text:
Pay fees to get your name on the paper
I have received an email from a researcher, who work on topics related to my field of research. The researcher asked if I'm interested in collaboration, and then explained that they have an almost ready-to-submit paper and they need funding (fees for Open Access journals). I'm assuming what this person means is that if I just provide the funding, then my name automatically goes on the paper!! I consider this to be unethical, even if I can add something to the paper.
I was wondering, is this common? Is it ethical?

Does this answer your question? Co-authorship in exchange for paying conference fee

also related/duplicate: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/157846/how-should-i-respond-to-an-offer-to-pay-a-bribe-for-authorship-fraud

How do you know this isn't a scam? Have they sent you part of their work for you to verify they aren't just trying to get money from you? If they have, have you checked that it's not something already submitted by someone else they are just trying to use to sound legit? Have you researched the person themselves to see if they are actually who they say they are?

This is not a duplicate of the first link, since this is from the perspective of someone who received an offer of authorship, while the linked question involves a student whose professor offered someone else authorship.

It is hard to judge from a distance since we don't know their actual motivation. If they are asking for true collaboration, even if just to get your buy-in and confirmation on the ideas, then it could be fine.
But "buying in" in the sense of providing funds but not ideas isn't ethical.
It likely happens, but I doubt that it is too common. Junior researchers are less likely to have the funds and senior researchers are less likely to need an additional paper, especially if they don't really vet the ideas.
Perhaps the "ask" was just awkward rather than improper, but it does seem a bit "icky".
If you are interested, talk to them about the collaboration. Then go from there.

It may start to become more common, now that personal funding isn't always necessary. Often simply having the right affiliation is enough to get gold OA via a transformative agreement.


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Finding research assistant online
I work at a teaching-oriented college, where no postgraduate programs exist, and no research assistants hired. I have a research idea, but due to teaching load, I am thinking about hiring a research assistant online (zoom meetings) to do some of the programming/coding and data analysis/visualization under my instructions. I plan to pay this research assistant (of course it is a part-time job) and add him/her as a co-author. Do you think this is academically acceptable? Are there any downsides in doing such a thing?
Note: in case someone suggests to find a motivated undergrad student to help, I don't have time to teach them the advanced programming I require in my work, so I will be looking for someone who is already expert in programming and is interested to work with me on my idea.

Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/181975/hiring-freelancers-for-research-projects

I think it is academically acceptable. You should ask your chair.
That said, good professional part time programming is expensive. Supervising that kind of help will be time consuming. Making sure your requirements are right and correctly understood and testing the results will be  your responsibility. Teaching a motivated undergraduate who was already a good programmer (such folks exist at many places) might in fact be easier and more rewarding for all concerned.

This sounds perfectly fine. You have an idea, and want to employ someone to help you. As long as you go through the correct HR procedures to write a job description and hire someone, and follow academic protocols around assigning authorship, then it looks good to me.

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What are the tips for getting promoted to a Program Coordinator at a 2-year college?
I am a fresh graduate from my graduate program who just landed a casual instructor position at a 2-year college.
In the 2-year college that I will be working for, instructors are usually hired as a casual employee but they can become a permanent full-time faculty for the college if they later progress into a more senior role such as a Program Coordinator.
As an instructor who is just starting out, initially my focus would be on teaching my course well. However, I am curious about the tips on how I can progress into a Programmer Coordinator role from being just a casual instructor.
What should I do as a casual instructor to increase my chance of becoming a Program Coordinator for my 2-year college?
Thank you,

What country are you in?

I live in Canada

First a warning, then some advice.
Existing programs often have a lot of inertia and a lot of people who think everything is just fine. If a new person comes in suggesting changes, it can be taken as criticism and you will get a lot of resistance. So, proceed cautiously, with some patience.
But, long term, think about the nature of the curriculum. What is taught and how it is taught. Is it modern both in content and pedagogy?
Are there other, related, programs that would benefit the students? Are there "advanced" courses that would help them, or even a few of the best of them?
What professional contacts do the faculty have that can be used to benefit students and can you develop a circle yourself that will help "boost" students? For those not continuing after graduation, what contacts with local business can you develop?
Are there student clubs that are or could be beneficial? Is there a "speakers program" that brings in outsiders to talk to (work with) students? Is there an internship program?
How about speakers that the faculty would find interesting?
Lots of things are possible, but they go beyond teaching individual courses and need to be approached carefully.
But even for the teaching, do an excellent job. Give a lot of feedback. Listen to students. Answer their questions. Open communication lines. Find a way for every student to be a success, not just the bright ones. And don't forget to provide a challenge for the bright ones. If you don't do the teaching job well then you won't get a chance to advance.
If you can become indispensable without too much rocking the boat, you can move upward. But spend a year or more looking, thinking, and evaluating.
The movie "Stand and Deliver" was about secondary school, but think about Jaime Escalante, though he tended to rock the boat.

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PhD opportunities in Spring in US universities
I am facing a dilemma regarding whether or not to apply for Spring for PhD programs at some universities in US. What are the pros and cons of applying for PhD or MS programs in Spring?

Most PhD programs, and many master's programs, in the US only offer one admissions cycle per year, with programs starting in the fall. This is in part because of the PhD program encompassing classwork as well as research.
The main issue that speaks against spring admissions is that in most programs, the coursework begins in the fall semester, and any "sequences" (where course Y depends on course X) will often begin in the fall semester. Thus, starting in the spring semester may mean that your coursework phase will need to extend longer, so there's no real advantage between starting in the spring and waiting until the following fall.
Where there might be an advantage is if you are able to use some of the time for finding a research group (if that is necessary for a research thesis for the master's degree); in some cases, you could even get a head start on the thesis work, which could allow you to finish somewhat faster.

Also, most of the funding decisions, both departmental and research-group, are made on an academic-year cycle.

@paulgarrett: Yes, but a grant award funding additional students can come in at virtually any time.

In mathematics, the funding cycle is academic-year, so unless someone else got de -funded, chances are slim that there'd be an extra "unit" of support just lying around.

@paulgarrett: In my experience, NSF funding can be timed to hit just about any day of the year, and you are certainly free to write almost any start date into your own grants. I have grants that start all over the map, though many of them start in the US summer or early fall.

@BillBarth, well, NSF math gives the impression of having a precise cycle that they like. Maybe I've read too much into it.

@paulgarrett, it could be that MPS and mathematics in particular may have a more defined process, but NSF in general isn't that specific in my experience.

I started grad school in the spring of 1998, immediately after I finished my undergrad the previous fall. I happened to be continuing at the same university with an advisor that I had worked with some during undergrad. Aeismail is probably right, but it can be done. I spent the time starting to do a little research and taking a few interesting classes that were outside the standard new-graduate student sequence. You probably won't shorten your time in grad school with a spring start, but you might enjoy it more with a warm-up semester. If you can make $50k+ by waiting til the fall, that might be worth it.

Were you formally admitted through a standard admissions process, or was it an informal arrangement since you were "staying put?"

Hard to say. I certainly did a formal application, but I can't recall the rest. It's been a long time.

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How to become a journal editor?
Being an editor of a journal can be time-consuming, but has obvious benefits (especially if one enjoys reading and reviewing manuscripts). So I expect many academics have a desire to become an editor.
I have never seen an advertisement for a position on an editorial board, which leads me to believe that most positions are not filled this way.
How do most people become editors, and how might a person wishing to become an editor achieve this (without setting up a new journal)?

You mean a communicating editor or a chief editor? Because there's a big difference in the typical hiring process.

@yo' I'd be interested in both. Though not all journals use those titles/roles.

Even though not all journals use these titles, most journals have the two things separated in some way. I tried to make a reasonable answer.

Open positions in journal editorial boards are frequently not advertised (though that happens). Instead, when a vacancy appears, the chief editor will typically look for people with the required expertise and ask them whether they would be willing to serve.
Often, editors will have different specialties. So an editor who is stepping down would need to be replaced in his specific area of expertise. Given that he is an expert and should have a good overview of his specific field, he will most likely be asked to suggest possible replacements.
Chief editors will usually be "elevated" from among the non-chief editors, since these already know the journal and its specifics.

So, how to go about to be invited as an editor? Two things:

Build a reputation as an expert in a specific field. Submit good quality papers to the journal you are most interested in (and others), go to conferences etc.
Build a reputation as dependable and articulate. Hand in reviews promptly, and write good reviews. Editors remember people who write good reviews.

Of course, this is not a guarantee of being asked for an editorship.

There are in general two types of editors, and their role is quite different.
First, you have the editors-in-chief or editors-in-charge. There is usually one of them for a journal, sometimes a small group (if the journal has dozens of issues a year). These "run" the journal, but are not responsible for the scientific quality of the papers. They can be scientists themselves, but quite often they are not active in science and their editorial job is a full-time.
Second, you have the communicating editors. There can be tens of them. Each of them is usually responsible for communicating the papers in some sub-field of the journal's field; so in a graph theory journal, you'll have someone for dealing with graph algorithms, someone for Ramsey theory, etc. These are supposed to be active scientists in their field since only then they know the right people to review the paper and they can have a good level of judgment over the paper's quality themselves.

So, the hiring process differs a lot. If a non-scientist is sought for, a standard competition will usually be held, the position announced through various means (mailing lists, job advert sites, LinkedIn, etc.). You can simply join the competition, send your CV and other required documents and hope.
On the other hand, if a specialist scientist is sought for, then usually what Stephan Kolassa describes is the case: the editor-in-chief will look for people based on the journal's experience with the people and ask them on a personal basis.

Remark: The terminology may differ from journal to journal, and also the actual situation may differ. Especially with small journals, even editor-in-chief need not to have it as a full-time job, and he can do research himself. It just depends.

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How to handle a failed PostDoc
I am currently into a very worrying situation. I landed a position as a PostDoc about 2 years ago, to join a new project and I was really excited about it. However, ever since I started, I have found myself with difficulties to obtain results, to the point that in these two years I have not been able to publish anything at all. I have been mostly struggling with worthless calculations and technical problems that all at once, have pushed me back from making any progress.
This situation has created a bit of anxiety on me, even after all constant signs of trust that I have received from the project's PI: she was from the beginning aware that this was a difficult project to work on. Even with that, we have not interacted a lot, but I would say in general she has always trusted me. The situation has always been in my mind like I am not the right person for this project, and this added to the lack of results is making me face the truth that sadly and academic career is not made for me after all. I feel discouraged about this, but also uncertain about my future, since even if I would look for jobs in industry, my big publications gap does not really stand out to any hiring commitee. I am currently working on two different projects suggested by my PI, one of them can possibly lead to a publication soon and the other is a bit more uncertain... But after all I have experienced, I do not really have a lot of hopes, I have even considered attending professional help.
Are there any PostDocs that have suffered a similar situation? And more importantly, do you have any tips on how to handle it? What are the right choices to make from now on given that my contract will expire in some few months?

Yes, there are many postdocs that have suffered the same problem. I am one, and I know of many others, particularly in the last 2 years. Why particularly in the last 2 years? well, don't forget one of the biggest life changing events of the century has been going on. The truth is: its just a postdoc, its just 2 years. Move on, find the next postdoc  if you want academia, or otherwise go to industry. But 1 bad job is 1 bad job, not the defining feature of your life. Move on, do better next time.

Good news is that, even with my lack of publications in the last 2 years, I got a job in a top uni, its less catastrophic than you (and me) think. This publish of perish gets in the brain, but you are more than the sum of your publications.

"even if I would look for jobs in industry, my big publications gap does not really stand out to any hiring committee"  I've heard from many people that your publication record matters very little in industry (though this depends on the industry)

I m exactly in the same situation in a 1,5 years postdoc. What did you do in the end?

While I agree with Rolf that speaking with your advisor is useful and with DrG9605 that counseling might be helpful, let me add another idea.
Perhaps it is just that you have tackled a more difficult, and perhaps more important, research question than is typical so that "success" in the form of papers takes longer, perhaps a lot longer.
In my fields (math and cs) there are open problems that have been elusive for a century. There are also problems that actually can't be resolved within the existing axiom systems used in math and logic.
I once worked on a problem in which I could develop results every week. It was abandoned as being without real merit. Cute, but trivial. I then worked on a problem that was so difficult that I couldn't get any real handle on it at all. Like cracking diamonds, not eggs. I abandoned that one as well, since I needed to actually finish my degree.
But you may need to try, with your advisor, to decide whether the problem is really amenable to solution in a limited time frame (length of a post-doc). Some problems are fine to tackle (part time) for a tenured professor, since there are no real time limits on finding a solution as long as you can be productive in other ways.
But, research on a schedule isn't possible. It isn't anything like running trains in Europe on tight schedules. If it is real research then you are exploring the unknown and it is a feature of the unknown that we don't always know how to make it known.
Think in terms of your long term goals, which include your next career move. If you can achieve that, with your advisor's help, then you are probably fine. But hard problems are, um, hard.

The OP mentions something positive here: trust from the postdoc advisor (and vice-versa I assume).
Publication output is one of the most important measures of success in academia. Industry generally has different measures of success.
It appears the relationship to the postdoc advisor is good. It might be worthwhile discussing the situation with them and asking them if they are able to write a positive recommendation letter for industry jobs. In such a letter the lack of publication output could be excused by the nature of the project, but hard work ethics, skills, etc., could still be highlighted.

The recommendation letter should certainly be gauged to the position (and the postdoc advisor will likely know how to do that). I would doubt though that there are too many hiring managers in industry (if it's an industry that regularly gets applicants from academia) who are unaware about the importance of publications in academia. Not addressing the lack of publications at all could be bad, as it could leave it up for guessing why there are none (lack of writing [read as communication] skills?). It could be done positively: "Two-year project xyz is currently being written up in a manuscript."

And the whole Covid thing that has messed with everyone’s plans…

I recommend the counseling route. I was shocked to learn of all of my peers in grad school who were in counseling. This process can be brutal, so they would seek help.
Early in my  grad experience I realized that the men professors seemed to be in martial arts and women professors  in yoga (don’t mean to be sexist but this was the pattern I noticed). Again, even for professors the job is brutal.
So self-care is important!
I agree with the other comment - have an honest conversation with PI - and maybe together you can strategize about next steps.

I don't see the situation as positively as some of the other answer authors. If the only positive thing you can say is "she has always trusted me" but otherwise "we have not interacted a lot", then that's not by itself an indicator of much.
To me it says "I'm not going to help you, if you fail it's 100% your fault". Anyone can generate encouraging sounding platitudes, but if there's been no effort to offer meaningful assistance, then "I trust you" sounds empty.

I am currently working on two different projects suggested by my PI, one of them can possibly lead to a publication soon and the other is a bit more uncertain... But after all I have experienced, I do not really have a lot of hopes, I have even considered attending professional help.

Another trait found in sub-optimal supervisors is to lead those under them to feel that it's somehow their own fault when thing don't go well. Yes a post-doc is generally a mostly-independent effort but a supervisor does have some responsibility to mentor and help. Of course not all do, and some are brutal,  but a good one will.
If seeking counseling will help you identify if the "I trust you" is anything more than a platitude, or if "maybe I'm the problem" has managed to get into your head without belonging there, then go for it.
Also please consider discussing with trusted and impartial friends. Part of the problem may be that you've been so focused on this work that you haven't made good contact with fellow postdocs in your department (or other departments) and so have been deprived of camaraderie and support that's really important for most of us.
If that's the case, see if you can find other postdocs to start up a casual conversation with and drift to your current situation. You can ask "Does your supervisor help you when you get stuck, or do they just throw you into the water and expect you to learn to swim?" or similar.

As a voice from industry, the goals differ somewhat in that profit, product development, inventions, teamwork (with much individual effort)are key. When a product or invention is forthcoming consider yourself as being 'published'. Effort otherwise spent in seeking funding is traded for private research to aid your employer. Teaching can become a sideline. You will do much writing to department heads, team members and customers. As a personal note after 12 or more patents, I have never reread one of them after publication; the work itself is satisfying.
DaveM2 Nov.2021

You have not failed anything, yet. It is possible in research that a project or even a well though out method will not lead to publication. I have several methods that I spent months on without any success.
The important aspect, in my opinion, is to let it go before it is too late. You don't have to let it go permanently. Side track to a simpler topic, one that could lead to publication easier. You may contact your supervisor for a topic like that. You could work with some other research group. Get some publications out. Then if you still wish, you can go back to the previous problem.


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How should I report a prior plagiarism offence from undergrad after being admitted to grad school?
I'm currently enrolled in a Master's coursework program in Australia and I've just completed my first semester. I've been looking into going to law school in Australia after I'm done. I submitted my law school application and I got accepted but here's where I encountered my current problem.
I was reading over my master's application and in the fine print, it asks me to declare that I have not been excluded or subject to disciplinary action at the university level. I missed this when I was applying and that's my fault. See, I plagiarized and was found guilty during the first semester of my Canadian undergraduate degree. I plead guilty and took the penalties, which included a reduction in my final grade. There is no notation on my transcript. I never plagiarized again and felt extremely ashamed for what I had done. Now that I have become aware of this error in my master's application, I'm wondering how I tell my university about it. I do not want to hide it and I want to make them aware of the issue. Who should I contact at my university?
Also, in my law school application, it asked if I had been excluded or suspended from a course or asked to show why my enrollment should not be suspended/terminated. While there are no questions about plagiarism, how should I disclose this issue to the law school?

For 99% of the people I know, it is a no-brainer.  Don't say a thing. But, I think if you take the advise, you'll feel bad about it. So I have a different advise. Go into politics and become a president. We need people like you there.

@Magicsowon, hmmm. People who cheat? People who cheat and feel bad about it? People who cheat and feel bad, but hide it anyway? What sort of people do we need?

@Buffy Read the text of the question. OP's moral compass seems fine. Yes, she cheated once, she learned from it, and won't do it again. Can you say the same about 99% of the people you know?

There's nothing beneficial in this action.

Hard questions. I can't advise you, but have several thoughts that may help.
Starting with the second question. If your reading of the law school application question is correct, you have nothing to report. You were not suspended or terminated for the cheating you did as a first semester college student.
For the first question I doubt that your current Master's program would care about this. If you have good relations with your advisor and can raise the question with them informally, try that. The academics I know would say (as you do) that the lesson learned was sufficient and that you need do nothing else.
Good luck.

This was a law school application. I would hope and expect that law school and the profession itself has high standards about personal honesty. I would also expect that any transgressions, if found out, would be grounds for dismissal. Or am I just hopelessly  naive?

@Buffy this is a law school application.  If any school is going to get "ask exactly the questions they want to know the answer to" right, it's going to be a law school.  If they did not ask about that specific thing, then they did not ask about that specific thing.

First, the easy question

Also, in my law school application, it asked if I had been excluded or
suspended from a course or asked to show why my enrollment should not
be suspended/terminated.

You don't need to mention it on your law school application as it doesn't ask about it.
Now how to handle the other question

I was reading over my master's application and in the fine print, it asks me to declare that I have not been excluded or subject to disciplinary action at the university level.

And here you made a mistake.  I'm going to assume there was no "Explain any disciplinary action" box you missed and it was an honest mistake.
You've got 3 options
Say Nothing
If your current school finds out there will likely be another hearing with more consequences.  Your previous school didn't see the infraction as serious enough to put a letter in your file.  We don't know how serious the allegations were.
Ask your advisor for advice
If you have a good relationship with your advisor, ask them for advice.  Be sure to give them a detailed explanation of what happened.  They'll be the best judge of how serious the issue was instead of people on the internet.
Tell the university
You could tell the university in a written letter.  I'm not sure how your university is structured so you'll have to do some legwork to determine where to send it (admissions might be a place to start).
I would lean towards getting your advisor's opinion, but you have far more details about this than we do.  I also would not expect the university to "go easy on you" for being honest.  You're in the best position to decide how serious your infraction was.
EDIT - re-read the application
I'd be a bit surprised if your university simply didn't accept anyone with any disciplinary action.  There are students like yourself who learned from the experience and changed your behavior.
There are also students who may not be guilty.  In my undergrad, there was a cheating scandal where ~10 students turned in the same code.  One student was making an A, the rest were D level.  It ended up in front of a disciplinary committee which determined they all had to retake the class (among other things).
The general consensus among the rest of the students was someone waited for the A student to take a bathroom break and leave the computer lab then copied his code.  No one had any proof of this and the disciplinary committee didn't want to say "One of you has an A the rest have Ds, A guy gets a pass."

+1 don't mention it to the law school. Don't go shooting yourself in the foot for no reason.

If the master's application has an obligatory item where you have to declare any disciplinary action at the university level, they may not pay attention to such kind of cases you got in during your first semester. But they can interpret it as an attempt to hide the truth to make a better impression.
I suppose that you should clarify this moment - probably, it is not so important, but your consciousness will be clear. Contact the counseling service at your university - they will provide you with the right person to resolve this situation.

Contrary to some other answers here, I'd suggest that you bring it up, explain it, and say that it was done through simple carelessness, not intentional lying.
If you bring it up, I think you have a chance to recover from it. But if it is later discovered by others, I'd think the claim would be clear dishonesty, which for a prospective lawyer can be a serious issue. It would be much harder, if even possible, to recover from it in that case. Being expelled from law school makes the future pretty bleak if law is your career goal.
Note that I'm depending here on your words: "...or subject to disciplinary action at the university level". That seems to be clearly the case.
I doubt that for a graduate program other than law school the question wouldn't be asked and it would be assumed that the prior punishments are sufficient. But law school, I hope, has higher standards about personal integrity.
As to the how to approach it, a conversation with the chair of the admissions committee or even the dean of the law school would be appropriate. "I made a potentially serious error in my admissions materials and would like to set the record straight ..."
And, I suspect that if you had mentioned it originally, that it wouldn't necessarily have resulted in rejection, since you paid a penalty already. We've all made some errors in life. Hopefully they have helped us improve.

Disciplinary proceedings are usually confidential. If there's no note on your transcript, there's no way for them to learn about it without breaching confidentiality. What happens in Canada stays in Canada.
If you're thinking about telling, definitely don't go in with the expectation that they'll go easier on you because you came to them first. That could happen, but don't rely on it, and I wouldn't base my decision on it. These things can be very bureaucratic and you might just be subjecting yourself to the same sanction you'd get if they found out about it themselves. Don't make the mistake of assuming that they'll be sympathetic.


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Are there any journals in the area of humanities/media studies willing to publish translated articles?
Two years ago I have published a scholarly book in Polish, which is my native language. While I'm relatively satisfied with its' reception in Poland, I'd like for it to also reach international academics. The director of my Department advised me to first try and publish one or more chapters as separate journal articles (the structure of the book allows for such partitions). I've already searched through quite a few respectable journals in my field (Humanities/media/television studies) and pretty much all of them look for "original, unpublished works". Should I infer that articles that were previously published in languages other than English, and thus are not available for English-speaking scholars, won't have any chance of being published? Are you aware of any journals that do publish translated articles, or should I just focus all my attention on putting out new, completely original research in English?


text:
Do I need a university affiliation to conduct and publish research?
I earned a master's degree in education from a respected US university about ten years ago.  I completed a simple study with human subjects for my thesis.  It was approved and well-received by my advisor but not something that I pursued any publication on.  (If it matters, I'm a US citizen and I teach in the US).
I've been actively employed teaching since then, but have not entered the research sphere.  I have an idea for a research study I'd like to conduct at my school (where I teach).  Assuming I follow all the proper procedures re: permission for working with young subjects, approval from my supervisor, approval from my schools version of an institutional review board, and so on...
What hurdles will I face trying to get the completed study published without a university affiliation?

Teaching in a secondary school?

My education level is different than the suggested duplicate.  Unlike an undergrad, I have completed research studies, albeit at the masters and not the phd level.  I consider this enough of a difference whereas many of the comments instruct the OP to learn how to write academically.

Teaching in a primary school, @Azor Ahai

@nuggethead The accepted answer covers this one

@Azor Ahai I'm interested to learn what hurdles I'll face, not whether it's necessary

I think that question still covers that.

One hurdle that I can think of is determining whether the study is of sufficient interest to merit publication, since I assume the usual filters such as grant application acceptance, colleague advice, experience in the field for what is publishable, etc. are not applicable in your case. If this is based on your Masters work (you don't say whether it is, or whether this is a new research effort), then maybe it's passed some filters, but keep in mind that Masters level work is often quite distant from professional level work.

The main problems are 1) identifying if the piece of work is really of interest, new, not covered. But you might know that 2) if the review isn't double blind, whatever generates doubt or is not understandable to the referee will be likely judged wrong. I give you an extreme example: if there is a debate on quantum here on Physics SE, two different takes might appear equally clear (read equally obscure) to me, and I will rely somehow on the users reputation. Bring affiliated gives some reputation. It is not a malevolent attitude, it originates by reasonable implicit consideration.


text:
Should I abandon my PhD topic after a year?
After the first year and pretty much at the cusp of submitting my research proposal, I feel that my PhD topic and supervisor is far too technical. I had completed a masters that was closer to humanities and gave myself a challenge of learning building science research literature and techniques within a PhD. But I am finding that I can't thrive, I am not passionate because the topic is more about specification than people within them, and my supervisor thinks I have the wrong priorities. It's not that I can make do with the circumstance, but I am worried that not thriving and having synergy with my supervisor is costing me opportunities and will set me up with the wrong skillset after I graduate if I want to go back to the humanities...
Thanks in advance

Seems like there are other questions here about quitting PhD or about changing topics, but I don't see an exact duplicate yet.

There are a few things to consider when answering this question.
First, it is important to remember that a Ph.D. is a long-term commitment, and it is important to make sure that you are in the right program and working with the right supervisor before making any decisions about abandoning your Ph.D. topic.
Second, it is important to consider the reasons why you are not thriving in your current program. Are you finding the coursework too difficult, or are you not interested in the research topic you are working on? If it is the coursework that is too difficult, you may need to consider transferring to a program that is better suited to your academic abilities. However, if you are not interested in your research topic, it may be worth considering switching to a different program or supervisor.
Finally, it is important to remember that a Ph.D. is a research degree, and you should be passionate about your research topic if you want to be successful in your program. If you are not passionate about your research topic, you may want to consider switching to a different program or supervisor.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best course of action will vary depending on the individual situation. However, some factors to consider when making a decision about whether or not to abandon a Ph.D. topic after a year include the following:

-The level of interest and passion that the individual feels for the topic
-The feasibility of completing the Ph.D. in a timely manner, taking into account any potential roadblocks
-The ability to thrive and build a good working relationship with the supervisor

If the individual feels little interest or passion for the topic, and the feasibility and timeline of completing the Ph.D. is uncertain, it may be advisable to consider abandoning the topic and finding a new one. On the other hand, if the individual is interested in the topic but there are some potential roadblocks that could impact the timeline of completion, it may be worth giving it another shot and working through those issues. Finally, if the individual is interested in the topic and has a good working relationship with the supervisor, it may be worth persevering through any potential challenges.


text:
Should I apologise to a professor after a gift authorship attempt, which they refused?
(I am a PhD student) I recently worked on a paper using a computational methodology developed by Professor X and my manuscript was published on a preprint server.
My supervisor, Professor Y, is actively seeking collaborations and emailed Professor X to discuss potential opportunities. After reading my manuscript, Professor X was pleased and agreed to discuss further, but did not provide any help or contributions to the paper.
Professor Y then met with Professor X without me to discuss the potential for collaboration. Afterwards, Professor Y informed me that we should list Professor X as a co-author on the final version of my paper. I was not comfortable with this situation but Professor Y quickly shut that by stating that they had already discussed this with Professor X and everything was agreed.
After I emailed Professor X asking about their credentials to be included as a co-author on the paper. Professor X then replied to both Professor Y and me, clearly refusing the gift authorship.
I am wondering if I should email Professor X again to explain my perspective, as my reputation is at stake.
For more context about my circumstances, please refer to my two previous questions.

Careful! If you explanation directly or indirectly puts blame on Professor Y, this will likely damage your reputation as well!

It's not clear what you mean by "gift authorship" or if this even is gift authorship, whatever that might be. You don't share Professors Y's motivation for requesting Professor X be added as an author. An un-generous reading of your post implies that Professor Y is behaving unethically in the interest of getting a "collaboration". But there's not enough evidence from the OP to determine this. This sounds like something Professor Y needs to deal with, not you.

How long ago was this? I'd expect Y to respond (to both of you).

It sounds like you screwed something up for Prof. Y. Prof. Y will not be amused with you going past Y to talk to X without asking Y first.

@stackoverblown Oh yes sorry that I "screwed something up" for him, what should I do then? Sacrifice every inches of my being to please my supervisor?

I would reply with a very simple apology (like "sorry for the confusion") and a statement confirming you understand their request (like "we will not include you as an author").
Do not try to "explain your perspective", your reputation is not "at stake" here, just don't include them as an author and move on.

agree. As it is quite possible that it is just miscommunication/misunderstanding. e.g. your advisor thinks those discussion is insightful enough to be consideration as contribution, but the other professor does not think so.

It also depends on how long ago this occurred.  If this happened some time ago I wouldn't contact them at all.

@MahaliSindy It could be different (sub)field norms as well; where Prof. X's contribution merits authorship in Prof. Y's area, but not X's, if we want to be charitable

The most important thing here is to keep it simple and avoid overcomplicating the situation when it could all account to "just miscommunication".

I agree with the gist of the answer. But can you explain why you think OP's reputation is not at stake? Isn't OP reasonable to be concerned that Professor X might form a negative opinion of them based on interpreting their email as an offer of gift authorship, that is, essentially a kind of bribe? And based on this description, aren't both OP's reputation and the reputation of Prof. Y, at least to some minor extent, "at stake"? There could very well be negative reputational effects from someone thinking I offered them a bribe. (From a practical point of view your advice sounds good though.)

Personally, I think it would be wise to do so, but without getting into an argument with Y. It might be enough to say that there was a miscommunication and you misunderstood the situation.
Since X has shown interest in collaboration, you could also follow up on that and ask how you might proceed.
I'll guess that Y misrepresented something to you, but you don't need to get into an argument over that. If pressed, say to Y that X told you directly that they don't want authorship here.

If pressed, say to Y that X told you directly that they don't want authorship here - OP mentioned that Professor X then replied to both Professor Y and me, clearly refusing the gift authorship →  Y already knows.

@WoJ it's not unreasonable to suggest, that if Y pressed before they would do it again. The fact that they know IMO is immaterial to the discussion.

Discuss this issue with Prof Y; asking them in private over email or if possible, in person. State that the Prof X has declined the authorship and what should you do. Since they clearly are in contact, it is their responsibility to solve this issue. If Prof X sounds confrontational about this, mention it as well. Keep in mind that Prof Y could very well be busy and missed the tone of the email.
Remember you are doing what you are told, there might be many dynamics you are not aware of. There are cases where this could be unethical behavior; however, there are cases where this could very well be a miscommunication like Prof Y invites Prof X to improve the paper but Prof X rejected with a vague answer which Prof Y takes as a yes. You do not have the complete knowledge to judge and act. Your reputation cannot be tarnished by following requests from your supervisor where there are many unknowns on your part.
In academia, always assume someone has good intentions unless you know the whole story.

What I can discern is that Prof Y is disciplined and quite strict. There is not much evidence about how they will act in this situation. Neither asking 9-5 work nor asking student to work the way they want display much of their character towards interpersonal communication.

The situation appears quite clear so that X can make a close enough guess what actually happened. There is no need to complicate things by going into the details with X.
If you want to reply in a positive way, you could say that you value X's perspective on the authorship issue and that you understand that they think that their contribution so far does not merit authorship, so you will handle it accordingly. You could then say that you are looking forward to future collaboration (if appropriate).
Personally, I think you could also say something like that X's reply honors them in order to express that you appreciate X's academic integrity. It makes sense to acknowledge that X is doing the right thing. If you fear that this implies too much about Y, you would better skip this, of course.
This would result in a reply not longer than three sentences.

I think that saying to someone more senior that "X's reply honors them in order to express that you appreciate X's academic integrity" is likely to land very strangely

@deee Especially after the attempt at a gift authorship. "Well, the bribe didn't work. Let's try flattery next".

It is super weird to jam your own thoughts into Prof. X's brain. Just leave it out. Do not try to guess what Prof. X's thought process. This actually would tell Prof. X that the OP does not think Prof. X merit an authorship. Prof. X does not need the OP's judgement.


text:
What am I able to do if the school wont help me? Can I deal with it in court?
Im a third year in college and my advisor hasn't talked to me since the beginning of my second year. 3 semesters counting now, I am trying to apply for classes and I cant because I have a registration hold. The hold say I need to talk to an advisor. Still no contact, I called the departments but ive been tossed around dept to dept. If I bring it to the dean and I still dont get my classes. What are my options? I loose financial aid and a semester of class. If worse comes to worse can I tackle this legally with a lawyer?

Do you have the possibility to make a physical visit to the advisor's office?

Are you advised by a staff person or a faculty member? At my university most undergrad class selection advising is done by staff. In that case, I would contact the advisor’s supervisor (probably your department chair).


text:
Should I cite code that I've been explicitly told I can use
For an assignment we were told

"You may make use of any code from the lab classes, even code appearing in the solutions".

Would it be recommended I cite the lab code I have used or not?

Cite it where. exactly?

@Buffy I was either going to comment it next to the code I used or in the report I have to submit with the code.

Where, meaning in a publication or in a class assignment?

See this question.

This is a sort of Pascal's wager.  If the professor doesn't expect you to cite, and you do anyway, you lose nothing except a little bit of time (probably less than you spent typing this question).  If the professor did expect you to cite, and you don't, you suffer eternal damnation (well, not quite, but close).  So...

If you use the code, then we know someone created it. If you don't give a citation, the obvious but wrong assumption is that you created it. That's very much like plagiarism.

For something not for publication, citation may not be necessary. But you seem to be asking about an assignment that will be evaluated/judged by a professor. In such a case, self-protection suggests that it is safer to cite than not.
You don't want to end up in the situation in which you lose points that you could easily have gotten by taking a bit more care.
The informal definition of plagiarism in the classroom context is quite different from that in the wider academic world. I suggest citing, even if quite informally: "taken from code of lab exercise x" or something.

For context: In the world of research and publication, you also have "permission" to quote (sparingly) from the work of others. But citation is required.
Likewise, extending the work of others is permitted, but the earlier work needs to be cited.
The permission there may not be explicit from the authors but from the system itself. So, it isn't vastly different.
But professors can be picky.

If you must submit a list of cited works with your assignment, then it won't hurt to cite.
However, if not, then you could simply cite it informally as a comment. Something like \\ Taken from the lecture notes.
Best advice is to just ask. If I were to guess whether or not to cite, I would say no. You typically don't cite course work unless it's a very formal report -- you wouldn't include an APA reference for a midterm, for instance. However, best practice is, if in doubt, ask, since you won't get into any trouble/lose any marks for doing so.


text:
I’m 4 months into my PhD and feeling very lost
I need some help figuring out what to do with my life.
I have been working on my PhD for 4 months and I have not really done much. To be honest my mental health an self confidence is super low and it makes me feel like everything I’m doing is wrong. I’m not sleeping and I have mental breakdowns all the time. This consumes so much of my energy that I half-ass everything to move on with my project, but then have to go back and so the same tasks over and over again. I haven’t read much articles either, because I get stressed that it takes too much time. I feel like my personality type is well fit for doing s PhD but maybe not at this point in my life. I want to gain more experience and confidence in my skills first from working in the industry. At the same time I’m so exhausted at this point that jumping into a new job seems like too much stress. I want to take a break from everything, but I’m afraid it will look bad on my CV. If I found a job now I would not be dependent on using my supervisor as a reference, but if I take a break before applying for new jobs that would be more natural. I don’t want to be to dependent on my current supervisor as my reference because I don’t think I’ve left a good impression (I’ve cried in front of him and expressed feelings about my insecurities and work) I always try to be honest, because it in general releases some of the pressure, but this time I think I made a poor choice.
The whole situation is just very embarrassing and I don’t want it to affect me later in life. Do you have any advice?

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2219/how-should-i-deal-with-becoming-discouraged-as-a-graduate-student Does this help?

Yes, thank you. I can’t decide wether I want to stay or leave because I like the topic but I’m suffering on a personal level.

Very common. Don't worry too much. Keep thinking, reading and work even at small projects related to a topic (your topic or the big and more general one of the group). Indeed common at least in hardcore science. Take some more time. I had nothing to work for 6 months even. I can assure my PhD was very successful. The same happened to many many colleagues.

I already know what to do because the has already been outlined for me in great detail. I’m cooperating with other people so we have outlined what type of data we should be giving eachother and when. I know I’m in a much better position than other students based on that, but the anxiety around all of it is holding me back. If someone has any tips on how to handle this it’s very welcome.

Half-assing things isn't a negative, it's a strategy. CEOs of companies for instance are experts at choosing what tasks to half-ass. You have so much resources (time, energy, money), and you have to carefully distribute them into the tasks in front of you. That means you'll half to do bad on some things, and do good at others.

Take a break! You sound very burnt out. Take two or three weeks off (hopefully you are in a part of the world where this is easy, especially during December). Don't touch anything work related. Also, don't worry about not being productive for four months. It took me about eighteen months of my PhD to get something concrete and feel like I was making progress. You have plenty of time.

Feeling lost at the beginning of a PhD is not as uncommon as one may think. I would advise you to keep going and worry less, but you're talking about anxiety overpowering you, lack of sleep and breakdowns, so it might be that burnout is the actual issue. I don't know what these breakdowns are, but since you mentioned them, I think it would help you to talk to a therapist who can tell you if what you're experiencing is more than just burnout.
Assuming is not bad enough that you need to quit graduate school, the first thing you should do is take minimum one week long break, far from computers and books, and as close as possible to people (the nice and quiet kind) and nature.
You should also try to fix your sleep patterns. It's easier said than done, but, if you implement some rules of sleep hygiene, it should work. For instance, decide upon your ideal wake up hour and stick with it for a few weeks. The hour you go to sleep could be adjusted such that you feel fully rested the next day. You should also make sure you don't touch your electronics half an hour before going to bed and you should install some software to adjust your screen colors according to the time of the day.
Also you should avoid consuming alcohol or taking any kind of recreational drugs, because these are known to affect the health of your brain.
Another thing you could do is to start setting aside the time to do things that make you happy. Go out with friends, practice sports, see new places, etc. But, in my case, these only increase my anxiety if I have deadlines and work needs to get done. What I do when I have a deadline I can't meet is I simply tell whoever is waiting for me I can't finish the work on time and either ask for an extension, or tell them I won't finish at all because of good personal reasons, such as the ones you describe.
If you get to talk to a professional and they believe your mental health is really bad, it's a really good idea to take a longer break. I don't know where you are based, but in some places you could freeze your PhD for a while, until the issues are resolved. In some places, where PhD students have some worker's rights, you could even go on medical leave. There isn't much of a point in hopping to another job, if you don't really want to leave the PhD. Also, worrying about the esthetics of your CV, at this stage, is not justified. Once you have your PhD diploma, no one will care that you needed to take a few weeks/months break to heal your brain sometimes during the PhD.
Related to anxiety, what I do to manage it, when I have a stressful project with a tight deadline and many unmanageable unknowns, is plan for the worst possible outcome. I also try to estimate the time I need to complete my tasks and break those down to clarify if the project can be done at all. I also include the warm up phases when my mind has to switch modes for tasks that are too different from each other. If the time needed for something I have to do exceeds the 40 hour week limit, I take into account refusing the tasks.
Reading papers anxiety is also common among students and postdocs. I have it myself. There are plenty ways to read papers to get most of them, but the best is to read them as needed for the project you work on. In other words, if you don't feel like learning a lot from a paper, it's better to abandon reading it. You can always return to it later when something written there turns out to be directly useful in your work. In other words, you should spend time only trying to figure out what the paper overall message is, and only commit more time to it if you find a clear use for what's in it.

Too much of this is dangerously close to a prescription from a non-professional based on scanty evidence. I'd probably down vote it except that you do, also, recommend taking to a therapist.

@Buffy You have enough privileges to delete the answer, or to edit it down to "See therapist ASAP". I will delete it myself if you can explain with arguments that it could do a lot more harm than good. But your arguments should be written somewhere on the site as a standard answer to this type of question which pops up quite often on this site.

Actually, I don't have such powers. But too much is just easy to say but hard to do: get more sleep. Get more exercise. Take a break of at least a week. The things of value here are, however, lots of people share this syndrome and see a therapist. If the things you suggest are things that work for yourself, then say that, but I doubt that you are a medical professional.


text:
When do universities in USA actually start reviewing PhD applications?
I have submitted Ph.D. applications to some STEM universities in the US with a deadline on 1st December. However, I have had some updates to my CV, as a paper that I had submitted to a journal has been accepted. So I wanted to contact the universities to mention the changes. Today is 20th December, so would the review process for my application have already started? Does the admission committee start looking at the applications before the Christmas break, or do they start after the holidays?

I understand the linked duplicate does not entirely answer the letter of your question. However, I think linking it as a duplicate is better than closing it as "depending on individual factors" or whatever else. The simple fact is that no one can know, and the answer on that other question does the best possible job of laying out the level of information anyone can have. There is also an XY problem here, in that you've titled the question regarding when applications are reviewed, but are really asking about adding to a CV after submission.

I think it is not reasonable to assume that the entire process starts after Christmas; there is no malicious intent of having a Dec 1st deadline.


text:
A search tools include possible other PhDs already on going or just starting topic?
There are many literature search tools. However, are there any tools that can include possible other PhD's ongoing or just starting topics? The main purpose is to see who is doing this topic to avoid or have a different angle.


text:
Ask for compensation mark for the distinction degree
I am finishing my master degree in the UK. To gain an MSC with Distinction at my Uni, there are 2 requirements:

Credit weighted averaged (CWA) at least 70% on all classes with no failed
Thesis should normally achieve a mark of at least 65%

Currently, my CWA is 69, and my thesis is 70. It means I am 1% away from the distinction mark. I really want to get the distinction at the current status, and I want to polish my application to the PhD program. I am thinking of asking the department for compensation in the board meeting to gain the distinction. Is it a good idea? If yes, what should I write/say so that it doesn't seem unethical? If not, are there other solutions?
Thank you very much!

So,  you want to be given something that you haven’t earned? Why would the board agree to such a request?

I don't see how an ask can be unethical, no matter what you say so long as you are polite.
Whether it would be granted or not depends on how strictly the rules are followed in general.
If possible, explore whether other slight adjustments have ever been allowed in the past or not. As for other solutions, you could ask someone with authority in the department. Perhaps even your advisor can give advice.


text:
How much does the name of the PhD degree matter?
I've been admitted to a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction program in the USA. However, both my supervisor's research interest and mine are Education Policy. I also want to work in the field of Education Policy after graduation. So, are there any big problems when my program is named Curriculum and Instruction? If yes, how should I do to focus on the Education Policy topic when pursuing that program?
Thank you!

Another complication is that in the field of education there are multiple different doctorate degrees. Is the one you have been accepted to a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Curriculum and Instruction, or is it an EdD (Doctor of Education) in Curriculum and Instruction?

It could make a significant difference what you intend to do with your degree.  Do you intend to teach and do research about education policy at a university or thinktank?  Or are you planning to work as a schoolteacher or administrator?

@shoover I have been accepted to the PhD program in Curriculum and Instruction

@Buzz It's early to tell at the moment. However, my main plan is to stay in academia and try to become a professor (do the research and teaching).

Related, possible duplicate: How much does the PhD degree name matter when landing in a job? See also: Applying to jobs in multiple disciplines. How much does name of degree matter?.

@cag51 I agree that https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/138394/applying-to-jobs-in-multiple-disciplines-how-much-does-name-of-degree-matter is a duplicate (and also more general) but it unfortunately didn't get much engagement or useful answers...

I have no insight into this degree but my experience is that it does not matter.  People will care about what you do and what you have done, not what it’s called.
In addition, there is now a (deplorable IMO) trend to come up with fancy degree names so that graduates of this or that program are differentiated, perhaps giving them an edge in some hypothetical situations: gone are the days of plain old vanilla physics degrees. As a result, there’s considerable public confusion into what a specific degree is.  Thankfully, professionals are rarely fooled by this kind of masquerade, so it is highly likely that the actual name will have no impact except if you need to impress someone unfamiliar with your field.

Thanks for your answer. I have concerns about my case because Curriculum and Education Policy is different from each other and both under the "Education" term. If the degree is named "Education", it can cover both the Curriculum and Policy minors.

I suspect this may vary between fields, but in my personal experience, the name is completely irrelevant. For instance, my PhD is officially in "Life Sciences", a title as vague as it is meaningless. In reality, my general field is bioinformatics, and my PhD was focused on comparative genomics and evolution of a specific family of genes. In my CV, I say I have a PhD in bioinformatics, and that's how I present myself in real life if it comes up.
This is not lying, it is the honest truth: my PhD is in bioinformatics no matter what it may say on the official diploma. All of my published papers are about bioinformatics, that's what my PhD work was about, and my career has been spent working in this field. My classmates in the PhD program in Life Science I was enrolled in worked on a very wide variety of life science related fields, from molecular biology, through ecology, to bioinformatics. I doubt any of us would describe our PhD as being in Life Sciences, we would all give the specific field we were actually working in since that is what we really have expertise in.

Thank you for your answer! I just have a minor question. Is "Life Sciences" a broad term for "Bioinformatics"? In my case, Curriculum is different from Education Policy, and both of them are under the "Education" term. In other words, a PhD degree named "Education" can cover both Curriculum and Policy minors.

@Hung no, Life Science is a blanket term that would include anything from nursing, through medicine, to pharmacology, biology and all of its subfields etc.. "Life Science" is so broad as to be essentially meaningless. It literally means any remotely scientific discipline that has something to do with living things.

I would think carefully about this and talk to several people in your direct field (especially your letter writers, etc.). I think there are disciplines where the exact degree can matter as a signal when on the job market. The reality is that there are 100s of applicants for a position and it is best to come from a well known and clearly aligned program. I know folks who graduated with education policy dissertations in public policy programs and had a tricky time applying to education policy departments. There were just better aligned applicants.

In the short term it might matter somewhat, but in the long term you are in control.
To have a career in education policy you have to get hired, probably by some school of education or department of education within a school. For some places the specialties will be silo-ed to some (maybe a great) extent, and for those places your initial job would probably have expectations that you can produce in curriculum and instruction. If there are no silos, such as a general department of education, then you might just get hired to produce in education generally.
In the long term, however, if you can get tenured, then you can define pretty much what you do, especially in research, though you may be expected to teach courses outside your specialty, as most people must.
There are, I'm sure, plenty of places that don't have strict subfield silos. If your job search is focused there, then it might not matter at all, either short or long term.
I'm assuming that the general research process in the two fields is pretty much the same: gathering data and using statistics to analyze it. Something similar is likely required to produce good curriculum and to produce good policy. It would be harder if the process were very different, though still not entirely impossible. Math and history are pretty far apart in process for most things.


text:
What should I do if I was put in a reserved list for PhD study?
Today I received the result of a PhD program, and they said, "I regret to inform you that the Committee is not able to recommend your admission to the program at this time. However, please note that your name is currently on a reserve list. If a place becomes available, we will let you know immediately".
All I can think right now is just waiting and hoping. However, any advice on what I should do now? Should I ask them how my rank on the reserved list is?

I wouldn't do anything besides perhaps a polite brief "thank you".
You can probably assume you will not be admitted off the waiting list and instead wait to hear back from your other options (or quickly make some other options, including options besides PhD programs, if you have none).
If they have a spot open up, they'll let you know (as their email said).

Thank them for letting you know.


text:
Should I ask my potential supervisor for a PhD admission result?
I have been admitted to a PhD program in the USA. However, it isn't my first choice. I am waiting for the results of other programs I am more interested in. Should I ask my potential supervisors (I contacted potential supervisors at those programs; they said they would advocate my application) at the program about my result? If yes, how should I ask? Should I imply that I need to respond to another program, but your program is my first choice, so I would like to get the result at your earliest possibility?

Almost all PhD programs in the USA allow you until April 15 to respond to their offers of admission and funding.  Do you actually need to respond to the other program?  It's awfully early in the admissions cycle right now.

Hi @AlexanderWoo, I don't need to respond formally. However, I need to verbally respond to my potential supervisor at a university because he needs to allocate the assistantship.

@Hung what did you decide do to if anything? I am stuck in your exact position right now.

@SPSharan I decided to email the admission secretary of one program but haven't had a reply yet. For another uni, I emailed my potential supervisor directly and got the reply.


text:
Does moving references in Mendeley affect its citations in MS Word?
I want to organise references in Mendeley (moving them in folders, etc.). Does this process will affect my recent citations in MS Word?

This is unclear. Presumably any citations you have made in public documents have nothing to do with your records in MS Word. How you choose to maintain citations for your own personal use is up to you.

What I mean I already used Mendeley to insert citations in MS Word. Now I want to update my Mendeley library by organising the files there into folders. Will this affect the citations I already inserted in MS Word?

Why not try it out with a test document and some test references? (My guess would be that it doesn't matter, as long as you don't change whatever cite key/id Mendeley uses).


text:
Can I be confident that I will not lose data in Reference managers?
What if the company behind a reference manager or the people behind it decided to stop the application development and just delete it from the internet. In this case I may lose all my data. So, what is the options that prevent this from happening?

I've never lost any BibTeX data.

You should never be confident about losing any kind of data under any circumstances, even with multiple off-site backups. Just the way you need to think and act about it.

Never rely on closed source products.

You could make sure to use one that allows exporting the data into an open format (which I think most do?) and use that functionality to make backups every now and then (ideally regularly). You probably want to backup that data anyway! (By the way, that piece of advice is applicable to much more than just reference managers.) If you want more control, you could also use an open-source reference manager and decide where the data is stored. Personally I use JabRef, but there are a number to choose from depending on your needs and preferences.

Actually any electronic resource is at risk. The solution is regular backups that you control yourself.
You don't lose money (generally) from banks because banks are regulated, forcing them to keep redundancy in their records and regularizing their client relationships. None of that is true with any unregulated cloud-like resource. The news has stories fairly regularly of lost data through both error and hacking.
To protect yourself, you can make copies of things you enter when you enter them, and manage your own backups of those copies. Use formats least likely to be abandoned over time - plain text, for example. Use media for backups that will last and continue to be readable. When standards change, update to new media. (I have about a thousand unreadable 3 inch floppy disks, sadly.)
Use the manager as a convenience but not as a bank vault.
You can hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.


text:
Is it worth typesetting hand written notes?
So I have about 10-15 hand written notes on various areas of my phd and they cover basically everything I’ve done in the last year or so of my project.
is it a good idea to maybe spend some time formatting these notes into a LaTeX/word processed document so that they’re presentable and can be copied over to Beamer slides etc?

I voted to close as opinion based. Do find some way to keep this material for possible future use. Whether that's typeset or not is a personal decision.

How fast do you type? How neat is your handwriting (have you tried OCR on it)? How about scan your notes to PDF and if you ever go back to them you type up what was important?

I recommend typing up your notes in LaTeX in order to use them as parts of your dissertation or a paper. It may be useful to include even more details in your typed notes than you intend to put in your thesis; the notes may come in handy 30 years from now when someone asks for details about some part of your work. Beamer slides should be much more succinct, consisting mainly of bullet points, not paragraphs of text.

Yes. More portable, more searchable, more copy-able, and... if suitably backed-up, far more stable and secure than paper (under any not-toooo-insane circumstances).


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What should I do when I'm on a shortlist for a postdoc?
I was notified via a backchannel that I'm on a shortlist for a competitive top tier postdoc in my STEM field, though some offers were already made. There's no interview process, but is there anything I can do to tip the odds in my favor?

"Publish more" might work, but presumably you already do that.

Don't do anything obnoxious on the internet

Hype up your competition so they get better offers?

No. You just have to wait and let the process take its course.

Don't ever tell anyone you have backchannel knowledge. If you seek advantage with it, it is unethical and may (or will) even count against you. Any backchannel is capable of two-way communication, making it a possible means of lobbying, influencing, negotiating and, at its worst, things such as bribery. In such ways the person could be suspected of seeking or obtaining advantage.
If you get the post and tell, you run the risk that you will be seen as having had unfair advantage. Forget about it; someone was just trying to make you feel good but it is not a key to any action

I do not understand what sort of advantage could be obtained.

Your comment is much clearer than your answer.

@AnonymousPhysicist I take your point and have moved my comment to the accordingly edited answer. Thanks for the stimulus.


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PhD rejection Change mind
Last summer I turned down a PhD offer that previously had accepted. This happened due to family reasons which I explained to my supervisor.
Now I regret this decision, and I would like to join again. I send an email to the supervisor of this PhD position and the answer was that "I could apply from scratch" because the position was re-advertised.
The only I would like to know, is, if could I have possibilities to gain again this chance or the answer was merely gently responsed?
Thank you
Best regards

Recent similar question https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/180925/is-it-possible-to-accept-a-phd-position-i-previously-turned-down

My guess is that, if they decide you're the best applicant for the (re-advertised) position, they'll offer it to you. In deciding whether you're the best applicant, they might or might not take into account your "Yes ---> No ---> Yes" oscillation on their previous offer.


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My mathematics PhD application at Michigan State University
I got an email from the mathematics graduate department of Michigan State University, which mentioned that I was being nominated for a fellowship, and hence they needed certain documents. I confirmed if that meant that I have been provisionally admitted, and their answer was positive. It has been three weeks since they sent me that email, and I still haven't received an official confirmation or an offer letter. When can I expect to get that, and why is it taking so long?

If they are considering you for a fellowship, you are essentially certainly admitted.  However, they will presumably need to determine whether they are actually going to offer you the fellowship before sending you the formal acceptance, because until the fellowship is decided, they cannot tell you what financial package they are offering.

Perhaps there have been holidays.  Perhaps the pandemic is leading to staffing shortages.   Perhaps email is an unreliable medium.

Or maybe they've sent a snail mail for whatever formal reasons and the OP is due for a few more months of waiting.


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What are some tips to get more out of long pre-recorded lectures?
I am seeing some online lectures and it seems so that my attention is decaying quite fast as time progresses in the lecture. Most lectures I find on the internet are 1hr yet the the time I can focus above 90% is like only 20 mins. So, often I end up chunking the lecture into small pieces. Another tip I found is to eliminate distractions and block out addictive social media sites before beginning the lecture.
What are some other tips I can keep in mind?

Take notes during the lecture. Preferably hand written notes as the better engage the brain in learning. After the lecture, write out a summary of the lecture capturing the, say, three most important points. Try to do this immediately.
I also suggest doing this on index cards. At least the summaries. One big idea per card. Use your own words. Number the cards sequentially.
Now you have a deck of cards from which you can select several to carry around with you for a few days for quick review while you need to wait for anything (bus, meal delivery, ...). You can also use the backs of the cards for notations of ideas you have as you travel about. Maybe add keywords to the cards as you think of things.
Finally, when you need to review for an exam or other use, the cards give you a way to recall the key points.

Orthogonal to the above is a suggestion that you put what you "learn" in any lecture to practice. If they provide exercises do them. If they don't then I question their overall merit. But you can compensate for that in many cases by finding a textbook on the same subject, perhaps one recommended, and do the exercises in that. Much harder, however, is to get feedback on your solutions. This is one of the biggest advantages of face-to-face education over online; personal individual feedback.

For (much) more on the idea of using note cards see the description of the Hipster PDA.

Increase playback speed
If your attention span is shorter than the video, you could try shortening the video. Many video players have an option to increase the playback speed - an hour-long video played at 1.25x speed takes only 48 minutes. Your comprehension ability may suffer somewhat with increased speeds, but there is some evidence that losses can be mitigated by continuing to study with the saved time. Watching an hour-long video in 45 minutes at 1.33x and continuing to study for the remaining 15 minutes, or just watching the video twice in an hour at 2x speed, may yield similar retention results. Your ability to turn up the speed will depend on the subject matter and speaker, but it can be a good way to increase the "information density" of recorded lectures.
Here is a study examining the effects of playback speed on retention:
Learning in Double Time.

In general, you learn best by doing. Is the topic of the lecture amenable to a small coding project?
You learn by doing. Is there an associated set of homeworks?
You also learn by teaching. Make a presentation based on the lecture that summarizes it, mainly from memory.
I am afraid your question is too generic in order to give you concrete suggestions for improving your outcome.


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How can one gauge the popularity of a subject to be taken as a college major?
Essentially the title, if I am to say a statement like "Physics is more sought after as a major than Mathematics", what statistics could I use to justify or falsify it?

This question is probably off topic, but what do you mean by popularity? As a college major or as a career? Math is almost certainly more popular than Physics as a major, the (weak) evidence being the larger faculty sizes in math. The evidence is weak since the math department probably teaches more to non-majors than the physics department does, accounting partly for the difference in faculty size.

As a major, as in thr demand for it @Buffy

You might be able to find statistics about number of majors from university and professional society web sties. But why do you need this information? If choosing a major for yourself, your own interests should matter more than what other people think.

I'm trying to argue exactly what the type of statement I said in the subject to a friend lol :/

My undergrad uni (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) had a huge math department and a mid-sized physics department. My grad uni (Toronto) had a huge physics department and a mid-sized math dept. How would you evaluate popularity in this case?

"Physics is more sought after as a major than Mathematics"

The American Mathematical Society states that 5,800 undergraduate math degrees were awarded in a one-year period circa 2004. The American Physical Society provides a graph, from which we can see that the number of physics degrees around the same time period was right around the same number. So, I'm gonna call this one a tie, or "within the margin of error."
Caveats:

this is just the US
the math number does not include those studying math education, statistics, or related fields (and the physics number probably does include many students primarily interested in astronomy). On the other hand, many types of engineering are mostly applied physics, whereas far fewer things are really "like" (pure) math.
these numbers are quite old
this is the number of graduates, not the number who "sought after" the major but were unable to finish.
these are two different professional societies, so probably not exactly apples-to-apples in terms of methodology.

In general, professional societies in any field are likely to keep such statistics, though not apples-to-apples, as you say.


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To what degree is the research output of abstract topics related to funding for institutions?
I am trying to evaluate how much truth the statement has "Research output is proportional to the amount of funding the institution gets". On the extreme end I see it is absolutely true because for certain research like that of chemistry, quantum computing etc, research would be  really hindered without the researchers having access to actual facilities for conducting experiments and such.. but what about for those abstract topics like pure mathematics or theoretical sciences, do the research output of such topics also depend on the amount of
funding which institutions relating to them gets?

The statement is too strong as it posits an exact relationship that doesn't exist. But it is true that funding and (quantity and quality) of research output are positively correlated.
But there are many other factors. In the US, most R1 (research) universities are also strong in teaching, especially undergraduate education. Some large state universities have over 40,000 students, mostly undergraduates. That all gets funded, both from tuition and from tax revenue.
A lot of research also means a lot of grant writing and grant funding, both from private and government (tax) sources.
And, specifically for math, the undergraduate program is very important, so funding is arranged somehow. And mathematicians also apply for and get grants.
The university, especially a research university, is a very complex place with a very diversified mission. Research funding is an important part, but not the only factor.

(+1) Where I was, fees paid by undergrads (and parental units) were much higher than tuition: fees remained on campus, but tuition went into state coffers. Fees really paid the bills. ;-)

This is not a complete answer, but if you don't have any research funding, you have to make a living in some other way. In many cases -- at smaller, not so research active universities, for example -- that means that people have to teach more than at those universities where people have more research funds. As a consequence, people without research funding also have less time for research, and that affects their productivity.


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How do I take notes when I am studying from different sources?
When I was starting out, I used to stick to one book and take notes religiously from that book, but as time went on, I've started referring more and more books for one topic, and just jumping between four to five references on the same topic. In this case, it seems difficult for me to take notes, as the effort taken in finding references and switching between them, makes it more difficult to go into the exact details of one book and take specific notes.
For those who are most experienced, how do you manage taking notes when there is a number of references? And, is it better to increase the number of references for understanding a subject deeply, or to go through a fixed number of texts deeply?
There is also a feeling of pointlessness I have, as I don't think I would be able to top the exposition of some of the texts I read myself.

What is your purpose in taking notes?  With very few exceptions, I find all the notes I have taken completely useless, and I can't imagine a way of taking notes that actually would have been useful.

I am arriving at a similar sentiment. I am taking notes for better comprehension I guess @AlexanderWoo

This seems like a good scenario for using the Hipster PDA that I described elsewhere here.
The idea is to take notes by hand on index cards, writing on only one side initially. The cards are numbered. They can contain citations. You can use different colored cards for different uses. Keep it to one big idea per card.
They can be carried, sorted, discarded, etc.
After a study session, you can summarize a set of cards on yet other cards.
They are also useful for note taking in class, with one big idea per card and then used for summary after the class. I also used them for class prep and delivery, selecting from older cards from my card box and some new cards.


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What would be the best way to prepare to succed entering into a mathematics bachelors program in Germany?
A very obvious thing to do would be to figure out what the university curriculum is, find reference book covering that, and start studying it daily. But, is there anything specific that people here could advice me to do?
I ask  because, from what I understand, the fail rates are insane in Germany, and therefore I would to have some advice for success.

If you actually worry about preparing and studying you might already be ahead of the curve. In my experience there are way too many first semester students who were talented enough that they never had to work for maths classes in school and continue that attitude, only to realise too late that the tempo in university is no longer adjusted to the slowest student and that those who are slow in maths tend to study other things anyway.

"from what I understand, the fail rates are insane in Germany" Not insane at all. The system just works differently in Germany: Everybody in Germany who got an "Abitur" can start studying mathematics - there are no additional prerequisites and no restrictions in somekind of admission process (it might be more complicated for international students, though, in particular if they are not from an EU country). The main idea is that everybody with Abitur can try and if it's not for them, they should find out very quickly.

The official fail rates are indeed high. But that not necessarily means that many people actually fail (in the sense of the word). First, there are high "no show" rates (source: we counted and compared names several times). Moreover, many people discover that research math is not school math (somehow schools in Germany do not give the impression that math is basically calculations and applying/memorizing techniques).

You may want to look at this question about why fail rates are how they are in Germany: Why are low pass rates (below 50%) for exams considered acceptable in Germany?

@Dirk: Moreover, many people discover that research math is not school math (somehow schools in Germany do not give the impression that math is basically calculations and applying/memorizing techniques). – There seems to be a surplus not here.

Once again I wish for an edit feature in comments

Back when I studied math in the later Pleistocene (so, starting in 1996), the key reason for people quitting was that they had wrong expectations: they expected German university math to be like Gymnasium math, maybe a little harder. Many of them had never seen a proof. Then our professor spent the first ten minutes on field axioms. This was a major culture shock.
Quite a number of people left after the first lecture and never came back. I think this may have been a smart move.
Other people stuck it out for a few semesters and left later. Often, these were Lehramtsstudenten, i.e., people studying to become Gymnasium teachers, many of whom took one subject they liked (e.g., sports) and one subject that would get them a job (e.g., math). Yes, many of those were successful. But many lost a number of semesters before they called it quits on math.
Therefore, my suggestion would first of all be to understand what you are getting into. Find almost any book called "Analysis I" or similar and start reading from the beginning. You will not understand a single word at first. Re-read the first section a couple of times. You will see, after a while, that things actually make a kind of sense. There are typically no prerequisites. Everything is right there. The key stumbling block is that studying math requires a way of thinking you never have been exposed to in school. (Except possibly if you did math competitions.)
This is the kind of thing you will be doing for three years, or more. Imagine yourself doing this, over and over again. You will be sitting in class, keeping track of someone explaining this to you. Again, you will typically not understand much during the lecture. So you go home (or, better, meet with others in the same boat), go over everything and try to understand. Then you will do homework, each single piece of which is like a math competition, and you get at least two of these each and every week.
I usually describe studying math as brainwashing. Math professors don't like this description. But I believe it captures the important idea.
Now, after you have slogged through the first chapter of your "Analysis I" book, think about whether the prospect of doing this for years on end resonates with you. If yes, and if you maybe even find this fascinating, congratulations, you are now better prepared than probably 50% or 80% of incoming math students.
If you now still want to study math, then I would suggest you go get a few books on how to write proofs, and how to think mathematically. If you can already access your university library, there will likely be a lot there. You may even be able to download ebooks. Springer has a number of series of undergraduate math textbooks (e.g., Springer Studium Mathematik - Bachelor or Grundstudium Mathematik or the Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series or the Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics), some of which are in exactly this vein. For instance, judging from the titles, you could look at Mathematisches Problemlösen und Beweisen or Exploring Mathematics by the same author, or perhaps Mathematical Writing.
In addition, sometimes universities offer refresher courses in math before the first semester starts. These can be helpful, too. Just be careful: if these are refresher courses for Gymnasium math which are mainly aimed at students in other disciplines that may use math in "the Gymnasium way", then this will likely not be very helpful to you.
Finally, the Fachschaft (which is kind of the students' self-organization) can be helpful. They all were first semester students once and likely still remember, and can offer lots of hints. (But note that there is a selection effect: these are the ones that are still around. The ones that quit math are elsewhere.) They might organize information sessions at the start of the semester.

And actually, from my understanding this applies to most European math programs. I believe that matters are quite a bit different in the US, with far less emphasis on "proof mathematics" in early semesters.

"Except possibly if you did math competitions", is absolutely not true whatsoever, but I agree with the rest of the answer. I have several medals in international math olympiads but it's absolutely irrelevant when you are hit with sweet sweet calculus (and any other theory and proof heavy classes). High school math olympiads is helpful in discrete math, though, as you are likely experienced in min-maxing things to fit constraints.

+1 I would like to add that as an alternative to textbooks (if OP doesn't have university access), your local Fachschaft might sell the "Skriptum" (lecture notes) and/or secondhand textbooks (from the aforementioned quitters) for cheap.

For example, this is the free "Skriptum" version of the textbook for "Introduction to Mathematics" (https://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~stein/lehre/SoSem07/einfuehrung_sosem07.pdf) at the University of Vienna. The introduction has some advice for transitioning from school to university mathematics.

For typical books, "Lehrbuch der Analysis. Teil 1 - Harro Heuser" and "Lernbuch Lineare Algebra und Analytische Geometrie - Gerd Fischer" more than cover the contents of your first two main lectures (Analysis and LinAlg) with a lot of beginner-friendly detail. If you're willing to settle for a secondhand or older edition, you can probably get them for around 5€ each.

@AyamGorengPedes: I find your comment interesting, because I have watched my children do Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik, and I indeed think that many (not all) problems here are indeed a very good illustration of the kind of thinking that is done in mathematics: proofs, proofs and proofs. (Of course, they don't cover the content of the introductory classes in real analysis and linear algebra, but that is not what I am claiming.) YMMV.

If it is your first semester ( I assume that ), and if you will move to Germany for the very first time, you would like to get all bureaucratic acts and hassles done before the semester starts. Things are tough these days in Germany, with staff shortages and long processing times. Likewise, try to secure an apartment / a dormitory room a while before the semester starts. Familiarize yourself with your new surroundings so that you can focus on studying once the semester has started. The better you speak the language, the better for you.

Hmmm, what does this have to do with mathematics?

@Buffy the question was about "how to prepare to succeed" – this advice certainly helps, even if it's not specific to mathematics.

@Buffy - the question was not confined to maths : ) The housing situation in some German cities is a mess at the moment, even if you are blessed with a high income and good reference letter. This advice appeared thus helpful for me.

There won't be a reference book covering the entire curriculum but individual books and/or other course material covering individual courses.
Follow the directions of the professors. Take a lot of notes. Practice summarizing your notes. Do a lot of exercises, even beyond the ones assigned. Look for insight beyond the details. Ask as many questions as you can. Listen to the answers. If permitted, form a study group to discuss things and aid in gaining insight. Follow the rules set. Take advantage of professors' office hours.
Don't expect that lectures are enough to teach you. Don't depend too much on technology.
Try to get feedback on the exercises you do. This might be automatic, or you might need to see it out.
Get enough sleep, especially before exams. Get enough exercise. Eat properly. Use good judgement about things in life. Do more exercises.

Not limited to Germany, nor to math. Not even limited to a bachelors.

Could you clarify what you mean by "If permitted, form a study group"? I can't see whose permission a student would need for this.

Taking notes is optional. It can be both beneficial or not. I, personally, do worse when I take notes: I can't follow the lecturer and write down at the same time. I'd rather just listen and focus, and then read in details everything from the textbook. And in some cases I could always borrow notes from other people.

I have to allow for the fact that working together might be considered cheating in some places, @JochenGlueck. Rules vary.

@Buffy I guess delivering homework done in a group as your own work might be considered cheating. Working together to understand the content of a lecture should not be.

"Do a lot of exercises, even beyond the ones assigned." - If you have enough time to do that, you definitely are on track. Anecdotally, the curriculum of my uni suggests hearing 2-3 "large" lectures for each of the first 3 semesters. One such lecture in a typical week includes 4h of actual lectures, 4h of exercise groups and an exercise sheet designed to keep you busy for another 8 hours. Together with your minor this is probably more than a full 40h week. - If you can do more, absolutely do. But do not feel down if you can "just" do everything assigned.

Pay attention really well when they introduce you to LaTeX. In my batch (started 2019), proficiency in LaTeX correlates positively with your grades. After all, you can't use MathSE properly without knowing LaTeX.
Jokes aside, MathSE is your friend. Trying to write a coherent question often clears up confusions. Forming actual sentences from a chain of intuitive thoughts is not easy, and requires systematic thought. Once you start thinking systematically, often the confusion is immediately identified, you missed an assumption, misunderstood an axiom, etc.
Also, do not worry too much if you feel like you don't understand things in the first year. Eventually, you will develop enough mathematical maturity to be comfortable with the Definition-Theorem-Proof system. Once you understand how this system works, you can then revisit your early calculus/analysis/linear-algebra classes to truly understand it, and things are beatiful after this point. Myself, I only truly understood single-variable calculus in my third year, after passing a differential geometry course (don't ask me how)!