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Is there any way to pick a right direction in research while solving a problem?
I am a PhD student mid stage, working on computational aspects of mathematics. I am working on a research problem with my supervisor. I am at a stage where I can't take much help from the supervisor because I am in the fourth year. I can't do something like going to supervisors office to verify my answers. I did these things in the initial years of my PhD, but now I can't poke my supervisor that often.
I am facing a difficulty that how to come with something non-trivial on myself. The problem with me is that I go into wrong directions many times, and in the past I have spent many days, weeks, or longer on these wrong directions. I want to minimise the number of these trials and failures. Does it come with age?
Question: Is there any way to pick a right direction (which yields a paper) in research while solving a problem? I can take the help of my research supervisor once in two weeks. However, many times a day or week, I also need to discard some of the possible directions of research.

** I can't do something like going to supervisors office to verify my answers. **  Why??? When I work on something, I do not hesitate to walk into my colleague's office and say "LIsten, I have this problem and this idea. Let's discuss it a bit" and I can no longer count the number of  times somebody else played this game on me. Of course, this requires decently good relationships, but I hope you haven't seriously quarreled with your adviser yet.

You show your independence by leading a meaningful discussion, coming with your own ideas, figuring out answers, clearly understanding where you are stuck, etc., not by avoiding regular communication. The latter is neither necessary, nor sufficient for demonstrating maturity and independence, IMHO. So, if you feel like you want to discuss anything and have to say something more meaningful than "I need help figuring out what I need help with", I would say, by all means, go ahead and talk!

Short version: no.
Long version: absolutely no. Having experience in the field helps (and experienced people are those that have already taken lots of wrong directions in their life), but ultimately encountering road blocks is a part of research. It happens all the time. You take lots of wrong directions, you waste time.
What you read in the papers is the road that works and gives the best and shortest solution to the problem, but the people who wrote them typically have also tried several approaches that didn't work, or were a lot more cumbersome.
If it is already clear from the beginning what will work, it's not research anymore, it's just an exercise. :)

And usually the best approach to be written up is recognized in hindsight after getting there a more painful way...

The only way to pick the right direction in research inevitably leading to a research paper is knowledge of your field. There is no set way to do this. However, you can certainly, make educated guesses based off previous results and your knowledge of the literature.
Regarding your supervisor, I think it is very reasonable request that you ask for guidance as to whether you are working in the right direction. After all, he/she is probably an expert in this field and will have a better hunch about your chosen direction.


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Journal requires to cite Arxiv pre-print of the same work – where and how do I cite?
I am submitting my paper to a journal that requires to cite Arxiv pre-prints within the content of the submitted article (presenting the same work) to avoid self-plagiarism. How would I practically perform such a citation:

In which section of my manuscript should I cite the Arxiv reference?
What would be an adequate explanation for this citation?

a journal that requires to cite Arxiv pre-prints within the content of the submitted article (presenting the same work) to avoid self-plagiarism - I don't understand.  Are they asking for the arXiv id of the manuscript you're submitting or they want arXiv citations for references you use that are in the pre-print stage?

They want arxiv citation for references within the submitted manuscript with the proper explanation to avoid self-plagiarism case. As my article which has been submitted to the journal and its arxiv copy both have the same content, what would be the appropriate explanation for that?

Add something like this to your "Introduction" section:

This paper has been published as an arxiv pre-print<cite pre-print here>

This is the approach I used when I published part of the research I had done for my thesis. It conveys the necessary information without cluttering the paper with verbiage that a majority of readers will find irrelevant.

In computer science, it's common for a short version of a paper to be published in conference proceedings, and then a full version in a journal. In that case, it's quite common to have a footnote to the title saying something like "A short version of this work appeared in Proceedings of Awesome Conference 2018, pp. 10–19. That Publishing Company, 2018." The same sort of thing would work for a preprint.

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Expected size of startup package for a tenure-track position in Finland
I have an assistant-professor position in the US, but for personal reasons, I am moving to Europe. I was offered a tenure-track position in Finland. I don't know why but I missed to discuss about the startup package during the interview. I asked about it after receiving the job offer, and the dean asked me how much I need.
In the US, I received near $800K for launching my lab and group, but I read that such startup packages are not common in Europe. I do not want to sound unreasonable.
Can you tell me how is the common practice for starting a tenure-track position in Finnish universities?

I know nothing about such things in Finland, but in the US at least it would be impossible to answer such a question without specifying the field.

There is very little any public information on this available anywhere.
I did some googling and here is a summary of what I was able to put together from some random documents written in Finnish (from Helsinki, Tampere, and Oulu): a reasonably normal startup package for a new tenure track or tenured position in Finnish universities appears to be enough funding to hire 1 doctoral student or postdoc for 1–3 years.

Is that information specific to some field(s), or is it actually general?

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University-wide use of cracked OS and software – how to fix this?
My university is using cracked OS and software throughout. The school is very huge at 70 hectares and there are buildings everywhere. All of the computers in the computer labs and offices are full of cracked Windows and software¹. In our computer labs, we use a cracked OS and software to program and design circuits. Also, the school is credited as a Center of Development which is a world-wide acknowledgement.
The cracked software tends to crash and produces a lot of errors leading to lots of data loss. Especially when it crashes without warning, and data sometimes can get corrupted.
My question is: How did the school get away with this, and is there a way to report this to authorities? I don’t even think my country cares about software pirating anyway (Philippines). Is there a way to report this so that the software in every computer in the university can be replaced and upgraded?

¹ Everytime we turn on the computers, the first message we see is "Activate Windows Now", and when we open the programs we use, the first thing you see is the splash screen displaying "Cracked by PerTician Cracker".

If you do this - you do have a passport ready to leave don’t you...

Why do you care / what do you hope to gain from this? You don't know the institution's financial or other situation and if the law doesn't care, why should you? On a side note, "a lot of errors leading to lots of data loss" is far more likely to be due to misconfiguration / misuse rather than a consequence of "cracked" software. Sorry, this question reads far more like a frustrated student seeking ways to force his institution to upgrade than someone with moral concerns about piracy.

@user3209815 Or the OP could simply be an honest person paying tuition money they earned through honest work who's upset they're being sold stolen software.

Being in a course where we develop software and use cracked software is a bit ironic isnt it?

Did you consider talking to the university first before reporting to the authorities?

Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/76692/our-teacher-is-encouraging-us-to-use-cracked-software?rq=1, https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/79603/lab-colleague-uses-cracked-software-should-i-report-it?noredirect=1&lq=1

OTOH, unfortunately, software is blatantly overpriced. In some developing countries, there is no financially viable option other than cracked software :-( Clearly, this is not an excuse, but it is a reason.

@NicoleHamilton Sure, could be, in which case this might be a lesson how in the adult world of limited information and vastly differing viewpoints it is prudent to consider carefully choosing the battles worth fighting for. Further, I'm not sure I understand your point about "being sold stolen software". Software isn't sold at an university any more than the tiles in the floor or the wood quality of the furniture. These are all means to an end, which is to provide education (the quality of which might of course vary in accordance with the provided courses, software, tiles, furniture, ...)

@user3209815 To really nitpick, software is not sold to consumers, it's licensed.  A license is a right to use.  The university is granting a fraudulent right to use pirated software.  All better now?

@NicoleHamilton Again, what is your point? How does that affect OP? I've already stated (as have others in their answers) that the reason the software doesn't work properly is almost certainly unrelated to whether it is licensed or not (even licensed software breaks when abused or run on an infected or misconfigured computer). Apart from that argument, OP is not being harmed in any way. Hence my doubt in the OP's motivations.

@user3209815 To me, it seems more likely you're projecting.  Because you might be motivated to be needlessly troublesome, not particularly concerned about respect for the IP rights of others, you believe that's the OP's likely motivation.  But not everyone is like you.  Some people are just very honest and they ask that also of the people and organizations they work with.

@NicoleHamilton Well, it certainly can be that I'm projecting, but the same can be said about you, just in the other extreme. So I think that that is not relevant to this case, but nonetheless. If I understand your position, you state that OP would gain a satisfaction from forcing the institution to change its policies, so that it can be honest in OP's view. My point is, OP can't expect that everyone will act how they expect them to nor that they are always right. This is simply not a right picture of the real world and one that will get them in trouble in later life.

If you suspect pirated software is being used, you can report it either directly to the software publishers themselves, e.g., to Microsoft, or you can file a confidential report online with one of the various software industry trade groups, e.g., the BSA Software Alliance or The Software & Information Industry Association.  (SIIA offers rewards.)
Realistically, it's the publishers' responsibility¹ to protect their intellectual property, not yours.  So once you've made a report, I'd let the matter drop.  The publishers' attorneys will take it from there.  They know how to fix blatant cases like the one you describe.  Typically what they do is offer a carrot and a stick, the carrot being a very attractive "get well" price to replace all the pirated software with legitimate copies, and the stick being the threat of a lawsuit.  The objective isn't always so much about getting paid for software previously pirated as it is about turning pirates into paying customers, changing their practices to ensure they always buy legitimate copies in the future.

¹ “It is the responsibility of the rights' holders to register, protect, and enforce their rights.”

-1 Because I'm skeptical that the BSA, SIIA, etc., are active in that way in the Philippines (legal action, lawsuits). I'd like to see a citation on that.

@DanielR.Collins They pass the reports along to the companies whose products have been pirated.  They act as a clearing house.

So: Skeptical that reports to BSA et. al. are likely to trigger publishers' attorney legal actions in the Philippines.

Other objections notwithstanding, are you suggesting reporting this on suspicion, without confirmation? I refer to your first sentence, though in this case OP has clarified why suspicions are justified.

@user153812 Are you asking me to define what it means to suspect something?  Don't you think most people can apply their own good judgment to decide if they have good reason?

I am questioning what you are advocating. 'Good reason' is more apt than 'suspicion'. What I think people can do is irrelevant- as a researcher, I wouldn't advocate accepting anything on a suspicion.

@user153812  Fine.  The whole notion of reporting suspected piracy is voluntary.
You are entitled to apply your own evidentiary standards in deciding whether and what to report -- exactly like everyone else.  The owners of the IP then pay lawyers to decide if a case has merit, weeding out crank or maliciously false reports.

Alright. IMO your answer would benefit by replacing 'suspicion' with 'good reason', 'beyond reasonable doubt', or something equivalent, so as to avoid advocating flippant reporting.

They won't care. Microsoft is generally happy if universities use their software, and they are not going to be able to earn much money from public institutions of the poorer countries anyway.

@DanielR.Collins : ABS-CBN reports your skepticism is misplaced, as a trivial Google search shows.

We had pretty much the same situation in Russia in early 90s, after the dissolution of USSR and economic crisis that followed. On one hand, the country had access to global market and it became possible for small businesses and large institutions like Universities to purchase desktops for their staff/students. On the flip side, there was rarely any funds available/budgeted for software.
For university lecturers this meant a clash between the desire to be ethical (do not steal) and the desire to give students best education, using modern software when appropriate. It was quite usual to come across cracked/pirated software in  university lab. Heck, it was not unusual for banks and government agencies (including police) to use a pirated copy of MS Win. Fun times indeed.
Twenty years later, software piracy came to a certain demise. Not because it was reported to Russian police, and not because it was reported to SIIA and whatever other agency. It ended mainly for two reasons: (a) generally speaking Russian economy improved and institutions find it possible to budget money for software; (b) underfunded sectors (including education and science) switched predominantly to free/libre software. There is still a visible amount of piracy in game/media sector, but not that much in software one.
Following the queries in comments, let me clarify the suggestion:

You can talk to your professors about the possibility to use free/libre  (open source) software for your projects. For example, use Linux as operating system, libre office and LaTeX for publishing / essays, Open Circuit Design for circuit design, etc.

@NajibIdrissi Is not it clear? If piracy is an accepted norm in your country, it won't change until the global situation changes. A report probably won't change it - MS knows their software is pirated in some countries and they can't help it.

He's not asking how to change the whole country, he's asking how to report the situation at his school and get it changed there.

@NicoleHamilton Yes, and this is not likely to happen, if this is an accepted norm.

Not true.  If you're a publisher and you believe your IP is being pirated and you can't get a resolution on your own, the simple answer is you hire an attorney and pursue a civil complaint.  I have customers all over the world for my C shell.  I've had to deal with piracy myself (thankfully, not often.)

But OP is not a publisher. And the publisher (MS) knows their software is pirated - but they probably don't see any point pursuing it if the guilty party can't pay them anyway.

Which is why the OP should report the problem to the publishers and let them handle it.  The OP does not have "standing", the publishers do.

Your answer assumes publishers have standing but lack knowledge.This is incorrect. They know their software is pirated, but they won't get anything by coming after a foreign university with no international assets.

You're simply wrong.  Software vendors don't always know their products are being pirated until a whistleblower tells them.

Your C shell, maybe. MS Win & Office definitely can (and do) connect the MS server and report in which timezone/location they are installed.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

Well, transfering the comment to an answer:
You could report this to the companies developing the software tools. If you fear any repression (which is likely), use some anonymous mail or web contact forms which you access e.g. via tor browser.
I strongly encourage you to do this, because usually academic institutions can often get standard software for very reasonable prices (this might vary from country to country).

I disagree with "academic institutions can often get standard software for very reasonable prices". What constitutes as "reasonable price" in Germany and in Philippines is probably different in several orders of magnitude

@AnderBiguri this is why I said "this might vary from country to country".

Yes indeed! But as OP is in Philippines, it does vary for this case specifically. Just commenting on it.

@AnderBiguri Microsoft have literally nothing to gain from charging people in the Philippines more than they can afford. I would be very much surprised if prices of campus licences were uniform around the world.

Bear in mind that HEIs are government-funded institutions in many countries (including Philippines). It is possible that this funding can only be spent on "hard" purchases (e.g. computers) but not on digital goods (no budget classification, etc.)

Your approach to this problem is very objectionable; you appear inclined to create trouble rather than generate a solution.
I am not saying this because the university is doing the 'right' thing – they aren't, but that's a separate question. You don't indicate any efforts to finding out the reasons for piracy within the university, or to raise the issue with your faculty/network administrators/general administration. Instead, you propose to directly report this to outside authorities. This is stirring trouble.

Nevertheless, since there is a real problem, an answer is in order:
(1) How the university got away with it is not a concern, because anything in that direction will be speculative, and impossible for you to verify.
(2) If the frequent crashing and data loss, or any other inaccuracy in calculation is strongly correlated to cracked software, that is a real concern. But be aware that poor upkeep, unauthorised use of USB drives, inadequate malware protection - especially if these are public computers - could cause similar issues. Presumably there is a network administrator, or some group of people responsible for maintenance and network security. Bring the issue to their notice, first informally and then formally. Don't imply that cracked OS is the concern, just highlight your problems. If you can document these problems, your case will be much stronger.
Let them take action, allow a reasonable time. See if you notice an improvement. If you do, the problem may not have been with cracked software.
On the other hand, if there is no improvement, consider informally escalating the issue, preferably through your adviser/student relations in charge/equivalent and simultaneously keeping the student body informed.
Frankly, the choice of software is university policy, you are not in a position to criticise it unless it demonstrably detracts from your work. A number of good answers to a similar question suggest that there may indeed be such demonstrable problems.
You must recognise that this is a large issue if it is widespread across the university. The larger the issue, the slower is the solution. Don't expect it to be instantly sorted out. If there is a genuine problem due to pirated software, it will affect many students, and you can feel glad about having initiated something that will positively impact many.

I deleted the comment discussion because it was slowly getting not nice, not leading anywhere, or addressed in an edit. If you disagree with the answer, downvote and possibly provide arguments for your disagreement in a comment. If you think that the advice offered by an answer is unethical, it is valid to criticise this, irrespective of whether the question is asking about ethics or not. Please do not discuss other answers here. Either way, be nice.

+1 At my university in the "first" world, all software is legal, and still computers are badly misconfigured, crash after clueless students and staff install unsuitable software and bring in viruses, etc.


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Translation of Dr. rer. nat. outside of Germany
Psychology at universities in Germany is either in the natural sciences or in philosophy, depending on the university. This affects the kind of academic title you get. People doing their doctoral thesis either get the doctor in natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) or the doctor in philosophy (Dr. phil.).
If I am not mistaken, most doctors in psychology (internationally) are Ph.D.s. So my question is, how would you refer to your title internationally? As a doctor of natural sciences? As a Ph.D. (even if you have a Dr. rer. nat.)? Are there legal requirements? I am thinking about a website that is generally understood internationally and -- perhaps -- about business cards.
(And yup, personally, I think -- and act if -- psychology is closer to natural sciences than philosophy.)
(I'm sorry if I can't specify the question more closely. There's a similar question (Choosing a title to hold upon completion of a doctoral degree: “Dr.” vs. “Ph.D.” [duplicate]) but I don't think it really covers this issue.)

The UK version of this question here: http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/30785/10643

I'm voting to reopen this question because an answer that is valid for the UK (the scope of the alleged duplicate) is not necessarily valid in other countries than the UK. If the question was reopened, I would post an answer around the idea that different countries have different rules (with Germany being a prominent example where it can be unlawful to use a straightforward-seeming translation of a title).

In the US, most doctorates in science and engineering are also a PhD even though our degrees aren't in philosophy. While other degrees exist, they are less common. I would suggest translating your degree as a PhD since most international audiences will understand that you mean an academic doctorate.
That being said, I was able to get what Dr. rer. nat. meant, too, so you might decide to put that and not worry about it. Most people have the ability to search the internet when they are confused.

I would say that for business cards and websites you don't need to translate your degree title.  Many people will already know what it means (German titles are unusual, but reasonably well known), and most will be able to basically figure it out, since it's got "Dr." as part of it.  If you are feeling particularly concerned about misunderstanding, you can put a footnote to the effect of "German doctorate similar to a Ph.D," but it's probably better to let the other person look up a translation.

I translate my own Dr.rer.nat. as PhD when I feel like a translation is required, and state it as Dr.rer.nat. otherwise. Since it says Dr. right there in the title, it is seldom if ever misunderstood.

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Am I conveying disrespect if I omit my gender pronoun from a conference nametag?
Situation
I have an academic conference coming up, and on the registration site we are instructed to optionally enter a personal gender pronoun (PGP) to appear on our name tags. To enter it or not to enter it?

Thoughts
My personal view is the following: if someone does include a PGP on their tag, then I understand that they'd like me to know something about their identity in order to respectfully converse with/about them. In the case that that person does use an non-standard pronoun (if that's the right terminology), then this offers them what is already privileged to those whose gender is aligned with societal assumptions (e.g. a white male who identifies as a man and uses the PGP "he/his", like me) to not have to make their identity a point of conversation at the outset of any interaction. So, I respect and appreciate that the organizing committee is being progressive and inclusive in this sense.
As for myself, I don't have any desire to include my PGP on the name tag. I simply don't have a very strong sense of identity, and don't think of the self in those terms. I realize that there is a painfully obvious response to this; I don't have to worry about it because I already conform to societal assumptions about gender anyway. I have the privilege of knowing that no one is going to call me "she" by accident. But, if I ask myself if I would strongly object if someone did... I dunno, I suppose I'd prefer that didn't happen.
We can look at another dimension of identity, ethnicity, to try and isolate exactly what I'm saying. I'm Italian, which means I have dark skin and hair. Fairly often in life I've encountered people who make the false assumption that I'm actually Mexican or middle eastern. I may correct them if it was appropriate to do so, but really I've never been offended or uncomfortable by it; I simply don't care enough about identity. If there was an optional field for filling in your ethnicity on a conference nametag, I wouldn't have any desire to complete that either, even though I do know that mine is often mistaken.
A potential flaw with this analogy is that gender is ubiquitous in conversation. The same is not true of ethnicity necessarily. Still, all I mean is that I don't feel compelled to broadcast anything about my identity as a pretext to interaction. If someone wants to learn about who I am, they can speak to me. It wouldn't make me more comfortable to walk around knowing that information about my identity can be obtained on sight (be it gender or anything else).

Note:
I do not want to be misunderstood as attempting to assert my beliefs onto others. Even though I don't put strong value in identity, I'm not saying that identity is objectively not valuable; I respect that to some people identity is of enormous value, and I appreciate that those people put their PGP on their name tag so that I can treat them the way they'd like to be treated.

Question
Now, my real question is not necessarily about the agreeableness of the position I've described above (though I'm happy to discuss it). Rather, I'd like to ask if the act of omitting the PGP from the name tag itself, even if well motivated/justified, is inadvertently signaling any disrespect. At the last one of these conferences, the vast majority of people did include the PGP. Now, I don't feel compelled to conform for conformity's sake, but I also don't want to give the false impression that I'm a proponent of gender binarism.

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Can't see why everyone would need pgp. With a name on the tag, what's wrong with using that name. Fred said so and so. It was Fred's comment I picked up on. With no pgp it works.

Your question does not make it clear what your feelings are one way or the other. You start out by saying you "simply don't have a very strong sense of identity", but you also feel the need to point out you're an Italian male and you'd refer not to be misidentified. It's this duality that results in the wide range of different answers I'm afraid.

It seems to me that the way to signal respect is, quite simply, by literally respecting people’s choice as to how they wish to present themselves to the world. So I’d advise you to take care to refer to people using their preferred pronoun as they chose to list it on their name tag (or using common sense if no pronoun is indicated). And don’t insult or think ill of anyone for making a choice that you disagree with regarding their pronoun, or regarding a choice not to list a pronoun for that matter.
While this advice may seem too obvious to be helpful, my point is that you are also entitled to the same respect that I just advised you to accord others. When you fill that form, you are choosing how you wish to present yourself to the world. Any choice that you make is 100% legitimate and deserves to be respected, including not wanting to list a pronoun. You don’t owe anyone a reason or an explanation of what (if anything) you are trying to “signal”. And anyone who professes to support other people’s rights to choose a pronoun to describe themselves, by extension supports your right to describe yourself however you choose to. Thus, I don’t see how any such person can take offense to your decision without being inconsistent and somewhat of a hypocrite. It doesn’t mean there aren’t such people who would find a way to imbue your action with a meaning it doesn’t have and take offense, but if there are I’m pretty sure you can safely ignore them, or, better yet, if challenged by them you can easily (and in a friendly way, I suggest) explain to them why they are misguided to be offended.

Edit: To address some of what’s been said in the comments and other answers, here are a couple more thoughts that occurred to me:

Someone (@vaelus) said my answer sidesteps the question since it focuses on whether people should be offended, but “doesn't advise on how likely it actually is for people to be offended.” That is correct. The reason why I chose to focus on this aspect is that there are situations where any action we take is likely to offend or annoy someone. Arguably most of life is like that, since the world unfortunately has many unreasonable people. Here too, I expect that some people will likely be annoyed also by the inclusion of pronouns on name tags, and might specifically be annoyed with OP if they were to take the action of including one. So it’s a Catch 22, damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t sort of situation. Therefore in my opinion the correct way to make decisions about tricky dilemmas like this is to base your actions on logic, and to be at peace with your own choices and be prepared to defend them if challenged. “Will people be offended?” is simply the wrong question to ask.
A lot of people are focusing on what OP will be “signaling” with each of the various choices that are available to them. And yet I find it amusing and interesting that almost everyone with an opinion is reading the “signal” a bit differently from everyone else. So, if the signal is such that 10 people look at it and each one is “reading” a different meaning into it (and appearing pretty confident that their reading is the correct one) isn’t that a sign that there actually isn’t any signal there to interpret, or that if there is then it is an extremely weak one at best? (Moreover, this is after we read OP’s very detailed explanation of what their opinion actually is! No signal is even necessary in this case.) So again, I think the focus on the signal is misguided. As @vladhagen said in another answer, the pronoun field is optional, and optional means precisely that. The only signal that not including a pronoun legitimately sends is “I chose to exercise my right not to include a pronoun.”

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At the last one of these conferences, the vast majority of people did include the PGP.

I suspect your refusal in this might come off more of rejecting the idea of PGPs rather than choosing not to have your own, which is at least mildly rude.
You describe yourself as looking like a cishet man (I don't have to worry about it because I already conform to societal assumptions about gender anyway. I have the privilege of knowing that no one is going to call me "she" by accident.), which - fairly or unfairy - I think would make people more likely to interpret a blank gender field as a rejection, rather than "no pronoun preferred." You may have to be explicity about your support for PGPs.
I'm curious, what would you do if you were in a meeting and everyone went around and said "names and pronouns please"? Would you still say "I don't care, call me what you want"?

but I also don't want to give the false impression that I'm a proponent of gender binarism.

Putting either binary pronoun down wouldn't be seen as an endorsement of gender binarism. As far as I know, there are not separate pronouns for people who are proponents of a gender sepectrum yet identify as a member of the traditional genders.

Still, all I mean is that I don't feel compelled to broadcast anything about my identity as a pretext to interaction. If someone wants to learn about who I am, they can speak to me

Yet, you do plan on wearing a nametag with your name on it, right?

On the whole, I wouldn't go so far as to say leaving an optional field blank is disrespectful (if it was mandatory, I would say it was rude), but if only for the first reason, I suggest you do it.
Keep in mind that normalizing sharing pronouns is as much for your comfort as for those who feel compelled to share theirs, either because theirs are unusual or because they don't look "typically" masculine or feminine. The reason we go around in a meeting and ask for pronouns is so one trans person (for example) doesn't feel called out because they chose to name their pronouns, but no one else did.
You say you don't have the desire to include a PGP on your nametag. Unless you truly desire not to have one, put one on. Maybe try "they," if you don't feel "he" works for you.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.  (Also see the meta FAQ.)

Folks - please use [chat] (or the specific chat room for this question) for longer, non-clarifying discussion. Enormous off-topic comment threads make it very difficult for visitors to determine if the comments are useful or just noise.

In the case that that person does use an non-standard pronoun (if that's the right terminology), then this offers them what is already privileged to those whose gender is aligned with societal assumptions (e.g. a white male who identifies as a man and uses the PGP "he/his", like me) to not have to make their identity a point of conversation at the outset of any interaction

People with non-binary pronouns do benefit from this kind of measure, but it's also helpful for some people who do have "he" or "she" pronouns which are not immediately obvious. This can include transgender people and those who are just plain androgynous.
I used to get addressed as "ma'am" on a regular basis. On one occasion when travelling in the USA they selected me for a random search and called for a female officer, even though they could have just looked at my ticket to see my first name. It still happens occasionally in my forties. I'm not bothered by it, but other people might be, and in my experience the people who make the mistake are often mortified when they realise. Pronoun badges etc. can help avoid that kind of awkwardness.
However, if only the non-gender-conforming people are wearing pronoun badges (or stating their pronouns in online profiles, etc. etc.) that can become uncomfortable. Being NGC is sometimes risky - I've been yelled at in public by a stranger who was angry because he couldn't immediately tell my gender, stared at for using the "wrong bathroom", and plenty of folk have had far worse experiences. When other folk also use pronoun badges/etc. it helps defuse this; it establishes the idea that giving your pronouns is a normal thing and doesn't have to flag you as a weirdo.
So, if you do choose to include your pronouns on your badge, you will be helping to make things a little more comfortable for the folk who need to include them.
But if the vast majority of folk at this conference are doing it, then one more or less is unlikely to make much difference, and it's unlikely that anybody would take it as an affront. What's important is that it's common practice, not that it's universal.

One of the strongest things you can do as a privileged ally is to use your position of privilege to erode systems of oppression.
While being explicit about your PGPs are optional for this conference, that optionality is really only available to folks in a position of privilege. Your ability to say "I don't have to worry about it" is not something available to others.
I think that leaving your PGP blank sends a signal that you're comfortable with your privilege. Taking the opportunity to normalize the sharing of PGPs and thereby drawing others into what is "normal" seems to be a signal more in line with the views that you expressed regarding inclusivity.

This one. Offering your preferred pronouns signals that you respect your colleagues pronoun choices. Whether you feel like you should or not, doing so anyway (at no cost to you) sets an example that others will hopefully follow.

Any time we visibly violate a social norm, other people notice, and will interpret that non-comformity through their own lens of understanding.
Whether abstaining from the practice is worth the possible misinterpretations is an individual judgment of conscience and practicality.

Leaving the information out is signalling something, however inadvertently. Exactly what is open to interpretation, but it is a signal. Moreover if, as you say, the majority of participants are including the information then including the information has become a social norm for this event. That means that omitting the information would violate this social norm, and including it would conform to the norm. In these circumstances, the signal sent by omitting pronouns from your name tag will be much stronger than the signal sent by including the information.
As an analogy, consider names. I'm not particularly attached to my given name. I don't hate it and don't have a better name in mind, I just don't identify with it very strongly. If people misspell it or mispronounce it or mistake it for something else it doesn't really bother me. I guess you could say I don't think of myself in terms of my name. But if I'm at an event where given names on name tags are the norm I still write it on a tag and slap it on my shoulder. Omitting the name tag would be confusing and potentially disconcerting to other people who are looking for that information. Wearing a name tag but leaving it blank would be even worse: that clearly looks like a STATEMENT of some sort, even if I only meant that "you can call me anything, just don't call me late for dinner" as my grandfather liked to say. Using my title and/or surname likely looks stuffy.
Now, names are not a highly contentious and emotive topic in my area, so at best I would be considered eccentric for omitting my given name, and at worst a crank or a snob. On the other hand, when I do include my name no one assumes that I am making a strong statement in favor of my name or declaring, with Andrew Carnegie, "that a person's name is to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language." As one person-wearing-a-name tag in a sea of others, the main thing I've signaled is "here is a person who knows the name tag etiquette of this event, whose name is ___."
In the case of personal pronouns, the topic is currently contentious and emotive. That means that if you omit the information when most others are including it the perceived message is likely to be more contentious. At best people might assume you are oblivious, at worst that you are actively dismissive or contemptuous of the practice. You may find people gently asking if you've forgotten something, or becoming slightly cooler to you after glancing at your tag—or sidling up to you to "commiserate" about the horrible practice of including pronouns on name tags.
If you do include the information, you will also be signalling something. If you were the only person at the event to include pronouns on your name tag then that inclusion would be a violation of the event's norms. In that case, the message might be interpreted as a protest against gender binarism or a personal quirk, or could just be baffling for individuals who have never seen the practice. But in this case you would be conforming to the social norm, which generally goes unnoticed—when was the last time you looked up in class and thought "Hey! That person is wearing pants! And SHOES!!!"1? So for the vast majority of conference attendees, the message you convey by including pronouns would simply be "here is a person who understands the name tag etiquette of this event, and who prefers ___ pronouns."

1 Unless, of course, you come from a place where "pants" means the intimate garment worn under clothing or the norm is some type of clothing other than western dress or are a time-traveller from the Victorian era, in which case seeing a (female) student in pants might well be a shocking violation of the social norm.

The main difference between names and pronouns is that in overwhelming majority of cases the pronoun can be inferred by simple observation, whereas a name cannot, so the pronoun information is almost always redundant and unnecessary, while the name one is almost always necessary (for strangers at least)

@Maxim In a community where folks are trying hard not to make assumptions about gender, pronouns become much less obvious and more necessary in order for strangers to feel comfortable addressing you. However, the larger point is that failing to conform to a social norm is more likely to be perceived as an overt message than conforming to that norm, and that message may not be the intended one. Whether the benefits of avoiding the norm (in terms of staying true to conscience, for example) outweigh the potential drawbacks of other folks' reactions isn't something we can answer for the OP.

As a less "logical" example: At my institution, we're supposed to wear our school's color on Wednesdays. About half the staff, almost all of the administrators, and maybe ten percent of faculty do so. In that atmosphere, I feel comfortable not wearing the color (it's not my favorite or most flattering color), and no one ever questions me about it. But if "the vast majority" of faculty, students, and staff were participating, I'd have to think harder about whether my dislike of the color was worth the message(s) I would be sending by not wearing it.

Good points, and good comments, @1006a.

With the clarification it makes more sense, I find that for me at least the "orange" example conveys the message more clearly, as it helps focus on conformity vs non-conformity and not on the nature of the act itself

Not really disrespectful, but perhaps inadvertently signalling that you yourself don't have to worry about such things, because society's default works for you. Or, as often happens, signalling that due to your good fortune you are oblivious to the whole issue, etc. If you'd like to instead signal your awareness, I'd think do indicate your preferred pronouns.
(For what it's worth, I need to get around to systematically doing this on my web pages...)

How would you advise OP to behave if they don’t want to “signal” anything?

OP explicitly asked in his last paragraph whether "omitting the PGP... is inadvertently signaling any disrespect" so that is really a separate question.

@PatrickB. But not wanting to signal something doesn't mean they want to signal its opposite. This answer tells OP how to signal the oppsite, but does not tell OP how to not signal anything.

@DanRomik I'd recommend something like meh or ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ or unimportant or even not she/hers, but anything else will do or supporter or ally or X or :) or -.

@JiK Fair enough. I was assuming that because OP stated that he respected and appreciated that the conference including PGPs, that this was also the impression he wanted to convey.

@ClimbsRocks I'd advise against putting something unusual or jokey in place of a PGP, since that could easily be interpreted as making fun of or trivializing them. It could also communicate something inaccurate (e.g., someone might read "X" as "agender"). In general, putting something unusual in the PGP field or leaving it blank will call much more attention to your decision than simply putting the pronoun you actually use, which most people will find unremarkable.

@PatrickB. I read "I simply don't have a very strong sense of identity, and don't think of the self in those terms." as meaning that "agender" is slightly less inaccurate than "he/his". My answers were not intended as jokes, they were intended as options for someone who does not have a strong gender identity (which includes not strongly identifying as genderqueer). It might seem a little weird to people used to a gender binary, but for me (someone who identifies outside of the gender binary) I'd see kinship in someone else saying that the standard "male or female" doesn't speak to them.

@DanRomik: at a conference where everybody is asked to put their preferred gender pronoun to put on a visible tag to wear, I don't think not signalling anything is possible.

@DanRomik That’s simply impossible. Every action signals something, even if inadvertently (ClimbsRocks suggestion is in fact a pretty strong signal and therefore a terrible idea). The only valid and helpful recommendation is therefore for OP to accept that they might be seen as signaling

@RemcoGerlich perhaps, but this is not such a conference. This is a conference where everyone is given the option to include a pronoun.

@DanRomik, to respond to your earlier comment/question: I think this is a situation where it is not quite possible to "signal nothing". We can argue that that should be an available choice in these and other circumstances, but it seems that it is not. A large topic for discussion...

@DanRomik Identity in a (weakly) politicized sense is nearly always the result of having experienced significant marginalization as a result of who you are. Conversely, it always seems to be the case that people who don't think identity is important haven't had this experience.

Why isn't it just signaling that OP's gendered pronouns aren't important when applied to OP?

@ElizabethHenning Well put.

@ElizabethHenning which comment of mine are you responding to? What you said is interesting, and may well be true, but I don’t see how it relates to anything I said.

I don't think it's disrespectful to leave it blank.
However, it doesn't cost you anything to fill it in, and by filling it in you are demonstrating that you think that it is a reasonable question and supporting the right of others, who may want to write something more surprising, to do so.
Hence, unless you feel strongly that this question should not be asked, I recommend filling it in as a supportive / ally action.

Absolutely this! If the OP doesn't feel strongly about the issue, it would be helpful to others for them to put something in the blank that they are comfortable with people referring to them as (I can't imagine most people prefer others not use pronouns at all!). If only transgender/gender variant people put pronouns on, that singles them out, but if everyone does it, then it normalizes it and makes it more comfortable for everyone.

@called2voyage It makes it more comfortable for everyone except people who don't have a strong gender identity.

@soueuls That's why the answer says it's not disrespectful, but it's asking the OP to consider the benefit to the underrepresented if they don't really have an issue with it. That said, I'm not sure how uncomfortable this would really be if everyone were doing it, even to some without a strong gender identity. As I said, you do use pronouns, right? If you don't, that would be different, but as long as you use pronouns, there has to be something that you're more comfortable with being referred to as.

@called2voyage Yes I use pronouns when I address people, depending on which language I am speaking. But I don't dehumanize my social interactions by walking around having my pronouns displayed on my chest. I heard someone advising to write down preferred pronouns on your phone book just so you don't offend anyone. I do prefer excluding myself from any of these social interactions than wasting an ounce of energy thinking about this.

It sounds like if it is optional, then it is just that: optional.
If you wrote your PGP as "he/him" maybe that would signal an even stronger belief in binary gender norms.
We can respect people who request to be called by a certain PGP. But we do not need to feel obligated to disclose our own view on the subject via means of a nametag.

Writing your PGP absolutely does not signal a belief in binary gender.

@Dancrumb As a transgender woman, I am of the opinion that the OP is strongly signaling the OP's preference for cisgendered people by stating the OP's preferred gender pronoun. The OP is forcing a belief upon me that insinuates that I am somehow lesser because I choose not to be cisgendered.

Then why do you want preferred gender pronouns to be displayed on badges at all, if someone else stating their preference is "forcing a belief on you that insinuates you are somehow lesser"?  If you want others to call you by a particular pronoun, how is that not forcing a belief on others than insinuates something about them?  This answer doesn't answer the question and with your comment it's even less clear than it was before that.

@Vladhagen As someone with a number of trans* and cross-dressing friends, my trans* friends are unanimous that it wasn't a "choice", it was who they were. My CD friends are equally clear that it's something they like but they wouldn't do it full time or consider transitioning.  You're free to express yourself how you want, of course, but your selection of words there could be misunderstood. And militant anti-binaryism does not fit with you considering it a "choice".

@Graham the whole "choice" narrative is a contentious one among transgender people. The fact is, for some people "it wasn't a choice" fits very well, and for some people it's more complicated than that, and enforcing a single narrative onto all trans people ends up erasing a lot of people's real experiences for the sake of marginal PR gains. Please don't talk over a trans person's description of their own experience, especially if you're only citing the words of your friends.

No, you are not disrespectful. Ideally (not in the real world, unfortunately) the only people who would object are those who would find unreasonable ways to disrespect you.
It is good that it is optional, as it should be. Everyone should have the freedom to define their own identity in these matters. If others want to define you, it isn't necessary to assist them.
Of course, this is just my opinion. But your own opinion is the one that should matter.

If it were me, I would just put the name down. I have no desire to participate in the pronoun game or over complicate things. A person's name should be perfectly sufficient for a "name" tag.

I'm not sure how so many people have missed a key part of the question: OP does not identify as a he/his. OP states so explicitly:

I simply don't have a very strong sense of identity, and don't think
  of the self in those terms.

Many answers assume that because OP is at home in a male body (OP's sex), OP must therefore be perfectly fine with the masculine gender (a strange set of ever-evolving societal expectations tied to behavior). But OP has gone so far as to ask this question and explicitly state distaste at writing the "default" pronoun: "I don't have any desire to include my PGP on the name tag."
OP has made it clear they identify outside of the gender binary. Now comes the tough part, because we don't have great words for that yet, and of course at this point, we're just left guessing which of the multitude of non-binary genders OP identifies as (which includes the option of not really identifying with any of them).
I'm in similar shoes myself: at home in a masculine body, entirely not at home with our society's definition of the masculine gender. I identify as genderqueer, and prefer "they/them". Since OP doesn't seem to identify that way, here are some other ideas for options that don't force much of a gender identity on OP:

Human
[Your Name]
Doctor / Professor / Student
Mathematician / Engineer / Researcher
Any / None
Ally
Non-binary
Still figuring it out
You can call me "he" until our society comes up with better words
Gender's complicated
ze/hir, co/cos, xe/xem/xyr, hy/hym/hys

The key part is that you don't have to write down anything you don't identify with. That's the whole point of that space- to respect people's many and varied gender identities, and to explicitly state that we're bad at knowing someone's gender identity just by looking at their physical characteristics and making assumptions.
If you spend some time looking up agender pronouns or genderqueer pronouns, you'll see there's still nothing like a consensus around this, so unfortunately, you're stuck making the decision yourelf. The closest thing I can think of to dodging the issue is Human, using your name, or Ally. Human is what I try to use for all new people I meet, and it's worked out well for me for the past few years.

I am skeptical about some of your suggestions (meh, emoji) as they might be perceived as ridiculing that part of the name tag – though that’s not the intention.

yeah you really need to be careful. Trolls have managed to popularize "i identify as an attack helicopter" style mockery and it's possible well-intentioned responses could be misinterpreted as such. It's unfortunate since the thing we need right now is less policing of how people identify themselves gender-wise, but sadly this defensive reaction has ended up being necessitated by external malicious actors.

your last paragraph points out something valuable, normalizing explicitly specified pronouns does have a negative side effects for people who don't want to identify themselves with any gender. in theory the phrase "non-binary" and corresponding they/them pronouns could be a useful statement of pure non-identity perfect for such situations, but people are complicated and turns out the term fits as a positive identity for enough people that it doesn't carry that connotation. in the end we need something more complex than just "everyone say your pronouns", as good of a step as it is.

@ClimbsRocks I really like your "human" suggestion (although I share the concern that it could be misinterpreted as mockery). Grammatically, could "that human" be used exactly as a pronoun?

I highly doubt that anyone will take offense to you not filling out the PGP slot. If I were you and anyone came up to me and started to accuse me of being disrespectful, I'd assert that I intend no such disrespect and write them off as unreasonable (mentally, of course - heaven forbid I end up on Youtube). The conversation shouldn't start up at all if you never bring it up; you don't have to explain why you didn't fill it out, and I recommend that you don't, as no one can object if they don't know why you didn't do it.
Personally, if everyone else was filling it out, I'd think twice about leaving it blank, as that might be perceived as inflammatory.
The only thing you have to worry about would be other's potential reactions to it; morally and legally, you are in the clear. Be confident; this is only as much of an issue as you and others let it become.

For the particular situation you describe, with what I gather your motives are: I would put down a preference for a masculine pronoun.
Why?:
Firstly, it may do some good. You give a good summary of why asking this question might help (I won't repeat them, but I agree) and it's not going to work if everyone abstains.
Secondly, as other have pointed out, it does no harm. It's exceptionally unlikely that anyone would read putting down a preference as being an advocate of any stance on gender. It's not like you went out of your way to insist on a pronoun. Maybe this doesn't signal the interest you clearly have in the issue (and make others stop think about it). However it doesn't give an implication to the contrary and your not going to find a response that does in a drop-down list.
Finally, refusing to answer may be interpreted in a number of ways that you have no real control over. I think the question to ask is: "do the likely interpretations line up with the views I want to portray?".
This bit is very subjective, but I would say no.
I would have thought it more likely that someone would perceive not answering as: "I am not interested in this. (I'll get 'he' anyway)" than "I care, and have thought about this extensively, but I was not comfortable with any of the responses". Worse, within the "I care" group the "why" is equally open to interpretation. I imagine there are as many who are mocking or subverting the intention of the question as those trying to improve it.
It might be worth noting here that in polarised issues, people tend to see threats more quickly than allies. I'd be reluctant to assume people will give you the benefit of the doubt in interpreting your stance.
So, is it rude not to answer: No, there are a host of reasons not to that are not rude at all and I like to think most would see it this way. But it may well be seen as rude by some, not everyone will have thought about it in the same way.
Is it worth it? This has been answered well elsewhere but: Up to you, there are no wrong answers.
Controversy time:
If it's free text (I'll go on a limb and say it's not) what to put?
I would still put he/him. There may will be the magic combination of characters instead that has the desired affect but I doubt it. If this question turns into a complex game with rules and pitfalls and "damn, that's a better answer", people will stop playing. Maybe one day ... but one step at a time.

My suggestion is that, if you really have no preference, you should enter

(no preference)

on the registration form and leave it to the organizers to figure out how to process this.  This may also help clue the organizers in that the way they are doing this may not be a good fit for everyone.
However, if there are pronouns you prefer to she, either pick one, or list your top choices, e.g.

he/they/zey

As some people have pointed out, just leaving that question blank could be construed as not being supportive of the organizers efforts.  If you actual are opposed to the way this is done, and have a better suggestion, you could also communicate this to the organizers.

My guess is that this would make "(no preference)" appear on the conference badge.

@AlexeyB. I wasn't sure if there would be space for that on the name tag, but if so, and if that's what the OP really prefers, isn't that a good outcome?

It's almost like OP has a preference after all. thinking emoji

I've seen "Any/All" used as a way to express "(No Preference)" online before, which I think is a good alternate way to phrase it, especially if it's obvious that it's referring to PGPs.


text:
Software for managing departmental alumni relations
My department is looking for a CRM tool to manage its relationship with graduated students (either on BSc, MSc or PhD level). What we want to achieve:

Show our candidates that you can get a well paid work after graduating Physics in Poland (they don't believe such positions exist)
Allow our department to track careers of out students and possibly change study program to better fulfill their needs
Gain input from former students
Allow current and former students to view/apply for job opportunities (people from our department who start a company often look for people with similar education level)

All these use cases are more or less practiced now, but mainly using emails.
I was wondering what are established practices, particularly in Western Universities (since Polish ones tend to lag somewhat, especially when it comes to such problems). Do your departments do any kind of alumni tracking? If yes, what tools do you use?  If not, why not?

I don't know what the department uses, but there are numerous commercial products you can use.

LinkedIn is a fine resource for this sort of thing, especially for keeping track of alums' careers and contact data. I encourage my students to link to me for exactly this reason.

Our Link Alumni app helps you reunite with your classmates from the past. It aims to create a professional private network for alumni where they can connect, communicate, share and support various business opportunities and networking events.
We have customized system in which we design according to our client requirements:

Create awareness about the details of the job by posting and sharing the details with your alumni network. Pitch ideas to fellow alumni for a start-up and get started.

Give back to the community; help your alumni network by guiding them and sharing your experience through mentoring, boss talks and other CSR activities.

Create events and invite alumni network by sharing details and media gallery of the event. Purchase event tickets through different online payment methods easily.

Helping all the students in their journey by guiding and providing a solution to their concerns and problems related to before, during and also after the graduation.

Please be aware that the link is not a free service.

Above the recent comment I try to answered all things which you ask kindly review

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


text:
How to reuse a figure from a patent? Is it free to reuse?
I recently came across a journal article that included and referenced a figure (photograph) from a US patent. I found the patent, and I would like to use the same figure, and I'm wondering who the copyright holder is. Might it be free to use since the patent itself is public, or do I need to ask around until I find the copyright holder?

The answer is maybe: http://www.uspto.gov/news/media/ccpubguide.jsp

It depends on how the figure is being used.  If it is for non-commercial purposes -- e.g., in a scientific journal to support a study -- then it will likely fall under the 'fair use' provision.  If it is for commercial purposes, such as a book that you are seeking to publish, then it is likely considered commercial purposes, and you will need to work out the permissions.
http://patentdocs.typepad.com/files/memo-on-use-of-npl.pdf

Sorry Brian, I forgot about your answer until recently. This is what we ended up doing in the end. The paper has been published, and so far, no accusations of copyright infringement :)

That memo is inapplicable to this question, since it's about non-patent literature. Patents fall under different rules -- they're assumed to be public domain unless the holder claims otherwise.

I have always felt that directly re-using (i.e., copying) anyone's figures in any work, including student papers, is dubious practice even if cited. If students re-draft figures and cite them properly, this seems just about acceptable for undergraduate work. For almost any other purpose, however, I think substantial modification of the figure is necessary.

How can a screenshot of an existing tool that constitutes the previous state of the art, that the new work is based upon, or needs to be contrasted with, be "substantially modified" - especially in fields where reviewers do complain if they just see a mock-up rather than a screenshot of an actual software? I'm not saying directly copying someone's figures is definitely the way to go, but in fields where figures are not so much used for showing information about the results, but rather they are the results, re-drafting figures is not always practical.

@O.R.Mapper is right. In my case we would have had to buy some expensive material that we would not otherwise need, just to photograph it up close and compare with a computer generated model.

Screenshots are good practice to document one's work, of course. Copying someone else's screenshots are not.


text:
Is it a good idea to use Interfolio service for tenure track applications?
What do job search committees for tenure track jobs think of applicants using a service like interfolio?  Using such a service, you don't have to bug recommenders for each place you apply and, instead, enter a special email address generated by interfolio on application forms.
Is this a good idea?

Never heard of it. Is this advertising? @anonymous555, What is your relation to this company?

I have no relation to this company. I heard about it because some universities recently started to require using it. Example: https://apply.interfolio.com/23031 It then seemed convenient to use it for all applications.

Can you even use interfolio unless the university with the job ad puts it on interfoliol to begin with?

Yes, when using it you don't enter a recommender's email address, but rather something like recommender@interfolio.com.  Then interfolio checks that the request is legit and sends the recommendation letter on their behalf.

@anonymous555 thanks for the answer - sorry for being aggressive and asking, but we have already had some cases of blatant self-advertising on this site.

I've heard of Interfolio. We used it for med school applications. Throw all your stuff in there and a few of the med schools would just get the Interfolio instead of one you'd normally have to build by hand. Mileage may vary.

Speaking as someone running a faculty search committee, I doubt we'd even notice, as long as your application materials and recommendation letters are properly entered into our own application system.
On the other hand, many faculty recruiting processes (including mine) only request recommendation letters after applications have passed the first round of reviewing.  In that case, I would be a little suspicious of an application that suggested using fdje28dn@interfolio.com instead of name@mit.edu to request a letter from a well-known professor at MIT.

I agree. If a former student requests a letter after making the first round (i.e., medium list) then I will send a customized letter to the employer.  But many low-level non-tenure-track, visiting, adjunct, and other positions ask for letters up front. In those cases, I feel less bad asking the student to use the interfolio service.


text:
What type of workplace accommodations are departments required to make for a mentally unhealthy faculty member?
We have a faculty member in my department who has mental health issues. These issues tend to flare up about three times a year, right at the beginning of the year, in January when grading is due and new teaching starts, and again at the end of the year when grading is due. In general these flair ups last about two weeks and are, to my understanding always accompanied by medical evidence that recommends a two week leave and a follow up evaluation after the two weeks. She is not the most mentally stable person at the best of times and I have no doubt that the additional stress from teaching and grading causes her additional issues. That said, her flare ups mean that her teaching generally gets cancelled and her grading gets reassigned. What type of accommodations does a department have to make for an individual who does not seem to be healthy enough, in this case mentally, to carry out core responsibilities and how does a department go about making those accommodations? I am interested in both legal and moral obligations and am located in the UK, to the extent that it matters.

American, non-academic information: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/ada18.html

@guest my take on the ADA guidelines are you need to make reasonable accommodations, but it is not clear to me what those are. Is allowing someone only to work outside term time a reasonable accommodation? What about restructuring there job so it has no teaching?

In the USA, probably a lawyer would be consulted before deciding anything.

I am wondering whether you will get better responses over at The Workplace. I don't think that the underlying question is really all that academia-specific, and those guys have more experience with such situations than we have.

@xLeitix I thought about it, but I am looking for specifics accommodations that can/should be made in an academic workplace and hopefully how to actually make them (which I think is very dependent on academia).

@StrongBad I think TW is better suited for the legal part. The ethical component I agree is particular enough to be better suited here.

@Davidmh I don't seem to be getting down votes, votes to close, or flags so I think it is okay here. Then again, I am not getting answers so I may try migrating it to TW if it doesn't get an answer.

I am only even vaguely qualified to speak on how this is ideally handled in the USA, so hopefully this will be of use at least as a starting point. I am not qualified to say anything about similarities between UK and US law on matters such as this - and I'm not a lawyer! I think this is a very important question though, and I hate to see it going without any kind of answer at all.
In the US, there are a few related but separate pieces of landmark legislation that guide workplace accommodations for "serious medical conditions" and "disabilities" (quoted because these have specific legal definitions).
First of all, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA):

The Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") provides certain employees
with up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year, and
requires group health benefits to be maintained during the leave as if
employees continued to work instead of taking leave
[...]
Leave Entitlement
A covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12
workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period for one or more of the
following reasons:
[...]

when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

There are lots of qualifying statements, but in US academia generally the FMLA applies.
FMLA TLDR;
Specifically, this means that having to take 4 weeks off a year due to any condition legally defined as a "serious medical condition" (related to a disability, chronic physical or mental illness - see the law specifically for the definition of these terms) is not a "reasonably accommodation" at all, but a legally mandated requirement. A person who takes up to 12-weeks a year of such leave has their job protected, end of story. If this is inconvenient, the legal response is: too bad - you are a big institution, you'll figure out how to make due.
In the USA, this is really a sufficient and complete answer without considering reasonable accommodations, because taking medically necessary time off isn't considered as such.
But let's go further, because more is morally and often legally required.
Get Proactive: Reasonable Accommodations, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Americans With Disability Act (ADA)
In the US, a qualifying employee has the the right to "reasonable accommodations". OK - what the heck is reasonable? I'm a big fan of the Job Accommodations Network (JAN) materials, as they are much easier to read and understand than most other materials.

III.THE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION OBLIGATION
3.1 Overview of Legal Obligations

An employer must provide a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant or employee
with a disability unless it can show that the accommodation would
impose an undue hardship on the business.
Reasonable accommodation is any modification or adjustment to a job, an employment practice, or the work environment that makes it possible
for an individual with a disability to enjoy an equal employment
opportunity.
The obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of employment. This duty is ongoing and may arise any time
that a person's disability or job changes.
An employer cannot deny an employment opportunity to a qualified applicant or employee because of the need to provide reasonable
accommodation, unless it would cause an undue hardship.
An employer does not have to make an accommodation for an individual who is not otherwise qualified for a position.
Generally, it is the obligation of an individual with a disability to request a reasonable accommodation.
A qualified individual with a disability has the right to refuse an accommodation. However, if the individual cannot perform the essential
functions of the job without the accommodation, s/he may not be
qualified for the job.
If the cost of an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer, the individual with a disability should be given the
option of providing the accommodation or paying that portion of the
cost which would constitute an undue hardship.

So, what is and isn't reasonable? According to JAN:

What accommodations are not considered reasonable?

Reasonable accommodation does not include removing essential job
functions, creating new jobs, and providing personal need items such
as eye glasses and mobility aids. Nothing in the ADA prohibits
employers from providing these types of accommodations; they simply
are not required accommodations.

What is an essential job function? There is no easy answer, but that same page quoted above provides an in-depth discussion, however I posit this reasonable rule of thumb: something is reasonable if it is not disproportionately costly, and especially if other people in a similar position have such an arrangement. If you aren't sure, get a proper Job Evaluation performed by a competent professional (your institution had better already have one on hand!).
Many professors have grad students perform a large amount of grading (with oversight and some supervision) and often use a proctor to deliver tests, for instance - so to insist that a standard way of working for other professors is not reasonable would strain the credulity of the average person (and likely any judges or review boards, should a complaint arise). On the other hand, utterly exempting a person from duties that fill a large portion of an employees work load is probably going too far.
The law in the US is often intentionally vague in this regard, for a very good reason! The goal is actively to encourage people to think of ways to craft jobs and requirements that allow anyone with a disability or chronic condition to be gainfully employed and contribute to their communities in the greatest way possible. If this means a little re-arranging or change, great - that is way cheaper than someone getting fired or having to take legal actions against an institution. With some vagueness and a "reasonable person" standard that is common in American law, this is hoped to actively encourage people to reach out a bit farther than they usually might to find a solution that works for everyone involved.
Proscriptive Moral Advice
As an institution/department, it is generally wise to recognize a pattern and reach out to solve an underlying problem. If a build-up of stress causes incapacitation and certain reliable intervals, maybe something can be arranged to reduce the stress during these times and avoid the worst flare ups entirely? When not possible, planning proactively can wonderfully mitigate the pain in the future; implicitly relying on no one getting ill or sick during high-stress times of the year is a masochistic assumption!
It is reasonable (and often advised) to seek out if a reasonable accommodation could be helpful and welcomed by someone with a serious condition or disability. A willingness to think creatively and to find a solution that everyone can be happy about is ideal.
If a huge glut of work at certain times of the years causes anxiety, can this workload be made more manageable and less all-at-once? Are department requirements/demands worsening things and creating a more difficult environment than necessary? Electronic grading systems/options, automated fill-in-the-bubble grading, Teaching Assistants to do some of the grading (when appropriate to the work), Proctors (such as by giving the tests in some classes so the professor can use that time for grading other tests/assignments instead), and staggered test schedules are widely used to varying degrees throughout the world and can be potentially helpful. Can other duties be rescheduled, such as certain evaluations, meetings, etc, to better even out the work flow?
It is possible that one person's illness can be used as a tool to improve everyone's work conditions and satisfaction, by allowing a "suck it up and deal with it" approach that was begrudgingly accepted to be challenged and overhauled. Empathy and compassion - understanding that someone would almost invariably be happy to not be ill - and realizing that the problems of having more work foisted on everyone when someone is ill is often the fault of the work system rather than on one well-intentioned individual, can make some amazing progress possible.

If I understand this correctly, if you find a compassionate/unethical doctor you might be able to reasonably avoid teaching altogether if you are only unwell on days you need to teach. If you are on a 9 month contract, you might not even have a hit to your salary.

@StrongBad Nope. While my answer is already pretty long, it's an extremely short summary of the legislation itself, and it has provisions to avoid such a sanction-able violation of medical ethics. The FMLA act specifically permits an employer to request/require medical certification from a licensed authority, and includes provisions for second/third opinions. So if a person can get 3 licensed medical professionals to commit multiple felony crimes, clearly and in writing, risking federal imprisonment and lifetime revocation of their right to practice medicine...yeah, sure, sky's the limit.

Here's the specific provisions from 825.305: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=abbd92cdff37c5d32de741cc5ccc1e81&rgn=div5&view=text&node=29:3.1.1.3.54&idno=29#se29.3.825_1305

For extreme abuses, the law would permit an employer to accept a request for FMLA unpaid leave, and then require another medical certification (with multiple second opinions, usually at business/insurance cost) before a person can return to work. A person who wants to pretend to be disabled and recruits one unethical doctor could effectively either be forced to admit to their crime or stay on unpaid medical leave for 12-weeks and then not be permitted to return to work at all and thus be dismissed for being unable to continue work. Legal protection for the disabled and ill is no gravy train!


text:
Advice - MS in mathematics to increase competitiveness for PhD programs?
I am a senior maths major (computer science minor) who is pretty worried about the next step in my academic career. First, let me state that I'm about as sure as I can be that I want to get a PhD in mathematics. Unfortunately, I didn't realize what the field entailed, or my passion for it, until I had made many really poor decisions - mostly in the form of bad attendance. For example, I basically just showed up for tests in calc 2, 3, linear algebra, and differential equations, and consequently, my field of potential letters of recommendation is quite small. To make things worse, I come from a party school - I need letters!
I've had one professor (abstract algebra) offer to write me a letter, and I've taken my advanced calc sequence under a professor who I think could write me a good recommendation (adv calc 2 was a graduate course; had [i think] the highest grade out of about 15 students). I'm also taking topology (graduate level) this semester, and am hoping to impress my way to a third letter.
My GPA is okay - cumulative about 3.61; math is all A's and one C in linear algebra. I've also been working through a few books (Spivak's "Calculus" and "Calculus on Manifolds," and am about to start Birkhoff and Maclane's "Survey of Modern Algebra." Although I love the material, and enjoy learning it, the independent studying probably stems from some feeling of inadequacy due to my past immaturity.
I got a 169/170 Q, 165/170 V on the general GRE. Also, I think I can crack 80% on the subject test, but am not overly confident about this. One glaring hole is that I have done zero research, and have done nothing extracurricular - I literally have nothing "extra" going for me.
My concern is that I've seen the resumes of many people accepted to top universities (PhD track), and I just don't stack up. But if my goal is to become a professor one day, it seems that where I go to school is extremely important. So should I just hope that I can get accepted into a top 30-50 school, or would it be beneficial to consider improving my resume in a solid Masters program so that better schools become available?
And if a masters is a viable option, what caliber of school would I need to excel at in order to be a competitive applicant for a top 10 PhD program?

How can you be sure you want a PhD if you've never done research?  I don't know anything about math programs so I can't comment on your specific question, but a masters degree seems like a smart way of trying out research in a relatively low-commitment way.  It sounds to me like you've gotten to the end of college, don't know what to do, and grad school just seems like the "next thing".  That's usually a bad reason to go for the doctorate.

If you really love learning math and want to make sure you are up to par in your general background, it might be worth applying to sit for part III of the Math Tripos. However, I agree with @m0untain that if you haven't done research there is no real way to know if research is for you.

Research.  Research.  Research.  Research.  Research.

If you have a thin B.S. background in math, it is definitely very helpful to get a M.S. in math before (re-) applying to Ph.D. programs. (I say this having been on the Grad Admissions cte, and having been Dir Grad Studies in two different incarnations...) In the U.S., many undergrad programs are really very thin, due to the requirement (otherwise wholesome) of "breadth".
The "undergrad research" episodes in summers, and during the academic year, are good for generating enthusiasm and camaraderie, and especially for getting outside the rigid classroom/textbook atmosphere, but (apart from very broad features) are not at all good indicators of what serious research is or will be like. Those programs are designed to be fun (pizza parties, etc), so "doing research" in that sense is fun for nearly everyone.
So, apply to MS/PhD programs at the top 30-50 schools, and do the best job you can in the standard/required PhD curriculum (usually, there is no distinction between PhD curriculum and MS, except that the latter is designed to accommodate, if necessary, weaker students, perhaps weak enough so that the MS will be their last degree in Mathematics... don't be misled into taking an "easy route"). And, in the course of doing the coursework, don't be a stranger to the instructors of those courses, who will be your letter-writers for either re-application to "better" schools in a year or two, or will be your letter writers if you need to re-apply to that institution itself for the PhD program, for bureaucratic reasons.
Grades in non-math courses, and grades in calculus and lower-division courses don't matter much, although obviously good grades are a not a bad thing. Admissions committees are well-acquainted with the changes people go through around age 20 and so on. The question is not so much what silly things one has done a few years back, but where one is heading now, and what documentable evidence there is for this.
In particular, although self-learning is the most significant long-term way to develop scholarship, it is obviously hard to document. Perhaps the best way is to sign up for courses that appear to re-iterate (serious) content you've already studied. Presumably, you absolutely ace the material and draw the instructor's attention... since self-study beyond "requirements" is, strangely-or-not, extremely rare. Evidence of non-passivity is excellent, if it really proves to be what you feel it is (rather than, say, mere obsessiveness).
So, again, yes, think about "proving yourself" during a year or two of "MS work". No downside, really.

Hey Paul, quick question: Will doing a MS reduce the time you're allowed to complete a PhD? That is, if you enter a PhD program with a MS will you be provided less funding/time to finish your PhD?

@MatthewTran, probably not, but it depends on the program. Years ago, our program tried to push people who already had Masters through faster, on some general principle, but since Masters' degrees vary so widely, as do undergrad degrees, it eventually seemed foolish to us to have such a rule, and we dropped it. But you'd want to check, if possible.

I was in a similar situation 1.5 years ago: made a series of bad decisions, have 0 publications or research experience, nothing outstanding about my academic CV. I was in fact wavering between pure and applied mathematics, not really knowing much about research in either area.
After doing a 1 year mathematics MSc at a top-tier university, would I say that in situations similar to yours and mine, doing an MSc is a very wise choice. Doing well in a good MSc will certainly overshadow what you did in your undergrad.
The primary goals of the MSc are:

Obtain good grades and recommendations letters.
Do Research! It is absolutely vital that the MSc has a significant research component.

Things I wished I knew back then:

Take courses to maximize your grades. This could mean taking courses you have already taken before. Its not strictly a waste of time: you can see this as a test to see if you can perform in the topic at a graduate level. Also, if you're interested to do research in it, this would seriously help reinforce your knowledge in that area and you can take the opportunity to know the professor teaching it, even doing your dissertation in it.
DO RESEARCH. Grab any chance you have to do research. In fact, be prepared to stay behind for a few months after graduation to turn your dissertation into publishable material or for an internship in the department.
Pin down your interests ASAP. Do your MSc dissertation in that area if you can. It is such an advantage to have a dissertation project in and a letter of recommendation from someone in the area you're applying to. Contact relevant professors about graduate applications asap.

Advice for applications:
IMHO you should aim as high as possible when applying for MSc. Top tier self funded MScs are a lot easier to get into if you don't have terrible grades.
Its not about the prestige of the department. Rather, more competitive places tend to attract highly motivated and competitive people. Being in that environment would seriously inspire you to push harder and accomplish more. Also, they tend to have more "intellectual resources" - brilliant professors, brilliant classmates etc for you to learn from.
P.S.
I am a student still in the process of applying for a PhD in Applied Mathematics.

I've always thought that one good indicator of whether or not you even have the motivation to complete an entire PHD is whether or not you do the practice problems in text books. If you enthusiastically do those practice problems, like you solve them in the shower, then I would say that, barring talent, you at least have the requisite level of enthusiasm for the subject. In other words if your not a fan of practice problems, your prolly not gunna like the 300 page writing part of the PHD, nor the fact that not all 100% of the work you do will make it into that writeup (there's alot of tangential calculation and verification). In this way, personal interest and commitment to mathematical activity is absolutely requisite.
You should wait until you finish that course in topology. Math takes on a  different character when you get into analysis, manifolds, algebra and beyond. For me, smooth manifolds was as far as I needed to go in the analysis route to satisfy my curiosity. Then I became interested in other things. If I had had that shift of interest midPHD then I don't think I would have been able to finish.
You should also just sit down, learn LaTex if you haven't already, and write about something that interests you, exploring it to the absolute highest level of detail while always leaving an obvious path for generalization and application. Make it lucid and interesting. Convince the reader you have an idea and entertain them with it. Put it on the Internets, have a proff edit 1 or 2 pages, show it to a friend or classmate, stick it in a library book, whatever. This is one defining characteristic of a mathematician, communicating your thoughts to paper so that they may survive.
You should read this The Best Writing on Mathematics 2011, it will give you a good idea of what doing math as a profession is like. Regardless, you may have an excellent academic record, but what makes a good mathematician is a commitment to doing math and that should be your primary focus, grades second. Although there's nothing wrong with being competitive academically, if that's your thing then go for it.
Personally I didn't like Spivak's manifold calculus text. I went Munkres' Topology, to Lee's Topological Manifolds, and have yet to finish Lee's Smooth Manifolds. If your looking for a reliable publisher, just stick with the yellow covers.

One of my classmate during my mathematics masters at a top tier university didn't have any motivation to do practice problems. We would discuss tests after we have taken them, and he would demonstrate the inability to solve even straight forward questions. However, his supervisor said this about him: "This man is a genius!". Apparently, although he was completely in-adept at coursework, he was very into research and is very good at it.

As someone with a PhD in applied math who never did more than the required homework in courses I'd have to disagree with your first paragraph. There's hardly anything in common between PhD level research and practice problems in an undergraduate textbook.


text:
What are the consequences of backing out a tenure track position?
This position is at an undergrad university (tenure track).
Can I backout after accepting the offer for a research-based university (graduate R2 university)?
What are the consequences of backing out a tenure track position? Are there also any well-known legal repercussions of backing out of a tenure-track offer?

What does the contract you signed say? Where are you in the world? Generally this site isn't a good place for legal advice, if you need legal advice contact a lawyer in your local area.

The answer is in https://labor.mo.gov/dls/general/termination-final-wages

Most likely, your accepted offer was not legally binding. The real job contract is only signed after you receive a letter signed by chancellor or provost.

For tenure-track positions, there may well be no contract at any point, until you actually get tenure.  It surprises people in other parts of the world to learn that employment in the US is often "at will": the employer can terminate, or the employee can resign, at any time for any reason with no notice.

I've heard of people in this situation who negotiated with both employers an agreement where they would accept the second offer with a one-year deferral.  They work at the first institution for that year, so that they have someone to cover classes while they run a new search.  Then they move to the second institution and start there.  No guarantee that the second employer is okay with a deferral though, maybe they really need someone to start right now.  And there are other things that can go wrong in that intervening year.

I've tried to edit a bit your question, to keep it suitable for this site, following the suggestion from @AnonymousM

That depends on local law, probably civil/contract law. If you have a contract (or the legal equivalent of one) then you can be at risk.
However, few institutions would prefer to hold you to a contract you don't want to perform as it would likely be sub-optimal for everyone involved. There might (potentially) be costs with breaking it. Consult a lawyer for legal advice.
But you can also start a conversation with the institution explaining that you have a more appropriate offer that you'd like to accept.
Legal advice has to come from a lawyer, of course.


text:
Supervisor excessively adding self-citations to our paper
I'm a first-year PhD student working alongside my supervisor on my second paper. So far, the process has been that I write a draft, he adds some comments/text where necessary, and we re-iterate. This is mostly fine, but I have noticed a pattern with his revisions: he self-cites a lot. These references are all somewhat relevant in context, but usually plain redundant. As an example, he might change "(Author et al. 2021)" to "(Author et al. 2021; Supervisor et al. 2022a,b, 2023)". In my first paper, my supervisor was listed as an author in over a third of the cited references. Out of those, I only added two.
I have some concerns about how this affects readability, but my biggest gripe is that it just looks bad. Maybe I'm overly dramatic, but I don't like how the paper I wrote to 95% is so plainly used as a way to increase his citation metrics. To the reader, it may come across as me parroting his research, which isn't the case. I have a good relationship with my supervisor, but I don't know how to bring this up in a non-accusatory way. Is this a problem I should be concerned with and, if so, what can I do?

I don't have good advice, but kudos to you for picking this up and asking this question. The world would be a better place if all PhD students would be conscientious like this, and if their supervisors then listened to them. I for sure think you are right that this is a problem. Unfortunately I can't be sure how your supervisor would react if you bring this up. As experienced reviewer and editor I can however tell you that excessive self-citations don't look good and may lower the reader's appreciation for the work. It may be in your and your supervisors best interest to change this.

You mention having a good relationship with your advisor. It's also safe to assume that he's doing this very much on purpose. It's annoying and it's wrong, but in an ethics scale of 0 to 10, 0 being totally ethical behavior and 10 faking data, this behavior is a 1 or a 2. I would let it go and not say anything. Your relationship with your advisor is most important here, and he's already shown to have a weak ego. In terms of your own reputation, most reasonable readers will understand that you are the subordinate in that relationship and with little power. When I read papers written by grad students, and with excessive citations to the lab/advisor, I just roll my eyes and not assume bad intent from the grad student author.

I would possibly tilt overlyexcessive self-citation at close to '4'

Exactly, the point is that it's a judgement call and on the low end of the scale.

These references are all somewhat relevant in context, but usually plain redundant

If this is the case then I wouldn't worry about it too much --- citations that are relevant in context generally add value for the reader, even if they refer to many works by the same author and even if they build on top of other citations that cover the same area.  In any case, if you decide to bring it up, I recommend you first assess which particular citations you think are too marginal to be warranted.  It is reasonable to have a concern about the level of overall citation, but ultimately you will need to be able to point to a particular citation and say that you think it does not add value to the paper.