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1500 questions
45
votes
5 answers
Lost respect for advisor. How to complete PhD?
Overview
I am a physics PhD student, currently in my fourth year, in a US university. During the last couple of years, I have been experiencing a decrease on the respect I have for my advisor, for a series of reasons. Besides all the stuff related…
anonymous
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5 answers
Why are most cranks old men?
What To Do When The Trisector Comes claims that most cranks (for lack of a better word) are old men (trisector refers to a specific type of crank):
One obvious characteristic of trisectors is that they are old. The typical trisector heard of the…
Allure
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45
votes
14 answers
What should I (a professor) do if a student keeps answering other students' questions before I start explaining?
I have a student who keeps answering other students' questions before I could even start explaining. What should I do in this case? Should I ask them to come meet with me? If so, how should I convey that it is not ok and it is not their job.
user119361
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45
votes
12 answers
Academic freedom to select textbooks and use multiple-choice tests on occasion in my courses?
I am a professor at a Community College. My department has adopted policies through a majority vote . The two policies I have questions about are:
An instructor must use the approved textbook for any particular course.
An instructor may not use…
B flat
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45
votes
2 answers
My professor changed a take-home test to an in-class test with no notice. Can I fight the grade?
I’m a college student. For a recent test, the professor originally said that the test was extremely difficult and long and therefore they were going to send us a picture of the exam an hour and a half before we had to take it. They said an hour and…
Caliber srt4
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45
votes
11 answers
Should I be an author on another PhD student's paper if I went to their meetings and gave advice?
My PhD supervisor (in the field of artificial intelligence) invited me to several meetings with another PhD student. Since I have more knowledge than my supervisor in some topics, I made many suggestions about how this student could improve his…
user1998012
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45
votes
18 answers
Should students have access to past exams or an exam bank?
Something I never understood is how in so many undergrad classes North America, the students are allowed to have past exams that they are allowed to study over.
It never made sense to me because it is apparent that this practice could cause so many…
Shamisen Expert
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45
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4 answers
Why do so many pure math PhD students in the USA drop out or leave academia, compared to applied mathematics PhDs in the USA?
I notice that many pure math PhD students, doing things like algebraic geometry or representation theory, drop out and enter industry and become software developers. The ones who finish their pure math PhDs also drop out and do things such as…
user110869
45
votes
5 answers
Doing research in academia and not liking competition
In short: is it possible to do research in academia (starting from a PhD position up to being a professor) while not liking competition?
I was an athlete in high school and I left because I was not really able to perform well under pressure. I…
wrong_path
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votes
5 answers
Are cover letters sent to referees and should you highlight the contribution of your paper in the cover letter?
How to write a cover letter to journal when submitting a manuscript?
In the letter, it is expected that I propose 5 referees. Is this the only reason to write a cover letter?
Will the cover letter be sent to the referees or only to Journal's…
Mooncer
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45
votes
5 answers
Is it acceptable to use working hours to read general interest books?
Every year are published around a dozen of books directly related to my research. By directly I mean on the same topics of my research, normally by authors I am familiar with, and potential reference sources for my current or future research. Some…
luchonacho
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45
votes
7 answers
How to explain that I do not want to visit a country due to personal safety concern?
I have been invited to visit a professor in a different country. I am very reluctant to go. The government of this country is currently under investigation by the UN for suspicions of crimes against humanity targeted at people of the same ethnic…
user105594
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45
votes
2 answers
Strange Sign on Lab Door
I saw a strange sign on a door to a geophysics lab in a museum in Switzerland. I was really curious about what it means and wanted to know if anyone is familiar with this sign.
Here's the full image of the door so you can see the context/type of…
Giesbrecht
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45
votes
10 answers
About to write my PhD thesis and I don't know the basics and fundamentals. I am feeling unworthy of the PhD title. What should I do?
My PhD work is on modeling a 3D printing process using a commercial FEM software. But I am not confident with basics of finite element theory, non linear Finite element analysis to be accurate, which I learnt by self study. My work was mostly…
user103945
45
votes
5 answers
What is it called when authors trade citations?
Citation is one metric of researchers. That is why some of them lend citation to one another. For example, A writes a paper and cites B's work in it, and then B does the same for A, without the citations being relevant to the works.
Is there any…
Sasan
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