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Failing postdoc?
After a successful PhD in computer science (including some awards from top conferences, internship at top industry research labs, and a good number of citations to my ~15 papers) in a top-10 US school, I got a postdoc at a top-3 US school.
I had a number of postdoc offers and chose the one whose topic more far-related to my phd thesis, in order to learn new things, get out of the box, and show that I'm not a one-trick dog (or doc? ;) ).
The topic is different but not too much far away (i.e., I didn't move from theory to systems, rather from algorithms to (applied) machine learning).
I've been in my new position almost 6 months and feel like a complete failure.
I can't go on with one of the projects I was assigned to and it is not for lack of trying: I just don't understand the results I'm getting because I don't know the field well enough and I can't figure out what I am actually supposed to do to improve them.
My supervisor gets quite "adversarial" when I ask for feedback and I try to explain what I don't understand. On the other hand, he says that I'm very helpful on other projects, helping the students, and a valuable addition to the group, and he would have told me if it wasn't so. Indeed I think it is true and I'm doing a good job on other projects (which are not "mine").
The project I'm failing at could have a great impact on science (not just CS) on the long term, but I feel like any engineer trained in the field could lead it to completion, so I don't find it particularly exciting.
I guess I'm missing the excitement  I got when I had to prove theorems during my PhD. Right now, the project involves just messy data analysis, and a lot of try-and-error coding (mostly error), all without much feedback from the supervisor (who actually told me to ask the students...which I did and they weren't exactly helpful).
Anyway, this is getting me extremely stressed (I actually started seeing a therapist about this), and I'm thinking of moving away from this position, although I may have the possibility of renewing for another year (if my supervisor would even still consider the option, which he gave me when I started)
What are the pro/cons of moving away after 1 year with not exactly much positive work done yet, especially of which I could claim ownership? I believe that right now my supervisor would not, in the future, write me a very positive recommendation letter, in my opinion.
Note that I already have offers for next year, on topics more related to what I did during my phd.

I'm a little at odds here. First you state "I just don't understand the results I'm getting because I don't know the field well enough and I can't figure out what I am actually supposed to do to improve them.", however, later on you point out: "any engineer trained in the field could lead it to completion, so I don't find it particularly exciting. I guess I'm missing the excitement I got when I had to prove theorems during my PhD." - so what, in a nutshell is the true issue? The lack of excitement, a lack of understanding, or both?

I think more details would be helpful. You are unhappy with one project. How many projects are you involved with? And what makes this project special? On this one project, are you the sole person working on it? What about the other projects? If you don't like this project, why not just stop working on it? It may not be "your thing". You aren't required to like everything, you know.

@CuriousCat: I believe both. I both don't understand what to do and how to get the knowledge I need to understand what to do, and I am not excited at all about the project. I am not excited because it's really an engineering work: tune features, do error analysis, run the system, tune parameters, etc. In some sense, it lacks, in my opinion, of hard questions that excite me. I am involved in other projects, helping students, improving our research systems,..., but this is supposed to be my project and I cannot give it up (other people are involved, but I'm the "leader", supposedly)

Right now, the project involves just messy data analysis, and a lot of try-and-error coding (mostly error) ... sounds about right for machine learning :-)

Not sure about CS, but in life sciences it can easily take a postdoc 6-12 months just to "settle in", especially if you are moving to a different field. This includes gaining sufficient expertise in the field to be productive and finding a good research direction.

I've been in my new position almost 6 months and feel like a complete failure. — Yeah, the timing sounds about right. — I feel like any engineer trained in the field could lead it to completion — Yeah, that timing also seems about right.  These are two sides of the same coin: You think this should be easy, but you find yourself struggling to do it.  The secret is to realize that what you're doing is actually hard.

@JeffE: Exactly. If "any engineer trained in the field" could have led (a very impactful) project to completion, some engineer would have. Getting nowhere during the first year in a new field sounds pretty normal to me.

Can you expand the scope of the project?  Tedious, repetitive tasks in a CompSci context seem to just beg for automation.  Positions like yours are breeding grounds for new systems automation approaches.

Not really an answer, but some advice: it's normal to need time to get going as a post-doc. Usually you end a PhD at the end of a fairly large project. You have completed what you've been building up to. Therefore you need to start pretty much at the beginning with new projects as a post-doc, and it takes time before they come to completing. After that you'll usually have different projects at different stages, so the start of post-doc time is likely to be unusually slow results-wise.
In terms of the question: the main problem with trying to move when you've not produced much recently is in not being able to secure a job. If you've already got offers, you might want to think more about the personal side of moving jobs.
PS. You might like to look up 'imposter syndrome'.

You specifically asked about the pros/cons of leaving after one year without much to show for, so I will start with that. In my experience, you build credibility over time. And the more of that your resume shows the better.
Imagine the following situation:
You leave this position now and move to another school. Likely not in the top-3 anymore. Your next university takes you, after all you come from a top-3 school, even without published results one could assume you profited from that. But now, after another year, funding completely dries up at your new university and you have to leave again. Now you already have two very short post-doc employments on your resume. It might start looking like a downward spiral. If you decide to leave academia then, you would have to explain why it took you two years at different schools after completing a PhD to figure out that you were not cut for academia.
I am not suggesting that this is bound to happen. I am just pointing out a negative scenario to consider. And there will always be people who made something like this work.
An argument in favor of leaving would be, if you cannot at all imagine turning the situation around, "wasting" more valuable time and ultimately having nothing to show for after 2-4 years - or however long you stay.

But aside from the pros/cons, I believe a careful examination of your situation is called for.
You say, "I just don't understand the results I'm getting because I don't know the field well enough and I can't figure out what I am actually supposed to do to improve them.", however, later on you point out: "any engineer trained in the field could lead it to completion, so I don't find it particularly exciting. I guess I'm missing the excitement I got when I had to prove theorems during my PhD."
With regard to the struggle of not knowing what to do, I would respond: You have a PhD! You should have acquired the ability to do a thorough literature search and familiarize yourself with almost any topic within a reasonable amount of time. Especially, if your new field is not too far from your old one. Read publications, text books (if they exist) and talk to others in your new field. Is your new supervisor the only faculty member at your top-3 school that deals with this matter? Or are there others with a similar interest? After six months, you should have gained some understanding of what you are doing and what the results mean.
This brings us to the second part, the lack of excitement. As a general advice for career choices, I would recommend putting down a list of expectations that you have with regard to what you do. And then assign each item a priority. But only assign each priority once. Based on your question, this list could contain:

I want to conduct research at a top-3 university
I want to conduct research in a field with which I am familiar
I want to conduct research in a field that I find exciting

Once you have assigned a priority to each of those, only one has the top spot. Follow that top priority. If you current position does not satisfy that, move on.

If you've realized after a year that you want to go back to doing theory research, you should simply do that.  It's not "bad" to leave a post-doc after a year and take a different one (I did that, though for different reasons).  When you apply for permanent jobs, if you don't have a letter from your current host, that should be fine as long as you have good letters overall, including one from your PhD advisor.  Your overall record will matter a lot more than what project you did where.
In trying to figure out what you should do, I would suggest simply figuring out what you want to do.  It is sometimes possible to "overstrategize."


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Should I mention that I am interested in developing bioinformatics tools in my SOP for a "Software Development/Engineering" Master's program?
The program I am applying for is "Software Engineering/Development" master's program, I am really interested in this field of study, and I have already mentioned in my SOP that I wish to follow the studies up with a PhD and then want to have a career as a professional programmer. With all that being said, is there any need to give specific examples of what I can and want to potentially do when I become a programming expert? For example, developing bioinformatics tools really amazes me, should I mention that just as an example of what I would like to do during my career as a programmer?

Put yourself into the shoes of who should decide to select you or other applicants for this program.
Will she/he be interested of what you are going to do after the Master program?
Also, if you really like bioinformatics, probably you should approach it more from scientist point of view than a software developer point of view.
You should already have a strong base on biology, molecular biology, genetics and proteomics to start to develop new algorithms that give a substantial contribution in the field.

Most definitely. Because it's the main question of the application form that I have to answer.
Based on what I have read on few bioinformatics websites, an expert software developer can have a great possibility of being able to collaborate with a bioinformatician to develop bioinformatics tools.

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sort: votes


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Citing own image based on others work
Let's say I create an image which illustrates the ideas of others as part of a paper I write for university class work (so it's not about anything I want to publish).
A simple example: Foo Bar says in their paper: We have a state machine with states A, B, and C.
I want to summarize their idea in my paper, but they do not have a graphic to illustrate it, so I create a graphic for my paper looking like this:
A --> B --> C

Do I need to cite it? My text makes it clear that this is not my idea (and it properly cites Foo Bar), but just looking at the graphic, this isn't clear.
If so, how would I cite it? Would "Graphic Title (based on [Foo Bar, 2016])" work? Is "based on" strong enough to indicate that this is not a graphic created by Foo Bar or a graphic based on a graphic by Foo Bar? Would "based on work by [Foo Bar]" be better? Or is there some standard for this situation that I'm not aware of?

This question is similar to How to cite a rebuilt graphic, but not a duplicate, as I did not rebuild a graphic, but build a graphic based on a description.

You could add a note to the figure caption as follows:

Figure X: [figure_caption ...] (This figure is based on work by Foo
  Bar 2016).

In addition to the citation in your text, you can also add a proper citation in this note (using your citation style of choice).

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Myth or Reality: Employers will contact your academic supervisor and past collaborators to acquire information about you
Recently in a presentation about networking the presenter mentioned that it is important to maintain a good relationship with your past academic supervisors and collaborates (teammates) because employers (industry employer, not academic employers) will go contact these people to gain information about you, especially you are a recent grad with net zero industry experience.
Is this a common practice? Does anyone know if employers will actually go out of their way to contact your supervisors even your teammates?

I've never run into the back-checking myself, but I've gotten several jobs/contracts (thinking back, more than I ever got through on-line job boards or professional recruiters) because the employer mentioned to a faculty member that they were looking for a person to do X, and they suggested talking to me as someone they thought could do it.   So potential employers do contact their former professors &c to do recruiting.

In general, your supervisor will more likely be contacted if your graduate fellowship is listed as employment experience.  Background checkers will likely interpret your supervisor as a "boss" and contact them accordingly,  not to tease out the minutia of your research but to ensure such qualities as dependability, integrity, and punctuality.

How deeply they check you out entirely depends on what industry you are going into and what company.  If you're going to be a coding slave at Oracle, they probably don't give a damn.  If you're interviewing where I work, however, we'll most certainly check you out...


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Benefits of taking postgraduate/PhD-level courses during Master's
During my master's studies, so far, I have taken quite many postgraduate-level courses (i.e. courses that are accepted as a PhD-level course for a PhD student at my university). Some of these courses were a part of my degree requirement, so I was obliged to take them, but few of them were my personal choices to take them. I am now wondering if this can be a positive point in the future in my CV, e.g. when looking for a job. In the transcript of records, it is not indicated anyhow that those particular courses were postgraduate level, except for a "P" in front of their names and that's about it, so even if I send my transcript to someone they probably won't realize those courses are PhD level courses. So was it really worth the trouble to take such courses which mostly took me twice as much time to complete? I am not talking about things I have learned from these courses, but merely talking about their benefit in the future when applying for a job or PhD program?

You talk about "things I have learned from these courses" and "benefit in the future when applying for a job or PhD program" as if they are two separate things. By taking courses that stretch you further, look in more detail, go deeper into the scientific process, you will gain benefits that will come through on your statement of purpose and in your interview even if you never once use the word "postgraduate".

While it might make a small difference, I doubt that you will get all that much benefit from the courses based on how they appear on your transcript, even if they are annotated with information about their level.  The simple reasons for this are that:

Courses cannot readily be compared from institution to institution, and
Even a high grade in a course doesn't really say anything about what you took away from it.

Instead, the main "resume" benefit you are likely to obtain from these courses is in their side-effects: higher-level graduate courses tend to give you opportunities that don't come in more stock courses, like doing significant projects (which sometimes even lead to publications!), giving class presentations, getting involved in research, getting to know faculty, etc.
Those are where I would recommend looking for benefit, and why it's often better to take less classes but invest more deeply in each at the graduate level.

There are actually several benefits.

You don't need to wait for people to understand what those "P"s mean. You could just add a section to your CV named Highlighted Courses and indicate the grad courses explicitly.
If you are going to pursue a PhD, the message that "I have already took courses from PhD and I know what I am doing" is really a good message to give. It will put you one or two steps further.
Completing a higher level course (i.e. post-doc course in master's) mean you are a hard-worker and ready to take the challenges. This message might come in handy when you are applying for industry positions.
They indicate that you want to learn new things. You are not a person that sticks with the "maximum benefit with minimum effort" principle. You actually want to expand your borders. This indication puts you four steps further both in academia and industry.

3.Completing a grad course in bachelor's mean You might have mis-read the OP's question. He was taking postgraduate-level courses during his master's studies.

@scaaahu that is true, I was to write "a higher level course" thanks for noticing.

It depends on what kind of job you consider applying for.
If you want to stay in academia, taking advanced courses is clearly an advantage. Not necessarily because they show up with a "P" on your transcript, but because you will have gained more knowledge, challenged yourself, and learned about non standard stuff. For a PhD application, as well as for the PhD itself, this will be useful.
If you want to go to the industry, on the other hand, chances are that nobody will care what courses you took exactly. The knowledge you gained from these courses is probably too specific to be applied in any industry job. Even if the course was listed explicitly as "postgraduate", to anyone outside academia, this will not mean much.
In short: If it is only the effect on your transcript that you are interested in, it is not worth taking twice the amount of time to finish the same work load. If you are interested in gaining knowledge and learn about advanced stuff, it is definitely worth it.

authors: Михаил Горбун


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PhD: Online philosophy courses and their worth when transitioning from an unrelated field to philosophy
I want to enter a PhD programme in continental philosophy in about 7 months. This is while I hold an MA in Computer Science. While the school is very open to my application, -- i.e. they don't strictly require a Master's degree in a related field-- I still want to make my application stand out as much as possible.
I have found quite many philosophy courses online (on coursera, and other websites) but the only ones that have captured my attention have been the ones coming from prestigious universities such as Harvard and Oxford.
https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/introduction-to-philosophy-online
Are such courses of any value when applying to universities? Specially in the case of a person coming from a very unrelated background.

My guess is this depends on what sort of on-line course it is ...
(1) In the course, you write one or more papers, which are critiqued by them, and at the end they issue some sort of credential to you
(2) You listen to lectures on-line, do assigned reading, and nothing else
Perhaps (1) would be of value in applying.  But not (2).  Of course (2) could still be of value to you, personally.


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Writing the Absolute and Relative Average in an Application Form
In the application form of a master's degree program I'm applying for, I've stumbled upon this:
Please indicate both the absolute and the relative average of your previous degree.
What does this mean? I'm not quite sure, but I don't think my transcript of records indicates a relative average, so what should I do?

When I applied, I sometimes had to give my overall GPA and then the GPA in my actual major (so excluding things like English lit, etc.). Maybe that's what they mean by a "relative" GPA? I'm not sure though.

Thank you. I'm not really sure, because for example, this link says something completely different: https://joblessenggstud.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/absolute-grading-or-relative-grading/

That link talks about how individual professors assign grades. I can't imagine that's what they mean on an application, since it's almost impossible to figure out. You should probably just ask the admissions office what they want.

Problem solved: They were basically asking me to write the exact GPA as mentioned on the transcript of records (for example: 4.8 out of 5) and then also calculate the percentage of it: 4.8 out of 5 = 96%

Vote to close as OP said "Problem solved".

I'd rather recommend that the OP self-answer, for the benefit of future generations. @Bewildered: could you please answer your question, by copying your comment into the answer box?

@StephanKolassa OP hasn't been seen for three months... I will quote the OP in the answer box and delete if they return.

O.P. says in comments that they solved their own problem:

Problem solved: They were basically asking me to write the exact GPA as mentioned on the transcript of records (for example: 4.8 out of 5) and then also calculate the percentage of it: 4.8 out of 5 = 96% –


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Should I send recommendation/reference letter to universities that don't require it?
Sending recommendation letter to some universities is optional, but some others don't even mention it in their required documents. Is there any point in sending recommendation letter to such universities?

I would hope that admissions committees look at supplementary materials when the applicants look the same otherwise on paper rather than flip a coin. That being said, I'm sure someone will bring me down to earth and say "Nope, they don't do that."

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a bit confused since they didn't even ask for a CV and I emailed them and they told me that I can send a CV but that would  absolutely have no effect on my application, so I'm wondering whether the same thing applies to recommendation letters...

What did they say about letters of recommendations?

Unfortunately I haven't received any reply from them for that, due to holidays.

Most organizations that have set requirements for applications refuse to look at any supplementary materials that are submitted in order to be fair to those who did not submit supplementary materials. The National Science Foundation, in many cases, reserves the right to return proposals without review that have certain kinds of unrequested or forbidden supplementary materials. I think it's best to only submit what was asked for.

If they allow you to submit "supplementary materials" without specifying what said materials are, then you can submit the recommendation or not. But if there's no such allowance, don't submit.


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What's my chance of getting into a good math or statistics graduate program, if I don't have impressive grades the first three semesters of college
I'm a sophomore majoring in math and statistics at a large state university who has top 30 math programs. I really want to go to a very good math graduate program. However, my first three semester is full of Bs, and overall GPA is 3.5. And I happened to have a C and W on my transcript. My major GPA is pretty good though, a 3.98. But I'm still afraid that first year and half is going to hurt my chance of going to graduate school really bad. What do you guys think? Do you know where I stand? Anything I can do to counterbalance my unfavorable GPA? Thanks.

so far I took 10 math classes, one of them is B+...they are 3/4 credits.I'm not sure how you calculate ur GPA..but for me A means 4.0 and B+ is 3.5. I added them up and divided by 10..

Panpan: Sorry, my comment was silly: I temporarily forgot about +/- grades.  (But it is fairly standard that B+ is 3.3.  I would be slightly surprised at a state university that takes B+ to be 3.5.  You should check on that.)

in my school we dont have A-..It's A then B+,B,C+,C,D,F...does that make sense to you?

I don't understand. You say you don't have impressive grades, and then you say your GPA is 3.5. Which is it?

possible duplicate of How do you get a bad transcript past Ph.D. admissions?

At bottom, the question is, do I need to worry about a few "substandard" grades outside my major, and if so, what can be done? That question is not so narrow or specific. And the answers are 1) Probably not, and 2) Finish "strong," and your earlier weaknesses will (probably) be forgotten.

My gpa is not high enough. And I'm not sure how a C and a W on transcript can affect me..

@Panpan1215: Basically, you only need to "hold your own" (which is what you are doing). The time to excel is in the LAST two years, not the first. The "bad" scenario is a pattern like the following: 4.0, 3.7, 3.5, 3.3. Then that person looks "overprepared" from high school, and isn't doing so well in college.

You major GPA of 3.98 is what counts most. "Full of B's" and overall GPA is 3.5 means "half A's, half B's," which is not at all bad. The one C and one W aren't great, but don't necessarily hurt you much. "Everyone" knows that when you take courses outside your major for "balance," you will likely get "worse" (and a few bad) grades. That's especially true the first three semesters.
I'd expect your GPA to rise to about 3.7 as you take more courses closer to your major in the later years. As long as you "finish" on a strong note, that's (mostly) what counts.

you're right! I'm in school of arts and sciences. And everyone is supposed to take a lot of core classes for requirement. I wouldn't have taken them if I had to.


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Submitting paper to IEEE journal using the standard `article`/`proc` LaTeX class
Do IEEE Journals accept LaTeX-formatted manuscripts using the standard article or proc class provided by LaTeX?
It is not made clear to me, if I should stick with the IEEETrans class IEEE has provided me with or I can just use the standard article classes - pre-installed with LaTeX - and submit my manuscript this way.
Thanks in advance

Read the CFP. What template does it tell you to use? And stick to those instructions.

There is a latex template but these there is no references to what I am asking in this question.

Slighty related: Should you conform to journal formatting requirements for the initial submission?.

Why you don't want to use IEEEtrans class?

It takes a reasonable amount of time to reformat it (not the content or the way the terms should be expressed) and in case the manuscript does not fit this journal it may be time-consuming to format it again.
The article/proc classes seem to be more appealing to the eye and more easily readable in my opinion.

My reading is that you can submit anything that complies with the rules on Manuscript Types and Lengths, but if you actually use the template for the journal you are submitting to, they really, really appreciate it. If your article is accepted, you will have to work with them to reformat it to use the specific journal's style.

Downvoters care to comment?

I think that you might be technically correct, but that it is a bad idea, for the reasons I gave in my own answer.

I disagree with Bill Barth's answer: I strongly believe that you should use the LaTeX classes that IEEE has provided you with.  The reasons are two-fold:

The reviewers will be used to almost always seeing IEEE submissions in IEEE standard formats.  If you submit in another format, it will likely prejudice the reviewers against you, as it will appear "amateurish."  Whether or not this is fair, it is a risk you are taking with your paper that there is no need to take.
Many IEEE journals have length constraints, and some are quite adamant about them.  If you submit in a non-standard format, it will be difficult to tell whether you are actually complying with the length constraints or not.  This may annoy the editor, again unnecessarily.

IEEE formats are pretty easy to use, and have really good instructions.  Since that is the case, I simply see no up-side to avoiding the standard formatting, and plenty of down-side.

I think this should be flagged as the correct answer. For conferences that will appear directly to xplore it is a must as the requirements are strict and once you get used to the workflow of the IEEEtran it is very simple and a lot more productive to stick to it.

Readers of these excellent points should be aware that outside of IEEE, ACM, and some other journals, which may prefer submission in the journal style, many commenters in the other question were in agreement that this was "presumptuous" in their field and could be detrimental. I tried to give a correct answer here given the strong field split in what is expected. Anyone who doesn't put these biases aside is unethical IMO, but following the norm is advisable.


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Listing expected graduation GPA along with current GPA for grad admission of senior undergraduate
I am a senior undegraduate CS student who is interested in applying for a good grad school (current GPA 3.76/4.00, distinguished in engineering competitions, written a lot of code, has 2 papers - one before university and is currently working on multiple research projects).
I am now filling in the application form of some particularly demanding grad schools (e.g. Stanford, MIT) and I am faced with the following dilemma:
I have some remaining courses to pass (since I have not completed the 10 semesters that are required) until the end of this year. Moreover, I have not defended my thesis yet (although I have almost completed it).
My thesis counts for 20% of the grade (and it is almost impossible to get a grade different than 4.0/4.0) and all the courses (passed and ongoing) count for the rest 80%. Having this in mind and being optimistic enough, I suspect that my finishing grade will be about 3.8/4.0.
I am finalizing my SOP and CV and I am faced with the following question:

Should I list my expectation for a finishing grade along with the current GPA that is on my official transcript?

My problem is that on the one side, I feel not being fair to myself since it is a feasible goal and the overall work I have done is not directly depicted in my current transcript. On the other, I am afraid that I may get a conditional offer like "maximize your graduation GPA" and in a semester which I am currently doing research and, personally, optimizing course grades is my primary objective.

I would like to hear advice, especially incidents of (if they exist) of such offers, as well as experience from other students who were in this quandary.
Would that really count given my academic profile?

First the difference between a GPA of 3.76 and 3.8 doesn't seem very big or relevant to me. Beyond that, in general I would not put the two numbers in the application. Put the GPA of your already graded courses, so the 3.76 and write next to it that it is preliminary and in particular does not contain your thesis grade yet, which accounts for 20% of the total grade. With that information anyone reading your application can make their own estimate of what your final GPA will be.

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Is it possible to study an MBA as a Bachelor in Computer Science?
I am finishing my degree this year and I am interested in an MBA. However I have some questions.
First:

Will I need to retake courses in order to be able to study an MBA as a Computer Scientist?

Second:

Do I need work experience to begin studying an MBA? And if yes, should the work experience be business-oriented rather than software engineering for example?

Thanks in advance.

There is usually no specific subject requirement for a MBA. However, MBA programs usually require a few years of work experience (on average candidates have 5+ years). Often you will also need to get a good score on the GMAT test. But this is stuff you can study on your own, you don't necessarily need to take any courses.
I would think if you were interested in an MBA then you would probably be pursuing more management related opportunities anyway. But these could certainly be obtained by starting in a software engineering role and working your way up. Obviously you are not going to get a management position fresh out of university, everyone needs to start somewhere.
The company you work for may even pay for your management training if they believe you have promise.
You can read about the requirements and admissions process at various top MBA schools:
Cambridge Judge Business School
Harvard Business School

Thanks a lot, this has mostly answered my questions. However, coming fresh out of college, I have no real reference or facts to support this point. Do you think it is possible (working hard and trying) to reach a management related position coming starting as a programmer for example?

That should probably be a separate question.

@FelipeSulser, of course. Every company has management positions. If you started working in a software company as a programmer you could certainly move up from being a programmer to managing a team of programmers, and so on. This can happen surprisingly quickly in some cases. This is getting off topic for this SE, but companies will often have a career progression route for new hires. Ask about this during interviews.

@FelipeSulser I work for a software firm. Many dev managers in my company have taken this path. They started out here as programmers, and worked their way up getting more responsibility until they moved into management. Some of them either took a break to go to business school full time, or went to night/weekend school to get their MBAs.

@FelipeSulser Also be aware that some jobs specifically call out that they are looking to develop managers, especially in technology fields. I recently saw a job ad for Purina's IT division that was designed as a kind of "join as a programmer and over the next few years we'll train you for IT/manufacturing management". Some MBA's even focus on CS/IT, so the transition may be more direct: http://bus.wisc.edu/mba/academics-and-programs/specialized-program/operations#Operations&TechnologyManagement


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Can my recommendation letters be repeated?
For example, if I am going to apply to 3 REU programs that ask me for 2 recommendation letters each one.
Can my 2 professors who I asked the recommendation letters send the exact same letters to the 3 REU programs?

Yes, they can.  Sometimes letter writers make minor changes to the letters, for example to add information specific to a given program, but this sort of fine tuning is optional (and almost nobody makes major changes).  The default is to send the same letter.

Yes, they can send the exact same letter. In fact, trying to come up with a new letter for each individual program can be overly burdensome.
I would, however, make sure that your letter writers either make no specific mention to the individual programs or make sure they change them appropriately. If one of your letters to program X says "This student would make a fantastic addition to program Y," then a reviewer at program X might be turned off to your application. I don't think it's as bad as mentioning program Y in your SOP (where you have complete control of what is said) to program X, but it's an error to be avoided if possible.


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Would graduate committee be more favorable to a barely passed grad course or no grad course at all while undergrad
I recently completely messed up a graduate level class I'm taking.
There is little hope that I will get a reasonably good grade out of this course, therefore I'm contemplating dropping it. Even I don't drop and get everything to 100%, I will wind up with around 65 at the end. Horrible.
If I drop it, my GPA will be preserved but I will have a lot of explanation to do to my recommenders for grad school, and it is kind of awful that it would most likely to be the first course I will take in grad school. I'm glad I found out how hard it was while still being an undergrad, but I'm not happy at all that so much efforts were spent for a miserable result.
Would grad committee look more favorably towards a barely passed grad course you took as an undergrad, or no grad course at all but reasonable gpa.

Hey, at least you have the experience now. You never know what it's like until you try it, and so the next time you attempt it you'll do better because you'll know what to expect. Personally, I'd drop the course because then I'd be able to spend my time in a more useful way rather than dusting the chairs on the titanic. In terms of what to say to the recommenders, I'd just tell them the truth. And tell them what you learned from the experience and what you'll plan to do next time.

Is a 65 horrible? Do you know how your classmates did? You might ask your instructor before getting too worried.

The big question that both your recommenders and the admissions committee will wonder about is what this experience predicts for you in graduate school.  If you do poorly when taking a grad class now, will you be able to do well in grad school?
One factor may be preparation.  Maybe you were enthusiastic but overly ambitious, and in another year you'll have the experience and preparation needed to do well.  This is the reassuring scenario.
Another possibility is that you're just not used to be challenged by courses, since the undergraduate program was not very demanding.  Now that you know what you face, you'll take it more seriously and do better.  It's entirely possible, but this scenario is more worrisome.  Lots of people say "oh, next time I'll work harder," but this is easier said than done.
And there are even more worrisome possibilities.  For example, maybe you just didn't like the material and couldn't bring yourself to engage deeply with it.  This could be a symptom of lack of preparation, or it could be a sign that this field is not a good fit for you.
I'd recommend dropping the course.  In grad school there's no value in barely passing a course: if you need to learn something, then you need to really learn it well, not just avoid failing.  This means a bad grade on a transcript won't impress admissions committees, and it means you're going to have to go back and learn this material properly in the future anyway.  Probably you should take this course in grad school.  If you don't take it, then you'll need to put in some serious effort to master the material on your own.
Meanwhile, you should think about what went wrong and how to explain it to your recommenders, so that you reassure them regarding your future in grad school.

Thank you. I believe I'm the overly ambitious type. I'm not only taking this extremely hard grad course, but 4 other courses similar to it in difficulty at the same time. I thought I would be extremely motivated and engaged (i.e. sleep at 12 wake up at 5 and continue) but I'm more tired than I have ever been in my life. I have learnt from this experience and I will give it 100% in the future for similar courses now I know how hard it is.


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How can you tell if a faculty or group is on decline? Am I being used?
I am currently deciding graduate school between several different groups in my school's engineering department. A few faculty in electronics, signal processing and control system has expressed interest in working with me.
When I talk to some of the current graduate students, I get a wide variety of opinions. What bothers me is that some graduate students tells me that a certain group is on "decline". They rarely clarify what this means, but to me it can mean several things.

the output from the group is inconsistent
funding is lacking
output is not applicable to come up with a product
(follows from 3) work too theoretical and deviates from engineering goal

If a group is on decline, then regardless of the reason, under normal circumstances I will not even consider joining. What surprises me is that this group which has been rumored to be on the decline is very keen on recruiting new graduates. In particular, I have experienced more of a "pull" from that particular group than any other group which has expressed interest. There are early admissions, talk about funding, offer of teaching assistance-ship. I am starting to wonder if they need me so to acquire more funding for their own research or if there are some other ulterior motives.
Can someone who works within academia clarify on what it could mean for a group to be on decline, so much that it is apparent to people who are outside of that group.
Also what interest me personally is what ulterior motive could a graduate unit have in recruiting new graduates aside from the expressed interest in publishing more beautiful papers.
Thanks

"some graduate students tells me that a certain group is on "decline". They rarely clarify what this means" - why don't you ask them to clarify what they mean by this?

I should say that graduate students are not necessarily the best judge of the state of a research group. I am not saying that they don't know what's going on in their own group, but they often know all the gory internals of their own group and only the bright facade of the other groups in their field. This sometimes brings out a group variant of the Imposter Syndrome, imho.

They don't need you.

@StephanKolassa I asked but that has part of the email been ignored so far, maybe I need to sample more people

@xLeitix I asked people both in and outside of the group and the strongest response I got was from people outside of the grou

A group in decline will want to attract grad students to avoid the decline.
A group not in decline will want to attract grad students to avoid the decline.
Wanting to attract grad students is not a good measure of decline.

I strongly agree with Dave Clark, and I really don't think there are any likely "sinister" ulterior motives. It is worthwhile to look for signs of decline, but I don't think there's any need to try to scrutinize the faculty's motivation.

@anonymous that's exactly my problem, this offer looking extremely promising and the prof is well published and nice, and our interest aligns, but this maybe a nowhere road if there are some external factors such as funding or politics that ultimately may cause more harm than good

The amount of funding currently held by a professor is only weakly related to the scientific quality of the research they are engaged in.

In the final year of my PhD, I made a tour of several places in the USA to try to establish contacts in the hope of finding hidden postdoc opportunities.  I knew of those places because I frequently saw their papers.  In some places, I have seen signs of decline:

In one place, the main senior scientist had moved away some years ago.  Since then, one by one, others had left.  It appears nobody was replacing them.  The people who were still there appeared to be the ones who were less successful at getting grants and writing papers, than the ones who had left.
In another place, I didn't see any PhD students in a group, and only a handful of postdocs.  Most people were above 50, with the head of the group being well above 70.  Although certainly a great name to have as a support, I wouldn't recommend anyone starting a PhD project with someone who will turn 80 before the candidate is expected to get their PhD.
I also overheard conversations from which it was clear that people were not very ambitious.  I almost literally heard someone say, that they now had a permanent position so they didn't need to write a lot of papers anymore.

Those are some signs that a place might be in decline: Have more than two senior scientists left the place in the past five years?  Is the median age above 60?  Are some people happier to stay on their desk than to attract great PhD students and postdocs to produce some great science?

The other way to look at "decline" is the number of students who actually make it through to get a degree. Some won't finish because they can't, but others may leave early (for other schools or advisors) because of the atmosphere/work environment/etc. within the lab. A well funded lab with a miserable work environment that is driving away students could also be said to be "in decline."
If there is a wide gap in the time students have been in the lab, this could be a sign of such a problem. For instance, maybe there are 5-6 students all about to graduate and 10 students who are in their first or second year. If there's nobody between, you have to ask yourself (or the senior students) where they all went and why.
Retention problems, independent of funding or publication output, could be a warning sign.

Also try to find out why people are leaving. I know of groups where people are leaving without PhD (even to umemployment) because of trouble in the group, whereas I've also been in a group where people left without PhD to take industry jobs.

In my American computer science program, a PhD student is not tied to an advisor, or narrow field of study in his first year.  Usually you will be assigned a prof and a GRA/GTA position for your first year.  Use your first year to determine which faculty members you work well with, and then get them to advise and fund your PhD.
I would not be concerned about a lab "in decline" as if a lab is truly having difficulty bringing in money, they will not have any GRAs to offer.  You should focus on finding a professor and group you work well with.  You'll be judged by the quality of your research, not perceived prestige of the group by other students.
Make a short list of advisors you would like, then begin researching if they can handle another student, or if they have funding issues that might derail your progress later.  Focus on choosing a good advisor, not a good group.
EDIT to address comments
@OP - Can you find out if you are tied to one advisor for your entire degree?  All the comments are arguing that point.

The first paragraph is very country specific. In many European countries I've been to, PhD students are tied to a specific advisor and hence field of study.

In my experience (in computer science, in the US), incoming PhD students are not tied to a particular advisor on admission.

At my (American) university, computer science PhD students were generally assigned an advisor who aligned with their statement of purpose.  It was very common for students to switch advisors after the first year to better align with their interest and personality.

I knew several computer engineers that switched advisor as well.  This may be school and country specific


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Is it common for people in academia to experience prolonged lack of sleep and how to deal with it?
Stuck in the lab again, for the third night in a row. I have never done three in a row I think I might just break a record. I cannot sleep, because the lab is super crammed and uncomfortable and I am afraid that someone will come in and take my belongings, I am afraid that I will fall sleep for so long that I will miss something so important that will ruin this semester, especially at a time when I beginning to see the light at the end of a long dark tunnel that has been both physically, emotionally and mentally draining.
Why not go home? Because home is an hour drive away and I am stuck working on multiple projects that lasts from 8 in the morning to 3 in the morning. Have to get up to school again at 9 am. Not much time left in my time zone. Should I go to sleep? Might just wake up in a lab full of people and look embarrassed. Should I stay awake? I will just wind up falling asleep in the lecture which is ten times worse!
But that's not the point I am asking this question. I am asking this question because I am the only one left in the lab. Eyes wide open from dusk till dawn, headed for a big crash. Can't form a full sentence, my mind is going blank. I am starting to wonder if it is just me. What is it about me that forces me to wonder the halls at 4 in the morning to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth? What forces me to drink energy drink at 11 pm at night and wonder how long before I will have my first heart attack? Can you call an ambulance over the internet, my phone is dead.
How do academicians view the subject of sleep when things left undone, problem left unsolved swirls around your mind? How to be productive, meet deadlines, and get adequate sleep?

Just go home and sleep.

"home is an hour drive away": that is part of the problem, in my view. Two hours of commuting time every day add a lot of stress. Have you considered renting a flat closer to the university?

You deal with prolonged lack of sleep by sleeping. Once you do that, you should feel a little better. Working is fine, but it's just one thing you can do in your life the same as you can go for a walk, hang around with friends, etc... This advice actually comes from someone who went to bed at 5AM, 2AM and 2AM the past three days and woke up at 8:30. It's late, sure, but I still went to bed.

I'm sure no one in the world will freak out if you decide to call in sick for a day. And yes, sleep deprivation is being sick. So take a sick day, catch up on lost sleep, and return to normal sleeping habits.

@FedericoPoloni Most people I know who live (or have lived) that far away from campus do so because they're living with their parents. Which has various advantages such as cheap or free rent. Though I generally agree that it makes life much easier to live within a 15-minute walk or bike from campus.

@Compass That is good advice in the short term, but it doesn't stop the OP from getting back to this state again (and again) in the future.

I'm not clear what makes this question specific to academia. People in many (most?) professions have trouble with work-life balance, and (re Federico's point above) everyone I know who works outside the home is a commuter. Commuting for an hour is completely normal for all professionals, here in London at least.

Workaholism isn't limited to academia.

Get a pickup truck with a back camper or topper, you can find them for cheap. This way you can cram in some sleep during your off hours during the week and then go home fully when you have more time. It's cheaper than a flat near campus and solves your fear of sleeping in lab.

"I am stuck working on multiple projects that lasts from 8 in the morning to 3 in the morning" Terrible.

@scrappedcola: That advice is location-specific.

"I am stuck working on multiple projects that lasts from 8 in the morning to 3 in the morning" what does this even mean? That's insane. That's at least 8 hours too much. So immediately reduce it by 8 hours.

@LightnessRacesinOrbit hence why it's a comment. It applies to just about everywhere in the US and some locations across the pond. I know of quite a few people who have either done this for work or grad school.

@scrappedcola: Yeah I'm just saying, stick a "in the US, ..." on there somewhere maybe ;p

Agreeing with @Trevor.  This is not unique to academia.  Indeed, being a salaried employee, there is ALWAYS more work you could be doing, at any moment.  And an employer will happily take all they can get out of you.  They will set a minimum, expected amount but you can ALWAYS work more.  And if you routinely work more, that will become the minimum they expect.  So Workaholism becomes a slippery slope, a Red Queen problem, insert favorite cliche.  You must manage expectations.  If you consistently work a certain amount, that is what they will expect.  You have to set, and maintain, limits.

If you are a lowly experimentalist then you don't need sleep. If you were a mathematician on the other hand...

" I am afraid that someone will come in and take my belongings" Wow, your lab is not a nice one...

There are short-term and long-term approaches.  Sometimes, a lack of sleep is necessary because of, eg, unexpected and valuable time on expensive valuable equipment X.  Or, because the grant really is due today and you didn't budget time correctly.  Or because process X has to be babysat and really does take 72 hours. For those short-term upsets, coffee and lots of water works, followed by about twice as much rest as the time you missed sleeping.  Never pretend you can make time up on your long-term schedule by missing sleep.  For processes, that part just sucks, either try to work in shifts with another student or set up a nearby sleeping area.  If you're gadget-friendly, simple setups can often improve efficiency by allowing uninterrupted sleep.*
Long-term, missing sleep does not work for most people. Planning can help a lot. So, start by figuring out everything you want to do, estimate how long it should take, and then prioritize. Start by filling in an 8 hour workday and try to get everything on your list done.  Listing tasks such as 'try X' works better than 'solve Y'.  For most people, it won't come close to happening in 8 hours.  Next, measure the ratio of estimated to actual time and use that to scale your future estimates.  Keep reviewing.
Next, find a weekly hour limit that keeps you healthy.  Then, optimize for efficiency.  (commuting 2 hours??  move. Reading StackOverFlow instead of working? Um...  Stressed, not getting much done? - Try the gym.)
Finally, after a few iterations, compare your productivity to your peer group while adjusting for your career goals and choose realistically.  If you aren't close to living healthily while being as or more productive as people likely to achieve your career goals, it would be reasonable to rethink them.
*One of my friends moved into his office.  There was a lab shower, so it wasn't bad - and saved a ton on housing.  Add a lockable door == no problem.

There are three basic approaches to handling this:

Paul Erdos' approach.  Pros: it worked for Erdos, after a fashion.  Cons: you are not Erdos.
Crack, maybe have a psychotic episode, and leave academia.  Pros: it's the easiest course, and the one you're on now.  Cons: everything else about it.
Recognize that your career is not a sprint, but a marathon, and start triaging less important work in favor of sleep.  Working sleep-deprived is exactly as smart as working drunk, so you are already cutting your productivity, just in an uncontrolled manner.  Pros: Survival, possibly having a career.  Cons: you will have to say "no" to people.

The truth is, in academia there is an endless amount of work that you could be doing: you will never be done.  The only choice you get to make is whether you will choose the things that you do not do, or whether you will make self-destructive choices that mean those choices get made for you arbitrarily by the fracture points of your body and mind.

"Working sleep-deprived is exactly as smart as working drunk" - ahem.

"Working sleep-deprived is exactly as smart as working drunk" - But not nearly as much fun :-)

Heh. I read the first word of #2, I parsed it as a noun rather than a verb. I imagine that would be one way to handle prolonged lack of sleep... I wouldn't recommend it, though.

@neminem, that's more or less covered under #1 :-)

Dang. I also thought jakebeal means literaly crack. Also, the point suits fully if you interpred it as I did.

You are following the "path of the burn out". You may be interested in reading this question and its answers :
What can I do to recover from a short term burnout?
By main advice is always the same : seek advice from a professional, there is nothing that can be said here except "don't do that", "enjoy life outside the lab" and "you have to realize that you won't miss anything by not being 24/7 at your desk". For the rest, a professional is needed.

Your working, living, commuting and sleeping arrangements have gotten out of whack; also you are skipping exercise and time off. Recipe for burnout.

"I am stuck working on multiple projects that lasts from 8 in the morning to 3 in the morning" what does this even mean? That's insane. That's at least 8 hours too much. So immediately reduce it by 8 hours, depending on whether you prefer to avoid mornings or nights. I very much doubt your supervisor assigned you that schedule. What needs to change in order to fix that? Change it now. Can you nap in the afternoon? Exercise then nap?
Don't sleep in the lab. It's just not productive. And it feeds the workaholism and anxiety. Also, your labmates will think you're weird.
Worrying that someone will take your belongings can be solved by using a locker, and a backpack, but don't sleep in the lab. No sleeping-bags.
In terms of sleeping arrangements, either rent a room nearby, find a couch to crash on, or use a car/truck you can sleep in, with blanket and cushions. Probably can't find a carpool with such a wack schedule.
"I cannot sleep, because the lab is super crammed and uncomfortable and I am afraid that I will fall asleep for so long that I will miss something so important that will ruin this semester." There is a whole bunch of things wrong with that, workaholism and anxiety getting totally out of control. But for now, get your sleep schedule back together immediately so your thought process gets back to normality.
Then talk to your supervisor regularly to check you're on track and don't need to be anxious.
You are neglecting the crucial role of exercise and leisure time (as well as sleep) in any schedule. Fix that now. Whatever needs to get cut, cut it. 19-hour work days? Cut the least important 10 hours' worth. (Triage, as jakebeal said.) Unrealistic expectations? Talk to supervisor. Scheduling conflicts? Bring up to supervisor. No rational or ethical supervisor would inflict such a schedule on anyone. Academia is not some sleep-deprival forced-march do-or-die ordeal like special-forces boot camp. It's just a set of tasks to be managed and completed, then switch off and go exercise and have a beer with your friends. Really you're losing all sense of proportion.
"What forces me to drink energy drink at 11 pm at night and wonder how long before I will have my first heart attack?" Nothing "forces" you to, except perfectionism, anxiety and lack of structure, all of which you own. Do not drink energy drinks within 6 hours of sleep time. That means 6pm latest. Do not overconsume them. They lead to anxiety and insomnia; they can strain your heart. Every time you think of using an energy drink as a crutch, instead exercise/go for a run/walk/at least do pushups. Based on your symptoms and mental state, you should probably avoid energy drinks forever.

Try to stop at good enough on the tasks that really aren't that important. Spending several hours to go from 99% to 99.9% isn't really worth it (maybe for some limited tasks). You will save an immense amount of time.
You'll be more efficient on the important tasks if you get enough sleep and you don't have to stress as much over them.

I think that another approach to view this problem is: do I really need this amount of time to perform this specific task? Or is there a better, shorter way to tackle this scientific problem?
It happened to me from time to time that either (i) the experimental design or (ii) the technical aspects of the experiment itself could be improved in a way that I could still reach the result that I was aiming for, without having to go through the pain of sleep deprivation.
Always consider that as other people pointed out working so much will have a big impact over the quality of the data that you will obtain, thus leading to you having to increase even more the amount of hours that you put into the lab, in a vicious cycle that could have very negative outcomes.
I would sit down and go back to the experimental design to see if there is a better path towards your goal.

In the neurological institute I did my postdoc, the biologists tended to stay up with only brief intermissions while experimenting on the visual cortex of a cat.  A cat lasted for about 3 days of useful results from anesthesia to euthanasia.  It was sort of their code not to waste any of that time.  Rats lasted shorter but were more expendible, probably also emotionally.  But they were not useful for the same things.
It was not really much of a conversational topic in this interdisciplinary institute but most people knew what was up when a biologist dragged himself around with bloodshot eyes before disappearing again.

Poor cat :( This is so cruel.

I'm sure you'll understand if I, as a cat person, can't find much sympathy for those sleep-deprived researchers.

You're a cold soul 'user3193'.

Long experiments can occur in other fields besides biology.  In synchrotrons, the physicists' motto is Never waste a photon!

It's hard to disconnect when you've got into a continuing stressy zone.
If you find that Johanna's answer isn't enough for you, then you might try:
-- schedule in some hard, physical exercise (2 or 3 times a week).  (I chose swimming lanes).  This will give your system a chance to work out all the piled-up stress metabolites (not science; just my world-model) and leave you physically tired.  I found it altered my mood; even if only for an hour or two, providing respite from perpetual stress.
-- eat as well as you can afford to; I find I lose concentration when I eat sugars, fats and starches without meat and vegetables [you might not prefer meat for protein].  Your body has to rebuild itself continually; give it the inputs to manage that.
-- think carefully about your use of stimulants.  Many established adults I've spoken to about this, have (eventually) adopted a plan like this:  don't have any more coffee after 6pm / 3pm.  Experiment has shown that caffeine too late damages your sleep (you don't get the benefit of the time you spend asleep), by making that sleep lighter.  The first night a tea or coffee (or energy drink) late on will give you extra.  The second, less. And quickly none or less than none; it isn't a sustainable behaviour.
-- adopt a new policy to your body.  It is the platform on which all your achievement is built.  Nurture it.  Feed it.  Notice when it is struggling, and adapt what you expect of it.  Don't treat it as a whipping horse; it is you.  There are no marks for destroying your platform for future achievement, and the only person who will have to pay the price is you.
-- managing your own programme and delivery is a continuing experiment.  Watch how your system copes and adjust what you expect of yourself.  When adults gave you tasks as a child, they were also supervising you from a position of seeing your general physical and emotional state.  Now this has become your job.  Have you noticed?
-- reconsider the promises you have made.  Are you trying to deliver more than your system can sustain.  Consider unmaking some.
-- the body isn't designed to perform under continual high pressure.  It has evolved in an environment where it got bursts of stress and periods of relative calm.  Bear that in mind when planning for performance.  You need downtimes; and your body won't tolerate not getting them.
-- do not try to reach your absolute limit of achievement, be aware that your capacity might not be infinitely elastic; if you get there, you might damage your ordinary capacity to deliver.

You may be experiencing some early signs of bipolar disorder. I speak from experience because I was undiagnosed bipolar for over 20 years. When I was at the university, I occasionally experienced spells like you describe where it was just impossible to sleep. And once or twice a year I would fall into a pretty serious slump where it was all I could do to get out of bed for a week or two. And most of the time I was my good old self.
I recommend that you discreetly get yourself checked out by a mental health specialist. If it is bipolar, you want to catch it early on because it can progressively get worse if left untreated. That's what happened to me.
Either way, the specialist should be able to help you, perhaps with some non-addictive sleep aids for occasional use as-needed. Certain antidepressants can be used off-label to crush insomnia spells. I find them very helpful, very powerful, and I use them sparingly.
Best wishes!

-1: I don't see any evidence of bipolar here at all. He's not saying that he wants to sleep but can't because he's wide awake and that is what's preventing his sleep: he's saying that he's taken energy drinks and deliberately stayed awake in order to (a) get work done ("I am stuck working on multiple projects that lasts from 8 in the morning to 3 in the morning"), and (b) physically protect his belongings. Not everything can be blamed on neurological disorders, though it seems in vogue to claim so nowadays.

+1 from me.  Those long around-the-clock experiments can exacerbate bipolar tendencies.  Another medical problem that can be related to the OP's problems, which often goes undiagnosed, is thyroid problems.  So go get checked out, if only for your peace of mind.

I was on my way to where you were a few months after I started my PhD. There are already some really good answers on why you should get more sleep, so I'm going to focus on how to get more sleep without stressing about not getting enough work done. Here are the two things that have helped me a lot with not getting stressed about shutting down at a set time to sleep:

Plan your day: make a schedule for what you should be working on when, and stick to it. Make sure this schedule includes things like exercise, time to hang out with friends, family time (if you're in a relationship, live at home or have kids) and a set bedtime. If it's scheduled, you'll feel better about not working during those times.
At the start of every day, take 15 minutes and write a to-do list (based on which things you should be working on according to your schedule) for the day. Every time you do something, cross it off. At the end of the day, when your schedule tells you to stop working, look at the to-do list. Most likely, you will have crossed off a majority of the items on the list. Seeing all the things you actually have accomplished during the day makes it easier to shut down and recharge for the next day.

How will you be able to complete things if you are unable to take care of your health? I understand that things are important,but is this going to matter on the expense of your health?
I am not an expert but here are few things you can try:

Ask a friend to stay with you, so that when you sleep , your friend can keep a watch. You can sleep turn wise.
Try to spend less time on laptop or phone. It drains your energy and makes you feel more tired.
You can set few video recording devices , so that while you are taking moments to relax , they record everything you need. But give it a try before you actually start using this method and see if it is working correctly.
Eat your food in short intervals, instead of taking all at a time. It may help you to become less tired.
Keep fruits to eat in between(already chopped), instead of drinking energy drinks.
Close your eyes, breathe in slowly from your nose (count to 7 or to 10 )and exhale from mouth ( slowly like you inhaled). This will help you to relax. Repeat it again and again ,until you feel relaxed.
You can use cotton balls, dipped in cold water , to keep on your eyes for 10-15 minutes. It will help your strained eyes.
Don't sit in one position, stretch your body from time to time.

How cramped is your lab? What kind of chairs are there?
You can use chairs to take rest.
I think you can work better if you are not sleep deprived.
Try smart work not long work.

I guess this is all pretty good advice if one is literally forced to work all night every night, but nobody is actually forced to: the repercussions of not doing so, at least in the general case over a prolonged period of time, are to be attacked not dismissed.

@Lightness-  It will be helpful if you can elaborate.

Well, just read the other answers...

@Lightness- I already did and then I checked what asked in the question. That is why I was not in favor when one is sleep deprived to such an extent. But what if one wants to carry on and not willing to step back.

Then one is doing the wrong thing :P

@lightness - haha, yes you can say that if you find me doing the same thing. But it would be unfair to the person who put up his query here for solution and not for judgement. My personal view are mine. I can't put it on another person. :)

Sure, of course. I'm just giving you my personal view!


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Supercomputers and undergraduates?
Is it common for an undergraduate to run its thesis (evolutionary genomics) in a supercomputer? In my country, few supercomputers exist, but I'm not sure how it is for bachelors in the US or Europe. I am writing my application to graduate school abroad and I want to know if it is a remarkable point I can use as hook to begin my statement.

Could you give some idea to those of us not knowledgeable of the topic how your topic requires the use of supercomputers. I feel that you have a wrong idea about how supercomputers are used and how working with one is different from working with a regular computer.

If by "supercomputer" you mean a "computer cluster," there are lots of people with such experience in the US and Europe, and many universities even have their own. (My university, for instance, operates its own 25,000-core cluster.) If you mean "supercomputer" a machine like one on the Top 500, that may be worth mentioning. However, indicating that you have experience running calculations in high-performance computing environments is certainly worthwhile to mention if it's relevant for your graduate program.

Agreed. I think he meant a cluster - which is fairly common for undergraduate researchers to use. But if he worked with Watson, then that's another story..


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Is it rude to ask an adviser at my current university to help me transfer?
I'm an undergraduate looking into transferring from my current university to another college overseas, the application for which requires a letter of motivation detailing why I want to study there. The problem with this is that my reasons for transferring basically boil down to "this college is cheaper and seems to care more about its students than my current university".
My current university offers help with application essays for undergraduates applying to law and medical school, and I really think that this service could help me write a decent letter of motivation. I'm just wondering if it's rude to go to an adviser at my current university and essentially ask him to help me transfer to another university. I've met the adviser before and he jokingly critiques my current school quite a bit, but if I go to him for help, I will basically be talking to him about how much I hate his place of employment. Any advice?

In my experience, it is usually better to focus on the positives of where you're going, rather than the negatives of where you're leaving. Most people will be responsive to that, and (depending on your relationship with him) you adviser would probably be happy to help if you framed it in that way.

Most people are understanding of others' situations, just talk to him! People transfer or drop out all the time.

You have think this matter in a practical way.
You should not tell your advisor that the reasons linked to your transfer are linked to the fact that you prefer the other one. In my experience, you should be diplomatic, focus on what is important, saying that this would be a good opportunity for having new experiences, specially in terms of academia. You should express your genuine will to grow as a student.
Moreover, I believe that you should not fear your advisor. If he becomes rude or irritated or whatever, it is not your fault because nothing justifies aggressiveness
So, this is a risk you will have to take in order to take a chance and try to go wherever you want to go. This is kind of the part of being an adult and dealing with stressful situations in life, specially in academia.
Good luck and don't waste your time overthinking this.


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Etiquette regarding multiple letters of recommendation
Several months ago, I was undergoing the process of transferring to another university overseas, and I asked my undergraduate adviser if she could write me a letter of recommendation. However, since she gave the letter of recommendation to me (I was supposed to include it in the mailed transfer application), I've had some money issues, and now I'm not entirely sure that I'll be able to transfer after all. If I don't transfer, I will be applying for various scholarships/internships at my current university, most of which will require letters of recommendation.
I'm pretty close with my adviser and I think that, out of all of my professors, her letters of recommendation would be the most genuine/positive; however, I feel like asking for two/ letters of recommendation over the course of several months gives off a negative impression, especially since I didn't even end up using one. I don't want her to think that I'm unreliable or that I don't appreciate the time/effort that went into the first letter. Taking all of this into consideration, should I ask her for another letter of recommendation? And, if so, would it be possible for her to just modify the first letter she wrote me so I don't waste too much of her time?

Yes, ask her.  Advisors know that they will be asked multiple times.
Yes, she can modify her previous letter.  That's the beauty of word processors and a hierarchical file system!

I have a colleague who had a student ask for SEVENTY letters.  The university at which my colleague works uses a reference service, so this is something that the SERVICE handles.  My colleage wrote one letter for the student, and the service handles the rest.  There is a very real "problem" of the student handling the recommendation leter...


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Turning down a scholarship...with the hope of getting more funding?
I recently applied for an intensive language program at my university; the program's relatively expensive, but many students get full or partial scholarships to cover some of the cost. I just got a letter confirming my acceptance into the program, along with a modest scholarship. I'm thrilled, but, unfortunately, there's no way that I can afford this program based on the scholarship they've given me.
I have to write back to the program executive, who I've spoken with several times throughout my application process, either accepting or refusing the scholarship. What I'm wondering is: is there some way that I can refuse the scholarship while also hinting at the fact that the only thing keeping me from attending this program is money? I've had a lot of friends who have written letters along the lines of "I would love to enroll in University X, but University Y has given me a larger scholarship", and have gotten larger scholarships from law/grad schools. I'm wondering if sending an email like "I appreciate this opportunity and would love to attend, but, unfortunately, cannot afford the tuition" would have a similar effect, or does it seem... I don't know, slimy? Is trying to subtly manipulate my way into a larger scholarship inappropriate and/or a futile effort? Should I just politely reject the scholarship offer instead?
Any previous experiences/advice anyone has would be a huge help!

Just tell them. They are choosing to fund you because they want you there. If you do not accept, they have to go further down their list and because they are paying the money, they would like their first choice. Some universities even have scholarships for helping recruit students who are on the fence due to financial issues. They can't pull from that pool unless you say something.
There is nothing ethically or morally wrong about saying what your situation is and asking for more financial aid. The worst that happens is they say no.

"I appreciate this opportunity and would love to attend, but, unfortunately, cannot afford the tuition" - that's pretty much the situation according to your description. It's not flattery, it's not manipulation, it's the fact, isn't it? It sounds just right.
It gives the commission full discretion to decide whether they consider you worth being helped over this hurdle.
Just don't decide to join, after all, at this support level without having a very good idea how to justify where your suddenly newfound riches have come from.


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Citing an instrument manual
I am analysing data from a commercial instrument. I need to set a threshold that has to do with the precision of the instrument, so I looked up the value from the manufacturer's online specifications. How do I cite it?
The university does not have any official policy, and other papers in the field either don't mention it explicitly, or give the value without citation, but I believe this is actually a quite relevant number, and thus should be specified and quoted.

Basically, you can cite this user's manual just as you would any book-like publication. The only difference is that you don't cite the name of an author:

User's Manual for Foo Instrument, Model Bar. Random City: XYZ Corporation (Year).

or whatever is the appropriate reference style for your work.

You can regard the corporation as the author - you might need to in order to make your software happy.

Adding to the existing answer, in some cases citing documents that are not accessible to the research community is discouraged (e.g. a manual that is delivered with the equipment). In this case you could also say: 'We used the Foo Instrument (Manufacturer, City, Country) and set the threshold to 0.86 according to the manufacturer's manual'.
If the manual is accessible online, which seems to be the case here, you should cite the url with the date and time you accessed it.

In this case, the specifications are public, I got it from the web page, so it is a good idea. I don't have access to the instrument, I believe it is sitting overseas.


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My revised paper was accepted surprisingly quickly; should I worry?
In February I submitted a paper that was sent back asking for minor revisions. I revised and re-submitted the paper (with rather significant changes) much later, in October, and it was accepted for publication three days later.
Given the extent of my modifications I'm surprised that the process went that fast the second time around; should I be worried? Can I safely assume that someone from the journal's editorial office has re-read my paper?

Why are you worried?  Correctness of the paper is your responsibility, not the journal's.

Did your modifications go beyond the minor revisions that were requested? I'm assuming this was to a peer-reviewed journal; the peer review process usually takes some time because the editor needs to assign reviewers and wait for their responses. Once a paper is accepted, revisions are typically only reviewed by the editor, which doesn't take nearly as long.

Is the journal trustworthy? (i.e. widely respected in your field, or at least not in Beall's predatory journal list)

Not many referees actually check that revised versions are correct. (I almost never do.) it's just not worth the hassle most of the time. They normally check that sufficiently many of their comments have been addressed, and assume that whatever else changes the author has made are not disastrous. If journals want a higher standard, they would be well advised to send sources to the referees.

Unless you have some reason to believe your revised paper has some serious additional problems, I don't think you should worry.  It may not be best practices for referees and editors to operate this way (just looking to see whether the changes requested in the first report have been adequately completed).  Ideally, the referee should check over carefully that none of the changes have introduced new problems, but that isn't always done.
The referee and editor may have felt that the revisions were not really that big a deal.  You may have been overthinking things when you made the changes; they might have intended some considerably less sweeping editing.  Or the referee may have seriously underestimated how much additional work and explication would be required to fix the problems the referee pointed out.  The referee might even have told the editors that another round of refereeing would not actually be necessary; if you made the changes, then the paper would be ready for publication.  (For several of the journals I have refereed for, this is one of the options in the recommendation menu of the reviewing software; however, I also know, as an author, that this part of the review is not shared with the authors.)

It's perfectly possible to review a revised paper in a short time (assuming it even makes it back to the reviewer).  I've seen more than one reviewer turn around a short (few pages) paper with minor revisions in a couple of hours; I've done same-day myself.  If the reviewer has a copy marked up with the changes, then the changes themselves need a proper review against the initial report, but the rest of the paper only needs eneough attention to check that the whole thing makes sense taking into account the revisions.
If you turned the revisions round fast, the paper could still be fresh in the reviewer's mind, or they may have taken good notes or have a good memory.  If the paper is noteworthy to the reviewer (first they've reviewed or first in a long time; particularly interesting) they're likely to remember it quite well.

This probably means that the editor checked that you had addressed the comments, and did not feel the need to send it back to reviewers (which is often the time-consuming part). It's still a fast turnaround, so think yourself lucky!


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Asking for a letter of recommendation from a professor who's witnessed my breakdown
I'm currently applying for an intensive language program, and I've taken courses with a professor whose letter of recommendation would likely carry a lot of weight– he speaks the language fluently, and has spent years studying the country. His course is also the only one I've taken that is directly relevant to the language program I'm applying to.
However, I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to ask him for a letter of recommendation. In the first course I took with him, I did relatively well; I got all As on my assignments, but I rarely spoke with him, and never really stood out.
The second course I took with him (the one that's relevant to my language program) is what worries me. During that semester, I had a family emergency/mental health problems, and, after multiple meetings with this professor, I ended up receiving a G grade in the course (meaning that I have to submit the coursework I missed by the end of this year). He's seen my outlines for the essays I owe him, and he's admitted that they're pretty much perfect– but I haven't submitted any actual essays. However, we've spoken at length about my family emergency/mental health issues, and we've grown somewhat close (he also has had some experience with mental health issues). I feel like he understands why my work ethic suffered, and doesn't seem to hold my delayed coursework against me.
So, my question is: should I ask him for a letter of recommendation? I feel like his recommendation would go a long way on the application, but only if his recommendation is actually a strong one. Despite his understanding of my personal circumstances, I'm not sure if my coursework has been good enough for him to feel comfortable giving me a glowing recommendation. I also don't want him to feel pressured (out of, I don't know, pity for my situation) to give me a recommendation letter. Any advice?

From what you are saying it seems like you are close. I would just ask him. Tell him that you understand that your situation was complicated and ask him if he'd be able to write you a strong letter of recommendation. Just don't pressure him to do it as this could back fire.

"I haven't submitted any actual essays" ...  Do that now!  It would probably be very difficult to write a strong recommendation for someone who was given a chance to submit late work and still hasn't done it.

I've had students ask me for letters with some wording along the lines of "if you feel you can write me a strong letter."  From what you've said, it makes sense asking him for a letter, but you might consider this approach:
First let him know that you're interested in this program and see what he thinks about it.  If he's very supportive of the idea, then you should have nothing to worry about asking for a letter.  If he's not, you could ask for other suggestions.  (And even if he thinks it's a good idea, he may suggest some other other opportunities as well.)

You can always request for a letter of recommendation from any academic you interacted with while studying.
If you don't have any other choice I recommend to ask the professor about the recommendation letter. If you don't feel comfortable with him/her and you have other academics to ask for the recommendation letter, then you cannot skip asking this professor as you are not 100% sure about his/her feedback.

It might be misleading to say "right", since this might give the impression that one can demand letters of recommendation, rather than request... as it actually works in the U.S. Also, did you mean to say that the questioner can skip that prof, if they don't feel comfortable and have others to ask?

"cannot" -> "can"?

The golden rule is asking "can you write me a good letter of reccomendation"?  If he says yes, he probably will. If he says "I'm not sure what I could say", then try to find someone else.

Sounds like you're not 100% confident in his ability to write a glowing recommendation in which case I would ask someone else, who you have a closer relationship with, to write the letter or forego it altogether.  Especially if you rarely spoke, never jumped through flaming hoops while suspended 100 feet in the air on a trapeze or did anything else that stood out.  In that case, your request comes out of the blue and then the pressure is on him to figure out what to say about a student he doesn't know much about.


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Relation between subscription fees and adminstrative costs
Does anybody know what the ratio between subscription fees and the real article processing charges (so actual administrative costs) is? So in other words, how much money is made out of the subscription fees.

I guess you are asking about the profit margins?  You should be able to find this in publishers' annual reports.  Here is one from Elsevier, for instance: http://www.reedelsevier.com/investorcentre/reports%202007/Documents/2013/reed_elsevier_ar_2013.pdf

It is also possible that a publisher of many journals might make big profits on a small number of journals, and use that money to help subsidize all the others.

This will vary wildly by journal, and may be extremely difficult to even meaningfully define, given that many journals are "bundled" together in confidential and institution-specific contracts.  What is clear, however, is that:

Large for-profit publishers are very concerned with keeping their de facto subscription costs difficult to determine, and have quite high profit margins, and
The potential profit from open access subscription fees has drawn large numbers of predatory publishers to the field, and
Society publishers are often able to sustain journal publications with quite minimal costs, especially online-only journals.

You may draw your own conclusions from this: my conclusion is that a lot of money is made from subscription fees.


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Placing in-text citations close to quote or avoid in-text citation redudancy?
I am converting a paper from numeric citations to the Springer template (with in-text citations) and am not sure how to cite when a quote is at the end of a sentence:

A: Roy et al (2019) did something and ... “had a strong preference for X.”
B: Roy et al did something and ... “had a strong preference for X” (Roy et al, 2019).

I tend to think B is better because the reference is closer to the direct quote.

I would write:

Roy et al (2019) did something and ... “had a strong preference for X”
(p. 27)

... with the page reference just after the quote but with the author-year combination in the expected place. I think that this comports with the American Psychological Association guidelines.

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


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Is it possible to get a PhD Degree in from USA or Europe after doing Masters from India
I am a Chemical Engineering Masters student from India and I wish to pursue a PhD degree from some reputed US or European Universities.
I have heard from my seniors and from internet searches that generally good universities do not admit students who directly apply for a PhD after a Masters degree from India and expect them to take a Masters degree from their university before going for PhD.
It maybe that such instances would have occurred for some particular cases and cannot be generalized, but as I said that it is just what I have heard over from people and I wonder if it is true.
I have been searching all over the internet regarding this but quite a few websites exist where this question has been answered convincingly. So I thought to post it here in stack exchange so that I can get some better answers. Any help would be appreciated.

You can certainly pursue a Ph.D. in the U.S. after getting a Masters degree in India.  You can even go straight in from a Bachelor's degree.  I know a number of people who have done it in other fields---I expect chemical engineering should be the same, I just don't know as many chemical engineers.
Note, however, that the first stage of many American Ph.D. programs is either explicitly or implicitly a Masters, and you probably will not be allowed to skip that stage of the program, though you might be able to pass out of some early requirements, depending on particulars of your background and the requirements of the university.

By implicit Masters do you mean that it would be all and all a part of the PhD degree itself and I wouldn't need to separately register for a Master's?

In many US institutions, that is the case.  In some, you achieve a Masters as a milestone after your first couple of years.  In others, you do a Ph.D. directly, including Masters work, but are not actually awarded the intermediate degree unless you drop out halfway to your Ph.D.


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Is there a single website where one can get to know about all upcoming international conferences?
It's very important for a research professional (such as a Statistician) who needs to work on multidisciplinary fields to attend international conferences and see what's going around in the field of research. However, sometimes information contained in the websites about the upcoming conferences are too subject specific (e.g. there's so many related to computer science).
Is there any website that 'gathers information' (rather than just providing information from the user submitted ones) on all conferences irrespective of particular subject areas?
If there is any website about conferences that is related to Statistics and the fields which has its use, it'll do for me as well. Thank you for your reading.

A good website is http://www.wikicfp.com/ (this is the premier outlet for any call for papers that you might need). The best thing about it is that it also comes bundled with a Python API, therefore you might be able with a bit of programming to create your personalized conference schedule by taking into account various factors like: time period, location, field of study, keywords, etc. It contains conferences from all fields, allows you to setup a mail alert, and in general it contains good information about each conference (previous calls, links to their websites, publications, locations, etc).
Another good option, especially if at some point you might look for something else than computing, mathematics, physic is this one: http://www.cfplist.com/ .
Also keep in mind that in any field there are 5 to 10 top publishers. These publishers will also include on their website a list of call for papers. For Mathematics and Statistics on this list you might have SIAM, Springer, Elsevier, IEEE (yes it's a CS outlet but it has a lot of mathematics papers).

One possibility is www.conferencealerts.com. It has conferences listed by categories, including one for mathematics and statistics here. You can get periodic alerts in your inbox based on the topics you are interested.


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The importance of positive GPA trends in PhD admissions?
For admission committees, how important are the (upward) trends in your GPA and how much will it remedy lackluster performance in the past?
Background: I'm an international CS applicant with an overall undergraduate GPA of around 2.8 with a GPA of 3.5 in the last two years (undergrad took 5 years total). I'm also finishing my masters with a 4.0 GPA. Considering these facts, how much should I expect my overall undergraduate GPA to hurt my chances for Ph.D. admission in the US/Canada?
(I'm aware of other factors such as recommendations, GRE and research experience. However, I would like to keep this question specific to the effect of positive GPA trends vs. overall GPA)
P.S: I have looked at seemingly similar questions/answers on the site but none of them cover this specific question.

If your GPA is below the threshold the admissions office is looking for, it doesn't hurt to point out any extenuating circumstances that may apply.

If your undergraduate GPA is below the threshold that the university requires, it's possible that nobody will even see your application, and in particular, nobody will read about your extenuating circumstances.

Grades in the first two years of undergraduate don't weigh very heavily, from what I'm seen.

Thank you J.R, JeffE and aparante001 for your insights :)


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Wanting to return to university, but I have a Master's degree. Funding options?
My undergraduate is in Biology, I'm a US native.
I'm thinking about going back to school to study a more quantitative discipline like statistics or computer science.
Does anyone know of any scholarship websites, fellowships, or other ways to pay for school expenses?
Right now I'm looking at taking out more loans.  If I work for the government, I'll qualify for their "Public Servant Loan Forgiveness" program which will help.
If anyone has been in my position please let me know how you managed to retrain while not owing your soul to Sallie Mae.  Already having a graduate degree really hurts when it comes to finding financial aid.
Thanks in advance!

you mention undergrad biology, and then mention graduate degree with no specifics.  can you edit to make it clear?

The only thing I can add to jakebeal's answer is that, it is generally only true for STEM research masters. Most coursework degrees, even in STEM, are not funded. It was unclear from your question whether you were thinking about doing a second masters with a research component, or just looking to get a coursework masters.
That said, if you are looking for a research masters, I agree with jakebeal. However, I don't know of any school or organization that will fund a coursework masters.

In the U.S., graduate education in a STEM field at a good university is typically funded by the university, not the student.  In addition to your classes, you are expected to "work for your keep" as a research assistant or teaching assistant.  In exchange, your tuition is covered and you are paid a stipend to cover (cheap) living expenses.  Pretty much every Ph.D. program in a STEM field works this way.  If you are only looking for a 2nd Masters' degree, it will depend on the institution.

Even in cases where you're not in a research college, you can sometimes find TA positions, which give you a small stipend and will comp some of your classes. Of course, you would have to show the department that you are capable of handling such classes, both in terms of workload and knowledge of the topic.