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1500 questions
53
votes
3 answers
How to get people to reply to emails and what to make of a no response?
Most people in research probably have first-hand experience regarding how difficult it is to get some people to reply to emails, e.g. (but not limited to) some reputed professors. It is also difficult to establish how to interpret a lack of…
Miguel
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53
votes
8 answers
Ethics of Accepting Unneeded Merit Based Scholarships
I come from a fairly wealthy background, and am lucky enough to have parents who are both footing the bill for my tuition, as well as providing a very comfortable living stipend while I'm in school.
Without thinking much about it, I dropped a resume…
ebrts
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53
votes
9 answers
As an instructor, how to use the first day of class?
I found some relevant advice on the first day of teaching online (e.g. here, here, here, and here). Common themes include setting expectations, motivating the course content, and having two-way interactions with students.
Besides for reviewing the…
ff524
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53
votes
10 answers
What distinguishes top researchers from mediocre ones?
I am a PhD student studying theoretical physics at a US institution. I am now beginning my fourth year in the program, and struggling to solve my first research problem. I see PhD students around me keep writing papers while I am still struggling to…
slepton
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53
votes
12 answers
How to react to a student’s panic attack in an oral exam?
Suppose, I am an examiner in an oral exam. I have done my best to design and conduct the exam to reduce students’ anxiety, but it just didn’t work: The student has a panic attack that makes it impossible to continue the exam in a regular way. How…
Wrzlprmft
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53
votes
3 answers
Masters' advisor uses my work without citing it - Journal decided to intervene
About a month ago, I read a new article published by my previous advisor and three other researchers in a top journal. I noticed that part of it uses part of my master's thesis, only written as if they are the ones who did it.
It is the second time…
Uri
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53
votes
3 answers
Why does academia.edu reserve the right to sell, modify, and "exploit" my papers if I post them there?
In academia.edu's terms of service, it says
By making available any Member Content on or through the Site or Services, you hereby grant to Academia.edu a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the…
David Ketcheson
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53
votes
5 answers
How to differentiate "imposter syndrome" from actual lack of suitability for grad. school/academia?
A lot of graduate students/applicants, it seems, suffer from "imposter syndrome." Typically, these are bright, high-achieving students, who nonetheless doubt their ability, and this most likely stems from the competitive and selective nature of…
user124395
53
votes
14 answers
How should I deal with discouragement looking at others success?
I'm a master CS student. I had so many troubles in my life. I didn't have proper schooling and were in difficult situations which led to me being not so good compared to my peers now at the graduate school. For example I had problems with math and…
Jack Twain
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53
votes
6 answers
How to avoid and address a lack of gender diversity in grant proposals?
I just got reviews back on a grant proposal.
On the whole the reviews were positive, but one reviewer criticised us because the five PIs are all male.
The proposed project arises naturally out of a couple of strands of work that we’ve been doing…
user125303
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53
votes
10 answers
I did something I am not proud of, and was rightly accused of cheating by the instructor. What is next for me?
A throwaway account for this issue I need advice in. I am in an engineering course and had an online exam (thanks to COVID-19) with no form of protection for cheating, just an "open now, turn in within 2 hours" exam. I spent way too much time…
throwaway-89760
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53
votes
2 answers
How to avoid the repetition of "I" while writing a cover letter for an academic job?
I use active voice for cover letter and while doing that I end up with too many "I" and most of the sentences in my letter also begin with "I". This makes my letter quite boring. I would appreciate if you share your suggestion/tips to avoid this…
rana
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53
votes
7 answers
I know that there is a preselected candidate for a position to be filled at my department. What should I do?
There is a rather attractive position to be filled at my department. The heads of department are already quite sure about who should fill this position. Jobs being filled with preselected candidates are not exactly legal, but common practice in my…
123happytree
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53
votes
5 answers
I left college in the last semester (did not finish), but the college "transferred military experience to credits" and gave me a diploma. Normal?
When I was in community college (2016), I wasn't on good terms with the school. I was harassed occasionally and complained about it very forcefully to representatives of the administration. I passed my classes, but didn't do homework and had an…
some_guy632
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53
votes
10 answers
Are authors of papers okay with receiving questions from people in industry?
Would authors of a paper be okay with fielding technical questions about the paper (implementation, theory, etc.) from a person in industry?
I see this as a moral grey area because an engineer in industry is in some way profiting off the work of a…
Carpetfizz
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