Academia Stack Exchange
Academia Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
63
votes
14 answers

I got accepted into a math PhD program but I don't feel adequate enough to attend

I got accepted into a school that I really wanted to go to for a math PhD. I finished my masters and I love math very much. It's something that I've always been extremely passionate about. I used to always go for representation theory seminars with…
user477465
  • 703
  • 1
  • 5
  • 8
63
votes
10 answers

Any good way to tell a faculty candidate "We don't want you"?

I serve on a faculty search committee at a large university here in the US. The part of the job none of us enjoys is informing a candidate who's visited and given a teaching demonstration that we've decided not to recommend a hire. We do it in…
Nicole Hamilton
  • 31,013
  • 8
  • 80
  • 121
62
votes
6 answers

How to toughen up against hostile students as a TA?

I did not have a good experience when I TA'ed the first time. I faced a hostile student who refused to accept that he was wrong and didn't give me a good reason why he should deserve more marks. He showed a propensity for violence, shouted at me…
Rapidturtle
  • 1,789
  • 2
  • 15
  • 20
62
votes
12 answers

Using nonstandard gender-neutral pronouns to refer to myself in academic writing

I am currently preparing my first formal work for publication, which I am the sole author on. While working through final edits, I've come across a few places where I refer to myself and would prefer not to gender myself as female (eg. "the PI also…
Li.Elce
  • 767
  • 1
  • 5
  • 11
62
votes
4 answers

How long does it usually take for published articles to show up on Google Scholar?

The title pretty much says it all - what's the typical delay with which Google Scholar indexes newly published articles? (Note I'm not talking about citations, but about the article showing up at all.) Edit: the article in question went for over six…
tparker
  • 2,099
  • 3
  • 14
  • 21
62
votes
4 answers

Can my UK PhD permit me to use the title "Dr.-Ing." in Germany?

I'm moving to Germany in a couple of weeks and I'll be setting up as a freelancer. I'm just curious about my title though. I got my PhD in the UK in 2015, it states "Doctor of Philosophy" on the certificate, as usual, but my research was in Computer…
Matt
  • 583
  • 1
  • 4
  • 7
62
votes
9 answers

How to deal with a colleague who won't accept they're wrong

Sometimes an argument will arise between collaborators where two (or more) contrasted views or (mis)interpretations of a scientific issue exist. Sometimes both views are partially correct, sometimes they're both incorrect, and sometimes one is…
Miguel
  • 7,867
  • 3
  • 38
  • 66
62
votes
6 answers

I don't want to do research (First year tenure-track faculty)

I'm currently in my first semester as a tenure-track faculty in a small liberal arts college. I also finished my dissertation and defended about 5 months ago. While I'm grateful that I've got a tenure-track job as a newly minted Ph.D., I'm…
user64731
  • 531
  • 1
  • 4
  • 4
62
votes
7 answers

I found published results of my mentor to be wrong. How to tell her?

For the last few days, I have been trying to reproduce things in a published paper (in quite a reputed journal) from my field. My postdoc mentor is the last author of the paper and the main work was carried out by her collaborators from a different…
Peaceful
  • 2,335
  • 3
  • 16
  • 20
62
votes
7 answers

How to penalize students who copy each other but don't realize they have plagiarized?

I gave my students an opportunity to rewrite one of their papers for extra points. As I was grading, I realized that two papers were almost identical. They had a similar structure, organization, and presented ideas in a similar manner. I asked the…
Kar Masia
  • 1,411
  • 1
  • 11
  • 17
62
votes
7 answers

Why attend predatory colleges in the US?

I just read this article about predatory colleges in the US: S. Cagle, These students were ruined by predatory colleges. Now they’re getting even. I am not from the US and didn't ask in the comments of that site because I wouldn't want to insult…
Valjean
  • 1,254
  • 2
  • 10
  • 13
62
votes
6 answers

How can I tell my advisor that I'm not going to work for free?

I am an undergraduate student of Physics in Spain. This year I have to prepare my bachelor thesis and I also applied for a fellowship with the same advisor to do further research on the same topic. I wasn't awarded the fellowship and I told my…
S -
  • 744
  • 1
  • 5
  • 12
62
votes
5 answers

How to substantiate the claim that something is not known?

I am writing a master's thesis (in Number Theory) and there are multiple places where I need to claim that something is not yet known. Since I am not an expert (and even if I were) I would like to reference some more authoritative source than myself…
A.P.
  • 633
  • 5
  • 10
62
votes
8 answers

What physical contact, if any, is acceptable between a supervisor and a student?

I was rather surprised that in this answer which suggests that a supervisor giving a side-hug to a research assistant is acceptable behaviour. I try and limit the physical contact with my students/postdocs/assistants to hand shakes and high fives,…
StrongBad
  • 104,237
  • 30
  • 262
  • 484
62
votes
9 answers

Is it appropriate to buy a "thank you" gift for a PhD supervisor?

I am nearing the end of my PhD and I would quite like to buy a "thank you" gift for my supervisor (although, she's the socially awkward type who I'm sure will be greatly embarrassed to receive one). I'm just wondering whether a gift is the done…
lemon
  • 1,313
  • 2
  • 10
  • 16
1 2 3
…
99 100