text:
How do I know if a PhD is the right choice?
I am graduating in September in Economics from a world top school and I am willing to go on studying to earn a PhD (in Economics). My Master program is very focused on quantitative skills and research and although professors say we would be able to work in any field because of our strong preparation, I am feeling that only a PhD is the right way to make my studies worthy.
I decide to study Economics with the purpose of becoming an economist in a supranational organization and I feel I have found my field of interest too. My fear is that I am feeling pushed to enroll in a PhD because it seems to be the natural continuation of my studies.
Thus, without referring to my specific case, I was wondering if there are some signals, something objective, that would make me able to understand if a PhD is the right choice for me, besides the fact that I am feeling interested.

If your goal is to actually do research in economics, having only an MA will be severely limiting.
It's possible to get research assistant/associate positions at important institutions without a PhD, particularly if you're willing to work in the non-profit sector (think tanks, foundations) or in related areas like banking.  However, having been at two very prominent ones myself (Brookings and Urban), there is definitely a glass ceiling that even skilled researchers with a track record of successful research struggle to get past without PhDs.
However, it sounds like you're more interested in larger policy groups, like the IMF, World Bank, BIS, or central banks.  It will be even more difficult to get in the door there without at least being a PhD candidate.  These places generally have more full PhD applicants than they can handle, so they face little incentive to consider non-PhDs for anything beyond supporting roles.
In short, if you're willing to compromise where you work and potentially face a glass ceiling eventually, you can definitely do economic research with an MA.  Otherwise, a PhD is entirely necessary.


text:
How important is Master thesis when applying for a Ph.D.?
I am willing to apply for a Ph.D next year and by September I am planning to graduate from a M.Sc. in Economics. I am trying to choose my mentor for my final thesis but I was wondering which is the impact of a Master thesis on a Ph.D. application.
I know there are many thing that will be taken into account when analyzing an application but I thought a good thesis in the field for which one is applying could be a nice introduction as well as the name of the professor (the more "famous", the better) chosen as tutor.
Are my considerations right or wrong?

Are you in the US? Europe? Somewhere else? The status/importance of a masters when applying for a Ph.D can be very different, especially in the US. Edit: that said, if all your advisor options are equally good at advising, a more famous name couldn't possibly hurt your application. It could only help.

I am in Europe now but I am still undecided about Europe and US. What about both?

I'm the US. My understanding of Europe is that a masters is generally required for entry into a (3ish-year) PhD program, and is thus considered more seriously. In the US, (in STEM) domestic students typically do not get a masters before applying to a (5-ish year) PhD program. International students applying to US programs still tend to, because of the structures abroad. In the US, I think it would be considered, but not as carefully as in europe.

@NMJD - I don't have time this week to do this, but I think it would be a good addition to the site to ask for a comparison of STEM masters in Europe vs. U.S., for the helpful info in your comment.

Sometimes choosing a famous name backfires.  If it's a hot shot with tons of students, he will distinguish among his students, when writing his letters, by giving strong letters to the strongest among his flock, and mediocre letters to the less spectacular.  Such a mediocre letter from a big name can be quite damaging to an application.
Even aside from that -- choose the person who fits best:

you are interested in their work
you admire the person ethically
they bring out the best in you
their management style suits you

This all depends on the person. In my field, the likelihood of a famous person being a jerk is high... if all things considered, you have two advisors who both suit your work equally well, and who (as far as you can tell) are equally good advisors, that is the only case in which I'd recommend going for the more famous advisor. Talk to their current students to find out how good they are at advising and if their management style suits you. I think this is really the most important quality.

@NMJD Management style -- great addition.  Do you want to write an additional partial answer?  You are welcome to add it to my answer if you want to.

I added it to your answer; I think it's a simple add and, in this case, I think it's better to have one main answer to a question like this. Thanks!

When I began working on my Master's Thesis in an engineering field (in the United States) I asked my advisor a similar question, namely: "Should I perform a problem report or a thesis?". My advisor, who is a well established and active professor, told me it depended on if I ever thought I would do a PhD.
He said that a Master's Thesis and the associated research were essentially training to learn how to research and document effectively and efficiently. Therefore, a well researched and written thesis is very important for admission into a Doctoral program - because research is what a Doctoral program requires!
Of course, as stated in another answer, having a well-known advisor could be a double-edged sword in its own right.

Ramrod is right.  If you are planning on doing a PhD, you should demonstrate that you are a strong researcher.  That's why MRes programmes are gaining some traction.  If you are planning on going straight into industry, do something that is relevant to the sector.
As an example, I originally planned on working in Arts Management so I did a practical thesis on good practice for Virtual Museums.  Later, when I decided to go into Academia, I realised that I would have done better doing a data-led masters programme.  However, I was fortunate and it didn't matter, though my experience counted for a lot by then.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
Should a very competitive person pursue a career in academia after getting a PhD?
I am getting my phd degree (in a STEM field) at a Top 20 department in a year or two, and I truly love my field, but I’m not sure if I should try for jobs at academia.
The thing is, I feel that I am way too competitive. I know this isn't a healthy attitude, but I cannot stop comparing myself with smarter people consistently and feeling stupid and inferior later, and I always care about people’s opinions on me too much. Back when I was an undergraduate, I felt terrible even if I got fewer scores on homework assignments than my peers/friends. I don't have hostility against people who are smarter than me; I really don't. But I admit that I feel really uncomfortable while being surrounded by people who are much better than me.
Having said that, I still do not want to give up working on my field, but I still cannot concentrate my mind completely on my research in order to ignore how I rank among others. Is my issue solvable? I really appreciate your advice, not to mention this is a really hard topic to discuss with others in real life.

How did you manage this issue while actually working on your PhD?  It seems like such an attitude would be a major issue long before you got to the job market.

@Jeff It's been an issue for years, but for the past three years since I enrolled my PhD, I did my best to preserve. I ask this question today here partly because I feel I will be out of determination soon....

Have you talked to a professional about this?  You say you're competitive, but what you're describing seems to go beyond that.  I suppose my short answer to your question is "yes, that sounds like it will be a problem in academia, but maybe it's not inevitable for you to feel this way."

@Jeff It is indeed hard to discuss this problem with someone I know...

If you wind up with people who are far superior to you then at least the hiring committee is obviously inferior to you.

I think you need to find some way to deal with the problem, and accept that you will always see people who are more capable than you in at least some ways. There are some very, very smart people in industry and government.

@PatriciaShanahan that's exactly why I'm posting my question here: to find a way to have a better mindset.

I mean no offense by this but, have you considered consulting a psychiatrist about this issue? Because this attitude can be harmful in the long run

@polfosol I haven't, but I'm considering to do so, and I have realized that this is a very unhealthy attitude.

Well have you tried not being competitive? Have you tried competing against "lesser mortals"? How do these make you feel? I don't think you want to turn out like the dry alcoholic who has lost his personality.

I don't see the problem. You are hardly alone in having the qualities you described -- academia is full of very competitive people, and competitiveness is also the reason why many of those people are highly driven to work hard and excel at what they do, and therefore to some extent the reason why it is such a fun and interesting place.
I understand that you are worried that being overly competitive will make you perpetually frustrated and unhappy, since no matter howsuccessful you become there will always be people who are yet more successful than you. To the extent that that's true, it will also be true outside of academia in any environment you are likely to end up in as a talented and highly educated person, unless your alternative plan is to give up all ambitions and pursue a lackluster life managing a bagel store or something similar. And honestly, given your description of yourself, I really don't see you doing that. So you're stuck with your ambitions, like it or not, and academia is as good a place as any to be a person with such traits.

I second this. I was a little surprised, but the majority of PIs (especially young PIs) in my department seem highly highly competitive. Mostly in a healthy way, but it's almost a character trait that is selected for. All of them are into some sort of competitive sport. Ever watch a soccer match between PIs? It gets interesting...

I think it would be very unusual for a highly competitive person to wind up in a department where he is by far the worst academically. This is because a highly competitive person cannot be used for service like some people can and thus is of little use if he is academically sterile. Therefore it follows that if your competitiveness is limited to your department you should not be too depressed about it. Plus you can specifically pick a department weaker than you to make you feel good about yourself.

The thing is, I feel depressed whenever I have less capability than some other people, not necessarily all of them.

@Anonymous Well its not going to get any better if you go into academia unless you are in a highly ranked program.

I know this attitude is unhealthy, and I hate it, really. This is why I ask my question here to see if there's some way that I can have a better mindset.

@Anonymous It is my understanding that hating something so fundamental to yourself is not helpful.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
First research proposal for a postdoc application
I am completing a PhD in area of "applied" mathematics (although technically this general area is very broad and sits in between both pure and applied ends of the spectrum).
I am applying for some one-year post doctoral positions at another university. These positions are not attached to any specific member of academic staff, and are thus open to all applicants from pure / applied /statistics  - a committee decides who gets the position, depending on a "number of various factors". I am meant to submit a research proposal, however. I have contacted an academic there whose research is in a similar area to mine (but still quite different, of course).
In my situation, given that I am still yet to complete my PhD thesis, and publish my results, what would be the best thing to do regarding the research proposal? How stringent are the requirements in general regarding research proposals for first-time postdocs in the eyes of professional mathematicians? I certainly have a number of potential research avenues to pursue stemming directly from my work - should I just write about them?

I would advise you to look online for examples of research statement from people in similar situations (and who ended up getting a job). I recall there being plenty to choose from when I needed to write my first research statement.

In mathematics, your situation is very common.  A lot of people don't have any papers written and are still completing their PhD when applying for their first postdoc.  There's nothing "stringent" about "research proposal requirements."  (Are there even any requirements?  Typically, just that something be submitted, I suppose.)  What you'll be evaluated on mostly at your stage is your area of research and letters of recommendation (and possibly your teaching ability, depending on the position).  Yes, people will look at your statement, and you should do a good job at writing it, but don't worry too much about it.
Generally what you should do in a research statement at your stage is:

summarize what you've been working on, and your (partial?) results till now
indicate, in some but not a lot of detail, what are some future things you are interested in working on (these do not need to be things you're definitely going to do)

The point of this statement is:

To see that you can effectively communicate your work/ideas (and possibly to get a sense of how well you understand its context)
To see if what you're doing is of interest to the faculty there
To see that you have some decently thought out ideas for future work

I propose that, you finish your PhD first and you will have a broad and clear picture of what you are looking for and what is required of you.
 Njori-kenya

So you recommend OP to be unemployed for a while? Or at least not be employed in their field of study?


text:
Math Stack Exchange, and College
What college rules would there be about posting a math homework exercise with one's work from a math class in the Math.SE?

In most cases, using an online Q&A site to do your homework for you would be cheating. Consequences range from 0 credit to expulsion.
Even if you aren't caught, or if homework isn't typically graded where you are so cheating isn't an issue, assignments are typically designed to help you learn, and having someone else do your work is cheating yourself out of learning.
It may be possible to ask legitimate questions that help you understand concepts rather than actually doing your work for you, but first try to do your best from the course materials and ask only when you are truly stuck.

"In most cases" in some countries. Note that in some other countries homework is frequently given just for practice without associated grades and so it's not cheating (and doing homework is frequently a shared activity).

@Massimo Wrapped that possibility into my second paragraph.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Articles on Medium and Resume/CV
How can one objectively leverage their articles written on Medium in a resume/CV for an employer or possibly even for position in an academic institution as a lecturer?
The point of this question is that I have been recently encourage by my professors to create blogs particularly on Medium in regards to my Computer Science, or Data Science endeavors. Is the point of it just to leverage knowledge communication both written and verbal or is it possibly to take initiative to create knowledge base articles for an employer to help company growth?
Any insight into how one can objectively leverage their articles written on Medium in a resume/CV for anyone.

I don't think you can objectively leverage anything on a resume, resumes are judged subjectively. But this question is kind of strange, is your goal to pack in as much corporate buzzspeak as possible? What are you actually trying to do, in direct language?

Did you run this through chatGPT before asking?

I'll state upfront that my field isn't computer science but mechanical engineering. So take everything with a grain of salt.
A resume should be short. Nobody wants to read them to begin with, and nowadays computers do the initial passes for everyone. So it is only looking for programmatically specific details. There is no room for "fluff" additions like blog posts, Medium articles, etc. Only put the stuff that is tangible and directly related to what you are applying for: education, work experience, volunteering (shows being a good person and that money isn't the only thing that matters), and a brief summary. But that's about it.
A CV on the other hand can have a lot more stuff, since they usually have no set lengths. While you could put these Medium articles on it, it would be hard for someone to get an understanding of what it means. Additionally I would caution from putting "individual articles" as individual line items on your CV. It can be seen as padding your CV and is usually more detrimental than beneficial. Perhaps what you can do is add some category like "volunteering" or similar. Then just write a brief thing about writing posts/articles on Medium and a brief description of what you've written in the past (like a two sentence summary total of all the articles you've ever written). And then just include a URL link to your main Medium page or whatever. That way you aren't seen as padding your CV, but include something that you have worked on that a potential boss (beyond the standard HR hiring people) may be able to investigate. It would include the full list of what you've then written for them to see and if they wanted to they could get a better idea of your skills and knowledge as an employee.
Best of luck.


text:
How has Academica changed in response mental health disorders?
How do universities handle the ever so growing influx of people that are Neurodivergent, and Neurological disorders? Furthermore, what resources, and protocols are there present at the post-secondary level. For example, in a university that I was attending after going through some depression, and mental distress I asked a graduate coordinator for an incomplete and the response was that the computer science department does not give out incompletes that I would have to medically withdrawal. I imagine that the statistics of individuals suffering from a mental illness has been increasing entering 4-year institutions, and graduate school. I imagine that if many students are like this things would change is there any publication on how mental health is being handled at the university level.

I’m voting to close this question because it's too general. I think that on the whole universities are much more open to accomodations for various limitations than they used to be, but no answer here can provide the information you ask for. That said, I am sorry for what you went through.

It isn't like there were no neurodivergent people enrolled in universities 40 years ago. What may have changed is that there are better treatments now that make it easier for them to prepare for and complete their studies.

There is no influx of people with mental illnesses.  In some places and times there has been an increase in the proportion of the population that is enrolling, but it's not specific to mental illnesses or neurodivergence or whatever.  Universities serve a wide variety of students poorly, and a few students very well.

In the US, Universities have to comply with the ADA which encompasses both physical and mental impairment. What that compliance looks like will vary from school to school, and on the granular level even course to course.

Maybe you can add some details: like when the ADA was enacted, and roughly what it requires?


text:
Asking for Modifications to Letter of Accommodation for Disabilities
As a student who already filed for accommodations in their prospective university, if mid semester one needs to make updates to the accommodations what is the standard procedure to go about doing so in general? For example, would new documentation be needed, or if a accommodation that was present in previous documentation was not present in the beginning of semester LOA how can I modify or present this to office of accessibility, disability or such? This question is based on universities in the United States of America where the American Disabilities Act supports students with disabilities in post secondary education.

Instead of asking us, I'd suggest asking your local office to see what they want done and how they want it done. Local policy and procedures are likely, well, local...

At a large university there is likely to be a special office that deals with this and will provide you information. At a smaller place it might just be the Admissions Office or Student Affairs.
Visit the office that you first dealt with on accommodation and ask them what is required in your case. Don't try to interpret all of the ADA regulations yourself. Talk to an expert, preferably one who can actually make the change you need.

As a general rule, your school should have a disability resources office who can definitely answer this question as it relates specifically to you.
With that being said, Generally speaking, if you have proof of approved accommodations within that previous 5 years (I could be off on the years) that will generally be accepted. As for what documentation is required, that will ultimately depend on the nature of the accommodations requested. For me, I simply brought in my therapist notes for my ADHD and my VA Disability paperwork for my formal accommodations.
Regardless, remember that you only need documentation if they demand it. For official university mandated accommodations, you would have to go through the disability office and provide the paperwork. However, most of the time professors are quite reasonable and will make reasonable accommodations simply if you explain the situation and why you need it. Though they still have the right to request proper documentation, but that's usually more work than what is required by the accommodation.
But yeah, to get the exact answer for your specific situation you need to speak to a counselor at your disability rights office on campus.

Regarding reasonable "unofficial" accommodations, a good benchmark is "would it be an unfair advantage when given to a random (non-disabled) student?". If you need the problem sheet printed in twice the size, because of bad eyesight, just ask. If you want extra time in the exam, I'll need the university bureaucrats to sign off on this, or I'll get into trouble.

That is actually not correct nor is it the standard in America. While an accommodation that fundamentally disadvantages other students would be denied—I can't think of something off hand that would count—your example isn't about that and is about an unfair advantage. The actual standard is that the accomodation must be practically reasonable and it cannot compromise the integrity of the course. Letting me take an exam home to do early that isn't take-home would compromise the integrity. But giving more time isn't fundamentally different from an extension and is technically discretionary.

With that being said, just because you do have the ability to make that call in the affirmative (you generally have the power to make accommodations that find acceptable). What you don't have the power to do is to make a final decision on rejecting them. Oh also, its not that professor level accommodations aren't every bit as official as the ones from the disability office (if you were accused of disability discrimination, proof of teacher level accommodations would be a valid defense), it's that the ones from the disability office are mandated by virtue of organizational structure and rules.

But, when in doubt, you will always be safe as an instructor by requesting a meeting with the disability officer and the student in order to clarify concerns, duties, and protections for both you and the student. If something goes wrong after that but you followed reasonably plausible advise from the disability office then it's on them (though contact a lawyer if the situation should ever arise that you need actual legal advice, but there's not much room for ambiguity if a higher up makes a call that isn't absurd on its face).

@SamLevi: Having discussed this issue with a relative who is a disability officer, I was informed that her administration forbids teachers from using their own discretion when providing accomodations.  The primary issue is that discretionary accomodations tend to be applied inconsistency, resulting in uneven treatment and thus liability. The secondary issue is teachers are not always great at judging what sort of accomodations would compromise the integrity of the course.


text:
How would I go about showcasing my skills in Math Stack Exchange on LinkedIn or on Resume?
How would I be able to showcase my mathematical prowess on a LinkedIn profile or even on a resume/CV?
I am only wondering because I have many up voted answers and would like to demonstrate to a future employer or graduate program. Any advice or tips would be helpful. I was wondering about employer because I know there is Teams on StackExchange and was wondering if Q&A sites are popular in the workplace environment.

Are you participating in MSE under your real name or an alias? If you want any credit, you better use your real name.

I can change it to my real name. I just did it.

Also: I looked at your MSE answers and questions. As a member of a PhD-grogram (in math) admissions committee, I would not be impressed, since it mostly  shows proficiency at the calculus level. Nothing at the "upper division math" level (abstract algebra, real analysis, etc.). Sorry to break it to you.

@MoisheKohanonstrike How about tutoring and teaching assistant roles?

I actually wanted to say that if you are to be partially supported by a TAship, then MSE participation is a useful information. However, it will be only of marginal help since the main factor in admission is the probability of success in research.

Related question here.

knows how to use Google isn't something you put.

@Mazura It is not so much knows how to use Google its that its the ability to use LaTex to communicate mathematical problems and communicate problems in a Q&A style environment. As well as knowing math.

@Mazura I'd argue that is a remarkable activity, and vast majority of people I've met in real life lack it. There are many levels to knowing how to google IMO

Related, in a different discipline: https://chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4873/chemistry-se-on-your-cv-r%c3%a9sum%c3%a9-other-professional-avenues/4875#4875

This is a US centric answer, but it may apply more widely.
Anything positive you do can be put on a CV, but emphasize more important things and relegate things like this to an "Other" section. They would only be a factor in a graduate school application process in a very minor and marginal way. Your coursework and letters of recommendation are much more important.
But, yes, mention somewhere that you tutor other folk and/or have been awarded a TA position, especially if merit is part of the reason you were give it.
As for Stack Exchange participation, I suggest that you say no more than "Frequent contributor to Math Stack exchange" with a link to the site.
And treat the CV as a living document, pushing lesser things off as more important things are added (published papers, especially).
I have nothing to say about LinkedIn as I don't use it and would be unlikely to visit it as part of a student's application.

Are you sure? I've been reached out several times over my StackExchange merits. Academic merits aren't the end-of-all and more people are realizing it. But really, academic merits are comically overrated. 4.0 in Stanford doesn't guarantee you're smart or useful.


text:
Should I drop out of gradschool or finish out a Masters?
I am currently in my first year as a PhD student in inorganic chemistry, however I am not excited about the research in the group. After some thought I desire to get into a bio-related field (completed my B.S. in Biochemistry but did my undergrad research in Chemistry). Since I joined as direct-PhD student I can drop down to Masters route but according to others in the group the average time to complete a Masters would be around 3-3.5 years. My other option is dropping out at the end of the semester and reapplying to other programs or working as an intern to gain more experience and then apply.
I really want to get into a reputable university as there is a huge difference in the opportunities available as I have seen from doing my undergrad in a small school vs the current school which I am in.
Would finishing out a Masters in chemistry be useful in getting into a better grad school program or would it be wise of me to drop out now. My thought is that finishing a masters would show that I am competent enough to be a graduate student even though I lack the acumen that others may possess who have done research in the field.

Are you in the country US?

Yes, my school is in the US.

I'm not in chemistry, but 3-3.5 years to master out seems long ... we get ours after 2.5 (really after two, you just have to file the paperwork later).

Does your chemistry department or grad program include people who more or less do biochemistry? Switching advisors and fields within your current program may be much easier than all your other options, and is not particularly unusual. It won't matter a whole lot if your PhD says "Chemistry" if your research and thesis is situated in biochemistry (my own institution actually has three somewhat separate biochemistry programs situated in different departments).

At the very least, I would consult with other students or faculty with their opinions as to your situation.  Keep in mind that even if you drop out, you will likely still have to list your time at your current institution on your CV.  If you finish your masters, you will have something to show for your time here.  However, you may be better off consulting with faculty/department first and see if it is possible to transfer midway to another institution to complete your PhD.
Best of luck!


text:
I am going to teach a course, but the classes have already started with another professor. Any tips?
I am the assigned professor for a course, but won't be able to teach its first two or three weeks.
The University has appointed a substitute for those weeks. Any tips on things I could do to smooth the transition? Things I should be aware of?
Thank you!

Can you coordinate with the other person prior to the start?

Unfortunately, no.

I have difficulty imagining how this situation is possible.  You can't communicate with the person teaching the first two weeks of your class?  Who wrote the syllabus?  Who picked the text book?

It's a hard situation. I hope the other teacher can update you on what was done. Preferably with a bit of lead time before you take over.
I would, myself, spend the first session back doing a review. Or at least the first hour if classes are long. Ask the students a lot of questions. "What was the most important thing you learned in the past weeks?" "Anyone else? What..."
Try to make a list of the things that they thought were important. Have them ask you a bunch of questions also. How can you help fill in as necessary? One way to get a lot of questions is to ask for them to be written out on index cards. They can be anonymous.
This session should be mostly the students talking and you listening and prompting. Don't try to cover new material. Another trick is to ask them to write out (and hand in) sample test questions based on the previous weeks. Read these aloud as time permits. Get feedback from them on the questions.
Your goal is twofold: "where are they" and "how can we make a smooth transition".
This should give you a good basis for understanding where you can start in the next session. It should also give you a certain rapport with them as someone who listens.
But you will need to be flexible about where and how you start so that the transition is smooth.


text:
PhD Application (in Australia): no confirmation email
I have applied (on February 17th 2020, GMT +1) for a PhD position (in Australia) starting the latest in July (so, no application deadline). It has now (March 7th 2020) been nearly three weeks ago since I emailed my application. I did not receive any confirmation email of receipt from the professor. It is something I really loathe, because I do not know what the status of my application is. Contrary, I can image that reading applications and making inquiries with the funding organisation in respect to the applications can take up a lot of time. Thus, I do not want to appear impatient. I wonder, however, if further patience is prudent. In short, should I email the professor about the status of my application or should I wait a few more weeks?
Thanks!

A few questions come to mind: What was the application deadline? Was there an official process, or did you just email something to a professor?  Does the university website say anything about when notices go out?

Australian universities to not accept admissions applications by email.  (Does anybody anywhere?)

3 weeks is a very short time...

The question is not clear.  What stage of the application process are you in?  The first step is to email a potential supervisor with your cv; he/she may not reply.   After lodging your application, it usually takes at least four weeks or longer before you receive a reject or acceptance.   Also, if you have lodged an application without a potential supervisor, then your application will go from staff to staff, meaning it will take much longer to process.    Lastly, due to Covid-19, all Australian universities are busy with more pressing needs.  So I would be patient.

My application was a response on vacancy posted on the well-known website EvolDir (for evolutionary biologists). It is stated in the vacancy that the PhD candidate should send the application with an email to the professor. It was also stated that the candidate would start no later than July and that they would keep looking for suitable candidate until then.

I think I will wait another while.

It is fair to enquire about the status of the application. If it is done via direct email to the professor, which is rare, there may well be no confirmation. The people involved will email if the application is to progress further.
If you are interested in a PhD, take a look at www.jobs.ac.uk. There are many thousands of PhD places on there across Europe to apply for.
There is a huge amount of funding for this academic stage, not necessarily requiring the best marks, which may seem surprising but it is true. There are also equivalent sites in other regions.
Also, there is no reason to assume you are not still in consideration. I once emailed and it took more than two months to receive an interview offer. Besides this, it regularly takes many applications before one of them comes back with an offer of an interview.

Thank you for answering; I think I will wait another while.


text:
Should a symbol be followed by a noun
Suppose one writes a scientific paper from Math or a related field. Should mathematical symbols be followed by nouns describing them? Should f, x, Ω, P(A) and ß be preceded by function, variable, set, probability and angle?
A rule, which I know, says that a symbol shouldn't start a sentence. Is it also wrong if it is inside a sentence? Does the same apply to the labels like Equation (2)? Is it correct to say After solving (2) we get that x=2? Or should I use Equation (2)?
I guess it's fine to omit a descriptional noun before a variable inside a logical relation like an equation, but is the same true for free variables?
Example 2: For every event in Ω or For every event in the set Ω?
Example 3: The same is true for y and z or The same is true for variables y and z?

Is there a rule of thumb about grammar? Like function f instead of a function f?

There's no shame in reading other papers (not all of the same author) and see how other people are writing. This way you should get a feel on how your field handles these things.

If I've made it clear once (or twice) that X is a set, I don't feel obligated to repeat "set" every time I mention X.

Avoid ambiguity, write for clarity.

I agree with @AndreasBlass, with one exception: I never begin a sentence with a mathematical symbol.  Also, "Equation (2) implies x=2."

Yes, I write 'for every x in the set \Omega...' too.  The primary reason is to help remind the reader what \Omega is.

This is about five separate questions in one...


text:
Can I apply for a "potential" deferred admission
I'm sorry if there are similar posts, I had a look and couldn't find something exactly similar.
I will be starting my final year of Bachelor (in the UK), and I am going to start applying for an integrated MS/PhD in mathematics (in the US). Recently, I started thinking about going for a gap year before starting with my graduate studies, and I found an interesting (but very selective) internship which might be interesting.
However, my problem is, I do not know how the admissions process works for the internship. So I might end up getting an answer after having sent my PhD applications. So my question is: is it possible in some universities to ask for a "possible" defferal of admission? Conditional on a third factor?
PS: the universities I am applying for are UC Berkeley, and UCLA. I was thinking of emailing them but thought maybe someone would already have been in a similar situation here - and could maybe give me some advice :)

I don't know math, but deferrals are rare, although it sounds like you might have a good enough reason to get one. But I've never heard of asking for one until you need one.

"Asking for one until I need one" as in: maybe I should apply for PhD the normal way, and then if I get accepted to both the PhD and the internship (fingers crossed), I then ask for a deferral?

That's what I'd do, only just not answering because I'm not in math.

There certainly is a risk that, if you state you really want to start Fall 2022, that the department might well come back with 'apply next year then'. That said, there remains plenty of uncertainty out there.

Many universities have official policies on deferrals available on their websites.

You can always ask, but as a committee member I would probably vote against such an application unless the candidate is exceptionally good. When departments evaluate openings for PhD programs, they have needs they seek to fill: For teaching assistant positions, to keep the strength of a program, to spend money they might have, to have enough students in graduate classes, etc. All of these needs are timely: They need to be satisfied in the upcoming academic year. So the department is looking for people for next year, not the year after: There will be another crop of applicants to consider for the year after. So unless there are really compelling reasons to admit someone now knowing that they may or may not show up only a year later, departments will generally want to admit people they know will actually come.

Alright, thank you for your answer :) That makes sense

You are saying this person should still apply to both, correct? This is confusing because departments always admit people without knowing if they will come.

Right, but if I have the choice between someone who says that they might not come and someone who says no such thing, I'd admit the latter.

You should not apply for "potential" deferred admission because it will disadvantage you in the process. You should apply for both graduate school (multiple schools) and for the internship. You are under no obligation to let anyone know about your other applications; it is assumed that you will be applying to multiple places. Then, if you are lucky enough to get both, you can have a conversation about the possibility of deferral.


text:
Professor not replying to my email. Why?
I wrote an email to my professor yesterday to ask makeup exam. But he doesn't reply until now.
Test was taken a week ago. But, I can't take it because of family emergency(my grandfather passed away) and sudden move into new room (my hostfamily kicked me out without prior notice.I think the reason is outbreak of covid-19, and I'm Asian). Those are my nightmare!
In your opinion, can he admit my makeup test? and why doesn't he reply my email...?

I do not have Internet access at home.  I only come into the office on days I have (now by Internet) classes, for the obvious reason.  This is 3 days a week.  For situations like this, I probably wait two days to respond, because I want to make sure to think through all the angles before a decision.

Does this answer your question? Is ignoring emails acceptable in academia? See also https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/101950/professors-teachers-only-replying-to-part-of-my-email?r=SearchResults

How should be possibly know the prof and the answer?!

Makeup exams procedures depend on institution. Sometimes it's the professor who decides the process, sometimes the institution. Are you sure this is the decision of the professor and not the institution? Please note that you will most likely have to provide evidence for your emergency situation.

Expecting an overnight reply to any email is unrealistic. He may have some issues of his own to deal with, given the worldwide pandemic. He will probably reply "in good time", but by his standards.
Whether you are allowed to take a make up or not we can't say here. It is up to him and to the institution. I hope it is allowed and expect it would be given the family emergency. But the other things you mention have little bearing on the issue.
But waiting a week after the missed exam wasn't wise, and expecting an instant reply after you didn't offer an explanation for a week is a bit "over the top".
I suggest that you wait to see what the reply is. There probably isn't really a need for instant action at this point.


text:
Submit in journal with no DOIs?
My professor and I have been trying to publish a paper, but it keeps being rejected. A journal emailed my professor asking her to submit the paper to them, but I am not sure it is legitimate.

None its papers have DOIs.
It is OA, but only one issue is available and it has <5 papers

Are these warning signs?

Yes, they are warning signs.

DOIs are cheap. Not having them is a definite red flag.
Being OA with <5 papers means, at least, this is a new journal. Depending on how many years it's been since the first paper was published, it could mean the journal's editorial board is inactive, or the publisher is not giving the journal much attention. If the journal does not go anywhere, or (even worse) if it shuts down, your paper is not likely to be read much.
Finally you write that a journal emailed asking your professor to submit the paper to them. This is weird, because the journal is not likely to know your paper's been rejected by some other journal.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't submit to the journal anyway, but be careful.


text:
Thanking a professor for their effort
Some time ago I had emailed a professor regarding the original data of an experiment they'd conducted almost two decades ago. He replied today to apologize as he had unfortunately not found the data after looking for it for a while.
How can I thank the professor for his efforts without coming off as condescending? Something like "Thank you very much for going to the trouble of finding the data" sounds to me like I still expect something and simply saying "Thank you for your effort" comes off as condescending to me, but this may be because I am not a native English speaker.

@user111388, "he had unfortunately not found the data" so the OP didn't get the data and couldn't have found it useful.

@JansthcirlU Did you mean to say "Thank you very much for going to the trouble of looking for the data"?

@JoelReyesNoche I forgot to mention that some of the data was publicly availably in an article, which was insightful. Unfortunately I have already sent the email but you're right, I should've rephrased my first sentence.

@JoelReyesNoche: O, f*ck, my mistake. Sorry.

I'll note that some of us who are native English speakers have difficulty with such things at times.

This question is about English language rather than academia.  Consider the English Language Learners site.

While I agree that the English Learners forum may be more useful for these types of formulation issues, I was mainly trying to get the opinions of professors or the opinions of people in academia who may have found themselves in a situation similar to mine.

It would be fine to simply write
"Dear Professor X,
Thank you for taking the time to look.
Best wishes,
JansthcirlU"

I'd add very much after thank you ;-)

Yes, this is enough, though the suggestion by @MassimoOrtolano is a good one. Simple. Direct.


text:
Book publishing or a peer review journal
I have written lately, a theory about the whole existence. Do you guys think that I should publish my writings as a self-publishing book or aim for peer-review and publish in a journal?.
Keeping in mind that I want my writing to have an impact
I am an engineer, specialized in classic physics, my writing contains concepts of time, gravity, elementary particles, cosmic inflation, gravitational collapse, and lensing.

Nobody reads self-published books about "the whole existence", at least not from a scientific audience. Try peer reviewed journals, but don't fall for predatory open access. Good luck.

Who is your intended audience?

Thank henning, Dear Astronaut, I want the whole world to see my perspective on existence.

I am not looking into profits, I just want, in case my theory turns out to be true, I want to get credited for.

FYI, in about 100 years this will sound like: "... a theory about the whole existence ... my writing contains concepts of time, magnetism, protyle, radiant matter, molecular change, and galvanometric effects."

Your writings are unlikely to have an impact unless you are a professional researcher in those fields. Indeed what exactly makes your writings different from any other dilettante?

Publishing a book is not that hard, but getting people to read it is. Publishing in a journal would work, but based on the description of what you're going to write about, it seems unlikely that any reputable journal will publish it.
I'd say first get some confirmation from an expert that your ideas are correct. Try talking to Sabine Hossenfelder (costs $50 for 20 minutes, which will still be cheaper than self-publishing a book). If she says your ideas are credible, then ask her how to publish them.


text:
When writing the paper about completed experiments, should you cite work you hadn't read before?
I (try to) do research in Computer Science/Deep Learning. I recently did some work developing a novel idea and am writing a paper on it. I have only written one paper before, and I'm currently being paralysed by the related works section.
It seems impossible for me to have a thorough understanding of everything that is related. When I started the work, I was working from the understanding I had at the time. The vast majority of the influence on my work was only from ~4 other papers, and what I took from them as background in the area.
In doing the work, I have come to understand other work and the context much better (I find that working on a problem, and attempting to explain my work, demystifies a lot of statements in other people's papers). Now, reading other papers on other related work is more plausible for me. I'm realising that I've made some assumptions based on those core papers, and want to find citations for them.
This appears backwards to how it's supposed to work; the papers that I would cite in this manner I hadn't read or understood before I started working. So, my main question is: is it illegitimate to cite several papers you hadn't read before completing the majority of the experiments?
Follow up questions are: Is it normal to only have a few main influences, and many lesser influences? (Computer-science-specific) How much of a paper's theory/background is worked out after making it work? Is it my fault if I haven't come across some important related idea, or is it generally accepted that you might miss something?

Often you don't really understand just what you did until you write the paper, leading to just this problem as you dig deeper. Yes, if you find more material of greater relevance you should reference it. And, as you go forward it becomes easier since you now have a better grasp of the literature in your field. That first paper is hard because you are still figuring it out.

Please ask only one question.  The later questions are mostly opinion based, and would be closed.

Citing something that you haven't actually read should be done through an "indirect citation". ( https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/7776/1622 ; https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/45374/1622 )  If you go back and actually read the article so you're not relying on a secondary source ... then you should cite both of them directly.

An important realization I had while writing the first few papers of my career is that a paper/thesis/any kind of publication should not be a recollection of your path through this research. You will have made many experiments as part of the research that need not actually appear in the paper because they're not important for what you're trying to show.
Instead, a publication is a way for you to explain insights you have gained during this research. In which order you came to these insights, in which you read other papers, or in which you did experiments is -- generally -- not important for the telling of the story.
So, regarding the original question whether one should cite a paper one hadn't read before the research started: it can't be answered with yes/no. Whether a paper should be cited (as asked in the title) has nothing to do with when one read the paper. It has everything to do with whether you think it's a useful reference for readers to have. In the body of the question, there is a variant: whether it's "legitimate", and there the answer clearly is "yes". In particular, we add references to papers all the time that were pointed out by reviewers -- long after the research was concluded for the most part.

This does not answer the question.

I think it does: When you read the paper you wonder about citing doesn't matter. What matters is whether that paper can help your reader understand what you're doing.

To be more specific, you did not answer the title question, which is a yes/no question about citation.  It's the asker's error that there were several questions.

@AnonymousPhysicist: I don't think the question can be answered with yes/no. Whether a paper should be cited (as asked in the title) has nothing to do with when one read the paper. It has everything to do with whether you think it's a useful reference for readers to have. In the body of the question, there is a variant: whether it's "legitimate", and there the answer clearly is "yes". In particular, we add references to papers all the time that were pointed out by reviewers -- long after the research was concluded for the most part.

Your comment is a good answer.  But your answer does not contain your comment.

As far as I'm concerned it answers the question effectively by getting at something that I didn't ask for explicitly, but should know, and which resolves the question implicitly. My question was predicated on assuming the order was important.

@AnonymousPhysicist -- fair enough. I'm updating it!

Great answer, +1.

Should you cite work you hadn't read before doing the research?

Yes.
You are ethically obligated to cite work that helped you conduct your research.  That in no way implies you should not cite work for other reasons.
You should cite every paper that might help your reader.  In my opinion, it is also acceptable to cite a relevant paper just because it is traditional to cite it, or because you liked the paper.

I strongly believe that one has an obligation to cite "prior art", whether or not one was ignorant of it or not. If one is ignorant of things, they do not directly influence one's work, but to write/publish a paper with no mention of other peoples' work is irresponsible, possibly to the point of being immoral.
Yes, I have heard a few very-well-known mathematicians say, as a joke but not really, that they avoid reading their competitors' papers so they "won't have to cite them".
And, indeed, some people seem to be in some sort of solipsistic mode, in that they feel no obligation of scholarship or helpfulness to other people. Once I myself caught on to the (obvious, really) deficits of this approach, I did indeed start trying to be more conscientious.
(Plus, interestingly, especially in mathematics, an amazing number of ideas were rediscovered over-and-over... in the last 250 years, at least. The supposed "lack of modern " turns out not to mean that people didn't have the ideas!)
So: cite what you used, cite what you looked at and/but didn't use, and cite what you belatedly discovered. I know other peoples' views are different.


text:
How much time are UK PhD admittees typically given to accept/decline an offer?
Is there a general convention as in the US (i.e. "until April 1"), or is this highly institution-specific?

I think it's institution-dependent, and context-dependent, i.e. it can vary from year to year

In physics, there is a deadline set by the funding council STFC which is late March or early April, but departments providing their own funding don't need to abide by this deadline.

Its completely context specific. It might even depend on the quality of the applicants - if I have two good candidates, I might want an answer from the first choice quickly so as not to risk the second choice taking up another offer if the first choice says no.
Conversely if the first choice is really good and I really want them, then I am more likely to be willing to agree to wait for an answer, so as not to risk them being rushed into saying no.


text:
Reply an email from a potential professor?
I'm applying to a PhD program. I contacted one professor and told him that I would like to join in his research team. He replied to me as below. Is this a positive response? How could I reply to this email?

Thanks for the e-mail inquiring about the position of the Ph.D. candidate. I am very happy if you can join our laboratory and work with us. The enrollment to the doctoral course at Univ X is basically free if you pass the entrance examination, but I guess you have no problem because you have already passed the master's program at Univ Z. I think you need a scholarship for studying, don't you? Currently, Univ X has some scholarship positions. You can apply for these positions. However, these positions will start
  Fall 2021.

It's not a terribly blatant/important issue here, but in general I would treat emails sent to me by a potential supervisor as private. Some PIs might consider it inappropriate find their communication published online.

I feel bad after reading your comment. How can I delete this post?

@Febryant I am not sure that you need to, but if you do you can select "flag" on your post for moderator attention.

This is a positive response in that you can apply to take the entrance examination and you can also apply for a scholarship.
There is no automatic position granted or stated for you, so you have to follow the enrollment process for entry in Fall 2021.
You don't have to reply to this except perhaps to say "thank you for the information, I will (or will not) be applying for admission for the fall 2021.
Up to you if you will apply.

Yes. Saying thanks is appropriate. Note that in this case the professor probably has little influence in who is accepted by the university. That would be typical in the US (most programs) and some other places.


text:
Did not get into the desired grad school, what should I do?
So I'm about to graduate from a university in the U.K., and my grad school application did not go perfectly. I got an offer from a top 10 (globally and in the U.S. domestically) math program, however, I don't really like the city the university is in, and in fact the uni itself. I have visited the school when I was doing undergrad applications, and I just didn't like it from the beginning. Thus I am frustrated about what I should do:
option 1 is I go there and apply for another Ph.D. program after two years. This Uni definitely has some reputations in the field, and I think it will be helpful for my application in the future. However, I have also heard some negative comments regarding students attending the school (not on the department specifically, but on the school as a whole).
option 2 is I can do master at my current school, which is G5 in the U.K. and also ranked around 10-ish globally in math, and apply for a Ph.D. program later.
The problem with option 2 is that I want to eventually go back to the U.S. for Ph.D. if possible, and this year's failure makes me question how admission officers in the U.S.value U.K. certificates. I have a quite solid 1-st class score(or 3.9+/4.0 GPA), GRE math 90%, GRE 324, 3 research experiences (two of them were required for all students, but U.K. undergrad has only two summers...), and have given talks on the non-required summer project. Recommendation letters writers also have had experiences working as professors in schools like Harvard. I realize that my resume is nowhere near strong, but among almost 20 schools I applied to, only one school give me a master's offer (I applied to all Ph.D. programs since most schools don't separate the master program). Thus I am not sure how a one-year master can change the result for my Ph.D. application later. I can probably increase my standardized test scores by a bit, but I don't think that's the main reason I failed this year.
Also there's option 3, which is to transfer after the first year of my master's program, but I heard it's very difficult and not encouraged.
I would really appreciate some advice and insights regarding my situation right now, and some info about how U.S. admission officers value U.K. schools are very helpful as well. Thanks in advance!

What does "G5 in the UK" mean? And why did you apply to somewhere you already knew you didn't like?

Anyway, I think your question might be closed as it's too specific to your situation, but I think the best thing for you to do is try and get some research experience before applying again. A UK BSc (as you allude to) does not really give a student the opportunity to do real research. Perhaps doing a Master's first will help you.

Life as an undergrad is very different than life as a graduate student. And what bothered you 4 years ago may not be very important today.

@astronat Sorry, that's my first time using this forum and I don't know how to phrase my question better. G5 is 5 universities in the U.K., namely Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London,  University College London, and London School of Economics. I applied because of the school's reputation in the field. Three years ago I didn't like the school because of its campus and environment, but I figured that for grad school, academic is more important than the environment.

@astronat I am hesitating again now because I just talked to a few of my friends studying there (different department), and they gave me some rather negative comments on the general atmosphere among the students there. Despite all that I agree I really lack research experiences, and I do hope to do more research during my master's program. Thanks for the advice.

@JonCuster Thanks for the advice, and I agree with you. I didn't like the school mostly because of its campus and the city it is in. However, academics is, after all, the most important in order to pursue a career in academia. I think I will accept the offer, and hopefully find out that it's not as bad as I've imagined!


text:
ppt presentation for postdoc position interview
I have to prepare the presentation about my previous research experience for 20 minutes. I don't know what I should include, how big and how  much specific it should be

For one, use LaTeX's beamer document class to prepare academic presentations.

@JunaidAftab The OP mentioned a specific software package, and PowerPoint is perfectly acceptable. Advice like that is entirely unnecessary.

@Fomite I would go further than unnecessary and say that it is likely to be bad advice. Unless the OP already uses LaTeX then Beamer is probably the wrong choice (and if they do then they are less likely to need the advice).

The first suggestion: Ask the people interviewing you. There's nothing wrong with asking if they would like a deep-dive or a broader research context, or what kind of audience you'll be drawing from.
In a more general sense, if you Google academic job talks, you should get a fair amount of advice. In general, the goal is to present your previous research in a coherent narrative, establishing who you are as a researcher so they can put you in context. Tell a story, and supplement it with the results of your research. As it's only 20 minutes, my guess is they are intending it to be fairly high level, rather than a very detailed exploration of any one result.
As for "How Big"...it should be 20 minutes, and as big or small as you can cover in that time.


text:
Can there be a PHD thesis without using SPSS?
I am MA degree student. I consider to do a phd. But I have some worries. First, I do not want to take any kind of statistics course.
Second I dont want to use the SPSS programme at all in my dissertation. Do you think with these conditions, can I do a phd.
Or are these two a must?
Please help me it is very much confusing me.
Best regards.

MA degree student

In what?

First, I do not want to take any kind of statistics course.

Taking statistics is not inherently part of a PhD program. You could, for example, get your doctoral degree in English focusing on Utopian Fiction. Or in Architecture, focusing on 16th century French Cathedrals.

Second I dont want to use the SPSS programme at all in my dissertation.

There are myriad ways to do statistics - SPSS is by no means the only way to do statistics.
However, like Austin Henley, I find your question somewhat puzzling. What gave you the impression that these things were necessary? What field are you actually considering working in - because the answer will vary wildly by field. And along the same lines of his question, why are you approaching your search starting with "I don't want to do statistics, and I definitely don't want to use a particular software package"? If answering what you're actually interested in required statistics, wouldn't you want to be able to get at it the best way possible?

It depends on your field and projects. There are plenty of dissertations out there that don't use any statistics.
Statistics is just a tool. Not taking a course on the subject may not be an issue. Not using a particular piece of software (SPSS) may not be an issue. Neither of these were required for me in computer science.
But to go into a PhD program with this type of mindset seems really strange to me. If statistics is the right tool for you to use, then why wouldn't you use it? Considering all the other hurdles with doing a PhD, learning the necessary knowledge of statistics will likely be very, very minor.


text:
How to write a methodology chapter in a masters thesis
Is there a standard way to set up a methodology chapter, other than just listing equipment and explaining the execution of method and analysis?
I find this type of set up to look childish and too simple, in a way. Maybe I only need a good example of a preferable layout.

A simple methodology section is a good thing, because it helps other researchers to reproduce your work. This is not the part in the thesis where you show that you're an imaginative writer.

Unless you're doing completely novel research, I'd expect most methodologies to be simple and "relatively unoriginal." There are only so many ways to do PCR or chemical synthesis or derivatives, and you should not be reinventing the wheel for a procedure that has likely just been adapted to your project.

The point of the methodology section is to describe what you did so that if your study was replicated, the same results would be obtained. It also allows others to determine if something in your methods resulted in an unexpected finding, or suggest something that could be changed that might lead to a novel finding. At the very least, it demonstrates you understand and follow the scientific method.


text:
First author researcher on a manuscript left job without publishing
A grant-funded researcher wrote a manuscript that they were first author on. All co-authors were awarded time to make edits. Before getting departmental approval for submitting to publication, the grant-funded researcher started a new job. Considerable time passed before departmental approval was awarded.
The original first author has expressed concern that they will not have time to work on the old manuscript because they started a new job. However, the PI for the grant (and co-author on the paper) wishes to publish the manuscript. The PI has stated if minimal to no edits are required, the authorship order would remain the same. If the slightly outdated paper comes back from review with a decent amount of edits to be made, potentially new portions of analysis, while the first author states that they do not have time to work on the old manuscript, can one of the co-authors potentially take over as first author? Does the original first author have to give consent? Keep in mind that the manuscript is already written up.
In the field which the manuscript is written, it is generally accepted that authorship order is determined by amount of effort involved for each author.

If the slightly outdated paper comes back from review with a decent amount of edits to be made, potentially new portions of analysis, while the first author states that they do not have time to work on the old manuscript, can one of the co-authors potentially take over as first author?

Potentially, yes. Far from a guarantee. Probably the old first author would become second or co-first, depending on norms in your field.

Does the original first author have to give consent?

Yes. In fact, everyone has to agree to the new order, even if their relative position is unchanged.

If doing revisions leads to a change of first author, something went very wrong with the first version.

@AnonymousPhysicist "If the slightly outdated paper comes back from review with a decent amount of edits to be made, potentially new portions of analysis" It's quite possible to get back enough revisions that authorship should be tabled. I have seen it happen.

@AnonymousPhysicist I agree if the need for a change would be genuine. But it could be fine if the authors order is changed to the benefit of a young person who had substantially collaborated, for instance.

You need the permission of every author to publish something. If someone withdraws before publication and doesn't continue contributing, you still need their permission. The order of authors also needs to be agreed upon within the set of authors.
I suggest that you get preliminary permission to continue and to submit and then deal with issues as the arise when they arise, not assuming that there will be problems. The rest of you may need to leave the author order unchanged even though the "first" no longer participates.
In my opinion "effort" is a poor measure. Who contributes key ideas is much better and that may already be set. If someone works 12 hours a day and another works five, it is pretty hard to say that the one with more hours has contributed more to ideas. But your mileage may differ.

If anything, err on the side of getting permission in the end rather then having them stop communicating in a huff...


text:
PhD dissertation burnout duing pandemic (COVID-19)
I am in the process of writing my PhD thesis and it happens to be during the global pandemic crisis. My submission date was supposed to be June 2020 (we are in April 2020), but my supervisor has been kind enough to extend it to September 2020 due to the current circumstances so as to give me more time. However, I feel completely burnout, and I'm scared it will evolve into a depression.
I don't live in the country of my origin, so I am away from my family, support system and anything familiar. I also have a tendency to feel lonely and get stuck inside my head but I went to therapy when I first moved to  where I am now and made so much progress. Normally, I have things under control, I go to the gym regularly, and hang out with friends on weekends, play basketball, go on hikes, maintain a relationship with my colleagues at the institute, and volunteer, which all help.
But since we are in quarantine, the isolation and the PhD stress are taking their toll on me, and I feeling super unmotivated, lonely, and defeated. I have extreme self-doubt and pretty much a negative outlook on my personal and professional life. I cry daily and I feel physically exhausted even though I have been getting enough rest and sleep. I try to write, but I can't concentrate. And the more I don't make any progress, the more anxious I become. This is in addition to the feeling of just wanting to be done with this phase and moving forward with other things in life. I feel stuck.
I don't know what to do, and I'm scared it would evolve into depression. What can I do before things spiral out of control?

Are you already seeing someone (a professional) to help you cope with stress? If not, did you consider it?

Are you able to travel home to live with your family for the time being?

@astronat I've been trying, but the flights are cancelled due to the pandemic.

Let me restate the earlier comment:  You need to speak to a mental health professional about this.

From what you've said you have already slipped into depression precipitated by external factors associated with the COVID pandemic. You could screen for this by taking a PHQ-9 questionnaire which is probably what a GP would do (https://www.mdcalc.com/phq-9-patient-health-questionnaire-9) but if you are crying daily and cannot concentrate then it probably isn't necessary.
If you have had thoughts of suicide or self harm you need to seek urgent medical help. If not, you still need to seek professional help on a semi-urgent basis. You should apply to your university's disability services or whatever it is called at your university for special circumstances and adjustments for which you will need a letter from your health provider and you should do this early rather than at the last minute.
In the meantime, you should try online cognitive behavioural therapy websites such as Headspace (https://headspace.org.au/) or Unmind (https://home.unmind.com/) or whichever equivalent your institution may have access to.  Some have made their platforms available for free during the COVID pandemic to certain groups and this may be worth a look. You need to tell your supervisor and consider pausing the PhD or going part time if you can.
Most importantly, you are not alone and you can find many people who have written about how the COVID crisis has negatively impacted their mental health (https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/apr/24/what-is-the-covid-19-crisis-doing-to-our-mental-health-podcast) or (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/22/think-about-the-best-case-scenario-how-to-manage-coronavirus-anxiety).
Don't suffer alone, get help early, know there are many people who empathise with you.

You can also contact your previous therapist and they are likely to have added new online options!

Set aside a fixed period every day (even if only 15-30 mins) in which you will write, whatsoever. Throw the results away later, if necessary, but write for the duration of this phase.
Set aside a fixed period every day (even 2-3 hours) in which you won't write, whatsoever.
Feel free to extend the first phase if you are on a roll. By no means compromise on your second phase. Guarantee to yourself that you will not violate the rest phase. You are not allowed to write in it.

This is a good idea. But I'd set the maximum time during which you are allowed to write to 3 hours per day. 2-3 hours of free time seems too little.

@henning--reinstateMonica. The idea is not merely 2-3 hours of free time. These 2-3 hours are guaranteed free time that cannot be moved. Guaranteed writing time is intended to be a seed which can be extended as the "muse strikes". But the "block free time" is obligatory, non-negotiable and pre-determined. What you do with the rest of the day is fluid. Adapt (increase) these time blocks with time and experience, but I think these numbers are realistic for the beginning. Structuring the day is essential for unstructured times and seriously helpful. Don't forget the weekend.

Unless you are in true lockdown you can probably still get out. If you live in a place that isn't overpopulated it is safe enough to go out as long as you avoid other people. My spouse takes a daily walk with a friend (long long walk) and they just maintain separation but can get exercise and chat a bit as they go along. But exercise is good for clearing your head as you probably know.
But just chatting with friends and colleagues (text chatting or video) can give you a break and a bit of human feedback and companionship. Many of them are probably struggling at least a bit themselves.
The desperation about your research and writing is pretty normal at your stage of completion. It isn't really a cause for concern unless you let it become one. Find a way to make some progress, even if small, every day. Find a way to get feedback from your advisor if they are willing. But when you get stuck, use some activity to clear your mind. Don't try to press too hard on your research or you may find yourself going in circles without advancing. The mind needs to rest. Take a break. Take a nap. Pet the cat. Cook something nice. Scream at the stars. Pretty much anything.
But if your depression is as you fear, then you probably need to talk to a professional, perhaps one provided by the university. Most places (well, many) will have a counseling office that provides personal and confidential advice to students. They might even recommend a break from your studies, though that might actually be worse.

And there are now online options for nearly all counseling offices!


text:
Two topics in Literature Review?
Im currently in the middle of writing my masters thesis and was hoping I could receive some guidance with regard to my literature review.
I currently have discussed two topics in my literature review; 'populism' and 'nationalism' and was wondering if this is okay, or is a literature review meant to focus on one?
Thanks in advance.

This depends on how narrow you want, how closely related your topics are, and what the rules and expectations are for a masters thesis at your school. This is probably a question better suited for professors in your department who have a better idea what your school's specific norms are your institution.

The question if this is okay is for your advisor. Please ask them.


text:
Publishing Ethics: not listing Professor's name
I did summer research work with a Professor who is not my adviser. He gave me a big topic (big enough that doesn’t help you to navigate to a specific area) and but didn’t contribute much.
Now after the summer, I continue to work on this without his guidance, and got some good results. I am thinking of publishing the paper. I don’t know if I should ask whether he wants his name on the paper.
Also, I was wondering what happen if he decided to block my paper from publishing? (I knew he always wanted the paper to be submitted to Venue A, but I want to submit to Venue B). Does he have the right to do so?

This Professor is from the same school of mine.

Why not simply ask for his feedback on the paper? Then, if he wants his name on it he will find a way to tell you.

Why not ask for his feedback and if he would like his name on it at the same time?
He has two responses:
Yes, I’ll give you feedback and would welcome my name on the paper.
Or: happy to provide feedback, but due to X, can’t put my name on the paper, thanks for asking though.
I have assumed that he won’t refuse to provide feedback. The first option may lead to a better paper.


text:
When is it worthwhile to report academic misconduct of a referee?
Sometimes academics become aware of misconduct of other academics. Reporting it can backfire if it comes off as petty squabbling to senior people. It’s also not clear that reporting misconduct often leads to a change in behavior. So I wonder: how do you decide when it’s worth reporting something?
Context: Author A cited the research of author B in the arXiv version of a pure math paper. The paper has now been published and the citations to B were removed and replaced by citations to later work of an author C who seems hostile to B. I asked A what happened and he explained that their referee forced them to remove the citations to B, and to insert statements that I pointed out are mathematically incorrect. The referee further forced the authors to write an incorrect literature review that credits the work of B to others who provably did it years later. I have a pretty good idea of who the referee is, and I think he regularly does this. I wonder if it’s worthwhile to bring the situation to the attention of the handling editor, who perhaps would like to know that this referee is using his position to pump up his own work, tear down that of other authors, and add mathematical mistakes to papers. On the other hand, the editor might think this is a waste of his time, and maybe the best option for me is to just ignore this kind of behavior from the bad referee.

If you have pretty good idea of who the referee is, and think they regularly do this, presumably others in your field would have the same impression? If so, I think that's pretty much the sanction they face. Being known in your field as a jerk by the only people able to truly judge the value of your contributions would be a harsh sentence to many, but some people seem immune to that sort of thing, at least externally; perhaps they don't sleep well, anyways.

People seem very quick these days to want to accuse people of academic misconduct when it's just as likely that they're simply wrong, or hold a less popular opinion.  In lieu of taking action that can potentially end a career based on a suspicion, there's always the option of letting the literature self-correct as it's been doing for centuries.

From your description it sounds like Author A may have also committed academic misconduct. As @IanSudbery said, the referee cannot “force” an author to insert incorrect content into a paper.

@ScottSeidman If it's just a matter of opinion, the point of the refereeing process is not to replace the author's scientific opinion with the referee's. Imagine if Alice's papers refereed by Bob contained Bob's opinions, and Bob's papers refereed by Alice contained Alice's opinions. A referee who tries to force the author to include the refere's opinion as if it was their own, rather than merely consider and respond to arguments for alternative opinions, would be acting inappropriately.

Wouldn't all communications between the referee and author go through the editor?  So presumably the editor already knows what happened.

@NateEldredge only if the editor is paying attention. A (surprisingly?) large fraction of editors don't seem to read reviewer reports in detail. In particular, it's not common for editors to tell authors to disregard X part of Y review; far more often they simply send Y review to the authors and let the authors figure it out.

You wrote that A is very junior researcher. The referee report is not secret. It is perfectly fine for A to show it to some trusted senior collegue and ask how to respond to it. And hopefully be told that they should push back on bad requests from the referee.

@quarague Unfortunately, this happened during the pandemic and A was probably isolated and didn't realize they could ask for this kind of help. Allure is also right that the editor probably wasn't paying attention.

Firstly, a referee cannot force an author to do anything. They can ask in their reviews, but an author can refuse, and outline the reasons they are refusing. It is then up to the editor to choose whose position they support. If it is the case that an author is unable to publish a paper, without adding an incorrect reference, even after pointing this out to the editor, then this is at least as much a problem of the editor as it is the referee.
What this means is that if the editor couldn't be bothered to look into it when the authors said so, it's unlikely they will do so when an unrelated third party does.
The problem here is that the claims being made are likely to be questions of academic judgement that require expertise in the field to rule on (thing a is mathmatically incorrect. Reference b is talking about the same thing as reference c, but years earlier). You are then in the situation where either the editor has the expertise to judge, but has failed to do so so far (in which case, your intervention will make little difference), or does not have the expertise to judge, in which case, how are they to tell who is correct, you or referee B?
This is generally why in situations like this, a judging body (such as a misconduct tribunal or an editor) will only make a judgement when there is a clear failure of process, not of judgement.
To summarise: I think it may have been worth the authors pushing back (they don't have to say the referee is malicious, just that their suggestions are incorrect). I don't think anything is to be gained by a third party complaining here, unless an allegation can be substantiated that requires no expert knowledge to judge.

Firstly, a referee cannot force an author to do anything. - Yes, but they can coerce, especially junior/non-established people who feel they have to do what the referee says.  I'm not saying I disagree with your opinion, but I do think a (real or perceived) power imbalance can make things more complicated.

@kimball I think "force" is too strong a word to use in connection with the term miscomduct when it might be the case the referee is saying "the authors should cite c rather than b"

If the referee said soothing stronger,  like "I cannot allow the publication of this paper unless the authors cite [me or my friends]", then that should be a red flag anyway to the editor.  The sort of editor who isn't going to be in the ball enough recognise this isn't the sort of editor who is going to respond to a report from a third party.

I fall strongly on the side of the authors in this case, so this is going to sound like victim-blaming. If an author knows a suggestion/demand from an editor is wrong, they should not accept it because doing so imperils their academic integrity. This is a double-bind for authors, especially eary-careers who especially need to publish, but for the same reasons, they need to guard their integrity even more. It's better to try another journal if at all possible, or bring in the EiC.

Thanks! I appreciate the clarity of thought in your answer.

I think the answer can depend on a lot of other things:
What kind of resolution would you be satisfied with? In particular, would you be happy if the editor just decides not to use that referee in the future? This would be a relatively easy thing for the editor to do as all they have to do is not do something. Of course this can make it harder to find referees but editors already avoid asking potential experts for a lot of reasons and make do. Also by intervening you are essentially saying "This person did a bad job refereeing, I could do a much better job" so maybe the editor will ask you for similar papers in the future. On the other hand, for the editor to try to do anything else (inform others of the referee's bad behavior or even get them somehow formally sanctioned for academic process) would be much more difficult  process and involve figuring out when it is appropriate to de-anonymize an anonymous referee report.
To what extent did the author A argue during the refereeing process? Typically when one differs with a referee's comments one offers a counterargument and if the referee refuses to accept a reasonable counterargument (or refuses to agree to disagree on a matter of opinion) one can escalate to the editor. If author A already did this, then additional arguments from someone else are not so likely to succeed. But if author A was a junior mathematician who didn't realize they could do this or was too intimidated to, and can explain why to the editor, then I think an editor would be willing to consider the argument.
Can author A send you the referee report, and what arguments did the referee make? If the referee made some plausible scientific argument for why B's contributions were irrelevant it might be hard to convince the editor that something untoward was going on. But if they just said to delete these references without explanation, or made some argument you can unambiguously disprove, it might be easier.
Do you know why the referee has such an apparent vendetta against author B? If this is motivated by some clearly personal non-scientific dispute, and you can explain why you think this, that would be more convincing.

You've hit the nail on the head. I suspect author A felt they had no choice because they are extremely junior. I suspect the editor didn't really know the literature well enough to understand what was happening. I'm still not sure if it's worthwhile to raise it to the editor, but indeed a satisfactory result would be for folks to stop using that referee. Maybe I'll ask to see the referee report. That's a good suggestion.


text:
Imminent unemployment, I have a screwed up CV; incompetent in my own field of PhD. Hoping for some perspective and advise?
I did my PhD recently and it took 5.5 years to complete. I had just 2 courses in my PhD, so the timeline is excessive owing to my lack of motivation during my 2-3rd year.
I have also not taken any advanced graduate level courses in my PhD and am entirely relying on my publications for portraying my quantitative, technical and programming experience.
I had changed my field from materials engineering (undergrad) to mechanical engineering during PhD. But, I did not take any courses to address the lack of technical background (advanced mathematics and computational fluid dynamics).
My research was not that rigorous programming and technicality wise. So, I kind of survived through it. Studying other publications, self studying concepts through books was enough.
But now, since I have graduated, I am finding it severely uncomfortable to apply for positions that seek a different more rigorous job description.
I think, I made some terrible decisions along the way. I should have taken the courses as that would have built up my confidence.
On top of that, I have no job experience or internship experience. I have lost hope on academia and chances in industry appears slim too.
I have 6-7 months of a temporary gig to regroup myself and survive from imminent unemployment. Hoping for some perspective and advise?

@AnonymousPhysicist no. I know it's not imposter syndrome. I seriously lack some technical skills and I don't know if I am smart enough to acquire them on demand. I am willing to put in the work to learn. But, somewhere back of my mind, I feel that my only chance of learning the advanced topics was in a graded structured coursework, which I don't have any access to post graduation. Thus, I feel that I will be incompetent and thus poor likelihood of getting a job.

Actually, I think that the way you did your doctorate implies that you can, in fact, learn the things you don't know now. In fact, you may have more skills than you realize, but I'll leave that aside.
But first, the courses you took in the past are nearly irrelevant to the process of getting a job once you have a doctorate. The skills, yes, but not the courses. But few employers will feel the need to do any real examination of your coursework.
I agree, however, that having some structure to learning is a big help. But you can address that in a variety of ways. Your alma mater might permit you to take some courses for a reasonable fee, especially if there is some service that you can supply to them in return. This might be an option if you do wind up unemployed for a bit.
But there is now a world of online study possibilities. For many people they have little actual value, since the credential they come with might be suspect, but you don't need credentials at this point. But, if you do sign up for online instruction somewhere, be aware that just reading and watching videos isn't enough. You need to put the new information into practice so that it becomes actual knowledge. Use exercises for reinforcement and try to find a place that will also give you appropriate feedback on your work. Some online courses are better at this than others.
So, I think that a two track plan would be worth pursuing. Work both in the job-seeking realm but also in filling in knowledge.
If online courses don't appeal to you, but you have research skills, then there is no reason that you can't start on some project that requires the skills you don't have but can, as you did in your previous work, fill in via self study. If it results both in publications and in skill building all the better. Perhaps your old advisor can help point to some things, even if you are now remote.