be applied to machine learning but until you have a specific problem it is hard to say which is best.

But, mathematics is a way of thinking as much as, and perhaps more than, any given topic. So any mathematics that you have time to study now, and for which you have any lack, or any hunger, will probably aid you in that way of thinking.

There are a lot of ways to think, math is just one. For someone in machine learning or any aspect of AI, having lots of ways to approach a problem is a big win.

But get yourself connected first and then look at the specifics of what you need to do.


Should I write something to the reviewer who rejected my manuscript?

You really should respond to all reviewers in your response.  If the only comment was "the contribution isn't strong enough", then you need to reply showing why it is, in fact, strong enough.  You can say something like "We feel that this topic is relevant because x, y, and z, and this manuscript contributes a, b, and c to the field. We have reorganized the introduction to more clearly outline the need for this contribution, and have added a paragraph to the discussion demonstrating the importance of this work."

The second part is important because it shows that you're actually improving the manuscript in response to the reviewer's comments, not just blowing them off.


What is the difference between "not recommended" and "rejected" as outcome of a graduate program application?

At many US universities, the department you apply to makes "recommendations" to the graduate school. Getting the recommendation from the department is usually the hard part -- that's where they review your grades, letters, essays, etc. The recommendations (accept/wait-list/reject) are then forwarded to the graduate school.

It is normally the graduate school that sends the rejection letter. For non-rejected students, the grad school will go through the applications again just to make sure you meet their requirements for admission (you are highly unlikely to get this far if you don't -- but something like unreported academic misconduct might be caught at this stage). If all checks out, they will approve you, and either the school or your department will send your offer letter.

My guess is that it's the department (or someone in the department) that told you that you were "not recommended." Technically, only the graduate school can formally reject you and close your application -- but the odds that the grad school will reverse the decision in this direction is near zero.


Scholarships and the PhD thesis in the Scandinavian system?

From what I have seen (a whole bunch of PhD students, though I have done my PhD elsewhere) is that the research PhD students do is going to be the content of the thesis. The thesis contains two parts, the manuscripts/articles published, and a coherent story based on the work.

So the thesis is a product of the research the students are doing during their PhD.

Now, this might be different for some fields, or funding situations, and quite likely, for industrial PhD positions.


Advisor and co-advisor withholding information, should I leave the lab?

I don't understand the details of your project, but the methods in your project and in the study by your advisors seem to differ not just in detail. Therefore, you should probably bring up the paper in a meeting, and if you do not see "the point" of your project any more in the light of the other outcomes, and ask/discuss with your advisors the added value of your project, given the findings of their other study.

I doubt that anyone has the money and time to support a PhD student working on a project that they do not see any value in.


Is it possible to send an extended version of a low-tier conference paper to a high quality journal?

The short answer is: yes.

The journal review process is generally completely independent of the conference review process.  You will likely face additional skepticism from the reviewers, who may well be rightly prejudiced against the original publication venue.  If your paper really is solidly good enough for the journal you send it to, however, it's likely to do just fine in review there.


Are there "gig economy" resources in academic research? Are they fundable?

I've seen this happen in a sort of temporary 'research assistant/intern' role. Normally there's data that needs to be crunched or transcriptions done and it works to have someone come in to do it whilst the main researchers are doing the actual analysis/research. These can be paid, but usually tend to be from a local university or similar.

For bigger projects, there are transcription and data services available online which can do large volumes of that sort of work for you, normally on a per page/per data set model.

I know you have explicitly said you don't want opinions on if it's a good idea, however I can't ever imagine many people wanting to farm parts of their research out to unknown people on the internet. The vast majority of research is sensitive either in terms of the raw data or in terms of the research goal. It would be too easy for someone to copy your work and beat you to the punch if you were working on something of interest. Therefore I can't really say how it might be funded or what it might be  called, because I can't imagine it actually coming into fruition


What strategies can bring technology resistant faculty on-board?

The question has a hidden assumption: that the technology has no problems and it's merely the faculty that need to be convinced. Having used a few different learning management systems (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, homegrown stuff), I can tell you that this is rarely true.

The people resistant to change are probably resisting because they've seen different incarnations of this technology come and go, and find it annoying to have to keep learning a new system that doesn't present any significant advantages over what they're doing. The significant part is important. There's a cost to making a change, so the new system can't just be as good.

So I'll add to Chris's excellent suggestions as follows:

make it seamless not just to import, but to export easily. In the world of online software, it's important not to have things be gated. I want assurances that if your new system goes away tomorrow, to be replaced by the next new system, that I can easily transfer material from the old system to the new with a few clicks.
demonstrate why this new system isn't going away in a year to be replaced by something else. How you do that is up to you and depends on the system you're pushing.

Bottom line: the perceived attitude in the question is that the faculty are at fault for not adopting new technology, but the truth is that most new tech is crappy and short-lived, and it's natural to want to wait things out. So you have convince people that the new approach is not crappy and will last.


Should I report students that hand in similar reports (up to small permutations) in an assignment?

Yes, report it to the professor.  It is better to err on the side of keeping him informed.

If he considers that it's too minor to pursue further, then he can tell you so, and then you'll know not to report any similar incidents in the future.  But this is ultimately his decision, not yours.


What does "shortlisting for this post is still in progress..." mean in the context of a UK job application?

The message means what it says. The shortlist hasn’t been decided yet. Whoever wrote you the message does not have more information to provide you at this time, or if they do, then they are not at liberty to provide it.

Any additional layers of interpretation that you choose to add to this message, such as inferring that you are longlisted, you add at your own risk. Certainly no one here can tell you whether such an interpretation is valid or not.

Good luck!


Is it fine to submit a paper with acknowledgements in it?

There are two possibilities:

If the review is double-blind, then no -- you should remove the acknowledgements section prior to submission. This is because usually, this section would reveal something about the author's identities. See here for why it is OK to not acknowledge grants/funding at this stage.
If the review is not double-blind, then it doesn't really matter. However, personally I would wait until after review to add acknowledgements, because one of the people I would always thank is the reviewers. It would be strange to submit the paper to review with

  we thank the reviewers for their helpful comments

when they have not actually written those comments yet! If worried about space limitations (as in the thread here), then you can write the acknowledgements, but comment them out prior to submission.

  My friend who is a senior lecturer says it is wrong to submit a paper with acknowledgements and you should add them once the paper is accepted, not to interfere with the review process. Is this correct?

Overall, I agree this is correct. But it is not a serious matter, and different people may have different ideas about this.


Practical Tips: Mathematical research and discoveries

0. To give original contribution to the understanding of mathematical objects is what mathematician do, and talk about all the time. There is a priori no need to fear for ideas being stolen; if you want to play secure, you can publish a preprint to ensure priority.

Given the wording of your question, I assume that you are an amateur mathematician, and that you feel that you may have found something about an important, well-known question. Sorry if this is not the case.

As most mathematicians, I receive demand for advice of this kind from time to time, so here is my usual answer.

Be prepared to have made a mistake,
be prepared to have found something known for a long time,
be prepared to have found something that will not attract interest.

This may sound very negative, but these are the worries that are much more likely to be relevant than seeing your contribution stolen. I have seen recently an amateur publishing on viXra after seeking advice from me, that was afraid of having her ideas stolen. It turned out that her contribution was a few hundred years behind current knowledge.

Researchers in mathematics only succeed in advancing knowledge because they spend much time learning their specialty and keeping up with what is being proven, and we do sometimes reinvent the wheel (I got scooped by 130 years once, realizing that Camille Jordan already solved a cute problem I was interested in), or make mistake, or do things that do not interest our colleagues. It is tremendously difficult to avoid this pitfalls when you don't have access to the literature, don't have colleagues to speak with about your research, don't have a regular seminar to listen to, don't have had a PhD advisor to guide you through your first problems.

So, for a positive piece of advice:

4. learn the field you are interested in (e.g. read books, from the point you are in your knowledge to the field you are interested in). Be prepared for this step to take much time.


Mentioning money in statement of purpose

Actually its well known that research assistance-ships pay less than regular jobs. This is true.

But, I think you should not mention money in the research statement in a blunt way. But you can definitely prove your point in a subtle way:

  Like, After my undergraduate I got multiple offers from multi-national corporations but my passion motivated me to choose a research path over any other.

This is just an example, you can rewrite suiting to your needs.


check out this blog entry on Citing ISO Standards or this site on Bibliographic Citation Standards and Schemes
As you can see there is no definitive answer to you question.

Maybe you ask your thesis advisor.


Suggestions for an alternative grading system

I would suggest a rubric that includes the desired qualities of each category.  If you're really worried about the scale, don't include the numbers or letters at all, or change to something like Roman Numerals.  I would not include more than four or five categories, unless you can really break down differences. E.g.,

I. Not making progress. The student needs to improve his/her leadership skills, to include participating in mentor/mentee relationships with junior students, or actively seeking out lead roles in the lab.
II. Pre-leadership.  The student is new to the lab, and has not yet developed leadership roles.  The student should start looking for opportunities for leadership, and should begin considering the type of leader he or she wants to be.  The student should thoughtfully observe other leaders and their leadership styles.
III. Making progress.  The student is actively engaged in a leadership role in the lab and/or has made mentor/mentee relationships with junior students.  The student should continue to develop his/her leadership skills in these roles.
IV. Excellent leadership development.  The student has actively developed his/her leadership opportunities, and is capable of independent leadership in the lab.  Other students view him/her as a quality leader and are comfortable going to the student for guidance.
V. Phenomenal leader.  The student is qualified to independently lead large groups of other students, and is able to mentor others in leadership roles.

In this example, I would start everyone off at (II).  Everyone will know they should look for leadership opportunities, and it should be relatively easy to get into the (III) category.   Obviously, this is only an example, and can be tailored to your situation.

I'm also trying to find something that won't be too discouraging for students whose leadership scores are below average (seeing a 0 or an F would not get the right message across).

I do think having some sort of forcing function is necessary; otherwise, what is the reason to improve?  In my example, you could tone down "Not making progress" (or take it out), but if you do want to show students who aren't improving that they need to, you should have at least one negative category.


How to respond to a reviewer request for "pictures of a real experiment" when my paper doesn't have experiments?

There are two obvious possibilities here.

The review says only irrelevant things.  In that case, simply respond to the editor: "I was unable to determine the relationship between the comments of Reviewer 1 and the submitted manuscript.  Clarification would be appreciated."  The editor will conclude the referee did not read the paper and the review will be ignored.

The review is unclear due to sloppy writing or limited English skills.  In that case, I would interpret the comment as "Add a graph displaying evidence that the paper is correct."  The response would be "We have added a graph displaying y as a function of x, which supports our conclusion that ..."

Also, when you are a peer reviewer, try not to give vague feedback.