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1500 questions
52
votes
6 answers
Do universities prefer not to hire their own PhD graduates in faculty positions?
I have heard that universities tend not to hire people who earned their PhD there for professorships (tenured or not). (I've read this question, but it's about postdocs: Is it normal that research institutes do not hire their own PhDs for postdoc…
Azor Ahai -him-
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52
votes
7 answers
Should I cancel an interview if I already have a preferable offer?
I've been on the US tenure-track job market. I finally got an offer
(let's call it A) that I am happy with.
However, I have another interview scheduled (let's call it B). I think
it is unlikely that I would prefer B over A. They are comparable…
user90332
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52
votes
4 answers
Is there any evidence that double blind peer review systems are beneficial?
Every so often, I stumble upon a question concerning "double blind peer review", i.e., the authors don't know the reviewers (as usual) but also the reviewers don't know the identity of the authors.
It's always struck me as a rather odd system, with…
user9646
52
votes
3 answers
Persistent issues with salary pay as a postdoc in China: What can I do?
I am a third-time postdoc, and had never before had problems with getting paid. For almost two years now I have been a postdoctoral fellow at a university in southern China. This is my first experience in Asia, and thus I am not sure of how common…
Scientist
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51
votes
1 answer
Should I share the prize money from a paper award for my graduate work with my former PhD advisor?
I am a postdoc, and with my former Ph.D. adviser have won a paper award which includes a sizable prize (10k+). I am the first author on the paper, and he is the second. The work is entirely mine, but he has been an excellent second author and mentor…
Industrademic
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51
votes
11 answers
What should a proper email signature look like for graduate students?
So far, what I have is
First and Last Name
Title
Group/Lab Name
School Name
Address and Phone
I'm especially confused about the "title". I'm not sure if it should say "Graduate Student", "Research Assistant", or "PhD Candidate".. What do you…
cartonn
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51
votes
6 answers
How do I know how well I am progressing in my PhD?
A striking difference between being a student following courses and a PhD student doing research is the independence and lack of rigid structures such as homework and exams. I started a PhD in biophysics in the Netherlands a bit over a year ago and…
PianoEntropy
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51
votes
7 answers
What are the ethical considerations when publishing a cheating technique?
Suppose I have devised a way to cheat at cards, exams or any other situation in which secret communication with other people or machines provides unfair advantage. The method is novel and uses original technology and algorithms such that I think…
Cape Code
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51
votes
5 answers
Include a mistake that cost extra when asking for reimbursement after faculty interview?
I was interviewing for a faculty position in a large city. When I was done I took a taxi to the airport... the wrong airport! I ended up taking another taxi to the correct airport and catching my flight. However, the second taxi ride was around…
svonimir
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51
votes
5 answers
What to do when you are a promised a research-based research associate role but are required to act in an IT support role?
First some background. Two years ago I joined a research group as a research associate. My intention in obtaining that position was to publish with the group and build some academic capital, but in the two years I have been there, I have been…
Anon
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51
votes
10 answers
How do I improve my rewriting and editing skills?
When writing academic papers, I am really bad at improving what I have already written. I have heard that most of the time writing should be allotted to revisions. I know a few academics who are really good at keeping on revising until they are…
Memming
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51
votes
4 answers
Publication - discovered an error in the proof of theorem which the referees have not spotted, what to do?
I have finished my Phd in maths shortly. A few days ago, I have heard a revision decision from a very good journal where I submitted my paper. The comments from referees are generally fairly positive, and are not too difficult to address. However, I…
mathsfm
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51
votes
3 answers
What should be done about a professor who treats foreign students worse than domestic students?
My school and my department has a lot of undergraduate students from China. When I took this instructor's class, he routinely
pressured the foreign students to answer questions about their home country that they weren't comfortable answering. (This…
user60356
51
votes
10 answers
How to buy plane tickets for job interviews?
I am currently on the academic job market, and scheduling on-campus interviews with institutions that might want to hire me.
Suppose I am invited to an on-campus interview at the University of X, and must travel there by air. They handle travel on…
Nate Eldredge
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51
votes
3 answers
Is there such a thing like "18-months/half-time syndrome"?
I am about 1, 5-2 years in my Ph.D. studies in the no-man's-land between bioinformatics, systems biology and proteomics. (If you are not sure what those terms are, read: "biomedical research")
Coming from a more mathematical/technical background I…
posdef
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