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Is it normal/okay if my professor grades me lower "in comparison to my peers"?
My Uni is in Minnesota and classes started a couple weeks ago.  I'm taking a class for my undergraduate degree. I knew it was going to be writing intensive from the syllabus.  Every week we're going to have at minimum one short writing assignment due.  In the syllabus he said we would be graded on:

Structure/Organization
Word selection and sentence structure
Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization
Content

My first two writing assignments were bad, 60% on them.  His feedback was:

I didn't cite my sources
"Your grade is based on how you compare with your peers"

First of all, I didn't use any sources because they were basic questions that only required critical thinking and my opinions.
Second, is grading my work compared to my peers something that is actually done?  It seems bizarre to me, I've never heard of something like this being done before.  I have absolutely no control over the other people in my class.  It's frustrating that in a class with 20 writing assignments, I'm getting docked points for something outside of my control.
If this wasn't such a writing intensive course I wouldn't be as upset.  Is this normal to deduct points because someone subjectively wrote better than me?

I think the only relevant question is: what should I do to get better and learn something. It sounds to me like you are trying to shift the blame of your low score from your own performance to the professor or grading system. This is not useful. Your essays can probably improve by actually using and citing sources: this is what your professor clearly suggests. Maybe it helps to read some of the assignments of your peers (after the grading, of course) to see how they compare and what you could do differently next time.

Sounds like you're in a course which is grading on a curve. The idea here is that everyone's score is going to fit a Bell curve with a predetermined mean. This means there won't be any "Christmas-comes-early" results where everyone scores A's, but also no "what-the-hell-everyone-is-failing" panic attacks either. Grade inflation is unlikely in a class that's grading on a curve, because there'll only be so many students who get A's.
If you're in a class which is grading on a curve, then yes: it's normal to "deduct points" because someone wrote better than you. "Deduct points" in inverted commas because you don't actually lose points, you just get a lower grade.
If you want to score well in such a class, you'll need to outperform your classmates.

I understand the idea of grading on a curve, but I've never experienced it in a subjective manner.  I've never had a professor say, "I'm giving you a lower score because I feel like someone wrote better than you."  It just seems odd to me but if that's a type of curved grading I guess I have to go along with it.

Agree with OP that as stated in his/her comment grading on a curve is quite bizarre. I never thought of that. And in writing or humanities this is quite difficult to cope with. In multiple choice tests about chemistry or maths would make more sense.

There is a lot wrong with competitive grading, including grading "on the curve". It is used frequently, however.
First, every student needs and deserves to be evaluated based on what they accomplish, not on what others are able to do.
Second, a curve makes some assumption about a "class" representing a population. But that is a foolish assumption. Even a class of hundreds is a poor representative of all students. Not only is every student different, every class is going to be different. If classes are fairly small they could vary drastically from term to term. I taught for a long time. Sometimes I'd have a class where nearly everyone was beyond excellent with only a few exceptions. Other times I've had a class where everyone struggled.
If you have a group that is measured on some set of criteria, someone has to be last unless everyone scores the same. This is true even if you have a class of, say Nobel Laureates or the equivalent.
In your case, the first criticism is valid, but the second should not have been an issue. Probably there were other deficiencies. Perhaps the professor was just being lazy and didn't want to bother giving you the feedback that will help you improve.
Yes, you want to improve, but if the criteria is changing or impossible to know, then it is impossible to know when you have done enough.
It should be a principle that everyone can earn top marks and also that everyone can fail. But the instructor is responsible for giving everyone feedback that enables improvement, even if they are already at the top of the scale.

There is another issue in your specific case. You list the grading criteria from the syllabus and the comments of the professor seems to deviate from that unless competitive grading was mentioned elsewhere.

Grading on a curve is designed to make the feedback more impactful, except for the very top. Absolute grading does better in communicating student capabilities to other teachers and employers down the line. Grades are a social construct, I guess; the one designed to motivate people and help them flourish. But how it plays out hugely depends on the context and other forms of feedback, and the assumptions one might have about the system. "My grades should only be defined by what I do myself" is one of them.

So if the marking scheme and the assignment instructions required sources, even simple mundane ones, then you should have included them. This is usually an exercise to get people into the practice of using and recording correctly the sources used.
The "grading against peers" is how your submission "stacked up" or compared to the other submissions. The professor was looking for certain items, which were compared to your peers. This means your peers either completed more, or possibly they completed them to a higher standard.
This means that you have to improve your performance and you should make sure you read the assignment in detail to make sure that you have a clear understanding of the items or parts that have to be submitted. One method I used was to make a list.

Neither the marking scheme nor the assignment stated that sources were required which is why I was confused.  This is the issue, the professor's instructions were unclear and some were missing such as the required sources.

I think you need to ask for clarification. Does this literally mean you are being compared to the peers in your small class? Or does this mean a general comparison to what the writing of a freshman university student should normally be? I think the latter would be very common in any writing courses.
If you want to perform better, I would make an appointment and ask the professor to walk you through an A assignment and describe what it does that you need to incorporate in your future work.


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Is it smart to transfer from a local University to OSU for mathematics after two years?
I am a senior in high school and having a hard time deciding where I want to go for college. I will definitely pursue math as I love the subject. I've done some research and OSU seems like a very good school for undergraduate math. But the problem is that it's very expensive. My parents have put away a lot of money into my college fund though so if i were to attend OSU for 4 years it would put me about 40000 dollars in debt.
My question is would it be smart and doable to go to University of Cincinnati (a local college I can commute to) for two years or so and then transfer to Ohio State? That would put me closer to 15 thousand in debt after college. I also really want to go to grad school and go after my phd in the subject but that would put me so in debt afterwards that I dont know that that would be a good idea.

go after my phd in the subject but that would put me so in debt afterwards --- Nearly every math graduate student (U.S. citizen, at U.S. math Ph.D. granting department) is provided sufficient money (T.A. work, maybe a fellowship not requiring T.A. work, etc.) so that you should not have to incur any more debt in graduate school, at least not unless you've been out of school a while and you're used to full-time work salary (paying off a house mortgage, a car, etc.) and/or have a family to support or something similar.

Note that Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, and Oregon State University are all abbreviated OSU.

One thing to consider is your income as a phd student would be between 25k and 35k for 5 to 6 years until you finish it. Would you be able to pay your debt with that sort of income?

Without being familiar with these particular programs, I strongly suspect it's doable. Smart is more difficult to quantify -- assuming your math is correct, saving $25K is a strong argument for this plan. But there are other considerations (in both directions) -- living at home for 2 years and then moving to a new campus as a junior would be really rough for some people. As Dave said, your PhD shouldn't require further debt (and you'll be able to defer payments on your student loans) - but still, it's a lot to (eventually) repay

Be aware that when you transfer, only some of the courses you took will be considered equivalent and eligible for credit.  After two years, there's a good chance that you'll end up spending an extra year getting enough credits for the degree at the new university.  Take that extra year into account when calculating expenses (including one year less income in your eventual career).  If you do go this route, first ask OSU which courses they do and do not count as equivalent, and make sure you take the appropriate ones at the first university.

Since you have two specific places in mind, it would be best if you go talk to them. Ask U Cincinnati about their success in transferring students to OSU.
But you should also visit OSU and talk to their admissions people about what the real cost to you would be. You seem to be assuming things. Perhaps there are scholarships that would reduce the cost. Perhaps there is student employment that would help. But you won't know that unless you ask. And while you are there, ask them about the possibility of transfer in later.
Get all the facts before you jump.
It is also a good idea to visit any university before committing several years of your life to attending there.

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What to do when someone does not respond to your email?
So, I am struggling with one of my upper division math class(Partial differential equations). I contacted a close family friend to see if he can help me or if he knows anybody that can tutor me because he is a math professor at a college. Long story short, a grad student emailed me and said he is willing to help me because he had the same professor with same class, but has not done that class for a while but is willing to catch on after reading the notes.
Then, he asked to email him the course topics and I emailed it to him. Two days later no respond. I am frustrated because I am really having a hard time in that class and recently failed a quiz, and I am stuck on the next homework assigned and have another quiz this week. I don't want to go to my professor for help because he will ask why I did bad on the quiz, which I feel embarrassed  and I had been going to his office hours for help before quizzes and homework. So, what do you do in this position?

First, forget your embarrassment and go see your professor for help. That is his job. If he asks why you did poorly, give him the most honest answer you can and see if he can provide some suggestions to get over the block. Your difficult with PDE is pretty common as it takes a new way of looking at things after calculus.
As for the tutor, two days is very little time to make initial contact. So, you can ask again, in email, about current topics. But once you do make contact it may go more smoothly. But grad students are pretty busy.
But, I also urge caution with any tutor. Make sure that they don't give you so much help with things that  you don't actually learn yourself. The best thing they can do is give you some exercises and watch as you solve them, with you expressing your thoughts on what to do verbally. The best tutor will give you only minimal hints when you get stuck, and not show you how to approach every problem.

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How to get in touch with researchers for sparring/discussing
I am a PhD student in computer science at a German university, working remotely on the PhD. I do not get much support from my professor (anymore) in terms of time for discussions and I have little to no relation to the other PhD students. Before Covid-19 I would travel to the city in which the university is located, but even those (few) travels have stopped. I would like to discuss scientific questions and topics with other researchers, as in having sparring partners. What are other ways to find groups or individuals, e.g. online? I am not aware of options.

PS: I am not sure what good tags are for the question, maybe someone can help.

Can you start a journal club in your department? Attend local workshops or conferences?

Professional societies often have "Special Interest Groups" (SIGS) that focus on a particular area. They also sponsor conferences around the world. In the US, the ACM has many such groups.
But for your purposes here, those SIGS also often have mailing lists in which people ask questions and share ideas. The people who post regularly on such lists may be the people you want to communicate with. I don't know specifically of German equivalents, but the ACM is open to everyone and has a worldwide membership.
You can communicate on the list, of course, but many of these lists include the email addresses of writers with their posts, so you can move to more private communication if desired.
And student membership may come at a discount as it does with ACM.
Here is a list of ACM SIGs. Perhaps one or more will interest you. Other professional societies may have something similar.

Thanks for the idea! How is this different to posting on stackexchange? I understand that it is differently organized, of course. Could that be - to some degree - be a substitute to what I am lacking at my research group?

Many of us on this network are anonymous and even for those who aren't you may not learn of their research interests here. The SIGS already organize themselves into groups that may be compatible with your work. I've been a member of ACM for as long as I can remember, and a member of several SIGS of interest to me.

I think that using educational forums for this purpose makes sense. You're certainly not the only person, searching for other researchers, so why not try finding like-minded people on the internet. Use search operators to find the relevant website faster. Enter inurl:forum, intitle: [the necessary keyword] and check the results.


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It is worth to ask equivalence from an Advanced Studies Diploma to a Master of Advanced Studies in another University?
I hold MSc (120 ECTS) and Bsc. (180 ECTS) degrees in Materials Science and Engineering. I also hold an Advanced studies diploma (60 ECTS) in Mechanical Engineering. All this were done in a University in the European Higher Education area. I've read some stuff about the MAS- Master of advanced studies.
So long, I found it to be equivalent to an Advanced studies diploma that I have.
Questions:

Can I ask equivalence from my Advanced studies diploma to a Master of advanced studies (both in Mechanical Engineering, or course) in another University in the EU?
If I do it, do I have anything to earn, in terms of CV? Would it become easier for me to get a job abroad if I get equivalence of my ASD to a MAS in a UK or another country?
Can I get a joint degree? I mean, can I keep the ASD I have and earn a MAS degree at another university in the UK, or elsewhere in EU? Will I keep the original diploma? Or I lose it, and I earn it at the new University?
How much do I have to pay in terms of administrative fees?

You can ask, but I expect the answer will be negative. Just because I have a Master's degree doesn't mean I can go around asking random universities to grant me another one on the sole basis that I hold an equivalent degree.

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How important is your undergraduate degree when it comes to graduate admissions at top universities?
Let's say I have an undergraduate degree from a top university in my country which is, however, not renowned around the world. Does this have a negative impact on my chances of getting into a good graduate school?
Next year I will be a high school senior and I am thinking about where to go for undergraduate studies. The two options I have are:

Attending a top programme in my country, Romania, which doesn't make any of the university rankings, but is nevertheless really well regarded in my country.
Trying to get into some top 100-200 programmes in European universities which theoretically give me better chances to get into a top-tier graduate programme. This would be harder for me due to the financial costs (attending any university in my country would be a lot more cheaper).

I want to know your view on whether option 1 or 2 would boost or damage my chances of getting into a top graduate programme in North America or Europe.

The school at which you got your undergraduate degree plays a huge role in your competitiveness on the grad school market. It is hard to give specific advice without knowing what country you are talking about, but purely numerically, for the vast majority of all countries worldwide, having top results and top references from the best university in that country will not get you into any of the top US or UK universities. The gulf between the undergrad programmes can be gigantic, and in some places you will just not develop your potential, almost regardless of how talented you are.
As I say, it is hard to be more specific without more information. Certainly, league tables mean almost nothing, and there are countries whose universities don't feature in league tables but offer solid education. If you live in such a country, then you are still relying on your grad admissions committee knowing it.
Edit: I have seen extremely strong students from Romania doing their undergraduate at top European universities (specifically in mathematics), and then getting into top Ph.D. programs in Europe; I do not recall having seen graduate students at top universities who did their undergraduate in Romania. That by itself does not mean much, after all it is a very small sample anyway.
If I read in a reference letter for a graduate programme that somebody was in the top 10% of their cohort at Bucharest, I would take that endorsement seriously. On the other hand, if you study there, you will have to be aware that the students that you see around you will not be representative of the competition that you will be facing when applying for the top graduate programmes, while if you are at Cambridge, or Bonn, say, then the best in your year are likely to actually be the primary candidates for the best Ph.D. programmes.
My view is that the main advantage of studying at the top places is not necessarily that they objectively offer the best education, but that you will be surrounded by very hard working and ambitious students, and that in turn will push you to develop your own full potential. If you manage to surround yourself with such a peer group at your university of choice in Romania, you will be fine. It's just that at the top places you will not have to look very hard to find such people. On the other hand Cambridge, say, is a much more expensive option than Bucharest. If you have the money, I would go for it; if not, then don't worry and just go to a top programme in Romania.

Thank you for your input, I appreciate it very much! I added my home country in my question now that you've suggested that it really matters.

Thank you for your really well developed answer ! Your answer reassured me that I can still reach my potential even if I just attend a top programme in Romania due to my lack of finances.

@Math Guy, yes, absolutely. In fact, worrying about finances while studying is very counterproductive, so you might learn more and enjoy the subject more at a good university in Romania.

Your schools has some effect, but it is much more what you do there than it is the place itself. A top student with good grades and great recommendations from your situation 1 school will be much more likely to gain admission than a mediocre student from situation 2.
But if you can be a great student in situation 2 then there are advantages. Perhaps, but not necessarily, you would have more access to educational resources (i.e. professors). You might get a broader view of your subject.
But thriving in situation 2 may come with additional problems, possibly language and/or culture.
If the faculty in your home country is good, as you suggest they are, then you can be a success starting there. It isn't the reputation of the school nearly as much as it is your reputation there.

Thank you for the thorough comparison between the two situations that you provided! In case the specific country I come from helps you to add any more advice, I added it in my question as another user suggested.

Super important. I got a 2.2 in my undergrad 22 years ago. With experience I was accepted at a top university after entrance exams 2 years ago. Even though I now have a Distinction at MA level to win phd funding I still need a 2.1 or first in undergrad. I'm now doing a phd at a low rank university.


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What is the difference between a "research plan" and a "research proposal"?
Online sources often use "research plan" and "research proposal" interchangeably.
Two months after getting accepted into a PhD program, I was asked to do a research plan.  Is this the same as doing a research proposal?

What does your advisor say?

I would say, a research proposal is what you would do applying for a PhD position or for funding to explain what you want to do, a research plan is what you would do to show you know where you a going with your research.

Ask older students in your program. If it's a general requirement, then they must have done one as well, so they can tell you what to do.

Even confined to only one term, each of them can be interpreted differently by different institutions. The best bet and ask for a style/format guide from the department, or consult previous students' submissions.

Neither a research plan nor a research proposal is a "super specific thing you need to know about".
A proposal, on any subject, generally includes things like objectives, background, potential challenges, and a vague schedule.
A plan often includes all of the above, in greater detail, as well as necessary resources, a specific schedule with milestones, and perhaps additional project specific elements (e.g. which programming languages you might use).

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What does "interdisciplinary" mean in the context of Quantum Computing?
How is the word "interdisciplinary" defined and understood in the context of Quantum Computing research?
It seems many work groups are claiming ownership without even proper understanding the scope Quantum Computing embraces within its ecosystem.

The first part of the question's pretty straightforward, though what do you mean by "It seems many work groups are claiming ownership without even proper understanding the scope Quantum Computing embraces within its ecosystem."?

What would be the list of recommended courses that would represent cohesive enough to be eligible to comprehend the vast dimension that the QC applied research covers and attempting to cover in the immediate future.

"interdisciplinary" is just a 'buzzword' that essentially means that none of the traditional divisions of the sciences applies for the field. As this is the case with most recent serious research, this word is often vacuous.
As for quantum computing, practice is currently dominated by the Physicists. Theory is mostly for the CS people. They don't mix very well, as both think they know the other field while they in fact don't.


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How long should I wait before following up after being wait-listed?
One of the faculty members of the Ph.D. program I applied to called me on the phone and told me that I've been wait-listed. He said "You're high on the wait list" and he said it's very likely that I'll get in, but people probably will start declining offers in March.
He said he'll be in touch with me, but I haven't still heard back from him after 3 weeks.
At this point, that program is my top choice among those that I still have a chance for. Should I follow up with him? (even though I still haven't received any offer that would be a reason to ask them to let me know the decision sooner.)
He told me "Your profile is strong and you probably have or will receive excellent offers from other places, so we understand if you prefer to take them", which (besides adding to the pain of actually receiving no offers), makes me worried that they might guess that I have other offers and won't wait for them, if I don't contact them and express that I am still very interested in their program.

makes me worried that they might guess that I have other offers and won't wait for them, if I don't contact them and express that I am still very interested in their program.

I wouldn't worry about that.  The fact that he called you on the phone to me indicates that he really would like to make an offer to you, but he can't guarantee it now (hence the "so we understand if you prefer to take them").  Unless you told him something to indicate that you wouldn't be interested in an offer later, they will not pass over you as the move down the waitlist (of course, there's no guarantee they will move down the waitlist, but it sounds promising).
Since he said people will probably start declining offers in March, he probably won't have any updates on your application status until sometime in March, so it seems pointless to contact him before March, particularly if you do not have another offer you need to decide upon yet.  I understand being anxious, but take a deep breath, and try to be patient.  There's no need to contact him again until you have some decision to make (or if take another offer, so you can withdraw your application), certainly not before mid-late March.


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How can I get more feedback from my Ph.D supervisor in our meetings?
I am currently a math Ph.D. student, and I meet my advisor every two weeks for an hour.
I have been here for over a year.  I spent the first six months studying the basics of the topic, though I still have no clear vision of what my advisor wants me to do.
During our meetings, I always try to discuss my research ideas, propose topics and show my results.  However, he seems to agree with everything I say, and at the end, I don't think I am really having any feedback from him. I don't know what topic he wants me to do research in.
Questions:

Is it normal for math Ph.D. students to not receive feedback when interacting with their advisor?
What can I do to get more feedback?

Have you tried specifically asking something like "Do you have any opinion on which direction would be best for my thesis project?"  Maybe your advisor thinks you're happy picking your on problems (which you'll have to do one day anyway) and thinks you're doing a good job of it so far.  But if you're unhappy with that and want more specific guidance, then ask for that.

@NoahSnyder Thanks for the comment. I have tried this, unsuccessfully. He has no idea. Everything stays in the air at the end. I think it is impossible for a person to come up with a research project in a meeting. I just need some topic within the area.

To some extent, the direction of your project should be your own. But if you don't have a clear direction already, you should just ask your advisor for some direction. That said, I will say that a math PhD these days is often not as...coherent as you might expect. A typical situation is to do something like three loosely related problems, submit each for publication, get two accepted, and then bolt them together into a thesis at the end.

It's also quite common to try a lot of different projects and see what is promising before spending more time on one project.  It's often impossible to tell if a project is promising before devoting some work to it.  I don't work by deciding to work on Topic A and then keeping at it until I get something.  I work by working on Topics A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H more or less simultaneously, and 7 of those 8 end up in the wastebasket after varying amounts of work, while the 8th turns into something that can be published/be a dissertation.

Most successful (pure) math dissertations have the core idea done in a week.  The problem is that you spend months (or if you're unlucky, years) on various projects before getting that week.

Although I can sort of see that your situation is somewhat different from the proposed duplicate -- nevertheless, I think the answer I wrote for that other question has some material in it that could be helpful for you.  See https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/103353/32436

Sometimes I think that it is not of primary importance of a PhD to be as productive as possible, but rather to learn the skills you need to be a productive and successful independent (!) researcher after your PhD. In other words: this is the time to learn the skills, not to find the answers to all questions of life.


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What are the differences between viXra.org and arXiv.org?
What are the differences between viXra.org and arXiv.org?

The answer of your question is here: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/37976/what-are-pre-print-repositories-for-math-and-physics-alternative-to-arxiv

To anybody who does not know: The purpose of a pre-print repository is to: 1. Accept any paper and give it a timestamp so that the author can prove precedence of their idea and avoid it being scooped. 2. Allow the author to share the paper on the pre-print repository and invite opinions from colleagues before submitting the paper for peer review.
Every pre-print repository has to honor these requirements. It is not the job of a pre-print repository to judge a paper by its content (unless it is seriously objectionable content).

@Julia No, not every preprint repository has to honor those requirements, unless there's some universal agreement on the meaning of "preprint repository" that I'm not aware of. The word "preprint" implies that a preprint repository is a place where papers can appear prior to being "printed", i.e. published in a conventional sense, but otherwise different repositories can choose different sets of policies. In particular, a particular preprint repository could certainly judge a paper by its content if the people running it want to. TBH, I think this is not the place for that discussion.

One is like your inbox and the other like your spam folder.

@Julia there are quite a few preprint servers run by departments or small research groups. They clearly filter for (i) who submits a preprint and (ii) that it stays on topic. Of course, quality assurance is only by social pressure there.

TechRxiv is another.

arXiv.org is a multi-institutional e-print repository funded by universities and other research organisations costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to run. It's purpose is rapid dissemination of papers and to provide a permanent open access archive for the professional research community. Submission of papers is in principle open to anyone but those outside the academic world are hampered by a need to be endorsed by an insider. Even when endorsed, papers that do not come from a respected institution are subjected to a moderation process that can result in them being delayed, rejected or reclassified in a generic subject category that may limit how well they are disseminated. The moderation process can sometimes affect professional researchers too if their paper is flagged up by a keyword filter. (Note that it is not known if the institution is used directly by the filter as a criterion but the effect seems to be as stated)
viXra.org is an independent repository intended to cater for those who find it difficult or impossible to submit to arXiv.org or who do not like having their work delayed. It does not require endorsement and there is no moderation process. Some papers may be removed for technical reasons but there is no minimum quality standard. Like arXiv.org its purpose is rapid dissemination and open archiving.
viXra.org is funded by a small group of administrators who run it (including myself) The costs are now so low that funding is barely worth mentioning. It main site runs from a standard GoDaddy web hosting service with another similar mirror site elsewhere. The whole process is almost entirely automated with intervention only being required to respond to occasional emails or technical hiccups. Although its future is not as well assured as arXiv.org it does have a decentralised architecture and replicated shared cloud storage that should make it possible to pass control from one administrator to another when necessary. In my opinion there is a much bigger problem of loss of research papers as small journals come and go but nobody worries about that. viXra already survived an incident where its main server died with a disk failure by quickly re-pointing the DNS to its mirror site. At the time it was using a dedicated server but it was subsequently moved to a virtual server that provides far better robustness at lower cost.
The typical quality of papers on viXra.org is lower than that of arXiv.org because of its open submission policy and because many of its users are independent researchers. However, viXra does have a core of good respectable papers from a diverse range of authors. Many people who look at viXra.org underestimate the amount of quality research it contains because the technical and diverse nature of papers mean that the good ones are only understood and appreciated by specialists while anyone can recognise the low quality content.
Some people advise not to use viXra.org because authors who submit there are "not taken seriously." This misses the point that the purpose of a repository is dissemination and archiving. No repository can bestow credibility on the papers it contains. This can only be done through peer-review, citations, experimental verification etc. Obviously the repository does not discredit a paper either, except in the minds of fools. Should we think that everyone who posts comments on twitter is an idiot just because some others are? I think not. Even arXiv.org does not claim to provide peer-review and most of its papers are only checked for quality by a dumb automated filter. This is why papers on arXiv.org are not automatically considered reliable sources in Wikipedia for example. Even though there is a significant difference between average quality levels on arXiv and viXra, it is still more reliable and easier to judge the quality of a paper in a repository by looking at it rather than by looking at where it is stored.
Some academics strongly disapprove of viXra.org. I think the main reason for this is that they tire of receiving unsolicited emails from "cranks" which they also associate with viXra. The situation is ironic because in fact it is the arXiv endorsement policy that is implicitly encouraging people to try to contact academics in order to get recognition and an endorsement. viXra.org discourages this because it is better and safer to make research available publicly than to send it to people privately. However, viXra.org has no means to police the habits of the minority who ignore this advice.
viXra.org does have some popular features that arXiv.org does not including commenting, download statistics and easy withdrawal or removal of old versions.

+1 for This misses the point that the purpose of a repository is dissemination and archiving. Actually, I believe I gave the first upvote, and now there are 12 upvotes. Buried three or four links into my comment elsewhere in this thread is this 1 June 2011 sci.math post (see "However, a close reading ..."), which partly explains my slight endorsement of this endeavor despite this comment of mine.

Do you have some sort of source for the claim that the moderation process is different based on where the paper comes from? I have been using my private email on arXiv for some time, and it has not seemed any different (though that is of course completely anecdotal).

They don't give much info on how the filter process works. It may be that independents get caught more because of the way they write their papers. However they also ask for institutional affiliation at some point so that may override email address.

Sometime I wonder what is your feeling about seeing it be avoided like this? I know that you know that they have their right to say, and you have your right to ignore that, but still what do you really feel?

@Ooker thank you for asking that. It does not really bother me at all. I know a lot more people could use viXra but don't because they worry about reputation. It is their choice. viXra is there for people who need it. I try to respond to these questions when I find them and defend viXra when I can, but I won't enter into long arguments about it. viXra is not a commercial enterprise so I have nothing to gain from higher usage. As you say, everyone has a right to their opinion.

In Europe we have the "right to be forgotten" laws which means that providing the withdrawal feature is legally necessary. It does not undermine the timestamps at all. If someone withdraws they will loose their own priority and are warned of this, but other timestamps are still reliable. When I submit to arXiv my submissions are put on hold for up to two weeks and can be given a later timestamp if accepted. This is a much bigger problem for priority. I rarely use arXiv now for that reason, and never as a first place to post.

Regarding my first comment to this question (Mar 17 '18), I happened to notice that the first link is now a dead URL. Using the Internet Archive's wayback machine, the following has a non-dead link: ... is this 1 June 2011 sci.math post (see "However, a close reading ..."), which partly explains my slight endorsement of this endeavor despite ...

arXiv is a respected repository for physics and math preprints.  In some fields of physics, it is actually the primary venue through which new papers are read.
viXra is a site for people, almost exclusively cranks, who cannot or will not put their material on arXiv.  Don't use it.

I have found at least one paper on viXra referenced by no less than Knuth, namely this one by Philip Gibbs. (“This program is based on some beautiful ideas due to Philip E. Gibbs, whose Java code in 2015 was first to beat the billion-number barrier. […] And it has some interesting touches that taught me some lessons, which I'm keen to pass on to others.”) So there exists at least one non-worthless thing on viXra.

@ShreevatsaR That's true, and nobody is (or should be) disputing the fact that you can find good work on viXra. But the issue is reputation: if you have an arbitrary paper, which you may not necessarily understand, and you find out that it appears on arXiv or on viXra, how does that modify your opinion of that paper? If you're like most researchers, for arXiv, it is unlikely to lower your opinion, but for viXra, it very well could.

@ShreevatsaR: A few weeks ago, entirely by accident, I found by googling various words and phrases this fairly decent paper on viXra (reference [18] in my answer here). Nonetheless, besides this paper and my comment yesterday here, I've never seen anything of even remote significance the several times I've looked there.

@SolarMike: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/157250/spotting-crankery

Do you have a source with your statements?

@DaveLRenfro (and @DavidZ too though I can't tag multiple people): Yes I agree, and that matches my experience too, and in fact the author Philip Gibbs of the cited paper I mentioned appears to be the person who runs vixra.org, so is not exactly the typical uploader to viXra (see his answer to this question).

There are plenty of other people submitting good quality research to viXra apart from me. E.g. Mathematician Simon Plouffe has a number of papers on viXra. In fact 5% of submissions come from .edu or other academic domain email addresses and there are plenty of good papers from outside academia. For what its worth about 20% of our content is published in peer-reviewed journals according to an independent report. I know it doesn't fit the narrative but those are the facts.

The number of good papers in viXra may be lower but there are enough to make it worth having

@PhilipGibbs Do you have a link for that report? (this seems like a good thing to include in your answer also).

Correction - it was 15% not 20%. Here is the paper https://arxiv.org/abs/1211.1036  There is also a copy of it on viXra at http://vixra.org/abs/1211.0026 .

@PhilipGibbs The linked paper looked at 20 papers on each repository, and the numbers are based on those papers. The study is also from 2012, at which point viXra had existed for about 3 years. Citing this as 15% of the material on viXra being published seems too strong.

Yes, given more time it is probably higher now, but the precise figure is not really important. The fact that any is successfully peer-reviewed counters the claim that it is all crank material.

I think this answer is unusually harsh on viXra

viXra.org (arXiv spelled backwards) was founded in response to the many reports of arXiv.org's censorship, victims of which include Nobel Prize laureates and first-class university professors. See their "Why viXra?" page.
ArchiveFreedom.org (cf. their book Against the Tide) has collected dozens of such case studies of censorship, which they introduce by saying:

In reporting these case histories we do not imply that we are embracing, supporting or endorsing, in any way, the particular ideas, work, principles, or religious and personal beliefs of these scientists.  Our aim is to include a wide range of victims, scientists from all over the world, who range from Nobel Prize winners to relatively unknown scientists, those with numerous publications in first rate journals, to those with a few publications in second rate journals, from professors in first class universities to humble scientists working outside academia, from rigorous scientists to those exploring the fringes of science.

Also:

The New Endorsement System: Merely a Smoke Screen
In January 2004, arXiv.org introduced an automated endorsement system which was touted by operators of the system as an answer to complaints about the archive's restrictive policies.   However, there have been cases where blacklisted scientists have attempted to use this supposedly objective endorsement system and the outcome has been overriden to ensure that their works are still blocked.
Another drawback is that most endorsers are fearful of endorsing novel papers because they worry that they could lose their endorser status if their decision runs counter to the tastes of the arXiv moderators.  In fact, the arXiv.org website states that the archive administrators reserve the right to revoke any endorser's endorsement status.  When one blacklisted scientist's paper was rejected, the reason given by the archive moderator was: "No legitimate endorsements from current users."  When the scientist then asked "will you guarantee that persons who endorse me will not be victimised by having their arXiv privileges withdrawn?" no substantive response was forthcoming.
The scientist concluded from this that they had refused to guarantee that anyone who endorsed him would not be punished for doing so.  Thus one could surmise that the endorsement system is merely a facade to give the false impression that the electronic preprint archive operates in a fair manner.

I don't see how this addresses the differences. Should we do a search for other questions related to arXiv, so you have more places to paste this answer?

Publishing pre-prints of your scientific papers gives you the following opportunities:

You can confirm your authorship
Your work becomes available online (so you can share it for academic or job purposes)
Collaboration (you can improve your work chatting with colleagues)

According to these principles, one may prefer one e-print archive to another. Here're the reasons why you should or shouldn't choose viXra (change the sign to get information about arXiv).
Reasons to publish on viXra:

The publishing process is fast (plus for 2 and 1)
Papers on viXra are easy-structured (plus for 3)

Reasons not to publish on viXra:

Bad reputation (minus for 3)
The site doesn't seem to be professional (minus for 2)

Thus, generally, one may say that viXra is preferable in the sense of 1.

Some of these negative answers are misleading. viXra can be very useful if you just want to post a paper easily, and share among a small group, or be able to prove priority.
As a source for browsing pre-prints, the quality is very variable, so you might find only about one paper in ten is scientifically interesting, depending on the field.
viXra has a very useful point, because:

it is a useful service for many people;
it allows a diversity of ideas;
if you have academic enemies they may be able get you barred from posting perfectly legitimate work on arXiv—it is open to academic warfare, which is why viXra was started.

However, if you want to advertise your work to mainstream academics, then viXra has very little attention, while most scientists browse preprints on arXiv. (I post some work on viXra to support it as a matter of principle—as it is attacked by bullies—although I get far more real interest from posts on other preprint sites.)


text:
What are the conventions for indicating programming variables within text?
From my thesis:

In this method, the get_config_value function is used that is defined within the PyWPS API.

How should I format the "get_config_value" variable?
It should be formatted differently than the rest of the text, but I don't know what the conventions are.  Using italic or bold fonts doesn't look right to me.

Do you mean that get_config_value is that variable?

yes. i should have used another sentence as an example. here it is not a variable as such, but a name of a function. still, i feel it should be formatted differently then the rest of the text.

It is common to typeset code with a monospaced font (a font whose characters have all the same width), like get_config_value.
If you're using LaTeX to write your thesis, you can use the command \texttt for inline code. For clarity and flexibility, it's probably better to define a new command, e.g. \newcommand{\code}[1]{\texttt{#1}}. You can use the listings package for longer pieces of code.
For other typesetting systems or word processors, check their manual.


text:
Is it OK if a letter of recommendation misstates the name of my degree?
I am applying for a graduate degree program.
In a letter of recommendation, my professor misstated my MS in Telecommunication Networks as an MS in Telecommunication.
Can this be an issue?

It is unclear whether you mean the degree you are applying to is MS in telecommunication networks, or if this is the degree you already have. Regardless, you should choose a more descriptive title -- I have made a suggested edit with one possibility.

No.  The committee will want to know what your reference can tell them about you, not so much whether they can pass a pop quiz on the exact name of the program you're trying to get into.

Mostly this sort of thing doesn't matter. I just finished reading some recommendation letters. Some of them were addressed to the wrong university. This is a much more obvious mistake, but I know this happens just because reference writers are busy. I certainly didn't go through and check all of the details at the level you mention. The only time this would stand out is if the applicant made a big deal out of one point, and the referee contradicted them.


text:
How can a grad student get funding without doing research?
I am a 1st-year graduate student at University of Oregon, and I am trying to find funding for my education.
The problem I am running into is finding funds that don't require research. My career path doesn't involve deep research projects and it seems the requirement for a majority of scholarships require students doing research.
Any tips?

What is your field?  Teaching assistantships are a major source of funding for grad students in many fields.  Also, what type of graduate degree are you pursuing (masters / PhD / ???)

It wouldn't kill you to help out with a research project even if you don't plan to pursue a research path later on.  Don't worry.  You can likely find a position where you can be a lackey and cheerfully do some grunt work for someone's project.

All openings for graduate employee positions (which provide a salary, a tuition waiver, and health insurance benefits) at the UO are posted here: https://gradschool.uoregon.edu/gtf-openings
But I recommend talking to your department as well to see what the prospects of getting a TA position are.

Teaching assistantships (TA-ships) should be your savior. I am on the doctoral committee of a graduate student in our department who wants to teach at liberal arts colleges post degree and therefore wants to gain as much teaching experience as possible.
She is still doing research and getting published in top conferences - just not at the scale at which other students (who want to focus primarily on research) are.
Another lesser seen but useful mode of funding is through what most schools call graduate assistantships (GAs). Here, you will be assisting in academic administration or other managerial responsibilities closely associated with research activities but not actual research itself.
I encourage you to explore those options. Departments usually have a limited number of these options.


text:
Is it a bad idea to ask professors questions weeks before the class starts?
I am a graduate student, and my fall classes start in a few weeks. I have already began reading the textbook for one class, and I have come across 1 or 2 things that I couldn't figure out. It's not the end of the world if I don't figure these out; for one, I can probably get an answer on math stackexchange. However, I like this professors field and would like to develop a little bit of a relationship with her. I would also like to show her that I am motivated. Would it be a bad idea to send an email with questions about the material before the class actually starts?

Has the professor set up a Slack channel for the class?

Don´t you have better things to do than study things now by yourself that you will be taught in a few weeks anyway? Like do some serious relaxing, visit you parents, brush up on your skills in some language, or stuff you learned last semester, do an online summer school in programming? ;)

@karl, speaking for myself obviously, but I used to read texts ahead of time also. Reason being that I used to relatively struggle with certain subjects, by exposing myself a little beforehand I felt more at par with other students ¯\(ツ)/¯

@LamarLatrell Oh, I did too! You can argue much better with your teacher about sloppy or incomplete explanations if you already have a good idea what's to come. ;-)

Would it be a bad idea to send an email with questions about the material before the class actually starts?

First of all, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but generally it’s a bad idea to be a person who asks disingenuous questions not because they want to know the answers to those questions but “to show [someone] that they are motivated” and because they “would like to develop a bit of a relationship” with the other person. It’s dishonest, and the thing about this type of dishonesty is, the people the dishonesty is directed at are almost always better at detecting it than the dishonest person thinks. So this approach tends to not produce the desired outcome, and can sometimes backfire in unpleasant ways. And more specifically, most professors have had the experience of having a student try to impress them in various ways that come across as insincere. It leaves a bad taste, which does not help a while later when the student conveniently shows up asking for a letter of recommendation.
Setting this aside, if you have questions you genuinely want to know the answers to, there’s nothing inappropriate about emailing the professor. Professors often enjoy discussing course topics with students and answering their questions. If your questions sound sincere and not like something you contrived just to show that you have something to ask, I’m sure the professor won’t be offended by your email, and there’s a good chance that she’ll answer it. Whether she will like you more as a result or not, I don’t think anyone here can predict, so again, if that’s your true motivation then yes, it’s probably a bad idea to send the email.

I agree with this excellent answer, but would like to add that the answer to almost all questions can be found on the internet. That would mean that a good, motivated student could easily get by without asking any questions to the professor. I think it would make perfect sense in this case to ask a few of the questions to build a relationship and show your interest in the subject. Whether it is good to do so before classes start is another matter, covered by some of the other answers.

@Louic This generally depends on how well established the material of the class is. This may depend on the field, but I don't think it is uncommon for a graduate class to cover material from methods introduced in some paper the lecturer published only a few years ago.

@Louic it sounds like you’ve missed the point of my answer. It’s fine to ask questions of the professor regardless of whether the answers can be found online. But “building a relationship” and “showing interest” are bad reasons to ask them.

@Louic speaking of building a relationship, see also this related discussion.

@Dan Romik It looks more like you missed the point of my comment. Your answer is missing (or at least not clearly emphasising) the fact that it may be possible to have a genuine question and decide to ask the professor to build a relationship and show interest, EVEN IF the answer can be found online.

@Louic I did not emphasize it because I don’t think “building a relationship” is an appropriate, or advisable, reason to contact a professor. Even as a partial motivation.

@Dan Romik So what other reasons besides "showing interest" (or in other words: participating actively in class) do you see that make it "fine to ask questions of the professor regardless of whether the answers can be found online".

@Louic it’s okay to ask a question if you want to know the answer to the question. I mean, if the answer is on the first paragraph of the Wikipedia page on the topic then you’d probably be wasting their time, so it’s less okay - I’m assuming finding the answer online wouldn’t be as easy as that, in which case it’s reasonable to contact the professor. Anyway, I’m not quite sure I understand what you’re getting at here. My answer and the above comments ought to make my position pretty clear. TL;DR: acting disingenuously is bad.

@DanRomik: While I agree with your answer in general, I'm not convinced it applies to the OP's case. These aren't questions they made up just to sound smart. These are questions they are genuinely interested in knowing the answer to. Sure, they might be able to find answers elsewhere, but that doesn't make them disingenuous. And while I agree that "building a relationship etc." is bad as a sole motivation, I disagree it's bad as partial motivation. People do things for complicated, multi-faceted reasons, and that's fine. And again, the OP actually seeks answers, so it's not disingenuous.

For a moment, change your point-of-view to your professor's situation.
She receives an email from a future student asking about some topic that she'll most probably cover in her lectures. This student doesn't give her the chance to present the topics the way she wants, but ignores her efforts in preparing a course, tries to self-study it, and just wants to use her to fill some gaps.
This might not be the best way to establish a positive relationship.

It depends on the professor (and how the questions are phrased) whether she likes it or not.

@user91988  I don't read this answer as "professor has big ego and doesn't want to help student", but rather "professor is a busy person: they will teach the students the material in their own time and their own way and would be happy to answer questions at that time, but may not want to take a lot of time engaging with students in this very different venue"

@BenBolker I'm adding to the answer rather than interpreting it.

“For a moment, change your point-of-view to the professor’s” Hmm, I’m a professor so I think I know a thing or two about seeing things from a professor’s point of view. And from where I’m standing this answer is dead wrong, maybe not for all professors but for me and most professors I know. Your characterization of the student’s email is also incorrect. “Doesn’t give her the chance to present the topics the way she wants”? Please. She has every chance to respond politely and say she is too busy right now to address the student’s questions but will cover the topics in class in a few weeks.

@user91988 I’m sorry you had a bad experience with a professor if that’s the case. Certainly there are some mean or unfriendly professors out there. But as for “and this is why academia is a waste of time”, if by “this” you are referring to what’s written in the answer, you can rest assured that this analysis bears no relation to how the vast majority of professors actually think about being contacted by students with question about course material.

@DanRomik Sounds like you're one of the good ones. I didn't personally have any bad experiences with professors in school, but I've heard plenty of ego-driven horror stories. I suppose that's humanity in general, though. My point was more to agree that profs who would respond like this are more common than you might think. But overall I'd say this answer is not correct.

@user91988 I’m one of the normal ones. There may be ways in which I’m good, but responding to student emails non-obnoxiously is just normal, baseline behavior.

In @RalfKleberhoff's defense: they didn't say "If I were the professor I would respond by telling the student to go f*** themselves", they said "the professor might not appreciate being contacted in this way, so it might not be a good idea". I'm not sure I agree with the answer, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

You´ve got a point here. If you put yourself in the prof's shoes for a moment, you might also think wether there are perhaps five more of your type in the class. At which point the profs holiday spirit might start going on a dive.

@user91988: She may well be much busier than you can imagine. This is not about her ego. It is about respecting her time. Should the professor give 1-1 instruction to everybody who wants it? No, she simply does not have the time to do that even if she would like to. So instead, a class has been arranged, so that she can just explain things once, for everybody. Having to spend extra effort on a single student is unlikely to be a positive experience for her. That's why usually there are teaching assistants to handle these students who have extra questions.

Note to the people commenting on this thread: receiving an email does not oblige a professor to help anyone or to spend time they don’t want to spend. If the professor is busy she can and likely will write a polite and encouraging reply telling the student that it’s very nice he/she is studying the material ahead of time but that she is unable to help at this time. Thus many of the comments here are based on a seriously flawed premise, imagining the professor becoming panicky or resentful over the email. Not gonna happen unless the email is phrased in a way that’s very rude or entitled.

... Also in general the idea that a student is expected to have magical abilities to tell whether someone is busy before sending them an email is ridiculous. Professors are grown-ups and perfectly able to manage their inboxes without throwing a tantrum.

"Use her?" Come on. I really hope not all professors interpret emails the way this answer suggests. And I actually prefer students that are independent, self-study, and ask early, rather than the more common students who all send questions the day before the exam.

When I posted my answer, I was well aware that it might trigger some debate. And the comments shows to the OP how broad the spectrum might be of possible reactions to his e-mail.

OK, I'm not a professor but I do some lecturing.  I'm with @DanRomik on this.  Unless heavily stressed I'd probably tell them which lecture it's covered in; I may even send the notes ahead of time (if last year's are suitable) or something similarly easy for me.  If overloaded, I'd probably respond too late to be much help.  If the student takes a very entitled tone in the initial email or subsequent ones, that's the only thing that woudl annoy me.

This PHD comics comes to mind - http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1047 . If we are to believe the premise of this comic, then - if the professor prefers to wait with the answers until the actual class, she can say so without too much of a fuss or time dedication. So the harm, if any, seems to be minimal.

This might depend on how much you ask and how you ask it. Expressing interest in the course with questions can be a good thing. Ask if the professor can "point you to" a source where you can find the answer. Or, ask if they can suggest some way to think about the issue you are having. But my personal guess is that it is less useful to ask for actual answers.
When you express the question, make sure you indicate you are willing to work for the answers and not just seeking shortcuts.
Some might not welcome such questions and some might not give much of an answer (other than "wait for the course"), so don't necessarily expect an answer.
This won't help answer your etiquette question, but note that Wikipedia is generally pretty good about topics in mathematics. I've noticed few errors and they seem to get quickly corrected.

If you do choose to ask your professor, you would probably be well advised to frame your question in a manner very similar to how you would ask a question on one of these sites.
For example:
"I was looking at topic X and I am having difficulty understanding it - can you help?"
Is likely to not get a great answer, as it shows very little effort in understanding on your part (and is likely what will get taught to you at some point during the semester).
However:
"I was looking at topic X and I am having difficulty with the concept of Y as it seems to contradict Z... etc"
Would be more likely to get a response - i.e. you have attempted to understand this yourself and are able to ask a question that would get a concise and targeted response to explain what is wrong.

I agree with the other answers---professors are extremely pinched for time and wasting their time is one of the best ways to make a negative impression.
If you want to build a relationship with this professor because you are interested in her research area, a better idea might be to spend the next few weeks to start reading her papers and the associated background literature. Take notes, both about background you don't understand and are hoping to learn from her class (so that you can ask questions as the topics come up naturally during the semester), and about potential extensions/generalizations/new directions that you could work on with her as an independent study. If she runs a reading group or seminar, ask to join the group. Use her office hours, once the semester starts, to talk to her about your questions and ideas related to her research.

Yes, it is a terrible idea. Not only because you are not asking for the sake of   learning but to "show off" some motivation and interest, and secondly because your teachers are on vacation and you should respect their time.

First post. I didn't read all the replies but enough to know that I disagree with the majority opinion.
What they are saying is probably accurate as teachers are typically overworked and slogging through bureaucratic nonsense that is standardized higher education.
For a masters class though? You are paying this person...it seems reasonable to see what kind of value you are going to receive (potentially). I once had a Spanish professor in high school that allowed me to go as above and beyond as I wanted to at the time. Coincidentally this was further than even Spanish 1 & 2 after high school. So for me basic college Spanish was a waste of time and money because of this.
For a college course this would be added value. It's also helpful to know if they actually do have a passion for instruction (teaching). Myself, I'd probably just give you a series of links if I were lazy or confirmed the consensus of what you were able to find on your own (outside self-learning) if you had good questions.
I wouldn't be offended or put off by an "eager beaver" as it were, but I would probably find it annoying at some point and I might try and draw out "why" you are interacting with me in such a fashion. If it's too irritating that it would compromise how I instruct you (and others by proxy) then I might refer you to another teacher if one were available.
A 2 week trial period (or a month depending on when drop/add is) is not unreasonable for a large investment. To find great teachers takes a lot of guesswork, a lot of practical experience and providence of course. I would be open to scrutiny to this end and that is also how I look for instruction.
If "most" instructors aren't that way, that doesn't discount "every" one. It could be that you are quite limited in qualified instructors in a particular field and you have to take them "as is" but each learning source is a sort of interview and I'm not the only person surely who has this opinion.
I've had few great teachers. About a dozen good ones and the rest I wouldn't pay for if I had a choice at this point. I wouldn't recommend the taxpayers pay either for secondary school but that's a different topic.
Certainly judge your motivations for initiating conversation. If it's to have an "excuse" then judge the motivation of your excuse to initiate possibly. You could start with a simple introduction and go from there perhaps? The person's feedback can often go a long way and of course some interact fairly differently in person and during the term.
Thanks for the topic...it serves to broaden my instructing ability with scenarios I haven't encountered.

Partly agree with the general idea, but two questions: (1) how do you assess "passion for instruction" just by asking a question before the course starts? You yourself mentioned that the you would "probably just give you a series of links if I were lazy", so how does it fairly judge the professor? (2) Regarding "2 week trial period", how does this directly apply here, where the question is about communication before the course starts? I assume by trial period you mean attending the classes and deciding whether to register for the course.

For a masters class though? We don't know if the OP is a PhD student or not. You are paying this person We don't know if the professor provides the funding or not. Most PhD students have TA/RA.

I'm not how to reply but @GoodDeeds I meant the 2 week prior to term for a slight gauge on the professor and then yeah the withdrawal deadline.
It doesn't fairly judge the professor, but of course, if there were excellent interaction and and some useful groundwork pre-term that would be worth checking out, since the OP seems to be interested in that. With little to no expectations ideally. I like to think that any pre-term irritant could be overlooked by an experienced educator.

"You are paying this person."  Nope!  At the end of the summer, before fall classes start, your typical professor is generally working on sponsored research (which often pays the majority of their salary) before the teaching load hits, trying to help other grad students with thesis work or projects, prepping for the graduate course they're getting ready to teach (because grad courses constantly need to be updated), or grabbing some well-earned vacation.  Students who think that tuition payment for a future course entitles you to their time right now are sadly mistaken.

That's a fair point @pjs. I meant if they are open to it not as an "entitlement".
And MorganRodgers (I can't multi-tag I guess) I mean the common drop/add time frame, not prior to term start. Just that "if possible" it allows one to further gauge. If I were busy I just wouldn't respond to a student. Some are more giving than others, it is true though. I am not suggesting that if they do not communicate with the OP prior to term start they are "doing the bare minimum" btw.


text:
How do I convince professors about my research interests?
I'm applying to a coursework + thesis masters programme and am wondering how specific do I have to be when mentioning my research interests in my email to a potential advisor. I have applied to another programme before and I think I was too specific when I spoke to the prof. He rejected me immediately because he thinks that our interests do not fit.
As an undergrad applying into a masters course, do I also need to have a research topic ready when contacting the prof? I have trouble refining my research topic as I'm applying into a specialization I've no experience in.
I understand that especially for coursework, there is a chance that our research interest (or topic) might change over time, and in some schools/faculty, masters students aren't really given the full autonomy to decide on their research topics.
How can I convince the prof without sounding like I'm trying to fit into the lab's interests or without deviating too much from his interests?
Thank you.

What country are you in?

Fitting into the lab's interests, assuming they are close to your own, may not be a bad thing.

In my experience (North American research-intensive universities) and point of view, this is a good question without a hard-and-fast answer.

having a specific research topic in mind is good in that it indicates that you've made an effort to think about the topic. However:

new researchers (undergraduates) often have unrealistic ideas about what constitutes a practical research topic, especially for a beginner in the field who will have a limited amount of time to work on the project;
even good research topics may not fit in with the specific research program of a particular researcher. As researchers are often supporting master's students from grants, their students' projects need to fit into the scope of the grant.
researchers (and fields) vary hugely in the amount of independence they give to (or expect of) master's students. You might be able to get some ideas about a particular researcher's approach if you can track down masters' theses of their previous students and look at the range of topics covered (these are often available from institutional repositories of theses and dissertations, e.g. https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/271 ).

It's fine (and probably best) to say "I have the following ideas about new projects I could work on ... but of course I would be happy to work on new or existing projects in your lab ..."

similarly, it's good to express some knowledge of/interest in the potential supervisor's field. HOWEVER: I get a lot of e-mails that say something along the lines of "I'm fascinated by your work in XXX and YYY", where XXX and YYY are topics that can easily be picked off of my web  page or a glance at my CV or Google Scholar page.
The most compelling aspect of an application/e-mail is evidence that a student has previously engaged with something about the subject, and that they are aware what knowledge will be useful in the field. (Sometimes professors provide a list of the background they expect their students to have.) Even if you haven't done anything in the particular field, it  helps a lot if you highlight things that you know/have done that will make you well-prepared for research in the topic — this could be course projects you've done in related fields, or courses you've taken (or things you've taught yourself) that are good foundations for getting started in the field.

I appreciate that the last point is hard if you're just entering the field for the first time, but talk is cheap: demonstrating that you've already taken some steps to prepare yourself is much more convincing. If you can't do that, then demonstrating some awareness of which aspects of your current training would be useful is helpful.

If there's a particular professor you'd like to work with, my suggestion is to read the most recent several papers from the laboratory. Then when you write the professor just say that you're very interested in their research direction. You've read their recent papers on X and Y and were particularly interested in some particular point that one of those papers emphasized. Basically indicate to the professor that you understand what their research is, and you have the capability to independently understand one or more of their recent research articles. Then, if you can, relate their research field to your own training/background. If you have anything specific to connect you to their research direction more than your own words that will count 10x.
My personal feeling is that if you're someone just about to enter an MS program, it's not that likely you'll have some earth-shattering research idea the professor hasn't thought of before. And, you're right, generally, that MS students are generally expected to carry out the professor's instructions rather than have a fully independent research topic (one of the differences between MS and PhD training). Therefore, saying "I really want to work on X topic" might be limiting at best, or actively harmful at worst. Better to simply express your honest interest in the professor's particular research direction.
Depending on the program, remember, too, that an e-mail may only be the proverbial "foot in the door," and there would be followup interviews in person or via Skype/Zoom/etc. Therefore your goal in the first step is really to get to the second step. Better, in that case, to keep things short and to the point.


text:
Can you do a masters in Canada with 3 years bachelor degree?
Do all Canadian universities require a 4 year degree for masters?

Most Canadian university will admit you to a master if you have an undergraduate degree. This could be a “license” in the European system or a bachelor degree. The reason why universities require a four year degree is because there is no College in the Canadian system ( with the exception of Quebec with its cégep system). Consequently, students enter universities at a young age ( around 17 or 18). If you have completed a bachelor equivalent I would try to apply. School registrar will judge your application based on which education system you are from.
Good luck in your application !

I have a 3-year undergraduate degree from Australia. Would that be acceptable for a master?

3-year degrees from Europe and Australia are probably acceptable. Focus on the last two sentences ("if you have completed a bachelor equivalent ...")

I believe that a three year degree from Australia would indeed work. However I am unsure of the specifics. I would definitely apply if I were you. You can also contact the registrar office directly, they will be able to provide clearer information.

What do you mean there are no colleges in Canada? There certainly are.

There are colleges in Canada. However, contrary to the Cegep system, from my understanding, going through college  to go to university is not mandatory. https://www.wes.org/advisor-blog/college-and-university-in-canada-what-is-the-difference/


text:
Should I send a second (but not consecutive) follow-up email?
By the end of the term, I am supposed to choose my MA supervisor. Normally, I agreed to meet her to confer on a possible common area of interest this week. On Monday, I sent her an email asking when we could meet and she hasn't still replied. It's now Sunday in Turkey, so it has been six days.
I want to send a follow up email but the problem is that I sent another follow up email on the same issue two or three weeks ago when I first contacted to ask whether I can study with her. If I send a second email this time as well, I fear that I could seem rude and annoying. What should I do here? Since the deadline is one month from now on, I want to settle this issue.

Depending on where your prospective supervisor lives and works, they may not be back at work yet after Christmas and New Year's. I would wait until the end of next week before sending another follow up. Also, have you already been accepted for the MA? Or do you need this supervisor to accept you first?

@astronat Yes, I have already been accepted. In Turkey, you have to choose your MA thesis advisor/supervisor by the end of the first semester once you are admitted.

E-mails can get lost in the cyberspace and with COVID pandemic everywhere there may be many more serious reasons for not getting replies. I would wait a bit (like one more week if the deadline is within a month) and then, if still there is no response, resend the e-mail with a short apology for doing it again. If there is still no response after that and the deadline gets close, I might even go as far as to contact the department head and politely inquire if everything is OK unless you have some less direct means to check it. I hope she'll reply long before that though :-)


text:
How would you write to your in-class team, that you are going to drop the class, leaving no hard feelings?
We have a project to do with them but I don't have the time and am not sure if this email is appropriate for them. What do you think? I would greatly appreciate your advice.
Here is what I am thinking of sending them.
Hello guys,
Hope you having a good weekend
I’m writing to you to let you know that unfortunately and for personal reasons, I have to drop this class. I have sent an email to the professor, so he should be aware of it very soon.
I hope you understand, and I wish you guys all the best on the project.
Sincerely,

How far into the class are you? Halfway, three weeks?

Thank you for doing this! My two colleagues in a team of 3 ghosted me in a lab project after the experimental work was done. I waited half a year for them to write their reports.Luckily the instructor was lenient and I had to redo only the part of the course where the reports were missing.

Your suggestion looks fine.  I would consider making an offer to bring them up to speed on anything you have been working on that could help them out.

I think that your suggestion, like what Scott thought, looks perfectly fine, but you should make a few edits.
This is what I think you should send.
Hello guys,
I hope you are having a good weekend,
I’m writing to you to let you know that unfortunately, for personal reasons, I have to drop out of this class. I have sent an email to the professor, so he will be aware of it very soon. (If you were working on something for the project, courtesy Scott) I was working on 'blah' and will send you the attachments so that you can use my work. I hope you understand, and I wish you guys the best on the project. Sincerely,
Some points I like about your email

You were polite

In it you told the team why you had to leave

And you wished them good luck/best

Good Luck!

Instead of "will send you the attachments soon", better just attach them right away :-)

K, I will edit that.

Nitpick: you missed the o in courtesy.

Thanks for letting me know!

What is the parenthetical supposed to mean?

All you need to do is tell them politely, whatever you say is fine, include "I'm sorry" or some similar expression of regret, what you wrote is fine.
More importantly, tell them now. Don't wait or spend time crafting the perfect message. The more heads up you give them the less impact you have on them. It's much more rude to wait writing the perfect email than it would be to send a poorly written email on time.

That is just fine.  Happens all the time.  At least  you told your team.
Some of my students just disappear.


text:
How can I get financial aid for a BSc as a young US Citizen with no family in the US?
I have lived abroad and want to move to the US to pursue a BSc degree. I have no family there except for the sibling of my parent who lives in a far away state from where I wish to be.

Your best chance is probably financial aid from the institution. You'll need to check the institutions you're interested in, but here's an example from the University of South Florida.

You can believe us when we say that we strive to make the USF experience as affordable as possible for students and their families. In 2018-19, USF awarded an estimated $504 million in financial aid.
Learn more about the types of aid available and how to apply below or visit USF’s Office of University Financial Aid and Scholarships for comprehensive financial aid information.
TYPES OF AID AVAILABLE

Grants: Money provided to students by the federal or state government or institution that is need based (you are not responsible for paying back).
Scholarships: Money provided to students based on academic performance or talent (e.g. athletics, music, etc.).
Loans: Money borrowed by you and/or your parents that must be paid back with interest. Loans may be awarded to you regardless of financial need.
Work Study: Need-based employment. Money is received bimonthly based upon hours worked in an on-campus job.

The good news is that, as a US citizen, you're eligible for more aid than international students. The bad news is, aid is competitive. Last I saw only a very few universities have the resources to offer entirely need-based financial aid, and of course admission to those universities is very competitive.
Good luck.


text:
Do measurement protocols belong anywhere in the scientific publications?
My research as a starting PhD student currently consists of reproducing and building upon the experiments carried out by other research groups 5--10 years ago. To this end, I have developed a number of measurement protocols, that is, step-by-step instructions how to clean samples, how to carry out microscopy measurements, how to troubleshoot experimental errors.
I haven't seen this kind of information published or linked in scientific publications. Even the supporting information typically has a couple of graphs, a more verbose explanation of the materials and methods part, sometimes, a dataset, but nowhere close to step-by-step instructions. However, I feel that having this kind of information available will be a good help to other researchers, maybe to new researchers, and will serve to the reproducibility of the experiments.
Do these measurement protocols belong anywhere in the realm of academic publications? I have thought of publishing them in the online supporting information for the article, or in my PhD thesis, possibly as an appendix, or in my academic blog; which of those is popular / recommended way of publishing those protocols?
Research field is Physics / Material Science, if it matters.

There are a bunch of journals coming out for methods now, e.g. Methods in ecology and evolution.  Methods work is increasingly seen as a contribution in its own right.
On the other hand, it sounds like you may be writing quite an excellent review paper, and in that case you might include (unusually!) a methods section in your review article, and mention your methodology as one of the contributions in the article's abstract, intro, conclusion etc.
You should regardless of whether you publish the method be sure to include it as an appendix or part of the methods sections on your papers you use it on.  All papers need to be reproducable.  If you haven't published the paper featuring it yet, you will need to describe the full method in the first paper that uses it.  The editor will tell you whether to put this in electronic, appendix, or methods, don't worry too much on submission.  If you have already published it, you can just cite that publication and any differences / improvements since the publication.
Go ahead and blog it too.  Different people read blogs from papers.  Some people prefer to wait until they've got it published and past peer review before you go public on a blog.  But unless I thought the method itself was going to get me into a journal with an embargo (e.g. Nature / Science – unlikely!) I would probably blog it now.  I'd do that with the caveat on the top of the blog post in bold that it hasn't been published yet, and then another caveat at the bottom of the post in italics asking for feedback.  When your papers get published, be sure to go back and edit the blog post, edit out the caveats, and link to the new paper(s) so people who find your blogpost will cite your papers.


text:
Does anyone monitor/support public-sector scientists?
The government science sector is relatively small, but when you add up all the state and national departments and related organisations, it's a lot of people doing a lot of science.
Despite the strategic importance of public sector science, as far as I know there is no group responsible for the sector as a whole. It is no one’s job to support, connect or speak out for the highly diverse, often committed but sometimes isolated workforce within the government science sector. It is no one’s job to keep track of the sector, to share knowledge and work towards practical resolution of shared issues. This stands in contrast to the relatively well-organised, represented and funded science in academia. (Note that public sector jobs can be well paid and secure)
I would like to know if there are any organisations, initiatives or resources aimed at a) monitoring or b) supporting government (public sector) scientists, in any country.

One excellent example is the UK's Government Science and
Engineering profession. Well worth a look.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-government-science-engineering

What do I mean by government / public sector scientist?

is not employed by a university or college (what I think of as academia)
employed within executive arm of government, often a department e.g. Dept of Environment, Dept of Health, Dept of Agriculture
spends subtantial amount of job conducting research
generally not rewarded by academic measures of success and so in some sense decoupled from academic career structures (not saying this is good or bad)

What do I mean by monitoring?

Keeping statistics and recording trends in number employed, discipline, funding, salaries, career paths, impact on public good or economy etc (while not perfect, there seems to be many reports and organisations tasked with tracking these kinds of things in academia and private sector R&D)

What do I mean by support?

The kind of work done by national academies of science (e.g. AAAS in the US, the Australian Academy of Science, the Royal Society in the UK) and disciplinary societies, professional bodies and the like. Note that their work may or may not be relevant to government scientists, but it is generally not targeted at them. Can anyone share an example of work by a body like this that is specifically targeted to government scientists?
Initiatives, policies, resources aimed at supporting career development and tackling issues. For example just about every university/college and many departments and institutes within them will have their own set of policies, initiatives and resources targeted to early career researchers, whether it's developing writing and publication skills, grant application training, outreach skills, building a career plan, finding a mentor etc.
An issue is that university and college resources, and the staff within them, are often active in the public domain. There are probably a lot of resources out there but government scientists may not be encouraged/authorised to have a public presence and their departments may not prioritise sharing what may be seen as internal resources with the general public.

I agree that this is unclear. You’ll need to specify the country you’re talking about, as well as what you mean by “monitoring” and “supporting.” Surely it’s tautological that the government supports its employees, yes? You also seem to imply that it’s someone’s “job to support, connect, or speak out for... the academic science center.” I don’t know who those people would be in my country.

Why should non-academics not be decoupled from academic career structures? I for one am perfectly happy to be decoupled. And I have many (perhaps too many) people who keep an eye out for what my department does...

@JonCuster I know a reasonable number of people who move between the two, and honestly I think it's probably a good thing - I also know of multiple problems caused because people stay in one place too long. Anything which increases the ability of scientists to move between these areas is to be encouraged, frankly.

Thanks all! I've tried to clarify incl defining govt scientist, monitor & support. I'm not talking about universities and similar research institutes. I agree that all employers support their staff in some sense, but I am talking about govt science as a sector. There are many groups advocating for science in academia, incl universities & national academies. I'm interested in any country, I guess North America and Western Europe could have most info. I'm not arguing that they should or shouldn't be decoupled but tend to agree with @arboviral.

I am a public researcher not formally dependent upon an university. Formally I am not in academia. But it is rather the academia that benefits by being recognised by my institution. I suspect is highly geographical.

Your questions appear to be asking about non-academic government scientists.
To answer your question about supporting science, yes groups exist that support them. The largest of which is probably the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) who advocates on behalf of scientists both in the United States of America and other countries as well. The mission and purpose of AAAS is to
advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.
I am member of AAAS and a government research scientist. The news and updates section of Science includes both news about government scientists and what AAAS is advocating on behalf scientist and science.
To answer your question about monitoring science (at least in the United States), the Office for Personnel Management (OPM) provides oversight and standards for managing scientists across agencies (e.g., this public webpage lists some of their resources).

thanks Richard. I agree that national bodies like AAAS implicitly support government science, but I haven't seen any activities of theirs specifically targeted to the public sector. Hopefully I've just missed them. I like the news section of Science. I am not across the higher education and research news media, there is probably lots of info there.Thanks also for the OPM link - it's definitely part of what I'm interested in.

@HamishC You're welcome. See this story as well it mentions some of the efforts by AAAS.

There are different ways to interpret "government public sector scientist". For instance in the UK there are government laboratories which are executive agencies of government departments, such as the Animal and Plant Health Agency. In contrast the UK research institutes used to be part of Research Councils UK, which is a non-departmental public body, and were equivalent to university departments in every respect except awarding degrees (same eligibility for funding, etc). However, nowadays most of those institutes are either independent charities or have become part of a university.

It is no one’s job to support, connect or speak out for the highly
  diverse, often committed but sometimes isolated workforce within the
  government science sector. It is no one’s job to keep track of the
  sector, to share knowledge and work towards practical resolution of
  shared issues

It sounds like a trade union is the body closest to what you're asking about. In the UK the union representing most government scientists/engineers, as well as many of the research institutes I mention above, is Prospect. This includes forensic, nuclear, agricultural, fisheries and environmental scientists, among others. The union will address safety, job security, pay negotiations etc.
There are also professional bodies and associations that are open to STEM employees in their profession irrespective of their employer, such as the Institute of Safety and Technology in Research, which provide continuing professional development and networking opportunities. And most academic societies will not exclude members based on whether they are employed by government, academia or industry.

Thanks arboviral, that's helpful. I should look into the relevant national unions to see what public sector research-specific things they get up to. I agree that many societies and professional bodies are relevant to public sector scientists, I just feel that there are some elements to the work that justify treating government science as a sector of its own, and doing some things with/for it as a whole, rather than on a department-by-department or society-by-society basis.


text:
Can I get into a funded graduate Psychology program after having studied Chemistry?
I have earned an Honours degree in Chemistry, but my heart is set on Psychology.  So, I want to pursue graduate studies in Psychology.
Is it possible to get fully funded admission in a world-class university? Should I do an online course for it? If so, which one?
If it's not possible to get fully funded admission this way. How can I make myself eligible enough to get into a world-class university with a scholarship?
Please note that I have searched a lot for it but did not find any specific answer for my case.  I also found a lot of online courses for Psychology, but not sure which will help my case the most.

Welcome to SE.Academia!  I'd suggest specifying where you'd like to do your graduate studies.

What academic experience do you have in psychology (courses of any kind?)? Why are you so sure you want to study psychology? What element of psychology do you want to study/what sort of advancement would you want to make with your thesis?

any university offering world-class education will do. I prefer us/Canadian universities.  @Nat


text:
Do visiting professors make for good PhD supervisor?
I am currently thinking about pursuing a public policy PhD after my MA is completed. One of my top target schools employs a visiting professor who has been at that university for the past several years. The main reason I wanted that particular professor is that his previous background included posts at several very high-ranking positions within the US government that I feel like would be helpful to me throughout my doctoral education and with the potential dissertation. But I'm worried that as a visiting professor, he'd make for a poor choice as a supervisor due to him being "visiting" instead of a more permanent professor at the school (is it?).

Are you sure he's still there? I'm not in anything near public policy, but a "several" year visiting professorship would be very odd. Two would be unusual, to me.

Hm, not entirely sure. I still see him on the school's faculty roster, and he started his first year at the university in 2017.

A visiting professor, especially a senior one, normally falls in one of two categories: (1) a short-term temporary position (the original meaning), or (2) an adjunct position with  minor responsibilities in the department. None of these make for good supervisors.

While I agree with the other comments and answers, you could consider collaborating with this professor even if you are supervised by another. That way you will get the benefits of his skills and experience too.

Rules vary, but visiting professors should not be permitted to supervise PhD students because they are not employed for the duration of the supervision period.  So while they might be skilled supervisors, they are not suitable supervisors.

Most universities have PhD candidature rules that require the primary supervisor to be a permanent faculty member of the university.  Visiting professors can sometimes act as co-supervisors, but you would need a primary supervisor from your university.  This is done to reduce the risk of supervisor-loss.


text:
Do I need to apologize for late reply to Professor's mail?
For some reasosns, I needed to email our professor in the name of the whole class as class representative. When I got the reply, I had to check if everyone in the class was OK with it. This has some time, about a week. Do I need to apologize for the late reply and explain this? Or do I just reply without minding it?

A week is very reasonable for a reply by email [*]. There is no need to apologise.
It may be useful to explain that everyone in the class agrees to "the thing". Most professors would be able to deduce from that information that you have consulted them and that this took some time. This is the second reason you do not need to apologise.

[*] obviously this depends on the urgency of the matter, but in general replying within a week is considered "fast".

Apologising too much or too early usually indicates insecurity. Many professors and teachers prefer to see professional, independent students. Sincere apologies are always good, but "political" apologies are often worse than no apologies, when none are necessary. This may strongly depend on the culture. But no one expects apologies about a late reply when the reply is actually early by most people's standards.

I would not generalize the expectations like so. It sounds pretty unreasonable to ask a question pertinent to the next week's class only to receive an email with the response at 8am the very same day that class takes place.

@Lodinn If the situation you describe was what happened, OP should not have left out that essential information. My reading of this question is therefore that this is not an urgent matter, and the footnote to my answer clearly states that it does not apply to urgent matters.