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How important is the publication venue for academic hiring and grant applications?
A comment in this question says: but spending some money to publish in a high rank journal can open more funding opportunities in future, doesn't it?.  In another post, JeffE writes in this answer:

Personally, when I read a CV, I only spend a second or two on the self-declared research interests and jump straight to the publication list..

If a candidate (either for hiring or for a grant) has good science but the publications are not in the most prestigious journals, but in slightly less known journals (but still journals that are not obscure), does that significantly hurt their chances?  Or is it really the content that matters and is the venue of publication less important?
Note that my question is specifically about the venue of publication.  These related questions do not answer my question:

What can I do as a graduate student to maximize my chances of obtaining a professorship?
How important is number of publications and prestige of the publication outlets for getting a tenure-track job?
How important are citations when applying for jobs or promotions?

Not really a full-fledged answer but I believe having a publication in a high-rep journal can be the last touch of spicing on a dish that is your research profile. I know individuals that are very talented, have great track records but haven't really made it to the bigger scene based on the lack of that 5 minutes of fame you would get from a publication in a famous, high impact journal. Likewise, I have met scientists who don't seem to know what they are talking about, but have GREAT publications if you only consider where they are published.

There is probably not a single truth here but I would make the following statements:
Having a good publication record is the basis for basically everything in academia. The question is then what is good? As a fresh PhD student citations will be near zero (I am guessing in most fields). Having publications in citation index listed journals is therefore a definite plus. Having several as first author is a must (see What does first authorship really mean? for a discussion) I would also argue that having papers not part of the PhD (even if not first authored author) is a plus since it indicates activity.
As a new post-graduate you need to improve the publication record as best you can. You need to show that you do your own new work but also be part of collaborations in some mix. Building a publication record takes time and will partly be up to your own efforts and in some way also by chance (you never know what opportunities lie ahead).
To get employed, you can basically only compete with a good publication list. Everyone knows this takes time and I am guessing all fields have their own "standards" as to what is a reasonable publication rate. In my field where papers are based on field investigations, 2-4 papers per year is considered acceptable, the longer-term average should be towards 3-5. The rate is thus an aspect that should not be over-looked.
Typically you will have a dip post-PhD because it takes time to build or get into a new environment and to start writing new papers. Having something on the back burner for that period may thus be useful to bridge the gap.
As a final note, the citations will be more and more important after a few years. In my field it usually takes a few years to start getting citations because the results will inspire someone to apply for money, go into the field for new investigations, and then write papers. In a lab or theoretical environment such response times may be lower so check with seniors in your field what applies. A good question to ask is perhaps if there are ways to promote ones work to increase citation records, I do not have the answer to that question.
Bottom line: publish in as good journals as possible. Good quality counts but a reasonable publication rate is also necessary. Citations will come with time.

Having several as first author is a must — ...unless you work in an area that does not recognize first authorship, like mathematics or theoretical computer science.

For what it is worth, this question is discipline specific. In natural sciences, you have to go through 5-8 years of post-docs, and the question of how to get a professor position is such a distant future that you shouldn't even bother at this point, and have to concentrate on getting into a productive post-doc position (rather than the one that will simply suck up all of your energy on 60+ hour work weeks, without giving much in return). In some fields, like economics or statistics, you get a tenure track position right after the Ph.D. In some other fields, like some branches of sociology or anthropology, there is no "research", but there is "scholarship" instead, and the first question you are asked is not "How many Nature papers do you have?" but "What is your book about?".
Having said that, my impression (I am a statistician, also worked with psychologists and economists) is that generally the perceived order of importance is:

The prestige of the top journals that you published in as the first or the solo author
Whether you have papers in top journals in the field, no matter what order author you are
The share of top journals in overall record: if you have 20 publications with only 1 being in a top journal, that's arguably a worse record than 10 publications with 3 top journals (although it depends on a particular university; in some academic incentive systems, you are better off publishing 5-6 crappy papers a year without every attempting top journals)
Citations will hardly come into play until you are about 5+ years into the game post Ph.D. (going for tenure in economics or statistics; going for tenure track positions in physics or biology, although I can only speculate about these fields). For some departments, citations may never come into play if you have publications in top journals, which are assumed to generate citations semi-automatically.

As a grad student, you are still learning the rules of the game. Treat academia as such; don't assume that good research will prevail -- it might, but it could be too late for you. You have to be aggressive in pursuing top publications, invited presentations, etc., and a lot of people just don't have it. You have to recognize whether your personality suits academia, and try to seek other venues if it does not. (I don't know if there are psychoanalysts specializing in placing people into academia, but that would be a golden niche for somebody :) ). In many disciplines, there is as much or even more good quality research being done in industry than in the university setting.

Despite the importance of hiring, many departments do not devote all that much energy to it (at least, not until the field is narrowed down to a handful of top candidates being invited to give job talks).  For these departments, it can make a big difference if they know that you at least passed the (often considerably greater) scrutiny afforded by publication in a top journal.
Not having publications in top journals will not necessarily sink your chances, but it will limit your chances to those places that don't make it a de facto requirement.  Check out the publication records of recently hired faculty members at institutions you're interested in to get a hint of what your CV ought to look like.
(Note: getting a good postdoctoral fellowship is typically much less publication-dependent, at least in those areas of the biological sciences with which I am familiar.)

getting a good postdoctoral fellowship is typically much less publication-dependent — ...except in theoretical computer science, said the broken record.

getting a good postdoctoral fellowship is typically much less publication-dependent - That's not my experience (in any area of computer science that I am familiar with).  (I'm agreeing with JeffE, with the addition that in my experience it's not limited to theoretical computer science.)


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Are there any good job directories for academic work?
I'm currently looking for a PhD position and have started to realize that a lot of my time goes into sporadeously surfing the web in hope of finding an open position. Are there good job directories for academic work that lists available positions?

Have you checked ACM Career & Job Center? link: http://jobs.acm.org/jobseeker/search/results/function/Academic%20-%20College%20and%20University

Based on your question title and phrasing, I'm assuming in my answer below that by "PhD position" you mean a job requiring a PhD, not a student position for working towards a PhD.  If you mean the latter, then the answer varies even more between fields and countries.

...unless you're European, in which case "PhD position" may very well mean "position as a PhD student".  Could you clarify?

@Speldosa How did your job search go? I added another link to my answer. I am guessing you might have already checked that website!

It would depend on what your field of work is. But heres a nifty little list that I keep an eye on (I am looking for a postdoctoral position in academia / research and these websites are quite helpful to me)

www.phds.org
www.postdocjobs.com
http://www.cfd-online.com/Jobs/
http://www.aps.org/careers/
http://www.academickeys.com

There are a few websites suggested in the answers below/above my response to this question and they are quite nice too!
Besides that you probably have a general idea as to what you'd want to work as / work for. You could perhaps target a bunch of universities and faculty members for prospective positions?
Good luck!

It's almost impossible to give a general answer to this question, since different fields handle things in very different ways.  Your profile says you're a cognitive scientist and philosopher, which is beyond my competence, but for other readers here's an answer for mathematics jobs in the US:
The largest number of job ads for US academic jobs in math, especially at but not limited to reseach-oriented schools, are found at http://www.ams.org/profession/employment-services/eims/eims-home.  In particular, most math departments do not advertise on generic websites (not field specific) unless there are university requirements to do so, and you cannot find most math jobs without going to math-specific sites.  I have no idea whether this is typical for academic fields, or unique to mathematics.
One unusual feature of mathematics (compared with computer science, for example) is that there's a centralized application site, http://www.mathjobs.org/jobs, which covers a surprisingly large fraction of jobs and makes handling letters of recommendation very easy.  It's still important to look at ads on math society websites, since some schools do not allow departments to use mathjobs.
For industrial or government employment, it's a real mess, and different subfields advertise in rather different places (or sometimes hardly advertise at all).  I don't think there's anything valuable to say there without narrowing things down quite a bit.

http://www.higheredjobs.com
They have jobs broken down by Job Category, Region, and Institution Type. They also do a great job of keeping you informed of opportunities when they are added to the their database.  You provide your CV and potential employers can search for applicants by credentials.

The European Commission supports the web-portal EURAXESS - Researchers in Motio which has also a job portal. EURAXESS is especially helpful as it lists jobs from all European Union member countries in all disciplines (incl. sciences, humanities & social sciences). You can filter for countries, research fields, positions (PhD, postdoc, professor, ...) and your own keywords.

You should consider location-specific job directories:

Some countries maintain such directions: in this UK, for example, there is jobs.ac.uk
Most universities have a job directory, so if you have decided on your dream geographic area, you can look at the corresponding listings.

Also, some journals have a job listings section (just like your local newspaper):

Science
Nature

In case you are interested in working in Germany:
www.academics.com
(I guess relevant ads will be in English)

Many jobs are advertised by scientific associations or institutionalized networks of researchers. At least this is true for political science, but I figure it applies to other disciplines as well. You can easily find relevant associations by googling for $discipline association. For example, the American Political Science Associations (APSA) has a nice job directory on their website.
Moreover, scientific associations and other networks frequently circulate vacancies through their mailing-lists. Non-association mailing lists are another great source for academic job-hunting. For example in Germany, jobs in the discipline of international relations are advertised through the IB Liste, jobs in history and cultural studies through HSozKult. Again, use your favorite search engine to find relevant mailing lists for your discipline.

I would emphasize more mailing lists and less scientific associations in this answer. There are lots of discipline-specific mailing lists that are not tied to an association.

http://www.myscience.cc/jobs
Take a look for a good research job adverts aggregator. Also adverts in top-notch magazines like Nature, or similar in the field of your interest are relevant. Your nearest library is your friend.

I create a platform for Academic people. You may search academic jobs updated daily at Academic Gates platform. There are thousands jobs collected daily. Hope it help!

Are you in an any way affiliated with this site? In case, you should this close the affiliation. As is this answer looks a bit spammish.

Yes, I am an owner of this platform, I create it to collect all academic jobs for academic community. Sorry. I have just edit a bit to point directly to the job page. https://academicgates.com/job @MassimoOrtolano

You should then edit your answer to specify that you are the owner and make it also a more complete answer, otherwise the community will consider it as spam. See this help page: https://academia.stackexchange.com/help/promotion

@MassimoOrtolano Thank you! I just edited it.

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I have career gap after bachelors degree and irrelevant work experience. How do I write SOP for MS admission in US?
I pursued a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering stream and I completed the course in 2010. I was jobless for more than a year so I did a 3 months course in Java. Im Sun certified. I still wasn't able to find a job. I got a job in a Business Process Outsourcing company as a customer support associate. I had to take the job, as I didn't have any choice. I worked from Aug 2012 to Nov 2013. Now I'm interested in doing an MS. I'm afraid I don't get admitted. I'm especially interested in University of Texas at Austin. I don't know how to project my negative points in the SOP. I don't know what points to include and what to not. I have no clue. Please help me.

Unlike employers in industry, I believe that graduate admissions committees don't care if there are gaps, irrelevant work experience, or changes of direction in your employment.  Their sole concern are your credentials and capabilities to do academic work.  You should focus all your attention on communicating your skills and capabilities to do Masters-level Computer Science work.  This includes your course grades as an undergrad, your GRE scores, your computer experience in industry, your recommendation letters, and your engagement with professional and academic communities.
(Business schools are probably an exception to this.  Work history is probably important to getting accepted in an MBA program.)

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What's the rough budget size for one person year (research asssistant/postdoc) in academia?
For my CV, I want to mention the budget size of third-party funds I helped to raise, but I do not know the financial details. So:
What's the rough cost for one person year in academia, including personal costs, travel costs, overhead costs, etc.

Update: Since the budget seems to depend on the location: It was a German project ("DFG Einzelantrag auf Sachbeihilfe") and I computed the personal costs per year to be about 60 thousand Euro. But I have no clue how much the travel and overhead costs are per year.

This is very localized. You might at least want to promote the "in detail" content to the main question, since an answer needs to be Germany-specific.

It seems odd that if you've helped raise these funds that you wouldn't know what the exact values are. Is there a reason that you need to calculate the costs per person rather than just listing the value of the award?

It seems very silly to try to guess the number.  Either ask the PI who knows the financial details, or leave them out and let people make their own guesses.  No one is going to be impressed by the amount of money you guess you helped to land.

Vaguely related recent post out in the blogosphere: http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2013/11/price-check-you.html . The kind of rule of thumb that floats around the business community in the US is that taxes, benefits and overhead about double the "pay" figure (exclusive of all that travel and so on).

I'm not sure it's possible to provide an acceptable answer to this, as it will vary so much by field and country. For example, I work at a research institute with high containment facilites which operates a full economic cost model, so the per-capita overheads are very high compared to many comparable facilities in other countries, or academics in other fields in the UK.

The total amount of funding is difficult to guess. If you can't get detailed information, it's better to just state the number of positions in the grant and the total duration. Even that could be left out. If you're applying within Germany, everybody will know what a "typical" DFG grant includes. For applications somewhere else, I'm not sure how relevant this information would be.
The personnel related funding received from the DFG is standardized. See for example there for rates in 2012. The important question here would be wether it's a full-time or part-time position. That is field-dependent.
Overhead cost is standardized at 20 % of the total funding (at least for recent grants, it has been less earlier).
Travel costs and other is really dependent on the project.


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Tips on answering "What can you do to enhance our department?" and "Why are you a good fit?" type of questions in job interview
I am preparing myself for a job interview for a lecturer position.  According to many articles on academic job interviews, a common question to be prepared for is that " what can you do to enhance our department?"
I'm  not sure what exactly the committee would mean by that? I understand that I should tailor my own answer but question is not really clear to me.

Is this "lecturer" in the UK sense, or in the US sense, or... ? These are very different positions.

Good question Dr. Garrett. Its a lecturer position in the US at a  very prestigious school.its a dream- come true- gig for me.

Ah, then a further question: a research-oriented place granting PhD's, or "small liberal arts", for example. These, too, are very different places...

Very strong research.

This is an update for those who are planning to go down this route:
I had my interview. I was asked a lot of questions regarding my teaching philosophy and experience.

I was asked why I like to teach at their university?(to protect my privacy name of university will remain anonymous-but lets say it's a prestigous research university).
One particular question I was asked was that what was the most difficult part of teaching I ever faced and how I dealt with that.
Also they named a few courses and asked if I've taught them before.
They asked if I have ever taught classes as instructor and not a TA.
They asked a follow up question asking if I did  A to Z of the course preparation myself, e.g. writing syllabus, making exams etc.

At any rate, while I didn't get the cliche of why-are-you-a-good-fit? the committee aimed to get to know me and investigate my teaching skills in detail by asking straightforward  questions.

Well, what can you do that nobody else in the department can? Some possible examples:

If you've had experience teaching electronically, and the department doesn't currently offer e-learning, you could point this out.
If you have expertise in a certain subject that nobody else in the department has, you could point this out.
If you've seen the content, homework assignments, etc, of the current courses the department offers, and you think you can do better, you could point this out. For example maybe in your experience students like to learn about [topic] which would be a really good addition to the department's [course], and you are very capable of teaching [topic].

Before doing this, I would look for evidence that the department actually wants to offer e-learning, etc.  Otherwise, it could be that the reason they don't offer it is that they think it's a bad idea.  If so then such an answer could inadvertently demonstrate that you're not a good fit.

This is an opportunity to sell yourself. The question is vague which allows you to take the conversation to whatever topic you want to bring up. Teaching? Research? Potential collaborators?
Here is a short list of ideas that I used when I got questions like this:

I can teach X, which I think could help the department.
My research interests overlap with Y's.
No one in the department is currently doing research in Z.

Another technique is to transform vague questions into questions that you can answer. I did this a lot. See my list of questions that I was asked during my faculty interviews for more ideas.

Potential collaborators is especially good if you know some things about their faculty.

@Buffy I'd suggest to always know a bit about the faculty. I skimmed nearly every faculty member's website during the flight or night before each of my interviews. If they were even somewhat relevant to my research, then I would skim a paper or two as well.

Keep in mind that if you're being considered for a teaching-only position they may not care at all about your research interests.

It is an obviously open ended question that is intended to be hard. It will be used differently by different people. Often it is used because they can't think of anything very specific to ask you. In the book Siddhartha by Hesse, Siddhartha is asked the question by a potential employer. His response is "I can think. I can wait. I can fast" which seems a bit non-responsive. The statement has been widely analyzed.
A similarly orthogonal answer is sometimes fine, or not, but it depends on your reading of the situation. But the answer should somehow be meaningful to you.
One specific piece of advice, though, is not to use the question to appear arrogant. "I play well with others." Fine, even if a bit silly. "I have a 180 measured IQ." Not fine.
It is good to think about the question. It is also good to think about why you want this job. When you think about such questions, think beyond your professional capabilities. Think about your goals, your other interests, etc.

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Should I explain a single bad grade in my personal statement?
Overall, I have always maintained a good standing in all of my undergrad classes. Most of my grades are either As or Bs. With only one Junior level course with a D. Is it worthwhile to explain this one bad grade? I am afraid that since all my other grades are good, I will only be highlighting that one bad grade by talking about it.

If the course is particularly relevant to the program you're applying to, then it might make sense to explain it. If not, then not.

If you decide to explain the grade, make the explanation as brief as you can.  Don't tell a long story that will divert attention from the rest of your statement.

There are really two parallel circumstances to consider here:

The grade is highly relevant to the program in question. In that case, you might need to address it, as someone will be focusing on that coursework in particular - partially because they will be relying on you knowing the content of that coursework, and with that grade it's hard to argue you do. Though in this case, it's also probably a good idea to strongly consider retaking the course. In this case, you might touch on the reasons, but that should be 1) Short and 2) Be a legitimate reason why this might not accurately reflect your abilities. "I didn't like the professor" is not that reason.
It's just a random class. 'Women in Medieval Art and Literature' and you're applying to a Microbiology program. 'Calculus 1' and you're applying to a Comparative Literature program. 'German 4' and you're applying for a Computer Science program. In this case, I wouldn't draw attention to it.

Excellent response. But a minor quibble [PREVIOUS REVISION]: Poli sci isn't my field, but I would imagine some of the more political economy-oriented ones would expect you to either take grad level microeconomics, or at least be able to more-or-less follow econ papers. Either could involve calculus.

Probably a fair point - I've changed it to be even more far afield.


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Who holds the copyright if I did research at one university and write a thesis at another?
I worked for a research project on the migration of a prototype to a low-level consumable solution. I am also co-author of a paper that describes the math used for that project (my contribution was not the math, but the tests used to evaluate the performance of the algorithm). According to the work agreement I signed, the copyright of the paper and the code belongs to university A (although it acknowledges the author's attribution).
I am also writing a thesis for an academic program at university B (paying the tuition by myself). The main researcher of university A gave me permission to use the algorithm as the basis of my individual research. I also have some ideas that can improve the overall performance.
If I base my work on the algorithm of university A (which was already published) and write a different implementation (even in a different language), could I still lose ownership of my thesis? (I am trying to avoid any infringement)
PS: the abstract of the paper of university A was accepted and exposed in a conference, but the final document has not been sent yet (as usually done in these kinds of events).

There are two different issues here, claims on software you write and claims on the thesis you will write.
The former depends on the jurisdiction you live in and whether the algorithm is patented or not. If you re-implement it, and can prove that you have not used any bit of the old code (which is extremely hard if you have seen the old code), then there is no copyright violation, but you might still need to pay royalties due to any patents (if your jurisdiction allows software patents). If you only have ever seen pseudo code, then there is no copyright violation as you cannot copy any code that you have not had access to. If have seen the code and you want to be sure there is no copyright conflict, ask a student who has not seen the old code to re-implement with only a natural language or very abstract description from you. Even if you are writing in a different language, if you have seen the old code, this might be constructed as copyright violation, depending on who the lawyers are and which jurisdiction you live in.
Your thesis is not covered by any copyright or patent claims on the algorithm. Copyright only covers claims on derived software. You have written a thesis which is not a piece of software. The findings in it are your own, the text are your own. Nobody can touch that. There is no patent violation either, as you are not doing anything even remotely commercial. And most jurisdictions have explicit exemptions for scientific use of patents (in others it's implicitly in the way how patents only cover commercial use).
What you should do is ask the legal department of your university to clarify this. They know how to deal with intellectual property and what is allowed and what isn't allowed in your jurisdiction. And stuff like this is their job.

Thanks, this is a really exciting conversation. If the code used in the University A's project was a migration of another work done by the researcher in a foreign country and the university where he developed the original code released it publicly, then I feel that the code of University A won't be a blocker for any further implementation into a third language in University B. Would a disclaimer note will be sufficient to avoid any confusions?

You confuse two different things: The copyright attaches to the written work (in your case the thesis). The intellectual property attaches to the content of the contribution (in your case, the algorithm).
Likely (though I'm not qualified to give legal advice), the copyright for your thesis resides with you and/or university B, whereas the intellectual property in the algorithm resides with university A.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property.

More precisely, the specific implementation is covered by copyright. The idea of the algorithm is not copyrightable, only the actual code (so you can reimplement it and will have your own copyright). However, it might be patentable. If university A filed a patent on the algorithm, you might need a license to use your own implementation. I do not know what kind of use might be patent-relevant.

I see, WIPO says that IP covers: patents, copyright, and trademarks. And although copyright protects moral and commercial rights on the software (like @nengel said), patents exclude the commercial use to only one legal person. That is why SURF (to give an example) can only be used without a license for educational purposes.

@nengel put more clearly what I meant to convey. The copyright to your thesis is with university B; the patent on, or the right to patent, the algorithm is with university A. The copyright in the actual implementation of the algorithm may reside with either university, but B may infringe on A's rights if A chooses to patent the algorithm. A may have already lost their right to patent, however, if the algorithm has already been published.

Are you saying that if the code is divulged in public (by university A) before applying for a patent, it will invalidate the patentability? Clever.

@huanma2268: That's a legal question I can't answer. But it is correct that you can not patent material that has previously been published.


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How do I politely decline student requests to meet during my "research time?"
I'm a young (female) professor in a (U.S.) department with a small graduate program and a research expectation.  I usually teach Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and try to save Tuesday and Thursday for research (where possible).  On MWF, I'm quite good about meeting with students, even if they stop by outside of office hours (or on any day during exam weeks).  My week or more homework assignments are generally due on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday (there's no good place for students to drop them off outside of class and I like discussing them as they turn them in) so I get requests by students who have put off their homework to meet on Tuesday or Thursday, even when I mention this preference in advance.  I've yet to come up with a nice response that I'm satisfied both:

Reminds students I'm busy with other work (despite the fact that
their tuition pays part of my salary).
that still encourages them to keep reaching out for help and encourages them to think of me as the approachable professor I try to be (at least on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

Suggestions for a nice email response?

(1) What level are these students? (2) How often is HW due? Do you really have three due dates a week?

Sorry, I meant to say that homework is due about once a week, always on a class day.  I've had the question occur both for undergraduates (major and not major) and masters students so far...

Just an off-topic side-note: you may consider discussing the homework not on the day they hand it in but on the day they get it returned (assuming the homework gets corrected). This way, students see what they did right/wrong are can better focus on the necessary parts. Otherwise, listening again to the problems you have just fought with enough and are happy to hand in and "forget about" for the moment is not so pleasant/effective.

Another consideration you might take into account is when the homework is due. Students, like most people, tend to put things off until they have to, meaning that the day before homework is due they will probably want to get in touch the most. If you make homework due on Tues or Thurs at 9am (for example), then you'll probably get many more requests to meet on Mon, or Wed, when you don't mind making yourself available.

I would add something to other answers and comments with respect to the HW timing. True, as @spacetyper said, student procrastinate. But you have good reason to both be available on MWF and ask homework these days, so why not let them know that if they need any help with HW they need to ask it at least two days in advance, and the day before due date is NOT a day they can ask you for help? It will help them not procrastinate, and be compatible with your constraints, which are perfectly legitimate.

"I am unavailable. Please schedule time during office hours."

It is not reasonable to ask students to memorize your weekly schedule.  It is not unreasonable to ask to meet on Tuesday, Thursday.  It is reasonable to decline such requests.

Other options to help manage this: Always have homework due on a Monday (so the preceding days you're clearly unavailable). Use an online learning management system to have the homework uploaded at a convenient time  (e.g., I have my deadlines on Sundays).

I've yet to come up with a nice response that I'm satisfied both:

Reminds students I'm busy with other work (despite the fact that their tuition pays part of my salary).

There is no need to "remind" students of anything. They likely neither know nor spend any meaningful amount of their time wondering what you are up to when you're not teaching them. Nor is it any business of theirs where your salary comes from.

that still encourages them to keep reaching out for help and encourages them to think of me as the approachable professor I try to be (at least on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

It is commendable that you want to be approachable, and to be seen as approachable, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, from the students' point of view it is likely to be seen as inconsistent that you are so approachable on those days and yet refuse to meet them on other days. In my opinion, any attempt to explain the logical reasons for this inconsistency is going to have very limited (if any) effectiveness -- the students simply don't have a good enough understanding of what the life of a professor (or any professional of a similar age and career status) looks like to be receptive to your explanation.
The upshot of this analysis is that you need to accept that setting the boundaries that you need to set to get your distraction-free time for research is going to make you look slightly less approachable and/or likeable in the eyes of the students. The problem is not one of finding the right words to put in an email, but instead of accepting that "nice" and "approachable" is sometimes inconsistent with "gets things done".

Suggestions for a nice email response?

Here is my suggestion:

Dear [name of student],
I am afraid I am not available to meet with you tomorrow. As I mentioned in class and in the syllabus, my office hours are [insert office hours], and I may have limited availability to meet at other times on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but I am not available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you have an urgent need for help, feel free to try talking to [name of TA] or to a fellow student. I do very much appreciate that you are seeking help to improve your understanding of the material, which is a positive thing that sadly not enough students do, and look forward to seeing you at my office hours sometime soon.
Best,
[your name]

I like the last sentence. It is true and sends an encouraging message, without apologizing for the result.

Marking this as the best answer, as I think it does a better job of answering the question asked than Elizabeth Henning's answer and I too appreciate the last sentence.  That said, I do have some concerns with sending either this answer or Lighthouse Keeper 's answer because of exactly what Elizabeth Henning's first paragraph mentions.  While the benefits (quieter research hours) outweigh student reaction (remembering this is only one email), a better question might be whether it's more worth avoiding the situation (as @ElizabethHenning suggests) or continuing current hw policy.

I think you give too little credit to the students. Even as a first year undergrad, I perfectly understood when a professor told me he was in the middle of a calculation and that I should come back later or the day after.

@Davidmh if only all students were as reasonable as you. Trust me, not all students are.

What I don't like about this answer is it violates "the lunch rule" - it says when you are looking for somewhere to go for lunch, you're not allowed to say no to a restaurant unless you propose a different place to eat. I would instead propose a new specific time that fits your schedule and ask if that works for them.

@corsiKa you're of course free to disagree with my answer, but your reasoning isn't very convincing. The OP is already going out of her way to meet students outside of her office hours on certain days. You seem to be saying the email isn't good because it doesn't make her go out of her way even more by doing something else she's also under no obligation to do, namely suggest an alternative time. Well, she did suggest a time: her office hours; there's no need to say anything more. The lunch rule may be a useful heuristic among a group of friends, but it's illogical to suggest it applies here.

This answer is about 1000x better than the "That doesn't work I'm busy" I got from a professor or two (or the permanently closed office door with no answer, even during alleged office hours). I wouldn't worry too much about it @Mathprof

@DanRomik How is a professor trying to schedule this meeting (that she's willing to do) different than any other professional scheduling a meeting? If you can't make a proposed time, you propose a new time yourself. That's just professional courtesy.

@corsiKa I don't know where you got the notion that such a rule exists at all. But even if it did, it wouldn't apply here because the professor and student aren't two professional coworkers in a symmetric relationship trying to schedule a meeting. Rather, the professor is a service provider with certain very specific obligations towards the student, namely to make herself available at a regularly scheduled time - office hours. And she has met that obligation; she is not required to do anything more, and in particular she's not required to suggest any meeting times outside of her office hours.

Your attitude sounds overly apologetic to my ears – students cannot reasonably expect that you're available for a meeting on a specific day of their choice. I would answer as follows:

Thank you for your interest in a meeting to discuss the homework. Unfortunately, I am fully booked on Tuesdays. However, a meeting on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday would be suitable for me.

students cannot reasonably expect - I see you're applying logic to an illogical group, a common rookie mistake.

Completely agree. I too am a prof who is very generous with meeting students (though as a man, I don't explicitly worry about appearing approachable). But any student who asks to meet outside of scheduled office hours is already asking a favor, so although I try to satisfy this when I can, I have no hesitation about saying no if I can't. (The only exception is if a student can't attend ANY of the scheduled office hours, in which case I do feel some responsibility to find some other time at least once every few weeks. But it sounds like you're already being very flexible, which mitigates this.)

@Kimball I don't get your point. I'm not suggesting to confront the student with logical arguments, but with clear boundaries.

That was, what I think the kids nowadays refer to as, a joke.  In this case meaning students do not expect things reasonably, they just expect things.

I like this response the best! If the student comes back with "I can't on MWF, what about next Tuesday?", you can then decide whether helping this one student is worth disrupting your research time over.

The grad students should understand that you have TR set aside for research, so just tell them that. Undergrad students, especially lower-div students, are not going to understand why you can't meet with them when you're already sitting in your office doing "nothing." (And they are more judgmental about "unhelpful" female instructors.) So any of the boundary-setting emails suggested in other posts are fine, but be prepared for the fact that it's not going to go over well with them.
A better long-term solution is to manage when and how often you get all HWs and to plan on a certain amount of day-before help. Electronic submissions or other alternative assessments might also help you keep your research days uninterrupted.

This comment certainly seems truest to my experience, if not a direct answer to the question as asked.  In (noncoordinated) classes where I have the option, you're right that I may need to reexamine how/when my students turn in homework, depending on my various priorities.

Elizabeth and @Mathprof, I agree 100% with the first paragraph of this answer, but don't understand the advice in the second paragraph, or OP's concurrence. I don't see in what sense is it "a better long-term solution" to adjust your HW schedule (or any other aspect of how you run your course or organize your schedule) in order to cater to some (not all) students' irrational tendencies and biases. It's the students who need to do the adjusting, not you. You both seem to be assuming the premise that professors need to be "nice" at all costs. I believe that's not a productive mindset to have. ..

... My recommendation (which is just one person's opinion, offered for what little it is likely worth) is to make decisions about when you collect HW based on only rational factors (those to do with your own convenience and needs, as well as those of the students). The students' bad habits and inability to plan ahead long enough in advance to be able to seek help they might need from you, or the fact that some decisions you make may not "go over well" with some of those students, do not count as rational factors in my opinion and should not influence your planning decisions.

@DanRomik Being "nice" has nothing to do with it. It's about doing your job, being pragmatic, and not setting yourself up to have to buck the tide down the line. Furthermore, not every instructor has the option of completely disregarding their students' expectations, and it's presumptuous for you to assume that wanting help the day before an assignment is due is the result of "bad habits." Many students have family obligations, jobs, disabilities, etc.

Ok, good point about not everything being about bad habits - I acknowledge that there could be other issues, and it's reasonable of a professor to want to be as accommodating as they can, and even reasonable to want to be nice (I do as well, when it doesn't conflict with other goals I perceive to be more important). My recommendation stands however. "Being practical" is what I would count under "rational factors", and there are certainly legitimate factors to take into account in HW scheduling. And other factors that (in my humble opinion etc) should not be taken into account, as I said.

I'd add that it's practical to care about student evaluations (as long as it's considered for tenure reviews) and that there's a good body of evidence that women professors who are not considered "warm" and "approachable" get considerably worse evaluations (more so than men in the same situation).  Although a single email doesn't make up an evaluation, it's possible your letter is more "rational" for a male professor than a female one.  The are many rational priorities I hold higher than "good reviews", but I'm not sure ease of homework collection is one of them.

@Mathprof agreed, your concerns are very reasonable. Another possible strategy to consider is to be prepared to explain your approach to teaching (and its effect on evaluations) during the tenure review. Personally if I were reviewing a tenure case, I would be more impressed by someone who acts fearlessly on her beliefs (assuming they were sensible ones), in the service of the best interest of her students and research, and takes the trouble to explain why she acted as she did, than by someone who sacrificed some of that to get slightly better teaching evaluations.

I don't understand why a undergrad student should not (opposed Roma grad student) understand that a prof has to do research, office and sponsor recruiting. Especially if you tell them once. It perfectly fine to post that on the office door under the office hours.

@DanRomik the questioner will have to decide for herself her own priorities.  However if the institution is heavily dependent on tuition and the questioner's research is not funded then she is not on track to getting tenure.

TR? Research time in French?

TR = Tuesdays and Thursdays, as usually abbreviated in collegiate course catalogs

In addition to other answers, how about something like
"I'm afraid that I have a [research paper|grant proposal|referee report|...] that I have to finish soon, and I have to reserve my Tuesdays and Thursdays to make sure I can do so."
I wouldn't explain yourself at all to students who are disrespectful, but polite students might appreciate learning that you (like all faculty members) are under a lot of pressure yourself.

The problem is that you are falling into the trap of framing a narrative in which OP is accountable to the students for what she does with all her time. She isn't. The students aren't entitled to this information, nor are they in a position to even fully understand what it means. And while she may have a grant proposal due this week, what if next week she doesn't? What if she wants to just meditate on life, or read a textbook - will the students accept that as an explanation? Or should she lie and make up a deadline? See the problem? The only consistent approach is not explaining yourself.

@DanRomik I wouldn't recommend this in all circumstances, but perhaps when students are being polite and seem receptive to such an answer (and not likely to argue).

Let me further add -- Personally, I'm sorry to say that I was the kind of  undergraduate who always demanded explanations, and in retrospect I'm very grateful to, and I learned a lot from, those people who were patient enough to offer them. So my advice is based on what I choose to do myself. Whether it makes sense for others, I can't say.

Yes, but it's precisely because you and other students demand explanations from professors that I'd be wary of giving one. I've had students like that and found that the more explanations you offer, the more they keep coming back and asking for more explanations. As I was saying earlier, that's setting yourself up for trouble: maybe this week I am truly urgently busy with a deadline, in which case it seems reasonable to explain, but next week I may not be, but the student will still expect an explanation. What will I say to them then to avoid causing disappointment and resentment?

The bottom line is that even if the professor is well-intentioned and wants to satisfy the student's curiosity, and even if the student is polite and respectful, by explaining you are implicitly agreeing to a narrative in which the students feel like they are entitled to get a report from the professor about what she is doing and why. That could cause problems down the road. I understand it's counterintuitive, but sometimes the desire to be nice causes us to behave in suboptimal ways. And sometimes it's in people's best interest not to have something explained to them that they want explained.

@DanR - It doesn't hurt to educate undergraduate students every now and then. While I agree with the closing sentiment of your last comment (sometimes it's in people's best interest not to have something explained to them that they want explained), there are other times where people are a lot more understanding when given such explanations. It's not like the research side of a professor's duties needs to be kept as an it's-none-of-your-business secret for four years. I agree it's not necessary to do so every time, but it's not hard for me to imagine a scenario where this is a good approach.

@J.R. agreed. ___

@DanRomik: In response to your question "What will I say to them then to avoid causing disappointment and resentment?" Nothing. My suggestion is based on the idea that a brief explanation may, in some circumstances, lead the student to some understanding. If a student bugged me a second time, I'd just say something like "Sorry, but as I mentioned earlier I'm only available on MWF." If that causes disappointment and resentment, then so be it.

Your system has an inherent contradiction.
Here are some ideas to get you started in thinking about a solution for future semesters:

Since you need two days to yourself, and students need a day to visit you with homework questions, plan your lectures for TWO days a week, for example Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday.  Pick an appropriate day for the extra office hours.
Or teach, for example, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with homework due on Friday.  In this case you could make yourself available to help those who are stuck, on Thursday, and then you'd have Monday and Wednesday to yourself.

Get a TA who will hold office hours the day before homework is due.

Have the students hand in two submissions for each homework assignment, where the first is the scaffolding for the second.

Give full credit for homework turned in on the official due date, and some smaller amount of credit (e.g. 80% or 90%) for homework turned in a couple of days late.

Set aside two blocks of time on Tuesdays and Thursdays to provide homework help remotely (via email), and let the students know what those blocks are, for example you will check your email at 12:30 and at 4:30.

In the meantime, take some class time to explain very, very clearly that you are unfortunately not available on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help with homework questions, and tell them that what separates the women from the girls and the men from the boys is that the women and men will plan ahead based on their instructor's availability to help with homework questions.
Your unavailability on Tuesdays and Thursdays could be due to:

a long commute

childcare constraints

receiving chemotherapy or some other treatment, or supporting someone who is in treatment

a second job (for this we would imagine that you are not full-time)

needing to finish up your PhD

etc.

My point is that the students do not need to be told why you're not available on the two pumpkin days (i.e. the days you turn into a pumpkin).
My theme is based on the Faber-Mazlish idea Take Time to Teach expectations.

The practical answer is just say no and tell them to try on the other days.  Don't bother to explain a reason.
Some suggestions:

Consider to write your policy handout or whatever to make clear that you are available some days and not the others.   Maybe X times for drop-in (the office hours), Y days for appointment, Z days off limits.
Consider to change your method of instruction to more examination and less homework projects.  In particular homework that requires help from the instructor (since you are not available to give it).  Nothing wrong per se with either method of teaching/assessment.  But given the practicalities.
(for your psyche) I would disaggregate the issue of research universities and undergrad subsidy of research versus the issue of what you need to do.  You are in a situation where the school expects both research and teaching.  There just is not the same commitment to undergrads at a research uni as there is at a non research uni (liberal arts college or military academy).  It's just a fact of life.  The schools have made their choice what to do.  You have made your choice where to be.  And the students have made their choice to go for a brand name versus dedicated instruction.  You can still keep people reasonably happy by drawing boundaries and accomplishing the twin missions.  Just don't confuse the overall debate versus you getting things done now in the situation you are in.  The meta-issues of Harvard versus USNA are different topics than the issue of how Mathprof does a reasonable job at Harvard.  And make no mistake about it.  You need to get the research done.  Especially if you are not tenured.  This is the priority.

I hate to burst your angelic bubble, but you are the boss, not the students. Some women professionals may tend toward being played by colleagues or underlings because they don't wish to seem aggressive, mean, un-approachable, etc., etc. Traits males in the same position have and display with regularity.
You have a TA, right? That person should be doing the work, not you.  Your office hours should be set and adhered to.  It's not your job to offer a short order, cafeteria-style set of office hours.  Stick to your office hours and keep your door closed the rest of the time.  Make sure your office hours are posted on your door, and that's it.
The people who have responded, excepting Elizabeth, are trying to be just as nice as you. You will get more respect if you stop being so worried about being liked and concentrate on getting your PhD, or Nobel, or whatever. The suggested e-mail is laughable, absolutely silly. Why all the fol de rol?
If you must respond by email (thus taking away your very important personal time) simply send them your office hours and tell them you look forward to seeing them during those times.
As an undergrad I never saw my full professor, I went through my TA. As a graduate student I was able to confer with professors, but was on my own, excepting for my thesis material.
Grow a spine and take care of yourself, your not their mother so stop trying to be one.

Forthrightness and "growing a spine" is sometimes a luxury.

I, too, would not be so strongly in favor of thinking in terms of "getting respect", as opposed to "being nice". I myself think in terms of setting a good role model for "being an adult", as opposed to being a vindictive child or adolescent. Sure, lotta big-shots do behave childishly and so on, but I, for one, would like to set a different model for students. That is, I do not think in terms of "getting respect", but in terms of "being civil", and showing how to do it for young people that might not know that some grown-ups are not predatory @$$-holes. All that.