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Waiting List for PhD in Math Question
I’m in a masters in applied math program at a university and I applied for the PhD entry but didn’t get it for this upcoming fall. However, I got an email from the director saying the department would like to consider me for Spring and that their all out of funding for Fall and they would like to see one more semester of grades to revaluate for Spring 2022 (got a B in 1 out of 3 classes this first semester).
So I had them roll over my application for the Spring. I really like this program but I’m unsure of how likely I am to be admitted even if I do well considering I’m on a waiting list. What do you guys think?

This is very strange. Is this program in the United States?

The most anyone can say is that the better you do, the better your chances. But in general, I'd suggest that you look for other options as they don't seem, from what you say, to be pursuing you. Cast a wide net.

You're not admitted until you receive the admit decision letter. As such, it would be foolhardy to not prepare a plan B. What that plan B should be is up to you, but come up with some plan such that if you are not accepted by the program in Spring, you still have something else to do with minimal downtime.


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Listing pending and ongoing studies?
I am applying to a professional post graduate program and they are looking for publications or research experience. I have a research paper, that has been approved for publication, but not yet published.. should I list this under "Publications section"?
I also have 1 ongoing research (finished collecting data, commenced with manuscript writing) and 1 research that I have sent for approval, but not yet approved. How can I correctly list these in my CV?

Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.

The first paper you can list in publications, but mark it as "to appear" unless you know the date of publication provided by the publisher. Use that date instead, assuming the near future, if you have it.
For the second, put a section on the CV labelled "Work In Progress" and list it there with a descriptive name.  Having work in progress is a good thing to have.

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Switching to Maths after Physics Undergrad
I'm currently studying undergraduate physics at Cambridge UK (and a UK citizen). However, I've found the lack of rigor in the math we use extremely frustrating. I've dabbled in math texts (Spivak's Calculus and Axler's Linear Algebra Done Right) and absolutely loved proof based math, though I appreciate this is at a first-year level.
Does anyone have advice on how to switch to mathematics after a physics degree? I've already seen suggestions to pursue a Masters or Bacc in the US but the issue with that is I couldn't pay for it. Is "catching up" during the first couple of years of a math PhD an option? I've seen even highly competitive programmes such as Yale mention that it is possible to take remedial undergraduate courses during a PhD.
Alternatively, can anyone recommend a route through physics that would allow me to pick up more rigorous math? I've also looked at physics PhD programmes but these tend to require a broad base in physics that I'm slowly losing interest in.
Edit: the UK system means unfortunately switching majors/taking extra years as an undergraduate isn't possible. The closest would be completing the "Part III" (masters) math course but this tends to restrict physics students to courses such as QFT(quantum field theory).

Does this answer your question? How can I effectively switch fields from physics to math post-undergrad?

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For doctoral study in Math in the US, switching from a Physics undergraduate is reasonable. You wouldn't need to do another undergraduate degree and the funding for a doctorate is much more likely than that for a masters. Most doctoral students work as TAs with full, though modest, funding.
But, you are a bit light in math at the moment. A course in Analysis, one in Abstract Algebra, and maybe one in Topology would greatly enhance your prospects.
Another option is to switch to math where you are, though it will likely delay you for a bit.
Talk to your advisor about what is possible to increase your theoretical math skills and whether you can do that within your current major or not. Talk to someone in the math department.

Hi Buffy, thanks so much for your answer.
A major issue is that the UK system doesn't allow "changing majors." The closest I could get would be joining the Cambridge Part III (masters) course in math though I would likely be restricted to taking the more physics-ey courses such as QFT. It might help persuade PhD admissions that I can do serious math but wouldn't fill in knowledge gaps.
I'm well aware of how much math I'm missing but am struggling to find a practical way to catch up.
Have you heard of anyone doing the full catch-up during a PhD? Eg by being granted an extra year?

Few doctoral programs have much of a time limit and for those that do it is more like seven years, after which questions get asked. But note that the US undergrad degree is more general than a UK degree with lots of general education courses. The three courses I mentioned would also let you know if your "love of theory" is solid. Especially the algebra course, I'd guess.

@Buffy your comment about time limits for PhD degrees applies to universities in North America but in UK and Europe PhDs are intended to finish much faster. Questions will be asked far before 7 years and at least at Oxford, the chances of staying in the program beyond 7 years is close to 0.

If you are studying at Cambridge you must be taking Natural Sciences. This course teaches physics, but also chemistry, biology, materials science, plant science, etc., so to fit it all in there may very well be less of an emphasis on rigorous maths, especially in the early stages.
On the positive side, Cambridge lets you specialise more and more during the second, third and fourth years, and should definitely have the opportunity to focus on more mathematical subjects. Perhaps it is possible, for example, to take or audit courses taught by DAMTP (Department of Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics), rather than the Cavendish?
When applying for a PhD at Cambridge, many students at DAMTP will be told to first do Part III of the Mathematics tripos - this is an option that I imagine is also open to you.
Alternatively, you could look into Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), which are fully-funded Masters (1 year) + PhD (3 years) courses, where the masters can allow you to settle into a new subject area.
Consider talking to your Director of Studies at your college, who is quite literally there to discuss things like this.
Edit:
The physics course handbook seems to indicate that it is indeed possible to do the Maths Part III. Be warned: it is notoriously hard!!!

In the US, you indeed have to pay for Masters. However, if you enroll into a combined Masters/PhD programme, then usually they will pay you a scholarship that will cover both your tuition and living expenses. For that, you will have to work as a Research Assistant or, more probably, as a Teaching Assistant. Grading homeworks and teaching problem-solving sessions for advanced courses will be difficult to you during your first year, but you probably will be offered to teach introductory courses, something at the level of Axler's book.
As you rightly mentioned, many schools in US will enable you to take remedial undergraduate courses during your Masters/PhD studies. I am aware of such a case.
So I see no problem here.

I did NatSci at Cambridge and I have a friend who did exactly what you describe, i.e. switching from physics to maths though that was in the US. My answer is based on this experience.
The answer depends on how much maths you did. I was mostly interested in experimental physics and I couldn't even understand what my maths friends were talking about let alone do a PhD in maths. If your experience is similar then I think your only option would be to start afresh with a maths degree. I'm sure you'll find a university happy to take your money if you want to do this - Cambridge may even be willing to do it. Discuss it with your tutor.
My friend did theoretical physics, and pretty advanced theoretical physics at that. He learned quantum field theory with irritating ease and even got started in string theory. This meant he learned vastly more maths than I did, though still far less than a student doing the Maths Tripos at Cambridge would learn. He then went on to do a maths PhD in the areas of maths he had learned as an undergrad. I can't give any more detail since I understand next to nothing of his research, and he was studying in the US not Cambridge. I guess when you talk about restricting courses to QFT you mean you could only do a PhD in areas of maths you had already studied, and that would be physics related areas like the maths used in QFT.
You don't say how much maths you have learned, but from the tone of your question I'd guess it's nowhere near my friend's experience (so far). NatSci does allow you to take advanced theoretical physics courses and learn the associated maths, but as you say this would leave you lacking in many areas that maths students study and hence limit the areas you could do research in. But my friend managed it and last time I spoke was thoroughly enjoying his work.

"I'm currently studying undergraduate physics at Cambridge UK (and a UK citizen). However, I've found the lack of rigor in the math we use extremely frustrating. I've dabbled in math texts (Spivak's Calculus and Axler's Linear Algebra Done Right) and absolutely loved proof based math, though I appreciate this is at a first-year level."

I agree with this answer: You will have more opportunities for exposure to what you call "proof based math" in the more senior years of your undergraduate studies, and if that's not enough then in Part III you can select courses from anywhere among pure mathematics, applied mathematics, statistics and theoretical physics (the latter including highly proof-based courses like quantum information, which is taught more as a math course than a physics course). Plenty of people do a PhD in pure math or applied math after an undergraduate or masters degree in physics. Also, Cambridge students have unusually long break periods between terms, during which you can study more pure mathematics on your own as you have already been doing, while still remaining in the natural sciences program which makes you much more likely to secure a job (whether in academia or elsewhere) after you get your degree.

"Does anyone have advice on how to switch to mathematics after a physics degree?"

Take mathematical courses that are available to you during your undergraduate physics degree, continue reading mathematics books like the ones you mentioned, and ask people working in mathematical areas if they are working on any projects in which an undergraduate research assistant (you!) can participate. Be careful that you're really doing the right thing for you (it seems that one year ago you thought that physics was the wiser choice, and now you've changed your mind, so keep in mind that it can change again, and continue talking to as many people as you can in both fields: peers, students more senior to you, professionals, professors, advisors, etc.).

"I've already seen suggestions to pursue a Masters or Bacc in the US but the issue with that is I couldn't pay for it."

The US isn't the only place that offers Masters degrees. Your own university has Part III of the Mathematical Tripos, and plenty of universities and institutes in Europe, Canada, etc. have Masters degrees with scholarships or lower costs than universities in USA. In Canada you usually get paid to do Masters degrees, but at your stage it might be better to aim to get into a PhD program, since you can switch from a PhD program into a Masters one if you want to (or have to) exit early.

"Is "catching up" during the first couple of years of a math PhD an option? I've seen even highly competitive programmes such as Yale mention that it is possible to take remedial undergraduate courses during a PhD."

Yes. Catching up is what almost all PhD students do at the start of their PhD program, and taking undergraduate level courses as a PhD student is pretty much universally accepted.

"Alternatively, can anyone recommend a route through physics that would allow me to pick up more rigorous math? I've also looked at physics PhD programmes but these tend to require a broad base in physics that I'm slowly losing interest in."

You can take mathematical courses whenever you have the option, continue studying rigorous mathematics during the unusually long Cambridge break periods, and you can try to work as a research assistant with mathematicians (I would be surprised if your college didn't send you information about the research assistantship program that we sent towards the end of Lent term 2023 by the way, since more than 50 Oxbridge students responded).

"Edit: the UK system means unfortunately switching majors/taking extra years as an undergraduate isn't possible. The closest would be completing the "Part III" (masters) math course but this tends to restrict physics students to courses such as QFT."

No, in Part III courses are offered in:

Algebra,
Algebraic Geometry,
Analysis and PDEs,
Combinatorics,
Differential Geometry and Topology,
"Foundations",
Number Theory,
Information and Finance,
Probability, Statistics,
Quantum Computation and Information and Foundations,
Particle Physics and QFT,
Reltivity and Cosmology,
Applied and Computational Analysis,
Astrophysics,
Soft Matter and Biological Physics, and
Continuum Mechanics

"Students may select courses freely from those available, subject to the constraints of the lecture timetable, regardless of which department they registered with or which application stream they applied through." so you are not restricted to taking QFT (Quantum Field Theory) and similar courses.

It seems to me that you are theorizing about how things like Part III work based on reading about things you have not experienced. My own experience of the Maths Tripos + Part III is somewhat out of date but I think your final quote is a misunderstanding of what is implied. There might not be a rule saying that a student who has done mostly Physics courses at UG cannot take Part III algebra, but I think it is very likely they will not have sufficient preparation in UG algebra

"You will have more opportunities for exposure to what you call "proof based math" in the more senior years of your undergraduate studies" - on what do you base this claim? The pure maths stream at Cambridge tends to be rather cumulative in nature, and I suspect that lecturers of Y3 pure maths courses will assume that the students in the class have absorbed basic techniques of "proof based maths" from previous years.

@YemonChoi when did I say that a student that has done mostly physics courses (and nothing else) would be sufficiently prepared for a Part III course on algebra? I replied to OP's incorrect claim that they restrict physics students to "courses like QFT". Also, pure math courses aren't the only courses that involve proofs. My "claim" was partially based on that.

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How do you differentiate statistics, machine learning, and data science in a statement of purpose?
I'm going to apply to graduate programs in both Statistics and Data Science. To me, Statistics, Data Science, and Machine Learning essentially refers to the same subject, but some universities are offering different programs. Still, it's rare for a program in Statistics to not mention DS/ML at all, and vice versa.
My undergraduate major is in Statistics, but my research experiences is mostly concerned with Machine Learning. When writing my Statement of Purpose, I'm struggle to justify why I'm applying to STAT programs with a background in DS/ML. Yeah, they are closely related, but wouldn't it be weird to say "Through my research experience in DS/ML, I developed an interest in STAT, so I'm applying to your STAT program"? The reason I'm applying to a STAT program instead of that in DS when both are offered is that the former is generally more academic, theoretical, and in-depth. (AFAIK there are no Ph.D. programs in DS, but it's hard to find a STAT Ph.D. whose research interest is not related to DS/ML.) I cannot say for now whether I'm going to work in academic or in industry, but I believe a sound theoretical background would be helpful in either case.
I don't think claiming STAT, DS, and ML are the same in the SOP would be a good idea either, as the Committee probably won't agree with me. How do I address the issue of terminologies, then?

Google tells me there are several PhDs in data science in the United States. My own institution had one of the first.

Maybe of interest: The Two Cultures: statistics vs. machine learning?

wouldn't it be weird to say "Through my research experience in DS/ML, I developed an interest in STAT, so I'm applying to your STAT program"?

I don't think so, especially if you modify it a bit:

"My experience as a STAT major, combined with my research experiences in DS/ML, have inspired me to further study STAT."

I think you can, and should, blend the two together. As you noted, they are related, and the committees know this. Use that to your advantage.
If you are applying to a school with both and you feel like you must justify your choice of STAT over another program, then I think you've already got your justification: you are drawn to the theoretical and rigorous nature of the program. I think your major is more than enough to prevent you from seeming like an outsider.

I'd say there isn't a clear distinction between stats and machine learning - ML tends (when it is done right) to be the computational end of statistics, but it is still statistics/probability.  Data science on the other hand implies a wider (but possibly shallower) set of skills including database skills etc for handling large amounts of data that you don't see that often in stats/ML.  You could say you wanted to increase the depth of your understanding of the stats part of DS.


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Buying a gift for my PhD student after his graduation
All posts here on the "graduation gift" subject are about a gift from the PhD candidate to the professor (after the graduation of course). What about a gift for the student from the professor?
My student just graduated, and he really is an exquisite person, he worked more than he probably should have (extra hours, weekends) without me asking, and even with me saying he should not work that much. He was very nice with all the other lab members. I don't know if he will get me something and honestly I don't care. I would like to get him something, for sure a handwritten note to thank him. But I was also thinking to buy him a present, such as a bottle of wine from my country.
I am an Assistant Professor in the USA, but I was not born here. Do you think it will be appropriate to buy and attach a gift to the hand-written note?

When I was a PhD student in Ireland it was common to organize a present for those leaving the group, including graduating PhD students. The supervisor would usually contribute extra. Another tradition was to go to the pub after the defense, and the successful student would be bought pints by everyone present (I remember having pints lined up waiting for me to drink them after my defense). So what you propose is not only fine, it's even customary in some parts of the world).

"I don't know if you will give me something and honestly I don't care" Do you mean you don't know if he will give you something?

In Germany, I'd say it is more or less a tradition to liberally hand out book prizes to graduating pupils and students who stick out in any positive way. And everybody who completes writing and defending a dissertation is such a stickout.

A mentor who didn't buy you a book would would likely be thought of as careless or even negligent by his colleagues.

Maybe it doesn't need to be said, but if you don't know that a student drinks (or drinks wine specifically) then it might be good to check with others who socialize with them ahead of time. If not, although I'm sure they will still appreciate it, it may not convey the heartfelt meaning you intend.

@Karl: Probably field-dependent; I never saw anything like that in computer science in Germany. The only "gift" I am aware of is the self-crafted doctoral hat with personal stuff by one's department colleagues (which they may have spent significant time and non-negligible cost on).

Great idea! If you do it for one, do it for all of your students. Otherwise just gifting something occasionally and selectively can be divisive if you gave a group of PhDs. You want their good will as alumni as well.

giving out of sincere heart can hardly be a problem. Anyway, this is interesting, in my country (Czech Republic) we don't have this culture of giving gifts upon the PhD promotion (from either side), and we don't feel bad about not giving anything :-)

My father, who was a biology professor, gave to his PhD students a sapling from a particularly nice potted plant that he had owned for decades. I like this idea very much: it's a basically immaterial gift so no-one has to worry about the ethics, it's relevant to the academic discipline they worked in, it's a physical manifestation the idea of academic genealogy, and it has a certain Lord-of-the-Rings vibe to it.

My professor gave me a watch. Nothing expensive - a base model Casio - that I still cherish (and wear) to this day.

Tangentially related but worth considering: Do you want to encourage working overtime despite the advisor saying it's too much and they should rest? If not, then maybe don't mention that as a reason for how they stand out :)

Maybe a collection of Piled Higher & Deeper comic strips to remember the fun times of their PhD years? :-)

I don't see any problem with this. Something from your own country would be appropriate, as would a book that is important in your field. Even a tourist souvenir from your country as something to remember you.
But not too expensive or elaborate.

I wouldn't get the PhD student an "important book in their field", because that's like telling them to do more work by reading yet another book...

Many U.S. schools (especially state ones) actually have written policies on gifts. Look for it on your school's intranet, or ask HR if you can't find it. They vary: I know at least one state school where any gifts, even a cup of coffee from a professor to a former student, are forbidden. Some schools have a cap on monetary value, like $100. You're unlikely to get into trouble if you violate a gift policy, but it's good to know what yours is.
If a gift is not forbidden, then it's allowed. A bottle of wine is fine (if you know that the student drinks alcohol). Something longer-lasting, like a book, a vase, or a figurine , with your autograph or an engraving, would probably create... a longer-lasting memory. Your student certainly sounds like he deserves something sentimental to remember you by.

... or an engraved writing instrument, like a good pen...

@ZeroTheHero, I like that suggestion, but they can be very expensive.

Give him something that he probably wouldn't think to buy and will probably keep as an ornament: a slide rule.

A fancy fountain pen can cost a few hundred  US dollars and could be a great gift (albeir pricey) for someone who likes those (few do). Yiu know your student and what he likes. A mounted trilobite fossil maybe? A group photo of your lab members, signed by everyone in it would be hard not to like.

@MarkMorganLloyd, you mean my old  slide rule? NOooooo....  I don't think you can get a new one anymore. A few collectibles at Amazon and a few at eBay. How about a pocket protector with the student's name printed on the flap???

Plenty of Otis Kings on eBay, some with original box etc. which adds a lot to their collectability. Or there's always something like the 3D-printed parts for a Curta... the university could probably do a better job than a recent postgrad.

@Buffy Lamy Scribbles (https://www.lamy.com/en/lamy-scribble/) are moderately expensive and make a great gift.

@Buffy Yes, you can still buy new slide rules. I bought one a few years ago and it's not expensive. But also old slide rules can be a nice present.

I'm lost: Why would a school forbid a present to a leaving student? What are they afraid of? ;-))

@Karl Here is an example gift policy.

@DimitriVulis That policy, as many others do, makes clear it is potentially problematic to give a gift to someone having a supervisory relationship over you. Whether intended or not, such a gift could be potentially seen as a sort of bribe, even if it would be silly to interpret it as such. I don't read anything in there that would prevent someone to give their graduating student a gift.

One of the problems with gifts is that one does not want have liability of insinuation.  Giving my Japanese students a gift, which has a cultural weight of something in return, is very different from giving one to an American student. There is not a clear answer to this question.
Having said that, I've settled on giving my students the books that they used for the dissertation.  I've found that all of my students have a few "go to" books, and I'll often buy them their own copies, and write my well wishes in the front cover.  This generally violates a whole bunch unspoken of HR policies as there seems to be some unspoken rule about less than 20 dollars in the USA and it's generally about 300 dollars all-in.  The student just worked exceedingly hard for at least 5 years for me with basically a pittance of a stipend.  I see it as the least that I can do.   I see a bottle of wine as a nice personal gesture and I would stand by the decision even if the HR department freaks out.

There is a USG policy that limits the value of gifts government employees can accept to $20. (That's not the only restriction, but the intent seems to be that you don't have to get weird about someone lending you a pen). That may be where the broader cultural phenomenon came from.

@fectin like any other large bureaucracy, HR knows the value but never could point out the actual form :)

As others have also pointed out, I don't see a problem with it unless there is a policy at your university, however, many ideas are very subjective, as for example if he doesn't use pens that much, he might not use this one at all, and actually make him feel guilty, or, if he doesn't like physical books, etc...

Yes, a gift should be ok and I think that the gift should be tailor made for the recipient. I think it would be hard for any of us to say what kind of gift to get your student.
That being said, does your student like wine? Do they prefer a specific brand, vintage, or type (e.g., Cab,  Merlot, Pinot, etc.)? Are they open to trying a wine from your country? You can put out subtle feelers by bringing it up in conversation.
But, a point of caution that I would like to echo from other respondents, and that is to make sure the gift itself is not too austentatious. It needs to be narrowly focused to what they like because it shows thoughtful consideration. Handing out a bunch of money probably wouldn't be the best idea nor would gifting them a Ferrari.

Yes, it is appropriate in the U.S. to buy and attach a gift to a hand-written note thanking the student.  I am aware of this happening in the United States, and it was much appreciated by the student.  In fact, the gift was a University hoodie and some University-branded coffee mugs, and although the student has long since left the United States, they still enjoy these objects today.

tl;dr: Back pay for overtime work.

My student just graduated, and he really is an exquisite person, he worked more than he probably should have (extra hours, weekends) without me asking

What you're describing is the common situation in US academia where Ph.D. candidates - junior researchers - work more than a full-time position without any overtime pay. In most US universities they are not even recognized as employees! (but this may be changing). The base pay is also typically rather poor in the US, if I recall correctly. Also, surprisingly, many kinds of employees are not eligible for overtime pay even by law... how terrible!
Having said that, if the Ph.D.'s salary/stipend had come out of:

your personal research budget - your gift should be pay for the extra time he worked beyond a 40-hour work week. Seeing how you supposedly suggested he not work those hours, I suppose it might be fair to just pay the base hourly rate, not the 1.5x rate the law provides form.

a departmental/university budget - Offer to cover the legal expenses for a lawsuit in which he gets to sue the university for overtime pay owed to him.

(If he refuses to sue, get him some chocolate or personal-size confection or something, I don't know.)

For readers other than OP: I didn't just make a point for a single professor to get a different perspective on his former Ph.D. candidate. I call upon you, personally - if you are a junior researcher (Ph.D. candidate or otherwise), to try and form a union. And if you're senior faculty, and unionized - to become active in your union and try to get it to expand and admit junior researchers.

@TheoreticalMinimum: See added postscript to the answer.

Is this for real or an ideal world? I mean, would you really advise that a prof should advise their student to sue their university and to pay out of their own pocket for any legal expenses?

@TheoreticalMinimum: We'll agree to disagree. It is what OP should do in my opinion - at least in the case of him being the source of funding.


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Can I (should I) change the name of this distribution?
I am nearly finished with a paper, as well as some accompanying open-source software. We are planning on submitting this to a prominent statistics journal. One of the more promising methods that we discuss in the paper deals with the normal-inverse Gaussian distribution, commonly referred to as the NIG distribution. This is usually pronounced “en-eye-gee”, but it’s understandable that some people say it phonetically (it’s a relatively obscure distribution).
In case it is not yet clear, my concern is that NIG is somewhat reminiscent of the “N word”. I had some reservations about writing NIG so many times in the paper and in the software (by convention, there would be many functions with NIG pre-fixes, e.g. nig_foo()). I thought maybe I was overthinking things, but I’ve had a few people (including a co-author) comment about the potentially inappropriate nature of this name.
Thus I feel like it might be worthwhile to refer to this distribution by a different name. It is not uncommon for distributions in statistics to have multiple names (e.g., normal vs. Gaussian), and we would make it clear that it is the same distribution. The problem is, I feel very unqualified to just change the name of distribution that has been around for 40 years.
If we do change the name, here’s a short list of some of the things I’ve considered.

The Normal-Wald Distribution (Wald is another name for inverse-Gaussian)
The Gauss-Wald Distribution (Same idea)
The Barndorff-Nielsen distribution (Ole Barndorff-Nielsen was one of the first researchers looking into this distribution)
The Barndorff distribution (Less wordy, but I don’t want to remove a surname without asking him)

Questions
Is it a bad idea to change the name? I’m slightly uncomfortable with it, but I might be overthinking it.
If I do change the name, what’s the most reasonable choice? (I realize this is very subjective, but feedback is welcome)
I don't think that the name of the distribution is intentionally or overtly "racist". The main point is that (i) this distribution is relatively obscure and (ii) many distributions have multiple names so it might make sense to have an alternative that has no chance of being problematic.

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A location tag would be helpful; it seems this is a complete non-issue outside North America.

@Servaes How would your answer change based on a location tag?

Wikipedia disambiguation page.

If you are at all unsure about causing offense, you could always use the full name in your paper "Normal-Inverse-Gaussian distribution". It won't be any less readable for that.
In your code pick a different prefix that still clearly identifies the distribution, e.g. ninvg_foo().

I am accepting this answer, because I think it provides a simple non-invasive solution. The prefix NINVG seems perfectly reasonable to me.

The NeurIPS rebrand is another good example of extending the prefix.

If you really need to save characters, you could still have "Normal-IG" (I've definitely seen "Poisson-IG" for "Poission-Inverse-Gaussian"), similarly for code normal_ig could be a sensible variant.

For the code, I'd add that longer variables names are usually better as they lead to less ambiguity. As someone who deals with safety-critical systems, I'm often in the position of reviewing others' code or specifications. When I come across 3 (or 4, etc.) letter abbreviations, it often forces me to interrupt domain experts. Sometimes 2 (or more) different domain experts will have 2 (or more) widely different guesses as to what the abbreviations stand for.

Actually changing the name because someone might be offended by a sound that comes from a completely different domain and is completely separate from the history of racism would be condescending, in my view.
And, as you say, the term is in common use. Changing it would also confuse some people.
Leave it be.
There was no intention to do harm and the acronym is natural. The language police are unlikely to chase you down. It would be different of course if the acronym were chosen for racist purpose, but that is clearly not the case here.

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Condenscending to whom precisely?

Change the name if you like. Point it out prominently in your paper and code, possibly more than once (e.g. first mention in the main text and in the methods / supplement, of course also in the function documentation, etc.). The names of even common objects are changed for a variety of reasons. It happens, and people should be aware that names are usually pretty arbitrary.
Example: I once read a book where the discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) (by all means the standard name) was called DSFT (Fourier transform in discrete spaces), because, technically, it can be computed over other domains than time. It was weird for a moment, and then I got used to it, and know I'm kind of glad that the authors stressed this point because it made me think about something important.
Conventions exist until someone begins to challenge them. I'm scared of the language police (see another answer here) doesn't even need to be part of the justification. It can just be that another name sounds better to you. Of course, standard names shouldn't be changed on a whim, but they can be (and are).

Eh, the example you give provides a domain-specific justification (avoiding confusion about the implied meaning). OP's problem doesn't really have this justification, and the perceived similarity of NIG() and that "N-word" is relatively silly and distracting to point out.

This is a really interesting question, especially since some other terminology (e.g., master/slave replication) has somewhat recently come under heavy criticism despite not being seen as controversial for quite some time.
Ultimately, it's your choice to make as an author (or as a group of authors). Using alternative terminology is not generally seen as a reason to reject a manuscript as long as you make sufficiently clear what you mean with your terms (even if the reviewer does not agree with your reasoning for not using a more standard term). On the other hand, there is neither a practical nor (at least in my opinion) moral obligation to preemptively stop using a term despite there currently not being any substantial debate about this specific piece of terminology. That said, if one person in the author group feels strongly about this I would be tempted to go with their wishes on this one.

Unlike some other answers, I do not want to prescribe how you should decide on this matter. Personally I do not see the term as problematic, but I'm neither an English native speaker nor of African descend. However, I do want to point that (a) a term not being "meant" racist and (b) a term having being used so far are both not sufficient arguments that further usage is appropriate (as the master/slave example above nicely demonstrates). Times change, and ultimately it's the affected group (people of African descend, in that case) that need to decide whether the term is appropriate or not.

I don't think "people of African descent" describes the affected group completely or particularly accurately.

@Vaelus If you have a better proposal I'm happy to edit it in.

As suggested in some other comments and answers, it might be a good thing to spell it out more fully (easy enough to do with modern word-processors).
I think there's no motivation to pretend to determine whether anyone would be "justified" in being offended by the old acronym. The fact is that some might easily be, AND it's easy to avoid this.
(Telling people in traditionally-abused groups that they "shouldn't be offended" by things that sound like references to their traditional abuse is really not supportable...)
Yes, it's kinda too bad that scientific acronyms and terminology seem to have a bit of an obligation to acknowledge ambient social things. :)  But, yeah, they do, I think.

Especially so in a discipline that has historically had a strong association with eugenics and white supremacy - cf. people like Galton, Pearson, and Fisher, who built a lot of the foundations of modern statistics in the service of abhorrent eugenic/racist ideas that helped inspire Nazi "cleansing" programs. There's enough baggage here that it seems sensible to be considerate of how language choices might come across.

@GeoffreyBrent, good points. Just to repeat, although I was (even more) foolish when younger, it seems completely ridiculous to me (now) to tell people that language that reminds them of their (or family's, or ...) prior abuse should just be overlooked.

One possibility that doesn't seem to have been addressed yet is the following:
Ask members of the group most likely to be offended by the term---in this case Black people---what they think.
Obviously you probably don't have the resources to do a full, representative survey of Black people, and obviously there are going to be differences in opinion between members of any group. But if you ask a few people and they say they find it very offensive, it would likely be a good idea to try and use something different. Likewise, if every Black person you ask says that they think it is fine this is an indication (though not a guarantee) that the term does not need to be changed.
Language is complex, and while there is no intention to cause harm by using the acronym, perhaps the potential to cause harm outweighs the benefits of familiarity for your readers. You won't get a definitive answer because there is none, but in my view the people whose opinion should carry the most weight on this are the people who are most likely to be harmed in the first place.
It is also worth noting that Black people are underrepresented in academia, and therefore likely to be underrepresented on academia.stackexchange, which will affect the answers you get here.
Edit: I guess its important to note as well that it may not be well recieved to ask any Black person what they think. The people you ask should be those who have previously indicated that they are happy to discuss such topics, either in person or online.

That wouldn't be really representative of everyone, would it? Other people always tell me it's a very small amount of people (<10%) that has a very big voice and much impact (90+%). You can't weight the "votes" (objectively) to take this into account.

If I have a medical problem, I'll weight the opinion of a medical doctor more than that of someone who is not an expert in medicine. I think people who are part of the potentially offended minority group are more likely to have relevant experience and knowledge as to whether the term is offensive.

"It is also worth noting that Black people are underrepresented in academia, and therefore likely to be underrepresented on academia.stackexchange, which will affect the answers you get here." +1

The problem with this answer is that it requires research! Is it really worth starting a completely new research project for the sake of one abbreviation used in another unrelated field. Simply asking a few random people from the public won't give a reliable result. How would you select your sample? How do you know when you can reach a conclusion with a reasonable degree of certainty? What do you do with outliers?

@Gizmo Even it's not going to be representative of the group as a whole, it's not a bad idea to ask some of them to at least have an image of the case and its severity in your mind.

You could always abbreviate Distribution as D and call it the NIGD.  This is different enough from that other word that I think it should be acceptable.
(Now we need to do something about SMB, that inter-computer connection tool in Linux.)

Upvoted because there are too many TLAs in this world already. There is more room for FLA.

What's wrong with SMB?

SMB is usually pronounced Samba, as in Little Black Samba, a racist symbol.  I was ready to overlook it as being just a meaningless coincidence, until I saw the icon -- a little black boy.

@Jennifer Samba is a Brazilian music genre.

I want to add one thing that's not been said explicitly in other answers: since, as you've said, it's relatively obscure, you absolutely can change it. People use different names for the same thing all the time. The name of a thing is the name that people use, and in this case, that's you. Changing it will not confuse anyone at all, not even slightly.
The fact that you are uncomfortable with the acronym is a good enough reason by itself, and a desire to make your field more welcoming to minorities is a very good reason for this kind of thing. It's a positive thing to do and you shouldn't feel any hesitation.

I am French and I used for sometime a data analysis library that was full of anal_in(), anal_deep() and similar functions.
Someone added in the code
# For fuck's sake, stop using anal as a variable or in a name!!

And that was pretty much it. Some were probably offended but nobody bothered changing the names.
It is your code so if you feel that nig is offensive, just know that eel is offensive to me, and that Mike will find god horrendous as a variable name.
If you called your variables/functions deliberately insulting then it would be bad taste, or douchery, or something like that. I would not bother in your case but if that raised the need to ask the question then for your own good (as in "so that you do not think too much abou that") just change it to NOINGA and be done.

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Mod's Note: There was some discussion (see the chat) about the expletive in the code snippet; this has now become a post on meta. Please do not add further comments about this debate here; instead, take it to the meta post (or the chat, but the meta post is what will decide whether our policy changes).

Is "eel" actually offensive? Or is that that an argument ab asurdum?

@AzorAhai-him-: yes, this was an argument ad absurdum - I typed a few random letters and only later realized that this is actually a proper word.

@woj Oh, OK I don't know French swears

my concern is that NIG is too reminiscent of the “N word”.

It is not.  This is in no way comparable to the "whitelist/blacklist" terminology that is currently widely criticised.

This answer would be more useful if it expanded a bit.  What is the "whitelist/blacklist" terminology that is currently widely criticised?  Why is this not comparable?  I may have a different filter bubble and am not aware of widespread criticism, or you may be referring to something else than I think.  People reading this in other parts of the world or in 10 years may be even less aware what thing is currently widely criticised.

It is not comparable because while we can argue over the original source of "white" and "black" in whitelist/blacklist and whether or not it does now or did in the past have any racist meaning, etc. the words actually exist - "black" and "white" are the same exact words in "blacklist" and "whitelist" as in referring to people by the color of their skin. That is not the case with this acronym being discussed - it is simply an acronym that happens to match the beginning of another word.

@manassehkatz-Moving2Codidact There is an argument that the term blacklist is connected with race, and there's also one against it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacklist_(computing)

Indeed, in Europe (and the Europe-spinoff that is some of the U.S.), for many many years, "white" was "good", and "black" was "bad". The "blackhats", the "whitehats"... Silly to pretend otherwise.

@gerrit This was very widely covered in international media for software developers.  I am confident the asker and some of the other answerers knew that.

@gerrit If you have not already heard of the media controversy, then all you need is the first sentence of the answer.  I am strongly opposed to the idea that longer answers are better.

@AnonymousPhysicist Oh, I only now understand you literally mean the words whitelist and blacklist.  I thought you were referring to actual whitelists and blacklists of terminology that is OK or not OK to use and that the existence of such lists was criticised, and I'm not aware of such lists, just about debates on individual words.  My mistake — but I still believe you improve the answer by explaining it more.

Downvoted b/c I believe saying "it is not comparable to..." reduces the whole premise of the question to an opinion.

@user347489 The premise is an opinion, and it's wrong.

I would like to add a different perspective to your question. Fortunately (or unfortunately, it depends) for the Americans, English become the most widely used language in science and business. That means, that it is used by many people who are not Americans and who are not really troubled by some secondary/offensive meanings of some words or some cultural concepts typical for the US.
NIG is an abbreviation of a name of a distribution; it is understandable. It would be confusing to many people, why you would want to change it, just because it resembles a word which in your cultural context is not appropriate to use. I think your concerns might be valid when writing a novel, in English, for an English-speaking audience, where someone could start looking for hidden meanings. Since we are talking about a scientific paper read by non-American readers as well, I don't think your concerns are relevant. Use what is standard and don't worry.

This seems a bit like arguing "why should we worry about people being allergic to our food when most customers won't be allergic?" As for reader confusion - like OP says, it's not a well-known distribution, so odds are most readers wouldn't be familiar with the other version in the first place.

Niggardly, niggling, and Niger are a few "obviously inoffensive" words that people have found offensive (source).  The Mandarin word 那个 has also been found offensive; offensive enough that the teacher using it was removed from the class where it was used (source).  I suggest that you use an acronym other than NIG.

Your background information does not support your conclusion.

listverse.com is not a credible source.  While it's headline agrees with your claim, the actual text gives no evidence or reasoning that "niggardly" is not offensive.  Instead it gives some anecdotal examples of people being offended.  Furthermore, none of the examples you give are related in any way to the acronym "NIG."

Regarding "niggardly," the source I quoted states "Mayor Williams later rehired Howard after realizing the word was not racist." This implies that someone considered the word not offensive.

The words niggardly, niggling, Niger, and NIG all start with the letters "nig."

"Night" and "Nigeria" also start with "nig" but "NIG" starts with "Nor" as specified in the question.  None of this is relevant.

As every fule kno, all people named Nigel are racists. If Adrian Mole said so, it must be true.

@alephzero i came here to make a joke about people called Nigel and see you'd beaten me to it - well done +1

Wikipedia has a whole article about controversies surrounding niggardly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_niggardly

While the examples from the listverse.com source may be questionable, the one with the Chinese term from LA Times seems spot-on.


text:
What if a student doesn't understand a question because of differences in dialect?
Let's say that at a British university, there is a chemistry exam. The exam describes a person performing a chemistry experiment. This person leaves the experiment sitting there for a fortnight. After a fortnight, the person comes back to see the results.
The question asks the students to describe what the student in question will most likely see.
But let's say there are Americans studying at this university, and they're taking this exam. In America, the word fortnight is not used, and most people don't understand what it means.
So if these students got this question wrong, could they complain about it? Is there anything that can be done to help their grade on the exam?
What it it's a foreign professor who is teaching at a university in America, and the student doesn't realize this word is not used over there? What if the student's exam contained this question, and the whole class got confused by it?

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Related question: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/167438/how-to-respond-to-unfair-to-write-english-comments

Is this question based on a real occurrence or purely hypothetical?

During the test, the student can ask about the exotic non-technical word, and the proctor can clarify on its meaning.

At some universities, like UCL, this is explicitly forbidden: the procedure there is that the invigilator can't give an answer, but the student is expected to fill out a form detailing their concern, which is passed to the examiners alongside their script. But this is in some ways better since it definitively brings the matter to the attention of the graders, and creates a paper trail. In any institution, students could also write in their answer something like "I have no idea what a fortnight is, and have answered on the basis that it means ten days", which a grader would certainly see.

We have a regulation that the person setting the exam must be reachable during the exam, precisely for that reason.

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I dealt with this exact issue just a few months ago.
I was invigilating an exam on deep learning, at a British university where ~60% of the students are international. One question asked something like,

Give your verdict on the accuracy of the model.

I had at least two Chinese students put their hands up and ask what "verdict" meant. Since it's a computer science exam, not an English exam, I gave them a definition:

A verdict is like a final opinion, or conclusion. For example, in court, when the trial is over, the judge makes a verdict, which is the final decision about the case.

This is part of the job of the invigilator. "Verdict", like "fortnight", is a common English word, and not technical either. It is not unreasonable to use it in a normal sentence or an examination, and if someone doesn't understand it, that's their fault, not the examiner's...but since it isn't part of the technical content of the exam, there's no reason to not tell them what it means if they ask.
If they don't ask, then they can't complain; they had the opportunity and knew that that's what the invigilators were there for, yet chose not to.
If this particular word becomes a recurring problem, then it might be worth not using it in the future. But to simplify all language usage because international students are not fluent in the host language is unreasonable.

In the spirit of this answer: what is an invigilator. I (a non-native speaker) have never heard this term before.

@Sursula an invigilator is literally somebody who "keeps watch"; in this context it is used as a standard term to mean "a person whose job is to watch people taking an exam in order to check that they do not cheat"

@penelope Thanks for the clarification!

@Sursula I believe invigilators are referred to as "proctors" in US English.

@JackAidley funnily enough, I have not really heard that one either.

@JackAidley I have not heard that before in that context, although it sounds equally science fictional, so fine.

Lucky enough, you don't need to know the word invilgator, as long as you notice there is a person watching people taking an exam and so on.

"they had the opportunity and knew that that's what the invigilators were there for, yet chose not to" I think it is crucial for the answer to notice that students may or may not know that this is actually part of the invilgator job. If it has never been clarified, it is hard to blame the students for deciding to not disturb an exam room with something that may not be allowed.

@Kolaru The students are, of course, told at the beginning of the examination that they are allowed to ask questions. As for disturbance, putting up one's hand can never disturb an exam room.

Students are (usually) expected to understand the local language
In general, students are expected and required to be competent in the language in which they are taught and - yes - this includes knowing the local version of that language. An American being educated in the UK needs to take the effort to learn the differences with British English. For an absolutely common bog-standard word like "fortnight" it's entirely reasonable to expect students to know the word and if they don't, well, that's their problem (which they can ask the invigilator about and they'll likely help with).
Academics teaching outside their own country need to be careful with language
But this also goes both ways. An academic in a country that they're not from needs to consider that their language is different to where they are now. This may be particularly difficult for academics moving to countries which apparently speak the same language - for example, it'd have never occurred to me that "fortnight" wouldn't be universally understood by English speakers - but the onus still lies on the academic to deal with it. If it becomes apparent after setting an exam that a mistake has been made, there should be appropriate flexibility in marking the answer according to common misunderstandings.

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I'm not sure I agree with this. Sure, they should have a grasp of the local language, but the exam isn't testing that their English is perfect. It's testing that they understand the technical content. They couldn't ask for a definition of a technical term, but a non-technical one seems perfectly reasonable as it has no bearing on whether or not they actually understand what the exam is testing for.

In Germany foreign students are allowed to use dictonaries during exams (like French -> German). This solves the problem quite well.

Indeed! But I wonder whether there is a UK-English-to-US-English dictionary available... :)

The problem seems to be that the students do not expect to bring a dictonary. Nobody in their right mind would bring an UK-English-to-US-English dictionary to a chemistry exam unless told before that such a weird situation might occur.

Why not provide a certain amount of dictonaries during an exam in general, if you have foreign students? "There will be 10 students tomorrow, so I will bring 5 dictonaries just in case, if someone forgets to bring its own".

@user111388 They could/should use an English dictionary like OED.

@d-b: But how do they know? Of course, if their mother tongue is not the exam's language, they could organize a dictonary. But have you ever seen someone who brings an dictionary because the instructor is British and they are American? I don't think this situation in the question happens a lot.

@stupidstudent While that would be optimal solution, it's difficult to do in practice as there are more language combinations to be considered. Mother tongue information of the students is not available to the supervisor of the exam. Bringing a sufficient number of dictionaries for English, Turkish, Arabic, Chinese, and a few other European languages would be impractical in many cases, not mentioning the cost of actually buying them.

Watch out for idioms, though. A dictionary won't help you understand an idiom, since its meaning cannot be deciphered from the usual definitions of its constituent words.

@NuclearHoagie I've had language arts classes expect me to have familiarity with the implicit (unannounced) biblical references in the literature we were assigned to read on an exam.

could they complain about it?

Yes, they can raise their concern with faculty. A glance at a typical instructor's email inbox will confirm that this happens. Certainly, if a student wants their instructor to be aware of something, then telling them about it will be more effective than not telling them.
In this scenario, a student faced with this problem during the exam could also write on their exam paper: "As an American, I am hopelessly confused by the word 'fortnight' and I am assuming it means ten days. On that basis, my calculation is [...]". Or they need not be quite so explicit; if it's clear that they understood the chemistry but plugged in the wrong number for the time period, people doing the grading would ordinarily give due credit.
Another answer suggests asking the invigilator. This is practical if the question is clearly not to do with the subject-matter of the exam (e.g., you wouldn't expect them to explain what titration is), and if institutional policy allows them to give an answer. Universities can have rules about giving mid-exam clarifications, in the interests of fairness and avoiding student stress. (When I was an undergraduate, we had one exam which featured a succession of contradictory clarifications, finishing with the announcement that the entire question would be scrapped. This was very stressful for everyone.) This can also be harder if it is an online exam, and doesn't work if the exam is already over.
In some cases, clearing things up during the exam may well be hopeless. Suppose the subject is physics and the lecturer has set a problem involving the trajectory of a cricket ball, referring to such things as the popping crease, the wicket, being hit for six, and so on. Someone innocent of cricket may find the setup totally bewildering, and the exam hall is not a great place to explain cricket from first principles. The best option here is for the student to proceed as best they can during the exam, and raise the issue afterwards as swiftly as possible through the proper local channels.
However...

Is there anything that can be done to help their grade on the exam?

The processes for this differ between the UK and the US. In America, the professor commonly has very wide discretion to assign grades. British universities will have a different set of methods, with second-marking and oversight by external examiners. But either way, this sort of grading issue is very hard to appeal after the decision is made - there is an academic judgement call, and that is generally that. Student concerns have to be raised within a fairly narrow timeframe, in order to be taken into account.
Students who would like their overall mark to be higher could dedicate their efforts to worrying about a wording issue on a single exam question, and lobbying for a change in grade. Or they could spend the same amount of effort learning more about the synthesis of alkanes, say, and hope to get a higher overall mark in their next module. There is very little institutional appetite in either country for entertaining lengthy disputes about this sort of thing. Matters might be different if the student could show that they were significantly disadvantaged as a result of the grading decision, but this single question will not be the determinative factor that gets them a 2:2 instead of a 2:1.
Overall, even though assessments shouldn't contain hidden cultural assumptions - because then they're not assessing the right thing - the extent to which they can be challenged will vary depending on the seriousness. I have seen universities on both sides of the Atlantic take student feedback seriously, but generally with more focus on improving assessments in the future than on wrangling over ones which have already happened.

British English is similar to American English. So even if an American came across whilst instead of while for the first time, he would be able to tell what it means. But let's imagine we live in a world where they are much different, and the words don't look similar. And the university is located in Japan, which doesn't have its own English dialect. So how would the exam setter know which version to use to avoid confusion? And how do you think confusion would be handled?

How about the word football? It is not slang, in either dialect. It is a commonly used and understood term. Yes, a person living in England for more than a few month would know exactly what football means there, but a new American to the country, who is not at all into sports, will know exactly what football is, due to having lived a life in America ... and it won't be the round-ball kind.

This is just a particular case of the more general problem of what happens when the meaning of the statement of a question is somehow ambiguous (because of dialect or because of anything else). I usually use two ways to solve it:

Students can ask during the exam, and clarification about the statement can be given. That includes telling the students anything except the knowledge being tested or its prerequisites.
In case this is not possible - because of the invigilator not familiar with the question or the subject, or because a clarification can't be given without telling about the answer, or because of any other reason - tell the student to state clearly how they understand the question and answer accordingly. Here, if the question was actually ambiguous, and the student's understanding of it was reasonable for anybody having followed and learned the curse, grade it accordingly to that interpretation - as much as possible.

Of course, making test statements not ambiguous is the perfect solution, but sometimes you don't realise your statement can be misunderstood until your students start misunderstanding it.

Here is my complete guide:
Before the exam
First, if there is no indication at all that such a scenario is likely to happen, don't worry about it, it is absolutely unlikely. This is evidenced by the fact that you chose the example "fortnight" and "chemistry exam" (and could not come up with a better example). It's hard to believe a chemistry teacher to use this word in an exam instead of "14 days".
If, on the other hand, in the lecture from time to time the lecturer uses words not common in your locale, inform them that they are not common and ask for their meaning. This should tell the instructor that there is some discrepency between your languages and that they should be careful when creating the exam. Maybe even tell them that you worry about the exam - most likely, the instructor will tell you a solution (like "in this case, just ask during the exam" or "I will make sure to go through the exam with a local collague").
If the instructor speaks competely ununderstandble (eg speaks in mediavial English), treat this case like the professor would speak a different language (which some of my professors at some point did). I don't know how it works in your school, but a good way would eg be to first talk to the professor, then your student union, then higher-ups.
During the exam
If there is a word you don't understand, just ask. Most instructors will clarify non-technical words (or, for importantbquestions, even words you need to know to be able to answer the question even if you should know them).
If for some reason, you cannot ask, treat the question like any other questions where you don't know an important word. Eg do the other questions before, think logically what the word could mean; if you must make a guess write something like "The word is not known to me, I assume it means 12 days."
After the exam
If your answer was marked incorrect because of the word (this includes the case where you thought you know the meaning but the meaning is different in your and the instructor 's dialect) and you are allowed to debate it, discuss with other students to find out if the word was really uncommon. Try to find proofs that it is not a British word and tell the professor.
If this doesn't help, do what you usually would do if you'd see a question as unsolvable. This could be doing nothing because there is no effective way of complaining in your institution or go the "chain of complaints" (eg starting with the student union).
There are a lot of answers here and my answer is relatively long. This may seem like there is a lot to think about - I'd say it isn't. Don't worry and just use common sense.

Sometimes it is a language evolution issue
In taking a Professional Engineer (PE) exam (Electrical Engineering - pre 1995) was the first time I read Siemens.  Even with a clear understanding of mho, the context of the question was enough to warrant a clarification.
Since the 8-hours exam allowed one for bring reference books, (it was amazing how may some folks brought), my good dictionary readily addressed the issue:  Siemens is about the same unit of unit of electric conductance as mho. The dictionary was the best reference I brought to the exam.
So even being a native English speaker, the lingo of the industry had evolved from using mho to preferring Siemens.  PE exams often happen years after college.  (Also I suspect my college was not up-to-date in the small regard.)

What if a student doesn't understand a question because of differences in dialect?

Such issues like this are foreseeable and the resolution should be clearly stated beforehand.
Have the policy known prior and test takers have to live with it - or can seek alternatives beforehand.
If developing a policy, I'd favor simplicity most of the time.  Allowing exceptions will propagate exceptions.

First off, I am not a native English speaker. This is the first time I heard of the word "fortnight". I had to google for its meaning: two weeks. Am I right? Or wrong? Could it also mean half a month? (if it means half a month, it's 15 nights to me)
If I were a student sitting in the exam, I may take the word "fortnight" for a "battle night" because "fort" means a military building to me. So, I would take "fortnight" to mean just one night of the battle for the experiment.
There is a comment and an answer saying that the student should ask to clarify the meaning of the word. But, why should I ask for the clarification if I think I already know its meaning without much doubt?
I think the answer to the question should be to give the students reasonable marks in their best interests. What should be the reasonable marks depends on the exam and the instructor.
My point is, the instructor should be precise when describing the problems in an exam. Why not writing fourteen (14) nights in the first place? This way no one would be confused and the exam would be fair to everyone. After all, the students are there to learn chemistry (in this case), not English Literature.

'fourteen night… fort'night. I really don't comprehend how someone could logically extrapolate 'a fort is a building, so it must mean a battle, so that's one night'. That's some pretty wild lateral thinking.

@Tetsujin Cambridge Dictionary fort: a military building designed to be defended from attack, ... I used to live in a city named Fort X, that's how I know.

That wasn't at all what I was questioning. It was your mental leap from that to 'one night'. There seems to be absolutely no intervening logic.

@Tetsujin No personal offence. You have your logic, I have mine.

I keep inviting you to explain yours, so far you have demurred.

@Tetsujin I thought I did explain. "Fort" means a military building to me. Full stop. BTW, the difference between us is the merit of this question.

So where did you get 'one night' from? Or did you just stop at that point & give up thinking?

"Fortnight" in British English is not some exotic phrase. If you're expecting a simple, primary school level, word like that to be defined, where do you stop?

@Tetsujin: I do know what fortnight means, but I also understand that "fourteen nights", "fourty nights" or "some special kind of (single) night" (because it's "fortnight", not "fortnights") are equally plausible to someone who doesn't know. (That having been said, I wholeheartedly agree with Jack's answer.)

This does not answer the question.

Why should I as an instructor write 14 nights rather than fortnight when “I think I already know its meaning without much doubt?”

@ZeroTheHero Because the instructor is already advantageous. They should make every effort to make the exam fair and without obstacles. That's why I said "precise" in the answer to make the problems as clear as possible. We are talking about the dialects, not the English itself. Dialects should be avoided as much as possible. IMHO.

@Nobody the problem is that it’s difficult to know what’s dialect unless you do not speak said dialect…

@Nobody  I mean: Parisians claim not to understand anyone but Parisians, but get them to admit they are the ones speaking a dialect…

@ZeroTheHero That's why I said "as much as possible". We cannot make everything perfect. We just do the best we can. If there are still problems, the instructor should adjust the marks as I said in the answer. I admit that it's hard to figure out which one is dialect and which one is not. I am Chinese (Taiwan). There are hundreds of dialects of Chinese speaking. That's why we have Mandarin, a kind of universal Chinese.

@Tetsujin A keyboard is only one board, a bathtub is only one tub, a saucepan is only one pan, a doorknob is only one knob, a windshield is only one shield. Seeing the word "fortnight" and thinking that it refers to only one night isn't "wild lateral thinking" at all; it's merely taking a pattern that holds nearly universally and guessing that it holds in this instance too. I can't think of a reason why a person unfamiliar with the word "fortnight" would see it and not think it refers to only one night.

For what it's worth, I didn't know what a fortnight was but I've definitely heard the word and knew it was British, and possibly knew what it meant at one time and have forgotten. I didn't hazard a guess in my earlier comment here (to @Daniel R. Collins's answer), but I somewhat thought it was a weekend, being a "fortified night": A longer than usual night -- night being the period during which one ordinarily does not work -- which a weekend period often is, as one usually thinks of weekends as periods when one doesn't have to work.

''Fortnight'' is a very widely used and standard word in British English.  If you stopped in an exam and said you had found an exotic word ''fortnight'' in the exam script, the invigilator would think you were insane.

(Moved my own comment to chat)

I am French and somehow heard about the word fortnight. Since I do not know what this means exactly I would have asked during the exam. From a teacher perspective, this is a completely normal question.
It would have been a different situation if

the word was tetra-fluo-carbo-monohydrate because this is the name of a well -known chemical molecule, and a student passing the exam in English is expected to know it no matter what his mother tongue is. (full disclosure: I am an ex-physicist and completely made up the name)
a word that has a completely different meaning between variations of English (not a false friend as we have many in French-English; but a word that means, say,  "clear" in British English and "cloudy" in Singaporean English).
This would have been way more complicated because on the one hand the exam happens in the UK so British English is the reference, but it is not a matter of lack of knowledge of English, just a different English.

This can happen even with casual words. We have in French the word prochain which means next (mercredi prochain = next Wednesday). In some regions, however, prochain means the one after next. In other words, if today is Monday and and I say mercredi prochain, some people will understand the closest Wednesday, that is in two days, and others the Wednesday after the closest one, that it in 9 days.

Your prochain confusion can also happen with next in English. (If it's Monday, and I mean two days' time, I'd say this Wednesday, not next Wednesday.)

@TRiG: ah, this is interesting. It makes more sense in English, though because in French the word prochain comes from proche which means close (as in "not distant"). So the logical meaning is "the closest Wednesday" (which is unambiguous) but we still manage to complicate it :) We actually invented a special concept "Wednesday in eight", which means "the first Wednesday after adding 8 days to today's date". There is also "in fifteen".

I would split this into 3 different parts.
And whether the time period of 14 days is relevant to the answer or not.
I mean if it were absolutely relevant that it was that long, then it's very important point to get right.
I would ALSO factor in if the student could ask for a clarification of the word in question during the exam.  If, yes and they were able to get a 'real' answer (i.e. a fortnight is 14 days, not, a we can't answer that question or a 'non-answer' answer), then, I would treat it more as a failing on the student's part -- they could have asked, but didn't.  However, if not, I would treat them more leniently.
Part 1, the student didn't understand the word:
In this case, I would grade the question based upon the understanding of the question that the student had.
E.g. If the student said I didn't understand "a fortnight" and assumed it was this time period, I would base it upon that time period.
Could the student complain about it:Yes, they could, especially if it's not a particularly common thing.
Part 2, the foreign professor using a word/phrase that's not common:
I would treat it similarly to Part 1.  Base the grading on what the student understood the question to be asking.
Could the student complain about it: Yes.
Part 3, everybody got it wrong:
In this case, I would throw out the question, because since nobody got it right, something must be wrong with how the question was worded -- and  since there was the issue, it's not fair to grade on that question.
Although, I would, as the professor, make sure it was the question that was the  issue and not an issue with the class not getting the concept in question.
Could the student complain about it:No, because the question would be a non-factor.

I can offer some suggestions that may help but probably aren't a complete answer, nor one that can be applied everywhere.
But first, the instructor needs to become aware of the issue somehow. Perhaps it is brought to their attention by the student, or by a confusing answer on the exam. Otherwise the "what if" is that the student suffers.
Next, the instructor needs to recognize this is a failure on their part if their language in exams isn't clear and precise and understood by all. In the instant case, if they have never used fortnight in a lecture and have non-native speakers in the class it is their issue, not that of the students. So, part of the larger solution is to change the language for future classes so the issue doesn't continue to arise.
I'll assume that the instructor has noticed the problem too late and they are looking at an exam paper. There are two things that might be done, though they apply narrowly to a case like this one. Perhaps they give some guidance to a wider set of cases. Or not.
If you can understand, by asking the student, how they interpreted "fortnight" (four nights, forty nights, whatever) then you can grade the student based on what the reaction would have been in that time period. If they interpreted it as forty nights and give a consistent answer then mark it correct.
Second, if no such solution is possible, you can, perhaps, remove that question from the marking for that student. So, supposing a 100 point exam and they missed this one for such a reason and the question was worth 10 points, mark their exam based on 90 points instead to get a "percentage" correct. This still disadvantages the student, though less, since they may have spent unfruitful time on the question. But 65/90 is much nicer than 65/100.
The educational philosophy here is I'm not perfect and I don't expect you to be perfect. But learning is more important than grading and that's why we are here.

I'm tempted to downvote this for "the instructor needs to recognize this is a failure on their part if their language in exams isn't clear and precise and understood by all" as if it's a failure of the instructor if the student can't understand English but it's an otherwise great answer so +1 instead.

It seems the instructor used 100 percent normal British English, which is the language spoken in the UK.

I like the need for the instructor to recognise the potential issue. The word "fortnight" is perfectly common where I am, but I’ve had non-local friends query it. An experienced moderator would be useful here. Someone in the same situation as the exam setter who could catch things like this before they disadvantage the student. Otherwise I’d be inclined to grade any knowledge the student shows.

It is most definitely a failure. As a professor writing exams you are creating measurement instruments that need validity and reliability. Failure to consider that certain terms might be confusing or unclear is a failure.  You are no longer measuring what students know but what their vocabulary is.

@Elin that assumes students have no course to clarify the meaning of some normal words in the local language.

For better of for worse, there are English language requirements for enrolment into UK Unis for international students. We are, officially, expected to prepare materials for students who have a certain minimum understanding of English. Unfortunately, as the motivation of our admissions team (money) is often different from that of the academics (teaching and education, in this case), these requirements are not well enforced. However, we can not turn our lectures into English classes, and I don't accept that the student's lacking level of English is a failure on the part of the academic.

We had cases where the students' eyes go wide reflecting they haven't understood a single word after getting asked simple questions such as "How are you enjoying the class?", students using Google translate to be able to interpret entire lab/practical sheets (not just for individual/difficult words), and students not being able to communicate at all with their supervisors and tutors without Google translate. I simply can not see and will not accept that this is a failure on my part / on the part of the academic.

If someone has to use Google translate that is a different issue completely.  There is lots of work on how to write clear questions and to think about word choice. There are whole disciplines about this, but writing is always about considering your audience.

@penelope: There is a difference between words like "fortnight" and "how are you enjoying the class"


text:
What to do with seemingly fabricated data when researching a paper's citations
One particular paper (Initial) cited a website with a basic pie chart of some data (Chart), while interesting, did not contain any of the original data, only a reference, so I dug into the original paper to get more details (Paper).
Then I found out that the original Paper had no such data at all. I'm not even sure how the numbers came about. It seems like the Chart author was interpreting the Paper's research, and basically created a new chart while citing the Paper as the "source", but that actual chart nor data exists on Paper at all.
The Chart is useful, but it seems to be, at minimum, interpreted, if not outright fabricated. I've decided that particular chart, although had useful information, is not true and I should not use it in my paper.
However, what exactly do I do with the knowledge that the chart seems to be fabricated? And what about the Initial paper that cites this chart?

So you have Paper 1 that cites a website that cites Paper 2, and you are concerned about the transition from Paper 2 to the website?

If the "fraud" is in some random website, not much you can do.

Where do you come into the picture? Are you citing either of the two papers in your work, or are you only a concerned reader? Also, it isn't clear how much the fabrication affects the results of the paper. Please give a few more details so that you get better answers.

Do nothing.  There are more important things to focus on, such as making progress on your research.

This looks like the content of your research, or an opinion question.

This seems relevant: https://xkcd.com/386/

It seems like the Chart author was interpreting the Paper's research, and basically created a new chart while citing the Paper as the "source", but that actual chart nor data exists on Paper at all.

Maybe the author created the chart from the paper's data and cited the paper as the data's source. You've mentioned the Chart is useful, suggesting the author added value. (Whilst also suggesting the chart is not true, which seems contradictory.)

what exactly do I do with the knowledge that the chart seems to be fabricated?

You could email the author and ask for clarification.

And when you contact the author of the website start with something like "I could not find in article XYZ where the data is you used in your graph. Could you help me with that?" Instead of accusing them of fabricating data.

@MaartenBuis +1 Indeed!


text:
Weak student asking for reference for PhD place -UK
I have found a question close to mine Reference for candidate unfit for application but not quite the same, and I have followed some of the advice already.
I'm an academic at a UK institute and a current master's student doing a project with me has asked me for a PhD application reference. I said yes when they first spoke to me about wanting to do a PhD (no specific post at that time) as I had no reason not to and they seemed enthusiastic. However, from working with them for over 4 months I don't believe they would be suitable. They have not demonstrated key skills needed, are requiring micromanaging to accomplish tasks, and generally appear quite lazy (and seem to think it's funny). I would not take them as a PhD student - especially seeing as this is their attitude knowing they have asked me for a reference.
I have had a second frank talk with them about PhDs, and that there is a good degree of autonomy in working and self-driven skill learning required for a successful PhD student. But their attitude has not changed since this chat (over a month ago). I could write a very lukewarm reference (which I have done before regarding students who are not outstanding but okay) or just say I can't write one. Although some posts on here are saying there are legal implications of the latter?

Your promise to write a letter cannot possibly be legally binding: There was no contract regarding this of any type between the two of you. But, if you want to be absolutely sure, talk to a lawyer.

Given you have provided frank feedback with no change observed it would seem straightforward to have a second chat and say you can no longer provide a positive referral based on their performance.

Legally, in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/work-reference I think the person who wrote that "there are legal implication of the latter" is simply mistaken or misinformed.

It's certainly your prerogative (and possibly a good idea) not wanting to write a negative letter! But I am a bit disturbed by the categorical assumption of the answers that it is not possible to do so. A relevant previous question https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/185601/is-it-possible-for-a-professor-to-write-a-negative-letter-of-recommendation

@user2705196 Many see it as underhanded to write a negative letter, after all they are "recommendation" letters.

Honesty is always the best policy.

Warn the student your letter may not be flattering and let them decide if they still want it. Do an honest description of the project and the student work. Do not say you recommend their work if you don't really feel like it, but I think you should make an effort to highlight anything positive you do find to be honestly true.

"I have had a second frank talk with them about PhDs, and that there is a good degree of autonomy in working and self-driven skill learning required for a successful PhD student"
note to yourself and to the somebody reading this question in the future: next time (yes, there will be many next times of this...) do not compromise yourself on 100% writing a reference letter , plus plan&have that second talk after 2-3 months, not 4-5, give them the time to digest your feedback and to either improve their attitude or draw themselves the consequences (i.e. not receiving the letter).

@EarlGrey - in addition to the frank talk about what a phd requires - they are also getting a significant number or emails and remarks from me about getting work done on time/ contributing to group etc. with regards to their actual current work. I can only put the lack of response to this down to arrogance on their part with regard to their own skill set.

I'd suggest the HR approach - confirm dates of employment and rough duties. Nothing else. Let the student know in advance that that is all you can supply, let them make the decision about if they want your reference.

I am frequently in that situation, of being asked for a letter of reference by a mediocre student with good intentions (don't they all have good intentions?)
You already know your two options: (1) write a lukewarm letter or (2) renege your offer to write one. I don't like confrontations anymore than the next person, but the best approach is #2. I usually do it over email, and in a long message I explain my reasons. I give detailed feedback with specific examples, making sure it does not sound like I'm judging the person, but instead evaluating their performance. This can take longer than writing a lukewarm letter, but I find it to be the best solution for everyone. For example:

I think that you are a good student who takes your work seriously. You always keep your appointments and you have a genuine interest in the research we do here. However, there are some areas in which you need improvement, e.g. A, B, C. I think that you have a bright future ahead of you, and what I recommend is that you take another research opportunity to improve your skills in A, B, and C, then ask that supervisor/advisor for a letter. You'll then be in much better shape for grad school applications.

The tone should be firm and polite.
This gives an out to the student, because if they are smart, they should not want a letter from you anyway. But some students insist, and I then write the lukewarm letter. The letter pretty much says "this student worked at my lab from this date to that date, and they were on time", or whatever truthful positive thing I can say. Anybody who writes and reads letters should be able to read through.

Thank you. It seems there is a consensus of answers and I will contact  them about not writing the reference. It's not so much about avoiding conflict, but avoiding having a complaint made about me for not supporting a student (which I know objectively isn't the case,  but it's not unheard of and still needs to be dealt with).

@JayBee You shouldn't be ruling out to write a letter for other (non PhD) activities/jobs. There's plenty of situations, where turning up on time is a major job requirement

@Marianne013 Turning up on time is generally considered self-evident. Writing this in a recommendation letter is often considered a polite way of saying 'this is an idiot and I don't have anything else positive to say'.

The problem with this is that you are denying the student the evidence that they did participate on that work. It's your responsibility to acknowledge they worked, and to help as much as possible without compromise on your scientific integrity. Warn the student your letter will not be flattering, but write it anyhow. Give an honest and helpful description.

@rhermans First sentence is "this student worked at my lab...". It's expected from people who have worked with you that they have worked with you, and I think this should not be emphasized in a letter. The letter should describe the quality of the work, and given that nothing is specifically said about it, the experienced reader will get the message.

@Marianne013 They haven't always turned up or mailed to say they aren't and are letting other group members do more work. It's not merely an "academic" issue. If fact I'd be more likely to recommend a candidate with good work ethic for a phd, even if some academic marks weren't great - undergraduate assessment doesn't always tap the same skills required for phd.

Your university will have a policy on references, including what can and can't be included. It will certainly handle with references for students that don't do well. You should follow that guidance and ask a more experienced colleague if in doubt. Often this includes clarification of what you will be able to do to the student.

Can you show us a link to your most recent university's policy on references? Mine doesn't have one.

Mine neither. Have asked more experienced collages - they have said write a very non-descript letter stating bare facts and it's self evident.

You can find the policy here: https://intranetsp.bournemouth.ac.uk/pandptest/student-reference-policy.pdf


text:
Which letter of reference would be better: from a teacher who knows me well or from one in the same institution I am applying for who doesn't know me?
I am applying for a second masters degree at the same institution I am currently at.
I have requested my current course teacher to write me an LoR (letter of reference). However, I am facing the problem that he may not know me that well. I didn't have many interactions with him during the online lectures or seminars this year because of the covid situation. The only way he learnt about me was through a mock exam which I got a score slightly above distinction (I am in the UK). So I think he may only be able to write a very general letter.
I also asked teachers from my bachelor's degree. I built a very strong relationship with them and did extremely well in their courses. So I am pretty sure that their letters will be filled with details.
I previously thought that my current teacher would not be willing to provide me with a letter because he didn't get back to me for more than two weeks. But now I am in a dilemma. On one hand, his endorsement would be more reliable and powerful in the sense that he is in the same institution. On the other, his letter will be quite general. So should I still ask him?
Thanks in advance for any solid advice!

Related, possible duplicate: Getting a recommendation letter from a professor at the same university

Generally speaking, the LOR that recites a lot of detail and describes a long relationship is more helpful.  When I write an LOR, I assume the reader has no idea who I am or what my standards are.  So, that's why I try to give a lot of objective information about my relationship with the student, so the reader can decide for themselves whether they agree the evidence supports my recommendation.  I'm sometimes asked for LORs from students I don't know very well.  Perhaps they're sophomore and they were in my section of a large intro CS class.  I try my best but realistically those LORs will never be as helpful as the ones I write about a student I've known for several years, was in a small class where I really got to know their work, has been in my office a lot, worked for me as instructional aide for a class I taught, etc.

Thank you so much for your advice, Ms Hamilton!

If they have both already written the letter, submit both. It will not hurt and it may help.
Explanation: academics in the UK system believe that anything bad in a LoR can engender legal jeopardy for the letter writer. They are wrong: obviously one can be sued slander and libel, but one is asked to render a professional opinion on X's suitability, and as long as one refrains from using 4-letter words, one is in the clear. If anything, omitting something that could be construed as an early warning sign for a later crime can result in legal claims (example: X was disciplined for plagiarism; X does this again in his new job; they go after you for nondisclosure). Fortunately I have never had to write a LoR for a student wanting to join a bank or MI6 of whom I knew of serious moral failings.
(Also, schools always wanted to know if my former tutee was perhaps a perverted pedophile. I always wondered how they imagined I could have possibly discovered even if this were the case!)
Anyway: since academics are mortally afraid of saying anything negative at all in an LoR, these letters all tend to look alike. The red flags are only there by omission. The admissions tutor will quickly scan the letters for any such hidden clues and then toss them aside... pardon me, file them.
If your grades or extracurriculars or whatever sheds light on your suitability are good, then you stand a good chance of an offer. But if the admissions tutor still does not quite know what to make of you, they may have an informal chat with one or both of your LoR writers. These chats tend to be frank, informative, and completely off the record. In your case, it sounds like both of them think well of you, so no reason not to submit both.