text:
Should a young professor avoid using dating apps?
I am a recent PhD graduate in mathematics, and I will be starting a tenure-track position this fall at a small liberal arts college in a northern US city.
My graduate degree was completed at a large university in a college town, and I made occasional use of dating apps during my time there.  They were only mildly useful at best, but they facilitated interaction with people outside my normal social circle, which I enjoyed.
My instinct tells me that I should avoid such apps in my new position, but I'd like to seek outside opinions.  I already have some of my own ideas, but what are some potential pitfalls of maintaining dating app profiles?  Should I simply refrain from using them?  Would anyone in my department or administration have a problem with me using them if they knew?
Since it might matter, I am a 27-year-old male, and my new city is home to about 100,000 people.
Note: I am well-aware that dating students at my university is a bad idea.  (For what it's worth, I am not interested in meeting people more than three or four years younger than me anyway.)  I'm looking for advice that goes beyond some of the more obvious points.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

The more important question is probably what kind of information you're sharing or how you're presenting yourself on the dating app. I can certainly think of a few less-than-appropriate things that could very well affect your career (if traced back to you), much like social media can.

Pretty sure I'm located in the city you're in. Academics use them all the time - I've met PhDs, MDs, JDs, etc on Tinder for instance. I don't think anyone will have a problem. Maybe try to avoid undergrads if you feel there'll be an issue, but considering that there's a lack of men here (if you're where I think you are), age-disparate and education disparate relationships aren't really viewed poorly.

Would the Question or Answers be different for old professors?

Fun fact: I (junior professor) got to know my wife through a dating app... Just for the record...

Professors both young and old are known to use dating apps. So do students, doctors, engineers, lawyers, dental hygienists, and any other kind of person. In other words, there is nothing about being a professor that disqualifies one from using dating apps (or that makes one a special kind of human being in any other way, contrary to what seems to be the popular belief on this site at least).
The only pitfall I can think of is mild embarrassment, but that's true for everyone using these apps whether they are a professor or not. My advice is, go out there and have fun, worry about yourself and don't care too much what other people think. And if you want to date students too, personally I don't see a problem either (especially considering your age) as long as they are not your students and you otherwise behave ethically and responsibly.
(Edit: in certain U.S. institutions there is a general prohibition on faculty dating undergraduates - thanks to @EllenSpertus for the reference in the comments. Given your stated age preference this is not very relevant to your question since students in that age range would typically be graduate students, but it's worth at least checking the policy at your institution to make sure you are aware of the rules.)

@DanRomik While you (or in large part society) might not have a problem with the OP dating students, different institutions have very different rules regarding this. This year my university recently passed a recent blanket rule barring any such fraternization.

@PVAL interesting (and surprising). Would you mind telling us which university you're at, or at least which country?

I don't know where @PVAL is located. I do know that professors dating students is a big no no in Taiwan. I don't know if there is law prohibiting it. But, everybody, professors and students, would think you're a bad professor. Generally speaking, professors earn very high respect here and also expected to have a very high moral standard. You can argue that dating a student is not a crime. Still, ...

@scaaahu thanks, that's interesting. Indeed I would argue that, and moreover I would argue that dating a student says nothing about how high your moral standards are or aren't. And to make sure we're talking about the same thing, when I say "dating a student" I mean "dating a person who happens to be a student at your university". That's very different from "dating a person who is a student in a class you're teaching", which is a no-no also in the U.S. and probably most other developed countries.

"dating a person who happens to be a student at your university".could become "dating a person who is a student in a class you're teaching" because the student could choose to enroll in your class after she had a date with you.

@scaaahu indeed, that's why policies exist to make sure ethical principles aren't compromised in the sort of situation you describe. I don't have space to explain the details here - basically either the student couldn't take the class or the professor wouldn't be allowed to teach it - but the point is reasonable universities find ways of handling this problem without imposing draconian blanket prohibitions (which I'm guessing may be illegal in the US) preventing professors from entering consensual romantic relationship with a large group of people over whom they have no supervisory authority.

@scaaahu by the way, according to your logic, "dating a random person you met online" could become "dating a person who is your employee" if you are anybody who manages people, since the person could at some later time be hired by your company and assigned to your group. (And if today you are not a manager, well, you could become one in the future couldn't you...?) So, basically if we worried too much about this sort of thing, no two people should ever be allowed to date. That's clearly absurd.

I know what you're saying. The issue is the professors enjoy high respect, but bound by more moral rules. Same for politicians. (At least in my location). An elected official had endured a lot scolding and curses just because he and his assistant were caught going into a motel recently.

Many schools in the US do ban romantic relations/sex between students and faculty.  https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/05/harvard-professors-banned-from-having-sex-with-undergrads/jKt4YooYpD76Caj4mdPB8K/story.html  https://psmag.com/education/the-end-of-hot-for-teacher-professor-student-relationships-64412

@scaaahu: if that's the logic, I guess professors' children cannot attend the university? Because the kids could choose to go to their parent's class? What we do in more reasonable places is to declare conflicts of interest, and take measures to avoid them.

@PVAL: what would your university do to me, that I'm married to a student? Fire me? Ask me to divorce? Expel the student? I'm really curious about the implementation of these kind of measures.

@MartinArgerami and at Dan: Here is the the policy statement. https://policies.utexas.edu/policies/consensual-relationships There is an exception given to legal marriages.

@PVAL good to know, thanks. I see that, as with the other examples given, this one also only applies to professors dating undergraduates. It's interesting in any case.

Reminds me of a crude bash.org quote where one friend was caught buying a rather embarrassing item and laughs were had until they realized to have caught someone there, the witness had to also be at that place. Anyone who gives you flack for being on the dating site, well, they also were on that same dating site!

At my university (at least according to one professor) dating (even their current student) wasn't verboten, just would be frowned upon.

"My advice is, go out there and have fun, worry about yourself and don't care too much what other people think." Do you mean "don't worry about yourself"?

@DavidRicherby I meant "worry about yourself",  as opposed to worrying so much about what others think about him that it prevents him from doing what makes him happy.

Other than agreeing with @DanRomik, I'll add that I do not believe what you take as an assumption:

I am well-aware that dating students at my university is a bad idea.

Dating your own students is usually a bad idea; but whoever is not likely to be taking one of your courses should be just fine. Avoiding everyone in your university - which may be up to a third of the eligible  population in town in terms of age - does not make sense IMO.  I mean, the most likely people you would get close to are people who are around you in your daily life, and much/most of that is at your university.
Of course - I'm saying this based on your being 27 years old. The somewhat-older undergraduate student and the graduate student population definitely comes within the age range you're considering, or thereabouts.

At many colleges in the United States, it is against either the explicit or implicit rules for a professor to date any student, whether or not the student is in the professor's department or class.  I agree with the OP that it is a bad idea.

@EllenSpertus can you name even one college in the US with such an explicit rule? (It still wouldn't support your "many colleges" claim, but it would be something at least.) I am having a really hard time believing this, for reasons that I just explained in my updated answer. And what are "implicit rules"? If there is such a thing as implicit rules, where does one learn what they are, and how is one expected to avoid breaking them? Basically your comment sounds like unsubstantiated fear-mongering to me, sorry.

I can name two schools, from searches I did in the past few minutes: Harvard (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/02/05/384080539/harvard-bans-sexual-relationships-between-professors-and-students) and U Conn (http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-sex-policy-at-uconn-20130808-story.html).

As for implicit rules, your colleagues can vote against your receiving tenure if you do things they don't like, including violating institutional culture. Whether or not it's explicitly banned at my institution, dating students would not be a wise move for a junior faculty member.

From my faculty handbook: "Although Mills College does not police the private lives of its faculty and staff members, it expects them to avoid unprofessional behavior. In general, it is unprofessional of faculty and staff to break the bond of trust that exists between an educational institution and its students by pursuing romantic or sexual relationships with students." I stand by my saying dating students would not be wise for a junior faculty member, even though we don't have a blanket ban.

@EllenSpertus thanks, that's really interesting. I guess my theory that no U.S. institution would go as far as banning all faculty-student relationships was not entirely correct then. I respect your "bad idea" opinion and retract my accusation of fearmongering. At the same time, it's worth pointing out that the policies you cited only have a blanket prohibition on faculty relationships with undergraduates, so this is not very applicable to OP's situation (he is 27 and said he is not looking to date people more than 3-4 years younger than him).

@DanRomik Thank you. You're right that the policies I cited were just about undergrads. I have not been able to find any that ban all dating between faculty and graduate students not under their direct supervision.

@EllenSpertus: Are you sure that doesn't only apply to a faculty members' own students? Also, people like OP should really be excepted from such rules regardless of their merit in general. He's F'ing 27 years old!

@einpoklum If you follow the links, you will see those policies apply to all undergraduates. Whether these are good rules or not are beyond the scope of this question.

Our policy, right from the handbook, is "Faculty members shall not enter into romantic or sexual relations with undergraduate students of the
University".    Plain and simple.  Beyond that, relationships with people over who you excercise authority is also grounds for action.  When the latter arises, the Intercessor must be called in to come up with a management plan that needs to be approved by university counsel.  I suppose my point is that you should replace "students" by "graduate students" in the relevant sentence.

@ScottSeidman: Not plain and simple at all. First, again, students who are not your students are not people you exercise authority over. Second - these guidelines seem to have an underlying assumption of an age gap. It is not reasonable - and I would say unacceptable - to demand co-workers of a similar age range, who do not have authority over each other, not develop romantic or sexual relations. Some would argue that the same is true regardless of the age range but I'm being conservative here.

Our policy is absolutely cut and dried -- no undergrads.  It doesn't mention undergrads who are close to you in age, it doesn't mention undergrads who you don't teach, it doesn't mention any exceptions to the undergrad rule at all.   If I enter such a relationship, I would expect a job action, and I wouldn't expect to be able to offer a valid defense.  After that, there is some wiggle room.    It says nothing about avoiding coworkers who you don't exercise authority over.  It gives you a path to daylight for situations in which authority situations arise.

Though I would imagine if you had a relationship with a person who then went on to become an undergrad, the Intercessor path would be appropriate.

@ScottSeidman: I understand your policy, I just think it's unreasonable and kind of extreme.

Department chair in Mathematics at a mid-Atlantic comprehensive university here, who has been fortunate to recently hire a number of Assistant Professors. If one or more of them were to engage in online dating on my campus, I don't think that, by itself, would be of concern to anyone, provided all your interactions with students were professional. Recruiting new faculty is a lot of work; if we hired you, it is because we think that you are going to contribute to our program and our mission. We want our new faculty to be happy, and we don't want our new faculty telling others that our university is a place where folks cannot develop long-term relationships. The likely reaction of my faculty would be to wish you luck.

If you're ok with your profile being seen by your peers, students, their friends and Facebook's and maybe some meme's, sure go for it.
Unfortunately Teachers have to cop it from immature students, just be careful some guy you failed doesn't do something.
Perhaps tell your peers you are single and are any of them match makers or wing-men. Then resort to dating apps, that way the "well, it's no surprise I'm single" justification will work out better.

I think some of the warnings in the question is realistic. In particular, just be careful some guy you failed doesn't do something. In fact, not only some guy, but also some girl could do something that will let you regret.

Warnings are correct but somehow general. I think that using dating applications should be avoided in a relationship, that is. Just keep a sober  profile, but this applies to fb, too. Actually your page at the dating site should be sober and minimal. I think.

I agree the warning is sensible and quite possibly realistic, but people in other professions also "have to cop it" from possibly immature coworkers, subordinates, bosses, friends, relatives etc. I don't think this is a reason to stay off dating apps entirely, unless you are a super sensitive or shy person who can't stomach the embarrassment of people you know possibly seeing your profile. However it is an excellent reason not to post risqué photos of yourself or other very sensitive or personal information, either on a dating app profile or any other place online.

Because you will be teaching at a small liberal arts college, which might have some parochial views, it is a good idea for you to delay your entry to online dating sites until you understand the culture of your new department, the college as a whole, and the town in which you are located.  Once you understand your cultural and physical surroundings, you might decide not to use dating sites for awhile or, conversely, you may feel that using such sites are perfectly acceptable.
Whatever you decide, it would be ultimately fatal for you to date students from your institution or any other local school.  For any instructor, students-as-dating prospects must remain terra incognita.

"it would be ultimately fatal for you to date students from your institution or any other local school": Personal beliefs apart, this is a totally unsupported claim, especially for a 27-years old person like the OP.

Thanks for the comment, but you might do some research on the issue of instructors dating students.  My personal beliefs are irrelevant here.  If an instructor dates a student and is found out, he or she will quickly be on a new career path.  No school at any level permits an instructor to date a student.

@Docholl1 my school does not prohibit romantic relationship between faculty and people who are students at the same institution (but not under direct supervision), so your claim "no school at any level..." is factually incorrect. This seems to be a common misunderstanding here, sadly. Would you care to clarify your comment in light of this so that we all become wiser about this topic? And where exactly does one go to "do some research on the issue of instructors dating students"? Telling people to go "do some research" without explaining how they are supposed to do that is not exactly helpful.

Your school, then, is unusual.  Google the topic, and you'll find that most schools have such a policy--use "consensual romantic relationships between faculty and students."  Most schools prohibit such relationships between a teacher and his or her students; a very few do not prohibit a relationship berween a teacher and a student if there is no academic relationship, but discourage even that relationship because the power in that relationship is still unbalanced.

Docholl, I know several professors who not only dated students, but also married them: some of the relationships ended badly, some no, as any other relationship between people. And in my experience, most of the schools do not forbid relationships between faculties and students.

With respect, most schools do prohibit such relationships.  Google the phrase "consensual romantic relationships between faculty and students," and then start counting.  There may be a few schools that are silent on such matters, but  most colleges and universities have a policy that either prohibits or strongly discourages romantic relationships.  In any case, there is no good professional outcome in a romantic teacher-student relationship.  The key word here is "romantic."

@Docholl1 with respect, I see no reason for any of us to give credence to your claim about "most schools", particularly when your earlier claim about "no school at any level" was easily refuted. My school is part of the University of California system, which has 10 campuses and is (I think) the largest public university system in the country. All of the UC campuses have the same sexual harassment policy that does not have a blanket prohibition on faculty-student relationships. So my school is very far from being unusual. If you want to convince us otherwise, it's up to you to provide evidence.

I, too, come from the UC system--first, as a graduate student; second, as a lecturer for several years.  Perhaps you should read the University of California Policy on Conflicts of Interest Created by Consensual Relationships, Sections II and III, which say, in part, that faculty and students are governed by the Faculty Code of Conduct, "which states that it is unacceptable faculty conduct, subject to disciplinary action, for a faculty member to enter into a romantic or sexual relationship with any student for whom the faculty member has any academic responsibility. . . ."   That's a "no."

@Docholl1 That quote contradicts your claims: in fact, a faculty member does not have academic responsibilities with all the students, and certainly not with any student of the other local schools.

Academic responsibilities for a student--such as writing a letter of recommendation--can come up two or three years after a class or a relationship ends, and a former romantic relationship with a student can lead to conflicts in innumerable cases.  Dating students at other schools may not be prohibited, but any experienced teacher avoids even those entanglements because students change schools often, and if a stuent

I think we can stop here and agree to disagree.

I hit the send button inadvertently.  The bottom line is this: romantic relationships between a faculty member and his or her students are prohibited by most schools.  Romantic relationships are strongly discouraged in all cases between faculty and students because, from a Human Resources perspective, all such relationships are asymmetrical and therefore dangerous for the institution.  Yes, we'll have to agree to disagree.

+1 for the idea of delaying and understanding the local culture, -1 for the blanket statements.

@Docholl1 In practice it works on a way that no one has problem with it until no one knows it.

One important question you should think about is, how will people know that you have a dating app profile in the first place?
There are three ways:

You've included information on the profile that personally identifies you and makes it possible to locate your profile with a search engine (e.g. name). That's easily avoided by being careful about what you include in the profile.
The person found out because they themselves are using that dating app. In this case, there should be no embarrassment because they are doing the same thing as you!
Someone else discovered your profile, recognized you, and then told another person who isn't using the app and whose opinion causes you embarrassment. Since there isn't anything wrong with a human being wanting to socialize, and this scenario is fairly unlikely anyway, I wouldn't be overly worried about it. You can counter this by keeping the profile content appropriate to minimize any possible embarrassment.

Professors of a university are held to higher standards than undergraduates. They are expected to show a higher degree of maturity. I don't think point 2 is therefore applicable. "Message me if you want to smash!" on a Tinder profile of a freshman would barely interest anyone but found on a profile of your lecturer together with his face would instantly be shared among all students. I would definitely find it shareworthy. Whether you should be ashamed about it is another question that was already answered.

@problemofficer I dealt with the "message me if you want to smash!" part in the last sentence of point 3. A well written and respectable dating profile is nothing to be ashamed of. That might be the subject of another question, but it becomes relevant to this if you're going to claim that professors should be held to higher standards when it comes to dating in general (since the OP has removed dating students from this question). I do not accept that as a valid starting point. Why should professors be expected not to socialize outside of work in the same ways as anyone else?

@problemofficer The flaw in your argument becomes obvious with, "they are expected to show a higher degree of maturity". Having a dating profile is not a sign of immaturity. Having an immature dating profile is a sign of immaturity.

There is nothing inherently wrong with dating app and there is nothing wrong in being identifiable. You should start with assumption you will be identified sooner or later, because it's inevitable. The only issue one should care about is what he/she writes in the app.

Your argument in 3 is untrue (it sounds like you live in an ivory tower). Most students would tell each other when they find their profs in unexpected places (or post this online), just as it is often in CHeap newspapers when promiment people appear in unexpected places.

@Thomas I'm not sure which part you are saying is untrue. I stand by the statement I made in no. 3 that "there isn't anything wrong with a human being wanting to socialize" and that if you are still concerned then you can "keep the profile content appropriate to minimize any possible embarrassment". I'm not sure how that makes it sound like I live in an ivory tower. There's also no need to be insulting if you disagree with my post.

I mean the part "this scenario is fairly unlikely anyway". It is not.

@Thomas You are looking at just one aspect which is that someone finds the profile, that person is a student, and that person tells other students. By unlikely I am referring to the total probability. The chance of the student finding the profile in the first place is not overly high (given that there are hundreds of dating sites, and their search criteria will be unlikely to overlap even if they are on the same site). Sure, it can happen, but the rest of my post deals with that.

Please be aware of your role in your locale as a Professor.  But at the same time this should not prevent you from being involved socially.  Being social makes for a good professor in general because you will be empathetic to your students.  Let the social aspect of your life lead you to a potential dating partner.  If you use dating apps that just asking for trouble anyway.  Social life is natural and it takes time to bond with people.

I personally think this is the correct answer. In particular, Let the social aspect of your life lead you to a potential dating partner

@scaaahu This is the correct answer for some people. Dating apps are wildly successful, which suggests that they are more effective than "being social and hoping to meet somebody" for many.

I don't think it would be good to use dating websites, but I believe that as long as you are not currently in a position of authority over say a former student or if there is no chance that you will be in a position of authority in the future, then I feel as if it would be okay to date them that is if you meet someone and you know you're not in a position of authority over them, it would not be breaking any rules.

There is no general custom of sexual policing of employees by universities - so long as you do not cross legal boundaries or rules on harassment, your dating life is your own business, as is the electronic means by which you facilitate this.  As others have pointed out, the only exception, where otherwise innocent dating or sexual behaviour might violate a university requirement, would be if you have a relationship with a student, especially one you are teaching or supervising (though not necessarily limited to this).  This is a subject that your university probably has a specific policy and guidelines on.  Since you are obviously well-aware of this danger (and if anything, you are overstating the scope of this limitation), you will be fine.

Please see Ellen Spertus's comments on einpoklum's answer. A number of universities have instituted blanket bans on professors dating undergraduates.

Okay, I have edited to give a broader statement.


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Common scenario and situation leading to similar questionnaire -- Is it plagiarism?
I recently had to make a questionnaire for my research. For this questionnaire, I tried taking some ideas from other examples for the questions. Another student was working on the same topic and did her questionnaire before mine, but didn't publish any results yet. After comparing my questionnaire with hers, it was clear that some questions are a remarkably similar, due to covering the same topic, same country, same society and same climate. The other student made a complaint that I have copied some of the questions from her questionnaire.
Could anyone please help me know whether did I commit plagiarism? How should I deal with the present situation?

You should ask your advisor or department about this. They'll also be able to help you with next steps.

I am not clear what you mean by "by accident" and "some ideas from other examples". I think you need to add more details for us to provide constructive answers.

tried to obtain some ideas from other examples for the questions

That has the hallmark signs of plagiarism, although without seeing the original sources and your questionnaire it is hard to give a definitive answer. It is okay to look at other sources for ideas. Paraphrasing is okay also. Copying, or even changing a few words, is not okay without proper attribution. In general it is okay, and often desirable, to reuse an existing questionnaire, or parts of an existing questionnaire, in a new study, but you need to provide attribution to the original questionnaire.
As to the similarity between you and the other student, this depends on if you used her questionnaire for ideas. If you never saw her questionnaire, then you clearly did not plagiarize from her. It is possible that both of you got ideas from the same source, in which case you both plagiarized someone else.
You need to determine if you plagiarized and if you did plagiarize, who you plagiarized from. If you plagiarized from the student, you need to tell her and your supervisor. If you plagiarized from a third party, you need to tell your supervisor. You should also inform the student that your questionnaire contains plagiarism, but that you did not plagiarize her. You should also tell her that you are telling your supervisor.

i saw her questionnaire months ago, i did citation of her questionnaire in my work but not in the questionnaire i distributed. similarities are in standard questions like number of floors of the building, number of family members, average monthly income, assessment of internal thermal comfort.the questions are more or less standard questions but the other student did ask the same questions. i did tell my supervisor as he got the complain from the other side. but i don't know yet if i am wrong and what might happen!

what is the point of telling her after she complained and told my supervisor that i made a questionnaire similar to hers, which she didn't yet publish ?

@maysq the point of telling her is she has accused you of academic misconduct. By talking to her you can work towards a solution/understanding without getting more of the bureaucracy involved. The fact that she hasn't published her results is irrelevant.

It is perfectly correct to use questions from previously validated and published surveys in your own questionnaire. These questions would not be cited in the survey instrument, but should be cited and discussed in your documentation and paper. If you and the other student both sourced questions from the same survey (perhaps a well-known national survey on your topic exists), then you will have similar questions.
When I create a survey, I work to find existing questions that would apply to my survey context. There are many benefits to this approach. First, it may allow you to compare your (possibly small) sample to a more representative one. Second, the previous survey may have done the hard work of validating questions, and you may be able to rely on their work. Finally, you may have an easier time publishing your results, as reviewers may not have as many quibbles with your wording.
It sounds like you may have made the mistake of not documenting your sources. This would be considered plagiarism, and you should immediately dig through your notes/the internet to find the original question sources and cite them in your writeup. In the future, I recommend you create an annotated version of your survey as you write, noting where each question comes from.

thank you very much, actually the questionnaire the other student did is not published yet, so i couldn't find results to rely on for my research. as i created my own questionnaire and distributed it, the other student could get it since it was web-based, this student complained that i plagiarised some questions from her questionnaire. i didn't finish my work yet and i am citing all resources honestly in my work. my doubt was if asking questions that where asked before in a questionnaire that is nit being published yet. and if i have had to cite the questions form her questionnaire in my own.

If you did not look at her questionnaire you should not cite her questionnaire. However you must cite other studies you looked at for ideas and examples if you used the ideas and examples. For instance, if you got questions from your country's census, or major health surveys, etc.

i mean cite them in the questionnaire form i created !

the question is should i cite ( the other questions from other questionnaire)  in the questionnaire form ( that i created before distributing it )  or it is enough to cite it in the thesis?

Questionnaire forms do not include citations in most fields.

thank you :) do you have any idea what  is the best thing to do in my case ?

Do what StrongBad said. Tell your supervisor, get a meeting with your supervisor, and then do what he or she instructs you to do. It is best to have the supervisor on your side, since they know about your research process. Part of the next steps may also be connecting with the department person who is in charge of the Masters' program.

I would also make an annotated version of your survey for your supervisor where you cite the sources of inspiration for each question.

source: Stack Exchange

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Writing a thesis: how to organize the content?
I have to start writing a thesis for my master's degree. The thesis itself is about machine learning. In particular, I developed an environment that simulate a real world robotic system and applied some of the most famous reinforcement learning algorithms to it. I would like to receive some tips on how to organize it in an effective way.
Right now, my idea is to organize it in the following sections:

Abstract - Briefly introduce the topic of the thesis explaining what will be covered next.
State of the art - Introduction to the topic of machine learning, in particular reinforcement learning (how much in detail should I go since there is a section dedicated to the agents?)
Tools - A list of all the tools used. Basically the simulator and some machine learning libraries.
Simulation - Explain in details how the simulation works. That is, how the robotic system physically works.
Environment - Explain  the environment is structured. That is, how the robotic system is controlled. (should this be merged with "Simulation"?)
Agents - Explain how the different RL algorithms work in detail.
Results - A lot of plots and tables and some explanations regarding the results of the training of the different algorithms.
Conclusion - What I've done, what I've not, what could be done better in the future.

This question could be opinion based but exist some common rules when writing a thesis of which I'm not fully aware. I'm more interested in the latter but of course, if you want to share your opinion it will be welcomed.

Every person's thesis in different fields will be different. At first glance, this seems like an okay organization. I suggest talking to your university's writing center (or similarly named thing) - the people there are trained to help you in the writing process.

To add to the comment of @SeanRoberson, or just go to the university library and look through a few recent theses from your institution. You can also run your outline past your advisor, which is probably the smartest thing to do.

Thank you both for your suggestions. I'll do as soon as possible.

Look at how other theses in the field are organized, how your advisor’s previous students’ theses are organized, and ask your advisor for recommendations.

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Replying to professor who said that I can join his research group as a PhD student next year
In search of a Ph.D. position, I emailed a professor and he replied me that I should recontact him next year as he does not have any available position right now. Also, he said that it will be too late for me as I will be wasting one year. Actually, deep inside, I do want to take a break of one year to spend some time with my family as I lived away from home for two years of my Master's study.
My question is, is it okay to tell professor that you want to take a long break before starting your Ph.D.? In other words, what is a proper reply to the professor who is saying that I should contact him next year?

Mandatory : Getting over fear of writing email...

He hasn't made any commitment to take you on next year. I would simply write to thank him for his consideration and say that you will re-apply if circumstances at the time permit. You don't need to say more now.
Saying too much might be a mistake. But thanks should be expressed, certainly. Use the year to find another position or use it profitably otherwise. Reexamine your options if you are still available in the future.

... because if you tell him that you intend to take a year off but you apply for another position, this has a tendency to come back to him (immediately or later) as it's a small world. Say indeed something positive about seeing yourself at a nonspecified future date in his project/group/city/... .

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